Transcript:Excelsior

Pre-show
BRENNAN: Hello and welcome to Exandria Unlimited! My name is Brennan Lee Mulligan. I'll be your GM for this (deeply) Calamity. Throwing to our friend, Marisha Ray!

SAM: Whoa.

MARISHA: Oh my goodness. That was such a quick opening. (laughter)

TRAVIS: On your feet!

MARISHA: Calamity.

AABRIA: Never let him know where you're going next.

BRENNAN: ♪ Cha cha cha cha cha ♪

MARISHA: Thank you for that smooth and seamless toss, Brennan. Today.

TRAVIS: Oh boy.

MARISHA: I have a little bit of merch to present to you.

TRAVIS: Uh-huh.

MARISHA: Okay, so from our

Beauty of Exandria: The Wildes collection, we have a Critical Role reversible bucket hat. (cheering)

MARISHA: When you go on the reverse side, it's got a little--

SAM: Amazing.

LOU: Oh.

MARISHA: It's got a little--

LOU: It's like two hats! (laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh, look.

MARISHA: See, look, look. and then it's got, you know-- Mm-hmm, it's got a little tag.

SAM: So far you've been talking about merch four times longer than Brennan's opening.

MARISHA: Thanks. (laughter)

MARISHA: We have a toss pattern illustration by Sava-- Nope, that was for that. That's the tossed pattern illustration. Moving on. We have the Critical Role watercolor logo t-shirt.

ALL: Wow.

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: Is this going well? Is this good?

TRAVIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: This is good, okay, good.

MARISHA: This is about as par for the course, really.

LOU: Yeah. (laughter)

MARISHA: Just canon.

BRENNAN: Well, shucks, gang. I'll elaborate, I guess a little bit.

Welcome to Exandria Unlimited: (deeply) Calamity.

TRAVIS: (deeply) Calamity.

AABRIA: Ooh.

BRENNAN: (deeply) Calamity. If you were expecting a fun one, (shrilly) you're not getting one! This is a story of grief, betrayal, loss, and the panic of the coming of a new age, Calamity. (gasping)

BRENNAN: Oh no. That's right. We're doing a prequel series. We also have some new faces for the first time. I'd like to introduce some people that have not been at the table before. First, Mr. Lou Wilson! (cheering)

LOU: It's so nice to be here. (laughter)

LOU: Hello, hi.

BRENNAN: Hello.

LOU: Hi, table! (laughter)

BRENNAN: And Mr. Luis Carazo! (cheering)

LUIS: Hey.

TRAVIS: Go, baby.

LUIS: I don't know, I feel like I should hug the table, too.

LOU: It would be appropriate.

LUIS: Oh, should I hug the table? Peer pressure, it works on me. (laughter)

LUIS: It's nice; it hugs you back.

TRAVIS: It won't save you.

BRENNAN: Incredible. Well, we are going to be telling a story of a different age in Exandria, an age long past. Rumors and legends abound of this time period in the world. This is prior to any Vestiges of Divergence. Prior to the coming of the Divine Gate and the departure of the deities into realms beyond Exandria. You will find no Tal'Dorei in this version of this world.

SAM: What?

BRENNAN: For, indeed, it has not yet received that name. It is known by its Elven name, Gwessar.

SAM: Wow!

AABRIA: Ooh.

BRENNAN: We journey to an age long ago to tell a story perhaps of a more sorrowful and bitter time. Shadows stalk this world. Come with us, but please only if you dare.

SAM: Whoa.

BRENNAN: Please, I can't stress enough, only if you dare. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Without further ado, a pleasure, an honor, I couldn't be happier to be here. What an incredible table. Let's have so much fun telling a sad, sad story. (cheering softly)

BRENNAN: Thank you all for watching. Let's get ready for tonight's episode of Critical Role. (gasping) (ominous music) (dramatic music)

Part I
BRENNAN: Fire.

SAM: (gasps) Everything feels slow. There's movement and there's heat, but the only noise you can hear, despite all this chaos, is breath. It's yours, but it's also a stranger's. It's like someone else is using your body to breathe. You're stumbling. Luis. I need you to describe your character and tell us your character's name, but I would love for you to do that with the understanding that your mouth is filled with blood. (gasping)

LUIS: All right, well, my name is Zerxus Ilerez. I'm six feet tall. I'm a paladin, broad-shouldered, muscular, dark hair, wavy. Medium tan brown skin, amber eyes with a troubled, sometimes emptiness, behind them. I imagine right now he's stumbling around wiping the blood off of his mouth as he's trying to maintain his sense of his surroundings.

BRENNAN: You've been here before. You're in a state of disorientation. It's combat. You're not dead. Maybe the blood in your mouth isn't your own, but you've just received a massive blow somewhere to the head, not lethal, but you're off-balance. You're stumbling. Something is wrong, and not in the sense that you are in a bad situation. If anything, that's a place of comfort for you. Something is wrong in the spirit. You open your eyes. Everything is moving through liquid glass. Time is as slow as can be. Ahead of you, you're seeing shapes swim into focus as your eyes reconnect. You can feel your legs doing their work underneath you. It's so slow. Again, ringing off the inside of your helm, your own breath. Sweat pouring down your brow. Ahead of you, the shape comes into focus from blur into three swimming shapes that you realize are the same wall. It's a wall, it's a building. There's something happening. There's fire. There's an orange glow that has turned the white marble of your city into a hellscape. (crackling electricity) There is a burst of energy, an explosion. It moves so fast out to a radius of 10, 15, 20 feet and then joins the glass time that you are in. (expansion) (gasps) Slow. You feel yourself lifting off your feet, being blown away, slower than you have ever moved in combat. What are you doing?

LUIS: I am trying to find the people that I know. I'm looking around as I'm being blasted slowly through space, through the air. I'm trying to find anyone. Twisting and turning my body. Do I see anything?

BRENNAN: Someone you know. You look through the streets as you move. (inhales sharply) (high-pitched explosions) Two more explosions. They start so fast and get to only a certain point. Then (whoom) slow again. You're watching moments in time, disconnected. Someone you know. Down a street. Maybe it's a street you recognize. Could have been a street you walked on the first time you came to this city. At the end, there's an open plaza. You know at the center of that plaza there's supposed to be a statue. You know who that statue is of. Instead there is open space. You see a boy, five years old, a red shock of hair. He sits with his feet dangling in the opening. A humble fishing rod in his hand, sinking into the blackness of the void in this space.

LUIS: I need to get to him. I'm going to try. (sighs) I'm going to try to use whatever I can with my body and twist and try to guide my body in that direction, if I can.

BRENNAN: (sighs) You move, you feel your feet come underneath you and you start to hear noises. "(faint yelling) To arms, to arms! Avalir, rise!" Those noises fade and you begin to move and you feel coolness coming from that opening. You arrive and the orange glow still hangs in the air, but suddenly the glass goes away. You're moving under the power of your own body and you feel your sense and your memory returned to you. You catch your breath. And, once again, that sound does not sound like a stranger to you. You are in the plaza and can walk freely. You are still looking at the child before you.

LUIS: Is there still chaos happening around me?

BRENNAN: It doesn't feel like it anymore. As you've moved back into a place that seems to have the power of your own body underneath it, it's almost like that slowed time is left behind you. You don't see any more things exploding. It's almost like the city has become still here, in this place, as though everything else is momentarily subsided.

LUIS: I wipe my mouth. Look at my hands

BRENNAN: Blood dripping off your gauntlet.

LUIS: It's still there. I start to approach, but from a little bit of an angle and I keep my eyes locked on the child. Is it Elias?

BRENNAN: Your son turns to look at you. "Hi, are you okay?"

LUIS: I'm okay. Can you come to me, please?

BRENNAN: You see--

LUIS: Elias, come here.

BRENNAN: "I'm fishing. I'm trying to catch something."

LUIS: What are you trying to catch?

BRENNAN: "I don't know. I don't know the kind of fish that live in a place like this."

LUIS: I'm approaching. and looking around.

BRENNAN: You look around. You look into the hole, expecting to see only darkness and you see stars. Through the hole, looking straight down, you see endless stars and there's stars you recognize. The stars over Cathmoíra. You feel and hear whispers, laughter, and I need you to make a perception check.

SAM: First roll of the campaign.

BRENNAN: First roll the campaign.

AABRIA: You got this, you got this.

SAM: So this is how it's going to be, Brennan, you son of a bitch?

MARISHA: (laughs)

BRENNAN: It's not called ExU Fucking Party Time, okay? (laughter)

LOU: Can we? Is it too late?

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LOU: We-- come on.

BRENNAN: Come on.

LOU: We're only like five minutes in.

AABRIA: Yeah.

SAM: First roll. Okay.

LUIS: 13.

SAM: Lucky 13. (laughter)

AABRIA: That's what they say.

MARISHA: Oh, it's an omen!

AABRIA: No.

LOU: It's on.

TRAVIS: Way to go, Luis, way to go.

LUIS: These are the dice that y'all just gave me, too. These are my, like, newest Exandria dice.

BRENNAN: You, on a 13, you look and see stars and sense starts to come back to you. These are the stars you learned to fly by and behind you, you feel a sudden reassuring presence and you feel (growls) a massive winged shape appear behind you. A griffon formed of starlight and pure magic nuzzles against your armor.

LUIS: I instinctively just lean into him and touch his beak.

BRENNAN: Griffons are, of course, half eagle and half lion, In a very catlike way, your griffon nuzzles your armor (yawns) and turns into a massive puddle, like cats are wont to do. (thump) Lies down, talons in the front crossed. Nestles down. Elias looks up. "Are you listening for something?" You hear whispers. On a 13, I need to ask you, do you speak Draconic?

LUIS: I do not.

LOU: Oh.

BRENNAN: That's the end of the campaign. You do not. So all you hear is, (whispers) "Are you there now, Ghor Dranas? Ghor Dranas."

LUIS: Do you, do you hear that? Elias, do you hear that? Do you hear anything?

BRENNAN: "Dad, you sound crazy. Is everything okay?"

LUIS: Come here.

BRENNAN: He goes, "Okay, but," and you see that he takes the little fishing pole and puts it in between the talons of the griffon--

LUIS: Uh-huh.

BRENNAN: -- so it's just sitting there. He gets up, "What's wrong?"

LUIS: I kneel down and I just look at him and I move the hair that's in his forehead off to the side, look in his eyes. I'm just glad you're safe.

BRENNAN: "Of course I'm safe. You'd never let anything happen to me."

LUIS: I would never let anything happen to you.

AABRIA: (whispers) Oh my. I'm sad for him.

LUIS: I'm going to look back down into that pond.

BRENNAN: Endless stars. (whispered foreign language) Ghor Dranas.

LUIS: I'm going to repeat that back into it, even though I don't know what it says or what it means. Ghor Dranas.

BRENNAN: You repeat Ghor Dranas back into the pool.

LUIS: Ghor Dranas, I say it again louder.

BRENNAN: Elias holds your arm. "Dad. You know I won't look like this when you get home."

LUIS: I know. Wait, come back here.

BRENNAN: "Dad."

LUIS: No, no, no, no, no, don't leave. Just let me have this.

BRENNAN: He holds the fishing rod. "I think I caught something." (whooshes) Shoom, he disappears into the pool, and you hear (crashes) the entire neighborhood in front of you vanishes (crashes) as a body the size of a mountain crashes into the city. (whooshes) A massive, red form writhes in pain, and a face as tall as a cathedral turns to you. A flood of sanguine fluid (retches) emerges from the mouth, and a horned figure looks at you. You look and see something older than the world look back. (groans) (breathless) "I'm sorry."

LUIS: I approach.

BRENNAN: (breathless) "I'm sorry."

LUIS: What are you? What are you doing here? What is this?

BRENNAN: "My child, I fear I am too late. There are secrets they did not tell you." He opens his hand.

LUIS: I rush to it.

BRENNAN: His hand is the size of a marketplace. You look, and in the center, translucent in ghostly imagery, you see a small tree, no taller than 10 feet. Ghostly light, translucent as blossoms, move from it. You see in ghostly light projected from the palm of this giant, this red, horned giant.

LUIS: What does this mean? What is this?

BRENNAN: "(groans) I'm sorry. You must look. He's coming." From behind you, a figure emerges in translucent, white light. Could you do me the favor of describing what your husband looked like in life?

MARISHA: Oh god.

AABRIA: Oh my god.

LOU: I can't do this.

AABRIA: I got to go.

MARISHA: It's been 10 minutes.

LUIS: So. (laughter)

LOU: When do we breathe? When does that come?

SAM: This whole episode is a trigger warning. (laughter)

AABRIA: I'm too upset to take notes.

LUIS: Evandrin is about 5'10". He's just a little bit shorter than I am. He's got red hair, straight, about shoulder length. Half-elven in appearance, he looks, if you look at Elias, our son, you're seeing the spitting image of what he's going to look like when he's grown up.

BRENNAN: Evandrin steps past you. He cannot see you. You understand in this moment, because your husband does not meet your eyes, that this is a memory. He is not here again, and he is still gone. He holds an amulet, steps towards the tree, and the blossoms from the tree blow in his direction. For a moment, his hair sweeps behind him mixed with the petals of this flowering sapling. He falls to his knees, clutches his stomach.

LUIS: I run to his side. I know, I know this is a memory, but I haven't seen him in so long, and I want to see his face.

BRENNAN: You turn to see his face. You see, he turns up to see someone else. "(grunts) Something's wrong." The image is shattered in a searing burst of light. Another figure, tall as a mountain. All of the light, all of the fire is but a shadow in the face of the dawn. You see a gleaming, golden figure land with one colossal foot on the throat of this horned figure, press him further into the rubble of Avalir.

LUIS: Mm.

BRENNAN: You see the horned figure looks to you, "(grunts)" and cries out.

LUIS: His hands are still out?

BRENNAN: You stand now in the palm of his hand.

MARISHA: Oh. (laughs)

LUIS: I reach down and I touch it.

BRENNAN: (gasps) You see the figure--

LUIS: Do I feel anything?

BRENNAN: You do. You feel a pulse. You feel warm blood flowing through this giant.

LUIS: Ah.

BRENNAN: You look up. The face of the being above you is no face. There is no warmth to the eyes. You see the pitiless, featureless glare of the sun itself.

AABRIA: Yes!

TRAVIS: (mouthed) Fucking Dawnfather!

AABRIA: Get through! (laughter)

LUIS: I look up at its face. Is it looking down in my direction?

BRENNAN: It turns down to look at you. "Turn your eyes from this sinner. He is beyond redemption."

LUIS: What has he done?

BRENNAN: "He has betrayed his kin." You see the horned figure turns to you and says, "It's all right. It's all right. Just ask yourself, Zerxus, whom did we betray?"

AABRIA: I can't.

TRAVIS: No.

BRENNAN: (heavy breaths) "And he--"

LUIS: I, I, I...

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: (shouts) Stop!

AABRIA: Oh!

BRENNAN: (whooshes) You hold your hand. As you hold it up, the light of the sun leaves and is abjured. Boom! (retches) The horned fiend coughs, looks at you with the expression of a being that has just had its life saved, and says, "No mortal would do this thing that you have done. Zerxus, if you look down and see the stars, what will you see if you look up?"

LOU: (whispers) Okay.

LUIS: His hand is, are his fingers curled up? I know I'm in his palm.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: I look at his face, and I start to approach one of the fingers that are standing up, probably like a pillar.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

LUIS: I put my hand on the finger and lean on it. I'm holding on to him.

BRENNAN: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

LUIS: I look up.

BRENNAN: You see the ground, and it is fast approaching.

LUIS: What? (laughter)

BRENNAN: And with that, you wake up.

AABRIA: Oh, dang. Oh my god.

LUIS: (sighs)

TRAVIS: I think I'm in the wrong class. (laughter)

AABRIA: Yeah, I was auditing the fun thing.

TRAVIS: I thought this was freshman biology.

AABRIA: Yeah, ooh. (laughter)

SAM: Oh boy.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

AABRIA: Okay, okay, okay.

TRAVIS: Cool. Cool.

SAM: Cool.

LUIS: The first thing I do is I wipe my mouth and I see if there's blood.

BRENNAN: You're drenched in sweat. Your sheets are covered in sweat. It's soaked through to the mattress underneath. But beautiful dawn light cascades through the window. It's another glorious morning in Avalir.

LUIS: Don't even notice that. The first thing I do is I reach-- (laughter)

LUIS: -- for something.

TRAVIS: Fuck the outside!

LUIS: Yeah, I reach, I imagine, is this the first of these sorts of dreams that I've had?

BRENNAN: I don't think so.

AABRIA: Oh!

LUIS: I reach over for a notebook that I have and a writing utensil, and I start to try to recall that dream as much as I can.

SAM: You do dream journals?

LUIS: And I'm going to leave a dream journal. Hell yeah. If you dream like that, you're going to leave dream journals.

AABRIA: You are.

TRAVIS: Yeah, that's true.

BRENNAN: You write down the name Ghor Dranas, which is G-H-O-R is the first word, and the second word is Dranas, D-R-A-N-A-S.

LUIS: Ghor Dranas.

BRENNAN: What's the room, like, how?

SAM: Where do you sleep?

BRENNAN: Yeah. (laughter)

LUIS: Where do I sleep?

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: Well, I am the First Knight of Avalir, and I dwell in the Tower of the First Knight. But this particular room has accommodations, not just for me, but for my griffon. So it's a tall tower, and it's a suite. It's not that opulent. It's not that fancy. It's got a large enough bed for me, and a couch, and all the standard sorts of things, a chair, perhaps, you know, a fireplace to contemplate the dreams I have, as I stare into the fire. But what it also has is a place nearby, a giant window, so that I can, so Tempus, my griffon, can hop in and fly out of.

BRENNAN: You approach the balcony of the Tower of the First Knight. You see Tempus is there, once again, clearly a magical creature. This griffon would be, in some ages of Exandria, would cause gasps and shrieks to behold something that literally has a body of cool, amethyst, liquid gemstone, with stars swimming in its form and constellation. But here, in the bustling city of Avalir, Tempus is but one of many wonders. As you behold from your balcony the spire of Avalir, the City of Crowns, a new morning comes, friends.

AABRIA: Stop being cool, like we don't remember what just happened. (laughter)

LOU: The sky was, the ground was there and was coming here fast. You said "fast."

TRAVIS: "If you look up and see stars, what happens when you look down?"

BRENNAN and TRAVIS: Uh... To quote, what is it? To quote our wonderful producer, Kyle Shire: It's 1979, and disco's never going to die. (laughter)

BRENNAN: We behold the Age of Arcanum!

LUIS and TRAVIS: Yeah!

TRAVIS: (whoops)

BRENNAN: A blending of magic and wizardry, sorcery and artifice, that has created an age that will be spoken of in the years to come in reverence, but also perhaps by some in disdain. But what could they disdain, here in these bustling city streets?

MARISHA: There's a carnival biker.

BRENNAN: As you look down from your balcony, with your griffon here, ready once again, you know the significance of the day that awaits you. You look down at a busy street corner. You see here the massive carrowhulk, which is a quadrupedal construct with velvet benches all along its back, that a group of wizards just sit at and wait for their stop as the automaton moves along in the city streets.

AABRIA: Cat bus!

LUIS: (laughs)

BRENNAN: You look all around you, and see suddenly, in the tall, spiring edifices of this wizard city, this testament to the power and might of mortal beings to make their own future and destiny with arcane strands, to make their will manifest on the face of Exandria. Suddenly, all around in the hustle and bustle of the morning commute, this very busy day, you see screens alight. (booms) Huge crystals all around the city suddenly show a face. Not only crystals, but at the top of the city, in a grand waterfall. Now a waterfall this size in any city would be pretty remarkable. Avalir soars above the clouds, flying through the sky. So from whence this waterfall comes, I leave to all of you to wonder at the magecraft that could have the scintillating mists of the Por'co Falls (rumbles) fall beneath us, fall.

AABRIA: Okay.

BRENNAN: For a moment, the falls themselves, 100 feet tall, reflect the face of Sam's character. Sam, would you go ahead and describe your character for us?

SAM: Sure. Wow, what face to describe? (laughter)

SAM: I am Loquatius Seelie, a changeling. My normal, or should I say, at-rest appearance is pale skin, white eyes with dark shading around them, white hair in an upshock. If you look very faintly on the gray skin of my face, there are little veins, marbleization tendrils of black, that if you stared long enough, you'd see they subtly move and shift constantly. He's wearing a gold jacket with purple lining, carries himself very high and mighty. And, but this is a broadcast, is it not?

BRENNAN: This is very much a broadcast.

SAM: Well, as Loquatius broadcasts to the Crystal Columns of Avalir, before he begins his proclamations and heralds of the day, his appearance shifts slightly. The veins in his face drip and move, like paint being drained out of a can, and are replaced with other pigments and other colors. His face becomes golden, as gold as his jacket and his hair becomes as purple as the lining of his jacket. He's quite a sight to behold. He holds in his hand-- Is it a wand? Is it a rapier? It's hard to tell. It's long and has something at the end of it, like Bob Barker's old microphone.

TRAVIS: Yeah! Got the long, skinny bit.

SAM: He seems to speak into it, and it magically amplifies his voice across the city of Avalir, and whatever arcane and mechanical means he uses to broadcast himself are repeated over and over with a great echo across the city.

SAM: That's who I am.

BRENNAN: Incredible! We see, boom, boom, boom, boom! Arcane confetti blasts into the air, heralding the morning's announcements. We see as Loquatius appears on all of the Crystal Columns, and in the main screen, being the massive city- dominating waterfall, at the heart of the city, we see a spinning logo of the Herald's Tome. Would you care to make the morning announcements, Loquatius?

SAM: I would, but-- Aria, Aria, I need my copy, my copy.

BRENNAN: "Mr. Seelie, got you right here. Yes, sir. Here you go."

AABRIA: (laughs)

SAM: Count me down, count me down.

BRENNAN: "In five."

SAM: Do I look good?

BRENNAN: "Four."

SAM: Yes. All right. Here we go.

BRENNAN: "Three, two--"

SAM: Good morning, and salutations, sundry subjects of the soaring city of Avalir. I am Loquatius Seelie, your handsome and helpful Herald. I report the news that shapes Avalir's views. Tonight, as we all know, marks the eve of the Replenishment and our return to Cathmoíra, our terrestrial sister city. Remember folks, make sure to fasten all those loose valuables and belongings tightly, as our friends in the Navigator's Guild wish to remind us that there's always a pinch of turbulence in our dissent back towards Exandria Firma. And speaking of belongings, why not try Orison's Odd-Tack? The spell glue that sticks to what it's told. As Orison himself might tell you. You see on the screen, on the crystals broadcasting this message, you see Loquatius' face, for a moment, quivers and starts to morph and dissolve into another face. His hair changes as well, and to the untrained eye, it would look like an edit or a cross dissolve. (laughter)

SAM: But to those who know that he is a changeling, he's actually changing his physical appearance live on screen to that of Orison. His skin becomes a deep red. His hair curls into curved horns, that of a tiefling, and speaks with a totally different voice and says: (gruff voice) Hello there, I'm Orison, from Orison's Odd-Tack, the trusted name in arcane adhesives for over 30 years. Check out our

Replenishment special: 50% off, today only. (laughter)

SAM: Hop on down to Orison's. Then it morphs back into Loquatius Seelie who announces: Well, make ready for tonight's fireworks extravaganza to the Dawnsledge side and enjoy the Parade of Beasts beginning at sundown in Excelsior Plaza right outside the headquarters of my own Herald's Tome, your trusted record of renown. As the archmages always say: Knowledge is power. So pack a punch with The People's Paper. All glory to The Academy Arcane and to the proud people of Avalir, I am Loquatius Seelie saying: Seelie you later. (cheering)

TRAVIS: Oh! No!

AABRIA: Yes!

TRAVIS: (laughs) No!

BRENNAN: (whooshing) People cheer and celebrate. You see that...

LOU: The news!

BRENNAN: The news, we love the news! As that happens, we see Loquatius Seelie where he actually is, which is at the broadcasting station. You are standing on a raised, 10-foot diameter, solid ruby platform carved with glyphs and runes from which you can broadcast to the city. You see that Aria comes up and says, "And we're out. Thank you so much, Mr. Seelie."

SAM: Was it all right? I stumbled in the middle there. Did you think anyone even saw it?

BRENNAN: "No, no, no, no. We have a cantrip ready. So we had a half-second delay and went back in and we changed it with illusion."

SAM: Great, great. Some of the Crystal Columns in Evenloft have been down. Have they been repaired?

BRENNAN: "We're still getting word for the ones back in."

SAM: I need those ratings.

BRENNAN: "I understand. If you would, sir, the Architect Arcane, there's some civic construction occurring there right now. So that's what the slowdown is coming from, but."

SAM: Oh well, all right, then. I'll take it up with her, I guess.

BRENNAN: "If you would prefer for us to-- We've been reaching out from your office and not getting a--"

SAM: No reply at all?

BRENNAN: "Not at the moment."

SAM: Did you say that I--

AABRIA: (stifled laugh)

SAM: -- that I had requested? (laughter)

BRENNAN: "I can show you the exact text."

SAM: No, it's fine, it's fine.

SAM: I will take it up with her the next time I see her.

TRAVIS: I don't think you're fired.

BRENNAN: Very good. "Oh, and a couple things just to run through real quick on your way out. I know that you're very busy and that you have things to do today."

SAM: Walk and talk, walk and talk.

BRENNAN: She begins to walk through and we see the Herald's Tome. From this broadcasting station, you are able to speak to the entire city-state of Avalir and broadcast your image. However, the Herald's Tome, its print edition is the paper of record for this city. You see a number of scribes sitting on desks, arcane quills moving over. You see that there is an entire hall of diviners fact checking. Going through and crystal balls, looking into things. You see that there is an entire screen with a map of Exandria on it that some diviners are able to move through. Again, you see this entire fleet of bards going back into a research library, old additions of the Tome. Aria, your assistant, moves with you in this place. You see-- she says, "We got a little bit of a bite on something. There might be a seat opening on the Octothurge. We don't know anything for certain, but we know that Essel Longbolt has made some noise like he might be leaving for the Magister. For the Porter's Guild election, do we still want to run that for tomorrow at the beginning of the Replenishment festivities?"

SAM: It seems like it's a little bit crowded. I want to make sure that we have plenty of time to get all the attention that we need on it. We'll be landing soon, correct?

BRENNAN: "We, yes, we should be landing within the next 24 hours. Longwyn Valehelm reached out, who's trying to get Octavius Frost's old seat. He essentially was asking if there might be another exposé about his long history with the Porter's Guild and--"

SAM: He is just such a dud, you know? I mean, like, we tried. We tried! We gave it our all at the beginning, right? But just no one wants to back that horse. So I don't-- Just say that the airtime's all spoken for and that we've moved on, and really so should he.

BRENNAN: Gwyn Tenpace walks up, who's the head of the Herald's also. She's your Records Keeper here and comes over and holds out and says, "New numbers. Looks like Maseera Caine is pulling ahead of Arcturus."

SAM: Excellent, as it should be.

BRENNAN: "Of course, sir."

SAM: I hope she knows who put her there.

BRENNAN: (laughs) Amazing! You walk out from this place on your day. As you step out from the Herald's Tome, you look out at the street and see another carrowhulk bustling by. You're in Excelsior Plaza, which this place is thronged with people right now. Huge carrowhulk, boom, boom. Bunch of wizards.

SAM: A carrowhulk?

BRENNAN: A carrowhulk is a quadrupedal automaton with a bunch of benches on its back that people ride around.

SAM: Okay, it's like a mechanical elephant bus?

BRENNAN: It's an elephant bus. It's a robot elephant. It's a glowing robot elephant bus.

SAM: Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

BRENNAN: A carrowhulk.

SAM: Carrowhulk, wow.

BRENNAN: But you see some people walking along. As you step out a bunch of people, all (gasps) and you see a couple of them take out little docents and begin to take pictures.

SAM: I really-- I don't have time, but hello, hi. Lovely to meet you, hi, yes.

BRENNAN: Aria steps in and says, "Mr. Seelie has time only for a few autographs today."

SAM: Thank you, sorry, she's dragging me away. I must go. But how about just one more?

BRENNAN: You just get another autograph signed. As you walk away, you look out and see one of the carrowhulks stops. How would you travel? Do you think you would-- would you go all the way towards teleportation? Would you fly?

SAM: Where am I off to?

BRENNAN: I think the biggest thing on your to-do list today is the Feast of Imyr at the Palazzo Por'co.

SAM: Oh, which is across town?

BRENNAN: Later tonight. Yeah, way up-- The neighborhood that would be occurring in looking at my own lore document here, that would be occurring in Gallamor, way up at the top.

SAM: I mean, I feel like I wouldn't take public transportation, if I may.

BRENNAN: Not at all. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Not, not.

LOU: Okay!

SAM: If there's a private vehicle for me, that would be wonderful.

BRENNAN: You see awaiting outside-- you see that there is a-- wearing a jaunty little robe with some epaulets and a bellhop's hat, a cross between a bellhop's uniform and wizard robes. You see a junior member of the Porter's Guild, not capable of full teleportation, but handy with a Dimension Door goes, "Mr. Seelie, sir, ready?"

SAM: Yes, absolutely. Hold on. Let me just make sure I'm all buttoned up here and Aria, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

BRENNAN: "Very good, Mr. Seelie, thank you so much." As you head off, you see-- take one last look at Excelsior Plaza and the huge emblem of the Herald's Tome above you and all that you have achieved. You look out, you see the carrowhulk takes off going, "Brought to you by The Golden Scythe." (booming footsteps) Heads off and you take one last look and see another little automaton and look around. There are-- all the mortals you can see here are involved in artifice or wizard craft or sorcery or pursuing their studies as a bard, engaged in the great work of this age. You see automatons building and reinforcing and traveling. You see a hodmedod, which is a basically uniformed, little bright red and blue-- It's a fabric construct, sort of like a scarecrow, but you see it walks the streets and a little pre-recorded message. It's smiling, bright blue fabric head, a little stuffed burlap sack goes, "Get your bumbershoots! Get your bumbershoots! Everyone gets your bumbershoots for inclement weather. Rain, sleet, snow. There's no telling what kind of weather we might be facing." And you see a little wizard mother with her daughter walking by in their robes. The little girl says, "Mummy, what's weather?" And you see-- (disbelieving noises)

TRAVIS: Wow.

LOU: Woo!

MARISHA: We've got to get her into school.

AABRIA: A dullard.

BRENNAN: You see the mother says, "Don't worry, darling. Weather is something we must only contend with for a month, every seven years." And walks along. "Bumbershoots! Get your bumbershoots, Wizards of Avalir!" You-- the Porter (energy noise) opens the door and through it you walk. As you walk through the door, there are some questions as you move through this place.

LOU: Just walk through the door. I don't see what the questions are.

BRENNAN: "I don't see what the questions are." As you move through, you arrive in this next place. You're up in Gallamor near where you need to go. The question of those Crystal Columns in Evenloft. Your assistants have basically said that reaching out to--

SAM: Oh yes.

BRENNAN: -- the Architect Arcane has not gone very well. Is there anything-- where does your mind go in this moment?

SAM: I mean, I could just go talk to her now, I suppose, if I have some hours to kill.

BRENNAN: You do have some hours still. You could go talk to her in person, absolutely. You head off to go find the Architect Arcane, Hierophant Abjura of the College of Abjuration, your ex-wife--

SAM: Mm-hmm.

BRENNAN: Laerryn Coramar-Seelie. Speaking of Laerryn Coramar-Seelie, we are going to cut to the depths of Avalir. We do not see the sky here. To be subterranean in a place that rarely touches the earth is a very interesting thing, but we are deep within the Meridian Labyrinth, a network of passageways and arcane machinery. We see a massive arcane engine, gleaming, silver, polished to pure reflection of its surroundings and illuminated by the light of its own spell engines. We see therein in a powerful wizard. Aabria, would you describe your character for us?

TRAVIS: Let's go.

AABRIA: Laerryn Coramar-Seelie is this tall, lanky, dark-skinned elf. Her clothing is all gold and highly ornate. Even here in this place that never sees sunlight seems to glow with the light of the sun. She has a purple cape thrown over her shoulder. In her hands, she's just tossing this little screwdriver. Every time it hits the air, it turns into a different tool and hits her hand. She catches it again. She's checking over her great work. Looking at her face, she's very pretty and angular and her eyes glow with this gold energy that is exactly her magic and it radiates off of her. Yeah, the look on her face is one of both extreme focus, but also that heartbeat before being distracted by something else. She's focusing on everything down here. The entire heart of Avalir, in her mind, is hers. So you see her mumbling under her breath as she answers yet another Sending as she focuses both on this and the things that she's not looking on right now.

TRAVIS: Damn.

BRENNAN: Focus. A word at the heart of the Architect Arcane of Avalir. Looking at the engine in front of you, where does your prodigious focus now move having beheld the product of a long, long time of labor? Even with your perfectionist eye, you are finding yourself hard pressed to find anything here that warrants enormous redrafting. It's been a moment since your fixes have felt redundant, but I'm interested in how your character approaches this. Where does your focus go in the fullness of this engine? Are you looking at something internal or has the time come to begin to think about how it connects to everything else?

AABRIA: Yeah. Now that this great piece is fine, I think everyone else moving through here seems a little more relaxed, but that's only tensed her up more. She's waiting for a break or a flaw, or that little heartbeat of arcane flash before something goes awry, and then seeing nothing and hearing nothing. Her mind will drift towards the batteries and where all of that energy is stored and where the connections will be made once the Replenishment happens. Then the cables and tethers back beyond that, that go to a place that only she knows.

BRENNAN: Reading your instruments, the eldritch batteries hum with power. Truthfully, the auxiliary batteries have had to kick into high gear. You are storing about as much as the city is capable of holding. However, it doesn't necessarily leave you feeling fully satisfied, because this is some of the oldest technology in the city and its limitations are well known to you.

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: A bracelet around your wrist begins to pew, pew, and the ring of masks, tiny, less than an inch tall, but of masks, hanging from a bracelet around your wrist begins to glow. You see the face of the Guildmaster of the Navigator's Guild, glow in illusory light as Akami Rowe attempts to reach out to you.

AABRIA: Without looking down, I think she just knows the masks by feel. She'll switch it on. Hi.

BRENNAN: "Architect Arcane, how are you feeling this fine morning?"

AABRIA: I'm feeling great, and don't care about small talk. What do you need?

TRAVIS: (laughs)

BRENNAN: "Always a pleasure. I would say that the-- I just wanted to let you know that we've entered the outer horizon of the Toramundan Nexus."

AABRIA: Mm.

BRENNAN: "No inclement weather scheduled for arrival."

AABRIA: Mm.

BNNAN: "10 minutes before sunrise. So..."

AABRIA: Mm-hmm?

BRENNAN: "If that works for you, we can stall a little bit, but we will be in position over Cathmoíra sometime shortly after one in the morning, and we'll begin our descent and we'll take that amount of time to make sure we do it safely and slowly, but--"

AABRIA: Okay.

BRENNAN: "We should be terrestrial about 10 minutes before sunrise."

AABRIA: Okay. That's good. Is everything on the ground taken care-- Are they ready for us, then?

BRENNAN: "I--"

AABRIA: We're fine and perfect here. Are the ground ones good?

BRENNAN: "You know, I think there's always a few youths that like to run around on the receptacles before the city lands, but they'll get--"

MARISHA: (laughs)

LUIS: Oh no.

BRENNAN: "They'll get, you know."

AABRIA: They'll move or don't.

BRENNAN: "Yes, you see--"

TRAVIS: (laughs) Move or don't? (laughter)

TRAVIS: Had a couple don'ts in the past. (laughter)

BRENNAN: "Right you are, Architect Arcane. It's not like they won't see us coming."

AABRIA: That. (laughter)

AABRIA: It's a choice.

TRAVIS: It's a choice.

BRENNAN: You hear footsteps behind you.

AABRIA: What?

BRENNAN: You see the Aeormaton next to you. No, she's standing in the room. You see Dweomer turns and says, "My lady, I hear approaching footsteps."

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "Should the Veil of Secrecy be enforced?"

AABRIA: Yes, please. Thank you, thank you.

BRENNAN: She turns and walks out and you hear, "It's me! It's me! It's me! Sorry, sorry!" You see a very old, stick-thin man with poofs of gray hair and a long mustache, that Sam Elliot at the longest it got, reed thin, walks up, arcane tools all around him, runs up and says, "My lady, my lady, sorry." This is, of course, Calum Staffwright, your Chief Artificer.

AABRIA: Hi.

BRENNAN: "I've just come from the Grand Geometer."

AABRIA: Okay.

BRENNAN: "Tomorrow, the Apogee Solstice, we've known for some time it was going to be that the Celestial Solstice would in fact be a--"

AABRIA: Yes.

BRENNAN: "A celestial--"

AABRIA: Out all the way.

BRENNAN: "Sorry! I can't believe it!" He holds a scroll out in front of you and he says, "You told us to alert you--"

AABRIA: Yes.

BRENNAN: "-- should we receive a measurement above 0.025."

AABRIA: How high? I open it.

BRENNAN: 0.5.

AABRIA: Oh! Oh god. Oh god! Oh god! Okay. Great! Thank you so much.

BRENNAN: "Is this--"

AABRIA: You could--

BRENNAN: "Yes."

AABRIA: Yeah. I will have other orders for you later. For now, I need you-- Don't ruin this. I have to go now.

BRENNAN: "My lady, of course."

AABRIA: Yes.

BRENNAN: You take the scroll. You see Dweomer looks and says, "My lady. All will be well on your return. We shall wait until you can come back, but everything is (electric crackles) ready."

AABRIA: Incredible.

BRENNAN: You--

AABRIA: Answer the phone. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Oh, yeah. No, you fully mute and you hear, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"

AABRIA: Hi. Hi. Yes. Is there an important thing? Pleasantry. I'm excited. You are excited. It's going to be fine. Is there anything else?

BRENNAN: "Laerryn, you know, if we don't have this relationship, we don't have to force it."

AABRIA: No, it's... we're... (laughter)

AABRIA: I like you a lot.

BRENNAN: "I also like you. I like working with you, but you know--"

AABRIA: This is great.

BRENNAN: "It's kind of hard to shoehorn the niceties in at the end."

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You know what I mean? Like an asterisk in the text--

AABRIA: We're doing it now, it feels like.

BRENNAN: -- that goes to the footnote of, how are you doing?

AABRIA: Okay, I have to go!

BRENNAN: "Truly nothing but respect. I actually do. I so respect it. I will--"

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: "Hey, listen, we'll have a month of not having to fly this thing."

AABRIA: Oh. Yeah.

BRENNAN: "We'll have a month of not having to fly this thing, right?"

AABRIA: Yes. (stammers) Yeah. It'll be great. I got to go.

BRENNAN: "Okay."

AABRIA: Oh.

BRENNAN: "Everything you say worries me."

AABRIA: (laughs) No. Hi. Woo! I hang up, and I sprint away.

BRENNAN: You take off. Where's your first instinct to go in this moment?

AABRIA: I just need to get to private quarters. I need to spread this out and check it against my notes.

BRENNAN: Okay. Would you stay here in the Meridian Labyrinth, or would you return to your quarters?

AABRIA: Quarters.

BRENNAN: You go up. There is a permanent gate somewhere that is keyed only to your official emblem as the Architect Arcane. You move through, appear back in your quarters. You're up in Gallamor.

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You spread this thing out. If you want to do a check about it, you can do a check about it, but--

AABRIA: Yes, please. I want to roll. I want to roll! Arcana?

TRAVIS: Second roll.

BRENNAN: Yeah, give me arcana! (oohing)

AABRIA: Oh, 17 plus 10 is a 27!

BRENNAN: Woo!

SAM: Damn!

TRAVIS: Level 14!

AABRIA: Brrah!

MARISHA: I know.

AABRIA: Feels good! It feels good!

BRENNAN: Celestial Solstices are a fact of life on Exandria. They are a part of the arcane and divine environment. Every 20 or 30 years, one comes along, and the veil between realms becomes incredibly thin. About every 100, 120 years, you get what's called an Apogee Solstice, where the orbit of the spheres, the relationship of the moons of Exandria kick in and everything aligns. That veil becomes so thin that incredible workings of magic are possible. Now, you knew that an Apogee Solstice was coming, but the Grand Geometer specifically reads leylines, because it's been recorded in the history of Avalir, your city, your home, that some Apogee Solstices are powerful enough to shift leylines, to take the arteries and veins of the magical workings of this world and reshape them. You, reading the ancient lore of Avalir, were able to build the Grand Geometer to measure the strength of a coming Apogee Solstice. Based on your records, based on effectively arcane psychometry, and the ability to read the power of other Celestial Solstices from runes and holy sites in your travels all over the world. Avalir, as you know, travels on the leylines of Exandria, flying all over, trading with a host of cities and civilizations. You were able to deduce that anything above a reading of 0.025 on the Grand Geometer would indicate that there would be some slight shifting of the leylines. 0.025. You're reading 0.50.

AABRIA: Oh. By herself in this moment, I think even as she's checking against her notes and double checking because she doesn't trust other people, she's actively weeping, because she's been working towards this for so long. It's both relief that all of the things that she's sacrificed could be worth it for this one shot, and the terror that she has so little time to take advantage of this tremendous moment. (whispers) Don't look at me.

BRENNAN: Laerryn is, in a city of wizards, often the most cerebral person in the room. Weeping does not come often, but there have not been moments like this that deserved it. In that moment, as you realize what is possible, a lion's head gargoyle on the door, a little door knocker goes, (growls) "Madam, your ex-husband is at the door." (laughter)

AABRIA: Ugh! (laughter)

AABRIA: Walk over and throw open the door. (laughter)

LUIS: Oh my god.

SAM: My darling. (laughter)

LOU: Okay. All right!

AABRIA: I clock very quickly that we are super magic right now.

MARISHA: Oh.

AABRIA: Hi, Quay.

SAM: Hi.

AABRIA: Hi.

TRAVIS: Quay?

SAM: You're home during the middle of the day. Don't you have a lot of stuff to do to land?

AABRIA: I do. Come in.

SAM: Oh, thank you so much. You see, I've been trying to reach you through the normal means and seems that someone's been ignoring someone else's-- You know, when we separated, we said that we would try to remain friends, try to keep open clear lines of communication. You know?

AABRIA: Quay, we are a day out--

SAM: We're seeing each other all the time.

AABRIA: -- from the Replenishment.

SAM: All the more reason.

AABRIA: What fucking hairstyle check do you need from me?

SAM: All the more reason!

AABRIA: You look beautiful. What do you need? What do you need? What do you--

SAM: Well, thank you. Thank you. I'm just saying, we're going to be down there a lot, probably mingling with the same folks, glad handing with the same people down there. If we can't even talk amongst ourselves, then it's going to be very awkward for us. It's going to be very awkward for me, frankly, having to explain why there's this weird coldness in the room. You know, I know that you're obsessed with your work.

AABRIA: Are you making your social status my problem right now?

SAM: You don't have to, just reply to my messages.

AABRIA: The ones from Aria?

BRENNAN: (laughs) Oh!

SAM: (sighs) Aria is just my assistant.

AABRIA: Mm. Mm-hmm.

TRAVIS: I mean.

SAM: She's a fantastic assistant. She came highly recommended.

AABRIA: I'm sure she did.

SAM: She happens to be young. She happens to be attractive, but that goes with the territory. It has nothing to do with anything else.

AABRIA: Of course it doesn't.

TRAVIS: I'm not safe on this side of the table.

AABRIA: Of course it doesn't. You have my unadulterated attention right now.

SAM: Well, that would make the first time that's ever happened. (oohing)

AABRIA: Oh my god! I begin summoning a Fire Bolt. (laughter)

BRENNAN: As you crackle with arcane energy, that springs to your fingertips, in between you, you see a momentary (whoosh) of paper as a little (air puff), and you look up and see the first of them approaching in the sky.

MARISHA: The kites.

BRENNAN: The kites.

MARISHA: Oh.

BRENNAN: You see spell kites. You hear cries and horn blasts. "Behold, behold, Cathmoíra has come into sight!" Far off at the edge of the horizon is the base of a mountain. You can see from the beautiful front door that overlooks the descending city, Avalir built into the peak of a mountain which was lifted by mages long past straight into the sky. You behold a terrestrial city, Cathmoíra, which Avalir, let's be clear, geographically got the way better deal here. Because Avalir gets to be on a solid mountain peak, and Cathmoíra has to be a weird ring around a seat for the city to come back and land on.

LUIS: Wow.

BRENNAN: So, Cathmoíra is a ring of a city with a giant, you know, three-mile runic flat with some groove holes for stone columns to come in to Ikea fix the top of the city into. But you behold Cathmoíra and you see filling the sky in between you and Cathmoíra in the distant horizon still far, far off, an endless parade of spell kites. Now that you have come close enough, the people of Cathmoíra, families that have been apart from each other for seven years, which is the circuit of time that Avalir travels Exandria and trade, and amassing its great Librarium Incantatum and trading for secrets and gold all across Exandria. It's come close enough that the families there can send their spell kites up, attached to beacon stones in different homes in Avalir the kites seek them out. The kites, brightly colored with long tails of paper, carrying baskets with baked goods and flowers, flowers that can grow in the earth below, not conjured magically, but real growing things, come into light. In between the two of you, you see a kite coming to your home with your name on it.

AABRIA: In the moment that I see it's for you, I'm already back on my-- I'm taking other calls.

SAM: Before you go, I don't want to leave it like this, all right? I just was struck with the memory that the last time we landed the cities you know, that's when we got married.

AABRIA: I remember.

SAM: So. I don't know, we were okay once, and maybe we can be again. Just for a moment, just for the month that we're docked and then you can go back to hating me.

AABRIA: I don't-- I don't hate you. And I will be on my best behavior.

SAM: I will, too.

AABRIA: You should get that. And I should get back to work.

SAM: Good luck.

BRENNAN: You grab a basket from some members of the Herald's Tome stationed back in Cathmoíra, and as we see the kites over Avalir, so very many kites begin to approach back at Excelsior Plaza, but not to the Herald's Tome.

SAM: (expectant noises)

BRENNAN: No, indeed. We find them going to the vault of the Golden Scythe.

AABRIA: Yeah!

TRAVIS: (laughs)

SAM: (heavy drum beat)

LOU: There I am, shirtless, glowsticks. The vault is a dance club, okay? There's no gold here, baby.

TRAVIS: (beat increasing in pitch and tempo)

AABRIA: Drop the beat!

BRENNAN: Here in the vault, we see countless automata shouting, silk-dressed sky pirates it seems like almost. Proud merchants, barrels of summoning salt rolling, giant wheelbarrows full to the brim with diamonds, cut perfectly, wheeling throughout. Flowers, festivities. There is a bridled unicorn and we see a-- all of this moves. There is, in the center of this chaos, this controlled chaos, this endless empire of arcane riches. We see a single man at the helm, the ringmaster of a circus of impossible wealth. Lou, could you please describe your character? (cheering)

TRAVIS: Let's go.

LOU: Nydas is-- I'm going to look at a picture of him, because I always forget. Nydas is kind of a stocky dude, like right around 5'10". He has long dreads cuffed with gold that come and lay just on his shoulder, wearing the red of the Golden Scythe. Eh. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Branding!

AABRIA: Incredible.

LOU: Yeah, well, you know. (laughter)

LOU: Like a red coat with a gorgeous golden pin with the signature of the Scythe, with a cape draped along his back. He wears one of those funny, Renaissance merchants floppy caps to one side. His face, a long scar from his pirate days over his right eye. I know it's on my left, but I'm looking at a picture that's the reverse. So over his left, over his right eye.

SAM: The viewers are also looking at a flipped image.

LOU: Oh, is it flipped for them as well?

SAM: I think so.

LOU: I don't know. Anyway, over his right eye is a scar. Over his left eye, you see three tattoo. He has tattoos of Xs. He's got three over his eye. A beard that ends in a golden ring and then set in his face are two eyes of hazel flecked with literal gold.

MARISHA and AABRIA: Ooh!

TRAVIS: It's an expensive procedure.

LOU: It's a very expensive procedure.

MARISHA: Put gold in your irises.

TRAVIS: Ugh! It's good.

AABRIA: I would do that.

LUIS: Wow.

BRENNAN: You see, Nydas, in the center of this, wheelbarrows moving, barrels getting rolled up onto giant carrowhulks. Carrowhulks that you built, after all. You look up and--

LOU: You're welcome. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh shit.

BRENNAN: You look up and see a massive golden statue of a roaring dragon, gilded to perfection glowering over this entrance, this most massive central warehouse of your order. Next to you, wearing dull red robes with a classic, sort of arithmetician or bookkeepers have a conical hat with a long beard, looking a little bit dusty is Alessander Kyrus, your Chief Bookkeeper. "Sire, the word's come down from the Magisterium. The need was for 200 bounded wands. It seems that we've already approved that, but a hundred is already exceeding the budget we set forward at the beginning of the quarter."

LOU: Alessander, it's the Replenishment.

BRENNAN: "I'm--"

LOU: It's the Replenishment, Alessander.

BRENNAN: "Guildmaster, if you ask me to keep these books, I shall keep them. But I remind you that the Golden Scythe is not a consortium of wizards. We are merchants. I cannot produce something from nothing."

LOU: We are a symbol of the riches of our city, right? And should we limit ourselves, we limit the potential of Avalir. So, Alessander, you are going to find me, in your brilliance, 100 more wands. I have no doubt.

BRENNAN: "Perhaps I could reach out--"

LOU: Yes, yes, you could. There are calls that could be made. Friends that could be nudged.

BRENNAN: "There are wands in storage for the Sorcerer's University. If you wish I can, but those, the children will have to go-- that they will-- If I move the wands from there and there--"

LOU: We have a whole month to acquire new wands before the city sets off.

BRENNAN: "(sighs) Yes--"

LOU: Alessander, this is not a problem worth dealing with.

BRENNAN: "All right, sorry, Guildmaster."

LOU: Alessander, do not apologize. These are the questions that need to be asked. However, they have solutions.

BRENNAN: You see that over your shoulder, Daenyria, who is your Chief Arithmetician, leans over and says, "I believe actually collection from the Circle of the Crescent Moon may actually, I believe that they have some wands on resource. So if we ask them to pay a portion of their contract perhaps it's at a discount in wands, I believe that might make up the difference, Alessander."

LOU: Perfect. Alessander, Daenyria?

BRENNAN: Yes.

LOU: Alessander, Daenyria, you two talk, figure that out.

BRENNAN: You hear of a booming voice from across the hall. Again, moving through someone who is leading a very confu-- There's a full sphinx. A winged lion with a man's face walking. (thudding footsteps)

LOU: This is our, are we putting on the Parade of Beasts?

BRENNAN: You are, of course, the Golden Scythe is putting on the Parade of Beasts. A sphinx walks up and says, "Um, hello. I understand that I've been brought here for the Parade of Beasts. I am, of course, a speaking and thinking creature." (laughter)

LOU: We completely understand.

BRENNAN: "Yes."

LOU: We completely understood. The title "Parade of Beasts" is archaic in many ways.

BRENNAN: "Yes."

LOU: From a time when the riches of Avalir were not so that we would be graced by the presence of one such as yourself. Great sph--

BRENNAN: "Oh, you may call me Feromyne."

LOU: Great Feromyne.

BRENNAN: You see, he says, "Do you-- I was instructed that you just needed me to roar. I can say, if you want me to say something or--"

LOU: Should anyone converse with you, you should feel more than welcome to speak. However, we thought it might be easier for you should you just give an enormous roar from deep within.

BRENNAN: "It's quite all right. The Scythe has saved my maze and repelled a number of monsters from my home."

LOU: Oh, fantastic. Oh, okay.

BRENNAN: "I owe you a great-- I owe you. Do you-- are you unaware that--"

LOU: No, no, I'm very aware and thrilled that you are here to give back to an order that's given so much to you.

BRENNAN: "The Sailor-Marines of the Harvest Moon, your merchant company, they saved the enchanted glade in which my maze can be found."

LOU: Yes.

BRENNAN: "So, and I said, I would give, I owed them a boon thinking that I might, in a time of need, come to their rescue. And they said, 'Are you free on this date 'for the Parade of Beasts?'"

LOU: What ease it is for you that you need not give of yourself in any way. We simply ask that you walk a parade. That's it.

BRENNAN: "Yeah, I guess that's-- Yeah, I guess that's-- I guess that's easier for me."

LOU: Great, what is your name again?

BRENNAN: "Oh, Feromyne."

LOU: Feromyne, you need to get-- Can you go ahead and get with Alessander? Then the two of you just talk and I'm going to keep on moving.

BRENNAN: You see that Alessander says, "How much do we owe you for your service?" He says, "No, no, it's a--"

LOU: It's a boon, it's a boon! Don't pay him, it's a boon. (laughter)

BRENNAN: As you walk forward-- (laughs) As you walk forward, you hear off like, "Payment in boons, is that right?" You see the captain of your Sailor-Marines, Captain Badran Esparad, walk up and say, "There's the Guildmaster himself, the Dragon of Avalir."

LOU: Captain Badran! And I think we'll do a nice classic forearm.

BRENNAN: Yes, beautiful.

LOU: Pirate to pirate.

BRENNAN: You see he says, "There are some friends here to help in tonight's celebration, and I promised they'd be able to meet you. Children, if you'd be so kind. This is the founder of the feast and the creator of the Sorcerer's University." You see, there are a number of sorcerous youth from all over Exandria. You see they're up in robes of gold, standing there. Some of them have scintillating dragon scales, some crackle with electricity. These are sorcerous children. They're children that have manifested a connection innately to magic, and they line up in these robes and go, "Thank you, Guildmaster Nydas Okiro, for creating the Sorcerer's University so that we could study magic." (Badran) "Now do the, do--" and you see Badran and they create a roaring dragon that moves for tonight's fireworks extravaganza. These kids have already learned how to--

TRAVIS: A little disjointed.

LOU: It comes apart at one point and splits in half. (laughter)

BRENNAN: (kids) "In ages long past, the wizards of Avalir defeated--"

LOU: Children, children. I'm going to kneel down. That was spectacular. You are all going to do a fantastic job at tonight's event.

BRENNAN: The little kid that you're that's nearest to you looks up and he looks at you and he says, "Is it true that you're a little bit of, a little bit of dragon, too?"

LOU: (laughs)

I say: Only in name, child. Then I'm going to cast...

SAM: Fireball.

LOU: Fireball! Ah, ah.

SAM: ♪ Too many spells ♪

LOU: ♪ Too many spells ♪ ♪ I'm going through ♪ too much stuff, ♪ ♪ and I can't find ♪ what I want. ♪ I actually don't think I have anything, but I do want to just breathe a little smoke out of my nose, if you'll let me do that.

BRENNAN: Yeah, you're a dragon sorcerer.

LOU: Okay, I do a little, yeah.

BRENNAN: You see the kids immediately go berserk. Just like, "Ah!" and they run off. You hear one older kid, "I told you so!" and they scuttle off. Badran smiles and says, "Good eggs. No pun intended," gesturing to the dragon up above.

LOU: Of course.

BRENNAN: He looks at you and says, "Nydas, I wanted to touch base as well. The children wanted to see you. They're very excited for the fireworks extravaganza. I went to go get the actual payment for the Stormbringers. They helped us on that thing on the coast of Issylra. I was told that we needed to forestall their payment by some time. Is that true?"

LOU: Just for, through the Replenishment. By the time we are back in the air, everything will be in order.

BRENNAN: "All right."

LOU: Can you stall? You can-- It's just through until we're back in the air.

BRENNAN: "Yeah, well, if that's what it is, that's what it is. I mean, there's nothing they can do if they're told to wait, they will wait. It's just that the business there's not completely resolved. So it would be nice to be able to use them again. Do they have to wait the entire month while we're terrestrial, or?"

LOU: I mean, hopefully once certain debts are paid given upon our return, certain debts will be paid, which will hopefully fill coffers, which will free things up. But right now, Badran, I really, we need to keep this one on hold.

BRENNAN: "You have the vision, Guildmaster. Tough conversations are not the thing I'm most frightened of." He heads off. Where does Nydas move now, you think? Listen, you know.

LOU: I think... would Nydas know that kites are coming?

BRENNAN: Yes, you would.

LOU: I would move to find, I would be looking for the one from my brother.

BRENNAN: You go up to your office and see the kite tapping gently against the window.

LOU: Hello, friend.

AABRIA: Aww.

BRENNAN: It opens up. You see your brother Eaedalus, his script on a letter, his wife Irmé's incredible nut and fruit loaf. This ground-based, something like home cooking that you haven't had in so long.

LOU: This loaf. This beautiful loaf. (laughter)

BRENNAN: It's just a sweet--

LOU: Just gorgeous.

BRENNAN: Sweet little loaf.

LOU: Nydas is just holding a loaf.

BRENNAN: You see it's a short letter and you see it says underneath it, it says, "Even dragons have to land. There'll be a table set for you when you get here, brother."

ALL: Aww!

SAM: It's a Hallmark card.

LOU: (groans) Truly. I think Nydas takes a moment. Cuts just the notch of the bread as it'll likely be some of the only food he gets to eat today. Noshes on it. And then--

BRENNAN: Without fail, as you say that, you get a bite in and there's a knock at the door. You see that Alessander enters and says, "My Lord, Magister Milus Phren is here to speak with you? If you're busy, I don't have to let him in. But if you wish?"

LOU: Oh, no, no, no. With the Replenishment coming up, I don't want anyone to feel ignored. Who is this man?

BRENNAN: Give me a history check.

SAM: Who is this man?

LOU: Who is this man?

AABRIA: Let's go.

SAM: Is it on our 20-page lore doc?

LOU: That's a cool 17.

BRENNAN: 17? I mean, he's a Magister, but you-- but truly truly to you, this is a nobody.

LOU: Got it.

AABRIA: (chuckles)

BRENNAN: You see a reedy--

LOU: Oh, can I say one more thing to Alessander?

BRENNAN: Yes, yeah.

LOU: I say, if this doesn't seem to be that important, 30 seconds in, I need a call.

BRENNAN: "Yep, very well, My Lord." Alessander steps out, and you see that a reedy, sallow-faced archmage steps in. This is a magic-- a member of the Magisterium. He comes in and says, "Ah, Guildmaster."

LOU: Magister.

BRENNAN: "On such a busy day I do appreciate. I am so sorry that time has worked out that I must bother you on such a busy occasion."

LOU: Oh, think nothing of it.

BRENNAN: "But I've heard you might be the man to come talk to."

LOU: Hm.

BRENNAN: "I have heard some rumors about some movement in some of the upper echelons and I'm looking to see if I might be able to be a welcome hand to those in need. So I owe some favors to some friends of mine higher up near the Archsept, you understand?"

LOU: Mm.

BRENNAN: "I've heard that when it comes to the Replenishment that-- well, sometimes there's a-- as we know the auxiliary batteries have been lit up, and it seems that there might be a surplus of Ether this year. I was wondering if you were the man to whom speak to about that?" On a 17 history, you don't like that this guy--

LOU: This is too low.

BRENNAN: Yeah, too low for you to notice, and too low for this guy to have-- to be talking this openly about something like this.

LOU: Magister, I do not know to whom you speak who felt so comfortably embracing rumor as if it were fact, but this is not the case and you have come to the wrong person. (chuckles) I would ask that you excuse me as I have much to do with regard to the Replenishment.

BRENNAN: Alessander opens the door and says, "Guildmaster, the sphinx is pitching alts on his roar." (laughter)

LUIS: Wow. (laughter)

AABRIA: Oh my god.

LOU: Well, we really need to nail this down. You know, talent. Um-- (laughter)

LOU: Have a lovely day, Magister.

BRENNAN: He looks, and you see Alessander-- Captain Esparad steps in and says, "Magister, right this way."

LOU: Yes.

BRENNAN: And moves him on out of there. (laughter)

LOU: Alessander, what the fuck? Is he actually doing that? Is the sphinx actually pitching alts on his roar? Or was it your creative solution?

BRENNAN: "No, no, that was my creative solution. The sphinx is actually just sulking in the corner."

LOU: Oh. (laughter)

LOU: Well, that's more of a problem!

BRENNAN: "Oh, sorry! I just thought-- He just seemed--"

LOU: Do you have some ideas for alts on a roar that--?

BRENNAN: "All glory to Avalir?"

LOU: Oh, that he would yell that instead of roaring.

BRENNAN: "Maybe he could do both. I don't know, it's a long parade." (laughter)

LOU: Oh, honestly, Alessander, I'm sorry for shooting this down. This is good. Let's go talk to that sphinx. (laughter)

BRENNAN: You take off. We move from the Golden Scythe!

AABRIA: Oh my god.

BRENNAN: Incredible. As we move from the Golden Scythe, I'm going to press some buttons.

AABRIA: Remember when we started with the scariest thing in the whole world?

MARISHA: I haven't forgotten.

AABRIA: Then that scene happened?

LOU: I had kind of forgotten it, and now things are kind of fun.

MARISHA: Look how happy we all are.

TRAVIS: The size of a mountain. Size of a mountain.

LOU: The sun without eyes.

TRAVIS: Uh-huh!

AABRIA: The ground was coming really fast. But at least we laugh. (laughter)

TRAVIS: His son was fishing in space! Cool.

AABRIA: Like you do!

MARISHA: Who did we betray?

LUIS: I didn't betray nobody.

AABRIA: No, we're fine. This is great. We're doing great. Nothing bad will happen.

TRAVIS: We're going to watch it back.

MARISHA: Yeah. Rewind the tapes.

BRENNAN: We move from the Golden Scythe, and once again, begin to shift back towards a neighborhood that we haven't really explored yet here within Avalir. We go now past Excelsior Plaza, all the way to Cloudstone. We have seen so far the Tower of the First Knight. We go deeper. Massive, marble building. The footsteps, people (clacking) echo off of cold stone. We see an emblem up above of a massive eye with a slitted pupil overhead. The people who move in this place are not wearing robes and they do not carry orbs, nor staves, nor wands, but instead weaponry. This place does not hum with magic, but instead a cold and silent somberness fills the air here. This is a place of sharp clarity. Through the echoing halls, an assortment of-- well, I suppose we might call them rogues, but there is not very much roguish about them. They wear rings, the emblem of an eye on the outside. We see one such member walking down a corridor, flanked by some attendants. Guardian of the Seventh, Senior Sightwarden of the Eyes of Avalir. Travis, could you describe your character?

AABRIA: Yeah! (excited humming)

TRAVIS: You see, standing tall, but with a cloak and a hood pulled up just behind his feathered head, a six and a half-foot tall eisfuura, so a bird person, if you will, with very white feathering that falls into brown tips, a dark beak with slightly gray, slightly bluish eyes, proud, strong shoulders, strong wings tucked back, but fairly folded back beneath a cloak, and a badge of some sort that's just slightly hidden on his person. His arms tucked in tight, only to, if for no other reason than to hide the double holstered axes, handaxes that are underneath his arm and wraps around his wrists and his taloned fingers and feet as he moves along. This is Cerrit Agrupnin.

BRENNAN: (sighs) Cerrit Agrupnin walks. A mode of transportation that is not your primary form of movement, but here in these halls with all of these terrestrial folks, even in this sky-born city, you walk into a chamber carved of a single piece of marble. It's about 40 feet by 40 feet. The ceiling's about 30 feet tall. One wall in the marble is carved with pure force. (energy buzzing) As you walk in, you see that there are a collection of-- some of them might be artifacts or magical items. Many of them are just debris and bric-a-brac. There's a partially ruined carpet. They're floating in this pure white, marble room. As you walk with your attendants, they stop at the beginning and you see a burly, leather-clad half-orc with a big old tusk coming out. The other one got chopped off some time ago, but you see he's got his hair pulled back into a long ponytail, leather cord wrapped around. Looks back and he goes, "Oh, Pinch, how the hell are ya?"

TRAVIS: I'm good. It's good to see you, Orwyn.

BRENNAN: "Well, you ready for this? I mean, I don't know how much the boys are going to be able to do." You see that there's some figures that are partially concealed behind that force, that window of force. You go up and you see that one of them presses a button and projects a voice using magic into the space and says, "Sightwarden, we're ready whenever you are. So just give us the signal and we'll activate the chamber."

TRAVIS: Always got to make 'em wait, understand? Do things on your own time.

BRENNAN: You see Orwyn looks up at you and says, "Yeah, yeah, look at the kids, the eggheads in there, like that. How's the Missus doing, by the way? You got to come by and have dinner sometime."

TRAVIS: I appreciate that. Yeah, it's real busy at the house. We'll take you up on that. You seem to have gotten here before me. Anything I need to know before we begin?

BRENNAN: "Well, you know, this is basically the debris. So, you know, we were parked over Vasselheim for about 10 days. You know, we were there trading, last port of call before coming home, taking off from Issylra and flying straight here. While we were there, you know, we get reports from the constabulary in Vasselheim that the Archmage Vespin Chloras, is--" Hold on one second. The Archmage Vespin Chloras, has gone missing. We didn't think anything of it, you know? The report-- basically the only reason we heard hide or tail of it is that the people there were worried that he was doing some heresy. You know, Vasselheim. They're worried that someone was doing something against the gods. So, what we did then is, you know, they say, 'Hey, this guy do anything? 'Is he stowing away aboard the city 'and about to take off?' So we did a sweep. We said, 'No. 'Vespin Chloras is not stowed away.' But you know, even if he was, we're not going to answer to a-- We're not going to extradite the guy, so?"

TRAVIS: No trace of him? Just vanished into thin air?

BRENNAN: "Well, that's what we've been getting the chamber ready for. I mean, they-- you know, we took a quick look at his chambers, no hide nor hair of him. I mean, (sighs) the rumor is he was trying to recreate the Matron's ritual."

TRAVIS: (laughs) Another one of those, huh?

BRENNAN: "Yeah, exactly! I mean, every two-bit sorcerer or hedge mage pops up with their body scattered in a miasma of their own goo trying to name check some Prime Deity. He comes in here nothing more than a stain! But, you know, it looks like this joker did it so bad that they didn't even leave a hair or a fingernail. I mean, there's nothing left of the guy."

TRAVIS: I mean, I appreciate you having me in here, but this seems like something you would be able to dismiss on your own. What makes this any different than the others?

BRENNAN: "Well, we did dismiss it, and then they wanted to get rid of a bunch of this, which is what opens this can of worms up, so--" You see, he looks over and says, This bric-a-brac, all this magical nonsense from his chambers, his sanctum, this made it aboard Avalir and it was headed for the arcane furnace. It was going to get disenchanted, broken down, and added to the Etheric Net, you know, so we can come back and dump all the ether into the ground, and replenish the continent of Domunas. But, you know, we grabbed it out of the line because, you know, we got word from, I think someone came down. Hey, Costello! Where did we get that?" You see-- he looks over. You see, he says-- he says, "Member of the Ring of Silver came down and told us we needed to pull it."

TRAVIS: Ring of Silver, you say?

BRENNAN: "Yeah. Said it was of academic importance, something like that."

TRAVIS: I might know who that might have come from. You know what? You did the right thing involving me here. Rats in this city. Let's see what we have, shall we?

BRENNAN: "All right, boys, light her up!" You see (energy buzzing) the psychometric chamber in the center of the Hall of Eyes alights and, rendered in perfect detail, not using illusion, which you would detect, but using pure transmutation recreates from stone the Sanctum of Vespin Chloras.

AABRIA: You're in a different movie than the rest of us! (laughter)

TRAVIS: As this happens, as he's done dozens of times before, you see his arms fall to his side, his irises open wide, and all the feathers on the back and top of his head stand up tall, full crest.

BRENNAN: As you begin to do your thing, Orwyn keeps talking, knowing that this is of second nature to you, that you can split your focus easily. He looks out and says, "Yeah, well, you know, we had this squad teleport back when we were over the ocean and they got back. He's still not back there. So Porter's Guild's not happy that we're holding onto this stuff with the whole Great Registry and everything. The fact that there's no Guildmaster for them right now that the election's been postponed. So, you know?" Go ahead and give me your investigation check.

SAM: Ooh, a roll.

AABRIA: Yes!

SAM and AABRIA: A roll!

TRAVIS: He's just moving slowly around the room as this happens. Holy shit. (chuckles) Hmm, hmm. 31.

MARISHA: Oh! ♪ Level 14 ♪

AABRIA: Oh, let's go!

LOU: There it is. There it is.

AABRIA: ♪ Level 14 ♪

BRENNAN: For those at home, in the general breakdown of difficulty classes of DCs, 30 is the top success level that they list. They don't list any higher than 30. You're looking around. So the chamber shifts. Stone grows, shifts. You are looking at the sanctum. As you are looking at it, a series of controls opens up around you. You see these little glyphs. You know that one of them you can shift to move the sanctum backwards through time. The way this magic works is it is the memory of the objects in the space.

LUIS: Wow!

BRENNAN: So you have a recording of what the objects remember. Unfortunately, the way the psychometric chamber works is these objects don't record the passage of beings. They don't record organic creatures. They just record other inanimate objects. But you can move through time, you can move through day and night, you can see different states that the sanctum was in. Another one allows you to actually zoom in. You almost never need to use that one. That's for people that are not-- As you look in, you see Orwyn goes, "So, I mean, we're holding on to this stuff for academic concern. I mean, what do you think, you think the guy actually did the damn thing? I feel like I read in my history books that when the Matron of Ravens ascended, it was pretty clear there was a new God of Death. I mean, people knew about it. I think we would've heard there's a new god of jerking off or whatever this guy is." (laughter)

BRENNAN: Your attention is drawn to-- This sanctum is windowless. It is cold and austere. There's some candelabras. There are a lot of writings here in some of the objects. Glyphs that you recognize as Celestial. Some you recognize as Infernal. You see something on the floor. It's badly rusted or corroded. It's an old piece of metal. It's maybe about foot and a half long. It's got this patina of corrosion on it, but your eye moves to it. As you examine it, you realize that this is something disenchanted and it used to be much larger. On a 31, you see a little glyph hover in the air next to you with a library, the symbol of the Librarium Incantatum opens up and you see the ability to move through all recorded artifacts, magical items, everything Avalir's ever come into contact with appears before you, but you're looking at this thing and you feel looking at the corrosion on it it used to be much bigger. This is a fragment left of something that wasn't just broken or shattered. It was almost rusted away instantaneously.

TRAVIS: Is the shape familiar with anything I've held before? Is it a fragment or a piece, or does it look whole?

BRENNAN: Thinking of it as a fragment, you recognize the curvature of the end of it starts to curl back. You think you're looking at a part of a bow. As you think of that, you see that Orwyn comes over and says, "What do you got there? What are you looking at, Pinch?"

TRAVIS: Well, unless my ears haven't served me well, I think we're dealing with a piece of a weapon.

BRENNAN: As you do that, you see that the glyph next to you zeros in, and you begin to look. As you begin to hold it in your hand, this dull, inert, non-magical metal, you look really closely and see that the corrosion comes from a disenchantment. Now, this is where your impossible investigation skills and also your proficiency with arcana and magical workings. Most of the disenchantments you come across work in a spell casting way in which the thing that was being disenchanted was targeted. As a result, when something corrodes or is disenchanted, it tends to have a pattern in the patina that is left on it that starts at a center and moves outward, right? That a wizard in a dispelling check will name something and break it. Now, already to disenchant a magical item, we're talking about 9th-level magic. You're talking about really, really rare stuff even in the Age of Arcanum. This doesn't have that pattern to it. You're looking almost at forensically how you would look at something and say, "Okay, if this was targeted to be disenchanted, it would start at a center point and move out." Everything here has the same grain to it, which means that some energy came into a space and exploded or moved outwards and was able to indiscriminately disenchant a magical object.

TRAVIS: Along with everything else.

BRENNAN: As you look, on that 31, you look and see marks on the ground of a summoning circle that has been completely eradicated. That something was supposed to be bound here. The thing that was supposed to be bound so wildly and easily escaped those bounds that it erased any obvious trace of a summoning circle. You don't even think the other guys that have come in here already, you don't think Orwyn can see it, you don't think anyone else can see it, but you're looking and see traces. There's no recollection of what the runes even would've been, but you just see from the spacing, you're like, "Yep. That's a 16-point circle. That's the corners. It's oriented with the largest rune being due north. This is a summoning circle that's been erased."

TRAVIS: Well, I'm betting balls to bone, this is not your standard fare. No.

BRENNAN: "Yes, well, so some kind of-- This guy tried to call something up and it got the better of him? I mean, they said he was working on what they're all working on. He said he was trying to crack godhood."

TRAVIS: Right. How many other people besides you and I are privy to the details of this room? You working with anybody else, sharing information, anybody sponsoring this for you?

BRENNAN: "Well, the boys know that we're doing it, but this is the first time they've turned it on. So no one else has seen this."

TRAVIS: I'm going to need you to go ahead and lock this down for the next hour or so. I want a full, detailed record of everything in this room. I want a catalog and I want it sent to my office, just you and me.

BRENNAN: Are you trying to keep this-- How much are you keying Orwyn in into how concerned you are? Do you want him to be keyed into this, or are you trying to keep a little bit of a veneer up?

TRAVIS: I'm keeping a little bit of a veneer, but I also don't want him to be careless.

BRENNAN: Yeah, give me a little deception check just to keep--

AABRIA: Was it a secret? Keeping secrets?

TRAVIS: 15.

BRENNAN: Orwyn goes, "You got it. We'll get a record of it. We'll send it over, and we'll scrub the copies on our end. It'll just be sitting on your desk."

TRAVIS: I would appreciate that.

BRENNAN: He points to the thing in your hand and says, "Do you want us to enter that into evidence, or--?"

TRAVIS: No, let me run this by a couple of friends I have.

BRENNAN: You hold onto it. You look back at the circle. Totally gone. There's no telling what the runes could have been. There's nothing left. You've seen a lot of people who attempted something stupid and there's almost always a testament, something left about a body, a mistake. It's so empty. You walk away. But I'll tell you where's not empty!

LOU and AABRIA: Ah! (laughter)

BRENNAN: We transition from this place to the heights, and I think we all know exactly where we're going.

LUIS: Ha ha ha.

BRENNAN: We're going to the very top, the summit of Avalir. As we arrive, we see the Archsept, home of the Septarion, the seven highest archmages of Avalir. In the grand chamber, the central dome at the base of the Archsept, where outside the great staircase leads up to the Halls of the Septarion, the eldest and most powerful wizards of Avalir, we see a 100-foot tall statue, colossus, of a beautiful elven man, carved in marble, his long hair behind him. Imyr the Bold. He stands, reaching up to the very heights of the dome itself, looking down at his outstretched hand, circling above his hand, levitating some 20 feet above it is the city of Avalir in miniature. Miniature, of course, it still being some 20 feet wide and 20 feet tall. At the base of the statue of this ancient and powerful elven wizard, Imyr the Bold, whose great magic lifted the city of Avalir from its terrestrial constraints, forever sundering Toramunda into its component cities of Avalir and Cathmoíra, Imyr Por'co, great wizard and first of the Septarion. At the feet of Imyr Por'co, who do we find, Marisha?

AABRIA: Ah!

TRAVIS: (laughs)

MARISHA: You see a middle-aged, although you wouldn't be able to tell-- (laughter)

MARISHA: -- elven woman, clear ivory skin, with hair that is silvery white, almost reflects the sky around her. She has a long collared breasted coat over top that stretches down like a gown, in an emerald green that almost has its own silken sheen to it with a teal blue, indigo, name your color dress, depending on how it hits the light underneath. In her hair, she has this almost like a sun ray fascinator made of gold, where pieces of her hair are falling through it. Around her neck is a rigid golden ring. If you look closely at it, it has tiny blue crystals like tiny Swarovskis that are brumestone, and it lightly levitates and rotates and spins around her at all times, as well as a orb, a glowing orb that is her focus that also just hovers, almost celestial, planetary in nature. She looks as if the outfit was made for her this morning (whispers) because it probably was. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh man!

MARISHA: Her makeup is impeccable. She is the most put together woman you have ever seen in your life. She looks up and she just goes: Happy Replenishing, Grandfather.

BRENNAN: The massive statue of your grandfather smiles knowingly, his gaze eternally fixed upon the city that he raised into the sky. At the very top of the staircase, spiraling around the dome, a wall, seamless, changes and swirls with magic energy as a door appears. Patia, you are here to meet Loras of the Weaver's Mask, a member of the Ring of Gold. Those 14 wizards, apprentices of the Septarion, who command respect, second only to the seven archmages that rule the city itself. Loras of the Weaver's Mask commands respect and status by virtue of being an apprentice to one of these archmages. You come here to meet him on the day of the Replenishing here in the Archsept, one of the few people who even is allowed to walk within this place. This is a magocratic society. This is not open to the public, but you are not the public. As Keeper of Scrolls, you find yourself welcome here, but of course, not every Keeper of the Scrolls has been. No. That position has an extra meaning in subtle and clever hands. The door opens, Loras steps out and is accompanied by a second figure. I'm going to need to know your reaction when you see the gleaming visage of Eldamir the Wise. One of the seven of the Septarion, one of the true seven, steps out and begins to descend the staircase.

MARISHA: She has all of the cool. She does not show it on her face. In the back of her head, there's a little twinge of her wondering, what is he doing here? But she would never show it on her face, except for maybe the ever slight tilt of an eyebrow.

BRENNAN: Loras, the apprentice who walks here, Loras of the Weaver's Mask is a beautiful, raven-haired elven man who wears a partial mask over his face. His cloak is of red and green and gold and purple, carved with many bright colors, and as his hands move through space, you can almost see strings trailing from them, fading translucently into magic. The arcane power commanded by Loras is overshadowed by almost no one, with the exception of Eldamir the Wise. Eldamir has sat on the council since the beginning of Avalir. It is rare to see an ancient elf, but you see, slightly bowed with age, wearing a shimmering golden cloak that appears to offer little glimmering crystals of golden light that shimmer in geometric shapes and turn into motes and float away, a face illuminated by its own wisdom and counsel. The eyes of Eldamir are soft and smiling and he leans upon a wooden staff that he has wielded for centuries.

MARISHA: Your eminence.

BRENNAN: "Keeper, it is a pleasure to meet you here in this place."

MARISHA: The pleasure is mine. What do I owe the pleasure?

BRENNAN: You see Loras says, "The great Archmage Eldamir the Wise wished to meet you face to face, my good friend." You see, Eldamir says, "I did, I did wish to meet you face to face. I was told, word reached my ear, high up though I am, I still see much, that the record has been set that the Librarium Incantatum under its current Keeper of Scrolls has bested the previous record for magical knowledge gained in a single venture. I asked to whom the young Archmage Por'co, had wrested this title, and I was informed she had wrested it from herself, who had set the previous record."

AABRIA: Yes!

LUIS: Oh my god.

TRAVIS: Hair flip.

MARISHA: Well.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

AABRIA: No doubt.

MARISHA: It is quite an honor to hear that my exploits have reached your ears.

BRENNAN: "Yes, well, of course, I wished only to see you. How do you-- Oh, I didn't think of where we would meet! Your grandfather, Imyr!"

MARISHA: Yes!

BRENNAN: "When I was a young lad, I saw him and thought, there is wizardry itself. The sheer brilliance, the sight, the vision to go to the druids of Old Toramunda, those old Gau Drashari and to say to them, 'Well, you listen here, you, 'you might be able to turn into a bear, but so what? 'I was going to take the city to the sky!' And he wrestled with them, he did, and they said, 'You are not going to 'split the city in half.' He said, 'There's more brumestone--' Did you know that the veins of brumestone set into the sculpture are perfect to the millimeter with the veins of brumestone in the base of the city itself? It is a perfect replica."

MARISHA: You know, I did, but I never tire of hearing of it, or your stories.

BRENNAN: "(laughs) I'm sure that I repeat myself. Oh, here's a story you won't have heard, and I'll tell this, and it's a little--"

MARISHA: Oh please, I have all the time.

BRENNAN: "They-- Oh boy-- (mutters)"

MARISHA: Are you all right? Do you need to sit down? Are you all right?

BRENNAN: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm quite all right. Hold on." (energy blast) There it is. All is well. All I wished to say was-- Oh, your grandfather, Imyr Por'co! Imyr the Bold! They made this statue and the original artist-- He was going to be lifting the city aloft in the structure that he made, they had a small miniature version. This was centuries ago. They had a small miniature version and they lift it up and they said, 'We'll put it in the dome' He said, 'So what, everyone standing on the floor 'is going to see the bottom of my chin 'looking up at the city up here? 'It's a most unflattering angle I've ever heard of?' He said, 'The city should be down here, 'so the people on the ground 'can see my face looking down at the city.'" (laughter)

MARISHA: After all, it's all perspective.

BRENNAN: "Perspective is exactly the word. Loras, you would be so kind as to speak to the Keeper of Scrolls. There are some matters of perspective and I would be very interested to know what, on this, the eve of the Replenishment, what you see as the future of Avalir? How does the day strike you, my lady?"

MARISHA: Oh, goodness, that is quite the question, but, I believe deeply in me and my fellow compatriots and our dreams of Avalir and continuing to set the reputation of the forefronts of the Age of Arcanum. We will always be first and foremost. That is my goal and destiny.

BRENNAN: "Destiny."

MARISHA: Yes.

BRENNAN: A single golden tear collects at the corner of his eye. He says, "We live in an age where we now know that we may write our own destiny."

MARISHA: Absolutely.

BRENNAN: "Loras, talk to her about what we, you know, talk to her." He says, "Happy Replenishing to you, Keeper of Scrolls."

MARISHA: Your eminence.

BRENNAN: (whooshes) He vanishes from this place. Loras turns to you, "Sorry for the surprise."

MARISHA: I'm never surprised.

AABRIA: Yes!

BRENNAN: "It's this uncanny resolve you possess that means that we have some conversations to hold. My counterpart, the other apprentice of Eldamir the Wise, Volucia of the Heart's Emblem--"

MARISHA: Volucia?

BRENNAN: You see he leans in and says, "Volucia. Volucia has announced her intention to retire and an apprentice's seat will be opening in the Ring of Gold."

MARISHA: In the Ring of Gold?

BRENNAN: "That is correct. She has announced her intention to return to Cael Morrow in Marquet, there to... I couldn't tell you."

MARISHA: Why would she want to go to Marquet?

BRENNAN: "She's grown weary of the sky, she says, and wishes for the company of other elves. She, I don't know, wants to build a tower, perhaps she's tired of being a medium fish."

MARISHA: Hmm. Well, I'm not sure what good it is to be a larger fish in a puddle.

BRENNAN: "(laughs) That's because I'm talking to a shark. I'm mentioning this to you and I'll let your imagination do the rest, but there are concerns that Eldamir the Wise has and they're very real concerns. The amelioration of these concerns would be of the utmost comfort to my mentor and master. We have word that Aeor may be preparing an attack on Lathras." You would know Lathras is one of the smaller flying cities. "You know, they're drumming up the usual something or other about war. Our understanding at the moment is that it's to test something. There's no actual threat that Lathras poses; it's a dry run of something that they might intend to use elsewhere. The time has come for us to make good on the scurrying that I know this, what do you all call it, the Ring of Brass?"

AABRIA: Excuse me?

MARISHA: Yes.

TRAVIS: Go back to [Inaudible].

BRENNAN: You see-- (laughter)

BRENNAN: "If you have something up your sleeve, Patia, now might be the time. Oh, two other small things. I know you have a busy day and this will be the last time we're able to speak."

MARISHA: This is clearly of the utmost importance.

BRENNAN: "Obviously that is incredibly private, you share that only at your utmost discretion."

MARISHA: It will join the other secrets up my sleeve.

BRENNAN: "Very well, then I look forward to what you may accomplish in the days to come. Two other minor things. We've had to shut down the Hall of Prophecy. So I'm not sure if Guildmaster Nydas had anything planned there, but the Hall of Prophecy is just a little--"

MARISHA: Why?

BRENNAN: "The oracles require rest. There were some issues with the return to Domunas. I believe that they may have just been exhausted. There's been some tremendous output from there recently."

MARISHA: And they couldn't take a rest in one day's time?

BRENNAN: "It's possible that they will be able to reopen following tomorrow's great Replenishment, perhaps during the Festival of the Replenishment, while we are terrestrial, we may be able to reopen it, but I will let you know as soon as we have some more information."

MARISHA: I certainly hope so.

BRENNAN: "Also, it has come to the attention of Eldamir the Wise that some artifacts from Vasselheim may have made their way aboard the city. There is a Sightwarden, I believe Guardian of the Seventh, the Sightwarden..." You see he pulls something up (whooshes) in his own spell book. The Sightwarden Agrupnin, I believe this is someone with whom you have some fair share of business.'

MARISHA: Sightwarden--

SAM: Is that Travis?

MARISHA: Oh, yeah, right, yep, mm-hmm, yes.

BRENNAN: You see he says, "It's come to the attention of Eldamir the Wise that there may have been some attempts by this Archmage Chloras to recreate some vestigial-- an attempt to recreate the Matron's ritual."

MARISHA: The first time ever, Patia shows a little bit of her inner thoughts and gives the slightest hint of an eye roll.

TRAVIS: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

BRENNAN: "Does divinity and the ascension thereupon cause you some disdain, Keeper?"

MARISHA: (laughs) It just feels like such a hollow title, especially compared to the wonders and the powers that we possess as mere mortals.

BRENNAN: You see underneath the towering statue of your grandfather, himself a mortal, your words ring throughout the dome. Loras raises an eyebrow and says, "I admire your, for lack of a better term, team spirit. Eldamir the Wise is concerned with the wielding of such dangerous magics, and if you are able to collect any reports from the Guardian of the Seventh, it has been voiced by the Archmage Eldamir that those transmissions not be referred to the normal chain of command. The Magisterium does not need to be alerted as to the Sightwarden's findings. If you might do the archmage the favor of reporting those findings directly to me that would be highly beneficial."

MARISHA: Directly to you? Well, I shall speak to the Octothurge, run it up the chain, as they say.

BRENNAN: You see he says, "Of course these findings should be released to the Octothurge immediately."

MARISHA: Well, I would just, I can see your reticence, but for me, my concern is how this information even fell into the hands of this one mage Chloras.

BRENNAN: "Well, those questions deserve answers."

MARISHA: Absolutely.

BRENNAN: "Terrestrial mages coming into power, obviously the odds that he was in any way, shape, or form successful are slim, but it's dangerous magic to tangle with and it's the responsibility of this council to see that Exandria is kept safe from any such meddling. A formal report should, of course, be made to the Octothurge, but I understand that those take some time to compile. So if, informally, you wished to communicate any findings of the Sightwarden's directly to me, it would be greatly appreciated."

MARISHA: You have my word, we will be in touch.

BRENNAN: "Archmage Por'co." Nods and leaves. From there, the day moves on. We, I believe we take some time to-- Wait, how much time? Sorry, Kyle, how much time do we have? Should we stop? Should we keep going?

SAM: No one is answering.

BRENNAN: No one's answering

TRAVIS: Take a break.

SAM: You want to take a break?

MARISHA: You can take a break. You control the reins, two hours and 30, great time for a break.

BRENNAN: Hey, I am running the show here. It's break time.

(cheering)

BRENNAN: Tune in after the break as we continue this Exandria Unlimited: Calamity.

(cheering)

Part II
BRENNAN: Sam just said, "Taint." Hi, folks, and welcome back to Exandria Unlimited: Calamity. I'm your GM, Brennan Lee Mulligan. We rejoin those members of the-- You did, and you did.

SAM: It's funny because it's true. (laughter)

BRENNAN: The important thing is this: we return to Exandria in an age long past, in the flying city of Avalir. I would describe the place that we return to in Avalir, but it might be rude of me because it doesn't belong to me. So I might ask for someone else at the table to describe it, but I will say this: the day has passed and many of your responsibilities have taken you abroad. This is the last day before the city of Avalir will land and make good on its ancient pacts by releasing its store of ether, of raw magical energy, back into the lands of Domunas, to replenish that continent and make good the promise to the druids of Old Toramunda that a new age will come, an age of flourishing, of magic. In the year following a Replenishment, crops explode throughout the land, and often, a generation of magical children will be born and there will be a revitalizing. The fey will flourish and doors to lands of wonder and plenty and magic will open. The Replenishment is such an important time for the many cultures of Domunas. For many days now, that continent, you've seen fireworks going up. As you approach Cathmoíra, you see all the villages and towns surrounding it send up fireworks, kites flying. As you approach Cathmoíra, you begin to hear it. You are now close enough as the sun lowers off the western edge of the city, the choirs of Cathmoíra singing far off, but even here above the clouds, you hear the distant but palpable songs of welcoming, a return home. A month of rest and repair on arcane infrastructure and all manner of civic defenses and technology, but also return home in a spiritual way, in an emotional way, a return to the earth. The release of magical energy and a reuniting of the mountain that once was a very historically significant mountain. As the sun sets, shadows grow long. As the sun sets, shadows grow long, and you find yourselves hearing festivities and the Parade of Beasts begins, and you can hear revelry all throughout the city. It's wild to throw a party the night before a month of parties, but what the hell, let's get it started! (laughter)

BRENNAN: This is the last party before you have to party with all the people from the ground. So let's party now, wizards of Avalir!

TRAVIS: And normies.

BRENNAN: Exactly, and normies, and normies.

AABRIA: Are there normies here? (laughter)

BRENNAN: Speaking of parties, we look over the vast city, the roaring cheers of taverns in these harborside neighborhoods. We see harbors on the east and west shelves of Avalir with docked skyships with their brumestone on either side of the ship's decks. We see going up, Excelsior Plaza just awash in multicolored light as everyone gathers there to cheer in the Replenishment. People will be partying here all night. They will party until dawn to welcome the Replenishment. The Scythe has libations flowing freely until the dawn, and then carrowhulks with cots and beds at the ready will ferry people home to sleep it off.

LOU: You're welcome. You're all so welcome. (laughter)

BRENNAN: However, there are some parties that are not only just for festivities, but for the well-to-do to see each other, and perhaps the most prestigious of these pre-Replenishment galas now unfolds at the Palazzo Por'co.

ALL: Oh.

BRENNAN: Marisha, your ancestral home, a palace for wizards. Feel free to describe, if you would be so kind, the visage of this place that we now see before us, and perhaps any preparations that Patia has made in advance of this once-every-seven-years, must-attend gala.

MARISHA: Yes, what nobody saw was moments before guests arrive, Porsha was clamping and clopping around.

SAM: Porsha?

MARISHA: Patia, sorry. That's my character.

TRAVIS: She's sweating this gala.

MARISHA: Forgot my own. Oh, goodness.

BRENNAN: Episode one.

MARISHA: Patia, Patia. Who am I?

TRAVIS: Who are they?

MARISHA: Any of us.

LUIS: Planning a party's hard.

MARISHA: She's prancing around the foyer and she is barking at her servants. She turns to Melindra and is like: Melindra, are all the gift baskets ready for everyone from the Septarion who may be arriving?

BRENNAN: "Oh, from the Sept--"

MARISHA: Yes.

BRENNAN: "Well, my lady, we are not expecting any from the Septarion."

MARISHA: No one responded?

BRENNAN: "Well, many from the Ring of Gold will be in attendance. The apprentices of the Septarion will likely be here."

MARISHA: Okay, fantastic.

BRENNAN: "But, ahem, I believe the Septarion are-- Sorry, I have extra gift baskets, and--"

MARISHA: All of them have the 200 wands that we were expecting from Nydas, correct?

BRENNAN: "Yes, those wands actually did arrive. Some of them had to be cleaned because there was some juice. I think some children may have gotten their hands on some of them."

MARISHA: They weren't new wands?

BRENNAN: "No, no, no, they were brand new. I believe some Sorcerous youths may have--"

MARISHA: I'll speak to Nydas. The guildmasters are all arriving and all of their packages have arrived as well?

BRENNAN: "The entire Octothurge will be in attendance."

MARISHA: Fantastic.

BRENNAN: "Those most significant chairs of the Magisterium. The Court of Workings, of course, will be in attendance, as well as the Court of Owls. The Guildmasters, the Hierophants of the eight guilds, they are all coming. Many of them have asked for some extra guests in the previous hour. Do we want--?"

MARISHA: Plus ones moments before a party starts. Yes, anyone, anyone can come. It is the Replenishing.

BRENNAN: "Very well. I will see to that right away. Oh, we do have, actually, a guest that was requested by one of the magisters. There's a-- I'm so sorry, there's a young man who boarded in Vasselheim who wished to come, that was requested by, actually, a member of the Ring of Silver. I believe he is a champion of the divine?"

MARISHA: Champion of the divine. Who is his steward from the Ring of Silver?

BRENNAN: "Oh, Magister Hollow."

MARISHA: Hollow?

BRENNAN: "Yes."

MARISHA: Good. If he creates any commotion or treason, we know who is responsible.

BRENNAN: "Of course. I don't think he'll have much of a fuss. He's sort of a nobody, I think? I think he's just here as a party quirk."

MARISHA: Never trust a nobody, Melindra.

BRENNAN: "You are so right."

MARISHA: All right. (laughter) Please go, just make sure that the hors d'oeuvres and the beverages are all settled, and--

BRENNAN: "Oh, he's bringing a wolf."

MARISHA: What?!

BRENNAN: "Is that bad? He's bringing a wolf. I was told he was bringing a wolf. There's just going to be a wolf."

MARISHA: Fantastic.

BRENNAN: "A wolf is a terrestrial creature. It's a dog, basically."

MARISHA: Can the wolf speak? Can the wolf speak? You know, like the sphinxes that you see in the Parade of Beasts?

BRENNAN: "Oh, the sph-- I actually quite enjoyed that sphinx. Sorry, too forward. I--" (laughter)

BRENNAN: "I will see if the wolf can speak. I believe-- I will see if the wolf can speak."

MARISHA: Fantastic. I guess we'll all be finding out soon, won't we? She turns around in her foyer and she starts sauntering her way to the grand double doors in the front. It's one of those things where it's like, yes, it's her family home, but it more belongs to the magocracy at this point. She doesn't really stay there; it's like the Hearst Castle in that way. But it is made of the same white, cream-colored marble that the rest of this district is carved in. It has this smooth transition with giant crystalline windows in the front that almost have an iridescent quality to them. Every so often, the image shifts and portrays a different stained glass relief in front of them.

SAM: Amazing.

MARISHA: Then when you walk in, there's these levitating gardens up in the corner--

BRENNAN: Yes.

MARISHA: Giving us this fresh air. It smells like a rainforest directly after a storm. There's little tricklings of water pouring off of the side of these levitating gardens vanishing to nowhere. Along the lines carved in this rich marble that you see everywhere are golden and sacred geometric inlays that ever so often flash with an arcane energy that pours across it, that you can see is this entire house is essentially wired with arcane ability.

AABRIA: Hell yes.

BRENNAN: Incredible. Illusory trumpets blare announcing the arrival of the first guests, and you see that they begin to arrive. As the sun sets, it is now fully-- If you look to the east, you can see the first stars. But if you look to the west, the sun has moved behind the continent of Dominus, but you still see pink and rosy golden light clinging to the edge of the sky. The floating gardens are now filled with revelers. The wizards of Avalir, the magocratic government that is here and assembled, as well as various other potentates and important figures, begin to usher into the Palazzo Por'co. As they do, illusory voices ring out announcing them. "Member of the Octothurge and Dean of the College of Necromancy, Magister Hollow," and moves out. Names one after the other ring out. As you all arrive, do all of you-- Does anyone care to describe their entrance into the party?

SAM: Hmm...

AABRIA: Oh man.

SAM: Wow. Wow. (laughter)

TRAVIS: I will, yeah.

AABRIA and BRENNAN: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Yeah, Cerrit obviously likes to fly in. He likes to just do a couple circles around the gala just to see who's taking their time, who's talking to who.

AABRIA: A vulture.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Clock what's happening.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

TRAVIS: Then land far from the entrance before he tucks his wing back in. Actually, he doesn't enter right away, he throws his hood up, and he is a six-foot-tall eisfuura, but he still stands back a little bit and just clocks who's going in, who's talking to who, who's arm in arm together.

MARISHA: Did I notice Cerrit coming in?

BRENNAN: You know how Cerrit enters.

MARISHA: Enters.

BRENNAN: Cerrit does not like his name announced.

MARISHA: Right.

BRENNAN: And broadcast as he enters.

MARISHA: I just peek a corner of my eye about him, but not even really looking, and I'm just enough to where I signal that I'm aware of his entrance.

TRAVIS: I return the signal. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Incredible. Cerrit gets there early. The place is still filling up with revelers. You begin to hear beautiful music playing again from groups of bards that have come here to play music, singing ancient songs of the creation of Avalir. This is, after all, the Feast of Imyr. This is dedicated to the memory of Patia's grandfather, the mage. There were seven archmages of original Avalir, but this is the mage who finished the spell to enchant the brumestone and lift the city into the sky. Who else arrives?

SAM: Before I arrive, one of my-- The Herald's Tome, my newspaper--

BRENNAN: Yes.

SAM: -- is delivered throughout the city inside these magical pneumatic tubes. There's no tubes. They just free shoot, free float around the city. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Get down! (laughter)

TRAVIS: Extra, extra!

SAM: But one of these pneumatic tubes enters before me and is delivered magically into the hand of the person, the caller who's announcing folks. My entrance begins far, far, deep into the courtyard outside. I'm dropped off not at the front door, but far away from it so I can walk slowly towards the front door, trying to avoid attention as much as I can, but secretly wanting it. (laughter)

SAM: And complaining that I was dropped off so far away-- (laughter)

SAM: -- that I have to now endure the paparazzi.

BRENNAN: People looking around, you do see that there are clusters of wizards who are still in the area of public, where it's on the street. "There he is. It's Loquatius Seelie!"

SAM: Ah, this is-- I'm... Yes, I don't have much time. I really don't. I must go inside.

BRENNAN: "I have to tell you, I've been reading the Tome for 20 years."

SAM: Oh, have you?

BRENNAN: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're incredible."

SAM: I appreciate it.

BRENNAN: "Yeah!"

SAM: Make sure to renew the subscription next month, and I'll keep walking. (laughter)

BRENNAN: "I love your work!" You dart in. "Loquatius Seelie, Herald of Avalir, Voice of the Council, and Scribe of Crowns!" You see people actually turn and give a genuine round of-- Some people get like a golf clap, there's a true, hooray, here as you enter in.

SAM: No, no, really, it's too much. It's too much.

BRENNAN: You enter in under, I think probably, Patia, you recognize that Loquatius is going to be mobbed in the entrance hall until he is rescued. Everybody here, you see, you know, someone come up and say like, "Mr. Seelie, it's such a pleasure to meet you. If I can, my name is Madara Glyph. I'm the Valedictine Abjurer of the Hall of Symbols."

SAM: Oh, I think we must have some mutual friends, yes.

BRENNAN: "I work with the Architect Arcane."

SAM: Oh!

BRENNAN: "Though not in her capacity as member of the Court of Working, she actually is doubly employed in the Abjuration Guild. I was wondering if I might impress upon you--"

MARISHA: I patiently interrupt. I let it happen long enough that he does start getting annoyed, and then I walk up--

SAM: Glancing around.

MARISHA: I say: Oh, excuse me, please allow our guests some breathing room.

SAM: Patia, lovely to see you. Thank you for having us.

MARISHA: Loquatius.

SAM: The place looks amazing as always.

MARISHA: Of course.

SAM: Where are we sitting? Where is everybody?

MARISHA: Come on, we got a table in the back. (laughter)

AABRIA: Do you come with a plus one?

SAM: Let's say yes. (laughs)

MARISHA: Oh!

SAM: Let's say yes.

MARISHA: Who did you bring?

SAM: I brought-- It takes me a second to remember her name.

LUIS: Love it.

TRAVIS: Okay.

LOU: Wow, wow.

SAM: But her name is Bolo, I think.

LOU: Bolo?

AABRIA: Bolo? (laughs) (laughter)

SAM: She's a friend of a friend. We were sort of set up. This is the second time I've ever met her. She's gorgeous, isn't she?

MARISHA: Melindra mentioned that people were asking for plus ones at the last minute, and I said yes.

SAM: Oh, yes, I told everyone that that would be fine, so.

MARISHA: All right, fantastic.

BRENNAN: (heavy accent) "Nice to meet you, I'm Bolo." (laughter)

TRAVIS: No! Come on, man!

AABRIA: (shouts) Yes!

MARISHA: Bola.

AABRIA: How many hit points does she have?

SAM: Bolo wants to be a reporter like me.

TRAVIS: No!

BRENNAN: "Eventually, I'm going to be reporter."

TRAVIS: No! Come on!

SAM: I've taken her under my wing, and I think she's got a bright future.

LOU: This is disgusting. (laughter)

LOU: I don't like one part of this.

BRENNAN: "This your house?" (laughter)

LUIS: Yes!

MARISHA: Yes.

LOU: Who let Bolo in the city?

SAM: You know what? You know what, Bolo? Why don't you go fetch us some drinks and some-- Maybe just do some mingling, you know? There's a lot of stuff that you can hear by picking up on people's conversations in these events. You might get some leads and clues. So, start practicing, maybe take some mental notes, and get us some drinks, all right?

BRENNAN: "In Aeor, sometimes it is illegal to ask these questions."

TRAVIS: (gasps)

AABRIA: From...

MARISHA: From Aeor. You know, it's fascinating. I heard that there was some stowaways from the last time we visited Aeor.

SAM: Oh, she's not a stowaway at all. I sent a letter and had her brought here, so.

BRENNAN: "This."

MARISHA: (laughs) Sorry, I jest.

BRENNAN: "You wanted drinks?"

SAM: Yes, please.

BRENNAN: "Okay." (laughter)

BRENNAN: She walks off.

TRAVIS: You guys.

SAM: Isn't she--

TRAVIS: You've got fucking Black Widow in this fucking-- She'll kill everybody. You're going to kill us all.

MARISHA: Fantastic.

SAM: Think her name is Bolo.

LOU: "I think her name is Bolo." (laughter)

BRENNAN: That's the most famous dude thing in the world to do. I've brought the most random person.

TRAVIS: I think--

MARISHA: Bolo means hello in Aeorian, or something?

TRAVIS: Uh-huh!

LUIS: Wow.

BRENNAN: I think her name's Bolo. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh shit.

MARISHA: She's really just saying, how are you, every time.

SAM: Anyway, where are our friends? Where's the circle?

MARISHA: Well, Cerrit is making his usual rounds, and I believe we're still waiting for the others.

LOU: Nydas will roll up at this point.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LOU: An army of, let's say, 700 hadimiga?

BRENNAN: Hodmedods.

LOU: Ah, 700 hodmedods are carrying a full-size tree. Where's the rarest place in the world I could acquire a tree from?

BRENNAN: Oh wow!

MARISHA: This is so sick.

BRENNAN: Okay. At this time, Marquet is not yet desert. So there, the rarest magical tree you can find is in the thick jungles of Marquet, many days' journey past the nearest village, deep into the wilderness.

LOU: All right, so we got one of those. (laughter)

BRENNAN: You see a scintillating tree. So. Hundreds of brightly colored, arcane scarecrow automata carrying a tree whose bark is twinkling lapis lazuli, and whose leaves are a deep, almost black purple that continuously blooms into enormous bright, the lightest pink blossoms all over the tree. A bunch of hodmedods come in, go up right to Melindra and be like, "Hello, me lady! Where would you like one magic tree courtesy of the Golden Scythe?"" (laughter)

MARISHA: I join. I walk up. (laughter)

LOU: I liked the hodmedods. (laughter)

LOU: No, go ahead, guys. I-- (laughter)

BRENNAN: I think that also there's 700, so a bunch of the hodmedods are just like, hors d'oeuvres! Just like, stuff!

LUIS: Wow.

MARISHA: I go up Nydas.

LOU: Yes. A gift to the family Por'co, both to you and to your grandfather's continued vision.

MARISHA: Nydas, you always bring the best treasures.

LOU: Well, for the best people--

MARISHA: (laughs)

LOU: -- nothing else will do.

MARISHA: Then I just start to loop my hands around and you see arcane sigils form into a disc that extend out and I lift the tree up and make it like this centerpiece of the party that's levitating over everyone's head and rotating.

LOU: You do me such an honor.

MARISHA: Well, it has to have front placement.

BRENNAN: Nydas, give me an insight check.

LOU: Okay. Oh, that's a cool, 24.

AABRIA: Oh!

BRENNAN: You clock a bunch of wizards around the party looking at this tree going, "Fuck," and like looking at all like nicely wrapped jewelry box and being like, "What the fuck am I doing?" (laughter)

SAM: Nydas, I see business is booming!

LOU: Oh, Loquatius, indeed! Here at the Replenishment, the Golden Scythe and Avalir along with it have never been better!

SAM: Amazing! You know, I've been balancing some new sponsors. Maybe we could talk about sort of, you know, sharing some details, and maybe you could even, I was thinking on your little automatons that you have.

LOU: Yes, yes, the hodmedods. What are they called?

BRENNAN: Hodmedods, yeah.

LOU: Did I say that right? Hodmedods.

SAM: If we worked out a deal, could I slap, like, a logo on some of them? If I got just like a little like a finder's fee for them?

LOU: Oh, we could definitely work something out like that. I think we will.

MARISHA: Why don't you continue this conversation at a table in the back. I don't want to lose it.

LOU: Of course.

MARISHA: I see Laerryn coming. (laughter)

AABRIA: Copy.

BRENNAN: You guys start walking and talking. Yeah, you see a bunch, a couple of hodmedods follow behind you flopping with their fabric.

LOU: We'll have to talk about the placement, because certain parts of the city, I think we're going to have to charge a bit more for that kind of placement. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Aabria.

AABRIA: Yeah, Laerryn is walking up. There's no-- she's wearing a liquid gold dress that looks like a cauldron of bubbling, molten gold.

MARISHA: What?

AABRIA: But the, it's that weird apparition where it looks like the background that she's walking across has the feature. So as she's walking, that's where the source of the pattern is from. So it's just like a weird, like visual. But other than that, she didn't really think of adorning herself. She's too excited. She's just walking up. She's got this little like golden, it's like a wizard fidget spinner in her hand, that she's just snapping back and forth, that's made of like this delicate, gilded metal. She's just mumbling to herself, very excited. All of the energy is like, I'm coming here to make an appearance and then I have to go get to work.

TRAVIS: Wow.

BRENNAN: Incredible. Laerryn, with the energy you walk into the Palazzo Por'co, the Herald announces as you enter this place, "Architect Arcane of the Court of Workings. Hierophant Abjura of the--"

AABRIA: I cast Haste on myself, so I'm down at the bottom of the stairs as he starts talking. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Yeah, you actually guys, you hear that the prerecorded announcement is like, (with speed) "Hierophant Abjura" and speeds up. You get to the bottom. (laughs) Mark Haste. (laughter)

MARISHA: My hair just like goes, whoosh, as she darts past me. I'm like.

AABRIA: Yo!

MARISHA: Okay. (laughter)

BRENNAN: Incredible. Laerryn, you go to the bottom and meet with that Haste breeze past people. You're also a person that unlike-- Loquatius and Nydas have to get to that table quick, because people know they can get things from these two. Civilians don't understand what you do enough to ask you for stuff. So you're actually safe to just approach Patia out in the open, if you want to.

AABRIA: Yeah. I pass by you, grab a glass of champagne and come back over. I have two. I replace yours.

MARISHA: Oh.

AABRIA: Hey.

MARISHA: Hi!

AABRIA: Hi.

MARISHA: So glad to see you could join us.

AABRIA: Incredible news.

MARISHA: What?

AABRIA: Later. Not-- Bye. She just takes off-- (laughter)

AABRIA: -- towards the back.

TRAVIS: Forgot to drop Haste.

AABRIA: Yeah. (laughter)

AABRIA: I'm fast.

BRENNAN: Laerryn, you zoom off and Zerxus.

LUIS: So Zerxus was not actually planning on showing up because these kinds of events, he's not-- you know, this is his first time as First Knight and was not really into-- the first return as First Knight, and was not, was dreading this public thing, but a question. For back when the kites were flying.

BRENNAN: Yes.

LUIS: And Zerxus was on the balcony.

MARISHA: Oh.

LUIS: Did I get one?

MARISHA: (gasps)

BRENNAN: No.

LUIS: Okay. Then what Zerxus would've been doing is he would've then gotten on top of Tempus, flown out and done a round in the distance to make sure everything was clear, and was going to use that as his excuse to stay out there, but decided otherwise. You see the griffon just soaring down into the entrance way and in one smooth motion, as the griffon starts to slow down, Zerxus hops right off and plants his two feet onto the ground, sending Tempus out to scout, be his eyes--

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LUIS: -- in the sky, and takes a deep breath.

MARISHA: I just extend the glass of champagne that Laerryn handed to me that I haven't taken a sip from yet.

BRENNAN: "Sir Zerxus--" Oh wait, you didn't walk through the door.

LUIS: Oh, I'm starting to walk through and this-- yeah, I'm starting to walk.

MARISHA: I thought you landed in front of me.

LUIS: I landed in-- I mean, I wish. That'd be--

MARISHA: That'd be cool. (laughs)

LUIS: Right at the entrance and then starts to march in.

BRENNAN: Yeah. "Sir Zerxus Ilerez, First Knight of Avalir."

LUIS: He freezes because that is terrifying to him to be announced in front of all these people and have perhaps eyes on him. He's just like, uh!

AABRIA: Got to cast Haste, y'all.

LUIS: The complete opposite of this. He's probably frozen in his tracks, like.

BRENNAN: Let me ask you a question. So you scouted and looked down at Cathmoíra. Did you land in Cathmoíra, or no?

LUIS: No. I didn't want to be seen, but I wanted to-- I was looking from a distance.

BRENNAN: In the home of Eaedalus Okiro, even from that great height, you could see that the lights were on and a small feast was being held. I will say this as well. Nydas, you receive a longer missive than the one from your brother from your sister-in-law, Irmé, who informs you of some-- a little bit more than pleasantries, some family news and things that have been occurring, and things that will maybe require your attention, not in a professional, but on a personal level. Some friends that have come calling, and at the end of her letter to you, she says, basically, as she speaks to you, she says, "Romar and Ramira are fine. Romar is planning his adventures upon growing older and Ramira is already completing her studies and ready to apply to some of the universities in Avalir. Elias is well. Most days are fine for him, but in the days approaching Avalir's return I cannot report that his mood has been bright. I have done my best to instruct that he ought to send his father some word of kindness upon arrival. Please give Zerxus my apologies. Elias is at a tender age."

LOU: Mm-hmm.

TRAVIS: I was actually waiting for Zerxus. That was the last one. So I start making my way towards the entrance--

SAM: ♪ Makin' my way ♪

TRAVIS: -- and as I near the Herald, I actually quickly and very stealthily sneak up behind him and sneak just a finger under his throat.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

TRAVIS: And it has a gold piece in it.

I say: Keep that name to yourself. (laughter) I'll slip up just behind. Zerx, I was wondering if you were going to show tonight.

LUIS: Well, I wasn't planning on it, but I've decided otherwise. What-- how? What am I to expect here?

TRAVIS: I couldn't tell you, but I do need to run something by you a little later, something a bit fishy.

LUIS: I'm ready to get out of this and talk about that immediately.

TRAVIS: I have to follow up on one other lead real quick. I'll see you at our table. (laughter)

LOU: Yes.

SAM: Just saw the bird eyes.

TRAVIS: Yeah, just see like-- (whoosh)

BRENNAN: As you all arrive, Patia, go ahead and describe your table. The fabled table we have heard so much about!

MARISHA: Yes. I escort Zerxus back, now handing him the glass of champagne.

LUIS: I take it.

MARISHA: Hidden away in an archway that's got this open room with a few other windows that can see out to the rest of the party, hanging ivy in vines with a little water fountain embedded into the far back wall, there is a nice, little, round table and some booths on the side, you know, it's cushy.

LOU: Yeah.

MARISHA: And, yeah. Then that's where we have our little private area. Charcuterie cheese board on the table. It's a must.

BRENNAN: Beautiful. As you walk through the ivy, the ivy rustles. Approaching the table for those that are already here, as you walk and see Nydas and Loquatius already seated, you can hear as their mouths move just the rustling of ivy leaves.

AABRIA: Dope.

BRENNAN: As you walk in and take a seat, and you feel a little wash of not imposing, but a little wash of divinatory and abjurative magic. Just a little bit of are you who we think you are? If not, maybe I do something about it.

LUIS: Huh!

SAM: Cool.

BRENNAN: But, all who walk here are their honest selves. As you sit at the table, beautiful charcuterie boards set in front of you, all of you look out, protected in this ivy silence with all of the power of the flying city of Avalir at your disposal. You look out at magisters, deans, and provosts of the flying city. Apprentices of the Ring of Gold. And the six people who actually get shit done may finally, after a long day's preparation, have a moment to celebrate.

MARISHA: Hmm. Where's Cerrit? I saw him with you.

LUIS: He was. He said he had something to take care of, and then he was going to come and join us at, you know, this spot.

TRAVIS: I'm actually chasing down the rando that Loquatius came with.

AABRIA: Yes!

BRENNAN: Okay. (laughing) You go over--

AABRIA: My best friend in the whole world.

BRENNAN: You go over and you see-- you see that there is a hodmedod holding a small tray of drinks, and you see Bolo's there saying, "I need drinks from you, not this." You see that the hodmedod's like, Listen, I only have a small list of pre-programmed responses. I'm not actually sentient. So if I'm saying this, you know that you've asked for something that's not included in my brain!" (laughter)

TRAVIS: Good evening. I know all the faces in this gin joint, but I don't seem to know yours.

BRENNAN: "This bag is giving me a hard time."

TRAVIS: I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't catch your name.

BRENNAN: "Bola." (laughter)

TRAVIS: Bola.

BRENNAN: "Bolo."

TRAVIS: I am Cerrit Agrupnin. My friends call me Pinch. Bola from?

BRENNAN: "Aeor." (laughter)

TRAVIS: Bola from Aeor. Mysterious. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Can I escort you?

BRENNAN: "I need the drinks."

TRAVIS: You need... the drinks?

BRENNAN: "This bag keep arguing with me."

TRAVIS: Yes, it does. I hate it when they do that.

BRENNAN: "Can you destroy?" (laughter)

AABRIA: Oh my god. Incredible.

TRAVIS: I can sense your frustration. I'll be sure to take this up with the maker of this fine machine. Let me see what I can do.

BRENNAN: "What do you mean "machine"? It's a bag."

TRAVIS: Yep. (laughter) I'll be back. I'll be back. Hood up. (laughter)

MARISHA: Oh my god!

TRAVIS: I make my way down through the (energy) thing. I go over to Loquatius. Who the fuck did you come with? (laughter)

AABRIA: A blur of gold comes by. Who the fuck did you come with?

SAM: Oh!

AABRIA: I take back off to go find them.

SAM: Oh no! (laughter) Oh, you don't need to! Laerryn, she's just some arm candy that was offered to me by the--

TRAVIS: Arm candy? She threatened to expire the help. Tout suite. (laughter)

SAM: That's going to be a fun night for me, then.

LUIS: Oh!

TRAVIS: (exhales) Oh boy.

AABRIA: I'm going to grab that champagne out of your hands.

BRENNAN: Laerryn, do you take off to find Bolo?

AABRIA: No, I just stay.

BRENNAN: You stay. (coughs)

TRAVIS: Friends, what did I miss?

LOU: Not much, we were just getting settled. Now, look at this. The first Replenishment for the Ring of Brass. Feels right.

MARISHA: Well, that's a good point.

SAM: It's a momentous day on a lot of fronts, but I feel like there's news to share. Not for me. I, of course, I hear nothing, but I'm curious to know what the news is so that I--

TRAVIS: Before we do, though, perhaps a toast to our friend Zerxus as his first--

SAM: Oh, that's right.

TRAVIS: First Knight of Avalir going into a Replenishment.

MARISHA: To the First Knight.

TRAVIS: And hopefully many more.

SAM: To the First Knight of the first night.

LUIS: I had a drink. It was taken back.

AABRIA: Sorry. (laughter)

LUIS: Thank you. I would like to toast those that are not with us as well. To Evandrin, who should be here in this place, in this position of honor, and who would've been handling that entrance with a lot more grace than I certainly did, but thank you all, my friends. I appreciate you.

MARISHA: His legacy will be long lasting.

LUIS: Well, let's hope so. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut through the pleasantries. I'm not in the best of state and I almost didn't come, but something feels amiss to me. I've come here to actually seek out the two of you.

AABRIA: You mean-- Hold on. Oof. Been a minute. I take that lethargy effect, when I'm like: Hold for six seconds. (laughter)

AABRIA: Okay, sorry. What was it?

MARISHA: I just magically refill Laerryn's glass of champagne.

AABRIA: Thank you.

LUIS: I had a bit of a nightmare of sorts last night. I suppose maybe it's my anxiety for coming home. Maybe it's some nerves that I have from reuniting with my son, but it seemed to-- It shook me. I didn't know what else to do, but to come and tell you about it. Evandrin was in my dream and in it there was a fight of some sort between, I can only say the gods.

AABRIA: Oh.

LUIS: The Father of the Dawn seemed to be trying to extinguish what I could only say was one of the Betrayers.

AABRIA: Oh.

LUIS: Does this mean anything to anybody, other than just perhaps bad dream?

SAM: Sounds silly to me, frankly.

MARISHA: Dreams can be deeply interpretive, Zerxus. I mean, perhaps it is your anxiety of the two colliding forces of Avalir reuniting.

LUIS: It felt-- I understand, and the gods don't mean much to me--

AABRIA: Good.

LUIS: But-- One was begging me for help.

TRAVIS: One of the gods?

LUIS: The fallen one, the Betrayer.

AABRIA: They're all behind the-- They're not here, though. Not like the others that walk around. I know you know that.

LUIS: I know that.

TRAVIS: What did this Betrayer look like?

LUIS: He was red, had a horn. And, uh...

AABRIA: Just one?

LUIS: I think maybe-- (sighs) I couldn't remember if it was because of the way he was lying down, but I just recall seeing the side of his face and maybe one horn. Maybe if there was another one, maybe it was broken off. I'm not sure. I'm not remembering it so clearly, but I do remember something that was said. "Ghor Dranas."

BRENNAN: Who here speaks Draconic?

AABRIA: Right here.

LOU: I do as well.

TRAVIS: Throw it up. Let's go.

LUIS: I knew you would. (laughter)

BRENNAN: The gathering of shadows. Ghor Dranas. It doesn't mean anything to you right now. Anyone here who would like to may roll. You can roll history. You can roll arcana. Or if you are listening to your very troubled friend who you know is in a state of emotional turmoil and just want to roll an insight if you're not about--

MARISHA: You said it's either history or--

BRENNAN: Arcana if you're like, "Okay, let me take him seriously." Or insight if you're like, "I want to--"

MARISHA: I'll go for history.

AABRIA: Got a 12 for history.

BRENNAN: 12 for history.

LOU: I mostly think it's emotional, but I will think about-- These words feel more relevant. Which would you want from that?

BRENNAN: If you're thinking about the words themselves, any of those intelligence skills. I would take religion, arcana, or history.

LOU: I'll do arcana, then.

BRENNAN: Do arcana, yeah.

TRAVIS: 26 on insight, and I just want to glean if he's really shook by this, or if he's talking about something else.

AABRIA: Ooh.

MARISHA: 29 on history.

AABRIA: Let's go!

SAM: And 22 on arcana.

LOU: Also 22 on arcana.

BRENNAN: 29 history, 22 on arcana.

TRAVIS: 26 on insight.

BRENNAN: 26 insight. Okay. We'll start with the 22s on arcana. Ghor Dranas is Draconic. You would know from the arcana check there that the term Ghor Dranas, the literal meaning is gathering of shadows. Words have connotations, right? That's one of the hardest things when you're adopting a second language is to learn the idioms. It's like, if you don't speak English, what's the difference between a hearty welcome and a cordial reception, emotionally? Those words don't land the same. Dragons aren't scared of much. Ghor Dranas, those words mean-- The connotation is an intense one. It's the kind of words that dragons would use to describe something they were scared of.

SAM: Okay.

BRENNAN: With a 29 history check, an incredible history check, the name Ghor Dranas comes to you from a very specific place in history. It's an ancient text from the Schism. This is a text from when the Primordials-- So there's a lot of stuff about the Schism in the Librarium Incantatum, right? Because the founding of Toramunda has its root in the Schism, right? The Toramunda was founded when the Emperor of Fire and the Empress of Earth that were two mighty Primordials were laid low and sealed forever away by the Dawnfather under Mount Ygora. It was in the guise of that mountain that eventually the druids of Gau Drashari came and built Toramunda, tending to this holy place. Over time, those druids tended to it so well that other people came and sought them out. Then eventually it grew into a city and that city eventually attracted wizards. Those wizards eventually took the top of that mountain and sailed away. But the name Ghor Dranas from the early Schism, because in the Schism, there were dragons fighting on behalf of the Prime Deities, there was a threat made in the epics of one of these battles during the Schism by the Betrayer Gods. It's attributed to different ones and different texts, but the text that at least-- Well, who knows reliable, but the most detailed text that you remember from your encyclopedic knowledge of all of the scrolls of your library and all the tomes therein is that it's often attributed to the Lord of the Hells. Ghor Dranas is, it's just a very specific wording that he said in the battle of his defeat in the Schism when he was sealed away, where he said like, "Put me where you will. In darkness, I will gather my shadows to me."

MARISHA: Wow.

BRENNAN: Ghor Dranas, in Draconic the literal-- So you're like, "Oh, that's like specific verbiage." Again, 29 is a super high roll. So that's you going, "Well, that's literally where I've seen the words before."

MARISHA: Right. Right. It's like pulling a certain phrase out of a Shakespeare.

BRENNAN: Just a keyword, yeah.

MARISHA: And not one of his popular ones.

BRENNAN: Yeah, it's just keyword search. There you go. Then for that 26 insight.

TRAVIS: Yeah, he's seen so much. How shook is he compared to his life experience?

BRENNAN: This arcana stuff, you know people. That's what you do. You are a detective. You solve mysteries. Zerxus barely could stomach walking into a room and getting attention. The idea that this dude would pop off on like, "I had a dream that scared me" to his peers, unless it was the realest shit in the world, is laughable. In fact, I would say on a 26 insight, and you can roll deception against it if you want, but if you are trying to be honest in this moment--

LUIS: I'm not hiding anything.

BRENNAN: You know the fact that he's telling you about this dream means there's 20 before that he didn't tell you about. The straw's already broken the camel's back.

LUIS: Yeah. Yeah, you can tell that there's something that was being contained that now can't be contained anymore and it's got to come out.

TRAVIS: Got it.

LUIS: I don't know what it means. I'm coming to you because normally taking to the skies will clear my head, and I can't get this out of my head. I saw my son in the dream and he was five, which I know he's not now.

SAM: How old is he now, by the way?

LUIS: He's-- (exhales) 13.

SAM: Okay.

LUIS: He'll be 14 in a month and a half. I don't know what he looks like.

SAM: Oh, that's right, you haven't seen him since--

LUIS: I haven't seen him in seven years.

SAM: Was the last time you saw him when he was five?

LUIS: No, he was about to turn seven.

SAM: Oh, okay.

LUIS: That's the last time I saw him briefly, but-- Look, I don't want to-- I know that there's other matters that we have to attend to, but I just wanted to gather your thoughts. If any of this means anything to either of you?

MARISHA: I recognize the phrasing. Patia explains what the DM just explains. Perhaps this vision of the devil-looking man, maybe he was the Lord of the Hells. Maybe you are having some sort of deeper connection with that moment from the Schism.

LUIS: Maybe. And, I don't know, as a father. Maybe it's just some anxiety that I have over my son.

TRAVIS: Could be. Maya is seven now. Kir's five. It's strange that you mentioned where the shadows gathered. There was a crime scene that was reconstructed from Vasselheim. Some of the language and symbols that were used there were both Celestial and Infernal. Strange to see both. Not my thing, but unusual.

SAM: This is recent?

TRAVIS: Very recent. You remember them, of course, the Matron ascended. Many have tried to duplicate.

SAM: Sure. Yeah. We've told that story.

TRAVIS: Yeah, there's usually just uh-oh SpaghettiOs all over the wall.

MARISHA: This is the second time Vasselheim has come up in conversation for me today.

SAM: Oh?

MARISHA: I was hoping to actually ask you about it, but--

SAM: Go ahead.

MARISHA: Seems there was some sort of happenings. I heard rumor through the grapevine that there were some artifacts stowed away here in Avalir from Vasselheim.

TRAVIS: They mentioned that someone from the Ring of Silver was asking about them, and I could only assume that that was you?

BRENNAN: I'll say you not only have heard that people in the Ring of Silver talking about this. Loras was from the Ring of Gold.

MARISHA: Word travels fast through the Rings.

TRAVIS: Who did you speak with about this? It only raises my suspicion because normally these things have passed off as a copycat, someone trying to do what someone else has done with dire effect. But the remnants of this attempt, things don't quite match up. Certain things that are left behind weren't left anywhere.

MARISHA: Any of this spark my memory or any thoughts of something that would be familiar?

TRAVIS: I would add this: usually if it's a failure, not a lot of people are interested in things that don't succeed. But where there's success, or some remnant of it, that can draw a different crowd. The Ring of Silver caring about this...

MARISHA: Well, as you know, the Library Incantatum has a deep vested interest in any type of extraterrestrial knowledge that should not be in the hands of dangerous people. So many-- So many people.

TRAVIS: Perhaps it's just timing. I think there are a lot of things that have to line up in order for something like this to work.

MARISHA: But it wasn't successful. Most of these, as you said, aren't.

TRAVIS: I wouldn't be the one to weigh in on that.

AABRIA: How would you know about it if there wasn't something left over? If there was nothing, then no one would know that anything had happened. So there's something. Is there something?

TRAVIS: Indeed, and I didn't want to detract too much from our champagne--

AABRIA: (clapping) Come on!

TRAVIS: Okay, there's a bow. I pull out from behind my cloak, tucked in between where my wings are, the half of this rusted, patinaed bow.

AABRIA: Can I look at it?

BRENNAN: Oh, you sure can.

TRAVIS: You can.

AABRIA: Thank you!

TRAVIS: I also wanted Zerx's eyes on this, but take it. Okay.

AABRIA: Yep. (laughter)

MARISHA: I look at Nydas as well, just knowing that he has seen many an artifact.

LOU: Yeah, I'll take a look at it as well.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

LUIS: I'm also, I'm sure, approaching.

BRENNAN: So yeah, do whatever rolls you want to do, and if you want to do something angled towards whatever kind of roll it is, whatever you're looking for specifically. But yeah, you see a piece of badly corroded metal, pretty heavy to the touch. Again, it feels, in a place full of so much magic, a little bit extra mundane, if that makes sense. Go ahead and give me arcana rolls or investigation rolls or if you want to do some magic about it, or use some class features, I'm also down for that.

LUIS: I am going to Divine Sense that mofo.

BRENNAN: Cool.

MARISHA: I'm going to let the experts handle this.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

LOU: 22 arcana, and I guess I'm more interested in the bow itself.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LOU: Origin, like the actual magical item, its origins, less what happened to it afterwards.

TRAVIS: Ooh, that's cool, yeah.

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

AABRIA: I got a 24 in arcana, inspecting it with the eyes of someone who runs the engine that breaks down magical artifacts, constantly, to fill the batteries.

SAM: As she's looking at it, I'm going to do something that I've done to her hundreds of times, but not in a while, and just gently rub her shoulder and inspire her. (screaming)

BRENNAN: You want to throw some bardic inspiration on that roll, go for it. (cheering)

AABRIA: All right. When you make contact, I think a little bit of her perfume kicks up, and it smells like Issylran violet and petrichor, which were the flowers at our wedding.

MARISHA: (gasps)

TRAVIS: Oh, stop it, stop it!

SAM: So you get a d10.

AABRIA: Oh my god, thank you. Come on, roll good. All right, a five.

LOU: This is too adorable.

MARISHA: I know!

BRENNAN: Hell yeah.

AABRIA: 29.

BRENNAN: 29, incredible.

TRAVIS: ♪ You're here ♪

BRENNAN: Okay. So there is a moment. I think both of you are looking at this, right, and studying it for a moment. I think Zerxus, you say the thing that cracks it, where you do your Divine Sense and give everyone a hand into this. You're not used to seeing something like this, but the first thing you pick up, as you guys start to inspect it, is for something this mundane, you've never experienced something like this. You reach out with your Divine Sense. It's non-magical. It's a rusted scrap of metal. Normally, things' divine presence keeps apace of their magical signature. This thing is utterly non-magical, so you're like, "Well, I might get a whiff of something." (mimics strong energy) Powerful divine energy, specifically celestial.

TRAVIS: Yo!

LUIS: Put it down, put it down, put it down, put it down.

AABRIA: Huh?

LUIS: Put it down.

AABRIA: Why?

LUIS: Something's going on with this. I'm sensing a very powerful celestial energy inside of it.

AABRIA: Oh?

TRAVIS: (laughs) (laughter)

AABRIA: I touch magical shit all day long.

BRENNAN: (laughs)

LUIS: I don't think that's magical.

SAM: You don't want to argue with her. She'll always win. Or she'll say she did.

AABRIA: He's not wrong.

LUIS: Well, then put your eyes back on it, and tell us what you see. (laughter)

BRENNAN: As you look at it with that, with that arcana, we'll come to the 29 first. So the first thing, because I think you also get a piece of information from Nydas. Nydas, you take a set of master tools out of your thing. You hit this with a tuning fork that you have that you use for, like, "Okay, it's rare metal."

LOU: Yeah.

BRENNAN: What's the metal? It makes a weird note on the metal on the fork, the one you go for the most often, which is gold, right? It makes the right noise, but there's a weird tenor to it. As you look at it, you look over the fragment of this bow. This bow was at one time, 12 feet tall.

TRAVIS: What?

BRENNAN: You can guess exactly what this is because the-- All of you watch Nydas listen to this tuning fork. This is made of gold, but it's not made of gold from any mine on Exandria because this is gold wrought from the heavens themselves. This is extraplanar gold. What your dear friend Laerryn is holding is the former bow of a solar, which is a type of angel. It is the highest angels, direct servants--

LOU: Have I ever seen anything like this before?

BRENNAN: You have to go through a process of elimination in your head to get here. There are jokes from back when you were a pirate crew back in the day. There were jokes about different kinds of gold. Someone used to talk about, there was some cleric that ended up being captured by the ship briefly before they could get ransomed back off to their clergy that was talking about bows of pure gold wielded by solars, and a bunch of pirates would laugh about, (pirate voice) "If I could ever get my hands on a bow of pure--" So in your head, you're like, This is extraplanar gold from a bow." You're familiar enough with all objects of great value that you're looking at the curvature. You're like, if you complete this curve--

LOU: Yeah.

BRENNAN: It only makes sense in a bow--

LOU: If it goes for another six feet.

BRENNAN: Yes, (laughs) right, exactly.

LOU: You guys watch Nydas hit this thing, and just for the next minute, he's just banging it. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Incredulous. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Nydas? Nydas!

LOU: This is of the heavens themselves. This is the bow of a solar, 12 feet in length, pure celestial gold.

BRENNAN: With that information, on a 29, you put together the pieces that you've been given. Do you think that Cerrit would've shared the forensic stuff from before about the nature in which this was dispelled?

TRAVIS: Yes.

AABRIA: Always.

BRENNAN: Laerryn, you look at this. (exhales deeply) This, as Nydas speaks, and you know exactly what to imagine in this place. You realize the reason you have a fragment is that the bow at its center must've been shattered. The only thing I can say is that incredible arcana, as you feel as tough as the last few years have been, the reassuring presence of Loquatius nearby, who is himself more than a mortal man. You look at this thing and realize it was shattered. In your head, you immediately go to Mage's Disjunction, 9th-level spell something that could have destroyed that. You look and look and look at this. You know how to look for the residue of a spell. This, first of all, the bow of a solar could not be dispelled by mortal mage. Not only that, you think that this wasn't a spell. Something deeper and older and more profound than a spell happened. You know for a fact that nothing Vespin Chloras did or ever could have done, could have done what happened to this. So the question that your mind immediately goes to is: Vespin didn't do this, so who did? Because when he tried whatever he tried, perhaps very quickly, there was someone or something else in the room with him, and its mere presence took the weapon of one of the heaven's mightiest warriors and shattered it without effort.

AABRIA: Two things happen simultaneously. Even as Laerryn explains that to the group, she begins to pocket it harder. I want to ask you, the rules for interplanar travel usually require a bit of metal, something that you can attune to where you're headed.

BRENNAN: Yeah.

AABRIA: Would this count?

BRENNAN: (inhales) It has lost all of its innate magic, but spell components rarely need to be magical. This would absolutely work for that.

AABRIA: I think even as she explains it and is very fearful and gives you a furtive look at what could be powerful enough to do this right away, she can't help but smile that she has the last thing that she needs.

SAM: (whispering) She needs?

AABRIA: (sighs)

BRENNAN: "Announcing: The Champion of the Matron of Ravens, Purvan Suul!"

TRAVIS: Shut your fucking mouth, Brennan Lee Mulligan! (laughter)

BRENNAN: You see walking--

TRAVIS: What?! (laughter)

BRENNAN: You see--

SAM: Very important figure, it's-- (laughter)

LOU: The reaction at the table--

SAM: I'll--

MARISHA: Patia is like--

TRAVIS: You said what?!

MARISHA: -- parts the ivy a little bit so we get a good look.

AABRIA: (laughs) Thank you.

BRENNAN: You see walking through the doors of the Palazzo Por'co.

TRAVIS: No.

BRENNAN: A young man, long dark hair, light brown skin, severe, grave expression on his face. (laughter)

SAM: Fuck this guy.

AABRIA: Oh, the wolf! Just got it.

BRENNAN: You see he's got a wolf with him. (cheering)

BRENNAN: Walks into the party and a hush goes over the gala as in this Age of Arcanum, a champion of the gods has walked in. What a quaint and wondrous thing to behold. The man who walks in bears terrestrial mud on his black leather boots. He walks in the stoic countenance of a ranger. You see beside him (panting) a black and gray wolf stride in. He looks around sullenly, a mantle of raven's feathers around his neck.

TRAVIS: I just need a second; y'all go ahead. (laughter)

AABRIA: I attempt to pocket the metal.

SAM: He's not clad in armor, though?

BRENNAN: You do not see him clad in armor.

SAM: Okay, good to know. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh, interesting. Oh, of course.

AABRIA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Oh, shit, okay. Sorry.

LOU: What? Of course what? (laughter)

TRAVIS: I was about to say.

LOU: "Of course."

AABRIA: I'll tell you after.

TRAVIS: There's some steps here.

BRENNAN: Hey, why would any kind of special armor be needed in this wonderful Age of Arcanum?

SAM: Sure, sure, he's just a guy.

BRENNAN: He's just a guy.

AABRIA: He's just a guy.

TRAVIS: Mud on his boots.

BRENNAN: Walks in, and you see this young man walk in. I will tell you out of game, truly, this guy's probably 7th or 8th level. He's not glowing with tons of--

TRAVIS: Harry Potter.

SAM: Do we all know who he is?

BRENNAN: No.

SAM: Ah, okay.

BRENNAN: This guy got requested from somebody. You see that Madara Glyph walks up and approaches your table and gestures to you, Zerxus, and says, "My Lord, Sir Ilerez, my apologies. I wished to introduce you. There is quite a curiosity here. A terrestrial champion of the (whispering) Matron of Ravens has arrived, and I wished for him to meet Avalir's--"

LUIS: Yes, of course.

BRENNAN: "-- First Knight."

LUIS: I will, I will be right there. One moment, please.

BRENNAN: "Very well."

LUIS: I don't want to show that we're so earnest.

BRENNAN: "Of course. I meant only to say because he himself is a champion--"

LUIS: Of course.

BRENNAN: "-- of the Raven Queen."

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: "Of course our champion draws on divine source without, of course, needing any deific intermediaries."

LUIS: I will make sure that he is aware of my presence. (laughter)

TRAVIS: So amped.

BRENNAN: She wanders off.

LOU: Can I snap for two hodmedods?

BRENNAN: Yeah.

LOU: Clean the man's boots. (laughter)

LOU: This is the Palazzo Por'co.

MARISHA: Thank you.

BRENNAN: "Right you are, sir!" You see they (tongue trill) These two hodmedods. So you see this guy walk in, look around sullenly at everyone here, and two brightly-colored magical scarecrows come up and start mopping his feet. He goes, "I beg your pardon," and starts to move. You see Galdric snarls at the hodmedods. but also Galdric is like, "Do I bite this suit of empty clothing that's floating around?"

SAM: Well, this is such a weird turn of events. We've got god stuff going on left and right here. Now there's a god guy in your house. Here's my takeaway from all this. I don't know how it's all related, and I'm desperate for you all to figure it out. But one of my new sponsors--

LOU: Yes.

AABRIA: (laughs)

SAM: -- is the Market of Wonders. Maybe I could get them to sponsor a two- or three-article series about how the gods are among us or something like that. You know, the wonders of the gods meet the Market of Wonders or something like that. I dunno, I'm spit-balling. I'll keep working on it. You guys figure out the nitty gritty of the connections here.

LOU: Definitely feels like it could be something, but there is something, the celestial, the prophecy sensation you're describing, your dream, does make me wonder about, should we consult with, is it the Hall of Prophecy?

BRENNAN: The Hall of Prophecy.

LOU: The Hall of Prophecy. I mean, the Oracles there might be able to help illuminate some of the meaning of your dreams.

MARISHA: Well, I heard they're taking a little 24-hour respite because they're tired or something.

SAM: I didn't hear that. Why didn't I hear that?

MARISHA: I don't know. Actually, I was going to ask you, Laerryn. I heard they're just not responding.

AABRIA: Laerryn's trying to cram that bit of metal into her clutch. (laughter)

AABRIA: Stupid tiny bag.

BRENNAN: To Loquatius and Laerryn, it's strange that you haven't heard that the Hall of Prophecy is closed.

AABRIA: That's very weird.

LOU: So it is closed.

MARISHA: I mean--

AABRIA: I haven't heard anything about that.

MARISHA: I was just like, I don't understand why they can't just wait another like 24 hours 'til after the Replenishing to take their little vacation.

SAM: Also, they're prophets. When they take a day off, they would know about it.

TRAVIS: Is there a precedent for that? Has that ever, ever happened before?

BRENNAN: There is no precedent for this.

LUIS: All right, well--

SAM: We should probably go and check it out.

LUIS: Yes, we should.

AABRIA: Us ourselves?

SAM: Well--

LOU: Yes, I mean, I have a lot to do with regard to the Replenishment--

LUIS: We should.

LOU: -- and other things, so--

TRAVIS: We should.

LUIS: Well, I want to go and have a word with this champion, at least.

SAM: Sure, do you need some backup?

LUIS: I would like some extra eyes in case you notice something that I don't.

LOU: We'll all stand nearby in a loose circle.

SAM: (laughs)

LUIS: Right. Let's surround him, actually.

LOU: Yes, you know?

LUIS: Surround him and step in.

LOU: Yeah. (laughs) Yes.

LUIS: You don't break eye contact with him.

LOU: (laughs) Yes.

TRAVIS: I wouldn't mind knowing who invited him in particular, unless you know, Patia.

MARISHA: Oh, yes, he's a guest of a member of the Silver Ring. Magistrate Hollow.

BRENNAN: Yes-- or this is the Dean Lacrytia Hollow

MARISHA: Dean Lacrytia Hollow.

LUIS: Dean Lacrytia Hollow and what is their area?

BRENNAN: They are the Dean of the Throne of Necromancy.

LUIS: Okay, well, of course that would be the one to invite him. I'm going to then step outside of our little field.

BRENNAN: As you all go over to approach, I mean, it is a curiosity, certainly.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You see Lacrytia Hollow, along with Madara Glyph, and the Magister Micah Cormorant, Speaker of the Fourth, have all gathered around this young man, Purvan Suul. As you approach, you can hear the Magister say, "Truly some great distance traveled- on foot, no less! I can't imagine. That's quite a journey. How long have you sworn this devotion to the radiant eminence, the Matron of Ravens?" Purvan looks out and goes, "Many long years have passed in the service of the Raven Queen, my mistress. I have come to speak on matters divine to the Septarion." (laughter)

AABRIA: Of course you have.

SAM: That didn't need to talk to us.

AABRIA: Yeah.

BRENNAN: You see that there is a ruffle of polite laughter and this guy looks pissed and sad at the look of derision. He says--

TRAVIS: At seven o'clock.

BRENNAN: He's like, "I understand that the Septarion is the ruling council of Avalir, is this not correct? My understanding is that a number of artifacts may have been brought here into the city." Everyone looks around confused at each other. He says, "The Septarion is what I must speak with."

LUIS: I'm going to approach and try to break this up.

TRAVIS: I'll stay right on his shoulder as well.

AABRIA: I was about to start talking shit, so that's good that you walked forward.

LOU: Yes, I was also about to start talking shit.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LUIS: I got there in time to overhear some of this and Zerxus is stroking his beard, he has a beard, and in the front there's one tightly-braided longer lock. He's stroking that as he's taking in this champion and steps forward and he says: Champion of the Matron of Ravens, yes?

BRENNAN: He bows his head respectfully to you. "First Knight of Avalir."

LUIS: First Knight of Avalir, yes. Shall I escort you away from your audience?

BRENNAN: Madara looks and says, "Sir Ilerez, please, listen--"

MARISHA: I just say: Madara.

SAM: Oh shit.

BRENNAN: "Sorry." You see that she looks off. Purvan looks at you and says, "I appreciate the offer. I would ask if, I know that you serve the Septarion directly."

LUIS: Yes.

BRENNAN: You see as he speaks, Galdric nuzzles up against his leg. You see that as Madara goes silent, the Magister Cormorant speaks up and you see he says, "Champion Purvan." You see Purvan looks over and says, You may refer to me simply as Champion."

AABRIA: Oh my god.

BRENNAN: You see that he says, "Well, I think it quite telling that you should know that our First Knight, Zerxus, is a wielder of divine magic with no devotion to any deity to speak of. He has mastered the ability to call upon the divine simply as a champion of the people of Avalir, and perhaps--"

LUIS: I'm watching Purvan. I'm just wanting to see how all of this lands on him. I'm not even looking at the Magister that's talking.

BRENNAN: Purvan is taking it in. You can give me an insight check if you want, yeah.

LUIS: Sure.

LOU: Sure.

LUIS: 17.

BRENNAN: You can see Purvan is deeply uncomfortable and does not wish to be here. Magister Cormorant simply says, "I simply think it interesting. You know, there's been so many upheavals in recent history. You, yourself, the champion of a new deity and our champion not needing a deity whatsoever." There's some polite laughter. Lacrytia Hollow looks over at you, Patia and says, "It is so striking, Champion, that the Matron of Ravens ascended to the heights of divinity, but saw fit to of course, erase her magical research. We live in an age in which knowledge, as our Keeper of Scrolls can attest to, is shared. Seems rather interesting that the greatest arcane achievement of the age would be erased. Feels somehow not in the spirit of the age."

TRAVIS: Who's saying this?

BRENNAN: This is Dean Hollow of the College of Necromancy. Purvan looks out and says, "I do not care for this conversation, nor to continue it."

AABRIA: It's the only conversation you're going to get, so maybe you pipe up.

BRENNAN: "The knowledge won by my mistress was hers and hers alone and hers to do with what she willed, and she did as she willed in her ascension and in the acts to follow. I serve the goddess of death," and you see he turns and walks away and you hear Dean Hollow call out. "She is still one of us though, is she not?" He stops here, says, "She was one of us. She does remember from whence she came. It is not their world any longer. Why would she not welcome us behind her?" Purvan leaves the room.

LOU: Can I start applause?

BRENNAN: Nydas starts applause and the entire--

MARISHA: I use this applause to mask a message to Purvan and I say: If you wish to hear more, meet in the room behind the vines.

BRENNAN: Amazing. Cool, Purvan leaves in the direction, Zerxus, that you pointed. What is everyone doing right now? In this applause, as the Dean of the College of Necromancy effectively claims a member of the Prime Deities as still being on the home team.

AABRIA: Laerryn is going to start walking for the door, but I do use my bracelet to send a sending to Nydas. I need four automatons in the Heart right now. I have what I need and I have very little time.

LOU: Oh yes, yes. Uh, uh, uh-- Nydas is buzzing. Who do-- Who's the-- I grab a hodmedod I just write down four automatons, the heart, this instant. This needs to be in the hands of Alessander as quickly as possible.

BRENNAN: "Right you are, sir!" He rolls into a ball of fabric and flies out the window. Just flattens himself to be just like a pane, magic carpeting off and takes off into the city. Laerryn, you head off to the Heart of the city, I assume.

AABRIA: Yes.

BRENNAN: Incredible.

SAM: You're just walking out?

AABRIA: I'll send you a sending on the way out that just says: Thank you. And take off.

SAM: What?

BRENNAN: Incredible. So I need to do, because it seems like there's a big moment at this party, people are scattering. There was some talk about the Hall of Prophecy, Purvan is still walking away in a state of religious offense, right? So you're heading to the heart, where else is everybody headed?

TRAVIS: I do want to ask Dean Hollow one question. After he sends off Purvan in a huff, I'll just step up to him and say--

BRENNAN: Sorry, Lacrytia Hollow is a woman.

TRAVIS: Oh, sorry, Lacrytia Hollow, thank you. Yeah, I'll just approach and say: Well done. You represent the city well. I find it strange that you would care so much about anyone replicating what the Matron did. No one has ever come close to such a feat, correct? (snapping)

AABRIA: We love one inquisitor rogue.

BRENNAN: Give me an insight check.

AABRIA: Let's go.

MARISHA: Does she know?

TRAVIS: 23. Not the best.

BRENNAN: Wait a minute, what's your plus to insight?

TRAVIS: 13.

BRENNAN: Cool. So she looks at you and says-- Actually, I have a, wait a minute, I have--

BRENNAN: Yeah, she looks at you and says: "I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea." And the ring on your hand glows.

TRAVIS: Pulses. (gasping)

MARISHA: Oh my god!

AABRIA: Let's go!

MARISHA: Cool as fuck.

AABRIA: He's so fucking cool.

LOU: There it is. There it is, there it is.

TRAVIS: Fair, very fair. I hope you enjoy the champagne, I'm sure there's lots of it.

BRENNAN: You walk away seeing the silver circlet around her neck marking her as a member of the Ring of Silver.

LOU: Can I pull Patia for a dance real quick?

AABRIA: Oh, that's so good.

LOU: We adjourn to the dance floor and I say: Patia, I must ask. You know that I am happy to make allowances for certain members that are perhaps not entirely recorded in the guild's records, of course.

MARISHA: You need not remind me.

LOU: Yes, though I must ask. Everyone up until this point has been someone of influence and someone who I was happy to do a favor for. However, today I was visited by Magister Cromwell?

BRENNAN: This I believe actually was Milus--

LOU: Oh, yes.

BRENNAN: Milus Phren.

LOU: Milus Phren. Today, I was visited by a low-level Magister, Milus Phren, asking for the same sort of allowances that I've been giving out to members of more esteem. So I must ask, have you been offering my services to members so low as he?

MARISHA: Do I recognize his name?

BRENNAN: Give me a history check.

MARISHA: Well, my history's okay. 18.

LUIS: Oh wow.

BRENNAN: Circle's been breached. Milus Phren's not one of yours. There might be some people who need to forget some stuff.

AABRIA: Let's go.

MARISHA: This name does not ring true in my head in the slightest and I know everyone.

LOU: Well, and I'm going to spin her away.

MARISHA: I walk away pissed. (laughter)

MARISHA: Who the fuck is this guy?

LOU: I'm going to go get four automatons. An additional four automatons. Head back to the vault to get four more automatons and head to the Heart after--

TRAVIS: You're rolling eight deep now.

BRENNAN: Amazing.

LOU: There's the four that are going that hopefully the fabricator gets, and I'm going to make sure we get four additional automatons.

TRAVIS: Aw yeah, just in case.

LOU: Just in case.

TRAVIS: Yeah, smart.

LOU: In redundancy.

BRENNAN: Redundancy, incredible.

TRAVIS: No intercepts.

BRENNAN: You take off on palanquin of automata. Whoosh, rushing through the city.

LOU: One last thing.

BRENNAN: Yes.

LOU: I write Zerxus a message that I'd like to speak to him before we land at some point.

BRENNAN: Okay.

LUIS: If you're heading out, you pass by me at some point because I'm trying to follow--

SAM: As am I.

BRENNAN: Cool, so you guys see Nydas, after a quick dance with Patia is rushing out, surrounded by automatons. There's a couple of Harvest Moon soldiers waiting for you outside as well that begin to swoop around you and make ready for some business. You do see Zerxus and Loquatius on your way out.

LOU: Zerxus, brother, I wanted to say that your forthrightness has done us some good. You are a brilliant First Knight and in the position you deserve.

LUIS: Well, thank you, my friend. Let me see if I can prove your words right. As I-- We need to speak later--

LOU: Of course.

LUIS: -- but I'm going to catch up to this guy.

LOU: Yes, and I have business of my own. Yeah.

SAM: Zerxus, keep up!

BRENNAN: Cool. Guildmaster of the Golden Scythe takes off to go grab automata. You're going through Excelsior Square, it's a zoo. It's the eve of the Replenishment and you're fighting through Excelsior Plaza to get to your automata. You rush down back to the Heart of Avalir with a fragment of extraplanar gold. You two are rushing off after Purvan, right?

SAM: Yes.

BRENNAN: Patia, you've just found some news about a little breach in the circle.

MARISHA: So as Patia is still at her party, standing under this immaculate tree that Nydas graced my presence with. She's just standing there and it's like one of those shots where she's still and everything is buzzing around her in fast-motion. She casts Detect Thoughts and she's ice cold in her face, almost like the fixture of this party. She's going to go (pinging)

TRAVIS: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MARISHA: And bounce around and listen, yes

AABRIA: Let's go!

BRENNAN: Ooh, go ahead, I'm going to ask for an investigation check and I'm going to ask for it with advantage.

MARISHA: All right.

LOU: Yes, sir.

BRENNAN: I'm going to set a pretty low DC here. You got the psychic power.

MARISHA: Weak!

LOU: We're going to need that low DC.

MARISHA: Weak! Yeah, thank god. 12.

LOU: Was it that low? (laughter)

BRENNAN: (laughs) "Was it that low?"

MARISHA: Level 14. (laughter)

AABRIA: It be that way sometimes.

BRENNAN: You begin to move through the party. You're looking for somewhat-- I think you zero in on Madara Glyph. "You're like, You've been annoying the hell out of me recently." You see her like, "I do love a gala, this--" You're zeroing in on her. You're listening for someone, you're like, "Where did the circle get breached?" Somebody here talked when they knew they shouldn't. You hear a voice in your Detect Thoughts but the voice is quiet, like it's someone whispering to themselves in their own mind. Do you turn to look to see who it is?

MARISHA: I just look in the periphery. Barely tilting my head as little as I can.

BRENNAN: As little as you can. You see a wobbling hodmedod who has stopped serving drinks. Just wobbling there.

LOU: Fuck this. Not my little scarecrows. I didn't bring-- Guys, I didn't mean to bring 700 of them.

BRENNAN: Wobbling there. It's not serving. The tray lists to one side and comes back and you see with your Detect Thoughts, these are automata, they're not sentient. Listening through Detect Thoughts, "(gasps) Ghor Dranas." The tray clatters to the ground and the hodmedod dis-animates and is a pile of clothing on the floor, soaking up the champagne.

AABRIA: What?

SAM: What is happening?

TRAVIS: I'm going to clock this because I've been keeping track of not just Dean Lacrytia Hollow, but also Bolo's bitch ass. (laughter)

TRAVIS: And an automaton just dropping into fabric on the floor--

MARISHA: I imagine I would make eye contact with Cerrit,and be like: Go.

TRAVIS: Yeah, break on it.

BRENNAN: Break on it, cool, you go grab that hodmedod, sweep it off the floor, see a nearby mage is like, "Looks like that hodmedod's having a little too much too himself. Ha ha ha! Avalir!" (laughter)

LOU: That's my best friend. (laughter)

LOU: Best friend.

BRENNAN: That's Nydas' best friend. "Nothing's going to cramp my style!" (laughter)

BRENNAN: You grab the hodmedod, take off into the wings. So Excelsior Plaza, into the heart. Run off into a back room with this disenchanted thing. You're still holding court here. We cut to our two outside following Purvan.

SAM: Sir Suul, Sir Suul, Purvan!

LUIS: Champion. (laughter)

BRENNAN: He turns to look at you when you say "Champion."

LUIS: I meet him, I'm not running. I'm not trying to make it seem like--

SAM: I'm running.

LUIS: Yes. (laughter)

LUIS: But I'm stepping towards him with a sense of authority.

BRENNAN: Yeah, you see the wolf-- The wolf steps around and goes (snarls). The wolf grows a little bit, he turns around and says-- Turns around and says, "May I help you?"

LUIS: Well, I've come to ask that of you.

SAM: Please, please don't leave in a huff. Some of our allies back there, and I don't even want to say allies. Some of the other guests were rude to you and--

LUIS: Arrogant.

SAM: We just came to apologize.

BRENNAN: Go ahead, Loquatius, give me a persuasion check and with Zerxus at your side, give me with advantage.

SAM: I won't need it. (laughter)

SAM: Oh, maybe. (laughter)

SAM: With advantage?

BRENNAN: Yeah.

SAM: Okay, 29. (laughter)

SAM: First one was only a 20.

BRENNAN: Purvan turns to look at you and says, "I fear you make your home in a nest of vipers, gentleman. I cannot speak highly of my experience thus far in the City of Crowns."

LUIS: Well, you're mistaken at least on one count. This is not my home; we are approaching it. And I'm ready to have a very different kind of conversation with you, if you are willing.

BRENNAN: "Speak your mind, First Knight."

LUIS: What brings you here? You seem to have come with some urgency and some concern.

BRENNAN: "Very recently... Very recently, I have come into the awareness that my mistress feels a concern. Something is moving upon the face of Exandria. Something that, for the moment, eludes even her sight. Her counsel brought me to Vasselheim, but my search was drawn short when I arrived at the sanctum of Vespin Chloras."

LUIS: Did you meet him?

BRENNAN: "No, he had gone missing by the time I arrived."

SAM: But you arrived at the site where he attempted this rite?

BRENNAN: Here you see Purvan looks surprised. You've just said something Purvan did not know.

SAM: Oops.

MARISHA: (laughs)

SAM: I will cast Gift of Gab. (laughter)

AABRIA: Best spell!

TRAVIS: What does that do?

LUIS: You'll see.

SAM: I take it back.

TRAVIS: No shit?

AABRIA: Rewind.

TRAVIS: (mimics speaking backward)

AABRIA: Ooh! Full Missy Elliot.

BRENNAN: So in other words, that is a vision that you have of the future that is quickly drawn back and you see he goes, "I cannot long remain in this place. My heart belongs back in Issylra. There are still answers waiting for me in Vasselheim. I came here to attempt to find reason amongst the mages of this place. There is precious little to find here."

SAM: You may be incorrect about that. The mages can be helpful, but only if you know the way in which to approach them. We can help in that matter if you give us some information and we can pass along to them. Be a conduit for your Matron.

BRENNAN: "(sighs) I came to Vasselheim in search of answers and I believe some answers may have come aboard your city back during its stay there. The auguries which I used brought me here, but with little detail in the way of what I sought, so I came to ask the aid of mages. What I can tell you in this moment--" Here he stops to consider what he honestly feels like sharing in a city that he has some reason to distrust. He says, "It is the belief of my mistress that something very reckless may have been attempted. Many have sought to recreate the miracle of my mistress' ascension, foolishly, and it has ended poorly for them all or at least for those powerful enough to begin what they could not finish. It is my belief, based on the counsel of my goddess, the Archmage Chloras attempted something wholly different. Not a recreation, but something new. Something much riskier and more foolhardy."

SAM: Riskier than an ascension to godhood?

BRENNAN: "The god of death that ruled over that domain, whose name my mistress sundered and removed from the fabric of reality itself. What complaint could he offer for his own demisethat would not be hypocrisy? God of death dying can hardly be said to be an aberration. It is my mistress' belief that Vespin did not orient his attentions in the direction of any of her or the counsel she keeps. By which I mean to say that she has already conferred with each and every one of the Prime Deities. None of them felt an attempt on their domains or any of their power, and yet a ripple was felt."

SAM: Aiming for a different sort of a god.

BRENNAN: "We can imagine no other directions. If divinity was sought and none of my mistress' counsel could offer insight, I need not tell you there are precious few options left. I will tell you this, friend. Hopefully, I have not given this wisdom foolishly. You understand the implications of what I now tell you. If we are correct in what Vespin's focus was, then it is deeply troubling. The lack of sight into what may occur even more so."

LUIS: Forgive me, Champion, I must implore you to speak plainly and not in riddles. What do you think happened? And tell it clearly, please. So that I too may be clear on it.

BRENNAN: "Every mortal mage who has attempted to recreate the Raven Queen's ascension has attempted to do as she did."

LUIS: Right.

BRENNAN: "Ascend to a Prime Deity, strike them from their throne, and take their place, erasing their name. Vespin is a better mage than any other who has attempted. We know that he did not commit that same folly. We do not know for certain what happened, but having removed what we know did not leaves us afraid."

LUIS: Okay.

SAM: And just so we're clear here, you wouldn't be comfortable with a one-on-one sit down interview or, like, an exclusive? I could get some really great illustrations made for you.

BRENNAN: "Good luck with your pit of vipers. I truly wish that we all may come out from under this shadow.

SAM: Free advice, change your first name. (laughter)

BRENNAN: He goes, "It's normal where I come from!" And you see-- (laughter)

BRENNAN: He turns, his wolf vanishes in a blur of magic, as he, in a movement of ravens wings, vanishes and disappears.

SAM: I'll pick up one of the raven feathers that fell on the floor and just-- That guy needs a PR makeover. (laughter)

LUIS: He left quite the impression. What I don't understand is why he didn't just say that he attempted to ascend to the place of a betrayer god?

SAM: He's not ascending, he's descending. He's trying to awaken a betrayer god.

LUIS: To take their place.

SAM: Awaken them somehow. Yes, give them some sort of volition to break free of wherever they are and I don't know. Do god knows what-- well, god knows what, ha. Hello, that's a good title! (laughter)

SAM: God Knows What!

BRENNAN: We're going to cut from here. So thankfully you guys have scattered the party which is great for me. Love that. Cerrit, you find a quick room to yourself. Quiet, off to one side, small chamber in the Palazzo Por'co. As you look at the hodmedod dis-animated, what do you do? Describe to me what it is you want to do.

TRAVIS: So I have an ability that allows me to-- An Eye For Detail, it allows me to make a perception check to spot a hidden creature or object, to make an investigation to uncover or decipher clues or anything that might be hidden. So I'll spread it out on the floor, but then take a step back above it. My crest starts to feather out and I'll take a look just at first at what I see, and then push in closer.

BRENNAN: You take a look closer here. Go ahead and give me an investigation check.

TRAVIS: Okay. I'll also-- Just because, I'll also use Unerring Eye, which allows me to sense the presence of illusions, shape changers not in original form or other magic designed to deceive the senses within 30 feet. So investigation. Oh jesus. Yeah, that's a 31.

LOU: The good kind of, "Oh jesus."

AABRIA: Let's go, sir.

BRENNAN: You look at this hodmedod down on the ground, dis-animated. Something's wrong, and on a 31, you're not alone in this room. Invisibility is a pretty beloved power. It's easy to get, even very junior mages can master it. The problem with invisibility is light is very important for a number of functions. No matter how cloaked you might be in it, you can't make your whole self invisible. Even if it's smaller than a pin prick, you need just enough of your eyes to stay visible that light can hit them and you can still see. Now, perceiving a fraction of a pupil hanging in space, smaller than a grain of sand, would be beyond most people, but you've been trained to look for them because they always move in two.

MARISHA: Amazing.

SAM: Unlike your eyes. (laughter)

BRENNAN: You look up in a mirror in the chamber and you can see behind you, smaller than grains of sand, there are two pupils.

TRAVIS: I go about my normal business. Bring my eyes down from the mirror, continue with the items, and I will slowly reach under my arms and unsheathe both of my hawks. And as fast as I can, I'll spin and not only draw both of the hawks, but my wings come out.

BRENNAN: Hell yes. For the first time in this campaign, give me an attack roll. You can give me a stealth, you don't even need a bonus action for it, but give me a stealth to see if you can hide the drawing of the axes.

TRAVIS: 21 for stealth.

BRENNAN: Okay, copy that. Make the attack roll with advantage.

TRAVIS: With advantage.

AABRIA: Oh my god.

TRAVIS: Oh, it's 18 both times, so a 25 to hit.

BRENNAN: You absolutely hit. You are going to roll sneak attack on this.

TRAVIS: Oh shit! Okay, okay.

SAM: Sixes!

LOU: Is that eight d6s?

TRAVIS: It's 7d6.

BRENNAN: Seven.

AABRIA: Oh my god.

TRAVIS: Okay, so that's 24 points of damage.

SAM: You rolled one six.

TRAVIS: No, I know, I did it on-- because I-- I mean, I could do seven-- you know what?

SAM: No, no, no, no.

TRAVIS: No, no, you know what, I have them here.

AABRIA: Do it, do it, do it!

TRAVIS: Why not, I should just do it.

AABRIA: Yeah, come on!

BRENNAN: Let's hear the noise!

TRAVIS: I've never rolled this many fucking--

AABRIA: Let's go!

TRAVIS: Okay.

LUIS: Do the math, do the math.

TRAVIS: 15, 23, 25. 25 points.

SAM: Hey, one more! (cheering)

BRENNAN: You whip around. (grunt, whoosh) You see where the eyes are, so you don't need to even see where the neck is. If the eyes are that far apart, right there. The first thing that becomes visible is the blood hitting the wall and you hear the drop before the spell fades.

AABRIA: Oh my god!

BRENNAN: This person went from being invisible to being dead and didn't have time to register what was happening. You see a body materialize out of invisibility. Chunks of skin carved off of a shaved head. Lips carved off of a face.

SAM: What?

AABRIA: What!?

BRENNAN: Wearing rags covered in Infernal runes. A mortal man who, nonetheless, is stitched together with orange irises and bloodshot eyes, staring out of a dead face. You hear behind you, from the mirror. (guttural whispering) "You will never reach the Wildmother's embrace in time. Are you looking for something?" You turn around and, in the mirror, you see a shape in mist swimming in the fog, and the mutilated face of Vespin Chloras. (shrieks)

TRAVIS: (yells) (laughing )

TRAVIS: Goddamn it, not to me! Oh god!

BRENNAN: Reaches forward, hits the other side of the mirror, the glass cracks and the face is gone. The crack remains, as you see your own image behind the shattered glass in the reflection. And that's all for this episode. (yelling)

TRAVIS: You're not serious!

BRENNAN: That's all for this episode of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity. Tune in next week; let's see if things get better. (groaning)

SAM: What? Is that it? We're out? That's the sign off?

BRENNAN: Do I do more? Should I do more of a-- Do you want me to do more of a story about that?

MARISHA: We'll see you next week!

BRENNAN: We'll see you next week. That's all.

TRAVIS: Oh, we end with "Is it Thursday yet?"

BRENNAN: Oh! Is it Thursday yet? (laughing and cheering)

SAM: There you go, there you go.

BRENNAN: There you go, there you go. Is it Thursday yet? Oh, I love it.