What's up everybody? It's Sha boy. John,
your DM for another episode of playing Games with
Strangers. Let's just rip this bandaid off and dive in. Uh,
we got to my right, we have Squid, Zinsky,
the squiddies of, uh, all of us.
Hello.
Uh, we have Josiah Crandle present. We have,
uh, David Clements.
It's the Game.
Time. The it is the game time.
And then the Earl of All Jss
Js Earls.
Yeah, that was, that was, yeah. I like that.
That's pretty good.
Yeah, I'm here. Uh,
and together we combine to create this podcast.
I don't know. Uh, let's talk, let's talk merch. Dave,
you just uploaded something to the merch to the merch store.
I need tonight.
I.
Did. I did. So a, a while back I was like, Hey,
I'm gonna play around with some designs.
And then I came up with this like black metal design and John liked it,
and at least one other person liked it. So I was like, we'll sell it.
So now over at the Playing Games shop,
you can pick up the Aberrant Games with strangers designed. Um,
yeah, it's black metal. So if you know what that means, you know what it is.
And if you don't know what that means,
go find out playing games with strangers.com/shop.
It's true. Cult Young. Uh, . Sorry.
Black Mers. I get that. Well, squid being as, uh,
Celeste isn't here. You wanna talk about our Patreon stuff?
Hey, we have Patreon. It's super cool.
We have three different tiers. They're very affordable.
So if you don't wanna spend a whole bunch of money on us, you don't have to. Uh,
we'd like it if you did, but we won't make you. Um, you can get some fun things.
They're currently, uh, we can be watched live.
You get access to some unique stuff.
We just recently reworked everything, so I kind of forget where we're at,
but there will be new stuff coming soon to the Patreon, so check it out.
You'll get to see it while we do .
I think right now, I,
I'm just really feeling like we should play the theme song.
Playing games with strangers. There's no
with strangers ss.
Oh boy. Did we do some things last time? Uh, I'm not gonna remember it.
Any of them are. So I have my handy dandy notebook that might be copyrighted.
Uh, so anyway, we went back in time to see what Wilder slash Felix was up to,
and he was just cruising around town where he met a glowing figure of a bug
there. We started following him around.
He attempted to reason with it didn't work. Unsurprising, uh,
detecting thoughts showed that there was two people in one. Unfortunately,
one of them happened to be my favorite person. Sayos. Oh, uh,
the ghosts in Inte in testified no intensified.
So there were more of them, which is fun.
And now I wasn't the only one that got old. Uh, and Wilder was older, so,
ha And let's see, the others all showed up. We all met one another.
There were a lot of ghosts. Uh,
there was also an elf on a rooftop that was shooting at Poo.
I went after the Elf because I didn't realize there were ghosts, uh,
50 50 on which one I would've preferred. Anyway, everyone was confused.
We all wandered around. Not much happened in the way of fighting,
even though we tried. Uh, they all evaporated.
Me and Poo decided that we were gonna go to the Drow City to warn them about the
whole, you know, murder, assassination, uh,
extinction plan as it were. And we're dropping everyone off at Felix's house.
And then that other one, you know, the one that we don't like,
cuz she doesn't like me, uh,
took her brother over to her boyfriend's house where she may have accidentally
planted the idea that she should kill or they should kill all of the TowerFall
family. Oops.
All right. Um, start with XOs.
Yeah. Could we start with XOs?
Can you just give us a little insight into what he's doing?
Peek in that window for a minute.
? Uh, yeah, sure. We can start with Sayos. Um,
we open with a scene inside a giant iron
tower,
and we watch as this figure steps into a
room
that is filled with familiar looking
violet crystals, lining the walls,
the figure in yellow kneels down before a doorway that just
opens to pure blackness. It is done.
The implant is complete.
We have infiltrated their group and soon we'll
be able to most effectively destroy them.
You just hear cackling.
Coming from.
With that being said, let's go ahead and go to Wilder's house.
Alright. Now we will, uh, see you all later.
We're off to war the drought. I hope.
I hope, I.
Hope I don't know that song, but yeah.
Gareth looks at those of you who are there and says,
why are we splitting up? It always seems that every time we split up,
bad things tend to happen.
Well,
I always pretty sure that someone said that we shouldn't all go to the drought,
so, oh dear. I know I was elected to go and I'm really excited about it.
So please don't take this away from me. I'll cry.
Also, we're trying to prevent bad things from happening. Goodbye.
Yeah. Doing this.
But why do we need to split up to do this?
We don't have to. Let's join them. Yeah, let's just all.
Go. I.
Mean, I mean, yeah, we could all go, I suppose.
I just don't know how a whole crew coming down will. Hell. But we can try.
I mean, if everyone wants to see the row, I'm down.
Well, I need to get back to my people, as it were down there anyway. Um.
Oh, right. You are leading them.
Did anybody see where Aileen went?
Oh, she's right here. She's just, you know what? Eating.
She wouldn't do the kitchen and then she came back.
Um.
She's not that short where.
She's eating the cinnamon bun right here, you know.
Uh, no, she's not.
. I thought, I thought I saw it go into the kitchen, right?
It did. Am I, am I the only one that saw that makes sense.
I wasn't paying attention.
Yeah, you're the only one.
I.
Did see. You know what? I gotta a spell for this though. .
Do you?
Hi. Hi. It's me.
.
How is it going, Eileen? Where you at?
We.
Could, seems like last.
We could just yell.
That's, thanks. I have.
So many sending spells.
Callum, you were doing that thing again.
Oh yeah. I, yeah. You know, I don't know. It's kind of fun.
I've decided it's my new favorite spell to use.
You get a response back from Aileen? Not sure. Went into the kitchen.
Now everything's dark.
Oh. Oh, well that's okay. Well, oh. Uh,
so yes, guys, um,
Eileen is either one stuck in a cabinet in the kitchen or see somewhere else.
I've gotten stuck in a cabinet before. It was.
Wonderful. She said she went into the kitchen.
I knew you were gonna say that.
Who? It was wonderful.
She, uh, went into the kitchen and now everything's dark. She said so.
Well, I'm going to, um, wonder into the kitchen myself.
Make up he check for me. Sure. Please. Poo.
What's dangerous about a kitchen? 13.
You notice that the back door's open.
Um, that's not the kitchen door back there. Is it wilder?
No. And I'll shut that. I think I will shut it.
I'll go check out the back door. Sure.
Oh, let's still check out the kitchen.
I'll check out right between both of you. Just give my eyes on a swivel.
Dave, you're checking out the back door. Make an investigation check,
please. Uh, poo, what are you checking out in the kitchen?
All the cabinets. Make sure aliens not in them all.
I'm starting with the lower cabinets.
Okay. Make an investigation. Not the cookie jars and things. No. Callum. Yeah.
What are you investigating?
I'm looking for any signs of people that weren't Aileen being in here.
Cuz I'm assuming, no offense, Felix, that you don't keep your floor.
Is that clean? So I'm keeping an eye on stuff.
Yeah. Make an investigation check as well. Callum, please. Who,
what did you get?
I got a nine.
Uh, yeah, you don't pick up much. You,
you find a very interesting stash of cookies.
Nope. Um, in one of the lower cabinets. It's.
Not in here. Definitely not in here. No, but it's okay.
Dave, what did you roll?
I rolled a 28.
The back lock on your door has been broken with your,
with your row capabilities.
You know that someone was trying to pick this lock and they broke it in the
process. Callum, what did you r what did you roll?
11.
You don't notice too much in the way as far as, uh,
signs of people like fingerprints or scuff marks on the floor. Uh,
but in the process of looking around,
you find various symbols on some of the walls in
the kitchen.
And I tell what they are.
Go ahead and roll an archana check.
13.
You don't know what they mean,
but the way that they're arranged in the north, south, east,
and west of this room,
you would be willing to wager that it was for some arcane
purpose.
Do they look active?
It's hard to say.
I'll cast a spell magic anyway. Just see if it does anything.
Uh, nothing happens.
Well, might have options.
Well, um, there's nothing I, not in the kitchen, but Tom.
You know,
this would be really helpful if we had another person here that did magic that I
could point these out to. But of the people I'm with right now.
About what these symbol thing is.
Mm-hmm. . Yeah.
I mean, I'll do magic.
Gareth, you recognize these?
I thought he.
Wouldn't know. I dunno. Let me, let me just look at 'em real close.
I think maybe Brother Pan.
Duh. Maybe had a book, maybe Wilder. Look at them.
I'm.
I'm going to see if I know anything at all about these.
Uh, roll Arana.
Here we go.
12.
They look foreign. Do you? This.
One's a squiggly. And then this one of course is a,
and, um, I've got nothing.
Wilder. Do you want to look at 'em?
What are we looking at? Sorry.
Uh, these symbols.
You've got squigglies on your wall. Ah, did,
did your your little person do this? I bet it was this little person.
That's no way to talk about Eileen.
I was, I was. No, sorry.
Hello? Yes. You know, sometimes kids Oh.
Oh yeah, that's finger paint. Draw on the walls. Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah. You understand? Well, while he does that,
I'm gonna copy them down just so I have them on hand for whenever we find
someone else that knows magic.
Oh, Wilder, OHK. Could your girlfriend have put these on the walls?
Like maybe it's.
A, oh, is she coming back? Ohk?
I bet it's a love note. I bet it is. Oh, wilder.
So limited use meaning somebody was coming here doing a thing,
leaving somebody broke through the back door, like broke the lock.
Oh.
So they took Alene.
So, I mean, she's not here, right? Maybe one night.
But she, I mean, she was just.
Here. Yeah, but I mean, when I talked to her, she didn't sound, you know,
like distressed at least. So even if they took her,
I suppose at the moment she's safe. Question mark.
This isn't one of those, um, um,
you, you know, what do you call 'em?
Aneurysm? No.
No. Not that.
Um, stroke.
Not like when you, you.
Know, we, I'm trying keep going. How many syllables.
When we, when we were, when we were in water Deep. Remember that place.
And ice cream headache.
Like the teleportation circles. That's it. Think and.
Yes. What are those? No, is not, yes.
There's no circle on the ground.
Those that we can find, you know?
Did any of you guys,
when you rated the tower in water deep,
uh, did any of you guys go into the dark rooms?
The rooms where you guys saw things and then someone ended up going into a room
and then the room would black out or.
Bog did not. But I feel like some Alene.
Did.
Didn't she? I know Alene did. Um,
somebody else did too. And I can't remember.
For reference,
Calum didn't enjoy any of the rooms he was in when he was in the tower.
? No. Calum died.
If that helps. I didn't like any of them at all. No.
Both.
Who.
Did? Wilder. Did you go into one of those rooms?
I, I'm thinking maybe I did, but I don't remember Jack.
Okay. Wilder. Uh, I'm, I'm gonna say that you did cause I, I,
I know two people did.
I'd like you to make a history role with Advantage,
please. Uh.
It's a dirty 20.
You remember some of these symbols on the walls of
the room that you went into after that spell had been broken.
But this seems like a modified version of what was going.
On there. Okay? So I'm real foggy here. Look,
um, back in water deep, we went in a tower. Uh,
we got split off.
I went into a room and these characters look similar but like
some of them are different. And of course, you know, it's been,
it's been a while.
The tower, like, you know the knot? Yeah. My favorite place. Tower.
Yeah. Yeah. Yours and poos.
That makes since, I suppose since you know,
who's been wandering around in bug bear ghosts, right in the street. Yep.
I saw those. I punched one.
Oh, I wanted to punch one. Sorry. But I want away. Uh, okay,
so it seems to me like we have two things here that are pretty pressing. Uh,
one we have to warn the drought because it sounds like your brother's gonna go,
you know, wipe them out. Not good pretty soon.
And that's not just me saying it cuz I want to go. Right. But I do. Uh,
and two Eileen's gone. So we'll have to sort that out.
But I don't have a plan for that,
aside from just wandering the city.
But I find it unlikely that we'll find her that way.
I think we go with our original plan into the drought,
knows that's what we were going to do anyway. So if we're not here,
we'll probably be there.
We can continue looking for her on our way.
And, you know,
once I get a bit of a rest and time to think about magic and whatnot,
I can see if I can find out where she is more
than just talking to her since she seems to be in the dark. Oh,
both metaphorically and physically. And.
I don't always have this ball. I point to my.
Head. What does your ball do again?
Uh, I think it's magic. Oh, I can look at people in places.
What it's crying is what I was thinking of.
I just don't have it prepared at the moment as it were. So,
so we all go to the drought. We warn them.
We let Gareth make sure his people are good. Yep.
And then we see about finding a.
Lie. Yep. I thought his people were up here in the castle.
No, they're down.
Some of them right?
They left some down there too. You think there.
Was? They're.
Down there. There was like a whole city. A bible study. I went to it.
It's very nice. Did.
He leave Kevin down there?
Oh, probably. I know Kevin seemed pretty settled.
Not.
Kevin. Okay, let's go.
But let's be careful and keep our eyes open like when we step outside.
Just.
Scott. Well, I did plan on having my eyes open, but.
Well with Poo, you never know. I mean, he does.
Oh,
before we leave I would like to go to my back door and
fix. Previously make you broke. Broken lock. Do.
Do do. Looking out my back door.
What's your passive perception?
Uh, 20.
As you are trying to get this lock fixed before you go,
you also out the corner of your eye,
you see a unfamiliar wo in your backyard.
Is that the horse remain.
It's actually backyard cancer. Uh, he, he, he needs to get that checked.
.
Uh, Hey Callum, you wanna come check something out with me real quick?
Yeah, sure.
You're all good with the naturey things?
Oh.
Yeah. I would like to investigate. Said lump.
Do you need me to taste it?
Cuz I'm really good at tasting the dirt and figuring out how.
I'm gonna let you take the lead. Somebody.
Great. I'll go. What am I checking out.
This lump?
He's really good with digging zombies too.
I dig a few zombies.
Uh, he, he points out a lump in the backyard. Uh,
that is hard to make out because it is nighttime. Um.
But I've got dark.
Fish, as do I.
Technically everybody does. I, I forget .
Technically.
I have blind sight.
But it looks like a, a lump of fabric in the, uh, in,
in the backyard or not fabric material. And as you go check it out,
it looks like a, it, it, when you stand over it, look at it,
it looks like a wad of knitted material.
Like someone knitted it out of yarn.
Just fabric.
It could be yarn, bas.
. Um,
I'd like everybody to roll for psychic psychic damage.
.
Alage. Not, not ser not seriously, but that, that,
that was kind of a stinker. Josiah. I'm.
Just saying. I thought, I thought it was pretty funny. Uh,
does it look like it was just recently dropped here? Like it's been sitting.
Is is.
The dew on the grass or on top of.
The ? Make an investigation check.
Has my fleece gotten wet overnight?
Jerk for.
Fingerprints. Oh, could I make something other than an investigation Check.
If you can justify it.
Survival checking. You know, the state of the ground.
Okay, I'll allow it.
God bless you. That's, that's good cuz that was a five. But I have a nine.
So 14.
Based off of what you can tell. It hasn't been there all night.
Uh, but it's not like it was just dropped. You know it, it's not dirty,
it's not covered in dew, but it is a little bit cold.
Great. I'll pull an arrow out to pick it up with that.
I was just getting ready to.
Do that. That with my raper, when you pick it up,
it's got about four dangly spiral bits that look,
that look like artificial knitted tentacles coming off of this thing.
Well this is fascinating.
Why? Uh, and the more, the more you turn it around and look at it,
it literally looks like a yarn, uh, beanie.
Except it's designed to go down cuz there's eye holes in it.
And then the tentacles hang down off your face like a
to ba to ba basically like a yarn mi a yarn mine flare
beanie.
You know, you could knit it. It would just be very difficult. Well,
I don't have the appropriate spell prepped yet again.
I think.
So.
It looks very fashionable. I know someone.
In it Put it on .
You put it on.
Yeah. .
Wonderful.
Yeah. Okay, we'll help. I just yank it down. There we go.
. All good.
It's backwards.
Another,
another thing you notice when you put this mask on is you cannot really use your
mouth when you're, when you've got this mask on.
So the rest of the party's happy Now.
What? No, never said that at all. Like,
you can open and close your mouth as if you were going to eat, but like,
if you were going to talk, you can't talk with it on.
Welcome. Um, I mean, it, it, it looks good on you,
I suppose.
I like it.
But, uh.
It's very peaceful.
You learning anything?
Does it feel like anything else? I just can't speak.
You can't speak,
but you still feel like you want to try to speak anyway.
I have no mouth and I'm must scream.
What's the first thing that goes through Callum's head when
you may have this realization?
Oh, unpleasant. Better than being in the dark.
Poo or bog and wilder.
And I guess Gareth as well.
You all hear that phrase in your mind?
Um, did you say that? Interesting? What was that?
Someone else?
Can I hear them?
Uh, you can hear them. It doesn't,
it doesn't plug your ears up so you can't hear.
Can I take it off?
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
I'm gonna take it off for a second and then like put it back on and then try to
speak again.
Uh, you are unable to speak.
Watch the heck.
Just,
just think or even try to think about making the tentacles move.
Very pleasant. Suggestion or bog? I didn't think about thinking.
Uh, you hear that in your brain again, all of you.
I I'm not all bog voice and Callum. Interesting.
I'm hearing a voice in your, in my head. That sounds like you,
but you are there and not in my head. So.
Can I hear my thoughts?
Who is this? Is this me?
Who is they?
What? Okay.
Do you mean us? They, hold.
On. I'm thinking of a number. It's five.
. Five.
Six.
I wouldn't have chose that number.
Well, this is interesting.
I wonder if everyone can hear my thoughts or just the people near me.
Um.
We should test this.
Out. I'm really scared of where this is gonna go. Should we, can we not,
could we maybe, I don't know. Not wear this down to the drone.
Can you a picture? Can you think of a picture?
Sure.
I picture of both .
Uh, does not work with pictures. It,
it seems like this is only meant for communicative purposes.
I'm not getting any, I'm not getting anything. Come.
Does the mask remind me of a certain creature?
Yeah, it reminds you of an Han.
Perfect . I'm so happy I'm gonna keep it on.
And you can't, you can't hear anything.
In fact, I will even go as far as to say,
as you recognize this design as kind of like a
homemade, uh, mask of a
comic book that you are familiar with for a character known as,
uh, Mickey Mind Flair.
This is my favorite comic book as a child.
I, I wouldn't surprise me at all.
It's not suitable for children my age,
but know what are you gonna do when you have a single mother?
She can't watch you all the time.
Tell 'em I'm hearing everything that you are thinking again.
You, you remember, you remember the theme song.
You know who can bite your head off and suck at all your brains.
Mickey can, uh, you know,
even if you couldn't hear all my thoughts, I'd be saying it out loud anyway.
So it seems pretty much the.
Same. Now there's a song going in the background of everything.
Oh yeah. Did you guys not know Mickey by Player?
No. Can't say that. I I've ever heard of him.
I'm gonna roll a history check. , that was a.
17. Might have just been in the north. I dunno.
Uh, yeah, you're familiar with it. Um, you, you,
you except the company behind it, behind Mickey Mind. Flayer,
you weren't super into their politics,
that they were constantly pushing behind the scenes. So it wasn't like your jam.
Mostly. Only the emo kid liked it anyway, so.
I never.
Got into that. The kids.
I think I'm going to jump on my semi.
.
I'll, I'll take it off.
Amazing.
And put it in my bag.
Thank you.
Oh, I was gonna ask if I could try it on.
Can I have it back when you're done? I don't.
I don't think anybody wants to know what you're thinking. Who?
Oh, oh.
Better it be very quiet.
I hand it to who?
I don't think he thinks.
. All right, let's find out. I.
Put it on.
Whooo puts it on. Mm-hmm. . Suddenly everybody in the room,
with the exception of poo are flooded with some very
high level thought contemplating, uh,
relativity and strength theory in theoretical physics.
Why do I have a migraine right.
Now? Boy, this sounds like the conversation with my father.
Are you being possessed?
Boo Wilder starts to get a bloody nose just thinking about some of
the concepts that are being presented as, all right, poo has this on.
Take it off. Take it off. Take it off. Please.
Did did it work? I.
Was, it sounded a lot like talking to my fathers.
Thinking about cheesecake.
That was not his brain. There's no way.
Alright.
Okay. So I think we got Drow City.
We got distracted for a second as we do Drow. City Uhhuh.
Yes. Dr. Drow. Now.
Brown drown. Now recoup. Find ak Leave tower.
Fall Kill Zes.
Okay.
Try to.
Yeah, I think try to survive should be an umbrella.
All four of those points probably.
Find true love.
Well, I mean, yeah. That can also be an umbrella. Two umbrellas. Oh.
But we know someone who's already found true love.
Love.
He's just not willing.
It sounds like all of you. Sounds like all three of you have without me,
but it's fine. Wilder, it's, you know, whatever.
Wilder.
I need you to make a survival check. Please.
Oh, this is nice. Love survival. For me.
That's five.
That's what this is. You need help. Survival. Love survival.
Yes sir.
What.
Is love? You've been voted off the island. Sorry.
Love.
You. You feel like you feel like maybe you fixed your back lock.
Wow. This sounds like something that would actually happen to me. Like,
I got distracted. Did I actually do the thing? ? I guess I did the thing.
I'm gonna do some other thing.
Yeah, right.
Okay.
To the drought.
We're all gonna die. It doesn't matter. Let's go.
It's not like your daughter's in there.
She's.
Not. She's not.
I know.
She's probably more capable than you are.
But there are some pretty good cookie. Well,
there were some pretty good cookies in there. They're gone now.
Wait, which ones someone.
Broken?
No.
One's under the sink.
Oh. What flavor?
Um, cookie.
Cookie flavored. Take this simar and just.
Jam it. You could just start walking.
They were bacon flavored.
Uh, the.
Please. Just the.
Bacon flavored cookies.
Well that to be no.
Fun belong to Leona. So you're gonna have to answer for that. Uh, let's go.
And I'm just gonna, I'm gonna walk away from Poo.
.
Wait, wait. That's were Leona's cookies.
Dunno. You're gonna have to talk to her about it.
Something. We get to talk to her again.
No Scary girlfriend.
Poo Poo just ate the cookies that belong to death. . .
And they tasted like it.
No, they tasted very good. Um.
Um, does.
Anyone want a cookie? I have a couple left.
Does it mean we're, we're gonna talk to Leona if we eat the cookies.
I, I, I put like the crumbs of the cookies that I had in my pockets.
You know, .
They must be special.
Back, back in the jar. Morsels slighted under the sink.
It, it'll be okay.
Right. Let's.
Go.
To the dry then.
How are you guys getting to the dry city.
With our feet?
Airplane.
Star. Star Gate.
Star Gate. . .
. One of those options was accurate.
Tardis.
And yet not helpful at all. We.
Walked, I mean, don't like just walking are our feet. Well get us.
There. I was gonna say.
Right, but which route?
The fastest.
.
Yeah.
Uh, we go through the.
The way that no one will know we're going.
We don't even know where we're going . So it's perfect.
I'm gonna keep an eye on this city for more ghosts.
Yes.
Ah.
We're gonna follow the signs for orac.
Gonna keep an eye out from our booze and arrows pointed in our direction,
but not mine. Cuz I wasn't here when they were.
So [inaudible] Serious question. Do you have like a.
We can let Gareth lead the way.
Fair.
Enough. Off switch. No, I do not.
See a fair point.
I was gonna see if you had like a drow since where you could like,
smell of the drow, but that sounds very, very racist.
Which I I didn't mean.
That sounds.
Questionable. I know. Yeah. I'm gonna take that back.
I'm not gonna actually say it, but I was thinking it. So let's go.
Uh, you know, would you like to put the hat on? Nope. Then it wouldn't matter.
.
Yeah.
Wild. I will tell you there is, uh, such a thing when it comes to bug bears.
We're very good at smelling.
Oh, we know. Oh, you smell. We.
Know.
I I know we do smell.
Everyone's, I could probably find you a quarter of a mile away.
Some more than others do.
Do we really need to smell them out? Like, haven't we all been there?
We've all gone. We all went down there to see.
Yeah.
Yeah. We can just go back the way we came, right? Isn't that the.
Yeah, well not.
You. Cuz you came.
The long way.
I think. Yeah. But didn't y'all mention that, uh, you know,
that there was a way that you all came up originally?
Gareth's like, yeah, that's the way I'm going right now. Just keep following.
We're following. I I'm still walking following. We're not,
we haven't stopped walking is saying this is called small talk. It's what we do.
Yeah. Until something, until rocks fall. Kill us. Yeah.
Pretty much. We just continue to fiddle. Silence.
Let's head on over to Amin to see what Amin's doing.
Three quarters of a bottle of wine in and having a
great evening.
What is Amin doing then?
Uh,
I'm pretty sure that she was tucking in and then debating her
life choices up until this point.
So I'll be here for the next six to eight hours thinking about everything that's
happened. .
As she's tucking Nick in, he,
he kind of comes to a little bit and he looks at you Amber.
He is like, um.
Oh, hey.
Why am I in Bai's house?
This has been where you've been staying.
I, I don't why?
Um, it's been a difficult few days.
Last thing I remember you guys were attacking
the, the king. Yes.
And then it it's all blank after.
Yes. Uh, in, in the fight he had knocked you out. Um,
and in returning home we were evicted. Uh,
so we're staying here for a little while. Um,
and you guys are staying here so that, you know,
any fallout from everything won't, you know,
cause problems.
So where's everyone else then?
Um, I'm pretty sure Rhoda is reading a book Angrily in a Corner. Uh,
and the other ones that we've named throughout this podcast are spread around.
Um.
There's one of them now sleeping.
And, and dad?
Yeah. Mom and dad are not around,
but that's normal.
Yeah, I suppose so. Wait,
didn't dad find religion?
Yes. And it seems like he's gone to continue following it wherever it may lead.
Hmm. Okay. Well this is all,
why don't I remember any of this?
You, when you get hit in the head,
sometimes things are a little blurry for a little.
While. So then like,
if I got knocked out by the king, do I still have a job?
Well, Hmm. So, okay,
well things are a little, so the king's dead.
Wait, what?
Yeah. Um, also he wasn't the king. Uh,
he was kind of like a lizard man, which sounds like a conspiracy, but it was,
was actually.
You sound like, you sound like Ethan. No, what the.
Heck? Yeah. Yeah. Except I actually saw it happen and also saw the actual king
die. Well, I didn't see him die, but I did see evidence of his death. Um,
a lot has happened. It's been a very crazy few days, so we're just laying low.
Um, we'll find you a new job that will be, uh,
tower Falls in a bit of a state.
Is this because I, is this,
because I opted to be a guard for northern TowerFall instead of Southern?
I would.
Is.
That is your job had nothing to do with the state of TowerFall at the moment.
Is.
Is, is that what this is about? Emin. Like you,
I decided to try to pick up the slack like you did and all of a sudden you have
to go and kill my side because.
I did.
I would like to submit that I did not cast any of the killing blows on any
of them. Um.
I mean, first,
first I see you and then you chew me out for being a
guard. Next thing I know, I'm waking up and you're like, oh, the king is dead.
Yes. Well, see,
here's the reasoning behind that is this ball was already rolling
when I realized you were working for them.
And I kind of wanted you to stay out of the eventual, uh,
collateral damage that I was sure was going to happen such as dead kings and
queens. And you just.
You just cannot tolerate people having different views on life
than you.
Potentially, but at least you're alive. So.
Can't, you are aware that you can't save all of us Amarin.
We have to be able to make our own decisions at some point.
Sure. And if you would like to work for the next king and or council,
as I think that is potentially the course with which tower falls on,
you are free to do so.
When are you just going to let people make their own choices?
I do believe I just said you were free to do so, but I mean,
we could continue going in circles if you'd like.
After, after you went and destroyed the choices that I made,
it's.
Like Steve,
now you make it sound as though I did it because they were choices you made and
not because it was something I was already doing. Well.
How am I supposed to take it? I mean, you suddenly show up and you're like,
oh, by the way, you're making a poor decision. And next thing I know suddenly,
and, and then next thing I know it's like, oh, I killed your king.
Uh, you were unconscious and I was helping first of all.
And then someone else killed the king, which I said three times now. But.
I.
I need to think about this. And he,
he gets up and he walks out of front door.
I am never having children.
.
Oh kidding. Okay. Well that'll be fine. I'm sure.
Great. Perfect.
Now I go find the bottle of wine. .
as you walk to go find that you hear a voice coming from a corner,
he's not gonna appreciate what, what you are trying to do. Right.
You know, I don't do it for appreciation.
Why do you do it?
Is it not enough that I want to help you guys? And contrary to what he says,
I'm not trying to save everyone all the time.
I'm just helping set you up for success.
By being the helicopter parents that we never had.
I've been not here for a long time, not helicoptering, uh,
but apparently that was also not helpful. So who knows?
Not helpful By what measure?
According to Nickis, I left wasn't doing much.
Well, yeah, but I'm, what I'm saying is we've still,
we still managed to survive up to this point.
Mm-hmm.
.
Um, don't get me wrong, I love you like a sister.
I am your sister. What?
I know. But you, you know what I mean? But.
Do I That was a weird phrase to use with your actual sister.
No,
but there's a difference between trying to help and then just
trying to make people live the way you want them to.
I am not trying to control you.
Really.
So how supportive were you of Nickis again when he told you he was a palace
guard for King Vault?
Again, I wasn't trying to control his decision.
I was trying to tell him that it was a very, very bad idea.
How was your last conversation with uh, Ethan?
Well, my last conversation with Ethan was questionable,
not controlling mind you questionable.
There are some things about Ethan that are also not helpful.
Um, let me ask you this. Cause I've,
I've had to do a lot of thinking and honestly talking
to ll has been in incredibly helpful.
I'm very glad you guys connected. Mm-hmm.
, what is it that you want out of life for you.
Currently?
For you? Not for us. Not what do you want us to be like?
Yes. Currently,
I don't know because everything I wanted went away. So.
Okay. Well,
it sounds like maybe you should spend more time trying to figure that out than
trying to save a family that doesn't exist anymore.
Except that you still exist.
The people do, but the family itself doesn't. I mean, if what you.
Said about as long as you exist.
As if what you said about mom and dad is true, then.
I have never based my idea of our family on mom and dad.
So I know, but our family is broken on the best days.
And , let's, let's face it, it it,
it's not been the best days. So it's like we, we are family,
we are connected. We love each other very much. But in the same sense,
I think it's time that you stop worrying about us so much and you start trying
to take care of yourself.
We're family and by definition we're going to disappoint you and make decisions.
You're not gonna approve of.
You. Don't disappoint me.
Because we don't have the option.
You have every option and you've picked a few of them that I wouldn't agree with
for sure, but it's not disappointing to me.
But you're, you're, you're hanging onto the wrong points of this conversation.
I'm trying to.
Say you now. No,
I think you are rota because I've been hearing a lot lately about how I'm trying
to save everyone and protect everyone and keep everyone from this.
And we're a broken family and nothing matters.
But no one seems to pay attention to the fact that we
are still family.
Maybe.
And I still love you guys.
We're,
we're watching you go down the path of trying to be family police instead of you
trying to figure out what does m want.
I think perspectives are a bit off.
What do you want, Rhoda?
What do I want? Mm-hmm.
.
I don't want to be here anymore.
Then what do you wanna do?
I don't know, but you know what? I'm trying to figure it out.
So am I, I have not forgotten that I need to know what I'm doing.
But part of what I want to do is help take care of you guys,
whatever that looks like. And I don't mean control you,
I mean sets you up to figure out what you wanna do too.
But constantly telling me that I can't do that is kind of taking away my choice
as well. Don't you think.
Life just sucks.
I agree.
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Dave Clemens, JS Earls, Celeste Mora, Josiah,
k Crandall, Eric Campan, and Steve MacDonald.
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