The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 326 Part 3 - A Couple Things Happened

Episode Date: May 17, 2022

With the Storm Tyrant defeated, the heroes face a series of critical decisions as the seven year Giantslayer campaign that launched the Glass Cannon Network comes to its long-anticipated conclusion! 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

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a sweet phone plan, Netflix, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime. All starting at just $99 a month. Stack more, spend less. The Happy Stack, only at CUDO. Conditions apply. Hey, I just got us a new Coca-Cola spice. Nice. What's it taste like?

It's like barefoot water skiing while dolphins click with glee. Whoa, let me try. Nah, it's like gliding on a gondola through waving waters as a mermaid sings. Nah, it's like Coca-Cola with a refreshing burst of raspberry and spiced flavors. Yeah. Try new Coca-Cola Spiced today. You are listening to the Glass Cannon Network, the premier source for role-playing game entertainment. I feel like over the past seven years, we've established the fact that I grew up a pretty massive wrestling fan.

Have we talked about this? I know Grant and I, we make a lot of wrestling jokes. You played the John Cena drop skit. Always at the perfect moments, which always gets the crowd going. I know Grant and I, we make a lot of wrestling jokes. You played the John Cena drop skit. His name is John Cena! Perfect moments, which always gets the crowd going. And his name is John Cena! I, of course, worked for John Cena's family. Yeah.

But I was a wrestling fan since 87. Like end of 86, beginning of 87. Super fan. Watched it all growing up. I had like a dark period in 91, 92. And then I got back into it. And all the way through college, I've been to, I mean, I can't even count how many pay-per-views I've been to in live shows. I still remember the first time going to a live show with my dad and my my uncle

who just passed away a few months ago and my cousin we took a limo there my uncle uh he had all the he owned all the uh the sunoco gas stations along the lynnway in lynn massachusetts so he had he's a gajillionaire yeah whenever i see the sunoco gas price on the highway i'm like how are you in business like you know if you just go off the exit to the town, it's 40 cents cheaper a gallon. I don't get it. Yeah. When he passed away, I remember I messaged my cousin and I was like, I always remember what your dad did for us that night for my first wrestling event.

I think it was his first one, too. We went into the old Boston Garden. Main event was Hulk Hogan versus King Harley Race. I'll never forget. And when the limo pulled up, my uncle said, hey, you know who's in that limo? Hulk Hogan. And he said, gotcha. But I was a huge, huge fan.

And all the way through college, I mean, I got all my roommates into it. We used to go to my buddies uh how he lived off campus so he could get the pay-per-views we'd all chip in to watch the pay-per-views and i got so into it during the sort of dawn of the internet while i was in college that you'd read the dirt sheets but not read the spoilers and you'd get to know about the business of wrestling um and you know you know they always, don't say it's fake. Say the outcomes are predetermined. Um, but one thing that's part of the, the dance, the choreography, uh, between this is obviously the ref knows how long a match is supposed to go.

He tends to have an earpiece in and they'll tell him like, all right, let him know. And so the referee will say usually to the wrestlers, uh, go home or take it home. Boys is a great clip if you listen to an old wrestlemania i remember someone like lifted the volume and you hear earl hefner the referee say take it home boys and that means that the guy who's supposed to win hits his finisher or does whatever the ending is uh to do what is going to be the end of the match and so uh it's time to take it home boys wow this is it this is i don't believe you so who's supposed to win well mankind mankind the listeners hopefully

not the wrestler but the friends we made along the way i would like to be the undertaker if it is the wrestler i would like to throw mankind through the top i want to thank you by the way for getting me back into wrestling i didn't i liked it as a little kid and then i complete contempt for it uh through my adolescence and early adulthood because it was just like it was just like oh it's fake and people wrestling fans like it's not fake so you get the impression that oh they think that it's an actual sports that's not true it's just a story that's like playing out in front of you so i but that thank you for opening my eyes to that yeah i i i had to stop and i stopped probably about 10 years ago but still when wrestlemania

comes around i always like read the paper i read the dirt sheets and just i want to see what's going on and also my brother who's 12 years 12 years younger than me, he was looking up to me and wanted to do everything that I do. And now he works in wrestling. He's like an independent wrestler. Yeah, he went overboard. Commentator. And he's way into it. He's actually wrestling.

Yeah. Yeah. He travels all around to the indie circuits. He's a commentator. And he took my name. Yeah, he's Troy. My name and my dad's name. Troy Nelson, right?

So straight. Yeah, Troy Nelson. Top shelf Troy Nelson. dad's Troy Nelson. So straight. Yeah. Troy. Top shelf. Troy Nelson. Top shelf. Troy Nelson. Yeah.

But his love of it makes me love it. And like, I'd love for my boys to watch it, but I don't want them to see all the sexist stuff that they've, they've tried to calm down, but it's still a part of it. Uh, and I don't want them to see the violence,

obviously at three and less than two years old. But man, I was man, I loved it. Yeah. I was into it when I was a kid. And then I got back into it when I was in college for a bit. And then I got out of it. And I don't care about it anymore. But I was really interested in my wife and I watched Glow on Netflix.

Oh, yeah. It's great. And I really liked it. Just as a show and as the stories and everything, I really liked it. But then additionally, on the wrestling part, I was like, I like and respect wrestling a lot more now because of this show because it had

it made you appreciate the theatrical element. Like I never appreciated the theatrical element in a way where this show sort of showed you like how ideas come to be and how people are just like hanging out at a bar, you know,

like talking to each other, like the wrestlers, you know, they're like, how about I do this to you? Or like, how about we work this heel turn? Or how about like the,

you know, bouncing ideas off and then just like, let's just play it out on stage and like fuck around and see what people like. It's so similar to what we do here. Yes. Yeah, exactly.

It's very similar. It's just with jumping and stunts. exactly it's very similar it's just with jumping and stunts like it's that's really the only difference right they do it physical conditioning right that too and and with and with gorgeous ladies of wrestling glow mark maron has made an appearance in two-thirds of the last game shocking a man who i don't believe made an appearance in 325 episodes of the glass Gat of Black Ice has appeared twice in the finale. Congratulations. Hats off to Mark Maron. Father of modern podcasting. If Skid ever

sees you again on the streets, he'll say... I'll scare the shit out of you. Are you Mark Maron? You were in my podcast! You made the finale! Twice! Yeah, so we're going to take it home here. I don't know how long it's gonna take but i i ain't got no more pots left in me this is it three parts and it's so funny because we were

talking about earlier before we even started the first part that when we did 100 it was like all right gather together let's record and we were in my apartment you remember my my old apartment before we moved upstairs and just sitting around that table, and we started recording. And all of a sudden, five hours passed. We didn't, I don't think we took any breaks, any planned breaks. Maybe we did at a certain point. And then we were like, is this going to be 100, 101, 102, 103? I'm sure, I'm sure I can tell you what that conversation was.

Like, it was definitely Matthew and I being like, make it 100, 101, 102, 103. I do remember that. Just so we can have a few weeks to breathe. And you're just like, no, it has to be part one, part two, part three. It had to be. You look back. It had to be. We definitely broke it up because I did not appear in part one.

Or I was there and I was talking, but my character. That's right. That's right. Do in part one do you remember we were like wait no that wasn't no sorry not the recording but the release you remember we all got dressed in suits and oh yeah streamed like from your place that shows up whenever i log into the facebook page that video is somehow always up top and nick lowe is there yeah nick you know what it must not have been your old apartment it must have been because it was your new apartment upstairs yeah we were on yes kid had the wig and i was doing the interviews yeah nicolo was there i was wearing

a suit but with shorts because you couldn't see him yeah uh oh so hot yeah we got our suits on I will say these last 180-ish episodes, the temperature's been a lot better. That's one big improvement. Over these last 180 episodes. The first 130 where it was hit or miss. Miserable. Mostly miserable. Mostly miserable. When we were in the studio next door, we did Glass Cannons in there, right?

I remember we had Aliens in there. I remember Bulldog and Mona. Yeah, it started at 132 or cannons in there right i remember we had aliens in there i remember uh yeah it started at 132 or right in there it was the that's the end of book two or sorry book three like who died in there i don't know when died in the della no della died in philadelphia yeah and then it was right after philadelphia remember we recorded an airbnb yeah multiple episodes because we're there all weekend maybe yeah that's right we're inishtown, baby. That's right. We were in Fishtown and Della Dive. That was the Earthhash fight. The Hat Maker

in Cragaday. Roy the Hat Maker. Roy the Hat Maker. No, he wasn't Cragaday. He was Yanderhoff. Yanderhoff. We were in Yanderhoff in that place. That was Nestor's heel turn was in that Airbnb. Yes. That's right. What did we do when we were in the Cape? Because he was such a good guy before. We did. That was

oh, I was like 30 something. That was the closest you were to actually doing pro wrestling moves by breaking skid's table right we were in minderhals valley i remember it was the autumn vorax was it the oh the oram vorax that was the oram vorax we went away because we needed to bank episodes and then we end up just drinking and not getting a lot we got some recording over three days i think we got four episodes that was our first t-shirt yeah our first t-shirt sale was that god we used the tea spring yeah and we won the uh we won the 50 50 raffle that's right that's right uh at the ad. We watched Giants beat the Eagles. Giants crushed the Eagles. I just got to sit there and watch them smash up the whole time. I was like, this is exactly, exactly what is supposed to happen.

Just Troy sits there like, another round. Having so much fun. That really was a great trip, though. That was a great trip though that was a great trip that was great we never went back we should have yeah well yeah we left we were like we'll do this once a month yeah just like you always do with this shit when you're an adult you're like we'll do this again on the red that was before do it for the rest of your life that was before anyone had children yeah yeah yeah i mean we said in the last part like lifetimes a lifetime ago seven years it it was several lifetimes ago like i said on the drive-in today we were going to go out to dinner

afterwards hopefully we'll we're going to not happening come on it's gonna happen i don't drive home in rush hour um plus it's gonna be nice it's gonna be nice to to hang out and talk troy it's not that we don't want to go out to dinner. It's that we're going to finish recording this when everyone stops serving food in New York City, which is saying a lot. That's why I said late night Taco Bell menu. But did we ever just go to a bar after recording? I remember we used to do that. Yeah.

Sometimes. Astoria Tavern. We went there a couple of times. We went to Joe's Garage at least once. Joe's Garage, yeah. What was that place that you you could walk we never went just like the five of us just it didn't happen a lot i remember we recorded at your apartment joe back in the early days we would sometimes go over that little dive yeah what was it you like walk through a little alleyway yeah hell gate on the park yeah i'll get on the park but we weren't always there

in seven years we we hang out on the road, obviously. But like... You guys, in the early days, you guys drank a lot during the recording. Yeah, during recording. So by the time we finished the recording, all of you were a little sloppy. There was no need to go to a bar. It would have been redundant. We did our drinking during work.

When we did multiple episodes, those last eps, I remember just sending emails that would be like, guys, we have to tone it down. I remember episode 100 i remember being so excited about episode 100 i remember showing up at your apartment with like four bud 20 ounce beers and being like this is gonna be a night to remember and then like as and i didn't even know what was really happening and i just like cracked a bud light started sipping on it and then before i knew it it was like your new characters were coming in and it was freaking pembroke yeah yeah yeah and ferraza yeah and orfos like the great some of the greatest characters we've had on this entire run and i mean those things just started going down like water i was like this is the greatest time is the greatest and so yeah at the end of it i was like on my in my i was my mouth was right by the microphone and in my head i was like don't talk as much like just stop talking because you are

drunk like you have drank too much that was uh i think one of the first times i showed up with a hop stupid yeah hop stupid It's like a 10%. Wait, was it hop stupid or was it the other one that, oh, the one that you always. Oh, brown sugar. Brown sugar. Oh, yeah. Little something, something. Little something, something.

When you showed up with little something, something, I was like, Grant's going to yell at somebody later. Lagunitas. Lagunitas. Do you remember how many times my wife, Sam, would like saunter in like mid-recording when we went late and she would just tiptoe through into the bedroom. And she would just give like a polite wave like, hi guys. I'm like, I'm sorry

honey, I'm sorry. And then like she would sneak into the room and for another two hours we'd be like, She's sneaking through a room knocking over 40 beer cans on the way to the bedroom. Just what a degenerate. It's so insane. Just what a degenerate. It's so insane.

And then she married you. And then she married you. Well, we were engaged. I had her locked in at that point. Even still. Even still. You can always leave before you have kids. But it is just crazy just thinking about recording

in the remote proximity of one of our spouses. Yeah. Her girlfriend. It's so incon spouses. Yeah. Her girlfriend. It's so inconceivable now. I know. I know. For 50 episodes. Yeah.

I mean, Aaron wasn't there all the time, but there were definitely times when she would walk in and sneak into the back. Oh, man. And then I would find out later that she had been texting Caitlin about how annoying we were. Right. She would be texting Caitlin, your husband is a real geek. Now she's wearing fur coats

i was gonna say now she looks like oh christ what in the batman carmen what's his name the mobster yeah he Carmen Falcone. Yeah, she looks like Carmen Falcone's wife now. Carmine Falcone. Like getting out of limos in a fur coat. But she's got that look behind her eyes. You just know she doesn't believe in the family business. Right. Dirty money.

It's dirty money. She's a lot of me involved in this. And the first time the FBI shows up at her door, you know she's going to start singing. She's going to turn and stare to start singing like a canary. Start singing like a canary. It's like Carmine Soprano. Carmella Soprano.

Well, we established a lot last episode. I threw a lot at you that kind of... There's important scorekeeping to be done before you get going. What? Joe's cried. I've cried. Oh! You got skid matthew left oh i teared up when i hugged uh lork yes you did i saw it uh joe got teared up when he

talked about uh what sir will was thinking of yep i kind of got there too i can't remember what i was describing but it was last step maybe i hit it who wins money who wins money if i cry no one wins money it's about do you or do you not have a soul you're like you sound like you sound like tom hanks and save your prior ride you're like what's the pool up to now uh man it's all about money with you that's what they always say they just did it for the money, those playwrights. Always did it for the money. You're all the same. So it drives them all. So lust for gold.

It's the only thing that brings them happiness. There's a book. It's actually a lovely book, but it gets to a point where a character becomes a playwright and becomes rich rich and i just i want to just read it i spent oh honey yeah not gonna happen that is unbelievable i was gonna say about this the play that i wrote in community college like the other play i was going up because i was about a writer who won the lottery which was a beautiful dream that is the way that is the way to make money as a playwright it is that's how you get rich well who'd have thunk you could make a couple bucks doing a podcast out of your buddy's house yeah yeah um thank you everybody yeah thank you

thank you guys get set in the in the first step and we say it all the time but i don't think we can ever say it enough no you can't thank you we pour our hearts into this and we work really hard um but a lot of people work really hard and pour their hearts into things and nothing ever comes of it um i'd go as far to say all of us worked really hard and poured our hearts into things before we did this oh sure that nothing ever came of it yeah like we really got very lucky we got lucky to find each other and to find something that we were all like good at collectively yeah and also just yeah this everyone not not just like the patreon subscribers and people who use the uh the codes and everything but just everyone who sent us gifts and uh not just here but on the road and uh all the messages we've gotten to support and everything.

It's just, it's impossible to really thoroughly thank like everyone as much as they deserve for all that stuff, but it's truly, truly touching and has meant the world to all of us. Yeah. I mean, for a long time, Skid was able to answer every single email that came in but now we get 30 a day and even the people we've hired to answer those emails can't keep up with them or the facebook messages or the ig messages or the comments on the youtube videos and the posts um it makes me sick sometimes when i get all these messages I can't even get back to, but I want you to know that we read everything. We pass messages around to each other. And, um, I just, thank you.

You, you've, you've turned, you've certainly turned my life, uh, into something that I never dreamed that this would be the way that things would work out. But, uh, I, I, I i'm i'm so grateful to all of you and to the four of you guys as well for um making this journey possible yeah um so now it's time to take this imagination copter take it home boy very slow descent down jackets please how'd you get on here you didn't have a ticket already Slow descent down. Jackets, please. How'd you get on here? You didn't have a ticket already.

Baron. Metra. Galabras. Gormley. Have all entered the dome. It sounds like a cage fight. dome battle royale silver tusk was ready to enter as well but he just watched his daughter every second of the way as the darkness consumed him chael and her retinue nim nim and the other followers of Sarenrae are people that just looking for something, looking for something to believe in.

They are standing behind Sir Will, who is the only other person outside of this dome besides Jimmer Hardy, who has been tainted by Brander's influence. We talked about everything that Jimmer's been through, the torture that he went through before you discovered him high atop Iron Cloud Keep high atop Zephyr Hall

but what Jimmer couldn't even know is what Brander's influence was what Brander did to him and now Brander has activated that influence it's a sleeper agent well I think that there's a vacuum. It's a sleeper agent. Well, I think that there's a vacuum in him

based on what we were talking about, about not really feeling like he has a purpose anymore that Brander is able to exploit in this moment that might not work for anyone else in this group. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, I like that. Because you've been playing this, not hopelessness,

but a little bit of hopelessness, kind of like, what is the purpose? And then you see Galapagos. Yeah, I like that. Because you've been playing this, not hopelessness, but a little bit of hopelessness. Kind of like, what is the purpose? And then you see Galapagos. Yeah, this rudderlessness. Yeah. And he steps through and doesn't even really acknowledge you. And seems to, in a way, not need you. Right?

He seems, what was the word that you used? Inscrutable and powerful in a way that the boy that you grew up with was not yeah because that's the thing is like when he was a boy like he really did need my protection right not only from his father but like everything else and that was that was a real sense of purpose and now it's like the dynamic has changed completely to the point where it's on some level he feels worthless, along with all the trauma and torment that he's experienced, kind of multiplying itself that leaves him vulnerable in this moment to what Brander's trying to do to him. Do you know what I love about this story that you're telling

that is so fascinating and so rarely done? Is that because of the way that you're executing it, I kind of think Calabras is a dick. And I like Jimmer better now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally, yeah. That is good storytelling. I don't see that. He's like a celebrity.

Too good for you. With your garage. I never, because I didn't know, I didn't know what... His fur coats. He walks in in a fur coat A fur coat With his chest all out

With his butterfly shouts He's walking in like Macklemore Multiple gold chains He's Ric Flair Styling and profiling his way into the dark It's just amazing In all seriousness, this is the thing too with Galabras He's Ric Flair. He is Ric Flair. Styling and profiling his way into the dark. It's just amazing.

In all seriousness, this is the thing, too, with Galabras. I almost see him as being kind of like Dr. Manhattan in this moment. Where he has changed so much that he, on some level, it's difficult for him to even relate to someone who is mortal like Jim or the the rest of them so that's playing into this as well well here's the thing is i didn't know at all how you're going to play this and so what i think of and so i'm going to leave this as a lingering thought uh should you make it through the end of our story uh is that as much as jimmer may feel hurt by this Maybe if things work out well, there's a sense of, I don't know, a cathartic moment

where you feel like it's okay. Galabras is going to be okay. He doesn't need you anymore. And that's not a bad thing. Right, exactly. But right now you don't see that. And right now Brander's influence has taken you.

Yes. And so Sir Will, imagine this battlefield. You're all creating space between you and this slowly, slowly expanding dome, slowly expanding sickness of time spreading out in the world. Sir Will, you have basically followers behind you. Like, you've taken the leadership feat. Yes. And they stand with you.

And you're just staring at Jimmer, but it's not Jimmer. There's something else there. What does either of you say in this moment? Sir Will pulls out his sword. He pulls out Roselight. It raises it, you know, above his head. And he's just like, Jimma, don't do this!

Think of Calabras! Out of my way, Will! And he's just, he pulls Terminus Est. And he's focused on Will. And he knows in his state that he has to cut him down to get him out of his way. I cannot let you do that!

I cannot allow it! Look at these people! They've come to help us defeat Branda! Would you cut them down as well? Get out of my way! And he just sets his feet. He's got his shield bolted to his

arm, his forearm. He's got Terminus S down by his side and he's ready to fight. Oh, he's got the what is the Nargrim steel hand and everything. Yeah, and the steel hand is like you can hear the like the crink of metal as he's just like tightening his hand around the

hilt of Terminus Est. And Sir Will is just like, may I one day judge my soul? For Hymery! And he charges at Jimmer. Oh my god! Are we doing this? Pure narrative. Because I don't want to actually roll any dice.

Well, how could we not How could we not bro Roll for initiative I mean when I say this is not in my notes at all I've thrown you into an impossible situation Here you know We've done this before We did this with Baron and Nestor

Back in True Now I don't know what's going to happen here. I wasn't interested in Pathfinder mechanics at all in the finale. I'm still not. But right now, you are charging at Jimmer. What did you roll for initiative? I rolled a natural one. Did Jimmer beat that?

I got a 17. So you're charging at Jimmer. I think the natural one is perfect because it goes directly into my plans. Okay. Jimmer, what would you like to do? He is going to wait.

He's going to, I guess, hold until he's Will is charging and he's going to wait until he gets close enough for him to wait. He's going to, I guess, hold until Will is charging, and he's going to wait until he gets close enough for him to stop. All right, so you just delay your action, just waiting. I mean, with no fear in his eyes, a darkness in his eyes. What do you do, Sir Will? Sir Will is going to unleash Lexington in a ride-by attack, and he is going to explode by Jimmer, and he will intentionally

miss the attack. Okay. So he swings. He makes it look good, and he just swoops directly into Jimmer's shield, almost like he's training, and he uses like the flat of the blade. You know what I mean? Just sort of like clang against the side of his shield. Just for the hell of it,

just give me a roll, but as long as you don't roll a natural 20, that will happen. God. Natural two. So you missed with ease. You missed with ease You look as if you meant to do this

I should do this all the time in narrative You maybe don't even hit the shield I don't even hit the shield Drops the sword right out of his head Shivering slides by you and misses wildly You have a chance to act I will take a swing He is ridden by you, like well past you

Like 30 feet beyond you So he goes past you So I 30 feet beyond you okay all right so he goes past you so i guess i'm gonna just do if he's going you know what i guess you could swing if you wanted to because what i'm thinking is you can't it does not provoke an attack of opportunity because of my feats but if you're ready to action if you're ready to action to swing if i got near you could do that yeah and that's kind of how I assumed it you didn't use the word ready kind of like you're waiting you know what sir will is gonna do take a swing at this little half leg

that's a natural 19 that's a critical threat of course it is for Christ's sake to confirm very high AC firm 29 to confirm does not confirm okay not a confirmed... Oh, wait. Wait.

Critical focus. 33. Does not confirm. Okay. Alright, so Sir Will, you purposefully miss, but Jimmer hits you hard as you ride by for how much damage? 33 points of damage. Oh! Larry

burned the thigh. Oh. God damn it. So Will, I don't know what you're planning here, but you have to know that he has the ability to kill you. Yeah. What do you do? Well, he's past him now. Yeah. Like on the other side

of the dome. So Will is like he finishes the charge and he's got this cut in his side and like reaches of the dome. So Sewell is like, he finishes the charge and he's got this cut in his side and reaches down and comes away and his fingers are bloody. He just looks back at Jimmer. He's like, Lexington,

set yourself. I'll keep you safe. Come for me! And he just stands at you with his sword raised, and I'm going to do total defense. Now he's 30 feet away from the dome, in the opposite direction.

Okay, and the crowd of onlookers, Nim Nim, Shael, all the followers of Sarenrae, just watch with bated breath at what Jimmer does. All right, and Jimmer, again, like, sets his feet, braces his shield, and just starts running towards Will. Atop Lexington, you're able to outpace his ability to charge at you, so it comes back to you, Sir Will. Right. Right.

Uh, right. Um, uh, okay. Uh, Sir Will is going to, he's going to take a five foot step back and he's going to cast iron skin on himself. And it looks like, you know, he's, he's skipping away, casts a spell. Uh, but now he's within five feet of you. Okay. Jimmer. Uh, I'm going to take another, another swing. Yep. You can do a full feet of you. Okay. Jibber. I'm going to take another swing.

Yep, you can do a full attack on him. Yeah, I'll do... Jesus. Full attack. Troy, are you happy with yourself? Monster. You know what I love about this? I have no idea what's going to happen.

I know exactly what's going to happen. Okay, that is a 41 to hit. Yeah, that's a hit. Jesus. 39 points of damage. Oh, my God. Wait, so this damage you do to anybody all the time. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's how normal people make characters. Right. That always consistently deal damage. Yeah, that was my unique approach. It seems like a foreign concept to Joe, I know. Sir Will, are you in good shape? No. Let's have Jimmer attack again.

Okay. Again. That is a 34 to hit. Miss. Okay. So off of his armor. All right. Third attack.

Miss. Fourth attack. Miss. Okay. Of his armor. All right. Third attack, miss. Fourth attack, miss. Okay. Ding, ding, ding. His sword is like hitting, deflecting. Terminus S, I can't believe he's fighting against Terminus S. Yeah, yeah.

Roselight against Terminus S. Ding, ding. You've pulled Jimmer away from this darkness, most importantly. Pulled yourself away. And the followers are all within their right minds to move away as well. It's not like this thing is moving rapidly, but it's moving faster than when you first arrived. So whatever Brander's doing, the power is increasing.

And now we go inside of the dome. Metro, what did you do? You cast limited wish. Limited wish to protect me from the effects as much as I can of the time blight. All right. So I'm going to say you step through and I'm going to give you your wish from, oh, last episode. I'm going to say you step through and you find yourself in what appears to be,

it may not actually be, but it seems very familiar to you like you are back in the dimension of time. Hmm. To be clear, I didn't want to go to the dimension of time. Yeah, you did. You step through the darkness. That was last episode. I don't care what you want.

Similar to just off air, when Matthew said he didn't want pizza, I said, I don't care what you want. And he ordered pizza. The pre-dinner pizza. Gotta prime the pump. Wait, are we going out to dinner tonight? I better order some pizza first. What the heck, guys?

What's dinner? Grandma pies. Bring us a few grandma pies. If you look back, Metra, you don't see your friends, your allies, this random place in the countryside. You see an ancient city all around

you. And Metra is just walking through ruins now, ruins of an ancient city. And I imagine you're looking for Brander while you do this and you don't see him. You also don't see the darkness. But as you walk through these ruins, each new spot along the journey is another moment in Metra's life, another memory. And you are flooded with all these memories of Della. You see them off in the distance and maybe you hurry towards them, but every time you try to reach them like a dream, it always moves further away. But then we see something else as you get closer to these memories, even though they keep moving away. Behind each memory of Della is another moment, but those moments aren't memories.

They aren't parts of the past. You feel as if they're moments you haven't experienced yet. Moments from perhaps countless possible futures. You see yourself whisking around giant ancient rooms, pulling allies in battle with you wherever you go. You see yourself swan diving headfirst out of a trapdoor in a flying castle, plunging after a fallen knight. You see yourself rising up in the air in a great dining hall, darkness spilling out of you as you and your allies bring an evil giant king to his knees. And you see yourself using Dimension Door to pull Baron backward just far enough so that he can kill the storm tyrant without

taking a hit. Then you see yourself fall, hit with perhaps a prismatic spray, cleaved in twain by a giant's axe, run through by a greatsword. You see yourself falling, falling, falling from that same castle with no ability to slow your fall. And finally, you see yourself in these ruins, dying. Not once, not twice, a hundred times, a thousand times more, in every possible way, countless ways. And you're just running through these ruins, and no matter where you run, no matter where you look, the result is the same.

You die. Everywhere you look, you die. In that moment, you get this feeling that you could stay here in this place. Stay here

forever, and never have to actually face. These fates. That you see. But then. You think of Della. And there's really no choice to be made. Is there? So you run.

Back. Run back. Towards the images. Of your daughter summoning. Every bit of concentration you could manage, every bit of magical energy within you toward Della, toward Della to save her, to find her, to bring justice to those who wrong finding her will result in your death. But you plunge ahead anyway. And now you're flying forward and these images, these memories, these possible futures just stretch and swirl and intermingle and fade. And then you think you see an opening, a little rift, something that looks different, something that might be hope. And so you grit your teeth and you hurdle toward it because you know there is no other option.

And then we see Galabras as Galabras has also stepped through to the other side of this dark dome. What did you cast on yourself? Time stop. Time stop. So what happens to you as you pass through? So he has, there's like a personal bubble around himself that exists outside of time. It just lasts like in inside the bubble it's like 15 20 something seconds like pass but he's basically uh immune from outside of the effects of time for like this

short period and so he just like passes through everything is frozen around him as he does so and I just want to pass through the barrier and see what awaits on the other side so you walk through calmly confidently never looking back never looking back at your allies never even acknowledging Jimmer. And you step through and you just see sort of a picture of your life until this moment. What does that look like? Where does that begin? Where does that go? Like, where does that begin?

Where does that go? So we see Galabras as a little baby in his parents' estate with his mother, Melora, like, doting on him. And his father, Shanley, is there, too. And he's not yet the embittered, man that we've we've mostly seen him as he has a smile on his face for like the first time we've seen him we jump forward to gal at six years old and he's crying tears streaming down his face as he's clutching to the body of his dying mother in her bed his father looking on from the doorway, face cloaked in shadow. You see Gell at nine years old, trailing along behind his father

who has no regard at all for religion at this ceremony in Desna's temple in Absalom. His father, Shandley Finstock, is just there to network, and he has evident distaste for everything that's going on in his face. But little Gale, you can see, like holding his father's hands, he's transfixed by the beauty around him, the stained glass, the lilting notes of the choir, and the butterflies that are fluttering everywhere soon we see his father introducing him to an older boy one that he caught his father caught stealing from one of his warehouses in diabel he tasks the older boy with watching after his son as his father's shand, is too busy to do so. This is Jimmer Hardy.

They're inseparable. We see Jimmer teaching Gell to fish off the docks in Absalom. Gell reading stories to Jimmer at all hours of the night. And then we see the scene that we saw before of Jimmer trying and trying to teach Gel to fight. But Gel is just too physically weak and not suited to it. His father hires the legendary gladiator from the Absalonian arena, a Crixus the Inevitable, to toughen the sun up. The gladiator succeeds only in breaking Galabras' arm.

Jimmer rushes to his defense and kills the gladiator, but at the price of his eye. Oh, he killed the gladiator? Did we know that? Yeah, we saw that. It's all happened. Oh, that's right. That's some crazy shit.

Joe, we recorded 325 episodes of this show. I should listen to this. It's a good show. You should listen to it really listen to this. It's a good show. You should listen to it. Galabras. It's a good lesson. Spoilers, spoilers. Solid list.

Galabras excited telling his father that he has been accepted as a novitiate in the church of Desna. His father's unmoved. Says nothing. We see Galabras later at the bedside of the ancient druid uh apostate hierophant yavana gold leaf teaching him the secret language of her

order uh in direct contravention of all of her orders, out of gratitude for his kindness while she was in hospice. We see Gel defying his father, telling him that he has been sent to the far north to serve Desna as a missionary. His father disowns him on the spot. Jimmer begs to accompany his adopted brother, but Shandley Finstock forbids it outright.

We see the shipwreck gel miraculously survives only to be taken hostage by biarki daggerson and the olfen raiders at his side we get a glimpse of his torment under his captors and we see an old man in black that asks to buy Galabras at a trade moot some months later. A trade moot. That's great. Love that. So good. Bjarke refuses, but agrees to a contest of strength instead. He expects to quickly defeat the frail-seeming old man, but as they lock hands, the raider's arm turns to dust, and Brand leaves with his new prize and tell on the way south they stop for supplies at a dusty frontier town a little girl named ruby takes pity on the gaunt and weary galabras imploring her mother to rescue him from his bondage halgra does and galabras is

welcome to his new home of true. He finds work at the local temple caring for the sick and injured. It comes naturally, given everything he's done to date. You see the Hope Night Festival. Orcs attack. Gel leaps to his town's defense at the side of a band of strangers. In hidden caverns, in a hill beneath the town, Galavris dons the armor of Usgroth and lifts his hammer. Oh, yes! See, Gel and his new companion

sailing north on the river Esk, he tries to make popcorn with mixed results. I forgot about the popcorn! And we see Galavris finally swallowed by Agar. He frees himself only to have his mind broken by Brander. Baron, you step through as well. And similar to Galabras and Metra,

when you turn back, you do not see your friends. When you turn back, you do not see your friends. When you look ahead, you do not see Brander. You are taken back. What do you see when you step through? Baron sees a turning point. It's kind of the moment he decided that the Dwarven hierarchy that was guiding his entire existence, his family's existence, all of the families underneath the civilization underneath the five Kings mountains was too suffocating from him. The moment he decided to walk away, the bravery that took, but then also the cowardice that he had and knocking his parents asleep and stealing a powerful

heirloom in the middle of the night my favorite scenes kind of encapsulates baron that he sees as the moment he's caught stealing a horse from tarrick stables his friend who had told him how much about what a horse could mean for freedom begging and telling his friend not had told him how much about what a horse could mean for freedom, begging and telling his friend not to turn him in to let him steal this, how clumsy that felt. But it felt good as well to finally tell someone how he felt that he needed to escape. And we see Baron in True Now, and he arrives at Rubyy's name day himself with an entire town gathered around it's quiet moments kind of on the side where he sees folks from all walks of life able to

pursue what they love and he felt jealousy again by that kinship but that kinship would be the seeds of purpose the moment roderick's murder was discovered and he lork and galabras and gormley were put on the case to solve a murder and help save that day it gave him the motivation he needed to one day become sheriff and a sense of full purpose it would lead him to the law where he would become sheriff and one day chief defender of True Now. Lawbringer. Yeah. Chief defender, motherfucker!

Lawbringer. We hear bloody calls of an orc raiding party outside parts of True Now. This place that just had welcomed him like a son. They were trying to burn it to the ground. Acrid smoke stinging Baron's eyes and burning his nostrils. Hear the yelp of women, men and children as they were slaughtered

where they stood in the street. We see from there flashing into the vault of thorns as Gormley fell to her death. Baron learned how furious he could become, covered in shit at the bottom of that pit blind unable to help he felt power in that feeling but he understood just like with a

wig that it could consume someone entirely flash forward to red lake fort as a dam breaks flooding out the orc army it dawned upon baron that true heroism was what galabras did galabras's sacrifice of his life to upend the odds and bend the arc of time back towards justice it's the second of what will become many times that his companions laid down their lives and the first time baron fully realized that he lost a piece of himself into this ocean of sadness that awaits those who see their friends die to violence. We then fast forward again, seeing him feeling betrayed by Lork when he left on his own journey and then accepting Nestor, a criminal, into his own party. In that moment, Baron learned that laws are not absolute and its adjudicators must have

some degree of leniency in their application. Then we finally see the arrival of Sir Will and his self-assumed purity of purpose. Self-assumed. What a dick. Self-assured. What a dick. Secretly, Baron questioned Will's own self-righteousness and felt it was the other side of the same coin he was fighting against. We saw this in how he mediated the differences with the demon's blood

between Sir Will and Della. Classic arc. Baron thought it was best to give... Fan favorite. Fan favorite. The best. They represented it was best to give fan favorite. They loved it. Represented to this day in our bathroom shower. It sure is. Yeah, the

giant printer. Shampoo, conditioner, and demons blood. Literally is marked in our shower. We should leave that when we move out. We absolutely have to. That's going to be amazing. Shampoo, conditioner, We should leave that when we move out. We absolutely have to. That's going to be amazing.

The next tenant. Shampoo, conditioner, demon's blood. What the fuck is this? What's in here? Can we create an entire satanic ritual on a wall and just throw up some drywall over it? We should. And just have someone tear it down one day. But regardless, we need to have a single D20 on the floor in the center of the room. Yes.

Just sitting there. In a pentagram. Of blood. in the center of the room. Yes. Just like sitting there. In a pentagram. Of blood. Covered in demon's blood. Anyway. Bad intermingling with the previous sex ghosts that live in this place is just too heady of a brew to deal with. That's a lot of very powerful old magic. Blood, sex, sugar, magic.

Just like the red hot chili pepper. That that's right they will summon them in a circle well uh just like it was okay for those consenting adults to do whatever they wanted in this place baron feels the same way about sir will and della and generally as a worldview you were able to see that that day we see baron arriving in shinerman's fortune and seeing the destruction that uh their enemy had wrought against a town of innocent people and we see baron meeting abria and her grandmother for the first time seeing this baby without a protector no one from abria's village could stand up against these drums of war this revivified bar Baron's zeal and gave him a source of goodness to center his struggle upon and a

new rallying cry for Aubrey. You wrote that everywhere in the valley. Next to the Red Heart family symbol. The giant cock. Which made people think, is the cock for Aubrey?

This cock's for Aubrey. That's just in a lot. That's horrible. That's horrible. Someone needs to stop that, man. These goddamn teens and these vandals. You need to stop this deviant dwarf at any cost. We're relying on this guy to save the world.

Oh, my God. That's Volstis' speech at the end. He's like, I'm here to stop you dwarf i'm carving cocks on walls i was the bad guy all along new vandals came by and just insert for a good time call it's like a bathroom truck stop bathroom uh finally we see the shivers that went down baron's spine as he heard the vile sermons of earth ash as they echoed through Minderhall's cathedral and through the valley beyond this marriage of the competency of earth ash and the amorality of the general purpose that we never saw before.

We saw people messing up battle plans, stumbling through, not able to complete their goals of even taking true. Now created a mighty powerful enemy, one that would kill Della on the altar of a foreign god. Infiltrating Skirgard and losing some more companions, we see Pembroke and Faraza and Lork. Well, now Lelf. A man who started as a natural enemy, but then became a brother.

And then, he'd be gone for good. We finally see Baron returning to his ancestral home at Ash Peak, mowing down fire giant after fire giant after fire giant. There's some fire giant after fire giant. Hungry fire giant. Hungry pit. Hungry pit. Reflex save.

Reflex save. Only broken up by dank nugs. Choice dank nugs. Reflex save. reflex only broken up by no and but but coming home to where he was from realizing who he really was had nothing to do with this place it was something deeper and we finally see him at iron cloud

keep defying all the odds and putting the final named bullet in the storm tyrant's head. Gorms. Holy shit. Sweet Gorms, the first casualty. You step through as well.

This was, in many ways, all you're doing, but even still, you don't quite know what happens here. You just know that you're willing to sacrifice it all to end this. So what do you see when you step through? If similar to everyone else, it's this, this patchwork,

like you're being torn through time. A small child. Maybe six or seven. This wild, unkempt hair and piercing eyes. Sitting in the corner of the kitchen of the killing ground. Playing with a little pile of potatoes. She reaches for one of the potatoes and it just rises into the air without her touching it. She's delighted and she just moves the potato around

and the cook turns and sees her and is like, Gormley! He's like, Freak! Get out! Get out! He lights a Molotov cocktail on fire and throws it at the child.

Pelting you with potatoes. No, no. He just says, Where are my potatoes? And the potato just falls out of the air. And then later, young Gormley is playing in the square with other children. And she gathers them all around her. And she then levitates a potato she concealed in her pocket.

She's got this big smile on her face. But the other children are not as enthusiastic. And instead, they start to back away in fear. And she tries to make the potato dance through the air, trying to get him to laugh. And then one of them grabs the potato out of the air and just smashes it on the ground. And they all just run away and flee and leave her alone. Kids are the best. So then Gormley is back at home, and she shows her father, that cook from the killing grounds.

That's why he didn't kill her. Yeah. Oh, biased. Yeah, biased. And she shows him again how she can make the- Oh, biased. Yeah, biased. She shows him again how she can make a potato fly, and he's actually in awe of it. He didn't see it before, and he gives her this giant hug.

Aw. Aw. And then Gormley is walking. I want to meet him. Yeah. We never met him. Well, you're about to. What's his name?

Don't worry about it. Fucking rude. Joe, you could have said that every time Troy asked you what his name was Don't worry about it and yet we got Brend, Jasun Classics Bill, Bill Carl Bill Carl

Bill Carl, William Carl Billiam Billiam Carl Call me William Call me William It's Billiam stupid so call me William. Billy Carl. So what do we see with Billy Carl?

Well, so Gormley is walking through Trinow with her mother and Billy Carl. William. William. I didn't do the shit to your other. No one interrupted anyone else's thing. We're in the Rift Zone right now. Dude, we're hot. We're hot.

It's good stuff. Is Brander in a Rift Zone right now. Dude, we're hot. We're hot. It's good stuff. Is Brander creating the Rift Zone right now? The thing I'm bad at is... I'm sorry. Brander made me do it. Your magic wasn't strong enough. You were drawn briefly into the Rift Zone as you crossed. Gormlaze Incorporated.

We had to zip through the Rift Zone. That was your method of infiltration. You should have cast Rift Stop. I know. Everyone else was different. See, that's why I was immune. Because I had time stopped. You didn't say a word for some reason. I'm sorry. This young Gormley is walking through Trunau with her mother and her father

and the Church of Abadar is being built. And they're watching the laborers lift the giant stones into place and then one of them loses his grip and this giant stone starts tumbling down, smashes into the unfinished wall, and the wall cracks and tumbles, and Gormley's father shoves Gormley out of the way, and then is crushed beneath the falling stone. Oh, wow.

Jesus. Don't you feel really bad now for the riff? Yeah, now I feel, yeah. Billiam, we hardly knew you. Billiam. So now Gormley stands at her father's funeral. It's a convenient headstone. Killed by a wall.

It's scribed on the shard of church. Killed by a wall. Billy Call, killed by a wall. She was healed mercilessly. Billy Call, killed by a wall. Yeah, the other little kids are, Billy Call, killed by a wall. Like, whenever she comes around.

Poor kid. God, that she comes around. Poor kid. Oh, my God. That's so awful. Billy, call. And all because you couldn't stop him. Right. Yeah. You guys are a bunch of dicks.

No, no. I don't know why we're destroying this moment. We're choosing this moment to get involved. I think it's because we all sat quietly for about 20 minutes. Yeah. And we're children. And it's too much now. It's just too much. Do we need to go run around outside?

No, but seriously, like, she... We need recess. Her powers, like, her nascent powers at that point, like, she shows like the kind of thing that she will be at one day be able to do, but in that moment she's not up to the task. It's sort of like in X-Men 2

when, like, Magneto... No, that's like Magneto, like, at the gates of, sort of like in x-men 2 but like yeah magneto no that's like like magneto like at the gates of like oh he's like bending the you know he's trying to save his parents he's trying to save his parents but like he doesn't really have enough control or power yet to be able to do that you can see like where he will one day but in that moment it's not enough also foreshadows the beginning of Gormley's difficulties with gravity. It's true. Yeah. It's cold.

Yeah. No, it's true. Gormley Call, killed by a fall. Yeah. Oh, God. So sad. Billy Call, killed by a wall. Gormley Call, killed by a fall.

Wow. Well, so Gormley is standing at her father's funeral in the rain, and her mother, who's like we now see, has been crushed in the same accident as standing by her side. And we jump ahead in time. We see Gormley alone as a 13-year-old caring for her mother and bringing her dinner in their house. And as her mother eats the soup she's made,

Gormley levitates two potatoes and starts telekinetically tossing them into the pot. And she smiles. And now Gormley's 16, and she's scrubbing the floors of Killin' Grounds on her hands and knees, and this handsome young man about her age, maybe two years older, he walks into the bar with who we assume is his father,

and he happens to look over at Gormley and notices that she's twisting her hands and muttering something, and the grime and the grit are suddenly, as if by magic, just wiped away from the floor. And his eyes widen, and Gormley sees what he saw, and her face falls and starts to rush out of the room, and then she sees his face, and he's almost impressed. And then the boy's father says, Kesson, let's go! And Gormley and Kesson share a smile as he leaves. And then more time passes.

We see Gormley and Kesson giggling, sneaking out of the town walls to make their way down to the plague house. We all know what happens there. Yeah, in fact, we do. Because down in the plague house, Gormley Jesus Christ. We all had the class to not do it on.

Oh, God. Down in the plague house, Gormley is practicing her magic With Kesson as an audience A bet She sets up some dancing lights Perv And he applauds And then much to Gormley's embarrassment

Kesson visits her very very small house And does the dishes for her mother And her mother is very impressed And then Gormley and embarrassment, Kesson visits her very, very small house and does the dishes for her mother. And her mother is very impressed. And then Gormley and Kesson are now both around 17 and they're watching the sunset together from the crenellated towers. And then Gormley is walking through town on her way to work at the killing ground and as usual alone. She walks by laborers on a rickety tower of scaffolding as they work on the new blacksmith shop called Clamor. And suddenly

one of the struts snaps and a man begins to tumble off the top and leaping into action, Gormley splays her fingers and tries to magically soften the man's fall, but instead flames leap from her hand and instead a cone of fire showers the scaffolding and people are screaming and shouting and running, and a man falls into the fire.

And the other workers on different levels of the scaffolding are now trapped in the conflagration. And Gormley just stares down at her hands, just absolutely horrified. And now we see Gormley standing as a defendant at the inquest in the council room. And Gormley looks around the room, and the town has turned out to see the result. And the families of the dead workers are staring daggers at her and she looks up as the council enters and takes their seats at the table and among them is Kesson

who's just taken up his father's position as master of coin. Chief Defender Exposition pronounces his sentence. Dominic Exposition. Dominic Exposition. Dominic exposition. Dominic exposition. Pronounces her sentence,

which is banishment. Oh. And then Gormley is led out of the ivory hall by two armed guards and she sees her mother and she calls out to her, asks her to leave with her.

But her mother just turns her back. Oh. Oh my God. And the guards kind of dumped Gormley at the town gate and she looks back at this town

The only place she's ever known And then whips around when she hears a small noise Because out of the shadows of the gatehouse Steps Kessin And she's relieved And she embraces him but realizes He's not embracing her back He can't even bring himself to look at her

And Gormley understands he's not coming with her and she's truly alone and he reaches for her but she just slaps his hand away and spits out a curse and marches out of the town without waiting for a response and then finally we see her alone in her cave with only a green stink scorpion as her companion abandoned by this town, by her family, by everyone. There's two things that really affect me here. One is just learning Gormley's backstory and just imagining what it would be like if she had lived, which she could easily have done. Oh my God. Like she could have easily lived to the end of the campaign

yeah thinking about what that arc would have been like that's something we'll never really know and the other thing is just really hitting home how many friends baron has watched die oh it's tearing him up inside yeah that it's never really struck struck me before how much death he's witnessed. As the only member of this group to survive the entire story, all the death that he's seen of people that he's loved and counted on. And it's like, yeah, it's very deeply affecting to me. And it's like, yeah, it's very deeply affecting to me. It's only the hope of seeing you all return that even gives him the strength to move forward.

I mean, if you looked at it a different way, Baron could easily say this was the curse for leaving his family. Everyone he tried to make his new family dying in front of him. It's awful. It's these two sort of parallel but different tragedies with Gormley and Baron I mean it's only three right It's only Jimmer Metra and Sir Will They're the only ones that haven't died That you watched basically die

And Sir Will and Jimmer are killing themselves Outside of this Right and they're fighting each other right now They're killing themselves They're killing each other It's pretty one way It's true so far Right, and they're fighting each other right now. They're killing themselves. They're killing each other. Killing each other. It's pretty one way. It's true so far.

Well, Silver Tusk, Silvermane, Lork, whatever you want to call yourself. Just moments ago, you saw your true true born daughter in the flesh and even though your memories are tied up in Lork's memories and in Silvermane's memories and in so many other time periods and everything you the weight of that moment landed on you

ever since Droja told you that you had a true born child somewhere in the world that has always nagged at you and gormley saw that when you were tracing your fingers on an image of shia on the wall and just moments away from her being able to grasp your hand, you are enveloped by this darkness and you must in that moment just pray that she wasn't enveloped as well

because you no longer see her. You no longer see anyone. You're experiencing what they've all experienced, but your life goes back even further and then diverges. So what the, what happens to you in this? What do you see? What could you possibly see?

Yeah. I imagine him. I don't know. I just like to think of silver made as like so wise, right? That he's like, as it begins to happen, he's like aware of what's happening.

Like a dream, like he has a dream that he can control almost, but then something very strange happens and it's not the life he remembers. It's details of things that he has felt, but could never put a name to examples of things that he, uh, you know, for lack of a better term, like a broad painting that evokes an emotion, but then all of a sudden it crystallizes into extremely clear memories. So we should see like a memory of youth

in a druid village or something like that, but instead he sees a very young lork huddling under a heavy fur he's a child uh and he's larger than most so he's trying to like fit his frame under this fur and he lies near this crackling fire and around him you can see that it's just all of these bundles of small children that are huddled around a fire and they're all homeless and then we see a young half-orc again lork with smudges of soot and dirt on his face and he's working with other kids in conjunction to try to steal food off of a passing cart they're all wearing rags they're all starving then you see young lork and what looks like true now and there's a it's a muddy intersection at night and

it's raining and he stands toe-to-toe with a much larger kid that just beats the shit out of him and all these other kids are around watching they're cheering this fight. But Lorik just gets knocked out and then he's left beaten face down in the muck with rain just beating on his face. Like when Johnny beats up Daniel at the beach after Daniel tries to take the boombox back.

Exactly. Ali's boombox. Yeah! Yeah! Beat him up! Then we see him. Karate Kid, for people wondering. That's what it's like. We see him briefly, just like Gormley, standing in front of Dom Exposition. Dom?

Being summarily sent away from True Now. And then there he is on the back of an ox cart with several criminals rolling through the countryside on their way to the Black Arrows, where he's being sent for murdering Pudir. Then we see an older and stronger Lork, armored in heavy black leather with a bow on his back, and he's fighting orcs and giants on the Storval Plateau. storval plateau we see scenes of him battling scenes of merriment with the men drinking and partying uh him being able to form his first real friends uh his family really but we do see one human that over and over again and it's brent you see lork and Brent then, maybe a couple years later, passing through Skelt with the crew of Black Arrows. Lork is nursed back to health by Briella over a few days. Young Briella. And he shares a fucking bed.

And we see that in gory close-up detail. 8K. 8K. It's a 45-minute scene. In stunning 8K. Inserted into the middle of his flesh. Just hard-core pornography. It would be really jarring.

Jack-hammering. No editing, no cutting. Just a continuous scene. A continuous cinematic quality life. Yeah, right. It's artsy. It's artsy. Good quality sound.

Like, real good quality sound. It's erotic. It's erotic. Sensual. Yeah. It's still pornography. Yeah, no, I mean, we're showing full penetration here in the finale. You know it when you see it.

Yeah, we know it when you see it. Colin. We move forward again in time and we see Lork watching Bren tenderly rub the stomach of a pregnant woman. It's not Briella. It's a completely different woman. But Bren has...

And then we flash back to another 45 minute pornography scene. That's right. And Lork is like, Bren, how did this happen? And then it's just, bam, another extended scene. A scullery maze.

Let me describe in excruciating detail how this came to be. I bet you're wondering how I got myself in this situation. Well, Lurk, when a man and a woman must go to March. I just love the imagery of part three of episode 326.

Just like coming up at the beginning. It's like explicit nudity, adult content. This episode deals sexual, strong sexual themes, strong sexual themes. And it's just hardcore pornography. But yeah, we see we see Brent. We see Brent having a baby and walking with a baby boy in his arms. The pride of a new father on his face. And Lork, along with several other Black Arrows, are by his side.

Then we see a horrific battle with a fire giant. Lork screaming in pain as the creature's greatsword crushes his knee, shattering the joint. And he drops to the ground, nearly passing out from the pain. And as he's about to lose consciousness, the moment before his eyes go dark, he sees this sword just plunge through the heart of Brend and out his back. And he just screams until his eyes roll into the back of his head and he loses consciousness. We go forward years. Lork is able to walk again on that knee,

although with a little bit of a limp. But he stands with a young boy, Jasun. He's holding his hand, and the two are by the mother's bedside. She's sick with fever and dying. And then we see Lork and Jasun traveling over land, making their way back to True Now, the only home quote-unquote Lork has ever known.

The only place where he thinks he can keep this boy safe. What we didn't mention is Brend gave the mother hepatitis. Jesus Christ. Another layer of tragedy. Lork is like, well, Jasun, here's what happened. Will mother live?

We all made fun of Bren for his hepatitis. So a decade passes in true now with Lork pushing paper, as Grant would always say. And Jasun, now a man grown,

is training to be a scout in the militia. On the day of the Haute Knife ceremony for Halgra's daughter, Lork drinks too much a man grown is training to be a scout in the militia. On the day of the Houghton knife ceremony for Hogra's daughter, Lork drinks too much and joins in on a tug of war with a

dwarf, a witch, and a new young cleric from the sanctuary. And even though he has worked hard enough to get himself a house in town, that night for some reason he sleeps with three

strangers in a room in the Ramble house because he must have been fucking wasted. Drunk. He couldn't get himself home. It's like living in the East Village getting wasted and then in Greenwich Village. Like a six minute

walk. Why don't we all get a hotel in the Lower East Side? Complete strangers. I don't want this party to end. They won the room. It's like, wow, we'd be a fool not to take advantage of this hotel room. Maybe he always wanted to stay at the Red Bull. It's like you win an all expenses paid trip on Wheel of Fortune to New York. You live in New York.

It's like you're going to take the fucking trip. It's like the four seasons of true now you have to stay there it's the best hotel in the city you gotta take that opportunity say no yeah i mean maybe the breakfast is great it's true good buffet it's like a holiday inn express cham layering fast proprietor that's right they gave you the best room in the place then we see the siege on Truenau. Orcs streaming over the walls, fire screaming. Lork watches with his new friends, the dwarf, the witch, and the cleric, as his son's throat is slit by a massive orc. We see Lork go into a rage, kill these orcs, and then he's holding Jasun's body. The rain mixing with his tears and the boy's blood and just washing it into the mud

then shortly after we see lorik launched from a catapult we see uh going to the ship by uh the river ask or was that the uh the kestrel um and we see him meeting ben varine right outside the ship riding riding the Chellis Jevil, talking with Tog, Tog who is in the prison cell, telling him, the first person he's ever talked to about the murder of Poudir. Then we see Ghostlight Marsh. We see Ingrahild almost decapitate him. Oh, yeah.

We see the vault of thorns. Lork watching helplessly as Benverine falls. And then right after that, Gormley falls. Benverine died first. It gets overshadowed by Gormley's death. It's like, I always forget that Benverine died. Benverine fell, then Gormley. Then we see out of some magical foliage in the vault, a small bear comes to Lork.

Bear Iconic Jr. And much less interestingly, Delanarn found in a tree. Now we see Lork discovering from an oracle in Red Lake Fort that he has a true born child somewhere in the world. We see him standing across from General Kargik in Red Lake Fort surrounded by salivating orcs that want to see a duel. Lorik's like, I fucking got this! Galabros does an insane speech that boosts

Lorik's confidence through the roof and then he fucking trips and falls and doesn't kill anybody and doesn't do any damage to anyone in the combat that his friends have to save him. Is that true? You doesn't do any damage to anyone in the combat. Then his friends have to save him. Is that true? You didn't do any damage? We rolled natural five.

That's how I like to remember it. Well, there was more than just the one round. He did nothing. He didn't do any damage in the combat. And it's at that same time outside the walls that his friend Galabras's mind gets addled by Brander. So he finds Galabras out front. Then we see him leaving True Now. Meeting Orphos, Pembroke, Feyraza.

Traveling with them to Shinerman's Fortune. Where he gets captured during the giant siege. We see his feet getting cut off by Gristlecrack. Fast forwarding in time. This torturous, painful time, until he sees Baron out of the darkness emerge to save him from that horrible place. And then he sees,

crawling back into the cathedral during the fight with... Orathash. Orathash. Della. Dead. Omlo. Dead. It's these bodies.

Then, he gets his feet back and he's able to make a spirit journey and he sees Orphos again. He sees the great tree that Skid played that I'll never forget. And at the end of it,

he's killed by Feyraza because the only way to break the murderer's curse was to die. Then Feyraza reincarnates him in the body of an elf. Then we see him back in Skelt. Where he discovers the woman he met so many years before.

And she tells him she bore a daughter after he had left. Lork, before he can meet his daughter, tragically stands toe-to-toe with a scythe-wielding giant that crits. With a scythe! I think that crits with a scythe. I think it was a crit. I think it was too. And kills him. Times four. He goes to the boneyard and has a choice.

Follow Brend and Jasun, the path of rest and ease. Try to return to the world in some sort of reincarnation ritual once again, or follow Gormley, who he finds there, who's like, come this way, trust me. And he trusts Gormley, so he goes with her. And that is when it starts. He realizes now Silvermane is putting together how these memories have come together, and then he awakens in this new body.

He grows up as a mute elf in a village of druids. He is a druid, but he's not. He is an elf, but he's not. He feels as if his body is not his own, but he can't explain it. He's got these memories of Baron and Della and Nestor and Calabrus, but he can't name any of them. Their memories are like tendrils of smoke at best. At worst, there are years where he doesn't even think of them. But Gormley is always there, this mysterious spirit from beyond. She's always checking in with him, speaking to him over the eras. She tells him about Brander, about the menace that threatens time, the very fabric of existence and what must be done.

He returns to the Vault of Thorns. He stores Gorim's thorn there after the Circle makes the ultimate sacrifice. And then he moves on to Trunel, advising on their Council of Defenders. He helps a young half-orc avoid the death penalty and instead gets sent to the Black Arrows. He sees that same half-orc save his life along with his companions during Screed's invasion. And then Gormley returns to his mind to speak of a knight that must be freed. A knight in Highbury. And he forms a team of Jimmer, Adriel, and Metra to travel to Highbury to free Sir Willamette Keswick from the dungeons below.

And then finally, after his return, is tasked with one final mission. To complete the circle and encounter Brander for the final time. He goes to Osirian with Gormley. And now a risen Galabras. To this final end. to this final end. And he now sees what this previous life was and how Shia fits into it and why he has felt this way for so long

and realizes that at his core, I think, even though he spent a lot longer as an elf and as a druid, that he's a half-orc. I love hearing all these stories because we're getting bits and pieces of these people's past that we haven't seen as well as things that we have seen. And there's a sort of clip show feel to it for sure,

but it really goes to show you that seven years was an eternity. It's a lot of story. And so you're all in this muck, seeing your lives flash by you, I guess, in a way, seeing a patchwork quilt of your journey through this world up until this moment, and they're all complicated, and they're fraught with moments of triumph,

but a great deal of tragedy. And some people, like Brander, take that tragedy and succumb to it. And you feel yourself succumbing to it. You feel Brander winning. Weakening our resolve. Weakening your resolve. You feel what Jimmer's feeling.

As Jimmer and Sir Will continue to battle outside of this dark dome. Sir Will just trying to stay alive, to draw Jimmer away, so that maybe his friends can stop this. The onlookers just watching with bated breath, themselves trying to stay away from the encroaching darkness. And I imagine a moment where within each of your memories, you start to see each other physically in this dome.

And we see the team reunited. The true now four. Baron and Galabras and Lork and Gormley and a woman that looks like Della. But it isn't.

It's her mother. And she's there as well. But then amidst all of it, you see Brander. And you see that orb. And you know the strength of that orb. You know all of the artifacts he's collected throughout time and all the power that they hold that he has consumed. He's let so many other people do his dirty work for them. And he's taken the spoils of those battles and consumed them into himself, consume them into himself

so that he can just erase everything because he's suffered tragedy and only sees hopelessness and the orb is too powerful and you feel like you're slipping away from time, slipping away from reality and everyone outside the sphere just sees it expanding You're slipping away from time, slipping away from reality. And everyone outside the sphere just sees it expanding.

And Baron, you look across at your friends who you haven't seen in so long, and it's almost like they're being torn apart. You look down at yourself and you feel yourself breaking. It's that feeling of light, maybe. Maybe it's better to just give in to this. Maybe it's better to just close my eyes and let it take me. I didn't win. I stopped one thing.

I didn't win this. There's a comfort in this feeling of being torn apart. And that's terrifying. But you don't feel the fear anymore. You just want to give in to it. don't feel the fear anymore. You just want to give in to it. But suddenly, everyone outside of the darkness, everyone outside of this dome hears a noise, a crackling rumble like stone being split apart. And it's so loud that even Jimmer in his weakened mental state turns to look in the direction of Zephyr Hall that crashed to the ground. Sir Will, you're able to kind of stop holding off Jimmer as well because you look and Shiel and Nim Nim and all the followers of Sarenrae look and you see a long crack start to form near what's left of the rocky base, and then explode outward in a blast of chunks and pebbles and dust.

And from the hole, you just see an enormous claw, followed by another claw, as a silver dragon emerges from the hole. followed by another claw as a silver dragon. What? Emerges from the hole and it rears its head back and lets out a roar that echoes through the valley. Oh, Adrian! And then this fucking silver dragon takes to the air. Its wings cause a small windstorm in the area. There's pebbles, there's rocks, there's dust,

and it just flies up into the sky, up over the dark sphere, and then nosedives straight towards the center. Yes! And right before it reaches the edge of this almost dome-like blackness emanating from Brander below, it opens

its mouth and lets out a long gust of white fire that goes straight into the darkness and tries to penetrate through. You can see it fighting against the darkness, fighting against this inky sphere. It has to penetrate further and further. Its progress is slowed by whatever energy is coming from the bastardization of this orb

in Brander's hand. And then suddenly it gets through, it fights its way through, and it hits the orb. And a white light, like a nuclear bomb, mushrooms out and over the entire valley, knocking everyone back, temporarily blinding everyone in the area

and everyone just falls to their feet and the world goes silent. This white light continues. It just holds there. No one can really see anything.

And then there's a blinking of someone's vision coming back. Baron, you open your eyes, and the first thing you see is your hat, just out of arm's reach. As you lean to grab it, you hear a loud snort, and steam fills the air around you. You turn around and look up at a magnificent silver dragon standing there staring at you. staring at you. This dragon is Adriel Ashpeak. You see

Baron. And you know who this is. You are the two last living Ashpeaks on Galarian. Talk to me about this moment. So Baron just senses Adriel through this dragon's form. It's a kinship. You feel it.

Adriel knows it. Baron feels it. You just you feel it. Adriel knows it. Baron feels it. Baron looks up and sees what his bloodline was meant to do. It was meant to course through the earth like magma, come out like lava, create destruction, and then a new land forms underneath it. And that's what happens now

when we see the silver dragon create this mushroom cloud. It's this force of destruction that can clear a path to new life to happen again. And he says, I knew the forge father. I always needed a forge, a hammer, and tongs. And good work would come out. And I see it has. You're born anew.

Not so much silver. It's steel. A steel dragon. Fit for Torek's majesty. He has this religious epiphany staring up at this dragon. Yeah, I mean, the metamorphosis is not lost on Baron. And the dragon just solemnly looks at you. Your family, the Redhearts, you left them.

And your family, the Ashpeaks, you never knew. speaks you never knew. So there's, I can imagine this moment of comfort even amidst all this insanity. Baron just looks up and I don't know if he says this or thinks this, but he just goes I just have

so many questions. I wanted to know what it was like to grow up there, to know yourself. God, there's never a time. There's never a time for these things. You look around and you try to take stock of your surroundings. Who's here with you?

You see the crater. And up until that moment, I think Baron thought he was, like, dead and dreaming this. Yeah. And then he sees the crater, and he's taking stock. He's like, oh, shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Live. Oh, my God.

Oh, okay. Good. shit yeah yeah a lot oh my god okay good and you see sir will and Jimmer and they're both like climbing to their feet you see Cheyenne and Nim Nim and that whole group of missionaries. They were blown all over the place. They're standing up.

And they're all wearing similar garb with the iconography of Sarenrae. And though that's not your deity, you appreciate it. There's a moment maybe where you question, wait, maybe I am dead. a moment maybe where you question,

wait, maybe I am dead. But then you really take it all in and you don't see Galabras. You don't see Silvertusk. Lork. You don't see Gormley. And you don't see Brander. But you also don't see Metra. And you look off in the distance

and you see what's left of Zephyr Hall. It's magnificent. Even in its fucking damaged, dilapidated state, Ironcloud Keep, Zephyr Hall, is one of the most marvelous artifacts any mortal could imagine having in their possession. And you're a dwarf.

You have an engineering mind. You've got stone cunning. Oh, it's cunning, baby. And you imagine that it could be rebuilt. Hell, the best dwarven engineers you know maybe could get it to fly again someday. And so you're thinking about all of this, pondering all these different things,

wondering where some of your friends are, hoping that everyone else is okay. You see Sir Will help Jimmer to stand. And you hear a voice. It sounds similar, but different. It's Renfall's voice. And he says, and he says dwarf

with Volstice dead I feel as if a great weight has been lifted but I am still fettered to your world the day that I was killed fetid to your world. The day that I was killed, as my life passed before my eyes,

I remember thinking that my soul worth while I was alive was my contributions to the creation of Zephyr Hall. But now, I know that a man's worth goes far beyond what he creates.

Should this castle be rebuilt, whether it remains in good hands like you and your people, or falls yet again into the wrong hands, I think now it will only lead to misfortune. Great rulers do not need castles. They only need people that believe in them. And you have that dwarf. All of your friends do. So I have one request. If you would grant it to me, allow me to take this castle,

Allow me to take this castle, for I believe I have one task left. I grant you your wish, Rand Paul. Take this castle far away from here. For immortal hands, it can only lead to more pain and suffering. Thank you, dwarf. Perhaps we will see each other again someday. Somewhere down the line. And you look, and all of you, still standing around,

see Zephyr Hall start to rumble. And even though so much of it has been destroyed. Especially around the base. It starts to upright itself. And shake this monumental castle. And the ramparts and the towers up top. So many of them have been destroyed. But it starts to right itself. And then lift up.

And even though it's broken. And even though it's broken and even though it's destroyed it starts soaring slowly and majestically towards the heavens and you all hear the celestial music of harps play perhaps

for one last time in the deserted halls of the cloud castle echoing off the empty walls perhaps for one last time, in the deserted halls of the Cloud Castle, echoing off the empty walls. And then you all watch as this citadel appears to almost reform into how it looked when you first came into the crater at Ash Peak. But as it reforms, it takes a more misty appearance

as it rises, eventually transforming into nothing more than a castle-shaped cloud. As Renfall's journey and soul go on to the afterlife. Suddenly we see a very familiar campsite.

We're elsewhere now. We're spread out. This campsite is spread out amidst a clearing deep within a marsh-soaked forest. There's several huts and tents about, but there's no people. And if you look, all the campfires have gone cold. In the distance, a circle of standing stones can be seen all tall unbroken unmarred by time we've seen this so many times before the the original campsite of the council of thorns

but there are no druids about no animal companions no life whatsoever but as we pan across the scene we finally see an old old man standing there alone he's pale he's dressed in black from head to toe the only thing that's particularly striking about him is his piercing green eyes. Son of a bitch. No longer does he have a carapace covering his torso, peeking out from his robes, nor the half-face of a young Kayal stitched down one side of his face. down one side of his face. Instead, this very old and decrepit Brander looks around quizzically

at the scene. Fear in his eyes for maybe the first time. He spies in the distance a tent, the first place he would always look when he came back to this moment, a tent that he has walked toward more times than he can remember. Following the sounds of his mother's screams, watching her perish over and over again,

helpless to interfere. Seeing no one around, slowly and painfully, he walks toward that tent yet again, just taking in the empty sight as he does, knowing where he is, but also wondering where he is. And he gets up to the tent

and very cautiously, gingerly, pushes back the flap, and you see it's hard for him, in his old state, to even get the flap open. And he looks inside, and there is a woman sitting on the earthen floor. She has bronze skin and green and yellow robes. Svea Razal said,

What? He looks at you, says not a word, but gingerly and very carefully tries to bring himself to the ground to sit opposite you. Imagine this long moment where you just stare at each other. And then he breaks the silence. So, is this the end?

Perhaps. Is it not a relief to consider that every story might conclude? What a relief. Are the others with you? I see no one else here. May I ask you a question? Be my guest.

Why? Why me? Why was I handed this fate? This power? Why? Perhaps that is a question that's wrongly asked. Perhaps the question you should be asking is why did you not use it more effectively? Not in service of yourself,

but in service of others. That is what you always say. Others need to fend for themselves. What a lonely existence you must have led with that worldview. It is no wonder you are here, petally arguing about why this must be and the injustice that has been handed to you.

How small your life must have been. Roll for initiative. You are not wrong your ancestors tried to tell me as much but I would not listen and now I am tired perhaps I'll lay down. Would that be alright?

Of course. Please. Rest. And he just turns and it takes every bit of strength for him to even just go from this seated position to

laying on the ground in front of you. And he lays down and closes his eyes. we come back to the scene at the crater and see Sir Will and Jimmer like helping each other up and you can tell Sir Jimmer's

back now doesn't mean he doesn't feel any of the things he felt but he's no longer under Brander's control, poisoned by Brander. Baron is maybe catching up with Adriel, as Adriel answers your many questions, while also trying to take everything in. Adriel looking over at Sir Will

and Sir Will looking up at a dragon, someone he always thought was his enemy. He knows. It's his old buddy Adriel. Shiel and the followers coming over as well. Shia and followers coming over as well and we leave that scene we leave that scene

with Volstis having been defeated Brander having been defeated Grenseldek Brander, having been defeated. Grenseldek. Wrathash. Screed.

Screed got shot. He got got. He got got. By Baron when he wasn't looking. Skirkotla. That was justice, man. That was straight up justice, bro. Shooting someone in the back. someone in the back took a couple with her though got her but she took a couple down titarian that ended up being a fight with no casualties and volstice ended up being a fight with no casualties we we leave that scene and we move forward into this nebulous space and time

where we start to see the lives of these people afterwards oh you know it just hit me here's here's the problem here's where it gets really emotional the story is great love the story love ending a story but the simple fact is i never get to play sir will again yeah that's like saying that sucks, I got to use like half his abilities. Yeah. Troy, you couldn't have done the honorable thing and just kill Sir. Will.

So Joe, did you just kill him there? So I would know I don't get to play, you know, when I did high school theater, we would rehearse for three months and do three shows. Yeah. You know,

I'd be like, fuck, I, maybe I can do this play again sometime. Well, I do. That's why I like in high school Pac, maybe I can do this play again sometime. Well, I do. But that's why, like, in high school theater, at least in my experience, like, after the last show, when everyone hangs out, everyone's crying. Like, it's so freaking emotional.

You get so attached to the camaraderie of the whole thing and the characters and everything. I know, I know. And those are following a script none of this was following we can't slip back in and like let's read episode 300 again right i gotta be honest there was a minute there where i was like it's still we're gonna fucking get killed by jimmer like a jimmer crit like that would fucking suck yeah well what happens to jimmer after all this i he ended up going into today i didn't even think about it so much but he ended up having a real the way you played it a real tough time coming out of this and obviously the brander influence uh didn't help but

that's gone now so so where do we see jimmer after all this i think jimmer in the aftermath of this he must have a moment with galabras where he's like just casting a line for some kind of direction like some kind of connection with his brother and glabrous basically he tells him just like a pause must i footage so he hears his voice somewhere because when he wakes up glabrous is gone yeah so is he like at a campsite alone praying to him yeah he's just like he's looking around like where the what happened like what what can i do where do i go and he just thinks maybe it, maybe it's just in his head, but he thinks he hears this voice of his brother. He says, I got paths must diverge.

We must walk apart, at least for a time. I cannot tell you where to go. You must walk your own road. I will see you. and then that's it and so jimmer is like he has not only does is he just sort of like the quest is done uh he's sort of got no no feels like he has no purpose now but like he looks down at the hand at and the metal hand and like he feels like he can't trust himself anymore he can't trust himself a hundred percent to be around good people like thinking about you know the the cathedral and like all the the kind giants like who are there like he can't go there like there's every chance like every moment like he could

lose control of himself like lose himself to the hand and start attacking uh you know some innocent stone giant he and and just this crime that's been committed against him just this crime that's been committed against him by brander and even most recently like that's about as horrible a crime as you can you can do to someone making them lose themselves try to kill their own friends like that's about as bad as it gets and not only that, but I think that the time that the hand spent fused to Nestor affected it, too. It can't not have. And so, like, that is feeding, like, Nestor's sort of raw lust for vengeance is kind of feeding into what's happened to jimmer like in his own life so i think he i think he just leaves i think he's just like he i was when we were talking about this i was like i think he he just goes to walk the earth like kane and kung fu like i think that's what he does he can't trust himself

to be around civilized people and he just goes off to find his own way we don't know maybe you know we'll see what happens to him like down the road yeah like is he a sellsword is he like a clint eastwood man with no name type he just comes in and does good wherever he goes yeah does he just wander it's sort of like Yojimbo, Bill Bixby in the Incredible Hulk TV series. That's what he's going to do for a time. Exactly. So Jimmer just

walks alone. It feels like a sad ending for Jimmer. But that's where we see him go and at least he has Galavris' memory

and he knows he's okay yeah you know yeah that's the other thing is he knows that to some extent he did his he did his job right he kept him safe so he knows that deep down like he he did it he accomplished something

like yeah you know he helps like everyone that's just like defeat the storm tyrant and everything but he the main thing that he was pledged to do was to preserve galabras and he did it to the point where galabras as far as understands, can't be hurt at all anymore. So, yeah, so that's done. But at the same time, he knows that he's not safe to be around. He's not 100% sure that he can be in charge of his own self, like, all the time. So he just sets off on his own. He wanders. We see a shot from behind in a forest. It's a lone path where Jimmer is just going alone with his back to us.

Calabrus, you feel like you're floating in a warm bath. You feel like you're floating in a warm bath. After so much pain, so much suffering, and even so much light, this is the most comforting sensation you've ever felt. You're just floating in warmth. Until finally you feel yourself gently being placed on the ground. You look around and you're no longer in that nebulous area between the sleeper and the skitter mounds. There is no black dome.

There's also none of your friends. You look up and the sky is unlike anything you've ever seen. You try to take in your surroundings as quickly as possible. There are no oceans or mountains in sight, just stars floating above in a perpetual night. You look ahead of you and there is a crystalline palace that appears to be constantly changing its shape like something out of a dream.

You begin walking toward the palace, past reflecting pools and white-columned temples, and as you approach the massive doors at the top of the steps, they open for you, and inside you see a magnificent chamber with a long carpet leading to a dais that looks like it's made out of glass.

All around in this sanctuary, you see men and women. They all look a little strange strange some of them have human bodies that end in serpent-like tails with wings on their backs and they're just playing harps and filling this magnificent cathedral with music creating this melody that fills you with love And ahead of you, seated on the dais, is a woman on a throne. She's elven in appearance, perhaps, with dark hair, silvery eyes, and wings that are segmented into upper and lower parts like a butterfly. As you solemnly approach, she smiles at you.

You've come a long way, traveler. You are home now. Come. She like pats the seat next to her. Sit with me. And let us dream.

What do you do? He steps up. He's still got the cloudy, storm eyes. He walks up towards her. Takes a knee first. Looks up. My lady. My lady Desna.

It is good to be home. And he rises and he takes a seat next to her. Maybe as you do, the tattoo on your chest starts to fade. And out of your back, small wings begin to grow. And out of your back, small wings begin to grow. Now we just see like a series of moments across the world. No idea when this is happening or where. We see a group of adventurers in a tavern drinking and reminiscing. One of them's like, I hear Dalgrit the Deathbringer was no dwarf.

He had giants blood in him. He could grow to ten feet tall at will and stare down a giant right in the eye. In a storm giant penis. In a penis like a storm giant. Foot and a half if it was a yard. Thick as a Chevy tire, they say yard look it's a Chevy tire they say another one of them another one of them is like

I heard that it was with his dying breath that he drove a dagger into the heart of the storm tyrant another one's like no no no I heard he's still alive he didn't die he married an orc chieftain's daughter and now rules all of her gear. Yep, he killed

Ardaz the Whitehair in single combat. If you come across a tribe of Deathbringer orcs in the halls of Browson, you better hope you're on the side of good. And they all just toast their glasses. To the Deathbringer! To the Deathbringer!

all just toast their glasses to the Deathbringer! To the Deathbringer! And from there we see three fire giants now standing with their backs to us in attention in front of Queen Quivixia of

Clan Raven. Banners bearing the symbol of an orange raven on a circular black field hang from the walls to her left and right. She addresses the men. What news? And the soldiers are nervous to speak up.

They're like, well, we lost another scouting party. Party. Party. Party. We like to mention the party. In our land it's called a party we fire giants call them parties this whole time we we thought we knew about fire giants so well right we learned something new every day and then after the party was lost we lost the scouting party as well, your majesty.

Tragic. Tragic. That's three squads gone in the past two weeks and over two score soldiers dead in the last month. Quivixi is like, how? If the other clans are making a move against us, why do they choose the shadows and how can they kill so efficiently? And the soldiers look at one another like no one wants to speak up. What is it? Out with it! We don't believe it's the work of giants. The arrows are too small.

There's rumors around camp about a man who walks on the wind and slays giants for sport but these are just ghost stories my queen and she looks at them and we close in on her eyes

she says find me this giant slayer next we see the fire in her eyes turn into a fire of a campsite, surrounded by a large Shawanti tribe. There are men and women warriors in their children's stoking fires, preparing animals to be cooked for a big dinner for the entire tribe. And we see an old woman sitting in front of a tent

with a group of very young children. And one of the children points to the sky. What is that one? And the old woman looks at the stars. That is the worm. The great star dragon is protective of his horde. Now there are some who consider it an omen of evil, while others see it as an omen of good.

Another child's like, and what about that one? Ah, yes, that is the animal mother. Though all creatures come from different sources, the animal mother watches over them all. And then maybe the youngest of the group points up at the night sky at a large, large constellation and says, what about that one?

The old woman looks up, pauses for a moment with pride and says, that is four bears that is the great shawanti warrior who rides with his family to hunt and provide for the world's tribe

and as she says that we go up in the sky and we see this constellation come to life and four bears is riding a stallion across an open field with a huge bow in his hands. And then coming up alongside him are his two sons to his left, strong young men who you can tell will rival Four Bears' size one day. And then to his right, another horse rides up with his wife, a fierce warrior in her own right, who rides close to forebears. He

pulls his gaze away from his aim and looks at her lovingly. Then together the four of them let out a war cry and charge across the plains. Now we see a funeral somewhere in a mountainous area. It's raining, terrible storm, and all the gathered attendees are almost all exclusively dwarfs. Rain pelts off a coffin covered in flowers. We slowly pan from the coffin to see an unfathomably sad Mary Beardchin. Oh, for God's sake.

The dwarf walks up to her, hugs her to try and console her. Miss Beardchin, I want to express my condolences at yet another Beardchin loss. I promise you, we will get to the bottom of this sixth assassination in the past year. Oh, please. You've done so much already. Let us just allow the memory

to rest. Just ignore it, please. Don't look too deeply at anything that's happened. I prefer no investigation. You're too kind. Please that's happened. I prefer no investigation. You're too kind. Please stop the investigation. And the other dwarf nods solemnly at her. Well,

whatever the case, and I imagine this will be a small comfort, but this is for you. And he opens a box with a small badge that says Second. Mary reaches for it, takes and closes the box. The dwarf walks away and Mary looks over to three

obvious, filthy dwarven assassins and gives a comical wink. Now we find ourselves at the confluence of two rivers, palm trees, shade and area where they meet. And in the distance, a great pyramid looms on the horizon. We see another dwarf approaching the water. He looks down and sees his reflection in the cool, clear stream. It's Barry Broadfinger.

In his hands, he carries two urns, urns that were entrusted to him by Baron Redheart when they met in Kragadan long ago. He made the trek to Assyria and to spread the ashes of Feyraza and Pembroke. He opens the first urn and goes to spread it gingerly on the waters of the Asp. But as he does so, a wind picks up

and the ashes go all over the place. He screams in terror at the mess and then dips his hands of the asp. But as he does so, a wind picks up and the ashes go all over the place. He screams in terror at the mess and then dips his hands in the water. The ashes turn to ash mud on his arms and hands and he starts to have a panic attack like DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in The Aviator. It's just like washing his hands and can't get the mud off.

And he looks to the sky and we see him from below and he's like, No! And he looks to the sky and we see him from below. And he's like, no! And then we see a red-tinged subterranean landscape engulfed in a fiery inferno. Magma pits roil with lava. And the only other sounds beyond the bubbling are the echoes of distant screams. One solitary stone edifice stands alone amidst all of this. We go inside this edifice and see a woman, beautiful woman, lying in bed, and she's panting almost rhythmically.

She's one of the most stunning women you've ever seen. Curbs from here till Sunday. But you also notice she has horns sticking out of her head, bat-like wings and a long spiked tail that's knocking over medical equipment lying next to the bed. Going down her arm, we see holding the hand of this enchanting succubus. This is a three-foot gnomish looking creature with a long white beard and a hat that looks as if it's been drenched in blood recently. Oh, my God.

He looks at his wife and says, come on, honey, you can do this. Just keep keep breathing like we practiced. At the foot of the bed, an enormous red demon in doctor's scrubs looks at Razzmatazz's wife and says, Push, you filthy whore! And Razzmatazz snaps back and is like, Hey, doc, that's my wife you're talking about. And that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said. Thank you. Razzmatazz and his succubus wife share a tender moment looking at each other. Finally, the succubus lets out a scream and an oily tar covered abomination oozes out of the sheet between her legs into the doctor's arms.

And instead of crying, it lets out a blood curdling yell that sounds like a hundred men being burned alive Razzmatazz and his wife are overjoyed beaming as they watch the doctor wipe some of the tar off of one of its six mouths Razzmatazz

looks at his wife and then looks at the doctor and I think we all know what he says. I think we all do. This is the first time that scene had any response. Yeah. And finally, we move past that scene, deeper into an area that some older travelers still refer to as Ghostlight Marsh.

And eventually we see a clearing, or what used to be a clearing, that is just completely overgrown with weeds and shrubs. You can tell that something was there once, but now it's all covered. Even still, you can see the cracked remnants of what must have been menhirs, bleached by the sun, turned almost all to dust. Only one of them still stands now, and even that one is completely overgrown with climbing vines that wrap their way around its surface. We slowly close in on that stone until it blots out our view and then reappears,

as if untouched by time, now in a clearing full of verdant plant life, an unending forest surrounding it. No weeds, no broken monuments, only exotic flowers and a pathway lined with rose petals leading from the glowing monolith to a giant floral bloom carved from wood. A set of ornate doors carved into the flower stand open, revealing

a long wooden bridge beyond that hangs over an exotic garden with a massive domed ceiling above made of star-patterned glass that magnifies the rays of the sun, casting rainbow prisms on the floor of the bridge. We follow along this beautiful bridge until we enter a room that

at one time had a dais and a throne crafted from dead brambles, druidic carvings all over the walls. All of that is gone now, though. The dais has been replaced with an ornate desk, and the walls, instead of venerating druidic deities, are lined, floor to ceiling with shelves that almost burst with the amount of books in them. From there, we head down an ornate staircase to the north that descends to a small platform, but instead of lily pads floating over a dung heap,

there's just a long, winding staircase that spirals across the open space like a DNA helix to another platform on the far side of the room, defying gravity and looking badass. From there, we continue down a long hallway filled with framed paintings of various moments in time, all centering around certain people, showing moments of

lives lived to their fullest. And eventually, that hallway ends in the massive green room below the bridge. It's as if every exotic flower in existence is housed in this room and a thin mist fills the

moist air. We hear birds chirping and see several animals frolicking amidst the flora, most notably a wolverine and a bear cub, rolling around, playing together. A hand comes into view and pats both of their heads, and we pan up the hand to see a robed figure wearing an unusually floppy hat.

As we come around to the front of the figure, they remove their hat, and we see a young man, handsome in his own way, with the beginnings of a beard growing on his face. He has a watering can in his hand, and he closes his eyes and drinks in the fresh air around him, and goes about watering the various flowers and plants in the area, eventually stopping in front of a large tree. He leans down to inspect the soil around the tree, then lays his hand gently on the trunk, looks up, and smiles.

And as we follow his eyes up the trunk, his gaze pulling up and back from the trunk to reveal an enormous tree that fills the entire greenhouse stretching all the way up to the underside of the bridge above a tree bursting with the most beautiful blue flowers

you've ever seen and from there we see the inside of the sanctum of the Cathedral of Minderhall. A little time has passed, but what was once a dark, gothic hall is slowly becoming this sanctuary of light and love. The doors are wide open, and we see a large figure from behind walk to

the doors and look out at the land below. It's Farron. 14 feet tall, dressed in a white tunic, copper skin, sharp features, the sides of her head shaved with everything else tied in a ponytail.

And she looks down the steps and out towards the open valley. And instead of seeing giant encampments and fighting pits, there's an entire settlement being built in these lands beyond the cathedral. It's the early stages, see some houses A couple stables Maybe a store or two There's this entire community Starting to be created And she

Looks at it all And nods in approval Then she turns back To walk into the cathedral And what she does She notices way in the far back a small, dark figure, alone,

way at the other end, near the stairs to the left of the altar that lead up to the sacred forge. Farron approaches, and as she gets closer, she sees Metra standing there and Metra is just

staring at a faded blood stain on the stone floor man silent thinking Farron approaches her and says,

You've been here a while, love. Did you see it happen? Farron stops. Takes a moment. No, I didn't. I was below when it all happened. Most everyone who was there is... Gone now. That they are.

But for a great cause. The threat is over now. Where I grew up... There was always a threat somewhere. The ground constantly shifted beneath your feet. Literally. Anytime you went to sleep, you might not wake up again. Always something lurking. That's what I'm made of.

I thought it would be different here, but maybe I brought the killing with me. Well, it might be different here yet. This place? This place where we're making something special. She looks around at all the changes.

She should be here. Della. I should have been able to protect her I should have guided her away from all this killing I failed her oh love we all fail each other that's the way of it

but we also do great things your daughter did she fought the good fight you you know. She helped shape this world, helped save all these people you see here. She's a part of them all now. And not for nothing, she brought you to a place where you could do all that you've done, too. Don't forget that. Imagine that little hands on Metra. She thinks about that.

While you're thinking, Farron looks back at the other people gathering, small folk and giant alike now, moving about toward the great hall, getting ready for dinner. And she says, why don't you come join us? Get a little bit of food in you, some rest. You've certainly earned that. You're kind. That's just good manners now.

Come on. I've traveled across the plains. Seen all kinds of things. I've seen a castle fold in on itself and become a ladder to the sky. I've seen the suns rising on a field of glittering diamonds. Watch so much life. So much death.

I've seen my whole life play out in front of me in thousands of different ways, but this was the only place I could think to go. I'll never see her again. You don't know that. I suppose I don't. Then Metra

looks up, maybe for the first time during this conversation, from the faded bloodstain. Maybe a look of discovery upon her face. And maybe we even see the start of a small Maybe a look of discovery upon her face. And maybe we even see the start of a small smile. The little side of her mouth start to curl upward.

Something that we would see Della do every once in a while. Not quite a full smile, but the beginnings of a smile. I suppose I really don't. And Ferrin sees this and hears it in your tone, and she smiles at you. She says, well, there's a lot out there we don't know, isn't there? Lots to see? Much none of us can even think to imagine.

Why, every day I see things in the flames that I never thought possible but what do I know Medra turns now towards Farron they lock eyes and Farron gives a knowing nod to Medra and she turns glancing back at the people filing into the great hall gives a knowing nod to Medra. Then she turns, glancing back at the people filing into the great hall.

She says, well, regardless, we're making a fine stew and we'd love your company for... She turns around and you're gone. And like that, she's gone Farron just smiles

safe travels sorcerer may the worlds you set foot upon offer you some peace and we see her look out beyond the doors that she just came from. Her gaze leads through the hallway and then turns and goes into the great hall where everyone is gathering for dinner. And you see a couple dozen people sitting down to eat. But then time passes and we start to see more and more people gathering.

and we start to see more and more people gathering. Dozens become hundreds of people, seated at several long tables in this great hall that has been completely transformed by time. Sweeping out of there, back into the cathedral and through the doors outside, instead of just seeing the beginnings of a small little society, we see an entire town now, four times the size of True Now, with dozens upon dozens of buildings, training grounds, an amphitheater, a magnificent garden dedicated to beauty.

The sun shines through far-off clouds, lighting up the jagged rock cliffs that hem in this valley. And in the distance, where long ago heroes walked through after getting past a barricade, we see a horse-drawn carriage appear. It's just a tiny speck as it travels through this new town on the way to the Great Stone Cathedral. The carriage, you can see it's like escorted by a small party of mounted knights and eventually it arrives at the front of the cathedral and three figures emerge. First, two armed men

wearing the livery of bronze stone which is a white hammer on a blue field. Then behind them a small figure cloaked and hooded She steps Into our view and looks up At the walls of what we once knew As Minderhall's Cathedral She pulls down her hood

And we see the face Of Sophia Keswick Sir Will's mother Much older Than when we last saw her at her home in Bronstone Manor. Her skin is wrinkled and faded and her hair is almost completely white. And she looks up and her eyes are fixed

on a banner that flutters above the cathedral. A black wolf and a black griffin, rampant on a red field. The colossal doors of the cathedral open, and the bronstone knights, as well as their horses, recoil for a moment as a slag giant steps forward into the sunlight. It's Farron again, but she's aged. She's much, much older now. At ease, Sophia says to her retinue,

noticing that the giant wears a tunic embroidered with the wolf and griffin. We are in no danger here. Welcome, Farron says. We've been expecting you I'd like to see my son, Sophia says Farron just nods, yes, well, please, come inside As I go inside, we hear the rumble of the great forage

And see throngs of people milling about all hard at work. Way more people than when Metra and Farron were just talking. And Sophia asks Farron, kind of looking around at everyone, Is he not here? I'm afraid he was called away. Urgently. When do you expect his return? Farron says, soon.

But the way she says it, it seems like she's unsure. And Sophia picks up on that. Do you expect his return? Farron says, soon. But the way she says it, it seems like she's unsure, and Sophia picks up on that. Farron continues, she says, but he has asked that I extend you every courtesy and show you the work we've been doing here. You will be our honored guest until Sir Will's return. Where is he? Sophia asks Sir. Well, he has traveled east with all haste. A fire

has arisen there that must be snuffed out. And then we see a flash cut to what must be Sir Will. See this halfling silhouette sitting beside a modest campfire,

backlit by a blood-red sun that's rising over a flat desert landscape. And then we come back to Farron and Sophia talking and walking throughout the cathedral, and Sophia's like, I see you. So tell me then, what is the work you've been doing here? And Farron almost smiles and is like, well, it's best if you see for yourself.

And then she leads Sophia up to the great forge where dozens of blacksmiths, both giant and small folk, are working, fashioning weapons and armor of all shapes and sizes. It's like a team of blacksmiths, both giant and small folk, are working, fashioning weapons and armor of all shapes and sizes. It's like a team of blacksmiths. Varen says they work the forge day and night. Outfitting the knights has become a challenge. There are too many. We've had to send most of the blacksmithing work to a separate building in the valley below.

The forge here is now reserved for only the most powerful weapons and armor. How many are there now? Feren says, knights? Well, it's difficult to say. Hundreds? Thousands? More arrive every day on the steps of Roselight Cathedral. This way, to the Great Hall. Roselight Cathedral This way to the Great Hall

And as Sophia Mouths the words Roselight Cathedral We flash again to this Silhouette of Sir Will Next to the campfire He stands up from the fire And we see that he's armored

But he wears no helm And it's hard to see the features Of his face because of the lighting. But his hair is long. And his face is bearded and lined with age. As Troy said, many years have passed. He walks to this hulking form, relatively speaking, of Lexington. And he rests his hands on the saddle for a moment.

And drops his head. and says a brief prayer. As he prays, we come back to the cathedral, and Ferrin is continuing to lead Sophia around, and she leads her into the Great Hall. The Great Hall, where Sir Will once charged across a table to try and impale the first frost giant you ever fought. That's right, that's right. They snuck one in. They snuck one in. Well, he hadn't left his graduation yet to go on the Skier Guard.

He was still there. Sophia looks at this all, and there's so many people there, and Sir Willemette's banner, the new banner, is all over the place. And she says, I will admit it, it is strange seeing the banner, Willamette's banner, so close to the arms of Highbury, flying above the cathedral. When he and I stood at the ruins of Highbury, we wept. I never thought to see the banner raised again

Ferran says well the the wolf knight speaks of it often the wolf knight oh apologies my lady I I mean your son that is what many of the knights have begun calling him Sir Willemette the wolf knight I meant only to say that is what many of the knights have begun calling him. Sir Willemette the Wolf Knight. I meant only to say that Sir Will speaks to newcomers of your former home. It is the first thing he tells them

about the land. What does he say? He tells them that when you and he returned to Highbury to try and raise the castle once more for future generations, you found the land so corrupted with the poison of death that nothing would grow there. He said that you had priests, shamans and wizards from all over Avastan

confirm that nothing would grow there for a thousand years and that anyone that lived atop the soil would hasten their passing, that they'd be dead within a year. Sophia nods, remembering all of this. Yes, Willem had left then, said he didn't know when he'd return. That was decades ago now, and though I don't remember my first years back at Bronze Stone very well, I'll never forget the stench of death over that country. My home, like my family, broken beyond repair. I am very sorry, my lady. Theron gently reaches down to grab Sophia by the arm and lead her into another chamber where dozens of men, elves, dwarves, and giants sit at various wooden tables talking and laughing.

As you can see, all are welcome here at Roselight. Those there are the dwarves from the Five Kings Mountains, giants of the Storval Plateau Half-orcs from Lastwall Men and women from Garund and Kadira to the east That is where Willamette went first After the Cloud Castle and the fall of Wulstus Garund He spent many years there

Farron says yes The people of Garund were the first to join the order Of course it wasn't an order then It was just knights Hedge knights, you could say Pledged to a cause Different gods, different beliefs, different methods But one code

A crusade against evil Against corruption In all its forms, wherever it may be found but one code. A crusade against evil, against corruption in all its forms, wherever it may be found. Then he went north, and more joined. Gnomes of the magical forests, elves, even sylphs,

kyal, ratfolk, the legend of Highbury spread. Come, let me show you something. And then we flash away again to Sir Will, and now he mounts Lexington at this scene. And he looks back over his shoulder and nods slowly to someone we can't see. Then he raises his helm and slowly dons the helm, which covers his face.

He reaches down to his side and draws up the Highbury Lance. Its weathered banner starts whipping in this desert wind. And now we see Farron and Sophia just going around this staircase leading up to the top of a tower and eventually getting to an outer door that opens into the bright light and offers a clear view of the valley to the north of a tower and eventually getting to an outer door that opens into the bright light and offers a clear view of the valley to the north of the castle where the fighting pits used to be. And we see Sophia just gasp

and her eyes widen because in the valley below are hundreds upon hundreds of tents and among them, thousands of knights training for battle. You see a mounted legion of giants in formation running drills, and in the distance new buildings

are under construction, and everywhere, everywhere flies the Wolf and Griffin banner. Your son's dreams of a peaceful life spent rebuilding Highbury were taken away from him by Brander and the corruption that destroyed the land.

So eventually, he found his way back here. A new home. A new Highbury. The sun reflects off the heads of thousands of lances as we sweep over all of these knights. All

manner of small folk from Avistan and beyond train in formation with giants. But this home will see no rest nor tranquility. It has a different purpose. As your son says, evil

takes no leave, my lady. Gives no quarter to those who seek peace. A new army needs to be raised. One that went on the offensive, taking the fight to evil wherever it may find purchase. Your home may have been destroyed, but its people and its purpose live on. Its name will be known the world over.

Ferengis gestures out and smiles, the sun showing pride on her aging face for what she has helped to build out of the evil that once corrupted this cathedral. These are the knights of Highbury, my lady.

And Sophia just brings a hand to her mouth, weeping and speechless. And then we cut back to the desert as the sun fully comes up over the horizon and from behind now we see Sir Will mounted upon Lexington and he's charging into the light full speed.

And as our eyes adjust, we see that he charges headlong toward this mounted legion coming over the horizon of undead warriors. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Their leader is a lich that rides atop a skeletal dragon. Oh, my God. And in the distance, we see ancient ruins, perhaps pyramids against the horizon.

And then slowly, their camera comes around into the front and we see Sir Will but behind him are hundreds of knights. Their wolf and griffin banners snapping in the wind. Giants mounted on mammoths shake the very earth. Haplings ride

wolves. Humans ride horses. Elves, dwarves and gnomes ride elk and oryx and giant owls. They bear the holy symbols of Sarenrae and Iomidae and Torag and Arastel and Desna and others that we don't even recognize. Then we see Shael and Nimnim dressed in the full regalia of knights riding in the vanguard right next to Will. They stir the desert into a storm of sand that gathers in their wake, and Sir Will just raises his spear to the sky, and this piercing white light bursts from it, penetrating the clouds above.

And a moment later, after that light touches the sky, a silver fucking dragon breaks through the clouds, named Adriel, diving down to join the sky. A silver fucking dragon breaks through the clouds. Named Adriel. Diving down to join the fight. And then on all sides, flanking the dragon, are a dozen cloud giants. Mounted on rocks. Barrel rolling into formation. The white light dissipates.

And then Sir Will lowers his spear. And braces himself against Lexington for the final charge. And as these forces that we see on one side and the other side clash together, we hear the echoing call of hundreds of voices thundering in unison. For Highbury! For Highbury! Oh! Oh! Oh my God. And we just see that scene,

that climactic epic battle and the sounds of four Highbury for the rose and the light echo into the darkness until once again we see a lone rider on a trail somewhere lost in thought. Night falls. The stars

come out and Baron alone on his horse just looks up towards the night sky. Looks up as if he's searching for those he lost along the way. His companions like the stars now long gone. Just twinkling memories he could admire from the distance of time, but never touch again. Gormley,

Galabras, Lork, Pembroke, Forebears, Dalgrith, Della. By morning light, true nows,

wooden balustrades and crenellated towers await in the distance. Chimneys already puffing out gray wisps of smoke. A thick black plume billowing from clamor. The chief defender of True Now trots through the gates to the inner quarter like he did long ago when he first arrived here. But now he's not weighed down by guilt and shame, but by injury and the slings and arrows of time. Under that bitter, chronic pain that may always be there, Baron smiles because now he is home.

He continues trotting in the direction of the ivory hall, with the brim of his hat, I imagine, intentionally low, trying to keep a low profile. But a couple children recognize him and trot after his horse, rolling a hoop down the dusty street. Maybe some of them wave, Chief Defender, welcome back. Baron ignores them. Some of them go running to spread gossip about town, about his return, but Baron also notices that some are closing their shutters as he trots by, associating the dwarf with the beginning of the worst troubles the town has ever endured. The dwarf with the beginning of the worst troubles the town has ever endured. Maybe even praying to themselves that he didn't bring death and destruction back with him.

Then we see him tying his pony to a hitching post outside the ivory hall. Walking inside and watching people's jaws hit the floor as the sound of the one-time sheriff's spurs fill the corridors. He opens the door into the meeting room of the ivory hall where the council sits. The brilliant white walls gleaming as sunlight comes in from the windows. Those windows give a magnificent view of the True Now countryside below. But the council chamber is empty. So Baron walks along this long meeting table, all those high-backed chairs with no one in them, where the heroes of the past once sat,

and the heroes of the future will convene to save True Now from its next calamity, and for a moment, I imagine he thinks how strange it is to be somewhere in between. How will he be remembered, if at all? Does it matter? Maybe he should just be forgotten to the dust of time for everyone's sake. Baron sits heavily in the chief defender's chair, his chair,

and takes in the empty room. Then he hears a noise at the door and sees cursed Grath enter. Chief defender, at the door and sees cursed Grath enter. Chief Defender, there was word that you returned. I had to see it with my own eyes. Baron cracks a wry

and exhausted smile. Cursed Grath as I live and breathe. Did you think me dead? You wouldn't be far off. Curse says, is it done then? Well, that all depends. Is the battle that started when your brother was killed done

sure but i have a feeling that for people who sit in this chair it's never quite done until it is if you know what i mean. Looks around the room. I thought I'd come back here and sit in this chair and know what happens next, but I don't. Almost everyone I've come into contact with since I set foot within these halls is gone. I had a friend who believed himself to be cursed. Not you cursed, but cursed. Oh, thank you. You thought it was me?

That poor friend. What a tragedy. He tried to run away from it. But it still caught up with him. Lately, I'm thinking maybe I'm cursed too. And this town, hell, this world would be better off without me. Perhaps a Grath, a name that means something in this town, should sit in this chair. I'm a tired and broken man, Cursed.

Curse enters the room now, stands at the opposite end of the table Where you and your friends stood When you were addressing Halgra long ago It's like we are all broken here, Chief Defender I have lost my entire family Most of us in this town have Do you know how True Now was founded? There were settlers who came to this area and discovered a fresh spring of clean drinking water and then built a town around it.

That was the Hope Spring. It is the reason the true now exists. The one thing we have, the one thing that we've always had, is hope. And that's because of people like you and your friends, people who see a chance to do good and take it. Maybe Baron stands up and cracks his back and... Maybe Baron stands up and cracks his back. And I mean, over the past few months, he must have, sure, magical healing, but several broken ribs, several broken bones, burns, every injury imaginable. He got some new strength back, but there has to be scars.

You have to feel it in your joints. But you take in what curse says and you turn to look out to the windows and see true now, not only for what it is, but maybe for what it could become. Maybe you see

Silvermane's shack and you wonder if anyone will ever emerge from it again. Maybe you even remember an old epitaph that galvanized your team so long ago. And how fitting those words are to you in this moment. A simple phrase with so much meaning. Don't leave town.

Baron, you look at the city below, the outskirts of True Now. What do you say to Cursed? What do you do? Baron stands up from the chair, unbuckles his bandolier and his holster and puts it down in the chair you can kind of finally see the overalls he's been wearing underneath it the whole time it's like an outfit for like a different time the city doesn't need a warrior defender right now in this moment but someone to rebuild keeps his eyes on the city in the distance but directs his words

to cursed and says well then you talked me into it cursed it's time to get back to work Chris smiles at Baron the Builder. We hear that clang, clang, clang of a hammer hitting a chisel. We see red dust being kicked up and settling. Then we see True Now's walls that have been mostly rebuilt after the siege, but they start to grow higher. They grow higher and become even more fortified. You see great weapons that only a dwarf could engineer built along the tops of the walls. You see True Now expand with new quarters

to the barter stones and beyond what was once a town of barely a thousand people swells to several thousand. And a once remote area in the holds of Belkson is bustling with trade and prosperity. We leave there and we sweep through

a beautiful lush forest in fall full of trees that have golden leaves and we come up to a clearing where a 100 foot tall obelisk fall, full of trees that have golden leaves. And we come up to a clearing where a 100-foot-tall obelisk that once marked the entrance to Nargrim Steelhand's tomb has several dwarven craftsmen

wearing the insignia of True Now working on it, adding huge bas-relief images of Ingrahill and Umlo to look like great warrior heroes. Ingrahild with a long

spear. Umlo with a mithril skillet. What a hero. It only counts as a light skillet for the encumbrance's sake as nithril that's right and then we come back once again to the ivory hall sweeping through those same halls that you just walk through until we get back into that alabaster room and you still stand there baron looking out the windows to the countryside and city below but now true now stretches further than it once did and we come around and we see that

you're older now and still alone in that room looking at all that you've accomplished you bow your head and you turn and right on the table in front of the throne, you lay down two things.

You lay down your gun. And then a rusty old sheriff's badge. And as you let the badge get out of your hand, your hand disappears. Let the badge get out of your hand. Your hand disappears. And now we see another hand on that table. The gun and the badge are gone. And we pan up to see a dusky-skinned woman alone in that room.

And she walks out of the ivory hall out of the council room walks outside taking in this magnificent growing city walks all the way up to the commons the amphitheater

and true now we flash and now we see her standing atop Up to the Commons, the amphitheater, in true now. We flash, and now we see her standing atop a dais with thousands of people watching. And she says, thank you many responsibilities, but this one holds a special place in my heart for many reasons. The Hope Knife Ceremony. You had to. You had to. I don't think I'm going to make it through this. make it through this.

As you all know, when Trinawans come of age, it is the chief defender's privilege to bequeath the youths of our community with a hope knife. It is a symbol that on rare occasions is even given to outsiders who come here and show their dedication

to protecting our fair city. And as she says this, she stops and lifts up an ornamental case, places it on the table in front of her, opens it and retrieves what at first looks like a slender, ornately decorated dagger hanging from a silver chain. But to those who know,

it's actually a really, really sharp gun. The muzzle sharpened down to a point so it no longer functions as a gun. Couldn't possibly function as a gun. Just a cool looking dagger. That's a great letter opener. Sharpest gun in the West. As she pulls this out, we cut to a young couple in the crowd just watching the ceremony, smiling, and an old, old man hobbles over to them and says, You know, the Hope Knife is more than a weapon. It's a symbol.

To Trinawans, earning your Hope Knife is a mark of your place in the community. There's a mark of your place in the community. When you earn your home knife, it means you are wise enough to make adult decisions, old enough to know what it means to fear, and strong enough to protect your neighbors, even if it costs you your own life. Do I know you? The couple turn and stare at this old man and say, What is that awful smell?

I just shit my pants! And then we come back to the deus. He has to provide that essential storytelling information. I just shit my pants! I just shit my pants! Even at risk of his own mortal death. This is the job. He's a truth teller.

We come back to the dais and the chief defender continues and she says, though I have done this many times, tonight is a particularly special occasion for the recipient of this hope knife. It's none other than my daughter. Many years ago,

in this very spot, my mother handed me My hope knife Thankfully I've never had to use it But it is always laid here Close to my heart Looks down at her daughter Just like your grandmother

Who you were named after Always close to my heart She gave her life Like so many others Defending this town from evil And should the gods see fit to test us again Now you will be ready as well And as she says that

We see Gormley falling in the Vault of Thorns We see Galabras being struck down by Brander Orpheus having his heart ripped out Della being smashed by Earthash's hammer Lork being stabbed by Faraza And then as an elf being killed by the undead giant and skier guard. We see Pembroke and Farazza

being burned alive by the witch fires, four bears getting impaled by the Dullahan, Dalgrith falling to the Inquisitor in the ducts of Ironcloud Keep, Nestor being skinned alive. Halgra, by the traditions of our town, you have come of age. This Hope Knife represents your responsibilities as an adult and defender of True Now. You must be willing to use it on yourself, your fellow True Nowans, and your family, even me, should it come to that.

on yourself, your fellow Trunowans, and your family, even me, should it come to that. It will be a far quicker death than that which any outside evils will offer, and providing it is your duty. Do you swear to guard Trunow from all comers, and to use your Hope Knife

only for its intended purpose? Never. Ever. To spread man-made sandwiches. And never to spread spread mayonnaise on sandwiches and never to spread mayonnaise on sandwiches I'm glad it made it into the

script it was a needed clarification young Halgrist steps forward black haired wide eyed black haired wide eyed fierce like her grandmother, and nods her head in response to her mother's question. Yes. If any evil should come, and there is no other option,

this is where you cut. Here, here, and here. The chief defender shows her daughter, Halgra, which arteries to sever as Halgra watches. When she is finished, a now middle-aged Ruby, chief defender of True Now, sheathes the Hope Knife and places the necklace around young Halgra's neck

before turning back to address the crowd. I, Ruby Greysteel, chief defender of True Now, declare that my daughter Halgra is now a full member of our community. Let us welcome her and celebrate her passage into adulthood. True Now, forever.

The crowd echoes Ruby's last words in unison. True Now! True Now! Forever! Forever! True Now! Forever! True Now!

So say we all. Forever. We hear that echo and it just, with thousands of people there now, there might have been a few hundred the first time. It echoes throughout the land. And in the distance we see the preparations for the festivities begin. If you look closely,

you see among the games and contests being set up, sides being chosen for a tug of war. Then we see a woman standing out amongst the crowd. Maybe she's not a Trinowin. She seems a little lost in this, where everybody else seems like they know what they're doing, and she's just watching the festivities begin,

and she walks out of the festivities begin. And she walks out of the area of the commons. And we follow her as she walks, with reverence, through the empty streets of Trinan. Well, we're fucking out! We follow her. She reverently walks through these streets. Streets that long ago were filled with bodies from Screed's failed siege.

And she's really taking it all in. Heading in the direction of the inner quarter where the flame of the fallen is lit in honor of the festivities. But now next to this beacon is a huge statue. The woman walks up to the base and reads the inscription. It says, This statue was built in honor of Chief Defender and Sheriff of True Now, Baron Redheart. Formerly of the Five Kings Mountains.

He gave his life defending Galarian from the onslaught of Volstis, the Storm Tyrant. And then gave it, making our town what it is today. And she looks up and sees this unbelievable statue of barren, duster, half sheriff's badge above a bandolier

across his chest and a revolver in his hand. And she just stares at it and smiles. And as she does, a voice speaks up

nearby did you know the man the woman turns startled and sees an old dwarf hobbling up toward her maybe he's got like a I don't know half a crutch under his arm

half a crutch? yeah like you know like his dwarf it doesn't reach the ground? his dwarf is a small crutch under his arm. Half a crutch? Yeah, like his dwarf. It doesn't reach the ground? His dwarf, small crutch. He holds a stick between his shoulder and elbow. He has a pool cue under his elbow. He asked her, did you know? She says, no, no, not really.

I was just a baby when we met. I was just a baby when we met. My parents were killed by a giant attack. Oh, shit. He and his friends found me and brought me to town where they left me with my grandmother.

Sherry spoke so highly of him, said he was a gift from the gods. I've always wanted to come here and pay my respects. I wish I could have come earlier and met him. Ah, yes, he was a good man, they say. Saved many people's lives. You don't get a statue made of you unless you're something special. A hero.

Did you... did you know him? Know him? No. Not quite. He looks at the statue. But I feel like I did. We dwarves, we're all kin one way or another. Of course, there'll be no statues of me when my other leg finally gives out, but I tell you I do like living in a world where everyone looks up to a dwarf.

She nods her head, taking in the old dwarf's words. Says, well, I should be going. I'm setting off on my own adventure now, I guess you could say. There's much to see in this world beyond the mind spins. Aye, and there are other worlds than this, my dear, and plenty of adventures to be had. Well, it was lovely meeting you.

I don't know when I'll be back home, but if you ever find your way to Shinemon's Fortune, tell them you're a friend of Abria's. I'm sure they'll treat you quite well. I will. Safe travels, Miss Abria. And to you as well, mister. Let me just close in on this old dwarf's face.

And he says, Mister, we just close in on this old dwarf's face. And he says, Well, you may call me Thun. He survives the fall? Of course he did. Sneaky bastard. And now we see a river. It's a beautiful day.

The sun is gleaming off the water. And just off the shore is a small, humble, one-story home. A little more than a hut. There's a thin billow of smoke rising from the chimney. And the serenity of this scene is finally broken by the sound of a small bell ringing. Ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling. A figure emerges from the hut. We only see them from behind as they walk up to the edge of the shore

where a fishing rod is held in place by some contraption that looks like it was engineered to signal the fisherman when something is on the line. The figure reels in the line, only to see that it got tangled in some reeds. We close in on strong, weathered hands as they deftly remove the tangles from the line, rebate the hook, and cast the line in again. Then we watch as this person walks over to some beautiful wildflowers growing nearby,

kneels down, and gently picks up two bouquets worth of them, lavenders and pinks, greens and blues. Then, with flowers in hand, they walk further down the shore and place one of the bouquets down on a simple headstone that reads, Gormley Call, Beloved Friend and Relentless Hero. And they place a second bouquet in front of another headstone that reads, Rag Bloodtusk, Fierce Gladiator and Honorable Captain. Fierce gladiator An honorable captain

Now we pull back From behind And see an old dwarf A long red beard Down to his waist Speckled mostly with grey Full of rings A bald pate surrounded by a crown of red hair

Whose color is also fading Like a dying ember Combover A sweet combover He stands back of red hair, whose color is also fading like a dying ember. Comb over. Comb over. A sweet comb over. He stands back and looks at the graves and bows his head. Bows not only for the dead beneath him, but the countless friends and companions buried all over the world.

A small green-stained scorpion emerges from behind Gormley's headstone and rests atop it. He has by his side a 64-ounce iced coffee from Dunkies with a large styrofoam cup around the plastic like they do on the South Shore. I thought he knew about malls on the North Shore! From behind, we hear the creaking of wood and the flapping of sails as a long keelboat comes gliding up the river. Even after all these years, it still looks as ungainly as it did when the dwarf first laid eyes on it so, so long ago.

Cobbled together from the scavenged wreck of other ships. ago, cobbled together from the scavenged wreck of other ships. A figure aboard the ship waves at the dwarf and the dwarf shields his eyes from the sun to wave back. Just then the bell sounds again and the dwarf waves once more

as if to say goodbye before walking back down the shore towards his fishing machine. The ringing continues all the way up until he gets there where he noticed that the line has been reeled all the way in, the bait's still on the hook, and the bell is ringing.

And then stops. There's no wind. You look at the water and it's completely calm save for the wake of that keelboat. Dwarf reaches into his pocket, quickly rolls a cigarillo, calm save for the wake of that keelboat. Dwarf reaches into his pocket, quickly

rolls a cigarilla, lights it, takes a big inhale, gives a long look to the river Esk, and smiles. And that, my friends,

is the end of our adventure. I forgot. We will not And that, my friends, is the end of our adventure. Oh. We will not see you next week. But we will always be here. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. We'll see you real soon. Thank you.

We'll see you real soon. Bye. Thanks, everybody. See you down the road. So many more stories to tell. We can just cut that in post. I'm sure you're right on time with the Glass Cannon Network. For more podcasts and live streams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com.

And for exclusive shows and content you can't find anywhere else, subscribe today at patreon.com slash glasscannon. 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 property of Paizo and are used with permission. Outro Music Thank you. Thank you. Outro Music