Our heroes consult another expert.
Transcript below the cut!
Transcript provided by Ria Couoh.
INTRO (00:00):
HANNAH
Hello, everyone! Hannah here!
Welcome back to the Goblin’s Head.
TESSA
It’s very good to be back.
HANNAH
And I don’t know about you, but I’m eager to get started.
TESSA
First things first, we have a patron to thank.
HANNAH
Do we?
TESSA
Yes! It says so right here in my notes.
HANNAH
You have notes?
TESSA
We are pleased to thank the brave paladin Blue Henson for their support.
Thank you, Blue.
HANNAH
(whispers)
Where are you getting this?
TESSA
If you’d like to support the Inn, go to patreon.com/thegoblinshead.
HANNAH
Have you… learned to use the Internet or something? Are you becoming self-aware?
TESSA
You were very busy. I just thought I’d take the initiative!
HANNAH
I need to lay down.
TESSA
You do that. Now, with no further ado…
Let’s go to the Inn.
Inn Between theme plays.
Inn Between theme fades.
A quiet, echoing room. All the characters’ voices echo slightly throughout the episode.
ZARA
Places like this give me the creeps.
KNOWLES
Got any particularly egregious sins that need smiting, Zara?
ZARA
It’s not smiting I’m worrying about. It’s… judgy parishioners. I feel like they expect me to burst into flames.
ROSIE
Can’t you… actually do that though?
ZARA
(reluctant)
Kind of.
TODE
I’ve never been in a building like this before. It’s lovely.
KNOWLES
It’s meant to make you think about Pelor. Trust me though, come noon the reflectiveness of this place is absolutely unbearable.
TODE
Oh, I see! The shape of catches the light of Sola any time during the day.
Footsteps approaching, they echo on the solid stone floor.
ZARA
What about at night?
PRIEST
Well, usually no one’s around at night! Except me, of course.
Clothes rustle and small metal pieces twinkle as people stand.
KNOWLES
What’s the verdict, your… Holiness?
ROSIE
Where’s Castor? Is he okay?
PRIEST
Oh, your friend is just fine. He’s washing up. I drew a rune on his forehead as part of the ritual and… he’s having a bit of trouble getting it off.
TODE
What did you draw it with?
ZARA
Is that really the most crucial question, Tode?
PRIEST
You are understandably impatient but, ah, if you don’t mind, I’d like to wait until Mr. Acroterion is here. I wouldn’t like to tell tales out of school.
TODE
That’s understandable.
PRIEST
Say, while we’re waiting? Uh, you all happen to… slay a demon?
KNOWLES
Funny you should mention.
ROSIE
You know? We did!
PRIEST
Oh, I can’t thank you enough! I have some measure of protection from my lord Pelor, but it was all I could to fight off the enchantment and keep from attacking half my congregation!
ZARA
Half?
PRIEST
Well, I became a priest, but I was born an Adrine.
KNOWLES
Ah, that’ll do it.
Heavy footsteps approaching slowly.
ZARA
There he is.
KNOWLES
And how are we doing?
CASTOR
Oh, you know.
Footsteps stop.
CASTOR
Did I… get the rune of?
ZARA
Not completely.
TODE
It doesn’t exactly look like a rune anymore, does it?
ROSIE
Looks… kind of like a horseshoe.
CASTOR
(dully)
Great.
PRIEST
Terribly sorry about that.
TODE
Excuse me, can you tell me a bit about this window?
PRIEST
Oh, lovely, isn’t it? It’s the only one of its kind in the kingdom!
KNOWLES
Not to interrupt, but…
PRIEST
Ah, yes.
Mister Acroterion, is there anything you’d like me not to mention?
CASTOR
No, it’s okay. They know everything.
PRIEST
Very well.
The best news is that I can detect no demonic influence on your friend.
TODE
Oh, that is good news.
(relieved sigh)
ZARA
You’re sure?
PRIEST
Quite sure.
There’s the barest impression, true, but it’s more like… like the smell of yesterday’s dinner, if you get my meaning. A sense of prolonged contact that is now gone.
KNOWLES
Then, what is it? Why can he still do magic?
CASTOR
That’s the bad news.
PRIEST
Well, I’m really not sure. There is power there, that is easy enough to place but…
(baffled)
It’s not like anything I’ve felt before!
ZARA
So, what? It’s not wizardry or sorcery?
PRIEST
Well, those things don’t tend to spontaneously manifest!
ZARA
(offended, sharp)
I know they don’t spontaneously manifest! What do you think? I don’t know anything about—
PRIEST
I’m saying that sorcery and wizardry both feel… specific. Defined, you know. Fitting into a paradigm. This is… oddly nebulous. I’d almost say it’s divine but… it’s distinctly unclerical.
(sincerely)
I’m sorry, I don’t know how else to explain it.
KNOWLES
(defeated)
Of course not.
ROSIE
You okay, Castor?
CASTOR
(sigh)
I mean, I don’t…
(takes in a breath)
Physically, I feel fine, and, even mentally, I don’t feel like the Grey One’s just… you know… there anymore.
(emphatically)
But I hate not knowing.
PRIEST
Sometimes things are not explained. Sometimes they just are.
ZARA
(annoyed, factually)
Not in magic. Magic is energy. It has a source, and its usage follows rules.
PRIEST
I’m surprised to hear such things from a sorcerer!
ZARA
(angrily)
Look, you don’t know me, alright? Sorcery is unpredictable, but at least it has the good sense to not pretend to be something it’s not!
PRIEST
It’s funny you should anthropomorphize sorcery like that—
ZARA
(cuttingly)
I will “anthropomorphize” whatever I like!
KNOWLES
(gently)
Zara, can you take a breather?
PRIEST
It’s just that this power that Castor has… It almost feels as if it has a… a personality.
ROSIE
(dubious)
Oh… he’s not possessed again.
(louder)
You’re not possessed again?
CASTOR
(doubtful)
I don’t… think so?
PRIEST
Oh, no. That’s not what I meant. The power is yours! It just has a particular flavor to it.
CASTOR
I mean, that’s… That doesn’t answer the real question, does it? Why is it mine? Where did it come from?
PRIEST
I wish I could say. I only know for certain that the demon that troubled you is no more.
(beat)
The demon that troubled all of us, really.
A pause.
ROSIE
(hesitant)
So, what do we do now?
Another, longer pause.
TODE
About this window…
PRIEST
Ah, yes! It portrays one of the most sacred stories of Pelor.
(dramatically, with great emphasis)
Here you see his daughter, the demigoddess Yvar. Furious she was at the injustice of the world and the inaction of her father to correct it! And so, she crafted the Gem of Fortune.
TODE
This green gem here?
PRIEST
The very one!
TODE
What was its function?
PRIEST
Yvar observed that injustices were sometimes cultivated by the unjust, and that such things can be prevented through ordinary means. Difficult, but ordinary.
However, some injustices were the result of chance: sickness, accidents, disasters, death without reason.
KNOWLES
Oof.
PRIEST The Gem of Fortune was meant to counteract such things! But it came at a terrible cost, and the Gem had to be hidden away.
Yvar herself secured it in the Glacial Caverns, but not before suffering the consequences of the very thing she thought would save us all!
CASTOR
(quietly)
That’s… awful.
ZARA
(flatly)
Cheery story.
PRIEST
(calm, unaffected)
It is one of the central fables of our order. Sola shines down on the righteous and the wicked. Some things will always be beyond our control!
TODE
Very interesting.
ROSIE
Why was the Gem of Fortune so bad?
PRIEST
The Gem was crafted in order to change luck, either of the user or for another person on the user’s behalf! Every telling of the story is a little different, but the theme is that…
(chuckles)
Well, you can’t trust to luck now, can you? Even good luck.
TODE
This has been quite educational. Thank you!
PRIEST
Always glad to tell the story again!
(cheerful)
This will actually be the fifth time this month!
KNOWLES
Wait… the fifth time?
PRIEST
Why, yes!
(pause)
You know, I—I hadn’t thought about it much. They were all groups of adventurers passing through, asking the same questions.
(lightly)
Amazing what you have time to think about when you’re not under constant barrage of demonic influence!
TODE
Now that is interesting.
KNOWLES
It… certainly is.
CASTOR
Why does everyone want to know about the Gem of Fortune?
PRIEST
(with dawning horror)
Oh, no! Oh, Gods!
ROSIE
What?
(panicking slightly)
What’s wrong?
PRIEST
Well, you have to understand! As a morality tale, the Gem of Fortune is useful and interesting! But… the reality of the thing…
Yvar was a demigoddess! And it completely destroyed her life and the life of… many of the people she loved! And she had good intentions! If it fell into the wrong hands…
ZARA
Oh, fantastic.
PRIEST
(darkly)
Only a fool would go after the Gem of Fortune.
KNOWLES
And you say you’ve told this story… five times?
PRIEST
(solemn)
Pelor preserve us all.
OUTRO (10:08):
Inn Between theme plays in the background.
TESSA
Next time, on Inn Between…
KNOWLES
We don’t know anything.
TODE
Why are we still alive?
CASTOR
Why can I still do magic?
ZARA
Who are all these people after a fable?
CYBILINE
Begging your pardon.
ROSIE
And who’s that?
CREDITS (10:28):
HANNAH
This episode, “The Window”, was written and directed by Hannah Wright with assistant director William Wright. The show is produced and edited by Katherine Ayers.
The voice of Castor is Caleb Del Rio. The voice of Zara is Quin Leigh. The voice of Tode is Anthony Morales. The voice of Rosie is Lucille Valentine. The voice of Knowles is JV Hampton-VanSant. The voice of Sadiyah is Arrianna Abraham.
Our theme song is by Eli Hamada McIlveen and our artwork is by Gabrielle Buxman. Our transcriber is Ria Couoh.
This episode featured the voice of our special guest Ray O’Hare as the priest. You can find him all over, but especially on Twitter, @ray_ohare.
Transcripts for this and every episode can be found on our website, thegoblinshead.com.
Find and follow us on Twitter, @inn_between_. Or support us on Patreon, at patreon.com/thegoblinshead.
If you like the show, accidentally stumble on the quest to end all quests! Or leave us a review.
Thanks for listening!
Music ends.
HANNAH
This story was created in the traditional territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples, and edited in the unceded territory of the Salish, Kootenai, and Kalispel peoples.
POST-CREDITS (11:33):
Background sounds of tavern.
TESSA
So you came here for a job, did you?
SADIYAH
I did, if you’re hiring.
TESSA
Well, normally I’d say we don’t need the help, but, frankly, this ankle of mine will probably take some time to heal up even with magic. I think I could use someone like you.
SADIYAH
It would be exactly what I’m meant to do at the moment, I’m sure of that.
TESSA
I do have to warn you: this isn’t exactly our permanent location. The Inn is magic, see.
SADIYAH
Oh, I’m not tied to this town. I don’t mind.
TESSA
Well, if you’re sure.
I’m awfully lucky you showed up when you did, dear.
SADIYAH
Always glad to help.
Background sounds of tavern fade away.
EPISODE ENDS.