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(dramatic music plays) The Thieves Guild

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by Jake Care.

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Episode 125:

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A Great Wizard.

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Raylan was surprised at the woman's claim that she
was Pietro's granddaughter,

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but not as much as he was annoyed that she kept
presenting each bit of information

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as little riddles. He didn't even know her name.

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He decided to do something about it. "Do you have
a name or should I just

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bow and call you Madame Pietro's granddaughter?"

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"Oh, so I give up some information and now you
have some

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spunk in you?"

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She laughed, and for the first time, Raylan sensed
at least some mirth in the

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woman.

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"My name is Rebecca, and before you tire me with
endless questions

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attempting to get to the answer you really want,

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my goal is for the lands to be united again.

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Beautiful Callisto, mysterious Drak, Ness's dark
brother

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across the Dragon's Teeth.

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Dragon Road should extend from east to west once
again."

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Rebecca lowered her head.

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"But such things mean nothing to your poor
isolated self."

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Raylan smiled. She didn't realize how much he
actually knew.

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"My horse is named Callisto, the glittering prize
far to the west."

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Rebecca's eyes went wide. "And the city across the
mountain, unreachable

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as it may be, is not unknown to me. And Drak, the
home of liquid

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cloth. I would indeed like to visit it someday."
Rebecca looked more and

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more shocked with each comment Raylan made.

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"And I know there is significance to your wearing
red, but I am very curious as

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to why you are wearing it."

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"And what, pray tell, guild master, does this
color signify?"

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"You are connected to the Wizard Guild in some
way.

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As for the why, I think we should talk about that
in your grandfather's study after I get

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dressed and can at least look presentable."

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Rebecca stood up.

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"To say I am surprised would be a disservice to
the word, young

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Raylan.

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I will retreat to the study and await you.

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You have done something very, very few people have
been able to do.

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You have made me curious."

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Raylan thought over Reiff's research as he got
dressed.

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Who knew that the dusty old books in the Thieves'
Tower and in Pietro's old

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living quarters could contain so many valuable
secrets?

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This Rebecca woman was clearly connected to that
old wizard guild from

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Ness's distant past, and she obviously knew a lot
about the thieves from

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Pietro. Perhaps more than even Raylan and Allard.

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As he put his shoes on, it suddenly hit Raylan
that this woman was not just

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important in her connection to Pietro, but she
clearly had some kind of role to

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play in the political future of Ness.

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She knew too much and was connected to Ness too
closely via Pietro

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not to.

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But what did she really want?

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Walking into Pietro's study, Raylan finally got a
calm and clear view of the

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woman. She was not just pretty, she was beautiful.

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She appeared to be in her late 20s in age.

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The red of her dress showcased the long locks of
her black hair, which shone like

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water as it framed her round face. She was sitting
at Pietro's

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desk, fiddling with some metal instruments in her
hands.

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Without looking at Raylan, she held up a long thin
metal rod.

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"Did you know that this lock pick set is rumored
to have been crafted in Drak?

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As no one in Ness would create something for
thieves.

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It's magnificent."

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"But Pietro had no access to Drak. Dragon Road had

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closed long before then."

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The woman looked up, a smile her only response.

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"How many in your guild are masters at picking
locks, Raylan?"

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"I don't know. We aren't that kind of guild.

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We steal goods and move them to where people need
them."

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Raylan walked over to the woman. "We take so we
can give."

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"Indeed,

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but you are that kind of guild. Did you know that
my grandfather, and your

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predecessor, once picked the lock of Guild Master
Troy's secret safe without his knowledge

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while right in front of him during a dinner party?

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And he gave the document he found there to the
guild master harvest at that selfsame party,

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which created a major scandal over craft shop
pricing?"

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Raylan sat down opposite Rebecca. "No, of course
not.

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That was nearly a hundred years ago."

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Rebecca put the metal instruments down and looked
directly at Raylan.

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"The point is that everyone has secrets, and it is
dangerous to assume those secrets will remain

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hidden.

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So, Raylan,

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you know more than I remotely expected you to
know.

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What are your secrets?"

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Raylan wasn't sure why he did it, but it felt
right.

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He was a captive. The knowledge didn't seem
particularly dangerous in front of

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someone presumably wearing the red of the Wizard
Guild,

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so he outlined everything.

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Rebecca nodded as he spoke. He mentioned his
brother, the current

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politics of Ness, and all of the amazing things
Reiff had discovered with his

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research. "So, in the end, I have no secrets.

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I simply want to bring peace to Ness and help the
outlanders who suffer from Ness being

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closed off."

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"After Wilhelm betrayed your trust and sent an
army to

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conquer Ness, you still trust him?"

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Rebecca leaned forward. Raylan thought long and
hard over his

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answer, because against all logic, the truth was
that he did trust

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Wilhelm. The man just seemed desperate.

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I don't know if I trust Wilhelm, but I trust his
motives.

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A mature answer, young guild master.

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You have clearly told me the truth, and I am
surprised at how much you know.

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Shocked, in fact. You know more about the truth of
Ness than anyone other than Pietro

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himself, and your remarkable librarian.

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Let me share with you your future.

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My future?

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Yes. As it is in my hands. The secret to

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Ness is in this room.

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Rebecca waved her arms around, encompassing the
stacks of

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handwritten books.

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I have spent years trying to decrypt the secrets
in these books, to no avail.

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I realized much too late that Pietro didn't want
me to know the secrets

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in this room. He wanted his successor to know
them.

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Rebecca picked up a lockpick and absentmindedly
twirled it.

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And that, Raylan, is you.

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I don't understand.

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Have you tried to read the books?

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No.

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And you won't be able to, but you will someday,
because of that.

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Rebecca pointed to Raylan's hand.

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Do you see that ring on your finger?

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Raylan looked at his smooth, black guild master
seal.

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Yes.

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I believe the bearer of that seal is the only one
who can read these texts.

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The Thieves Guild seal?

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No. The Wizard Guild seal.

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Rebecca sighed.

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But there are pieces missing.

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Rebecca stood up and walked over to the wall,
where there was an empty display case.

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There are three steps, and I couldn't even get
past the first one, which is this.

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She pointed to the empty case.

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The Wand of the Guildmaster.

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A wand? Raylan thought. The only wand he knew of
was in a tavern

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in the Upper Triangle. There was no way that could
be the same thing, could it?

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Before he could even broach the idea, however,
Rebecca continued.

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The second is a book or books. They contain the
incantation or oath

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or whatever accursed words they are that will
anoint the new guild master magic in their

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seal. The key to the book is the wand, and the key
to the seal is the book.

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And...

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Rebecca swirled around and walked to the center of
the room.

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The key to these books is the seal and the person
wielding it.

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As Raylan watched the woman over his shoulder, she
approached and rested her hand on

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his back.

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And that key

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is you.

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At some level, Raylan knew that he was the
centerpiece to Rebecca's plans.

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He still wasn't sure what they were.

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She wanted to restore and unite the land, but why
all this mystery with the

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Wizard Guild? That was intriguing, but so old that
it had been

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completely forgotten other than in dusty books.

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Why was Pietro's secret so important?

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Couldn't she just help Wilhelm conquer Ness and
then open the pathway,

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uniting the lands?

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And then it hit him.

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None of this matters. The wizards blocked the road
to Ness and Drak.

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Even if you establish a friendly leader in Ness
and you are able to unite the

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lands from Calysto to Ness, you still will be
blocked by the Dragon's

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Teeth.

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Rebecca lifted her hand from Raylan's shoulder and
walked around the

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desk. She spoke as she sat down and once again
fiddled with the

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lockpicks.

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My dear young guild master, you seem to finally be
getting it.

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I don't need you to lead Ness. I don't even need
you to be involved in Ness at all.

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Why do you think you're locked in this room?

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I need you for one thing, to clear

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the road

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under the mountain.

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But only a great wizard can do that.

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And now you understand why I need you.

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But I'm not a great wizard.

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Yet.

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You're not a great wizard yet.

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And wearing a smile that seemed both inspiring and
sinister,

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Rebecca stood up and walked toward the door,

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stopping a few feet past Raylan. She turned and
tossed a small leather

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bag that she had somehow closed with the lockpicks
inside.

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While you wait, learn how to pick locks.

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You never know when it will come in handy.

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(instrumental music plays)

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A Podcast Alchemy

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production.