Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #52: No Loose Ends

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

To make the new world, to free tomorrow from the clutches of not done, we must bury the old world, shove ourselves inside the bone white sand, and there meet ourselves and everyone we have known. A wizard in her tower, oh let down your hair. A wild one, his one foot out the door of the prison cell. And a witch astride the world, who simply cannot leave any door closed, any stone not flipped like a table in the temple. We are all the pallbearers of what was. Roll up your sleeves. It's time to clean up.We are: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: Shannon and Amanda Freberg! Transcript of this episode coming soon! You can find transcripts of all our episodes here, for free, on our Patreon. Just navigate to the post for the episode and the transcript will be attached. If it's not there, it's on the way ;)Our album art is by the great Corey BrickleySome additional environmental 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. The bright light of early afternoon fills the majestic columns, fawning arches, emerald and cream, tiles of blue and ruby and emerald, arian dome. Five thrones, the Ark Magi, Sabre, Sand, sorrow, serenity, and silence. smiling at his apprentice Arkme. Of your field promotion, to sage of the penumbra, you are welcomed amongst the leadership of the Citadel Wizard Sky. A quick assent befitting the honored heritage of your name cloak. We are sorry to see your staff has been sundered.

A replacement will be requisitioned for... Appreciated. Thank you. Deep breath. No notes, but even in the brief time she's had to try to organize her thoughts cohesively, it's still the waffling back and forth. I knowes and remembers everything that she said she was stepping back from and away from. End of all things.

This is my home. I will save it. And I know enough. to save it from what I know is coming. And CIV's hands immediately go to clasp themselves, and you can just see that her thumb is running across the space on her other thumb, where her father's ring, where her ring would be, don't forget the things you put away.

But know why you are willing to put them away. Standing a little ways behind you towards the entrance hall is the smiling wizard Steele. This brought you here directly from Lucent. She a little bit impertinently leans against a column, mostly due to exhaustion rather than irreverence, but is happy as she watches you address the assembled Ark Magi. Arc made silence. Ark Magi of the Citadel. My time away from the Aryan in a calm and the North Pole and the Shroud Mountains has been both personally illuminating and essential for the preservation of our home as an imminent threat has made itself known.

A great spirit who counts among his many appellations, the man in black, king of night, pilgrim under stars, the stranger, Lucio the ferryman. has formed a coalition whose goal is to attack and destroy the citadel, calling it, and I quote, a knife plunged into the heart of the world. The coven of elders whose conclave I attended in the retinue of Ame of Toma, which of the world's heart, has voted three to two to join themselves to the Man in Black's crusade. While unanimity would have had a multiplicative effect on the power they would lend, this remains a cause for concern. Other members of this coalition include two great spirits, Erema of the Reaching Green and the King of Storms.

Their inclusion seems at first glance an act of vengeance for the capture of Narom of the Gentle Sea within the Calabelle notamanic apparatus in Port Talon, given their relation to this great spirit as partner and parent, respectively. It is worth noting that Naram himself is not counted alongside them. Additionally, some unknown but likely sizable amount of the forces of Roof are aligned to this purpose as well, though I have not yet surmised the connection between the Man in Black and the Dominion. The witches that voted for war on the citadel are Hakea of the Woodland Green, an ancient and powerful forest witch that formed the coven long ago.

Her grudge lightly stems from an abundance of nostalgia for the forest that predates the Aurean Desert. Gromor of the wild hunt, the hyperviolent patron witch of predators and murderer of the wizard's straw. Her potential weak points include her very young apprentice, Aksha, her wolfman spirit, Paramore Heinroll, and her own impatience. Marara of the waning moon,

second youngest but physically strangest of the coven and paramour of the man in black. At the conclave, she was shocked to discover that she was also to be destroyed alongside Ame of Toma to preserve the balance of the coven's ability to create a majority vote, meaning her shaken loyalty to her sisters is a potential point of exploitation. Those that voted against war on our home are Ame, the witch of the world's heart, an injury, which of the wind and stars.

It is imperative to note that injury possesses the ability to bypass our wards and scry directly into the I witnessed her doing so the night of my name, when she additionally sent a pair of ice fairy spirits to contact Amme directly on Gavril Court. They spoke of long-lancing spells and vexing hexes of old, being made many to pierce and plunder through the guises and guile of wizards, and seeing into this hidden place through crystal and through cause. What little I could parse magically at the time placed a star as the scri's point of origin. I apologize for the appearance of withholding this information,

until now, but I lacked context for the import of the occurrence. Given my subsequent journey to the palace at the North Pole, I've ascertained that her library of stars is the means of her surveillance. The mechanism is devastatingly simple to work, which I managed even in the limited time I had within the library. A little polite giggle from the Archmagy at this last statement. But back to my broader point, I believe that the man in black and his retinue's best chance to lay low the Citadel with maximum casualties to both the global population of Citadel trained wizards and key figures in the imperial administration would be a surprise ambush during our bicentennial later this year.

It would be the highest risk tactically, given the added security protocols we would have in place to support such gathering and the aggregate strength of the personnel in attendance, but would yield the highest reward if successful. It would tip the scales of war in our enemy's favor, but it will also send quite a message to all of Umura about the fragility of young, impetuous wizardry compared to the magic of witches and spirits. Pageantry in the service of cowing, mortal striving. An intoxicating draw. If injury is persuaded to join their cause,

her library of stars could be the key to bypassing or dismantling our defenses. unfortunately without some means to remotely access it or replicate it and create countermeasures my best proposed course of action would involve somehow tampering with or completely destroying hers. To that end, I have drawn up the best map of the Palace of Wind and Stars that I could manage in the brief and heavily monitored time I spent therein, as well as outlined the abilities both inferred and witnessed of all relevant figures. May this knowledge stoke and safeguard the light of the tower.

and see if he just gives a little nod and a salute. Silence goes, brava, brava! An exceptional report marked for posterity at the opening of the office of the sage of the penumbra who is tasked in the utmost was protecting the citadel from the enterprising and cunning of witches. Well done, Wizard Sky.

Sabres is a question, if you would. This coven of elders, what weakness of theirs have you come across? Is there any source of their magic or power that may be interacted with directly other than engaging with them as individual combatants? Yes, sir. Every coven is massive.

magically marked by the presence of a wand of covenant. It binds them together and their rules for the numbers they must maintain is a part of the magic that keeps their coven magically tied and powerful in their agreement and unanimity. The wand of covenant, when I departed from the conclave, it was in the top of a tall tower in the palace of Winden Stars I assume it is still there

Sabre turns to the Archimachi Then it is more important than ever That we mount some assault On that frozen north And the witch who lies at the top of our world You see, silence nods and says Archmaid apprentice and sage of the penumbra We thank you for your report in this

endeavor. Please turn your attention to the amassing of any information you can give about the nature of this wand, its construction, or discovery, as it may hold the key to breaking the cavern's strength without need of individual combat. For indeed, with apprentices, it seems that these witches may be able to repopulate even if defeated hand-to-hand. Understood. When I was giving information about the Library of Stars. Can I make an insight check to see if there was any sort of reaction to Suve's discussion of the Library of Stars? Give me an insight check. 13.

These Ark Magi aren't familiar enough with the details of your mission to know what you're talking about. Nope, that was very good intel. Got it. You suddenly realize the sword of the Citadel is holding a lot. Oh, that's interesting. Okay. Suvi takes that big, you just gave a big presentation. Thank you. You are dismissed Wizard's Guy.

And Suvee gives a deep and respectful bow. As you turn to walk, you see that Steele smiling at this incredible report that has just given all this wealth of information to the Purian Dome. winks and flicks something with her thumb to you. Oh, yeah. I'm going to do a little, like, adjustment of clothes to try to hide catching it, center mask, instead of, like, looking like she's catching something. Gotcha. You just get it to your body.

Yeah. Your father's emerald ring lands in your hand. Hard to throw away. She puts a hand on your shoulder. You knocked them dead, kid. I do feel like everything I said. You might already know. Well, no, you told me about.

bunch of this in Bracken, but the laying, it's important to lay it out for them piece by piece by piece. We got the covering up about the stars, because you told us that, but the, it's all good. Everything's good. You see that she starts walking with you through the gardens of Malacanth towards

the Tower of the Glove. I have a lot of work. I have to go manage following up on these battles, so I'm going to go head off and do that. Go get the curse taken off of your arm. The Fuck.

Oh, shit. Yeah, I'll go get. I am going to... Also, why aren't you dying of that? Old lady's got some tricks. Okay, okay. Old lady's got some tricks. Okay.

Too mean to die. Oh, you haven't seen me be mean. I mean, I think I have. I think me and all of house rounds. How about it? You see, she looks and says, Amé and Ursula. Where did they head?

When did you part ways with them? We got separated in the garrison. And here, Stevie, like, gets a little slow and scrambles to, like, editing film to create a truth that cuts out their participation as much as possible. I was moving through the halls, and a shadow jumped out at me. And when I ducked from that, I got arrested. So somewhere in the garrison. Give me deception if you feel that's appropriate. Yeah.

Twelve. Steals rolling disadvantage with a level of exhaustion. Oh, God, thank God. She just sort of goes, yeah. Well, we should talk about that because there, uh, with the coven and everything, Amé is going to be very important, what is to come. And Ursulon as well. It's interesting.

Let me be so clear. I ran it by them. It was a big old no. But I know you're not surprised by that. What's a big old no? Oh, their continued assistance. Oh, got it, got, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand.

Hey, real quick, just last question before I let you go off. And, again, not go to work. Go get a curse taken off of you. Yeah, sure, sure. What was Slate gonna do? Oh, arrest them. Give me an insight check. Why worse?

Nine. Wizard Steel looks at you. Arrest them if she could, but who knows? I didn't know, you know, I didn't know what was how. I didn't know you were. I knew you were alive because I saw the flare go up, but I didn't know if you were free or captured or the Ursula Kappa, capture, Amé captured, the Coven.

I didn't know. I didn't know what's going on. Okay. Oh. Uh Wizard Kean What's his deal Wizard Keen

I don't Know who that is Who is that Oh Just made a weird dude and bragging Guildmages are Trash Yeah

Yeah He was weird about the prince At me Yeah Yeah What do you know about the prince What I know about the prince I'll never tell

I'm not going to do it This is my one chance to win this fight Uh-uh And I'm gonna grab her and be like You tell me You tell me if I have a shot The prince Oh

If I tell you this The prince Is Uh He's The prince was Impressed He likes me

I knew it There was a moment On the ship Yeah All right Go go go away They don't marry wizards And you see that...

Okay. I could be the first of a lot of things. She smiles. As she's turning, she says, and brings you to the Tower of the Glove and just goes, the curse, taking care of business,

looking into things, well done in the dome. Get any books. Do get started on work. This is your position. It's yours to make what you will. We're counting on you. And it's really,

you want to hit the ground running. You don't want to get, Don't become one of the hustlers. Don't become one of the people who's making connections with other wizards. Be someone who gets things done. The Ark Magi, they're not interested in the people that wheel and deal. They're interested in results. That's who they reward.

It's your opportunity to make the most of. This witch war is being put squarely on your plate. I think your ace in the hole here is probably Amé. And I know that she doesn't want to help. But Toma doesn't. have the amenities of the Citadel. If we were to bring her into the fold, there's a world where maybe she's a coven of one. Who knows? Gotcha. Get Julia to get anything for you. Get your ink demons to get anything for you. Because what I want to remind you of is I'm still

cleaning some things up. So I would just stay seated in the tower for the foreseeable future. And just because we've had this problem in the past, I really mean it. Yeah, okay. Okay, I hear you. Is there any way to spare silver? Look at a very tired woman. I am already responsible for the destruction of a wizard on my ledger. We have magic.

We can take away the conversation and take away. him having my name and it will be fine. We can excise the bad and save the rest of him. He's good. He didn't do anything wrong. Give me an insight check, Suvie. Only with disadvantaged steel rolls in that one. And you look at her face and see her looking horrified as she wonders why you seem so

familiar with the magic of modifying memories. What do you mean, Suvie? But I know at some point my memory was modified by magic. I don't know what I lost, but I assume that I agreed to it. The timelines don't work, if that wasn't the case. Steele looks like her bells rung. She's so tired. Get in the tower.

I'll figure everything out. Just get in the tower. I love you. I will not survive another day. disappointment. And Sivi turns and walks and goes into the tower. Striding across the sky bridge into the tower of the glove, Suvi arrives back at her wizard's tower. Much changed, I think, since last you were here before boarding the meridian to fly to the far north.

Those first few steps in, remembering the emotional sort of timbre that I left in, I like peek into the rooms that were assigned to Amay and Ursula. I had Yulia pack them up immediately. I was mad at the way they left. I understand better now. And it all feels just so big and still unfilled and unfamiliar and really, really lonely. It does not get less lonely. as you stand in that feeling.

I'm going to go up to the very top of the tower. My little sanctum, the only room that, like, is warded and locked so that I alone can decide who goes in and out of that place and just kind of sit in and knowing that I had just asked to have the illusions taken away. I'm just going to enjoy kind of laying down in the middle of the carpet that still has the stains

of Cyril's ink from his poetry. And just look up at the illusory sky. Feel how different I feel from the last time I did this a month ago?

Yeah. You see your effects have been left. in a beautifully carved wooden chair outside of your sanctum, one of which is Vandall's book, his little empty glass bottle next to it there. Oh, that's a thing I can do, or is try to. Yeah, I'm going to go for the book,

and I don't want to interact with the rest of my objects, because that reminds me too much of that awful interaction with Slate. And go back in. and I know whatever happened in that altercation with Keene and the other guild mages put Vandal into some sort of torpor but I know if I had my magic back this would be a simple ritual to bring him back and I move over to one of my ritual circles Chalk lines meticulously drawn out When you have plenty of time

And you want to make it extra pretty God God, me a month ago So fussy Know if I magic when I try And I haven't put the ring back on yet Because the ring is still a snitch I want to reach for my magic again

But I'm scared Because I don't know what I am If I reach for it and nothing comes back This is all I've ever known. This place and the achievement that comes with moving into this tower is all I've ever known and all I've ever known to want. Know who I am. If I'm not the wizard's sky in the tower of the glove. And I don't know who I'm supposed to be.

But I don't feel like any of it right now because I'm too scared to try to cast a spell. to bring back Vandal, who has saved my ass so many times. Made me a history check. Natural 20. Dglass bottle. Ink resting in torpor near the spine of the book. Nat 20. Suvie, what was your favorite color when you were young?

It was red. Even though I remember. I remember one of the first things I ever told Amay when we met that my favorite color was lilac. But it was red. even though Nurtle or Spirit, what is true? Nat 20 history have to rely somewhere on something solid. Finding the truth is maybe impossible. You feel the yips, this impossibility, this terror of reaching out for something that defines you in it not being here,

and wouldn't that in a sense destroy you? You can't find the truth right now. You're too shaken. Are you the person that shattered the glass staff in the smugglers cave? Are you the person that felt an embrace from an uncle you never thought you'd have? Are you the person that walked arm and arm up an invisible staircase with a woman who was going to show you the world? Those can't be the same person, can they? You can't find the truth.

But you are brilliant, and on a Nat 20 history, you can find lies. You said the only thing you'd ever wanted was something like this achievement in the tower. That's not true. On a Nat 20 history, I want you to remember the things that Sufi has wanted in her life. There were things long ago that she wanted. I have to remember them. I wanted to learn magic. How many ways I could touch and know and be known by this world.

So big and magic before I could touch magic and cast it. I wanted to know about the plants. All the trees, all the leaves around in the forest, around Grandma Rends, around Amay's cottage. I wanted to be able to keep my family safe and together. I wanted to play with my friends. I wanted to know magic. I want to know magic because I love magic. I love this world so much, and I want to understand it.

And I don't know when I stopped asking and just listen. what I was told. That's who you were before you stopped asking questions. This was not all you ever wanted. You wanted to know how to catch a rooster under a bucket with your true friend. You wanted to know what kept your mother and father up at the kitchen table. It's excitedly jabbering with each other about some minutia of a spell that found spirits, the tiniest criticism of one another in the way that intellectuals do about the working of a shield spell. Their love for you, their love for the world,

your love for the world, your love for those you hold close. It cannot be separated. It is an insult to wizardry to insist on its cold sterility, on its perfect geometry. The geometry of wizardry is a love letter to the mathematics of creation, to the music of the spirit and the real and where they dance together. This is art and science. It is magic true.

This is what you love. And you loved it more than you loved any tower. down and I'm holding Vandals book. Then my eyes kind of flash to that little bit of sand in an old vile, the white sand from the shattered glass staff, and just looking at it,

it shatters. And just with her eyes, no hands, no gestures, she wills the sand to trace over the chalk outline. of the sigil that she's sitting in. And do this, because I am not limited by the things I have learned and have to remember. My friends are magic, and so am I. The sigil, alights replicates surrounding you in light.

The white sand of the Arulyan desert covers you, and... And you see the sand shoot towards the bottoms of your hands and under your fingernails, and suddenly light. is pouring out of your eyes and you are lifted up in the air and it pours out of your mouth and you feel a tickling sensation of something cold and effervescent like the bubbles of a carbonated drink or something like the cool breath of like a mint medicinal bomb that makes you suddenly the hackles of your neck rise up moves through you and throughout you are hanging in mid-air

in your wizard's sanctum as this magic is called to you. Level up right now. Yeah! Let's do it! Fuck, yes. You level up to fifth level. In front of you, your own spellbook opens wide, and you instantly scribe the rest of counterspell.

It just starts burbling out of you. It's flow state. You can't help. The writing is effortless. And immediately you need ink. You need ink to finish this writing. And a fuck. A vandal pops out of the book surrounded by glass.

and begins to bring you suspended in air vials of arcane ink from your shelves. Oh, dick, this is great. I fucking love you. Let's go. I fucking love you. And roars to as lights shine. Even in broad daylight from below, people can see the light of the tower of the glove as spells fire off from within in an act of pure discovery creation craft.

and wizardry. Some time later, having descended from the sudden burst of magic as you finish transcribing the last, it's so not what was immediately pressing to you. But finishing counterspell, it's just the first time that you allowed passion to dictate flow state and move you into, like, wait, what I love is spells. I think it's that, I think that's what the moment is. Like Suvi putting that together and finishing and feeling like joyful and in sync with the things that she wants and that she cares about and that she wants to know more about. She thinks one more time back memory to the thing.

She learned a wrong lesson when she was very young. And she thought that when her father was telling her about where magic began, she thought he was gesturing to his ring. She thought she needed that. That was the thing that would allow her to cast. And it was just her hands. What will you take into them? What will you care about? What will you craft?

What do you hold? And she looks down at like the like splotches of ink. And looks over at Vandal. And the ink on her hands is red. Because her favorite color is red. And she thinks of Amme. And she realizes, where the fuck are my friends? Coming to, having slept a deep, exhausted slumber on several sacks of flour in a dark closet.

Amé, which of the world's heart awakens hiding in a supply area of the Candle Street bakery. the fox snoozing beside you. Having alighted to Malacanth court, you immediately wended your way to find a safe place to rest after almost 20 hours of flying. And boss, it sort of knuzzles up at your neck. How you feeling?

Feeling a little hungry. It's not too much meat around here. I ate a mouse, but that is it. Oh, like your brain. breath is so great in the morning. Okay, well, let's see if we can wrestle up some grub for us. The door opens and Mr. Callum pokes his head in. Hello, hello, Miss Witch.

Good to see you again. How was your slumber? Oh, thank you so much for letting us sleep here. Oh, it was a delight. It was a request that I had no idea how to respond to, so I defaulted to the affirmative. Yes, you know, a lot of times they don't make it. Make rules until somebody crazy enough to do it, does it? Ha, ha, ha.

Well, I can't report it yet until my shift is done. When's that? In about six hours. Oh, okay, well, six hours. Great. I hope you enjoy the new berry, the berry tart recipe. Yes, and your little fuzzy friend here, would he launch something along the lines of a, we have some cured meats? I think he'd appreciate that very much.

Those meats will cure me. Am I right? Mr. Callum! Mr. Callum turns around and walks off, gets some meat, and tosses it to the fox. So, boss, what's the plan? So, first, I think that we should investigate into what happened to the artificer Golt. I think we have some time yet before the Epiphany arrives back in Malacanth.

Oh, the epiphany's back. Oh? Yeah, epiphany's back. Don't worry, I didn't wake you up. What? I know you needed your rest. Okay, all right. Okay, cool.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Task freaked out. He was freaking out. And I was like, don't you wake her up. Where's Tusk? I don't know. You don't know. Yeah, he was like, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki.

And he was like trying to wake you up. And I was like, get out of here, you bug. I slept through all of it. Okay, thank you so much, Mr. Kellum. And I grab my things and I head out. disguising myself once more. Whoa, whoa, whoa, where are we, where, where are we going? Can we pick up, can we pick up the scent of gault again, by the way?

Uh, go ahead and give me a survival check for the fox. 16 total. He goes, um, not gulp, but maybe the, I got the scent of the guy, the one, the one we followed from Habel. Marshmallow sandwich. Yeah, whoever marshmallow sandwich is, I have his scent. I could probably follow him somewhere. But boss, listen, what, we're, when you charge down a hole, it's not always just rabbits down there.

What's the plan if we find where Galt is? Well, hmm, I may rifles around in her bag for a moment and pulls out a sheaf of papers. In the storeroom, she lays out the correspondence she found in Grandmother Wren's cottage after her flight from the citadel. There's some sort of blueprints or schematics here. I know that whoever marshmallow sandwich is or was working for was looking for it. Perhaps that can elucidate a bit. Go ahead and give me investigation or arcana.

Not 20, baby. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. You begin to look at the pendant, and you see that these schematics, were drawn up in a particular ward of the city. There's one of the, one of the courts of the citadel is called Tuckland. And it is a secretive artificing ward that is not with the general mill production down in Havarward.

It looks like these plans were originally drawn up in Tocland. It's where a lot of theoretical work happens, blueprints, schematics, things that they don't want to leave lying around in Hoverwood. It looks like Galt at times, if he drew up these schematics there, as you believe he did, would have been working during that chapter of his life, not in Havreward, but in Toceland. And you look at the schematics and see that these are copies, and that anyone that would have been able to attach Galtz to this project may have been able to pull the originals of this from records likely in that court. Do I know where the court is?

You see that Mr. Callum nearby goes, What are you looking for? A Tockland Court. Tockland Court. It will be the one of the beautiful bronze and copper with, it will have many various clock towers on it. It's about, I think, seven courts behind Malacan. Oh, excellent. Thank you.

Is there any chance that you wouldn't have, have to report this? Give me a persuasion check. Perhaps in exchange for a recipe for a glaze for the tart, and that is 21. Ha, ha, ha. Why? A new recipe? Well, I would love to see a new recipe. All right? And do you produce a recipe for a nice sugar glaze? That's right. As you produce it, you see, he says, very well.

Normally, I am absolutely given to report any strange occurrences in the bakery. However, new recipe research is actually one of my directives, and therefore, this is completely pro forma. Thank you. Absolutely. Not strange at all, I say, as I finish copying down from memory, a beautiful lavender sugar glaze. Gorgeous sugar glaze. So the fox has the guy sent, and you know the court that you think has some. some connection to these schematics there. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Also, um, hmm, can I do a little cursory search for, for task, or see if perhaps he's left a note or... Give me an investigation. Thirteen. It does not appear that task has left anything here by way of an investigation. Well, I assume that he went to go find Suvi. Oh, okay. Let's chase this down first. Okay, Toclin.

You and the Fox head back out. It is now, having slept, it is getting into the late hours of the afternoon. The sky is darkening a little bit. And you get aboard your Gallopter with your artificer's gloves and fly all the way back up, because now Malacanth is low range, so you have to fly up towards Tocland, which is up near to the height of the citadel at this moment. I am in the form of a sandy-haired. older man, very gruff and with rough hands.

You arrive in Tockland. Go ahead and give me a survival check. That's another Nat 20. Oh my God. That's crazy. Witch of the world's heart, you are fucking cooking with gas. And you realize you are exactly in Wren's footsteps. A witch who came to the citadel as a friend many times.

as a friend so that she would be able to come here and occasionally steal, pilfer, and rescue. And as you arrive in Tockland, it is a massive copper court. Pneumatic tubes shooting schematics and missives back and forth. Just rife with clock towers. The sounds of ticking make stealth effortless here. There is so much noisy clockwork everywhere. Kuku clocks going off all around. as you and the fox dive into the shadows and begin to move.

Of course, actually, and the fox is in front of you sort of sniffing away, but you look just like a blonde artificer moving through this space. You arrive at a massive, palatial, very embossed and filigreed. There are like stone flowers and leaves, but it's almost a civic bank-like structure or like a big civic courthouse with many clock towers above it. and you see at floor level on a Nat 20 that there are in the basement of this place some iron barred windows.

It looks like it might be a courthouse, something like that. Obviously, this is not a long-term prison, but what you suddenly think or realize to yourself, if you were able to follow the marshmallow man, the guards sent here, You see the fox looks up at you and says, boss, I'm getting gult again. He's nearby. Right. He's in the temporary jail.

On that Nat 20 survival, I'm going to say you realize the reason he's in the temporary jail is not that he's there temporarily. He's in the jail of the building that has the research. Like he's being kept here and basically pressed for schematic information review. They've dragged him to a little. location to squeeze what he knows out of him in a place where that information can go to immediate work. All right.

What do the defenses look like in this place? The bars are magically sealed. You see the fox looks at them and goes, dang it. If only we knew someone who could break bars or chains or something like that. Hmm, Amé, it's going to look around for a door. I'll say on that Nat20 survival, you see that there are a number of shops and places nearby. You see in the middle of a three-street intersection, so it's like one of those little whimsical three-part intersections. In the middle of that, there is a tiny little one-story gift shop that sells watches, watches,

and clocks and wind-up toys and little dolls. And you see that it has a door that goes into the shop, and there is a smaller, like, closet door in the back over the kiosk counter. Is it manned right now? Yes, it is. You see that there is an old gray sort of broom-like mustache man who's standing there at the kiosk. As, you know, it's not very busy.

It's getting sort of later in the evening, so only a few carts are going by. It looks like he might be wrapping up for the night pretty soon. When you say pretty soon, I think I can wait for a moment. Okay, you wait, and after a while he locks up. It's now true evening. The sun has set as you stay here, and you feel yourself looking at that shop, he walks away, leaving the kiosk unattended, and a little iron grate lowered to cover the front. After the shop has been closed, how easy.

Is it for me to find my way in? The door inside is locked and the iron grate closed, but there is an interior deadbolt on the kiosk door, and the grate, while it would keep a person out, would not keep a fox out. Oh, can you go on in and get us in there? You got it. You see that the fox pops through the iron grate,

skitters around, there's something falls, a bunch of little wind-up monkeys scatter on the ground. Shh, shh-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-h-h-h-h! Stop! Stop! Stop! He hops up onto a counter and gets his paw and pushes the sort of swinging mechanism of the deadbolt, and the door unlocks. I slip inside, lock it behind me.

Hell yeah. You get inside the kiosk and you see that unattended, very plain, wooden closet door. Is the door locked? I try it. You open it and see there's some small supplies. various refreshments of some of the, you know, packaging for some of the wares sold here.

I duck into the closet and close it behind me. I start taking out the doorknob and replacing it with the doorknobs of common cause. Go ahead and give me a tool proficiency check and the fox will help you here. Another Nat 20. Footsteps on the road from Starlings Ford to Toma.

This road has been here for Centrients. Dirt packed, ditches on either side, broad, wide. It's a dark forest, well past the hours of night where some would stay wakeful. A lone spirit walks down the road in the dark, a spirit of freedom, a wild one, an honored friend. How does it feel walking down a road alone at night? How does it feel walking back to the cottage? After all that noise and merriment, knowing that there will not be a single waking human waiting there for you.

Cottage will be silent when you return. Ursulaan's head hangs low as he walks along the road. His eyes. fixed on his feet, focusing on his steps, making sure he doesn't fall. As he replays the moments in his head, the man in black, on his fairy, Succurin, bleeding, Neif, the children, Nuram. Moments play and replay. Erselon lost in thought.

there would be feelings that most would have walking down a dark road in the middle of the night. Ursulans, wild eyes perceive the forest perfectly here in the dark. Aurnal creature would. You've come down this road before, you came down it as a child. The truth is, for Ursula, it's usually been safer to walk in the middle of the night. It's a time for spirits, time when humans. Their spells and cages are less likely to be out and about. And yet there is something so strange about hearing the echo of footsteps.

Off the little embankments, the pastoral fences. There's that windmill up on that hill. You've seen that a couple times. This is about as close as you got to Starlings Ford the first time you came by here on your way away from Grandmother Wren's Cottage. So quiet. and pleasant in the countryside on your long walk back. You just saw two great spirits.

You just saw a ghost. You just saw those children waving to you with every ounce of gratitude for the spirit that saved them all. Heartbreak, triumph. Your quest achieved and yet, hers abound. What moments do you come back to over and over again on the long walk to Toma? Ursula attempts to dwell and focus on the children and neaf being carried away by that wave, headed for Rhymer's Bay.

But again and again, the memory is muddled and interrupted by the insisting. of the man in black that Sir Curran tell Ursula on how he died. Ursulaan fixates not just on the strangeness of the request, but also the tone and the insistence of the man in black that Sir Curran tell it to him. You have to keep it is a side of that spirit you had never seen. Orima had clearly kept her word. Naram was ready to answer the call of wavebreaker. Something made you turn around and go back to Toma,

even when the man in black had laid out that he would transport those children home. Something made you turn around. Perhaps it was simply you had grown tired of not staying dedicated to your purpose. You had set out to speak to Orima and to Orima you would speak, but was there something else? even then beneath your awareness but still present in your heart

that said you must speak to another Rima inviting you to eat of the offering for you are a spirit too you are not a cub you are a warrior a hero a knight what else is one who completes a quest

to save those that cannot save themselves to choose danger for themselves over another, a brighter day. The man in black spoke to Curran in a way you had never heard him speak, always in speaking to you, in the forest of fire in the near spirit of the citadel, in the grove of the well when Bodze swallowed you up. And on the river before 12 Brooks,

each time he had spoken to you, There had been calm understanding something there that you've never seen before. A long walk back to Toma, I'll allow Ursula to make three separate skill checks as he replays those moments in time. I'll let you roll the numbers before you assign them, but you must pick three different skills for each one. Okay. 19 insight 11 survival 5 religion

You walk by some old moss-covered statues Weather eroded the faces aren't even visible anymore they're covered in lichen But the statues were of some kind of humanoid figure On that five religion You just wonder

Man in black is a great spirit. He is present here in a calm, but he is worshipped by a different name in the Shroud Mountains. It is the rare great spirit that is truly omnipresent. Those chalices on his vest. They even seem to sing his songs in Rove. On a five religion, you don't find any answers. It's just a vast and mighty spirit. On 11th survival, you look at the road here. What did he say about Wren? Was he trapped on this road?

You start to piece something together like you're tracking some prey somewhere. Because he did, right? He tried to kill Wren. He said it was desperate. But you know what attacking a witch can do. Was there something Wren could do to him as a result of his effort to strike her down? And tells Sufi never to set a foot on the road. Why was it Suve's foot that mattered?

What is it about her and her alone? That was the thing Wren couldn't stop. You don't have answers there either, but you know that there's a trail on a 19 insight. Why does Ursula think the man in black spoke the way he did. It was different. How?

What was different about it? You know it was different, but what did you hear in his voice at the river? Replaying the memory, Ursulaan fixates. On the aggression, the insistence. The man in black wanted Ursulaan to know that moments, hours, after he was inspired by Sir Curran, that he fell. and it fell in a way that was not honorable. It was a show for you.

That you know. The aggression, the display of it was for you. But on a 19 Insight, it wasn't directed at you. He wanted you to see it. What could that mean if it was meant for you to see? If it was all a show for you, but that you weren't the source of it. What was the source of his fury of insult to anybody? Is that?

Give me one last check with advantage. And I think this is whatever check you feel like would be purely accessing your breath, whatever you think that role should be on your character sheet. 19 survival. He degraded him because he aids him. In Ursulon's long experience, as a spirit, trapped in the world of mortals, what are the things that make you hate something? Why hate?

Why would the man in black hate? Ursulaan begins flipping through memories, times he has experienced or witnessed what he believes is hatred. He thinks of the peddler at the tavern. He thinks of the soldier in the village under the waterfall. He thinks of the Citadel and the Kassoff collection. And I think his mind rests on this idea of hating that which you do not understand. That which you cannot comprehend.

When Ursulaan first came to the world of mortals, and saw something he could not understand what filled his heart. Excitement, joy, wanting. All the branches whips at your clums, of your breath comes to you. Spirit of freedom. And saw what you did not know. And saw what you did not know. And deemed it fair.

We were wild of the woods so far from the world of mortals. and you came and saw what was good and true and noble, and though it cost you your home, and wayshadowed you in long years of heartbreak and sorrow, always within you, your breath rested on what was good here. The king of night is in many ways, not only distant from you, but now you realize perhaps the most opposing force you could know, the man in black because he cannot know it.

And in this moment you know the truth. He is a spirit of the world of men and represents a deep them. Ursulaan stops a moment to raise his head from his boots in the road to the stars. Taking in the beauty of the night sky.

Looks down. Again at the cottage begins walking that walk becomes a run that run becomes him on all fours charging to the home as you arrive at the cottage at the front door

that door you walked in all those years ago opening the door to step inside to fill your belly with some food after the long travel you hear another door open up just beyond in the hallway Erica you want to come on in? Oh, hello. Let's go. Hello, hello, hello.

Oh, look at that. We're back. We're back, baby. Look at that. No more of the solo shit. No more of the solo shit. No more contemplating the stars by my damn cell. I was so lonely.

I know. We did so many episodes of all of us solo. Ursula, you step into the quiet cottage. You don't see Dalma or the spirits. It seems the spirits might have returned to their shrines and places because Neif is no longer here. There is no, yeah. There's no mortal, so they're just in their

spiritual forms. And just the buzzing, the bees are quiet. It's nighttime. The goats are in the shed. You see Hannah-Henoha's up on his pole. Like, it is a place, a time of rest here. But as you walk in, there's nothing light lit. The cottage is perfectly dark because no one has had a fire going or anything.

But as you walk in, the door in the hallway closet opens. and... Hello? Hello? What? Ami! Ursula! I'm gonna run to hug my.

Oh! Oh, um... Where is Zubi? Are you? The fox rushes in and rushes to the kitchen and starts scarfing down some cream. Oh. Where is everyone? It's so dark in here.

Yes. Everyone is gone. Neif. I snap my fingers and lights go on. A little fire. in the hearth and some candles in the kitchen. Where's Neif? Neif has taken the children to Verrick on Rhymer's Bay.

Neif took the children? Yes, Neif is a, uh, Neif now has a familiar. What? Uh, yes, and, uh, and a hat. Um, wow. She's a real witch. Yes, uh, very much so. Oh, that's wonderful.

Are you okay? I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I mean, Oh. It's been quite a few days, but the children are safe and on their way. I sought help to return the children from the man in black, as he has been a friend and kind to me in times before. However, not in this case. A friend to you in past, okay?

And he was not a friend to you this time, is the important part? Yes, I do believe he understood what I was asking for, and yet hope to use the children to serve his own aims. But of course you didn't allow that. No, and I fought his champion. It's Securin of the Hawthorne. Immediately, Amé, you are filled

with a rush of the whispering of wind on the branches. You hear chimes outside going in the breeze and the water and all of the landscape of Toma tells you that quite near to hear a spirit of the dead walked this place.

A ghost, you fought the knight who who I chase. into this world. Amé tightens her hug. You are a night true. I'm so sorry. And you're all right? I am. Physically you're all right at least? For the most part, yes. Oh. And I think I have a great deal to share with you about where I'm going and what I think I can do next. But I also, No, Naram, I could not stop the man in black and Sukharun alone.

And Naram interceded at great cost to himself. And he is the one who is seeing the children home safely. And he will see me to gout my, to be with Kalaya. Oh, wonderful. I had been, well, I, in light of this, I was hoping to borrow your assistance in a, bit of a prison break, not Suvi. I still haven't found Suvi yet, but a true friend of Grammar Wrenz, but I, uh...

Where? The fox looks up with a mouthful of cream. Like 80 feet that way through the closet. I understand it. We're in the Citadel. The Citadel. Yes. Oh, yeah, through that tourist, the Citadel.

I hope no one comes to that kiosk. That'd be so bad. Kiosk. Um... Yes, the gift shop. Let's attend to your wounds quickly. And so as I go start rummaging around in cupboards, pulling poultices and salves and powders, I fill him in on everything that I've done so far.

Yes, and then we stole the papers from a clam cellar, and then we went in to Havreward, And then I disguised myself and went to Hannah and then Golt. Yes. And I update him up until I walk through the door. Yeah. And honestly, Ursula, as Om is getting stuff and heals, are you going to cast cure wounds? Yes, yes, cure wounds.

Give me a medicine check, by the way, here. 12. As you rush in and begin to sort of affix the medicine to Ursulaan, Ursula, you can feel the wound healing back. Go ahead and roll. and let me know if you are able to heal all the damage, there will be an additional effect. Eight points is the total.

Cool. So you need to get at least eight points healed in this spell to achieve an additional effect. That's a seven on the die. Let's go. As you are healed by that potent spell and that medicine check from Amé, your attunement to wavebreaker is restored.

You feel, even mentioning Naram that like your feeling of attachment to that blade comes back to you in this moment. Peaking your head out, go ahead and give me a perception check. Nat one. Look crazy out there. It's noisy. There's a lot of clocks. Where in the Citadel is this?

Oh, it's a Tocland court. It's sort of an artificer's... Well, we're near the courthouse, and I think that Golt, the artificer, is being held there in order to extract information from him about something about Suve's pendant? Does it make sense? You've said that the sapphire was crafted with Grandmother Wren. Yes, Grandmother Wren and Stone and with Golt's help in procuring the sapphire.

And I suppose he was picked up shortly after we visited him. Understood. I can help you in this army. Okay. Do we know or do you understand the nature of Suvi's dilemma or where she rests after all this? Not yet, and I have lost track of TASC. I think the epiphany has landed again, and Task has gone to find Suvi. Hopefully he'll find us again to try and tell us her whereabouts.

Okay. We can talk more later, but I... The man in black, he had offered you the sword. Yes. Some sort of prophecy in the spirit world. And he chose Sir Curran instead. The ghost of Sir Curran. It seems it must be the son of a great bear.

Oh. Oh, prophecies. It seems like some sort of a cruel, needling for him to do such a thing. I do not believe the man in black takes pleasure in choosing Sir Curran over me. Though I do believe in our meeting, mine and succorant's destinies were intertwined forever. And you're saying that Naram is going to take you to Kalaya's? Yes.

He will send emissary or a messenger in some day's time. Okay. So you have some time? Yeah. Well, I'll leave a note anyway. And I'm going to... I think I'll just leave a note. Great. Fully, just leave a note and say that we are nearby and shall return shortly.

You leave the note on the kitchen counter. You stand in the hallway of the cottage of the witch of the world's heart, looking through the closet door to the interior of a gift shop, an iron grate and see the sky of the Arulyan desert on the horizon. As I step through, once again, my disguise shifts me a little taller, a little wider, and sandy hair. Don't be alarmed. It's in disguise. We're doing disguises, then. Ursulaan is going to step through and resume his glamour.

Amme, you feel on that Nat 20 check you made before to install the doorknobs, because the normal space beyond this closet door that is filled to all these little magical toys and bric-a-brac is suddenly unaccessible, there's no way to get to it because it's on the other side of a door that can't open there. The minute you install the knocker, and there is suddenly a way to open that, there is a weird warping of extra-dimensional space as you open the door and a bunch of tiny little monkey toys, like wind-up monkey toys, just all shoot through the door into your satchel, and the space around the echo, you hear a rushing of water under the cottage. And the tiny little monkey toys all go,

yippee, yippe, yop-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-ypy-ypy-ypypy-ypypy. And you see the fox goes, These guys are tickling me. And you can add a bunch of wind-up magic animated monkey toys to your inventory. Yes! Hell yeah. Thank you, man. Ursula wants having passed through the door, is going to turn to Amme. Amay, are we entering the jail soon, or is there some sort of observation element you're hoping to include?

The Foxx has a Nat 20, had a Nat 20 survival to track him. Yes. You know the exact window that you believe Gult is in. Oh, no. Actually, no. This is going to be pretty simple. We know exactly which window he's in. And I just need the bars to be cut. Understood. Thank you. I'm going to need both of you to give me a stealth check as you approach the courthouse. Ursulaan is going to attempt to again call the shadows to our side and see if they respond.

How does Ursulaan feel as he calls on the shadows? I think Ursulaan has a moment. of wondering if the gifts given to him by the man in black, he should abandon those because they are now truly foes. Can I do an inside check? Sure. 18. What does Amay see on in 18?

I think Amé sees Ursulaan conflicted. I think there is a part of Ursulaan that admits that the man in black is truly his foe. and that using the powers and gifts that were given to him by the enemy means that those gifts and powers should be rejected. And conflicting those feelings is a sense that maybe this cause is not lost and that perhaps someday that foe could be made friend and that these gifts could be worth having. Seeing the conflict that Ursulaan feels and calling shadows, are you hurting anyone by using these resources that seems so dark?

Do not believe so. I say that, you know, once a gift is given, it is yours. Ursulaan calls the shadows to R.A. As you call them and what you can, has not ordered them. otherwise. The shadows move to your... Whatever there is to be said about the events of this past night, the man in black knew your intention to save those children by bringing them to their families in Rhymer's Bay.

But what he did was adhere to your word, which was simply to bring them home. He seemed happy to give that his own meaning. A sword cuts both. ways. You can hold the king of night to his word. You walk unseen in shadows. Give me the stealth check. Uh, 16th. Plus 10 for 26? Yes. 28. You guys are gone. You walk through Tockland. The clock's ticking. Your sound so muffled. You're also rolling with advantage from your boots. Oh, wow. Oh, yeah. That's at 33.

33. Um, shadows. Ursulan, you are a spirit. fully possessed of your breath. Ame, you are a witch with a flying broom. You walk through shadows. The fox ahead points out to a set of bars. You look down, completely sure that you are settled and fine. Amé, do you leave the, you have the brass knocker up on the doorknob? You look down and see in chains is galt.

The issues that it face you, solid iron bars, also with an arcane lock upon them. So there's a spell across the iron bars as well. well and then through the narrow window opening you see that gault is also chained with similar arcane manacles on the other side as long as going to gently remove wave breaker to dispel the magic on the iron bars holding the sword of the wave lord loft you hear the crashing of a wave and the magic leaves the bars second level arcane lock dispelled with no need for a roll yes now the bars need to be removed so that we can get through? Yes. As long as

going to put hands on them and give them just a good nudge. Give me an athletics check. Strongest man and silvery. We'll see. Armay, if you want to give a help, actually, you can do so. Absolutely.

Just put your back into it. Yeah. Wow. Here you go. Rolling with advantage. Natural 20. Let's fucking go. We're wrapping the story up, baby. As Amet gets behind you, you have unfailed so much of the truth of this world. You've called the shadows to you. You've seized your breath.

As you reached down, Ursula, are you the strongest man in Silbrai? It has been said. Boom. Surrounded by shadows, covered by the ticking of clocks. You kick the bars in. Oh, that's a bullshit kick. You're not like push them in. Push them in.

Ursula, I will allow you to receive in this moment on this Nat 20 straight stage. You can either take a boon from me as a DM as you embrace your breath, or you can renew the dispel on wave breath. I will renew the dispel on wave breath. Boom, there it goes. You kick in, and both of you can squeeze into the room as Galt alone. I'm going to die. I drop my disguise.

Galt, it's us. Oh, bear, Tommy? Yes. Oh, God. We're out. What a... Shh.

We're here to get you out. Oh, okay. He holds up the chains. He says, I can't get out. I get the chains on my... I'm going to cast knock.

Or do I get the sense we could pick these? You could probably chop through. It's because it's a spell on a lock. Oh, can I chop? Yeah, go for it. Baby, let me chop. Okay.

Here, go ahead. and give me an attack roll. 18? 18 hits. Go ahead and roll damage. 21 points of damage. The links of the chains shatter as the spirit of freedom unbinds gult. He has both manacles around his wrist with that spell still on them,

but the chains are severed. So there's a few links on the end of each chain around his manacles. Oh, oh, thank you. Thank you, Peter. Oh, my goodness, you chopped. Right through that spell chain. What was that? Um...

Why does it smell like honey in here? It's, uh... I am a spirit. Wow! Ah, yes. All right, let's get out of here. Agreed. We gotta go!

We gotta go! You guys head back out, group stealth. Can I extend past for that? I know it's... I'm supposed to want in the casting. Give me survival. Hit me a survival. Hit me a survival.

It me a survival. It's a suburb of all at DC-15. 18. You envelop him in shadow. Everyone stealths out of here, no role necessary. The bars are broken. The chance shattered galt is gone, and you are headed back towards the kiosk,

either to go through or to retrieve the doorknobs. You see, he looks like, you got my gloves. Yes, thank you. I've been able to use them to get where I need to. You are a criminal. I am so grateful. Yes, absolutely. It's not a first time committing crimes.

Right, and you're not. At least not the extent that we are, so you don't deserve to be there. I kind of pushed the envelope with some of those side projects, but sure, yes, absolutely. All right, my daughter, my daughter has no idea where I am. Do you need to go get her, or should we get you to safety first and then said word? Oh, God, they'll come back from me. I don't know where we go. I don't know. I don't know where I go. Have you been to Grandma Wren's cottage?

A long time ago, is that open to me? I don't know how I'd get there from here. Oh, yes. Well, we have a way. At the back of this delightful gift shop. Huh? All will be explained. I think both of you just shove him through the door into the cottage. He goes, please get my daughter.

And you can disassemble the doorknob and the knocker, no problem, and take off from here. The question is, are you both on this side of the door when you take the knockers off? In case we need to jail break. movie? I will come. Okay, I promise that we will get you back in time for the messenger. Good. The doorknob and the knocker comes off, and you rush off to your galathopter.

In beautiful, flowing red ink, Suverin Ked Berwicket, Archmage Apprentice, Wizard Sky finishes the final marginalia, putting her own touches and improvements on, shall we say, the base, crass addition of a classic counter-spelling measure taken from a spellbook of a guildmage of the glass coronet.

Vandal hovers around overhead, flipping and wheeling, happy to be alive and constituted once more, and holds his little glass bottle in his hand. Oh, oh, bud. Hey, I asked your boys for one last favor, before shattering the bottle. But it's yours to shatter.

Thank you for everything. Thank you for helping my friends. I want you to do whatever you want to do. His gaze softens, and he holds his little bottle in his hand. You gotta be fucking with me. I shay you not. He prepares to raise the bottle over his head to smash it when you hear a knock at your sanctum door.

Okay, hold that thought. real quick. And I'm going to like, without having to physically interact with my spellbook, flip it to the page I have taken or I've written about my father's writings on the null clef.

And I'm going to pull back the rug in my sanctum. So it's just the bare floor underneath. Can you copy that down here? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my last favor. Yeah, done.

All right. Shatter that shit when you're ready, and I'm going to run. He starts writing this glyph. And doing a very careful job at it. Oh. You open the door, and Yulia, your page is there. Hi. Wizard Sky.

Welcome back home. I can tidy up any of your effects, if you'd like, or wonderful. And I wanted to check again about the, you seemed displeased when I, gave the report on the books, on the astronomy book. Oh, thank you. Yeah. Come. No, I'll, and I'm going to like step forward and then kind of close the door mostly behind me.

It wasn't disappointment. I was just a little confused. There's a book that I know of that I didn't see make the list. Oh, I'll find it right away. Yeah. Okay. You can, deep breath. You're doing great.

Stars of the Southern Skies. Stars of the Southern skies. I am on it and I will get it for you as fast as I can. How odd that, I mean, that stars writing the title, I cannot believe that I missed it, but missed it, I must have and I will get it. Hey, let's operate from the place where your thoroughness, and you know what? I think I've, yeah, I probably have like the list sort of rolled up

somewhere in a pocket on my person and I just hold up the sheafs of parchment. This is a pretty exhaustive list. I cannot imagine that this would have missed your fastidious notice. So let's assume the next thing. Why wasn't it around? Oh, redacted or something like that. Yes. Okay, I'll look into it right away.

Okay, thank you so much. She scurries off, and as she does, you hear a noise from inside your sanctum of Vandal going... What? Oh, God. Yeah, and immediately go in, shut the door, and sprint back up. You might come up into your sanctum and see Vandal at your arcane locked window with tiny little Cyril and massive Enzo hovering outside of your study. Oh, my God. Yeah, come in. Let them in. Let them in.

You open them up. Yeah, sky. Just sky. And you see, it's just sky now. Cyril goes, this is where we were born. Oh, and gives them a big hug. He said, Ah, you little puke. Vandal tasked with a little bit of arcane calligraphy.

Yeah. Doing quite well. You see that Enzo turns and says, We had come here. Oh, wait, so you guys, there's like a unit. I like, I like that a lot. You see that neither of them has their letter on them. Oh, did you?

Did you? Were you able to you? As a courtesy to you, wizard's guy, I will let you know that we, were in pursuit of you for some time aboard the epiphany, though we did not realize it. Oh, I'm so... That's right. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't have a way to... Yeah, they ended up being where I was. That's on me. Who could have predicted the fog of war and all that? But our missive took us after the

epiphany for some time, and we parted ways. You see, he turns to Cyril. You see, Cyril says, I want to tell her. She's so nice. She freed us. sends her shrugs and says, Free as we are to say our peace, we may. We came into the company of the witch of the world's heart. Ami! Mid-sky astride a broom. What?

Since when could she always be on a broom? The fuck? It seemed novel to her. Oh, okay, great. Well, good for her. She traveled in the company not only of her familiar, but Task the spider as well. The moment I hear Task,

I have connected with the ink demons over distance before. Yes. I just instinctively reach in that same way just to see if I can Bluetooth connect with him in the same way. Task is in Malacanth searching for you. And it immediately feels like... And basically says, says, I'm looking... Like, you can feel, it's not full language,

but you can feel in your heart basically, like, I'm looking for you, should I come find you, or is there anything you want me to do? I immediately, like, try to mentally send back. Like, it's actually kind of relieving to not have to filter things through, like, the precision of language of, uh, just imagining my tower and then backing up connected to,

like, silences tower and trying to give a, like, widening aperture view of exactly, where I am, and then zoom back into the window that Enzo and Cyril just came in, and I'm going to, like, leave it cracked, so if he can make it back. Oh, great. So you leave it cracked task sort of communicates back, like, I am on my way. And you feel, give me an insight check. 13. 13. Tass says, I am on my way. And I think on the 13, you go, like, oh, on your way. On your way is such a funny choice of like expression or like feeling in this regard rather than like I'm coming straight there. Yeah.

I'm on my way. And I'm just sending back like even without intention just like so much like, oh, could be safe if you need anything ping back. You see Enzo says, seeing the epiphany and its heavy defenses, the witch of the world's heart took it upon herself to beat you to the citadel by way of Cairo and the gate. Oh, that's so smart. I mean, wait. Oh, I think a cannon fired at her. Uh, me. Oh, you good?

The witch in the world's heart saved my life. Oh, that's wonderful. I'm sorry you almost got shot. Well, what are you going to do? However, we parted ways with her in Havort. So she's here? Yes, in the citadel. Oh, amazing.

Where is she headed? Is she headed this? What is she doing? Why is she here? I believe that she did not. She had only what task could tell her of your faith that befell you in the castle of 12 Brooks. I believe she is here because she wants to make sure you are all right. That's my friend.

I said it was a trap! Okay, okay, okay, okay. Do you have, I'm so sorry, thank you for delivering the letters. The letters are delivered. The letters are delivered. is true. Cyril looks to you and says, I delivered my letter to the wizard sworn.

He read it at once and departed for the court of Gavril. Do he say? Do you say anything to you? He thanked me for my service and said something about needing a drink. Okay, okay. Uh, thank you. Thank you. Noted.

Uh, Enzo, did it go? Oh, God. How'd that go? Anso turns and says, More strange than my companions was my encounter with the wizard silver. I deemed it best to give the misset to him in a time of privacy and did not arrive upon him in a time of... He was in hushed conversation, tense in nature,

with the wizard's slate, outside of his home near Alabast Hall. Today? Today, following the docking of the epiphany. Conversation was tense, and at a certain point, the wizard slate laid a hand on him in, I think, what I would say, in aggressive manner. What? I gave the message to the wizard Silver,

handed it to him, and he would not take it. So I inserted it into his coat and asked him to acknowledge its receipt, which he would not. Did it seem like he just didn't want to take it or that he couldn't take it? It is very challenging for me to say. He observed my approach, making contact with my eyes, and I thought would recognize me given the role that all of us played in his rescue from Abison. He made no verbal remark to me of any kind,

and as I offered the missive, he would not extend a hand to take it, but neither did he prevent me from placing it into the insolvent. side pocket of his robes. I said that my business was done, and if he disagreed, he should make some remark of it. Making no remark, I considered my business concluded and flew to recover my brother and now Vandal. Okay, thank you. One last thing. Is there anything I can offer you in order to ask you one more favor? Do you like money? No. Yeah, okay. I like wood.

I have books. I'll take them. Sufi's going to gesture to like the prize of her collection, not just books that she's checked out, but like anything precious that she's found a way to collect over the years. Take your pick.

What favor would you have? Do you find Ame if she's still here and tell her to come to the tower? The tower of the glove? Yes. Yes. She's going to read. and like put her hands on his shoulders.

Mm-hmm. Thank you, that non-detection protected. Things that are so precious to me. I didn't know what I would do. Thank you. I am sorry you were ever bound, but I am happy to have known you. Enzo smiles. Vandal finishes his glyph in this moment, looks up,

and he goes and smashes the glass in the tall scorpion tail sort of matching with not quite as tall as Enzo, but a little bit taller than Cyril. You see Vandal looks at. Enzo smiles pointing to his smaller brothers to retrieve a few tomes dealing with abjured. He doesn't go for anything that is like super dear or critical to you, but you see that there are books of abjuration there of dispelling encounter magic. Give me a perception check, actually. We're going to call it a DC-15.

Okay, okay. She did not get there with a five on the dice. Cool. Great. Some other books, non-magical in nature, also move to Vandal's side as his unbound brothers and he stand here. I think I'm just lost looking at Vandall's truer form. Yeah.

Vandal looks up at you smiling. And what you see is his face, his little devil's face, as he grows taller, it's quite beautiful. It's when it's not small and impish, it's kind of handsome. with these red horns, but it's the scorpion tail. And you see that he smiles and chatters. And Enzo turns to look at you with these books assembled. He and his two brothers, now with this repository of knowledge, who you see with everything you've seen and lucent,

you see these three brothers who seem to be the exact opposite. In that the great imaginative. of wizards to concoct spirits of their own, and these spirits were born completely naturally, as if to show that wizardry has always had a part true in the world of spirits. I'm going to go try to tackle Vandal on the way out. And just blotches of red ink all over you. Get the fuck off of me! Nope.

I try to pin him down and just go, for everything. And I'm going to come up with me. new or crazier curse words. And you see that heat whispers something in your ear, and you see profanity, vulgarity, something from the dawn of time. But you see the very first person in the wild woods of Umura in the early days of mortals walking under spirits, and you see one of the first acts of wizardry as this mortal stubs their foot upon a stone

and calls out a word that makes the injury hurt less. Wizardry has always lived side by side with mortals in this world. Words and language have a power all their own. And I'm going to cast protection from evil and good on vandal. He gives you a kiss,

can't help himself, licks your cheek a bit. Hey! Weird energy. It's weird that you're hot now. All right. Out the window, he goes. As the ink demons rush away, you stand there wondering what you have heard and what it can mean.

Triumph, joy, your library, the books away. Take a moment knowing that they are going to go speak to Amé. You walk through the halls. It's time to get something to eat. You've forgotten how to you need food. You need sustenance. You need rest. And as you contemplate that, you hear magic from outside the tower.

War magic. The firing of Arulyan bolts screams. I sprint to the window. You arrive at the window. Flashes of magic everywhere. A crowd gathered outside of Silence's tower. Silence has collapsed on the ground. Injured, being held by wizards calling for a doctor.

as he clutches a wound at his side. His attacker lies dead on the ground, riddled with bolts, the wizard silver. No! That was Lou Wilson as Ursulon, Erica Ishii as Amé, Abria Ayangar as Suvi and Brennan Lee Mulligan, as everyone and everything else. World's Beyond Number is edited, designed, and scored by Taylor Moore

at Fortunate Horse with additional sound designed from Michael Gelfi Studios. For even more like this, join us on our Patreon. We'll see you there.