Dames & Dragons 17. Into Avelis (Part 8)

Dreams, woods, and the infinite library. The Guardians and the Goddess trek toward the Tower of Wivvel, seeking to learn the common tongue of Avelis. They come upon a small town, solve a riddle, and each forget something important.

✂️ Ep. 17 Outtakes & Extras ✂️ 

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Transcript

Dames and Dragons

DUNGEON MASTER/NPCs: Kat

FRAN THE WATER GENASI WIZARD is played by Noel

LAIKA THE TIEFLING PALADIN is played by Sophia

CORBIN THE HUMAN DRUID is played by Kaitlin

Dames and Dragons Transcript Episode 17 – Into Avelis (Part 8)

Kaitlin: ‘I want you. Die in a fire. I want to trow you out just like my broken tv. You SUCK. You are a BULLSHIT. I’m not saying because I love Sonic. No! I’m saying it because its fucking annoying. Why don’t you understand that you’re getting hated. I know it’s your opinion but keep it inside you. Look, I hate Sonic Boom, but I keep it inside me. Because I will get A-N-N-O-Y-E-D! I hope you understand, sucker. The only sucker here is you. Replier is sucker. If you understand me then reply.’

[Laughter]

Noel: [In a fancy-man voice] What was this beautiful work of art?

Sophia: [Also in a fancy-man voice] This poem. 

Kat: [Also in a fancy-man voice] This piece of art that you have read for us? 

Kaitlin: So. In the year of our lord, two-thousand and ten; I had a deviantart account—which will remain nameless. And I posted a stamp. And mine said: ‘I hate Sonic.’ ‘Cause I  hated Sonic. And I still don’t like Sonic.

[‘Guardians Theme (Into Avelis)’ -Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) beings playing] 

Sophia: To be clear: I side with the commenter, because I love Sonic. 

Noel: Same.

Kaitlin: Fuck you, Sophia. Fuck you, Noel. 

Noel: Green hill zone. 

Sophia: Green hill zone.

Kaitlin: I don’t even know what that means. 

Noel: Also, to be even more clear: what Kaitlin read was one of the comments from that ‘I hate Sonic’ stamp.

Kaitlin: There are exactly one thousand comments on this stamp.

[Noel gasps]

Kat: My god. 

Noel: All amazing, by the way. Kaitlin and I scroll through them for fun on a regular basis. 

Kaitlin: They are just—

Sophia: So in summary:  We love Sonic. And we’re—hope you also love Sonic. 

Kaitlin: Yeah.

Noel: And if you don’t love Sonic you are a bullshit. 

Kaitlin: Yeah. You are a bullshit. If you like Sonic. 

Kat: Hey bullshits! Hey, bullshits?

Kaitlin: Hey!

Kat: Let’s play some dnd. 

Kaitlin: Oh. 

[‘Guardians Theme (Into Avelis)’ - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) plays and then fades out] 

Kat: Hi! I’m Kat, I am your DM. 

Kaitin: Hi, I am Kaitlin, I hate Sonic. I play Corbin, who's a level six druid. 

Sophia: Hi, I’m Sophia, I play Sonic.

Kaitlin: Hahah! Get of the fucking podcast. 

Sophia: I don’t think so. 

Noel: Hi, I’m Noel. I play Tails but only in player one mode where I come back to life every time I die. 

Kat: Can you guys say what characters you play?

Sophia: No. I did. 

 Kat: So you guys have finished up at Fang Lake. You’ve got your Protector’s Blade—Dawson came out of nowhere and took it from you just after you had figured out who was gonna carry it to get those sweet bonuses. and he gave you the location of Wivvil’s Tower. Which y'all are headed off to now.

Noel: Before we set off to go, I'm going to pull Laika and Corbin aside before we leave and I say:

Fran: So what's the real plan though? You guys just discussed the plan that was just to kill the gods? And that's, like, your whole plan? And so, like, I know that the story that you’re gonna tell Maeri, ‘cause she might be evil inside and whatever else. But what's the real plan?

Laika: That is the real plan. We’re gonna kill gods along the way. 

Fran: ...Right. But you’re gonna—what? You’re gonna kill, like, Dawson? You’re gonna kill Vioni?

Laika: Dawson’s not a god. Also his name is Daniel McManuel. What do you mean?

Fran: What do I mean?

[Laughter]

Laika: Yes, Jerry Seinfield, what do you mean?

Fran: Well, we can’t kill the gods. There's like fifty of them and they have—I don’t know, like—Untold power. How are we gonna kill one? What's your plan?

Laika: Listen, here's my idea. We gotta get real strong. Like, real powerful. Like with these cool bracers I have, that we got from Da—Dumbling Daniel, alright?

[Kat squeaks]

Laika: Listen—

Dashing Dawson: It’s Dashing Dawson…

Kat: You hear a voice on the wind…

Laika: The other thing I have, we don’t know, but maybe there's a way to give up godhood. Maybe, these gods, if they were willing, would give up their power. If they really understood how much pain and destruction they we’re bringing to the rest of the world. 

Corbin: Or we could become gods. 

Laika: Or we could-

Corbin: And then kill them all. 

Laika: We could become gods and kill them. That’s another option. 

Corbin: We can do it, for sure. 

Fran: So, what you guys are saying is that you don’t have a plan. Let's all think on this and come back to it tomorrow. Do not tell Maeri the plan again, as you clearly have done.

Corbin: Maeri where are you?

Fran: Ugh.

Laika: Maeri!

Corbin: I want to tell you the plan!

Fran: Corbin, I swear to god. 

[Laughter]

Kat: Maeri—The Goddess— she's hanging out with Zarun. She gives you guys a confused wave and then signs:

Maeri: Are we gonna get going soon?

Fran: Yes, my dear! We’re gonna go. 

Sophia: I ask Maeri:

Laika: Is there a way that a god could give up their godhood?

Kat: She shrugs. She doesn’t know. 

Corbin: Maeri is there a way for a mortal to become a god?

Noel: [Incredulously] … Obviously.

[Laughter]

Kat: She looks at you like you’re an idiot. 

[Laughter]

Sophia: I high-five Corbin. 

Noel: Fran walks away and goes to walk by Maeri. 

Kat: Alright, so from where you guys are, it’s a couple days trek up to the Tower of Wivvil. So here something I want to know: are you guys travelling by the roads? Or are you attempting to get there without using the main roads?

Noel: Here's my input into this—

Sophia: Yeah.

Noel: We all three, and our companions—except for the Goddess—are really more used to woods than we are t0—

Sophia: That’s true. 

[Various moises of agreement]

Noel: —to roads. 

Kaitlin: I was just gonna say—

Noel: I feel like, if we felt like there was any chance that going through the woods would help then we would go through the woods. 

Sophia: I think you’re right. I think that makes more sense. 

Kaitlin: Well, and I know— there’s a thing that Corbin has, as being a druid, which is that he is good at surviving in the wilderness.

Noel: That makes sense, yeah.

Sophia: How busy are the main roads? That's the other question.

Noel: Thats a good question, yeah.

Kat: So you did— I'm just going to see that you guys did take mostly the road up here. To— to Fang Lake.  And probably the most busy was the main road going out of Danmar.  But as you got further and further away from the city there were fewer and fewer people.

Sophia: Looks like we're going in the woods!

[Laughter]

Kat: So you guys decide to go through the woods. It seems like the safer bet. You guys are used to the woods. You start heading up along— there aren't very many landmarks for you guys to follow so I'm going to have you roll survival checks.

[Dice rolling]

Sophia: I got a fourteen. 

Noel: I got a natural one. 

Kat: Fran does not know shit about the woods. 

Kaitlin: And I have what Sophia got. Which was fourteen. Which is not very good. 

Kat: So this journey is going to take you—then—it’s gonna take you five days.  You guys start—you know it's North and you know how to find North, but... You started when you were at Fang Lake. The plants all seemed familiar and— deciduous forests. But as you start heading north the trees become thin and they don't have leaves, they have needles. And it's much denser and much harder to navigate. 

Instead of these big trees with their deep root systems and their wide trunks that are widely spaced out, you have all these small thin—trunked trees that are all packed in close together. And it makes it very, very, difficult to keep your  bearings. There's points where you can’t see the sun. So it takes you guys a little bit longer to get up to where you’re going. 

[Creepy-ish music begins to play]

So even as you guys are starting to get lost; Corbin, you can turn into a crow. And you can fly up ahead and get a good look around at where you’re going and realise ‘Okay, so we need to cross.’ You know, ‘Three rivers, there are three rivers that way, let's go.’

But one night, when you’re making camp—Laika you are on watch, this night, and at night this forest, with its tall, thin trees and their long, dropping, hooked branches, it's very spooky. And you’re sitting by the fire looking out into this forest and you see a spirit of yellow eyes.

[Noel softly gasps]

Sophia: [Delightedly] Is it a wolf?

Kat: As you’re looking, and you're trying to figure out what it is, it’s coming toward you and you see: it is! It’s a wolf. It’s a wolf with black fur and you get up to go greet it. It trots over to you and you reach out your hand and put it on this wolf's head and suddenly your hand starts sinking into it. And the fur starts coming around your hand and pulling you in. And the wolf’s face becomes less wolf—like and more monstrous.

 And this fur, you realise, it’s not fur, it’s something else. It’s slick, and it’s sharp and it’s pulling you in. And you’re trying—you try and pull your hand back but you’re not able to. And it opens its mouth and shows you all these rows of bone-white teeth. 

And as you stare at it, you see that it has a crown of bones on its head and you open your mouth to scream and then you sit up. And you look around. You weren't on watch. It was Maeri’s turn. 

[Music ends]

Kaitlin: [In a spooky voice] You had the dreaaam. Oooohhhhhh.

[Various spooky ‘Ooooohhh’s]

Noel: So Maeri’s awake?

Kat: Yeah. Maeri, she looks at you, Laika. And she signs—

Sophia: I’m so scared!

[Laughter]

Sophia: I’m scared! Oh god. 

Kat: She signs:

Maeri: Are you okay?

Laika: [Emphatically] No. I had a real bad dream. What the hell?

Kat: Do you tell her about your dream?

Sophia: Yeah, I’ll tell her abou—I tell—I wake everybody up. I tell ‘em all about my dream. 

Fran: [Very sleepily] Ughh. Laika… what’s going on?

Laika: I had a bad dream. 

[Fran groans for a while]

Noel: Fran lays down again. Tries to go back to sleep. 

Sophia: Laika just lays next to her and like, spoons her, basically. 

[Giggles]

Noel: Fran just continues to groan. At a low level. Decibel.

Laika: [Whispering] I’m scared, Fran. I’ve never been scared before in my life. 

[Laughter]

Kat: Not even when Estra was falling and everybody you knew was dying?

Sophia: That was bad but this is spooky.

[Kaitlin laughs]

Kaitlin: Corbin wakes up and says—

Corbin: How is your studpid dream worse than what happened on Estra? I have bad dreams every night. 

Laika: What are you dreaming about?

Corbin: Bad stuff.

Laika: Gimme some details?

Corbin: Dead birds. 

Laika: Oh, man. That’s the worst. Kinda like my dream about a bad wolf.

Corbin: My dreams are worse.

Kat: So Maeri, she gets you back up so that she can sign to you. And she asks you:

Maeri: What did the wolf look like?

Laika: It had yellow eyes.

Maeri: What else?

Laika: It was black, oily and I thought it had fur and then it had a crown of bones. 

Kat: She sits down again. And she looks at the ground and she starts picking up pine needles and breaking them. And eventually she stops fidgeting and signs—

Maeri: I have dreams about it too.

Laika: The same wolf?

Kat: She nods. 

Maeri: It’s not—

Kat: And then signs—

Maeri: It’s not a wolf. I don’t think—I don’t know. In my dreams it's always fighting with a man who has a flaming sword. And I don't ever know which one I want to win. 

Laika: Do you think they’re gods?

Kat: She shrugs.

Noel: Fran sits up and she says—

Fran: God, am I the only one around here who’s not, like, super evil inside? You guys are all possessed by Torva. 

Noel: And she goes back to sleep. 

[Laughter]

Kat: The Goddess—

Corbin: You’re the most evil of us all, Fran. 

Noel: Fran sticks out her middle finger from her bedroll and then rolls over. 

Corbin: Case in point. 

Kat: So when Fran says that off handed comment about being possessed by Torva, the Goddess looks—she looks actually quite upset by that. But she—you know, she doesn’t say anything or sign anything. 

Sophia: Laika puts a hand on the Goddess’ shoulder. 

Laika: Nobody’s possessed by Torva, but maybe this is part of what they meant by Torva seeking us out and following us. It could be related. Or maybe it’s some other gods entirely. Or maybe it’s just dreams. I’m not a dream analysis guy. 

Kat: The Goddess signs—

Maeri: It may be dreams, it may not be but let's all just try and keep each other in the loop about these things?

Noel: Fran’s asleep. 

Kaitlin: Corbin’s also asleep.

[Sophia sighs]

Sophia: Laika glares at both of them and then says—

Laika: Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. 

Kat: Alright. So, you guys take another few days and at this point—by the times that you’re getting close you have run out of rations. 

Noel: Should we hunt? Or do we feel like we’re almost there and we should just keep going?

Kat: No you—by the time you’re out of rations—Corbin, on one of your scouting trips, up above the tree-tops, you see that there is a small town up ahead. And you reach this town pretty quickly after that. And according to your map, Wivvil’s Tower is a stone’s throw from this place. But Corbin, when you’re looking above the trees you can’t see anything that looks even vaguely resembling a tower. 

[‘Jazzy F-ing Right’ - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) beings playing] 

Kat: So you head into this  little town. And when I say town I’m saying that very generously. It's about a dozen houses and they're all thatched roofs, clay walls. It seems like they're a little village. They subsist on their own. There’s maybe fifty people in this town. But they're actively avoiding you. actually you see, as you're coming into town people are taking their children off the streets and bringing them inside.

Sophia: Are these humans?

Kat: Yeah, it’s humans. 

Sophia: And nobody stays outside?

Kat: Some adults do. People who are working. You see that there is a man in front of what looks like a little general goods store who's splitting logs for firewood.

[Snort of laughter]

Kat: I don’t know!

Kaitlin: Can I—

[‘Jazzy F-ing Right’ -Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) concludes playing] 

Kat: What do people do in villages?

Noel: That’s what they do.

Kat: So what you see in this town: there's a little general goods store, there is something that looks like—it’s not exactly a tavern but it's some sort of place that serves drinks and might have some beds. And then mostly it’s houses that have little subsistence farms. 

Noel: Okay. Should we head over to that general—well. Should we leave these wolves somewhere? And…

[Laughter]

Kat: Yeah I think—yeah. Gingie, she's ready to plow into this town. And Zarun, like, nips her tail. 

Zarun: These people… we do not want to frighten them further. Come, stay with me in the woods where it is safe.

Noel: Cool, and then the Goddess is coming with us?

Kat: Yeah, the Goddess comes with you.

Noel: Sweet, alright. We go up to the guy outside the general store. Or what we think is the general store. 

Kat: The door is open, there are goods inside. 

Noel: Oh, it’s open? Okay let's go in there then.

Kat: Okay.

Noel: I was gonna talk to the guy but I don’t care about him then.

Sophia: Yeah.

Kat: As you guys go into the store, the man who was cutting firewood, he follows you inside. It is his store, he was just cutting firewood. There isn't much for sale here. There is some basic tools and some rations.

Sophia: We just want to replenish our rations. 

[Kat ‘mm-hm’s]

Noel: Do we have to talk to this guy?

Kat: Yeah. He's watching you guys as you're in his store. He goes and stands behind the counter with his arms crossed.

Sophia: It's like: [Does a deep voice] ‘Have you heard of that haunted tower? Just kidding you can’t speak the language.’

Kat: Yep. As you guys are sort of perusing and—

Noel: I’m touching everything. 

Kat: He is—

Sophia: While making eye contact with him?

Noel: Yes. 

Kat: He is glaring. He is a big, brick-house of a man. With a big, black beard and—

Sophia: [Singing] He’s a briiiick-house.

Kat: You just want to buy some rations?

Noel: Yes.

Corbin: Does he have marshmallows?

Kat: Yeah! Actually, he does. 

Noel: Alright!

Kaitlin: I wanna buy—I wanna buy some marshmallows.

Sophia: Yeah, me too. 

Kat: That's gonna cost you extra.

Sophia: How much?

Kat: It costs you the same as a portion of rations.

Noel: That’s fine, those are cheap. 

Kat: As you make your purchase, he says something that you don’t understand. So the Goddess signs to you:

Maeri: I wish we knew what he was saying. He doesn’t seem very friendly.

Fran: He probably wants me to stop touching his wheat.

Noel: I say, with my hand deep in the wheat, up to my shoulder. 

Kat: He absolutely wants you to stop touching his wheat. 

Noel: I laugh and I pull my hand out. 

Kaitlin: Corbin—Corbin starts to peck at the wheat. 

Noel: Are—are you a crow?

Kaitlin: No, as a human. 

Noel: Oh my god. 

Kat: The man has been looking very closely at Maeri. And eventually he give a broken attempt at a sign:

Shopkeep Man: Stop. Stop. 

[Kaitlin laughs]

Noel: I sign back:

Fran: No. 

Sophia: No?

Kat: The Goddess—

Kaitlin: Corbin’s whole head is in the wheat at this point.

Kat: The man is getting much more agitated and the Goddess quickly signs:

Maeri: I’m so sorry for these people. They don’t understand how to be normal people. They were raised in the woods by wolves and other creatures.

[Everyone laughing in the background as Kat says this]

Kat: And even though she's signing pretty quickly at this point, he seems like he's understanding her. 

Noel: Hmm.

Sophia: Oh, cool. 

Kat: And he glares and he comes over to you, Corbin, and he grabs you by the back of your shirt and he pulls you out of the wheat. 

[Corbin makes a distressed ‘crow’ noise]

Kat: And he holds out his hand for your money. And I assume y’all pay him?

[Everyone says yes]

Kat: And he pockets the money and then he nods to Maeri and he goes back to stand behind the counter until you leave. 

Sophia: I go up to Maeri and I say—

Laika: Ask about the tower.

Kat: She signs to him:

Maeri: Do you know about the Tower of Wivvil?

Kat: And he takes a minute and he tries to sign again. Does signs for: ‘Don’t’ and ‘bad’ and ‘lost’.

Noel: Oh. He's that guy at the gas station. He's telling us to ‘Turn back, you crazy teens!’

Sophia: He’s saying: ‘That tower? That’s been haunted for thirty years!’

Noel: ‘Nobody’s gone in there since little Jimmy Stewart.’

[Laughter]

Sophia: ‘Get out—get out of that tower, there.’

Kat: Basically, yeah.

Sophia: ‘It’s bad news.’

Kat: The Goddess thanks him for his advice and asks you guys—

Maeri: Is there anything else you wanna know from him? I don’t know how much more we’ll get out of him. 

Noel: I sign:

Fran: Where?

Kat: Oh—

Fran: Where tower?

Kat: He walks out of the shop and he points towards a clearing. Like, a break in the trees. The path beyond it is quite dark. And he points towards it but he shakes his head. And then he goes back into his shop. 

Noel: Okay so, how are we feeling? Have we rested recently?

Kat: Yeah, I mean. You’re okay. You haven't used any spells. 

Noel: Okay.

Kat: You’re probably fine. 

Noel: I guess we can just go. Does it look like there's anything interesting in the town?

Kat: Not really, especially because everybody is closing their doors to you. 

Noel: Well anybody I see, I make direct eye-contact with. 

Kat: They will not make eye contact with you as soon as you—

Noel: I try to bend around. Get ‘em.

Sophia: I put Fran up on my shoulders, so she can make better eye contact with them.

Kat: By the time you get Fran on your shoulders, everybody’s off the street.

Sophia: Well, fine. 

Noel: I make eye contact with Corbin then. 

Kat: The Goddess, as you guys are messing arounds, heads over to that clearing of trees. And she looks in and cranes her neck towards it and then looks back to you guys and asks:

Maeri: Should we just go?

Noel: Yeah! Let’s just go, Maeri! Crazy Maeri!

Laika: Crazy Maeri.

Corbin: Maeri is so crazy!

[Laughter]

Kat: So you guys head into that little path and as soon as you’re on it, the path brightens immediately. 

[‘ADAPT!​!​!​!​!​!​!’  - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) beings playing] 

Noel: Uh-oh. 

Kat: And the forest, it’s been this coniferous forest around you for so long, but now we're suddenly back to these broad-leaved deciduous trees. And you can really, clearly tell now: it’s early spring. The birds are chirping, there are little trees with white flowers that are budding out. And as you get a little bit further in, there is a clearing and there is a stone tablet in the middle of the clearing. When you go up to look at this tablet, you can understand it. You can read it. And it says this:

Those who wish to find what they seek;

Look to the light of Wivvil.

But ye who seek, be warned:

For there is always a price for knowledge. 

Laika: We already paid it to Daniel.

[Snickers]

Noel: I take out my magnifying glass and I investigate the tablet.

Kat: Okay. 

Noel: And I got over twenty.

Kat: Looking at this tablet, it’s about hip-height, like a stone slab, and the writing is on top of it. And as you’re looking more closely at this writing, you can tell, you don’t actually recognise the symbols. You don’t recognise the letters.

Noel: We can just understand?

Kat: Yeah. You just innately knew what it said. But other than that, there isn’t much else you can glean from this tablet. 

Noel: So we have to pay for the knowledge we want? I take out a silver piece, I put it on the tablet. 

Kat: Nothing happens. And let me read that again, just so you guys get that clue again:

Those who wish to find what they seek;

Look to the light of Wivvil.

But ye who seek, be warned:

For there is always a price for knowledge. 

Noel: To the light of Wivvil. 

Kaitlin: Kat, didn’t your say that the light, like the path lit up or something as soon as we—

Kat: Yeah.

Kaitlin: Does it continue?

Kat: No, there's no clear path forward from this point. 

Kaitlin: Is there a point where the light is concentrated?

Kat: No. 

Noel: We can’t tell where it’s coming from?

Kat: No. But what you do notice as you’re looking through, is that the forest beyond this point seems very dark again. 

Noel: Okaayy. Do we know anything about a light of Wivvil? Should we roll a—

Kat: Yeah, roll a history check.

Noel: History…

Kat: Yeah.

Noel: That’s seventeen. 

Kat: Here's what you know of Wivvil. He’s the Scribe. Wivvil is the only god underneath Certus, the force of Knowledge. Certus is the first force to create a mortal and Certus is also the first force to imbue a mortal with magic power.

Sophia: Ohh! Maybe you gotta use magic to make a light. 

Noel: That’s a good idea, Sophia. I will make my shirt light up.

Kat: Okay! So you make your shirt into your disco-shirt and immediately the light flies off of your shirt and it flies into the woods. 

Fran: Oh ho! Let’s follow it!

Kat: I’m gonna have you each—

Kaitlin: Yeah!

Kat: —make an athletics check. 

Noel: Oh Jesus Christ. 

Sophia: Yeah!

[‘ADAPT!​!​!​!​!​!​!’  - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) concludes playing] 

[Dice rolling]

Noel: We don’t have our horses, I suppose. 

Kat: Nope! You didn’t take them with you. 

Kaitlin: Oh shit. Wait—can Corbin turn into a bird and follow?

Kat: No, the trees are too thick. 

Kaitlin: Damn it!

Sophia: [Gleeful] Twenty-three!

Noel: I got nineteen ‘cause I rolled an eighteen. 

Kat: Okay. 

Kaitlin: I got a nine. 

[Noel laughs]

Kat: That’ll be enough to carry you through this roll, Corbin. As you guys sprint off into the woods, you’re following this light, as it weaves between trees and underneath fallen logs and—Laika, you are fine. You know how to do this. You are racing after it, you’re keeping good pace. Fran, you’re not far behind but the Goddess, she is not good at this and she stumbles pretty quickly. And Corbin, you stop to help her up, and as you do, the light fades away into the distance. 

Fran and Laika, you see that it fades out. And the woods around you are very dark and you turn and you look and you’re trying to figure out where it went. You take a few steps and then you’re back at the start. You’re back at the stone tablet, all four of you. 

Laika: We have to do this together. 

Kat: The other thing you notice, now that you’re back at this stone tablet though, I mentioned how there were those trees with the white flowers that were coming to bud out and everything? The trees have flowers. And actually, the flowers have started to fall. It’s no longer early spring, it looks like it’s actually late spring. Maybe even getting towards early summer. 

Noel: I hope that something terrible doesn’t happen if we get to winter. 

Sophia: Yeah. Or that time is moving faster here. 

Kaitlin: Yeah. I don’t like it. 

Noel: So one theory we have is that it didn’t work because we didn't all go together. It could also just be that it’s a distraction. Following a light doesn’t necessarily seem wise. 

Sophia: Let’s try it together. 

Noel: Let’s try one more time. 

Sophia: Yep. And let’s hold hands. 

Noel: Can we do a group check then?

Kat: Yeah, this—

Noel: For  helping each other. We’re intentionally helping each other out. 

[Dice rolling]

Noel: I cast light again. 

Kat: Okay. 

Sophia: I critically failed. 

[Noel laughs]

Kaitlin: Oh god. 

Noel: I got a fifteen. 

Kaitlin: I got a fourteen. 

Kat: The Goddess got a seven so that is not gonna do it. You guys try again and this time you don’t even get that far before Laika just falls flat on her face. And the Goddess, she stops to help you up and you turn around and your back at the stone tablet. And now it is mid summer, it’s actually gotten quite warm now. 

Kaitlin: I have a spell called Speak With Plants. You imbue plants within thirty feet of you with limited sentience and animation. You can also turn difficult terrain caused by plant growth such as thickets and undergrowth into ordinary terrin that lasts for the duration and the duration is ten minutes. 

Kat: Okay. So you wanna make this less difficult terrain?

Kaitlin: Okay, wait. I have a question before I cast it though. 

Kat: Okay?

Kaitlin: Has the light gone in the same direction both times that we have done this?

Kat: Yes. 

Kaitlin: Okay, so I cast it so that it starts where that light is going. So that there's like the most amount of length of the spell. 

Kat: Okay.

Sophia: Does that give us advantage?

Kat: Yes. I’ll allo—everybody take advantage on your athletics roll. 

[Dice rolling]

Kaitlin: Wow. That was a bad roll. 

Noel: [Laughing through the pain] Didn’t help me!

Sophia: I got fifteen. 

Kat: Okay. 

Kaitlin: Wow, it didn’t help me either; I got ten. 

Noel: I got seven. 

Kat: Well luckily for all of you, the Goddess got a natural twenty. 

Noel: Yes!

Kaitlin: Oh, yes!

Sophia: Maeri! Crazy Maeri!

[Giggling]

Kat: With that natural twenty, she is able to help you guys get through. And as you start out running, Corbin and Fran, now it’s you guys who are flagging behind. And it's just that you're just getting so tired. You’re not trained to run long distances, not like Laika is, and you’re starting to flag behind when the Goddess looks back at you and then you feel amazing. 

[Noel gasps]

Kat: You feel this golden glow inside of you and your energy returns and you are able to follow this light as it weaves around trees and underneath branches and at first the roots are moving out of the way with Corbin’s spell, but even after that fades, you’re able to make it through. And eventually you guys come to this clearing.

Noel: We’ve done it!

Kat: So, you come to a clearing with a squat hut in the centre of it. The hut is about fifty feet in diameter and it had a roof made of bright blue shingles. There's a door that is also bright blue and it is barley tall enough for Corbin. It’s just about Corbin’s height. 

Fran: Some tower. 

Noel: Uhh… we walk… into it. 

Sophia: Well, can I fit in?

Kat: Yeah, well I mean—

Noel: You can crouch down. 

Kat: Yeah, you have to crouch to get through. And you feel a little bit silly when you do. But, yeah, you try the handle and it opens right away. And when you open the door, it is completely dark inside. You cannot—it’s like an inky black veil over this doorway. You can't see inside. 

Noel: I will cast light again. 

Kat: Your light just doesn’t pierce this blackness, it won't go through it.

Noel: Uhhhh.

Laika: I think we have to trust in the heart of the cards. 

Sophia: And I do through. 

Kat: Alright. The Goddess follows right behind you, Laika. 

[‘Guardians Theme (Into Avelis)’ - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) (interlude music) begins playing]

Noel: Fran grabs onto the back of the Goddess’ armour. 

Kat: Awesome. 

Noel: And follows her. 

Kaitlin: Corbin sticks his head through. What does he see?

[‘Guardians Theme (Into Avelis)’ - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) (interlude music) plays, fades into interlude]

Noel: And now a message to Chantel. Chantel, I’ve been trapped in the middle of this episode for many moons and have not laid eyes on your beautiful, beautiful, beautiful face. I miss you and I curse you. The code word today is: Idrils. You are now trapped along with me Chantel. Let’s get back to that episode.

[‘Guardians Theme (Into Avelis)’ - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) (interlude music) plays, fades out.]

Kat: You enter the hut and are immediately confronted with a space much bigger than the outside.

[‘moon farts’- Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) begins playing]

Kat: You’re standing on a balcony, overlooking an enormous library. Like, the library of Estra was big, this is insane. It’s like a palace. You are on the top floor and there's maybe fifty floors under you. 

Noel: Like mayhaps a tower?

Kat: Like perhaps a tower!

[Giggles]

Sophia: So it’s going into the ground?

Kat: It seems that way. So yeah, it’s fifty floors down and each floor, it’s just shelf after shelf of books and scrolls. Like the library of Estra, it’s got a hollow centre and then further into the library it looks like this is just one column of many. It goes way further down. 

Sophia: Like an infinite library?

Kat: Yeah, that's what it feels like, an infinite library And there are these little, tiny golden golems that are running around carrying scrolls and books. They’re shelving them and organising them. And as you’re looking around at this, you walk to the edge of this balcony and look down. And at the bottom of this tower, you can see a man bent over at an ornate stone desk and there are about a dozen other desks around him that at first look empty, but then you realise that there are golden hands scribbling on scrolls at each desk. What do you guys want to do? Corbin, do you come in or are you just staying out there with your head through the door?

Kaitlin: As—when he sees that it’s just a place he comes in. 

Noel: This is more than just a place. This is the infinite library!

Kaitlin: Corbin wants to call down to the man. 

Kat: Okay, what do you say to him?

Corbin: Whats up!?

Kat: The man looks up at you and all the hands stop scribbling. 

Kaitlin: Corbin waves. 

Kat: As you start to wave you get a very intense feeling of vertigo, all of you do. It’s like you’re falling very, very fast and then when it stops you’re standing on the bottom floor. 

[‘moon farts’- Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) concludes playing]

Kat: Right on the same level as the desks and the hands. Uh—

Corbin: That sucked. 

Laika: Oh god. 

Kat: The Goddess, she gags. She looks like she's gonna throw up. The man turns around from his desk to look at you guys and at first you have a very hard time looking at him. He doesn’t really have a face or a body or any features, just sort of a vague suggestion of a humanism form clothed in cerulean robes. And he exhales sharply and then his features fill into all the shadows. And he takes the form of a middle aged man with a completely bald head and a square black beard and bright blue eyes. The hands go back to scribbling and he spreads his own golden hands wide to welcome you.

Wivvil: Welcome, my lady Kai! It has been far too long since we saw you on the surface. 

Sophia: [Squealing] Oh my god!

Noel: Woohhf, okay. Does the Goddess’ react to that?

Kat: Uhhh, actually, yeah. 

[Kat rolls a die]

Kat: So, wow. The Goddess inclines her chin toward him and she tries to draw herself up into that regal goddess that you first saw. When she had that serene presence but she just—she starts to sign something but stumbles immediately. Because she rolled a natural one on deception. 

[‘Aww’s and laughter in background]

Kat: And the man, Wivvil, as you probably have assumed, his face falls. And he looks at her and says:

Wivvil: My lady, are—no. You’re not her, are you? That is… hmm. Well that is something I didn’t know and that does not happen everyday. 

Laika: What do you mean she’s not Kai?

Wivvil: Let’s take a moment here. I should introduce myself, since apparently introductions are to be made. Welcome to my tower, I am Wivvil the Scribe. 

Kat: And he gives you a very elaborate bow with a lot of these hand flourishes. 

Noel: I grab his hand and I shake it and I say:

Fran: I’m Fran and I’m a very big fan. 

[Laughter]

Wivvil: It is always good to meet a fellow scholar. 

Noel: Fran backs away, staring at her hand like she’ll never wash it. 

Wivvil: And you, tiefling?

Laika: I am Laika.

Sophia: And I try and do a bow as cool as his. I’m gonna roll performance. [Rolls dice] I don’t do great. 

Kat: You try and bow but you lose your balance and fall into downward dog and a pair of golden hands comes and grabs you under your arms and pulls you upright. And Wivvil nods to you.

Wivvil: It is good to meet you Laika. And you! Boy!

Noel: Boy!

Corbin: I’m Corbin. I’ve nothing cool to do but I was going to do a leap-frog over Laika until you picked her up.

Wivvil: Well, it is good to meet you all. And… and you?

Kat: He motions to the Goddess and she looks at all of you. She signs to you, Fran.

Maeri: What should I tell him?

Fran: You can tell him you’re our friend Crazy Maeri.

Kat: Wivvil, he shakes his head—

Wivvil: It is delightful. This is a delightful surprise. My dear, you do not need this genasi to translate for you. I can understand The God’s Speak. 

Kat: And the Goddess looks confused. She signs:

Maeri: Wh—What?

Wivvil: The god’s speak. I—my dear, I find myself perplexed and that does not happen often. Do you—you are one of us. Yes, so you will speak of one of us. As a god does and all can understand a god. It is one of the things that makes us unique. 

Kat: And she just sort of crosses her arms over her chest and she tucks her hands into her armpits. 

Sophia: Aww.

Kat: Just shuffles back behind Fran. 

Laika: Listen, we’ve come a long way because… I don’t even know where to begin with this. 

Wivvil: Now, I think this is one thing I do know. Now Dawson did tell me you were coming so I do know what you seek. You seek to speak the common tongue, correct?

Laika: … Yes. 

Wivvil: I already knew it was correct, that is my job. 

[Laughter]

Wivvil: Now, before we continue, before we continue... first: Your offerings. 

Kat: And he waves his hand and a large plush blue chair appears as he’s sitting down. And it just sort of appears under him and catches him. And a pair of golden hands takes one of the desks and drags it over next to him. The hands stand at the ready with a quill on a parchment. 

Wivvil: Now, I will explain, as you seem confused. My price is such: You must tell me something that I do not know. As we have already found one thing, my dear I will not make you pay a price. Maeri, was it? Maeri. Your presence is price enough. But the three of you, please, enlighten me. 

Noel: [Quietly] Fran doesn’t know fuckin’ anything. 

Sophia: Yeah. Neither does Laika. 

Noel: Fran’s an idiot. 

Sophia: We got three dumbos over here. 

Fran: How much do you know about Estra, sir?

Wivvil: Now that… my library has a small section on it but not much. Only what I know fro—I was never able to traverse on the island for obvious reasons. So I only know what Kai has passed onto me through our brief meetings. 

Fran: When did you meet with Kai?

Wivvil: I cannot answer more questions until you give me something, good Miss. 

[Fran groans]

Fran: Kay. Um. In downtown Estra we have totally hot parties. 

Kat: So, as you’re speaking the hand starts to write and as the words are coming out of your mouth you’re forgetting them. You’re not really sure what you just said. 

Fran: [Frantic] Do—do we have hot parties?

[Laughter]

Kat: And even as you’re—like, you don’t give that many details but the hand seems to be writing for longer. When you had said that you had this memory of—

Noel: Of the party we threw. 

Kat: Yeah. That cool, hot party. And as the hand is writing you’re forgetting it. 

Sophia: Noel, can Fran have a flashback of seeing everybody saying: ‘This is the dopest party ever!’ And it just disappears.

[Laughter]

Kat: Basically, yeah. 

Noel: This was the only time Fran ever had a successful social interaction in her life. 

Kat: Yeah, you’re describing the party to Wivvil and you’re talking about Fall Orc Boy, the hottest band on Estra. The cool party tricks that you did, your flashing shirt. By the time you’re done speaking, you’re not sure what you just said. And Wivvil claps and he says:

Wivvil: Now that, that is something interesting. I had not taken Estra for a place with parties. It always sounded so solem and grim when Kai described it. 

Fran: Estra’s a place with what?

[Kaitlin laughs]

Wivvil: I’m sorry, I should have specified. The price that you pay, you can’t have it back. 

Fran: … What?

Laika: Oh my god, you forgot the dopest party ever. 

Corbin: Fran that party was so cool. 

Fran: What.

Noel: Fran sits down and stares into space. 

Kat: So the hand—the golden hands, they roll up the scroll that they were writing on, seal it with blue wax and a little golden golem comes and takes the scroll from these hands and exchanges it for a piece of fresh parchment. Which the hands lay out and a quill poses over them. 

Wivvil: Which ever one of you would like to go next? Please, please. 

Laika: One time on Estra I had a really boring day that I don’t mind forgetting. 

[Laughter]

Kat: Wivvil looks at you and says:

Wivvil: Now that is cheating and I will not accept that. Please, take another try. 

Laika: I’ll do… On Estra, in the forest, there's this hidden pond. It’s the rockbest pond for fishing and swimming in. And at the bottom there's a really cool sparkly rock. 

Kat: Alright. So as you’re talking about this pond, which, it’s very significant to you, right? This was your favorite spot to go. 

Sophia: It’s the wolves favourite spot. It’s a spot where maybe it takes a while to hike to get to but once you’re there it’d be where the wolves would go to cool off. 

Kat: So you have a lot of really fond memories of this spot. 

[‘man oh man’- Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) begins playing]

Kat: And as you're describing it and you're describing the cool sparkly rock that you would dive down to look at, it just fades away. And by the time you’re done speaking all you have is this hollow feeling of what once was there. 

Sophia: Laika sits down by Fran and is just like…

Noel: Fran reaches out without looking and holds Laika’s hand. 

Sophia: She takes it and just stares off into the middle distance. 

Wivvil: And you Corbin? Your turn now. 

Corbin: Oookay. Uuhhhm. So, uh, I happen to know that there's, like, this thing that they do on Estra. Where if you’re an idiot you have a child when you’re too young because of the pressures of society that placed against you. You have to abandon that child, basically, in the woods. Or whatever, I guess. I wouldn’t know this. I’m not human—I don't—but anyways. That’s—I guess that's what happens and I wouldn’t forget about that. 

[Laughter]

Noel: Oh, Corbin. 

Wivvil: I’m… tell me a little more about this, son. Is this what happened to you?

Corbin: Uhhhhh, I’m a crow so I was born to my crow parents. Uhhh, but I saw babies just like, hanging out in the woods. It was really fucked up. They’d just sit there. They’d need a little crib sometimes, they got a baby blanket. Or sometimes they’d just—are on the leaves.

Kat: So as you're saying this, Corbin, even as you’re not telling, necessarily the truth, you’re telling the truth that you’re projecting but you know deep down that you were one of these children.

Kaitlin: Not ready to look at yet.

Kat: And I guess you never have to because you feel that memory slipping from you. You can’t picture it. You can’t picture their faces. But you know that now you’ve forgotten them; the faces of the people who left you in the woods. And it hurts in a way that you didn’t think it was going to when you started this story. 

Kaitlin: Uh oh. 

Noel: Fran, having also been a baby that was abandoned in the woods, reaches out and also takes Corbin’s hand. Even though Corbin doesn’t now know why. 

Sophia: Yeah, Laika does too. So they’re sitting in a circle holding hands. 

Kaitlin: Corbin’s like—a single tear is running down Corbin’s cheek. And he's like:

Corbin: What’s up guys? Wh—what happened? My face is wet. 

Fran: Nothing happened, buddy. It’s okay. 

Corbin: Cool. 

Sophia: This is so sad!

Kat: So as you finish and the last word is written and Corbin’s memory is erased, a little golem comes to take it, Wivvil springs up out of his chair and the chair just vanishes. 

Wivvil: Bravo! Wonderful! I knew that if you all dug deep you’d find something interesting. Now those will make very good additions to the library. Now come. Come, come, come.

Kat: He starts walking and Maeri starts to follow him but then comes and helps all three of you up off the ground.

[Laughter and ‘aw’s]

Noel: Oh Maeri. 

Kat: And she gives each of you a little hug as she does. She takes a step back towards the direction Wivvil is walking in and she signs—

Maeri: Don’t worry, I’ll remember for you. 

[‘man oh man’- Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) begins playing]

Corbin: I need a lot of things remembered for me, thanks Maeri.

[Laughter]

Kat: So as you guys follow him he says:

Wivvil: Now I promise, I will give you what you seek but I so rarely have visitors. Ah, the villagers, they’ve begun warning people away for some reason. I mean, simply because people come out of the woods saying ‘Oh, a year has passed, two years have passed! But I only went in yesterday!’

Fran: Uh oh.

Wivvil: And they say, ‘Oh, don’t go into those woods! You’ll be cursed!’

Fran: Uh. We need you to give us the information right away.

[Laughter]

Wivvil: Don’t worry, I think….mmmm…

Fran: Sir!

Wivvil: From what I understand only perhaps two seasons have passed, it is maybe three or four months later.

Fran: What! We need to go!

Wivvil: Ough—to where? Now come. Come, come. Time will not continue to pass at any quicker rate. I’m sorry that you failed my test a couple of times but these things happen. 

Fran: Oooh. So the time is normal now?

Wivvil: Oh, of course. Yes. But when you get lost in my woods—

Sophia: I make eye contact with Corbin being like, ‘Gods, am I right?’

Kaitlin: Corbin raises his eyebrows and gives you the hugest ‘This guy is a bitch’ look. 

Noel: Fran, meanwhile is just following after him. Tip toeing on her little twinkle toes. 

Kat: Yeah. He leads you down a passageway, through more stacks of books. The ring of stacks that you could see in this tower, you realise that there are hundreds more shelves further back. And he walks you through them and as he does he says:

Wivvil: You must indulge me, it has been so long. And it has been so long that I have come across something or someone that I did not truly know about. Now, Miss, Maeri, I must know. You were meant to be Kai, correct? That was what was supposed to happen. 

Kat: And the Goddess shrugs. He looks at you all.

Wivvil: Tell me a bit more. 

Laika: Before we tell you more about Maeri’s background why don’t we hear a little bit about yours. And perhaps your feelings about that cool guy Torva. 

Wivvil: Ugh. Very well. I understand. That is reasonable. I’m the Scribe! I am here to record. For my father, the Certis, being the wisest of the Forces, he knew that knowledge was not something that could be guided. Other gods, they are meant to guide mortals, to hold their hands and show them the way. But not I. I am here as an observer. To see what you are able to do. And to take down all of the knowledge that you create. My entire library is dedicated to this. And that is all. I am a simple god, I have very few desires outside of simply collecting the knowledge. 

Fran: That’s so cool. Please tell me you hate Torva. 

Wivvil: Torva is…

Laika: Is he a butthole? Is that the word you’re looking for?

Fran: Butthole. 

Wivvil: He is.. uhh... yes. He is a butthole. 

Laika: Alright, now we’re on the same page.

Noel: Fran holds up a hand for a high-five. 

Kat: A golden hand comes out—just flying out of nowhere and gives you a high-five. 

Noel: It’s my other hand and now I’m looking at both my hands like I can't wash either of these. 

Wivvil: Torva… he has a complicated history in our pantheon. We are all what we are made to be and…

Fran: He was made to be a butthole. 

Wivvil: He was made to be a conqueror. And if you make someone to be a conqueror they will continue to find things to conquer. They conquer a town, then they want to conquer a city. They conquer a city, then they want to conquer an empire. And empire, a continent. A continent, a world. A world, another world. And so on. I do not wish to say it is not his fault, for he is a man with many faults, but we are, as I said, what we are made to be. We do not have the luxury of choice that you mortals have. And so, the rest of just, who were made to be more… more sensible things. A Scribe, a Sword, a Protector. We do our best to keep him in check. 

Laika: Can gods reform? Or there's just no redemption for them?

Wivvil: There have only ever been two things that happen to a god. They are born and we die. 

Laika: Gods can die?

Wivvil: We can be killed. Torva figured out how to do that and he’s been doing it ever since. 

Fran: How many gods has he killed?

Wivvil: Well, not counting the children, he has killed four of us.

Fran: The children?

Wivvil: Yes, gods have children. That's—you’ve met them! You’ve met Dawson, yes?

[Corbin groans]

Fran: Yyyyesssssss…….

Corbin: I think you mean…

Fran: Dump-Head. 

Kat: Wivvil, he laughs. And it’s a big belly laugh. 

Wivvil: Oh I’m sure he hates that. 

[Laughter]

Wivvil: He’s always been a vain child. But, yes, he’s the son of Killonio. 

Noel: Killonio… would we know?

Kat: Killonio is either the Thief or the Trickster. He plays a—Killonio and Killonia are gods who switch roles. 

Noel: Hmm. That’s cool. 

Kat: Yeah. 

Fran: Do gods have children by the same way that mortals have children? Or do they just create them?

Wivvil: No—the child of a god is a demigod. It must be made with a mortal in the traditional fashion, yes. When a man loves a woman… although we do not have such ridgid sex characteristics as mortals do. I don’t remember which gender the halfling was, but he was one of them. So, yes. But to get back to your original question, Torva has killed four of us gods and… unfortunately, perhaps a dozen or more of our children. 

Laika: How can gods be killed?

Wivvil: No that, I am surprised you do not know. For the Goddess was the first one that he slayed. Well, perhaps not. I suppose Dessit was the first he slayed but that was a complicated matter. He did not truly die until quite a bit later. But! Torva colluded with Atum and they created the kastra. And the kastra’s poison will steal the immortality of a god. 

Fran: It steals the immortality? Does that mean it kills it?

Wivvil: It steals the immortality and allows them to be killed. 

Laika: That's like taking away a god’s godhood.  

Noel: Fran and Laika make very meaningful eye contact. 

Sophia: Yeah. 

[Kaitlin laughs]

Wivvil: It takes away our immortality. We still have our powers for the duration of time that we live, or we find ways to continue living. 

[Fran makes a ‘Nnooohhh’ noise]

Kat: And he looks at Maeri. 

Wivvil: As you did. Or rather, your mother did. Now you all did not answer my question! You started berating me with questions and now we're getting a bit lost. 

Kat: And by this time you guys have come to another open space in the library. Wivvil, he sits down and underneath him a large, blue, plush couch appears, which he lounges on. And a few other couches and chairs appear. They’re all upholstered in this soft blue velvet and a table with snacks—little cookies and tea—appears between the couches and the tables. 

Wivvil: Please, sit.

Kaitlin: Corbin dives for the snacks. 

Wivvil: Now, Kai never truly explained it to me. And that was, hmm, that was greatly frustrating. She was very secretive. But from what I understood: Kai, the way she avoided the kastra’s curse was to sacrifice her daughters in order to continue living. 

Fran: She sacrificed her daughters?

Wivvil: Yes.

Fran: Like, she killed the baby?

Wivvil: She passed her spirit along to her child and sacrificed the child so that she would continue to live. That’s correct, right? I’m asking you. 

Fran: Oh. Well... what we learned on Estra was that the Goddess always had a different face because her daughter became the new Goddess. And the mother died. 

Laika: Well, we don’t know what exactly happened to the previous vessel of the mother. 

[Wivvil sighs]

Wivvil: I was afraid of this. That’s the problem with you mortals: you don’t have the longevity required to really grasp knowledge. But that is also what makes you so ingenuitive. And I—this library would not exist without mortals, without all of the things you create. So I suppose I should not be complaining.

Fran: Yeah. 

Laika: Yeah.

Wivvil: Now, Kai would not sacrifice another’s child to create a vessel so she sacrificed her own. And transferred her spirit to that. What I can guess then, is that you, my dear, were not killed. But, I can see, you have her divinity. So, that question remains then: what are you?

Laika: Well, there's one other piece of information. And that is that, her father was Torva in Vioni’s vessel. 

Wivvil: The face-changer? Is that what happened to it?

Laika: Well, we’re not sure. That’s what we were told by Cecelia and she’s not a reliable source of information. 

Wivvil: Who is Cecelia?

Laika: A butthole. 

Wivvil: I see.

Fran: She was an attendant to our friend Maeri. Who was instructing her how to keep Estra’s citizens in the dark that she didn’t have her memories or her voice. And her counterpart attendant was literally the Vessel with Torva inside. 

Wivvil: Huh. That does sound like him. He’s gotten craftier over the years. When we were young, it was all fire and swords and blood. Now he's disguising himself and stealing vessels. It’s chilling but unsurprising. 

Noel: Are there books around us?

Kat: Oh, everywhere. Yeah. 

Noel: Fran is, as he’s talking, she’s inching away and she picks up a book. 

Kat: You picked up a book on fashion of the city of—

Noel: She puts down the book, she doesn’t care. She picks up another book. She just continues doing this. 

Kat: Yeah, as you pick up books it looks like you are in a section about fashion.

Noel: She keeps trying. 

Kat: Every time you put a book down a little golem comes up and takes it from you and puts it back right where it’s supposed to be. 

Noel: Alright, cool.

Wivvil: So, now if this woman, who may or may not be trusted but let's assume that she is, and Torva would be your father, my dear, that would make you something new. Gods, you see, I suppose I must explain this, we cannot mate with one another. We cannot take one another and breed. It’s a way our parents used to keep us from creating more gods. And perhaps it was the only bit of foresight they had.

[Snickers]

Laika: So, the spirit of Kai isn’t in Maeri? Is that what you’re saying? Do you think she's somewhere else?

Wivvil: Yes.

Fran: Okay. 

Laika: Did Kai die, then?

Wivvil: I don’t know. I had no eyes on Estra. I have no idea what happened to our lady Kai. 

Laika: We’ve all been having dreams. Nightmares. 

Fran: Not all of us. 

Laika: Well a lot—seventy-five percent of us have been having nightmares. Corbin, a lot longer, me just recently. And they have similar characters. 

Kat: I'm gonna—pause right there. 

Sophia: Yeah. 

Kat: All of you make perception rolls. 

[Dice rolling]

Noel: I got a sixteen. 

Sophia: Fifteen. 

Kaitlin: I got a thirteen. 

Kat: Okay. 

Wivvil: Please, describe to me the characters in your dreams. 

Laika: The one I saw was a wolf, or it appeared at first, with yellow eyes and a crown of bones. 

Wivvil: Hm. And you, Maeri?

Kat: The Goddess nods. Maeri nods. She signs:

Maeri: Yes, I have dreams of the same thing. And a man with a flaming sword who fights the beast. I don’t know what it means. They only started when I—when Estra fell.

Fran: She couldn’t tell if his teeth were made of black glass. 

Wivvil: That is an interesting note. Oh! You mean like, yes, Torva’s teeth. They are—

Fran: They’re nasty. 

Wivvil: They are unsettling, are they not?

Laika: He needs a dentist. 

Wivvil: Ahh, there is a story—there’s a tome, ah, somewhere, perhaps… hmm. Third? Fourth floor? It goes into detail about how his teeth got that way but it was a bet with Janbo and he lost it. It was quite funny actually. What else would you like to know about these dreams? These aren’t figures I’m familiar with. 

Laika: You haven’t heard about anybody with a crown of bones?

Wivvil: No. 

Fran: Maeri said that it was a creature with black feathers and when we saw the symbol for the crow god, here on the world below, it was different than usual. Also, like, birds hate Corbin here or something? Do you think it has anything to do with the crow god?

Wivvil: Oh—which one? 

Corbin: Uh. The only one? That—the—Muninn? The only one that there is?

Wivvil: Oh! I suppose there wouldn’t be any reason for Kai to have ever told you but Muninn does have a brother. Or, did. It’s very difficult for me to think of a god in past tense. But, yes, the second crow, Huginn. Her brother.

[Noel snorts]

Corbin: [Mockingly] His name is Huginn?

Wivvil: Yes.

Corbin: That’s stupid. 

Wivvil: Huginn is the father of hawks, where Muninn is the mother or carrians. So you see, they’re sort of—

Fran: So that’s why the hawks hate Corbin?

Wivvil: Oh, yes, I suppose so. Huginn has always been incredibly mad at—about his sister departing for a floating island in the sky and giving up her godhood and dying. So I suppose he would very strongly hate anyone who is blessed by his sister's divine presence. 

Corbin: He probably hates anybody who has a cooler name than him too, which is like, everybody. 

Fran: He lives a bitter lifestyle. 

Wivvil: Well that's pretty true actually. He’s quite bitter. 

Fran: What does he do? Does he just sit around and pull feathers off crows?

Wivvil: What any of the beast gods do. What any of the rest of us gods do. They plan for the future, make alliances, break alliances, watch over mortals to some extent. Some more than others. 

Fran: Does he ever make crowns of bones and try to haunt the Goddess’ dreams?

Wivvil: Heh, I don’t believe so. I don’t believe he would have the power to do such a thing. The beast gods have a bit of a lesser extent of—their reach is not quite as far as though of us who are not beast gods, I suppose. 

Fran: That’s rude. 

Wivvil: Well, we don’t really have a name for ourselves, other than just gods and then beast gods. That is a good point, we should come up with—

Kat: And he pauses here and one of those little, tiny golden golems comes up and he looks down and says:

[‘beautiful owl (Ending Theme)’ - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) begins playing]

Wivvil: Please, make a note: we should come up with a taxonomy for gods. 

Kat: And the golem nods and then runs away. Now I’m gonna have you all make perception checks. 

[Dice rolling]

Kaitlin: Nineteen. 

Noel: I got sixteen. 

Kat: Oh, I should probably roll for…

Sophia: I got seventeen. 

Kat: Okay. So you all hear something clatter further into the library. 

Laika: What the hecky was that?

Wivvil: What was what?

Laika: That noise. 

Wivvil: Mmm, I didn’t hear anything. 

Laika: I definitely heard something. 

Fran: What is wrong? What?

Corbin: I also heard something for sure.

Fran: There was clattering. 

Laika: Sounded like—

Wivvil: Probably just one of the golems dropping something. I’ve done my best over the years to refine their motor skills but they’re still a little clumsy. It’s just their make. 

[Suspicious ‘Mmm’s from the party]

Corbin: My senses, that are not spider senses, are tingling. 

Kat: Your crow senses?

Corbin: My crow senses, yes.

Sophia: I’m gonna open up my divine sense. 

Kaitlin: Get those senses. 

Kat: You feel a dark divine presence somewhere off further into the library. 

[‘beautiful owl (Ending Theme)’ - Arc 2: Into Avelis (Soundtrack) swells, continues and then concludes playing]

Kat: Is there anything else you want to know from him?

Noel: Uhhhhh. No!

Sophia: Mm-mm. 

[Kat sighs]

Kat: She looks at him—

Sophia: That was a sigh of disappointment from Kat. 

Kat: No. No. I would never be disappointed in anything you guys do. You are all perfect angels.

[Sophia, Kaitlin and Noel all immediately make suspicious and knowing humming noises]

Kaitlin: Wow. 

[Laughter]

Kat: Is there anything else you want to ask this guy?

[Fade to music]