1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:24,080 Music. 2 00:00:24,057 --> 00:00:28,457 Raylan had done countless irresponsible things in his short life, 3 00:00:28,657 --> 00:00:33,917 but he very clearly considered his current actions by far the most irresponsible. 4 00:00:34,257 --> 00:00:37,257 He wasn't even sure why he was doing it. 5 00:00:37,437 --> 00:00:42,617 Was it because he felt compelled to follow Pietro's magical puzzle to its end? 6 00:00:42,797 --> 00:00:47,877 Was it because he felt this was the best path forward for a guild that was now 7 00:00:47,877 --> 00:00:53,657 exposed and needed the power of magic that Pietro had mysteriously bequeathed to them. 8 00:00:53,837 --> 00:00:55,937 Or was it much more simple? 9 00:00:56,177 --> 00:01:01,977 He was completely enamored with Rebecca and couldn't stand her leaving on her own. 10 00:01:02,257 --> 00:01:07,737 Whatever the reason, he was leaving behind the guild, which was now bustling 11 00:01:07,737 --> 00:01:10,397 with people he knew but was without leadership. 12 00:01:11,397 --> 00:01:16,237 Philos came back with bad news. Rafe had taken an alternative path, 13 00:01:16,237 --> 00:01:20,037 and all of the guild knights that had searched for him came up empty. 14 00:01:20,637 --> 00:01:25,297 Typical Wraith, thought Raelynn. He probably had some mysterious map that would 15 00:01:25,297 --> 00:01:29,537 take him directly to Goutland via some path that no one had ever heard of. 16 00:01:30,437 --> 00:01:36,657 Philos escorted Rebecca in as Raelynn was still pondering the news of Wraith escaping his pursuit. 17 00:01:37,017 --> 00:01:38,937 Are you ready to go? Go where? 18 00:01:39,317 --> 00:01:44,677 Raelynn turned around and nearly gasped. Rebecca was in some kind of Harvest 19 00:01:44,677 --> 00:01:47,577 Guild outfit he hadn't seen in a very long time. 20 00:01:47,857 --> 00:01:52,797 The breeches were cloth and tight, while her top was a loose yellow shirt that 21 00:01:52,797 --> 00:01:54,417 was tucked into her breeches. 22 00:01:54,637 --> 00:01:57,037 Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. 23 00:01:57,657 --> 00:01:59,297 Where in the four quarters did 24 00:01:59,297 --> 00:02:04,777 you find that outfit? Rebecca smiled and turned around. Do you like it? 25 00:02:05,357 --> 00:02:09,757 Raylan couldn't help but stare. She looked stunningly beautiful. 26 00:02:10,217 --> 00:02:12,617 A messenger from the outer fields. 27 00:02:13,617 --> 00:02:18,257 Indeed, I could not think of a better disguise to walk freely in the upper quarter. 28 00:02:18,957 --> 00:02:24,337 Rebecca walked over and looked Raylan up and down. And what shall you wear? 29 00:02:24,777 --> 00:02:29,457 He didn't even question whether he should wear anything special or whether he 30 00:02:29,457 --> 00:02:30,877 should match her disguise. 31 00:02:31,397 --> 00:02:36,097 Furthermore, he didn't consider the wisdom of leaving the responsibilities he 32 00:02:36,097 --> 00:02:43,377 should have been facing. He found a simple yellow tunic and had Bryn grab them two simple horses. 33 00:02:43,797 --> 00:02:48,517 And then he left. No pelos, no goodbye to Mela. 34 00:02:48,857 --> 00:02:52,377 He grabbed two horses and just left with Rebecca. 35 00:02:53,350 --> 00:02:58,970 It was irresponsible, not irresponsible like throwing eggs at Billy's dad's 36 00:02:58,970 --> 00:03:01,890 wagon or stealing carrots from the inner fields. 37 00:03:02,330 --> 00:03:10,850 No, this was irresponsible in a way that Raylan felt uneasy about in deep ways, but not at first. 38 00:03:11,370 --> 00:03:17,230 At first, Raylan was stunned and astonished at the sheer destruction his brother had wrought. 39 00:03:17,510 --> 00:03:22,770 After rushing out without informing Philos, or anyone else for that matter. 40 00:03:23,170 --> 00:03:28,150 Raylan and Rebecca made their way across the great bridge, which was so busy 41 00:03:28,150 --> 00:03:32,830 with the coming and going of those in yellow that their passage was completely ignored. 42 00:03:33,270 --> 00:03:36,590 What do you think of heading directly to Trader's Bridge? 43 00:03:37,230 --> 00:03:43,070 Raylan looked around. He and Rebecca stood on River Road, the bridge behind them. 44 00:03:43,330 --> 00:03:49,010 They had discussed turning left and then heading to Trader's Bridge via the busier throughway. 45 00:03:49,470 --> 00:03:53,150 It would be a longer journey, but would hide them much better. 46 00:03:53,490 --> 00:03:58,150 However, with the clear chaos and lack of guards anywhere to be seen, 47 00:03:58,410 --> 00:04:00,730 a more direct path seemed better. 48 00:04:01,070 --> 00:04:03,570 My dear Raylan, I am at your command. 49 00:04:04,050 --> 00:04:09,750 Rebecca smiled at Raylan. That's certainly not true, but it's true that I know the city better. 50 00:04:10,230 --> 00:04:14,950 Pulling his reins toward the north road, Raylan nudged his horse forward. 51 00:04:15,450 --> 00:04:19,810 Rebecca quickly pulled up alongside him. She was an excellent rider. 52 00:04:20,530 --> 00:04:26,490 Do you smell that? Smoke, yes. Raylan nodded toward the lower triangle. 53 00:04:26,950 --> 00:04:31,610 I was looking, and you can't see much fire damage, but you can certainly still smell it. 54 00:04:32,190 --> 00:04:34,770 No, the smell of death. 55 00:04:35,770 --> 00:04:40,890 Raylan didn't know how to reply to that, so he kept quiet as they trotted toward 56 00:04:40,890 --> 00:04:45,970 Merchant Tower, his home of many years, and which stood towering in the distance. 57 00:04:46,210 --> 00:04:50,610 It was a short distance later when the damage started to show, 58 00:04:50,770 --> 00:04:55,830 and then shortly after that when the scale of the devastation became apparent. 59 00:04:56,110 --> 00:05:00,590 The fire has destroyed practically the entire lower quarter. 60 00:05:01,250 --> 00:05:05,430 Raylan looked at the charred husks of shops he bought from and stole from, 61 00:05:05,870 --> 00:05:10,150 taverns where he gathered with his friends, and the homes of those friends. 62 00:05:10,150 --> 00:05:15,790 At a certain point he could see nothing but burned-down houses as far as he 63 00:05:15,790 --> 00:05:18,210 could see. They are already rebuilding. 64 00:05:18,850 --> 00:05:22,850 Rebecca's small note of optimism couldn't lift Raylan's spirits. 65 00:05:23,410 --> 00:05:28,790 Yes, there were small groups of people moving stone and collecting charred wood. 66 00:05:29,010 --> 00:05:33,910 There were even some plots of land where new houses were already in the process 67 00:05:33,910 --> 00:05:37,950 of being rebuilt, but it was nothing compared to what he was seeing. 68 00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:41,710 Larson, what have you done? Raylan thought. 69 00:05:42,719 --> 00:05:46,539 This is astonishing. Raelynn looked over at Rebecca. 70 00:05:46,919 --> 00:05:51,739 She seemed as stunned as he was. The entire quarter is woodhouses, 71 00:05:51,959 --> 00:05:54,399 and it is surrounded by water on two sides. 72 00:05:54,819 --> 00:05:57,959 Certainly the city had a plan to contain and fight fires. 73 00:05:58,619 --> 00:06:02,139 Raelynn thought over the various neighborhood emergency plans. 74 00:06:02,479 --> 00:06:07,579 They didn't happen very often, but they happened, and the core way to fight 75 00:06:07,579 --> 00:06:11,899 a fire was to contain it until the night fire protectors arrived. 76 00:06:12,719 --> 00:06:16,199 The knights abandoned the city. There is no other explanation, 77 00:06:16,199 --> 00:06:18,879 and it explains why Quinto overthrew Sax. 78 00:06:19,219 --> 00:06:22,879 He is a good man and couldn't live with such a stain on his guild. 79 00:06:23,339 --> 00:06:26,539 The Blue Guild at least seems to be taking this seriously. 80 00:06:27,199 --> 00:06:32,099 Raelynn just about fell off his horse. The Blue Guild was the merchants. 81 00:06:32,419 --> 00:06:35,919 They caused all this. But Rebecca was right. 82 00:06:36,299 --> 00:06:40,599 The further they travelled along River Road, the more they could see groups 83 00:06:40,599 --> 00:06:46,859 of people in blue, removing trash, cleaning streets and hammering wood to rebuild buildings. 84 00:06:47,319 --> 00:06:50,539 Was this the work of Orion via his nephew? 85 00:06:51,119 --> 00:06:56,079 That would make some sense, but why were there no craft guild members helping? 86 00:06:56,599 --> 00:06:58,299 This doesn't make sense. 87 00:06:58,939 --> 00:07:03,859 Rebuilding doesn't make sense? No. The Merchant Guild being so active, 88 00:07:04,159 --> 00:07:07,419 the leader of the Merchant Guild is someone my age. 89 00:07:08,039 --> 00:07:12,859 He is the nephew of Orion, the Guildmaster Craft. He wouldn't lead anything 90 00:07:12,859 --> 00:07:15,899 like this. He's less responsible than I am. 91 00:07:16,339 --> 00:07:21,059 And that thought of responsibility became the first pang that he was focusing 92 00:07:21,059 --> 00:07:24,399 on the wrong thing in his journey to the Golden Wand. 93 00:07:24,859 --> 00:07:30,279 Well, he must have turned over a new leaf like you have. Rebecca smiled at Raylan, 94 00:07:30,459 --> 00:07:32,159 but his thoughts were of the city. 95 00:07:32,559 --> 00:07:37,679 Let's see what is happening in the upper quarter. I'm absolutely enthralled 96 00:07:37,679 --> 00:07:40,859 with learning everything about your beautiful city, Raylan. 97 00:07:42,233 --> 00:07:49,533 Raylan kept looking for the bridge in the distance, but all he could see was river. It then hit him. 98 00:07:50,133 --> 00:07:57,633 Raylan just stared. It's gone. What's gone? The bridge. Raylan pointed. 99 00:07:58,213 --> 00:08:02,333 Rebecca peered toward the remains of the bridge. Indeed it is. 100 00:08:02,533 --> 00:08:04,533 This would explain all the boats on the river. 101 00:08:04,873 --> 00:08:09,493 Raylan was thinking just that as he looked upon the remains of Traders Bridge. 102 00:08:09,493 --> 00:08:12,873 The feet of engineering lay in two stubs. 103 00:08:13,133 --> 00:08:15,533 The entire center section was gone. 104 00:08:15,853 --> 00:08:20,313 The side near the upper quarter looked like its foundation had been destroyed. 105 00:08:20,693 --> 00:08:25,253 While the lower quarter side still had part of the bridge still intact. 106 00:08:25,973 --> 00:08:29,113 He had ignored the river full of boats as more chaos. 107 00:08:29,433 --> 00:08:35,333 But now it made sense. The only way across the North Fork was either via the 108 00:08:35,333 --> 00:08:41,053 wall or via boat. For the first time, Raylan could see activity from other than 109 00:08:41,053 --> 00:08:43,613 Harvest Guild and Merchant Guild members. 110 00:08:43,953 --> 00:08:48,373 A large force of knights appeared to be guarding the bridge from further damage. 111 00:08:49,033 --> 00:08:53,993 Craft Guild members still were nowhere to be seen. Shall we procure a boat? 112 00:08:54,613 --> 00:08:59,633 Raylan put his concern for the lower quarter and the Thieves Guild's response aside. 113 00:08:59,953 --> 00:09:04,293 He wanted to see what was happening in the now isolated upper quarter. 114 00:09:04,993 --> 00:09:08,433 He couldn't even remember the name of his captain of the upper quarter. 115 00:09:08,953 --> 00:09:14,073 He just knew he had one. He didn't even know any of the safe houses. 116 00:09:14,993 --> 00:09:17,873 Yes, there's a public slip just past the bridge. 117 00:09:18,453 --> 00:09:23,693 Or we could just use that one. Rebecca pointed to a man on the bank of the North 118 00:09:23,693 --> 00:09:27,233 Fork, waving his hand and pointing at his empty boat. 119 00:09:27,493 --> 00:09:30,313 It looked like it could hold three or four people. 120 00:09:31,053 --> 00:09:35,273 Raylan looked at the river. The traffic was heavy and there wasn't a single 121 00:09:35,273 --> 00:09:37,613 empty boat but the one on the bank. 122 00:09:38,453 --> 00:09:43,433 Raylan dismounted and patted his horse on its flank. Someone will need you, friend. 123 00:09:44,433 --> 00:09:48,893 Rebecca dismounted with an elegant twist of her body and a short jump. 124 00:09:49,073 --> 00:09:52,133 She rubbed the horse's muzzle but didn't say anything. 125 00:09:52,693 --> 00:09:56,653 How expensive do you think this journey will be? Very. 126 00:09:58,842 --> 00:10:03,862 Orion sent a messenger to recall some troops as soon as he had heard of Kera's death. 127 00:10:04,362 --> 00:10:07,262 It was Karch's work. Orion was 128 00:10:07,262 --> 00:10:11,522 positive of that, and when his troops returned, he would make Karch pay. 129 00:10:11,982 --> 00:10:16,722 Perhaps hanging him from the Merchant Guild statue in Founders Park would send 130 00:10:16,722 --> 00:10:18,002 the appropriate message. 131 00:10:18,402 --> 00:10:21,382 Until then, however, Orion had to wait. 132 00:10:22,142 --> 00:10:26,822 Things were chaotic, but Orion felt that everything would work in his favor. 133 00:10:27,582 --> 00:10:31,002 Quinto would take time rallying support within the Night Guild. 134 00:10:31,482 --> 00:10:35,322 In addition, the few interactions Orion had with him were pleasant. 135 00:10:35,662 --> 00:10:39,862 He wasn't taking anything for granted, but Orion felt he had time. 136 00:10:40,562 --> 00:10:46,122 Polo was obviously blaming Orion, despite all of Orion's efforts to stay out of the conflict. 137 00:10:47,022 --> 00:10:51,682 Karch's message and bruises were clear on that point, but the Harvest Guild, 138 00:10:52,102 --> 00:10:55,042 large as they were, were but one guild. 139 00:10:56,022 --> 00:10:59,662 Still, Polo's message of rage was undeniable. 140 00:11:00,102 --> 00:11:03,122 That made Orion think about Karch some more. 141 00:11:03,482 --> 00:11:08,162 Despite the beating, perhaps Karch promised Polo fealty for security. 142 00:11:08,442 --> 00:11:12,262 Yes, that sounded like something the snake Karch would do. 143 00:11:12,622 --> 00:11:17,562 His killing Keras and taking control of the guild all but confirmed that. 144 00:11:17,962 --> 00:11:22,402 How could he have missed it? Karch was now under Polo's thumb. 145 00:11:23,082 --> 00:11:28,582 So, Orion thought, that's the battlefield. The craft guild against the merchant 146 00:11:28,582 --> 00:11:31,882 and harvest guild, with the knights staying out of it. 147 00:11:32,442 --> 00:11:36,882 Orion would have considered this a hopeless situation, but for one thing, 148 00:11:37,102 --> 00:11:39,382 the destruction of Trader's Bridge. 149 00:11:40,082 --> 00:11:44,722 One guild had control of the boats and thus the river, his guild. 150 00:11:45,382 --> 00:11:50,222 That was an enormous advantage, and Polo was going to use it. 151 00:11:50,882 --> 00:11:54,522 And while Karch had taken over the Merchant Guild mastership, 152 00:11:54,742 --> 00:11:57,002 he was just as hated as Larson. 153 00:11:57,702 --> 00:12:01,802 Orion felt that the Merchant Guild members would be drawn to his side, 154 00:12:02,062 --> 00:12:04,982 especially when they learned of Karch's treachery. 155 00:12:05,622 --> 00:12:09,722 Yes, I will not smash the upper quarter in one big blow. 156 00:12:09,902 --> 00:12:13,802 I will hit them hard and often across the river at countless points, 157 00:12:14,362 --> 00:12:18,702 knights on the side, merchants leaving Karch and joining me. 158 00:12:19,342 --> 00:12:23,322 That leaves a single guild. Harvest. I can manage that. 159 00:12:24,202 --> 00:12:28,442 As he spoke to himself about the complications he had to manage, 160 00:12:28,942 --> 00:12:33,062 Orion appeared to overlook one guild. The Thieves. 161 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:55,600 Music. 162 00:12:35,742 --> 00:12:35,862 We'll be right back. 163 00:12:55,222 --> 00:12:57,342 A podcast alchemy production.