S3 Ep3: Higher

[00:00:30] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Gavin Cashe, and I'm playing Clint Brazos, a psion of the Morrigan. [00:00:36] Speaker B: Hello, I'm Gary, and I'll be playing Oliver Bright, psion of Oghama. [00:00:42] Speaker C: Hello, my name is Sticker, and I'll be playing Koda Masikoi, the scion of Bestet. [00:00:50] Speaker D: Hello, I'm bookkeeper, and I'll be playing Hephaestus, a God of the dodecathion. [00:00:58] Speaker E: Hello, I'm Solomon, and I will be playing as Andre Briscoe, a scion of Hephaestus. [00:01:04] Speaker F: And I'm bloodied porcelain. I'll be your storyteller for the evening. Last we left off, you all wrapped up your task for the loa. There were a few more bumps and bruises along the way, but you managed. There were zombie skewers, I believe, and eventually, the baron offered to take you all back to Damon's farm to recover from your ordeals. After telling you that your friend Shango was busy dealing with some folks, stirring up some bad weather above the water in the baron's house. Clint made a wonderful decision by choosing to have a drink with the baron himself, and experienced some unusual visions. May have had a deep discussion with a God in the process. Eventually, you were all returned to Damon's farm, where you had several days to rest up. You spent time with the dryads, you cooked, you had a barbecue. It was a good time. And at the end of your stay, a scion named Charlotte, I believe, showed up to pick you up. Daughter of the baron himself showed up in your car that you'd left behind in New Orleans and drove you to Atlanta, where coda was able to make contact with Mithras himself, the king of the Yazada pantheon, where she proceeded to explain her reasonings behind her choice to take over the animal rescue that had been entrusted to her to find a new caretaker. For I believe when we left off, you all were just wrapping up your meal with Mithras, and having just sort of realized that you left your companion in the cardinal. Well, you all sat and had dinner. [00:03:45] Speaker B: Our bad. [00:03:46] Speaker F: And that's where we'll pick up. [00:03:49] Speaker A: We should probably fix that. [00:03:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:58] Speaker C: Right. Yeah. Um. [00:04:02] Speaker F: Fuck. [00:04:03] Speaker C: Okay. Uh, thank you for having us, Mithra. [00:04:11] Speaker F: As I said, both names are correct. [00:04:14] Speaker A: We made sure to get an extra order of food, didn't we? [00:04:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I believe she was. She had something to go. [00:04:24] Speaker F: I had something sent out to the car for her. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Oh, excellent. Okay. [00:04:30] Speaker C: Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for having us. [00:04:35] Speaker F: Thank you for completing your labor with such admirable dedication and thought. [00:04:42] Speaker C: That's all I have. And a little fire. All right, y'all, can we. Let's get out of here. [00:04:57] Speaker A: Yep. [00:04:58] Speaker C: Don't we get to do your thing, mister B? [00:05:02] Speaker B: Um, if we have time for it, yes. Yes, I do need to still turn in my work to the bureaucracy. [00:05:10] Speaker A: Are you gonna have to, like, give a presentation of every page in that thing? [00:05:15] Speaker B: I don't. [00:05:16] Speaker C: Oh, my God, I hope so. [00:05:17] Speaker B: They just told me to write the thing. [00:05:20] Speaker A: Well, how about we just make sure to bring a pillow or two, just in case? [00:05:25] Speaker F: Some shirt holes. [00:05:27] Speaker C: Yeah. And Koda will make her way out. [00:05:39] Speaker F: With the group. Is everybody going? [00:05:42] Speaker A: Yes, I suppose so. Might as well. Yeah. Clint will head out to the cardinal. [00:05:48] Speaker F: You head out to the car, where you find Charlotte sitting quietly and puffing on a cigarillo and occasionally taking a nip from a flask. There is a. What do you call it? A to go box of food next to her. Well, it took y'all long enough. [00:06:17] Speaker A: Yeah, well, they got to talking. [00:06:21] Speaker C: What are you smoking? [00:06:26] Speaker F: Tobacco. [00:06:28] Speaker C: That's all? [00:06:32] Speaker F: Yeah. Don't eat. Nothing else. [00:06:36] Speaker C: Well, whatcha drinking? [00:06:38] Speaker F: Rum. Okay. [00:06:42] Speaker C: I was just interested, that was all. Sorry for making you wait. [00:06:48] Speaker F: So where am I dropping you off? [00:06:52] Speaker B: Um, well, I need to meet up with the celestial bureaucracy. Uh, specifically Huang dihen. [00:07:04] Speaker F: Well, that's a bit outside my range there. Um. [00:07:09] Speaker B: How close can you get us? [00:07:12] Speaker F: Not close enough. But she kind of looks thoughtful for a moment, um, and looks at her phone as it buzzes in her hand. Oh, well, looks like I ain't the only one. Uh, Orlando Mitras. And the Chinese ain't the only ones you need to talk to. [00:07:37] Speaker B: Oh, what? [00:07:39] Speaker C: Who the hell needs us now? [00:07:42] Speaker A: Whose phone number is that? [00:07:45] Speaker F: Don't you worry about it. But I'm being told that I need to take you back to Damon. There's someone waiting to meet you. [00:07:58] Speaker A: Mister B. You might finally have that kid you were after. [00:08:02] Speaker B: I'm sorry, what? [00:08:03] Speaker A: I'm just pulling your leg. [00:08:05] Speaker B: Okay. Um. Okay. I'm just gonna get in the car. [00:08:12] Speaker A: I'll get in the back. [00:08:15] Speaker C: Hop on in. [00:08:19] Speaker F: All right. Everybody climbs into the car, and she, uh, leaves the city. You end up back at Damon's farm. Not terribly unlike how you arrived or how you left, I should say. She gets out of the city far enough to be on a back road away from houses, and she taps away on her phone for a few moments, and then there's a sudden hard left turn. You look like you're about to run off the road into a ditch. And instead you are suddenly coasting smoothly down the road and around a corner into the turn leading up to Damon's farm. [00:09:07] Speaker A: Oh, man. Never get used to that. [00:09:12] Speaker C: Gotta figure out how I can do that. [00:09:15] Speaker F: Yeah, one of my bandmates says I'm not allowed to do that no more. Every time I do it, he gets sick. He got a weak stomach. [00:09:29] Speaker C: Was it the one with the glasses or the one that was like a fridge? [00:09:36] Speaker F: Oh, there was a. There was a family on my bed. [00:09:39] Speaker B: Oh. [00:09:43] Speaker C: Nevermind. [00:09:44] Speaker F: Then she pulls up in front of the house, uh, and parks. Well, come on then. [00:09:56] Speaker A: All right. Are you coming in with us? [00:10:01] Speaker F: Well, I'd be rude if I didn't. [00:10:03] Speaker A: All right. All right, y'all, come on, let's go. [00:10:10] Speaker B: Right behind you. Sorry. [00:10:12] Speaker C: Get out. [00:10:12] Speaker B: The cardinal start making my way up to the house. [00:10:18] Speaker F: Charlotte leads the way and rather than knocking, she just opens the front door. And Damon sort of shuffles out of a side room and kind of peers at all of you and gives a little smile. Well, I should have figured she'd get you here pretty fast. She always does. [00:10:41] Speaker A: Oh, if you need a minute or two, we can wait. It's no problem. [00:10:43] Speaker F: No, I'm just always a little baffled by how quick the psychopomps can move you. Come on in. [00:10:50] Speaker C: Sup, Damon? [00:10:53] Speaker F: Sup, Coda? They'll be here in a minute. [00:10:58] Speaker C: And who are they? [00:11:00] Speaker F: You'll see. [00:11:02] Speaker C: What's with all the secrets? [00:11:05] Speaker A: They lack the mystery. [00:11:07] Speaker F: I just like the surprise. Let's just say they're members of the family. [00:11:13] Speaker C: Your family? [00:11:15] Speaker F: Yep. Not that that narrows it down very much. [00:11:21] Speaker C: No, not at all. Really? [00:11:24] Speaker B: Nope. [00:11:25] Speaker C: Okay. Well, it's great to see you, I guess. [00:11:29] Speaker F: Always. Always. And he, uh, he kind of gestures you all into the living room to have a seat. Gets everybody a drink. So how did it go getting to meet, uh. Who'd you go meet? [00:11:43] Speaker C: Mithras. Seems pretty, um. Well, I mean, it's just us here, right? Can gods hear? It's stuff all over. [00:11:57] Speaker F: No, I'm not a God. [00:12:00] Speaker C: Yeah, but you guys know. [00:12:01] Speaker F: Okay, I mean, I know stuff, but I don't know everything. [00:12:05] Speaker A: Clint pulls out his phone and starts texting his mom. [00:12:10] Speaker C: Okay, well, at first when I walked in, seemed like, you know when you walk into a place and you're like, oh, I feel like I don't maybe particularly belong here, or you feel underdressed. I felt like that when I walked in. And then when I met him, I was like, oh, okay. And then they're like, oh, the person of law and justice or whatever, but they're pretty cool. They did point out that I have a soft spot for redemption stories, but whatever. Um, but, well, you do, don't you? I do, but it's not a soft spot. Soft spots make it sound like it's a weak spot. I'm not weak for it. They're just important to me. [00:12:53] Speaker F: I think it says more about you that that's the message that you got from that then the than them saying it in the first place does says about them. [00:13:09] Speaker C: I would have a comeback, but I don't understand what you were saying to me. [00:13:13] Speaker F: So I'm saying I think it says more about you that you hear soft spot and think weakness. Then the fact that he suggested that you have a soft spot says about him. [00:13:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I always thought a soft spot was like a fondness. You know, you like something a lot. [00:13:40] Speaker C: Okay? But babies have soft spots on their head and if you poke there, they're fucked up. So that's why I see soft spots as a fucking weakness. Right. I can we. [00:13:52] Speaker A: Are you. Are you a baby? [00:13:56] Speaker C: I'm a young scion. Yeah, we all are. Right. Well, maybe not so much of you because you've kind of been at this. [00:14:05] Speaker A: A bit longer, but only a couple of days. [00:14:10] Speaker F: You've definitely been at this longer than a couple of days. [00:14:13] Speaker A: Oh, I know. I just don't have to play it up too much. [00:14:19] Speaker C: I don't know, whatever. Okay. I understand what you're saying. Maybe I'm a little bit insecure about, I don't know, fucking being passionate about redemption stories or whatever the fuck. And maybe I was being a little bit too hard on the guy. Not that I was really being hard on him because he's the fucking God, so who cares about what I gotta say, right? Well, clearly he cared because he took my opinion. And it was fine. The meeting went fine. It was great, actually. Like, it was actually great. Fuck. [00:14:56] Speaker F: He very casually takes the blood that he has been holding in his fingers and puffing on slightly and hands it to you as you wrap up your little word vomit moment. [00:15:10] Speaker C: She gladly takes it and is like. [00:15:13] Speaker F: Pretty sure you need that more than I do. [00:15:15] Speaker C: I always do, but thank you, Damon. [00:15:21] Speaker F: And it is as you are sitting there and puffing and you all hear a thud from the floor above your heads. And he kind of looks up. Well, sounds like they might be here. And then there are heavy footsteps. [00:15:40] Speaker A: Are we about to meet Santa Claus? [00:15:44] Speaker F: No, just the upstairs closet seems to be one of the preferred doors that they like to come in. [00:15:51] Speaker A: Oh, God. If the gods are coming out of the closet. All right. [00:15:58] Speaker F: He looks like he's ready to say something and then decides that he's just going to let you step in that if you ever say that out loud. And then he kind of looks towards the. What do you call it? The stairs nearby as an older man with a large beard and a blacksmith's apron comes down, followed by a younger Mandev. [00:16:34] Speaker A: Gets up out of politeness and howdy, y'all. [00:16:39] Speaker F: Folks. This is Hephaestus, God of the forge. And Andre, his scion. Sup, Uncle Hef? [00:16:57] Speaker D: Good evening, Damon. He slowly makes his way down the stairs. I see you have still not made your home handicap friendly. [00:17:12] Speaker A: Oh, do you need a hand? I can help you down the stairs. [00:17:15] Speaker D: You will not help me. [00:17:17] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:17:19] Speaker F: Why don't you just. I thought about it and then I figured anything I do that makes it a little too easy for you, you might take offense, so. [00:17:31] Speaker C: Oh. Why don't you just teleport into a closet? That's downstairs. [00:17:40] Speaker F: The one upstairs has french doors. Easier to get. Easier to get through when you got shoulders like that. [00:17:49] Speaker C: Okay, I see. Nice to meet you. Kodamasikoi, scion of the stat. [00:17:56] Speaker B: Oliver Bright, sign of Oakma. [00:17:59] Speaker A: And I'm Clint Braza, sign of the Morgan. Nice to meet y'all. Stephen extends his hand for a shake. [00:18:11] Speaker C: Koda does not. Coda's like arms crossed. Like one is held up, like holding the joint. [00:18:21] Speaker F: Andre, are you gonna say anything or not? [00:18:24] Speaker E: He's just as. He's just walking down. He's just like busy tinkering with this, like, little metallic clockwork orb. Andre is about me just like right at 6ft and kind of lanky and he's just like tinkering with this thing until everyone just stops talking. He's like, oh, hi, Andre. Sign of? Well, him and just points to Hephaestus. [00:18:51] Speaker A: Nice to meet you, Andre. What you working on there? [00:18:56] Speaker E: You know what? I don't really know. I figure I'll figure out what it's meant for when it is done being built up. [00:19:05] Speaker A: Oh, it ain't finished yet. Are you putting it together? [00:19:08] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, I am just kind of following a few little dreams I had and some schematics that I've been finding and putting together. [00:19:18] Speaker A: It sounds a little more complicated than them building blocks I used to play with. [00:19:23] Speaker E: Well, we all gotta start somewhere. [00:19:25] Speaker F: Yeah, right. [00:19:27] Speaker C: So why did we get rushed back here to meet you two? No offense. [00:19:38] Speaker E: Well, I figure it sounds my people got a job for you. [00:19:45] Speaker A: Oh, well, what can we do for you? [00:19:48] Speaker D: That is part of it. Hephaestus sits down, and he's wearing these big leg braces that squeak only a little as he takes a seat. But the person who is going to bring you that charge is yet to. Yet to present themselves. I am here to offer the services. He looks at Andre of one of my finest creations. [00:20:29] Speaker A: Wait, is Andre your finest creation in those implications? [00:20:33] Speaker B: Clint? Yes. [00:20:33] Speaker A: Oh. [00:20:34] Speaker C: The fastest swimmer. [00:20:35] Speaker E: Andre is trying not to blush and failing miserably. His entire face is very red, but also very oil smeared, so it covers a little bit of it. [00:20:46] Speaker B: Well, you would be unwise to reject such help. [00:20:50] Speaker D: You would? [00:20:53] Speaker B: Glad to have another member of the team. [00:20:58] Speaker A: Wait, wait. Hold on. I'm remembering something. This might be important. Aren't we supposed to not make deals? [00:21:07] Speaker B: Uh, I don't think this is really a deal, Clinton. More of a, um. I guess you can call it a gift. [00:21:15] Speaker A: Oh, well, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Never mind. I'm sorry. [00:21:20] Speaker C: So what can you do? Oh, she says, looking at Andre. [00:21:26] Speaker E: Oh, we're getting right into it, then. Oh, I mean, I'm really good at tinkering and fixing things. I imagine y'all drove. If anything happens to your car, I can probably get fixed up within about 5 seconds. I can build things. I'm not bad enough scrap. As long as I got my wrench on me. [00:21:50] Speaker C: Ooh. Okay. You got any animals on you? [00:21:56] Speaker E: Uh, animals? No, not. I don't got no animals. [00:22:00] Speaker A: You sure? [00:22:02] Speaker B: No. [00:22:03] Speaker E: Not allergic to any sort of animals or anything. [00:22:07] Speaker A: And that clockwork thing ain't like a mysterious egg that's gonna turn into a weird critter that'll be a friend of ours. [00:22:14] Speaker E: You know, it just might be, uh, again, kind of been tinkering with things and bits and bobs. I've learned from working with, uh, our friends over, uh, our shorter friends over an anvil and, uh, some of the scions of ta. [00:22:32] Speaker B: And, um, how do you feel about audiobooks? [00:22:37] Speaker E: Oh, I'm a big fan of audiobooks, as long as it's interspersed with at least a little bit of music to just sort of break up the monotony of a drone and voice. [00:22:45] Speaker A: Oh, you want them full cast ones? [00:22:49] Speaker E: Yeah. Or, yeah, I prefer full cast ones, but I mean, as long as you got someone who's not gonna put you to sleep while you're driving or anything, that's fine. [00:22:57] Speaker C: And can you drive? [00:23:00] Speaker E: Yes. [00:23:02] Speaker C: All right. He's. Yeah, he's a. He can stay. Well, I mean, you're gonna stay anyway, because you were so kindly offered by, um, uh, festus. This gentleman over here. [00:23:23] Speaker F: Hephaestus. [00:23:24] Speaker C: Cody Hephaestus. [00:23:29] Speaker D: Fine. [00:23:34] Speaker F: Hey, Uncle Heffey. You want a beer? [00:23:37] Speaker D: Yes. [00:23:39] Speaker F: Okay. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Do you want it given to you? [00:23:42] Speaker F: He will head for the kitchen. [00:23:44] Speaker E: I'll take one, too. Damn it. Okay. [00:23:46] Speaker D: My, uh, my chair will be arriving shortly. It came by another way. [00:23:53] Speaker A: A different kind of closet or something else? [00:23:56] Speaker F: Damon sticks his head in the room. What other way? Am I going to have to patch another hole in the wall? [00:24:01] Speaker D: No, it will be at the front door shortly. [00:24:04] Speaker F: Okay. [00:24:06] Speaker D: He. He goes into his pocket. He pulls out what appears to be a smartphone. [00:24:11] Speaker A: Oh. [00:24:11] Speaker D: Oh, it is 110 meters away. [00:24:15] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:24:16] Speaker E: Oh, damn, it's getting in fast. [00:24:17] Speaker A: You know, uh, Mister Hephaestus, I can't help but notice that while we've got your friend with us, uh, we might need to get in contact with you every once in a while. Would you mind if I just, you know, got your digits real quick? [00:24:33] Speaker D: Open the front door and I will give you my phone number. [00:24:37] Speaker A: Yes, sir. You got it. And Clint will get up and go to the front door and open it up. [00:24:41] Speaker D: And this cross between a wheelchair and a three wheeler with stacks of wheels for going up and down stairs comes rolling merrily into the room. [00:24:53] Speaker E: There we are. [00:24:58] Speaker A: Do you need. Oh, you got this. Never mind. [00:25:03] Speaker D: I have practice. [00:25:09] Speaker F: Damon returns with beers. First one is handed over to Hephaestus. It's got a label in a language probably only Oliver and obviously Hephaestus can. Can read. It's a greek label. Some sort. It looks like some sort of, like, greek microbrew, maybe. And everybody else is handed bottles of their own as well. [00:25:41] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:25:43] Speaker F: It does not take long for a number of the dryads to kind of wander in, having heard that there are visitors. [00:25:55] Speaker A: Wiggle fingered wave to each of them as they arrive. [00:26:00] Speaker F: You get a wave in return. At least one of them ends up making her way over to Hephaestus and kind of perching on the arm of his chair, draping herself in a lovely manner along his shoulder while the others sort of filter in and find psions to cling to. If the ones that will allow them to. Anyway. [00:26:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Come on, close. It's all right. [00:26:34] Speaker E: Hey, ladies. [00:26:36] Speaker F: Hi, Andre. [00:26:39] Speaker E: Good to see y'all. How y'all been? [00:26:42] Speaker F: Lonely without you. [00:26:45] Speaker E: Ah, well, I'm not, unfortunately. I don't think I'll be sticking around too long, but I'll be happy to keep you company while I can. [00:26:54] Speaker F: Uh oh, go ahead. [00:26:57] Speaker B: I was just gonna say I'm going to turn to Koda and kind of lean in feeling as if every single scion we've ever met has been here before. [00:27:06] Speaker C: Oh, Damon's like the spot to go, right? [00:27:11] Speaker F: Like, I guess I'm popular. [00:27:14] Speaker B: I was about to say he's like a silent celebrity. [00:27:17] Speaker C: Yeah, we're friends with celebrity. [00:27:21] Speaker B: I hadn't thought of it that way. [00:27:25] Speaker C: And I guess his legend must be Damon. Your legend must be insane. People know your place so much. Or is it just your place has the legend of. [00:27:39] Speaker A: At the mention of legend, Clint would like to take a deeper glance into our new friend and activate a boon. [00:27:48] Speaker F: Which boon precisely? [00:27:50] Speaker A: This would be Brayhan's eye. [00:27:53] Speaker F: Alright, make your roll. [00:27:55] Speaker A: You go. [00:27:55] Speaker F: What could possibly go wrong using that in a room with a proper God in it? Nothing at all. [00:28:12] Speaker A: That'd be four successes. [00:28:15] Speaker F: Okay. And you get the information of people starting with the highest legend and going down for four. [00:28:25] Speaker A: I believe so. Yep. [00:28:27] Speaker F: Cool. Well, the first one and the most obvious as far as legend raiding goes is obviously the God in the room. It's a little hard to make out the information on him because when you turn Bryhan's eye towards him, it's blinding. You've never tried to use that power on a God. Welcome to what happens when you look at the sun. [00:28:55] Speaker A: Okay, don't mind me. Flint's rubbing at his eyes a little bit. [00:29:03] Speaker F: The next highest in the room is obviously Damon. Damon is a proper demigod, so he's a few steps above you guys. Remind me what all Bryhanzai gives you. [00:29:21] Speaker B: It gives you the highest virtue, the lowest virtue and their nature. [00:29:27] Speaker F: Okay, looking at my notes, finding Damon's character sheet because it's been a minute. Y'all always pull this on me at the most inopportune moments. [00:29:44] Speaker A: You're welcome. [00:29:57] Speaker C: What does Andre look like? [00:30:01] Speaker F: Why don't you tell everybody what they see when they look at you, Andre? Which gives me time to look for Damon's character sheet. [00:30:11] Speaker E: Uh, well, Andre is right standing right at about six foot, uh, lanky, but kind of got the, like, really tight toned musculature from hard work. And, uh, he's got a very small trimmed, uh, beard that is kept tight to his face and. And mixes in with his mustache. His hair is, uh, kind of oily, but that's largely because it actually has, like, literal motor oil in it. From spending a lot of time working in machine shops and forges. He wears a rather dirty set of jeans with suspenders and a white shirt that has his sleeves rolled up all the way. [00:30:57] Speaker F: Excellent. To answer your question? Clint Damon's highest virtue is intellect. Lowest virtue is vengeance. [00:31:10] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:31:11] Speaker F: Okay, was there another thing it tells you about him? [00:31:15] Speaker B: The nature. [00:31:17] Speaker F: Nature. He is. What is the name? What is the name? What is the name? What is the name? Sorry, guys. He is a libertine. I always forget that word. [00:31:57] Speaker A: Yeah, and that's two out of the four. Can we keep moving down the list? [00:32:06] Speaker F: Well, the next ones down are you guys. You're all pretty well, even with each other. [00:32:13] Speaker A: Does that include Andre? [00:32:16] Speaker F: It does. [00:32:18] Speaker A: That's who Clint is currently really looking at. [00:32:23] Speaker F: As an aside, Hephaestus's highest highest virtue is intellect. Lowest is valor. His nature is visionary. All right, Andre, would you like to share? [00:32:41] Speaker E: I would love to. Highest virtue is actually a tie between intellect and vengeance, Lois. Virtue is valor, and his nature is perfectionist. [00:32:58] Speaker F: There you go. [00:33:01] Speaker A: And then Clint will just look at one of his friends, who he recognizes at this point. Okay. All right. I think we're gonna have a pretty good time. [00:33:14] Speaker C: Huh? [00:33:17] Speaker A: Sorry, I got distracted. I was looking real close at y'all, trying to make sense of things, and something just clicked for me. [00:33:24] Speaker C: It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself. [00:33:27] Speaker A: Oh, it's all right. So what I was doing is, you know how Mister B does that eye thing where he looks real close at someone and then tells us about him? [00:33:38] Speaker F: Yeah, that's what I was doing. [00:33:41] Speaker A: That's all. [00:33:45] Speaker C: Okay. [00:33:46] Speaker A: Oh, right with that. I'll explain it to y'all later. I feel bad for derailing the conversation. Enough already. [00:33:55] Speaker C: So Andre's gonna help us, or he's gonna join us for a bit. To do what exactly? Or we don't know. [00:34:06] Speaker F: I don't know exactly what the task is, and I'm not sure if uncle Hef does. But my understanding is that someone from our family that you've already met is going to be the one to give you your actual labor. But it's big. Could take you some time. And Andre's been working almost exclusively with the family, so he might be useful. [00:34:28] Speaker C: Oh, okay. [00:34:30] Speaker B: We've already met. I'll just, like, count on my fingers the various gods from the dodecathion that we've methemeral. Oh, I hope it's not who I think it is. [00:34:39] Speaker F: Who do you think it is? [00:34:41] Speaker B: It doesn't matter. [00:34:43] Speaker A: I'm sure it does. [00:34:44] Speaker C: Well, I'm curious, too, now, mister B, who do you think it is? [00:34:48] Speaker B: I'm just hoping it's not Hermes. Let's go with it. [00:34:51] Speaker F: You don't like Uncle Hermes? [00:34:54] Speaker C: What's he do to you? [00:34:55] Speaker B: He sort of took away my bodily autonomy last time and that wasn't fun. [00:35:01] Speaker A: Kind of like Gwen did to me. [00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah, but not as bad. [00:35:06] Speaker F: Hang on, how did he take away your bodily autonomy? [00:35:11] Speaker B: He kind of forced me to say something I didn't really want to say at that time. [00:35:16] Speaker F: Put a gun to your head? [00:35:18] Speaker B: No, he just sort of got me. [00:35:21] Speaker C: What is going to crack up. You mean what he told you to say? Fuck yes. I mean that. You're really still holding on to that mister V? [00:35:35] Speaker B: I mean, I said I was gonna say when I was ready and I wasn't ready yet. [00:35:40] Speaker A: Well, do you feel ready now? [00:35:42] Speaker B: Well, no. [00:35:44] Speaker A: I mean, I kind of agree with his decision. Then everyone's ready to say Fuck. [00:35:50] Speaker D: No, no, they are ready when they are ready. I apologize for my half sibling. [00:36:01] Speaker B: Thank you. It's really not that big of a deal. It's just. I don't know, I guess. Yes, I'm holding onto it a little bit more than I should have, I guess. [00:36:19] Speaker C: Yeah, you should definitely let that go because especially with all this history and stuff between gods and godlings and all this stuff, you don't want that to be your legend and your story of you got forced to say fox, so now it's like for centuries. That's a story that they tell about you. [00:36:39] Speaker B: You're right, you're right. Worse things could have come out of the situation. [00:36:44] Speaker D: There are worse stories to be told about you. [00:36:48] Speaker A: Oh, like what? You got me curious now, you already know our friend. [00:36:56] Speaker B: I think he was referring to other things, not me specifically. [00:36:59] Speaker A: Oh, I thought we were gonna get a secret sneak peek into your background. [00:37:04] Speaker D: Mister B. I do not know Mister Bright. [00:37:08] Speaker C: He's just a teacher. A great teacher. [00:37:12] Speaker A: He's a really good guy. Really smart too. [00:37:16] Speaker D: We should play chess leader. [00:37:18] Speaker B: I would like. That would be. I think that would be fun. [00:37:26] Speaker A: That the one where the person with the most horsies win. [00:37:29] Speaker C: Yeah. And the king has to be like checked or something. [00:37:34] Speaker A: Yeah, you should keep your king in check. That makes sense. [00:37:36] Speaker C: No, no, you want the king out of check. [00:37:41] Speaker A: But then there's like no one keeping the power and control. [00:37:48] Speaker C: Well, that's why you have the queen. [00:37:52] Speaker E: Audrey just looks like he's like suffering a little bit. [00:37:56] Speaker F: Oliver looks the same. [00:38:00] Speaker A: I mean, that makes sense. The queen is good at keeping folks in chat. Okay. Yeah. All right. Clint is beaming at the reaction he's getting from his goofy shenanigans. [00:38:17] Speaker D: The queen is not so good at keeping the king as check as she might like. [00:38:22] Speaker C: Well, that's what was funny. [00:38:25] Speaker B: Okay, I think I get the joke. [00:38:31] Speaker F: Damon just kind of casually leans over and fist bumps hephaestus. So, what have, uh. What do you guys been working on? Looking at Andre and Hephaestus? [00:38:49] Speaker D: Well, the boy's been working on his dreams, which apparently involve a disco ball. [00:38:57] Speaker E: I mean. Well, it might be a disco ball. I honestly don't know. I mean, I've also kind of been thinking about seeing if I can't find the spirits of the thracian horses and shove them into an engine. Thought that might be fun. [00:39:11] Speaker D: They get cranky about that sort of thing. It's the pistons. [00:39:15] Speaker E: Yeah, I figure if you just throw enough assholes in there, then they'll be fine. You know, feed them. Right. [00:39:27] Speaker A: I did not realize that those kind of horses ate that kind of thing. [00:39:31] Speaker E: Well, I mean, threshold horses were known for eating people. That's why they had to get Heracles to handle that shit. [00:39:38] Speaker A: Gotcha. [00:39:43] Speaker D: I am working on a cranial neural lace. [00:39:47] Speaker A: What now? [00:39:50] Speaker D: Circuitry. For your brain. [00:39:54] Speaker A: Is it like a hat that you put on, or is it something that you put in? [00:39:58] Speaker C: It's an inside thing. [00:40:02] Speaker A: Does it have, like, video games on it? [00:40:05] Speaker C: No. Well, it could. [00:40:09] Speaker E: It can. [00:40:12] Speaker F: Who's helping you with the medicine side of that? [00:40:17] Speaker D: Hermes. He just doesn't know it because he hasn't been back to his library in weeks. [00:40:26] Speaker F: Suppose it's better him than Apollo. [00:40:30] Speaker D: He gets fussy. [00:40:32] Speaker F: Yeah. Very particular about where you put things. You should go in and turn all of the books backwards and see what he does. [00:40:40] Speaker D: He'll blame his sister. Same thing he always does. [00:40:44] Speaker E: Remember the shit that he. He took. Whenever you gave me the Daedalus device. [00:40:57] Speaker B: I'm going to totally reach for my book and, like, start writing these things down. [00:41:06] Speaker F: So, uh, uncle hef, um. I know psychopomp isn't really your thing, but after we're done with our little visit, do you think you could pop these guys over to the other side of the world for a while and drop them off in Greece? [00:41:27] Speaker D: Can do that. [00:41:29] Speaker F: Thank you. Charlotte stayed long enough to grab an order from one of her brothers and then rolled out. Says she doesn't have time to take them all the way to China. Something about, I don't know, storms on the gulf or something. [00:41:51] Speaker D: So I take them to Greece, and then someone else takes them on to wherever it is they're going. Is that the idea? [00:41:56] Speaker F: No, the idea was you take them to China and then drop them off in Greece when they're done. [00:42:02] Speaker D: I see. Very well. [00:42:04] Speaker F: Thank you. I could call around try and find somebody else. But I don't know how long it would take. And, well, you know how, uh. You know how auntie gets when people are late to the meetings that she sets, even though she's late to this one. [00:42:24] Speaker D: Do you lot have a car? [00:42:29] Speaker C: Yes. [00:42:30] Speaker D: Where is it? [00:42:33] Speaker F: In the driveway. Want me to have the girls pull it into the shop? [00:42:39] Speaker D: Yes, I will meet them there. Boy, get to know your partners. [00:42:44] Speaker E: All right. I want to work on the damn car date. [00:42:51] Speaker F: Hephaestus turns and rolls out with a dryad in his lap, while two others hurry outside to go move the car. You would assume leaving the rest of you alone. [00:43:08] Speaker A: I got your dad's number. How about I get yours, too? [00:43:11] Speaker E: Yeah, all right. Andre will happily give out his own digits. Just a word of warning. He has not been big on, like, regular social talk. If you want, if you got, like, mechanical issues, he'll gladly help you out. But small talk and, hey, how y'all doing is not exactly his forte. [00:43:34] Speaker A: I mean, that's fine. He can leave me on red. Mom does it all the time. [00:43:40] Speaker E: Who'd you say? Him all, once again. [00:43:42] Speaker A: Oh, the Morrigan. [00:43:44] Speaker E: Ah. [00:43:45] Speaker A: Yeah, she don't take kindly to the small talk, either. [00:43:51] Speaker E: Yeah, that tracks. Yep. [00:43:57] Speaker C: So you're not secretly a God or something, right? [00:44:04] Speaker B: We have had that issue in the past. [00:44:06] Speaker E: No, that that sounds like some of the gods I know, actually, uh. [00:44:15] Speaker B: Kind. [00:44:15] Speaker E: Of think of, like, looking at the sign of the Morrigan on the sign of Ogma Lou. [00:44:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:22] Speaker E: Yeah, he's a. He's a fun guy. [00:44:26] Speaker A: Yeah, actually, he was. It was a good time. [00:44:29] Speaker B: Was very fun when he was Lucas. [00:44:33] Speaker F: I mean, it's just him, too, and he's. [00:44:37] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:44:38] Speaker B: Oh, I'm sure. It's just we didn't get to know him for that long when he was his actual form, I guess. [00:44:44] Speaker E: Let me guess. His last name had gh in it. He's not exactly the most clever when it comes to hiding his name. [00:44:52] Speaker F: See, I thought it was very clever. [00:44:54] Speaker E: It's fun. [00:44:55] Speaker F: I don't know, because it was obvious and we still didn't pick up on it. [00:44:59] Speaker E: You know what you're at. That's fair. That's fun. [00:45:04] Speaker B: I mean, I picked up on it eventually, but it took him sort of revealing himself while speaking a different language, not realizing I could speak that language for me to realize it. But semantic. [00:45:17] Speaker E: Yeah, I'll do it. Uh, but, yeah, no, I'm. I'm not just any God in other form. I'm just Andre. [00:45:25] Speaker A: Well, I mean, if you're going to be rolling with this. You might as well meet the other folks, too. Come on, Ian, get over here. [00:45:35] Speaker F: Ian kind of squawks and swoops down from where he was perched up on the coat rack by the door, just quietly observing. Settles on clint's shoulder. [00:45:50] Speaker A: All right, mister Andre. This here is Ian. He's my little friend, and he is a good, close ally. And he likes to split up every once in a while. [00:46:04] Speaker E: A one bird murder. Nice. [00:46:06] Speaker A: Yep. [00:46:10] Speaker C: Um, toad is going to look around and be like, Pelle, where are you? [00:46:19] Speaker F: Here. Pelle kind of slinks out of the kitchen, settles by the door, tail flicking. [00:46:29] Speaker C: That's Pelly. He's my, uh, he's my guide. [00:46:38] Speaker F: That's the correct answer. [00:46:42] Speaker B: I'm getting somewhere close by. [00:46:48] Speaker F: Andre, will you do me a favor? [00:46:51] Speaker E: Absolutely. [00:46:52] Speaker F: Or only just raw charisma, since you don't have animal Ken. [00:46:55] Speaker E: Oh, I sure don't. Two successes. [00:47:24] Speaker F: Pele deigns to walk around your ankles and rub his sides against them. [00:47:36] Speaker E: I'm honored, Pelly. [00:47:39] Speaker F: And then he returns. Dakota curls up in her lap. [00:47:45] Speaker C: Yep, she'll just pet him. [00:47:49] Speaker F: You still owe me a fish. [00:47:52] Speaker C: I sure do. Then again, you got seafood, Boyle. That was a lot that you got. [00:48:00] Speaker F: You did not provide that. The loa provided that. Now, you still owe me a fish. [00:48:06] Speaker C: Yes. Yes, I owe you a fish. Yes, yes, yes, yes. [00:48:12] Speaker A: I mean, we can go fishing on the way over to China, right? [00:48:19] Speaker F: I very much doubt that, but I. [00:48:22] Speaker C: Could get one in China. That'd be great. Great idea. [00:48:29] Speaker B: Anyway, where is Braum in this moment? [00:48:33] Speaker F: Braum is probably the. Probably curled up in your bag, okay? Wrapped around the manuscript that you're supposed to drop off to the Chinese. [00:48:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:45] Speaker F: And if you're lucky, he hasn't shredded it. [00:48:48] Speaker B: Okay, I made copies, but please don't mess that up. And I'll kind of, like, try to take him out. Thanks for protecting it, I guess. And this is Braum. He's my small dragon. [00:49:01] Speaker E: Like Bram stoker? [00:49:03] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. [00:49:05] Speaker A: Oh, cool. [00:49:06] Speaker F: Bram is a small red dragon who looks towards Andre and lets out a little puff of smoke from his nose. Andre, will you do me a favor? Always roll me intelligence and occult, please. [00:49:28] Speaker E: Okay. Slightly higher dice pool. Three successes with three. Epic. [00:49:57] Speaker F: Excellent. So a total of six. So you. You've been around for a while. You've been at this for a hot minute. You're a pretty smart guy. And while maybe occult and mythological studies aren't quite your thing compared to other. To. Compared to some of the other stuff that you get into, you know enough to know that while there are dragons in irish and celtic myth, there aren't that many. Certainly not enough for someone to just randomly have a baby dragon. Not an irish myth, anyway. [00:50:44] Speaker E: Huh. [00:50:47] Speaker B: Neat. I think he is. [00:50:52] Speaker E: He's quite a rare thing. And not a lot of dragons in irish myth, not quite as prevalent as they are in other Pantheon's mythologies. [00:51:01] Speaker B: Really? Well, we sort of got him from doing our labor for the tua and involved getting what we thought was a rock from a chair. And then it sort of hatched, and he seemed to sort of like me, so he's still here. [00:51:18] Speaker A: Speaking of chairs, do you know how to disassemble furniture? [00:51:23] Speaker E: I mean, I can disassemble and reassemble most anything if you give me a couple minutes. [00:51:28] Speaker A: I mean, we don't need to reassemble it just to take it apart, I think. [00:51:32] Speaker B: I mean, I'm gonna be upfront with you, Andre. This is probably not something you can disassemble, at least not easily. [00:51:42] Speaker A: Well, now it's a challenge, ain't it? [00:51:44] Speaker E: I mean, yeah, but, I mean, we'll table that. Come back to it another time, I think. [00:51:52] Speaker A: No, it's a chair, not a table. [00:51:55] Speaker B: I knew he was gonna say it. [00:51:57] Speaker F: Andre, as you're listening to this and thinking over the description of where they got Braum, if they got Brahm on a labor, it's not a birthright the way that Pele and Ian are. [00:52:20] Speaker E: So he's not tied through ichor to Oliver? [00:52:25] Speaker F: Nope. [00:52:27] Speaker B: Huh. [00:52:28] Speaker F: Uh huh. [00:52:31] Speaker E: Do I understand the implications of that? [00:52:34] Speaker F: I think you've got a decent suspicion, yeah. [00:52:39] Speaker E: Not good. [00:52:41] Speaker F: I think you've got a decent suspicion that while he certainly might be with Oliver right now, that he may not technically belong to him and, you know, isn't necessarily bound to obey or behave with him, like, through anything other than just, like, general I hatched and you're the first person I saw, kind of loyalty. [00:53:08] Speaker E: Understood. Oh, boy. Uh, Oliver, if you don't mind me, uh, mentioning it, brom, like, imprinted on you? Yeah. [00:53:26] Speaker B: Um, yeah, that would be the word I would use. [00:53:30] Speaker E: Well, you might want to see about trying to find a way to tie him to you, because he ain't exactly. He wasn't given to you your portrait, right? No. [00:53:44] Speaker B: At least not directly. I don't know if he had a hand in the labor or not. I don't think he did. [00:53:51] Speaker E: Well, that's the thing, is that if he wasn't given to you as a. Well, a birthright or a gift, then he ain't exactly. Beholden to helping you or listening to you. Aside from that original imprinting. Not, like, in the way that, uh, Ian or Pele would be beholden to assist, uh, Clan Sarcoda. [00:54:15] Speaker B: Right. I hadn't suspected as much, but good for confirmation. Um, someone. [00:54:22] Speaker E: I just wanted to bring it up. I didn't mean to cause, like, the. Any stirring of the shit. Just wanted to. [00:54:27] Speaker B: No, no, no. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Uh, someone from my pantheon did mention that I should bring him to Cardiff at some point. I don't know if that would help in regards to tying him to me, as you put it. So, something worth looking into. I could always ask Ogma. [00:54:46] Speaker F: I would like everybody, now that this conversation is happening and the old brains are turning on the subject, I would like everybody to roll me. Intelligence in academics, please. [00:54:57] Speaker B: Intelligence in academics, my Jimmy jam. [00:55:07] Speaker E: Oh, hey. Seven total successes for Andre, one success for Clint. [00:55:15] Speaker B: Also seven total successes for Oliver. [00:55:21] Speaker F: There are two smart people in the party. I don't know what to do with this sticker. You gonna roll? [00:55:28] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. My button. Got myself one success. [00:55:39] Speaker F: Coda and Clint. You guys are pretty sure you've heard of a place called Cardiff. Think it's somewhere in Europe, maybe? [00:55:49] Speaker A: Uh, yeah. [00:55:51] Speaker F: However, Andre and Oliver, as you two are having this melding of the mines and talking about smart scion things, it hits both of you at once. Cardiff is the capital of Wales. What's on the welsh flag? [00:56:12] Speaker B: Hmm. I like to imagine we just, like, look at each other and just see in each other's eyes that we both come to the same realization. [00:56:18] Speaker E: Oh. [00:56:19] Speaker F: Yep. [00:56:22] Speaker B: Ah. [00:56:23] Speaker F: Cause it's around the same time that David goes, fuck, I knew I was forgetting something. [00:56:31] Speaker A: What'd you forget? [00:56:34] Speaker F: That I shouldn't smoke so much, apparently. [00:56:37] Speaker E: I mean, don't worry. You'll forget it again later when you smoke some more. [00:56:43] Speaker F: I'm smarter than you, kid. [00:56:45] Speaker E: I know. It's just fun to me. [00:56:47] Speaker F: I just forget things more often than you do. [00:56:50] Speaker C: So what's happening? [00:56:54] Speaker B: I was told to bring Braum to Cardiff. Cardiff is the capital of Wales. There is a red dragon on the welsh flag. [00:57:03] Speaker C: So what does whales have to do with dragons? [00:57:08] Speaker F: Where's a red dragon on the welsh flag? [00:57:13] Speaker E: And. [00:57:13] Speaker A: Yeah, okay, so we have a flag. I don't understand. [00:57:21] Speaker C: And the whales are, like, in the ocean, so. [00:57:26] Speaker E: No, as in the country of Wales? [00:57:30] Speaker B: Yes. [00:57:31] Speaker A: Oh, there's a country made of whales. [00:57:33] Speaker C: No, whales without the h. Well, look. [00:57:36] Speaker B: Andre, I deal with this every single day. [00:57:40] Speaker C: Hey, you're my teacher. This is your fault. [00:57:42] Speaker B: I know. [00:57:44] Speaker F: He taught you English, not geography. [00:57:48] Speaker C: And whales are spelled in English, right? [00:57:54] Speaker A: Yeah, in English. [00:57:55] Speaker B: It's got an h. Point is, there's definitely a relation to me taking Braum there and Cardiff. A very significant one. [00:58:09] Speaker A: What's it mean? [00:58:11] Speaker E: Well, it's got a connection to, uh, the red Dragon. I know the name. It's just speaking Welsh is a fucking hassle. A drago. I think it's a welsh thing. Pride and fearlessness. [00:58:29] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that's Oliver for you. [00:58:31] Speaker C: Fearless and prideful. [00:58:34] Speaker A: That too. [00:58:37] Speaker C: Cool. So we need to. So we need to go to China, we need to go to Greece, and we need to go to Wales. Is that the order, or do we need to switch the orders around? [00:58:49] Speaker B: At some point? We can go to Cardiff. It's not in immediate necessity. We still have two other labors to take care of. Technically, three, if we're counting the celestial bureaucracy. [00:59:00] Speaker E: Still, I'd focus on getting your actual jobs done before you handle personal shit. Unless it's on the way. [00:59:06] Speaker B: Agreed. [00:59:08] Speaker F: I don't know. Dragons are kind of a big fucking deal. Things go get too big for you to carry it around for long. [00:59:15] Speaker E: That's true. Especially given the fact that it's got its own connection to your pantheon. It's probably going to grow fast. [00:59:22] Speaker B: Oh, that's. That was the question. I was wondering in my head on how quickly he would be growing. Um, well, if we find time for it, then sure. We can take a trip to Cardiff. [00:59:35] Speaker F: Right. [00:59:38] Speaker C: Well, I guess we better get going, right? [00:59:41] Speaker A: I mean, might as well. [00:59:43] Speaker F: No, hang on. He's still out there working. He'll let us know when he's ready. [00:59:47] Speaker A: Oh, I thought we were just gonna, like, walk around while we waited. [00:59:53] Speaker F: You know, actually farm. [00:59:55] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. You get tired of standing in one place, don't you? [01:00:02] Speaker F: I'm sitting. [01:00:03] Speaker A: Oh, well, that might be why I'm feeling like walking around. Let me sit down with you. [01:00:08] Speaker E: I mean, if I was. I mean, if I was just standing around one place, I'd just go ahead and fly just for the hell of it. [01:00:13] Speaker C: You can fly? [01:00:15] Speaker E: Yeah. Got the Daedalus device. [01:00:18] Speaker C: I don't know what that is. [01:00:19] Speaker E: Oh, Daedalus was a great inventor of greek mythology. Made a whole bunch of things. Shifting labyrinth. I had the minotaur. Most importantly, he and his son made wings. His son's wings didn't work so well, but his wings were fine. [01:00:34] Speaker C: Is his son. Oh, is that the guy that flew into the sun because he was, like, too zealous or something? [01:00:40] Speaker E: That's the one. [01:00:41] Speaker B: Exactly. Flight into the sun. He flew too close. You got the right idea. [01:00:46] Speaker C: Thank you, mister B. [01:00:50] Speaker E: Yeah. I got his wings. [01:00:52] Speaker C: The suns. No. [01:00:54] Speaker F: The fathers. [01:00:55] Speaker E: The fathers sons. [01:00:56] Speaker F: Melted. [01:00:57] Speaker E: Melted. [01:00:58] Speaker F: As you all go back and forth with this stimulating conversation, three different phones in the room chime. Andre's, Clint's, and Damon's. [01:01:11] Speaker A: I see what we got here. [01:01:12] Speaker E: I think dad's done. [01:01:14] Speaker F: All three phones have a text message that says, boys, get out here in really big word letters. Yes, it's from your father. [01:01:24] Speaker E: Yeah. Okay, it's. That's dad. Come on, let's go. [01:01:29] Speaker A: All right, cool. Clint, as they're walking along, we'll save the contact number. [01:01:36] Speaker F: Uh, you all make your way outside. [01:01:43] Speaker D: All right? Um, Andre, you're on the left, Clinter, on the right. [01:01:50] Speaker A: Got it. [01:01:51] Speaker D: Damon, Oliver, I guess you're here to look pretty and lyft. I need to do something underneath. [01:01:58] Speaker A: Yes, sir. You got it. [01:02:02] Speaker F: I would like Andre and Clint to make strength athletics roles, please. [01:02:07] Speaker E: Okey dokey. [01:02:12] Speaker F: Just to be clear, they are lifting the car, right? [01:02:14] Speaker D: Correct. [01:02:15] Speaker F: Okay, I thought so. [01:02:21] Speaker E: That'll be three successes with my epic. [01:02:30] Speaker A: And that'll be seven successes for me. [01:02:33] Speaker F: Yeah, it's a little lopsided, but they lift the car. [01:02:39] Speaker A: Clint doesn't even grunt as he does it. He just casually reaches down with one hand and picks it up. Sorry, I should have gone slower. I thought you were like. [01:02:51] Speaker E: Just hold it. [01:02:52] Speaker A: Okay, put your shoulder under it. [01:02:57] Speaker D: All right, hold it still. [01:03:00] Speaker A: No problem there. [01:03:02] Speaker D: There is a spark of fire that switches back and forth between blue, yellow, orange, and purple. [01:03:09] Speaker B: Purple. [01:03:13] Speaker D: And then he rolls back out from underneath it. Okay, put it down gently. [01:03:22] Speaker A: Clint will very carefully and slowly lower his side down. [01:03:26] Speaker E: All right, there we go. [01:03:34] Speaker F: Purple, huh? That's a new color. [01:03:37] Speaker D: Quantum. [01:03:41] Speaker F: Oh, no. [01:03:42] Speaker D: Um, any of you have a phone with a reliquary tech in it? [01:03:49] Speaker A: Oh, what now? [01:03:51] Speaker D: Maybe gifted to you by one of your parents? [01:03:54] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [01:03:55] Speaker F: All three of them do, I think. [01:03:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Here you go. [01:03:57] Speaker B: I think ours are technically from Dolgrim. [01:04:01] Speaker F: Yeah, they're defined. They'll work. [01:04:03] Speaker D: That'll do. [01:04:09] Speaker A: Yeah. You can use mine. What you need it for? [01:04:14] Speaker E: Let's just give it. Let him do his thing. [01:04:16] Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. And without even asking, he. He cracks open the case, pulls open a couple of tools, starts tinkering with things. No, no, no. [01:04:32] Speaker F: It is worth noting that these phones do not. Do not have psychopomp tied to them. [01:04:37] Speaker D: Right? [01:04:38] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:04:39] Speaker D: Okay. Closes the case, gives it back to you. All right. We'll have to use mine. It's all right. I brought the stuff to adapt the steering wheel. I think I'm gonna have to drive. [01:04:54] Speaker A: Okay. Clint is very closely inspecting his phone to make sure it'll still work. [01:05:01] Speaker F: Hey, Uncle Hef. [01:05:02] Speaker D: Yep. [01:05:03] Speaker F: You should ask to meet, uh, Oliver's friend. [01:05:10] Speaker D: This sounds like a trick. [01:05:14] Speaker F: Just something I think you might be interested in. [01:05:17] Speaker E: Yeah, I've got a second. [01:05:18] Speaker D: That Oliver who's your friend? [01:05:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Whip him out. [01:05:22] Speaker E: Whoa, careful with that phrasing. [01:05:27] Speaker B: Even I'm confused right now. [01:05:29] Speaker A: We're talking about Braum. [01:05:32] Speaker B: Oh, well, I have a lot of friends now. It's surprising for me, as y'all take out Braum from my satchel yet again. [01:05:41] Speaker F: Hephaestus out of his. Out of his satchel, Oliver produces a. A baby dragon. Looks like it's probably a couple of weeks old now, maybe a little older. On the cusp of that first big growth spurt. Tell him where you got him. [01:06:16] Speaker B: Well, I got him from what we now know as an egg that was buried beneath a magic chair in one of the tua afterlives. [01:06:29] Speaker A: It was a big one, but it's not as cool as your chair. You know, yours is much better. [01:06:40] Speaker B: Hmm. [01:06:47] Speaker D: So we need to go to Wales. [01:06:50] Speaker B: Uh, yes, that is what I was told to do with him. [01:06:53] Speaker A: I thought we were going to Cardiff. [01:06:55] Speaker B: That's in Wales. [01:06:57] Speaker A: Right, right. [01:07:04] Speaker D: Okay. Can do that. Everyone get in. [01:07:11] Speaker F: I really expected a bigger reaction, but I guess I shouldn't have. You're no fun. [01:07:19] Speaker D: Hephastus is not the God of fun. [01:07:23] Speaker A: If you want. [01:07:24] Speaker E: If you want that, you go to. You go to Apollo. Well, I guess you could talk to Pan, though he's a bit of a mess. [01:07:34] Speaker A: Has he got a friend? [01:07:35] Speaker F: It's worth noting that you all are talking to us. To a scion of Dionysus? [01:07:40] Speaker B: I wasn't going to say anything. [01:07:43] Speaker E: Well, talking to your own dad is a given. [01:07:51] Speaker B: Arthur. [01:07:53] Speaker F: All right, well, I guess y'all are leaving, then. [01:07:55] Speaker B: I guess so. [01:07:57] Speaker D: Yeah. He's right on the verge of a growth spurt. After that, he's not gonna fit in the car. [01:08:03] Speaker B: Oh, okay, so when you say on the verge, how much time do you think that means? [01:08:09] Speaker C: Two minutes at least. [01:08:12] Speaker B: Don't say minutes. [01:08:15] Speaker C: Seconds. [01:08:16] Speaker D: Yeah. How long do I think that, either? [01:08:18] Speaker F: Do I think Braum has to say with dragons? Could be minutes. Could be a couple of days. Could be just one good meal. [01:08:30] Speaker A: Yep. [01:08:35] Speaker D: Complicated question. [01:08:38] Speaker A: All right, well, we better get ready and get some snacks in the car if we're gonna be driving for a while. [01:08:44] Speaker D: I'm gonna rack my chair on the back of the cardinal. Y'all get yourselves settled? [01:08:49] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [01:08:53] Speaker D: No one knows how the wheelchair rack got on the back of the car, but there it is. [01:08:57] Speaker E: There it is. [01:09:02] Speaker A: Clint will look around for some snacks before getting into the car. Make sure we bring some cheetos for our red scaled friend. [01:09:14] Speaker C: Um, Hoda will go over to Damon and go, uh, this is just really small. Have you heard anything about net lately? [01:09:29] Speaker F: If I did, I would have been sworn not to say a word. [01:09:33] Speaker C: You are so correct. You're so correct. [01:09:38] Speaker F: And unlike some people here, I'm unwilling to get on her bad side because she has a really big sword. [01:09:47] Speaker C: And who exactly are you mentioning referring to? [01:09:56] Speaker F: He just kind of looks at you because you just asked him if he'd heard from Netanyahu. [01:10:09] Speaker C: All right, thanks, Damon. [01:10:13] Speaker F: Yep. You all have fun. [01:10:20] Speaker A: If you need anything, just give us a call. [01:10:27] Speaker F: Oh, I think y'all are gonna need more than I could ever ask for, so y'all have fun. [01:10:33] Speaker E: Oh, you know it. And Andre will turn to the dryads. Bye, ladies. [01:10:40] Speaker F: They kind of give a little finger wiggle. The one who has been hanging out with Hephaestus and being ignored mostly looks a little pouty, but also gives her a little wave and makes her way over to her sisters. [01:10:54] Speaker B: Assuming Astorope is there. I'll wave to her. [01:10:57] Speaker F: Yeah, she is. She's been hanging out the whole time, but kind of giving you your space so that you could do scion things. [01:11:04] Speaker E: What? I've noticed that Oliver has been paying attention to one particular dryad. [01:11:08] Speaker F: Oh, yeah. And it's a dryad that, you know, in fact, the last time you were here was for a party that Damon threw for most of the scions in the family, and she was pointedly not paying attention to any of the scions in the way that you would expect a dryad to. [01:11:30] Speaker E: Audra's just gonna look at Oliver and just, like, slowly nodding. Good on you, man. [01:11:36] Speaker B: What, for getting in the car? [01:11:39] Speaker E: No. You and Astro. Astrope. [01:11:41] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. No, she's awesome. She's the best. [01:11:44] Speaker A: She got a way of growing on you. [01:11:51] Speaker F: Ian pecks your ear. [01:11:55] Speaker C: Coda, holds up a hand. [01:11:59] Speaker A: Reach out for the high five, and still wince at the earbite. [01:12:08] Speaker F: All right, everybody piles into the car. [01:12:12] Speaker D: All right, everybody settled? [01:12:15] Speaker A: Yes, sir. Yep. [01:12:18] Speaker D: All right, Oliver. [01:12:22] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [01:12:24] Speaker D: Queenside vintage was pawn to c two. He starts the car. [01:12:28] Speaker B: All right. And then I'll just, like, start saying out moves as well as we continue. [01:12:36] Speaker F: Is this Gary's way of saying, I can't do this out loud? [01:12:42] Speaker B: If I really tried, I think I could, but I already forgot the moves. He just said that makes sense. [01:12:48] Speaker F: That's fun. [01:12:51] Speaker B: C two. So wait, hold on. I'll do c three. [01:12:56] Speaker D: Actually, he starts on c two. [01:12:59] Speaker B: I'm not going to waste time doing this. We can just go. [01:13:02] Speaker C: Oh, God, this is not going to be the ride, right? [01:13:05] Speaker F: Oh, this is going to be so fun in character. [01:13:07] Speaker B: The whole ride is us just saying chess moves without an actual chessboard, but. [01:13:12] Speaker F: Yeah, and Audrey follows every bit of it. Hephaestus, would you like to describe what happens to their freshly souped up vehicle? [01:13:25] Speaker D: So when he starts the car, it sounds vaguely like a jet engine. [01:13:35] Speaker A: Supposed to sound like that. [01:13:38] Speaker D: Yep. And there are a variety of devices on the steering wheel allowing him to control the pedals without the use of his legs. And he drives the car out smoothly enough, but once they are off the farm property and on the main road, he gets a little gleam in his eye and he pushes a button, and the whole thing just kind of takes off with sort of a roller coaster's level of force. And then as the evening sky turns kind of streaky, it becomes a portal. The weird thing is, it's a portal. It's this swirling portal of a sort of floating clouds and colors, but they're still on the same road. [01:14:46] Speaker A: The hell? [01:14:49] Speaker D: Don't think about it too hard, okay? And at some point, no one's quite sure when the road, the grade of the asphalt, changes color from a darker Atlanta shade to a lighter european grade of concrete. And as the clouds part again, there's been a time change because they've moved several time zones and they are rising over a hill. And you can see the big civic center with a whole bunch of Welsh writing on it. That is sort of the heart of Cardiff. [01:15:46] Speaker F: Excellent. I'm sorry, say again, where exactly in Cardiff you stopped? [01:15:51] Speaker D: Just outside of Cardiff, cresting a hill where they can see the civic center. [01:15:59] Speaker F: Excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent. Your phone rings, Hephaestus. [01:16:11] Speaker D: Yeah, he does it hands free. And speakerphone. [01:16:17] Speaker F: Excellent. On speakerphone or not on speakerphone? [01:16:20] Speaker D: I'm sorry, on speakerphone? Yeah. [01:16:23] Speaker F: A familiar voice that you know, but no one else in the car has ever heard greets you. It has been some time since you've been in our realm, Hephaestus, but to what do we owe the pleasure? This voice belongs to none other than gwynap nude, the king of the welsh pantheon. [01:16:47] Speaker D: Your majesty, I am but a bearer of a dragon bringer. [01:16:54] Speaker F: A dragon bringer, you say? [01:16:57] Speaker D: Indeed. I think you will want to meet this dragon bringer, one Oliver Bright. His chess game needs some work, but he is a good person. [01:17:11] Speaker B: Okay, never mind. [01:17:13] Speaker F: Excellent. Well. [01:17:17] Speaker D: You obsess over center control. Don't fuss at me, boy. [01:17:21] Speaker B: It's important to have control. Okay, you're the guy. [01:17:25] Speaker F: There should be a path for you to follow on your gps, and there is, in fact, popping up on your screen. Uh, your gps. Edit the. The path leads you directly into what looks like a heavily wooded forest. [01:17:45] Speaker D: So be it. And they take off again at a a speed that cannot possibly be safe. [01:17:57] Speaker F: As you drive, the path before you becomes a. You turn off the road, headed towards this forest. But as you drive, the grass gives way to what almost looks like a well worn dirt road. Without the rocks or anything, it's just like, just earth, but somehow it rides as smoothly as the road that you had turned off of and goes straight towards these old, massive trees that somehow seem to shift and move sideways as the car gets closer to, like, allow them entrance. And as the car goes in, you guys look behind you, and the trees have closed in behind you, and eventually you pull into a clearing in which there is a large wooden structure that looks somewhere between a castle and an old school hunting lodge from the Tudor era. It's hard to tell. And this is where Hephaestus stops the cardinal. [01:19:26] Speaker D: All right, you all go in. I'll wait here. Are you sure I was not invited? This is something you need to discuss with Gwen. So. [01:19:41] Speaker A: Who'D you say? [01:19:45] Speaker D: Andre, explain it to them. Off you go. Your pets can stay, too, if they want. [01:19:54] Speaker F: Hela is. Is fast asleep in the. The back window of the car. [01:20:04] Speaker C: I guess my guide will be saying. [01:20:10] Speaker A: Ian, do you want to stay or you want to come with me? [01:20:13] Speaker F: I'll stay here. [01:20:15] Speaker A: All right, buddy. Keep an eye on things. Make sure Brahm don't do nothing crazy. [01:20:19] Speaker F: I always do. [01:20:21] Speaker D: Rob needs to go with you. [01:20:23] Speaker E: Well, kind of. [01:20:24] Speaker B: Here for the whole time, I was. Yeah, under that assumption that we would be bringing him in. [01:20:28] Speaker A: Well, in that case, make sure Mister Hephaestus here has fun, all right? [01:20:33] Speaker F: Sure. He hops off of your shoulder and onto Hephaestus's shoulder. [01:20:45] Speaker A: Don't pike his ear. Now. Leave it alone. [01:20:49] Speaker F: He just sort of gives you this dirty look. I only pick yours when you make bad jokes. [01:20:54] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Hey, that wasn't that bad. It wasn't that bad? [01:20:59] Speaker F: It was pretty bad. [01:21:00] Speaker A: All right, fine. Well, let's get a move on. Might as well get this over with and see what happens when a dragon and his hatcher do the thingy thing. Whatever's gonna happen. [01:21:16] Speaker B: Oh, see it like that. [01:21:18] Speaker A: Well, how do you put it? [01:21:22] Speaker B: Let's just go. [01:21:23] Speaker A: Okay. [01:21:26] Speaker E: Now, Oliver, y'all gonna have to think about what you want to do here. The. Technically, I think the welsh pantheon have kind of a claim to him since he's, well, be a part of that culture. But I also don't imagine that it'd be impossible to convince him to let him grow and learn with you. [01:21:54] Speaker B: Right. Claim. I mean, they're not the only pantheon that has dragons. [01:21:59] Speaker E: No, but they're the one that has the most predominantly. I mean, just take a look at their flag. You don't exactly see, see dragons in the end in any sort of major iconography with the quagga. [01:22:16] Speaker B: Right. [01:22:18] Speaker E: Just saying. Just be ready to stop, start being very convincing because they might ask for him. [01:22:27] Speaker C: Well, Mister B, something to think of. The twaja may not previously be known for it, but you could be the person to make it, so. So who cares about what happened in the past? That's all I'm saying. [01:22:44] Speaker B: Appreciate that. All right, let's. Let's get in there. [01:22:49] Speaker A: Yep. Wait. If. If whales got a dragon on their flag, that means they're magical dragons here and California got bears on theirs. Are there magic bears out there? [01:23:03] Speaker E: I suppose it'd be dependent on if California pantheon of gods, but that might be a whole other fucking thing. [01:23:09] Speaker F: Sure. So are you all headed up to the doors, or. [01:23:21] Speaker B: Yes. [01:23:22] Speaker A: Yep. [01:23:23] Speaker E: I'm letting Oliver lead this since he's the one with the dragon. [01:23:25] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [01:23:27] Speaker F: Oliver. [01:23:28] Speaker B: Yes. I'm leading the way up to the doors. [01:23:31] Speaker F: All right. You walk up a short set of stairs to a set of huge, ornately carved wooden doors. You lift your hand to knock, and as you go to knock, the doors swing open, and you are greeted with the sight of a long foyer hallway leading toward another pair of open doors at the end. The doors on either side are all closed, and it is litanous by. Oh, what do you call them? Torches. But the light coming off the torches is not like any fire you've ever seen. It dances like fairy lights. [01:24:19] Speaker A: Kind of purdy in here. [01:24:22] Speaker F: And the whole place smells like a deep wood after a rainstorm. It's the smell of Petrichor. [01:24:35] Speaker A: Smells birdy, too. Yeah. [01:24:39] Speaker E: It's always nice coming to places like this, though. [01:24:41] Speaker B: Just. [01:24:42] Speaker E: I suggest we keep focused. [01:24:46] Speaker A: We got no problem keeping focused. [01:24:49] Speaker F: At the end looks Oliver at the end of the hallway. [01:24:53] Speaker B: Suffering node. [01:24:57] Speaker F: At the end of the hallway, you see an archway. It looks like there are doors, but they are currently open inward. And in the room, you find yourself standing in what you realize is a literal throne room. The throne at the end of the room is huge and looks like it is formed from the branches and roots of great trees. And standing from it is a man who towers over all of you with broad shoulders that he's wearing a long, kind of dark forest green cloak that is pulled up, but despite the cloak, there are a pair of tall, what do you call it? Tall antlers growing off of his head. Oliver Brighton. Companions. I am Gwyn Apnud, king of the welsh pantheon. Welcome to my home. [01:26:18] Speaker B: Thank you for welcoming us. So we'll give a respectful nod. [01:26:24] Speaker A: Nice to meet you there, Gwen. I'm Clint Brazos, a scion of the Morrigan. [01:26:31] Speaker F: Yes, I have met your mother and fought beside her in battle. Yeah. [01:26:37] Speaker A: She pretty cool, ain't shedden? [01:26:39] Speaker F: She is fearsome. [01:26:45] Speaker A: That she is. And these are, you know, other folks. [01:26:50] Speaker C: Nice to meet you, your highness. I'm Koda Maskoi. Sayona Bistett. Thanks for having us. [01:27:04] Speaker F: He gives a respectful nod of his head. [01:27:08] Speaker E: And then Andre will give a small bow. Lan vera. Kiado, king. I'm Andre. Sign of Hephaestus. And that was him butchering Welsh for the proper greeting towards royalty. [01:27:31] Speaker F: Yeah, he doesn't, his. His features don't change, but there, but there is this oh so subtle twitch of his fingers for those watching at home who can actually make it out where he just, his fingers react to the butchering of his, of his native tongue. And then he looks to Oliver. And who are you? A scion of Ogma the wrestler? [01:28:06] Speaker B: Yes. [01:28:11] Speaker F: Also a fearsome warrior. [01:28:13] Speaker B: So I've heard. [01:28:19] Speaker F: And you bring with you that which was lost so many, many eons ago. [01:28:26] Speaker B: Yes. His name is Braum. So pull him out the satchel yet again. [01:28:32] Speaker F: He kind of arches a brow. Is that what you've been calling him? [01:28:39] Speaker B: Uh, yes. You know, he didn't exactly have a name when he hatched, so figured I should give him one. [01:28:55] Speaker F: I suppose you didn't know better. And he makes his way down and over towards you. Are you holding Braum? Is he up on your shoulder? Like, where is, where is he in all of this? [01:29:12] Speaker B: Probably holding him initially when I bring him out and show him. And then as we continue moving again, I'll probably prop him up on the shoulder. [01:29:20] Speaker F: He makes his way over to you and holds out a hand and kind of runs the back of one of his knuckles along Bram's neck, which gets a little chirring noise from Bramdeh. We had begun to give up hope that he'd hatch stuck in that place. [01:29:50] Speaker B: You are familiar with him? [01:29:56] Speaker F: I am. Knew him in his former lives. Know him in this one as if he were a part of myself. [01:30:07] Speaker B: Right. So we found him in a different pantheon's afterlife. If I can ask, how do you end up there? [01:30:17] Speaker F: He was stolen by the titans and hidden there away from us after the battle. [01:30:25] Speaker B: I. I see. You, um, say he's had former lives. [01:30:41] Speaker F: Sorry, say that again. I had a minor audio issue. [01:30:45] Speaker B: No problem. Uh, you say he had former lives? [01:30:52] Speaker F: Yes. Yes, he did. [01:30:57] Speaker B: Um, as who, then? [01:31:03] Speaker F: As himself. This is not his first time. He's always a dragon. [01:31:16] Speaker B: And what was his name in those former lives? [01:31:19] Speaker F: Y. Dragohdem. And that is the storyteller butchering the pronunciation. [01:31:35] Speaker A: I kind of like Braum better. [01:31:40] Speaker B: It's gonna kind of give Clint a look of, like, not right now. [01:31:44] Speaker D: Same. [01:31:47] Speaker A: Sorry. [01:31:48] Speaker B: Well, uh, I was told to bring him here. Um, then recently it got brought up again due to the fact that he isn't exactly connected to me anymore. And so we've come in the hopes of, I guess, getting some answers. And that which you are providing so. [01:32:10] Speaker F: Far, not connected to you anymore. Or did you think he was connected to you in the first place? [01:32:16] Speaker B: Perhaps not in a birthright sort of way, but I thought we had some level of connection beforehand. [01:32:29] Speaker F: I suspect that level of connection is still there. You were the first face he saw upon hatching. [01:32:36] Speaker B: Yes. [01:32:44] Speaker F: You went into Macmel. [01:32:49] Speaker B: That I did. [01:32:50] Speaker F: That is a brave and stupid thing you did. [01:32:55] Speaker B: That has summed up my life since becoming a scion, I think. [01:33:02] Speaker F: Sums up the life of most scions, in my experience. [01:33:08] Speaker B: Indeed. Well, um, now that he's here, what's. What happens now? [01:33:23] Speaker F: Well, my pantheon would argue that it is time for him to come home. No doubt. Most would argue that it is time for him to come home. When he begins to grow, he will not be so easily taken with you. [01:33:52] Speaker B: I see. Does it have to be that way, though? [01:34:01] Speaker F: Well, he will grow all over bright. There is no avoiding that. [01:34:08] Speaker B: I understand, and I'm willing to accept the responsibility of that. [01:34:17] Speaker F: How do you intend to take care of a dragon larger than most vehicles? [01:34:23] Speaker B: I'm not sure yet, but I have a knack for figuring things out. [01:34:29] Speaker C: True. [01:34:33] Speaker A: He's real good at solving puzzles and stuff. [01:34:45] Speaker B: I understand. This is a significant thing to ask. So before I continue with what I'm thinking, if I may, would there somehow be a way for him to be bonded to me in the way that. Well, in the way that he could be with a birthright? [01:35:11] Speaker F: I am not able to give you a birthright. Because I am not connected to you by blood. Oliver Bright. [01:35:16] Speaker B: I understand. I just mean, is there a way to conceivably have that happen? [01:35:24] Speaker F: There are other kinds of bonds. They are not to be taken lightly. But conceivably, yes, this is possible. [01:35:40] Speaker B: All right. In that case, I have a proposition. [01:35:46] Speaker F: I am listening. [01:35:49] Speaker B: We let. Um. Braum. His other name. Whichever. We let him decide. Whichever one of us he comes to, that is the one that will take care of him. No uses of power or legend or anything of that nature. Just him he picks. [01:36:13] Speaker A: I've seen this in a movie before. [01:36:18] Speaker F: I think you misunderstand the situation you are in, Mister Bright. He has his own legend. And his legend will always call him home. [01:36:36] Speaker B: Then if that's the case, then I'm willing to let him decide to do that. If he does. If he is as important as you say he is, I believe it's only right for him to choose. If he chooses to come home, then I will accept that. But if he chooses to stay with me, then I would like to keep taking care of him. I've grown a little bit of attached. [01:37:04] Speaker F: If I may, I have my own proposition, and one I think might actually work in your favor. [01:37:16] Speaker B: I'm listening. [01:37:21] Speaker F: There are bonds beyond the ones of blood. Bonds that can bind just as tightly, if not more so. Blood can be fickle and changing, can develop nuance in ways that these cannot. [01:37:46] Speaker B: And what kind of bond would that be? [01:37:50] Speaker F: An oath. One that invokes fate itself. [01:37:57] Speaker B: I'm familiar with these things. At least to some level. [01:38:03] Speaker F: He kind of looks directly at Coda for a long moment, as you say that. Yes. I suspect even if you are not as familiar as you believe you are, you very soon will be. And he looks back at you. [01:38:23] Speaker B: What, um. What would this oath entail? [01:38:34] Speaker F: Your pantheon and mine have long since held allegiances. Longstanding agreements to defend one another, join forces. We even allowed your pantheon use of one of our own underworlds when the titans attacked. This is the only reason I would consider the possibility of allowing you to swear an oath to my pantheon that would not violate the one that you already have. To yours. [01:39:21] Speaker B: I'm honored. [01:39:30] Speaker F: I will allow Bram, as you call him, to stay with you until he sees fit to come home on his own. If you swear an oath to champion my pantheon's causes in the greater world when we need you, this would normally be a task that falls, at least to some degree, on his shoulders. And if you are going to take care of him, you must shoulder that responsibility. [01:40:06] Speaker B: And with these, with this role as a champion, supersede my own pantheon's wishes. [01:40:17] Speaker F: It will be up to you to balance your roles between the two. I can make no promises that there won't be. There won't at times be difficult. Decisions and priorities will need to be made. I am not a weaver of fate, only someone who can invoke it as king. [01:40:51] Speaker B: I see. Then I accept. [01:41:01] Speaker F: Interesting. And he looks towards the dragon, and for a moment, he chirs and chitters, and you can tell that he's speaking to it to him. But even with your gift to be able to understand all languages, this is not something you understand. And Bram makes these kind of half squeak, half growls and chitters back, all while having his neck stroked and his little wings kind of rubbed during the conversation. And eventually, Brahm looks at you and looks at the king, and then looks at you and then bows his head very low, almost like he's bowing, the way a human would bow before his king. He agrees and is willing to take an oath with you. Take the oath with you. [01:42:13] Speaker B: I am pleased with that outcome. [01:42:18] Speaker F: Understand, Oliver Bright, that my pantheon has not had a dragon amongst their number in many, many years. You carry with you part of our hope and our future. [01:42:41] Speaker B: Accept that responsibility. As you said, when he is ready, he will return to you. Until then, think of me as a mentor for him. Help him grow and train as he gets larger. [01:43:06] Speaker F: I find it amusing that you think you will be the mentor. [01:43:11] Speaker B: Well, who says teachers can't learn from their students? [01:43:15] Speaker F: Hold out your arm, Oliver Bright. [01:43:19] Speaker B: I do. So. [01:43:22] Speaker F: He brings a hand up to cup the back of yours so that your palm is facing the ceiling and begins to chant in this archaic version of wealth, Welsh. You understand the words, but you don't necessarily understand what he's saying. Like, you get the individual words, but it kind of doesn't make sense to you. And it takes a moment before your natural affinity for magic and mystery and the like to kind of realize that he is literally casting a spell. And your third eye kind of opens, almost as if forced open by what's happening, and you watch as a spectral vine, covered in large, sharp thorns reaches up, wraps itself around your wrist, and moves up your arm towards where Braum is to wrap around his leg. And in the same moment, those thorns sink into your skin. You do bleed, and you kind of hear a little gruff chitter from Brahm, and you realize that something similar is probably happening to him and that this vine extends back towards the king of the welsh pantheon and weaves itself in with countless other fate threads that are wrapped around him. You feel a surge and a pulse of it feels like someone has. Has poured like hot molten metal into your veins for a moment as it starts, where those thorns pierce your skin and courses all through your body, it hurts. And eventually it fades, wincing quite a bit. Eventually it fades, leaving only a. [01:46:30] Speaker E: Kind. [01:46:30] Speaker F: Of a tight heat in your chest. Brahm lets out a breath that's kind of half fire, half smoke, and your chest flares with heat for a moment before dying back down again. And then the king of the Welsh steps back, and your vision of fate and the workings that just took place begins to fade. The rest of you who are in the room, during all of this, you felt the influx of power and the almost spooky weft of fate taking a very direct hand in the room that you're in. Andre, this is a feeling that you have been taught not to be comfortable with. It is a natural part of being a psion, but that doesn't make it a happy thing or a good thing. Fate. Getting involved almost always means that certain actions are going to be set in stone and dictated for you in the future. [01:47:53] Speaker E: Good. Grand. Great. Okay. [01:47:58] Speaker F: You're not sure if it necessarily impacts you directly or if it's just because you were close, but, you know, at least a few people in this room are probably have just been cast into a story that they do not get to be the authors of. [01:48:13] Speaker E: Cool. Love that for us. [01:48:18] Speaker A: Oh, Boyden, it's fine. We're fine. [01:48:24] Speaker F: Clint, the feeling is almost similar to the feeling you had when you touched the chair, and then when your mother found out after. Oh, no, it's just this kind of pit in your stomach, Koda. It feels a little bit like. [01:48:45] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [01:48:46] Speaker F: The moment you agreed to take on Stefan's true name. [01:48:50] Speaker C: Yep. [01:48:52] Speaker F: That weight. [01:48:58] Speaker C: You'D love to. You love and hate to see it, but, hey, we got a dragon. [01:49:04] Speaker A: Yeah, boss. [01:49:04] Speaker C: Hash dragon. [01:49:06] Speaker A: Hell yeah, we did. [01:49:12] Speaker F: Gwen looks you over. Oliver bright, psion of Oakma and champion of my pantheon. To you, I entrust a solemn duty, the care and protection of our last dragon. [01:49:39] Speaker B: I accept the duty with honor, and I will bear this responsibility for my life. [01:49:50] Speaker F: When we have need of you, you will come. And should you present yourself on our doorstep, you will be given food and rest. [01:50:04] Speaker B: I thank you for your hospitality. [01:50:12] Speaker F: He looks back at Cota one more time. And then back at you. You travel with those who enter into dangerous circumstances, scion of Hephaestus. [01:50:33] Speaker E: I'm learning that now. [01:50:37] Speaker C: I mean, it's not a surprise, right? Does anyone have an easy life being a psion or a demigod or whatever? [01:50:49] Speaker F: Oh, sorry. [01:50:50] Speaker C: Let me bite my tongue. [01:50:54] Speaker F: Fate takes a heavy hand with these three. You would do well to be careful. [01:51:01] Speaker E: I appreciate the candor. [01:51:10] Speaker F: And tell your father that I said thank you for the repairs he did on my bow. [01:51:21] Speaker E: That I shall. Your majesty. [01:51:26] Speaker F: Is there anything the rest of you would have of my. Of me and mine? And he looks towards Koda and Clint and Andre. [01:51:37] Speaker A: No, I think we got what we came here for, as far as I understand it. I appreciate the offer, though. Don't get me wrong. [01:51:45] Speaker F: Yep. [01:51:46] Speaker C: Nothing else. This is a great meeting. [01:51:49] Speaker E: I'm quite satisfied. [01:51:55] Speaker F: Then go with my blessings. [01:52:04] Speaker B: I will bow to the king and then rise and lead the way out. [01:52:14] Speaker A: Follow you. [01:52:16] Speaker E: Andre is also going to bow and then just quickly beat a retreat without showing the king his back, because that's disrespectful. [01:52:24] Speaker F: When you guys get to the door and you're just about to turn, like, proper turn and go down the hallway, you hear Clint Brazos? [01:52:33] Speaker A: No. Uh, Clint will turn. Yes, sir. [01:52:40] Speaker F: Tell the battle crow our appointment stands. [01:52:53] Speaker A: All right, I'll go ahead and let Ian know that. [01:53:00] Speaker F: He doesn't say anything. He lets you go. Anyone with a cult, please roll me into an occult. [01:53:12] Speaker B: Okay, you got it. What is my a cold? [01:53:27] Speaker E: That will be six successes with my epics. [01:53:30] Speaker B: Seven successes for me. [01:53:37] Speaker C: Oh, wow. Four successes. [01:53:42] Speaker F: Excellent. Every single one of you realizes as you were walking outside that Clint completely botched under understanding what. Who Gwen Gwyn upnood was talking about. I assume the battle crow is the Morrigan. That's one of her. That's one of her epithets. [01:54:01] Speaker B: Just, like, kind of turn to Clint, give him, like, a pat on the sword. That's also kind of ushering him out. Wrong. Wrong crow, Clint. Wrong crow. Talking about your mom. [01:54:10] Speaker E: He means a bigger one. [01:54:12] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, I mean, if I tell Ian, he'll tell her it's all good. [01:54:16] Speaker B: Okay. [01:54:19] Speaker A: Well, you know what? As they're getting to their. [01:54:21] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. I know what you're thinking. No, no, no, no. Let's just go. [01:54:25] Speaker C: Just call her. [01:54:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that's why I was. I was thinking I was just going to send her a text, make me. [01:54:31] Speaker F: A wits and awareness check. [01:54:34] Speaker E: Oh, boy. [01:54:36] Speaker C: Wits and awareness. [01:54:37] Speaker B: Wits and awareness. I can do that. [01:54:40] Speaker A: I'm good with that. [01:54:47] Speaker E: Three. [01:54:50] Speaker C: Let's see. [01:54:55] Speaker A: One. [01:54:56] Speaker F: Jesus, Clint. [01:54:58] Speaker A: Five. [01:55:03] Speaker C: Six. [01:55:05] Speaker F: Wow. All right. Clint is so caught up in trying to fish his phone out of his pocket to call his mother, that he doesn't notice a damn thing. However, everybody else gets to the car and realizes as they go to open their doors, they see the reflection of the area around them, and they realize that there's no building behind them in their reflection anymore. [01:55:35] Speaker B: Oh, all right. [01:55:38] Speaker F: And if you look back over your shoulder, you're just looking at trees. [01:55:45] Speaker C: Hey, Clint, you wanna see a new trick I learned? [01:55:49] Speaker A: Uh, yeah. Give me 1 second. [01:55:51] Speaker C: Look behind you. [01:55:53] Speaker A: But hold on. Let me finish this. [01:55:54] Speaker F: Just look. [01:55:54] Speaker C: Just look. It's a very quick trick. [01:55:58] Speaker A: What? And Clint will look over his shoulder at that. [01:56:01] Speaker F: Oh. [01:56:01] Speaker A: What the fuck? Where'd it go? [01:56:04] Speaker C: It's something I've been working on. [01:56:07] Speaker A: You can do that? You can just make buildings disappear? [01:56:10] Speaker C: It's kind of like an illusion trick of the light. [01:56:13] Speaker F: Remember? [01:56:13] Speaker C: I could, like, make the light thing do a thing. [01:56:16] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that makes sense. But whole ass castle, though. [01:56:23] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [01:56:24] Speaker B: You know what, Coda, I think that's your best one yet. [01:56:26] Speaker C: Hold on. [01:56:29] Speaker A: How do you do that? Is it like, bend the light, or is it actually gone and Clint will walk over to it or where it was. [01:56:40] Speaker B: Clint, we have a God waiting for us in the car. [01:56:42] Speaker E: Yeah, I would rather we not keep my dad. [01:56:44] Speaker F: Oh, yeah. [01:56:44] Speaker C: There's like a whole. [01:56:46] Speaker F: Speaking of the God of the car. As you guys turn back to get into the car, you realize that Ian is playing with some sort of metallic bit of something where the color, like, when the light hits it, the colors are constantly shifting. And he'll pick it up and kind of put it down and peck at it and, you know, move it with his. With his claws and pick it up and put it down. Just utterly fascinated with whatever it is that he has. And Pele is. Has the zoomies, which is funny because he's in a car where he is chasing what looks like a cat toy that seems to constantly be eluding him. And he is darting from the back window, down onto the seats, across the seats, into the front seat, because the toy has rolled under the seats towards the front. He tries to dart down into the floor to grab it, and it goes away again. He's back into the back seats chasing it. It's. It's a lot. [01:57:55] Speaker A: Going on in here, mister. Hephaestus, you didn't put bird nip on Ian here, did you? No. [01:58:05] Speaker D: No. Give him a fractal. Shiny. [01:58:13] Speaker C: I see you're having fun. [01:58:18] Speaker D: I made that one out of a bit of brass I got from a. From somewhere in the depths of Tartarus. Might be slightly alive. Not sure. [01:58:31] Speaker F: When you talk to Pele. He goes very still and he looks at you and he's got that cat caught mid zero zoomies. Look where his pupils are like blown wide and he's ed. You just hear in your head you saw nothing. [01:58:47] Speaker C: Right? I saw absolutely nothing. [01:58:50] Speaker F: Good girl. And then he darts after the toy again. [01:58:58] Speaker C: She will look to Andre and go, your dad's kind of cool. [01:59:04] Speaker E: Oh yeah, my dad's awesome. [01:59:07] Speaker C: Oh well that's nice to hear. Every now and then. [01:59:12] Speaker B: As we're walking to the car, I'm going to clap Clint on the shoulder. Clint, you know what? I'm proud of you. [01:59:19] Speaker A: For what? [01:59:20] Speaker B: We went an entire conversation with a God and you didn't ask for his phone number? [01:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I figured he didn't seem like the type to have a cell phone given he was living in a castle made out of sticks and brutes and stuff. [01:59:34] Speaker B: Well, I'm proud of your restraint. [01:59:37] Speaker E: Well done on reading the room. [01:59:40] Speaker A: I mean, there weren't words anywhere but thank you. [01:59:44] Speaker E: Okay. [01:59:46] Speaker F: Clint, your phone rings. [01:59:48] Speaker A: Oh, hold on 1 second. Uh, Clint will not even looking at who it is just immediately answer. Hello, this is Clint. [01:59:57] Speaker F: King. Who to? Your mother's voice. [02:00:01] Speaker A: Oh, hello. Yeah, uh, yeah, King Gwen, that guy who lives in the the stick castle. [02:00:12] Speaker F: Gwyn up nude. [02:00:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's that. Yeah, that sounds right. [02:00:19] Speaker F: And why exactly were you visiting the Welsh? [02:00:23] Speaker A: Oh, well, you know, while we were going about and dealing with stuff and. Hold on, Mister B, what was the name of that underworld, that first one we went to? [02:00:36] Speaker F: Mag mel. [02:00:38] Speaker A: Yeah, sorry, Mag. Wait, you. You're not Mister B? Yeah, we went to Mag Mel and when we went there we found a rock on the stone, the chair that I told you about. And that rock happened to hatch and turned into this pretty little red dragon friend of ours called Braum. And so Mister B. Said we had to go and deal with some whales and talk to a king. I mean, it was close enough, right? We had to go to Wales. Anyways. We came to Wales and we said we'd like to make sure that Mister Brahm here stays with us as long as we can until he's ready to come back home. [02:01:23] Speaker F: It's you. [02:01:27] Speaker A: Well, I didn't say that. But Mister B. Did. Yeah. [02:01:32] Speaker F: Mister Bright. [02:01:34] Speaker A: Hold on, let me put you on speaker. All right, you're good. [02:01:39] Speaker F: And what cost did your dragon friend require? Mister Bright. [02:01:52] Speaker B: I agree to champion the Welsh for as long as he is under my care. [02:02:02] Speaker F: There is a long, long pause. I see. Well, very well clint. Thank you for passing on the king's message. [02:02:23] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, no problem. Happy to hear from you. You know, I've been trying to get ahold of you just every once in a while to see how you're doing and you never really respond. [02:02:34] Speaker F: Clint. Yeah, make me a perception and awareness role. [02:02:40] Speaker A: Oh, no, you got it. See that? [02:02:49] Speaker B: And. [02:02:58] Speaker A: Uh. Wow. That's seven successes. [02:03:03] Speaker F: It's mom. So of course Clint is paying attention. Uh, yeah, you are talking and after a few words, you realize that, uh, the phone isn't on anymore. Or at least the call isn't open anymore. [02:03:18] Speaker A: Well, I, uh. Hmm. I mean, I love you too, mom. I'll talk to you later. [02:03:23] Speaker E: And Andre's just gonna look at Hephaestus and just give him a face like, yikes. [02:03:32] Speaker D: Hephaestus frowns. [02:03:38] Speaker C: Maybe you just lost signal, Clint. [02:03:40] Speaker A: I mean, yeah, it happens every once in a while. Sometimes, you know, the connection gets lost before we're done talking. She'll call me back later. It's okay. [02:03:50] Speaker C: Yeah, and at the very least, you know, she's probably like reading your messages and then just like, I'll respond later. [02:03:59] Speaker A: That makes sense to me. [02:04:00] Speaker C: Yeah, don't worry about it. [02:04:05] Speaker A: I mean, I don't really have time to worry about it. We got so much going on anyway. [02:04:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:04:13] Speaker A: Clint stares at his phone, waiting. [02:04:21] Speaker F: As if the car were tired of the quiet, stressful expectation from Clint. The engine rumbles at you have. Fastest. [02:04:34] Speaker D: We shall go. [02:04:36] Speaker E: Yeah, right. [02:04:39] Speaker B: Climb in the cardinal. [02:04:41] Speaker D: Clint. [02:04:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:04:43] Speaker C: Oh, no, I'm sorry. [02:04:47] Speaker A: Oh, it's okay. It happens. I mean, mom's pretty busy. [02:04:54] Speaker D: Mothers can be difficult. [02:04:59] Speaker C: So good fathers. [02:05:03] Speaker A: I mean, not to toot my own horn here, but I got a call from, from like the goddess of like death and ravens and shit. So I'm pretty pleased. I'm pretty pleased with myself. [02:05:13] Speaker B: You know, you also forgot to pass along that message. [02:05:19] Speaker A: No, no, I sent it to her by text. [02:05:21] Speaker B: Oh, right. [02:05:22] Speaker A: And that's why she called. [02:05:23] Speaker C: I think she reads your text messages. [02:05:27] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. She leaves me. I've read, but only like, calls me when it's important. [02:05:36] Speaker B: Yes. My bad. I honestly hadn't expected her to actually have read it. [02:05:43] Speaker D: My mother threw me off Olympus when I was born and he puts the car into gear. [02:05:48] Speaker E: Jesus. [02:05:52] Speaker F: Ever the bright shot in the party. [02:05:54] Speaker E: I was just like, just kind of look up the window. It's like, I don't want to talk about grandma again. [02:06:00] Speaker A: Is that why your legs are like that, Mister Hephaestus? [02:06:03] Speaker D: It is. [02:06:05] Speaker A: Damn, that's fucked up, man. [02:06:08] Speaker C: But cool. You've kind of turned something that someone would view as a weakness into your strength, right? [02:06:17] Speaker D: I have adapted. [02:06:21] Speaker A: It's the only thing we can do, really. [02:06:24] Speaker C: Be honest here. Especially when you wake up one day and suddenly your blood is like fire and wolves are chasing you. The only thing you can't do is die or adapt, right? [02:06:34] Speaker F: Yeah. [02:06:35] Speaker A: At this point, Clint starts texting everyone. [02:06:38] Speaker D: Buckle in. [02:06:39] Speaker A: Okay, no problem, buckles. [02:06:42] Speaker F: I just want to put it out there that Clinton and Andre, that's not how you guys became scions. [02:06:48] Speaker A: Nope, not at all. [02:06:50] Speaker E: A little different. [02:06:51] Speaker F: And, Andre, I think this might be the moment where you. You, like, realize which group it is that you've been asked to help. [02:06:57] Speaker E: And I realize just how fucked I am. Yeah. [02:07:00] Speaker F: Yeah. This isn't the first time you've heard of them, but you did not expect to get paired up with them at all. They're caught up in some big, heavy shit. [02:07:14] Speaker E: Like, I just, like. Like, make that realization to just look around at them. And then I just like how? Damn it. And then he just starts working on his last will and testament. [02:07:30] Speaker D: If it were all simple, anyone could do it, boy. [02:07:36] Speaker F: Yeah. [02:07:36] Speaker E: But I feel like the fates have these on a string. Like a yo yo. [02:07:48] Speaker A: A yo yo. We're gonna play with yo yos. And Clint puts his phone back away. [02:07:52] Speaker E: You see what I mean? [02:07:55] Speaker A: Sorry. [02:07:56] Speaker C: I'm curious. No, yeah, go, Clint. Go, Clint. See what you gotta say. [02:08:01] Speaker A: No, I was just saying sorry. I was a little distracted. [02:08:06] Speaker C: I'm clear. I'm curious. What would the two of you have done if you were in our case, in our situation? [02:08:15] Speaker A: Well, I blow a lot of shit. [02:08:18] Speaker E: Up. [02:08:21] Speaker F: You could do. [02:08:24] Speaker E: Oh, that one. [02:08:26] Speaker F: Yeah. [02:08:29] Speaker A: I mean, I never really knew him too well, so I can't really say for sure. I met him now that I've been with y'all, and he seems a friendly sword. I don't imagine I'd want him to be stuck there neither. [02:08:45] Speaker E: I'm not exactly the right person to ask. [02:08:49] Speaker C: No, you are. You have an opinion? Yeah. So then you're the right person to ask. What would you have done? [02:09:00] Speaker E: Disemboweled him. [02:09:03] Speaker C: Uh huh. [02:09:04] Speaker A: That's a little violent, ain't it? [02:09:06] Speaker C: Well, he did some violent shit, right? [02:09:09] Speaker A: I guess. [02:09:12] Speaker F: To be fair, Clint, he probably also killed people that you considered friends. Not members of your. Of the old band that you ran with, but friends. [02:09:21] Speaker A: Yeah, but everybody deserves a 32nd chance. [02:09:27] Speaker F: Jesus. [02:09:31] Speaker E: A more patient man than I, Clint. [02:09:34] Speaker D: I'm just happy he can count that eye. [02:09:39] Speaker A: I just chose a random number. To be honest, Mister Hephaestus, I appreciate your confidence in me. [02:09:49] Speaker D: I haven't seen your feet, but I presume it's more than the fingers and toes you possessed. [02:09:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I capped out at 20. What I got. [02:10:06] Speaker F: All right. [02:10:07] Speaker A: Total of ten fingers, toes. That's what. [02:10:15] Speaker F: Pele has given up on the zoomies now that there are people in the cardinal. But he is eyeing this toy that keeps moving around on the floorboards. Between who's in the backseat. [02:10:34] Speaker B: I would imagine that Andre would get first dibs on riding shotgun with his father, so I'm at least in the backseat. [02:10:43] Speaker F: Excellent. Pele is sitting on Kota's lap in the middle of the backseat and watching this toy dart between Clint Oliver and Koda's feet. [02:10:54] Speaker D: It's got a little jingle bell in it, so it tinkles when it moves. [02:10:58] Speaker F: And his tail is swishing in that I'm gonna fucking kill it. Way that cats have. [02:11:11] Speaker B: What is Brahms interest level in ithemenous. [02:11:16] Speaker F: Bram is not paying attention to it right now. [02:11:20] Speaker A: What is Bram paying attention to? [02:11:23] Speaker F: Bram is staring out the windows at the trees as you all drive out of the forest. He seems very intent, kind of a thousand miles away. [02:11:44] Speaker A: Linda, reach over and pat him. [02:11:47] Speaker F: He churns. [02:11:54] Speaker A: All right, so y'all want to go ahead and get that audiobook going again? [02:12:00] Speaker C: Yes, please. Yes. Actually, let's do an audiobook. Any book. In fact, no more chess. Yeah, I was going to be music. [02:12:11] Speaker E: But, I mean, we can start with the book, I guess. [02:12:15] Speaker A: I like music, too. [02:12:17] Speaker C: Music would be great. Chess. Not chess live. [02:12:22] Speaker D: Well, Oliver was four moves from check bait anyway. [02:12:27] Speaker B: I don't think so. I had some gambits in mind. [02:12:32] Speaker E: Might have extended it by, like, a move or two, but you was gonna be the king toppling over the music on. [02:12:38] Speaker B: Fine, then let's start another game. [02:12:40] Speaker C: No. [02:12:42] Speaker B: Queen, two, d, three. [02:12:49] Speaker A: Trying to reach between the two front seats and, like, mess with the radio. [02:12:55] Speaker B: No. [02:12:55] Speaker A: God damn it. [02:12:56] Speaker F: All right, Hephaestus, are we off to China now? [02:12:58] Speaker D: We are off to China. [02:13:00] Speaker F: Excellent. As. As another game of chess begins, the car roars to life and drives out of the woods and into a portal. [02:13:18] Speaker A: You know, Mister Hephaestus, could you teach us how to make them things? [02:13:26] Speaker D: Not till you're older. [02:13:31] Speaker A: Like a year or two. Or, like, a lot older. [02:13:37] Speaker D: When your legends are such that you can stride across worlds. Come to me. I will show you how. [02:13:44] Speaker A: See you in a couple weeks, Sam. [02:13:51] Speaker F: As you come out of the portal, you find yourself on a long, cobblestone paved stretch surrounded by red buildings on top of white steps. Can anybody, obviously, other than Hephaestus, who has academics, please. Give me an intelligence and academics role. [02:14:29] Speaker D: Oh, man. [02:14:31] Speaker E: You got it. [02:14:32] Speaker F: Hephaestus, you know where you are? Don't start with me. Nobody needs to see your 20 die pool. [02:14:41] Speaker B: Okay, eight successes. [02:14:44] Speaker A: I've got zero. [02:14:47] Speaker E: Nine successes. [02:14:55] Speaker C: Four. Oh, wait, no, two. [02:15:01] Speaker F: Coda. You know, you're in China based on the architecture around you. Uh, Oliver and, uh, and Andre both realize, kind of with a start, that you are in the forbidden city in China. [02:15:16] Speaker E: Oh, shit. [02:15:18] Speaker B: Hmm. [02:15:23] Speaker E: So, uh, who are you all here to see again? [02:15:26] Speaker B: Um, huang Di. [02:15:28] Speaker A: Ow. [02:15:29] Speaker B: Yeah, my thoughts exactly. [02:15:34] Speaker F: I love that noise. It was a great noise. [02:15:39] Speaker C: But it'll be fine because Oliver, in triplicate, made a paper that dictated all the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He did great, essentially. [02:15:51] Speaker E: You mind if I take a look at it real quick? [02:15:53] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. I've got some copies here. I'll pull one out of my satchel, hand it over. [02:15:58] Speaker A: Cool. [02:15:59] Speaker E: And he'll just, like, begin basically speed reading through it. [02:16:03] Speaker A: Did you have to make a PowerPoint? [02:16:05] Speaker F: Do you have. Do you have the speed reading, uh, knack? [02:16:09] Speaker E: I do not. I was, uh. He is just, like, taking a quick look because he's just curious. [02:16:14] Speaker A: Skimming. [02:16:15] Speaker F: Okay. It's worth noting that if I remember correctly from the descriptions that all that were given last season, this is several inches thick. [02:16:24] Speaker B: Yeah, hundreds of pages. [02:16:29] Speaker F: Uh, and is in depth, we'll put it that way. [02:16:39] Speaker E: Right. So, yeah, he's just basically looking at the fur, at the, like, introductory statements just to get a basic idea of what all he was writing to Huang Di about. [02:16:49] Speaker F: He is. If I can pull up the thing. [02:16:53] Speaker C: Be careful. You're gonna get a paper cut on that thing or lose your whole hand. Hey, mister B. Actually, since you have three of those, why don't you start using that to fight with? [02:17:06] Speaker B: Uh, I use my thesis to fight people. [02:17:11] Speaker C: You used to fight with books, remember? [02:17:14] Speaker B: I used them as a distraction one time. [02:17:18] Speaker A: Well, if you link them together, you can make them, like, book chucks or whatever. [02:17:23] Speaker B: I'm done with this conversation. [02:17:25] Speaker F: Andre, you are essentially looking at a report on what actions violate the mandate of heaven to a sufficient extent to warrant execution, and an explanation over why the child of Loki's behavior did not rise to said standard. [02:17:49] Speaker E: Ah. So something I probably disagree with on a fundamental level. [02:17:55] Speaker F: Yup, yup. [02:17:58] Speaker E: Still intriguing to read, though. [02:18:00] Speaker F: You're pretty sure that if you had the time, you could write a sufficient counter argument, but you're not entirely sure that it would serve any real purpose except to make you feel better. [02:18:11] Speaker E: Yeah. Table that for later. [02:18:14] Speaker F: It's just gonna be your new hobby. [02:18:17] Speaker E: Yeah, pretty much. [02:18:24] Speaker F: All right, you guys are parked in the forbidden city. There are no people around, weirdly. And you find yourself unsure if you're in. In the normal world version or if you're in some other world version. It's hard to tell. Or if it's just fate has made the space for you to arrive in the way that you did without alarming people. [02:18:50] Speaker A: Are there any ghosts around here? And if so, do they look different from the ghosts back home? [02:18:55] Speaker F: There are, in fact, ghosts around here, and, I mean, they're different in that they're obviously wearing clothing from different eras of chinese history. [02:19:04] Speaker A: Y'all, I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I think we made it. [02:19:15] Speaker B: What? [02:19:16] Speaker F: Good. [02:19:17] Speaker A: Well, I'm. Yeah, we should be here. I mean, the folks look different. [02:19:22] Speaker F: Well, no one else sees anything. [02:19:28] Speaker E: Morgan thing or. [02:19:30] Speaker B: I think it's a Clint thing. [02:19:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:19:34] Speaker B: See the dead people? [02:19:36] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, I've been around a couple of them. [02:19:39] Speaker F: It is, in fact, a Morgan thing. When they say he can see dead people, she is a goddess of death. [02:19:45] Speaker E: Yeah, well, technically, it wasn't Morgan things. I was right. [02:19:49] Speaker A: All right. [02:19:49] Speaker B: Yeah, but pretending like there are people the rest of us can see is a Clint thing. [02:19:54] Speaker C: Well, I mean, I forget. [02:19:56] Speaker B: I know you do. Clint. Hephstus, this is the forbidden city. We're not trespassing or anything while being here, are we? [02:20:07] Speaker D: You have a task to perform. Hwang Di receives visitors here. I will park here. I am taking my chair and going to the garden of compassion and tranquility to meditate. Text me when you're done. [02:20:26] Speaker A: Will do. [02:20:30] Speaker C: Thank you. [02:20:33] Speaker A: You mind keeping hold of the animals a little bit longer for us? [02:20:36] Speaker D: They can come. [02:20:38] Speaker A: Okay. [02:20:40] Speaker E: We're gonna find them all achieving enlightenment without us. [02:20:44] Speaker A: We're eating a whole bunch of cheetos. Be careful. That little fella right there will go through two, three bags if you let them. Clint points to Brom, and he will. [02:20:56] Speaker F: When Hephaestus door opens, Pele and his Pele's toy rolls out after him. And Pele is hot on its fucking trail. Ian kind of looks at Clint and tilts his head as if to like, do I go with him or do I go with you? [02:21:14] Speaker A: It's up to you, buddy. You can come with me, but I don't know if you're gonna have much fun over there. At least you got the shiny thing and maybe some trees to hang out with. [02:21:24] Speaker F: I will go with him. He gives me shiny things. [02:21:27] Speaker A: That's right. He does. Oh, shit. Uh, yeah, you go on. And Clint starts searching his pockets as he remembers something. [02:21:36] Speaker F: Uh, he grabs his fractal, shiny and. And follows. Hephaestus Brahm hops out of the car and hurries over and scurries up onto Hephaestus seat and curls up in his lap as the four of them roll off the God and the tiny God squad. [02:22:04] Speaker E: It's almost fitting. [02:22:08] Speaker A: Kate code. Here. I found this between the seats back here. Promised you I owed you a quarter. And here you go, lentil. Hand over a quarter. [02:22:17] Speaker C: Oh. Your debt has been paid. She puts it back in between the seats in the cardinal. [02:22:31] Speaker A: All right, cool. I don't have to worry about that no more. [02:22:35] Speaker F: Are you heading inside? [02:22:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:22:37] Speaker A: Yep. [02:22:38] Speaker B: Yes. [02:22:39] Speaker F: You all climb the steps of the largest, foremost building. And when you walk inside, like, from the outside and through the open doors, the place looks deserted, looks cold and quiet. And the lights are off. You pass over the threshold, and inside, it is like stepping into a different world. It is warm. There are lights lit. It's not hugely bright by any stretch, but there are lights on. You can hear the quiet sounds of people further into the building. And a young man, uh, in a three piece suit walks up. How may I help you? [02:23:30] Speaker B: Uh, we are here for, uh, to turn in a labor. I meant to meet with Huang Di. [02:23:40] Speaker F: He gives you this. This look, Oliver, that makes you feel like he is looking through you and into your soul. [02:23:53] Speaker B: Name, Oliver. Bright sign of Ogma. [02:24:01] Speaker F: He looks at what you realize as a tablet that he is tapping on. You do not have a scheduled appointment, but I see a standing order. Follow me. And he turns on his heel and very briskly walks through the building, leaving you to follow or not. [02:24:28] Speaker B: I will follow. [02:24:30] Speaker A: Yep. Might as well keep up. Yep. [02:24:40] Speaker F: You make your way deeper into the building and trying to think of how to deeper into the building and eventually find your way into a room where you see three men. One is young, looks like he may not even be an adult at all. He looks like he might barely kind of qualify. And the other two are themselves certainly adults and older. One of them is obviously Huang Di, who you have met before. He is in his uniform, and another is in a. Is in what looks almost like a. It almost looks like a modified, like, doctor's coat. And the two of them are having a quiet but having a quiet conversation over what you realize. Those of you who know what it is realize is a game of go, uh, Koda or not. Coda. I'm sorry. Oliver and Andre can roll me intelligence and me forgetting what system we're playing and what the terms are. Sorry. Intelligence and empathy. [02:26:56] Speaker E: Ow. [02:27:00] Speaker F: This isn't hugely important. I just want to see if you can tell what the different styles of player. [02:27:06] Speaker B: Five successes. [02:27:07] Speaker E: Also five. I got. Oh. Seven. [02:27:12] Speaker F: Okay. You both realize that Huang Di has a much more. Huang Di is playing very aggressively, and this other man is playing very defensively. But they're both playing. They both have tactics on their side. Huang Di isn't going off half cocked. He just has a very aggressive tactician. [02:27:50] Speaker E: Could I take an educated guess as to who exactly he is playing and who the younger individual is? Here. [02:27:59] Speaker F: I will allow you to roll intelligence and a cult, but I'm only going to allow you to use one of your epic intelligence dots. [02:28:07] Speaker E: So noted. [02:28:10] Speaker F: The Chinese don't exactly get out much. [02:28:13] Speaker E: Nope. And I don't deal with them too often. Six successes. [02:28:22] Speaker F: Goddamn. It takes you a moment to kind of search your memory and what you have read about them. The young man is very. Who he is becomes obvious rather quickly because he looks impatient and a little frustrated. But you realize after a moment, that is, in fact, Nezha. And the older man is Shenong, the divine farmer. [02:28:59] Speaker E: Cool. [02:29:02] Speaker F: When a lot of you walk in, there is a pause, and they look up, and Huang Di kind of nods to the other two. Nezha gives all of you a long look, and his eyes linger on. Kota. Anyone who wants to can make a wits and empathy check run on. [02:29:34] Speaker E: Well? [02:29:34] Speaker A: I got it. [02:29:36] Speaker C: Oh, man. Wits and empathy. [02:29:40] Speaker B: Mm hmm. [02:29:42] Speaker F: Four successes. [02:29:43] Speaker B: I did not roll very well. [02:29:45] Speaker F: You did nothing. [02:29:51] Speaker E: I got nothing. [02:29:53] Speaker A: I got three. [02:29:54] Speaker F: Saul finally fails a role. [02:29:57] Speaker E: What I have, I have no in character knowledge, so it makes sense. [02:30:02] Speaker F: Koda, do you want to roll? [02:30:04] Speaker C: Yeah. Six successes. [02:30:08] Speaker F: All right, everybody but Andre realizes very quickly that Nezha is nothing. Pleased to see coda. [02:30:19] Speaker E: Hopefully. [02:30:24] Speaker C: I knew it. [02:30:28] Speaker F: And at a look from Huang Di, Nezha and Shenon both head for the door. Koda, as they pass, Nezha kind of shoulder checks you. Not hard enough to knock you over, but it certainly doesn't seem like it was an accident. [02:30:55] Speaker C: He's a God, right? Or is he a scion? Uh, I guess I wouldn't know. Hmm. [02:31:03] Speaker F: You could roll me. Hmm. Hold on. Let me look at your sheet. Let me see what you're working with here. [02:31:19] Speaker C: Listen, my girl is doing better, but. [02:31:39] Speaker F: Yeah, with your wits, you're. You don't know for sure, but if he's hanging around at least one God, he's important as fucked. [02:31:58] Speaker C: Oh, Coda, what would you. You know, you're getting mature. You get immature, very demure. [02:32:05] Speaker F: Just go have a conversation with your own character. [02:32:12] Speaker C: Koda is going to, like, look back at them to kind of be like, the fuck was that? But then just kind of go, like, a loud exhale and then keep walking with the group. [02:32:26] Speaker E: I imagine Andre just sees that. It's like, wait, what the fu. Oh, no. [02:32:33] Speaker F: Yeah. Audrey, you're not entirely sure what's going on, but that was unusual. [02:32:38] Speaker E: It's not a good thing. Nope, it's all been not good things so far. [02:32:50] Speaker F: That sounds. Oliver. [02:32:54] Speaker B: Yes. [02:32:56] Speaker F: You are in the room with Huang Di. Mister Bright. [02:33:03] Speaker B: I'll step up until, like, a respectful distance, give a respectful nod. [02:33:08] Speaker F: Bongdi, am I given to assume that you have completed your task, or are you here to tell me that you are not up to it? [02:33:17] Speaker B: I've completed my task. As I reach into my satchel and pull out one copy. I have additionals if you wish for more. [02:33:23] Speaker F: I did say in triplicate, put one. [02:33:27] Speaker B: Down, then give him a second, then a third, and I'll pull out a fourth and put it down as well, just in case. [02:33:35] Speaker F: No one likes to show off. Mister bright. [02:33:38] Speaker B: Shrug. [02:33:44] Speaker F: He will make his way over and pick up one of the copies and return to a desk where he kneels and begins to read. [02:34:02] Speaker B: I will stand there and wait, hands clasp behind my back. [02:34:08] Speaker A: This is gonna take a while. You think? [02:34:17] Speaker B: Just motion for Clint to not say much. [02:34:23] Speaker A: Sorry. [02:34:24] Speaker F: I would like everybody to make a stamina and integrity roll. [02:34:30] Speaker E: Ah, crap. [02:34:31] Speaker B: Oh, boy. [02:34:32] Speaker F: Ooh, yeah. That's not a roll that comes up often, does it, guys? [02:34:37] Speaker B: How. This is an unusual one. Two successes on my end. [02:34:43] Speaker C: What was it again? [02:34:46] Speaker F: Stamina, integrity. [02:34:48] Speaker E: Oh, okay, well, I got five. [02:34:55] Speaker A: I got nothing on the dice, but I got three, so there you go. [02:35:05] Speaker C: All right, rolling. [02:35:06] Speaker F: I love. I love it. Wood Gavin rolls because it's 244254. The dicer. Like, fuck you, buddy. [02:35:15] Speaker A: Wow. [02:35:16] Speaker C: Wow. [02:35:16] Speaker F: Koda, pool of seven, and you got one. Yeah. [02:35:21] Speaker A: That's worse than I got. [02:35:23] Speaker F: Could I reroll? [02:35:24] Speaker C: No, I'm not gonna reroll. [02:35:27] Speaker F: Are you sure you don't want to reroll? [02:35:30] Speaker C: You know what? Yes, I am going to reroll. [02:35:32] Speaker B: Please. [02:35:33] Speaker C: Fuck this. Please pick two. Watch me get a one again. Oh, wow. [02:35:43] Speaker B: It's a little bit better. [02:35:44] Speaker C: A whopping two. [02:35:46] Speaker B: That's the same I got. So if we. If we screw up, we screw up together. [02:35:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:35:52] Speaker F: Okay. [02:35:54] Speaker E: Oh, God. [02:36:00] Speaker F: Anybody who rolled a one or a two finds it very hard to stand still and quiet while Huang Di begins to read. Anybody who rolled above that is fine. [02:36:27] Speaker B: Probably be pacing a little bit, then. [02:36:31] Speaker A: It stands stock still. His eyes kind of glaze over as he stares through a wall. And he's just off. In his own imagination, Clint is mentally. [02:36:41] Speaker F: Drafting his next text messages to his mother. [02:36:45] Speaker A: Yep. Absolutely. [02:36:48] Speaker F: Code. [02:36:49] Speaker C: Is this, like, tapping your foot, like, arms crossed? [02:36:57] Speaker F: Andre? [02:37:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:37:01] Speaker F: As the current of. As the current keeper of the brain cells. [02:37:09] Speaker E: Yeah. [02:37:10] Speaker F: Do you want to try to do anything to get Oliver and Coda to settle, or are you just going to let them pace and tap and draw attention to themselves? [02:37:24] Speaker E: I am going to. [02:37:28] Speaker F: You are smart enough to know that this is a little disresp, more than a little disrespectful for them to do. [02:37:33] Speaker E: Yeah, I'm. First off, given that Oliver is the focus, since he's the one who wrote the treatise, work to stand in his path and then just, like, sort of block him and give him a very small shake of the head, just like, don't do it, man. Don't do. Don't do it. And try to focus on getting him to calm down before I folk. Before I move over to Coda to just sort of catch her attention. [02:38:05] Speaker F: Oliver, how do you react. [02:38:11] Speaker B: Upon him seeing this? I would like to imagine I get what he's doing, what he's trying to get out of me. So I'll probably, like, meet his eye, and then nod, take a breath, and then return to standing properly, hands clasp behind my back, and try my best to not nervously pace. [02:38:36] Speaker F: I will allow, because Andre got your attention and made it clear that you needed to not be pacing and everything. I will allow you to reroll, or you can spend a willpower and just choose to succeed. [02:38:59] Speaker B: I will do that. I'll spend my willpower. [02:39:13] Speaker F: Uh, coda? [02:39:15] Speaker C: Yep. [02:39:16] Speaker F: You have high enough perception that Andre has no problem getting your attention. Andre. [02:39:27] Speaker E: I am going to just hold her attention for a second and then pull out the little clockwork sphere I've been working on and just sort of gesture her over to come and. And take a look at it with me, trying to keep her focus on in one place and keep her movements to a minimum by, like, just showing her what I've got without trying to be too verbal about it. [02:39:53] Speaker F: Interesting. Hmm. Coda, will you go over when he tries to get you to come over and have a look? [02:40:05] Speaker C: Steve will, but is not an interest, is more of, like, what the fuck do you want from me? [02:40:10] Speaker F: Kind of situation. [02:40:12] Speaker C: So then when he's like, look at the. She doesn't say that, but that's the attitude she's giving, like, the fuck you. What do you want? Yeah, so. And she's like, oh, he probably just wants to show me his, like, rinky dink thing. So she's like. So she's like, okay, let me, like, show interest at it and be nice to the new person. [02:40:35] Speaker F: Andre. Yes, I will allow, uh. I will allow you to roll. Let's go. Charisma and craft blacksmithing to try to keep her focused by showing off the shiny toy and all the things that it can do. [02:41:05] Speaker E: Could I also utilize my expression? [02:41:09] Speaker F: Absolutely. [02:41:11] Speaker E: Awesome. Let's see. And Arte is treated as additional dice in the same way that addition in the same, like, one to one, that epic is correct. Okay. Uh, three successes. [02:41:50] Speaker F: Uh, do you want to reroll? [02:41:52] Speaker E: Uh, you know what? Yeah, sure. Let's see if I can do a little better. [02:41:57] Speaker F: Okay. [02:42:01] Speaker B: That's much, much better. Way better. [02:42:04] Speaker F: Uh, Koda. Yes. You're not entirely sure what you're looking at, but it is the most fascinating fucking thing you've all you've seen in a long time. You are entirely distracted by this brass thing that he is with. He presses on one piece of it, and it kind of opens up and moves. It shifts slightly, and it's fascinating. [02:42:36] Speaker C: Yeah, she'll look it over. And now instead of it being like, the fuck is this thing? She's more like, what is this? [02:42:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:42:46] Speaker E: And he's, like, pointing out, like, the bits where he's got more greek designs and I. And, like, symbols on it. And then another part where he learned a bit from a sign of Ptah, and it's got more egyptian making. [02:43:01] Speaker F: He does a very good job of basically distracting you with a cat toy for humans. [02:43:09] Speaker E: Absolutely. [02:43:13] Speaker F: All right. It takes some time, and at least a couple of you, the two who are the keeper of the brain cells here, start to suspect that Huangdi is purposefully not using, like, divine gifts to read this faster than. Than he is. But eventually he finishes, and it's still far faster than it have been with most humans and even most psions. But it still takes a long time. Oliver did a lot of writing. There were many, many, many footnotes and references to look at. [02:43:53] Speaker B: Yes. [02:44:00] Speaker F: And he closes the copy that he was reading, moves over to flip through the other two to be sure that they're all the same. They're all the same. And you didn't try to take any shortcuts or just shove in blank pages to pad them out? And then he finally nods. Very well. You have completed your labor, Oliver Brighten, though you have done nothing to sway my opinion on your choices. [02:44:39] Speaker B: Understand? That was not the goal. [02:44:42] Speaker F: I would expect a child of Ogma to be better reasoned. [02:44:50] Speaker B: Is there anything else, Wangdi? [02:44:56] Speaker F: He looks you all overez eyes, linger on coda for a moment and then goes. Looks back to you. No, you have completed your task adequately. [02:45:11] Speaker B: Then are we dismissed? [02:45:14] Speaker F: Yes. [02:45:16] Speaker B: I will turn on my heels and leave the room. [02:45:24] Speaker E: Andrey will be following along after doing. After hitting one more button to have the orb collapse back in on itself to make it almost more like the size of a marble. And we'll pocket it before heading on. Now. [02:45:40] Speaker A: Clint is still staring off in the distance. [02:45:43] Speaker C: Hoda will tap his shoulder and then relieving. [02:45:48] Speaker A: Oh, oh. Okay. Clint rubs out his eyes. All right, cool. Let's. Yeah, let's get out of here. [02:45:56] Speaker C: And then she'll leave as well. [02:46:01] Speaker F: Coda. [02:46:04] Speaker C: Yes? [02:46:06] Speaker F: As you are walking out the front door, you are the only one to notice him. Perhaps because he wants you to notice him. But that young man is standing, leaning against one of the walls and watching you with his arms folded over his chest and glaring. [02:46:39] Speaker C: So he's. Oh, Sam. Okay, so he's not in the room of. [02:46:51] Speaker F: No, he is outside. [02:46:53] Speaker C: Okay, cool. [02:46:54] Speaker F: Yeah. [02:46:54] Speaker C: So Coda is going to look at him, keep walking, but then stop, and then, like, take a second, and then turn around and go. So do you have a problem with me? [02:47:07] Speaker E: Andre hears that, turns around. [02:47:08] Speaker A: Oh, Clint will turn around too. Curious. [02:47:12] Speaker B: I will sigh and turn around. [02:47:16] Speaker F: I have a problem with anyone who hurts one of my kids. This guy doesn't look like he could be any. This guy doesn't look like he's older than you, Koda, there's no way. He's like 17. [02:47:32] Speaker B: Long story. [02:47:33] Speaker F: Quintal tells you later she's going to. [02:47:37] Speaker C: Walk closer to him and go, I am working on trying to fix this. I did not mean to hurt her on purpose. [02:47:48] Speaker F: You knew what you were doing, and you knew the effect it would have. She told you, don't play stupid. It doesn't suit you. [02:47:57] Speaker C: I'm not playing stupid. I'm letting you know what was going through my mind and what's going through my mind now. We're working through it. [02:48:06] Speaker F: Are you? [02:48:07] Speaker C: Yeah. We had our first blowout, and I'm ready for the next. [02:48:14] Speaker F: Because the last time I talked to her, she didn't seem terribly interested in hearing from you anymore. [02:48:20] Speaker C: Okay, that's great. And I will let her tell me, not her father. [02:48:26] Speaker F: Sir, the fact that you keep texting and she keeps not answering should be sign. Enough. What is it you Americans say? She's just not that into you. [02:48:42] Speaker C: Okay, that's great. And you know what? I'll let her tell me that. Because the last time when I wasn't talking to her, she said that was an issue. Right. So she really wants this to be over. I would like for us to talk about it like she wanted me to do before, and then we can talk about it. But I don't need her father bumping into me like, whatever this is, I'm sorry. And knows I'm sorry. [02:49:21] Speaker F: He gets this kind of half amused, almost sardonic smile on his face. It's not something that can be fixed. [02:49:38] Speaker C: What do you mean? Anything could be fixed. [02:49:43] Speaker F: Maybe when you were normal, but you're not. [02:49:48] Speaker A: She's plenty normal. [02:49:50] Speaker F: No, she's a scion. It makes her better than normal. [02:49:56] Speaker A: I got you. Never mind. Sorry. [02:49:57] Speaker F: And it means that when you break things, they frequently don't get put back together the same way. They don't come out right again. [02:50:07] Speaker A: Then slowly looks over to Andre. [02:50:12] Speaker E: Hypothesis thing. Don't worry about it. [02:50:14] Speaker F: Okay, sir. [02:50:20] Speaker C: If net wants us to end this. If net wants to end this, I at least want us to talk about that. Let's have our final words. [02:50:33] Speaker F: Okay. You know, it's funny is you say that, but she's out there being busy cleaning up the mess you made by not listening to her the first time. [02:50:45] Speaker C: Sarah, what do you think I've been doing? You think I've been twiddling my thumbs? The fact that I'm even here? [02:50:50] Speaker F: You're at performing labors to set free the man who killed the person she considered a sister. You're not cleaning up your mess. [02:51:01] Speaker C: I believe I am. Because the mess I've made is the fact that we're bringing this guy out to be redeemed. [02:51:08] Speaker F: No, we are cleaning our mess. The mess that you made was you didn't cut the head off the snake when you had the chance. You threw him in prison and left the other head running free with an army full of wolves at her back. And we fought her earlier, and net's the one out cleaning up the messes and rescuing all the kids that got caught in the wake of that shit storm. Don't talk like you're cleaning up your messes, Miss Masikoi. You're making them, and you're breaking things and people along the way, and you don't seem to understand that. [02:51:53] Speaker C: So what would you have me do? [02:51:56] Speaker F: If it were me, I wouldn't have done what you did in the first place. [02:52:01] Speaker C: Okay, well, since none of us can go back in time, what would you have me do now? [02:52:07] Speaker F: I'd have pivoted to deal with the bitch who's leading the wolves, who dealt with her army first. Let him rot in jail for a few. For a few years. He's a scion. He'll live. He's in an. He's in an overworld. He won't even age. And it's the least he could go through for the damage that he did to the rest of us. [02:52:33] Speaker C: But we have fought Gwen, right? [02:52:36] Speaker F: When she's come to you, it's not like you're out there actively hunting her. [02:52:40] Speaker C: Yeah, because we have been giving tasks to do YouTube. Not sure how long you've been doing this, and this is not to be disrespectful, but you know that no pantheon will wait for us to finish their task, right? So I can't just go, oh, let's go deal with Gwen, then handle the tasks you think we're not trying to finish, like, do all the things we're doing. [02:53:06] Speaker F: Having actually read the paperwork behind the agreement that was made by. Between the pantheons, you could have chosen to. To undertake these tasks whenever you wanted to. Nothing said they had to happen. Now, you set those wheels in motion, and now you're committed to that path. You don't believe that there has always been the option to pivot and go deal with the messes that you've made. But don't worry. Continue on your single minded quest. [02:53:41] Speaker C: Single mind. [02:53:42] Speaker F: My child is out there doing the good work that she was born for. [02:53:47] Speaker A: And who's your child. [02:53:52] Speaker F: Nat? [02:53:53] Speaker A: Okay. Just making sure. I thought so, but I didn't put them together yet. [02:54:03] Speaker C: Okay. Have you said everything you needed to say to me? [02:54:12] Speaker F: I think I've made my point. Great. [02:54:19] Speaker C: Have a great rest of your time alive. She'll keep walking the group. [02:54:27] Speaker A: Cody, you want me to go back there and slap him upside the face or something for you? [02:54:31] Speaker C: It's fine. Clint, let's go. [02:54:35] Speaker E: That's an actual God, right? [02:54:37] Speaker A: I mean, still, a little slap kind of helps set people back on the straight and narrow sometimes. [02:54:42] Speaker E: I wouldn't. All right. [02:54:51] Speaker F: All right, you all return to the car. [02:54:57] Speaker E: I will text hephaestus that we're done. [02:55:01] Speaker F: All right. Do you guys want to talk about anything while you are waiting for him to come back? [02:55:09] Speaker E: Y'all are barrel full of sunshine when it comes to the other guys, ain't you? [02:55:14] Speaker B: There are specific ones that aren't fans of us. This pantheon in particular does not seem to be ranking us too high on their personal favorites, though. [02:55:29] Speaker E: Yeah, they're kind of insular, so that's to be expected. [02:55:35] Speaker B: You know what? I'm gonna look at everyone and then focus. Probably the most on coda. I have one thing to say about what just happened back there. Yeah, fuck the celestial bureaucracy. [02:56:00] Speaker C: Code is gonna hug Mister V. I'll hug her back. [02:56:06] Speaker E: Honestly, the better. The sooner we're out of here, the better I'll feel, I think. [02:56:11] Speaker B: Agreed. Yeah. Yeah, I did. Don't get used to it. [02:56:19] Speaker A: Are you sure? It's not gonna be a normal thing now. [02:56:24] Speaker B: Jury's still out. [02:56:25] Speaker A: Okay. [02:56:26] Speaker E: There's a time and place for it. [02:56:32] Speaker A: Boy. [02:56:34] Speaker D: Come set my chair back on the rack. [02:56:36] Speaker C: Oh, my God. [02:56:37] Speaker A: Shit out of me. [02:56:39] Speaker C: Could have put a bell on him. [02:56:41] Speaker A: Yeah, he's almost as worse as dolgrimous. [02:56:47] Speaker E: Well, he's hard. He's easy to miss. Cause he's small. [02:56:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:56:53] Speaker B: You would think, though, like a chair powered by. Whatever Hephaestus is powered by would be louder, though. [02:57:03] Speaker A: That's just how good it's made. [02:57:07] Speaker B: Maybe. [02:57:11] Speaker F: All right, Andre is able to get Hephaestus's chair into the cardinal. [02:57:18] Speaker E: Onto the rack. [02:57:19] Speaker F: Yith. Onto the rack. Sorry. [02:57:24] Speaker A: Does he struggle with it? Is it heavy? [02:57:26] Speaker F: No, it's not so heavy that he can't handle it. A car is a little heavy for him, but the wheelchair is dot. [02:57:40] Speaker D: Festus. Looks around at everyone. Now we shall go to Greece. Andre will buy Uzo for everyone. [02:57:53] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. Okay, that's her. I'm just gonna warn the rest of you now. It's like a licorice fire. [02:58:00] Speaker A: Licorice fire? [02:58:03] Speaker E: Yeah. [02:58:03] Speaker A: What do you mean? [02:58:04] Speaker E: To scrap it? [02:58:06] Speaker B: I guess we'll find out. Clint? [02:58:08] Speaker A: Yep, guess so. [02:58:15] Speaker F: All right, you all load into the car. Oliver? [02:58:22] Speaker B: Yes. [02:58:24] Speaker F: Uh, Braum has a. Braum has something strapped to his head and it is occasionally whirring and clicking. [02:58:40] Speaker B: Just kind of like, pick him up and look at it closely. Hephaestus, what is this? [02:58:46] Speaker D: You master built for a dragon. [02:58:49] Speaker B: A what? [02:58:52] Speaker A: Is that the little thing where you click the side and you see different pictures? [02:58:55] Speaker D: Yep. [02:58:57] Speaker A: I had a whole bunch of them. [02:59:00] Speaker D: Got slides of whales. [02:59:03] Speaker A: Hold on. Which kind? [02:59:06] Speaker B: Without the h, that's not going to help the land. [02:59:12] Speaker E: It's home. [02:59:13] Speaker A: Okay. [02:59:14] Speaker E: That way you can see it without being too homesick. [02:59:21] Speaker B: I'll give him a scritch under the chin, but then let him continue clicking away with it. [02:59:27] Speaker F: He churns that his tail kind of flicks happily as he occasionally turns his head, like he's trying to physically look around the picture that's in front of him. [02:59:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:59:45] Speaker F: Mina, Kota, you hear in your head? I can't. Keeps moving. What the. Dad? [02:59:56] Speaker E: We might want to upgrade that to, like, a VR headset so we can take a look around, like, an actual, like, earth image of it. [03:00:06] Speaker D: Depends on where they're going somewhere. Some places, technology doesn't work as well. [03:00:10] Speaker E: That's fair. [03:00:14] Speaker B: But at both, you know, this one's like a backup in those sort of situations. [03:00:19] Speaker D: I will consider this. [03:00:24] Speaker B: Right. [03:00:28] Speaker C: Hoda will occasionally try to help Mister Cat catch. Oh, my gosh. Hello. [03:00:33] Speaker F: Cat catch is like, he hasn't been Mister Cat in a long time. What happened? When did he get downgraded? Lose his name? [03:00:46] Speaker C: Occasionally, like, try to help and catch it to make it look like she's helping him, but then be like, oh, God, I keep missing it, too. But she is also, like, not fully in it, though, so she's like, oh, no. [03:01:00] Speaker F: It is worth noting, Koda, that even when you are play acting, trying to catch it, this thing really does seem to purposefully elude you. Like, it will turn on a dime, mid, like, mid roll to avoid your fingers. [03:01:22] Speaker C: All right, well, so then saying that she will also. Then, like, at first she's like, oh, I'm just pretending. But then she's like, wait a second, I actually can't grab this. And then she will also try to, like, grab it with Pele. [03:01:36] Speaker F: Conan Pele. Constantly distracted by cat toys. All right, is everybody climbing back in the car? [03:01:52] Speaker A: Yep. Might as well. [03:01:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [03:01:59] Speaker F: Hephaestus. [03:02:00] Speaker D: Yes. [03:02:02] Speaker F: You do not. You're not well versed in fate, but you're still a God and can kind of feel the tug of fate on the people around you. You don't know exactly what happened, but Coda somehow feels heavier when she gets into the cardinal. [03:02:31] Speaker D: Were Hephaestus a more socially adroit God, he might broach this subject. As it is, he sort of furrows his brow and drives. [03:02:41] Speaker F: Okay. The car roars to life again. A portal opens and you all take off at an alarm alarming speed towards a wall. And somehow, at just the last moment before it would be too late to pull up to avoid the wall, the car kind of lifts onto its back wheel and up into the air and through the portal. [03:03:19] Speaker B: Right as we were. As we were. Bishop to. Let's go of f four. [03:03:32] Speaker A: I bet y'all can't play. Checkers is good. [03:03:37] Speaker D: Wanna play? [03:03:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [03:03:43] Speaker D: All right, pull up something on your phone. [03:03:46] Speaker A: All right, cool. Fentol, pull up checkers app on his phone. [03:03:51] Speaker F: I love this so much. [03:03:53] Speaker E: Dad, you're driving. [03:03:54] Speaker B: I'll sort of watch it with a smile. [03:03:57] Speaker D: And Hephastus, as he's driving, alternates between giving Oliver chest notation and somehow the checkers on clint's phone keep moving. [03:04:12] Speaker A: All right. Oh, God. Didn't think about that. [03:04:16] Speaker D: Gave me. [03:04:20] Speaker A: It's only like, the fourth turn. How'd you do that? [03:04:23] Speaker D: Well, you helped. [03:04:25] Speaker A: Yeah, clearly, I shouldn't left so many spaces. [03:04:30] Speaker E: Andre is going to look at Coda while the other two. While the other guys are having a. A master of wills. And, uh, just say, uh, I know I ain't really been here all that long, and I don't know everything that's happened, but, uh, just focus on the day ahead. Yeah. Ain't nothing into the world. It's just end of the day, right? [03:05:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [03:05:05] Speaker E: It, uh. It gets messy. I know. So, uh, you want to talk? I guess I'm here. [03:05:16] Speaker C: Oh, I don't know. Maybe. How old are you? [03:05:21] Speaker E: I'm 30. [03:05:25] Speaker C: Wait. This is really intricate, actually. Clint and Mister B. How old are you guys? [03:05:33] Speaker B: I am 28. You were there for my birthday. [03:05:38] Speaker C: That's true. [03:05:40] Speaker A: I mean, how old are you? Koda. [03:05:47] Speaker C: One teach. 121, I believe. [03:05:59] Speaker B: Are you just saying that so you can drink? [03:06:01] Speaker E: Is there a question mark at the end of the day? [03:06:03] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [03:06:04] Speaker C: No, I'm 21. [03:06:08] Speaker A: Well, I mean, I'm just between y'all two, then that's all fine. [03:06:12] Speaker C: No, but what? Who to? [03:06:15] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. You all two. And Clinton makes a vague gesture. [03:06:20] Speaker D: Legal drinking age in Greece is 18. [03:06:22] Speaker E: Yeah, you're fine no matter what. [03:06:24] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [03:06:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm older than that. I mean, I'm just, you know, 24. [03:06:34] Speaker B: You said that as if you were, like, embarrassed by it. [03:06:37] Speaker A: No, I mean, I just. I was worried I was the youngest of the group, and I'd have been treated poorly as a result. Maybe or just thought slightly lesser. But I I'm not the youngest. I think thinking that way is kind of bad, too. [03:06:52] Speaker B: Even if you were the youngest, you're four years younger than me. Why would I treat you worse? That doesn't make any sense. [03:06:58] Speaker A: I mean, when I was a little kid, the older kids would make fun of me. [03:07:04] Speaker C: Yeah, well, who cares about them? They're not scions. [03:07:07] Speaker B: That's not true. [03:07:08] Speaker E: Well, some of them that sounded a little elitist. But you're at like it. [03:07:17] Speaker C: Yeah. [03:07:20] Speaker A: I mean, I'm kind of, like, the youngest on the crew, too. Whenever I was before I became a scion and not the youngest of the old crew, but still. Yeah, it's been common theme for me. Hey, we're breaking free of that. That's nice. [03:07:40] Speaker C: Yeah. Wow. Huh. [03:07:46] Speaker A: I feel like I have to take on a little more responsibility and act my age or something. [03:07:50] Speaker C: That would be cool, right? [03:07:52] Speaker A: I can't do that. I'm sorry. [03:07:54] Speaker B: I was about to say, Clint, I don't think I would be comfortable if you acted your age. [03:08:01] Speaker A: Honestly, how does a 24 year old even act? [03:08:04] Speaker B: Same as anyone else. [03:08:07] Speaker E: Sometimes with more drinking. [03:08:09] Speaker A: Oh, I do. [03:08:10] Speaker B: Ten times with more drinking. [03:08:11] Speaker E: Yeah. I think you're gonna be fine. [03:08:14] Speaker C: Time to drink and. Yeah. Anyways, um. You guys can go back to your checkers and chess and whatever. She'll look back to Andre and go. Maybe later. [03:08:34] Speaker E: Yeah. No need to rush things. Just, you know, I'm here. [03:08:40] Speaker C: Thanks. [03:08:44] Speaker F: Hephaestus. Where in Greece are you taking them? [03:08:48] Speaker D: We will turn a corner and come out on a mountainside road. And I, Festus, will pause for a moment and look up the side of the hill. Methana, one of Greece's dormant volcanoes. The whole peninsula actually has some 32 volcanoes. We're about 50 km from Athens, so we'll be there in a bit. [03:09:15] Speaker E: Better not piss us off. Well, you off, I guess. [03:09:22] Speaker D: Can feel the earth here. Feel it? Seething. [03:09:30] Speaker A: That don't sound good. [03:09:32] Speaker E: Just to clarify, Clint, my dad's also the God of volcanoes, sometimes called Vulcan. [03:09:39] Speaker D: The. It is a good thing. The earth makes things. It's how the earth makes things. Sometimes you have to blow things up in order to make something new. [03:09:55] Speaker A: I think I heard something about that. [03:09:57] Speaker E: That's why they have all those demolitions where they get rid of a building and then they can build something where it was. It's like that, but bigger and natural. [03:10:11] Speaker C: Blow destroy something to build up something new and better. [03:10:21] Speaker E: Yeah. [03:10:22] Speaker D: And that is a practice older than gods. [03:10:28] Speaker F: Maybe. [03:10:28] Speaker C: Something I should add to my life. [03:10:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Just be careful. Chairs too. Right. Sorry. [03:10:45] Speaker D: You have an odd obsession with furniture. [03:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah. He tried to break a chair once and it turned out to be harder than he thought. And now he's sort of fate bound to it, I think. [03:10:59] Speaker A: Yep. Oh. Been trying to find a way to, you know, get rid of it. No longer be bound to it. [03:11:12] Speaker E: And this was a chair in Mac Mill? [03:11:14] Speaker A: Yeah, it was a big chair in mag Mell. That's where we found that. The egg. Yeah. [03:11:19] Speaker E: That he just looks to his dad is like, gosh. [03:11:24] Speaker D: Well, many of the fate bindings you've been through, many probably to come. And Hephaestus looks at Koda for a second. You walked out of the forbidden city burying more than you walked in with. [03:11:45] Speaker C: Yeah. I did. I. [03:11:50] Speaker D: You did? [03:11:52] Speaker C: Oh, well, whatever you did in there. [03:11:56] Speaker D: Whatever you did in there, fate heard you. [03:11:59] Speaker E: I can hear the Morak hackling at us. [03:12:03] Speaker C: I don't know. It's just like, gosh, who knew that romance was gonna be so difficult amongst godlings, right? [03:12:16] Speaker E: Audrey raises his hand. [03:12:19] Speaker F: Okay, but you. [03:12:20] Speaker C: Were born knowing this stuff. [03:12:23] Speaker E: Well, no, I went through visitations. Well, not exactly the same as y'all, but I thought I was mortal for a long time. And then I got taught. And I've taken my bumps along the way. Learned a lot of lessons. [03:12:37] Speaker D: Okay, well, I'm a. I'm a married man. My father is something of a philanderer. But I think I can say safely, romance isn't any easier if you're immortal. [03:12:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I was about to say I've had much better success after becoming a psion. [03:13:02] Speaker C: Well, I've had nothing but. No, that's a lie. I did have a good. Am having good. There were good times. There are good times. Things are just difficult right now. [03:13:22] Speaker A: Yeah, sounds like it's just a little rocky. And we're here for you. [03:13:26] Speaker D: I tell you about the time I trapped my wife and her lover in a big golden net they couldn't get out of you? [03:13:33] Speaker A: What? [03:13:33] Speaker B: I do remember reading that one. [03:13:36] Speaker A: I have not heard of that story, but I am curious. [03:13:41] Speaker D: God of war. God of war. Wasn't so spry then, was Hedgesthe? [03:13:46] Speaker F: No. [03:13:47] Speaker B: No, I don't think so. He whines I can imagine that. Would it be inappropriate to ask if that's still a thing that's going on? [03:14:04] Speaker D: All right, look. Aries and I are, uh, two of the only children that my mother and father have actually had together. We are full siblings. But I'll say this. A lot of human records about us were written by Athenians, and so Athena gets a lot of good press. My brother does not, because he was the patron of Sparta, Athens sworn enemy. That's the nicest thing I've ever said about him. Don't tell him I said it. [03:15:02] Speaker B: Yes, sir. [03:15:03] Speaker D: He's not as bad as all that. As gods of war go. [03:15:10] Speaker A: You know, you keep saying that phrase, and I've been playing this game every once in a while. You know, I got. Y'all ever deal with some dude that's, like, all pale and painted himself red here and there and, like, really angry. [03:15:29] Speaker C: Like, rally goers, like, people that come to, like, sport games? [03:15:36] Speaker A: I mean, maybe, but I. So this guy in the video game. [03:15:40] Speaker C: That I play, he's like, yeah, no, no, Kratos. That's his name is Kratos. Real nasty. [03:15:52] Speaker E: No, no. [03:15:54] Speaker A: Is he, like, inspired by anybody that was back there? You know. [03:16:03] Speaker D: He is. Best I can tell. Some game designers wank fest is what he is. [03:16:10] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, Kratos is the name of the guy that's supposed to represent all of strength. He ain't exactly meant to be a God of war. [03:16:17] Speaker A: Oh, okay. So they kind of, like, took some liberties and just made a cool story kind of thing. [03:16:24] Speaker E: Yeah, it's kind of like how they don't really represent, like, nemesis, who's embodiment of vengeance. They're, uh, they're a lot. [03:16:36] Speaker A: A lot of what, anchor? Oh, yeah. [03:16:42] Speaker D: Bit of a friendly advice, though. Don't mention the game to my father. [03:16:47] Speaker A: Okay. [03:16:47] Speaker B: I'll keep on what's going on here, so don't worry about that for me. [03:16:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, Oliver, it's just a video game. It came out years and years ago. Now it's just some fun stuff, like people take. You know, like you got the books that have all those stories on them, right? And they just take these stories and they give you a little thing so you can change the story a little bit. And it's a video visual medium. [03:17:14] Speaker B: Uh huh. [03:17:16] Speaker A: It's like chess, but with a screen. [03:17:21] Speaker E: You seem like a Tetris man to me, Oliver. [03:17:23] Speaker B: I did play a lot of Tetris as a child, but that's about as far as video games go for me. [03:17:33] Speaker A: You're missing out, friend. [03:17:36] Speaker B: I'll take your word for it. [03:17:41] Speaker F: All right, you guys have arrived in Greece. I'm going to assume that Hephaestus is going to drop you off at one of the family vacation homes in the city. [03:17:57] Speaker D: He will drive them to Athens to a spot near the Parthenon. [03:18:04] Speaker F: Okay. The car pulls up, stops. Andre, you know that about a 1015 minutes walk from here is one of the. The family calls them vacation homes because they're down amongst the unwashed mortals. But they're basically like homes that some member of the family or other has owned for so long that, you know, mortals have kind of forgotten a little bit that they're anything more than just a fig like figures that the neighborhood just wouldn't exist without them, if that makes sense. [03:18:56] Speaker E: Right. [03:18:59] Speaker F: And there's a bar not far away, too. [03:19:06] Speaker E: That's where I'm getting the Uzo. [03:19:17] Speaker C: Yes, let's do that. [03:19:22] Speaker B: I'm game as long as we don't go too heavy with it. We have a labor to do. [03:19:28] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll get our work done, no problem. [03:19:36] Speaker F: Andre and Hephaestus both of your phones chime with a text message from, let's say, the. The labor giver from your pantheon, who says, settle in for the night. I'll see you all in the morning. [03:19:58] Speaker D: All right. [03:19:59] Speaker E: We get the rest of the night to have, well, hang out. [03:20:05] Speaker D: I'm retreating to my sketches. I haven't done any designing all day. [03:20:10] Speaker A: Oh, you draw stuff. [03:20:12] Speaker D: I do. [03:20:13] Speaker A: Can I. Can I, like, watch for a minute? [03:20:15] Speaker D: It's nuclear reactors. [03:20:17] Speaker A: I wouldn't get it, but I better look school. [03:20:21] Speaker D: All right, come on. Don't talk to me, though. [03:20:26] Speaker A: I think I can do that for a minute. [03:20:31] Speaker E: Come on, now, Uzo first, though. It's important. [03:20:34] Speaker A: Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [03:20:37] Speaker F: All right. Hephaestus heads for the family home to get comfortable and start sketching and get his head back in the game that he knows and is the most comfortable with, while the band heads off to a bar to drink and party it up for a little while, enjoy a night that is maybe not normal, but as normal as it gets for a psion. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where we're going to call it for the evening. Thank you for joining us. Make sure that you tune in next week, where we find out exactly what the Greeks, the original creators of the divine labor, have come up with for our scions. Good night. [03:21:25] Speaker A: Good night.