The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 299 - The Crystal Ball Inquiries

Episode Date: October 12, 2021

A magical globe opens the heroes eyes to what may lie ahead in Ironcloud Keep. 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

Last week on the Glass Cannon Podcast. Do you see, giant? You see what evil has brought you? Only death! An attempt to outflank their opponents. Well, here's the thing. You don't have to open the door, because right when you dimension door there...

Oh, shit. The other cloud giant had moved to that door and opened it on his turn, and he's standing there right now. Oh, God. Left the heroes vulnerable. Natural one. Natty 17.

Oh, my God. Wow. And a natural one on the confirmed. Oh, my God. Oh, no. That's the worst possible result. But they quickly rallied and won the confirmed. Oh my God. Oh no. That's the worst possible result. But they quickly rallied and won the day. Metra is going to take a

five foot step, grab Nestor's arm, and dimension Doris onto the table. You're so dead. Only to make a mysterious discovery in the next room. Because atop the table, you're so dead. Only to make a mysterious discovery in the next room. Because atop the table, you see a faintly luminous glass globe.

The adventure continues now. No. Sometime in the next hour plus, the March to 300 will come to an end. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Sometimes when you don't. That's right, folks. Dan Hill will be here to celebrate. Ladies and gentlemen butcher of toronto himself we'll be here it's just the new glass cannon theme song

i didn't realize he was up for parole that's amazing that's one of the terms it's one of the terms of his parole he has to perform for us we're the first hour of his community service. Oh, man. 300 episodes. Even more when you count all the multiple parters. A feat so large, one of the largest companies in the world can't handle it.

We're the only serialized podcast to go that long. No, we bitched about that last week and uh or two weeks ago hopefully we've fixed it by now i don't know this is coming from the past but uh wow it's crazy matthew i know you're not one to celebrate um milestones that everyone else gets excited about or anything that most people find joyful. Your own birthday? Yes, I don't particularly celebrate mine. You don't really?

What happened to you in life that you have no interest in celebrating your own birthday? I just don't particularly. It makes me feel uncomfortable to be honored for something I didn't really do. I call my mother and I thank her for the work she did that day. Do you realize the staggering impossibility of your life existing?

Like, of you being you happens one time ever and will never happen again in the history of the universe. And you don't want to celebrate that? That I continue to be me every day is a staggering miracle. Statistically, the population of the universe is zero exactly so that douglas adams there are an infinite number of planets or an infinite number of worlds ahead of a blackboard right now infinite space and there are by different definition a finite number of inhabited worlds with life on them so infinity divided by any other number is that's an insignificant number there are no people anywhere in the universe and yet somehow

you exist you exist too and i know that's why i celebrate my birthday exactly every single and i'm stealing now from bill brace and i don't have it quoted right but every single one of your ancestors everyone not a single one of them had sex got diseased got eaten by an animal was killed in a war was super ugly was super ugly was super unattractive uh until they had a kid that's thousands and thousands of them going back thousands and thousands of years back to like little shrew like mammals darting around avoiding the the foot stomps of dinosaurs not one of them died before they procreated and do you know how many people die before they procreate it is tragic matthew you seem to be suggesting that i don't appreciate life and i most certainly do i just

don't see what you're arguing you just just want to your birthday provides an occasion for you to appreciate all of the above i just see matthew's smug satisfied face on his deathbed his last few moments on earth and just like peace cross across his face as he descends into death and thinks i never overdid it on the one regret i know yeah the one thing i don't regret is never celebrating my birthday i mean it's like i don't pretend it exists like if we like my parents will be like you want to go out to dinner we go out to dinner caitlin i will sometimes like open a bottle of wine or something but but i don't but i i i just don't but i don't but i i i just don't see the i don't see the need for me to celebrate life and i do i do respect the like vast statistical miracle that is my existence on one particular day of my birth you why can't it be the day oh my god now you're gonna make it the milestone argument

again it could be any day i could celebrate it are you gonna pick a day every day we should celebrate no you can't do that you can't do that why you have to just pick one why and you know what might as well be your birthday your birthday's good because it's your birthday that's your it's a day after your birthday it just it all it strikes me as weirdly it just strikes me as very self-involved you want to share a birthday no i don't need to have a birthday just pick another date if that'll make you happy it must be so exhausting to have to come up with all these regulations for everything so that everybody knows it's. He's not exhausting because he's avoiding all the regulations. It's true.

He's like a tax dodge. You are the living embodiment of a bank account in the Cayman Islands. You're just avoiding all these regulations and responsibilities of the rest of us. He's a walking tax loophole. This is like nothing. This whole persona.

That sounds exhausting. It's not. It's exhausting to us, not to him. I bet you it is. Because I think behind closed doors, once you're on a porn site, just go into town on yourself. You're like, they believe everything I say.

I thought you were going to say... They believe everything I say. I celebrate my birthday like this. I thought you were going to say They believe everything I celebrate my birthday like this I thought you were going to say I go to a porn site I thought you were going to say I go to a porn site And watch everything connected to October 30th

I only watch videos that came out Where's the October 30th theme section? Let's let Hold on Besides the general neuroses around this Let's dig in a little bit deeper videos that came out where's the october 30th theme section let's let hold on besides the general neuroses around this uh let's dig in a little bit deeper i have plenty when you were eight years old when you were eight years old were you excited about your birthday yeah when you were nine yeah ten and then i grew up right at what point no what was that age when you

at a certain age she realized he learned the birthday clause isn't real did you look forward to your 21st birthday uh i don't really i can't even sit next to you i'm fucking out i was i went to school in new york city there was quite literally no barrier to me drinking we went to bars but there was no i never had any trouble acquiring alcohol so you were breaking the law you know what you are regular you are the only some people uh they like find religion and then they're just, they're insufferable and weird. And it's like, where were you forever when everyone else was religion? And now you're Mr. and Mrs. Religion.

You're the opposite. You found this and you're insufferable. This hatred for all customs and numbers. this hatred for all customs and numbers i have no i have literally zero problem with any of you celebrating your own birthdays in fact i will come and celebrate your birthdays with you you've done that on many occasions i've done it on many occasions so what is that why is that so exhausting to you you're never allowed to be near me for a birthday ever and you might get infected with hating your own birthday and from now on we will only celebrate your death

oh my goodness and i'm gonna bring a big cake and shove it on yeah yeah exactly just bring a big cake it'd be like he doesn't have to worry about another birthday coming up well we know how he hates it's a lovely thought but there's no way any of us outlive matthew yeah certainly i think he's the first to matthew is going to dance on all of our graves i'm too old uh well grant grant grant is suspiciously quiet because he's like i'm going down he might yeah grant and matthew be wrestling each other and into the coffin yes i think i think matthew and i are going to start like a senior citizens like tai chi jogging group in our 80s it'll be great well we'll find we'll find a replacement gm for when troy troy inevitably kicks it to dm for us in uh in uh in our next episode. Oh, man.

And we'll be like, wow, you can perform the duties of being a GM without being hateful. Even at the ripe old age of 87. Do you see why I hate them? Because the world is full of yous. It's all yous. It's all yous. Do you think you live longer or shorter when you drink Corona Premier? You had to guess. Then what if you drink corona yeah it's corona with just more alcohol i guess our buddy dave

woody was over here it's fortified corona it's for apparently it's fortified corona yeah it's a stronger corona just like bud light platinum which he was way into. He called them BL numbs. Jesus Christ. Like they were numbs for him? Well, you know, because it was a play on platinum and also it numbed him to feelings of sadness. This is a joke. Do you mind grabbing some BL numbs on the way over? Now we should leave Matthew alone. Dave Woody is who we should be directing our sport against.

For shit like that. But Dave Woody celebrates his birthday. That's true. That's true. That's true. It's a real conundrum. I love a guy that celebrates his birthday. I love my birthday.

Me too. It's a special day. I'm happy to celebrate all of your birthdays. I'm happy to have you there. Matthew's just giving you the side eye. He's letting you know you should celebrate those birthdays with all those Corona premieres. Each one is more precious than one of mine. I'm going to show up to your next birthday with a case of BL numbs.

Get drinking, bread boy. I'm just imagining giving Dave Woody a case of BL numbs for his birthday and seeing a single tear roll down his cheek in appreciation. Oh, God, we used to have a whole bit about, like, what the commercial is for BL Numbs. Yeah, it's like horrible, like showing horrible people in nightclubs doing horrible things. Tough day at work and hate your wife?

Try a BL Numb. Take the sting out. It's like a sloppy steaks kind of moment. Well, you're not going to take away our joy, Matthew. You may steal joy like a joy thief for the past six years but you will not take joy away kind of joy on the day of my birthday like where you're like boy i would really like to feel joy because matthew was born but because he feels uncomfortable being at the center of this attention i now i'm hurt by this i think we feel like i feel

like maybe it's just like matthew matthew's in on something secret and he he's making us feel guilty about enjoying our birthdays yes that's what it is it's you you exude an aura of judgment almost like a uh like a uh inquisitor that just like radiates out from you that's just like you everyone else should really think about what you prioritize and it's not like maybe you shouldn't be so happy about your birthday when you're an adult it's everyone listening to this podcast you should feel stupid too that's what it sounds like that's not and i know like it's called projection you're actively doing it's just it's happened projection yeah it's not that you you're actively doing it's just it's happened for me it's happening on a subconscious level it's just like am i am i

a child for for loving my birthday right yeah well i think for both of us again i think there's a bit of that uh i mean we were just raised with a relentless sense of guilt for anything we had any pleasure in at all yeah yeah and so when somebody else comes along and is like, oh, by the way, birthdays too. If you do that, if you celebrate that, you're a real selfish jerk. Right. And it's not, you know, and he's not saying that. But that's what we hear.

That's what we hear in our Catholic brains. That's because that's what he's saying. He'll never admit to it. But that's what he's saying. Again, I have and will continue to celebrate all of your birthdays celebrate her birthday does she get excited yeah and you do you make a big fuss yeah does she then not make a big fuss at your birthday do you not get a lot of gifts or anything like that no she she gives me a gift she tries she she i think she reacts with the same incomprehensibility that you

are reacting okay thank you thank you that's all i wanted to know now we can move on the person that understands you better than anyone else in the world also is just totally befuddled by your joy siphon that is a massive that is such a sigh of relief for me i have plenty of other sources of joy that don't exist that don't connect to my journey down the birth canal he likes solaris you know he likes watching solaris youtube videos they're just talking about it you talk about solar yeah that's fun that's that's a good substitute for a birthday in fact it's i will spend way more hours of my life probably playing solaris for the next couple years than celebrating or yeah then celebrating all of my combined birth well that's more more joy that's a more total joy there you go by the way i hadn't put it together in my head yet like how what a what a strong dichotomy there is between

you and troy in terms of celebrating birthdays like troy's birthday is a huge custom and ritual i love i love troy's for many many years, we went to the same restaurant. His name is bronze. He has a plaque. On the wall of the restaurant. In this restaurant. For going there on his birthday every year. It's true.

Right next to, not Bernie Madoff, but Warren Buffett. It's like Warren Buffett's name. His name is literally right next to Warren Buffett. It's right next to Warren Buffett's name. At a steakhouse. Is it on a wall?

I got that when I was poor. So you're not poor anymore? I'm still pretty poor. Is it on a wall i got that when i was poor so you're not poor anymore i'm still pretty poor is it on the wall or is it on your chair it's on the wall next to his chair at smith and walensky it's at the chef's table it actually is yeah if you go there anyone visiting new york it's a great restaurant go check out look at troy's and warren buffett's names i had asked you just bought that i had to ask no they didn't like offer it i just i was a regular customer on my birthday every single year and i would bring a big group i would request the chef's table we'd sit around and we'd have the best meal a night of our lives

uh and i became friendly with the waiters there at a certain point i was like hey what are you gonna do to get a plaque it's like a plaque you know what next year there'll be a plaque did that and there was wow that's amazing did that drive your need to become famous enough to be to justify your googleable so someone who sees your plaque at smith and walensky's won't be disappointed when they google you would be nice right someone says who's this uh warren buffett oh this guy wrote margaritaville matthew next week is an important week. It's episode 300.

I'll be there. No, no. This is what I was going to say. I don't want you to come. You know what, Matthew? Take a week off. Take a week off. Okay.

You get the week off. I'll go celebrate somebody's birthday. Don't threaten him with a good time. Whatever happens to your character happens while you're away. Let your understudies stretch their legs a little bit. Yeah, we do need understudies we do well you you're not going to steal joy from me today because i'm excited about this episode i think it's going to be fun and joyful and it's gonna it's gonna lead into uh one of the biggest episodes we've ever done uh and even as we sit

down to record this today i'm still not 100 sure what episode 300 is going to entail. I've been making lists upon lists upon lists of dangling storylines that need to find some sort of resolution. And, you know, a lot of times as we approach these milestone eps, I have an idea of where I want it to go. Even as we sit down today, I know you're not going to believe me, I don't know how this episode ends. I don't know how it ends in a way that, because I'd like people to listen to this and be really fired up for 300. And I don't know, you know,

I have lots of different thoughts and lots of different ideas. And even as it comes out, you'd be like, ah, that was scripted. You'd be surprised how very little is scripted uh back here it's just improvised and uh on on the spur of the moment and that's what i've really liked about everything that we've done that hasn't been in the adventure path you know i see people bitch and moan about uh the brander on on like the the thumb discord not the good discord uh or i see

people complain about it on the subreddit too but they're they tend to be the worst uh and it's interesting what are they complaining they don't like the brander storyline and stuff like that and that's fine i i don't uh i don't take it personally why would you like it's terrible yeah it's not it's a i love the brander story yeah i mean i think i think if i would uphold all of you i would get very differing results i think some people like us some people don't some people the five of us yeah the five different results yeah i think i think everyone is kind of up and down and but i'm not i'm not here to pull you what i what is interesting to me is that we all started like gauging everyone's vote and then eventually all our eyes went to grant and he just made the mezzo-mezzo.

Give a little, give or take. It's a little opaque. What is exciting to me is that we've done something with this adventure path, a pre-written adventure path that I think is really unique. And I don't want us to come off too egotistical when I say this even though

i'm the one saying it is like i think we've inspired a lot of people uh in the way that we handle pre-written material by adding this extra layer and for me as someone who like always wanted to write screenplays and i mean i've got i have more half finished pilots and screenplays than i ever had anything finished i mean mean, by miles. I never wrote anything because it had to be perfect. With the Brander stuff and the stuff that we've added to this adventure path, so much of it has been improvised in the moment. And even scripts and stuff that are half scripted stuff I wrote the day of or the night before. So for me, it's just very exciting because I'm as excited to see how this story is going to end with everything that you guys bring

to it as I am excited to see like what's going to come out in the moment what you guys make me kind of lead me to to to do as we wrap up this story so i don't know i'm excited uh to see where where today's episode goes and especially next week and and and obviously the end of this as well because i've been thinking a lot about it i just haven't been committing a lot of it to paper because, I don't know, my style has changed a lot in the past six years in the way that I prepare. So I'm more excited to discover it with you. But last week, you finished that battle with the cloud giants. And then Metro went on yet another ethereal exploratory mission through the upper levels. another ethereal exploratory mission through the upper levels. Now you've gone to a level one up from here, which you would assume is the level where the fire giants were, the ash peak giants,

but it was a room that was surrounded on five sides by clouds. You just felt like you were in open air you did however see at the end of this open air area a passageway to the north leading to a door and then a long staircase leading up so you took that staircase up and you went to a fourth floor uh fifth if you're not if you're counting the ground floor as uh floor one and not floor zero. And up here, there was this tiny little bell that got you all excited. There's an arrow loop that looked down on the hanging gardens below, which you now figure you can access through the doorways to the south of the entrance chamber, which Metra saw on her first ethereal jaunt through this area.

And then you walked down a long walkway, went up a little circular staircase and another long walkway led to what looked like a stable for giant birds maybe two long poles leading up to a half uh portion on another level which would be like a a sixth level and a fifth a fifth floor uh or level, if you don't count the engine level. And, uh, and that had these giant saddles and whatnot.

So you're like, I gotta get out of here. And so you zip back down, you rest, you come back to the second floor and you open a door into an old meeting room. Maybe where the heads of Zephyr Hall would sit and discuss their plans. And atop this table

is a globe. It's about five feet wide. Five feet in diameter. It's a big globe? Big globe. That's a huge globe. Can I just say, by the way, that the ethereal jaunts, a lot of stuff in this game, but the ethereal jaunts in particular, bring me a lot of joy.

I'm glad. I'm glad they do. I think they cause you a considerable amount of stress, and I'd be lying if that didn't contribute to the joy. I think that adds to your joy. Accentuate the joy. I'd be lying if... That's true joy. Yeah, no, I mean, you've got to see things a lot earlier than I thought you would because of this ethereal cloak. What do you want to do here?

I said to you last week, if you want to examine this globe, you're going to have to climb up on top of the table. This is a table and chairs built for 18 to 21 foot tall giants. There's a door leading to the east, and that's all you see in this room. Can I detect magic on the globe first? You certainly do detect magic and an aura of strong divination magic. God, I suspected it was just

the mundane five foot glowing globe. I want to know what kind of aura. Well, I'm certainly curious. Nestor's not. I don't know what kind of aura. Well, I'm certainly curious. Nestor's not. I don't think Nestor cares, but I'm curious. Skidster cares. I would like to

first... Hold on. Wait a moment. He's going to trot up and detect evil. Hold out his hand up to this crystal ball glass orb and detect evil see if it's emanating evil it is not i'll detect the other alignments on it if it has an alignment doesn't seem to be tied to any specific alignment does it seem to be in its rightful place like is the table cut to like allow this globe to sit on it or does it is it just like set on a flat table if you look closely it seems like there is a a little lip in the middle of the table so that the globe can sit

in there without rolling off and what's around the outside chairs uh chairs yeah big chairs just sit around and look at this detect magic wait do i even have that uh metro just did that oh okay a strong divination magic oh that's right that's right i'll sit at the table all right so you climb up the table there's no i'm not gonna make you roll climb checks you get up there i'm just it's more for flavor you literally have to like climb i mean seat, she's probably like nine feet up. I probably have to stand on the chair. Pull yourself, yeah, and then climb up to the table. Does everybody climb to the top of the table?

Yeah, Sir Will will dismount Lexington. He's actually like, oh, could use a break from the saddle. And we'll climb up. And you just stare at this globe. And you can't see inside of it. No, it's all opaque. Claudia.

Can I spellcraft it? Yeah. I'll aid. I'll attempt to aid. I aid. I aid as well. Okay, so that's I'll attempt to aid. I aid. I aid as well. Uh, okay. So that's... 30. Oh, man.

This might be, like... Obviously, it's divination, so... So we could just be looking right through us. Yeah. Baron gets a sinking feeling in his stomach about something looking back through the other side. Behold the sword of Elendil! Something looking back through the other side. Behold the sword of Elendil!

You spellcraft it and you think that there is some sort of telepathic nature of it. Like it's used to communicate, not maybe verbal commands, but used to communicate feelings interesting essences thoughts that aren't completely clear um and you feel like you might be able to activate it with a a use magic device check it's like activating a magical item i'll try that i'll aid check. It's like activating a magical item. I'll try that. I'll aid. Anybody else got an aid on that? Oh my god. Natural two. Just succeeded. So I do aid.

So plus two. Remember if you fail by ten or more, there could be consequences. Natty's seventeen on the die. Nice! So that's gonna be a thirty-two. Symmetra walks up to it. Places her hand on the globe In order to Try and tap into its nascent power

A cloud giant sitting at this table Could just reach across the table From its chair You had to climb to this table You'd take 1d6 falling damage if you fell off this table You place your hand on there And just Her eyes

Disappear And you start You place your hand on there and just her eyes disappear. Oh. And you start getting these impressions telepathically in your mind, just swirling. And the first thing you detect is the presence of several cloud giants still alive in the castle. It's almost like if this was sci-fi, it'd be like blips. Like you can, you don't sense where they are, but you sense their life force in this castle.

Cerebro. Cerebro. Yeah. Half a dozen, a dozen still alive in the castle. You can feel their essence. Like this was meant to be a way that they communicated before the castle fell. So rather than be like, oh, God, I gotta take the stairs

all the way to the fifth floor, you could just touch here and be like, Steve, do you want six? Steve, come on down here. I need another Corona Premier. Steve, did you get the B on numbs? Yeah. Slowly, those life essences start to fade and recede to the background.

And suddenly you are overwhelmed by this great and ominous power swirling high above the castle. These are telepathic impulses, but they feel like they're clouded. You can't quite get a sense. You can't pinpoint what it is or who it is, but it feels like it's clouded by opposing impulses deep below

the castle. And you feel like it is all connected to something someone is wearing. And all of a sudden, everyone in the room just hears... Oh, it's our buddy! Harp music. Yeah!

Oh, God, you devil. Big shadow appears on the wall And Renfall materializes Just as Metra is shunted back Into your space What is it? What did you see?

I see City in the clouds City in the clouds It's the orb! It's the orb of Dragonkind It's the orb. It's the orb of Dragonkind. And all the four dragons have been dominated by it. What did you see, sorcerer? I saw a city in the clouds.

That was no city. Hey! I felt the presence of five, six cloud giants still in the castle. A half a dozen to a dozen. Half a dozen to a dozen. Yes! Yes, you have disposed of many,

but some still live, and they fight for Volstice. Nalbea and Nalbor as well. Dangerous for Volstice. Now we're in Albor's wing. Dangerous foes you will have to face

by Volstice's side. I saw, I felt, the dominated thoughts of creatures flying up high above the castle. Controlled by a worn object. The orb of Dragonkind, perhaps.

Perhaps! Or perhaps the cloud diadem that he wears. No doubt that presence you felt was Volstis himself. Flying high above Zephyr Hall.

Watching, waiting, and learning. Preparing for what I know not can he sense our thoughts through this device I know not

what power he possesses but I do know he knows of you he has eyes everywhere throughout the hall. And the diadem he wears possesses a peculiar power. And not only can he use it to steer this castle, for it was the diadem that made me of no use to him. For it was the diadem that made me of no use to him.

But it's connected to a great dark power below a dead man's switch. Should Volstis die die the hall will fall is there a way to disconnect to separate him from the dead man's switch without activating it he is so wise and has prepared for everything

what you have told me your journey to get here you have told me! Your journey to get here! You have fought many under his command! But now he's building an army of powers greater than any

you've faced! Yes. Starting to remember the Spirit Naga. Yes. She works with him as well. She is the one that imprisoned my soul in the chamber of my demise. The spirit naga?

Yes. Yes, she has been watching you as well no doubt learning of your tactics in battle and in spell casting monsters will be prepared even though he assumes you'll perish before you face him. So, real quick. Yes! I don't know how you heard my controller. Get out of my mind. We learned of the dead man switch in episode 271.

Yes! I listened to that on a plane! Oh, man. Did you have noise-canceling headphones, Renfall, so you did not have to take in the terrible noise of the Boeing engines? I am a cloud engineer of the highest degree!

But no, I had airplane headphones. Oh, shit! What a terrible fate. I'm so sorry. So sorry for that. Yes. You should know this, even in death.

The headphones. Not that great. My deepest condolences. Thank you, sorcerer. You would think in the afterlife at least you could listen to your favorite tunes without hearing the chatter of those

who don't celebrate birthdays. Birthdays. But no. No, such is not my fate. Speak hard, dwarf. We've just already been acquainted with some of this information, so I'm trying to figure out what to do with this orb now that it's in front of us. Do we cast it in the fire?

Destroy it? What do we... Destroy it! Just chuck it out one of the windows. The orb is a danger to the dragons. Not as much to you. Though the dragon you will face as well. Under his command.

And there are others. faces well under his command. And there are others. Ah yes, I sense more than one dragon here now. Still I remember looking down as he

flew up to this castle atop the mighty dragon. That orb, that orb controls them all. This orb? What orb? Does he hold it in his hand?

Yes Yes I don't think it ever leaves his side I can remember when he condemned me to my fate He caressed it as if it was his child Huh When one holds the power of dragons in their hand, they don't put it

down. And you think back to when you were fighting Skirkotla in the trial in front of all of the giants outside of Ashpeak when Volsus came down. He was holding a globe in his hand.

Yeah. What do you think we do with this globe right here? Yes. Oft would I sit here with my companions. Meetings. We would use this to contact other giants throughout the castle. I would say, Steve, bring Beeldums

to the party tomorrow night. But we would use it for serious matters as well. What could be more serious than be on the arms of the party? Truer words never were spoken. As to how it can aid you, I know not.

For as you activated the device and felt the presence of these giants, they felt yours as well. Then I am sure the proper fear has been struck into their heart as they can sense our power coming down upon them. One by one, each of his eyes, as you say, has been closed.

Soon, he will not see us coming. I fear, though, for this beautiful place, once a marvel of engineering not used for such villainous deeds to be needlessly destroyed with Volstis come Renfall

there must be a way you can help us there must be some way you can search to find a way to disconnect the kill switch. Help us save this place. For Volstis must be destroyed. There is no other way.

That I agree with. I will not rest until he falls. I will try to aid you in battle if I am able. What little I can do from the beyond. All my power is yours.

I will say this if the switch is activated. Perhaps I can help you to steer it to safety. All we need is the cloud diadem. No? Yes, if you could get the diadem from Atame's giant head. We shall draw it from his dead corpse and fly the castle to safety.

Yes, if you try to do it beforehand, there's a chance the castle could just fly in any direction. It is a difficult situation. He needs it to keep the castle afloat. You need it to keep it from being

destroyed. I do not envy you. So, being destroyed i do not envy you so that dead man switch when we learned of it we learned that it was going to trigger a powerful explosion near the engine room which is probably the spider we found but we didn't see anything linked to it that seemed like it would be linked to a magical device like that, right? Well, it was above your pay grade. Right. So, having searched the entire duct, you did find a crazy alchemical bomb down there.

There's no reason to think that that's not the bomb that's connected. But there was no antenna sticking out of it that seemed like it would be connected to some magical device. No, yeah, just follow the line. It leads right to his crown. He's always getting tangled up in it. Son of a bitch! Damn it! Like a mic wire.

Tell us more about the spirit, Nargon, where we may find her. What is her name? Ah! Leronitis. Leronitis. I believe it might be Lineratus. I've only seen it written. Yes.

Where does she dwell? Oh, it has for run of the castle. She is one of Volstice's most trusted allies. No doubt she has already hampered you in ways that you do not know. She has eyes everywhere as well. What are her primary

strengths and weaknesses I don't know you were imprisoned by her how did she do it alakaboom and I was imprisoned alakaboom he says seriously looking down Metra exchanges a glance with Sir Will and then Baron

alakaboom alakaboom could it be that simple He says seriously, looking down, thinking. Metra exchanges a glance with Sir Will and then Baron. Alakaboo. How could it be that simple? I'm unfamiliar with the power of this magic. Trigger words. It's a term. School, different school. We're not familiar with some activation. Once Vosus had possession of the diadem and knew he had no further use for me,

he sent that Dyselky to torture me to death and then when I rose up and began haunting the new inhabitants he had me sealed away by this nagger what is a Dyselky Dyselky

was the name of the creature that you fought with the chains earlier when you fought with the chains earlier? Oh, yeah. When you first entered the keep. Oh. I didn't know their names. I only know the sound they make.

The daemon. They gurgle out the last breath with my arrow stuck in their throats. We hear that sound quite often. Yeah, it's nice. Yes, Volstis's allies come from other planes now. We hear that sound quite often. Yeah, it's nice. Yes, Volstis' allies come from other planes now. When first I heard that he was gathering giants, I feared for the innocent. When you told me that you had disbanded his camps and killed his most trusted generals,

I saw a glimmer of hope. But the evil that I sense here, even on this floor, makes me realize there is no end to what he will do. He has allies in the abyss. Allies from dark planes. And will stubborn nothing to take and take until everything is his. He can bring all he wants from the abyss.

The worst of the abyss was thrown into our world and we fought it back. I fear not his demon spawn. If he's so fond of the abyss, we can certainly hasten his passage to it. I mean, that's my plan, at least. It's a good plan. He can join his allies there, locked away in misery forever. There is strength in your confidence, but be wary

of your pride. I too was confident often when I walk about these halls, feeling safe, feeling that this fortress was impregnable.

And now, look at me. Look at Zephyr Hall. And look at my choice of headphones. I'd like to do a sense motive on Renfall again. Why? Because you're telling us the same things you've told us before. And I don't know if that's an oversight or if you're trying to waste our time. I think he's just a little old.

Oh, I'm sorry. And he forgets. It's rather rude. Well, he'll forget this sense motive check then. 17. Against a god. You just think that, like, something happens to a man when he passes on and comes back as a ghost. His mind is fractured. And he's fixated on revenge.

Yeah, fixated on revenge. And you're actually surprised you're getting as much information as you are. Because his attention seems to be all over the place. And now he's not the one in the driver's seat really anymore, where he appears, when he appears, uh, doesn't seem to be completely of his choosing.

He's tied to remnants of his past. And that's why you fear that like, when it comes down to the fight with Volsus, will he even show up? We have a little bit of an item we grabbed from the training room. So he showed up when we went to the place he was tortured. He showed up when we went to the training room and we touched the Morningstar he used. And he showed up when we activated this communications device that he used to order BL numbs and other serious matters throughout the castle.

Okay. I have a question. Yes! You mentioned walking the halls of this place. Yes! You mentioned walking the halls of this place. Yes. And I noticed like sometimes your footsteps and my footsteps are running together but then sometimes just

one set of footsteps. Why is that? Poetry. Simply put. Right. Well, that answers that Thank you I have a question Is it stupid poo?

No It's very serious Proceed These creatures Volstis is called are all from the abyss Are any from the abyss, already from the Shadow Plane. I sense planar involvement from all planes. Possibly, Shadow.

But I am not sure. God bless you, do-ever-sneezed. That was, thank you. I appreciate it. And Gozer's name we pray. You sneeze like an infant. I imagine all the small folk would like infants to someone as mighty as you, Renfall. So I'll take that as a normal observation. One more question.

Yes. How was dinner the other night yes the buffet did you did you make it in time for the special yes yes it's all coming back to me now dinner it was lovely i had the prime rib as expected and the rice peeler was divine. But as the waiter asked me what my second

side was, I was paralyzed! My choices in the end I went with cottage cheese. Oh no. We all shudder. What happened, Renfall? In the end, I went with cottage cheese. No. We all shudder. Yeah.

No. What happened, Renfall? I put a hand on his shoulder. Who does that? What evil hath befallen you in that moment? I don't know if it was the curdled cheese or the rare steak, but I had a morning the next day I wouldn't even wish on bullshit.

Cloud giant ghost diarrhea. The light of my ship never seemed. If only I had taken your counsel on the second side. But know this, adventurers. Take this as a lesson going forward. Do not be paralyzed by choice.

Heed my warnings. Do not brush headlong into cottage cheese choices such as I did. You'd be better off eschewing the second side.

Do you understand this metaphor? Yes, yes. Cottage G. Yeah. This parable is confusing, but I sense deep truth in it. Yes. Well, I'm glad we had this time. Yet again. They are becoming more frequent, these visits.

That gives me hope. That gives me hope that when the final battle takes place, I will be there with you. However, before I go, I must tell you I sense another presence. One that I know not if it is friend or foe. Their desires seem to pervade time itself. But I feel them here. Perhaps

another ally or an even greater foe. Good luck, my friends. good luck my friends so Will turns to Baron just like

it's Brenda yes he's here he seems to find a way through every obstacle through time itself as Rand Paul said and finds a way to make everything through every obstacle, through time itself, as Remphal said,

and finds a way to make everything more difficult than it ever need be. And if we are to confront him again, I fear both his might and whatever pernicious riddles he throws in front of me. He finds a way to twist my mind in odd ways I leave every encounter with him more confused than the last

not sure of what to do next I'm still not confident by clearing out this castle right now we're not just playing right into his damn hand little has changed since I first met him. Yes. As Dr. Forsythe,

he was equally confusing. He draws you in. He seems rather kind. Seems an ally. But no one can know his real plan. All I know is that it must be wrapped up in something so deeply selfish.

For what he did to Della. He must not be allowed to survive, Sheriff. No, he mustn't. But I hope that his quarrel lies with us and not the rest of the people of the world as we know Volstice's is and we we must not allow this to distract us

from our goal for Brander's plan has been in action since before any of this started the orcs descending upon Trunau us headed to Red Lake Fort. Skiergard.

It's all been a sick little game. Can't play into it. We just have to do what we know best, which is... Kill them all. Yes. I wish it wasn't so brutal. I wish it wasn't... They've left us no choice, sir.

You're right. There was a time they could have chosen a different path. But they left that path long ago. I just... I fear sometimes I'm... Turning into what I was fighting against. But I'm heartened by the fact there aren't innocent families here. There aren't mothers and children and schools and places of worship here.

There's just warriors. But if we ever find any semblance of a civilization or anything good in this castle, we must make sure that we preserve it and protect it as much as we can, even if they are giants or some other awful thing. Do you hear me?

We can't become monsters like them, Will. We can't. Sir Wall comes over, puts a hand on his shoulder. I am heartened to hear you say that, Sheriff. That is why we will win. And he puts a big smile on his face through his greasy and sort of gross, unwashed beard. and sort of gross, unwashed beard.

It is the thinnest line that separates good from evil, and it is upon the precipice of power that both bolst us and we stand. It is the direction we choose to go from that point that determines our worth. Come. And remember, Sheriff, and again, he's just smiling, we are not alone.

It is not only us. Torag is on our side. Iomide, Sarenrae, Shailen, the entire world of small folk is on our side. And should we fall, they will rise. Perhaps we only weaken them.

By their reliance on us. But we will do our part. But in the end, you will be be defeated Nestor's just kind of laughing throughout all this yes Nestor oh no please I mean if you say

say you can't defeat him if you become monsters you're so worried about becoming the monster you fight it's like you know take a bit of advice from me it doesn't matter

it doesn't matter I just want to make certain that your little moral qualms don't cause you to hesitate in a moment where it might cost me my chance to get my revenge. Right? You do not have to fear that, Nestor. My duty here is very clear.

There is no more hesitating. They've destroyed my home. They've destroyed my family. They've been so taken in by the poison of evil that there is no bringing them back. And I am under no delusions that that is the case. There. That's what I want to hear. You stay in that place. Here.

You want me right here? No, right place. Here. And you'll be fine. You want me right here? No, right there, yeah. All right. Figuratively, not literally. Don't stay there. In terms of mood. I want you to be mobile. Yeah, mood.

Yeah, definitely. Understood. I want you to remember. Remember all the ways that they hurt you, all the ways that they humiliated you, all the ways that they hurt you, Baron, or what they did to your daughter. I want you to remember all of that in the moments to come.

I don't want to see a hint of pity or empathy for these things. They all deserve death and oblivion. And we are here to make sure they get it. And that's it. You can worry about all your esoteric principles in the aftermath, if you want. Just make sure they die.

Metra, you were there. At Highbury. You saw it with your own eyes. It's true. The power of Ogathoa, Brander, the harnessing of evil in a way that destroys an entire people must not be allowed to happen again.

Don't you agree? It must be stopped. And this Brander, what he's done to my daughter is unforgivable. But even more so is the callousness, the whims of the way he thinks he can toy with the world around him. He must be stopped as well. It is so utterly, painfully selfish that I... And he like shakes himself off a little bit. It is very difficult for me to maintain composure when thinking about that.

The lives that he has toyed with, the lives that he has broken for his own immortality. It is unforgivable. Vosus' dominion, his motives, that of power, that of dominance, easy to understand. It is something that has plagued even the most noble knights warriors and kings but was drives brand of

scares me much more which is why I believe Renfall said he is an even more powerful danger he knows it I have stepped outside of time Powerful danger. He knows it. I have stepped outside of time. I know what it is like to live longer than you should. Perhaps Brander

does not yet know the power he taps into. Perhaps that will be his downfall. We must move forward. We have much to accomplish. Yes, they know we are here. So, let us stand toe to toe with them

and close one eye at a time all the way to the top. Yes. But wait, this spirit naga, what do you know of them? It's creatures. Is that a knowledge planes, Troy?

Knowledge arcana? Arcana, I think. I think it's arcana. Nobility? Depends on On their rank Dungeoneering I know nothing of the spirit naga

I have a Bit of a dabbling in this field of study But probably I'll try Aberrant creatures Natural 20 Oh my goodness. For a 25. Never mind.

I rescind my former excitement. It's still good. No, it's still very good. Spirit Nagas are the witches of the Naga world. They are sometimes despised even by their own kind for the dark powers that they tap into. So they are flesh and blood, but they draw from, like, the spirit world for their powers? That's why they're called spirit Naga? Yeah, they're horrible to look at.

They look like, you know, the body of a snake with this greasy, gross face. So just like Sir Will. They believe themselves to be inheritors of some mysterious, dark power, and they commune with, they're obsessed with death and desolation, and so the power that they absorb, yeah, comes from these spirits from beyond death, the spirits that were tortured. They use, they feed off of that negative death energy. So if Volsus has one at his side, it's bad business.

And, you know, you've got your classic spirit Nagas, but there's no reason to think he doesn't have some super high-powered one as well. I wonder, this is like a lore thing, but I wonder if Nagas have any evolutionary relationship to the serpent folk that dominated Galarian before the rise of Aslan. I don't know if they're any relationship at all but that's interesting an alliance to bring themselves back to power type of thing yeah maybe like this one line here uh it says when guard where guardian nagas favor places of innate sanctity spirit nagas seek out places of fundamental

corruption sites they believe to be imbued with dark magics the crypts of long dead tyrants the death places of great heroes and the ruins of nefarious keeps they all attract these wretched serpents they're sith hissing sith can't wait to face that that negative death energy they feed on, and if my roll's not good enough to know this, that's fine. But just curious, like, thinking about all the death energy we're giving off by killing people throughout this castle, are we just, like, creating a fueling it? Yeah, making it more powerful by doing that. Yeah, whether it's giving her, likeical powers or not you're not sure But I'm sure it is very

Attractive to her Smells like a bing mirror bread factory or something Hmm Okay Shall we press on the room to the east Yeah room to the east Come Lexington He remounts Lexington

What do you think about all this boy Lexington pe He remounts Lexington. What do you think about all this, boy? Lexington pees on the floor. My thoughts exactly. You pop open the door and you see a small 10-foot wide corridor that L-shapes, reverse L-shapes to the north. Oh, weird. We'll move forward doing a perception check as we go. That is going to be

a 39. I got a 39 too! Whoa! What is going on? You don't hear, see, or smell anything. It was fun though because we rolled the same number. Again. Barrel move to where the l um snakes around appropriate for naga people stairs winding staircase more stairs going up turn back

yeah do you want to go around do the uh the want to go around and do the double doors? Yeah, let's do the double doors. Yeah, let's do double doors south. Wait, we haven't actually walked out into this area, right? Besides the ethereal jaunt? No. Yeah, never have. I think we were...

Careful, careful. I think the plan was to... Oh, do you want to do the ones to the southeast or the... The southeast. Okay, great. All right. Well, I think we're planning to go out those Diane Weiss doors last. Got it.

Okay, and the ones leading out, sort of the main entrance that was barred from the inside. Yeah, the Weiss-turnmost doors. The Weiss-turnmost doors. Those will be for our dessert. We'll have that instead of the cottage cheese. Yeah. But instead, you go to the sort of middle here, the sunset room. I don't remember going over.

Set of double doors leading to the east and then to the south. And so the southern ones are the ones that are attracting you. What do you do? Person at the door. Traps. That guy.

30 for traps. 38 to listen at the door. Natural 20, 44 at the door listening. Okay. You listen. I don't hear anything. I've been ate. All right. Nestor looked it over. Metro and I listened. I don't hear anything. I've been a... Alright.

Mester looked it over. Metra and I listened. Baron uses his whispering gloves to open the door stealthily. 32. 32. You stealthily open the door. And you see a long chamber that thins out towards the back ending in another set of double doors perception in the room 30 26 first thing both of you say is just bright light 30. 26.

First thing both of you say is just bright light, unlike any light you've seen shining from the windows thus far. It's an almost unnatural light when you open up the doors to this room. They blast you in the face and almost blind you for a second. The ceiling is sort of barrel vaulted and there are giant sized potted plants and flowers and vases sitting along the shelves to both the east and the west. Looks like a giant greenhouse. But you've looked out the arrow loops just five minutes ago.

It's not that kind of weather out. There's no sun blaring in through the arrow loops. It doesn't make sense. It's very, very bright. And in fact, those doors on the opposite side of the room are open. And outside the doors, you see the hanging gardens.

Oh, whoa. A large platform that just is open to the air. Wow. But even out there, it's not as bright as it is in here. It's a grow room. The grow lights. Yeah, hydroponics. Is any weed in there?

Guys, get any weed? Want to go check out the hanging gardens? Yeah, I want to. want to go check out the hanging gardens yeah i want to yeah i was under the uh idea that would go to the uh west and then to the south and then um end up there that way i didn't think we'd end up there this way this is interesting okay let's do it um let's uh let's uh look through this room and see if we can figure out the source of the light too before we head out into those hanging gardens, right? And I'll detect magic and I'll detect evil on the room. You don't detect any evil in the room.

You do detect magic coming from the ceiling. And now it starts to add up. There's got to be some sort of effect on the ceiling that is providing this light to the plants here. There's probably no nefarious effect. Like, they grew plants here, maybe food that they could eat. It's a daylight spell, like a continuous daylight

spell. Yeah, it's something even more powerful than that, because it's so bright. What do you do? Search the room? Yep. Take 20, I guess? All right, show me where you are and what you're doing. Sir Will is not searching the room.

He is just looking out at the hanging gardens. Just, like, in case anybody comes, you know, around the corner, he's going to be ready. All right, so you're all kind of spread out towards the back of the room, looking around. Everybody roll a perception check. 40. 34. 22. 30. Looking around.

Plants. Huge plants. Too large for any of your rooms. But large enough to hide looking around, just plants, huge plants, too large for any of your rooms. But large enough to hide gigantic monsters! Guy jumps out. Oh, Venus flytrap. No, nothing jumps out of the potted plants or behind any of the shelves

or tables in the room. However, as you're standing there looking about, all of you hear a sound from outside, a sound of wind flapping back and forth until suddenly, through the open doors, Until suddenly, through the open doors, flies this creature that looks like an enormous lizard that is composed entirely of organic plant matter. Oh, what? It flies into the room, and as it does, it shakes its its huge wings and dirt particles go everywhere, coming out of its mouth, shaking off its body.

It looks like a huge plant slash dragon. Oh, God. Oh, my goodness. In fact, it looks like this. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. That is so cool. And it just fucking screams. And rears its head back.

Blackout. Now I want to kick it over to old DJ Splashdazzle. Haven't heard from his hot fingers in a while. DJ SD, can you give me some music that is I don't know, let's say Osirian in nature. Got any hot Osirian

tracks? I don't know. Does this work for you? Oh, she'll do. She'll do just fine. We fade up now on a desert. In the foreground, a tent flap flutters back and forth from a heavy wind. Nearby, a campfire stands cold.

In the background, a giant pyramid looms. We zoom slowly toward that pyramid until the tent and the campfire fall out of frame, and we continue zooming towards its base until we are now inside, walking down a long corridor. We hear the sound of footsteps and see torchlight casting flickering shadows on the walls,

walls that are covered from floor to ceiling in pictographs and hieroglyphs. Our perspective changes and walking down the hallway we see Silvertusk with torch in hand. To his left

is Galabras and floating just above the ground to his right is Gabras. And floating just above the ground to his right is Gormley. As they walk, we see them taking in all of these images, images of great battles, castles falling, towers collapsing, but also more familiar images,

scenes and moments relating to each of them. There's an image of Galabras lying in a cage below deck on an elfin ship. A young Gormley walking hand in hand with a young Kessin plum toward an abandoned plague house. Kesson Plum toward an abandoned plague house, and Silvertusk as Lork watching a fire giant wipe out his entire Black Arrow unit. A sound in the distance begins to be heard, a faint scraping sound that draws all of your attention, so the three of you continue down the corridor and to eventually reach the end, which opens into a large square room with a sarcophagus in the middle.

Several torches and sconces light up the room, and in the back is a hunched-over figure carving yet another pictograph into the wall, which is already covered with other images. another pictograph into the wall, which is already covered with other images. The figure stops at your approach and slowly turns toward you. For a moment, you see the face of a young woman, a face some of you haven't seen in a long time, the face of Dela Narn.

What? But any feeling of joy is quickly erased as the figure completes its turn and you see standing before you, Brander. He looks about the room at all the images on the walls for a moment before addressing you long ago my brother was in charge

of maintaining this room the one who watches over time they called him Pudir sadly he died, and I never had the chance to say goodbye.

I was in exile at the time after killing our other brother. In truth, that was an unfortunate accident, but in many ways, it set me on the path that I am now reaching the very end of. Thankfully, Pudia's children and grandchildren would pick up where he left off, coming here to record those moments that they thought crucial to understanding the tapestry of time. When I returned to our circle, those who remained knew not who I was. It must have been Pudia's grandson or great-grandson. Funnily enough, I've lost track of which,

but it was he who brought me into this very chamber long ago, and I took his life essence from him right where you stand. You must understand I never wanted to kill anyone, and when I could avoid it, I always did, but those lives that were taken were unfortunate casualties of a greater purpose. For I needed their power, I needed all the power I took, and soon I will have everything I need to end this once and for all. Call it my curse, if you will. But you know all about curses, don't you, Lorc?

He locks eyes with Silvermane from across the room, and then he cocks his head ever so slightly. Are you still in there? Are you still in there? You all should know that I had no intention of ending Faza Deer or Pudir's line. It was you and your friends who did that. For the Pudir who perished here in this chamber had a son, a son that grew up fearing he would face the same fate of his father. So he took his family and moved far away from here, and though that young man died, he too left behind a son, and you, Lorc, killed that

son in the streets of True Now, thus sealing your fate. So that poor girl, Fairaza, left here in search of a ghost and died fighting a battle she had nothing to do with. But I am not here to judge. We've all made sacrifices and done terrible things to get where we are right now in this moment, haven't we? He turns back to the wall and etches another line in what looks like a battle between an undead woman riding a headless horseman creature

and four very familiar-looking fighters all surrounded by a sea of giants. He still has his back to you when he talks. It's like I don't know if it was guilt or an homage to my brother, but all these years I still come back and record moments like these. It's been vital to understanding my true purpose

and I've learned so much in doing so. He turns back to you. That's how I learned about all of you and the parts you would play in helping me to achieve my ultimate goal. Thankfully, this will all be over soon. Thankfully, this will all be over soon. But, here we are again. Each of you has traveled far and gone to great lengths to get here, so I suppose you feel as if I owe you some answers.

you feel as if I owe you some answers. Well then, let's talk. And you know what? We'll see you in two weeks. I need to prepare for this conversation. I need a nap. I'm so glad I'm a mute. Two weeks, we'll be back with episode 300, you sons of guns.

300 is complete. 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. All Pathfinder images are properties of Paizo and are used with permission. Outro Music