The Glass Cannon Podcast - Gatewalkers 87 – Inveigle with Lox

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

With the basement cleared out, the heroes leave Ritalson Manor. Watch the video here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/AhHxfShK6oA This episode was sponsored by Foundry VTT and Norse Foundry. See why tabletop gamers everywhere have made the switch to Foundry Virtual Tabletop at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundryvtt.com/gcp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For all your random number-generating needs, visit Norse Foundry at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://norsefoundry.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Start your free online visit today at ⁠https://hims.com/GCN⁠ for your personalized hair loss treatment options. (Results vary. Based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride. Prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information.) Access exclusive podcasts, ad-free episodes, and livestreams with a 30-day free trial with code "GCN30" at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠jointhenaish.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Troy Lavallee, Joe O'Brien, Skid Maher, Matthew Capodicasa, Sydney Amanuel, and Kate Stamas as they tour the country. Get your tickets today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cn8wr0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cmY380⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Watch new episodes when they premiere every Thursday at 8PM ET on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/theglasscannon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You are listening to the Glass Cannon Network, the premier source for role playing game entertainment. Last week on the Glass Cannon Podcast. This giant thing climbs out of the tank, looks at the four of you, and rips apart into four of them. Be gone, you devils! Boom! And he's going to explode in divine wrath. We're going to get through this, Buggles. Let's have some fun here. There's a sweet cone. Gek, Ramious, and Bugles. Icy cold. Ah!

Bugles turn. Pop. 37 points of damage. Whoa. That's a points of fire damage. Shooom. Dead. Still up.

God. Damn it. This fucking guy. 26 to hit. Yeah, hit! Yes! Nice! Then I'll drop a claw and get.

Ah! And a third natural 20. Oh my God, it's a crit! Brother Ramius, I'm sorry he's done this to you. Buggles turn. Boom, and another ignition. You absolutely annihilate the boss. You have come to this containment unit to meet the guest.

Yet Ogden Zorius said, seek what's behind the vault to meet the Blessed One., Ogman Zorius said, Seek what's behind the vault to meet the Blessed One. What does it all mean? The adventure continues... now. Music For many years, we spent a lot of time and effort sort of hiding the reality of when we record. Because we record way in know, because we record way in advance. Sometimes we record right up before the deadline. It's a ruse that Joe and I especially held near and dear to our heart and I believe you still do. But sometimes I like-

Great tradition. It's a great tradition. We don't like to be like, oh, the election just finished and it's May while you're watching this. But- Lies make baby Jesus cry. That's true. And that's the main reason we don't do it anymore. But there's something while you're watching this. Lies make baby Jesus cry. And that's the main reason we don't do it anymore. But there's something that happened today

that I think is worth talking about. Oh, man. It's on all of our minds. We just were getting ready to record, and CJ put on the trailer for Oblivion Remastered. Worst decision ever. And now we can't focus on anything else. We lost 30 minutes.

We got so. Good solid recording time. Sucked, we all were like silent and then you would just hear someone just go, oh, oh, oh, oh. Cool. Yes, yes. Oh yeah.

Yes. Sydney, what did you think of Oblivion when you played it? Originally. When you were nine. I was not nine, I played it when I was older. It wasion when you played it originally? When you were nine. I was not nine. I played it when I was older. It was good.

I played it on PC. I played Skyrim first, so then I went back to Oblivion and it was hard to go back. Then I modded it a ton. I never played the game as meant to be played. I never did a playthrough normal. I just went in, started modding, kind of fucked the game as meant to be played. I never did like a playthrough normal I just went in started modding kind of fucked the game up too much and then I stopped playing it as I Happens yeah, but this is what got me so excited because now I feel like because not even just a remaster would have been cool But like this is a lot

I mean from what we saw now I can play it like play the story and figure out The pre to Skyrim because I know Skyrim so well now. So I'm very excited, but I've never played it in full. Cool. I also have never played Oblivion. What? You've told this story. I think we've touched upon this story in the past. When Joe and I first met, Joe was on my softball team. He was recommended by my voiceover agent at the

time and I screened him and I was like, he seems okay. And we were- Really hits the long ball. Yeah, lots of the batting cages. We'll do. Yeah, I've watched him. He could hit the- We'll do just fine. He could hit the off speed stuff. He could go to right field. That was enough. And we were talking and it became clear that we were both into nerd culture and he's like, are you excited for – I'm paraphrasing.

Are you excited for Skyrim? Elderscrolls are like, what is that? Because at the time, I had been on a huge video game hiatus. I was busy chasing tail around New York. Oh, God. So, I didn't have time for games. I was playing another game and winning. But he made it sound so delectable and I was single and I could do whatever the fuck I wanted. So I was like, I'll play this. This sounds great. When does it come out? It was like a week

or two later and I played the head and it... I never stopped playing video games from that moment on. It got me back into nerd culture. This is pre-glass canon, but I didn't want to go back and play Oblivion or Morrowind or any of those games because of the graphics and the interface. So I'm really excited about this. Yeah. Yeah. My memory of it... I loved Oblivion, my memory of it is Joe, because at the time it was groundbreaking when it came out because I had played Morrowind and that was awesome. Oblivion was a big graphical upgrade and just, I think compared to Skyrim, I'm excited to go back and check it out because Skyrim is extremely cool. It's amazing, but it feels very, I don't know,

it feels like it's in a small location. Skyrim feels small? I know that it has so many places, but it's all this kind of snowy landscape in this one area. It's more specific. It's very, very specific. Cyrodiil, the way it's done in Oblivion, feels more like a whole fantasy world, in a way, to me. Morrowind, too. Yeah, because it had very wildly different biomes.

Yeah. Yeah. Which was really cool. That's really interesting. Did you play all of Oblivion? Yeah. Like you played the game? Yeah.

You finished it? Yeah. Wow. He never finished his games or books. That's impressive. I finished very, very few games, but yeah. It just, I don't want to say too much, but the, what do they call it? The, the gameplay loop, the gameplay loop of oblivion is very satisfying because the oblivion concept, like what it is, is very cool.

And you, it has kind of an addictive thing to it where you're like, I'm going to do this, then I'm going to do this, then I'm going to do this. Like you can see what you need to do. And it just, it feels like tasks getting checked off a list. And so it keeps you moving. It's, it's really well done. Did you play it too, Skid? I did.

I think that's the, it's the reason I bought a 360 was because it just looked so good. I was just reading articles about it and like gamer pro, whatever. And it was just like, man, this is awesome. And I remember like playing through it. It's just like, you can do like anything. Like you could play like any way you want. It was just like, that sounds amazing.

And I remember it was just like, I'm going to break into this guy's house. And I'm like, I break into his house and I'm like ducked down in stealth mode, just kind of going around his basement. I'm just like, oh, there's a little stuff in here. And I turned around and he's standing right there. It was just like, sort of like stood up. I was like, I'll see myself out. Have a good day. It was the funniest thing. Here's your fork back. Here's your fork back. Fork and book. Here's your fork. And volume four of The History of Cyrodiil.

Here you go. Very informative. Thank you. Kate, did you ever play any Elder Scrolls? I mean, no, I'm not a fucking nerd. Wow. And I was actually the one while you all were watching the trailer being like,

can we get to work, please? Yeah. I'm not a fucking nerd. Wow. And I was actually the one while you all were watching the trailer being like, can we get to work please? Yeah, why would we? I'm a professional. Yeah. We get to our tabletop nerd game? I played Elder Scrolls Online for like four seconds and I was like, oh, I can't have this in the house. And then I kind of like men in black myself

and just like forgot and I haven't played it since. So. Elder Scrolls Online, I played recently, coming from, we played WoW together. And then I was like, let me try out another one. Completely different, you level up way faster, it's not really like Skyrim, it's not really, I would say if you were to dip in to an Elder Scrolls game,

Oblivion would be the one. I don't know what it is about these games, but they sound fun when my friends talk about them, and then I go and play them, I'm like, not interested. I don't think I wanna play this game play them, I'm like, I'm not interested. I don't think I want to play this game. And everyone's like, what? You just got to like, get into it. And it's like, I don't. It's a big commitment. I respect it. Xavier tried out Skyrim. He knew about it. And I was like, I'll watch you play.

Like, it'll be fun. He didn't even get past like the opening sort of dragon cut scene part. And he was like, I actually don't really care about that. Why am I in this card? I don't want to be in this card. I don't know what it is. I want to like it, but I just don't care. But he loved like cyberpunk and stuff. So I'm like, okay, it's not like the open world game.

I think it's just the high fantasy setting. I think it's high fantasy. I don't know why, because like on paper, I like that. But when I play these games, I'm just like, I don't really want to play this right now. I want to do anything else. But watching it maybe, would you watch? I watched, I try to like, I don't really want to play this right now. I want to do anything else. But watching it maybe? Would you watch?

No, I watched. I try to watch Michael play it. I usually watch him play games. And same, I'm just kind of like, I want to like this. Everyone likes it. Same with Magic the Gathering. You guys all like it. I want to like it. And I just don't. I don't like it. I hate it. I don't care for it. I think it's a brilliantly designed game, but I want to shoot myself rather than play it. Sucks. Just sit across from somebody and get fucking trounced for 30 minutes. His experience with it is certainly tough.

I can't listen to this. I've had a bad experience. I've had the same experience. Getting your ass handed to you. Ready to just getting your ass kicked every single time. My big memory of Oblivion is, because I was way into Morrowind, was like I was anticipating its release. So it was all those trailers.

And it was the main guy was voiced by Patrick Stewart. Patrick Stewart. Yeah. Like the emperor. The emperor. And so the trailer was like, close shot the jaws of oblivion. And it was Patrick Stewart. And I was like, this game is going

to be the greatest game ever made. It was right at the cusp of when known actors started to do voice work in games. Right. Which was really, I think, kicked off mostly by GTA 3. It's kind of started, it's like, oh, there's people from movies in this game, and it was sort of on the heels of that. Yeah. I remember that being a really big deal. It's like the Emperor, and he's in, I'm sure it's like, if you play the remaster, the Emperor is Patrick

Stewart, which is so badass. Pretty cool. So cool. That is cool. I kind of burned out on it too. I never finished it. And then I played Skyrim, kind of burned out on that too. And I've never finished one of those games. I finished Skyrim, but it caught to a point, because I'm a finisher.

I was like, I've got to stop doing these side quests. Yeah. Yeah, you just have to stop. Mainline the story. That's why I finished them, because I don't get tempted by the side quests. You don't get tempted by the side quests? I do some of them, but then I'm just like, oh, I want to finish the game.

Let me just main quest it. If I have 10 side quests sitting in my thing, I start freaking out. I'm like, I gotta do these side quests. And then I'll talk to someone, I'm like, no, no, this is gonna open up. I don't want to do side quests. I have no find or lost, kid.

I was playing Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 the other day, streaming it, and I was like, okay, guys, today's gonna be the day. I was playing Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 the other day, streaming it. And I was like, OK, guys, today's going to be the day. I'm doing this thing. I finally got to this big city, Cootenberg. This kid was watching me. And a drunk guy. Cootenberg?

Cootenberg. Oh, like Steve Cootenberg? And a drunk guy approached me in the street and was like, I just had a baby boy. My life is great. And he talks to you. And you're like, all right. Nothing really happens.

It's not even a side quest. And I just went, I'm gonna follow Michael home. I'm gonna see if he really does have a kid. And everyone was like, Sydney, one second, I'm gonna do the main thing. Sydney, the next second, I'm going to follow Michael home. Just open world games are just so expansive nowadays that I get lost immediately.

Oh yeah. It's hard to stay focused. Red Dead 2, you and I were big Red Dead 2 players. I mean, there are some side quests in that game that are better than some other complete game. Absolutely. Yeah. And some that are so maddening. I'm thinking of Red Dead 2. You remember there's like, you're riding your horse in the middle of nowhere and there's this like shack with this creepy young red dude. Yes. The brother and two. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it's just, it's an amazing thing. It's better than just.

Yeah, it's incredible. Hills have eyes. Yeah. And the whole, the way it all plays out and what you're sort of allowed to do like as the way it plays out. It's so fucked up. I'm like, I gotta find this motherfucker.

Yeah. Blackout, yes. What a great game. Who's going to stream Oblivion? I'm streaming it. You're going to stream Oblivion? I'm streaming it. You're going to stream it? If you're watching this show right now, which obviously you are, or listening,

Joe's already streamed it. I streamed it once six weeks ago. No. Nice math. That was quick math. Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm definitely going to hop in and play a little bit of it.

We'll ask the shit out of that. The main thing I'm excited about, what kind of build do you think? I'm thinking of going, I'm going to play like a GCN character. That's what I really like doing with Skyrim games and Dark Souls too. I haven't decided yet. Play Asta. I'm not sure.

Play Asta. No, I want to play an effective character that people will enjoy. I got to go. Asta would fit very well in this because of the whole spell in one hand. Is the cat person, or is that a khajiit? Yeah, khajiit. But Oblivion has the lion. That would be lucky.

That would be lucky. Are they khajiit still, or are they different race, the lion race? They made them look more liony? They're khajiit. They're khajiit. They're cats. They're feline, yeah, sort of race.

Yeah, I'm not sure who it's going to be yet. Here's my issue every time with The Elder Scrolls game. I go in, I'm like, I want to do something different. And every single time, I'm just like, I'm not having any fun, so I'm just going to go be a thief again. Full stealth build is so fun at Elder Scrolls games. And then, and these guild quests are always amazing. Stealing is the best.

I love to steal. Yeah. It makes me think of like the game Thief, which I also was a huge fan of. I never actually played that game. I can see the cover. I never actually played that game. One thing I'm really excited about is going back

as I have no memory of the mechanics of Oblivion. I don't remember, like I remember like the narrative and I remember the gameplay loop, but I don't remember how you leveled up exactly and because all the menus are different. And from what it said in the video, there's going to be some mixing of the mechanics between Skyrim and Oblivion. They redid some of the leveling mechanics and skin mechanics and stuff. The problem is time.

I don't know how. Oh yeah, that's it. It's like, I'm not going to have time to... I just bought Cyberpunk recently on Skid's recommendation and I put four hours into it over the past month. So I'm like, what? Now I got to finish Cyberpunk. I can't play this.

But I discovered a way that I think I can do it. There will be no campaign three. In fact, tonight is the final episode. Oh, wow. We're going to have a lot of oblivion coming. Stay tuned for the finale coming up right after this break. Pardon the interruption here, Nace. Just a quick hop in from me to let you know about Heroforge.

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We have new dice coming out soon. Maybe by the time you're watching this, they're already out. Cool, new dice. Cool, new dice. Did we make a Matthew die? Did we make a new Matthew die? That seems silly now. I know, right? A Matthew die? Matthew should still get a die. Yeah.

Because he plays many, many beloved characters across the network. I couldn't tell you. We could just absorb his... Couldn't name one. Couldn't name one. We could absorb name one. I couldn't name one. He could absorb his dice. Well, the other thing. Yes.

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What are they blowing out? They're blowing the merchandise out of their, the inventory, they're blowing it out of the warehouse. Just like shit out of a side of a diaper. Yeah. It seems like a weird thing why we call them blowouts. Yeah. Not the imagery they're trying to...

Poop outs. Poop outs. Poop out. Diarrhea sale. Also like to thank Foundry Virtual Tabletops. Yeah. Do they have any sales? They should.

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Sydney is sick, and she's blowing her nose. She's blowing her camera. Blow out. Blow out. Blow out nose. She's very ill. Blow out sale on mucus. She's having a blowout sale on her nose.

Blowout of a viral. Kill me. What kind of sickness you got over there? All mucus must go. I don't know. I'm starting to think like I've said my whole life, like, I don't have allergies. I'm not allergic to anything. Because you're cool.

Yeah. You're not a nerd loser. Skate skaters don't have allergies. Skaters don't have allergies. They're only allergic to anything. Because you're cool. Yeah. You're not a nerd loser. Skaters don't have allergies. Skaters don't have allergies. They're only allergic to the man. Yeah. Yeah. Allergic to hypocrisy.

I'm allergic to authority and fascism. Yeah. I feel like I got a cold. You got a cold. Yeah. I think I got a little cold. You can also develop allergies as you age. I know. And that's what scares me the most.

And I don't want to get tested for like dogwood pollen because I probably haven't. You're like 30 now. And that's kind of when that happens. When it changes for people. Is that true? Yeah, it's when you start dying, your body starts deteriorating.

Your body's starting to die. 25, it goes all downhill, but I'm fine. I'm just a little sick. And it's the worst kind because it's like the sun is out now. The weather's so nice and I'm like, I don't feel well. That sucks as an adult. All I wanted to do was like do garden shit and be outside this weekend and I was like, I can't stand for a long time.

It's real sad. You should be sipping rum runners on a porch. Yeah. Instead you're sniffling in the studio. I just want to be on Troy's boat. Admiring your gladiola. Yes. I want to be on Troy's boat.

Troy's boat. Did you get it yet? No, no. But I asked my wife, can we get a boat? What did Sam say? No. Not right now. Of course not. She's a reasonable person. She's not really allowed. But I think I talked her into it. I'm slowly talking her into the boat. Hudson River,

she's like, we're never going to use it. I'm slowly talking her into the boat. Hudson River, it's just, she's like, we're never gonna use it. I'm like, you kidding? If we had a boat, we'd go all the time. Head down to Peaks Gill, head to the docks, take it out on the Hudson. People would come visit us. We'd have friends. Yeah.

I don't think you want friends though. You don't want friends. Yeah. But here's the main thing. But here's the main thing. Yeah, they're coming over my boat. And then they go home. They don't step foot in the house.

I don't make them take off their shoes when they get on my boat. What if it's a houseboat? Oh. That's the main thing. Yeah, they're coming over my boat. And then they go home. They don't step foot in the house. I don't make them take off their shoes when they get on my boat. What if it's a houseboat? Oh, that's a good story. You're also going to have a lot of boat friends. Do you want to be friends with boat people? Yeah, a bunch of douchebags who also have boats. Because that's what's going to have like, oh.

Weirdos. Because you got to buy, you know, the place where you dock the boat. Yeah, right. And then you're going to get to know. You're going to be interacting with all those people. You're going to get to know all these boat people. They might be fun. Guys in like white shorts. Yeah, I imagine there's a to know all those people. You're going to get to know all these boat people. They might be fun.

Guys in like white shorts. Yeah, I imagine there's a lot of Jimmy Buffett. Boat shoes. Don't care for Jimmy Buffett, but I like drinking rum at 10 AM. And you do love Yacht Rock. I love Yacht Rock. He's a huge Yacht Rock guy.

That's at least 45% of why I want the boat. Just to play Yacht Rock. I hate Jimmy Buffett. but yacht rock's all right. Please burger in paradise, paradise. I don't care how good an investor he is. His music sucks. What is this paperwork you brought to the table? Is this a summons?

I just want to point this out. This is a Ike in Rochester fan of ours. He sent this to me in this really dramatic envelope. Whoa. This is an old top secret module, Lady in Distress, which I actually used to own back in the day. It's been lost for many years. Look at that.

Beautiful vintage gaming stuff. I want to encourage this behavior. People that mail me stuff like this. I want to point it out on air. It's its own module? It's a scenario. It was a tournament scenario for the top secret game. The USP.

Oh, top secret game. Right, right, right, right. Lady in Distress. Very cool. It all takes place on hostages on a cruise ship. It's fucking great. On a boat. That sounds awesome.

On a boat. Yeah. That was what happened to you. Boat related. Got a boat. See, this is how you sling, bant. Let's play a little Pathfinder. Let's play it.

For the final episode of Campaign 2. Fine, but let's play second edition. I have a lot of fanfare. I feel like I'm getting Sydney's cold. I feel like a sneeze coming on. I'm not sick any longer. I'm on the other end. Or Skid has no choice.

He's got to sit next to your sick ass. I'm on the other end. Your shirt makes me feel like I'm, I can't see. I've said this before. I'm nauseous. I got this at Gen Con two years ago. It's a magic shirt. Isn't that fun?

Yeah, it's magic. It's like a magic eye. I see a goblin. Is that north? No, It's a magic shirt. Isn't that fun? Yeah, it's magic. It's like a magic eye. I see a goblin. Is that Norton? No, it's a scary guy. Scary guy. I like magic. You were shitting on it before.

I just have to stand up for magic. I'm enjoying magic. I want to like it. A lot of nerds like that shit. Yeah. Gatewalkers. It took me a second. What is this game?

What show? Oblivion, Oblivion, Oblivion. We're in this vault. Gatewalks. In the vault. Vaults. Yeah. Oy the vault. Oy the vault. It took me a second. What is this game? What show? What is this game? Oblivion, oblivion, oblivion. We're in this vault. In the vault. Vaults. Yeah. Oy the vault.

Oy the vault. You came into this vault, you bypass this three-door locking mechanism where you could only open one door at a time, very, very dangerous, not knowing what was on the other side. But you finally get to the other side expecting the guest or the blessed one. Instead you see a containment unit full of a murky green substance you can't see through, chains going all to all sides of the room and three levers. All of you eventually get into the room and you pull one of the levers and the lid starts to come off. All of you eventually get into the room and you pull one of the levers and the lid starts to

come off. What emerges is a multi-armed monstrosity. It looks like half Salman car, yeti, half like fused together, torsos, muscles exposed. It's like this being that has been built out of a hand, it sounds like. In your research in an earlier room, it says that he created the guest out of a hand that he found in his belongings when he woke up from the missing moment. It really is like alien resurrection. Yeah, he's taken this one little piece and, you know, used that DNA to create this monstrosity. It breaks out of the tank, splits into four and attacks you brutal battle Would you come out on top? I don't even think any of you went down

No, no, we got talked about you got beat up, but no one got beat up. Yeah We managed our damage pretty well first fight without barns who I know and none of us went down which was shocking Yeah, and who is everyone in good shape? No roll for initiative now Yeah. Orange, ooh, is everyone in good shape? No. Roll for initiative, no. Ah! Oh, jeez.

What are we at hit point-wise? Because nobody went down, but there were some close... I'm down half. I'm at 40 out of 80. Okay. I have like a third of my hit points. No focus points. Mm.

No focus points? No focus. I used all my highest level, highest rank spells. Gic is at 15 hit points. Ooh. And no focus points left. Yeah, to quote Eddie Murphy I'm at Eddie Johnny Carson Rod doesn't hold up as much

Alright, so what do you want to do here you you came in you did a very cursory investigation before you started pulling levers and gone right? Hmm I think Ramious is just first to start working on everybody's damage. So whatever we explore, whatever people want to look at or talk about, he's going to start healing wounds, treating wounds on Zephyr, on Gek, on himself, etc. So I'm just going to say he's doing that in the background, depending on whatever the first thing is you guys want to do. Well, when we came in, we looked at the book, but that didn't tell us anything. Was it because we didn't have like time to really sit with it? Yeah, I think Remius did a quick glance and saw that it was about moonstones and infusing

moonstones. But to what end? It wasn't clear. And we know we previously know about the moonstones that you what end it wasn't clear and we know we previously know About the moonstones that you can store Memories in them. Yeah But why this would be in this room is interesting for this specific creature amalgamation creature Yeah, I don't get it like and put it together taking them putting it in this creature I don't know why they would do that can we spend the time if we're healing and everything it definitely needs to be healed to do to take 20 30 on this room yeah take you'll take 30 old one II you'll take take 10 take 10 but I'm gonna take 30 oh yeah so

as you're doing some healing I don't know recovering your focus points and whatnot you start to really explore the room. You see that this being that's split into four has now, now that it's been slain, all of the bodies upon dying have sort of melted away into like four foul smelling heaps. Just like you kill them and they kind of collapse to the floor and all that remains from what's left of them is a single partially

mummified Salman Khar hand consisting of a thumb, index, middle finger, maybe part of the palm. It's twice the size of a human hand and probably twice as long as well. And it's just kind of sitting there amongst- Wow, like an infinity gauntlet. Really big. Amongst one of the, you know, it's like this. Sitting there amongst one of the piles. The rest is just fur and gristle.

This is all that remains. So there's one hand for each of the things or one hand? No, one hand. In one of the piles is a little hand sticking up. Ugh. All right. The smell is. Can I examine the hand? This is interesting to have this.

I never thought we'd actually get this thing. Yeah. So I wanna examine maybe a medicine check. I wanna see if it went like if it's an actual mummy, right? Like if it went through a mummification procedure or was it just accidentally mummified? Right. Or is it just old, you know, old and a stone age traveler who fell down into a crevasse? Yeah, I don't know if I can get any more information, biologically speaking, from a medicine check. But I do it. Do a medicine check.

You know, I'm just going, do a medicine check. I try. You know what, I'm just gonna do Assurance on it, and, well. You know what, no, I will do scholarly recollection and roll twice, take the better. There we go. Okay. I got a 29. 29. 29.

Medicine check. Wait, do you have assurance for medicine? I do. So you have medical assurance? Yes. Bam. Bam. Not a lot of people do these days.

Big problem. Wow. This could be fun now. He's really bringing it for the finale. Medical assurance. We gotta get it all out now. This is our fun now. Medical. He's really bringing it for the finale. Medical assurance. We got to get it all out now. This is our last chance. So what do you want to know about the hint?

I want to know if it was actually like we went through a mummification process, like if someone mummified this or if it just seems to be a part of a skeleton that was just found. Your initial reading on it is this is something that like mummified itself. You know what I mean? Like if left in a certain condition rather than... Yeah, that's what I was saying. ...wasting away, it just sort of mummified. It became mummified over time. You know what's a cool thing, quickly, about Foundry, I just noticed, is like with this room,

we have all these like chains sticking out radiating out from the central thing Like our tokens like they'll go underneath the chains. Yeah, they pass under them. That's so cool That's little details I mean, it's a shout out to the the people who take the pathfinder maps and Founderize them. Yeah, as you layer it. Yeah, there's a map a lower layer and a top layer then you can do stuff like this It's really great That's really and I mean look at Ramious. He's now in the thing the tank Luke on Hoth yeah

We had this for strange a ons to old AV maps could do it in the room where you were all the hooks were coming Down with the books on them. Yes David maps made me two maps That's why I layered the hooks on top and when you went under the hooks, your character... It's easy to do in that respect, but you need to make multiple layers. Really fucking cool. All right, so... So yeah, and nothing else on the hand.

I figure it's a Salomon Car hand. It is. I can tell you, I don't want you to to be like walk out of here and not detect magic you I'm assuming you're oh, yeah, yeah, I'll get to that in a second. Yeah, so without any biological information He'll detect magic. Yeah You know presence or absence is the hand itself magic it is magic. Oh, okay Yeah, okay. It was a time when I would punish people for not saying I detect magic No, I just assume adventure is not saying I detect magic. Now I just assume adventurers detect magic. At this level, yes. So you detect it, you detect it long enough to know

that it's coming from the hand. Um, all right, then I'll do an identify magic. Okay. Um, uh, I'll do religion since it's, it's a dead hand. So we'll try that to start. Well, religion, uh, 20. A little Rillidge, 20... Wow. Could it be that low? 23. 23. It is, if you invest it, it gives you cold resistance 10,

like a ring with, a ring of energy resistance, or greater ring of energy resistance. So would you have to like wear it as like a ring with a ring of energy resistance or greater ring event would have to like wear it as like you can kind of hold it on your belt or put it in a container on your person but yeah Warren in some way you don't like grafted onto your hand but just its presence gives you cool that's cool yeah gives the wearer what was the resistance cold? A cold resistance. A cold resistance, 10. We never talk about investing. You know, we talked, I feel like we talked about it more in the play test before we had the talk. Yeah, because that felt like a concept from the play test that I wasn't sure if it even made it into the rest of the regular game.

I think what ends up happening is when you digitize all your character sheets, it sort of takes care of it in the background a little bit, rather than you having to do the bookkeeping on it. But yeah, investing is a thing, investing limits and stuff. I think he'll explain this to the group. I'm gonna invest in a new Sydney. Cut away! I have tissues, are you using napkins?

She's using napkins from the coffee shop, it's so sad. A red nose like a who? Dr. Seuss. Yeah. Cut away. Yeah. Don't let them see me like this. It's the same haircut as Cindy Louhoo too.

She's the same haircut. I do, actually that's true. A little like, my hair's getting long. Cool, okay, so we take this hand. Yeah, I think he'll take the hand and it has this magical property. It can give you resistance to cold. I'll hand it to Zephyr.

Like, keep this on your person. I'll just add it to my little... Protect yourself. Pouch of items from dead people. Yeah. It would be best. Looks at Tuerbel. Well, so we have to keep it away from Riddleson if we ever see him again.

I mean, if we do end up having to go to the Crown of the World, if that's truly what we're supposed to be doing, we have this and we have the Salmokar kind of outfit. It's another resistance to cold. At least we'll be warm. We have this and we have the Salmokar kind of outfit. It's another resistance to cold. At least we'll be warm. Right. Is there something we had that was like some kind of equilibrium magical thing that like keeps us,

might be another game, nevermind. I think it was Giant Slayer. Maybe. Wow. We have a... It might be Jade Regent, actually. The Yeti costume has the mask, greater Coyote cloak and the plus one cold resistance. That was what the Yeti costume had.

What does that mean? Plus one cold resistance? Says plus one cold resistance outfit is what I wrote down. Yep. So that doesn't just give you a plus one, it gives you something else. I can tell you... We can look it up. A lot of this has to do with like the coyote cloak is... You don't have to eat?

No. What is the coyote cloak? Brother Amias has the ring of sustenance. you don't have to eat? No, what is the Coyote Cloak? Brother Amias has the Ring of Sustenance. Oh, that's what you have, right? Maybe that's what I was thinking of. Just basically the Ring of Sustenance. Yeah, the Ring of Sustenance so he doesn't have to eat and he only needs two hours to sleep for if it counts as eight hours.

And the Coyote Cloak is a plus one to survival check. So this is all for like, traveling the three. Yeah, it goes with it. Crown of the World. We're being travel to the crown of the world. We're being equipped for the crown of the world. But it's only like one set of, an item set for like one person. I can't tell if metagaming,

that's what we're supposed to be doing. It seems like this is what Riddleson was doing. Exactly. Now the mask functions identically to a greater coyote cloak. And the costume is a plus one cold resistance explorers clothing which you gotta look it up like explorers clothing is one thing and it's

basically has a the equivalent of a rune attached to it that gives it plus one cold resistance but you have to look up what that actually means but that is it typically that's related to environmental stuff. Maybe it's like it's one step less severe for you. It's either cold resistance 5 or cold resistance 10 or it's a bonus against saves against cold or something like that. I'm sure it's the latter and not cold resistance to cold damage like to like damaging cold spells the way that the hand seems like. Yeah, it's probably more for survival. Yeah, yeah, I know uh, I don't know for sure think it was casino and one II or something has like a

Thing for the elements so you're not as affected by like heat and temperatures and stuff like that. So maybe it's more like that But that is a good point that it's just obviously for riddles and this for one person to wear this whole outfit and have the ring and stuff Damn. I don't know what we're, player wise, this is me Sydney talking, I don't know what we should do about Riddleson. Well. Do we kill him? Do we seek him out?

We gotta confront him. Well, we killed whatever was in here. The whale guy that we met down here said to retrieve the Blessed One. We murdered it, I think. We retrieved. I'm wondering if we leave this. I think the hand might be the... Maybe the hand is the Blessed One,

but I think when we leave this room, maybe something will happen. Hopefully something good. Well, we should go back to his office and spend even more time going through his materials. We have to read them. The library, the library. We have to read more of that book,

because we only read a little bit. Is there anything, are there any secret doors in this room? No. Well, I mean, let's just take some guesses as players as to what's coming. I don't think we're going to confront Riddleson. You don't think so? That's my guess, that's what I've been saying since we came down here

My guess is he's gone. He's not the boss until such time as he confronts us at the crown of the world Like something along those lines because what happens if he comes back? This is gonna be bizarre. You really awkward Yeah, we're gonna kill him in his house Maybe first came here all one said he'll be back within the week Yeah, and two days, cause you spent the night and then you spent a day under here. I just think it's insane for him to call us, to bring us back and then just not be here,

knowing that he has all of this shit in his house that we could find, you know? Well, because it's behind one secret door, we won't find any of it. This is also like the predetermined destiny type stuff where I'm like, did he plan for us to find? Like, is this all, you know, like I'm like all wrapped up in that and I'm like, were we supposed to come down here,

talk to the whale guy, destroy his own? The whale fish man certainly didn't seem upset that we were down there. It was like perfect. Yeah. All according to plan. Are we supposed to kill his creation to get the hand? Like, I don't know. Yeah, it's to plan. Are we supposed to kill his creation to get the hand like I'm I don't know

Yeah, it's very it's all very strange, but I think yeah library is Nothing else in here right Trey Just that book take the book. Yeah the book the moonstone book the moon and the moonstones Yeah, there were moonstones take the moonstones. They're worth something, but obviously they may be have more value than just their Monetary value and then there's this book that seems to be focused mainly on Moonstones and the use of Moonstones, but it's a tome that he has scribbled in Yeah, all right. Great. I think Remy. All right, let's just go back to the library

Okay Yeah When you say library you mean the room to the north the room to the library. Okay, and when you say library, you mean the room to the north. The room to the north. That just had stacks and stacks of stuff. You spent 24 hours in there because you only spoke one of the languages. All right, I'll open up these doors here and you wanna get back to where I'm pinging

on the map here to the north. Ooh, is it dark? I have no light with my character. Ooh, there we go. Yeah, I made it dark in here. Ooh, I'm spooky. I'm scared. Yeah, he made it. He lowered the light level.

To show off my vital beacon. Just wanted to show off his beak. Take a look at my beak, sweet beak. Nice beak, John. All right, so you wanna spend another? Three days. No, okay, well here's what I think. Think about this.

We take the book. We have the book, right, that we're reading, or is it multiple books? There's other stuff in there. No, like that room is shit everywhere. Yeah. Copy, copy, copy. The book is moonstone. Let's just go back upstairs and read it upstairs,

but I guess we can't do that. No, there's languages in here we don't understand, which is why it's here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Probably could just bring them with us. Poop, salad, um. I say we just keep doing research. Just hang out in here. Just keep. Yeah. What's the difference?

Someone comes out here and confronts us. We just kill them and just keep reading. Yeah. You are murderers. We do. I feel conflicted. You are singularly equipped to kill anyone who bothers us. Let's do it. Yeah.

Conflicted in what way? Yeah. Conflicted in what way yeah conflicted in The other gatewalkers who don't know what's going on that we have befriended and we all sort of felt like something's weird in this house Right, like they don't know what we're they know what we're doing, but we haven't come back yet Hubert who thinks we're supposed to come back and he's telling a lie for us and all win who's fucking weird and I don't trust him at all But I guess It doesn't matter about any of those fears if we could just kill him Yeah, if he's weird fuck him and like we told him what we're doing. It's just like just gonna have to wait

We have too much the other thing I think is when you talk about the other gatewalkers like while we know a lot of information to share with them We still don't really know yeah, but you don't have any smoking. We don't have I mean we do in, like while we know a lot of information to share with them, we still don't really know. We don't have any smoking guns here. I mean, we do in the sense of we know Riddleson is guilty. But other than that, like we don't know any more information that's going to help them resolve their Gatewalker issues. Right?

So I feel like a little bit more information is warranted before we start spilling the beans to them about everything Riddleson's doing. Yeah. I guess we need more. You're right. is warranted before we start spilling the beans to them about everything Riddleson's doing. Yeah, I guess we need more, you're right, we need more information even before we confront Riddleson to understand. Right. Yeah, okay. All right, so you're going to spend another day down here and then you're going to have

to start thinking about a cover story. Yeah, and I want to try something else out, which is Ramius wants to dive into this moonstone book. I want to see if there's a way to extract what is in these moonstones and out of them for us to know what memories are in them. Yes. Or be able to identify if these... Would you please stop blowing your nose during my roleplay? No. I'm losing my train of thought with your snot. If he could attempt to

recognize if a moonstone has a memory in it or not. Like are these empty disks, blank disks, that haven't been filled yet? And how are they accessed? How are the memories invested in the moonstone and how are they meant to be retrieved? Is there advice of some kind? Is there a ritual? What is it? That's what you're specifically focusing on. That's what I'm going to focus on. He may be finding other books within his, this like makeshift lab here to cross reference with the book that he had behind three doors.

Yes. Okay. Exactly. And the rest of you just kind of trying to find focus on something, see if you can recover any information. Cause as I said, there's a lot of information in here and where you only speak one of the three languages, it takes a lot of time in game time. Oh, wait, I flipped to the cover of the Moonstone book.

Is it called the Blessed One? It's not. However, also it's in my hands. Give me that. I do have a bottle cap for you, a posthumous bottle cap. I died? You died died the middle lever Would have flushed the tank and you would have seen what's inside and you said that and I made fun of it I said it flushed like a toilet

Just to throw you off the scent. I think we all made fun of you. We all made fun of you and I said what a stupid idea But that was absolutely correct You I just wanted to see if you'd do it But yeah, I would have actually flushed the tank if And if you had pulled that one first, you would have seen the creature inside, but then it would have seen you and broke and tried to break up. Thank you. Wow.

You get a little cap for that. Good instinct. It's time to be honest. See, Joe, that's what you gotta do. I had it right here in my station. I will never figure anything out. When I come into the studio, I'll remember what that cap is for.

The middle lever always flushes like a toilet. It's Pathfinder 101. Pathfinder 101. You spend another day here just reading, sleeping. I mean, it's more than 24 hours, spending probably 28, 30 hours, because you guys have to sleep. You're falling asleep with tomes on top of you.

This is what the four of you discover. And I will say, even when you're done with this, you feel like there's even more information in here, but how much time can you spend down here? Maybe the information you glean will give you enough to make a decision on whether or not to move forward and how to move forward. Zephyr, you very early on in your second study of this room, find notes providing what

seems like a pretty full list of all the Gatewalkers that he's been watching through dreams. Whoa, this is juicy. You see Asta, you see Lucky, you see Gic. It's like Gic was added recently. What? You also see a name that jumps out at you. Queen Equendia of Skywatch. Whoa.

And his descriptions of her leading the city's population north on a dangerous journey to the crown of the world are tinged with both admiration and jealousy. It's obvious that Edward wishes he commanded this level of servitude over such a large group of people. And then you start thinking about Skywatch. You heard that it was abandoned and all these raiders moved in. You start thinking was Aquindia a gatewalker

and something happened to her to lead all of her people? Is that why it became abandoned? Maybe the same drive we do. Same drive Riddleson does to return to the crown of the world. These notes conclude with him wondering if the queen reached the nameless spires and ponder what she might now be.

Oh wow. After spending time amid the black frost and dreams of a Soya. Oh. I've asked this 10 times. There might be a bigger baddie than a Riddleson. What is black frost? The black frost whale. What is black Frost? When you first came downstairs...

This also came up outside of the Black Frost Whale. It was like his Black Frost or Black Frost is like a spell or something. You came downstairs and you saw notes on Black Frost on the chalkboard and it was the first time that you dissociated Black Frost from Black Frost Whale and you're still not quite sure what this is. Okay. It's also the bridge from Midgard Whale, and you're still not quite sure what this is. Okay.

It's also the bridge from Midgard to Asgard in Norse mythology. The Black Frost? Black Frost? That's interesting. Oh, Bifrost. The Bifrost. Oh, the Bifrost. The Bifrost. Speaking of Black Frost, Buggles, you, you see a lot of information about Black Frost

that sort of widens your perspective on what this Black Frost might be. These notes describe the physical effects of Black Frost, boast about Edward's immunity to Black Frost, and mentions its capacity to create Black Frost zombies. Black Frost zombies. Ha ha. See him ruminating upon the true nature of this curse, this Black Frost curse, theorizing that Asoyo's dreams may be the source of this ash-like substance. The fact that Black Frost seems to progress more quickly

when an afflicted creature dreams has further intrigued Edward, his obsession with dreams. Although he's not yet sure what to make of this observation and connection. Why is he immune? He doesn't say. As you study further, you can't tell if he's done something to make himself immune, if he believes he's immune but not actually immune, or if he's naturally immune. It's almost like the ravings of a madman, but someone clearly highly intelligent that is trying to figure things out with what limited information he has.

But now it seems like Black Frost is an affliction and a curse that is enhanced while dreaming. Gic, you see more stuff about this hand, and you see that as excited as Edward was about discovering this hand when he woke up, saw this as a sign. It pales against his discovery of a presence that came to him in his laboratory, an entity he named Ogman Zorius. And so his notes seem to try to theorize who or what Ogman Zorius is, and he currently believes

that Ogman Zorius is a quote, sending from Ossoyo's dreams. And he takes Ogman Zorius's presence here in his laboratory as proof that he, Edward, is a chosen one, intended to release Osoyo from its prison in return for even greater mental powers, and perhaps unlocking the key to reaching the Dreamlands. The notes also mention how Augman Zorius has been assisting Edward all along the way, giving him ideas, perhaps even imbuing him with powers or at least giving him the knowledge to unlock powers. He helped him conjure guardians for his laboratory, but noted that these first creatures that

they conjured were untrustworthy and that the only way – Trevor Burrus Shocking. And that the only way he could really feel confident in their abilities and their alliance with him was to use inveigle rituals on them to control their mind and their thoughts and their allegiance to him. And then the notes start to further theorize. He's like, inveigle the staff, in vagal the servants, in vagal everyone. So everyone in the house is in vagal. That's what it seems to, at least he was theorizing.

Maybe the one woman wouldn't do it or something or she like wouldn't whatever she got fired. Yeah. She couldn't be in vagal. Maybe she hit her saving throw. No, but, or she refused to whatever, maybe. Interesting. Yeah, interesting. In Vagel the Gatewalkers. This in Vagel seems to be part of the process. Vagel the Gatewalkers. Question.

Vagel and cream cheese. I love Vagel. I would love an in Vagel. An in Vagel. I am ready. I want ready. I want a bagel and cream cheese. One of the best bagel shops in all of New York is right across the street.

Everything. I flip it over. Bagel with lox. I love a bagel with lox. I love a bagel with lox. Bacon scallion cream cheese! Let's keep saying things about bagels. Kate, what's something on a bagel? It's bagel time.

Sausage, egg, and cheese. Bam! Sausage, egg, and cheese in bagel. If you're not from New York and you're watching this, your bagels suck. You've never had a good bagel. Bagels suck. They're in bagel to think they have good bagels. Right.

Someone is in bagel to think that your bagels are impossible. What are we talking about? Oh, you have questions about your discoveries? From a reader's perspective, yes. Such an antagonistic GM. What are we talking about? From, oh you have questions about your discoveries? From a reader's perspective, yes. Such an antagonist, yeah. What, whoa, you have a question? Are you curious about the plot?

What? Oh please, let's hear all your questions. I've opened up more doors for more questions. From a reader's perspective, does Edward seem sane? Does he seem like logical, analytical, like this is all part of, like truly he thinks he's a scientist or does this feel now with like, in Vagel the Staff, in Vagel the Gatewalkers, does it feel like he has lost the plot? Well it's funny, I've played enough Call of Cthulhu at this point and run enough Love

Crafting Adventures that there is this ongoing theme of these cultists who believe in these outer gods and these other things and they believe that like, if I just bring them into this world, I'll be the one that saves. It's always the same thing. It's so insane. I'm the chosen one. Like, do they believe that like, the world is... I can fix it.

I can fix it. It's the ultimate. Is the world going to turn to ash and they're just going to be allowed to walk around do anything? Or is their consciousness going to be fused and they're going to be brought to another realm? I don't know. With him, you do get this sense. He believes if he can release the soil, then his powers, his mind powers, his dream powers will be even more powerful. What we've seen with Count Lolls in Strange Aeons is that he's already passed over. He found out how to get into the Dreamlands.

It seems like Edward hasn't figured that out yet. Right. He's trying to... Well, he's hadn't at the point... At the point of these notes. Where he's writing from, yeah. I tend to think of it... I like the way that, at least in the films,

it's pretty cut and dry the way Sauramon is portrayed, I think is a pretty good way that I tend to think about it, which is like, this evilon is portrayed, I think is a pretty good way that I tend to think about it, which is like this evil force is inevitable that I've discovered like it is going to someone is going to do this and I might as well as I would choose the side right I'm gonna choose the side that is obviously far more powerful Yeah, and you know get on the right side of this war before it starts and see I think some you know I think even Riddleson could think that way because if you experience a Soyo if you know what a Soyo is you'd have to be a

fool like we are to think that we can defeat it right this thing that took like a whole army of elves to just barely imprison is like, oh, the four of us are just going to beat it, right? Like, it takes a fool's hope. Yeah. Not much hope. That's what you discovered. Okay. Ramius, you may break the case wide open.

Oh. Smoking gun! We'll find out. Ah! Let's break. I don't we? Oh, smoking gun! We'll find out. Ah! Let's break. I don't wanna wait! When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most?

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Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. Didn't have to wait that long. We're back. Back, baby. You're looking specifically at the Moonstone book and trying to cross-reference the Moonstones with any information you find in here. And again, this is tomes and tomes of stuff, some written in other languages, some written in Aklo, which is this sort of Lovecraftian equivalent of nonsense.

I interrupt you before you go on. Yeah, yeah, please. Let me explain why I'm so excited about the Moonstones and this whole concept. You love a Moonstone. Love a Moonstone. Ever since I found out about the concept. I think they've done some stuff like this in, they did something like this in Black Mirror. It's a very cool idea.

But it's basically like, you want to talk about breaking the case wide open or whatever. It's like, imagine if in a court case, in a murder case, in a mystery, you just had an actual recording of people's memories, the witnesses or the accused or the victim, whatever it is, you just watched it. You would have to do no other work. You just, you have the memories of those that were there and what they experienced in some way. It would just, you don't need to do any more searching.

You know what I mean? It would just be bam, right there. So that's why I think if we can unlock a memory from beyond, you know, or even figure out how to capture it, I don't know, it's very interesting. Well, it seems like that's what he's been trying to do. His initial research led him to the Iodaris. The Iodaris he thought-

Rainstorm. That's a movie with that exact concept. Oh yeah? Yeah, Christopher Walken's in it. Was like the recording memories and stuff. That's cool. Yeah. Um, there's a Rick and Morty episode too.

It's like, Morty's mine and Bender's good. Yeah. Um, but it seemed like, at first he was like, oh, I'll get these moonstones and these will power the elfgates. These are coming from space where the elves used to be. If I can harvest these moonstones, these powers will let me, uh me reactivate Lichgate. And you see directions from Lepestadt

to Lichgate in the Shudderwood, where evidently he originally stepped through on the night of the missing moment. He's like, if I take these moonstones, that will help me activate the gate. And it seems like he was correct. You see notes Oh like notes upon notes of historical Documents and whatnot saying that like this is how the elves would activate the gates

They like memories are like a ticket that like a price that you have to pay to like open the Moonstones And so he's using her own memories encased in the Moonstones Whereas like we had to use our own memories to pay the passage to get through it. What about K'nippo's key? Like that was originally an elven thing that he stole and whatnot and Bolan had it. So it's the same thing and so thinking of what you know of the gates you've stepped through you're like, oh he's on to something. But his interest wasn't just in activating a gate and passing through and returning to the crown of the world.

Because remember, it seems like he wants to get to Ice Gate and from Ice Gate get to the Nameless Spires. He wants to activate Lich Gate. And so it seems like he was harvesting the minds of the Gatewalkers, people who went through the gates and experienced this missing moment, because he believed if he could harvest something from the minds of people,

you start thinking about the skeletons with the heads, you know, the skulls carved off, infuse it into the moonstone, he would be able to have their memories and psychic powers activate Lichgate in such a way that he could use the Ayodara to merge their psychic energies with his own so that he can stand before Osoyo at the Nameless Spires and use the combination of all these powers to free Osoyo from its prison. Wow. You see he has notes of Gatewalkers he's

harvested previously. You don't recognize any of them. You do see your own names but there is no date of harvesting. Ah. Says like, soon. Yeah. Soon. Huh. Soon. You see the names of the gate walkers upstairs, soon. And sometimes they've been crossed out with a date,

not the people upstairs, not you, but other names, soon. So it's a physical surgical process. Yeah, it's like a lobotomy. It's like a lobotomy. And you die. Yeah. And you die. No, you don't die. Maybe you die. Oh maybe you die. There are headless bodies being dissolved in an acid pit. Yeah. There are skulls of what seems like

other gatewalkers. I think what the harvest dates were well before the death dates in some cases. Right it seems like the harvest happens before the death. But that doesn't matter like once you serve your purpose it seems you're not gonna still be a gatewalker out there in the world. I think he's going to take your power, your your ability and kill you. I think that's the ultimate. But remember, we also had that bit of evidence from the gnome. And Bolan still had his power. Who said that people go off with Riddleson and then leave the house like zombified.

Yeah, maybe he harvests two multiple times. So he doesn't always kill them. Yep, maybe he harvests two multiple times. Next to Buggles, Ramus, your names are close together. There's like a note in the side that says, Wait, the potential in these final pawns may be the greatest of them all. Huh. The potential in these final pawns may be the greatest of them all.

It's really rude. He calls us pawns. Well, aren't we? Aren't we all? We've felt like that this whole time. So, we've been used. Gave him pieces moving around on a board that we can't see. Well, I'm gonna fucking rook his ass. Yeah, I'm gonna move in a way that he's never seen

coming. Yeah, we have all this information. Yeah. Where are we sitting down here for? Why don't we go to the Lich Gate? Why don't we go find him? Yeah. Ramus getting all hyped up. Yeah, yeah, let's go. What do you assume he went to the Lich Gate and walked through? No. I think what you just read, what you told us... He's just using the gate. He's not gonna go anywhere. He's gaining that power. He's gonna go to Assoio. But not without our power. Yes, but I... the Moonstones are here. You would need them to activate the gate, no?

Hmm, that's a good point. He doesn't have us yet. Does he just have so many moonstones that he took others with him to activate the gate? Perhaps. It is encouraging though that we haven't been harvested. At least that appears to be the case. I was just, where is he right now? What is he doing right now?

I don't know. If he could be here, he would. Also, I agree, Beau. What is he doing back there? Doing? What is he doing back there? What are you doing back there? What are you doing down there?

What are you doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? Doing at the Lich King. What if, what if he returns soon, tomorrow? What would you say, Gic? I'd break his kneecaps. Oh.

So you would say nothing and attack him immediately? Absolutely. Is that the best course of action or is that just the first instinct? You asked me what I would do as my first instinct. My instinct is to break his kneecaps so he cannot walk away. Then I would talk to him. Nicely. Is that the wrong answer? She looks at Zephyr. I don't know that there is a right answer. I just feel that we have a great deal of information

here, a great deal of power. See, I was always taught there is great power in information like this. When you are raised in a monastery like mine, there is so much information that passes through, copies of so many texts, so many histories, so much information. There are powerful people that seek it, kings, queens, their courts, their spies. They wish to know information about every nation, region, army, all of these things. And there are those, in my order, who turned a blind eye to what I believe are the most important lessons of the Keeper, and would sell this information. The Highest Better would use it to make themselves wealthy. And it is a very long story,

but some of them split off long ago. In my upbringing, I was taught to hold these values of keeping information carefully preserved and using it wisely. I don't know what the wise use is here. I don't know if confronting him in front of everyone, putting it out there that he's been doing all this serves us well.

Or if keeping it secret and keeping that information among ourselves would hurt us and help him. But I think that we need to think about it carefully before we jump to the conclusion of just accusing and passing judgment and executing him. We should let him make the first move when he shows up. I think you make a good point. I was being rash. I'm not going to break his kneecaps immediately.

I also want to kill him. But no, he had a weird drawing of me. That was weird. And Val. Yeah, it was inappropriate. That was extremely sad. That alone could be reason to be intimate. But Ramies brings up a good point. Yeah, it was inappropriate. It was extremely sad alone. I agree with the kneecaps but

Ramies brings up a good point. I mean we could take this information and we could go to Queen Aquindia we could try to find her it doesn't seem like her and Her and Riddleson are alive. It says here It says here what she became Yeah, does that mean? I don't know. Do you think he believes she could become some sort of powerful, most godlike? And like he wants to be that? Clearly.

Perhaps it's some sort of race. First one to get to whatever this location or knowledge is wins. Wins great power. He admired her. Admired that she was able to command her group of people all to go there. I just thought of something. It has been many weeks.

But what of our friend Sakawachi? In his pursuits, remember they wanted to slay a living god, which to me made no sense. These powers that Riddleson has begun to cultivate, that he has learned, these powers that come from beyond the gate. And if you can harness them in a certain way, perhaps you could appear to be a living god. Perhaps Sakuachi knew more than he was telling us the whole time. He was in Skywatch. Perhaps his target was the Queen.

I don't know. Every time a living God did kind of show up, like when we manifested them in our dreams, they got scared and would run away or like threaten to kick us out of their group. So. Also don't understand why Ogmin Zorius would appear to us.

Yeah. As well as Riddleson. He said it was good to see you again. We had seen him before. He wanted us to get the Blessed One. I don't understand. But Riddleson made that thing, which I guess is the Blessed One, or the Hand is, so I'm not sure what- He did not make the Hand.

Right. Perhaps the Hand is a remaining relic of the Blessed One or the Hand is, so I'm not sure what... He did not make the Hand. Right. Perhaps the Hand is a remaining relic of the Blessed One. Riddleson was trying to recreate it and perhaps Agnus Aureus saw this failure and thought, free the Blessed One, take its hand and return it to our soil. I don't know, but what is right in front of us now? We have to return upstairs. We must decide what we are and what we are not saying

to the other Gatewalkers, because think of it this way. This Queen, this Riddleson, they'd learn this info. We're all Gatewalkers, right? We're all Gatewalkers, right? We're all Gatewalkers. Some of us seek this information to help others, ourselves maybe. I thought Riddleson was seeking this information to help all of us, help us all find our truths,

what had happened to us in the missing moment. Now we see that was a lie. Now, Gic, are you all right? Are you going to be sick? Gic crumbles to the ground. You know, it is dusty and musty down here. Yes, I think. Gic, have you developed some sort of allergy?

She's not doing well. I have to go upstairs. She needs fresh air. What are we going to say to everyone? Right, it is musty down. Basements make me sick. What's our alibi? What are we saying to Hubert?

Tell Hubert we found nothing. We cannot be clued in on this yet fighting it harder and harder to lie to sorry Let me finish my very quickly. I just want to say that It is also dangerous to share this information that Riddle sin discovered with all gatewalkers We don't know which of them may take this opportunity to grab power for themselves. So that's the way to the spires. I'll go there. We could be sending them to their death. We could also be creating new enemies. I think we keep this information to ourselves for the moment. But we decide how best to use it.

At least tell them that Mettelson is not to be trusted. We shouldn't leave them. It's true, too. We shouldn't leave them in the dark. I mean, Lunga, Vex Terven, Takuzo, they're good people. They've done nothing wrong. They don't deserve to be harvested unknowingly and against their will. Of course you're correct.

If we leave, if he comes back and they're here and we don't warn them, they could be victims. We would be to blame. Maybe. Maybe the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Yes, we tell them. Riddleson has been trying unorthodox methods to extract the memories of Gatewalkers. Perhaps we pitch his goals as righteous in their own way. He wishes to solve this problem, but he's going about it the wrong way and he's hurting Gatewalkers. And we leave it at that. Nothing of us, Zoyo. Nothing of the spires to the north. Don't tell him about the basement lobotomy and the creatures from Avedon.

Well, we can tell them about their... not the lobotomy perhaps, but he administered some poison to them to make them sleep and it has dulled their minds. It would fit in with what the... I forget the gnome's name. He's a gnome, right? Or halfling? Uh, Vax'durvin. Vax'durvin. It would fit with... it would confirm confirm Vax Turvin's suspicions and yes. Yes. Yes. You could also say he was distraught about the death of his parents and he seeks to discover what happened to them or some such.

What about Alwyn? What if he's, you know, mind freaked? Well, they may all be. That's why we should not talk to any of them about any of this. They could report to him immediately. Right. They could be in the vehicle themselves. Yes. They could wait till we are asleep.

Slit our throats. So we've been gone for two days. Three. Just... Three days. Just getting... absolutely wrecked. We should come in. We should come in. We needed it. We needed to blow off some steam. We should come in late at night. A few hours from now. And we heard some hot goss from like the

townspeople. Talking about Riddleson. And that's how we found this out. Oh very interesting. Zephyr, such a schemer. I had no idea. Oh, great idea. I have been getting better at that, I think. Yes. Lying, yes. Reception. Yeah, reception. And Ramius shit himself at the bar.

No, no. Should we not? No. It seems like a good red herring to everything. She's onto something. Like if anyone gets too deep into questions, we throw that. It seems like a good red herring to everything. She's onto something. Like if anyone gets too deep into questions, we throw that out there as like a little fad. And that will stop them.

Argon Zorius comes back. Look over here, look over here. Let's continue this shitting story. Ha ha ha. Ramius made a fool of himself. Right. Well, no, we can say Barnes did because he's not here anymore.

Yes, he can't defend himself. That's right, Barnes. We need to explain where he went. Barnes is gone. Barnes was so mortified. Embarrassed. He's never here. Yes. I had that one. I'll explain where he went. So it's gone. Bonds was so mortified. Embarrassed. He's never coming back. It was right in the middle of a tavern.

Everybody was there. Right. The mayor. The mayor. The mayor's daughter. Shit on the mayor. Yeah. Shit.

He slipped. He can't show his face anymore. And had to go home. Where's his home again? We don't know. Castroville. I don't think that's where he's from. He went back to the moon.

So what is the plan? Let's go back when it's nighttime. You think that maybe the staff is in Vagel. You've learned that you could counteract that, but I don't know if you have the magics to do it. And you also don't, it seems like like it's unclear if he was theorizing about doing it or if he did it however I did forget that part perhaps we could they are acting them of the spell they are acting weird yeah you're not your your

was that done how would we break break the spell it's like a straight-up counteract magic yeah John's key're worried, concerned about whether or not these Gatewalkers that are there have been inveigled and you also don't know if Riddleson is going to return, if he's never gonna return, or if he's gonna come back guns blazing. Do you go take the trip to Lichgate? You tell me what you want to do. I think that we need to secretly tell the Gatewalkers, do not trust Riddleson and don't go anywhere with him if he returns. I don't think there's any, I don't think that this staff is unsafe as long as he's-

As long as they're not Gatewalkers, like I don't think he's likely to mess up. Yeah, I don't think they're unsafe at the moment. And none of his, his like hired guards are here Which seems like those would be the guys we would fight or something, but like they're with him supposedly yeah The other option is to try to blow it up. I don't think we should blow it up yet, so leave the servants Just don't tell them anything tell the gatewalkers that the servants can't be trusted because we have reason to believe that they're ensorcelled by Riddleson. Ensorcelled.

We'll tell him anything that they hear. And we- Maybe go to Lichgate? Yeah. If he's not here by like- The next day. The next day. Should we bring some moonstones?

Fuck yeah. Bring all the moonstones. Maybe I'm hungry. I thought you were about to say should we bring a picniconstones? Fuck yeah, we'll bring some moonstones. Maybe I'm hungry, I thought you were about to say, should we bring a picnic? And I was like, it's gonna take a little while. Some moot pies? Yeah, we should bring a picnic. We should.

Picnic lunch. Yeah, think so. And maybe we can tell the other Gatewalkers by leaving notes in their rooms or something? I think we just whispered. They know we went to the basement. Yeah, they know we were exploring and they know we were exploring and they know we,

we were all, we're suspicious of Riddlesey. Yes. You know, the one had seen him going to the mat, we could cover up the Lich Gate thing. You know, we can sort of explain to them what's happening, but I want to leave out as much as we can about the hand, the spires, unless we want to bring them all with us.

Do we want Troy to have to play four NPCs? I was gonna say. Five NPCs out to Lich Gate. Don't forget Lysander. Lysander, Lysander? Isandon, Lundja. I'm assuming they would all be. Backstervin and Hubert Hitch.

Not helpful if they came. I don't wanna deal with them. I don't remember what happened. They don't seem combat ready. Sounded like it. Let's just... It might just be in the way. Actually...

So the Lich Geed is a combat. Well, write that down. Okay. Capital C. Troy goes, well, if you get into trouble, they're not going to help. Okay. No, of course. We don't need them. You said that specifically, that we talked about all those fights we were in and they were like, Well, if you get into trouble, they're not gonna help. Yeah, no, of course. We don't need them.

He said that specifically, that we talked about all those fights we were in, and they were like, you guys fought stuff? Yeah, do you remember that conversation? It's harrowing out there. They're like, we didn't do anything like that. He just showed up, and he said, well, I'll be back after those other four people.

Yeah, we could even just tell him to leave. Tell him to meet us somewhere later. Sure, sure. Yeah. Let's, I think this is a good plan. We come back at night as if we're entering from the town late at night like, oh, we were partying. And then that next day, if Riddleson doesn't show up, we talk to the Gatewalkers and then we make a plan to go to Lichgate.

Just hilarious. Like our cover stories. We went on a three day bender. Fucking believable. I would believe that. Yeah. We really needed to blow off some steam. Alright. I like it. Let's return to the library. The other library. The upstairs library. Return from this harvesting lab. The public library. To the public library.

And as you get upstairs and quietly open the secret door you see Takuzo is sitting there reading We come up Close the door behind us Have you been down there for two and a half days? No, we've been in town. We were drinking. That's what we were told. Your, um, hedgehog friend, uh, when questioned, said that you were in town,

carousing, and when you didn't come back, we obviously got worried. We knew you went down there. We hadn't seen you return. We thought got worried. We knew that you went down there. We hadn't seen you return. We thought the worst. Takuzo, I need to ask you something. Yes. I need you to be honest with me. Takuzo's the one I shared a joint with a few days ago, right? The old Tian man. Yes. He's like, I need to ask you something.

You do to be as honest with me as you can. All right. How long before we arrived in this house did you arrive? Maybe a week, a week and a half. And how long was Riddleson here with you? How many conversations did you have with him? I didn't have many meaningful conversations with him, just in passing we spoke. He was focused on the other Gatewalkers that he was working with extensively.

And then you saw him with them or speaking with them and then they'd go away and you wouldn't... Behind closed doors. Behind closed doors. The assumption is that we would be the next to speak with them and sent out to do some investigating. OK. Yeah, I don't know if there's any way to roll a check on this, because he wouldn't be lying. I'm just wondering if he's already been, like, mind-controlled. Yeah, is there a way to tell?

Right, exactly. So it seems like, and his notes said, Riddle-son's notes said, soon, soon, for these guys. For all of them, yeah. Yeah, so they hadn't been harvested. Okay, so he's just going to assume he's like, and he'll say... He'll say... He'll tell him what we said. My god!

If we can't be trusted, you must keep your distance at all costs. Are we in danger? Yes. Yes. Great danger. From the staff, from Alwan? Yes. Yes. Possibly. He's an old man. I don't believe the staff would harm anyone.

But I do believe that they are... Not by their own will, loyal to Riddleson. Acting against their will. So, to be so horrible inside is a mind desiring to do other things that they cannot do. Yes. Could use this power to great ill. Yes. Could make some kiss you that doesn't want to kiss you

Right or worse. It's weird. That's your first thought. Do other stuff What's this ritual called? I'm like Huberting, fucking everyone's minds up. Don't tell anybody this power. Yeah, just just let me know. It's for research. I thought you were cool, man Takuzo, he's a, he's a cool guy. I'm reading my notes. Stop playing among cool. He wasn't weird.

He wasn't a weird guy. I don't know. It's a horrible thing someone could do. Yes, make sure it doesn't happen to you. And, uh, this is important, Takuzo, because you had that same dream we had, remember? Yes. The Yeti, the Salmon Car.

Yes, and so it was a little significant. We have proof. And monsters just beneath us, this was all going on. Yes, it is rather large and expansive down there, but I... But also really dangerous. I urge you not to go there. He has summoned some sort of guardians, and these demonic creatures, we fought them,

but they vanished after being destroyed and there's no way to know if they will return. It all is very extraplanar and I don't understand it. Don't go downstairs. Let me ask you this. Just as he says that, you hear a voice. Gatewalkers. Return and Alwyn is standing in the door.

And Remus is just like, Holwyn! Shh! There he is! You don't know how long he's been standing there. His hands behind his back. I'm sorry, did we wake you? What time is it?

Sorry. Oh, my head. I didn't even hear you come in. You've been in town. Sorry. Yeah. You did a little too hard. And did you, how did you come in. You've been in town. Sorry. Yeah. Oh, it is a little too hard. And did you, how did you get in the door? I did not even see you.

The koozo let us in. How did we get in the door? Amen. Koozo let you in. We were, I tried to open the window. It's okay if I smoke in here. Not near the books. I gotta pee.

I'll go with you. You wanna come pee? You have to pee too? Sorry, I could pee. Olin, I'm very sorry. I'm very sorry we um... Sorry! It's in the library.

Buggles, shush. We had a little bit too much fun, and we wanted to get back to our beds here because we ran out of money. Boggles got into a card game and lost our room for the night. Then Bars? Don't even talk about Bars. Where is Master? He won't be coming back.

He had an incident. Oh. He would be so angry if we didn't come. He won't be coming. He had an incident. Oh. He would be so angry if he had a blowout sail. Blowout sail. On the mayor of Flapperstaff. The mayor and his daughter. And his daughter!

I am very sorry we woke you. We are going to... No, I've been at my post for hours oh no sorry all right is Riddles in back no oh we haven't missed him I told you I said we I thought it was for when he's coming home any day now. Okay. Good. Yeah. Alright. Bye. I'm going to get some sleep if that's alright. Yes. Good day.

Good night. I would... Can I borrow... Night. Good morning. Good morning. Good night. Do you have five... Do you have... Can I borrow money if we have...

And just... Just like walks away with his effort. Borrow money? Can I go pee? We don't have to pay for peeing. Okay for the bathroom. Oh Alright it's over you did good. Okay. You did good. Go to the bathroom. Thank you bought it What do you do we're gonna do the bathroom we just leave now should we just leave what? Should we just leave? What time is it in your head, Cannon? Late at night. Yeah, like midnight 1 a.m. Yeah, midnight 1 a.m.

And so I was thinking maybe we... I think we just leave. Maybe we get some rest. I don't wanna give them a chance to hurt us. Fuck with us. Who, Alwyn? Anyone, anyone here. Like I don't want the chance to like...

How are you rest-wise? We've rested downstairs. Well, not a like a day because it was like a full day that we did the research Did we rest yeah? We rest like we are rested mechanically. Yeah, you may not want to travel into the Shutterwood at night That's why I'm saying yeah, you just go to bed. Maybe like right before sunrise. I think we could go to bed I think let's go to bed, and we'll wake up bright and early. Yeah, 6 a.m. and get a read on Alwyn if he's doing any... Well, we already told Takuzu we need to get this information to the others. You know what? I think Ramius will do that before going to bed. Ramius will like gently knock on the doors of the other gatewalkers and just try to quietly whisper to them like

if it doesn't return in the morning trust him listen to anything he says I'll explain in the morning so we just see all these scenes just very quickly I'm not giving them the full explanation I'm just saying we'll talk more in the morning but he cannot be trusted. Takuzo can fill you in with details. Yes, sir, exactly. Night. All right, so you go to sleep.

What time do you guys wake up? I say like six or seven. 11, 11.30 a.m. I don't know, he likes to sleep in. Ramius is up at 3 a.m. Like ready to rock. Like Mark Wahlberg. Ring of Sustenance. Just doing sit-ups. Just doing.m. ready to rock. Like Mark Wahlberg. Ring of sustenance.

Just doing sit ups. Just doing crunches. Oh my God. Mark Wahlberg wishes you that ring. He's got nine holes of golf already in. 3 a.m. All right. So you're up very early and you sneak out before the staff has even got up.

Oh, so we're going to leave the house. First thing. OK. At dawn, yeah. OK. Yeah, we'll head out at dawn. And we'll tell them, yeah, like you said, Takuzu can fill you in.

Wait. I mean, you know the episode's coming to an end sometime today. Hold on a second. Just hold it. It hurts. OK. My brain hurts. My brain hurts. Okay. My brain hurts. My brain hurts.

Ready? My brain hurts. My brain hurts. Okay. Good morning, Dick says to Zephyr. And the entire staff wakes up. You sneak out of the house. Yes.

Sneak out. You have the map from Lepestadt into the Shutterwood, where apparently Lichgate is. It's about 40 miles east of Lepestadt. And the Shutterwood is no joke. There's all these stories of people going in the Shutterwood and not coming out. Well, it is called the Shutterwood.

Right. It's not the Happywood. Wait, what are we doing here? We're doing 20 miles a day, right? Fall park? So it's a couple days journey. Right? I can never remember.

Seems like your destination is a ancient elven stronghold called Moryonth where Lichgate apparently is. So you travel. I'm gonna get to the details of the travel. I think we would need one little overnight, I think, is my guess. Camp out. I did learn something recently when I was doing that great course on Arthurian legends. There's a formula for travel in the classical and medieval world. 1623. If it takes one day to get to a destination by ship, it'll take approximately six days on horseback and 23 days by foot. That's interesting.

That's cool. That's cool. 1623. 1623. That's cool. We'll just get you there. Okay. We'll say it does take a day and a half. Okay random encounter table. No You try to wrap up this

Go play oblivion. I'm a cyberpunk really quick And you You travel following this map until eventually through the forest you see mostly collapsed towers and crumbled walls all overgrown by foliage, sort of subtly marking this transition from the woodland to an elven ruin. You do see the spires of the ruins are still intact, whereas the rest has crumbled, it's like walls down like this with fungus and whatnot growing over it. Vines and...

Vines, climbing vines up the kudzu up the towers. You don't see the gate itself. The ruins are tall you can can't really see into it. But the map points to Lich Gate being somewhere here. Imagine it probably lies somewhere within the ruins. As you approach Imagine it probably lies somewhere within the ruins. As you approach, four people emerge from the front of the ruins. It's like three men and one woman Wearing armor Nothing fancy they're not Knights but bodyguards maybe they have weapons that are not drawn

One of the men step seven says greetings travelers Are you lost? No, point of fact, we are exactly where... Where we mean to be. May I ask your name? My name is Marcus. Hello Marcus, I am Brother Ramius. Brother of the Keeper. we are examining these ancient ruins. What brings you here?

Business. Sadly, I must report that the ruins are off limits at this time. Perhaps you turn around and be on your way. Says who? On whose authority, may I ask, Marcus? Our boss. Your boss isn't Dr. Riddleson, by any chance. They all seem surprised. Yes.

Can you say that? Yes. Yes. Edward, say that around? Yes. Yes. Edward, where are we? We have come to help. We've come to help find him. He's our boss too. Exactly.

We've been long awaiting him and when he did not arrive where he was meant to, we thought he may be here and in trouble. Has he gotten through the gate yet? Would you wait here momentarily? You got it, Marcus. Nod's turns and retreats into the ruins. There are three people just standing there. What's your name? Staring at you.

Eileen. You? George. You? Duggee. Gik-Muk. A few minutes pass. Nothing is said beyond that between you and these other people, you try to make conversation. They do not engage. Marcus returns. Dr. Riddleson would speak with you. Would you please follow us? Oh shit. And we'll see you in- Oh no!

Good thing you just cut it there, cause what? We need a week to prep. It's time to think about it. What are we because what? We need a week to prep. Think about it. What are we doing again? We are going to run away. What are we doing? Immediately.

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