[dramatic instrumental music]
- In the world of Spyre
did prophecy foretell
that the dragon Kalvaxus
would rise to power
when once more were seven maidens chained
at the mouth of his cave.
What the prophecy could not predict
was what the seven had
in store for the world.
United by prophecy, bound by friendship,
the seven maidens would quickly become
one of Spyre's premier
parties of teen heroes
and all-star students at the
Aguefort Adventuring Academy.
Hello one and all.
Welcome back to another thrilling episode
of Dimension 20 presents "The Seven."
I'm your humble dungeon
master Brennan Lee Mulligan.
With me as always are our
Heroic High Schoolers.
Say hi, Heroic High Schoolers.
- [Heroic High Schoolers]
Hi, Heroic High Schoolers.
- Last we left off The Seven
were in the principal's office
of the Aguefort Adventuring Academy
speaking to none other than
Arthur Aguefort himself
who just delivered the news
that their adventuring party
was going to be broken up
at the end of the year.
What could that mean?
The preceding episode we
say the various home lives
and families of the various seven maidens,
and we saw also a flashback
to an earlier adventure
in the Cavern of Kalvaxus deep
in the Mountains of Chaos.
We arrive now, and we're gonna
do one of those 1980's style,
you know where like the episode
where you come back from commercial break
and you kind of see the last five seconds
of the preceding, you know
what I'm talking about?
- 100% Brennan.
- Yeah, yeah.
Really, can you do a slow-motion attempt
to k*ll Arthur Aguefort, got it.
- What do you mean we're getting disbanded
as an adventuring group?
- Indeed, here in the principal's office
of the Aguefort Adventuring
Academy you see Arthur Aguefort.
A long, white wizard's beard, purple suit,
holding his walking stick.
An elderly Black man
with a twinkle in his eye
and a look of ultimate mischief and wonder
at a world where anything is possible.
Standing with shelves,
all sorts of artifacts.
There's the Crown of the Nightmare King
and there's a wastepaper basket
maybe with a prophecy in it
and all the sorts of
things that Arthur Aguefort
has been known to do and he
looks at you all and says,
"Well, that's quite right.
Your adventuring party is being disbanded
at the end of the year."
- Now.
- I use Hunter's Mark.
- Ah, very cheeky, Miss Jones.
Yes, indeed.
- Professor Aguefort, hi.
I'm Penny Luckstone.
I've only met with you a couple of times
because I'm a really good student.
- You've met with me vastly more times
than you think you have.
What is a small amount of times to you
is far more than average student.
You request a lot of meetings
with a lot of faculty
members to get clarification.
- Yes, that's right.
I just wanted to say, I appreciate you
just like I start every
meeting that we have together.
I'm really impressed by
all your accomplishments.
I've read up on all of them.
- You've read my book?
- [Becca] Yeah, "The Nightmare King."
Wow, some of your best work.
Also, I just categorically
have to say no to all of that.
And also, may all us start over again
with freshman year next year?
- As you are all well aware,
you were trapped in a bunch of crystals.
And your student years
in which and what times
everyone was supposed to
graduate went higgledy-piggledy
and quite catawampus so we,
are you unfamiliar with the term?
- Yeah, what words are you saying?
- Well, I actually said two words,
the first of which was higgledy
and the latter of which was piggledy.
- All I'm hearing is bullshit.
- A different language?
[Brennan laughing]
- This is not happening.
- A saucy word indeed,
and I shall say this.
Yes, well, as you are well
aware some of you have delayed
and there has been various
chicanery and academic trickery,
but indeed, four of you are
seniors and you'll be graduating
and three of you are juniors and will not.
As you are well aware, we inform people
to make their adventuring
parties in freshman year
and all attempt to graduate together
which is sort of the modus
operandi of the academy.
Yes, Miss Cleaver.
- Can I roll intimidation?
- Yeah, go for it.
- [Rekha] Okay, eight plus.
- Hold on, can I give her advantage?
- Yeah, you can help actually, roll again.
- I want to help.
- 17 plus five so 22.
In a way where this man
probably doesn't know
what my intention, I step
forward with my full gait.
You know, I use a half gait
when I step in a stable
to not spook my horses
'cause I have 101 of them.
I'm using my full.
- [Brennan] Full gait, yeah.
- [pounds table] I walk up
to the principal and I say,
"You cannot do this.
This is the first group
of friends I've ever had."
[Brennan laughing]
- Oh, Katja.
- [Brennan] You see he looks
at you and says, "I understand.
You are all devoted to one another.
You are the model adventuring
party in many ways,
sworn to each other's service,
greater than the sum of its parts,
absolutely unhinged and
impossibly violent."
- Thank you, thank you.
- Okay, that was very sweet,
the one thing out of your mouth.
- Okay, okay.
- Thank you.
- Wow, so sweet.
[players laughing]
- These are all of the requisites
for an adventuring party.
However, this is a
publicly-funded high school.
And though we are not bound
by the laws of physics!
And here he clones
himself a couple of times
and collapses back in on himself.
We are bound by the laws of
the municipality of Elmville
and of the nation of Solace.
Yes, Miss Wallace.
- Uh-oh.
- So, no, don't worry.
Okay, you said, I don't remember
exactly any of the words,
but you said that we're sort of exemplary.
- Piggledy catawampus.
- Keep going.
- [Brennan] Yes.
- An example for,
you know, what an adventuring
party should be, right?
- Absolutely.
- Uh-huh.
And so does that mean that, you know,
we've sort of fulfilled our requirements?
- A very interesting point, Miss Wallace.
Your requirements, of
course, have been fulfilled
with the exception of the matriculation
of the three juniors in your party.
- Okay, but what do you
expect us to do next year?
- Graduate in your year, Miss Wallace!
- [Isabella] Okay, but you want
like, the rest of our party
to just leave and then the three of us
are just gonna hang back
just the three of us?
- It's like taking the
tail off of a horse.
- What, you've done that?
- Here's the thing.
- No, I would never.
- Yes, Miss Barkstock.
- It's a broken system, you know?
- Yeah.
- It is flawed.
It is set up to put us
into these little boxes.
- Like a crystal.
- Maybe the school and
Elmville need to evolve.
- For our express purposes and benefit.
- Yeah, for us.
- We played an instrumental role
in stopping the end of the world.
And who are you to deny us
these bonds forged in fire?
- Forged!
- We also didn't sue.
- I would say this.
Anyone who knows me knows
my absolute contempt
for laws of any kind.
I cannot tell you how much I
am against this restriction.
As it stands, Miss Nightingale,
Miss Jones, Miss Cleaver,
and Miss Luckstone will
graduate as seniors
at the end of the year.
And Miss Barkstock, Miss
Wallace, and Miss Donovan.
And here you see, you guys
look and see Zelda's like,
she's like on the verge of tears
having a hard, hard time with this.
She says it's the end-
- I go hold her.
- Yeah, I put a hand on her shoulder.
- Sorry, it's just stupid, I'm just-
- Don't cry, let's all-
- Doing it at once-
- Look at what you're doing!
- Feels like a maybe too much.
- [laughs] You see, yeah, everyone piles.
Ostentatia leaves a little space.
But you see that Principal
Aguefort looks and says,
[sighs] "This comes directly
from the Ministry of
Adventure in Bastion City.
We train young people
to bend arcane and divine powers
to their will and
unleash terrible violence
on a world filled with horrors,
and they just really want us
to round out four years for
people because we do that.
And at the end of the day, the Ministry
has very clear guidelines.
The Council of Chosen
overseeing that Ministry
has very direct, there
are necessary components."
Anyone who wants to can
give me an insight check.
- Yes, absolutely.
- You don't have to ask me twice.
- 12.
- 20, dirty 20.
- [Brennan] Dirty 20.
- 19.
- 19.
- 19.
Eight plus 13 is 21.
Anyone here who, I'm gonna do a little-
- 12.
- I'm sorry, Penny.
- You're just very emotionally invested.
- I can't right now.
- Anyone who beat a 17,
a little bit of a low
roll from Arthur there,
sees his eyes sort of
flicker for a second.
He goes, [sighs] "Yes, but listen.
You all seem to dread the
idea of your adventuring party
being sundered at the end of the year.
But surely there are other opportunities.
And here he winks at Antiope and Penny.
Certainly other possible careers.
And many of you also will
not rely on adventuring
for the rest of your life.
Surely the dissolution of the structure
of your group of beloved friends
shattered against the
rocks of the material world
with the endless breaking
of time, time, time,
by grain of sand doesn't
mean you can't stay in touch.
- You're hiding something.
- What?
And here he turns into a bat
and flies out the window.
- No, no, Lightning Lure.
- [Brennan] [laughs] You
Lightning Lure the Principal?
- [Persephone] Yes.
- Yeah, I'm gonna cast Hold Person.
- Oh, that's probably more effective.
- Oh, it's gotta be humanoid.
- I f*cking love it, incredible!
- A strength saving throw.
- A strength saving throw.
I'm gonna roll, as you might imagine,
a strength saving throw is
not particular proficient
for Arthur Aguefort.
- Hey!
- So he's just going to roll.
And with a 12, Arthur
Aguefort, you all watch Sam.
This crackling, scintillating, beautiful,
just like extra sparkles
coming off of it grabs the bat,
pulls the bat in.
Poof, Arthur pops back, badly
singed and goes. [coughs]
- [Persephone] Listen here,
you're not leaving until I say so.
- Oh my.
- We're gonna talk about this.
- Okay, Sam, nicely done.
- Yeah.
- You see that he goes,
"My dear Miss Nightingale."
[players shouting]
- Yes, Queen Arthur!
- You see he says, "Some extremely quick
and prodigious spellcasting.
And though it injured me in a way
that might have k*lled a lesser mortal."
- [Persephone] I'm guessing you're used
to feeling burning sensations
in parts of your body.
- Oh my God, she went there.
- [Brennan] You are
referring to my paramour,
a fiery phoenix to whom I
have made love many times.
- I think she's saying he has chlamydia.
- Yeah, I thought it was the other one
and I'm more upset that I'm hearing about-
- [Persephone] There is phoenix chlamydia.
It's the worst thing ever.
- Oh my God, that sounds-
- [Brennan] You can't get
rid of it, it comes back.
- [Rekha] It keeps coming
back and back and back.
- [Becca] Every time it goes
away, like right, right.
- [Brennan] Like a phoenix.
- Like a phoenix from the
ashes, the chlamydia rises.
- [Isabella] Rising up from the ashes.
- [Brennan] Regardless,
I will not sit here
and bandy words about phoenix chlamydia
with you students all day.
[players laughing]
- What?
- [Brennan] Miss
Nightingale, you were right
to attack me with that spell, for indeed-
[players laughing]
- You don't need to tell me.
- No, I am well aware.
[sighs] Actually, you see...
He starts to cry a little bit.
- What?
- [Brennan] It's like, I'm very proud.
I would hope that any student
who received the tutelage
in my academy would know
that in a moment of crisis
they were absolutely welcome
to f*ck my sh*t right up.
[players laughing]
- Yeah.
- Wow.
- What are you lying about?
- Not a lie of deception, but
perhaps a lie of omission.
Indeed, there are ways.
Ways of graduating at the same time.
- Skipping a grade or being
held back, what do you mean?
- You see he says, "All
of the academic chicanery
that you have all used from
various interpretations
of the calendar based
on the amount of months
that you have been imprisoned
in crystal palimpsests,
years repeated, we have
pushed those boundaries
as far as we can and yet."
You see he looks around and says,
"Even now we may yet be watched unless."
[mimics expl*si*n
reverberating] And you watch
as he looks up at all of you and says,
"Let us very quickly."
And as he moves his head to the left
and says, "Let us very quickly"
another head stays where it was and says,
"You must all learn to
give up on your dreams.
That is the Aguefort way!"
And as he steps away
and says, "The library,
my seven friends."
[Becca gasps]
And as he does he leaves an
illusory version of himself
saying, "Dreams are bad, and
to change the world is wrong.
[players laughing]
Quickly, quickly, we are
going to break some rules.
How about it?
I'm going to light up
a drug cigarette, ah!"
- [Erika] Oh yeah, yeah.
- Quickly, now, this way!
- Can you pass that?
- Danielle grows a little extra mushroom
out of the end of her
blouse and is like, hey man.
- Hell yes.
- Getting real real.
- In the hall no less.
Straight drinking from
a flask, we love it.
An apple, sure.
[players laughing]
- An onion.
- Yeah.
A full onion.
- Yeah, well, let's retcon
that, that's an onion.
- Yeah, exactly.
He begins to sneak down the hallway.
He says, "Now, I am going
to, so Aguefort the Second
will talking only for a matter of minutes
so you must be very
quick, to the library!"
And begins to rush down
linoleum locker-lined halls
of the high school.
Do you all follow your principal?
- Absolutely.
- Yeah.
- I want to fall in by
Penny as we're running.
- Oh, it is so stealthy, no one sees me.
[Brennan laughing]
- So slick.
- I'm clomping down the hall.
- I am full gait.
[group laughing]
- Just galloping.
[Rekha mimics galloping]
- Oh, oh.
- Katja and I are just
like, boom, boom, boom.
- Yeah, smashing lockers.
- Like man, phoenix chlamydia
really lights you up.
- As you guys are worried,
Penny and Antiope, you look sure
kind of as like stealth squad here.
And you see that Aguefort up
ahead winks at you and says,
"Worried about being seen?
Impossible, we don't
even exist in this time."
And you see that as you walk by,
other students can't seem to perceive you.
Aguefort walks up, you
guys see the Vice Principal
Gilear Faeth is there going,
"Children, please do not
roughhouse or horse around."
Aguefort goes, "We are invisible."
And full atomic wedgie
like, briefs over the head
the Vice Principal-
- Ostentatia's shirt immediately.
[players laughing]
- Wait a minute.
Isn't it still visible to the Principal?
- Yeah, you see...
[players laughing]
- Detention, immediate detention.
- [Isabella] He's been alive forever!
- [Brennan] Aguefort looks
up and says, "Ah, yes."
And you see, just puts up censor bars.
- [Isabella] I will not be censored!
- [Erika] Free the nipple, man.
- Are we doing this?
- [Brennan] You're absolutely
right, Miss Barkstock!
He takes his shirt off, to the library!
[players laughing]
- Katja has an identical shirt underneath.
- You arrive at the
library which is, again,
that kind of extremely lint-colored,
government-issue library carpet.
The metal connects shelves
with all the laminated highly
used books all over them.
You see Mrs. Maugly Dimweather,
the ancient librarian who's at the desk
and Aguefort walks past
and starts to recede
to the back wall and goes, "Here, yes."
Takes a velvet rope off,
goes into the forbidden section of the-
- The adult section.
- Let's go.
- This is the porn section of the library?
- Oh!
- Absolutely, yeah.
- Bad.
- Whoa!
- I snuck in here many times.
- He goes, "Very funny, Miss Cleaver.
We do not keep p*rn*graphy
in a school for children.
It just happens that many
of the arcane tomes in here
are highly erotic when read
from the right vantage point."
[Rekha and Becca laughing]
[Aabria groans]
You see that he puts the
velvet rope back, says,
"And you thought that this
was the only part of
the forbidden section.
No, this is simply the visible portion.
[soft piano music]
Descend!"
And you see that a circle of carpet,
a glowing line forms around it
that you are all standing in
and begins to turn in the
room and spiral downward
into the bottom of the
school as he goes. [laughs]
- You're having fun.
- I'm having a great time!
- Okay, we have the budget for that,
but my locker's been
stuck for like six months.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- You are always welcome to
submit a maintenance request.
- Oh my God!
- Absolutely.
- We know nobody reads those.
- The Vice Principal has been empowered-
- The yogurt guy?
- Hm?
Oh, yes, the gentleman I
atomic wedgied in the hall
is the Vice-
- He always smells like spoiled yogurt.
- Like a little bit.
- Like, yeah.
- Yeah.
- Mm-hmm.
- He brings me joy with his sorrow.
You see that you spiral down
in a full dungeon dungeon.
- [Aabria] Before we
get all the way there,
I do want to like, nudge Penny.
Just be like, "Did you get
like an internship thing, too?"
- [Becca] [gasps] I only read
the letter like six times,
but I think that I have to?
I don't want to go though.
- [Aabria] I don't either,
but that might be a way out.
- [Becca] A way out of what?
Everything is perfect, why
would we ever want out?
- [Aabria] What kind of, these
stairs go down a long way.
- For a while I toyed with having this go
to the very center of the
Earth, but it took too long
so we just settled for pretty far down.
[Becca laughs]
- That sounds, that's a lot.
- She didn't sense the molten core?
Wouldn't your lover be
disappointed about that?
- You know what's funny
is I have actually spoken
to my lover, the phoenix about it,
I'm sorry, my paramour, and by
the time you get to the core
it's actually hardly fire anymore.
It's just compacted super-hot metal
so that's sort of interesting.
Anyway, the ultra-forbidden section.
And you look at this dungeon.
Every book you see here is bound up
in weird Infernal leather and-
- Oh no!
- Oh no.
- You see there's a book
that has just like,
the leather of the book
has a gagged mouth and a
single yellow slitted eye.
And the book goes. [mumbles]
- On it.
- Aguefort says, [chuckles]
"Don't open that one.
Now, where were we?"
And he begins to approach a lectern
at the rear of the dungeon,
shrouded in darkness.
He approaches a circle of
runes drawn out in salt.
You see the raised ridge
of the lines and runes of salt there.
He holds his hand out and says,
"We would approach,
there is dark knowledge
that I must deliver
to those who would seek to know."
And wind ushers from
the back of the dungeon,
parts the circle of runes
and a dim, red light descends
onto a massive jet-black
grimoire bound in copper,
Infernal runes covering it.
And he approaches and beckons for you
to join him in the circle.
- What's a grimoire?
- It's a book!
- An old-a*s book.
- Of spells.
- This better not just be like
the syllabus or something.
- If this is just about
graduation, what the f*ck?
- Do you think while we're down here
I could like, memorize the whole book?
- Probably.
- Is this like the graduation ceremony?
Is this what's happening now?
- It's so hot.
- You're wearing 30 shirts-
- I know. [laughs]
- Go down to the last one!
- Yeah, maybe later-
- I still haven't put mine back on.
[players laughing]
- You see as you walk into the circle
the runes close up behind you.
And Aguefort holds a
hand in the book pages.
You see that the pages
are a razor-thin copper,
and that the writings
of the runes are etched
into the metal of the pages.
You see he looks and says,
"Wicked things within this
grimoire, wicked things indeed.
Call out deep into the heart
of that most ancient of evils.
Herein are the bylaws
of the Larger Solesian School District.
[Becca and Rekha gasp]
- Sacred, no one's been able to read this.
- Show me, show me.
And you see his eyes begin
to roll back into his head
and some blood sort of
moves out of his nose.
He goes, "Show me the General
Education Development!"
And a column of writhing
ghosts screams out of the page.
[hisses] Horror of horrors!
[Brennan screaming]
- I bet there's just like, a
test we can take or something.
- No, this is the only way.
- Or maybe like a couple of extra credits.
- Are you good?
- [gasps] Always, always good.
- Are we being traumatized right now?
- Yes.
- To exist is to be traumatized
if you really think
about how strange it is
to be here at all.
The General Education
Development is a means
in which a student can graduate early.
Your General Education
Development or GED as it is known
is a way for you to acquire
your high school diploma
without having to conclude
the temporal end of your term,
in its own way a form of chronomancy!
Different schools have
different requirements
for the General Education Development.
Mumple, it's about a 90-minute test
to demonstrate basic
proficiency with math,
reading comprehension, and the ability
to perform good tasks and services.
And for Hudol there is of course
an extremely grueling magical endeavor.
For Aguefort Adventuring Academy...
yes, it could work.
You of course could seek the normal path
for a graduating adventuring
party if you all graduated.
And there is a means for
an adventuring party to,
as a group, attempt to pass
a General Education
Development for its members.
Now, generally in the past
this has been performed
by juniors in totality that
wished, for whatever reason,
to conclude their education early,
but there's no reason
that it couldn't apply
to a mixed group of seniors and juniors,
as unusual as that is.
The requirements are very simple.
The completion of a class,
A, B, or C quest and, oh.
And here he reads further and says,
"And a sign-off from the
Superintendent of Schools.
[sighs] Oh no."
- Why?
- Why, "Oh no"?
- It's a signature.
- I do not like that tone.
- The Superintendent of Schools.
There are two things here that trouble me.
Number one, the Superintendent
of Schools disappeared
from the Nation of
Solace in ages long past,
more than 12 years ago.
Number two, I have rarely met someone
more disturbingly chaotic and
impossible to gauge or predict
than the Superintendent of Schools.
They are just sort of all over the place
in a way that is frankly alarming to me.
- Sounds great.
- So's Ostentatia and she's fine.
- Yeah, that's like half of the group.
- Honestly, there's so
much drama at this school.
- Yeah, I'm the superintendent.
- I really think you just aren't aware.
There's a lot of drama at this school.
There's a lot of chaotic people here.
- That is troubling
that I am unaware of drama at the school.
I shall have to amend that.
To live amongst the teens, yes.
- No, no.
- No, that's-
- Wait, stop postulating stupid stuff.
What's the name of this Superintendent?
- The name of the Superintendent
when she was last seen here
was Tectonya Karkovnya.
She is a incredibly powerful spellcaster.
A unparalleled genius mind.
She departed from these lands,
as I've said, in ages long past.
- And nobody sort of took
over as superintendent?
- No one can until the original
superintendent is dead.
- Why is that a rule?
- Why can't you just assume she's dead?
- [Persephone] So we
know she's alive, right?
- Have an election or something.
- [Persephone] Yeah.
- It's in the book.
You know, they explain it.
They lay out the bylaws pretty clearly.
Can't be a new superintendent
till the old superintendent is deceased.
So we know that Tectonya,
wherever she is, is yet alive.
- Point of order.
More bylaws have to be
added eventually, right?
Why couldn't we just add a new bylaw
that you elect a new superintendent?
- Oh, that's a great workaround.
If you would like to run for City Council
and eventually get your place
onto the Council of Chosen-
- Okay!
- [Brennan] You might have
a hard time doing that
before graduation.
- Literally don't even,
like dare her because she's gonna do it.
- I've already got the
paperwork at home just in case.
- Yes, no, I remember.
There was a moment where I
remember you sort of asking
for there to be a form of
student government here,
but I won't have my power
usurped, not even by students.
- Okay.
I have been holding meetings,
but I'm the only one there.
- Vote for Luckstone and
Danielle pulls out a button
and puts it-
- This is not a democracy!
And you see he disintegrates the button.
- Whoa, that feels like an overreaction.
- Yeah, for someone who said
that they didn't like laws
very much, you're sort of
adhering to a lot of these rules.
- [Persephone] You're a big law guy.
- Well no, that's the thing,
is anyone in power, their
priority is in preserving
and maintaining their own power.
- You get that-
- The status quo.
- [Aabria] Exactly.
- Yeah, you get that
about yourself, right?
- While this discourse is going on.
[Brennan and High Schoolers laughing]
- So true, yeah.
- Can I discreetly
pull out my mirror and think Tectonya,
what is it, Karkovnya?
- Yes, Tectonya Karkovnya.
You look into the mirror of the past.
You open your seashell compact.
And you see a Earth Genasi woman.
She looks intense.
Most Earth Genasi you've ever met
have a classically rocky
or earthen sort of form.
She looks made of polished
copper, very metallic.
Her eyes are pupil-less,
iris-less burning brass.
She is fully bald, like proudly bald
with just smooth, metallic skin.
And you look in the past
and see Tectonya and Arthur
at like a small cafe talking.
And you see that Arthur's like,
"Well, of course the
nature of chronomancy."
And you see her go, [scoffs]
"Yes, chronomancy, of course.
It's a darling practice."
And he goes, [grumbles] "Darling,
it's more than darling."
And you see she says, "Yes,
well, I've always rather been
of the persuasion that
the greatest form of magic
was the magic of consciousness itself."
He's like, "Consciousness,
you're referring
to the school of enchantment?"
She says, "No, no, far from it.
I merely mean to suggest that magic
and its ability to alter the
fundamental rules of existence
would seem to indicate that
the prime material of existence
has at its base will and consciousness
otherwise why would a mortal's mind
be able to reshape reality?
So to understand reality,
one must first understand consciousness,
or did you believe that all
of this was real, Arthur?"
And you see that she splits
into mirrors of herself.
- Mirror, mirror, mirrors.
- Surrounding Arthur
and Arthur goes, "Tectonya,
[players chuckling]
what the f*ck are you talking about?"
[players laughing]
- Icon.
- And your mirror moves
to shadows, movements.
You get a feeling of danger.
The mirror shows you Tectonya
becoming more and more concerned,
diving deeper into her studies
again, as Superintendent of Schools.
And you eventually see her
[dramatic instrumental music]
walking out beyond the border
of Solace into the Mountains of Chaos.
And you see her walking
up into the mountains
into a giant spiring peak.
Tall chimneys of stone, like
huge, spiring towers of stone.
Not that different from
where you were all chained up
at Kalvaxus's lair, but
this one is even higher
to the point where you
can see as an Earth Genasi
that her breathing is labored
like the altitude is so high
there's snow capping everything up here.
You see statues here and a
temple that she is journeying to.
And you see that there
are enormous statues
of Dwarven warriors all
throughout the mountains
going up through here.
You see there is one in a far temple.
There's another in a small cavern.
Another is up on the
crest of one of the peaks
with a beard and shield and ax.
And you see Tectonya moving.
And you know that this
didn't happen in reality.
The mirror of the past doesn't show you
a recording of events
exactly as they happened
but rather tells you through images
what it is important to know.
And you see shadows moving
behind her, following her
and her ever keeping one of her gleaming,
brass eyes pointed behind her.
And that's where the mirror fades out.
- So she's just really
cooler than you, right?
- What?
- With the mirror.
- Oh, you have a mirror.
Yes, she was much cooler than me.
And that bummed me out, but you know,
when you have a sad, little
day you pick yourself up.
Ain't that the truth.
Your General Education Development
is something within your reach.
You need simply acquire the sign-off
of the Superintendent of
Schools, wherever she may be
and the completion of a
class A, B, or C quest
and you will be able to graduate together
if that is truly what you wish.
I would say only to be
careful what you wish for.
This book is draining my
soul and we must leave.
- Oh, okay.
Can I just flip through
for notes just real quick?
- Do you want to grab
some photos on your phone?
It's way safer.
- Uh, sure, yeah.
- Can I do a history check on the book?
- Yeah, go for it.
- Oh, nat one, so what do I got?
- Wait, no, automatic re-roll
because I feel that, oh-
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Wait a minute, Katja
feels the strength of pity
running through her veins.
- Oh yeah, that's what this
ability is called, pity.
- Okay, 13 plus seven, a dirty 20.
- Nice!
- Nice.
- You look at the book
and do see that it is part
of the Nation of Solace's
sort of historical.
This is actually specifically
just for the school code
so it's just Solace's School Code.
- Okay.
- But you do see
that there is a lot of
stuff in here about like,
specific ways that they were going
to bind the Aguefort Adventuring Academy.
And you see, like in your history check
you know that part of
this book was sort of,
like, the Aguefort Adventuring Academy
is about as old as Solace itself.
And Solace had a lot of like,
okay, if this is gonna be a thing
where you're gonna have this
incredibly powerful institution
which is a high school there's
gonna be some give and take
about how this is gonna work, right?
- Is Arthur Aguefort as old as the school?
- Centuries, yes.
The school is named after Arthur Aguefort.
- There could be other Agueforts.
- For sure, absolutely.
No, Arthur Aguefort is the
original founder of the school.
You snap a couple photos of the bylaws.
Go ahead actually and write
that in your inventory,
if you'd be so kind.
- I have a question.
Is there any, the pages
are made of copper?
- Yes.
- Tectonya's also made of copper.
Does this matter, do we care?
Why is everything made of copper?
- Maybe she is-
- Do I know why-
- Is she the book? [laughs]
- Maybe she wrote it.
- Yeah.
- Maybe she wrote it.
- I've got sh*t with
like, metal and tools.
- Animate the book.
- Oh God, oh, ooh, don't.
That's a soul-draining book,
please don't make it alive.
- You can make a, I would
say make either a history or,
oh, you have proficiency
with tools, right?
With smith's tools.
Go ahead and give me
wisdom plus proficiency
so it should be +9 to this d20 roll.
[die taps table]
What's that?
Nat one.
[energy powers down]
This book sucks, it's shitty.
They really made bad-
- I'm taking pictures of my t*ts
and sending it to the group text.
- We see it though, we already see them!
You're not wearing a shirt!
Why are you sending them?
- This angle is really nice though.
They do look really good.
- Actually, that's true-
- It's the light in here from the-
- I'm like straight down.
- I mean, they still look great.
- Thank you.
- Hey, we need some water.
- Also, I tell everyone the vision stuff.
- [Brennan] You are aware of-
- Are we wearing our friendship
shards that I gave everyone?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- So we can see each other's faces.
- Of course.
- What exactly does it do?
- It allows you all to interface
and communicate with each other.
So they're little communicator
things where you can all tune
in to each others',
you can see each other.
And unlike your crystals, you can do it
if someone is say, unconscious
and making death saving throws.
You could find out where they are.
They're basically like little
magical communicator things.
- So as they follow Aguefort,
Danielle starts asking questions about,
so what are A, B, and C missions
and where might we have some leads
about where the former
Superintendent has gone?
And you ever think about hands?
- [Brennan] Oh, you ate that
mushroom for real earlier.
Yes, yes, yes, I think about
hands almost every day.
- Don't lead into that.
I give you a water bottle.
- So I relay all the stuff
that was in the vision
to everyone so we have one-
- Yes, Principal Aguefort
escorts you back up and says,
"Seven, you have a task before you.
Also, that illusion is
for sure gone by now
so I'm not gonna keep talking about this
because you do never know who's watching.
But you have all of the
information you need."
- No, we don't.
- What's that?
- We don't have anything,
you're very cryptic.
- When you have friends,
you have everything.
- No we don't.
- Farewell.
You see he falls back
into a portal and bloop.
- You know that you just did
what you did the first time
that you apologized for,
right, with the bat.
- Men don't learn from
their mistakes is the thing.
- Never!
- He did take us
to a sub-basement to tell us secrets.
- Yeah.
- To read us
like a f*cking bureaucratic-
- Oh, put your shirt, Ostentatia.
- Oh yeah, people can.
- Oh my God, you're right!
I put on my first shirt.
[players laughing]
- I mean, at least we know
something that we can do, right?
- Yeah.
- Like, we're not just
gonna leave it like this.
- It's so easy.
All we have to do is do one mission
and then find this missing person
that hasn't been seen in 12 years.
- That sounds like a mission to me.
- Do we know what an
A, B, or C mission is?
- I'm gonna say, I'm trying to think
of the skill for bureaucracy.
Everyone actually just give
me an intelligence check.
[soft instrumental music]
[dice tap table]
- Do I add-
- No!
- Nat one, just that big one.
Okay great, 17.
- 17.
- 19.
- 19.
- Dirty 20.
- Oh, dirty 20.
Actually your mom and dad talk
about this sh*t all the time.
This is not really a thing
that you cover at Aguefort.
Aguefort is very much like praxis,
and these kind of
classifications of quests
are what the Ministry of
Adventure is more interested in.
And you think about that
thing with Charity Blythe,
who's an old colleague
of your mom and dad's
with this internship with
the Council of Chosen.
You know that you'd be able
to get a straight answer
from maybe your mom and dad
but also this woman as well.
Basically it just means
like, A is like the worst,
like big kahuna, and then B
and C are kind of like, still,
I think you know that it goes to F.
So there's A, B, C, D, E,
and F classification quests,
but you wouldn't know
like, what the parameters
that bureaucrats file them
in as, but it basically means
on the upper half of difficult quests.
- Okay guys, full level,
I did know this meeting was gonna happen.
And I was offered, not
trying to blow up your spot,
I was offered an internship
with the Council of Chosen
so maybe we can go and talk to them.
I've heard some terms
around different classes.
I don't want to talk
to my parents about it
so I have a contact.
We just need to get to Bastion City, yeah?
And we can look into it there.
I want to say the thing
and it's worth asking.
We want to stay-
- We would follow you to
the ends of the Earth.
- That wasn't the question.
- Anywhere.
- I'm not, no, no, that wasn't-
- Anywhere you go.
- What, no.
- You're the leader here.
- Why is this beam of sunlight?
I step out of it.
- You are the leader for sure.
You're the leader.
- No.
- Thank you for stepping up.
- No!
- When no one else had the bravery to.
- f*cking no, God damn it.
- It may be dangerous
and hard and difficult
as hell to be a leader,
but we are so glad that you are up to-
- We're really glad you volunteered.
- Yeah, really, very brave.
- I don't want this.
- [Brennan] You got
this, Antiope, for real.
- God damn it!
[Rekha laughing]
I just wanted to make sure, like,
we have to do a lot of work.
We want to stay together, right?
- Oh yeah.
- Is there a question of that?
- I just wanted to make sure.
- There can't be.
- We had big plans, you know?
Of all the raids we were gonna do
and of all of the hoards
we were gonna pillage
and of all the people we're gonna save.
And yeah, we can't scatter
to the winds, you know?
- Or we could totally, left field idea,
all join the Society of
Shadows, could be cool.
- The what?
- What's that?
- That sounds terrible.
- That society,
I know, it's very secret,
that's all I know.
What was in my letter?
- In your letter, I'll let you say this.
So in your letter it was
like, dear Penny Luckstone.
Congratulations on your admission
to the apprentice program
at Society of Shadows,
the world's premiere secret
organization of master rogues.
Real quick, please don't
tell anyone we exist.
[players laughing]
- Retcon, retcon, retcon, retcon!
- No, but you know that the offer,
while extremely appealing, is
very much like rogue-centric.
It's very much like,
and they literally say,
what they said in the letter, too,
was an acknowledgement that they had heard
from Arthur Aguefort
that you were not going
to be able to pursue an
adventuring party path.
And they were like, you being a free agent
means that we were able to scout you and-
- But if you join a
society you can't adventure
'cause it's like, a
ministry in a building?
- Yeah, you're adventuring
with the society at that point.
You're in this group of rogues.
- Okay, I did not say that then.
- [laughs] You see-
- Say what?
- Yeah, exactly.
- You see Zelda looks up and goes,
"Um, this is obviously
like the best, like,
it's like the coolest to
be in an adventuring party
this badass, but like, my vote
is for us to stay together.
But also I know that
while we're all standing
in this circle that there
is a weird pressure.
And maybe people like, I
don't have any opportunities
that are like, pressing or
anything else like that.
And like, if people
have stuff that's cool,
I don't want to make you feel
like you have to just like,
Antiope and Penny, you're both seniors.
You're both graduating, cool.
Doors might open up and just
like you going on an adventure
just to graduate some of us,
I don't want to put that pressure."
- Okay, Zelda wants to
stay here with Gorgug.
- Oh.
- That's totally it.
- [Persephone] Right.
- 'Cause what cool stuff could they have?
- I mean, he's already going
all over the place without you.
- Whoa.
- Whoa, this got-
- Cool, Sam.
- Well, it's just the truth.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,
you're getting a little heated here.
Zelda, listen, you're right.
We're young and when you're young
it feels like this is the
center of our world, man.
Like, the things that are important now
are always gonna be important
and that's not true, okay?
So like, all the petty bickering,
all the drama-rama llamas is-
- Who's being petty?
- Your tone seems very pointed right now.
- Who's being dramatic?
- I would never.
I would never, ever, ever.
- Like, the vibe isn't
about even that, all right?
Like, I'm so super stressed out
'cause I don't know what
Gorgug has to do with anything.
I'm gonna eat this can. [crunching]
- [Erika] Zelly, like, you know-
- Eat as many cans as you want.
- Zelda's right, maybe
we sleep on it, you know?
Like, we get freshened up.
We great ready, potentially,
to go and see about your
internship and talk to them.
- I mean, the Council of the Chosen
could be really cool for you.
We don't want to get in the way.
- I don't understand why
we're talking about this.
What other choice is there?
- Right?
- Zelda looks and says,
"You said you need to go get
in touch with this person
so I'm just saying, like, Ostentatia, Sam,
I don't want this to end.
I'm literally saying,
I don't want it to end.
I don't have anything going on
other than this group of friends.
What I'm saying is,
literally I don't want to
pressure anyone that has stuff."
- Who has stuff?
- You're saying it like you have stuff.
- Antiope-
- How can there be pressure
if there's nothing else that's to be done.
- Antiope was offered an internship.
What, are you gonna leave
the group for an internship?
- Let me be very clear,
it's a very prestigious.
Okay, hold on, hold on, I feel-
- [Isabella] Is it paid?
- It kind of sounds like unpaid
when they say internship.
- Offering an internship
is disrespectful to her
because she's like a legend.
So she's not gonna leave
the group for an internship.
- If it was like an apprenticeship-
- [Isabella] Right?
- That's be a totally different ballgame.
- No, it's completely the same thing.
- What, that's the same thing!
- [Isabella] What's an apprenticeship?
- I feel like an internship sounds...
- You're really gonna...
What's your thing, then?
- Is that's what's happening here?
'Cause I could have one member in a cult.
- Who?
- I gotta say, not a cult.
- Oh yeah.
- We don't call that a cult.
- Guys-
- What is going on?
- I cast invisibility on myself.
- No, no!
- I cast Counterspell.
- Penny, you cast invisibility.
You're like, can't handle it, you zip off.
Zelda goes like, "Well, Penny is upset
because we're all fighting
and it's like, I don't know,
maybe I should just go
be with my boyfriend
that apparently the only thing I've got
[snarls] going for me.
I'm just like." [growls]
- Count to 10.
- [exhales softly] Sorry.
Count.
- Do you want a granola bar?
- [Brennan] I would love one.
- We're all under a lot of stress, okay.
- I'm not stressed.
- I'm pissed.
- A lot of stuff is
happening in our lives.
- [Rekha] We can't-
- Or not happening in our
lives as the case may be.
- Exactly, we can't judge
if people have something
and want to live their life
and leave other people.
- So let's just say, we
can text the group thread,
okay, with our decisions
a little later tonight.
- I can't believe all of you.
- We're gonna text each
other if we're breaking up?
- It's a little less confrontational.
Some people might have
something else, as Zelda said.
I don't want to text anybody either.
- No one can look at me, I'm not visible.
- I'm in, and immediately
Danielle texts, I'm in.
That's me.
- I'm in.
- Yeah, I'm in because obviously
this is the most important thing,
and this is what we should do.
- Zelda says, "I'm not
gonna text right now
because it's f*cked up that
you're not giving people
the space to think about what's,
if it's so meaningful and important
then it should be something
that you're okay with
people thinking about."
And Zelda takes off.
- I follow Zelda invisibly.
- [laughs] I was gonna follow
Zelda visibly, full gait.
[Rekha pounds table]
- [Brennan] Yep, full gait.
[Becca laughing]
- Sam, I don't know what
the f*ck that was, you good?
- I'm fine, obviously.
- We'll talk later.
- What is there to talk about, clearly?
- You know, what, now I'm on-
- I'm done, I'm done.
I'm leaving, Sam storms off.
- Storms.
- Yeah, exactly.
[Brennan mimics thunder rolling]
- Distant thunder, rolls Sam leaves.
Danielle, Ostentatia, and
Antiope, you are left.
The three of you in this central place.
I believe Yelle, Ostentatia,
and Sam already texted the group, I'm in.
Do you depart from this
place to go home and?
- I'm gonna go after Sam.
- Cool, you walk after Sam.
And we'll go over,
Penny, you are invisible.
Katja, you walk over and see Zelda
sort of crouched up under a tree crying.
- I put a hand on her back.
Hey, I'm sorry that that
all happened, are you okay?
- [sniffles] It's stupid, I'm sorry.
- If it's stupid you
wouldn't cry about it.
- [sniffles] Thanks, Katja.
I like...
[tender instrumental music]
[sighs] It's really hard
for me to talk to people.
It's really hard for me to like,
just make a point and
disagree with someone.
And Sam and Ostentatia are so,
like, beautiful and people
listen when they talk.
And it's just like, I
can feel my hands shaking
when they disagree with me.
And it's like, really had to like...
I just feel stupid.
- [Rekha] You're not stupid
for having a different opinion.
- [Brennan] If Antiope
and Penny leave I don't...
- [Rekha] Katja completely
agrees with Zelda,
but doesn't want to show her cards
because she wants people to
decide what they want to do.
- [Brennan] Yeah.
- [Rekha] Without having
to factor that Katja
will feel abandoned by another
person in her life. [laughs]
So she's playing her
cards close to the chest.
- [Brennan] She's like, "It would f*cking,
like you know like, I want
it more than anything.
I just want it..."
- [Rekha] Someone has to want to stay.
- [Brennan] Just give me a deception roll.
- [Rekha] Two, oh wait,
plus one, three. [laughs]
[players laughing]
Uh-oh, uh-uh, b*tch. [laughs]
- [Brennan] You say, "Someone
has to want to stay."
And you, I will let you tell
me how this makes Katja feel.
- [Rekha] Yeah.
- [Brennan] Your lip trembles
a lot when you say that.
- [Rekha] Oh yeah, I think she swallows it
and says, "Too much spit,
sorry" trying to cover it.
Very clear bad lie. [laughs]
And I think she starts to
kinda heavy breathe to herself.
She's kind of run out of words
to comfort Zelda in that moment.
- [Brennan] Zelda remains
silent and puts like,
Zelda is the other frontline person,
but she's like itty-bitty short,
but she is the barbarian
and you're the fighter.
- [Rekha] Yeah.
- [Brennan] So she puts an arm up high
around like your waist which
is where she can get it
and says, "Oh, I found
this cool new playlist.
Here, hold on."
And you see that she just
puts an earbud in your ear
and is like, "Um, you wanna just like,
take a walk back to, let's just, yeah."
And she puts an earbud in your ear
and you guys just silently-
- Oh, wait!
[players laughing]
- Oh my God!
- Zelda full on,
she's both scimitars like. [screams]
- Yeah, like-
- Who the hell?
- [Becca] I'm in the tree
above them hugging the branch.
I'm surprised that when my tears fell
onto their shoulders they didn't feel it.
It was beautiful, and I
didn't want to interrupt
'cause I'm invisible
still for a while, uh.
Sorry if it's creepy.
- Zelda does a big goat-leg leap
to grab you up out of the tree
and holds you close and says,
"Penny, you don't have
to like, go invisible
when stuff pops off, like."
- It feels really natural.
I don't like confrontation.
- I also hate confrontation.
- I also hate confrontation.
- Oh my God, I also hate confrontation.
I'm so glad we agree.
I don't know what I would have done
if we didn't agree.
- Wait, can you be hugging
and I'm in the middle,
like feet off the ground
'cause I'm even shorter than she is.
- You guys hug, we're gonna cut back to-
- I would like to talk to Antiope.
- Yeah, that's right
'cause you go after Sam
so it's just Ostentatia and Antiope left.
- Ostentatia's like looking at Antiope
after everyone's left
and Ostentatia's like,
"Listen, you know I love confrontation."
[group laughing]
- Right?
- I get that, I love it.
- But I wanna be gentle
when I say this and because I think
that I have been a raging
b*tch very recently.
And it has caused some problems.
- Do you mean 10 seconds ago?
[players laughing]
- [Aabria] This is a big,
I'm not gonna jump in on it
and like you're defensive like.
- [Isabella] I'm gonna be gentle.
- Mm-hmm.
[Rekha laughing]
- [Isabella] Do you have
something that you want to do
that's not the group?
[players laughing]
- [Aabria] Oh my God, are
you gonna f*cking cry?
- [Isabella] No.
[group laughing]
- Whew, good.
Look-
[Isabella sobs]
[group laughing]
- Aw.
- [Aabria] Just on the first
sob she just catches you.
She's like, okay, okay.
- [Isabella] What the f*ck is going on?
- [Aabria] I'm gonna
take a knee here like,
all right, here's the thing.
Everything I've ever done
has been decided for me before.
Like, all the Jones's and they were like,
"You're gonna be a fighter."
- [Isabella] You've been keeping up.
[Rekha chortles]
- [Aabria] It's even worse
when your last name is Jones,
and it's not funny.
I don't like that you're,
I wish you were crying
and not laughing about this.
I want the other emotion more
'cause I can interact with that.
- [Isabella] Everything is
happening so just take your pick.
- Yeah.
[players laughing]
I was a little relieved when I thought
that I was stuck in that stupid crystal
and I wouldn't have to live
up to those expectations,
but now we're back and I've
grown like half a foot,
and now I'm finally that
person, but I don't.
I know Sam said that from a place of hurt
or whatever the f*ck she's dealing with,
but she doesn't get to
choose that for me, too.
I love you guys with my whole heart,
but I don't want any
options taken away from me.
I want to choose it, do
you know what I mean?
- [Isabella] Yeah, I
think I just got upset
because like, it sort
of came out of nowhere
that anybody was even sort
of like considering anything
that wasn't the group so that's,
you know, sort of where I was coming from.
[Rekha laughing]
Been watching a lot of sort
of like therapy shows recently
that talk, you know, like a normal person.
- [Aabria] I appreciate
you using I statements.
- Yeah.
- That's very nice.
- [Isabella] Yeah, um...
[soft instrumental music]
So I guess we're all
gonna sort of think on it.
And it's actually gonna be fine.
[players laughing]
[soft instrumental music]
- I think I just-
[players laughing]
You think you're good?
- [Isabella] I love you.
- [Aabria] I love you.
- [Brennan] [laughs] You give a big hug.
- [Aabria] I'm gonna
go apologize to Zelda.
- You find Sam or you catch up with Sam
as she is walking back to her car.
- [Erika] Hey merbae, how's it going?
- [Persephone] You know I
can't keep a straight face
when you say stuff like that, right?
- [Erika] Yeah.
[players laughing]
- [Persephone] I don't
want to talk about it.
- [Erika] Well, if you
don't want to talk about it,
you don't have to talk about it.
I'm here in whatever capacity
you need your friend Yelle in, you know?
It's clear that something's
really bothering you
because you would never
have popped off at the girls
like that because you know
how much they love you.
You know how much they're
dedicated to the group.
And you know that this is a big decision.
I mean, you have a lot of
things going for yourself, too.
Who's to say you wouldn't
have chosen some other thing.
You're brilliant.
You have a whole history of...
- [Persephone] Abandonment.
- [Erika] Yeah, yeah, that
seems to be a running theme
for all of us, right?
- [Persephone] Look, I can't
lose more friends, people.
[soft instrumental music]
I...
I don't want things to change.
And like, Penny has stuff all of a sudden,
so does Antiope and...
You know, we're an adventuring party.
We're supposed to be together for a while.
Like, we're supposed
to do adventuring stuff
and go on quests and,
you know, m*rder people.
[Rekha mimics sobbing]
[Brennan laughing]
- [Erika] That's the Aguefort way.
- [Persephone] Yeah, I just,
how can they not want that?
How can they want anything else?
- [Erika] Well, here's the
thing is that they do want this,
but also listen, you have a lot
of reckon with in your past.
The abandonment, you know?
And you have a lot of
anxieties about the future.
But maybe you just
gotta live in right now.
- [Persephone] The me
that's living right now
wants to continue being
part of this group.
- [Erika] Okay, so just
express that and live in that.
You've made your choice, you
gotta let them make theirs.
Nature constantly changes.
Entropy's the way of life.
- [Persephone] Nature sucks.
- You're angry.
[group laughing]
That's fine, I'm gonna let that one go.
- [Aabria] Oh my God.
[players laughing]
- [Persephone] Okay, I know I upset Zelda.
I know she's probably crying right now
and I feel really, really
bad about that, like, I do.
I don't want to upset Zelda
most of all, but like...
- [Erika] Well, just send her
a message on your crystal.
Let her know how you feel.
You know, we're family, okay.
Like, some things, they say you never know
who your people are until you're
looking back at your life,
but sometimes it's, you just
go through things with people
that you just know.
[tender instrumental music]
- [Persephone] Okay, maybe
you're right this time.
I still don't think you
should have set fire
to the cafeteria last week.
[Brennan laughing]
- [Erika] Man.
- [Persephone] But this time,
okay, maybe you have a point.
- [Erika] They gotta get
sustainable or they gotta get gone.
- [laughs] The thunder-
- [Persephone] You're
very intense right now.
- The thunder fades into
a light misting of rain,
the kind that doesn't even
soak into your clothes,
that just cools you down
and evaporates as soon as it hits you.
And as you all head home,
and we're gonna run as many scenes here
as you all wanna run, but
you also do get emails
from the school obviously
'cause this is sort of happening
in the middle of the day.
Other people have classes
and schedules and things like that.
But all of you get emails
from the school registrar
from the Vice Principal's
Office basically saying,
it has come to my attention
that you'll be booking out
the next two weeks for a quest.
And you see that Aguefort
must have done something
to clear your class schedule.
So for anyone else here,
some of you have not
responded to that text.
Others have various other
things they want to do.
I'm gonna let anyone here tell me
if they're doing something that night
before we get to the next day.
- I would like to apologize to Zelda.
- Great, do you want to
pursue her physically
or do you want to just do that over...
- I think I run after her
after I talk to Antiope.
- Cool, you run and you are like,
so it's like before the next period.
They're hanging out at a table,
but it's Katja and Zelda
and Penny just listening.
- Three buds.
- Yeah, Penny comes in.
Zelda has her crystal open on the thing
and you see that she's doing this thing
that Zelda does where she like,
can't quite maintain eye
contact but is looking
to make sure you like
the music she's playing.
This music is literally.
[mimics guitar roaring]
Just wall of sound.
[energetic rock music]
She's like, "Um..."
- Zelda, just use the
friendship bracelet I gave you
to check in and see people's faces.
- Oh, yeah, sorry.
- You don't have to even
make eye contact at all.
- [Becca] Gotcha, are
you enjoying it, like?
- [Rekha] Yeah.
- Move your wrist a little.
Oh, good, you like it, great.
- I feel like I liked
their earlier stuff better.
This feels more derivative, but...
- That's totally what it is.
That's literally exactly what I said.
- Yeah, no, I'm literally so glad.
- I like how they layer screams
on top of other screams.
- Yeah, did you listen to that podcast
that broke down one of the songs
into the first layer of screams
and then the second layer of screams?
- [Brennan] Running up is Ostentatia.
[players laughing]
- Zelda!
- She looks up and the
last time you saw you,
you were so mad she goes-
- Not bad, not bad!
- Oh my God, oh my God. [laughs]
- It's bag and boobs.
- It's just a flow to it.
- And extensions.
- Yeah, and extensions,
just a lot is moving.
She looks up and goes, "Ostentatia, what?"
- I'm so f*ck' sorry.
- Aw.
- Oh, God, yeah, just bursts into tears.
She looks up and she's
like, "I am so sorry."
- No, you don't even have to be sorry.
I was such a f*cking cow.
- She gives you a huge hug.
- Are cows mean?
- No.
[players laughing]
- She looks and says, "Well, I'm half goat
so [laughs awkwardly] you know, animals."
- [Isabella] That's not
a cow, but, you know.
- Actually, Zelda, she's
right, actually she's right.
- [Isabella] That's not a cow.
- You're right, listen, we
all get these wrong sometimes
and I'm wrong that, cows aren't
goats and that was stupid.
And she gives you a
big hug and she's like,
"I like, that's the funny thing is like,
I agree with you, like, you're right.
And I just can't get to that, like,
it's so awesome how angry you get."
- [Isabella] Thank you.
- She's just like, "I
just like, can't get there
without actually grabbing my sword.
And I wish that I had
somewhere between zero and 60
to get to, and like, it's
not healthy that I don't.
And I really, I really appreciate you.
I appreciate you saying it
'cause it is, f*ck, like."
- Say it, say the word.
Pronounce all the syllables of it.
- [Brennan] f*cked!
- That's really good.
- Sorta added some.
- [Becca] That's really good.
[Brennan laughing]
- Like, I don't want to be, like,
if this adventuring group breaks up,
like, what am I gonna do?
Go with my famous boyfriend
while he tours around either doing-
- [Isabella] Okay, well, don't say that
because that sounds awesome.
[players laughing]
But listen, like, I'm in the same boat.
I reacted emotionally because I was hurt.
And you know, I...
Listen, wherever...
But without this group,
I wouldn't have ever been
able to say I'm sorry to you
like I just said, do you know what I mean?
- [Brennan] That is great.
I never would have been brave enough
to even say, literally any words.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
- Without this group
I wouldn't be able to
look at the conversation.
- [Isabella] What?
- Without this group, I wouldn't be able
to look at this conversation, you know?
- What?
[players laughing]
- [Brennan] No, I kinda get it.
- I kinda get it.
- [sobs] This conversation.
- Yeah, absolutely.
[players laughing]
- Without this group, I
just would have stayed
in my previous adventuring party
and graduated on time and got straight As
and then gotten into a...
I couldn't have done
anything without this group.
- Did we ruin your life?
[players laughing]
- Seriously!
- Oh no. [laughs]
- No, but like, that's I get
it, I get that, too, it's...
[Brennan sighs]
I need this, too.
- I do, too.
- I guess like, Penny, no
offense to talk about you
like you're not here, sorry, but...
- I never said I have a thing.
I don't even have a thing.
- Usually right before you say that,
something offensive happens.
- And for sure, but,
like, if Antiope and Penny
have to go, you know, maybe
we could still do this.
- No, you can't!
[group laughing]
Either all of stay together
or there is no group.
- See, everybody's trying to control
what everybody else does.
- I know, I just sorta
can't get with that Penny
'cause this was me sort of compromising.
- Okay, I can't deal with this.
- Zelda looks at you, Penny, and says,
"Penny, you having opportunities
is awesome, but like,
getting to choose any door is a gift,
but nobody gets to choose every door.
Like if you walk"-
- You can with chronomancy!
[group laughing]
Pick again, if there's
a way and I'll find it
in that dark dungeon library.
- I think that's just a
word that people like to say
and like, isn't a thing.
- Like higgledy-piggledy.
[group laughing]
- Piggledy.
- Zelda looks and says,
"You have to decide
what's right for you, but
if you get to make a choice,
so do all of us and..."
- I seriously never even told anybody
I had a choice for
anything so like, I don't-
- You like said the word,
like you did bring up
the word apprentice, so I
think maybe just sort of like,
perked us up a little bit.
- I just have a big vocabulary.
- Zelda looks and says, "I love you."
- I love you.
- I love you.
And Penny, I love you.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- I was so scared.
[group laughing]
- [Brennan] I love you
too, Katja, I love you.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- I love you and Cinnamon.
[group laughing]
- You all go to the nurse's
office as Katja passes out.
Cool, we're gonna cut there.
Are there any other scenes
that happen that night
in Elmville before the following morning?
- [Aabria] I'm definitely,
gonna, oh sorry.
- Oh sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- What?
- Yeah, I was gonna go
kick down Corsica's door.
I don't care if she's
in the middle of class.
- Yeah, cool, you go
back to the compound and-
- No, I do it while we're at school.
- Or her office, yeah.
- Her classroom
if there's a class, I don't care.
- Yeah, she's fully teaching a class.
She's there talking about like-
- I just kick the door in.
- Stance and position
and using your sword
and she's like, "Hey."
- I need to talk exactly right now.
- Okay, I'm in the middle of work.
- All of you, go.
- You see that this class of
freshmen f*cking clears out.
[players laughing]
Yeah, Corsica goes,
"Stop, stop, stop," and
then watches them leave
and says, "Okay, Sis."
- I just bring a desk
over and sit in front.
- [Brennan] Okay, what's going on?
- One, that was very fun, I enjoyed that.
- Right?
- Yeah.
Girl, it's been a minute.
- That's pretty cool.
- I was thinking it, I reached for it.
- I think there's only one correct way.
- [Aabria] One time, one direction.
- It only opens one direction.
It's not bi-flippable.
- So talked to Aguefort.
Internship, they're
gonna break up the group
and everyone was super mad about it,
it was terrible and I just need advice
because like, you know that I bombed out
of my first adventuring group
so these girls mean everything to me.
But just, I am very confused
and actually I would
like advice on what to do
'cause there's a group chat
and I haven't responded
and I know I need to.
Help, please, I love you.
I'm doing that a lot today
I'm very confused by this.
- I love you, too.
Corsica sits back on her desk
and crosses her arms and thinks hard.
You see her not go to the pat answer.
She doesn't go to the thing of like,
you know, oh, follow
your heart, it's easy.
And you see the trip
put on your sister, too.
She didn't b*mb out of her first group.
She was an exceptional
fighter from the jump
like your brothers were, and you see her
and see this weight of sorrow on her face
from knowing how much
harder of a time you've had
bringing up the caboose
of the Jones legacy.
You see-
- Long caboose, caboose.
- [Brennan] You see her think
for a second longer, too,
and she goes,
"Ajax is stronger than a lot of giants
and Ulysses is quicker on the draw
than almost any elven
archer I've ever seen.
Prospero is better at
magic than most wizards
and he's a fighter.
And none of us have ever done
the actual hardest thing there is to do
[soft instrumental music]
which is disappoint Mom and Dad.
Thinking about it makes me sweat.
I've held open a wyvern's
mouth by standing
on its lower jaw and pushing
the upper jaw up with my hand.
- [Aabria] I remember the Christmas story
that you tell every year.
[group laughing]
- It's on the Christmas card.
- It's in the card.
It's a newsletter, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.
- [Brennan] You won't believe
what Corsica did this year.
[players laughing]
- Our Corsica.
- Our Corsica.
- You see she goes,
[soft instrumental music]
"Here's what I think.
I think if you do something
because I say it's a good idea,
you'll probably be
operating from the place
that me and Ajax and
Prospero and Ulysses go from.
We're incredible warriors,
but we want to be part of the team
and ultimately we're soldiers.
We like to have the shots called
and we execute and we get it done.
Those kids walked out of the
room when you told them to.
I've never stepped out of line.
It's not who I am.
Maybe for you it's not
about stepping out of line
or stepping into line.
Maybe you're supposed to be the one
calling the line to attention."
- [Aabria] Okay, I was really,
you're a really good teacher.
That was really good.
- [Brennan] Oh thanks,
Sis, I appreciate it.
You know I got this job 'cause
you went missing, right?
- [Aabria] No, I know, you don't have to.
Thank you, thank you for
becoming a teacher and not like
actively fighting or
anything like that, that's-
- [Brennan] Oh sh*t, for real?
[players shouting]
- I'm just trying-
- [Brennan] Listen, I gave
you a lot of comments.
I will kick your a*s in the
middle of this empty classroom.
There's no witnesses thanks to you.
[players laughing]
- [Aabria] You know what?
I'm gonna do a push up
and then I'll be back.
[players laughing]
- [Brennan] She leans in and
gives you a kiss on the cheek
and she says, "Whatever you do,
I'll do my best to cover for
you with Mom and Dad, okay?
And there's no wrong choices,
not between you and me."
- [Aabria] Thanks for
always looking out for me.
I just headbutt her a little too hard.
- [Brennan] Boom, yeah, she likes it.
- I thought of a thing I want
to do before the night ends.
- Same here.
- Awesome, amazing.
Let's go, actually, I think
everyone might have something.
Let's just go around the table.
Rekha, let's go for it.
- Yes, I want to call my dad
because my family's super rich.
I think one of the
schools is named after us,
an elementary school or something, right?
- Yeah, Skullcleaver Elementary.
- So he might know-
[group laughing]
Copy that.
f*cking k*ll people
elementary K through four.
- Oh my God.
- Poor nurse.
- Here's your first broadsword.
- Yeah, right.
I want to ask if he knows anyone,
like the Superintendent of Schools
or anyone who might know her
or anyone at the Department
of Education or whatever.
- Amazing, I'm gonna ask for a
straight up, just a d20 roll,
and you just want a high number here.
- Okay, wait, you said high or low number?
- I said high number.
- Oh, you said high.
You didn't say, two?
- Example, you-
[players laughing]
- In the candy bowl.
- I love it, I love it.
- That's banned.
- We're done.
- I don't even remember what that said.
I usually roll-
- Did you roll anything?
- I think that roll, it went over there.
- There was nothing there.
- Yeah, yeah, it doesn't
count on the ground.
- What does it say?
- I don't know I can't see it.
- So you get home that night.
Lockwood has dinner ready for
you, everything's looking good
and you go to your room
and go on your screen
and you call your dad and it goes.
[Brennan mimics phone ringing]
- [Aabria] Don't.
- [Brennan] Hey, you've
reached the voicemail
of Karl Cleaver, I'm deep on
the 888th layer of the Abyss.
Leave a message, if I don't get. [coughs]
The demon doesn't get
me, I'll get back to you.
- He made a custom-
- I was just, yeah.
- Hey, Dad-
- Message for that quest.
- Number one, you don't need
to update your voice message
every time you go somewhere.
I think that's very Boomer of you.
And then, two, if you
could just call me back.
I know the time difference is
weird, but I just wondered,
do you know someone
named Tectonya Karkovnya
or anyone at the school
district just 'cause
I figured out what I want for graduation,
and it's that I don't want
to lose my adventuring party.
- Cool.
- Okay, bye. [laughs]
- [Brennan] Incredible.
Go ahead though and
give me a history check
if you'd be so kind.
[die taps table]
- Okay, that's interesting.
Okay, 13.
- I'm gonna.
- [Rekha] Yeah, can you
throw this for me? [laughs]
- [Brennan] Your dad has an
office here that you're welcome-
[die pounds wall]
[players laughing]
- Through the dome wall.
- Breaks the dome straight up.
- Did you throw that in the set?
- [Brennan] I love it, I love it.
- [Aabria] That's so far!
- [Brennan] It's good, I love it.
- Things happen.
- So with a 13, you go
into your dad's office.
You look around some of his documents.
You find some stuff about Tectonya,
who is again, the Superintendent
of Schools for Solace
so mostly oversaw a lot
of mundane high schools
'cause there's only one
Adventuring Academy in Solace
which is the Aguefort Adventuring Academy.
But you find some correspondence
looking through your dad's desk
where he gets in touch with
the Superintendent's Office.
You don't see anything
from Tectonya personally,
but you see stuff from the
Superintendent's Office
where he's basically trying to guarantee.
First he's pushing for
your admission into Hudol
even though you're not magical
just 'cause it's prestigious
and he's very wealthy.
- [Rekha] And that deeply embarrasses me
that he had to push for that, but yes.
- Yes, it's very embarrassing.
But you find some other
stuff in here, again,
from the Ministry of
Adventuring that obviously
he works with and sometimes
for as an adventurer.
Basically like, you know,
some huge percentage
of Solace's population, like
probably not north of 10%,
but like, a percentage of its
inhabitants are adventurers.
So some thousands and
thousands of adventurers
are off running around the
massive world of Spyre.
And so there's a whole
sort of governmental agency
that deals with them.
Your dad's one of the
world's most powerful
and famous adventurers.
And so you see a lot of interface there.
And there's specifically like,
a lot of actually interesting
bureaucracy stuff here.
And you see, I'd say on a 13
you see a piece of correspondence
asking a question from a couple years ago
to Mr. Cleaver if he had
any contact with Tectonya.
And you don't have his response
'cause it was sent in a letter,
but there was a letter
sent to him many years ago
basically saying if he had
heard from Tectonya Karkovnya.
And that's the only
information you get on a 13.
- [Rekha] Is there anything
else in this office
I can poke around and look for?
- [Brennan] Give me an
investigation check.
- I'm running out of dice.
- I'm sorry.
- No, it's beautiful.
- [gasps] It's a two.
Can't throw it.
- It teetered!
- It bounced on 20!
- Oh my God.
- Oh no.
- I'm rolling like Daisy
so it was a five.
- Oh no.
You find nothing else in here.
- Incredible.
- You find nothing else.
If anything, oh no, you do find one thing.
- Okay.
- A hunk of sh*t.
- [Brennan] In a drawer of your dad's desk
is a small framed portrait
of a Half-Orc woman.
- [Rekha] I close the drawer immediately
and I go out to Cinnamon and I go,
"And he had a photo of her
and I feel horrible!" [laughs]
- [Brennan] Oh no! [laughs]
Oh sorry, you said he had a what?
- [Rekha] Oh, he had a photo of her.
- [Brennan] Oh, he had
a photo of her, yes.
Cinnamon says, [sighs]
"I'm so sorry, Katja.
Would it help if I pranced?"
- [Rekha] Cinnamon, you
f*cking know it would.
And can I check to see
if I can dance pretty well alongside her?
- Yeah, give me a performance.
- Yes.
- Okay, that's a three plus-
[players laughing]
Okay, so I'll tell you
exactly, three plus one, four.
Okay so yeah.
- Cool, you don't prance well.
- Yeah, so Cinnamon's doing that.
I've tripped over myself and
into Cinnamon's f*cking butt.
- Katja's having a hard night.
Penny, what does Penny get up to that day?
- [Becca] Well, I just can't
'cause that's like a callback
to this thing and there's many memes of,
we call it dressage what you just did.
- [Aabria] We call it dressage.
- We!
- We the dressage community.
- We're Sterling here.
- Yeah.
- We call it dressage.
- Oh.
- No, it was like an RPG game
where we all were horses and did dressage.
I gotta go.
Penny.
Penny really wants to talk to someone
and her mom's at a tavern,
but it's so hard to talk
to anyone in her family.
And she wants to talk to her friends
but they're kind of like the
thing she needs to talk about
so she's gonna talk to Mrs.
Maugly Dimweather the librarian.
- I can dig that, absolutely.
Also, I will say this, too.
If you're looking for faculty
to talk to at the school
well, I was going to say,
if you're looking for specific arcana.
It depends on if you're
looking for intellectual
or emotional aid at this moment.
Intellectually, Maugly Dimweather's great.
She's the librarian,
she's definitely gonna
help you find stuff.
But if you're like,
want to talk to someone,
your school has a guidance counselor.
- I need to see the guidance councilor.
- Cool.
- Yeah.
- You walk into an office.
It smells in here like fresh
herbal tea and sunshine
and a lot of great little
plants and flowers.
You see there's a bunch of books of like,
there's a fun mix of books
about psychology and meditation
and health stuff but also a lot of books
of journalism and world cultures.
There's a lot of gonzo
journalism-style things
of people who've traveled and explored
and written essays about places.
There's also some rock
posters up on the wall,
some cool band posters.
You see a full werewolf in a
beautiful, thick-neck cardigan,
like long to the knees cardigan.
[fan slaps open]
[warm piano music]
He's got-
- Oh yeah, Jawbone, abso-f*cking-lutely.
- [Aabria] Go, oh yeah.
- [Brennan] He's got
some denim cutoff shorts
where the pockets peek out a little bit
and an old, faded band T-shirt.
- Oh God, yes.
- And some little, half-moon-
- Oh, yeah.
[fan slapping]
[players laughing]
- And some half-moon spectacles.
And you see he goes, "Well
hey there, Miss Luckstone.
How's it going?
Come on in, pull up a seat.
Hold on, let me get a chair.
It's a mess.
- [Becca] You didn't have
to get a chair for me.
I could have stood for a really long time.
I know, I am the same, yeah.
- [Brennan] Yes, you
see a little gold plate
saying Jawbone O'Shaughnessey.
- [Becca] Right, right.
- And you see he goes-
- He's Irish.
[group laughing]
- Oh f*ck, this guy's Irish, oh f*ck.
- You see, so Jawbone says,
"Come on in, kiddo, take a seat.
Oh, I heard the, I think
I know what this is about.
How are you holding up, are you okay?"
- [Becca] What did you hear?
- [Brennan] Well, I talked to
Principal Aguefort and he said
that you were gonna be graduating.
I know that The Seven,
you're nigh on inseparable.
- [Becca] I know, we're f*cking epic,
and I'm sure everybody's
really upset about it
in the whole school.
Were multiple people not in our group
coming to talk to you
about our group disbanding?
- [Brennan] Other students said
that your adventuring
party was breaking up?
[players laughing]
- Yeah, was there anybody else concerned?
- Well, you know, I don't
want to lie, but I also...
Here's the thing, Penny, you
know who was really concerned?
I was, I was really concerned.
- Aw, I thought a lot of
people would be concerned.
First of all, I really appreciate
that you are such a guide.
- How can I help you?
- I don't know what to do.
All I've ever wanted in my life
is be a part of this Society of Shadows
I never knew about until yesterday
[players laughing]
'cause that's how secret it is
and I shouldn't have told you,
but guidance counselor
confidentiality, right?
- [Brennan] Not super especially on that.
I'm actually a dedicated
reporter so I have to, but yeah.
- [Becca] Okay, swear to me though.
- [Brennan] What's that?
- [Becca] Don't tell
anybody about the secrets
or else they're probably
gonna retract their offer.
- [Brennan] I swear I won't tell people
about this secret society
that was completely
unprompted by me, but yeah.
- Okay, cool, so now that we have
our guidance counselor
confidentiality worked out.
Should have done that first.
I really love my friend group.
I love them so much, but I mean,
can we be our high school
friend group forever?
Do people adventure forever
with the same party?
Yes, they do, why even?
I don't know!
I'm just really torn.
I have to text this group
crystal thread back tonight
or else they're never gonna, you know,
they're gonna be so mad,
especially Ostentatia.
She's like, she's holding it in so well.
[group laughing]
For example.
- [Brennan] You see Jawbone
looks at you and says,
"It's a big decision,
and there's a lot to think about there."
- It's like the highest
achieving thing you can do.
I know, I'm sorry, you were
gonna say a big speech,
but it's just like, I want to
do the highest achieving thing
and I didn't know that that
could be something other
than academic and career stuff
until I met this group and these maidens,
which we're not gonna be maidens forever.
[players laughing]
I'm sorry, I'm focused
on what you wanna do.
- It's okay.
- I caught it.
- It's okay, hey, the
important thing is this.
You have a real bond with
these friends, that matters.
Yes, things change over time,
but also you can hold on to
things that matter to you.
What I see, if I can be honest with you,
is a little bit of anxiety.
Maybe like, in your life
you've never had to choose
because you could always just try harder
to keep every single plate spinning.
And maybe as you approach
adulthood, something is coming
that might actually mean
something gets dropped.
Am I incorrect?
You have a fair amount of
siblings, that's right?
- [Becca] You could say that.
- [Brennan] You live in that house.
I heard about that.
You live in that Rube
Goldberg machine, right?
- Uh, well, it's not like a machine.
I mean, we created it
specifically to serve me and my,
yeah, me and Katie, Susie,
Johnny, Bobby, Billy, Jenny,
Kathy, Becky, Joey, Nellie,
Ollie, Wally, Dolly, Kenny,
Kelly, Carrie, Dewey, Halley,
and then Lorie is the baby.
- [Brennan] Oh, how's Lorie doing?
- [Becca] She's adorable.
- [Brennan] Amazing.
- [Becca] Yeah, she just
gurgled this morning
and spit up on the floor.
- [Brennan] Oh, I love
babies, that's great.
- [Becca] The mops just outdo themselves.
- [Brennan] Your flawless grades,
keep a lot of things in the air.
I think that there might be a part of you
that is feeling anxiety, again,
not just around the social
aspect of all of this
but the fact that for the first time
you're starting to see that in adult life
you're not on the rails anymore.
We structure the lives
of kids to have an amount
of brass rings where
you can grab them all.
Year after year there's
grades and there's finals
and there's all these things.
And as you approach
adulthood, all of a sudden,
you're not on a ride,
you're in the amusement park
and it's closing eventually.
And you gotta decide what
rides you want to go on
and what brass rings you
want to get 'cause you,
and Penny, I need you to hear me here.
You're not going to be
able to get them all.
- [Becca] Okay, but you just bring a tent
and then you camp in the amusement park
and then you can do anything.
- [Brennan] Yeah, so extend that
into the metaphorical
meaning of what I'm saying.
- [Becca] Yeah, okay.
I think you're saying I have
to make a difficult choice
and no one's gonna give me the answer.
- [Brennan] Yeah.
- [Becca] Wow, you're really good at this.
- [Brennan] Hey, you know, I just sit here
and I drink tea and I
just talk about life.
Again, mostly it's, you
know what you gotta do.
And the hard thing is this, Penny.
The stuff that's coming,
no one's gonna give you
a grade on most of it.
Your friend group, you have to
decide the right thing to do
and there's not an answer
at the back of the book.
It's just gonna be what you want.
- [Becca] What you're saying
is a really harsh and cruel-
- [Brennan] [laughs] It's not.
It's actually pretty...
Kiddo, you're gonna make
the right choice, okay?
- [Becca] Okay.
- [Brennan] Best of luck.
- [Becca] Thank you Mr. O'Shaughnessey.
And I lean in for a kiss.
- Oh my God, oh my God!
[players laughing]
- [Brennan] A furry paw
grabs your head and he says,
"All right, kiddo, you have a
good one" and just walks you.
- [Rekha] Horrible.
- [Aabria] That's bad.
- [Brennan] He closes, "Any
time, little rockstar,"
and closes the door.
- [Becca] Thank you.
It was just a thank you kiss.
- Erika.
- So Danielle goes home
to the tree and she
sits outside of the yurt
while she is playing with,
it's a seed that she's like,
sort of training to form itself.
So instead of whittling the wood away
it's growing the wood around it.
So while she's doing that,
she addresses Holly, the tree.
- [Brennan] Holly, who in
many ways also raised you.
It's been here your
whole life, turns around.
Face forms out of the tree's bark.
Oh, hey, sweetie.
- [Erika] Aw, hi, Holly.
Good to see you, tree mom.
- [Brennan] Oh, my little leggy kiddo
walking around on legs.
[players laughing]
- [Erika] Well, someday
I'll put down roots.
- [Brennan] I hope so.
For someone who was raised by
a tree, I feel like you spend
a lot of time in the
clouds sometimes, you know?
- [Erika] Yeah, the clouds.
[group laughing]
Well, so you know, faced with
the prospect of the group
going their separate ways,
you know, I just want
what's best for everyone.
And I don't think they
even know what that is.
I don't think any of us
can really know, but uh...
[soft piano music]
You know, it's been hard
not having a group, you know?
I mean, after the
debacle with the refinery
and first year and then that second group
with the cafeteria fire
it's been kinda hard
to find out where I belong.
- [Brennan] A branch comes down.
- Oh.
- [Brennan] And touches your arm.
And for some reason, Holly
being a manifestation
of the natural world, being
a living, awakened tree,
I don't know how often Danielle
has opened up like this
to her Elven and Human mom
or to other people at all.
Holly looks and says,
"You're a voice for a lot of parts
of the world that don't
often get a chance to talk.
And you work so hard on being calm
because I think deep down you
know how unfair the world is
to all the things that
can't speak for themselves."
And you see a beautiful forest
full of trees and animals,
all of whom you would know on
sight and have come up to you
and you've fed each and every one of them.
And she looks at you and says,
"I can share something
that might be painful."
- [Erika] You know, you need
to open up a wound to clean it
and so it can heal, yeah.
- [Brennan] Holly smiles and
tears come out of her eyes
as she goes, "Very lovely adage.
And you are a voice for the voiceless,
and you speak on behalf of those
who can not speak for themselves.
And you speak always in
terms of what is right.
Wisdom, compassion, justice.
A heart that is dedicated to
speak only for the voiceless
may struggle from time to
time to speak for itself.
There is no great cause of justice
in acknowledging that you
are a creature of the forest
with a heart who may from
time to time be lonely.
- Yeah, yeah, I sometimes
feel like, you know,
I care so much about all the
living creatures in the world.
And yeah, I finally found
some that care about me.
I don't want to let go of that,
but I gotta let 'em speak for themselves.
Maybe you're right.
I should speak for myself.
She looks down and there
are six perfectly formed
little wooden and sprouted half hearts.
- Aw.
- Oh my God.
- [Brennan] Holly smiles
and looks and says,
"The thing that may hurt
that I wish to share with you
is how worried your mothers are
because they hear the
wisdom in your voice.
You speak with a clarity of purpose
that far surpasses the burden
that is placed on most people of your age.
They worry that you have
tended to the soul of the world
at the expense of your own heart.
A moment may come when you
need to communicate a need
for something that is of the self,
and you will not be
able to cloak that need
in words of cause or justice.
It will be the cry of an animal in pain,
and you will need to be able to say that.
- Oh.
I really hope I'm high for it.
[group laughing]
- [Brennan] Six little hearts
gleam with a fairy firelight.
And we move from Yelle to Ostentatia.
Was Ostentatia doing anything
that night in Elmville?
- The only thing that I would
like to have Ostentatia do
is like, I think she's just sort of having
a pretty regular night,
like avoiding her dad
'cause of the fight that they had.
And she, in her room, I would like her
to cast Commune with the City.
- Awesome.
- To see if she can find Tectonya.
- [Brennan] Mm-hmm.
- So she says, Tectonya. [laughs]
Allegedly.
- You cast Commune With the City.
She is not in the city of Elmville,
but do you hit that she
has at times been here.
The city is able to communicate
back to you at least that.
- Are there like, remnants of her magic?
- Sam communicated everything
from the mirror, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- Yes.
- Go ahead and make a
religion check for me.
[die taps table]
- [Aabria] Good catch.
- Should I take that?
- Is it flat on the table?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- [Persephone] Bounced off the end though.
- Religion?
- [Brennan] Yeah.
- 17.
- You saw that Dwarven
temple in Sam's mirror.
- Oh yeah.
[dramatic instrumental music]
- You feel like you've heard of
places like that in the past.
You even, on a 17, you know that there is.
You could go look it up.
If you went to a church or went somewhere
you would be able to find information.
But like, there is a
famous Dwarven holy site
in the Mountain of Chaos that sounds,
that that sounds descriptive of to you.
It's not a temple that has a congregation.
It's like the site of a very dangerous
and deadly pilgrimage for
Dwarven heroes that go there.
But yeah, so you would know that.
And it's interesting
that Tectonya went there.
Your dad makes it really
easy to avoid him.
He just stays in the TV
room pretty much all night.
You hear a lack of
fighting from downstairs
which is maybe even more disquieting.
And you say your prayers to
Logran Soulforger at night.
What prayers, if any,
do you say to your divinity as you pray?
Sorry, I should say, as you're
praying for your spells,
is there anything that you add
in communication to your deity?
- [Isabella] When people pray.
- [Brennan] Mm-hmm.
- What do they say?
[group laughing]
Like, hey, would you
give me this? [chuckles]
- [Brennan] Yes, usually
a little bit more,
but no, I would say that like-
- [Aabria] More bargaining. [laughs]
- [Brennan] Yeah, yeah.
- [Isabella] I'll give you-
- Yeah, it's a trade.
- I'll stop doing this
if you please fix this.
- I'll give you my Walkman,
you give me... [laughs]
- Good times.
- [Brennan] Just if there's anything
that you would communicate to a divinity
that does grant you spells,
but if there's anything else,
like a miracle, like your mom asked
to ask for Chenzo to
have more broken cars-
- [Isabella] Yeah, I'll
sort of throw that in there.
- [Brennan] Great.
- [Isabella] Be like,
yeah, fix Chenzo's car.
But most importantly
I'm like, I want my dad
to feel like himself again.
[warm piano music]
- [Brennan] You ask for that
and feel that go to a place.
You hear emptiness of
ancient stone halls somewhere
waiting for a response that in your life
has only ever been spells
in the following morning.
And this night is no different.
Sam.
- So Sam goes back to the Everpetals'
which is now empty and dark.
And she goes in the front door
and then looks at her phone.
Hovers over Zelda's name
and debates texting her but doesn't.
And then just stands there
in the quiet of this place
where she shared a space with the girl
who tried to use her as a sacrifice
and makes a bad decision.
She goes upstairs and
into Penelope's old room
and shuts the door behind her.
- You shut the door.
[dramatic instrumental music]
- She pulls out the mirror.
And even though it's used
its charge for the day
she attempts to force
it to show her Penelope.
- [Brennan] Give me a wisdom saving throw.
- [Persephone] Absolutely.
That is a five.
[players gasp]
- [Erika] Well, I am scared.
- You hold the mirror.
The room is dark.
White primer on the wall.
The mirror goes from the
cool, misty, metallic feel
at the seam and begins
to become much warmer than that by far.
Edge of the mirror flickers with flame.
You go to the past.
You see middle school-aged
Penelope with braces
running up to you and
throwing her arms around you
for the first time and saying
"We're gonna be best friends forever."
And the mirror pushed
past what is safe for it,
flickers with fire,
and it does not show you
the past for very long.
Ringed in flame, endlessly
dark you begin to see a visage
in a beautiful, pink satin
gown, tattered and burning.
In the mockery of a crown,
jagged shards of glass
stabbed into her skull in a ring bleeding.
Deep eyeless sockets.
- No!
- [Brennan] And a mouth full
of uncountable razor-sharp teeth.
Um, oh my God.
A call without a text first.
Are you out of your f*cking mind?
- [Persephone] You look better
than you ever did alive.
- Oh!
- Oof.
- Oh my god.
[Brennan screams]
Oh my God.
- Yep, okay.
[Rekha gasps]
[players laughing]
- The Infernal form of Penelope Everpetal
confined to the depths of
Hell looks up and goes,
[sinister instrumental music]
"Um... [chuckles]
That's a nice little jab, Sam."
- [Persephone] Like all those
jabs in your skull right now?
- [Brennan] Oh, I think
you'd know something
about jabs in the face, sweetie.
[Rekha laughing]
- Oh my God.
- [Brennan] Or is that just
what Water Genasi look like?
Nice beret, by the way.
- [Persephone] Thanks, it's
vintage just like your dress.
You couldn't change in Hell?
- [Brennan] I don't know.
I'm gonna be like this forever,
so I thought, why not still
wear my old prom dress?
It still fits.
- [Persephone] Hm, yeah,
you might want a second opinion on that.
- [Brennan] [chuckles] You see she smiles.
Make an insight check for me.
- [Persephone] I don't
know what that is, okay-
- A 10?
- 10, it landed like,
I'm gonna go with a 10, that's a 19.
- [Brennan] She smiles.
On a 19.
Let me ask something of you or of Sam.
On a 19, does a 19 feel,
'cause Sam is actually trying
to get insight into herself.
How good is Sam at reading herself?
Does she read herself on a 19 or no?
- [Persephone] No.
- [Brennan] Then Sam doesn't notice
that this trading of barbs
will only ruin her because
at the end of the day
Penelope delights in pain and Sam doesn't.
So you just called me out of the blue
'cause you're obsessed with
me or do you wanna finally,
I don't know, make a deal with the Devil?
I would do a lot to get
back into the world, Sam.
- [Persephone] I bet you
would, I really bet you would.
But sadly, those knees are scuffed enough.
[players laughing]
- [Brennan] She says, "At
least I get my knees scuffed.
My God, how long were
you dating Johnny Spells,
a guy who doesn't f*ck?"
Off in the distance you hear,
"That was only true while I was alive!
Please stop spreading that rumor!"
[players laughing]
Do you want to say hi to your old flame?
He's even flamier than ever.
- [Persephone] Why are you so willing
to pass off the spotlight, Penny?
Or should I say Penelope?
- [Brennan] Yeah.
- [Persephone] I have a
different Penny in my life now.
- [Brennan] Oh God. [mimics gagging]
The Seven Maidens,
advertising your lameness
to the entire school, incredible.
I'm so glad that you
were able to bounce back.
What is it that you want, Sam?
- Defend us.
- [Persephone] You should know
your parents are divorcing,
and I close the mirror.
[players screaming]
[Brennan laughing]
- Oh my God.
- Wild!
- What?
- Oh my God!
[players laughing]
[players clapping]
- As the mirror snaps shut,
pow, the room goes dark
in a very quiet house and from there
many other things may happen that night,
but I am going to ask us
to move to the next day
with the only caveat being,
does anyone else respond
to the group thread?
- I think Katja, after just
seeing that picture of her mom,
talking to Cinnamon, dancing
with her and failing to dance
is so irate and so f*cking just heated up
she pulls out her crystal
and she starts drafting a long message.
She's like, I know I
haven't always been one to.
No, no, no, no.
Like, she does this for one hour.
- [Brennan] Yeah.
- And then she just writes,
I am in, period and sends.
- Zelda does not respond
to the group thread.
And a few minutes after
Katja sends, I am in,
just Antiope and Penny get
a message from Zelda saying,
I don't want to be the fifth I'm in
waiting for you on the group thread.
I love you both.
Whatever decision you
make is the right one.
And then you see, so we've
had four responses of seven.
And we will move to the next day
unless there is a response that night.
The next morn-
- I gotta text Antiope.
- [Brennan] Yeah.
- Exclamation point, question mark,
exclamation point, question mark.
- Oh, God.
Antiope has two modes.
She's a terrible texter.
It's tapback reactions and wall of text.
[group laughing]
- [Rekha] Just tapback, exclamation point.
- Yep, [laughs] 100%.
- Uh, more question marks. [laughs]
- Yeah, I think she's gonna call you.
God, what a nightmare response.
I hate it, I'm sorry.
- [Becca] Hi, should we be talking
this late on a school night?
- [Aabria] 'Kay, what?
- [Becca] I'm sorry.
[players laughing]
- [Aabria] I though I was doing
the literal lamest
thing by calling, but...
- [Becca] No, no, it's just
all my siblings are asleep.
- [Aabria] Oh, I'm sorry.
Are you okay to talk?
- [Becca] Yeah, yeah, yeah,
no of course, I'm totally cool, it's fine.
We sleep in different sizes of room.
- I feel like you're deflecting.
Oh God.
[players laughing]
And she hangs up and it
goes back to texting.
That felt bad and I'm sorry. [laughs]
- Wait, no, no, no, I'm walking
outside by the Luckstone
and I call you back.
Okay, I'm not supposed
to be out, but like,
my parents put total trust in me
so they wouldn't even get mad.
They'd just be disappointed
if they found out.
It's fine, we don't need
to talk about my parents.
What are you gonna do?
- [Aabria] Look, I asked the group
if that's what they wanted
because I just wanted to make sure
that we weren't deciding for
them 'cause we're bolder in-
- [Becca] You really shouldn't have asked.
We can't think about this anymore now.
- [Aabria] What?
This is like the most important thing.
You have to ask.
- [Becca] Okay, okay.
So what's your cool thing?
Do you even know yet?
- [Aabria] I mean, not really.
My parents were really excited about it
and my siblings were all
really excited about it
so it was a big deal and I just,
I wanted to be excited about
it for just a little bit.
- [Becca] Is that hard because
you never want to be excited
for what your family's excited about?
- [Aabria] It's that, but it's
also like, I wouldn't do it.
You guys are the best
people in the whole world.
Like, I would k*ll or die for anyone.
- [Becca] We literally have
done that and it was awesome!
- [Aabria] So many times!
- [Becca] It's so fun-
- [Aabria] We're not
gonna give that sh*t up!
And then Sam came out of pocket
and I was like, I'm gonna choke her.
[players laughing]
- Yeah.
- Right?
- Right.
- [Aabria] Like, she can't
let me have one thing.
She is always in the spotlight.
- [Becca] I mean, she
f*cking rocks the spotlight.
- [Aabria] Yeah, I'm not saying
that that's not the case,
but there was a moment,
and I just wanted a moment
to tell my friends
something that was cool.
And I feel like that was taken away,
but I don't want to punish the group
because I'm salty over...
- [Becca] Hey, Ant.
- [Aabria] Yeah.
- [Becca] Your thing is really cool
- [Aabria] What's your thing?
Okay, I feel like I'm deflecting on-
- [Becca] Okay, okay, hold on.
- [Aabria] Yeah, go, you go.
- [Becca] Okay, um, I
can't tell you anything.
Get this, get this.
- Okay, okay, okay, okay.
- It's secret, okay.
That's it, I can't.
- [Aabria] Wait, no, what?
No, you have to, you have to tell.
- [Becca] Okay, I'll tell you this.
- [Aabria] The whole thing.
- [Becca] It's just, the group is amazing,
and I love you all so much.
And also, nobody needs a rogue.
You all can blow a door open.
You don't need me.
- [Aabria] Are you kidding me?
- [Becca] But like, what
if there was a place
where rogues are the coolest?
- [Aabria] Rogues are always the coolest!
What are you talking about?
You literally, you sneak up
and you m*rder people before
they know there's a problem.
That's the coolest sh*t I've ever seen.
And I stand in the back and
sh**t arrows and I'm like,
"Oh, there she goes."
- [Becca] Yeah, it's just that, yeah,
they never look at you with fear
the same way they'll look at
Sam when she casts something.
- [Aabria] You're the last
thing that a lot of people see
before they die in surprise.
And I need you to, we're gonna honor that
for a second, okay?
That's the raddest sh*t.
- [Becca] It means so much to
me that you would say that.
- [Aabria] Is your thing
a cool rogue thing?
That like, oh, is it
like, it's like a rogue-
[Becca shushes]
[players laughing]
That's so cool, that's incredibly cool.
- [Becca] I know, but like,
the group is incredibly cool.
The party, we have a party, you know?
A lot of people die before
they ever really get
to what we have gotten to together.
- [Aabria] Here's the thing.
I couldn't imagine going into the world
without our group together,
but that doesn't mean,
that's a failure of imagination,
and we're more than a party,
we're friends and sisters.
And that doesn't end if you
go and do cool rogue sh*t
that we can't know about.
So real talk, if you say
yes, I'll stand beside you.
I mean, I won't see you 'cause
you disappear constantly.
- [Becca] I know, I'm so good at that.
- [Aabria] But the cloud of where you were
I will f*cking salute.
- [Becca] Oh, I thought you
were gonna make this decision
easier but now it's harder.
What are you gonna do?
- [Aabria] I don't know.
I'm afraid to text the group.
- [Becca] I feel like
we need to go with you
to meet this person-
- [Aabria] Yeah, okay.
What if we politely abstain
and get some more information.
- I love that, I love you.
- I love you!
That was such a good Ostentatia,
oh my God, oh my God.
- "Wall-ach-ay"
- The next morning comes.
All of your class schedules
have been cleared.
And of course the first
up is going to be Antiope
up at like, before the crack of dawn.
- Yep, morning run.
- And doing a wild squatting,
arm-twisting calisthenics
as your dad out in the yard.
- I'm wearing the outfit with him.
- And we're gonna move
and everything's coming
from the core, sweetie.
- Yep.
- Everything's coming from the core,
and we're always engaging
'cause you wanna feel.
If you're not feeling the muscle,
you're not working it, okay?
- 100%.
- Great.
- [Aabria] Posterior training, I got it.
- [Brennan] So internship, right?
- Oof.
- What are you thinking?
- [Aabria] Uh, ooh, oh. [laughs awkwardly]
Keep squatting.
You know what?
I'm going to be visiting,
I'm gonna go to Bastion
City, and I'm gonna go,
we're gonna go, I'm gonna-
- [Brennan] You don't have class?
- [Aabria] No, no, I talked to Arthur.
I'm gonna call him Arthur.
I feel strong about that.
Arthur and I talked-
- [Brennan] Whoa, a little
senioritis kicking in.
First name?
- A little bit.
- Wow.
- Super senior, baby.
- [Brennan] Okay, there we go.
- [Aabria] And yeah, you know,
he said it was super important
that I make sure I have
all my options on the table
so I'm gonna go have a fact find.
I'm just gonna see if they can
like, what can they offer me?
I am struggling right now.
- [Brennan] He takes out his crystal and-
[Brennan mimics keys tapping]
- [Aabria] Oh, you don't
have to call people.
What, oh...
- [Brennan] Hey, Charity, yeah.
- No...
- [Brennan] It's Hector Jones.
[laughs] He would, yeah!
- How'd you already fit a joke in there?
- Yeah, I was like that's a quick joke.
- Oh, the old son of a b*tch.
- You would!
- [Brennan] Listen, Charity I'm here
with my youngest Antiope,
and she is very excited
about the I-N-T-E-R-N-S-H-I-P.
- [Aabria] That's so many letters.
- [Brennan] And she wanted
to come down to Bastion City.
Could you pop out for a second and grab?
No, no, no, understood,
yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
- [Aabria] I'm just on my phone now.
Oh sh*t.
- Sure, drop a, yeah.
No, we'll put her on a train right away.
What time is it right now?
It's getting late, it's almost
[Rekha laughing]
So yeah, I'll put her on the 8:00 AM.
You got it, yes, yes, yes.
Okay, yeah. [laughs]
Eh, we're friends, all right.
[players laughing]
You see he...
- [Aabria] I think in that
time I've sent a text,
like four texts like,
get up, get the f*ck up.
- [Rekha] Yeah, not at the
group, just four individuals.
- [Becca] Well, I think the
previous night we counted down
and we both three, two, one sent abstain.
- [Aabria] Yeah.
- [Becca] Yeah, and that
was the previous thing
in this thread.
- Oh, yep.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah um...
- Can I have sent something
to the group thread?
- [Brennan] Yes.
- After the abstain thing?
- [Brennan] Yes, yes, yes.
- [Becca] Uh-oh.
- It's like, okay, so Ostentatia
takes a video of herself.
- [Brennan] Uh-huh.
[Becca laughing]
- To send to the group and she's like,
"I have made the executive decision
that no matter what anybody wants
I would like to personally acquire my GED.
[group laughing]
So if anybody wants to do
the quest and find Tectonya,
you may accompany me.
[mimics smooching] Love you!
[group laughing]
- In, in.
- So you send that video
out, which is a lovely out
'cause it is true that if
nothing started right away
you would still have some
time to go on this quest.
But you see that as you
all get these texts like,
wake up, wake up, you see Hector says,
"Charity would love to grab
a coffee with you today.
Obviously she's a very busy woman.
She works for the Ministry of
Adventures in Bastion City.
You don't have the clearance
to meet with her at her office,
but she's happy to meet you.
She'll drop a location and
you can meet her there.
I'll give you her number.
And sweetheart, I'm
very excited about this.
This is the beginning
of a very exciting process in your life.
- [Aabria] Yeah, uh, yeah.
And of course you would love me
no matter what I would choose.
- [Brennan] Of course,
and it's such a courtesy
that I won't have to
extend myself to, you know.
[Rekha laughing]
It's such an added cherry
on top that in addition
to loving you unconditionally,
you're also doing the right thing.
- [Aabria] Oh God, I'm gonna
go for like a five-mile run.
- [Brennan] Five miles?
- [Aabria] 12 miles.
- [Brennan] 12 miles, let's go!
- [Aabria] He's gonna join me?
[group laughing]
- Cool, all of you are
on the, there's like,
you're put on the 8:00 AM
train down to Bastion City.
Super speedy quick light
rail gets you down there.
All of you jump in and
join which is something,
like, your dad drops you
off and then you meet up
with your adventuring party there.
And you all arrive and a new number
leaves a thing on your crystal that says,
Antiope, got your number from your father.
Exciting to meet and chat,
dash, dash, Charity Blythe.
And then there's a dot,
dot, dot at the end.
Just a scary Boomer
ellipsis at the end of the-
- Oh no.
- Why are they like this?
[group laughing]
- Terrifying Boomer ellipsis at the end.
And we're gonna cut to
wonderful Bastion City.
Big, huge skyscrapers, crystal tech,
tons of cars moving around.
It's a quick 90-minute
ride down to the city.
- I'm dashing between people.
- And the place she drops you off
is the Museum of Questing
History in Bastion City.
- I have a question.
- Mm-hmm.
- Did I bring Cinnamon?
[Becca laughs]
- On the train?
- Actually, if you guys want to have your,
like, I don't know.
Would you have come with
your adventurer gear
in case sh*t pops off?
Are you like, kind of ready
to go at a moment's notice?
- Always.
- We're adventurers.
- I'm here because I'm
trying to be impressive.
- Yes, cool, so you guys are all geared up
in your adventurer gear.
You arrive at the Museum
of Questing History
which is basically just this
big, beautiful civic building
with all of these statues of
the original Queen of Solace
and the adventuring party
that defeated Kalvaxus
and all this other stuff
like heroes and adventurers from all over.
Big museum here, a lot of
Aguefort alums in here.
There are some like, this
woman said she'd meet you
in a general time period.
Do you just wait in the lobby?
Do you walk around the museum?
- [Aabria] Kind of want to walk around.
- Why wouldn't she let you in her office?
- I don't have a high enough clearance?
- We should all hide together
and watch your interview.
- Oh God.
- We could hide behind Cinnamon.
- We should abstain from watching.
- Okay, but we could just-
- Really?
- Learn a lot from this opportunity.
- Uh-oh, uh-oh.
- So everyone's new thing
is sort of abstaining.
- Well, it's just sort
of always been my thing.
- I am trying to make an informed-
- I'm a maiden.
- Yeah, I've been hiding
in trees jumping down
on my friends, eavesdropping
on their whole conversation.
- You see you walk into a
room and all of a sudden
they look up and see
suspended over you is the,
in this room that kind
of is a terrifying room
where a giant exhibit
is suspended over you,
you all see the skeleton of Kalvaxus.
[High Schooler gasps]
- Oh!
- [Becca] Wait, are we
noted in the plaque?
- You literally look and
see a guy leading a tour
to a group of tourists and be like,
"And if you look over here,
you can actually see The Seven Maidens,
some of the adventurers
who k*lled Kalvaxus."
- Quick pose.
- [Brennan] They're not normally here.
I don't actually know what's happening.
This is a complete coincidence,
but we're just rolling with it and um...
- Is he cute?
- The tour leader's pretty cute, actually.
- [Aabria] [gasps] Yeah!
[players laughing]
It's preemptive.
- I'm going to go over to him.
- And if you'll look over to our right,
I'm being approached by Sam Nightingale,
one of the adventurers who k*lled Kalvaxus
along with the other
Maidens and the Bad Kids
in the gymnasium at Aguefort
Adventuring Academy.
- All of you, go.
[High Schooler gasps]
- [Brennan] You see that all
the tourists look at each other
and say, "May we take
one picture as we part?"
Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap
then they all walk away
and you see the tour guide goes like.
Tour guide is a very sort of like, tall,
sort of tall, a little scarecrow looking.
He's like a Half-Orc, but
whereas most Half-Orcs
are kind of built out he's a little bit
on the ganglier side.
- Oh, hello.
- All you.
[players laughing]
- [Persephone] I didn't
realize this was Zelda's type.
- [Brennan] [laughs] You see he goes like,
"Hi, I'm Morris, nice to meet you.
You're a famous adventurer."
- [Persephone] Uh-huh,
why is this skeleton here?
- Oh, well, so the bones, it's just a,
you know, it belongs
in a museum, you know?
I don't actually put the exhibits.
- You didn't do anything
wrong, Morris, it's fine.
That's just Sam.
- [Persephone] Oh, you
didn't do anything wrong.
I'm about to, though.
[Brennan laughs joyously]
So Sam is not having a good time.
She's a little fragile.
I'm a little frazzled.
So Penny, also fighting with Antiope.
- Don't call her that, that's mine!
- [Persephone] And Zelda.
Oh my God, I keep doing
that, sorry, Penelope.
- It is very funny.
- Penelope.
- I'm the only Penny in your life now!
- You're the only living
Penny in my life now.
- Okay [groans awkwardly] thank you.
- [Aabria] That counts for something.
- [Persephone] I don't like this skeleton
not being ground into powder.
I'm gonna cast Lightning Bolt on it.
- [Brennan] Um, you go to
cast Lightning Bolt on it.
You reach up and the spell is countered.
- [Persephone] Of course it is.
- [Brennan] Powerfully,
high level spell slot
by a thin, blonde woman,
hair in a tight bun,
some sort of writing implement,
looks like a very fine,
some sort of pencil or
something through it.
Pencil skirt, sharp
blazer, walking glasses,
a cup of coffee in her
hand. [mimics wind whipping]
Gets rid of the spell and goes,
"Miss Nightingale."
- [Persephone] You want this thing around?
- I want you to not make
a scene everywhere you go
for like two seconds.
- [Brennan] Miss Jones-
- It is very dead.
- [Brennan] Miss Jones, I wasn't aware
that you'd be bringing your friends.
- There is power in dragon
bones, you know that, right?
- You know what?
We wanted to come see the
exhibit for ourselves.
It's fine, they're
just, they were leaving.
They were leaving if you wanna talk.
- [Isabella] Yeah, we
were about to go to...
- We just were-
- We're watching
as we step backwards slowly
- [Rekha] My horse stepping
backwards slowly as well, too.
- Going away.
- You see that the woman
speaks up and says,
[regal piano music]
"Young ladies,
are you going to actually
step out of the room
or are you going to kind of,
like a bunch of little
sort of rapscallions
sort of peek around a corner
with each of your heads
stacked on each other,
sort of all looking all
in that little tower,
following your friend wherever she goes?
'Cause if we're gonna do that,
you might as well just stay in the room.
- No, I'm just gonna stay here.
- Can we stay?
So we can stay.
- Rapscallion?
- Miss Jones, it is a
pleasure to meet you.
I'm Charity Blythe.
I work for the Ministry of Adventures.
- [Aabria] Nice to meet you.
- Very reserved, almost
no movement to her hand.
She just sort of lets you grab her hand.
- Oh no.
[regal piano music]
- [Brennan] Well, welcome to Bastion City.
I had meant to conduct something
of a non-interview interview.
The position has already been extended.
However, your father did call in a favor
and ask me to meet with you.
What questions if any
can I answer for you?
- [Aabria] Oh, I was just, I
wanted more, [clears throat]
I wanted more information
just about the nature
of the internship.
I want to, you know,
weigh all of my options.
And I was just curious about questing
and that whole life in general.
Just trying to know more about the one.
- The internship would
be a one-year commitment
which could be extended on our behalf
to two or three years.
You will receive a stipend.
You'd be living in Bastion City.
And you would be learning
the inner workings
and assigned to a security detail
for the Council of
Chosen, representing those
that lead the Nation of Solace and,
you, young lady whom I don't know...
- Just a question.
Can it be done remotely?
[players laughing]
By crystal, a lot of jobs these days
can be done by crystal.
- [Becca] You don't need to leave at all.
- Ostentatia's just sort of like.
[group laughing]
- [Brennan] You see she
looks deep and goes, are you-
- [Isabella] Trying to
pretend that I'm hugging.
- [Brennan] She says, "You
are, oh, Katja Cleaver."
- Yes.
- Ah, I have had some
correspondence with your father.
She says the word correspondence.
- Ooh.
- And you think about that letter
asking your dad about Tectonya Karkovnya.
- [Rekha] Oh, how so?
[Erika laughing]
- [Brennan] Well, I am one of the people
who runs the Ministry of Adventuring.
And your father, as well you know,
is a renowned and quite
successful adventurer.
- [Rekha] Yes, yes he is.
So what did you talk about?
[players giggling]
- Rather inconsequential, a
bureaucrat had gone missing
some years ago and I was inquiring
due to his familiarity with her.
I believe that they shared
a friendship of some kind.
- Friendship, detect thoughts.
- Ooh.
- Whoa!
- [laughs] Oh my gosh.
- [Erika] We're gonna get in trouble.
- [Brennan] If you're
disguising that spell,
go ahead and give me either
sleight of hand or deception.
- Um...
- Crossing all my fingers.
- Correct me if I'm wrong.
Is it that if you go into
the second layer of it,
you need to disguise it?
- Let me double-check here.
- Oh.
- But that for anything
on surface thoughts
like something they're talking about.
- You need to disguise a
spell because you're near her.
- Yeah.
- And she can,
you saw her Counterspell something very-
- Am I still invisible
from Pass Without Trace?
- I think I stopped
passing Pass Without Trace.
- Can Cinnamon block her?
- Yeah, Cinnablock!
- I can give you invisibility.
- Cinnablock.
- I'm gonna say here, if
you have Pass Without Trace,
go ahead and give me a stealth check here.
- Okay, with advantage?
- Because Counterspell does require sight.
And detect thoughts doesn't
have a visible component.
You have advantage, you have stealth.
- Um...
- I'm going to be rolling
a perception check
in the Box of Doom.
- It's time, yes!
- [Persephone] Oh, it's time.
- Let's go!
- In the Box of Doom.
- Okay, no, no, no, this
is fine, this is good.
- It's fine.
- Oh.
- [Aabria] Oh, totally
normal just to roll a die.
- You got a 17.
[dramatic instrumental music]
I'll let people know
right now that this person
adds a +8 to their perception check.
- So what?
- Get up there.
- Yeah.
- Literally don't care at all.
- Oh, you sneaky little b*tch.
[players laughing]
Oh no.
- You go to cast Detect
Thoughts, and the spell goes
and her surface thoughts
materialize in front of you.
She is thinking of Tectonya Karkovnya.
- [Erika] Yes...
- She is thinking about the Superintendent
vanishing and disappearing.
And she is also thinking about an object
that Tectonya took with her.
Those are the surface
thoughts that you glean.
She turns and says,
"Yes, but the internship
would require you to stay in Bastion City,
and you would be dedicated to the service
of the Council of Chosen as
many in your family have been.
It is a prestigious
beginning, opening pathway
to a life of some exemplary deeds.
Um, Miss Cleaver, you
were asking about the,
did I successfully answer your question?"
- Not at all.
[players laughing]
I asked you about a correspondence
between you and my father.
And then you sort of, shall I
say intimated a relationship
between my father and
this missing bureaucrat.
- Charity turns and says, "Very well."
You see in the surface
thought as you, again,
are just skimming over the surface,
the object comes a little
more sharply into focus.
You see a crystal screen tucked under
one of Tectonya's arms and you see
that there is a map of the world on it.
All these motes of light
of different colors,
and you see that there is a
small legend in the corner,
a little key to understand
the different motes of
light and colors on it.
It says, classes, class A,
class B, class C, class D,
- [gasps] Oh my God.
- And it goes down to class F.
And you see Charity says-
- Oh, there's only E in between
D and F, just so you know.
- No, that can't be right.
[players laughing]
- All the way down.
- You see Charity says,
"Yes, I could go into
more detail if you'd like.
Perhaps you and I can take a walk."
- [Rekha] Yeah, yeah, I'd like that.
I've clocked that Danielle got information
'cause I obviously
don't know what you saw.
- Almost as if sort of in
the back of your minds,
you all, everybody in the
area hears a description
of this Superintendent.
She's on a crystal screen.
She has A all the way down to F.
- f*ck, no one can count that high.
[players laughing]
- For class missions.
She has stolen an object, so you all hear.
- As Charity walks away with
you, you all have a moment.
The remaining six of the seven
have a moment to check in
and say, so, that lady
that's talking to Antiope
knows about the
Superintendent running away.
She's like, thinking about her?
- Yeah, this Superintendent
stole something.
- I don't know that, my dad's fairly old.
Her voice fades into the wind.
[High Schooler laughing]
- Oh my gosh, oh no.
- Oh no.
- So you and Charity are gonna walk.
She delves into the
details of the internship
more like that and she
says, "So, Miss Jones.
I do have to get back to work in a moment,
but we would be delighted to have you come
and work for the Council."
- [Aabria] When would my start date?
- [Brennan] As soon as you
like, this school year.
- [Aabria] Uh. [sighs]
I don't have to sign anything, right?
It's just like a verbal agreement, like?
- [Brennan] There will be some paperwork.
- [Aabria] Yeah, but not like, right now.
- [Brennan] Not right now, no.
- [Aabria] Yes, then yeah, sure, yeah.
- [Brennan] Amazing, we look forward
to seeing you in Bastion City.
And she turns and walks away
and you turn and see your
six friends looking at you.
- Hey, hey, okay, what the, what was that?
I had a weird thought.
- Yeah, so what'd you learn?
- Nothing.
- What happened about the
internship, what'd you say?
- Oh, uh-
- You probably don't have
to make decisions like that right away.
She wouldn't possibly ask that of you.
- No, she was just like,
I'll have to give you
more information, we'll
send some paperwork along,
like a brochure, like,
nothing set in stone.
- This is crazier than anything I've said.
But what if you take the internship
so we can get more information
and then we still do our adventure?
- Yeah.
- An interesting idea.
- [Brennan] Atiope.
- [Rekha] I know it's crazy.
Bless you.
- [Brennan] The hair-
[players laughing]
Antiope, the hair on your
arms and legs stand up.
[dramatic instrumental music]
Through the crowd of people in the room,
a grave face with blood
red lips looks at you
[snaps fingers] and disappears.
That's all for this episode-
- What the f*ck?
- [Brennan] Of Dimension 20.
- What's up?
- Tune in next time.
- Oh my God.
So bye.
Ah, very well.
It seems I've caught you
just in the nick of time.
- My friend is gonna fail out of school.
- I told you not to tell anybody.
- I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
[Isabella crying]
- Preston looks at you
and says, "Absolutely."
- Oh, oh my God.
I'm not gonna stop him, but
I will look embarrassed.
- You think a flock of
bird, what the f*ck?
[screams] A new beast of magic!
- You didn't think about
birds, did you, Brennan?
- Where are you right now?
- With my friend Eumir Persei.
- And I. [laughs]
- I do wanna just jump in and say,
it does not make sense to me.
- No, not even a little bit.
- Okay, cool, not just me?
- Yeah we're, yeah, mm-hmm, yeah.
- Vibes.
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11x02 - In or Out
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A tabletop role-playing game show produced by and broadcast on Dropout and created and generally hosted by Brennan Lee Mulligan as the show's regular Dungeon Master.
A tabletop role-playing game show produced by and broadcast on Dropout and created and generally hosted by Brennan Lee Mulligan as the show's regular Dungeon Master.