Our heroes have something in common.
Transcript is below the cut!
Transcript provided by Ria Couoh.
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(00:00) INTRO:
HANNAH
Hi, everyone! Hannah here to thank some patrons.
TESSA
And I am also here.
HANNAH
Well, that’s good because this is technically your job.
TESSA
Oh, sure, pass the buck to me. Not like I don’t already have enough to do than thank some troublemakers.
HANNAH
(slowly)
Troublemakers?
TESSA
Yes, yes. We would like to Rhys O’Madigan and Alex P for their support. Thank you both very much. Who are a scoundrel and a bard respectively… If the two of them decide to hang about the Inn, they better be on their best behavior!
HANNAH
What have I said about being judgy towards our patrons?
TESSA
I’m just saying!
If you would like to support the Inn, go to patreon.com/thegoblinshead!
HANNAH
And now, let’s go to the inn!
(00:39) PREVIOUSLY ON…
TESSA
Previously on Inn Between…
Inn Between theme plays in the background.
A flame roars.
ROSIE
Castor?
CASTOR
No, no! That… wasn’t the Gray One’s magic!
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 lives of… many of the people she loved!
ZARA
You’re telling us there’s a sudden spike of interest in an incredibly dangerous magical relic?
PRIEST
Pelor preserve us all.
Inn Between theme fades.
The background sounds of conversation inside a tavern.
A chair squeaking against the floor.
KNOWLES
Ah! There she is!
ROSIE
(tiredly)
Drinks will be a minute. Busy day, you know?
TODE
I’m sure we can wait.
ROSIE
No luck getting that horseshoe off your forehead, huh, Castor?
CASTOR
No… I was going to ask Tessa if she knew a way to do it, but I haven’t seen her today.
ZARA
Who was that you were talking to at the bar?
ROSIE
Oh! Her name is Sadiyah! She… works here now! Something about… helping Tessa out for a bit?
CASTOR
What kind of person do you have to be to take a job at a time and space transcending Inn?
ROSIE
(laughing)
Right? She seems… sweet, though…
(muttered to herself)
Oh, god, what was I going to say?
(to the others)
I was going to… say something.
KNOWLES
I’m sure you’ll remember in a minute! In the meantime, let’s…let’s take stock of what we know.
ROSIE
(cheerfully)
The Gray One’s dead!
CASTOR
We… have that going for us, I guess!
ZARA
You’re inexplicably alive!
KNOWLES
Against literally all odds, yes.
TODE
Castor still has the ability to do magic.
ZARA
Gods only know from where!
CASTOR
And… everyone is really interested in the Gem of Fortune! A legendary artifact guaranteed to mess up your life.
ROSIE
I heard those toughs at the counter talking about it. They are heading after it.
KNOWLES
Why would they do that? Why would anyone do that?
ROSIE
They were saying it can bend reality to your will, change your whole fate like the Priest said. Honestly, the better question is who wouldn’t want to go after it?
KNOWLES
Anyone who was warned otherwise? Anyone with a lick of sense?
CASTOR
(considering)
Mmm…
KNOWLES
(disbelieving)
Are you being serious?
ZARA
Keep in mind, you’re talking to the dwarf who studied demons as a job and still decided to become a warlock.
CASTOR
Yeah, I’m… I… wouldn’t. I think I know better at this point than to pursue knowledge over good sense but on the other hand…
(pained)
Think of the research potential!
TODE
You would seek it out to see what it could do?
CASTOR
I would not seek it out, I want to be clear.
KNOWLES
Good!
CASTOR
(beat)
(same pained tone)
But it would be so interesting to know what it could do!
ROSIE
(amused)
You are worse than a cat.
ZARA
Whoever gets there first is going to be legendary.
TODE
I can’t think of a way ownership of the Gem would have a favorable ending.
ZARA
(laughing)
Neither can I!
To be clear, they’ll probably be legendary for dying horribly or causing an apocalypse!
KNOWLES
You said the folks at the bar are going after it?
ROSIE
Yep! Them and that little group over there, uh… and her…
(excitedly)
Oh! I remember what I was going to say!
Hey, Tode! You see that gnome lady?
TODE
I do.
ROSIE
(prompting)
Well…?
TODE
Well, what?
ROSIE
Don’t you think she… looks like you?
TODE
(considering)
Hm… Does she?
KNOWLES
Oh my gods. You can’t tell?
TODE
Reflections in the water make poor mirrors.
CASTOR
That’s a… metaphor?
TODE
No. Just a comment on optical accuracy.
ZARA
It’s a little uncanny.
KNOWLES
You don’t remember anything about your non-wolf family, right?
TODE
Not a wit.
KNOWLES
Could you be… related?
TODE
(calmly)
Oh… Anything’s possible!
CASTOR
(quietly)
Oh! She’s spotted you!
ROSIE
(loudly)
(excitedly)
Oh! She’s coming over!
CASTOR
Uh… What should we do?
TODE
Nothing, I expect.
KNOWLES
Let’s all… try to relax, hm?
Heavy, dull footsteps approach and stop.
CYBILENE
(clearing her throat)
Uhm, begging your pardon.
TODE
Yes, hello.
CYBILENE
Hello.
A long pause.
CYBILENE
(awkwardly)
Ah… Coming right out with it, I suppose.
(to Tode)
You look like me.
TODE
So I am told! I am not overly familiar with mirrors.
CYBILENE
(good-humored)
Ah, a vice which I have been guilty of! For today, you may take my word for it.
TODE
Then, I shall! What is your name?
CYBILENE
Cybilene. And… yours?
TODE
I am Tode.
CYBILENE
Pleased to meet you, Tode.
TODE
Likewise!
CYBILENE
Where are you from?
TODE
The woods!
CYBILENE
Which woods?
TODE
I’m afraid I cannot be more precise… But where are you from?
CYBILENE
Uh… Originally, I am from Verlantown.
TODE
I’m familiar with Verlantown, but… it is small, and I have not seen you there when I chanced a visit.
CYBILENE
Ah, well… When I was quite young, I moved away.
TODE
Ah.
CYBILENE
Yes… My… father and I left first, ahead of my mother… and… twin brother.
TODE
Oh.
CYBILENE
(slowly, with great difficulty)
Yes… There was word of goblins in the woods, and we heard that, as they were traveling… my mother and brother’s caravan was attacked.
(softly)
With… no survivors.
TODE
Well…
CYBILENE
Yes.
(sigh)
I’ll be meeting up with some people soon, going toward the Glacial Caverns?
TODE
We were just considering our own destination. If we do not determine to go the same way, I shall find you later.
CYBILENE
(brightly)
I would like that! Until then.
TODE
Oh, Cybilene?
CYBILENE
Yes?
TODE
Your twin, what was his name?
CYBILENE
Bartholomew.
TODE
(slowly to himself)
Bartholomew…
(to Cybilene)
Until later!
Footsteps stepping away.
KNOWLES
So… How are we doing, Tode?
TODE
(absentmindedly)
I’m fine.
ZARA
Seriously? What if that was your sister?
TODE
I… have much to consider.
KNOWLES
Suppose you don’t need to do that now.
CASTOR
You know, that’s such a weird coincidence? That you have a twin?
TODE
Is it?
ROSIE
(suspiciously)
Uh…Why is that a weird coincidence?
CASTOR
Well, because… Because I have a twin. My brother, Pollux.
ROSIE
Oh…
That is weird.
CASTOR
I know! What are the chances?
ROSIE
Uh, no, no! That’s weird because… I have a twin sister.
KNOWLES
No! No… No.
CASTOR
No, what?
ROSIE
I—I definitely do have a twin!
KNOWLES
You want to know the odds, Castor, of any given person that you meet being a twin? Two or three… to a hundred. More for elves, less for dwarves.
CASTOR
So, the three of us all…
KNOWLES
Four.
TODE
Four?
KNOWLES
I had a twin. Their name was Bailey. They died when we were eleven. Caught a fever.
CASTOR
(sincerely)
Oh… Knowles, I’m so sorry…
KNOWLES
(marching on)
This is impossible!
ROSIE
Bizarre.
KNOWLES
How do things like this keep happening? Unless we were…unless we were chosen.
ROSIE
(soothingly)
We were chosen. By our friends.
KNOWLES
Captain Whitetower doesn’t know I’m a twin!
CASTOR
And it was a sheer coincidence that I was at the monastery when the letter arrived.
TODE
Who was to know if I had a twin? I wasn’t even aware!
KNOWLES
See? It’s…
(helplessly)
It’s inexplicable! Something is wrong!
ZARA
So, there’s just… no chance this could happen?
KNOWLES
(with increasing distress as they go on)
No chance worth considering!
This is… ridiculous! The world follows… follows rules! And it… it makes sense, if you pay attention! You can’t be certain of the future, but you can make predictions, and suddenly it’s… broken!
ROSIE
That’s… dramatic.
KNOWLES
So is this! It’s like some… ancient myth or something! I mean, all four of us…
(trails off)
A pause.
ZARA
(snappish)
What? Stop staring at me!
ROSIE
Zara…
ZARA
(sighs)
(put upon)
Fine! His name is Larkin, alright? But I haven’t seen him in years!
CASTOR
Is… he…?
ZARA
(annoyed)
Yes, Castor. He’s a tiefling too!
KNOWLES
(chuckles)
Alright! Fine!
This… This is a pattern now! It’s a weird, unlikely pattern, but it’s a pattern!
TODE
What does it mean?
KNOWLES
(fumbles)
(miserably)
I don’t know! Nobody would know this about all of us! This couldn’t have been by design!
ZARA
What is this? The second impossible thing that’s happened to us?
CASTOR
Well… third, if you count the fact that I can still do magic.
ROSIE
Then… I think we should go on a quest after this… lucky jewel or whatever.
TODE
The priest said that only a fool would trifle with the Gem of Fortune.
ROSIE
Well, I’ve been called worse. And we’re not trifling! We’re looking for answers! If the odds are… broken, then isn’t this the thing that’s most likely to be why?
KNOWLES
Assuming those odds aren’t broken.
ROSIE
Come on, Knowles!
ZARA
That’s recursive logic.
KNOWLES
(sarcastic)
Oh, thank you. That’s so helpful right now.
CASTOR
I think she’s right. Not the recursive logic, although that is true. Rosie, I mean. I think we should go after the Gem.
A pause.
TODE
I would like very much to get a chance to know Cybilene better.
ROSIE
That’s a definite perk!
KNOWLES
We’re supposed to be done by now!
ZARA
We were supposed to be dead.
CASTOR
This whole situation is completely on its head.
ZARA
Don’t you want to know, Knowles? Like, really know?
A pause.
KNOWLES
(firmly)
Yeah, I do.
TODE
A quest, then!
ROSIE
You know what that means?
ZARA
More chance of grievous bodily harm, this time for no reason?
ROSIE
It means… travel games!
ZARA
(with fake excitement)
At least we have something to look forward to!
ROSIE
Yeah, you love ’em!
Glasses tinkling as they’re set down.
SADIYAH
Here you go, everyone! Drinks all around.
CASTOR
Thanks very much, miss.
SADIYAH
Not a problem.
Background sounds of tavern fade away.
(11:29) OUTRO:
(11:30) NEXT TIME…
Inn Between theme plays in the background.
TESSA
Next time, on Inn Between…
KNOWLES
If we’re going to beat all these people to the Gem, we’re going to have to be smart.
TODE
Does this strike you as goblin country, Knowles?
KNOWLES
Absolutely.
ROSIE
Uh, Knowles?
A long groan and soft crunching noises from a skeleton.
ZARA
Those… don’t look like goblins.
KNOWLES
What?
(12:55) CREDITS:
HANNAH
This episode, “The Twin”, 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 special guest Kira Apple as Cybilene. You can find more of her work on the podcasts Superstition, The Way We Haunt Now, and Electromancy.
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, rediscover your long lost twin at the local bar or summer camp. 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 (14:00):
Background sounds of tavern.
TESSA
You’re doing very well taking care of things today, Sadiyah!
SADIYAH
That’s such a compliment coming from you.
TESSA
I do feel a little bad just… sitting here doing nothing.
SADIYAH
You’re not doing nothing. I rely on your guidance.
TESSA
Oh, you’re too kind. Strange, it’s… not usually this busy.
SADIYAH
Is it not? Hm.
Background sounds of tavern fade away.
EPISODE ENDS.