0:05

This is the sound of Worlds Beyond

0:07

Number. Expressionless

0:20

white mask, a

0:22

crown of midnight

0:25

black needle sharp spines emerging like

0:27

a crown from her head. The

0:30

witch of the waning moon, Mirara, sits

0:33

in her throne in the chamber of

0:36

the Coven of Elders. The

0:38

crow stands on

0:40

her shoulder preening itself as

0:44

she has called the Coven to

0:46

attention. Injury looks

0:48

to you, Ame, and says,

0:52

My dear, are you feeling calm and ready?

0:58

Uh, uh, a moment, if you will.

1:01

And I turn over to my friends. Suvi

1:08

is fully convinced

1:11

that her heart might

1:13

simply stop from how fast it is

1:15

beating. Uh, and

1:18

I think the expression you get back is that

1:20

full open-eyed like, the fuck do

1:22

you think I can offer in

1:25

this moment? Oh my god. Uh,

1:27

I think Ursulon is desperately looking at

1:30

you because it means he doesn't have to

1:32

look at anything else in the room and

1:35

how it might be looking at him. It's

1:37

like I'm giving you my attention, but it's because I don't

1:39

want to give it. I don't want to put it anywhere

1:41

else. My, my mind is,

1:44

is not with you, but my, you, I

1:46

am looking at you. Okay.

1:50

I hold

1:52

their hands. Breathe

1:55

with me. Okay, ready?

1:58

Count, a four count in. One,

2:02

two, three, four.

2:05

Hold it for four. One, two,

2:08

three, four. Out.

2:12

One, two, three,

2:14

four. And we

2:17

repeat this three times. And

2:20

in that, I use calm emotions.

2:23

Oh, beautiful. And what are

2:25

the effects of calm emotions?

2:28

Well, we can choose to fail.

2:33

And a failure, you can suppress the

2:35

effects of charm or frighten. It

2:38

does say when spell ends, effect resumes. Unless

2:42

it has expired. Okay,

2:44

copy that. For

2:48

a moment, Abi leads

2:50

you through the breathing. That

2:52

means the smittenness

2:55

with the Witch of the Wind and

2:57

Stars and the blinding terror of the

2:59

Witch of the Wild Hunt. You

3:02

do recover your

3:05

senses. It's not a sharp return

3:07

to control. It's like a calming

3:10

thing. But you feel yourself no

3:12

longer gripped by panic, nor addled

3:16

by desire in this moment.

3:20

Okay, we're gonna be

3:22

all right. This

3:25

is my family. Yeah. You

3:31

watch and see that

3:33

Gromor is slowly leading

3:35

Hakea into the council

3:37

chamber. As she does so,

3:39

you see that the sort of the plant life

3:41

in the room follows sort of

3:44

rolling itself up like a carpet

3:46

behind Hakea as she moves. And

3:49

Indri is speaking to Costa and Ara

3:52

very quickly, as she sort

3:54

of helps people, you know, the huge horde

3:56

of animals and other beings that are here

3:58

now in the space. And

4:02

watch as Hakea is now being seated

4:04

in her throne with a

4:06

hand from Gromor. Does

4:08

it look like I have time to

4:11

give a quick rundown of the witches

4:13

to my friends? Yes,

4:16

you do have a moment. Alright. So

4:18

the one up there in

4:20

the... Don't... It's okay, it's okay. Just

4:22

keep breathing, Susie. The

4:24

one... The witch up there with Crow, Marara,

4:27

the witch of the winning

4:30

moon, she represents nothing and

4:32

entropy and darkness. Hakea

4:35

of the windman's green. Growth,

4:38

creation, creating something from

4:40

that nothing. Gromor

4:43

is the witch of

4:45

the wild hunt. She represents

4:47

conflict and destruction. Death,

4:50

but not in a sort

4:52

of just nothing way. Injury,

4:56

wind and stars. She's

4:59

fine. And she

5:02

represents the self and solitude

5:04

and... Being

5:09

on your own, I

5:11

am the witch of the world's heart. And

5:14

my job is bringing

5:17

together the things that the

5:19

world wishes to see

5:22

separate. And

5:24

now I'm gonna go do that. Thank

5:28

you both so much for

5:30

being here with me. Really

5:34

quickly, can I do an insight check on you? Yes! Please,

5:38

please. No,

5:40

nine. Ten.

5:45

All I'm looking for is

5:48

just a little bit of a sense of like, what

5:50

are you... If there's any way

5:52

to kind of check out what you

5:55

are most worried about in walking

5:57

and entering into conversation with them. I

6:02

am not so much worried about the witches

6:05

themselves. I do not fear

6:07

them or their power. I've never

6:09

have. I am

6:12

not even scared of the

6:14

prophecy. I

6:17

just really want to make

6:20

Grandmother Ren proud.

6:24

I think I can see a little

6:26

bit that parallel of like struggling with

6:28

legacy, a look

6:30

and a vibe that Suvi understands very

6:33

well. And

6:36

since I understand that I'm not going to

6:38

be able to be in the room with

6:40

you to lend my intellect, the thing that

6:42

I am valuable for to you, I will

6:45

do my best to send it along with you

6:47

and I'm going to cast Enhance Ability on

6:49

you and give

6:52

you Fox's Cunning. Which

6:54

will be Advantage on Intelligence

6:56

checks for the

6:58

next hour. I'll

7:01

remind you too, Ame, you are

7:04

currently addled by the sweet

7:06

blossom smell in the room in this

7:08

moment and have your first level of

7:10

exhaustion which gives you a disadvantage on

7:12

skill checks while you are in the

7:14

presence of the Witch of the Woodland

7:17

Green. But

7:19

Enhance Ability is cancelling out

7:22

disadvantage. Sort

7:25

of returning the physical gesture

7:27

like Suvi grabbing, Ame

7:30

grabbing Suvi's hand and then as you

7:32

are giving the rundown you are like

7:34

released and are explaining and gesticulating. As

7:37

you do when you talk,

7:40

Suvi will find a

7:42

point to touch your shoulder and I

7:45

think there is warmth

7:47

in the casting that feels

7:49

not like the warmth of a

7:51

hearth but that like irulian sand

7:54

and now you know what it feels

7:56

like, that like dry sun that asks.

8:00

something and just so

8:02

codifies in Suvi's mind is

8:04

it's inextricably linked

8:06

with what wizards are and

8:09

then what wizards are is like their

8:11

intellect, their intelligence. And

8:14

he sends that and I think there's just maybe

8:16

a little bit of like the

8:18

sensory thing that she passes on

8:21

isn't just wind

8:24

and sand and heat and the

8:26

desert but like small

8:28

foxes paws running quickly across a

8:30

dune. I square

8:38

my shoulders and

8:42

I open my arms for the fox. The

8:44

fox leaps into your arms and

8:47

we walk up into the

8:49

room with the conclave. You

8:55

walk into the room, the

8:57

doors close behind

9:00

you. Out in the

9:02

great earth lawn in Suvi do in

9:04

the moment that Ame walks away. Do

9:08

we just have to hang out with the

9:11

other retinues? Yeah. I

9:15

was actually going to, one of them

9:18

was making eyes at me like we

9:20

would fight. I'm gonna

9:22

head that off at the pass actually. I'm gonna

9:24

go chat with him. The winners are not doing

9:26

it. I

9:29

think the reason we're squaring up is

9:31

because we're not communicating. So

9:33

I'm gonna go have a word with him to suggest

9:38

we're all here to support the other witches.

9:43

If we know that they

9:45

are here to destroy Ame

9:48

and her station, that's probably us along

9:50

with it. So do you think they're

9:53

gonna be cool? Oh well,

9:55

it's in my head they're going to be

9:58

cool now. Maybe

10:02

it's like when we were at the Citadel Yeah,

10:06

this is just like this I

10:09

you know, I'm gonna we're gonna go see if this Scuttlebutt.

10:12

Yeah, go get that hot. God.

10:14

Yes. Oh my god report back

10:17

I'm gonna go I'd like to approach the I Was

10:22

it a it's a man who turned into a wolf? Yes,

10:24

who then made eyes with me So

10:27

you walk over and you see that the

10:29

wolf spirit turns around to you you see

10:31

that he doesn't this is appears to be

10:33

Like a glamour. He's where he's another wild.

10:35

Okay I'm gonna try and

10:37

stand up as tall as I can Hello

10:41

Hello, I am Ursula Guardian

10:46

of the witch of the world's heart and

10:48

protector of sky the wizard sky

10:50

of the Citadel skies is doing like a like

10:52

a like a neck cut like You

10:56

got both I do

10:59

yes, we are true friends

11:01

and What

11:06

if some conflict split the two where them

11:08

would you loyal to lie? Beneath

11:18

that there is always camaraderie

11:20

and Trust

11:24

You see that The

11:26

Firefly spirit speaks and says trust

11:30

unbreakable Yes

11:33

in many ways Tree

11:36

spirit turns to look at her flirtatiously and

11:38

says strong and deep

11:40

as roots And

11:44

I would agree with that what are your names

11:47

The wolf spirit turns to you says I

11:51

am I in for The

11:54

staff carrying a firefly

11:57

spirit just

11:59

looks at you in says Bádzé. And

12:03

then the tree spirit goes, so

12:05

cool. And

12:08

Bádzé and Heinrul seem to be

12:10

kind of in Gremor's retinue. Only

12:13

Heinrul is in Gremor's retinue. Most of Gremor's

12:15

retinue appears to be animals, straight

12:18

up animals. And Heinrul's

12:20

one of the only things that was like,

12:22

he was with the pack of wolves. And

12:24

you kind of almost think

12:26

the pack of wolves is with Heinrul

12:28

and Heinrul's with Gremor. And then all

12:30

the other singular predators are with Gremor

12:32

as well. So that like, the lion

12:35

and the panther and the hawk and

12:37

the eagle and all these other things

12:39

are following Gremor. And Heinrul is following

12:41

as well. And he's some kind of wolf-king

12:44

spirit that is like a

12:46

paramour or lover of Gremor's.

12:50

Alright. Well,

12:52

well met all. How strong

12:57

are you? Well,

13:01

some have said I'm the strongest man

13:04

in silvery. I look over my

13:06

shoulder at the wizard's sky. What

13:10

if we wrestled? I

13:12

take off my shield and

13:16

undo my sword

13:19

belt. Give me

13:22

an athletics check. 23 from

13:24

Heinrul. Fuck, only

13:32

one. Oh no. Heinrul

13:35

flies into rage and

13:38

pinks to the ground and

13:40

puts his jaws over your

13:42

neck and says. And

13:46

you see, you just feel hot

13:48

breath on your throat, saliva dropping

13:51

into your fur and

13:53

he snarls. And you can tell is possessed

13:55

by some wild thing that he wants to

13:57

snap your neck and eat you here. I

14:01

yield I yield I yield he

14:04

gets off stands

14:07

back up again goes

14:09

back into his human form what

14:15

if we wrestled again this time for stakes

14:19

or what well done on that first

14:21

round you are a man

14:24

possessed of some

14:26

power and what would

14:30

this stakes be if

14:32

we went again what if

14:35

you win would you ask oh

14:38

if I won what would what boon would

14:40

I request yes it's

14:44

a good question you

14:47

see bard say smiles and says asking

14:50

for a boon just

14:52

a boon yes

14:56

I if we were to wrestle again I would

14:58

ask for a boon and

15:01

if I win I kill you Oh

15:08

the coral says do

15:10

the tombs strike you

15:13

as unjust no

15:17

but then you agree I

15:20

did I did not say

15:22

that I agreed it's just well

15:25

I would not

15:27

feel comfortable agreeing to said terms

15:29

without first confirming with the leader

15:32

of our retinue you see bard say

15:34

says only

15:36

thing you want from him in his

15:40

life's blood you see

15:42

Heinral stares at you for

15:44

a second says not

15:48

a boom but a favor

15:51

and not your

15:54

life you will come

15:56

and drink with me in

15:58

my chambers until

16:01

all of the liquor is gone. That's

16:06

what you want. If

16:08

I win. If you win. That's right.

16:12

Those terms are more agreeable. He

16:16

leaves to you. We can make an athletic check. He

16:20

got a 22. God damn. To

16:22

beat that I need

16:26

an 18. Plus

16:29

four. Four seven.

16:33

Heinrul puts you on your back, drops

16:36

down, claps your head under one of his arms, and

16:38

turns back into that wolfen form. And once again, has

16:40

your head in his jaws, rolling

16:44

on the ground with you. And

16:48

then stops and goes...

16:51

slowly back into the man. And

16:56

the mask was showing as your first time. I

17:00

believe I... I think I burned

17:02

some of my energy on the first... I

17:05

wish the first one had been... it's...

17:09

good match you win. You

17:12

see, he looks at you and goes... smells...

17:18

sweet, soft, wine,

17:21

soft cushions

17:24

of the world of mortals. Things

17:29

will come that will ask signs

17:33

of you. I'll see you in my chambers and

17:36

we will drink until we are sick. Yes,

17:40

you've earned it. He

17:43

stalks off. When

17:45

he barked, I think the hand

17:47

around Suvi's normal looking staff,

17:49

it was beginning to turn back into

17:51

the glass staff. And then I'm like,

17:56

I'm gonna... get up and... smiles

18:00

and as she smiles you see that her

18:02

mouth glows with that firefly by a luminescence

18:05

and she says, he likes

18:07

you. He's

18:09

a very friendly. Alyssian

18:15

says, do you like riddles? Do

18:19

I like riddles? I enjoy a puzzle.

18:24

Is he brought the lips orisionlips No,

18:28

you want it? Is that connection? An

18:42

icy chamber, the

18:45

deep shadows still dull

18:47

blue with

18:50

the presence of the icy walls but

18:52

the brightness, the

18:54

pillar of light descending from

18:56

the northern star above on

18:59

five black thrones on

19:02

the pure white ice. Aurora

19:05

sits in hers, the

19:08

crow astray on her shoulder. To

19:12

her left is entry,

19:14

which of the wind and stars in

19:16

her regal, beautiful

19:20

attire. She

19:22

holds the scepter of ice

19:25

in her hand, and her

19:27

entire throne is encircled by

19:29

the resting form of Costa,

19:31

the polar bear, large enough

19:33

to give her a mantle

19:35

of his own body completely

19:37

encircling her throne. To

19:41

Marara's right sits

19:44

Gremor in her

19:46

throne, the hawk on the back

19:49

of her chair. She

19:51

has pulled her antlers down

19:53

to reveal the matted, dirt-caked,

19:56

bloody locks that surround her.

20:00

adorned with bones

20:02

and cord of hide and

20:04

leather, her claws tapping on

20:06

the black stone. To

20:10

her right, the black throne

20:12

cannot be seen as

20:14

the stone cracks and

20:16

forms moss and vine

20:18

and a mound of

20:20

verdant green and warmth

20:23

that begins to erupt in actual

20:25

spring water that comes out of

20:28

it that cascades away from the

20:30

moss and turns to ice as

20:32

it pulls out of the

20:34

moss and down the steps of the platform behind

20:36

her. Hakea sits

20:39

blanketed by moss and

20:42

flowering violets, the serpent

20:44

resting in the green

20:46

around her, its

20:48

head lying over her heart,

20:50

its tongue flicking, its ancient

20:53

eyes observing. In

20:56

between Hakea and injury

21:01

sits Ame, bear

21:04

and hawk, crow

21:07

and serpent, and

21:09

then the little witch of the world's heart with her fox.

21:14

Ame, how are you sitting in your throne and what's the fox doing?

21:17

I have my feet tucked up under

21:20

me. I

21:22

walked in holding the fox, but of

21:25

course if he'd like to jump out I know

21:27

he gets restless sometimes. He's afraid to do that.

21:32

I'm sitting in an

21:34

armchair. It's

21:38

comfortable and it smells like,

21:40

well, dust and

21:43

lilac. Seated

21:48

in the chair, injury

21:52

speaks. Welcome

21:56

sisters all to

21:58

the palace here. Under

22:00

the point of the Northern Star, at

22:03

the very top of our world, it

22:06

is a particular honor and

22:08

an auspicious one to

22:10

host our conclave twice within the

22:13

same century. I

22:15

have our newest member

22:17

to thank for this honor, and

22:20

he or she smiles, other witches

22:22

remain sort of neutral

22:25

at this. We

22:28

have been called here, as

22:32

every time before, to

22:34

acknowledge and rejoice in person at

22:36

the coming of a new sister.

22:41

Let us then let go

22:43

within our hearts, all

22:47

grudges and deaths, all

22:51

feelings of hurt,

22:53

pride or reproach, for

22:55

the world's heart has

22:57

lost its

22:59

former shepherd. We

23:02

say goodbye to Ren and

23:05

remember her as she

23:07

was in truth. And

23:09

you see that sort of reverberates out

23:11

through the chamber here, and

23:14

each witch takes a moment to

23:16

themselves to remember Grandma Ren. I

23:20

think back to the cottage and

23:23

how Grandma Ren was

23:26

the first person

23:28

to really ever see me

23:32

and to care for me and to

23:36

tell me that the

23:38

things that I was were

23:43

right. The

23:46

way she taught me so patiently

23:48

and gently with humor and

23:51

kindness. I

23:55

remember Grandma Ren as

23:57

the person. But

24:00

then I think of her as the witch

24:02

of the world's heart. And

24:05

in that station, great

24:08

power that she wielded.

24:12

And for just a moment, I feel

24:14

in that chair, it's not just a humble

24:17

armchair. It

24:21

is a seat of

24:23

power. The

24:26

power to not

24:28

need auscantation. It

24:33

was the power to be

24:37

who she was and still

24:40

garner the respect and even

24:42

fear of these sisters of

24:45

hers. The

24:48

witches take a moment

24:50

and injury turns to you and says, as

24:55

host of this conclave, I

24:58

welcome into our sisterhood of the

25:00

Coven of elders, the

25:03

witch of the world's heart.

25:08

And there is a feeling in

25:10

the room suddenly of the

25:13

presence of that station. Each

25:15

witch bows their

25:17

head in deference to that station. You

25:21

hear in

25:24

the distance almost the

25:27

sound of feet and wheels

25:29

on roads, the buzz of bees, the

25:32

hum of turning, of hands

25:36

on hands and hands on backs,

25:38

the embrace of long lost friends,

25:40

the smells of home and hearth,

25:43

of crackling fires, the

25:45

smell of fresh baked bread, the sound

25:48

of a crowing rooster, the

25:50

beginning of a day of work in the fields

25:52

of a cottage, to

25:54

see a life made whole by the

25:57

togetherness of those you love. And

26:03

then you are once again in the icy chamber

26:05

here in the frozen north. Injure

26:08

turns to you and says, welcome,

26:10

Ame. It is

26:13

an honor to be your sister.

26:18

We would ask you then, what

26:21

is the state of the world's heart? And

26:25

the four of which is here turn to

26:27

regard you. The

26:35

world's heart as

26:37

ever needs tending. I

26:41

remember once, long ago,

26:43

Grandma Ren saying

26:47

that almost

26:50

dismissively, ah yes, dire

26:52

times, but

26:55

always dire times. There

26:59

are movements, celestial

27:02

shifts in

27:05

past I'm given to understand

27:07

that have affected the

27:10

world and its heart and the way

27:13

that humans and the spirits connect

27:15

with one another. Now

27:21

there is something amiss

27:25

as well. I

27:29

believe that the relations between

27:31

the spirit world and the human

27:33

world are not

27:36

as carefully tended as

27:38

they can be. And

27:41

furthermore, there

27:44

are powers within both worlds that

27:47

seek to harm the other. Marara

27:51

speaks and says, forces

27:55

within each

27:57

world that seek to

28:00

harm the other. I'm

28:06

certain that some of you may have what,

28:08

at one time or another, encountered

28:10

the stranger in black. The

28:14

King of Night? I

28:17

look around. The

28:20

witches regard each other. You

28:22

see, Hakea says, You

28:26

have been asked which

28:28

of the world's heart

28:31

to make some statement

28:35

of that which is your

28:38

responsibility. I

28:43

think we all wish to

28:45

hear of the state

28:49

of that which is yours

28:51

to tend to, and having

28:54

said precious little,

28:57

you have already offered some

29:01

worries about the

29:03

Witch of the Weaning Moons

29:05

realm, which

29:07

is none of your

29:09

concern. Sister

29:15

Marara, the

29:17

stranger in black

29:22

is in your realm? Are

29:25

you asking me a question? I

29:28

am merely approaching a topic which... So?

29:34

You are refusing to make

29:36

your report. You

29:41

were asked by the Witch of

29:43

the Wind and Stars to speak

29:45

to the world's heart, but you wished

29:48

to approach the topic of

29:50

the Weaning Moons business. Do you

29:53

have some insight into

29:55

the haunted self? Your

29:59

introduction. Is

30:01

some thoughts you have on

30:04

our dominions? I

30:10

do not have the dominion. I

30:14

have a responsibility. The

30:17

towns and cities, to the mortals,

30:20

to the spirits. And

30:23

if the things

30:25

which enter into

30:28

those responsibilities are

30:30

matters of yours, then I wish to

30:32

collaborate with you. Injury

30:36

smiles and says, sister,

30:40

which of the world's heart? I

30:44

believe you are attempting to

30:46

do as we

30:49

have asked, which is to make your

30:52

report on your

30:55

knowledge of the

30:57

status of your responsibility,

31:01

the nature of the world's heart as you understand

31:03

it upon this, the first coming of

31:05

a conclave to you in your new station. And

31:08

it sounds as if you are saying that your

31:13

station is being touched upon

31:15

by something, and though it

31:18

may abut another witch's domain,

31:20

that fundamentally they are connected.

31:22

Do I understand? That's

31:24

correct. Very well. Tell

31:27

us then how the world's heart

31:30

has been so changed by these

31:32

forces. Marara,

31:38

my sister of the waning moon. There

31:42

is a darkness that spreads over the

31:44

lands of mortals. Once

31:48

upon a time there was ways

31:50

for them to explore

31:53

and build and connect

31:55

all through Umora. And

31:58

now that is no longer the case. They

32:02

have lost many

32:04

opportunities. They

32:07

have lost many places due to

32:11

this lack of light

32:14

that guides all of them. Hakeya,

32:19

sister of the Woodland Green, a

32:23

great spirit that

32:26

I had the honor of encountering, the

32:29

marima of the reaching green, was

32:35

frustrated, forgotten by

32:38

humans who did not

32:40

know the proper ways to pay her obeisance.

32:46

Gremor, you know that this

32:49

warring world, it

32:52

tears and eats away at its heart.

32:57

An injury? What

33:00

is solitude and self is

33:04

not the opposite of what I do.

33:06

Gremor snorts into her sinuses and spits

33:08

blood on the center of the dais

33:11

and says, do I

33:13

understand that some supplication

33:16

is being made to us in this moment?

33:19

Correct me if I am wrong, is our newest

33:21

sister spitting in our eye?

33:25

Are you telling us that there is something we

33:28

have misdone in the moment

33:30

of your arrival? Loud, loud,

33:33

loud, loud, chirping

33:36

bird chirp no more. You

33:40

have been asked

33:42

of your responsibilities,

33:44

your, your,

33:46

your responsibilities,

33:49

and have introduced in the

33:52

moment of your own introduction

33:54

the topic which you deem

33:56

most important without first conferring

33:59

with any. of your elders

34:02

as to what our realms

34:05

might be troubled by. As

34:08

is often the case

34:10

with the world's heart, togetherness

34:14

so seldom

34:16

means each dominion's

34:19

concerns are valued equally,

34:22

but it seems that often in the cause

34:24

of togetherness, we'll

34:27

have its demands heard

34:29

first, my sister. Do

34:33

you wish to continue to tell

34:35

us what we have

34:37

missed? I

34:42

mean no disrespect when

34:45

I tell you the things which

34:49

encroach upon the world's heart.

34:53

I say these things

34:56

which trouble me not because they

34:59

are an accusation of guilt, but

35:02

because there are ways in which I know

35:04

that your realms could benefit by my service

35:06

and by the service of those who I

35:09

represent. I

35:16

believe our sister, which

35:18

of the world's heart has

35:22

concluded her

35:25

report on the status

35:27

of the world's heart and is attempting to

35:29

introduce to us a topic

35:32

of conversation and

35:35

debate. Is

35:37

it true, sister, that

35:41

you wish to move from

35:43

statements of information to statements

35:45

of persuasion? You

35:49

are already speaking

35:51

of what needs doing, so

35:53

I assume the report is

35:55

concluded and that you are

36:00

Advices are now the topic you

36:02

wish to put forward.

36:08

Not advices, no. In

36:13

the realm of the heart, one

36:18

cannot solve

36:20

things simply

36:22

by telling others what to do or advising

36:26

them. I

36:28

ask, I invite, what

36:32

is it that you wish to know about

36:34

the heart of the world? The

36:37

witches turn to look at each other and

36:39

you see, Hakea

36:41

turns and says, those

36:48

things of your dominion,

36:51

which would be most removed from

36:53

our focus and

36:56

attention. We

36:59

wish to know how

37:01

goes your stewardship of

37:05

your responsibilities. Can

37:08

I do a history check? Yeah, can we history

37:11

check what disadvantage you sleepy in here? Cool,

37:15

what's the question you're asking? I try

37:17

to remember back in

37:20

my 15 years of training with grandmother

37:22

Ren, what

37:26

is it that is most

37:28

our responsibility? What

37:31

were her concerns, those nights that

37:34

she went away to

37:36

fight battles that I did not

37:38

know about or to investigate

37:41

things of which I wasn't

37:43

fully aware under the

37:46

curse. Did I find those out?

37:49

Largely her responsibilities were the

37:51

world of people, the

37:53

world of thinking beings, of feeling beings,

37:55

beings of the heart, the

37:58

world of mortals and of... spirits and

38:00

of those who made

38:03

common cause and community together

38:06

were her concerns. So

38:08

you see in this moment that essentially

38:12

you are being asked by the

38:14

coven here to kind

38:16

of give a report about the things

38:19

that they don't dwell

38:21

on. Also,

38:24

you can give me an insight check if you want. You're rolling with disadvantage but

38:26

you can give one to me. I

38:31

got a natural 20 and

38:33

a 1. Oh my

38:35

God. Well,

38:37

that's a nat 1. You

38:40

have no idea what's going on with your

38:42

sisters in this moment. You are so sleepy.

38:44

They're so mean. You don't know

38:46

what's happening. What

38:49

has appeared to draw their ire is essentially

38:51

that they were

38:54

in the like, okay, we're going to cite the minutes,

38:56

give the report, we're doing the thing and

38:58

you used their request

39:01

to you to opine.

39:04

I think that that is the thing

39:06

that has clearly crossed the line here

39:08

in your drowsiness. It was basically like,

39:10

they were like, and tell us about

39:13

your job. I don't know, man. It

39:17

sucks. It sucks and you've made it suck. It's

39:21

sort of like, how's my job going? Well, I can't

39:23

fucking do my job. You know, like that sort of

39:25

the vibe, right? So

39:28

you see that the wishes turn to look at you.

39:34

There is a curiosity and

39:38

a hunger in the

39:41

world's heart that

39:43

has caused unrest because

39:46

the heart does not know

39:48

how to interact

39:52

with the other parts that

39:55

turn the world. And

39:58

I am doing my best. Just

40:01

as myself, with

40:03

my humble

40:05

retinue and

40:07

the tools at my disposal,

40:10

as a young witch, to

40:15

heal it. Do

40:19

I understand by your words, Ame,

40:24

that this injury to

40:26

the world's heart comes

40:29

from it not fitting into

40:31

place with

40:34

the other domains? Yes. It

40:39

is as I have said. Thank

40:43

you for the report, Ame. You

40:47

had introduced a topic of discussion.

40:50

Would you like me to add that

40:52

to our register that we may discuss

40:54

it in time? Yes.

40:58

That's yes. Very

41:00

well. Having made her

41:02

report, we will turn now to our

41:04

first order of discussion. Which

41:07

of the waning moon? As

41:10

we have heard in our report, great

41:13

injury to the world's heart is

41:15

done by its presence in the

41:17

space of our domains.

41:21

The passing of her predecessor has

41:23

left the witch, Ame,

41:26

precious little time to tend to the

41:28

injuries of the world. Great

41:32

action is called for. Ame,

41:39

may I ask a question of

41:42

you in

41:44

the broaching of this topic of my discussion?

41:47

Yes. Yes, you may. And

41:51

actually, any

41:53

of you may broach a question

41:55

to me. I might not always have

41:58

an answer for you. You

42:01

may, yes. Indri

42:05

smiles at a corner of her mouth and says, You

42:07

are asking that we not ask

42:10

permission to ask you questions in

42:12

the future. I am saying you

42:14

need not. Very

42:17

well. Of

42:21

Grandmother Ren's judgments

42:25

during the time of her

42:27

living, and of

42:29

her tutelage, how

42:34

well do you

42:36

feel she acquitted her position as witch

42:38

of the world's heart? Did

42:41

you find her judgment true, or

42:44

did she fall short of her statement?

42:47

Grandmother Ren was the wisest creature

42:51

of mortal or spirit that

42:53

I have ever met. And

42:57

I think that all of you

42:59

recognized that in your wisdom.

43:04

I didn't. Well

43:10

I think of what I knew of Grandmother Ren.

43:14

She would have not put

43:16

herself above those

43:18

sisters of her coven in terms

43:21

of wisdom, my dear witch

43:23

of the world's heart. If

43:28

she was the truest witch you

43:30

knew, then it is exactly

43:33

as I feared. Ren's

43:37

predecessor is

43:39

in her truest mold. The

43:42

world's heart falls to one who

43:45

follows in Ren's footsteps. She

43:50

is untested and unready, of

43:53

heretinu. The

43:55

citadel now strides the halls of

43:57

this place. She

44:00

has come here to tell

44:02

us that the world's heart

44:04

can only suffer in our presence.

44:09

I put forward a motion that

44:13

the Witch Ame be killed and

44:16

that the world's heart be

44:19

left beyond the confines of

44:21

this coven. I

44:24

ask that this be

44:27

considered at once. Are

44:30

there any that oppose a swift and immediate decision?

44:34

You see, Gremor shakes

44:36

her head no, side to side, and

44:39

you see, Hakkiah turns to look at

44:41

you, Ame, and

44:43

goes, I

44:47

oppose a swift

44:49

decision. Okay.

44:54

Fatigorically. Do

44:58

I disappoint you, sister

45:00

of the waning moon?

45:04

I am not so easily

45:06

disappointed, sister. How

45:09

could anybody tell with that mask

45:11

on your face? I

45:15

am tired. We

45:20

should discuss the killing of

45:22

the young witch on

45:26

the morrow, sister

45:29

of the world's heart. Tomorrow

45:33

we will begin discussions as

45:35

to your death and the

45:37

destruction of your seat upon

45:39

this council. Is

45:42

there any clarity

45:44

that may be provided such

45:46

that your remarks might be...

45:50

And she yawns and some moths fly out

45:52

of her mouth. Such

45:55

that your remarks might be

45:57

better prepared tomorrow than they

45:59

were today. today. Sister

46:03

Indri, as

46:08

both our host and

46:11

an observer of celestial

46:13

bodies, I

46:16

would ask to confer with you perhaps

46:20

to have some better insight

46:22

into some of the

46:24

past records

46:28

of the conclave. The

46:31

better to prepare. Of

46:33

course. I will provide all the

46:35

wisdom I can, my sister. You

46:38

see, she leans over and squeezes your arm

46:40

and says, we would

46:42

only kill you if we genuinely believed

46:44

it was the right thing to do.

46:50

That's a 20 and a 2. For

46:53

your insight check. You

46:56

see that she smiles and

46:58

says, and turns

47:00

to Marara and says, perhaps

47:03

hasty to jump into conclave

47:05

on the arrival of our

47:08

sisters. Hmm? And

47:10

you see, Marara is expressionless and silent in

47:12

response to this. As Ikay already starts to

47:15

stand up and goes, I

47:18

will retire. Gromor

47:20

stands up and says, OK,

47:24

do you need help? No,

47:27

no, a little magic. And

47:29

falls forward into the moss

47:31

and vanishes as a bed

47:33

of moss just rests there and

47:35

the throne remains verdant. As

47:39

she disappears, I suddenly

47:42

get a second wind. I

47:45

look at my sisters around me. Insight

47:50

check for a 16. OK. Marara

47:54

is expressionless and cannot be read. Injury

47:56

is smiling. Your injury does the first

47:58

somewhat. She has been so

48:00

poised with this huge bed of moss in this

48:03

ice chamber. She has to be the first kind

48:05

of funny thing you've seen, which is walk around

48:07

moss to get out of the room. She's

48:10

like, I'm not gonna walk on that. And

48:13

you see, Gremor is the only one

48:15

you can read. Gremor is looking at

48:17

you, seeing that you come out of

48:19

the effect of Hakeya's pollen. The

48:22

second you look at Gremor, Marara

48:25

is already gone. But

48:28

Gremor is still there with the hawk

48:30

on the antlers of her headpiece.

48:34

And she... You beat her deception check.

48:36

What are you trying to glean from her? Where

48:39

is this coming from? Why would

48:42

she so readily agree to

48:44

the destruction? Are you asking this

48:46

verbally? You know what?

48:49

I ask. My

48:51

sister, you've just

48:54

met me moments ago. And

48:56

yet you would so readily agree to my

48:59

death and the elimination of

49:01

this station, which Grandmother Ren

49:03

has tended to for so many years. She

49:06

gets in your face and says, I don't like how

49:08

much you speak the name of the dead. It's

49:11

not your station. Gremor

49:14

Ren is gone. You

49:16

either run or fall

49:19

behind and get eaten. Why

49:22

do you think I want you gone?

49:24

Because I think... I

49:26

think you're slow. And

49:29

we don't live in easy

49:32

times. And

49:34

having beaten her deception, you see

49:36

in her eye fear.

49:40

And she leaves the room. Completely

49:45

isolated in this chamber

49:47

as Gremor stalks out,

49:49

you are left alone in the

49:51

circle of thrones with you and

49:54

the fox. Fox?

49:59

Fox, what's up inside? says, I didn't

50:01

see a great spot for me to jump in

50:03

and... I'm

50:07

sure you're mad at me right now,

50:09

but I didn't see any angle in

50:12

that whole talk. It's just so

50:14

funny because it's just impossible to

50:16

get you to shut their mouths sometimes,

50:19

and yet, when our existence

50:21

is threatened, like nothing? Nothing.

50:25

Well, talk can't work right

50:27

now. Talk is fun. It's

50:29

not anywhere near as good as run. Run is what

50:32

we should do. We should run. We should run. It

50:34

worked in Port Tallahin. It worked in the Citadel. It's

50:36

going to work again. It works every time. Okay, well,

50:38

actually, literally the magical rules for

50:41

that scary lady that just walked

50:43

out, if you run in her

50:45

presence, she has the right to eat

50:47

you. Okay. I'm

50:50

not ever worried. Almost everything has

50:52

to... She

50:55

will. Who the hell are you talking

50:57

to? Nobody can catch

50:59

her. Who

51:02

are you talking to? Who's

51:05

caught me so far? I'm talking to

51:07

a little guy in presence

51:09

of a whole wolf pack. Oh,

51:12

wolf pack. How many

51:14

foxes even these wolves eat? Not

51:16

a lot. I bet dozens. I've only been caught one

51:18

time. Just by

51:20

you. We're

51:24

going to be all right. Don't tell

51:26

Suvi and Ursulon they'll blab. We jump

51:28

out the window. We go into the

51:30

mountains. Okay.

51:33

We go into the mountains and

51:35

we hide until this whole thing

51:37

blows over. You

51:39

can take those things off, right? That thing on your

51:41

head and these clothes and stuff, you can take them

51:43

off? No. Well, I mean, yes.

51:45

But what? Yes. We'll stuff

51:47

them full of meat and we'll

51:50

leave it in the chair. And we'll jump

51:52

out the window and then

51:54

we'll run away. Okay. Well, first of

51:56

all, I tried that as a preteen and

51:58

eventually you get found out. Second

52:01

of all, sometimes

52:05

being caught doesn't necessarily mean

52:07

somebody running after you and

52:10

catching you by the tail. It

52:13

means that you want to stay for

52:15

something. And you

52:17

can't. You can't leave. You can't

52:19

leave because if you leave, there

52:22

are things that are worse than being caught and

52:24

eaten. Why

52:27

won't you just run away and leave

52:30

me then? You

52:32

could go. You can just step out

52:34

the window. I won't tell the whole arsenal

52:36

in the sous vide. I

52:41

don't want to. Why?

52:45

Because I don't know how to get

52:47

back without you. He

52:50

smiles here. You

52:53

want to know why? Because

52:56

I think we have a little

52:58

bit of time left for me to convince you

53:00

to run away. Okay. I

53:06

bet you a whole bowl of fish slurry. And

53:09

then it's not going to work this time. You're

53:12

on. I hold

53:14

out and shake his little paw. He puts

53:16

his little black paw in your hand and

53:18

his little loosey paw. Alright.

53:21

Okay. Let's go. Is there

53:24

a way that I can help you other

53:26

than not talking during that? Oh,

53:28

um... What

53:31

do you need me to do if we're trying to keep you from dying?

53:35

You said we're going to talk to

53:37

the tall, crowned lady.

53:41

Oh, yes. You don't

53:43

have to go meet with

53:45

injury. Maybe

53:49

if you want to

53:51

scamper off and find

53:53

out some more about the other

53:56

witches. But be careful, okay? You

53:59

got it. I'll escape her off. Moments

54:07

before the conclave exits back out of

54:09

the great hall, Bade is looking at

54:12

Persuane and says What

54:15

always runs but never walks

54:19

often murmurs never talks

54:21

has a bed but never sleeps

54:24

an open mouth that

54:26

never eats. Is

54:31

it uh, I believe

54:33

I know this one. Is

54:35

it just is it a river? Her

54:39

bioluminescent eyes go wide and he

54:42

applauds. Well,

54:45

I had to get one. You

54:50

see that the doors open and

54:53

Gromor stalks out and the

54:55

various retinues leave

54:57

this place. As they do so, it

55:00

is just the the four wizards

55:02

and Ursulon who remain as the

55:05

fox scampers down a hallway quite quickly. Ame,

55:09

you finish your conversation with the

55:11

fox and emerge from the council

55:13

chambers. Okay,

55:16

let's go somewhere that we can

55:18

talk. Great. I

55:20

do have to say I've made a day

55:22

of an arrangement.

55:26

See, make Ame, I'm sorry. I'm not

55:28

sure. I hope everything went well, but

55:30

somebody has I lost a wrestling

55:33

match and I have

55:35

obligated to drink until

55:38

I'm sick with a member of

55:40

Gromor's retinue. Yeah.

55:44

Have fun? I mean, I believe

55:46

I have some time, but I think after

55:48

dinner I will be. I

55:53

don't know. I'm

55:55

not okay. I that I

55:57

mean, how did the conclave go? Oh,

56:00

they want to destroy me and my station.

56:03

Great. Wanna go somewhere and talk? Yeah.

56:08

You have time before your... I

56:10

do. I'm, I'll join him after

56:12

dinner. Okay. We

56:15

adjourn to the keep of the

56:17

world's heart, uh, where a

56:19

small fire is stoked. You have some food in front of

56:22

you. Uh, is the fox here with

56:24

you or is he out scampering? I

56:26

think he's scampering unless he has come back

56:28

yet. Give me a little investigation check for

56:30

it. Five.

56:35

Uh, every once in a while the fox checks in and

56:37

is like, I'm

56:39

onto something. There's a hallway.

56:43

It's covered in ice. Okay. Is this anything? Yeah.

56:45

Oh, uh, well, what's in the hallway?

56:49

Doors, torches, windows. Nothing.

56:53

That's nothing. Okay. I'll keep going. Thank you.

56:57

Uh, so he's still off scampering. Um,

57:00

I've told where we're sitting in

57:04

one of the assortment

57:06

of chairs around the fire. And

57:08

I've told you everything, everything, like

57:10

beat for beat what happened

57:12

in the meeting. Okay.

57:17

So the two sitting across from

57:19

you, uh, Marara and Gremor

57:21

are the ones leading the charge and the

57:24

ones that defended you or remains the most

57:26

neutral Hakea and injury are on your side.

57:29

And it sounds like their

57:32

alliances fall on those lines. The ones

57:34

in proximity to them, they seem to

57:36

be in collaboration with and the ones

57:38

across from them, uh, seem

57:40

to be strange. And I know that's not off

57:42

of a lot of data, but we don't have

57:44

a lot to go off of. Hmm.

57:48

When I think back to the, when

57:52

there were seven and

57:54

then when there were 13. Yeah.

57:58

Do I know other. for configurations

58:02

or alliances or as

58:04

Grandmother Wren said. Ooh,

58:06

give me a history check.

58:10

We'll call it DC-1-T, but

58:12

you're a witch so you can

58:14

roll with advantage. Ooh,

58:16

thank you, Brennan. You got it.

58:20

Fuck! Twelve.

58:23

Okay, on a twelve, you remember

58:25

which of the watching fire, which of the

58:28

whites. Obviously,

58:30

you would have been curious as a little

58:32

kid about the Covenant of Elders, but I

58:34

think it depends. What would the questions Amé

58:36

have dwelt on about the Covenant of Elders

58:39

been with Grandmother Wren

58:41

at that time? Oh, what did

58:43

they look like? And

58:45

are you friends with any of them?

58:48

Yeah, so from childhood, like, she basically

58:50

would have told you that Aruna was

58:52

an incredibly beautiful,

58:55

profound, wonderful,

58:57

wise witch, and

58:59

would have said that Aruna was

59:02

closest with Hakea out of anybody.

59:05

That Hakea, Aruna, and

59:07

Gromor were all sort

59:09

of like, of a like

59:12

kind to each other, and would have

59:14

said that Skalvi, the witch of the

59:16

watching fire, was actually closest to Grandmother

59:18

Wren and injury. And

59:21

that like, she was part of a little,

59:23

it was almost like there were two triads

59:25

that Marara was like left out of. And

59:29

it sounded like Wren had

59:32

a personal fondness for Aruna,

59:34

but her station

59:37

was more involved with the station of

59:39

the watching fire. What

59:44

have you told us about 7 coming

59:47

down to 5? When

59:51

you make the observation

59:53

about the 5 and the

59:55

alliances, I do

59:58

mention yes, it was Once

1:00:01

seven, one died

1:00:04

without a successor and

1:00:07

the other... So

1:00:10

one died without a successor just from age and

1:00:12

like everyone knew that Aruna

1:00:14

had essentially like waited

1:00:17

for too long and it was sort of a

1:00:19

sorrowful, bad, sad thing. And

1:00:23

then for Sculvy, Sculvy had an apprentice

1:00:25

who betrayed her. It's

1:00:28

unclear what the nature of her

1:00:30

fall was, but it sounds like

1:00:32

in the betrayal of the apprentice,

1:00:34

Sculvy died shortly

1:00:37

thereafter, maybe related or maybe

1:00:39

unrelated, but then in the

1:00:42

betrayal of the apprentice, the apprentice removed

1:00:44

themselves from the succession. And you remember

1:00:46

Wren talking to you about not needing

1:00:48

to accept the position of the world's

1:00:50

heart, right? She's like, I would love

1:00:52

you just the same even if you

1:00:54

turn this responsibility aside. And it sounds

1:00:56

like the apprentice that betrayed Sculvy

1:01:00

in the betrayal refused the station

1:01:02

of the watching fire. So left

1:01:05

Sculvy unprepared essentially. And maybe even

1:01:07

like some hint of like, well

1:01:09

did the... It's weird to say

1:01:12

that someone that killed Sculvy betrayed

1:01:14

them. Like the headline would be

1:01:17

murdered them, which was a betrayal. But

1:01:19

you almost wonder if the betrayal had

1:01:22

to do with the imminent death of

1:01:24

Sculvy and the apprentice abandoning

1:01:27

the station when Sculvy was

1:01:29

advanced enough in age that she didn't have time

1:01:32

to find and train a new apprentice. Maybe

1:01:34

that was the betrayal. I

1:01:38

relay all of this. And

1:01:40

then I say that and originally it was

1:01:42

13. Y'all

1:01:45

argue too much. That's no, that's what

1:01:47

it is. That's how we get.

1:01:50

I kept trying to figure

1:01:52

out why would you have to advocate for

1:01:54

the loss of another one? They're not in

1:01:57

unison. They always need... was

1:02:00

just four. If you were gone and dispelled,

1:02:02

there would be four, and that's even split.

1:02:05

And... It's a tiebreaker. Exactly.

1:02:07

So it has to be three,

1:02:09

because they always require a majority

1:02:12

to move towards unanimity. Mm-hmm.

1:02:14

Mm-hmm. So it's not

1:02:16

even someone specific. It's just the

1:02:18

very nature of it being impossible

1:02:20

for it to be four? Something

1:02:23

like that. But also it seems like it... Okay,

1:02:25

you said watching fire and something. Ocean.

1:02:28

Water and fire. It seems like you

1:02:30

can make a case for someone that

1:02:32

is the opposite of you having to go with you.

1:02:36

Balance. Which is talking about balance

1:02:38

all the time, I feel like it's said. Mm-hmm.

1:02:42

My direct opposites could be

1:02:45

conceivably. Marara,

1:02:47

because nothing.

1:02:50

She's nothing. Mm-hmm. Or

1:02:54

Gromor, because she's

1:02:58

conflict and what am I but resolution.

1:03:00

I think

1:03:02

you will have a harder time making a case for

1:03:05

Marara. She's the one that level charges against you. But

1:03:08

I think you have a very strong case that

1:03:11

where cooperation goes, conflict

1:03:14

goes too. But

1:03:17

you also say that injury is

1:03:19

self. Is there something there?

1:03:22

Something to togetherness? And

1:03:26

vis-a-vis, and then on the

1:03:28

other side, solitude? Great.

1:03:31

There really could be a case made for almost

1:03:33

any of them. Give me

1:03:35

an insight check as you say that, Ame.

1:03:41

As you say, you can almost make a case for any

1:03:43

of them. You remember suddenly

1:03:45

the words of Sly saying

1:03:48

that his words were something along

1:03:50

the lines of, they

1:03:53

can't get rid of you without getting rid of another. And

1:03:56

you suddenly realized, oh, It

1:04:01

doesn't fall to you to make

1:04:04

a specific case for a specific

1:04:06

witch. Because

1:04:08

the point isn't for you to argue,

1:04:10

it's for them to argue. If you

1:04:12

can make the point that someone else

1:04:14

has got to go, right? As

1:04:18

Suvi just said, it's about tie-breaking. So

1:04:20

it's not incumbent on you to argue

1:04:22

for which wish you think should follow

1:04:24

behind you. What's incumbent

1:04:27

on you is to say a four-person

1:04:29

counsel doesn't work. So kill me and

1:04:31

you guys decide amongst yourself. You know, like, it's

1:04:33

that idea, right? Well,

1:04:36

that's definitely something. Did

1:04:39

you say anything in your defense? And

1:04:42

they were like, let's vote to kill you, or he's

1:04:44

just very chill? Well, Hekiah

1:04:46

kind of said, I

1:04:49

disagree, and then disappeared, and that

1:04:51

was the end of that moment.

1:04:54

Okay. But I do

1:04:57

have further questions that

1:05:00

I would like to have answered

1:05:02

before I make a case, including

1:05:06

an audience with injury to

1:05:08

find out about some of the past

1:05:10

feelings of the covens. Uh, Fox?

1:05:14

Uh, anything? Give me another

1:05:16

investigation check. Uh,

1:05:18

okay. Uh, okay. Uh,

1:05:23

I don't know if this

1:05:25

is anything. There's a

1:05:28

window, looking out at a courtyard,

1:05:30

and there's two tall ladies talking

1:05:32

next to a fountain, but the

1:05:35

fountain doesn't have water. It's

1:05:38

got like snow coming out

1:05:40

of it. I don't think, and can you

1:05:42

hear what they're saying? Uh, I'd

1:05:44

have to get a little bit closer, but

1:05:46

they're not close to the ground. They're both

1:05:49

super tall. Tall

1:05:51

to you and me, or tall to

1:05:53

like... Oh, definitely tall to me, but also tall to

1:05:55

you, and even a little tall to Suvi. Mmm.

1:05:59

I know. Wait a second.

1:06:01

And I pop into his eyes

1:06:04

really quickly. You pop into his

1:06:06

eyes and see that the

1:06:08

Witch of the Wind and Stars has Marara

1:06:10

pushed up against an archway and is putting

1:06:12

a finger into his face. He

1:06:15

goes, I don't know, they're talking about

1:06:17

something. Okay, I need you to get down there, I need

1:06:19

you to hear it. What? No, I need you to get down there and

1:06:21

hear it. You hear it? You can go hear it, yeah. Okay,

1:06:24

you're the boss, boss. Wait, actually? No, wait.

1:06:26

Wait, wait, wait. As I wink

1:06:28

through the fox's eyes, I can read lips. You

1:06:31

have the observance feet! I can't believe

1:06:33

it's become... Best feet. relevant! There it

1:06:35

is. There it is. Okay,

1:06:38

so, right now, because

1:06:40

she has Marara pushed up

1:06:42

against the arch, you see

1:06:44

injuries like pointing a finger,

1:06:47

sort of like under Marara's chin.

1:06:49

Marara has no lips for you

1:06:51

to read, so the fox quickly

1:06:53

has to run around a hallway

1:06:55

to get to a vantage point

1:06:57

to see injuries lips.

1:07:00

And you go over, you can see

1:07:02

injuries lips pointed, and you see that

1:07:04

your injury has been so sweet to

1:07:07

you the entire time. Um,

1:07:10

and... Marara, in

1:07:12

this moment, is looking

1:07:15

at each other, and it is

1:07:18

a testament to how terrifying

1:07:20

Marara is, that she is

1:07:22

not withered by the cold

1:07:24

expression on injury's face. You

1:07:27

haven't seen injury angry yet, but seeing

1:07:29

it through your fox's eyes not even

1:07:31

directed at you, you don't know how

1:07:33

you could withstand it if she turned

1:07:35

her cold gaze on you. And

1:07:37

you see the last thing she's saying going, Give

1:07:41

you any pause at all? Obviously,

1:07:44

she had some idea. It

1:07:47

caught her not at all by surprise. You

1:07:49

don't think a squawk, a chirp, a squeak

1:07:51

would have escaped her lips? Something

1:07:55

you can't hear coming from Marara, whose face

1:07:57

is expressionless, the mask betrays nothing. And

1:07:59

then it... There's a, you know, she speaks for

1:08:01

a while and then Indri responds

1:08:03

and says, who

1:08:06

can say? Perhaps Ren

1:08:08

gave her some more warning or

1:08:10

she's come with these citadel wizards

1:08:12

in tow. You see that Marara

1:08:14

speaks for a second and Indri says, yes,

1:08:18

my sister, of course. A

1:08:21

hundred years ago, their tricks were

1:08:23

paltry and 50 years ago, their

1:08:25

tricks were paltry and 20 years

1:08:27

ago, their tricks were paltry. But

1:08:29

I don't know if you've noticed

1:08:31

every so often I look behind

1:08:33

me and see these paltry tricks

1:08:35

getting a little bit closer than

1:08:38

they were before. I

1:08:40

think your entire point sister

1:08:42

is that time is running

1:08:44

out. Whether

1:08:47

from the citadel or the cottage, some

1:08:50

knowledge she gleaned. That

1:08:52

much is clear. And you're,

1:08:56

and you see, she balls her beautiful

1:08:58

ice blue fingernails into a

1:09:00

fist and says, and your impatient

1:09:04

sister and your

1:09:06

disdain for the

1:09:10

requirements of our sister, Hakea,

1:09:13

saw this opportunity lost.

1:09:19

Think more in the

1:09:21

future, not solely of your own

1:09:23

domain, but of all of ours.

1:09:26

And she turns and walks

1:09:28

away. The

1:09:31

fox in your head goes, she's walking away.

1:09:33

Do you want me on Spike, Spike head? Or do

1:09:35

you want me on? Well, they both have spikes on

1:09:37

their heads, kind of in different ways. There's black

1:09:40

with white and there's blue with

1:09:43

silver. Um, um, um,

1:09:45

go after, uh, uh, uh,

1:09:48

I also do smell food nearby. No,

1:09:50

no, not the food though. I will

1:09:52

give you so much fish

1:09:55

too when you get back. If

1:09:57

you go after the one. in

1:10:00

silver and blue. You got

1:10:02

it, boss. All right, thank you. I

1:10:06

snap back to the tower.

1:10:09

Oh, I was really proud of my river. That

1:10:11

was a good idea. Thank you. Also, I haven't

1:10:13

said anything. I like the new

1:10:15

color. Oh my God, thank you. What? Oh.

1:10:17

It's embarrassing, huh? What? It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing,

1:10:19

I know. I

1:10:21

look around and I

1:10:23

make gesture. I gesture at my

1:10:26

ears and then I encircle

1:10:28

around my head. And I'm gonna

1:10:30

try and see if I can do

1:10:34

anything to see if

1:10:36

there's any listening or any

1:10:38

way to ward against

1:10:43

being heard. I'll

1:10:45

pop a detect magic right now to help. Yeah,

1:10:48

yeah, yeah, yeah. Passive

1:10:50

investigation 21. You

1:10:53

pop a detect magic. Divination

1:10:57

magic, something for listening in. Yeah,

1:11:01

there is something in the room with you

1:11:03

that is listening in on Amé. Your

1:11:08

passive investigation knows that you are being

1:11:10

listened to, something in this room.

1:11:14

But it's a DC 25 to pinpoint

1:11:16

it exactly and I'll let you roll

1:11:18

for it. Yeah. Can I

1:11:20

help with another detect magic? Yes, you can.

1:11:22

Great. Guidance. I,

1:11:25

you know, I have my ears, I

1:11:27

can gesture around and I hope

1:11:30

to see. Wizardry,

1:11:33

witchcraft and the world of spirits

1:11:35

come together to find safety in

1:11:37

this moment of dire consequences to

1:11:39

DC 26. What'd

1:11:41

you get on your D4? One plus

1:11:44

one. And what do you add? I add six.

1:11:46

And right now I'm adding seven. So

1:11:49

you use 18 or higher on the

1:11:51

die. Get the roll. Here we go.

1:11:54

17 on the

1:11:56

die. 17

1:12:00

plus 7 is 24, one shy of

1:12:02

the difficulty. But

1:12:07

there is, you know there's something in the stream listening to you, in

1:12:09

this moment. Yeah. So then

1:12:11

I'm immediately going to reach down to my

1:12:14

spell book, and just sort of like

1:12:17

opening it without like pulling it all the way off and like

1:12:19

carrying the sheet. And I will write

1:12:21

onto the sheet. There's

1:12:24

something listening on you,

1:12:27

divination magic, but I can't find it

1:12:29

to dispellent. Do

1:12:33

you know who would have done so? And

1:12:35

then pass the paper, and continue,

1:12:37

and like, not trying to like

1:12:40

fully change the subject, but

1:12:43

try to pick up some like light pattern

1:12:45

with Ursalon. With

1:12:47

that 24 investigation, I will allow you to

1:12:49

glean a little bit more here too, which

1:12:51

is just that there is, what you are

1:12:54

aware of is, the

1:12:57

words in this room are being

1:12:59

heard. You can, with your spell,

1:13:01

you hear echoes of the lingua

1:13:03

arcana. Like as you speak

1:13:05

in imperial, you hear, it's almost

1:13:08

like what would be the

1:13:10

clack of a stenographer's key, but just momentary

1:13:13

vibrations in the sound waves themselves

1:13:15

that you pick up as them

1:13:17

registering on a piece of magic

1:13:20

that's listening. Almost

1:13:22

like if a bat's ear could

1:13:24

hear a sound landing on an

1:13:27

eardrum somewhere, and you know how to

1:13:29

recognize that sound. Can

1:13:31

I write on a piece of paper? If

1:13:34

it was gone, Suvi, if it

1:13:36

was gone, could you tell? I'm

1:13:41

gonna take Suvi's scarf off and throw it

1:13:43

out a window. The

1:13:48

sound goes away. Holy

1:13:54

shit, Luke. Stone cold

1:13:56

fucking got me. Stone

1:13:59

cold. That

1:14:01

was Lou Wilson as Ursulan,

1:14:03

Erika Ishidi as Ame, Abriya Iyengar as Suvi,

1:14:05

and Brennan Lee

1:14:17

Mulligan as everyone and everything

1:14:19

else. World's Beyond

1:14:22

Numbered is edited, designed, and scored

1:14:24

by Taylor Moore as Fortunate Horse,

1:14:26

with additional sound design from Michael

1:14:28

Gelfie Studios. For

1:14:31

even more like this, join us on

1:14:33

our Patreon. We'll see you there.