I'm Worth This

0:00:00 Brennan: Hello one and all and welcome back to another thrilling episode, of Dimension 20: Pirates of Leviathan. I'm your humble dungeon master Brennan Lee Mulligan. With me as always are Buccaneer Buddies. Say hi, Buccaneer Buddies.

0:00:11 Buccaneer Buddies: [mostly in sync] Hi Buccaneer Buddies!

0:00:14 Brennan: That was close. The Skype actually kind of worked on that one. I think we did it!

0:00:19 B. Dave: It only takes seven takes, we are there! [Laughs in unison]

0:00:25 Brennan: Gang, last we left our piratical pals off they were deep in the heart of the Gold Gardens, the premier houses of fortune and pleasure run by the Impresarix Garthy O'Brien. Deep within the Galleyard district of the Leviathan. Our heroes had found themselves with firsthand knowledge of a conspiracy to destroy Leviathan itself. Combining a deific artifact known as the Daughter of Storms with the ability to control the weather. A group of captured tieflings who seem to be currently alive but without their very souls and also heaps and heaps of insurance paperwork! Gang, it's as fiendish as it can get here in Leviathan. And our heroes have found themselves once again, here at the Gold Gardens, after thwarting an element of the ritual deep within the Sternwood. There was a confrontation between [Langley voice] Mr. Langley Sheffield-Harrington, the Lord merchant of the Crescent Moon Trading Company, [Alamaria voice] the wicked spellcaster and druid of storms Alamaria and [high-class voice] Lieutenant Clive Mardres, or as he was formerly known [pirate voice] Clive McDoon, first mate of Late Bloomer and the best friend of captain Jack Brakkow. Having faced off against Clive, Marcid the Typhoon, having almost killed Alamaria and faced off against his former employer, Langley. Bob having saved her best friend Trixie and rooted all these different merchant marines to the ground. Calling lightning from Myrtle who managed to see this other spellcaster there in the thick of combat. Cheese grabbed the Daughter of Storms, lost it again, as Langley and them vanished. Leaving their soldiers to face off against the sort of heroes here. With a T-Rex in an eyepatch and tricorn hat charging out of the Woodline. Our younger heroes, Sunny Biscotto managed to grab the Mutineer’s Bell, throwing the ritual off and causing these leaders, of the Crescent Moon Trading Company to flee. Fusing the belt to her hand, killing some people with it, her first taste for blood, but thwarting the ritual. And Cheese managed to jump into the lake, appear astrally in the midst of the spell itself, where he made contact with his brother Spaulding trapped in the roots. Cheese was able to use his appearance within the confines of the spell to allow some infernal presence deep into the Mutineer’s Bell, stopping the fire on it. All you saved the tieflings here got to the Gold Gardens, where Garthy O'Brien welcomed you into their establishment’s warm embrace, getting you all drinks, food, and telling you that after a nice rest in some rooms, gratis due to the generosity of the Impresarix of the Gold Gardens. You all get a long rest and on the morrow, you would figure out what the hell is going on. Before that following morning though, we cut to after Garthy's speech, they walk away. Is there any business for our piratical pals to take care of that evening before getting that much desired long rest?

0:04:04 Carlos: Cheese just, I mean, he's not, he looks around the room and all the people having a good time and it's kinda just like all in slow motion for him. And he's just like, not even taking it in, it might as well just be shadows on the wall. He takes the soda that was offered to him or the [air quotes] pop [laughs] that was offered to him. And just like....like finds his way to his room, closes the door like, looks at this giant room, like three times the size of his own room cause he's so tiny. Gets a little overwhelmed and just like goes into the closet. And like takes his brother's coat out, puts it up against the wall and just kinda like, curls up, puts the soda on the floor and just like, stares at like the black liquid that's in the glass. And he remembers what he saw, both in his vision and when he saw his brother. The black liquid, what his brother said about the pilgrimage, about his parents, the gnomes, the skip, the thorn coast, the Briar wall, like he remembers it all. And he just like, kinda just starts whimpering to himself and pulls the sleeve of his brother's coat over him. So it kind of looks like his brother's like holding him in that closet. And like that's it. Krystina puts a hand over her heart and makes a sad noise.

0:05:35 Brennan: Cheese, you drift off into fitful sleep and remember in your dreams and these are not prophetic dreams, these are not oracular dreams, these are a little bit sadder perhaps in that they are just dreams of real memories. You remember growing up, Spaulding was you know, probably I would say about six years older than you. He was always a helpful, heroic, powerful figure in your life and just the best older brother you could ask for. And you remember him going off on the skip, going on the pilgrimage. You remember the day where he looked at you smiled, left his coat and hat and said,

0:06:33 Spaulding: Oh no, down by the coast of the Nightmare King's forest, it's super warm. I'm not gonna need this. You hang on to it for me, okay?

0:06:40 Brennan: And you see him getting down on one knee and looking and being like,

0:06:44 Spaulding: But I don't want you to be scared. Look, this is an honor. Not a lot of Gnomish kids from Cannoncourt get the chance to go. The sea water that we harvest from those roots, that's money for years, that's money for mom and pop, that's money we could use to send you to Crow's Keep. You could learn real wizardry, you wouldn't have to be scrounging around for scraps. One trip and that's got us set for life, pal. So yeah, look, it's risky. Not every gnome comes back from the pilgrimage. Not every gnome gets to the roots and back, but I'm not every gnome, you're going to see me again real soon. All right, kid?

0:07:36 Carlos: I think Cheese is really worried, but Spaulding has never lied to him before. So he has like, no idea not to trust what exactly he's saying and his brother is his hero. So like he completely believes that he will be back and fear is a thing that Cheese has and it's Cheese's problem. But like no one else feels that.

0:08:05 Cheese: Okay, but you come back and when you do, we will celebrate and we'll hang out. You don't have to do any… I don't need to go there. I can be a pirate. I can be tough. You don't need to pay for any of this stuff.

0:08:28 Brennan: Spaulding looks away and you see a little bit of the weight on him. The fact that your mother and father sort of venerate Spaulding and give you a hard time because of your obsession with magic. You see he's understanding. He has that older brother look of understanding things about the world that are going to elude you for a while yet. And he says,

0:09:08 Spaulding: Cheese, I don't doubt that you could be a pirate and I don't doubt that you could be a wizard. I don't even doubt that you could be both if you wanted to be. But... a lot of people in this world don't get the way laid out for them. No one's rolling the carpet at their feet. No one's throwing flowers in front of their steps. And I just know that you're going to do great things and it's not a hassle for me, it's not a burden for me to look out for you. That's what I wanna do and I'm gonna do it because, I know you're gonna lead a great life and do great things, no matter if I help you or not, but if I can just make it just a little bit easier. And I don't think there's anything more worthwhile for me to do. [sniffles] This is hard enough, kid. Making me cry on my way out the door.

0:10:26 Brennan: As he wraps an arm around you and gives you a noogie on your head for a second.

0:10:31 Cheese: I cry all the time.

0:10:35 Carlos: And Cheese is actually happy now. Him actually shedding a tear, makes Cheese happy. His invincible brother and the one trait that he sees, like he never sees across anyone. The one trait that Cheese has that like, no one… It seems as though no one on Leviathan has this trait. Cheese sees it for the first time and like, he lights up.

0:11:00 Cheese: Oh, okay. Well, when you come back...

0:11:04 Carlos: And he like puts on the hat and he puts on his coat, that's just like way too big is just like,

0:11:07 Cheese: This is going to fit me!

0:11:10 Brennan: [laughs sadly] Spaulding smiles. The dream fades to you watching like the Gnomish cutter ship, this like, small Gnomish frigate, take off sailing for the coast of the nightmare forest. This incredibly dangerous mission to retrieve this very powerful substance. You know that there, it’s a scary forest, the trees themselves seem to want to repel those who would come and seek the secrets of that haunted magic forest. But gnomes do come back from this trip, just not all of them and the ship returns without Spaulding. [melancholic music] And then the next ship leaves and comes back and they haven't found him. The next and the next and your parents weep and wail and give you a look. Their cruel eyes as though they know which of their sons still remained here with them. And in the horror of this dream and the pain you have carried in your brother's absence. The dream ends, not with your brother's face from memory, but your brother's face from visions, from the burning lake. From the fire and the water and the magic mixed together, him trapped under the roots, looking at you and saying,

0:12:42 Spaulding: It's a con.

0:12:44 Brennan: And you don't know how, you don't know why, but you know, your brother is still out there and this is not something that happened to him. It was something that was done to him. For everyone else in the Gold Gardens. [laughs] Does anyone else get up to any shenanigans that night in the Gold Gardens before waking?

0:13:15 Aabria: Myrtle has decided that the martini glass is now her home and has forced servants to carry her around in it. And she is… Every time she's given a new drink, she burns a ritual Identify spell to figure out what's in it, promises that she's gonna remember so she can make it later, then forgets and does the whole thing again. [laughing loudly]

0:13:39 Brennan: You see, there's a dwarven bartender down there shaking things up, sort of brawny looking, but like… Very charismatic, his beard. He's got like a big handlebar mustache that compliments the long beard. So he like shaves the sides of his cheeks so the beard just comes down straight from the chin and you get the handlebar mustache. Shaking the thing, got like a leather sleeveless vest on. He looks up and goes,

0:14:08 Bartender: You know, ma’am, I can just tell you what's in the drinks. You don't have to cast your spell on it.

0:14:12 Myrtle: [movements loose from liquor] No, you do your magic, I do mine. [throws a drink back] [laughing softly]

0:14:16 Bartender: Well that’s very kind of you to call it magic like that, there is sort of a witchcraft with your drink. And it's just, I like that you’re downing those drinks rather fast. I have a heavy hand, but you seem like a lass that likes a heavy pour herself.

0:14:34 Myrtle: You get me, you get me.

0:14:36 Aabria: And she's getting drunker and I think she's like actually smiling and relaxing, 'cause she's forgotten to keep her edgy girl veneer up. [laughs cheekily] She's just kind of vibing now, like flirting with this bartender. Like,

0:14:48 Myrtle: [points at the bartender] You keep pouring, and you come hang out with me and this glass.

0:14:52 Bartender: [laughs] Ooh, a little dip into the martini.

0:14:54 Myrtle: You'll be my little olive. I'm gonna call you Olive.

0:14:57 Olive: Just call me Olive as much as you like, just call me.

0:15:00 Brennan: And you see, you're having a great time. It feels very good. You also realize that because of the sort of sanctum, that the Gold Gardens is crafted into. There's a little bit less heat on you right now because Garthy is kind of walling off divine eyes, like divinity can't necessarily see in here. So you're kind of, off the clock for the first time in a little while. Who else is left in the common room right here in the Gold Gardens, if anybody.

0:15:34 Marisha: I just go up to Bob and I say,

0:15:37 Sunny: I promised Tulwar I would protect you so, I'll stay wherever you stay.

0:15:45 Bob: Do you wanna do something really fun?

0:15:48 Sunny: Ah, let me think. Yes!

0:15:52 Bob: Do you know what I was thinking? So we've got all of these costumes, right? Because we do performances on the stage so everyone has to wear different things. I didn't know if you're very familiar with what we do here, but we are... entertainers. So I was thinking maybe we could dress you up and you could… [gasps] We could turn you into a pirate for real.

0:16:18 Sunny: [gasps] Yeah, yeah, let's do it. Oh my gosh, let's do it.

0:16:25 Krystina: [in her normal voice] And I like to imagine, I have to paint this picture for just a second. I like to imagine, that they walk into the room and [speaking like Bob] I put on my fabulous robe and it's covered and it's got a little bit of fur on the sides, but I made sure it's not aarakocra in the feathers 'cause I didn't want to be rude to my friend. So I go in and put on this robe and I feel like a fairy godmother because I'm about to dress her up. And then we just start to pluck and to primp and just brush.

0:16:53 Bob: Oh and this one and that one. Oh, [giggles] it's so much fun. You've got great bone structure. It's amazing what your cheeks do naturally. We don't even have to like, accentuate.

0:17:07 Sunny: Thank you. that's the cartilage from my beak. Yeah, it works great.

0:17:14 Brennan: [laughs] You, by the way, Bob's chambers, there is a structure in the campus that is this massive wooden building that has been carved to look like a smiling happy goblin covered in gold jewelry. So it's like a large house, but see, it's smiling. It almost looks like a religious statue. It's very rotund and happy and smiling and the eyes are these two huge sort of dodecahedron bay windows. Inside of which Bob's quarters are this like a lustrous… Bob's quarters look like a whole hotel unto itself. There's like multiple closets filled with clothes, huge bays of mirrors. A beautiful bed, a sofa. It's like covered in diaphanous and different lace. You see that there's a little scrying pool with a series of mirrors, Bob that's where you can kind of magical FaceTime with your angelic mother or, and your bardic father, way off on the waves wherever he is. And all covered there's just like hanging braziers of beautiful sweet-smelling herbs and incense, a whole shelf of crystal perfumed decanters. There appears to be a rotating tinkling chandelier, but you realize it's just a feather boas conveyor belt with like a hundred different feather boas moving around. Krystina claps and squeals in delight.

0:18:41 Brennan: This place is the most gorgeous living place you've ever seen in your life. I'm gonna say that also there, a bellhop in a red velvet thing with gold brocade and a little bit sort of strapped fez bellhop hat on a hotel, dolly wheels Myrtle's martini glass in here as well.

0:19:00 Marisha: [laughs] Yes.

0:19:05 Myrtle: It's amazing. [to Sunny] You look amazing!

0:19:08 Sunny: Thank you, it was all Miss Bob. Oh man, this is the most incredible place I've ever seen. Why would you ever leave this room?!

0:19:17 Myrtle: [admiring the room] Oh my God, Bob, seriously.

0:19:21 Bob: Well, this is only the lower part, but… I really just...

0:19:22 Sunny: [laughs]

0:19:22 Myrtle: What?

0:19:28 Bob: Sometimes even in this beautiful space, you get a little cooped up and you want to be free, you know? And so my dad, he's a pirate and a bard, and he takes to the seas and he writes shanties, and my mother she's just like, “No, you better work and do what you need to do." And, that's how I ended up here and I really like it though, because it's okay. You know, what's really fun though? Adventure. Like the one we just went on, if we did that all the time and we were real proper pirates and we could wear ruffles.

0:20:06 Sunny: It's just the best and look, I know you probably have your own deity, that totally takes care of you and that's completely understandable, but! If you're ever looking for a new role model, I must suggest the goddess, Jane Wren. She's this totally awesome old pirate who like, was so awesome and became her own goddess and she spoke to me and I think that's who is kind of giving me my powers.

0:20:38 Myrtle: Yeah.

0:20:38 Bob: You have powers?

0:20:40 Sunny: Yeah like, umm, I can kind of like, sense things sometimes like that spooky lantern that Myrtle has, as soon as I looked at it, I was like, whoa, there is something with that lantern. And you know, like when we were walking through the forest, I can kind of like, pick up on vibes, and… Yeah, hear things in my head it's, it's kind of new. I'm kind of really discovering it, but it's pretty great so far.

0:21:11 Bob: You know what I realized the entire time we were in that battle, I didn't pay attention and I don't really know who was doing what with what?

0:21:16 Brennan: [laughs heartily]

0:21:21 Sunny: I mean, you were definitely a bit of a show stopper, so.

0:21:26 Brennan: Myrtle, sorry. I was gonna say, Myrtle, you see young Sunny here talking about this pirate demigod in your divine presence.

0:21:31 Marisha: [laughs]

0:21:36 Brennan: It's sort of like, okay, I'm literally right here. Also in the martini glass with you, Olive, is there. And you see that, he sees that you're pissed and just sort of shakes his head. He's like, no no no. He’s also just giving you a slight neck massage. As he’s like,

0:21:52 Olive: No, no, no. Not alright, not alright.

0:21:59 Myrtle: Thank you, thank you, Olive. This is Olive, everyone, I didn't introduce him properly when we came in.

0:22:06 Bob: Hi, Olive.

0:22:07 Brennan: [laughs]

0:22:08 Myrtle: But I just wanted to say that I do notice magic and all of us, all [pauses for a moment] six of us cast divine magic. You know that, right? So you can't just like, convert people. It's super rude.

0:22:25 Sunny: Wow, is it?

0:22:27 Myrtle: Yeah.

0:22:28 Sunny: Oh, I'm sorry.

0:22:30 Myrtle: No, it's okay.

0:22:30 Sunny: It's kind of what my parents have wanted me to do for like a long time, but with Sol, but like, Sol’s kind of lame and I'm kind of super here for Jane Wren, so probably a little bit of an old habit. I apologize. Who do you worship?

0:22:46 Myrtle: Me?

0:22:46 Sunny: Yeah!

0:22:48 Myrtle: Do I not...? I call myself Myrtle the Bitch and I thought it was very obvious. Umberlee, she's...

0:22:57 Sunny: Oh!

0:22:59 Myrtle: Long body, teeth, kills people, sinks ships, you know, normal stuff.

0:23:04 Sunny: [mumbles] Yeah, I know all about Kimberly, she's...

0:23:12 Myrtle: [laughs] If this whole place wasn't a big sigil that was protecting us, we'd all be dead. [everybody laughs]

0:23:29 Brennan: You guys get more, more merrymaking. I think Myrtle, you realize, cause you're getting like, fucked up, I think you realize suddenly that you look over at Olive and Olive sort of shrugs to you and points at the contents of the large martini glass you're both in and goes like,

0:23:45 Olive: Just as a reminder, this is not water. This is straight vodka, so.

0:23:51 Myrtle: Oh no, I've been breathing this. Okay, well. [everybody laughs]

0:24:00 Brennan: You see, the night continues. Bob, what's the look you go for as you're dressing Sunny up in this new pirate regalia?

0:24:09 Krystina: [Bob voice] Oh, it's lovely. So like I said, pirates, their most distinguishing factor is that they wear ruffles on the shirts so, it's a little bit of ruffles around the edges and some leather, because everybody loves a little leather, and we're going to go with a side-part ponytail on the side because it just looks amazing. [winks] And! It's just, she just looks lovely and especially when I put the rouge on her cheeks, it just kind of makes it all pop, just a little bit so she looks fantastic.

0:24:42 Bob: Myrtle, do you want to come over here for a second? I just want to touch it up a little bit ‘cause sometimes when you get out of the water, it's a… it’s a little scary.

0:24:52 Myrtle: It's not, it's waterproof, not airproof. Please help. [everybody laughs]

0:24:59 Brennan: So you guys, you're doing Myrtle's makeup. Sunny, a little bit of rouge on the side of your, like, beak where, your beak like, meets your head. But you got some new awesome pirate stuff on and as that, as you guys are still having an awesome time, I think Bob, you have like, some lovely friends over. Sunny, you're like, dressed like a pirate! This is, what an adventure!

0:25:25 Sunny: Best day ever.

0:25:28 Brennan: [laughs] As these are winding down, as you're like getting ready for bed. I think you guys are blasted enough and tired enough from the day's activities, you're probably just going to crash in Bob's place. And Bob has a number of guest rooms, and also I think the sofas are more comfortable than most beds in Bob's spot. But, as you guys are winding down, I think Sunny, the last thing is just like, as you're taking that, like new coat off, you still have this bell fused to your hand.

0:25:42 Marisha: [laughs] Yep!

0:25:56 Brennan: Myrtle, you’re still blasted, but you feel, you feel the pearl around your neck kind of, as you look at that bell again. That, you have spent your whole life dealing with cursed and forsaken magical objects. That bell is a trip. That bell is something intense.

0:26:18 Myrtle: [slurring her words slightly] Sunny, come here, you beautiful cockatoo. Let me see your hand. Oh, okay, yeah.

0:26:27 Sunny: It's stuck, I keep trying to like, like, get it, but like, look.

0:26:35 Myrtle: Okay, when I wake up from this, I can try to remove a curse, but let me just look at it, really quick.

0:26:44 Aabria: [laughs] And yeah, I want to cast Identify on it.

0:26:47 Brennan: You cast Identify, as always casting any divination drunk yields mixed results, but [laughs] you dive in. You hear distant whispers of the spirits of the sea and shipwrecks, and they whisper to you,

0:27:09 Spirits: The young warrior holds in her hand, the Mutineer’s Bell. It's calls to the damned, for no pirate is more a sinner than them who mutinies. The bell calls and it calls for those who wish to turn their coats. It is a summoner's bell, that calls the spirits of the wicked and pirates who have already passed, calling those who betrayed in life, but perhaps even more powerfully, those who wish to betray in death!

0:27:56 Brennan: And you see flame. You see the same sparkling fiery entity, that Cheese released up through the layers of the lake. And like, you saw in Cheese's physical hands, as it shot through the air and Sunny caught him, and the bell is holding a bound devil, not a powerful one, a weaker devil, but a sentient one, one with knowledge, one with, that knows what was going on at the Lake and you see that given the nature of the mutineer's bell, that you understand, it's a devil that escaped hell by trying to betray whatever its archdevil was. Like the bell, by ringing the bell, Sunny created an opportunity for a devil from the nine Hells to be, "Like peace I'm out of here. Fuck my boss!” and get out. So you see that flame. You see one other smaller flame off in the corner that seems unimportant, but it's just that soldier who Sunny captured going,

0:29:04 Soldier: [shouting] I'm still burning!

0:29:06 Aabria: [laughs]

0:29:07 Myrtle: Shh. Shhhh. [raises a finger to her mouth]

0:29:08 Soldier: Don't I matter?! I think I'm still in here! I don’t know if I’m in the right place!

0:29:14 Myrtle: [waves her hand] This isn't where I parked my... bottle, it's fine.

0:29:19 Brennan: [laughs] And you move back out through the depths of your own spellcasting and arrive back in your mind, seeing the bell still fused to Sunny's hand.

0:29:30 Aabria: I think I'm holding Sunny's hand kind of by the wrist now and I’m just like,

0:29:33 Myrtle: This is a snitch bell. [Brennan and Matt laugh]

0:29:40 Myrtle: [pauses and blinks a couple of times] And it's got a runaway devil in it and a guy that will not stop screaming. [Brennan laughs]

0:29:52 Sunny: [nervously] I have a question. I'm not gonna like, snitch if I have this bell, right? Does it make me a snitch? Cause like, article number six of the pirate code is that, no man shall turn against his crew or perform mutiny or else, it is punishable by death. [almost in tears] So I just want to know what I'm getting into here.

0:30:12 Myrtle: [watery] Please don't cry, It will make me cry.

0:30:15 Sunny: [crying] I'm sorry.

0:30:17 Myrtle: It's okay.

0:30:18 Sunny: It's an emotional thing.

0:30:19 Myrtle: No, I know! [wiping her eyes] Stop! Ooh, it’s also martini. Oh God. I think, I’m mostly alcohol now. [Marisha laughs]

0:30:30 Brennan: As you guys weep and kind of embrace each other--

0:30:34 Marisha: Just drunk, crying over nothing.

0:30:37 Aabria: I wanna just pull her into the martini glass with me and just like,

0:30:39 Myrtle: [embracing Sunny] It's going to be okay. You're not a snitch.

0:30:43 Brennan: You’re like full snaked out. You got a 12-foot-long tail. You're like out of your martini glass hugging Sunny and you guys embrace for a moment. And I think there's this weird moment where, in any normal world, where like the paladin of a good deity and the cleric of an evil deity, would be like, at odds or opposed, but Leviathan is just not that place, that's not how pirates work. And I think Jane Wren and Umberlee are both so chaotic, that it's like, "Hey, I like shipwrecks, you like adventure and spreading stolen gold to people. We do our thing. It is what it is." [laughs]

0:31:27 Sunny: I'll never betray you, okay. I don't want to be marooned. I'll never do that to you.

0:31:33 Myrtle: It's okay, if you do, I'll just put you in the bell. It will be fine.

0:31:38 Sunny: Okay. I would deserve it. [sobs]

0:31:42 Myrtle: No! You wouldn’t, you're so nice and you smell really good, it's weird.

0:31:50 Sunny: It's Bob's perfume, she drenched me in it.

0:31:54 Myrtle: Bob! Bob, come here!

0:31:55 Aabria: And I want to try to pull Bob into this vast glass.

0:31:58 Marisha: Yes.

0:31:59 Brennan: Bob, Myrtle reaches out to pull you into the martini glass with her and Sunny.

0:32:06 Myrtle: Come here.

0:32:08 Krystina: [Bob voice] It's such a good thing that underneath my robe, I've already got on my lounging bathing suit. [Brennan and Aabria laugh]

0:32:18 Krystina: [her own voice] It's like a short set, it's like a onesie like, short set, short sleeve, sequined, like old school looking bathing suit, well, obviously, old-school. But it's like, very short and all of a sudden like, Bob is just like, performance ready, just to get into this glass.

0:32:37 Brennan: You see, yeah, you get into this glass in your swimsuit and a little [snaps] cantrip goes off and like a Busby Berkeley chandelier lowers from the ceiling. It's like, “Will I swim tonight, no?” [imitates show music] Some music starts playing and Bob, you're having a lovely time there. I think as you guys drift off to, are drifting off to sleep, all like in a merry pile covered in feather boas and blankets, Bob, as you're like, you know, tucking your beloved friends in, you see your little mirror lights up for a second and you see it like, a sort of little incoming call from your dad on your little magical crystal screen. You see, it's fully night time here, but an ocean in sunrise appears and there's a tiny little coracle, it's just a rowboat. And you see this incredibly handsome debonair pirate man, older in years, sort of mustache and goatee, long bandana. The bandana is like blue and green, almost like, peacock pattern that falls back in a long thing, jewelry things, and this incredibly rune-covered like, golden wood and golden inlay mandolin. Your dad's just on the sea in a rowboat far off of the sun and looks up to you from the screen and goes,

0:34:20 Bob’s Dad: Oh my darling, look at you.

0:34:26 Brennan: And he just starts plucking a tune on the mandolin and says, just,

0:34:31 Bob’s Dad: I'm rowing to the edge of the sunset and trying to sail off the edge of the world to find the way back to heaven to see your mother. But I just wanted to give you a call and check in and see how you are doing, my love.

0:34:47 Bob: [teary] It's really great to hear from you.

0:34:51 Bob’s Dad: Oh my darling girl, are you crying?

0:34:55 Bob: Just a little.

0:34:57 Bob’s Dad: Oh, how long has it been? I thought that I'd been back in Leviathan more, ‘cause there-- I went to the isle where the King of the Sun sets loose the chariots of the stars and then I wound up on that island with that sorceress and I got turned into a, I got turned into a dog for a little while but then I found my way back to the castle and I solved that riddle, and it's been so many adventures, I sort of lost track. Has it been more than a year, love?

0:35:27 Bob: About two.

0:35:28 Bob’s Dad: Oh.

0:35:29 Bob: Sorry, I've just had a lot going on lately, [sniffs] and I'm trying to really just enjoy myself, put myself into everything, but I don't know, there's something about hearing your voice, it just made me a little bit sad and it all just kind of makes sense. I lost my friend, I found my friend, and then met new friends, but it's just been kind of a lot.

0:35:56 Bob’s Dad: Darling I… It sounds like a lot. My love, is this your, is this your first big adventure that you’re on?

0:36:08 Bob: It has been and it's just, you know, everything is really fun and I've kept a stiff upper lip the entire time. But, now that I think about it, my family is missing and that's kind of a big deal and you had to go on this adventure and I kind of pulled the ground out from underneath some people and might've killed a couple of them if I'm not mistaken, but it's kind of a hard thing to undertake.

0:36:40 Bob’s Dad: [choking up] Well, darling, you don't need to keep a stiff upper lip.

0:36:45 Brennan: And you see, he burst into tears. He goes,

0:36:47 Bob’s Dad: It's fine, it's fine to cry. I keep-- I didn't necessarily even want to live this life, it's just always happened, I picked up this mandolin one day and I played a song and it got heard by an elemental and then I got these magic powers and then these things. I found this chest of gold and it was cursed and I met five other people who all were unique individuals in their own light and they all had a set of abilities and it just kind of kicked off and it went that way for... 37 years now.

0:37:19 Bob: Well, you know, if you hadn't done what you did, I'd probably wouldn't have my career either ‘cause that's what nepotism is all about.

0:37:25 Bob’s Dad: Exactly, exactly. Look, there's a whole different set of problems that come with being a second generation adventurer. Your father is a legendary bard. I play my mandolin and the stars come from the sky and I charm the beasts of the field. Kings and queens and sorcerers and witches all dance as I play my merry tune. And your mother is a full solar. That's incredible. She's an incredibly powerful angel. She's the mistress of the core of creation. Do you want to try to get her on the line or are we keeping it just dad-daughter right now?

0:38:04 Bob: Umm, well, you know, if I'm gonna talk to Mom, I should probably just make sure that everything is in place, okay? But don't tell her that I went on an adventure yet. Okay, I want to tell her myself in my own kind of way, because I don't think she's going to take it very well.

0:38:23 Bob’s Dad: Right, right, and honestly, I haven't seen her because I haven't been able to find a way to sail to the edge of the ocean and back up into the sun to heaven. So it was kind of, the first time I did it, I was very sleep-deprived and drunk and also in a kind of bard music madness so it was sort of like an ecstatic state.

0:38:44 Brennan: You see, you compose yourself and the other half of the mirror lines up. So it's sort of your dad in one mirror, the other one-- [laughs] So your dad’s just like, it's like, huge, incredibly like, legendary, ring-bedecked, magic-item-covered, but like, human dude in a rowboat and then the other thing lights up and you see radiant light, your gorgeous mother who is expansive across the sky. Her hair radiates out from her head, planets orbit it, her fingertips and jewels become the stars in the sky. Her translucent skin is filled with the cosmos, comets, and all of the vast galaxies. She looks at you, cosmically powerful and all-loving and you see before you your two parents that you haven't physically seen in so, so long. These are Bob's mom and dad, her mom, Zarael, Song of the Stars and Seraph of the Chord of Creation and Octavio Costello Gainglynn, who goes by Cos for short. Your mother looks and says,

0:40:05 Zarael: Barbarella, my daughter, my beautiful, mortal child. You look, have you been eating? Are you eating well? Is everything all right? I want to make sure that you're well fed. I'm in the vast celestial heights, are you eating well? Who's that in your room? Do you have guests over right now? What's going on right now?

0:40:31 Bob: Those are my friends, uh… They just came to visit from out of town.

0:40:38 Brennan: She smiles and goes,

0:40:38 Zarael: Okay, I just want to make sure you’re just safe, are you good?

0:40:44 Brennan: Looks over and says,

0:40:44 Zarael: Oh, yeah, there's a couple of people in there. Are any of them… and I'm not saying this with any judgment. My heart is vaster than galaxies and I love you with the light of creation, but, y’know, are you seeing anyone? Are you… Is one of them like a partner, or is, you know.

0:41:09 Bob: I'd like to think that I'm not in a position to be exclusive at the moment.

0:41:18 Zarael: M’kay. I understand that, with a consciousness that comprehends and behold all possibilities in light.

0:41:27 Brennan: And you see like, rings of Saturn move around her perfect celestial form.

0:41:33 Zarael: [eyes darting around] I see all futures from this moment. What's this future? Oh, wow, grandkids. Oh, wow. Oh, you're so happy. Oh, in this future you are so happy. Oh, the cosmos, Barbarella, visions of the future.

0:41:58 Bob: You know, Mom, I'd really like to focus on my career right now. I'm on a very nice upward trajectory. The other day I was out and I did a performance… umm… umm... by the water and, umm, it was a very captivating performance and I feel as if that might've been maybe a pinnacle for me. Umm, but speaking of water, uh, you know how Dad's a, Dad’s here, you know how Dad's a pirate?

0:42:35 Brennan: Your dad pops in and says,

0:42:35 Cos: Zarael, my love, my lady love, vaster than the stars or so. I'm at the edge of the world. I'm trying to find the sunbeam that I rode up. Again, I was drunk when I did it so I don't remember exactly how I did it, but we're going to do it again.

0:42:53 Brennan: And you see, she goes,

0:42:56 Zarael: [sighs] Octavio, it is wonderful to see you again. Yes, uh--

0:43:00 Bob: You don't sound like it.

0:43:03 Brennan: You see your dad looks to you and goes like, sort of pulls his collar like this and your mother goes,

0:43:12 Zarael: What is that supposed to mean, Barbarella? I am an angel. I love all things equally, including your father even if he had a night of beautiful passion with me and then just wasn't there the next morning, I would love him. It would be very unangelic if I was bitter or upset about that. So that's...

0:43:33 Brennan: And you see, Cos looks at you and says like,

0:43:36 Cos: Oh, you know what? I'm getting towards the edge of the world. And the reception on this is on the crystal, the crystal is not, it's not quite coming through. Well, I think Bob had some amazing news, actually.

0:43:50 Zarael: Yes, you were mentioning that your father is a pirate. What does that have to do with you, Barbarella?

0:43:58 Bob: So, Mommy, the most beautiful, wonderful lady, kind of lady, enjoying the whole entire world, I was thinking, you remember when I was little and I would play and I'd take a sword and pretend I was on a ship and then sing and then strum a lyre, you know, all the good stuff?

0:44:20 Zarael: Yes.

0:44:23 Bob: So I decided that I might take some time off from my professional job and go and be a pirate.

0:44:32 Zarael: [slowly] I am moving through space processing what you have said to arrive at a response with sufficient grace because to respond other than with love is not an option for me. Let's find how to make this okay.

0:45:10 Brennan: You see your dad pipes up and says,

0:45:13 Cos: My lady love, Zarael of the stars. I, ya know...Barbarella is finding her own path and, you know, there might be an element here of mortals and how they have to find their own way that, my darling love, maybe escapes someone so connected to the infinite.

0:45:41 Brennan: You see Zarael snaps her face to look at Cos' screen and goes,

0:45:45 Zarael: Escapes? Oh, escapes me? Like someone escaping in the night and rowing back down the beam of light that they showed up in after sharing something really tender and beautiful, you know, I've been alive a very, very long time, like since the dawn of time and I don't just hand it out to everybody that shows up here, all right, so it was actually very special.

0:46:07 Brennan: And you see, Cos goes like,

0:46:07 Cos: Oh! This is the edge!

0:46:12 Brennan: Cuts out, and you see your mom goes,

0:46:15 Zarael: Just like your father, to cut out.

0:46:19 Brennan: Looks back at you, Bob, and goes.

0:46:25 Zarael: Darling, in all manners and in all ways, I support you and your decisions. I hope that you tread the path you choose with wisdom above all things. And, again, if you're doing anything dangerous, just make sure that you're being safe and that you're taking care of yourself and that you're protected, all right? I don't know what I would do if anything were ever to happen to you.

0:46:56 Bob: So here's the thing, you know, I was talking like it was a hypothetical situation that I might go off and be a pirate.

0:47:05 Zarael: Yes, something you're considering, absolutely.

0:47:10 Bob: So I kinda already started, I just got back from an adventure. You know, my friend, Trixie, the one that lives down the hall?

0:47:19 Zarael: Yes, I know, Trixie. I see everything.

0:47:26 Bob: So then you probably already know that I went off on an adventure and fought an army, and we got this thing, it's like a little thing, [makes sounds] stone thing.

0:47:43 Zarael: [passive-aggressively] Well, Bob, I'm very glad that you were successful on your first outing, and, you know, it's really nice to be approached about this stuff after the fact. You know, it's not like I have any wisdom I could offer or help or anything of that sort. So it seems like you've got it all under control.

0:48:03 Bob: Mom, I don't like it when you talk like that because when you saying the thing that you're saying, you don't actually mean what you saying, but you're not physically allowed to say what it is that you actually feel that you do this thing that's really like passive-aggressive-adjacent.

0:48:22 Brennan: You see-- Hold on a second, go ahead, actually, Bob, and give me a Persuasion roll with advantage, if you'd be so kind.

0:48:38 Krystina: Oh no, I almost used my d6 for this. [very convincing robot voice] Please hold for math. [Brennan laughs]

0:48:41 Krystina: 24.

0:48:47 Brennan: Ooh. Your mother closes her eyes, smiles, goes,

0:48:54 Zarael: The greatest failing of the celestial realms is that of pride and to think that one has known the right path. I..

0:49:06 Brennan: You see shooting stars trail down her cheeks as she cries and says,

0:49:15 Zarael: I have been passive-aggressive with you and you've called me out. It is so much easier to be angelic when a portion of your heart is not trapped in the realm of mortals, vulnerable and at risk at all times. And if I'm ever cross with you, it's only because you're so very far away and I cannot wrap you up in my embrace.

0:49:46 Bob: Why is everyone trying to make me cry today? [Brennan laughs]

0:49:49 Bob: I feel emotional. I really love you, I just, I want you to support me in my decisions because I'm gonna make mistakes and I'm going to fall on my face. It's just a thing that happens, but the good thing about it is I'm going to look amazing when I do.

0:50:03 Brennan: [laughs] She laughs and the stars sparkle, and she claps. She says,

0:50:07 Zarael: My darling Barbarella, of course everything you do will be gorgeous because you and your soul are gorgeous, my sweet angel. [sighs] Then I wish you good fortune and the blessings of the stars. Not only in your successes, but I wish you that blessing in your failures too, my love. [blows a kiss]

0:50:38 Bob: Can I show you something before you go?

0:50:40 Zarael: Yes, please do.

0:50:42 Bob: It's really important and it's only going to take a second. [Brennan laughs]

0:50:47 Bob: [shows off her dress] It shimmers, Mom, it shimmers.

0:50:49 Zarael: [clapping excitedly] Like me! Ooh, I love it! Oh, it's gorgeous, darling. You're a vision, you are a miracle, you are my angel love. Best of luck on your adventure. I'm going to go check in because I think that your father has rode off of the prime material plane. So I'm going to go check on that. [blows another kiss]

0:51:01 Bob: Good luck!

0:51:12 Brennan: Bob, you wipe the tears from your face. We cut now to, I think the last two people that are hanging in the Gold Gardens are Marcid and Jack. You lovely gentlemen, what are you up to at the Gold Gardens?

0:51:27 Matt: Some people have relaxed or found a comfortable space. Jack has, since the evening really began in the first interactions with Garthy, he's been very upright, wide-eyed, and filled with nerves. [laughs] He starts like, speaking and everything and is like,

0:51:49 Jack: Hey, Stimey, how do I clean up?

0:51:58 Stimey: How do you clean up? [laughs] Well, I am certain, I don't know. Any kind of bleach or soap would absolutely destroy me. [laughs]

0:52:10 Jack: Right, umm.

0:52:10 Matt: He’s going to go ahead and look about, for any sort of nearby attendant or somebody who appears to be a functioning high end worker of the establishment.

0:52:22 Brennan: Wonderful, yes. I would say, go ahead and give me like an Investigation check to see who you are able to find.

0:52:32 Matt: A natural 20, 24 total.

0:52:34 Brennan: Oh my God. I think you roll up, you’re sort of looking around, as you are looking, you come across Garthy again and Garthy goes,

0:52:47 Garthy: Lovey, right this way, please.

0:52:49 Brennan: And brings you, you know… There's all these nerves around like, the bars, the drinking, the gambling, the theaters, all the private rooms with courtesans at work. Honestly, several public rooms with courtesans at work, and instead you're brought to a beautiful marble bath house. There are crystal clear waters in these marble baths, a long public bath. And you are brought to a stunning brass bathtub with like… It's a clawfoot bathtub with lion’s paws on it and you see that a number of water genasi siblings and brothers and sisters who have come out. They're dressed in like a clean white, almost like clean little white crisp uniforms. There's towels and lotions and scrubs and shampoos. Garthy walks in with you and says,

0:53:48 Garthy: Lovey, first things first, we're going to take care of your body, yeah. You look like a man who has been working for a long, long time.

0:53:59 Brennan: And you see Garthy sort of massages your traps, like those shoulders up here that are like enormous. Says,

0:54:06 Garthy: My lord. You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you'd been carrying a chunk of ship's mast around for some years.

0:54:11 Jack: [quietly] Well, uh--

0:54:16 Matt: And he points over to the corner of the room, cause he never leaves it more than three feet from him. [both laugh]

0:54:22 Brennan: You see Garthy goes like,

0:54:22 Garthy: Right, yeah, okay. We're going to get you taken care of, lovey. Go ahead, hop in the bath, and all this is on the house, but as a result, I'm going to ask for a form of payment, yeah. And it's a favor: relax. [points at Jack]

0:54:50 Jack: Oh, oh boy. As… as you request. [nods]

0:54:53 Brennan: Cool. So Garthy turns to leave and says,

0:54:57 Garthy: Aright, full works on our friend, Captain Jack Brakkow.

0:55:01 Brennan: And some other people start to come in. You see a very old tortle that has like a long neck and sort of his long, very strong, powerful hands comes up and says,

0:55:15 Turtle: Here you are, sir, take a step right into the bath that you'll be comfortable disrobing. I guarantee you, you have nothing that we here have not seen before. So please.

0:55:28 Jack: Well, I apologize. I'm not used to such niceties. I don't mean to spoil your fine bath waters and wares, but I'm under orders.

0:55:40 Turtle: It's all right, we use new bath water all the time. So you're not spoiling the water, it's always new water.

0:55:48 Jack: Alright, alright. Will my mold be okay?

0:55:53 Turtle: Your what?

0:55:55 Jack: I, nevermind, I'll just...

0:55:58 Matt: And you see like carefully begins to like, very, very sheepishly begin to disrobe and take off his shirt, button, by button, looking at kinda the group around and just, you know, at first it seems uncomfortable, and then it turns into, if you could see the flush beneath the fur, the elements of skin that do show in the face, there's an element of like, briefly beginning to kind of get into it. [laughs]

0:56:23 Brennan: Yeah. I think again, this place is magically designed to do this exact thing. I think whether, or even the shift of Jack moving, just having his own self-loathing have some company in the justified rage and betrayal of what happened has thrown his normal emotional orbit out of emotional access. So it's like any disruption in a harmful routine represents an opportunity for something else to happen. You step gingerly into the bath. It's so perfectly-- it's right on that cusp of warm into hot, where it's like, ooh, first your foot hurts but it's okay, the foot goes in and it's... As you sink in, I'm not gonna lie, the attendants all kind of go wide-eyed, as the water goes from clear and bubbly with foam to like, ooh, a little murky. Ooh, that's gray. Oh, that's brown. Oh, that's brown with chunks of green. And then like, you see, as you go in, you see, you can feel like you forgot they were in there, but you can just feel like, fleas moving up the fur. [Matt laughs]

0:57:54 Brennan: And then you see, as it gets to your head, you guys, you look at the water and the attendants look and they can't believe it. You see, made out of like dandruff, you see tiny little groups of fleas, all go like,

0:58:08 Fleas: It's the end of the world, lads! All aboard!

0:58:11 Brennan: And you see that these little ships of dandruff launch with little bads of fleas, that start to like say they're like,

0:58:19 Fleas: Everyone, get out! It's the end of the world, we knew this day would come, the bards foretold!

0:58:25 Brennan: And little ships sail off into the bath water. You see, uh. Yeah, the bath gets to, gets to work and they actually you're in there for a second [sighs] and they like you're in the murk and you see a plug gets pulled and a new thing of hot bath water’s brought in. Until finally, you, there's soap everywhere, that turtle reaches down and actually begins to massage your shoulders.

0:59:02 Jack: Oh, ooh, that right there. I, once again, apologize. [groaning] You'll not find a knot quite tight as that.

0:59:10 Tortle: Yes, I should say so. I knew that sailors were quite adept at tying knots, but this is ridiculous.

0:59:17 Brennan: The tortle actually takes a hand off to do a hat tip motion with his elbow.

0:59:22 Jack: Oh, you're a blessed one. [groans lowly]

0:59:29 Brennan: The water genasi kind of go in and you're getting like, some like, hand massages, some on your feet. The bath, like, you could just be in this bath forever and you could feel yourself kind of getting clean. You know, like, Jack was born and raised in the Bilge. This is probably the cleanest Jack has ever been even prior to the bad years. And you are shepherded out of the bath. You're wrapped in this cloth robe, brought over to a table where you are laid out and there's the water genasi go to work on a different massage. Flipped over, cucumbers on the eyes. Someone's like filing your nails, like [nail filing sounds], and you see that finally, like you even hear like [snipping sounds] and your fur is being groomed. It's like [swooshing sounds] At the end, you see some, someone rings this crystal bell and there's just this, [hums] sort of humming in the space. You're left there with this humming noise, candles and incense are lit and you are in such a deep place of relaxation. Where is Jack going in his mind if he's in this deep place of relaxation?

1:00:55 Matt: Well, right now in his mind, he's thinking to himself,

1:00:56 Jack: Oh, there's three, four, these five attendants. I'm going to call them the Fab Five. [Brennan laughs as Carlos and Aabria silently crack up]

1:01:05 Jack: I’m extremely appreciative for all the good they're doing to me right now.

1:01:11 Matt: And there as he kind of relaxes, he begins to… His mind begins to go to times before the wreck, remembering his upbringing, remembering being the runt of his litter, remembering being the smallest of all the ratkin nearby and being teased and bullied and made to feel worthless. And then one day, the growth spurt caught up with him and suddenly he was bigger than all the rest and what he hoped would be a change in tides instead brought its own issues, new reasons to be picked upon. And so thought, maybe if he worked hard enough, if he strived hard enough, if he just was a good person who dug in, did the work, maybe one day he too could be something of worth and give people a reason to give him words of kindness over what his usual experience is. And it wasn't until this recent period of time with these people in this place that he really feels like a person. The curse is far from his mind. He's not even thinking about the spirits of those he's lost or those that he felt so guilty for in this weird moment, it's the first moment of real serenity that's come to him, probably to memory.

1:02:43 Brennan: You open your eyes, with this clarity and serenity and at the base of this sort of padded table that you've been laying on you see your clothes are folded. They are unrecognizable to you, clearly have been hit with Mending cantrips, clearly have been magically washed and cleaned. You look at this shirt and pants and remember wearing these not just in your, like… The clothes that you were wearing, always harking back to the storm and the wreck and the crash. These are your captain's clothes. You have few ratfolk from the neighborhood of the bilges that you came from, got their own ship, worked, saved, found something they could buy to get out on the high seas. They're clean again. There was a dream you had that you reached out and grabbed and it wasn't lost to you because you were cursed, it wasn't lost to you because you failed, it wasn't lost to you because your lot in life was never supposed to be heroic. That version of events where, maybe, I don't know if Jack didn't phrase it this way, but the hubris, this feeling like, “Clearly the gods punished me because I thought I could be a pirate captain too.” It's not what happened. It wasn't the gods. It was people. It was betrayal. It was people seeking to do you wrong and hiding it from you. Your captain's clothes are at the foot of the table. [exhales deeply]

1:04:52 Matt: He sits for a moment and shifts from his serenity to stewing a bit in the memory of what's been done to him. The face of Clive McDoon, not but earlier this day, looking back at him, the realization of how much has changed in just the period of a day. And then he sits up, takes the clothes, looks over at the larger mast leaning against the side of the bathroom. [soft music plays]

1:05:33 Jack: I've earned this. I'm worth this.

1:05:41 Brennan: You hear over in the corner [soft clapping] and you turn to see Garthy, who seems always above everything, Garthy is full weeping. They, golden metallic tears traced down their face as you say those words and you see, they go,

1:06:04 Garthy: So sorry, captain, to intrude. Those are the only words I ever want to hear from people when they come here. Because, lovey, it’s always true. My darling, captain, are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you in want of company? We can offer you whatever you'd like.

1:06:31 Matt: He has locked eyes with Garthy, their appearance striking, and subconsciously moves his grasped folded clothing down to cover his nether regions. [both laugh]

1:06:46 Matt: Out of shyness and realizing that he's still unclothed and is just not yet used to an atmosphere where that's not an issue.

1:06:58 Jack: Yes. My answer is, yes.

1:07:04 Brennan: Garthy walks over to you, takes your hand, and begins to walk you out and says,

1:07:17 Garthy: I have some close, intimate friends up in my quarters. I'd be happy to share the night with you if you'd like and I can get some room service, get some food delivered, how does that sound?

1:07:32 Jack: I don't know about, uh... staying with strangers after such a day. You know, quite a bit of, umm, some personal breakthroughs. Don't know if I’m, don't know if I'm quite in a place where… I'd feel uncomfortable, putting my vulnerable self in the hands of someone I don't know.

1:08:02 Garthy: I understand.

1:08:02 Brennan: You see Garthy narrows their eyes and say,

1:08:06 Garthy: Captain Brakkow, perhaps the best thing for tonight is, as you've said, no strangers. Happy to deliver you to the room with your friends, If you'd like. I'm not sure if you consider me a stranger or not, but also, if all you're looking for is some simple company, just a... open heart and an ear to listen and a shoulder to lean on and someone to be by your side, that's also completely alright. Just tell me what it is you need.

1:08:43 Matt: You see, whereas the one other time that Jack has smiled in recent years was so forced and broken earlier this day, the long sleeping muscles in the face begin to reawaken as a true, genuine smile curls across his rat muzzle. His now very perfectly manicured rat muzzle. Says,

1:09:11 Jack: You know what, let's start there. I don't say I consider you a stranger, but I could use, umm. I could use an open heart.

1:09:24 Brennan: Garthy nods and says,

1:09:24 Garthy: That sounds lovely, Jack. And we'll get some good food for you to eat, some good drink. Get a nice fire going and we'll talk and I have a very comfy bed and it will be nice to have someone to sleep next to.

1:09:48 Brennan: You see they smile and they say,

1:09:50 Garthy: And I'm bringing the mast up there too. That's coming as well, you hear.

1:09:54 Matt: You look as this sudden look of anxiety strikes across Jack's face and he looks back at the mast and like, the left hand begins instinctually kind of reaching in that direction before it stops and freezes. And the hand relaxes to the side and goes,

1:10:16 Jack: Or I can pick it up in the morning. For now, let's see where the night takes us.

1:10:24 Brennan: Garthy smiles, goes arm-in-arm with you, and you walk up to a night of tender and truly loving companionship of the heart and of listening and of providing space and of gentle sleep for the first time in a long time. Marcid, my good man. What's Marcid getting up to that night?

1:10:54 B. Dave: [Marcid’s voice] Hmm, not having this wonderful night of self-realization, I can tell you that. [cast laughs]

1:11:07 B. Dave: [in a normal voice] He watches where each of them go, so I can know where they are. [in Marcid’s voice] And then he sets about his work. No man or druid escapes Marcid the Typhoon. [normal voice] I send messages to Ayda Aguefort and Jamina Joy about what's happening.

1:11:35 Brennan: Whew, baby, hell yeah! Cool, what are the steps, how are you sending those messages?

1:11:45 B. Dave: I realized this place is a sacred house of intimacy and discretion. And I would just ask Garthy for two trusted runners that are going to deliver what I write.

1:12:03 Brennan: Garthy nods. [laughs] I love it, yeah. All this self realization, deep emotions and Marcid is fucking down to business, baby. [B. Dave laughs]

1:12:18 Brennan: [rubbing his hands] Nice to have a true villain on the squad. Love it. [B. Dave and Brennan both laugh] B. Dave holds his arms up as if to say, what can you do?

1:12:23 Brennan: You see, yeah. Garthy takes these sort of physical missives from you and goes,

1:12:35 Garthy: Right, Marcid, absolutely, we'll take this right away. Jamina will be easy. It's possible that Ayda is not present at the Compass Points right now, but we can leave it in a secret place for her, get, try to get it to her as soon as possible. The runner should be back within a short amount of time to try to deliver these missives.

1:12:58 Brennan: Cool, so after that, Marcid, you, business concluded. You're banged up and pretty hurt.

1:13:07 B. Dave: I am. [Marcid voice] I go outside, sort of idly using Alycon almost like a walking stick, reflecting over the day, over the fact that I was so close, if I had struck just a bit truer, Alamaria would have been eliminated, but. [normal voice] Then I kind of just like, idly touch the wound on my side. [Marcid voice] If Langley Sheffield-Harrington had struck a bit truer, I'd be removed too, so I suppose it's a push. [normal voice] Is it possible for me to get up on the roofs at this place?

1:13:51 Brennan: Oh, hell yeah. Not a sweat. This is a very complex series of architectural designs, plenty of rafters. There's a lot of ornamental stuff on the buildings, real easy to get where you need to go.

1:14:02 B. Dave: [Marcid voice] I spend a bit of time looking out over Leviathan, which is a thing I don't normally do from my vantage point, and I would like to activate my ranger’s Primeval Awareness.

1:14:18 Brennan: Hell yes.

1:14:19 B. Dave: And detect the presence of aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead within six miles of me. [both laugh]

1:14:32 Brennan: So Marcid goes outside, done with these missives, still injured, still injured but completely unimpressed by any of the offerings of the Gold Gardens, you are up, I'm going to say that there are a series of ornamental draconic gargoyles and you are perched in between two of them looking for all the world, like a triplet in a series of statutes. You perch, overlooking Leviathan. You hear Alycon in your head saying,

1:15:05 Alycon: Sire, far be it for me to raise [laughs nervously] a simple point, but given that the epicenter of destruction planned by your former employer is merely and simply the city of Leviathan, would it not be somewhat simpler for us to merely escape? We could chart a passage on a ship leaving tonight. The fine people that accompany you, I'm sure would be able to finish the job in your absence, after all, doesn't it seem like a little bit like we're sticking our necks out for what ultimately amount to a series of strangers, I mean.

1:15:39 Marcid: We can't run forever, Alycon. Look, that young girl, Sunny, is so full of joy and goodness. And then our dear Myrtle is not at all full of joy and goodness. None of that matters to me, good, bad, but a deal is a deal. You make certain agreements and decimating the lives of a million people ain’t part of the deal.

1:16:13 Alycon: [sighs] Okay, well, you seem very resolute, sire, as usual. And, umm, I know that you're saying you can't run forever and I understand that. Some of us can't run at all. Some of us don't have legs.

1:16:30 Marcid: Aye, but you fly quite well. Did you like that bit yesterday? I did that for you, you see, slinging you at that bloke.

1:16:37 Alycon: Oh, I didn't know what was happening and my response as always was full blown anxiety, but yes, it was quite impressive as always, sire.

1:16:49 Brennan: You feel your Primeval Awareness stretch out. Obviously, you're getting a lot of positives from Leviathan in general. So that radar moves out over an incredibly cosmopolitan city. In terms of the presence of celestials, the storm itself descending on Leviathan registers a powerful celestial presence. Not fixed or pointed, like the presence of an individual celestial, but rather, almost... There's a difference between seeing a whale and or feeling the wake of the water moving through it. That storm indicates the presence of something pushing onto this place. You detect, in terms of fiends, you detect a powerful fiendish presence coming from within the Gold Gardens, within the room that Myrtle, Bob and Sunny are staying in. And you detect fiendish presences as well, both, quickly fading, a residual presence from the lake in the Sternwood, as though something much bigger was supposed to come through there and didn't, it was thwarted. And then you get 15 pings, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, all throughout the city. You mark them, you know their locations, and not only that, but you detect how to get to all of them. The fiendish presence you get from there is complicated because it is not the feeling of a true fiend. It feels, you know, the same ping you kind of get off of an aasimar or a tiefling. However, they're being amplified. So it's like, these are mortal souls, these are not fiends. They're just the souls of fiend-blooded people. But your, something is amplifying them and it's amplifying them in a really volatile way. You are thinking about those lamps some more. They don't feel like something that is passive and like, doing its thing. They feel like something that is primed.

1:19:46 B. Dave: [Marcid voice] I make my way across the rooftops, over towards Bob's suite. And I counted out the paces, I know where it is. And I think, as I hear like the odd giggling sort of rising out of the window and hearing them having a good time, I just sort of sit down on the roof and look up at the storm overhead. And I'm like,

1:20:06 Marcid: Oh, I hate the rain.

1:20:09 B. Dave: And I just sleep up on the roof over their room, ‘cause Alycon will warn me if somebody comes to hurt them.

1:20:18 Brennan: You go to sleep. As you are going to sleep, you feel the rain break. You find a little gargoyle, asort of overhang you can get under so that the rain's not directly hitting your body. You tuck in with Alycon, the rain begins to fall. You get your last celestial ping as you're drifting off to sleep. Somewhere in the city is a powerful celestial. The celestial has been hidden from you. I think Marcid is pretty logistical as a guy, so you're like, is this behind lead, has some abjurer taken pains to hide this somehow? But it registered something to you. Like there is a celestial somewhere in the city, hidden behind something. It's coming in ambiently, you're not getting a full read on where it is, but it gives you a feeling similar to the storms overhead. And go ahead and give me an either Insight or Perception and I think as you're using this magical book, go ahead and do it with advantage.

1:21:41 B. Dave: All right, that is good, ‘cause that went from, I was like, again, 7 on the die and you're like, advantage, yay. Alright. They're both 5, that is going to be 22. My modifier's 5 so it's up to you what you wanna give me, it’s like the--

1:22:02 Brennan: You smell the air. Celestial. Yeah, it's celestial, all right. But young, someone's child, maybe someone's daughter.

1:22:24 B. Dave: Right before I finally tuck in, I just sort of like, you know, gather up, ‘cause I don't want to get wet, but, and I just sort of say out loud,

1:22:36 Marcid: So, Jane Wren, Umberlee, whoever. You're sending all of your soldiers out here to fight. I'm for it. But if you just give me a chance, I will drive this knife into the back of whoever you need to get the job done. [both laugh]

1:23:02 Brennan: With that muttered pirate's prayer, Marcid drifts off to sleep. Incredible. The following morning, our heroes awake, variously throughout the Gold Gardens. Bob, Myrtle, and Sunny awaken in Bob's quarters, Marcid above it. Cheese awakens in the closet of his quarters with his brother's coat around him and Jack Brakkow, you awaken after a night of good food, wonderful conversation, warm firelight, and some of the most proficient platonic spooning you have ever been part-- [Aabria laughs]

1:23:54 Jack: Never quite imagined myself a deft little spoon, but here we are.

1:24:01 Brennan: You see, Garthy goes, wakes up and goes,

1:24:04 Garthy: [yawning and stretching] Listen up, you’ve got to turn expectations on its head, love. Just cause you're a large fellow, you're built. Let me just say it again. Built incredibly well, those shoulders.

1:24:10 Jack: [bashful] Oh.

1:24:16 Garthy: But why can't you be the little spoon? Everyone deserves a turn to be the little spoon. Why not?

1:24:22 Jack: Maybe next time I'll return the favor.

1:24:26 Garthy: [hand on their chest] I'll look forward to it, lovey.

1:24:29 Brennan: You see, Garthy's quarters, by the way, are like, black and gold. It's like black columns with gold tops and bottoms. Their bed is set into the floor so the top of the bed is like, level with this marble floor. Their quarters are like, simultaneously like, a temple and a cult sanctum. There are like altars everywhere filled, there's hundreds of candles that are all enormous and partially melted everywhere. Celestial glyphs and runes. It's like, very like, religion meets like, like, religious structure meets like chill rock star den. Like yeah, I guess it would be, yeah, that vibe of like, oh, okay. If like, a very old rock star was also the leader of like, a very mystical religious movement, this would be the vibe.

1:25:24 Matt: Right, hints of a Meatloaf music video. [Brennan and Marisha laugh]

1:25:28 Brennan: Garthy smiles gets up and says,

1:25:28 Garthy: Alright, well, another day in paradise. Listen, dovey, you got here your mast.

1:25:41 Brennan: And they lead you down a hallway and gesture to another part of this structure that are not their personal quarters and open a room that has a sort of permanent, very powerful marble floor, gold, actual like, gilded goldwork jointed into the floor as a permanent magic circle against evil. And you see, they open it to you and say,

1:26:12 Garthy: I know that Myrtle had some designs on doing some sort of spellcasting this morning, yeah, so feel free to use this room at your pleasure and I'll be working if you need anything, lovey.

1:26:30 Brennan: Garthy puts one of their hands up on the side of your cheek, gives you a little peck on the other cheek and says,

1:26:36 Garthy: Take care of yourself, lovey, that's an order.

1:26:39 Jack: Right-o.

1:26:42 Matt: And as Garthy is leaving,

1:26:45 Jack: Before you go... thank you.

1:26:52 Garthy: Darling, it has been a pleasure. [winks]

1:26:56 Brennan: And they walk off. The rest of you all assemble and find each other that morning, are fed, and Myrtle, you are, oh, yeah, you are a mess. But this chamber does have sort of like a little, it is very useful for you ‘cause it's non-denominational. It's sort of like, celestial runes, magic circle against evil, but you can work with it.

1:27:29 Aabria: Oh great. This is not my evil, got it.

1:27:34 B. Dave: Although when I see Myrtle, I do lean in very close to her and I just say,

1:27:39 Marcid: You do know that the saying, "drink like a fish" was not instructional, right? [Brennan laughs heartily]

1:27:48 Myrtle: [holding her fingers to both temples] [monotone] If you ever yell at me this loud again, I'll pull all of Leviathan down to the bottom of the ocean. Good morning. [Brennan laughs]

1:28:01 Marcid: Apparently it was a good night.

1:28:03 Myrtle: Don't sleep in bathtubs full of… gin? Whiskey? What… [mournfully] Ah, I'm never drinking again. [Brennan laughs heartily]

1:28:15 Marcid: Some sort of mixture of, who's Captain Morgan? I've never heard of the bloke, I don’t--

1:28:25 B. Dave: Although when everyone is there, I do relay to them, what I felt. It was like,

1:28:32 Marcid: I walked along the roofs last night, taking in the city while she was sleeping. And I felt something.

1:28:41 B. Dave: And I recount the 15 fiendish pings, that I believe are those batteries I saw, but I tell you everything. But the thing I really emphasize is like,

1:28:50 Marcid: But I felt another power, something celestial, something I didn't know. It felt primal, but young somehow.

1:29:03 Myrtle: Oh.

1:29:04 Sunny: I mean, that just kind of sounds like Bob.

1:29:07 Marcid: I thought it sounded like you, love. Look at you, look at those cheekbones, you’re not molting anymore, what did they do to you?

1:29:16 Sunny: Bob gave me a makeover. [Brennan laughs]

1:29:20 Sunny: She's got this great facial cream that just really helped with the molting.

1:29:24 Marcid: I guess this makes you the fiendish belle of the ball, aye. [Marisha laughs]

1:29:36 Brennan: So, Sunny, you have a bell fused to your hand.

1:29:42 Marisha: [Sunny voice] Yeah, I have to admit, it wasn't the most comfortable sleep. I kind of had to like, figure out, I would kind of wedge the bell up under my pillow, but sometimes I’d, like, forget and y’know, I'd hit myself on the head in the middle of the night. So if we can handle this, that would be, that would be great.

1:30:00 Matt: Which, at the-- Sorry, at this point, Jack kind of arrives, watching Myrtle about to raise her hand, and goes,

1:30:06 Jack: Umm, to that point, actually, if you're looking to do any sort of magic type, some fantastic, uh, Garthy said there's a chamber that we have at your disposal. Myrtle massages her head while scowling.

1:30:19 Jack: Specifically you, Myrtle, I--

1:30:20 Myrtle: Why are we all screaming? [Brennan laughs]

1:30:24 Jack: [dropping to a whisper] Sorry, Myrtle. There's a place upstairs I can take you to-- Myrtle nods, head in her hands.

1:30:27 Carlos: Cheese is--

1:30:30 Brennan: By the way, oh, sorry. I was gonna say, not lost on anyone, by the way, is the fact that Jack has probably gained another like, three to four inches of height from not being in a ball of, like, back spasm. [Marisha laughs]

1:30:45 Brennan: Just clean and dapper looking, he’s like a lot more, he's gone from like-- Matt strikes a dashing pose.

1:30:50 Brennan: Wretched ghost man of the Under Leviathan to like, kind of like, pirate romance novella cover. [cast laughs]

1:31:01 Carlos: That's exactly--

1:31:04 Myrtle: What the fuck is this and where is Jack?

1:31:05 Carlos: That's exactly, so like, Cheese hears that. And he's like, shoveling like bacon and eggs in his mouth and he looks up and like, sees Jack and his eyes get wide. And like, in his head, he goes,

1:31:17 Cheese: ...I hope this doesn't awaken anything in me. [cast giggles]

1:31:23 B. Dave: [Marcid voice] Too late, boy. Too late.

1:31:31 Brennan: Amazing. Jack leads you to this chamber and Myrtle, you see this magic circle here.

1:31:44 B. Dave: I was just-- One tiny thing, as he leads us in when we all walk in, I walk in last, right by, by him and I look at him and I'mma go,

1:31:51 Marcid: [maintaining eye contact] [smouldering] Thank you, captain.

1:31:55 B. Dave: And walk into the room. Aabria nods and shimmies her shoulders.

1:31:59 Matt: Ooh. [shivers] [Brennan and Aabria laugh]

1:32:02 Brennan: As you walk into the room. Yeah, Myrtle. So you're looking at this bell. You think you can work with this bell, certainly. But of course the risk with all of this stuff is, the risk with all of this, it has to do with what happens to the thing in the bell if you hit it to get it off of Sunny's hand.

1:32:28 Aabria: Yeah.

1:32:28 Myrtle: Okay. So the plan is to remove the snitch bell from Sunny, but the action might let stuff out. There's two entities in it, so I'm going to need everyone that came here with a stick or something to be ready. Is that good?

1:32:58 Sunny: Okay. And, umm, you sure this isn't going to like release it into my soul or my soul is going to get sucked into it or...

1:33:08 Myrtle: The only way you're going to get sucked into the bell is if you ever tell anyone that we cried and hung out and laughed together.

1:33:13 Sunny: [sighs with relief] Oh. That’s powerful.

1:33:19 Myrtle: Does that make sense?

1:33:20 Sunny: Yeah, yeah. No, it does, okay, yeah. Okay, do it. [holds her hand out]

1:33:27 Myrtle: Okay.

1:33:27 Aabria: And I wanna cast Remove Curse.

1:33:31 Brennan: Ooh, baby, here we go. So Myrtle. Remove Curse, this is not like a thing, if you were doing Dispel Magic, you would need to like, roll for it. Remove Curse, it just gets the job done, baby. So what happens to Myrtle as she begins to cast this like, powerful curse-breaking spell on this infernal artifact?

1:33:58 Aabria: So I think she's back in her cool, little like, bubble of water and as like, she’s, it sort of like spreads out and hits the confines of this magic circle, and right when the spell hits, it freezes in place and even Myrtle kind of freezes in place and Sunny is left in this space where she's aware, but like everything around her is kind of frozen in water, and then it all kind of rips away and the water scatters everywhere, probably getting her very wet. I'm sorry, I'm just sort of a damp caster. [Marisha and Brennan laugh]

1:34:20 Matt: #DampCaster. [cast laughs]

1:34:42 Brennan: Sunny, you are suspended, as though underwater and you see around that hand, Myrtle, you focus the power of the divine. There is nothing strong enough to withstand the tide and the bell breaks free from Sunny's hand. It is lancing pain in your hand for a moment, Sunny, but no injury, just, ah! And as the bell escapes, fwoom, where is Sunny standing in the room when you cast the spell on her, Myrtle? Er, I guess Sunny as well, yeah.

1:35:21 Aabria: I think we were both at the center of the circle and I'm like, holding her hand and the bell simultaneously. Marisha nods.

1:35:27 Brennan: Awesome, awesome, awesome. You're holding the hand and the bell, boom. So I'm going to send it, Myrtle, you actually transfer the bell now to your hand so that it’s not just free, [makes fizzling sound effects] holding this cursed thing, breaking the curse on it so that it does not corrupt you. You see [imitates flames] fire begin to erupt from the bell, the water lashes out from you stopping the flames as they erupt. [imitates water rushing] As it does so, you can feel something begin to escape from the bell into the real world. Coming out of the Mutineer’s Bell, into the real world. Is there anything you do in reaction to this thing attempting to escape?

1:36:11 Aabria: Yeah, I kind of want to wait for it to materialize. Hmm, what do we do? No, no, no. I think she's gonna, if I can, try to cast Inflict Wounds on it.

1:36:25 Brennan: Oh, hell yeah.

1:36:27 Aabria: Just to establish dominance. [laughs]

1:36:30 Marisha: Can I ready an action as well, just in case, or am I pretty consumed with this?

1:36:37 Brennan: You're actually now free from this, so you can absolutely ready an action.

1:36:41 Marisha: Okay.

1:36:43 Brennan: So you have an action ready for if this thing goes out. I'm gonna allow you through that Inflict Wounds... Go ahead and give me a Religion check with advantage. We're gonna call this a DC, I’ll call it a DC 20.

1:37:02 Aabria: I didn't make it, I got a 16.

1:37:04 Brennan: 16. [boom] You hit this thing, this thing begins to come out. Your Inflict Wounds hits the magic circle against evil, the points go wide, this ball of fire roils out. Wha! You successfully injure it. Go ahead and roll damage for the spell, but it is not successfully bound in the magic circle as you do this.

1:37:28 Aabria: Okay. 16 points.

1:37:29 B. Dave: I would like to ready an action also.

1:37:31 Brennan: Awesome. Same, awesome. Sunny, you have a readied action here as well. What is Sunny doing at this moment?

1:37:38 Marisha: Okay, as I see this thing start to emit and reach out of the bell, I'm gonna try and take the water and what magical essence from Myrtle that she's already kind of released into the circle and add to that and try and embrace it, kind of combining the empowerment from Jane Wren and I'm going to Channel Divinity and attempt to Turn the Unholy.

1:38:09 Brennan: Ooh! Yes, yes, yes. Very fucking cool. Amazing, hold on, this is so good. Yep, okay. So Myrtle, you break the curse, you're holding on to the bell, this ball of fire, you manage, with this Inflict Wounds, it is fully berthed onto the center, so you and Sunny are on either side of it, Jack and Marcid at the edge of the circle with your weapons ready. [growling] You see this snarling ball of flame, as it manifests in the ground, boom, it's injured. It goes to leap at you Myrtle to try to like, strike down the person binding it. And Sunny, you grab the water and for the first time, the doors fly open so hard, the hinges crack and wind [whirls]. So both Myrtle and Sunny are like 10 feet off the ground in this chamber, Myrtle in a column of water, Sunny with her wings spread, and for a moment, wind and wave perfectly knit and intertwine.

1:39:17 Marisha: If I could just add as it all explodes and you hear a little bit of the surf in the ocean, you also hear this distant cannon boom from an old pirate ship, as Jane shows herself through me and just the whole thing ignites.

1:39:35 Brennan: Incredible! Boom! The turning works, the curse breaking works. Boom! The fire is surrounded by this vortex of wind and water lessens, lessens, lessens, lessens, lessens. Takes a material form. You see the form of a robed and singed teenage tiefling boy appear smoking as both of you descend back to the ground. Your powerful working has happened, it has been censured, it has been turned, the curse has been broken. The Mutineer’s Bell has summoned the soul out to the ground. This shape looks up. You see covered in jangly jewelry is this kind of debonair, but also street urchiny, like skinny, very pretty and handsome, but kind of malnourished-looking tiefling boy wearing a lot of jewelry, silk robe that's dirty and singed, stands up and goes,

1:40:45 Tiefling: [ecstatic] I’m free! Oh my God, I’ve escaped!

1:40:49 Brennan: Sprints, hits the edge of the magic circle, your twin magic goes, boom. And bam! Knocks him on his ass, and he skids back into the center of the circle.

1:41:00 Tiefling: I'm not free, I'm not free. I'm free, but I'm not. Out of the frying pan into the fire, it would seem. [laughs] Hello.

1:41:05 Myrtle: You’re a lot.

1:41:10 Sunny: Wow.

1:41:13 B. Dave: Do I know this face?

1:41:16 Brennan: Umm, oh yeah, I think anyone who, yeah… Like Marcid. Yeah, I'm gonna say Marcid, you do know this face. This kid hasn't been around for a little while. You heard this kid was dead. The name of this young man is Alistair Ash. He is a pirate warlock who was messing around with the cult of Bill Seacaster, who is a pirate archdevil. This is like the multilevel marketing scheme warlock cult. This kid was constantly stealing because all of his warlock spells, he doesn't pay with his soul, he has to pay cash for them, so he was constantly broke and stealing stuff in order to buy more spells from his patron who is the archdevil Bill Seacaster, who was a former pirate. Bill Seacaster is the person who killed the Pirate King and stuck his head to the mast in Galleyard in Gibbetty Square.

1:42:15 Marcid: I know this boy. You’re Alistair Ash.

1:42:19 Alistair: Yes, that's right. I am Alistair Ash and I'm not a boy anymore. I am a devil, a full fledged... I died and I command the powers of hell.

1:42:32 Brennan: You see, sort of--

1:42:32 Marcid: Well you see how that worked out for you, Ash.

1:42:38 Brennan: You see, by the way, Myrtle, you're looking at this devil. He's got a sort of fiendish glamor on him, disguising himself. You, fully having broken the curse, you could fully strip that away no problem if you wanted to.

1:42:53 Aabria: Yeah, I think there's just a little bit of like air and water sort of going around in the magic circle and like a particular wave just goes up and like, pushes him from the side and it knocks the glamour off.

1:43:04 Brennan: The glamour is knocked away and you see a horrifying sight, which is the back of his skull is gone and he doesn't have any eyes and where his brain should be there's just roiling fire. So fire is leaking out of his empty eye sockets [imitates fire crackling] and also kind of burning out of the back of his head. The hole at the back of his head looks messy.

1:43:30 Myrtle: Should I put it back?

1:43:32 Alistair: Oh, now you want to put it back? You have humiliated me in front of everybody.

1:43:37 B. Dave: I lean over to Cheese and I'm like,

1:43:37 Marcid: Yeah, see, that's what unchecked magic will do to you, lad.

1:43:43 Cheese: Oh god.

1:43:43 Carlos: Cheese, scared straight. [cast laughs]

1:43:50 Brennan: You see he looks over at you and says,

1:43:50 Alistair: Don't listen to Marcid. It, magic’s great. It's real easy. You've just got to find someone willing to give you spells, you pay for them. Don't look at me. By the way, if you're interested in learning magic, I actually get a referral fee if I bring new people into the cult. So it's actually beneficial for both of us.

1:44:15 Marcid: Yeah, yeah, yeah you tell three people and they tell three people. We've all heard it, okay.

1:44:19 Alistair: Exactly, that's how it works.

1:44:24 Brennan: You see that he takes some rings off his finger, takes a scroll, puts it out, that has infernal runes on it. The rings vanish, he casts Disguise Self again.

1:44:41 Alistair: Sorry about that. I, uh… It's sort of embarrassing. I was killed by a mind flayer who bit the back of my head off and ate my brains. So, umm. [laughs] I look a little undressed. So, am I back in Leviathan? Is this the mortal world?

1:45:01 Sunny: Yeah, it is.

1:45:03 Alistair: Incredible. Incredible. Well, thank you so much for releasing me. Thanks to you. Thanks to you. I don't seem to be able to leave this magic circle, so if anyone will soon hit that little door with the unlock, I'll be on my merry way and, uh. Truly appreciated.

1:45:22 Sunny: Yeah, it feels like we can't let that happen, right? I'm kinda new to this so I need you guys to like help me out, but I don't know how long, like my little like, “ooh, no bad guy” thing that I just did will last? I don't know. What do we do, what do we do here?

1:45:39 Marcid: Where's that broken lamp from Bob's room?

1:45:44 Sunny: Myrtle has it.

1:45:46 Myrtle: Hmm.

1:45:47 Aabria: And she like unclasps it from her hip.

1:45:52 Marcid: Alistair, what's this?

1:45:54 Alistair: Oh, ha ha. That's sort of funny. Listen, I feel like we could arrive at an arrangement of mutual interests here because I desperately don’t want to be in this magic circle, it seems that all of you want information, so maybe, a little tit for tat? I scratch your back, you scratch mine?

1:46:18 Marcid: Or we shove you back in that bell till the end of all things.

1:46:24 Brennan: You see he says,

1:46:24 Alistair: [frantically] No, no, no, no, no. Please don't ring the bell. Please, don't ring the bell.

1:46:29 Brennan: Alistair looks at you, Cheese, and says,

1:46:29 Alistair: You! I saw you when I broke through the skies of Avernus. You're, you, you're the one who, who fixed the spell and got me into the bell in the first place. What's your name, youngster?

1:46:46 Cheese: My name’s-- Ch-- [narrows his eyes]

1:46:49 Carlos: He thinks about it for like a second. Can I roll Insight to see like, if we got like a Rumpelstiltskin moment going on? [cast laughs]

1:46:58 Brennan: Go ahead and give me Insight if you'd like.

1:47:00 Carlos: 24.

1:47:02 Brennan: You clock this devil. This devil is so lesser. Like, you don't think this dude would know what to do if he had your true name. And also Cheese is a great wizard name because it's not your, it's a nom de guerre name. So, yeah.

1:47:24 Cheese: My name's Cheese.

1:47:24 Carlos: And Cheese kinda like puffs up. He decided when he woke up this morning, he was going to start, you know, showing authority and be determined and learn things like, be tough.

1:47:33 Cheese: The name’s Cheese.

1:47:36 Brennan: Now, anyone here who wants to can make an Insight check for me.

1:47:39 Marcid: He's THE Cheese, Alistair.

1:47:47 Cheese: Yeah, that’s right.

1:47:47 B. Dave: Natural 20. So that's a 25 total, but a natural 20.

1:47:58 Brennan: Alistair, also, Marcid, Alistair recognizes the name Cheese. He's looking at Cheese with more recognition than would make sense just for the, the short interaction that they had. Also, I think you notice it very quickly, but even for everyone else, Alistair is not a slick customer. So, you see he goes,

1:48:19 Alistair: Well, alright, you've got the boy that-- you've got Cheese.

1:48:25 Brennan: And again you see that look of recognition in his eyes.

1:48:31 Alistair: So... I know you can put me in the bell. So, listen, I'm going to fully cooperate. I'll tell you everything you need to know. That broken lamp you're holding is a lamp of enchantment and it... Look, a while back, I was contacted by some mortals in Spyre, contacting me from the coast of the Nightmare King’s Forest. They were a series of druids working along with the Crescent Moon Trading Company. They reached out to me, said that they might have a way to get me back with the Mutineer’s Bell. I have been working for the past, quite a while, almost more than a year now, for Captain Bill Seacaster, archdevil and captain of the Goldenrod as an intern. I get paid in exposure and...

1:49:32 Cheese: Oh, buddy. Oh, wow. Myrtle shakes her head.

1:49:34 Alistair: I know, alright!

1:49:36 Marcid: Oh, yeah, everyone knows warlocks die from exposure. [Brennan laughs]

1:49:42 Bob: You should also know that the price you set for yourself is the price that’s paid, so always value yourself.

1:49:48 Cheese: Yeah, it affects other people. [cast laughs]

1:49:53 Jack: It’s just basic responsibility.

1:49:56 Cheese: To the community at large.

1:49:59 Alistair: Oh, well, it looks like everyone here's figured out some divinity or maybe you need your Trapper Keeper. Look, I'm not very bright. Wizardry escapes me and I wasn't... Apparently gods need you to be wise or something. The only thing I had to offer was, I tried to sell my soul and Bill told me that my soul wasn't worth the copper. So I had to pay cash up front for the spells. So I'm sorry that I made a deal, all right. I'm sorry.

1:50:30 Bob: You could probably buy more if you stopped charging nothing. You'd actually have money to pay for it.

1:50:38 Alistair: Right, well, I wouldn't, I didn't read the intern-- The clause about what happens to you post-death is very onerous, but I thought I'll never have to deal with that if I just never die. So I was sort of banking on that.

1:50:55 B. Dave: I lean over to Cheese again. And I'm like,

1:50:56 Marcid: You see all that bit about insurance, contracts, and stuff seems dull, but the devil is literally in the details, boy. [Brennan laughs]

1:51:06 Cheese: [nodding][eyes wide] Yeah, you’re right.

1:51:10 Carlos: Cheese is going to be a paralegal now, apparently. [he and Brennan laugh]

1:51:14 Brennan: You see Alistair says,

1:51:14 Alistair: They reached out to me and they said, look, you're trapped on a hellish ship. Every time you get killed in hell, your soul doesn't have anywhere to go. So you just end up owing a reconstitution fee to your boss. I'm still deeply in debt. I was actually racking up debt as an intern. I was paying to be there. And so I needed to get out. And they said, we have this Mutineer’s Bell, we can have you get out. We actually need, could use you as part of a ritual. And I said, great, whatever gets me off this ship. I didn't ask any questions. They said that I needed to set up a ritual. They said, do I want to see it? I said, no, I don't need to know what the ritual is. Just get me out. They were like, really? You're not interested at all? And I said, no! But, so what they did need help with was these lamps, yes? It was, they said it was sort of a test run, but they were interested in ways of ensorcelling or putting to sleep or enchanting people like me, tieflings, like anyone that had a connection to the lower planes. And so I helped them with these lamps and they had some sort of way of powering this mass production. There was a, umm... Well, in any case, I'll talk about-- That's not really any of my business, but suffice it to say--

1:52:38 Sunny: No, I mean, I feel like it's our business though now, so yeah. Why don't you tell us? We're just so curious.

1:52:45 Matt: The heavy slaps of a giant mast-like piece of wood on a palm… [imitates the thud] [Brennan laughs]

1:52:52 Alistair: Right, right.

1:52:55 Cheese: He's the good cop. [cast laughs]

1:52:55 Carlos: Cheese puffs up.

1:53:01 Aabria: Oh, I'm bought in. Puff on the edge.

1:53:05 Alistair: The person I was talking to you for the most part, on the other end of the line was this, this, Sheffield-Harrington was the person I was speaking to. We made these lamps of enchantment that we use to bind these tieflings that they needed. And I sort of helped them with that.

1:53:32 Myrtle: Did you make the lamps?

1:53:34 Alistair: I provided them with the roots. They didn't, it was a group of druids working with these merchants, neither of whom were particularly well-versed in the infernal, but they had a way of reaching across planes.

1:53:47 Brennan: And here Alistair looks over at Cheese. You see he says,

1:53:54 Alistair: The Nightmare Forest is a place where there's a lot of permeability. Dark things there, old deities and spirits. The Astral is very reachable there and even druids and other people have an easy way of punching through the planes there to contact people. The Crescent Moon Trading Company did it at first ‘cause they were looking to set up potentially interplanar trade routes, but then they realized that they could make even more money by just getting the knowledge and power without having to actually punch through or plane shift. It's much easier to contact another plane of existence than it is to travel there yourself physically. And if you're able to get knowledge, then that's often worth more than physical goods. So they reached out to me, but they didn't have the magic to do that themselves. They were depending on kind of, umm... a group of operators. There are people there that are naturally gifted with magic and sort of connected to the forest magic there.

1:55:07 Brennan: You see, he looks at Cheese and says,

1:55:07 Alistair: You know, gnomes... Forest gnomes have the power to speak to beasts and things like that, but when you put them in the Forest of the Nightmare King, sometimes they can talk to the trees themselves. And if those trees’ roots grow out of this world and into others, well, maybe it's easier to show you.

1:55:36 Brennan: Alistair does a Minor Illusion cantrip. You see a coastline and the Nightmare King's Forest with the Crescent Moon Trading Company, like a small harbor, a dock, a warehouse, some of their ships there. And along the coast, there are trees coming right up to these cliffs, the roots going into the water. You zoom into that and you see, Cheese, and all of you are seeing this as well. Cheese, you see gnomes in the roots, partially submerged in water. These are the kids that were gifted enough to make the run. All the kids that “died,” all the kids that were dead and, and the, and Cannon Court sang songs for and talked about, they’re in the roots and you see these dark-cloaked druids walking around and you see Spaulding. But you're seeing their physical bodies. Their eyes are rolled back in their heads. The roots are surrounding them. They're mouthing wordlessly. The operators that Alistair is referring to are these young, magically gifted gnomes, and the druids are using their ability to speak to the Forest to contact planes beyond. Spaulding and all the rest like him are conduits, channels trapped and used by these druids to contact other planes, submerged in the water, bound by the roots, their mouths up above the water line, mumbling. That's how Spaulding was able to talk to you. That's where he really is.

1:57:40 Carlos: Cheese, like his jaw drops, his eyes get really wide. This is not what he's been told. Like, there's a manufacturing company on the coastline? Like, this is a pilgrimage that like, it's a sacred pilgrimage that, you know, the gnomes in his community go to once a year. And like, they bring you-- like, young gnomes on the verge of being men to go there, to harvest the black seawater, the black fluid there. And just as a like, test of manhood, they skip a stone on the shore. When they pick up a stone from the shore, the roots react and they start moving a little bit closer to that gnome. So it's considered like, a brave thing to do. It rarely gets them, but it's been getting faster and faster through the years. And like, it's a sac-- He was told it was this sacred place that like, no people live, no people are there. There's nothing around. It's just wilderness and coastline. And it looks like they have been shipping children there. And Cheese just like, is like,

1:59:00 Cheese: No, no, that's not what it's-- That's not--

1:59:04 Carlos: And he turns to the group, like,

1:59:08 Cheese: [agitated] That's not what this is for. This is not, this isn't the same-- [to Alistair] You're a liar! They wouldn't send us there!

1:59:14 Marcid: He's not lying, boy. I would know.

1:59:18 Cheese: No.

1:59:19 Brennan: Alistair looks at you. And you see Alistair’s heart breaks a little bit, looking at at you, Cheese, and he says,

1:59:24 Alistair: I'm so sorry. I grew up here on Leviathan too, my friend, and if a story sounds too good to be true, it often is, my friend. Grown ups aren’t always looking out for your interests as much as they are their own. I'm sorry.

1:59:54 Carlos: Cheese is just like, all emotions at one time keep cycling through. Like denial, anger, fear, like, denial, anger, fear, just like, over and over and over again. And his fists are clenched and like burning, his fingertips in his palms, his teeth gritting. It's like,

2:00:15 Cheese: Who? Tell me, who?

2:00:21 Brennan: Alistair looks at you and says,

2:00:28 Alistair: They… From what I understand, the gnomish cutter ships, the captains and the like are not in on it. They believe as you do, but the black seawater, the thing you're there to harvest? The druids that're working with the Crescent Moon Company, the druids leave it there so you'll keep coming back and they can keep grabbing those children. The roots that come up and chase you, they're not doing that on their own. They're being told to do that. They're taking the kids to power this enterprise. They’re using the young ones to speak to these realms beyond to get people like me.

2:01:23 Carlos: He turns, he turns to the group.

2:01:28 Cheese: We're told that the longer you stay on the coast, the luckier you'll be. So you stay longer, hoping when you throw your stone, when you get your skip, when you come back, you'll be a hero. And some kids, they stand too long. I've been too afraid to go.

2:01:53 Sunny: Maybe you were just... maybe something deep down inside told you. I'm glad you didn’t go. But, Cheese, maybe this means we can get them all back if they're not gone gone. Maybe.

2:02:23 B. Dave: I reach my arm out around Cheese in the exact opposite of when I grabbed him moments after I met him, and I just look at Alistair and I say,

2:02:36 Marcid: What's in it for the druids? This is a lot of effort. Leviathan, the Crescent Moon, all of it, what are they getting out of this?

2:02:48 Brennan: You see Alistair looks and says,

2:02:48 Alistair: Well, the Nightmare Forest is one thing. Those-- They're contacting more people than just me. Demons, the base upper planes, lower planes, you name it. The elementals. Those children are gifted enough to reach wherever they need to, but for this one, when they contacted me and realized that they could do something infernal, they said that they were working on a timeline because Leviathan was going to pass over a very important shipwreck, something called The Late Bloomer. And that there was an artifact of incredible importance there that they needed to be the first ones to get to. It’s something called the Daughter of Storms. And it related it to some kind of scheme, I think? Some wording in certain contracts about “acts of God,” because of course the Daughter of Storms, the way they explained it is whenever the Daughter of Storms is above water, but is within, it's been touched by air observable from the sky, whenever that's the case, the Father of the Daughter of Storms… We’re within a magic circle, right, I can say this?

2:03:30 Myrtle: Yeah.

2:04:12 Alistair: Kahaerin, the Storm King--

2:04:16 Brennan: You guys hear outside. [imitates thunder] And the storm sets in even more.

2:04:22 Myrtle: [looking up] Is that his name?

2:04:24 Brennan: Yeah, Myrtle, you feel the contempt of your mistress, even in the protection of the Gold Gardens here. And Sunny, you feel the wind kick up as well. Marci-- Bob, you feel the presence of your mother off in the Celestial Heights, and Marcid. B. Dave nods.

2:04:42 Brennan: That silent prayer you muttered, when the name “Kahaerin Storm King” is said, you feel like the divine jangling of a coin purse. Marcid looks around.

2:04:51 Brennan: Almost as though the gods you had evoked were going, “Name your price.”

2:05:01 Marcid: Just get me near him.

2:05:06 Brennan: [laughs] He says,

2:05:06 Alistair: Whenever that, whenever that object, is above the ocean line, the storm starts coming. The King wants his daughter back. He wants her back badly and he will come and ruin anything. So, they did a test, not only of the artifact, but they did a test of the, umm… [snaps three times] scam itself, the insurance policy to see if these landlocked banks, these elven banks, and Solisian banks would pay up. So they just needed a stooge. They needed a ship that they could ensure under one of these owner's insurance policies and someone to bring the Daughter of Storms aboard and the policy paid out. Not only did they make the money on sales selling the ship, they made the money on the insurance policy paying out ‘cause they didn't have to pay it to the policy holder because it was “an act of God” paid out to the company itself. So, now, afterwards, they said, look, we're working on a timeline because we're going to be over this shipwreck, the Leviathan will move back there at a certain point sometime next year. So I worked with them on these smaller lamps of enchantment. I knew it was a little bit dodgy, but they said they just wanted to see, you know, little lamps of charming, cast a Charm Person on someone. Pretty innocent, I mean, Charm Person’s not such a hard spell to get your hands on, but it was sort of a precursor to these larger infernal lamps. Basically, you know, the point got brought up sometime when they were talking to me and they kept saying, yes, yes, we're going to, you know, get you free, we'll get you free, we’ll get you free. But basically what they said was there's no way a storm, even a powerful one, even a divine one is going to sink an entire city. I mean, Jamina Joy has done a lot of work to make the city stormproof. She, you know, I mean, this place is mammoth. It won't, it can't capsize, it's miles and miles wide. So they needed a little bit more firepower. And they, umm… they asked about these larger infernal lamps and maybe we wouldn't be working in the school of enchantment. Maybe we’d be working in the school of evocation, so to speak. I know it was very important to them that these lamps were made out of copper because they mentioned that copper is highly conductive.

2:07:32 Brennan: And you guys see lightning strike outside.

2:07:39 Alistair: So... 15 infernal lamps. They said, just, just to have certain extra firepower when the moment for the storm to strike would come. I don't know what they were planning on filling those infernal lamps with. Would need to be something pretty infernally powerful, but, uh. Yeah. Kaboom! Haha, haha. But in any case, the point being is, they were going to get me out. So they had that builded, and you know, they were nice enough to just sort of get me out here.

2:08:31 Brennan: And again, I'll say on that earlier Insight check, you see that Alistair doesn't know about the like, bait and larger fish part of the ritual. He's clearly in the dark. He thought like, okay, I'm like doing some shitty stuff with these lamps maybe, but I'm going to get free. Uh, Marcid.

2:08:49 B. Dave: I just, I realize he's, you know, made a pact with a demon lord, but do I detect any malice from he himself?

2:08:57 Brennan: Oh, no. Alistair seems like a very sweet boy who is just happy to not be in Hell anymore.

2:09:05 B. Dave: I just look at Myrtle and I'm like,

2:09:05 Marcid: Let him out. He's no threat.

2:09:09 Myrtle: What? No.

2:09:12 Marcid: Let's take him out. He's no threat.

2:09:16 Alistair: I, um, I am a little bit of a threat. I am.

2:09:19 Marcid: You're not helping your cause there, mate.

2:09:22 Alistair: Sorry.

2:09:25 Myrtle: Like if they still need him for something. I don’t want to put live bait back in the world.

2:09:34 Brennan: Alistair furrows his brow and says,

2:09:34 Alistair: Live bait? What do you mean, live bait? [voice cracks]

2:09:39 Marcid: You grew up a fisherman, might you know what it means? And Myrtle, if we enslave this poor bastard here in this prison cell, we're no better than them, are we? There is a pause before Myrtle and Marcid talk at the same time.

2:09:50 Myrtle: ...Oh, I didn't have a moral problem with what they did.

2:09:53 Marcid: Okay, I know you are no better than them. I understand that.

2:09:55 Myrtle: I just want to be very clear about that. That wasn't a problem for me.

2:09:58 Marcid: Yeah. Right, but you don't like being in a bowl? You like swimming in the open water, right. That's why we have to let him out. And I'll find him for you. If you want to torture him later, see what the fire.

2:10:11 Myrtle: That's what I have you for, it's fine. [Brennan laughs]

2:10:14 Marcid: I look forward to surviving this enough to get back there.

2:10:22 Brennan: You, Alistair looks up again and goes,

2:10:29 Alistair: What's this thing about, like, um... You said “bait” like that, felt pretty specific. Do you think anyone's trying to use me as bait for something?

2:10:44 Sunny: Yeah, I think we do. Yeah.

2:10:47 Alistair: What for might I ask?

2:10:49 Sunny: A force of God.

2:10:52 Marcid: Do you, by chance think that your boss, Bill Seacaster, would come in person to recover you?

2:11:01 Alistair: Oh, if he knew that I had left, he would, but he can't just enter the prime material willy nilly, there's rules against that. It would take some powerful magic to… [gasps][eyes go wide] Oh! Umm.

2:11:08 Sunny: Yeah.

2:11:15 Marcid: Right.

2:11:17 Brennan: You see, he looks over at you, Cheese, and says,

2:11:20 Alistair: Cheese, did you get a look at any of the magic that they were sort of doing there at the ritual place? Did you see what kind of spell they were casting?

2:11:28 Carlos: Can I roll Arcana to...

2:11:29 Brennan: Yeah, give, give me an Arcana check.

2:11:35 Sunny: Hey Marcid, do you still have that map with all of the insurance papers?

2:11:43 Marcid: Why? I do.

2:11:45 Sunny: Can I, can I see it real quick? Can you lay it out for us?

2:11:48 B. Dave: I lay it out in, according to my sense last night, I'm like the, the engines are here basically, which probably correlate to where the insurance policies are, but yeah.

2:12:00 Carlos: 20 nonnatural.

2:12:01 Brennan: Ooh, dirty 20? Cheese. You can write down a bunch of the stuff that was on that altar, no problem, and like hand it over to him. And also you can mention the, the 15 tieflings that were there. Alistair, as you guys described stuff, looks, the insurance, looks horrified, he goes,

2:12:16 Alistair: Oh, no, that was, I mean, I didn't think they would. But I guess they have a bunch of gnomish children as we had sort of astral mediums trapped in roots. They were going to power them, the lamps with tiefling souls. That's, that's a powerful explosion. They were going to try to use me to get Bill Seacaster here in the middle of a summoning circle. They lied to me! These people weren't nice at all.

2:12:52 Sunny: No, no, no. They’re not.

2:12:53 B. Dave: I just lean very close to the circle. And I just say,

2:12:56 Marcid: [emphatically] Fine print, mate.

2:12:59 Brennan: He goes,

2:12:59 Alistair: Well, thank you very much. Whoever ruined that ritual, you did a bang up job. I would have been in a big heaping helping of trouble.

2:13:09 Sunny: You’re welcome!

2:13:12 Brennan: [laughs] You see, he goes,

2:13:12 Alistair: Look, I'll be honest. The reason I was happy to help these people try and destroy Leviathan is you can't destroy Leviathan. I mean, there's so much magic in the city. Jamin-- There's a lot of rumors that Jamina Joy who's the bosun of the Leviathan has a powerful wish stored in her chest that if anything were to happen to it would be apocalyptic. She would maybe give her life to prevent the city from being destroyed. She's very invested in keeping the city floating. So that was the big wrench in the works for the Crescent Moon, right? They had the lamps, they had, they were going to get the, the Daughter of Storms, bing, bang, boom. They were going to destroy Leviathan. But I was like, yeah, right. Jamina would never let you, right? But this ritual, Bill Seacaster is an archdevil. And if they were able to bond him and sic him on Jamina while the storm was truly crashing down on these lamps, it's possible that Bill would be able to stop her. This was the last piece of the puzzle. This was the way they were going to get around the failsafe. So.

2:14:26 Marisha: Do we know just from like, history, like those of us who like, you know, I've been around, did Jamina have beef with Bill Seacaster?

2:14:34 Brennan: No, Jamina never had beef with Bill Seacaster. Bill was… Bill was like a legendary pirate who had tremendous respect for Jamina for always like, caring for the city. And Bill, of course, killed the Pirate King and was like, this is a free city, no kings, no masters, before he became a devil back when he was living. So you see, he says, he says,

2:14:59 Alistair: Not at all.

2:15:04 Brennan: He says, he says,

2:15:04 Alistair: Bill would have been bound by this ritual. And he's a powerful archdevil. There's not many that could go toe-to-toe with Jamina. But Bill, Bill's proclamation that there would be no kings for a captain and that no one should wear the crown again. It's almost like a spell that Bill cast over the entire city. Bill knows if anyone puts a crown on in Leviathan, even down in the nine hells, he knows it. That citywide spell, if Bill were back here, he'd be able to turn it against Jamina, maybe not for long, but for long enough for the city to sink, if these lamps were to be lit.

2:15:52 Marcid: Do they still need this bell or is its part done now?

2:15:57 Brennan: He looks and says,

2:15:57 Alistair: I think you probably slowed them down, I mean, the city is still out there and the storm's already here. So they're waiting on pulling the trigger. There's something they still need. The only piece of the trigger they've not yet pulled is they would either need to destroy Jamina to make sure.

2:16:20 Brennan: You see, he steeples his hands here and says.

2:16:22 Alistair: Or they could, they could set it off manually. They could go, I don't know which one, but one of these lamps that's at the highest altitude is the one that they could set it off manually, a chain reaction. And Jamina wouldn't know it was happening until it was too late, but that's basically where we're at right now. They could send it off manually. Otherwise they have to find some other way of stopping Jamina in her tracks, which is not bloody likely, there's a reason that they were reaching all the way for an archdevil to try to stop her.

2:17:03 Sunny: Okay. This is a lot to unpack.

2:17:08 Alistair: Right. They really, they really crossed the T's and dotted their I's. These are people that are familiar with thick, dense paperwork.

2:17:15 Myrtle: And I just wanna be very clear that we're, we're not okay with Leviathan being sunk.

2:17:22 Marcid: No, we’re not.

2:17:22 Cheese: No.

2:17:26 Myrtle: Just checking.

2:17:30 Marisha: I want to open up that, the map with all of the deeds that were purchased up with everything kind of pinpointed, and I know Marcid kind of looked in and got those 15 pings of this primordial, infernal, sorry, energy. Can I look, are they arranged in a certain way that it would almost feel deliberate, like big points on a giant rune or summoning circle? Hypothetically.

2:18:08 Brennan: Go ahead and give me an Investigation check and an Arcana check.

2:18:13 Marisha: Yikes. If I can,

2:18:15 Sunny: Cheese, do you want to help me with this kinda like, arcane-? I'm not like, it's more of a feeling I'm not as well-versed in some of this.

2:18:21 Cheese: Oh, yeah, definitely.

2:18:28 Marisha: Can I actually give him an advantage on Arcana?

2:18:31 Brennan: Oh, sure.

2:18:32 Matt: Oh, while they're doing this, I'm just gonna go ahead and slowly lumber forward and start peering over the map to see of all those 15 locations, which one is at the highest point on Leviathan.

2:18:44 Brennan: You take a look at that one. Go ahead, Matt, go and give me Investigation with advantage.

2:18:51 Matt: All right...I assume it's probably near Crow's Keep.

2:18:55 Marisha: I’d prefer to assist people, if I could.

2:18:57 Brennan: Cool, what's the Arcana from Cheese?

2:18:57 Carlos: 16.

2:19:02 Brennan: Cool, and what's the Investigation from Jack?

2:19:02 Matt: 16.

2:19:02 Brennan: Cheese. You start looking at this, you're looking for Arcana. You're looking, you're looking, you're looking. Jack. You quickly are looking in C, C1. You find the page with it and find the address of the building. Sunny, you look at the page and Jack's hands. There's a scratchy sloppy signature on it because the person who wrote it doesn't have great eyesight, Tulwar Zuhari-Royce, his signature is there. The highest altitude lamp is in the Ramble.

2:19:24 Aabria: [groaning] Peepaw.

2:19:35 Marisha: Oh no.

2:19:46 Brennan: And Cheese. You're looking for like, a rune, a configuration, a constellation, and then you realize it's not Arcana. There's one at the rudder. There's one at the top of the Crow’s Keep. There's one at the helm. There's some at the neighborhoods that have the most heavy structures that would collapse into themselves. It's not arcane, it's architectural.

2:20:11 Marisha: It's demolition.

2:20:13 Brennan: Its demolition.

2:20:15 Cheese: No no, no, no, no, no. These are, these are all points. This is, it's all going to collapse. It’s all gonna come down.

2:20:22 Sunny: Okay. We could do one of two things. We can go first to the Ramble and try and dismantle it and find the lantern there and maybe destroy it to keep them from setting off the chain reaction, or we could try and go straight for the Daughter of Storm.

2:20:42 Jack: I'd say we have to do both at some point because either the storm has to stop because that's going to set them off eventually, or we gotta, we gotta go ahead and set off that high peak one on its own, which will cause a chain reaction without the storm. So, yeah, we got to pick which to do first.

2:20:58 Marcid: If we get close enough, I can find the Daughter of Storms. I can locate it and I have a sneaking suspicion I know where it is, but,

2:21:08 B. Dave: And I just put a hand on Sunny’s shoulder.

2:21:11 Marcid: We got to go save your friends first and maybe get back them tiefling souls too, aye?

2:21:16 Sunny: Yeah.

2:21:18 Marcid: Would the bell help with that? Get them out of there somehow?

2:21:25 Brennan: You see that-- Oh actually, whoever wants to make a Religion check for me.

2:21:31 B. Dave: I mean, I'll roll it. Oh, that's not terrible. Okay.

2:21:35 Aabria: 24.

2:21:37 B. Dave: It's less than that. [laughs]

2:21:39 Brennan: Myrtle, you look at the Mutineer’s Bell. It's not intended for this purpose, but you're familiar with it, a little bit. You've done some sort of careful magic with it. You wouldn't be able to pull someone's soul out of their body with this. But if someone's soul was made corporeal and was like, contained in a magical object or something like that, you might be able to extract it using the bell and then you know the ritual to get it out.

2:22:10 Myrtle: I think I can figure this out.

2:22:14 Marcid: Personally, I vote the Ramble and then maybe we pay a quick peeksie over to the old Pirate King’s crown.

2:22:23 Sunny: Yeah.

2:22:23 Myrtle: Bob, you've been very quiet, which honestly I'm grateful for.

2:22:33 Bob: I hope you mean because of your headache, not because you don't like me. I just wanted to--

2:22:35 Myrtle: I like you very much.

2:22:37 Bob: [smiles winningly at Myrtle] It's a little bit off the subject, but I just wanted to say something really important happened in the process of this whole thing. Sunny, I saw your powers!

2:22:53 Sunny: You saw them? Oh you did, you could see it? Did you see Jane Wren at all? Did she like, appear, was she over me?

2:23:00 Myrtle: Oh, and we’re back to the yelling.

2:23:03 Sunny: Was she-- Oh. [quiets down]

2:23:07 Bob: No, I didn't see Jane Wren, but I saw you do the thing when the bell came off and you guys did the thing and you made the little like, thing to contain the guy.

2:23:16 Aabria: I look over at Jack and I'm just like, pantomiming like, please hit me with the mast. [Brennan laughs]

2:23:23 Matt: Jack just kind of like, leans the mast against one arm and using his giant hand, he cups both of her ears.

2:23:27 Myrtle: Thank you.

2:23:32 Aabria: She actually leans gratefully into it. [laughs]

2:23:35 Brennan: Awesome. You, you hear the, Alistair looks and says he says,

2:23:39 Alistair: You've managed to thwart them this far if you stopped all this and I owe you my life, or unlife, for getting me out of the nine hells. That, stopping that ritual set them way back. There's only two options left for them now. Either they have to find some other way to take out Jamina Joy or they have to set off the ritual manually at that highest point closest to the storm. Those are their only two cards left that they have to play. And, umm, [clasps his hands together] hopefully I've been very helpful and you, you might consider releasing me or.

2:24:15 Myrtle: Well if he owes us, can I have him?

2:24:19 Marcid: No, you cannot have him. He already, his soul is worthless. We've established that.

2:24:23 Myrtle: I know.

2:24:27 Sunny: Maybe he can come with us and we can keep an eye on him.

2:24:32 Marcid: I mean, if he chooses to, fine.

2:24:36 Alistair: Oh, I’d be happy to help, yes, absolutely.

2:24:40 Sunny: Do you want to join our crew? Alistair bursts into tears.

2:24:44 Brennan: You see his glamour fades as fire erupts out of his head.

2:24:49 Marcid: You got a little, umm… [gestures to his face]

2:24:51 Alistair: Honestly, I would consider starting at a rate of zero. That's better than I'm doing on my old ship.

2:24:55 Brennan: He says,

2:25:00 Alistair: Or something. Wait, how do I negotiate? I would like a million!

2:25:05 Marcid: No, I believe you already put the initial offer on the table, mate.

2:25:09 Alistair: No! I should have started at one or at least two. Right, I'll come with you. I'll help, I promise, I'll make myself useful.

2:25:20 Brennan: And cool. So you guys look at each other. The wind kicks up again as the storm crashes outside. Alistair goes,

2:25:29 Alistair: Very well. Where to first?

2:25:33 Sunny: To the Ramble! [thunder crashing]

2:25:38 Brennan: And that's where we conclude this episode! Tune in next week, as our heroes journey up, up to the top of the sky under the storm. The Ramble awaits!

2:25:49 B. Dave: [Marcid voice] Why’d it have to be rain? Why does it always rain?

2:25:53 Aabria: I like it. [laughs]

2:25:56 Brennan: Later, whooo. [laughs] [NEXT EPISODE - Episode 5: Scramble to the Ramble]

2:25:56 Transcribed by: Tillie the Paladin

2:25:56 Edited by: Tillie the Paladin, gluegunshots, solsys