Perpetua 50: At the Threshold 02
Transcriber: robotchangeling
Recap        1
Continued        3
The Shining Star [0:13:00]        10
Shopping [0:52:31]        37
Back on the Airship [1:17:59]        65
Travel [1:57:22]        103
Recap
Jack (as Elena): Nicky, is it time? Do we need to go back and get that sorted for you? Have you got enough money now?
Art (as Nicky): I don't think so.
Jack (as Elena): Ooh…ooh. Okay. I was sort of hoping you might have… Let me see.
Ali (as Veile): Wait. Wait. 
Ali: Pulling out a big bundle of thousands asta.
(as Elena): [proudly] Veile, you kept that money from Caoimhe and Brontë.
Ali (as Veile): No.
Jack (as Elena): You absolutely did. 
Ali (as Veile): No.
Jack (as Elena): You were planning on sharing it with us. [Ali laughs quietly] We all said, “Let’s share it,” then, and you said, “No, no, no, it’s mine.” But now I see you were just holding it back so you could share it with us.
Ali (as Veile): Well, that man from the city was very well off.
[“Perpetua” by Jack de Quidt begins playing] 
Austin: This wonderful, dry, sunny, sandy world kind of, you know, spreads into your mind a little bit, and there is suddenly, kind of in your mind’s eye, an incredibly handsome, beautiful-looking, royal, regal-looking man. And he says,
(as Re’algar): Who do I have the acquaintance of meeting?
Art (as Nicky): As I said, you got Uncle Nicky, chef of the Little Snail.
Austin (as Re’algar): The Little Snail.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah. We got a food truck.
Austin (as Re’algar): What is a, uh, truck?
Art (as Nicky): Okay. Um, do you know what a wagon is?
Austin (as Re’algar): Of course.
Art (as Nicky): Okay. What if a wagon could sort of go on its own?
Austin (as Re’algar): As if moved by an engine, like our automatons are.
Art (as Nicky): An engine is exactly right. You've got this one bang on.
Austin (as Re’algar): [intrigued] What if you put an engine into a wagon.
Art (as Nicky): What if you put an engine into a wagon?
Austin (as Re’algar): You could build all sorts of machines like that!
Art (as Nicky): You could build all sorts of machines. You are nailing this.


Jack (as Elena): Do you want to come down in Spillaway Peaks, Jonathan? It’d be a lot easier, and we can go straight to the newspaper. We can go to the shop as well. I'm sure there's that big square. 
Darcy (as Jonathan): [sighs] I was hoping that this just wouldn't come up somehow.
Jack (as Elena): I know it was stressful for you last time you were there.
Darcy (as Jonathan): I don't fully remember it, but somewhere in there, somebody, something, they gave me a choice, and I chose.
Jack (as Elena): Hmm.
Darcy (as Jonathan): I chose this ship, this vessel. I chose…what we needed. If we are going to try and stop the cycle, this is what we needed. And in return, I had to make just a small sacrifice. I don't know how it works—I don't want to find out how it works—but I can't go back there with y'all.
[song ends]
Continued
Ali (as Veile): Well, that’s just the thing, Chelik. It seems as though… It’s all very complicated, but the man with the flies seems to be working with the man who is trying to fight against the Luminaries to keep us from stopping the cycle because he’s really attached to the cycle? And it seems that both of them are working with Caliginia, but Caliginia seems to support my… [Ali and Jack laugh]
Jack: Uh huh?
Ali (as Veile): My efforts in seeking the cycle to stop, or at least she’s bound by her authority to, you know, behave as she should during the rituals, so it’s all quite confusing.
Austin (as Chelik): You seem burdened by a great fate.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes. [Ali and Art laugh]
Austin: She shakes her head, you know? [Ali laughs quietly]
(as Chelik): All I can say—and I know we differ in our beliefs and in our devotions, but in this, I think there is a similarity between the dragons who we watched for for so long and your [disdainful sigh] Ennead. Their strength is in their singularity. Do not… do not abandon yourself. Do not defer to another your decision. Whatever it may be, guide yourself to the solution.
Ali (as Veile): I think I understand. 
Austin (as Chelik): Good luck, and be in touch.
Jack (as Elena): We will.
Austin: I think she turns to Beula and nods and says,
(as Chelik): You are warden to a being like no other. Safeguard him with your life.
Austin: And Beula goes,
(as Beula): I got it. I know. Okay. [quiet laughter] 
Darcy: Chill, bro.
Austin: Yeah. [laughs quietly] And Chelik begins to walk away, and then, at a certain distance, lifts up into the air and flies away.
Jack (as Elena): Wow. Okay. We're going to head into town, Beula. I mean, do you want anything? We're going to be coming back through here anyway, I suppose, to get to the ship.
Austin (as Beula): Nah, I get to town pretty regularly.
Jack (as Elena): Okay. Well, goodbye. [Darcy laughs]
Austin: Uh huh. All right. I think she says,
(as Beula): I sent along word that you did help with Old Roger, so your fee will be at the Shining Star.
Jack (as Elena): Oh! Good, thank you.
Austin (as Beula): All right, now.
Jack: To Veile:
(as Elena): [hushed] See, I didn't ask. I really wanted to ask, but I didn't. [Austin and Ali laugh quietly]
Ali (as Veile): [hushed] We should give it to her. She just lost all of her cows.
Jack (as Elena): An investment in the other cow. Yeah, we'll give it to her when we…
Austin: We, like, really can't zoom into— We should, actually. The world is in crisis.
Jack: Oh, yeah. If every cow disappeared… [laughs quietly]
Austin: Beef is gone. Milk, cow milk is gone.
Ali: Yeah. Well, you got goats. [laughs] 
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Jack: Yeah, mass livelihood collapse.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Even after you set aside, like, material collapse.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Yeah, like leather, fucking…
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Yeah.
Ali: You can't create leather in the world anymore.
Austin: Nope.
Jack: God, it’s so good. It is so good that this… I love so much that, in this gigantic story, the arrival of the cow is the first, one cow is the first thing that has kind of figured out something else.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Beula is, I think, pretty… I don't know if Beula is taking taking-care-of-the-cow seriously enough, but I didn't want to say anything.
Austin: I think Beula is a little in shock.
Jack: All the cows have disappeared.
Austin: And also, [chuckles] you know, I don't want to get too into Beula’s head here, though I did kind of signal this last time, like, Beula thinks the world’s going to end any day now.
Ali: Yeah.
Jack: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, that’s true. [chuckles] That’s true.
Austin: So, yeah, I can take care of the cow until we're all dead in a week or whatever.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: You know, Beula is this sort of apocalyptic, remember, like believes the clock is wrong. And all the cows just died.
Jack: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: And some of the stars just went out, remember?
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: So Beula’s like, oh, yeah, all the stuff about the cow. Yeah, it’s all done, man.
Jack: Also, you know, even the stars going. Setting aside the stars going out as well, like, the amount of signs and wonders where, like, a draconic woman [Austin: Yes, yes.] just descended from the sky and was like, “You have a special cow.” [Austin and Darcy laugh]
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Yeah. Fair enough, but I mean…
Austin: Yeah, what she basically heard was like: safeguard this cow for the next two months or whatever until the end days are here.
Jack: Then we're all going to get obliterated.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Yeah, and I think Beula’s like, “All right, I'll make sure that it’s in the big shell when it’s time to go in the big shell,” you know?
Jack: Yeah. Yeah. [chuckles] And then in 2000 years or whatever, it’s going to be like the beginning of The Fifth Element, except it’s going to be a cow in there instead of Leeloo. [Austin and Darcy laugh] 
Austin: Ohh.
Jack: Okay. Wow.
Darcy: Old Roger multipass. [Austin chuckles sadly]
Austin: You want to head down into Spillaway Peaks?
Jack: Mm-hmm.
Austin: All right. You show up. The energy is a little weird here, for the reasons we all just talked about and for the cultural reasons that the Terrapine are the people who believe that there must be some way to carry stuff over from one cycle to another and have been working at, you know, we've talked about Rehearsal. We've talked about them getting ready to, like, sing their songs at the end of time, you know? And so, like, there's daily Rehearsal now instead of weekly Rehearsal, you know? You see people moving through the streets at like a slightly quicker pace. There is a sense that the world is picking up in pace here.
Jack: Do things get cheaper because the end is coming or more expensive because people are expected to spend all their money? Or different because do the Terrapines take their money with them into the shell?
Austin: That’s a great question. I suspect that there's some divide around that. I think that it’s probably seen as, like, a little venal to bring your money with you into the shell.
Jack: Mm, yeah.
Austin: They don't necessarily—and correct me if I'm wrong about this, Darcy.[1]
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: They don't necessarily feel like “I'm going to get reincarnated into the next world.”
Darcy: No. No.
Austin: It’s more like we can send, you know, something into the next world.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: Maybe we can send our eggs into the next world. There's some sort of, like, continuity available, but it’s not like burying yourself with your money to go to heaven with it or to go into the afterlife with it, you know?
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: It’s not that. So I think, but you know, I'm not saying no one does that.
Art: Which we all agree you can do. [Darcy and Austin laugh]
Austin: Which we all agree you can and should do.
Jack: And should.
Austin: And also that’s why you should build me a giant monument [Darcy: Mm-hmm.] so you can put all my cool stuff in there. [Jack chuckles] And my cat, you know? Yeah, I think that that’s the vibe generally. I think, Jack, that particular question, there's probably a bunch of different responses though. You know, I bet there are probably people who are like, I still have to buy groceries, you know? So I'm not going to not sell my sword at dirt cheap prices or whatever. But I bet there are people who are like— The place where I think it’s probably gotten— I bet no one is like, “Hey, you know, I need you to chip in for gas money right now,” [Darcy and Jack laugh] or like for… And maybe that’ll shift again if the world doesn't end next week, you know? Maybe there's sort of a like, “Okay, we're still kind of waiting” to it all. But I think the sort of like, “It’s fine. You don't have to pay me back for lunch,” you know?
Jack: Brother, it’s the end of the world. You know?
Austin: Yeah, exactly. I'll get dinner, you know? You can get it next time. Instead of “let’s split the bill tonight,” you know? And in those interpersonal ways in Spillaway Peaks, things have gotten a lot less… yeah, yeah. A lot less mundane in that way. Where to first?
Jack: Shop first?
Ali: Well.
Austin: You need the money. [Ali laughs]
Jack: Oh, fuck!
Ali: I don't want to get the money, but you know… [mumbles]
Jack: I keep forgetting, out of character. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Well, I do think, like, I think in Veile’s head, “I have to join the Luminaries” is the important thing.
Austin: Ah. Yes, yes.
Darcy: Mm.
Ali: So there's that. But I do think we should donate that money to the, like, Spillaway Peaks, Clayridge, like, response fund or whatever.
Art: Again, we still need to buy the gem back.
Ali: I know. I'm just saying. [laughs] 
Art: I'm just saying the world might be ending but we're still trying to… We still gotta get paid for our time. Also, we don't think the world’s ending.
Ali: Exactly.
Art: Exactly!
Ali: Wait. [laughs] 
The Shining Star [0:13:00]
Austin: All right. So then, to the Shining Star?
Ali: I think so.
Jack: Yeah, let’s do it.
Austin: All right. You arrive at the Shining Star. I think it’s a quiet midday here. It’s not bustling in here the way it was. I think that, like, you know, to some degree, the desire of the people who are working here to, like, report on the news of the town has gone down.
Jack: Hmm.
Austin: And so you don't have people, like, rushing around to do reports about the new bread that’s for sale or whatever. You have people going to Rehearsal. You have people who are, like, with their families right now, et cetera. And so I think you do find Thelonious here, in his office on the second floor. You're able to just immediately— the letter or the envelope with the asta is provided to you by the receptionist at the front. [Ali laughs quietly] You know, as come in, I think you get waved down, and they say,
(as receptionist): Oh! This is for completing the request to go help Beula with her cows, which is pretty remarkable, given how everything’s gone.
Jack (as Elena): Thank you.
Austin (as receptionist): 400 asta. Boop.
Austin: And, like, hands it to you. [Darcy laughs] 
(as receptionist): Are you done with the interest story or the photograph of the town? We could clear that up right now.
Jack (as Elena): When you say “clear that up”…
Austin (as receptionist): If you're done with the requests, we could pay you.
Ali (as Veile): Uh, well, you see, Waylon, uh, left.
Austin (as receptionist): I see. Do you have the photo? 
Ali (as Veile): No.
Austin (as receptionist): Is he okay?
Ali (as Veile): Yes.
Jack (as Elena): He’s absolutely fine, yes. And—
Austin (as receptionist): Hmm. Well, if he can send word saying that you successfully escorted him, then you can be paid for your work. Simply ask him to do that, and we'll be good to go.
Jack (as Elena): He’s a little far.
Ali (as Veile): Uh, yes. He decided to travel to Lumai, because it was exciting, I suppose.
Austin (as receptionist): I'm not sure where that is, but simply have him send us a letter with some evidence of his personage, and we'll get you sorted.
Jack (as Elena): Will we need the photo then, too?
Austin (as receptionist): Well, it seemed, if I remember right, that you were writing your interest story around Waylon and the photo, so I—
Jack (as Elena): We were and are.
Austin (as receptionist): Well, that’s a component of the piece. Two separate freelance requests, if you remember correctly.
Ali (as Veile): I wouldn't… I wouldn't dedicate space in the publishing to that, if you catch my drift. [Ali laughs]
Austin (as receptionist): I see. Well. 
Ali (as Veile): We might be a little delayed because of the current events.
Austin (as receptionist): Oh, of course. [quietly] Yes. I don't really buy into all of it, if I'm being honest. So if you could still get it in, we’d love to have it.
Ali (as Veile): Buy into “it”?
Austin (as receptionist): The end of it and all of that. Theo seems really— I mean, Mr. Thelonious seems really confident that things aren't going to just end any day now. And he’s the editor-in-chief.
Ali (as Veile): Right, yes. Well, that’s a good instinct. I believe we'll be okay.
Austin (as receptionist): Which is why if you could finish that story it would be great.
Jack (as Elena): Is there a post office in town?
Austin (as receptionist): Yes.
Jack (as Elena): Fantastic. [Ali laughs quietly]
Austin (as receptionist): Should I tell Mr. Thelonious that you'll be going up to see him now?
Ali (as Veile): Yes, please.
Austin: I think she, like, pulls on a string that’s connected to another string that’s connected to a bell in his office, you know?
Ali: Oh hell yeah.
Austin: Ding, ding, ding. And you hear him call out, like, 
(as Theo): Uh huh. Send ‘em in.
Austin: And, you know, you're welcomed back into his office. As a reminder, this is another Terrapine. This is the one who runs the Shining Star newspaper here and who knew Jonathan back in the day. And who doesn't believe that the end of the cycle is coming and also, truly, as you know, as part of the Luminaries, is working to end the cycle in his own way.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Jack: Yes.
Ali: And his name is…?
Austin: Thelonious or Theo. 
Ali: Okay.
Austin: He goes by Theo. Yeah, I think Jonathan was calling him Theo. But you can call him Mr. Thelonious if you'd prefer; I don't know.
Ali: Yeah.
(as Veile): Excuse me. Thelonious, sir.
Austin (as Theo): Take a seat. Take a seat. These last few days have been worrying. Y'all doing okay?
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes. That’s part of the reason why we came to speak to you first, is because—
Austin (as Theo): Where is Jonathan? Did something happen?
Ali (as Veile): No. No, he’s very safe. He just… Well, he won't be making it home.
Art (as Nicky): Couldn't make it.
Austin (as Theo): Couldn't make it? Are you sure he’s okay? All this, he wouldn't…? He getting cold feet about being around town again?
Jack (as Elena): He’s really… He’s really committed to ending this, to ending the cycle.
Austin (as Theo): All right.
Jack (as Elena): And he is spending all of his effort and all of his energy in doing that. But I saw him this morning.
Austin (as Theo): All right.
Jack (as Elena): He’s fine. And he’s—
Jack: And I think she’s about to say, “He’s sorry he can't be here,” [Austin: Yeah.] but then stops herself.
Austin (as Theo): Well, I'll tell you this: I wish he was here, because maybe he could rein his damn family in a little bit. Catastrophizing, all of them.
Jack (as Elena): What are they doing?
Austin (as Theo): They're the reason there's Rehearsal everyday now. They're the ones whipping everybody up into a frenzy, saying that the end times are just days away, weeks away, months away, definitely coming this year.
Jack (as Elena): Is Lovey well?
Austin (as Theo): Is Lovey well. Lovey’s getting out of the house everyday. Lovey’s in the Shell Barrow as we speak. It’s like it energizes her. 
Jack (as Elena): Hmm.
Austin (as Theo): She’s never been more excited in my life. I hate them. [Art laughs quietly] Don't tell him I said that.
Jack (as Elena): No, no. Hmm.
Ali (as Veile): Well, he’s as dedicated to stopping the cycle as you are. As we all are, I should say.
Austin (as Theo): [sighs] For that, I'm thankful. Have you made any progress in the last few days?
Ali (as Veile): Um, well…
Austin (as Theo): I heard about the cow, and that is remarkable work.
Ali (as Veile): Yes. [sighs] Oh gosh. The cow seems so small now.
Austin (as Theo): Our friends were very impressed when I passed on what you did.
Ali (as Veile): Well, your friends should know that we've located the White Lectern.
Austin: His eyes go wide.
(as Theo): Uh, Jessie, I won't be taking meetings for the next little while. Ahem. [Darcy and Ali laugh]
Austin: And, like, goes over, closes the door and closes the shades to the window, to the windows of the office. [Ali laughs]
(as Theo): You found it. Where the hell is it?
Ali (as Veile): In the island to the south. Between the two continents.
Austin (as Theo): We can't get there. What are you—? How?
Jack (as Elena): Jonathan has come through.
Austin (as Theo): Jonathan found a way to the southern continent?
Ali (as Veile): Yes.
Jack (as Elena): In a manner of speaking, yes.
Ali (as Veile): We have a flying vessel, and we intend…
Austin (as Theo): A flying vessel. If a flying vessel could… I shouldn't… [sighs] Okay. Okay, okay. Listen. Ooh, I wish Jonathan were here. I need the three of you to make an oath.
Jack (as Elena): What kind of oath?
Art (as Nicky): Okay. Yeah.
Austin (as Theo): To the Luminaries, to stopping all this. To the light of life itself.
Ali (as Veile): Oh.
Jack (as Elena): May we confer?
Austin (as Theo): Of course.
Ali (as Veile): [aside] Confer?
Jack (as Elena): Yes.
Art (as Nicky): Means talk.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes, but— [Ali and Darcy laugh] 
Ali: Conferring now.
(as Veile): Elena, you've made this oath.
Jack (as Elena): Can we talk outside? [Ali laughs]
Austin (as Theo): Of course. A little worrying, but I understand it’s a big choice. I do wish Jonathan were here.
Jack (as Elena): Veile, look. You know I'm with you all the way, but in Eschatonica, those forces, the forces of light and dark, seemed to be… How do we know we're not being played?
Art (as Nicky): How—? What—? What would you even accept as evidence that we weren't being played?
Jack (as Elena): You said it yourself earlier, Veile. You know, Caliginia has been, you know, offering you advice and behaving well in the rituals, and in Eschatonica, she seemed to be moving against the Luminaries. I don't know. I just, I had a bad time in Eschatonica, and it’s left me feeling unsettled. 
Ali (as Veile): [sighs] Well, if this is a result of us being played, then Vinnor Jekk was the first pawn, and Vinnor Jekk is the one who led me on this path, so…
Jack (as Elena): Do you trust Vinnor Jekk?
Ali (as Veile): Yes. Yes, I mean, I…
Jack (as Elena): Then I suppose we have nothing to worry about.
Ali (as Veile): Mm… well… It’s just formalities anyway, right?
Jack (as Elena): No, I'm overthinking this. I'm overthinking this. [Ali laughs] I'm sorry. I didn't sleep well last night.
Ali (as Veile): Regardless of what this man tells us, the truth of my ability is, you know, between Lucena and I.
Jack (as Elena): Yes.
Ali (as Veile): And, well, whatever force might be at the White Lectern, I suppose. The Luminaries are just, you know, a tool.
Jack (as Elena): No, no. Don't talk yourself down from it. You've wanted to follow this path for so long. It’s not fair for me in this moment to, you know, falter or whatever. [Ali laughs quietly] I don't know what I was thinking. We'll be fine.
Ali (as Veile): Yes. Yes, it’ll be fine.
Jack (as Elena): Okay.
Ali: Back into the office. [laughs] 
Austin (as Theo): Welcome back. If you would lock the door behind you, thank you very much.
Ali (as Veile): I apologize for that.
Jack (as Elena): I'm sorry.
Austin (as Theo): I hope the conference went well.
Jack (as Elena): Yes, very well.
Austin (as Theo): All right.
Ali (as Veile): Yes.
Jack (as Elena): It’s just all a lot.
Austin (as Theo): I understand. I wasn't always a Luminary. I used to just be someone who was skeptical about all this end times stuff and wanted to do my part, and now I am, and I know what we're fighting for.
Ali (as Veile): Might I ask how you found the Luminaries? Or how they found you?
Austin (as Theo): I left to travel the world and do our duty. You're familiar, maybe, from Jonathan.
Ali (as Veile): Yes.
Austin (as Theo): Members of Spillaway Peaks leave to traverse the world and try to find something worth bringing back. The truth of it is what I found was the light of Lucena. What I brought back was the printing press, which allows me to run this newspaper. I was north of here by many days. There used to be a school, an academy, far to the northern end of Tidaline, that studied the Perpetuan Cycle. It was destroyed many years ago by the Valte. That’s one of the reasons why, if I'm honest, I was suspicious of Commodore Onyx—who I now consider a friend—when we first met. The Valte destroyed that place, and so much was lost. I'd hoped to find some evidence of our foolhardy nature here in Spillaway Peaks, hoped to find that there was evidence that nothing could move from one cycle to another, that our whole project was a waste of time. Instead, I found only evidence of destruction and death. I found centuries of people arguing with each other over how best to live in the final days, over whether there was anything to do about it. I became despondent. And then, I felt her light, the sun rising at the end of a long night, through a wall torn down by some Valte bomb from decades ago. And when the light hit me, I felt more myself than I ever have before. I felt alive and dedicated, and I felt like I could be that forever. I felt a world where we could all be our truest selves, unburdened by all the things that hold us back, the fears, the obligations. Just truth was left. And soon after, they brought me in, as I am doing to you now.
Ali (as Veile): The loss of Vinnor has been very difficult for the path we have been on.
Austin (as Theo): I ask you this now: to take an oath. And in taking the oath, perhaps you can work to free your mentor.
Ali (as Veile): You know of a way to free him?
Austin (as Theo): Simply, with our help, you'll have more aid in your quest, you see.
Ali (as Veile): Oh. Yes. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’d be comforted by more likeminded actors.
Austin (as Theo): I know you mean well when you say you speak for all of you, but I can't actually allow that. I need you each to take the oath and to agree with it.
Ali (as Veile): Oh. Yeah, I was being polite. [Ali laughs]
Austin (as Theo): I see. Well, it is simple. I will say a line, and you'll repeat it. Is that clear? And when I say my name, you should say your name.
Ali: Glancing to the other two before I nod.
Art: I think this is super weird. Nicky is shifting in his shoes. [Ali laughs]
Jack: You didn't say anything during our conference.
Art: I did. [Ali laughs]
Jack: But you're still going to go. [laughs quietly] Still going to go ahead?
Ali: You didn't say anything that seemed like you were going to be shifting in your shoes. [laughs] 
Art: I said I didn't like it, and I still don't. [reluctantly] But it’s fine.
Austin: Mm. Is it?
Art: It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s really fine. 
Ali: I mean, we're not all going to explode.
Art: [ambivalently] Everyone loves taking oaths. [Ali laughs quietly]
Ali (as Veile): [sincerely] Uh huh!
Jack (as Elena): Go on, then.
Austin (as Theo): Okay.
Austin: Theo stands up from the desk and I think produces from a desk drawer a symbol of Lucena. There is a sort of like a lantern basically, but it’s not a real lantern. It’s like an icon of a lantern, you know? But as he lifts it, he says a few words under his breath, and it begins to float between the four of you. Him and the three of you, the four of you. And he says,
(as Theo): I, Thelonious.
Austin: And he looks at you to be like, okay, now you go.
Ali (as Veile): I, Veile.
Jack (as Elena): I, Elena.
Art (as Nicky): I, Nikolas.
Austin (as Theo): Vow to serve light and life.
Ali (as Veile): Vow to serve light and life.
Art (as Nicky): Vow to serve light and life.
Jack (as Elena): Vow to serve light and life.
Austin (as Theo): To be a beacon for eternal truth.
Ali (as Veile): To be a beacon for eternal truth.
Jack (as Elena): To be a beacon for eternal truth.
Art (as Nicky): [mumbling] To be a beacon for eternal truth.
Austin (as Theo): To derail the dark cycle. [Ali laughs]
Ali (as Veile): To derail the dark cycle.
Jack (as Elena): To derail the dark cycle.
Art (as Nicky): [mumbling] To derail the dark cycle.
Austin (as Theo): And to serve Lucena in her mission of peace.
Art (as Nicky): To serve Lucena in her mission of peace.
Jack (as Elena): And to serve Lucena in her mission of peace.
Ali (as Veile): [hesitantly] And to serve Lucena in her mission of peace.
Austin: Hey, Veile. Give me a… [Ali laughs] Give me an Insight + Willpower Check, open-ended.
Ali: Yes. I was seeing that one coming to me. I don't want to look at the things. I have Insight + Willpower?
Austin: Just Insight + Willpower, yeah. Just hit the button, you know, if there is one in there for you. We're just going to see. It’s open-ended.
Ali: Yeah, I was looking for the button, but I realized the drop-downs just have Insight + Willpower, because that’s always what I want.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Veile instantly turned into a pillar of salt. [Ali and Art laugh]
Ali: I don't even know what I want to get here.
Austin: Okay. You got a 12.
Ali: I got a 12.
Austin: As you're coming to the word Lucena, you can feel the ring, you know, birthmark, like, tightening around your finger, and, you know, I think at a 12—7, 10, 13—at a 10, you just get the word in your head in Caliginia’s voice:
(as Caliginia): Don't.
Ali: [laughs quietly] Oh, I'm in Silent Hill f, man.
Austin: It doesn't stop you from doing it. It’s up to you. But it does happen. [Ali and Jack laugh] Now, your two comrades did just take this oath.
Ali: Yeah… I was feeling the moment that I was going to have to, like, [laughs] say no to the rest of the Ennead. But Veile did go into this conversation being like, “We’ll just do this oath. You know, who gives a shit if we're lying to them, sort of?”
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Ali: Which is both slightly out-of-character and also the weird, like, very… [laughs] The way that she’s twisted herself about the morality of the thing she wants to do and is told she is able to do by being like, “Well, I'm serving the Ennead,” you know?
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: “So it’s actually fine that I'm doing this.”
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: So, yeah. I mean, I guess… [laughs] I want to be able to say it, but I don't want to, like, lose my ring or whatever, right?
Austin: I didn't say you were going to lose a ring. I just, you know.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: But I don't know. You have to make a decision to…
Ali: Just that Caliginia is upset about me.
Austin: I'm not going to tell you what the stakes are. 
Ali: [laughs] Yes.
Austin: What I'm going to tell you is what happened, which is that Caliginia whispered in your voice, or in your head, “Don't.”
Ali: Don't do that. Can I go into Newtype space and be like, “But I have to.” 
Austin: No. [Ali laughs] No. There's no conversation here. There's no… Not in this moment, there's no moment to talk through this.
Ali: Yeah, uh huh. Well, I mean, I'm doing the thing that I have to do, so.
Austin: I'm not, you know, yeah. [Ali laughs] I'm just playing the character as I have to play her.
Ali: I understand. We'll see how this next ritual goes.
Austin: So you say it.
Ali: Yes, yeah, yeah.
Austin: Okay, just confirming.
Ali: Sorry. I said it before, so I didn't realize you were waiting for me.
Austin: All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wasn't 100%, yeah. From the kind of small, you know, carving of a lantern, stone kind of sculpture of a lantern, light comes from each of its faces, and the room kind of fills with light so bright that you can't even see each other, light so bright that it is like shadow has fallen on the room. You know, it’s like a fog almost of light. And for a brief moment, you can see yourself at peace. I think, you know, whatever that means to you, whatever that image. What does that image? What’s a shot of yourself living a peaceful content life look like for each of you?
Art: I think a lot like the life Nicky was offered in the…
Austin: Oh, sure.
Art: Cave of magical prizes. I know that’s not the name of it. [Darcy laughs]
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The cave of magical prizes. Yeah.
Jack: I think Elena is having a good time traveling. None of this, like, “a sniper is shooting at you” stuff.
Austin: Yeah. [Ali laughs quietly]
Jack: She’s, like, in a cafe. She’s reading a book. She’s got a little sketchbook that’s she’s drawing in.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: She’s making friends and meeting people.
Austin: Give me an Insight + Willpower, or an Insight + Insight.
Ali: Oh.
Austin: Give me an Insight + Insight.
Jack: Okay.
Austin: Difficulty 13. Actually, difficulty 16 for this. This is hard.
Ali: Whoa.
Jack: Oh my god.
Austin: This is hard. This is not, like, a little hard. But it’s possible. Okay, 14.
Art: Wow.
Jack: And I don't have any Fabula Points, so.
Austin: Yeah. So, close, but not enough for this. 
Art: That was such a good roll to not succeed.
Austin: That’s a great roll. Yeah. 
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Veile, what’s your ideal life? 
Ali: Um…
Austin: What’s your peaceful life. I guess not ideal; peaceful. You know, content, happy.
Ali: Yeah. I think it’s like a life very similar to the one that Veile was living [Austin: Yeah.] before she set off for this, right? It’s like her in a temple, like, brooming. What do you—? Sweeping. [laughs] 
Austin: Sweeping. Yeah. Totally.
Ali: [laughing] Sorry, sweeping.
Art: Brooming is correct, yes. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Right. Yeah. And yeah, you all see those, and you come back to a life of, you know, the light fades. You're back in the office, and I think that there is a… You have a burst of energy, is what I would say. I think everybody here take a Fabula Point, at this point.
Ali: Oh.
Jack: Oh fuck!
Austin: Well.
Jack: Could I not have…? [Ali laughs quietly]
Austin: No, because you weren't on the other side of it yet. [Darcy laughs]
Ali: Damn.
Art: [chuckles] Jack’s over here like, “What if time wasn't real?”
Austin: [laughs] Exactly.
Jack: I saw what happened to that cow. We live in a world of possibility.
Austin: We do live in a world of possibility. And yeah, I think that you have this kind of burst of energy, of lightness. You can call to mind that sort of vision of peace whenever you want very clearly in your own head now.
Jack: How does that… And this is as much a question for Art as it is for you, Austin. How does that affect Nicky’s anxiety about the oath?
Austin: I think that's an Art question, not a me question, yeah.
Art: It’s not great, but I think Nicky is sort of sitting here realizing that oaths don't mean a lot to him anyway. He’s probably already walked out on an oath, right?
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Ali: The three of us doing this with our fucking [laughs] fingers crossed.
Jack: Yeah, I was going to say, every person in this room believes a different thing about why they are somehow kind of exempt from an oath. [Darcy laughs quietly] 
Austin: Yeah. And meanwhile, the one person who isn't here knows the power of an oath.
Jack: Yeah. Yeah.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: Cannot be here.
Jack: And hasn't sworn the oath.
Austin: And hasn't sworn this oath, right, exactly. That’s, yeah, exactly.
Ali: Yeah. I wanted to ask Theo, like, 
(as Veile): Would we be able to perform this rite for Jonathan?
Austin (as Theo): No, I'm sorry. That’s… I could do it for Jonathan, but you're not at that level of the Luminaries quite yet. And unfortunately, you know, I think… It would probably be best if you just have Jonathan take it when you talk to Onyx next, because now that you're members, I can tell you where to go. Especially if you think you're going to go to the southern continent. You'll need supplies; you'll need information. Oh, and I can give you the pass phrase now. So I say, “Sunny days always warm the spirit, don't they?” and then you say, “Yes, but the spirit warms a cold day more than a sun ever could.” It’s like our code phrase.
Ali (as Veile): The spirit warms the… Wait.
Austin (as Theo): A cold day more than a sun ever could.
Jack (as Elena): A sun or the sun?
Austin (as Theo): A sun. There’ve been many suns.
Ali (as Veile): The spirit warms a cold day more than the sun… Okay.
Jack (as Elena): A sun.
Ali (as Veile): A sun.
Austin (as Theo): Ever could. And you'll need that, because I can give you a location for Onyx, who is very curious about how things have been going with y'all and is ready to help you with your journey. I think has gotten enough distance from Calstega and all that. And he has tried to go to the southern continent before. I'll let him tell you that story, but between you and me, I mean, you think the Valte never tried to go down there? They got airships. No one’s ever come back. Now, maybe you're different, but you should talk to Onyx about it.
Ali (as Veile): Hmm. Yes, I appreciate the guidance.
Jack (as Elena): Commander Opal and Genuine Sincere. Has anything been heard of them?
Austin (as Theo): The Night’s Own is, well, they've been active recently, I'll tell you that much. One of them tried to assassinate one of our comrades over on the eastern continent.
Ali (as Veile): One of your comrades?
Austin (as Theo): [sighs] You've taken the oath. Yeah, Therius Aegir, who’s a sort of, [Jack laughs quietly] kind of like a military intelligence type of guy.
Ali: [laughing quietly] Oh my god.
Austin (as Theo): He is one of our foremost members in the Elevana League and this…
Ali: Caliginia! Caliginia! [Art chuckles]
Austin (as Theo): This determined member of Night’s Own threw themself at him.
Jack (as Elena): That’s horrible.
Austin (as Theo): It is. But they were apprehended, and I believe they are getting, um… I believe we'll get some information out of them. Maybe that could help with your situation with Vinnor Jekk.
Jack: [laughs quietly] Trying so hard to no-sell this. [Ali laughs quietly]
(as Elena): That’s good to know. I— 
Jack: Don't worry.
Austin (as Theo): No, go ahead. [Darcy laughs]
Jack: I was going to ask him about sending a letter to Lumai to get confirmation from Waylon, [Austin laughs] but then I was like, this guy doesn't fucking need to deal with that. 
Austin: No!
Darcy: Mm-mm.
Jack: I can just go to the post office.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Well, and pay a, you know.
Austin: An exorbitant amount of money, yeah.
Jack: But that’s like when you go to like the jarl in Skyrim or something and you've just had the quest about the end of the world, and you're also like, “And I helped at the potato farm.” [Austin and Jack laugh]
Austin: Yeah. All right.
Jack: Oh!
Austin: Oh, sorry. He’s going to tell you to go. He’s going to say, 
(as Theo): Onyx is waiting for you at a little, uh, science camp on the southwestern isle of the Valte Archipelago. I advise you arriving by night. It’s a friendly group there, but probably better not to raise suspicion flying in in the middle of the day. And from there, I think you could learn a lot about the southern continent and get what you need to do to go there. Or disregard what I say; you go in straight ahead. I'm not the one who Vinnor Jekk was training for this, so maybe you have something I don't.
Ali (as Veile): I wasn't training. I've been chosen.
Austin (as Theo): I'm sorry. Chosen, of course.
Ali: Veile will remember that. 
Austin: Uh huh. [Ali and Darcy laugh]
Ali: Now, hang on. Something’s not adding up. 
Austin: Yeah. [Ali laughs]
Jack (as Elena): Thank you for giving us the code word and the code phrase. Are there safehouses or caches that we should keep an eye out for? I mean, I almost hesitate to ask, but I want to be as equipped as possible.
Austin: I think he, like, takes out a piece of paper and draws a symbol on it, which is the sort of outline of a lantern inside of a circle, and he says,
(as Theo): Look for this symbol. You'll know someone friendly is around, a place to keep your head low and a place to find someone else who understands the light the way we do. The stakes are high, I should say. I know you've had to deal with scummy journalists like me and a member of the Valte like Onyx, but the stakes are eternal life, you know? For everybody. It’s… 
Ali (as Veile): Well, for Perpetua.
Austin (as Theo): That’s what I mean. For everybody.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes. [Ali laughs]
Ali: Wait, is he saying that everyone is going to live forever?
Austin: He’s saying eternal life for everybody. For Perpetua.
Art: Yeah, this is starting to…
Ali (as Veile): We seek to stop the cycle.
Austin (as Theo): Exactly.
Art: Does anyone think we just joined a cult? [Ali laughs]
Ali: Well, I knew we were doing that, but. [Darcy laughs]
Art: But like the bad kind of cult.
Jack: Yeah, Therius Aegir tends to work for the bad cults.
Ali: Eternal life— I can't keep doing this. [laughs] Like, I can't, the sort of like “Who’s on First?” [Darcy laughs] about “Hey, are we saving the world or do you think that you're going to live forever, because I kind of don't think that I think—”
Austin: It’s both, as far as he’s concerned.
Ali: Huh?
Austin: It’s both, as far as he’s concerned.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: Which is not—
Jack: Wait, so he thinks that the cycle is going to end and then he, and there's going to be no new people. It’s just this forever.
Austin: Well, he hasn't said there's not going to be no new people.
Jack: But if there's no—
Ali: All the people who live eternally can keep having kids, but they're just going to… [laughs] 
Jack: They're going to run out of Perpetua.
Austin: I mean, you should ask him some questions about this if you want to.
Ali: Yeah. I mean, I think that this hits Veile’s ears strangely enough that she will be like, “Hey, wait a minute.” [laughs] 
Austin: Yeah.
Ali (as Veile): Well, when the cycle ends, life will—
Austin (as Theo): Well, the cycle won't end. You're going to stop the cycle from ending.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes, yes. The cycle will be halted, and Perpetua will live on, but life will still… I mean, we'll still have the natural order.
Austin (as Theo): Well, we'll still have death, of course, in a way.
Jack (as Elena): What do you mean “in a way”?
Austin (as Theo): Well, right now, all that, the soul, when someone dies, floats around and then gets chewed up by the cycle and gets spat out. You know, it’s like mushed down to a pâté, and then, I don't know, the new reality eats it? I'm not, that’s not— I'll have to take another shot at that, but you get what I mean. It becomes the building blocks of the next world. But once the cycle is broken, the soul won't ever be smushed down like that. You'll die, and then you'll be at peace. No fear of obliteration, annihilation, disintegration. Peace.
Jack (as Elena): At peace how?
Austin (as Theo): Eternal life.
Jack (as Elena): Life where?
Austin (as Theo): In peace. In light. You just felt it. It’ll be like that for the dead. 
Ali: [laughs quietly] Veile trying to think of a concept of the afterlife from base principles.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah. 
Art: Yeah.
Ali: [laughing] Like, what the fuck are you talking about? I don't know what you're saying, man.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: People are always fucking trying to build Zevunzolia. [Ali laughs]
Austin: Always trying to do it.
Art: Ah.
Jack: Oh god.
Ali: See, this is the way that Veile isn't a Catholic. She does not know what eternal life is and has never thought about it. [laughs] 
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: Has never thought of it before. Yeah.
Ali: [jokingly in character] Well, I just kind of thought I'd die and then, you know, I kind of had a good time. [Austin and Ali laugh]
Jack: Brooming. 
Austin: Mm-hmm. This should also just, really quickly, remind you a little of Onyx talked in terms sort of like this, I believe.
Jack: In what way?
Austin: Similar kind of big weird bad, like, eternal stuff.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: I don't think he used the words “eternal life” in the same way, you know?
Ali: Right.
Jack: He also described a very similar sort of feeling of, like, religious rapture or religious ecstasy.
Austin: That is exactly right. That is, yes, yes.
Darcy: Mm.
Jack: And linked that to we could have this forever.
Austin: Yes.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes. My apologies for reacting startled, but I suppose you should understand we were just in a place—the Dragon Path I've come to understand it, and a castle within—where it seemed like people were just stuck on these tracks, you know? Their lives were these shadows of what they knew, and it felt so sad that they were stuck there.
Austin: He nods.
(as Theo): It’s all very, it’s all tragic.
Jack (as Elena): I think what Veile is saying is: might we not become stuck, eternally?
Austin (as Theo): Well, it sounds like what you're describing is someone stuck in the worst circumstances. I don't know these people you're talking about, obviously, but again, did you not just feel it? Does that sound like the experience they're having?
Jack (as Elena): No. No.
Austin (as Theo): You know. It’s all one ocean, but not every beach is the same.
Ali (as Veile): Well.
Jack: I think Elena— oh, sorry, go on.
Ali: No, no, you go ahead.
Jack: I think Elena is suddenly feeling like the air in the room is, like, wrong. [laughs quietly] That feeling of just like, I would like to be out of this room now.
Art: Oh, good. You're finally where Nicky is. [Austin, Ali, and Darcy laugh quietly] We're just like, it’s like we found out that this person is a real wackjob, and we're like, “Let’s just stay [Ali laughs quietly] and really analyze the intricacies of this person with really out-of-left-field beliefs,” when instead, we could be back with Jonathan talking about how weird this guy is.
Ali: Oh, I'm kind of interested in how weird this guy is. [laughs] 
Art: Oh my god.
Ali: But no, I would like to leave. Veile was just about to say, like, 
(as Veile): Well, we thank you for your time.
Austin (as Theo): Good luck. I'll be here. And give Jonathan a hello.
Jack (as Elena): Of course.
Ali: It’s funny, because like five minutes ago, me as Veile was going to be like, “Hey, could you come back with us so you can, like, give Veile this?” 
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Ali: And now I'm like, eh, I don't really know about all that. [laughs] 
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Ali: There might come a point where we have to be like, “Hey, Jonathan.”
Darcy: “What’s up with your friend?” [laughs] 
Ali: Or no, just be like, “Hey, all of us are bound to a fucking light. Can you, like…” I don't know. I don't know. I don't really know. [laughs] 
Jack: We can't walk through the purple-tinted force field.
Ali: Yes. Yes. 
Darcy: Mm.
Jack: Jonathan. Ah, god.
Shopping [0:52:31]
Austin: Going shopping?
Jack: Yeah, but like, you know, Elena has taken her hair tie out of her hair and is, like, twisting it around in her hands and is not saying. You know, is continuing the conversation about the shopping. Is not saying, like, “that sucked,” or whatever [Ali laughs quietly] but is like, you know, fidgety and uncertain.
Ali: Yeah. I mean, time to buy this gem, I suppose. Do you still have the shop list of the stuff from before?
Austin: Yeah. I do. I'll send it over.
Jack: We have very little money.
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: Y'all don't want to debrief on that at all, or maybe save that til you get back to the ship so Jonathan can be there?
Ali: Yeah. Yeah, I think it’s probably better if this conversation includes Jonathan.
Austin: Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea. All right, let me drop the same stuff that you had in here before. I think maybe some of this stuff got bought, but I forget. Here it is.
Ali: Oh, yeah.
Austin: Reinforced Mud Suit. Meditation robe. [Dre and Jack laugh quietly] Choir Robe. Eye-Catching Cape. Seasoned Pot Lid. Plated Tambourine. Giant Fork. I think maybe you bought that, Nicky.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: That’s 1000 asta. It’s the same amount as the gem.
Jack: Oh, right. I think that was the purchase.
Austin: Yeah, that makes sense.
Art: That’s why I sold the gem.
Austin: Yeah, right, that makes sense. [Jack laughs]
Ali: Yeah. 
Austin: Electrified fly swatter. [chuckles] Did y'all put that together yet?
Jack: Yes, you piece of shit!
Darcy: Ohhhh, I see.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Although that doesn't solve the mystery of the woman who bought all the fly swatters.
Austin: Oh, she’s dead, for sure. She went off to try to fight all those flies. That didn't work out. What are you—? Those flies killed a Dragon Ox.
Jack: Oh, right, right, right.
Darcy: Mm.
Ali: Ohh.
Jack: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ali: Oh!
Austin: Yeah. Yeah. [Jack chuckles]
Ali: No, okay, because I thought, I thought… [laughs quietly] This is real. I thought that she was working with D.G. Flay to go to town and to get all the fly swatters so he… [laughter] 
Jack: So no one else could buy them?
Austin: So that no one would have fly swatters! That's funny! That’s really funny.
Jack: It’s Charlie Chaplin in The Kid except for flies. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: That’s really funny.
Ali: [still laughing] I really, like, thought that that was part of the plan. Like, first we're going to make sure they can't do anything about these flies, [Austin sighs] and then we're going to get all these flies.
Austin: That’s so funny.
Jack: [laughs quietly] D.G. Flay’s like, “Janessa, your goal is very specific. Listen carefully.”
Austin: Yeah. Exactly. [Jack chuckles] All right, and then there's the Ring of the Occultist, which did someone else get that also actually? Maybe you talked about it and then didn't.
Jack: Um, let me check my sheet.
Austin: Spare Magicannon Chamber, which I think actually Jonathan already got. The Ring of Denial, the Light-Catcher Cage, and the Ancient Pocketwatch.
Ali: [laughs] I don't know how I have less money than I did when I was here the first time, but.
Austin: Because you spent some, presumably, right?
Ali: No, it’s because I don't remember how much I found in that thing, so I just divided all of the money that I had by four.
Austin: Oh.
Jack: Selfless. A selfless sacrifice.
Austin: I see.
Ali: So. And then my Bandit Jacket, I would get 900, or would I get 450?
Austin: I think that that jacket cost you 900, not— unless it cost you 1800, which I don't think it did. I guess I have those notes too. One second; let me see. [typing]
Ali: I mean, everything else is kind of in the… But it probably would have been the cheaper of the…
Austin: Let me find it. That was in Calstega, right?
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Oh, I bet that’s just in our chat. Here we go. Come here. That cost you 900, so you’d get 450 for it.
Ali: Okay.
Austin: You want to sell it? You holding onto it?
Ali: I'm doing math.
Austin: You're doing math. I'll let you do math.
Art: Wait, yeah, how much money did we just get?
Ali: I gave you 250, and then there's 400 floating around.
Austin: Yeah. 
Art: All right. So, I'm— 
Austin: You should just each take 100 of the 400, unless you're— and then move it around after that, if that’s a thing you want to do.
Ali: Okay, yeah.
Art: All right, well, with the 250, that puts me to 1000. I will spend all of that 1000, and you're saying I then have 100? Or is that not…?
Austin: Sorry, say that again?
Ali: If Elena gave it to us, then yes.
Jack: If Elena gave it to you?
Ali: Because you're the one who took the money from the receptionist.
Darcy: Hmm.
Jack: Oh. Right.
Ali: So assuming you didn't just pocket it. [Ali and Darcy laugh]
Art: I don't like that we met these other people and it introduced the idea that we could just pocket money.
Jack: I haven't actually written it down yet, because I was like, “That’s Beula’s money.”
Darcy: Aww.
Ali: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Jack: Do we want to spend that? We don't need to, because Nicky’s able to…
Austin: Is Nicky able to do that? I thought Nicky needed more money.
Jack: Yeah, Nicky’s able to do it with the 250 from Veile.
Austin: Oh, okay.
Art: Yeah. And I won't talk to this gem until we get back to the ship and see if Jonathan wants a gem. [Darcy laughs] Or we can switch the existing gem, full of someone who clearly would prefer talking to Jonathan. [Ali laugh quietly]
(as Nicky): One gem I sold you by mistake, please.
Austin (as Gerald the Shopkeeper): Oh, this thing? This thing hasn't— No one’s had any interest in this since you brought it in. I'm glad to get rid of it.
Jack (as Elena): [hushed] So ask for a lower price.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah.
Austin (as Gerald): No. [Darcy laughs quietly] 
Art (as Nicky): What about 950?
Austin (as Gerald): 1000.
Austin: I guess you could try to… I actually don't know. We've never done any of this style of haggling before in the game.
Art: [laughs quietly] I did the tamest negotiation attempt I could, just because I thought you would say yes.
Austin: Oh. No. [Ali laughs] I have the gem.
Art: What’s 50 asta? Who cares.
Austin: This person.
Art: I hear the world’s ending.
Ali: This person got a gem they don't even want and paid 500 asta for it and is now, “Nope, you gotta give me 1000.” Are you kidding me?
Austin: Give me 1000. You know, we got rules around here.
Darcy: We got margins.
Ali (as Veile): [sarcastic] Oh, you had to pay for the time that it was on the shelf.
Austin (as Gerald): Thank you. You understand it. [Ali laughs]
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin (as Gerald): I appreciate you making this case for me.
Ali (as Veile): No, I'm making fun of you. You're taking advantage of this man. And I'm a woman of the cloth; I won't stand here and let you do that.
Austin (as Gerald): Well, I'm glad you're wearing cloth, lady, but it don't make a difference to me. [Ali and Austin laugh quietly] Leather, cloth. I don't care.
Ali (as Veile): Leather is probably very valuable these days.
Jack (as Elena): Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god. Wait. I've got it. Sunny days always warm the spirit, don't they? 
Austin (as Gerald): [confused] Okay. [Darcy laughs] And a good one to you too.
Ali: Honestly, if that worked out, I was going to be so scared. [laughs] 
Austin: Yeah, what? Just start dropping this randomly to random merchants? [Ali and Jack laugh]
Jack: One of them will.
Ali: Well, he did say he’d get us supplies. I mean, I hope one merchant is going to… [laughs] 
Jack: They have a network, Austin.
Austin: Okay.
Ali (as Veile): Let’s let Nicky take care of it. I think he can haggle better than we can. [laughs] 
Jack: Rat haggling flashbacks.
Art: I don't think there are haggling mechanics.
Austin: There aren't. I bet you could try to roll a…
Jack: No, I haggled.
Ali: Yeah, you did do a…
Austin: Oh, right. You did try that once, didn't you?
Ali: Uh huh.
Jack: Yes.
Austin: So that means I'll allow it. We'll see if haggling works this time. You can show Elena a thing or two. It’s probably Insight + Willpower or Willpower + Willpower.
Art: All right.
Austin: Depending on if you're trying to, like, just overpower by— yeah, great. It’s a 6. [Art laughs] That’s a 6.
Ali: [dismayed] 6?
Art (as Nicky): All right, I'll pay 1000. I just don't want to be in this conversation anymore. [Ali laughs]
Austin (as Gerald): Yeah, buy the gem and get the hell out of my shop, okay?
Ali: Are you sure you don't want me to do a My Trust In You so you can reroll that? That would be… Ugh, my god. Okay, you have the gem.
Austin: You got the gem. The 6.
Art (as Nicky): I'm never coming back to this store again.
Austin (as Gerald): Yeah, good.
Ali (as Veile): You should at least throw in a…
Art (as Nicky): I'm telling all my friends.
Ali (as Veile): Like, a napkin or something.
Austin (as Gerald): Yeah, tell ‘em. We don't want you. We don't want your friends here. Sometimes it’s better. 
Ali: [laughs quietly] I'm just facecasting this guy as the Ikea TikTok guy.
Austin: Yeah, exactly. “Good.”
Ali: “Then die.”
Austin: Yeah, “Then die!” [Ali and Austin laugh] All right, is anyone buying anything besides the gem?
Ali (as Veile): Yes, sir. I have some things I'd like to sell you. [Ali laughs]
Austin: I see.
Ali: Okay. I am selling my Gorgon’s Brush, [Austin: Okay.] which gets me $800.
Austin: Yeah. It’s expensive.
Ali: And then I am selling my Valkyrie Wings, [Austin: Yep.] which give me 450.
Austin: It does.
Ali: And then I am also selling my Pruning Knife, [Austin: Oh.] which gets me 450.
Austin: Interesting.
Ali: And then I am also selling my Bandit’s Jacket, which gets me 450.
Austin: Yeah.
Darcy: Dang.
Ali: So 260 plus 450 plus 450 plus 450 plus 800 [Austin: Mm-hmm.] plus 800 is 2… Wait. Yeah. It’s 2, uh… Why is this different than it was before? [laughs] 
Austin: What was your base, was 280? Is that what you started at?
Ali: It was 280, yeah.
Austin: Okay. And it’s the wings, the jacket, the pruning knife, and the brush?
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: So like 2430 is what I'm getting. 
Ali: Okay.
Austin: What are you getting?
Ali: I got 2060 before, and I actually kind of don't understand how that happened. Maybe I forgot to add the…
Austin: I don't know what happened either. Yeah. 
Ali: [laughs] I forgot to add something. But yes, that is everything that I am selling. [typing] Stop saying it’s…
Austin: So you should now be at 2430.
Ali: Okay. And then with that, I am going to buy the Choir Robe, which is 1000.
Austin: Ooh. Okay.
Ali: No, I'm buying the Meditation Robe. I'm sorry.
Austin: I was going to say, the Choir Robe is for not you, but yeah, okay.
Ali: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: Yeah, that Meditation Robe’s pretty good. 
Ali: [laughs quietly] I'm buying the Meditation Robe and the Ancient Pocketwatch.
Austin: Yes. That makes sense. The Ancient Pocketwatch.
Ali: Which is exactly what I want.
Austin: For the listener, the Choir Robe—or, sorry, the Meditation Robe—is Defense, your DEX die +1, Magical Defense, your Insight die +2, so those are pretty good. I think better than the Bandit Jacket already. It’s -2 Initiative instead of -1, so it’s a little slower. But whenever you recover Mind Points, you recover 5 extra Mind Points, which is pretty nice.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Austin: And then the pocketwatch, the Ancient Pocketwatch, when you use the Entropist’s skill Stolen Time, you may use any of its options one additional time per skill, paying requisite MP cost as normal. So that is a skill that I believe you already have and have used, right, before.
Ali: Yes. Yes.
Austin: And so you can now use that Stolen Time ability, which is you give someone Slow, you recover someone from Slow, you give someone the ability to do an Equipment action for free, or you give somebody else a turn immediately. Each option can only be chosen once per use of this skill. And this means you could do that twice. You could do any of those options an additional time. So like, you could give two people immediate turns. You could give two people Slow, et cetera, instead of only one, which is really great.
Ali: Mm-hmm. And then the stats on the robe are…
Austin: Uh, it’s what I read before.
Ali: DEX die +1 and Defense…
Austin: Yes.
Ali: Oh, oh, oh, right, because those are…
Austin: Yes. You see?
Ali: Right. Okay, yeah. I think I understand.
Austin: So, for in the armor slot, you'll just hit +1 +2.
Ali: I understand. Okay. 
Austin: Yeah. +1, +2, -2. That should be what it is, I believe. All right. Anyone else making purchases and sales?
Jack: How do shields work for me? Is it a shield, just so long as you're not wielding a two-handed weapon, you can also wield a shield?
Austin: I believe that that’s the case, unless it’s a martial shield, in which case you would need to have the ability to wield martial shields. But yeah, I believe. I'll double check here that I'm not wrong about this. Let me go to the first.
Jack: And I have to imagine my encyclopedia is one-handed. I don't think I'm dealing with a two-handed encyclopedia.
Austin: I'm not sure that that’s the case. Let’s double check. What’s it say?
Jack: Yeah. Fuck! It’s two-handed!
Austin: Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
Art: Of course it is. Haven't you ever held an encyclopedia? [laughs quietly] 
Darcy: It’s a big book.
Austin: It’s a big book. Yeah.
Jack: I've been thinking about Austin’s character in the Outward LP [Austin: Ah.] and also the summoner in Final Fantasy. 
Austin: Those aren't encyclopedias, though.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: Those are just little books.
Jack: Oh.
Austin: These are big tomes, you know?
Jack: These are big tomes, yeah.
Austin: You could go to a wand or something that’s one-handed, a mace, you know? Some other arcane weapon.
Jack: I could, but I think actually I might be looking more at the Ring of the Occultist.
Austin: Sure.
Jack: With spells you cast with a target of up to three creatures instead has a target of up to four creatures.
Austin: Yeah. Pretty powerful.
Jack: Which would let me blast these people with Glacies, blast a huge amount of people with Glacies, rather than just sort of a regular amount of people with Glacies. [Austin chuckles]
Austin: What’s your accessory currently? The crown. The crown which you don't need to keep equipped, right?
Jack: If I take it off, I lose my stuff.
Austin: Oh, you do lose it. Right, until you rest. 
Jack: I lose the stuff it does.
Austin: I see. Right, right, right. Yeah, I gotcha. Yeah.
Jack: Because what I could do is I could afford that Plated Tambourine if I sell my crown. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: Uh huh.
Darcy: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Jack: And then even if right now my plan, or rather, even if that doesn't… I might not, like, re-jig my whole weapons setup right now.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: But then I would have the tambourine for when I have a second loadout.
Austin: I mean, you could get the very basic Blessed Mace or whatever from the book right now for 200 asta.
Jack: I might not have that.
Austin: Oh, okay, I see. You're, like, truly broke. I see.
Jack: Well, I would be if I bought the…
Austin: Right, right, right. Right, I see.
Jack: The tambourine.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: But the thing is that I can kind of carry the tambourine with me, and it’s not like it gets weaker.
Austin: Right. You could pick it up while you're here, because you're here.
Jack: Yeah. And then pick up a cheap thing, you know, when I do the next thing. I also, yes. Okay, so I'm going to sell my crown.
Austin: Farewell to the Crown of Sun and Sand.
Jack: From heaven. [laughs quietly] Well, no, from purgatory, I suppose.
Austin: Mm-hmm. Does it—? Mm, do I want to say this?
Darcy: Oh.
Jack: Do I want to sell this crown, is the thing? The crown is fucking great.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: The crown is really broad. I think what’s happening to me here is that because I am in a shop and because there's good stuff in the shop, I think I need to buy something.
Austin: It’s pretty cool stuff.
Jack: Yes, but this has gotten many people throughout history.
Austin: Yeah. [Ali laughs]
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: It is.
Ali: How much more do you need?
Jack: I need, like, 1000 more.
Darcy: Oh.
Austin: Yeah, and the…
Art: Well, let me tell you something about the sentient gems.
Austin: Yeah. 
Jack: [chuckles] I'm not selling Violet Caliban. The Crown of Sun and Sand, I have written down exactly what it does, but I can't find it.
Austin: I hit the button. It’s in the chat.
Jack: Oh, here we go. Yeah. “When you place this on your head, give yourself a vulnerability to fire, earth, or air, and a resistance to whichever two you didn't choose. This lasts until you rest or until someone else places the crown on their head. You can change your resistances after each rest,” and my current resistances are to fire and air. Resistances are fucking great, and it’s an item that lets you tinker with what it does as well.
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah. 
Jack: I'm going to hold onto the crown.
Austin: Yeah, whoever had that crown originally must have been really cool.
Jack: Yes.
Darcy: Who had it originally? I'm trying to remember.
Jack: I think it was probably someone who is currently taking a real interest in accessible personal transit.
Austin: What makes you think that?
Jack: Well, he’s from there, isn't he?
Austin: What was his title?
Jack: Uh, he’s a prince, right?
Austin: Of what?
Jack: Was he the Prince of Sun and Sand?
Austin: He’s the Prince of Sun and Sand!
Jack: Now, do we think this is a prince’s crown or a king’s crown?
Austin: Hmm, interesting.
Jack: Well, we can check. Yeah.
Art: Wait, hold on. Didn't I just meet a—?
Jack: Yes, Art! [Ali laughs]
Art: Mm. I just wrote those words.
Jack (as Elena): I'm not buying anything.
Austin: Okay.
Jack: I say to the man.
(as Elena): But I will sell you my staff.
Austin: Okay. What’s the staff’s situation?
Art: Figure out how to cram this crown into this gem.
Jack: It’s just it’s my basic staff. It’s two-handed, so.
Austin: Okay, so it doesn't help you there.
Jack: I don't need it.
Austin: What’s the—? This is what you started with, presumably?
Jack: Yeah. Its value is 100 asta.
Austin: Now, is that actual? Hang on, one second. Is that actually true?
Jack: No, no, yeah. I think it might— I think he might give me 50 asta for it.
Austin: I think that might be right. I'll double check it.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: Yeah, he’s going to give you 50 for that.
Jack: But I think Elena, desperately trying to maintain the high ground, says,
(as Elena): That’ll be 50. [Austin laughs]
Austin (as Gerald): Ah.
Ali: Just keep it, at this point.
Austin: And then nods and gives it to you. It’s just not as good, right, as the other thing you got.
Jack: Yeah. It’s like when you're in Skyrim again and you're just selling, like, you know, copper sword.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Ali: Sure, but it’s not like you have, like, an item limit. [laughs quietly] Like, you could just… if something happens with your…
Jack: I want 50 asta.
Ali: Yeah, okay. I should buy some IP while I'm here. How much is IP?
Austin: You should. You should buy IP. I think it’s 10 a pop.
Ali: It’s 10 a pop?!
Jack: Yes. You should haggle.
Austin: Oh my god. Why are you—? 10 is nothing.
Darcy: Yeah, 10’s nothing.
Ali: Yeah. 3 is my max?
Austin: [laughs quietly] Jonathan’s spending 400 on index cards or flash cards.
Darcy: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Ali: That’s so funny.
Austin: I don't remember what your max is, at this point.
Jack: How do I remove something from my…?
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Well, right now it’s 3, but if it’s wrong, then it’ll be wrong.
Austin: Jonathan, you could refill your Inventory Points here too, by the way. 
Darcy: Oh, okay.
Austin: I know you're not actually in town, but you sent the money. You could have sent the money for Inventory Points.
Jack: 10 per?
Ali: Do you want anything from this list, Jonathan?
Darcy: No. I have 180 asta left, after refilling my IP [Ali laughs quietly] and doing my Duolingo Draconic subscription.
Austin: And you don't want to sell anything. There's nothing you want to sell either.
Darcy: I don't think I have anything worth selling or that I would want to sell.
Austin: You haven't really gotten any loot recently, huh?
Darcy: No.
Austin: You built yourself some loot a while ago with the Switchsledge, [Darcy: Yeah.] but other than that. And you like your Ring of Fire Resistance. Yeah, the stuff you got was all kind of good for you or part of a bigger project or whatever.
Darcy: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Austin: Yeah, makes sense. All right, we don't have to go, like, beat by beat as you get back up to the Little Snail, but presumably you're going right there. You're not stopping off somewhere else in town first?
Jack: I don't think so. I had been, like…
Art: I can't imagine why.
Austin: No one’s, like, checking in on Jonathan’s family.
Jack: Well, Jonathan’s family, right?
Austin: Yeah, that’s…
Jack: But Jonathan, I think—you can correct me if I'm wrong, Darcy—Jonathan was like, “If they run into you, tell them the truth,” but I don't think you were like, “Seek them out.”
Darcy: No. I don't…hmm. Hmm. No. That is what Jonathan said, yes.
Austin: Well, I mean.
Art: And we don't want to go and ask them a bunch of questions about how the reality shifting has affected them.
Ali: Yeah. Plus we just got bad vibes about them from the guy.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: Eh, well…
Ali: He was just like…
Austin: Go ahead.
Ali: Well, he was like, “Everybody thinks the world is ending, and even Jonathan’s mother got out of bed [Austin: Yes, yes.] and is, like, running all the show now, because she’s so excited about it.”
Jack: Yes. And there are no cows.
Austin: And there are no cows, which in between our recording sessions did make me make a realization about the other side of the game. I don't know what they're going to do over there, the Dessert Boys who make ice cream.
Ali: Yeah.
Darcy: Oh!
Austin: They're going to have to figure some other stuff out. I think they had some non-dairy desserts, so maybe they'll be okay, but [sighs] I'm worried. I'm worried.
Ali: Is gelato milk-based?
Darcy: Get in the nut milk game.
Austin: Gelato is milk-based, isn't it?
Darcy: Yeah. It’s dairy.
Jack: Sorbet.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah, is sorbet the one that’s not?
Darcy: It can be, but it doesn't have to be?
Austin: Mm. Iced fruit juice puree. Yeah, I see.
Ali: We have to get them some silken tofu or something.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: Mm, mm-hmm.
Jack: Mm.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Well, that’s…
Art: That’s our new project.
Ali: I don't know those guys. I got something else going on. [laughs] 
Austin: Yeah, you don't know those. You haven't met those guys.
Darcy: Yeah.
Austin: Anyway, I am going to roll just, like, a random 1d10. On a 1, you're going to run into one of Jonathan’s family members.
Ali: Wow.
Austin: I've rolled a 4. You're good. You slip past. You do maybe see Jonathan’s brother—who was, as a reminder, I guess one of the, like, preachers in Rehearsal—you know, walking quickly, but I don't think… You don't run into him. You know, there's no, like, you don't bump into him. He doesn't notice you, et cetera, so you manage to kind of slip away as he’s on his way to the Shell Barrow and you're on your way back up to not just the Little Snail, because we said the Little Snail, but actually the Adventure Beckons, the airship.
Ali: So true.
Jack: Yeah.
Art: Mm.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Yeah, we need to get back into the habit.
Austin: Yeah, we have to decide if you're still the Crew of the Little Snail or are you the Crew of the Adventure Beckons, you know? When I, like, write out the intros and descriptions.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: You know, that’s really…
Art: Hmm.
Darcy: The latter is my gut answer.
Austin: Interesting.
Darcy: But that feels very Jonathan-centric.
Art: Oh, I would have gone the other way.
Ali: Well, the restaurant is still running out of the Snail, right?
Darcy: That’s… hmm.
Austin: Yeah, I'm not going to the Adventure Beckons.
Art: Yeah, I'm not planning on learning how an airship works. [Ali laughs quietly]
Austin: Oh boy. That’s good.
Ali: The Adventure Beckons might have, like, a ribs special. You don't know. Don't say you're not going there. [laughs] 
Austin: I was going to say it doesn't sound like it— You knew where I was going, yeah. [Ali laughs] I trust the Little Snail to give me something delicious. I don't know if I trust the Adventure Beckons. The Adventure Beckons sounds like a theme restaurant to me.
Ali: Sure.
Austin: Some sort of pirate restaurant.
Darcy: [clears throat] The eggsventure benedicts.
Jack: No.
Ali: Whoa.
Austin: Ohoho! Now, wait a second, Jack. [quiet laughter] 
Art: Is it just an eggs benedict?
Darcy: It’s probably something— You're the chef, brother. I don't know. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: Yeah, what do you put on there? What makes it eggventure? 
Art: It wasn't my idea. I can't just show up and have…
Austin: Yeah, but something the investor, you know, requests an eggventure benedict. [Darcy laughs] You gotta figure out how to make that person happy. What’s his name? What’s the fucking guy from— Jon Taffer? Is that his name?
Art: Uh huh.
Austin: Shows up and remakes your whole menu around airship and adventuring. 
Ali: Oh my god.
Darcy: Oh. Yeah, Jon Taffer or, uh, it’s the British guy. Fuck.
Austin: Gordon Ramsay?
Ali: Yeah.
Darcy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ali: Can I ask a stupid question while we're distracted? [laughs] 
Jack: Yes.
Art: Yeah.
Darcy: Mm-hmm. Please.
Austin: Yeah, sorry. Yeah.
Darcy: You could do it while we're focused too.
Art: I don't know who you're asking, but I'll say yes.
Ali: Can I double the value of all of the leather items that I have?
Austin: Oh, that’s really funny. [Ali laughs]
Jack: Oh my god.
Darcy: What?
Austin: Yes.
Jack: Because no cows.
Darcy: How?
Ali: There's no cows.
Austin: Because no cows. Because there's no more cows.
Darcy: Oh, fuck!
Austin: I'll allow it. [Ali laughs] What leather stuff do you have? How much leather stuff do you have?
Ali: I think I probably only have these lightweight boots, unless I can—
Austin: No, don't you have that cool person, like, leather jacket, the gang jacket?
Ali: I sold it.
Austin: Oh no! When did you sell it?
Ali: I just got fucking fleeced.
Austin: Did you just sell it?
Ali: I just sold it. [laughs quietly]
Austin: You should double that, because I'll, yeah, I fuck with this.
Ali: Okay. Okay, thank you. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: This is ludonarrative harmony right here, you know? [Ali laughs quietly]
Jack: I don't have any leather stuff.
Ali: I have my boots.
Austin: [quietly] Damn.
Art: All right, so here’s my next plan. We buy a bunch of something, [others laugh] and then we let…
Austin: And then we destroy the world economy?
Jack: This is what that Charlie Chaplin film’s about, right? [Ali laughs]
Austin: God. God. I think this is what a Goosebumps book I read when I was a kid is about. [Ali laughs quietly] I think there's some sort of, like, book, and someone tries to get, there's only three of them, and he gets one of them and tries to destroy the other ones? Is that Goosebumps? Is that Poirot? It’s one of them. [Jack laughs quietly]
Darcy: Could be Jet Li’s The One.
Austin: It could be. 
Ali: Mm.
Austin: I mean, it is Jet Li’s The One, for sure.
Jack: Was there a werewolf in it, Austin? [Ali laughs quietly]
Austin: I mean, probably. I don't remember those books.
Jack: Well, but I mean—
Austin: I read, like, all of them, but I don't remember a single one.
Jack: Yeah. I don't think there's a werewolf in an Agatha Christie book.
Art: There might have been a werewolf in The One.
Austin: I just watched The One really recently.
Art: Really?
Austin: Yeah. Yeah, for a Shelved by Genre bonusode, [laughs quietly] because of the One Ring, so we watched The Matrix because the One is in it, and then we watched The One.
Art: Oh, that’s pretty fucking tenuous.
Ali: Because it’s a good movie, probably.
Austin: It’s pretty fucking good. 
Art: It was a pretty good movie, but.
Austin: [laughing] The One is such a good movie. You have no idea.
Ali: Uh huh.
Austin: It’s so good. It’s so stupid.
Art: I saw that movie in theaters.
Austin: It’s great.
Darcy: I think I did too.
Austin: The soundtrack, with— The bodies do hit the floor is what I will tell you, so.
Darcy: Oh man. 
Ali: And never get up.
Darcy: Yeah, and that’s like back when doing that was new and hadn't been done a million times, yeah.
Austin: And you, like, really committed to it, you know?
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Art: I thought you meant, like, back when the bodies hadn't hit the floor.
Austin: I see. Yes. [Ali laughs] 
Back on the Airship [1:17:59]
Austin: Okay. You get back to the Adventure Beckons. Jonathan, what have you been doing on ship, on board?
Darcy: Ooh, what has Jonathan been doing? Staying busy. Probably, like, triple doing regular maintenance.
Austin: Oh, sure.
Darcy: Justifying to himself because, well, we're about to go take this big flight.
Austin: Yeah, of course.
Darcy: I've never done. I should learn how everything works and just make sure, yep, mm-hmm, that’s what I'm going to do. That’s what I'm going to do. That’s a real productive good idea to do.
Austin: [sighs] Yeah. I love this. That’s good. That’s good. It’s a good picture of someone’s psychology. [Darcy chuckles] Yeah. The crew gets back. Presumably y'all find Jonathan triple/quadruple checking something that, you know, you'd already seen.
Darcy: Legs dangling out from some, like, a vent somewhere. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Jack (as Elena): Phew, it’s strange out there, Jonathan.
Darcy (as Jonathan): [stalling] Uh, yeah? Could you pass me that socket wrench?
Jack (as Elena): This one?
Darcy (as Jonathan): Yep.
Jack (as Elena): Yep, you got it. It’s like, you know, everyone, it’s like something in the air. Everyone’s bustling around. Rehearsal’s really kicking—
Darcy: [interrupting] Clang! Clang! Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Austin (as Flegbot): [robotic] Clang clang bang bang clang clang.
Darcy: Okay, that wasn't Jonathan saying that. I was doing foley work.
Austin: No, but so is the…
Darcy: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ali: Uh huh.
Austin: Yeah.
Darcy: Yeah, no, that’s the homie. Yeah, you right, you right.
Austin: Yeah, that’s the homie. [Darcy laughs]
Jack: He’s helping out.
Austin: He’s helping.
Darcy: Yeah.
(as Jonathan): Ah, sorry, sorry, Elena.
Art: By doing foley work or by doing…
Darcy: Both?
Austin: Yeah, both.
Art: Okay.
Austin: I think at the same time. I think for the Flegbot, the Flegbot was actively hitting things with a wrench and saying, “clang clang, bang bang.”
Darcy: [laughs quietly] Yeah, sure.
Ali: Mm.
Jack: Right, right.
Ali: As one does.
Austin: As one does.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Sorry, Elena. I was just finishing something. Could you repeat that?
Jack (as Elena): Oh, it’s just there's something in the air. Rehearsal up and about. We didn't run into any of your folks. We saw your brother briefly but not to talk to, so, you know, nothing…
Darcy: As soon as you say that, Jonathan, like, falls down from the… like, lets go on purpose. Doesn't, like, fall by accident, but comes down and is like, 
(as Jonathan): Ah, I'm done! [Austin and Jack laugh] Well, did you, uh…
Jack (as Elena): We got Nicky’s gem.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Oh, good. That’s good. Has he talked to it yet?
Jack (as Elena): I don't think so. He might be talking to it now.
Art (as Nicky): Now, see, I was going to see if you wanted the other one?
Darcy (as Jonathan): Is that…? Do we choose? I don't— How does this work? I don't have one.
Art (as Nicky): I don't know, but the one that I have now seems like you two would, like, get along? And I don't want us to be, like, I don't want us to have… 
Art: Star-crossed isn't right. Star-crossed gems? That’s not the right expression. [Austin laughs quietly] 
Ali: Hmm.
Art: What am I trying to say here?
Austin: I don't know.
Ali: Compatible?
Darcy (as Jonathan): Incompatible?
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, yeah.
Ali (as Veile): The gems do seem to enjoy having a companion, or at least mine does.
Jack (as Elena): Mine’s ambivalent.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Hmm. 
Ali (as Veile): I think if—
Darcy (as Jonathan): Well. Sorry, Veile, go ahead.
Ali (as Veile): Before we get too into the gem introductions, I suppose, I don't think that I've shared, well, something I've been struggling with since we left that strange castle, but last I spoke to Cerulea, she said that she was trying to stop the cycle, with some sort of worm and a Dark Mater? Uh…
Jack (as Elena): Cerulea said that?
Ali (as Veile): Yeah, when she was with that blood machine?
Jack (as Elena): Yes. [Ali laughs quietly]
Ali (as Veile): I guess I just, I don't want us to be startled, you know, if the other gems have a similar story. And based on what we learned in that castle…
Darcy (as Jonathan): If they're in a gem, nothing they tried worked.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yeah.
Darcy (as Jonathan): And they don't know?
Ali (as Veile): Well, I think Cerulea’s coming to terms with it.
Ali: Like, trying to whisper. [Ali, Jack, and Austin laugh]
Art (as Nicky): They do seem to not know.
Darcy: Earmuffs hands on your gem. [laughs] 
Austin: On your gem, yeah. 
Ali: Yeah, like, trying to do the, like…
Jack: I think the gem might have F-A-I-L-E-D. [Austin and Ali laugh]
Darcy: Their world might be D-E-A-D! [Jack and Austin laugh]
Jack (as Elena): Well, we'll be the ones to succeed. You know.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Correct.
Jack (as Elena): I feel the same way, Veile, and I don't like to think about it too much.
Ali (as Veile): But, yes, of course. I mean, Cerulea didn't mention anything about having the Ennead to help, so.
Jack (as Elena): No. Or such a capable squad of adventurers.
Ali (as Veile): Exactly.
Art (as Nicky): That’s us.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Or a prophecy.
Ali (as Veile): Exactly.
Jack (as Elena): I'd say we're well equipped. I hope we're well equipped. 
Darcy (as Jonathan): The good news is: if we ain't, we ain't gonna have to think about it for long.
Jack: Elena does not like to think about that. [Art laughs] 
Ali: [laughs] Yeah, Veile’s squinting.
Austin: So are you trying to exchange gems here, Nicky and Jonathan? You're trying to, like, give Jonathan the orange one you talked to briefly.
Art: Yeah, I think.
Darcy: What was the deal with the orange one?
Austin: It was the Prince of Sun and Sand, Re’algar.
Jack: Oh my god, that was that guy who accidentally learned the car.
Austin: Yeah, uh huh, who accidentally learned the car. [Ali laughs]
Darcy: Oh.
Austin: Isn't like an inventor type but is like a scholar, is a, you know, is a big nerd is what I've written here. Expert in poetry, storytelling, and music. And so, like, gets really fascinated by worldbuilding details, you know?
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Jack: But has already spoken to Nicky.
Austin: That’s correct, yes, and telepathically.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: Which we know there is some sort of connection, so I do think this is, like, a Willpower roll to switch, and also probably you should, you know, it’s a thing that the gem has to also be cool with, to some degree.
Jack: Yeah.
Art: Yeah, yeah.
Austin: You know.
Art: I was going to just try to give him a quick little sell on Jonathan.
Austin: Yeah. 
Art: Jonathan seems a lot more aligned, interest-wise.
Jack: Yeah, maybe tell him about a jetpack.
Austin: Yeah, what’s this look like?
Art: I hold the gem. I really hope that the other one isn't, like, super Jonathan, you know?
Austin: [chuckles] Yeah.
Art: Because I'll feel really foolish if the next one’s, like, the same.
Austin: Yeah, uh huh. Well, it’s not the same. I'll tell you that much.
Ali: We know. We don't remember, but we know.
Jack: WE know.
Austin: Yeah, but you've listened, Ali, to the recordings. [Ali laughs] And you happen to remember this fact. You want to share with the class?
Ali: I'm just saying, there's a surfer guy in there.
Austin: See? You remember. Did that make it to an episode, or did that get cut?
Darcy: Oh! No, that, like—
Ali: No, it happened.
Austin: Okay.
Darcy: That, like, is hitting something in my brain, yeah.
Art: Yeah, yeah. It’s a surfer guy named Sunny.
Austin: Yeah, okay. You just don't know what that means, yeah.
Art: But we, yeah.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Darcy: I don't know, man.
Art (as Nicky): Hey. Hey, in there. Oh, they don't know. That’s right.
Jack: [chuckles] Good start.
Austin (as Re'algar): In where?
Austin: Says Re’algar, back to his kind of bishounen mysterious persona.
Art: Mm-hmm.
Austin (as Re'algar): The palace, I presume you mean.
Art (as Nicky): Yes, that is what I mean.
Austin (as Re'algar): It’s kind of remarkable that we have this connection over such a long distance. 
Art (as Nicky): I agree.
Austin (as Re'algar): Where are you, exactly?
Art (as Nicky): I'm here at the airship?
Austin (as Re'algar): The what?
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, I thought you'd like that. [Austin and Jack laugh] We have a ship that flies, and my dear friend and business partner, Jonathan, [Darcy laughs] [Ali: Oh.] is the captain of this flying ship, and I thought that you might want to talk with him a little bit.
Austin (as Re'algar): I would be… It sounds intriguing! What sort of—?
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, what’s what I thought.
Austin (as Re'algar): What sort of travel do you go on in this “air ship”?
Art (as Nicky): Air travel.
Austin (as Re'algar): But to what sort of destinations?
Art (as Nicky): Well, we've only gone a little bit so far, but we're about to go to the mountains.
Austin (as Re'algar): Mm. Dangerous.
Art (as Nicky): I know you don't know any of the places here, so.
Austin (as Re'algar): Why wouldn't I know any of the places there? I'm well—
Art (as Nicky): Well, I mean, do you know Calstega Bay?
Austin (as Re'algar): Calstega Bay. No, I've not heard of that. It must be small and not very important. I've studied all the maps.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, yeah. That’s what I meant.
Austin (as Re'algar): I see.
Art (as Nicky): But I thought you'd find the technology very interesting.
Austin (as Re'algar): It sounds intriguing!
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, yeah. So, I'm going to let you— I'm going to see if you want to talk to Jonathan for a second.
Austin: “I'm going to see if you want to” is wild, [Austin and Darcy laugh] but yeah, give me a Willpower—
Art: Well, I don't know how this works.
Austin: Yeah, give me a… I think it’s Willpower + Willpower. I don't think it’s even… I think it’s just two Willpower. Difficulty is 10.
Art: All right. Do I have a Willpower + Willpower button? I do not.
Austin: That sounds likely, yeah. I could let it be Insight + Willpower, but, hey. Hey, Willpower + Willpower, 10. Look at that. A 6 and a 5, god damn. Yeah, it feels a little bit like if when you tossed a ball to someone you felt them catch it. So there's like, you hand it to Jonathan, and as you do, there's this release and then a reattachment. You know what it kind of feels like? [chuckles] You know those sticky hands that you get from the gumball machine? From like the little…?
Art: Yeah, uh huh.
Austin: You know how you feel it, like, connect to the car window? It feels like that. You, like, flip it, and it goes, climt, and it connects.
Art: All right.
Austin: And Jonathan, you do. You can feel this person kind of come into being in a sort of shared mental space, and you can see them when you look into the gem.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: He gives a big grand bow and says,
(as Re'algar): My name is Re’algar. I am a scholar of these lands. Can I have your name?
Darcy (as Jonathan): Of course, sir. Folks call me Jonathan.
Austin (as Re'algar): What an accent!
Darcy (as Jonathan): Thank you? [Austin chuckles]
Austin: And I think then proceeds to ask you very… you know, probably interesting questions about the ship. Not interesting in a technical way.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: But interested questions, I guess is actually the right word, you know? This is someone who wants to know why you chose the wood you chose. This is someone who wants you to explain what every room on the ship is and how fast can it go and how high can it go, et cetera. And I don't know that we—
Darcy: Does it feel, like, shady?
Austin: The questions?
Darcy: Yeah.
Austin: Like, shady like trying to get information out of you that you shouldn't share?
Darcy: [laughing] Yeah.
Austin: No. No.
Darcy: Okay, okay.
Austin: The gem person is not, like, secretly building an anti-Adventure Beckons weapon that needs to know how many engines there are or whatever.
Darcy: Sure.
Austin: No. I think he’s just— I mean, again, it’s kind of a replay of what we saw last time, which is why I'm kind of, like, moving through it quickly, which is it turns out he is a big nerd, actually.
Darcy: Okay, yeah.
Austin: He loses the long flowing words and quickly is like,
Austin (as Re'algar): Well, how fast does it go?
Austin: You know?
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin (as Re'algar): You can go to the top of a mountain in this. Have you done air-to-air combat yet?
Austin: You know?
Darcy: Yeah.
Austin (as Re'algar): What would happen if someone tried to board the vessel?
Darcy: No, I too have bought Star Wars coffee table books that are just technical printouts. [laughs] 
Austin: Yes. Yes, exactly this, yeah.
Art: And that’s what cool people do!
Darcy: Yeah!
Austin: That’s right. Fucking A. And that means that you now have your yellow gem back from all the way back then, Nicky.
Art: Yeah.
Jack: Are you gonna tell him that you sold him, or is this a real, like, they don't need to know about that?
Art: I don't think they do need to know about that.
Jack: No, I agree, I just… I don't think—
Art: Well, it sort of sounds like you're trying to narc on the whole situation.
Jack: No, I can't talk to this gem, and I wouldn't— 
Darcy: Yeah.
Jack: And I've never— and I don't think Elena’s a snitch.
Ali: Whoa, you've never even thought about it. [Ali, Austin, and Jack laugh]
Darcy: I think it’s important that it’s up to Nicky whether or not you build this relationship on a lie or honesty.
Ali: [quietly] Wow.
Jack: Yeah. Absolutely.
Art: I don't think it’s even an issue of that. [Darcy laughs] I think that, you know, it’s… You don't need to know every transaction that’s happened about the [Jack: Your soul?] thing that you're contained in. [Darcy laughs] 
Jack: Oh, I see, okay. 
Darcy: You didn't even know he was in there.
Art: It’s not like it happened on purpose.
Jack: Right.
Austin: Mm.
Art: But I do…
(as Nicky): [not in Nicky’s voice] Hello? Hello in there?
Art: Sorry, that’s not the right voice.
Austin: I've never heard Nicky say that ever. 
Art (as Nicky): [in the right voice] Hello?
Austin: That’s like when a tough guy gets a little dog and suddenly changes voices. [Ali laughs]
Art (as Nicky): Hey!
Austin (as Sunny): [chill surfer voice] Yo. Whoa. Is that an airship?
Art (as Nicky): Yes! Yes, it is an airship. You know about airships?
Austin (as Sunny): Yeah.
Art: Oh no. I might have made a horrible mistake. [Austin laughs]
Austin (as Sunny): How are you contacting me?
Art (as Nicky): Um, I'm holding a gem?
Austin (as Sunny): Like a communication device. Cool.
Art (as Nicky): Maybe.
Austin (as Sunny): So are you, uh… Are you Oracle, or are you Windborne?
Ali: Mm.
Art (as Nicky): Um… I think—
Austin (as Sunny): I'm just messing with you. I'm not really into all of that stuff, but.
Art (as Nicky): [laughs] All right, all right. But I think Oracle.
Austin (as Sunny): Oh, I mean, don't tell me that, dude. [Ali and Jack laugh] Like, I'm not into it, but that’s the other side of the war, right? 
Art (as Nicky): I don't know.
Austin (as Sunny): Wait a second. I feel like I've heard your voice before. You were saying, like, “500 asta? Cool!” or something like that.
Art (as Nicky): That might have been me, yeah. 
Austin (as Sunny): And then there was nothing. Actually, that's not true. 
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, the—
Austin (as Sunny): There was a guy who, like, sung to himself a lot, but that was kind of it.
Art (as Nicky): I don't know anything about that part.
Austin (as Sunny): Okay.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, I didn't know what this communicator was, and someone offered me 500 asta for it, and I needed to buy a giant fork. [Sunny laughs quietly] And I know what you're thinking…
Austin (as Sunny): How big?
Art (as Nicky): Really big. Hold on, I'll go show you.
Austin (as Sunny): Whoa! [Ali laughs] 
Art (as Nicky): Yeah.
Austin (as Sunny): That’s so big.
Art (as Nicky): I knew you'd understand.
Austin (as Sunny): What’s an asta?
Art (as Nicky): Um, it’s money.
Austin (as Sunny): Okay. Whoa, I must be—
Austin: Actually, he doesn't know he’s…
(as Sunny): Whoa, this communicator must have been worth a lot, then. They must be pretty rare.
Art (as Nicky): Well, I didn't know that at the time. I think I actually got a very bad deal. But I've been working—
Austin (as Sunny): Well, that's bogus.
Art (as Nicky): Once I found out it was a communicator, I worked very hard to get it back.
Austin (as Sunny): Good job, dude.
Art (as Nicky): Thanks. I appreciate it.
Austin (as Sunny): I'm Sunshine, by the way, but all my bros call me Sunny.
Art (as Nicky): Sunny! Nice to meet you, Sunny. I'm Nicky.
Austin (as Sunny): All my ladies, too. Hehehe.
Art (as Nicky): All right! 
Austin (as Sunny): Ladies as just, like, a term of affection for, like, my lady friends. Not my “lady friends,” you know, just like, women who I'm friendly with.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah. I was with you the whole time.
Austin (as Sunny): What’s your name, dude?
Art (as Nicky): I'm Nicky. Uncle Nicky, they call me.
Austin (as Sunny): Uncle Nicky! Yeah!
Art (as Nicky): Yeah. I'm a chef.
Austin (as Sunny): Oh, I know a chef.
Art (as Nicky): Oh yeah?
Austin (as Sunny): Well, I knew a chef. She’s dead now.
Art (as Nicky): Oh. 
Austin (as Sunny): [disheartened] Yeah. Like, major.
Art (as Nicky): One of your lady friends?
Austin (as Sunny): Major bummer. Yeah. Yeah.
Art (as Nicky): I'm sorry to hear that.
Austin (as Sunny): Yeah. Well, you know what they say, dude. War is hell!
Art (as Nicky): Yeah.
Austin: This is Sunny, a.k.a. Sunshine, an Armidurge Sergeant from the Creed of— oh, I'm wrong! The Creed of Oracles, NOT the Windborne Church!
Ali: Oh.
Austin: My notes confused me for a second. So yeah, you were cool when you said Oracle.
Jack: And these are these fuckers from Eschatonica.
Austin: Oh yeah, 100%. But again, he doesn't seem to care so much about all of the, you know, rules, you know? It’s almost like he maybe, like, wasn't really tied to either side of the war and was from some sort of heroic breakoff unit that was trying to stop the war and save the world and break the cycle. You know, normal stuff.
Jack: And he went surfing with Keanu Reeves.
Austin: And he went surfing with Keanu Reeves, and also maybe, like, every time he comes out to his music, everyone in the crowd goes, “Rob! Van! Dam!” together as he takes a step into the ring. [Jack chuckles] You know, normal guy. 
Jack: Oh, the ring.
Austin: The ring, yeah, yeah, yeah. He’s not a wrestler, but he is a surfer. His little writeup here, let me find… I've lost Roll20. There it is. Sunshine. Yellow gem, Sunshine. Armidurge Sergeant from the Creed of Oracles, not the Windborne Church. Surfer and castle pilot. Expert in vehicles and navigation.
Art: Ah.
Austin: Can be used like a Trait when you spend a Fabula Point. When you do this 10 times, dot dot dot…
Jack: Can you ask him what a castle pilot is?
Austin: I mean, yeah. I think he probably just volunteers this.
(as Sunny): [sighs] Yeah, I knew a chef. The chef I knew was our chef in the castle. You know, every time we stopped, she used to make a mean steak.
Austin: And it sounds like he’s talking about a castle that you drive around.
Art: A castle that you drive around.
Darcy: That sounds pretty sick.
Art: I've also played Final Fantasy VI.
Austin: It’s true.
Art: I have the block for Re’algar.
Darcy: Ah.
Austin: I got it. I got it. Boom. You can ignore the part that says Springsong. That was just me keeping notes on where each of them was from when I was, you know, statting them all out. [laughing] Including the one that’s dead now, by the way. RIP to that whole character.
Jack: In the one from…
Austin: The one who got stepped on and destroyed.
Ali: [gasps] Oh my god, the smushed one.
Austin: The smushed one, yeah.
Darcy: Not the smushied. [Ali laughs quietly]
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Wow. Gone.
Austin: Beshi.
Ali: And that was just a rando one, right?
Austin: What do you mean?
Jack: That was, um…
Austin: It was the dark green one.
Jack: Redolencia, right?
Austin: It was Redolencia, yeah. It was a beetle alchemist. It was like a beetle lady who was going to be…
Jack: Oh my god.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Right, but it was… None of the player characters had it. We, like, saw it on the map.
Austin: That’s correct.
Jack: Yeah, yeah, we found it.
Ali: Okay, yeah. From Redolencia.
Jack: That sucks. That was a beetle woman?
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Have we had any beetle people in the show yet? 
Austin: Um…
Jack: I mean, we saw some in Redolencia, flying stuff, but…
Austin: You've seen some other insect people, yes, yes.
Jack: Yep.
Austin: Exactly. Yeah, so that’s Sunny.
Ali (as Veile): [hushed] Does it look like they're getting along?
Jack (as Elena): [hushed] I think so. I mean, it seems like Nicky brought up the asta thing, but they seem cool. [Ali laughs quietly]
Jack: Trying to catch Nicky’s eye and sort of do the, like, “Is it good?” eyebrows. [Darcy laughs quietly] 
Art: Nicky gives a very tentative thumbs up.
Jack (as Elena): Yeah. Sick.
Austin (as Sunny): Whoa. I can kind of sense that you have, like, bros all around you. [Darcy and Jack laugh quietly] I'm pretty jealous.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, we got a whole crew.
Austin (as Sunny): [sadly] Yeah. You make sure you, you know, really cherish them.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, do you have someone to talk to?
Austin (as Sunny): You.
Art (as Nicky): Okay, great. We're gonna get through this.
Austin (as Sunny): Get through what?
Art (as Nicky): You're dealing with some bad feelings, I think.
Austin (as Sunny): No.
Art (as Nicky): Mm, maybe.
Austin (as Sunny): Maybe.
Art (as Nicky): We'll talk about it. We'll keep an eye on it.
Austin (as Sunny): Yeah.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah.
Austin (as Sunny): [sighs] I wish you could, like, cook me a meal. I feel like I haven't eaten in forever.
Art (as Nicky): Well, do you have any ingredients?
Austin (as Sunny): Do I have any ingredients?
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, I could just, like, coach you. 
Ali: Aww.
Austin (as Sunny): You could coach me. I'll see if I can find some stuff, and then later, you can, like, walk me through it. I never cooked nothing!
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, yeah. I'll check in. We'll do something real simple.
Austin (as Sunny): [chuckles] Hell yeah. [clears throat] Over and out.
Art (as Nicky): Roger that.
Austin (as Sunny): Cool.
Art: I don't know how either of us knows that, but… [Austin and Ali laugh]
Jack: We gotta get him out of the gem. This guy rules. [Austin laughs]
Art: Can we do that?
Jack: [laughing quietly] No, I don't think so.
Art: I guess let’s invoke something 10 times and see what happens.
Darcy: See what happens.
Austin: See what happens.
Ali: I'm so scared of that.
Jack: I'm also so scared of it.
Art: Well, with that kind of attitude. What if we went into this with a sense of adventure?
Jack (as Elena): How was it, Nicky?
Art (as Nicky): Hmm?
Ali (as Veile): Yeah, did you guys bond?
Jack (as Elena): How was it?
Art (as Nicky): Oh, he’s a nice guy, but a lot of his friends are dead, and he’s real sad about it.
Jack (as Elena): Whoa.
Ali (as Veile): Oh. [Austin laughs]
Darcy (as Jonathan): Mm.
Jack (as Elena): Oh.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah. But, yeah. Uh huh.
Ali (as Veile): Did you ask about the cycle? Or did it feel kind of…
Art (as Nicky): Nah, it was just a get-to-know-you.
Ali (as Veile): Oh. [Austin and Ali laugh quietly]
Art (as Nicky): We'll talk again. You know, you don't want to rush these things.
Jack (as Elena): Yeah, fair enough.
Ali (as Veile): Well, yes, but if the gem’s dead friends are his party…
Jack (as Elena): Oh no.
Ali (as Veile): You know.
Jack (as Elena): The Iron Trigon. [Ali laughs]
Ali (as Veile): Well, they weren't mine. You guys are my party. You know, technically, now. [quickly] Well, you know, fated. [Austin laughs]
Art (as Nicky): Uh huh.
Jack (as Elena): Yeah. Uh huh.
Ali (as Veile): There were just circumstances.
Art (as Nicky): Sure were.
Jack: Do you think that Veile thinks that if that was Sunny’s party who are dead this is just more evidence that maybe we're all going to Iron Trigon each other, given enough time? [Ali laughs quietly] 
Ali: I don't think she’s afraid.
Jack (as Elena): Or have you mostly moved past that fear?
Ali: I think, well, I think she’s, like, still disturbed by that happening or whatever. I don't think that she actively thinks, like… There was a part of this campaign where she was like, “I have to be less open with these people, because I feel that I am dangerous.”
Jack: Yes.
Ali: I think she has since moved past that but is also now like, “I have to get as much information as I can, because the world seems very strange, and nothing I thought was true seems to be the case.” [laughs] 
Jack: Yeah. Yeah.
Ali: So her being like, “Well, if the orange gem was trying to stop the cycle, and his party is dead,” but I don't know that she’s going to do anything with that information besides be sad about it.
Jack: Yeah. Sometimes you learn information that makes you sad, and that’s all you can do. [Ali laughs]
Austin: So true.
Ali: Many such cases.
Austin: But yeah, you have picked up on the fact that it seems like each of these gems were in an adventuring party with someone who was trying to do something great and heroic. In Cerulea’s case, very very clearly stop the cycle. I believe we heard from Re’algar… Maybe we didn't fully hear this, but I think Re’algar mentioned working with one of the living embodiments of spark from Springsong, briefly.
Ali: Oh.
Austin: Maybe I'm misremembering that I said that, though. But, you know, they seem to be party members to fated heroes, all the way through. I don't think Violet Caliban has mentioned this because of how [Jack: No, no.] I don't think she likes you. [Ali laughs]
Jack: Well, yeah. It didn't go well, the first time.
Austin: It didn't go well, the first time. That’s all.
Jack: Yeah. And she thinks I dress badly, I think?
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Jack: [laughs quietly] Something like that?
Austin: Yeah, I mean, absolutely thinks that.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: You look like you're cosplaying, you know? 
Jack: [laughs quietly] Well, hang on.
Austin: You look like, you know, she went to the botanical garden, and you're, like, in fancy anime dress, you know?
Jack: Oh, right, yes, because she’s not from— She’s from, you know.
Austin: She’s from a city that one of us could live in right now.
Jack: Yeah.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Jack: Yeah, she thinks I went to the renfaire.
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: That’s right. Exactly.
Art: And no one’s ever, yeah, no one’s ever been to the renfaire and been like, “Well, that person looks great.” [Austin and Jack laugh]
Jack: Famously doesn't happen.
Austin: It’s just not who she is, you know what I mean?
Jack: Yes.
Austin: Yeah. Different interests.
Jack (as Elena): Do we want to talk about what happened at the Shining Star?
Jack: Says Elena.
Ali (as Veile): Oh. Well, yes, I suppose.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Oh, yeah. How’s my bud doing?
Ali (as Veile): Uh…
Jack (as Elena): Good, I think. I mean, he—
Ali (as Veile): A little stressed.
Jack (as Elena): Yeah, stressed. Worried about… you know. But he seemed pretty hopeful about us.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Well, that’s good.
Jack (as Elena): You know, we sort of… [hesitates] He thought that we were going to do good things, you know? It was like a vote of confidence. And it seemed like that went both ways.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Well, great.
Ali (as Veile): And we were initiated into the Luminaries.
Jack (as Elena): We were.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Oh. Is that good?
Jack (as Elena): Yeah.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Okay! 
Ali (as Veile): [quietly] Yeah.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Well, congratulations.
Jack (as Elena): Well, we had to, because…
Darcy (as Jonathan): No, I'm… Y'all, I'm not mad. I said congratulations.
Ali (as Veile): Um…
Darcy (as Jonathan): I mean, I'm in, right? It’s like a…
Jack (as Elena): Well…
Darcy (as Jonathan): [sighs] Do they make you go in person for this sort of thing?
Ali (as Veile): Uh, yeah. 
Jack (as Elena): Yeah. It sort of seemed like a very consequential initiation. We took an oath.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Oh. What kind?
Ali (as Veile): Uh…
Jack: Glancing at Veile. [Ali laughs]
Ali: Do you have the text of the oath, Austin, just so I don't…? I think that I could kind of be like,
(as Veile): Well, we vowed to the Light and to Lucena.
Austin: I don't think that I actually do have the text, so.
Ali: Okay, well, then.
(as Veile): Well, we, you know, made a vow to the Light and to follow Lucena, which is a good thing, prophecy-wise.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Ali (as Veile): And, well, there was some sort of light as well, and we learned a code word.
Ali: And I forget the code.
Austin: That I definitely have. Yeah.
Ali: Veile doesn't forget the code. I forget the code. [laughs] 
Austin: Yeah. Uh huh.
Jack: I wrote it down.
Ali (as Veile): And, you know, it seems we’re official. 
Ali: And then did he tell us places to go?
Austin: Yeah, he did. Does anybody remember what he said to do?
Jack: He says that we can reconnect with Onyx [Austin: Mm-hmm.] to sort of, like, fit us with stuff to travel to the southern continent, if I remember right?
Austin: Well, to learn about traveling to the southern continent, because Theo was very, “You're going where?” kind of about this. Like, excited about the prospect of you doing the big thing, but wow, that’s dangerous; wow, the southern continent.
Art: Wow.
Austin: Yeah.
Darcy: Wooow.
Austin: That’s right.
Jack: And then, did we hear from someone else? I mean, we learned that, you know, the Luminaries are running into some trouble on the western continent. [laughs quietly] On the eastern continent.
Austin: That’s right, you did. You heard the name of another member of the Luminaries.
Jack: Yeah.
Ali: Mm-hmm.
Jack: [sarcastic] A normal member who we respect.
Austin: But I don't remember that in character. I don't know if in character you've heard that name before. I don't know that…
Jack: No, no, we didn't know.
Austin: I don't believe so. Yeah.
Ali: Well, he said it to us, but we were just like, “Cool!”
Austin: No, no, I'm sorry. I don't think that Caoimhe ever mentioned him before.
Jack: No.
Ali: No, no, no, no.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Caoimhe just said, “Beware Hexcloaks,” basically.
Austin: Right, right, right. Right, and you were told the head Hexcloak is a member of the Luminaries actually, yeah.
Ali: But I don't think that we know. Like, I don't think— I wouldn't say that anyone in this party has an institutional knowledge of the Hexcloaks. [laughs] You know what I mean?
Austin: No. Yeah.
Jack: No. No.
Art: No, yeah. I'm not even sure I remember hearing that.
Austin: Yeah. Fair. [Jack chuckles]
Ali: If you're at home listening to this podcast, you were like, “What the fuck?” So. [Ali and Austin laugh]
Art: Yeah. Oh no, I was warned! [Ali and Jack laugh]
Jack: But then did we have to go see anyone else, or was it just Onyx?
Austin: No, it’s just… Uh, it was that Onyx was staying at the southwestern island of the Valte Empire and was with someone else.
Jack: Oh, yes. We were being pointed towards the Valte.
Austin: Yes, that’s correct. Which you don't have to go to, necessarily, you know?
Jack: It’s pretty scary. But, I mean—James Acaster voice—it would make good television.
Austin: [chuckles] Mm-hmm.
Ali (as Veile): Well, I suppose the question is if there's anything else we feel need done, you know, to feel settled.
Jack (as Elena): Settled. I don't feel very settled.
Ali (as Veile): Okay.
Art (as Nicky): It’s been an unsettling time.
Ali (as Veile): Well, no, I just mean, like, you know, when people say, you know, “if you're going to go do this, you should make your peace,” you know?
Jack (as Elena): Do you think we need to make our peace?
Ali (as Veile): Well, if it’s like a one-way trip, you know what I mean? [Ali laughs]
Ali: Veile, the person in the room who should be most prepared to talk about death, like, really dancing around this. [laughs] 
Jack (as Elena): Do you think this is a one-way trip?
Ali (as Veile): Well, no. No. I mean… [stammers] We've seen people who failed, and I don't intend to. I just think this is one of those things where you do all the stuff that you wanted to have done. You know, just in case.
Jack (as Elena): I think I thought they failed because the world ended. And, you know, I think we're a ways off that still. Far too close for comfort, and don't get me wrong, I'd prefer it didn't end at all.
Ali (as Veile): Well, why are they in these gems?
Jack (as Elena): Because their world came to an end, and, you know, it all blew up, but all we—
Ali (as Veile): Well, I don't want to end up in a gem.
Jack (as Elena): All we're doing is going to the White Lectern today, and that’s, I mean…
Ali (as Veile): Yeah. No, you're, yeah.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah, no one’s ending up in a gem today.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Wait. Do they think we're in gems?
Art (as Nicky): No.
Jack (as Elena): I don't think they think they're in gems at all. Gems don't come into it for them, as far as I'm concerned.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Okay. So they don't, like, pick up a gem to talk to us?
Ali (as Veile): Well, no, they can't— Cerulea can't even describe where she is. I wanted to know if it was like a nice bedroom or if she wanted something or something, and she just kind of clammed up. So it doesn't seem, you know, comfortable.
Jack (as Elena): I think we talk to them telepathically. But that’s a good question. I guess I never thought to— I didn't really have much time we Violet.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Mm.
Jack (as Elena): Anyway, he said we could go and see Onyx, and I know we have mixed feelings about Onyx, but he’s one of us, and we're one of him now, and he seems all right. He was kind when he wrote to us. But we have to go to the isle and to the Valte if we want to see him.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Oh.
Ali (as Veile): Or just fly over and try to… [Jack laughs]
Art (as Nicky): I don't think we should underrate the reconnaissance power of this vessel.
Jack (as Elena): Well, but the Valte are aerial. They are an aerial superpower.
Ali (as Veile): And it’s a big ship.
Jack (as Elena): We could try and signal them?
Darcy (as Jonathan): Do we, like, know exactly where they are? Or do we just know they're involved?
Austin: You were given a point. You were given a point.
Darcy: Okay.
Jack: Yeah, and they're not involved. They're in the southwest island, and Valte is the northeast island.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: The whole thing. It’s like the Valte Archipelago, but Valte the city is in the northwest.
Jack: Oh, sure, but their capital.
Darcy: Gotcha.
Austin: Yeah.
Darcy: Okay.
Ali: Oh.
Jack: Northeast.
Austin: Nope. Northwest.
Jack: Northwest.
Austin: Yeah. [muffled laughter] 
Jack: It’s fine. It’s fine.
Art: We're looking at a map, but it’s not…
Austin: Uh huh.
Art: It’s not searchable.
Austin: It’s not.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: There is a big star where the capital is. [laughs quietly] 
Jack: No, this was a screwing up my east and west thing.
Austin: I see, I see, I see. That makes sense to me.
Darcy: So, wait. He’s here?
Austin: Yes. You got it exactly right.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Well. [sighs] Let’s see. We could just be invisible.
Ali (as Veile): Huh?
Jack (as Elena): What?
Darcy (as Jonathan): Oh, I mean, I don't know how we’d do it, but it’d work. [Austin and Jack laugh]
Ali (as Veile): [scoffing] Well, that’s not exactly a productive suggestion, then.
Darcy (as Jonathan): Well.
Jack (as Elena): Well.
Art (as Nicky): We paint the bottom to look like the sky.
Ali (as Veile): All day?
Darcy (as Jonathan): Or we cast a spell?
Art (as Nicky): We just fly real fast. 
Darcy (as Jonathan): We could fly real fast. I don't know how fast this goes.
Ali (as Veile): I mean…
Art (as Nicky): We should check.
Jack (as Elena): I think we should—
Darcy (as Jonathan): We should check.
Jack (as Elena): We should sail for Valte. Valte, we're not at war. We're not criminals. Valte is a city that people travel to, as I understand it. They take in all sorts. So maybe we'll just be able to dock in the city, and, you know, if we need a travel permit or something, then we can get it there or whatever. Or we could just sail towards the point that Leo pointed us to and play it by ear.
Ali (as Veile): Onyx was…
Art: It is true that we're not doing anything wrong.
Jack: No. I mean, Jade hates— Jade? Is that her name?
Austin: Nope. Opal.
Jack: Opal. [laughs quietly] Different kind of rock. [Darcy laugh quietly]
Austin: Different kind of rock. They're all different types of rocks, yeah.
Jack: Opal does hate us and has tried to kill us and is actively aligned against us.
Austin: Yeah. I think it’s fair to say—
Jack: She’s one of the Night’s Own.
Austin: Yeah. And might even be fair to say that it seems like Onyx is, like, keeping a low profile by hiding with another major, you know, person in the Valte.
Darcy: Mm.
Jack: Yeah. Because it broke bad for them. They had a big falling out.
Austin: Right.
Jack: In, what was the city? The bay, Calstega Bay.
Austin: Yeah, Calstega Bay. Yeah.
Ali: And seemingly because Genuine didn't actually capture us? Or am I just reading into that?
Austin: Sorry, say that again?
Ali: And seemingly the falling out is because of Genuine Sincere’s failure.
Austin: Um, you know, it seems like, I mean, it’s because one of them is a Luminary and one of them is Night’s Own, right?
Ali: Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay
Austin: But it’s, you know, if Genuine had captured you, maybe the sort of truce between the two of them as they both work for the Valte would have maintained, you know?
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: But, yeah.
Ali: Yeah. I guess I was going off the feeling that, like, Onyx was being better about his side of things until we came along. [laughs] 
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: But maybe I'm just, like, yeah.
Austin: I think that that’s right. You know, I think that him deciding to help you outright did kind of draw a target on his back in that way.
Ali: Mm-hmm. Plus we escaped in that really weird and dramatic way.
Austin: Yes. Exactly. Yes.
Jack: [laughs quietly] We did.
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: Yes.
Jack: We got into a fight with them on their airship.
(as Elena): And look, I don't— I have the same feelings about the Valte as the next person, but Onyx is one of us now. We're one of, you know, we're with the Luminaries.
Ali (as Veile): Onyx certainly had the resources to help us last time.
Jack (as Elena): He did. And why wouldn't he help a comrade now? He spoke the oath. Jonathan, maybe we could get Leo to come up here, if you want to take the oath?
Austin: It’s Theo, just as a reminder. [Jack and Darcy laugh]
Jack (as Elena): We could also get Theo to come up here as well, if you wanted to take the other, more narratively pressing oath. [Ali laughs]
Darcy (as Jonathan): Uh… Y'all, do I have to? I'm not opposed, just, shouldn't we just get going?
Jack (as Elena): No, actually, I think you might be onto something there. I think we could just get going.
Art (as Nicky): Yeah. What’s the worst thing that happens?
Art: I'm just kind of, if we wanted to smash cut here, I just wanted to… [Ali laughs]
Austin: Yeah, sure.
Jack: I mean, this is all three people who just feel awful about what’s happened desperately trying not to say that sucked. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that that’s true, right? You're explicitly not talking about your deep fears about what happened there.
Jack: I'm definitely not. I'm feeling them, but I'm not saying them.
Austin: That’s what I'm saying. Your explicitly not saying them. 
Jack: Yes.
Austin: You're explicitly not talking about them, not just you, yeah, okay.
Jack: Oh, not just that it’s just been elided in the roleplay. Yeah.
Austin: Right, yes.
Darcy: Mm.
Jack: But I'm not opposed to, if Veile or Nicky want to say that was a bad time.
Ali: I don't think Veile’s the person to [laughs] be like, “I'm not sure about this.”
Jack: Although Veile did just get snippy with Jonathan in a way I have never heard Veile get snippy before. [Ali laughs]
Ali: It’s, you know.
Jack: We're all feeling, you know.
Ali: 11:30 to midnight or whatever, as far as Veile is concerned. [Ali and Darcy laugh]
Jack: Yeah.
(as Elena): Well, then, to Valte! Let’s cast off.
Austin: All right.
Jack (as Elena): Goodbye, Clayridge.
Travel [1:57:22]
Austin: Yeah, any other things you want to do here before you leave the Clayridge Mountains or Spillaway Peaks? [pause] All right, then, it sounds like it’s Travel Rolls time. It’s been a minute since we've done any travel.
Darcy: Oh, that’s true.
Austin: But that means, hey, it’s about to be ingredients time for Nicky.
Jack: Ingredients season!
Austin: Let me get the expanded rules.
Ali: I hope you get 100 ingredients.
Art: Everyone loves ingredients season.
Austin: We all love ingredients season. Whoa, sorry, what was that, Ali?
Ali: I said I hope you get 100 ingredients.
Austin: That would be a lot. [Ali snorts]
Darcy: Can you do that?
Jack: Yeah, they're all…
Austin: I don't think so. I think that’s impossible.
Ali: The max is four. [laughs] 
Austin: It’s not four. It’s not four. That’d be very funny if it were four, but. All right, here we go. Alternative travel rules. All right. As always— I guess, actually, important difference: you're in an airship now. 
Jack: Mm-hmm.
Ali: Oh.
Austin: So you go one tile faster than you used to. Also, I should move you to, like, where you actually are here, which is like here. Sorry, I guess here, not down in Calstega Bay. You're north of the thing.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: So let’s put you… Let’s put you there. How’s that sound?
Jack: Yeah.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: All right. So you move three tiles per day here, which means, let’s find out how many rolls it’s going to be. Put your curser where you're going to. Is it this one? I guess, you know what, I'll just say it’s that island. You don't have to, like, go to a particular point on the island.
Darcy: Okay, great.
Jack: Oh, once we're on it, yeah.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let’s get how many rolls this is going to be. So that’s, I guess we'll go diagonal down from where you are. So that’s one… We got one… I can't, like, see the lines, because you're in the mountains. Okay. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. I think that’s 11? Yeah, 11. This is the very tip. And so 11 divided by 3. You're going to need to make four rolls in order to—
Darcy: Whew.
Austin: Four travel rolls here, and they're all going to be different numbers. The first one’s easy. First one’s easy, because you're just basically in Spillaway Peaks. You're just kind of, like, flying over this kind of southern continent. This is the first time you're, like, flying this in the world. You flew it in the Dragon Path, but like, [Jack: Yeah.] that places is just a weird space, you know?
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: And as it lifts off, what’s this feel like, Jonathan?
Darcy: [sighs] Like, I think at first, underwhelming.
Austin: Huh.
Darcy: And then there's, like, if it’s like the animation, if it’s the cutscene of the ship taking off, like, you see Jonathan kind of looking down at Spillaway Peaks as they're rapidly going up, very sad.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Darcy: And then it hits, like, the cloud level, and then once the ship reaches the cloud level and, like, the sun lights everything up, Jonathan’s mouth, like, gets wide open, and he’s like,
(as Jonathan): Ohhh.
Darcy: And it’s like, yeah, no, I did lose something, but I got something too.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah, you've never seen the world from this high.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: You're above the mountains, you know? You can look down. You can see the Shell Barrow. And as you, you know, fly, you know, above and away from Spillaway Peaks, you can see people down there moving around. Or not. You could choose not to look down there where your family is. [Darcy chuckles] Up to you, really. But you've never seen. You know, maybe you've climbed the mountains and looked down at Spillaway Peaks from the mountains, but this is a whole other thing, you know?
Darcy: Yeah.
Austin: You can see really far from here, so. All right. Your first roll is a d6, your first Travel roll. As a reminder, you’re trying to get a low number here. A 1 is a major discovery. A 2 or 3 is a minor discovery. A 4 or 5, nothing significant happens. 6 or higher, you encounter a danger of some sort.
Darcy: Mm. I think we should each make one of these rolls.
Austin: Sure.
Darcy: But I'm happy to go first.
Austin: I want a picture of everyone doing something during each of their rolls, then, you know?
Darcy: Mm.
Austin: I'm happy for you. Like, you are very clearly piloting. But like, an image of what you're doing on the ship as you make each of these rolls, because there are four, so it works. Let’s start with you piloting.
Darcy: Yeah.
Austin: Give me a d6. Hey, that’s a 4. 4 is nothing happens, I believe.
Darcy: Woohoo!
Austin: Nothing significant happens. An easy one here. We can just move you right to the edge. Uh, what’s the fastest?
Darcy: How fast does the ship go, Austin?
Austin: I believe it’s 3.
Darcy: Well, I mean, like…
Austin: Oh, you tell me.
Darcy: I'm finding out. I'm finding out how fast the ship goes on this roll.
Austin: I guess that’s— well. Not literally. Your roll isn't determining that.
Darcy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No.
Austin: But you're saying you're…
Darcy: What Jonathan is doing…
Austin: Yeah.
Darcy: While this roll is happening, Jonathan is seeing: how fast can the ship go?
Austin: Oh, I see, I see. I think—
Darcy: Can I do a barrel roll?
Austin: That sounds like a different roll. That sounds dangerous.
Darcy: No, I know, I know.
Austin: You have all of the time. You can, but there's no— You can, the way it would go, more or less, not for real, but it would be really scary for everybody on board.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: But you're pretty sure you could, push come to shove.
Jack: Everything would fall out of cabinets.
Austin: Well, not if you do it quick enough.
Jack: I suppose, yeah.
Darcy: True!
Austin: If you do it really fast… [Darcy laughs quietly]
Jack: But traditionally the airship doesn't move super quickly.
Austin: That’s correct. And maybe that’s part of what you're learning here, is like, this thing is not…
Darcy: Yeah.
Austin: This thing, in many ways, is like the Little Snail. It’s a beast. It’s a boat.
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: You know? It’s a big weird vehicle. It’s not a little maneuverable plane or something, you know?
Darcy: Yeah, yeah.
Austin: It’s not one of the Valte, you know, bombers or kind of like their airships. Their airships often have this kind of built for, you know, quick, you know, attacks and stuff like that. That is not what this is. This is a ship built to move you around the world safely and sturdily and to keep the Little Snail protected and, you know, to get you where you're going. 
Darcy: Mm-hmm.
Austin: It’s beautiful. It’s kind of a Cadillac, you know?
Darcy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: But it’s not a warship. All right, who is next? Also, I'm going to double check that I'm right about it being three spots. I think it is, but I'm double checking. Yeah, that’s. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait. I might be wrong. Escaping… should be here… Yes, times 3. Yeah, okay. All right, who’s going next? What are we seeing?
Jack: I will roll.
Austin: Okay.
Jack: I am trying to see if I can see Rillspur.
Austin: Oh, fun. It’s really far, so I don't think so, but, you know, you're using navigational devices. You're using telescopes. 
Jack: Peering through a telescope. I mean, I can definitely see Calstega Bay, right?
Austin: Maybe.
Jack: Across the…
Austin: I don't know; it’s many days away, Jack.
Jack: Ah, that’s true.
Austin: You're high up.
Jack: But how long did it take us to sail from Calstega Bay to Spillaway Peaks?
Austin: One, two, three, four, five—
Jack: I mean, I know this map isn't—
Austin: Three days.
Jack: Sure. Okay, right. In my brain, because we moved past a lot of that once we’d finished fighting the clay soldiers…
Austin: Yeah. That was like the last thing that you did, you know?
Jack: But yes. Yeah. In that case, peering in that direction, [Austin: Yeah.] hoping that you could see it.
Austin: You might. If you're high enough up and, you know, the curve of the planet, you know?
Jack: It’s big too, right?
Austin: It’s very big.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: Clearly. I mean, it’s, by the map, if that image is accurate, it’s gigantic, you know?
Jack: [laughs] It’s enormous.
Austin: So, maybe.
Jack: Yeah. In any case, I have rolled 5.
Austin: A 5. Nothing happens on 4 or 5, so another easy one.
Jack: It’s very uneventful.
Austin: So far, so good. All right. Two more travel days as the ship flies through the air. I guess let’s stay on you for a second, Elena. What’s it feel like to be flying around on an airship?
Jack: This is the dream.
Austin: Mm.
Jack: This is like, this is the bit of Elena that left Rillspur and said, “I want to see the world.”
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Jack: Her hair is, you know, flowing behind her. She’s looking through a telescope. She’s leaning on the rail. She’s looking down at the water and seeing if there's any cool stuff happening in the water below, of like, seeing things moving or patterns of rocks or something.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: There is a real, like, steps to the guillotine feeling here that she’s desperately trying to avoid, because she has genuinely been given the thing that she wants the most in this moment.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: The problem is that Elena wants to do it until she dies a natural death and the world continues, right?
Austin: Mm-hmm.
Jack: But yeah. This is good stuff, and I'm not afraid.
Austin: Who’s up next? Speaking of stepping to the guillotine, you're going to have to a roll much higher die than Jonathan and Elena, because now you're moving over open waters patrolled by the Valte and perhaps other forces. 
Ali: [quietly] Oh man.
Austin: Veile?
Ali: Sure. I guess I volunteered myself. I just roll 1d6?
Austin: A d12.
Ali: Uh oh.
Austin: Yeah. [someone chuckles] As a reminder, you're rolling the— On my view, I can see a bunch of numbers on this map that indicate how dangerous every tile is.
Ali: Ohh. I see.
Austin: And when you travel, you roll the highest one you're going to pass over in that day. [Ali sighs] You're going from the edge of the island where Spillaway Peaks is to the depths of the sea where it’s a d12.
Darcy: Mm.
Ali: Okay, cool. I think in the montage version of this travel, [Austin: Yeah.] Veile is praying, like, a lot. [laughs quietly] 
Austin: Mm.
Jack: Ohoho.
Ali: I think she stayed up pretty late after the vow night.
Austin: Just to the Ennead in general?
Ali: Yeah, you know. [laughs] 
Austin: Any particular…?
Ali: Just kind of spread it around.
Austin: Spreading it around, I see, yeah.
Ali: Well, I think there's part of her that’s like, I think that she is trying to not touch the hot, like, spot in her mind about Caliginia by being like, [Austin: Mm.] “Well, I should be making similar vows to everybody. Like, it’s foolish that I never did that,” you know what I mean? [Austin, Jack, and Ali laugh]
Austin: Oh, I see. Right, right. Right. Yeah, in a way, you know, you're every— yeah, of course. You serve the whole Ennead.
Jack: Yeah, yeah.
Ali: Uh huh. And I think the way that this shows in like a navigation sense is that maybe there's, like, she’s maybe doing the rituals thing, like magic, you know, very wind and time magic to sort of [Austin: Yeah.] keep that cloud out of there or whatever. And I think there's part of her that wants to reach out to Caliginia just to, like, sort of test if it would work.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: But like, feels like that would be rude. [laughs] It’s like, I can't do this unless it’s actually important, but I really just want to text you and, like, see what’s up.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: And like, it’s just, it’s tough to be Veile. Anyway, I'm rolling 1d12, and I got a 5.
Austin: Hey, another 5. Nothing happens.
Ali: Yay.
Austin: Boop, boop, boop, boop. Or one more. One less, rather; it’s here. So, one more to go. And this is, again, a d12, Nicky.
Art: All right.
Austin: And you've been taking your ingredients.
Art: I have, and I'm going to roll at the end.
Austin: Okay.
Art: Because this is not the dangerous one. This is just I get a bunch of ingredients at the end.
Austin: Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 
Art: For each travel roll, I get four ingredients, so.
Austin: That’s a lot.
Darcy: That is.
Art: Yeah. This is, I think I just want to paint it as Nicky is the person when everyone else is asleep.
Austin: Oh, interesting. You're up.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Night watch Nicky.
Art: Nicky’s taking the third shift.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Art: 12?
Austin: Flegg is the one— Yeah, d12. Flegbot is the one at the helm when, yeah.
Art: Right.
Austin: But you're on watch.
Art: Uh huh. And depending on how this roll goes, that’s about how…
Austin: Are you sky fishing? Where are you getting these ingredients from?
Art: I don't know. This sounds like a problem for me in five minutes.
Austin: Okay. Yeah, yeah. Future Art will fix this one. [Darcy laughs quietly] All right.
Art: Some sky fishing. 
Austin: Yeah.
Art: Some sky gathering.
Austin: Sky gathering.
Art: Air barnacles.
Austin: Air barnacles. Well, that’s a 6. A 6 is a danger. It is late into your, let’s say middle of the way there, halfway through your journey, so like on night two. And you can see… You're just, like, out on the deck, and suddenly a spotlight hits the deck from above. You didn't even hear it. There is a Valte vessel, these kind of long, thin, almost wing-shaped bomber type vessels. Not literally a bomber, but like, that’s the shape, right? This huge. It’s just the wing, almost like a boomerang shape. Like, hovers above you, matches speed, and a voice, you know, echoes out in the night that’s magnified by some sort of machine that says,
(as Valte): Unknown vessel! Prepare to be boarded. Prepare identification documents. 
Austin: And ropes begin to fall down onto the deck.
[“Perpetua” by Jack de Quidt plays] 


________________
[1]The name in the audio recording is no longer in use, hence the audio/transcript discrepancies.