S1 Ep5: Everybody Wants to Rule the World

[00:00:31] Speaker A: Hello, I'm Coda Massacoy, scion of Bastet. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Damon Gerard, and I'll be playing Chris Strom. [00:00:43] Speaker C: Hello. I'm Gary, and I'll be playing oliver Bright Scion of Oakland. [00:00:49] Speaker D: And I'm cyan. I'm playing Sarah Baxter, the scion of Vidar. [00:00:55] Speaker E: And I'm bloodied porcelain. I'll be your storyteller this evening. Good evening, players. Where last we left off, you all had spent some time in Anvil with the dwarves. You had received your birthrights. Some of you had finally met your divine parents. Some of you got to meet other gods altogether. You got to see your old friend Teddy. Sarah got tipped off to the idea that there may be possibly someone who could help with bringing Teddy back. And you were pointed in the direction of a seer, a sybil who lives in the forests and mountainous regions around Georgia and told that. Well, any good story in the epics starts with a trip to the oracle. You left Anvil, and while you were on the road, you stopped off at a roadside motel and were sleeping soundly when you were attacked by more of those huge, nearly car sized wolves and a mysterious stranger. Chris and Oliver had a moment of horrifying brilliance where they combined their Chris's skill with a bow and Oliver's creative thinking to explode several cars and blow up one of the wolves. Another one nearly died, and the remaining forces managed to get away with the help of this woman, who seems to at least know who Sarah is, based on the way she threw her name around, having set off an explosion, fought for your lives, and left rather large wolf sized holes in the walls of the motel. You all piled into your car and sped off into the night. And that's where we will be picking up, because the Chat has already noticed. Yes, I am sick. I apologize. I'm not going to sound amazing tonight, but I could not leave this for another week. I missed you all and this story far, far too much to let it go again. [00:04:01] Speaker C: And we missed you. [00:04:06] Speaker E: I hope are prepared for what is coming. So, picking up where we left off, what were you what would you guys have done after the big fight? [00:04:32] Speaker C: Well, assuming we drove our way out of there as quickly as possible, I'll kind of take a look around throughout the windows, get a surveillance of our surroundings before turning back. So should we talk about what just happened back there? [00:04:53] Speaker D: What exactly is there to talk about? And as she's driving, Sarah will have pedal to the metal. [00:05:00] Speaker C: Well, for starters, the wolves attacked us again, although this time we did far better. But there was also that woman, and she seemed to have at least some kind of alliance with them, if not outright controlling them. I don't know what that was about. And she seemed to have known you. [00:05:25] Speaker D: Yeah, I don't know what that's all about. [00:05:31] Speaker B: She did something to my head. She made me not want to fight. It's weird. [00:05:36] Speaker C: Strange. [00:05:38] Speaker A: Kick their ass, right? [00:05:41] Speaker D: But she gave a command and they all left. I don't think there's a question in my mind that she was controlling them. [00:05:54] Speaker C: Wonder what they wanted. I assume to attack us, gauge how we've progressed so far. But other than that, I'm not sure they didn't commit fully. They pulled back when things started seeming dire. [00:06:14] Speaker D: It felt more like they were probing us. [00:06:17] Speaker C: Yes, exactly. I feel like if they come first again, we might be facing more of them or they'll be supercharged in some way, or just in general, more powerful. [00:06:33] Speaker A: So shouldn't we be extra careful then, if we're about to head to this Seer person? [00:06:42] Speaker C: Yes, and I'm glad you brought that up, Miss Masquoi, because and I'm going to reach into my statue and pull out four of the glass files that I bought, or I guess three of them, and pass one out to each one of them. I got this idea after our first time encountering the wolves. I think it might be a good idea to fill each one of those vials up with your own blood. Therefore, if we're ever being chased and you have a moment, you could throw it, it would shatter and your scent would be on the floor or the wall, and then you run the opposite direction and then potentially confuse whatever's chasing you and buy a bit of time. It's not the best precautionary measure, but it's one. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll do it. It worked last time. [00:07:38] Speaker B: Why not? [00:07:39] Speaker C: And if not, you at least have a class file now that you can do as you please with. [00:07:47] Speaker A: So I have a question, and she's going to look at Chris and Oliver. What was that explosion of the cars? [00:07:57] Speaker B: We blew a car up. [00:07:59] Speaker C: We blew three cars up. [00:08:02] Speaker A: And one of those dogs. Big or wolves? Excuse me? Dogs. [00:08:10] Speaker C: Yeah. Can heights. [00:08:13] Speaker A: So we need to start doing that more. And then she's going to look at Sarah and you you got them to just stop moving. You just said sit, and then it sat. [00:08:24] Speaker E: I suppose it did. [00:08:28] Speaker A: Guys, we're badass. [00:08:32] Speaker C: We did. Far better than the first time. [00:08:35] Speaker A: No deaths. Knock on wood. [00:08:38] Speaker C: Knock on wood. I don't think this car has any wooden upholstery. Although. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Although one thing I do want to bring up. We need to find a way that we can talk to each other during situations like this, because I was able to scout the area through the again, which is crazy. I was able to scout the area through the moon, but I was able to let Sarah know what was happening. But if we're ever in a circumstance like this, how do I talk to you guys? Should I call? What? We need something if we're going to be a group. Team clan band of super powered demigods scion. [00:09:26] Speaker C: Has anyone had the revelation that they have some sort of scion mind hub, telepathy, something or other. [00:09:36] Speaker A: Not yet. [00:09:37] Speaker D: Or we could just get a set of radio earbuds that works. [00:09:43] Speaker A: We could stop somewhere and pick it up. [00:09:45] Speaker C: Yes. Until then, I suppose our phones could also do the trick, but radios sound far more secure. [00:09:57] Speaker E: Cool. [00:10:01] Speaker C: Until then. Though I do agree with Miss Mascoy. We did very well there. And as cause for celebration. So I pose that we listen to Call of the Wild by Jack London for the rest of the journey. [00:10:16] Speaker A: You know what? [00:10:18] Speaker E: Don't make me turn this car know. [00:10:22] Speaker C: I said this because I knew Miss Mascoy would be on my side with that book. It's a very good one. [00:10:27] Speaker A: I agree. You know what? Actually, I agree only if you say that we kicked ass. [00:10:36] Speaker C: We kicked heiny no, we kicked butt. [00:10:44] Speaker B: No, we kicked no, we kicked ass, dude. Just say it. [00:10:49] Speaker A: Yeah, think of an old timey way of saying donkey. We kicked. [00:11:00] Speaker C: We kicked ass. [00:11:04] Speaker A: Yes. Let's go. I could die happy now. [00:11:10] Speaker C: I still haven't set the f one. [00:11:14] Speaker A: You got to start somewhere. [00:11:16] Speaker C: We'll see about that. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Yes, we will. [00:11:21] Speaker A: She's going to high five, Chris. [00:11:23] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. [00:11:32] Speaker E: This weird little family road trip of yours. So where are you guys? Are you guys going to go find another place to stop for the night, or are you just now that you're up and moving, you're going to keep going? What's the plan? [00:11:45] Speaker C: How much sleep did we get before we were abruptly awoken? [00:11:49] Speaker E: Not a ton. A few hours at most. [00:11:55] Speaker C: We should probably find somewhere else to stop then, to fully rejuvenate. But do you think they would go for us again? Should we risk another motel? Or should we maybe find somewhere to pull off into the woods or something and make camp around? The car wouldn't be as safe as stopping at a motel, but we wouldn't have put other people in danger if we were to I think we should. [00:12:22] Speaker B: Keep going, but anyone who's not driving should get some sleep. [00:12:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:29] Speaker E: Agreed. [00:12:30] Speaker A: I don't mind being a navigator. [00:12:32] Speaker B: I'll take over in an hour, sarah. [00:12:34] Speaker C: And then I will switch as navigator as well. In an hour or so. [00:12:39] Speaker D: All right. I'll probably try to stop for gas then, too, so we can stay as efficient as possible as we head down to our right. [00:12:49] Speaker A: All right. [00:12:52] Speaker C: Great. [00:12:56] Speaker E: Okay. Sarah? Yes? You have invested into epic stamina, have you not? [00:13:07] Speaker D: I have, yes. [00:13:08] Speaker E: Do you have any of the ones that specifically make it so that you can stay up longer and things? [00:13:16] Speaker D: No. [00:13:18] Speaker E: All right. Well, then that sounds like this is the time for a role. What do you think? [00:13:26] Speaker D: I agree. [00:13:27] Speaker E: I think we're going to do stamina and resolve. [00:13:33] Speaker A: Can I help her? Since I'm being her navigator, I will give you. [00:13:43] Speaker E: How are you helping, precisely? Because that'll tell me how many dice she's going to get out of this. [00:13:49] Speaker A: She's kind of like playing music and then talking about the music that's happening. And she's like, oh, I haven't heard this before, and I haven't heard that before. Okay. [00:14:04] Speaker E: Also, it's not resolve. It's fortitude. Wrong system. That's what that was. Your storyteller plays too many games. [00:14:17] Speaker A: She's just talking. [00:14:19] Speaker E: Okay, so Stamina and Fortitude and I'll give you an extra die. Okay? And don't forget that you get an automatic success for every epic Stamina dot you have. [00:14:35] Speaker D: Okay. Then it's four plus two. [00:14:39] Speaker E: So six. Excellent. You are good then. So do you bring the speed down as you guys get further away and you're a little less on edge or are you continuing to pedal to the middle the whole time? [00:14:55] Speaker D: As we've gotten further away from the motel, she'd try to normalize out and just keep an eye out for anyone that might be following them. But it's dark, so she's staying at the speed limit on the highways so that no hidden cops can try to pull them over. [00:15:18] Speaker E: Sounds good. All right. Given how well you rolled, I'm not going to make you do like a drive check or anything like that. You've got this under control. You're not driving crazily through crowded streets or anything like that. Coda is doing a phenomenal job of being just annoying enough. She's like that overexcited little sister. It's endearing. But also oh my God. After about an hour or so, unless you two have something you want to talk about, we'll move on. [00:16:14] Speaker A: Not really. [00:16:15] Speaker E: Okay, cool. [00:16:16] Speaker D: I think it's just random banter. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:21] Speaker E: We'Re going to say it's about 45 minutes into this drive and you guys are getting to the point where you need to pull off for gas because you had planned on getting gas in the morning after your slept. You guys. Or I should say Coda. Your phone beeps in your pocket. [00:16:48] Speaker A: She'll check it. [00:16:51] Speaker E: It is a text from Net. Hey, I know it's the middle of the night and I'm sorry if I'm waking you up. Some shit went down here. I'm going to be away dealing with stuff and helping Kareem and the others. I don't know how long we'll be, but if you need something, text me and I'll do my best. Don't tell Oliver. He seems like a worry wart. [00:17:27] Speaker A: He'll text back. Cool beans. We just kicked some wolves butts. We're still alive though. Stopping to get some snackies. [00:17:37] Speaker E: Stay safe. [00:17:39] Speaker A: And then like a smile emoji. [00:17:46] Speaker E: Um, there's a pause and then you get oh, shit, you two. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Yeah, and some chick with knives. Didn't catch her name though. [00:18:00] Speaker E: No chick here. Some weird guy, though. [00:18:08] Speaker A: And she'll hold out the like part. That's weird. But then again, all of this is weird. Well, did they command the puppers? Multiple question marks. [00:18:26] Speaker E: Yeah, he did. [00:18:27] Speaker A: Okay, well, same here. Although we killed one of them and then the other one was about to die, but then they escaped. Or they ran away, I guess. Question mark. [00:18:35] Speaker E: Question mark. Question mark. Yeah, I couldn't catch mine either. Be safe. Keep moving when you can and keep me up to date. I'll do what I can. If something goes down. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Cool beans. Stay safe, too. Got to fight you later. All right, bye. [00:18:57] Speaker E: And then you get another message that's just FYI, if you guys come back to Baltimore, don't go to the safe house. Not a safe house anymore. [00:19:08] Speaker A: Multiple question marks. And then, like, a barf emoji, and then cool. [00:19:12] Speaker E: Got ah. And then that's the last thing you get from. And about that's about the time you guys pull into the gas station and Chris and Oliver are probably woken up by the glare of fluorescent lights cutting through what has been a reasonably quiet and dark drive. [00:19:49] Speaker B: Where are we? [00:19:52] Speaker D: Gas station. [00:19:54] Speaker B: How far do we go? [00:19:57] Speaker D: About 60 miles. [00:19:59] Speaker B: Okay, let me just go and get a can of Coke or something to wake up, and I'll be good to go. [00:20:09] Speaker D: Okay. I'm going to grab some extra gas canisters while we're here and stick them in the trunk. [00:20:13] Speaker B: Yeah, let me get some caffeine for everybody and candy and sugar highs and all that sort of shit. [00:20:21] Speaker A: Can you get a can of tuna, too? [00:20:26] Speaker B: I mean, if they sell it here? Sure. [00:20:28] Speaker E: Cool, thanks. They probably have the packet. [00:20:33] Speaker C: I will go in with you. I want to see if they have any roadmaps, potentially. [00:20:37] Speaker B: Oh, good. Cool. [00:20:39] Speaker E: Chris gets kind of like passing touch with Mr. Cat's Paw for where he's sitting on Coda, like, draped around the back of Coda's neck. Kind of like, thank you, mortal. [00:20:53] Speaker B: I'll nod at him solemnly as if a shared conversation has just happened. [00:21:06] Speaker E: So Chris and Oliver head inside. Does anybody want to do anything or have any conversations while the party is kind of broken up? [00:21:21] Speaker C: Sure. While we're sort of shopping and just browsing various shells for sugary crap to put in our systems to wake up, I'll just kind of speak with Chris. So about those pointers on how to just kind of give a small little punch in the air. [00:21:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:46] Speaker C: We don't have to go fully into it now, but in case something jumps out at us again, I know just a tip or two on how to not break my fist immediately. [00:21:59] Speaker B: Well, do you know how to make a fist, like, properly make a fist? [00:22:06] Speaker C: I always assumed you just sort of curl the fingers in, like so. [00:22:13] Speaker B: Yeah, kind of. But you got to tighten everything up. I'll grab hold of your hand and kind of pull your fingers in a bit more and put your thumb in the right place so that it really feels solid. [00:22:29] Speaker C: Right. Okay, got it. [00:22:34] Speaker B: So if you have your fingers kind of loose, you're going to break them, so everything's got to be tight. [00:22:44] Speaker C: All right. I'm not sure if the muscle capacity for that yet, but I'll work on it. At least not to do it for long. Periods of time. [00:22:53] Speaker B: Yeah, you want to get a hold of one of those grip tighteners. If we can find, like, a sport and goods shop, something like that. [00:23:03] Speaker C: Oh, like the ones where it's got the two handles and you just squeeze it. [00:23:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Find a big five or something. They'll have something. [00:23:12] Speaker C: All right, I'll do it. So long as we're on the road, it's not like I can get into the gym or anything. [00:23:22] Speaker B: Yeah, and then next up, I'll teach you how to throw from the shoulder and make sure you don't break fingers when you hit. [00:23:32] Speaker C: Great. Sounds wonderful. Thank you, Chris. [00:23:37] Speaker B: Yeah, no problem. Now, where's the tuna section going to be? Over here? [00:23:46] Speaker C: I don't know. This is a gas station. If they sell tuna. [00:23:50] Speaker E: I mean, it's a convenience store. They've got tuna. You don't know how old the tuna is, but they've got it. They've got little cans of it on. [00:23:58] Speaker C: The I wouldn't eat it for ourselves, but so long as we don't tell Mr. Cat about the conventions of buying fish from a convenience store, I'm sure they won't notice or care. [00:24:10] Speaker B: What's worse than gas station fish? [00:24:13] Speaker C: Gas station sushi. [00:24:16] Speaker B: Okay, you got me beat. [00:24:18] Speaker C: I mean, it's the same thing, but there's also rice and old seaweed. [00:24:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I want some sushi now, too. [00:24:28] Speaker C: We should not risk it. It would be a bad idea to risk it. [00:24:32] Speaker B: It would. You're right. I will pick up, like, four or five cans of tuna. I hope I can find it, though. [00:24:39] Speaker E: Yeah, no, that's easy enough. You basically clean them out of their very small supply of tuna, which gets you a weird look when you guys check out, because I imagine that it's like a pile of soda and energy drinks and candy and then, like, five six cans of Tudor. [00:24:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:56] Speaker C: And then also roadmaps. [00:24:57] Speaker E: And roadmaps. Yes. Okay. You guys make it back out to the car while they were in there? Coda? Sarah, anything? Or shall I move on? [00:25:16] Speaker D: Nope. Just keeping an eye out for any possible ambushes, new attacks, any of that. [00:25:25] Speaker E: Okay. [00:25:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I think Coda is kind of waiting. She wants to have, like, a little convo with Mr. Cat, but every time she goes to do it, someone is awake, so she'll just kind of be like, never mind. [00:25:39] Speaker E: I mean, you can talk to him without talking out loud. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Oh, really? [00:25:44] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:25:45] Speaker A: Okay. [00:25:47] Speaker E: You could talk to him the same way he talks to you. [00:25:50] Speaker A: Cool. Okay. [00:25:52] Speaker E: You just can also talk to him like you're talking to other people, which just makes you look crazy. [00:25:57] Speaker A: Copy. I think Coda has not realized this yet, so I think this may happen while they're driving back by accident. [00:26:06] Speaker E: Okay, cool. All right, so the boys get back, the car gets gassed up, gas cans get filled, snacks and things are handed out. Mr. Cat is given a can of tuna, and Sarah, Coda and Mr. Cat end up in the backseat while the boys take over the. [00:26:27] Speaker C: Fun. I don't have any of the fun can or anything like that. I have the boring, saltwater, taffy things like that that everyone else does not want. [00:26:35] Speaker E: The most beige of beige squad foods, of course. Good Lord. [00:26:41] Speaker B: Okay, shake my head. [00:26:46] Speaker E: Even his food is beige. [00:26:48] Speaker B: Happily. Eat my skittles and starburst. [00:26:53] Speaker E: Love it. Okay, you guys. [00:26:59] Speaker C: Say oh, we got Werther's caramels. Excellent. [00:27:01] Speaker E: Oh, no. [00:27:03] Speaker A: Well, those are good. [00:27:04] Speaker E: They are good. Jesus Christ. [00:27:07] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:27:08] Speaker B: Oliver, I got those for you just to go along with the suede patches for your elbows. [00:27:15] Speaker C: Appreciate it. [00:27:16] Speaker E: I love everything about this. Oliver is the old man of the group. Young, old man, old soul. You guys get back on the road. Koda. Mr. Cat is accepting of the Tudor, but does not seem enthusiastic. It's like, well, I suppose given the circumstances, this is the best that can be done. So it's a lot of, like, he'll numb down and then just sort of settle into your lap. [00:28:02] Speaker A: I think while she's kind of watching the streets are going by, she's trying to doze off, but she's also very used to being awake at night, and she's kind of thinking to herself, she's like, I can't keep calling him Mr. Cat. He's like some kind of gift for my Godly mom, so I can't just keep calling him Mr. Cat. [00:28:27] Speaker E: He's also right here. Coda. You hear in your head. [00:28:34] Speaker A: She'll look down at him and then raise her eyebrow and go, you can hear me? Not actually say that, but think it. [00:28:42] Speaker E: Yes. Not all the time, but when you're not paying attention and you focus your thoughts on me, I can hear. [00:28:53] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Well, I should take a note of that because I don't want you to hear everything that I think about you. Not that I think bad stuff about you. I'm just kind of do you hate being called Mr. Cat? [00:29:09] Speaker E: I am accepting of whatever name you give me. [00:29:13] Speaker A: That's not the answer. Like, do you okay, I was thinking about a couple of names, and I was I mean, I don't know if you know bastet named me Coda, which kind of ironic because it's like the end of a piece of music. Or like end, I think, or I don't know. I don't exactly. [00:29:38] Speaker E: Didn'T I have not asked her, and she did not tell me. [00:29:42] Speaker A: Okay, well, I figured maybe I'll name you something that has to do with music, but it just didn't fit. I don't know. Were you a stray cat that just got taken in by her, or were you like a kitten when you were picked up by her? [00:30:00] Speaker E: I have known her since I was a kitten. I was not astray he'll kind of look at himself. I have excellent breeding, right? [00:30:19] Speaker A: Well, I don't know. I've been thinking that I guess if things go well and long, that it's going to be me and you ride to die, hopefully. Hopefully not the dying part. And I was kind of figuring that you might be a part of my family. So I kind of want something that'll make you sound like you're my family. [00:30:44] Speaker E: Well, then you will need to get off of your ass and pick a name. [00:30:48] Speaker A: I was getting there. This is what she actually does say out loud. But then she'll look around and be like. [00:30:56] Speaker E: Just yawns. [00:30:59] Speaker A: I was thinking, okay, so my family well, the family I thought I had, they're Liberian and I didn't really know too much about the Egyptians, but I know we're from the I'm not I was born in America, so when I'm with people from the Pele tribe or if I see them here, then I'm not Pele. But then when I'm here in America, I'm not American, but then I didn't have parents, so I'm an orphan. But then technically I did have parents and so I'm not really an orphan. And now suddenly, oh, I'm not really I'm scion or but at the same time, I'm not really in the midst of this. So I'm still like a new baby scion. [00:31:48] Speaker E: While your brain is babbling and going through this long drawed out diatribe, a paw just reaches up and sets itself on your lips even though you're not physically talking. [00:32:01] Speaker A: Yes. [00:32:05] Speaker E: You'Re Egyptian and a scion. You are above royalty. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Okay. [00:32:21] Speaker E: And you are a daughter of Bastet and I would not want her hearing you talk about yourself like that. [00:32:30] Speaker A: But it's the truth. [00:32:32] Speaker E: And I get no, it is your perception. [00:32:38] Speaker A: But I get my strength from that. I know I don't belong anywhere, so I make my own space. And that's where my strength comes from, me building myself up. Not. [00:32:53] Speaker E: Something that you claim is you building yourself up. A lot of it is awful based on other people. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Whatever you are, who. [00:33:07] Speaker E: And what you are. Koda, Masakoi, whether other people see that or not does not matter. [00:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. Whatever. I don't know. I wanted to call you Pele because I think it'd be cool because I like that name. Okay. And I'll maybe try to a soccer player. Yeah. But then the Pele tribe in Liberia is K-P-E-L-L-E. But Pele was also a soccer player. But it's nice because it is a high status name. Yes, I accept. Okay. [00:33:49] Speaker E: This is worthy of me. [00:33:51] Speaker A: Of course it is. Well, cool. Thank you for your words. Then Pele, and she'll scratch his head. [00:34:13] Speaker E: That is nice. [00:34:15] Speaker A: And she'll sit back and start to relax a bit. [00:34:21] Speaker E: As you are sitting back and sort of scritching at him, you catch a little bit of movement out of the corner of your eye. And as you glance down at his collar, the little tag on the collar, you watch in real time as the name Pele writes itself across the tag in beautiful script. [00:34:47] Speaker A: She'll smile and then close her eyes just to actually try to get some sleep. [00:34:55] Speaker E: All right. Any discussions that need to happen between the boys in the front seat, or shall I move us along? [00:35:04] Speaker B: I'll probably just ask Oliver if he's got the map on where we should go, but that's about it. [00:35:12] Speaker C: Haven't pulled out. Take a sip of my La Croix, because I'm not drinking soda. Of course. [00:35:18] Speaker E: Of course. [00:35:19] Speaker C: Just make sure we have the right aft of where we're going and play navigator. [00:35:25] Speaker E: Excellent. Okay, so we're going to skip forward a little bit. It's a bit of a haul to get where you're going. Allison's cave is located kind of in the heart of a fairly far flung part of Georgia. It's just south of Chattanooga and about a good bit northeast or northwest of Atlanta, outside of a small town named Lafayette. You guys drive kind of through Lafayette. It's one of those places where you stop and you get lunch because you know you're not far, and you're going to have to kind of fuel up or while brunch you're going to have to fuel up before you get there. Because once you're kind of out in the wilderness, there's not going to be another place to stop for a while. While you are driving, I'm going to assume that Oliver, being Oliver, is going to probably Google where exactly you're going to get some ideas of what you're in for. So Ellison's Cave is the cave itself, and it's one of the deepest caves in the US. It's about 12 miles in length. [00:37:09] Speaker A: But. [00:37:09] Speaker E: There is a cave pit, which is what you expect you guys are going to have to tackle, and it is the deepest cave drop in the continental US. It's almost twice the height of the Statue of Liberty from top to bottom. It's literally just almost a completely straight down shot. People have gone and gotten stuck. Like, they'll get, like, halfway down, and they'll get exhausted, and they can't get themselves back up, and they can't get themselves fully down. A couple of people have died. It's not common, but it happens enough that you do find, like, what do you call them? News articles and things like that about it. So when the dwarves told you to take some climbing gear and to be ready and careful, they weren't joking. You're not entirely sure how this woman lives in this place. You were warned that she doesn't leave and that it might behoove you to bring some food. So when you stop into Lafayette, you grab, like, an extra order of food with you to bring with you. You might be able to get her to talk a little bit more if you provide her with sustenance. [00:38:52] Speaker C: All right, I'll read over this. Get all this information absorbed. Right. So are we sure we have enough rope and climbing equipment? Because we're going to need enough to scale at least two Eiffel Towers. [00:39:09] Speaker B: Was it Eiffel Tower? [00:39:11] Speaker E: Statue of Liberty? [00:39:12] Speaker C: Statue of Liberty. My bad. Two statue of Liberties. [00:39:16] Speaker B: Dude, I have no idea. Never been here before. [00:39:23] Speaker C: Right. And need extra food as well. That is not candy, as apparently sometimes people die halfway through because they get too exhausted to get down fully or climb back up. And best not have that happen to us, not after everything we've been through. I feel like dying halfway down a cave drop would be a bit silly. [00:39:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Candle mint cake. That's what you need. [00:39:59] Speaker C: A what cake? [00:40:01] Speaker B: Candle, candle, mint cake. [00:40:06] Speaker C: Define that for me. [00:40:09] Speaker B: It's like a slab of mint flavored sugar. [00:40:19] Speaker C: And that's better than candy. [00:40:22] Speaker B: Oh. If you go going climbing or hiking or shit like that. Oh, yeah. [00:40:31] Speaker C: So it's sort of like an energy bar, basically. [00:40:34] Speaker B: Yeah, it just tastes better. [00:40:36] Speaker C: All right, then get some of those. We do have the orvish climbing gear, so I will put some faith in them on that. I'm sure we have enough there, but double checking wouldn't hurt. [00:40:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:56] Speaker C: Anything else come to mind that we might need? And I'll also kind of turn around, look at the girls in the back, see if they're awake or still asleep or not. [00:41:07] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, they're awake. You guys were on the road for a while between the two days, so they had enough time to rest up and you guys are awake and kind of all in Lafayette, gathering what you need before you head on feedback. [00:41:26] Speaker A: Like head flashlights. [00:41:29] Speaker C: Agreed. [00:41:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:31] Speaker E: We'll say that that kind of stuff was probably included in the climbing kit. And it's hard to be sure exactly how much rope you have, Oliver, but it seems like there's a good bit. And they've also thrown in things like pythons and whatever in case something goes wrong and you need to create your own tie offs and cool. [00:41:56] Speaker C: All right. Think we have a good game plan then. Just so long as we go in with our head in the game, mitigates some potential bad things from happening. [00:42:12] Speaker E: Okay. Were you going to say something, Coda? [00:42:19] Speaker A: Nope. [00:42:21] Speaker E: All right, you guys gather what you need, thankfully, because Lafayette is so close to a bunch of national parks and wildlife refuges and things like that. Yes, I apologize. Mr. Cat is obviously going ballistic. Won't stop meowing. He's in a mood. Sorry. Pele. [00:42:50] Speaker D: I have pele. [00:42:51] Speaker E: Ambiance going right now. So you guys gather what you need. You're able to get sugary, energy bar snacks and things like that? At Chris's suggestion. I've already forgotten the name. You'll have to forgive me. You guys are able to buy stuff like that, thankfully, because they're kind of in the middle of nowhere and they're used to a lot of climbers and cave divers coming through here. Good Lord. Okay, as you guys get on, you make your way out past pulling up my map. You guys make your way past Crockford Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Place and follow this long kind of winding road. Through this very hilly area to where the map says a place called Petty John's Cave is. It's a bit of a hike to get there, and then you have to go a little bit further than that to get to where Ellison's Cave is. It's not really marked specifically on any of the roadmaps, but you guys do manage to stop off at one of the what do you call it, park information stands to get a map that shows where all the different capes are located, and it turns out there's quite a few. And when you get to this one, there are people occasionally on the different trails, and they seem like normal people, folks who are out hiking. Some people have climbing gear. They look like they might be going bouldering, or they might be going splunking into caves and whatever. But when you get to Ellison's Cave, it doesn't seem like too many people are planning to descend. Though you do get some weird looks when people realize that you might be just based on the sheer amount of gear that you're carrying. Most people are going in and kind of walking through the cave itself and not planning on taking the plunge. Not planning on taking the plunge, so to speak. [00:45:35] Speaker C: I'd like to say by the time we get there, I have already sweated through my shirt. I have my jacket off, and it's like, slung over my shoulder and I'm just breathing heavily. [00:45:45] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. Oliver is not well physically suited to what is about to happen, and I'm so excited. [00:45:53] Speaker C: I'm not dressed for it either. [00:45:56] Speaker E: What's really funny is that it is the middle of January, but you're also in Georgia, so that kind of offsets it. It's warm, but it's not hot, but it's also very humid because it's Georgia. Okay, so how are you guys planning to go about this? Are you guys going to try and do this at a time where you're not going to be on the radar of the other people who are here? Because it's kind of the middle of the day, so it's a little bit hard to avoid being seen if you want to go down right now, or are you just going to say, fuck it, and go and live with whatever the consequences of that may be. [00:46:50] Speaker B: I think it's safer to go down during the day when there's other people about, purely just in case we get into trouble. [00:46:59] Speaker A: I agree. [00:47:03] Speaker C: The only point I would have in the way of devil's advocacy is that if people see us, they know us, and trouble comes our way. There may be unwitting people who are going to point said trouble towards us, but I think safety and knowing of people knowing us that we're down there and being able to help us in case we run into trouble down there offsets what I said previously. So I agreed. [00:47:38] Speaker E: Okay. All right, so we're going in the middle of the day. I would like, how do we want to do this? We're going to make this a group guild challenge, which isn't technically something from this system, but I've seen it in other systems and I like it. So we're going to use it. All right, each of you is going to be allowed to pick a die. [00:48:09] Speaker C: Pool. [00:48:12] Speaker E: Or just tell me kind of how you want to contribute to this, like what particular expertise or background or knowledge you as a player want to bring to the table. And I will give you your dipole. And if you guys get enough total successes, you will make it to the bottom quite safely. And if you don't, then there will be some complications. [00:48:41] Speaker C: Case, something I'd like to ask. Back when we were kind of in the information house area place, were there any magazines or books around on climbing tips or climbing for dummies or anything like that? [00:48:59] Speaker E: Yes, but only the very basics. And you would know from your online research that the cave that you are going into is not even recommended for some more advanced climbers. Like, this is a very challenging climb. [00:49:14] Speaker C: Still, some information is better than others. So back when we were there, I would pick up the book and just quickly flip through it in about 5 seconds and digest everything due to my Speed reader knack. [00:49:25] Speaker E: I like it. [00:49:27] Speaker C: Just sort of use some of the basic tips and information that I managed to get to kind of assist with the ropes and harnesses and all the equipment, getting it set up and doing it in such a way that we're connected to each other. So if something bad happens to one person, they won't just descend hundreds of feet down and have bad things happen. We're all kind of helping each other out in that regard. And then also as we're climbing down, sort of giving tips or advice or encouragements and things of that nature. So kind of relying on command if I can. [00:50:04] Speaker E: Okay, let's go with an intelligence and command role. [00:50:11] Speaker C: And I assume Epic intelligence will apply to this? [00:50:15] Speaker E: It will. [00:50:17] Speaker C: Fantastic. [00:50:21] Speaker E: While he is rolling coda, how do you plan to contribute? [00:50:27] Speaker A: So first off, Mr. Cat's going to be in her knapsack, but also she's kind of leaning more towards being, I guess, dexterous about this. So she's keeping an eye out for any loose rocks, any places that like, oh, maybe we shouldn't step there or maybe we should step there. Kind of a situation like that, as well as kind of being another, I guess, in between of strength going down. So if anyone were to kind of lose their grip, she can very quickly keep a steady grip on the wall or on the rope. I don't know how you climb on these things. [00:51:10] Speaker E: So you've given me three different things that you want to do. They're all very different things. Do you want to be a person who is keeping your head on a swivel for things like handholds and footholds. Do you want to be kind of the core strength of what's happening? [00:51:28] Speaker A: Core strength? I would say backup, but I would say, you know, what she's keeping an eye out for. [00:51:35] Speaker E: So we're going to make yours perception and awareness. [00:51:42] Speaker C: I got seven successes, by the way. [00:51:45] Speaker E: Excellent. Does that include your epics? [00:51:50] Speaker C: Yes. [00:51:51] Speaker E: Cool. Chris, how would you like to contribute? Well. [00:52:00] Speaker B: I excel at dexterity and athletics. That's kind of my thing and fortitude. So I would also like to use my epic charisma knack of inspirational figure to be able to give everybody an extra willpower point, which they can then spend on their roles for this. Love that by coming out with some kind of inspirational words, which I can go into in a minute. But mainly for me, it's going to be about dexterity and athletics, so probably I'll be one of the people going at the front because I'm also one of the heaviest as well. So if something can take my weight, then it's probably going to take everybody else's weight. That's the way I look at it. But I'm dexterous enough to realize and to be able to move away from any problem. Rocks and handholds, should I find them. [00:52:59] Speaker E: Okay, so you want to be, like, the core strength person and kind of the person who's guiding everything physically. [00:53:10] Speaker B: I think so, yeah. That's where I excel. [00:53:13] Speaker E: Okay, well, then let's do that. Sounds like an athletics role to me. Probably strength. Although if something goes horribly wrong, there's always the possibility that you can pivot to Dex to try and save your friends yourself and your friends, I should say. Sarah, while he is rolling in our. [00:53:51] Speaker D: Bag of climbing gear, did we get any kind of bolt gun to set up anchor points in the stone? [00:54:05] Speaker E: Hmm. A bolt gut is a very specific request. Make me a just make me a D ten roll. Let's see if you got lucky. Just one d ten. All right, Mike, stop. [00:54:55] Speaker D: Could one of y'all roll this for me real quick while I grab a new battery? [00:54:59] Speaker E: Sure, I'll do it. That's a six. Yes. You have a bolt gun somehow, miraculously, Dolgram or Mary knew that you were going to need it. [00:55:15] Speaker D: Cool. Then Sarah will probably be one of the first people down setting up anchor points for everyone. One else that's climbing. [00:55:28] Speaker E: Okay, let's do think it think. I think I'm sorry. Let's do intelligence and fuck it. We'll say marksmanship because it's a gun of sorts. [00:56:07] Speaker D: And I am going to. [00:56:08] Speaker E: Use that willpower do it. [00:56:12] Speaker A: We use willpower to reroll, right? [00:56:20] Speaker E: No, you could use willpower in combat for rerolls, but it does something different outside of combat, which I will tell you in 1 second. I'm sorry. [00:56:31] Speaker D: Four successes. [00:56:36] Speaker E: Four successes. What did you get? One spend, just for reference. You can spend a willpower for an automatic success. You get one automatic success, and that is in addition to any successes you get from your die roll and all that stuff. [00:57:20] Speaker C: Since this will power is temporary, right? Is it all right if I just retroactively use mine, even though I already rolled? [00:57:26] Speaker E: Yes, absolutely. [00:57:27] Speaker C: All right. Then that brings me up to eight. [00:57:29] Speaker E: You could also you have the option to use it to activate a virtue. So if one of your virtues comes into play here, you can activate said virtue copy. [00:57:39] Speaker A: So then just for me to re remember successes, it's above seven, correct? [00:57:48] Speaker E: Yes. [00:57:49] Speaker A: All right, so then one, two, three. [00:57:52] Speaker E: And then one automatic four and two for any tens. [00:57:57] Speaker A: Happy? So I only got four. [00:58:00] Speaker E: Okay, so I've got a seven, four what did Sarah get? I'm sorry? Four, four, and five. [00:58:11] Speaker C: Since I'm using my willpower, it's eight. [00:58:14] Speaker E: Okay. [00:58:18] Speaker C: It might make a difference. [00:58:20] Speaker E: 813 1721, I think. Yes. Is that right? Okay, thank you. There are other people here. Come on, help me out, guys. [00:58:37] Speaker C: My specialty is literature, not math, I'm afraid. [00:58:40] Speaker E: Mine too, bruh. Okay, so you guys manage to make it the first, say, just over the first half, when one of those anchor points that Sarah drove into the stone wiggles loose and things get very unsteady and you start swinging a little bit more wildly. Oliver, you're struggling to keep yourself from spinning on the rope, which is bad. It requires a fair amount of core strength and balance to be able to stop it, which neither one of those are your strong suit. And it doesn't look like Sarah did anything wrong in where she put the anchor. It's just like the rock face was just a little too brittle where it was, and there's like, a crack. And the anchor that titan slips out of the rock and tumbles below you. I will allow one person to try to rectify the situation. If that roll fails, you will lose off of your total. If it succeeds, it will add to your total, and then we'll do another round of rolls. [01:00:31] Speaker A: If I activated my cat's Grace, that would only help me, right? But not everyone else. [01:00:37] Speaker E: It only helps you, and it's mostly to keep you on your feet. But you're not on your feet right now. [01:00:45] Speaker C: Who's closest to the issue that being the loose bolt? Is it me, or is it someone else? [01:00:52] Speaker E: I mean, you're the closest one. That's why you're the one who's swinging and kind of spinning. But the closest person to you would probably be either Sarah or Chris. [01:01:07] Speaker B: Probably me. [01:01:08] Speaker E: Then I guess Chris has been acting as y'all's, anchor. Yes. [01:01:13] Speaker C: I know you said only one person, but if you would allow, I would like to kind of just reach into my jacket, kind of touch my special book, and then if Chris is the one trying to fix it, give him the or use trading fates to help him on his role for it. [01:01:33] Speaker E: I would like you to give me a stellar description. And then if you can give me a stunt, I will allow you to do it because you are spinning out of control. This is not easy. [01:01:42] Speaker C: I'm spinning out of control. Trying my best. Assuming I see Chris going to fix it, I'll kind of take a deep breath, close my eyes, and kind of force myself to be calm, be analytical in this situation. Reach into my jacket, grab the book, flip to just what seems like a random page, but somehow I know is the right page. Run my hand over the parchments as the letters and incantations properly form and more or less just put my hand on it, close my eyes, and then breathe deeply as I kind of begin to feel these connections of bait and the threads that they are all around me and just kind of taking the ones that are connecting to me and weaving them to instead pull towards Chris, even though I know this may harm me in the future, in order to try to aid him in what he's about to do. [01:02:42] Speaker E: All right, I will allow sounds. So tell us mechanically what trading fates does mechanically. [01:02:52] Speaker C: I roll my Die pool and it basically operates the same way as Bona Fortuna, except instead for me, it would be for Chris, where he'll get a pool of a bunch of successes die, depending on these successes, and he can add an extra number of those successes to roles that he makes within the scene. The maximum he can do for each pool being half his total willpower. [01:03:21] Speaker E: Okay? So you have to make a roll. [01:03:23] Speaker C: Yes, I make a roll. And then depending on how many successes I make since it's trading fates, next time I do a role that involves spending a legend point, I lose a number of dice based on how many successes I get. [01:03:35] Speaker E: Wow. All Right. So Oliver is spinning. And after a couple of seconds of futile attempts to stop himself and to write what has just gone horribly wrong? Because the thing that he was holding on to broke and fell away from the rocks. You guys see him reach into his jacket and come out with that book that he has never let out of his sight when all of this has been happening? It's either been physically on his person under the jacket where he can keep it safe, or it's been in his hands and you've never seen it anywhere else. And he is now spinning rather wildly on this rope. While this is happening. Chris you feel and see something kind of peculiar. Because you look up and realize that if you don't do something, it's not just going to be Oliver who's in trouble. It's going to be everybody else. It's going to be the others, because you're all tethered together. And it's going to be you because you're the one who's kind of acting as the anchor person for everybody else. Clover in your nose. And you look up in time to see almost what looks like a climbing rope that wasn't there before, but it's glowing, extending between you and Oliver. And you are filled with a sense of certainty and purpose that wasn't there before. But you also notice that the faint glow that you can see on all of your friends for that brief moment is somehow greatly diminished around him as yours seems to increase. Okay, how many successes did we get, Oliver? [01:05:40] Speaker C: Four. So for the scene, Chris gets four bonus. Die. [01:05:45] Speaker E: Excellent. So, Chris, give me tell me how you want to fix this. I will allow you to dictate how you're going to write the ship. [01:05:58] Speaker B: So basically, I have three knacks that are going to be relevant here. I have lightning reflexes, which means I can shoot my arm out the moment I see something going wrong. Cat's grace, which allows me to keep my balance and stay kind of on where I am. And then I have uplifting might, which basically means I can lift over 3000 pounds in weight. So with one arm, I can quite easily grab Oliver with my arm straight out and just lift him back into safety whilst I'm holding onto the rock. [01:06:36] Speaker E: Wow. All right. Yeah. Okay. So let's do, I guess, a strike at athletics, maybe? That sounds good. Sure. You've got all those extra dice, too. [01:06:56] Speaker B: So four extra dice. And if I use my valor virtue as well, spend a willpower for that. [01:07:03] Speaker E: Does that allow it? [01:07:04] Speaker C: Okay. [01:07:08] Speaker B: So let me just work out how many dice hang on. [01:07:11] Speaker E: Chris is like, hang on, must do math. [01:07:16] Speaker B: Okay, so that's 17 dice. [01:07:19] Speaker E: Ridiculous number of dice is what it is. Holy shit. That's a lot of successes. [01:07:29] Speaker B: That's ten successes plus two automatic. [01:07:33] Speaker E: Yeah. Okay, so it's like something out of a god, like a Dwayne Johnson movie. You guys see Oliver start to lose control and there's this blur around him as you realize that he's pulled out this book. And in the same moment, almost precisely, chris's arm reaches out and grabs the rope specifically attached to Oliver and just bodily hauls him up with one hand to the nearest hold, which is like a couple of feet from where Oliver is. This isn't an easy lift. It's not like he's moving him a couple of inches. You guys watch as the muscles in Chris's arm and chest and back sort of like stand out, but he doesn't make a sound. It doesn't seem like this is hard for him, but he snatches Oliver up almost like a kitten by the rope and pulls him up to the nearest hole just in time for Oliver to be able to grab onto that pipe. And there's so many successes, I'm not even going to make Oliver try to try to roll to see if he can grab a handhold. The world is spitting around you, but. [01:08:58] Speaker C: You are safe catch my breath and give a shaky thumbs up. [01:09:03] Speaker B: I got you, bro. [01:09:05] Speaker C: Appreciate it. I'm going to quickly put my book. [01:09:08] Speaker E: Back into safety before everybody realizes they should have just strapped Oliver to Chris's back. [01:09:20] Speaker A: Love you, Oliver. [01:09:23] Speaker C: Thank you. [01:09:27] Speaker E: So after a moment of sort of everybody catching their breath and kind of looking at each other and making sure that you're okay, you realize that it took a good almost an hour just to get down to this point. So you had almost an hour of climbing before there was a real problem, and then that problem was very scary but short lived. But you've probably got another 40 to 50 minutes to get down to the bottom. So we're going to do another round of rolls if you guys wish to use the same approach as we can. But if anybody would like to change your approach, that is an option. Oliver, you're going to have to change your approach because you can't be telling people how to put on climbing gear twice. [01:10:27] Speaker C: Right? [01:10:31] Speaker A: Oh, I think now you could go, okay. [01:10:40] Speaker D: Is there a way I can swap from intelligence to wits while doing the anchor point gun stuff? [01:10:52] Speaker E: I would allow a wits plus survival or a wits plus science. Okay. Because you would be looking at the state of the rock and trying to find out places where the rock might be brittle so that that doesn't happen again. Perfect. [01:11:13] Speaker D: I shall do that. Wits and. [01:11:20] Speaker A: Coda now is focusing more on getting through this, so it's kind of more just climbing, to be honest, or like, keeping her grip on everything, making sure kitty cat is still holding on tight. It's mostly she's just persevering through this. [01:11:44] Speaker E: OOH, Sarah not so good. So you're doing the same role, coda. [01:11:49] Speaker A: No, she's not really keeping an eye. She's now it's mostly just strength. She's focusing on just muscling her way down this, everybody. [01:12:00] Speaker E: So that is a strength in athletics. [01:12:11] Speaker A: Chris. [01:12:14] Speaker B: I'm very much being the rock, the anchor for the group now, even more than I was before. [01:12:21] Speaker E: So I think that that sounds like we should be transitioning you to a stamina and fortitude. [01:12:27] Speaker B: Okay. [01:12:28] Speaker E: And you still get your extra die because that applies to the whole scene. [01:12:37] Speaker C: Oliver yes. I'm probably going to be taking a much more analytical approach this, but before I do, quick question. We classified what I did earlier in order to use my spell as a stunt, right? [01:12:50] Speaker E: Yes. It was a two die stunt. [01:12:52] Speaker C: Okay. And since I did a stunt, I get legend points back for doing a stunt, right? [01:13:02] Speaker E: I believe so, yes. [01:13:04] Speaker C: Normally you get one back, but because of my gays, I get two back, right? [01:13:08] Speaker E: Yes, you do. Thank you for remembering. Remembering words are hard. [01:13:15] Speaker C: As soon as I got that gays, I was like, I got to make sure I get legend points back as often as possible. [01:13:20] Speaker E: Well, you're going to be spending them a lot. [01:13:23] Speaker C: I'm a spelly boy. See, I'm switching to a much more analytical approach. And especially since now that Coda is just trying to persevere, I'm going to be the one kind of looking out for the most optimal kind of routes, mapping out the route that we should be taking. In my head. And then calling out different locations that we should be kind of jumping from place to place to to make it easier for us and to be most sustainable and things of that nature. So I'm going that direction, being much more tactical rather than inspirational. [01:13:55] Speaker E: I have a question. [01:13:56] Speaker C: Yes. [01:13:58] Speaker E: Would you like to utilize what your singing stone does to give your rating in Epic Intelligence to Sarah? I know she rolled wits, but I would allow it. I would allow her to have those extra dice. [01:14:16] Speaker C: Will that override what I'm playing to do or just be like, an additional thing I get to deal with? [01:14:20] Speaker E: That would be what you're doing, because Sarah's the one who's actually like, driving in handholds and things like that. So you would essentially be using your action to give her help in that case? [01:14:30] Speaker C: Yes, I would most certainly like to do it. That would be a great idea on something to do. So, yes, I'll use the singing stone and convey an extra two die for her. [01:14:43] Speaker E: Okay, so you need to spend a willpower, and you give Sarah two extra dice. [01:14:54] Speaker C: All right? Yep, I will do that. [01:15:01] Speaker E: Sarah, could you roll me two extra dice, please? Yes. [01:15:06] Speaker D: No more. [01:15:08] Speaker E: Oh, well, it was worth a shot. Okay, so it looks like we've got three successes for Sarah. How many for Coda? [01:15:18] Speaker A: Three. [01:15:20] Speaker E: And how many for Chris? [01:15:21] Speaker C: Eight. [01:15:22] Speaker E: Jesus. Chris just carrying Chris's goat. [01:15:27] Speaker C: We need him. [01:15:29] Speaker E: Okay, so that puts us at we were at 22, so that puts us at no, we were at 22. And then you rolled how many on the last roll for the crazy roll? [01:15:49] Speaker B: Twelve on the last one. [01:15:51] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. Okay. You guys make it to the bottom, like, no problem. Because of that twelve, like, you guys actually managed to gain some movement. As soon as Chris got Oliver to the new handhold, you were able to keep moving. You climb down, the second half goes much smoother. You guys could see Oliver is focused on being as useful as possible and allowing the more physical of you to kind of take the weight of what he can't handle while he kind of shifts tactics to utilize what he is best at, which is being helpful and guiding people. And it works out remarkably well. As it turns out, Sarah and Oliver are pretty good team. There are still some moments where the rock gets a little brittle know, Sarah kind of has to drive something in twice, but the mistake is never made that you put tension on one that isn't going to stay seated the way that it should, and eventually after almost 2 hours from when you started, you reach the bottom. The bottom of this cave is dark, not black. It's not like it's nighttime, but it's heavily shaded. The light coming from above is limited. There are like, what do you call them, solar powered. Like a solar powered light system where the panels are outside the cave and they sort of run just to a couple of spotlights up at the top of this plunge so that people can look down inside. But that's really the only source of light other than your headlamps. And as you guys get to the bottom and you look around, it looks like there is nothing here at first. Would everybody make me perception and awareness roles? [01:18:19] Speaker C: Why do you wound me this way? [01:18:21] Speaker E: Except for Oliver, who does not have to make a role because you have the fate purview. [01:18:26] Speaker C: Never mind, then. [01:18:37] Speaker E: Sarah. Sarah making up for that really bad role earlier. [01:18:41] Speaker F: Jesus. [01:18:42] Speaker D: Yeah, that's nine with my epic perception. [01:18:46] Speaker E: Love it, love it's. [01:18:57] Speaker B: Seven. [01:18:58] Speaker E: Perfect. [01:19:08] Speaker A: That's just three. [01:19:10] Speaker E: Okay. Coda doesn't spot anything at first, but she's very focused on Mr. Cat, who seems both totally chilling at ease, like he normally is, and slightly freaked out, if only because when you unzip enough of the bag to really give him the opportunity to come out. You realize that his claws have been sunk into the back of the bag where the padding is. Like he's super chill until you look under the surface and it's clear that he's been white knuckling the whole fucking time. And he climbs up out of the bag and settles onto your shoulder and kind of wraps himself around you and there's just this very deep contented purr at being back on the ground. Oliver sees it first. There is a ripple almost. It looks like you guys have seen the ripples that you get from heat mirages like heat coming up off of pavement in the distance. That's what this looks like to everybody but Coda, Oliver specifically at first, and there's a slight golden sheen to it for just a moment to you, Oliver, where it almost looks like the stone wall is more gold than rock. And then it looks like rock again, but it's obviously like flimsy and almost moving. And it's off to your left. [01:20:54] Speaker C: Do the rest of you see that or is it just me? [01:20:59] Speaker A: See what? [01:21:00] Speaker B: What? [01:21:02] Speaker E: No, chris, you see it. So does Sarah. It just takes a minute, the moving. [01:21:10] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:21:11] Speaker C: Switching to gold a bit as well, I imagine. That's the way we're meant to go. [01:21:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:21:21] Speaker C: Well, then we'll just go that way then. And I will lead the charge. [01:21:28] Speaker E: Okay. Oliver walks towards the wall and kind of puts a hand up to test it before he potentially risks, like, running face first into it. And you guys watch as his hand sinks into it like it's liquid. [01:21:45] Speaker C: This go on it's. Yeah, it's a very strange sensation. It's. It's kind of like putty almost. [01:21:55] Speaker E: Yeah, it feels like you're pushing your hand into jello, almost, but slightly more like there's just a tad bit more consistency to it, a little bit more resistance, but you push through and your fingertips break through first. On the other side, you can just feel air. [01:22:26] Speaker C: I can confirm there is another side. Take a deep breath just in case, and then I'm going to do so and move through. [01:22:39] Speaker E: Does everybody follow? Yes. Okay. You all push through this weird, amorphous feeling wall, and you come out on the other side expecting to feel gross, to feel like it's clinging to you, but it doesn't. You feel normal still, like sweaty and grungy from the climb and everything, but there's nothing clinging to you. Your clothes are clean. It's just that whatever that magic was had a very weird, thick consistency. On the other side, you find yourselves in a large cavern, and there is a distinct sense about the place that feels otherworldly and unreal. There is power here. Everybody can feel it. Oliver most of all, given his connection to magic and fate and everything. But in fact, Oliver, you can almost feel the book vibrate as you come here. It resonates with this place. You can see glints off of what look like thousands, if not millions, of fate threads all over this place. And they extend into the walls. They extend into what you realize is what looks like a large open hole in the ceiling of the cavern through which a shaft of sunlight falls in, kind of dappled like there are leaves kind of halfway extended over it. It's green and gold and breathtakingly beautiful, and it alights almost perfectly on what looks like a kind of run down ramshackle, but still somehow very quaint, fairy tale esque looking little cottage. There's a pool of crystal clear water off to one side from which you can see reflections and peaks of stalagtites and stalagmites in the water. There's no grass here, but there is moss growing on many of the stones. That almost looks like a very comfortable rug. Over all of that stone, all of what should be very harsh and unforgiving, there are clusters of mushrooms here and there, and from the little chimney over top of the cabin, a faint wisp of smoke curls up. [01:25:57] Speaker C: Fascinating. Well, I suppose we should go knock. [01:26:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:26:09] Speaker C: All right. Who would like to do the honors on that part? [01:26:20] Speaker B: You're? The toky one. [01:26:26] Speaker C: Very well. And I will walk up and knock. [01:26:32] Speaker A: Okay. [01:26:35] Speaker E: Oliver and Coda both step up to the door, as Coda looked quite happy to do it herself if nobody else did. [01:26:45] Speaker C: I missed. My bad. [01:26:46] Speaker E: No, it's okay. I think it's hilarious that you both did it. So you both get up there, and as you get up there, Oliver, you look over in time to catch Coda's hand up, and you pull yours back and let her knock and. There is an immediate rustle of sound and clanging of metal and things behind the door. And it sounds like somebody drops something, like, maybe a pot. And you hear a kind of. [01:27:25] Speaker A: Half. [01:27:26] Speaker E: Nasally, kind of congested sounding female voice from inside. 1 minute. I'll be there. Hold on. [01:27:38] Speaker F: Jeez. [01:27:38] Speaker E: Oh, no. And you hear fretting and somebody moving frantically around inside for several long moments before the door flies open. And this woman is standing on the other side, and she is wearing modern clothes, but they are modern clothes that have clearly seen better days. They there's, like, khaki shorts that probably had a lot of, like, cargo pockets in them at one point, but the pockets are, like, ripped off now. Like the the seams kind of just weren't holding up anymore, so she just pulled the flaps of fabric off. She's wearing what looks like a faded and kind of thread bear University of Georgia T shirt in the funkiest of, I don't know, like, 90s tie dye patterns. And her hair is long and looks like it should be, like, stick straight and blonde, but it is a frizzy mess. It looks like she makes the effort to brush it, but she cannot tame it. So it's like a kind of straight poofy, like, hanging at an angle, almost like it hangs over her shoulders and continues to go outward. And she's got glasses that look like they came straight out of, like, the 80s, where they are, like, as big as, like, half of her face, like, absolute Coke bottle glasses. Hi. Are you the prospecting team? I mean, the school sent somebody to say that someone would would be by, but I expected you guys weeks ago. That was one hell of a delay. I'm sorry. Come in, come in. I'm sorry. I was not expecting company. I'm normally better put together than all of this. [01:30:05] Speaker A: It's okay. Take your time. We arrived unannounced. [01:30:13] Speaker E: She seems scatterbrained and almost half manic as she guides you into this very small house. Chris, you're able to go inside, but you are distinctly aware that if you move too fast in any one direction or turn too much, you're going to elbow something or knock a wall out. This is not a large place. [01:30:38] Speaker B: I'm going to keep my hands clasped in front of me. Then. [01:30:43] Speaker E: Mr. Cat immediately jumps down off of Coda's shoulders and kind of disappears under pieces of furniture like he is finding his way in the way that only cats can do. [01:30:59] Speaker A: All right, goodbye. [01:31:02] Speaker E: Are you thirsty? I have some moonshine. Please don't tell the administration, but it's so hard to get anything other than water here. Administration? From the school? Yeah. I technically shouldn't be drinking while I'm on the clock. And since I'm doing my research project here, I'm always on the clock. But they can't own me all of the time, can they? And she'll sort of flail. [01:31:42] Speaker A: No, they can't. Colleges. Am I right? [01:31:47] Speaker C: Want to put up a finger just drenched in sweat. I wouldn't mind a glass of water. [01:31:53] Speaker E: If you don't mind water. What about the rest of you? More adventurous moonshine? It's pretty good. Tastes like blueberries. [01:32:04] Speaker B: I got to ask, do we have to climb up in order to get out? [01:32:11] Speaker E: Well, it's the most direct way, but there is the back way. [01:32:16] Speaker B: What's the back way? [01:32:19] Speaker E: I just means a longer hike back to your car. [01:32:24] Speaker B: But we don't have to go climbing. [01:32:26] Speaker E: There's less climbing involved. It's not vertical climbing, it's more angled. [01:32:35] Speaker B: I'll take the water then, I think. Be safe. [01:32:40] Speaker D: Okay. [01:32:41] Speaker E: What about you? You look like you would drink moonshine. And she's looking at Sarah. [01:32:49] Speaker D: Normally I would take you up. Actually, I could use a drink now that I'm thinking about it. [01:32:55] Speaker E: See, the girls know what's up. She turns and pulls out this very large glass jug that is full of something clear and pours it into two, like, tin cups which she hands over to Coda and Sarah. Oliver, on the other hand, get oliver and Chris on the other hand, get these little wood cups which she fills with water, which looks like it has probably been through some sort of distillation process based on the setup. [01:33:29] Speaker C: Sorry. While she's pouring, can I sort of just take a step back, kind of fade into the background for a little bit, and subtly just sort of adjust my monocle and activate Brejan's eye just to get a sense of this woman, to read her Enek, see if this is truly the person we're looking for and any other information. Although I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get very good results because of trading fades. [01:33:55] Speaker E: Read me what Brahan's eye does. [01:33:57] Speaker C: So effectively, I roll my dice pull and for each success, I can judge the enec of an individual, starting with the person with the highest legend score, reading each person's highest virtue, lowest virtue and nature. [01:34:14] Speaker E: Sure, give me a roll. [01:34:16] Speaker C: Normally this would be six die, but because of trading fades, it drops. [01:34:19] Speaker E: Not prepared to have to divulge a huge amount of her sheet. So I have to now pull up everything. Thanks for that, Oliver. [01:34:29] Speaker C: Sorry, I'm just trying to be prepared thorough. [01:34:33] Speaker E: All right, you just caught me unprepared is all. [01:34:35] Speaker C: To die two successes. So if there was another person here, I'd be able to get a second person, but it's just her. [01:34:44] Speaker E: Okay, and what all do you get from her? [01:34:48] Speaker C: Highest virtue, lowest virtue and nature. [01:34:55] Speaker E: Okay, her nature we will start with because it is the easiest. She looks so it's hard as you're looking at her, it sort of seems to jumble where one moment it looks like she might be a bravo, like a thrill seeker, but it also looks a little bit like she might also be a pedagogue. And it's weird because you can see they almost layer on top of each other and so sometimes one comes through a little bit better than the other. And you can see so many of those fate threads that were outside also extend into this cabin, and almost all of them are touching her. So you're fairly certain that fate is interfering to some degree in your ability to read her? Well, if that makes sense. [01:36:11] Speaker C: As for her virtue sorry, quick question. Does it seem like do I get the sense that it's interfering due to me using trading fate earlier or just because that's how it is, naturally? [01:36:23] Speaker E: No, it seems like that's just how it is. [01:36:26] Speaker C: I see. [01:36:27] Speaker E: Based on what you saw, it seems like her very nature is kind of dualistic and it wars against itself in some ways. Her highest virtue is intellect. Lowest seems to be orderly. [01:37:01] Speaker C: Take the cup that she gives me smile and not appreciatively. [01:37:09] Speaker E: Okay, you guys are given your drinks. The water looks crystal clear. And like I said, it looks like she's got a little set up in her little mini kitchen area that looks like she probably distills her water to make sure that it's clean and safe for drinking. And do Sarah and Coda try the alcohol? [01:37:47] Speaker A: Most definitely, yeah. [01:37:52] Speaker E: Okay. How are we going about this? Are you, like, sipping experimentally or are you just taking a swig? [01:37:59] Speaker D: Sipping experimentally just to get an idea of what she's working with? [01:38:04] Speaker A: Taking giswig. [01:38:06] Speaker E: Okay, well, the first thing you two realize is that it is intensely alcoholic. It's really fucking powerful. I would like both of you to roll me. Stamina and fortitude. Yeah. Stamina and fortitude. [01:38:27] Speaker C: Well, lean over to Chris. If they get plastered, we're going to have to carry them out, you know? [01:38:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:38:33] Speaker E: Chris is like, that's why I'm not drinking. Oh, boy. [01:38:39] Speaker C: Thank you for also not drinking then, because I don't think I could get all three of you on my own, especially not after it is sent down. [01:38:46] Speaker D: Nine total successes for that role. [01:38:50] Speaker A: Four total successes. Yeah, four successes. [01:38:55] Speaker E: Words are hard. [01:38:56] Speaker A: I understand. [01:38:57] Speaker E: They are. Okay. The first thing you notice is that this stuff could take, like, oil stains off of concrete. It is that kind of powerful. But the second thing that you notice is it does in fact taste like wild blueberries. Really? Actually very good. [01:39:26] Speaker D: This is delicious. [01:39:27] Speaker A: Thank you. Can I take some of this to go when we eventually leave here? [01:39:35] Speaker E: Maybe. What's it worth to you? [01:39:38] Speaker A: What's it worth? [01:39:40] Speaker E: Another sip? You're asking to take something with you that takes time and effort to brew. I'm just saying. Do you have anything worth trading? I don't get to leave very often. [01:39:54] Speaker A: I can give you toaster strudels. [01:39:58] Speaker C: You do not want those toaster shuddles. [01:40:00] Speaker A: You don't want no one's asking you. You don't have toaster shrewdles. You had to go to a grocery. [01:40:09] Speaker E: Store to get those. [01:40:10] Speaker A: And who's coming down here? So here you go. A whole box of toaster shuddles, and I'll throw in a pack of gum. [01:40:21] Speaker E: She looks between you and Sarah and Oliver. [01:40:27] Speaker C: I'm just, like, doing the hand over my throat. Just like, don't do it. Don't. But I'm standing behind Coda so she can't see it. [01:40:33] Speaker A: I will help you. I will end you. [01:40:37] Speaker E: Sarah just looks like she's about to. [01:40:39] Speaker D: Pull something out of her own backpack and just waiting for this silliness to end. [01:40:46] Speaker E: I'll pass on the toaster strudels, but I'll take the gum. If you've got something else you could throw in sushi, I have this. [01:40:56] Speaker D: And Sarah will pull out a bottle of whiskey. [01:41:00] Speaker C: I look at Chris just like, you actually bought the gas station. [01:41:03] Speaker B: No, I bought the sushi when we got into town. [01:41:06] Speaker C: Oh, good. [01:41:09] Speaker E: But she sees the bottle of whiskey from Sarah. It's like dud. And immediately goes over. And you see her sort through what looks like an assortment of old canteens that have probably been brought and left here by others. Opens one up, kind of turns it over to make sure it's empty, and then immediately fills it up. Whiskey and gum, and you could have this much, and it's a decent sized canteen. Nice. [01:41:38] Speaker A: This stuff's definitely flammable. [01:41:42] Speaker D: We're not setting this on fire. We're drinking it. [01:41:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:41:52] Speaker E: She will kind of eye Coda and then hand Sarah the alcohol, because she's just like, I like my house. Yeah. [01:42:08] Speaker D: Sarah will stick it back in her backpack where it's safe and look around some. [01:42:22] Speaker E: Mean. I was told the team would be here weeks ago, and then when you guys didn't show up, I assumed it got canceled. Our things. [01:42:36] Speaker C: Well, I'm not quite sure how to say this, ma'am, but we sort of need your help with some things. [01:42:48] Speaker E: Kind of figured nobody makes the trip out here unless they have to. What am I supposed to help you with? You guys don't look like you have your gear, so how are you supposed to prospect or anything if you're I mean, they didn't expect me to provide you gear, right? Because my stuff broke. God, I don't even know how long ago. And I've put in a requisition form for more, but nobody's ever brought any. [01:43:21] Speaker A: So what's a prospect there? You keep saying these words that I don't understand, ma'am. [01:43:29] Speaker E: It's a broad title, prospecting. It basically means you're looking for something. You're scanning to try and find things. Chris, since you are the quietest one here, would you give me a perception awareness, please? [01:44:02] Speaker C: No. [01:44:02] Speaker B: Yeah, six, including my epic, epic perception. [01:44:05] Speaker E: Okay. As you are sitting oh, you rolled in the PC chat. I was like, Where is it? As you are sitting there and listening to them talk, you look up at some movement out of the corner of your eye and you realize that Mr. Cat has like jumped up on top of this old ramshackle bookshelf and there is a Birds of the World calendar hanging up above it that very distinctly has 1992 as the year. But it's on January. [01:44:47] Speaker B: I'll go and have a look. [01:44:51] Speaker E: It looks like she's been, like, crossing off the dates. And today's date is not like today's date, but in 92 has not been crossed off. [01:45:05] Speaker B: Hi, ma'am. Can I ask you a question? [01:45:11] Speaker E: Sure. What's up, handsome? [01:45:15] Speaker B: What? What year do you think it is here? [01:45:18] Speaker E: What do you mean, do I think it is? I know it's 1992. I mean, my calendar is right there. I just got here last year. [01:45:27] Speaker A: No, it's not. [01:45:29] Speaker B: Okay. [01:45:30] Speaker E: She looks confused. Of course it is. I just got here a few months ago. [01:45:41] Speaker D: Coda. That's not funny. [01:45:45] Speaker C: Not at all. It is most certainly 1992. [01:45:53] Speaker D: But Sarah will nod. [01:45:55] Speaker E: Right. [01:45:57] Speaker A: I'm sorry. I forgot the you must be a month behind. Yeah. New Year. So I think it's you know how. [01:46:06] Speaker C: It is when you're writing a date on a paper and you always put the wrong number, so you just draw over it with the right number? [01:46:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. [01:46:16] Speaker E: And there's this moment where her eyes kind of gloss over a little bit, and her face is slightly slack jawed, and she's sort of nodding like, oh, yeah. No, that makes sense. Her mind is doing the thing that it needs to do to buy into what she's being told. That makes sense. I have the same problem. I struggle to remember to change the date on my papers all the time. [01:46:44] Speaker C: It happens to the best of us. Now, ma'am, I must confess that I am not part of the group that you were expecting. In fact, I am an academic, and I'm here to hope to speak with you. Actually, I had heard about you coming down here, and I was very interested with Georgia State. I wanted to write a article on you and what it's sort of like to live down in a cave like this. [01:47:12] Speaker E: Oh, well, I mean, you'll forgive me for saying so, but she'll kind of, like, gesture at your clothes. But it's pretty clear that you're not a climber, right? [01:47:24] Speaker C: Yes. [01:47:25] Speaker E: Why didn't you all think to tell him that this was not the kind of outfit that you take when you go climbing? Were you trying to tell him a. [01:47:33] Speaker A: Few stroke too determined. [01:47:38] Speaker E: One of typical. And she'll kind of look over at Chris. [01:47:45] Speaker B: No, I'm taken. [01:47:47] Speaker C: Wait. Okay. So would you mind if I asked a few questions? [01:47:53] Speaker E: Sure. Come have a seat, Mr. And she'll kind of put her hand out. [01:47:57] Speaker C: Bright. All of her bright. [01:48:00] Speaker E: Are you going to shake her hand? [01:48:01] Speaker C: Yes. [01:48:03] Speaker E: So the moment your hand touches hers, the feeling in the room shifts, and it is palpable, not just to you, but to everybody. Everybody can feel a sudden uptick in I don't want to say tension, but the air feels almost oppressive and magical at the same time. Like, you all are literally carrying things that are magical with you, and they all give you this slight sense of this is out of the ordinary. It's bigger than it should be. It's larger than life, but it's an item, so it's easily kind of dealt with. You suddenly feel like every breath you take is breathing in that feeling like you're getting big, deep lungfuls of magic and fate. And there is an almost concrete weight that settles into the stomachs of everybody here, and you all feel pretty glued to the spot that you are in. [01:49:25] Speaker C: I'm going to try to play it off the best I can. [01:49:29] Speaker E: Oliver you are able to see all of those fate threads in staggering and stunning clarity. There's too many to count, but they are all connected to her. You almost can't see her through them. Each of you watch as her face goes slack again and her eyes roll back in her head and she takes a deep kind of racking gasp in. And as her voice comes out, it sounds breathy and otherworldly, but also kind of haunting at the same time. It sounds like her, but it doesn't sound like her, if that makes sense. It sounds like somebody has taken her soul and almost pulled it out of her. And her soul is speaking for her without the use of her body is the only way I could think of to describe it. The lights in the room dim suddenly and considerably. These camping lanterns that she has kind of strategically placed flicker and go down to barrely embers. So you're seeing more from the light flickering in through the windows than you are from those now. And every time she breathes in, the whole cabin almost seems to breathe around her. Son of kings, you come to me carrying a piece of the weave with you. It will be your greatest boon and your greatest undoing. There will come a day where you will have to choose to be a warrior or a mouse. The wrong choice will see those you care for die, daughter of cats. She doesn't look at best at coda, but you can tell it's like she's looking through you. You question your place in the world and in the hierarchy, but you have been given the tools with which to carve a place for yourself. There is a creature your foremother saw through fate's eyes. At the beginning of time, you will see it again. See it and its children rise from the sands. You will fix it, put it back to sleep, or it will ravage the world. Children of the acer and son of the goddess of hunt, you two are caught in a web bigger than you could know. You, beau wielder, will have to choose your family. You cannot belong to both. And you avenger and lightning quick her free hand that isn't touching. Oliver reaches out and snatches Sarah's wrist and hauls her bodily across this table so that Sarah's inches from her face. This woman who is stick thin and should not have the strength to jostle you, handles you like chris handled Oliver when he was spinning out of control on the ropes. She brings you close and her voice drops to a whisper. You will be the one standing at the end of all of it. Your decisions will determine whether you stand alone or side by side with others. And then there is this long, slow, again rasping and shaking breath that she takes in. And the whole cabin almost seems to get smaller and more claustrophobic around you. The lights go out completely. Even the lights from outside seem to fail to reach most of here. And it takes a moment for any of you to realize that the glow that still seems to be here somehow is like an ambient glow. And everybody but Oliver, who can see this quite clearly, but everybody else. It takes you a moment to realize that the glow is coming from these hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of teeny tiny little gossamer threads that are connected to her. Ages grow weak. Bars do not hold up forever, and agents of the most ancient ones roam the night collecting trophies from unspoiled and untapped resources of the divine. They want to rule again. You will have to slow them down. Already one you have met has died. And then it's like an exhale rather than an inhale. And all of the light rushes back into the room. The threads fade away from everybody's vision but Oliver's, and they become far less intense to Oliver. She releases Sarah's wrist and she's still holding Oliver's hand. But it goes from this iron grip to the kind of soft, non committal shake that you were getting when you first reached out for her. Oliver. And she sort of sits back for a moment, lets your hand go, and then immediately lets out this deep racking cough and blinks. And her eyes are normal. She seems like she's back to her normal self. She's animated. She's a little random and flailing. I'm so sorry it's damp here. It gets to be I really should spend more time out in the sun. [01:59:29] Speaker D: Sarah's gonna be like rubbing the wrist she grabbed with one hand and uh, it's alright. And just slowly backing away. [01:59:40] Speaker E: Sarah, there are red marks on your wrist. You can imagine that. You're probably going to have a bruise by afternoon or by evening. Oh, good. [01:59:55] Speaker A: Oh. So when's the last time you had a visitor? [02:00:02] Speaker E: Like I said, a few weeks ago. Well, I guess it was probably a little over a month ago. Yeah, there was another team that came through and they did some digging, took some samples with them back to the university and mentioned that they were going to send another team. I just expected you guys a while ago. Yeah. I'm sorry, what did you say your name was? [02:00:39] Speaker C: My hands are shaking a bit, but I quickly kind of clasped them together in front of me to stop that and give a reassuring smile as if everything is fine, even though everything is most certainly not fine and bright. Oliver Bright, ma'am. And you said your name was? [02:00:58] Speaker E: Oh, bright Mr. Bright. My name is Elizabeth. Professor Elizabeth Martin. [02:01:15] Speaker C: It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Martin. [02:01:19] Speaker E: Nice to meet you too, Mr. Bright. So what can I do for you? [02:01:30] Speaker C: Oh, yes, I just had some simple interview questions about life down here in the cave and go through those very quickly, if you don't mind. [02:01:43] Speaker E: Sure. Out of character, I'm going to assume you don't want to role play out a whole Q A. [02:01:50] Speaker C: No, because that's how he was originally going to fish for information, but it has been given to us now, so offer is just doing it for show at this point. [02:01:57] Speaker E: Right. So I'm going to have you roll. Hmm. Is there, I apologize, manipulation and either presence or if you have some sort of like acting or you could do, I don't know, like. [02:02:35] Speaker C: Present, maybe I'll take presents. [02:02:41] Speaker E: Me getting caught up in the various different white wolf caves I know with the different options for all of them, I was just like, god, what are all the options? [02:02:48] Speaker D: While Oliver's working on that, sarah's just going to play to the room. I'm going to step outside for a cigarette and she's going to take all of her stuff with her. [02:03:01] Speaker E: Okay. Pele returns to or is back in sight again and hops down off of the top of that ramshackle bookshelf and weaves his way back over to Coda and up into her lap. [02:03:24] Speaker A: You'll hold him kind of tightly to her because she's a little bit startled about what just happened and kind of be like, I think I'll also go stand out with Sarah too. [02:03:43] Speaker E: And then. [02:03:44] Speaker A: She'S going to turn and go outside. [02:03:47] Speaker E: Okay. What did we get, Oliver? [02:03:53] Speaker C: Four, I believe. [02:03:55] Speaker E: Four. Chris, are you going anywhere? Are you staying? [02:03:58] Speaker B: No, I'm going to stay. I was going to go outside, but if two of them are going, I don't want all three of us to go, so I'll stay inside. [02:04:04] Speaker E: Okay, so you are there to watch. As Oliver stumbles through a little bit of an interview, he manages to stick with pretty bog standard questions. Honestly, it sounds a little bit like he is taking inspiration from first day of the year questionnaires that they give out in school for the kids to introduce themselves and get to know the rest of their classmates. Most of them, combined with what's it like to live in a cave and what are you working on here and blah, blah, blah, blah. And she has a lot of, like a lot of what comes out of her mouth sounds like gobbledygook to you too, Oliver. You have some semblance of understanding that she is some sort of geologist who specializes specifically in deep earth caves and this region of the world, but that's kind of as far as your very English literature oriented brain can go in understanding. [02:05:08] Speaker C: I'll try my best to kind of build a rapport and have casual conversation, mix in with the interview, as well as she talks about things involving geology and such, I'll be ah. My mother is actually kind of involved in the same field. She does archaeology, though. [02:05:26] Speaker E: Ah, well, smart woman. Yeah. [02:05:30] Speaker C: She's abroad in Ireland, I believe, doing some of the runes and things there. [02:05:37] Speaker E: That's great. I wish her all the best on her projects. I have made some very interesting findings here, and she sort of launches into it a little bit, and it takes some time, but eventually you manage to pry yourself away from that line of conversation. I'm going to assume that somebody remembers to give her her food that you brought for her. [02:06:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:06:03] Speaker E: So there's a meal from the nearby town, which is, like, freshly made, and she looks deeply grateful for that. And I believe you guys also said last session that you were going to grab some general grocery necessities, which she also seems very grateful for. [02:06:20] Speaker B: And I bought some sushi for her in the last town as well. [02:06:23] Speaker E: Perfect. That's the lunch that she was brought, that is actual real fresh sushi. And she seems very impressed because she didn't know that Lafayette carried sushi because last time she was there was the 90s. But she'll take it and numb down, and she happily sees you guys back outside and points you into a cavern that looks like it extends off into darkness. And she says, just follow that and take the third right, followed by the fourth left, and then it's going to look like it's curving back on itself. But I promise it's not. Just follow it to the end and you'll find your way out. There's a little bit of climbing, but it's not a straight vertical climb like before. It's mostly like a really heavy hike. [02:07:23] Speaker B: Oh, thank God. [02:07:24] Speaker C: Thank you so much for your time, Professor Martin. It has been a enlightening experience. [02:07:31] Speaker E: Of course. And again, I'd appreciate you guys not telling the administration at the school that I brew my own. [02:07:39] Speaker C: Wouldn't dream of it. [02:07:40] Speaker D: Yeah. Snitches get stitches. [02:07:42] Speaker E: Professor Perfect. That's the right answer. Will you all come back and see me whenever you want? [02:07:50] Speaker A: She's also going to slide her a small baggie and be like, open it when we get away from here. [02:07:58] Speaker E: All right. This isn't toaster strudels, is it? [02:08:01] Speaker A: No. [02:08:04] Speaker E: Okay, cool. Well, you guys have a safe walk back to your cars. [02:08:11] Speaker C: Thank you. [02:08:12] Speaker D: Thank you. [02:08:14] Speaker E: And she lets you guys go, and I will give you a few moments to role play and interact with each other. Ow. [02:08:24] Speaker A: Yeah, that was something, wasn't it? [02:08:29] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. What was that all about? [02:08:35] Speaker E: I don't know, but if someone tells. [02:08:37] Speaker D: Me I'm going to be the last one standing one more time, they're going. [02:08:40] Speaker A: To be the first one that falls kind of sick. [02:08:45] Speaker B: That doesn't bode well for the rest of us, though. [02:08:48] Speaker D: That's my point exactly. [02:08:55] Speaker C: In that last bit. Something about agents wanting to rule the world again and we have to slow them down, and one that we've already faced has already died. That gives us some idea. But still not much on where to begin, is it? [02:09:14] Speaker D: Yeah, no, I think the agents were one of them, at least is the woman that we fought in the motel. [02:09:25] Speaker C: So do we need to track her down and somehow defeat her? It did not seem like it would go that well for us last time. [02:09:35] Speaker D: Well, there are a few things we could do to prepare, especially to. [02:09:44] Speaker F: Copy. [02:09:45] Speaker D: The well, successful attack you guys managed to do last time. [02:09:54] Speaker C: Maybe we'd have to a trap, make a cohesive plan. [02:09:58] Speaker A: But that reminds me. I'm sorry, this fully slipped my mind. Net text me and said she was also attacked. [02:10:07] Speaker C: They were attacked? [02:10:08] Speaker E: Yeah. [02:10:11] Speaker C: What happened? Is everything okay? [02:10:13] Speaker A: They got away, but it was the same situation as us. Instead of the blonde lady, it was a guy that came with the wolves. But she said hers got away. But she still said they were attacked, too. And she just told us to be safe and stuff, but I fully forgot that slipped my mind. She texted me and said, yeah, they were attacked too. But if they just said one of them has died, maybe her team took one of them out. [02:10:42] Speaker C: Maybe. It depends on if Professor Martin was referring to us as in the general, us as in Scions, or if they meant the four of us specifically. [02:11:00] Speaker D: Well, I think you are kind of focusing on the wrong thing right now. What I'm most worried about is the ancient ones. I mean, we talked a little bit about Titans before, but is there more than that? [02:11:19] Speaker C: Not sure. We need to bring this up to someone who knows far more than we do. We are still new to this world. [02:11:32] Speaker A: Maybe we, I don't know, hit up a library or something. I know it's absolutely crazy to say this, but maybe we hit up maybe there's, like, a secret scion library. [02:11:49] Speaker C: That could be good. [02:11:55] Speaker A: Also, those creatures were able to find us somehow, so we also don't know what we're going to run into once we reach surface, because our car has just kind of been out there again. [02:12:08] Speaker C: True. This oh, boy. We were meant to come here for answers. Now we just have more questions. But I suppose that is the way it goes in terms of academics. Only problem is, in this case, lives are on the line. Allegedly. [02:12:37] Speaker D: It what? It can't be an epic adventure if there's no stakes. She's going to, like, elbow Oliver playfully. [02:12:48] Speaker C: Yes, correct. In terms of general plots, hero's journey, there needs to be stakes. But this is not a book. This is real life. And the stakes mean far more. I can analyze a plot. I can understand how. It's going to go based on just my knowledge of how plot works. I can't do that in real life. Unless. [02:13:15] Speaker B: Unless go on. [02:13:20] Speaker C: Fate. It has a way of doing what it wants, right? It seems like it already has everything planned out. It knows what it's going to do, how the story is going to go. It's just we're not privy to it yet because of that. Fate operates a lot like a book. It operates a lot like a general sense of plot. And if it does that, then we can sort of predict in a way how things are going to go. It's not going to give us all the answers, mind you, but we'll have some level of assurance so long as we follow this assumption that it's going to play out like a story. [02:14:11] Speaker A: Meaning. [02:14:13] Speaker C: We'Ll go on snaskai. I'm open to feedback. [02:14:17] Speaker A: So are you saying we should just go somewhere and fate will follow us? [02:14:25] Speaker C: I'm saying that in a sense, yes, that's the hero's journey, and it has a way of forcing the hero or heroes into going on the path that they need to be on, even when they try their best to avoid it, just the nature of it. So maybe it will catch up to us, but the consequences will change based on what we do. I'm only saying this because we're trying to figure out our next steps. We're on the hero's journey. We've had the call to of adventure happen to us. It's just we now need to know what we're meant to do. [02:15:04] Speaker A: Now we need a guide, pretty much. [02:15:07] Speaker C: We need a guide. And allegedly that's what we've just met with. We've met with our guide and we've been given some pieces and insights onto what's to come, but we haven't been given quite the next step. So if this were a story I think you are in a sense right, Ms. Mascoid, that we just go back to our car and sort of expect something to happen that are being completely delusional. [02:15:42] Speaker B: It will. That's how the hero's journey works. We've had our call to adventure. We've had the supernatural intervention. We've just met our helper. Now we've got to do a trial and a failure before we get to the first kind of Denuma the death and rebirth before we carry on. [02:16:09] Speaker D: We have to die. [02:16:11] Speaker C: No, not always literal. It's metaphorical death. And then maybe rebirth, like abandonment. [02:16:20] Speaker B: We have to lose something, and then we regain and carry on. [02:16:24] Speaker D: Okay, so keep the good plans for after the metaphorical death. [02:16:30] Speaker C: Typically the metaphorical death happens because of the good plan. Best laid plans of mice men often go awry. But once we get past that point, the good plan should start working more, hopefully. Again, we're basing this off of a story, even though this is still real life. And I'm going on a theory here, a very tenuous theory. [02:16:57] Speaker A: All right, well, let's go then. [02:17:04] Speaker B: What? I'm a little bit worried about is she said that I've got to give up one of the things, one of my choose which side I want to be on, choose who to follow. I think that basically means either Artemis or Loki. [02:17:26] Speaker A: Well, where are you leaning? Yeah. [02:17:31] Speaker B: Well, the problem being is I've been embroiled in Norse heritage for all my life, like 30 years. So it's going to be difficult to give that up. The fact that I've got to pick and choose. If I decide to give up Artemis, then I think I'm screwed. So the logical choice is I have to give up everything that I've learned of my actual well supposed heritage, my real family, real life parents, rather than Loki or Artemis or whatever. So having to give that up is tough. I don't really want to do it, but if that's what I've got to do in order to survive, then that's what I've got to do. [02:18:11] Speaker A: I guess that's kind of like a hunter, to be honest. Do what you need to survive and think about it. If you stick of Artemis and this Loki is missing, maybe you can hunt him down when we're done of whatever shit we're doing. [02:18:27] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe. [02:18:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Hunt down the missing dad. Well, missing, you know, you have an actual dad. Can't forget them. [02:18:38] Speaker B: I think it would be stupid of me if I decided to give up ottermus and went with. [02:18:45] Speaker A: Otter miss, if it helps. [02:18:48] Speaker D: Just the things that I felt just from the mention of his name and how I've seen you perform, loki doesn't deserve. [02:19:03] Speaker B: I think it's clear which way I have to go, though. Sorry, Oliver, I cut you. [02:19:09] Speaker C: No, no, you're perfectly reasonable. Hey, I just thinking out loud as I tend to and seems that Professor Martin has given each of us something personal to reflect on and prepare for in the future. Well, I guess the best thing we can do is support each other in. [02:19:36] Speaker B: You know, we do have people that are looking out for us, but the only people that can look out for us day to day are each other. That's basically it. [02:19:47] Speaker D: Exactly. And if I'm the last one to fall, everyone just stand behind me. [02:19:52] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll catch you. That's what those stupid posters say, right? If you fall, we'll catch you or some shit. Or hang in there, buckle. [02:20:01] Speaker D: With the cat? [02:20:02] Speaker A: Yeah, with the cat. It's like there's like a bucket underneath. [02:20:06] Speaker E: I am not hanging anywhere. [02:20:09] Speaker A: Not you, pele. She says this out. [02:20:13] Speaker B: Now. [02:20:14] Speaker E: Yeah. [02:20:14] Speaker D: What? [02:20:15] Speaker E: Sorry. [02:20:16] Speaker A: Yeah, pele said. Well, that's now, Mr. Cat's name is Pele. Because anyway, it doesn't matter. He said I'm not hanging anywhere. I can talk to him. You know that, right? [02:20:27] Speaker C: Yes. [02:20:28] Speaker E: Okay. [02:20:29] Speaker A: He just said it doesn't matter. He was being sassy. [02:20:34] Speaker D: Well, either way, it was probably funny. And. [02:20:38] Speaker E: Caddy cat ish yeah, he's definitely. [02:20:41] Speaker A: Catty, that's for sure. [02:20:45] Speaker D: Either way, no matter what we do, I think if we just stick together, we'll be fine. Power, friendship and all. [02:20:54] Speaker C: We're a team. [02:20:55] Speaker A: Do we feel like a team, Huddle? [02:20:57] Speaker B: Now we are a team. [02:20:59] Speaker D: No, before that, I do need to mention that my original idea was just to fire bomb a hobby Lobby. [02:21:07] Speaker C: Why would we firebomb a hobby lobby? [02:21:10] Speaker D: Because if anyone deserves it, it's them. [02:21:14] Speaker A: Interesting. [02:21:14] Speaker B: You do have a point. [02:21:21] Speaker E: Well, on that note, you all walk for quite a while. This is a very winding and circuitous route, but eventually you manage to make it out. You break out into the open air, and it is well into the evening by the time you get there. Sarah, your wrist has bruises that you pretty sure would match that woman's fingerprints. You don't know how a normal human, especially one so frail looking, could hold you that tight without, like, breaking her own fingers, but she did. And she left her mark on you. [02:22:22] Speaker D: She'll just be looking at it as they continue walking. [02:22:27] Speaker E: The problem is that you guys come out into the open. And open is a strong word. You come out into the forest in a place that doesn't seem to have any paths leading up to it. And in fact, when you step out, you turn to look back at where you came from and you can't find the opening in the earth that you just climbed out of. [02:22:56] Speaker B: Wow. [02:22:58] Speaker C: That's par for the course, I suppose. [02:23:01] Speaker D: If we ever have to come back here, I suggest we learn how to fly first. [02:23:06] Speaker C: Yeah, agreed. [02:23:09] Speaker A: We're just parachute down. To be honest. [02:23:16] Speaker C: I don't know if it's wide enough for a parachute. [02:23:22] Speaker E: To be sure. So how are you guys planning to get back to your car? You're not entirely sure where you are, but it is nighttime. [02:23:34] Speaker C: Anyone remember where we parked? [02:23:37] Speaker E: No. [02:23:38] Speaker A: I would say keep clicking. They'll like click. [02:23:42] Speaker C: There's a trick where if you do it underneath your chin, it'll widen the range. [02:23:46] Speaker A: Oh, well, yeah, do that. You don't hear anything and you probably still have the map of the area, right? She looks to Oliver like in those pamphlets or something. [02:23:59] Speaker C: Yes, I should. And I opened up my check and rifle through all my different roadmaps. [02:24:05] Speaker E: You have the rangers map of the park looking over it. There is no clear indication of where this opening should be, but you can kind of guesstimate that you're probably a few miles from the entrance of the caves. And from what little you can make sense of all the twists and turns in the exit to get out, you figure you could probably move, like, north and east and get back to one of the trails, which should lead to the ranger station where you left your car. [02:24:44] Speaker C: I think I have way ahead here. [02:24:48] Speaker B: Lead on, McDough. [02:24:51] Speaker C: That I shall. [02:24:54] Speaker E: You all are able to tromp through the woods? It's not a fun time. It's not comfortable. If any of you are particularly prone to getting bit by bugs. It's probably going to happen. Not too many because thankfully it's winter, but it's still Georgia, so there's some but eventually you guys make it to your car. Looks like it did when you left it here. And you guys are just starting to kind of let out a slow breath of relief when, let's say let's oliver, your phone rings. [02:25:56] Speaker C: My actual phone or Teddy's phone? [02:26:00] Speaker E: Your phone. [02:26:01] Speaker C: Okay. I'll pull that out. Slowly, warily. [02:26:10] Speaker E: You look down and the faceplate has Net's name on it. [02:26:18] Speaker C: Is it like a text? [02:26:20] Speaker E: No, it's a call. She's calling. [02:26:22] Speaker C: I'll pick it up and put it on speaker. Net, are you all right? [02:26:28] Speaker E: Where the hell have you been? [02:26:32] Speaker C: We just got out of a cave. [02:26:37] Speaker E: What? [02:26:39] Speaker C: Oh, I think I see where this is going. How long has it been since you spoke with Coda? [02:26:47] Speaker E: God, like, I don't know, four or five days. [02:26:53] Speaker A: What? [02:26:55] Speaker E: I've called, like, all of you, like, six times. Where the hell did you go? [02:26:59] Speaker C: We were speaking with a seer about what we should do next, and we went down in a cave to do. [02:27:04] Speaker E: Wait, you went to see a seer? [02:27:08] Speaker C: Yes, it was recommended for us. [02:27:10] Speaker E: Oh, Jesus Christ. Did you go to the one in yeah. [02:27:14] Speaker C: Yes. [02:27:19] Speaker E: Okay, so I'm going to assume that this means that everybody's alive. [02:27:23] Speaker C: We are. [02:27:25] Speaker E: Cool. The dwarves really should have warned you that's. Kind of like, there's so much fate going on in that place that even fucking divine. It like divine tech stuff. Like fucking your igallars the special phones. You guys got those, right? [02:27:51] Speaker B: Yeah, we did. [02:27:52] Speaker E: Even those don't work there. I got there as much as and time is weird. It warps and it doubles back on itself. Okay. Oh, Jesus. Well, I feel better knowing that you're alive. [02:28:09] Speaker C: So what have we missed? [02:28:12] Speaker E: Well, me panicking, for one, because I couldn't feel you. [02:28:19] Speaker C: Call. It payback for freaking me out after giving Coda her message. I was concerned. [02:28:25] Speaker E: Damn it, Koda, I told you not to tell him. [02:28:28] Speaker A: I fully forgot. We just went through quite the experience, and time is wibbly wobbly, so I forgot. Oops. Glad to hear you're okay. [02:28:39] Speaker E: I mean, I'm okay, I guess. My house is not, but it's fine. I'll get another one. [02:28:55] Speaker A: Where are you? If you're allowed to say this over a phone, I'm not sure of Titan. [02:29:02] Speaker E: I'm in New York right now. We had to bring Moira home. [02:29:22] Speaker C: And by that did you mean what I think you imply? [02:29:27] Speaker E: Yeah. There was another fight and we were trying to shepherd some babies out of the city before their awakenings could be forced on them. And we were overwhelmed, and Moira decided to hang back to slow them down, and she couldn't get away. [02:29:55] Speaker C: I'm truly sorry, Net. [02:30:03] Speaker E: Yeah, shit happens. [02:30:08] Speaker C: It does. [02:30:12] Speaker E: Could somebody make me a wits and empathy role, please? [02:30:21] Speaker C: I'm pretty good at that, so I'll go ahead and do it. [02:30:24] Speaker E: I mean, anybody who's listening can, but at least one person needs to. [02:30:30] Speaker A: Why not? [02:30:33] Speaker D: That's the wrong channel again. [02:30:38] Speaker C: I'm supposed to be good at never mind. I don't that's 16346 as well. [02:30:46] Speaker E: One, six six. What did you get, Coda? [02:30:50] Speaker A: I heard royalty. [02:30:51] Speaker E: I was in the bath. 1235. [02:30:55] Speaker F: Okay. [02:31:00] Speaker A: One, two, three. [02:31:06] Speaker E: Coda and Oliver net seems weirdly stoic. It's almost like she's still angry that she hasn't been able to get a hold of you. But Chris and Sarah, you are both keenly aware that this is someone who has been through absolute hell and has just locked down her emotions because it's the only way that she can handle it. And you are both keenly aware of just how young Net is and how much she's seen. So listen, I am we're we're here for her funeral. Unfortunately, it's tomorrow, so I doubt you guys are going to be able to get here. But the work doesn't stop. There's still more people that have to be scooped up and gotten somewhere safe so that they can meet their folks. Do you guys you're in Georgia, right? Yeah. Could you meet me in Atlanta day after tomorrow? I could really use the backup. Yes. Kareem is working with another group, but I'm going to try and get him here, too, but I could of course. [02:32:46] Speaker A: We'll be here. [02:32:47] Speaker E: Thank you. [02:32:50] Speaker D: Anywhere specifically in Atlanta you'd like to meet up? [02:32:54] Speaker E: I'll contact you when I get there. It's too risky to give precise information until we're close, but get there. Get some rest. I've been to see a few oracles. It's never not draining, so you're going to need your rest. I need you while you're there to you're going to get a phone call, probably Coda. I'll give him your number. There's a guy who has some supplies. I helped him out a while back, so I think he owes me. And I'm going to need you guys to go see him and pick them up and keep them safe until I get there. Okay? [02:33:56] Speaker C: We can do that. [02:34:00] Speaker E: Cool. All right, I should go. Moira's adopted mom is making dinner, so I'll talk to you guys later. [02:34:22] Speaker C: All right, we'll be seeing you then. [02:34:28] Speaker E: And she hangs up. And as she hangs up, you guys are keenly aware of just how quiet the world around you is. Like, there's the sound of insects and cicadas, but it's almost like they've lowered the volume out of respect. [02:34:51] Speaker C: I'm just going to sort of look down, weighing the phone in my hand, sort of solemnly. Well, I guess so far the theory rings true. [02:35:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:35:16] Speaker C: We should I don't know what we should do, but part we need. [02:35:23] Speaker D: To do is research various death rights between our pantheon's religions, and we should hold awake for both Teddy and Moira. [02:35:33] Speaker C: That is exactly what we should do. [02:35:41] Speaker A: I think the whole time, Koda has kind of just been quiet and tapping her foot a little bit, and then she's going to kind of walk away for a moment while everyone's talking about stuff like this and start swinging her bet at one of the trees. [02:36:00] Speaker D: Sarah's just going to nod and stand back in case of any flying debris. [02:36:11] Speaker C: I going to do the opposite. I'm going to turn and walk over to her and just put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Coda? [02:36:28] Speaker A: Yep. [02:36:31] Speaker C: It's okay. I know it's not, actually. [02:36:39] Speaker A: No, it's not. [02:36:40] Speaker C: I know it doesn't feel like it. I know this is terrible, and we have been launched into a terrible life, but we have to do the best that we can and live what we have and try to be happy with it for their sake. For all the people who have given up for us to be here and who have given up for other people to be where they need to be, dwelling on things and being outraged, it does them no good. We should respect the sacrifices they've made. [02:37:23] Speaker A: But it wasn't a sacrifice, though. She was killed. Was Teddy a sacrifice, too? No, Teddy was. We can't do anything about it or we're trying to do anything about it, and we don't even know where to go. So we're just sitting here talking to people as days are passing and four or five days pass and another person, one of us, has died. And what are we going to do about this? We don't know what to do and we're just here twiddling our thumbs trying to figure out how to pray about them after they've gone. But what is praying going to do? Nothing. We need to go and find these things and kill them or do whatever. This is just I hate sitting here and not being able to do something. [02:38:11] Speaker C: I understand, and you're right, but we can still do something. And you're right about Teddy, but you're wrong about Mora. She did sacrifice in order to help other scions like us who weren't aware of what they were, get to safety so that they potentially, in the future, do some good, do some real good, just like we have the potential to do soon. We're on this quest. We're meant to do something, and the best way we can fulfill that is to do best thing we can to honor them. And that's live. Not just survive, live. [02:39:03] Speaker E: During this conversation, you all climb into your car and start driving. Lafayette is the closest place, but if you really wanted to, you could make it to Atlanta within a few hours. [02:39:24] Speaker C: Driver's, call on that. We should stop in Lafayette or head straight for Atlanta. [02:39:30] Speaker E: Yeah. [02:39:30] Speaker D: If there is driving again, then she. [02:39:33] Speaker E: Will drive all the way through to. [02:39:34] Speaker D: Atlanta and won't stop till they get into a very populous zone where they. [02:39:39] Speaker E: Could stay at a hotel. [02:39:41] Speaker A: Okay. [02:39:44] Speaker E: You guys make it to downtown Atlanta, it's too late to really hit up libraries and things like that. Everywhere is pretty much closed by the time you get there, you are able to get dinner, much needed dinner. You're able to check into a fairly decent hotel. You guys have enough money that while this isn't something you could do every night, one night you could splurge for a hotel that's kind of downtown in the middle of everything, which you hope will provide you some measure of protection from your pursuers. And then I'm gonna you know, as much as I love the role play, we still have things to do. You guys call it a night. I'm assuming the girls are in one room and the guys are in the other. Again, you're even able to get one of those little suites that connects with a door in between, and. [02:40:53] Speaker A: In the. [02:40:53] Speaker E: Morning you wake up. What's the plan? Atlanta is a big. Lots of there's plenty of libraries, there's colleges here, there's museums, there's all kinds of places you could go. [02:41:13] Speaker C: And you've. [02:41:14] Speaker E: Got time to kill. [02:41:16] Speaker D: What traveling exhibits do the museums have? [02:41:23] Speaker E: Even or OD, odd. Nothing Greek. There is one that's Egyptian, though. Yeah. [02:41:42] Speaker D: Sarah is going to show, like, the banner online to Coda and just say, oh, my gosh, I remember going to these as a kid, and they are the coolest thing in the world. [02:41:54] Speaker E: We should go. [02:41:58] Speaker A: Sure. I mean, yay, let's totally go to this exhibit. I'm excited to go to it. [02:42:13] Speaker D: She'll just roll her eyes and get. [02:42:16] Speaker E: Ready for the day, see if the. [02:42:19] Speaker D: Guys are interested as well. [02:42:20] Speaker E: What a typical young person answer. [02:42:23] Speaker B: Let's go. [02:42:27] Speaker C: Well, if we're all going, then sure. I think it would not be wise to split off from the group. [02:42:34] Speaker E: Okay. Apologies. You guys leave the hotel, you check out, you tuck your bags and stuff into your car. Oh, no, you wouldn't check out because you know you've got to be there for the day after. So you leave your stuff in your hotel room, take the important stuff with you, and head out for the day. Thankfully, the museum is not far from your hotel, so it doesn't necessitate driving, which is great, because the traffic in Atlanta downtown is ridiculous. And as you are walking through this kind of nicer area with little trees planted between the sidewalk and the street. [02:43:39] Speaker A: And. [02:43:43] Speaker E: These nice clean buildings and everything, I would like Chris and Oliver specifically to both give me perception awareness. Oliver you get an extra two dice. [02:44:16] Speaker C: One. [02:44:21] Speaker B: Chris seven. [02:44:24] Speaker E: Wow. Oliver you don't see much, except that there is a very thick silver braided. It almost looks like a rope connected to Chris's wrist. And it extends kind of off into the distance. Chris as you are walking, your eyes are instinctively drawn to a food truck in this little park space nearby. And there is a woman standing in front of it with long ash and blonde hair, gold eyes. She's wearing normal clothes, but you know who it is. [02:45:14] Speaker B: I'll head over. [02:45:15] Speaker C: I'll follow Chris. [02:45:16] Speaker B: This way. [02:45:18] Speaker C: I see this silver thread and I want to know more. [02:45:22] Speaker E: Hey, is anybody else going? [02:45:26] Speaker D: Can we see the guys leaving us? [02:45:28] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. You're very well aware that they have just hard turned off the road or off the sidewalk into this little park area. So it would just be like, hey. [02:45:37] Speaker D: And then half jog after them. [02:45:40] Speaker B: Hang on. Something feels like I have to go this way. [02:45:45] Speaker C: And then I saw something fate related connecting to Chris, so I thought I should go too. [02:45:52] Speaker D: You're just going to let us keep walking? [02:45:55] Speaker C: I was a little distracted. [02:45:57] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. [02:45:59] Speaker A: Sorry. Koda will follow too. [02:46:05] Speaker E: You all approach. Artemis, tell them how you're dressed today. [02:46:12] Speaker F: I am dressed in just like, regular blue jeans. I have a kind of a chic leather jacket on and a white with gold trimmed little blouse underneath. My hair is also done up in a high ponytail. [02:46:34] Speaker E: You all walk up and as you get close enough for everybody to really see her oliver, you could see the glow on this woman. She is radiant, like she is standing or has been carved out of, like, pure moonlight in the middle of the day. Sarah and Coda, you guys can feel a sense of importance and power rippling off of her, but this is not someone you've ever seen before. Chris seems to know her, though. [02:47:17] Speaker B: When we get up close, I'll kind of incline my head like I'm bowing. But obviously I'm in the middle of the public and it would be weird. And I'll just say, my lady Chris. [02:47:29] Speaker F: It has been a while since I've sung you last. I'm getting everyone food. [02:47:35] Speaker D: Don't worry. [02:47:36] Speaker F: And at this point, I start haggling hard with the man in the truck, even throwing in some Greek, because this man seems to be legitimate. [02:47:45] Speaker E: Oh, he is. Being in America, he is obviously a native son of your homeland and he haggles with you, but not in that insulted that you are trying to haggle with him. He almost seems excited. Like nobody in America haggles like this. Not over stuff like food. They just pay what you ask for and you're like the first person and you've got the accent and it's like he just knows it. [02:48:16] Speaker F: Is very enthusiastic on both parts. [02:48:20] Speaker C: I understand everything being said, right, because of you do. I'm just enjoying the show then. [02:48:28] Speaker E: But eventually he relents and you win. You don't talk him down a ton, but you do manage to get what you feel is a much more reasonable price or enough food for five people. [02:48:42] Speaker F: I also stress with him to make it authentic and I order a cup of coffee, authentic Greek coffee. [02:48:47] Speaker E: He seems borderline insulted that you think that it would be anything else. As he turns back and starts, like, whipping up your order. [02:48:57] Speaker F: I kind of address everyone at this point. I'm like, best Greek food in America. [02:49:07] Speaker C: This man specifically? [02:49:09] Speaker E: Yes. [02:49:11] Speaker F: Odly. [02:49:12] Speaker E: Enough. [02:49:14] Speaker C: I'll take your word for it. [02:49:16] Speaker E: Thank you. [02:49:18] Speaker F: It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I understand you've all been missing for a couple of days and I've been wanting to touch base with Chris. I assume you all know who I am at this point. Yes? [02:49:32] Speaker B: They probably don't, my lady. [02:49:36] Speaker C: Well, context clues. So I'm going to go with Artemis. [02:49:40] Speaker F: Yes. [02:49:42] Speaker C: Pleasure. [02:49:45] Speaker A: Coda's going to mutter under her breath. She is hotemus, actually. [02:49:55] Speaker F: Looks over Dakota and bites her bottom. [02:49:57] Speaker E: Lip a little bit. [02:50:01] Speaker A: My lady. [02:50:04] Speaker F: Let us sit down. They will bring the food out to us. [02:50:07] Speaker D: Oh, shit. Is that lamb? [02:50:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:50:12] Speaker E: I was like lamb. [02:50:15] Speaker F: Although there should be an assortment. I would say. Try the dalmatis. They are my favorite. [02:50:26] Speaker A: Koda will eat whatever. [02:50:31] Speaker E: Look. [02:50:33] Speaker D: It'S not an unknown fact that I would do well murder for a decent rack of lamb, so this meal is very much appreciated, Lady Artemis. [02:50:48] Speaker F: Of course, you may find that as you have awakened, your appetites grow little bit. [02:50:58] Speaker E: You have. You absolutely have. When you're not so upset that it is difficult to get yourself to eat, you have all found that you are burning through quite a few calories every day. [02:51:11] Speaker C: I didn't want to break it up just in case it was only me. [02:51:18] Speaker F: I do gesture to one of the picnic tables, though, because it's a food truck. [02:51:22] Speaker E: Right. [02:51:23] Speaker F: I'm sure it's super busy, but there's a table that just managed to sit all of us. [02:51:31] Speaker E: As you all go to sit at the table. It takes a moment for any of you to notice, but the wood seems almost silvery white and a little too clean to be a picnic table that's just in a public park like this. [02:51:58] Speaker F: I heard about the attack on you all recently and how together, you, Chris Oliver, hit a Fenrir's wolf in one shot. Killed it. Incredible. [02:52:16] Speaker C: Your siren was the one with the bow. [02:52:21] Speaker B: Your idea, though. [02:52:24] Speaker C: You would have figured it out. [02:52:29] Speaker F: It is good to have people, hunters that work with you. Well, it is good to use your brain in situations like that and not just your brawn. And I would commend you all on your contributions. From what I understand of what happened. [02:52:50] Speaker A: It was definitely interesting and cool to not immediately be dying and running for our lives. So that was cool. Only we can take out whatever lady was there too. [02:53:05] Speaker E: But she got away. [02:53:11] Speaker F: The hunt continues. Sometimes it's not so easy. [02:53:17] Speaker E: No. [02:53:19] Speaker C: And I suppose for someone like you, that's what makes it more entertaining. [02:53:28] Speaker E: Hmm. [02:53:30] Speaker F: I suppose sometimes the hunt ends as well, whether the quarry is felled or if you just decide to let it go. [02:53:50] Speaker C: I think we're still trying to figure out what to do. [02:53:55] Speaker F: Yes. I imagine that it's not going to be clear at first, but in time and guidance, you will be able to find your way. [02:54:11] Speaker A: How much time, though? People are dying important? Well, people, I guess. Important to us are dying. I prefer they died more than we did. [02:54:29] Speaker F: I don't know. Practice. And like I said, working together will help you trust each other. [02:54:49] Speaker C: Help us? Help us how? Give us tips. Advice, information. [02:54:59] Speaker F: I mean, I could sit here forever telling you all about the nuances of using a bow or tracking someone down, which is probably helpful, but not immediately what you might need. [02:55:19] Speaker C: And what do we need? [02:55:24] Speaker F: That's not really a question that I can answer. What do you need? [02:55:33] Speaker A: We need a next stop. We need to know where next. I mean, we know who we're meeting with next, but we're wondering what next. [02:55:46] Speaker F: What next? I don't know. Well, first of all, we are going to enjoy food. And at this point, the food arrives and Artemis will lay it out for everyone. But there is a bag that she sets aside and just kind of looks kind of scowly about it and says, do not bring that home for Apollo. He will bitch nonstop. [02:56:09] Speaker E: You're not wrong. [02:56:15] Speaker F: I do apologize for being obtuse, but it's hard I am. To understand that you all went to see a Sierra recently. I don't know what was said, but were there any leads created from that visit? [02:56:39] Speaker C: Something about Ancients wanting to rule again and that we need to slow them down? [02:56:47] Speaker F: Titans? [02:56:49] Speaker C: You're wondering if it was Titans or something else? [02:56:54] Speaker B: I got told that I've got to choose between you and Loki, I think. [02:57:04] Speaker E: Hmm. [02:57:06] Speaker F: Well, if I may say so, I believe you've already made that choice. Have you not? [02:57:12] Speaker B: I have. [02:57:17] Speaker F: That is curious, then. Theorems are an interesting bunch. Perhaps it's more on a different level, less direct than you might think. [02:57:28] Speaker B: Oh, I don't doubt that for a moment. Why make things easy when you can come up with something cryptic? Am I right? [02:57:37] Speaker F: Believe me, the Fates are they are a wonderful bunch. I think those women work together to make our lives miserable. She knocks on wood at this point, like, please don't let them hear me kind of vibes. [02:57:57] Speaker E: Yeah. [02:57:58] Speaker C: Probably jacket a little bit closer to my body. Hide the book. [02:58:05] Speaker A: They said. Something my mom went up against at some point is going to rise back up and its children is going to come out of the sand and I have to put it back to sleep. Don't really know too much about that. So hopefully this exhibit will give me the knowledge I need about creatures rising out of the sand in Egypt or something. [02:58:32] Speaker E: Artemis, you don't know a ton about the psets stuff. The different pantheons have kind of made it a point to stay out of each other's business as much as possible. But you do know that Bestette has on more than one occasion been something of a seer for her own pantheon. Not so much like a proper oracle like the sybil that they went to see, but way, way back when, the gods could a. Little bit more readily interact with the world and fates. Because myth and magic were kind of a normal Tuesday for the world, it was not uncommon for Bastet to get information that nobody else had and nobody's entirely sure how. So the assumption is that she was some sort of a seer. [02:59:39] Speaker F: I am not totally familiar with what your mother has been up to over the years. We know each other, we are on friendly terms, but it's not something I have inquired about. Though I will say that she is likely the one that knows the most about the situation. [03:00:02] Speaker D: Great. [03:00:06] Speaker A: Sorry. I should talk to her. I guess. [03:00:11] Speaker E: You would also be pretty keenly aware just from being able to look at all of them. Artemis that Coda might have a much more direct line to her mother than she remembers. And it's literally sitting next to her at the table and occasionally stealing food off of her plate. When she's not paying attention, I tilt. [03:00:34] Speaker F: My head at the cat and just say, you have an easy way to get in contact with her. [03:00:43] Speaker A: Yeah, the cat telephone just feels weird not talking directly to it. Yes. Okay, cool. [03:00:55] Speaker E: Do you want me to go let her know that you need to talk to her? [03:01:03] Speaker A: Yes, please. The first time, she said it out loud and then she corrected herself and said it in her head. [03:01:11] Speaker E: Okay, I'm going to be gone for a little while, but I'll find you. [03:01:15] Speaker A: Okay? Be safe, please. [03:01:18] Speaker E: You get a little meow and that thing that cats do where he kind of hops up on the table and leans in and bumps you with his head and then nuzzles his cheek up against yours. And then he turns and jumps off the table and darts off into the bushes, headed for parts unknown with a. [03:01:44] Speaker D: Face full of food. Sarah's just going to say, Damn, my dad just gave me his email. [03:01:54] Speaker A: What? [03:01:59] Speaker D: Yeah, a business card with know, an email and a phone number. [03:02:08] Speaker A: Parents are so weird. [03:02:12] Speaker F: To be fair, I didn't give Chris anything really to contact me with. Sorry. [03:02:20] Speaker D: To be more fair, you did come down to visit him once you realized he was gone for a couple of days. [03:02:30] Speaker F: I just smile and look over at the food truck. [03:02:37] Speaker D: Oria came for the most amazing Greek food in the world and we also just happened to be here. [03:02:45] Speaker F: It was kind of a duo trip. Also, it's been a while since I stretched my legs. [03:02:52] Speaker E: It gets stuffy. [03:02:52] Speaker F: And mountain lipos. [03:03:01] Speaker D: Couldn't tell you, but we've been driving around in the car for a couple. [03:03:05] Speaker F: Of days, so overbearing. Father anyway, I don't want to take up too much of your time. I know you're all busy. Chris, you sound as though to some degree, regret. [03:03:35] Speaker B: I sound like I have regrets? [03:03:39] Speaker E: A little bit. [03:03:40] Speaker F: Little tiny bit. [03:03:45] Speaker B: No, I don't have any regrets. Regrets about accepting your lineage at all. I wish I didn't have to give up my old heritage, but I don't have any regrets upon being your Sion. [03:04:08] Speaker F: That's the wonderful thing, though. I have never asked you to give up your previous family. They are who you are at your core. They are part of you. [03:04:20] Speaker B: It just seemed when we were speaking to the sybil that she mentioned something. And now you said earlier that I don't have to take this literally, but that's the only way I've got to take it at the moment. [03:04:33] Speaker F: Maybe something will happen that you do not expect. [03:04:37] Speaker B: Well, that is part of the hero's journey. Right. But if I may use a cliche, that's no doubt going to get a groan for some people. You have my bow. [03:04:58] Speaker D: Oh, my God. [03:04:59] Speaker B: Right. I knew it. See? Told you. But no, glibness aside, I meant it when I said that I will be a Scion. You've got me. And I will do my best to prove myself worthy to you. [03:05:20] Speaker F: If I may bring something up, are you aware of the trials of Heracles? [03:05:28] Speaker B: Not as much as I feel I should be. It's not really within my wheelhouse. Maybe I can tap up Oliver for information. [03:05:36] Speaker F: Yeah, I kind of look over at Oliver. [03:05:41] Speaker C: I look up after things have gone a bit silent. Sorry, I was in my own head for a bit. What? [03:05:49] Speaker F: I was asking if any of you knew about the trials of Heracles. [03:05:54] Speaker C: Yes, I know about the trials of Heracles. I don't remember all of them, but I know a good deal of them. [03:06:05] Speaker F: Well, depending on which version you know, I will tell you as I know the real one man was stricken with madness, killed his family, and went to atone for it. He went on a whole hero's journey in order to make up for the sins he had committed. That's just how faith works. And the fact that you've all kind of already discovered that is actually a good start. [03:06:39] Speaker C: It was a guess, but I guess that seemed to be correct. [03:06:46] Speaker F: You are about to embark on your own trials, so to speak. It's a good start that you don't. [03:06:56] Speaker E: Kill your wife and children, though, right? Noted. [03:07:00] Speaker C: Need those first. But don't avoid that. [03:07:06] Speaker B: Maybe one day people tell tales of our own exploits. [03:07:11] Speaker A: Oh, they will. [03:07:12] Speaker F: And from what I understand, they already do. The reason I am here right now is because I heard a story about you two. And I point again at Chris and Oliver. One shotting of Henris Wolf. [03:07:27] Speaker C: Wince a. [03:07:28] Speaker B: Little bit, look over at Oliver, and kind of mug at him a little bit, and, you know, I don't think that either of us could have done it on our own. It was a team effort. But that's what makes it work, right? We work well as a team. [03:07:42] Speaker F: Exactly. [03:07:43] Speaker A: Pretty legendary. [03:07:48] Speaker D: Also kind of opens up the idea that modern warfare is especially effective against supernatural creatures. [03:07:56] Speaker B: That's true. [03:07:59] Speaker F: I kind of lift my hand and. [03:08:01] Speaker E: Do, like, an Eh. [03:08:02] Speaker F: Kind of gesture. [03:08:04] Speaker C: It was sort of a combination between modern and guerrilla warfare. [03:08:09] Speaker B: True. [03:08:11] Speaker A: Sarah also stopped one of the wolves with just a single word. [03:08:22] Speaker F: Which is also incredible. [03:08:27] Speaker A: I'm trying to spread the word about our group. [03:08:30] Speaker C: They usually confuse that's us. [03:08:41] Speaker E: Could everybody but Artemis, who does not need to roll this, because Artemis could everybody else roll me? Perception, awareness. Oliver, you get another two dice, all right? [03:09:03] Speaker C: None. [03:09:05] Speaker B: Including my epic eight. [03:09:08] Speaker E: Nice. [03:09:12] Speaker A: With my epic one. [03:09:14] Speaker D: With my epic two. [03:09:17] Speaker E: Good lord. Well, most of you are too busy eating to notice. Chris notices, and Artemis obviously notices. A bike messenger comes coasting in on this brilliant, almost silvery blue, multi speed bike. She's got the kind of tires that are made for city and road riding. Um, and there is a young man on the back of it. He is thin but not skinny. He looks like he's got the kind of musculature that you would expect from a runner or a swimmer. His hair is not quite as pale as Artemis's, but well, I shouldn't say not quite as pale. It's not quite as blonde as Artemis's. It's more almost white, and it's barely peeking out from underneath of a helmet. And Chris, with your keen eyes, you can see little wings painted onto the side of the helmet. [03:10:49] Speaker B: Okay. [03:10:52] Speaker E: And he's wearing a T shirt that says Sandals Delivery Service. [03:11:05] Speaker B: He's not wearing Nikes, is he? [03:11:08] Speaker E: He is not wearing Nikes. He is wearing sandals, but they look like athletic sandals. And you can just kind of barely see that the straps actually disappear up underneath of the pants that he's wearing. Like, they go up much higher than one would expect. And rather than going over to one of the food trucks in the area, he is kind of beelining straight for you guys and stops rather abruptly at the table. [03:11:50] Speaker B: Hey. [03:11:56] Speaker E: Chris, right? [03:11:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that's me. [03:11:59] Speaker E: How you? [03:12:03] Speaker B: Good, good, good. How can I help you, man? [03:12:06] Speaker E: There's just all kinds of stories about you up at home and well, I had to make a delivery anyway, and I figured I'd stop by. Hey. And he'll kind of up, nodded Artemis at Armes. So this is the, huh? [03:12:22] Speaker A: This is him, yes. [03:12:26] Speaker E: Well, let me be the first. I don't know. Part of the divine welcome wagon, and he'll kind of, like, throw a hand out. Not like a proper shake, but that half high five, half shake that guys do. Hermes, god of messengers. How you doing? [03:12:49] Speaker B: It's an honor to meet you. [03:12:51] Speaker E: Nice to meet you too, man. Fenris wolf in one shot. Damn. Takes after you. He's looking over at Artemis. [03:13:01] Speaker B: Oh, no. It was a group effort. You know, it wasn't just down to me. [03:13:06] Speaker E: Yeah, I heard. This one is really fucking clever, looking at Oliver. [03:13:13] Speaker C: You're here for. [03:13:18] Speaker E: I heard that about you too. We've got to work on that. My dude. It is just not somebody teach this boy some swagger. He needs some swagger. [03:13:27] Speaker B: Make him say the word fuck. [03:13:30] Speaker C: You're not going to. It's just you got one out of me and that's all you. [03:13:36] Speaker E: I can try. [03:13:38] Speaker B: We just want him to. [03:13:40] Speaker E: He looks kind of enthused at the idea. [03:13:45] Speaker C: I don't like that expression. [03:13:48] Speaker D: Oliver, I think he's flirting with you. [03:13:53] Speaker C: Looks like Oliver is, like, shutting down. Confused windows are rebooting. [03:13:58] Speaker E: Oliver, my boy, you've got to let go of all this self doubt and this crawling and curling in on yourself bullshit. Come on, man. You're one of the divine. You've got ICAR going through your veins. You literally can read fate in a like, do you have any idea how crazy that shit is? [03:14:24] Speaker F: I like to imagine as Hermes is just going off, artemis will pick up a dolmata, put it like a little napkin underneath it, and try to feed it to him as he's talking. [03:14:34] Speaker E: Hermes oh, yeah. No, he's taking it. He'll lean over and occasionally take a bite, give you an appreciative little smile. Out of the men in your pantheon, there are a couple who have never tried anything with you. Hermes is among them. He's always been very respectful and kind of playful instead. Also, that kid brother vibe, even though. [03:14:58] Speaker F: I have a kid brother. [03:14:59] Speaker E: But the actual kid brother is his piece of work. [03:15:04] Speaker A: He is. [03:15:05] Speaker E: He is. Oliver, come on, man. Stand up. Stand up. [03:15:10] Speaker C: Come on, get up. [03:15:12] Speaker A: Okay. [03:15:13] Speaker C: All right. I'm going to stand up awkwardly, and. [03:15:17] Speaker E: He'S going to kind of, like, walk around you. Pause long enough to take another bite, walk around you again, and he's going to go behind you and put his hand, like, square in the middle of your back and push forward while pulling your shoulders back, chest out. Come on. [03:15:34] Speaker C: All right. [03:15:37] Speaker E: Now. [03:15:38] Speaker C: Okay. [03:15:41] Speaker E: All right. There's that jawline your dad's known for. Come on, man. You're like, well, maybe not a master of fate yet, but you will be if you keep it up. You've gone to see an oracle, and you've only been at this for, well, I guess now that you've missed a few days, like two weeks, you can say fuck. You've got all of that divine gravity behind you. Just say it. It feels good. [03:16:13] Speaker C: I don't think it will. [03:16:16] Speaker E: I promise it'll feel amazing. [03:16:19] Speaker C: I'll take your word for it. [03:16:21] Speaker E: Listen, you do it or I'm going to make you. [03:16:28] Speaker C: How exactly are you going torture me? [03:16:31] Speaker E: Because I would rather you man, I'm a god. I don't have to work that hard. I can make Hades say fuck. You can say fuck. [03:16:43] Speaker B: Come on, just say it once, man. We never ask you again. [03:16:47] Speaker A: I don't agree to that, but yeah. [03:16:49] Speaker E: Fuck. Say fuck. Say fuck. Say fuck. Say fuck. Say fuck. Say fuck. [03:16:54] Speaker C: No. [03:16:55] Speaker E: Oliver, roll me a wits and integrity. [03:17:05] Speaker C: All right. Seven or seven dice, not so many successes. Two successes? [03:17:18] Speaker E: Yeah. Not even close. So he kind of, like, rolls his eyes after, but he goes, all right, well, I asked nicely. And then he sort of steps fronts on you. Steps up on you, and he is suddenly the most intimidating person you have ever seen. Like, nothing about him physically has changed. He still looks like a jovial kid. Like, he might be NetSage, but he goes, Say fuck, and you can't. There's no stopping it. Fuck. Fuck. There we go. See? Feel better? [03:17:58] Speaker C: No. That was terrifying. [03:18:02] Speaker E: Well, I asked you to do it nicely. Your dad will be proud. He's a good guy. He'll get it. Now you've gotten the first one out of the way, it's like ripping off a bandaid. The rest of them should come naturally. [03:18:20] Speaker A: Sure. [03:18:22] Speaker E: All you needed was a little divine laxative. [03:18:25] Speaker C: Don't use that terminology, please. [03:18:29] Speaker D: I mean, it's accurate. [03:18:31] Speaker E: Well, take the stick out of your ass and I won't have to. [03:18:37] Speaker C: I'm a relaxed person. [03:18:39] Speaker E: No, you are not. You are the most tightly wound person I have ever seen. That one. [03:18:46] Speaker A: Okay, Google. What does relax mean? [03:18:51] Speaker E: You see that one and he'll point at Chris. That one's relaxed? [03:18:55] Speaker B: Yeah, man, I can be relaxed. [03:19:00] Speaker E: I don't know if you're capable, but. [03:19:02] Speaker B: We'Ll try one day. [03:19:04] Speaker E: Dude, when you're honestly relaxed, you'll be able to drop the F bomb without it hurting so damn much. [03:19:13] Speaker F: Are you done traumatizing them, hermes them. [03:19:17] Speaker C: It's traumatizing me. [03:19:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [03:19:22] Speaker E: I should probably get going. We hang out in one spot for too long and people are going to notice. Listen, I actually had a reason for being here. Got a call from your friend. [03:19:34] Speaker B: Yeah? [03:19:35] Speaker E: She said her friend that you need to meet is at this address and he'll pull out, like, a manila envelope and hand it to Chris. [03:19:44] Speaker B: Thank you. I'll open it. [03:19:50] Speaker E: Let me get away from here. [03:19:52] Speaker F: Again, if you're going home, this is for Apollo. [03:20:00] Speaker E: All right, fine. I'll put it on your tab and he'll take it. Thank you. [03:20:07] Speaker F: You know, I don't like seeing him after he slept with my. [03:20:11] Speaker E: I do. All right. Well, nephew. And he'll look at Chris smile. Hope the bow tar treats you well. That was a hell of a delivery to make. It's kind of heavy, but you all have a good night. Or day. Day. This is day. It's so weird seeing you during the day. And he'll just sort of shake his head and climb back on his bike. [03:20:46] Speaker C: As soon as he's gone, I'm going to point a finger around the table. That did not count. [03:20:50] Speaker B: You know what he did. [03:20:51] Speaker E: Yes, it did. [03:20:52] Speaker B: No, I don't think it did. He didn't say of his own volition. [03:20:54] Speaker C: Exactly. Thank you, Chris. [03:20:56] Speaker A: Natural. It's got to come natural. [03:20:58] Speaker B: It's got to come natural. Doesn't count. [03:21:01] Speaker E: Oh, okay. [03:21:02] Speaker D: I see what you guys but it. [03:21:04] Speaker A: Was nice to hear it, though. [03:21:06] Speaker D: It was. [03:21:06] Speaker A: You kind of look a little bit taller now. I don't know what it is. [03:21:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Your jaw is a bit squarer as well. [03:21:13] Speaker C: That was terrifying. [03:21:14] Speaker D: Maybe a little bit of a 05:00. [03:21:16] Speaker E: Shadow or I already have. [03:21:19] Speaker C: Okay. [03:21:20] Speaker A: Is that a rip on your elbow patch thing? [03:21:23] Speaker C: Wait, what? [03:21:24] Speaker E: No. [03:21:26] Speaker C: Immediately. [03:21:26] Speaker B: Look, some kind of pre epic glee going on here. [03:21:30] Speaker E: Yeah, there's a teeny tiny little rip on your elbow. Batch. [03:21:34] Speaker C: Gonna get a new one now or fix this or I could not. I'm relaxed. I don't care. [03:21:46] Speaker B: Dude, have you ever been relaxed? Come on. [03:21:49] Speaker C: I'm very relaxed when I'm reading. [03:21:54] Speaker D: Right. And when was the last time you did that? [03:21:58] Speaker C: Well, I haven't had much opportunity to use physical books recently, but we've been listening to the audiobooks in the car. Speaking of which, I think the next one we should do is Absalom. Absalom by William Paul. Okay. [03:22:15] Speaker F: At this point, Artemis has drained her coffee and just kind of stands up and says, I should be away as well. [03:22:22] Speaker E: But you know what? [03:22:23] Speaker F: Scions treasure these moments. They are nice to have between well, your duty. It is good to have each other. [03:22:36] Speaker B: Yes, ma'am. [03:22:41] Speaker A: Uh. [03:22:46] Speaker F: And with that, I just kind of leave and I give the the truck, the food truck a little wave before I go. [03:22:55] Speaker E: He waves back despite the fact that he was, like, sounded very angry and ranty to everybody else as he was cooking and that he sounded so insulted by the request that he make the food authentically. You all notice that he looks just pleased his punch when Artemis waves like she's his favorite fucking customer. And you guys watch as she heads out of the park and back towards the street to where a motorcycle you hadn't noticed before is hitting. And it's this gorgeous, sleek, like, mother of pearl and silver chopper. [03:23:42] Speaker A: Yeah, your mom's really hot. [03:23:46] Speaker D: And nice. [03:23:48] Speaker B: She is nice. Yeah. Stepmom right. [03:23:58] Speaker E: Adopted mom. [03:24:01] Speaker C: I enjoyed her company far more than Hermes. [03:24:05] Speaker D: I enjoyed that company, too. [03:24:09] Speaker E: That's lovely. [03:24:09] Speaker C: For the rest of you, lovely. [03:24:16] Speaker A: Well, can I open the envelope? [03:24:19] Speaker B: Oh, Chris. Yeah, let's do that. [03:24:21] Speaker E: Chris on the envelope is an address. When you key it into your phone, it's on the outskirts of Atlanta. Not even on the outskirts. It's outside of Atlanta city limits in what you realize is a much more rural area. And the little note under it says, look for the fireflies, as if that will explain everything. Because when you put it into your GPS, it just shows you, like, following a highway and then kind of turning off onto no road at all. It's got you driving through a field. [03:25:16] Speaker B: Okay. And that's written on the envelope right. [03:25:20] Speaker E: On the paper inside of the envelope. [03:25:22] Speaker B: On the paper inside. [03:25:23] Speaker E: Okay. [03:25:27] Speaker B: Does it have a time that we need to be there? [03:25:30] Speaker E: It's like sundown. It talks about going at twilight. [03:25:38] Speaker B: If I look on my phone and GPS, how long does it say it's going to take us to get there? [03:25:43] Speaker E: Not long? Like an hour, maybe two. You've got all day before you need to think about leaving, which gives you guys the time to head to the what's it called, the place you were going before? [03:25:59] Speaker A: Exhibit museum. The museum. [03:26:01] Speaker E: Thank you. The m word. Words are hard. [03:26:05] Speaker D: Look, the most important part about the museum is that we are able to get, like, little dog tags that have all of our names written in Egyptian on them. [03:26:15] Speaker B: Oh, cool. [03:26:17] Speaker C: Oh. I can actually verify if that's true or not. If it's just random hieroglyphs. [03:26:22] Speaker B: Oh, that's even cooler. [03:26:24] Speaker D: It also might be that the last time I went there, I was eight. [03:26:34] Speaker E: Okay, you guys finish up the food that's left, clear off the table, and turn to head out of the park. As you are throwing things away and you turn to kind of glance back, maybe Coda looking for her cat, you realize that you don't see the table that you were sitting at anymore. [03:26:54] Speaker B: What was there? What's in the space where the table. [03:26:56] Speaker E: Was just empty space. Okay, but nobody else seems to notice. You all head off to the museum. The exhibit is pretty basic. It's a lot of stuff that was uncovered from burial site. There's examples of canopic jars. There's carvings that had fallen off of walls. There's some statuary, a sarcophagus or two, that sort of thing. You do find the little stand outside of the gift shop that Sarah mentioned where they will give you little dog tags that supposedly say your name. Does everybody order one? [03:27:55] Speaker C: I'd like to verify if it's true or not, see what they actually say. [03:28:00] Speaker E: Yeah, but of course. So you all order them and they get handed over to you. Oliver, you realize, first of all, that none of the names that are being used here were names that existed way back in the day. So the translations would be rough to begin with, but you didn't quite expect them to be this rough. In fact, you're pretty sure that Sarah's says cup or something very close to it. Chris's might say rice. [03:28:48] Speaker C: And what about my own and coda's? [03:28:52] Speaker E: Yours says rock or stone. And Coda's says Bird. Or bird is as close as you can get. It's not spelled properly, but it's as close as you can come up with it. It looks more like there's just a collection of random words that they are telling people are their names or somebody is just genuinely can't translate. [03:29:26] Speaker C: I'm going to kind of hold these. Not approvingly. Yes. These all seem completely correct to me. Here you go, miss cup. Bird. Here you go. And what did you say Chris's was? [03:29:39] Speaker B: Rice. [03:29:40] Speaker C: Rice and rice. Here you are. [03:29:43] Speaker B: Rice. Cool. [03:29:46] Speaker A: Bird. [03:29:48] Speaker D: I always thought I felt a strange kinship with the same dishes that we drink out of. [03:29:57] Speaker C: I'll hold my own. Would you rather be rock? [03:30:03] Speaker A: No, I think it's fate that we got these names, so let's just stick with the ones we have, because, who knows? This may be the next puzzle piece in our hero's journey or some shit. [03:30:18] Speaker B: That's not wrong. It could be a password to open. [03:30:21] Speaker E: Something for just poorly done. [03:30:26] Speaker B: Oh, come on. [03:30:27] Speaker E: Jewelry. [03:30:28] Speaker B: We're trying to have fun here. [03:30:30] Speaker D: No fun is allowed. [03:30:32] Speaker A: None. [03:30:33] Speaker B: God damn it. [03:30:34] Speaker C: Hold on, Miss Baxter. I'm supposed to be the one who ruins fun. Apparently. That's my job. [03:30:43] Speaker D: Well, it is a burden we can share. [03:30:49] Speaker C: I suppose that's fair. [03:30:54] Speaker A: Question. Does literally anything stick out in this place to me, or is it just a very cheap exhibit? [03:31:02] Speaker E: No. Okay, first of all, when I say that it's not standard, when I say that it's standard, it's not cheap. Like, this is all real. Yeah, this probably costs that museum a very pretty penny to lease from whoever owns it. And in fact, when you guys were looking through, there is a plaque that specifically says that it is on loan from the insert. Fancy name. That's basically an official Egyptian historical society. It's been brought to the US. [03:31:42] Speaker B: Let's face it, it's probably going to be the British Museum because they seem to have stolen everything ever in the history of antiquity. [03:31:49] Speaker E: They found it. [03:31:50] Speaker C: Sorry. [03:31:51] Speaker B: Quote unquote. Fine. [03:31:54] Speaker E: That's very fair. It's all very real. Actually. I would like everybody to roll. Does anybody have the death purview? [03:32:16] Speaker D: No? [03:32:17] Speaker E: Okay. Then I would like everybody to roll me. Wits awareness. Oliver, you have three extra dice for this. [03:32:30] Speaker B: Did you say? Wits Awareness. [03:32:32] Speaker E: Yes. [03:32:34] Speaker B: Does my subliminal warning knack come into play? [03:32:39] Speaker E: You get a tingle at the back of your senses, but it doesn't feel like you're about to be ambushed or anything like that. It's just that there is something about this that is different. [03:32:47] Speaker B: So I don't get the extra dice that that would give me? [03:32:49] Speaker C: No. [03:32:49] Speaker B: Okie dokie. [03:32:50] Speaker C: Three. [03:32:51] Speaker E: I got seven. [03:32:55] Speaker D: My epics. [03:32:59] Speaker A: I have five. [03:33:07] Speaker E: Damn. Chris. [03:33:09] Speaker B: Eight again, because of my epic wits. Jesus Christ. [03:33:15] Speaker E: Jesus. Oliver. You can tell that there is power on a lot of these items. Like, it radiates with it, and there are obvious signs of fate having influence here. But you're in a museum that is filled with things from various parts of the world in antiquity. It's hard for you to cut through the jumble of information and input that you get in this place. Like you're actually a little overwhelmed. You're overstimulated. You can tell that these things have power and that they're special, but you aren't entirely sure which pieces exactly and what exactly they can do. However, those of you who cody, you got five. [03:34:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [03:34:10] Speaker E: You feel particularly drawn to the like some deep seated part of you is like, this belonged to someone who was even more important than the mortals around me realize. And there's a small part of you that wonders if maybe this might have actually been a scion. Okay. Those of you who got six and above can feel a sense of tension and waiting in the air. Like everything in this place is waiting for something to happen or some time to roll around. Like there is energy or maybe spirits or something beyond the physical that exists in this place but can't act until later. And it's just waiting for the time that it can do. [03:35:34] Speaker C: I see Koda go up to the sarcophagus. I'd like to step up extra. Do you get something from this? Because I'm getting something from basically everything. [03:35:49] Speaker A: I don't know, I feel like whatever was in here was more important. I don't know. It feels connected, not to us, but like us. Like maybe another scion that died ages ago. [03:36:09] Speaker C: Well, let's see if we can find out some more. I'm going to pull out the Toma stories, flip through it, and cast Unlited Eye, which normally just shows me invisible magic and also tells me if someone's a scion or not. But for story, I want to see if I can get more information by using it. [03:36:32] Speaker E: So normally this would be useful for someone who's alive. However, as you cast Unlimited Eye, you're looking down at this book in your arms like it's a reference guide that you're reading from. And when you look back up at the sarcophagus, you can see faint old lines of magic. And it's actually in what looks like the paints and the stonework itself. Like whoever carved the sarcophagus was probably they themselves some measure of divine or supernatural. If this wasn't a scion, it was someone incredibly important to scions at the gods because this would have taken a lot of time, a lot of power, and a lot of intent. And now that you are looking around with this spell active, you can see different kinds of power, like residual power auras. At one point, you catch what you think is a person walking by in like kind of white not quite robes, but like almost like a white skirt with like a gold belt and no shirt. You catch it out of the corner of your good eye and when you turn to look, they're gone. Um, yeah. Most things in this place have some semblance of power, some semblance of magic. But the sarcophagus in particular and kind of squinting to read some of the hieroglyphics through the glass, it's a little difficult. You can see that whoever was inside of this was a daughter of Horus. Well, she was blessed by Horus is basically what it says. But you can kind of put two and two together and figure out that it's probably a scion. [03:38:48] Speaker C: Right? Well, didn't get anything straight laced and specific, but I do know that this sarcophagai or sarcophagus was made by someone very powerful like Leia scion or potentially a god themselves or some form of supernatural. And it was meant to keep a scion of worst within. I don't know if it was meant as containment or as protection or what, but it's definitely very powerful. Knew more than I don't know. [03:39:24] Speaker A: Guess another thing for me to ask my mom about. She's going to take her phone out and try to take a picture of the sarcophagus. [03:39:35] Speaker E: You go to take your picture, and you barely manage to get the picture. You hear the shutter click in your phone, and then a security guard comes. Ma'am. [03:39:46] Speaker A: No. [03:39:46] Speaker E: No. [03:39:48] Speaker A: Right. Sorry. [03:39:51] Speaker E: Yep. You guys sort of wrap up your time, and you are about to leave. And as you are walking back out of the exhibit, coda, you pass by what looks like a reproduction of a rib tall Sphinx statue. Like it was just literally just made to be decoration at the entrance. And you're about to walk by it, not thinking anything of it. It's one of the only things that doesn't really give this place any sense of gravity to you. And you swear you see its eyes open. And that's where we're going to call it for the night. You guys have a lovely night. Thank you for joining us. We will see you next Friday, same time, same place. Goodbye. Bye.