Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: You are listening to an atomic broadcasting production. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the feature presentation. And remember, do your part. Such as, like, comment rate, and don't forget to tell a friend to tune in for an atomic time.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Now, where did we leave off?
[00:00:35] Speaker C: Ah, yes.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: While traveling to the boneyard, Val, Neros, Alward and Zephyr were attacked by an astrodemon feasting on the river of Souls.
Thinking quickly, they broke their tablets of passage and were ejected into the material plane, barely escaping with their lives.
Well, we can't talk about that conversation since we're, like, doxing ourselves. So I want to talk about rodents.
[00:01:11] Speaker D: I have a mouse problem, and it's killing me.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Do you?
[00:01:14] Speaker D: Yeah, I want to burn my house down because I'm dying.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: That sounds really familiar. Having a mouse problem. The house you just bought.
[00:01:23] Speaker E: We should.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: We should share notes.
[00:01:25] Speaker D: We should. Do you guys have a mouse?
[00:01:27] Speaker F: We have a mouse problem.
[00:01:29] Speaker G: Honestly, my wife tells me I have.
[00:01:30] Speaker D: Let your snakes go and take.
[00:01:32] Speaker F: I will not do that. Do that. I am worried about introducing parasites into my.
[00:01:36] Speaker D: I hope you understand I was being facetious.
[00:01:39] Speaker F: Some people aren't facetious. Anyway, I woke up one morning at 4am like I do often.
No, no, let me continue.
Okay. No, I Woke up at 4am like I do often, because I.
I am so sorry.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Yeah, been there, done that.
[00:01:56] Speaker H: Don't want to work out, really.
[00:01:57] Speaker F: Anyway, I work early sometimes, and I was sitting on my couch, like I do, eating my breakfast, and there's some boxes under, like, a table next to our tv, and I see this little face pop out from behind a box, and I'm like, hello.
And my first thought was like, I knew it. I knew I had been hearing stuff rustling around in the living room for forever.
I was like, I freaking knew it.
[00:02:29] Speaker G: You have cats.
[00:02:30] Speaker H: Shh.
[00:02:30] Speaker F: We're getting to that.
You shush, lazy ones. We're getting to that. We're getting to that.
Let me cook.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Okay, wait, she's not finished.
[00:02:42] Speaker F: Anyway, so I leave a note for Jordi, and I'm like, hey, I for sure saw a mouse this morning. It stared at me while I was eating my breakfast. I'm gonna pick up traps on my way home from work.
So I do. I pick up six traps on my way home from work, and I sent him Snapchat. Preparing for war.
[00:03:07] Speaker E: Absolutely.
[00:03:08] Speaker F: And so we set them, and I'm like, that night, I get home, Jordi gets home, and then we start looking for where these mice potentially are coming from. And I open the door to our furnace, and I'm peeking In there. Tons of poop.
[00:03:24] Speaker D: Oh, no.
[00:03:24] Speaker F: Tons of mouse poop. And I'm like, that makes sense. It's warm in there.
[00:03:28] Speaker G: It burns well.
[00:03:30] Speaker D: Ew.
[00:03:31] Speaker E: I was off mic, but I love it.
[00:03:33] Speaker G: It burns well.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Ew.
[00:03:34] Speaker F: Anyway, so we set two traps by the furnace door. One next to the pantry, one next to the, like, where I saw it. And then, like, I think one or two in the kitchen.
That night I can't sleep because I'm like, oh, yeah, we didn't catch a thing.
[00:03:50] Speaker D: Yeah, no, you don't.
[00:03:51] Speaker F: We didn't catch a thing. So the next night we set out traps. I wake up at 3am too, and.
[00:03:58] Speaker H: I was like, yeah, got it, got it.
[00:04:01] Speaker F: And I was like, okay, cool.
Dispose of it. Which is, you know, put it in a plastic bag and put it in the trash can. Because I. Yeah, I don't. We don't live on a farm. I can't just throw it out into the field and hope the vultures take care of it or any other scavengers.
So the next night, we set the traps. Nothing. I'm like, okay, cool. The next night, we set the traps, caught one. So it's like an every other night kind of thing. Those are the only two adults that we have killed lately, though, there have been babies.
[00:04:32] Speaker D: Oh, no.
[00:04:34] Speaker F: Little mice. Yeah, it's called the hopper face. If anyone is curious about that. They're hoppers. They're about dish big. I'm holding my inches. My inches.
[00:04:43] Speaker E: They're like 2 inches.
[00:04:43] Speaker F: They're like an inch and a half, maybe. Long.
[00:04:46] Speaker D: Very tiny.
[00:04:47] Speaker F: And again, I was eating breakfast one morning, and I thought I saw out of the corner of my eyes something crawl toward the couch.
And I'm just like, the crap was that? Hello? Am I hallucinating? So I get up and I'm looking around. I'm like, I don't see anything.
And then I was about to leave for work.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: What.
[00:05:10] Speaker F: What day was this? Saturday. Yeah, so yesterday?
Yeah, yesterday.
And I'm about to leave for work. I've. I've got my keys in my hand. I got my purse, I got my coffee. And I'm like, mouse, mouse, mouse, mouse. There's a mouse. It's crawling under the fridge.
And he was like, what?
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Where?
[00:05:28] Speaker F: I'm like, you missed it. It. It's under the fridge. But they're small enough. They're not going to set the traps off. And we've had the traps set, like, in. In like a semicircle around the furnace door because we know that's where they're coming from. And that's the only place we've caught them. And so we. I was like, I don't know what. So he pulls the fridge out and there's like a corner of just mouse poop back there. I'm like, great, perfect. So we block it off with like this huge box that has an. It's a kennel. Like a large, extra large kennel box. And we have that propped against like cuz we left the fridge pulled out and we're basically blocking it off so the cats can't get back there.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: Oops.
[00:06:08] Speaker F: So the cats can't get back there. And we have a trap back set back there during the day. We released the cats.
They caught three yesterday of these baby mice like and my. The. My tuxi Maddox, wonderful little hunter.
I don't think anyone. I don't think any adult cat taught him to hunt because he was in foster from a little bitty baby. It's just. It's cool watching their instincts and stuff.
So.
But Sybil, my tortie, caught one. She brought it to the rug and let it go and it just ran off. And Maddox was like, wait, what, what are you doing?
But they caught three yesterday and this morning they caught three more.
So they are paying rent and I am so proud of them.
[00:06:54] Speaker C: Told the squirrel story.
[00:06:56] Speaker F: The squirrel story.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: My dad's squirrel story.
[00:06:58] Speaker F: I don't know. Does he have a vendetta against the squirrels? Is it personal?
[00:07:03] Speaker A: Well, it's not so much a vendetta against squirrels. It's just every house and apartment that we moved in had an initial squirrel problem.
[00:07:10] Speaker F: That's weird.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: I was single digits, like four or five or. No, I wasn't even four.
[00:07:16] Speaker C: I was like three A couple of.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Years ago it was a squirrel that was. We knew it was there because we would see, you know, little bite marks for stuff missing and certain stuff. And then dad saw it one night come out of the vent in the ceiling. Was living up in the space between the second and first floor.
[00:07:36] Speaker D: Ewing the vent.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: So dad at first it's among us.
So dad at first he just wanted to trap it and get it out of there.
So he had a fish basket. You know, when you go fishing, it's. It has a door that opens one way, you put the fish in, etc.
[00:07:53] Speaker F: Right.
[00:07:54] Speaker A: A little trap essentially. But so he put an ear of corn in the basket and hung it near the vent that we knew the squirrel was coming out of.
So we. He put it there. And then the next morning the ear of corn was eaten and no Squirm.
[00:08:10] Speaker D: That.
[00:08:10] Speaker F: That's a. Yep.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:08:12] Speaker F: I don't know how many. Like, listen. There's were a couple mornings we woke up when we didn't catch anything. All the peanut butter was off at least one trap. I'm like, I hate you.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: So. So dad was like, okay, well, maybe it was. It was in the wrong spot. So he created a little, like a little wooden pathway from the event ceiling and hung the trap a little further away. We went to church, and then we came back, and once again, the ear of corn was eaten and no squirrel.
So dad was like, all right, that's it.
So the next Sunday, he reset the trap, but this time, my mom, my sister, and I, we went to church, and dad stayed home.
[00:08:53] Speaker F: Oh, no.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: And did he shoot holes in the ceiling?
Dad had a little pellet rifle.
He shoot holes in this little pump pellet rifle. And he had a spear.
And he hid underneath a blanket in the living room.
And he waited. And he said he watched the squirrel come out of the vent. He watched it run down the little wood pathway to the top of the cage. He saw it open the cage.
He saw it hold the cage open with its back feet while it reached into the ear of corn and was grabbing.
Just grabbing corn and stuffing its little face.
[00:09:38] Speaker F: They're smart.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: So at that moment when the squirrel was hanging there, he jumped out of the blanket. He knocked the board away from the vent so it couldn't escape.
And he said the chase was on. He went all around, all around the living room that squirrel was bouncing off.
He got it with the spear.
[00:10:04] Speaker F: With the spear.
Oh, my gosh.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: And we didn't have any more squirrel problems in that apartment.
[00:10:10] Speaker G: We had squirrels that would just stupidly fall down a chimney, two stories.
And sometimes they'd break a leg or something. And my dad's nice to them sometimes.
[00:10:21] Speaker F: Sometimes I just have a vendor. It is personal with mice I have a vendetta against.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: I will say we love animals here.
We really do.
[00:10:29] Speaker F: I love it. I work with animals for a living.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: I just can't do much when they're a pest.
That is where I draw the line.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: The circle of life.
[00:10:38] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:10:38] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: Speaking of hunting small things that can't defend themselves against you, where did we leave off again?
[00:10:46] Speaker G: In space.
[00:10:47] Speaker F: We left in space.
[00:10:49] Speaker E: That's right.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: You ran.
[00:10:52] Speaker F: We ran away quickly.
[00:10:54] Speaker G: So far away.
[00:10:56] Speaker E: On the fringes of the astral plane, where it touches the boneyard.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: You encountered an Astra demon that would have spelled the end of your group had you not quickly thinking, shattered your clay tablets.
[00:11:08] Speaker E: And returned yourselves to the material plane.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Where you now stand in the ruined.
[00:11:13] Speaker E: Temple of Pharasma in the city of Joel.
[00:11:15] Speaker G: Listen, if he can't spell the end of his group, he needs to study harder for the spelling bee.
[00:11:20] Speaker E: He can spell his name.
Can you spell his name?
[00:11:23] Speaker G: Let me pull up my discard.
[00:11:25] Speaker F: Zolkaz.
There's an apostrophe in there.
[00:11:29] Speaker D: There is.
[00:11:29] Speaker G: That's how you know it's real.
[00:11:31] Speaker F: It's. It's fancy.
X, O, L.
He can't read letters.
[00:11:39] Speaker G: When I see X I so often, I'll just say Z. I mean, that.
[00:11:42] Speaker F: Is the sound they make, honestly.
[00:11:44] Speaker E: And you all, I imagine, are a.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: Little bit shaken from your experience.
[00:11:48] Speaker F: Not stirred though.
[00:11:50] Speaker H: Yeah.
[00:11:52] Speaker C: Val.
[00:11:53] Speaker D: What? Do you know that name?
[00:11:55] Speaker G: Know what name?
[00:11:57] Speaker D: Was I the only one to hear the name?
[00:11:59] Speaker A: Yep, you were.
[00:11:59] Speaker D: Oh, Said Zol. Gazaz.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: Bless you.
[00:12:07] Speaker D: Would thank you.
Would.
[00:12:15] Speaker G: Remember disaster demon talking.
[00:12:18] Speaker D: Yeah, it got real close.
[00:12:22] Speaker G: Well, I know that name. George.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: Make a religion check.
[00:12:30] Speaker H: 38.
[00:12:32] Speaker E: It is not familiar to you? No.
[00:12:34] Speaker G: That's what I get for call you George.
[00:12:38] Speaker F: That's a weird name to call him.
[00:12:40] Speaker G: Nah, I'm not familiar with that particular demon's name.
But I can make note of that for the future.
[00:12:49] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:12:50] Speaker G: Zorgagaz.
[00:12:52] Speaker D: Zol Zul. Gazaz.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: Bless you.
[00:12:56] Speaker G: What a name. Thank you.
I think we'll need to go back there later.
I don't know if we can get past something like that. And I don't know yet how we could get past that big gap either.
[00:13:11] Speaker D: I mean, we could fly.
[00:13:13] Speaker G: Can all of us. A mile.
[00:13:15] Speaker D: It's not. I mean, your wings last presumably, what, 10 minutes? Yeah, it should be mine.
[00:13:22] Speaker E: 10.
[00:13:23] Speaker D: Getting back would be the problem.
[00:13:25] Speaker G: Yes, that would be a problem. We could unless try and enlist some sort of a psychopath or a spirit to help us. But if the astro demon's there, it's not to say it's not the only thing at the river of Souls and we have to pass by it to get what we need. It could be dangerous also in the air.
[00:13:46] Speaker D: How are you feeling? Neros. I know. That was strange.
[00:13:54] Speaker F: I don't know.
[00:13:57] Speaker G: I'm sorry we weren't able to get to Carvis.
[00:14:00] Speaker F: I guess we can try again later.
I'm gonna go back home.
[00:14:09] Speaker D: I think it's probably a good idea. Grab the painting.
[00:14:14] Speaker G: Was that the castle or his apartment?
[00:14:16] Speaker F: The castle. That's mine now.
It's my home now.
[00:14:21] Speaker G: Okay.
[00:14:22] Speaker D: Yeah, let's head back, grab the painting.
[00:14:26] Speaker G: Val's gonna, you know, roll up the painting, get it all Together and then just kind of look at that clay tablet for a little bit and then just kind of put it away and follow the others back.
[00:14:42] Speaker E: As you return to the flying castle, you find Uver a about where you'd left him, still hunched over his desk at study.
But something seems a little bit off.
And I attack him.
[00:14:59] Speaker D: I attack the tree monster and I'm falling for it again.
[00:15:02] Speaker G: Kill him.
[00:15:03] Speaker F: Kill him.
[00:15:06] Speaker E: As you actually enter the room and.
[00:15:08] Speaker B: You can get a better look, you realize that Uwe is completely asleep, just.
[00:15:13] Speaker E: Slumped over his desk.
[00:15:16] Speaker G: Too much voltage.
[00:15:16] Speaker C: Magnet.
[00:15:17] Speaker D: I asked him to do one thing.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: And with that I'm gonna ask the.
[00:15:22] Speaker E: Four of you to leave the room.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: Uber, we're gonna pick this up right.
[00:15:30] Speaker E: Where we left off and last saw Uber, where you'd received this message back telling you that this person is willing to meet with you and that when sleep comes, not to fight it.
Just as the meaning of these words really settle in Uver, you feel just this intense, deep. But in a sense, wholesome weariness overtake you.
[00:15:58] Speaker C: At first, he looks like he's going to fight it as he was just about to reach for his pen again.
And then, remembering the words, he lets out a breath and just slowly lets that feeling encompass him as he gives himself over to sleep.
[00:16:20] Speaker E: Uvaire, your head dips forward and rests and your eyes close just for a moment and your head bounces back up and your eyes flicker open. But you're no longer sitting at your desk.
[00:16:32] Speaker B: The castle.
[00:16:33] Speaker E: Instead, you're sitting under the boughs of a massive oak tree in a sun dappled forest.
Layers of moss cover the wood of the tree next to you, as well as the stones all around you. Peaceful sounds of birdsong fill the air as well as a gentle trickling stream not too far away.
And in the center of this clearing in the woods, you see exactly who you had expected to see.
Itis this woman you'd met in the woods back at the beginning of this journey.
[00:17:07] Speaker C: He at first takes in the sights around him, seeing if it looks familiar.
[00:17:15] Speaker E: It does not. It actually doesn't even look like the Grungir forest. It looks like a far older forest, more ancient even than the Grungir Forest.
[00:17:28] Speaker C: Can he get a sense of that? It might be the old forest.
[00:17:34] Speaker E: Make a nature check 25 with a 25.
You get the sense that this is reminiscent of the first world, essentially the first draft of creation where things were nonsensical, overlapping, contradictory.
This is the origin of primal energies and fey creatures.
It looks reminiscent of that, but you can tell it's not almost as if you were in this dreamlike state, slipping into a memory or an imagination of what the first world was or could be.
[00:18:23] Speaker C: He slowly sits forward and perhaps mechanically searches for his staff.
Is it there?
[00:18:32] Speaker E: It is.
[00:18:34] Speaker C: And like you would imagine, an old, old man.
He props himself up with a staff.
He takes one last look around before slowly walking to where Aidas is standing.
[00:18:54] Speaker E: Itis has her arms outstretched, and in each palm is a small collection of seeds and nuts. And all sorts of birds are flittering down from the sky to collect the seeds out of her hands. And small forest creatures like chipmunk squirrels are climbing up and feeding out of her hands. And she sometimes reaches down to make it easier for the smaller creatures to approach. A deer comes up at one point, and she gives some seed to that deer.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: And no matter how much she feeds.
[00:19:24] Speaker E: The animals, it seems like she's never running out of these seeds. But as you approach, she turns to look at you and just gives you a smile.
[00:19:32] Speaker C: He walks to the edge just on the outer fringes of.
Of where that's taking place, and stands there for a little while without saying anything, looking at all the little creatures and the birds flying through the air, breathing in the air around him, just feeling that rejuvenation, perhaps because it probably doesn't feel the same or even necessarily smell the same.
[00:20:14] Speaker E: No, it's. It's at the same time both more vivid and also translucent, as if everything you're seeing, hearing and smelling is the essence of the thing, but at the same time, you know, it's not really there.
[00:20:34] Speaker C: He's going to stand there, he'll smile back, but he's not going to interrupt.
He's just going to take in that scenery. And as it's as if the.
The worries that have been on his mind, the, the. The rush that he felt or the urgency of even the reason why he sent the message to begin with, has faded a little bit in the face of where he's at.
And right now, he feels even just the tiniest bit of essence of peace, something that he's now realizing he hasn't felt in a long time.
[00:21:26] Speaker E: And after a minute or two of this pleasant, peaceful calm, a bird comes and lands on your shoulder, just kind of curiously cocking its head and then flutters off to go get some more seed.
Aidas turns her attention back to you, and again with that same gentle smile.
You're an unusual fellow.
A dwarf, a wizard, a scholar of letters and understanding, and yet you still make time to appreciate the ebb and flow of nature and its balance.
[00:22:12] Speaker H: In all of my memories and travels I have collected hundreds, thousands of stories and tales and songs that have been left or written or sung by all peoples, all races.
Every person has their own story. Every single everything has its own tale.
And I have collected them, stored them, cherished them.
But what greater story is there than that of nature?
That is a story that began before all life as we know it has ever begun and will continue to last until there is nothing left to live.
Every little creature is a part of that tale.
Every breath of wind, every twig every blade of grass.
Why should I not cherish them the same as the stories of those that live and talk and speak and sing?
[00:23:39] Speaker E: Well spoken, Sir Dwarf. And she gestures a sweeping of her hand down to the ground and lifting up a structure sort of like a birdbath just rises out of the ground and you can't quite tell if it's made of stone or earth or root, but just natural components.
And into the basin at the top she pours her hand and just a pound, two pounds, just a whole bunch of the seed pours out of her hands as if just out of an extra dimensional space into the basin. And the animals congregate around and continue feeding from the seed as she walks over to join you. And she continues.
I'm so glad that you enjoy my dream as much as I do. For in this dream I see things as I would have them.
[00:24:34] Speaker H: It is reminiscent, I think, of something far older than I.
[00:24:43] Speaker E: Indeed, indeed it is.
Even though you yourself are far older than you have any right to be.
[00:24:55] Speaker H: I know this all too well.
I am contrary to the natural flow of things.
[00:25:05] Speaker E: She smiles at you very sympathetically, almost a pitiful look on her eye.
And then she says, but you did not seek an audience with me to discuss the things you know too well.
What's on your mind, Uvaire?
[00:25:23] Speaker C: He smiles at that and says, you are right.
[00:25:31] Speaker H: Come. You have created such a beautiful tree in your dream.
Let us sit underneath it and discuss as we once did in your home.
[00:25:43] Speaker E: She nods and follows you to the tree.
[00:25:48] Speaker C: Once again he sits down and without that usual vigor that we are used to seeing with Uwe.
It's as if this place, though peaceful, it feels like it brings that age that he really is to light.
[00:26:09] Speaker H: I suppose I will ask the obvious question of what do you know of Arid?
I know you helped us, but why?
[00:26:27] Speaker E: Aid was one who tampered with the threads of balance, not through his own willingness, but nevertheless his time had come. And passed long since, and he needed to be removed so the world could return to balance.
[00:26:57] Speaker H: Apparently he and I were somewhat alike.
In fact, I saw it for myself.
[00:27:05] Speaker E: This is true.
Fortunately, the difference between yourself and arid is that the bindings of your fate affect yourself only.
[00:27:21] Speaker H: So I was quite foolish in another life.
[00:27:26] Speaker E: Foolish or a victim, it's hard to say.
[00:27:33] Speaker H: And did you know me in another life?
[00:27:40] Speaker E: Uber. I know that your memory can be unreliable, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that you remember the first time we've met.
[00:27:53] Speaker C: He looks at her not hard, but searchingly.
[00:28:00] Speaker E: Would you like to roll a perception check?
[00:28:03] Speaker C: Yes, 24. I'm rolling horribly.
[00:28:10] Speaker E: Oh yeah.
You have no concerns about her sincerity?
[00:28:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:19] Speaker H: I believe you.
Even if you were lying to me, I don't know if it would make a difference.
I have apparently been acquainted to many people in my past lives that I no longer remember.
Forgive me, I am.
I'm afraid I've grown a little bit cynical.
But I wish to believe you, so I will.
[00:28:46] Speaker E: It's understandable, given the circumstances.
[00:28:53] Speaker H: Are you able to read them?
[00:28:57] Speaker E: I am.
[00:28:59] Speaker C: He pulls back his cloak just for a moment, exposing a specific rune on.
[00:29:06] Speaker H: His shoulder.
[00:29:10] Speaker C: And pointing to it, he.
[00:29:12] Speaker H: Says, I know this one, teacher.
[00:29:19] Speaker C: Yes, and recovering his shoulder.
[00:29:26] Speaker H: I know of one other that can read these runes, and I know of a method. Method, perhaps of how I can learn more, but I do not think the.
[00:29:42] Speaker E: Cost is worth it for one Uver these runes.
This language is very old.
It's older than the concept of language and older than mortal cognition.
[00:30:08] Speaker H: Could Fafnir read these runes?
[00:30:11] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:30:14] Speaker H: I have come to believe that perhaps I have met Fafnir in the past.
Or someone just as old.
Not counting the great king in the forest.
[00:30:32] Speaker E: Yes, the oldest one, Uber. I don't believe that you have met Fafnir, at least not that I'm aware of.
But I do know this creature that you are supposing has crossed paths with your own.
Forgive me for being deceptive at our first meeting.
Believe me, it was only out of concern for your own well being.
I did not want you to risk your life going after such a dangerous being.
But you have proven yourself recently to be far more capable than I had imagined you would become.
[00:31:21] Speaker C: He smiles at that.
[00:31:24] Speaker H: Well, I am an old old dwarf, after all.
I this you have been nothing but kind to me, even in your deception to prevent me from doing something very foolish.
Perhaps that I can accept.
[00:31:46] Speaker E: The runes that cover your body.
They are in an ancient tongue mastered only by the creatures known as the Vatir.
[00:32:00] Speaker C: Does that name ring a bell?
[00:32:03] Speaker E: You would at least remember it from the eldest one, way back at the beginning.
[00:32:09] Speaker H: Oh, boy.
[00:32:12] Speaker E: When the eldest one looked at you and he mentioned that you had been touched by the V.
Oh.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: But I.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: Wouldn'T know anything beyond that.
[00:32:24] Speaker E: Make a society check.
[00:32:27] Speaker H: Come on, big money.
[00:32:30] Speaker C: I rolled a 7 to 5, a 3 and a 7. Now.
[00:32:36] Speaker H: I really want this to work.
[00:32:39] Speaker E: Sven is handing me a hero point 34 with the context of what you've learned in this conversation and what itis has just revealed to you. You send your mind rifling back through all of the annals of what you've learned and all that you've read, and suddenly an epiphany strikes you like a bolt of lightning. It's one of those moments where everything suddenly becomes so clear, and you wonder why you hadn't seen it before.
And you realize there's a cognate between the word vaatir and how that sounds in old Skald.
The old Skald word of VR, which is translated into taldane as tr.
[00:33:28] Speaker H: Oh, Balda.
[00:33:33] Speaker C: Uvara's entire face changes into one of realization, of annoyance, of not seeing it before.
And then it goes back to okay, I have an answer of relief.
And he suddenly recalls the memory of his conversation with Pilgrim.
[00:34:04] Speaker H: I see.
It all makes sense.
I finally understand.
Oh, my friend, you knew much more than you are willing to tell me or could.
[00:34:26] Speaker E: Uver. I must caution you, this knowledge is very dangerous.
The Vyr are ancient, powerful, and not to be trifled with.
Chief among them is one known only as the Poet.
To speak with him is to risk surrendering all that makes you who you are.
I would spare you further entanglement in his meddling, but you already bear the marks of his meddling upon your skin.
[00:35:09] Speaker H: I think I have already suffered the fate that you have described.
[00:35:16] Speaker E: That is true. You've already suffered at his hand. But there's no telling how much more he would do.
I and my sisters have been tracking him, but we have been unsuccessful.
If you are willing to keep your eyes out for this creature and let us know once you do find him. Do not engage. Do not speak with him. He has power over everything.
Through a mere word, he can change reality itself.
She hands you a small cylinder with a pull string at one end.
It kind of looks like a firework.
If you find this poet, if you know whereabouts, point this to the sky and pull the string. It will send a beacon that I and my sisters will be able to follow. And we will come.
[00:36:15] Speaker C: Ver takes it in his hand and slowly turns it around.
He looks up at her.
[00:36:28] Speaker H: You've been hunting him?
[00:36:32] Speaker E: Yes. We've been searching for him for centuries now.
[00:36:38] Speaker H: What did he take from you?
[00:36:41] Speaker E: It's nothing personal. It's my duty to keep balance in the world.
[00:36:53] Speaker H: I do not know what to think, how to feel now that I have this.
I am too old.
[00:37:04] Speaker E: This is not a burden that I give to you lightly. U and if you choose to decline, no one will think any the less of you. But I must warn you that if you accept this burden, it is a burden you must carry alone.
You cannot tell your friends what you've learned here.
[00:37:29] Speaker H: I understand what you are saying, and I do not wish for them to be harmed by my own problems.
We will say them.
But I am afraid that regardless of what you and I want, it appears that my life has been entangled with theirs. Or at least some of them.
At one point.
[00:37:57] Speaker E: This is true.
Some of this entanglement has been of your own volition, and others has been due to the poets meddling.
[00:38:12] Speaker H: This isn't the first time that I have lost my memories.
Seredire remembers a time where I lost memories again.
He knew of it, yes.
[00:38:25] Speaker E: It has happened to you at least seven times that I'm aware of.
[00:38:32] Speaker H: Seven times.
Seven different lives.
How old am I really?
[00:38:44] Speaker E: As I'd mentioned before, sometimes knowledge can be too dangerous.
[00:38:55] Speaker H: And that, in and of itself, is an answer.
I do not know who I was in those seven lifetimes, but I know who I am now.
I am the Uwehr of now.
I will take this burden, not for my own sake, but so others may not have the same fate as me.
And as for the poet, give me time.
I have made friends in this life.
Perhaps one of them might bear fruit for your search.
For our search.
[00:39:52] Speaker E: She smiles at that language of commitment.
[00:40:01] Speaker H: You would create a world, or have a piece of it like this.
[00:40:06] Speaker C: And he looks up again to the beautiful scenery around him.
[00:40:11] Speaker E: She nods.
[00:40:14] Speaker H: If I were a younger and perhaps ruder dwarf, I'd be very tempted to ask who you were really what you are.
But perhaps in time, that will reveal itself naturally.
[00:40:37] Speaker E: You are a prudent dwarf, Uvaire.
[00:40:44] Speaker H: I am glad I can call you a friend, Tidas.
[00:40:50] Speaker E: As am I.
[00:40:54] Speaker H: And soon I hope to meet with you and your sisters.
One I think I have met in passing.
[00:41:04] Speaker C: Yes, that little old lady at the.
[00:41:08] Speaker E: Yes, yes, you have.
[00:41:15] Speaker H: Though I will ask next time you offer tea.
I will just take it.
[00:41:22] Speaker E: I apologize for any perceived slight.
Time was of the essence.
[00:41:30] Speaker C: So you have said. He CHUCKLES from there, I. I don't think I have any questions that Uber is going to. To leave that. But he's going to enjoy that dream as long as he can. And perhaps chat with Itis like perhaps they used to whenever she was still tending his injury in the woods.
[00:41:54] Speaker E: Maybe just chatting over a bowl of mushroom stew.
[00:41:57] Speaker H: Yeah.
[00:41:58] Speaker E: And then all of a sudden, just out of this calm, pleasant conversation, Itis kind of cocks her head, then looks back at you and says, it would seem our time is at an end.
Be careful, friend. And she places two fingers on your forehead.
And then suddenly you're awake, laying face down on your desk again.
And we'll go ahead and bring the rest of the others in.
[00:42:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:42:33] Speaker A: All right.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: Well, welcome back, everybody else. Thank you for your patience for basically just not being here for that episode.
[00:42:40] Speaker H: Oh, I was here. Trust me.
[00:42:41] Speaker D: I think hero point should go to petite.
[00:42:44] Speaker F: I agree.
[00:42:45] Speaker G: You heroically.
[00:42:46] Speaker D: Are we at that section yet or no?
[00:42:48] Speaker B: Yeah, we're at the hero point. When today's hero point is going to Sven.
[00:42:54] Speaker D: He earned it.
[00:42:57] Speaker F: His cats are so cute.
[00:42:58] Speaker E: I did make a wonderful we know why audience. We know.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: We know what he did.
[00:43:05] Speaker D: He had zero, but.
[00:43:06] Speaker G: Oh, really?
[00:43:06] Speaker D: Oh, I thought you had two for something.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: He spent one while you were gone.
[00:43:12] Speaker G: Welcome to the club.
[00:43:14] Speaker A: Well, thank you for the here point. Even though it was by default.
[00:43:18] Speaker C: Though I do really hope you, the audience, enjoyed that. That episode, as I absolutely did.
[00:43:27] Speaker G: We were in this episode.
[00:43:28] Speaker D: We were at the very beginning.
[00:43:29] Speaker F: We talked about mice.
[00:43:34] Speaker H: Oh, man.
[00:43:35] Speaker C: I'm going to have to process everything.
[00:43:38] Speaker A: That you guys know now and they do not.
[00:43:42] Speaker F: I mean, we will after we listen to this episode.
[00:43:45] Speaker D: When this episode comes out, we will know. We will know and we will judge you harshly.
[00:43:50] Speaker A: I won't listen to it.
[00:43:51] Speaker C: That is okay.
[00:43:54] Speaker B: So, yeah, once this episode comes out, nothing that we have talked about today will be secret to the players anymore. So feel free to talk about anything you want on the Discord. Just make sure that you are keeping the conversations confined to the spoiler friendly parts of the Discord so that if any new viewers are here, new listeners are here, they aren't going to get.
[00:44:13] Speaker E: All this stuff spoiled.
[00:44:14] Speaker G: Also, while we were upstairs, they all talked about their animals, so you should also talk about your animals.
[00:44:19] Speaker D: Facts.
[00:44:19] Speaker F: Yes. If you have any fur babies, please post them.
[00:44:23] Speaker G: If you were on the Discord December 7th, you would have seen a post about this already.
[00:44:28] Speaker D: I posted a squirrel.
[00:44:30] Speaker G: Squirrels.
[00:44:30] Speaker A: Squirrel.
[00:44:31] Speaker B: Squirrel in my pants.
[00:44:33] Speaker D: Not in my pants.
[00:44:34] Speaker B: You can get on the Discord. Scroll back up, see what we were all seeing. It's kind of like a time capsule. It's a conversation from us in the.
[00:44:40] Speaker E: Past to you in the future.
[00:44:42] Speaker G: Literally, a piece of our souls are left behind.
[00:44:45] Speaker F: I'm a ginger. I don't have a soul.
[00:44:47] Speaker D: Guys, let's wrap this up.
[00:44:48] Speaker B: You have all of ours.
[00:44:52] Speaker E: And cut.
[00:44:53] Speaker G: Son is leaving.
[00:44:56] Speaker B: This has been an Atomic Broadcasting production. If you enjoyed the show, make sure to give us some support by liking, commenting and following. These things really do make a difference in getting the word out and helping our community grow. Also, make sure to check us out on threads and check out the Discord server where you can chat with other fans and discuss all the recent developments and happenings. Links to all these good things in the description below. The Written and the Lost is an original story that uses trademarks and or copyrights owned by Paizo, Inc. Used under Paizo's Fan Content Policy. Atomic Broadcasting and the Written and the Lost are not published, endorsed or specifically approved by Paizo. For more information about Paizo, Inc. And paizo products, visit paizo.com hope to see you all in the next episode. Until then, have an atomic time.
[00:45:45] Speaker F: Just do not put them on our bed, please. I don't want to come.
[00:45:50] Speaker A: They're providing for you, I guess.
[00:45:53] Speaker F: What just happened?
[00:45:55] Speaker A: What the I didn't mean to do this.
[00:45:57] Speaker F: Do I have to mime throwing it?
[00:46:01] Speaker D: And it slipped out of my hand.
[00:46:03] Speaker A: To the right.
[00:46:04] Speaker D: To the right.
[00:46:05] Speaker A: Behind the computer.
[00:46:06] Speaker D: Behind the computer.
[00:46:08] Speaker A: Computer on the table.
[00:46:09] Speaker E: Well, all the way back in that corner.
[00:46:13] Speaker D: I don't even know what happened.
[00:46:15] Speaker B: Cue the the.
[00:46:16] Speaker E: The.
[00:46:17] Speaker B: The intermission music. The public domain intermission music.
[00:46:22] Speaker F: That's pretty impressive that you chucked Val.
[00:46:24] Speaker A: She's pretty big. Just like Maddox and that mouse.
[00:46:27] Speaker F: What?
[00:46:28] Speaker E: Just like Maddox and the mouse.
[00:46:31] Speaker G: Maddox and the mouse.
[00:46:32] Speaker E: But be a fun band name.
