The Adventure Zone - The Adventure Zone: Ethersea - Episode 43

Episode Date: July 14, 2022

Benefactor's Folly: Part Five Cracks have formed in the firmament. Past, Present and Future collide, and the Coriolis crew stands at the inflection point. Amber battles an immortal foe. Devo ends the cycle. Zoox transcends form. Addition music in this episode: “Now You Are Here” by Sergey Cheremisinov https://soundcloud.com/sergey-cheremisinov-1; “Beneath Dark Clouds” by The Pangolins http://thepangolins.yolasite.com/; “Boom” by Jason Shaw on Audionautix https://audionautix.com/; “Aisles” by Jahzzar http://www.betterwithmusic.com/; “Ambient Dream” and “Haunted by the Past” by Malictus Music https://www.malictusmusic.com/; and “July” by Kai Engel http://www.kai-engel.com/. Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/jointaz

Previously, on the Adventure Zone, Ethersea. I think in the history of this show, this is the first dragon you all have fought. You see that Kodira has obliterated every single one of the coral beings. Well, don't freeze up now to scream. Your destiny is waiting. Will you join me to... erase magic from this world before it can

penetrate another. I am capable of taking control of one of my servants. Yes, but if that is not something... Oh, man. Ah! We could come to an arrangement. You had to use that word, didn't you?

I should be clear. You will submit. Healing spirit calls forth a nature spirit to soothe the wounded, and it's a shape of a great big manta rag. You maybe don't notice as the debris pile that the dragon collapsed into starts to shift because Zooks climbs out of the pile. But then he snaps to an almost sort of militaristic pose and looks down at you and aims his

crossbow right in your direction. Devo. Yes. Zooks is now standing in front of you, having climbed out of the pile of coral rubble formed when the dragon basically toppled over on top of him. Orlean is still in his ship high above out of sight, and the machine that his ship is sort of built into, this coral machine is still running, still accelerating, it's getting louder. and you've noticed, I think, during this battle, that time is getting weird around where this machine is built. Just now you see a chunk of coral, like, fall off of the platform,

and then it falls again and then again before it ultimately just sets itself right back up into its original position. I see. And that's abnormal, right? That's not normal, yes. And Zooks, who is under the control of Orlean, is up first, and he aims his crossbow at you. And when he does that, you hear Orlean's voice in your mind. And he sounds tired. He sounds pained.

But he says, You are wounded, Devo. Stand down just for a few moments longer. But no. Sorry, you had to expect that this was the answer, right? Like, do you think that I just want, but like, okay, you got me. Here's the thing, Orling, do you not realize, like, what? Why would I do this?

Like, what up to this point have you done that makes me think, like, maybe Orlean isn't all that bad? Maybe he's not a piece of shit and whatever he's doing isn't, you know, going to fuck everything up, right? Like at this point, you've given me no indication not to do everything I can to stop whatever it is you're doing. Zooks uses his first attack to fire a crossbow bolt right between your feet. And Orlean says, you may not believe this, Devo. But I do not wish to harm you any further. just need to finish what I started. Stand down. I have a different idea. How about instead, right?

You pause what you're doing and you explain to me everything you're doing, why you're doing it, what you thinks the outcome will be. Once I've heard this out, if it seems to me like, okay, this isn't all that bad, I will let you do it. Right. But right now, I don't know what I'm standing down from. You have been very withholding, which as I imagine, you know, at this point, I do not like when people do. And you have been very, let's say it, antagonistic to me. So if you do not wish to hurt me, then how about you tell me what the fuck is happening? I'm sorry, Devo. Okay, see, this is, okay.

This is what I'm talking about. He says that, and Zooks fires at you. That is an 18 versus AC. I mean, yes, that does hit. I'm wearing a suit. Yeah, that's not the strongest. I mean, listen, there's beefy shirt. There's better armor than that.

But there's worse. I could be wearing butter. There certainly is worse. You take six points of piercing. damage. Well, I'm down again. The crossbow bolt goes right into your chest and you fall backwards. And you begin to lose consciousness. And as you do, you are staring straight upwards in this top floor of the tower. And now you can see that there are cracks in space of. surrounding Orlean's ship, like a window that has been shattered.

And through some of these new sort of fragments that are forming in the air, you see a different reality maybe. You see water, but it is obsidian black, lifeless water, not like the sort of shimmering, you know, arcane, enriched water of the ethersea. It is, it is an abyss. Is it the same thing, Griffin, I saw when Tolliver was, like, transitioning into something? No. Tolover for his, you know, shadiness was a very vibrant, you know, being. This is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is the absence of life. And from the cracks surrounding those fragments, some of that water starts to spray

into the room and you fall unconscious for just a moment. Then you hear a sort of high-pitched groaning sound and the Manta ray heals you once again. Yay. Even though Zooks doesn't appear to be in control of his body right now, his swarm that he conjured up to help you remains. And so you're going to heal. I can roll that. Oh, I did it.

Oh, you did it? That's probably for the best because I got a one. Yeah, I got three. Okay. Moments after you go down, you snap back to, catch your breath. The crossbow bolt just like falls out of your chest. and you are still definitely severely wounded, but you are once again conscious,

and it is your action. Orlean, if you can hear me, you are not a stupid man. Look around, pull your head out of your ass, and pay attention to what you are doing, the effects that this is having outside of your ship. Look at the goddamn ceiling, you stupid bastard, and pay attention. And don't just like think about what you're doing, you short-s, sorry, it's getting away for me.

Just like, pay attention, okay? Um, and then I'm going to cast, okay? Okay. How's your wisdom saving there, Dad? I'm going to cast Charm Person on Zix. Okay. How's your wisdom, Dad? Plus one.

I can answer that. That's not great. Not great. Yeah. There's nothing wrong with that. Gosh, see, now I want some. Yeah, dude. So you are using your, that's an action, right, to cast that as well?

Yes. Okay. You have done this a couple times now where you have sort of contested an already existing charm that has been placed on a living being. this time you know instantly that something is different and you feel an icy pit in your stomach. Because what happens when you cast this spell on Zooks, you've cast spells on Zooks before. You know what that feels like to influence him in that way. It is different this time because there is no audience for your words. There is no target that is there.

Zooks is standing in front of you, but Zooks is being piloted by Benefactor Orlean. And for whatever reason, that appears to have simply erased the consciousness you know as Zooks from existence. Oh, bummer. Yeah. Zooks, you are standing on the pristine, flat, wavel surface of cerulean blue ocean waters. And standing just before you is the coral tower.

And it's just as you saw it from outside before you sort of scale. it and went in. It and you are not surrounded by the coral dome that, you know, in your conscious state surrounds the tower in the real world. Curiously, that dome is far off in the distance, as is a coral battleship that is just kind of sitting atop the water just next to the dome. And you see a few of those coral beings. and they're standing upright, all just looking at the tower,

or more specifically the middle of the tower, where you can see that door going into the foyer, the one that you sort of climbed into. And there is just this very faint, pulsating, prismatic light shining through that door. Those coral beings are not alone either, because swimming laps around the tower with almost childlike glee is a blink shark. There's no water here.

It appears to just be kind of swimming through the air. And as you are sort of observing this, you hear a voice from behind you. And it says, well, I didn't expect to see you again. And you turn. And first, of course, you see the giant clam. And he is so, so much larger than he was when you first saw him. His outside now seems to match his magically expanded interior volume. He's gigantic.

But then you focus in on a much nearer figure. The one who just spoke to you, and it is Phineas Call. And he says, I'm not 100% sure what this means if I am being completely honest. I'm not even 5% sure what this means. Did you die? I don't think. I don't think.

so? I don't think they left big clams in heaven. Now, no, um, I, I, I was under a giant pile of coral and it felt kind of natural. And then I was here, but to be honest,

Mr. Call, I don't feel so good. Um, he nods. and he says, why don't we take a walk? And he breezes right past you walking toward the tower. And as he gets close to it, the ocean kind of rises to meet his footfalls and begins to form a sort of spiral around the outside of the tower going upward. And he starts up that spiral, then turns back to you in gestures for, you to follow. Okay. He follows. He trudges along.

Okay. Trying to figure out what the hell is going on. You find this spiral made of water just as easy to climb as some stairs. And he is walking just in front of you. And he says, so what is your take on all of this? Not this, he gestures to this scene. around you, he says, but the, there's a bunch of beings that look like you, living on the bottom of the ocean, all tunneling a hole through this world into the next. Mm-hmm. What do you think?

Do you think it's, is it time for the mortal world to move on? I, no, I don't think so at all. I'm not with them. No, I'm, I'm, I like the moral world. I like the, I like the, I like the, I like the, I like the, I like most of the people I've met. I like all of the creatures I've met. I, I don't know why anybody would want to get rid of this. I, I understand that people have lives and memories and, and all these things about the past, but, you know, I've recently learned that I'm not going to live in it.

I don't have that fast to live in. So I don't want to tunnel into whatever nirvana or whatever these people want to do. I just, I want to enjoy this beautiful world that we have, this existence we have. I want to appreciate it. I don't see any sense in trying to go somewhere else. I'm not with them. And he looks back at you. and kind of cocks his head.

He looks curious, and he says, you inherited the troubles that you have from your mortal friends and the world around you, didn't you? What troubles? He shakes his head and stops and thinks for a second, and then he speaks. And as he speaks,

is speaking, you are very quickly realizing that these are your thoughts that you are having, that he is laying out to you. He says, okay, when you, when you first joined a contract crew, what did you want? What did I want? I wanted to explore. I wanted adventure. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to experience all the abundance of life and I wanted to enjoy it. He

looks at you kind of in he kind of skeptically and he says, of course. But what about yourself, Zooks? When I first started,

I was very curious about, you know, where I came from and what made me, you know, special. It seemed like I was different from everybody else. And I really worked and really tried to figure out what was my deal. And then I realized finding out where I came from wasn't that important. It was more important to be in that. the moment and enjoy my life as it is. You're approaching the top of the tower now, and the roof is gone. And as you sort of scale the last of this spiral, you look down into the room you were just

in, and it is sort of frozen in a tableau. And Phineas Call says, then I am glad that you were able to. to complete your quest for self-discovery. I am glad you were able to find peace before. And he looks lost for words and he gestures down into the room and you see yourself. You see your body. And it is, it appears to be fighting with some sort of shadow that you cannot quite make out. But it is attacking with sort of wanton violence that is like not your, not you.

It's not your style. And Phineas Call says, this is not heaven, Zooks, but you are no longer, in the traditional sense, at least, alive. Amber. via transition. As I'm fighting, I go, Amber, I need you to hurry up and get down here. Get back up here. And then, like, the camera goes down to where she is. There's actually not a camera because I've been watching a lot of Umbrella Academy. Sorry, I'm thrilled to speak.

It's dust. Dust covers myself. Sorry. Special guest, Justin McRoy. Amber, you are facing down your old friend. who is now Kodira and Koda has completely taken over. You see no sign of your friend, Oksana, anywhere inside of there. And it, Koda seems like he had the drop on you, but he sort of stands down and just kind of starts, he approaches you,

but he does not leap to strike. And it is your action. What do you want to do? See, your arms are as big as mine. What's, uh, how did you come to this, this lowly state, huh? What do you mean? The arms, is, I mean, are you copying me or what's your deal? He laughs.

He enjoys, he is enjoying himself. Roll an insight check for me. me. Okay. That's a great start with a beautiful natural one. You are actually looking the wrong way. Yeah, right. With a natural one, you are, you are, you're joking around, but like, this, this figure is terrifying.

You are, it is hard not to be, it is hard to stand your ground in, in front of this thing. and Coda says, you would be shocked if you learned the history of the powers you possess and I possess and many others like you possess. You want to clue me in or give me some hints? I mean, it seems weird to just have this and not have much knowledge of it.

He says, I have made my intention perfectly clear, as have you. And he rears back in an arm ready to strike. But it is still your turn. So he's making a move on me. Yes. I'm going to try to step behind him and grab him from behind. Interesting.

Okay. We're going to make a contested check then. Why don't you roll... This is probably like an acrobatic maneuver, I'm guessing. Yeah, I think that makes... Yes. Okay. Yes, he says checking his modifiers.

Indeed. I'm going to make a dexterity check to see if he is. So I do an acrobatics check. Acrobatics check, you're looking to beat a 12 plus 5. Okay, here we go. 16 plus 521. Excellent. You are able to do that.

You skirt around Kodira and you are just trying to grapple. Okay. I always have to look up the rules for grappling in 5E. Yeah, they're hard to grapple with. Oh, Travis. Using at least one free hand, you try to seize the target by making a grapple check instead of an attack roll. Okay, so you're not going to roll an attack roll.

We can go strength on strength, decks on decks. Those are the two options. Decks on decks, I guess. Okay. Then roll a dexterity check contested. Let me roll mine first. I'll tell you what you're looking for.

Oh boy, that's a six. You need to beat a 16 on your dexterity check to the Grapple. Welcome to the drama factory. Welcome to the drama factory, the new name for the adventure zone. Okay, decks on decks. 18, plus two. That is a success. You describe it.

What's this grapple look like? It's literally just like I see it coming and I duck behind Kadeer real quick. And like I know on some level I think I. I can read her actions maybe. That is why it helps me to successfully pull it off. And I just, like, I just want to talk. Okay. Using your real arms, your glowing arms, everything you have at your disposal,

you manage to contain all of the arms of Coda inside of Codiero's body. And you have her from behind in a big bear hug. No, we're not doing that. We're not going to, no. What is going on? Where is the source of this power? What is my role in all this? People are you talking about me opening doors, closing doors.

What, what, what's my part? I'm not going to fucking fight you. What's my part? Coda says, that is for you to decide. It is for all of us to decide. This life you have chosen is it so much better than the one I offer you. living contract to contract aboard a vessel

that could only charitably be called seaworthy. Is that so much better than joining me? Yes. I don't want to serve you. Well, you've been over there. Come on. All right. I want to try to...

I want to cause some pain. I don't... But I'm trying to just like see if there's any of her in there. I'm not trying to like fight. You have used your action on this grapple. Do you have a way of inflicting pain with a bonus action?

Yeah, I mean I could use I guess flurry of blows. Okay. I'm, you know, non-leath. Yeah. I don't think that's a concern, but. Okay, go ahead and mark down a vibe point and make two attack rolls. 13 plus 5, 18.

That's a hit. the first one missed. Sorry, I should have said it. I just do it. Okay. Roll damage. Are you using your regular fist or your big fist? Flurry of blows is the big fist, I believe it has to be.

Okay, then 1D. No, maybe not, but still, this is what I'm using. Okay. 1D8 plus 2 then for damage. I feel like realistically, it's the only arms that I would have free to give Nuggies. Oh, six. All right. Not too bad.

plus three, nine. Okay, you... Like, I'm thinking like body blow. You know what I mean? Like a arm, a green arm pops out and just punches right in the stomach, like not trying to knock the wind out. Nothing too serious. Okay, you hear Kodira kind of exhale sharply as you do this. And you can tell that he is trying to...

Fokoda is trying to fight back, trying to force his way out of this and take you on head on. But shockingly, he is struggling. And he says, wow, she really doesn't want me to fight you. And you see a red light shine against the wall of the room that you realize is just this red eye on her forehead glowing brighter. and then the arms, the big red arms flex, and he is going to try to break out of the grapple with his action. It's a contested strength save.

He got a dirty 20 is what you're going to beat. Maybe this three plus two will do it. It does not. Wait, check the map. Okay, yes, you're right. Okay, he... You forgot that Justin has advantage. No, he doesn't.

Because he is pure of heart. Yes, your kindness lets you cheat at Dungeons and Dragons. Do you remember in the first session that strange hermit you helped? Well, it turned out. His angel. He was Jesus Christ. Yeah, basically, Coda just flexes those red arms so much. More dungeon masters use Jesus Christ in the games.

I don't know. He should come up more. He's really strong. Yeah, Matt Mercer is the only one who uses him. And there's a, I mean, they're so successful. Well, that's true. He flexes those red arms so much that they grow to a point where you can no longer sort of lock them down. And he pushes you away and steps back and his four arms kind of like flex behind him.

And he looks at you through. Drew Coderre, and he says, Quick question. You were there on the shoreside, weren't you? Were you on the ship naming committee? It was a bit before my time, but I am a fan. Why? The biggest baby.

There was another ship called the Big Baby, and this one was just bigger. I'm sorry. He dashes forwards and brings two of his fist down on you and is going to try and hit you with a flurry of blows. That is a crit fail. He is way deep in his emotions about the biggest baby. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That makes sense blinded by fury. Yeah, the second strike is going to be. Now, how did he get to take an action to break out of the grapple? Flurry of blows is a bonus action. You literally just did it. What? Yeah, I guess you're right. That is going to be a 14 versus AC.

Feels like cheating when somebody else does. Yeah, it does, right? Okay, sorry, no, my AC is not 14. What is it? It's higher? It's higher than that, yeah. Why are you being, I'm looking, it's 16. I can look at your sheet.

I didn't know if that, I didn't know if saying it outright made it less engaging for the listener. Oh, our listeners love numbers. You, you know this shit. Like, this is your trick. And you easily dodge out of the way of these swinging fists. And he stands up and grits his teeth. Clearly, like, very frustrated now. And he says,

I cannot believe how well you're doing. It's not, it's nothing surprising really. I mean, it's all about like vibe. You know what I mean? Like, are you in sync with yourself and your body and your mind? They all got to be viving together. You're not going to be ready for it, right? Like, you're at odds.

You got two people running around in there. You're just not going to have the vibe. Let me show you what I'm talking about. Vive check, and I punch him in the snocker. Okay. Right in the face. Make an attack roll. Snottlockroll was my favorite Big Load movie, by the way.

15. 15 does not hit, but you may attack again. 3 plus 5, 8. That is also not a hit. Do you wish to flurry again? Yes, I shall flurry. Two more attacks. I demand it.

Hold on me spin my vibe point. 18 plus 5, 23. That is definitely a hit. Roll damage, 1 to 8. Let me do the other one. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. damage together. Four plus, okay.

No, one hit. One D8 plus three. Okay, six. Okay. You punch Coda, Codira right in the snot locker, as you have described it. And Coda goes flying backwards and kind of like lands on his hands and knees. And when he stands up, you can see that Codira has a little bit of blood. dribbling from from the corner of her mouth.

You also see something else. You see at the far end of the room near where Coda landed, one of those circular ring gateways stands that was not destroyed while you were upstairs. And it seems to be glowing. It seems to be reacting to something. And make a perception check for me. 13 plus 3. A spray of blood from Koda landed on the coral forming this ring.

And this ring, this gateway that these coral beings were building, appears to be opening. Devo Sorry, so what is What is opening? This portal That's my name Don't wear it out Boom

I you really Burn me bad I'm sorry That was so on call for Dude like that cuts so deep And I I feel terrible Devo

Zuc's gone You know it For sure You know that your friend Is not in there it is he is not you can't bring him back with a spell um okay and how are you uh physically emotionally spiritually bad okay all three of those at the same time um hurt that up and down the board yeah you know like oh man like if this was a performance review of how diva was doing

it would all be means improvement. Okay. Except for he's full. He's not hungry. That's good. He had a snack before. It's always so important. Yeah.

It is actually... Blood sugar, doing great. It is the being formerly known as Zooks's action. And he... Hoops? He is going to drop the crossbow and draw a dagger and jump towards you. Where do you get that from? Zeus's first attack is an 11 versus AC.

That's a miss. Okay, and he is going to try and swing at you once again. That is a crit. Well, yeah. Okay. That does, hey, yeah, that hits. That is going to hit you for, wow, 10 points of slashing damage. I'm down again, baby.

You go down and once again, Charles is still there. Charles the Manta Ray surrounds you and revives you. And you are healed. Roll 1D6. Uh, okay.

All right. That's a six. Yeah, you're back up. How many charges got? How many Charles Charles got? How many charges? Charles and charge has his third. Has five.

And he has two more. He has two more. He appears to. be fading. However, you, despite the fact that you know that that is not Zooks anymore, you are familiar with the nature of magic. And even though the magic that Zooks did is not the same as the magic that you do, you know that it requires a certain amount of presence to maintain an entity like this Manta Ray, to maintain some sort of conjured being. Um, And I don't know if you know what that means, but the long...

I mean, he ain't that far gone. He's near. I can feel his spirit. Yeah. But you are back. You are healed for six points of damage. And it is your turn again. Hmm. Griffin? Yeah. I'd like to try something wild crazy kids. Okay.

I want to use My will As As What? My will Okay He did it in a scary voice

I hated that Yeah I don't know why It was like the devil But I can't hear it on my end It sounds It's pretty scary It's the scariest I'm trying to turn it off

So please Please ignore It's like The volumes are too low And I'm trying to change This one slider I sound like this It's

It's It's wonderful to me that you got this fun new soundboard in our penultimate episode. Yeah. It's not, I've had it for a little bit, but normally I don't have these long gaps. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. To really get my sound.

Have fun with it. Okay, you're going to use your will to do what? My will. Is that better? Yeah, you fixed it. As I've seen Orlean do, to try to, to try to will the, coral into a new body for Zeus?

Interesting. Here's my thinking, right? So it's not just metagaming, right? If I can feel those presence nearby, I also know about like the brine art and how that whole deal works of like coral body. Yeah, for sure. Bring their spirits into it, right?

So it's just like, okay, well, that body is taken. Yeah. So we need a new one. Okay, we can say that this is, your action. We will add your spell attack modifier, which is plus seven. So I'm going to say roll a D20 plus seven. The number you are looking to beat, I mean, a 15, you will, something will happen. With a 20 or higher, this action will be more successful. What that means. Oh, my boy, that's a 25. 18 plus 7. Okay. With a 25, this is what happens. Zook's body that has been continuously sort of lighting you up, still has that bright sort of pattern of color that was, you know, that surrounded him in life.

When you cast this spell, it is like you have, pulled a plug out of the bottom of him, and that color just floods out, and it pools all across the floor where you all are standing. And it covers the entire floor of this room. And moments later, you do not see a body form. You see spires. start to grow out of the ground like vines. And as they grow, these just sort of spontaneous stalagmites,

you see spikes jutting out of the sides of them. And within moments, there is just a field of these surrounding the room, so much so that it is almost difficult to, like, navigate. There are dozens and dozens of them. And all of them are in the same shape. And you recognize them as the shape that Zooks created downstairs just moments ago. It is language. And it is the same word over and over and over again. It's the word promise. And when that happens, the Zook's body

that is now completely gone bleached white looks around and then looks at you and then falls apart back down into the pile

and within moments it submerges into the floor and is reintegrated into the tower. Hi, I'm Janet Varnie and just like you I survived high school. And we're not alone.

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Well, it was a good run. Yeah, I don't know how. Was that good? Was that bad? knows. But it's definitely something else. Here's what I'll say. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Give me a minute. I've got to roll up a new character. The, the Manta ray is still there. And in fact, I will say this, it seems refreshed. And it is going to, right away, it is going to heal you again for D6 points of damage. Hey. For a D6? Yeah, just one D6.

that's one point. Okay, it's better than nothing. Hey Charles, thanks for trying. But he seems, he was beginning to kind of go, you know, Marty McFly like translucent. He's back. And he is just kind of circling around you. And you feel well.

Another thing that happens when you do this, you feel a tremendous amount of pain from Benefactor Orleans. You are still sort of connected to him in this psychic channel you've been talking with. And it is through that channel that you feel a horrific amount of pain that fortunately you don't experience, but you do sort of empathize with. What do you do? Benjamin, if you can hear me and I know you can, here's the difference between you and I know you can. Here's the difference between you and I. I do want to hurt you.

So this is your last chance to stop what you're doing before I come up there and rip your brain apart from the inside out. Make an intimidation check for me. That was supposed to be intimidating? 21. You're just stating. Wow. I guess it was.

Stating the fact. that this is something he would like to do. There's no response for a few moments. And there's those cracks that are forming around the ship are getting more and more violent. In fact, at your feet, that pitch black water is starting to rise and is also draining through the floor. I would say, Amber, you see it now, too, just sort of dripping from above, like an upstairs bathroom has sprung a leak. And it is raining this black water down on you and Kodira in your fight.

Keep on. Yeah. And a moment passes, and the machine is growing brighter and louder. And then a new color appears. And it is a green circle. surrounding the hatch on the back of Orlean's ship facing you. Zooks. You see this and you see all of these spires form inside of the room

conjured up apparently by this shadow and you see your body die. You see your body vanish. And Phineas Call looks at you. and says, you know what you are, Zuchs and Thelai. You are a consciousness. You are awareness. And that awareness was shunted from the body that it occupied. That was not you anymore.

You are not like anyone else, Zooks. You must know that by now. And he jumps down into the room, surrounded by all the colorful spires. And he floats down gently as he lands. And he looks up at you and gestures you down. It's a trick. He jumps down to join him.

Okay. You slowly levitate down to the ground. And as you do, the ceiling of the tower is back. And you are standing in this room where a divo-shaped shadow is still standing in front of this big pile of dead coral that your body has been absorbed by. And also by these dozens of messages. And they look different from everything else. There's a bit of, the color in here is not as saturated as it was back in the real world. But these spires are even brighter and more sort of reactive than they were in the real world.

They are shimmering in every imaginable color. And Phineas call looks at you and says, Zooks, you are spontaneous. And I mean that in the best way. You are spontaneous both in character and in origin. You set out on a mission to discover the world and discover yourself. And you have completed that mission with a plumb. So now I ask you, what do you want now?

Okay, hold for a second. I got it. I just need a little clarification. Sure. Okay. So we are back in the scene, but as a consciousness, right? Yeah. There's Devo, is there. These spires are there. Orlean's ship is still up there.

Yep. How high up? 30 feet up. You are still in this, like, weird dream state. It's just that you are like, got that. Okay. I would urge you to just answer the question as straightforward as you possibly want to. What do you want? I want to help my friends.

That desire is what matters. That focused intention of a million motes of light. That is what you are, Zooks, not a body. So much more than just a body. I am just a reflection of a memory, of a guy you never really met. But this tower and the beings that once inhabited it, that is another story entirely. And you feel the real world, you feel present in the real world. It is different than it felt when you were just,

Zooks, the, you know, Brynar walking around. You have access to senses and to appendages that are completely unfamiliar, and yet you feel at home embodying. And you realize that all of these coral spires around the room and all of the coral that this color has pulled over and the coral spire that is still embedded downstairs. So many parts of this coral tower are you. And he looks at you one last time and he is fading as you are sort of regaining this new kind of consciousness. And he says, song's not over, Zooks. It never is. And then you are awake. And you are the tower. What do you do?

All right. What is, where is Amber? Amber is downstairs. Still, sparring with Kodira. Codira has been knocked on her ass right next to one of these circular gates that is opening. And it is opening to another world. You know that. You see it.

You feel it. You are it. And they both look pretty, they look both bad off. Definitely Amber is sort of struggling to stay on her feet. She took a lot of damage in the last fight. Yeah, I'm not feeling great. Yeah. That is what you can see.

Okay. And the portal is open? It is opening, yeah. It's not fully, I think it's just sort of like a pain of white light that is filling the circle. there is no destination that is visible quite yet, but something is taking form. Is it safe to say that if Kodira goes back, she's going to screw up this continuity

by doing something in the past? So this is two different things, right? Here's how I understand it. Upstairs, right? We've got Orlean in his ship. He has constructed some sort of machine within this tower that will allow him to send a message back to, as I understand it, but has not been exactly confirmed, his younger self to change something he did

or something that was done in the past, right? That is what a divo has been dealing with upstairs. Downstairs, we have the scene between Amber and Kodira, who is being inhabited by Koda. Koda believes that Amber is going to be responsible for opening a portal to the next world, whatever it is. So there was a portal that brought the vestiges to our world bringing magic with them

and Coda's like this far no farther we're not going to take this escape hatch to whatever the next world is because we will simply pollute that as well. So instead, I'm going to stop you

from opening whatever this portal is. The two seem disconnected in like mechanism but connected because something Orlean has done of like being here, he promised them the people

the, you know, the dry-in-arm, he said, I will help you open this portal, but instead he actually just wanted it for himself to send this message. That is correct. Okay. Zooks opens up the floor of coral that Kodira is laying on. Sure. And engulfs Kodira. What? Okay.

Just sucks it right, sucks them right down into the floor. She's going to make a dexterity saving throw. I think you're definitely catching her by surprise. I'm going to say she does it with disadvantage. I'm going to say that too. Okay, that is a 15. With a 15, she catches herself as she falls. And now she is just holding herself up on the floor,

sort of half submerged downward. Are you opening up just like a straight hole, what was it like 40 feet down to the ground? Well, she was laying down on her back, right? Wasn't she prone? Yeah, yeah. I was just going to have it come smearing up over her. Just kind of cover her.

Suck her down into the floor and then cover. Okay. I was going to leave her face. I was going to leave the face exposed. Okay, yeah, I think that ultimately then this action was successful. Because now as the floor kind of closes back around, it is closed around her waist. and her legs have been swallowed up by the floor of the room. We'll jump to Amber. Amber, you see this happen.

And I don't know that you know exactly why it happened, but the long and short of it is that Kodira is trapped in the floor. And just instantly, she starts using her fist to try to punch the ground away from her waist to lift herself back up. Ouch, oh, out. I got to say, I don't want to be a, I see her in a bit of a pickle, but I got to say, that's two portals in a road that I didn't have fuck all to do with. You open the first one, the floor, I guess, open the second one. So what about, I mean, of portal openers, I feel like I'm pretty low on the list right now, right? She looks back at the portal behind her that is opening up, and you can.

see sunlight coming through it and you can see a horizon through it. And then she looks back at you and why don't you roll another insight check? A better one. A better one this time. It almost, it would have to be. 19. It is, it is mortal terror. It is immortal terror. This look on her face as what is effectively Coda's worst nightmare. The, the, the, the, the, the, the, end result that Coda has been trying to prevent this entire time appears to be coming to pass. And Coda shouts, Stop.

Do not take one more step towards this portal. Or I will end everyone in this tower. Your friends, you, myself, if I need to. The red eye flashes. And then there's a few moments of silence. and then there's a high-pitched whistling noise and then from outside through the big open door out of the foyer

you see an explosion. It blows a chunk out of the dome. Oh, ow, geez. And I will say this actually, Zooks, you are not embodying the dome right now. You are just the tower. Okay. And through the hole in the dome, you can see the biggest baby is floating.

Just, just, uh, go, go, gag. And the white coral battleships are engaged in a, a furious dog fight, trying to hold it off. And it is not going well for them. And Coda shouts. You may be able to defeat this form, but you cannot stop me, Amber. I will destroy everyone in this tower unless you agree to become my new vessel. Become my vessel. Your friends can get in the ship and leave.

And as he says that, you see the Coriolis get sucked in through that hole. and it kind of like plops down into the water and through a loudspeaker outside, you hear urchin's voice say, Ah, we're all right. We're okay. He says, your friends, even Codira, get on the ship and sail away. You join me. We obliterate this place and leave together as one. I know you harbor no love for men. You have seen what it is done to your world.

Please help me eradicate it. I want to watch them both get on. Let me see him. Let me see him get on. The water outside raises up, and it brings the choreolas basically to dock right outside of the four. foyer. And when that happens, you see a panel of hall just spontaneously snap off of the biggest baby and then fly toward the hole in the dome. And when that happens, it patches it. And the water

stops flooding in. And he says, I will need to extricate myself from the floor, but I can agree to that. You're pretty powerful. You can't do it stuck in the floor? If you can't get them on the ship while you're stuck in the floor, what the fuck all am I worried about?

Huh? He growls, and you hear just a cluster of explosions outside of the dome. He is flexing on you, trying to remind you why. What's the status of the

hole? Of the hole? Yeah. And it has been patched up by... The one that was opening. Oh, the one that... Oh, it closed.

Oh, okay. Roll a perception check for me. 20 plus 3. Wow. That's a Nat 20. Okay. With a Nat 20, you see everything, Amber.

You see through this portal like it is a a grand open window and you see an unfamiliar world. The sky is a shade of aquamarine that is just a little bit greener than the sky of the world that you left on the surface. and the oceans are like a shade of almost like dark purple and you see a cluster of suns in the sky that are all much smaller than the sun. It's hard maybe to judge that precisely

because it's been a while since you've seen the sun. But there definitely was just the one of them. this is a different world entirely. And this scene that you are viewing is all ocean. And in the ocean, you see figures surfacing to observe what's going on. They are looking up back at you as you are looking down at them. And it is a herd of blink sharks. as far as the eye can see.

They are looking up at you in this portal, and they are still. So here's what I'm not getting. You look in that hole, you see the same thing I do, right? Magic's there. Not like this. Not like what? What you see in that world is native to that world.

The magic that came to this world is a virus that polluted and destroyed it. And if any of us take one step, one step into that world, it will lead to its doom as well. Please, not one more step forward. All right. If there's something listening, can you let Godira go? We're fine. Zooks, you don't hear that, but you feel the,

the resonance of the sound waves leaving Amber's mouth and understand it. Hmm. Oh, really want to cut Codira in half. But okay. All right. Um, Zooks. Actually, I'll go even one better.

From under Codira's feet. Zooks opens up the hole and raises Kodira up like a, like a trap door. She just steps up back onto ground level and she walks toward you, Amber. And she, or rather Koda, holds a hand up in the air, one of one of the red hands. Pop, pop, pop, no. I want to see them get on the ship. When I see the two of them get on the ship, then we can talk. Coderre closes her eyes and then opens them.

And you hear Coda say, there are two other beings in this tower than us. But I don't believe one of the... them is your friend. And then we'll hop back to Devo. Rather, Zooks, you see into Devo's room. You see it way better than you do in the room that Coda and

Amber were just fighting in because your presence in this room is just so much, so much more potent, just from the sheer volume of spires that are built in here. And you see, you definitely, see the door to the ship unlock and you also see Devo standing, you know, 30 feet below that platform.

The door to... His ship. Which ship? Benefactor Orleans ship, which is connected to this machine. Zooks is going to make Devo's dream come true. What? Flying ponies? The other one.

Oh, okay. Stairs. A stairway to heaven. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's a little late. He's going to, he's going to form the spires so the Devo can reach in like a stairway. Yeah. Leading up to Orleans ship to make the path for Devo to get up to the ship.

Okay. Devo, you see those spires stretch upward really quickly now, much quicker than when you conjured them up in the first place. And it's almost like you can hear Zook singing, And she's buying a stairway to Orleans. Yeah, canonically, definitely that happens. And as they stretch, they start to kind of like twist around and angle downward like toward the ground. And then they raise up in tears and they form. a staircase.

As soon as possible, he's like walking up it as it's forming. Okay, sick. Oh yeah, let it form as he's... That's the good shit. That is the good shit right there. It takes a while

to scale this 30 foot gap up to the platform, but you make it. And as you reach to the platform, you are just being like bombarded by this black water that is spraying through. Not just bombarded, but it's like blasting you in sheets and then unblasting you and then blasting you again.

It's not enough to knock you off your feet or do any kind of like damage to you. But it is getting difficult to kind of like stay cogent in this space where time and reality are not behaving. Devo places his hand on his jacket and casts a light. Okay. So that he is a shining beacon as he walks through this like black water and shit around him. Okay. And just this is perhaps like maybe the most focused divo has been since we've met him walking up these stairs towards this door to Orling's ship. Why don't you make a wisdom saving throw just to see how well you are able to keep your wits about you in this really fucked up space?

I mean, with advantage because of the light, right? Because that's a five. No, it's hard. And I've got Charles with me, right? You'd have Charles. Go ahead and take another D6 appealing. Thanks, Charles. Another four points.

Okay, no for four. You're welcome, Travis. Charles? It's my main purpose in life. I love you, Charles. I love you, too. It is hard for you to, like, move your body. and process everything that you are seeing as you approach this green hatch on the ship.

Your mind is lost in a fog. And this ship is not entirely familiar to you. This hatch may be unlocked, but you do not see any way of opening it from the outside that in your current state you can surmise. However, you do see or lean through this glass window on the hatch. and he is sitting on the floor with his back up to the wall, and his nose is bleeding profusely. It is, it's kind of everywhere.

And he is just sitting there still, his eyes just kind of glazed over, barely open. And behind him, you can, just barely see into the cockpit of the ship, and there is just a bright white light that is shining inside of there. But again, you do not see any way of opening the door in your current sort of fog. Opens the goddamn door, Arlene. He looks down at you, and he looks so tired.

And yet he looks so tired. And yet he's... kind of grins, not menacingly, but in a way where he has genuinely kind of tickled himself as he says, make me. Devo cast's suggestion on Orlean. I don't even think he has the ability to save against that. He just sort of nods and, in fact, it happens so fast, you're not sure if he was going to do it anyway or not, but he definitely is compelled. and he crawls over to the hatch and pulls a lever and the hatch slides open,

and he props himself back up against the wall and is just resting there. Tell me what you have done and what I need to do to undo it. He sits still for a moment, and as you climb into the ship, you can see you can see into the cockpit a little bit better, and you see not just light, but like images appearing on the viewport in there. You would have to sort of get in that space in order to exactly surmise what the images are.

They're just sort of shapes that are difficult to decipher in your time fog. But he says, okay, I I was happy once as difficult as that may seem to believe I was loved and content. Then a voice from the ocean itself compelled me away from the people that I loved and I listen And there is not a moment that goes by where I do not regret that decision. I discovered a way to warn myself of my folly.

And he is gently crying now. He says, I am not strong enough to make them hear me. And he looks up at you and he looks outside. and he says, I have tampered with forces clearly far beyond my control. Devo. You never said goodbye

when you left the hermitage. Yeah, no. Why would I? He smiles and he says, we knew you would do great things, and it is difficult to separate that

from any kind of real affection that we may have felt for you once. And I am for what it is worth, which I imagine is very little, very sorry for that. But you were put on this world to do something. I think the time for your purpose has arrived. And he closes his eyes. Orling? Orlean? Yeah.

Oh, okay. I thought you died. Not yet. Are you done? No, not. Okay. Why did you kill the hand of guidance? He says, I didn't. I was extraordinarily crass earlier.

I am sorry about guidance. We were close once. Okay, so who killed the hand of guidance? He coughs, and there's a great deal of blood that comes out. Clearly, this trying to engage you in psychic battle has, as you suggested, torn his mind apart from the inside out. He says, you have her book, don't you? Yes. And he sort of slumps down and he says, I tried to warn her.

Sorry, what? warn her about what? You said the book and the thing you said that that is cryptic. Just like for once, in our like 17, well, longer really, but like at least 17 years of training, just like say the thing to me.

He doesn't respond. Are you dead now? Is this what has happened? He is, he has gone silent. Oh, fuck. Okay. I want to look at the pictures. You said there are images like with the machine.

Like what do I see when I look at it like specifically? You step into the cockpit and you first see what you assume Orlean was seeing when he was constructing this machine and attempting to use it. You see Orlean and he is younger. and he is in a pretty posh looking hominine house and he is playing with two kids, a boy and a girl. And in a corner you see a woman who is reading a book, and she is occasionally just kind of looking up at the three of them playing. and she smiles. And the machine seems to react to you as you approach. And the image changes pretty rapidly now.

And you just see this panopticon of scenes. They are surface images, surface world images. That's what strikes you first. It is the surface as you have only ever heard. it described. Because you never lived on the surface. And honestly, it is not nearly as bad as they made it sound. There is this, you see a verdant plateau overlooking these fertile plains that span the

continent. You see these tall, rugged mountains dotted with points of light from these vast citadels to your right. You see tropical islands off of glistening white shores to your left. And the storm over the ocean, it's there. And it's, it is definitely imposing, but it has not swallowed up the world like everyone says it has. And then you kind of start to zoom in to these different cities. and you see people living in them.

You see sailors from the archipelago aboard ships looking at the storm in terror. And you see hominian scholars praying at a benevolent altar, just desperately searching for divine answers. And you see Delmer work platoons boring into a mountainside beginning to build a shelter from the storm. And you see Aynar, not in their, like, incorporeal form, but as they once truly lived in these great migrating groups all gathered on the plateau's sheer edge, looking out at their world that is beginning to crumble in terror. And then you see the shore side. It is completely uninhabited.

look at Orlean where he is sitting still and I say, God damn you. And when you say that, Devo, one of these scenes, it's a small group of Delmer that are working on boring into the mountainside. They stop their work and they set down their picks and their drills and they look. and they look up. And it is almost as if they hurt you and reacted to your voice. Well, different, that's because they did. And Devo is going to pour his will and his training and everything about being persuasive and being the powerful voice that leads people.

And he is going to recite the words that he knows so well from, listening to Brother Seldom's historical broadcasts, and he is going to repeat the call to the sea that led everyone to the shore in the first place. Do you need me to remind you what that was? I do, yes. When kingdoms fall, the sea provides a home for all beneath the tides. When kingdoms fall, the sea provides a home for all beneath the tides.

and he looks at the image of Orlean and focuses hard on Arlene and says, And bring your family. In this grand vista of scenes from around this world, this unspoiled world, people look up as the Delmer Work crew looked up and they are people from all over. and while everyone else around them continues to work with toil to escape the apocalypse

or simply observes this storm over the sea in abject terror, these people that hear your voice, they gasp, they smile. and they look at each other and they look at the people around them who didn't seem to react and the cracks outside recede back into the machine

the water that is being sprayed outside is gone the fog that was sort of filling your mind is gone and like being sucked up with a vacuum the cracks vanish into the machine and Orlean looks at you one last time through the viewport. He gasps too and so does the rest of his family. And then the machine goes still.

Deva turns from the machine and I'm going to say the most tired he's maybe ever felt. Not only was it like a lot and a lot to like process. But it was also like he poured whatever will of his was left after the day into his voice. And he's just like, so he just like turns walks past, I imagine, is Orleans still body or whatever? I don't know. Maybe he's not even really paying attention at this point. And like just heads down the stairs. When he gets to the bottom of the stairs, he's like calling for Amber.

He's calling for Zooks. like, not really sure what to do next. You find Amber down in the foyer, and she appears to be in a standoff with Kodira. Kodira has conjured these bright red arms, but you have not seen before. But immediately you can tell that this is not a great situation. What did I miss?

Kodira does not break eye contact with you, Amber, and you hear Koda's voice say, there is no one else in the tower. It is just you and him and this body, Kodira. Well, this is not entirely true because Zeus is in the tower. Uh, that I think is on me. I'm not entirely sure. But he made stairs for me. Coda does not break eye contact to address Devo and says,

this is it. This is the offer. They can go, and you will join me. Shh, give me a sec. Zooks is the tower? Yes. You know, you see how the floor has like swallowed part of Codira? I have to imagine

Zizu's. Real quick, Devo, look through that portal. Okay, yes. Oh, shit. Okay. I just wanted you to see it once. No, this is wild. And Amber uses

Step of the Wind to dart towards the portal. Shit. And as she's darting, she shouts at Kadira. If you want to keep magic out of here, better come get it and then toss herself into the portal. Okay, a few things are going to happen first.

She is going to try and grab you as you run away from her. As an opportunity attack, she's going to try and grapple you. We are going to have a dexterity contest. I will tell you the number that you have to beat. Okay. You need to beat a 14 with your dexterity check. That's a 19 plus. Jesus, right.

Yeah. Okay. You escape her clutches, and you take two steps up this mound of coral that has grown vibrant and bright as the color has spread from this central message spire. and you launch yourself into a new world. And as soon as you cross the threshold, as soon as you step through the ring, you feel a lot. You feel your ears pop first as you are instantly sort of thrown into a different, like, atmosphere.

You are instantly thrown into this, this, sky that is not your own into this air that is not your own, you feel your breath leave you and you struggle to catch it. And you see, as you fling yourself backwards, you see Kodira leap forward and outstretch one of these glowing red arms to try to grab you. out of the air. You feel a tight grip around your right ankle and you are suspended in the air by one of these red arms. And you see Coda within Codira's body looking down at you. And with the other three red arms, he is holding himself tethered to the world that you just left and is looking down at you with terror and rage and desperation.

And he says, You fool, what are you doing? I'm going to fight some more blank sharks. Then I activate my vapor suit. There is a howl of pain. as the light of your vapor suit activates around you and severs a part of this hand that was holding you. And you enter free fall. And they hear, I think they hear on the other side of the portal, they just hear a shout.

Kill aside, Guppie's mom's home. And the rest of you see her falling like a fireball down into the water. Devo, you see Coda inside of Codira's body. And she stands up looking down into the portal, looking down into the world. and he takes a deep breath, and then you hear Coda's voice say, Once more then, he flings himself into the portal. As he crosses through it,

the light filling this ring dissipates, and the portal goes inert. And from outside, you hear a booming thud as the biggest baby sinks down to the floor of the ocean. Completely inactive. Maximum fun.org. Comedy and culture. Artist-owned, audience supported.