List of Transcripts

Cold open

BRENNAN: On the mountainside, high in the peaks of the Kavrosi, the great mountains that separate the ancient empire of Obridimia from Kahad, and indeed its easternmost metropolis, Dol-Makjar, the city to which you now return, we find on a snowy cliffside, parked safely, a carriage containing your sleeping companions and the stone body of Talcydimir Pridesire. At the campfire, we find Teor and Kattigan keeping watch throughout the night. You are on the King's Highway, even in the dead of night in this dangerous turn high in the peaks where, on the other side of the road there is a steep drop some 200 feet down into icy darkness. It is still possible that there will be travelers traveling these icy highways at night. So some watch must be kept just to keep yourself safe. What state do we find our twin cats of the Falconer's Rebellion in here keeping watch?

TRAVIS: I would've thought that after all this travel I would feel a bit more secure in what we are doing and feel a bit more assurance in our accomplishments. But it is hard to feel safe.

ROBBIE: How much time has passed since the tavern with Tyranny?

BRENNAN: It's probably been about six hours, six or seven hours.

ROBBIE: Same day.

BRENNAN: Same day.

ROBBIE: Same day. Yeah, Kat, Kattigan is a thousand-yard stare straight into the core of the fire just locked in on the embers. But his hands are working furiously and he's carving out fresh bolts for his atlatl.

BRENNAN: Atlatl.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

TRAVIS: My friend, Kattigan.

ROBBIE: Hmm?

TRAVIS: You have always been a man of focus, but you seem particularly disturbed.

ROBBIE: Yeah. I'm just thinking about a hunt I gave up on a long time ago.

TRAVIS: Gave up on?

ROBBIE: Yeah.

TRAVIS: My friend, I admit I have been hesitant to ask. It has been so long, so, so many years. And of course, if it is better not to, then you can say the word and that will be forgotten.

ROBBIE: Come on, you were never one to mince words. Out with it.

TRAVIS: Before I saw you around Thjazi's body, the last time we met you were off to find a new adventure with her. Marienna.

ROBBIE: Oh man. It's like a gut punch. Twice in the same day, and-- Kattigan hasn't heard that name in years. Half a decade.

TRAVIS: Fuck!

ROBBIE: It's twice in the same day.

TRAVIS: Okay, all right, okay! Oh shit!

ROBBIE: (laughs)

TRAVIS: I seem to have struck a chord. (laughter)

ROBBIE: Sometimes you have to laugh the pain away!

TRAVIS: Mm-hmm.

ROBBIE: Yeah, yeah. Adventure, sure. In all those years we spent fighting together, I never considered myself an adventurer. You're supposed to seek glory or treasure or something, and I-- Is it still an adventure if you find the treasure and you lose it? Or is it just a sad fucking life? No, that's-- There's no adventure.

TRAVIS: "Lose it"?

ROBBIE: Yeah. She's gone, Teor.

TRAVIS: I am sorry to hear. I know how much she meant and what it cost you in order to--

ROBBIE: (shuddering inhale) Yeah. Yeah.

TRAVIS: May I ask what happened? I mean, you moved heaven and earth to change the entire course of your life.

ROBBIE: No, no, fuck that. No man can move heaven and earth. A man can barely brush a tree branch aside. She was taken from me and there's nothing I can do about it. Can we leave it at that for now? Is that all right?

TRAVIS: Of course.

ROBBIE: Maybe another day, yeah? Another campfire. But thank you for asking. No one has ever asked. (sniffs) (clears throat)

TRAVIS: Sorry it took so long.

ROBBIE: Yeah, well, it's all right. (deep breath) How do you think your brother's doing back there? Knock on the cart. Is he still with us in the cart?

BRENNAN: Cyd is sleeping soundly made of stone.

TRAVIS: Chilling. I think he's probably catching up on some much needed rest. You need anything, brother?

ROBBIE: Oh, listen-- No, I think he's all right.

TRAVIS: He was never one for the finer things. I feel like I should at least take some inventory of what we have. I was speaking with Thimble earlier about heading back into Dol-Makjar. It is, ha, not going to be easy.

ROBBIE: Yeah, well, stocking up. I'm going to keep whittling away at my bolts.

TRAVIS: Can I grab just a little knapsack that I have that's got a collection of stuff and just do a quick little inventory of what I've got?

BRENNAN: The Torn Banner, kept in its scroll case given to you by Loza Blade.

TRAVIS: That gets its own spot.

BRENNAN: Your lion's head emblem. You behold, I don't know if you're still wearing them after, the bracers.

TRAVIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: Yes.

TRAVIS: Yes, I think I left them on after helping load up the bro.

BRENNAN: Yeah, you had an attempt at attuning to them with Thimble on the road back in Timmony and it did not go very well. You seem, you have to wonder if you haven't been somewhat cursed.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Or if there hasn't been some period of unluck, and the voice of a fairy comes back to you. It's bad luck carrying a dead man's letter.

TRAVIS: Oh shit! Oh, oh, shit, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

BRENNAN: For those viewers at home that don't mind a 12-episode callback.

TRAVIS: Oh, no, wait, wait, wait. With the Jofe?

BRENNAN: Jauf, the bowka, the sort of fairies that have a dedicated animal form they can take. Jauf, you met in Hawthorn's Glade before you had even found the Wraith Tree, before you'd even gotten to Sloak.

TRAVIS: He had the owl cloak thing.

BRENNAN: He had the owl cloak. He had a jacket, a long jacket hung over his shoulders that was in the form of an owl's plumage and an owl-like mask. So he had a little porcelain chin that seemed humanoid, but then this owl covering over his eyes and nose.

ROBBIE: We were separate for that, right? We were off on different adventures?

TRAVIS: I healed him because he had a fever or an illness or something.

BRENNAN: He had a broken wing.

TRAVIS: In return, he asked if we knew Thjazi. We mentioned he passed and he said, I was, it's bad luck to hold a dead man's letter.

ROBBIE: What's that?

TRAVIS: I forgot it. This little, this little owl fairy.

ROBBIE: Yeah.

TRAVIS: He handed me a letter for Thjazi.

ROBBIE: Have you read it yet?

TRAVIS: No.

ROBBIE: Come on then, what are we waiting for?

TRAVIS: Well, what is worse luck: Carrying a dead man's letter, or reading the dead man's letter?

ROBBIE: What the fuck are you talking about it? Carrying a dead man's letter's bad luck?

TRAVIS: Apparently.

ROBBIE: Where'd you hear that?

TRAVIS: That would explain the shit rolls I've been having. I guess it can't get any fucking worse. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Okay, "Shadow. To Shadow. If all has gone well, you have the stone in hand. We'll need the steel. And you said you can convince her to reshape it into an anchor. If not, anyone in the family can make plow shares. Once it's done, the next step is to bring it to the field. Our wings are leading a charge across the border to draw the locals from the site. That hot shot I mentioned will meet you there and help prepare the arch from steel to stone. Please try to temper his confidence with pragmatism. Yes, I know you are precisely the wrong person for that. Still, remember, until a stable trinity of bridges are built, it is vital that the blood be protected. I trust that you have disguised it well. With any luck, the next time I see your face we will have undone the damage of our first attempt. More than one door will be open to us from there. Until then, I search for suitable anchors for the remaining four. We may need more hands soon after. Signed, Professor."

ROBBIE: Professor? Well, that's pretty cryptic without any context, isn't it? Never was good at riddles; what do you think it means?

TRAVIS: I don't know. But knowing that this came from someone of Thimble's background, I mean, we have to assume that it could be anything from Faerie. It could be some sort of a connection, some sort of subversion from.

ROBBIE: I never went to college. You know any professors?

TRAVIS: No.

ROBBIE: Right.

TRAVIS: Also, in a letter, they have to assume that it could be intercepted, so this is code.

ROBBIE: You think it's like a secret talk or something?

TRAVIS: It has to be. Bridges, yeah, wings, steel to stone, an archway?

ROBBIE: There's also the distinct possibility that we're not smart enough to figure this out.

TRAVIS: That's probably a fair possibility.

BRENNAN: We move out from this campfire as the snow blows over the two soldiers peering into the depth of conspiracy.

TRAVIS: Between us, we're dumb as fuck.

ROBBIE: I got to check my stats. It's okay, plus one, plus one.

TRAVIS: Me too, me too.

ROBBIE: Okay, good, good.

BRENNAN: However, Kattigan's instinct that the letter, or sorry, I believe Teor mentioned that the letter being intercepted would've had to have been a thought that occurred to the one writing it. It occurs to you that a letter bound for Thjazi Fang does not bear his name, merely the word "Shadow." We will discover more of these secrets on another episode of Critical Role. We'll see you then.

Announcements

MATT: Hello, and welcome back to the Critical Role Announcement Playhouse. (cheering) There, I hit it.

TRAVIS: (lasers firing)

MATT: Before we get into tonight's episode in Aramán, we do have some announcements to get through, beginning with our sponsor of tonight, Boot.dev, a learning platform that can teach anyone how to code like a pro. To tell you more, I'll turn you over to Captain Sam T. Kirk of the USS Advertise.

TRAVIS: Oh jeez.

ASHLEY: (laughs)

SAM: Thank you, mission control. It is I, Captain Sam T. Kirk of the USS Advertise on a mission to reach the planet SPON-SOR 19. But we've hit an asteroid belt. Brace for impact! (exclaiming)

TRAVIS: They almost had a concussion.

SAM: Paddy, how are the engines holding up?

LIAM: (Irish accent) Captain! Them yokes are banjaxed to bits! Sure we'll need a fist full o' leprechaun luck and St. Anthony's spare change to leg it through in one loop.

SAM: We have to make it to SPON-SOR so we can tell the people how to become a software developer. The smartest way to learn is to never get bored. Boot.dev can take you from beginner to expert through a fun, gamified, hands-on RPG-like experience. Laurf! (door whirs)

SAM: Come on, Laurf. Damage report! Come on, Laurf.

MARISHA: Laurf? Really?

SAM: I wrote it for Laura.

SAM and MATT: (laugh)

SAM: But she's not here. That's captain to you, Laurf.

ASHLEY: Laurf.

MARISHA: Right, uh. Uh, right, sorry, Captain. Hull is at 69%.

ASHLEY and SAM: Nice.

MARISHA: Oh no! Radar indicates imminent collision!

SAM: Incoming! (exclaiming)

MARISHA: Sorry. Sorry, Paddy.

SAM: How's your head?

LIAM: Don't be such a dick! (laughter)

SAM: Damn it, what can we do? We'll never show them Boot.dev.

TALIESIN: Captain, there can only be one logical solution.

SAM: Dr. Jock, you and your damned Vulcan logic. What is it?

TALIESIN: To show the audience Boot.dev, we must use Boot.dev.

SAM: Damn you, Jock. Make sense!

TALIESIN: Observe. I will simply log on to Boot.dev and easily study backend web development from start to finish in Python, SQL, and Go. I will test and perfect my coding skills in their new area, The Training Grounds, where I can grind through the challenges and perfect my coursework.

MARISHA: He's so serious.

SAM: I know. (chuckles)

TALIESIN: And finally--

SAM: Ope.

TALIESIN: -- I will use my new skills to reprogram the USS Advertise to get us safely to your destination.

SAM: Don't you mean our destination, Jock?

TALIESIN: No, Captain. With my new coding skills learned at Boot.dev, I'm quitting this "tin can," as you call it, and becoming a backend web developer. Their median salary in the U.S. in 2024 was over $100,000.

SAM: That's actually pretty good. You've done it again, Jock. Go to Boot.dev and use code "CRITICAL" to get 25% off your first payment. Laurf, set a course for SPON-SOR. And hit it! (computer beeping) (exclaiming)

SAM: Matt, boldly back to you!

LIAM: That was a pretty good rehearsal.

TALIESIN: That was so good.

LIAM: We should get a real one.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: I'll want this every week.

SAM: I like the dick on your head.

MARISHA: Thank you.

MATT: I want this--

MARISHA: I think Taliesin came in from a different sketch.

TALIESIN: Yeah, yeah.

TRAVIS: He just elevated it.

TALIESIN: Yeah, I know. Someone's actually got to read the copy properly.

SAM: Wait, where are you going?

LIAM: We're still in it. We're still in it!

TRAVIS: Get out of frame!

ASHLEY: (laughs)

MARISHA: I was just standing. I'll be standing here for this whole thing?

SAM: We don't cut. There's no cutting.

MATT: Hey!

LIAM: Stand tall and proud.

MATT: Hey, for--

ASHLEY: What a well-oiled machine. Come in here.

MATT: For our next sponsor-- (glass smashes)

MATT: The brand new side-scrolling action platformer game, "Ariana and the Elder Codex." (cheering)

TRAVIS: Ariana.

MATT: If you love action.

LIAM: Yep.

MATT: Magic.

LIAM: Yep.

MATT: And adventure, well, you just got to check out this game. You play as Ariana, a magical librarian on a mission to repair the Seven Hero Codices and restore magic to a world where it's vanished. Explore beautifully crafted side-scrolling worlds, defeat challenging enemies, and unlock over 30 powerful magic spells and abilities to tailor to your play style. Face off against formidable guardians, tackle platforming challenges, and harness magic items to gain buffs and upgrades. "Ariana and the Elder Codex" launches on PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch on March 24th and on Steam on April 29th.

TALIESIN: Nice.

MATT: There's even a free demo available. So head to ifi.games/ariana to learn more and start your magical adventure today. Thank you, "Ariana and the Elder Codex" for sponsoring this episode.

SAM: That was good, Matt.

TRAVIS: Yes.

ASHLEY: Woo!

MATT: Thank you. Thank you. It would've been a little better if I had some balls on my head, but.

SAM: (wheezes)

TALIESIN: We'll work on that.

TRAVIS: We'll make a pair.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: That's right. But Taliesin--

TALIESIN: Yeah. Well, we recently announced a brand new partnership with the wondrous board game publishers at CGE to create a Critical Role version of "Codenames." (cheering) This is a fully cooperative re-imagining of the game where one player steps into the role of a GM guiding their party with clues through perilous missions, each with its own twists and challenges. You'll get to build your party with iconic heroes from all three Critical Role campaigns and journey through three separative adventures where you'll level up your characters, unlock unique abilities, and even equip items as you progress. Pre-order "Codenames: Critical Role Adventures" now over at Czechgames.com and look forward to expansion packs dropping at Gen Con.

SAM: Wow.

TRAVIS: So cool.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Awesome.

SAM: Us making games.

TALIESIN: Very logical.

MATT: I think-- That concludes our announcements. So with that being said, let's all--

ASHLEY: (chuckles)

TRAVIS: Wait, have you touched it?

SAM: Set a course?

TRAVIS: Oh yeah.

ASHLEY: Oh whoa.

MARISHA: The things I do for this company.

LIAM: Looks like "Last of Us 3" down there. (laughter)

MATT: Let's go back into Aramán. Please. (exclaiming)

SAM: Perfect. ♪ (Campaign Four title theme) ♪

Part I

BRENNAN: Hello, and welcome to the first episode of the Schemers Table-- (cheering)

BRENNAN: -- here at (mumbles) Critical Role. Critical Role!

MARISHA: (laughs) (babbling)

TALIESIN: Literal coal.

BRENNAN: Literal coal. We return to Dol-Makjar.

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: That's right. We return to the beginning of the same week that we started six months ago. (laughter)

MARISHA: ♪ We haven't slept in six months ♪

TALIESIN: Who needs a short rest? We don't take short rests here, we don't even take long rests.

BRENNAN: We don't take long rests, we don't take short rests, we don't take any rests. Unbelievable. We return now to the Seven Stars. Looking down at Halandil Fang who has just been playing the harpsichord for a laughing crowd of merry partygoers who have returned from a strange reception at the Palazzo Davinos. The past 48 hours have been remarkably eventful. The execution of Thjazi Fang, the holding of his Farramh, the quick departing of Kattigan Vale, Teor Pridesire, Thimble, with Wicander Halovar and Tyranny in tow after discovering something horrifying that they did not share before making their way north to seek revenge on Casimir Gavendale and to seek the rescue or recovery of Talcydimir Pridesire, Teor's younger brother. The Seekers Table headed east with the mother of Hal and her's children, Thaisha Lloy, heading with the late Occtis Tachonis in tow with Julien Davinos and the elven warrior, Vaelus. Headed east in search of the fate of the Royce family and the Davinos in the attack on their house by the dreaded House Tachonis, as well as pursuing a vision across the veil, held by Occtis Tachonis, of an orcish warrior in a strange land, in what looked like the ruins of old Obridimia, an orcish warrior that Thaisha believed might well be your and her son, Alogar. We return to those who hold some stake in this fair city.

MARISHA: Employed table.

BRENNAN: The employed table. Welcome to the Employees Table. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Where you guys have just had, after the night where you discovered the empty Palazzo Davinos, where Azune asked a melted candle to remember itself and followed the footsteps of a spectral fox to the Lloy estate where Murray and Bolaire on a portentous, literally and figuratively, nat 20 created to be first, at least in your understanding of the history of Aramán, the first revenant or Hollow One, the first undead that, while not living, was fully possessed of its heart, mind, and maybe soul. TBD.

TALIESIN: You're welcome.

MARISHA: Give us the Nobel Peace Prize.

BRENNAN: Give us the Nobel Peace Prize. (laughter)

BRENNAN: After Dean Kora Keplenvaisreck's inauguration, Harondus Einfasen's dismissal of the bulk of the Revolutionary Guard, the Lady Amariya Dacen Cormoray's investigation with her own very hands of the Pariah Blade that Shay Claw used to kill the god of war, and Hal's day of rehearsal with his troop at The Hallowed Round. By the way, Hal, let me ask you something.

LIAM: Mm-hmm.

BRENNAN: I actually have-- Shout-out to our incredible Lore Keepers, Dani Carr, and also to Jared. Jared put together our amazing timeline here. Woo! The question I have for you is: How many days is it until your play's opening night? Is it a weekend, is it two weeks away, a week and a half away?

LIAM: I think it's just over, it's seven or eight days away.

BRENNAN: Seven or eight days away. I love that. I'll go ahead. Yeah. We're going to go--

MARISHA: Can we get box seats?

LUIS: (laughs) Comp tickets.

BRENNAN: I'm going to say, yeah--

LIAM: Can now.

BRENNAN: Yeah, I'm going to say that, yeah, you've got it coming up maybe like, yeah, between eight to 10 days away sounds good to me.

LIAM: Theater countdown.

BRENNAN: Theater countdown.

MARISHA: Oh boy.

LUIS: (chuckles) Oh.

BRENNAN: You are gathered here in this space at the Seven Stars, to talk about what is happening to your city. But also, this has just come up. We're going to return to the exact moment we left from our scene, I believe, in episode 11, to Azune and Murray at the top of the staircase looking down at the common room where Bolaire just pulled Hal away to speak of controversial changes to the play. Murray, you look at Azune who has just gotten this big question, which is, Orus Blade, a merchant of a potter's company here in Dol-Makjar, who just shared with you his suspicions around this strange gala at the Davinos, at the Palazzo Davinos. Orus confided in you and said that there are many in the city who see Thjazi as one of theirs, and that his execution is a bridge too far to stomach, that, essentially, you know, said, if I hear something, can I bring it here to Lachmir? As he said that, Azune, you, looking at him, break that See Invisibility spell glyph. Had to ask yourself, how did Thjazi know that the spell glyph was a dud if he didn't break it? What happened?

MARISHA: I had Detect Magic up as well.

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: So yes, that was me and Azune having this little moment.

LUIS: I have that glyph in my hand.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: And I show it to you, Murray. Through this seam that's at the center of this. It's there so it's easy to break.

MARISHA: Right.

LUIS: He didn't break it.

MARISHA: I didn't go to the execution based on principle alone. What did you see?

LUIS: Mm, I saw him. He gave a speech, in a way, and he looked up, and then I kept waiting for him to disappear, and it never happened. And the next thing I know, I see him hanging. Why wouldn't he try to break it? I need to talk to Hal, and I need to talk to that guy that they're talking to, that we just saw break.

MARISHA: Well, why don't we see if we can bring this guy upstairs? He seems like he could be a good ally, but we shouldn't talk about it down here.

LUIS: No, I don't want to be seen down there. There's too many people that are noble people that aren't normally here. I don't want to be seen by them.

MARISHA: Is it smart to bring this stranger, this new guy up into our little secret hideaway?

LUIS: I pull out that I-- I believe I have on my person is the actual glyph that Thimble was supposed to deliver to Thjazi.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: I need that man to take a look at these two glyphs and they can only happen up here. It can't happen down there.

MARISHA: All right, all right. I'll go get him, just go upstairs, okay, and collect yourself. You're clearly flustered, so just take a deep breath, give yourself a minute, all right? I go downstairs to Halandil Fang.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: It's been a minute. Where have we left off? Am I still at the harpsichord or did Bolaire pull me away?

BRENNAN: I think that Bolaire maybe pulled you away at this point, but you see that Orus is preparing to leave, nods at you across the bar. Takes Camilla, his paramour, and they head off into the night together.

MARISHA: Yeah, before he leaves-- Before he leaves, I go downstairs. (chuckles) I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I kind of grab him. I am trying to help our beloved Lachmir get a fresh keg out of the top. It's a little too heavy for my dainty little hands. I just need a couple strong men really quick to come and lift the box.

BRENNAN: "Happy--" Give me a persuasion check.

MARISHA: Okay. Okay. I'm going to use this. A fan gave me this, this is a Murray die. Okay.

LIAM: Let's go.

LUIS: Yeah, yeah.

MARISHA: Okay. What did you say? Persuasion?

BRENNAN: Persuasion.

MARISHA: That's not too bad. 15.

BRENNAN: 15. Great. He says, "I'd be happy to help." I think on a 15, he agrees. But you see that Camilla over his shoulder goes, "Need a big strong man to come help you?"

MARISHA: Yeah, I'm 4'2".

BRENNAN: "Convenient." You see--

TALIESIN: (laughs)

LIAM: Well, you got one strong man and I'm here, too. Ready? One, two.

BRENNAN: "(grunts)" Orus helps get the table up.

MARISHA: And real quick, if we can just go upstairs. Just follow me really quick, just one little--

BRENNAN: "Okay, top of the stairs. Got it. All right."

MARISHA: Top of the stairs. It'll be three seconds, sweetheart.

BRENNAN: "Mr. Fang, should I go back up or do you want to go?"

LIAM: I know this place, I'll go backwards.

BRENNAN: "Okay." And he gets up under you, it's going up with the table.

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: Yeah, we just got to get it upstairs. I'm sorry, Bolaire, do you mind you helping us as well? Just need someone to hold the door open for us?

TALIESIN: No, of course. Yeah. One moment.

MARISHA: All right.

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: Get this guy upstairs.

BRENNAN: You walk upstairs, he sees Azune up here, and I think you-- Anyone who wants to give me an insight check?

TALIESIN: Oh, always.

LUIS: Oh. I'm always ready for that.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

MARISHA: You guys go for it.

TALIESIN: Nope.

LIAM: Off of him?

BRENNAN: Off of Orus. Yeah.

LIAM: I'm looking right at him.

TALIESIN: That sucked.

BRENNAN: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: That sucked so bad.

MARISHA: I'm trying to move. I'm trying to make people lift tables upstairs.

TALIESIN: It's the one thing I do well.

BRENNAN: Nine.

TALIESIN: And I did it. Seven.

LUIS: 16.

BRENNAN: 16. Oh, you walk in. Here's the thing. You're ready for it because it's the look you see all the time. He walks in. This guy was just down there talking about hearing the falcon's cry with a notable actor, and has been asked suddenly to walk upstairs, and there's a cop waiting for him.

LUIS and MARISHA: (laugh)

BRENNAN: So you see, he goes "(groans)" (laughter)

LUIS: Relax, relax. Relax. We're friends here.

LIAM: Oh, he's family.

LUIS: Come in.

BRENNAN: "Oh, got it."

LIAM: You're all right.

BRENNAN: "Hello."

MARISHA: Sure we can trust this guy?

BRENNAN: "Lieutenant, captain? Hello. Nice to--"

LUIS: Lieutenant.

BRENNAN: "Lieutenant."

LUIS: But that doesn't matter right now. Azune. And your name?

BRENNAN: "M-m-my name is Dorus. My name is Orus."

MARISHA: (chuckles)

LUIS: I'm sorry to take you by surprise, but time is of the essence.

BRENNAN: "What?"

LUIS: I saw you activate something below.

BRENNAN: "That's actually-- That wasn't mine."

LUIS: That's okay. No one is going to report you. You're--

BRENNAN: "Okay."

LUIS: At ease here.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

LUIS: We are friends.

MARISHA: We need you to take a look at another one of those sigils that you have.

TALIESIN: If you don't mind.

MARISHA: Tell us if you recognize it.

LUIS: I'm going to pull out, well, I'm going to pull them both out.

BRENNAN: All right.

LIAM: What are we looking at here?

BRENNAN: He takes a look at both of them.

LUIS: The glyph that I found on Thjazi, that is, apparently, the false glyph, the fake, and the real one that Thimble was meant to hand to him, that would've activated the Misty Step.

MARISHA: He didn't break it.

LIAM: Okay.

MARISHA: Thjazi didn't break it.

TALIESIN: Really?

MARISHA: Why?

TALIESIN: Well, there's a lot of reasons why, if you think about it.

MARISHA: Well.

LUIS: Investigating that right now.

BRENNAN: "Well, this one's a fake," and he holds up the one that was on Thjazi's person.

LUIS: Okay. And this other one? And I am actually watching him look at it because I'm wondering, if it was his--

BRENNAN: Got it.

LUIS: He made it.

BRENNAN: Go ahead give me another insight check as you look at him in this moment.

TALIESIN: So, Murray, Murray, your Detect Magic is not up, right?

MARISHA: It should still be up.

TALIESIN: Okay, so you would be able to see if something wasn't--

LUIS: May I?

MARISHA: Lasts for 10 minutes and it just might be reaching the end. Yeah.

TALIESIN: So you would be able to see if something wasn't what it said it was.

MARISHA: Correct.

LUIS: Since it's intentional and I know that I am inviting him up, would you allow me to Guidance myself as I watch him?

BRENNAN: Yes, I would.

LUIS: Okay. Okay. Oh no. That is a 10.

BRENNAN: A 10. Okay. He's looking at the glyphs. He says, "This one is a forgery. It's just a little bit too dense in the hand, but it's been made to look exactly like a spell glyph. It's a very high-quality forgery. If I hadn't held a thousand of these, I wouldn't-- It's a very high-quality forgery. That's very strange."

LUIS: Do you know someone that has that ability?

TALIESIN: I know four people who have that ability.

BRENNAN: "There's--"

TALIESIN: Five, if you can count me.

BRENNAN: "Well, it's just very interesting to put this amount of work into the magic of-- So both of these are meant to be spell glyphs for a short-range traveling, skating across the interplay between Faerie and, you know, just outside of this realm where you can, my understanding is skate along the surface. I'm not a magician myself, but I work with them to produce these."

LUIS: Ah.

TALIESIN: Huh.

BRENNAN: "The issue is this one is a forgery that can't-- This is too dense to hold this spell, but it's of a quality that it's meant to hold enchantment. So why wouldn't you just make it to hold the right-- It's like this was made to be enchanted with not this spell. It was made to be enchanted with something else. I don't know, I don't know what. This is an expensive forgery. And if you're making an expensive forgery, why not make the real thing? The people that would have the ability to make this, a forgery like this costs, I think, what, two gold pieces and five silver to produce, but the machinery needed to build it means you're losing money if you make less than 200. So in other words, not anybody with two and a half gold pieces could make that because--"

MARISHA: You have to buy the entire infrastructure or have access to it.

BRENNAN: "Yes."

TALIESIN: Bloody 3D printers.

BRENNAN: "So this, on the other hand, is--" I think he just tosses it in his hand and goes, "Yeah, this is Hand and Wheel. This is us."

MARISHA: Hand and Wheel.

LUIS: Hand to wheel?

BRENNAN: Hand and Wheel, ceramic merchants.

TALIESIN: Have any of us heard of them before?

BRENNAN: Hal, this is his family company. This is the, one of the many Blade families, because Blade is a very common surname, you wouldn't use it as the name of your merchant company.

LIAM: So is this a well known--

BRENNAN: This is--

LIAM: -- business in the city?

BRENNAN: -- a well known business. This is hardworking Dol-Makjar orcs that made-- that had their own clay quarry, essentially, off of Lake Nahami. Everything gets sourced from the lake, everything gets made in town, they pay good wages, like, it's a pretty standup thing. They've begun to ship out further afield. They have-- Elodie introduced you to Orus' family at a gathering or a function because she works in the same circles as them.

MARISHA: Do you know of anyone else who would have that type of infrastructure or at least access to that type of infrastructure in order to be able to make something like this?

LIAM: Or knowledge about it, Orus. I understand you're just applying the raw material to press glyphs into, but--

BRENNAN: "Well, here's the issue. When we try to, for legal reasons with the Sundered Houses, with the Chamber of Lords-Advisory, we now have to bring everything in house and it has to get all approved. However, they have specifically forbidden us from continuing to make this spell glyph. So anything that's still printed, we can sell, but we can't make any new ones. However, about a week ago, we had a wagon get knocked over on the way from the kiln to the press. So a bunch of blanks went missing about a week ago. We think it might have been Crow Keepers. But," he looks at it again and says, "there are some people in the arcane underground that pay a large amount of money for blanks."

MARISHA: By the way, I just feel like it should be said. We were friends of Thjazi, so we're not-- We're trying to help, we're not going to rat you out or anything like that.

BRENNAN: "So far I haven't said anything other than public information. So I think that it's all the-- What I'll say is this: this glyph," he points at the forgery, "would require tremendous wealth and private work areas to be able to produce. This one, if my theory is correct and it's on a stolen blank, could get produced by just someone that knew how to carve the rune. I will also say, looking at this glyph work, there's a little bit of a flourish here, which I-- The serifs placed on this, which is written in Rungjani, the serifs don't normally go there if they're being done by an orcish spell artisan, an orcish magician. Reads a little fae to me."

MARISHA: Right, right.

TALIESIN: Mm.

LUIS: This is the fake glyph that you're referring to?

BRENNAN: Oh, no, he's referring to Thimble's one, the one that she got that was supposed to be the real one.

LUIS: Oh.

MARISHA: Yeah, the--

BRENNAN: So the one that Thimble sourced, he's saying had some fae component to it.

LIAM: He's just finished talking about how these are often used for skating back and forth between fae and--

BRENNAN: Yeah, he's describing essentially like a Misty Step spell. That this would've been a short-range teleportation.

MARISHA: That's on the forgery--

LIAM: That's on the real one.

MARISHA: -- or on the real one?

BRENNAN: That's on the real one. The forgery is made to look like it's supposed to be Misty Step.

MARISHA: Okay.

BRENNAN: The other one is a real Misty Step one.

MARISHA: Misty Step. I see.

BRENNAN: He looks and says, "Essentially, this is the genuine article, even though it got made by a criminal. This one, this is someone stole a blank from us because we're not allowed to make this spell anymore. And it is dangerous. Long range teleportation will kill you. But the short range stuff is typically pretty safe. That is not our handwriting. So someone took a blank and put their own spell on it and they did it, I would guess, sometime in the last week. This one over here is not a teleportation spell glyph. It's just made to look like one, but whoever made it has the ability to make real ones at scale."

LUIS: Okay. The fake one.

BRENNAN: The fake one is expensive. The forgey's-- The real deal is stolen. I know that's a cross--

TALIESIN: No, it tracks, it tracks.

LUIS: So to keep my wires from crossing, the wagon that got knocked over was where they stole the blanks to make the forgery, or was it where they stole the blanks--

BRENNAN: "I would guess, Azune, that, the wagon that got knocked over, the blanks were stolen to make the genuine article."

MARISHA: The real one.

LUIS: The genuine one.

TALIESIN: Like fake money. If you have the real printing pieces, it might as well be real.

LUIS: I have another question for you. You clearly understand the weight of this fake one. It's very important that you don't break it. But can you assess whether it's breakable?

BRENNAN: "Mm." He looks at it, looks at the perforation on it, says, "It's impossible to say with certainty unless I break it, but that appears to be a completely normal, although unenchanted, spell glyph that appears to be breakable to me."

LUIS: Okay.

TALIESIN: Hmm. Hmm.

MARISHA: Okay.

TALIESIN: I have thoughts, but save them for a moment.

LUIS: What do you do with those pieces that you discard once you've used it?

BRENNAN: "Oh, the broken pieces? They are safe to discard publicly. They don't-- there's no possibility of re-enchanting them once you've--"

LUIS: Perfect. Can I have those?

BRENNAN: "My shards?"

LUIS: The ones that you've used up in your pocket.

BRENNAN: He blanches.

MARISHA: He's not going to arrest you.

LUIS: In fact, I want to make sure that this can't be traced back to you. Is there a way that you can scrub it a little bit so that it cannot be identified as something that came from your shop?

BRENNAN: "Yep. Absolutely, yeah." You see that he goes over, flips it onto this back side of the mark, and you see that he looks over and you see how he saw all this, in that his finished one has a small press of the emblem of the Hand and Wheel, which is his merchant company. He scrapes that small thing off and you realize the one that Thimble had with a real Misty Step cast into it never went to the real printing press. So it never got the--

LIAM: Never got the official seal.

BRENNAN: Never got the official seal on it. The other, you see the other forgery also does not appear to have the emblem on it either, which is sort of a-- So he takes his and scrapes his emblem off, hands it to you. "Are you--"

TALIESIN: Look at you, you're paranoid, I'm so proud of you.

BRENNAN: He looks at you and says, "Have I given offense to you in this moment?"

LUIS: Not at all.

TALIESIN: Quite the opposite.

BRENNAN: "Whatever this is, if Hand and Wheel is implicated in any of it, we will turn over our books. We have submitted records to the Revolutionary Guard of the wagon going missing. Everything we do is transparent and accountable to the city and to the Revolutionary Guard and council."

MARISHA: Yeah. Quite the contrary. Everything that you're looking at right now is very off the books. So I would actually appreciate it very much, Mr. Orus, if you did not talk about this moment to anyone. It never happened. You understand?

BRENNAN: "I can see no advantage in sharing what has transpired as I helped move a table upstairs."

TALIESIN: Insight check.

MARISHA: On that note, while he does that insight check, I kick a crate really loudly next to me. Just go like: Oh man.

TALIESIN: Why? You're going away.

MARISHA: What a heavy bastard that is! And make a little bit more noise like we're still moving shit around.

TALIESIN: 12.

BRENNAN: 12 insight. Orus seems to be, on a 12 insight, Orus seems to be a pretty cool customer who's very flustered because he's speaking to people that he doesn't understand why they are associated with each other. He's speaking to one of the masked curators of the Archanade, a member of the Revolutionary Guard. I think that there's a little bit of him going like-- He's in a state of pique because of this execution. Also you just heard him, yeah, he's like, "Thjazi's one of ours," but also this guy just told you like, "My company just had a source of income outlawed. We just got told that we can't print, what do you mean we can't print this?" You know what I mean? So you can tell he has a genuine aversion to the Sundered Houses, but he's gone from being in merchants' quarters where they're like, "Well, it seems these Sundered Houses have no problems printing spell glyphs. What's good for the goose, clearly, not so good for the gander. I think I have some strong words to share." Then came upstairs to a room where four people were like, "What do you know about crimes?" He's like, "Ah, this was, I was more," I think on a 12, you're like, "This guy had more bravado talking shit before he was in a shadowy aviary with a bunch of people being like, 'How do you know about this broken stuff that was made--'" Like, so you see, he is a man who shares your alignments and ideologies, but maybe doesn't share your similar temperature of conviction at this moment.

LIAM: I'm going to plant my hand on his shoulder. Orus, from Fang to Blade, you have our trust and I hope we have yours. You are safe here. We are looking for answers. I am looking for answers at a time of tragedy in my family's life. I thank you for your time.

MARISHA: Damn, that sounds so cool. "From Fang to Blade."

TALIESIN: If you need anything, I assume you know where to find me. I owe you a favor, and especially, if anyone wonders how strong you are, if you were to carry a table or otherwise up a set of stairs that they feel that you are not strong enough for such an endeavor, just let us know and we'll take care of it.

BRENNAN: He laughs. With a help action from Bolaire, give me persuasion.

LIAM: Okay. (humming) Okay, that would be--

BRENNAN: With advantage, because of the help action.

LUIS: Yes.

TALIESIN: Yep.

LIAM: Way better, that would be 27.

BRENNAN: Orus smiles at you and goes, "I am very glad to know. I'm sorry to have not made your acquaintance, madam, nor yours yet, sir. But the fact that there are professors, curators, merchants, and thespians, all here in this attic sharing common cause is testament to how truly lawless and reckless these Lords-Advisory have become. So I wish you a pleasant, safe, and fruitful evening, thank you."

MARISHA: Remember, if you say anything, I'm going to tell your lady that you tried to kiss me.

BRENNAN: "Hmph." He turns around and walks out of the--

TALIESIN: I feel like he could do better.

MARISHA: Huh?

TALIESIN: I feel like he could do better.

MARISHA: Fuck off, Bolaire.

TALIESIN: No, I mean, really. That was barely a threat.

MARISHA: It's not about him. It's about his jealous little tater tot.

BRENNAN: He quickly heads downstairs. You guys, from the open aviary, see him walking out into the street and Camilla's like, "Trying to find the best corner for that table? You were up there for a half hour." You see he walks off.

TALIESIN: It's important to support local business. Quite nice.

MARISHA: It really is.

TALIESIN: Fuck.

BRENNAN: Orus walks away. Anyone who wants to go ahead and give me a DC 20-- Or actually, I'm actually only going to ask this from Bolaire and Hal actually. Give me a DC 20 history check.

LIAM: Come on.

TALIESIN: Hey! 25.

LIAM: 23.

TALIESIN: I know my shit.

BRENNAN: 25 and 23. As you guys look at that spell glyph that he scrubbed the emblem off of, he heads out into town, and you guys each have this moment. You've seen that emblem within the past two days, not on a spell glyph.

TALIESIN: Was it on the--

MARISHA: It's on the paints?

TALIESIN: Or, was it on the paint, or was it on the sarcophagus?

BRENNAN: It was not on the sarcophagus. It was not on the coffin. But the amphorae of paint were Hand and Wheel.

TALIESIN: Fuck.

LUIS: Oh shit.

MARISHA: There's-- what's with the paints? There's something magic about the paints, aside from just the paints. We got to dump these gallons of paints and see what's in them. Or something. Marisha is saying over the table. This is Marisha.

TALIESIN: It's hard to tell because the energy is very similar. (laughter) I can hear the accent leaking through.

MARISHA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: God. Big Travis-Fjord vibe.

LIAM: They turn to each other and simultaneously go, "The paints."

TALIESIN: It's the paint. Why would your brother give me a vat of paint? We have to figure out what the fuck is up with it.

MARISHA: Have you been using those paints at all?

LIAM: My daughter has, a little bit. She started painting over at the Round.

TALIESIN: Interesting.

MARISHA: Ugh!

TALIESIN: I doubt he would give you anything dangerous.

MARISHA: I don't have energy--

LIAM: I don't know about that.

MARISHA: -- for another field trip tonight.

TALIESIN: Well, that's why we're not going to take a field trip other than to our beds. There is nothing good that can come of this.

MARISHA: I'm so tired.

LIAM: But maybe it would be good if--

TALIESIN: Clearly.

LIAM: -- tomorrow--

MARISHA: I feel like I haven't slept in six months. (chuckling)

BRENNAN: (pounding table)

LIAM: Again, Marisha or-- (laughter)

MARISHA: Yes?

LUIS: It's hard to tell.

LIAM: Yes.

LUIS: Time.

MARISHA: Sorry. (chuckles)

LIAM: No, once you've gotten your dwarf hours in, wake up tomorrow, we take another look.

MARISHA: Wait, what day would tomorrow theoretically be? Is it another workday? Do I need to be sitting at my desk?

BRENNAN: I'm going to go and consult our wonderful timeline here. Hold on.

LIAM: Is it merely the evening or is it late-late?

LUIS: Early evening?

BRENNAN: This is going to be-- Hold on one second. Here we go. Okay. Today, is Smith's Day, which means that tomorrow will be Farmer's Day, which will be a work day.

MARISHA: Wow! (chuckles)

LUIS: Of course, it is.

MARISHA: Fuck!

LIAM: Farmer's Day.

TALIESIN: Well, I can get you out of work if we need to, Murray.

MARISHA: You know, honestly, I need to talk to Dean Keplenvaisreck anyway, I've got to apologize.

TALIESIN: Would you like a conscription to the museum for a bit? We could use the help quite a bit. We, of course, are packing up everything, and someone with your talents would be both useful and would keep you away from the school, which I imagine would be beneficial.

MARISHA: You know what, actually, Bolaire, I think that's a great idea. Maybe you could write a little doctor's note for me, a little letter. Say, you know, how valuable I am and that I'll play nice.

TALIESIN: I'll make it believable.

MARISHA: Thank you.

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: I need an assignment. I'm sorry, but I can't keep up with you all with the more abstract conversations that you're having about plans.

MARISHA: (laughs)

LUIS: I need a task.

MARISHA: Well, your task was to continue to remain useful. Remember?

LUIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Oh, we need to reconvene tomorrow morning. I would love to take a poke at that paint.

MARISHA: How about this?

TALIESIN: We meet at the theater, perhaps?

MARISHA: I'll go into work. I'll come crawling in with my tail between my legs to Dean Kora, I'll have a little chat, and then we can meet up with you guys afterwards. Azune?

LUIS: Yeah.

MARISHA: We got to keep all of those Revolutionary Guard from joining this private military, whatever the hell the Einfasens are trying to do.

LUIS: Yeah.

MARISHA: I feel like you need to talk to your guys.

LUIS: I'm going to do that. I'm going to do what I can. I gave you someone.

MARISHA: You did.

LUIS: I'll see if I can--

MARISHA: Varen, right?

LUIS: -- meet him tomorrow morning. Yeah.

MARISHA: Varen?

LUIS: Varen. Bolaire, we need money. I know where you stand. I'm not trying to build an army, but I hear what you're saying. It's too soon.

TALIESIN: It will not take too long. I have a funny feeling that once I get the schedule, it's going to be quick.

LUIS: They need to know that they've not been abandoned, and at the very least, at least a small sum so I can recruit some of them on our behalf to be working under the radar for us.

TALIESIN: I'm not very liquid at the moment, but I'm sure I can get some money out of them--

LUIS: The promise of it--

TALIESIN: -- relatively quickly.

LUIS: If it's coming, the promise of it will be good enough, wIll have to be for now.

TALIESIN: It's coming. Worst case scenario, we can sell something on the black market or some such. We're already going to be raided anyway.

MARISHA: Speaking of, I think I need to get in contact with Davrasi at some point in time, and see if there's anything that's been moved, especially now that we know more about these blank spell glyphs. See if he's been able to track those. I mean, with the blank spell glyphs, depending on how many have entered into the black market, that could, honestly, end up being like a counterfeit currency that we can continue to track and see, potentially, figure out the veins and the rivers of where these things have been flowing.

TALIESIN: There's a lot of options there.

LUIS: Right.

TALIESIN: Out of curiosity, would the body I'm riding, from what I know of him, have any information, would possibly have any interconnection to any of this skullduggery?

BRENNAN: Quite possibly.

TALIESIN: All right, I'll have to irritate him later then.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: Sounds like we all have our own individual threads to pull at tomorrow, to start. Why don't we--

TALIESIN: We'll be quick.

LIAM: -- run errands and meet up in the afternoon, early evening?

TALIESIN: Make sure we have paintbrushes and smocks, I imagine.

MARISHA: Early afternoon.

TALIESIN: All right.

MARISHA: Meet at the theater?

LUIS: Yes, I will make The Penteveral a stop that I make tomorrow, just to see how things are going with you in case you run into any trouble.

MARISHA: All right. I can put up appearances.

LUIS: And Bolaire?

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: Well, I had on my list a couple other things, but I may be indisposed tomorrow. I don't know what's in store for me at work. I know this is more of a silver arrow down the road, but I think that something to keep in mind, we have a Tachonis signet ring. I think it's still a part of our plan. I think an important part is for us to exploit the Houses and try to find a way to turn them against each other. I think a confession in the hand of a Tachonis suggesting that they are turning on--

TALIESIN: A real one or a fake one or does it matter?

LUIS: Doesn't matter as long as it's convincing, I think.

TALIESIN: My favorite kind.

LUIS: I would like Einfasen to think that he's next. As they start to realize that House Royce has been eliminated, if they already know or not, I want them to believe that House Tachonis is going to eventually devour them. A confession may be in Occtis' hand.

TALIESIN: Well, we first just need to know what they know, and that will be the first truth.

LUIS: I know, down the road, a silver arrow.

TALIESIN: But yes, it's there.

LIAM: I do have my company member's sister, remember, working.

TALIESIN: Oh yes.

MARISHA: I do have samples of Occtis' handwriting.

TALIESIN: Oh yes.

LUIS: Might be too soon--

TALIESIN: Oh.

LUIS: -- to make that move, but I trust your judgment.

TALIESIN: It's good to know what we have ready to fire when it's necessary.

LIAM: Well, this sister I mentioned, maybe will have some idea what the Einfasen family is thinking, feeling--

LUIS: Good.

LIAM: -- before we monkey with their minds?

TALIESIN: Mm.

MARISHA: Azune, you look like a trapped bird that's about to vibrate out of a cage and give itself a little mini heart attack. What is going on? You've got to calm down.

LIAM: I agree. Why don't you stay at The Rookery tonight? For old time's sake, you stay with me.

LUIS: Okay.

MARISHA: Looks like your pants are going to fall off of you because you are shaking so much.

LUIS: How would they fall?

MARISHA: It's an expression. I got to teach you about creative expression.

LUIS: I look down and see if my pants have been undone this entire time and I have been unaware of it. Probably blush a little. (chuckles)

MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs) Yeah, it means your fly's undone, yeah.

BRENNAN: Your breeches are exactly where they're supposed to be.

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: However, the hour's late, Murray, you are fucking exhausted.

MARISHA: I've got, you know, like when you haven't slept and you're starting to get halos, like you look at a light source and it then okay, it blurs and blends so I've got-- Everything's kind of pulsing.

TALIESIN: I don't know if this is terrible or not. I'm still trying to remember what is appropriate. I could put you to sleep if you like. Slowly. Give you time to take care of everything.

LUIS: What would that entail exactly?

TALIESIN: That would be just-- I would offer some advice of how to relax and fall asleep. Just very specific advice.

LUIS: Mm. Tomorrow night.

TALIESIN: Please sleep, and no-- We'll see if tomorrow night is available, but yes.

MARISHA: All right.

TALIESIN: Oh.

MARISHA: I'll see you all tomorrow. I'm going to go. Let's all make sure we leave separately. Give a little bit of a gap.

LUIS: Is there a back exit, or is the only way to where we are the stairs that lead down to everyone else is?

BRENNAN: There's only one staircase that goes down, but you are in an aviary that is under a dome that has open access to these slanted roofs down. It's hyper dramatic, but you could slide down to the roof and drop down. There's a barrel on a large crate that is literally a step down from the roof's edge.

LUIS: That's my way down. (laughter)

LIAM: I'm going to catch Murray's tired shoulder before she exits the room. I don't know why my brother wanted me to help you, but I will.

MARISHA: I don't know why he'd want that either or with what. Seems even in death, that motherfucker is always three steps ahead of everybody, including us.

LIAM: Tormented me when I was a kid and he's doing it from beyond the grave.

MARISHA: Well, I think we're just getting started.

TALIESIN: I'm sorry for everything, Hal, all of this. It's not fair to you.

MARISHA: Where's your brother being interred? Do you know?

LIAM: What a great question.

TALIESIN: Probably a family crypt, I imagine. Or maybe not.

BRENNAN: There are plots and family graves in the Tintazi Wood, and there are some smaller graveyards and places like that closer to The Rookery. I think looking at the map of Dol-Makjar here--

LUIS: Yeah.

LIAM: Would he have told me what he wanted?

TALIESIN: Or would the family have been-- (grunts)

LIAM: Aranessa?

BRENNAN: Thjazi frustratingly changed his answer every time you spoke to him. So when he was a kid, he was like--

LUIS: Oh man.

BRENNAN: He's like, "I want them to bury me under the Guardian Wall with the other heroes!" Then the next time you asked him, in the War of Axe and Vine when you guys were kids, or you know, fighting, and it was like death was around the corner. There was a moment where he was, blood was covering the entire side of his face, he had been hit in the head by some kind of arrow or bolt that was glancing, and you thought he was gone. He was sort of catatonic. Talking him back through it you were like, "If the worst were to happen," and he looked at you and went, "I'm never going to die." There was another time after that--

LUIS: (laughs) Damn.

BRENNAN: Then there was a time where he was the most in love with Aranessa he could be. He said, "There's a beautiful tree and they'll bury us there and our souls will go to Faerie together and we'll live with the fairies," and all this. Then the last time you spoke with him, he said-- The very last time he spoke, he probably said, "Near Dad," who is in a small cemetery, I think, probably, closer to The Rookery, up the Brightbrook a little bit into the mountains.

LIAM: Mm-hmm. Well, that's an interesting question. Which location? Gosh, I guess I have to make time for that.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LIAM: (sighs) There's a hill above the city I have in mind.

MARISHA: Fitting. He'll like that.

LIAM: He can continue to watch over us. All right, so tomorrow, at the theater, early afternoon. Azune?

LUIS: Mm-hmm. Okay.

LIAM: Let's get you some rest. Go to bed.

MARISHA: Bye!

MARISHA: Murray stumbles out first.

TALIESIN: I hand you a piece of paper on the way out.

MARISHA: Oh, thank you.

TALIESIN: It's close enough to finished. I'll give you the rest.

MARISHA: All right. Great.

BRENNAN: Murray, you head off back to The Penteveral. Bolaire?

TALIESIN: I'm going to go to my apartment because I do not want to see the museum right now. I need a breather.

BRENNAN: What neighborhood is your apartment in?

TALIESIN: That would be-- It's not-- What's upper middle class these days?

BRENNAN: I would say that probably Rozigar is upper middle class.

TALIESIN: Oh yeah, look at that!

BRENNAN: Yeah. I'd say Rozigar.

TALIESIN: Yeah, that's not too far from the museum, either.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Oh, right next to-- Okay. Yeah, I'm going to go to my--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

TALIESIN: -- reasonable, very sparse, well, what would be the phrase? Slightly modern--

LUIS: Minimalist?

TALIESIN: Minimalist--

MARISHA: Minimalist?

TALIESIN: Yeah, it's a minimalist apartment. I keep my mess in my office.

MARISHA: You would. (laughter) Frugalous, minimalist apartment.

TALIESIN: Quiet.

LUIS: Do I live at the Brethren Hall?

MARISHA: Looks like Kim and Kanye's house. (chuckles)

BRENNAN: I don't think so. I think you would have your own home.

LUIS: That would be so--

BRENNAN: Bleak.

LUIS: Oh my god, yes!

BRENNAN: Yeah, I think you would have your own home.

LUIS: Okay.

BRENNAN: You have your own home. I think, yeah, Bolaire, you know-- Murray, you get back to The Penteveral, there's free room and board for the--

MARISHA: Like sleeping quarters--

BRENNAN: Yeah, sleeping quarters.

MARISHA: -- kind of thing, yeah.

TALIESIN: The most expensive squares money can buy, is what my apartment--

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: I think you look down at-- I think your little flat, minimalist flat, is probably within the bounds of Sir Ogrimok's Marketplace.

TALIESIN: Yep, makes sense.

BRENNAN: Which, at this time of night, used to have a little mummers troupe outside that would do little arcane busking and little bardic-enhanced music, but it has been dreadfully silent ever since they outlawed arcane magic in the marketplace. For Hal and Azune, after a few minutes, you guys head off together, headed towards The Rookery.

LIAM: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Great. As you guys are walking to The Rookery, are you guys engaged in conversation or what are you doing?

LIAM: (sighs) I'm turning thoughts over in my head, but I'm not offering much on the way.

LUIS: Mm. I'm not talking unless I'm spoken to.

BRENNAN: You guys walk side-by-side, silent for the most part, lost in thought. Azune, you only know Hal through his brother.

LUIS: I'm not looking at him. I'm walking next to him and I have him in my periphery.

BRENNAN: You turn the corner and see, you can't see the road, it winds too much in this part of town; but you can see the little top of Hal's house, and you can see that there's a little window to Shadia's room that has been closed up, and you can see that there is a small cloth bed sheet tied together hanging out of it, so she's headed out for the night. It's her little symbol to you essentially of, "I've dipped out of here and I'm on my way over to the other house." As an acrobat, she likes to show off by heading out over the roofs and doing her thing.

LIAM: I immediately feel 15 pounds lighter seeing that she's vacated the house.

BRENNAN: Azune, you see the top of the house where Thjazi also partially grew up, and I think there's a moment. Let me ask you a question here. Who of the Torn Banner took in a young Azune when he first started the Falconer's Rebellion in another mercenary company? Who was the person that got him or that was--

LUIS: Collected me?

BRENNAN: Collected you, essentially.

LUIS: It was Thjazi.

BRENNAN: I think you just see this smiling, stubbly face as you've been essentially-- The Gallows Choir, the mercenary company you started working with, basically left you abandoned at the first large place they took a contract. They left with Mayali. Standing there as-- Honestly, this happened quickly. You were still 12. You just see this handsome, swashbuckling, orcish, who's aged out of being the young, 19-year-old hero of the War of Axe and Vine and is now this sort of (world-weary sigh) mustier, seen more of the world, hero of the Falconer's Rebellion, looking down at you in the midst of this busy cross-section where different mercenary companies are saddling up with different groups. You know, someone's saying, "They'll be here on the morrow. The new company's coming," and you see him looking at you, going, "Soldier, how old are you?"

LUIS: I'm old enough to use this. And I draw the sword that I have.

BRENNAN: He looks and goes, "All right. Are you old enough to use this?" And you see he points over at a small hand cart. "We got to get a bunch of sacks of potatoes back over to the wagons and they're stored in this granary over here." He puts a hand on your shoulder. "I don't doubt your bravery at all. You should not be here."

LUIS: I have nowhere else to be.

BRENNAN: "We need someone who can work quick and help out behind the lines, moving gear and equipment, food, all right? And if you need someone to help teach you how to use that thing," and he gestures to the sword.

LUIS: How long since that company left?

BRENNAN: Probably you've been standing on this corner for a day and a half.

LUIS: I'll do whatever it takes.

BRENNAN: Looks down. "It's going to take a lot of us feeling that same way. Come on, we'll get you some food."

LUIS: At that, my eyes get giant and I feel my stomach rumble and I follow him, and that all comes to me as I'm looking at this house.

BRENNAN: Hal, give me a perception check.

LIAM: It's not very good.

BRENNAN: Hmm?

LIAM: It is a 10.

BRENNAN: Okay. Azune, can you give me a perception check?

MARISHA: Oh boy.

LUIS: Natural 20.

MARISHA: Ho ho ho.

TALIESIN: (whistles)

MARISHA: What's up, baby?

BRENNAN: You hear a voice as you are lost in that memory, looking up at the house that the man who saved your life, the man who saved your life again and again after that, the man who then, as you got older, you saved his life multiple times; you look up at the house where he, and this guy next to you, who maybe you guys will get chances to save each other's lives. You look up and you hear a voice like it's present, like it's in the air, say, (deeply) "Remember." On a nat 20-- On a 10 perception, Hal, you see that a bit of light is cast forward from somewhere, and as you look up, you could almost swear that some daylight was emerging from Azune's eyes, like a sun setting behind an ocean, and then the light is gone. On that nat 20, Azune, something bad is waiting around the corner from here in front of the Fang home.

LUIS: Oh. I immediately take a couple quick steps forward and put my hand slowly out, low so it's not up and obvious, but just low. And I'll point towards Hal and send a Message: There's danger up ahead.

LIAM: I don't say anything out loud. I just nod.

LUIS: Man, as soon as you point, I follow the order. I'm so used to it.

LIAM: No, no, no, no, no.

LUIS: No, no, no? Okay, good.

MARISHA: (laughs)

LUIS: Okay, here we go!

LIAM: Pointing for clarification.

LUIS: Yes.

LIAM: So, let me do the face, too.

LUIS: Hal, Message to you: Up ahead. In the house, or around the corner from the house?

BRENNAN: No. On that nat 20 perception, there was something-- On that nat 20 perception, something's going on. You've had a hard time keeping a handle on yourself. The weight is all too much. It's like you've been at attention for your whole life because some general forgot to say, "At ease." You're looking out and nearby, there's something, there's danger, but also you said, "Remember" to that candle. Why did you know to say that? And then you watched Bolaire and Murray. You're supposed to stay close to them, but that's something-- Thjazi didn't tell you to do that, but Thjazi is gone. But you know there's something there. You just see them. It's like a feeling of deja vu. You're looking at them and you're like, "Oh," and you go back, and in this moment, you look, and you know how sometimes you'll experience deja vu even when you aren't seeing the thing that you're feeling again?

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You have that feeling of deja vu of watching Murray and Bolaire bring Occtis back, Looking at that moment, there was this thing where Murray's teeth were buzzing and that glass scalpel in Bolaire's hand was buzzing at the same frequency, these crystalline things, and you were looking down, realizing Murray knew there was something-- Things that are important can sometimes hold so much weight in the flow of time that they can be felt before they happen, like a stone in a river that sends ripples upstream. And I think you feel like your presence at what happened with Occtis has rattled you somehow. You're in a state of heightened feeling, and on that nat 20 perception, without being able to physically see it, there is a carriage of House Halovar parked outside of Hal's home. Your mortal eyes can't see it, you can't hear it, you can't smell it.

LUIS: I feel it there in a way.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: And that's where I get the sense of danger?

BRENNAN: Yes, and the danger I think you feel on the highest possible roll, is a danger that is ambient but not acute, and I think you realize that they are dangerous people and it is a dangerous time, but it will not be dangerous for Hal to return home. He lives there. The danger, you actually realize, you've already prevented, which was just not walking around the corner together.

LUIS: Huh. I'm going to gesture to the doorway to your home. The carriage that I'm feeling is in front of that doorway, not--

BRENNAN: Parked across the street.

LUIS: Parked across the street.

BRENNAN: So it's visible. It's making no effort to hide. It's parked there, four white horses, large carriage.

LIAM: That's out of our view at this point?

BRENNAN: Out of your view at this point.

LIAM: Out of our view, so we don't see my front door either.

BRENNAN: You don't see your front door either.

LIAM: Okay. I grab your shoulder and then pull in very close to your ear, I don't have Message; and mutter very quietly, I am not my brother, but I have your back, and on that word, "back," it reverberates at the base of your skull and you receive Bardic Inspiration. A d6.

LUIS: Thank you. I want to go-- I want to keep heading towards your front door, and as I'm feeling this presence--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: -- I'm going to stand in the spot that that carriage delivered Thjazi's body--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: -- and I'm going to let myself actually catch up to myself in a way, as I stand in the place that we brought him here, just to feel whatever that reverberation is--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: -- and just take a breath in. Also, there's a part of me that wants whatever that danger is, if it's watching me right now, I want them to see me standing there, strong, unafraid.

BRENNAN: You walk by yourself, leaving Hal, correct? Or no, you're both walking together?

LUIS: If Hal's accompanying me as he would normally head home, that's fine.

BRENNAN: Okay.

LUIS: I won't stop you.

LIAM: Well, what's the read? I'm playing this off of your reaction.

LUIS: I just give you a nod, and I start to walk towards your home.

LIAM: Okay, but no communication that it's dicey for me to go towards the home?

LUIS: No.

LIAM: Okay. All right, then I follow.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm. You follow. Do you stay close behind Azune or do you walk side-by-side with him?

LIAM: Side-by-side.

BRENNAN: You turn around, walk up the street, and you see the carriage of the Halovar.

MARISHA: Halovar.

BRENNAN: As you approach, Azune--

MARISHA: Interesting.

BRENNAN: Hal, as you approach the door, I think you see that there's a coachman and a footman on the carriage who regards you as you walk up there, parked on the other side of the street. What do you do? You get to your front door and you can smell the sweet flowers Thaisha's druidicism have filled your home with.

LIAM: And there's a coachman outside with the wagon?

BRENNAN: With the wagon. And no one's at your door. They're just parked across the street from your home.

MARISHA: That's so sketch, bro.

BRENNAN: They're technically in front of, you know, one of your neighbor's homes across the street.

TALIESIN: Coffee and doughnuts.

LIAM: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: The fucking feds are watching.

LIAM: And it's dark out. And there is a person there or there is no person there?

BRENNAN: No one in your front door.

LIAM: Oh, hell no.

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: Your home is--

LIAM: I thought you were telling me there was a man waiting. Okay.

MARISHA: No, they're coffee and doughnuts, like Taliesin said.

LUIS: I will send Message to you, Hal, and I will say: Is it safe for you here? I doubt it.

LIAM: And I can reply to these messages?

LUIS: You can reply. Yes.

LIAM: It's been a while.

LIAM: (Veth) You can reply.

LUIS: Yes, you can reply.

LIAM: You just hear my voice say: Friend, hell if I know.

LUIS: If we run, they'll know something.

LIAM: Here's what I'd like to do.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm?

LIAM: I'll just whip my head and I start to backtrack a little bit.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm?

LIAM: And go back around the other side of the house to below my daughter's window.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LIAM: And I give that sheet a good tug. Is it secure?

BRENNAN: It is secure. Yeah.

LIAM: I'm going to scale the wall up to the window.

BRENNAN: Give me a DC-- Call it DC eight athletics. Or acrobatics.

LIAM: Okay, okay, okay. DC eight, you say?

BRENNAN: Yes.

LIAM: We're all right, folks. It is a 15.

BRENNAN: 15. Up you go. Azune, you're posted at the front, correct?

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: As Hal goes to walk around, it's a little bit of another-- That path isn't seeable by anybody else, so you just vanish around into another part of The Rookery as you walk up. Azune, you post up at the front door. What is your stance as you post up there?

LUIS: I'm now giving this sort of, it's like I'm at work.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: Like I'm scanning this place and I'll actually burn a spell slot and I'll use Detect Magic so that it looks like I'm doing precisely what I would do on a patrol.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: Just assessing the magical signatures that are in this area.

BRENNAN: The door to the carriage opens as you post up. Two enormous hounds on chains--

MARISHA: Oh my god.

BRENNAN: -- and a knight of House Halovar--

LIAM: I remember these doggies.

BRENNAN: -- come out. The dogs: (growl)

TALIESIN: Boy.

BRENNAN: Walking across the street, filamental tattoos glowing, is an older knight of the House of Halovar. Looks at you and says, "Good evening, soldier. You are... A Marshal of the Revolutionary Guard, yes?"

LUIS: I am indeed.

BRENNAN: "The gentleman you approached with, is he the resident of this home?"

LUIS: He is.

BRENNAN: "Oh. Do you know where he has gone?"

LUIS: I do not.

BRENNAN: "I understand. I am Sir Filoneus Halovar, a member of the Chamber of Lords-Advisory. May I ask what business of the Revolutionary Guard brings you here tonight?"

LUIS: Our patrols have been extended. Occasional night patrols are now in order. I just do as I'm told.

BRENNAN: Go ahead and give me persuasion or deception.

LUIS: Okay.

MARISHA: Come on.

LUIS: They're the same score.

TALIESIN: Yep. I love that. I love it when it doesn't matter.

LIAM: I thought they were already in the house.

LUIS: 20.

BRENNAN: 20. Dirty 20!

LIAM: Dirty 20.

LUIS: Dirty 20.

MARISHA: Dirty 20.

TALIESIN: Who let the dogs in?

BRENNAN: And just for flavor, do you feel that's more persuasion or deception?

LUIS: Oh. I mean, deception.

BRENNAN: Yeah. I love that. You see he nods and says, "Ah, good man. Following orders."

LUIS: Mm-hmm.

BRENNAN: "Well, that gentleman, Halandil Fang, were you set to accompany him to this point or is he under arrest?"

LUIS: No, he's not. I saw an individual walking alone and as a part of my duty here to protect the citizens, I followed closely as a part of my patrol. It was on my way anyway.

BRENNAN: "Are you currently standing watch over this house?" You see he gestures to Hal's house.

LUIS: No. Just doing my normal scans. Are you standing watch?

BRENNAN: "Oh (huffs), such as it is, always, the Light is ever watchful. Well, it's an exciting time. Candle Feast is almost upon us."

LUIS: It is indeed.

BRENNAN: "Do you celebrate?"

LUIS: When I'm allowed. Usually, I'm on duty.

BRENNAN: "It is a godless town. Yes. 'When we are allowed.' That's exactly right. 'When we are allowed.' They shun us, they do." He claps your shoulder and squeezes your upper arm. "Good man, good man. What's your name, soldier?"

LUIS: Azune.

BRENNAN: "Azune? Good man."

LUIS: I can assure you this street will be safe. There's no need for you to guard the fine citizens here with your illustrious Light, I'm sure.

BRENNAN: "And you are an Arcane Marshal, yes?"

LUIS: I am.

BRENNAN: "We need more like you. More of the faithful that know that we cannot simply walk the path of the Light. That we must be able to peer into the darkness. Good man."

LUIS: Thank you, sir. You flatter me. We do need more like me. It's just really hard to make more like me.

BRENNAN: "(laughs) Pride goeth before you." (laughter) Azune."

LUIS: I'm sorry, it's unbecoming of me in my job to jest.

BRENNAN: "No, no, no, no. A little bit of plain speech is needed from time to time. Well, I'll not keep you on your rounds. If that gentleman shows up again, please let him know that he is invited to come and speak with Her Radiance, Photarch Yanessa, at the Villa Aurora."

LUIS: Are you in need of an escort?

BRENNAN: "(huffs)" He looks down at his dogs. "Never. (laughs) I am my own escort, so to speak. Well, I'll leave you to your rounds. Do let Master Fang know we are interested in speaking to him. You haven't, by any chance, seen a warrior of the Nama. A Lionfolk?"

LUIS: Not tonight.

BRENNAN: "Hmm."

LUIS: Whose name? So I can keep an ear out.

BRENNAN: "The individual we believe may have many aliases, but the one which we are searching out is Pridesire." You see he stops for a second. "Teor, or Talcydimir. Either. Good man. And though we are not yet upon it, I hope that you have indeed a very blessed Candle Feast."

LUIS: Same to you, good sir.

BRENNAN: He turns around, gets into the carriage, and the carriage pulls away off down the street.

LUIS: As they're pulling away, I will make like I'm walking to continue my rounds, and as soon as they're out of sight, I will turn back around and head towards Hal.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm. Hal, you get into your home, it's dark. (laughs)

TALIESIN: You legend. Fucking legend.

LIAM: I think--

MARISHA: You got to keep the lights off. Don't light any candles, bro. You're not home!

LIAM: In that lapse of time--

BRENNAN: Yeah?

LIAM: If I didn't encounter anything--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LIAM: -- the goal was to get up there and listen for anything in the house.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LIAM: But if I heard nothing, I would've been at a window on the second floor halfway through that conversation, watching and listening.

BRENNAN: My man, one of the nice things about-- The way that you can tell this is an orcish city, is that light is exclusively in places of beauty and community, because you do not need lights on to see in your own home.

MARISHA: Oh, that's right. Oh yeah.

LIAM: Get fucked, LEGO. (laughter) Not these feet. Not these feet.

TALIESIN: Whoa!

LIAM: I mean, I love LEGO.

LUIS: Didn't sound like it.

LIAM: Not the random ones on my floor.

BRENNAN: Not the random ones on my floor. Exactly. I'm never stepping on a d4 again.

LUIS: I know, I was just going to say, you ever step on one of these guys?

BRENNAN: Terrible. Terrible. I love a hard-edged dice, but if you're a dice maker, you got to let people know if the d4 are also going to be--

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: -- at the sharp edge.

TALIESIN: Oh god. They're the worst.

BRENNAN: Hal, give me perception with, actually, yeah, give me perception advantage, yeah.

LIAM: All righty.

MARISHA: Darkvision is low-key one of the best abilities--

BRENNAN: It's amazing.

MARISHA: -- in Dungeons & Dragons.

LIAM: Perception?

TALIESIN: I like being the one person without it.

LIAM: 18.

BRENNAN: 18.

LUIS: I don't have it. I know.

BRENNAN: I think you catch that entire interaction from the point where, unbelievably to you, this guy, Filoneus Halovar, the moment that he squeezes Azune's arm and is like, "Good man, good man," and catch everything from that point on. Azune, the carriage takes off. Give me, if you'd be so kind, a stealth check and you can do so with advantage here.

LIAM: That is only a 13.

BRENNAN: Okay. Copy that. You see that the carriage begins to pull away, gets to the corner, and you see that in the direction you walked, the guy gets out of the carriage down the street with the dogs, and you see the dogs begin sniffing around.

LIAM: I start to quickly tiptoe back through the house and I get to my daughter's window, and I'm like--

BRENNAN: And pull the thing up?

LIAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: Great. Hell yeah. As you pull the thing up, staying up there in the dark, a few moments later, this guy Filoneus comes to the alleyway with the two dogs. They get to the bottom of the wall.

MARISHA: Oh my god.

BRENNAN: Sniff where your tracks went, but suddenly there is no blanket there. And they go, "(sniffs) (whiny yelps)" and start to look up and around and you see Filoneus down there, again, not being able to look up in the dark and see you, just goes, "Hmm, arcanist, must have made his way away somewhere."

LIAM: I weave my hands in the dark from inside of Shadia's room and an illusion of a cat appears on the railing of her balcony and goes, (meows) and I create the sound of a cat scurrying up the side of the building.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah. Give me deception.

LIAM: Okay. (laughs) Oh.

LUIS: Crap.

LIAM: I roll at advantage because of the Liar's Blade.

BRENNAN: Oh, the Liar's Blade!

LUIS: Yes!

TALIESIN: Ooh yeah.

LIAM: That is 22.

BRENNAN: 22. On a natural one, the dogs turn. "(loud angry barking)" "Oh good, you found the scent. After them, boys." And the dogs tear off after this illusory cat into The Rookery, vanishing from your doorstep.

LIAM: Whew!

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: Oh my gosh.

LIAM: All just adrenaline dumping through my entire body. And I will slowly, kind of in a daze, walk down the stairs, and creep to the front door. There's windows to look out. And I see Azune there and no one else.

BRENNAN: Azune there and no one else.

LUIS: Yeah, I would've definitely steered clear from him as the dogs go taking him in an opposite direction, but.

LIAM: I'm going to quietly open the door. I don't know if we're going to make it to opening night. Get inside.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: I follow Hal inside.

BRENNAN: You jump inside. And that's where we're going to take our break.

TALIESIN: Ah!

MARISHA: Ah!

Break

Part II

BRENNAN: We return to the home of Halandil Fang as Azune is pushed or pulled through the door into your home. Door is shut, no lights on, as the noise of those barking dogs chasing an illusory cat fades into The Rookery.

LIAM: Okay. I will stay at the window at the front door for five minutes, just listening. Are we hearing an end? It's late-late? How late are we talking?

BRENNAN: It is, god, probably now midnight.

LIAM: Midnight.

TALIESIN: I hate all of this.

LUIS: Oh man.

LIAM: Okay, so last we heard of them, there was an illusory cat screeching. The dogs went apeshit and then they veered away from the home, so I'm going to wait for five minutes or more.

BRENNAN: You and Azune in silence can move into the house and there is Thjazi's body still.

LUIS: (huffs)

BRENNAN: Coins and other belongings here in this space.

LIAM: And if we give it time, does the street go quiet?

BRENNAN: Yeah. About five minutes. Quicker than that. The dogs vanish off into the night.

LIAM: Let's go upstairs. Go on up to my study. I'll be right there. I divert quietly, still on edge, into the kitchen, and I cut a couple slices of bread. I grab a little pot, crockery of honey, and some cheese that seems good and I carry it upstairs on a tray and set it down on my desk when I find Azune in this study that you've been in a good number of times before.

LUIS: Yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: You walk out of the kitchen still an absolute disaster from where Tyranny was trying to make a suicide.

MARISHA: Oh my god, that's right! (laughter)

TALIESIN: Good times.

BRENNAN: Good times. And head upstairs with Azune. You see that there is a small series of magicians' silks that have been-- It's not quite origami because it's made of fabric, but have been arranged into a small flower on the foot of your bed from Shadia near the window where she's made her getaway to go be with her sister and Elodie.

LIAM: I take that and quietly, promptly, I have this little blue kerchief that is tied around the strap of the bag that I carry everywhere I go, which was made by my daughter, Hero, when she was a little girl learning the business from her mother, and I carry that everywhere with me, and I take some of that silk and tie it next to this band from a much younger Hero and now from present-day Shadia. Have something to eat. Settle, settle. I think we're okay for tonight for now.

LUIS: Yeah. They had a message for you. You were being invited to have an audience with the Photarch.

LIAM: Didn't want me dead?

LUIS: Well, I don't know about that. They, at the very least, they want you to speak to their grand dame.

LIAM: Great. Eat, eat. I said eat. Have something to eat.

LUIS: I don't even know where to sit. I'm standing and I'm just--

LIAM: I sit on the floor in the middle of this room and there's the desk and all of the works in progress of half-filled scrolls and parchment written and books opened up, and there's two large chaise lounges in here, old ones, threadbare, and you've slept on one of them on past visits here, but I put the food down on the floor and I sit there to make it inviting you so you don't have to be precious.

LUIS: I'll put my weapons and my shield, I'll put it down. I'm still in my armor, and I'll grab a chunk of that bread and I'll fit as much of it in my mouth as possible, probably. And just chew it, swallow, quiet.

LIAM: Watching him like I watch one of my kids pick at their food, waiting for them to get enough to eat. (laughs) Well, this isn't quite how I thought the night was going to go.

LUIS: No, me neither. I should've been ready for that, and I wasn't.

LIAM and LUIS: (sigh)

LIAM: I think we're in unprecedented times. I don't know if you can be ready for everything anymore. Boy, I hope that's not true. I think it is.

LUIS: Hal, do you think Thjazi purposefully chose not to break the glyph?

LIAM: (sighs) I don't know. I know he, at the last moments, saw something beyond me, above me. He looked skyward before he called out to the crowd. And I have been rolling it over in my mind since, and I don't-- I can't make heads or tails of it.

LUIS: Maybe he saw a vision of something or maybe he was signaling something to someone. I don't know what it could mean, but-- (sighs shakily) Do you think he gave up? He didn't know it wasn't real.

LIAM: Plant my hand on your shoulder. I do not believe that my brother gave up. I don't know what happened, but that, I don't believe.

LUIS: He said something to me when I was talking to him, and I-- He said-- (grunts of barely contained emotion) When I was scanning him, he said, "Not you; anyone but you," and I don't know why. And... (growls)

LIAM: Well, he was fond of you. You know, I don't know what he said to you when he sent you to me. I know he told you that I could give you a place to stay when you first got to the city. But what he told me was to look after you, get you on your feet, take care of you like family.

LUIS: (shakily) Well, you did so much. You did more than that. You let me come over and you let me have a place at your table for dinner. Why did you? What was the agreement between you and him? Why did you make so much room for me here?

LIAM: I think he and I always liked strays.

LUIS: (exhales)

LIAM: And, you know, he asked me to look after you. I used to look after him 'til we got older and then he didn't need it so much. I did my best to anyway when I could, within my reach. But he's gone. Something I've always (clears throat) feared. And now there's only me to look after you. And meager though I am, that is what I mean to do, even though you're a bit more formidable with your blade than I am with mine.

LUIS: Sometimes when we were at dinner at your place here, I'd watch how you were with your kids and how you would wrestle with the different personalities that they had, and you were always so patient and kind and I felt like-- I felt like I was watching kind of like how I feel when I'm watching a play. In a way, it was real, what it felt like. I imagined-- I think my dad would've been a lot like you. I hope. And I-- Hal, I knew that if our plan had worked, and I'm so sorry that it didn't, but I knew that if it had worked, I understood what would be my fate as a result of that because there was going to be no out for me. The Arcane Marshal that was set to scan the prisoner missing it? Of course he would've done it on purpose. I was ready to repay everything that I was given by giving you your brother back because (sobs) it would've been the most useful thing that I could've ever done and it would've been the best thing for the cause that we have all been fighting for is to have made sure that he would've lived! (sniffs) (breaths, shuddering)

LIAM: I'm going to press my hand--

LUIS: (sobs)

LIAM: -- onto your chest.

LUIS: I'm so sorry! (sobs) (sobs)

LIAM: Listen to me.

LUIS: I lean into it.

LIAM: You knew my brother. He lived the way he chose to live. He's been riding that line his entire life and grappling with guilt. We all do it.

LUIS: (sniffs)

LIAM: Doesn't matter if it's rational or if it isn't. But I'm going to do this even if you can't. I'm going to absolve you of any of this because there's no blame on your shoulders. This world is what it is. Regardless, we do the best we can with what we have on the day, and right now, you and I need to lean on each other and we're going to take that dwarven bursar and my friend and we're going to figure some things out, okay?

LUIS: Okay.

LIAM: My brother doesn't need you whipping yourself. Believe me.

LUIS: (exhales)

LIAM: My brother and I didn't see eye to eye, but I knew him and I know you. You lived here. Played with my kids, eaten at my table. I know you. You've done everything you can every day of your life.

LUIS: I understand, Hal, but (sniffles) in any war, there's collateral damage and there's sacrifices that are made for the betterment of the cause, and Thjazi's life would've been worth a thousand of me.

LIAM: I grab him by the sides of the head. We don't get to choose! Life just happens, and we run along with it, and do better tomorrow if we can. We can try to do better tomorrow.

LUIS: I can do that. I have to do that.

LIAM: Now here, come here. I grab a rag. You got snot running down your face.

BRENNAN: (chuckles)

LIAM: Clean you off.

LUIS: (laughs congestedly) (sniffs) I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Hal.

LIAM: We'll take turns. I'll do it later.

LUIS: (laughs) Okay.

LIAM: That's an IOU for me to break down and you to pick up the pieces.

LUIS: I could do that.

LIAM: All right. All right. This is going to sound crazy. We should try to get some sleep.

LUIS: I think I'm going to sleep well tonight.

LIAM: Sure.

LUIS: Thank you for everything.

LIAM: That's what family does.

LUIS: That's what family does.

LIAM: I will wait him out like the quiet parent does until he falls asleep, and then I will try to get some sleep myself.

BRENNAN: Azune, how long is it before you are lights out?

LUIS: I honestly think faster than I could have ever anticipated.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: Pretty fast, especially after that load purging. And it's the way that it smells here, you know what I mean? Smells like it's so home and warm--

BRENNAN: I think--

LUIS: -- and still.

BRENNAN: -- this is a space you had your first dinner in Dol-Makjar in this home. As many times as you needed, there was an open door here for you. Your life brought you somewhere else where you began to be able to make your own way and there weren't hard pragmatic reasons to come here as often. I don't know, maybe Azune misses some part of his life when there were pragmatic reasons that forced him to come to this warm place and when he actually got up on his own two feet and was able to "survive" on his own, all of a sudden, the warmth of this place wasn't strictly necessary anymore.

LUIS: An indulgence.

BRENNAN: Yeah. You smell a house filled with every smell imaginable. Thaisha's flowers still outside, the buzzing of bees. Downstairs, there is liquor on the hard table spilled, and cranberry rolls, and old Yahrgraz. There is a friend's body still covered in incense, but is now some just over two days dead.

LUIS: Wow.

BRENNAN: There is druidic magic on the body that is keeping it preserved until it can be interred, and yet still, there is death and life here. This is a place filled with-- There's this step that Thjazi skinned his knee on as a kid and I think maybe Alogar and/or Shadia or both of them might have been born in this house. There's a lot going on here.

LUIS: Yeah. A lot of people have been here in the last couple days, and the love is still in the atmosphere. It's like a blanket.

BRENNAN: You are in dreams. Hal, I also don't know. I mean, is Azune crashing in your bed? (laughs) Where are you?

LIAM: I threw out that there are two big threadbare chaises in this office, this study, so I set him to rest in one and I don't go to my bed. I just sleep on the other one.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

LIAM: Feels safer knowing that people with gigantic dogs could come crashing through the windows.

BRENNAN: You go to sleep. Look out and see on your window sill a little mama magpie sleeping over her chicks that are all snoozing underneath her, and--

MARISHA: Little poofy floofs.

BRENNAN: Little poofy puffs.

MARISHA: Aww!

BRENNAN: And with that, we return, I think, or we enter the following morning.

MARISHA: (pants excitedly)

LUIS: (laughs)

BRENNAN: Everyone gets a long rest!

MARISHA: Ah, I get a long rest!

LUIS: Except for Murray.

BRENNAN: Everyone gets a--

MARISHA: Shut up, Azune.

TALIESIN: Doesn't sleep a wink.

BRENNAN: Marisha hasn't gotten her spells back since the start of the campaign. (laughter)

LIAM: You suddenly come down with the fantasy runs and can't sleep all night for some reason.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

TALIESIN: ♪ (video game success music) ♪

MARISHA: It's so hard when you're exhausted for roughly six months of gameplay, because there was definitely, I know, rolls that I should have been rolling at disadvantage and kept forgetting.

BRENNAN: I love it.

MARISHA: But it's okay.

LIAM: When does the roleplay start?

MARISHA: New day.

BRENNAN: New day.

MARISHA: New portent.

BRENNAN: Ooh, new portent rolls! Let's see, is today a day of great reckoning?

MARISHA: Let's find out. Let's find out.

LIAM: Shake that eight ball.

MARISHA: Okay, interesting.

BRENNAN: What do we got?

LUIS: Oh!

MARISHA: 13 and 11. So very, very mid.

LIAM: Mid range.

BRENNAN: You realize that days of great destiny are few and far between. Today is not a day of great destiny. (laughter)

MARISHA: That's okay, I can work with that.

TALIESIN: I imagine you reading your horoscope in the newspaper every morning and just, "Huh."

MARISHA: "Huh," yeah, pretty much.

BRENNAN: Yesterday you got--

TALIESIN: "An old friend will get ahold of me."

MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs)

BRENNAN: Yesterday the newspaper came with one section of red ink, all caps saying, "DO IT NOW!"

MARISHA: Yeah. (laughter)

BRENNAN: And then today it says, "A love interest in your life is around the corner." (laughs)

TALIESIN: Lucky numbers are--

LUIS: Question, I have heroic inspiration.

BRENNAN: Yes.

LUIS: I already have it.

BRENNAN: Yes.

LUIS: And it says, "If something gives you heroic inspiration and you already have it, you can give it to a player character in your group who lacks it."

BRENNAN: Yes.

LUIS: I get a new one after every long rest.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah, love it.

LUIS: I'm going to give one to you then.

LIAM: So just mechanic-- Thank you, that's lovely. Does that radiate off your person? Is that because you're such a sweet boy that I get that?

LUIS: (laughs)

TALIESIN: He quietly licks you in your sleep on your forehead.

LUIS: I know, right? (laughter)

TALIESIN: Simba.

LUIS: I think that it's--

LIAM and TALIESIN: (laugh)

LUIS: It's like a lingering, almost like an echo of time spent together and as you wake up, it's not even that you remember me or the conversation that we had, but you feel a sense of... (sighs) Just like a connection unhampered, real.

LIAM: Feels right, in this family home. Then mechanically speaking, you also get one every day?

LUIS: I have one every day.

LIAM: So there's no point in me giving you one.

LUIS: I don't need it.

LIAM: Because you have one.

LUIS: Yes.

LIAM: And they're not here. Noted.

BRENNAN: The following morning, Murray, we awaken in your quarters. What do Murray's quarters look like in The Penteveral? Have these been your same quarters for 25 years since you got hired here?

MARISHA: I kind of think so.

BRENNAN: I love that.

MARISHA: I think a lot of Murray is so very focused. She's been very dedicated to The Penteveral for the past two-plus decades. I think when Murray is faced day to day with trying to help less fortunate kids seek the education that they are entitled to, the last thing on her mind is, "But what if I had a guest bedroom?"

LUIS: (chuckles)

MARISHA: So I think it's not even crossed her mind. However, shit is changing, and if it's going to start sucking balls around here, maybe she should ask for more shit. I don't know, we're going to think on that. But I think it is certainly not run-down. I think it has a little bit of age, but I think in a charming cottagecore way. I think it's probably-- She's a maximalist, so I think she's got a gallery wall that's got everything and anything hung up on it. It looks like one of those old, vintage powder rooms. I think maybe she's painted it a rich, dark purple, maybe. And it's got portraits and trinkets and dried flowers hanging from it, and I think she's taken silks and vintage fabrics and she's hung them from the ceiling to where you can't see the ceiling anymore. It's just very layered. It's very plush and cozy and cluttered, but in an organized way, and it smells really good.

LIAM: Is it faculty housing that's just 20 years lived in?

MARISHA: Yes, correct.

TALIESIN: Rent controlled.

MARISHA: And she's got so many throw pillows, more throw pillows, you can barely see the bed. It's just lined with throw pillows.

BRENNAN: Hard to find a place to sit.

MARISHA: Yes, exactly.

BRENNAN: Love that.

MARISHA: So she can come in in the evening and just collapse. Then she definitely has, on the window sill, a collection of many different types of gems. So it's everything from your purple quartz, to your sapphires, to your peridots to anything mineral; she's got a very vast gem collection.

BRENNAN: Waking up, you see this garden of various gemstones and crystalline structures.

MARISHA: Yes.

BRENNAN: Humming in the gray Dol-Makjar sunlight, but a bright, and cheerful gray that comes through and dances on the crystals. You sense today is a day where you may have to make your own fortune, but maybe great catastrophes or great-- Yeah, maybe great catastrophes could be prevented on a day like today; but feels that something has ebbed back from the wilds of the previous portent you had. You look out your window and remember coming to this place the very first time when you started here, when you made the choice to live in Dol-Makjar full time, and this little artsy bohemian area, and there's the little cafe on the corner where you would see Ellipides waiting to talk to you in the morning. You used to talk to Ellipides every day before it got so big and busy and-- (sighs) There's still that little cafe, this cute little corner in Dol-Makjar, and the fun little artists and academics that live in your building.

MARISHA: Murray reaches up and she's got a few crystals even hanging from the windows and they cast at certain times of the day, certain crystals catch it and create a prism and creates a rainbow. She puts her hand up and runs her hand through the rainbow, almost seeing if she can sense anything vibrating from these crystals. She just takes a deep breath. Fuck it. And gets up and leaves.

BRENNAN: (laughs) You walk past, leaving this place. I also think that coming through the prism of the crystals on the ground is a larger area because in your own home, why wouldn't you have a pre-made ritual circle to ritual cast spells?

MARISHA: 100%. She's got a desk that's probably a little scattered with little experiments, tomes, papers, everything that she's doing as research on her own time that she's been doing for decades. She's never been formally trained. She has just only been granted the opportunity to absorb what's around her on the day-to-day basis. So yes, little ritual circle.

BRENNAN: Making your way to the Penteveral.

LIAM: ♪ Makin' your way ♪ (laughter)

BRENNAN: Where do you embark to first, your office?

MARISHA: I think I'll stop by my office as per usual, drop off maybe a satchel of stuff. I think she maybe shuffles some papers around, I think she maybe shuffles some papers around, looks at some invoices and payroll that needs to be dealt with. Maybe a letter of recommendation that's come through, a letter of acceptance that needs to be sent. And she just does that thing when you know you should be doing work, but don't want to. Where she moves papers around a little bit and then heads to Dean Kora's office.

BRENNAN: Knocking on the door, you hear a voice, "Come in."

MARISHA: I crack the door open.

BRENNAN: "Murray."

MARISHA: Morning. (laughs) Oh, hi. Sorry.

BRENNAN: "Hi. No, you go."

MARISHA: No, you-- Can I come in?

BRENNAN: "By all means, pull up a seat. What can I do for you, Murray?"

MARISHA: I feel like we maybe got off on the wrong foot.

BRENNAN: "Oh? You first."

MARISHA: I think it is only proper and ladylike that I apologize. I was emotional. There's been a lot going on. Between you and me, I haven't been sleeping very well, and I tend to prefer the type of change that I can find in spare pockets in my coats. There was a lot of change very quickly. And I took an evening to think about it and thought about what you said. I think it is best for the students that we work together, and with so much change, I still want to be there for them as an anchor and a familiar face. I believe that you have just the best intentions, and you also just want what's best for the Penteveral, and everyone within these glorious halls.

BRENNAN: Give me a persuasion check.

MARISHA: Okay. I hate that you're asking me for that. (laughter)

LIAM: I hate that for you.

MARISHA: I hate that for me. (laughs) Natural 19.

LIAM: Yo.

BRENNAN: Okay!

MARISHA: For a 22.

BRENNAN: For 22!

MARISHA: For a 22.

TALIESIN: That roll can drink.

BRENNAN: Lovely. You see--

MARISHA: She kind of--

LUIS: I like that

MARISHA: -- dabs her cheeks a little bit as she says this.

BRENNAN: She looks at you, squints her eyes. "Should I cast Detect Magic for possible possession? What should I do in this moment?"

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: "Are you serious right now?"

MARISHA: (scoffs coyly) It would be incredibly stupid of me to come in here and try and do some sort of cheap trick to undercut this. You understand that, right?

BRENNAN: "I'm very moved by that, Murray. I gracefully accept your apology, thank you very much. And I think great things are afoot for The Penteveral. I think that this is the beginning. I think that we were at a fork in the road. There was a fork where we made a very, I don't know, a stand against the Sundered Houses to immediately undercut our funding, and under serve our students and watch as they, what, used their incredible resources to found a competing college of wizardry? I think that we were at a fork in the road and that-- Look, you don't get to affect the future if you're not in the room."

MARISHA: Yeah. Got to play the game if you want to win the game.

BRENNAN: "Exactly. Look, truth be told, Murray, I want to make myself of use to you as well. You are beloved. I'm not going to lie to you. You are beloved by our students. They like your ease with informal language. And frankly you are a gifted wizard, and I think that you-- Look, there are personnel changes that are going to happen here, right? There are personnel changes that are going to happen here, but the reality is the period of time from whence this was a group of squabbling academics, to get to the point where we could be in a position to align ourselves with the Houses of Cormoray and Tachonis. That gap, I think only you could have bridged that gap."

MARISHA: You flatter me.

BRENNAN: "Now you are not needed to-- It does not have to fall fully and squarely on your shoulders. Now imagine what we could do, given-- Imagine what we could do given funding, if our bursar didn't have to spend the vast majority of her working hours finding some loose thread to pull to cover the next curricular semester. Imagine what we could do. There's just a lot more we can do. But, I am very glad to hear you say this, because I think that-- I think that unity matters. And I think that with Ellipides stepping down, it's really good that you're staying." Give me an insight check.

LIAM: This bitch.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

MARISHA: This bitch.

LUIS: I know!

MARISHA: Everything she just said is fucking crazy to me just now. That's good, too! 17 total. I rolled a 16.

BRENNAN: She is gleeful. She's gleeful.

MARISHA: Fantastic.

BRENNAN: Because, I think, you-- I think, Murray, you're a very headstrong person, and you're entering into a game of politics and intrigue, and you're talking with Hal and Azune and Bolaire and these other people. You're a very headstrong person, and The Penteveral's always been about fucking truth. And having candor, and in fact being blunt, is one of the best instruments that academia can have to just say what the fucking facts are. You're now dealing with all these vipers, and it's maddening, because it just delays the truth. But one part of being a truth seeker is actually useful here. And you realize that this is a gift in this moment that you do have, which is to not cloud your judgment with your own perspective, and to actually look at what someone else's perspective is. I think on that high insight roll you realize that Dean Kora got this job because she sold a bill of goods. She told people, the Tachonis, "You put me in charge, I'll whip that school into shape and I'll make it sing." And you coming in here saying, "I'm not going to make like we're going to play nice," that she's realizing she'll get to go and report to whoever she reports to saying--

MARISHA: "First box checked."

BRENNAN: Yes.

MARISHA: "I'm already enacting change." I mean, I agree with everything you said 100%. I mean, I think there's, quite frankly, many elements of The Penteveral here that has been maybe a little lost, a little dated in antiquity. I agree, I would much prefer any type of funding and any type of boons and blessings from the Sundered Houses to be filtered through here. I would love to make the request, however, some of these more poor, needy children, it is still important for us to consider them. And that's only going to make The Penteveral look good, right? Everybody loves charity. So I am sure, I just had an immediate kneejerk reaction yesterday, where I guess I was just imagining the halls being flooded with a bunch of trust fund kids just coming in and I'm sure there's going to be some of that, and that's fine and they're entitled to that as well. But I see everyone equally, and I just want to make sure that maybe we could still have an attention to that. And beyond that, I want to be of use, I do want to be of use.

BRENNAN: "Well, let me dispel your concerns. Murray, the halls are going to be flooded with noble children, and they're going to be flooded with enterprising, exceptional children of workers and farmers and laborers. Because we are going to, if I can plan this out, I want to triple the size of the school in the next five years."

MARISHA: Oh.

BRENNAN: "I want to-- If we accept these noble children at the rates that they can pay, then we go and-- This Cormoray scholarship is aimed directly at, I mean, it's a scholarship. It's aimed at children who need financial help to come and fund their tuition and fund their tutelage."

MARISHA: Oh my goodness.

BRENNAN: "So, to answer your question, I don't think we're at odds. I think it's not an either/or, it's a both. And we're going to be able to help so many. You know, I'm a wizard just like you. I wasn't born with these innate, magical gifts."

MARISHA: (chuckles) Oh my god, girl. Twinsies.

BRENNAN: "Well listen, we're two women in--

MARISHA: Yes.

BRENNAN: "We're two dwarven women in a city with a lot of tall people running around who like to tell us all what time of day it is, and I think we, if we go back to back, we can get a lot done around here."

MARISHA: I love this. You're such a badass.

BRENNAN: "You are."

MARISHA: Oh my god. Shut up, no.

BRENNAN: "Murray, I love this side of you that I'm seeing."

MARISHA: Like I said, I was just-- You know, it's all been a lot. I was a little bit emotional. You know, I will say this, too, I have a little pitch for you because if I am going to have some bandwidth that is going to be freed up and I'm not going to have to go beg rich people for money. I think there's actually some good that I can do in, maybe as an ambassador, maybe extending my outreach, our outreach of The Penteveral to some other organizations. Are you actually familiar with, he's kind of a curious fellow, Bolaire, over at the museum, the antiquities?

BRENNAN: "No, no, I'm not familiar. Bolaire is in antiquities. Is Bolaire a private merchant or does?"

MARISHA: No, he-- Is she lying to me?

BRENNAN: Give me insight. (chuckling)

TALIESIN: Oh.

MARISHA: Nine

BRENNAN: Nine.

MARISHA: I'm looking at my portents like: Do I bump it up three? But I'll wait.

TALIESIN: Curator.

MARISHA: It's the Archanade.

TALIESIN: Yeah, of the--

MARISHA: Bolaire what?

TALIESIN: Curator Bolaire Lathalia.

MARISHA: Yeah, Bolaire Lathalia-- Lathalia. I don't-- (babbles) Of the Archanade.

BRENNAN: "Oh."

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "The Archanade, what? Oh, interesting, what wing is he? Is he the-- No, because--" She looks and says, "No, I know the--" She looks and says, "I know obviously Oscuro Milanti, who's come by the preserver. But this is actually one of the curators of which wing?"

MARISHA: The Lloy wing, I believe.

BRENNAN: "Oh my goodness."

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "The central wing?"

MARISHA: Correct.

BRENNAN: "Well, fascinating. Oh my goodness, okay. Wait, what is your-- Sorry, this is connecting in my head. What is your pitch?"

MARISHA: Well, we've kind of like-- I just ran into him the other day and I was like: Oh my god, you're Bolaire. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Who is this? (laughter)

LIAM: Eh.

MARISHA: And--

TALIESIN: Tracy, is that you? (laughter) Sorry.

LUIS: I love that too much.

MARISHA: (laughs) Girls love when they're like: Oh my god, we're like the same person. (laughter)

TALIESIN: I can't.

LUIS: This is--

MARISHA: Anyway, he kind of have a proposition of maybe me helping him doing some organization, maybe doing some sorting, maybe figuring out some of these antiquities and artifacts that have quite honestly been collecting dust over there. And what is the actual point of having access to a bunch of magical stuff if it's not going to get used more. He actually sent a little letter that I want to-- Yeah, I'm going to send a letter to--

TALIESIN: Legible.

LUIS: (chuckles)

BRENNAN: "All right, have you read this or no?"

MARISHA: I have, yes.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

MARISHA: I mean, I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have, maybe that's improper.

BRENNAN: "No, no, no, 'I humbly request--'"

TALIESIN: Wow.

BRENNAN: "'I humbly request your--'"

LUIS: (laughs)

TALIESIN: I wrote this while keeping eye contact with you.

BRENNAN: I love it. "'I humbly request your lead, Murray Mag'Nesson's particular skillset organizing the paperwork in the museum.'"

MARISHA: It feels like we can maybe use this to our advantage.

BRENNAN: "Murray--"

MARISHA: Kora.

TALIESIN: (snorts)

BRENNAN: "What do you think Curator Lathalia would say about an internship program? The Cormoray Scholarship is based in public service and works. Specifically, they're looking for scholarship for people who either themselves or within their family have engaged in public service or works, either here in Dol-Makjar, or in the Cormoray homeland throughout old Obridimia, and they have a particular interest--" She looks here. "They have a particular interest in the Archanade right now. I was at a--

MARISHA: The Cormorays do?

BRENNAN: "Yes."

MARISHA: Interesting.

BRENNAN: "I was at a function at the Grey Tower. I was speaking to some members of the Revolutionary Council and the Chamber of Lords-Advisory, and I met this Lady Amariya Dacen Cormoray. We shared some conversation over a glass of wine, but she mentioned the Lloy wing in particular."

MARISHA: Murray's, her eye's twitching a little bit and she's trying to hide it every time the Cormorays are mentioned.

BRENNAN: "I would love to be able to pay her a visit. And if you have, if this Bolaire Lathalia is requesting your aid with some paperwork, I wonder if we could set up a beneficial arrangement if they require some assistance from The Penteveral, if we could impose on them as a favor to begin an educational program, as I believe some of these Cormoray scholars might be-- If I can tell the Lady Amariya that the young children she wishes to send to our school of wizardry might be put to work in the area of our city's fair museum that she's most interested in, I think that creates a very interesting opportunity for her, and I think it could endear House Cormoray to The Penteveral even more. Do you think--"

MARISHA: That's fascinating.

BRENNAN: "You also come from a family of jewel merchants, yes?"

MARISHA: Yes, yeah. The family-- Mag'Nesson family jewels.

MARISHA and BRENNAN: (chuckle)

BRENNAN: "Oh, oh, a joke. Well, I think that if you were to, under the bursar's office, which after all, deals in antiquities, you're the bursar of antiquities and-- What's the title? Sorry, I should know this."

MARISHA: I am, the exact title to be 100% is Bursar of Aid and Antiquities.

BRENNAN: "Bursar of Aid and Antiquities."

MARISHA: Yes.

BRENNAN: "I believe that Master Lathalia has gone for far too long without an eager workforce looking to learn. It's on-the-job experience for young Penteveral students. It's endearing us to the Archanade and the curator of its most essential wing. And it's allowing a pathway for the Cormoray to-- I think this really works."

MARISHA: Well, I'm just-- This is already paying off. I feel like we're kind of vibing right now. There's a level that we're connecting. I'm just, I'm glad you like my idea. Thank you. You know, and I can maybe talk to some of the students. I do have a few students in mind that I think might just be star students. They might be the ones that we could at least start with, maybe do a little trial run, so I could maybe put my ear to the ground, see who might be interested in something like that. Would it mainly be students from House Cormoray?

BRENNAN: Give me a persuasion.

LUIS: You got this.

MARISHA: (pants)

BRENNAN: I'll say, before you roll, DC 15 is a little bit of success, DC 20 is a lot of success.

MARISHA: You said persuasion?

BRENNAN: Persuasion.

MARISHA: You have to use portent before, right?

BRENNAN: No, you can use it after.

MARISHA: You can use it after.

LUIS: Swap it out.

MARISHA: Just in case it's-- (gasps) (wheezes) It's an 18, so that is going to be 21.

LUIS and TALIESIN: (groan excitedly)

MARISHA: Persuasion.

TALIESIN: (relieved) Oh!

BRENNAN: She looks at you and says, "Well, listen, I think this is a very worthwhile endeavor on behalf of the Cormoray, certainly, but I also don't want to send just you to wrangle 40 freshmen interns running loose in our city's most grandiose and majestic civics institute of learning. So, noted. You'd actually be--" She looks at this huge stack of applications for the Cormoray scholarship and says, "May I abuse our newfound friendship?"

MARISHA: (laughs) It's not abuse if I like it. (chuckling)

BRENNAN: "You are so saucy. I love this." And you see she puts a stack of applications in front of you, says, If you could review those."

MARISHA: All right.

BRENNAN: "Select who you want for the internship program."

MARISHA: Okay.

BRENNAN: "These are the students that have been approved for entry into The Penteveral, but select the ones that you'd like for the internship program, and get yourself--" She reviews a budget really quickly. "Take a budget of, let's call it 20 gold per month and hire some TAs for yourself from the grad students."

MARISHA: All right. Fantastic.

BRENNAN: "So this would be, just pick who you think A: Can speak with some level of intell-- After all, we do want, let me be clear, there's a lot of politics to play here, but we do want to educate smart wizards. The long-term health of The Penteveral depends on us representing ourselves well in the world."

MARISHA: You've got to have success stories, right?

BRENNAN: "So please go out and get some TAs that you think can A: Wrangle a bunch of brand-new minted freshmen, and B: Actually teach and make sure that no one-- I know half the curators there wear masks and gauntlets from blowing themselves apart. That's the last thing we need."

MARISHA: That would be such a bad look.

BRENNAN: "So make sure that they are people that can keep these children. Honestly, a couple of diviners certainly, but maybe an abjurer or two is not a bad idea."

MARISHA: An abjurer. Got it.

BRENNAN: "Oh my god, Murray."

MARISHA: Kora.

BRENNAN: "It means a lot to me because, and I mean no offense by this."

MARISHA: (giggles dangerously)

BRENNAN: (laughs) "You are someone who is very set in your ways. Half of the people here that have congratulated me on assuming this position as fifth Dean of the Penteveral, half of them I have to wonder if their intentions are sincere. For you, who, forgive me, has not always had a way with words, I can be sure that you are sincere in your intent. So this is very meaningful and I think we're off to a great start."

MARISHA: I look forward to this. There's a bright future ahead of us. I don't know, not to like-- You know, this is probably going to sound silly, but I got up this morning and I felt it in the air. I was like: Oh.

BRENNAN: "Today was a portentous day?"

MARISHA: Today was a portentous day.

BRENNAN: "That is all I needed to hear. First full day as Dean is a portentous day. So says our Bursar of Aid and Antiquities."

MARISHA: Yep, got a little knack for divinity myself, so you can trust that.

BRENNAN: "Well, go ahead and look for your TAs. Oh."

MARISHA: Okay.

BRENNAN: "One TA who suddenly has a big mark on his record that I know is everyone's favorite, that please do not hire for this. It would be Demodus Blix, who just blew through a class he was supposed to teach this morning."

MARISHA: What? What happened?

BRENNAN: "So, please-- No show. No envelope sent. We went and knocked on his door. We don't know if he's-- We don't know. But a no-show, so--"

MARISHA: What would I know about Demodus Blix? He's a grad student?

TALIESIN: Great name.

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Give me a history, we'll call it history DC eight, but if you can beat that more, you'll know it by more, The Penteveral's gotten big.

MARISHA: Okay, he was a TA?

BRENNAN: Yeah, grad student.

LIAM: Maybe he disappeared. Did he disappear?

MARISHA: I don't know. Wait, what did you say? What was?

LIAM: Eight, you want to beat an eight.

MARISHA: But what was the roll for?

BRENNAN: History.

MARISHA: Oh, history, history. Okay, 17?

BRENNAN: 17. Oh, you know Demodus, yeah. Demodus is a 22-year-old, he's a graduate of the school of illusion, has come back to get-- He's trying to get his doctorate and actually-- Basically, Demodus came as a 12-year-old kid, fell in love with the place. He's a young gnomish student. He has a condition where his, oh god, irises are the color of whatever's behind him. It's translucent that it comes through with him, and he's just an illusion savant. And he's really brilliant, very beloved, very funny, but he's a kid who is number one school spirit kid. He came here from-- He was a student that basically came to boarding school and was dropped off here by his parents a long, long time ago, and basically has always dreamed about being a professor at The Penteveral, so when he graduated--

MARISHA: So his first day of class, new opportunity kind of thing and he didn't show?

BRENNAN: Yep.

TALIESIN: Jinkies.

BRENNAN: One thing you would know about him is that Demodus was not financially supported by his family. So he would do a lot of school spirit events that were also like, "Okay, I'm going to fundraise for a dare, to do this act of magic on this special day." You also know that he made a lot of his living, because he, again, did not have any financial support. He supplemented his living doing busking in the Ogrimok Marketplace, and when that got shut down, he couldn't do his little illusion shows anymore and lost a big source of income.

TALIESIN: Oh no.

MARISHA: I love this kid. It me, in an NPC. Okay-- That's so uncharacteristic of Demodus, you know? He was in my office quite a lot. As someone who needed financial aid,

BRENNAN: "I think sometimes--"

MARISHA: That's so strange.

BRENNAN: "I think sometimes for people that-- "I mean, I don't know, maybe he's just off nursing a hangover somewhere or whatever. But I do think sometimes when people come from a non-professional background, there can be a performance anxiety. There can be a--"

MARISHA: Sure.

BRENNAN: "You know what I'm saying?"

MARISHA: The pressure got to him.

BRENNAN: "The pressure got to him, you know?"

MARISHA: Wow, Murray in the back of her head is like: This dumb bitch does not know what she's talking about. One, hangovers are expensive.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

MARISHA: He did not be able to afford a hangover, and two, this guy was a performer, he did not-- Okay. That is so strange. You know what, maybe I'll do a little bit of research, but noted, I'll ask around. All right, well, fantastic. You know, these are quite a lot of applications, so give me a little bit of time to get through it. I'll put my little thought.

BRENNAN: "Great, yeah. Take your time, no rush, end of day is fine. Whenever you get a chance to, yeah, end of day. Yeah."

MARISHA and LUIS: Oh.

BRENNAN: "No rush, anytime today is fine."

MARISHA: (chuckles) All right, uh-huh, fantastic. Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow. Does that sound more reasonable? because I was actually going to go, if you remember the whole start of this conversation was me going to the Archanade to help over there, so it's a busy day.

BRENNAN: "Great, well I'd love Master Lathalia's, if he wants to help with them, and see if he maybe--"

MARISHA: I'll get through it.

BRENNAN: "Many hands make light work."

MARISHA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you know what? I got you.

BRENNAN: "Murray."

MARISHA: Kora.

BRENNAN: "You're trouble, I can tell."

MARISHA: We're going to have to go drinking one night.

BRENNAN: "Oh."

MARISHA: I know a few--

BRENNAN: "Oh my gosh! All right, well, I'll see you at the next, I'm starting faculty mixers."

MARISHA: (gasps)

LUIS: (laughs)

MARISHA: Oh my goodness.

BRENNAN: "It's one drink maximum, but we're going to have--"

MARISHA: Mm. Okay.

BRENNAN: "But, faculty mixers."

MARISHA: All right.

BRENNAN: "We're having them at the end of the month."

MARISHA: Okay. Fantastic.

BRENNAN: "Oh my god, you are too much. Get to work!"

MARISHA: (fake laughs) Okay. I've taken up too much of your time. I am so sorry.

BRENNAN and MARISHA: All right.

BRENNAN: "You get to work."

MARISHA: Oh no, you.

BRENNAN and MARISHA: (laugh) I'm a work head. (laughs) (laugh becomes a growl) She leaves with a stack of papers.

LUIS: Oh my god.

BRENNAN: You leave with a stack of papers. We cut over to Bolaire.

TALIESIN: Bolaire like jumps awake. Is it my birthday? (laughter)

TALIESIN: Wow.

BRENNAN: Oh my god.

TALIESIN: I cannot wait to know that. Because wow.

LUIS: Incredible.

BRENNAN: I think Kora is one of the worst people I've ever embodied. (laughs)

MARISHA: I hate her so much.

BRENNAN: I played Asmodeus and I--

TALIESIN: Even Asmodeus is like: What the fuck is wrong with you?!

BRENNAN: What's wrong with you? Faculty mixer, one drink maximum.

LUIS: Oh god. That's so great.

MARISHA: Don't make me go to fucking work event where I can't drink.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: So Bolaire. Hey.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

BRENNAN: A new day dawns.

TALIESIN: A new day dawns. I wake up, the stoic face just has a little bit of movement as I wake up in a very nice large bed that's very clean in a very clean bedroom with some beautiful large impressionist art on the walls, the first thing I see is the light comes through. The bedside tables are very clean. One has a couple books on it that I read, and the other one is bare and empty. I go into a powder room that is mostly cement, very industrial and clean, and still has light coming through from some nice skylights in the corner. And I remove my wig, and I've already taken my suit off. Normally, I do not sleep in the red wig, but I'm nervous, and I clean the body as best I can. Perfume, get dressed, put the wig back on and start to make my way to the living room. Again, very, very, the sun is bright and beautiful. There are little paper theaters, there's not a lot in here, but there's always that little bit of art. Instead of a fruit bowl, there are just a few meticulously curated books that clearly are there to be read, and a series of paper theaters. There's a shadow puppet theater. There's a couple complicated ones just made out of paper and sticks, clearly based on classic theaters that don't exist anymore from the time before the war. There's a little very cubist art in the living room. A couple very uncomfortable looking couches. Then on the very end, there is a kitchen that is so clean except for there is a bowl of fruit and a baguette and some jerky. And there is way too much fruit. At one end, it is just rotted to death. And slowly the pile gets fresher and fresher towards the front. It clearly, I go out and buy the food, even though I'm not eating it, just to keep up appearances, and often I'll forget to throw it away. There is a couple very moldy loaves of bread, one that's relatively clean, and the jerky holds. And there's a pitcher of water. I pour myself a glass of water, a little bit of fruit, and a tiny bit of bread and a tiny bit of jerky. And as I open my mouth, you can see somewhere in the darkness, a set of lips and teeth.

MARISHA: (groans)

LIAM: No, no no.

TALIESIN: As I--

LIAM: Oh no.

MARISHA: Nope.

TALIESIN: -- eat a little bit of bread, a little bit of meat, and a little bit of fruit and a glass of water.

MARISHA: Oh, I hate that.

LIAM: Oh boy. Greetings, fellow human.

LUIS: Wow!

TALIESIN: As it then disappears back into the shadow, I look in the mirror.

MARISHA: Oh god, you got an "Alien" queen mouth. Ugh.

LUIS: Oh no.

TALIESIN: There you go, Aubrus. You get one more day, don't you? I can't wait to talk.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LIAM: (hurks)

BRENNAN: (laughs)

MARISHA: I don't like it.

BRENNAN: ♪ Different days, different days ♪

TALIESIN: Also, I would say clearly there was no actual delight in the food. It seemed like the food didn't even touch lips. There was no flavor that really registered.

LIAM: Taliesin finally took his final form.

TALIESIN: I know.

LUIS: (laughs) Oh my god.

TALIESIN: I suppose it's time to go out and get a sense of things. I'm going to head to the museum and get a sense of where the other curator is on this whole debacle.

BRENNAN: Arriving at the Archanade, you see getting there at the beginning of the day, it opens. You see that some of your docents and other people are already at work as people come in. Some have traveled all the way from other far-flung places of Aramán to come here and see the Archanade. You see some people gasping and looking up at the various weapons and arcane artillery and other things gathered here, but that central exhibit with that one last Pariah Blade, people come to look at that one, and gaze at it. You see just admiring faces and walking across the campus, there's a beautiful garden with white marble, or not marble, but there's beautiful white mica-flecked gravel stones. You walk across, small cafeteria, over to another area and you enter the Selodyne Wing, which is, unlike the Lloy Wing, which is in the bright gray of the sunshine here in Dol-Makjar, you enter the Selodyne Wing, which is very much ensconced in shadow with very dramatic harsh beams of yellow light that come in to undercut the weapons of the Shapers. You see here, they're artifacts and old emblems of the gods that are all depicted here, almost like walking around a corner, there's almost a sudden jump scare of an emblem of Azgra's snarling face in stone or other places where it's, again, nothing is moving, nothing is animated. but just as you walk around a corner, there suddenly is Tansul's glaring visage, or you see the haughty wide-eyed stare of Ilumi, goddess of magic, her arm outstretched, a long wall where you see depicted are the legends and tales of the deaths of the four primordials, wedded and married to the various Shapers that they were wedded to. How Trozhna took Tehana and spun her body into all of the gold and silver and jewels of the earth until her wife was gone. You see, there's all of these legends throughout of the Shapers and the various primordials. And you see in this place a figure looking down, turning around, tall about 6'5", but extremely reedy, skinny. You see there's a bespectacled orcish gentleman. He's wearing some robes. You see he has a partial mask over an ear that covers like a bad injury on his ear. And a fine silver half gauntlet covers his fingers. You know that two of those are prosthesis. This is the curator Makmaz Gelfidar. You head over to Makmaz here. As he turns and says, "Master Lathalia, it is good to see you."

TALIESIN: Wonderful to see you as well. I was hoping to get a bit of your time. I assume that you know the state of things right now.

BRENNAN: "The state of things? Oh yes. The Lady Dacen Cormoray."

TALIESIN: Ah, sharp as ever.

BRENNAN: "Yes. What do you make of it?"

TALIESIN: (sighs) I don't know. It is peculiar, and it definitely comes at an odd time. Things seem to be, everything seems to have shifting sand beneath it right now in the city. I can't imagine that you actually want to fold your collection into mine.

BRENNAN: "No, no hardly."

TALIESIN: And this is a terrifying prospect of the amount of material that's going to have to move.

BRENNAN: "Staggering expense."

TALIESIN: A mess of paperwork because I'm sure, as you know, there's no such thing as a museum with functional paperwork. Everything's a disaster. Oh, but we have to move it quickly.

BRENNAN: "They don't intend for us to share the same vault, do they?"

TALIESIN: I think they do.

BRENNAN: "This is a nightmare."

TALIESIN: I'm so glad you think so. So, what do you plan on doing about it, since clearly they plan on keeping you on and not me?

BRENNAN: Give me an insight check.

TALIESIN: Mm, thank you, because I'm curious if this is landing.

MARISHA: Ha.

TALIESIN: Mm. 19.

BRENNAN: Makmaz is looking at you. He doesn't prefer you.

TALIESIN: No.

LUIS: (laughs) I know that look.

MARISHA and LUIS: (laugh)

BRENNAN: But the thing about this guy that you kind of believe or understand is that he doesn't really prefer anyone, so it's hard to say that--

TALIESIN: We have that in common.

BRENNAN: I think on that insight check, you look at him and you see, he goes, "Look, Bolaire, I have no issue with telling you the truth as I see it. We can't fold these into the same wing. It doesn't make sense. The museum does not have the pieces here. Nor do I think the Lloy will continue to wish for their name to be on this wing if it is possessing the artifacts of the Shapers."

TALIESIN: I'm already hearing rumblings from them.

BRENNAN: "Really? Who are you hearing rumblings from?"

TALIESIN: Sadly, I am not at liberty to say yet, but you know me, people talk to me. I'm very trustworthy.

BRENNAN: "Yes."

TALIESIN: (chuckles smugly)

BRENNAN: "A very trustworthy face."

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: "Look, Bolaire, my understanding is the intentions of the Cormoray are to move the Selodyne Wing into the Lloy wing."

TALIESIN: What? That was not what I was told.

BRENNAN: "What were you told?"

TALIESIN: I was told that we were moving--

BRENNAN: "The Lloy Wing?"

TALIESIN: The Lloy Wing here.

BRENNAN: "Both of those can be true. I think doing a swap, maybe?"

TALIESIN: That doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. I mean, I'm not going to say that this is my preferred environment. I'm sure that the students love it, but, there's nothing for us here, and there's certainly nothing for you over there. Why bother?

BRENNAN: "I cannot say, I mean, I cannot say. "The Selodyne Wing is about what, half the size of the Lloy Wing? So you're going to have to make some curatorial choices about what gets displayed."

TALIESIN: And what happens to the rest of it?

BRENNAN: "Well, maybe you can write a letter to the Lady Amariya Dacen Cormoray, or as you said, people love to talk to you. Maybe you can talk to her."

LUIS: Mm.

TALIESIN: I would much prefer to have you on my side, or at least I would much prefer for you to have me on your side, if it makes you feel better. A united front about what to do about this would be delightful. I am curious what they plan on doing. This doesn't make a lot of sense. Is it possible that both vaults, I mean, who knows? Both vaults could end up moving their collections somewhere else? They might close the collections. They might be building an entirely new wing. No one will see our collections. We be able to touch anything for six years, eight years? How much longer do you have before we, I mean, I can't tell. You've never looked well.

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: "Well, I would return the insult if I knew how you looked."

TALIESIN: Well, I appreciate that you keep turning the other cheek.

BRENNAN and TALIESIN: (laugh sarcastically)

BRENNAN: I find you distasteful. (laughter)

TALIESIN: I find you dull. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Which is why we work so well together, because we know where we stand.

BRENNAN: "Bolaire, let's imagine for a moment that I'm a hero and that I love you. What I'm going to do? Tell the Cormoray where they can put their artifacts? No."

TALIESIN: Really? What do you think they'd say to that?

BRENNAN: "I say, 'On behalf of the Archanade and the Revolutionary Council, take your winged scroll and shove it up your ass?'"

LUIS: (laughs)

TALIESIN: Mm.

BRENNAN: "No, I don't think so. I don't know if you talk to people outside of this museum, but there's a strong wind blowing out in the city. I can tell what direction it's blowing. Can you?"

TALIESIN: There is a wind, and I can tell. I'm just, I suppose I'm curious whether or not you are standing upwind or downwind. We're going to need friends. Things are going to get complicated. And we're going to have to be careful. What will you do if they take away your little wing?

BRENNAN: "Every day I come to a wing dedicated to the great weapons of the most powerful beings that have ever walked our world, who lost. So I'm not one for blind hope. I think if they come for me, I lose."

TALIESIN: If they come for us, though. It is actually the fundamental problem with this wing. You know that, right? Is, you said it yourself, these aren't the most powerful beings that have ever walked this earth, this soil. We are. Because we won.

BRENNAN: Give me either intimidate or persuasion, if you'd be so kind.

TALIESIN: Can I, boy, yeah.

BRENNAN: Whichever you think is more appropriate. I'll say, do you have the same bonus to both?

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

LIAM: Advantages to both.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

MARISHA: Advantages to both.

BRENNAN: Go ahead and roll. It's a little mixture of the two.

LUIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Hmm. 17.

BRENNAN: 17. He looks to you and says, "Every day, I walk the halls of the weapons that failed to win in the hands of the gods and their champions." You see he used the word "gods" purposefully here. And every day, you walk in the hall of the weapons that struck down the Shapers in the hands of brave mortals. Maybe I'm a little too pessimistic. Maybe you're a little too optimistic. If I hear anything, I'll keep talking to you. After all, people love to talk to you."

TALIESIN: I apologize for the number of truly irritating people that are going to be running through here, poorly cataloging everything. I'm going to make this as complicated as humanly possible. And who knows, between the two of us, we have all of the mightiest weapons. No one's ever faced them all before.

BRENNAN: "(laughs)" Go ahead and add-- Just roll a d6 for me.

TALIESIN: Yay, I get to use my new d6! That's a one, two, three, four, five.

BRENNAN: I think you add five to that persuasion roll. (laughs)

LUIS: Ooh.

BRENNAN: With that little barb at the end. He says, "No one ever has faced them all. If you count on me to be brave, I will disappoint you. If you can count on me to be scared, you might find a worthy friend."

TALIESIN: We're archeologists, we don't fear... shit. But yes, I'll keep you safe. We need wisdom to prevail. And if it comes to it, I am-- I don't know what you did during the rebellion, but I'm preparing to lose my peace again. And you're a good man, as much as I find you insufferable.

BRENNAN: "Always a treat, Bolaire."

TALIESIN: We'll talk, let me know if you hear anything. Just send a letter to my--

BRENNAN: "I'm not sending shit to you in writing. I'll see you in the break room."

TALIESIN: Oh, send an intern. You see he walks away.

LUIS: "Send an intern."

MARISHA: Smart. Smart boy.

TALIESIN: That was very smart.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: Wow.

MARISHA: You don't put shit in writing.

BRENNAN: (laughs) And he walks away. We move over-- I believe we wake up the next morning in the Fang home.

TALIESIN: Never have two curators been that nice to each other in any museum on earth. (laughter) Okay. Shit, thank you.

LUIS: Great.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah. Hal and Azune, I think you guys start your day and probably have to get up and running.

LUIS: Yes.

LIAM: Yeah, I get up pretty early, before the sun comes up.

BRENNAN: Cool.

LUIS: I get up early as well.

LIAM: All right, well, lot to do. Not enough hours in the day.

LUIS: Right.

LIAM: Meet at the theater, meet at the Round.

LUIS: Meet at the Round.

LIAM: In the afternoon.

LUIS: I'm going to go out the back door.

LIAM: Go for it.

LUIS: And I'm trying to have as normal a day as possible.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

LUIS: I have stayed here before, so this is all along those lines.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

LUIS: And I'm going to do my walk towards Falcon's Rest.

BRENNAN: You go to the Falcon's Rest. Roll a d20 luck check in front of the board for me. You're looking for an 18, 19, or 20.

LIAM: Let's go.

LUIS: Let's do--

LIAM: Let's go.

LUIS: -- this one.

TALIESIN: Oh!

BRENNAN: Nat 20! (cheering)

MARISHA: Natural 20!

LIAM: (laughs)

TALIESIN: Dropped like a rock.

MARISHA: Holy heck.

TALIESIN: Wow.

BRENNAN: Holy shit. You head out from Hal's home, walk to the Falcon's Rest, and you look up and see that-- God, hold on a second, this is crazy. Nat 20, we have to honor this, this has to be really cool, hold on. We're going to honor this.

LUIS: Okay, yeah.

BRENNAN: I asked for a luck check, you got a nat 20. I gave you three out of 20 odds and you roll a nat 20.

TALIESIN: You see the GM behind a curtain go, "Ah!" And hide again. "I broke the fourth wall! Shit!"

BRENNAN: "Pay no attention!"

LUIS: Amazing.

LIAM: "Don't worry, sir, I didn't see you playing with your toys." (laughter) (laughter continues)

BRENNAN: You walk up in this moment, and I think you see-- Hold on, I have to-- I know this is crazy, I am going to have to consult our timeline.

LUIS: Okay. Oh, interest.

MARISHA: He's got to talk to the timeline.

LUIS: Interesting.

BRENNAN: Okay, copy that. No, this is great.

TALIESIN: Back into the TARDIS.

MARISHA: You beat me to it.

TALIESIN: Felt it, felt it coming.

MARISHA: Back in the TARDIS.

TALIESIN: Everyone back in the TARDIS.

LIAM: Tube warping to level four.

MARISHA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: (laughs)

BRENNAN: You walk up and see, as you approach the Falcon's Rest, waiting by the colonnade where the names are written, you look and see a couple things. Number one, the falcons' nests up here are empty.

LUIS: Ah, okay.

BRENNAN: You don't see any birds, any laid eggs up here. But also you see Varen Kadorn. This is a tall human, shaved head. You see he's wearing half plate, so a little bit more mobile than full plate armor, but still very heavily armored.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: He looks over at you and sees you approaching, and begins to walk right towards you, looking sleepless and upset.

LUIS: Okay.

MARISHA: Uh-oh.

BRENNAN: He walks up to you and he goes, "Azune, you're here.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: "I thought I might find you here."

LUIS: Wait, wait, wait, wait. We might be watched. We must do as we normally would, and I'll handle how we have our conversation. I will walk towards Falcon's Rest and I'm going to cross my arm and keep myself pointing in his direction as I-- I'm going to spam cast, until you tell me I can't, Message so that we can have this conversation in our minds.

BRENNAN: Yeah. He looks at you and goes, "We need to talk."

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: "So you know I've been posted at the Elbrendi, I've been working for the Elbrendi for a while. We got a letter late in the night last night that some of our-- A cousin of one of the young lords was working, traveling with some men at arms. There's been a massive arrest in Riesingürtle of all of our men at arms that were supposed to bring up a advance caravan. You know, I'm not one of these nobles. I protect the house when the Elbrendi are back in Telmora, I'm just here to basically watch over a bunch of servants and waitstaff while their interests are managed here in the interim. But we got a letter telling us to be aware that we might be arrested. House Einfasen has put a bunch of Royce and Elbrendi and Davinos bannermen under arrest on the other side of the Dvalmar Pass."

LUIS: Threatening arrest?

BRENNAN: "No, no affected arrest."

LUIS: Effective. Effective.

BRENNAN: "I don't know if I need-- Have you heard anything? Do I need to go into hiding?

LUIS: Maybe. I haven't heard anything. So they're effectively arresting any of House Royce's vassals.

BRENNAN: "That's the message we got."

LUIS: (sighs) Varen, I came here hoping to ask you quite a favor and I didn't realize that you would be under threat.

BRENNAN: "What favor do you need?"

LUIS: Well, this is all happening, none of this is a coincidence, there is a power--

BRENNAN: "What did they do? Where are the fucking falcons?" You see he looks around. I think, give me an insight check.

LUIS: Okay. Oh my god.

MARISHA: You're lying.

TALIESIN: Oh my fucking god.

LUIS: I'm not lying.

MARISHA: Oh my god!

BRENNAN: A second nat 20?

LUIS: Yes.

TALIESIN: It's a different die.

LUIS: It's a different die.

TALIESIN: God, wow.

BRENNAN: His sudden shift to speaking about the falcons. He's having-- you can sense a traumatic episode coming on, that he's on the verge of--

LUIS: Yes, he's having--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: I am going to do what Hal did for Azune.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: I'm going to approach him, I'm going to put my hand on his chest, the other hand on his shoulder and I'm just going to press. And I'm going to say: Breathe, breathe, breathe.

BRENNAN: "(deep breath)"

LUIS: Right now, you're not in danger. Right now, we need level heads. We need to figure out what's happening. You might be under threat, but we cannot just run. They're doing everything they can to intimidate us, and they're moving fast. The falcons that aren't here anymore, of course, this is all their fault, they did this. I think you need to resign. You and whoever else you know that's working for any House that's a vassal house to House Royce, you all need to resign.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

LUIS: And then you need to come work for us.

BRENNAN: "The Guard?"

LUIS: No. There's a lot more happening. As much as they're moving, as quickly as they are, there are forces in opposition that are already moving. You are not alone. The falcon's cry is still being heard piercing the sky for any of those that are willing to hear it. Are you willing to hear it? Because you cannot come here at Falcon's Rest and just think upon those of our fallen friends from the Falconer's Rebellion and think that that is a way to pay homage to them. No, it is time to act. That is the best way that we can make their sacrifice and make their memories come alive.

BRENNAN: "Azune, I've been stuck for years." He puts a hand on your shoulder this time and says, "I think we've all been waiting for it to cry again. And if you hear it, I'm with you. Tell me where to go. Tell me if you need me to tell the others, I'll tell everyone I know."

LUIS: We need people that we can trust and we need to play the game like how they play it. Right now, the Revolutionary Guard has been decimated. They've let go of the majority of the Revolutionary Guard to have them poached by the Sundered Houses. I saw a mercenary group recruiting people. They can't tell us apart, one from the other. I want you and those that you trust to act as though you are members of the Revolutionary Guard dismissed to looking for another opportunity, and seek employment with those mercenary groups that are under those Sundered Houses, because we need eyes and ears inside.

BRENNAN: He looks and says, "I mean, they poached me five years ago. I understand. All right. What's the... They let go of the Revolutionary Guard and you think that they did it-- I mean, they could do it for multiple reasons, but they're trying to poach them?"

LUIS: They're weakening whatever the city has to be able to stand on its own two feet.

BRENNAN: "Where did you see everyone going? What House are they flocking to?"

LUIS: It was a mercenary group that I didn't recognize, but I know it was under the Candescent Creed banner.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

LUIS: But it would also help if we had a number of people in other Houses as well.

BRENNAN: "I'm in touch. This detail they've got me on, they all have manor houses here, but I know some of the people at Obrimus, which is the Tachonis manor. I know some of the folks over at Davinos, obviously, and the Villa Aurora, and I'm going to go collect names. I'm going to go knock some heads."

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: "I'll let you know. Where can I find you?"

LUIS: You can find me here.

BRENNAN: "All right."

LUIS: And if you don't, you might see a dwarven woman. She looks to be of The Penteveral, but she's on our side.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

LUIS: Her name is Murray.

BRENNAN: "Yeah."

LUIS: If I'm not here, you speak to her just as you would to me.

BRENNAN: "I understand. All right, I don't want to stay any longer, but if this-- I don't know what's happening and maybe I don't need to, but they put you on the Thjazi detail, right?"

LUIS: They did.

BRENNAN: "I'm sorry."

LUIS: Thank you.

BRENNAN: "Names, heads. I'll be back here in--"

LUIS: And action.

BRENNAN: "Action." You see that he clasps you to him and walks off into the gray of the early morning. Sick rolls, man. (laughs)

MARISHA: Sick rolls!

LUIS: I'm lucky.

MARISHA: Sick rolls!

BRENNAN: Unbelievable.

LUIS: I do have the Lucky feat.

BRENNAN: "I do have the Lucky feat." You continue.

MARISHA: I have the Lucky feat, too, I keep forgetting that.

BRENNAN: You continue on down to the Brethren Hall.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: As you arrive there, you see that Captain Fazir looks to you and says, "Lieutenant Nayar, your first task of the day, you've actually been called to special report." Slides over, "There is a full investigation of possible magical wrongdoing at the Palazzo Davinos."

LUIS: Oh, does he hand me something?

BRENNAN: He hands you a small slip, written, signed by the Lord Harondus Einfasen.

LUIS: Oh. What have you heard, Captain? The streets have been talking about what might have happened there, suspicious things.

BRENNAN: "We are hearing, it seems that the Royce have reopened the door to Faerie. There are some reports that the Royce may have kidnapped some of the servants and laborers and taken them with them through the door to Faerie."

LUIS: Oh. Does that strike you as something characteristic of the Royce?

BRENNAN: "There's a handful of those who are missing. We don't know if they're missing or if they've turned up or what, but an investigation has been called for because there was illusory magic present and so--"

LUIS: Aha.

BRENNAN: "That's why we're going. Otherwise, it's a missing person. So it has nothing to do with the Arcane Marshals, but we're going because there was magic present there."

LUIS: And it looks like by "we" you mean me.

BRENNAN: "You've been requested personally."

MARISHA: (sarcastic chuckle)

LUIS: (groaning) Understood. (sighs) Captain, how's your sense of the morale of those of us that have stayed in the Revolutionary Guard?

BRENNAN: "I'd say morale is at an all time low, Azune."

LUIS: Yeah, we need to do something about that. What are you going to do about that, Captain?

BRENNAN: Give me persuasion and then give me insight.

LUIS: Persuasion? A natural one.

MARISHA: (gasps)

LIAM: (sympathetic groan)

MARISHA: You got that Luck feat.

LUIS: I am--

LIAM: Bro.

LUIS: Oh, well, Luck is now, you have to declare it beforehand, and it gives you advantage, but I am going to use my Heroic Inspiration.

MARISHA: Wait, is that true? Luck's changed?

LUIS: Luck has changed.

LIAM: Sure, at least erase the one, yeah.

LUIS: Yes, so I'm going to use my Heroic Inspiration and roll again. I'm going to roll a different one.

TALIESIN: Can you use Luck now?

LUIS: I think I could.

TALIESIN: You don't have to. That's-- No, no, no.

LUIS: But I'm going to save that.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LUIS: I will--

LIAM: Is it cocked?

LUIS: No, it's not. This was a persuasion?

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: A 15.

BRENNAN: A 15, okay.

LUIS: And then I have insight. Do you want the insight immediately?

BRENNAN: Yeah, give me the insight immediately.

LUIS: Okay. This one.

BRENNAN: Nat one?

LUIS: No.

BRENNAN: Nat 20?

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: Oh my god!

LIAM: (laughs)

LUIS: Yes.

TALIESIN: What is happening?

LUIS: Never, ever in my life.

BRENNAN: What a streak!

LUIS: I use these dice--

BRENNAN: What a streak!

LUIS: Except for the one that I have for my character, I use these dice all the time and they're never this hot!

MARISHA: What the shit?

TALIESIN: Ah.

MARISHA: Maybe it is a portent day.

LUIS: Yeah! You know it!

MARISHA: (laughs)

LUIS: We're vibing, too.

MARISHA: We're vibing.

BRENNAN: On a natural 20--

LUIS: Uh-huh.

BRENNAN: On a natural 20, you look and find that there is a, natural 20 insight, Captain Fazir is not going to rock the boat.

LUIS: (heavy sigh)

BRENNAN: He does not have the soul of a hero.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: He is not going to rock the boat. On a 15 persuasion, he looks and says, "Well, I think you're right that something is in order. Perhaps we can gather the troops together at the mead hall down the street and--"

LUIS: (sighs) Yeah.

BRENNAN: "More camaraderie is probably the order of the day."

LUIS: You're right, Captain. You have a lot on your plate, and you, of course, have been through so much. Allow me to assume some responsibility in your stead.

BRENNAN: "I appreciate that. You seem to have come into the favor of Lord Einfasen, so by all means. On your way, Lieutenant."

LUIS: Yes. Yes, sir. And I will make my way.

BRENNAN: ♪ Making my way! ♪ (laughter)

TALIESIN: Infectious.

BRENNAN: You head over to the Palazzo Davinos, a place you've already investigated the night before.

LUIS: And I'm alone?

BRENNAN: No, not the night before, but the night before that.

LUIS: It all blends together.

MARISHA: Seems suspicious.

TALIESIN: All one day. We don't sleep.

LUIS: Am I not assigned any of my--

BRENNAN: Your guard--

LUIS: Oh, my guard is with me. Okay, great. Okay.

MARISHA: Do we like Captain Fazir? Do we like him or is he just mid?

LUIS: Not after that! (laughs)

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: I think that the correct read--

LUIS: He's a wet noodle.

BRENNAN: -- is that Captain Fazir is nice and mid.

MARISHA: He's nice and mid.

LUIS: Yes.

MARISHA: He's not--

LUIS: Yes. He is not going to do anything that's going to put him at risk.

MARISHA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: He's grassy.

LUIS: He'll toe the line. Yes.

TALIESIN: He bends with the wind?

LIAM: He's just going to turtle.

LUIS: Yep. I think on my way with my detail, as I'm approaching the Palazzo Davinos, I'm really concerned over them and I immediately want to get a sense of how they're doing, how deflated they are, how scared they are, and-- (huffs) yeah. I'm just going to try to be the leader that I haven't been for them and that they deserve. (sighs) I am certain you are all struggling to keep up with these changing winds. I am as well, and I want to assure you all that although I may not have been the most forthcoming and the most verbose, as your lieutenant, I want to make sure you all know that I am, without a doubt, here for each and every one of you. I know we all had friends and some of us had family that were dismissed. If you're upset, you have every right to be. You have someone to come to. I will be that person for you and I want you, as we move forward to do what this Revolutionary Guard, under new supervision, asks us to do, I want you all to remember who we truly are in service to in this city, and that is the people. And I'll point as we walk to the people that are going about their day, the children of the city, the elderly, the newly-in-love couples. These are who we are in service to, and you can, in spite of how rocked you might feel, hold them as well, because we are one of the last remaining forces that can help protect them.

BRENNAN: Give me persuasion with advantage.

LUIS: (huffs) Come on, baby!

BRENNAN: Let's see if this hot streak continues.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LIAM: Yeah, you can do it.

LUIS: Wait, what is this?

MARISHA: What is that?

LUIS: Oh, okay. Okay.

MARISHA: (laughs)

LUIS: Okay.

MARISHA: That was great.

LUIS: It's a 13.

BRENNAN: 13. You see that your soldiers, Horace, Dala, and Groto, look at you. Give me an insight check.

LUIS: Okay. This one. Oh boy. That is a seven.

BRENNAN: I think you look at your--

LUIS: I got too happy at my dice rolls. (laughter)

BRENNAN: -- your detail here, and I think that you see that, on a seven insight, they nod back and they say, "Thank you, Lieutenant."

LUIS: Oh, 15, I'm sorry, on the persuasion.

BRENNAN: 15 on persuasion.

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: I think you see them look happy that they have been told they can come and talk to you, but I don't think you get any deep sense of the mission over here, and I think that there's a possibility that you, the clarity you got on your captain where you're like, "That bridge is rickety. Don't cross that bridge--"

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: -- you sadly don't have the same clarity of your subordinates. They are following your orders and are being respectful to you, and you don't know if that's because they believe in a cause, or they're collecting a paycheck, or they're wondering what the benefits are with the Sons of Dawn. You just don't know.

LUIS: Mm-hmm. I'm going to have faith in them and am going to not press it. Sometimes some things are a little bit more of a long game. It takes more than one moment of contact to nudge something that's heavier to move. I'm going to just say to them: You know how to do your jobs. You do them well. Let's begin.

BRENNAN: I also think in this question, Azune, for you, so much of your job has been about being in this position because of what it did for Thjazi and his efforts, and touching this over here, and Murray, and Bolaire, and this other stuff. Does Azune have a long history of leadership within his own unit, or do you think Azune is someone who has really thought long and hard about his unit before now, or is this something that is changing?

LUIS: This is a change.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: I think the centerpiece of what I would think about in terms of what needed to get done, it revolved around what I thought Thjazi needed.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: This is the first time I think I'm recognizing that I might need to light some of my own fires, like he told me.

BRENNAN: You head out from there, heading towards the Palazzo Davinos to begin your investigation. Hal, where do you head to this fine morning?

LIAM: Well, I have a lot I want to try to get done before getting to the Hallowed Round today. The first thing I want to do is I want to go to two quick stops in The Rookery, the neighborhood that both my home, the theater, referred to as The Rookery, this neighborhood is honeycombed with not all, but most of the troupe of the Hallowed Round of the Rookery. I need to see two people, but despite Azune describing the Halovar visit last night and them really sort of flexing and trying to invite me to the estate, still a little paranoid. So what I do early, right after Azune leaves, is I take a moment with my brother, hand on his chest, just a moment of quiet, and then slowly, in the back of the house, there is a side entrance to the home, and I actually bring in a large slat of wood and I move my brother onto it, and I begin to drag that slab of wood towards the back of the house. I pause. I grab a cloak from my home and throw it up and over my head and exit the rear of the building with my brother. I have a low, small wagon, a little more than a wheelbarrow, but less than a regular horse-drawn wagon, and I managed to slide Thjazi on top of it and cover him over with fabric from inside the house. And while I'm still in the back of the house, unseen, I will drag my hand across my face a way I've done a thousand times before, and my visage and my hands become wizened and old, as I cast the spell Disguise Self so I look like a very, very old orc, cloak still over me, and I pick up the cart behind me and very easily assume an old, hunched position, and I begin to walk my brother through the neighborhood of The Rookery, looking around for anything dangerous.

BRENNAN: Give me perception.

LIAM: Okay. Okay.

MARISHA: (laughs)

LIAM: That is a 15.

BRENNAN: Wheeling Thjazi's body, which is covered, you just look like an old Dol-Makjar orc taking a wheelbarrow of goods, taking a cart of goods somewhere. You pass the bottom of your street. Your street in The Rookery does branch off into other streets, but you're realizing they do all come back down to this central highway and you get down to that larger thoroughfare that heads to the bridge crossing the River Vrosh, and see two Sons of the Dawn, two Halovar mercenaries that are at the street corner looking up your street. They don't look at you at all because why would they?

LIAM: Right. I turn away and begin to wheel off towards my partner's house, to Olgud Akarat's home early in the morning. When I feel like I'm a few streets away from the Halovar units, I drop the spell and stand up in the same cloak, so I slowly shift from old man to Hal and arrive at Olgud's house. Give a little knock.

BRENNAN: Let's see. "What's that? (grunts) I'll be right there, hold on. Hal!"

LIAM: Hi.

BRENNAN: "Hey! (sputters) You want to walk to work together? What are you doing here?"

MARISHA: (laughs) Carpool! (laughter)

LIAM: Sorry, sorry. I know that you've helped the family out so much in the past couple of days--

TALIESIN: Cart-pool.

LIAM: -- and I'm afraid--

MARISHA: "Cart-pool." (laughs)

LUIS: Yes.

LIAM: -- I'm here to ask for another family favor. So all your tasks for the business today, please put them on hold, if you will.

BRENNAN: "No, no problem." He looks down and says, Oh, are these the new, what is it? The foils? The stage foils, stage combat? What do you got in the cart?"

LIAM: Listen. I am worried about Shadia. Now that we've said our goodbyes to her uncle, I think it's time to take him to the next step, and I look down at the wagon and then back up to him.

BRENNAN: "Oh, spirits of the Old Path. My god. Okay, all right."

MARISHA: (laughs)

LIAM: I know.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

LIAM: And I squeeze him by the shoulder.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

LIAM: I need you to do me this favor today. And I turn my head up and I look at the hills above The Rookery, above our neighborhood. You know where my father lies?

BRENNAN: "I do."

LIAM: (huffs) I think that he wanted to be close to the old man, so the ridge above the cemetery up there?

BRENNAN: "Yeah."

LIAM: I mean to make his rest there. So for today, could you look after my brother?

BRENNAN: "I'll look after him. Did you have a conversation with him about the plot? I can handle that today."

LIAM: Yes, please, and if you could, I'm hoping to move him to uncharted territories up onto that hill above it. He can see the whole city from up there. He can keep an eye on us still.

BRENNAN: "Got it. I'll get it done, Hal."

LIAM: Thank you, old friend.

BRENNAN: "He'd love it. See the whole city. Be up there, catch every slate gray dawn this grimy old town has to offer. It's a good place."

LIAM: Appreciate you.

BRENNAN: "Appreciate you. What's a theater producer for if not to abscond with the body of his business partner's brother--"

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: "-- hanged for sedition and arcanism? I will get it done."

LIAM: It is almost, but not quite the worst thing we've ever done together.

BRENNAN: "(laughs) No, the worst thing we've ever done was that production the first time we were in the Lyceum. My god, that was bad." (laughter)

LIAM: I thought we said we weren't going to talk about that anymore.

BRENNAN: "Yeah, we did say we weren't going to talk about that anymore, but I can't stop thinking about it." (laughter) Stays with me."

LIAM: Rules are meant to be broken, it seems. (laughter) All right, well--

MARISHA: We've all been in one.

LIAM: I will look in on the Round later and see how things are going, make sure that we're still on track. You are free of thinking about theater for one day, and one day only.

BRENNAN: "Oh. What a relief. All right."

LUIS: (laughs)

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: "I'll see it done. Take care of yourself, Hal."

LIAM: Thank you.

BRENNAN: He takes the cart, moves it indoors, and shuts the door, looking around paranoid for a moment, and then you are on your way.

LIAM: I just walk another three blocks over from here and I end up on the doorstep of Inez Rountree. Inez, the half-orc woman, ex-rebel of the Falconer's Rebellion turned fight captain for my theater troupe, has walked me and every member of it through choreo and swordcraft, pretend swordcraft. A very important part of everything we do, and I knock on her door.

BRENNAN: You knock on her door. She opens it and goes, "(yawns) Hal. Oh, sorry. You needed the foils, right? The stage combat."

LIAM: No, no, no, no, no, no. I think the troupe has finally, I think they've got it for this one.

BRENNAN: "Okay. Understood."

LIAM: I think at this point, you can just enjoy a job well done.

BRENNAN: "Great. Why are you here?"

LIAM: Right. I'm not the only one who is noticing this city is getting tense, am I?

BRENNAN: "No, I don't think so. I think it's been getting tense for a while."

LIAM: I'm starting to worry about the agreements we have in place for our work.

BRENNAN: "You mean with the Council? Our license to the Hallowed Round?"

LIAM: I can't even put my finger on it. It's like everywhere I go, it feels like the walls are getting just a little more narrow, closing in just a little bit more, and I'm hearing this from friends, all my little birds around the city. I'm trying to get a sense of what's going on inside of the guards' heads, and I really hate to ask this, but I know that your sister still works in the Einfasen estate.

BRENNAN: "Me and my sister gossip all the time. It is not hard for me just to go press and see if she's heard anything. Now, I will happily tell you what my sister said. Are you asking me for me to ask my sister to be proactive and look for something?"

LIAM: Tell you what. I'm a little load for bear today. But if it works for her schedule there, if she has time off and can visit you here, can the three of us talk?

BRENNAN: Give me a persuasion check.

LIAM: That is a 24.

MARISHA: Oh yeah.

BRENNAN: "I think that sounds perfectly fine. I'll ask Romina over. What, you want to have dinner tonight?"

LIAM: Yeah. Let's say tonight, if she's free.

BRENNAN: "I'll ask tonight. Can we meet somewhere more central for her? The Einfasen estate's across town."

LIAM: Whatever is easiest for her. I'm really trying not to put you or her out. I only ask. And as you know, the kind of purpose that my brother and you had to bear, those needs might be coming back. They are coming back.

BRENNAN: "(sighs)"

LIAM: I don't know if I can keep the plates spinning. I'm just trying to future-proof, if I can.

BRENNAN: "I've been thinking a lot about your brother. Hell of a time for our opening at the great amphitheater to be telling a story about a failed revolution."

LIAM: The irony is not lost on me.

BRENNAN: "I'll keep my ear to the ground, Hal. Let me talk to Romina, and I'll see what I can do. I know that she's working today, so I might have to send word to you at the Round."

LIAM: All right.

BRENNAN: You take off from Inez?

LIAM: Yes. And my last errand of the day before meeting up with the others is heading further out into the city, to the Grey Library.

BRENNAN: You head to the Grey Library, the library of the Revolutionary Council in Marud. Arriving there, you enter into the maze-like stacks of the largest multicultural, pan-historical library on the continent of Pasitar.

LIAM: I'm looking for any of the few friendly faces that I have grown to know over decades of coming to this place to research for my work.

BRENNAN: You see that Byrindra Moss is a older bullfolk librarian. She has long spectacles on the edge of her snout. Big horns on her head. Turns around. "Oh. Hello. Hal, good to see you, my friend."

LIAM: Ms. Moss, it has been a moment. How are you? How are you?

BRENNAN: "Wonderful. Wonderful. Life is glorious."

LIAM: Things still fast-paced here at the old library?

BRENNAN: "It is a maelstrom of activity." The silence that follows that statement is resounding. "I can hardly catch a breath." (chuckling)

LIAM: Well, I know it's been half a year, but I am back.

BRENNAN: "Half a year? Weren't you here the other--? Oh god, it was a half a year ago. That's right."

LIAM: It was.

BRENNAN: "It feels like a moment."

LIAM: (laughs) I'm here to beg on your doorstep again. If you can believe it, we're finally on the verge. The show is about to go. All of those hours spent in the stacks under your tutelage and guidance have paid off. Please, you have my most gracious invitation to come. Eight days. Eight days at the Hallowed Round and you will be down, front and center. Please, I insist.

BRENNAN: "I'm there." (laughter) Count me in. Is this--"

MARISHA: Truly ent of a woman.

LUIS: I know.

BRENNAN: "I live in Marud. What part of town is the Hallowed Round in?"

LIAM: Oh, it's all the way on the south side with views of the country like you wouldn't believe.

BRENNAN: "I'll have to get-- If it's in eight days, I'll leave tomorrow to get there in time. How can I help you out?"

LIAM: Well, a rolling stone catches no moss, grows no moss. And if you can believe it, I already have an idea for the next. I have got an itch today to do some work to start digging in and I want to dive back into the history stacks if that's okay.

BRENNAN: "Oh, of course. Halandil, normally on a day this busy, I wouldn't think of it, but here." You see she hands you a small little sort of parchment square that has an emblem of the library on it. "Help yourself. You're such a speedy young whippersnapper. You'll go faster by yourself. Just handle the books with care. I know I can trust you."

LIAM: Will do. You taught me the Mooey Decimal System, so--

BRENNAN: "(laughs)" (pained groaning)

MARISHA: Oh boy.

BRENNAN: "You are cute, cute."

LIAM: Am I a dad or am I a dad? (laughter)

BRENNAN: "Help yourself. Help yourself." She bids you into the history section. What do you do in that section?

LIAM: Well, Brennan, I think it took me 60 or 90 minutes to get to this point and I have maybe three or four or maybe five hours before I have to be at the Hallowed Round.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: So what I would like to do is dig into the stacks in the limited amount of time that I have and find anything and everything I can on the death of the gods, hopefully with a focus on Ilumi.

BRENNAN: Ilumi, yes.

LIAM: And the halflings.

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: And I want to look for any mention--

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: -- or any scraps or shred of information about masks in history or story or myth or tales. Anything from the last 100 to 500 years.

BRENNAN: Incredible. This information is secret from all across the world. You're looking for the barest wisps of clues. You are here in this great library, so I'll allow you to roll with advantage. You'll be rolling a history check. A DC 20 gets you a whisper. A DC 25 gets you, I think, something usable that points in a direction. DC 30--

TALIESIN: You get copy of Spider-Man, platinum edition-- (laughter) A Todd McFarlane original.

LUIS: Wow.

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: Let's go ahead and roll.

LIAM: Boy, this is a long shot.

TALIESIN: That'll be easier to find.

LIAM: This is a long shot. Here we go. I'll do it over here.

MARISHA: What's your history?

LIAM: It's pretty good. It's pretty good.

TALIESIN: Go for it.

MARISHA: Oh, it is pretty good. (sharp inhale) Good rolls, Liam O'Brien, good rolls.

LIAM: It's a 22.

BRENNAN: 22. On a 22, you open the books, moving through.

LIAM: Wait, wait, wait, wait.

BRENNAN: Sorry.

LIAM: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Never mind, never mind, never mind.

BRENNAN: Not going to use your Heroic Inspiration? Okay.

LIAM: I don't have that.

BRENNAN: Okay.

LIAM: I don't have that. You gave me advantage already.

BRENNAN: What's that? Oh, he gave you advantage already.

LUIS: Oh no, you never--

BRENNAN: You have Heroic Inspiration. You can reroll, if you wish.

LUIS: But you have to take the new roll.

LIAM: I'm going to keep the 22.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: 22, hell yeah.

TALIESIN: Mm.

MARISHA: You have to keep the new roll?

LUIS and TALIESIN: Mm.

MARISHA: Hmm.

BRENNAN: You look--

MARISHA: 2024.

BRENNAN: On a 22...

LUIS: All these little changes add up.

BRENNAN: You find a text referencing the creation of sacred masks as part of a halfling tradition from the country of Hargood, far to the north. It references another text. There's a footnote in this tome that references another text in the library here. Going to search for it, you do not find it on the shelf here. It is missing.

LIAM: (pencil snaps)

LUIS: Oh!

MARISHA: Ah!

BRENNAN: You see that (laughs), looking in--

LIAM: (laughs)

MARISHA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: I'd say I need the kindling, but that part's already done.

LIAM: (laughs)

LUIS: Oh jeez.

MARISHA: (laughs) (laughter)

LUIS: Oh my god.

TALIESIN: Don't fuck with an archeologist.

BRENNAN: The text that you are looking for is an ancient halfling text. It's about a two centuries old halfling text called "The Visages of Creation." This version in this library was a copy. It is missing. You could ask Byrindra about it, if you want.

MARISHA: Don't you hate it when you can't find the original source of something?

TALIESIN: You want on a list, this is how you get on a list.

LIAM: How much time do you think it took me to get to this point?

BRENNAN: I think about an hour and a half, 90 minutes.

TALIESIN: I'm a little insulted.

LUIS: (laughs)

LIAM: Masks, you bastard. I put masks on the entire chorus because of you.

BRENNAN and TALIESIN: (laugh)

LIAM: I go seeking her out. Yeah.

BRENNAN: You find Byrindra. "Hal, how's it going?"

LIAM: I'm an amateur. I am not half the historian you are, not even a quarter. I am following a trail of a wisp of breadcrumbs through your labyrinth.

BRENNAN: "Yes."

LIAM: And I am trying to find an elder text called, I think that the translation is "The Visages of Creation." Does that ring a bell?

BRENNAN: "Visages of Creation? Yes. Oh. That hasn't been returned. Hold on." She starts rumbling through. "I'm so sorry, Hal, this-- this is marked as returned, but I don't know what happened to our copy. I could send for another copy. The original text is in The Totality in Hargood."

LIAM: Oh, okay, okay. Well, it's a work in progress. Do you have record of when it was taken out?

BRENNAN: "Yes. Let me look that up. I'll send a courier with any information I have about it down to the Hallowed Round later today when I get time."

LIAM: That is more than fair. Thank you so much for your patience with my noodling about your home.

BRENNAN: "Of course, of course, Hal. Well, I'll keep an eye on it. Do you want me to send to The Totality to see if they have a copy that can be sent here to replenish our library? I actually should do that anyway."

LIAM: Feasible? Possible?

BRENNAN: "Yes, it might take a few weeks, but yes, certainly."

LIAM: Let's do that.

BRENNAN: "All right, I'll go ahead and do that, Hal."

LIAM: And if you have two or three friends you want to bring to the Round.

BRENNAN: "(laughs)"

LIAM: My treat.

BRENNAN: "(laughs) I'll get my sisters. We'll all come. We'll make a date of it." You see she smiles. Outside, you hear trumpets blaring. She says, "Ooh, out there at the Grey Tower. Be well, Hal."

LIAM: All right. Be well.

BRENNAN: You exit the Grey Library before the Grey Tower of the Revolutionary Council. Exiting the library, the vast courtyard here at the central spiring civic castle, the home of the Revolutionary Council, the castle that was built for the united will of all of the mortals of Aramán in their war against the Shapers, to come together and know a world of only justice and light and truth and freedom, to chart their own destinies. You step out. Broad steps, wide, hundred-foot wide are the steps leading down from the library to the great tower of the Revolutionary Council. The flag flying of a united Aramán. Trumpets blare. You see horses coming in, knights in shining armor, a druid with an antlered helm, and carriages pulling up, alighting to a rock in the garden. You see a young, muscular, almost halfway between a coyote and a husky, arise up as the trumpets end. "Presenting to the Revolutionary Council," the dog speaks aloud. "King Augustus Valian of Timmony!" And you see the emissaries of Timmony exit from this cart. And you see that a carriage opens and you see the dog looking in. He goes, "Is he in there?" And you see that-- (laughter) (laughter)

BRENNAN: You see that a druid pokes his head out and says, "He told me he was riding a horse." And you see the dog goes, "Not again. King Valian!" Calls out. And that's where we'll end our episode-- (exclaiming)

LUIS: Oh wow.

MARISHA: What does that mean?!

BRENNAN: -- of Critical Role.

TALIESIN: I may be a talking dog, but I sure as heck can't drive. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Woo!

MARISHA: King Augustus Valian?

TALIESIN: Wow.

LIAM: King Gus.

BRENNAN: King Gus.

LIAM: King Gus.

LUIS: King Augustus Valian.

BRENNAN: King Gus from the Soldiers Table.

TALIESIN: I'm going to look it up in the library. Do you think this is a fucking game?

MARISHA: Oh, King Gus!

TALIESIN: You don't think that I went, "Oh no. There might be a library with a book with me." Oh yeah, no.

LIAM: I'm looking for rumors. You think I'm going to be like, "Cool, living mask. Got it, that makes sense."

TALIESIN: "How I Did It," by Victor Frankenstein. (laughter)

BRENNAN: "'How I Did It,'" by Victor Frankenstein." Folks, we got a lot to talk about.

LIAM: Got to start somewhere.

BRENNAN: I'll tell you what. What a fucking hot start. I'm so psyched! We'll see you next week for the continuation of the Schemers Table here at Critical Role. Is it Thursday, yet?

MARISHA: Woo!

LIAM: No, not yet.

LIAM: (groans)

Cooldown

TALIESIN: Might be. Oh!

LUIS: Wow!

BRENNAN: Wow!

TALIESIN: That was fun.

LUIS: That was so--

LIAM: That was a lot of fun.

MARISHA: Oh, okay.

TALIESIN: Oh boy. What? There was a lot of, there was a lot of wind.

LIAM: I've been on pins and needles about this game for so long, and it felt so good to get into it.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: Mm. Mm.

MARISHA: I know.

TALIESIN: Especially after the conversations Monday of like, like the--

BRENNAN: You guys all had a secret dinner without me. What the fuck?

MARISHA: We did? (laughs)

LUIS: What do you mean? Of course we are.

BRENNAN: I mean, that is some Schemer behavior.

MARISHA: It is, you know, just a little chit-chatty.

TALIESIN: There's nothing like being the game master to make sure you'll never be invited to anything. (laughter)

BRENNAN: I live behind here.

LUIS: Are we able to take a quick potty break?

MARISHA: Yeah, you want to take a quick 10-1.

LUIS: Because are we doing the little--

BRENNAN: I think, is Cooldown already, I think that we're in Cooldown right now, but we can. Go for it. Just go for it.

LUIS: Are we? Oh, I'm good.

TALIESIN: I was going to say let's finish it anyways.

LUIS: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

TALIESIN: Because we got, we got.

LIAM: We can get a--

LUIS: This is Cooldown. Just kidding.

LIAM: We could bring a free-floating camera in. Just keep going.

LUIS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh well--

BRENNAN: Steady cam to the bathroom.

LIAM: Yeah.

BRENNAN: What a fucking episode, guys. Oh my god, everything happened.

TALIESIN: You held some of that shit together so fucking well.

LUIS: Oh, oh.

BRENNAN: That's really kind, Taliesin. This, a game in a city is what I spent all of my college years doing. And the idea of-- I ran a West Marches campaign that was an adventure-- Because you think adventure and you think, "I go to a place and there's adventure waiting there." Doing one where it's your institutions and these relationships and all this stuff bubbling up.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: And the scenes--

TALIESIN: I love it.

BRENNAN: The first scene of you guys together with Orus in the aviary, and then talking more-- Everything before the break was so tense and cool and awesome, and then everything after the break of you guys going to bat in your various institutions--

TALIESIN: Was going pretty well. We were like, "Eh, this is going pretty well. We're doing okay."

BRENNAN: Going pretty well.

LUIS: Some of it, yeah, yeah.

TALIESIN: Yeah, yeah. All things considered.

LUIS: Some of it's been pretty good.

MARISHA: I feel like we got a lot done. And also nothing at all.

LUIS: And so much still left to do.

MARISHA: And so much left to do.

LIAM: I know.

TALIESIN: Yeah, we've gone shopping.

MARISHA: For our first day, it's not bad.

TALIESIN: Instead of stuff shopping, this is NPC shopping.

LUIS: NPC shopping. Yes, exactly.

MARISHA: It is NPC shopping.

LIAM and LUIS: I like shopping.

MARISHA: I don't like shopping.

TALIESIN: I had so much fun.

LIAM: Farming. Gardening.

TALIESIN: God, I will--

LUIS: Yes.

MARISHA: Gardening. Seed sowing.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LUIS: It's fun to see a glimpse of everyone else's world as well.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: It's been that there's a lot of downloading to do when you were able to see those moments with all the other characters. And the city, it feels big. It feels like there's a lot going on.

LIAM: Yeah, that's where my trepidation came in because the other tables get to be like, "Here we go, off on a line!" And we don't know anything around us. Here we are, we're strangers and it's all new, but we know everybody here. I know that guy and that lady and that person.

TALIESIN: Meanwhile, in Gotham City. And we're just like: Oh no. (laughter)

LUIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Too big.

BRENNAN: Too big, it was great. You guys held your-- That scene with you and Kora, oh my god.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: Oh!

BRENNAN: That scene with Kora--

LUIS: That was so good.

MARISHA: I didn't know it was going to be that juicy. I thought I was just going to go and apologize and then move on. Then she gave me a fucking their being like, "Complete this by the end of the day." And I'm like: I'm not going to do that. And you were like, "You're going to complete this by the end of the day." And I'm like: You bitch.

BRENNAN: That move, I fucking hate that move so much. The one where you're like, "Maybe tomorrow." I forget what it was. But it was you saying, "I'm pretty busy right now."

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: And her being like, "Oh my god, no rush. End of the day is fine."

MARISHA: Yes! (laughter)

BRENNAN: And you go like--

MARISHA: I'm like: What do you fucking mean?

BRENNAN: What do you fucking mean?

MARISHA: I was going to say end of the week.

BRENNAN: End of the week. I just love it. I'm like: Yeah, man, we're chill as hell. Fucking, in one hour, do it like, whatever, eh.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Anytime in the next hour is totally fine.

MARISHA: Goodbye. (laughs)

LIAM: My read on that--

TALIESIN: You gave her so much "You're pretty cool for an old person" vibe, too.

MARISHA: Yes.

TALIESIN: It was really-- Aw man, you didn't deserve that.

LUIS: (laughs)

LIAM: My read on that was her going, "Oh, she's as corruptible as me. We're good."

BRENNAN: Yeah, totally.

TALIESIN: You did it.

MARISHA: Yeah, I think that's it. That's what it's trying to portray, which is--

LIAM: Yeah, yeah.

BRENNAN: But also, it's very interesting to play the thing of, what is it? You can always con people by what they're afraid of or what they desire.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: And for her, you coming and being like, "I'm not going to buck." And her being like, "I get to tell the benefactors that everything's buttoned up. That I'll get to tell them." All of them would have said, "The Penteveral, these are a bunch of little punk rock wizards who hate our guts." We're not stupid." And she being like, "I will whip it into shape for you."

LUIS: Yeah.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Right? That's why you give the job to me because I'll get it done.

LIAM: I did that.

BRENNAN: You come in and go, "I'm going to play along." And she gets to go, "Yes!"

MARISHA: "I did it. I did this."

BRENNAN: "I did this." Right?

MARISHA: "I moved our bottom line."

BRENNAN: But the fucking-- You guys are scheming your schemes. I had nothing, I didn't know that you were going to be like, "What can I do to set up something with the fucking Archanade." You know what I mean?

MARISHA: Oh yeah, that's--

TALIESIN: Oh.

MARISHA: Well, that one was part of our Monday discussion.

TALIESIN: Yeah, but it was like, there's no way that's-- I saw the stack of paper. I'm like, we're going to find the worst people. I'm so excited.

MARISHA: Oh, 100%.

TALIESIN: Find me people who are pyromaniacs.

MARISHA: So we can literally (laughs) stack the deck in our favor.

TALIESIN: We're going to find, yeah--

LIAM: All the dumb flunkies.

TALIESIN: Just delinquents, and oh, I'm so excited by the absolute trash army.

MARISHA: Or once again just kids with nothing to lose.

TALIESIN: Kids with nothing to lose. Burn it down.

MARISHA: Sometimes it's good to have kids with nothing to lose.

TALIESIN: Yeah, I'm looking forward to the lost boys.

MARISHA: Can we talk about Luis' heartbreaking--

BRENNAN: Aw, it's beautiful.

MARISHA: -- meltdown as he finally had a moment of exhaustion and grief just completely set in?

LUIS: Yay! It's so fun.

BRENNAN: Beautiful. Oh.

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: What a gorgeous--

LUIS: I knew something like that was coming. I just don't, you never know how it will.

MARISHA: Yeah, when is it all going to catch up to me and just hit me like a ton of bricks?

LUIS: And there was a couple things where I was like: Oh, under this circumstance, that's going to be the thing that's going to make the waves come. And one of them was if ever I'm alone with Hal and--

LIAM: Well, Luis and I have been saying, you know when you put the penny on that thing where it goes around and around and around, and we're on different trajectories. We've been trying to get to the same spot all the way up until this point.

LUIS: I know.

LIAM: We finally got there. (whirs) Met up.

LUIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: That was so much fun.

MARISHA: It was a killer scene, man.

TALIESIN: I was so pleased.

BRENNAN: It was so, yeah, deeply meaningful, and also to get the history of who Hal was to Azune, who Azune was to Hal, and that I think there's something very-- God, it's an interesting asymmetry to a relationship, right? Because Hal even said, we love, we adopt stray cats, our home is open to the people, we have a big, wide family. And I think there can be something painful when you go: I know that I'm always welcome here, but outside of having a practical, A: Can I talk myself into-- Well, you don't need to bother him or you don't need to whatever else. But also, the hard thing, too, where you're like, I am a satellite in orbit. I don't have a warm house to invite strays to.

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You know what I mean? I'm in orbit to this beautiful thing that I get invited to. And I'm welcome to come as much as I want, but I still don't have this to offer them.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: It's very--

LUIS: I don't know what I offer now.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: Because, a little peek behind the curtain, I guess, is now with Thjazi gone, so much of Azune's world is upended in that I've been placed to do tasks, and, you know, how much of that is changing the relationships that he made happen for me?

BRENNAN: Right. Your life kind of ended when he died in terms of: I was here as part of this complex machinery of making moves within the city. Now I've got to light my own fires. What about that trouble lighting fires? You're on a fucking hot streak, man. Those nat 20s--

LUIS: I rolled like five.

MARISHA: Holy heck.

TALIESIN: It was so nuts to watch.

MARISHA: That was crazy.

LUIS: I mean, I was just rolling these dice five days ago in my home game, and they were not nice to me. (chuckles) So, but, you know, thanks for showing up, guys.

LIAM: (laughs)

MARISHA: Yeah.

LUIS: Keep it up.

TALIESIN: Yeah, the one nat one, if I recall.

LUIS: Oh yeah, I got one nat one.

LIAM: Got to balance it out.

BRENNAN: On convincing the-- On persuading.

LUIS: Yes, but then I used the inspiration to reroll it, and I mean, I'll take anything with that, that would be--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: Hoo!

MARISHA: It is funny because just with the way that this game, this table is structured, and, like you said, everything with the Soldiers, and you have the Seekers was much more like we're on a path, we're on this highway that Brennan has built. With this one, I feel like we could go 90 minutes--

LUIS: It's such a sandbox.

MARISHA: -- and it's just us talking and running the game ourselves, and every once in a while, I'm like: Oh, Brennan's here! (laughs)

BRENNAN: That's what I love. I get to kick back. You guys scheme and then I'm like: Make up a guy for you to talk to? Great. Okay, here's a dude. (laughter)

TALIESIN: A 35-hour study montage in an '80s college film.

MARISHA: Yeah, yeah.

LUIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: We've slowed it down to-- Yeah. It's, oh god, I love it.

BRENNAN: The fact that you guys are actually-- I'm ending scenes, and then you guys are going: Here's the next scene. Is fucking great, and it feels very schemery of you being like, "I'm talking to the dude at the fucking other wing of the thing. I got to go talk to this guy."

TALIESIN: It was everything I wanted.

BRENNAN: Everything's just too catty, mean.

LUIS: It's so good!

TALIESIN: That was fun. Just bitchy.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LIAM: Just a couple of Bs.

TALIESIN: Bitchy old men.

LIAM: You've talked about how Murray's a little bit your mom in some of her affectations.

MARISHA: Uh-huh.

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: My mom took in strays and we would have family members stay in our house for prolonged amounts of times, friends. I can't tell you the number of times we shook the snow globe, and there were suddenly all these people there at Thanksgiving.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LIAM: There was always people welcome in our house, and my high school friends thought of her like a second mother. She took in strays. So that's baked into this house and Hal a little bit.

MARISHA: I love that.

BRENNAN: The tension when Azune and Hal got back to the carriage outside of the house, this whole-- I wasn't expecting a little action sequence this early in our Schemers Table. And it was so fucking fun, and also some crazy moves on Azune's part of--

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: If we think about the-- I don't know, this episode, for being our kick off, there was a lot of talk and a lot of conversation, but I'm sitting here being like, no, that was a lot of moves. That was Orus Blade.

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: All the stuff you did with the spell glyphs.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: And learning that a whole wagon of them went missing into the underground a while ago, and finding out the deal with this forgery. This forgery isn't something that anybody can whip up. You need serious infrastructure to whip up something like this.

TALIESIN: So curious to see if my body knows anything about it. I'm really looking forward to getting in and--

LIAM: My body.

MARISHA: It's one of those things, too--

TALIESIN: -- talking to that motherfucker.

MARISHA: There's so many-- (laughter)

MARISHA: So many threads.

LIAM: Pour a little fish food in.

BRENNAN: So many threads because you guys are--

MARISHA: We just got to do one at a time, and it's so hard because you want to pull all the threads at once, but it's just like--

BRENNAN: But your guys' job is to pull them all and fucking braid them.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Braid them, yeah.

LUIS: We have been experiencing again and again and again that they're not just one step ahead of us, two steps ahead of us, three steps ahead of us, and it's like--

BRENNAN: You make it so rewarding.

LUIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Thanks, man.

TALIESIN: You make it so rewarding. Any dumb shit we do and I'm like: Oh, this is going to hit a wall, and like, no, no, no, it didn't. We are not Roadrunners yet.

BRENNAN: Well, it was great. There are also a lot of medium, I think, I loved you saying "mid," Marisha, like is this guy just mid? And you're like, yeah, in the resistance, it's not just monsters and heroes. It's a lot of mid people.

MARISHA: There's a lot of people that are just like "I just don't want to--"

LIAM: Oh, you mean most people?

MARISHA: Most people.

BRENNAN: Most people. The definition of mid being average, yeah.

MARISHA: "-- doesn't fucking pertain to me and I don't want it to ever." And you're like: All right, fine.

LIAM: That's not a pejorative, that's just people trying to go about their lives.

MARISHA: Their lives.

BRENNAN: Their lives, right. So you have Makmaz being like, "Don't ask me to do anything brave," but being like, "I'm going to keep, I'm going to tell you what is going on, but I'm not going to do anything brave." The captain being like, let's take the guys out for a drink.

LUIS: Right.

BRENNAN: Like, the stuff where you're like, "Oh yeah, morale is bad. Let's fucking get dinner."

LUIS: You know, let's put a bandaid over it and pretend that it's not a festering wound.

BRENNAN: Yes, exactly.

MARISHA: Yeah. But you also see I think, too, you guys are, yes, there's a lot of mid people, but also, you're like, "Hey, the things that these freakish villains are doing that are bothering me, turns out they're bothering so many people."

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: You have Orus, and you're realizing like: Oh, this guy does have some sentiment and some ideals that Thjazi meant something. Also, his business just got fucked, he's sitting there being like, "We can't make this--"

MARISHA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: How dare you fuck with a small business. (laughter) Honest to god. I was like: I hate these people.

BRENNAN: "I hate these people."

TALIESIN: That's an economic puppy you just kicked.

BRENNAN: Yeah. You have that and then the-- So I think the moves that got made, Orus in the, learning about the spell glyphs, but also having Orus on your side, who, you found out about the amphora, that his sigil was on the, the sigil was on the amphora, right?

LUIS: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: That's a huge deal. So you're like, ooh, the fucking paint. He got the paint.

LUIS: Yes, yes.

BRENNAN: Then coming from that, you also had the, the huge thing that we haven't seen a result of yet, but Filoneus Halovar being like, "Good man, good man," whatever that is.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: Right? Then following that, again, there's all these moves that Hal made in a row, Thjazi's body, Inez and her sister who works for the Einfasen, and going out. You guys saw the arrival of King Augustus Valian and his coterie.

LUIS: Yeah, but not him?

BRENNAN: Not him, question mark?

LUIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: I'm already irritated at this Richard Branson motherfucker.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

MARISHA: Yes.

TALIESIN: I'm coming on my horse.

MARISHA: That's so true!

TALIESIN: Oh god, I bet you're Australian.

BRENNAN: I bet you're Australian. (laughter)

BRENNAN: "What?"

LUIS: I hope he is.

BRENNAN: (Australian) King Augustus Valian of Timmony?

TALIESIN: Goddamn it. Oh, I hate you.

MARISHA: Aur naur.

TALIESIN: I love Australia.

BRENNAN: This was a fun one in that this was foreshadowed at the Soldiers Table many weeks ago.

MARISHA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Talking dog.

BRENNAN: Talking dogs. But you did, that, Makmaz, Kora, whatever this thing at the Archanade is going to be, which feels huge. Demodus--

MARISHA: Yeah, Demodus! What the fuck?

LUIS: Oh yeah.

MARISHA: What's with Demodus?

LUIS: He got disappeared.

MARISHA: Where did he go? He got disappeareded?

LUIS: I think so.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LUIS: Which means--

LIAM: Likely.

LUIS: -- maybe I can learn about it when I'm back at the Brethren Hall. I mean, clearly, he's moving.

TALIESIN: I think he's--

LUIS: He's killing people, disappearing them.

TALIESIN: The kid may have learned something he wasn't supposed to.

LIAM: Or he's a scholarship kid, and they are cutting the fat off.

MARISHA: They're cutting down. They're like, you're done now, or you're not--

TALIESIN: He'd be around somewhere if it was just a cut.

LUIS: Yes, he would be around. He'd be around somewhere.

MARISHA: It's going to be a challenge that we're going to have to figure out. We'll all get back together again at the theater, and then figuring out what pairs we're going to do. Because it is risky every time we go off and we poke the nest of like, poke the beehive by ourselves.

LIAM: Yeah. Never quarter the party.

BRENNAN: "Never quarter the party."

LUIS: I know! We need to be together.

MARISHA: So it's like, what do we do? Yeah.

BRENNAN: And you got Varen running out to get all these other people that are working for the Sundered Houses.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: You got House Elbrendi by the way, a Vassal house of Royce. So, he gets this. By the way, the funny thing about you guys, it's actually kind of for the best that you guys have gone third in the rotation because all this information comes back to Dol-Makjar. So having the arrest of the Royce forces in Riesingürtle, which the Seekers found out about. The news has made its way back to Dol-Makjar.

MARISHA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You guys are this homing beacon for information to come back to. So it's very exciting.

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: It's very, very exciting.

MARISHA: Well... Excited to look at some paint next time. Let's pick out some-- Let's look at some swatches.

LIAM: Some color swatches. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Let's get swatches. In the next episode: Paint Dries.

MARISHA: Yes. (laughs)

BRENNAN: Gorgeous.

LIAM: Oh, I like this eggshell.

MARISHA: Pantone's color of the year: Rebellion! (laughter)

BRENNAN: Hell yeah. Well, tune in for more rebellion next week on another episode of Critical Role.

TALIESIN: Rebellion is a dish best served--