List of Transcripts

Cold open

BRENNAN: I need all of you to roll a d4.

LUIS: Oh.

LAURA: What?

ROBBIE: Ooh.

LUIS: This is not what I thought was going to happen.

TRAVIS: Okay.

BRENNAN: What did we get?

LUIS: Four.

BRENNAN: Four.

TRAVIS: Two.

BRENNAN: Two.

LAURA: Two.

BRENNAN: Two.

ROBBIE: Four.

BRENNAN: I'm going to need Azune and Kattigan to each give me a death saving throw.

LAURA: (gasps)

BRENNAN: Overhead, arrows--

LAURA: And you thought it was a good--

BRENNAN: -- fly through the sky. (swishing) Nearby, Loza Blade, about 12 or 13 years younger than the last time we saw her, cries out as, thump, thump, two arrows go into her shoulder. You see that she takes a small axe off a holster under an arm and (grunts) hucks it across a battlefield as an archer commander says, "Another vol-- (grunts)" Axe in the head, falls to the ground. She says, "Get back under the hill!" And shoves a young Tunk, the boarman, who at this point is only about 16 years old, is a kid. "(snorts)" As he grunts and snorts back into the waiting darkness. You see overhead (hissing) a rippling spiral of green necromantic energy (crackling) shoot overhead. Far away from you see your friend Milo looking up and saying, "Everyone, keep moving for-- (gasps)" Skull. Gone. Dead, to the ground. Death saves from you two.

LUIS: Okay.

LAURA: Oh!

LUIS: Save, 19.

ROBBIE: Fail, seven.

LUIS: Oof.

TRAVIS: (grunts) What did you do?

BRENNAN: Kattigan, on the ground, describe your character for us in this moment and describe the injury that is starting to bleed out past the point of repair.

ROBBIE: Oh yeah, he's (groans) sliced up. Basically, he's always fighting low so all of his injuries are up high in his body. Shoulders, neck, he's got puncture wounds super close to lungs and heart. He's jacked from the waist up mostly, yeah.

TRAVIS: Fuck.

LUIS: Azune, where are you? And how do you look in this distant memory?

LUIS: I am 15 years old. I'm young. I'm shorter, I'm skinnier, and the last thing I remember before the lights went out was struggling to keep up with my group, these two guys, grown men at this point in my life that I've grown to emulate in a way. I saw how Teor blocks things with his shield and the way that Kattigan fights with his weapon, and the noise, the screams, and-- I wasn't ready for that, and the smell of blood, and I misstepped. And next thing I know, the lights were out. I don't even know what hit me.

BRENNAN: You see overhead (crackling) the sky darkens as two sorcerers of the Sundered Houses fly under their own power. (whooshing) One of them drops through the sky, looks across the battlefield. (swishes) A tiny mote of light, as time almost slows.

TRAVIS: Down! (crackling)

BRENNAN: I'm going to need everybody here to roll initiative.

TRAVIS: Oh my god! (exclaiming)

TRAVIS: I'm not ready for this!

LAURA: Sheesh!

ROBBIE: Foop.

LAURA: (groans)

BRENNAN: What did we get, Azune?

LUIS: I got a six.

BRENNAN: What did we get, Teor?

TRAVIS: 18.

BRENNAN: What did we get, Thimble?

LAURA: 15.

BRENNAN: What did we get, Kattigan?

ROBBIE: Twinsies. 18.

BRENNAN: (laughs) Much like before, Kattigan and Teor are going to act on the same initiative. I'll remind you, Teor--

TRAVIS: Big cats.

LAURA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: Big cats. I'll remind you, Teor, unfortunately for you, my friend, you're 1st-level.

TRAVIS: Oh! Oh.

BRENNAN: (laughs) It's your turn. What do you do?

TRAVIS: I try and spot-- Jesus. Can I see both Kattigan and Azune down on the ground?

BRENNAN: Yes, you can. Give me a medicine check.

TRAVIS: (blows raspberry)

BRENNAN: Hm, hm, hm.

TRAVIS: I don't--

LUIS: I'm bleeding out, man!

ROBBIE: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Oh, that's a natural 18 for a dirty 20.

BRENNAN: Dirty 20. Triage. You've learned enough about medicine working for Loza. Over your shoulder, you see a dwarven woman. You see she's got a thick, braided beard, an empty upper lip; a thick, braided beard. You see that she leans down, reaches into a satchel, takes out a small dwarven poultice, crushes it in her hand. A red mist surrounds her as she punches into the empty hole created by a spell in your comrade Lucia's chest. She's got an open cavity, ribs exposed. Punches into it and says, "All that is broken can be mended! Come on, girl, you're not done fighting yet!" Rips her fist out and leaves a bunch of the flesh from her own fist,

LUIS: (gasps)

BRENNAN: stitching up Lucia's body as your dwarven medic gets her up on her feet. Norma turns to you and says, "Remember, look at them! Gut, bad. Limbs, they can stay!" And as you look out and see Azune and you see Kattigan, you see that Azune's injury is all shoulder and chest muscle and Kattigan's got something that's bad and bleeding. That's your medicine check.

TRAVIS: Got it. I'll try and search the air for Thimble. Any sight of her?

BRENNAN: Overhead, you see near where Loza is closer to the top of the hill, running down the trench as fast as possible, you see Thimble coursing down towards you with Thjazi right behind her. You see Thjazi's got something in a dirty tarp wrapped up over and over and over again. Looks like he's sprinting. "(panting)" He here is about late 20s, "(panting)" running as fast as he can. You see he's got about eight gilded, gem-studded staves and wands wrapped up in a tarp "(panting)" as fast as he can. But you see Thimble is way ahead of them.

LAURA: I'm lit up and trying to lead the way.

TRAVIS: I'm going to call out to Thimble: We need to close ranks! And I'm going to run towards Kattigan as fast as I can and just try and put pressure on the main chest cavities.

BRENNAN: Using your action, give me a medicine check. The difficulty is 10.

TRAVIS: 10, okay. (groans) A natural 16 for an 18.

BRENNAN: You lean down. Reaching into a bag, Norma's magical healing is great, and she is one dwarf. And so you reach down.

LUIS: Oof.

BRENNAN: And just grab gauze, rag, wrap it around, staunch the bleeding. Kattigan stabilizes.

TRAVIS: Got it.

BRENNAN: Thimble, it is your turn.

LAURA: Huh? (stammers) Where am I trying to lead Thjazi?

BRENNAN: Thjazi's looking up, he goes, "Ah, the auxiliaries, the Baladri, we got to go-- Oh shit!" He says, "Loza, do they fall back?" You see from up on top of the hill she looks out and you see something closing ranks. A sorcerer drops out of the sky. You see this--

TRAVIS: A third one?

BRENNAN: A third one. You see beautiful, white flickering tunic. This is a sorcerer of House Cormoray who points at the ground. Runes appear all around Loza. She looks, sees it happening in real time and bursting up from a nine-pointed star is a snarling, summoned drake. A 15-foot dragon.

LUIS: Oh my god.

TRAVIS: (snickers)

BRENNAN: (whooshes) She goes, "They're over the hill, Thjazi! Fall back!" Takes her axe and "(grunts)" thuds it into the side of this massive summoned creature. Thjazi looks up at you, Thimble, and says, "(exhales sharply) Over the top!" And gets his staves. Whispers a little arcane word under his breath, and you see that what is being created by this burning fire in the outer reaches of the battlefield hits him and you see that his shadow splits into three different shadows of himself. And he tosses a bunch of staves to all of them and they all start running over the edge.

TRAVIS: Fucking awesome. Awesome.

BRENNAN: As fast as he can. Thimble, it is still your turn.

LAURA: I'm darting ahead and I'm trying to find one of the sorcerers. And I'm trying to get through the ranks, get up right behind them to the back of their head while they're distracted with all of the other shit going on.

BRENNAN: Hell yes. That Cormoray sorcerer looks down shouting, "For the honor of House Cormoray, for the honor of the Sundered--" Give me an attack roll. If you want to do it from hiding, you can.

LAURA: Okay, okay, okay. Oh, so that's advantage.

BRENNAN: Uh-huh.

LAURA: (babbles) Okay, that's 16 plus seven.

BRENNAN: That is a hit. Go ahead and roll damage.

LAURA: Okay. (grunts) (stammers) I know what I'm doing! Oh, good! Eight plus four. No!

BRENNAN: And remember, you only have a d6 because you're 1st-level right now so you only have

LAURA: Sneak attack. Right.

BRENNAN: Yes.

LAURA: Eight plus five is 13 plus two.

BRENNAN: 15 points. On a natural four, the sorcerer is not felled by this blow, but does drop concentration on the summoned drake. You (swishing) reach out with your sword.

LAURA: I want it right here up into that soft part of the back of the head.

BRENNAN: "(screams)" Stabbing in under the skull, a little bit of blood seeps into the corner of their eyes as they lurch forward. You see whatever magic item is compelling their flight stays active, but their concentration on this summon dissipates as Loza says, "Good looking out, Thimble!" You look, and that exact moment, Azune, I'm going to need a death save from you right here.

LAURA: Oh!

BRENNAN: You have one success.

LUIS: Can I use--

BRENNAN: Yes.

LUIS: Can I use a luck point for a death save?

BRENNAN: Yes, you can.

LUIS: Great. So while I'm in this darkness, I see my dad's face, and I see the moment that he had passed me off to the mercenaries way back when, years before this. And the only thing I remember is him telling me that I was lucky that I was getting a second chance. And that rings in my mind as I hopefully-- I succeed.

BRENNAN: Hell yes.

LUIS: I needed that.

BRENNAN: You begin to stabilize. You see your father's face. There's something. "It's not going to happen here." On a battlefield, arrows and spells fly overhead. Thjazi runs. As he does, Thimble, from behind the sorcerer, you look and see (whooshing) (blasts) Thjazi is hit in the side and scatters, his shadows all vanishing.

LAURA: Thaz!

BRENNAN: (impact) as he hits the ground. Looking forward, you see a shape dart from the shadows ahead of him towards his body. Seeing an incoming barrage (whooshes) flapping wings. (screeches) Wyverns taking to the sky. (whooshes) Loza looks up and says, "Fall back, fall back!" A shape runs towards Thjazi's body, and at the last moment you see gets two arms underneath it, lifts up his body, throws it on his shoulder and (grunts) rushes forward as fast as he can, thundering with heavy boots, drops into the trench right in front of you, saving Thjazi from the oncoming barrage of these flying wyverns. As you return from the sorcerer as Loza calls to fall back, the face (grunts) lifts him up, looks at you. Casimir smiles. "I got him. Let's fall back." And we'll find out the fate of our old friend Casimir on this episode of Critical Role.

TRAVIS: You can't just casually drop it! (laughs)

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LAURA: Oh no!

Announcements

MATT: Our sponsor tonight is Hit Point Press. And here to talk about it is--

SAM: Where do I stand? (laughter)

SAM: Here I am.

MARISHA: Keep going, keep going. That's great.

SAM: (British) Mm, yes, it is I. Oh. It is I, Detective Clive Bridget Jones Forsyth, Scotland Yard, at your service.

LIAM: Good character work.

SAM: Aside.

MATT: Evening, Detective. Why are you here?

SAM: Why, to solve the case, of course, the case of the Deck of Many Murders!

MATT: But everyone here is alive.

SAM: Or so the killer would have you believe! Observe! On your table, is the Fablemaker's Deck of Many Things by Hit Point Press. On first glance, it appears to contain award-winning art, as well as the vital boons and deadly risks that go with a Deck of Many Things. Show off the stuff. But I, Detective Clive Jane Campion Forsyth have deduced that it also doubles as an oracle deck!

MARISHA: Oh, this is awesome. Okay, so it's like a story-driven-- Oh, this is cool! It's a story-driven oracle deck, but again, no one has died.

SAM: Exactly something a coldblooded axe murderer would have you believe! Where were you on the night of October 9th?

MARISHA: That's tonight. I'm right here.

SAM: A shaky alibi, at best.

MARISHA: What?

SAM: Consider yourself a prime suspect.

MARISHA: What, what, what, what? Swuspect of what?

SAM: Swuspect!

MARISHA: A suspect of what?

SAM: That's spapicious b-behavior.

MATT: Oh no. (laughter)

SAM: Draw a card from the deck and you shall see.

TALIESIN: Okay.

MARISHA: Oh. Oh, it's the idiot. That's kind of-- ♪ (dramatic music) ♪

SAM: Oh.

LIAM: Oh jeez.

MATT: Liam, check her pulse.

LIAM: Oh my god.

LAURA: What?

LIAM: She's dead.

ASHLEY: What?!

LIAM: Hey, hey, hey.

SAM: Yes, she died, and the only way to find out how she did it is to draw from the deck. (hand thuds)

TRAVIS: Maybe don't--

LIAM: I got skull. (head thuds)

ASHLEY: Liam!

LAURA: Liam!

TRAVIS: (laughs)

MATT: Liam. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Maybe if I draw a card, I can revive him.

SAM: An excellent conclusion!

MATT: I got the gem card!

ASHLEY: Oh no!

LAURA and TRAVIS: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Mm-hmm.

SAM: Well, les jeux sont faits. I, Detective Clive Mr. Bean Forsyth have solved the case, my dear audience, as the murderer... was me! (gasping)

SAM: And the crime was how criminally low prices are during Hit Point Press's Spooky Season Sale. For a limited time, use code Critter for a 30% off storewide on the Fablemaker's Deck of Many Things, and other witchy items from tarot decks, spell cards, book, dice, minis, and more at HitPointPress.com/critter! Matt is dead, so back to you. And scene.

TRAVIS: Wow!

LAURA: Are you okay?

TALIESIN: Whoa.

MARISHA: Did you smash your head into the table? (laughs)

LAURA: It's so red!

LIAM: My head is so hard. It's totally fine. (laughter)

LIAM: Why did you turn into Adam Sandler at the end?

ASHLEY: I was just going to say that!

TRAVIS: And French.

ASHLEY: Yes. (laughter)

SAM: My accent work was superb!

TRAVIS: ♪ Sloppy joe ♪

TRAVIS, ASHLEY, TALIESIN, and LAURA: ♪ Sloppy joe ♪

TRAVIS: Bonjour. (laughter)

LIAM: Back a-to you. (laughter)

ASHLEY: Back a-to you.

TRAVIS: So good.

TALIESIN: Ironic that we went right in from like--

SAM: Wait, do we keep going?

MARISHA: We keep going.

LAURA: Oh yeah, let's keep going. Wait.

MARISHA: No, we're still in it.

LIAM: Some things never change.

MARISHA: So earlier this week, we had our New York Live Show with Fjord and Jester's wedding! (cheering)

MARISHA: But if you missed it, our partner, Fathom Entertainment, is bringing it to movie theaters across the United States and Canada for one night only on October 15th at 7:00pm local time. Tickets are available for purchase at Fathom Events. Nope. FathomEntertainment.com/CriticalRole. We're sticking with it, baby. Matt!

MATT: Thank you, Marisha. We also have a Kickstarter going on right now for the Daggerheart Class Packs.

LIAM: Whoa.

MATT: A new entry point to the game for some, or a chance to get a second set of cards for your Oops, All Seraphs party, or all wizards or oops, or anything, really. But these packs of cards hold anything an individual player needs to play their class, from level one all the way to level 10. It includes ancestry cards, community cards, subclass cards, and all the cards from the two domains that combine to create each unique class. So check it out now at bit[.]ly/DHClassPacks, and I can't wait for you to check them out.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

MATT: Laura, you're up.

LAURA: Guess what? In honor of Fjord and Jester. (cards clunk)

LAURA: Ow, I hit my elbow. (laughter)

ASHLEY: Ooh!

MARISHA: Wait a minute, you slammed down the card pack at the same time?

LAURA: We made Sherpa fleece jackets.

TRAVIS: Oh!

LAURA: Look at yours. This is the Fjord one.

LIAM: Oh.

LAURA: And this is the Jester one!

MARISHA: Shut up. Wait, are they reversible?

LAURA: No, but they just got really soft, fabulous lining. I'm going to put mine on.

TRAVIS: Oh, check it out, it's got like a--

ASHLEY: Hey, give me that Fjord, they're so cute.

MARISHA: These are so Ashley Johnson coded.

LAURA: I know, aren't they? They're so super cute.

ASHLEY: Come on.

LAURA: So anyway, we made the Jester one and we liked it so much, we're like, "We have to make a Fjord one, too!" So there's that.

TRAVIS: You mean the Fjord one wasn't part of the original plan?

LAURA: The Fjord one was not the OG. The Jester was the OG.

TALIESIN: Is there a tiny bee?

LAURA: It's a tiny bee!

TALIESIN: There's a tiny bee on it.

LAURA: Also--

MARISHA: It has like an anchor.

LAURA: It has a little Wildmother.

TRAVIS: You're my anchor, baby.

LAURA: Actually, it's not Wildmother. It's an anchor with the Wildmother floral stuff around it.

TALIESIN: A wild anchor.

TRAVIS: A wild anchor.

LAURA: I'm afraid it's going to make noise with my microphone.

TRAVIS: Just go for it.

LAURA: I'm going to just slide it down. This is super cool, this next thing I'm going to talk about as well.

SAM: Wait, there's more?

LAURA: Wait, there's more.

LIAM: Some detective.

LAURA: You all know Spirit Halloween.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

LAURA: You've seen them pop up all around your town.

SAM: They're the best.

LAURA: They just launched their first-ever Critical Role costumes. (cheering)

ASHLEY: Come on!

LIAM: That's not true.

ASHLEY: That's so cool!

LAURA: They've been online for a while, but--

SAM: Which of my characters is it?

LAURA: It's not yours. Ha ha ha.

TRAVIS: They picked the popular ones.

TALIESIN: Yeah. (laughter)

LAURA: There's a Jester one. Wait, this isn't the official packaging. I shouldn't show you this part. Hey, there's stuff.

ASHLEY: Come on. That's so cool!

LAURA: They're so-- Look at it online. Go to SpiritHalloween.com and you can see them online and you'll see how amazing these costumes are. The Jester one, there's also--

TALIESIN: There is another.

LAURA: There's also a Molly one.

MARISHA: Yes!

LAURA: So these are all--

ASHLEY: That's so crazy.

LAURA: They're all chaotic in here because everybody's been putting them on around the office.

SAM: Yeah, you're presenting them in essentially a trash bag.

LAURA: I know, listen, this is not-- I didn't look at these ahead of time.

MARISHA: They're so cute, though.

LAURA: Look it. They're quality.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: Get yours today at SpiritHalloween.com.

TRAVIS: There's more designs on the coat than there will be in the animated series.

MARISHA: I was wearing this around.

LAURA: Look, there's even a tail!

TALIESIN: Oh, it's actually quite comfy.

MATT: Insanely.

MARISHA: -- gained too much weight. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Put it on. Put it on--

LAURA: They're so cute.

MARISHA: They're so cute!

ASHLEY: That's really cute.

LAURA: I know!

ASHLEY: Look at the little sleeves on this.

TALIESIN: Oh yeah, they totally did them right.

LAURA: They come with little pants.

ASHLEY: A little tail.

MATT: A tail.

TALIESIN: They made the sleeves right.

TRAVIS: Good job, babe.

LAURA: Thanks. Best announcements ever.

MARISHA: Yay.

SAM: What happens now?

LAURA: I don't know.

SAM: Matt, say something.

MATT: I believe that concludes our announcements here at the Critical Role Announcement Playhouse. Let's go ahead and jump on back into Aramán.

Part I

BRENNAN: We return here to Dol-Makjar, the eastern edge of Kahad. That's right. I'm opening the episode with the butt-kicker in the table. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Upstairs in Halandil Fang's office, side by side with Thaisha Lloy, you stare at shuddering flakes of black ceramic curved in outline like a shattered mask, dancing under the vibrations of the table. (rumbling) Closer and closer together. Downstairs, in the funeral, Vaelus, wandering elf from the Mournvale coming and seeking a stolen artifact, Bolaire of the Lloy Wing, a curator of artifacts, Murray Mag'Nesson, a dwarven wizard of the Penteveral, and Sir Julien Davinos, a vassal of the House Royce, all hear a shaking and shuddering elsewhere in the home as you look around and see the guests, look and see if anything strange or unusual has occurred. In this moment, we cut back upstairs. Hal and Thaisha, what do you do?

AABRIA: Halandil, I don't know what I brought. I'm-- what?

LIAM: Thai, what are we looking at?

AABRIA: It looks like a mask. I don't--

LIAM: You brought--

AABRIA: Thjazi asked me to get this. Occtis and I, when were in Venatus, this is what we were meant to find and bring back. I was supposed to hand it off to Bolaire.

LIAM: (sigh) Are we still-- GM, are we looking at remnants still, the fragments, or have they formed?

BRENNAN: They have no longer formed, but they did, for what it's worth, shudder inward towards the center, towards each other.

LIAM: Okay.

AABRIA: If I reach forward with one and just nudge two pieces together--

BRENNAN: Give me a constitution saving throw.

AABRIA: Why?

LIAM: (grunts) (laughter)

AABRIA: Natural one.

MARISHA: (gasps)

ASHLEY: No!

LIAM: Hal's hand did snake out to her wrist. I don't know if that is going to continue over to me, but--

BRENNAN: If you give me a DC-- what's your dexterity?

AABRIA: Oh god. I don't know.

TALIESIN: Oh boy.

AABRIA: Not enough.

BRENNAN: We'll see how quick Hal is on the draw here.

AABRIA: I got a 13.

BRENNAN: 13? Hal, you had a 13 dexterity? Give me a DC 13 sleight of hand check.

LIAM: That's not great. Hold on.

MARISHA: Curse, curse, curse, curse.

LIAM: That's only a 10.

BRENNAN: 10. Got it.

ASHLEY and MARISHA: (chanting) Die, die, die!

AABRIA: Well. And I'm--

ASHLEY: No, don't. (laughter)

LIAM: That's game.

BRENNAN: Thaisha.

LIAM: We change our backstories.

BRENNAN: On a nat one constitution saving throw--

AABRIA: Oh no.

BRENNAN: You reached--

AABRIA: You warmed up this die. You did this.

TALIESIN: Oh no.

BRENNAN: We're going to be really clear. This is episode two and I'm going to set a really important, let's call it precedent about-- (laughter)

ASHLEY: Shit.

BRENNAN: -- about touching stuff. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Thaisha, you touch one of the flakes and, Hal, what you see immediately in this moment is, first of all, everybody downstairs hears-- (loud rumbling) As, Thaisha, you touch this fragment in the center, the fragment drops through the velvet, which, itself, the velvet drops into a conical swirling mist. The mist spirals down, spreading as the velvet magically transmutes into mist, swirling down, down, down, as the fragments instantaneously fall in until every velvet or lining of this box is instead thick, ice-cold mist, and amongst the fragments that disappear and the fabric, the other thing that disappears in this moment is your consciousness as you collapse to the ground. You take one point of falling damage.

AABRIA: No.

LIAM: So mechanically, dropped to unconscious?

BRENNAN: Dropped to unconscious.

LIAM: All right. Hal falls to his knees, scoops underneath.

AABRIA: Wait, so you didn't catch me? (chuckles)

BRENNAN: No, there was no-- he went--

LIAM: I mean--

BRENNAN: Yeah, we all saw the 10!

LIAM: A half-assed trust fall to the ground, yeah.

AABRIA: All right. (chuckles)

LIAM: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. His arms are going to run down along her arms, and he will say one word, and nobody hears it, because I'm alone with my unconscious baby mama, but he just says the word "stay," but it reverberates. It echoes low as I cast Healing Word.

BRENNAN: Incredible. So you say "stay." You heal one hit point of damage. As you say "stay," I think Thaisha, in unconsciousness, your eyelids flicker. The sclera and pupils of Thaisha's eyes are a roiling, cool mist. Everybody downstairs--

ASHLEY: Maybe you should give her mouth to mouth. (laughter)

AABRIA: I am down with Vaelus. She can have whatever she wants. (laughter)

ASHLEY: Yes!

BRENNAN: We're going to go back downstairs. Is anybody reacting in this moment to--

ASHLEY: I'm going to start walking upstairs.

MARISHA: I'm still holding my cocktail.

TALIESIN: I am going to push past--

BRENNAN: Push past Vaelus.

TALIESIN: -- this nun, because hell no.

MARISHA: Hey, do you guys think that we should-- And there they go. All right.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

MARISHA: I guess, yeah, I'll follow.

BRENNAN: You follow upstairs.

MARISHA: Oh, yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: As you head up, you see that Shadia is also going to run upstairs as well. Olgud looks, seeing a bunch of you all head up, and goes, "(stammering) Nobody else!" He gets on the stairs and tries to play defense. This is an aging theater producer who looks at this armored elven warrior and is like, "I don't think, if I say don't go up there, she'll listen," and just boxes everybody else out. However, Murray, you want to head up there. Julien, what are you doing?

MATT: Julien's going to stay below and more or less interpose himself between Lady Aranessa and whatever this might be up the stairs. He just kind of keeps a keen eye.

BRENNAN: She says, "Is everything all right?"

MATT: We don't know yet, but let other people get in the front of danger before us, and if it gets bad, we'll leave immediately.

BRENNAN: She looks up and goes, "Ever valorous, Sir Julien."

BRENNAN and AABRIA: (laugh)

BRENNAN: So, Bolaire, Vaelus, and Murray, you rush up the stairs. Shadia looks at you, Hal, and goes, "Dad, Mom!" And reaches down to look into Thaisha's eyes. The three of you-- Bolaire, you see the box, mist. There is no longer anything in the box other than mist that stops swirling and now is just lined with thick fog.

TALIESIN: Can I roll an arcana check to see if I know what the fuck is happening?

BRENNAN: Let's do it.

TALIESIN: That's, hold on.

LIAM: Double 18s?

TALIESIN: Yes. Double 18s. So that's 18, 19, 20, 21.

BRENNAN: 25!

TALIESIN: 24, sorry.

BRENNAN: Oh, 24, gotcha, 24.

TALIESIN: 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

LIAM: You almost had everything.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

TALIESIN: 24.

BRENNAN: 24, great.

AABRIA: Amazing.

BRENNAN: So, you look and see here, it's a silver box. It's about yea big. You know, it's not a music box. It's large. It's not solid silver, but the plates that adorn what you believe to be a wooden box, looking at it, just in terms of its construction, so it looks more like the silver is in solid plates. It's warped. You recognize this language as an archaic, heightened version of Kessian, which is a halfling language, interspersed with certain Celestial glyphs. You recognize some terms on it. There is a word here. One of the words that's written here is "Obsidia" in Celestial, which is an archaic, no longer used term for the Tenebral Reaches. Prior to the Shapers' War, the realm of death was as a shifting veil of shadow, a momentary darkness passed through on the way to the realms of final rest, the halls of the gods. The underworld used to be a metaphysical clearinghouse, a momentary place for souls to travel, and legends of the undead in ages of Aramán past were the stuff of myth and legend. To have a spirit so powerful that it could resist the resting places ordained by the gods was something of profound magic. Obsidia was a term for that veil. It was a Celestial term for that veil, but you would be well aware that, after the Shapers' War, what was a curtain expanded slightly. As the gods were destroyed, their realms of rest vanished. In the worst instances of catastrophe and doom-saying by the population, some believe that they were destroyed and all those eternal souls destroyed due to the hubris of the mortals that rose up against the gods. Others that, you know, the clerics that have come since that work in theoretical metaphysics that Bolaire would be well aware of, believe that the afterlives are still out there, just untethered from Aramán currently. That's a matter of theology and conjecture and a lot of very flustered clerics would tell a worried mortal, "We're working on it."

TALIESIN: (snorts)

BRENNAN: Now--

TALIESIN: Oh no.

BRENNAN: Oh no. You realize, as you're looking at it, this artifact, the silver plates are ancient, but you don't believe that this box is ancient. You believe that this was constructed with older materials, and you see it makes reference to Obsidia. The parts in Kessian refer to the realms of final rest, which would be a common parlance of the afterlives, the various halls of the gods, and you realize as you're looking at this and looking at this ancient halfling language on it, you're not looking at a box. You're looking at a coffin.

TALIESIN: Ooh. It's halfling?

BRENNAN: Halfling-sized.

LIAM: Oh, a big box.

AABRIA: Oh.

TALIESIN: It's halfling-sized?

BRENNAN: About that big is a coffin for a halfling.

LIAM: Yeah.

AABRIA: Oh.

TALIESIN: Oh boy. (sighs) What happened?

LIAM: Thaisha just showed me this and she opened it, and here we are.

MARISHA: I'm just saying, if you guys wanted to hot-box the place, it would've been nice to share and get an invite.

AABRIA: I don't think you want some of the smoke I just got, but thanks.

ASHLEY: Are you okay?

AABRIA: Mm-mm.

BRENNAN: Thaisha, give me a perception check.

AABRIA: I'm afraid. Oh, the dice do go higher. How fun.

MARISHA: (chuckles)

AABRIA: Plus seven. 25.

BRENNAN: As you look up and see Vaelus, the mist begins to leave your eyes, but as you look at her, you hear a distant bird song of a bird that you as a druid know is not native to this part of the world. You hear the call of a nightingale, distantly.

AABRIA: Night song.

TALIESIN: What happened?

AABRIA: (groans)

TALIESIN: What. Happened?

AABRIA: I-- He already said it. Get out of my face. We opened the box. I touched part of the remnants of what looked like a mask, and then I died a little bit, and now I'm here, and everyone's a little too close to me right now.

LIAM: One breath at a time.

TALIESIN: You touched a mask in an ancient silver coffin.

MARISHA: (chuckles)

TALIESIN: I, I--

AABRIA: A little, and I've learned an important lesson here.

MARISHA: I'm not normally a gambling woman, but I'd be willing to bet my left tit that this has something to do with whatever this fancy lady wants.

LIAM: Right, above table, what's the fancy lady doing right now in this moment?

AABRIA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: I am taking in the scene, mostly focusing on how Thaisha and Shadia, them as a family, and watching Shadia care for her mother.

TALIESIN: (sighs)

BRENNAN: Give me an insight check.

ASHLEY: (clears throat) Oh boy. Which one do I pick?

AABRIA: You got it.

LIAM: Oh boy.

ASHLEY: Okay, okay, okay, okay.

AABRIA: Don't ask me.

ASHLEY: I'm going to do this one.

BRENNAN: I'll also say, in this moment of privacy, Hal, you're looking at Bolaire here. Bolaire, you're looking at this box. It is-- On that 24, you know there are things here that are escaping your attention at the moment, but you know where you have resources to dig in, where you have research and knowledge specifically about objects of this construction.

TALIESIN: Is the box closed right now?

BRENNAN: It is open, and as you see that roiling mist in there, I think you in particular, you feel your stomach gurgle or turn a little bit in a way that, on a physical level, is jarring.

TALIESIN: I cannot go through this here. Can anyone close the box without touching it?

MARISHA: Yeah, I got you. Just calm down. Everybody calm down. And I use a Mage Hand to close it.

BRENNAN: (box clicks shut) The box latches and all of you can feel, not immediately, but after a moment or two, the temperature in the room starts to rise, making you feel that, in closing the box, that that mist maybe is not waiting for you in there.

LIAM: My attention is split to multiple people. I am trying to, in this moment, read if Bolaire seems like he knows what's going on and if Vaelus is a threat to my family.

BRENNAN: Insight/deception. What was your insight roll?

ASHLEY: 16.

BRENNAN: 16. I think you see that Shadia is very worried. Hal is very worried. I think, on a 16-- let me actually roll.

AABRIA: If I feel you tensing up beside me, I'll just reach a hand up and I'll cast Guidance.

BRENNAN: Shadia rolled a four. Shadia is angry at her mother in this moment. She is bending down and caring for her, but as her mother speaks about reaching out and touching this thing, you see that there is a familiar set of well-worn lines in this 25-year-old half-orc woman's face as she looks at her adventurer mother with a look of disappointment and frustration.

LIAM: I think that having helped Thaisha not completely eat shit hitting the ground and reviving her a bit, our fingers are intertwined in a familiar way and you can feel me tensing up, which my hand grips harder and I guess the Guidance goes through that and my insight is a 24 with that little bit.

BRENNAN: Do you want to give me a deception?

TALIESIN: 17.

BRENNAN: 17. You've known Bolaire for a long time. On that 17, on the 24 versus 17, Tal, let Liam know what he's able to read on Bolaire's face.

TALIESIN: I know something. I am both fascinated and angry at her.

LIAM: Okay. Does that also include--

MARISHA: I think she's a champion. She's a hero.

MARISHA and ASHLEY: Legend.

ASHLEY: Iconic.

AABRIA: I am so brave.

LIAM: Same insight for Vaelus being a threat to the family, or another roll?

BRENNAN: Is Vaelus a threat to the family in this moment?

ASHLEY: Undecided.

MARISHA: (laughs) I think she's a legend. (laughter)

LIAM: My eyes flash to my brother's sword on the desk and then back to the party here.

MARISHA: I'm looking at Bolaire.

TALIESIN: We need to get that out of this house.

MARISHA: Yeah, clearly. I could, if we want to take a minute, I could do a little bit of tinkering, a little scanning but we are in mixed company, but if it would just make everybody feel better.

TALIESIN: I touched the wrong thing many years ago and have had this thing stuck to me ever since. Half the people at the museum have been maimed touching the wrong thing. Whatever else shows up tonight, do not touch it if you don't know where it came from!

MATT: Who touched what? Sir Julien has now stepped carefully up to the door frame and entering the scene a little late.

LIAM: Ah, you're still here.

ASHLEY: Where did this come from?

TALIESIN: I'm going to take it away and you will be the first to know when I know.

BRENNAN: Bolaire, the museum's protective gloves on your hands, a little subtle piece of-- not necessarily anti-magic but at least warding.

TALIESIN: I'm going to give one of them to you because--

MARISHA: It is big.

TALIESIN: -- this is big enough that I do not want to accidentally slip and drop it, this is a bomb.

MARISHA: I think we should take maybe the back streets, get this to the Penteveral, get this to my office and then we can do our investigation there.

TALIESIN: I may have a carriage.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

AABRIA: I think in lieu of responding to that well-earned (laughs) castigation, Thaisha's hanging back and leaning against Hal and she's passively started, it's not really a whistle, it's something wheezy in her chest but it sounds like a nightingale.

MARISHA: All right.

TALIESIN: I'm going to, on the way--

MARISHA: I'm going to look at everybody. Hal, condolences. We are going to be in contact. Great funeral. I think Thjazi would-- (laughs) I think he'd think this whole thing was really funny. He'd get a kick out of this. We are going to go. I'll call you, all right? I'm going to call.

AABRIA: Yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: As the two of them head out-- yes Vaelus?

ASHLEY: Before you leave, so we investigated the box.

BRENNAN: Yes.

ASHLEY: So all of that information was just on the box. We didn't touch the mask?

BRENNAN: By the time you got up here, there was no mask.

ASHLEY: There was no mask. (thump)

ASHLEY: Okay, got it.

LIAM: Broke my chair, I'm so excited. (laughter)

AABRIA: Orcs.

ASHLEY: Big boy.

BRENNAN: Big boy. There was no mask.

ASHLEY: There was no mask, okay.

BRENNAN: The mask was gone.

ASHLEY: So we just saw the box, okay.

MARISHA: I am going to whisper to Vaelus before we go out, Look, do me a favor. Please try not to murder this family. They've been through enough. They don't need you going on a rampage, all right? I think I can help you. So let's not harass people who are in over their depths.

ASHLEY: Absolutely. There will be no unnecessary murder here today.

MARISHA: Please.

ASHLEY: You got it.

MARISHA: Thank you.

BRENNAN: Shadia looks over at you and goes, "What about necessary murder?"

AABRIA: Yeah. (groans)

ASHLEY and AABRIA: (laugh)

LIAM: Why don't you head downstairs and make sure that whoever's left is looked after?

BRENNAN: "I'll head downstairs, Dad."

MATT: While that conversation is happening, Sir Julien has leaned forward and put his hand out towards Thaisha and says: Looks like you took a nasty spill.

AABRIA: Thank you. And I'm going to grip your hand just a little too tight on the way up and pull.

BRENNAN: As Murray and Bolaire head out, you see that Aranessa turns to you, Hal, and says, "Are you going to be all right here?" And eyes over to Vaelus. "If you need anything, I think Sir Julien and I will return to the Davinos estate."

LIAM: I'm going to look at Vaelus. No, the visitor and I don't have any grievance.

ASHLEY: We do not.

LIAM: I have nothing to hide in my house.

ASHLEY: That's good to know.

BRENNAN: As the night winds down, Julien, you see Murray and Bolaire heading off to his carriage. and taking off (whoosh)--

AABRIA: That's a heavy son of a bitch.

BRENNAN: -- across the river towards the Lloy Wing and then Julien, Aranessa turns to you. "Are we done here?"

MATT: I believe our business is concluded, yes. Let us get to safer spaces. I'll turn to Hal and go: Halovar, I thank you kindly for your hospitality.

LIAM: Always and for all.

BRENNAN: Murray and Bolaire jump into either side of a carriage headed to The Archanade across the river in, I believe, the neighborhood of-- (hums) This would be, yeah, this is in Marud. Oh, sorry, no, this is Lugzash across the river. As you head across the river, I think Bolaire, you have a moment in your finery turning to look at the wide-brimmed hat of this dwarven wizard across from you. You guys have been in contact before but now you both head to the museum together.

MARISHA: Charming night.

TALIESIN: Isn't it just?

BRENNAN: We see another carriage pulling away from the funeral. (laughter)

BRENNAN: As Julien, you get into the back of the carriage with the Lady Aranessa who goes, who looks in and says, "That dwarven woman with gemstone teeth."

MATT: She is a lot, you are not wrong.

BRENNAN: "Well, she was absolutely right. Thjazi would've loved all this crazy shit happening at his funeral.

MATT: It seems like even in death, his machinations linger. I don't trust what's happening in that house.

BRENNAN: "No, no, I suppose I don't either, but I don't know if I trust what's happening in ours either. General Raimond, I believe, should be waiting for us back at the manor."

MATT: (sighs) Wonderful.

BRENNAN: "Be good to see your father again. It's been awhile."

MATT: Sure.

BRENNAN: "Were you able to pay your respects?"

MATT: Yes. His demeanor has definitely darkened at the mention of his father and he looks out the window of the carriage with his hand on the hilt of his sword now, his jaw tensing for the rest of the ride in quiet.

BRENNAN: We move from this place, we'll say farewell to our friends Bolaire, Murray, and Julien.

MARISHA: Pew, pew, pew, pew.

BRENNAN: As we move forward in time to the end of the funeral. Many of the last fires have died down to ember. Many of the guests have left. I think, Hal, I don't know who would still be, basically who would still be here to help clean up at the end: Shadia, Olgud?

LIAM: It would be members of the troop.

BRENNAN: Yeah. I think if you're looking at members of the troop, it's Olgud. There's a much older woman here, Niveda, who's helping, looking around and saying: "Absolutely darling time that you all had here. It's been so tragic, you know? I think theater is at its best when--" She's got this hair tied up in this gorgeous to-do. It's all black but it's a lot of frills and puffed shoulders and just goes, "I've always thought that the theater was at its best when there was a skosh of a criminal element, and to think that Thjazi won't be around anymore. Let me help with these platters." Goes to gather them up.

LIAM: Well, we are one inch removed from my brother's world. I eye Vaelus, who's still here with just the closest people to the family still here and trickling out, Just permit me a few more moments. I'd really like to get over the whole strangers thing. One second. Hero, honey.

BRENNAN: Hero comes over to you, as you see Elodie is preparing to leave as well. Hero comes over and goes, "Dad?"

LIAM: Do you have your lyre?

BRENNAN: "Yeah. Do you want me to get it? I can go get it."

LIAM: Yeah, grab it.

BRENNAN: She runs over and grabs a small lyre, brings it over. Elodie stands near the door but seeing this, takes a seat and smiles.

AABRIA: I'm trying to pass off a platter of cranberry rolls to Elodie.

BRENNAN: Elodie goes, "Oh, I couldn't."

AABRIA: No, I insist. I insist.

BRENNAN: She looks and sees stacks of cranberry rolls and goes, "I'll bring them."

AABRIA: Thank you.

BRENNAN: "I'll take them."

AABRIA: Thank you.

BRENNAN: "I'll throw these out."

LIAM: I look around at the last few people in the room and taking in you as I say this: I find it pretty appropriate that my brother's last day is as full of drama as it was, in death even as in life. I think tensions ran hot in our home today and there are many things I could say but instead, I'll let my daughter and I speak in a way that's best for Thjazi. And I grab my own lyre from off of a mantelpiece here. Hero, play "Broken Wing." And Hero starts to play quietly on a lyre a song that is familiar to anyone who was around for the Falconer's Rebellion. It was played in taverns and halls and military tents early in that conflict when people were hopeful for the change that was being sought after in the Falconer's Rebellion. And as Hero, my youngest, begins to play the main melody of that song, Hal harmonizes and plays around her on his. I taught her how to play. We've played for many years together.

BRENNAN: As the song lilts, you see Loza Blade still here waiting for Teor's return, who fought and was Thjazi's commander in the Falconer's Rebellion, a stand taken in this world by the brave and just when they realized that a world that had risen up against the tyranny of the gods had in the span of a few short generations replaced that tyranny with ones of their own devising. And Loza, a woman who does not do this lightly, does not actually shed a tear but you see her eyes water as she looks at Thjazi, another name added to a long list of people that she's had to say goodbye to, and here in this place with family surrounding, the song picks up and she hums along to it. Its meaning has changed over the years from what it meant at the beginning, to what it meant at the end, to what it means now.

LIAM: I think as Hal supports his daughter's playing through his own plucking of the lyre strings, he uses Thaumaturgy to dim every light in the house down low and lower to nothing except for one that rests close to Thjazi and to Loza so that light is shared between the two of them as the world falls away in the heart of that song.

BRENNAN: As the song plays, I'd actually love for there to be some other people who get to hear you play this song because I think it will mean a lot to them. I'd love to have our friends come join us who are returning from The Tanners.

AABRIA: Where are you going?

ASHLEY: I'm moving in because I don't like it on the end. Okay, you want to sit next to your boy?

AABRIA: Oh, hi. This fucking die.

LIAM: Which means--

ASHLEY: I'm going to stay.

AABRIA: I'm not a bully.

LIAM: Which means they're entering a very darkened home with only the body of Thjazi lit.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Do you have enough room?

AABRIA: I appreciate it.

ASHLEY: I'm always moving. I should have told you. I should have brought it up.

AABRIA: Next time, we'll do better. Calm down.

ALEXANDER: Everything I'm doing is so loud.

AABRIA: (laughs)

LIAM: Full table.

BRENNAN: Full table.

LIAM: Full table.

BRENNAN: Full table.

AABRIA: Look at all the people!

LAURA: Hey.

AABRIA: Yeah, hi.

BRENNAN: Walking back from The Tanners, all of you have just met Kattigan Vale again after many years being apart from each other. You reviewed the attack on Thjazi and Thimble's hiding place, found crow feathers worn as garment left, bodies removed, a glass, essentially holder, container; for an artifact shattered, the Stone of Nightsong gone. Thimble, you have with you a letter about slightly larger than your body with you with the name "Bolaire" on it. As you return to The Rookery, Thimble, you've been to Hal's home many times, but you will be the last guest to arrive at Thjazi's funeral. As all of you move up, you begin to hear and Azune, Teor, Thimble and Kattigan, you hear two lyres playing. Occtis, give me an insight check if you'd be so kind.

ALEXANDER: Oh boy, I'm not good at those.

AABRIA: You can do it.

LIAM: Put your back into it.

TRAVIS: (laughs) Thank you.

ALEXANDER: Eight.

BRENNAN: Eight. Occtis, you are unable to read the cause of the shift that happens now as all of your companions, all of whom fought in the Falconer's Rebellion hear this song and know what it means as they approach Hal's home at the top of The Rookery. Moving into the home, all of you see a shift, light and you see Loza and Thjazi laid out on the table. Dimly lit in shadow, Hal and Hero are playing on their lyres and you see Loza near Thjazi's body. But as you enter, you can see surrounded candles and light and treasures and beloved artifacts all around. Thimble, you see Thjazi for the first time.

LAURA: No. No. I'll fly over and land on his chest. (sighs) You stupid fuck. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Thaz, I-- (sobs) I ruined it. (sniffles) And (sniffles) I'll walk up his chest and (sniffles) place my hand on his chin. What am I going to do without you? (sighs) (sobs) I'm so sorry, Hal.

LIAM: The song winds its way to the end and all the light in the room slowly begins to rise to full. I wasn't sure if I'd see you today.

LAURA: (huffs, sniffles)

LIAM: You all right?

LAURA: (sniffles) I missed it all. (sobs) And I look up and I see you. I fly up in the air and my light starts to glow. Was this you? Did you do this? And I'll fly over, I'll get right in your face. Did you bring those people?

ASHLEY: No.

AABRIA: What people?

ASHLEY: I don't know what you're talking about. I had nothing to do with this.

LAURA: You came for that. You came for your stupid stone!

ASHLEY: I did, and I will get it. You took it from me. It doesn't belong to you. It doesn't belong to him. It belongs to me.

LAURA: It doesn't belong--

ASHLEY: I am very sorry.

LAURA: -- to anyone now. It's gone.

ASHLEY: What do you mean it's gone?

LAURA: And I'll fly back over and I'll stand on Thaz.

ALEXANDER: There was-- Some people broke in and ransacked the place.

AABRIA: Are you okay?

ALEXANDER: Before we got there.

ASHLEY: I'm going to insight check.

BRENNAN: Yeah, go for it.

ASHLEY: Make sure they're not lying.

BRENNAN: Five people walking into a room is a lot of people to get a story straight with. I think you would take the words as true.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LIAM: I want to insight check her as she's insight checking if she had anything to do with Thjazi's death.

BRENNAN: Go for it.

ALEXANDER: I dare you to read that die. (laughter)

LIAM: Yeah. I couldn't tell. I can't. Sorry I made fun of you for your dice all these years.

ASHLEY: (mocking) Oh no, you can't read! (laughter)

TRAVIS: A vicious full circle presents itself.

LIAM: It's just a 14.

ASHLEY: It's okay. I have more I can't read. Give it time.

BRENNAN: Just a 14.

ROBBIE: Eight hard years of spite.

BRENNAN: It's hard to say, but I think in this moment, it occurs to you, Thaisha, as that song rose up, that nightingale song, you still hear, and you know it's only in your mind that you can hear it. As you speak in this moment to each other, I think the song has diminished, but its last echo as the lights come up. You see for Teor and Azune and Kattigan, who allow this moment to play out. Maybe you guys stand over closer to Loza, who looks at all of you. Loza doesn't sit, literally doesn't meet-- She gives you one moment of eye contact, corner of a smile, and slides this massive knuckled hand over your shoulders and brings you in under the crook of her arm, and at the end of the song, goes, "I can still hear the falcons cry. (sniffles)" Hal, as you look up, I think, as you walk back to land again on Thjazi's chest, Thimble, you look under his chest and you see there's a couple different necklaces. A lot of thieves and scoundrels, you know, collected little bits of jewelry from here and there, but you see that his silver necklace is kind of bunched up that has his old wedding ring on it, that he was wearing around his neck, and I think there's a moment where, Hal, you're standing nearby and you just remember being in a tiny little tower room of Castle Royce, two young guys, orcish commoners from Dol-Makjar in this nobles' wedding, and your brother dressed in (laughs) gifted finery looking at you and being like, "I'm nervous. I don't know why I'm so nervous. I can't. (stammers) N-n-none of this fits. I'm getting a noble's coat on loan from my fiancee's family." And a knock at the door and her hand over her face, the Lady Aranessa going, "I'm not looking, I'm not looking." Your brother looking, saying, "I can't see you. I can still see you right now if you cover your eyes, and she's like, "I don't know how it works. I've never been married before." Holding this gorgeous flower that looks like it's either foxglove or prickle poppy, this gorgeous flower, and she says, "In our tradition, I'm supposed to-- It's for you. It's a wedding gift. You should have it before the ceremony. And the flower opens. (poof) And with that ring on a little table beside Thimble, for the very first time in the mortal world (poof) looking much different than she does today, appeared in that moment as Thjazi looks down at you and goes, "Hi."

LAURA: Oh, hi.

BRENNAN: "Sorry, the fairy's a gift? I don't agree with any of this."

LAURA: You know, I think it's kind of weird myself, but.

BRENNAN: "Do you want to be a gift? You don't have to be a gift if you don't want to be a gift."

LIAM: Just shut up and say thank you.

BRENNAN: "Thank you. Thank you to you, frankly. I don't know--" and you see-- (laughter)

BRENNAN: And Aranessa says, "Of course it's not like that! It's just, she's free. If you wish, then you marrying into the family have the protection of the fae, and as our family has enjoyed, Thimble is a warrior fairy from the gardens."

LAURA: I can kill a bunch of mice in your house. Also, I'm really good at braiding hair. (nervous laugh)

BRENNAN: Thjazi goes, "Is that related? Are those skills from one and the same-- No, you know what? Now, here's what you really need to do. You need to catch a bunch of mice, braid their hair, keep everybody here on their toes."

LAURA: We can do that?

BRENNAN: "We can do anything."

LAURA: I look at the Lady Aranessa. I think I'm going to really like it here. I'm going to really like him. And I'll fly over and land on his shoulder.

BRENNAN: Lands on your shoulder and says, "Are they giving you a little outfit, too?"

LAURA: I don't like this stupid dress, so if we can get something different, I'd be thrilled.

BRENNAN: "We'll go to a dollhouse upstairs and see what they got." (laughter)

LIAM: Over my shoulder to Aranessa, I say: I think you just bought yourself a lot of trouble.

BRENNAN: "Oh god. Everything about this is ill-advised." As you hear her in this memory, "Everything about this is ill-advised," You're just looking at the stubble on his face, the ring on the necklace. You remember that first little, the whole wedding was delayed because he wanted to get you something from the dollhouse that you would enjoy wearing before you had to go down the aisle.

LAURA: Touch the ring. We have to make this right and nothing's ever going to be right again. I don't know how to do it.

ALEXANDER: Occtis walks up next to the body. We'll figure it out. We can figure it out. Figure out what went wrong.

LAURA: You grew up.

ALEXANDER: Ah. I guess so did you, although you're not any bigger.

AABRIA: I think I take that opportunity to make eye contact with Azune and Teor and just, not wordlessly, but as quietly as possible to hold space for this moment: Do you know what happened? We had a plan.

LUIS: I look to Teor, and I look back towards you, Thaisha, and I just give you a nod. And it was Hal's music playing with his daughter. Although it stopped, it's still sort of, I can still feel it in my ears, and I look over to Hal and suddenly I remember myself in a way in Hal's home, and with that music lingering and this very unexpected reunion of people that I met so many years ago, part of this rebellion, this fire that Thjazi had lit, (huffs) and I remember. Something about that look in Thaisha's face. (exhales) All the different ways that this could've gone wrong, and I walk towards Thjazi. And you're still on him? Thimble, I'm so sorry, but I need to check him. I need to see if the thing that pinged from me is still on him so I can compare it to the one that we found with you.

LAURA: I'll fly up in the air and hover about a foot above his body.

LUIS: And I, as carefully as I can, I turn him over because my understanding is that it pinged in his back pocket, so I search for that which, that thing that pinged.

LAURA: I'll light up and try to go down to where Azune's looking and see if I can light up any area that.

LUIS: I'll start to search him, and with you nearby, I do turn to you and I say: I'm sorry, Thimble. I lied to you earlier and I feel really badly about it. The moments that I had with Thjazi, they went by so fast, there wasn't much time for him to say anything to me about anybody, and I just saw how hurt you were when you realized what had happened and I just couldn't bear it, so I just wanted you to feel a little bit better.

LAURA: It's okay.

LUIS: And I'll go back to searching.

LIAM: Hal is struck by how thick the air in this room is with history and how his brother was something different to every person in this room. I can even tell those I've never met before today have a story with my brother, and that story has come to a close.

BRENNAN: You reach into the back area of his coat. Give me an investigation check.

LUIS: That is a 19.

BRENNAN: Small inseam pocket. You know that there would be-- You can see in and see where the stitching would've been cut, one of the hems of the coat, you could slip and drop something in to this hidden pocket in the back of the coat. You reach in on a 19 and pull out what looks like a small cheap piece of ceramic. It has something scrawled on it, but it doesn't look-- it's not what Thimble made. And it's still registering to you that residue of magic that was on it. Give me an arcana check.

ALEXANDER: Standing there as well, can I?

BRENNAN: Go ahead, yeah. Each of you give me an arcana roll. We'll call it difficulty of, I want to say 13.

LUIS: Can I, since this is intentional, can I Guidance myself--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: -- on this check? Thanks. Let's get more dice out.

BRENNAN: Huh--

ALEXANDER: 27.

BRENNAN: 27.

AABRIA: Let's go, fucking wizard.

ALEXANDER: I have one thing. (laughter)

ASHLEY: I have one thing.

TRAVIS: It is now.

LUIS: It is now. It is, for me, a total of 13.

BRENNAN: 13. You look at it. This just doesn't look carefully made.

LUIS: I think I'm lost in how this was my part of the assignment and I believed this to be the right thing, and now I'm faced with this fake.

BRENNAN: You're looking at it. This is an extremely well-constructed forgery. What you notice is the physical craft of this is careless; the magical craft of it is very careful, almost like someone knew there would be no safe way to actually visibly see the object. But the magical wards around it, you can feel the hum of magic off of it, and it's illusion and conjuration, which was exactly what Thjazi needed to be able to make his escape, but you, on that 27, peer at that illusion. Oh. That's a perfect cover because the conjuration is illusion, too.

AABRIA: Yeah.

ALEXANDER: Hmm.

BRENNAN: And anyone that would've been looking for illusion would've found it and they didn't have to work very hard to hide this. This is a magical aura warping that will fade come morning.

ALEXANDER: Azune, you, at least for your part, didn't fuck up. It's exactly what you were looking for. It's just the illusion you were looking for is, in fact, an illusion.

LUIS: How perfect.

ALEXANDER: It's meant to fool you.

LAURA: Somebody betrayed us.

LUIS: Somebody did betray us and I have a hunch. There's only two people in our group that are unaccounted for: Cyd and Casimir.

LAURA: They didn't show up. They didn't show up to the execution?

ALEXANDER: Cyd never, well, obviously he didn't make it to the car that Cyd was driving, so Cyd never showed up for us.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

LUIS: Casimir was a member of the Crow Keepers. This clearly was a setup by someone who knew our plan. They knew every step of what everyone's involvement was going to be.

LAURA: They knew where I was going to be.

ALEXANDER: Yeah, there were feathers in the house.

LUIS: They found feathers. Well, Kattigan found them.

ROBBIE: Oh.

AABRIA: Does your-- need water? I just point at the giant wolf, I guess, just in here that no one said anything about!

ROBBIE: Yeah, Kattigan's made his way over to a chair, and he's just scrounged up the last bit of meats, and he's sitting there eating meat, watching this drama unfold, slowly flicking pieces to Wulferic, his wolf, in the corner. Yeah. No, he's all right.

AABRIA: Yeah, okay.

ROBBIE: He gets his own water.

AABRIA: Oh, what do you-- I want to just look at the wolf.

ROBBIE: Oh okay.

AABRIA: Is this just a normal wolf? What am I looking at? Druid to dog. What is happening here?

ROBBIE: Yeah, he is dog. Yeah, he's a wolf. A gray wolf, black fur. He is adorned with armor and a cowl. If you're looking for anything that would stand out on him, he has an empty quiver on his hip that's got nothing in it. But the one thing that you would notice right away is that there's a bracer on his front paw. And where a physical paw would be, there's nothing. And there's this tangible projection of a paw. So in essence, he has a magical prosthetic.

AABRIA: Beam paw?

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

AABRIA: Oh, it's really cool.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

AABRIA: This is stupid, so I'll do it. I'm going to burn a spell. I'm going to cast Speak with Animals.

BRENNAN: Oh, you cast Speak with Animals?

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: As you cast Speak with Animals here, you see a powerful-- Give me, actually, a religion or a nature--

AABRIA: Why does he have me roll? (gasps)

ALEXANDER: Oh! Aha, aha.

AABRIA: We're back, (high five) natural 20.

BRENNAN: Natural 20?

AABRIA: Yes!

ALEXANDER: I fucking gave you that die.

AABRIA: Thank you! (laughter)

BRENNAN: As you attempt to speak with this animal, a potent magical bond between Kattigan and Wulferic. I'll put it this way. On a nat 20, if you attempt to speak with Wulferic in this moment, it'll be the second potent magical thing you have touched this evening.

AABRIA: Goddamn it.

TRAVIS: The first one went so well. (laughter)

ASHLEY: Do it again.

AABRIA: I learned nothing. It's literally just a-- Are you good, do you want a cranberry roll?

BRENNAN: Of course, I think with Speak with Animals, because you're also, I think you cast Speak with Animals on yourself, correct?

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: So I think that, as you say, "Are you good?" I think that Wulferic just looks back to you and keeps the counsel of his constant companion. Not in a disrespectful way, but in a way that is like, I don't know, that you're like: Wulferic may not be wild in the ways that a typical animal that you would speak to would be. There is something that he is within that is potent and magical.

AABRIA: I want to, yeah, sniff out the bond between the two of you because I spend time with Occtis, and I know the bond between him and Pin. This is something very different. And she'll just linger in the connection of it. And then the last thing before she shuts it off is just: If you need something, don't go in the kitchen. We've already done that. A demon did that earlier. Why am I telling you? I'm going to stop. And I just shut it off.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

TRAVIS: You said my brother's name. Cyd was working with you?

ROBBIE: Yes.

TRAVIS: How long has he been a part of your plan to try and save Thjazi?

ALEXANDER: How long?

BRENNAN: Just for the past two weeks. because Thjazi got arrested two weeks ago.

ALEXANDER: Oh, for about two weeks, yeah.

TRAVIS: And he has been a reliable measure in this?

ALEXANDER: You say that like we-- That's surprising to you?

TRAVIS: It's been years since I've seen my brother, but dependable is not always a word I would use to describe him.

ALEXANDER: Good, glad we brought him on board.

TRAVIS: Perhaps things have changed, but you must be as alarmed as I am to not see him here.

LUIS: Yes.

AABRIA: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Yep.

LUIS: And you haven't seen him since you've entered?

TRAVIS: It's been years, no.

BRENNAN: Loza, who's right by your side as well, goes, "(grunts) Casimir was a young mercenary in the Torn Banner. You know, quiet type. I never knew Cas that well. By the time Cas joined up, I was already the commander. I know that Cas was-- He wasn't in Thjazi's unit either, but he worked the mess. So I think he knew everybody. Thjazi struck up a friendship with him there." Looks over and goes, "Cyd. I know when Cyd left, he headed west for Dol-Makjar, and I knew-- We'd had a problem with Cyd in the past. I mean, there were certain things that we weren't supposed to steal, you know? You win a battle. There are certain things that you can take as seized contraband and there are certain things that you have to leave. And Cyd was, this was a long time ago, Cyd was much younger, but I found him with stuff on him that he wasn't supposed to have."

TRAVIS: He had sticky fingers.

LAURA: Yeah, nothing wrong with sticky fingers.

ALEXANDER: Who brought him in?

AABRIA: That.

ALEXANDER: Because I don't know anyone, so wasn't me.

AABRIA: And how related were you to the planning of all of this?

LAURA: Super related.

AABRIA: Okay.

LAURA: I know everything about it.

LAURA and AABRIA: (chuckle)

LIAM: Start at step one and elaborate all the way to the end.

LAURA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Thimble, I think you had almost no time to put this together.

LAURA: I didn't have anything to do with it. (laughter)

LAURA: I was busy!

ALEXANDER: Sorry, wait.

TRAVIS: This is a wild change of story.

LAURA: But I would've known when Cyd came on board, right?

BRENNAN: Yeah, I think, Thimble, that the--

LAURA: Casimir's the one that I feel the least sure about out of all of this.

BRENNAN: Cyd was way closer to Thjazi than Casimir was.

LAURA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: The reason you had to use Casimir is that Casimir is a smuggler. He could get a wagon with a trick compartment. He could get you something on a road out. The plan was you get the glyph to Thjazi. Thjazi has a way to basically Misty Step through the wall into the hidden compartment of the wagon. Casimir was not going to be able to show up with the wagon, but Cyd worked as a driver. That was like his above, as like a coach, wagon driver. So he was going to get the wagon into position where it would be within that short distance through the wall, drive on out of there. And Occtis and Thaisha were going to not be anywhere near the execution because they're highly visible. Thaisha's a member of the Circle of Ancients. Occtis is a member of the House Tachonis. But that would be an asset getting out of the city if you weren't near the execution anymore.

LAURA: Did anyone check on the wagon?

ALEXANDER: We never saw it.

LUIS: The wagon never arrived.

LAURA: The wagon wasn't there? You're sure? Cyd was never there?

LUIS: I wasn't there. That would be the two of you that were at that post.

LAURA: But what about the waiting point? The wagon never showed up to you, but was Cyd ever in the place that he was supposed to be?

AABRIA: I don't know, we were supposed to stay far enough away that--

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: Azune, you would know that there would've been Revolutionary Guard within sight of that area of the wall. You can potentially check in with your fellow Arcane Marshals or guard members.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: It's middle of the night right now.

LUIS: Right.

BRENNAN: But tomorrow, you'd be able to say, "Did anybody see a wagon pull up to this point?"

LUIS: As that light bulb goes off, I'll turn to Teor. I can check in with the Arcane Marshals. I know people that had eyes where we expected Cyd to be. If you have another way, another lead to follow to search for your brother tonight, I will go with you. But if you don't, then we can wait until tomorrow morning when I can speak to someone that can give us some information.

TRAVIS: That would be best.

LAURA: And I should check in with the thieves' guild, see if Casimir--

ALEXANDER: Right.

BRENNAN: Loza says, "I think that's a good idea, Thimble, but if you're going to check on the thieves' guild, make sure that you are checking on them with some friends in tow. I don't know the city, I haven't been in Dol-Makjar." You see, here she turns you, Teor, and says, "I've had a long night here. Dol-Makjar, Teor, is-- The Grey Tower is asleep at the wheel. I mean, we've known for-- When the Revolutionary Council failed to come to the aid of the Falconer's Rebellion, we knew that things had become bad, but even in the last 12 years, it's worse. The council's asleep at the wheel. The Sundered Houses have moved in this Chamber of the Lords-Advisory."

ALEXANDER: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "The only voice slowing that-- they've passed laws against using magic in the marketplace. The only voice within the Sundered Houses that's been any kind of voice for moderation or slowing things down has been House Royce. And I spoke to Lady Aranessa during the funeral. She was made to wait for four hours, and then wasn't allowed an audience with the House of Halovar. Speaking of which, I made a little inroad for you with the kid. The shiny--"

LIAM: Wicander.

ALEXANDER: Oh.

BRENNAN: "Wicander. He's a total fool? Nincompoop?"

AABRIA: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: Can be, yeah.

AABRIA: All good words.

BRENNAN: "Well, he's a lamb amongst lions. I got a bead on the kid. I asked if he required any security, mercenary aid with this presence in the city and Thjazi's execution, et cetera. So he seemed amenable to meeting with you tomorrow if you want to go check on him and see if there's any potential lead there. Halovar is in this. I wouldn't trust, no offense, kid, the Tachonis.

ALEXANDER: No, I get it.

BRENNAN: "But Halovar is in it, but maybe doesn't care as much about Thjazi as the Tachonis do."

ALEXANDER: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "Whatever happens, if you're trying to run down The Crow Keepers to see what they know, just make sure you don't go alone."

LAURA: Do we know, do the Crow Keepers wear feathers? Do they do a whole crow fucking thing?

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Is that their vibe?

ALEXANDER: Are they birds?

LAURA: Are they just birds?

BRENNAN: They do a bunch of bird--

AABRIA: Do you imagine someone-- wearing feathers?

BRENNAN: -- themed performance art.

LAURA: This is just like--

BRENNAN: Go ahead and give me--

LIAM: (caws) I stole your shit.

ALEXANDER: I'm a bird that solves crimes.

BRENNAN: Do me a favor, you can give me either insight or history. And you can do it with advantage because this is about your criminal network in the city.

LAURA: All right.

LIAM: Let's go.

AABRIA: Come on now.

LAURA: All right, that's-- Let me double-check with my history is.

AABRIA: That's good.

LAURA: I didn't do shit I didn't do history, I did investigation. My history's shit.

BRENNAN: Got you, investigation, great. Yeah, you've been living in the city for years, where you would probably want to head to, I think that the Crow Keepers are all over. They are the oldest thieves' guild in Dol-Makjar, which means that they're, in a weird way, they're actually not the most dangerous. Hotheaded, kill-people thieves' guilds don't typically have a long shelf life.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You know what I mean? These are guys that have a code of conduct. There's a kind of honor amongst--

ALEXANDER: Mafia, yeah, yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: Yeah. There's an honor amongst thieves. There's a tavern in Caravan Hill called The Guard Tower.

LAURA: Okay.

BRENNAN: Depending on the time that you go, by the time you got there, it's very unlikely that anyone important or knowledgeable would be there. It would probably be almost closed down for the night. If you go tomorrow night, it'll be jumping.

LAURA: Right.

BRENNAN: If you go tomorrow during the day, that's actually typically when most of the Crows Keepers are there. They work at night. So during the day, they're at The Guard Tower, getting a meal for free because they protect that place. You know, drinking for free, talking to each other, settling up accounts from the previous night.

LAURA: Okay.

TRAVIS: You mentioned the Grey Tower before. That's the point of power in Dol-Makjar.

BRENNAN: Yes, that's the hall of the Revolutionary Guard.

TRAVIS: Got it.

BRENNAN: The Revolutionary Council, I should say. That Crow Keeper tavern in Caravan Hill is where you'd want to go.

LAURA: Okay.

ALEXANDER: I have one slight concern about us in this conversation we're having right now.

TRAVIS: Just one?

ALEXANDER: Well, who are you? We're just talking about all this stuff, and I don't know who you are.

AABRIA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: I push myself off of the wall after hearing all of this and seeing all of this emotion. So hello, I am Vaelus of the Sisters of Sylandri.

ALEXANDER: Okay. Don't know who that is.

ASHLEY: How sad for you. So what I am gathering here is you tried to stop the execution of Thjazi?

LAURA: You gathered that much?

ASHLEY: Well, I gathered a lot more. I haven't finished just yet.

AABRIA: Okay.

ASHLEY: Mainly I'm here, I just need one thing. So I am trying to find that one thing that was stolen.

ALEXANDER: All right, yes.

ASHLEY: And that is the Stone of Nightsong. And it was taken.

LAURA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Possibly by the Crow Keepers? Possibly your brother?

TRAVIS: Potentially.

LAURA: How did you find us?

ASHLEY: I was trying to find Thjazi. I wasn't looking for any of you. I was trying to find him to take back something that was mine.

LAURA: How did you find our home?

ASHLEY: I was told.

LAURA: By who?

ASHLEY: I am not going to say.

AABRIA: Well, why not? We are your best chance of getting that back.

TRAVIS: There's only friends in here.

AABRIA: A little trust. You've had our cranberry rolls. Please take some more.

ALEXANDER: I actually haven't had one yet.

LAURA: Who did you tell we had it? How did they know we had it? Whoever was looking for that stone ruined everything. Fuck, I don't know. Maybe they just took it. They might not even been looking for the stone. They took everything!

AABRIA: What do you mean?

LAURA: They took everything in the hideout.

ASHLEY: Where is the hideout?

AABRIA: We're not incentivized to tell you that. That's how information works. Give some and get some.

TRAVIS: It's also not that much of use to us now either.

BRENNAN: Loza looks over at you, and I think makes eye contact with you, Thimble, and goes, "The stone. Were there any wishes for it that Thjazi had before he died? In other words, and I know it's your stone, but I'm saying: Thimble, is there a reason left to you to cling on to this stone or is it something that the use of it has left us along with Thjazi?"

LAURA: I have a letter. I don't know.

BRENNAN: "I understand. It seems like you don't very much like being here amongst these people that were a friend of someone who stole from you. And it seems like the stone may not be exactly near and dear to our hearts. Things are rotten in Dol-Makjar right now. There's no need for us to be at cross-purposes. Sounds like we have a conversation on the horizon with these Crow Keepers. And you might be on that same side of that conversation as us."

ASHLEY: I agree.

BRENNAN: "How are you with that censer?"

ASHLEY: Great.

BRENNAN: "All right." She looks and says, "It's late. We're in Hal's home. I think it's time we said good night."

TRAVIS: Thank you for your, I would say hospitality, but thank you for giving us a place to gather.

LIAM: I know my brother would be glad to have you here today.

TRAVIS: We will follow up in the morning.

ASHLEY: I'm going to go over to Thimble.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

ASHLEY: May I speak with you privately?

LAURA: I'll fly up the stairs.

LUIS: As that happens, I'd like to go over to Kattigan and I say to Kattigan: I need a word with you, please.

ROBBIE: All right.

ALEXANDER: I sit down in one of the chairs in whatever room we're in and from behind the chair comes Pin, walks around and I go: You keep an eye on her. My vision goes into Pin's and he's going to follow Vaelus up the stairs.

BRENNAN: Cool.

ASHLEY: I'm very sorry. I can see that you cared about this person very much. I'm not here to hurt any of you.

LAURA: You didn't do this?

ASHLEY: No, I did not. I try as much as I can to show her that I am not the person that caused his death. I'm not the bad guy here. This was something that was taken from me. I think we're on the same side. Someone who did let me in the city, his name is Bolaire.

LAURA: (forced exhale) Him.

ASHLEY: Hm. (sighs) I look down and I see Pin, give him a wink.

ALEXANDER: In the living room you just hear: Shit. (chuckling)

AABRIA: Did she notice the fox following?

LAURA: (laughs)

ALEXANDER: Shut up. (chuckling)

ASHLEY: Anyway, I know you were there when the stone was taken, but I also know you were a gift and you probably didn't have a choice.

LAURA: I have free will.

ASHLEY: You do?

LAURA: Yeah. What do you think? I fly up. You're an elf.

ASHLEY: Yes.

LAURA: You know our history.

ASHLEY: I do.

LAURA: Better than me, probably. Thjazi was great. He didn't keep me: he was my partner. We were equals. Can you believe that? Equals. (breathy laugh) I'm sorry I took your stone. I'm sorry it's lost.

ASHLEY: It's fine. I will find it again.

LAURA: What do you even need it-- I don't fucking care.

ALEXANDER: Pin walks up, being seen, walks up and stands underneath where Thimble has flown up and just kind of sits.

LAURA: Hi, Occtis. (laughs)

BRENNAN: Give me a perception check with advantage in this moment--

ASHLEY: Okay.

BRENNAN: -- if you would, for Vaelus.

AABRIA: Let's go.

ASHLEY: Ooh!

ALEXANDER: Ooh!

ASHLEY: Okay. (mumbled math)

AABRIA: Let's go.

BRENNAN: 23. Vaelus, you look down and see this strange little fox walks in that's stitched together. It's a little undead thing.

ASHLEY: I am going to crouch down next to it.

LIAM: (poofs)

ALEXANDER, AABRIA, and ASHLEY: (laugh)

ASHLEY: Where'd it go? (laughter)

ALEXANDER: Now that you've--

ASHLEY: Wait!

ALEXANDER: -- crouched down next to this fox, you see that its front right leg is of a red fox, but most of it is an arctic fox. It's got little patches. One of its ears is from a red fox. It's mixed of different pieces of foxes, but its eyes are two purple buttons--

LAURA: (surprised laugh)

ALEXANDER: -- and it has a purple scarf around its neck. But it's looking at you. You can tell it sees you, but its eyes aren't real.

ASHLEY: What a beautiful creature.

BRENNAN: We move from upstairs. Look downstairs, Loza, you see Hal, it's getting about time for the night to be called. You see just with the fellow members of the former members of the Torn Banner, Kattigan, Azune, and Teor, you see Loza goes, "For this meeting with Halovar tomorrow, would you like company on the way there or do you prefer to do that alone?"

TRAVIS: I think it would be best if you stay clear of this. See what we can scrounge up on our own.

BRENNAN: She nods. She looks over to you, Thaisha. She invites you over to stand a little closer. Goes, "Tomorrow, I am retiring. I'm headed west to Dol-Rungja."

AABRIA: Oh.

BRENNAN: "Is there anything you want me to tell Grandmama when I see her out there?"

AABRIA: God.

BRENNAN: "She was always a peach to me. The whole Blade family, you Lloys always looked after us."

AABRIA: No. Tell her-- No, it's okay. I've got this. Go be incredibly old together. You have earned it.

BRENNAN: "The fact that you have compared me to the advanced age of your--"

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "We say grandma, but it's not grandma."

AABRIA: It's not grandma. There are so many generations. But she looks great. You should be more jealous of that.

BRENNAN: "Man, when they call it the Circle of Ancients, they're really not kidding."

AABRIA: Yeah. Yeah.

BRENNAN: She looks and says-- Leans in looking over the shoulder at Occtis and she narrows her eyes and says, "The Tachonis kid. Do the Ancients know you're working with--" You she stops herself before she says "one of them."

AABRIA: Yeah. Immediate: No. Thjazi needed something. That fucking box from Venatus. We were thrown together, but he's a good kid.

BRENNAN: "All right. If you say so. I trust your insight. I just-- (sighs) That little dead fox running around, it seems like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

AABRIA: Yeah. Problem is, every noble family, these Sundered Houses, whatever's happening here will come for the rest. We're running out of friends, so I--

BRENNAN: "I'd say we're running out of time."

AABRIA: -- made some new ones.

ALEXANDER: Eyes completely whited out as, just sitting in a chair, all my senses are in Pin.

AABRIA: He's so fucking weird.

BRENNAN: You see the old belle dame of the theater is like, "I always find it distasteful when a gentleman doesn't help when there's cleaning going on." (laughter)

BRENNAN: Just pitched back. You see-- "You can tell he's a noble, he's not lifting a finger." You see Loza looks back over at Kattigan specifically and goes, "You've been all right?"

ROBBIE: Well. Yeah, I've been just peachy. How about you? You look a little worse for wear these days.

AABRIA: Everyone says that to you. Maybe take the note.

BRENNAN: "Now I can't discipline her, all right? Her family built the swords that killed the god of war. You, on the other hand, I will smack at a funeral, no questions asked."

ROBBIE: No, I know. I heard it. I just took an opening. (laughter)

BRENNAN: You see, she just smiles and says, "Azune, it's good to see you."

LUIS: It's good to see you, too.

BRENNAN: "I'm headed west to green vines, wide orchards. My family's old farm. Would do me good to know that the Banner was still looking out for each other." Here she reaches and says, "Here, let's head to the inn. We'll head on out." I think as you step out, Teor, she reaches into a interior lining as she's walking with you and says, "I'll head out before you wake tomorrow. I'll get out before first light," and hands a small scroll case to you. You've seen it amongst her effects for a long time, but she passes it to you. "It's been 12 years since we had to disband as a condition of our, what do they call it? Amnesty or clemency. So we disbanded. But I could never get rid of it." You see she opens it up, and you see tattered and threadbare, half of a banner. (breathy awed noises)

TRAVIS: This-- You've had this on your person this entire time? Who would you like me to make sure this gets to?

BRENNAN: "I'm looking at him."

AABRIA: Oh.

ROBBIE: Kattigan laughs and just claps Teor on the back and makes his way toward Thjazi's coffin while they finish their conversation.

TRAVIS: I--

BRENNAN: "I don't know that it'll ever fly again. But I know of everyone who would know if the time ever came. There are things, gifts of yours, Teor, that you have, that I know I can't explain and I bet you can't, either. Just hold onto it. I just--" You see, she looks over at all of the treasures around Thjazi's body. "Some things have to go into the shadow, and some things are so important that even in darkness they can't be thrown away."

TRAVIS: Thank you for everything. I hope the vines of the west propel you with their calm and their peace.

BRENNAN: "I think I'm going to go fucking crazy." (laughter)

BRENNAN: "But my knees hurt. So what can you do?" (laughter)

ASHLEY: Respect. Truth.

AABRIA: Bad knee gang. (laughter)

BRENNAN: I think as you depart, I think we'll say goodbye to our funeral here and move to the next day if that's okay.

LIAM: As Vaelus leaves--

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm. You know, I know it's cold comfort in light of you looking for your special rock, but please take some of these pastries. I really have way too many--

LAURA: (laughs)

LIAM: -- and we're not going to eat them all.

ASHLEY: I've learned for all of the years that I've been alive that sugar is very bad for you.

AABRIA: What? Aren't you immortal?

TRAVIS: Lies.

LIAM: I insist.

ASHLEY: Sort of.

AABRIA: Also, where are you going?

ASHLEY: I--

AABRIA: Do you need a place to stay?

ASHLEY: I don't have to stay here.

AABRIA: I've got you, but take the fucking-- Take the pastries and I got you.

LIAM: And I'm not offering. If you bring that level of threat into my house near my family again, I promise you you will live to regret it. Good night.

ASHLEY: Let's shake on it.

LIAM: I put a whole tray of pastries in your hand. (laughter)

ASHLEY: I start, as I walk away, I just leave the pastries on the porch--

AABRIA: Goddamn it.

ASHLEY: -- and I sit at the end of the house and I stay there outside for the night.

BRENNAN: Not needing rest, you perch in the shadows--

ASHLEY: I just watch.

BRENNAN: -- like a gargoyle observing the home. You see, I think as she steps out, Olgud, your partner, looks over at you, Hal, and goes, "If I couldn't eat sugar, I wouldn't want to live another day, let alone centuries."

LIAM: And that is what is wrong with religion. (laughter)

AABRIA: She's from the No Sugar Glade.

BRENNAN: We move from this place and I'll ask everybody except Travis to please depart from the table.

AABRIA: Yeah!

LIAM: Travis!

AABRIA: Good luck!

BRENNAN: Could we please bring Sam and Whitney to the table?

AABRIA: Yeah!

LAURA: Oh my gracious!

TRAVIS: Now the big feeling comes.

LIAM: You can fight beyond sight.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

AABRIA: If you feel a vibe, go with it. See what happens.

ALEXANDER: If you feel a tickle, that's me. (laughter)

ASHLEY: It's Pin.

LAURA: So many things!

TRAVIS: Pin! No, Pin, down!

LIAM: Oh, the taking and bringing stuff.

LAURA: I know, I know.

ASHLEY: I know, I know, I know.

LIAM: Bus your own tables, folks. (laughter)

LUIS: I can't fit.

LAURA: This is going to make me cull my dice collection for sure.

LUIS: Scootchie. All right. Woop woop woop woop!

WHITNEY: Oh.

SAM: Oh.

WHITNEY: Oh!

SAM: Oh!

WHITNEY: Oh!

BRENNAN: In the high western ward of the city of Dol-Makjar, in the neighborhood of Mirzash, the Villa Aurora, the home of the Candescent Creed, the house of Halovar, is built here in this gorgeous place. Sam, let me ask you if you have any thoughts about how your family would appoint their beautiful home here in the gray city of Dol-Makjar.

SAM: Had not thought of that, but let's just say that everything is made of white stone or, you know, off-white stone.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

SAM: (laughs) Built tall with maybe a central tower or something that has glass, sort of prismatic top to it. On top of it is the symbol of the Candescent Creed, which is sort of a C shape with rays of the sun coming out of it. Some security around the perimeter of the Villa Aurora, but not heavily super armed guards. They are serene looking with teal robes and, you know, they don't want to be scary.

BRENNAN: Gorgeous. Walking through a palatial set of windows, one of those exterior, almost like Versailles hallways, where it's enormous window, window, window. The very tops of which have, in gold-stained glass, the Candescent symbol, and then panes of sheer glass. You can see that the normal gray of Dol-Makjar. is even slightly alchemically boosted by that gold-stained glass, almost like solar lamps. So that within this, there's a little more sunlight coming in than there would otherwise be in Dol-Makjar. Walking down the hallway, to answer an appointment at the front gate, is the Aspirant Tyranny. Tyranny, as you tread the hall, by herself.

SAM: Oh great.

BRENNAN: As you tread to go, how is Tyranny feeling as she approaches the front gate?

WHITNEY: (sighs) I feel good. I mean, I think that last night, it didn't go great, but at least Wick got his scimitar, and I think everybody kind of understood that his intentions were good. I'm glad I got him out of there before he got his ass kicked by Lady Aranessa. So I feel all right.

BRENNAN: Yes.

WHITNEY: You know? It's really hot in these halls.

BRENNAN: As you are walking along with the solar heat coming from the stained glass, you hear a voice. To the side, walking out of another hallway, joins you, your towering sister, Enmity, who is flanked by your other sister, who's a little bit shorter than you, but just stunning. Ruby red lips, small pronged silvery horns, this whipping tail behind her. This is your sister, Cruelty. Cruelty turns to you and goes, "(gasps) Tyranny, how'd it go last night? I heard you had to deliver a sword."

WHITNEY: Hi, sister.

BRENNAN: "Hi."

WHITNEY: Ever bright, ever light. Right?

BRENNAN: "Sure."

WHITNEY: Hmm.

TRAVIS: (chuckles)

WHITNEY: It went okay. Yeah, w-we gave the sword. Yeah.

BRENNAN: "Oh good. I'm glad you gave it. It's so good for the Lord Wicander to show up at the funeral of someone we just executed. I'm sure it sends a clear message about where our values are. Agony, where are you?" You see that your last small sister, she doesn't look that big. You see that for being a demon has spectacles on and her white robes are much more monkish, sort of hide her figure. And she goes, "Coming!" She's got bright blue skin and goes, "(grunts)" and just hits the deck.

TRAVIS: (chuckles)

BRENNAN: And goes, "God! Ow!"

WHITNEY: Hi, Agony.

BRENNAN: "Hi. How are you doing? You okay?"

WHITNEY: Yeah, I'm okay.

BRENNAN: "Ugh." She gets up. "(sighs) I think I chipped a tooth." Enmity turns and says, "The Lord Wicander, did he acquit himself honorably at the funeral? Did he aspire to the heights of the Creed?"

WHITNEY: I mean, he sure told everybody to call him by his big boy name. He said he's sorry. I think that he feels really bad, to be honest.

BRENNAN: (Cruelty) "And he is still as devout as ever? He believes in Light?"

WHITNEY: Yeah, he believes.

TRAVIS: (chuckles)

BRENNAN: "How fun. You think that's fun, don't you? I mean, he's supposed to be the face of the house. So I mean, it's sort of lovely, in a way, that he holds true to those Tenets of the Whispered Light."

WHITNEY: Yeah, I think that it is... (sighs) I think it's really fun that he believes in something. I think that he, well, I know he's the only one, so. I don't want to touch it.

BRENNAN: "Are you nervous about--"

WHITNEY: No!

BRENNAN: Enmity says, "You feel as though your very essence shudders at the approach of some catastrophe."

WHITNEY: Listen, man, I just think that we're here to help and--

BRENNAN: "Hmm."

WHITNEY: -- think that your guys are a little bit more cut out for this kind of thing than Wick is. And (sighs) I don't... I don't--

BRENNAN: "Help who, Tyranny? Who do you imagine I'm here to help?" And Cruelty says, "Yeah, the mortal world is so much more confusing than The Pit. It's just important to keep perspective, don't you think?"

WHITNEY: Yeah, I have perspective. I'm here to help the family and get them to where they are supposed to be. (sighs)

BRENNAN: Cruelty says, "Great. Glad we're on the same page." Enmity says, "We'll leave you to your work. We have other more pressing matters, Tyranny. See that you remember," and she lowers a clawed finger and puts it right on your clavicle here, and digs in enough to draw blood that (fizzling) turns to smoke. "Remember where you are from." Her eyes glow red. "And what you are."

WHITNEY: Yeah, and by the way, I made a friend last night, as if you care, her name's Thaisha. She's really cool. She's in love, so.

BRENNAN: Agony turns around and says, "You made a friend?"

WHITNEY: Yeah, I made a friend.

BRENNAN: "Oh good. We'll be able to use her to our ends, right?"

TRAVIS: (chuckles)

BRENNAN: "Oh, sorry." Enmity says, "Agony, now, with me!" Whips around and begins to leave as Cruelty waves at you, and Agony trips on her robe. (thwacks) "(exclaims)" And clips against a shelf. "God! Ah!" Enmity swoops down with a massive clawed hand and starts to drag Agony down the hallway.

TRAVIS: Got to get her a helmet.

WHITNEY: Oh, she's so much. (sighs)

BRENNAN: Proceeding down the hallway, you arrive at the front door. The door opens, revealing Teor Pridesire with guards on either side. "Aspirant Tyranny, presenting Teor Pridesire, mercenary errant, and I believe, a compatriot of Loza Blade, a warrior of some renown here in the city of Dol-Makjar. For audience with his lordship, the bright Wicander."

WHITNEY: 'Sup.

TRAVIS: It's good to see you again.

WHITNEY: (polite chuckle) Yeah, thanks for coming to the House of the CC. May the Beam reach you.

TRAVIS: The CC?

WHITNEY: Oh yeah, the Candy Creed.

TRAVIS: The Candy Creed.

WHITNEY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Got it. Ah, the Candescent Creed.

WHITNEY: Mm-hmm.

TRAVIS: Mm. How was the rest of your evening after your departure? I take it that the Light Priest is well?

WHITNEY: He is decompressing. Ever strong. He had a really, you know, everyone had sort of a tense day, and you know, he went to his quarters. I think that, all in all, pretty good. I think. Yeah.

TRAVIS: He looked most distraught as he left. I was only wondering if perhaps a chance for conversation might alleviate any concerns he could possibly be holding onto, and maybe shed some light on how such horrible tragedies could be avoided in the future.

WHITNEY: I think he'd love that. I think he has a lot to say. Should I go get him?

TRAVIS: If you would be so kind. My time is yours.

WHITNEY: Okay. Well, I trot down. Clomp, clomp, clomp. Clomp, clomp, clomp. (knocks)

BRENNAN: We see Lord Wicander's, I suppose, offices or study. What does Wicander's work area look like?

SAM: Sure. Yes. I guess he probably has living quarters and study connected in a suite. From behind the closed doors, you hear a fumbling and a clanging. And he'll throw open the door, and you, Tyranny, noticed that his mantle is on backwards. Oh, hello, hello. Behind you, you can see his offices. There's a large desk. There's some paintings of different family members. Some busts. Scripture. Lots of scripture everywhere. Scrolls. Some handwritten, some seem more bound. And of course, behind him a large, not stained glass, but a prismatic glass window looking out into a courtyard beyond. He looks a little bit disheveled. Oh! Hello, may the Beam reach you. How, uh, what's, um, was I... What time is it?

WHITNEY: Are you okay?

SAM: Yes, I was just-- I had a rough night last night and I was... I-I barely slept. It was just such a, um, I've never had so many people angry at me before, you know?

WHITNEY: Yeah. Yeah, you almost got your ass kicked, too. It's a good thing I puked.

SAM: Yes, i-it was fortuitous that you got us out of there, but I must say, Tyranny, at a ceremony, a function like that, an Aspirant is meant to protect, observe, and obey. Always remember P-O-O.

WHITNEY: P-O-O.

SAM: Yes. Um.

WHITNEY: I'll POO. All right. Well, thank you for that wisdom, Your Radiance. It's really good to see that you are still on the ball in terms of teaching me a lesson, and I have come to bring you a message.

SAM: Oh.

WHITNEY: This really big guy that wants to see you. He's very furry and he looks like he's got really big strong hands.

SAM: Oh dear. Wait. Is this the gentleman from l-last night?

WHITNEY: Yeah, Teor?

SAM: Teor. Teor.

WHITNEY: Hey, listen, he wants to hear you out, and so I assume that you're going to say something.

SAM: He's a big strong fighter man, right?

WHITNEY: Yeah?

SAM: What do I do with that?

WHITNEY: I think that you-- Okay. I adjust his robes and I say: Okay, just take a breath and know that this is a good thing, right? Because you went in basically to the lion's den and everyone was really, really mad at you, and you managed to not get yourself or me killed, which I appreciate, and sort of just, you know, communicate that this was not to your intention. And so I think that having an audience right now--

SAM: Right.

WHITNEY: -- is a good thing. So just know--

SAM: Right. Yeah. He's probably come to, uh, to make allyship with us, knowing the strength and the reputation of the Halovars. He wants my assistance in something or wants to offer his blade to us. And, uh--

WHITNEY: Uh.

SAM: And I will gladly accept it.

WHITNEY: I--

SAM: I'll make him, I'll make him ask a few times.

WHITNEY: No, no, no.

SAM: Um, but yes.

WHITNEY: Um.

SAM: Maybe we can find him something to do. I will say this. Just always trying to be a guide to you, "Into the lion's den," might be offensive to his kind. So maybe just don't...

WHITNEY: (gasps) Oh my god.

SAM: I don't know, I don't know how their people work.

WHITNEY: You're so correct for that. And I just wanted to say before we go, "The Light is all illumination, sparks of faith."

SAM: I know.

WHITNEY: (stutters)

SAM: I'm glad that you're studying your--

WHITNEY: There's something in here about, um, there's something in here about--

BRENNAN: You both hear an enormous crash outside.

WHITNEY: Oh.

SAM: Oh, oh dear. We run out to find out what it is.

BRENNAN: Teor, outside, this place is kind of wild because it's palatial, but you see there's a huge lowering pathway, gravel stream. Everything in here is white rock, imported stone gravel you know. Looking out, you see a wagon coming up this from a lower area, underneath the palace. There's a walled drive that goes down and a large wagon that you see has the symbol, not of the Candescent Creed, but an older symbol of the House Halovar that shares some of the same iconography. It's a little bit hard to tell where the faith begins and the noble house ends.

TRAVIS: But I would recognize some of House Halovar, not as much the Candescent Creed.

BRENNAN: Yes. Comes out and you see, struggling up the driveway. You see it's heavy, it's low down on the wheels. Someone forgot to fasten the back. A crate slides out, coming up the ramp from down below, lands on someone's foot, one of the workers. As it does, you see a bone break and something shatters. And this glowing white liquid seeps out through the wooden box and badly burns their leg. They're on the ground rolling and kind of screaming.

TRAVIS: I will run over to them immediately.

BRENNAN: Goes, "(screams in pain)"

TRAVIS: Steady yourself. Can I lift this crate up with--

BRENNAN: Yes. Go ahead and give me an athletics. It's just a DC, we'll call it DC five, honestly. Just get this crate off.

TRAVIS: Yes, that is a gigantic natural 20. Wow.

SAM: Oh (chuckles).

BRENNAN: Natural 20?

WHITNEY: Ooh.

SAM: (crate whooshing)

BRENNAN: I'll say on a natural 20, if you also want to--

TRAVIS: (crate whooshing)

BRENNAN: Yeah. You toss this thing off of him. And I'll say in the same action, if you want to also, if you have any other abilities you want, you see, he's like--

TRAVIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TRAVIS: I would lift and also do a Lay on Hands, to try and do a little heal to ease some of his pain.

BRENNAN: Wick.

SAM: We run out--

BRENNAN: As you--

SAM: -- to see some of this.

BRENNAN: As you exit the door, you step out into the courtyard and see Teor Pridesire on a nat 20, single-handedly lift this crate over his head and reach down. A lion-headed emblem at his side, glows radiant with light.

SAM: Ooh.

BRENNAN: As you see light extend from his paw. (spell whooshes) And you watch this man heal an injured guard here in the courtyard. I think on that nat 20-- Nat 20 is crazy. On a nat 20, the cloudy city of Dol-Makjar, momentarily, there's a breakthrough, and the wagon and surrounding area, and Teor in particular, are bathed in sunlight in this moment as you exit the courtyard,

SAM: I was rushing out to see what the commotion was, but upon seeing this, the breath is taken out of me, and I momentarily stumble and have to lean on Tyranny for a moment because I'm so taken by the almost painterly beauty of the moment. And clearly, this man has been touched by the Light.

TRAVIS: I'll also stand and rise. And as I turn, (wind whooshes)

SAM: Oh shit.

TRAVIS: The mane hits in the wind and the gold of my eyes sort of fades. Post-nat 20.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

TRAVIS: (sexy snort)

BRENNAN: (laughs)

WHITNEY: Whoa (laughs). That was so cool.

SAM: That was very cool. Yes. (throat clear) What seems to be going on out here?

TRAVIS: Just a moment. And I help up the man.

BRENNAN: He looks up and says, "Oh, thank you kindly, sir. Are you-- are you a priest of the Light?"

TRAVIS: A friend of the Light.

BRENNAN: "Oh. Pleasure, sir. Thank you. "That's, that's marvelous. I was worried I'd lose my leg."

TRAVIS: They have you transporting horribly-- How's this liquids-- What was this that you were moving?

SAM: That's nothing. No concern of yours. It's just, um, church business.

TRAVIS: Church business.

BRENNAN: He says, "Sorry. The gentleman, Lord Wicander, he healed my leg, so I won't have to miss a shift of work. Everything will be all right. You won't have to--"

SAM: Don't. Worry not. Just take this where it's going to, my father, or--?

BRENNAN: "The Lord Godard has already said everything's well to do. We're to ship this out to Ezir first thing tomorrow. We're moving it down--

SAM: Excellent.

BRENNAN: "-- to Caravan Hill right now."

SAM: Make it so, and ever bright, ever right.

BRENNAN: "May the Beam reach you, my lord. Thank you so much. I'm sorry for being injured." You see, he--

SAM: Accepted.

TRAVIS: It is a truly wonderful thing to have people that are so devoted to you in their service. You must be an incredible man to work for.

SAM: Well, I--

WHITNEY: The best.

SAM: Please, Tyranny, I must remain humble. Some have called me a great man to work for, sure. But I don't hear that, nor do I acknowledge it. It's just who I am and who we all aspire to be.

TRAVIS: It is wonderful to see you again. Please, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Teor Pridesire. And when I grasp his hand, it is iron tight and does not let go.

SAM: Mine. Mine is is like a raw cut of veal-- (laughter)

SAM: -- just clammy and soft.

TRAVIS: I see one of his pinkies just flirting with the idea of dislocation--

SAM: (high-pitched, pained) Oh!

TRAVIS: But just kind of--

SAM: (high-pitched, pained) Oh!

TRAVIS: -- keeping it there.

SAM: Yes.

TRAVIS: I was so moved by your concern last night--

SAM: (high-pitched, pained) Oh!

TRAVIS: -- and the raw, pure emotion that you showed over my friend, my fellow comrade. I wanted to thank you for that and see if we could speak a bit further about what it was that was making you so upset.

SAM: Tyranny, offer him your hand.

WHITNEY: Oh, can I also shake your hand? Actually, this is great. Hi.

SAM: (gasps)

TRAVIS: Tyranny.

WHITNEY: Wow. Your hands are so big and rough. His hands are so soft. It's crazy.

SAM: Soft with the holiness of the Creed. Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you and yes, thank you for coming. I'm sure we can find a way to assist each other. I can guide you in any way you need to go and perhaps, you could be of assistance to my family as well.

TRAVIS: I would be very open to any such suggestion. I came here to serve the amazing Loza Blade, but obviously, my brother and others that know Thjazi have-- We have been waylaid by this. It is hard to know what to do next, but I saw in you kindred light.

SAM: Yes.

TRAVIS: The feeling that answers lie in that light. I knew that if I found you, I could find someone that would help me guide the others to that light.

SAM: You see, Tyranny, when you carry yourself with goodness and justice, others see it, respect it, and hone in on it. Always carry yourself with respect, self-respect.

WHITNEY: Understood, Your Radiance.

SAM: Yes, I'm sure I can guide you to somewhere where your true heart can do its best. A friend of the Light is a friend of mine and please, come inside with us.

TRAVIS: Thank you. That's most kind.

BRENNAN: You enter into the manor and arrive up at your study. The Villa Aurora is beautifully appointed and you have a little bit of privacy here to discuss.

SAM: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Well, if I may ask, how were you friends with Thjazi?

TRAVIS: Do you mind if I make myself comfortable?

SAM: Sure, go ahead.

TRAVIS: I'll reach back and take the shield that's on my back and take it off. Underneath it, you'll see a giant golden flail with an angled head underneath it, and when I put it down, it weighs a lot. (thumping)

SAM: Oh.

WHITNEY: (chokes)

TRAVIS: That's much better. Thjazi was a friend, but also a mentor. I looked up to him in the Torn Banner and the Falconer's Rebellion. It meant a lot to me and the people that I served with. But we had gone our separate ways over the years and Loza Blade and I were coming back to Dol-Makjar and we meant to find him and my brother, Cyd. Do you know him?

SAM: Do I know Cyd?

BRENNAN: Cyd Pridesire, give me a history check.

SAM: Okay.

BRENNAN: Call it a difficulty 20.

TRAVIS: Talcydimir.

SAM: Oh, nice. History, 16.

BRENNAN: 16. The name, Pridesire, rings a bell. I'll say on a 16 history, the Falconer's Rebellion-- I forget how old Wick is. How old is Wick?

SAM: He's only like 28, 29.

BRENNAN: So you would've been a kid at the end of the Falconer's Rebellion. The Torn Banner, you know, on a 16, which meant that this mercenary in front of you fought on the other side of the war from your family.

SAM: Oh. Oh dear. Well, forgiveness is one of our central tenets. Do you still harbor resentment or ill will towards the noble houses?

TRAVIS: Of course not. No, such things are the ways of the past.

SAM: Sure.

TRAVIS: All of that has been remedied and new power has been instilled. Has it not?

SAM: It has. Yes. We are to bury the old hatchets and move forward with friendship and partnership with even those who fought against us. That's why Tyranny and her sisters work with us. They, former shadows, our faith believes that the Light can burn through any shadow. She and her sisters were once demons.

WHITNEY: Well, I still am a demon, technically, but I'm on my way.

SAM: Yes, yes.

WHITNEY: (chuckles)

TRAVIS: How redemptive. How many sisters do you have?

WHITNEY: I have three sisters.

TRAVIS: A handful, to be sure.

SAM: Do you have siblings besides Cyd?

TRAVIS: Just my brother.

SAM: Hmm.

BRENNAN: A small knock on the door. Then without waiting for a response, the door opens. A number of servants out there and the Photarch, Yanessa walks in.

SAM: Oh.

BRENNAN: Your grandmother.

TRAVIS: Grandma.

SAM: Yes. Yes. I pick up my cane and comport myself well.

BRENNAN: She walks in and says, "Right, Wick, we need to talk. Hello? And who are you, my friend?"

TRAVIS: I am Teor Pridesire. It is a pleasure to be in your presence, Photarch.

BRENNAN: "I understand that there was an accident outside and that you healed one of our porters."

SAM: Not only healed with radiance. He might be Luminous or some sort of Light-touched.

BRENNAN: "Are you one of the Luminous? Are you one of our faithful?"

TRAVIS: This term is new to me. I admit, I am new to the Candescent Creed, but tales of your Light has spread far and wide outside of Dol-Makjar. I had journeyed into the city to learn more.

BRENNAN: Give me, if you feel so inclined, deception or persuasion.

TRAVIS: ♪ Which one of those is better ♪ ♪ Oh, it's not going ♪ to matter either way ♪ Five.

BRENNAN: Five. (chuckling)

BRENNAN: She looks at you and says, "How wonderful that news of our order has reached that the Light spreads as it must and always shall. A warrior gifted with innate connection to the Light itself. Might I ask? I looked on our register that the inimitable Loza Blade, whose reputation far precedes her had made an appointment with you, we could--"

SAM: She vouched for Teor here and--

BRENNAN: "Well, the House Tachonis having arrived for the somber and tragic execution are currently present and they believe there may be some danger afoot in the city. I think bolstering of house security may be prudent. I hate to think of such things. I wish only that peace and justice prevailed in the heart of all. But until such time as the Light can fully spread such that none seek violent response, I think it may might be worthy of us to take the word of one such as Loza Blade. If it's all right with you that we increase your security detail, my grandson.

SAM: I'm, of course, more than capable of defending myself and with Tyranny at my side, I have even more protection. However, absolutely, Photarch, if you recommend even more security--

TRAVIS: Photarch, if I might be so bold, Loza Blade is, well, to be fair, a fan of this honored household. Despite our past differences, we see the good that's been laid and the time spent. If I may, I would like to put my name forward as perhaps a consideration for that protection.

BRENNAN: "I would like a mo--"

SAM: Dangerous times and a sturdy fellow is offering himself. It's like fortuitous.

BRENNAN: "Well--"

WHITNEY: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "Let's take Master Pridesire. Servant, let's see that Master Pridesire is-- First of all, can we not supply a drink or some food or something of that--"

SAM: Oh right.

BRENNAN: "-- for Master Pridesire?"

SAM: Right.

WHITNEY: That's on me.

SAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: "Go ahead and take him and we'll send Sir Filoneus to you. That would be--

SAM: My uncle.

BRENNAN: "Wicander's uncle, our head of security."

TRAVIS: Sir Filoneus, wonderful.

SAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: "We'll have it all settled. Thank you so much. The Light, as always, moves in all directions and it is simply for us to open our arms and receive it. Thank you."

TRAVIS: Thank you, Photarch.

BRENNAN: "See the young Master Pridesire to some food, Aspirant."

WHITNEY: Ah, yes, Photarch Yanessa. All right, let's go get snackies. Are you okay?

SAM: I think so, yes, yes. Thank you.

BRENNAN: You are shuttled out, the door closes, so it is just Yanessa and Wicander. Yanessa turns to you and says, "Get rid of the ol' throw rug, would ya?"

TRAVIS: (snorts)

SAM: The cat man?

BRENNAN: "Yeah. He's up to some funny business. Look, you see--

SAM: I got no such thing for--

BRENNAN: "When are you going to (slams) open your eyes and realize that our house has got enemies. Loza Blade was the commander of the Torn Banner."

SAM: Yes, but years ago--

BRENNAN: "They all should have been hanged as traitors."

SAM: I thought that we had let bygones be bygones and we were moving forward with friendship and--

BRENNAN: "There are no bygones. There are never bygones."

SAM: But--

BRENNAN: "Everything is another drumbeat of a drum that's been ringing since the dawn of time. The Halovars were the house of priests, second only to the Royal house of Obridimia. We were the golden crowned and then the Shapers' War cast our homeland into eternal darkness! One after the other where the gods fell, the Barrowdells rose. This world is half poisoned. Wastelands, ruins, magic chaos, eternal night. That's the thanks for killing the gods. And you're going to let one of those Torn Banner walk in here and what? Ask you about why Thjazi Fang is dead? This whole plan has been a mistake.

SAM: Now I'm sorry, I'm sorry if I've done something wrong, but what plan are you talking about? I thought we were going to spare Thjazi to show our goodness to the people of this fine city? To earn some of the forgiveness that is baked into our Seven Shining Tenets. Forgiveness is one of them. I thought we were meant to forgive people like the Torn Banner and like Thjazi? Why couldn't we have spared his life?

BRENNAN: "The Tachonis are moving and we need to move and keep up. Do you understand? They are our closest allies."

SAM: Sure.

BRENNAN: "And that means that our backs are right within reach of their knives."

SAM: Oh.

BRENNAN: "Why are they still so strong? Their lands destroyed and sundered halfway between Stormwrack and Eternal Night. Why? What moves are they making on boards we can't see? Thjazi had to die because the Tachonis wanted him to die, and right now, we need them close. I still can't get my eyes on what exactly it is that they can do. You-- I've done you wrong. I've betrayed you."

SAM: No, not you. No, no, no, no. You speak only truth.

BRENNAN: "I thought-- I thought it would be of great benefit to our house that our Scion should walk only in the Light, but there's nothing solid that doesn't cast a shadow."

SAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: "I made a mistake and I've been making it and it's time to set things right. Don't make any plans for tonight. When your father returns, it's time for you to know the truth."

SAM: You mean to promote me?

BRENNAN: "Yeah, Wicky, you're getting promoted." And she opens the door and leaves. And that's where we'll take our break.

TRAVIS: Oh. (laughter)

TRAVIS: "Yeah, Wicky, you're getting promoted." (laughter)

Part II

BRENNAN: Hello and welcome back to the city of Dol-Makjar as we arrive at the next day after the funeral, the wake of Thjazi Fang. Light descends on The Archanade, a massive museum of many wings that lies in the neighborhood of Lugzash high up in the city near the headwaters of the River Vrosh. The Archanade actually can see its expanse, buttresses the river, a short cliff fall of about 20 feet into the surging waters. The higher up you get in altitude in the city, the more the waters are foam white and immediately deadly if you fall into them, just from falling into foam that you can't swim through. You look and see that The Archanade is this massive, spiring gray stone. Like a lot of the stone that was shaped in the ruins after the Shapers' War, this stone is flawless, smooth gray, almost polished to the touch, summoned by druids victorious in their defeat of the gods. For indeed the Old Path, as it is called, was very nearly erased from the existence of Aramán by the gods who sought for their millennia of rule to be the only path by which mortals could access the divine. And yet, the Old Path did survive. The ancient smiths of the Lloy family, a family of orcish smiths native to Dol-Makjar crafted the first of the Pariah Blades, those swords that were used to defeat Azgra the Conqueror, Shaper of War. The Lloy Wing, so named for that family of orcs, is a beautiful wing of the museum dedicated to celebrating the revolutionary history of the Shapers' War. Taliesin, Bolaire, as the curator of the Lloy Wing, what do we see as we move into the dusty light and where do we find Bolaire within the Lloy Wing?

TALIESIN: Well, it's after hours, quite obviously. It is grand and has that echoey reverb of a institution with far too much money.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

TALIESIN: Each exhibit stands in this large circular, the main-- The main room is this large circular room where the sword itself is up in the center, well lit with a series of small plaques around it. It's also-- Every exhibit, I should also say, is slightly magically enchanted so that when you walk up to it you start hearing the audio recording--

BRENNAN: (laughs)

TALIESIN: -- of what's there until you walk away, and then it silences itself so that you can maintain the quiet.

BRENNAN: Voices that would approach, the light (soft illumination) on a well-crafted but simple cold iron blade, so dull in its lack of ostentatiousness. It obviously never knew the touch of fire, was smithed carefully over time from raw ore through pure effort of metalworking, pounding of hammers again and again and again. It seems like the light from these magical cantrips as it touches it almost sinks into the blade as though this blade were so common that magical light could not even rest upon its fuller blade or edge. Off to the side in an open door we see an office, candles burned down to the very basin, and a silver coffin sized for a halfling. On a desk, book and scrolls open, a sleepless Bolaire and Murray, here working in this place. You've been working all night. Go ahead and give me any skill checks that you would've thought to make during this night of working to look into this.

TALIESIN: Well, I would've had every indexed filed piece of paper that we have pulled out just so that we have the paperwork, so we don't have to go down into the archives. Everything that exists is a piece of paper.

MARISHA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Got a giant pile of those and a few clearly very old books piled up that we're looking through, including a translation, a book for translating some of the text on the coffin. Anything you would want me to pull?

MARISHA: Well, I would've done a very meticulous ritual casting of an Identify spell.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: I think you almost see-- Murray's got gloves on and you see something that you might not have noticed before but she's got this, basically a little monocle that clips to the top of her hat, so it is now very precisely positioned to the front of her left eye. She has been using Mage Hand and taking the tip of her fingernail and almost using it to carve and do a half-assed autopsy on a big old box as she's been doing this all night. So I would, yeah--

TALIESIN: There is a--

MARISHA: Got to do--

TALIESIN: Oh, go ahead.

MARISHA: -- do a nice little investigation here.

TALIESIN: What are you going to use, investigation?

MARISHA: Well no, I'm going to use Identify-- to investigate.

TALIESIN: Oh, Identify. I will say also the object is sitting on a desk, and it's illuminated by bright limelight so that we can really see it. It's not candlelight. It is a bright chemical--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TALIESIN: (blazing light) It's also sitting on some sigils that are clearly there so that if something goes horribly wrong it will contain it as best it can. (nervous groan)

BRENNAN: (groans in affirmation) Question for you. Have you opened the box or left it closed?

TALIESIN: Until we know what it says on the outside, I would say not.

MARISHA: Yeah, I would've Identify before open.

TALIESIN: Getting ready.

BRENNAN: Bolaire, as curator here, you see wizardry at work, this craft of the Penteveral. I think seeing wizardry here, Murray, without any rolls necessary, the ethos of your school alive and well in your heart, there will be limits to how much truth you can glean if you don't look in that box. Now, it's extremely prudent not to open it. Far be it for me to tell you to open it. Actually, I would say even above table, I'm totally fine if you don't. But that conflict is here. The conflict of truth, great truth, at least in the philosophy of the Penteveral, requires some risk.

MARISHA: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: We're at step one, though.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

MARISHA: Right.

TALIESIN: This is step one. (chuckling) Then we will open.

MARISHA: Do you have one of those big flues, you know, like how sometimes you see them in laboratories and they kind of help like-- Because I know there's a whole bunch of bad mist that came out of this, so I just don't know if there's something, you know, for ventilation so we don't burn our eyeballs.

TALIESIN: We have that. Yes.

MARISHA: All right.

TALIESIN: One second. I just open up a-- We have a vent system. Again, everything that we have seen happen, we build something to try and make it so it won't happen again.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: It'll help.

BRENNAN: You have everything set up. Do you cast your Identify spell just on the exterior of the box?

MARISHA: I hate you so much. (laughter) I hate you so much.

TALIESIN: I'm going to do something before we do this that she will not notice.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TALIESIN: I'm just going to drift into the--

MARISHA: Says who?

TALIESIN: You will not notice this.

MARISHA: Says who?

TALIESIN: Says me. (laughter) I'm going to drift into the black box.

BRENNAN: Okay.

TALIESIN: Has anything changed? Is there a sign of anything changed? Just a risk, just a hunch.

BRENNAN: Deterioration a little more rapid than--

TALIESIN: Okay.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Thank you.

BRENNAN: Moving through the space--

MARISHA: We're going to open the box.

BRENNAN: You're going to open the box?

MARISHA: Well we're going to take a nice distance. I'm going to Mage Hand.

TALIESIN: Yeah, we're--

MARISHA: Open the box.

BRENNAN: You Mage Hand--

MARISHA: Got all the windows open.

BRENNAN: As you open it, once again, you see mist, (wafting mist) and have more of an understanding of how to engage in this way, in this moment. Your Identify spell moves throughout these silver plates. This is not an ancient artifact. This has been assembled very recently. As a craftsperson, what's bizarre is that the lining leaves only a sliver of what the lining would've been attached to, because the lining is now just open mist. But you do see enough wood that is well tended to. On that Identify, I think you can see that that wood actually might come from far up north. Go ahead and give me-- This is almost a tool proficiency check if you have one, or you can give me arcana as well, whichever you prefer.

MARISHA: Oh. Oh my goodness gracious. Where's Chetney when you need him? All right--

TALIESIN: I have alchemist--

BRENNAN: That'll work.

TALIESIN: Okay.

BRENNAN: Yeah, go for it.

MARISHA: Yeah, I'll just do a straight arcana.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: Using a tool just adds--

MARISHA: That's not great.

BRENNAN: Intelligence plus proficiency. Or it might be wisdom plus proficiency, depending on the tool.

TALIESIN: I'll say-- Well yeah, it's actually the same as my arcana so fuck it.

BRENNAN: There you go.

TALIESIN: That's 20.

BRENNAN: 20. Dirty 20.

MARISHA: Better than mine. 14.

BRENNAN: You recognize this, having looked over this, the wood, the thin bit that you see, is at this point almost totally fossilized. This is recovered wood from the Wastes deep within the Wastes, shattered and fallen trees from the place where the Goddess of Life, the shaper of the elves died.

MARISHA: Is that--

BRENNAN: Sylandri.

MARISHA: Sylandri.

TALIESIN: Interesting.

BRENNAN: But the plates are halfling. That Identify spell, Murray, as you begin to read the text, it translates all of the Kessian, all the Celestial. These plates are taken, being set into a massive-- There are some ancient halfling temples that were dedicated to their goddess Rauwyn, the Trickster. They would've been almost in hanging books of fabric or tapestry that in their holy places you would turn for a crowd to be able to read, almost like a massive storybook in a holy place or in a chapel. The plates have been taken off and affixed to this coffin. So the components are ancient, but the coffin is new. The plates reference on that, and with the Identify, this is the coffin of Olbalad. Olbalad is a celestial who was sometimes called more colloquially by halflings, the Sister of Mists. She was effectively the halfling Angel of Death, a celestial that guided them through the mists on their way. So what your Identify speaks at in the writing here where you realize that some things-- It's not this vulgar, but the plating is almost like how you construct a ransom note out of pieces of a magazine. It's not that small in places, but the meaning of some of the runes has been changed by how they've been arrayed around the coffin. Olbalad was a celestial that was a psychopomp, took those that died into the realms of death to their final afterlife. So to have a coffin of a celestial that was supposed to guide you from life to death almost seems like a working of blasphemy in some ways, which has a very different context in a world that killed its gods 70 years ago. But the coffin of Olbalad is what this is now. It is not ancient, it's new. But that's what is written here. The last thing I'll say on that-- What did you roll for your check again, sorry?

MARISHA: For my arcana check?

BRENNAN: For your arcana check.

MARISHA: 14.

BRENNAN: 14. You would know a very simple fact that is not too uncommon for wizards to know. After the gods died, the study of wizards concluded that there were beings that were older than the gods. The fairy, the fae had been around for much longer. Demons had always existed on Aramán in some way or another. Other ancient beings, old and connected to the spirit. They say that giants walked this world before the gods arrived, and the gods defeated them when they arrived here. There are some types of beings that were not here before the gods were here because they were called, or sung into being, or came from whatever realm the gods came from, and these were the celestials. Their roles, beautiful, ethereal. The heralds and servants and warriors of the divine, crafted from the power of divine might themselves. When the gods died, the celestials went feral and became ravening, like monsters. To see a celestial is to see death itself, and their presence is felt almost nowhere in the world for in the aftermath of the Shapers' War, to leave one on the loose or running was a death sentence for that region, essentially. This coffin claims to be the coffin for that celestial--

TALIESIN: Oh no.

BRENNAN: -- Olbalad.

MARISHA: Welp, I reckon we've got a problem on our hands.

TALIESIN: We've got a very, very serious problem. I'm going to get a tool and gently scrape the inside to see if there's any what would pass for remains. Just the dust, organic dust.

BRENNAN: Give me a difficulty 10 dexterity saving throw.

TALIESIN: All right. I also will add, I'm not breathing.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: 15.

BRENNAN: You reach in with the tool and get to a point where you stop before you approach the mist any closer. The end of your tool has exited into the mist to the point where it should be pushing out the other side of the coffin, and it is not.

TALIESIN: Interesting.

MARISHA: Oh shit.

TALIESIN: I'm going to--

MARISHA: Oh shit!

TALIESIN: I'm going to drop it.

MARISHA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: How long do you wait to hear something before you give up?

ROBBIE: (laughs)

TALIESIN: I'm patient. I'll give it 30 seconds. (laughter) (long pause) Oh. We are so fucked. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Oh dear.

MARISHA: I'll be a Shaper's anus.

TALIESIN: Fuck.

MARISHA: We got a pretty little relic on our hands.

TALIESIN: That was disgusting to say. (laughter)

MARISHA: What do you think happens if I shove you in that void?

BRENNAN: (laughs)

MARISHA: I'm just kidding!

TALIESIN: Do you want to find out? Oh, I know you were just kidding. I would have murdered you on the spot. (laughter)

BRENNAN: To each of you, this is a ton of information that now calls out to you in terms of, whatever happens next from here, you have stuff in places in the museum that Murray probably should not go. Murray, there are many treatises, and probably people that are worth talking to back at the Penteveral about what you've just found out here.

MARISHA: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: We need someone with a familiar, something similar, we need to put something living in there that we can see through.

MARISHA: Oh.

TALIESIN: Not a person. But someone who can see through other people's eyes.

MARISHA: We got a few puppies that I know.

TALIESIN: Well. (sighs) Can't make an omelet without breaking a few puppies, I suppose. Let's just go for it.

MARISHA: Well, all right, hang on. Hang on.

TALIESIN: What?

MARISHA: Wait, I mean, there are so many questions. First and foremost, what did Thjazi want with this? This was his last dying wish, sitting upon us right here.

TALIESIN: Why did he want it?

MARISHA: Why did he want this? And also, what the hell? I mean, it is pretty crazy, that we got this, which has some stink of the Shapers' War, and then we got little angry elf girl over in the other house who also wants a rock, also having to do with the Shapers' War, but then this has got some halfling stuff, and that's got elf stuff. What's going on?

TALIESIN: I do not--

MARISHA: What did Thjazi have going on? And did you know something, because I know you know things, Bolaire.

TALIESIN: On occasion, I would procure artifacts for him, and in return, he would send me things to look at.

MARISHA: You just said absolutely fucking nothing.

TALIESIN: I know. (sighs)

BRENNAN: Murray?

MARISHA: Yeah?

TALIESIN: Shit.

BRENNAN: You look out and see sunlight creeping in to the Lloy Wing.

MARISHA: Oh fuck. Don't you hate it when you accidentally, you're awake all through the sunrise, and now it's light again and now it's going to throw off my circadian rhythm all day.

TALIESIN: I barely sleep, to be fair.

MARISHA: Too old for this. Not going to sleep for a week now.

TALIESIN: He would send me very questionable objects, and I would do my research, and occasionally, I would give them to people I did not know with no questions asked. I did some dirty work for him. He's dead now, so I hardly think it matters, at this point.

MARISHA: Why, that makes two of us. Look at that, we got more in common than what you think.

TALIESIN: Why do I like you?

MARISHA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: You're just awful.

MARISHA: Everybody likes me. Stop talking crazy.

TALIESIN: My god.

MARISHA: All right, let's go find out some more shit about this box.

TALIESIN: All right.

BRENNAN: Murray, you head out, also having your-- It's so funny to say it in a game of D&D, a job. You are the Bursar of the Penteveral. You got to go work.

MARISHA: I've got papers I got to grade today. (laughter)

BRENNAN: As Murray heads out, Bolaire, you have your private areas of the Lloy wing to check. Moving deeper down into off limits areas of the Lloy Wing, moving past a certain hallway, back towards the vault where there may be some interesting objects to peruse, or texts to talk to here, you keep thinking about the fact that you heard Thaisha say it. Mask, there was a mask in the box. And you think about how long you waited for that tool to make a noise. As you're heading towards the vault, down a side hallway, towards a very special, let's call it cargo area, you see some boxes that were not here when you left for the execution yesterday.

TALIESIN: Crates, I assume?

BRENNAN: Yes.

TALIESIN: How large?

BRENNAN: About three and a half feet on each side. Cubes.

TALIESIN: Fuck. I'm just going to open the crates at this point. Not whatever's inside them, I'm just going to take a look. This is as safe a place to do it as any.

BRENNAN: You open the crates, you look inside, and what you see are wicker-covered ceramic casks. They sort of look like dyers' casks. And you look under the clay lids and see paint leaking out of the top. They're really filled with paint. And there's just one last note left pinned, a little piece of parchment, with a small stiletto dagger that just got left here. And it just says, "For Hal, with all my love."

TALIESIN: Oh, you absolute fuckwit. I'm going to reseal it.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: I'm going to go into my private office.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: I'm going to pull up anything I have, which is probably not much, on the fate of Termina. Whatever I can find about what this thing might be. I'm going to pull as big a book as I can find.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TALIESIN: I have a little mechanism that will flip the page every 10 minutes.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: And I sit, and I become perfectly still, and I let the pages flip in front of me, for a few hours.

BRENNAN: Gorgeously freaky. (laughter) Elsewhere in the city, in the neighborhood of Rozigar, the noise of horses. Arrayed and fine on snow white horses, armored soldiers, polearms on their backs, soldiers of the House Davinos. (galloping) Ride forward, a carriage pulls in front of a building. Emerging from it, golden breastplate, symbol of House Davinos. Across from it, the House of Royce, their liege lords. Silvering mustache and goatee, scars across the cheek, golden helm taken down to a side, a broadsword, a polearm astride the carriage top. General Raimond Davinos exits the carriage, looking at the exterior of The Tangled Sheet, a house of companionship and warm welcome within Dol-Makjar. Up on the second story, those who are still asleep in this early morning hear the barking of a general of the Sundered Houses outside going, "Julien! Julien!"

MATT: (groans)

BRENNAN: What state do we find Sir Julien Davinos in?

ROBBIE: (laughs)

MATT: The morning rays of light hitting dried, cracked lids, and lips that are deeply dehydrated. Julien, his hair, dark hair thrown asunder across the wrecked bedsheets, clambers up over the voluptuous tan-skinned woman, and the blonde-haired muscular young man.

MARISHA: (laughs)

MATT: Who begin to stir as he steps and scrambles and stumbles onto the floor. Grabs a nearby pitcher, and what little bit of liquid in there appears to be nonalcoholic, he chugs desperately as he's beginning to realize how hungover he is, and the sound of his father's voice is not helping.

BRENNAN: You chug that. Appearing at the door, you see, one second. You see that Madam Gurlistra appears, an older gnomish woman. She has a goblet of wine in her hand. "Little hair of the dog that bit you?"

MATT: Ah, Madam, you are a godsend.

BRENNAN: Hands it to you. Says, "I don't know if you heard your dad's here."

MATT: I heard. The whole fucking city heard.

BRENNAN: "Well, we are always grateful for your business, Sir Julien." (laughter)

MATT: Tell him I'll be down in just a moment.

BRENNAN: "Him? No, your dad."

MATT: Yes.

BRENNAN: "Yes." You see that she rushes downstairs, and you see she walks out, and goes, "General! Good to see you again!"

MARISHA: (laughs)

MATT: At which point, Julien goes and starts gathering his things, still nude as the day is long, slowly getting himself together, as the two other companions begin to rouse from the noise and the chaos, he glances over, and: Appreciate your services. And he sets out two sets of coin, studies them both, and puts two extra coins on the stack. Referencing the younger gentleman.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

MATT: Until next time. Throws his capelet over his shoulder, and with a deep breath, steps into the center area of the brothel towards his father.

BRENNAN: You step out. As you step out, the guards of House Davinos all, ca-chunk, ca-chunk, gauntleted hands, to the brasses, they bow. You see your father turns around and says, "Don't salute him!" (laughter) And as you step out, (laughter) "Well, Julien, pleasure to see you, my son."

MATT: Father. By what honor do you come on this gracious step beyond your comforts to greet my morning in person?

BRENNAN: "Well, going to your chambers in the Davinos Estate, I presumed I would find my son in the extremely expensive bed that we paid handsome money for, where we sleep in a strange city when the husband of our liege lady has just been executed. So I thought maybe you'd be, I don't know, nearby?"

MATT: How's it feel to be wrong again?

BRENNAN: Your dad raises a hand to you, looks at the gauntlet, and starts to take it off, and by that time, has calmed down enough. (laughter)

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "Get in the fucking carriage." And he gets into the carriage.

MATT: He takes a minute. The sweat on his brow now, as the nausea that he's kept at bay washes over him for a moment. Swallows. Doesn't make eye contact with any of the men, and just enters the carriage after his father.

BRENNAN: He goes in, looks up at the driver. "Palazzo Davinos." (carriage clattering) Horses take off, soldiers fall in. He stares at you. "You smell like The Tanners."

MATT: What's the point of travel if not to engage and enjoy in the local culture, huh?

BRENNAN: "I find your interest in local culture bears a striking resemblance to every city and its culture." (snickering)

MATT: What can I say? I'm a man of the world.

BRENNAN: "There's a lot more to the world than brothels, bars, and taverns. A lot more."

MATT: Well, maybe one day, you can show me, proud father.

BRENNAN: "The resupply carriages have not made it to the Palazzo Davinos. Word has reached us that they were stopped at the Dvalmar Pass. Do you know anything about this?"

MATT: Does not seem like it's part of my purview, so no. This is news to my ears.

BRENNAN: "Is there anything you heard at the Farramh of Thjazi Fang, yesterday when you attended in escort of the Lady Aranessa?"

MATT: A lot of tears. Some old war stories. You know. People that have a very strong opinion of this man. You know about him. Surprised you weren't there, for how well you were two friends, huh? Right? Storied history. So gracious. Two of you, thick as thieves for so long.

BRENNAN: "Thjazi Fang saved your cousin's life at the end of the War of Axe and Vine. It was a tragedy and a heartbreak that he ended up on the other side of the Falconer's Rebellion."

MATT: Every man makes their choices. I'm sorry that I was the consequence of his.

BRENNAN: "My hope for you at the funeral, having spoken to the Lady Aranessa of what unfolded there, is that you see what it means to live a life of honor."

MATT: To answer your first question, Father, from what I saw, this party was not a man who had dabbled much in honor in many years. There are things-- (sighs) I hope Aranessa got what she needed out of it. She deserves at least some closure for what he did to her.

BRENNAN: "I have never understood your hatred for Thjazi. You did what you did, you neglected my orders, disobeyed my commands, rode off and captured the hero of the Torn Banner. Made a name for yourself. Brought him in, delivered him to Tachonis, Halovar, the others. You got your glory, and it's like you hate him for it. Why?"

MATT: He sits a minute, clenching his jaw even tighter before he, without making eye contact with his father: Do you know how much of your golden path I was set up for? To have you turn away and throw our entire house's name and-- For friendship with that man. The glory was mine, yes, but you? You sullied everything. So I don't forgive him for what he did to you. As much as I don't forgive him for what he did to Aranessa.

BRENNAN: "Men do make their own choices, and maybe one day, you will take an interest in why they make those choices." Pulling into the Palazzo Davinos, you emerge from the carriage, walk inside, and see near a fireplace downstairs in a sort of drawing room, the Lady Aranessa, who looks a little panicked. She says, "General Raimond, a word?" He says, "Yes, Lady Aranessa," and walks in. Looking at Aranessa feeling kind of panicked, do you enter the room with them, or--?

MATT: Seeing her face, I definitely would, yes.

BRENNAN: Yeah. As you walk in, she looks up and says, "The wagons have-- We've confirmed that they were stopped at the Dvalmar Pass." General Raimond goes, "Can we just ride to the Pass?" And she says, "No. The other side. The other side of the mountains before Kavros, they've been behind us. They're days away at this point." He goes, "That is strange. Why didn't the rear guard not make mention?" He looks and says, "(sighs)" looks over at Julien and you see Aranessa touches his arm and says, "I trust Julien with this information." Your father crosses his arms and says, "Very well, Lady Aranessa. It has come to our attention that there may have been a plot to rescue Thjazi Fang." Aranessa looks at you with a look of like: We know what we heard at that funeral. And that's not--

MATT: Not a very good one.

BRENNAN: He says, "Disturbing things have come to us. The Tachonis are currently searching for a member of their family, one who dwells primarily here in Dol-Makjar. If rumors are correct, it is possible that he knows something of this plan, in which case he was acting in direct contradiction of his family. It may be to our benefit if we can find the young boy before anyone else does."

MATT: He looks to Aranessa.

BRENNAN: Aranessa nods and says "It would be wise. He is, I believe, in danger."

MATT: Then I'm at your service, Lady Aranessa.

BRENNAN: General Raimond nods and says, "If you find him, I would bring him here for the time being. Don't let anyone see you bring him here, but we should get a chance to talk with him if we can, to understand what may have happened. And we are not going toe to toe with the Tachonis. We are just trying to understand what happened and hopefully advocate on the young boy's behalf in case there had been a misunderstanding, which given the insanity of the rumor, there must be." He turns to Aranessa and says, "Given the gravity of this and the carriages, should we postpone the gala tomorrow night?" She turns and says, "No, no. Appearances are everything. Absolutely. If anything, invite more people. We should have it be as much of a to-do as we possibly can. in fact--"

MATT: (retches)

BRENNAN: "Julien, are you all right?"

MATT: I'm fine.

BRENNAN: Your father walks over to the mantle and says, "Julien, are you going to be able to do this?"

MATT: Always.

BRENNAN: He says, "Good. You are my eldest son." And he splashes a full pitcher of water in your face. "And I love you. To it, then!"

MATT: He reaches and tightens the demi-gauntlet on his left hand. You hear the metal plates kind of clinking and squeezing into place. (sighs)

BRENNAN: Wipe yourself off. You head forth from this place.

MARISHA: Such a loving observation as "You're my eldest son." (laughter)

MARISHA: That's it.

MATT: It's a great family dynamic. Super healthy.

BRENNAN: Super, super healthy. We arrive in the woods outside of Dol-Makjar. Robbie, where do we find Kattigan outside of the city here?

ROBBIE: Where you'd find him most nights, he's just sleeping out. Found a little patch where there's a split in the canopy where he's been. And it was a rough night's sleep. Sweat, alcohol, pouring out into his clothes that are already well-worn. He's got Wulferic underneath the back of his head. Arms folded, legs crossed. And as that first little splint of morning sunlight comes through, it just catches him in the eye. Mm, oh god. And he wakes up and then starts to stand and he's shuffling through the memories of last night. And it's pretty foggy.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

ROBBIE: I mean, he recalls, there was an altercation, he remembers that he was at a funeral. He remembers why he was there. But he went pretty hard the rest of the evening on the streets by himself. And as he stands up and him and Wulferic get themselves settled for the day, cracks his neck a bit and it sounds-- when he moves his shoulders and cracks his neck, it sounds like you're like stepping on empty snail shells. Everything in him crackles, and no cartilage left much to speak of. And he's got a leather bandolier on his chest that's full of tinctures and herbs and he takes a little tiny snuffbox out and (sniffs). Ah. Wulferic sneezes behind him. As he's sifting through these memories, he's trying to find that mooring to hold onto about what the night was all about. Because he's feeling through his pockets and they're empty. No gold, no food. His water skin's empty, even. And he doesn't know what to do with himself. He's lost again.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

ROBBIE: And the one image that he is locked onto surprisingly isn't Teor, his old battle partner from ages ago, or even Azune who he hasn't seen in a long time. It is that fairy that was so torn apart by the death of this man, and that memory of this fairy's tears, and really brings all the pieces of the evening back in. And he remembers that he was a small part of it and he starts to remember what happened in that scene of that scuffle. And he looks down at Wulferic and Wulferic looks up at him like a good dog. And instead of saying what he wants to say, he does a little Thieves' Cant, and does this, which means "Find the pixie." And Wulferic just goes, (huffs) (whoosh) And he's off into the woods through the underbrush. And Kattigan cracks his neck again and goes: (sighs) What a night. (whoosh) And he takes off after him.

BRENNAN: Give me a survival check as you do so.

ROBBIE: Okay. Not great.

BRENNAN: On a 13, I think you look up and just see gray morning skies in Dol-Makjar. You're following Wulferic who's headed back to the city. Thimble's got to be somewhere in there. As you sobered up a little bit, I think you look and notice higher up in the city, you see a little dot, you're used to looking for the movements of wild things. You see a flutter of wings and there is a balcony way up high. The highest neighborhood of Dol-Makjar is called Marud. It's near the-- it's The Grey Tower where the Revolutionary Council meets.

ROBBIE: Okay.

BRENNAN: And it looks like there is some monument. Small, humble, but you can see it because it's right against the river. And you see a falcon descend towards that monument and rest there. Falcons are cliff hunters. They look for places of altitude to look for other birds. And this place is high up. You can see the whole city from there. There's rock doves and other birds that they would hunt and eat. So it's nothing, it doesn't strike you as unusual at all. But I think just the noise of that lyre playing of Hal and his daughter playing "Broken Wing," and seeing Thimble, the quality of light coming off her body, almost shifting in that moment of grief. That grief has the power to destroy. And that's the last thing Thjazi would want. You take off and head towards Hal's home. As you do so, you are going to probably be the first to arrive there to wake everybody up. Luis, really briefly with you, too, we are going to move from-- as Wulferic leads Kattigan back into The Rookery, across the river, in Rubble Cliff, we see the Brethren Hall, the home of the Revolutionary Guard, those proud warriors defending the legacy of the Shapers' War, when all mortals joined arm in arm to defeat, well, the gods, but also a lot of other mortals. When I say all mortals, that's not true. (laughter)

BRENNAN: There were plenty of mortals on the other side. But the Brethren Hall elides that purpose. This was the war of mortals versus the gods. And seeing the suits of armor gathered here in this place for the Revolutionary Guard, Azune, you begin to walk inside to sort of, I guess, clock in. What's the first thing you would do as you enter this chamber here?

LUIS: Well, I think my morning routine begins the moment that I wake up.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: And as soon as my eyes open, I'm already on the job.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: As I suit up in my room, I replay again the events of the night before, and in my mind I have the last moments of Thjazi's execution and watching his body hanging and suspended in the air. And I'm caught between the things that I feel like I should do, need to do, the things, and the thing that I spend very little time on are the things that I want to do.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: By the time I arrive officially on the job, I would have already gotten my gear on. I would have already began in my own room the Detect Magic ritual. I leave my room with that already activated because that as an Arcane Marshal is one of the very things that I'm tasked to do. Keep tabs on any arcane anomalies or arcane surges that happen around. And I leave my room with that already activated. On my mind is what is in store today. My job usually consists of some administration, if there's some permits perhaps for people that are looking to get sanctioned places to practice arcane magic. There is some maintenance that I would do to fix devices that are meant to support arcane research. And then there's the patrol.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: And right now I'm making sure that my patrol is changing.

BRENNAN: As you walk around-- you have your area, the Revolutionary Guard, you know, was here to protect the city in the wake of the revolution. Then after that it was here to be part of keeping the peace, and then after that-- Of the different offices here, some have fallen into disarray or disrepair. The Arcane Marshals are still very active. These are the people whose job it is to be able to be warriors that can also detect magic, and can keep the city safe from threats of demon or undead and different kinds of supernatural entities. You see as you are getting your stuff together with some notes of like you know, notices to the guard about changing laws. There's a lot of training and notices about the reality of not being able to cast magic in the marketplace anymore, which wasn't the case even a year ago. Walking into the office of your captain, Edrian Fazir of the Arcane Marshals, you see that Edrian looks up at you and there's someone seated in his office already, Sir Harondus Einfasen of the Chamber of Lords-Advisory. Your captain Edrian looks at you, an older man, a big belly, rotund. He's got a strap of white around his chin, human man, looks up and goes "Ah, Azune, good to see you, m'lad. Have you met Sir Einfasen?"

LUIS: I turn to take this stranger in. Have I met him before?

BRENNAN: You recognize him as a knighted lord of the House Einfasen. He looks to you and says "It is a pleasure to meet you. You are Azune Nayar."

LUIS: I stiffen up and become very formal, taking my job very seriously, and I give him a nod and I say, "At your pleasure, sir."

BRENNAN: "It is an honor. I understand that you were stationed to the execution yesterday."

LUIS: I was indeed.

BRENNAN: "I understand the complexities of someone who enjoyed the mixed reputation of Thjazi Fang. There are many in the city that were the victims of his criminality. But also there are many who saw within him a hero, especially of this town of which he was born. A complicated figure, I think we can all agree, yes?"

LUIS: Yes sir.

BRENNAN: "I am meeting with your captain, Fazir, simply to engage in the offering of resources. It has come to the attention of the House Einfasen in its seat on the Chamber of Lords-Advisory to the Revolutionary Council that the public funds have been somewhat diminished of late. And it is the opinion of myself as a member of the Chamber of the Lords-Advisory is that the Revolutionary Guard has for too long been tasked with the sole duty of protecting the city and its peoples. I would hate to think that your important tasks would go, shall we say, interrupted, or that you would not have the resources you need to be able to do what you must. We are discussing ways in which certain struggling offices of the Revolutionary Guard can be closed to see those resources better served elsewhere. And in my estimation, there is no group within the city that compares to the Arcane Marshals. Your services are absolutely necessary and vital for the continued safety of the city."

LUIS: I'm glad to hear that, sir.

BRENNAN: "If there is any use I can be to you, you need only call on me and my house. We would be only too happy to serve."

LUIS: A question, if I may.

BRENNAN: "Of course."

LUIS: These offices that you foresee would close. Is there-- Whatever little resources have been dedicated to them, what would that mean for those resources if those offices are closed?

BRENNAN: "Those resources would be reassigned to offices of the Revolutionary Guard that are, shall we say, more efficient in their use of those resources."

LUIS: Understood.

BRENNAN: "The Arcane Marshals is extremely effective at a, shall we say, type of safety of the peoples of Dol-Makjar that cannot be easily recreated by any other division. Whereas Gate Guardians or Revolutionary Guard patrolmen, those tasks can absolutely be handled by men at arms of the various Houses of the Chamber of Lords-Advisory."

LUIS: And what role will you play in that?

BRENNAN: "A security overseer."

LUIS: Understood.

BRENNAN: "As a Lord Knight, it would be my honor to join you side by side in keeping this city safe.

LUIS: It'll be an honor to work side by side with such an esteemed person.

BRENNAN: You see that he snappily salutes a gauntleted hand, bows to you, says, "It's important work you are doing here. You have the loyalty and commitment of House Einfasen by your side."

LUIS: I have been studying this man from the second that he has been looking at me, and I, (throat clears) I smell, I'm just suspicious. I'm, of course. How hungry does he look now that he seems to be positioning himself in quite a powerful place? It's what I'm digging for behind his eyes, I guess, I suppose.

BRENNAN: What, sorry, what are you looking for specifically? You're looking--

LUIS: I'm just looking-- There's something about people who are power-hungry.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: When they finally pulled enough strings and positioned themselves for this very moment, where he looked at me and said, "I'm your new boss." And I just want to see how much pleasure there was behind his eyes because if there is a hunger there for that kind of power, then it's just tasted something very sweet, maybe, and I want to see if I can notice.

BRENNAN: Give me an insight check.

MATT: A great way to put that.

BRENNAN: (chuckles)

LUIS: I just critted that.

BRENNAN: Nat 20!

ROBBIE: Hey, there we go.

MARISHA: Let's go.

MATT: Yes.

ROBBIE: (chuckles)

BRENNAN: Different Sundered Houses move differently.

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: This guy is coming to you with a tone of respectfulness, and zeal, and flattery that lets you know that this guy's truly dangerous. The hunger behind his eyes. I think what you see, too, is you-- there's different-- You've talked to power-hungry people in the past. Some of them are nakedly contemptuous, some of them are cruel or bilious. You don't see any kind of arch malevolence in this guy. You see a person whose entire core philosophy, rather than being brickwork, is a solid, monolithic cube of, "Of course I should be in charge."

LUIS: Oh.

BRENNAN: And everything else gets built on top of that.

LUIS: (exhales heavily)

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: Okay.

BRENNAN: "Lieutenant, Captain, I wish you all the best for a fruitful collaboration in the years to come." He nods and you see Captain Edrian says "And to you, Lord Knight, thank you very much for your help in this endeavor." And as the lord leaves, you see Edrian looks over at you, "(sighs)"

LUIS: (sighs)

BRENNAN: "Well, looks like we're all getting bonuses."

LUIS: So long as he finds us useful.

BRENNAN: "I guess the men at arms of the House Einfasen don't know how to detect magic with their eyes."

LUIS: Let's hope that stays that way.

BRENNAN: "Well, let's hope it does because I think they're also visiting the Penteveral today."

LUIS: I'm not surprised.

MARISHA: Oh. (laughter) Oh!

LUIS: Do you?

MARISHA: No privatizing government, sanctions organizations, no!

TALIESIN: What this college needs is capitalism!

MARISHA: No! (laughter)

LUIS: With that, so much moves through my mind. As I immediately become concerned for some of my friends.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: I go to where the schedule is, basically.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: And I'm eager to leave him there, kind of spinning on this, because I have other matters that I need to attend to, and I'm going to go to the schedule specifically. I'm going to go to where whoever's in charge of where the Crow Keepers' area is, whoever's meant to patrol that area. I'm switching our names so that I'm on that patrol.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah, gotcha. You switch your names, you get out there, you will be on a patrol in Caravan Hill. And with that, you head out. Speaking of the Penteveral--

MARISHA: No!

TALIESIN: Hey.

MATT: (laughs)

BRENNAN: A gorgeous series of buildings at the border of the neighborhood of Rozigar and a place called the Embers, which is the dwarven neighborhood built into the side of the Kavrosi Mountains. That here you see is basically a gorgeous red sandstone and then colorful, pink quartz from the Sunset Mountains, there's alabaster. The Penteveral is a rare bit of color, and there's also plastered and thatched conical tower or, you know, plastered and shingled conical towers. The Penteveral is also much like a campus in a city. It's almost hard to tell you've walked into a college until you're way in it, and you're like: Oh, this is-- There's people that are getting snacks at this little street cart thing by showing a student badge rather than-- You know what I'm saying? So it's like, oh, suddenly, it's almost like a secret college that you (poofs) suddenly you're in, noted by many covered skybridges in that kind of almost tam-o'-shantery or it's like the white plaster and the little, the moss-covered shingles. They are skybridges that are only about this big across because they are skybridges for familiars to walk from building to building. So there's tons of little familiar bridges throughout the different buildings of the Penteveral. And you see all throughout this beautiful little glyph with five stations around it, almost like a pentagram. You are walking through it, Murray. And as you walk through, you see that nearby, racing past you, is a young gnomish lad who's a grad student. His name is Gallant. You see, he looks over. He's running by with a bunch of scrolls. He looks like he's sweating and panting. He looks over and goes, "Murray."

MARISHA: Yeah, what's going on?

BRENNAN: "They just sacked Tallbarrel."

MARISHA: What?

BRENNAN: "Tallbarrel's, he's resigned. They didn't sack him, but they fucking sacked him."

MARISHA: They sacked him. Who did? Is this these damn Houses? Who was it? Which one? Give me names, boy!

BRENNAN: I-I think Einfasen, Cormoray, Halovar, Royce, and Tachonis.

MARISHA: I just palm him and start heading in.

BRENNAN: "Yeah, it's all five!" Boom, you're out of the way. You rush over. In a beautiful office appointed with a massive desk, you know, this ancient, red wood varnish with wooden gargoyles. You see there's these two panther heads that are a little bit more angular, and they have grapes hanging out of their mouths. Up above, you see that these gorgeous elven muses with flowering plants popping out of the top planter, top of their head. You see there's a weird little tooting, steaming gem, bubbling in the middle of a beaker's neck as nothing, there's no water, but it somehow produces steam from air underneath it. On top of this massive desk is a much smaller desk. And at that desk-- (laughter)

BRENNAN: -- with a small staircase on the side is the halfling professor, or sorry, I should say dean, Ellipides Tallbarrel. Slightly pointed ears, white curly hair, white curly sideburns, looks over, little vest, bare feet and britches, looks over and goes, "Murray, oh."

MARISHA: What did they do to you? What happened?

BRENNAN: "What did they do to--"

MARISHA: Why didn't you stand up to them?

BRENNAN: "What do you mean what--"

MARISHA: This wasn't supposed to happen yet. I just heard the news from Gallant that they, that you got sacked, that you're stepping down.

BRENNAN: "Was it? I-- Murray, I'm not--"

MARISHA: Ellipides.

BRENNAN: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Murray, I really am."

MARISHA: But you said, you said we were going to stand up to these greedy-ass fucking Houses. What are you doing?

BRENNAN: "I no longer believe it is possible to do the work that is necessary to do here in this place."

MARISHA: What do you mean? Our work is incredibly important.

BRENNAN: "Of course it is, Murray. Of course it is. I know that, but they're-- If I had tried to fight them--" He just shudders, and he puts a paper across to you.

MARISHA: What's this?

BRENNAN: "It's a letter affirming the decision from the Revolutionary Council to accept the advisement from the Chamber of Lords to revoke the license to cast arcane magic on student grounds here. And they're not going to do it if I resign."

MARISHA: They (scoffs).

BRENNAN: "They prefer Kora. They prefer her."

MARISHA: Of course they do. She's one of them.

BRENNAN: "She's not one of them."

MARISHA: Okay, well, heavy are the pockets, that is the snake, I guess. She might as well be one of them.

BRENNAN: "Sorry, you have a snake in your pockets?"

MARISHA: No, I'm saying Kora is, she's a snake. She's a dirty little greedy, grubby backhand alley deal maker. She's got the House, she's in their pockets.

BRENNAN: "For the work that we have--"

MARISHA: So wait, you're trying to say that they're coming in, and they're trying to shut down the ability to cast magic at a magic school? That's their angle here? That's what they're trying to do?

BRENNAN: "It was the feeling of the Chamber of Lords-Advisory to the Revolutionary Council that casting magic is not necessary for the study of wizardry."

MARISHA: That is the most batshit thing-- You hear it coming out of you. If they are going to try and push you out, they might as well've been creative about it.

BRENNAN: "It felt pretty creative to me."

MARISHA: You think that's creative? What?

BRENNAN: "If I stay, and they revoke the ability of the Penteveral to practice actual practical magic casting, what happens to the next generation of students?"

MARISHA: No, I--! Tallbarrel, I understand what they're-- You don't have to explain to me the ramifications, that is deeply clear. I am upset at-- I'm upset! And I'm allowed to be upset!

BRENNAN: "What do you want me--? If you want the Photarch of the Candescent Creed to walk in here and say that this is how it's going to be, do you want me to say, 'How do you like these Lightning Bolts?' and shoot her in the face? Shoot her in the face!"

MARISHA: I mean.

BRENNAN: "Kaplow!"

MARISHA: (sputters)

BRENNAN: "You are considering it."

MARISHA: But that would've been epic, yes!

BRENNAN: "And that lets me--!"

MARISHA: Look, all right, I understand. I understand, I just don't understand-- It's just this slippery slope that we have all been subjected to try and climb for the past months and years even. And it's like they're sitting at the top of it with just soap and water, pouring it down this slippery slope until we all just smack onto our faces, bust our teeth out, and go sliding all the way back down to the bottom right where they want us to be, which is under their big fucking feet at the bottom of their hill. The analogy got away from me, but you understand what I'm saying, right?

BRENNAN: "I'm still on the snake in the pockets."

MARISHA: Would you? Well, there's no snake in the pockets.

BRENNAN: "Murray, I'm--"

MARISHA: Who's going to go to bat for me? You brought me into this. (scoffs) I was just a shitty little squatter dwarf out in the gutters. You gave me a job. You gave me purpose.

BRENNAN: "This institution was borne of scrappy little folks from the gutter. And those original five, the first deans, they were just poets and academics until a couple little street urchins from the shadows of Dol-Makjar said, 'Well, if these words of creation are written in the foundations of our earth, then let's go find them.' It is not lost on me that bravery is the better part of wizardry, but I-- I'm not a warrior and I'm not a politician. I've tried to spend my days studying the craft of magic, and I turned around, and I can speak words that make things that never existed come into being. And I turned around and found that there was a power greater than that. And it was whatever was written in this letter."

MARISHA: Oh god.

BRENNAN: "I'm sorry. I am sorry."

MARISHA: It was so well worded, what you just said, which makes it hurt that much more. Look, you understand what this means, right? This institution that was made and created for those that were willing to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, crack open spines of books, and just work hard no matter where they came from or what wealth was bestowed upon them from whatever silver-spooned matron that they came from. It's not going to be for them anymore. Just like everything else in this city are going to get pushed out of the way for the wealthy, for the noble Houses, the Sundered Houses. And they're going to continue to push, and take, and take just like they took Thjazi and just like they're taking you. I'm sorry. I haven't slept all night, and now, my emotions and my hormones are completely unregulated.

BRENNAN: You see Ellipides with this half-packed bag next to him, looks out and says, "I've spent my life looking for answers. And today, my last day at the Penteveral, I'm afraid I have none."

MARISHA: Today's your last day?

BRENNAN: "I have to leave."

MARISHA: I just give him a big hug.

BRENNAN: He gives you a big hug. As he does, you hear the noise of boots approaching. In the doorway, shadows grow long. Effortless magic, magic inherited as the shadows lengthen.

MARISHA: Murray just cracks her knuckles a little bit. Cracks her neck and then just looks at Tallbarrel.

BRENNAN: Tallbarrel turns.

MARISHA: Smiles.

BRENNAN: A woman enters the room ahead, a dwarven woman much like yourself. Clean shaven, platinum blonde hair, dean's robes looking very official. Walks in and says, "Dean Tallbarrel, there is someone here to see you. A benefactor and patron." The door darkens and a tall, grave figure, sallow skin, enters. The Lord Primus Tachonis. "I'm looking for my son. I believe he studies at this place." We're going to leave there and I will ask everybody at Hal's house to jump on in. (laughter)

ROBBIE: Whoa!

MARISHA: Big tradesies?

BRENNAN: Alex--

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: -- I'm fucking coming for you, man.

ALEXANDER: I see that.

MARISHA: Bro! (laughter)

TALIESIN: Oh no

ROBBIE: Full swap out.

MARISHA: What did you do to piss off Daddy?

TRAVIS: Primus Tachonis?

BRENNAN: Primus Tachonis.

TRAVIS: Oh, god.

TALIESIN: ♪ (driving beat) ♪

LUIS: Wow.

BRENNAN: Cool. Cool. I may call people in at a moment's notice. Cool?

MARISHA: Okay.

AABRIA: Cute.

ALEXANDER: That's pretty-- Okay.

AABRIA: How hot is your dad?

ALEXANDER: I don't know.

BRENNAN: Do we want someone to jump over the other side just as we're opening?

AABRIA: Oh, I'll do it.

BRENNAN: Yeah, yeah. Go for it.

AABRIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Okay. The morning of the next day, all of you awaken. I'll ask Thimble and Occtis, where are you sleeping in the house that night, if you sleep at all?

LAURA: I did, but I fell asleep on Thjazi. So.

BRENNAN: Falling asleep on Thjazi. Just a small, as you awaken, the small mound of pixie dust that has surrounded you glowing on his chest.

LAURA: (sighs deeply)

ALEXANDER: I think I, I took whatever room that was available for him to sleep in, but Pin stayed downstairs at the feet of Thjazi in case Thimble needed anything.

BRENNAN: Hal and Thaisha, I think you guys awaken.

LIAM: I would say that Hal barely slept.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LIAM: Years ago, when we had children together, obviously we shared the master bedroom in this place that we built, but once you left following your convictions into the world, the room that was your study, your quiet place in the house, I continued to tend and kept it full of greenery and put a bed there. Not to say that we haven't--

AABRIA: Say it.

LIAM: -- enjoyed each other's company-- (laughter) -- on and off throughout the years, it's never assumed. I've preserved this room for you and I've barely slept, so I'm coming to this room now to find you.

AABRIA: Yeah. By the way, I think Occtis, it probably would've been this room. I think we're used to splitting--

ALEXANDER: Yeah.

AABRIA: -- rooms, so. Up incredibly early--

LIAM: Hey.

AABRIA: -- by the time you left. Hi. Hi, good morning.

LIAM: Is he awake?

AABRIA: Hi.

ALEXANDER: I'm still asleep.

AABRIA: No. No, he'll be up at the crack of noon.

LIAM: Come upstairs.

BRENNAN: Are you sleeping in the same room as them or in a different room?

ALEXANDER: I'm sleeping in the same room as Thaisha was, in this room. I just stayed in whatever room she was in. We're used to that.

BRENNAN: I think there's a moment the night previous when you're like, I'm going to sleep in the foot of their room where you see Shadia who has her whole own room is like, got it. (laughter) She's like, she looks at you and she's like, "Do I not?"

AABRIA: I. Look, I don't know.

BRENNAN: "That's fine."

AABRIA: I think about this. I wasn't--

BRENNAN: "He's not necessarily my type, but I just--"

AABRIA: No, I, I-- make a move, girl.

BRENNAN: "Yeah."

AABRIA: Make a move. It's weird, but it's not--

BRENNAN: "I'm not going to make a move."

AABRIA: Do something.

BRENNAN: "Not going to make a--"

AABRIA: Do something.

BRENNAN: "He, he's like your-- is he your protégé?"

AABRIA: No. I did a-- I work, I work with him. A little. Not that much.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

AABRIA: He's never had sex.

LAURA: (gasps)

LIAM: That's an overshare. (laughter) Up to the roof of this place where you can look out over all of the, the neighborhood of The Rookery.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LIAM: And the sun is just barely coming up. And there are magpies warbling to each other from different rooftops up here. Did you sleep?

AABRIA: No.

LIAM: No.

AABRIA: No. No. God. How are you? There's a lot to do today. I, okay, you look great. Terrible. I'm going to, I, I'll, I'll take care of it. I'll, let me take care of it, please.

LIAM: I am glad you are here. I'm glad you're here. I've been anxious for the-- since it happened, terrified that someone in his orbit was going to try some harebrained scheme to pull him out of that spot and including you.

AABRIA: Yeah. You weren't inaccurate.

LIAM: Right, right. And I didn't want my brother to be a refugee and never see him again. And I was convinced, convinced that I could handle back channels. I had Aranessa, I had the-- the Halovar boy as a failsafe, and it all failed, and I'm a fool.

AABRIA: You are not a fool. You are hopeful. And that's not a bad thing. We were the fallback mechanism, if all else failed, the glyph was supposed to fire and we would get him out and better alive and in the world than gone, but.

LIAM: Couldn't even talk at all yesterday. And, and a thousand thoughts rattling around inside my head. And there were just too many people. And for every person in the house who was there to pay respects and missed my brother, it seemed like there was another person with an axe to grind. And I don't know who to trust other than you.

AABRIA: Love. To be clear, there were maybe a handful of people who had a word of truly bad things to say about your brother. I don't know why Julien showed his face. And Vaelus' whole... that's fucked. But everyone else there knew him and loved him, and-- I'm sorry, I will just keep rambling.

LIAM: You know, I was in the crowd and Azune made it so that he and I could talk.

AABRIA: Oh.

LIAM: So to speak.

AABRIA: Oh!

LIAM: A little. And he, I'm going to break all these chairs.

AABRIA: (laughs)

LIAM: He saw something at the final moments out over the crowd. I don't know. I don't even know what I mean. He saw something and then he spoke. In a favor to me, he told me that I need to be looking out for Murray at the Penteveral. He told me that Bolaire has paints waiting. He wants me to look after Thimble. I would've done that anyway.

AABRIA: Of course.

LIAM: There's a lot to figure out, and I don't like the way the wind is blowing in this city. And I certainly don't like it, that trouble has washed up at our children's feet.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LIAM: I don't know where to start.

AABRIA: We start with the things that we know we can do. Let's put your brother to rest and figure out what happened. Thimble was jumped by a bunch of Crow Keepers or people trying to pin their actions on the Crow Keepers. We follow a clue. And. Look, Thjazi had a lot of irons in the fire at all times. It'll take years to unpack everything he was doing, but it's not on you to figure it all out right now.

LIAM: Thai, do you know what he was doing with that box?

AABRIA: I-- I wish I was the kind of person that asked more questions, but I trusted him. I would, I told him I was on my way to Venatus. I asked him if he needed me to pick up anything for him, and that was the request. I spent weeks walking back with Occtis, threatening him and cajoling him and begging not to open that box. And then I'm the one that did it. I brought danger into your house. I'm sorry.

LIAM: Danger has chased my brother around his entire life, or I got that backwards.

AABRIA: But we've always worked so hard to keep it as far from you as possible.

LIAM: Well, we got a lot to, a lot to figure out. A lot of people to talk to.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LIAM: Peel off a little time for Shadia today.

AABRIA: Yeah. She seems mad, madder. I understand.

LIAM: Just spend time. That's all she wants.

AABRIA: Yeah. You and Hero playing that song last night, it made me miss all of the things I missed so much. But every time I hear you play or I hear your stories, it becomes so clear how important it is to fix this world. Our people, our parents' parents. We started a war that freed us and threw the rest of the world into chaos. We owe it to the world to fix what we can.

LIAM: And we do what we do.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LIAM: One page at a time.

AABRIA: Yeah. Yeah.

LIAM: Let's go look after our house guests.

AABRIA: Okay, okay. Okay.

BRENNAN: Downstairs, Thimble, you awaken. Thjazi, you have a moment, here in the morning, and this bad dream doesn't go away.

LAURA: I look at my handiwork from last night and I had spent the night after everybody else had gone to bed arranging his clothes perfectly. And I braided a couple locks of his hair and made it lay out. He looks pristine. I took a couple of the treasures people left for him. He would've wanted it to go to use. (chuckling) And I set pixie dust all around him so he glows. He's golden. I'm going to find who did this.

BRENNAN: As you whisper that promise, pixie dust ripples with light. A promise from a fairy is no small thing. Even from a fairy so small. (quiet chuckling) At the door, you hear the rasping of claws on wood, and at the little window, a wolf's head pops up and looks inside. Robbie, you want to come out? (laughter)

LAURA and AABRIA: (laugh)

ROBBIE: Hi, hi.

AABRIA: What is this wolf's goddamn vibe?

BRENNAN: (laughs)

AABRIA: Is he the scariest guy or a good boy? I cannot tell.

LIAM: Yes.

AABRIA: (laughs)

LAURA: Wait, wait. You don't need to scooch.

BRENNAN: You don't need to scooch, Alex.

ALEXANDER: I'm sorry.

ROBBIE: We can all scooch together.

ALEXANDER: There's no room on the table. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Kattigan arrives at Hal's house.

ROBBIE: So the, the wolf's head pops up in the window, you say?

BRENNAN: Yeah.

ROBBIE: Yeah. He just sort of-- (sniffs, huffs) and sort of muzzles the windowsill open a little bit and then slinks inside. Then I imagine it's a step up if there's a brownstone, like there's steps up. So all you see are two bandaged hands grab on the windowsill and go: Oh, fuck, ow, ow! He's got like a little, a little splinter and Kattigan just (grunts) and boosts himself up into the windowsill.

LAURA: I fly up, I fly up to the windowsill as your head pops up. You know there is a door.

ROBBIE: Oh yeah, sorry I just followed the dog.

LAURA: You still smell like alcohol.

ROBBIE: Then I burp and it smells more like alcohol.

LAURA: Envelops me. Just.

ROBBIE: He slings himself into the room. Hello. Hi. Hi.

AABRIA: Good morning. here's a door.

ROBBIE: Sorry, sorry.

LIAM: Hair of the dog for you and the dog. One sec. I go and I bring out shepherd's pie from the kitchen and some ale. And just set it out, if it's wanted.

AABRIA: Do you want to drink more or not be--

ROBBIE: Huh? And he starts eating the shepherd's pie with his hand. No silverware. Just scooping it in his mouth.

LAURA: Do you have any honey?

AABRIA: Have you been--

ROBBIE: He's scooping it down to the dog at the same time, dog's eating out of his hand and he's going right back into the pot. Just sort of looking at everyone.

AABRIA: You've been inside around people, yeah?

ROBBIE: Oh yeah.

AABRIA: He didn't raise you?

ROBBIE: I love people, I love people.

AABRIA: Great. Okay.

LIAM: Place a glass jar of honey down on the same table.

ALEXANDER: Occtis wasn't asleep. He couldn't hear either of you because his consciousness was inside Pin downstairs the whole night. So as soon as this starts happening, he cancels it and comes down. It's like, and sees you eating and just goes: Lord, what a way to eat.

AABRIA: Yeah. Oh.

ROBBIE: Pie's gone.

AABRIA: That was so fast.

LIAM: Good morning. Peckish?

AABRIA: More?

ALEXANDER: Sure, that'd be-- thank you. Yes.

AABRIA: I got it, I got it, I got it. You see that there is a fundamental tension in Thaisha that's like "need a thing to do" and starts buzzing around the house.

ROBBIE: Speaking of buzzing, are you airborne or are you-- Yeah, Wulferic is just, not nipping at you, but you know how a dog gets interested in something in the sky, a fly or anything, he's just got you tracked and he's bopping around.

LAURA: Yeah, and I'm tracking him the entire time.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah.

LAURA: Just high enough out of his--

ROBBIE: It's definitely--

LAURA: Range.

ROBBIE: Not that playful.

LAURA: Yeah, no, I can tell.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Thimble, you know that the funeral went late. The amount of time it'll take to get to Caravan Hill, you know that the tavern will be open and the Crow Keepers will probably be present by the time you get there.

LAURA: We got to get going.

ROBBIE: Going where?

LAURA: I'm going to hit up the Crow Keepers.

ROBBIE: Oh, Crow Keepers. You ever dealt with them before?

LAURA: Of course I have, have you?

ROBBIE: So much attitude. I don't know what we're doing.

LIAM: I'm sorry, we didn't even speak last night. Did you leave something here, or--?

AABRIA: (laughs)

ROBBIE: No, no, I just--

AABRIA and ALEXANDER: (laugh)

AABRIA: Yeah, I didn't ask. As I come out bringing you more food. Why are you here?

ALEXANDER: It's fine.

AABRIA: Do you need-- Oh sweetie, I got you, it's all right.

LAURA: Kattigan, are you--?

ROBBIE: Hmm? Oh.

LAURA: Are you going to help?

ROBBIE: Yeah, I think so.

LIAM: Oh. Oh.

ROBBIE: It depends on what we're doing, I suppose.

LAURA: He looks creepy as hell. He's perfect for this.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

LAURA: You want to come with me? I need backup.

ROBBIE: Fantastic. Is there any, mm, I'll save it. He looks at the ale for a minute, and the minute turns into a real minute, and then he unlocks and leaves it sit. Then-- So, I'm sorry, I missed a little bit last night. I just remember you, and you, and you're Thjazi's brother, I see it, yeah.

LIAM: You served together.

ROBBIE: Ah, is this a broad term for a band of mercenaries?

LIAM: Fought with each other, fought near each other.

ROBBIE: Fought shoulder to shoulder. He was a bit more of a non-commissioned officer and I was more in the trenches fucking it up, if you know what I mean. But he's a good guy all along. I'm sorry, by the way. I didn't get a chance to properly pay my respects. A busy night.

LIAM: Yeah, yes, it was.

LAURA: Well, he's still right there if you want to, Kat.

ROBBIE: Oh yeah! I'm going to walk up to him and I'm going to look at him, and as he's resting and dead, I think Kattigan's seen a lot of death in all of its forms, and when you see a person lying in repose, they have a resting face, and Thjazi's, to me, looks mischievous still, as I remember him in my youth, and then while nobody's looking, just out of curiosity, I'm going to say: Are you sure? I'll grab a little pinch and a little flick to where no one can see it and I want to cast really quick, just to check, Spare the Dying, because I figure if there's one last gambit he might have in his pocket, it could be that he's not really dead, just to check.

BRENNAN: You cast Spare the Dying here. Give me insight in this moment.

ROBBIE: Like an insight check?

BRENNAN: An insight check.

ROBBIE: Okay.

LAURA: He's been alive this whole time. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Gotcha.

AABRIA: He hops up. He giggles.

BRENNAN: Now imagine if you called that here. What'd you roll?

ROBBIE: It's a dirty 20.

BRENNAN: Dirty 20. You look--

LIAM: You're ruining it, ugh. (laughter)

ALEXANDER: Leave me alone!

BRENNAN: Spare the Dying, you cast it. You do not feel the spell take hold as it has in the past, perhaps on Thjazi himself. You wonder if that mischievous half grin on his face is that the trick he's smiling at is that the life he lived led you to believe he might be fooling even about this.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

BRENNAN: I think, Kattigan, looking at his body here, he is golden, gleaming, surrounded by treasures from the many lives he lived. It is not an exaggeration to say, in the lives of mortals, though he had so much more time left, this is the best you can hope for, to be left like this.

ROBBIE: Yeah. I look at him and quietly to myself say: Man, it's too bad. Well. Let's get after it, then.

LAURA: While he was talking to him, I'm going to be flying next to Occtis. Can you come? Or is that stupid?

ALEXANDER: No, you mean, to-- Yes, yes, I-I-I-- I can come with you, yeah.

LAURA: Will you get in trouble? I mean, I don't know how in with your fam you still are. I don't--

ALEXANDER: Right, I haven't even-- Oh god. I can make myself look different.

LAURA: Yeah?

ALEXANDER: Hopefully that'll work. Yeah, no, I'm coming with you.

LAURA: Okay. We got to go.

BRENNAN: Thimble. You look, Kattigan's coming with you, Occtis is coming with you.

LIAM: I think I'm better served finding Murray--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LIAM: -- and Azune.

LAURA: Oh fuck, Murray. Wait, Bolaire! The letter. I go fly down and I give it to you. Hal, this has to get to them.

LIAM: Oh, all right.

LAURA: To Bolaire, right?

BRENNAN: Or to Murray, yeah.

LAURA: To Murray, you know what I mean.

ALEXANDER: Melaire.

LIAM: It says Murray on it. Okay, I'll go to Murray.

LAURA: Ew.

BRENNAN: There's a letter that says "Bolaire" on it. The letter says "Bolaire" and Thimble is saying, "This is for Murray." (laughter)

LIAM: Yep. That tracks with the last 24 hours, I'm on it.

LAURA: He had a present for you. Did you get it?

LIAM: Yes. Yes.

LAURA: Okay.

AABRIA: Are you going to use it?

LIAM: Give me one hour awake. Be careful.

LAURA: I'm always careful.

LIAM: Are you, though?

LAURA: (laughs)

LIAM: Listen, I know I'm not my brother, and I'm no replacement for my brother, but I know how much you meant to each other, and as far as I'm concerned you're family, so if you ever need somewhere to go, it's here. And, I was able to talk to him at the end.

LAURA: Are you bullshitting me because Azune said the same shit, and then he said he was lying, so.

LIAM: I'm not bullshitting you.

LAURA: What'd he say?

LIAM: He said to tell you not to be afraid. I didn't need him to tell me that he thought the world of you. And therefore, so do I.

LAURA: He was always so stupid.

LIAM: Yes, he was.

LAURA: I'm never afraid.

AABRIA: Thimble, do you want me to come with you or you good with a pair of spooky boys?

ROBBIE: We got this. We got this. Don't we, don't we, Wulferic? He's a good boy.

LAURA: I don't know if you need to be in with the thieves. Thaisha, you're respectable.

AABRIA: Who said? Is that true?

LIAM: I don't know. What context?

LAURA: I respect you.

AABRIA: I respect you, too.

ALEXANDER: You didn't tell me you were respectable.

AABRIA: Okay, calm down, yeah.

LIAM: I like it.

BRENNAN: As Thaisha and Hal remain here at home with their daughter, Thimble, you head out with Kattigan and Occtis.

ALEXANDER: Disguise Self before we leave the house.

LAURA: Look shady, shadier than you already look.

ALEXANDER: I don't look shady.

LAURA: (chuckles)

ALEXANDER: I make myself look very much-- realizing who I'm with, an approximation of someone who looks like Kattigan. (laughter)

AABRIA: I'm nudging the shit out of Shadia. Like: Eh?

BRENNAN: Shadia goes, "It's nice to meet you."

ALEXANDER: Nice to meet you, too. (throat clear) (deeper, imitating Kattigan) Nice to meet you, too.

LAURA: That's good. That's good.

BRENNAN: "Wow."

LAURA: Can you make yourself stink like him?

BRENNAN: "Is that your real--"

AABRIA: (laughs)

ROBBIE: It's a musk. (laughter)

ALEXANDER: I feel like that's a waste of magic. (laughter)

BRENNAN: As you head up, let me know how long Disguise Self--

ALEXANDER: In less an hour, I will need to duck away at some point to refresh it.

BRENNAN: Yes, so you go ahead. I think you get there on a second casting.

ALEXANDER: Yeah, got it.

BRENNAN: You'll get far enough in the city that you arrive there. Thimble, as you head out through the city, you see it before you. there is a tavern, a sign, no letters on it, but a sign with a scratched picture of a tall stone masonry tower. This is in Caravan Hill. Caravan Hill is one of the lower neighborhoods of the city, so named because this is where all of the goods and wealth of Kahad, all that orcish food and produce and wealth and abundance goes funneling out into the rest of Pasitar. You see that there is a-- So there's merchant caravans and wagons and everything heading up to Sir Ogrimok's Market, and the tavern sign swings, there's sputtering torchlight. So you enter, it's always a late morning tavern, always has a vibe like the circus just left. (chuckling) It's a-- From a guy who used to do opening work at a lot of bars-- (laughter) -- it's a tough vibe. As you approach and enter, you walk in and right in this little hallway that leads out to where the bar is and there's circular tables around a sputtering torchlight. Even Dol-Makjar is gray enough that some places in some neighborhoods need to burn torches during the day even to have enough light to see and do things. You walk in and you see that there's two wiry-looking human, you can see a couple crow feathers on a twine earring and another one's got some crow feathers on the inside of a hood. So you walk in, smile. "Hello. Welcome. Looking for a drink?"

LAURA: I'm looking for any bit of recognition in any of their eyes for me. I'm looking for somebody that looks like they might have been in that room.

BRENNAN: You don't see any from this person. "Are you here to speak with somebody?"

LAURA: Yeah. I fly down and get close to them. Where's Cas? Where's Cas?

BRENNAN: You hear a voice from inside say, "Send her in." In the bar, wearing a brimmed, double-ridged hat, black felt, long black coat, thin silver chain, is an older figure. You would recognize this as a gentleman, you don't know if it's his name, but people call him Solomon. "You. Thimble, is that right?"

LAURA: Sol.

BRENNAN: "Good to see you, my friend."

LAURA: You too.

BRENNAN: "Who are you looking for?"

LAURA: I'm looking for Casimir. Has he been around? Last few days? Last day?

BRENNAN: Give me a persuasion check.

AABRIA: Let's fucking go, Tinkerhell. (laughter)

LAURA: Ooh, that ain't good, that ain't good at all. That's a five.

BRENNAN: Hey, Laura? Roll initiative. (cheering)

BRENNAN: And we're going to say goodbye. Actually, give me three initiative rolls right here. I'm going to mark them down.

ROBBIE: Whoa.

LAURA: Oh, that's balls, motherfucker.

AABRIA: I bet they won't get up to anything.

LAURA: Okay, 25.

LIAM: Do you want rashers with your eggs?

BRENNAN: 25 for Thimble.

AABRIA: Yeah, I do!

BRENNAN: Okay, so 25 for Thimble, damn.

ALEXANDER: That is 21.

AABRIA: Oh my god, come on.

BRENNAN: 21 for Occtis. What'd we get here?

ROBBIE: I'm just lollygagging by the bar. I got a 12. (laughter)

BRENNAN: 12, 12 for Kattigan. Hell yeah. Thimble, these people are not creative, and as many times before, you hear the whistling right behind you of someone with a burlap sack, and that's where we're going to say goodbye. (exclaiming)

ALEXANDER: Oh no! (laughter)

BRENNAN: See you guys next time. Can we get Sam and Whitney out here?

ALEXANDER: Okay.

LAURA: Oh, yeah.

LIAM: Everybody else vacate, right?

BRENNAN: Everybody else vacate. Bye-bye!

AABRIA: That went fine.

LAURA: Oh shit!

ROBBIE: Let's go.

ALEXANDER: Almost first combat. (laughter)

ROBBIE: So close!

LIAM: Hal and Thaisha, just making breakfast.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LIAM: That's it.

ALEXANDER: That's its own kind of combat.

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Great.

AABRIA: Bye. Bye-bye.

BRENNAN: Bye-bye. Great. I love it.

SAM: Oh boy.

BRENNAN: I love it.

SAM: Oh boy.

BRENNAN: Oh boy.

SAM: Should we be on different?

WHITNEY: Do you want to be? Should we?

BRENNAN: Having been watered and fed, Teor Pridesire has been ushered out of the Villa Aurora, and after much business, dealing with a quick meeting with House Einfasen and some comings and goings, Sam, what do you think Wicander would get up to that in a normal day, after having signed up for Teor to maybe begin to be your assigned bodyguard, this holy man, but in a normal day, what do you think you would get up to?

SAM: Oh, well, in a normal day-- This isn't a normal day.

BRENNAN: Or on this day, what would you get up to, yeah?

SAM: In a normal day, I think I would-- I have duties. I have things to take care of at the various temples. And there is the matter of that shipment of Filament that was outside, this glowing liquid that was being jostled around, I want to make sure that that is being cared for and delivered to the right place. There's always the teaching of Tyranny and making sure that she is being brought to the Light and making sure that she's doing her studies. I don't know if she's with me now or not.

BRENNAN: I believe she is.

SAM: Okay. Yes.

BRENNAN: After a long day dealing with the accident, there is a knock at your study door as the sun begins to set.

SAM: Maybe I'm in the middle of explaining to her: As you know, the Candescent Creed believes that the universe is a river of light and we are but vessels riding in this river. We have solved the ancient secrets, though, and we can distill the light energy into liquid Filament and that Filament can be used in rituals and--

WHITNEY: How?

SAM: It's very crucial to our faith. That Filament can be used to empower people, to cast magic.

WHITNEY: So you don't know?

SAM: I don't know exactly how it works, but I do know that that Filament can even be ingested by people. Why, you see the markings on my face, these beautiful glowing tattoos are actually pure Filament. That's the bottled-down essence of the universe tattooed on my face.

WHITNEY: But you don't know what it is or where it comes from?

SAM: Yes, I do. It is part of the universe. It is the Candescence that we all exist within and without us. It makes the universe and we are carried along its current and many say that we can sip of it from the great Radiant Chalice.

WHITNEY: Okay, I understand. Let me ask you something. What did you think about that Teor guy?

SAM: Hoo. He was very strong.

WHITNEY: He was really strong, yeah.

SAM: Yes, and sort of had a swagger about him, don't you think?

WHITNEY: Yeah.

SAM: Sort of a confidence.

WHITNEY: Well, let's stay pure.

SAM: Of course, you're right. He seemed to wield the Light without even knowing how or what it is, which is rare. Impressive, really.

WHITNEY: And you trust him?

SAM: Well, I did, but then my grandmother said to sort of get rid of him. I don't know what that means.

WHITNEY: Your grandma said to get rid of him?

SAM: I don't know if that means usher him out or kill him. I can't kill him.

WHITNEY: You can't kill him. No, you can't do that.

SAM: No, I can't kill him. No, but could you, if push came to shove?

WHITNEY: I mean, yeah, I think so, but I don't think I should.

SAM: No, I don't want to.

WHITNEY: It's not my job to be in up on the politics of your stuff.

SAM: Of course not, but you know, if the Photarch commanded us to, I suppose we'd have no other choice.

WHITNEY: Yeah. I don't want to do that.

SAM: I don't want to do that either. (knuckles rapping)

SAM: Oh! Yes. Yes, go open the door, please.

BRENNAN: The door opens, your father, and behind him Aspirant Enmity, these two towering figures appear. Your father, again blindfolded, looks to you, "Wicander, come," and turns to begin to walk away.

WHITNEY: Am I supposed to come also?

SAM: You should--

BRENNAN: Enmity looks and says, "Come on, now, Tyranny."

SAM: You should be present for all official. What if I need protection? Yes, yes, Father. We'll join along.

WHITNEY: I'm want sidebar with Enmity really quick. I get up, clomp right up next to her and say: Enmity, what's going on?

BRENNAN: "The Photarch has made a decision. You won't have to keep any terrible little secrets for much longer." You, by the way, Enmity is committing a dimming in this moment by speaking in the language of demons. So that you don't understand that last part.

SAM: Did I--

BRENNAN: You heard a little Demonic, yeah.

SAM: All right, I shoot them a little bit of a side eye. Mm-mm.

BRENNAN: You see Godard, your father says, "Down," and points to the staircase.

SAM: Right away. Follow? Yes.

BRENNAN: You begin to walk, Enmity speaking rather than your father goes, "My lord Wicander, your father is gleeful and merry beyond measure."

SAM: I can tell, yes.

BRENNAN: "To show you the inner workings of the Prismatic Retort."

SAM: Oh! Oh, by the Beam. The inner workings? The Prismatic Retort is what we use to change Light energy, distill it from the cosmos into liquid form, into liquid Filament. Its mysteries are unknown. If this is true, this could be my promotion. This could be the moment I'm revealed the secrets.

WHITNEY: Yes, Your Radiance.

SAM: I mean, I know you're being humble and demure because that's what you should be, but you could be a little happy.

WHITNEY: (chuckles) Woo!

BRENNAN: You approach at the bottom of the staircase going down farther. This is now deep in the rock, underneath the Villa Aurora, a massive set of stone double doors, the symbol of the Candescent Creed on them. You can see there is writing, however, here in Celestial, ancient Obridimian, this lost runes of this empire of fallen worshipers of Tansul, god of the sun. The letters don't reference him, but you recognize them as part of that ancient alphabet, but of course, Tansul was a false god. So doors begin to crack open and a beam of light (light whooshing) moves through and quickly diminishes. You see within, chained to either side of the wall are enormous war hounds. You see that each of them, their slavering drool glowing bioluminescently as they (barking and snarling)

SAM: (gasps)

BRENNAN: You see that each of them barks, and as they do, you see that you feel a pulse of some kind of innate spell from them, and you feel, not harming anything, but Dispel Magic cast over you.

SAM: Do I know these creatures?

BRENNAN: They look maybe of a similar kind to your Uncle Filoneus'. He has got some war dogs, but these ones are much bigger, and you see that each of them--

SAM: Do not be afraid.

WHITNEY: Thank you. My eyes are locked on Wick and also occasionally staring daggers at Enmity.

BRENNAN: You look at the war hounds, as you look over, their eyes, you see that there are golden plates affixed over their eyes, solid. As you walk forward, another set of doors opens.

SAM: Have I ever been this far, deep down?

BRENNAN: No. This is all brand new.

SAM: Oh my goodness. The fourth tenet of the Seven Shining Tenets. The Beam is only seen by the Anointed, the sacred glyphs shimmer only to the family of flame. They will be revealed to me tonight.

WHITNEY: Hey, can I say something really quick before we go further?

SAM: Yes, but make it quick.

WHITNEY: Yeah, I just wanted to say that I know I haven't been really easy to work with these past couple months.

SAM: I mean--

WHITNEY: And I'm really sorry about that.

SAM: Oh, thank you. Thank you for that. You've made great progress and I'm proud of what you've accomplished and can't wait for more!

BRENNAN: "Wicky!" You see the Photarch is down here.

SAM: Grandma.

BRENNAN: You see that she's dressed, not in outer regalia, but a simple white gown. She looks like she's very comfortable down here. She smiles and says, "Oh, my little lovey. It's good to see you. Hello, Tyranny. Welcome. Behold," candles light in this almost cathedral-esque basement, like a windowless cathedral here in the basin, and you see that there is an enormous stone sarcophagus that is set in with these massive, fibrous, what look like almost like thread, massive ropes or threads coming off of it, but you see that they're shuddering and gleaming bright. The sarcophagus is pitched up. It is easily 40 feet tall overhead.

SAM: Woo.

BRENNAN: Stones and sigils carved throughout it. You see that Godard is walking over and twisting these places where these essentially fibrous tubes plunge into the sarcophagus and tightening them up. As he does, you see his hands are smoking a little bit. Yanessa looks at you and says, "Wicander, There's no two ways about it. The love I hold for you is as true as the foundations of the earth and I need you to know that because that love is true. However, some of the things I have told you in your life have not been true, and so I suspect that there may be some points where you feel rattled, unsure, your legs taken out from under you." You see a tiny, papery, old hand touches your cheek. "So the thing I need you to hold onto when everything else goes away is I love you."

SAM: I love you too, Grandmother.

BRENNAN: "Your ability to wield the Light--"

SAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: "-- is a gift."

SAM: From the cosmos itself, yes. We all must carry the Light as clerics of the Candescent Creed.

BRENNAN: "It's less a gift of the cosmos, than it is a gift of our family, and it's less from any given creed than it is from--"

SAM: Faith? Belief? Goodness. Justice.

BRENNAN: "Godard, open the Retort."

SAM: The machine. This is the machine that distills the Light into Filament.

BRENNAN: "As you wish, Mother." Godard goes to undo his blindfold. Takes it off. "(yelling)" Beams of light--

SAM: Oh shit.

BRENNAN: -- emerge unbidden from his lidless eyes as two beams of light funnel into the base of the Prismatic Retort. (whooshing) "(grunts) (Celestial incantation)" The runes of the sarcophagus alight and they begin to open. Both of you, I need a strength saving throw.

SAM: Sure, that's what we do. Hey, pretty good.

WHITNEY: Dirty 20.

SAM: 15.

BRENNAN: 15. Tyranny, you stand strong. Wicander, you are thrown back 10 feet.

SAM: Sure. (grunts)

WHITNEY: Oh.

SAM: It's all right, I can see better back here.

WHITNEY: I go and I, hold on, it's okay.

BRENNAN: You look up, and as your eyes adjust, you see your father kneeling, reasserting, and re-fixing the blindfold on his face as the Retort opens, gleaming light. This is not a sarcophagus, it's an iron maiden, and within it is a 30-foot tall angel chained with taps like that that removes the sap from maple trees, gushing blood out as the angel chained with its head against the inner workings, its featherless wings spread out and splayed against the inside of the machine. Roars out like a screaming titan. "(screaming)" As rows and rows of unpointed teeth within its mouth gnash furiously. It blasts forth bilious gleaming blood over its shining body. "(gasping)" Claws and feet reaching forward against the chains. Yanessa turns to you. "Wicky, I'd like you to meet your grandfather." That's all for this episode of Critical Role. (laughter)

SAM: Wait, no. No, don't go. (laughs)

BRENNAN: And we'll see you next week.

SAM: No, no, no. Don't cut. (laughter)

Cooldown

SAM: Shit. (laughter)

WHITNEY: I got to tell you some stuff. (laughter) Damn.

OFFSCREEN: (slow clap)

WHITNEY: God, it took me everything in my power not to go: Fuck yeah, Iron Maiden, dude!

BRENNAN: Fuck yeah Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden, bro, yeah.

TRAVIS: Oh.

LIAM: (laughs)

MATT: That seems fine.

BRENNAN: That seems fine.

MATT: Yeah.

TRAVIS: That's totally cool.

MARISHA: Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

BRENNAN: Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

LIAM: Are you going to reverse Damian?

SAM: (chuckles)

TALIESIN: Oh, Samuel. Oh no.

AABRIA: Oh no, amazing.

MARISHA: Oh no.

TALIESIN: Oh no. Oh baby.

AABRIA: By you, baby.

SAM: You knew and didn't tell me?

WHITNEY: I'm so sorry, man. I'm so sorry, you wouldn't believe me. Demons lie!

AABRIA: In her defense, it is funny. (laughter)

TALIESIN: You can hop over there and then we have one extra one in both places.

AABRIA: Oh my god. That's wild.

LIAM: Wow. (laughter)

MARISHA: That episode had four endings.

BRENNAN: Yes. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Bling, bang, boom, bang, bang.

MARISHA: Every one was like, "Oh, this is a cliffhanger. Oh."

BRENNAN: Oh, this is a cliffhanger. This is a cliffhanger.

MARISHA: Oh no, no.

BRENNAN: It's really crazy in getting into this where I'm like: We are sort of starting three campaigns.

AABRIA: Yeah, that's true, shit.

LUIS: Yeah.

AABRIA: Damn.

BRENNAN: Damn. Hey, your grandpa, your grampy!

SAM: He's so big.

BRENNAN: He's so big.

ALEXANDER: Not that far removed from you. (laughter)

MARISHA: He's really not.

SAM: Oh god, you're right, not great-grandfather.

ALEXANDER: Nope.

SAM: Grandfather.

AABRIA: Your tiny cool grandma hit that.

SAM: Ew! (laughter)

AABRIA: She smoked that shit and we have to talk about it.

SAM: Ew, gross. (laughter)

SAM: Ew, gross!

AABRIA: Like the fist of an angry god. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Two fists, possibly.

AABRIA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Eyy.

SAM: Featherless wings?

BRENNAN: Featherless wings, yeah.

SAM: Because they've been plucked?

BRENNAN: Bone. Plucked, yeah.

SAM: Ew.

AABRIA: Brennan, you can't say it normal like that.

TALIESIN: Turkey or bone?

AABRIA: Turkey.

BRENNAN: He, yeah.

TALIESIN: Is there meat?

BRENNAN: Is there meat?

ALEXANDER: Could I make them chicken wings?

BRENNAN: Could you make chicken wings out of them?

AABRIA: Oh yeah.

BRENNAN: I think, I almost see them as bat wings more than bird wings. I see them as having the fingers across.

TALIESIN: Membranes.

ALEXANDER: Oh yeah, yeah, the fingers, yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: Like, yeah, having the weird necrotic thing.

MATT: Delicious.

BRENNAN: Delicious.

LUIS: How did you describe the teeth? Unsharpened?

ALEXANDER: Yeah, like--

BRENNAN: Like incisors and molars rather than, they're not fangs--

LUIS: Oh, okay.

BRENNAN: But there's rows of them like a shark.

LUIS: Oh, got it, got it.

MARISHA: (disgusted noise)

ALEXANDER: Love that.

TALIESIN: Love that.

MARISHA: Right, it's more unsettling that they're just--

BRENNAN: Normal.

MARISHA: -- normal teeth and not like pointy.

LUIS: Rows and rows of teeth.

BRENNAN: Hey, manticore's got rows and rows of fangs. Sharks have rows and rows of fangs. I'm talking rows and rows of teeth for eating plant material.

MARISHA: Yeah.

WHITNEY: (laughs)

MATT: Bicuspids for days.

BRENNAN: Bicuspids for days.

WHITNEY: Would absolutely kill an Impossible burger. Damn.

AABRIA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

TALIESIN: That's how they make the Impossible Burger.

ALEXANDER: That was crazy.

BRENNAN: Hey, man.

AABRIA: Holy shit.

BRENNAN: We really-- It's really funny. There's a big precept in improv of "get to--" A lot of people came to me with backstories for their character. Sam had-- this is like, there's a lot of things that people wanted for their character to be realized in these four overture episodes, and for me, I think when you know that there's a story beat coming, the good improv precept I think works well for actual play is "get there" because the story is what happens after the moment we know is coming.

MATT: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Like what happens in the actual chaos? So end of episode two, I was like, Wick and Tyranny, it's got to happen. I got to say, that scene with poor Tyranny and her sisters earlier.

WHITNEY: I'm not like the other demons.

BRENNAN: "I'm not like the other demons."

WHITNEY: I'm worse. (laughter)

ALEXANDER: I'm worse.

WHITNEY: I'm worse.

MARISHA: That was so sweet, though. (laughter)

BRENNAN: So sweet.

WHITNEY: Oh, man.

MARISHA: But I love that you're just demony enough that you're like, "He's not cut out for this."

BRENNAN: Yes.

MARISHA: He can't do this.

WHITNEY: Well, that was something that came up right before the show. In fact, right before last episode, I was like: Sam, does Wick know? Or does he really think that Tyranny is his project?

MARISHA: Yeah.

WHITNEY: And--

SAM: She's the best.

WHITNEY: Right before this episode, I was like: Brennan, do I know everything?

BRENNAN: I think the big thing, right, was like: do you know everything? And it was like, yes, you know everything; Wick does not. And the big thing I think that Sam and I were talking about going into this was like: There's no universe in a world where the gods that were actually these figures that came to Aramán and shaped these different things and then were defeated in this revolution, that doesn't solve the things that people look for for answers for. So the idea of like: What happens? Well, we got demons running around and there's a lot of warlocks in Aramán so there's other stuff going on, and I think Sam talked about this character in the Candescent Creed as being a thing that would likely arise in the world, especially given these priors, and you know, I think Sam played it so-- he made it so easy for me as Yanessa, because here's the thing. If you had just been a sap, I don't think she would've led you in. It was the fact that you're like: No, you're saying I'm the Scion. Killing Thjazi hurts our standing in the city. This isn't part of our teachings. Like, in other words, a true believer with a lot of willpower actually is very dangerous. So it's like: Oh shit, you're not a sheep. Well, if you're not a sheep, we kind of have to bring you on this side of the fence, right? If you're going to rattle the cage, damn, we need you to be-- Okay, now you need to be dealt in.

SAM: Sure.

BRENNAN: Right? And it felt--

SAM: Yeah, and now I get to see Grandpa.

BRENNAN: Now you get to see Grandpa.

MATT: (laughs)

SAM: Whatever that means.

BRENNAN: Whatever that means.

LUIS: He's very happy to see you, you can tell. (laughter)

MATT: Here's your $20.

BRENNAN: Also huge props: Thank you to Murray and Bolaire earlier. I was like: Oh, I can get some of this celestial lore out.

SAM: I'm so curious how it all connects because there's celestial shit going on--

TALIESIN: Yep.

SAM: -- with you guys.

TALIESIN: Everywhere.

SAM: Yeah.

BRENNAN: I love that scene at The Archanade with the fucking dropping the tool in and this wizard and warlock looking down being like:

MARISHA: (clapping) (laughter)

BRENNAN: Yeah.

AABRIA: Murray's whole deal--

TALIESIN: That is so cool.

AABRIA: -- is my favorite thing fucking ever.

LUIS: Yeah.

MARISHA: Her whole deal. (laughs)

TALIESIN: I'm really enjoying it.

AABRIA: So good. What was it, "by the Shapers' anus?"

BRENNAN: Shapers' anus. Holler punk wizard?

MARISHA: Holler punk, yeah.

BRENNAN: Holler punk, yeah.

MARISHA: Holler punk wizard, yeah.

ALEXANDER: Everybody's family's getting exposed today.

SAM: Yeah.

MARISHA: Yeah.

SAM: Your dad's looking for you. Are you a bad guy?

ALEXANDER: Not to my knowledge.

SAM: Okay.

MATT: I mean, most bad guys don't consider themselves bad guys.

AABRIA: Early days.

ALEXANDER: No, dad's scary, though.

WHITNEY: Really? A lot of tender father-son moments here.

AABRIA: (laughs)

MATT: Complicated familial dynamics across the board.

AABRIA: Bruh.

ALEXANDER: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Killer, I fucking love.

TALIESIN: I'm a very good boy.

BRENNAN: It's really funny. I'm amazed-- I know that everyone is being so cognizant of the fact that we have a couple episodes of this big overture and then we're splitting up into these tables. The amount of deeply heartfelt character scenes we're getting with all of this story still, does that make sense? The fact that we're like--

ALEXANDER: Yeah.

BRENNAN: I feel like this moment of seeing Julien and his dad and this ten-- It's so clear that Julien is like-- Yeah, there's an archetypal, like, the lush and the rake, but there's some real hurt in Julien that we see. It's like the fact that that archetype gets-- There's stuff in there that Julien does not feel like he's in the wrong about.

MATT: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Which is fucking rad.

AABRIA: Raimond should hit him.

BRENNAN: What's that?

LUIS: (laughs)

MARISHA: I love the idea of like I'm about to backhand you with this glove.

MATT: It was--

MARISHA: I got to-- It's not worth it.

ALEXANDER: It's going to take too long for me to take my glove off.

BRENNAN: I'm going to miss my moment by the time the gauntlet comes of.

AABRIA: By the time I get it off, I calmed down. I was like: Ah, RIP.

LIAM: Damn, cool-ass giant Final Fantasy glove-- (laughter)

LIAM: I can't get it off.

AABRIA: Smells like a cast underneath there.

MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs)

BRENNAN: But also we saw-- It was very fun to have Alex have to play his character not knowing that like bad shit happening over in the Davinos, Palazzo Davinos. Bad things happening at the Penteveral. People were like looking for this: Oh.

MARISHA: Of all the horror, the actual visual horror that we just experienced at the end of the episode, the worst was Einfasen, was that his name? (laughter)

AABRIA: Yeah!

MARISHA: Being like--

MATT: Natural 20.

BRENNAN: Natural 20 insight.

LUIS: Thanks, dice.

BRENNAN: Of a different kind of evil because--

MARISHA: Different kind of evil.

BRENNAN: -- we have some high octane, turbocharged fucking--

SAM: Bad guys.

BRENNAN: Fucking, we got a bleeding angel in the basement. (laughter)

SAM: Tubes coming out of his neck.

BRENNAN: Fucking tubes coming out of his neck.

LIAM: Would you care for a little Shapers' anus? (laughter)

BRENNAN: Shapers' anus. But yeah, to have this other guy who's just like, "Am I evil or am I just a guy who's like: 'Yeah, obviously I should be in charge.'" And is that evil? Is that just fucking a different flavor of evil?

MATT: Historically.

BRENNAN: Historically. Yeah, pretty bad.

ALEXANDER: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's also, it's just-- There's so much. I also-- like I told you that I have an idea of what my family does, but I was so far removed being the youngest child that I don't really know any of the actual working, so I kind of questioned some stuff once I left, in perspective, but like, the things you're saying, I'm like: Huh, don't know any of that. (laughs)

BRENNAN: Yeah, you don't know what's going on with the Revolutionary Guard.

ALEXANDER: No.

BRENNAN: You don't know what's going on with Yanessa. Your grandma who, so far, this lady's a fucking piece of work, but she's like, "I don't know what those Tachonis are up to." And that should let you know how bad-- (laughter)

ALEXANDER: I haven't been home for at least five years.

BRENNAN: Yeah, totally.

AABRIA: Once again, fucked an angel is like: That family, though. What?!

WHITNEY: We were talking about how great her code switching is when she starts talking to Wick.

SAM: When she starts talking like a hooligan.

WHITNEY: The mask drops. She's just Cockney.

SAM: I don't even bat an eye because that's what she just does.

BRENNAN: It's a funny thing, that's just how she talks to--

AABRIA: That's how Meemaw uses her inside voice.

MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs)

BRENNAN: Oh, the luminous.

ALEXANDER: I like you outing me that I'm a virgin, by the way. (laughter)

WHITNEY: Oop.

BRENNAN: Oop!

AABRIA: Oop!

LUIS: How did you find out?

SAM: Was that predetermined?

AABRIA: That was predetermined.

ALEXANDER: I predetermined that, yeah.

AABRIA: And it was the funniest way for that to come out.

MARISHA: What was it, you're like: That's an overshare.

LIAM: I said: That's an overshare, let's go-- (laughter)

BRENNAN: Beautiful episode, everybody. Awesome. (clapping)

MARISHA: Good episode!

AABRIA: Fuck yeah, let's go!