EP. 117 You are Nirros

[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. [00:00:33] Speaker B: Now, where did we leave off? [00:00:36] Speaker A: Ah, yes. [00:00:39] Speaker B: While the rest of the party traversed the dead roads, Uvair visited his friend Idas in a dream. She informed him that his runes were caused by a mysterious entity known as the Poet with great power over others. [00:00:56] Speaker C: Fates. [00:00:57] Speaker B: After some parting words, uh, found himself waking at his desk. [00:01:10] Speaker D: Are you guys aware of the Swiss Alps? [00:01:13] Speaker E: I've heard a mountain range. [00:01:15] Speaker D: Yeah, the mountain rage. Did you guys know that there are hundreds of bunkers in the Swiss House? [00:01:22] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:01:24] Speaker D: No, no, no. See back in. [00:01:26] Speaker E: Oh, that's in the Ark. [00:01:27] Speaker D: I don't remember if It's World War I or World War II, but since they're a neutral party and I was gonna make you guys look this up yourself because I can't talk very well, but since they're a neutral thing in the wars and everything, they didn't really want to be on the offensive. But they were like, if somebody attacks us, what are we gonna do? So they went into the Swiss Alps and they started building bunkers and, and apparently it's, it's a. I don't know if it's a law now or if it was like something they had to do before, but every house in, I guess Sweden or whatever, Switzerland. Switzerland, sorry. Is required to have a shelter, like a bunker in their basement. I found this on YouTube. These guys were looking at the, the world's biggest bunkers and holy crap, it's like going into caves. I went on a whole like cave exploration thing, but like there are just so many bunkers and you never would have thought about it. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Well, they also, they went further with that. They also booby trapped like a ton of their bridges and stuff so that they could destroy them. When should invading forces try to come in? [00:02:43] Speaker D: Well, that I didn't know. But they also said that they pretty much just sent everybody home with a gun and some ammo and they were like, be ready. Something could happen. The Minute man, they didn't have an army, they had Switzerland. [00:03:02] Speaker A: Well regulated militia if I remember correctly. They also have ridiculous redundancy when it comes to like their water, electricity, sewer, stuff like that. [00:03:12] Speaker D: If you get a chance, definitely look up the bunkers and just see the kinds of things that they. It's amazing. [00:03:20] Speaker C: Listen, if you're going to be neutral, you have to be prepared. [00:03:23] Speaker E: What was I thinking about the seed Storage thing. [00:03:27] Speaker A: So there is a seed storage. I forget the name of it, but there is Russia. [00:03:35] Speaker E: It's somewhere cold. I know that. [00:03:36] Speaker D: I thought it was somewhere. [00:03:37] Speaker A: Yeah, really built into a mountain. [00:03:40] Speaker C: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault. That one in Norway. [00:03:44] Speaker D: Can't believe I just pulled that right. [00:03:45] Speaker C: Off the top of the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen. [00:03:49] Speaker E: Yeah, we all have Google petite. [00:03:52] Speaker C: Oh, that's cool. [00:03:53] Speaker D: I use Bing. [00:03:56] Speaker F: You monster. [00:03:57] Speaker C: Like Peter Parker. [00:03:59] Speaker D: I think Bing is on my search thing, like maybe twice. [00:04:02] Speaker E: Sponsored by Sony. [00:04:03] Speaker C: I used to use Bing a fair amount. It's a good, good. [00:04:05] Speaker A: Bing is Microsoft. [00:04:06] Speaker C: I have no problem with Bing. [00:04:07] Speaker E: Why is it in Sony Pictures? [00:04:09] Speaker D: I'm pretty sure that they used to have Bing maps and they stopped using Bing maps. Like they actually had a Bing maps. [00:04:17] Speaker C: Bingo. [00:04:18] Speaker A: And then they explained it's Internet Explorers. [00:04:21] Speaker D: Yeah, well, that's no more Internet Explorer. [00:04:25] Speaker C: Microsoft Edge is great. [00:04:26] Speaker A: Edge. Edge now I actually really like Edge. [00:04:30] Speaker D: It's okay. But it's based on Chrome. Yeah, everything's based on Chrome. [00:04:32] Speaker C: It runs better than all the Chrome stuff I use. [00:04:36] Speaker E: Where'd your Axolotl go? [00:04:38] Speaker A: Yeah, where is your Axolotl? [00:04:40] Speaker G: Right here. [00:04:40] Speaker D: Anyways, Switzerland. [00:04:41] Speaker E: I like looking at it. [00:04:42] Speaker G: I can put it on my mic again. [00:04:44] Speaker E: Thank you. [00:04:45] Speaker G: You're welcome. [00:04:46] Speaker A: That's the Swiss, though. What that tells me, though, about Switzerland is that if you want a bunker maid, hire a company from Switzerland for. [00:04:55] Speaker E: Over a century year old. They have to be over a century year old. [00:05:01] Speaker A: The company has to be over a. [00:05:02] Speaker E: Century because otherwise they weren't around World War I to build the bunkers. Was it one or two? [00:05:08] Speaker A: They still build bunkers. [00:05:09] Speaker E: Oh, it was two then. [00:05:11] Speaker H: Yeah. They keep those bunches going. Yeah. [00:05:12] Speaker E: They keep this. [00:05:13] Speaker A: Bunkers are not necessarily. [00:05:14] Speaker E: Yeah, but the company they still make. [00:05:16] Speaker C: They still build them. [00:05:18] Speaker E: I don't want some new age company coming in building me a new age bunker. [00:05:22] Speaker D: I'm trying to find pictures of the bunkers, but I typed in Swiss Elf bunkers. And I'm just seeing the Swiss Alps. Like it's not very beautiful. [00:05:29] Speaker A: They were camouflaged. [00:05:31] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, that's the point. But like, all I'm seeing is mountains. I'm like, this is a good example. [00:05:36] Speaker A: So. [00:05:36] Speaker C: Andor arc raiders will take place in the Swiss bunkers. Maybe gotta live underground. [00:05:42] Speaker D: Maybe that's where that occurs. [00:05:44] Speaker H: Boy, it'd be cool to live in an underground, hermetically sealed bunker with a smart home design. [00:05:50] Speaker E: No, it wouldn't. [00:05:50] Speaker D: I mean, these were all made in World War II. [00:05:52] Speaker A: You wouldn't have to worry about Mice. [00:05:54] Speaker G: I know what you're referencing. [00:05:57] Speaker E: Why does that reference like everything. [00:05:59] Speaker A: I know what you're referencing now, too. [00:06:01] Speaker D: I don't. [00:06:02] Speaker A: I think so. [00:06:03] Speaker G: What's it from? [00:06:05] Speaker A: Fallout? [00:06:06] Speaker G: No. [00:06:06] Speaker A: No. Okay. [00:06:07] Speaker E: Is it one of the horror movies about AI? [00:06:09] Speaker H: No. It sounds like a TV show called Eureka. [00:06:11] Speaker D: Eureka. [00:06:15] Speaker G: It's an old sci fi original show. It's actually really good. [00:06:18] Speaker E: I passively watched that. [00:06:19] Speaker G: At some point, I made him watch through it and he said he actually liked it. [00:06:22] Speaker E: Did you? [00:06:22] Speaker D: We just have a genuine Eureka moment. [00:06:25] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:06:25] Speaker C: What security would say that he's seen five things. [00:06:30] Speaker G: Hey, listen. [00:06:31] Speaker A: Listen. [00:06:31] Speaker H: Start watching something and go. [00:06:33] Speaker G: And stop that. You have to get over that. I have. Listen. Since we got married, I have greatly increased the volume of movies and TV shows that he has consumed. And he actually likes them. [00:06:46] Speaker D: So it's up to. [00:06:47] Speaker H: Although they're still the same loudness level. [00:06:52] Speaker C: What? [00:06:53] Speaker G: Shut up. [00:06:56] Speaker E: If I've learned one thing about stories is you have to get past. [00:06:58] Speaker G: That was really bad. That was awful. [00:07:02] Speaker E: I loved it. [00:07:03] Speaker A: I didn't get it. [00:07:04] Speaker G: I said I have greatly increase the volume of movies and shows that he has watched. [00:07:08] Speaker H: But as a true millennial, I do watch all of these with captions. [00:07:14] Speaker E: That's how you hear. I don't. [00:07:16] Speaker F: I don't. [00:07:16] Speaker H: I hear with my eyes. [00:07:17] Speaker F: I hear with my eyes. [00:07:18] Speaker C: It's just easier because sometimes they get quiet. [00:07:20] Speaker H: Yeah. [00:07:21] Speaker E: Like, I don't have problems with this. When me and are watching stuff, it's literally any intense scene, you cannot hear what they're saying. And then it goes to, like, a quiet scene and you cannot hear what they're saying. And then during the normal scenes, the music is too loud and you cannot hear what they're saying. [00:07:37] Speaker D: Oftentimes I just can't process it fast enough. [00:07:39] Speaker C: Listen, Sven, you can say no. I've seen your TV set up at your house. You don't need subtitles. [00:07:46] Speaker H: You can just read their lips. [00:07:49] Speaker D: You could read their vibrations, probably. [00:07:51] Speaker A: I can feel what they're saying. [00:07:53] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can. It's cool. But, yeah, you definitely can. Kirscheter Nolan movies are the ones worst. [00:08:02] Speaker H: Speaking of captions, it's a really good thing that everybody has captions for the audio game that we are playing. [00:08:09] Speaker A: I don't think we do. [00:08:11] Speaker H: Oh, well, we want us. [00:08:15] Speaker C: We want to, but, man, does that take a lot of time. [00:08:18] Speaker H: It really does. [00:08:20] Speaker D: And that's why we're sponsored today. [00:08:25] Speaker E: Surround sound system in the castle. [00:08:26] Speaker G: Oh, heck. And yep. [00:08:28] Speaker D: Have you surrounding one, like, one room or the whole castle? [00:08:31] Speaker E: The whole castle. [00:08:32] Speaker G: The whole Castle? No, it surrounds him. That way, everyone can party no matter where they are. [00:08:37] Speaker C: Every wall is an amp. [00:08:40] Speaker H: Speaking of the castle, the four of. [00:08:42] Speaker C: You, how many transitions was that? [00:08:46] Speaker H: Speaking of transitions, Zafir, Albert, Val, and Neros have just returned to the flying castle to find Uvaire slumped over his desk, fast asleep. [00:08:56] Speaker D: It's not flying currently. [00:08:57] Speaker G: Oh, it's on the ground. [00:08:59] Speaker H: Your landed castle. [00:09:01] Speaker C: What time is it right now? [00:09:03] Speaker H: It's like one in the afternoon. [00:09:05] Speaker E: Taking a little nap. [00:09:06] Speaker H: He. [00:09:06] Speaker G: Listen, he's an old man. He needs his afternoon nap. [00:09:09] Speaker E: I'm gonna walk up and jostle his shoulder. [00:09:12] Speaker C: He's napping. You don't need to wake him up. [00:09:14] Speaker E: I asked him to do a thing and he's napping. He's asked me to do it. I told you to put the potions in the rooms, and that clearly has yet to be done. [00:09:23] Speaker A: That has not happened. [00:09:24] Speaker G: You are correct. [00:09:28] Speaker A: In fact, they are still sitting on the desk. I imagine. [00:09:33] Speaker D: Sometimes people need to do things in their own time. Just we let it happen. [00:09:36] Speaker E: A telekinetic hand comes out and grabs your shoulder and jiggles. I'm just like uber. Shake, shake, shake. [00:09:45] Speaker A: He wakes up. [00:09:48] Speaker D: That was anticlimactic. Okay, I thought it was going to be harder. [00:09:57] Speaker G: My axolotl is shaking. [00:09:59] Speaker A: He wakes up and he looks up. [00:10:03] Speaker F: You are all back. Did you find what you were looking for? [00:10:08] Speaker G: No. [00:10:09] Speaker C: Yes, kind of. And no. [00:10:11] Speaker G: Maybe me. No. [00:10:14] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a long story. It feels like it's been, like two days. I'm very tired. [00:10:20] Speaker F: It has been. [00:10:22] Speaker A: And he looks at a clock. Do we have a clock in the room? [00:10:27] Speaker D: You could just look at one of us and say, what time is it? [00:10:30] Speaker H: Yeah. [00:10:34] Speaker G: You have two clocks standing in front of you. One is the form of Zafir and the other one is Alward. [00:10:41] Speaker A: He looks up. Fine. He looks up. [00:10:47] Speaker E: What? [00:10:48] Speaker F: What time is it? [00:10:50] Speaker E: I'm shaking his shoulder. [00:10:54] Speaker D: It's. It's 1 1. [00:10:57] Speaker H: 37. 17. [00:10:59] Speaker D: Is that pumpkin spice. 37. [00:11:06] Speaker A: One pumpkin spice 37. Gotcha. [00:11:11] Speaker F: So only a few hours Zen, apparently. [00:11:18] Speaker G: I'm going to my room. [00:11:22] Speaker C: Bye. [00:11:25] Speaker A: He just looks at the dynamic of everyone in front of them. How do you all look? Are you still processing what you guys went through? [00:11:32] Speaker E: Yes. Yeah, clearly. Nero says she went to her room. [00:11:38] Speaker F: Is she okay? What did you all find out? [00:11:44] Speaker E: Well, Val's gonna become a psychopomp, and Neros is not a being that exists. Yeah, it doesn't feel good when people say your secrets out, does it? [00:11:59] Speaker C: It's not a secret. [00:12:00] Speaker E: Well, I'm just saying it feels Fine. [00:12:02] Speaker C: I was about to tell him all that too. What? Lay off the attitude. [00:12:07] Speaker E: Sorry. That thing really creeped me out. [00:12:10] Speaker D: You too, O.B. [00:12:10] Speaker E: I'M on edge. [00:12:11] Speaker D: Very aggressive. [00:12:12] Speaker C: Y' all made me an offer to become an usher of souls and such. I've now become a mortal herald, and if I break this tablet, I can say 100%, yes, I have time to think about it. [00:12:27] Speaker E: I thought breaking the tablet did the opposite. [00:12:29] Speaker C: I have another tablet. No. Right? The Rectus Savvy? It's yes. [00:12:34] Speaker A: Does anything that he is saying register with me at all? [00:12:38] Speaker H: From my understanding of your context, I feel like you're probably in a headspace of like. Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever. [00:12:45] Speaker A: Yes. [00:12:46] Speaker C: It's breaking it. [00:12:48] Speaker A: Do I understand what he means by becoming an usher? Blah, blah, blah. [00:12:52] Speaker H: Make a religion check. [00:12:53] Speaker F: Okay. [00:12:53] Speaker C: Because like he said, crush it in your hand. [00:12:55] Speaker H: I'm pretty sure if you. You break it, then I buy it. You buy it? [00:12:59] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. [00:13:00] Speaker H: You break it. [00:13:01] Speaker E: Wait, then how does. How does she abscond with it if she doesn't want it? [00:13:05] Speaker H: I say that she returns it. [00:13:07] Speaker E: Oh, okay. I thought it was reversed for somebody's name. [00:13:10] Speaker A: 37. [00:13:11] Speaker H: Oh, yeah. This all totally makes sense to you. You're following completely. [00:13:16] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's a big thing. I'm probably going to say yes, but I'm just taking some time to think about it. [00:13:22] Speaker F: That would be a very large decision to make, from what I understand. [00:13:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:30] Speaker E: He said it would, like, erase her. [00:13:34] Speaker F: I don't think it would so much erase her, but fundamentally change. [00:13:39] Speaker E: That's what he said, though. I'm just saying what he said. [00:13:42] Speaker C: I feel like you didn't fully jive with the words he was saying. [00:13:46] Speaker E: I did not know. [00:13:49] Speaker F: There is a large difference between changing something of who you are and erasing who you were. [00:13:55] Speaker E: Then maybe he should have said it better. [00:13:58] Speaker H: Yeah. [00:13:59] Speaker C: It's just gonna be like a new way. It's. [00:14:01] Speaker H: It's. [00:14:01] Speaker C: I'm so me. It's just a different way of existing with a new job. [00:14:06] Speaker F: But that explains what you found. What about Neros? [00:14:12] Speaker C: So Barzak had said, no way to me going to help. But I told him, yeah. And he said, okay. There's a lot more to it, obviously, but I don't need to get into the specifics. [00:14:25] Speaker E: Neros has dominion over the plane. [00:14:27] Speaker C: Neros. Yeah, she has some sort of authority level. Barzak's not sure if Neros has a soul or she is a person. He said she's a being. He doesn't know if there's a soul. [00:14:40] Speaker F: To transfer, as if she doesn't exist. [00:14:43] Speaker C: But potentially something like that. Your eyes wouldn't really lie to there you. Did you get enough sleep the other night? [00:14:58] Speaker E: My telekinetic hand's gonna shake him again. Are you okay? You seem more absurd undone by this revelation than we are. [00:15:08] Speaker F: I. I'm still waking up. Sure that that would be just disconcerting. I am sure to learn that yes. [00:15:22] Speaker C: We were all given stamps to go into the boneyard. She didn't need to use hers. We went in and then we found the river of Souls which we were traveling along. And there was a giant astro demon eating up a soul. And it saw us. There's like a whole mile long gap that we'd have to fly across. And we were trying to think of how to do. And then it attacked us and almost killed me immediately. And then we all broke our tablets and came home. [00:15:54] Speaker D: I pinned him with a tomato before we left. Definitely right on bullseye spot. [00:15:58] Speaker C: That was pretty great. [00:16:00] Speaker A: Uwe is just going to, you see him, gather up all the books and suddenly they all disappear as he quietly touches his librarian staff that he always has and actually just start quietly walking away from the group. [00:16:23] Speaker E: Uwe, does the name Zolgaz sound familiar to you? [00:16:30] Speaker H: Make a religion check once again. [00:16:34] Speaker A: Once more into the breach of rolling. [00:16:39] Speaker E: Did you get a Nat1 Nat20. [00:16:41] Speaker A: Hey, so that would be a 38. Uvair apparently has been doing recent research. [00:16:50] Speaker H: You are familiar with the name of Zulgazaz as being an astral demon that has been difficult to deal with. His name has shown up on a couple registries that you've seen here and there of like demons that people have attempted to summon, and they are saying, do not summon this one. [00:17:13] Speaker A: O. [00:17:16] Speaker F: I have heard the name before on tales and whispers of old magic rituals as one who you should avoid at all cost. [00:17:35] Speaker E: Okay. [00:17:35] Speaker C: Why did he tell you his name? We were all leaving. [00:17:38] Speaker E: He didn't tell me his name. [00:17:40] Speaker C: How do you know it? [00:17:42] Speaker E: Well, now, it wasn't the demon's name that we were fighting. [00:17:44] Speaker C: Oh, I thought it was. [00:17:45] Speaker F: What did this demon tell you? [00:17:48] Speaker E: It's just that that thing would remember or something. [00:17:53] Speaker C: I mean, if it isn't, wouldn't that mean it's his name? [00:17:55] Speaker E: No. Why would you refer to yourself in the third person? [00:17:58] Speaker C: Introduce yourself. [00:18:00] Speaker E: If you wanted to introduce, you do it at the start. [00:18:02] Speaker C: What's he talking about then? [00:18:04] Speaker E: I don't know. Presumably somebody higher up than him. [00:18:07] Speaker C: Is he an astro demon sound? [00:18:10] Speaker F: Yes. [00:18:12] Speaker E: Like, would you walk up to somebody and say, val will remember this if. [00:18:16] Speaker C: They didn't know who I was probably. [00:18:17] Speaker E: Why wouldn't you say? Hello, my name is Val. [00:18:19] Speaker F: Did he tell you anything else? [00:18:22] Speaker E: No. [00:18:22] Speaker F: Any of you? [00:18:25] Speaker C: He laughed at the fact that I was a servant of Phrasma and then asked for one of us who. Which of us wanted to he said live vows. [00:18:35] Speaker E: God abandoned her. [00:18:37] Speaker C: And then he said, one of you. And which ones of you are gonna get sucked up by me? [00:18:42] Speaker E: And then he eenie meeny miny mode. [00:18:44] Speaker F: Us until I one of you would live. Why would he keep one of you alive? [00:18:49] Speaker C: Terror. [00:18:50] Speaker E: I wasn't fully cognizant during that part, but yeah. [00:18:56] Speaker C: Ah. [00:18:57] Speaker F: Why were you not fully cognizant? [00:19:01] Speaker E: Howard's face. Like he gets like a thousand yard stare and he's like a lot of threads to sort through. [00:19:10] Speaker F: Threads of. [00:19:16] Speaker H: Bad. [00:19:16] Speaker E: Bad. You know. You know how it is. [00:19:19] Speaker F: Your magic. [00:19:21] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:19:22] Speaker F: Threads of time. [00:19:23] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:19:24] Speaker F: You performed your magic in front of an astro demon. [00:19:30] Speaker E: I mean it kind of just happened. Yeah. Is that bad? I don't know what an astrodemon is. I presume they're just like any other demon. [00:19:43] Speaker H: So with your success on a religion check, Val and Uvir, you both are aware of what astrodemons are? Daemons. The demons in general are. They are soul consumers. They rather than like demons or devils or other things which want to collect and torment souls, daemons want to consume. Consume them. But the astral demons particularly are very dangerous, deadly ones that rather than kind of getting stuck in the abyss and kind of moving around through there, they can actually maneuver through into different planes and walk through the astral plane to get to where they need to be to stalk their prey and consume them. [00:20:26] Speaker C: Like that episode of Twilight Zone. [00:20:29] Speaker E: There's a Gremlin though. [00:20:30] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:31] Speaker F: Second, even I do not know the exact reason. But you might have drawn the attention of one that you wish you would not have. [00:20:43] Speaker E: I mean, we've been doing that a lot lately. So what's another name on the list? Fafnir, Eridson, Zul Gazaz. [00:20:57] Speaker C: We'll deal with him like we've dealt with all the others. Once we get stronger, we'll go back to finish up to take care of that business and help figure out all this stuff going on with Corvus and everything. But we can't go back now. [00:21:14] Speaker A: Uvaire nods his head at that and then turns for a moment, picks up an envelope. More mail off the desk, sir. [00:21:31] Speaker F: Visited and left this. It is more information on the weird cutter. Perhaps you can take a look at it and we can plan our next steps. [00:21:44] Speaker A: And he hands it to Valley because. [00:21:49] Speaker F: He knows our doesn't like to get. [00:21:51] Speaker A: Things handed to him. [00:21:52] Speaker D: It's factual and I would probably drop it. [00:21:55] Speaker A: And you can't read. [00:22:00] Speaker E: Hurtful but true. [00:22:04] Speaker C: Val takes it, walks up next to the table and hops up onto the table and like, lays down on it. [00:22:11] Speaker A: Lays down on the table. [00:22:13] Speaker C: Yep. And she's just like on her back. And so she's just kind of holding it up and reading it. [00:22:20] Speaker F: It's good to see you all come back safely. [00:22:24] Speaker A: And he walks away and towards where Neros went. [00:22:31] Speaker E: To Neros bedroom. [00:22:33] Speaker G: Mm, Interesting choice. [00:22:37] Speaker C: Alward, what's this word mean? It looks like it's in the erisin or something. It's hard to make that. Who wrote this? [00:22:46] Speaker E: Seer Dyer. [00:22:47] Speaker C: Ah, he's old. [00:22:49] Speaker E: He's very shaky hand. Right here. What. [00:22:52] Speaker C: What word is it? [00:22:55] Speaker E: Best I can tell, it's. It's scissors. [00:22:59] Speaker C: Ah, that makes sense with the context of the sentence. [00:23:03] Speaker E: Gonna be so sad if the weird cutters aren't just a pair of scissors. [00:23:06] Speaker D: They are, but weird. [00:23:07] Speaker C: Or they're dual sword, big scissors, two giant cleavers. [00:23:15] Speaker E: Is this kill La kill now. [00:23:18] Speaker C: Well, here, Alward, you take this. I'm gonna go to bed. I feel like I've been up for like an hour. I mean. [00:23:26] Speaker E: Factually correct. [00:23:29] Speaker C: I met a day. Thank you. Goodbye. [00:23:34] Speaker D: I do believe she needs the. The rest. It sounds like she needs it. [00:23:38] Speaker H: So the envelope directs you to a small town called Woodhurst in the Verge. The Verge is the westernmost portion of Irison and borders along mostly along the portion of the Land of London Kings that's called Hagsreach. The Verge is a very hostile area to the people of the Land of the Lunar Kings. They literally have a directive to harass them as much as possible without causing war. But. A small town within the Verge by the name of Woodhurst is where this dagger that you're looking for, the weird cutter, was last seen. It has a handle of bone and a blade made out of peachwood. According to the rumors, this dagger is in the possession of a witch that lives outside of that town. And due to politics in Irison, witches are shockingly societally acceptable. So even though she is harassing and bothering the people of Woodhurst, nobody really cares or has done anything about it. And anyone who has come into the area and attempted to do so has either never been seen again or. Or has come back and said, yeah, don't try that. [00:25:02] Speaker E: Yeah, bad idea. Does the witch have a name? [00:25:07] Speaker A: Margaret Thatcher? [00:25:11] Speaker H: None. That the rumors have spread if she has a name, it has not been shared. [00:25:15] Speaker D: I used to have a name. Why? [00:25:18] Speaker H: When I was so poor growing up, we couldn't afford names. We shared a name. [00:25:22] Speaker D: That makes sense. [00:25:23] Speaker H: But the. The envelope includes a map that shows you where you should go to in the verge. And it's only let me count here on my map that I'm looking at. [00:25:32] Speaker D: Can we see it on our map? [00:25:33] Speaker H: It's like 50 miles in to the verge, across the border. [00:25:37] Speaker D: So you said Wood, Herge, Woodhurst, Hearst. Sorry, I wrote. I wrote it right. [00:25:43] Speaker H: It's like wood hearse with a T. Cool. [00:25:51] Speaker E: We now have information. [00:25:53] Speaker C: Nice job. [00:25:54] Speaker H: Meanwhile. [00:25:58] Speaker A: U quietly walks to Neros's door and Neros. You hear a few soft knocks. [00:26:12] Speaker F: Neros, it is Uwe. Do you have a moment? [00:26:23] Speaker G: Fine. [00:26:28] Speaker A: He slowly opens up the door and peeks in. [00:26:36] Speaker G: Neros is sitting on her bed. She has a letter out that has been seen multiple times and she's just kind of rubbing her thumb over the seal that's on it. [00:26:57] Speaker A: Gouverne comes through the door and quietly. [00:26:59] Speaker F: Closes it behind him, walks over, pulls. [00:27:05] Speaker A: Up a chair and sits down. Not directly across from her, but kind of catty corner. [00:27:13] Speaker F: I wanted to see if you are all right. They told me a little bit about what happened, but I wanted to hear it from you. Your words. [00:27:28] Speaker G: Short answer. No, I'm not. It's a little upsetting to hear that you. Basically, you don't. Shouldn't exist. And it's. You know, it's come from multiple beings now, not just one. They don't know what I am, you know. I just wanted to find my parents and find out who they are. And I'm finding out that I shouldn't be here. [00:28:06] Speaker E: He. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Is quiet for a moment. [00:28:14] Speaker F: I understand a little bit the feeling of not belonging, of being unnatural. I have had other lives, so to speak, of being someone else that I do not have memories of or know or understand. And I am much older than I should be. Do you still want to continue to find out more? [00:28:53] Speaker G: I don't know for sure. I mean, I want to know what I am. I think maybe. [00:29:05] Speaker C: But. [00:29:07] Speaker F: But you are frightened of what that is? [00:29:09] Speaker G: Yeah. I mean, I've always known I'm not normal, but I mean, to be called an abomination. Cruel words and, you know, someone saying that they don't know if I have a soul or not and they don't know what I am and I don't know. All these voices in my head that I hear all the time. I have no idea what they are. And I just. [00:29:40] Speaker A: That's a first. [00:29:41] Speaker G: She's never told anyone that before? [00:29:44] Speaker A: Nope. [00:29:45] Speaker G: I mean, you guys know, but she's never said that openly. Now with all of this coming up, it just makes me question everything Geordi. [00:29:58] Speaker A: Whispers in the head. Is that proc. Anything? [00:30:02] Speaker H: What direction of thought are you taking on this? [00:30:06] Speaker A: Honestly, I think he would go into his most trusted thought process of. Has he ever heard any stories of children like her? [00:30:17] Speaker E: The. [00:30:18] Speaker A: The black on the arms, it's slowly getting. We've seen the black grow at this. [00:30:24] Speaker H: Point, so I'm not gonna have you roll on that. I'm gonna tell you that you're confident that you cannot think in any of the stories that you've collected of anything else that fits the bill. You can think of stories where people have black patches that appear, but not on their hands and not growing. You can think of stories where people hear whispers, but not in the same way that Nero's does. [00:30:48] Speaker F: So Barzak said that he wasn't sure that you had a soul, right? If I understand that correctly. [00:30:55] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:30:58] Speaker A: Next train of thought will be what he just thought of or what he learned. [00:31:03] Speaker H: Yeah. I would say in the context of what you've just learned, you have enough to be suspicious. But you know no more about this that recall knowledge would help you to discern. [00:31:16] Speaker A: That's fair. You see Uber get a far off look as he's thinking through, trying to. [00:31:26] Speaker F: Piece together anything he could to help to explain. Perhaps. And maybe, just maybe, you see a flash of something, but not so much of recognition or part, but a thought that he quickly buries. I don't. I wish I could give you information that would explain. I wish I had information that would help. I'm afraid I do not. But I can tell you something that I think you need to hear. Something that I have had to learn. Who you are is different from what you are. You say that you have been called an abomination, but that is not necessarily true. Perhaps you are unnatural. Perhaps you are not normal to this world. But you don't have to take that as who you are. To me, you are Neros, one of our party. My young friend, what you find out does not change who you are. Now, you are Nero's and that is how I choose to see you. But you can only choose to see yourself as such, as well. And as he says that, he places. [00:33:19] Speaker A: A hand on top of yours as. [00:33:22] Speaker F: It'S stroking that seal. This does not define you. And should you find the answers that you seek, they do not have to define you. As well. I promised you long ago that I would help you find your answers. I still hold to that promise. [00:33:46] Speaker G: You haven't remembered anything, have you? [00:33:53] Speaker F: No. If I did, I would tell you. But I too am a little unnatural. So let us find our answers together as Neros and we there. [00:34:11] Speaker G: I just don't know who Neros is anymore. [00:34:16] Speaker F: She is you now. Young, witty, very flirtatious, smart, rambunctious. I can continue. A friend. One who feels deeply. One who cares, even though she likes to hide it. [00:34:45] Speaker G: It's just hard. [00:34:47] Speaker F: It is. I will not pretend that it is. [00:34:51] Speaker E: Not. [00:34:53] Speaker F: In my mind. It's taken me 300 years to come to this conclusion. I am asking you to do it in a matter of minutes. I do not expect it to happen so soon. But try a little bit and perhaps someday you will see yourself as I see you. What others say do not have to hold sway over how you see yourself. [00:35:23] Speaker G: I mean, normally I don't care what people say about me, but this is just. [00:35:28] Speaker F: It is difficult when a God says something. Usually you're supposed to pay attention to things such as that. But the gods have been mistaken before. [00:35:41] Speaker G: It's just no matter where I go looking for answers, the only conclusion I could find is that I am not supposed to be here. Maybe I'm not supposed to be. [00:35:58] Speaker F: And who makes that determination? [00:36:01] Speaker G: The universe, apparently. [00:36:03] Speaker F: And yet you are here, sitting in front of me. [00:36:07] Speaker A: And at that he actually grips your hand. [00:36:11] Speaker F: You seem real to me. You are not a shade. You are not a fictant of my imagination. You exist. You are you. [00:36:26] Speaker G: I think it's just gonna take time. [00:36:31] Speaker F: You are young. You have plenty of time in front of you. [00:36:37] Speaker G: Maybe what we're chasing after might take us all out. [00:36:44] Speaker F: If I have anything to say of it, I would not allow that to happen. [00:36:49] Speaker G: I mean, hey, if I'm taken out of the world, balance will be restored and everything will be fine. According to Pharasma. [00:36:59] Speaker F: Balance is a fickle thing. Determinant on how you view things should be balanced and whether or not you are correct. Who can say? Next time I will be by your side. Together we can learn the answers and see if this balance is truly all that they say it should be. And whether or not what you learn is worthy of who you are. [00:37:37] Speaker A: And with a final squeeze on your hand, he'll get up and walk to the door, opening it. [00:37:48] Speaker F: Get some rest. In Eros, think about what I have said. We will be waiting for you when you are ready. And he steps out and softly closes the door behind. [00:38:07] Speaker G: I'm gonna do a thing. As Ufer closes the door, Nero stares at it for a minute. She looks down at the letter in her hands that she's been carrying around since she was old enough to carry things. And with like a slightly angry look in her eye, a little bit of rage, she rips the letter in half. And I don't know if there's like a sconce around or something with a candle or whatever, but she takes the candle, she burns it until it's pile of ash on the floor of her room. [00:39:01] Speaker H: And the last shot that we see of that scene is just a close up on the locket. And we just see the fire flickering its reflection in the locket. And the hero point for today's episode will go to Abby. [00:39:32] Speaker A: 100%. [00:39:35] Speaker E: Fingers golf claps. [00:39:37] Speaker G: Wow, thanks. [00:39:40] Speaker H: For the gut wrenching storytelling. [00:39:44] Speaker G: A lot of fun that was. Putting myself in that headspace is like, oh, it was rough. I'm over here actually like shaking just a little bit. Anyway, I. What am I gonna do after that? I think honestly I need some like comfort Chinese food. So I'm gonna go. I think I'm gonna go stuff my face with some fried rice and orange chicken and some crab rangoons right now. Probably Panda. [00:40:13] Speaker E: I had some panda the other day, so. [00:40:15] Speaker F: Panda. [00:40:16] Speaker H: It's a tradition. I've eaten Panda. Not Panda Express necessarily, but I've eaten Chinese after almost every single time we've gotten together to record this show. [00:40:24] Speaker C: I don't believe you. [00:40:25] Speaker D: That's crazy. [00:40:26] Speaker G: I mean, I can corroborate. [00:40:27] Speaker A: That's a good Chinese. [00:40:29] Speaker E: That's a good Chinese. [00:40:32] Speaker C: Right over there. After like almost every session. [00:40:34] Speaker G: That's what we had for lunch today. [00:40:35] Speaker H: So if, if you're in the Springfield, Missouri area, I do recommend Max Orient Express Express 2 on Battlefield. It's good stuff. [00:40:43] Speaker D: I think China has pretty cool. As in it's also the sequel. [00:40:49] Speaker E: It's named Max Oriental Express. T o o. [00:40:52] Speaker C: Wait, I'm confused. [00:40:54] Speaker G: The restaurant is Max Orient. [00:40:57] Speaker E: T o o. [00:40:58] Speaker H: If you are in the Springfield, Missouri area and you like Chinese, let us know your recommendations because I am always looking for good Chinese places. [00:41:05] Speaker D: There's a ton of them. [00:41:06] Speaker E: Just give you recommendations. [00:41:08] Speaker H: I'm not talking to you. [00:41:09] Speaker E: There's so many ways you expect some random individual we don't fully know to get on our discord and message. You specifically. [00:41:18] Speaker D: Have you seen the Internet? [00:41:19] Speaker G: We would hope so. [00:41:21] Speaker A: Jordy, quick, get us out of here. [00:41:25] Speaker H: So you. How was that? [00:41:31] Speaker E: That was goodbye. [00:41:32] Speaker H: 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. [00:42:22] Speaker E: I'm just gonna jostle this old man. I don't know why you want to. [00:42:25] Speaker A: Give me some music, Jacob. [00:42:26] Speaker F: I need the seat alred. [00:42:28] Speaker D: You're so aggressive now. [00:42:32] Speaker E: This is great jostling music. [00:42:35] Speaker C: And cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots and cats and boots. [00:42:39] Speaker D: Puss and boots. [00:42:39] Speaker A: There we go.