S1 Ep8: Celebrity Skin

[00:00:31] Speaker A: Hello. I'm Sticker, and I'll be playing Koda Massacoy, the Scion of Bastet. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Hello, I'm Gary. I'll be playing Oliver Bright, the scion of Oguma. [00:00:43] Speaker C: Hello. [00:00:44] Speaker D: I'm Cyan, and I'll be playing Sarah Baxter, the Scion of Vidar. [00:00:50] Speaker E: I'm Diver and I'm back this week to reprise the role of OGMA. [00:00:55] Speaker F: And I am JD. The St playing vidar Odensen norse god of vengeance. [00:01:10] Speaker C: And I'm bloodied porcelain. I will be your storyteller this evening. Some of you may have noticed we are currently down a player. Unfortunately, Chris's player has some family business that he has to take care of, so he will not be joining us tonight. We miss him and wish him all the best. Hello, players. Last time we met, you woke up in a very nice hotel, compliments of Cream and his connections, where you got to spend some time you got to spend some time meeting with Lily and Lucas, children of what appears. To be one of the Aztec gods who hadn't been through their awakening or had their visitation yet and were still reeling after the events of the night before. There were some heart to hearts, mostly with Coda and Net. There were some discussions about Chris's brother Stefan and how to deal with him and the threat that he poses. And there was planning. You didn't really have to go anywhere. There was also a visit from bestET herself, who divulged what little information she could about a secret of fate to her daughter Coda, whose own fate seems to be tied into this secret. You all didn't have to go anywhere that night. You were able to take the day to recover. There was an active effort on Kareem's part to ensure that you all were able to rest without much of an issue, without too many interruptions. He did let you guys know that he is going to be gone for the next day, but he was very adamant with Net that she not come with him, that she needs to recover. So Net is still with you all at the hotel and I assume shared a room with Coda the night before the twins did not return. Oliver yes. At about six or five, six in the morning, you got woken up by Chris very gently, where he let you know that he's got that he had a visitor in the form of his adoptive uncle. Apollo apparently has a job for him and so he's going to be gone for at least part of the day, but he will meet up with you when he is able and everything's fine. Don't freak out. It's something relatively minor, but he's going to be spending the day with that part of his family. [00:05:00] Speaker B: All right. Likely have been some inevitable confusion, reluctance, but eventually, if a god is saying he needs Chris for something, then who are we to tell the gods? No, in this case, all right, you. [00:05:16] Speaker C: Are able to fall back asleep without much of an issue. There's no big interruptions, and you all wake up in the morning. Sarah, you have a notification in your inbox that your email was red. No immediate reply, but it would seem that assuming that Vidar is the only one who has access to the email that he gave you, he has seen it. I love read receipts. Um, is there anything specific you would like to do this morning. [00:05:59] Speaker D: Other than just getting ready? Normally, throughout the day, she'll actually be writing down a bunch of notes on the pad and paper provided in the hotel room. [00:06:10] Speaker C: Okay. [00:06:11] Speaker D: And then she'll head over to get breakfast. Hopefully everyone else will join her. [00:06:17] Speaker C: Very cool. Oliver, when you woke up, you noticed something peculiar, not even something you have to roll for. There are a line of crows outside of your window. There's three when you first look, and then you kind of turn away to do something. And when you look back again, there's, like, five. They don't seem to be trying to get in or anything like that. They're just purged there. [00:06:55] Speaker B: That'S both informative and a bit disconcerting, but all right. Good to know. [00:07:03] Speaker C: Is there anything specific you would like to do this morning? [00:07:10] Speaker B: Just so we know the general layout of our hotel room, are we sort of like in a penthouse type situation where our rooms are kind of, like, connected in a way, or when we go to get breakfast, is it like a public hall that we go down to? [00:07:24] Speaker C: So you guys are not in a penthouse. You are in individual rooms that are next to each other. However, the place where you had breakfast and most of your meals the day before is a private dining room. [00:07:40] Speaker B: All right. [00:07:41] Speaker C: It looks like a space that was probably rented out. [00:07:46] Speaker B: All right, in that case, I will head down for breakfast after getting ready, and assuming I see Sarah there, just sort of nod good morning. [00:08:01] Speaker D: And while she's eating, she's, like, scribbling down notes still on the pad of paper. [00:08:08] Speaker B: Anything interesting? [00:08:12] Speaker D: Possibly, but we should probably wait for the others to arrive. It might be a polarizing opinion. [00:08:24] Speaker B: Well, we'll see. There's some things I would like to talk about with the others as well. But while we wait, would you like to take a break from the notetaking? [00:08:39] Speaker D: What do you have in mind? [00:08:42] Speaker B: Well, I was wondering and I'm going to reach into my jacket and kind of shake a carton of cigarettes. Care for a smoke? [00:08:54] Speaker D: I didn't know you smoked. [00:08:56] Speaker B: I just now started. [00:09:00] Speaker D: All right, sure. [00:09:05] Speaker B: And are we allowed to smoke in your or is there, like, a balcony we have to go to? [00:09:11] Speaker C: There is nothing that says that you can't. General rule of thumb is that you probably shouldn't smoke in a hotel unless you know for a fact that you're in a space that allows it. But there is a little small balcony that you can step onto it's very brisk out there because it is still January, but it's quite possible I will. [00:09:35] Speaker B: Step out onto the balcony then, as that is the plight thing to do. [00:09:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:40] Speaker D: Sarah will follow, and as she's doing so, she'll pull out her lighter. [00:09:46] Speaker B: I'll just gently, awkwardly pull out one of the cigarettes from the garden, just roll it between my fingers before pulling out my own lighter and lighting it up. I have no idea what to expect, by the way. [00:10:03] Speaker D: From smoking? [00:10:04] Speaker B: Yes. [00:10:07] Speaker D: It's like taking a break from breathing. [00:10:12] Speaker B: And that's a positive. [00:10:17] Speaker D: Once you get past the coughing part. Yeah. There's usually a bit of a head rush, but not since, well, all of this started. It's kind of just a meditation exercise at this point. [00:10:32] Speaker B: Well, guess we'll see how this goes. And before I take a drag, I'll offer Sarah one of these are good or not. I just picked one at random. I originally bought this a while back for the rest of you, in case you ran out. [00:10:51] Speaker D: That was thoughtful of you. [00:10:54] Speaker B: I try to be. Then I'll go ahead and take my drag. And then promptly all right, then. Well, there's that. [00:11:08] Speaker D: Just let it out. [00:11:12] Speaker B: I can see the appeal. [00:11:17] Speaker D: She'll take a drag of her own cigarette and just let it out. Is there something on your mind? [00:11:24] Speaker B: Well, I'll confess that the reason I asked to do this was because I felt like I have had plenty of opportunities to speak with Chris and Coda on a personal level, but at the two of us haven't had to had the opportunity to chat that much. [00:11:46] Speaker D: Well, there's been so much going on, opportunities to speak seem to escape me. Most of the time. I'm just observing. [00:11:56] Speaker B: Understand that learning is through observation. [00:12:03] Speaker D: Indeed it is. [00:12:06] Speaker B: To be honest, I feel like I've been a little bit of an idiot lately. Or I guess lately, I'm just now starting to realize I've been an idiot for a very long time. [00:12:17] Speaker D: How do you mean? [00:12:19] Speaker B: Well, for the longest time, I had this ideal plan for my life. That one day I envisioned myself as a father. The kind that would read to their kids when they went to bed. But I also lived a life where I would always cloister myself away, not be around anyone, stay secluded and isolated. And it's not until now have I realized that those two ideals don't exactly work together all that well. And I'm starting to realize there's a lot of things in my life that I let fear dictate. And I'm trying my best not to let it do that anymore. But we'll see. [00:13:11] Speaker D: Well, then, what's your plan now? Other than just surviving, of course. [00:13:16] Speaker B: Well, for starters, I kind of flip the cigarette and take another drag. We do things like this because what does lung cancer mean if we're silenced and in danger just about every single day? Might as well live a little. [00:13:37] Speaker A: Very true. [00:13:40] Speaker B: Baby steps and all. What about you? Where's your mind out mind at these days? [00:13:49] Speaker D: I'm thinking about our current adversary and whether or not they're an adversary at all. Truly. [00:14:00] Speaker B: I've been thinking a bit about that as well, but my thoughts been more about this plan we've been doing. But what do you mean? [00:14:09] Speaker D: I mean really thinking about it, kind of putting it into perspective. What other choice did he have than to go on the defensive and immediately attack the gods that would otherwise just take him out like trash? It's not like I'm unfamiliar with situations that arise from systems that are inherently against people, but this is on a whole nother level. Like killing kids just because they have the potential to do a crime. They haven't even done anything. It's just not well. It doesn't sit well with me. [00:14:57] Speaker B: I think there's some merit to what you say in literature. Some of the most interesting villains are the ones where you ask yourself, they're in the wrong at all in the first place. Take Frankenstein, for example. Classic use of this in two means. We have Dr. Frankenstein, who's basically his whole character is the saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And then you have the monster who acts out because society rejected him. He didn't want to be treated the way he did, and because of that, he's learned the behavior of the people around him who rejected him and lashed out. But that's an additional facet of it. The monster still chose to be as bad as everyone thought he was. And in the case of Stefan here, he didn't have a choice in this matter. But he's still actively doing terrible things, blowing up buildings without any sort of care for civilian casualty. He's leading armies that hurt people when there's no need for it. He's sympathetic, I can agree with that. But at the end of the day, he's still a bad person. I think. [00:16:26] Speaker D: I never meant to insinuate that he was good, only that he never had a choice to be anything else. [00:16:37] Speaker B: I think there's some parts of his fate that were chosen for him that he didn't have a choice in, like you say. But then there are other parts that he made for himself that he actively chose to do and made those steps to walk deeper into the darkness rather than finding another path. So in some ways, he is still to blame, but in other ways you're right. He was dealt a bad hand. [00:17:12] Speaker D: I just still think there could be another solution. Not void of punishment, but one that allows us to gain more than just another death, more violence. [00:17:25] Speaker B: I think you're right, and I agree. If we can avoid death, that would be a good feat. But at the same time, we have people who are very angry trying to convince Netta sparing him will not go very well, I don't think. [00:17:46] Speaker D: I don't think so either. But I'll still try. [00:17:52] Speaker B: Though. I've had some thoughts about our plan, and I'm worried that there's not so much holes in it, but that it's fragile as it stands right now. Relies a lot on everything going exactly right. And if something does or doesn't go exactly right, then there's not much room for recovery. So some revisions might be good to have. [00:18:25] Speaker D: I agree. Sarah will tap the butt of her cigarette and put it out. Shall we head back inside? [00:18:42] Speaker B: Sure. Let me just try this one more time, and I will take one more drag and then stamp out the cigarette. [00:18:51] Speaker D: After you and Sarah will walk back in. [00:18:58] Speaker A: Okay. [00:19:01] Speaker C: Coda. You wake up curled up next to Net, who is awake and is just sort of reclining next to you. She's not, like, fully laying down. It looks like she's been up for a little while, but she's been trying to avoid being moving around or anything because she didn't want to wake you up. [00:19:38] Speaker A: Good morning. Morning. How long have you been up? [00:19:47] Speaker C: A few hours. [00:19:51] Speaker A: Just thinking, staring. [00:19:56] Speaker C: I didn't want to wake you up. [00:19:59] Speaker A: Oh, we could have done that. I would have just gone right back to sleep or probably maybe actually do some research about stuff, but whatever. [00:20:12] Speaker C: How did you sleep? Seemed like you needed it. You were out pretty hard. [00:20:21] Speaker A: How did I sleep? Pretty good. I mean, not really any nightmares? Pretty solid. Still a lot on my mind. How are you? [00:20:39] Speaker C: I'm okay, I think. Feeling a little pent up. I'm not used to Kareem giving strict orders that I'm not supposed to go anywhere or do anything. He doesn't normally get a choice. But it's been nice getting to just spend time with you. [00:21:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess that is pretty nice. So when you say you're pent up, is it like you want to hit. [00:21:16] Speaker C: Something or you just want to cabin fever. I'm used to having places to go and things to do and stuff to keep me busy, so it's weird being in one place for more than, like, 8 hours at a time. [00:21:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I can imagine. So you're just not allowed to leave the hotel? [00:21:41] Speaker C: No, I'm allowed to leave, but I was told pretty explicitly that I shouldn't go anywhere on my own and that I should avoid doing anything strenuous because I'm healing. [00:21:57] Speaker A: Okay. [00:21:59] Speaker C: And she says this with a dramatic roll of her eyes. All of her wounds seem to be gone. Physically, she seems fine. But you were there when Kareem brought her to you, and she was near death. You got to see how firsthand how worried he was and how scared he was. And he's normally pretty inflappable. He's that guy who's always got a smile on his face. And in the entire time you had known him up until that point, he had never dropped the smile. But when he pulled up with her, he was not smiling. [00:22:44] Speaker A: Well. He means well. He's pretty worried about you. [00:22:48] Speaker C: Yeah, that's why I'm obeying orders. He sort of saved my life, and I at least owe him this much. [00:22:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I mean, besides me talking to the group, after everything my mom said, which she did say, she I forgot if she said she likes you or if she says you're okay or if you're good. Something along the lines of approval. But she did say if you hurt me, she was going to rip you apart. [00:23:28] Speaker C: Yeah, that's not surprising. I've heard some stories about Mama Cat. [00:23:36] Speaker A: Yeah, it's kind of cool, actually. But. [00:23:40] Speaker C: After some of the stuff she. [00:23:42] Speaker A: Said, I kind of want to check out. This feels so weird saying, but I kind of think I want to research the things that we need to do. But also I kind of want to practice fighting because I kind of feel what you mean about being stuck. I got this bad I got all this power now and all this stuff, but I'm like I have nothing to. [00:24:08] Speaker C: You want to train? Yeah. [00:24:15] Speaker A: But I don't want you to, like I mean, you could give me pointers, but I'm not going to hit you or anything because you're still healing. [00:24:26] Speaker C: I'm really not physically. I'm fine. I promise. The only thing on me that's still healing is it's going to take a while for my hair and my eyebrows to grow back. [00:24:37] Speaker A: Oh, but it's cute, so it's fine. [00:24:42] Speaker C: But if you want to train, I have it on good authority that there is an open rooftop rooftop training. [00:24:54] Speaker A: But. [00:24:55] Speaker C: You have to be ready. I'm not going to go easy on you. [00:24:58] Speaker A: Don't never, literally never go easy on me. [00:25:04] Speaker C: She kind of reaches over and slaps you on the ass. Go get dressed. We'll get some breakfast, and then we'll go train. [00:25:10] Speaker A: All right. Yeah. This is all exciting. Is Mr. Cat with us? [00:25:14] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:25:16] Speaker C: Is curled up in her lap and is, like, asleep. [00:25:20] Speaker A: Nice. [00:25:22] Speaker C: He doesn't really stir until she slaps your ass, and then his eyes kind of crack open, and he gives you both, like, an annoyed look like, how dare you interrupt my rest. [00:25:33] Speaker A: Coda is going to cuddle him and give him a cushion ahead and quickly go off to go get dressed. Excellent. [00:25:44] Speaker C: You get dressed by the time you come back out. Net is also dressed in, I guess, athletic wear. There is a bag in the room that was not there the night before when you went to bed, but it looks like it's a bunch of clothes that are about the right size, frenette, and much, much closer to her personal style than what she wore yesterday, which was almost all, like, loaned to her. All right, we'll go get breakfast, and then I'll kick your butt. [00:26:26] Speaker A: Yes, please. [00:26:28] Speaker C: And she puts the sheath with her weapons on her back and leads you up to the private VIP dining room where the other two are. [00:26:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Coda is excitedly walking into the room where all the food is and stuff, and she's like, going to go training, going to go training. [00:26:55] Speaker C: Hale is on your shoulders. He is a shoulder cat because it is the highest vantage point he can get while riding around like the tiny god that he is. You are his personal polanquin. But Oliver and Sarah, you guys see Net and Coda and Mr. Cat or Pele enter the dining room. Coda looks unusually chipper and upbeat for so early in the morning. [00:27:33] Speaker B: Well, you two seem ecstatic. [00:27:37] Speaker C: I may have promised somebody that I would give her some training. [00:27:43] Speaker A: Yes. I'm so excited. [00:27:46] Speaker C: You guys are welcome to join. With three of you, it might actually be a little bit of a challenge. [00:27:52] Speaker B: It's actually a rather good idea. I think that's something I also look into as well. [00:27:58] Speaker D: Yes, that sounds interesting. [00:28:01] Speaker C: Excellent. I hear somebody is taking boxing lessons and she looks at Oliver. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Really? [00:28:12] Speaker B: Something like that, yes. [00:28:15] Speaker C: Excellent. Well, we'll get to see what you've learned. But first breakfast. [00:28:26] Speaker B: Yes, first that. But also keep your expectations low. [00:28:31] Speaker C: No worries. And she settles down and she's wearing running leggings and a fairly form fitting athleisure kind of tank top. But her head is like in a wrap. There's a specific word for it. It's the kind of wraps that you see on a lot of women in different parts of Africa, the almost like ceremonial looking ones. Hers is obviously adapted and isn't exactly a ceremonial one, but she's obviously doing her best to hide the fact that she has almost no hair at all. But she sits and she reaches out and she kind of hits a little bell on the table and a handful of people who work at the hotel kind of come in with little push carts and they very quickly load up the table with a myriad variety of breakfast foods. She heaps her plate with bacon and sausage and waffles and lets out a happy sigh as she sits back. Kind of munching on one. I love it when Kareem pulls out all of the stops with his connections and makes them really put us up in style. It's the best. [00:30:04] Speaker B: So this is the very top. I was concerned this was average for him. [00:30:10] Speaker C: I'm sure he stayed at nicer places, but I haven't. Unless you consider like, one of the celestial palaces nicer, but there's a lot more rules and you've got to dress funny and I hate it. [00:30:24] Speaker A: Celestial palaces? Is that for your pantheon? [00:30:29] Speaker C: Yeah, there's a number of palaces in our overworld, but everything is all about rules and conduct and you've got to know exactly how many steps to take before you bow before Emperor so and so and never turn your back as you're walking out of the room. Yada, yada, yada. [00:30:56] Speaker D: That sounds like pretty standard etiquette. [00:31:01] Speaker C: Is there more? [00:31:04] Speaker B: That is a good question, actually. [00:31:07] Speaker C: I mean, there's a lot of stuff it's awful. It's the most boring, dry place ever. You know that? If I want to see my dad and it's not something he's planning for, I have to submit, like, 100 page form asking for permission, and I have to do it in, like, triplicate. And if I make a mistake, I have to do it all over again. And then there's usually a waiting period. It's a whole thing. Usually I just hope that he finds the time. I just don't even bother filling out the paperwork anymore. I did it, like, twice, and I'll never do it again. [00:31:53] Speaker B: Does seem rather excessive. [00:31:57] Speaker C: I mean, they call our pantheon the celestial bureaucracy for a reason. [00:32:05] Speaker A: There's no rules against you being with another pantheon. Sign on, right? [00:32:13] Speaker C: There might be, but I don't care. [00:32:16] Speaker A: Oh, cool. Perfect. [00:32:17] Speaker C: I don't think my dad will care, and he's kind of the only one I give a shit about. [00:32:22] Speaker A: Well, just make it short because I know he mentioned, oh, in the future, when all this is over, the different pantheons may start fighting against each other and all. [00:32:34] Speaker C: Well, okay, so here's the thing about inter pantheon relations is that it's very political. Some pantheons like each other more than others. Some of them have some really old grudges, like, for example, and she kind of gestures at Oliver and Sarah. The Acer and the Tuaha have not traditionally always gotten along great. They can play nice when they need to, but the Tuaha have some. [00:33:11] Speaker B: Old. [00:33:12] Speaker C: Personal feelings about the Vikings invading Ireland. [00:33:21] Speaker B: I see. [00:33:25] Speaker C: They'Re able to put those aside when they need to, but they've definitely got their complaints. Meanwhile, my pantheon and the Japanese pantheon, the Amatsukami, don't always get along because there have been some tensions between China and Japan over the years. But more than that, it's more often that you find rivalries and vehement hate between specific gods than pantheons. [00:34:01] Speaker B: Well, in that case, Sarah, so long as you don't invade my studio apartment, we shouldn't have a problem, I don't think. [00:34:09] Speaker C: I make no promises. [00:34:13] Speaker B: Then we might have a problem. [00:34:14] Speaker C: The Vikings never behave themselves. You can never rely on it. [00:34:19] Speaker D: Sarah's just going to chuckle. [00:34:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:26] Speaker C: So it's political, and it's not always overt. And it's not like just because somebody is a sign of a rival god that you've got to immediately fight them or anything like that. It's usually a little bit more subtle than that. Every so often, you get the people who are just not at all subtle and really not good at not acting on their parents'feelings, and it turns into a blow for blow situation. But it's not usually like that. It's usually more you'll get asked to or you'll be tasked with doing something that kind of directly undermines another god's plans that's more there's only there are a handful of exceptions, but the Acer and their particular hatred of anyone who is a child of Loki can be problematic. Hatred may be the wrong word. I don't know. It's weird. No offense. She looks over at Sarah. [00:35:37] Speaker D: None taken. [00:35:38] Speaker C: There's judgment calls that every pantheon makes and weird rules and traditions and beliefs and status quo that I don't necessarily understand or agree with, but yeah, the ones that hunt down their own for the sake of not having that type of person around ever, those confuse me, but is what it is. [00:36:08] Speaker A: Okay, cool. Because I'd literally become a god and make my own rules. If they suddenly said, oh, you have to fight and kill, like, that's not happening, or like Oliver or Sarah or something like that, or like, no, I will literally become a god and make my own. [00:36:26] Speaker C: You know, funny enough, yeah, to some degree the Gods get to make their own rules, but they're subject to more rules than we are. [00:36:36] Speaker A: Well, then I become higher than a god. [00:36:41] Speaker C: It's more likely that your particularly strong feelings on the subject would influence the type of God that you end up as. You might be the god of rule breaking. [00:36:55] Speaker A: I like that. [00:36:57] Speaker C: God of rebellion. [00:37:00] Speaker A: That would be awesome. [00:37:02] Speaker C: You could very well end up as, like, a god of rebellion or rule breaking or kind of depends. I would say Oliver could end up as the god of Shakespeare and boring classic know. [00:37:20] Speaker B: Okay. [00:37:21] Speaker A: And audiobooks. [00:37:23] Speaker C: And audiobooks. [00:37:25] Speaker B: I like physical books as well. I just play the audiobooks because we're in a moving vehicle. God of books, maybe. [00:37:34] Speaker C: I mean, that makes sense. [00:37:36] Speaker B: I'd rather not be a god at all. [00:37:41] Speaker A: Yeah, well. [00:37:44] Speaker C: Unfortunately, in this life, your options are to end up as a god or die early. It's usually how it goes. Most of us die early. I don't know of a single scion that died as an old man or woman in their bed. I know that's a little morbid, but somebody should be upfront with you about how brief and hard this life tends to be. [00:38:16] Speaker A: I'll become a god of old age and make sure scions make it to old age. [00:38:25] Speaker B: That would be nice. [00:38:28] Speaker A: All right, time to get for me to make it to be a scion of old age, I got to be able to at least be able to beat you. So let's go fight. Let's go fight. [00:38:43] Speaker C: Were you saying beat Oliver or beaten? [00:38:47] Speaker A: Net. [00:38:50] Speaker C: Okay. Net just sort of chuckles and calls for one of the waitresses and asks for a few bottles of water. Waitress brings you several, and then she leads the way up onto the roof, where you guys have a beautiful view of overlooking most of Atlanta. It is windy up here because it is still January, and it's blustery. It's not warm by any stretch, but you get a beautiful view. It's a beautiful day. And that pulls out her sword and kind of points at Coda. [00:39:41] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:44] Speaker C: Some basic rules. I'm going to avoid using the actual blade, the edge of it, anyway. So hopefully if I hit you. I'm only hitting you with the flat of the blade because I don't want to accidentally remove any limbs. You don't need to worry about doing the same for me. I've been at this long enough. I think I'll be okay. [00:40:08] Speaker A: That's fine. It could switch back and forth, and then she'll show it. Switching between a bat and a Copesh. [00:40:15] Speaker C: Interesting. You should use the copesh. Something tells me you are familiar with how to use a bat. [00:40:23] Speaker A: Okay. [00:40:23] Speaker C: Cope will feel different. So you should learn how to handle the weight and the shape of it. [00:40:32] Speaker A: She'll do that? [00:40:34] Speaker C: The first thing she does is actually make me a let's do strength and melee. I just want to see what your stance and such is. [00:41:05] Speaker A: Strength and melee. [00:41:07] Speaker C: Yes. [00:41:08] Speaker A: Okay, that's seven, please. One success and then one automatic. So Two. [00:41:30] Speaker C: Okay, so she has you get into a fighting stance and immediately walks over and just sort of taps the inside of your knee with the flat of her blade and your whole leg buckles. She's like, okay, step number one don't lock your knees. And she kind of helps you back up and spends several minutes kind of helping you adjust into, like, a ready stance. She fixes your posture. She kind of takes your hips and her hands and adjusts how you've got them rotated so that you're bearing your weight a little bit better and puts her hand at your belly as she kind of helps you find where your center of gravity really is, because it's not something most people instinctively use it, but aren't necessarily aware that they're doing it. And so there's a lot of little things like that at first, just to get you to the point where you can handle utilizing a sword. And you do notice that the copesh, while perfectly balanced for you, is bigger. It's longer and more awkward because it's curved than the bat is. You'd probably feel much more comfortable with the bat, but you also know that you're going to do a heck of a lot less damage with it than you would with the Copesh. So if you're going to be dealing with big, angry dogs, being able to use the bladed version of the weapon is probably better for you. Okay, I'm going to have you make one more. Strength and decks. [00:43:18] Speaker A: Okay. Strength and decks. Wait. [00:43:26] Speaker C: No, I'm sorry. Not strength and decks. Strength and melee. I don't know why I said that. I'm Sorry. [00:43:32] Speaker A: That was fine. [00:43:37] Speaker C: All again. [00:43:44] Speaker A: 1234. Success is five altogether. [00:43:52] Speaker C: Very Good. So, Sarah and Oliver, you guys get to watch as Net kind of stands back with her sword in a ready position and does that thing that you've seen in every kung fu movie ever, which is that she reaches out with one hand with her palm up and just does the come hither fingers and Coda immediately swings into action. She is much more fluid and balanced and quick than. You ever thought she would be based on what you've seen of her before. And she and Net kind of lock into combat. Could each of you make me perception awarenesses? [00:45:06] Speaker B: Perception awareness this oh, sorry. [00:45:09] Speaker C: Three. [00:45:12] Speaker B: My old friend zero. [00:45:18] Speaker C: Oliver it's moving too quickly for you to keep up with what's happening. You get glimpses every now and then where you can kind of see how their feet adjust to each other's movements and stances, but to you, it's just a blur of whirling blades and very fast moving bodies. Sarah you don't necessarily catch everything, but you catch enough to realize that Net does not seem to be breaking a sweat. And she is kind of perpetually coaching Coda through things. She's just like, don't drop your outer guard. Occasionally you'll hear Coda go out because she'll get whacked like an elbow with the flat of the blade. Don't put all of your weight on that foot when you're on the defensive. And then there are times where Koda will come at her with a flurry of blows and that seems and looks genuinely impressed. And they go back and forth for several long minutes, probably a good 20 to 30 minutes, where it's a lot of back and forth and whatever before Coda is kind of out of breath and Net just sort of smiles and does a polite little clap. Not bad. Not bad. [00:46:55] Speaker A: See, that's what I was talking about. One of these days going to get you. [00:47:02] Speaker C: I have absolutely no doubt that one day you will be just as good, if not better than me. Considering you've only been at this for a couple of weeks, I'm impressed. [00:47:18] Speaker A: Coda will lean in to go give her a kiss, but then look back at the others and then kind of do, like, a quick peck. [00:47:30] Speaker C: She'll just kind of grin a little bit, and she'll accept the peck. And then as you turn to go grab your water bottle, she'll wink at Sarah, grab your wrist, and yank you back and give you, like, a full on kiss on the oh. And then we'll release you and kind of nudge you toward your water. Go on. [00:47:58] Speaker A: Nice training. Thank you. [00:48:02] Speaker C: Nice ass. [00:48:04] Speaker A: Oh, my actual God. [00:48:08] Speaker C: Also, you should think about putting your hair up next time we train. That was one of your biggest issues, was that it was always in your face. [00:48:17] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. That's literally, like, the first step of fighting. I think I just got too excited, but, yeah, I'll remember to do that. Okay, I need a bite. [00:48:26] Speaker C: You did pretty good despite that. And you're not always going to have time, but you should definitely carry a hair tie with you if you're going to have your hair that long. [00:48:34] Speaker A: Yes, I will. [00:48:36] Speaker C: All right, Mr. Bright. [00:48:38] Speaker B: Oh, I'm next. [00:48:41] Speaker C: I'm assuming you're at least going to take your jacket off. [00:48:45] Speaker B: Smart idea. [00:48:46] Speaker C: Yes. [00:48:46] Speaker B: And I will take off the jacket and very gently and lightly lay it down, smooth it out, and then start to kind of roll up the sleeves. So sleeves rolled up, just the shirt and vest. [00:49:01] Speaker C: She just sort of stands there and watches you. You know you're not going to have time to win a beauty contest before a fight. Right? [00:49:08] Speaker B: Well, this isn't a true fight yet, so seeing as I have time to prepare, then I'm going to take that opportunity next time. [00:49:17] Speaker C: I'm not going to give you time to prepare. I'm just going to hit you. [00:49:20] Speaker B: That's fair. [00:49:32] Speaker C: Are you ready? [00:49:35] Speaker B: Sure. And I will bring my fist up. [00:49:39] Speaker C: All right. Come on, hit me. And she just stands there expectantly. [00:49:44] Speaker B: It's going to be embarrassing, isn't it? [00:49:49] Speaker C: I would like you to roll your combat for Brawl, please. [00:49:53] Speaker B: Yes. And is that the number that's already established with the it should be, yeah. Okay, got you. [00:50:05] Speaker C: Okay. [00:50:12] Speaker B: One success. [00:50:16] Speaker C: So you go to swing at her, and net's hand pops up and catches it in midair. Okay. All right. Well, you don't have your thumb in a place where you're going to break it, so that's good here. And she does something very similar with you that she did with Coda, which is that she kind of walks around you and taps parts of your legs, adjusts your shoulders, lifts your chin, that sort of thing. She's like, look, I'll be honest with you, I'm not much of a boxer, but here are some basic tools, and it's a lot of things like how to keep your hands up around your face and not drop them just because you're about to hit somebody. Your hands are already good, so she doesn't spend much time on that, but that happens. And then she just sort of stands back. It kind of tilts her head a little bit. All right, better. Let's try again. And because you've just said this coaching, I will give you two extra dice on this one. [00:51:31] Speaker B: Got you. One success. [00:51:39] Speaker C: She doesn't catch your hand this time. You haul off. You guys kind of circle each other. There's a couple of little jabs that don't really go anywhere. She just sort of steps back out of the range pretty quick, pretty easily, and at one point, you go and you take a big swing, and she just sort of ducks a little bit. You're over committing. You can't throw all of your body weight into a blow unless you know it's going to hit. See how you ended up all off balance. [00:52:16] Speaker B: Analytically? Yes. [00:52:19] Speaker C: It's just because you put all of your weight into it, you have so much forward momentum and no way to catch yourself. It's okay, though. I'll be honest with you. When I met you, I didn't think I'd ever get to see you throw any kind of punch. So consider me impressed with your willingness to accept the fact that you have to adapt. [00:52:42] Speaker B: I did not expect this from me either, so consider me also equally as impressed with myself. [00:52:51] Speaker C: She kind of smiles a little bit and she just puts her hands up and she goes, we're just going to spend some time with you, getting used to hitting a target. I won't move them, just aim for my palms. And she has you do that. And at first you're a little tentative because she's just using her bare hands and everything that you've ever seen. Somebody should really be wearing pads for this, but she doesn't even seem to flinch. Even when you make the best contact you can, you realize very quickly that her hands are almost like hitting a wall at times. It's not going to split your skin open or anything, but there's very little give except that she moves her hand back just a little bit so that you have some cushion rather than just plowing into what feels like a brick wall. And by the time you're done, you're pretty sweat slicked despite the fact that it's cold outside and you're breathing a little hard. And she's just sort of grinning at you because throughout the whole time she was coaching you, you could hear you went from her, like, critiquing every little thing to actually praising you at times as you make a little bit of progress. Every time she takes you through a round of punches. And she just sort of, like, lifts her eyebrows and puts her hands on her hips. Well, you take advice on board easier than most people do, so that's good. That might save your life. [00:54:38] Speaker B: Well, if one is to be a teacher, they have to be a student first. [00:54:44] Speaker C: That's a good rule of thumb, rule for life, really. [00:54:49] Speaker B: I followed for a while. [00:54:51] Speaker C: Most people get so accustomed to the way they do things on a physical level that getting them to adjust is really hard. But congratulations on being one of the better students I've had. [00:55:08] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:55:10] Speaker C: Of course. You should go clean up and get some water. [00:55:18] Speaker B: That I will do. [00:55:26] Speaker C: And then she turns to Sarah. [00:55:35] Speaker D: Sarah stands in size. One day I decided to wear a short sleeve undershirt and she'll also take off her jacket. [00:55:44] Speaker C: So what do you want to work on? [00:55:47] Speaker D: I guess unarmed combat is something I'm pretty weakened as well. [00:55:53] Speaker C: Works for me. I've only ever seen you with a gun, and no offense, but I can dodge bullets, but I can't promise other people in other buildings will be able to, so let's not do that. [00:56:07] Speaker D: Yeah, not the best idea. [00:56:10] Speaker C: I know of a handful of ranges that I can take you to at some point so that you can get some practice in, but we'll work on hand to hand instead. Sarah, go ahead and make me your hand to hand roll. [00:56:41] Speaker D: And then I have two auto successes. [00:56:44] Speaker C: For deck, so four. Four. Not bad. So there's a lot less instruction about stance with you, more she kind of immediately pegs that. She lets you let off a handful of flurries of punches and whatnot before she kind of puts a hand up for you to stop. Okay. All right. So you've clearly done this a few times. Let me ask you a question. Don't take it personally. Were most of your fights when you were feeling really emotional? [00:57:32] Speaker A: It's that obvious, is it? [00:57:35] Speaker C: You drive your punches with your heart. I don't know how else to explain it. I can tell that you're throwing everything that you're feeling into it, and sometimes that's good, sometimes that's really bad and. [00:57:52] Speaker F: Will get you killed. [00:57:56] Speaker C: You're just out of control enough that if you came up against somebody with my kind of skill set, you'd be in trouble. So what I think you need to work on the most is learning to tamp down on that impulse to throw everything that you're feeling into it and work on knowing when it's okay to unleash. [00:58:29] Speaker D: Sarah will kind of contemplate that information for a moment and then nod. [00:58:35] Speaker C: So let's start with, you know, deep breaths, clear your head. Get out of all those messy thoughts that I'm sure you're having over the last few days. Set them aside. They're not important right now. What's important is the ground under your feet, the air on your skin, and the opponent across from you and nothing else. And your breathing. Focus on your breathing. [00:59:06] Speaker D: Sarah actually kind of closes her eyes a bit and just stands up straight and just does as instructed. Kind of just feels the wind blowing across her skin and takes deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. [00:59:26] Speaker C: Okay, now hit me. Go ahead and make another roll. And I want you to add two dice. [00:59:43] Speaker D: One, two, four. [00:59:45] Speaker C: Again, Oregon. Okay. So you haul off and throw a punch. She manages to mostly dodge it, but your knuckles kind of graze the side of her cheek, and she looks a little bit surprised, impressed, even. Not bad. [01:00:11] Speaker D: Thanks. [01:00:12] Speaker C: All right. Same thing that we did with Oliver. I'm going to take you through your paces, and I'll coach you as we go. And she puts her hands up, invites you to do things like throw kicks and whatever if you want. She's like, trust me, you're not going to throw out anything I can't handle. And you spend a good 20 to 30 minutes, just like she did with Coda and Oliver, where she coaches you through it. She counts off your punches. She gives you feedback on how you stand when you throw a punch, how to not lean in so much when you're jabbing, things like that. Occasionally she'll kind of reach out and tap you, like, on the shoulder or not on the shoulder, but on the jaw because you accidentally drop a hand. She never does anything that hurts, but she makes it a point to very obviously make it clear when you've screwed up. And by the time it's over, you are out of breath, and she's actually rubbing her palms like they smart a little bit after having several people slamming on them for a while. Pretty good. Sayona, Vidar. [01:01:36] Speaker D: I appreciate the compliment. [01:01:38] Speaker C: Kind of scary to think of what you could do if we could get you to pick up a sword or an axe. [01:01:45] Speaker D: Not really my style, but yeah, I know. [01:01:49] Speaker C: That's why I'm saying it's scary to think about. You could be a force to be reckoned with if you wanted to. [01:02:01] Speaker D: She'll kind of think that over for a moment. Well, either way, I appreciate the training. I do feel a bit out of practice. [01:02:10] Speaker C: No problem. You should think about taking up meditation. I know it doesn't work for everybody, but you seem like somebody it could benefit, get the opportunity to get out of your head and let go of all those complicated, mixed up feelings so that you only have to call on them when you need them. [01:02:35] Speaker D: Weirdly enough, you're not the first person to tell me that, but probably the first person that I'll actually take it to heart. [01:02:45] Speaker C: Good. Okay, we'll do one more round, but I'm going to let all three of you go. All three of you get to unload on me. [01:02:59] Speaker A: Okay. [01:03:00] Speaker D: Sarah will look at the others. [01:03:03] Speaker C: I am going to use my sword because Coda has one, but I won't be trying to use it to take off anybody's limbs, I promise. [01:03:15] Speaker B: That's reassuring. [01:03:18] Speaker C: And you guys actually watch as she takes this sword, which is meant to be carried like a fairly normal sword, this very large, curved Chinese blade, and she shifts it into a reverse grip so that the flat of the blade is facing you and kind of drops into a ready stance. I would like all three of you to make roles. This time. I will allow you to decide what kind of roles you're going to make. [01:03:54] Speaker D: I'll stick with brawl. [01:03:56] Speaker C: Okay, oliver, you are allowed to help augment people, but I am also going to make you roll brawl. [01:04:04] Speaker B: All right. [01:04:07] Speaker A: I am going to yeah, I'm going to do melee. Why am I questioning this? [01:04:17] Speaker C: I'm like, you have a sword. Was there something weird that you were thinking about? I don't understand. [01:04:24] Speaker A: That. Is strength melee. Correct. [01:04:28] Speaker C: You can just use it should say on your sheet, like, what your oh, my attack. [01:04:33] Speaker A: Yep. [01:04:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:04:34] Speaker A: Okay. [01:04:39] Speaker B: In that case, I am going to kind of lean over and say to Coda, if you lose, does that mean she wears the pants in your relationship? And that's going to be my blessing of bravery. You get a point of willpower and two temporary points of valor, and Sarah technically gets it as well. [01:05:05] Speaker A: Peach. [01:05:08] Speaker C: That's amazing. [01:05:10] Speaker B: I'm just saying something to think about. [01:05:13] Speaker A: Oh, I'm thinking about it. What did you give me again? [01:05:18] Speaker B: A point of willpower and then two temporary points of valor. [01:05:22] Speaker A: Okay. [01:05:24] Speaker B: And Sarah gets it, and then I will do my punch, which is one success. [01:05:31] Speaker A: Valor. Okay, so a willpower would just give me an automatic success, correct? Yes. Okay, so I'm going to use that willpower. Thanks. And valor. What does valor mean again? I know I have it, but I never wrote it down. [01:05:51] Speaker C: Valor is one of your virtues. Yeah. Let me find the list. I love it when my PDF is like, no, I'm going to be slow today. [01:06:10] Speaker A: Wow. Oliver. [01:06:13] Speaker B: I'm just saying it was amazing. [01:06:17] Speaker C: Is what that was. [01:06:18] Speaker A: Yeah, that's perfect. [01:06:20] Speaker C: Valor is like, your willingness to fight for what's right. [01:06:24] Speaker B: This seems pretty right to me. [01:06:26] Speaker C: Let me see if the see if I can find your specific thing that you can use it for. Characters use Valor to defend the helpless, defeat those who prey upon the innocent, fight an honorable opponent in battle, resist the effects of fear, pain, or fatigue. So I'll say you're facing an honorable opponent in battle. She knows outclasses you guys, so she is purposefully putting herself at disadvantages. [01:06:57] Speaker A: Okay, so then I'll use a dot invalor could I use more than one dot? Yeah. [01:07:05] Speaker C: So what you do is you pay to be able to use it, and then you get however many dots you. [01:07:13] Speaker A: Cool. So then, yes, I will pay to use it. [01:07:17] Speaker B: And then if Sarah also wants to spend that willpower for an Auto Success and use Valor, she can too. [01:07:23] Speaker C: Yes. They both can. [01:07:25] Speaker D: Love that. [01:07:26] Speaker A: Perfect. Wow. And then that's seven. Okay, cool. [01:07:39] Speaker B: I would also like to say that quiet enough so that Net cannot hear me. [01:07:48] Speaker C: She would have laughed, but yeah, that's fine. [01:07:56] Speaker A: Okay. That's nine. D ten. One, two, three, four. And then I have one natural success. So then that's five. [01:08:13] Speaker C: Okay. Sarah. [01:08:30] Speaker D: Wait. Does the Valor give an Auto Success. [01:08:32] Speaker C: Or just so you pay to use one of your convictions and then you get to add your dots in whatever conviction you're using. [01:08:44] Speaker A: Okay. [01:08:46] Speaker B: And then with what I did, it adds additional two dots to Valor. So it's two higher than whatever your score normally is for it. [01:08:52] Speaker A: Cool. [01:08:52] Speaker D: Right now, 12346 total. [01:09:00] Speaker C: Nice. We have a six, a five, and. [01:09:06] Speaker A: One more d ten. All right. It's a seven. I mean, a six. [01:09:14] Speaker C: Six. Okay, you guys unload and at first it doesn't seem like you're making any headway. She's too fast. She dodges, she blocks, yada, yada, yada. And then there's a moment where Sarah and Coda's eyes meet, and there's like this melding of the minds where you guys just know what the other one is going to do. And Coda comes in high overhead with a really big, heavy swing of her copesh, which forces Net to bring her blade up to block it at the same time that Sarah very quickly kind of rotates around her to get behind her and just punches her square in the kidney from behind. And you guys hear a grunt from Net, and she just sort of goes very, very still. As everything just sort of stops because you guys went at it for several minutes without anybody being able to make it to actually connect. And when you hear that sound and Sarah realizes that her knuckles actually hit home, everything just sort of pauses, and there's this long, pregnant quiet. [01:10:35] Speaker D: Oh, shit. [01:10:35] Speaker C: Sorry. Are you okay? [01:10:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:10:39] Speaker C: And she just sort of blinks a little bit and looks back at Sarah, and then just this huge smile curls her face. That was excellent. Well, you two are sneaky as fuck. She's pointing at and Sarah, she goes, and I don't know what you did, and she points at Oliver, but I know you did something, because they got even better. [01:11:12] Speaker B: I just put my hands up. All I did was say a few words. They did all the work. [01:11:22] Speaker C: She just sort of stands up and reaches back to rub at her kidney. Not bad. Color me impressed. You guys fight like that on whenever we have to deal with everything. And guys might just win this, especially with Chris. With you too. I've seen what he can. [01:11:46] Speaker A: Oh, but you're okay, right? Oh, yeah. [01:11:50] Speaker C: No, I'm fine. [01:11:51] Speaker A: Okay. [01:11:51] Speaker C: Just making sure you get the feeling that the connection hurt, but it more hurt in that she was surprised than she's actually prone to taking damage from anything that you guys can dish out. She has been at this a good while longer than you, and if you guys have gained the amount of advancement that you have as fast as you have in that short period, imagine where she's at when she's had six years. But just in case, let's nobody tell Kareem, okay? [01:12:26] Speaker A: Agreed. [01:12:27] Speaker C: All right, well, I'm very proud of all of you. This has been a very good training session. Now you all stink showers. Go. [01:12:42] Speaker B: That would be wise. [01:12:49] Speaker D: Sarah will head back to her room. [01:12:52] Speaker C: She's like you stink. Get out of my face. Net will sheath her sword and throw an arm around Koda's shoulders. [01:13:04] Speaker A: Yep, she'll walk with her. [01:13:07] Speaker C: Proud of you. [01:13:10] Speaker A: Thank you. And thank you for doing this. I think we all needed a moment to lash out. [01:13:17] Speaker C: No problem. You guys work really well together. [01:13:24] Speaker A: She is going to look where everyone is walking and then kind of go silent for a bit and then nod and go, yeah, we really do. It's nice having a group of people I can rely on or trust or whatever. [01:13:45] Speaker C: That's not something you're used to, is it? [01:13:49] Speaker A: No, but I can get used to it, I guess. [01:13:57] Speaker C: Well, I hope so, because I'm not going anywhere. [01:14:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I hope that would be thank you, Nat. [01:14:14] Speaker C: Listen, I don't know your whole deal, who hurt you? And this is once you get into the bedroom where it's just the two of you and Pele, I don't know who hurt you and made it so hard for you to accept that there are going to be people who care and are willing to do anything that they have to to help you, but they were wrong. I don't know why they made you think or how they made you think that you are not worth it, but they're fucking morons you. You're incredible. [01:15:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I am incredible. I guess. Well, not, I guess. Well, okay, so, I mean, thank you. [01:15:15] Speaker C: Net, for the compliment. [01:15:16] Speaker A: Thank you, Net, for the compliment. Oh, my God. [01:15:23] Speaker C: She just sort of smiles, kisses your cheek, and then turns you towards the bathroom. I go on before I join you. Go, go. [01:15:38] Speaker A: Is that a threat? I'm going, I'm going. I'm going. [01:15:43] Speaker C: I'm going. [01:15:44] Speaker A: She's got to go. [01:15:48] Speaker C: All right, after you all get your showers and you get dressed, does anybody have anything specific that they would like to do? Calls they would like to make? Conversations they would like to have? Or are we all just going to meet back up around lunchtime? [01:16:10] Speaker D: Probably just meet back up. [01:16:12] Speaker A: Yeah, we got some talking. [01:16:15] Speaker C: All right. You guys meet back up for lunch. Net basically informs Coda that she's happy to tag along, but she also doesn't want to be the weird. I guess it would be fifth. She kind of pauses as she does math in her head and then looks at Pele fifth wheel. And Pele gives her an expectant look, and you can almost see that he's nodding, like, yes, you will understand your role in the pecking order and that it is beneath me, and just sort of shrugs a little bit. Do you want me to come along? Because I can just hang here and get room service. [01:17:06] Speaker A: Um, I think. Well, okay. Well, first and foremost, I would always love for you to come along. I'm just going to check with the group and see exactly what we need to talk about. I'm sure we value your opinion immensely, so maybe if we really get stuck, then I can come and grab you. [01:17:29] Speaker C: Or go for it. Cool. I'm going to have some lunch, order the most expensive thing on the menu and make Kareem's rich friends pay for it. [01:17:40] Speaker A: Yes. And ice cream. Eat tons of ice cream. [01:17:45] Speaker C: I will consider the ice cream. [01:17:49] Speaker A: All right, see you in a bit. [01:17:52] Speaker C: And she kind of settles back on one of the beds and opens up a menu. Pele hurries out the door with you, and as you're walking down the hallway, kind of jumps up, and you feel his little claws scamper up the back of your body until he is up on your shoulder again. [01:18:11] Speaker A: All right. She'll ted him and then head into the general room. [01:18:18] Speaker C: You guys end up back in that VIP dining room, which apparently has been, like, reserved for you guys for the duration of your stay. [01:18:30] Speaker D: I kind of don't want to leave this place, but I know I have to, and that's the worst part. [01:18:35] Speaker B: It is very nice. [01:18:37] Speaker A: Yeah, seriously, nicest digs. I've been in. [01:18:43] Speaker B: A little bit light in the reading material but in general it's very nice place. What's funny? [01:18:52] Speaker A: Oh, nothing. [01:18:55] Speaker B: Mmhmm. [01:18:59] Speaker A: All right. So guys, what are we doing? [01:19:03] Speaker D: Well, there was something I wanted to mention. [01:19:08] Speaker A: Yeah? [01:19:09] Speaker D: That maybe we should consider attempting to negotiate with Stefan instead of immediately trying to kill him. [01:19:22] Speaker A: Like negotiate his surrender or something. [01:19:26] Speaker D: Surrender, reparations, that sort of thing. There's also the matter of well he's been finding science that are unawakened, which isn't supposed to happen, even has the gods confused in a tizzy. [01:19:44] Speaker C: So. [01:19:47] Speaker B: Learning how he's been doing that could be a very helpful bit of information for them. [01:19:55] Speaker D: Especially to keep it from happening in the future. [01:20:00] Speaker A: A lot of people want him dead though, whether they know him or not. Besides him just doing the stuff he's been doing but also because he's like a Loki kid or that would be. [01:20:14] Speaker D: Part of the issue. But maybe if we present it the right way we might be able to find some kind of patron with the promise that yeah, I mean it happened with Chris. [01:20:32] Speaker B: I'm the thing is, would he even wanted at this point? He already feels so spurned by the gods that them offering it to him at this point would seem like patronization to him maybe. [01:20:51] Speaker D: Well from what I can tell he's never even had a choice in the matter before. So maybe just the presentation would be enough to make him at least consider it. [01:21:04] Speaker B: Perhaps we can offer some sort of rehabilitation as well. Is there a scion jail or rehabilitation facility or anything like that? [01:21:16] Speaker D: Well that's also what I was trying to figure out, but other than helping us well dispatch of the wolves and telling us how he's been finding the unvisited scions, right now I'm coming up at a blank for how else he could kind of repay for all the things that he's done. But having something prepared would be better than going in and saying, yeah, you're going to be punished, but we don't know how know the gods decide. [01:21:43] Speaker B: True. And I agree that going in to try to kill him right now might not be the best plan or at least the best plan with the one we currently have laid out. There's just too many hanged threads that could be our undoing if we instigate our current plan. And the main cause of that I believe, is that we simply don't know enough about him, his lieutenant, the wolves, what they're up to, what they're trying to do other than just kill unawakened scions. We need more information on how they operates, where they operate out of. If we have things like that then we'll have some ideas on what we can do from there. And perhaps if we want to do this route of rehabilitation it could tie into that. [01:22:36] Speaker D: Yes we could as part of the deal learn all that he knows about the other side as it were. [01:22:46] Speaker A: Honestly, his rehabilitation could be that he has to work with a group to protect unprotected Scions or not unprotected Scions, but like eventual Scions, like people that haven't been awakened yet. He spent all this time hunting them, but now he can protect them. [01:23:08] Speaker B: It's a good idea, but this is assuming that's what he wants, he rejects it. Then what's our plan from there? Simply lock him up if we don't want to kill him? [01:23:26] Speaker A: Guess he could be he could be tasked to find his dad, to find Loki. [01:23:39] Speaker B: I feel as if the god of Trickery wanting to not be found makes it very difficult for someone to then therefore attempt to find him. [01:23:53] Speaker C: Yep. [01:23:54] Speaker A: And that's why it's a punishment. [01:23:55] Speaker D: But the thing about that is, I don't necessarily think that Loki's disappearance was their choice. Like a god, like that, a trickster would take any opportunity that they could to poke at the rest of the acer, just complete silence for however long he's been gone. It's strange. [01:24:21] Speaker B: That it is. Either way, giving these as an option does tie into some of the amendments I had in our plan. I think we go forward with the way we initially hit shit that Nets and Cream found out about Chris being a sion of Loki and are now hunting him. And we give off the illusion that we're desperate, in need of help organize a meeting with him. But from there, we give off the image that we are in a situation we do not yet know who to trust. So in that first meeting, we don't agree to anything yet, but we do it to learn as much information as possible, and then also potentially give him that offer of rehabilitation. And then once we learn what we can, we can organize future meetings, continue to learn as we do. And then once we do have more information, depending on which route we want to go, we can either offer him the peaceful option, or if we need to come to blows, I have some strategies in mind. That where we could potentially organize it so that he would surrender or that we can capture him rather than having to resort to killing him. [01:25:46] Speaker D: The problem with that is, as soon as anyone could get a beat on him, then there's a likely chance that they'll just try to take him out anyway. [01:26:00] Speaker B: Perhaps. But with what we have in mind, we're going to need to inform the others anyway. If we want to give him this offer of having another god adopt him, other people are going to have to know about him. We're going to have to pitch that to someone. [01:26:21] Speaker A: Do you think Artemis would take him in? [01:26:28] Speaker B: I'm not sure. I think Chris would have to be the one to speak on that. He's doing something for Apollo right now, from what he told me. [01:26:37] Speaker A: Okay, but it's an option because I feel like that may also be a bit tempting for him. If he's. Looking for? I don't know. Family connection. [01:26:48] Speaker B: Yes. A relationship, especially. [01:26:51] Speaker A: Yeah. So if he can't be connected through Loki, then they could be connected through Artemis, maybe, because, again, she's a god, so she kind of makes her own decisions. [01:27:02] Speaker B: But Artemis, then maybe even Apollo. I'm not sure from what Artemis portrayed him as, that might be something you would go for out of whimsy. Or it might be the opposite, due to the same reasons we need more information. As long as choice, it's a method that we could do. [01:27:22] Speaker D: Right? As long as he's alive, he can pursue whatever he wants. That be a relationship with his brother, then that's an option. [01:27:36] Speaker A: Yeah, but a lot of people want him dead. [01:27:44] Speaker B: I think the beginning of that has to be with seeing if you can talk Net down to being open to the idea, as I doubt she will jump on it readily after what he's done to Mora. [01:28:01] Speaker A: You're gonna get me killed. But, yes, I can try my best. [01:28:06] Speaker B: We might either one of us bring it up to her. We will definitely be killed if you bring it up. It's only a slight possibility of murder. [01:28:16] Speaker A: Yes, I know. I will do my best. [01:28:19] Speaker D: Yeah. I think she kind of likes you. [01:28:29] Speaker B: I suspected for a while. [01:28:36] Speaker A: Let's focus on this. Why are we talking about who likes who here? [01:28:45] Speaker D: One of the few good things that have happened to anyone in the group. [01:28:49] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [01:28:49] Speaker B: I don't want to talk about it. Let's be honest here, Cody. Do you remember back in high school how some of your teachers, myself included, would do partner assignments and randomly assign the partners? [01:29:00] Speaker A: Yes. [01:29:01] Speaker B: It was very rarely random. We see these sorts of things. Teachers were aware of it, and some of the other ones enjoyed the drama. I just enjoyed helping people form a connection. [01:29:15] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. We were literally your actual dating sins. [01:29:22] Speaker B: I don't even know what that means. [01:29:24] Speaker A: Like a dating simulator or simulation, and. [01:29:27] Speaker B: It'S like I don't follow. [01:29:29] Speaker A: All right, never mind. It's fine. I'm going to give you homework. [01:29:35] Speaker B: Like what? [01:29:36] Speaker A: Look up dating simulators. [01:29:40] Speaker B: Okay. [01:29:41] Speaker A: And don't write paper on it. Just play it. Yes. Download one on your phone. [01:29:45] Speaker B: I'm looking up what it is. I'm not downloading one. [01:29:48] Speaker A: You should download one on your phone and play through it so we don't have to. [01:29:51] Speaker B: I'm looking at what it is, and I'm not doing this coda. [01:29:56] Speaker A: I think you're going to do it. [01:29:57] Speaker B: Due to my sort of history of romance, this feels particularly sad. If I were to download one, I. [01:30:06] Speaker A: Think it's a great opportunity. For what's? Something you would say for method acting. To get a deeper connection to the content and material, to feel more yada yada yada yada. You should just get it and play it. [01:30:30] Speaker B: That sounds like me. [01:30:32] Speaker D: There are two Olivers in the room now. [01:30:35] Speaker A: I know. [01:30:36] Speaker B: Look at me. No, I don't talk like that literature. [01:30:43] Speaker A: Cage turner. [01:30:50] Speaker B: I'm not getting a dating SIM. Okay, that's final. [01:30:56] Speaker A: I'll just do it for you. [01:30:57] Speaker C: It's fine. [01:30:58] Speaker B: Okay, maybe we should get back on topic here. [01:31:01] Speaker A: Yes, we should. [01:31:07] Speaker D: All I'm saying is that if we're able to recruit Stefan and hopefully get him to agree to reparations, it would answer a lot of questions. Like escaping wherever gets exploded before it explodes. Because if only the wolves are in there because they've been commanded to be there by their leader. [01:31:30] Speaker B: It's a tall order, but perhaps we can look into the venture of it. Did you ever hear back from your father when you emailed him? [01:31:42] Speaker C: I got a read receipt. [01:31:45] Speaker B: I think I got the bird equivalent of one as well. [01:31:49] Speaker C: Bird? [01:31:50] Speaker D: Okay. [01:31:51] Speaker B: When I woke up this morning, there was some crows on a power line. And then I looked away and I looked back, and the trio became a murder. [01:32:11] Speaker D: Did you give them something shiny at least? [01:32:14] Speaker A: I heard they like that. [01:32:15] Speaker B: They were far away. And the one I originally communicated with, I think, technically mugged me, so I guess that counts. [01:32:21] Speaker A: What? [01:32:22] Speaker C: You got mugged by a bird? [01:32:24] Speaker B: Well, I originally approached it to speak with the Morgan or get in contact with her. Instead, I asked my father to meet with me, and I tried paying it for its service with a granola bar. It seemed accepting of that, but also wanted pocket change, and I didn't really have a choice in the matter of taking it from me. [01:32:47] Speaker D: We really got to practice your brawling skills. [01:32:53] Speaker B: I wasn't going to fight the bird. [01:32:59] Speaker A: Sarah's. [01:32:59] Speaker C: Just shake her head. [01:33:01] Speaker B: My aunt is already terrifying. If I were to do that, I'm pretty sure it would be much, much worse. [01:33:08] Speaker A: Funny. [01:33:09] Speaker B: And I doubt that would go over well when I have to get a second gays, because I think I have to get a second one. [01:33:18] Speaker A: Oh, how did that go? When it happened? Obviously. Don't tell me what it is, because I don't want to know what it is. But how did that go? [01:33:26] Speaker B: As much as I trust you, I wasn't going to tell you anyway. It went well enough. I was informed of what I have to do, and I'm avoiding breaking the rules set out for me. Good, since breaking them is apparently a very bad thing. [01:33:45] Speaker A: Okay, good. So I have to talk to Net about this and possibly see if she knows anything about jailing or containment of scions or something like that. That's not just immediate death, because that's not appealing. [01:34:09] Speaker B: I recommend choosing your words very carefully to see if we can get her on board. [01:34:15] Speaker A: I'm not the best at doing that, but I will do that. [01:34:25] Speaker C: Good luck. [01:34:26] Speaker D: Don't die. [01:34:29] Speaker A: Well. [01:34:32] Speaker C: It is about this time that Pele's voice pipes up in Coda's head. Perhaps it would be best to allow her to finish her lunch. You humans are always more agreeable when you have had something to eat. [01:34:45] Speaker A: That is a good idea. You are such a little genius. [01:34:50] Speaker C: Of course I am. [01:34:53] Speaker B: I'm assuming the cat provide valuable insight. [01:34:57] Speaker A: Right? Yes. I forgot. You guys don't hear him. Yes, he said I should wait till she's done eating before I do this. [01:35:12] Speaker D: It's actually quite endlessly entertaining just to hear one side of a conversation, because I know you're talking to your cat. [01:35:19] Speaker B: It's quite amusing sometimes. Yeah. [01:35:23] Speaker A: Maybe I should get her a cup of coffee. She likes coffee. Okay. I'll grab her coffee, too. All right. [01:35:32] Speaker B: While we wait, this actually does remind me of have any of you ever read Deference by Derrida? I don't know why I asked that. You most definitely have not. Have you? [01:35:43] Speaker A: Was it a find? [01:35:45] Speaker B: No, it is not a high school work at all. It's an essay about deconstructualism and literature. Deconstructualism is a critical theory that basically states if you reimagine or reinterpret a certain scene within a story, it can completely change the meaning of the work as a whole, and you can continue to pull on that thread and turn the screw until things completely deconstruct. And there's a big precedence on language and communication. In that essay, there's this thought experiment that goes along with it. Think of it like this. Say I was sitting here and I told the two of you to imagine a dog. Well, you would both imagine a dog. It would most certainly be a dog, but it would not be the same dog by any means. Then perhaps I told you to imagine a big dog. You should imagine a larger dog. But maybe the breed's different. Maybe Sarah's imagining a German shepherd and Coda's imagining a husky. They're still different dogs. But then I say a big white dog with curly hair. You would imagine that. But maybe the snout's different. Maybe the eyes are different colors. And we can continue doing this on and on and on. I can give an infinite number of descriptors. With each additional descriptor, the mental images you each have will slowly get closer and closer to being the same. But no matter what I say, no matter how many descriptors we give, they'll never be the exact same. And that's because people are different. They interpret things differently. Everyone has a different perspective. And because of that, language, effectively, is a flawed system of communication. Because when you say something, your interpretation will be different than the person talking to you's. Interpretation, no matter how minute. And so with that in mind, I recommend maybe trying to think from net's perspective on this, when you formulate your words and say language and words, that she would be more responsive and receptive. [01:38:07] Speaker A: First off. Now I kind of wish I read that in high school, because that actually sounds really interesting. No, I feel like that would have been a great thing to read, because then that would have taught high schoolers that when we text each other maybe a text just sounds different because we all are going to perceive what a text sounds, but differently. So if someone's like Lol JK, someone may see that as like or actually matter of fact if someone just wrote Lol and it's like, okay, Lol is Lol, but are you laughing out loud at me? Because you're being mean, but are you laughing out loud at me because you're laughing with me? So if we read something like that in high school, then we would understand that the interpretation of the way people speak or with language, especially now that we're using more watered down versions of language like Lol JK, ATM, stuff like that, it just makes it even more difficult. [01:39:02] Speaker B: And you're absolutely correct. The only problem is what I just said to you is a very simplified version of that essay. Deference. And keep in mind, this is me telling you this is a very difficult thing to read and understand. In a sense, it's very amusing because the way Derrida writes the paper, in a sense, proves his own point because it's so darn confusing, and so it is most certainly not something for a high school level class. In addition, look it up and read it yourself and then make that call for yourself. But it's also worth saying that it was originally written in French because Daredevil spoke French and then got translated. So that adds on to another level, which, again, proves the point, because language is a flawed system in communication, interpretations are different. Words change meaning, especially when they change different languages. It's a very fascinating essay just because of the fact that its composition proves his points in many ways. [01:40:06] Speaker A: So I should fight her if words are moot? [01:40:10] Speaker C: That sounds like a good plan comes from maybe not. Or you could bring her a moose. That always works for me. [01:40:21] Speaker B: Let's fall back on on our friend Benjamin Franklin, who said, actions speak louder than words, so the words don't work. Maybe acts of anything to help get her on her side might. Flowers, getting her a coffee, things of that nature. [01:40:42] Speaker A: Okay, this is getting awkward. Okay, cool. I'm going to go find her and talk to her then. Any lovely advice from you, Sarah, since I feel like I, in a way, can relate with you. No offense, Teach, but Sarah kind of sometimes has that energy that I'm like, wow, I really relate with her. [01:41:03] Speaker B: Oh, no, I agree. [01:41:04] Speaker D: Well, I mean, I've been where she is right now, and it's hard not to be angry. So it might be better to present the situation as more of what we can gain than anything else from these actions in particular. [01:41:21] Speaker A: Okay. What we can gain? Talk to her from her perspective, and if that doesn't work, get her a cup of coffee. If that doesn't work, fight her. If that doesn't work, give her a pet. Okay, cool. Thank you, everyone. I'm going to probably have the last conversation I ever will in my life. [01:41:45] Speaker B: If we hear screaming, should we come. [01:41:49] Speaker A: Help or no, I would like you guys to live on. [01:41:53] Speaker B: All right. [01:41:54] Speaker C: Okay. [01:41:54] Speaker B: Best of luck. [01:41:58] Speaker A: I'm going to try to also just intercept the room service to see if I can grab the food before they can bring it there or if they're on their way there. She'll kind of be like, oh, let me help you. [01:42:13] Speaker C: Um. [01:42:19] Speaker A: If not, she's gonna just make a cup of coffee and bring it over. [01:42:27] Speaker C: I apologize. I got interrupted. You guys were talking for a while, so by the time you get there, you can see that there is already an empty cart outside of the doorway. [01:42:44] Speaker A: Okay. [01:42:47] Speaker C: So she's probably already received her food and is currently eating. [01:42:51] Speaker A: Okay, cool. So then I will just grab a coffee. And is there, like, any random flower pot decoration thing somewhere around here? [01:43:05] Speaker C: Yeah, there are vases with flowers along all of hallways. There's also a gift shop where probably near where you went to go get the coffee. [01:43:16] Speaker A: I don't know what she'd want as gift, so she's going to grab, like, pluck a flower from one of the vases and then come over. [01:43:26] Speaker C: Into the. [01:43:27] Speaker A: Room or knock and enter the room. [01:43:31] Speaker C: She is, like, halfway through bringing a bite of the juiciest filet mignon you've ever seen to her mouth. And she just kind of pauses. That was fast. Do you need me already? [01:43:47] Speaker A: Oh, no, just want to chill. They have some other stuff they are doing, so I'm going to come here. [01:43:56] Speaker C: Okay, well, feel free. Are you hungry? I kind of bought way too much food, and there's definitely, like, three meals worth of food. [01:44:08] Speaker A: I mean, I could eat. We can eat and chat. [01:44:12] Speaker B: Okay. [01:44:13] Speaker A: I got you this flower. [01:44:17] Speaker C: Oh, that's really sweet. Thank you. And she will take it and at first looks like she's about to tuck it into her hair, and then she sort of remembers, and she tucks it behind her ear instead. [01:44:31] Speaker A: So Coda's going to settle for a bit and then kind of, like, glance at Mr. Cat or Pele, but then kind of take, like, a deep breath and go, so can we talk? [01:44:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:44:53] Speaker A: In a good way. Talk? [01:44:56] Speaker C: Sure. What did I do wrong? [01:44:59] Speaker A: Oh, you've done absolutely nothing wrong. Literally nothing wrong. This is just, like, a conversation for us to talk about things. [01:45:12] Speaker C: Okay. [01:45:15] Speaker A: So stefan. [01:45:22] Speaker C: Uh huh. [01:45:26] Speaker A: My group and I, we were talking, and, you know, we've been thinking through a couple of plans and, like, how to approach him and, you know, his whole story and stuff, and a thought came through our minds. Do you? A few thoughts came through our minds, and we were wondering if maybe a possible thing we can do. Okay. We were thinking maybe it would be a good thing to look into because there's so many benefits to this, is if we offered him a bit of a way to surrender to us. So maybe not insta death, but a way to surrender because he's been able to find Scion or soon to be Scion, or he's been able to do this thing that has stumped literally the gods. So if we're able to get him to be able to do that and to release information on the enemy, we can get more from him alive than dead. And I think that would help our cause. It's unfortunate that he's done so much, and honestly if we're going a little bit further back, that he was found by the wrong people, the wrong time, wrong place, kind of situation, but all those things are unfortunate. But if we can prevent worse things happening in the future, then why not take that opportunity? But saying this, we did recognize that there are many that want him dead besides the people know want to just kill off Loki spawn. But we can't discredit the fact that he did kill someone beloved to you. And I'm sure to many, he literally almost killed you. And it honestly hurts for me to even think about this because could I be able to sit here and say these words if I wasn't here to be talking to you about it? But I don't know, I just want to hear what's your opinion, what's your thoughts, because I do care about you immensely. And I know I'm awkward saying this because I'm not used to saying this, but how do you feel about this? [01:48:27] Speaker C: The first thing you realize as you're kind of wrapping up talking is that as soon as you started talking about the conversation, she went very quiet. And she's not even looking at you as you talk. She's not even really eating it's more. She's gone from eating to like pushing things around on her plate with her fork. The second thing you realize is that as you are finishing up, her eyes kind of close, and you remember the way Sarah looked when she was kind of directing Sarah on how to focus on the here and now. And not on how she was feeling. Like she is actively having to take a moment to clear her mind and control her impulses before she finally talks. So the plan would obviously be to lure him into a false sense of security so that he gives up the information and then we kill him. Right? [01:49:55] Speaker A: We were thinking perhaps helping him find a new or find an actual patron or someone to adopt him or imprisoning him if there's a place that imprisons ion because he should still be punished. But we were thinking maybe just not death. [01:50:27] Speaker C: You have any idea how many people he's responsible for the deaths of? Even if he wasn't the one who delivered the blow. [01:50:43] Speaker A: I'm not. And I really can't sit here and say that I am. [01:50:50] Speaker C: It's not just moira, Koda. We don't even know exactly how many, but we know that it's got to be pushing high double to triple digits at this point. It's been going on for a while. He's been at this for a good ten years, longer than I've even been a Scion. It's part of why my dad found me as early as he did. It's normal that he goes to his kids early, but part of why he did my visitation when he did was because he was worried that if he didn't, I'd end up dead. [01:51:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:51:42] Speaker C: And you guys just want to let him off? [01:51:45] Speaker A: No, not let him off. He should still be punished. [01:51:49] Speaker C: You want to find somebody to adopt him? You want to reward him for bad behavior? Do you understand that being what we are isn't just a circumstance of birth? It's also a fucking privilege. It's dangerous and it's scary, but we're part of something bigger than most humans ever get to dream of being. [01:52:12] Speaker A: It's a privilege. However, it's not a privilege for spawn of Loki, and it's not a privilege for him when no one came to explain to him, hey, this is a privilege. But dangerous. He has never seen it or probably hasn't ever had the opportunity to see it as a privilege. [01:52:32] Speaker C: That doesn't make it okay that he went on a mass murdering spree, and it certainly doesn't mean that he should get off from the harshest punishment. [01:52:42] Speaker A: Okay, are you saying the harshest punishment is him dying? [01:52:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Do you have any idea what happens to acer ghosts if they don't die honorably? [01:52:56] Speaker A: I really don't. [01:52:57] Speaker C: It's not pretty. That's what I want for him. I want for him to spend the rest of fucking eternity dealing with what hell can unleash on him, and I mean hell with one. L she's scary? [01:53:16] Speaker A: Well, I could bring this up to the group. It's just we were considering that maybe he wasn't dealt a good hand, and yes, he didn't necessarily do well with what he was dealt with, but it's not all his fault. But again, I understand. So if we did, I guess, say, hey, we forgive you. Well, not forgive, but you will be punished, and such just give us information. I don't like that at all. [01:54:06] Speaker C: Listen, I'm pro just killing him, but you guys do have a point, that he has useful information and that we could use it to help protect baby Scions before they're Scions. [01:54:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I thought and I know you said you're on the team of killing him, but I feel like a punishment would be good is for him to have to now protect Scion or pre Scion or people before they become Scion. [01:54:46] Speaker C: So you do want to give him the privilege of being what we are. [01:54:54] Speaker A: I feel like that hurts more. It's getting the abilities, getting everything that you've always wanted and realizing all the people that he took this opportunity away from. Because I think it is a punishment for him to realize that he's been doing so many bad things and now he has to redeem himself by protecting others now. [01:55:19] Speaker C: Sounds like a slap on the wrist to me. [01:55:27] Speaker A: Slap on the wrist. Okay. I think it bring some kind of balance back. I don't know. [01:55:38] Speaker C: I don't agree with you, but ultimately I'm not the person you have to convince. [01:55:44] Speaker A: Who do I have to convince? [01:55:47] Speaker C: The gods? Everybody else? I take my orders from the bureaucracy. If they tell me I'm not allowed to kill him, then I'm not allowed to kill him. But I don't think they will because they've lost people too. It's not just the acer. He's gone after him and his wolves. The acer may be who he's got the hate boner for, but they're not the only people who have been affected. You've got multiple pantheons you have to sell on the idea of not killing him and the ACR are going to be the hardest. [01:56:29] Speaker A: It's an and I don't know, this is just me, but I think he should be given the opportunity to pay for his sins in a way that is beneficial to the people he did harm. Because, yes, he may be suffering in the hell that he goes to dead, but I feel like that doesn't necessarily help give back to the community that he took away from. So if he is able to seek out and protect and fight against the things that he once called brothers and sisters and whatsoever, I think that is his own way. I would say for every Scion or future Scion that he has given away or given up, he has to kill 100 Fenris wolves or Titan spawn or whatever. [01:57:22] Speaker C: That's easier said than done. He's not that good of a fighter. [01:57:26] Speaker A: Well, that's his punishment. He has to do it. That's the only way he could ever be forgiven fully. [01:57:32] Speaker C: My point is, I don't think he could do it on his own. I think they would send the biggest, strongest ones after him. And having fought him, I don't think he could take them. He won against me because he tricked me. And I should have known better. I lost my head. I did exactly what I told Sarah. She needs to be careful. [01:57:55] Speaker A: Oh, I don't know. I just feel like it would upset a balance somewhere. I just feel that in me. [01:58:06] Speaker C: Listen, I don't agree with what you guys want to do, but I'm also not the person you have to convince. Sarah contacted her dad yesterday, right? [01:58:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:58:18] Speaker C: Start there. He's the one who's supposed to kill Fenrir. [01:58:24] Speaker A: Oh God. [01:58:27] Speaker C: Okay, that conversation will go over well. [01:58:31] Speaker A: Well, she's going to have to do that one. I was sent here to you because. [01:58:37] Speaker C: They knew that you were the one I was least likely to unload on. Yeah, they were right. [01:58:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:58:45] Speaker C: I think if it had been anybody else, I'd have punched them in the. [01:58:50] Speaker A: You can. Okay, well, actually, maybe don't punch me. [01:58:53] Speaker C: You know Moira and Kareem are the closest thing to a real family I have, right? [01:58:57] Speaker A: I know. [01:58:59] Speaker C: Losing her was like losing my big sister. [01:59:05] Speaker A: I know. [01:59:07] Speaker C: How would you feel if it were Oliver and you had to feel him die? Because that's what happened. I felt it. I felt the moment she was gone because I couldn't feel her brand anymore. [01:59:33] Speaker A: I know. Deep inside of me I know. But even deeper inside of me, I feel like it's a balance that just needs for him to just die and suffer. I feel like that's just happening there. But I want to see him do more in this world, but for the better. I want him to be given another chance, but with that another chance. Him to repent or whatever we call it, as Scion, to pay for what he's done. So he has to kill Fenner Solst. He has to kill the ones that he loved and whatsoever. He finally gets to get the thing he's always wanted. But he has to get rid of the things he had before. He has to protect the things that he hunted down. For how many? I know you already said that you're not the one to convince, but I don't know. It's something deep in me that I feel like that is the judgment he should have. [02:00:51] Speaker C: Fine. Go convince the people you need to convince. [02:00:55] Speaker A: I know. [02:00:57] Speaker C: No, I mean, you should go. Like. [02:01:02] Speaker A: Right now. [02:01:03] Speaker C: You should leave the room. Yes, please. [02:01:05] Speaker A: Okay, I'm going. And she'll kind of slowly go, but then head out the room. [02:01:17] Speaker C: Ailee will follow you. And as soon as you were in the hallway, he'll be like, I told you should have brought a mouse. [02:01:24] Speaker A: I forgot to. I thought she wanted a flower. [02:01:29] Speaker C: She was mad. [02:01:32] Speaker A: She was very mad, and for good reason. Well, at least I didn't get hit. [02:01:44] Speaker C: Yes, you being the one to talk to her was a wise decision. I was ready to claw her eyes out if she had tried to hurt you. [02:01:52] Speaker A: No. [02:01:55] Speaker C: You are my charge. I will protect you with my life. [02:01:59] Speaker A: Don't say that. I would literally die if you died. [02:02:05] Speaker C: I don't think you would. That's not how this connection works. [02:02:08] Speaker A: Well, that's how it works for this Scion. So please don't jump into any battles that could not be won by you. Please. [02:02:17] Speaker C: I cannot make that promise. I have already made a promise to your mother that I will take care of you, whatever that means. So far, you have not put me in a position to have to risk my life. And I appreciate that, but if it comes to it, I will. [02:02:38] Speaker A: I can't do this conversation right now. She's just going to pick him up and just hold him to her chest and go. I enjoy being carried to the room. [02:02:52] Speaker C: You should. Excellent. You return to the dining room. [02:03:03] Speaker B: So. [02:03:08] Speaker D: How did it go? [02:03:10] Speaker A: She told me to leave the room and she's not happy, but she did say she personally doesn't agree with this, which is very understandable and valid. She did bring up a good point that she's not the person to convince it would have to be the gods because other gods lost children as well, or yeah, scion children whatsoever. So she said the first place to start perhaps would be with she's going to look to Sarah and go, Vidar. [02:03:56] Speaker D: She sits there silently for a moment as like she's very obviously internally groaning. [02:04:08] Speaker B: A cell is getting tougher and tougher by the moments. Yeah, but I still think it's the right thing. We need to show that we are truly better than the other side. Not just because we believe it, but because our actions prove it. Everyone deserves at least the opportunity to show that they are possible of change, that they can become better. If we give him that opportunity and he shows otherwise, he betrays our trust and relapses, I guess you could say, then very well. Whatever punishment deemed necessary can be suitably arranged. But until then, I do agree that he should be given the opportunity to show that he could become better. [02:05:12] Speaker A: And I'm sure if this does start to go forward, there may be a well, then you guys will have to make sure that he follows his whatsoever, and you guys have to be the one to take him down if he does, blah, blah, blah. And if any Scion who does, we have to do whatsoever. So I'm sure there's going to be a big if this goes through, we are fully going to be fate bound to Stefan. [02:05:42] Speaker B: Maybe. Maybe the first step is just having him imprisoned, let him pay his penance before he can prove that he's even allowed to have a chance of parole. And then if he does, then that's when we come in and we be his parole officers and go from there. I'm sure Sarah's more knowledgeable in this than I am. [02:06:06] Speaker D: Well, this is under the assumption that he even takes the exactly. [02:06:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:06:11] Speaker B: And if not, like I said, I have some ideas in mind. [02:06:16] Speaker A: Okay. Sarah, I'm happy you brought up this option. [02:06:27] Speaker B: As a mom. [02:06:28] Speaker A: Yeah. If I remember, you were also, like, ages ago when I broke the kid's arm because of Oliver stuff. I believe you were part of the trial that instead of me getting all this demerit on my whatever, kind of suggested that I get anger therapy and start therapy. So I'm happy you're still out here thinking about the other options for people who got dealt the short stick. Is that what it is? Dealt the short stick? Dealt the wrong hand. Bad hand. Yeah. [02:07:12] Speaker D: Not quite sure I remember that case, but my point is, no matter what, everyone deserves defense. [02:07:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:07:25] Speaker B: We just need to show the gods our way of thinking while at the same time not giving them the impression that we're on his side. Per. Se, which I am worried is how they might interpret it as they seem like beings of extremes. It's either one way or the another. There is no gray area, which is unfortunate, since everything about life is a gray area. [02:07:55] Speaker C: There is a knock at the door to the dining room, and then a member of staff steps in. Apologies for interrupting your meal. You have visitors. [02:08:14] Speaker B: That's fine. I believe we were just finishing up here. [02:08:20] Speaker C: Shall I let them up, or do you want to meet them in the lobby? Did they say who they were? They're here for Mr. Bright. [02:08:41] Speaker B: I'll meet them in the lobby. How many did you say they were? [02:08:46] Speaker A: Two. [02:08:49] Speaker B: I was only expecting one, but all right, I will go meet them. [02:08:54] Speaker C: I believe the woman said her name was Morgan. [02:09:01] Speaker B: They both came. All right, thank you so much. I'll go meet them at once. [02:09:09] Speaker A: Okay. [02:09:10] Speaker C: I could bring them up if it would be more convenient. They weren't expected, and there's no phone in here. [02:09:20] Speaker B: They give off the impression that they were waiting to be sent up or that they were waiting to be met. [02:09:28] Speaker C: She kind of looks blankly at you. They just said they were here to meet to see you, sir. They seemed open to coming up, but I said I had to check in with you because there's no phone in this room, so somebody would have to come up and talk to you. [02:09:45] Speaker B: In that case, I'll leave it to you two. Would you like to meet my father or not? [02:09:51] Speaker A: Sure. Why not? Yeah, I'm kind of playing bingo now, meeting gods from different pantheons, so let's see if I get bingo. [02:10:00] Speaker B: Mom, this is too often anyway. She's joking. You could just bring them up. [02:10:07] Speaker C: The woman looks very confused at Coda, but then just shakes her head and walks away looking slightly bewildered by the whole conversation. About ten minutes later, OGMA is the first one to enter the room. OGMA, would you like to describe what you're wearing, or are you wearing your typical tweed jacket and tie and such? [02:10:42] Speaker E: Yeah, he's wearing his typical tweed jacket and tie. The tie happens to be green today. Yeah, pretty much his typical outfit. [02:10:53] Speaker C: He is nothing if not a creature of habit. [02:10:55] Speaker E: Indeed, indeed. He doesn't change his outfit too much. He's pretty comfortable in it. The tie occasionally changes color. That's kind of how he walks in. He has one of those leather bags. It's kind of like a satchel sort of soft briefcase. Right, exactly. And he's got a couple of books in there, as well as a chess set and a couple other things. So he comes in, nods at Oliver, and with a smile, the other two scions here and says, oh, I see we're all meeting together today. [02:11:48] Speaker B: They wanted to meet you. [02:11:53] Speaker C: As this is happening, a woman steps out or steps in behind him, and she is pale skinned with very fine but sharply boned features. Beautiful in a way that is a little unsettling. Her eyes are this kind of pale gray. It's like the color of a sky just as a storm is starting to roll in. But the clouds haven't quite fully darkened yet. And she's wearing black slacks and a silky blue shirt that is such a dark shade of blue that when the light hits it, in certain ways, it looks black rather than blue. And then a business jacket over top of it and heels. [02:13:03] Speaker E: Oliver, have you told your friends about the Morrigan? [02:13:09] Speaker B: I mentioned that she is my aunt, and through other avenues, her reputation has made its way to them, but that's about it. [02:13:26] Speaker A: Nice to meet you both. [02:13:30] Speaker E: It's a pleasure. [02:13:32] Speaker C: The morrigan will nod slightly to coda. I know your mother. Her cats have always been a problem. [02:13:47] Speaker A: Are you not a cat person? [02:13:54] Speaker E: Oakland's just going to shift his eyes over. [02:13:59] Speaker C: She sort of glances down, and there is on her lapel a silver pin of a flight of what looked like ravens or crows. And then she looks back at you. No, not particularly. [02:14:22] Speaker A: I'm sorry. In advance. [02:14:29] Speaker D: Nice to meet you both. And Sarah will nod to them. [02:14:34] Speaker C: She'll nod back at Sarah and then sort of her eyes narrow a little bit, and she kind of tilts her head. Oliver, you feel a very specific influx of energy in the room that you recognize is not someone messing with fate, but somebody who is actively, like, opening themselves up so that they can see it a little bit. Hmm. Not surprising. Sion of Adar wrapped up in fate threads the way you are. You and your father are peas in a pod, it would seem. [02:15:17] Speaker D: It would. [02:15:21] Speaker C: Ellie and she looks at OGMA and then at the empty chairs at the table. [02:15:26] Speaker E: Indeed. Have a seat. I understand that you wanted to discuss matters with us. [02:15:35] Speaker B: Yes. And rather surprising, as I wasn't expecting both of you, but the more minds the better. [02:15:43] Speaker E: Oh, Oliver, you should be well accustomed to surprises. Now, I hope that that's part of your thinking here. [02:15:50] Speaker B: Oh, indeed it has. But when I asked to speak with you, we had an initial plan in play, or in mind, on how we wanted to go about things, and I was seeking to potentially get advice on said plan. But since then, the idea has changed on how we want to go about. [02:16:14] Speaker E: It, as they do. [02:16:18] Speaker B: Indeed. Initially, we wanted to create a ruse that we are being pursued by some friends of ours and look desperate before our enemy. This man, Stefan, who leads the Fenris Wolves, he serves as their general, I believe, and through doing so, sort of play on his emotional ties to other members of our group and potentially earn his trust and then launch a surprise attack through that. But now we believe that although Stefan has done some very, very bad things, that a large portion of what led him on. The path he is on is not his fault and that we believe he deserves at least the opportunity to show that he is capable of providing some good. Or at the very least, we want to draw out information from him on how he's been able to sniff out Scions before they become scions, before they awaken. Worst case scenario, that's what we want. Best case scenario, we hope to potentially have him serve penance, but also maybe have rehabilitation as well. Prove that we're better than the other side rather than just saying it. [02:17:50] Speaker E: That's an interesting thought, no doubt framed inside of a very human context. [02:18:03] Speaker C: One. [02:18:04] Speaker E: That you're not so lately removed from. You're thinking inside of a human frame there. I see that, but I don't see perhaps well, perhaps you can help me. Why is it that you feel you need to prove that you're in the right here, or better. [02:18:33] Speaker B: Because then nothing changes. If we don't, you're in this constant war with the Titans, and a large portion of that war is because they keep growing in strength, because they're able to pull upon the discarded and the lonely, and that's where they get their strength. If we can show that there are alternatives, that there are other people that care, they lose their numbers, they lose that strength. And eventually, if there's no one there to lead them to do their dirty work, they can't fight back. Or at least it'll be a much harder job. [02:19:18] Speaker E: You're not thinking just with this particular individual. You're thinking of making this a lifetime of redemption. Yes. Going around and rescuing wayward entities and showing them the light, so to speak. [02:19:40] Speaker C: You're also overlooking the problem that it's not just wayward scions that they call on. They create their own children. [02:19:49] Speaker B: Yes. [02:19:50] Speaker C: There will always be more of them. [02:19:52] Speaker B: Yes. But that's still a piece of it. If we can take away as many tools as possible, in the long run, it'll serve our side better. Putting this in terms of war, if we take soldiers from their side and put them on our side, naturally, that means we'll have a better chance. They'll become weaker, we'll become stronger. Even if it's not a whole lot, it's still something. And as for doing this worldwide, it's a lofty goal, I know, but simply put, it's the right thing. [02:20:35] Speaker C: Morgan sort of holds up a hand, one long black nail. We'll get into the question of what is right and what is wrong and how one frames both contexts. But there is another I think may want to be a part of this conversation. And then she looks at Sarah. You have a visitor waiting for you on the roof. Think the roof? [02:21:06] Speaker A: Yes. [02:21:08] Speaker C: You should go and get him and bring him here so that you do not have to pose this argument. Multiple times today. [02:21:19] Speaker D: She'll scoot out of her chair and. [02:21:22] Speaker C: Head up to the roof so you walk out onto the roof and find yourself immediately hit by the smell of high, dry grass in the hottest parts of summer which is OD considering it's the middle of winter. But it hits you very distinctly. The air is warm compared to how crisp and almost blustery it was earlier. And then there is a whiff of cigar smoke and the door that you walked out of opens and you get a glimpse through the door of a bright, bright sunrise coming from inside the building somehow. And you can see rolling hills of high grasses brush and brushwood and a rather large, essentially like mead hall in the distance. And then the door shuts and your father is standing in front of you. [02:22:46] Speaker F: Afternoon, counselor. Been a few days. You're looking well. [02:22:53] Speaker D: Thanks. We've had a couple of days to recover. There are some talks going on downstairs if you'd like to join us. [02:23:04] Speaker F: Might be for the best. [02:23:09] Speaker D: She'll gesture for him to follow and she'll head back down to the dining room. [02:23:14] Speaker C: Okay, Vidar, you enter this private dining room. You see the morrigan who, while maybe not a friend you've never had unfriendly relationships with in fact, you've gotten along quite pleasantly at times because know one of those Scots who's happy to have a drinking contest with any of the acer anytime they want to go. [02:23:37] Speaker F: Absolutely. [02:23:40] Speaker C: And there have been times where her unique insights into fate have even rivaled the all fathers. So there have been times where the acer and the tuaha have been forced to work together because what? One side has a particular strength and the other is occasionally lacking. And you walk in and she just sort of inclines her head and there is just the faintest hint of a sardonic smile on her lips like she knows that what's coming isn't going to make you happy. [02:24:21] Speaker F: Morrigan OGMA's got nod. [02:24:27] Speaker C: Vidar. [02:24:30] Speaker F: Seems OD that there'd be three of us here at the same time. What have you kids got up to? [02:24:37] Speaker C: OD congruence of fate. She sort of pushes a chair out for you with her foot. [02:24:45] Speaker F: I'll go over. Have a seat. Unlike the other night at the smoky bar where he was incongruously dressed in khakis and a polo shirt today Vidar is dressed in a style that almost puts you in mind of Chris Strom blue jeans, flannel shirt and a heavy leather jacket over the top. But the boots the boots are kind of scary. They're scarred and scuffed and look like they're stitched together like Frankenstein's monster. They've got big steel toes on the outside and big, heavy cleats. He pulls up a seat, says, I hope y'all don't mind. I just lit my stogie. [02:25:53] Speaker C: Not at all. You cannot hurt anyone in this room with it anyway. [02:25:58] Speaker F: And he continues to smoke like a chimney. [02:26:05] Speaker C: Now, I suggest you all begin your conversation again to provide some context for your new guests. [02:26:16] Speaker B: Sir, I believe it's your turn. [02:26:17] Speaker A: This time. [02:26:19] Speaker D: Yeah. So talking it over, we've sort of come up with the idea of, well, giving our adversary the opportunity to surrender and make reparations for his actions as well as try to get information from him out of or in regards to how he's been finding scions to prevent it in the future. [02:26:49] Speaker F: The ware guild is a tradition, but it is typically only honored between people who are not slaughtering children. [02:27:06] Speaker D: I'm not certain that it isn't entirely how do I say this the scions of Loki. They have been ritualistically hunted since or as far as I know, as soon as you are aware of them, yes. [02:27:34] Speaker F: That's not entirely untrue, but it's not the whole of the truth either. Where did you get this idea? [02:27:47] Speaker D: It's been put together over time with bits and pieces. [02:27:53] Speaker F: Well, I'm fascinated to hear the bits and pieces. [02:28:02] Speaker D: If I were to break it down, it's that it seems that the scions of Loki are hunted due to crimes they could commit more than things they've already done, possibly to include children themselves. [02:28:23] Speaker F: Well, seems to me that you have taken your bits and pieces and failed to consider that there might be more to the story than what your enemy has told you. You see, first of all, children do not receive their visitations. And until this monster found a way to do it, a child who had not received their visitation was protected and could not be identified as a scion to prevent what he has been doing, which is to go out, force their ICAR to activate and feed them to the fenris wolves. You see. [02:29:22] Speaker E: Have any of you just out of curiosity is going to jump right off of what Faidar is saying? Ever had one of your loved ones or someone near and dear to you ripped apart by dogs? [02:29:39] Speaker D: Can't say that I have. [02:29:41] Speaker B: Question. No. We've had someone in a similar situation. But if I may, I think another way to put this is as Vidar states, they have found a way to force these awakenings to happen due to the fact that they can find scions before they even become scions. If we want to know how they're doing that so that we can stop it, we should go to the source of that information. Stefan is one of those sources and if we want to get that information out of him, we need to negotiate. And part of that negotiation I'm going to say, is likely going to involve him not getting murdered. I'm not saying he shouldn't pay for his crime. Seems though certainly should. But if we want to stop a lot of future pain and suffering for these scions, we'll need to at least give a little bit. [02:30:42] Speaker E: OGMA is going to turn to the Morgan and Vidar and say, I don't believe interrogation is off the table, is it? [02:30:50] Speaker C: No. [02:30:52] Speaker B: Based on what we know, as much information as we can strapping him down to a chair, interrogating him based on. [02:31:01] Speaker C: We do not require such things. We just need to have him present. I have given you the gifts of magic. Did you think that the simple spells in that book were the only ones that exist? [02:31:16] Speaker B: No. But I wasn't sure if you would be wanting to get involved yourselves or if we were to be the ones who would handle it all. My apologies. [02:31:25] Speaker C: Might be someone more advanced in the magical arts once we have him. US acting directly is always problematic. [02:31:38] Speaker B: And what if we first approach this peacefully? We give him an offer and he's willing to meet us halfway? What then? Do we still just murder him? If he doesn't want to work with us, then I can understand the interrogation method. I can understand pulling the information out of him and then doing what we can with him or what we will with him. But if he's willing to put in the effort and the step to be better, shouldn't we give him the opportunity to do so? He still needs to pay penance for what he's done. But remorse or guilt, or at least the desire to change, isn't that normally seen as a noble trait? [02:32:28] Speaker E: Oliver, I like your argument. I'm not disagreeing with you. But I tend to play, for example, chess with the pieces on the board that I have. I tend to strategize. Based on the information we have, you've encountered this individual, all of you. Have you've lost at least one person close to you, one person within, and he's going to look directly at Oliver. One person within our pantheon in particular. Do you have any information that would lead you to believe at all or make a strong argument like you're making for this individual to at all consider the offer you're making? In good faith, could you make that argument for this individual at this time? [02:33:31] Speaker B: Partially. We know from what we've seen, he desires connection. He wants to be part of something. He wants to be part of a family, one that actually cares about him. And maybe he wants the opportunity to put down the blades, to stop being so bitter and all he needs, because the reason he's doing all this is because he was rejected. He was never given the opportunity to be one of us. And so he's bitter. He's lashing out. And from what we've seen, we know or we can speculate with a very high margin of certainty that he wants a connection with someone close to us, implying that if he can have a family like he desires, maybe he can turn over a new leaf. It's not strong ironclad reasoning, but that's, again, why we want to meet with him, why we want to speak with him so that we can learn and potentially find out which route we need to take. If we can offer him this deal or if we need to do things the hard way I'm not saying everything is fully set in stone yet. I'm just saying that these are our ideas and these are the ways we could go about it. [02:35:01] Speaker F: By all means, Sarah, go ahead. [02:35:05] Speaker D: I would like to add or ask, has his actions affected all of the pantheons? [02:35:15] Speaker A: Yes. [02:35:16] Speaker C: Most of them, anyway. There might be one or two that have not been as directly affected as others. Your friend Teddy was the child of a dear friend and family member. [02:35:36] Speaker D: Then I would also like to put forth the idea that each pantheon would be able to give individual punishment suitable to his crimes if he were to be allowed to live and not be locked away and interrogated somewhere else. It won't be easy, but if he's willing to put in the work for what he wants, then I think both sides could ultimately benefit. [02:36:05] Speaker F: I think what you kids are missing out is a little bit of background information. First of all, these wolves, the Fenrir, they are the children of the Fenris wolf, who is himself, in turn, a child of Loki. He was born of the union of Loki and the giantess Angraboda. She is known as the mother of monsters. With Loki, she gave birth not just to the Finris wolf, but also to your mongander, the Midgard serpent. What modern science identifies as the mid Atlantic Ridge. You know that mountain range that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole, down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? Yeah. That's the Midgard serpent taking his nap, waiting for his time to shine. He wraps all the way around the world. He's the Fenris Wolf's sibling. But the finrier. The Finrier are your problem here, and something you may not realize, something maybe got glossed over. Finrier exist to consume, to grow in their own power. And the way they do that is by eating the hearts of scions. Up until this fella Stefan got involved and found a way to lead them to children who hadn't been visited. In order to consume the heart of a scion, they had to be able to best the scion, which you guys have shown us a couple of times. Now that now that you've been fully awakened into your powers, you've been granted your birthrights, it's not so easy to do. You're able to stand up for yourselves. So their success rate hasn't always been what they'd like, what this guy has done. He has given them the tool they need to find the defenseless, the truly innocent in the divine scheme of things. Children who have not received that visitation, who have not been given that opportunity to be able to defend themselves when fate comes calling. [02:39:07] Speaker C: While I do not disagree with most of your points, it is important to point out that we do not know that it is his gift that they are able to find the scions. We only know that he is a part of their efforts. [02:39:22] Speaker F: That'S a fair point. That's a point well made, Morgan. Thank you. But it all ties down to Ragnarok. And with that, Vidar looks around the table. He looks at each person sitting there. All three of you scions. Even the Morgan and AGMA. You two have probably heard this rant a hundred times over the years. [02:39:59] Speaker C: Every time, the Allfather calls me to have a quiet drink. [02:40:07] Speaker F: There's no such thing as a quiet drink with the Allfather. We all know it. Ragnarok is not just the doom of the assir. It is not the doom of the gods alone. It is the death of the world. The children of Loki unite with the giants, the Titans, and they destroy everything. Yeah. According to prophecy, thor will destroy the Midgard serpent. But he will die of his wounds. And the blood of that foul creature will poison the waters, all of the waters in the world. Sertor, the king of the fire Giants, in his rage, will burn everything. There will not be two stones left stacked on top of one another. In the world of men. The handful of survivors will be tasked with recreating a new world. But that's just the end. The beginning is almost as bad. And it's just as bad for the world of mortal men. Thimblewinter, when it comes, it brings with it three years of winter. An ice age like the world has never seen. No crops will grow. No food can be produced. Bird animals will die off. Men will turn on each other. Brother against brother, it will be the end of the world. This world has a population of 7 billion human souls. And by the time Ragnarok finally arrives, when heimdall blows his horn, when the giants stomp across Biafrost and break it beneath their boots, there won't be a 10th of that left in this world. Because the people of this world will have been left with nothing to do but eat themselves and each other. We're not trying to prevent Ragnarok. We as here. We understand. It is faded. It is coming. It is inescapable. It's like gravity. There's no getting away from it. The best we can do is try to stall it, to give us more time to prepare the world, to prepare our children, to prepare the mortals to plan so that there might be more to rebuild with Loki's, children are the key to Ragnarok. As these finrier grow stronger, the date of Ragnarok grows closer. Having unlocked the secret of how to find Scions and feast on their hearts before they receive their birthrights, they've declared open season. Everyone. Like you, Sarah. Like you, Oliver. Like your friend Teddy. Lily, Lucas. Your friends the other night that belonged to the Aslante. Every one of you that they take brings us another step closer to the winter that never ends. [02:44:50] Speaker C: Understand this is not meant to be a lecture. But a lesson is needed in the histories. You all are very new. And it is worth noting that before all of this started, a few years ago, there were very few Fenris wolves who could have killed your friend from the dodocathion. Moira, I believe, was her name. There were very few strong enough to stand a chance against a scion with the level of experience and power that she had accrued. And they cut her down like she was a babe, like she had just had her visitation a day prior. [02:45:53] Speaker F: I understand, Sarah, you are a fighter. You believe in fair play and that everyone has a chance. Everyone's side should be heard. Yes, we ACIR. We hunt Loki's children. We hunt them not for what they might do, but because of what they are. They are tools. Loki is a master manipulator. He is the greatest trickster in the overworld. There are some who might argue that, well, coyote or Anansi or some other trickster from some other pantheon might be better at it than he is. [02:46:55] Speaker C: Have never set their mind to destroying the world. [02:46:59] Speaker F: Exactly. If Loki decided to. And he turns and he looks at Coda, and then he looks at Oliver. If Loki set his mind to it, he could make Elton John the next queen of England. If he set his mind to it, he could convince you, Oliver, that the single best thing in the world would be for you to dance on Sarah's corpse and laugh while you savage coda your student. That is Loki's power. Every one of his children who becomes his scion has met him. And just by meeting him, they become tools in his campaign to end the world. [02:48:02] Speaker C: Whether they agree with him or not. [02:48:05] Speaker F: Whether they know what they're doing or not. His manipulation can be subtle. It can be very direct. But no matter the tactic employed, it is inescapable. Heimdall and the allfather are the only a seer who can see through his ploys. He is well, the fact that he is missing is a subject of great concern. But that's to be dealt with at a higher pay grade. The fact that he has a scion who is going around empowering the finris wolves or helping them gain power, well, his poor, lost little lamb can complain about the heartbreak and the unfairness of it all. In the millennia since mankind learned my name, I have sired 37 scions who have walked this world and done work in my name. 24 of them have died under the claws and fangs of the thinris wolves and their like. And he turns and he looks at Sarah. I want better than that for you. A mortal man makes his choices. [02:50:09] Speaker A: And. [02:50:09] Speaker F: He is held accountable. The laws of the land allow him to confront his accusers. They allow him guarantee him a fair trial. The law of the land for the United States of America does not transcend to asgard for us, especially for someone who has the blood of unvisited children on his hands. Justice is vengeance, Sarah. Make no mistake about that. You cannot trust him. If he agrees to your idea to atone for his sins, know only that he does so in bad faith and that he will break your heart. He is a scion of Loki. He received his visitation and he has willingly chosen to work with the monsters. [02:51:35] Speaker C: Just to be clear, out of character, you don't know if he ever had his visitation or not. Fair. You can assume that he has, because he does have relics. But you are not sure if they were always his or if he's taken them from others. You don't know. You do know that around the time he was born is around the time. [02:51:55] Speaker F: The last time anybody saw Loki, yeah? [02:51:57] Speaker C: Correct. But I imagine that someone like Vidar would not think that Loki is gone. [02:52:03] Speaker F: Gone? He thinks, oh, no, Loki's not gone. Loki is awoile. [02:52:12] Speaker A: Yes. [02:52:13] Speaker C: And while his talk was happening, could my three scions please make me perception awareness rolls, please? Oliver I will give you a plus two because I think that this is something that would stand out to you in particular, if you can notice it. [02:52:40] Speaker B: All right? That is one success I could not roll well tonight, apparently. [02:52:49] Speaker D: I got five. [02:52:52] Speaker C: Holy shit. Code is on fire. [02:52:55] Speaker A: I also have five. [02:52:57] Speaker C: All right. Oliver you notice it simply out of the default that you were kind of watching her, and your father anyway, but the other two of you catch a very subtle movement when Vidar talks about how many of his children have died to the Fenris wolves. The Morrigan's pale, black nailed hand kind of finds his bicep and just gives it in a surprisingly tender squeeze. It's brief, it's completely unspoken. They don't even look at each other. And then she pulls her hand back. If anyone would like to make an empathy check, I can maybe give you more information, but that's what you catch on the surface. [02:53:53] Speaker B: Yeah, sure, why not? [02:53:59] Speaker C: Would be wits plus empathy. [02:54:01] Speaker B: Okie dokie. [02:54:05] Speaker C: Coda's like, not good at this. Holy cow, I got six. [02:54:13] Speaker B: I got eight. [02:54:15] Speaker A: One, two. [02:54:18] Speaker C: Okay. Coda it just seems like a moment where she's trying to comfort a friend. Sarah you can tell that there is a long standing relationship of some sort there between the two of them, where they have interacted enough that that little touch is kind of all that it takes to convey her not so much condolences, but her desire to make sure that he knows that he has her support. Oliver though there is a look in her eye that suggests that there was at least one person among those who were killed that was special to her, too. [02:55:26] Speaker B: You say that each scion of Loki brings this prophecy closer, that it's inevitable no matter what, but the more there are, the stronger they are, the faster it'll come. What if the one who's doing this, who's empowering them so no longer. Was a scion. Loki. The way I see it, an adoption of another god would take precedence, at least from what I've seen so far. I could be vastly wrong in this, but if he was out of the picture as a scion of Loki, suddenly all that strength and empowerment slows down and we have an additional member on our side to help. Continue. To bring. [02:56:22] Speaker F: At that point, you have opened a door so that we now have a traitor who has been adopted by a god who might have been helpful to us. Your friend Chris is an asset, but he is an asset to us because he has had no contact with Loki once they have interacted with Loki, once they have received their visitation, once they have been given their birthrights. From that point on, even if and Morgan, you know far more about the power of the Icher in our bodies than I. If it were possible to reassign someone to a different parent after they have already received their visitation the ichor in your body does not affect the suggestions, the orders, the goals that Loki implants in his children. They are not evil necessarily. But whether they know it or not, the work they do in this world brings Ragnarok closer. We do not hunt innocent children. We are attempting to destroy the enemy's weapons. The man that you are defending, that you wish to be granted mercy. [02:58:29] Speaker B: He. [02:58:30] Speaker F: And the finrear at his back are hunting innocent, ignorant children, just like you. Ten days ago, you had no idea what was happening behind the curtain. And now you see it. But you still see it through mortal eyes. This is not the court system, Sarah. This is not the classroom, Oliver. This is war. An enemy soldier is an enemy soldier until they are either completely out of the fight or until the war is over. You cannot bring them into our ranks and expect that it will end in anything other than blood behind our lines. [02:59:52] Speaker C: OGMA, you have been uncharacteristically quiet. [02:59:58] Speaker E: He's been allowing Vaidar to say what he needs to say. And also, considering all the variables in the equation, as he has want to do. He's going to look at each of the three scions and say, everything that Vidar has told you is correct. And you need to know that. You need to take it into consideration, too. But I also know, as he just said, you're but ten days removed from a life that was lived according to different rules, different values, and different morals. You can't be faulted for that. That context is still with you. And it's worth saying that this is murder. This is not. Vidar frames it in war. And I'm plenty familiar with that theater, but I am also familiar with the theater of the classroom and the theater of the courts. And this is murder. This isn't even war. This is murder because this isn't even close to a fair fight or you're talking about children. You're talking about souls being ripped apart here and fed to wolves, souls that everyone has lost before their time, that's murder. And regardless of the path of redemption that you might be reaching for, that you might be considering here, even under human courts, even under the rules that used to play by and they used to live by and used to believe by, murder must be answered. The charges must be answered. And there may be a path here to extract information, potentially. But even allowing for that is a mercy, allowing for a path whereby this murderer, because that's what he is, whatever else he may be, whatever his grievances may be, he's a murderer is granted some power, invested with the power to do still more damage out of hope that there might be some potential for redemption there. Anything that will go wrong with that power is also on your hands, on your hands, on each of your hands and on ours. And we've lost too many lives already. Those charges, those people, those families still deserve justice. They still deserve to have justice. That's right. That's not being ruthless. That's not being merciless. That's simply being just. And I agree with you. I would love to. I think you're right, at least in the cold calculus of it, which I can understand, that extracting as much information from this individual as possible, this murderer as possible, would potentially help us, if it's possible to do. And allowing him to be captured and live long enough to have that information is mercy enough. In the name of justice, in the name of further prevention, loss of life, in the name of preventing further murder and bloodshed, in the name of slowing down the inevitable end that we may or may not believe in. This is what we must do. Each of you would have to face each of the gods and each of the families of those children and explain to them why you want to invest this individual with the powers that you have in the hopes of redemption. And that would be on you to do. You would have to do that. And frankly, whether you are up for it or not, I can honestly tell you that the pantheons would decide this murderer's fate in a way that goes against any hope of redemption here. I can already project out and see that right now, he is doomed to be sentenced to a just sentence, which I could tell you the outcome of. [03:04:49] Speaker F: Right now, he has two choices. If you are able or if someone is able to take him alive, he has two choices. He can share the secret of how they are finding the children and be granted the mercy of a quick death, or he can try to hold on to that secret, and he will be imprisoned in Loki's cavern in his father's stead. That is justice tied down with his own entrails while a serpent drips and venom in his eyes. I apologize if my caveman sensibilities offend you. The Babylonians started out with an. [03:06:01] Speaker B: Eye for an eye, and the whole world goes blind. I'm not going to apologize for being human. I don't ask you to. Saying that we're guaranteeing him redemption. I'm asking for the opportunity to see, if even possible, through his eyes. If not, so be it. If so, it may end up just being easier for us to get the information we need rather than have to fight tooth and nail for it, potentially losing even more resources. If we want to think about it like a war, then let's think about it like a war. The quickest and easiest solution is always the best. Occam's razor. I know that's normally for a case of law churning on what happened, but it also applies in this scenario, I think. [03:07:00] Speaker D: Well, this scenario also requires that the gods be willing to grant a level of mercy that they aren't. That idea has kind of been thrown out the window. [03:07:13] Speaker C: If I may make a suggestion. [03:07:20] Speaker D: I'm listening. [03:07:22] Speaker C: And she'll kind of look over at Fadar, and again, there's that brief moment where she reaches over and she squeezes his arm. But this time, she's a little bit more insistent. It's clear that she wants him to look at her. [03:07:37] Speaker F: He turns and does so. [03:07:39] Speaker C: Your pantheon lacks the tools necessary to bind someone to a strong enough oath that nothing can break it, not even death. I am not saying that I agree with the children. However. [03:08:11] Speaker F: That'S one of the areas that your pantheon and mine have always disagreed on. [03:08:17] Speaker C: Yes. [03:08:18] Speaker F: Forcing someone to be bound to an oath simply denies them the opportunity to show you what they're actually made of. If I give an oath, I will uphold it, because that is my nature. [03:08:38] Speaker C: Yes, but we are not talking about you or I. I have never taken an oath and failed to uphold it either. But obviously the Acer are not an option for this wayward child of Loki to go to in the event people agree to allow him to live. If any pantheon could take him and ensure his lifelong and beyond cooperation, it would be ours. I am not promising that anyone would be willing to adopt him. That is something that would have to be discussed and debated. And as OGMA can attest to, it will be a long discussion. [03:09:49] Speaker E: Indeed. [03:09:52] Speaker C: But it could be done. In theory. We do not. Unless you have information. I do not. Do we know that the boy has actually been visited? Or are we assuming I ask because you may indeed have information I don't? [03:10:27] Speaker F: I cannot confirm. [03:10:35] Speaker C: This could be both a boon and a complication if he was not your fellow Acer. Loki and I have never gotten along. But if he was not visited either, he is free on his own accord and has managed to survive against insurmountable odds or his. She sort of rolls her head, and she looks a little bit like a bird as she does it. And her eyes kind of look towards the ceiling like she's looking for the right words. And there's a moment where the light hits them and you almost swear they're gold like a bird's eyes before she blinks, and they're back to that stormy gray. Either his ICAR is still free and simply allows him to access the gifts that he can from stolen relics, or he has been claimed by the titans themselves. If the second is true, he is a lost cause, and there is nothing we can do to help him. And she looks at the other scions, because that is not something you come back from. But if his ichar has not been laid claim to in any direct capacity, then the oaths may work. [03:12:41] Speaker B: We aren't asking for guarantees in promises. We're asking for a chance to see if our idea has some capacity for merit. That is all we ask. [03:12:55] Speaker C: None of this is to say that you will get people to agree. The gods are not an easily convinced, nor changed bunch, and that goes for. [03:13:07] Speaker B: All of us believe. We've seen that firsthand. We just want the opportunity to try. [03:13:16] Speaker C: And will you be willing to step aside if it is decided that he will not be allowed to? [03:13:24] Speaker D: Yes. [03:13:26] Speaker A: Yes. [03:13:29] Speaker C: She's looking at oliver. [03:13:31] Speaker B: US versus all the gods and all the pantheons. I don't think we would stand much of a chance if we tried. [03:13:45] Speaker C: She kind of draws a long breath. This will require more conversation amongst all of the pantheons, and there will be a great number of people who will need to be convinced. But I am willing to acknowledge that there is a very slim chance we can find a way, even if I do not agree with it. Vidar is not the only god in this room who has lost children to loki's spawn. I should warn you all, and she looks at the three of you, and you will need to pass this along to your friend, mr. Strum. Should they agree should the pantheons agree to allow you to try, it is likely that you all will be in some way responsible for this. Stefan, we can bind him with oaths, but we do not have time to babysit. [03:15:32] Speaker B: What those terms are fair. [03:15:41] Speaker D: I agree. [03:15:44] Speaker E: I hope it's clear the gravity of what you're asking and the consequences that will come with it, even if you get everything you want. [03:16:00] Speaker D: Sarah looks over at vidar. It's been made crystal clear. [03:16:06] Speaker F: Vidar stands up from the table. He puts a hand on the morgan's shoulder, bows his head, and closes his eyes for a moment. And he looks up, looks at coda, looks at Oliver, turns to Sarah. Sarah baxter, hold on. [03:16:30] Speaker C: One. [03:16:34] Speaker F: You are important to me. You are important to the world of men. But you are important to me. If this is the course that the other gods agree to, I charge you with this one thing don't die. And he turns Pats OGMA on the shoulder and heads to leave the room. [03:17:19] Speaker C: As he is walking away. Oliver, please roll me. Perception and occult. [03:17:24] Speaker B: That I can do. [03:17:29] Speaker C: With a plus two dice. [03:17:32] Speaker B: Gotcha two successes. [03:17:40] Speaker C: You missed it before when the Morrigan touched Vidar, but when he gets up and touches her, there is a shift in the light around them. And as you sort of open up this third eye that you are slowly starting to develop, you realize that there is a very thick green and black and gold braided rope of a fate thread that is tied between them. And laced into that rope are what look like trinkets and random objects that might have belonged to somebody at some point. And they seem perfectly mundane, but they decorate this, this fate thread. Things like a necklace and like a child stuffed toy and little things like that, things that someone might have collected over the course of their life that meant something to them. And you have just enough time to watch it stretch between the Morrigan and Vidar before, as he gets far enough away, your vision kind of flickers and you lose it. You have learned over the course of time since you got your gifts, that fate threads tend to reflect shared experiences and relationships between the people to whom they are connected. You have seen the fate threads between you and your companions kind of shift over the last week. This seems powerful and like it's been there for a little bit. Does anybody want to do or say anything before Vidar manages to get out of the room? [03:20:21] Speaker A: No. [03:20:22] Speaker D: He seems pretty intent on leaving. [03:20:26] Speaker A: Okay. [03:20:28] Speaker C: Vidar walks out of the room, leaving you with OGMA and the Morrigan. [03:20:46] Speaker B: Well, I'm not sure if we should call this a productive conversation, but it's one that has happened. [03:21:04] Speaker E: Oliver, I would hope for a little more gratitude. You're asking for something that is almost unheard of and across lifetimes and eons, and I realize you may not be aware of that, but what the Morgan has offered here is no small gift, no small pathway in effort to well, I will not speak for her. [03:21:41] Speaker C: But you realize yourself, yes. [03:21:49] Speaker E: This is on the level of a miracle. I would hope that you would see and appreciate that just a little more than not. Productive meeting. [03:22:02] Speaker B: I do. [03:22:03] Speaker C: I have also never heard Vidar speak so many words in one sitting, nor. [03:22:09] Speaker E: All that was unprecedented as well. [03:22:12] Speaker B: Yes, that's where most of my trepidation comes from, as it is in part mostly to the words that came out of his mouth when he spoke. I am very grateful, and I'm very appreciative of what's happened, but concerns still remain. [03:22:31] Speaker C: She looks towards Sarah. Sarah will like, sit up straight. The amount of time and the breath that he spent today was for you, no one else, let alone the enemy. You should take this as a sign of how much you mean to your father. I know he is difficult to find empathy in, but that does not mean it is not there. His existence and the role that he plays in what is to come for not just your pantheon, but all of ours, is a hard one. It has made him a hard man, but it has not tempered the depths of his emotion. [03:23:44] Speaker D: Sarah looks at her like she wants to say something, but words fail her. [03:23:52] Speaker C: You are allowed to speak if you wish. I am not angry. I just want you to understand what just happened. I guess I'll just have to take. [03:24:07] Speaker D: Your word for it. I don't really have that much of a frame of reference. [03:24:12] Speaker C: Not many do. But I have known him for a long, long time. I would say that of our two pantheons, he is she kind of draws a deep breath, one of the most reasonable among their number and certainly among ours. [03:24:45] Speaker D: Then if we do get a chance to present this opportunity, if he doesn't take it, I'll take Vidar's words to heart, and we'll just have to end him. [03:25:02] Speaker E: Nod at that. [03:25:04] Speaker C: It is good that you are willing to take the responsibility. Not many would want to. It speaks to your character, and I begin to see why he cares so much about you. [03:25:27] Speaker D: I like to believe that everyone is worth saving, but this is a whole new world. There's so much we don't know, and the things we don't know could possibly lead us to ruin. So I'm glad we all got the chance to talk, and it definitely did put a lot more things into perspective. [03:25:50] Speaker A: Yes. [03:25:55] Speaker C: OGMA, I will leave you to spend a few minutes with your son, but we should not linger much longer or we will lead danger to them. [03:26:08] Speaker E: Thank you, Morgan. [03:26:11] Speaker C: She stands up, pauses, moves over, and puts a hand on Oliver's shoulder, gives a little squeeze, and then walks away. That is about as much emotion as you are likely to ever get out of her. Yeah. She will leave the room, leaving OGMA with his son and his friends. [03:26:50] Speaker E: OGMA will push his chair back and stand up. Is there anything further that I might speak to, anything that you yet have questions about. [03:27:08] Speaker B: Until we get more information about this current case? I don't believe so. [03:27:17] Speaker E: He's going to look at Oliver, he's going to look at Sarah and Coda and say, there comes a time well, in many ways it had already arrived that every bit of information you have is paid for. It comes at a cost. And there comes a time when you must take the responsibility for the cost and act on the information you have. This whole conflict, this entire experience that you've been brought into, the reason, in fact, that you've been brought in when you were has been characterized by limited information, by orchestrated and framed, by those we are currently struggling against, and by those who continue to take lives as often and as rapidly as they can. So understand that every piece of information, every moment that goes by potentially comes at the cost of other lives and other bloodshed and other losses that you may not even be aware of because you don't have all the information. So I say this only to say that sometimes we need to act without with the information that we have. Not to rush you to a decision, but rather to fully impart to you the consequences of each moment we take to make the decision. I'm with you on this. I've heard every word that all of you have presented dear. I've weighed it and I've calculated it and I've taken your emotions and your hearts into consideration there because they matter too, and they must be part of your decision. But I want you to know the time and the information and all of it, what the cost is potentially and how it must be paid for. And he's going to place a hand on Oliver's shoulder and look him directly in the eyes. Do not be afraid to act. [03:30:21] Speaker B: I have been reevaluating my relationship with fear lately, and I'll take those words into mine in consideration. [03:30:34] Speaker E: Got two good companions here and a third as well. I'm confident you all will make the right decision when the time comes. And with that, unless you have before. [03:30:55] Speaker B: You go, there is one more question I have. It's something that's been bugging me since the first time we met. Something I feel like I have to know. James Joyce. He was asylum, right? [03:31:16] Speaker E: Indeed. [03:31:17] Speaker B: That's what I thought. Because no one writes Finnegan's Wig unless they have some other divine intervention going on. [03:31:25] Speaker E: Quite right. I couldn't have said it better myself, honestly. He's going to give him a wink and then if nobody else has anything more to say, then he's going to gather up his soft briefcase there and depart. [03:31:50] Speaker A: Okay? [03:31:52] Speaker C: Assuming that no one else has anything that they want to say to any of to OGMA before he goes, he turns and leaves the room and leaves you all with the heavy amount of information and feedback and even maybe a shred of hope. And that is where we are going to call it for the night. Thank you for joining us, everybody. We look forward to continuing our story. You next week with episode nine. We will see you then. Bye.