The Adventure Zone - The Adventure Zone Royale: Episode 16

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

After a heartbreaking loss for one of their new companions, the wizards regroup and learn more about some of the island’s mysteries. But the danger only continues as the next trial pits them against their greatest rivals in a decisive battle.Royale Theme: “Wizard Disco” by Louie Zong: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/wizard-discoOriginal Music by Griffin McElroyAdditional Music in this Episode:"Pearly Carapaice", "Chewing Devil Grass", "III", "Gentle Sol", and "Skin Writhes Anxious"  by ROZKOL: https://rozkol.bandcamp.com/; "PULL" by Nctrnm: https://soundcloud.com/nctrnm; The Redemption in Her Amrs” by Schemawound: http://schemawound.com/; "The Fae" by Mark Lingard: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/mark-lingard/; "The Unknown" by Jar of Flies: https://jaroffliesofficial.bandcamp.com/; "Haze" by Scott Holmes Music: https://scottholmesmusic.com/; and "Death" by Holizna: https://holiznaroyaltyfree.bandcamp.com/.Immigrant Defenders Law Center: https://www.immdef.org/ 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 Taz Royale. I've seen what you'll do with the powers of the octave. Yes. I will not allow you to control us. Claxon is pulled under the elevated water level. You see a look on Rhyme's unmasked face of pure panic as they are pulled under. How badly do you want Duba to survive? It is of the utmost importance to me.

and then I'll throw I throw them in. It is time now for you victorious aspirants to receive your just reward. The tower rises upward like a rocket

high above the octave cigarette. Hello and welcome back to Taz Royale, our battle royale winner take all season of the Adventure Zone. When last you joined us, it was like a month ago, And our heroes, if we can still call them that, finished up and survived and claimed victory

in the trial of transmutation. Four aspirants fell in your group of 12, and that's very sad. I had big plans for Randolph, and he's dead now, and he's in hell, too. Oh, man. So I forgot about it. Well, he probably deserved it then, right?

Because people don't get punished unless they deserve it. He's not in hell. He's not in hell. He's not in hell. Nobody's in hell. Nobody. Yeah. And that's an important story beat.

We're going to come back to that. Because everybody is so good. Yes. No. After surviving the trial, the golden tower that was submerged inside of the lake of the Octav Zigarot Island turned into a bit of a rocket and blasted off into the sky. And that is where you all are right now through the porthole windows of the, this ascending golden tower, you all watch as the sky begins to grow dark as you get higher. The atmosphere grows thin.

You struggle to stay on your feet as this building launches upward into the sky. You see Set, the octave who sort of administered this trial, the golden scarab, appears to be unperturbed by this motion. He's just hovering with his scarab wings beside one of these windows watching the flight intently. And he says, you are about to breathe rarefied air. No one living save for the eight octaves have ever witnessed the world beyond the folds foggy border. And now that you have survived half of the conclave's trials, it is prudent that you understand the extent of our responsibilities.

And then in an instant the tower stops rising. It's momentum and your momentum are brought to sort of an immediate impossible halt. And the walls of the tower begin to shift, twisting, and lowering like blossoming flower petals until they lay flat forming these eight round observation decks branching off of the tower floor. You all are thousands of feet off the ground, higher significantly than the Ziggurat Island that floats in the sky below. Looking down from your position, you all can see the fold,

the sort of crowded, circular expanse that comprises the entire world that you all have lived in your whole lives. You see the southern hive lands of your origin, hell-grammit. You see the Titan range that you and your Goliath kin call home Loravith. Right smack dab at the center of the fold.

you see the crossroads, rictus, which is the Ravenwood family's sort of undead seat of power. All of these, you know, cities and structures and different sort of land features, they are all really tightly packed inside of this cylinder of fog that is swirling about it like the eye of a hurricane. Beyond that wall of fog, you all see a world that is entirely unfamiliar. It is a world of frozen ash. There are oceans lying flat running across a shoreline that you see peppered with a few cities that are nearly larger than the entire fold itself. And these cities have these tall buildings of stone and glass that reach up toward the height of the floating ziggurat. you see a petrified forest, these massive conifer trees, tall as those buildings, stretching out beyond the horizon. You see mountains that dwarf those of the Titan Range that are silhouetted in the distance by the sun, which is shining down on just this barren, empty, lifeless world.

And set turns to face the group of survivors here and says, 32. Generations ago, our world received a gift of magic in the wake of a great calamity, but it was mankind's empowerment that proved its greatest threat. Without control of that magic, chaos tore the world apart, but attempts to control that magic led to wars of inconceivable scale. Wizards raised insectoid warriors from the land to fight their wars until the first Broodmother led those warriors in revolt. Thus were the Thracine-born. Human soldiers were imbued with arcane physical enhancements, growing in size, becoming the first Goliaths. So much of the world we know now

is a result of those wars. But the world, unable to sustain its inhabitants any longer. This world, this planet of Earth, began to die. Blight spread across its surface, destroying all life in its path. It was only by the intervention of the original octave, the eight greatest magical minds of there or any time, that anything survived. They raised the fog wall, forming the fold where they continued to serve as shepherds and wardens. Rictus raises his hand?

Yes, Rectus. Just sorry, two questions of clarification. one, so there was a calamity, then magic came, and then there was a war after that? Yes, that is correct. Okay, and then you said of Earth, is that with a capital E just for like, I don't know, if we ever record this for posterity and people want to know, you know, it's just like... Yeah, it is a proper noun, so yes, I suppose capitalization would be prudent. Okay, so that's the name of the planet that we're on, is Earth?

Yes. Oh, okay. Cool, I guess I'd never learned that in school or whatever. I was homeschooled. Sure. I had heard that that's how things worked in the crossroads, very insular. You must understand that this is what all makes the brutality of this conclave so necessary. In bringing you all here and making you all compete in this way,

63 wizards will die. 63 spells will be purged. from the face of the world, ensuring that the unchecked magical annihilation that claimed the earth does not repeat itself within the borders of the fold, and for the one wizard, who will be granted, limitless power,

their worthiness must be guaranteed through hardship and sacrifice. We will be returning to the Ziggurat momentarily. Take a moment to enjoy this view. You will likely never see it again, and celebrate your victory in the trial of transmutation. The eight of you have earned it. And he turns back to face the world below.

I, Rick has pointed at his house. That's my house. In case I was wondering, I can see my house. It's right there. What does it look like? What are the crossroads sort of look like? I imagine sort of, what is the name of the wow, the undercity? like that sort of dead vibe

but it may be something completely different. No, it's not far off. So the Breathless Fields, one, like there's, you know, some scraggly trees or whatever with some... No, you know what? It's a feel full of dead bodies. There's good soil there.

No, I mean, it is. It's a huge graveyard. It's like the graveyard of the fold. So there's lots of fertilizer in there. So the trees are... They're like a really dark green, but they've grown... Yeah, quite lush, but there's no wind.

That's beautiful. So they're like completely still. And you can see like the literal two like wide crossed roads. Yeah. That are coming from kingdoms all around where people bring their dead. And you can see like the sections a little bit because it's a huge structure, you know, of graveyard. So you can see where they're like sectioned off by kingdom. Cool.

And in the center of that crossroads, you can see. I very, this might surprise you, Gothic-looking, like, keep castle that is surrounded in its own ring within, like, family crypts and specialty crypts within the ring. Awesome. Yeah.

You are looking down at this, and you hear a voice right beside your ear, and it says, I've never seen it from this high up. Oh, God. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was staring at my house.

You look over and you see the tiny, tiny ghost of your great, great, great, great grandfather, I think is how many greats we put on that. Yeah, it's a lot. Rick just Raven was the first. Yeah, I guess he wouldn't be that far removed from you. He would be your great-grandfather, I suppose. No, no great-great-great-wait. My father. If he's the first, my grandfather, my great-great-grandfather.

Okay, so yeah, sure. He looks down, sort of wistfully, down at the crossroads, and he says, We built an amazing thing, didn't we? The Ravenwoods. Such incredible work happens there. You must be so proud to see it from on high. Well, I mean, also, it just keeps getting bigger, I think, is, you know, as we expand out the graveyards, yeah. It's a booming business, death, I suppose.

Yeah, it's unavoidable. Like death in Texas, you know. Excuse me. I know I'm not here. But people are dying to get into it. That's my great-grandfather. That's right. That's right.

That's right. That's right. He appears on your shoulder. He's a little bit bigger because again, his ghosts get older. They get smaller. And so he's like a tiny bit bigger. Sorry, sorry. No, you are always the jokester.

It's half a dust. They both look down for a moment and then poof back. into the ethereal sort of... Wait, do I'm my considered racist now? He's gone before you can answer that question. Well, wait, can I talk to my great-great-grandfather one more time? The small one? Yeah.

Yeah, sure. I only have five seconds left. Not you. He's the racist one. It just seems like such a waste with what we can do. You know what I mean? The death, it just happens. And then that's done.

And it just, what if we, like, there's so much we could do with the stuff we could do to, I don't know, utilize the afterlife better. You are, you are so young and you are, you are so far from death. Rick is it. It is hard for you to have perspective on this, but we are already doing so much. Look at me, he says, and gestures to himself. I am a fantastic. Yeah, you're totally ripped. Well, no, I mean, yes, I've been hitting the little gym, the little spectral gym, and I'm pretty proud of my gains, but I persist well beyond death as shall you, I shall all the raven woods. This is our birthright. This is the power we have claimed, and it is an extraordinary thing, so we may continue to live on at infinitum, becoming ever smaller, yes, which is, we're still trying to figure out why that keeps happening, but this is, this is, this is, this is. is what we are doing with that power, and it is an amazing thing.

But we could do it for so many more people. There are some questions of sustainability there, but I have always admired your altruistic sort of nature, Rectis. It will serve you well as a warden of the dead lands once it is your turn to take that seat, Assuming, of course, you survive these trials, which you've done so spectacularly well, that's so far, I'm so proud. He goes to pinch your cheek, but doesn't, because it's intangible. It's so incredible.

Your canningness, your cutthroat nature, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's really coming to into your own great, great grandson. I'm very proud. Yeah. But, you know. And he stretches and he puts on a headband. He says, well, I've got, uh, I've got to hit the elliptical. It's my turn. the machine, your great-grandpa is kind of a hog, kind of a lunkhead.

If you get a chance, will you kind of pop into the keep and let them know how I'm doing and check on... Oh, I've kept them abreast of your progress, and they are all... Sorry, what's you say? A breast. No, God. Wait, hold on. He grabs your great-grandpa.

He grabs your great-grandpa. Just tugs him into a little cloud. All right, come on. Who's talking about breast? Oh no. I don't know him. Greg, Greg, no way. You don't want to know him.

This tiny inch-high ghost, old as shit, like, floats in front of you. Oh, that's, that's, I mean, that's, uh, Rictus Zero. We got to get out of here. This is too much. Son, is that you? You. He's older than the sun. He doesn't understand what the, what is it?

So high. Hello, moon. Loravith, you feel a tug on your tunic that you're wearing and look down and see the tear-stained face of Duber Sweet Leaf. He is looking up at you. He looks confused. He looks obviously like very, very heartbroken. And he says, excuse me, sir, Loravith, would you? May I speak to you for a moment?

Of course, Stuba. How can I help you? I was... I was incapacitated during the trial when I fell. I landed... It knocked the wind out of me, and I hit my head, and it was hard to follow what happened. But what... What happened to Master Randolph, I saw him fall, and I saw him vanish, and I... I just didn't...

Did you see... Did someone... Push him. Much like the rest of us, Stupa. Like all in the room, I was blinded by our friend's light, which was a very kind act that I think he did to spare you the visual memory of him being eaten to death by eels. And Dubai, if that's not love, I don't know what is.

I suppose that is a kindness. I definitely would have been pretty messed up. had I seen that. But he was the greatest wizard I've ever known. I don't understand how anyone could have gotten the better of him. Did you see who killed him? Dover, it's natural to be asking a lot of questions right now. Grief comes in many forms.

I think the important thing here is to realize that your friend perished so that you dober sweetly could live on. And Dubo, I'm not, I couldn't ascertain the nature of your greatness before, you, Powell had his unfortunate slip. But I am committed to finding out why you Duba sweetly for the most important boy alive. I want to roll here. And it's not to like, I don't know if it's deception, right? Because I don't think he suspects you at all. He did not see what was happening.

He was a full level lower than you all. All he saw was Randolph falling in. into the water. But to like, you know, put this issue to bed. Performance, maybe?

A performance check would be great, right? You're feigning. I have zero and all this stuff. So let me just take a roll. It's a 13. Um, I mean,

let me roll an insight for him to contest that. And we'll see, we'll see how it goes. I'll roll it on the table. Oh, all right. That's Justin 11. Yeah,

he looks up at you. His cheeks glistening with tears. He says, I suppose you're right, Master Loravith. We should focus on the gift he gave us in sort of ensuring that we moved on. Thank you, thank you, Dover, for believing in me, your faith in me.

If it means anything to you, I would have fully burned an inspiration point if you hadn't. I'm not sure that means, sir. We neither, Duba. He was, um... But I think someday we will, Duba.

You are all questions in Enigma, but I will root you out, Duba. I, I must ask, may I... May I continue working with you,

Master Loravith, moving forward. I am, I am a little guy, and I am very scared. All I want is to return home to the hills that bore me to eat the honey sweet pies of Madam Sugarfoot's bakery and drink delicious frosty pints of amber draughts at the pincers and pike

and smell the breeze through the hive hills when the nectar bills bloom. I wish to go back very badly to the hills, Master Lora Fitt. Duba, worried up to me, I would strump you to my back like a baby in a papoose. Of course. I should warn you, though, Dubu, you're welcome to the tag along. But we can never go back to the home in our memory, Duba. I will warn you. I can, actually, it's right there.

Look, Master Lorovith. And he points down. Oh, it's on fire. Oh, no, it's being attacked by dragons. You can't. You can't do that. Oh, no. To the Tio Shire.

Dober, do you wish to flee this contest? Is that, is that possible? I came here because I was beckoned and I was told that I had no option in the matter, but that Master Randolph, when he was also summoned, he told me that he would take care of me and ensure my survival. Now that he is gone, I appreciate your assurances, Master Lurevith, but I am, I am terrified and I do not wish to perish in a strange place. If leaving is possible. I would do so in a heartbeat. Duber, I think.

Duber, I need time to think. I am someone who does not like to lose, Duba, but I recently have begun to think that winning may look different than I anticipated. I'm not sure what you mean. All right. Hell, Grammat, is there anything you want to do before the rocket descends?

From the moment that they lifted off, Hell Gramut has just been staring out these portals and he's staring down at the Threkeen world. And when they hit the very Apogee, is that the top of it? Medea? Nadeer's the bottom.

The apex of their arc or going up. He just is like staring down intently, and he starts to shiver and kind of shake. And his arms, his sweet little four little spindly arms kind of suck into his body, and his vestigeal wings kind of wrap around him a little. and he falls to the ground. Oh, shit. He's shaking, and it's almost like he is.

He almost looks like a cocoon, not a cocoon, but like, yeah, like a cocoon. Like a cicada. Yeah, almost. And he keeps saying, um, Snicks, Chris, Snicks, Chris. And he falls to the deck. Is that something that the other Threikine here, who I guess is Scorpo and Set? And Spider-Man?

No, Spider-Man is a human. This is the spider who is a human. The spider who is a spider is still down on the... There's like Man Batman territory. Yes, sure. We still have three. We've killed off 40 at this point, aspirants as of this episode. There's still all three spiders are still.

The universe is still going strong. Yeah. Would they recognize what you are saying? Or is this like a personal, are these names? Or I don't really know how to respond to this without knowing kind of what that means. He just keeps saying this over and over again. And eventually he even stops saying it. Snakes, Chris.

I'm asking, is that something the other Thrykeen would recognize? Yes, it means something. He's speaking in Thrikeen, yes. What is he saying in Thrikeen? So small. Hmm. He's talking about his wiener. I guess I have to ask, because Travis brought it up.

Is he talking about his wiener? He could be. Loraveth and Rictus, you both see Hell Gramut having this sort of episode. Do you do anything? I go and check on him. I do have, I know, like, magic and medicine and stuff. I pull, I pull, I, Paul Dibber closer said that one of his, Algram, it's talons doesn't accidentally graze him during this fit or whatever is going on.

Okay. Yeah, I'm going to do a medicine check to see... Don't look, Duma. It's very upsetting this bug man. Okay, give me a medicine check. This may be some sort of dance. A 16 plus 4, a gentleman's 20. Just when you need it the most.

Yeah. I definitely give him a stick or something to bite down on. Yeah, I mean, a 20 is a very, very high check. Is there, is this a purely sort of psychosovo? kind of episode that Hellfram is having? Yes. Is it a... Yeah.

Okay. I think that in Rictus' experience, having, like, rebound souls to bodies and stuff. Sure. Like, a realization, I think that he's had experience seeing people suddenly, like, experience something greater than themselves or a confusion of realization of, like, life after death or things like this being brought back to their bodies. Right.

Yeah. You're right. Yeah. You're coming right up on it. I mean, safe to say that this has never happened. I mean, it's only happened to the eight of us and whoever else has been in these previous trials. But they're seeing their home from outer space, basically. Yeah.

And I think that that would have, at least for Hell Grammet, who had these illusions of, grandeur and was all convinced that he was going to be a king of a powerful kingdom sees just how small not only the kingdom is but the world and

I think it has really rocked him to his core I'm going to diagnose him with a strong case of perspective Scorpo is watching you hellgram at as you sort of have this episode.

He, you see him, Rick, this sort of approach. And he looks down kind of conflicted. And he kneels over you, hell, Grammet. And he begins to speak in Thrykeen, which I'm going to just do in our English, if that's okay. For the people at home. Griffin could do it. home. Yeah. You hear Scorpo say in this sort of, you know, guttural clicking language, says, um, hell, grammat. Why did you escape from your hive? So, so small. Hellgrimuth, listen to me.

Listen to me, Helgrammett. Why did you, why did you escape from your product, Elgrammon? Why did you escape from your? hive to dominate, to advance, to advance, to rule, seeking power. But scopus, look, look how small it is. Look how small we are. He grabs you by your, I guess, the shoulders between your pairs of arms and pulls you very, very close and says extremely intently, we used to be so much smaller. He stands as you start to calm down and walks away from you. As the tower begins to descend back down towards the Octav Zigarra Island, you see something,

Rick, just give me actually a perception check. Okay. Fifteen total. You see, just sort of like looking around. getting one last look at the, you know, this vision of the world beyond the fog wall. It occurs to you that there is one too many people standing around here on this observation platform. And as you realize this, your eyes lock on to one of these figures who everyone else is either facing outward or, you know, Hell Gramut is sort of doing his thing on the floor.

this figure is facing inward and in fact staring you down and the sun is sort of silhouetted them, making them hard to see at first. But as the tower begins to descend and the sun raises up, it shines down on the specter of death itself. It is wearing a cloak of some indiscernible material, black as coal, its skull. is barely visible through its hood, but it is, it's so white that it appears to have like a kind of luminous blue quality to it. And there is something just strange about, about this figure. It, it seems like he is moving at like a different frame rate than everything else here. And he looks at you and, uh, you have seen obviously this, this statue of death.

you've had dealings with down on the ziggurat before but this is this is a real manifest version of of that figure without even knowing why rictus kneels um you hear a voice in your mind uh that no one else seems to clock no one else seems to be looking at this figure it seems to be just entirely uh happening only to you you suddenly hear a voice say, oh please, I'm in your debt technically, Rictus. Rise, we have but a short time to speak. As the tower continues to descend down towards the ziggurat, you see death in front of you, Rickus, and for the first time you are hearing his voice. All your communications with death

have been this like, you know, almost intangible, abstract prayer like thing. You have never heard a voice speaking to you like this. Not this clearly, not this distinctly. And this specter of death floats towards you and says, our time is limited. We will be unable to speak once you return to the fold. I have no influence there, no power there. So we must make the most of this conversation.

Do you understand? Yes, I do. Oh, I thought you would have more after that. Yeah, he vanishes. No. Ah. I am revealing myself to you, Rictus, because I believe that you have a certain understanding that your family and those assembled here at the conclave lack. An appreciation and understanding a respect for me, I suppose.

I mean, I'd like to think so. I think that, you know, life and death exist in concert with each other. Not... I understand that you think that, and you think that should be true, but you must understand that that is not true within the fold, and it has not been true since the fold's creation. You need to understand that I have no control whatsoever in the world of the fold.

It's not my domain whatsoever. I am being kept out by that. And he gestures towards the fog wall that the tower is sort of rapidly descending back down towards. He says, people are dying in there. I don't know what's happening to their spirits. I am not shepherding them to the great hereafter. The natural order of things of entropy and decay.

those are not being maintained or respected. There is something terribly, terribly wrong happening in the fold, and I am speaking to you now, Rictus, because I believe that you know there's something wrong with the dynasty that bore you and the world that you live in. I believe that there is a satisfaction with the state of things that you have never received. Let me know if I'm speaking out of...

No, no, you nailed it. No, yeah, nailed it. Got it in one. So what do I do? As the tower continues to descend, he starts to grow sort of more transparent. The threads binding his cloak appear to be like, wilting off of him and floating away like small, like feathers.

He says, I don't know. I can't do much for you from beyond the fog wall. Passing you, my boon took most of my power. I notice you haven't gotten a ton of use out of it. Hopefully it will be of some utility to you, but as long as that remains, and he points towards the fog wall,

he says, things in the fold, this contest, everything, It will be wrong. It will be unnatural. Spirits will gather and decay, and when that happens, terrible, terrible things come as a result. You are one man, Rictus, and I don't begrudge you a mission to save the world, but you must understand that the truth. The truth. of this world, you will never understand it until you have rid yourself of its influence. Okay. So I'll work on that

and do what I can to get, I guess, the fog wall down. Do you know any way to, like, resist time magic? Because that would help me, like, a ton in that mission. He... Give me an insight check. 13? He is

trying to speak, trying to answer you. It is no longer like audible. The things that he is saying, you can tell just from his body language, which is again,

tough to read because he's a skull and a cloak floating in the ear. So I probably can't read his lips, I guess. Can't read his lips, no. You can read his chattering teeth.

He's saying, he's his, he seems confused by what you have And then as suddenly as he appeared, he vanishes. The walls of the golden tower begin to rise, cutting off your view as you guys lower back down through the atmosphere and come down to a landing back on the island of the octave cigarette. The day continues after your return to the Ogstigarot. Time does not stop.

And, you know, during your rest and recovery from the demands of the trial of transmutation, you all are sort of vaguely aware of the fact that two more groups are going into the lake to do this trial. You hear the, you know, the rocket tower taking off and returning two more times. And, you know, with sunset, you get a night's rest. And the next morning, you and all the other aspirants are summoned to the main hall of the, the zygorot. You all enter the building and with the others file in between these floating silver disk fountains and holographic busts of your fallen competitors. And you see, you know, each other craning necks trying to work out who all died. from the three groups that faced the trial of transmutation the previous day. And that process is made much easier when a bell chimes in the distance

and the holograms update with the new casualties. Obviously, from your group, there's the Giant Teddy Snugjaw, the autonomous alarm system claxon, the icy elemental gladiator rhyme, who had it out for you, Loravith, but met their end. And the kind of If you come through the king, you had best not miss. You also see the kindly old wizard Randolph, who duper sweet leaf is sort of standing in front of tears beginning to stream down his face again. You realize with some relief that the other eight aspirants who died and the other two groups are mostly unfamiliar to you.

The icy regent Baroness Elsie, stage magician, fabulous Pharaoh, Corrigan, the Blas. conjurer who I think you actually fought in the first trial. There's the truly loathsome pickup artist Enigma, the orb-headed illusionist Orbert. I know these aren't these people full legal names, but that is how I'm hearing it in my head. Like, oh, my name, I'm the hateful illusionist, Dilbert. Enigma. I'm the resilient pervert Daryl. That's what everybody knows.

There's a world in which you guys rolled a different number when you were like, picking your final teammate in the trial of evocation, and you could, Enigma, who was basically mystery, the pickup artist, could have been a major MPC in this season. There is the ghostly number and acclaimed physicist Izzy Newton. These are the fallen who don't quite recognize. Just I'm imagining you bawling up notebook paper and throwing it into a campfire. I've got a shredder sort of right next to my PC that I'm feeling on. You thought these are good enough to write down and we just like, nah. I'll be honest. These were, I would say, say below like spot 50 on the list of 64 this is when I started to this is like scorching

Ray Romano level you've been in the game long enough to know that if you if you dangle a duper sweet leaf in front of me you know that I can float on those visible stink lines like Garfield yeah the only familiar face with these new holograms of the of the the 12 aspirants who fell in this trial. Loravith, you recognize the Dwarven Excavator Dusty Undersight, your neighbor in the tents on the outskirts of the Octave Island. That is pretty much the only person here that you all had any association with. Looking around the room, it dawns on you.

What's that? Duber's dad. Duber's dad. I mean, yeah, Randolph, obviously, you had. So he was his dad. He was his dad. No, not his dad. Looking around the room, it dawns on you.

all how much emptier it is in here with 40 fewer opponents. And with just a few exceptions, you're mostly familiar with the remaining lot. But as you are sort of running an inventory of who remains, there is a flash from one of the fountains, from which emerged these flying multicolored sparks that begin sort of flitting around the room erratically. And from the still waters of this silver fountain, you see a gleaming bald head begin to emerge, followed by a long, lean torso clad in a stylish checkered jacket with just an outrageous number of nested lapels, and these two long legs wearing curly boots. The most fashionable man, any of you have ever seen, emerges from this floating fountain, and begins to hover a good two feet above its surrogate.

surrounded by these colorful willow wisps. And this man looks around at the 24 aspirants gathered here and says, Hello. Hi. Hello. Hello. My name is Coxie. And I will be administerating the trial of conjuration.

Don't freak out. You guys, you still have your day off, your day of leisure and study and rest. But I must impose, I'm afraid, one order of business before our trial is conducted tomorrow at dawn, the format of this forthcoming trial will be a duel. You and your single opponent will square off in a no-holds-barred combat in an arena randomly assigned to you. You will have until dawn tomorrow to choose your opponent. Now, to keep things interesting, two aspirants must accept each other's challenge. It must be consensual, and they will seal their placement by shaking the hands to which they have fixed their grim war. And after that, the arrangement will be locked in.

It may not be changed. If you are able to find a willing opponent agrees to your challenge If you win your duel with them You will receive a golden award But if you are unable to find a willing opponent By down tomorrow One will be randomly assigned to you

And the winner of this duel will receive Only a copper reward So Find your opponent Choose wisely and enjoy your day off. Excuse me, Coxie. Oh, yes.

If I may ask, what will the loser of the duels receive? Death. Anyway, enjoy your day off, you guys. Maybe go down to the lily and get a signature massage and prepare for tomorrow's deliol to the death. And I wish you best of luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor. Coxie! Yes. Will there be any rules to this engagement that you can tell us of now?

I said that Snow holds barred, yes? I am not interested in testing your specific knowledge of conjuration magics. I find that to be far too limiting. Any tools at your disposal will be available to you in this battle, but there will be a few twists thrown in, a few just a little twists. Um, but, uh, much like your accent. Yes, it's implacable, isn't it? The word's implacable.

Well, you can't place it. Where I'm from, it's implacable because you don't, you can't place it. I mean, it makes sense. But anyway, choose your opponent in the fight. You will fight to the death and, um, try to find someone in, you know, strike in a court. Because if you can't, we'll just decide before you. You'll still have to do the duel to the death. You just won't get as good of a prize.

Implaceable. Yes. All right. Bye you guys. And he sinks down into the silver fountain from which he appeared. And suddenly you all hear like pounding footsteps. And Loravith, you look over and you see Gricon just barreling at you. And he skids to a halt and holds out his hand.

And he says, this is it, yes? It should be here, yes? Our strength finally measured once and for all. This should be it, yes, at this place, at this time. Think of it. I can see the appeal. We have waited so long for an opportunity like this. Yes, no, listen.

I'd love it, of course. How glorious it would be, Lord. I see the glory? You think I can see the glory? Here's my problem. I have this little boy. He's my son, basically. And if I

amount the one to challenge him to a duel, someone else will, and he will be killed. I don't... I don't know. I don't have an answer. Are you suggesting that you... You would challenge this... This little one to a duel

to lose on purpose? You were so talented. I would lose on purpose. Enough people have died to keep this boy alive. You see, I barely know. I'm not going to lay down my life for one dup. Sweet leave, certainly. But I did make a vow to protect him,

so I'm trying to think of how to do that. You would either lose on purpose, or you would be defeated by this little guy. Loravith. Wait, one moment. Give me 30 seconds to think. you see duber sweetleaf approach you and say sir you don't

I wish you wouldn't do that you don't need to I can hold off my own I do possess some magic I know I may not look like much Oh your magical duper Everyone who sees you see your magic In every twinkle of your eye

Every time that dimple pops out Everyone sees the magic Pop out That's not what dimple do. Pops in, I get... No, it's like... Actually, mine too, sir.

Whoa. Oh, God. Good Lord. Why is that cute? It's a feature of my people. Richtus, will you duel this boy? Um, Lord of his, I don't want to kill a boy. I know.

I'm not a boy. I am 65 years old. Look at him. He holds up his hands. Sixty six. I'm this mini. You know, it's agrikan. Yes, I'll find another way to protect the boy,

but no, I can't deny that no, there's no more worthy foe here, and it would be quite glorious. Yes. Glory. In this contest, in this final battle between us, in this glorious hallowed place, let the battle wait on.

A battle of hallowed glory and honor begin. Two vicious folks. Dig meaty men, slapping meat. Former lovers turn friends. Only one can live. Only one will carry the torch.

I can hardly wait, Loravith. And he sticks out his hand with the grimire on it. And I do the same and clasp wrist. Hell, yes. It's fucking Arnold and the other guy.

Sucker punch, right then. Pop. Sucker punch him in the face? Shucker punch him so hard his head pop off. Give me an attack roll. No, I'm not going to do that. Grvinz against the rules of the conclave. Oh, okay.

Well, you don't sucker punch him then. Nice try. As you clasp hands with Grecon, you see a silvery sort of viny pattern begin to spread across the back of your grimroar that reaches down across the back of your hand and meets a similar pattern with his meeting in a silver bramble between the two of your hands. There is a faint light that emits from the two of you. and as you release your hands, you can see that you are marked.

Tomorrow morning, you will compete in a duel to the death with your greatest rival. Maximum Fun. A worker-owned network of artist-owned shows, supported directly by you.