transcribies

-- E24 -- needs revision and probably transcription of the whole conversation

a: you get the feeling that he always thought that they were something more, or something less, than regular men. that it wasn't just a--it wasn't--to be a paladine was not like to be a baker, or to be a captain of the guard, or to be a ship captain. to be a paladine was like the difference between being a man and... something in a different category. like a man and a wolf. or a man and a wall.
t: wolf is flattering, and wall really isn't.
a: well, that depends. it's easier to kill a wolf than a wall.

a: there are, strangely, a number of cages in here. about a dozen or so. most of them are empty. but there are, weirdly enough, a handful of other knights locked in these cages. you're not sure why.

a: they are led by a tall, dark human, who you quickly understand is tabard ... he is in sharp silver armor; he wears a long blue cape and--on the back of it, you see an open book and a goblet, forming the symbol of samot, which you at this point have come to recognise.

a: tabard has dark skin, dark hair, close cropped--with a bushy beard. his right hand is just like constantly hanging on a long blade hanging on his belt, and his left arm is missing.

a: he is a human--he has flesh and also blood--as far as you can tell.

h: i've always described hadrian as massive, like, what's this guy, how big is this guy?
a: he's a big man, he's--comparable to you, in strength and height. he's like a, you know, he's a career soldier. it's very clear to see that in his gestures and his body language almost immediately.

a: "when i was young i was taught, always use a man's name. he deserves that much at least."

a: "it is a tough thing to be obliged to the divine. but in my time i have learned that it is one thing to be devout, and another to be paladine. the paladine are tools, to be used and discarded. they know what they are. i will always remain devout, and i advise you to do the same. but sooner or later you will understand that to be paladine--is to be nothing.

h: "uh, hey--do you know anything about this?" and i hold my hand up.
a: "[chuckles] well they have you now. it'll be a long couple weeks. and then--you'll need to be put away, for an even longer couple of weeks." and he looks over at the few knights caged. "after that you'll be fine. after that--you'll really be paladine."

a: "maybe you don't understand how dire this is." and he looks at it, for a second, raises his hand, and closes it--and your hand closes with his. "to be paladine is to be used."

h: is tabard evil?
a: no.

-- E28

a: and he turns, and sighs, and then says, "i warned you to leave." he being tabard. "it's already too late. for you, for him." he looks down at uklan. "we have what we came for. maybe we could find a place for you here, maybe you could serve under me. i can ask my master to show you some degree of... amnesty. you WOULD make good paladine, it turns out. i'm sorry to say. drop your weapons."

a: you catch him in the... he's missing his left arm? right now? so you catch him in his right eye with--with this arrow.

number of hits hadrian lands on tabard: 1

a: tabard is alive, and awake, and charges in at hadrian. he is looking like he's going for like a tackle, here. like a football style--he only has one arm but he's like looking like--slam you to the ground.
h: and i'm bigger than him?
a: you're the same size. you're both big men.
h: but he only has one arm?
a: yeah--but he's lived--he knows how to use that one arm pretty well.

a: he like wraps around your body to try hold you in place and you're able to shrug him off, uh, to the side. he spits--he spits on the ground, reaches up, pulls out his eye with--with the arrow still in it and tosses it away, and says, "an eye is little to lose for samot, god-king of us all." and draws his sword.

a: tabard's sword is out, art, and he points it at you. he says, "i am tabard alon, sword of samot, defender of the true king, officer of the order of princes. i order you to drop your sword and kneel."

a: your hand opens and the golden sword falls to the ground. and you feel more of your arm become marbleized at that, too. and your knees start to give way. this guy [not tabard] moves behind you, and puts his sword to your neck.

a: so--tabard is turning to point his blade at throndir, and he isn't using any sort of magic power, here, he just says, "drop your bow. we have both of your friends."

a: [to fantasmo] the first one catches him in the shoulder and he, like, buckles for a second and the second one sends him down to his knee but he doesn't fall, he--he pushes himself back up with his--with his blade hand, and like, and shakes himself loose and does like a nice cape toss. there is a strange thing--you've broken through his armor with one of those missiles and underneath, there is no blood. you can see where his flesh gives way to marble.

h: [fucks up a roll good]
a: you get a--a knife, deep in--or the blade of this guy's sword, goes deep into your arm, from the top down, through the shoulder blade. it scratches against the marble that is inside of your hand. it's a strange feeling, it's like brushing your teeth but worse. it's like--like scraping--not the bone, it's past the bone and it's onto this other material that's in your body that you can sense and feel that you don't really understand.
h: hey buddy. can we talk about what it feels like when you brush your teeth, because i'm not sure it's supposed to feel bad at all.
a: is it not supposed to feel terrible? you know what i mean.
t: yeah, it's kind of a pleasant thing.
a: but it's not like brushing your skin. it's a different--you can--oh yeah, this is what teeth feel like! teeth feel different than skin. uh--and this is like that, except it's a sword. [pause] do you not brush your teeth with swords?
h: no, i think we--i think you should talk with your dentist.
a: hm... weird.

a: tabard steps to hadrian who is--who is able to get up, now, you're up--and i think that he just looks at you in the eye, and, you know, and has his blade out to the side, uh--there's a--there's a lot he's trying to communicate with his vision, and again you can see under, the, you know, the left part of his chest over his heart has been--has been opened up to you, you can see that he's stone inside, he's the thing he's been warning you about since the moment you met him. don't be paladine.
h: yeah he's a big stupid liar i get it.
a: well--y'know. maybe he doesn't know what he is. who even knows. um--and he raises his blade to come down at you. give me a defy danger. this is a--this is a desperate act, or a--an almost--there's something about this that is... empty. like he isn't going to not hit you, but--give me a defy danger.
h: uh--how would you like it?
a: what are you doing?
h: what i would like to do is catch his sword in my stone hand and like... and fuck him up.
h: [fucks up the defy danger]
a: you reach up to grab it, uh, and you hold it there for a second, and he shakes his head and sighs, and you put your hand down, and he lifts his sword up again, slowly, and takes a cut of you.
h: ugh, he's beating me in the 'being a badass about this' thing and that's what's really is getting me. is that i have material together, and i haven't been able to use it because i've been getting my ass kicked, but you can't trash talk when you're getting your ass kicked.

a: hadrian; sword in your arm--sword in your shoulder, you uh, you look down, through the doorway, and looking up at you, as you lay there, is of course--samot. his eyes on yours.
h: wait like literally?
a: literally. in the hall, surrounded by guards and servants.

f: so fantasmo has--no idea who that is.
a: no.
f: okay, but--fantasmo does see this obviously still very important young man. surrounded--flanked by guards, and--very obviously under his command, so it's pretty obvious that whoever this is outranks, uh, tabard.
a: yes. this man has a presence. this man has a, a violence in his step, like--anywhere he is is where he's supposed to be. and when he looks at you, it feels like you're doing something wrong. which for fantasmo is not a thing that is familiar to feel.
f: like--he hasn't felt that since he was an undergrad. [conversation] i'm gonna walk right up to samot. [conversation] fantasmo is going to reach out and try to uh--just, not threateningly, just like try to touch his shoulder. [rules discussion]
a: are you trying to do something with this touch?
f: uh, yeah, i need to touch him in order to do charm person. [conversation] fantasmo has no idea that he is trying to charm a god. he sees like--this person makes him a little unnerved, but he assumes that's probably just because of his, like--this is obviously a high ranking somebody, and he's guessing that that's why he feels so unnerved about it.
a: [rules discussion] what's that like in terms of an experiential sense? like what's it feel like for them? is it like, oh, suddenly they just like you a whole bunch, is there some sort of false memory happening, is there...?
f: um--no false memory, but i think there is definitely like, an immediate sense of familiarity.
a: you can--you can do this, but... he'll get in your head too. you're opening yourself up in the same way you're opening him up.
f: sure.
a: okay. you know very well who samot is. samot is your friend, the--the true ruler of hieron, he has lived here since before the erasure, he is the one person, on this planet, who can hold back the tides of chaos, um--he is, uh, he is the boy-king matured into the emperor that everyone deserves. you have undying loyalty to him. and--and you are happy that he counts you among his friends.

a: sword in hand, you just thrust up at him. you are both on your last legs; this is like a--this is a--this isn't a single thrust i think, this is a desperate exchange of blows in the final moments of this thing where your sword moves up, his blocks it off to the side, and he comes back around with a nice sweeping slash across your chest.

f: can i do the voice for death?
a: you don't have to, because death has no power here. we know where tristero is, tristero's kingdom is small, tristero's kingdom is on some bay somewhere. he ceded his power all those years ago to keep his holiday destination safe. and he ceded that power to who else but samot, boy king. death's kingdom is here. action freezes, and--tabard's blade, covered in your blood, holds still in the air, along with the dandelion, along with the remnants of the--the blast of fire that sunder had shot off. and creeping out from under fantasmo's hand, slowly, he kind of lifts it, gracefully, and puts it aside, puts it back on fantasmo's side and pats him on the side of--of his shoulder. samot walks forward, through the doors, towards you. you and he are the only two things that move here. he reaches down, and offers you a hand. what do you do? are you silent for a moment?
h: [sighs] yeah. i can only imagine my eyes are just--disbelief. and like i mean disbelief in all the ways.
a; he looks around the room. "even i didn't expect this drama today. interesting. my friend--hadrian, is it?"
h: "yes."
a: "you are a faithful man. and unlike tabard, you would not make a good paladine. you will face a time soon where you will have to make a choice about what you believe. i let you walk from here today on the condition that you give that thought--or that you give that choice lots of thought. i have made my fair share of poor choices. believe me. but you have the fire in you that i had when i was young. i respect that. i hope, like me, you find that you can pair that fire with some wine, and some love. if you can't, then you really only will be samothes' pet. here." he reaches back around his uh, his neck, and undoes his cape. it is a strange thing; it is pure white, and you think that it must be, y'know, silk or linen or something, but when he lays it around your neck, um, you realise that it's warm, it's like fur, it's like--the fur of a wolf. "we all have our enemies. it's hard to tell when you've beaten them, or when they've beaten you. take my offer, leave, and keep me in mind. i'll see you again. i promise." do you take his hand?
h: yeah.
a: all right. and just like that, not only are you stabilised, you're healed, back to max. and the sword wasn't in tabard's hand, it was in your hand. and he was the one on his knees. and you were pulling the life from him. and he makes eye contact with you in a way that no one else in the world could, because he knows what it means to promise something to samot, and he knows what you've just done.

h: i turn and back out--
a: sure.
h: --and as i get to like, the threshold, i wanna like shout back, "did you make me come here? at the tower?"
a: "you've been chasing me a long time."
h: he steps out.