Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #41: Peace and Quiet

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

The spirit touches all things, but boots find sure footing on moss and stone. At long last, the long arm of empire legs it. The machine is repurposed. Love your mommy and listen to the mirror for once. The least you can do is ask. Finally, after such a long time in the wilderness, peace, and like a knife in the stomach, quiet. All hail the returning heroes. We're going home.Worlds Beyond Number is:Brennan Lee MulliganErika IshiiAabria IyengarLou Wilsonand is produced, designed, and scored by Taylor Moore at Fortunate Horse with exquisite design and editing help from Jared OlsonSPECIAL THANKS TO: Tazer Army, Shannon, and Amanda Freberg!Transcript of this episode coming soon! You can find transcripts of all our episodes here, for free, on our Patreon.Our album art is by the great Corey BrickleySome additional ambient sound design comes from Michael Ghelfi Studios. You can get their sounds and music for your home games and VTT as well, which we enthusiastically recommend. 

This is the sound of worlds beyond number. Boots find shore footing on moss and stone, walking back up the ridge from the pond. You are closing in on the imperial forces that you now command, Wizard Sky. As you step side by side with Amé, having just commanded you're familiar to place runes and symbols of dangerous traps all around that family's home, what is running through your head?

As you have commanded this deception from your familiar, a deception potentially aimed at the soldiers you are in command of. Suvi isn't thinking about the sort of, oh, well, that's probably maybe a little bit treason. It's just the... I have commanded deception from my familiar, and I need to build deception for when I come back. And she's gonna look over at Ame.

Do you have any of your, like, herbs and spices on you? Yes. Always. Can you poison my... wound on my hand. Yes. Or I can at the very least make it look poisoned even. Do you need it to actually be poisoned? Can you poison it in a way that you can fix quite quickly?

Absolutely. Great. I need them to believe that this is from finding that area trapped, just in case someone wants to check my work. Copy that. And Suvee is like, as she sort of like hands her hand off to Amé, is trying to construct like the narrative of a lie and is sort of under her breath. Like we walked towards the house.

I slipped in like a poorly made trap and fell and landed on a piece of metal. The metal was tainted. We kept going. The house was clear. We found symbols everywhere. We're going to give it a wide berth. And she's just sort of trying to build a new truth in her house. head because she's not a good liar. But if she can convince herself that something is true,

she can believe it enough to pass it on to the rest. You start to put a powerful mental machinery to work, repurposed for a new task here in this time. And I think you feel the dormant, what we have sometimes referred to as the justification machine, now bent towards the purpose of creation. And I think, Suv, on your passive investigation, you feel how similar those machines are, and a bit of dread comes in with that. Because fundamentally, the machine of reason and justifying,

and the machine, in this case, of your friend helping you come up with a clever, to achieve what you believe in your heart to be an unalloyed good. Those two projects are the same because the machine tells a story. Zeefie definitely does the like, hold on, and kind of braces herself on a tree and just has to ride that out like a wave of nausea. You're doing so good. You're doing so good.

Thank you. Okay. Okay, okay. Arriving in the clearing, you sense the first part of sort of a doubling back of the nausea, which is the complete look of relief and certainty that you would come back from this exploratory mission from soldiers that trust you with their very life. You see Sworn, walks up to you alongside Silver. Silver looks and says, that was quick. Everything all right? Yeah, quick because that area is cleared out. It looks like they left days ago.

Silver looks and goes, your hand. And immediately sees that you are hurt. It looks at you, Amé. I'm fiddling with my pouches of herbs, and I'm quickly blending up a poultice for Suvi. I, well, Suvi was injured. Yeah, it's okay. We have to be careful.

You can't go over there. Yeah, it's, I'm fine, but it sucks, but I'm okay. Looking at the very real wound on your hand, I'm going to allow both of you to make deception with advantage here. Dirty 20 Oh! Let's go! 18 from Amay.

18 from Amay. We do it for Alan. We do it for Alan and Johanna. Looking at your POM you see Silver looks as Amet starts to heal it and goes, it looks nasty. Was it a trap fired off on you?

Or was... No, it was... And this is the part where like Suvie's going to lean into the, like, it's honestly kind of embarrassing. I just sort of fell, which is technically true. I just sort of fell, and there must have been some sort of bad, tainted metal in the ground. This doesn't look clever.

It looks like they tried to get out quickly and then threw up a little bit of a perimeter on the way. Sworn says, where's Bear? He's back trying to handle some of the traps that we found. There's little symbols. He'll catch up with us. Let's give it a wide. birth and keep going. I don't think we're going to have a problem. As you are walking up the hill, the Ursulon, coming into view, you see the soldiers,

and the fox turns to you and says, Suve fell, hurt her hand, poison. We've been getting rid of traps. Understood. You joined the rest of the group. Sworn nods and says, well, I'm not surprised. Probably it was a trap that got set off by some kind of animal. I mean, these people are not, you know, necessarily tried and true soldiers, but if there's poison or some kind of irritant on there, then it makes sense that they would have done that. It's probably just like, it's looking like a little bit of just like a folk sort of remedy thing, so. Sworn turns to look at you, Ursula and says, if it was trapped, we can assume these were spies.

Or people. I mean, sure, probably. Makes sense. With that deft dismissal from the wizard's sky. of instead of saying yes or no, just saying probably, you watch your soldiers understand the lack of importance of this situation, sworn, sort of steps back into his own mind visibly to you being like, I've really been running down this thread that some farmer gave me,

and goes, all right, well, I'm glad you're safe, and we'll take a wide berth. We'll just head west and carve around the pond. Silver looks at you, Amé, and just goes, thank you for healing. It's incredible to serve with a witch. You should be standard issue. This is incredible. Oh, you don't have healers that travel with you?

No. We have doctors, but not people as proficient as you. Oh, thank you. Yes. Standard issue ames. Wouldn't that be great, Suvi? Yeah. Silver smiles.

There is a moment of silence where the three of you are together, as Silver and Sworn get people to pack up and mount up on the horses to take a new tack around the other way. Ursula, as you approach, what is going through your mind? Ursulaan is desperately reaching for anger and rage and cannot find it. whatever kind of red molten feeling he wants to have, it is replaced by the clear white feeling of purpose. Your breath moves with you in this space. I think you all feel the wing to kick up a little.

Before he reaches the group, he's going to turn his back so that he's facing the forest and not with his friends and is going to produce the watch. And before clicking it open, just hopes that it points south. The watch points due south. You make your way through Hallecker Forest. Ursula, you had spoken before about being concerned about going through the heart of the woods, but that is obviously the path that silver and sworn already. seem to be discussing with Sky as the most logical path forward.

But you are still the guide through this place. As people set to head out, is there anything you say or do as you begin to lead the way? I think only to like Suve, Silver, sworn, Amé, we'll pull them aside. We may have to take a slightly indirect route. It is my sense that things in this forest worship the night. I believe those things will be dormant during the day. That's when we should move at a pace

as fast as is comfortable for you, Sky. There is a folk saying around here. It's you, me, and the spirits three. It refers to the Queen of Coins, who is a spirit, a great spirit, that I'm quite fond of luck and chance and trickery, the great bullfrog and a spirit of night. Stevie does give a little squint at not saying

the specific appellation of the King of Knight and is just going to release it for a later conversation. So it is my intention to take us as directly as we can, but I believe we should camp at dusk, move at dawn, and avoid the very center, the heart of the forest. I absolutely trust your instincts on this. We will go where you lead us. Good. Pushing through, I am going to ask for a survival check in this moment from Ursula. And I'll say that a decent.

DC20 gets us all the way through Halliger Forest. A DC-15 gets us most of the way through Halliger Forest, and you just want to beat a 10. But if you want to load up this role at all, you are welcome to do so. Suvi will keep enhanceability, Owl's wisdom on you to give you as much advantage as she can give throughout the day.

What form does that take the first time you cast owl? wisdom on her soul. I think the very first time it's a pat on the shoulder that's like, yeah, you've got this. And it was part of our conversation of the indirect route that like branches out into that like wood carving cross hatched

illustration of a massive set of owl wings that like flutter out and then settle down and like are folded onto his back. Amé takes a moment, places a hand on the tree, feels the soil, now, tastes a tiny bit, pulls down a massive pine cone, one of the kinds that's as large as your head,

considers it for a moment, hands it over to Ursula. It says, there's a largely coniferous forest, There's a really neat sort of ecosystem here. Lots of worms and cast guidance. Hell yeah. Amé listens to the forest with the same presence of the sacred. I think in that moment, Ursula, in this time that you have become very in touch with your breath, you realize that there's an exhale from Amé on handing that pine cone, and you feel that witch's breath.

It's not you, but there's something, the spirit touches all things, and you recognize that in Ame as well. With that PICA, you have guidance. You have advantage from the role from Owl's Wisdom. Let's go ahead and make a survival check. Start with a D4. Yeah.

Four. Yeah, there we go. Six away from averting disaster. So what are you adding with your survival, Gill. Another four. Another four. Okay, so we just need a 12 on one of these two die for full victory, seven or higher for

getting most of the way through the forest. Here we go. First, it's a five. Okay. Second. 20. 17. Hey!

Yay! Amazing. There we go. So, with a 25, all of the soldiers, after the, you know, days of traveling, and after the first, you know, days of traveling. And after the first day, I think to give me with that heavy success, Ursula, give me a persuasion role. 22. 22.

A long time in this forest, the soldiers that are traveling behind you, and you remember the people that were belligerent and terrible to you back in Stoneville, they're still somewhere off here as well. But you notice as you are moving through this magical place, you pass little stacks of moss-covered stones clearly left by people's hands in a long ago time. And traveling here in this very sacred, very beautiful forest, you see that the soldiers with just lots of traveling and now having rations, like uniform jackets come off as the weather gets a little warmer and more humid. And they're sort of carrying them in their packs. You see that one of the artificers, the person that came to you and insisted that they called you an honored friend, goes over to one of those little moss stacks, and in a moment of rest actually kneels down in front of it.

And a couple other soldiers look over, and there's a moment with you standing at the edge of the clearing, where that sort of most belligerent soldier looks over at people anticipate him saying something mocking. And he just looks around at the beautiful shimmering stream and the wide forest. and doesn't say anything. And you see that two other imperial soldiers who have not spoken the entire time they've been traveling, have been very quiet to themselves,

go over and join the artificer at the little stone shrine. You see that some of the Citadel Wizard smile, and as you travel through that forest, you get closer and closer to the edge. You feel the heart of the forest if you get close. You swear that sometimes

the ticking of that watch in your pocket, it feels like boots walking on a road, and you feel that you have made a very wise choice avoiding the heart of this forest. You see at a certain point there is a conversation on that high persuasion where there are two Citadel Wizards talking where you kind of cannot hear them.

These are two of the ones that were with Silver that you rescued. One of them you know as sudden, and the other has a who does not appear to be a very powerful Citadel Wizard but has the name cloak of Samavar looks and Samovar and sure a squeaky

voice goes like I don't know about you I haven't slept this good the whole war this forest it's just and you see that a sudden goes I know I feel very rested as well Samavar says you know I haven't talked about this to the Citadel

but back when I was little little kid four or five years old My, my ma had a little spirit, like an owl thing that, I don't know. Owls always made me sleep good, I think. This guy bears. I don't know. We should count our lucky stars. We might never be this safe again.

And you feel that your leadership as silent as it is in this space. And the echoing words of sky back in Stone, real saying, you're all going to be respectful when we get into this forest. Nothing grandiose happens, nothing dramatic. There is no sudden bolt of lightning. But everyone who has traveled through this space with you has perceived the spirit. What they choose to do with that revelation is their own, but they cannot avoid having seen it under your guidance. On the seventh day of traveling, you begin to have more. more sky than canopy.

The forest thins out. As suddenly as everything else has appeared while walking through deep forest, you come to a little moss-covered wooden fence, long slats of wood and what looks like a sheep pasture. You have reached the edge of Hallecker Forest. You see an abandoned little stone cottage in a wide, overgrown field

that should be mowed carefully by sheep and is instead wildly overgrown in this space. But you see that a bunch of the soldiers start hooting and hollering and clapping each other on the back. And you see that Sworn turns around and smiles. Silver does a little presidgetation of sparks. And he says, three cheers for the strongest man in Silbury. And the cheers go up.

And as the cheers go up, lowering from the clouds, an imperial sky ship comes into view. Just at the edge of the field is enough visibility, and the keel of a massive ship of the line, a large, large war vessel lowers out, you see massive war staves, war cannon trained on you from the open gun ports, and a voice loudly projected with arcane magic says, Ship of the Empire, Strike calls out on behalf of Captain Castaway,

To those below. Be you friend or foe, raise your banner. Suvi's going to, with her precedingitation, she looks at the other Wizards of the Citadel and just tries to give like a little nod to coordinate, essentially trying to send up a like arcane version of like a Citadel symbol or banner.

You send up a banner of the Citadel. As you do so, your soldiers step out from the woodline. Silver calls out rank and file, form up. And you see the battalion as kind of unmade as it is. Imperial forces as your battalion and Citadel Wizards in the front, artificers off to one side. And you see Sworn, Lahoun, and your three Citadel Wizards with you form up behind you. Yep.

Amme and Ursula, as this sort of happens, where do you guys go? go. I pick up the fox and I try to, you know, go towards, and then I, and then I, I line up behind Suvi. I think Ursulaan remains in the trade line. I think sees all of the busyness and is going to, like, not move forward as to be perceived in a part of this. Great.

Give me a stealth check. 22? Okay. Yeah. I'm hot right now. You're hot. I have purpose, what is... I have purpose.

Purpose, my fucker. You stay in the tree line, and you can tell, like, in this moment, our calling on... For the first time, like, your glamour is intersecting with the forest. You feel true spiritual power. You feel like, oh, the edge of the forest

is where I'm supposed to be. You feel like in this moment under 22, if you wanted to have only the true of heart be able to see you, if you wanted only the young to be able to see you, that would be completely within your power to do so. I think acknowledging that power and not actualizing it, but just resting in it. I think it's not like Ursulans like behind, like peeking out, it's just leaning against a tree and feeling comfortable here.

Anyone that would look at you without the proper reverence or camaraderie or familiarity would just see a tree. There's just a tree. Something about the curve of your trousers, the lean of your cape, even your eyes seem to take on. Their green seems to match the shade of the tree behind you.

Amé does check behind to make sure. And nods at Erslan. Mm-hmm. A salon nods back. Yeah, when Suvi turns around to, like, see the formation and sees Amé right behind her, like, the kind of box you. Like, okay.

Interesting. We all kind of did last. Your head right over mine, not in line of sight. There's like perfect, like learned practice spacing of like arm's length, and then Ame's just kind of like, okay. A small galapter launches from the deck of the ship and descends as a landing party, and you see that there are several Citadel war mages, about three of them. There appears to be a clockwork automaton, a sort of brass man that has a long sort of quick silver blade on his back.

And you see dressed in black with gold brocade, but partially open to reveal a sort of white jerkin, you see that there is a brightly grinning woman. A pale skin, she's got a long braid, her hair has dyed blue on the right side. and white on the left side and tied back in a braid that mixes the colors together. You see that she's got two silver caps on lower teeth in her mouth. You see that she has a couple of wands on her belt, but doesn't appear to have a name clerk.

She walks up to you and says, Greetings, strange to see Imperial soldiers wandering out of Hallecker Forest, Captain Castwayne. Cuvie extends her hand. I'm the Wizard Sky, Arkmage apprentice of the Citadel. She does a sort of half-curtsey, half-bow, and says, as I live and breathe, Captain Sky, and goes for a full hero's handshake. Yeah, in it, about it.

Bam, gives it to her, and you see that she looks over for Silver to announce himself, and you see Silver says, I am Warmage, Silver of the Citadel. The Wizard Sky came to our rescue in the garrison of Abison, which is now fully fallen, but we were able to escape with these soldiers. And you see the captain says, Abison, you were a dead man. And you see, he looks at her and goes, our situation was extremely dire. And you see that Cast Wayne looks over at you and says, very well, resourceful Arkmage apprentice, but your reputation precedes you.

Does it? Oh, absolutely. Word has been spread all over the Shroud Mountains to find you at any cost. So it seems that I have made it a bit of a name for myself as well. Where are you headed to now? Bracken. Good. There will be resources of plenty for you there, and speaking mirrors plenty more to the point

to put you in touch with the sort of the Citadel, who will be delighted to know that you were here. I would offer to fly you there myself, but we are currently patrolling the forest, or as you know, times are dire. But the roads past here, you are behind life. The roads past here are safe. You are half a day's march from Bracken. That is the best news I have heard in a very long time.

Thank you. Do you need provisions now? Are you all right? We're good. Thanks. She smiles and says, all right, as you have it. We're staying here patrolling this guy's. You can even see take, like, this ship could have landed in this field, but like the ship is staying airport.

Even within Castwayne's sort of bubbly persona, the ship is staying in the air. They don't know what's flying over the forest. She looks at you and says, well, I'll make the report. You'll be expected. And I anticipate, I'll let them know that the garrison of Abison has been saved.

Anything else? Interesting, we have not had much news in the last. week or so. We're attempting to make another push on Fort Kearin, but the lines right now are holding. Right now, our orders are to patrol and hold. The firepower along this forest is massive, but we're a little close for comfort. We're only a few miles from Bracken, which is where headquarters, where Imperial headquarters

are right now. I would look smart when you get to Bracken, as from one soldier to another, Prince Kamari Ulfgang Saraz is present in Bracken. Copy that. Thank you, Captain. She salutes. CIV salutes back.

Rolls her shoulders back. Let's go. You march out across the field, and as you do so, you see that she gets up with the galopter, and she takes the helm of the galopter herself, and buzzes you guys as you go. And you see, she says,

All glory to the empire. May the Citadel's light ever shine. And takes off towards the strike. And the... Erica's face right now. Do you look at Amme's face? Amé is directly behind you in the way that it's like, you know,

when you're trying to be somebody's shadow? And so anytime you turn around, they also move with you. Yeah, when Suvie kind of goes to the side to let the troops pass, he's like, oh, up, all my bat. God, you could take a step. You okay?

Mm-hmm. So we're almost to the garrison, so we're almost to the fort. Mm-hmm. Okay. Ursula, are you moving from the woodline? Seeing the way the troops are generally headed toward Bracken, I'm going to click open the watch to see if the direction they are headed is still in line

with where it guides me. it's starting to diverge. So Bracken is not directly where the watch is pointing any longer. But it's not far off. In other words, it's largely pointing in the same direction, but you're beginning to notice that the hand of the watch is pointing a little bit in a different direction. I think Ursulaan's going to reach into his pack. take out the giant pine cone that Amme gave him.

I just kind of affix it in the ground where he's standing. Thank you. Then step out from the line of the forest to meet his friends. Wind rustles the pine cones. And as the ship vanishes back into the cloud line, you step through the field, and your glamour covers you fully, and you march with your friends towards,

Bracken. Moving quickly through the field, the field arrives at a little stone cottage, abandoned, right here at the edge of the forest, past the mines, it makes sense that this would have been abandoned. You take a small path down from the cottage, which eventually widens out with a couple other paths leading to other homes and farmsteads, and eventually walk down and do see a road, wagon wheels on it. The immediacy of surge of confidence and the chatter, these soldiers that have been weirdly silent for the days, like the two weeks you've been traveling, are suddenly cracking jokes, slapping each other on the back, excitedly talking behind their lines once more. Even soldiers that you thought for sure were completely walled off from the social

group of their fellows, like in the other forest, come to and begin to walk over. You see some handsome imperial marks. A guy who hasn't not spoken the entire time handsome marks over and is like, you win the bet. We're alive. And the, you. See, he goes in takes like a little rake of like, to everyone that voted that I would get you all killed. Someone put one gold in my hair. You see a couple of them come over and you see a guy goes, here's a copper. And as you march down the road, you just sense this abulience.

And then the road opens up into an actual town. You see that there are stone buildings and there are some people here. A couple of soldiers wave you from the roof armed with. staves calling out, and you see they say, I double-time it if you want to get to the mess before they shut it down. Sube does go a little faster. And you suddenly see that these small towns begin to become a little bit more and more frequent at about two hours of marching.

You see that the farms are still around, and now there's almost no forest. You're still in the mountains, but these ones are shallow enough that you actually see sort of stepped farms, like stone-walled little different, patches of green up in the mountainside from different crops growing. You see there's a lot of vineyards here that are like crawling up the mountainside and suddenly you turn a corner and you see below you lights and a big city, the first city you've seen in a long time, the city of Bracken. Bracken is a city that is sort of the feeder point for all these farm towns in this region and you can see There are silos and taverns and grain stores and big stone buildings.

There are like six different sky ships hanging over the city, ships of the line. There's four imperial, there's two citadel. You see that as you turn the corner and begin to walk down, you pass these sort of spooled coils of brass that have spell energy. That is like part of this big sandbags that are put up blocking the road. like the road is barricaded. And as you walk through, you pass the first archway

that sort of has an old bridge connecting these two other things in what used to be like a dried riverbed and is now a road that is paved in cobblestone. And as you come up, the city is so large that there's no tents, but there's a lot of buildings that have been commandeered that soldiers are being quartered in.

You see that they're up on the rooftops. You see stone colossi constructs of the empire and living spells. And you see that there are Adina's walking around. You see one or two zeros that wave at you up from a rooftop. And you suddenly hear horns. And there's a flash, and you see a Citadel mage that you recognize as a guy who in the past, like, four years

has spent maybe less than two weeks at the Citadel because he is so called upon as a war mage. This is the wizard slain. The wizard slain is a tall, muscular, ancient wizard who looks like basically if Merlin went to prison. He looks like he's like... Don't talk during that. Let us laugh. Oh my God.

He's just got a long gray beard. My name's the Wizard of Oz, but like the Prison Oz. Thank you. Thank you. The Wizard of Oz. And you see, he smiles looking down. He's got the green warmage robes on. Tall staff, he just dimensioned doors to the top of this little,

what looks like it would have been a small, like, cafe or an eatery here in Bracken. A lot of the buildings in Bracken have these red, tiled roofs and a sort of grayer beige, like plastered side to the walls here. There's also a lot of, like, the older, more rustic buildings outside of the city are, like, actual, like, stone and mortar, like, stone cottages. But you see, Slane appears on this roof on a small dais there, smiles and calls out, Oh, hail the returning heroes! And arcane confetti begins to go up around here.

It is certainly not the banner welcome that the Citadel would put out, but you see there are people that are like behind sandbags or behind small arcane defenses that reach into, don't let go of their weapon, but reach in and throw some arcane confetti, press digitate something as you guys walk through. People are putting in, and it's the feeling of this welcome, you've only seen it at the Citadel, where it is all pomp and circumstance and glory,

and this one hits you so differently. Fingers are in mouths, it is rowdy. People are hooting and hollering and cheering, and you march into the center of Bracken, We're in the town square outside these sort of columned, like, Agora-looking building, and a big civic imperial building that is like an imperial governor's hall, like a clerk's office put into this place. You see that there are rows of Citadel soldiers smiling,

and you see Prince Kimari-Oldgang Saraz at the front. and about 200 imperial soldiers, not only infantry, Marines, sharp, smartly dressed, decorated medals, gold brocade. As you walk in, a prince of the Saraz Imperium strides forward. You've never seen a member of the royal family. He is sharp, handsome, smiling broadly, gold brocade. You see, he is bedecked by the best artifice finery that the citadel can put out.

Magic saber at his side, rings an enchanted amulet underneath his neck. He steps forward as you arrive in the town square and says, Wizard Sky, Arkmage apprentice of the citadel, welcome to Bracken, and puts forward his hand to shake yours. Oh, fuck. Suvi is absolutely like star-besotted. Like she's seeing the most famous person in her world. And trying her at her level best to remember protocol and dignity and the weight of everything that she's done.

So she doesn't like break into an excited grin. Do I know what the correct protocol for this would be? Like, she's going to have reached for his hand, but I think she has, like... You would take it and bow in the action of doing so. Yeah. Yeah, Suvie begins with the, like, hearty handshake like she gave to the captain earlier today and then remembers herself and takes his hand and goes into, like, as formal about, as she can give while not looking.

She doesn't want to look like she's curtseying and simmering. So she's trying to get a lot done in a very quick action, and I don't know how effective it is. You take the hand, you bow. He smiles. Your discomfort is completely second nature to him. There is nothing about you stumbling through this motion that is unusual to him or makes him.

And you see, he just says, and with an earnestness that is so profound, he goes, thank you. Thank you for what you've done. And see if he doesn't have a response, she just sort of looks down and is blushing furiously and nods. The prince looks out to all of the imperial infantry and everyone else in this, you know,

the people that have just spent two weeks in the forest covered in their own blood and the horror and everything, else like that. He looks out at all of them and says, is it not possible to step lively and get these brave soldiers some drinks? The crowd goes nuts. And you see, he smiles and says, Revelry will have to wait for you, Wizard's Guy. I believe you have an appointment with a mirror. Oh,

there's not... See these in hell. Why? Why does the prince know that my mom needs to talk to me? You see he says, Lady Irriman will help you. And you see that a beautiful black-clad noble woman that you can see she is dressed in a smart-looking sort of like imperial attire, but very clearly is not part of the military apparatus. She is an attendant diplomatically to the prince. So she's here sort of like embedded with this military installation because she is part of the bureaucracy of the empire. empire. And she leans forward and says, Lady Iriman Telniquet,

Wizard Sky, thank you very much for your bravery and service. Pleasure to meet you. I'd be happy to escort you to the prince's speaking mirror at your nearest convenience. And you see that stepping forward, there's a highly decorated general who steps out on behalf of the prince and says, All right, over to the mess!

And you see that he comes in and starts talking to silver, slain approaches. You see there is a highly decorated, sort of dressed similar to Galani in like purple. There is a Citadel Abjur who looks like a much older plump woman. She has a little bit of dye on her lower lip in a little sort of dot, some rings on her fingers. She begins to speak to them talking about sort of the defenses. And you see Silver is immediately

in conversation, you see, you see Silver change and immediately fall into his slot. Yeah. And you see he gives you a quick look like, we'll connect, like, that, that like, we did it. I love you. We're at work. And then he's like off doing his own thing. Can I throw him in like, just a little message spell? Yeah.

I'll find you later. Please keep an eye on my friends. We'll do. So, and Ursulaan and Amé, while all this is going on, where are you looking? What are you looking at in all of this madness? I think Ursulaan has, as kind of, we've head into town, kind of

matched to Amé's pace wherever she is in the line. But I think as we've entered town, I think there's been a bit of like, we did it. Like there is a, I think Ersson is able to touch joy again in this space. It is kind of enjoying the kind of the play of light with the arcane confetti and seeing his friend be so embarrassed in front of someone who, I guess, is very important. Standing a little ways away, you begin to, and you guys can give me any kind of checks you want if you're, like, wanting to read the environment here.

Just because as Suvee is embroiled in, like, a deep, like, you know, social engagement with these people that she needs to speak to. You have a moment to kind of, like, get bearings if you want. And I think I am interested in kind of the ratio of military to citizen. Yes. Kind of as we move through. Natural one.

This confetti's crazy. As you start doing that, you see that a, just, like, he'd look like a ghost if he wasn't so solid. So instead, he just looks like a powdered donut of a creature. Like white hair, white skin, kind of yellow eyes, very small pupils, which are really unsettling,

zips up to you, and you can tell is clearly weightless, even though he looks very solid and touches you. For a second he goes, What are you a spell? I'm sorry? Zero. Your zero.

Uh-huh. Ursula. Oh, Ursula. You Tamori? No. No. Oh, I can tell Tamori. Tamori got to watch out for me.

For you, Zero. Yeah, that's right. Ercelon kind of chuckles. Uh, have you... How long have you been here, Zero? How long have I been here? I've been here for 18 days, four hours, 36 minutes, 12 seconds, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. Amé, we got over to you.

You see, what kind of, are you making a skill check to take in? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ursulaan seems gripped in a tense conversation. Thank God. Yeah, that's what that works. I think there was a, there's just a sheer moment of panic where it's like, is this guy about to tell everyone I'm a spirit? And now I've got him counting, and that's better than whatever the other thing we were doing was. As I entered, Amé was nervous, both for Ursulaan and for what it meant coming back to an imperial presence in a town.

and squeezed Ursulaan's hand a little too tightly, perhaps. But as the confetti went and she saw the imperial officers and the citadel mages and Suvi all so joyful, it was impossible not to get caught up in it. So she trots along with the fox at her side, taking it all in. And as she watches Suvi, greet this royal family member. Amay has met with royalty before in her time with Grandmother Wren, but she's never met one of the Suraz family. And she studies him. And with a 26, she wants to know everything about him. On a 26 insight, you want to know,

everything about him. 26 is pretty remarkable. Watching him in this moment, the best thing you can relate this to is watching a dancer or watching a singer. The prince is engaged in performance. And it is a performance that he is excellent at and that he is very good at.

and when you look at a dance or a song and you try to determine whether it's true or false, that sort of misses the point of what it is. Like, when the prince is thanking these soldiers and thanking the wizard's sky, it is something he has to do. It's his, in the way that it was Sky's job to save these wizards, it's his job to honor these people.

and you sense a deep earnestness in the carrying out of his duties and responsibilities, if that makes sense, that this is an ex... In other words, it's not like he was the first guy who was like, well, I should probably go thank her. Like, you know, there's a... There is a dance here, and you sense a deep arrogance and pride at someone who is literally the most... to the manner born a person can be.

This is a prince of an empire. He is excited to be loved and adored, and he is excited to adore those who serve the empire. He is excited. Like, when he called for drinks, he felt a joy just like the joy that everyone else felt in that moment. That was not false.

And I think that there is, I think that the only thing you would see that's not being, that's being like under the surface for him is all the other things there are to worry about here, right? Like he very immediately, after the soldiers have drinks, after the sky has been handed off to the lady Ehroman, he's very quickly talking with the highly decorated general next to him and is on to the next thing. So in other words, if you're relating him to like a common folk person who would have taken longer with Suvi being like, you're really incredible. Oh my God. You saved all the

those people. He gave that one earnest moment of sincere thanks, which was expected of him, but also meant. And now he is off to his next responsibility, as he assumes everyone else here will be too. Walking past you over to join, you know, we, uh, 18 minutes. One, two, three, yes, four. You see that walking up behind zero, there is a massive translucent minotaur. There is like a 12-foot-tall, bull-headed. You recognize this as a tamari, but it's not one you've seen before. Suvi, you see there like galathopters flying past, some of which are being piloted

by the unnamed numbered fireball and lightning bolt to Mori, which to you were the scariest you had seen. You recognized zero being on kind of a similar level to them. There are two Tamori in this square that you see that just in terms of how resonatingly magical they are, put those lightning bolts and fireballs and put the zeros to shame. There is a 12-foot glassy minotaur, mostly translucent, mostly you can see through it, except that it has some sort of twirling deep in its chest and its head. There are iridescences of like rainbow or prismatic light.

And you see it walks up. And farther you see shadowing the prince at all times, very clearly a bodyguard. You see a Tamori woman who is partially glowing. You can tell that she's dampening it down to its lowest, like the lowest setting on a dimmer, but has rich blue skin, deep red hair

in an asymmetric bob, and gem-like purple freckles all over her skin. Gorgeous Tamori woman, who is, uh, you see, like, clearly has some spell that can go off that means she is within arm's reach

of the prince at all times. This minotaur, this translucent minotaur walks up, looks down at you, uh, Ursula, and says, Hello. Hello.

No. Simply letting me know how long he's been here. You feel a very powerful detect magic go over you. Get me an icono check. Anyone who wants to. Sure. 16. 25.

15. You guys are looking at a wild tamori. This is the first tamori that you're looking at and you're like, and you're not a spirit. Like, it's, you know, like, it's, Very impressive. This is the true sight spell. Yeah.

And you see, it goes, I am ox. And ox is actually spelled O-C-S. Indeed, I am. Yes. As in you are... Where were they produce? I do not know.

They are gifts from friends and family. Do you have the names and location? At this point, Amé walks up and says, Hello, I am Amé, the witch of Toma. You feel a very powerful detect magic go over me. Well, I have a couple of nice things. This is my jewel hopper. I hold up the little cage.

Rine comes from the Citadel. And you see, as Ox says that the Lady Irriman comes over and puts a hand on Ox and says, Ox, darling, the prince requires your assistance. Please help him if you'd be so kind. And you see, Eramond's artifacts on these travelers, they do not wear singles. And you see, Irman says, Ox, it's all right. He turns and says, Unresolved questions. And walks away.

The lady Irriman says, good evening. Would you like to join the soldiers in the mess hall, or would you like to accompany the Wizard Sky? Well, I imagine that Sky has some very important conversations. to have with her commanding officer, her mother. With, where would you like to go, Ursula? Drinks in the mess hall. Drinks in the mess hall. Thank you kindly.

Sworn looks over at you, winks, and says, let's go get you all fed in the mess hall, all right? I'll stay right behind you. And you see that he walks over, and as Sworn is walking with you both, over to what was a big sort of like beer garden looking place.

You see there's bright lights and clinking glasses and tankards and shouts and cheers coming from the side. And Ursula, now at this point past the edges, you actually see that the streets were blocked off, but a lot of civilians gathered at the barricades to see you here. So you see this is clearly green zone

where all of the surrounding people, like whoever lived at that first cottage, took their sheep and came here. And the city is actually quite bustling. But you can just see that during the daytime, it's very clearly like a little bit locked down. Like, yeah, there's partying and people have to eat. People have to work. We still need people to get food and make food and do this stuff.

But there's a lot of barricades. There's a lot of people stationed on rooftops. There's galathopters flying overhead. It's that weird thing of trying to live life and do the work of living life in a war zone. So you see, though, that Sworn starts taking you off to the beer garden. looks over at you, Ursulaan, and goes, Tomori, you're a little blunt. Yes, it seems these Tomori are not as socialized as, say, Mr. Callum.

Well, they were born yesterday, so. Ursula, are you a betting man? I've been known to a wager here and there. Given that it's very likely you and I will be sleeping, in a bed tonight, I would love to bet that I can put you under the table. Well, let's see some money. Incredible, the Lady Irriman turns to you and says,

right this way, Wizard's Guy. Thank you. Walking side by side with the lady Irriman Telniquet, your boots tapping on the stone floors of easily the most imperious, glorious building. in bracket. This was built by the empire here in the center of town as a governor's hall, as a place of record-keeping and of imperial glory to remind the people of this place that they were not simply the mountain shepherd vineyard farmers of their ancestors, but were a part of something

much greater than that. And the lady Ierman smiles at you as she walks and says, a belated congratulations on your ascension to the Tower of the Glove and on your name cloaking. Oh, that's very kind of you. Uh, thank you. And you watch this woman who you've never heard of. Yeah. Just know this kind of personal fact about you. Can I do insight or history?

Like, yeah. Can I insight check her? I just... Give me a little insight. What is her deal? 17. she's like smiling in a very friendly way. I think if there's like,

is there a base assumption you would make about why she knows that? No, I think it's just the chat. Like, it's just trying to catch the tone of like, is this someone who is sort of reciting a fact in order to like do the cursory? Like, I read your brief and your three bullet points. Here is one of them. Or is there like enough polish?

that she's, like, she's just trying to do, like, a slickness check on her? There's no, like, weird intention. You get, I think you get slickness. I think you get a moment of, this woman is letting me know that she is not just someone showing me a room, that she is a part of the princess apparatus. And there's a little bit of flex here of someone who's just put a lot of work into knowing everything and maybe wants you to know that she knows everything, but also a little bit of,

I am more than a servant. If you need something, I'm someone that you can come talk to. She walks forward with you and says, we reached us earlier today from Captain Castwain, and we have the mirror set up in the Great Hall, and you walk out into this marble floor place with tall columns. Standing there in the center is a tall, golden speaking mirror.

You see, there are several, Citadel Wizards to each side. And as you approach it, the lady bows, steps in front of you, addresses the mirror, and says, presenting her excellency, Archmage apprentice of the Citadel, the wizard sky. And steps to the side, the mirror shimmers. And you see a room that appears to be partially subterranean with dirt walls in it. There's a hanging gas lamp kind of sputtering and sitting in a chair in her golden armor, sweat on her face, and a little bit of dirt on her face, is the wizard

steel who looks at you with a, give me an insight check. Five. She looks mad. She looks at you. So, tasked with of utmost significance, having secured resources for the Citadel beyond measure, The ship you were given was instead charted for an active war zone, Fort Marlon, and you and your crew disembark. Do I have that correct, Wizard's Guy? You do.

And Suvi, like, just with each of those bullet points, like, Suvies getting a little more, like, straight and rigid. She looks at you and says, and... Upon discovery that that ship had been commandeered so that that resource could be secured to the citadel, you left Fort Marlon, knowing that the ship would return in two days, to strike out with no speaking mirror deep into enemy territory and through reliance on resources outside of imperial control, rescued a warm age of the citadel and over 30 imperial soldiers from the mission that had been labeled

completely impossible by every imperial strategist familiar with that situation. Kid, you are something. Oh, there's no hiding the like Suvi about to pop off and being cut off at the exact right time. Huh?

Huh? and just realizes she like misread the situation and went into her little kid like defensive mode and then releases it and was like I heard what you were saying got it got it and she sees that you're about to pop off

and feels you can see that she has a similar abrasiveness and a similar feeling of like I'm gonna say all the fucking ill-advised shit you're gonna hear all of that and you see she looks to you and says Wizard Sky

Of all the ill-advised, uninformed, off-the-cuff, answering to no one loose-canon bullshit I have seen in my time at the citadel. I cannot recall being so grateful as I am in this moment. Suvee's just ear-to-ear grinning.

Like, no, it's still straight and formal because there are other, like, wizards in here. But she's fully grinning. Like, just that part, she cannot stop. Learned it from the best? Oh, kid. You see that she smiles and says, well, it's an awful lesson to learn firsthand that when it works, you're a hero. Yeah, I haven't learned to be more cautious, I think.

Just send me with more mirrors. She smiles and shakes her head, and she's like, one of these. days, you're going to catch a consequence. I have to believe. I have to believe in my heart. Everyone has to believe something a little crazy. She laughs full-throatedly. Wizard Sky, well done. On firstly, the mission, which was your charge, which I have many questions about which the resources that have been delivered cannot answer for me. So a debrief in full is much needed. I can wrap up affairs here

in probably the next day or two and make my way directly to Bracken if you remain embedded there with your troops. If you have anything more pressing, feel free to attend to that. And if you've spoken with Raspur or still in contact with him, please extend to him my sincerest thanks

for completing the mission. And I look forward to debriefing with him at his earliest. convenience. For that to happen, he would have to be welcome in the Citadel. And there's just a little look on her face that's fully, I love my mommy. That's all it is. But even inside of that, that like stiffness and rigidness that she carries, that is pride

and the leaving of her defensiveness before she knew she wasn't going to be shootout publicly in a mirror again. She remembers herself and just a wizard's skill. I know you're on your way, but I really, I have to mention the other business. I have to mention the other business of the Coven was a vote. They voted to go to war with the Citadel. It wasn't unanimous. The Witch of the World's Heart prevented a exponential leap in power that would have

come with unanimity, but the vote passed, and they're going to join with a host of great spirits and roove and march to attack us. Okay, understood. The unanimity, which of the coven voted to go to war? Heckea, Woodland Green, Grimor, Wild Hunt, and Marara, waning Moon. Fascinating. All right. Noted. This, we will discuss more in person, and accommodations and plans must be set into motion at once. Thank you. We will pick that up. I am glad that if the Witch of the World's Heart has abstained or voted against that war, you may have done an immeasurable service in protecting the citadel. Well done, Sky.

Returning to the issue of the resource, there were other ways to accomplish what RASPER needed to accomplish. Now, absolutely, and I am very grateful that you did what you did, but had this resource made its way into the Shroud Mountains, we would be having a very different tenor of conversation right now. Understood. But debriefing about the manner of your mission's execution will be necessary, but you must understand that this is an enormous victory for the empire, and an enormous boon for the citadel.

You also notice that she keeps... calling it the resource and there is a little bit. Like, even with the other, it's all said it on Mayas here, but this is an imperial. You see that actually, you see that this, the lady Irriman sort of smiles. She clearly knows Rasp her. There's like something here. You see that she looks at you and says, the only thing I will ask because it is a pressing concern, the embossment on the lid of the resource, was that destroyed during your mission?

And here, there is an open question for Suvi here. You know she's referring to the spider, which was in the music box when it went back. Is it not? Oh, okay. Implication from that sentence, because my brain spiraled immediately, that it's, the spider's no longer there. Do you say that bluntly? No. I'm just trying to glean, sorry, going back and re-gleaning the sentence.

Yeah, she sees you stunned for a moment. That seems to be what she's implying. She's seeing your face, she says, because the embossment is not present. Nothing, to our knowledge, has been compromised within the resource itself. But I had assumed there were certain security contingencies in the embossment that meant that it may at some point not make it back. And there were contingencies within that to make that something that would not compromise the overall mission. but do you

I can see from your face that this is news to you Really quick My little spider bro Is there something I can Roll to see If this sounds like Rasp or tampering

Or the little magic Spider that had a super special moment with me is doing some fun funky spider thing. Give me a perception check unless you want to do magic about it. I want to do magic about it, and I'll be overt about it.

Cool. What are you casting in this moment? I think the most obvious version of something would be a detect magic, but pointed, at herself to try to, like, touch the interaction, like the little vibe she had between it. Like, I don't know if that makes sense. Like, going back into her own memory of the, like,

nod and salute between the spider and trying to, like, detect magic on that. So you cast Detect Magic, and you're looking for a reading similar to the magic you observed in that room. An emanation comes from your spellbook that sounds, like the rain road playing in reverse, a bit of music and a tinkling of glass that the spell reveals to you emanating from your spellbook at your side.

To my mind and my recollection, I don't know what happened there, but as far as I'm aware, the resource worked as hoped. Steel nod. and you can see her face goes to a dark place. Give me an insight check with advantage because it's steeled. Yeah.

Dirty 20. She's thinking about Raspur. Yeah. Suvi will see that and do her best to mirror that dark expression. Also, I want to spin this up. Fuck Raspers. I hope he gets lit the fuck up for this. She goes, noted.

Thank you. I thank you. The Citadel thanks you. The Empire thanks you for the mission that it was your duty to accomplish and you did exceptionally. And for the one you, with no input from anyone who knew better, took upon yourself. There are a lot of loyal soldiers that owe their lives to you. Every one of them might go on to save a brother, sister, a sibling of their own.

And that won't be possible without the choice you made to do that. I think that's the point where, like, a little damn breaks inside of Suvie and she can't stop herself. Like, it's the, like, red nose and, like, unshed tears in her eyes of, like, yeah, yeah, that did it. I'm going to cry. And it's just trying to do the little, like, shallow breathing to try to pull it back. You see she looks at you and says.

It's my understanding that you were traveling with Amé and Bear once again. Yes, after concluding the events in the North. Well, congrats also on your presence, presumably saving your friend. We did it. Are they present with you in Bracken right now? They are. All right. Let's broach this.

So the last time that Amé and Bear were in imperial territory, they committed some crimes. And it's my understanding that it is due to their aid that these soldiers were saved. We would not, and I mean this with no false modesty, we would not have survived to even make it to Abison, let alone passing through Halicor Forrest, to be here now.

All right. Time served? Well, that's probably the conversation we should have. And I think it's appropriate for that to come from you because you obviously have developed that relationship and there's trust there. The opportunities that open up for us on this front with the aid of an honored friend and a witch

are pretty substantial. I appreciate the line of logic you are walking down. This was a settling of debt between us. And when I say time served, I mean they are released from future service to the empire. I hear you. I'm going to explain in company here.

And you see that she actually moves and begins to a telemet is wheeled out. And she asks and says, I think this conversation should just be between us. not said that's okay. Fair enough. Suvi's hands already on it. She puts hers on a telemet next to her and begins to cast the message can't trip through the telemet to you. And just speaking into your mind says, and you see that the lady Yeraman sort of starts twiddling her fingers, looking, looking away. And Steele just goes, the Shroud Mountains right now are overtaken.

Two other houses of Gautamai are moving on the Shroud Mountains. And they're going going to make a push. And Bahadi is being joined by Kashif and Raunza, which you would know. Roundsa is sometimes called the House of Light. And you realize that you have already seen it. The rock. That was... Kashif is a transmuter fleshcraft construct maker house.

She says, not only are two other houses of Gouthmi pushing forwarding to the Shroud Mountains, that redoubling of effort confirms for us that Yorin is still here. There are two or three attacks that fit a pattern. There's a possibility that this is not a land grab, but that this entire mobilization effort of Gowthmi is covering something very pointed that we think Yoran might be doing here.

I don't need to get into that with you, but if that's true and if the pattern holds out, Yorin knows far more than he should about what we are doing here in the Shroud Mountains. Brenner? Yeah. Can I make an insight check on steel right now? Yeah.

Kassuvie feels all of the, like, fury. at Yorin being mentioned, but has seen, to some extent, the scale of this war. Why is one shifter being brought into conversation? Is she doing that because he is actually quite important to the war? Or is she doing that because he's important to steal? Or is she saying that because it's important to me? Give me an insight, check.

19. She's saying it because it's important to you. She knows that you care. Yorin has a deep significance to her unrelated to you. Maybe not fully unrelated, but they knew each other for years before you were born. And I think that you also see in her face that Yorin may not be what this war hinges on, but there's something in how she talks about him

that does view him as a threat. That's genuine. Suvi's expression darkens. She looks to you and says, orders are set to be given at Bracken. There's going to be a large mobilization. There's some events that had happened in the Shroud Mountains earlier today that are going to necessitate quick mobilization and movement.

There's going to be a push to 12 Brooks, and we're going to need to drop the supply lines for Gautamai. They're just the forces that are coming. Ame's help will save countless lives. I don't disagree, but her time and her focus are otherwise accounted for, as is bears. They came to my aid at great personal cost. There is no way anyone here myself included can convince them to further commit their time to our cause. And that's okay. We will be fine with time we win.

I hear you. Will you ask? And I'll see you in Bracken in three to four days. Oh, okay. Okay. And then leans in before taking her hand off the telemet. Can you bring some of Saunders, like the little lemon, those like chewy lemon things? You see that she looks and reaches into a bag and pulls out a packet of them?

Oh, God. I know exactly how many's in that bag right now. If not that many shows up, that's your ass. I'm a full wizard of the Citadel. The prince touched my arm. I'll kill you. Why did you say it like that? The prince touched your arm.

Why are you? What? And I took my hand off. You see, she says, she says, don't get any bright ideas. If anything were to happen there, you'd become a guildmage. He wouldn't move to the citadel. All right? So, my love can change universes.

She says, I know it can. I know it can. And she says, thank you, Wizard Sky. You're dismissed. Ceeb gives the curtain on turns. We cut over to the beer garden here in Bracken. Beer Gartage. And where, Ame, Ursula, where are you at, like, after an hour of throwing down in the beer garden?

Ursulaan is, I think, next to the keg, and is just kind of filling it, drinking it down, and filling it again. Sworn is shaking with a hand on the table going, he's not. He's not human. He's not human. He can't. I never had a chance. Swart, would you like another? Well, I didn't anyone stop me.

All of you betrayed me. Every other person, every mortal betrayed me in this room. Sworn, you should eat something. You just spit just coming out of his mouth. I need to go to bed right now, but I can't lie down. Someone to hold my head. I'm going to put my hand on the back of his head and use Leon hands. You touch the back of his head.

You use a full five points. I use a full five points. You see, he goes, and a smell of pine and fresh wind, and his eyes go full bloodshot for a second, and quickly start to fade, but his eyes go like red. As he goes,

cold, and like his, you know, hairs on his arms stand up. He goes, huh. And looks at you and goes, I'm completely, sober.

What did you do? Can you do that more? That's incredible. Let's go again. Let's go again. Ame, what are you doing here in the beer garden? Amé has given the fox a little pouch around his neck for him to collect coin from all of the rest of the infantry that she has had side bets with. You see, yeah, he's skittering around on the table, snapping up little.

sausages and fritters and things like that. You see, there's a lot of, like, plum jam fritters around here that he keeps... And you see he... That's the note I'm writing down. Plum jam fritters. You see, he walks up to someone and says, pay up, pay up.

And you see someone's like, well, he didn't actually fall down under the... And you see, the Fox says, that's not what was written on the bed. I can't keep a track of every single verbal thing. And I can't read this, but I remember what Amme told me she wrote down. And... Ami has not been drinking.

She's been appearing to drink and either has something in her glass at all times or has been drinking the non-alcoholic beverage of the beer garden. Oh, yes, they have a lovely, just a fresh cider. You have a beautiful, a beautiful crisp cider that sweet and cold and clears the palate. And as the night wears on, you see, there's sort of mixed company here. It's mostly, you know, imperial soldiers, imperial marines.

There's a lot of Citadel. A lot of Azure Battalion are in here. And you see that there are a few Tamori. Outside, there are some constructs moving around. You see that there are these constructs that appear to be like almost animated wagons, if that make sense, that are sort of moving around. So they have these wheels. And at the front, you see that there are these figureheads as if on ships at the front of the wagons are keeled, like, boats.

And you see that these sort of wooden, jointed automata at the front of the wagons appear to be their, like, sensory apparatus. As these keeled wagons move to and fro carrying supplies through the city, big crates of imperial goods. And as the night falls, singing commences, you see a couple people get sort of, like, relieved and go out, some patrol shift. And you hear distantly way, way far away, and the joy subsides. And there's a moment where everyone pauses, holds off, a few squeaks as people look around, people reach for things. Some of the people that got a little bit too drunk feeling suddenly scared or stupid that their wits have gotten away from them. Two wizards walk in from the front door. One leans in and looks around very solemnly.

Got him! And you see people cheer, and you see everyone goes back to drinking again. But there's that, the moment of panicked is like the celebration is almost very forced to come back in that moment after whatever those noises were on the horizon of combat and explosion. And you see that the drinking commences once again. A few minutes after that, you see lights on the road as a squadron wheels in, and it looks like a nethering. newly arrived squadron redeployed to Bracken comes in, and a couple people recognize friends in this other division and begin to share and cheer. And you see they come in, and you see that excited gossip begins to spread throughout the beer garden of these soldiers that are bringing news

from some other part of the front and kind of excitedly talking. Ursulaan and Amé can give me insight or perception. 17 perception. 25 insight. In this moment, Are you guys directing your attention? And you can choose different things. Directing your attention to the leadership present in the beer garden or to the scuttle butt and lively conversation of the newly arrived soldiers. I'm looking at the leadership. On a 17 perception, Ursula, you look up, walking in with this new division is a,

and these are all imperial soldiers arriving. And you see that some of them appear almost like capital. and castwain to be somewhat mages. They're not just soldiers. They're like some kind of guild mage. Like in D&D terms, maybe like Eldridge Knights, right? Like people that have more casting than normal, even though they didn't study at the Citadel, right?

But you see that walking in from there is decorated in fine red satin robes with bindings almost like a boxers, like hand wrappings in red silk that go all the way up, leaving fingers and thumb exposed. Sort of wave of deep auburn hair that gets tied in a long ponytail is a thin looking, very sort of like raptor-looking man, bird of prey almost. He's a guild mage. You see he walks up with some of these soldiers, walks directly over to the bar to speak with someone else there and gets approached by a few other guild mages.

At his side are a few little potions and bottles. Some of them are sort of the white dispelling agent that you've seen, Suu Khabi, and you see that the emblem hanging around an amulet from him is a glass crown, a glass coronet, which you guys have heard about before. Amé, you hear the scuttle butt in the room and you see a soldier excitedly talking to everyone and be like, we heard it from the ship

that passed by. They're already on their way back to Falkyering but they said that it's been the riverways. The riverways have been the giveaway. I mean, shape changes can swim through them, the ship's moving up through and we know that the Greno have been ferrying

and them back and forth, up and down through the Shroud Mountains. But with that gone, they'll be able to drive the rivers. We can march wherever we need to go and you see that someone says wait no start the story at the beginning what happened he says I wouldn't be surprised if we push on 12 brooks tomorrow mate I'm telling you right now it was wild so there they were you know crawling shape changes behind the constructs and suddenly a bolt of light and he appeared in the sky overhead the arch Mage standing there by himself in the sky. Silence. The water rippled and this thing, this monster

surged out from the water. Eyes bulging out of its great head, a size of a titan, this thing, and drew in breath, pouch expanded this thing. And this great fucking bullfrogue, like it was going to blast him out of the sky and he held his staff and it opened its mouth and not a sound came out and it just kept breathing out its eyes bugging out of its great big head

until every last bit of it went away in a whisper and silence smiled and he vanished like that it's turning the time we're going to go home boys We're going home! That was Lou Wilson as Ursulaan, Erii Ishii as Amay, Abria Aingar as Suvi,

and Brennanley Mulligan, as everyone and everything else. World's Beyond Number is produced and scored by Taylor Moore, and edited and designed by Taylor Moore and Jared Olson at Fortunate Horse, with additional sound design by Michael Gelfi Studios. If you'd like to support the show and hear even more wonderful things,

come and join us on the World's, Beyond Number Patreon. We'll see you there.