S4 Ep5: Paint it Black

[00:00:30] Speaker A: You're listening to Apotheosis A Mutants and Masterminds Actual play by Hallowed Haven Studios previously on Apotheosis. Back at the farmhouse, the band tried to make sense of the mall fight. Garmer and his wolves had been prepared for us, but the trap and collapse suggested someone had known we were coming. In the barn, we identified several dead members of the Lantern band, a group of psions who sheltered the vulnerable, often pre awakened psions. Clint summoned the dead who confirmed that the missing scion was Z. But they could offer little else about the attack. Malak, a scion of Anubis, could not be summoned, and it revealed to us that a heartless child of the Basegit may not be able to pass on to the afterlife properly. Before Clint's sister Mara departed, she made Clint promise to help reclaim Magmel. Shango arrived to put his nephew Jonah to rest and warned the boys that even if the gods were friendly, they were not our friends. He also made his feelings about Steffen very clear. Later, Lucky and I returned to the mall. The bodies were gone, but enormous old growth roots had grown through the building, much like that we'd seen in the safe house and in the news. We brought back a root sample and a wolf corpse, leaving the band with some much needed downtime for some research and crafting. I'm Clara Allison and I'm playing Blythe, the scion of Odin. [00:01:50] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Gavin Cash and I'm playing Clint Brazos, scion of the Morrigan. [00:01:56] Speaker C: Hello, I'm Heretic. I am playing Stefan Vargar, the scion of Lugh. [00:02:00] Speaker D: Hello there. I am Alaric and I'm playing Odin Alfather. [00:02:06] Speaker E: Hello. I'm bookkeeper and I'm playing Lou and I'm bloodied porcelain. [00:02:10] Speaker F: I'll be your storyteller for the evening. Tonight's reading comes from the Havamal from the section sometimes called Odin's Rune Song. In it, Odin speaks of the price he paid for wisdom. Wounded, hanging on the tree, offered to himself, looking down into the dark until the runes answered for tonight's episode. Remember, the gods may give counsel, but knowledge has never been free. I know that I hung on a wind rocked tree nine whole nights with a spear. Wounded, and to Odin offered myself to myself on that tree of which no one knows from what root it springs Bread no one gave me, nor a horn of drink Downward I peered to runes, applied myself Wailing learnt them, Then fell down thence. Potent songs nine from the famed sun I learned of Bolthorn. Bestless, sire, and a Draught obtained of the precious mead drawn from Odrahir. Then I began to bear fruit and to know many things, to grow and well thrive. Word by word I sought out words, fact by fact, I sought out facts, runes thou wilt find. And explained characters, very large characters, very potent characters which the great speaker depicted. And the high powers formed. And the powers Prince graved, Odin among the Aesir. But among the Alfar, Dain and Dvalin for the dwarves, Azvid for the Jotuns, some I myself graved. Knowest thou how to grave them? Knowest thou how to expound them? Knowest thou how to depict them? Knowest thou how to prove them? Knowest thou how to pray? Knowest thou how to offer? Knowest thou how to send? Knowest thou how to consume? Tis better not to pray than too much offer. A gift ever looks to a return. Tis better not to send them, then too much consume. So Thunt graved before the origin of men, where he ascended to whence afterwards he came. Good evening, players. [00:04:17] Speaker B: Good evening. [00:04:19] Speaker A: I'm recovering. Sorry. [00:04:21] Speaker D: Hello. [00:04:21] Speaker F: Blythe is in fact recovering a little bit, or at least waking up from her recovery following the events of last session. It was discussed over the course of a few days, once Blythe had returned from her trip to fetch some apples with the help of or in order to help Daemon, and with the help of another scion some of you at home might be aware of. But we'll talk about that later. Blaidd has recently returned from Anvil, having dropped off Stefan. Or not Stefan. I'm sorry? Andre and Oliver. Andre had need of the great forges and Oliver wanted to dig through some of the libraries, as there were books there that he's reasonably certain can no longer be found in the keeping of mortal men. Blaidd, you dropped them off, you came home or came back, you had a nice nap, maybe a snack. And you are just waking up to the smell of Clint. What are you making for breakfast? [00:05:31] Speaker B: Well, I figure I'll be making some bacon and eggs as I usually do, but this time I'm setting aside some buttermilk biscuits and gravy. [00:05:39] Speaker F: Well, that sounds quite good. [00:05:41] Speaker B: Gonna stick to our ribs, make sure we stay full as long as it needs to. Got coffee going. Got all sorts of smells filling up the place, but mostly bacon and coffee. [00:05:52] Speaker F: Well, live. That's what you. That's what you wake up to smelling. Finn doesn't sleep. So, Stefan, you were aware as soon as Clint got to the kitchen and [00:06:02] Speaker C: started cooking, I would probably go down and watch him or at least just be in the kitchen. [00:06:07] Speaker B: I mean, you could help me out. [00:06:09] Speaker A: Clyde will show up as soon as they are underway. I assume helping out as we're what? As soon as the two of you are settled. [00:06:17] Speaker B: All right. Well, I suppose I can make a plate for you too. It's all right. It's already in the microwave for you. Didn't know when you'd be down. [00:06:24] Speaker A: I don't love the precedent that it's setting that I'm delivering the boys places, but it's fine. [00:06:30] Speaker B: Well, is it a delivery? If you're going with us? Kind of like we're just in a basket along for the ride. I don't know about being delivered. [00:06:39] Speaker A: I did just deliver Oliver and Andre, so. White boy delivery service. [00:06:46] Speaker B: Did you get a tip? [00:06:49] Speaker A: No, but they'll have to pay me back. I guess they'll have to make good on that when they get back. [00:06:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll talk to them about it. We need to make sure we're doing better. That's why you're here, right? We gotta improve better for our psychopomp friends. Make sure we're not giving them the short end of our really long sticks. [00:07:06] Speaker A: Yes, Clint, that everything you've just said that I don't. I'm not engaging with your very long stick. [00:07:14] Speaker B: Okay. You want cream and sugar? [00:07:16] Speaker F: Yes. [00:07:17] Speaker B: Okay. Clint will get those out of the the fridge and set them outside. Or not outside, but on the counter for you. Although quite funny, it would be reverse milkman in. [00:07:29] Speaker F: It [00:07:33] Speaker B: just put this right out on the doorstep. Nobody needs that today. But speaking of today, now that we got some food and some drink, what are we doing today? [00:07:44] Speaker A: Well, the other two are studying and researching for. You know, figuring out the rest of the. I guess the garm problem. I don't really know where to start on this. [00:07:55] Speaker F: What you are aware of, Blaidd, because I imagine you would have talked to Andre and Oliver about it at least a little bit. Andre has that body of the the Fenris Wolf that you brought back for him. And he needs more robust accommodations to work with it than a farm than Daemon's farm can provide. So he is out making things to hopefully make like future fights and things easier for everybody. He effectively has the ability to make like short term relics. [00:08:31] Speaker A: Hell yeah. [00:08:33] Speaker F: So you are getting something out of them going to Anvil. They didn't just say you are gonna get a tip. Probably when they get back with relics and information. Oliver is off looking probably for spells and digging through records of old mythological books that have mostly been lost to Mortal hands. And Anvil's probably the closest place for him to be able to go and do research without having to have other people around to babysit him to make sure that he doesn't end up dead. [00:09:08] Speaker A: Yeah, we're never getting Oliver back at this rate. [00:09:12] Speaker B: He's in a better place. Really? [00:09:13] Speaker A: He's in a better place. [00:09:19] Speaker F: So, yeah, that leaves the three of you to do what you can do to help along the effort of gathering information. [00:09:28] Speaker A: Can. Yes. In the spirit of gathering information, could I send you two on just a very long errand outside of the farm for a while? [00:09:37] Speaker B: Depends on what you need us to do. You might have to come with us. If you do. [00:09:41] Speaker A: What if I give you, like, 100 bucks and, like, left you at the Mall of America? [00:09:46] Speaker B: See, that sounds fun, but I don't think that would be us being very good at our jobs. You know, were supposed to be helping, I think. [00:09:58] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't think that would help anyone but the wolves. [00:10:03] Speaker B: Well, I got a fancy phone. We could start making some calls. See, you know, if anybody can help us. [00:10:11] Speaker A: That's the problem. [00:10:13] Speaker C: What? [00:10:13] Speaker A: I'd like to call my dad. [00:10:15] Speaker B: What are you gonna call him? [00:10:17] Speaker F: The flat. [00:10:19] Speaker A: Clint just gets the blankest look from Blaide. [00:10:22] Speaker B: Clint is looking on expectantly. [00:10:25] Speaker A: I'd like to ask him. No, go. Go for it. What are you going to say? [00:10:30] Speaker B: No, I was just saying the anticipation's driving me crazy. I'm all sorts of curious. [00:10:35] Speaker F: Right. [00:10:37] Speaker A: If Garm is a Norse problem, I assume the Aesir understand what's going on. So I'd like to bring to talk to my dad about it. I don't imagine that he's going to be great with you two here. [00:10:53] Speaker B: Well, as I recall, he's in my phone. If you want to give him a [00:10:56] Speaker A: ring, I have my dad's number. [00:10:59] Speaker B: Okay. Well, all right. We don't have to use my phone. I mean, it's not like it's special or powerful or has a better connection or picks up signal clear or anything. I get it. [00:11:13] Speaker A: I also don't think I can use your phone. [00:11:15] Speaker B: I could put it on speaker. Who doesn't like being on speakerphone? [00:11:20] Speaker A: Stefan. If I call my dad and he shows up, would you put on a shirt? [00:11:25] Speaker C: I would rather not be here for when that man shows up. [00:11:32] Speaker B: But if he had to be. [00:11:34] Speaker A: First of all, he's a God. [00:11:35] Speaker C: He's something. [00:11:36] Speaker A: All right, Stefan, you know what? Finish your opinion. Explain. Tell me now. [00:11:42] Speaker C: I don't think I got much to say. My opinion has been spread. [00:11:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great for everyone. [00:11:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So, getting past this here tension, we gotta call your dad. Stefan, you got anybody we can call or anybody we can reach out to? Who you think could maybe help us? Some. [00:12:05] Speaker C: Only person I got in my phone is Lou. [00:12:07] Speaker B: Well, that's better than nobody. Think he'd answer? [00:12:10] Speaker C: Yes. I mean, maybe he's answered each time I've texted him. [00:12:14] Speaker B: So, like, each time each time, or like, just every once in a while? Each time. [00:12:20] Speaker C: It's been about each time. [00:12:21] Speaker B: Blythe, do you text your dad? [00:12:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Regularly. [00:12:25] Speaker B: And he replies, like, each time each time? [00:12:28] Speaker A: Yes. Sometimes he calls me. [00:12:32] Speaker C: Yeah, that hasn't happened to me. And he left me on red my last text, so I wouldn't be too down about it, but they're busy. [00:12:41] Speaker B: I. I get it. I mean, but, you know, you think they'd make a little time for us? They. They. Either way, but. Okay, so we got Odin, we got Lou. I'll reach out to my mom, see if she's available. If she is, is. You know, she'll stop by. Hopefully. [00:13:01] Speaker C: I mean, could get Lou to bother her a bit. [00:13:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, we could go that way. I'm sure Lou would have a better chance of getting a hold of her. You know, she. Sometimes she doesn't even read them. I think she just, you know, sees them flash across her screen and swipes them away so, you know, she don't have to be bothered by it. I started changing. Never mind. We're getting sidetracked, so we got folks to call. [00:13:28] Speaker A: Clint, why don't. When you. Why don't you let me see if I can get my dad on the line? And then if you message your mom and let her know that Odin is helping us, she might be inspired to show up. [00:13:43] Speaker B: Inspired is quite a term when it comes to that, but okay, yeah, let's give it a shot, see what happens. [00:13:49] Speaker A: I'm going to text my dad. [00:13:51] Speaker F: Okay. What does the text say? [00:13:54] Speaker A: Let me think of what I'm going to text my dad. I mean, I've sent him a bunch of messages before, but probably a. Probably just a quick like, hey, having a little mini war council regarding [00:14:09] Speaker F: everything. [00:14:11] Speaker A: Do you mind lending your wisdom? Wisdom? Question mark? Heart. [00:14:17] Speaker F: Odin. [00:14:18] Speaker D: The response that comes probably about two minutes later is, sure, we're at Daemon's. Noted. On my way. [00:14:25] Speaker A: I'm gonna tell Daemon that he's hosting Ultahn. [00:14:29] Speaker F: Is anybody gonna bother letting Daemon know that he's apparently having, like, the kings of two different pantheons in his house? Blaid fully disappears. [00:14:37] Speaker A: Blaidd Teleports. [00:14:38] Speaker F: To wherever Damon is. Damon is out in one of the fields talking to some of the dryads about the latest harvest. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Hey, babe. Don't freak out. [00:14:54] Speaker F: Oh, my God. What? [00:14:56] Speaker A: I said don't freak out. [00:14:58] Speaker F: You gotta stop jumping up behind me. That would be helpful. [00:15:02] Speaker A: My dad's coming over. [00:15:03] Speaker F: Oh, okay. [00:15:05] Speaker A: I'll handle it. Also, potentially, everyone else's dad's coming over. [00:15:12] Speaker F: What? [00:15:13] Speaker A: Lum. Stefan wants to reach out to Lou and Clint is always reaching out to his mom, so don't freak out. I've got it. You're fine. I know where everything is. [00:15:25] Speaker F: I'll send some of the dryads to help get things ready, I guess. [00:15:29] Speaker A: Thanks. Baby just disappears again. [00:15:33] Speaker F: As soon as she's gone. The dryads around him hear her, hear him go. She owes me so big. [00:15:40] Speaker A: I just got him apples. He's fine. [00:15:42] Speaker F: You get to benefit from those. It's not just. It's not just him, but. Yeah, as. As you get back, you were able to continue talking. Blythe is gone for all of two minutes. [00:15:58] Speaker B: And so that's what I was thinking about, but. Oh, there you are. I thought I was. You know, you just disappeared like that. Pretty tricky. [00:16:08] Speaker A: It's like the thing I do. [00:16:09] Speaker B: I'll get used to it one day. It's still growing on me. I like being able, you know, the utility of it. Anyhow. [00:16:16] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:16:16] Speaker A: One day I'll bring you somewhere fun. [00:16:18] Speaker B: I'll hold you to it. [00:16:20] Speaker F: Stefan? [00:16:21] Speaker C: Yes? [00:16:22] Speaker F: Are you calling or texting your father? [00:16:25] Speaker C: Sure, I'll call him. [00:16:27] Speaker F: Okay. Lou, Your phone is ringing. [00:16:32] Speaker E: Answers his phone and speaks over a mouthful of food. [00:16:36] Speaker D: Hey. [00:16:37] Speaker C: Howdy. [00:16:39] Speaker E: These apples are delicious. [00:16:41] Speaker C: I'm glad you are enjoying them. Are you perhaps free at the moment? [00:16:47] Speaker E: You're gonna have to be quicker on the update, buddy. Look out your window. [00:16:51] Speaker C: He'll look outside. [00:16:54] Speaker E: In the distance, in amidst the orchard, in a. [00:16:58] Speaker D: A. [00:16:58] Speaker E: A lounge, a lounging chair, a lounging camp chair, is Lou, who waves and munches on an apple. [00:17:06] Speaker C: You're a bit too fast on the. Well, I guess you're better than the other parents on being here. [00:17:16] Speaker E: I guess better is relative. I just like the look on your face. [00:17:21] Speaker C: Would you like to come inside, Lou? [00:17:25] Speaker E: Once I'm done with this avatar, I'll [00:17:26] Speaker B: be happy to tell him we got coffee. [00:17:30] Speaker C: He's on speakerphone. He can hear you. [00:17:33] Speaker B: Oh, well, okay. We got coffee. [00:17:38] Speaker E: I've had your coffee. I'd rather fight Balor again. [00:17:42] Speaker A: Where did you get the apple? [00:17:44] Speaker B: From a tree, usually. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Never mind. [00:17:46] Speaker C: I will hang up on him. Alrighty. Just You, Clint. [00:17:52] Speaker B: All right, I've already sent mom a text. I'm seeing if she's responding anytime soon. [00:17:57] Speaker F: What does your text message to your mother say? [00:18:01] Speaker D: All right. [00:18:02] Speaker B: Text messages says, hey, Mom, Odin is coming for a meeting with us on Damon's farm. Do you mind coming and visiting too? We're making plans while Andre and Oliver do research and also make plans. [00:18:16] Speaker F: It takes a few minutes. I'm assuming you probably sent that while everybody else was sending text messages and popping out to see Naemon and talking to their father. [00:18:28] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:18:29] Speaker F: So for those few minutes, there's mostly silence. And then you get. You get a text message back that says, on my way with a period. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Mom says she's on her way with a period. [00:18:44] Speaker F: Well, wait, the period wasn't in words. [00:18:48] Speaker A: It was. [00:18:48] Speaker F: It was the symbol. [00:18:50] Speaker B: All right, I just had to reread that. I just got excited. She's on her way. Mom's. Actually, Mom's coming. She's gonna help us. [00:18:58] Speaker A: You seem. Do you not talk to your mom much? [00:19:05] Speaker B: I mean, I try to, but she doesn't really talk back that much. I reach out to her with text messages. I kind of call her and leave voicemails as time, you know, as need be. But usually she's busy. She's important, you know, so she's always got stuff going on. So I'm kinda self sufficient and independent and she doesn't always need to check on me. [00:19:32] Speaker A: Okay. Here, can you pour me another cup of coffee? [00:19:37] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Here you go. Got some more cream and sugar for you to mix in a spoon. There you go. [00:19:45] Speaker E: I'd offer to add a spot of the mead I brought, but I brought that for Damon because I stole one of his apples. [00:19:52] Speaker F: You do in fact notice that the out the apple that is in Lou's hand, that is mostly eaten, Blythe, you do realize, is golden. [00:20:04] Speaker A: Blaid stands up like she had been sitting and like stands up in the presence of Lou. I didn't realize that you could also [00:20:13] Speaker E: eat them, have teeth. [00:20:17] Speaker B: I mean, you could eat them without. [00:20:20] Speaker A: I don't know what the crossover is between. You know what? Welcome. [00:20:24] Speaker E: Why thank you. [00:20:25] Speaker D: The crossover is a little bit closer than what you would think. As Odin now is in the doorway, standing there quite happily with his horse [00:20:33] Speaker A: headed staff, Blaidd teleports to hug her dad. [00:20:40] Speaker F: Baba. [00:20:40] Speaker D: Hello, babe. It's good to see you. [00:20:43] Speaker A: And yeah, we have refreshment and Clint has just made breakfast and she starts setting things up for both gods. [00:20:53] Speaker B: Hold on, I'll be back. I'm getting in the kitchen. One second. And Clint is furiously going back in there and starting to get eggs and bacon started again for breakfast. [00:21:05] Speaker F: A number of the dryads hurry in to help you. While that is happening, the back door opens, the one that leads into the kitchen. Clint. And your mother steps through. Her hair is red this time. [00:21:22] Speaker B: Crack a few eggs. Hey, mom, we're gonna put some potatoes. [00:21:25] Speaker F: Whoa. [00:21:25] Speaker B: Hey, Mom. Welcome on in. Working on some. Making some breakfast. I got coffee ready for you. The other folks are in the front room chatting, catching up, if you wanna go say hi to them. [00:21:41] Speaker F: I will when I'm ready. [00:21:44] Speaker B: Excellent. Well, I'm glad to see. I appreciate you coming so quick. [00:21:48] Speaker E: Here comes trouble. [00:21:51] Speaker F: Well, couldn't very well not show up when the king of our pantheon is here. And as is the king of another, someone has to keep them in line. [00:22:03] Speaker B: That's fair. I mean, you're really good at doing that, so I'm glad you're here to help us out, you know. So you want. How do you want your eggs, Mom? [00:22:14] Speaker F: I. No eggs for me. But if there are, I think Damon usually keeps walnuts. I'll take some of those. [00:22:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I can set those aside. I can get a little bowl of them for you. I'm. I'm happy you're here, Mom. I would come over and give you a hug, but my hands are all messy, so. Save that for later cook. [00:22:36] Speaker F: It'll be fine. [00:22:37] Speaker B: Yes, ma'. [00:22:38] Speaker E: Am. [00:22:38] Speaker B: I'll get on it. [00:22:40] Speaker F: And she will walk past you and joins everybody else in the main room and kind of, like, casts her eyes around. And for a moment, her eyes kind of lock on Odin and there's this kind of ventilating. There's this kind of long, tense, drawn out couple of silent seconds. And then there is just the. The shallowest nod of respect. [00:23:10] Speaker E: Oh, you know, kiss. [00:23:12] Speaker D: No. [00:23:13] Speaker A: Blythe wants to find someone to exchange and look with. Except Oliver's not here. [00:23:20] Speaker F: So why are we here? [00:23:28] Speaker A: It's. We have a few more questions than answers right now, and it's the sort of thing that a. Think of it as a war council of sorts. [00:23:44] Speaker D: You're planning to war with Garm? [00:23:45] Speaker A: We sort of already are. [00:23:47] Speaker D: Interesting. [00:23:49] Speaker A: And Blythe has, like, moved. Blythe has moved through. And like, any kind. Like, she's already gotten, like, coffee for her dad and, like, offers it to Lou, but I think he's refused already. Morgan seems. She's not touching that, but is, like, fully in host mode. [00:24:07] Speaker F: Are you offering coffee to the Morgan? [00:24:10] Speaker A: I will, but I don't think she I think she already said no. [00:24:12] Speaker F: She said no to bacon and eggs. [00:24:14] Speaker A: That's true. She'll offer coffee. [00:24:17] Speaker F: She will take coffee. [00:24:20] Speaker A: If you're willing to answer questions for us. There's mostly you, bubba. There. There's. I mean, it's sort of an aer problem. [00:24:32] Speaker D: Well, I'm willing. I'm here after all, so. [00:24:35] Speaker A: And I was going to say, let me see if I can get Clint, but. You all remember Stefan. [00:24:48] Speaker D: Indeed. [00:24:49] Speaker E: Hi. We've met. Lou, at this point, has taken over a chair that he refuses to sit in properly. He is sort of draped across it. [00:24:56] Speaker F: Lou has a bisexual sitting energy. [00:24:59] Speaker A: Got it. Stefan, I'm begging you to say anything right now. [00:25:03] Speaker C: Hello. I greet you, the Morrigan, as well as you, Odin. Also, hello, Louis. [00:25:13] Speaker E: Hey, boy. [00:25:14] Speaker A: I'm gonna go with Clint. [00:25:16] Speaker B: Clint almost bumps into you in the hallway carrying plates of food. Oh, careful. [00:25:21] Speaker A: Oh, thank God. [00:25:22] Speaker B: All right, I got some for your dad, and I got some for. Just in case. For. For his dad. We should be set, though, y'. [00:25:32] Speaker E: All. [00:25:32] Speaker B: You got the coffees? Everything good with anything else? Do we need, like, fruit or anything for them? [00:25:37] Speaker A: Only if they ask at this point. [00:25:39] Speaker B: Okay. All right, let's go. Here, you take this one. [00:25:43] Speaker A: And, yeah, Blythe will also, like, grab the other dishes. [00:25:47] Speaker B: All right, y'. [00:25:48] Speaker C: All. [00:25:48] Speaker B: We got eggs, we got bacon. We got sausage patties, biscuits and gravy. I made some extra flapjacks thanks to the dryads in there helping us out. We got all sorts of juices. Apple juice, orange juice. We got almond milk, cow milk, goat milk. We got all sorts of stuff. Y' all go ahead and take. Took in. [00:26:06] Speaker F: The Morrigan will reach over to where there is a. A bowl of. Of, like, shelled almonds and things like that. [00:26:12] Speaker B: Walnuts, too. Can't forget them. [00:26:14] Speaker F: And walnuts. [00:26:18] Speaker E: I know it's your thing, but you don't actually have to eat like a bird. And Lou will make himself a plate heaped with food. [00:26:27] Speaker F: Morgan kind of cuts her eyes at him, but says nothing. After a few moments, though, she does reach over and take a couple of the flapjacks and put them on a plate. She notably avoids eggs. [00:26:40] Speaker A: That makes sense. [00:26:42] Speaker D: Odin is making a particularly carnivorous diet [00:26:45] Speaker A: I guess we can get right to. Feels like we had an encounter a few days, almost a week ago, I guess, with Garm and his ilk. So you said they're being helped by a person with a white staff? And she looks at Stefan like, you know this man better than I do. [00:27:14] Speaker C: They got a white staff. A horrifying face. Their staff is broken. Seems repaired somehow. They also seemingly have an Irish accent. Where. White fur, things like that. [00:27:31] Speaker B: As we saw them, they were walking away from a fire at that, you know, house where the lanterns were keeping folks safe. [00:27:39] Speaker C: It seems they manipulate fertility and. Or growth of plants and frost. [00:27:49] Speaker A: They have some sort of more powerful magic than Gwen has ever had before. [00:27:54] Speaker E: All right, a couple of different candidates. Who? Let me ask you this, Stefan. How good are you at picking up the difference between an Irish and a Scottish accent? [00:28:01] Speaker C: I am, I would say, pretty good at it, I think. [00:28:06] Speaker E: Because I'm thinking about, like, Nick Navin. She's a Fae queen. She doesn't do much do. Going for the cold sort of thing. The hag, ogres. Also the gyre Carlin, though the frostbit makes me think of the cac. [00:28:28] Speaker F: Yeah, let's hope for your sake it's not her. [00:28:32] Speaker E: Which means it probably is. Good luck to you. [00:28:34] Speaker D: I. [00:28:36] Speaker A: I assume that it's spelled. If it's Scottish or Irish, it's spelled as an entire typo. So could you maybe give me something more to go on? [00:28:44] Speaker E: It means old woman or hag in Gaelic. And it said she created Scotland. [00:28:52] Speaker B: You think she's the one carrying that white stick and leading the dogs around? [00:28:57] Speaker E: I think it could be any of the three I listed. And I imagine, well, one eye over there has some ideas of his own. [00:29:04] Speaker D: A number of them. Including the fact that if they have magic accents, looks can all be changed, altered. Could be Baba Yaga, Morana, Marzana, or Louhi. [00:29:19] Speaker A: I guess a more important question then is, do any of them have a reason to work against us? [00:29:25] Speaker F: Literally all of them. [00:29:26] Speaker D: Specifically every single one of them. [00:29:30] Speaker A: And yeah, with the wolves. [00:29:31] Speaker F: Well, one can assume that the wolves are a. For any of them are mostly just a handy allyship, more than any particular blood bond or anything like that. But all of them have a reason to want to strengthen themselves or see to it that there's less scions in the world. Gives them and their children more room to roam. [00:30:05] Speaker D: Yes, the removal of children, especially like yourselves, is the key here, I think. [00:30:11] Speaker B: Why do they want to do that? [00:30:14] Speaker F: Because the Titans are always looking for a foothold in the world. Sun. [00:30:19] Speaker C: Right. [00:30:20] Speaker F: Titans. All of them. All of them are Titan, spawn of one Illik or another. Some of them more tied and loyal to the Titans that they come from than others. But if it suits their purposes, even the ones who are generally considered independent will play for either side. [00:30:39] Speaker A: So a tight. I mean, we're back to school. That's the Information we've already had. It's Titan spawn with a bone to pick. [00:30:48] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe we'll help narrow it down by adding more information or asking the right kind of question. I mean, go ahead. [00:30:58] Speaker A: No, please. [00:31:01] Speaker B: I mean, so I was listening to some things and learning some. Some histories and stuff, and, you know, you got the whole Loki in a cave, getting poison dripped on them and breaking a chains. Things start going sideways as Clint will look over to Odin. Is Ragnarok like, happening right now? [00:31:27] Speaker D: Not yet. [00:31:28] Speaker B: Okay, so we got some time. It's not quite that dire, as far as I know. [00:31:34] Speaker D: Not that dire yet, no. [00:31:36] Speaker A: So with Garm out, we would just have to put him back. [00:31:42] Speaker D: That would be ideal. [00:31:43] Speaker A: Do you think we could kill him? [00:31:44] Speaker D: Not as you are. Sorry, babe. [00:31:48] Speaker A: No, that makes sense, actually. Have you heard from Hel? Or. I mean, if Garm is here, then who's guarding the gates? [00:32:01] Speaker D: Be a better question for Hel, not for me. I do not command nor oversee her realm. [00:32:07] Speaker A: I mean, you're kind of a king. [00:32:10] Speaker B: Yeah. When's the last time you heard from her? [00:32:13] Speaker D: I'll admit it has been some time. [00:32:15] Speaker B: Well, that's not good. [00:32:16] Speaker A: If you don't want to. If you don't want to have an audience with her, you could send us. I don't think she would refuse us if we had, you know, if we [00:32:31] Speaker B: were sent, or if you got her phone number, you could just plug it into this thing here and Clint will put his phone on the table. [00:32:38] Speaker E: Be sure to take her a pint of half and half. She loves that. [00:32:41] Speaker C: All right. [00:32:41] Speaker B: I suppose I could do that. [00:32:43] Speaker A: I mean, we got plenty of chokes on our coffee. [00:32:47] Speaker F: The Morrigan. Clint makes it a point to kind of lock eyes with you and gives the most subtle of head. [00:32:54] Speaker A: Shakespeare. [00:32:58] Speaker B: She don't. Okay. Very clearly confused. [00:33:03] Speaker E: I'm joking, Mr. Brazos. [00:33:06] Speaker B: Well, I get it, but I don't get the joke. Like, what part of it is. Is it just like, I. I don't know enough about her? [00:33:15] Speaker F: Because she looks half alive. Because she looks like this. And the Mario wave a hand in front of her face, and half of her face looks like a rotted corpse, and the other half is a beautiful woman. [00:33:28] Speaker B: So should kind of like. [00:33:31] Speaker D: Okay, you'd be insulting her, which is not wise. [00:33:34] Speaker B: Fair. I don't want to do that. Do you think she'd go for an Arnold Palmer? You know, half sweet tea, half lemonade? Because it's like the best of both worlds. Instead of approaching it from like this hostility and disgust, you approach her with you know, acceptance and severity and deliciousness. [00:33:52] Speaker E: Hostility and disgust is kind of her thing. [00:33:54] Speaker B: Oh, well. So we shouldn't bring half and half. We don't want to insult her, but she lacks. I'm so confused. [00:34:05] Speaker F: Don't bring anything that makes an allusion to her half form, all right? [00:34:09] Speaker A: Blythe looks at her. Dad. [00:34:11] Speaker F: Dad, please. [00:34:13] Speaker E: It's a good thing you're pretty, Clint Brazos. [00:34:17] Speaker B: Yeah, folks keep telling me that, but it don't sound quite nice each time I say it. So I figure, figure I gotta put on a little more than just pretty. So no half and half. Nothing that makes allusion to the. The half of things in general. Does she have any gifts that she does like getting? How about we, instead of we focus on insulting her, we try to try and actually make a good connection. [00:34:44] Speaker E: Odin would know better, but in my experience, the git she likes most is more souls than she can torment. [00:34:50] Speaker D: In this case, Lou is correct. [00:34:52] Speaker E: How do you know? Broken clock. I get one more today. [00:34:55] Speaker B: I'm not sure we're gonna deliver any souls to torment, but that is good to know. I mean, while we're on the subject, is there any sort of, like, magic or anything that, you know, maybe y' all could teach us or she could teach us that'll help us dealing with this whole thing? [00:35:15] Speaker F: You're going to have to be more specific about what you'd like. [00:35:20] Speaker B: Oh, that's fair. I mean, we've been bandying around the idea of trapping Gwen in some sort of situation, or actual physical trap of some sort, trying to draw her out, trying to. To get her to focus on us so we can put her in a compromising position and maybe take her off the playing field and reduce the number of folks in charge of them. Wolves. So anything, you know, that could bait people out or trick someone or help us set that kind of thing up would be pretty. Pretty neat. [00:35:53] Speaker E: That is the beginning of a fine idea, Clint. Process. How do you get a predator to come out of his den? You gave its bait. You want to think more like a warmaster. You find your supply chains, information sources and threaten them. But if you want her to come to you, which, by the way, is exactly what you want, you have to give her inducement to do so. Like, oh, I don't know, leading her into thinking she can ambush her former partner that has turned his back on her. Be quite honest, I'd do both. But then, I've always been proactive, and that's something you lot are just coming around to. [00:36:27] Speaker A: Well, that was somewhat of the Plan? The issue is, I don't know that Stefan's that good of an actor. [00:36:34] Speaker C: That is a very funny thing. I'm quite fine at acting, thank you. [00:36:40] Speaker A: He speaks. Yes. The idea was maybe being able to trap Gwen, she just. With the addition of another magic user, it seems riskier than it was before. And to the Morrigan and to Odin. Blaithel, sort of. Can Garm or Gwen be banished? [00:37:07] Speaker F: Banished to where? [00:37:08] Speaker A: Where they came from? [00:37:10] Speaker F: Well, Gwyn's from here. So you'd just be sending her to what, another place in the world that she could leave just as easily as she ought to? Wherever it is that you. [00:37:20] Speaker A: You found her and Garm. [00:37:23] Speaker F: In theory. Locking him up the first time wasn't easy. As far as I remember hearing about the old tales, she kind of looks to Odin for. For confirmation. [00:37:35] Speaker B: How did y' all do that? [00:37:37] Speaker D: With a lot of sacrifice. [00:37:40] Speaker B: Oh, that don't bode well for El trying to capture him again, does it? [00:37:45] Speaker C: Yes, we'll just. [00:37:46] Speaker D: Technically, [00:37:50] Speaker E: if it were easy, anyone could do it. [00:37:53] Speaker A: If we can maybe not recreate one for one, but maybe work on something similar. Gwen is already. The White Staff has already been able to set up a pretty frustrating trap that we were looking at reverse engineering. [00:38:17] Speaker F: Would you like to share with the class? Are you just going to make vague illusions? [00:38:23] Speaker A: I. I just don't know it well enough yet. I haven't had the chance to really do. Really do the research, and now Oliver is in Anvil, working on his part of it. [00:38:33] Speaker E: Right. Vague illusions it is, then. [00:38:36] Speaker A: It had some. Okay, actually, I do know something about it. Again, the White Staff seems to be using fertility and cold frost. The version that they had for us involved targeting nascent scions or children because it had the baby stuff with it. Those aren't purviews that I'm familiar with. Anyway, I want to be more specific. I just can't. I don't know enough. [00:39:11] Speaker B: Well, I mean, can you describe the effects and what we had to go through that way? They know, like, what stopped us and how we had to deal with it. [00:39:21] Speaker A: Three nodes, Ward things. I don't know. I got. I was able to get in, like, the way that they. The way you trap like vermin. I was able to get in, but [00:39:35] Speaker B: we couldn't leave one of them things. Nodes, you called. It was in like a statue in the. The pool of a. Or fountain where it. Of a. An abandoned mall. I don't know if that's significant, but. Had to be broken physically to. To break the spirit. [00:39:58] Speaker A: It didn't it was just the fastest way to do it. [00:40:01] Speaker C: Oh, that ward was broken as well. It froze our companion, Oliver. [00:40:09] Speaker F: Froze him as in like in ice? Or just locked him up or both? [00:40:16] Speaker B: Both, I think. [00:40:18] Speaker A: Bl look at Lucky. Who actually witnessed that. [00:40:24] Speaker F: Lucky kind of looks back at you. Lucky has, like, magic senses. Boo. Boo. But he is not an expert in magic. He could tell you that it was magic. Can't tell you much more than that. That's your job. [00:40:37] Speaker A: My guess is that it was magical blowback. I hit it when I took out the first ward. [00:40:47] Speaker B: There was real ice involved too. It weren't just a freeze up of motion, but of cold too. It was both. [00:40:54] Speaker F: She'll nod a little bit when. If the final. How many. How many binding spots were there? [00:41:08] Speaker A: Three. [00:41:10] Speaker F: And the one on the bottom floor was in the bottom of an old well or. Or fountain. [00:41:18] Speaker A: It was a fountain. I revisited the site later and they'd removed most of the bodies and the whole place had been taken over by growth. [00:41:29] Speaker F: What sort of growth? [00:41:31] Speaker A: Old tree growth. [00:41:33] Speaker F: You didn't happen to grab any of it, did you? [00:41:36] Speaker A: I did, actually. One second. And Blaidd will teleport away and pop back in with a handful of flora, I guess. [00:41:48] Speaker F: So what you have is actually like old tree roots, basically. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Oh, there you go. [00:41:53] Speaker F: That you kind of had to, like. You and Lucky kind of had to literally, like, dig out of the rubble and then cut it free. And the Morrigan will. Will take it and kind of frown a little bit as she's looking it over. Where was this exactly? [00:42:14] Speaker A: At the mall that we. And where was the mall specifically? [00:42:20] Speaker F: Not location. Like, where in the rubble did you find it? Was it in the walls? Was it in the floor? Was it in everything? Was it growing up over things everywhere? [00:42:31] Speaker A: It was like the trees had reclaimed [00:42:34] Speaker F: the space but weren't trying to cover it over. [00:42:37] Speaker A: I don't think so. We've seen. We've heard reports of other places that are experiencing similar growth. [00:42:46] Speaker B: Weren't there roots or something in the safe house too? [00:42:51] Speaker A: Mm. [00:42:52] Speaker B: Yeah. They weren't growing up and around the place. They just grew under it and messed things up from beneath. [00:42:58] Speaker F: Aye, but that was a battlefield. Not as much time to work there. [00:43:03] Speaker B: That's true. [00:43:04] Speaker F: This was a prepared site, which it would have to have been to have a ritual of that size. And that could stop five scions from being able to come and go as they please. It would have had to have been prepared in advance. [00:43:18] Speaker A: Which also concerns me, considering. And Blaid will look at her dad. They knew I was already with them. [00:43:27] Speaker F: Well, I could tell. I knew that you were going to be with them before you were. So one could assume that someone was powerful enough ties to prophecy, or at least magic to emulate. It could see it coming. [00:43:41] Speaker A: Vladd looks like she's eaten something bitter. [00:43:44] Speaker B: Does that mean we're like, destined to be best friends? Like, is that what the fates say? [00:43:50] Speaker F: The Morrigan is incredibly quiet on the topic of fate itself and telling fates to people. [00:43:57] Speaker E: Clint, I'm gonna say this and hope that you remember it. And if you don't, I hope that Stefan would remind you. Be very, very careful. And you ask the Morrigan about your fate. [00:44:12] Speaker D: Be very careful when you ask any God about your fate. [00:44:16] Speaker B: I figured of all of them, my own mom would be the best one to ask. Ask for that. [00:44:21] Speaker C: Are you. [00:44:22] Speaker B: Is it like a super scary thing that we just don't want to know or. [00:44:29] Speaker F: I'll explain later. [00:44:31] Speaker B: Okay. Thank you. [00:44:33] Speaker E: Whatever you do, don't let her do your laundry. [00:44:35] Speaker F: The Lou gets. It gets an unusually dirty look for that. [00:44:38] Speaker B: Clint is just confused. [00:44:40] Speaker E: He actually meets her energy when he says it. [00:44:44] Speaker D: Odin just starts to chuckle. [00:44:47] Speaker A: Clint, I'll explain when they leave. [00:44:49] Speaker C: Fate is a tricky and you do not want to hear yours. [00:44:56] Speaker B: All right. I mean, I'll just go on faith that we're all going to be best friends and make it happen through elbow grease and love. [00:45:04] Speaker C: Yeah, well, that's kind of what you got to do. Anyways. [00:45:08] Speaker A: Vlad is trying so hard. [00:45:10] Speaker C: Questions? [00:45:11] Speaker A: Do you? [00:45:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I do. He will look to Lugh. As you have surmised, we are not well equipped to deal with our. Our opponents. As of right now, are there any allies that we might be able to find? And any objects that may help us in our ordeal, I mean. [00:45:40] Speaker E: Well, you're in luck. That most of the banter now the Tuathe Dan. So if you go to your aunts and uncles, your cousins should respond obligingly if your cause is just. And if you can offer something in return. But look, you should know. You know, it's important to remember we are all of us royalty. So don't go expecting to get something for nothing, even for just and righteous causes. Incidentally, and he puts this bottle on the table. That's for Daemon. Don't let me forget. But the same can be said, I suppose, of the Aishi, who have long been our allies. The Aesir involved. You might be able to reach out to the Alfar or the dwarves for aid. Though. I can. Your friend Andre is capable of making anything the Dwarves might dream up in more. [00:46:26] Speaker D: Besides, [00:46:29] Speaker B: he is a handy friend. [00:46:32] Speaker A: But materials from trophies might actually be worth grabbing from dwarves. [00:46:37] Speaker D: That and also the fact that the dwarves are many and Andre is only one person. You can run a forge by one man, but if you want a lot of something, you need many hands. [00:46:47] Speaker C: I see. And what about the items? [00:46:53] Speaker F: Which items? [00:46:54] Speaker E: I. I'm sorry, I left my solve all my problems Giga in my other pants. You're gonna have to be a wee bit more specific. [00:47:04] Speaker B: We can get you. We take you back. You can get them pants. [00:47:08] Speaker E: Clint. I'm joking. [00:47:10] Speaker B: Okay, I was hoping. [00:47:12] Speaker C: I know usually in mythology there are items which are real good at killing these sorts of things. [00:47:22] Speaker E: Do you not have an item that's perfectly capable of killing just about anything you come across? [00:47:27] Speaker C: I mean, it's definitely good, but I've swung it into Garm a few times and it definitely didn't do, you know, perfectly. [00:47:35] Speaker E: I wouldn't necessarily blame the tool in that instance. [00:47:40] Speaker A: I would blame the tool. Vlad covers her mouth really quickly. [00:47:44] Speaker C: So. [00:47:44] Speaker E: So would I. But she just got here. [00:47:46] Speaker D: What? [00:47:48] Speaker F: Dead silence from the Morgan. She's not going to dignify that with an answer. [00:47:53] Speaker B: Come on, you can't be mean to my mom like that. [00:47:56] Speaker E: I wasn't talking about your mother. [00:47:57] Speaker B: Clint looks around. Oh. Oh, okay. Well, that's. Okay. Well, instead of addressing that Lou, you got like. You're good at knowing standings of stuff. Stuff, right? Like can you see like our connections and our. Our relationships with our geishas. [00:48:23] Speaker E: I imagine that mouth of the marbles was referring to your gayasa clind abrasus. [00:48:28] Speaker B: Yeah, magesh that thing. [00:48:30] Speaker E: So let me ask you this. Is it your reason asking me this question or your conscience? [00:48:37] Speaker B: Honestly, it's more moral reason. My conscience is pretty happy with what I've gotten done so far. There's always more to do. But I do have somewhat of an important task that I need to keep track of. And I'm trying to be a bit more responsible as I acquire more capabilities and responsibilities. [00:48:59] Speaker E: Well then tell your conscience to pet your reason and tell it to calm down. It's very little in your circumstances as regards your geassa have changed. And thus neither have your geassa. It's alright, isn't it though? The point of a Gaius is not punishment or penance is to prove that the hero may bear up under any. Under any condition. [00:49:18] Speaker B: So you're saying I shouldn't focus on completing them like they're a to do list. [00:49:24] Speaker E: It is to prove it's. It's like. It's like having a fight with an arc with one of your arms tied behind your back. You're showing off. [00:49:33] Speaker A: Yeah, except some of us have to fight with the people with their arms tied behind their back. [00:49:38] Speaker E: And yet still here you are. [00:49:40] Speaker A: Yep. [00:49:42] Speaker D: Did not bring you here and put you with them unprepared. I know you, Bobby. I know what you can do. [00:49:53] Speaker A: She wants to argue and just like. [00:49:57] Speaker D: Can I get easy? Anyone could do it. [00:50:01] Speaker F: Can I get a perception check from all three of the players, please? [00:50:06] Speaker B: Of course. [00:50:08] Speaker C: Yes. I would love to. I'm gonna re roll that. [00:50:13] Speaker A: Where the birds been this whole time. [00:50:16] Speaker C: That's a 41. [00:50:18] Speaker A: Jesus Christ. [00:50:20] Speaker C: I only critically. Sorry. 31. [00:50:23] Speaker F: Ian is actually perched on the. The light fixture above everybody's head alongside a couple of other crows. To answer Blaid's question about where the birds have been. They've been here the whole time. They're just hanging out and watching quietly. And the two ravens not here. They. They. They are out doing things. They don't. They don't just hang out with your dad. You know that. [00:50:51] Speaker A: I know [00:50:55] Speaker F: what Blythe and Stefan, but not Clint notice is that Lou has. Has been eating but his. The bacon on his plate. The pile of bacon has gotten suspiciously smaller for how short of a time he's been eating. And you can. And then you realize Bl. You go to look down and Lucky is not directly at your feet anymore. Lou has been sneaking him pieces of bacon under the table. Bl. [00:51:31] Speaker A: Sort of Blythe like says to Lucky telepathically. Are you having fun? [00:51:37] Speaker F: Yes. You didn't get nanny. [00:51:39] Speaker A: Well, I didn't. Fine. You know what? Fine. That's valid. [00:51:43] Speaker F: You got a whole cow. I did. I'm not complaining about the cow. You just asked why I'm. If I was having fun. The answer is yes. Did you know that one of his epithets is Khanmach? [00:51:53] Speaker A: What? [00:51:54] Speaker F: Khanmach. That's one of his epithets. Means lad of hounds. [00:51:58] Speaker A: Oh my God. I'm surrounded by dog boys and his. [00:52:02] Speaker F: His tail thwomps pretty hard on the floor. [00:52:06] Speaker A: Traitor. [00:52:06] Speaker F: You love me? [00:52:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:09] Speaker A: Absolutely. Enjoy your bacon. Get him for all he's worth. [00:52:14] Speaker B: Speaking of showing off and stuff, Lou, did you by chance like, say or hear your boy kicking the ass and saving names about a week ago? [00:52:26] Speaker E: I didn't see it. I'm not. I'm not precognitive like. [00:52:31] Speaker D: Like that. [00:52:32] Speaker E: I leave future C into sillier gods who dream themselves a future they can write without the way will and ways of people later. Encounter. That said, I have heard of what was done and how he looks at Stevins, and I couldn't be prouder of my boy. [00:52:47] Speaker B: Clint intently watches Stefan for any reaction. [00:52:51] Speaker C: Well, I'm gonna take the. I'm gonna take the 27 on deception. It. [00:52:56] Speaker F: Would you like to try an insight? [00:52:59] Speaker B: I would. In fact. Would this count as the specialty of being a really good friend? [00:53:06] Speaker F: Allow it. Yeah. [00:53:07] Speaker D: Hell yeah. [00:53:09] Speaker C: I think I have a plus two on this, dude. [00:53:11] Speaker F: Holy shit. [00:53:11] Speaker C: It doesn't matter. [00:53:13] Speaker B: What a natural 20 for a 37 work. [00:53:18] Speaker F: How does Stefan. How does Stefan feel about the praise? [00:53:23] Speaker C: I think he likes it. [00:53:24] Speaker E: You know, there's a bit of a [00:53:25] Speaker C: smirk, but he's definitely not showing it off because he's a side eyeing Odin right now, like, yeah, I'm cooler than what you people think. Take the L. Odin. [00:53:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm pretty proud of our boy too. He's. He's really taking it in stride. Getting better every day. [00:53:43] Speaker E: Clint. [00:53:45] Speaker B: Yeah, [00:53:47] Speaker E: you're not. But boy, he's not the only one I'm proud of. [00:53:50] Speaker B: Well, yeah, the whole party did a lot of work. It was a really impressive thing. [00:53:54] Speaker E: I meant you, you goof. [00:53:57] Speaker B: Thank you. I don't. I know. It's hard to just. You know. Anyways, take your king. [00:54:03] Speaker E: Take your king's praise when he gives it. [00:54:06] Speaker B: Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Clint bows his head down, quickly falling in line. [00:54:12] Speaker F: Odin's daughter. You said you got in to the mall but you couldn't get out. [00:54:18] Speaker A: Yes. [00:54:19] Speaker F: What did you try? [00:54:20] Speaker A: What do you mean? [00:54:22] Speaker F: What methods of movement were you using? [00:54:25] Speaker A: I am a psychopomp, so I can travel sort of anywhere via the sort of teleportation. We popped in. I grabbed everyone in, and once we'd gotten our baby scion, I was trying to teleport everyone out and couldn't. [00:54:49] Speaker F: Did you try any other ways? [00:54:51] Speaker C: I tried somebody out and fucking bashed my head on something. At least it felt like it. [00:54:57] Speaker F: But there was no resistance. When you tried to get. When you tried to get there? [00:55:03] Speaker A: No. Like I said, sort of one of those things where you can get in but you can't leave. [00:55:09] Speaker F: She kind of sits back and looks thoughtful. Taps her lips with one very long, kind of pointed black nail. Well, that at least tells me that the ritual you all disrupted, since it let you leave after, was designed as like a snare trap. Let you get in, but not let you get out. At least not via any divine means. Did you try to just leave on foot? [00:55:38] Speaker A: We didn't have that kind of time. So that's a no, no, no. [00:55:43] Speaker F: Well, next time I would suggest trying to go out on foot and see what happens. Rituals like that require a certain amount of calibration to specific things. It might have been designed to lock anyone using divine gifts gifts into a specific place. They're scion trap. [00:56:08] Speaker A: Yes, I. I actually had a guess from that. The Second Ward had baby things with it. And I had originally assumed it was just a fertility thing. But the implication of children's items, or baby items being a child of a God [00:56:28] Speaker F: symbolism, I. [00:56:31] Speaker B: It does seem, might as specific. [00:56:33] Speaker F: Other parts of this. Other parts of the spell could have been woven in, could have been there to try and help promote the likelihood that the unawakened would awaken violently. [00:56:46] Speaker A: Yeah, that did happen too. [00:56:48] Speaker F: But the thing that worries me the most, if you all are going to go after them, is the likelihood that they will try and lock you into one place again. At which point the hunters become the hunted. [00:57:04] Speaker A: Well, they've tried it once. This time it can be ready for them. [00:57:07] Speaker D: How? [00:57:09] Speaker A: Better reconnaissance. And probably a more prudent entry. [00:57:14] Speaker C: Or we always bring a key. That'll help. [00:57:17] Speaker A: There's almost never been a place I couldn't get out of once I got in. [00:57:20] Speaker B: Sounds like try walking next time. [00:57:23] Speaker F: That was in fact what I was implying. Next time, if you try and leave by divine means, like your psychopomp abilities or your ability to fly, and she'll look at Stefan and Bly, or Blythe and Stefan in turn. Try running. [00:57:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes, if we. That will be. I will add that to my repertoire. [00:57:44] Speaker F: Especially if you were able to teleport around inside. That implies that it wasn't specifically there to just stop you from moving. It was trying to stop you from taking the most obvious way to leave. [00:57:55] Speaker E: And it's unlikely he'd have to run very far. Things like that work like a fence. Once you get outside the fence, you're free to leave. [00:58:03] Speaker A: How is there a way to know what a limitation on a trap is before we, like once we're in? [00:58:08] Speaker F: It depends on how the ritual was woven. But Mr. Bright does have the ability to see magic. [00:58:18] Speaker A: Lucky sort of does. [00:58:20] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:58:21] Speaker B: He can sniff it. [00:58:24] Speaker A: Blythe goes to, like, pet Lucky and realizes she's. He's still not like with her. [00:58:29] Speaker E: Lou will redone. Who's a good boy? [00:58:32] Speaker F: Just tail thumps. [00:58:35] Speaker A: You're an Acer dog. [00:58:39] Speaker F: Technically, I'm a wolf, but it suits me to let him. It suits me to let him treat me like a dog right now. [00:58:46] Speaker A: You seem to really enjoy being treated like a dog. A lot of the time you get a huff. I'm just saying wolves don't get, you know, wolves don't get bones from the butcher. [00:59:00] Speaker F: Depends on the wolf. [00:59:02] Speaker B: Something's been kind of bothering me a little bit. [00:59:06] Speaker E: I. [00:59:07] Speaker B: So Lou said earlier that, you know, he's not prescient, omniscient, the. The one that lets him see things somewhere else or before they happen. [00:59:19] Speaker F: The cognitive. [00:59:21] Speaker B: Yeah, that one. But if I recall correctly, Odin, you're kind of involved in that sphere of influence, right? [00:59:31] Speaker D: In fact, I sacrificed many a thing for that. Yes. [00:59:34] Speaker B: So do you have any like, foresight of what's going on or any sort of predictions or is you're back to [00:59:45] Speaker F: that asking about fate thing, son? [00:59:47] Speaker B: No, not. Well, kinda. Yeah, but he's able to predict things if he's always, you know, focused on staying alive, staying safe. Oh dear, that does involve me asking about fights. [01:00:02] Speaker E: All right, stop trying to escape to the end of the book. [01:00:06] Speaker D: You're. [01:00:06] Speaker B: I'm not trying. [01:00:07] Speaker A: Yeah, that's the most part. [01:00:09] Speaker B: Trying to peek at the middle more than the end. Well, [01:00:17] Speaker E: let me. [01:00:17] Speaker B: Do you see us doing well at least? [01:00:20] Speaker D: I can't answer that. As much as I would love to give my darling daughter and her very happy friends all the answers, I can't. [01:00:33] Speaker A: Blaid does beam at darling daughter. [01:00:36] Speaker D: There is a reason why I have been mostly not talking. Letting the Tuatha speak as much as they do. Because they don't know what's about to happen. So they can speak far more on it than I can. Otherwise I have to try and be cagey and dodgy and you're just going to press and press and press. [01:00:57] Speaker B: You're right. You're right. You know what? Instead of asking about the future, which is something that's a no, no, how about we ask about the past? I got a question for you, Odin. We was. We was climbing up roots and branches of a particular tree. And while it did take us quite some time and was a physically tolling and emotionally exhaustive experience, we survived and didn't really run into much. Were you keeping an eye on us when that was going on or did you like make sure we had a less than fatal trip? [01:01:35] Speaker D: You could say that. I often see much and many things around my daughter and yourselves. As much as Mr. Varga here might hate my guts, and then some former allies, peons, however you want to describe it, of the Fenrir wolves, I am very slow to cross for a good reason. And so my eyes have been on you all. [01:02:02] Speaker F: I apologize. I apologize. I disappeared Discord freaked out on me. I got former allies of the Fenris wolf was the last thing anybody heard. [01:02:11] Speaker D: Oh, former allies. The Fenrir's wolves are. Well, it's hard for me to trust as much as he has been reformed. I am still going to keep eyes out. [01:02:24] Speaker E: As well you should. But I will ask all father that you remember that my phantom queen, he says, gesturing to the Morrigan, is as great a seer as any God anywhere. But to answer your question more directly, Clint presses Imagine for a moment a book. The book of your life. [01:02:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:45] Speaker E: And say you wanted to look at the middle of it. [01:02:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:02:49] Speaker E: And you open to a page. That was 15 years ago. How much do you have left now? Do you know? [01:02:57] Speaker B: I could guess, but no, I wouldn't know. [01:03:01] Speaker E: Would you want to know that you would reach the midpoint of your life? That you had more years behind than you had ahead? [01:03:08] Speaker B: Well, I mean, that's assuming that life is like the end of every book. I think it's just the end of the first book and there's a new series just waiting to happen. So I kind of would like to know. I can plan around it. [01:03:20] Speaker E: No, you can't. That's the whole point of it. That's what hubris is. You have to ask Andre about that. It's more a Greek thing. But hearing prophecy and then trying to work your way, way around it, that's how disaster happens. [01:03:36] Speaker A: There's. But there's power in knowing when you're going to die. Because then you know that whatever comes after you isn't going to get you this time. [01:03:44] Speaker E: If only fate really worked that way. [01:03:47] Speaker D: And it's at that point that Odin is just smiling at Lugh's answer, not at Blaidd's response. [01:03:55] Speaker B: So I done asked a little bit about the past. I'm not supposed to ask about the future, but I'll ask about the present. Mom, Lou, what's kind of the status of Mag mel since last time we've been there? Are there any like, plans or anything going on that we need to be aware of or help out on later? [01:04:18] Speaker F: The Morgan will look at. Lou, would you like to answer this one or shall I? [01:04:24] Speaker E: No, but I will. It fares poorly and the reclamation awaits hands and swords that are not tied up. In other problems, there is a band of scions trying to clear the wolves up. They are not as triumphant as we or they would like and we are short of assistance to send them. Dead kings cast long shadows. So Balor being dead and gone hasn't solved Our issues. In those shadows our enemies hide. That said, all of those wolves prowling around the land can't be happens. [01:04:56] Speaker A: Wait. They're wolves in magma? [01:04:58] Speaker E: Aye, A lot of them. [01:05:00] Speaker F: Did they not tell you? [01:05:01] Speaker A: Vlad looks at Clint. [01:05:05] Speaker B: We more dealt with the Fomorians or one of them last time. But yes, the wolves are spreading. It's not good. I don't know Zone the depths of how bad the wolves are. Last time I was there, like I said, we. We didn't deal with quite too many of them. I didn't. Didn't notice them excessively badly. But [01:05:29] Speaker F: you cannot cleanse magma of the rot that festers there while blind to what is feeding the wolves into it. But you may be closer now than you were before. [01:05:40] Speaker B: So in. In a sense, what we're doing now is going to help with that along the way. We just gotta actually follow through and succeed. [01:05:49] Speaker C: On that topic, Lugh, as a warmaster that cannot see the future, what do you think that our enemy may do next? So we have an idea of what to plan around. [01:06:08] Speaker E: Ah, don't be daft, boy. You were the one leading the wolves once upon a time, and so you know what they're after. These recent incidents have made probably clear that Gwen and whoever is patronizing her has likely discovered the safe house networks the gods use. So that's probably their targets. Now you can't go guarding all the houses at once, so you need a way to be alerted to the problem. Either by getting the houses to reach out to you as a panic button, or perhaps by finding where the wolves are lair in and in certain to listen and ear. [01:06:43] Speaker A: I have contact with the psychopomps, most of whom knew the lantern band. But no one knows the locations of safe houses until. Not even the people who cast the wards that keep them safe. [01:07:00] Speaker F: That's not true. Only the people who cast the wards to keep them safe know where all the houses are. They've purposefully not told everyone else. Everyone else gets to know only the ones that they need to know. [01:07:12] Speaker C: So we just gotta find the people who cast the wards. One of whom is already dead. Or I. I bet there is a fate string attaching them. [01:07:24] Speaker A: It's also possible that like Lou said, we could set things up so. So that as soon as there is trouble, the safe house knows to reach out to us. [01:07:37] Speaker B: Why not just have us be at the safe house and wait? [01:07:42] Speaker F: Because there's more safe houses than there are you. [01:07:44] Speaker B: Oh, damn. [01:07:46] Speaker A: The lair one. Actually, I would. We could do both. I just. We would need to figure out how to tra. Actually, um, Baba. [01:07:56] Speaker D: Yes, dear? [01:07:57] Speaker A: I understand the stupidity of the next question, but I am going to ask, because if I don't ask, I'm going to feel bad about not asking. Could we borrow your chair? [01:08:09] Speaker D: No. [01:08:10] Speaker A: It was worth a shot. Why? [01:08:12] Speaker D: Remember that whole thing about you not being able to see fate? [01:08:16] Speaker A: But it's not fate. We're just looking for a person. And maybe some wolves. [01:08:21] Speaker F: Do you know the story of Faithan? Of Faithan? [01:08:25] Speaker A: Not off the top of my head. [01:08:26] Speaker F: Apollo of the Dodecathion had a son named Phaeton. He begged his father to let him drive the solar chariot for a single day to prove his divine parentage. And when he got onto it, he couldn't control the fiery horses, and he flew close enough to the earth that he scorched the land, created what we now know as the Sahara Desert. Sitting on a relic like your father's throne would likely burn you up from the inside out. [01:08:57] Speaker B: What if we all held hands and then sat on it? [01:09:01] Speaker E: It's not an infinity stone, okay? [01:09:04] Speaker F: What? [01:09:06] Speaker B: It's a stone that goes on for infinity. [01:09:11] Speaker D: That's part of a new movie series that the humans made. [01:09:14] Speaker B: Anyhow, so this is one of the. [01:09:17] Speaker F: One of the movie types that's got. That's got some. Some fool named Odin. It's nothing like you. [01:09:23] Speaker D: Yes, [01:09:25] Speaker B: visually, yeah, they. They look a little similar. [01:09:28] Speaker A: BL Is super interested in her nails right now. [01:09:31] Speaker D: Odin's giving the biggest stink eye with a raised eyebrow. And Clint right now, like, you know, [01:09:37] Speaker F: for the first time that anyone here, except maybe Louis and Odin, has ever seen the mortgage, she looks a teeny, tiny bit amused at the topic of conversation. [01:09:51] Speaker B: Yeah, this guy. I think his name is Anthony or something, it looks. Yeah. [01:09:57] Speaker C: Back on topic, please. [01:10:00] Speaker B: Actually, I do have a question on topic. So we're talking about planning out these safe houses, you know, making connections. Do we have any scions who kind of agree with the decisions we've made so far? At least a little bit to turn to? Because. No, there's some affected folks out there who's less than thrilled, but that's. [01:10:24] Speaker E: It's not the right question to be asking of an ally. Allies aren't born of people who agree with everything you've done. If they did, they'd already be your friends. You think just waves? You think Huang D. Spends his days agitated because Oliver Bright thinks himself a pompous ass? [01:10:39] Speaker B: No. [01:10:40] Speaker E: Stop worrying about whether or not people like you do not concern yourself so much, all right? They will help you. [01:10:48] Speaker B: That. That's the more important thing. Yeah, we're more looking for help rather than friends at this particular time. I can turn them into friends later. That I'm not worried about. [01:10:58] Speaker E: How fortunate, then, that I answered that question, all right. Roughly an hour ago. [01:11:02] Speaker B: Oh, dear. [01:11:04] Speaker F: You need to find. You need to find other scions who resent what is being done by the wolves more than they hate Stefan. [01:11:16] Speaker A: That's almost all of us. Except not. [01:11:19] Speaker B: I have a feeling we could talk him into hating one side more than the other. [01:11:24] Speaker F: And as your king pointed out, you have to be ready to pay whatever price they. They require to help you. [01:11:31] Speaker B: Exactly. Sacrifice. I'm kind of remembering now. You already gave us a good idea how to. How to handle this. Trying to think through any other questions. [01:11:43] Speaker C: Hold on. If I may give a recommendation or at least an idea. We do know of the big wolf that will not die. Why don't we just make our friend Andre give the dog a chip so we can follow it back to its den? [01:12:03] Speaker A: We would need to find a wolf one. [01:12:05] Speaker D: You'd have to find the wolf. And you're also assuming that the said wolf gum wouldn't just understand. Ah, yes. There's something inside my body. I don't want it to be there. I don't care if I bite and remove a part of myself, it'll just grow back. [01:12:22] Speaker C: I mean, we got a man without an arm. Why not just put, you know, part of the arm in the mouth, let him swallow? [01:12:28] Speaker B: You really expect an Andre to sacrifice his arm a second time? [01:12:34] Speaker D: Andre's gonna want it back afterwards. [01:12:36] Speaker B: That's fair. [01:12:37] Speaker A: Unfortunately, dog boy does make a point. It doesn't have to be Garm. It can be any of his retinue. [01:12:45] Speaker B: What if we just made a giant wolf out of wheel wood and got inside of it and were, like, delivered like a gift? [01:12:52] Speaker E: I. Then I expect Gwen would seal the door, cover the dog in pitch, and burn you all alive. [01:12:59] Speaker B: All right. I'll go ahead and cross that one off the list of possibilities, then. [01:13:04] Speaker D: I'm pretty sure she has seen the Odyssey. Yes. [01:13:06] Speaker B: Which one, though? There's so many. [01:13:09] Speaker D: The giant wooden horse is a consistent part of it, though. [01:13:12] Speaker B: That's true. Yeah. [01:13:14] Speaker C: We also aren't taking Troy. We're fighting a bunch of wolves. They might be intelligent, but they are bestial. [01:13:22] Speaker B: With the situation being as it is and Loki being out and about, what do you. We always have a little trouble whenever we run into them. Do y' all have recommendations on how to. To deal with them the next time we see him? [01:13:37] Speaker E: You are still Breathing. That tells me you have dealt with with them, when you've seen them. [01:13:41] Speaker D: Yes, exactly. [01:13:43] Speaker E: You just want it to be easier. [01:13:45] Speaker B: Yeah, that's the one. How do we make it easier? [01:13:48] Speaker E: It's not, damn it. You're in a war and you need direction yourself with that. [01:13:56] Speaker A: Do you think. Go ahead, baba. Do you think Loki is work on the side of the wolves? [01:14:06] Speaker D: I can't say yes and I can't say no. Because as much as I know Loki's mind, I also know that he is literally a God of chaos. The best question, I would suppose, would be. And he directs his attention now to Stefan. Has he said anything to you about his intentions with the wolves? [01:14:27] Speaker C: Stefan will look at him for a moment. [01:14:29] Speaker E: He has not the thing we may be assured of. Loki is always on the same side. He always is his own. No one else's. If the wolves are useful. If the wolves are useful to him, he's on their side. Until it's not useful to him anymore. [01:14:45] Speaker A: Operating on that assumption is really hard to prep for. [01:14:48] Speaker C: He has texted me a few times, which has been a help to me at least. [01:14:57] Speaker F: Do you want advice on how to deal with someone like Loki? [01:15:02] Speaker B: Yes. Please. [01:15:04] Speaker F: Do not bargain quickly, do not refuse quickly, and do not assume that the first lie is the important one. And in every interaction, ask yourself what he gains from it. Pay as much attention to what he does not ask for as what he does. And never give or accept help without tracking whatever debts are being accrued. [01:15:28] Speaker A: Oh, we're tracking now. [01:15:30] Speaker E: He. [01:15:31] Speaker B: He said something that made me start thinking, which I know is dangerous, but the. We dealt with him and he asked us, how do you kill a God? And I think we talked about that briefly, but that's been making me kind of concerned. If. If something cataclysmic were to happen, asteroid, ice age, something big, were to just, you know, destroy all of the mortals, what does that mean for us and for y'? [01:16:01] Speaker C: All? [01:16:02] Speaker E: It's now Lugh's turn to look uncomfortably at his two fellow gods. [01:16:07] Speaker F: The Morrigan is stone faced. [01:16:09] Speaker D: Odin is also stone faced. But then looks to looks to blaidd and simply just. In theory, yes. In theory, the gods would also die. However, we essentially made the morals we could do it again. [01:16:32] Speaker E: You have touched upon one of those chicken and egg questions that we're all uncomfortable thinking about and so we don't. [01:16:37] Speaker B: Oh, well, that's fair. I appreciate the candor. And I really. Of all the other questions, I've managed not to make y' all uncovered comfortable, but with this One, y' all are uncomfortable, but not yelling at me. And I want to let y' all know I really appreciate the. The understanding there. So let's instead move to more happier topics. If all the mortals are having a great time doing better cuz their lives are made more easy and. And everyone's happier, does that also improve Yalls lives and ours too, depends upon the God. Oh, yeah, There are some that don't lack good things. [01:17:14] Speaker E: As it happens, most mortals stop praying when things get easier. [01:17:21] Speaker F: There is a certain amount of suffering [01:17:23] Speaker A: that [01:17:25] Speaker F: most mortals require to be induced to remember their gods. The trick is walking the fine line between making sure that they're praying and not that they're dropping their faith because they resent us. [01:17:38] Speaker B: Okay. [01:17:41] Speaker F: Usually this comes in the form of things like making sure that there are seasons so that they have to pray for the winter to go so that the spring will come again. [01:17:50] Speaker B: That's why y' all started that, Just to get them to pray for. To. For the return of rain or the return of sun. [01:17:57] Speaker F: There's more reasons to it than that, but that's one of the many, and [01:18:03] Speaker D: it depends upon the pantheon as well. [01:18:05] Speaker A: Yay. [01:18:05] Speaker B: How many things do y' all do just to get that to happen so that y' all don't fade from memory and tension? [01:18:15] Speaker F: We don't do anything specifically for worship. It's an added benefit. [01:18:22] Speaker D: Okay. [01:18:23] Speaker E: I can't speak to most of this making the seasons a lot, but I'm significantly younger than these two oldsters here. [01:18:30] Speaker A: You were like us, weren't you? [01:18:32] Speaker E: He grins, he goes, not exactly. No. I actually. I actually have more. I actually have more in. In common with the lsmith than I do with you. I am the child of a Titan. Titan spawn. [01:18:47] Speaker B: Wait, so if you're a child of a Titan, you've become what and who you are? I'm not asking for our future, but generally speaking, is it possible for one of us to become on the same level as one of y'? [01:19:02] Speaker F: All? [01:19:02] Speaker E: All right. [01:19:03] Speaker C: Lou is literally the example of that. [01:19:06] Speaker B: Well, he already explained that. He's a little bit different, though. [01:19:10] Speaker C: Yeah, he's weird. [01:19:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Speaking of Lou, where do you get your clothes from? You got like a fancy clothes guy or something? [01:19:20] Speaker E: I'm quite capable of producing clothing for any occasion myself. But if I understand your question, when I'm in a hurry or I wish to be pampered like a lord of old, I go to Hunter Tricky in Dublin. [01:19:33] Speaker B: Oh, well, you got a card. Because, I mean, I'm always in the. In the. In the Market for new duds. And you always got some style to you. You're not quite as stuffy as the other folks here. [01:19:44] Speaker E: Give me your phone. [01:19:45] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:19:46] Speaker B: Here you go. [01:19:46] Speaker E: You tell them Mr. Longfather sent you. [01:19:48] Speaker B: Mr. Longfather sent me. You got it. [01:19:51] Speaker F: The Morrigan sort of pinches the bridge of her nose at the butchery of her native tongue. [01:19:58] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to Apotheosis. If you enjoy this story, please make sure to subscribe and review wherever you're listening to our podcast. You can find more of our actual plays on our website at www.hallowedhavenstudios.com. please consider supporting us on [email protected] Hallowed Haven Studios. Your support helps make more stories like this possible. [01:20:23] Speaker F: You can talk now, guys. [01:20:25] Speaker B: Oh, okay. So, well, how many other questions do we even got in mind? I mean, we've asked a lot. Y' all have any questions for us on the day. [01:20:39] Speaker E: On that magic day? And I don't know, something. Something I need to come to you to ask it. I feel the war will already be lost. [01:20:48] Speaker D: I will make no offense to you. However, I'll be asking my ravens before I ask any of you here. [01:20:54] Speaker C: Yeah, that seems on. On track for y'. All. [01:20:59] Speaker F: Clint. [01:21:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:21:01] Speaker F: Walk with me. [01:21:03] Speaker B: Okay. [01:21:04] Speaker F: And the Morgan is. The Morgan is going to get up and. And walk out and just expect that Clint is going to follow even. And the crows all do. [01:21:12] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, he's right behind her. [01:21:14] Speaker F: And on that note, we're gonna shift into one on one scenes with people and their parents to give everyone a chance to ask more personal questions. And we are gonna start. We're gonna start, I think, with. Let's start with Stefan and Lou. [01:21:33] Speaker C: Oh, my. [01:21:34] Speaker F: Take it away, boys. [01:21:35] Speaker E: Lou looks at stuff and says, would you like to go for a walk, son? Or do you want to wait for these two to get. Or you want to wait for these two to get uncomfortable and weakens to continue to sit here? [01:21:46] Speaker C: Nah, I feel like we're the ones who are more proactive anyway. You want to play catch while doing it or something? [01:21:55] Speaker E: Anything I throw, you'd need to put a shirt on first. Come on. [01:21:58] Speaker C: He will follow. Louis. So seems things are getting a bit more interesting around here. [01:22:09] Speaker E: Your definition. Your definition of interesting is. Well, it's fascinating to me coming from someone who literally had Jormungandr's venom porn in his face. [01:22:19] Speaker C: I mean, life kind of goes how it goes, I guess. I am surprised that Odin sent one of his scions. Probably a spy. No one you know. [01:22:34] Speaker E: Oh, she's absolutely here to keep an eye on you. [01:22:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm not worried about the keeping an eye. [01:22:41] Speaker E: What are you worried about? [01:22:42] Speaker C: I'm worried that he is attempting to kill me through one of his children. [01:22:49] Speaker E: He made a promise and. Well, I don't know if you've read the others, but he's willing to let the whole world burn so as not to break a promise. [01:23:01] Speaker C: Yeah, but I don't know about his kids. He happens to find loopholes too. [01:23:09] Speaker E: He does, and she would look for one. [01:23:13] Speaker C: Yeah, well, whatever. None of those are important right now. [01:23:18] Speaker E: I guess if you were hoping that. If you were hoping that people were just gonna like you, you might have not spent a decade killing their children. [01:23:28] Speaker C: I don't expect them to likely me. I just don't want them to be used as a tool for me to die upon. Either way, that leads into one of my questions. You are the king of our pantheon, correct? [01:23:47] Speaker E: I am. [01:23:48] Speaker C: Do you have any jurisdiction over the dead souls? [01:23:56] Speaker E: I mean, that's more Clint's mother or Mananan. Why are you asking me this? [01:24:04] Speaker C: I want to know if there is a way to perhaps take a soul from another underworld and either, yeah, transport it to a new one, or keep it with me. [01:24:18] Speaker E: Danu's tits, boy. You spent a decade stealing the hearts of new scions. Now you're thinking about not only dishonoring me by giving the ring of truth to everything everyone is saying about you, by taking up stealing the dead. [01:24:31] Speaker C: Well, I mean, I am bound to help the weak if you enjoy. I don't want. [01:24:38] Speaker E: If you intend to wrap your arms around those who died, you best be prepared to spend your existence in underworlds. And you have other obligations. [01:24:52] Speaker C: I do. And that is why I'm asking. As you know. Or, well, I guess as I am want to know. I do not have a good relationship with the gods. I am asking this so that when I do kill Gwen, she does not end up with the mother she has been running away from. [01:25:17] Speaker E: Gwen. Irony of ironies. The tool to prevent that is the one she's walking around with that you used to feed her heart to offender. [01:25:31] Speaker C: I see. [01:25:32] Speaker E: I suppose it depends on how much hope you hold out for her. Or whether wherever she is, spiritually speaking, she wouldn't just prefer oblivion. [01:25:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I. I do not hope that she has a good afterlife. I'm just kinder, I guess, in letting her go back to hell. [01:25:55] Speaker E: I guess, well, doing so is likely to antagonize her mother, but I think [01:26:02] Speaker C: I've already done that enough Lu, you know, I think there's a point of no return. And I have already crossed it. At least for hell. [01:26:11] Speaker E: If you're concerned or your former ally is that strong. And I would say feed her heart to Garm. Rest will take care of itself. There may come a time in so say, 100 years or so, where I will entertain the question about how to take someone's soul from a specific afterlife and give it to someone else. Even then, I'd still probably send you to the Morrigan for more specific advice. Presuming she didn't skin you alive for asking. [01:26:39] Speaker C: Yeah, she's a bit scary. I guess that is why I have chosen to ask you first. Because that woman is frightening. [01:26:49] Speaker E: Among other adjectives. I. [01:26:52] Speaker C: We do not need to name in fear of her crows hearing us. [01:26:58] Speaker E: Anyways, trust me when I tell you that the battle crow knows exactly what I think of her. But your discretion is warranted. [01:27:09] Speaker C: Indeed. I will see how my geish reacts upon the day that I do kill her. And see if it deems her weak enough to help. [01:27:23] Speaker E: There are many terms I would give to that woman. Weak is not one of them. You know something I don't? [01:27:30] Speaker C: I would say that she is possibly a very weak person. Not in the sense of power. Being alone is its own weakness. And being surrounded by wolves does not make you any more. Well, any less alone. I have figured that out. With the time I have spent so far with the dumbasses of this group. [01:27:59] Speaker E: It is to my delight, to the thousands of years on, I can still be surprised from time to time. [01:28:04] Speaker C: You're only very good at things. Yay. Perfect. [01:28:09] Speaker E: Nobody is. No matter what Odin says. [01:28:12] Speaker C: I mean, he's only got one eye, so he's at least kind of. You know, throw a good right hook and he's. [01:28:19] Speaker E: You try that. Just wait till I'm gone. [01:28:22] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll. We'll do the 100 years in the future thing too. For that. [01:28:26] Speaker E: I, on the other hand, it wouldn't be the first one I'd got. I'd had to stand in front of it. Didn't go that well for that one either. [01:28:39] Speaker C: Maybe it's just a tradition of punching one eyed gods. Well. [01:28:46] Speaker E: Are you alright? [01:28:47] Speaker C: I am alive. [01:28:50] Speaker E: All right. Now answer your king. Are you all right? [01:28:56] Speaker C: I have seen better days. I am realizing and attempting to come to terms with the things I have done. I would not clarify anything I have done or what I am as. Alright, Good. [01:29:13] Speaker E: You have a long way to go. [01:29:15] Speaker C: Yep. I have a feeling that I'm going to hear More about that after y' all leave. [01:29:23] Speaker E: And if they decide to give you grief, or if someone that I don't know refuses to wear a shirt, has forked on, is giving you grief as you lie in bed at night, you remember this. Your king and your father loves you and is proud of you. [01:29:42] Speaker C: I'm. I'm gonna give you an address, alright? I want you to go there for me, if it is not too much trouble. [01:29:52] Speaker E: And who am I to find there? And what am I to say? [01:29:55] Speaker C: Well, if you're gonna be my dad, I expect you to meet my mother at least once. [01:30:01] Speaker D: Ah. [01:30:01] Speaker C: I just want you to check up on him. Don't need to talk to him, really. [01:30:06] Speaker E: Stefan Vargar. All the time you've known me, has you ever encountered any force in this or any other world that could shoot me up? [01:30:14] Speaker C: That's fine. [01:30:15] Speaker D: Fair. [01:30:16] Speaker C: But remember, they are more important to me than you are. So don't it up. [01:30:22] Speaker E: Oy. And now. And now you've forgotten who you're talking to. Give me the address. [01:30:27] Speaker C: He will produce his phone and give [01:30:29] Speaker E: him the last address he remembers. I will do this thing for you and you will do a thing for me. Think of it as training wheels and learning how to make these exchanges. [01:30:41] Speaker C: What may I do for you, O father and king? [01:30:44] Speaker E: Learn to forgive yourself. [01:30:46] Speaker C: That's fucked up. [01:30:47] Speaker E: I'm king. I get to be me. [01:30:49] Speaker F: Maybe he'll listen to you more than he listens to me. [01:30:52] Speaker C: Stefan jumps a bit. Fuck. You're quiet sometimes. [01:30:55] Speaker F: Well, yeah. Nateen, the dryad that Stefan spends so much time with, wanders over out of the. Probably one of the fields that you guys are walking past and extends a hand. I'm Nateen. Nice to meet you. [01:31:13] Speaker E: The pleasure is, I'm sure, all mine. You will take her hand and kiss her knuckles. [01:31:18] Speaker F: And she gives a very pretty smile. It is, [01:31:26] Speaker E: By the way my boy's looking at you. I better stop looking at you the way I am looking at you. [01:31:32] Speaker F: Most people look at me that way, so it's fine. And she'll kind of slide herself under one of Stefan's arms and, like, hug around his middle. [01:31:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:31:42] Speaker E: He will hold her. [01:31:43] Speaker C: And look at Lou. This is the one I was making you bring letters to Daemon for. [01:31:51] Speaker E: I see. [01:31:52] Speaker F: Thank you for that. [01:31:54] Speaker E: Some of us are occasionally happy to be of service. Some of us? Bitch. Bet. [01:31:57] Speaker F: At least lot he does do that. But he always does it. [01:32:02] Speaker E: He does. [01:32:04] Speaker F: Sometimes I think he just likes the sound of his own voice. Like father, like son. I guess. [01:32:10] Speaker E: There is that. [01:32:11] Speaker F: She kind of. She Gives a. A wide grin because there aren't many gods at her pantheon that she could be mouthy like that with so genetic traits and all. [01:32:20] Speaker C: I guess he'll wink. [01:32:23] Speaker E: Inheritance is funny. You just be careful. I don't have. I don't have a great track record with sons, but I am trying to do better. [01:32:36] Speaker C: Yeah, well, sadly for you, you're probably stuck with the most survivable one out there according to luck right now. [01:32:44] Speaker E: Well, I don't think that sucks at all. [01:32:46] Speaker C: Give it a hundred years when I start switching, swinging at people. [01:32:50] Speaker E: All right, off with you then. Go do whatever you do with dryads and trees. I can't imagine. [01:32:57] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [01:32:58] Speaker F: Oh, I think you could. [01:33:01] Speaker C: Thanks, you old bastard. [01:33:03] Speaker E: Keep it up, young pup. Keep it up. [01:33:07] Speaker F: And as they are walking away, Lou can hear Nadine. She tries to be quiet about it, but not so quiet that he can't hear. [01:33:15] Speaker D: Um. [01:33:16] Speaker F: Told you. People are proud of you. [01:33:18] Speaker C: It's like one guy. [01:33:20] Speaker F: No, there's definitely more than one person. [01:33:23] Speaker C: Yeah, I will accept this one. And he'll pull her close as they walk away. [01:33:29] Speaker F: Excellent. That in mind. We are gonna pivot to take a break from the Irish for a little while and pivot to Blaidd and Odin. [01:33:41] Speaker A: Bly watches Stefan and Lou leave just like we're not. I'm not gonna fight this right now. Important question. Does Lucky follow them or follow or stay with us? [01:33:52] Speaker F: No, Lucky's with you. He was happy to receive bacon, but he's not gonna trail after Lou when Lou doesn't have food for him. [01:34:01] Speaker A: Reasonable. Baba, you've seen them now? [01:34:06] Speaker D: I've seen them for quite some time. [01:34:08] Speaker A: They're so fate bound in ways that I don't know. The guesses themselves are already a huge complication. [01:34:20] Speaker D: Yes. [01:34:21] Speaker A: Have you really. Never mind. [01:34:24] Speaker E: No, no. [01:34:24] Speaker D: Please continue your thought. [01:34:26] Speaker F: Daddy, they suck. [01:34:30] Speaker D: And yet they're effective. [01:34:32] Speaker A: Yes, many things. Many tools are effective. When well wielded correctly, I can throw a hammer and do as much damage. [01:34:39] Speaker D: Perhaps. But how the tool is used is the determining factor on its success. Or not. [01:34:47] Speaker A: No, I. You're not gonna get me give me a straight answer on any of this, are you? [01:34:53] Speaker D: Depends. [01:34:56] Speaker A: Throws a pillow at him. [01:35:00] Speaker D: I will do what I can to give you a straight answer. [01:35:02] Speaker A: Have you really not seen or spoken with Hel at all? She works for you. [01:35:08] Speaker D: She does, but I trust her to maintain her realm. Hel is. Well, the best way to describe Hel is that she can be relied upon to defend what is hers. She resents what is stolen, and she remembers every Insult uttered towards her. She does not forgive. She does not forget. [01:35:29] Speaker F: So she's reliable that way. [01:35:31] Speaker A: So she would want to assist us? [01:35:33] Speaker D: Possibly. There's always a price, though. [01:35:35] Speaker A: Would you be able to get us an audience? [01:35:38] Speaker D: I can send a raven. Whether or not she accepts is up to her. I'm not going to force her to open the doors of Helheim, that is. [01:35:46] Speaker A: They're already unguarded. [01:35:49] Speaker D: Maybe not guarded by Garm anymore, but she still has her legions. [01:35:53] Speaker A: Yeah. What is. Do you. So you have no idea what Helhum is like? Not now that Garm is gone. [01:36:02] Speaker D: Not since Garm is gone, no. But I do know what it is like. [01:36:06] Speaker E: Normally. [01:36:06] Speaker A: Any tips? [01:36:08] Speaker D: Speak honestly. Give no insult to anyone. [01:36:12] Speaker A: Tape Clint's mouth. Maybe don't let Stefan speak either. [01:36:18] Speaker D: I actually imagine that Stefan and Hel would probably get along. Other things that may be. Yes. He's. From what I can see, he's no nonsense. We'd appreciate that. [01:36:32] Speaker A: Yeah, he's been nothing but deeply unforthcoming since at least I showed up. [01:36:39] Speaker D: Perhaps with you, but with Hel, he might just be honest enough. [01:36:46] Speaker A: I don't know that my presence in the band is particularly helpful to Stefan and his whole situation. [01:36:54] Speaker D: It's not meant to be helpful to him and his situation. [01:36:59] Speaker A: Yeah, but we still need to deal with the wolves. And me being not helpful is not being helpful for the rest of the wolf problem either. [01:37:11] Speaker D: The situation with the wolves is different than what I consider the situation with Stefan to be. [01:37:16] Speaker A: And what would you call that? [01:37:19] Speaker D: I'd call that a war. You cannot choose what men or women you are fighting against in a war. [01:37:25] Speaker A: Would you rather see him dead? [01:37:27] Speaker D: Not at the moment. [01:37:30] Speaker A: Right. I, I, I. I feel like there are just too many moving pieces with Loki being back and with the wolves and this white staff person who I understand you might recognize but will not tell me about. And I get that that's within your ability. That's within your judgment. [01:37:52] Speaker D: That and also my own restrictions. [01:37:54] Speaker A: I mean. How so? [01:37:57] Speaker D: It's fate, my dear. [01:37:59] Speaker A: Yeah, but we. You were kind of. Kind of the guy who finds the loophole. [01:38:07] Speaker D: Yes. And in doing so, I've also then had to create walls to prevent any other loopholes from falling through afterwards. [01:38:17] Speaker A: Baba, I want you to be more helpful. She is suddenly like a seven year old again and just has a little stompy moment. [01:38:26] Speaker D: You are just as you were when I last left you all those years ago. In many ways, to be fair, you have grown. In other ways. But it is good to see that you have remained Yourself? [01:38:39] Speaker A: I better. Cannot be anyone else, at least not personally. Perhaps I learned it from watching you. [01:38:49] Speaker D: You learned well, I guess. [01:38:55] Speaker A: Do you know if any of the other Aesir have a dog in this race? [01:39:01] Speaker D: These are the Fenris wolves. They all have a dog in the race, so to speak. [01:39:07] Speaker A: Do they care what happens to Gwen after she dies? [01:39:11] Speaker D: Yes, but it is not my position to say what their thoughts on the matter are. Alright, if you want answers about what they think of Gwen, ask them. [01:39:21] Speaker A: Well, that's sort of the intention. From here on. We need help. We need other allies. And I do intend on reaching out to at least my siblings and, I guess, spiritual cousins. [01:39:34] Speaker D: There's nothing wrong with that. [01:39:36] Speaker A: Actually, to that end, I have a weird thought and it requires you being a little bit. Well, doing exactly what you're very good at doing. All right, we all know that you aren't a huge fan of Stefan and the whole situation at hand. [01:39:54] Speaker D: Objectively. No. [01:39:56] Speaker A: It might be. It might help our cause if the Aesir, in particular the king of the Aesir, Laba, made a show of being willing to aid him. More so than just lending me to the band. Everyone knows I'm a bitch. [01:40:22] Speaker D: You want me to speak well of him? [01:40:26] Speaker A: You don't even have to speak well. Just. I don't know. Make it clear you believe in at least us to stop the wolves. [01:40:36] Speaker D: My dear, darling daughter, if I did not want the wolves stopped, I would not have sent you. [01:40:44] Speaker A: I know. But, you know, maybe we both should be a little less. Feel a little more. Seem a little more confident in the situation. [01:40:55] Speaker D: If I was not confident, I would not have sent you because I am confident in you. [01:41:03] Speaker A: I know. [01:41:04] Speaker F: Just. [01:41:05] Speaker A: Other pantheons are dumb. At least other scions are. [01:41:09] Speaker D: He has this look on his face of. [01:41:11] Speaker A: Just crack a smile, shake his hand. You don't have to be honest. [01:41:17] Speaker F: At this point, I think Lucky sort of makes a sound that is a rough approximation of what you think a wolf might sound like when it is trying to clear its throat. [01:41:30] Speaker A: Yes, Lucky. [01:41:31] Speaker F: No one's going to believe that he's coming from a place of good faith. If he's too overt about the help he provides. That's why we're here. [01:41:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess. [01:41:45] Speaker F: If he suddenly gets very friendly and starts sending out a bunch of help and making big gestures, everyone is going to assume that something's up. [01:41:55] Speaker D: As much as I hate to say it, it's politics. [01:41:59] Speaker A: It's all politics. But it always is. And you're sure I can't use the chair? [01:42:05] Speaker D: I'm very sure, my love. [01:42:07] Speaker A: This band is a prison. [01:42:09] Speaker F: Lucky. We'll look over at you. [01:42:11] Speaker A: Odin. [01:42:11] Speaker F: Is there something else you could provide that could be helpful? [01:42:17] Speaker D: I will think on it. And should I find a suitable assistance for you, I will send it as soon as possible. [01:42:25] Speaker A: Thank you, Bubba. Just one last terrible question. As long as we are having. As long as I have you here, you don't question. [01:42:35] Speaker D: All right? [01:42:36] Speaker A: No, I. You don't. You don't know what's happening in other pan, with other pantheons. Right? [01:42:43] Speaker D: I have eyes. [01:42:44] Speaker A: What about, like the Deva. [01:42:46] Speaker D: What about them? [01:42:47] Speaker A: I don't know. One of their band, my bandmates, his girlfriend got arranged marriage away and he's bummed about it. You wouldn't happen to know anything about stuff like that, right? Sorry. [01:43:02] Speaker D: Sadly, I cannot say. Baba, I. I know, I know. Look, here's the thing. I want to help, but asking for the Precognizant to give the answers is not. It's not something I can do. [01:43:26] Speaker A: You're going to make me do it. Learn it myself? [01:43:29] Speaker D: Yes. [01:43:30] Speaker A: The Precognition. [01:43:31] Speaker D: I'm gonna make you learn the information yourself. Because that's what I've always had you do. I can guide you towards the answers. But eventually, you're the one that has to come to cross the finish line. [01:43:41] Speaker A: I'm sure there's a spell you wouldn't do that without warning me, right? The arranged marriage shit. You're waiting way too long to answer this question. [01:43:53] Speaker D: No, I prefer actually to have a willing set of participants. [01:43:58] Speaker A: Okay. All right. I. [01:44:04] Speaker D: You are. [01:44:05] Speaker A: I'm doing my best. [01:44:07] Speaker D: I know. I know you are. You are my darling daughter. I'm not going to be shipping you off to someone else without your say. [01:44:16] Speaker A: Well, thank you for that. [01:44:19] Speaker D: Plus, I'd prefer if there was actual love involved. Odd concept that a father wishing for his daughter to have love with the person that they're planning to marry. Right? [01:44:30] Speaker A: That's actually very reassuring. And Blythe actually leads over to hugger dad. [01:44:36] Speaker D: Give her a big bear hug back. [01:44:39] Speaker A: I do miss you. [01:44:42] Speaker D: I miss you, too. [01:44:43] Speaker F: All right, I think with that, we are going to pop over to a different set of Irish parent and child. [01:44:54] Speaker B: Clint, Y. [01:44:57] Speaker F: You have a quiet moment with your mother. She is walking you away from the house, back toward the barn where the bodies were kept before they were collected. [01:45:09] Speaker B: Yeah. On the walk to the barn, it's not going to be too talkative, or Clint's not going to be too. Too eager right away, but as we get closer to it, it. He'll look at the Barn and kind of standing at the doorway. This is a lot of. A lot of really hard work, Mom. [01:45:31] Speaker F: Yes. [01:45:33] Speaker B: I mean, it's up to us to do it. So. I never. He gestures inside the. The barn, I. I never really got to. To run with her much or to work with her often. But I heard good things. I seen her do good stuff. Did. Did. Did Mara have a story or a legacy I can. Can learn from you? [01:45:57] Speaker F: She looks thoughtful. Mara Klein was mine. But not because she loved the killing field. She understood the part of war most fools find dull until saves them. The Held door, the warded wall, fire that doesn't spread. She made sure that Sanctuary meant something. Tell me about how you found her. [01:46:27] Speaker B: Well, her partner found us first. Lyra came and showed us the phone. I think I told you the basics. [01:46:36] Speaker F: So you did tell me about how you found Mara. [01:46:44] Speaker B: Mar, as I recall. Was. Is it above the table? I believe she's the one that was on the sigil when I found her. [01:46:52] Speaker F: Yeah, she was. [01:46:55] Speaker B: When we went into that house, we. We spouted all sorts of folks. And the one we determined to be Mara after the fact and was lying atop a sigil that she wrote a protective spell that got broken. She was clearly doing everything she could to protect folks in that house. She died on top of it. She's missing her heart. She's burned nearby beyond recognition, save for bits of her. But seeing her, you know, not her. As he gestures to the barn and then just vaguely outwards. But seeing her out here, she. She looks better. We found her doing her job. [01:47:46] Speaker F: That mark on the floor, the one that she was laying on top of. Was her last whale working. She wasn't pollen, flame, or weapon. She was denying it. The house was burning around her, and she was still trying to tell the fire no. And for a little while, at least, it seems like it listened. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been anything left. And then I assume that that's where the roots that were mentioned earlier came up. [01:48:12] Speaker B: Yes, ma'. Am. They. They were breaking through the floor, tearing up the floorboards, and destroying the room as she was making them. [01:48:23] Speaker F: That's what you should remember. Not the wolves that burst through the door, but the roots that pushed their way up through the floor. Something taught the earth to betray a threshold they'd established. Do you want to know how you honor her? [01:48:38] Speaker B: Yes, ma', am. I do. [01:48:39] Speaker F: You and your band, finish what she began. Take her notes. If any of them survived. Build a better safe house. Ward a door in her name. Speak the truth of where she Stood name what killed her. And if you find the heart they took from her, bring it home. But if you can't bring me her heart, you bring me the damn thing that ate it. [01:49:03] Speaker B: Do that. [01:49:05] Speaker F: I know you can. [01:49:06] Speaker B: It's. Learning about the. The lanterns was sort of a big deal for us. [01:49:14] Speaker F: So you all, you all have had some time away from the rest of scion society. You aren't as exposed as the. As the rest of them to what's been happening. I am sorry that finding your sister's body is how you were introduced to it. [01:49:37] Speaker B: Yeah, the first band weren't quite so. And then this one is. Yeah, a little bit different. So you're saying that this is what's been going on everywhere? Or is it just recently and locally? [01:49:51] Speaker F: Usually it's worse. Usually no one gets away, not unless they're found early. But generally, if the wolves show up, that means it's too late. [01:50:04] Speaker B: I mean, speaking of those wolves, you said it before and I mean, we talked about it briefly, but if we're not equipped to deal with Garm here now, if we're not ready, when will we be? Like, how. How do we come across this equipment or preparedness to deal with that thing? [01:50:25] Speaker F: Before he was let go, Garm was bound by enchanted chains. Chains that he was tricked into. That's the key to beings like him. You don't get to the point where you're ready or able to fight them. Well, you take advantage of circumstances. [01:50:44] Speaker B: So sort of like what we're planning to do with Gwen, we would trick and trap I. [01:50:51] Speaker F: And I suspect if he managed to get. Get Gwen off of the. Off of the battlefield, you might have more of a chance with Garm. [01:51:01] Speaker B: It sounds like we made the right choice. And focusing on Gwyn first. Now, at least there's that. [01:51:07] Speaker F: There's no right or wrong. But I think dealing with her first might help. Deal with him might certainly change his calculus. You have to. You have to remember the wolves that are not, well, they're not all terribly bright, but they're not. They're not like dogs. They're not blindly loyal all the time. They do calculate. Change the calculus for Karm. Make him question if this path is still worth going down. [01:51:40] Speaker B: Yeah, make it difficult and be an obstacle. [01:51:44] Speaker F: Right, like that. Similar, yes. [01:51:47] Speaker B: Okay. When we did fight Garm in the mall, all his wolves, they. Well, they weren't necessarily dog like, but like you're saying, they weren't blindly following me either. I could talk to them, kind of sort. I got their attention. I kept them from Being too incredibly violent. And then Mr. B, he cast some sort of spell. And then they became docile then too. If we were. I don't know, if we somehow [01:52:21] Speaker C: took [01:52:22] Speaker B: the reins over the. These Fenris wolves, the. These ones that are currently being led around by Gwen and this White Staff individual, would we perhaps be able to, you know, teach them to be better, to. To train them for different purposes? [01:52:41] Speaker F: The wolves? [01:52:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:52:44] Speaker F: I doubt it. At their core, they're still Titans. [01:52:48] Speaker B: F. Yeah, but isn't Lou lose? [01:52:53] Speaker F: And if you ever tell him I said this, you and I will have a problem. He's special in ways I can't explain without potentially mucking with fate. It's pain in my ass, to be fair. But [01:53:15] Speaker B: speaking of pains in the ass, is, you know, what is your relationship with Odin? [01:53:21] Speaker C: And. [01:53:21] Speaker B: And now that we got Blythe on our team, do you think. Do you think that balances out, us having Stefan in? [01:53:30] Speaker F: I won't speak to my relationship with the Al. Father. I'll tell you this about Blaid. If Odin sent her, he had a reason. Does it necessarily have to be a bad reason? The Alfather is nothing if not paranoid. Having a child of his closest to one of the people he sees as a potential. Potential enemy and a potential threat to him makes sense. [01:53:59] Speaker B: So it's all like measuring odds rather than measure and liking us and not liking us. [01:54:06] Speaker F: I suspect he's calculating. That way, if he. If he thinks you can be useful, he'll use you. If he thinks that you're going to be a threat, he'll find a way to destroy you. [01:54:18] Speaker B: That's kind of picking up. He a little cagey when it comes to giving out information. Hesitant with people like that. [01:54:28] Speaker F: He also likes to play along, like he knows more than he does. What he didn't mention in there when he was making snide comments about being the only one in the room who could read Fate, which is a load of fucking bollocks, is that their pantheon has a. A triple. A set of three women. The Norns. They're the true weavers of fate. For the Aesir, for all his gifts, and for all of his hanging himself from the world tree to try and see into the future. Nothing beats the Norns when it comes to the Aesir and their gifts of prophecy and fate. But the less he says, the more mysterious he sounds. [01:55:06] Speaker B: It is true. It did seem like he knew more than he was letting on. But you saying that for certain things, he's just really. That he's given us as much as he's got. [01:55:18] Speaker F: I suspect he knows more than he said. I'm just saying I think he might have painted himself to be a little bit more in tune with things that he actually was. [01:55:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:55:29] Speaker B: I mean, if you're supposedly this being of extreme intelligence and precognition, that would be a good idea to on airs, right? [01:55:39] Speaker F: That's the impression you want to make on people. A. Yeah. [01:55:46] Speaker B: Clint kind of pockets his hands and looks between the barn and his mom. Well, there's a. You know, between two office signed things. Mr. B has been different recently. Oh, he's. You know, he's been really into his books. I've always noticed that whenever you sent me out here the first time, he's been reading and paying attention to myths and stories and history, things that kind of come around and help us out. But past few weeks, he's been into his books a lot more and to the detriment of folks around him. I think he's kind of missing out on, you know, things happening, and he's. If you interrupt him, if you bring his attention to it, to just try and help him. Instead of him being his understanding and patient self early on, there's this bit of resistance, sort of a bite to him. [01:56:46] Speaker F: Now, well, if he seems on edge and a little more aggressive. There are gifts that some warriors in our pantheon get over time. Sometimes they have it from the beginning, but it's not. It's a gift. Some of my children have had, but not as many. You might want to talk to Lou before he leaves. Ask him to tell you about the restrade. [01:57:22] Speaker B: Okay. I can. Okay. You're saying it's a gift, but the way he's been, that's a gift and [01:57:30] Speaker F: a curse all at the same time, all sort of wrapped up in one, and it can leech into your personality. As for his time in his books and his tendency to bury himself in them, Mr. Bright, from what I've seen, armors himself in knowledge the way that you armor yourself in your companionships. [01:57:53] Speaker B: So it's more of a self soothing, comforting. [01:58:00] Speaker F: It's where he feels strongest. [01:58:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:58:03] Speaker F: That is not to say that I. That is not to say that he might not need companionship and you might have to just keep working at it. [01:58:10] Speaker B: Oh, I plan to. I'm still harassing them every time I see him. [01:58:15] Speaker F: I am not. I am not, as a rule. Well, Lou is the better one to talk to about matters like this. [01:58:26] Speaker C: All right. [01:58:27] Speaker B: Well, I do. I do have something that I think you'd be better suited for then. [01:58:34] Speaker F: And that is, well, [01:58:39] Speaker B: when we've been doing this, this work of the tasks, the, the going around talking to people, there's not a lot of knockdown, drag out fights. There's not a lot of reason for me to toss my spear. And I find that I'm pretty okay with that. I'm good at talking to people about, you know, their problems. I'm good at dealing with the afterlife and people who recently deceased who need help or guidance. We've got Ian on our side really helping out on that front too. And I find myself reaching out to a lot of folks to try and make sure that they're comfortable, that they're taken care of, that. That they feel the affection that they need, the food in their bellies, the, you know, well, say for one of our friends that, you know, they got clothes that keep them warm. But at times it feels like, you know, it's. It's like a one way process where you're just giving out all this energy to make sure folks are taken care of and then you just burn down, you know, like a, like a candle. You start losing your wax and the darkness just keeps getting darker. Just is that our job is just keep pushing on to keep burning to, to help these people, even if we're running on fumes. [02:00:02] Speaker F: In my experience, if you need something and it's not being, it's not your job to provide it. You need it from other people and they're not doing it. I just tell them that. [02:00:15] Speaker B: Don't, like, diminish your status as being the bringer of peace and comfort or whatever else you might be in charge of during that given day. [02:00:26] Speaker F: I am a God of prophecy and war and death. Do you think it diminishes my status when I go to Lugh and tell him that he needs to summon the armies? [02:00:38] Speaker B: Well, saying he needs to do something don't sound quite the same as can you please do it. [02:00:46] Speaker F: You think that being polite to your companion, to your companions, while also asking for what you need diminishes you? [02:00:54] Speaker B: I don't think being polite diminishes me, [02:00:56] Speaker F: but Clint Brazos, you're a member of the Twa' a De Dan, and that makes you royalty. You cannot be diminished by anything you do not allow to diminish you. Your status is not in question unless you're the one doing the questioning. And anyone who says otherwise will have to talk to me. [02:01:13] Speaker B: He gives a thin smile and mom, I'm not really worried about my status. I'm just a little tired. [02:01:23] Speaker F: Then tell your companions that you're tired and you need respite. You need them to shoulder some of the burdens that you've been taking on by yourself. They cannot fix problems they are unaware of. [02:01:35] Speaker B: But they can't talk to the dead. They can't see them. They can't help them like we can. [02:01:41] Speaker F: No, but you're asking them to help a member of the living. She'll gesture you. [02:01:46] Speaker B: Yeah, suppose I am. Okay, I'll wipe his face. All right, so we've got a lot of hard work ahead. We got to find some information and make some plans, especially regarding Gwen. I'll look for Mara's notes, see if we've got them anywhere. If not, does she have any friends I could reach out to to make sure. Make sure I carry on that legacy and maybe restart. Keep her. Her. The. The lanterns going. [02:02:21] Speaker F: She kind of draws a deep breath. Your companion, Blaid knows most psychopomps from most pantheons. My understanding is there's some sort of, I don't know, group discussion thing on their phones. Yeah, I talk to her. [02:02:41] Speaker B: Okay. [02:02:42] Speaker F: Most psychopomps are also related to death in some way. All right, well, I have a right, not a spell, but it's a way to. It's a way to announce where your sister was and who she was when she died. That I'd be. I could teach you. [02:03:06] Speaker B: I would learn it. [02:03:08] Speaker F: And she makes this gesture with her hand. And, like, literally out of thin air, in her hand is a pad of paper and another gesture, and she's got, like, this very, very, very nice, like, black fountain pen. And she lists off a list of items, which is ash from the safe house where Mara died. Salt, crow's feathers, iron nails. And then she gives you a list of steps to perform, one of them being, like, carve Mara's name on the threshold of the door. Make a promise. She's very, very careful to point out not a geish, but a promise that you will repeat her story and carry her legend with you as a way to honor her and her sacrifice. And that you will never, ever, ever use euphemisms for what happened to her. Her death wasn't clean and it wasn't quiet and it wasn't gentle. So don't talk about it like it was right. [02:04:32] Speaker B: It was very much violent and done in the work of duty. [02:04:36] Speaker F: It was. [02:04:37] Speaker B: I've got the steps. I've got a list of things to collect. I can do that. [02:04:42] Speaker F: As I said, it's not a spell. I'm sure your fellow. Your fellow Tuatha would be happy to go with you to do it. [02:04:52] Speaker B: Of course. The more. The more the merrier. I. [02:04:56] Speaker D: Okay. [02:04:57] Speaker B: Thank you for that. Clint is. As the instructions kind of wash over him. He's clearly taking notes, and, you know, that way he will remember this for later. But he's a little shell shocked. [02:05:10] Speaker F: You're all right. [02:05:11] Speaker B: I'm working on them all. You said I need to talk to Lou about it, so I'll talk to Lou about it. [02:05:16] Speaker F: So he might also be better at talking to. About the whole your needs not being is met. I do my best, but I know I'm not gentle, so I don't know [02:05:32] Speaker B: that I need gentle. I think I just need acknowledgement sometimes. [02:05:37] Speaker F: Well, I am here. [02:05:38] Speaker B: Yeah, you are. [02:05:39] Speaker F: Oh, you meant you. You meant from your companions. [02:05:43] Speaker B: Well, I mean from you, too, sometimes. I know that you've given it, and I may have missed it before. [02:05:49] Speaker F: Always punch them in the face. I've done that at least once to someone who wasn't listening. [02:05:56] Speaker B: I don't think I'll need to do that quite as much. I've already beat up on my friends once, and that was enough. [02:06:02] Speaker F: All right, well, I have it on good authority that Lou is currently. And she'll kind of look kind of down and to the side, like she's focused on something on the ground, enjoying the fruits of this fine place. He should be that way, on the other side of the orchard. [02:06:23] Speaker B: All right, well, I suppose I'll. I'll go visit with him. Hey, before I go, though. Mom. Look, I know I reach out a lot, that. That I can be a little overwhelming at times, that. Yeah, you. You already mentioned my needs are a little bit different, but I thank you. I don't know if it was necessarily by your choice or by chance that I'm here and he points to himself here. Not like Damon's farm, but you know me. But it's a lot better than what I used to be. And with you and hopefully Lou and with all my other friends now, I'm doing more. More than I ever could have imagined. And I just want to make sure that. That you hear that. I appreciate that. And I'm thankful for my station. It's a lot, but I'm going to keep working on it. [02:07:26] Speaker F: She kind of nods. As long as you continue to prove that you are worthy of it, he will continue to have it. [02:07:33] Speaker B: Yes, ma'. [02:07:33] Speaker F: Am. [02:07:35] Speaker B: I'll. I'll go talk to Lou now. Thanks for coming and visiting. Mom. [02:07:39] Speaker F: I. Go talk to your king. [02:07:42] Speaker B: Yes, ma'. [02:07:43] Speaker E: Am. [02:07:44] Speaker F: I'm gonna need a minute because I wasn't prepared for one on one with you and Lou. [02:07:51] Speaker B: I wasn't either. [02:07:53] Speaker A: So you asked him to do it? [02:07:57] Speaker F: Yeah. No, I mean, like prior. I wasn't. I wasn't prepared. [02:08:02] Speaker E: I am prepared at all times. [02:08:06] Speaker F: You don't have to control all the layout stuff, so I don't want to hear it. [02:08:11] Speaker E: I have people for that. [02:08:15] Speaker F: All right. [02:08:15] Speaker A: That's the people. [02:08:16] Speaker F: Okay. Clint walks away from his mother, wanders across the farm. Lou, [02:08:27] Speaker E: I didn't even know you could do that with a cherry stem. [02:08:34] Speaker F: Shortly after you walked away from your son, you were approached by a number of the lovely ladies who call the farm home. Why don't you tell Clint what he walks up on? [02:08:48] Speaker E: He does hear the word. I didn't even know you could do that with a cherry stem. And there's a lot of giggling going on. But presuming that Clint is not being particularly quiet, Lou will extricate himself. Now, as shirtless as his son, Clint Brazos, as I live and breathe [02:09:10] Speaker B: your kingship. [02:09:13] Speaker E: Your timing is lousy, but that's all right. [02:09:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I have a way of interrupting things when they're just about to get good. [02:09:23] Speaker E: Pretty naught. I bring the party with me. What's on your mind? [02:09:27] Speaker B: Oh, all sorts of things. You know, I just had a chat with mom. She said I should talk to you about a couple of things, actually. [02:09:35] Speaker E: Hey, just a second. Give me back my shirt. I am not my boy. [02:09:40] Speaker F: But I like it. [02:09:42] Speaker E: And you'll have it back later. Patience is a virtue. So they tell me. [02:09:48] Speaker F: Clearly, you haven't met Greeks. [02:09:49] Speaker E: I have. Now, if you'd excuse us for just a few moments. [02:09:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:09:56] Speaker F: The dryads will break up and go to wander the trees for a little while to give you privacy. But the one who had your shirt is pouting when you take it away. [02:10:03] Speaker E: That's. That's meander. Mr. Brazos, what's on your mind? [02:10:08] Speaker B: Yeah. As they walk on for just a few steps, mom told me I should talk to you. A couple of things first, you know. Really wanted to appreciate your support and you being out here to help us like this. There's something going on with Mr. Mr. B. Moodiness deep into his books. I mentioned it to mom, and she said that there's a gift or a curse or both, that [02:10:41] Speaker E: adolescence has finally hit him. [02:10:43] Speaker B: No, you know, I think he's already got hair on all the parts that are gonna get hair. [02:10:48] Speaker E: Sorry, you were saying? [02:10:50] Speaker B: Yeah, it's more something called a rheostrat. That's what mom called it. She said I should talk to you about it and that, you know, that it's not necessarily a bad thing. [02:11:06] Speaker E: It's. It's a complicated thing. [02:11:11] Speaker B: Yeah. She said it had something to do with warriors, and. I mean, Mr. B is a good fighter when you give him the chance. [02:11:20] Speaker E: I. Well, what. [02:11:23] Speaker B: What is the rheostra? [02:11:25] Speaker E: I apologize in advance. You have asked a question that the answer starts with. A story, literally means warp spasm, or battle frenzy. And the first person recorded to have it was a son of mine, Colen. He gets this sort of distant look on his face, sort of staring in the middle distance, and Clint can tell he's quoting something. The first warp spasm seized him and made him into a monstrous thing, hideous and shapeless, unheard of. His shanks in his joints, every knuckle and angle and organ from head to foot shook like a tree in the flood of the reed or stream. His body made a furious twist inside his skin so that his feet and shins switched to the rear and his heels and calves switched to the front. [02:12:22] Speaker B: His what did what now? [02:12:25] Speaker E: His body twisted around inside his skin. [02:12:27] Speaker B: Like backwards, is what it sounds like. [02:12:30] Speaker E: Aye. [02:12:31] Speaker B: That doesn't sound comfy. [02:12:34] Speaker E: It's not, but the pain is part of it. That's why it's a frenzy. [02:12:39] Speaker B: So it is. [02:12:43] Speaker E: Clint, I. I don't want you to take this wrong way. Have you ever been really angry? [02:12:48] Speaker B: Oh, sure. Yeah. [02:12:50] Speaker E: Like you were afraid you were gonna hurt someone sort of angry? [02:12:54] Speaker B: Well, yeah, but I had to walk away because I didn't want to hurt him. [02:12:59] Speaker E: Now imagine for a moment. I mean, you seen things where emotions can collect like pools, and in places in the overworld where they can become manifest like solid things. [02:13:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:13:20] Speaker E: Now imagine for a moment your anger. Your neighbor's anger. Anger of the people down the street. All the anger in Ireland, all the anger in England, all the anger in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa. All the anger everywhere, gathered up like a sun. To touch the warp rack is to draw just a sliver of that sun into yourself. And it burns. [02:13:45] Speaker B: Yeah. It's the sun. [02:13:46] Speaker E: If Oliver Bright has taken the restrade into himself, in attuning himself to the arts of. Of war, as his father teaches him. You know, you were talking earlier about it, and we had mentioned it, and it annoyed the hell out of Odin. You've seen the Avengers movies? [02:14:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I've seen a few of them. The first few. [02:14:10] Speaker E: You ever read any comic books? [02:14:13] Speaker B: Oh, all the time. I mean, whenever I was a little kid, you know, that we didn't really have tv, and my dad wasn't A big fan of the radio, so I'd sneak off and I'd buy like three or four comic books with my lunch money. I've read all sorts of them. [02:14:29] Speaker E: And so you're familiar with a character called the Incredible Hulk? [02:14:32] Speaker B: Well, yeah. He's big and green, mad all the time. Except for the other part of him. [02:14:38] Speaker E: It's something like that. [02:14:40] Speaker B: Oh, hold on then. So your story that you told and the connection you're making, usually if someone gets to that point of anger, even if they don't have the wrist rat, they're gonna be really hard to talk down. [02:14:58] Speaker E: They are incredibly hard to talk down. And how did the story end? As it happens, you do have most of the tool is you need to stop a standard rheastrade right here around you. Is that a pad of paper and a pen I see in your hand? [02:15:24] Speaker B: I can grab one. I've been jotting down a few things. And he'll pull out a little spiral from his back pocket. [02:15:31] Speaker E: Take this stone. Because what are the other things that Riastraat does? Much like a sun, it makes your skin burn. And your touch burns your enemies. At least it usually does. And the way you get someone to come back out of that frenzy is one, you have to cool them down. Water. Lots of it. And you're gonna boil that water away. [02:16:06] Speaker B: And lots of water. [02:16:09] Speaker E: And then usually the restrade, because it's anger and because it's a sort of primeval anger, it taps into your primeval impulses. So food. Lots and lots of food. [02:16:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:16:26] Speaker B: Everybody's gotta eat. And I imagine if you're angry and muscling around, you get pretty hungry. [02:16:32] Speaker E: That means. [02:16:32] Speaker B: Makes sense. [02:16:33] Speaker E: Okay, so you have water. You have got water. [02:16:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:16:37] Speaker E: Food and sex. [02:16:41] Speaker B: Clint lowers the notebook. What do you mean by that? [02:16:46] Speaker E: I mean that when three queens tried to bring Cuchulain out of his rrad, what they did was they laid out platters of food all around the. All around the lake. Then they climbed into that lake and, well, they invited him in by casting off their dresses. [02:17:08] Speaker B: He went in and cooled off and something like that. [02:17:12] Speaker D: Ay. [02:17:14] Speaker B: If your touch burns someone, I guess that's why they went into the water. [02:17:19] Speaker E: Aye. [02:17:20] Speaker B: Okay, so I need lots of water, I need lots of food. And I gotta fuck him. [02:17:27] Speaker E: You personally don't have to, but he's going to be overwhelmed by his appetites. [02:17:35] Speaker B: Clint writes down, don't personally have to sleep with Mr. B. I know he's got a squeeze. So I'll keep her on the phone [02:17:45] Speaker E: just in case that's Probably a good idea. However, I will note dryads. Lovely creatures. Slightly flammable. [02:17:56] Speaker B: Okay, so I'm probably going to have to sleep with him. Cuz I'm very durable. Okay. [02:18:02] Speaker E: You're a good friend, Clint Brazos. [02:18:05] Speaker B: Well, of course. It's my job. Speaking of it being a child, he'll close the notebook. I had a moment there with my mom where I may have expressed some exhaustion and frustration. And she said I should talk to you about that. [02:18:28] Speaker E: Frustration with what? [02:18:30] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I. I do a lot of, you know, talking to people. I do a lot of making sure that, you know, that they get what they need, that they're taken care of. They're that. Comfort, warmth, food, drink, all that important stuff, really. He waves the notebook. Taking care of Oliver when he goes to Rheostra. Only on a smaller level, but spread out on a much longer timetable and with a lot more people. But it kind of, you know, it feels like I'm putting a lot of energy out there and I'm having a hard time finding more energy to keep putting out there. She was saying, you know, rest and. And stuff like that. But then suggest that I talk to you more. [02:19:23] Speaker E: Well, so here's part of the thing about your mother. You remember what I said earlier about future seers and silliness? [02:19:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [02:19:34] Speaker E: Well, your mother has wandered into places and spaces no mind was meant to go. She is sometimes more of deity and less of humanity because of it. It's like a hurricane erupting volcano. And she lets herself be carried off more like a force of nature. And sometimes it makes it hard for her to relate to those of us who still cherish personal connections. That's why she sends you to me. She has been for as long as I've known her. [02:20:09] Speaker B: All right? [02:20:11] Speaker E: And it is a thing you should watch for in your friend Oliver. [02:20:16] Speaker B: How do I keep him from becoming her [02:20:22] Speaker C: man? [02:20:24] Speaker E: Given what you were saying earlier, I don't know how you're going to take this, but. But how much do you know about your. Your mother's husband? [02:20:30] Speaker B: Not a lot, to be honest. [02:20:32] Speaker E: The dad, also called the good God? [02:20:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:20:37] Speaker E: Is a bit of a big goof. He's wise. He is the master of Druidry. And he has also walked into an enemy camp with no pants on just to shock the fuck out of everyone. [02:20:53] Speaker B: So I should walk around without pants like Stefan walks around without a shirt? [02:20:58] Speaker E: The point is, he lives. He's a person. It's an awkward story, but once upon a time, one of Dagda's Boys I caught with my wife. And so I killed him. The Dagda immediately scooped up his boy and walked out into the world to find out how to bring him back. The Dagda has been a king of the Trois de Danan. And to be a king is to give of yourself. And it's hard. [02:21:41] Speaker B: She did say I was royal. [02:21:44] Speaker E: The Aesir have a euphemism for monarchs. Ring giver. Because it is expected that out of the plenty that a monarch has, he will give to his people. And it's not easy. But I tell you the tell you the thing I hope you'll remember. And then I tell you the thing I think you're likely to remember. The thing I hope you'll remember is that as you're caring for everyone else around you, you must count yourself in that as well. So you worry about what Oliver needs, what Stefan needs, what Blaid needs, what Andre needs. Don't leave yourself off that list. [02:22:26] Speaker B: Oh, wait. It's not like selfish or self centered to. [02:22:32] Speaker E: To care about yourself. No, boy, it isn't. It is not selfish. It is not diminishing. And it does not make you less for you to care about yourself. [02:22:46] Speaker B: And. No, I think I get it. But you got me curious too. What did you think I was gonna remember instead of taking care of myself? [02:23:02] Speaker E: And he reaches out and takes both of Clint's cheeks in his hands. Says, I see. I treasure what you are doing for my son and for this band and for this world. You're doing very well. [02:23:20] Speaker B: I'm trying my best. Sorry if your hands get wet. And Clint is doing his best. [02:23:29] Speaker E: Come here, moron. And he gives him a hug. [02:23:32] Speaker B: And that is the tightest hug that Clint has given. He is squeezing for all he's got. [02:23:38] Speaker E: He lets it go until Clint goes to break it. And then, just as he does, he whispers into Clint's ear. And you might consider calling Cordelia when you get a chance. [02:23:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll. I'll do that tonight. Hey, Louis. [02:23:53] Speaker E: Hey. [02:23:54] Speaker B: You're a real one. Thank you. [02:23:56] Speaker E: Of course I am. I'm your king. [02:23:58] Speaker B: That you are. [02:23:59] Speaker E: And a king gives to his people. Now I'm gonna go explore the foliage. You be good. [02:24:08] Speaker B: I'll do my best. [02:24:10] Speaker E: Your best is good enough. Anyone says different, they'll have to go through me. [02:24:15] Speaker B: Thanks, dad. I mean Lou. [02:24:17] Speaker E: Go on. [02:24:19] Speaker B: And Clint will walk away wiping his face. [02:24:23] Speaker F: Lou wanders off to explore the foliage. Which is a lovely euphemism, frankly. And our rescions. Blaidd, what are you doing after. [02:24:38] Speaker A: After Odin leaves first I'm moving a mattress to the. The greenhouse. Oh, they know what they did. I mean, the girls will find their way there. [02:24:51] Speaker F: Sure. Okay. [02:24:53] Speaker A: I don't want them in the house. [02:24:55] Speaker F: And you don't really get a choice. You don't live here. I live here enough. You sleep here? On occasion. They live here. [02:25:04] Speaker E: Oh, don't mind us, Ms. Shang. I promise we'll not be so noisy that you can't have a conversation. [02:25:10] Speaker F: As Lou is being led up the stairs by a number of dryads. [02:25:15] Speaker E: You are all very strong. That's amazing. [02:25:20] Speaker A: Blaid looks tired. And then after her dad leaves, she's gonna give him another hug. But she's going to pop off to the other side of the world for a bit. And when the. The boys are ready, I think they will find the den it's probably in when evening rolls around, they'll find the den has just been filled with, like, takeout boxes. Almost everything is fried. There is some. There are like, some soups and things as well, but it is enough to feed probably the whole house and then some if the dryads ate. And it all is, like, steaming hot. And like, it's all steaming hot. And the projector is set up for just some trash television. [02:26:16] Speaker F: Excellent. Stefan, what did you do after your father wandered away? You have a few hours before you walk in to find this delightful dinner. [02:26:25] Speaker C: Ah, a dryad. [02:26:26] Speaker F: Noted. Okay, cool. Clint? Same, I'm assuming. [02:26:32] Speaker B: I mean, kind of. [02:26:33] Speaker F: Or do you want to just go, like. Do you want to go, like, cuddle with Mellie? [02:26:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's gonna be care time. [02:26:40] Speaker F: Okay. [02:26:41] Speaker B: Yeah. It's been drilled into him plenty enough. He's gonna go. [02:26:47] Speaker F: Clint goes and gets, like, a massage and she plays with his hair, and he gets to take a nap. And then in the evening, as everybody sort of wanders back in because it's dark out and it's, you know, Blaidd has set up like, an awesome kind of like, night in with trash movies and great food. Or trash TV and great food. [02:27:09] Speaker A: Any day we host our parents is a night that we get to take off. [02:27:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Something about self care being important, Right? [02:27:20] Speaker A: Yeah. I actually have one other thing for me, and I need you to not [02:27:22] Speaker B: be weird about it. Oh, I can't promise that. [02:27:26] Speaker A: And Blythe, like, steps forward, and it is a full Wednesday Addams. But she does hug Clint really hard. [02:27:36] Speaker B: And then Clint will hesitantly wrap his arms around Blythe and hug. What is this from? [02:27:46] Speaker A: It's from my dad. [02:27:48] Speaker B: Oh. Well, tell him he gives really good hugs. [02:27:52] Speaker A: Everything here, I. I popped over to a hawker center that I really like. I do need to sit down. But everything here is really fresh, and at least half of some of these places are essentially Michelin star qualities. So, you know. And she just gestures to the food. [02:28:13] Speaker B: Oh, hell yeah, we're gonna eat. So good. Thank you, Blood. [02:28:18] Speaker F: And it is around this time that you guys hear. Guys. [02:28:26] Speaker A: Hi, David. [02:28:27] Speaker F: Why is there a really potent bottle of something on the table? And Damon is standing there with the bottle the. That Lou brought in that everybody forgot about that's missing. [02:28:39] Speaker A: And that's also from Lou. Oh, he's still upstairs, technically. So he hasn't left. [02:28:45] Speaker F: Did he mention what this is? [02:28:47] Speaker C: No. [02:28:47] Speaker B: Try and find out. [02:28:49] Speaker C: Alcohol. [02:28:50] Speaker A: BL gives grabby hands. [02:28:54] Speaker F: Now, if he traded this for one of the apples, that means it's powerful. We're going to figure out what it is before we go. Take him down. Drinks. [02:29:02] Speaker A: Big sad eyes. [02:29:03] Speaker F: What? It could be as strong as the apples. You really want to waste it on a. On a night in or do. [02:29:08] Speaker A: You might have said it was me. [02:29:12] Speaker F: Let me look into it. And if it turns out to be, you know, just really potent alcohol, then fine. But if it has special properties, we're going to save it for, you know, when you guys are potentially trying not to get your hearts eaten out. Okay. [02:29:25] Speaker A: A piece of sticky tofu goes flying at Damon. [02:29:30] Speaker F: He catches it in his mouth. Thank you. Oh, you whore. And people walk away. [02:29:36] Speaker B: Let's say we pop this thing open anyways. Just give it a little sniff. We can tell. [02:29:42] Speaker F: Literally has the bottle in his hand. When he walks. [02:29:47] Speaker B: Clint turns to the table. It's gone. Oh, a bit too late. [02:29:53] Speaker A: On from the, like, not having. Without even getting up from the pillow nest. Blythe will pop into the kitchen and grab something else. Then I'm sure we have whiskey. [02:30:02] Speaker F: There is plenty of stuff. There's wine. There is whiskey. There's all kinds of stuff in the kitchen. Daemon is just, you know, Cautious. [02:30:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:30:10] Speaker F: Crazy. He has to risk his life often enough to go get divine apples. If a God thought that whatever he brought was worth that kind of a trade, then he's pretty sure it's not normal, right? [02:30:22] Speaker A: Blythe reappears with just the largest bottles she can find and a large punch bowl and whatever juice is in the fridge. [02:30:35] Speaker F: Oh, no. [02:30:36] Speaker A: We're basically a sorority. We're doing jungle juice. [02:30:38] Speaker F: Oh, God. Okay. [02:30:40] Speaker A: Any objections? I don't hear any. [02:30:42] Speaker B: Don't think so. [02:30:44] Speaker F: The dryads who are taken are happy to join you. Some of the others who are who didn't necessarily make it into the party because the bedroom that Lu is in is only so big, will also join you. Damon goes and stores the bottle of mead away and then eventually comes and joins you once he's sure that it is in a place where y' all can't find it or at least can't get to it, and you are able to have a lovely evening in. Are there any conversations that you guys [02:31:11] Speaker B: would like to have between each other? I mean. I mean, shield we all. We all got to get to know our parents. Blythe. I understand a little more about why you are the way you are, Stefan. I'm glad you're hearing folks. Be proud of you. You need it. [02:31:30] Speaker A: Wait, what's that supposed to mean? [02:31:31] Speaker B: You got a weird dad. [02:31:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:31:34] Speaker A: What's that supposed to mean? [02:31:36] Speaker B: Look, when we asked questions of our parents, they gave us answers and directness, and they were like, look, you shouldn't ask about fate. It's bad for you. But whenever you started asking your dad stuff, it was like. Well, I could say, well, technically speaking. And a lot of evasiveness. I mean, like, how he is all the time. [02:32:00] Speaker A: Hard to say. A lot of. I try really hard to take after my dad, and part of that is figuring things out on our own. It's very likely that more than anything, he just wants to make sure that that's what we do. [02:32:19] Speaker B: How incredibly helpful. [02:32:23] Speaker A: He gave me you. He gave you me, me, you. [02:32:28] Speaker D: Yep. [02:32:28] Speaker B: He gave me you. Or you made it. [02:32:30] Speaker C: You are welcome. [02:32:32] Speaker A: He's trying to be helpful. This is it. [02:32:35] Speaker B: Well, he has an interesting way of helping. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate it. It's just a strange individual. Now, that said you got to meet my mom, and she told me to go and find emotional support in MCcking, so. [02:32:52] Speaker C: Yeah, he's kind of good at that. [02:32:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:32:56] Speaker A: King has entertaining himself right now upstairs. [02:33:02] Speaker B: Yeah, he's a little bit busy. [02:33:04] Speaker A: Right? Did he give you good advice? [02:33:07] Speaker B: Yeah, he did. I'm. I'm gonna go make a phone call here in a few minutes, but right now, I'm gonna live it up with y'. [02:33:18] Speaker C: All. [02:33:18] Speaker B: I miss. I miss Oliver. And I hope he's doing good. I know Andre's being out there, resourceful and smart. I miss him. [02:33:26] Speaker A: Well, when we pick them up, we'll make sure that they get the self care notice, and we'll figure it out. [02:33:34] Speaker C: Maybe we save a bit of this alcohol form, in whatever form you it up with all that juice. [02:33:42] Speaker A: I'll go shot for shot with you right now. [02:33:45] Speaker B: I bet you won't. [02:33:47] Speaker F: Blows shots. Oh, my God. Blythe is going to join Tuatha House 2.0. [02:33:53] Speaker A: I'm not joining Tuatha House. You can't make me. [02:33:57] Speaker B: As you actually agreed. [02:34:00] Speaker A: No, this is Daemon's house. It's Decathion, if anything else. [02:34:04] Speaker F: If anything. Where's Damon? I mean, Daemon is right there, but he's also a child of Dionysus. He could go shot for shot with all of human you. Like, you could add up everything that you guys do and he could do all of that. He'd be fine. But you know that as part of being the. The child of that particular God, I would like everybody to make me a fortitude check, please. [02:34:36] Speaker A: I'm gonna die. [02:34:37] Speaker C: I'm. I'm well rounded. Oh, no. Oof. [02:34:40] Speaker B: What a 29. [02:34:44] Speaker F: Please keep that. Please keep it. Blood. That's so fucking perfect. I'm going to walk into the sea. [02:34:51] Speaker C: You know what? [02:34:52] Speaker F: I've rolled twice this game. Are you going to reroll it or no? No, I'm not going to reroll it. [02:35:00] Speaker A: You are going to give me a [02:35:01] Speaker F: hero point for having Asian glow. I mean, that's fine. Your hero points reset at the end of the session anyway, so take your mirror point for the next five minutes. So Blythe says she will go shot for shot with you. Damon looks amused at the idea, but he does join in with the drinking just so that he's not being weird about it. Blythe is white girl wasted in the first 20 minutes. [02:35:34] Speaker A: She does go shot for shot, though. [02:35:36] Speaker F: She goes pretty for shot, but she is so white girl wasted. And then. And she gets Asia Glow on top of it. It's a wild time there. There is more than one time, Stefan, where you, like, you're not super thrilled about the idea of having to touch her, but she will go to stand up to say something, and she will nearly topple onto you. So you sort of have to put a hand up just to stop her from leaning. Stefan manages to go for a couple of hours before it's too much for even him. Clint lasts a good long while. [02:36:13] Speaker B: Very drunken phone call. [02:36:15] Speaker F: Literally, the only person in the room who makes it longer than Clint is David. But that shouldn't surprise anybody. [02:36:22] Speaker A: Well, of course we should call all of them. Oliver. We should call Oliver and Andre. [02:36:29] Speaker B: Y' all call them. I'm. I'm gonna go. Like I said, I gotta go make a call. [02:36:37] Speaker F: Blythe. [02:36:38] Speaker A: Yes. [02:36:39] Speaker F: When you stumble up to the spare bedroom that you usually use when you were Here, when you were not cuddled up with Damon, on your pillow is a. A piece of paper and a. A like a rune stone style thing. What you realize the Runestone is, because you've seen these before, is effectively like a hall pass that allows someone to make their way into one of the other. Other worlds that are controlled by the Aesir. Kind of as a. Hey, Odin says be nice. So it's effectively. It's effectively like a. Like a safe passage into. Into the underworld. No promises as to how things go once you get there, but nobody will try and stop you from going [02:37:40] Speaker D: on. [02:37:41] Speaker F: The paper is a. Is a step by step, step by step instructions on how to perform a ritual. And this ritual will allow you to dreamwalk. And effectively what this is, is. Effectively what this is, is this is a gift from daddy that makes it so that you don't have to put in as much time to do the research on a ritual. You will still have to cast it and you'd still have to be successful, but you don't have to do the research. It's already there for you. [02:38:09] Speaker A: Hell yes. [02:38:13] Speaker F: Clint. [02:38:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:38:14] Speaker F: You're making. [02:38:16] Speaker B: I am king. Daddy told me that I should follow up on my existing relationship, so I' ma do just that. [02:38:25] Speaker F: Okay. [02:38:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:38:26] Speaker B: After a real long night of drinking with my friends, it's time to make that drunken phone call. [02:38:31] Speaker F: Well, thankfully you guys went. You. You and Damon especially went well into the night. So it's like. Like two or three in the morning your time, which means that it's actually morning in Ireland. [02:38:40] Speaker A: So. [02:38:42] Speaker F: Phone rings, rings a couple of times, and then eventually a voice picks up. Hello. [02:38:48] Speaker B: Hey, good morning. How you doing? [02:38:52] Speaker F: Well, hey, Clint. Haven't heard from you in a bit. [02:38:55] Speaker B: It has been a minute. I've been trying to reach out here and there, but we get all sorts of busy. Sorry about that. [02:39:02] Speaker F: I understand it's been pretty similar here. Lots going on. [02:39:07] Speaker B: Yeah. How so? [02:39:10] Speaker F: Well, I. I'm. I run the bar. I manage the Passage to Magma for those who don't have psychopomp to get them there. And I'm part of the band that's trying to make inroads into figuring out what to do about the wolves. They're certainly making it hard for us to manage the fomorian issue. So, [02:39:33] Speaker B: yeah, we did kind of hear about them wolves making a big old mess about that place. You said you're managing the Passage there. Like a lot of people going there at the moment. [02:39:45] Speaker F: Well, yeah, because we're trying to deal with the wolves, so people need to get there and get back. And I'm one of the only people who know knows reliably, exactly where the point is and when to step. You remember you had to. You had to walk off the cliff. [02:40:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I remember. I remember Lucas was having a heck of a time dealing with it, and he had all sorts of allergies. Wait. This feels somewhat important. [02:40:13] Speaker F: What? Us. [02:40:15] Speaker B: If you're keeping track of things going in the middle, Magma and the wolves, [02:40:20] Speaker F: and I'm keeping track of Scions. I can't figure out how the wolves are getting there. They're not taking the passage that we usually take. [02:40:28] Speaker B: Hey, well, then how would. How would someone get to Magma without using your place? [02:40:34] Speaker F: She pauses for a minute. I. I don't entirely know. That's part of why I'm doing what I do. Was there anything in particular you needed? Yeah, sorry, I don't mean to rush it, but. [02:40:48] Speaker B: No, it's like, got an appointment I've [02:40:51] Speaker F: got to get to soon, so. [02:40:53] Speaker B: No, no, it's cool. I got what I needed. [02:40:56] Speaker F: All right. [02:40:58] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like. It's like three or so over here, so. It's been a long night. I'm a bit. [02:41:07] Speaker F: You sound a bit tosty. [02:41:09] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I was with my friends and we were. I talked to mom today and talked to Lou, and it has been a day. [02:41:20] Speaker F: That's a couple of big names. [02:41:22] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, well, we had Odin here, too. [02:41:27] Speaker F: SHE whistles yeah, it was wild. That must have been a tense room. [02:41:34] Speaker B: It was. It got draining. And I tried talking to people about it being draining and. And, you know, I got. I got informed that I should probably take, you know, care of myself. And I figure, what better way of doing that and follow the advice of the king himself, who says, you know, hey, Clint, you got really good people who care about you and who. Who are out there doing important stuff. You should. You should, you know, do. Be good boy. Do your thing. And so I got to hear your voice, and that's helping a lot. [02:42:07] Speaker F: Well, I'm glad I can be helpful. Listen, I've. I've got a doctor's appointment I've got to get to, but I realized when you called, I didn't have your number in my phone, so why don't you text me a picture so that I can update your contact card? [02:42:23] Speaker B: The audible grin is clear through his drunkenness. Oh, I'll send you a picture. [02:42:30] Speaker C: All right. [02:42:30] Speaker B: Okay. I'll make sure. Sure you remember me. [02:42:35] Speaker F: Try to at least have some of your clothes on. [02:42:37] Speaker B: Ah, some blanket counts right here. [02:42:40] Speaker C: Hold on. [02:42:41] Speaker B: And Clint will send a very sloppy selfie of himself in bed with a lamp on, just sprawled, half covered. [02:42:52] Speaker F: No one has any. No one has any business looking that good. Three sheets to the wind or. [02:42:58] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I got two more sheets, so maybe that's helping it out. [02:43:03] Speaker F: All right, I'll talk to you later, Clint. [02:43:07] Speaker B: You got it. I look forward to it. And I can't wait. [02:43:11] Speaker F: Drink some water and get some sleep. [02:43:13] Speaker B: You too. Have fun at your appointment. I'll call you later. [02:43:18] Speaker F: And she. She hangs up. [02:43:22] Speaker B: Clint falls asleep. Sleep with the screen still on her conversation. [02:43:29] Speaker F: Thank you for listening to Apotheosis A Mutants and Masterminds Actual play by Hallowed Haven Studios Jamming for this actual play is provided by Bloodied Porcelain. Andre Briscoe is played by Solomon Blythe Zhang is played by Clara Allison. Clint Brazos is played by Gavin Cash. Oliver Bright is played by Gary. Stefan Vargar is played played by Heretic. This episode guest starred Bookkeeper as Lou, God of the Tawaha de Danan Alreg as Dolgrim, Mayor of Anvil. Our intro Music is by CK Martin. Our art is by OVA who can be [email protected] let's go spaceman. Our editing is by Viren. It.