The Black Company: When Your New Corporate Overlord is a Demonic Sorceress

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Before Warhammer Fantasy had even left its infancy, author Glen Cook took a plunge into a completely different kind of fantasy: one that traded righteous knights and glorious kingdoms for a cynical, heavily armed family of mercenaries just trying to survive the night. ​This week on Acceptable Losses, Dk and Kirioth dig down into the very roots of the grimdark genre to cover the first three chapters of the 1984 classic, The Black Company.​We follow the annals of Croaker, the Company’s physician and historian, as the brotherhood navigates a world where law and order belong to the highest bidder and the line between "good" and "evil" doesn't exist.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Welcome everyone to another episode of the Acceptable Losses podcast where Kirioth is probably going to ruin my day, but it's gonna be a lot of fun. So, Kyrios, what have you today, friend? I've got a quote for you, but I'm not gonna make you guess what. Right off the bat.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

Wow. Don't worry about it. I was like, I've seen the schedule. It's not what we do here, but every time we have one, I like to throw it out there just to instill a little bit of preliminary fear, just on the off chance you think that somehow something slipped past. But don't worry about it. It's fine because Well, I'll do the quote and then we'll get into the meat. The meat of the whole thing. The meat and potatoes. Is that that's gotta be a new record for an accent. We're not even we're not even like end of minute one, are we?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

One of these days I'm just gonna start the episode off with the accent just because you specifically said is that a record? Welcome to another episode of the Acceptable Horses Podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

You know? That will be that will be the quickest like fall off of viewers that we have on any episode, I swear.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

I I I I will actually track that to see if that's a true Or the rapid increase of Americans that are like, fuck yeah, goofy accent, let's go.

SPEAKER_03 1:35

It could it could go either way. Mm-hmm. So, Croker spoke to the assembled company. We are the last of the twelve true companies. We have out endured the others by more than a century, but I fear we're into our twilight days. I fear this may be the company's final commission. A page of history is about to turn. Once it does, the Great Warrior Brotherhoods will be gone and forgotten. But Croaker was wrong. We've studied the branches of the Grim Dark Tree, but it's time we dig deeper into its roots. Glenn Cook's The Black Company stands as something that is purely dark. On the surface, it has the foundations of an epic fantasy series, but it presents something raw. The glory of the heroes and knights are replaced with a unit of mercenaries that exist as the polar opposite. High fantasy knights fight for the glory and honour of their kingdom, while the black company fights for the person they are contracted to, regardless of whether or not they share the beliefs of that person. Many times, they do not, and the members of the Black Company question their actions and are weighed down by the horrors of their work, but they are bound by the code of their company to serve whoever they are working under. There are no heroes, death is common enough where it's glossed over, and victories are almost always hollow. The only people that move forward are those strong enough to live another day. But is that even worth it? Woof. Yeah, all right.

unknown 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

I was I was gonna say, wow, you could very easily boss baby that quote. Yeah, I mean you could boss baby all of that. Um when I saw the schedule and I saw Black Company, I was like, I have no idea what that is, but phenomenal. Uh and also that cover art is phenomenal. That is so dope. Holy moly.

SPEAKER_03 3:32

Yeah, that is that is sick. It's it's great. But yeah, that like this is this is like the like the the grandfather of of Grimdark. Like you could you can kind of point to it as being, ah, this is where a lot of the stuff that we enjoy came from. It's one of the first sort of series that just went absolutely everything's awful. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

And this is a book series, single book.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Still going. Still going, goddamn it's uh yeah, it's it's it's it's been going a while and it has it's laid some some fairly horrible foundations.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

Um in a good way, obviously. Um a foundation of blood, guts, and hellfire. Yeah. Just just the way we like it. Uh so the uh sure. Just the way we like our fiction, which is important to say on this podcast. That's how we like our fiction. We don't love it when it parallels the world.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Or when it's just flat out awful stuff from from real life, like the last episode. Um started in 1984, latest one came out in 2026. Jesus Christ. It's older than older than all of us, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's older, it's older than us, which is an achievement, frankly, at this point.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Thank thank God, finally we can say something is older. Love that. Love it, love it. We're off to a great start. It's finally happened.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

It's finally happened. So the members of this last free company are bound to servitude until death in many cases. Desertion is rare, and members being expelled is even more rare. Almost all the members of the company have a fake name to hide who they are, and many of them have no idea what the true history of this company is. Sometimes these names are very much literal interpretations of what they do, like the Lieutenant and the Captain, while others reflect some sort of old folklore like Elmo or Mergen. A wizard who does not speak is known as silent, and a man who is bald is known as Curly. You meet the various company members as the journey continues. As mentioned before, history is something that is relatively lost on most members, and even the origins of this company are lost on many. Fortunately for us, our primary narrator knows. So Croaker is the primary character in this series, and he serves as both the historian and the physician for the company, holding the title of analyst. Except it's not how you'd think like data analyst, it's analyst as in like the annals of history, which I think is very cool, a cool way of doing that, to be honest. Um illiteracy is exceptionally common among the ranks of the Black Company, so Croaker's ability to read and catalogue the histories of the group in order to share them with new members is highly regarded. The stories of the Black Company are collected stories from the annals of the company's history, and since the original book was released in 1984, we've seen the growth of the company and the extent of the baggage they carry while leaving bodies in their wake. Yeah, that's that is raw. That is a raw line.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Also, the time period for this is like, I'm assuming, like a medieval Europe type deal.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

We've got we've got proper proper fantasy world, bit of magic, a lot of Oh, it's just fantasy world. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

Got you.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Because I was gonna say, yeah, for like a medieval era, like literacy not that important if you're a mercenary that is dealing in death every day. So not not terribly surprising that like this guy is the only one that can read and write the stories that are being told because everyone else is so busy surviving. Why bother reading and writing? Or not, as the case may be.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Due to how old it is compared to other, like most other grimdark media, the Black Company kind of exists in a vacuum. It's a setting and story that exists outside of other influences. It was being worked on while Warhammer Fantasy was still barely in its infancy, and sure, other fantasy series had been dipping their toes in the water of absolute grimdarkness, but Cook was daring enough to be one of the first to actually take the plunge. The setting of the Black Company is a brutal hellscape, where law and order is handled by the highest bidder, and the power of magic is matched by sheer brutality. Magic, for the record, is almost entirely incomprehensible to those who don't practice it and is truly magical. Most spell casters will cast with a flick of the wrist, while others will sing an incantation to summon something awful. The power and unknowable nature of something as powerful as the magic in this world makes it genuinely terrifying. And having uh read through this script already before we started, it can confirm. Can very much confirm.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Great. Love it. That's my favourite type of magic. I've only encountered it twice, which is weird. It's not a lot, but but it's happened twice.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

So the descriptions of the violence scene in these books are deeply visceral, while also accompanied with some tongue-in-cheek humour that normally would cut the tension of the horrors, but instead serves as a reminder of how normal this is for the poor souls trapped here. The company may not thrive, but they survive, and that's better than the deal most people get. The series is still actively going, with a new book actually coming out this year, and there's no end in sight, even though the people in the black company may beg for that end.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Great way to put it. I mean, I guess I guess as long as you can come up with a new story for someone in the black company, like I I would imagine they're constantly rotating because they're constantly dying. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

A mercenary company that just does whatever they're told and struggles with the morality of it in a world that sounds as awful as this one. I mean, it is it is such a good idea. Like it just is.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

The highest bidder lets you determine what the law is, and it's like, well, yeah, I bet you are gonna get some depraved, awful things that are pretending to be just.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

So yeah. Oh yeah. What I mean, what a solid foundation. Also, so Shai says Glencock is 81, four years older than George R. R. Martin, and he is still going. Where's the next book, George?

SPEAKER_02 10:15

Also it just dawned on me. So all of the black company books are done by the same guy. For some reason, I was like, oh, this has got to be like a black library thing, where um like it's one scenario, like it's one universe, and there's like several writers, right? Like there's a plethora of different writers that have kept this thing going. It's all the same guy, huh? Oh, that's that's great. That well, I hope that's great for him. I hope he's not like overworked and stressed out, but damn.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

I'd imagine like he if he's still if he he's still going and it started in 1984. That is a man who very clearly loves his work. You know, that that is a guy who is Wow, that's that's that's crazy. It's awesome. That's and again, no, seriously, where where is the next book, George? I mean, come on. Glenn Cook has been absolutely well, he's been he's been cooking for years. I was about to say it. All right, fine. Holy shit. Glenn Cook has 149 books.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Wow. So uh as as someone who is not a mathematician and struggles with very basic math, how many books a year would that be? Oh no.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

I mean that's well, like two two like two two and a half, should we say? If if if we assume that the first black company book is his first book, which I'm I don't even know if it is, that's that's a that's a lot. That is a lot of work. You ever feel like you don't you haven't done much with your day? You ever feel like that? Because I suddenly feel like that. There's more I could have done today. I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

I was gonna say that that that that switch is probably perpetually on for me. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just amusing. Could I have done more today? Sure. Am I gonna do more today? No, I'm gonna go take a nap with my cat.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

I mean, that that is also the option that I would choose some with you. So the series covers nearly four hundred years of history for the company and the world itself, and we're going to start right at the beginning with the very first book. The first book is divided into seven sections, and we're going to cover the first three today. So consider this part one of two into a series that we owe the entire groundwork of this podcast to. A series that Possum was more than happy to start rereading and has been incredibly excited for this episode. Possum has been waiting to write this script all their life. So you know you know we're getting there.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Alright. I mean, has Possum been in on Black Company since uh day one? I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

I don't think possums that old. I was gonna say I was gonna say, is possum like 80?

SPEAKER_02 13:08

What the hell? I don't think so. That's one old possum. Hey, they don't last that long, these possums, all right. No crazy. Well, there's 149 of them though. Like that's not just a black company though. That would be I mean, that would be wild if it was all I was gonna say, but by the time you read all of them, you might be 80.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

As you can say, 149 books in the what in the one world would be I I just said would be crazy. That's exactly what Kim's workshop do. That's gonna let's say it. Is it really that crazy, Kiriath? For one person, yes. So yeah, black company is 11 books.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

So that's a lot beside. Gotcha. I I I thought it was 149 like uh black company books. I was like, that man's got stories.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

The dedication to one setting from one author to that extent. That I that would go from impressive to me to are you is everything okay? Yeah, how we do it.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Um the the there's a fine line between impressive and institutionalized, right? It's uh you're walking a tight rope.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

The last 20 books were written on walls from that. Um, Possum has said, like, even though we will cover the first book, like these these two parts will cover the first book, Possum highly recommends checking them out. I mean, I've I've already gone and bought the first few books so that I can read through them. Um we'd never be able to encapsulate the quick wit of the dialogue and the subtle nature of the character interactions without just reading the book out loud, which I just is against the rules. Um huge scenes of carnage are complemented with quiet scenes of playing cards and long journeys are speckled with interpersonal stories that give the setting so much life despite so much death. But we're gonna start with chapter one, Legate. The tale of this group begins in the city of Beryl. As described by Croker, the city is curdled misery, but its history is like a bottomless well filled with murky water. It's an ancient and decrepit harbour city along the sea of torment. Solid. Also, did you say curdled misery?

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Yes. Yeah, that sucks, dude. I have never heard those two words used together, but it oh boy, that sure sets the tone. That is that is evocative, is what that is. Yeah, it's just the regular store bought by date misery wasn't good enough. Sorry, it's curdled. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

The collective term for cities hanging along the coast is the jewel cities, and Beryl is the oldest. It's technically an independent city state, currently ruled by the Reds under the watchful eye of the Syndic. The current Syndic is a corrupt man, much like the other syndics of Beryl that have come before him. Their history of trade among the jewelled cities means they have quite a bit of financial and political power, but those who attempt to exist under them suffer. Hated by almost the entirety of the population of Beryl and fearful of some recent upheavals in a nearby jeweled city, the syndic hires the Black Company to serve as his personal bodyguard. The biggest threat to his positioning in the town is an opposition group collectively referred to as the Blues, and his expectation is that they are handled properly. The members of the Black Company are suffering in this city. For starters, it's another miserable summer in the poorly maintained port town, and the muggy weather is making it very difficult to function. Even worse is the fact that due to their association with the Syndic, the Black Company is getting quite a bit of backlash, particularly from the army of Beryl, known as urban cohorts. To many members of the Black Company, this is a step down, even for them, but they have a job to do. The awareness for that is horrendous, isn't it? Yeah, that's not great.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

Even by our usual terrible standards, this is uh yeah, you don't want your uh mercenary company that is like constantly questioning their morality because of the awful situations they're put in to be like, wow, even for us, this sucks. Oh great.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

That's four members of the company have been exceptionally sick after going out, and the sickness was so severe that two men are dead. Thanks to a post mortem on the two dead men, Walleye and Wild Bruce. Love Wild Bruce, it's a great name. I'm sad he's gone and we didn't get to hear more about him, to be honest. Um, Croker is able to devise an antidote to cure the remaining two sick men, Curly and Pokey. Though it's a garish, foul smelling serum, it works, and they are back on their feet in no time. Putting a timeline together, Croker concludes that the men were poisoned at a nearby tavern after skipping commissary meals a few times. This was likely done by the blues, and the leader of the company, the captain, sends some men to investigate. The captain, as described by Croker, is a difficult man to know. Quiet, serious, and also napping at this moment in time. Sounds like my sort of guy, to be honest. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Knows when it's time to get your head down for a bit, let everyone else sort stuff out. That's that's leadership. That's that's what I like to see. I'm not sick, fuck it, I'm gonna take a nap with my cat. Croaker, of course, and a dozen or so others, including the sergeant named Mercy and a minor wizard by the name of Silent attend. The company has four modestly accomplished wizards, and Silent is particularly interesting due to his real knack for not talking. Before leaving, he quietly makes a trip to the woods to fill up a sack and does not explain what's in it. He's not one to deal directly in violence, and he lets his magic do the talking for the most part, while silently staring with sharp teeth.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

Again, hardcore description. I I honestly I thought his name being silent was like sort of like um like a like a like a joke, because like he's you said he's like a wizard. I was like, oh, so he's always like shouting like magic incantations, so it's like, oh ha ha, like how when you call a really big guy tiny, or like um or like they were like, isn't the bald guy's name curly? And it's like, oh ha ha ha ha, curly because he doesn't have any hair. And I thought maybe this was like the same thing, but he's actually like a silent broody guy. Yeah, just like staring at people whilst magic stuff goes off by the sounds of it. I I hate that I saw that picture and I was like, he kind of looked like house. MD.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

There is a little bit of Hugh Laurie about him, isn't there? Yeah. Yeah. Just a bit. The group arrives at the Mole Tavern and immediately blocks the various exits while a few men stand by the windows to prevent any attempted escape. Mercy storms in and accuses the old man managing the establishment of poisoning his men and announces that there's no other solution besides a punishment of public crucifixion.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

Jesus! Okay. Cheapers. Well, I guess one of them did die from this poison, right? Two of them. Two of them went. Two of them. Oh geez. Yeah, well, okay. Well, you know Gee Whiz, the retribution and punishment from the black company.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

Huh, who would have thought it'd be that bad? Crucifixion is such an oddly specific one. For I I don't know what I don't know what it is. It just seems really horrific in a way that like hanging's bad. I mean, we don't need to debate the relative morality of you know public execution methods, but for some reason crucifixion just feels there's something really hardcore about it, but I don't know why.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

I mean crucifixions uh are are quite the hardcore thing. Like, I mean this isn't like just like because hangings are over they should be over relatively quickly. You know, you know, you get your your head cut off relatively quick. Crucifixions, you really draw that shit out. Like that that is not a that's a grim dark way to die.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

That is absolutely fair, actually. Yeah. I mean the others the others should be, in theory, fast affairs, not like dying of hunger and thirst in public, whilst people will probably chuck stuff at you. Because let's face it, people will chuck stuff at you.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

That's or until you take a spear in the ribs or something because they finally take pity on you. Historically that's never happened.

SPEAKER_03 21:45

It's it's so it's so harsh. But that's hey, look, the innkeeper that's what they've decided he's gonna get a public crucifixion. So criminals are not buried in beryl, so their bodies are to be left to the birds. Again, even that is just like an extra layer of hardcore for some reason. Um did you say buried in barrels? No, no, so the city's called barrel, innit? It's for people in criminals. I missed that.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

I'm so sorry. I missed that. When you said buried in barrels, I was like, the fuck are they doing?

SPEAKER_03 22:21

That would be on the channel. Criminals are not buried in barrels. It's like, well, they could be buried in something else.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Well, bury them in a coffin. Jesus. Leave the barrel out of it. It's still wood. We're fine. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

In the city of Beryl are not barreled. I mean, we said barreled, damn it, are not buried.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Yeah, you you even said it's the city of barrel, and and my brain was just like, why would you bury someone in a barrel? And yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

I'm not I'm not going to repeat that bit because now I can't say I've I've lost it. So their bodies are to be left to the birds. Most people in the tavern who likely had nothing to do with this immediately react. They don't want to go down for something they didn't do, so they attack the company with daggers. I'm sure that goes swimmingly. Mercy gets sliced and finally fully snaps. He calls on Silent to do whatever to stop this, and Silent proceeds to open the sack he brought along, which unleases a horde of bald-faced hornets.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Oh no.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

Don't attack the company. Oh no, they just go after anyone else in the tavern, causing them to scream in pain and collapse while trying to fend off the bugs, all while Silent stands there and grins at them. Many of them pass out, a good amount die, and those who survive are forced outside as prisoners.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

Yeah, I cast upon ye murder wasp. That's crazy, dude.

SPEAKER_03 23:57

There is a little part of this that I I am gonna go through and read all these books now, but I especially want to see if anyone at any point says to Silent, why is your why is that sack buzzing?

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Yeah, you think somebody although chances are if you're in the black company and you are aware of how silent is, you probably want to ask, but you're like, you know what? I'm gonna leave Silent alone. Is the bag buzzing? Yeah, that's not even the weirdest thing he's ever done. It's fine. I'm sure it'll be it'll it'll be fine, it'll work out.

SPEAKER_03 24:31

Plus, I I say that there's gotta be a sleep spell going on. There's gotta be something to calm him down and then make him super angry to attack. Yeah, yeah. Not not on site, but attack the people you want to attack. There's a level of control clearly there through magic that makes this work. I just love the idea of people going like, why'd you go into the woods? And then as he walks past, there's just like it's like do we need to ask?

SPEAKER_02 24:55

I think it's fine. Yeah, everyone's like, don't ask. He might open the sack on you. Just it's fine. You don't I don't want to know, you don't want to know, let him do his thing. It's silent, whatever. Where's the new guy? They're staring to put his head in it.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

See what he does. Where'd his head go? While searching the tavern, Silent finds some of the more prominent members of the blues holed up in the cellar. So the company captures them in order to turn them over to the syndic. Mercy marches these prisoners through the streets of Beryl to make an example of them, but they encounter a much larger procession happening. On the avenue of the syndics, they encounter a group of a hundred or so armed men that are properly menacing. At the front of their formation is a horrific looking black stallion, the biggest horse Croker has ever seen. Atop it is a slim figure garbed in black with a dark Morion helmet which completely encases the head of the rider. The rider looks across the company with little interest until it makes eye contact with Silent, who matches the gaze of the rider briefly before they depart. Beryl's awful. Don't live in beryl.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

No, don't definitely don't live in beryl. No the mm nope. And definitely don't eat at the inn.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

No, d definitely not. The uh the reaction to the rest of the higher members of the blues from the population is aggressive. Rioters pour into the streets, and the urban cohorts of the city beg for more money in order to handle it. When the syndic refuses to pay, they mutiny and go after the company stronghold directly, resulting in Mercy being brutally attacked. His shield was covered with over a hundred holes before he fell, and over a hundred men are killed in the process. The captain orders the company inside, insisting that their commission does not require suicide.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

That's yeah, we we've we've definitely yeah, I think escalated quickly is uh yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

That's definitely one way to put it. Croker speaks to Tom Tom, another wizard and the brother of One Eye, who is, of course, another wizard. He says that there's a rumour floating around that the riotous urban cohorts may have unleashed a very dangerous creature on the Necropolitan Hill, a forvalaca. This creature was sealed in a tomb up on the hill, and it allegedly escaped. The Fourvalaca is essentially a were leopard from the south. By day it walks as a human, but at night it is a gigantic leopard that drinks the blood of anything it can get and goes directly for the liver to get as many nutrients as possible. Again, okay. The specificity is is just scary. I don't know I don't I don't know what how else to put it. It's just extra worrying.

SPEAKER_02 27:43

Yeah. Also good to not see a werewolf for a change. Glad to see they uh went for a different uh feline monster. That's true actually.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

A were leopard instead of werewolf, that's that is that's refreshing. It's it's always werewolves.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Always. Except now we got a were leopard. A were panther would be cool too, actually, just because it sounds cool. It does anyway.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

A four Volaka is a horrific opponent, and Tom Tom states that even his master couldn't take out take down a young male, let alone one that's been alive for nearly a millennium. Croaker seeks out the team with Tom Tom Silent and Goblin, the fourth wizard, and their concerns are validated. The door was burst asunder and it is full of bones, most of which are stacked and sorted neatly, as if done repetitively, repetitively for a thousand years, while others are more fresh. Seven freshly dead urban cohorts lie there with their blood drained and their livers torn from their bodies. Eee. Regrets were had for those seven, I fear.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Yeah. Yeah. Also, I love how it's just like, oh yeah, their livers were torn, and it's like, oh, so that means they're just sitting there with a big gaping hole in the okay. I guess they've got no liver. There's probably a lot of other stuff missing too, but it's like, I specifically, there's no liver, I think. Yeah, yeah. Everything else has been maimed, and at least I can see the bleeding heart, but the liver's gone.

SPEAKER_03 29:19

There's a lot of blood, but I I do feel like we are missing a particular Hawk and let's take it as red that it's gone, yeah? Um while this is occurring, the syndic makes his way to speak to the captain about the withdrawal of the company. The captain says quite bluntly that they were hired as bodyguards, not as police. The urban cohorts are supposed to be the police, yell at them for not doing their job. The syndic pisses and moans about the four valaka apparently running around, and this legate from the north that showed up is clearly there to intimidate him into giving over control of Beryl. Things aren't going well for him, but they may go better for the company. The company receives an invitation from the legate to speak to them upon their ship. Croker goes along with the Lieutenant Tom Tom Silent and about a dozen other men. The Legate ship is not ashore, so they have to sail out to this black vessel. Inside they see the rider of the horrific stallion sitting in a luxurious cabin. They speak with him, but every time he speaks he does so in a completely different voice, with a different attitude and different intentions. It's as if this one individual is their own committee. The way this person talks terrifies Tom Tom, who feels like something is properly amiss here. Fair assessment.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Yeah, I was gonna say that's a Yep, yep, that's that is that is absolutely 100% fair that something's probably up. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

Mm-hmm. Someone's doing a full split on you whilst you're trying to have a conversation. That's that is cause for alarm. I absolutely give Tom Tom that. Are you good, dude? The uh the the way this person talks, terrifying. But they make an offer, which is ultimate work. The person the legate rider serves is interested in the work of the black company. The proposition is simple. If the syndic dies while the company defends their bastion, they will be freed of their commission, which can then be assumed by the legate. Once that's done, go to the pillar of anguish and meet them there. The pillar of anguish.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Pillar of Anguish. It's like, sir, you could not have picked a better landmark than the pillar of anguish. We couldn't have gone to the pillar of refreshing cold beverages. No, no.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

Fucking pillar of anguish. The pillar of anguish is the uh like the arrowhead at the top of the city that points directly in the water where there's a lighthouse on it. Like it doesn't need to be that hardcore for what it is. It simply doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Can we guess can we just call it the lighthouse?

SPEAKER_03 31:55

No. Pillar of Anguish. It's the pillar of anguish. Croker is suspicious, and the suspicion increases when the individual heavily insinuates that the tomb may have been tampered with by its men. The company's members convene to discuss this, and it's agreed that this is an acceptable offer and try to devise a way to enact it. Unfortunately for them, the Fauvelaka jumped the gun a bit. Croker watches it as it moves as fluid as water over the walls and makes its way to the paper tower, which is where the syndic lives. The company's men rush to the tower and bar the door behind them, but the Farvalaca has been making its way up the tower, leaving bodies behind, including unsuspecting members of the company who were there to serve as guards. The bodies litter the floors like furniture, and the wizards can sense the creature. Tom Tom believes that him and the other magic users may have caught it, but this was wishful thinking. A shadow as black as night lunges above the halberds and tears through the company with ferocity, with a strength, too, that causes men to be flung violently against the walls. God damn. But the creature is moving too fast for Kroger to see, so the hit that knocks him over a dozen feet away is genuinely shocking. Within seconds, six men are torn to shreds and their weapons do nothing. The wizards attempt to stun it with a spell, and it causes the beast to scream and fall, writhing like a dying snake as the surviving men lunge at it and stab stab blindly in hopes of killing it. The creature regains its footing before fleeing. And while assessing the damage, an unfortunate loss is discovered. And I have your I have your first quote here, DK, and boy, but boy, is it a a quote of all time. Um says, Are we sure we're getting paid enough for this shit, guys? I don't think.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Tom Tom was a twist of human wreckage. His throat had been torn out, his belly opened, his arms and chest had been ripped to the bone. Amazingly, he was still alive, but there was nothing I could do. Nothing any physician could have done. Not even a master sorcerer specializing in healing could have salvaged a little black man. But one eye insisted I try, and try I did till the captain dragged me off to attend mess men less certain of dying. One eye was bellowing at him as I left. Oh shh. That that's that sucks.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

That's not. A twist of human wreckage is one of my simultaneously most favorite and least favorite descriptions I've I've come across in fiction.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

Yeah. Also, how in God's name did Tom Tom survive that? Yeah, like obviously he is about to not survive that, but the fact that he's still alive with no throat, open belly wound, which is usually an absolute killer, uh, his arms and chest ripped to the bone. What in the hell? How is he not dead?

SPEAKER_03 35:13

Tom Tom's hardcore, it turns out.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Was hard, I was hardcore.

SPEAKER_03 35:23

Ugh. Goddamn. While seeking out where the syndic is, he's found dead. But it doesn't look like it was at the hands of the beast. Surrounding him a match, the captain and Elmo. Croker doesn't ha ask what happened to the syndic, and he doesn't care to know, but he believes that the captain is the one who finished the job while the others were occupied. Now that the syndic is dead, they must act quickly to strike first against the urban cohorts. They make their way to the compound of the cohorts who are all sleeping. The captain orders three platoons to move directly into the barracks to kill all the men sleeping, while a fourth platoon stands by, preventing any intervention. Yay.

SPEAKER_02 36:07

It just keeps getting better and better. Speaking of which is another quote for you. God. Alright. The sun was up before the captain was satisfied. We withdrew and hurried after our baggage train. There wasn't a man among us who hadn't had his fill. We were not pursued, of course. No one came besieging the camp we established on the pillar of anguish, which was what it was all about. That and the release of several years of pent up anger. I was gonna say, when you just straight up kill everybody, who's gonna come after you, right? Like Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 36:43

That's true. It's like it's like the most the most uh fucked up like smash room, whatever it is. You know, the ones where you can maybe go in and just Smash plates and hammer glasses, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Yeah. Yeah, this is the black company smash room.

SPEAKER_03 37:03

It's just real people that they just slaughter. Get in there, have your fill. Like that's there wasn't a man among us who hadn't had his fill. What a statement. What a statement.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Shy said we got hired by this guy, now we killed him and all his cops because fucked them in the city.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

I mean, yeah. It's not a it's not a nice place. I mean, you could argue it's it's worse now, but hey, it wasn't a nice place.

SPEAKER_02 37:34

One might say they've reached the bottom of the barrel.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

You know what? I'm I'm not gonna give it a plus two, but I'll give it a plus one. No, I'll give it.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

Oh, it would look like Shy was barreled over by that.

SPEAKER_03 37:53

I think plus one with a no for balance just means it was a net neutral. I think that's how that works. Well, hey, it wasn't a loss, so That's true. An acceptable no, okay. One eye is destroy is distraught about ever that was so bad I stopped my unability to talk for a second. One eye is distraught about everything. The loss of TomTom has ruined him, and he doesn't even show interest in playing silly little games with his buddy Goblin. At the Pillar of Anguish, the Legate arrives to take the company north. One eye is forced onto the boat despite begging to stay, and Croker hears the scream of the Four Valaka under the decks. The Legate rider confirms they had captured it and they have plans for it. Croaker watches as the beast changes from an athletic woman in the sunshine to a beast in the darkness clawing at its cage to escape. But one eye is preoccupied with something. He realizes that this four valaka is strange. It doesn't have the markings that the one they encountered had, and certainly not the wounds. Whatever is in this cage, it is not the same one they fought that killed Tom Tom. He says he's going to figure out what this means, and Croker writes ominously that he never will. Boy.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

Yeah, I I the this for what's the thing called? The four for the lacquer? What for the lacquer. This sounds like a xenomorph situation where it's like, ah yes, the company wants it. The company must have it. The company must study it. We're gonna make more of it. It's like, man, just kill that son of a bitch. Like, how many people are we gonna lose to this thing before we all decide it's not worth it?

SPEAKER_03 39:35

And having your own pet one that was on the ship the whole time by the time whilst you've let another one out? Good, good grief. I mean, we already know the black company uh are not they're not like high up there on the whole moral stakes thing, but uh that that that is alarm bells right there.

SPEAKER_02 39:54

That it just is. I'm glad you wrote out for the lacquer, because this whole time I was hearing like for the lacquer. Like for space the space lacquer, and it was and I was like, wow, what a silly name.

SPEAKER_03 40:08

It's probably not impronounced like that, but I'm gonna stick with it because that's what I started with as his tradition. Uh he loves his lacquer. He really does. He loves he absolutely loves his lacquer. The rider provides pins to the black company with a badge that is familiar to Croker, a symbol of an ancient horror, further confirmed when the legate said a particular sentence. Welcome to the service of the lady, physician, in an almost sing song voice. The name of the lady evoked a dark legend of a horrible history. The captain asked Croker to tell him of this story. And uh look, well before we s I warned you before we started. Here's another quote. You did.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

You warned me that there were a lot of quotes. Kirioth warned that today might be fifty-fifty in terms of how much we talk. Alright. So I told him about the domination and the dominator and his lady. The their rule had spanned an empire of evil unrivaled in hell. I told him about the ten who were taken, ten great wizards, near demigods in their power, who had been overcome by the dominator and compelled into his service. I told him about the White Rose, the Lady General who had been brought who had brought the domination down, but whose power had been insufficient to destroy the dominator, his lady and the ten. She had interred the lot in a charm bound barrow somewhere north of the sea. Great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:37

That that's well, okay. Lovely. The legate would laugh and say that Croker did not know his history too well. I they weren't destroyed. They were buried alive. And a fool named Bowman's had released them. One eye would bury his face in his hands as the legate would reveal who they actually were. Soulcatcher, one of the ten. A devil worse than any dozen for Villa Lacka. It stood there laughing, and the crew winced. Enlisting the Black Company into the service of a great evil was something of a cosmic jest, and they not only signed a contract, but they cleared out an ancient port city of any notable defences to ensure the expansion of the lady and her hellish return. Taken like the four valaka in the hold, the black company were nothing more than beasts hurling themselves against a cage. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 42:29

Well, that took an awful turn. You gotta read the fine print, guys.

SPEAKER_03 42:36

Before you sign. You gotta go over that. Like tooth and tooth and comb or whatever it is. You can really go through it, all right?

SPEAKER_02 42:46

Really get that magnifying glass out, because oh boy. You I well now we're in the service of demons worse than hell. Great. Oh, well.

SPEAKER_03 42:58

So serves you right for calling your your mercenary company the black company. The black company, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:03

Well type of color. What do you want?

SPEAKER_03 43:09

Get to the point where someone's like, I actually don't like wearing black. Shut up. It's in the name, all right? We've got branding to consider here.

SPEAKER_02 43:17

The fuchsia company just doesn't roll off the tongue the same way. You saw how long the bubblegum pink company lasted.

SPEAKER_03 43:25

They were just not doing it, okay?

SPEAKER_02 43:27

We can't call ourselves the cotton candy club.

SPEAKER_03 43:32

That'd be a great alternate fantasy series, wouldn't it? I don't know. AU Black Company is the Cotton Candy Club. So from here we move into chapter two, Raven. The lady's ship would cross the Sea of Torments to the city, Opal, where they would stay for a bit. This city is much like Beryl, but a younger reflection. One eye is already having a bad time. He doesn't want to learn the languages of the north, and he's being a bit too late. Allowed in a tavern full of strangers. They attempt to leave, but they're blocked by the barkeep. They're accused of not paying their tab, and a large man with clubs emerges from the back. Then the following happens. And uh once again, here you go. I like that just a large man with clubs appear.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

Yep. Oh, this is going well. Elmo said, One eye, you pick this thief's den, you straighten them out. No sooner said than done. One eye squealed like a hog meeting the butcher. A chimp-sized four-armed bundle of ugly A chimp-sized four-armed bundle of ugly exploded from beneath our table. It charged the girl at the door, left fang marks on her thigh. Then it climbed all over the club wielding mountain of muscle. The man was bleeding in a dozen places before he knew what was happening. A fruit bowl on a table at the room center vanished in a black fog. It appeared a second later, with venomous snakes boiling over its rim. The barkeep's jaw dropped, and scarab beetles poured out of his mouth. We made our exit during the excitement. One eye howled and giggled for blocks. Fucking hey, dude. Magic is awful in this world. Magic absolutely fucked terrific. Well, I mean, if if you're the one casting it, it's pretty great. But yeah, this is I'm so sorry to boss bait. This is some warp shit. This is warp shenanigans.

SPEAKER_03 45:40

It's so weirdly. It's like weirdly torturous. Like the examples that we've we've had so far, like as we've gone through, we've had like a a sack full of hornets stinging people until they die. And then we've had, I mean, a four-armed bundle of ugly is incredible.

SPEAKER_02 46:01

Phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 46:02

Phenomenal descriptors.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

We love that.

SPEAKER_03 46:05

Phenomenal. And but it just gets it somehow just keeps getting worse. Snakes just appearing out of a bowl. When I was like, okay, the bar keeps jaw dropped. I would expect this because suddenly there's snakes and a four-armed chimp in his bar beating the shit out of everybody.

SPEAKER_02 46:22

But that's not what his jaw drops for. Yeah, it just gets worse and worse. He goes straight up mummy on us and just, oh look, scarab beetles are inside you. It's like, wow, oh, phenomenal. Although I said this is this is warp shit before warp shit, I suppose, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 46:35

Yeah, fully, fully before. Which I I just I I love that it's all horrible. It's just horrible ways to deal with people. Oops, it's all awful. But no, instead we've got some sort of chimp freak and just a bunch of insects and snakes all over the place. Don't fuck with wizards. Do not fuck with wizards. Dev 100% don't fuck with wizards in this in this universe. They meet up with the captain who orders them to wear the badges Soulcatcher gave them, and they enter a garden party where everyone is wearing different badges, each badge matching one of the taken. The captain says that their host has a new recruit for the Black Company, something which hasn't been done in years. One eye is unsure, and even the captain is a bit iffy, but he wants the men to make their own call. A man dressed in grey patchwork clothing enters. At a quick glance, he is an uninteresting man, but a more focused look reveals that he is emotionless, lacking any expression or any care whatsoever on how he looks or how others look at him. He refers to himself as Raven. Not his true name, of course, but that's the case with the rest of the black company anyway. The captain general, Lord Jolina, arrives and looks appalled at the sight of Raven, and the captain pins a badge on him, causing the lord to step away in a huff. The captain remarks that Lord Jolina seems to know Raven, and Raven responds coldly with he thought I was dead, without further explanation. Okay. The captain says that stuff like this could endanger the company if he brings it along, but Raven says that it won't be brought along because he will settle it. Five people must die to close out his past, and the members of the black company vote against accepting him until his affairs are settled. Three people arrive looking for Lord Jolina, and their voices hit Raven like a brick. It's two men and one woman, and one of the men has a whiny voice with a particularly noticeable shrill. His body tenses up, his eyes go icy cold, and a smile crinkles around the corners of his face. Essentially, what I also should have mentioned before we started is that you haven't just got lots of quotes. You've got all the horrible death. So here's some more.

SPEAKER_02 48:51

Oh boy. Uh where Raven got the knife, I do not know. It went almost too fast to follow. Whiny I like that we just call him whiny voice.

unknown 49:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

Whiny voice bled from a cut throat. His friend had steel in his heart, and Raven had the woman's throat in his left hand. No, please, she whispered without force. She expected no mercy. Raven squeezed, forced her to her knees, her face purpled, bloated, her tongue rolled out. She seized his wrist, shuddered. He lifted her, stared into her eyes till they rolled up and she sagged. She shuddered again, died. That is uh every little detail of choking someone until they are dead. Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 49:47

As soon as you finished that, I I immediately went to who the hell starts a conversation like this. I just sat down. I don't literally all they did was walk up to him, and that was the reaction. And I had my brain just immediately went to that, which is I don't know if I'm happy about that, if I'm honest, but you know, yeah, it's it's it's wild.

SPEAKER_02 50:11

Like he slits he slits whiny voice's throat, and it's just like, oh yeah, he he he bled from a cutthroat. His friend stabbed him in the heart, sure, sure, sure. And this poor woman gets like all the graphic details of just like forced to her knees, her face is purple and bloated, her tongue's rolling out. She's like trying to like grip at him futily, lifts her off the damn ground, and she just kind of withers and dies in his hands, like, brother.

SPEAKER_03 50:40

It it goes, it goes it goes graphic. It's it's not graphic in the bits you'd think it would be, and then it's surprisingly graphic in the bit that you think it wouldn't.

SPEAKER_02 50:50

When the words I choked her and she died, it just aren't enough.

SPEAKER_03 50:59

You gotta describe that purple.

SPEAKER_02 51:01

I guess so, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:02

And the bloating and the tongue seed as well.

SPEAKER_02 51:04

You gotta, you gotta, you gotta re- Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 51:10

Oh god. Raven removes the gold wedding band from her hand and pockets. It's sorry, I've forgotten about that bit. Yeah, why why not after all?

SPEAKER_02 51:19

She's not using it.

SPEAKER_03 51:21

Nope, definitely not. Anyway. One eye says, I don't want to sound hysterical, but why don't we get the hell out of here before they've done? Raven says that again, very sensible. Raven says that the affairs will be settled before dawn. Wow. Alright. More killing on the way for Raven then. I think what was it? It was it was it was five. So he's three down.

SPEAKER_02 51:51

Oh, they were oh, for some reason I thought maybe it was only the the woman that was on the list since he took his time with her. But yeah, I guess that's three down, yeah. They were just innocent bystanders. He's like, excuse me, excuse me, gotta get to the one I actually want to kill. Stab, stab, stab. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

As the black company oh yeah, so it's a Raven says that the affairs will be settled before dawn. And uh as the black company moves towards the heart of the Northern Empire, they notice that the locals are becoming more and more sullen and grim. Also, notably, Raven is not there for a few days. They make it to the Tower at Charm, a five hundred foot cube of dark stone. Croker studies it while contemplating the lady and what she may want from them. As he sleeps that night, he dreams of a romantic fantasy of them intertwined. Hmm. I mean, it doesn't sound like you want to get involved with her, but No, but you know you go off.

SPEAKER_02 52:50

I mean, yeah, you know, the flesh is what the the flesh wants what the flesh wants, right? I might not actually want to be with her, but that's not gonna stop my brain from thinking it. You know what?

SPEAKER_03 53:03

Fair. Fair, I'll give you that. Yeah. The next morning a courier approaches the company with haste, wearing the badge of another of the ten, the limper. He tells them to quit shitting around and get moving to Forsburg. Great phrase. Uh the lieutenant, not appreciating the tone of this guy, asks for his rank. When the courier says corporal, the lieutenant yells at Elmo and says, flog some respect into this peasant before lashing him thirty times with a riding crop. Jesus. Thirty times. Look, you don't tell the Lieutenant to quit shitting around. Okay? You just don't. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:46

I mean I mean that's fair. You probably don't want to do that, but good lord. Also, the ten uh uh that's that is quite the motley crew.

SPEAKER_03 53:55

You know what? You know what I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna say something here? I don't know if I I this is embarrassing. I've forgotten the name of the guy behind Dark Souls and Elden Ring and Bloodborne and Armored Core and all that. What's his name again? I've totally forgotten. I don't know myself. The the d the the head of of of FromSoft. Yeah, I don't know. There is there has to be zero percent chance that at least some of like the black company was read by him.

SPEAKER_02 54:29

Oh, I think that I think that's a safe bet that um the black company from the sounds of it and from the general look of like all the aesthetic and all the art we've seen, there's no way that that wasn't at least some inspiration to like just the Souls I was gonna say the Soulsborn franchise, but like just those games in general, 100%. There's n there's no way.

SPEAKER_03 54:51

Cause there's obviously like inspiration from from Berserk and the like. Sure. That's in there. That are I've there's there's just I feel like there's some there's some specific stuff about this artwork that just has that feel to to an insane degree, you know?

SPEAKER_00 55:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:08

I I totally get like none of these people would look out of place or I was gonna say unwelcome, but in in a Dark Souls game. Yeah. They'd fit right in. You could drop them in at any point and it would work. The d the DNA is like the DNA is there, you know? Except that dude that's next to the guy that's screaming in bandages, I can't quite make out what exactly that is. I'm guessing it's like a big coat and like a fur vest, but like it's kind of like his face is just like tangled hair. It it is. It is. That's a really weird one. Yeah. Everyone else has a very defined like style, and he just he almost looks like an like unrendered pixels are his cloak.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Weird looking, weird looking thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:55

God, they look so cool. They really do. They look great. I've completely lost where I am now. I so I so Shine says, I mean, I don't want a boss baby, but essentially these guys are Nazgul to the lady who is wife of local Sauron, and they're like, hey guys, we got defeated a thousand years ago, but now we're back, and also you work for us. Nothing but good things will come out of this. And our guys are like, what's the pay like?

SPEAKER_02 56:17

I guess they are essentially the Nazgul, aren't they? I guess you're right. Yeah, yeah, they they kinda are, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:24

So uh yes, the the courier has been d the shit kicked out of him with a riding crop, and uh Raven appears as Croker is patching up the courier and says that the limper will cut the captain's heart out for this. The captain doesn't care. Raven says that he was a bit slow closing his accounts, and one of them he couldn't find, so he decided to come back instead. They make their way into Forsburg, a kingdom that has become a killing ground. In the northern part of Forsburg are the cities of Awe and the Barrowland. The Barrowland is where the Dominator and the Lady were interred before they were restored. They need to find the limper, and it's clear that some of the atrocities will likely lead them directly to him. After so much travel, the captain decides that they need to take an extended rest. While setting up camp, Croker begins to really hone in on Raven and the captain taking a liking to one another. But silent detects an issue. Spies nearby. The captain decides the best action is to not do anything, all fine and good until the captain realizes that Raven is gone. Before they know it, he's back. And he's brought gifts. Oh, right.

SPEAKER_02 57:32

Gifts, great. He's brought gifts. He dumped a body at the captain's feet, proffered a string of grisly trophies. What the hell? Thumbs. They count they count coup in these parts. The captain turned green around the gills. What's the body for? Stick his feet in the fire, leave him. They won't waste time wondering how we knew they were out there. I see.

SPEAKER_03 58:01

So they like to collect thumbs in Fortsburg. Good to know. And also, what the hell? And yes, Raven does look like Anakin Skywalker.

SPEAKER_02 58:11

Oh yeah, he does look like Anakin Skywalker, right before he kills some younglings.

SPEAKER_03 58:16

Oh yeah, well, if we've skipped straight to how could this happen? There were no signs Anakin Skywalker. To killing younglings, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:26

I was gonna say, if you see for for our for our visual listeners, Jesus, my words are great. For people that are just listening, saying like, oh, it looks like Anakin Skywalker. The boy? No. Not the boy. The young killer.

SPEAKER_03 58:43

Like about Hayden Christensen uh Skywalker.

SPEAKER_02 58:47

Yeah, Darth Vader. And not the happy-go-lucky attack of the clones, Skywalker. No, it's not.

SPEAKER_03 58:53

No, he's the less cocky, cheeky one, and more the child murderer one. That's that's kind of the that's kind of the vibe.

SPEAKER_02 59:02

Right at home in the black company.

SPEAKER_03 59:03

No, 100%. They need to escape. So the three wizards, One Eye, Goblin, and Silent, cast a spell over the company so they can slip away undetected and move further north. Now is a good time to talk about the weirdness of the magic in this series, since it's come up a few times, and we've now had a like big like the Black Company has effectively been magicked away. So a little bit earlier, we mentioned that Goblin and One Eye like to joke around and pull pranks on one another, and they do this quite a bit on the journey. One eye starts to sing a marching song, but intentionally sings it wrong just to piss Goblin off. But Goblin restrains himself, and the fact that he's ignoring One Eye really upsets the other wizard. That is until a strange fly lands on One Eye's horse, who promptly kicks him off. A little bit later on, as one eye is trying to get some sleep, a bird lands on his shoulder and proceeds to leave a gigantic purple shit on him. Oh rude. It is. All the while, Goblin sits idly by looking completely innocent. As they continue onward, they crest a hill, and Possum is insisting that this is not made up. They encounter a village of little monkeys that all look like one eye, and they're all running around and kissing a big statue of a horse's ass. To which Croker says that Goblin earned a point for that one. Yeah, definitely. Well done, Goblin.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:28

That's top tier. Just amazing. That's the only way to use magic, really.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:37

It also to me points to a magic system that is basically the wizard thinks of something and it happens. I'm sure it's more complicated than that when like diving into the into the books and and reading reading them like firsthand. But a village of little monkeys that all look like a guy kissing a statue of a whole boss's ass. That feels quite powerful magic to me. And he's just done it for shits and giggles. Like he's just done it for the shit.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:07

Using that kind of power for something that trivial is like, wow, alright. So what does he do when he's actually mad?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:15

Yeah. Like coercing a bird to take a shit on someone is like a level of petty, which is is it's you know, it's petty, but it's not alarming. A village of little freaks, that is actually an alarming level of power to just do for the sheer hell of it. And it's just it's kind of freaking me out a bit. It's like, oh my god, they got they're just so strong.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:38

What? Also, I uh after seeing the art of them, it's like, oh yeah, that's yep, that's goblin alright. Obviously, one eye is you know, he's he's got the eye patch, but goblin is absolutely goblin. That is that is, yep, that is your nickname is goblin in every universe you ever set foot in. Yup.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:58

I do like the uh the traditional, the traditional pointy wizard's hat on one eye. I love it, I love a proper wizard's hat. I'm just saying, it's it's timeless. You just can't make a proper wizard's hat.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:10

If you're a goblin, if you're a wizard named Goblin and you see someone like one eye, you're like, oh, I'm fucking with him. Oh, I'm gonna get him to break 100%. We're getting this guy to fucking break.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:24

Uh unfortunately, uh, this is where the fun ends for a bit. Shit. They move into a because there's been there's been there's been loads of it so far. Actually, that's not fair. I'm really enjoying this, but it is grim as hell. They uh they move into a forest ever closer to where the limper may be, and they find an example of his work. Fields of bodies as far as the eye can see, and the fields are black with dark energy. This is one of the reasons why they're taken a feared killing spells. It was as if the bodies were burnt and merged into the ground. The horrors only continue as they reach a village that is partially burned. This is where they see that not only are adults lying dead and burnt alive, but also the children. The fact that there are children being massacred ignites a pure hatred in Kroger, who insists that he needs to act. Even if he can save one kid, he will view it as a victory. Elmo says this is reckless, but Raven agrees with Kroger and says that some things you just don't tolerate. With tears in his eyes he views the body of a kid who clearly died attempting to defend his family.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

Oh boy. Well, here here here we go. We had fun with the monkeys kissing horse ass statue, and now we had the calm before the storm. Yeah, we had the calm before the storm, and now we have the storm. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:50

Oh man. They find a dozen or so drunken soldiers with the mark of the Limpa. They are currently circling a child who cannot speak, and they are planning on doing something unspeakable while an old man is held nearby. Raven cannot wait and snipes the man who is about to act right in the head with an arrow. Knowing they're fully surrounded, Limpa's men lose any inclination to fight. Raven tells them to release the old man and the child while also getting their commander. The officer steps forward drunk and speaks in the same voice that the whiny man had in Opal. The officer attempts to walk away, and Raven threatens him with an arrow. The officer attempts to goad them due to their sigils and claims they've made a big mistake before the captain arrives. Now the captain arrives and the officer demands that he arrest Raven for murder. Elmo tells the captain what the officer's idea of pacification was. Very softly the captain looks to the officer and says that he is disgusting and demands that he never cross his path ever again. He does turn to Raven though and calls him foolish for his rash actions. He asks what Raven plans to do with the people he rescued, and Raven says they're my responsibility, aren't they? Raven's solid. Raven's a solid dude. And amongst his awful Raven, I mean, you know, if we overlook the fact that he seemingly just murdered three people in plain sight earlier.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:14

I was gonna say of all the people to be to be solid, I I was not expecting Raven to be the solid one after, you know, strangling a woman bloated in purple. Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:27

Well everyone's everyone's everyone's had an off day. She probably had it coming, right? Shock says, I don't know, guys, we're kind of working for the evil empire. What the fuck are you expecting from your allies?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:39

Well, I mean, again, she's I I don't know why I keep forgetting that they essentially are working for the evil empire and the the the ten who are from hell, and yeah, I I I don't know why that fact keeps getting lost on me. I don't know why I keep getting the fact like my brain's like, oh, they should be so much more moral and upstanding. It's like, no, bitch. That's not what this is about.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:02

But that that's I think that's the that's that's the fun that's the fun thing, isn't it? Like they it feels like they should be more moral and upstanding because they clearly have standards, but they have fallen into a way of life where they just have to essentially pretty regularly do stuff that they don't want to because they're being paid to.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:20

Like they're not they're not necessarily being like heroic, but they're also not being out and out, oh yeah, that's let's get in on the child killing. Instead, there's like they're on this this line in the middle where they're not they're not, yeah, like none of them are like Aragorn or some shit, but they're also not the orcs from Mordor either. They're they're in the they're they're sort of tightroping it real hard.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:45

Yeah, they're walking a fine line. They are straddling that line, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:50

Yeah, yeah. So the captain decided to give up on trying to find Limpa under the belief that operating independently is the lesser evil. The company would fight a significant battle against a rebel force twice their size, but they would win thanks to their wizards. Now, a quick note regarding the rebels, they are a rebellion better known as the New White Rose Rebellion in honour to fight back against the lady. The rebels are led by an organization known as the Circle of Eighteen, which are a group of powerful sorcerers whose power rivals that of the ten. This becomes a bit more important later on. But again, we've got these guys fighting back against the ones who are trying to stop the rise of the Dominator, the Lady, and the Ten, who are worse than stuff from hell. I mean, good lord. Are we the baddies?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:46

No, just being paid by them. It's not the same thing. Yeah, it's totally different. Totally different. Our our our conscience is clean. We're just doing it for the money. They do it because they love it. We're just in it for the cash. Holy shit, that's their logo. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:04

That is that is like pure Cthulhu bullshit. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:08

Yeah. Are we the baddies? Brother, look at your logo that's pinned to your chest. Hello?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:16

God. I I I'm loving the black company. I'm just absolutely loving it. Um anyway, the uh the company is in the process of looting the dead when Goblin suddenly collapses. The Soulcatcher speaks through him. Apparently there's bad blood between the limper and the soulcatcher, and the limper believes that the company was sent not to meet with him, but to undermine him. He went to speak directly with the lady in order to essentially knock on them. Soulcatcher says they should recapture a fortress in order to embarrass the limper. The amount of infighting here, by the way, is excellent, and once again, we could boss baby it all day, but we won't, because most of you listening already know what we compare it to. Uh-huh. So the The Captain and Croker realise that the gravity of their situation in service to the soul catcher is a lot more political than they realized initially. Though technically loyal to the lady, the company is in the service of the soul catcher and serves as their tool so that the soul catcher can come out on top. The ten who were taken are nothing more than toddlers fighting over toys and grabbing for the attention of their mother. The company claims the fortress and according to the soulcatcher, the limper flew into insanity. While taking a break, a rumour is told to the members of the company that involves the White Rose potentially being reincarnated. The rebels are actively seeking this child, and it's clear that some of the ten are concerned about this. The child saved by Raven is named Darling, and she has become very comfortable with him. Croker briefly thinks of the rumour, but it couldn't possibly be her. Every week Raven goes on a mission to get supplies in the city of Ore, which she refers to as Turnip Patrol, with a few members of the company, including Candy and Doughbelly. Wow. I mean, that's either horribly personal or that guy is skinny as fuck. Yeah. I'm not sure which it might be with this story.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:09

He's he's probably a beanpole, yeah. Also, I really don't like the direction this is going in. I I I'm I'm gonna let you tell the story, obviously, but I don't I don't like where we're headed.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:22

I don't I don't know why you would why he would make any uh assumptions at the stage. Uh and uh the the old man that was rescued, uh his name is Flick, but one week he doesn't return. A patrol is sent out to find them, but one eye senses trouble. Using his magic, he conjured a spell around the town, summoning Black Fog to spook the horses and force everyone inside. They reach the stable keeper who hosts the turnip patrol, named Corney, who confirms that things are not good. Candy is limping and severely damaged, but Raven is in a worse state. He's unconscious, pale, and covered with thirty or so cuts on his face, some very deep. Flick is dead, and Elmo worries that the news of this would break Darling's heart. Doughelly, who was partially unscathed, confirms the worst. It wasn't rebels that jumped them, it was the dumb captain that they rescued Flick and Darling from. You got you gotta take these guys out, you just gotta take them out. Yeah, you do, you do. Corney says that he knows where the attack has went, but Elmo is suspicious. He sends one eye to take Corney for a walk. One eye hypnotizes him and is able to deduce that Corney has been feeding info to the enemy, and this was a trap. A barely conscious raven mutters a name. I didn't think to check how this was I I've already read this today, and I still I still Zuad. Let's go for Zoad. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:48

Yeah, Z-O-U-A-D, that's that's rough. Zoad Yeah, yeah, that's that's that's yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:55

Good luck. This is the name of his final intended victim, but it's also something worse. He is the Limpa's left hand and colonel. Everything that the company experienced was a direct result of Raven's attack at the garden. Elmo devises a plan to feed information to the still hypnotised Corney in an attempt to flush out Zuad, but something arriving in the town strikes one eye with fear. A terrifying giant figure shambles up the street with a beard so thick that his face is not visible. It carried a staff that looked like an elongated body of a woman with a face that looked like it was affixed with a permanent scream. Jesus Christ. Wow. This was a member of the ten, Shapeshifter. Shifter is Solcatch's closest ally, apparently, and he's here for an update. They're still trying to trace the location of Zoad still, but Shifter makes his way to Raven. He places the toes of his staff onto Raven's chest, fully healing him. Is it just me or does that feel like the creepiest healing of all time? I don't I don't know what it is about.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:00

100%. Also, that's the that's the weird art guy. No wonder he looks like that, because he's a he's a shifter. It is, yeah. Yep. Oh man. Oh man, that makes that art even better. Because I was like, I don't know what the fuck I'm looking at. It's like, yeah, you're not supposed to. He's a damn shifter.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:17

Guy phenomenal absolute freak. Oh, the staff is it's so bad. I hate the staff.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:24

Oh boy. I absolutely hate it. Yeah, the staff is no must. That is, I think. When when when it was like, oh yeah, the staff is like an elongated woman. I was like, ah, it probably just like it kind of looks like a carving of that. It literally just looks like a woman that got stretched super thin. I hate it so much.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:45

Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's it's far too easy to assume you know exactly why it looks like that as well. Like it doesn't I Yeah. Like Yeah, no, you're right. We don't need to. We yeah, we just we know. We know and we don't like it. Uh and if we turn out to be wrong, that's actually good. As long as it isn't something more horrific, but I'm not sure what would be. So Zuad is traced to a rebel base and is currently imprisoned. Shifter takes Kroker, Raven, and Elmo and disguises them as rebel captains so they can infiltrate. They enter and find Zuad strapped to a horrific chair as the rebels prepare to torture him. As Kroker is reflecting on the irony of how even the rebels fighting for good are using torture methods like the Limpa, the ground shakes. Someone yells earthquake, but Shifter smiles. He knows what this is. The Limpa is coming. The ground shaking takes on the rhythm of an injured man walking before the basement door explodes. Shifter does something with his hands before a blinding light fills the chamber. Limpa had clearly not expected another of the ten to be underground, and the ensuing rush of people fleeing causes him to be trampled. Limpa lies on the floor, writhing and unimpressive, a small man wearing brown, nothing more. Shifter pins Limpa to the ground and demands Kroker to help him. The floor was collapsing, revealing a pit deep in the earth. Shifter and Kroker lift the stunned Limpa and toss him into the abyss while the house collapses around them.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:15

Sweet, that's that's that's crazy. That's that's that's a that's a lot. That's a whole lot of Oh god.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:26

I I I love I love stuff where I don't know what the specific like if there's a specific kind of name for it or like tr even trope for it, but when when something appears so much more terrifying than it actually is, where where it's a case of the the perceived power is incredible or extreme, but then once that's been stripped away, it's just oh, it's just some old idiot in a cloak. That's all this is. It's just some old idiot in a cloak. I'm trying to think of the best way to like I can't think of like specific examples, even. I just I've seen it in other fictional or like read it in other stuff where someone has power, they have a kind of aura about them, but as soon as something goes wrong, all of that just gets stripped away. And they they just lose everything and become almost almost embarrassingly normal, where it's just like, who is this?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:27

You know? It reminds me of even though it's not uh comic accurate Bane. Do do you remember Bane from uh what was the Batman? Was it Batman and was it Batman Forever? Where they have like the big beefy bane that's being fed with venom, and then once his tubes get pulled out, he just shrinks into the shrivel, oh no, I'm a little baby Dorkman instead of Bane.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:50

Yes. Yeah, that's reminds me of that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh Limper is horrendous as well. Yeah. Absolutely, yeah, I I I would definitely say Limper is horrendous. Yep. The lower face being no nose as well. Jesus. Awful. Far too confused to defend themselves, a shifter would turn the points of arrows and swords on their wielders, and the rebels will be purged not only by the company, but by themselves, thanks to this member of the Ten. After the purge is completed, the company looks, but Raven is nowhere to be seen. They believe he must have fallen into the pit with Limper and Zuad. The calm right now is about to be broken, however. The forces of the Limpa are making their way in to hopefully free him, and rebel bands are closing in to reinforce. The company escapes before things can get worse. Having done so, they prepare to move to a new garrison, but they have a visitor. The gate swings open and Darling begins to clap and runs towards it. Looking as rough as the day they met, Raven steps in and scoops up Darling. He informs the captain that all his debts are paid and his interests outside of the company no longer exist. The captain stares for a long while before nodding. I bet it was a bloody long stare after all of that. God damn. Thousand yard stare, just like Okay, sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:15

Get in the truck. Get in the fucking truck.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:19

In the truck, we're leaving. I've got a little another little just a little baby one for you there.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:27

Oh yeah, there's a little baby quote. He ha he had used us, and while doing so had found himself a new home. He was welcome to the family. We rode out, bound for a new garrison in the salient. A happy ending, for once, for that chapter. Well, it's an ending anyway.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:49

Yep. Happy is a that's a strong word. Well, now we're going on to chapter three, Raker. The Black Company finds themselves insalience at the Mesgr Mestricht Fortress. It's the pearl of the defensive infrastructure here, but it's currently covered in ice. The winter conditions here are horrific. A foot of snow had already fallen overnight, and more is yet to come. According to Croker, Elmo and a gang are out hunting rebels. The captain and the company have a surprising amount of authority at the moment. Authority that is generally reserved for a member of the Ten. The rebels are growing in numbers, and the lady believed that the limba had failed miserably. She personally requested that the Black Company clean up the mess he left behind. This is some great political manoeuvring. I'm loving this.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:42

Elmo returns, and we get a bit of an insight into some of the rules of the Black Company, courtesy of Croker. So you are up again.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:52

Okay, here's the here's the quote I was expecting. There was no rush to greet him. The rules call for casualness, for a pretense that your guts are not churning with dread. Instead, men peeped from hidden places wondering about brothers who had gone a huntin'. Anybody lost? Anybody hurt? You know them better than kin. You had fought side by side for years. Not all of them were friends, but they were family, the only family you had. The gatesman hammered ice off the windlass, shrieking as protests, the portcullis rose. As company historian, I could go greet Elmo without violating the unwritten rules. Fool that I am, I went out into the wind and chill.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:37

It's it's just well, it's just one giant dysfunctional relationship. Yeah. Just how you like it. Elmo and his men had been battered by the cold to the point where they look less like warriors and more like refugees. Elmo says Black Company 23, rebel zip. Kroger has a bigger concern. He wants to know whether or not Elmo found Raker. Raker is a prophet that just so happens to be a member of the circle of eighteen. He gave Limper a run for his money before he was ousted, and now it's their job to find him. Elmo doesn't answer, but Silent gives a nod suggesting that Raker had escaped once more. Though twenty three men still counts for something. After a few games and a few strange recountings of strange romantic fantasies of the lady courtesy of Kroger, the captain arrives to receive Elmo's report on the events of their latest excursion. Elmo reports that Silent spotted a line around a farm. They circled around after sunset so that Silent could distract Raker while the other man attempted to pick off a good portion of his men. They would move inward to burn the farmhouse and the outbuildings, but Raker would sneak away, hiding his trail as he did so. Even though this was a failure, Elmo and Silent are still grinning. The captain asks what they're smiling about since this was a failure of a mission. Silent places a piece of paper on the table, revealing a few strands of hair. The men are not impressed, but the wizards are. I like the rule of you have to have a thing from the person as a component for the spell. That is very tropey. I don't know where it started, but it's a classic and I love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:22

That does sound super familiar. Anyway, it doesn't matter. It probably happened so many damn times you could conflate it anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:30

I think there's a lot of like old folklore of like alchemy, yeah, like in medieval times alchemy and stuff. Yeah. It shows up in like old as hell, sort of passed down for generations magic. So the captain determines that they can't handle this themselves and they will need the help of a taken. And the men debate on who to reach out to. Not the limper, because quote, he has a hard-on for them. God damn. Good call. Good call. Shifter creeps them all out. One eye says they can 100% handle it themselves. The Lieutenant suggests that there's only one true option. One eye contacts Soulcatcher and they arrive. Croker notices something a bit interesting with the Soulcatcher, that he's got a good like now that he's got a good look at them. Their face is still completely obscured, but their features seem oddly feminine. Croker knows that some of the ten were women, but not many, and as far as he knew, Soulcatcher wasn't one of them. But maybe this is intentional obscuring of what they really are, much like their usual speaking pattern. Now, here is what possum means when they say that they speak in many different voices. I've got another quote for you. Alright.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:43

Also, should I posted a picture of a Soulcatcher? I guess this is a second time. Looks really cool. Love the armor. Anyway. Yeah, badass. Soulcatcher turned his back to the fire. So high pitched. Fine weather for an adventure. Baritone. Strange sounds followed. Laughter. The taken had made a joke. Nobody laughed. We were not supposed to laugh. Soulcatcher turned to one eye. Tell me, this in tenor, slow and soft with a muffled quality, as if it were coming through a thin wall, or, as Elmo says, from beyond the grave. The captain said, one of our informants caught wind of the meeting of the rebel captains. One eye goblin and s and silent followed the movements of known rebels. You let them run around loose? They lead us to their friends. Of course. One of the limper shortcomings. No imagination. He kills them where he finds them, along with everyone else in sight. Again, that weird laughter. Less effective? Yes. There was another sentence, but in no language I know. Yeah, Soulcatcher's weird. I I was gonna say, on an audiobook, that's gotta be an absolutely fucking wild. It's gotta be absolutely insane to try and like speak like Soulcatcher.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:58

I mean, like you either you either thoroughly enjoy recording uh like these books, or you've got the gig and you realise very quickly, I I wish I didn't get this one. Like it's gotta I'm not sure I'm being paid enough for this. Yeah. I feel like one of the bat company mercenaries right now. Yeah. There's no way I'm getting enough to compensate for this bullshit. Um excuse me, could we have that again, but a sentence in a language that doesn't exist? Uh what you talk no. The fuck do you mean me alone? Co-create a language for this one line of text. The plan to catch Raker then is a trap. They plan to go to the free city of roses and place a stone with a bounty inscribed. Let he who would claim this wealth seat the head of the creature Raker within this throne of stone. Next to it would be a pile of treasure that was nothing short of stunning, but ward spells would be placed ensuring that it could not be retrieved unless Raker's head was placed nearby. The company would rent a room overlooking the square and wait. The trap is very effective and very attention grabbing. Entrepreneurs try millions of ways to try and sneak the money out of there. Crow crowds stand by and watch each and every attempt. Hell, even one group attempts to dig deep underground in an attempt to grab it. Alright. Just get the dude's head, it's easy. Come on. So simple, so simple. And sure enough, bodies start to appear in the square the next morning, attempting to game the system. Alongside those bodies are also weapons. Members of the rebels are turning their arms in due to fear of this threat. Another notable visitor to the treasure is Raker himself. The company wants to act on the appearances of Raker, but Solcatcher tells them not to quite yet. He wants the impact of this to torment Raker. Killing his credibility also destroys the confidence in his movement. People begin to actively look for him both outside of his own ranks and within them, showing the fair weather nature of their loyalty to a movement, further discrediting it. One night, Croker witnesses Soulcatcher arguing with themself. A dozen or so voices arguing to the point where the others wonder if anyone could lose an argument with themselves. I mean, I don't have multiple voices, I will absolutely hold my hands up and say I've lost an argument with myself before. I've definitely done that.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:22

Well, well, also uh their name is Soulcatcher for God's sakes. I mean, the writing is on the wall as to how you would lose an argument with yourself if that happens to be your name and you talk the way they talk.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:37

Yeah. We can make educated guesses as to why there's so many voices. I think it's fair to say we can. We can we can come up with theories based on the name, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Safe safe bet, I think. Yeah. Suddenly, Soulcatcher stands up. Limper is here in roses, according to them. They can sense it, and he needs to be taken care of immediately. As Soulcatcher leaves, a member of the company confirms another of their ranks has been stabbed. Raven and Kroker investigate and it's their belief that Raker was the one who did it. Raven sends Croker ahead as bait more or less, and finds Raker standing alone. Raker recognises him as the company's physician. He flings open his cloak and takes a strike at him before attempting to conjure something. The s this conjuration is interrupted by the appearance of Raven's knife in Raker's back. Raker tears it from his flesh before starting to sing, and the spell is almost done, and he needs to be stopped before he can cast it. Raven successfully flings himself forward and slits Raker's throat. I mean, we know he's got practice in that, so uh Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:49

Be careful if he starts choking you though, that's when things get really dicey.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:54

Yeah. They decapitate the dead body before dropping the head into the square, deactivating the wards and allowing them to retrieve the treasure. On the way back they encounter Elmo and bring him back to their room. As they're attempting to settle in and figure out next steps, a man walks in behind them and sits at the table. Inanely, Croker says, I just started tea. What have you been doing? I just started tea. What are you doing, Matt? We're just about to eat. Come on. Sitting across from them is the limper. Still unimpressive in stature, of course, but he sat silently with a leather mask obscuring his face. Croaker didn't know what else to do, so he poured him a cup of tea. I mean that is the English approach. That's what we do.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tea and crumpets, sure, why not?

SPEAKER_03 1:29:46

We don't know what else to do. Fuck it, let's have tea. The limper would lift the mask, revealing the face of a dead man. He looked like a rotted mummy. A chunk of his lip was missing, revealing yellowed and broken teeth. Eventually, the limper speaks in a hushed tone. Soulcatcher brings the black company's best. Where is he? Before demanding the money. He claims the lady owes it to him for flushing out Raker in the first place, and Raven tells him that if he wants the money, he should go catch Raker himself. Oh wait, you can't do that now, can you? The the active taunting of this relatively powerful being is absolutely sending.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:34

Maybe take your foot off the gas pedal a little bit here. Just just to just just to smidge.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:42

Bunch of just mercenaries, just shit talking, by all accounts an extremely dangerous th in individual thing. Like Yeah. Before things get too hairy, Soulcatcher returns. Soulcatcher yells about how the lady wants to know why the Limpa wasn't in Elm right now. There's apparently a rebel uprising happening there and it was Limpa's responsibility to take care of it. Filled with fear, the Limpa sprints from the building. Soulcatcher says that the uprising was real, but it may have been assisted due to the fact that the rebels somehow knew the Limpa wasn't in town. Gee, how'd they find that out, huh? A mystery that we could put your speculations in the chat, viewers.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:40

What could have happened?

SPEAKER_03 1:31:45

I'm loving the constant backstabbing emotion. Soulcatcher says that there's no further reason for them to stay in this town and that they should leave. As the others were preparing to leave, Soulcatcher out of nowhere speaks to Croker directly. And uh I have one last one for you.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:07

She's very beautiful, Croker, young looking, fresh. Ah, don't love it when you c anyway, she's very beautiful, Croker, young looking, fresh, dazzling, with a heart of flint. The limper is a warm puppy by comparison. Pray you never catch her eye. Solcatcher stared out the window. I wanted to ask questions, but none would come at that moment. Damn, I really wasted a chance then. What color was her hair, her eyes, how did she smile? It all meant a lot to me when I could not know. Solcatcher rose, donned his cloak. If only for the limper, it's been worth it, he said. He paused at the door, pierced me with his stare. You and Elmo and Raven, drink a toast to me, hear? Then he was gone. My nerves were not worth a damn for a long time. That's fair. Yeah, you know, I did yeah, fair. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:03

I mean, easily one of the most uh unsettling characters in in a in a lot of stuff, Franklin.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:11

Soulcatcher, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:12

Yeah, it's something that the the main characters have to interact with and speak to semi semi-regular. You just don't want anything to do with it. It's just not it's not good.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:25

Evil, basically demigods that could snap a finger and turn your whole existence to mass suffering and agony. Yeah, I'd be a little on edge too. While they have an argument with themselves. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:37

God damn. Anyway. Spoiler, the lady is a baddie.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:43

Yeah, yeah, she is.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:44

Yeah, that's yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%. Now, despite the victories, the company would have to leave. The failure of the limper would force them to retreat even further. A retreat that would bring them face to face with the lady herself. So we've got that to look forward to next time. Let's go. And I I I I I'm just going to go and read it. Yeah. I just it's it seems like a it's a hugely interesting world. And with really interesting characters. Yeah. And the the whole thing of there being uh an awareness of how bad things are and how shitty things are, and the things that you are doing in the service of something that you know you shouldn't really be under the control of, but you you have to be because you you effectively signed on the dotted line. Yeah. Oh boy, all of this just sucks. Sucks. Yeah. This is this is all terrible. And sometimes, you know, sometimes you want to read something where you get to the end of a chapter. It's like, oh, this was this was quite a light one. Only 40 people died in horrific circumstances. Things are looking up, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:10

But the health benefits and the 401k they offered was too good. What's a little mass murder to set up my future? Come on. The retirement plan they're giving is crazy. What are you gonna do?

SPEAKER_03 1:35:26

They got families. Should I make it to 60? I'm set. I'm all good. Admittedly, it's like an increasing unlikely because of you seen what we've been up to, but you know, I mean I yeah, I'm assuming not too many black companies retire happily in old age.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:43

Gol feels super unlikely, doesn't it? Yeah, it doesn't feel like a plausible future for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:52

I can I can I can definitely see why Parson was so excited to uh to write these. And I I I I think the call of of uh spreading out across a couple of eps for the first book is it is the way to go. That felt extremely dense in terms of it feels like it's like no holds barred, there's a bit of downtime, but this is a this is a mercenary group who are constantly having to be on the move and doing stuff just to keep vaguely on top of you know the nightmare that is the world in general.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:30

Which is that's it's it's crazy to me that everything we cover today and we're like what halfway through the first book? Yeah. Yeah That's wild. Is are these are these quite hefty books? Like is this like a um well, I guess a for lack of any other novel and fantasy, is this like Lord of the Rings style where it's a big chunker of a book or you know what?

SPEAKER_03 1:36:55

I didn't actually look at so 319 pages for the first one. So it's not even like I don't know. I've I've I've got a I've got a good number of a good number of fantasy books under my belt. I wouldn't say that's like a huge.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:09

No, that feels that feels like just a normal book, if even a little short for an epic book like this. I would have expected like 600 pages or something.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:19

Huh. Just really, just really packing in the plot and the horrible detail of people's deaths and the fields of burnt families and and the and the hornets and the snakes and the and the bat and the forearmed bundle of ugly.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:36

Like you gotta really get it in there. Yeah, they they don't waste time, they don't waste page space, it is just go, go, go, go, go. Hell yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah. I was gonna say there's 40k books that are longer than that.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:49

That's that's true. And I I'll be honest, I would argue that some some of them are that long or longer and should not have been.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:57

But no, no. Well, that listen, that's a completely different podcast and a completely different episode that we could whine about all goddamn day. But I'm assuming we've hit the end of the episode, right? We have.com slash acceptable losses. I'm supposed to do the merch, but whatever. We've got bonus episodes on the Patreon. Give it a follow. You get a free episode if you just follow. You can see what it's all about, see if it's worth the money. And uh Patreon.com slash acceptable losses. It is a hundred percent worth the money. I think Kierith, you usually go through all the free episodes, not free episodes, but the episodes you get if you uh uh subscribe. There's a lot of them. You should check it out.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:44

And we've been building them up. There's like on average, like for the past few months, there's been there's been three a month. So effectively, if an episode comes out for for for YouTube and podcast apps and the like, the chances are there is also a shorter Patreon episode as well. So there's there's a back catalogue for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:05

When we get to this portion, my brain immediately goes to Patreon. I'm like, no, that that's supposed to be carry out that that shows the Patreon. You shield you shield the the the merch that's over at Orchid8.com. Link in the description, link on the screen. There's a lot of good stuff there. There's co I think there's still commemorative coins. There's the Weeb for Lincoln shirt. You like sci-fi shirt, amazing wall scroll, phenomenal. Look at that. I did the merch and the Patreon. Kirioth, how about an outro?

SPEAKER_03 1:39:34

I I spent that whole time trying to think of something good. Deafening silence is just I I crumbled under zero pressure. There was absolutely no pressure to that whatsoever. Basically just collapsed for no reason. A pin dropped and Kirian folded under it.