The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 251 - No Retreat, No Defender

Episode Date: March 17, 2020

Trunau is left without its leader and the heroes are left reeling after a surprise attack. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com. To become an official member of the Naish, subscribe today at http://www.jointhenaish.com. Want to be a part of Glass Cannon Nation? Follow us at twitter.com/glasscannonpod instagram.com/theglasscannon facebook.com/glasscannonnetwork tiktok.com/@glasscannonnetwork Get the best apparel and gaming accessories in the biz at https://glasscannonnetwork.com/store If you enjoyed this, we have several other series featuring Call of Cthulhu - Time For Chaos Delta Green - Get in the Trunk Pathfinder 2E - Glass Cannon Live! Strange Aeons Pathfinder 1E - Legacy of the Ancients Traveller - Voyagers of the Jump and so much more! Join us every Thursday night for Campaign Two of The Glass Cannon Podcast – a playthrough of the Pathfinder 2E Gatewalkers Adventure Path! Videos premiere on YouTube Thursday nights at 8PM ET with a companion podcast available at midnight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Secret. Secret deodorant gives you 72 hours of clinically proven odor protection, free of aluminum, parabens, dyes, talc, and baking soda. It's made with pH-balancing minerals and crafted with skin-conditioning oils. So whether you're going for a run or just running late, do what life throws your way and smell like you didn't. Find Secret at your nearest Walmart or Shoppers Drug Mart today. is divided. I offered you a chance to leave. I would admit it's tempting. The gods have spoken. When it comes down to the long fight that will end this war,

you're going to have to have someone you trust sleeping next to you at night. You're going to need to close your eyes and know that your partner's got your back. How could we ever know that about him? But will anyone listen? A great war has reached our doorstep. There are spies in the skies now, and giants can appear as if out of thin air. We are left broken beyond measure. The adventure continues.

Bring justice back to the world, and then bring it back to True Now. Now. and then bring it back to true now. No. What is up, Nash? It's your good buddy, Joe O'Brien, coming to you live from my apartment as we all try to stay home here and keep our families and each other safe and healthy. Obviously, the coronavirus pandemic has all of us here at the Glass Cannon working tirelessly to figure out how to navigate this storm as a relatively young, small business. We rely on the support of our listeners to keep the business going, and our listeners rely on us to provide steady, entertaining content. I mean, that's what we do.

It's our favorite thing to do. So rest assured, we are going to do everything in our power to make sure there is a steady stream of Glass Cannon content for you to enjoy during this difficult time. That said, it is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that the Glass Cannon Live NYC show, originally scheduled for Saturday, March 28th, has been postponed. The good news is that we are moving that show to Saturday, October 31st on Halloween night and possibly more famously, Skid's birthday. We're talking costume party, cosplay. My imagination is already running wild. It is going to be an event and a weekend

that will undoubtedly be far and away one of the highlights of our entire year. We couldn't wait to see you all at Grand Mercy, but the safety of our fans, performers, and the employees of Grand Mercy needs to come first right now. We hope you guys all can understand. As for the Glass Cannon podcast, fear not, my friends.

We just need to find creative ways to get great content to you every week while still putting the public's health above all else. And when it comes to being creative, you know that it's just a matter of dipping into my bottomless reserves of breathtaking creativity. Oh, it's effortless for me. Effortless. But I'll still let Troy and Skid

and Grant and Matthew help me out. Boost their egos, you know, make them feel like part of the process. One way or another, we are going to keep you entertained because it's something we all sorely need right now. We are one of many small businesses that will be hit hard by the financial crisis accompanying this pandemic. But we strongly believe that if we commit to putting public health first and we rely on the niche to carry us through in their own way, whether that's a few bucks a month on Patreon, grabbing a shirt or hoodie on our merch store, subscribing to Twitter, YouTube, whatever it is, we believe we'll all come out the other side stronger and closer, but most importantly, healthy. All right, Nash, if you thought the events of episode 250 wouldn't echo through the rest of the march to the end, you're sorely mistaken.

The impact of those events starts today. Please enjoy episode 251. No retreat. No retreat. No defender. There is a lot happening. And I don't know where to start. Should we talk about the podcast? Just had a big live four hours worth of content first time i was there for that should we talk about the worldwide pandemic and how this might be one of the last episodes we

ever record oh man i don't know where to start but i feel like we need to address everything in some way so i'm going to leave it to you matthew how do we how do we address something like this in these very dark and scary times i mean we have to elect a new leader that's on the podcast that's on the podcast how grow is dead yes yes that's right that's true we do need a new chief defender suggested sarah morning hawk she seems like she's got the muscles for the job how does one choose a chief defender in true now do you is there an election is there some does the council decide is it kind of like uh is it like a prime uh is it a parliamentary system yeah does the party pick their is ruby inherit according to the town charter they gather up all the skunks in town and paint numbers on them.

And then they throw them into a barrel of onions. The last skunk to come out shall be the new chief defender. Wait, the skunk is? Yes. There are a few pages missing from the charter. It seems to indicate that the skunk itself is... No, that can't be right. Skunk number four is the new chief defender.

Why did they put numbers on that? The skunk actually assumes the role of chief defender. There were several decades where a skunk was nominally in charge of the entire town. It was pure chaos. And as a power grab, he managed to

sabotage all onion crops for several years. So the test could not be read and administered. As legend has it, all of the towers in this town are crenellated because of the leadership of that skunk. That's right. They were previously un-crenelated, but that was the platform that he ran on. That's right. And I will crenellate every tower. He said as he viciously ripped out the throats of his various

the reason i asked is because there are some truly suspect citizens of this town not to cast aspersions but it's too late you've already thrown massive shade at the entire city but it's it's interesting to think about i mean what kind of government would evolve in a place like this that's constantly beleaguered and isolated it's yeah it would be like a constant military dictatorship basically yeah but no because the patrol the patrol is a separate entity it's a separate branch right right i know but but halgra is a warrior you know she just also has some political prowess had i guess i should say well she has she has certain administrative responsibilities that's true she's a she's the civilian leader of a government in time of war. Yeah, yeah.

It's funny because obviously I threw them into the battle, but it really all came down to initiative. I didn't have plans for Cursed and Halgritt to die. And I don't know if I said to one of you guys or if I just thought it on the ride home that if Jagrin had rolled a higher initiative, he would have easily been the one that died. I mean, I think he was a little sturdier than Cursed, but just the way it ended up with Cursed and Halgrid jumping in first and getting killed before Jagren could even get into the fight, it was just all based on initiative, really. And that's...

It has such long-standing implications when you think back, like, I would love to go back and listen to those early episodes where Cursed, his trajectory from being the kind of like, bumbling younger brother that biggest act of bravery since his brother's passing uh he is cut down by giants that are way beyond anyone's pay grade except for the heroes in the commons can i just uh sorry i want to change the subject briefly we can come back but i want to talk about i want to latch on to going back to earlier episodes and i want to bring up something that i think is is pretty fun because after 250 i was fired up i had a really good time yeah and it got me thinking about the whole campaign and everything and this is a true story i honestly got true story later that night when it was all said and done i was too like keyed up to just go to bed and so i just randomly flew into like the back like earlier episodes and was like i'm just gonna pick something and just and just listen to it uh for a little bit and i went to sort of mid

later i ended up at episode 75 because i was just like i don't remember re-listening to that a lot like in those early days i re-listened to a lot of the 1 through 30 uh at the time because we were trying to get our sound and figure out everything and i listened to a lot of those too i listened i listened to every episode like after we finished it right those early episodes exactly but once it got up into those numbers i didn't really listen as much and so i just kind of randomly picked one and this is honest honest to god true i started listening to it and i started just smiling ear to ear i have. I cut out a little selection that I want to play for you. It's about 30 seconds long.

Oh, really? This is Troy's intro to episode 75, which happens to be the episode where that weekend we were going to Cape Cod. So there's a little tidbit. I listened to this the night we finished 250. Listen to this. I have no idea. finished 250 listen to this i have no idea coming this weekend skid joe grant matthew and myself are heading to cape cod for the whole weekend for a little uh gcp retreat and we're taking you with us we are going to be doing some fan interaction and giveaways all weekend long we will definitely

be recording but before you ask no we will not be recording a live episode that's just not how our show works i'm way too much of a live episode. That's just not how our show works. I'm way too much of a control freak to degrade the quality of the show with raw, unedited content. It wouldn't be good. Oh, it cut itself off. It wouldn't be good. Trust me. Trust me.

Trust me. Wow. I'm too much of a control freak to do a live show. It wouldn't be good. Trust me. And I listened to this at like 1.30 in the morning. And I was just like, oh, my God. anybody who's listening to this right now if you find yourself bored you got a lot of time on your hands go back and listen to episode 75 i wanted to put a cut together to play here of the beginning of episode 75 not the intro but the beginning it's amazing

after like where we are right now what happens in that one uh it's it's where it's a tomb with a view and it's basically it begins with you being like can you believe that we've made it 75 episodes and you're like and it's sir will and della and blah blah and you're like none of this party is what we started with this party is brand new you know what i mean like everything has changed how how crazy is that and then i think about i think of those people as like the old party you know the old team anyway it'll bring a smile to your face it's really funny because we talk about it as like a landmark episode it was like 50 and then 75 and uh and then it goes into it and it's just it's really fun uh you know because we're in the tomb it's just It's really fun You know

Because we're in the tomb It's just an epic Epic part of the adventure Because we talk about Umlo And Ingerhild's outside And like It's just

It's awesome Wow Oh Ingerhild Oh Ingerhild Yeah And while you're Continuing this adventure True Now is rebuilding

And Curse is coming Into his role And Haugra I imagine is Having to like Double down As a leader And let people know know things are going to be okay. This may have been an isolated incident, and we have people working on this threat, the True Now 4, and to have it all come back around and have that play out.

I mean, my goal with that combat was to put them in danger and see how you guys reacted and you know i just didn't know that that's how it was going to play out and it's just it's just so sad that image of uh jagrin holding curse there at the end i i can't stop thinking about it and haugra too haugra is the first npc to speak uh yeah at the beginning she has a long speech in the book. I remember reading it. That's not true. Is Tom the first one? No, Tom is the... That's right. Tom spoke first. Retroactively, he was the first one to speak. Do I know you?

Yeah. Tom's exposition. Tom exposition. It's also super sad to think about how Jagren had probably just kind of come to peace with losing his first son, the romance he was not supportive of. I mean, it was almost a month ago, Grant.

Right. He's just beginning to come to terms with it. That's what I'm saying. And he's probably beginning to like it. He was already at the bargaining phase. Right. He's just bargaining that he'd have a nice relationship with his second son and see him jump into battle

Yeah Well, and also, isn't Hauga the little girl? Ruby Yeah, Ruby's mom Ruby's mom So you have an orphan A father who had to bury both of his sons The way Troy tells it, she has several dozen children that are now orphans

Yeah, she has older children that are like in their late 20s And maybe even early 30s, I think. Wow. All the way down to someone like Ruby that was just a teenager. I would assume in the canon of the show that Ruby is the youngest. But Halgrave had lived a long life. I think she came into her chief defender role at the age of 42. So she was an adventurer her whole life until she came

back um i think that there's also something to be said though and this isn't to take away from the sadness and the the tragedy of the whole situation but let's not forget the state of mind of these people like they live in a horrible place where this is not that strange of an occurrence where jagran uh jagran has to accept the danger that cursed is in day in and day out as he's patrolling orc lands and the hulks of bell the holds of belks and it's just a you know it's crazy being on that sort of border settlement of a war-torn area the mindset of a person living in an environment like that where life is taken frequently and at an instant. Their mindset is just thinking about, like, people living in the Soviet Union in, like, World War II.

You know, the fact that, like, just people would just die, like, left and right. And, like, it was kind of baked into. But part of it, too, part of the tragedy here as well is that, in a sense, this is our fault. Because we drew the giants here. If we hadn't a sense this is our fault because they we drew the giants here if we hadn't come here this wouldn't have happened at all or at least not today it would happen one day that's the war came if it wasn't for us but these specific giants came looking for us that's true yeah that's true and they and yeah it's not even like more will probably come yeah we shouldn't stay here for very long.

It changes your tactics. I think it has to, to know that you are marked in some way. Um, yeah, I think we have to do a better job or figure out some way to cover our tracks so that we can't be followed like that. And then I don't think we can come back here again until I can, until this threat is dealt with. I mean,

maybe is there a way, there's a way magically to kind of prevent being scryed upon. Yeah. Yeah. That's going to say we got to do like, we got to do Battlestar. It's got to be like we jump and then we jump again within minutes. Yeah.

Follow where we're teleporting. Every 33 minutes. Every 33 minutes. Yeah. Until we find the asylum. Yeah. follow where we're teleporting every 33 minutes every 33 minutes yeah um you know and so amidst all of that uh you know what was happening in true now a lot of other things happened as well yeah um should we discuss uh what what has been what has sort of stuck out to you there's been a lot that's happened pretty much from the end of 249 all the way through 250.

What's going through all of your heads? A lot of stuff. A lot of stuff. Us as me, like us as humans? Yeah, you as Matthew. You as Matthew. Me as Matthew? Oh, God, you don't want to be in there.

I'll say the single biggest thing that is sticking out to me. There's so many things to discuss, but the single biggest thing is I left episode 250 having serious doubts about the

motivations of Brander, basically. Like I left feeling very thrown off about what his part in the story is. And, you know, if he is indeed who I think he is. So that's the thing that is sticking with me the most and making me the most freaked out about how I continue the campaign. Really? You think he's because of what we discovered about his lineage you think he's actually acting

nobly or well-intentionedly maybe for some greater good that is like can't be seen oh like the the current trope of like environmental terrorists and like james bond movies that want to like kill it's like the thanos thing killing half the population oh jesus it's still his plan it's not a spoiler it's his plan yeah it's just very like with how far behind i am in the marvel movies it's a spoiler that thanos is even in them wow you must be really far behind that's not true you deserve to be spoiled right right i don't know am i i mean is it just are you still so clear-minded about brander no he said some pretty horrible things for what seemed to be pretty selfish ends so that's a yes

you're still very clear-headed about brander and what you you just want to kill him i think he's definitely evil okay yeah i mean obviously he has done many evil acts his motivations for doing the evil or what i question i guess a little bit now but it wouldn't change really how yeah was he corrupted in some way did something corrupt him specifically or is he just a jerk he seems to have no ambition to do anything except help himself there's a global you, giant threat that's happening right now. And he has no real interest in it, except in how it serves himself. But then why is he appearing to Will's mom and telling her to get out of town and leaving Will alive and having them meet each other?

Like, how does that directly serve his ends? I'm sure it does in some way. It's served his ends to keep Della alive so he could steal her body. No, I get that no i get that i get that i just uh that that you know i was clear up until 250 it just messed me up and the fact that he was part of this i don't know some sort of organization that was designed like building like farming up chosen ones yeah and so can we one more time go through those three chosen one baby names ferrandir poodie farzadir farzadir poodier and brondir brondir yeah um i don't know

this is predominantly an audio podcast this one will only be released as audio but i was freaked out because you made eye contact with me when you said Farazadir during the live recording. Farazadir. Farazadir. But I thought that would be Farazah. That's Farazah's dad. Oh, okay. We met him at the beginning of the episode. Or is it Farazah's grandfather?

I mean, they could have the same name. Exactly. They do have the same name okay now i now i have clarity on everything yeah we do now i have clarity on everything i got it well no because we know that poodier was uh so this was an ancestor of the poodier that lork that's what we killed well we met up we think it's we met a poodir that met Brander at the Pyramid back in a flashback many, many years ago. Who we believe to be the Pudir that Lorkil's father, I think, is who was with Brander in Osirian. And then that's the other thing is like, so that's the second thing that I was left with, is the reuniting of gormley galabras and lork

is in osirian yeah that's like yeah what is that what it does silver may know what does silver tusk know that he's bringing everyone there it's a lot of roads leading back to osirian if only he could tell us yeah seriously it's really fun but i also kind of want to play it like i want to play those characters in a syrian so that we don't have to play with grant look at his sad face don't be don't be an asshole joke play cat benatar that's right cats are this yeah here's cat's character sheet grant benatar can you imagine if grant got his hands on cat benatar though oh man that cat would be unbelievably unbelievably powerful give her a gun pretty sure just run around shooting a laser on her back yeah i feel like battle cat from

i don't think it was clear whether or not Cat went with the... She's there, Troy. ...Galabra's agreement. She traveled across the sea. She built a boat of reeds. If they tried to leave her behind, she'd follow. Well, yeah, I mean, obviously there's a lot going on there, and my hope with that was to there's a lot going on there and and uh you know my my hope with that was

to to tie up a lot of ends and and push things forward but also open up new questions like we try to do with all the the milestone eps and the one thing that i got as i listened back to it is like i can really see the end game now for this you know whether you fully can see how it's all going to play out like the pieces are now all in place yeah but it's a big showdown yeah and to me uh i don't know if it all comes together comes together or if it's going to be like oh man when i was a kid and i was obsessed with star wars i loved return of the jedi and one of the reasons i loved return of the jedi was because of like the molt the two battles happening in two places that are so important or there's three battles really you know all kind of happening at the same time

yeah that are all impacting each other hugely important but all completely separate with their own histories and everything yeah yeah so that's what i see being a possibility here which i love you really have three groups you've got this the the main group that's in true now then you've got this other group with sir will adriel and now shayal and and where are they going to go and then you've got the original three in osirian i know it's so awesome yeah and kat benatar on her own on a dangerous solo mission in katapesh a spy spy mission in kadira walking through the markets of Kadira. Hello, madam.

Oh, my God. It's Homeland. It's an episode of Homeland. Oh, yes, you have a good taste. Madam. I have a special piece for you. Oh, my God. Who are you?

Who are you? Who sent you? Oh, my stomach. The idea that she was just meowing. They don't know. They don't know she's a cat. The veil. The veil is like... You have beautiful eyes.

Oh my god. That might have been the hardest I've laughed on the podcast. I haven't seen you fall off your microphone in a long time. I haven't seen you fall off your microphone in a long time. Oh, God. I love good taste, man.

Oh, God. Joe's still going. I just love spy shit, and it's all like that. It's exactly like that. It's so funny. Growl. Giant 8 foot 2 on a time walking out of her hideaway. I've never

seen such beauty. Show me your face. Growl. Yes, no, the weather is quite good for this time of year. Come with me. We cannot be seen here. we cannot be seen here oh god so yeah the stage the stage is set um the last question uh i have before we we get back into business is this question might be obvious but you know think about it. Do you think you can win? Wow.

I think Calabras can win. You think Calabras can win? Yeah. The way Skip played him was very convincing. In 250, he was like, I cannot be harmed. There's no spell you can cast that can harm me. Yeah. Well, yeah, but I don't know. can cast that can harm me yeah well i yeah but i don't know like he's off doing his own separate thing which may or may not directly impact like the main cast's quest you know we

like we could still lose and like he could do be doing what whatever it is that he's doing and succeed but like we could as a group you, if you weren't able to directly intervene, could still, you know, perish. So he's kind of like Roy Scheider in the third season of sequest when he had to make like four contractually obligated appearances and he really didn't want to.

And he came back and he was like occasionally working to help them. But he had his own, he had his own ambitions and his own goals. What was the story reason for, for what was his character pregnant or something? Like what what why did they say he discovered that his long dead son was still alive oh good for him but then he came back and he they're like why are you why are you masquerading as this like special operations section that like has its own has its own goals and is maybe working counter to our goals and he's like for this mission i am section seven whoa i gotta watch this

you you really don't want to yeah you can't go home again on sequester yeah it's like who cares it's all underwater there's no people under there i think very clearly though after seeing the assaults outside of uh ash peak on the dwarves of kragadan we we have no chance of a direct assault basically if we were to go head to head because he took out a whole i don't know as a battalion an army how many people it was but like he's the storm tyrant seems incredibly powerful so we'll have to keep on kind of special ops and trying to see any back doorways and sabotage, that type of stuff. I still have my own doubts about the end of book five. Like, I don't know how Dalgrith, Baron, Metra and Nestor are going to get out of book five without a death.

You know, it's it's so freaking brutal. These giants. Book three and had a death. Book four and had a death. Book two had multiple. Book four and had a death book two had uh multiple before it had two deaths book two had the you know galabras which was a different sort of not as a direct like didn't die in the grenzold deck fight but was taken out of commission by a powerful caster um yeah i mean it's just kind of the way it's been going be interesting

to see i was saying to you earlier today joe that the way book five will play out will be unlike anything we've ever done i think book five or this book that we're in right now the way this will play out and be unlike anything we've ever done i think um yeah i just i don't know i don't know where to go from here right now like i don't know what to do i mean we have to get back to temple we have to get back to ash peak oh i know that yeah well did we definitely have to do that but i know that dog wraith is really like kind of shaking off some of the cobwebs you know this whole thing that baron started and it's just like what are we doing like we have to get back to jimmer and thune like yeah because we said when we left we were

like we're gonna make it a quick trip yep but then we got caught up in there and be all justice this is why i wish we could just animate the show because you know as i've listened now to it a number of times since we went live, I imagine this all visually. And this is how I tend to think of it anyways. I can see what these characters look like because we've lived with them for so long, this world that we've created. So just imagine as we normally start

in this complete darkness and you hear a heartbeat start to come out in the darkness. It's like the dum, ba-bum, thump-thump, thump-thump, slow heartbeat. And as that sound continues, oh, nice. There we go. You hear that, and that's all you hear. But all of a sudden, we now see the stands of the commons with the citizens of True Now, like slow motion, like climbing over each other

fighting to get to the exits we don't hear their screams though we just hear that heartbeat and they're just like mauling each other and in the distance you can see the the ogres fighting you guys and and and they're just they're they're rushing they're stomping over you see bodies falling to the floor as they're getting stepped on as people are just trying to run away from the madness. And then we see Dalgreath on the back of the ogre, just burying a dagger in her neck. And we see Baron Gunn still smoking from several rounds fired at Nestor, turning his attention now to the ogre mobs.

We see Metra flying above it all with a bird's eye view of the carnage, looking down, casting hold monster and throwing down a hungry pit, doing her best to control the battlefield while chaos reigns outside of the arena floor. And then the heartbeat is just getting faster and faster and faster. And we see Nestor Coyne now in the stands looking towards the exits and turning back to look at Baron, knocking two arrows and shooting them,

then flying right past Baron and taking out one of the ogres. And then boom, boom, boom, boom, back-to-back killing blows landed on Cursed and on Halgra, intermingled with various rapid-fire shots from the original Battle of True Now. Dead townsperson, dead orc.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Just sun's throat being slit. And then darkness. The heartbeat ends. And we only see Jagrin clutching cursed lifeless body and screaming to the heavens from above. Wow. Now we see the Ramble House.

It's been a while since we've seen the Ramble House from this view. And we walk up to the front door. Seems to be commotion. People look upset. We go in past the front door. Seems to be commotion. People look upset. We go in past the front door

and you see Cham Laringfass, the little halfling. Innkeeper, I guess. She's at the front desk. Racist innkeeper. Racist innkeeper, yes. At the front desk, she's having a tense discussion with a couple.

Looks like they're trying to get their money back because they want to get out of here. There's another line of people ready. They're like, we want our money back. We want to get out of this place. But we go past that commotion and we go up the stairs onto the second floor and up to a door. Into that door where we see Dalgrith and Beren alone in a room together. Metra and Nestor

are nowhere to be seen. I really have to admire your restraints, good. I'm just waiting to see what happens. We'll say it's been hours since what went down in the commons

you assume you've all gone back to the ramble house but only the two of you are sharing a room what are you talking about I think as a backdrop for What are you talking about? I think as a backdrop for whatever we're talking about, Baron has kind of stripped off the top half of his armor to pour whatever whiskey he has left into the wounds

from Nestor's arrows, and you can see the electrical singe in it. Yeah. It's Blacken's wound around the piers the whiskey catches fire uh and the ramble house burns to the ground uh but yeah baron is just like i mean at this point he's been burnt alive almost eaten by remoraz lots of different scrapes with death uh countless to even enumerate now. And he just looks world-weary and tired,

and he kind of probably has a thousand-mile stare as he's tending to his own wounds. Dalgrith is looking down at the floor, rubbing his hands together, his calloused hands. We've got dirt and grime on them still from jumping on this filthy ogre. Probably still some bits of blood and slimes from the skin. He's looking down at his hands and across at Baron, his thousand yard stare. Back down at his own hands again, just starts to speak. I'm not much of a praying man.

But if that was a trial for the gods, I think they've made it quite clear, Baron. I think they've made it quite clear, Baron. It's not a time to be fooling around with fighting amongst ourselves. Playing law man. Hardened criminal. No matter what happened to you in the past how you grew up who hurt you before who you lost along the way

none of it matters when you're faced with a threat so great the only thing you can do is come together if that wasn't a sign from Torag that we need to put aside our differences That we need to stand together as one people As one race of small folk

And defend ourselves against a threat so great That it's so hard to see how it could be won Shit, if that wasn't a sign that I don't know what is Did you mean what you said out there, Dalgrith? Shit, if that wasn't a sign, I don't know what is. Did you mean what you said out there, Dalgrith? What I say, I say a lot of things. You said you'd take my place. That you'd fight for me.

Put your life on the line. Even die if it meant that. Of course it did. Plus, I thought I had a pretty good shot against him. I think I know how to get around the backside of that one. I think you had about a 50% chance

at best, my friend, just as I did. Why? Why did you offer yourself up? Drop the bravado for a second. Because, Baron, I thought even if I just weakened him a touch, even if I got one good slice in, and if you needed so desperately to kill him, then it would have made it easier for you,

and you could have gotten back to this business of saving the goddamn world. You don't need me to do it. I think... I think they need you to do it. And they need that. The gestures down at your holster. And your gun. I ain't never seen such a powerful weapon go up against such large creatures before.

It makes them fall so easy. That's the thing. Simple as it seems. The trick of engineering. I think there's something far beyond that. It could change the world, Baron. Could stop this fight. It's good to know you're in the world-changing business,

and that you're ready to die. But you weren't ready to die for me, you were ready to die for something bigger, all the small folk. And just as you said, the gods have spoken. Now you're fighting the gods' will, and I'm ready to walk back out there with you, regardless of what's in our way.

What about Nesta? I mean, can we really go forward with him? Can you have that man sleeping next year? I mean, when it comes down to the long fight that will end this war, you're going to have to have someone you trust sleeping next to you at night. You're going to need to close your eyes and know that your partner's got your back. How could we ever know that

about him? We can't, but I trust you and I trust Metra. And up to a point, I trusted Nestor. We had a previous arrangement. But I meant what I said out there. I would accept the ruling of the court.

The ruling of the court is clear. The gods intervened in our combat trial, and they wanted neither of us to die that day. We must march forward together, as uncomfortable as it may be. We must march forward together, as uncomfortable as it may be. I... I just don't know. He's got the same respect for the gods that you have. But... Nonetheless, I think if there ever was a sign, it couldn't have been more clear.

And we need to work together. We can't just keep fighting each other. And we can't forget who we left behind, Baron. We don't know that Jim is dead. We don't know that Thune's dead. They might be kept in cages up there just like we were. And we've left them for what? Almost two days now.

We can't leave them behind if there's any chance to save them. We've got to get back there. This is the second time I've proven that I never leave debts unpaid. I found my friend Lork when he was lost. I found Nestor one day. Rather, he fell into my lap.

But I see things through when I make my mind up to deal with them. We'll find Jimmer and we'll find Thune. I promise you that. Alright. Well, let's find Mitra and see if she can't get us back there.

And from there, we kind of zoom out of that room through the walls of the Ramble House, past other rooms, into one where Nestor sits alone on a bed. After a moment, the door cracks. A knock.

And you see Maitre enter. Hello. Good evening. Is it evening already? I don't know, is it? It's getting there. Good afternoon, then. Yeah.

Good afternoon, my lady. How are you feeling? Well, I've been better. I offered you a chance to leave. And you decided to stay. You did. You did. Yeah.

And I did think about it I would admit it's tempting but I realised that this person we're up against has shown an extraordinary amount

of tenacity in coming after me. So even if you were to spirit me away I have a feeling that he or one of his minions would find me again. And yeah, I'd probably kill him, but then another one would come and another and another.

And it would just go on and on. Eventually, the war of attrition would have been over. So I realised in that moment that you lot, you included, are probably my best hope of ever having a life outside of being hunted. Now, you may not like it. I may not like it. But we may be stuck with each other. You keep saying we.

I wouldn't have guessed that. Coming from a man like you. We. Can we really trust you? No. To be a member of that us? No. No, you can't. I know that.

I've burned my bridges. I know that I've done that. But what you may be able to trust is the fact that I cannot, I cannot do this without you lot. If I leave you, if I betray you again before we get to our final goal, That's it for me, I think. So, purely out of self-preservation, which is perhaps my most finely honed instinct, perhaps you can trust that. Perhaps. Did my daughter

trust you? I don't know. She was inscrutable. My daughter lived hundreds of years before this time. So did I, for that matter.

I find myself in this place, in the midst of this war, with the knowledge that I don't know more than a handful of people. Can you imagine that? I've been to, from one side of this plane to the other. I've walked across the planes. I've seen things you would, you can't even possibly begin to conceive of. And yet I don't know more than a dozen living people who know me. For that reason, and that reason alone,

I'll offer the carrot to your stick of self-preservation if that should start to wane and you start to feel a need to betray us once more know that I can take you to any plane

beyond this one the storm tyrants reach maybe far, but not that far. So, become our ally once more. Pledge your allegiance to whatever it is you need to pledge your allegiance to. And should we fail,

I'll take you wherever you want to go. Well, I think you may have a little more faith in that being true than I do.

I don't know. I don't know that he wouldn't be able to follow me anywhere that you could take me. If you can take me there, chances are he could find someone to take him or his people to wherever that is, too. I don't know. Unless that place is somewhere no one wants to go.

Tell me, Mr. Coyne. Have you ever been to the Shadow Plane? No. I think you do very well there but not many others would hmm interesting I'll vouch for you

with the sheriff but you have to promise me I'm whatever it is that you believe that you're in this until the end of the fight. Well, I would pledge you my honor, but... Don't make me laugh. I'll only say that I will do what you ask. Only because it's what benefits me.

Very well. We should find the others. From there, the lights fade down. And then they fade back up inside the ivory hall in the room with the Council of Defenders. Everyone's there except Halbra. You don't see Jagran. see Jagrin.

It's an obviously intensely somber air in the room. And at the far end where the door is, you see Baron. Next to Baron is Dalgrith. And then Metro. Everyone is standing there

waiting. Even Tom Exposition looks less than his cheery self. The door opens everyone turns and looks. A nester comes in

stands next to Metra. Maybe Baron casts a sideways glance across his allies. Shortly after Nestor, Jagren comes in. He walks up to where

his normal seat is at the table and then absentmindedly passes by it and moves to the head of the table. He rests his hand on the chair of the chief defender and doesn't sit. Looks like he's leaning against it for strength. He looks terrible. His eyes bloodshot. Looks like he hasn't slept all night. Like he's aged 20 years since yesterday. A great war has reached our doorstep. It was foolish of anyone to think that the siege of True Now would be the toughest battle we would face in our lifetime.

That battle will look like a child's game of war, if what happened in the commons yesterday is any indication of what is to come. There are spies in the skies now, and giants can appear as if out of thin air. Though the losses from yesterday's attack paled in comparison to the numbers lost during the siege, and even numbers we lost in battles previous. He pauses, kind of holding back tears. We are left broken beyond measure

our chief defender Halgra of the Blackened Blades has been taken from our ivory halls into the halls of the dead as the longest

tenured council member, it is left to me to act in her stead. Our first order of business will be to elect a new defender, as I will not be assuming the role. Someone get the skunks.

No. Bring in the skunks. Wrangle the council of skunks. Someone comes in with a bucket of skunks, throws it on the table. These aren't even numbers! Oh my god, it's mating season! Oh no! That's terrible.

We must... We must... Elect a new defender. As I will not be assuming the role. I tell you I will fight for the city of True Now until my blood fills the streets. I have spent my life walking this town keeping watch but I cannot rule this council

I cannot defend this town the longer we go without a chief the greater at risk our commonwealth maybe for the first time since the skunk scattered out of the room, he looks up

and addresses the whole room. Who among us shall rule? If you're waiting for me, I'm not going to raise my hand at all. This is like a job. This is like a... It sounds like a job. Sounds like a job.

Yeah, I'm not interested at all. Dog writhel. Elbow baron. Uh. well. I have taken on the duty and honor of being the Sheriff of True Now for about a month now, and I have enjoyed the role while it has been difficult. I suggest any members amongst you to take the role. I could certainly not imagine being

the chief defender myself as my path to protect True Now is out and through to go back into Ash Peak Mountain, defeat the evils there, and then move onward if there's any place to move on to. I couldn't imagine you having an absentee chief defender. Ah, but the single greatest threat to the town is the Giants, isn't it? He's trying to get the people kind of riled up.

And I ain't seen anyone better at fighting giants than this man right here. I don't know, Baron. I don't think you have to be sitting here to be the defender of True Now. Not from the greatest threat it's going to face. I don't know. I wasn't even born here. And then he grabs his hope knife. He kind of touches the hope knife on the

side that he earned and he feels it he feels a little bit more resolute but he's hesitant about even a he doesn't think it's appropriate to put his own name forward but b uh he's conflicted because he kind of wants to be he'd love to come back one day and settle down here and could see himself going to that role but he's waiting to see a response from any of the remaining 10 11 members of the council sour morning hawk stands up looks right at you serenaena Williams, I believe. Shredded. Shredded. Serena Williams.

I don't remember her voice. People say it sounds like this. I think. The role of chief defender is reserved for a true warrior. A battle-hardened champion who has seen the world and truly knows the darkness that exists outside these walls. Someone who can lead and inspire those around them, not only with blade, but with words,

with their very presence. I am but a simple blacksmith Everyone on this council is respected and wise But none are fit to rule With all respect We must come together now like we never have before To protect what we have left. All of us would happily give our life to protect True Now,

but we would still be mere placeholders for a true chief defender. Haldra spent her life outside these walls. She was not born here. From the skitter mounds to the broken shores and beyond, she fought until she settled here and made true now the place it is today. She saw the world,

Baron. She fought for her life and for the lives of the people around her to make the world a better place. This is what you have done, Sheriff. And what you do to this day. Go win this war.

And return here. And lead this council. Lead. True now. You are the only one among us with the strength and the wisdom to carry us into the future. Halgra and Jagarin and all of us saw in you a hand of justice. Bring justice back to the world.

And then bring it back to True Now. It is not a mantle that I ever sought out but it is one I will wear with pride it is first here in true now where I saw the citizens and members of the guard band together and survive

and build again anew even better than before. It's here within these balustrades and palisades that the seeds of my faith were planted. And as I said before, I'm a man of faith and all men of faith have courage. And I say to you all now that I have never seen any braver or more courageous men and women than the people who live in true now. I will carry you in my heart and you will give me the strength that I need to move forward when the night is at its darkest.

I will always have this council and the people of this city on my mind. Jagren, his eyes haven't left yours since you began to speak. Is this our chief defender? The one who will take True Now and rebuild it from the inside out as he rebuilds the world and saves it from falling apart? Ha ha ha! Of course it is!

You know it is! Dog race smile and ear to ear. All three Catherine Zeta-Jones stand up. Aye. The chorus of Joneses. Aye. Creepy unison aye. Aye!

Tom stands up. And one by one, the council members just Aye, aye, aye, aye. That was the crowd going wild. This is a council meeting. It's a closed session. It's a closed session. I thought we were in the arena.

They all start running for the doors. It's a terrible choice. He's one much farther away from being dead Chaos reigns Run Run while the toilet paper you can Jagren steps aside As if to

Offer you the seat of the chief defender Holy shit Wow Darren Re-centers his jacket And kind of dusts off Whatever the chief defender. Holy shit. Wow. Darren re-centers his jacket and kind of dusts off whatever is remaining on his duster and you can hear his spurs clank

down the marbled floor of the council room as he walks up to it. And he kind of takes a deep breath. He really hasn't felt nervous outside of life or death situations in a month. But he feels nervous as he kind of walks up the steps and hops up into the seat. He looks at it all of them now.

It is a great honor to be the chief defender, and I order this town to rebuild while myself, Dalgrith, Metra, and Nestor venture out into the world to stop the storm tyrants advance. advance. Now, Halgra has passed away, and I order that a monument be built to her. But it is also my duty to carry out her last judgment. For the time being, the gods have spoken.

And I claim no, I order that Nestor Coyne from from this moment forth, be a free man. And he looks at Nestor right in the eyes. What say you, Nestor? Well, if these are the kind of brilliant decisions you're going to make as a leader, I think you people have made an excellent choice. Very wise, very wise, sir.

Very wise. Hear, hear. One minute in office and he's already crushing it with policy. Usually they save the pardons for the last week in office. Especially the controversial ones. Especially the controversial ones. Especially the controversial ones. I like it. I like this governing style.

It suits you. This shoot from the hip governing style. Yeah, so to speak. Well, it's different when you're the only one with a gun. You can kind of do what you want. I should say that this freedom does not come without a price, Mr. Coyne. I expect you

to be willing to give your life in the pursuit of destroying the Storm Tyrant and all of his associated armies. You may do so for your own motivations, but this is the requirement For you to walk out of this hallway

A free and living man You have my bow Then it's settled Now It is my honor To call to an end The inaugural Reign of the first meeting of Chief Defender Baron Ashpeak. Chief Defender Baron Ashpeak!

Now stand up and cheer! All 12 of us. Yeah. And we'll see you next week. That was an entire episode wow oh come on The Glass Cannon Podcast is a Glass Cannon Network production and is an officially licensed partner of Paizo Incorporated. Giant Slayer is copyright 2015. Giant Slayer and the Pathfinder Adventure Path are trademarks of Paizo.

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