The Adventure Zone - The Adventure Zone: Ethersea - Episode 44

Episode Date: July 28, 2022

FinaleZoox, Devo, and Amber discover the secrets of their world and others as they plan for the new futures they’ve created, as well as the future of Founder’s Wake.Addition music in this episode: “Space Ambiance” by Alexander Nakarada https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com/; “Evermore” by Kai Engel http://www.kai-engel.com/; "Piano" by Szegvari https://freesound.org/people/szegvari/; and “Nostalgic Piano” by Rafael Krux https://soundcloud.com/rafael-krux.  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, Zeus is gone, you know it for sure. I want to use my will to try to will the coral into a new body for Zeus. And then you are awake, and you are the tower. Zooks opens up the floor of coral and engulfs Kodira. 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.

When kingdoms fall, the sea provides a home for all beneath the tides, and bring your family. They just hear a shout. Kill aside Guppie's mama's home! And the rest of you see her falling down. into the water, and the biggest baby sinks down to the floor of the ocean, completely inactive. Zooks, you are still a building, and that's, that's weird, huh? Mm-hmm.

That's still... But kind of cool? Sure, sure. You're a proud virile tower at the bottom of the sea. I just want to say, I feel like I kind of paved away for this with my trying to turn the dragon into stairs thing. You plant into the seed for sure. You're still conscious, Zooks. You are still, you, you're still self-aware, but your senses and the body that you occupied and its sort of way of seeing and navigating the world around.

it is gone. And through these sort of unfamiliar senses, you know a couple of things to be true. One, Amber and Kodira are just gone. In one moment, they were inside the foyer with Devo. They were battling. And then the next minute, just poof. They are not there anymore. The second thing that you know is this. You have awakened. Well and truly. Your consciousness fills the walls and floors and stairways of this tower. But that is just what you are right now. That's just matter. That's just form. You, Zooks, are something more than that now. What would you like to do with that information? Hmm. Well, what can I see? What can, I mean, what?

That's an interesting verb to use. You can't. What can I sense? Sure. What can he experience? Why don't you roll a wisdom check for me? I would also accept per perception, although I don't think you are proficient in that. So it's essentially the same thing.

Well, let's see. is given perception. Yeah, okay. I'll make a perception check. That is a 19. 19 plus 1, a 20. With a 20, I mean, you are completely self-aware. You are a coral consciousness, and you are within a large coral form, right?

When you are absorbed up into it, your consciousness sort of became this new, formed with a 20 you get the impression that you can be whatever you want to be right now you can go to college you can go to phoenix online university um you are able to take whatever shape that you that you want to take your your consciousness as such that it you know can only be one sort of place at a time um but you You know, this tower is just a form that you are taking right now. And though you've never, like, consciously done this before, you think that you could make a body.

You could make whatever you want to inhabit, as long as you've got the living coral to do it. I think I am going to form a bigger, faster, stronger version of zooks. There you go. I was going to ask, like, if you had said, like, another Zeus, I'd be like, well, now hold on. This is going to be a super Zoops. Zooks 2.0. Zooks Prime.

In Zooks' mind, in your consciousness, as you are trying to make this coral take form, what does that look like? I think it would almost be, are we in water right now or not? You are not. No. Okay. I mean, okay, wait, wait, wait. Yes, you are. Your base of the tower is in flooded water.

So, sure. Okay. Zooks takes a form of almost like a transformer. I think he's going to become larger. And he's going to become something that if someone were going to want to use him for transportation, like ride on him, they could. Wait, what? He's turning himself into David Hasselhoff in the SpongeBob movie.

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got myself speed. Hi, folks, Justin McRoy here. What a pleasure it is. Okay. Special guest, Justin McRoy. So, like, what, in humanoid form, how big a boy are we talking? I would say he's going to have to be at least 12 feet.

Oh, 12 feet. 12 feet long? 12 feet. 12 feet. That's a big fella. Okay. This, you are... Holy shit. Sooks. Well, hold on. You are self-aware.

This is the first time you are consciously trying to form a new body. I will give you advantage because of your great 20 role, but I am going to need another wisdom check, which is going to be another D20 plus one. Or, yeah, D20 plus one. Well, that is a five. and that is a 17. Plus one and 18. Okay.

I'll give you 10 feet. I think with the 17, you feel like you can move the coral. That's the first thing you are kind of like awakened to and you bend it first. And Devo, you look down at the ground and that first spire

that formed that message of promise, the like different little thorns on it kind of begin to slide up. up toward the top, forming almost a hand. And then it bends at 90 degrees halfway and props itself against the ground. And you see using this one long arm, Zooks just pushes himself up from the floor. Only he is, I mean, he was already big. He is hulking now.

His like still suit that was made of the coral is more like, more like plate. armor at this point. He is bigger in all dimensions, but there is enough with his like coloration and the different types of coral that are comprising his body, that he is still recognizably Zooks. Zooks? Hi there.

Have you been working out? Well, yes, I have. Working out my spirit. Okay, I don't know what his voice is, but could you... He's trying to do. a little Patrick Warburton, I guess I didn't succeed very well.

I can crush it, actually. I think it's actually really good. Wait a minute, hold on. No, it's me. Hi, how do I look? Bigger. Yeah, yeah. Better believe it.

Yeah. And you want to see how fast I probably am, because my boots are bigger, so my boot jets are stronger. He just starts running circles around the room. Just, you're very fast. Yeah, you're a very fast boy, yes. Griffin, am I right that at this point, if my math serves me,

Zooks and I are like the only people in the room? Well, actually, you hear a hatch open, and then the sound of two tiny little feet slap against the ground and walk towards you, and you hear a voice, say, uh, down, Zooks, those games? though. Where's Amber? Amberr? Ambero jumped through a portal

into the next world. So jump through a portal What about the cop? Cop jumps through a portal. Okay. Is that a bad thing? Good thing? Urchin, at this point, I have no

fucking clue. Here's what I know. Let me tell you something I do know. I'm really tired. So here's what I propose. Zooks, you with your magic coral powers, let's figure out a way to get this portal onto our ship. So we can, I don't know, work on that later. And then, Zooks, are you connected to like the Coral Warship?

as well. Hmm. I probably could be because I'm pretty huge right now. You want me to try to, you know, send out some hailing frequencies? Yes, because I'm thinking without the biggest baby, we're going to need some help back at Founso's Wake, and maybe this is something the dry nar can help with. Okay.

Right. Zuchs uses his coral shaping powers and on the outside of the tower, spires shootout that say help. Instantly, you see coral warships that just push through the big coral dome surrounding this tower. And it looks like they're phasing through it. I mean, that is essentially exactly what they are doing. Their ships are pressing into the outside of it, forming into the dome, and then reforming on the inside. And one by one, they just sail in through the dome and take docking positions all around the tower.

That was fucking sick, actually. That was cool. And from one of the ships at the sort of front of this formation, you see that same big dry gnar that approached your ship when you first arrived sort of on the scene here. And he pulls himself up into the tower and walks towards you and looks around and sees the destruction that has happened here. but then sees this one remaining gateway that is still standing. And he is just kind of looking at it with reverence. And then he turns back to you and forms a spire on the ground that says what happened here. Tell you what, you tell him and I'll translate.

Okay. Into spirees. Sure. Short answer. Good news, bad news. Spirish. Spires. Mm-hmm.

good news the portal was opened hey yeah we put some god blood was splashed on it during a fight it opened bad news

then amber and the only guard we had immediate access to went through the portal and then the portal closed but the takeaway here is that you know

on the paper, the portal system works. We just need the new supply of Godblood to reopen it. It nods and aspire forms, and it says, we are complete now. And in other forms that says, thank you. And outside, you see what looked like masts appear on all of these warships, only they are also messages mimicking the one that just formed. And all of these ships are saying thank you. You are welcome, but we need something from you.

Here's the deals that I will make. I will work on figuring out how to open this portal. And I will work with you, but I need you to work with Zuss as well. Would you be willing to act as gods and centuries for Founders Wake, this is a city that we come from, while I figure out how to activate this portal once more? He looks at you, Zooks, and then turns and walks back to doorway out to the open water where all the warships are positioned. And there's a brief moment where you feel this tower sort of resonate for a second. And then he turns and faces the rest of you again and forms a spire that says, we will follow wherever you leave. And with that he turns and jumps back down into the water and forms into the side of the warship that he exited.

Okay. So let's get this portal on Boers of Coriolis and then collect Orleans remains and we can go. You hear another voice come from the Coriolis and Dylan pops out of the hatch and says, Hey, what's up? Dylan was it? Yeah, you know, yeah, just Dylan, you know me. The, like, phone is blown up, and there's a bunch of people that are, like, screaming, and they're like, oh, God, oh, God, God is dead. What happened to God?

God's dead, oh, no. Sure. Why is our Lord forsaken us? And it's coming from the big baby, so. they're asking for a lift. Yes, they can get on board the Coral Warships? Right on, right on.

I'm sure Zooks can help facilitate the pickups. Oh, yeah. Okay. Shitters broke, by the way. Any house back down. Oh, wait, what do I care?

Yeah, I don't care. Any house back down into the ship. While that's happening, I'm going to go back up to Orlean ship to, you know, collect that body and also any information I can find regarding benevolence and that book that we got for Arlene and all that cool shit. Well, you do that and Zooks will move the portal on board our ship. Okay, I think it's, it is, this is becoming more natural for you. your feet are touching the floor of the tower as you walk

and you are still tethered to it and so you can feel like your consciousness rejoin the tower but your body is still a part of it too and then you just kind of scoot that that ring inch by inch toward the choreolas and oh I make it like a big conveyor belt yeah for sure right on down right on the rollers takes the rollers all the way that's some fucking gumby shit and I love it It is very, very gumbie shit.

And urchin hossed back in the Coriolis and turns it around and opens up the cargo hatch. And you are with surprising ease able to load this gateway onto the ship. Devo, you return to the top of the tower. And the coral here is starting to like rive a little bit. It is starting to move a little. And you see a few like coral beings just kind of like. climb out of the walls and floors and just like brush past you walking back down the stairs like nodding at you as you go.

Oh, I was going. Hey. Um, you also get the impression. You see some water, uh, begin to drip into the tower as they kind of like take themselves out of the tower to be something else. Um, you find the scene though, pretty much as, as you left it. You see his body lying sort of by the entryway of the ship. Um, and, uh, the, the machine that.

it was plugged into has gone dormant. In fact, it has almost fully eroded at this point. Why don't you roll an investigation check for me? Well, that's a two plus three, Griffin. That's a five. There is nothing else here that you see. What would it have been, Griffin? Just hypothetically, if it had been like a 25.

Oh, I would have given you some great. No. Oh, God. There is, he is traveling with sort of spark. means. So it's not that I can't find the things, is that there's not things there. Right. There aren't things there.

Whether or not he had some other sort of hideaway where he was squirreling stuff away. Like, curiously, there is no, the journal where he sort of found the blueprint for this machine. Like, that is not here. But we already have a copy of that, right? You do. You have a copy that was created by. the mysterious beholder whose identity shall forever remain secret. Yeah, complete mystery.

But you are able to, to, I would say it's a bit laborious, but you're going downstairs, so you are able to drag him back to the ship also. And I assume eventually I can wave down a quarrel purse. I'm like, hey. Sure. Yeah, they help you all too. Do you need some help? I'll send some help.

No, I got it. Thank you. I was thinking of a big hand to come out. Hey, hey, oh. He ain't heavy. He's my business. the factor. We're having a lot of fun with dead bodies today.

We! And then I make him go, yeah, what are you said? Okay, grotesque. I don't really do what Bernie's with him. Sure, sure. You get everything aboard the ship. I miss Amber. I wonder what Amber would have to say about all this.

I bet it would go a little something like this. We'll check in with Amber here in a second. I'm in the bathroom. I moved on to another podcast. Yeah, it's on the coal now. Goodbye. Okay. You all load up into the ship.

Zooks, do you do, you see that the tower is starting to deform, down into a more sort of primordial coral shape. Is there anything else you want to do before you board the choreolas? Yeah. As far as, as far as he knows, Amber's gone, right? Yep. I think he wants to make a coral statue of amber. It's so easy. Partially because you are now very good at sort of morphing this coral to your will,

but also because you traveled with amber and you do not forget a face. You leave it here and as you board the coriolis, you see the tower once all the sort of like oxygen breathing life forms aboard it are on the Coriolis, it very quickly just kind of falls away, as does the dome that is surrounding you. And it starts to take shape. It is a bit more of a slower process, almost like an egg hatching into these big warships. You can see that there are these little pods that are emerging from, the belly of the biggest baby that are floating up into these warships and several of them have

already departed heading in the direction of Founders Wake. And you see behind you, as you sail away, a very big statue of Amber. And give me, both you and Devo, give me a straight up and down wisdom check. 19. A nat 20. Whoa! Both of you realize as you sail away that it is a touching tribute to your lost friend. And you also realize that it strikes a pretty remarkable resemblance to the statue that you discovered while you were en route to this location, the one that Amber touched and seemed to bolster her power.

Whoa, wait a minute. Cool. Wow. It is... Hey, Griffin, is time a flat circle? It's a bit later. You have been... That's a no.

No. Because if it's later. Yeah. Yeah, but is it earlier? It's been a couple hours, and you all are sailing in this, like, armada of coral warships. Devo has been sleeping real hard. For sure, for sure. How soon after you boarded the ship?

Did you... As soon as possible. Okay. Do you remember how many times he fell down and had to get back up because the magical Ray healed him for like three points of health? Okay, then. Very soon after you leave the tower, you have... Your head begins to hurt very badly, very quickly.

A headache sets upon you. that is indescribably painful. And you feel, it feels like your vision is blurring, but that is not the best way of describing it. It feels like the world is blurring, Devo. I need you to make a wisdom-saving throw. Probably not great. Let's see.

An 11 total. Okay. Could be worse, Griffin. It could be much worse. Statistically. Yeah, that was a coin flip. You feel like your head is about to burst open. And just as suddenly, as it said upon you, the headache is gone, as is this weird blurring of reality that was happening.

And then that moment passes. and, you know, though it was agonizing, the pain is gone too, and you settled back in for a well-earned rest. Amber, you awaken on a beach, and you hear the sound of waves crashing below you. You are nestled amongst some brush, and as your eyes open and adjust this whole scene, This whole world is bathed in this deep emerald sunset light.

And as you sit up and you sort of fully observe this beach and the sort of lavender tinted waters that are splashing up on it, you realize you are not alone. Because also sitting on the beach is Kodira. And she is sitting on the shoreline, her feet just sort of resting in the water. And she turns when she hears sort of the brush moving. And you can see that barely glowing on her forehead, probably visible only because of how

it kind of contrasts the, this dark green light, is the red eye of Coda. Make a perception check for me. 16. She is seated next to what appears to be some of the same. sort of like weird banana tree. It's like, it's not like our banana trees. It's, it is. Damn, it's evocative.

Not like our perfectly normal, absolutely not strange banana trees. No, no. Yeah, these bananas, they, they like curve in two directions. Whoa. That's bananas. They crazy. Bia and I am. Just these, just these delicious looking, they're red, and they just look like lowercase-wise.

But that's not what's important. Where do you come up with? I get, I got, I'm super high right now. What is peculiar is not just the color in shape of these bananas, but the fact that this tree is, appears to be just inches tall next to Kodira. And you sort of put together as you, this fog leaves your mind that the trees are not small. Kodira is gigantic. And then you realize that the brush you're sitting in is not brush at all.

It is a jungle. And you are gigantic also. I'll be damn. I'll be damn. She looks at you and eyes you up and down and she says, don't freak. It's, it's me. Prove it. She sighs and says, Um, one time you almost broke your tailbone trying to fish a Kaiser blade out of an infinite trash hole for me.

Yeah. Try. I had to throw that in there. Yeah. All right. where's the big guy? She holds a handout toward you to help you up to join her on the shore. Okay, I'll do that. You walk over and sit down on the shore with her, and from this perspective, you notice something else.

There are glowing lights in the water. There are blink sharks, easily thousands of them, arranged in just this vast pattern and they all are flashing this green light. And she says, he's here, but only sort of. And she wences in pain and she says, I think he's dying. You ever had a god die inside you? It's not particularly fun. I've eaten some burritos that have made me feel like a god's dying inside.

Oh my goodness. Are you talking about Chester's roll-em-ups? What were we? Barito was pretty generous now that I think about it. She says, Cota was never really whole. Not really. Y'all

You just cleared out a lot of him, but, you know, there's still more codite here, or I guess there. I'm pretty confused, but there was more... It's disorienting. She says there was more codite out there than what was built into the biggest baby. But I think being separated from that ship is proven to be a little bit more than he can handle. Hey, Bubba, did I do the right thing? It felt right in the moment, but it was all kind of confusing. You see that tears are streaming down her cheeks,

and they are illuminated every time this just, this choir of blink sharks flashes their lights. She says, I was aware of what was happening during all that, which, by the way, thanks for the punches. I mean, I don't have a leg to stand on. I tried not to. Holy shit.

You did what you had to do to save your friends. Is that about the long and short of it? I was trying to save a lot of people. See, this is what's tripping me up, right? I was trying to save people, but... I don't know if magic's as bad as Cota made it out to me. I mean, maybe I should have let him do his thing. I don't know.

It just didn't seem right. She wences again and takes a moment to compose herself and she says, I'll tell you, he seems pretty convinced that we are going to make a right mess of things here. I feel strong. You feel strong? Do I feel strong? Yeah. Godlike.

I feel big. And that's not always the same thing. She makes a fist and clenches it. tight and you see very, very slowly and painfully, it seems, that red eye fades and fades and then is gone. And she takes a huge breath when it happens and kind of shakes her head and looks at you. And she says, okay, well, I guess it doesn't matter what he thinks, because he's dead as hell now. Did you have to fight him Like in your mind palace?

No, what? Like, did you have an embodiment of you in your mind And he was there in your mind too And you had to like Like fight him in your mind And then it's like you beat him And he's like You know what I mean?

She says You've been reading Some of young Mitchell's old tall tales You've been dipping in that Dipping in some of that sci-fi? I've been on some long trips. Okay, much else to do.

He says, no, it wouldn't nothing like that. Hey, I think we're in charge. Oh, shit. Huh. Yeah. The blink sharks are

continuing their pattern of flashing lights. And they seem like nervous to approach you. But you see one small light swim toward the shore. It actually blinks toward the shore a couple times.

And then it flashes as it blinks one more time. And it is just a little blink pup that has beached itself kind of at your feet. And it is looking up at you, Amber, and it is kind of riving, trying to move itself. It seems a little panicked. And some of the lights move a bit closer to the shore as they see a member of their herd endanger itself so foolishly just to kind of touch the hymn of your garment.

What do you do? I think I rise up my foot to squash it sort of instinctually. And I think I see the light blinking and it kind of stops. Like I've never seen a blink like that before. You know, like scared. There's such alpha predators.

There's something about the light, I think, that seems panicky. And I think right before I squash it, I kind of scoop my hand underneath it. No, you know what I do? I use my giant finger to just draw a line through the sand.

It creates a stream and the stream goes all the way back to the baby blink shark so it can get back to its family. You do that and it works perfectly. The ocean just comes and pulls the blink shark back in.

You see about a dozen of those lights swim toward the pup as it reaches the water. And then that smaller her just swims right up to a safe distance toward you and it starts blinking and then another row of sharks line up behind it and start blinking and more and more and you get the pretty authoritative impression that you are being worshipped right now and codira looks at everything that

just happen and looks at you and says, I think you just passed the vibe check. And she smiles and says, but also I believe that you are now the favorite. And so I have to topple you. I have, now we are warring. I'm an extremely jealous and fickle god. Yeah, well, best of luck.

I got an army of very small blank sharks at my disposal. I'm gonna look around. I bet this place's got fucking tigers. She leans down and just rip... Yo, we're gonna see a tiger! She leans down and rips the banana tree out of the ground. And she says, I'm gonna throw this whole banana tree at you if you keep asking.

I'm gonna eat an entire tree. Because I can. Yeah, that's a good point. Hey, we're gonna need cooler names, aren't we? We can't be a couple deities named just Amber and Oxana. That's not very godlike. All right, you can be Bubba. I, we will work.

Bubba the god. Okay. Bubahotip. You can be banana face. And she just kind of like throws the tree at you and it just dinks off of you. And the sharks are in the water just like, you can tell from the way they're blinking. They're just like, banana face. God bless you.

Yes. And. All right. Now, y'all get all out of here, non-believers. I'll probably eat y'all in the morning. And some of them swim away and she says, oh, we should actually probably, we should probably be careful about that. I could go for some, I don't know, if they could do an offering. We're very big, so I don't know what we can eat now.

Do we eat a lot? Oh, man. No. It's a good thought, though. What's big enough to eat around here? And as you start looking around the world for a big sandwich, the lights continue to flash in sacred unison as the last of the suns in the sky slips over the horizon Zooks and Devo the Coriolis docks back at your chosen spot in Founders Wake and you arrived with a

you know, motorcade of giant what appear to be bone ships behind you. Yeah. And so there is a flurry of activity as you all make

your way out of the ship. There are no chaperones to be seen, which is peculiar. I mean, maybe not to you since you probably understand

why, but peculiar to everybody else here as they are sort of the de facto you know, security force in the city. Instead, you just get a bunch of sort of dock workers and other contractors gathered around to see what is happening. Do you explain what is happening? I am making a beeline for, I want to say the Citadel. Is that what it's called?

What is that? Wherever the balusters hang out. We'll say that the Ballister Hermine is like at the front of the crowd. So as you hop off the ship, she requests a debrief essentially. And we don't have to do that whole thing for like the third time this episode. But how transparent are you about everything to happen? Oh, I think I'm very transparent. Okay. For just so many reasons.

But like, yeah. layout as many specific details as I possibly can. Okay, so you're not trying to be cagey about anything. No. Okay. That's a young man's game. And Devo has aged a lot in the last day. With the, like, past few months that this city has had,

I don't think the Ballister hearing me like blinks and eye at what you say. I think it's just like, oh, okay, weird existential crisis shit that's threatening reality and we beat it. Okay, cool. But she sets up a time for you to come to come up to the ballast in the morning to fully sort of walk her. And I guess the only surviving baluster at this point, the only other one is Declan Cern. Okay. So she makes an appointment for that. Zooks, tessellation approaches you.

and in a similar way, Tesolation wants to know why there are a bunch of white coral ships outside. They're kind of my supporters. It's a good choice of words, Dad. I was wondering where you're going to go with that. Yeah, I was leaning towards worshippers, but I don't think that's it.

They're like... Entourage. They're like my posse. No, not that one. Okay, supporters. They're supporters. Okay.

They're here to, they want to be friends and they've agreed to kind of protect us. And it's kind of cool, actually. I have discovered a lot about myself, not everything, but I've got some Pretty cool powers. At least I did. I think I don't know if I still have them or not. I'll have to talk to the DM. You do.

You find out. You still do. Tesolation walks over to the edge of the pier that you're standing on and looks over at you and looks over at you and says, would you mind making a brief introduction? Oh, no. No, I'd be glad to. And they dive into the water and begin swimming toward the, this, this vanguard worship. Yeah, Zooks, go with Tesolation. I'll see you. In the morning when we meet the balustos, rest up, okay?

Yeah. Hey, um, you okay? Uh. I mean, I mean, you know, you've been to a lot. and, you know, are you... I am filled with purpose, and I think that for me, it's the best I can do. That I know, that I feel connected,

that I feel like I know why I am here, and I know I am beginning to understand why. why. I'm beginning to understand why. And it is helping a lot, but I am, not going to lie, tired as dog shit. I get that. Well, you know what Amber would say to you right now? Uh, no. Go kick some ass, guppy.

It's, okay. It's very cute when you say it. It is not the same kind of, it's cute. But I will see you in some morning. Because I'm, you know, I'm like a sea creature, so me calling somebody else Cuppie, I think it's kind of resonant. It's more that you're like a sea otter. Yeah, okay. And your energy is vibrate.

Playful. Yeah. Okay. Well, just, you know, do good. Okay. I will see you at the meeting in this morning, okay? Okay. And he does this great food into the water.

Okay. Now, other people don't know what that is, Dad, unless they went to my school there. They listen to Taz Amnesty in which they had an epic food to destroy a water monster. That's right. Okay, you splash down into the water and begin to follow tessellation. I think Andivo heads back to the parish, I want to say. As you start to sort of make your way through this crowd as it dissipates, you see Beck. And she is sitting at an empty space on a pier.

there is no ship docked where she is sitting. And she's sitting on top of a big rectangular leather chest. And you can see that it has the hand and scales insignia of the benevolent parish. Beck? Where did you get this chest? What is this? She does not answer. She is just looking down at this empty spot in the water.

Make a perception check for me. You know what? I'm going to do that. 13 total. It is the way that her eyes are kind of glazed over. That you can tell that she is, she has been orated to. I'm going to begin to sing quietly in Counter Charm for her.

It just takes a few notes and she snaps out of it. And she looks up at you and she says, Hey Devo. Beck what's happened? Um, I think I sold my ship. To who? To sell them? I see.

She hops up. She seems as surprised to be sitting on a church chest as you were to see it. And she cracks it open and you see inside of it. It is heaped to the top with golden plates and cups and all of these sort of like gold. olden ritual place settings. You probably would recognize these as like very, very precious and ostentatious tools of the church

that, you know, when you had just the one plate and couldn't exactly find a vendor for it, probably wasn't worth the most money, but it is not the worst deal that she got on this ship that apparently seldom purchased from her. Beck?

while you sells this stuff off and buy yourself a new ship do you want to crash at the parish and gets this all figured out? I guess so she says. This is a lot of gold.

Is this my gold? It would seem so, yes. All right, Kit Cass. Can you help me carry it? I will get some of our new friends to do it. And I ask two

brinears, or drynars, very politely to help carry. I don't think there's any dry nar aboard that I think that they have been sort of trepidacious and are awaiting this introduction just as eagerly as tessellation was to make it. But it's not. Then as tired and sore as divo is, he helps carry out. Okay.

You make it back up to the parish and settle in. She has her own room for the evening. And as you are sort of preparing for bed, where are you sleeping? Well, yeah, I think I'm going to go to what was Guidance's office, and I'm like sitting at her desk. What are you doing while sitting at her desk? I think I'm looking at the book.

Make an insight check for me. A 14 total? All right, I'll give it to you. You are seated in the office of your former instructor, mother figure with whom you had a pretty contentious relationship. Yeah, I think that that may be a bit of an understatement for sure. And you are sort of in this moment where it is the first time in a while where you have not been under some sort of terrible threat since her passing. And with everything else kind of squared away, you turn your thoughts back to what happened to the hand of guidance. And you are struck by a thought.

Some of the last words that Benefactor Orlean told you was that he asked you if you had her book. And then he said that he tried to warn her. Mm-hmm. And you flipped to. the front of the book and on the inside cover you see handwriting. You see Orleans handwriting. And he has written an inscription in here. And it says, to my sister in the light, I pray this tome should help you lay the path that our city's children should. shall follow. When this world would inflict its falsehoods upon you, I pray that you shall

endeavor unsilenced. May you never forget this core truth of those who are bestowed with the mantle of hand. And then there is a space, and then it reads, Hi, my name is Graham Clark, and I'm one half of the podcast. Stop podcasting yourself. A show that we've recorded for many, many years. And at the moment, instead of being in person, we're recording remotely. And you wouldn't even notice. You don't even notice the lag. That's right, Graham. And the great thing about this, go ahead. No, you go ahead. Okay. And you can listen to us. every week on maximum fun.org.

Or wherever you get your podcasts. Your podcast. It's me, Dave Hill, from before. Here to tell you about my brand new show on Maximum Fun, the Dave Hill Good Time Hour, which combines my old Maximum Fun show, Dave Hill's podcasting incident with my old radio show,

the goddamn Dave Hill show, and a one new futuristic program from the future. If you like delightful conversation with incredible guests, technical difficulties, and actual phone calls from real-life listeners, you've just hit a street called easy. I'm also joined by my incredible co-host,

the boy criminal Chris Gersbeck. Say hi, Chris. Hey, Dave, it's really great to... That's enough, Chris. And New Jersey Chicken Rancher Des. Say hi, Des. Hey, Dave. The Dave Hill Good Time Hour.

Brand new episodes every Friday on Maxim Fun. Plus, the show's not even an hour. It's 90 minutes. Take that, stupid rules. We nailed it. The weeks that follow your return to Founders' Wake, are, to say the least, ones of great transition. Yeah, that seems right.

I think in the absence of the sort of power vacuum that Coda and the biggest baby and the chaperones left behind is filled by several different factions. The Iron Welks, which were, the Iron Welks are stoked. They were these sort of like jaded ex-military leaders who were not chosen by divinity to serve Coda aboard the biggest baby. And so they very quickly began sort of politicking to become a new sort of security for the city. And that is a that is a contentious thing. But it is sort of the conversation on everyone's lips. there is also a conversation about these dry nar and you know this ocean's track record for throwing weird magical stuff at this city is mixed enough that there are some people who are obviously trepidacious about this idea and then there are others who are like stoked there are others who trust what tessalation and now zooks and the deep thinkers kind of have in mind as they have sort of taken these you know, white coral beings into their coral tower to try and figure out the best way that they can

help and, you know, save the city. Another sort of big vacuum that takes place now is that, because seldom is gone, the schoolhouse no longer has an instructor and no longer has a headmaster, And so the big garden space of the conservatory has kind of fallen silent as children are no longer brought up here to be instructed by Brother Seldom. Well, you'd needn't worry about that, Griffin. Okay. I think Devo has been opening the parish up as new training grounds and new, uh, Very, let's say, specialized to school. Okay.

Is it a religious institution? How does it? Very specialized means ninja shit. Yeah. Well, I was thinking more like Charles Xavier's school for very special kids, which I don't think is what it's called. No, no, you have it right. Charles Xavier schools for very special kids.

Yeah, for a very special voice. I'll see. Yeah. No, this is more of we are teaching less religious, but more we are teaching about magic. We are teaching with the idea of this is how magic works in the world. This is how magic affects the things around you. This is the impact magic has had on these things.

Basically everything being taught with the point of view of the past is important, but we are also teaching about the future and how we can affect it by understanding this thing that has happened to our world. So a much less, I mean, seldom was a historian. And that is the, you know this better than others because you learned from his broadcasts, right, about the world around you. You're saying that your school is less about the past and more about the present and future. I mean, here's the thing. I think that a school should exist to train people to exist in the world that they are in.

Right. And so we are working to train the kids to exist in the world that currently exists and improve it to be the world we want it to be instead of, I don't know, teaching kids to worship a world that once was. Okay. That's Devo's take on it. I think the past is awesome. Don't get me right. Sure, sure. I think then that I think the parish is slow to transition to this vision.

But also, you were not wrong when you stated that you are the. sort of reigning figurehead of the parish now that, gosh, seldom and devotion and benefactor orlean are all gone. Guidance. Guidance, yes. You are devotion. And so even though they are reluctant to do so, the parish falls in line behind you. And this school opens up.

and I think that the parents of this community are hesitant at first also. But oh, screw that, man. We've been in a pandemic for 100 years and childcare is tough to come by. I think the parents are stoked. Yeah. Oh, what's that? The school's open again? All right.

Go on, kids. And the city's young people find a home there. It is different from the one that they knew. but like I said, it's a time of transition, and they are game for that as well. Zooks, what do you do in the following weeks? I think that Teslation continues to sort of lean on your help as they sort of integrate these coral beings into their various projects that they have running in this scientific institute of the coral spire where the deep thinkers have sort of made their base of operation. what's your what's your role in everything i think he helped them get set up i think he you know the the initial agreement was that they would help protect the community yeah i think

they set up a series of installations um kind of a ring around the city to not only protect but also as kind of an outreach, an exploration thing. Okay. And informally called it the reef. Okay. And, you know, it's there for protection, but also if somebody needs to send somebody out, you know, outliers to, you know, check out situations to go beyond what is established as, you know, the safe areas.

Yeah. That the reefers will be sent out. Okay. Do you sort of, does this mark an end to your both, I guess is a question for both of you from your, your travels away from the city? Does this terminate? Oh, no, absolutely not. No, not for Zooks, no. He's a very Captain Kirk kind of commander in the fact that once he gets it set up, he resigns his commission.

He wants to be out there to be one of them. Okay. And I would also say that what we have reached between, okay, so here's what I'm thinking. The fact that Devo now knows that he is responsible for everyone being in Founders' Wake. Yeah. I think it hit him, I think that hits him really hard. And I think that he has decided that it's no longer just about surviving and the conversations he has, had with Tolliver about, like, we got to move to the next world and everything that happened

and, like, the regrets that Orlean had. I think Devo is kind of sick of everybody thinking about the past and mourning what they lost. Yeah. And it's time to find a way to fix the world. I guess my question is what happens to the Coriolis. Oh, we use it all the time. Okay. I think at this point, it is Ziggs and Devo have.

I mean, I don't want to speak for zoos. But I know Devo has lots of projects and research and trying to find magical shit and other godblood that I think he has plenty of opportunities where he would need Zook's help to go. And yes, even Urchin to go out and do it. And plus, at this point, it is now an official vessel of the parish. Sure. Operating under the parish's banner. So I can also send people out under my commands and under Zux's command.

man to go out on these. What? It's a park wherever you want. I'm parked wherever I want. Oh my God, yeah. I got a bumper sticker that says like, you know, that I'm a member of the church. Oh, and candle night shopping season. So big.

So big. Yeah. I don't think Zook's, and I don't think Diba does either. I think Zooks feels a very strong compulsion to try to find Amber. So I think he's very much dedicated to this research. too to find a way to reactivate the portal because in his mind he he doesn't know if Amber's sure did it willingly or all he knows is Amber basically sacrificed her life for him and everybody in that tower oh Devo's got a room set up of the parish where that portal is established

okay and he spends a lot of time in there studying the book that we got from the beholder and any book he can find and like trying to communicate with the dry Nars and talking with like Zooks about it and trying to activate it. And can I tell you, Devo's plan, he's got to find and at least collect blood from benevolence. Okay. It is, it's a few months later then. And you all have settled into these roles. Zuchs, you are summoned by tessellation to the, to the coral tower, the coral spire. And when you arrive there, they are waiting for you in front of the, the doors into the shepherding

pool, which is where sort of the Iinar spirits from the vestigial plane, wonder into this world to inhabit the bodies that are created for them. And they summon you here, and without saying anything, they open the doors and invite you inside. As soon as the doors open, you can see that this room has changed dramatically. it is drab and gray and dark and the water in this big circular pool in the middle of the room that once just shimmered this this brilliant golden color is now just water and tessellation puts a hand in the water and stands back up and looks at you and says This is an important day, I think, Zooks. The pools have gone dormant.

And as Shepard, I worried that I had done something wrong. But I've come to a realization. Everyone in the vestigial plain who was going to come through has come through. There will not be any new I-NAR. not from this time forward. And I don't know how you received this news, as we've discovered you were never, Aynar, but this is, this feels like the ending of a chapter to me.

Can we do anything about it? We did. This role is ended. I am no longer a, shepherd of lost sheep and I think it's time that I fully turn my attention to to your goals Zuchs it is time that I join you in dedicating myself to the protection of the souls that have come through and everyone else living in Founders Wake and the door opens again and the Ballister Hermine walks in.

And she sees that you're there and she says, did you, did you tell him about it yet? And Teselation says, I was getting to it. Come with us. Do you have a, do you have a moment? Oh, yeah. Sure. He leads you out of the shepherding pools and together with the Ballister Hermine, you all make your way to an elevator.

And you are in the base of the. the coral spire. So it is a bit surprising when the elevator goes down the ways. And as you are going down, he says, since the discovery of what we are able to do with these bodies, a thought has occurred to us several times. and it wasn't until I saw your new big, beefy form that it occurred to me that it is, it could be a reality. This city, as you know, needs a defender, and the reef and those who serve upon it have formed an incredible bulwark against the many, many dangers in the ether sea. But I think that we both know, all of us know, that it does not hold a candle to the massive, defensive power presented by the biggest baby. Can we stop calling it that now? Now you have to call it that extra hard now.

The biggest baby. With a sense of reverence, you know? Sure, for the dead. and the door to the elevator opens and Tesolation says but you, Zooks, they say, you can take any form that you wish.

And they walk through the doors of the elevator, as does Hermene. And as you step through, you see that you are in this colossal room that stretches up 80 feet easily and there are girders and metal lattice work positioned all around the center of the room holding up this huge cylindrical tank filled with water and also filled with a figure filled with a humanoid-shaped entity that seems to be crafted both from the sort of living organic coral from the spire outside, but also sort of woven into it the dry-nar bleached coral that you have interfaced with so many times now.

and it is forming this gigantic, what appears to be night. It is this huge armored being with these long legs that end in spikes. It's got these, you know, it's still suit almost resembles your own kind of like bulked up armor, but with these long sort of blade-like fins. that emerge from its elbow guards and from its paltrons, all sort of building up to this sort of long pyramid-shaped head. And it nearly fills the tank. It is about 65, 70 feet tall,

a truly imposing-looking brinear. But it is floating in this tank and it is lifeless. and the balaster Hermane speaks up and she says, The reef is doing all it can, but this city needs a defender, Zooks. And I do believe that you are the only one capable of filling that role. We don't understand your powers, but we are hoping that you do at least enough to bring this dream to fruition. Seriously?

Really? This is mine? This is... Now, you can't... Are you kidding? This is for me? Uh... This is for me.

They look at each other kind of surprised by your excitement. And Hermine says, this is for the city. Zooks. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

But I mean, for... Oh. Um, hell. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do it. As soon as you say that, a couple of, like, non-coral scientists walk up to you and gesture for you to follow. And all of you start to walk around this big cylinder at the center of the room to a hatch on the backside.

And Tesolation says, I will warn you. this suit, if you want to think of it that way, is it is tremendously powerful, as lifeless as it is. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to incorporate into it before it incorporates into you, if that makes any sense. Oh, yeah, trust me. Been there, done that. knowing that, are you still so eager to agree to this? Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely.

And the hatch opens up. And Hermine says, then good luck. All right. Can I do it? You swim into the tank, and now you are in the water with this huge form. through the glass, you can see every eye is on you. Every scientist assembled here, every Drinar, tessellation, the ballister hermine, they are all watching you with baited breath to see what happens.

He swims around it a lot. Okay. Kind of that Captain Kirk moment in the Star Trek the motion picture where he just admires the enterprise from every angle, looks at it, doesn't touch it, this really inspects it, looks at it. with a huge smile on his face hole. And it eventually swims up to the pyramidal face, the head. And swims right up to the face.

Okay. And now he looks back at tessellation, everybody else, and gives a big coral thumb up and then wraps himself around the face and just absorbs right into it. Make an animal handling check for me. That would be a 16 plus 4. 20.

A dirty 20. You place a hand on the pyramid face and just branches of coral immediately shoot out of the sides of the pyramid and wrap around you. and you feel it violently trying to pull you in and trying to almost devour you. But you hold strong just for a moment, enough for you to assert who's in charge here. I think he uses the experience with clam and all those other times where he got sucked in.

I think he even uses the experience of when Orlean took over. Yeah. And he fought and fought and fought. I think he uses all of that experience to fight back this time too. It is second nature for you to assert yourself in this way now. And that was not true before you joined the crew of the choreolas. But as it is now, you gently integrate into the pyramid. And then a few quiet, nervous moments pass out in the lab.

And then everyone, everyone, out there sees inside of the tank, two bright yellow eyes appear on the pyramid head. Devo. Yeah. I want to take it back a minute. Actually, more than a minute. I want to take it back several months. Okay. And you have just left the tower. Mm-hmm. And you are resting aboard the ship. And moments before you drift into unconsciousness, you have a headache. And it is a brutal headache that feels like the world in front of you is being torn apart. And it feels like it will never pass. But it does after a few moments.

And when it does, you come to and you are sitting. are sitting in a nice velvet lined seat inside a Thanksgiving booth. And you are receiving gratitude from a child in the other side of the booth. And you hear him say, yeah, my mom made fudge. And that was awesome. So I was super thankful for that. And my big sister popped my balloon, and that made me super mad. But then she made me a bracelet.

And it was really nice, and it just made me remember just sort of how thankful that I am to have such a, you know, such a nice sister who, you know, she's a little rough sometimes. But she watches out for me. And that's pretty cool. So I'm thankful for that, too. And is that enough? Sorry, and not for what? Is that enough gratitude? Oh, yes.

Okay. Well, thank you, Father. And how are I supposed to do this? Because it's, am I just, anytime anything cool happens, I come here and how's it work? Yeah, let's say when something cool happens. Okay, bye. And you hear the door to the booth swing open and little footsteps. go running away and through the sort of mesh screen on the door into your side of the booth,

you see this little boy run out of your office here in the benevolent parish in the city of Founders Wake. Oh, so was I like dreaming? Is it now? Wait, when is it now, Griffin? You are fully aware that you have just aware. in a different world. This is not a dream that the real divo is having. You were aboard your ship after defeating Orlean aboard the Coral Tower, like moments ago, and then you had a super bad headache, and now you are in what appears to be Guidances' office, but it's not Guidance's office.

It's your office here in the parish. And you know that because just like your stuff is all over. It is it is it is not her room anymore. It is yours. Okay. I'm going to go out. I want to find somebody. You step out of the Thanksgiving booth and you know, you walk into the office and you can see through the windows that you are in the conservatory.

And it is pretty similar to how you left it. You can see through the window that the menagerie is closed up. There doesn't appear to be anybody coming and going or inside of that building. It seems there is a sign in front of it that reads derelict. Caution do not enter. And you can see Founders Wake outside. And there are a lot of people up here. There are a lot of people hanging out up here.

A lot of fancy people up here, more than you have seen in the conservatory in some time. You look at those people and you realize that they don't have any kind of picing fish features. They are, they are, you know, they have the bodies that they had before the sort of like Cambrian Explan. explosion that happened aboard the city of Founders Wake. And I think that's when you realize that your gills are also gone. And as you're observing this, you see a puddle on the ground

that begins to rise up and take form and then moments later, Tolliver is standing in front of you. And he says, I'm guessing it worked. then. You, okay, what word? Oh, is the same with Orlean? Oh, boy.

Uh, okay. I know that you loathe vagaries. So, um, may I have a seat? Was that you being direct? Um, yes? He sits down at the desk. Uh, that apparently belongs to you. And he gestures you for you to ask.

Did you? Okay. He gestures. for you to sit in your own chair. Okay. Yes, I sit to my chair. All right. So, I'll be as direct as I can.

I'm an embodiment of the will of magic. Yes, I know. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. You did something with magic that I've never seen before, and I'm still trying to figure out what that means. But basically, you did something you weren't supposed to do. Oh, wouldn't I change the past? when you change the past, when you invited Orleans family to come with him to Founders' Wake.

Yes, I'm kind of an asshole. It's bigger than that, Epo. I mean, yes, but on a existential level, you're an asshole. He says, so because of that, he never joins the cloister. He leans on his family instead. He never pressures you devotion. and so you graduated from the cloister and became a hand and never became a freelancer as a result.

And so you didn't meet Zooks and Amber, and that whole thing never really happened. Yes. Sadly, you weren't there during their first job when they were crossed by Guthrie and they perished at sea, never seen again. The whole clam thing clearly didn't happen because Orlean didn't go out to sea.

You probably piece that together yourself. Yes. Bonus. Coriolis never brought the pathogen to Founders' wake. So no one died there. Of course, Cambria is still out there somewhere, so it's only a matter of time, but still small victories. What else?

Oh, crescendo continues to destroy the past, but as a result, the church seems to have gained even more power, so congrats. Oh, you mean here and this is what's happening now? This is what's happening now, yes. Yes. Okay, yes. You are being really chill about all this, by the way.

And I appreciate that because I feel like our relationship has been contentious in the past. Oh, yes, something has changed. Yes. So for a long time, right, my relationship with other people was that they thought that I thought that I knew more than them, right? And so a lot of the perception of me was that I was an asshole because I was a Noah doll and I knew more than them. But the realizations that I have had is that I do not know more than them. They know less than they think they do. So you're sitting here and you began this conversation saying, I did something that no one has done with magic before.

Yeah. But then you are going to tell me about how I fucked up. But how do you know I fucked up? Sorry. You're jumping to conclusions again. I have no intention of saying anything along those lines. Okay. My point is this.

You do not know as much as you think you do. I do not know as much as I think I do. No one knows as much as they think they do. So is the idea is that anything is certain or is that someone he's supposed to do something or isn't supposed to do something, whatever. That's all just as our tiny brains understand it. And also, one more thing, if I changed all of that, then Orlean wouldn't have been there and I wouldn't have been there

and I wouldn't have changed the past. Yeah, you're getting it now. So have you ever found it peculiar, I guess, in the moments since you, you made your fateful broadcast to the whole world, that no one ever mentioned that the voice that called them from the sea had an accent thick enough to mortar bricks together. Okay, ow. But also, I just assumed, you know,

and Devo waves his hands in the air, magic? No. Oh, okay. That's true in this world. You spoke to this world, And I did... Oh! I made the second world? Something...

You're right about one thing? I don't know as much as I put on. I'm playing it by year. What I do know is that your world almost unraveled. But because Benefactor Orlean learned how to send messages to the past, so did I and I called out from the ocean to... We're not so different, you and I, huh? I think that that is more true than you...

No. That world still... Oh, no, I'm actually not that surprised by this. Okay. That world still exists. This world does too. You are now in both of them. Awesome. I don't...

Oh, is that not what you... Is it bad? It's just that you are currently occupying the shoes of a very, very, very different hand of devotion. Oh, you know? I don't really like this title anymore. I've decided to actually change. I don't know about here, but back in what I'm calling My World A,

I'm going to change my title, I think. What do you think about The Voice of Hope? That's very good. Or I could just go by my real name, if you prefer. And I could just be Damien Cern. Oh. he smiles when you say that and he says you've really got layers don't you

yes like an onion or an ogre he says well okay I just came to give you a heads up but I was not expecting this I was not expecting you to be so receptive to the news well so here's the thing if you're in the embodiment of magic my new purpose in life is to fix magic. So I'm going to, I think, need you more on my side.

I'm in fact, I think going to need a lot more people on my side because I imagine it's the only way to fix magic and to save our world instead of just, you know, trying to slow the decay. The only way to save our world is I'm going to bet something along the lines of killing benevolence. Tolliver, even in this moment where he has admitted that he doesn't know as much as he's letting on, it still seems pretty cocky.

When you say that, he is taken aback. And then he just kind of like looks around the room in a panic, like he's trying to think his way through it. And he says, wow, you really got layers. Okay. I can help you with that. And in exchange, maybe you can help me too. Because I am pretty powerful, but I am only doing what I am called to do.

I'm acting on instinct, doing what I'm supposed to do. And you were not supposed to call out to the family of Benefactor Orleans, but you did. And in doing so, you defied fate itself. And that makes you very, very interesting. he says. Yeah, you know what? I'm going to try something's different here and I'm going to try to go with making friends

and maybe even influencing people. And he, divas shakes his hand. And he smiles and says, the times they are a change in. No, he doesn't say that. He says, you are just full of surprises. Back in my world A, as we are calling it,

we see the shattered surface of the world above the ether sea. And I don't mean shattered in any kind of poetic way. The parts of the land that the sea has yet to swallow up have been rent into thousands of gigantic pieces. and some of them remain sort of resolutely attached to the land beneath them, but many of them are just floating in a spiral around the storm in this just chaotic orbit. And as we move in closer to the storm, we pass through the outer wall of the cyclone

and pass by cloud whales that are just effortlessly sailing through the vortex, unbothered by its violence. and then we are through it and into the eye of the storm. And there, floating high above the debris-strewn surface of the ether sea is the Divine Citadel hominine. There is a wall that surrounds the island upon which the city is built, and the city sort of raises up in a cone from the island's perimeter. At its base, there's just innumerable. humble but well-maintained sort of residential neighborhoods that are all bustling with with life and just sort of content-looking citizens without a trouble in the world.

And moving upward from there, there are businesses and universities and municipal buildings all laid out in these very precise rings, all sort of operating at maximum efficiency. And at the very top of the city of Homini, there is an ivory. white palace with golden spires that glisten in the sunlight. And there are dozens of just sort of monastic clergy people tending to lush gardens. There are very stately scholars that are studying ancient scripts within these sprawling libraries. And down every hall, there are just psalms of righteous gratitude echoing around the building. And then there is a long hall. not nearly as ornamented as the rest leading toward a dungeon. And there is a full regiment of golden armored guards positioned in front of the door there.

And the sound of Psalms does not reach this place. Inside that dungeon, lying on the stone rot floor in a small pool of blood is Brother Seldom, who is writhing in anguish. and across the room an inquisitor rinses his hands in a silver basin of water, looking down at seldom with sort of more annoyance than pity, and as he begins to sort of pour over a selection of vicious-looking instruments of pain, the door to the dungeon swings open. And all of the assembled priests and soldiers here

just reflexively prostrate themselves in front of the figure who strides through them. It is a golden-haired man. He is, he is wispy, but with a presence commanding enough to just suck all the oxygen out of the room. And he walks through the rows of kneeling mortals with total ambivalence. His attention is not on them. It is solely on the broken and bleeding man lying on the ground. And he kneels down next to Seldom. And he slowly slides a stole off of his own holy vestments and with it he begins to dab at the wounds on Seldom's face. He is cleaning him to the shock of a few of the guards here in attendance and Seldom looks up and sees the face of his God.

The vestige benevolence is tending to his wounds and he says, easy now it's finished you have endured this mortification and shall suffer no longer this gift of mercy is yours should you be willing to accept it

and seldom lays there for a moment just barely clinging to consciousness and then he lifts himself up to his hands and knees supplicating himself before benevolence. And benevolence speaks once more and says, Your transgressions are hereby forgiven. I will prepare for you a place in my enclave.

Welcome back, brother. And he looks at the Inquisitor, who is similarly on hands and knees, trembling, and benevolence shakes his head and says, You must forgive your fellow Acolytes, just as I have forgiven you. They do not understand the bravery that you have exhibited. In slaying sister guidance, you prevented her

from revealing this citadel's location to those who would bring our paradise crashing into the sea below. And it is for this brave action, this excruciating sacrifice, that you will not only be absolved of your sins, but celebrate for your own. heroism. But first, and he takes Seldom's chin in his hand and lowers his face and says, first, you're going to tell me everything you know about the city of Founders Wake.

Thank you.