BlackwaterDnD

Em:
Welcome to BlackwaterDnD, where good friends tell better stories. This series, Balance, is a miniseries using the Powered by the Apocalypse system, Godkiller, which was created by Connie Chang, now available on Itch.io for purchase, and is proudly sponsored by Hero Forge and Moonbeam. This tale takes us back, long before the end of the universe, to a time when we begin to explore & understand old divine wounds that run so very deep, and what happens when love is caught in the middle. This story encouraged us as creators to strive for genuine emotion and connection, relish the space we create at the table, and take big swings with the way we approached our narrative. For this story, your GOD, everyone else, and the thrum of the Cradle, is myself, Em Carlson, and my GODKILLERs are played by Gina Susanna & Jannes Wessels. As this game falls within a holypunk and dark fantasy genre, it may contain themes and depictions that are triggering for some listeners. Please take care of yourself and access safe support as you see fit.

Content warnings for this episode include: grief & loss // mourning // isolation // unsafe water // drowning // knives as weapons // allusions to animal death // complex family dynamics //

So sit back and relax, heretics. And welcome to Godkiller: Balance.

Finale, Part II: Ascending

Em:
The quiet overtakes the space around Thall Bask once more, with you, Ever, and Nepthysaket, kneeled around the feather that has taken Rhys's place. His choice sealed, his soul ferried. Behind you, next to the closed rift, a literal shadow of the man he once was, the form of Rake stands, wings out and claws extended. A sentinel now standing at the gate to defend against any further incursions from the Matron of Vengeance. You know she will make them. She may succeed. She may fail. Only Allseia knows the fate metered out by the Weave. But for now, as everything slows and rests between you and Nepthysaket, you see her face quiet for just a fracture of a second. A moment of time where she was away, taking him home. Time. You wish you had more time. Though you both feel that there aren't any tears left after what's happened, she sheds more, silently, but attempting to steady herself, because this is her duty. Her obligation and privilege to serve not only the dead, but those left behind. She looks to you, silent.

Gina:
I think Ever tries to say anything, and all that comes out is a sob. And I think, I think she just leans into her, and cries.

Em:
She holds you there, knowing that her pain can't be at the forefront right now. That's not what's important, in this moment.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“He is, um, he is safe and cared for. His father was waiting for him. He's gone home.”

Gina:
I think at that, hearing that he's with his father, and happy… I sit back, I pull away, and I try and collect myself. And I look down to where he was, where his body was. There's just a feather?

Em:
Just a feather.

Gina:
I pick it up.

Gina (as Ever):
“I- I have to do something, I, I have to…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“There is nothing more we can do.”

Gina (as Ever): [begins to sob]
“But I can… What if I give it up? I can give it up, I can…”

Em:
She reaches up and places a hand on the side of your face, if you'll let her. She wipes away a bit of the dirt and blood.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I say this with all the care in the world. In this moment, it was about what he wanted, not about what you could give up to keep him here.”

Gina (as Ever):
“But he's happy now?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“He might be… He might be, in time. The transition is hard. He will need time to settle into this new chapter of his life. He needs space to learn what it is like to die, and be dead. And to be without you. What he did was not just for you, or for me, but for the good of the Cradle. And also for himself. The tree is unstable as it stands. We need to go.”

Gina:
I'm still holding the feather in my hands, and then I look down to it.

Gina (as Ever):
“Can I bring, can I bring this? Somewhere?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“If he didn't want you to, he wouldn't have left it here. It's certainly not for me.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I have to do something with…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“In time, Ever. All things in time. You need rest.”

Em:
How many strain are you at right now?

Gina:
Four.

Em:
Four. You know she's right. You know that strain is not just physical, but emotional, and that if you don't rest soon, you too may stand on death's door. And though your grief feels like it's going to tear you apart, Nepthysaket is going to do everything in her power to anchor you, to prevent you from giving way to.

Gina (as Ever):
“I'm so tired. And I want to go home.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I can take you home.”

Em:
Nepthysaket turns and calls to Bast. He pads over to her, limping slightly. She leans into him, whispering in the language of her people. It sounds musical, soft, and low. And while you don't understand fully… It's not what she's saying, but how she's saying it. You can glean that she's thanking him for his service, and diligence. You hear her ask him for vigilance, and say that she will return for him soon. She nuzzles him in close, and this wave of golden energy pulses from her to him, as she lets out a ragged exhale. You see that she has transferred part of her power to him. A steadfast companion, allowing him to best do his duty on her behalf. She looks back to you.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Bast will stay here. He should have company.”

Gina:
Do I see him? His shadow?

Em:
You do. It stands next to the rift. Seems to be watching it. There are no clear features that you can make out. You can't see the lines in his face. Just an outline, but enough to let you know that it's him.

Gina:
And what is it against? You said it's against the tree?

Em:
The rift is closed. About ten feet from the tree, you see a faint shimmer emanating from it, dark. He stands next to it. Ready. His claws extended. Bast pads over, and sits down next to him, silently, not needing to say anything.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“We should go. Would you like me to take you back to Temisset?”

Gina (as Ever):
“Yes, please.”

Gina:
But I think, I think as I stand, and I see my own shadow… I don't know if my power extends to, to this, but as it is the power of growth that I still have, I want to see if I can use it, to bring my shadow to his, just for a moment. If I can grow it just to lengthen enough space to meet ours together. But I know it may not work, because I don't know if that's actually how my power works in this way.

Em:
You have seen your power warm, give vitality, bring life to things. The shadow self of Rake that you see there is not something living. Not in any way you've experienced. It is an echo. Everything in the universe has echoes.

Gina:
I look back to Nepthysaket.

Gina (as Ever):
“Let's go home. Please.”

Gina:
And I just look to him, to his echo. Then I say,

Gina (as Ever):
“I love you. Now and always.”

Gina:
And I look back to Nepthysaket.

Gina (as Ever):
“I want to go home but… Can we go somewhere first?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“If you feel like you're up to it, I can try.”

Gina (as Ever):
“The trouble is I don't know, I don't know where it is, but I think you do.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Where what is?”

Gina (as Ever):
“His home. Where Rhys grew up. Where he lived with his father where… The last place he was happy. I want to bring him there. If I can.”

Em:
You see a flash of panic quickly buried beneath the empathy, not wanting to deny you what on the surface, is a very reasonable request. She thinks carefully for a moment.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Their home is, was, to the south of Striogax, about a thirty minute by foot journey, from a small hamlet of homes known as Dayona. It was too small to have been marked on any maps, mostly farmers, people trying to make a place for themselves in the Cradle, using the proximity to Lake Yidsan to their advantage. After Avisan was killed, and Rake was kept for a time in the Flood, she… I think she tried to erase him. The both of them. They had no forewarning. No one did. I just felt a hundred souls die all at once. Abruptly. I went as quick as I could, the homes, they were torn apart. The dead were barely recognisable. Everyone, and everything was gone. I think she sought to eliminate anyone who knew them, or could have known them. I spent a long while there, and had my samats travel from Riese to do what I could not. I tried not to look. Not to see through the eyes of those that had perished so violently, as I ferried them. The flashes I got were enough to know that it was quick and brutal, something I hope I never have to see again. And I have seen war. Rake didn’t know. He would have blamed himself. He already does that enough.”

Gina (as Ever):
“She took that from him too.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“She took everything she could. And she tried to take it all, but he didn't let her. There are some things you cannot burn out of someone, no matter how hard you try. Not even if you’re a god. Or something close to it.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Well then, I… I know where I can take him, then.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“You should take him home with you, but, that is your choice, not mine. He would have wanted to see it. With you. Even though he's actually seen it a couple times already.”

Gina:
Ever looks confused at that.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“All in due time. Come, let me take you home.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Okay.”

Em:
She would take your hands. A soft, warm skin, almost jarring, against the chill that grips you that cannot seem to leave. That now familiar feeling of the world and the liminal, the real and the River, spins around you. Wisps of the Weave moving between you both, as she takes you, with her divine power, away from this place. The last thing you see is the shadow of Rake regard you as you go, his head turning slightly to watch you. Almost. Just to make sure you're safely away. Bast lies down, patiently. A guardian in his own right, and as steadfast as his mistress. Your eyes flutter open in an instant, and you land on soft grass. It is dusk. The chill of midwinter well set in, with the sky darkening earlier as you approach the solstice, and you look around to take in your surroundings. You are in the garden of the Halassian farmhouse. Not more than three months ago, you set off here from your journey. How has the garden changed in your absence?

Gina:
It's much more overgrown. No, I think it was always intentionally overgrown, but to hide the smell. To hide… To hide. It would have grown up over the paths, and further up the windows, and… It would look untended to, as much as I wanted it to be, a wall between us and the world, it was still careful. It was still… Mine. And for some reason, looking at it now, it doesn't feel like mine, it doesn't… It feels, foreign in a way. I think probably a lot of it has died in, in the winter now. As all things do.

Em:
Mmm. It mirrors you. The quiet. The stillness. Nepthysaket looks to the farmhouse and back to you.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Let's get you inside. You need rest. Every instinct that you have right now will tell you you need to do something, to busy yourself here with the goings on of home, but please, rest. That can wait until the morning.”

Gina:
I think of Ever’s eyes are sort of glazed over, looking over the gardens, and… The farmhouse, dark inside. But after a moment, I sort of blink back to myself, and I look over to her.

Gina (as Ever):
“Do you want to come inside?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Thank you. Of course.”

Gina:
And I just make my way to the door, as if on… Automatically, without even thinking, my hand reaches into my bag and pulls out the keys. Like I've only been away a day. And I open the door. It feels so cold inside. So, I moved to the hearth, and I start to light a fire.

Em:
She stops you before you even get the chance.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“What did I say about busying yourself? Let's get you upstairs. You've invited. What kind of house guest would I be?”

Gina (as Ever):
“Thank you. There's, um, there’s tea in the pantry and… I don't know what else is still good, though.”

Em:
She is already guiding you. She leads you, not pressuring you, towards the bathroom, where she begins to draw you a bath. There's a deep, intrinsic caretaking happening here. She says very little, other than simple instructions for when your mind cannot put together what you're supposed to do next. She washes your hair, helps you dry, dresses you. Combs your hair, braids it, tucks it up. She gently guides you to bed, one foot in front of the other. When you arrive in your room, you see an oil lamp, already burning low. The bed warmed from a lit fire in the hearth. Quilts laid out, and pillows arranged. She folds down the edge of the blanket.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Sleep. I know you don't want to. But you need to.”

Gina:
The entire time that she was caring for me, my hand has not let go of the feather. Holding it over the side of the tub. Pulling it through sleeves. And now… Getting into bed.

Gina (as Ever):
“How are you so good at this?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“When you've been doing this for eighteen thousand years, it never hurts any less. It just becomes… More manageable.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I don't deserve your care after everything I said about you.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Everyone deserves care. I was never angry with you. I understand. What use would my anger be?”

Gina (as Ever):
“I don't think I was ever really angry with you, either. Even though I told myself I was.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Grief takes us far from ourselves. You're mortal. You're human. I don't say that to be condescending, I say that… Because you are reacting exactly as you should. People curse my name on a daily basis when their loved ones die. There has to be a way to filter through the noise. To make sure I can do my work. To remind myself of what truly matters, which are moments like this. Where I can care for you. Would you like me to wait here until you fall asleep?”

Gina (as Ever):
“Will I see you when I wake up? Will you still be here?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I'm never far. Just rest for now.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Rowan…”

Gina:
And I look around the room where my bag was to see…

Gina (as Ever):
“I forgot to let him out. Where is he?”

Em:
You see a small lump start to rustle under the bedsheets. And he pokes his head out.

Gina (as Ever):
“Oh, good. Okay.”

Gina:
I gather him up, if he'll let me, and I hold him. Then I look back to Nepthysaket.

Gina (as Ever):
“I feel like a little girl, again. Asking you to. Oh, it's so stupid…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I can guarantee you, it's not.”

Gina (as Ever):
“But I would really like that. If you don't mind that.”

Em:
She guides you into bed, tucking you in, pulling the blankets up and allowing you to get settled. There's a chair in the room, off in the corner, where you would often hang clothes, or sit and read. And it's like she sits down and it's already underneath her, and as you're settling into sleep,

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“For the record, you didn't ask. I offered.”

Em:
You fall asleep quickly. Exhaustion settling into your bones, begging to be attended to. The last thing you hear is a soft hum, an evening vesper meant to soothe and calm, allowing you to drift easily into sleep. Do you dream?

Gina:
I think I do.

Em:
Hmm. It feels like the moment you fall asleep, your eyes flutter open again. Though you feel rested, you should feel exhausted, but you don't. You stand on a balcony overlooking the beach where you met Soevan the last time. The Shores of Serenity. The soft pastels of the landscape set against the constant lapping of the waves. The beach stretches for miles and miles and miles. You turn around, and you see you're at a small outdoor space, that leads inside to a small hallway. Looks like there's a couple doors inside. There's a soft breeze. It's warm. What would you like to do?

Gina:
If it feels peaceful, I, I think I would just enjoy it for a moment. And I would look around to see if I recognize anyone, I see a Soevan, if I... Do I see anyone?

Em:
No one. Not here, at least. Not looking out.

Gina:
And you said, you said behind me there's a hallway with doors.

Em:
Mhmm.

Gina:
I'll walk down the hallway.

Em:
Okay. You meander inside, and you walk past… Probably, six or seven doors. It seems like there are markings on each door. You can't read the language, but it feels like a name. You remember what Soevan said about rooms. This is where people come to dream.

Gina:
Can I tell what kind of language it is? Are they all different? Are they all the same language?

Em:
It is all the same language, but you have never seen it before. Not in any books. Nothing.

Gina:
Can I put my ear up to one of them and see if I can hear anything? I don't want to just barge into someone's room.

Em:
You walk down towards the end of the hall, finding one of the last rooms on the left. And you place your ear against the door, and you hear a voice behind you.

Em (as Oniera):
“It's not ready yet, but it will be.”

Gina:
I turn around to see the source of the voice. Do I recognise it?

Em:
You do. You see someone who you've seen before, the last time you were here. What you assume to be the eldest of Soevan's children from that day at the beach. She looks to be about fourteen or so, equivalently. She's light blue skin and short curly white blonde hair. There’s shells, used as barrettes to pull the ringlets off her face. She seems to sparkle, slightly, with freckles of white light across the bridge of her nose and the caps of her shoulders. She wears this flowing dress of cream linen, trimmed with silver, and is barefoot.

Gina (as Ever):
“Sorry, um, may I ask, whose room is this?”

Em (as Oniera):
“Mother has been working on it since you left the last time. She felt it wasn't fair for someone who has been barred for so long to never be allowed back. Especially now.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Oh…”

Em (as Oniera):
“He's left what the Matron had of him behind, and we will work to reshape his room to how he, before she claimed him. My name is Oneira.”

Gina:
I wipe the tears that have fallen down my cheeks away, and I smile a little bit.

Gina (as Ever):
“Oneira, it's so lovely to see you again. I'm Ever... I don't think we were properly introduced.”

Em (as Oniera):
“I know who you are.”

Em:
And despite her appearance and pleasant countenance, you see a strength and protectiveness beyond her years. It's like… There is no distrust of you now, but there is a readiness that sits right below the surface. You get the sense that on that day, the last time you came, had you aggressed towards Soevan or tried to harm her in any way, that might've been the last thing you ever did. Granted, a lot has changed since she saw you last.

Gina (as Ever):
“Thank you for…”

Gina:
And I look back to the room.

Em (as Oniera):
“It will be ready in time. Mother has been busy, but we have all been working on it. The dead can dream. It will take him time to find it and remember how, but when he does, it will be ready for him.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I'm so glad. Can I ask… Oh, maybe I don't... Maybe I shouldn't know. It's not my place to know.”

Em (as Oniera):
“I might not have the answer anyway, but I'll help if I can.”

Gina (as Ever):
“The last time I was here, your mother granted me a favour. Fae said I could share my room with him, because he didn't have his own, and… And now that he's… I was hoping I'd still be able to see him?”

Em (as Oniera):
“Why do you think we put yours right next to his?”

Em:
She gestures to one right across the hall.

Gina (as Ever):
“Really? And he can? And I can? Can I hug you?”

Em (as Oniera):
“Sure.”

Gina:
And I move in to hug her, tightly. And then I catch myself, because…

Em:
She knows that hug was more for you than it was for her. And she doesn't fault you for it.

Gina (as Ever):
“Thank you… For letting me do that.”

Em (as Oniera):
“Thank you for being here, spending your time with us when you should be fast asleep.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I'm not very good at resting.”

Em (as Oniera):
“No, you're not. Speaking of which, mother sent me to send you back to bed. She sends her regards. And her condolences. You both are welcome anytime.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Does my father have a room here?”

Em (as Oniera):
“I'm not sure.”

Gina (as Ever):
“It was worth it. It was worth an ask, I suppose.”

Em (as Oniera):
“I'll look into it for you.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Thank you.”

Em (as Oniera):
“The dead often dream when they feel like they have things unfinished back from the lives they lived. If the dead have found peace, and are comfortable in their place in the River, they tend to stop dreaming. Doesn't mean they can't.”

Gina:
Ever notes in understanding.

Gina (as Ever):
“That makes sense. If that's the case, I hope he doesn't dream very often.”

Em (as Oniera):
“Come.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Alright.”

Em (as Oniera):
“Let's try and find you that rest you so desperately need.”

Em:
She opens the door to your room. It’s quite similar to your room in the Halassian farmhouse, though it looks a bit more like it did when you were younger. When you felt safer. You see a couple of your dolls in the corner. The colours of the room, more reflective of your preferences when you were little. But it fits you just the same.

Gina:
And I think you see on the wall, a very poorly drawn piece of artwork, by a nine year old Ever, of Davos and Cassian, holding swords far too large, with flowers everywhere. And a large shining sun in the corner. With the words ‘I love you’, scrawled across the top.

Em:
Hmm. He remembers sitting next to the portrait artist, the day they drew that portrait that now hangs near the door, downstairs in your house. And as you climb into bed, getting settled. Oniera gives you one last nod from the door and gently closes it.

Gina:
I just take one last look. One last look around the room, allowing that feeling of safety to settle into me. And I think I fall asleep looking at that drawing.

Em:
Hmm.

Gina:
And remembering how Davos always told me it was so much better than the one he had commissioned. ‘There's no sun in that one!’

Em:
It doesn't take you very long. Once again, that feeling of your eyes drifting close, heavy, the exhaustion coming in waves, as you truly allow yourself to sleep. Your eyes slowly drift open, once more. And you find yourself back in your room. And you see light behind drawn curtains in your bedroom. The fire is still burning, keeping the warmth in the room. Your door is pulled mostly shut, and you hear some quiet movement from downstairs. You smell cooking, rich and hearty, that you assume to be coming from the kitchen.

Gina:
Do I feel rested?

Em:
You do. Clear everything but that one strain. Because you truly allowed yourself to rest.

Gina:
I think I roll over to find Rowan, and I give him a little pat on the head to wake him up, if he isn't already up.

Em:
He is not in bed with you.

Gina:
I sit up. And I look for him.

Em:
The door is a little bit open. Enough for a small creature to move in and out.

Gina:
And you said that there are sounds coming from the kitchen downstairs?

Em:
There are.

Gina:
I think assuming that it's Nepthysaket, and she’s, she’s stayed... I'll get out of bed and pull a robe from my closet, and make my way downstairs.

Em:
As you descend, you see that the house has been… Awoken, for lack of better words. The hearths and the wood-burning stove are doing their jobs of keeping it warm. As you see a soft layer of snow has dusted the grounds outside. You pad down the main staircase, turning a corner as you enter into the kitchen and you see a pot simmering on the stove, a stew, perhaps. On the kitchen table, there are jars of canning brought up from the cellar. Vegetables, fruits, preserves. You see some cured meat. A knife next to it on the cutting board. And you find Nepthysaket, seated in a bay window, reading from a small black book. She has a mug next to her, steaming. Coffee. When did you have coffee in the house? She sits curled under a blanket, and looks to you as you enter the room.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Good afternoon. Are you feeling rested?”

Gina (as Ever):
“You stayed.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Of course. I couldn't just leave you unprepared.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Ah, there's coffee. Where did I have… Did I have coffee?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I brought you some.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Oh, thank you.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Now, there's not much of it, because those beans don't grow anymore, so…”

Gina (as Ever):
“Right…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Enjoy it.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Thank you.”

Em:
She passes you a mug. She moves around your kitchen like she's always lived here. She seamlessly stirs the stew on the stove. She goes back to preparing the vegetables and the meats that she had found in the cellar. It's easy. This is something she's familiar with.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I hope it's alright, I took the liberty of setting you up for a little bit. I've brought up enough food for lasting the next... Couple months, I think, to get you to spring. In case you didn't want to venture out. You prepared yourself very well before leaving, so it was just a matter of bringing it up.”

Gina:
I think it's as she says that, that I realize what being home means. And if I’m… If I'm home I'm going to have to explain. And I think that she can see that thought cross my face, and I just sit down in the nearest chair in the kitchen. Sort of staring off into nothing.

Em:
It's like you broadcast the thoughts out and she picks them up easily. She points to a candle that is lit on the far window.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“That will stay alight until you blow it out. The house will look unoccupied from the outside. when the flame is extinguished, that cloaking will be gone, and the house will appear as it should. It extends to the edge of the yard.”

Gina:
Relief floods her at that.

Gina (as Ever):
“Thank you.”

Em:
Wordlessly, she takes a ladle and spoons you a bowl of whatever is cooking on the stove. She places it in front of you, giving herself a small one as well, as she sits down.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's rich. So go slow.”

Gina (as Ever):
“It smells good.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Thank you. It's an old recipe, from the Thanatea, when we used to ride out the winter months. The expanse would get so cold. It'll cling to your insides and fill you. What I've made for you should last you the next week. And it preserves well, as long as it’s kept cool.”

Gina:
I take a bite, even though I'm not hungry.

Em:
It is good. It seems to be like, some vegetables and a thick sauce, a thick gravy. You see some barley and grain.

Gina (as Ever):
“This is delicious. Thank you.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Your welcome. This house is so quiet.”

Gina (as Ever):
“It’s so quiet.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I forgot what it's like to not be amongst, at least fifty people, at any given time.”

Gina (as Ever):
“You'd probably go mad here, it’s… It's so quiet, before I left.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I lived in quiet for a long time.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Right.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's strange. I stood out on the porch this morning, and it feels like the Cradle is holding its breath. It’s been about three days since that you've been asleep.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Three days?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's like… There's a quietness back. It hasn't been present since... Well, since the Matron represented herself. It’s like there's a collective waiting of something to happen. I'm not sure what, but that is my next task. Once you feel comfortable here on your own. But we have some time.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I should have known that this wouldn't be the end of it. It's never that simple, is it?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“No.”

Gina:
And I take a sip of my coffee.

Em:
You've had coffee before, but this tastes like the feeling of warm sand on your feet. It tastes rich of spice, and notes of caramel and chocolate. It is deeply aromatic. And she hasn't even put any milk in it. And there's this underlying sweetness to it. It's very, very good coffee.

Gina (as Ever):
“This is amazing.”

Gina:
And I looked down into it.

Gina (as Ever):
“You said you could stay for how long?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I’ll get you settled. And I won't be far. All you need to do is call.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I don't know how I'm going to tell them.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Then don't, just yet. I think there is a part of grief that is performative. The way we wear our grief in front of others is much different than how we carry it for ourselves. Perhaps for time, for once in your life, let yourself carry it. Rather than feeling like you have to both carry it, and caretake for other people.”

Gina (as Ever):
“You know, I think you and my father would have really gotten along.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“We spoke a lot near the end.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Did he try to get you to play cards? Because once you get him started, he won't stop.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“He tries to draw me in for a game every time I see him in the River. He hasn't succeeded yet, but I'm sure he will one day.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Oh, that probably infuriates him. He's going to keep trying.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Good.”

Gina (as Ever):
“It feels strange being home again.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's because you're not the you that left. You know yourself, in this house, as the person who left. But you're not that person anymore.”

Gina (as Ever):
“It’s strange. So many of these thoughts I have, these memories I have, hearing you down here in the kitchen, there was a moment when I thought that it was… I thought that it was him, and it felt like… It felt like that memory was from a different body, even. It didn't feel like… And yet it's still so close.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's okay to sit in that space, for our time. Wonder what that would have been like. Just careful not to let yourself drown in it.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I'm really glad you're here.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“You may see me quiet and from time to time while I am, but know that that's just work. It is longer for me than it is for you.”

Gina (as Ever):
“How long did it take you to get used to that?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Caring for the dead and dying is in my bones. The tenets of the Mistress. I could sing them and recite them before I could read. It is a part of who I am. I cannot imagine myself any differently.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I know what you mean. Sort of. This power from Thielia, this gift. It’s greater than what I had had since I was a little girl, but… In a way it's... It’s just felt right. But now I don't know what to… With everything that's happened to do I just… Do I still just keep it? What do I do with it?”

Em:
She reaches a hand over her and places it on yours.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“The thing about divinity, is that it doesn't unlock anything that isn't already there. She chose you for a reason. She trusted you, to carry it, and shepherd it. The both of you.”

Em:
She looks over into the front room, that you can see just out of her eye line, and you see Rowan sitting at the window near the front door, the one that overlooks the beginning of the walk towards the Wildwood. He sits and he stares outside, as if he too realizes that there is a waiting for something.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“He's been like that. After his first big sleep. I'm not quite sure why. But I trust he’ll show you when he's ready.”

Gina:
I look sort of past her, to Rowan. Bringing my coffee with me, walk into the front room to find him, pad up gently behind him not to startle him.

Gina (as Ever):
“What are you waiting for?”

Em:
He acknowledges your presence.

Gina (as Ever):
“Sorry, good morning. How rude of me.”

Em:
He acknowledges you, certainly. Leaning into your hand if you reach over and scratch him, or pet him.

Gina:
Of course.

Em:
But he stays waiting. And you see he's gotten bigger. He's grown a bit. Matured slightly, in some way. No longer a kit. You hear Nepthysaket begin to busy herself with dishes, going about the rest of the house.

Gina:
“Ah, I should help.”

Gina
I turn back to go back to the kitchen.

Gina (as Ever):
“Please let me help you at least clean up.”

Em:
She smiles, and offers up a dry towel as she begins passing you dishes. And the next few days follow a peaceful routine. She cooks. The house always seems like it is ready for what is supposed to come next. And you find yourself falling into an easy routine. She encourages you to rest often, prompting you to take naps, go to bed early, to sleep in. And probably on the seventh or eighth day, about mid-afternoon. What are you doing? What would you be doing at this time of day?

Gina:
You said it's midday?

Em:
Yeah, probably about three or four in the afternoon.

Gina:
I think Nepthysaket would have tried to gently encourage me to take a nap, and I would be sitting in the front room, in Davos's chair, close to the hearth, with a blanket and a book. Doing sort of what she told me to do, which was rest, but I've been making my way through one of Davos's favourite book series. And I'm at a particularly good part in the story. I don't want to sleep just yet.

Em:
She leans against the door frame.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I think I should let you try and stand on your two feet.”

Gina:
I look up from my book.

Gina (as Ever):
“Are you sure?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Have to careful, or I'll become quite accustomed to this farmhouse.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Well, that's not a problem, right?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I have to return the Glass. The mother superior will have felt my absence, though she does not know who I am.”

Gina:
I close the book, and I sit up. And I can feel the objection rising, and I take a breath. And I nod. And I stand up and cross the room to her. I take her hands.

Gina (as Ever):
“You gave me so much more than I… Than I ever could have asked for. Than I deserved, really. And I know that you'll say that that's not true, but… I could never repay you. For all of this, but I hope that you'll let me try.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I'm sure that there will come a time where I call on you, and need your help with something.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I will be there, without question.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“As will I. If you call, I will answer.”

Gina:
I pull her into a hug, if she'll let me.

Em:
She does.

Gina:
And then I lean my head against hers.

Em:
Savouring that time for herself, and knowing it's important to you as well.

Gina (as Ever):
“You know, I never had a sister, but, um… I imagine that's what this might feel like. I hope that's not weird for you, but, um-”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's not.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Okay good! I really hoping you'd say that.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's an honour. Truly. It is different from my sister, and my sisters, if that makes sense. But an equivalent care, nonetheless.”

Em:
She leans in. And she touches her temple to yours.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Do you know why we do this?”

Gina (as Ever):
“I’d imagine just because it feels nice. But I'm sure there's another reason.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“There’s that. It is meant to calm and soothe. At the heart of it. It is meant for us to be away, to find ourselves again, if we stray too. A far centering. A bond with another, to remind you of who you are, when it is so very easy to forget.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I really like that. Thank you for helping me find myself again.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“The road is long. And the time is short. Don't rush.”

Em:
She takes your hands in both of hers. Brings them up. Plants a small kiss, on the side. She bows her head, and she walks into another room. You don't even hear a door open. Just a small jingle of her jewelry, and a hanging scent of floral, incense, and honey. You follow the sound, and the mug she was holding still sits steaming with a full cup of black coffee. And the house is empty. Just you and Rowan, once more. What do you do to occupy your time over the next while? As you learn how to be yourself in this place again, to find yourself.

Gina:
I just, I think at first I just try to stay busy. I had tried to prepare the gardens for winter before I left. But, I think the nature of this… Of how things were. They had plans of their own. And so, remembering that that candle extends to the edge of the property, I would have, in the mornings at least, or whenever the sun was highest, whenever it was warmest, gone out into the gardens and started to really use my powers, at first try to learn the edges of them, try to learn… Hone, hone it, into guiding the gardens back into the way I'd envisioned them, the way they were before, before everything. I study more. I read. I do all the things that I never wanted to do before. I clean out my closet of clothes that don't fit. I throw away crumpled up papers that shouldn't be left in piles, but were for so long.

Em:
You do all the things you couldn't do while Davos was sick. What do you do with the knives?

Gina:
I think about what to do with them for a long time. Part of me… Part of me wants to throw them in the river. Part of me wants to bury them in the yard. Part of me wants to keep them out, so I see them every day. And I think I… I think I just put them, I wrap them in cloth, and I put them in a box. Just a plain wooden box. And I pry up one of the floorboards in the closet, and I place it inside. So I know where they are, but...

Em:
Hmm.

Gina:
Hopefully no one else will. At least for now. Until I find some place else to put them, that might be better.

Em:
There are some days where you find yourself walking around the house, off to do another task, where you feel the hum of the energy that radiates from them. It's quiet.

Gina:
Do I still feel that pain in my hand?

Em:
No. Not anymore.

Gina
I think there are days when I wish I did.

Em:
Hmm. Do you see Verek? If at all?

Gina:
Not yet. I think about him waiting for me. Probably so worried. And I can feel my body like, as I think about him, like it's someone else's. His arms around me, holding me and telling me that everything's going to be alright, and I can feel the pain and the tension of that body relax. But it’s not mine anymore. Not right now. Because how could I possibly explain? I can't, just yet. I need time. I need… I still need time.

Em:
And time you have. The days move into weeks. Winter, slowly pulling itself out of the depths. Some of the days are crisp, but sunny. Is there anything particularly you do around the house?

Gina:
I think, over this time I would slowly, bit by bit, start changing the house. Bringing the house back to… I think I would start transitioning the house. To it just being for me.

Em:
Hmm.

Gina:
For so long I… Pretended, like he was still here, like he was still doing all of the things that he'd… I was literally living for both of us. And I lied every minute of every day in this house, I lied. And I think over time, over these weeks, over these months, I finally start to tell the truth. I put his clothes away. I put his boots away. I stop rotating things to make it look like he's still here. I pack away. Not everything, but most things. But I think, this time, today… I stood in the doorway of his room, many times, but this time I have the vial, from Soevan. The one she’s given me, with the memory of him in it, the one I’ve carried with me this whole time, looking for the right moment. Waiting for it, for it to feel… Right. And now, this could be, this could be that time. With all this, ended, I could see him again. And I look down at the vial in my hand and the swirling liquid inside, and my heart aches, like it does every time I think of him. But there’s something about that ache, now, it’s different. It’s not that the pain is less, or that the urge to feel him, see him again, is any smaller, but… But there’s a part of it that’s been given up. That part of me that can’t let him go, that won’t, I let that part of me die, in Hood. When we, we summoned Nepthysaket, that sacrifice. I have to honour that. And so I cross the threshold of his bedroom, and I move to his nightstand. There’s a small wooden box on the surface, with vines and flowers carved into it. I slide the top open and I place the vial inside, closing it again, and I take the box and hold it to my chest, and say to myself, quietly,

Gina (as Ever):
“It’s time to let go, now. It’s time to let go now.”

Em:
And you settle into this simple routine. You eat when you’re hungry, you sleep when you’re tired. The weeks drag on. And finally, there comes a day, as the light lingers longer in the sky and the hours of the day begin to extend towards spring. It is still crisp, requiring fires at night, but it warms slowly. You see the first buds of the crocuses in your garden. Snowdrops, across the lawn, that have made their own way, without being planted. It's morning. You're still in bed. It can't be any later than nine a.m., and you hear a knock at the door. Rowan takes off like a shot, racing down the stairs. What would you like to do?

Gina:
I, um, my mind floods with who it could possibly be. Remembering Nepthysaket’s candle, I pull on my robe and go downstairs to check and see if it's still lit.

Em:
It is.

Gina:
I carefully make my way to the doorway, to the front room, trying to not be seen, just in case anyone looking in might still see me.

Em:
You're able to peek out of the window, and you see a femme presenting a figure in a hooded black cloak trimmed with fur, with long black hair pooling out from underneath. You can't see her face from this angle, and through the frost of the window you can just make out some gold jewelry on her wrist, and some embroidery on her sleeves.

Gina:
Do I recognize her clothing?

Em:
It's very similar to clothing you have seen many of the priestesses of Nepthysaket wear before.

Gina:
I open the door.

Em:
Before you, standing, glamoured, without the adornments of her order and iconography, is the visage of the same priestess you met on the road.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Hello. I'm sorry if it's early. May I come in?”

Gina (as Ever):
“Please, please come in!”

Gina:
And I step aside to let her in.

Em:
She takes down her hood. You see the cold of her breath shift quickly as she moves inside. And upon letting her in, Rowan runs to greet her, hopping up into her arms as she sits in an armchair close to the hearth. She leans in, and she whispers something to him. Not in her tongue, but a different language. It sounds like a song. Tonal and lilting, though her lips barely move. It sounds like… It sounds like divinity. One divine being speaking to another, in a language only they know. She gives him a scritch behind the ear, and she places him down softly on the floor. And he goes back to the window to stare at the Wildwood once more. He's done this a lot. He comes when you called. He stays in bed with you at night. Will follow you around the house. But more often than not, you will find him sitting staring at the window.

Gina:
“I'm so, I'm so rude. Tea! Can I make you tea? Or... I have, um…”

Em:
She waves her hand, and there are two cups of coffee on the table.

Gina:
“I could never make it as good as you can.”

Em (as Nepthysaket)::
“I cannot show up without gifts. How have you been keeping?”

Gina:
I take the cup and take a sip.

Gina (as Ever):
“I, um, I think alright. I think alright. Considering I, um… It's cleaner, in here. As you can see… I've been keeping busy.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“That's good.”

Gina:
“I still haven't, um, been able to… I haven't gone outside much.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I figured since the candle was still up. I'm sorry if the knock caused you a fright, but… So would someone just showing up in your living room, unannounced.”

Gina:
“I'm so glad you're here.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I am too.”

Gina:
“Is it just a visit?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I wish it was just a social call. And I'm sorry I haven't come sooner for one.”

Gina:
“No, you're very busy.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Too much, I think. The Cradle is vast, though it shrinks each year.”

Em:
She takes a sip of her coffee, a long one, placing it down on the table. She looks at you.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I have come to the realization that the Cradle is dying. When Tayo died, at the hands of Avaris Kerschel, it set off a chain of events that I… I could not have predicted.”

Gina:
“Wait, wait, wait… Tayo?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Yes.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Oh, no…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It was not your fault.”

Gina:
“But how could it not be? If he was after us, and he followed... Oh, gods, he followed us…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“You saw how dogged those who follow the Lord of the Ninth are in their pursuit. It was nobody's fault. It would have happened one way or the other.”

Gina:
I take another sip of my coffee. And I sit in the chair next to her.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I do not wish death upon anyone. It would be insulting, considering my position. But, when I say that Avaris Kerschel has died, and there was no soul left to ferry, it did not cause me any duress. He was punished for failing. With the God of Humanity dead, the question becomes who is left to prevent the separation of the citizens of the Cradle from the Weave. The edges are fraying, and it is happening too fast to stitch together. The gods won't do anything. Why would they? They're either paralyzed with fear, or they languish in their hubris. Since I last left you, I have resumed my search for the twin-souled priest. I have met many Eutoches but come up empty-handed every time. We go on faith don't we? Sometimes I wonder if that's all I have left. Have you been to the Wildwood, at all? Since you returned home?”

Gina:
“Since I've been home- no. No, I, I haven't left the property.”

Em:
Since Thielia’s passing, her true passing, since I ferried her, there is nothing to anchor it anymore. Nothing to fuel it. And as spring is a time of vast growth and rebirth, the heart of the forest is dead. And I've thought about it for a long while, and I would like to go see it for myself. The thing about the Saileach, is that I can't just take myself into it unless I'm called, which is how I got there in the first place. It's the former home of a god, and despite my closeness with Thielia, even in her death, I have to honour that, and now must walk into it myself.”

Gina:
“I'll go with you.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I hate to even have to ask, but… Normally, I would ask the Canopykin to shepherd me through, but they too have gone. I cannot find any of them. It is not as if they have died, they have just gone. Left the wood.”

Gina:
“Then we have to go.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It never ceases to amaze me how every action in this universe has echoes, consequences. Good, neutral, bad. There is some knowledge that sits even beyond the gods, and rests solely in the Weave itself. So. There are some things you just have to go see.”

Gina:
“Right. Well… We'll go together. We'll go today! We can go, we can go now. I just have to get dressed and… Grab a few things, and we can go.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Take your time. We are in no rush. The candle will burn while you're gone. The house will look the same.”

Gina:
“Okay, let me just, um, I'm going to go get ready. Just give me a few…

Gina (as Ever):
I sort of just trail off as I stand up and walk up to my room, where I gather my things, get dressed. And I, I make sure to bring the pinecone that I had had sitting on my nightstand, that I'd been given on my first, on the way to Glass, through the Saileach.

Em:
Do you bring the feather?

Gina:
Of course.

Em:
Do you bring the knives?

Gina:
I think about it. If there is ever a place that maybe could handle them, it would be there, but if there were ever a place where it, where they might make things worse, it would be there. I think I go into the closet, and I pry up the board, take out the box, and I bring it downstairs. To meet Nepthysaket with it. And I look down at it in my hands, and I just say,

Gina (as Ever):
“Do you think I should bring these with us?”

Gina:
Assuming she doesn't know what I'm talking about, but hoping that… intuitive enough to guess.

Em:
She is. And she can feel the divinity off them, like you can. It leaves a signature, a mark, an aura. Something she is able to read, without seeing it.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Depends on whether you're willing to carry them. I cannot.”

Gina:
“I don't think there will ever be a time when I don't carry them in some way. So… I just worry I’ll make things worse if I bring them there. If they, if they... I don't want to bring more corruption into such a sacred place. But, right now they're just sitting up under the floor in my closet. That doesn't feel right, either. Perhaps there's never really a right place for something so wrong.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Eutochan blades are beautiful, in their design, and I suppose ultimately in their purpose, their intended purpose. And these ones have strayed so far from that but… I think you are the only person who could wield them, if need be. Or harness them, if need be.”

Gina:
“I suppose I can bring them with us, just in case. I'll carry them.”

Gina:
I'll set the box down on a table, take out the bundles, both of them, wrapped in cloth and I slide them into my bag.

Gina (as Ever):
“Okay.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Alright.”

Em:
So you set out, Rowan walking alongside you, instead of traveling in your bag. He seems eager to go, running a hundred feet ahead of you, and then circling back, just to make sure that you're coming with him. You go to take the path that you have tread once before, and as you start your way in, you begin to understand. The two of you look around, and the forest is still so deeply alive, yes, but a forest in spring should be on the cusp of new growth. You see no new leaves on the deciduous trees, with many of the conifer leaves fallen. There is more space within the undergrowth, and before you could barely see the sky with how dense the canopy was. And now, the bright haze of the day that shines as much as it can, given the death of the god who oversaw it, touches the soil in many places. You walk silently for a while. When Nepthysaket turns to you.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Do you know how to get there? To the Seanmathair, because my sense is that's where we will ultimately need to go. I don't know the way in.”

Gina:
I think as we were walking, I would have had the pine cone in my hand. And I look down to it. Does it guide me in some way?

Em:
Do you show her?

Gina:
I do.

Em:
A small smile, as you produce it.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Ah, a token of safe passage. Gifted from one of the Canopykin, I assume. There’s power in gifts such as these. Allow its wielder to get where they need to go, without barrier or delay.”

Em:
Where would you like to go? You have safe passage through this whole woods, you could get anywhere you wanted to go within it, simply by stating where you want to go, and walking to it with intention.

Gina:
I know we have to go to the heart. And I know where that is. But I think there's one place I want to go to first. I want to go to the last place I saw Davos. Where I buried him.

Em:
Okay. You walk about an hour, and you arrive all of the sudden, within the willows of the Saileach, navigating easily to the place where you buried him. Would be just over seven months ago now, give or take. Nepthysaket looks around, nodding slightly. The wildflowers still blooming. Not having faded over the winter, and not yet touched by whatever is slowly shrinking the forest.

Gina:
Does it look like, like the flowers and the, that area is… Does it look saved from what's destroying it, or does it look like it just hasn't reached that part of the forest yet?

Em:
You don't know. It’s too early to tell. The Saileach looks to be more protected than the Wildwoods as a whole. But you don't know what will happen. And I don't think she does either.

Gina:
I stand there and I look down at the flowers. At the place I know he is. I think I kneel, and I place my hands on the grass. Close my eyes.

Gina (as Ever):
“I think I understand now. I still miss you. But I, but I understand.”

Gina:
I'd like to try and, I'd like to just try and grow, just a few more flowers. Doesn't have to be big. I'm not even sure if they'll stay.

Em:
You can do this easy enough, without having to tap into the larger well of power that you have. This is a gift you've had since your birth. You see some blue bells start to grow in a ring around the outside, adding to the small carpet of flowers that covers his grave.

Gina:
I look back up to Nepthysaket.

Gina (as Ever):
“I was thinking I could, um… Make a place for him here. But if… But if everything here is dying too, then I don’t want that to happen.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Well, let's see how far it spreads, and what we're dealing with before we make any decisions or choices. If they're even ours to decide.”

Gina:
I stand up, and brush the little bits of grass from my knees.

Gina (as Ever):
“Sorry, I know we have to keep moving, I just, um, needed to. The last time I was here I was… It was just me.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“No it wasn't.”

Gina (as Ever)::
“Right, let's, um… Let’s keep moving, shall we?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Of course.”

Em:
She doesn't clarify any further.

Gina:
Ever doesn't ask.

Em:
Where would you like to go?

Gina:
To the heart.

Em:
Okay. You walk together, no longer than about fifteen minutes, moving through temperate rainforest and willow grove, in and out, weaving your way fully through the Saileach. Those ages and ages of willows, their verdants hanging on more here than anywhere else. Nepthysaket follows your lead. And as you see ahead, that small copse of trees on its own land bridge. The water, once crystal and full of fish, is still clear, but empty. The cornucopia of colours, the oranges, ochres, goldenrod, and scarlet, dimmed in their intensity, they're still wild, yes, but they hold less vivacity than before. No bees, no koi, no water hyacinth, no rustling of small creatures. Just a few birds, a farther off, voicing their own solemn song. They, too, understand mourning. The forest grieves with the loss of its keeper. Its heart. The many trunks of the Seanmathair are still knitted and intertwined, but this time you see that they do not require an offering to open. You hear an Nepthysaket softly remark, behind you.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Opened, and never closed. Nothing left inside to protect anymore.”

Em:
Do you go inside?

Gina:
I do.

Em:
You both enter into this grandmother tree that once held the last forest heart of the Cradle. Something meant to cherish and amplify the divinity it protected. And that holiness is muted. Still present, woven deep within the roots, extending their reach into the soil. You wonder if some of these roots ever touched those of Thall Bask. Which sapling of the Tree of Life was allowed to grow here, and become entwined with a goddess. You see the urn, and it's empty, save for the water inside. It's unbroken. Its carvings, depicting Thielia's creation, are covered slightly by the shed of the leaves from the fall. Willows are known for their flexible branches, rapid growth and adaptability. You wonder what it would be like if she was still here. Nepthysaket looks around.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It's I thought. The forest cannot sustain itself without it. I don't know what we're going to do.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Can I give it back? Would that fix it?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Sacrificing your power to the fores?”

Gina (as Ever)::
“Isn’t that what it needs?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Ever, I say this with… With every ounce of care that I can. That is short-sighted. You are mortal. Thus the power you carry within you is only what a mortal, such as you, can carry. And you can only access it while wielding the knife. The spark within you is something different. You harbour and care for the last of her divinity, but it is… Dormant, for lack of better words. Her body was failing and what little power she had went into hibernation, metering itself out in the smallest of doses to sustain the Wildwood. And when she gave it to you, she was allowing herself to let go. Freeing herself from that last obligation to a world which never appreciated her as much as it should have. It's not a matter of just simply giving your powers up.”

Gina (as Ever):
“What do I need to do, then? I have to be, I have to be able to fix this, it's…”

Em:
She walks towards the urn, running her hands along the carvings and depictions. There's one that shows a world, quiet, barren. The next with life springing forth from Thielia's hands.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“This world had a name, before the Cradle. When it was vast and broad, and magic flowed freely. Teris was not a perfect place. Far from it, or we wouldn't be here where we are now. I have spent millennia watching and trying to learn, tending to the dead and waiting to see what would happen. Not involving myself in doing what I could to keep the balance of the universe, because that is my job. What good has it done me? I am one of the major seven, with a downfall, I will never let anyone touch. None of them can hurt me. I'd never let anything get close enough to try. I feel like my hands are tied. The Cradle is dying, and I am the person who is supposed to tend to it in its death, yet I have no idea what to do. I simply cannot be a passenger as we hurtle towards the end. There will be a Godkiller one day, one woven into the fabric of this universe, written into the Song of Ages, and it will be his charge to stop at nothing, to tear this world down, and everything I've sought to save. What good is worship? What good is faith. It just feels like it's all gonna end anyway.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Someone we know would say, we go on faith.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“He would say that, yes.”

Gina (as Ever):
“But there has to be something that we can do.”

Em:
You see her face change. Looking between you, and Rowan, and the urn. It's like the wheels, the cogs in her brain are moving much faster than she can comprehend, and she's just playing catch up. She's quiet for a moment.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Maybe I start here. Maybe I start by getting up off whatever pedestal the mortals have put me on and make the change I want to see in the world. I have spent a lifetime, more lifetimes than I can count, trying to atone for what happened that day in Manta, and the Weave decided to make me a god for it. To take the place of someone whose love I cherished and held so tightly to me. I will not sit idly by and do nothing. I need you to listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. I need you to let me finish, hear my offer, and for once in your life, Ever, I need you to not caretake for the being in front of you. Because my motives are not entirely singular. I care for you, very much, and I care for the Cradle. I have to believe that what's left of this gods forsaken place is not beyond redemption, not beyond atonement. I don't know if this is all worth saving, but I have to try. This forest will die, and it will die quickly. Maybe not quickly to you, but it will have a ripple effect across the entire rest of the land that is still habitable. I believe that the Wildwood, the Saileach, the Seanmathair, I believe that it's part of what staves away the encroach of the Fallaway. In the last six months, since Thielia well and truly died, the scar of fallen and corrupted divinity has begun to fray at the edges of the Cradle faster than I have seen in thousands of years, since the River dried up. So much has been asked of you. More than any mortal should ever have to shoulder, and you have lived and lost more, and yet here you stand. Breathing. Moving forward, even when it feels impossible to move on.”

Em:
She closes the distance to you, picking up your hands as she had before she left the last time.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“What I offer you here, if you choose to accept it, it will come at a cost for both of us. We can never come back from it. Our fates will be sealed, written within the sign of time until the last of this world is eaten away, or thrown into oblivion. Do you understand?”

Gina (as Ever):
“What is it that you need?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Though I am not dying, I would like to offer some of my power to make this divinity within you more whole. It will weaken me, but I will still be able to do my work, still travel to the River, and ferry souls onto their next journey. My power comes from the River itself, and the peace and grace of the souls that inhabit it. So the well that I have to draw from runs deeper than many of the gods, but it too, is finite. But I would drain as much as I need to to see that this, here, holds. For something else to hold steadfast for once. Rather than just sitting idly by and letting it slip through my grasp again. By doing that, your life force and your power would remain bound to the Wildwood. You would in essence be a god, but tethered here. You would be able to walk the realms of the Cradle for brief moments in time, before needing to return. You would hunger for something that would feed you and sustain you, and you would have a downfall. What I offer you, in this moment, is ascension. You would never fully have the scope of divinity that she once had, but it would be enough to sustain this place against what I fear is coming. A half step between mortal and divine, but so different than the powers that could be wielded from a Godkiller.”

Em:
What is going through your mind as she tells you this?

Gina:
I was so ready to give up this power. To, without question, to give it up. To save this place and now to be told that the answer could be having more of it. To, to ascend. To be… And she says this part out loud.

Gina (as Ever):
“I could never leave…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“You would be able to walk and travel anywhere within the Cradle, for a short time. I don't know what the length of that would be, a couple of days, a week, I don't know but you would have to return here.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Does it get lonely?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Sometimes.”

Gina:
I think you see Ever breathe out a little bit of relief at such an honest answer. I take a look around, and I look to Rowan.

Em:
He sits at the base of the urn, looking up at the both of you. He would follow you wherever you would go. Whatever choice you would make. Nepthysaket sees you looking to him for guidance.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Ever, this is about choice. The last two years, if not longer, you have had no choice. You watched your father fade and die. You have faced innumerable horrors, at the hands of both mortals and the divine. And you lost the one person in the world that saw you so fully and deeply, and loved you with more fervour than almost anything I have ever known. However you choose to go forward right now should lie in your hands. If you decline, then know that I will do everything in my power to stave this off, no matter what it takes. You will have a life that you craft for yourself back in Temisset, or wherever you choose to go. Even if you accept, you are not omnipotent. You will not be able to enter the River. But, access to the Dreamscape will not be restricted to only while you're sleeping. Being a god means there is part of you that is always truly awake. You have to be. Alternatively, if you chose to spend the quantity of your time in a place of dreaming, you could… You would feed the forest. And it in turn would feed you. And no matter what you decide, we will make the best. But I offer this willingly to you.”

Gina:
I think about all the moments in my life where I've wished I could have made a different choice. Where I wish… I'd been stronger or had… The ability to do the impossible. I think about the moments I envisioned for my life in the future. The things I saw myself doing. People I'd be with. A family, in whatever form that took. I think about what Davos would say if he were here with me. If he could hear this… I can almost hear him laughing at the thought. Not out of… Mockery, but because, ‘Of course,’ he would say, ‘His Ever could do anything’. And I look back to Nepthysaket.

Gina (as Ever):
“This is the only way. And I know you're saying it's not. And of course it's not. But it is for me. This is why I'm here. This is why I have this power. This is why… It has to be. If I can do this. If I can do this for the Cradle, so that everything Rhys sacrificed wasn't just to have it all undone again, as the Cradle is destroyed, so that everything that Davos and Cassian and everyone fought for, that Thielia died for, isn't in vain, I can do this. I have to do this.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Ever, I think there also has to be a part of this, that you do this for you. Because It is one of the ways in which we are so similar. We will self-sacrifice. We will cut away parts of ourselves to give back to whomever needs it. With no judgement and no expectation of something in return.”

Gina (as Ever):
“That's what nature does, isn't it? It gives without expectation. To sustain, to give life. And it always grows back, I will grow back. I have to do this. I want... I want to do this.”

Em (as Nepthysaket)::
“Are you sure?”

Gina (as Ever):
“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Alright. If this works. It will protect the spark, because it will become a part of you, rather than something you hold, or are steward of. The other gods will feel it, an ascension, a mortal becoming divine, but they will not be able to enter the Seanmathair without your permission. This will be your domain. You could even bar me from it, if it came to it. That's where the loneliness comes from. For the divine, there is a fear that sits in all of us, some more than others, wondering if another god will come for our power. Wondering what will happen when the Godkiller eventually does reveal himself.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I suppose we'll just have to look out for each other then. Does that mean we can visit more?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It would be my honour.”

Gina (as Ever):
“You'll have to make the coffee though, I'm rubbish at it.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Perhaps we could figure out how to regrow the beans. If you're sure. I will need to charge the vessel, essentially, the urn, with some of my power to turn it into a conduit. You will need to enter it with Rowan, and summon every ounce of strength you can, and unleash what is divine within you. The most powerful expression of it that you can draw from yourself. I cannot be there to guide you while you do this. But if it works, you will feel it. You will know, and I will be able to guide you from that.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Does it hurt?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I don’t know. It didn't for me. It was like the world came into sharper focus. I stood, top my first temple. Felinis was so beautiful. I miss it. The sprawl of the desert went on for ages and ages, and it was like I could see every grain of sand. And I also carried the weight of knowing that every soul around me would die, and that ultimately it was my job make sure they were safe, and taken home to the River, as my mistress had done. I had a teacher, at least in some aspects. While, Thielia and I were very close, I know very little of the expressions of her power. That would be something for you to figure out.”

Gina (as Ever):
“It'll take some getting used to.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Yes. This vessel will be your home, as it was hers. But with the magic and power you will possess, you will find that the inside can be shaped however you wish. Your own domain. It also extends out to the edge of the wood. A half step outside the Material. Something new, and yours. I'm going to use the blades because despite their corruption, the power in them is an asset to us. It is my hope that this act will purge them, rendering them useless and broken.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Right…”

Gina:
I reach into my bag and I take them out.

Em:
She takes the blades gently out of the box. Careful not to touch the edges of the knives, or the liquid that is still produced from Eternal's Undoing. She places one on each side of the vase, in line with each other. She walks towards the urn, after surveying her work. And as she does, you see her grow in size, so she stands taller than the vase. Enough so that she can place her hands atop it and see inside. The ground beside the vessel begins to lift, so that if you wish to climb on it and stand with her, you could. The magic radiates from her. You see the wisps of the River itself drawn from the ground, being pulled in amidst the atoms of the cosmos, as she takes this form, this place, next to something so holy. The glamour fading as she does so. Her true form exposed. She reaches a hand down to you to help you up.

Gina:
I take it.

Em:
She brings you up next to her. She reaches a hand inside the vase, touching the water that remains inside. Peering in, you see it turn this milky white, swirling and blending together until it's entirely opaque. She looks to you with a small smile. You said that there was a part of you that wished you'd gone for a swim. If there was ever a time for it, it's now. You and Rowan will need to swim down, as far as you can, and when you feel the need for the air to escape your lungs, let it. Do not be afraid. Let the water take you, and let your power shine. Do not hold back. You stand at the edge of the urn, your instructions as clear as they can be, and you stand on the cusp of your last moment of mortality. You will leave the short life of a human being behind, to step into something far more, far greater than you would have ever imagined. What would you like to do?

Gina:
I take a long deep breath, feeling the air in my lungs, and I look around. And I just listen to the birds, the sound of the leaves and the trees. I know that I'll hear it again, but not like this. I know I'll have time to have the conversations I need to have, at least I hope. And on that question, I look back to Nepthysaket.

Gina (as Ever):
“When I... After I… How long does it take? Will I have… There are people I need to see to… Explain now, a lot more than I had before. Or can I not? Should I not? He can't know, can he?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Revealing yourself as a god is a precarious thing. There is a reason I wear this glamour. There is part of you that has to be ready to leave that behind.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I will grow back. Like all things, I will grow back.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“All things in time.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Okay.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“I look forward to sharing this with you. It would be nice to have someone else on the pantheon who knows what it's like to be mortal.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I'm glad I won't be alone.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Okay.”

Gina:
And I looked down into the water, and then back up to her.

Gina (as Ever):
“I'll see you on the other side.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“You will.”

Gina:
And before I can think too long about it, I just take a step over the edge, and fall into the water.

Em:
Okay. You climb in, the water warmer than you anticipated. Rowan jumps in alongside you, staying afloat on his own. He looks to you, meeting your gaze, and a slow blink. as his eyes begin to glow with soft golden sheen, as he dips below the surface.

Gina:
I follow.

Em:
Okay. You swim down as far as you can, and it becomes so evident that you are in a much larger body of water than you could fathom. You are unable to see more than a couple feet in either direction, but Rowan stays close to you. You get the sense that he could swim faster than you, but is staying with you because he wishes to. Tell me what happens when you get as far down as you can go, your lungs cloying inside your chest for air when you are far too deep to make it back up again. What would you like to do?

Gina:
I think there's a moment of panic, instinctively, that feeling of knowing that this is it. This… I can't make it back up even if I wanted to, and I feel the panic begin to rise, and I… Remember why I'm doing this, who I'm doing this for. I feel Rowan's little body beside me in the water, and I steady myself. I think about the Cradle. I think about Davos. I think about Rhys. I think about Verek, I think about my parents, I think… I think about the future I want to live in. And I just take that final breath in, and let the water fill my lungs, and as I do, I think small specks of light begin to break through my skin. Within my hair. Speckles, into the type of light you see on the water surface, the golden flecks, the flecks turning to beams turning to… Pure shimmering light. And I think it is just… All the light I have in me, pours out of me. Like a solar flare. Just like before.

Em:
So, when you unleash your divinity, you describe how your godhood well and truly surges forth from you, as you exert your will upon reality. The single brilliant feat that the two of you are accomplishing here, is ascension, with one side effect of your choosing. It is brief. It is obvious. Or it is unstable.

Gina:
Oh, it is obvious.

Em:
The moment you seek to unlock this divinity inside you. Awaken it. Which is so much different than just unleashing it. This is purposed. It has intention. And you feel it almost supercharge. Drawing from something more powerful, much deeper within yourself. Divinity does not awaken what isn't already in you. This power, this energy has always been in you. And it has been present in your kindness, in your compassion, in your love and your care for those around you. For your desire to help. With your desire to grow. You feel Nepthysaket’s power, energy, and her divinity mix with yours. There's a rush that ricochets through your body like electricity, and it is so intense it is almost painful. You feel alive. It was like when you touched the knife for the first time, but there is no darkness. It is just light. And that is what is obvious. You don't see it, but we do. A beam of light emanates up from the urn, straight up, hitting the heavens. A true solar flare, though the sun is long, long dead. A rush. A torrent of information speeds into your consciousness, your mind expanding and learning the ages of the universe in one single fell swoop. This transformation overtakes your form. The golden light mixed with the verdance of the Wilds, that once covered not only the surface of the Cradle, but all of Teris, and so many untold planes within this universe. And here is how we are going to play this out. You are going to roll 1d6 here. Before you roll, whatever number you get on this roll, you will be able to ask me anything, and I will answer you truthfully. This can be as Ever, or as yourself. Whatever you feel is helpful in this moment to help you carve your own place in the pantheon of this world. Following this, I will have a few questions for you.

Gina:
I rolled a three.

Em:
Okay. You have three questions.

Gina:
Which of the other gods will want me dead?

Em:
Great question. Ashmedai. Vosh. Halinaea. Kivok. Nyxal. Archevelon.

Gina:
Who are the mortals I can trust to know who I am?

Em:
Oh, man… Myself, The Hand of Humanity.

Gina:
That’s a short list.

Em:
Because to be honest, the other mortals you could trust with it are already dead.

Gina:
What are the limitations of this power?

Em:
They are what you define them to be. Your power is your power, and that will be up to you to test that limitation. Your magic, though a much deeper font, is still finite. And you are tied to the Wildwood. That will be a tie you can never break. Now, I have some questions for you. Because you are now a god within the Lyrician Pantheon. We have to define you as a god. So. There are five things all gods have. What do you hunger for? What feeds you?

Gina:
The first thing that comes to mind is hope.

Em:
Perfect. What is your power?

Gina:
I think, repair

Em:
Hmm.

Gina:
Fixing things, making things right again.

Em:
The interesting thing about powers is that they can be used in both literal and abstract sense of the word. What is your heart? What does your true form look like?

Gina:
I don’t know, I think I look like myself, but the way I look, after using my power, the way I look when I’m glowing. Light in my hair, my fingertips… The way I imagine I look when the person who loves me the most in this world looks at me.

Em:
Hmm. What is your downfall?

Gina:
If the thing that feeds me is hope, then the absence of that would have to be my downfall, someone who has lost all semblance of hope. When I am parted from the Wildwood, when I am gone from it for too long. If someone without hope, of any kind, without even a fraction of it, were to… Were to kill me, that would… That is the only person who could kill me.

Em:
What is your curse?

Gina:
My curse would be… Thou shalt break what you touch beyond repair.

Em:
And my final question is actually not for you. Jannes, where is Rhys right now? And what is he doing?

Jannes:
I think the first sensation that Rhys is aware of, is that of water. He's floating. There's a moment where he panics, and thinks he's in that bathtub again.

Em:
Hmm.

Jannes:
And he opens his eyes, and he sees he is floating in the ocean.

Em:
Hmm. And while there are the bonds of life that separate the two of you, and those may feel like a chasm, the divide between mortals and the divine is much less staggering. And as this story has told us time and time again, the beings of the Cradle hold a deep well of divinity within them. They are the lifeblood upon which this entire universe exists. Without them, it would be a barren landscape of withering gods sharpening their blades. The gods may place themselves above the mortals, but that ethos is its own sword of Damocles. Many of the gods of the Cradle underestimate the wealth of power that is derived from faith, belief, and above all, hope. And perhaps that is why the world now hurtles towards oblivion. And we're gonna leave you there for a second. Ever, as you come back to yourself, you find yourself lying on your back on soft grass. As, as you regain your senses, it feels like someone has turned the saturation of the world to up to eleven. You can smell, hear, see, taste everything. You feel every blade of grass as if it is its own individual one. You can sense everything as part of a whole, but also singular. You can hear the heartbeat and breath of every creature in this wood, including the trees, the plants. You can feel their spirit. As you stir, propping yourself up, you see Nepthysaket on the ground, close by. She groans softly, but looks mostly unscathed. Beside you, Thielia's vessel is broken and shattered, as if it exploded outward from the solar flare. Nothing that can't be repaired. Rowan is gone. But you knew that already. How do you feel? And what does Nepthysaket see as she comes to?

Gina:
I push myself up to sitting. I can hear everything, I can see… Every blade of grass, every flower. And I don't feel scared, I don't feel… I think there was always a… A hum, in me, of uncertainty. And that's quieted now. I just feel calm. And I look to Nepthysaket, and she sees my true form. She sees bits of light in my hair, she sees a glimmer on my skin, faintly. She sees the Ever that Davos saw, that Rhys saw, that Ever has longed to see for herself. And I look to her, and... How far away is she?

Em:
Looks like she was blown back about ten or fifteen feet.

Gina:
I move to her, and I sort of help her up a little bit.

Gina (as Ever):
“Are you alright?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Um… Yes. Did it work? It worked. [laughs] It worked.”

Gina (as Ever):
“[laughs] It worked.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Welcome to divinity, sister.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Sister.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Yes. There will never be a time as pure as this, for what you are right now. The first few moments after finding yourself empowered with divinity are unlike anything. The world will seek to shape it and change it, for now this is yours. Just yours.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Is that why it feels so calm right now?”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It is fleeting. The second we leave this tree it will get very loud.”

Gina (as Ever):
“I don't think I've ever felt like this in my whole life. Which…”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“The font of magic you have is strong. But remember, it is not infinite. Rebuilding that…”

Em:
Gesturing to the vessel.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Something like the one that helped Thielia, will likely help you channel and store what you have. But, it is my sense, and you will obviously know this better than I, that as you feed the Wildwood, it will feed you in return. The cycle repeats and potentiates itself. Every time I go to the River, I am fed by the River. Whatever you do, do not tell anyone your downfall. Not even Rhys, if you ever see him again.”

Gina:
Ever nods.

Gina (as Ever):
“I just wish she could be here to see it.”

Gina:
And Nepthysaket would know that she's not just talking about one person.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Well, though you are barred from the River, with the only time you ever going there is in your death, if that would ever happen, as you learn and test your strength and your powers. It is an exhausting and exerting endeavor. You will need a lot of rest. Your powers will be unpredictable, at first. Be gentle with yourself. The forest will recognize you as the one who will nurture it, if it doesn't already.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Something else I'm going to have to learn to get better at, I suppose.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Well, if I understand correctly. There is a very good reason for you to rest.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Very much so.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“He would be very proud of you.”

Em:
And you know when she says he, that she's referring to multiple people.

Gina:
I don't know if gods can cry, but if they can… Nepthysaket would see Ever start to just wipe it away.

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Your emotions will feel more intense as well. But you're not alone in it. I won't ever be far. Thank you. The Cradle will never truly understand what you've done.”

Gina (as Ever):
“It doesn't need to.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“No, it doesn’t.”

Em:
There's a certain journey that I think she recognizes that you have to go on. And while she can support you in it, is this something that you do have to helm. She cannot tell you what your divinity is like. Your experience will be a separate one from hers, despite the fact that you were both mortal once and are now no longer.

Gina (as Ever):
“I suppose I should get to fixing this then.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“It’s a good place to start. I'm gonna go for a walk through the wood. Like to see the edges, and how far things have gotten, so we can keep an eye on how things improve. But, if you need me. I can be back in a moment.”

Gina (as Ever):
“Okay. Enjoy your walk.”

Em (as Nepthysaket):
“Thank you.”

Em:
She leans her head into yours, touching temples with you briefly. She stands up, fully, and slowly makes her way out of the Seanmathair. What would you like to do?

Gina:
I turn back to the vessel, the vase, and I begin to repair it. To make it my own. I start to collect the pieces of the vessel. And I stand in the center of the Seanmathair, holding these pieces and that in all of this, I can't really go home anymore. This is my home now. And how I'm going to miss walking through that door. But, do I have to miss it? No, I don't. I don’t think I do, and I start to piece the shards back together, but they don't look like the vase anymore, like the vessel. They start to look, they darken, they grow texture, they look… Like, wood, they start to form. I place them one on top of the other, in a plane, in a door. And before I know it, I step back and I've made the front door to the farmhouse. It's just standing there, with the wreath I've made for harvest. It's just there. And I realise how tired I am, even in this form, even as a god, I'm so tired.

Em:
You see the knives. Rested out of the ground, and you see they take such different forms than the way you saw them before. Simple, dark metal blades with black leather handles, exquisitely crafted. The etching. The runes. The crystal. Gone, except for small veins of purple that weave in and out of each one, returned to their form as true Eutochan blades. Repaired. Mended from a place beyond broken. You did that. Your first and second acts of divinity.

Gina:
I pick them up.

Em:
They are just knives. In your hand they are just knives.

Gina:
As they should always have been. I take them with me and I… I opened the door.

Em:
What's inside?

Gina:
The hearth is lit. There's candles on the mantle. There’s… It's home before he was sick. But it doesn't feel… It doesn't feel like lying, doesn't feel false, it just feels...

Em:
Mended.

Gina:
Mended, yeah.

Em:
Where do you take your rest?

Gina:
I think I stop, I stop by his room. Just for a moment. And I look, I look in on it. And for the first time… That pang in my chest is quieter. It's not gone. It's still there, but it's just a little softer, and I move to my own room. I set the knives down on the dresser, the one next to the other. I slip off my shoes, and I pull back the covers, and I get in bed, and it feels… Right. My body is heavy and I'm ready for rest and… And I know... I need to see him. If I can, I will… I go to the Dreamscape. And I'll try and find him.

Em:
Godkiller: Balance is performed by Em Carlson, Gina Susanna & Jannes Wessels. This season’s dramaturge is Tim Carlson. Special thanks to our campaign artist, Mischi, who you can find @Mischiart on twitter! Our main theme for this episode, Light & Dark, was composed by Sean McRoberts. Music and effects by Epidemic Sound. For more stories, come follow us everywhere at @blackwaterdnd, and make sure to check out our Main Campaign on Monday nights at 8pm PST at twitch.tv/blackwaterdnd. To play your own campaign of Godkiller and dive into your own divinity, go support Godkiller by purchasing the ashcan on itch.io today, with the print version published soon by Evil Hat Productions. This show is made possible by our sponsors who graciously support us playing pretend and having feelings about it. We are grateful to be sponsored by Heroforge, who offer fully customizable miniatures made with their online 3D character creator! Head on over and design your own Godkiller, and get them printed in a variety of materials, including colour printing options! With new content added each week, check out www.heroforge.com to start bringing your character to life! This show is also proudly sponsored by Moonbeam, a better and safer way to stream! Dive into Realms for vibrant community hubs where creators keep 100% of what they earn while protected by Pyxis, a revolutionary moderation tool that learns and adapts to your boundaries. So check them out and join Moonbeam today! Finally, we’re thankful for our Patrons for joining us on our second journey through the Cradle. You too can come join us on Patreon, where you can check out behind the scenes info, our talkback show Chatwater, as well as exclusive Godkiller bonus content and so much more. Head on over to patreon.com/blackwaterdnd for all the info. See you next time, heretics, and to all the gods out there, be safe!