Ep 2 Brimstone: Chapters 6-12

Summary

Fantasy Fangirls – Ep 2 Brimstone: Chapters 6-12

Date: December 8, 2025
Hosts: Nicole and Lexi

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Episode Overview

Nicole and Lexi continue their deep dive of Brimstone by Callie Hart, analyzing chapters 6 through 12. The sisters break down pivotal plot points, character arcs, worldbuilding, and major theories, with their signature humor and depth. They sing “Lorreth’s Ballad” (chapter-by-chapter summaries), dissect relationship dynamics, explore hidden lore, spotlight foreshadowing, and debate the ever-growing mysteries of the Fan Alchemy universe.

Spoilers abound through all of Brimstone (and prior volumes, inc. Quicksilver and bonus chapters). This episode is for adult listeners and is rated R for explicit content discussion and spicy scene breakdowns!

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Chapter Summaries – “Lorreth’s Ballad” (09:13-12:36)

Nicole recaps chapters 6–12 in lyrical “ballad” form:

• Ch. 6: The Blood Courts possess a Quicksilver pool for instant travel. The crew reunites for dinner, Carrion tries to take a stand (awkwardly), but there’s “no wedding plan.”
• Ch. 7: Fisher tells Cerys they can’t wed—he doesn’t know his true name. Instead, they enjoy an intimate evening for the first time since their mating bond.
• Ch. 8: Fisher & Renfus discover the war camp at Eren has been destroyed by “feeders” infested with the Rot.
• Ch. 9: Seirys visits sleeping Everlane, hears the Quicksilver “shouting” at her. Suddenly, Adina (Everlane’s mother’s spirit) possesses Everlane to give cryptic warnings about a hidden journal and unsealed runes.
• Ch. 10: Seirys seeks info about sealing runes from Ishabel, but witches are tight-lipped. The group shares their run-ins with gods, mating, and ancient magic; theories swirl about Carrion’s true age and identity.
• Ch. 11: Lorath and Seirys visit the Fool’s Paradise tavern, get embroiled in vampire politics and debts, only for Taladeus to intervene.
• Ch. 12: Taladeus and Seirys discuss her disavowal to break their maker bond, freeing her to rule. Tal dispenses crucial advice: seal her magic or risk catastrophic magical blowback.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Quicksilver Pool in the Blood Court (18:27–20:07)

• The Quicksilver pool (located in a sepulcher—a classic gothic touch) offers instant travel between strongholds, drastically shifting tactical possibilities for the cast.
• Nicole jokes: “I will give this to the Blood Court. They are nothing if not on brand.” (19:21)

2. Character Check-In: Major Updates (20:38–26:35)

• Wren: Absent from Sanisroth, focusing on Everlane’s recovery.
• Ishabel: Suspiciously remains in Kalish; secretly working with Taladeus in plans to cure vampires of the Blood Curse.
• Talena & Mnir: Caring for Everlane in her magical coma.
• Danya: Hardened warrior, still frosty towards Cerys, but the hosts theorize a future “grumpy x sunshine” romance with Carrion.
  • “She’s looking for a redhead with annoyingly witty comebacks.” (25:41, Nicole)
• Carrion: The subject of many timeline/mystery theories; his age doesn’t align with his history.

3. Found Family Dynamics (27:14–29:46)

• The dinner in Kalish provides a rare moment of joy, highlighting Cerys’s integration into the group’s found family—a recurring emotional touchstone.

  “She’s experiencing companionship for the first time and finding peace and comfort in it.” (28:05, Lexi)

4. Fae Marriage & True Names (30:00–36:56)

• Fae wedding customs require partners to exchange “true names”—a symbol of extreme trust and magical vulnerability.
• Fisher can’t marry Cerys formally: his mother was killed before she could reveal his true name.
• Theorizing who (if anyone) knows Everlane/Carrion’s true name; ponder the power dynamics this grants.
• Hearty debate over the terms "mate," “God bound,” and how often these appear in fantasy romance.
  • “I think they’re so happy to be mates with each other, and I think it’s really sweet.” (35:40, Lexi)

5. Magic Mechanics: Sound Shields, Small Magic vs Elemental (36:56–37:36)

• Lexi and Nicole volley over whether Cerys’s new “sound shield” is air magic or ‘small magic.’
  • “Maybe it's just extra powerful because of her affinity for air magic.” (37:08, Nicole)

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Memorable (and Spicy) Moments

• First Fully-Realized Mating Scene (37:36–43:19):

  • Deep dive into the spicy first sexual encounter between Cerys and Fisher post-transformation. Vivid, playful, and emotionally resonant, it draws the hosts’ praise:
    • “You taste like the end of the fucking world. Just kill me and be done with it. Nothing will ever be better than this.” (40:01, Fisher, via Nicole)
    • “She thinks, 'I was hardly shy in bed as a rule, but with Fisher my confidence felt electric.' ... That is why we cover these scenes at the detail that we do.” (41:10, Nicole)

• Dinner Table Banter, Found Family Touches (125:04–129:43):

  • Scenes with Onyx the fox, Archer’s dinnertime cuteness, pastry-loving Fae, and Ren/Fisher banter warm both sisters’ hearts.

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World & Lore Analysis

1. The Rot’s Threat & Mystery (43:56–47:10)

• The war camp at Eren is in ruins from rot-infected feeders.
• Black ichor and vine imagery connects rot-infected trees, feeders, and the land—suggesting a magical ecosystem under threat.
• The rot spreads from dead bodies, threatening mass extinction and the velocity of its spread means abandoning Evelia is increasingly likely.

2. Adina’s Spirit Visitation—Oracle Lore (51:50–69:14)

• The QuickSilver “calls” to Cerys, then Adina manifests through Everlane to deliver a message about sealing her alchemical runes and finding a hidden journal.
• “Without the book, the rot and decay will spread until it swallows not only this realm, but millions more realms with it.” (65:14, Nicole)
• Foreshadowing: Cerys is warned not to tell Fisher about the book—a trust test whose ramifications are yet unknown.

3. Alchemical Runes & Uncontrolled Magic (69:14–74:39)

• If Cerys doesn’t seal her runes, her uncontrolled power could “unmake” herself, destroy Evelia, or even cause a catastrophic magical chain-reaction.
• The hosts discuss Belacon’s systematic destruction of alchemical knowledge—paranoid and strategic.

4. Gods’ Machinations and Messy Timelines (79:01–90:47)

• Detailed theorizing about how the gods (esp. Zarath, the god of chaos and change) manipulated timelines—resulting in Carrion’s age discrepancy and possibly Fisher’s nature.
• A running “Daddy Watch” segment attempts to untangle whether Fisher’s father is the god Styx, Finryn, both, or someone else entirely.

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Character & Relationship Arcs

• Cerys: Reckoning with massive magical responsibilities, secrets, and newfound trust in others.
• Fisher: Grappling with not knowing his true name, his parentage, and the increasing threat to the world—and leaning deeply into his role as mate and leader.
• Ishabel & Lorath: Theorized as a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers couple, with layers of prejudice, secrets, and hints of past entanglements.
• Carrion & Danya: Playful speculation on if they will become more than snarky rivals.

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Lore Deep Dive – Senisroth and Vampire Culture (117:11–123:57)

Algot’s Library segment:

• Senisroth (The Vampire Stronghold): Brutal, caste-driven society. The Cogs (multi-level neighborhoods) surround the Black Palace. Highbloods versus feeders/lowbloods.
• Thrall & Maker Bonds:
  • Maker bond: Transforms Fae into vampires; grants emotional and magical control.
  • Thrall bond: Non-vampiric but produces mindless devotion; often ends in violent death and transformation into feeders.
  • Nicole: “The makers can feel when their child is in pain… a child vampire cannot lie to its maker.” (117:11)

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Foreshadowing & Theories

• Ishabel’s Plans: Working covertly with Taladeus, probably to cure/kill the Blood Curse.
• Rot’s Origin: Possibly linked to the gods—especially Madra—and tied to circles, power geometry, and ancient magic.
• Everlane’s Condition: Is she still herself? How much control does Malcom’s venom (and possibly the rot) have over her?
• Timeline Inconsistencies: Openly discussed as possible seeds for future revelations or minor errors.

“I trust Callie when she told us this timeline Discrepancy has a 2.5 importance rating on a scale from 1 to 5... I personally think this is foreshadowing for what we'll continue to learn.” (90:17, Nicole)

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Notable Quotes & Fun Moments

• “Home. And my heart is exploding... You are my home.” (42:18, Fisher, via Nicole)
• “Carrion and Fisher—boys' trip to Zalvarin!” (93:28, Nicole)
• “Do you like fish sticks? ... All I think about is Fishstix and the South Park episode.” (81:09, Nicole & Lexi banter)
• “If they procreate, I'm banishing them from Kalish. A combination of the two of them would probably tear open some sort of hell gate and suck the entire estate through it.” (126:33, Fisher via Nicole)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------------|-------------------| | Chapter Summaries (“Lorreth’s Ballad”) | 09:13 – 12:36 | | Found Family, Dinner Scene | 27:14 – 29:46 | | Mating Scene Discussion | 37:36 – 43:19 | | The Rot & War Camp Aftermath | 43:56 – 47:10 | | Adina Possesses Everlane, Delivers Oracle Message| 51:50 – 69:14 | | Vampiric Maker/Thrall Bonds & Vampire Society | 117:11 – 123:57 | | Daddy Watch: Theories on Fisher’s Parentage | 129:26 – 135:07 | | Favorite Moments (Pastries, Onyx, etc.) | 125:04 – 129:43 |

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Theories, Bet Settlements, and Sisterly Antics

• Ongoing bet: Did Ishabel and Lorath hook up previously? Lexi wins the episode’s round, Nicole will provide legendary barbecue in trade.
• Hilarious plant watch and smell watch bits—including true botanical symbolism of flowers and jokes about mysterious scents.

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Conclusion and What’s Next

The sisters wrap the episode with community updates, heartfelt thanks, and encouragement to subscribe and participate in Fantasy Fangirls media, events, and fan club. Teased for next episode: Silver City and further unraveling of Zalvarin-centric mysteries.

“All we can do is make our own [plans] and hope for the best.” (132:06, Fisher via Nicole)

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Tone

Warm, witty, candid, and passionate—Nicole and Lexi’s enthusiasm for Brimstone and fantasy deep-dives shines through every analysis and tangent.
A must-listen (or read) for diehard fans eager to catch every nuance, theory, Easter egg, and emotional note in Callie Hart’s epic!

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

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Of course he did.

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Welcome to the Fantasy Fangirls podcast where two sisters dive deep into beloved fantasy lore, character scene series and more.

[Lexi]

I'm Lexi, older sister and fantasy lore nerd.

[Nicole]

And I'm Nicole, younger sister and romantic at heart.

[Lexi]

And today is episode two of Brimstone by Kali Hart where we are continuing this new Deep Dive with chapters series 6 through 12. Please listen closely to our spoiler warning for all of our Brimstone episodes, including these early ones. Spoiler. Spoiler. Spoilers for all of Brimstone? Yes, even up to the last sentence of the book. We may also reference any of the bonus chapters from Quicksilver or Brimstone.

[Nicole]

Hmm. Why is ishabel being so sus? You bet we're gonna be talking about it and that definitely has spoilers. So if you have not finished the book, please, please, please go finish the book. We will be here when you're done.

[Lexi]

Next, we have Fantasy Fangirls are adults who say about adult books. In other words, friends, this podcast, especially this Deep Dive series is rated R, Chapter seven.

[Nicole]

If you know what I'm talking about sex, then you know this is definitely an adult podcast. So please be mindful of those little listening ears.

[Lexi]

I really hope our parents aren't listening to this one.

[Nicole]

I don't think they are. Mom and dad, turn this off for the love of all, all the gods.

[Lexi]

Additionally, we are so excited to see you at upcoming live events. We have a very exciting announcement here too, everybody. This Friday on December 12th in Denver, Colorado, Nicole and I are hosting an ACOTAR Trivia Holiday Party with Book and Gather.

[Nicole]

Lexi and I will also be part of the Fantasy Fangirls Charity livestream on Monday, December 29th. But there's a twist. We are going to be playing a game of TTRPG which is just a tabletop role playing game. Think Dungeons and Dragons during the stream and and if you donate, you might be able to influence the way the game itself plays out. It's going to be so much fun. All proceeds go to Reading Is Fundamental. We're so excited. Be on the lookout for more info in the coming days.

[Lexi]

And on March 6th through 8th in Dallas, Texas, we will be podcast partners at Dreamers and Readers Festival. Plus, we have a very special something that we can't quite say what yet, but something very, very exciting happening on April 19th in Seattle, Washington. More details about this coming very soon. Keep your ears out tomorrow.

[Nicole]

Check out our website or the links below for more information to most of these events, including a promo code for dreamers and readers. Also, in case you missed it, welcome, welcome, welcome Fantasy fan fellas to the Fantasy Fangirls Media Network.

[Lexi]

Our very own executive producer Hayden and Book Talk star Stephen Walker recently launched a new podcast where every week they dive deep into Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn.

[Nicole]

Hayden is an expert in Sanderson's Cosmere and has already read the Mistborn series.

[Lexi]

But Steven has not, so each episode only includes spoilers up to the chapters covered as Hayden takes Steven through his first time reading Mistborn.

[Nicole]

Episodes five and six are out now only on the Fantasy Fan Fellas feed, so please be sure to give them a follow Link is in the show.

[Lexi]

Notes Last thing before we jump Into Brimstone Episode 2. If you love fantasy Fangirls and want more events, more content, more community and so much more all around, please please check out Fantasy Fan Club.

[Nicole]

We have three membership tiers that you can join. Number one, the Hive Mind which includes access to our Boppin Discord live Q&As from Lexi and I, a book club often featuring the authors themselves. We have community events, promo codes for live events plus 20% off and access to exclusive fantasy fan club only merch. That is for $6 a month. Or you can join the Spice Watchers which includes everything from the Hive Mind level plus early access to ad free episodes, our full episode outlines and special voting privileges on things like library topics. That is for $10 a month. And last but not least, we have the Feral Fans which includes everything from the previous two tiers plus more behind the scenes content, a welcome gift, giveaways, private Discord channel called the Dining Room and your name shouted out on the podcast that is $25 a month.

[Lexi]

Join the party at fantasyfangirls.com fanclub. The link is also in the show notes and I know we always say this, but really and truly from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank you so much for supporting us as we have turned this podcast not only into a dream come true, but into a whole business. A media network. It is all because of you.

[Nicole]

And now it is time to split up and save Evilia from the rot. Dun dun dun.

[Lexi]

To start off every episode, Nicole does us the honor of summarizing this stretch of CH chapters. So gather round as we sing Laura's Ballad to discuss what happens in chapters 6 through 12 of Brimstone.

[Nicole]

Chapter 6 the Blood Courts had a quicksilver pool this whole time, so now they can get anywhere in the drop of a dime. Our whole crew is back together in the dining room once more, but one person is missing. Taking the opportunity to score with his foot in his mouth, Carrion tries to make a stand but I'm so sorry Archer, there is no wedding plan to Chapter seven the Dinner is over. Fisher pulls serious aside. It's not the reason she thinks that she can't be his bride. There's traditions, you see, that they have to observe. But without his true name, they can never have the wedding they deserve. But enough of that for now. With an air shield in place, it's time to get dirty and go to home base. I said a bang bang, bangity bang. It's payback to sabers, it's better with fangs. Chapter 8 Waking up by himself, Kingfisher thinks of his mate. Together him and Renfus go through a shadow gate. They chit and chat and shooting the shit. It's far too late when they notice how bad. The camp's been hit. Eren's been destroyed. The whole camp is gone. It's from the feeders. The rot continues to spawn. Chapter 9 While Fisher and Ren are down at the camp, Ceres checks in on Everlane while she's taking her nap. The quicksilver is loud. It's yelling at Cerus. It turns to liquid, touching her skin where it's barest. But the quicksilver isn't the only one to awaken. Everlane opens her eyes, leaving cells Seyris quite shaken. Hold up a minute. That's not Everlane talking. Idina is here and what she says is quite shocking. She tells Seiris to listen. She must find the journal and seal her runes. Or else the pain will be infernal. Chapter 10 with that cryptic message out of the way, it's off to Ishabel to see if she knows the word play to seal Seiris's rooms. There's no time to waste, but the witches are tight lipped to all those but their race. It's time to fill all of the others in on Xarif, the Tree, the the mating, the Axis, the Sever. But while they tell the tale of what happened with the gods, Lorath wonders if Carian is a fraud. The Dianthus heir should be close to their age. But something went funny when he was taken off stage. But that's enough of that. We have bigger fish to fry. Carrion and Fissure will gather the silver they come by with those two and Zolvarin. It leaves Seris behind to run the Blood Court and keep the vampires in line. Chapter 11 Lorath and Cerus train with their swords, but Lorath has a better idea. Drinking with the hordes, they swagger into the Fool's paradise on a mission. But their plan is thwarted by a new requisition. Thorith has no plans of paying his debts. The vampires nearby see this as a threat. Taladeus timing could not be more perfect. He called off the debt, but that's not his main purpose. Chapter 12 Seirrus and Tal really need to talk, but it's not all about the living dead stock. Cerus agrees to be disavowed so she can rule the court without her maker as a shroud. While they are here, Tal offers some advice she needs needs to seal her magic before she rolls a nat one on the dice. Her magic is volatile. One bad swell and they're ended. Not just Sarah's either. The whole realm will be transcended. At the end of their convo, it's time to make amends. They agree that it's best for them to be friends. Ah, the holidays. You gotta love them. But they can also be extremely stressful.

[Lexi]

Yeah, I'll say.

[Nicole]

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[Nicole]

You know what one of my favorite Christmas traditions is?

[Lexi]

What's that?

[Nicole]

It's when we as a family, we all go around the table and we say one thing that happened this year that we're extremely grateful for. I think one of the best traditions to start during the holiday season is therapy. I know during the holidays I always do extra therapy. I'm not joking. It's the type of tradition where you can do take that extra time for yourself and really pour back into you and BetterHelp can help you do just that.

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[Lexi]

It is time to dawn our relics and step through the quicksilver to explore key insights, character analysis, lore, foreshadowing theories, and oh so much more. At the end of last episode, Seras could hear Quicksilver calling to her. And we learned that Amon Treeth does indeed have its own quicksilver pool. Because the quicksilver has been still for the past 1,000 years, it wouldn't have been usable for, say Malcolm and Belkhan. However, before the quicksilver stilled, this would have been a route for Madra to meet with Malcolm. Although I suppose he didn't have this Blood Court until a thousand years ago. Which makes me curious how this Quicksilver Pool would come to be. It would have to have been solid form like Elroy's. Until Sarah's reactivated. Anyway, this Quicksilver Pool means something good for our characters. Now they have a direct portal into Kalash. Instead of having to ride like the wind for two hours across the dead fields, cross the frozen river and Fisher conjure the Shadow Gate.

[Nicole]

The not so fun part about this Blood Court super secret Quicksilver pool is that it is located in a sepulcher, AKA a small room built of stone where a dead person is laid or buried. Because of of course it is. I will give this to the Blood Court. They are nothing if not on brand.

[Lexi]

As long as the group has relics, which is easy for Seras to make for them, she can transport them between Amontreith and Kalish. Easy peasy now. Which means it's time for this new Queen of Sanisroth to return to Kalash, Fisher's home for the first time since they left to the maze in Quicksilver. After all, Fisher's had enough of the Blood Court and want some quality time with his mate. However, Cerys will not be able to stay in Kalish because otherwise her seat of power will be vacant for too long and she'll be accused of abandoning it.

[Nicole]

Quick pause to appreciate the relics that they use to travel through the quicksilver. So she makes one for Carrion out of a chain supplied by Taladeus. Lorath had on a signet ring and then she turned it into a relic and a small charm of one of the gods that Fisher attached to the collar of Onyx. Oh, that's adorable. But second Witch God. I want to know this. I want to know.

[Lexi]

I like to think it's Bal or Mithin.

[Nicole]

I think so too. Maybe it's both of them. Like back to back.

[Lexi]

Like hey girls. Maybe. Yeah. When they arrive and get settled in Kalash, Cerys is surprised to see everyone in their little group here to welcome her home. Remphes, Talena, Mynheer. Who is Talena's mate. Danya, Ishbal, Onyx, Lorath and Karion.

[Nicole]

It's been a little over a week since Ceres has seen most of these peeps, so let's go through what each of them have been up to for Wren, Talone, Danya and Ishabel. The last time she saw all of them was when she was being shoved into the Shadow Gate. And she was also, you know, still human. So, let's start with Wren. Wren has not come to visit Seirath in Sanusroth, which she's worried it's because of him being against the vampires and now therefore against her. But we can gather it's actually because he wanted to be closer to Everlane while she heals, which he's been doing a lot of sleeping in a chair in her rooms while she recovers and going back and forth between Kalish and Eireen. He's the leader of the war camp, after all. Then we have Ishabel. She should have returned back to her clan about a week ago, but she decided to stay here in Kalash with Te Lenna under the guise of working with the healer guys, because we will later learn she's up to some sneaky shit. Around this time, Ishabel is starting to work behind the scenes, get some ducks in a row. So by the time it's, you know, time to take the Blood Court down, she will be close enough in college for the spell to work. So, basically, she's right now here, lying to this whole crew. Bad, Isha Ball, bad.

[Lexi]

Not for the worst reason, though.

[Nicole]

But, yeah, lying to everyone. Which means that Lorath, who's, like, done with the witches like this, is just cementing further for him how much they are not trustworthy. And she's building.

[Lexi]

Okay, well, I'm going to say that I think that, but because right now, it's not just her trying to figure things out for herself. She and Taladeus are strategizing together because she would not be able to communicate. Him and them set their plans in motion if she's with her clan. But from here, she is able to go over into Amitre with a big hood on.

[Nicole]

Well, it's very interesting you mentioned that, because later in this chapter stretch in the tavern, the Fool's paradise, we will see Tal talking to a hooded figure who is never named. 100 bucks says that's Isha Ball. This is her and Tal meeting up, starting to plan for the Blood cure on the vampires.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

Yes. I love that. Oh, that was such a good Easter egg. Next in our crew, we have Te Lena, who has been primarily on Everlane duty since she fell, literally fell out of the Shadow Gate, which I am now realizing we never got an explanation into how Everlane was football thrown from the maze to the Shadowgate above. But I will hold my breath until book three. Talena is clearly saddened by Everlane's state. Everlane's still sleeping. She's unable to wake up, but at least she's stable. That's a huge good job. We also meet Tenna's mate in this scene, Mimir, and they have matching outfits. I love them.

[Lexi]

I'm already thinking Mir is going to play a larger role in book three because of the research he has done on alchemy and his fascination with the lost arch hearts.

[Nicole]

Then we have Danya, who talk of shocks is being kind of nice. Nice for Danya at least. I'll say These two, her and Sares have never gotten along. I mean, Sarah's did explode her God sword, so I don't entirely blame Danya for hating her.

[Lexi]

She was trying to kill Fisher.

[Nicole]

They're both so similar. They're so strong headed, they're so protecting of our own while being polar opposites at the exact same time. Danya only values Serious for what she brings to this team. Serious is an alchemist. She clearly means a lot to Fisher, who's, you know, lost a lot of people and she's like, glad he didn't lose his mate. But that's about where her appreciation for Serious stops. Danya has been focused at Erin, especially after the fight last episode, since she was attacked by a feeder, literally a feeder on fire. Her long blonde hair has been burned off and is now cropped to her jawline on the left side and shorn to the scalp on the right. But unlike what Seirys thinks, this is not an edgy looks. God, Seiris, how dare you compliment Danya's new hair? Don't you know that the length of a warrior's hair is directly linked to their skills in battle? And hers was longer than Lorath's. And the leaders of the goddamn army. God Serious do better. Obviously I'm joking. Daniel's kind of a meanie in this scene. I give Serious major props here because she's trying to at least be nice and start the possibility of maybe not a friendship, but at least not hating each other when it comes to Danya. But Danya's got her eyes on another prize here. She's looking for a redhead with annoyingly witty comeback.

[Lexi]

She can get in line behind this fandom that's so real to the back.

[Nicole]

So I think we can both agree, Danya and Carrion are going to be a thing, right? Like a thing.

[Lexi]

I. No, I think that they will sleep together, but that's it. He needs someone who won't dim his light.

[Nicole]

They do sleep together multiple times in this book. What? Yes. No, not yet. Yes, we will get to that when the time comes. But the subtext is there.

[Lexi]

Like how Lorath and Isha Ball slept together in a cold.

[Nicole]

If it's actually on the page. Lex, you're gonna eat your words when we get to that section. I swear it. I think that this is the setup for a grumpy sunshine trope. But I'm gonna need Danya to do some glow up to make her grumpy not so mean. And it's more just grumpy instead of bitch, I think.

[Lexi]

No, no, I'm going to say again. I think that he needs to be with somebody who will not dim his light.

[Nicole]

I agree.

I agree.

[Lexi]

She's had two books now.

[Nicole]

Okay?

[Lexi]

Out of three.

[Nicole]

Okay, that's fair, that's fair, that's fair. Now, during dinner, when Carrion does show up, he's smelling fresh of sex from multiple water sprites. Get it, my guy? Everyone starts politely breathing through their mouths to avoid smelling his sex stink. But not Danya, though. She smelling this room like it's her favorite candle. She's.

[Lexi]

It's little moments like this in the book that have me just literally laughing out loud amid all the high fantasy and action and spice. There are genuinely funny scenes like this, and I just love it so much. Yes, I want to give this scene a moment in the spotlight as well for found Family. In fact, when we were reading this scene, I remember looking up from the book to you, Nicole, and commenting on just how nice this dinner was for our characters. It's a moment to simply enjoy this Found Family that Serris now has. She came into this realm unexpectedly and despite herself, connected with people here, not just Fisher, but real friendships too, with others. People who she respects, maybe minus Danya, but even still serious tries with her. Like Nicole was just saying. Here Remphes is welcoming Seras with open arms and celebrating her return. It doesn't matter that she's half vampire, like she was worried about. Later, Lorath will call her sister and it'll catch Serris by surprise. She's never had friends before. You had to be a loner and look out for your own in the third. It was the only way to survive. She's experiencing companionship for the first time and finding peace and comfort in it. And she gets the reassurance she needed now that she's transformed into half vampire, that her friends still accept. Her Fan Alchemy series might not be one with the Found family Trope front and center. But I so appreciate these pockets of the story where we can enjoy all these characters coming together and see how close they are, how much they need each other and have these light moments so that they can later face the dark again together. They need this little bit of happiness in their lives. And just like that we're at chapter seven. Friends remember the timeline of these books events so far. Quicksilver was over a month ago and Serious didn't consider not hating Fisher until like the last third of it it she only accepted the mating bond with him a week ago and since that night in Ballard that they shared before he left to sacrifice himself in Gilthrai, they have not had any time alone. Between her transition and recovery, becoming queen of the vampires and now these theaters and the rot, there hasn't been much time to enjoy their honeymoon phase until now where for the first time alone they can be together as fully accepted God bound mates. It's kind of cute and honestly a little understandable that Serris feels nervous. They're in a whole new phase of their relationship and while they're Both in it, 1000% openly loving Fisher and being, you know, lovey dovey is still a very new concept at the dinner table.

[Nicole]

It's mentioned that because they are God bound, they don't need to be standing in a room full of people where everyone's looking at you as you say your vows. Their eyes beat it on you. This sounds a lot like me and Brett when we were deciding the size of our wedding because it was 35 people and it was. It was glorious. I loved it. But the reason is not because Fisher and Seyrus don't want a million pairs of eyes on them and it makes their palms sweaty. In Fae wedding ceremony tradition, the two committing themselves together is to swear love and to honor each other for all their days and for them to give each other their hearts. But it's not just their hearts they give, they also give their true names. Remember at birth they are assigned a true name and then about a year later they come out with a name that is what everyone's going to call them. Kingfisher, for example, for Kingfisher. But they have a true name. And it is a sign of truest trust between couples because with a true name, one would have power to control the other. They could command them to do whatever they want. Major foreshadowing for how Sarus gets Fisher out of quite the pickle later. This book Kingfisher can give Savers everything. His heart, his vows. But he cannot give her his true name. It's not that he doesn't want to. It's because. Dun dun, dun, he doesn't know it.

[Lexi]

During dinner, when the wedding initially came up, Remus and Lorath, they looked uncomfortable. And I think it's because they know a wedding cannot happen because Fisher does not know his true name. Which, by the way, Fae should really have a plan B to learn their true name. You know, just in case the one person that does know it and has all of that power doesn't make it.

[Nicole]

By their 14 year old is killed by their husband. Yeah, I think. Yeah, pretty fucked. Traditionally, when a failing turns 14 years old, their mother tells them their true name. But in Kingfisher's case, his dad was gone and his mother was dead by Bellican's hand. So there was no one left to tell him his name.

[Lexi]

Oh, so does this mean that Pelican knows Everlane's true name? Or does no one knows hers either? Because her mother died, supposedly in childbirth. But we know the truth. Reason why. Same goes for Carrion. Who in the world knows his true name? I bet Fenryn does, if he's still.

[Nicole]

In Sylvarin, but that's a whole other topic sticks. We don't know.

[Lexi]

I don't think they are the same person.

[Nicole]

I'm leaning towards their not either, but I'm still not entirely convinced.

[Lexi]

Or let's say that they don't have true names. At least for Carrion. That's kind of a good thing. Because now nobody can control them with a true name. Especially if Belcon was to know it for Everlane. Which I'm going to guess that he doesn't because he would have some kind of control over her. In that case.

[Nicole]

I don't think that. Well, I don't know. Maybe that's what made him able to command her to go to Malcolm and Santa's Roth and get. And get bitten. Well, I guess you got.

[Lexi]

He's demanding to have his daughter back right now too, so I feel like too far. Oh, she is in college.

[Nicole]

She's in college. Which means the word. Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Well, I think it's not out of the question that someone does know his name, but I have a theory around Carrie and that I think is not next episode, but it'll be episode four that I'm really not to be a major tease right now, but I'm really excited to talk about it and it might be able to make up for the fact that he doesn't know his name.

[Lexi]

All right, I Think Finryn somehow knows it?

[Nicole]

I could definitely see Finran knowing it somehow. If that fucker is still alive somewhere. Man haunts my dreams. Kingfisher did go as far as looking through all of his mother's books, her journals, her sketch pads, everything that he had from his mother in the hopes that she wrote his name down somewhere. And while he found many drawings of her bestie, Sarah's fane, he never found his true name.

[Lexi]

I love that. He also found drawings of, quote, little birds with flashing blue wings. Yes, there is the kingfisher bird and all that symbolism, but there's also the paper birds to create the book for Sarris.

[Nicole]

So this does bring up a question that we've actually been DMed multiple times. Because in the gate, part two, this is a bonus chapter from long before the Happenings of Quicksilver, Mirelle says to Fisher as she's fading away, that he needs to guard his name, his true name, and that his life depends on it. And he's like, uh, Mirelle, hello? And the chapter ends. So I just assumed, based on that warning, that he does know his name and he has to guard it. But no, no, I'm guessing that this was a future warning for Fisher to, now that he knows it, guard his name.

[Lexi]

But he doesn't have to because there's no command over his name now.

[Nicole]

That's true. That's very true. Or it's protect against anyone figuring it out, because Serous needs to know it at exactly the right moment in order to break the control that anyone, Bella Khan, would have over his name.

[Lexi]

Okay, I hear your efforts in explaining that, and I commend you on those. I have a new phrase that I have coined called Tsar Scone Rogue, and that is our Fan Alchemy series version of Cauldron Boil Me, which is basically when something A plus B is not.

[Nicole]

Equaling C at this exactly.

[Lexi]

A plus B does not equal C. It happens sometimes. And I, for my sanity, I need to just be able to explain it away. So Zara's gone rogue. That's my rogue.

[Nicole]

Okay.

[Lexi]

Yes. As we get into chapter seven here, I want to note that we have had a number of people ask for our opinion on how the word mate is used a lot in Brimstone. I'll be honest, neither Nicole or I noticed how much it was used, and we were even a little surprised by this being a complaint in the book.

[Nicole]

Definitely. I was like, I didn't blink twice. I didn't blink twice about it.

[Lexi]

Maybe I've just read a lot of Faded mate stories too. The word mate shows up 30 more times in a very popular mates Romanasy book. So, yeah, I don't know. I think they're so happy to be mates with each other, and I think it's really sweet. Callie even seems to poke fun at how significant the word is with Fish's whole, you know, she's not my girlfriend. Okay. Because it's like there is no interchangeable word for mate that holds the same meaning and emphasis. And these two are so in love and basking and being mates. So that's my opinion on the matter. One more thing. Cirrus can suddenly feel the air inside the room and not wanting anyone to hear them, she then feels the air thickening and her ears suddenly feel full of cotton wool. Sound shield when Cerus uses this impressive bit of magic. Nicole, I know you've been hung up on it being her air magic, but I am convinced it is small magic based on what Fisher says here about how she has an affinity for small magic. And then Teledaeus will create sound shields too, and we know he's particularly powerful and he does not have air magic. He has liquid magic. So I'm going with the sound shield creation to be a nod to her potential expertise piece and power with small magic versus her elemental magic.

[Nicole]

If it weren't for Fisher saying small magics and then Talladeus using the same magic later, I would have fought for it being elemental magic.

[Lexi]

But there's multiple proof points that she's.

[Nicole]

Not that that's what you're saying right now. But maybe it's just extra powerful because of her affinity for air magic. It mentions the molecules in the air. I. I mean, I feel like that's air magic.

[Lexi]

I think it's a really great description of the magic's effects.

[Nicole]

Fine, you win that one, you win that round. Too bad.

[Lexi]

Okay, I got a few more wins coming up down the pipeline here in this episode.

[Nicole]

All right, friends, now it's time for my win. Because it's chapter seven. We're an R rated podcast, and you know what we're about to get into.

[Lexi]

And how many spicy scenes are there total in the book, Nicole?

[Nicole]

Shut up, flaxy. There's five in January.

[Lexi]

Four.

[Nicole]

There's four. You can pick my hair color in January. And you better not be mean scared. Like Lexi mentioned earlier, these two have entered a whole new level of being in a capital R relationship, and that includes, for them, for the first time, saying I love you to each other. Yes, yes, Fisher said it last book. But this is the first time here he hears her say it. I'm not gonna lie. The say it again. Like I need to hear it again, please. Like that micro trope from one partner to another when they say I love you for the first time. It is up there in one of my favorites. God, I love it. And Fisher does not disappoint. The moment she says it again to him, his mouth slams onto hers and we're off to the race. Literally. Because in addition, for this being the first time they say I love you, this is also the first time they've fanged since she turned from human into half fae vampire. And friends remember how Fisher once said that he was so disappointed in how breakable humans were? And yes, we, both of us, we gave him an L for it. She ain't human anymore. So the guardrails are off.

[Lexi]

Off.

[Nicole]

Yay. Starting with stripping Saris fully from her clothes. Not Fisher yet. Because oh ho ho. It's time for that was so Christmas. It's time for a little payback. Going to town. Fisher kneels before Sarah and quote, you taste like the end of the fucking world. Just kill me and be done with it. Nothing will ever be better than this. This man. But he's not done. Because trailing his nose along her skin, he says quite quote, come on, Osha. Where else would an acolyte kneel to worship but at the altar of his God? I just have exclamation points in the Albert. All right. This might be my new favorite godline in a romantasy novel. Well done, Fisher. You surpassed my guy Zaden Ryerson's godline. Congratulations. And that was very difficult to pass. But then a blinding white light. Light fills Saerus's head. A high pitched hum in her ears, a stab of pain. Then every cell in her body feels like it's ripping apart. But in a good way, because Fisher just bit her inner thigh, dozing her so hard that Serious passes out. Incredible. But only for a second, though. Honestly, Ghost Eris, the fact that she had an orgasm so good she was unconscious is incredible. But these two are back at it. I, as Fisher, now without clothes, fists himself. Serious, touches herself, then climbs on top of Fisher, sticks her fingers in his mouth and says suck. And then he obeys. I'm not breathing. Oh my God.

[Lexi]

Jesus.

[Nicole]

But Serris has been concocting a little payback of her own. Lowering on him just a little bit. Serious pins his hands above his head, telling him that he cannot touch her. She waits, then plunges her own teeth into his neck, dosing him. And she sinks down on him all the way.

Just clap. Brava, madam, brava. So good. I love this moment. Yes, because it's fucking incredible. But more so because of the line that follows it. She thinks, quote, I was hardly shy in bed as a rule, but with Fisher my confidence felt electric. How could I not feel that way when I could still feel his emotions in his blood? He meant when he said he did think that I was magnificent. This is what I've been talking about in almost every single smut love letter. Yes, we talk about these scenes because they're spicy and fun and teeth and play on playfulness. It's fun, but it's the willingness to take up space, to let walls down, to believe your partner when they say you're magnificent because you are and deserve to be told so. And believe it. That is why we cover these scenes at the detail that we do. Closing this chapter, I want to bring in the chapter title itself home. And my heart is exploding because normally Callie's chapter titles are a line from the chapters themselves. And here as they're talking about what sailor smells like now that she's changed, her smell hasn't really altered, but it's more amplified. Seiris wonders if she smells like sugar, I'm assuming because she has a sweet tooth or the warmth of the sun from growing up in Sylvarin. But no, no. She smells like fresh crushed leaves and the mountain air before a cold snap. And subtle hints of spices and citrus and fire smoke. Quote, this is from Fisher. I don't crave the attention of the sun. The snow capped mountains, the forest, the frozen river. Those places are my home. You are my home. I'm melting like a mountain snow cap for this guy.

[Lexi]

This is when he jumped into second place for me. The snow capped mountains are my home to Fisher.

[Nicole]

One more moment from Fisher. Because when they both finish and he's just like oh, so pleased with himself because he truly believes that he's the luckiest bastard alive and because his mate looks like she's been thoroughly such a good chapter ender. Oh my God.

[Lexi]

Okay, so first bang is in the books. Don't worry, we have lots more of those coming.

[Nicole]

Almost one episode.

[Lexi]

Almost. Now let's go back to Eren, the war camp on the other side of the mountain from Kalish. Fisher opens a shadow gate to Eren from Kalish for himself and Renthes. And when they come upon the war camp that had become something of a home for them for hundreds of years, it is nothing like it was just a Few days ago, before the eight rot infested feeders attacked, it had previously been a living organism of a settlement, growing and shifting and expanding where more than 11,000 warriors made this place next to the riverbank home.

[Nicole]

Looking down the hill at Erin, they find the once lively war camp in utter ruins. Where Erin once stood, only scorched remains now stretch as far as the eye can see. Smoke rises from the still smoldering debris scattered around the ground. There are no tents, no structures. The tavern, the armory, everything. Remember those wooden structures from last book? Gone. Charred wood, scraps of cloth and blackened swords that have been abandoned in the dirt. They're still there. But besides that, there's only black ash and bones. Oh, my God, this is terrifying. Not only that, but it's also. Also deadly quiet. The over 11,000 warriors who used to make noise here, who used to make this a home. It's gone. But not necessarily dead. They're just evacuated. Most of them.

[Lexi]

Well, some are definitely dead.

[Nicole]

Some are definitely dead, but not all. We're gonna say 11,000 have evacuated because that's how I'm doing my math. Okay. Okay. Along the. Darn. The large oak tree with the feeders still stood strapped to it is standing, but instead of just being tied to the tree, the feeder's limbs are now fusing with the trunk. This is so fucking cool. Their gray skin is now covered in a thin network of black vines that wrap around the tree. At the base of the tree, its roots are blackened and plunging into the ground, where the roots are exposed, there are deep gashes. Kingfisher notes. It's as if someone took an axe to them but hadn't managed to cleave all the way through them. So I'm assuming that's beautiful. Show don't tell, for someone was trying to cut the rot from the tree but couldn't. From these deep gashes, dark black blood pours out, contaminating the ground with the rot.

[Lexi]

Where have we seen this description about black ichor before?

[Nicole]

Literally in every single feeder slash vampire we've encountered. I can practice. Practically hear Zarith up in the God realm looking at a different tree infested with rot, which I love. That beautiful symbolism. He's literally going, like I told you so.

[Lexi]

So we can gather that the eight super feeders were infested with the rot, and that is how they were unable to die like usual feeders. This rot within them is what made Nimmeril scream with pain. And maybe even when the feeders ingested the Fae's magic. I wonder if it fed the rot, like I could see a cool magical component where magic of this realm fuels the rot as it invades this land. I will say I'm so a little confused about what it means when someone becomes infested with the rot, does that mean that they also become like a super feeder? Like it's a version of turning them or it is not like becoming a feeder and it's something completely different with them getting infested with rot, I figured.

[Nicole]

It was the latter. I thought it was like them getting plagued almost like it's like a plague stretching across the land versus feederdom stretching across the land. So I'm leaning towards they get infested with the rot. It doesn't turn them into a feeder, but it like it rots them from the inside out. Their blood turns black, they die.

[Lexi]

They have to be put down by people that they love because they will continue spread out well.

[Nicole]

And like we'll see with the bodies on the ground where they are dead, literally on the ground, the rot is spreading out of them. So it's like people think that they put them down so therefore the rot won't spread to their family, their friends, but what it's actually doing is seeping into the ground and spreading across more of the land, which will definitely be doing land mass for hectares. Next episode. Can't wait to figure out what a hectare is.

[Lexi]

What I'm trying to say with all of this is that the rot is definitely obviously much more than the Blood Curse. But I do still wonder if there is a connection between the two of them yet. The rot obviously is much more otherworldly and powerful, hence why we are speculating Gods might be behind this instead of I'll call it just Madra. As a reminder, Everlane is stable but still sleeping as Tala and Ishabel continue healing her from Malcolm's Vampire Enthrall venom. But it's very concerning that Everlane has not woken up yet. And honestly, that's going to be the least of our worries with Everlane acting strange. This book. Serris only spent time with Everlane during her first days in Evelia, when she was at the Winter Palace. But she's here now to see Everlane. Maybe her presence will help Everlane in a way others haven't. As Everlane sleeps, she's still a little too cold. The remnant Black venom is still visibly in her veins. Yes, I worry that there is way more than meets the eye with Malcolm's remaining venom in Everlane. But we'll get to that. Theorize rising later.

[Nicole]

Oh, I can't wait. Lexi Saris begins to hear a voice. It's not Everlane's, and it's not yet Adina's. No, she hears the quicksilver. It says, quote. She hears you. She feels you.

[Lexi]

Open the gate.

[Nicole]

The gate. The gate.

[Lexi]

Open it. Open it.

[Nicole]

So I've got a lot of questions. First, this is when the gate to the demon realm is reopened. As Sarah's take takes the earrings off of Everlane's body, which contain just a little bit of quicksilver, it immediately liquefies, and the quicksilver says, quote, it is done, then.

[Lexi]

Done, done, done.

[Nicole]

How does this work? Especially because the pool in Azhen isn't necessarily all quicksilver. It's instead a black gate. I'm assuming it's black because of the dragon fire, the demons, all of that kind of stuff. The brimstone. But it has to have some quicksilver in it because that's. That's how Kingfisher got infused with it, because that was the pool he went through without the relic. He came out. He had quicksilver in his eye. He goes through at Bellicon's orders. So it must be quicksilver somehow.

[Lexi]

But the point was that he went through it because it wasn't quicksilver. I. Bottom line is, I have a lot of questions around all that with the Other Realm portal and how it works like a quicksilver pool, but is not quicksilver.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

Also with Everlane wearing these quicksilver earrings. That seems oddly specific, don't you think? What if Idina told Everlane she has to have these quicksilver earrings, and it's literally for this moment with Ceres needs to open the gate. And when she does that, it triggers Idina to be like, okay, it's showtime, folks. Nobody panic. I've been waiting centuries for this.

[Nicole]

I love that. Because it's only when the quicksilver liquefies and rolls down Everlane, that is when a certain mother wakes up. But we're not there yet, because I have a second question, which she. Is the quicksilver referring to when it says she hears us or she hears, is she Adina, or is she Everlane? Who's hearing if it is Everlane, does that mean. Because the quicksilver saying, like, open the gate, it's connected to the demon realm, does that mean that she, Everlane, is connected to the demon realm as well? Especially given her current state. She's got the black fingernails. She's got black veins. That isn't out of the question, in my opinion. Or is this she Adina? Did the gate need to be opened in order for her to take over Everlane's body?

[Lexi]

I think that she hears you. She feels you is referring to Adina. And the quicksilver liquefying is what activates. I don't know if I'm convinced that the gate into Daxis needed to be open for Adina to save speak with Saris, though. Wouldn't that be interesting for Adena spirit to be tied to where Fisher's God heritage, apparently from his father. For her to be tied to that. I see a potential connection with that, though. I think the liquid quicksilver now touching Everlane, which is supposed to be really bad for anyone who is not an alchemist, is a contributing factor to why Adina is here now. And like I said, Everlane was wearing the quicksilver earrings because her mother told her to in a journal or something like that. Left this information for her daughter after she was gone, after all. Everlane's eyes are now completely white. It's not silver like Heron was described as having like, you know, like, the completely quicksilver eyes, but that's exactly what I imagined.

[Nicole]

I imagine it's white like Maui when her eyes turn white in the throne room, when she's having an oracle moment.

[Lexi]

I forgot about that.

[Nicole]

Yes, that's what I think.

[Lexi]

Yes. Yes.

[Nicole]

All right, friends, it is time to go beat by fucking beat through this scene with Idina. The way my soul left my body when we were reading this for the first time. I'm pretty sure. No, I do. I do have this on video. I need to find it and post it, because we got a tip off from someone who was reading faster than us that it was Brooke. It was our content researcher. She said, hey, you guys need to film yourselves reading chapter nine. And thank God she did, because it starts off with saying, quote, at last you're here. I've been waiting a long, long time to speak with you, Sabers Fane. A way to make a girl feel like she's late to the party. Idina. But technically, Idina's right. She's waited a long, long time. Yes, she has.

Why am I gonna. Am I gonna have to defend this woman here to you? My goodness. Maybe a little bit. We later learn from Tallade is that the entity that is, you know, speaking through Everlane is a piece of Idina's soul. Not a shadow or a shade or a figment of Adina, because those aren't coherent and they aren't able to be aware of their surroundings, AKA they're not able to talk directly to a person. So this piece that is Adina's soul is just chilling in the world, maybe in Diaxis, maybe in the ether for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. So since Bellacon killed her and she stayed by sheer force of will. And that's quite impressive and quite torturous for a soul. This woman is dedicated, I gotta give her that.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

She's trying to save the world. Right.

[Lexi]

When you say that about like where she is, I do absolutely believe that is, I'll call it in the ether there that she's not in the Daxis world because she is not a corporeal being. It is her spirit, it is her soul.

[Nicole]

True. But if a portal had to open in order for her to talk, if that is the case, then I would think that her soul was chilling in dioxis. And when the portal opened, she was like, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom. And then that's when she came through. You look not convinced.

[Lexi]

I think I, I'll be honest, I saw you talking about the Daxis and all that in the outline and I was like, what?

Okay, fair. The bottom line is Adina has been waiting a very long time to talk to her daughter in law about very important.

[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

Shopify is also so helpful when it comes to marketing your products. Get the word out like you have a marketing marketing team behind you. Huzzah. You can easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling.

[Lexi]

Turn your big business idea into Ka Ching. With Spotify on your side, sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com FFG go to shopify.com FFG one more time. That is shopify.com FFG.

The holidays are here. But honestly, it can be really overwhelming when you have so many different Shopping to do lists. That is why I love how Wayfair is our one stop shop. From beddings and linens to decor for every room in the house. It makes it so much easier to get everything that I need. Like for instance, do you have any last minute guest prep? You can refresh your guest room with beddings, throw pillows and accent chairs for way less.

[Nicole]

I recently got some bar stools from Wayfair because our old ones were creaky and and not cute. And these ones are lush. They're plush. They're blue, which is my favorite color. I love them so so so much. And guess where I got them. Yep, Wayfair.

[Lexi]

I can confirm that they are very, very comfortable.

[Nicole]

Yes, they're so comfortable. I love them.

[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

Get last minute hosting essentials, gifts for all your loved ones and decor to celebrate the holidays for way less. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair Every style, every home so I've got a question for all the gamers out there. Are you seriously going to miss out on Alienware's biggest gaming sale of the year? I mean, these are Cyber Monday prizes we're talking about. So it's not just another sale. I took a look and this is some pretty big bang for your buck. You know, it's Alienware with some of the most advanced engineering out there with systems at the top of reviewers list lists. And what about a nice gift for yourself? Gifting yourself a new Alienware 16 Area 51 gaming laptop. I mean this thing's got performance at the absolute next level with Intel Core Ultra processors. And even better, you can get it during Cyber Monday. Plus you can save on all kinds of displays and accessories like Alienware 32 4K QD OLED game gaming monitors for ultimate visual fidelity. These really are incredible deals on PCs with otherworldly performance. So we recommend visiting alienware.com steals soon and grabbing whatever you can before the lowest prices of the year go dark.

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[Nicole]

See mintmobile.com hello listeners.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Meet Lisa.

[Lexi]

Hey there.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Lexi]

Yep, I recorded a quick ad targeted listeners interested in fashion and sustainability using acast's audience attributes targeting feature and set my budget. Before I knew it, people all over were hearing about my shop.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Lexi]

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[Lexi]

Thanks.

[Nicole]

So Adina Everlane grabs Sarus's hand in an iron grip and I love this note quote the thing that was occupying Lane's body blinked at me slowly, as if it had forgotten how to blink. Yes, because she's been floating around somewhere for centuries. I love that.

[Lexi]

I've noticed that Saris is pretty fixated on the concept of blinking in this book. She is.

[Nicole]

You're right. She talks to Tal about it too.

[Lexi]

We also get a nod that this is Everlane's mom because we hear Adina and if you did not deep dive, you would probably be like, I don't remember that name, but you were with us for the deep dive and so therefore you're like Aha. I know that was Kingfisher's mother. Anyway, we know that this is Everlyn's mom, too, with the description that her voice is similar to Everlane's, but it's deeper and richer because, you know, it's her soul speaking through.

[Nicole]

Before we get into the good stuff, we need to learn a little bit about Everlane from Idina. Idina says that she's not holding Everlane back from returning to her body, but instead, Everlane is, quote, in sh. Shadow. New rap. Lexi. We got a new rap. Sh. Sh. Shadow. But this only inheritance enhances the theory that Lane is actually in Dioxis, the only realm that has Shadow magic. Are you kidding me?

[Lexi]

You have to physically go to that realm, so maybe think that she is there at all. I think that she is trapped in the darkness, like in the void. Maybe because Everlane was in the process of transitioning into a vampire, and then the maker was killed, and something about his venom can not draw. Be drawn all the way out or something like that.

[Nicole]

So you're saying that Malcolm. A piece of Malcolm, might be living in Everlane?

[Lexi]

I. Yes, I do think that is actually possible. And shut up about all of that.

[Nicole]

Because we do not know the answer to that yet.

[Lexi]

I'm just theorizing.

[Nicole]

Oh, my God. Are we okay? Do we need to have a mediation?

[Lexi]

We were doing so well with Brimstone up until now.

[Nicole]

I know. A whole episode. You were doing great.

[Lexi]

And this is what Idina means when she says that she doesn't know if Everlane is strong enough to return. She is beyond Idina's sight and reach, clouded in shadow and darkness. But I do really worry that there is somehow a grip Malcolm has on Everlane that is making his spirit or something like that to stay in some way here in this room world.

[Nicole]

Adina tells Sares that she needs to go to the library. Note she does not specify which library Sarah needs to go to. I love that because you and I were convinced it was Kalish's library, but I realized she didn't say Kalish, so that was a fun thing on a reread. And there in the library, Saras will find a book. The book she is looking for is small and thick. Thick because it's got a lot of entries in it. She's got a lot to do and has a blue cover with a butterfly on it. Oh, Osha. To make it even more cryptic, Idina tells Sarris that the book is hidden among the stars. The stars. Hundreds and hundreds of stars. We know she's saying this because they're star gazers, the paper birds later in this book. Quick side note, I do love that we later learn that stargazers are also known as kingfishers. So exciting. That's just in this world. I did look up birds bird bird ness on the interwebs and there is no correlation between stargazers and kingfishers. So that's just for this world. But these stargazers are in the Senisrothian library, which again she does not specify. Honestly I really can't even be mad about the non specification because that that reveal I was listening to it this morning while I was getting ready and I just got chills. It was so worth it for her to hold back that info.

[Lexi]

Okay see here I am being like how the fuck does this book get into the Amitre library?

[Nicole]

How? Great question.

[Lexi]

You're right. You would think that she is talking about the Kalish library but also say we are assuming that she is specifically referring to the Amontraeth library. We don't know if she might have actually put them in the Kalish library and somehow some way they found themselves in Amon Treith. But I am really and truly wondering how the hell they ended up in Amon Tranne. I don't think we're going to ever find out. I think we're just supposed to accept it and move on.

[Nicole]

But I we have access to Callie. I want to ask her did Idina put the stargazers the book in the Stannis Rothian library for instance?

[Lexi]

She could have put the stargazers there before Malcolm's reign.

[Nicole]

When Cerus asks Edina quote why is this book so important? Idina's eyes clear of confusion momentarily. But then it's gone before she confirms they the gods told Sarris about the rot. Meaning the gods have officially told Sarris about the rot. She's been waiting for this moment.

[Lexi]

I believe that as an oracle, Idina has seen this rot in different outcomes of how it can transpire. The path towards success is only through the steps that she will provide Seras in the journal. This reminds me of what Zarth said to Seras in Quicksilver chapter 44 about how he can see the threads of fate and all these different outcomes in that tapestry of the universe. I'm assuming that oracles have similar not the same, but similar perspectives into that thread of fate and like that tapestry of the universe.

[Nicole]

I do wonder if this means that oracles are God blessed. I'll call it. For lack of a better term. I don't know what that would mean in the grand scheme of things. But just an interesting note. According to Adina, without the book, the rot and decay will spread until it swallows not only this realm, but millions more realms with it. So we know that Adina knew that Zarath would at some point call her into the God realm, tell her about the rot. Da da da da da. But I'm assuming that Adina also knew that Sarus would be severed from the Gods view and therefore Sarus's whole. You know, like, what do I need to do? And Zarath was like, you just need to live your life. All the choices are hers now. The gods can't intervene. I do assume that Idina knows that the gods will no longer be allowed to intervene with Sarus.

[Lexi]

I agree with that. Because she will also know that Sarris is half Fae, half vampire.

[Nicole]

That's true. That's so true.

[Lexi]

There is one more thing about this mysterious book that Sarris has to find in the library among hundreds of stars. Don't tell Fisher about it. Why? Well, we'll speculate when we get to the chapter where Sarris does tell him. And Adina knew that she would tell him. And this was all a trick. I'm assuming that. That it's part of a test. And it is like one more little step that has to happen for something bigger down the line. Who knows? For now, Ceres will honor Adina's request. Though she'll tell Fisher about everything except the book. It will feel weird for her to keep this information from him. He's her mate. They trust each other wholeheartedly. And she wants him to know about her conversation with his mother. But Serris's instinct is also telling her to trust Adina. So for now, she'll follow those specific instructions not to tell Fisher about the book.

[Nicole]

There's also this line from Adina where she says, quote at the end, make sure he knows I would do it all again. I'm assuming she's referring to dying, getting killed by Bellicon, leaving all these clues. D All of the above. Something else. What do you think she would do again?

[Lexi]

Oh, I understand it as Adina stained in limbo. Based on what we hear from Tal about how it must be terrible for for her spirit to refuse to go beyond. And then when Saris is telling Fisher about all this, she will even note like, oh my God, like he knew that his mother has been going through this and he didn't react to it. So yeah, Idina has been waiting to get this message to Sarris, but In the meantime, she has gotten to see Fisher continue living. And she wouldn't have ever changed that.

[Nicole]

And in her passage to Fisher at the top of the book, it's titled no regrets. No Ragrets is a no regret.

[Lexi]

No regret.

[Nicole]

Can you imagine? Adidas soul is living there with that tattoo, just no ratcara.

She'd be like, I don't know how it came up.

[Lexi]

Like it just magically appeared on me.

[Nicole]

And it's spelled wrong.

[Lexi]

Another big piece of information that Idina drops is about alchemical runes. According to Idina, alchemists must seal their runes, which, remember, are magically inked onto the them. Alchemists need their runes that represent their magic to be sealed because their power is like a well that runs very deep. When an alchemist is marked with a rune, regardless of how many runes they may have, the rune's magic starts pouring into the alchemist continuously and will not stop on its own. If the runes are not sealed, they start to fester, causing flashes of magic and can be very, very painful. As we've started seeing with Ceres. I'm curious if a deep Dina tried to do anything magically when she was holding Saris's wrist and realized that her runes weren't sealed. As her hand tightened around Saris, Serris's runes suddenly feel like they're on fire. So did Adina, I'll say accidentally cause that meaning to do something else. But the runes aren't sealed, so it didn't work and it caused like a flare up. Because she does say that she's not causing these very painful burnings of Sarris's runes and that she did what she could. But the rest is up to Serris. Did what she could, like everything as an oracle that we'll find out about in the journal or something. Just now when she realized the runes aren't sealed. Or both, obviously.

[Nicole]

Later, when Fisher goes to see Te Lenna to ask what the fuck is this nonsense about sealing runes? She says she's woefully uneducated on the subject because freaking Belacan scourged the realm for all information regarding alchemists and their power. So there's nothing in the library here at Kalosh about it. Which pause because last book in Quicksilver, there were books written in old Fae, so sailors couldn't read them, but Fisher could. But Fisher could and Taylor wanted to. And they were about alchemist powers, right?

[Lexi]

Yes, there were. And we were very hungry on them because someone could have translated. Zarth, you've got Roke Again on us, Zarith.

[Nicole]

What a shady fuck you are. Taking those books.

[Lexi]

How dare ya?

[Nicole]

But alas, according to Teylana and her very interested in alchemy, mate Manier, all books that would have mentioned the word alchemist are either missing or they had pages ripped out of them. Honestly, what kind of Google Scholar app did Belacan's men have in order to know exactly where to look and exactly what page to rip out about in the alchemy books? That's just impressive.

[Lexi]

I'll say this. Bella Khan should not have been able to get anything about alchemy from Kalish, because Fisher's father warded Kalish so Bellakon and his supporters could not come in. So not sure how his supporters came in to wipe alchemy records clean from here. Unless there was no alchemy records in Kalash to begin with. Which would be unlikely and odd, but I guess it's possible. I don't know. Interesting about Balakan though. He doesn't want anyone else knowing about alchemy, but he himself absolutely would wants an alchemist. We'll talk about that a lot more later.

[Nicole]

Yes, what about Ishbal though? Since Belacan did not raid the Balcadir lands because they hate him, Ishabel says that their histories and texts of the balcony witches that are in Nevercross, which is their political power slash, you know, capital. Those histories slash texts are theirs. She does not believe that there's enemy any alchemist records or practices, girl. And even if there were some in the Catacombs, only guild witches are allowed to go into those chambers where they're kept. Those secrets are not allowed to be experienced. Oh, please, please, please, please. Zarif, can we please go there? Please, please, please, please.

[Lexi]

I hope so too. So much.

[Nicole]

Oh my gosh. I really don't think it's going to be in this trilogy though. If Lorath does have have a spin off book, which I think we both believe we know Carrion's getting one, but I'm assuming Laura is one of the other three. Or the other two.

[Lexi]

I don't know. I could even see Ishabel having one of them too.

[Nicole]

Okay, so this, this would, you know, qualify as that.

[Lexi]

I am worried about Lorath surviving the truth.

[Nicole]

Don't you say those words. How dare you. I think that Lorath and Ishbal are going to have their own book because it's going to be their enemy. Enemies to lovers Love story. We're gonna go to Nevercross, we're gonna go to the Catacombs and he's gonna learn how. How to stop being such a dick to Ishabel. Even though she's got some shady going on right now. I don't.

[Lexi]

I think that she is seizing an opportunity.

[Nicole]

Here's my it would have been one thing if she seized an opportunity, but ran it by the Found family. We've gotta found family trope. We don't like secrets from the Found family.

[Lexi]

I highlighted this whole section from Isha Ball for foreshadowing because Even Serious wonders what she means by experiencing secrets. That is certainly an odd word choice. Yes. This is fantastic foreshadowing for the dangerous magic Isha Ball will unleash with the help of Tal later at the Even Light ball. I absolutely 100% don't think we're done learning about Nevercross and these catacombs below their city filled with secrets and histories. Take me here, please. I'm waving my hands in the air and saying something is important here. What if they have the means to counter Madra's magic that she is channeling from Zelvarn's circular city layout? And we are still talking about warding the whole realm, which will require the witch's help. Remember that entire plot line that happens at some point in this book? And we also have the foreshadowing that this will become the witch's problem eventually too, if it is not stopped. Like Fisher says. Back to runes. Because Serious needs to seal her runes for many reasons. For one, it's painful when these runes, for lack of a better word, flare up. It feels like it's burning Saris's soul as well as her body. Ah, another mention of souls. Always keeping an eye out for how Callie brings souls into the story. And this pain feels like it is unmaking Serris. The magic is flowing within her unchecked because these runes. This magic is. It is not sealed yet. This pretty much makes Seras a walking time bomb. If she were to, I'll say, explode during the buildup of magic, she would destroy half of Evelia. And according to Tal, that much magic being unmade by itself would trigger a chain reaction that would then unmake all magic everywhere, basically destroying the entire realm. So no pressure to get these runes sealed and her magic under control. Poor Ceres with first going to Zarath and being told, just live your life and hopefully it'll mean that the world doesn't end and that the right choices and just.

[Nicole]

Oh my God. Oh my God.

[Lexi]

In the Kalish Library, surrounded by the group reconvening after that unsettling experience with Everlane, Adina, Lorath and Renfus return from the war camp.

[Nicole]

When Wren and Loreth bursts into the library. They bring some some semi good news with them. They found the vast majority of the missing soldiers who had abandoned the camp. Erin. But sadly, they lost a thousand soldiers to the Rot. Remember, there were 11,000, we lost a thousand. So we're at 10,000 left. This is much easier than stair math. But yes, I am keeping track with soldier math. Somehow the Rot is infecting the festival. Say it only took those infected with the Rot about an hour.

Before they were too far gone and needed to be put down by the others. Leaving a trail of bodies from the war camp to the foothills where Wren and Lorath found them. Wow. That sucks. And to make things even suckier, if that's even possible, wherever an infected body lay, the rot spreads and multiplies around the body body, overtaking the surrounding plants and even the animals, both living and dead. It's traveling over the snow and scorching the ground. And there's no way to stop it. Think about how like, two days ago they were like, okay, the worst thing we can experience is this maze. We've got Morphyl, and now they've got this. This is bad, bad, bad, bad.

[Lexi]

And of course, there is still the big question of if Madra sent these infected females leaders. And if she did, how did she transport them from Zelvarin to places in this realm without a quicksilver pool? And don't worry, we'll talk a lot more in a later episode about the theory that she's been building up magic for a thousand years. With all the talk about the rot infecting their realm, now is the time to spill the beans on what Seras experienced with Xarth, God of chaos and change, at the end of last book. Remember that Sarrus has told Fisher about all of it in detail, but they agreed to not to tell anyone else.

[Nicole]

Which we still don't know if Teladeus knew. So I'm adding that to the list of questions to ask Galli for next episode.

[Lexi]

But now, with the Rot already in full force, their friends need to have all the information so collectively they can strategize a path forward. Armed with all the info they can tldr for our listeners. And for the rest of these characters, learning that Sarris met with a literal God God Zarth severed Serris and Fisher from the tapestry of the universe. Which means the gods will not be able to see them anymore. He does this by making Ceres something entirely new. Half Vampire, half Fae. Because the universe cannot focus on what it does not recognize. But they are still God bound mates. In fact, the connection between Serrus and Fisher is more strong now than ever before. The gods are just blind to them now. Zarth has basically hidden them by severing them from the the universe tapestry to protect them from the other gods. Because the other gods want to eliminate Fisher, scrape the universe and start a new one that is not threatened by this rot. However, Zarth is taking a chance on Fisher and Serris. The couple created an access, a convergence in the thread of fates. And if there is a solution to this rot in saving the universe, Fisher and Serris are the ones to find a way to fix this. But I do want to say we cannot confuse that with being destined to fix this. Like what Ishabel to wanted. That's not what the threads of fate say. Instead it is unknown ahead for Serris and Fisher instead of sealed doom. So if there is a chance at winning, it's up to these two. I get it, friends. Very thin line of distinction that we're working with. My head hurts too from keeping it all straight. This conversation also brings up ideology about gods in general. According to Ishbal, the Evelyn gods are not real, although the Balqadir gods are real. And Ishabel said says quote, they've always been here and their will cannot be questioned. If we don't obey them, the consequences. And then Fisher cuts her off. What? Because I feel like now the Balcadira deities will definitely come into play. What is their will? What are the consequences? Is this related to how Isabel will go rogue and cause a vampire bloodbath to get rid of the blood curse? Is that part of their will? I just want to know more about the Balghir clan in general. General. And now even more so about their higher powers. Are their gods here in Evelia or in their own realm? Their own domain too? Oh.

[Nicole]

Oh dear.

[Lexi]

I'm falling down the spiraling rabbit hole.

[Nicole]

Gotta pull out. Gotta pull out.

[Lexi]

That's dirty.

[Nicole]

I will say this. I will never forgive Fisher for interrupting Ishabel in this moment. I swear to God. As conversation continues, a rather interesting topic is brought up, one that we, and by we I mean Lexi, have spent many a moment talking about on the podcast because Lorath says that Karion must be what, 1700 round that years old. And Carrion is like, watch it, old man. I'm 1096, thank you very much. But skr, that doesn't make any. Tell me about it, boys. Carrion went missing as the Dianthus heir when Lorath, Wren and Fisher were all failings. Lorath was 13 and he was preparing for his oath. Fisher was almost 10. So Carrion should be about the same age as them, just like 10 years younger. But as Fisher says, he's been thinking a lot about this. He's been putting his Professor Lexi hat on. And it's quite possible that when Fish Fisher's father note, he does not say Finryn. He just says my. My father took Carrion through the quicksilver. Something happened to Time, and his money is on one or more of the gods interfering. For whatever reason, they. The gods might have stilled time in Zelvarin for 700 ish years while time continued in Evalia. I know I normally do Daddy watch at the end of the episode, but I'm going to do to do one part of it here while we're on the subject, because this could be a huge clue to us that Finryn is actually Styx if the gods have the ability to pause time. Finryn. Styx.

[Lexi]

Sticks.

[Nicole]

Sticksrin. Sticksrin. Finn. Styx. Finics. I'll work on it. Could have wanted to make sure. Sorry.

[Lexi]

All I think about is Fishstix and the south park episode.

[Nicole]

Okay, wait. Fish. Do you like fish sticks? I do not like fish sticks. I haven't had a fish stick.

[Lexi]

Never mind.

[Nicole]

Okay, but I think we're actually gonna call him. No. Fish Sticks. Sounds like Fisher. Damn it. Fin Sticks. Fin Sticks it is. Finsticks could have wanted to make sure that it was near impossible to find the air Dianthus.

But.

So if 700 years go by in Evilia, where Bellacon will surely be frantically looking for the Dianthus heir, this is also where he would be marrying Adina. He would be, you know, trying to kill off Fisher, all of this stuff. But he literally. He, meaning Bellacon, literally cannot find the air Dianthus because they're lost in time thanks to Fish Sticks, unable to be seen. So Fin Sticks could have manipulated Time Time as they traveled through the quicksilver to Zolvarin. Now, could this have also happened if Finryn is not Styx and just a different God did this? Sure. Absolutely. I mean, he is still technically half God of Styx because he can wield shadows. So maybe he just like, bringed his own Daddy O. And he said, hey, I need some help. Can you pause time real quick for me? But I don't think so. I think it was Finsticks doing a really smart move to make sure that the dianthus heir is 700 years caught in time. So Bellicon's running around for 700 years trying to find this damn heir that he missed, and he literally cannot find it because he's caught in time.

[Lexi]

I hear what you're saying. I'm going to add to that here. While we didn't get as many answers about the timeline stuff as I may have hoped, I am so glad that we got confirmation, or at least a theory from Fisher that, yes, the gods intervened when his father took Carrion through the Quicksilver. I'm also going to add that in chapter 44 of Quicksilver, Zarth explains to Ceres that he tried to separate her and Fisher from ever meeting so they would not cause this access of power quote. Hundreds of years before you were born, I shifted the events around your birth, moved the pieces on the board, and placed you far away in a realm that should never have come into contact with his. Meaning Fisher. I'm going to stick to my belief from that Deep Dive episode, which was episode 76 of Quicksilver. If you have not listened to it, I really do highly recommend you listen to it. We finally detangle all of that stuff. When Zarath moved the pieces on the board specifically to separate Saris and Fisher, I think that it involved Finryn and Carrion going through the Quicksilver. Fisher thinks that the gods maybe wanted to talk to his father. He's saying that here in this chapter right now, and because time works differently in their realm. That's what cursed this world. Weird time lapse. We know that Fisher has more secrets. Callie has said that in recent interviews. So I wonder if he speculates more than he's letting on right now, knowing what he does about his father, whether that's Finryn or Styx or what. Finryn was a shadow wielder too, which means he would have to be half God. I bet something happened with the gods and Finryn, and they helped him on the path to this is what we must do for the future. And when he came back, he knew the Quicksilver would be stilled with his sword. And he was also stuck in the realm and ensured Elroy's ancestors had their marching orders for generations to come. Regarding the Quicksilver, I'm not willing to.

[Nicole]

Throw Elroy into this because I have my own speculations around him and his ancestry and all that kind of stuff. I definitely think what you're pulling out with what Zarath said in that scene, I think you're right on the money. So you. You don't think. Think it was Sticks interfering with Time. You think it was Zarith instead?

[Lexi]

I could see Sticks being involved in.

[Nicole]

Some way, especially if it is his half God son or if it is him himself. So it literally could have been Finsticks talking to Zarith and they together. Because he does say one or more gods stopping time and they together stopped time. Decided on some changing of things.

[Lexi]

Things. I'll be honest, I don't know where Sticks falls into all of this.

[Nicole]

I think I'm pulling Sticks into this because it's Finryn.

[Lexi]

That's the only reason I'm pulling Sticks into this. And. And I hear you on that. The more I have been reading Brimstone. I'm on my third read right now and if you. I keep hearing other lines that really do make me think that Finren is his own person, I think.

[Nicole]

And yeah, yeah, I read that scene earlier this morning where it's like him and Sarah's at the Huntsman Cottage. Not the fun scene, but the Huntsman Cottage. But where he's like talking about his father and the story and the left shoe and the right foot or whatever.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Nicole]

And yeah, we learn a lot more.

[Lexi]

About shadows and stuff. Like, again, we're only on episode two right now, so we're still working through a lot of things. But what I am saying is that I think that Zarath pulled Fenrin and yes, they helped intervene and stop all that time and stuff like that. And then they had a conversation with Fenrin and I say they. I don't know if that was only Zarath, because I do think that he was at least part of it. I don't know if Styx was part of that, because this is Z. I say he's rogue in an actual way, that he is going rogue from his siblings here. Yeah. And so again, I don't know where Six falls into it, but I do think that this is a little bit more Zaris domain.

[Nicole]

I think you're right.

[Lexi]

It feel.

[Nicole]

It feels more like Zarath's handiwork again.

[Lexi]

God of chaos and change.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

So I still think Sers was originally supposed to be of the Diana. This line that I was speculating for a quicksilver deep dive. And part of this meddling was how Zarth separated them across realms. Finryn had to come into Zelvarin with a godsword. Madra stealed the quicksilver with said godsword, ensuring these two people, Cerus and Fisher, would ultimately be in two different realms and not meet. So in Yvelia, the quicksilver actually stilled over 1700 years ago. But in Zelvarin it's stilled 1000 years ago. Now is a good time to bring up the big timeline discrepancy regarding Everlane that a lot of fans have been wondering about, myself included. We get the explanation about the God intervention to address why Carrion is so much younger than Fisher, despite when Fisher's father went through the quicksilver. It's what I figured. Huzzah. And I also, like we're saying here, we don't think that we've heard the last of this yet, but I'm gonna get back to that in a moment. What is not explained is Everlane's age age. In Quicksilver she said that she was 1486 years old, which is 247 years younger than her half brother Fisher. We also learned from Everlane that it took a long time for her mother to fall pregnant. Bellacon blamed Fisher for using her up. Knowing what we do about Fisher's age, and I'm even going to throw Carrion's age in there as well. It is impossible for Everlane to be born before Fisher turns 14 years old. Fisher's mother died before he turned 14 then that is why he did not know his true name. She died after Everlane was born, supposedly in childbirth, but Belcon actually slit her throat. Everlane always blamed herself for her mother's death, and it was soon after his mother died that Bello Khan forced Fisher through the quicksilver when he was only 11. There is quite literally no time in there for Everlane to be born, especially for it to have taken years for Edina to fall pregnant. Never mind the fact that according to both their ages, they are 247, seven years apart. There is also a line in chapter eight of Brimstone where Fisher comments how Everlane used to feed him sweet treats when she was little. Technically, he would not have been around when she was little. He would have been off at the war camps. Now there's obviously little things that could fill in that, but I just want to pull that out there too. So yes, this would seem to be an error that started in Quicksilver and cannot be explained away. I genuinely understand how this timeline discrepancy has tripped a lot of readers up, especially for a series that has so many important details and Easter eggs. We are deep diving it because it is so rich with all of those little half sentence details. And I'll be honest, there has been a math error in the series before. There's one with how many years Fisher was lost in the maze and then in the center of it, which was corrected in the traditional publication. And let's be very clear here, edits do happen in print. I get that there are a lot of varying opinions on readership grace with error errors, but the fact of the matter is that they exist. And I'm also not going to throw my hands up and label this as a massive plot hole. Yet like I said at the beginning of Brimstone episode one, this is book two and there is clearly a lot of information we readers don't know yet about a lot of things, including timeline stuff. If I hadn't deep dove Quicksilver, I would not have caught the timeline discrepancy between Fisher and Carian's ages. And by the way, I really, really do think that was intentional because there was foreshadowing about the Gods intervention in Quicksilver. And I trust Callie when she told us this timeline Discrepancy has a 2.5 importance rating on a scale from 1 to 5. If I hadn't caught this timeline discrepancy before, this reveal about Carrion's age difference right here would have made me go wow. I personally think this is foreshadowing for what we'll continue to learn about this timeline discrepancy verse explaining the discrepancy away from Quicksilver, especially because this is kind of thrown out there in the story and then everyone moves on like that's it. No way. There is a reason this is in the story and we just don't know it yet and the jury is still out for if that's the case with Everlane and that timeline discrepancy that isn't mentioned here, there could be other weird magic at play with Bellakon, Adina, or the Gods or something that we can't even fathom yet. It's certainly possible, what with the world building we already have in the story, and that could be why we haven't gotten the answer to this Everlane age yet. So far Callie's just planting the seeds of what is possible for a bigger reveal to come. Or it is indeed an error that was overlooked, in which case we all just roll our shoulders, say that's too bad, and move on, accepting the fact that Fisher has a younger sister anyway, because that is what is important to the story.

[Nicole]

Timelines aside, we still have a very, very big issue and that is the rot. It is spreading faster than anyone in this room can believe, and it's time to start making plans. They got shit to do. So Fisher says for Cerys to return to the Forge at Amon Trayeth to make as many relics as possible. That's a lot of deals with some quicksilver she needs to go make. But as Lorath points out out relics won't stop them from fighting an infected army.

[Lexi]

And the feeders that can be affected by silver? They're not a problem anymore. Because Seras forbid them from attacking. Her command is laced with power. She must be obeyed.

[Nicole]

But that brings up the elephant in the room. They're not talking about fighting the Rot in this instance. They are discussing using those relics to yeet to another realm through the quicksilver, where they'll figure out how to stop the Rot from there.

[Lexi]

Before the Rot. Wasn't this also Fisher's plan B with Sarris in the first place? If they couldn't defeat Malcolm's horde and needed to go somewhere safe to live.

[Nicole]

Yeah, well, remember back literally last episode we were discussing the dedication in the Tempest. The quote that Ariel was recalling was from Ferdinand as he and his men were all abandoning ship. This is the abandoned ship and ship Evelia version. If the Rot is spreading this fast, they have to know, and they have nothing that they know of that can save them. It's very much so. Time to start prepping for plan B. Which is the backup plan of get the fuck outta here.

[Lexi]

In order to make this many thousands of relics to safely travel through a realm portal, you know what we'll need? A shit ton of silver. But remember how Belacon has had that embargo on silver we never shut up about in our Quicksilver deep Div dive? It makes getting quicksilver a little difficult to get a hold of. As in there is definitely not enough silver in this realm for what they need. If only someone in this group has lived in a place nicknamed the Silver City for a thousand years. Huzzah for Carrion. Because while Madra hoards metal in Salvarin out of paranoia with magic users alchemists, there is a hell of a lot more silver in that room realm than there is here in Yvelia, where it's been a precious rare resource for hundreds of years. Being the successful smuggler that he is carrying, knows where enough silver is for them to start making relics. We'll find out once he's there that he owns a bank and has direct access to silver. But yes, all the circumstances are exactly as shady as that sounds. I cannot wait for next episode. All of this to say, boys. Trip to Zalvarin for Carrion and Fisher.

[Nicole]

And oh yeah, Carrion also knows what Hayden Fane looks like. So God only knows who Fisher would bring back if it was just him on this solo. Mish. Maybe that one guy that was blonde that serious kissed in the pub once. Carrion also knows Zolvarin like the back of his hand. But these are not the only reasons that Sylvarin is the correct next move. While Fischer does not say it here, he's got some plans of his own own. He wants to know how the fuck these feeders are getting through from Zilvarin, and most of all, he's ready to finally kill Madra. With too many things to do and not enough time or resources, the crew decides to divide and conquer before finally meeting up back in Kalash. In three days, Wren will go to the smaller settlements east of Kalish and after that move along the coast to warn as many people as he can of the rot. We know since we finished the book that he's going to get a little sidetracked while he's in Galaria because he's called north via his oath to Ajinsky to protect the newly opened gate. Yes, the gate that SARS literally just opened. This episode Danya is sending out hunting parties to keep the infected rot at bay with those who's left of the 10,000 warriors from Eren. Telin and her mate Mnir are tending to the wounded who fled the war camp. Ishabel is returning to her people in Balqadir in Nevercross to ask if they know anything about sealing alchemical runes. Or at least that's what she's supposed to do, because we'll strongly assume that she's going to actually Sanazroth to talk to Taladeas.

[Lexi]

Speaking of Amitreith, Cerys has to stay behind because she is Queen of the Blood Court and she has to work on sealing her runes. As much as she wants to help the others out, especially go back to Zelvarin with her mate, she can't. If she spends any more time away from Amitre, the Lords of Midnight would declare the throne abandoned and someone would swoop on in there to claim it for themselves. Lorath is here with Cerys to train her in sword fighting. You know she's got to learn how to handle Solace. But as we'll find out, Fisher specifically requested Lorath to stay here and stick with Cerys in Amitre to guard and protect her, because of course he's willing to do that. I love Lorath so much. Except when he's around Israel. Later on, after goodbyes, Lorath takes Seras out of the palace with a hood to hide her face to go get a nice glass of wine. And we get a good look at life outside of the Black Palace. Amitreith is the fortress where the Black palace is located within. And at the base of Amitreith is the Cogs, the circular, multi, tiered, interlocking neighborhoods that are connected via staircases.

[Nicole]

We should be concerned about this because these are are circular. We know that circles are the most powerful shape. So was this how Malcolm became so powerful? Him and Madra were both using circles to harness power. And before you ask, I have looked up circles at the Winter palace and I could not find anything in quicksilver. Okay, So I don't think Belacon's using circles to his advantage.

[Lexi]

To answer your question, I think think a lot of it will depend on if we should be worried about it. With where things end with the Blood Court, it all kind of happens and then our crew doesn't really go back there. So as we get to that part of the Deep Dive with the consequences and the aftermath of everything that goes down after the even Lake Ball, let's keep an eye out for that, because could I see that being very, very important? Absolutely. In the Cogs, there are shadowy walkways between the narrow brick building buildings. There are plenty of people walking about, going about their business. Most are high bloods, but there is a feeder or two every once in a while, collared and being used as a pack horse of sorts. But it doesn't end there. There are people stripped and lashed to posts where they are being whipped in public. There are crying children and spindly legged creatures eating rats and drinking from the rat body like a cup. How lovely. But actually, yes, even in the depths of the depravity that is found here, there is beauty as well. Well, ah, this reminds me of how the hall of Tears becomes beautiful to serious. After she drinks blood for the first time, she is able to see the beauty in vampire culture as dark and hard as it is on the surface. Right? Well, not even on the surface. It's definitely there in the core too. But there are beautiful elements, part of it. Some of the shops have beautiful stained glass windows depicting a multitude of colors and intricately crafted scenes. There are window boxes with beautiful night blue blooming flowers as well as vines that creep up the sides of the building. And there are tiny white flowers that smell like jasmine.

[Nicole]

You all didn't think we'd be skipping over this plant watch, did you? Like I skipped over the dino. I know I said I failed. I'm sorry. The number of dms that we have.

[Lexi]

Gotten asking where gym watch was for.

[Nicole]

The rings.

I am going to add it into the even light because I feel like I have failed the fandom. It's fine, but we're gonna do the plant mod here because I'm doing my job.

Around the buildings, we spot two different kinds of flowers, fascias and jasmine. Fascias symbolize transformation, which is pretty on par for our girl right now. And jasmine symbolize beauty, sensuality, and good luck. I'm gonna throw sensuality as definitely part of the Blood Court. And you know what? Considering the rot's taken over our world, I think they could use a little luck right now.

[Lexi]

I'll say this, those tiny white flowers. You know where else we see tiny white flowers in this book? I don't know where. When Carrion has Cirrus come to his room back at college and he's like, I need you to see if this is crazy. And as he's speaking, tiny white flowers bloom as he's talking. But even in all that beauty, the High Bloods wear cruel smiles. And they openly carry knives in the dark, even as they are dressed in exquisitely tailored outfits and dresses of luxurious materials like silk and probably velvet.

[Nicole]

At the tavern, the Fool's Paradise, Lorath doesn't exactly get the biggest welcome. We learn that 600 years ago, Lorath got into a fight at the tavern and did not pay for his glass of wine or the table. He broke, and all debts are paid. This verbal skirmish is starting to collect some notice. So two High Blood bouncers come over and lay their hands on Lorath. Bad idea, motherfuckers. Lorath whirls around and in a blink of an eye, takes off one of the High Blood's hands, then jams it into the High blood's mouth and down his throat. Oh, my goodness, that's quite. Don't piss off. Lorath. Tldr. Honestly. Lorath. Lorath. Smack talk in this stretch of chapters is phenomenal. Now, getting into a tavern ball. We're used to these things as fantasy readers, but this one in particular is quite the big deal. A Lorath drew a silver sword, a God sword, nonetheless, on one of the vampires. Silver is not allowed in Sanusroth because it's a death sentence to almost everyone here in the Cog. Lorath is also not thralled to anyone, which is near unheard of for anyone in the Blood Court and who was a Fae, let alone he's not even allowed to enter this tavern. And you know, having a Hand is mighty inconvenient for these high Bloods. And he just took off one. Even though their hands do grow back. Which I thought was an interesting world building tidbit. Thank you, Lexi. That's beautiful. It's so tiny that it could barely hold his tiny little penis.

I hate the image that you just made my brain conjure.

[Lexi]

But thankfully Taladeus arrives before things get too weird or heated, before any other hands get cut off. Turns out Tal owns this tavern. And as a powerful Lord of Midnight too, he's got quite the authority here. He heard Seras left the palace, so he followed them, just knowing that they would get get into trouble. Yes, that is absolutely correct, Tal. This also offers us a small glimpse into the life that Tal has carved for himself in the vampires world. He may not be able to forgive himself for becoming a vampire and for all of the many things that he has done, but he has adapted and evolved to rise up in power here at Amitre. Not just becoming Malcolm's second, but becoming a businessman apparently too. It. It's rather remarkable that there is still good in him. He may claim he doesn't have a soul left, but we see otherwise. And I just love that common theme that we get with Tal and how complicated his character is and continuing to explore that.

[Nicole]

So I do have to wonder, is there a long game that Taladeus is playing by being this tavern owner? He said that he bought this tavern about 50 years ago. What else happened about about 50 years ago? It was around that time that Fisher entered the center of the maze. He progressed in a major way to the next level. New achievement to the maze where he found. Where he would have found the coin. Should the maze's rules have actually worked the way they were supposed to. I don't think that it would have been out of the question for Talladeus to believe that Fisher was going to kill Malcolm as soon as that coin was found. So I could see Talladeus having put pieces into play about 50 years ago to ensure he knew the happenings of the Blood Court should Malcolm fall. By being the owner of this tavern, along with who knows what else he did, he would be in a better position to get secrets from the people that he could then use against Malcolm for when his downfall was in it.

[Lexi]

After Tal requests to have a private conversation with Saris and the two are alone, a rope of fire shoots up Sarris's arm. And while she's wearing gloves to hide her God bindings, light is spilling out of the leather. This release of magic is so painful. And Saris's hands are shaking so violently that she has to shove it in her armpit and pin it to her side while she waits for the pain to pass. Yeah, sure, Tal is really not going to notice that.

[Nicole]

How many times have you had a conversation with someone and you're like, excuse me, Excuse me.

[Lexi]

I mean like I'm sometimes really cold outside, but that's different.

[Nicole]

Stick your hands in your armpits, I guess. Actually like through a jacket. Yeah, I guess I do that. That's not as weird.

[Lexi]

But serious runes start burning through her skin all the way down to the bone. Ouch. These swells of power are a direct consequence of Sarah's having unsealed runes. And her having as many as she can does is an even bigger problem. We mentioned earlier. Serris is one bad flare up away from destroying the entire realm. And now is when it's coming to Tal's attention.

[Nicole]

Because there's one small blip in your armpit plan here. Saeras.

[Lexi]

First of all, wait real quickly. I wonder if that would burn her armpits. I thought about that.

[Nicole]

I'm like, well, that's a way to do laser hair removal. Singing it.

[Lexi]

Please keep talking.

[Nicole]

Anytime you lie to your maker, AKA Talladeus to protect, you know, Fisher, or that your runes are burning your hairs off, you light up like a blue flare to Taladeus. So basically, whenever someone is thralled to another, they cannot lie. Well, you can say the lie, but then you glow bright ass blue. Blue, you say? I swear to God, Lexi, this color is going to haunt me and it's my favorite fucking color. And I'm stressed. So serious.

[Lexi]

Chooses to trust Tal and tell him everything about the runes, her conversation with Idina, and even the book. We were talking earlier about how much character growth this shows for Seras, who has been hardened into a fierce independent woman who pushes others away. Trusting others would get you killed. Killed in Salvarin. But she has a found family now and her circumstances are very different. And she finds trust in Tal, who has helped her at every turn. He can. The truth is she's not alone anymore and she doesn't have to act like it.

[Nicole]

Taladeus has a proposition for this new queen. In a moment of quite the build up, he asks if it would be alright if he disavows her. I love that he. He asks. That's so beautiful. You can just feel how much being in charge of another person makes Tal so uncomfortable. And it makes sense. For years he was wholly at Malcolm's Mercy. He knows what it feels like to have no autonomy over his own life. And he doesn't want anyone else to feel that way. He doesn't want anyone else to have that anger, that hatred he felt towards Malcolm, towards him.

[Lexi]

As.

[Nicole]

As he explains, typically a newly turned vampire is reckless with their thirst and they need guidance as a result in the ways of amuntreith. But Seiris does not have that same thirstiness, at least in the way he's explaining here. So she doesn't really need a guide in this new world. Which means that he can disavow her and sever their bond on the sooner side. Unfortunately, this does have to be done with court politics in mind. AKA theatrics.

[Lexi]

Ugh.

[Nicole]

Ceres. Favorite thing. You know Taladeus technically isn't lying here though, because there will be quite the dramatics that day. Indeed.

[Lexi]

In return for public disavowment, Cerus has something she wants in return. Aha. Our girl knows that you never do a favor for nothing. She needs Tal to rule over the the Vampire Court in her stead and act on the Queen's behalf. She'll frequently be going to Kalash and she doesn't know how to rule over a court. She needs him because she trusts him. He knows what he's doing and he was Malcolm's second Tao knows his vampire politics. Overall, this is quite the win win between the two. They won't be maker and maid and Serious doesn't have to worry about politics when she's got bigger fish to fry.

[Nicole]

So with a shared friendly smile, it is decided she better start calling him Tal. I love that ending, especially because the chapter name is Tal. When last book we had Talidaeus. Yes, it's just showing that progression of their friendship. I'm just. Oh my God. That's beautiful.

[Lexi]

All right, let's tap into our inner oracle and turn our full attention to important foreshadowing moments for the rest of this book and speculations for book three. We already touched on this, but now let's zoom on in. We get more tension between Lorath and Ishabel in this episode and Nicole, I am sticking to my belief that they have not slept together before. There is deep rooted prejudices between their two peoples. And while I am still hoping for an enemies to lovers story for these two, let's just say zero movement was made on that this book. So I don't know whether it's going to pan out. One of our best was that they had had previously slept together. So is it safe to say, I.

[Nicole]

Won this round, I think I am willing to relent this one to you. Although there is a line where Isabel says, in answer to Sarah's question of, you know, why does Lora hate you so much? Ishabel says, yeah, it's probably best if I let him tell you that one. Sorry, I'm not going to do a Scottish accent. Why? I want to know why. I. I could see a world. I could see a world in which they slept together, but he didn't know she was a witch. And then he later found out and he was pissed because of his prejudice, so that makes him, like, extra mad at her, which L for you, Lorath. Just honestly, in general, anything.

[Lexi]

I was gonna say L for him in general with how rude he is to the witch, but I was under the impression that we do find out later why he does not like them. And it has to do with their cultures and the perception of matter. Because Lorath grew up where magic was considered, like, stolen from the land, so he couldn't use his magic. And the witches who were also up in that northern region were witches and use their magic. And so there was really some very deep set prejudices between their two people and how they view magic.

[Nicole]

Okay, so there's a lot of hate here, and it's not giving. We previously fucked it out. Tension. Especially when she says that she thinks Lorath would prefer her to dead in a ditch somewhere, which is how he almost died. Like, it's a low blow. Isha ball. But honestly, I can't really blame you because, Lauren, stop being very nice. So do I think that they could be an enemies to lover story eventually? Yes. Yes, I do. Let me just hammer that on the head one more time. But here's my one stipulation to relenting. Lexi, are you ready?

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

If it is later revealed that they had previously slept together, I get to cash in my winnings. Is that fair?

[Lexi]

That is fair. Yes.

[Nicole]

Yes. Okay, so because this is the first official bet, we are declaring Lexi one. Well, I guess second, because the sex bet. But anyway, this bet was that if Laureth and Ishmael have slept together, Lexi, if she won, I had to pick up and bring her the really good barbecue that's next to my house. And, you know, really hard to get.

[Lexi]

It because it's always sold out and.

[Nicole]

It'S quite frankly open. And it's only open three days a week from like 11 to 3 or something like that.

[Lexi]

It's very inconvenient for me.

[Nicole]

So, Lexi, I relent and you know what? This is really a treat for both of us because I'm picking up some for myself, too.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Nicole]

But if I win, I get to pick out your Christmas theme for that year. So if this book does come out the next year, that means I'm picking out the Christmas theme a month and a half before Christmas.

[Lexi]

I will accept that.

[Nicole]

So. Okay, that was all one foreshadowing point. Let's move on to the next. There's a note about Renfis and Ishbal having very similar accents. We don't know where Renfis is originally from, so is he from the Balqadir witch clan? But then he moved away and is his mom a Balconyr witch?

[Lexi]

Oh, Nicole, if we just bring out our handy dandy map. The Balcadir Witchclans are north of the shallow mountains in Golaria, so I'm guessing Wren is from Golaria and probably just north of these mountains too.

[Nicole]

Okay, I can accept that. We do know that he's not from Ajin Sky. So before you're like, wait, but he's from Ajin sky, he got to be one of the Knights of Erithian because of the Battle of Azjen Gate and all that stuff. Well, get into that in the last episode of this deep dive while we're on Renfus. The meaning of his back straightening whenever Everlane's name is mentioned is just so sweet. And I love how Fisher mentions in his inner monologue how he never calls out his brother's reaction. I just love them. I want to see them get together. But in order to do that, Everlane has to wake up.

[Lexi]

So we'll get more into this, I believe, next episode. But we are are learning that Serious has not slept since she turned into a half vampire. Vampires don't sleep a lot, especially soon after the transition because they are so restless. And we also learn that she has a much smaller stomach now too. I'm assuming between vampires not really needing to eat, they drink more blood. And as a half vampire, Serious may not need to drink blood, but she also doesn't have to eat very much. All right, once again, we are wondering why Ceres tattoos do not move, but some officials do. Serious is wondering it too. I have nothing else to add to that. Just clocking it like usual. I guess we are calling this Smell Watch because last episode we talked about how Fisher says that he has a better sense of smell than most. And you, Nicole, noted how the goddesses smell emotion and feelings on him. Wondering if that's more of A God like trait. And another nod to how Fisher is half God. Well, Fisher says that memories and scents have always been heavily interlinked for him. Where he smells something and immediately experiences the association. It very easily may be a fey warrior. Fisher is our MMC thing. Or maybe it means more with what we know now about him being half God.

[Nicole]

I will never forget the scream that ripped out of my older sister's throat when in chapter 10 thinks quote, I didn't care about a mystery book. You all. I do not think I've ever seen Lexi matter at a female main character.

[Lexi]

I haven't been. I even paused and I took a video to yell at Cirrus for that. You never ever don't care about a mystery book.

[Nicole]

Serious.

[Lexi]

I still haven't forgiven you for that.

[Nicole]

I reopened the wound. You reopened the wound. Tal telling Sares that her runes indicate that she has regenerative magic and she can thus heal others. Yes, she will. And that little fox will be so grateful.

[Lexi]

I have another timeline headache. And that is about when Azhen Gate happened. Because in Quicksilver, and I promise I'm not pointing these out to be like to point them out for pointing them out sake, I am pointing them out because in our previous deep dive, we were saying information. And I want to make sure that we are all on the same page here with you, our listeners. So in Quicksilver, I was convinced that the battle of azheng gate happened 400 years ago because Fisher made a comment in Quicksilver that quote, nimril is the only thing that stood between Evelia and Everlasting Darkness for the past 400 fucking years. But here in Brimstone it says that the battle of Azhen Gate happened more than 1,000 years ago. Except Folly turned into a vampire immediately after this battle. And Brimstone also says that he turned into a vampire 800 years ago. That's two different timelines in the same book. Obviously Zarath has gone rogue again with these damn timelines. It's fine. I'm fine. We're all fine. Sorry. But I just wanted to correct that in that way because I was saying 400 years ago when we were doing our coverage of Quicksilver, that is where I had gotten that 400 years ago. And now it is 800 plus years ago.

[Nicole]

@ this point, Zarath is just trolling you. Like I said, I'm.

[Lexi]

Convinced.

Remphes worries that if this rot spreads to Amon Traith and infects the Horde there, that is an entire army of super feeders that Is a very big concern that we should be really more mindful about. These feeders that are already at Amontreya would basically become indestructible because of the rot. As far as we understand. I'm clocking this now to keep a close eye on for where things are left with feeders and vampires after the even light ball situation. Because this could be major foreshadowing for a big, big problem in book three if feeders are still around. I also wonder why the ROT did not target Amontreith first, knowing the Horde would have decimated the land much sooner. It makes me think even more that Iran was specifically targeted by whoever controlled these feeders in the beginning. It knew that Fisher and other important people were at this war camp and that is where it needed to target first, instead of being on the right side of the darn and just walking two hours toward the place that they would have a lot more success.

[Nicole]

With. Which sounds a lot like Madra because she does give off very reactive energy. Especially with what we saw from her and Saeris in the hall of Mirror. Yes, in.

[Lexi]

Quicksilver.

[Nicole]

Yeah. Now it is time to enter Algot's library with Guru the Shadow Cat, where each episode Lexi guides us through a world building topic to help us deepen our understanding of this world and the magic within.

[Lexi]

It. I love that we went into the library this episode. I love it when they all just match up so well with the segment names. All right, friends, so today's Algot's library topic is Santa's Roth and more specifically the vampire culture here at Amontreith. So Siennis Wrath is located on the southern west side of this realm, directly below Yvelia. And the two territories are separated by that frozen river known as the Darne. Amontreaeth is 2 hours distance from the Darne across the dead fields, a barren wasteland of ash and volcanic glass. It's not an easy place to pass through either. Feral feeders live in burrows dug deep into the ashen char and the image emerge hungry the moment the sun begins to.

[Nicole]

Set.

You okay.

[Lexi]

There?

This is also where most shunned vampires end up. So at the base of the fortress Amatre is the Cogs. And the Cogs is a small circular, multi tiered city of interlocking neighborhoods connected via staircases. The multi level settlement has been built over the years around around the palace's perimeter with a wall enclosing the lowest levels of the cog separating it from the dead fields. We don't see Too much of the Cogs and what each level looks like. But we do get a peek at the second tier that we were just talking about with the Fool's Paradise Tavern visit. This second level is frequented by Blood Mages, the Lichborn and Outcast paladins looking to trade questionable goods. It has shadowy courtyards down narrowed covered walkways that branch off the main path, brick shops with crooked roofs and window signs advertising tinctures, tarot readings and familiars for sale. So what is it like to live as a vampire, you ask? In general, everything about Sanis Roth is hard. The vampires have a very primal nature to them that is reflected in their society, which is why they hold so strongly to those traditions we discussed so much last episode. There appears to be a very clear cut caste system, and while we don't know specifically what designates someone as a High Blood versus a Low Blood, it is very clear that the vampires hold these designations in high regard. I know we touched on this last episode, but talking about the High Bloods, they are the upper class of the vampires. They like to throw parties and sip blood out of jeweled chalices, including wine that is laced with fresh blood. Yummy. For the most part the High Bloods are fairly civilized unless their food supply is cut off or disrupted. If that happens happens, the vampires will quickly devolve into the monsters they are known to be. Outside of Sanis Roth in the Cogs, it's mostly the High Bloods that are out and about doing their business every once in a while. There is a feeder here as well, but they are collared and being used as a replacement of let's say a pack mule, and are used as a pack mule would be. They are gaunt and thin, barely more than just rotting skin and bones, desperate for the blood that their masters taunt them with. We know that ungoverned or unenthralled Fae are allowed kind of in Sanisroth, but they are not allowed everywhere here. There are some places like Fool's paradise that only permit thralls and vampires. As they say, uncovered Fae are not welcome there, although Lorath does not give two shits about that. Speaking of thralls and other vampire food sources, while we don't see these directly on the page, there are comments made about livestock breeding farms and feeding farms, and while we don't get specifics, which is probably a very good thing on what these are and how they work, I'm going to assume it is where the Unenthralled Fae live and procreate until it's time for them to be food for the empires, but I don't know that. Anyway, going back to Fool's paradise, we see Fae who are having a meal with their high bloods and they're being casually fed on, but there are also more spicy ways of feeding that make Seras blush. We also see Taladeus taking part in this sexual feeding in his own personal chambers with one willing participants because they get high out of it after the midnight kiss, the bite that turns you into a vampire Life can be more than some vampires can handle without the proper guidance it is easy to make poor choices. As Talladeus puts it, there are many roads to take in Amon Traith and nearly all of them lead to hell. The thirst for blood takes years to get used to and it is very easy for young vampires to lose control and give in to that bloodlust. Vampires are able to to feed on any type of blood including animals like rats, but they prefer human and Fae blood. They can no longer go out into the sun like they used to be able to before they were a vampire because now as a vampire the sun burns their eyes and weakens them, leaving vampires to naturally be nocturnal species and this only heightens the dark and depraved view of them which they gladly lean into. Vampires tend to get extra tired during the day and newly turned vampires can barely stay awake when the sun is out except right after getting turned as Sarah's and Folly experience severe restlessness after turning vampire and they cannot sleep. Lastly, I want to touch on the different vampire bonds. The first one is the maker bond and I'm going to use the word child to describe the transition vampire as this is the analogy used in the book. This is the bond that forms when a high bled successfully turns a person into a vampire. Most high bleds don't care about the ramifications or the responsibility that comes with turning somebody. Here are some of the side effects of the bond the maker can feel when their child is in pain and both the maker and child are able to feel the emotions of the other one to some extent. A child vampire cannot lie to its maker. If they try, a blue aura comes off of them and the stronger the aura the bigger the lie. A maker also holds a position of power over their child. They can literally forced them to obey. This is why Malcolm had such a strong hold over Tal and other vampires. They didn't have a choice. The power of the maker commanded them to obey. Makers can also disavow their children. This means they sever the bond between them and everything I just mentioned becomes null and void. The maker announces that they received the gift of their blood. They call back their blood, revoke their lineage and patronage so that the maker and child are not tied to each other anymore. And there's a big clap and power happens off of that. This act of magic causes the child to throw up any and all of the blood that they ingested from their maker and it officially breaks their tie. Now let's shift over to the enthralled. When a person is bitten by a vampire enough times, they become enthralled to them. Remember, enthralled does not mean that you are a vampire. You are an enthralled Fae or another enthralled person. For the most powerful vampires like Malcolm and Tao, foul. They only need to bite someone once to start the enthrallment process. Being a thrall means that they are bound to the vampire who bit them. They are mindlessly devoted to their master's needs. Inevitably, when their master grows bored, they drain them and then their victim dies. Three days later, the victim rises again and becomes a feeder. And remember, if you're enthralled, you do not become a vampire yourself. Unless you then bite from your vampire. Vampire enthraller. And then that is how you become maker and child. And there you have it, friends. That is what we have here on the vampire.

[Nicole]

Culture. It is time to prance through the snow with Onyx to discuss our favorite moments. From this stretch of.

[Lexi]

Chapters. We get our first mention of solar plexus. The Internet has been wondering, what the hell is solar plexus? It's.

[Nicole]

Here. It's like right in front of your.

[Lexi]

Heart. Yeah, because it's the word that Cali does like to use. So your solar plexus is a complex network of nerves located in your abdomen. It's behind your stomach. So when you get like the wind knocked out of you, that is hitting your solar plexus. So think of it like where the stomach is. But as I understand it, solar plexus is the more correct term because it's where your actual nerves.

[Nicole]

Are. You went to Michael for this one, didn't.

[Lexi]

You? I did. And then he gave me me like a whole other answer. And it was way more complicated than I. I don't. I asked a doctor and he gave me a complicated answer, so I tried to simplify.

[Nicole]

It.

I love how Cali writes any moments where saris is greeting Onyx. You can just hear the way that Onyx is loving on saris. With how she says, quote. Oh. Oh, my goodness. Hey.

[Lexi]

Buddy. Hi.

[Nicole]

Hi. Hi. Yes, I'm happy to see you too. Like, I just. I.

[Lexi]

The. Hi.

[Nicole]

Hi. Hi. You can just like, feel the, like, doo, doo, doo.

[Lexi]

Doo. I just feel like I'm like, greeting my dog.

[Nicole]

Hi. Hi.

[Lexi]

Buddy. Hi.

[Nicole]

Yes. I also love that Fisher is looking all grumpy about it, but he loves this damn fox. Oh, my God, I'm so.

[Lexi]

Excited. And remember, friends, that Callie has said that Onyx is inspired by her own dog. And I just see that so vividly in Brimstone. Onyx is every enthusiastic doggy that we just love so.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Much.

[Lexi]

Much.

[Nicole]

Yes. A moment of appreciation for Archer's fit. It is hunter green, which we know from our quicksilver coverage is one of Fisher's favorite colors, especially to wear when he's feeling more open. It is a vest with gold buttons all the way down to his little fire belly. He is dressed up for dinner and it's adorable. And then when he's at the dinner table, he's just like kicking his little feet because he can't reach the floor. Oh, my.

[Lexi]

God. For Archer's sake. I want there to be a wedding.

[Nicole]

So.

[Lexi]

Honestly. Because he would get so dressed up for it and I bet he would have like. No, Onyx would be the ring bearer. And I feel like Remphes would probably be like the officiate, but Archer would be right there. He would be somewhere.

[Nicole]

Yes. Oh, yeah. It was really cute. I just pictured.

[Lexi]

It. I know.

[Nicole]

Right? If we get denied a wedding.

[Lexi]

I am going to need that wedding. I don't care if it's a bonus chapter. I don't care where it is. Just give me the wedding.

[Nicole]

Please.

Okay. Okay. Fisher says about Danya and Carrion, quote, if they procreate, I'm banishing them from Kalish. A combination of the two of them would probably tear open some sort of hell gate and suck the entire estate through it. If Lexi, if we do get Carrion's Tale and there is a storyline within Carrion's Tale that involves Danya, do you think think this is going to.

[Lexi]

Happen? No, I don't think. Okay. Also say this. I don't know if his spin off book is going to be after all of this happens. I could see his technically being a prequel spin off of his time in Zalvarin and then. Yes. And then we would meet Tim and then we'd all be really sad. So I don't see Danya being carrying love story here. I don't think that he's Going to get a a romantic interest in this trilogy. I feel like his character arc is much more focused on being heir to Yvelia. Do I think that he and Danya are going to have fun.

[Nicole]

Together? They do. They literally do in this book.

[Lexi]

When? When does this.

[Nicole]

Happen? I will point it out to you when we get to.

[Lexi]

It. Okay, that's.

[Nicole]

Fine. I love these descriptions of Seris looking for things that are different within herself. And when she looks looks, she comes up with nothing. Quote, the things that really mattered hadn't changed. I don't know why that line just hit me so hard. It was beautiful. Sarah's dress colors, even though she does not wear any of them in this chapter stretch. These are colors we've analyzed and it's worth highlighting. The first dress that Fisher picks out for her for dinner is hunter green. She could have matched Archer. And the second is ivory white with blue pink undertones. AKA the Osha butterfly in the.

[Lexi]

Snow. Oh, how.

[Nicole]

Lovely. I love how say Ris and Fisher both have sweet tooths for pastries. We saw last book that Sayerus loves going for the pastries for breakfast in Ballard, but we also see it here with Ren making fun of his brother for bypassing bacon and going straight for the pastries. I love that. Speaking of Ren and Fisher, all of their dialogue is so wonderful. It's. You can just feel the years of friendship between them, especially around Fisher now being in love. And how Ren is so giddy that his brother, who always said he would never fall in love, and Fisher's like, I'm not going to gossip with you about my romantic life like some kind of sheep herder which causes redfish to say, quote. Are sheep herders gossip mongers? I think that's so.

[Lexi]

Funny. Listen, I know that there are a lot of open, open plots in the story and none of us quite know how this is all gonna get wrapped up with a bow for book three. But now I want to go to the foothills of the shallow mountain and talk to these gossiping sheep herders. They could have some valuable information for all we.

[Nicole]

Know. I think this is just another book to add to your list of the fae and alchemy cozy fantasy spin.

[Lexi]

Offs. Yes, yes. I'm gonna have to talk to Callie about that. Sounds.

[Nicole]

Wonderful.

Oh, Onyx kicking his little legs as he runs in his sleep while he's laying next to Everlane. My.

[Lexi]

Art. My dog Ollie would do this all the time. And he'd go and he'd be like chasing his little squirrels and running and running, running asleep And I just loved it so much. I miss him. And, oh, I just saw that from Onyx and it was like, oh.

[Nicole]

Carrion. Only asking two questions after Sarah's looks sick from her encounter with Edina. Question one, is she contagious? Question two, she'll be fine after she eats something. What time is dinner? I personally think his priorities are in.

[Lexi]

Order. Lord's sarcasm is absolutely hilarious. When Sers chastises him for not being polite and he says, oh, damn, I didn't realize we were doing this to be polite. Sorry. Let me fix that. I challenge you to a duel. Serious face. Would you please stab me with that shiny sword of yours? It would be such an.

[Nicole]

Honor. All right, friends, we need to close out this episode with a Daddy Watch. Remember, this is the section where we parse through every mention of Fisher's father to try to figure out if A Finryn equals Styx. Fin Sticks. B Sticks is Fisher's biological father, and Finryn raised him. So they're two separate people. Or three, they're completely unrelated, and I'm going on this wild goose chase for nothing. And. And Fisher's statement at the very end is just completely.

[Lexi]

Figment. Well, so with you saying that, I do want to point out that the German translation of Brimstone, that final line of the entire book, it is not our father. It says your father. And so, as I understand it, the German publisher did confirm that was not an error on their part. That was their interpretation of it. And so without getting into all that with the publishing and translations and all that kind of stuff, that. That could be a huge clue that it is not technically our father, it is indeed their father, who obviously Fisher is very closely associated with somehow, some way, so.

Exactly. And while we absolutely stick to the English text, because that is how it was written, that is how, like, we want to follow what Cali specifically said. I do. That could provide some extra context as we continue exploring all these.

[Nicole]

Possibilities. Yes, absolutely. And I do think that one of the reason I'm still leaning towards Fisher being a spawn somehow, whether it's Finsticks or whether it's two completely different people, is because if he is half God, means that he would have to have at least one God as a parent. At least that's how I'm understanding.

[Lexi]

It. I think that is a very literal way of understanding.

[Nicole]

It. God forbid I do that as a Deep diver.

Okay, we discussed Daddy Watch earlier in the timeline section of this episode, but there's one more moment I want to call to attention actually, from that scene. Fisher says, quote, I barely remember my father either. This is to Carrion. And I don't pretend to know anything of plans made by gods. All we can do is make our own and hope for the best. Oh, Fisher, you're skirting around the truth. Because there's a lot here. One, I don't think it's an accident that Fisher is mentioned and then the gods. I think that is foreshadowing for him being half God. However, he does say Father here, not Finren. Now he is talking about my father, so that's not out of the question that he doesn't say my Finren or Finren. But I do want to be clear that he's not saying Finryn, he's saying father. So it might be a nod to the fact that those are two different people. And maybe he was burnt like his biological father is Styx, but he was raised by Finran and Adina. But this also could have a double meaning if Fisher's real father is Styx. But Finran raised him. Like I was just saying. But he knew neither man very well. Father could actually mean both men. Both Finryn and Styx. Separate.

[Lexi]

People. Yes. So also we have to remember that Finryn does have shadow magic. Yes. As well. We see him use it in the bonus.

[Nicole]

Chapter. So maybe. Maybe him and Adina were together. He knew because he has. He's a half God. He has shadow powers. He wanted his child to also have shadow powers. So we said, adina, let me talk to you. You're gonna go to this realm. You're gonna fuck sticks. You guys are gonna create another baby. But I'm gonna raise him as my own because I want him to have shadow magic because it's really powerful and I know.

[Lexi]

It. I think that there is a whole other way in this magical world.

That could have a similar.

[Nicole]

Result.

Okay, okay. Fair, fair, fair.

Okay. Number two, there's another whole part about this line. I do wonder if not knowing his father so well is one of the reasons that Fisher hates the gods. If Finsticks abandoned him to save the Dianthus heir, Fisher might hoard that grudge towards all the gods, because it's like they put duty before their family. So he feels like he was abandoned as a kid, and that's one of the reasons he hates all the gods. There's a third thing. Note that he spent a long time thinking about what he was going to say before he came up with this. Remember, if he cannot lie, this could be a hint of him trying to parse through how he wants to say this statement without saying my father, you know, the God sticks. He did. So it could be a way of him skirting around, trying to phrase it very specifically. So he's not.

[Lexi]

Lying. Maybe with all of that. Okay.

For me, I'm just like, I am absorbing information right now. This book has not been out long enough for me to have my feet planted in the sand.

[Nicole]

Yet. I'm not planted that fin sticks is real. I am simply pointing out elements that are for fin sticks and elements that are for finen and sticks are two different.

[Lexi]

People. Okay, that and see, I'm listening and I'm absorbing and I'm coming to my conclusions eventually, maybe someday. I want to also add to this though is before this line, Carrion also asked if he, Fisher's father, had some kind of plan for Carrion and then he followed up, do the gods. That's another Fisher's father and God reference. Literally back to back mention. And I think that the answer to that is a resounding yes. I believe that there is a plan in store for Carrion and Finran's plans were the God's plans, whether because he was a God or because he met with the gods like Fisher believes and they tasked him with.

[Nicole]

This. Yeah, yeah.

[Lexi]

Yeah. All right, friends, and that's it.

Thank you so much for listening to this. Brimstone episode.

[Nicole]

2. What a chaotic.

[Lexi]

Episode.

[Nicole]

Episode. Next Monday we will be covering episode three where we're talking about chapters 13 through 20. Silver City, baby. I can't wait to talk about Joshin and Vat. Not.

[Lexi]

Vash.

[Nicole]

Gideon. What's his name? Vara Shah Shah Boy. I can't wait to talk about Sha.

[Lexi]

Boy. We would love to give the biggest warm welcome, welcome, welcome to our newest feral fans in the fan club. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate you. Nicole, who do we.

[Nicole]

Have? Welcome, welcome.

[Lexi]

Welcome. Change Lee Faye, Amy Lisa and.

[Nicole]

Lindsay W. Welcome, welcome.

[Lexi]

Welcome. Yay. Thank you so much for joining the Pharaoh fans. We're so happy to have you and friends, if you're like hey, I want my name shouted on the podcast and be shouted with all this love to join our fan club@Fantasy Fangirls.com Fan Club. The link is is also in the show.

[Nicole]

Notes. Also be sure to keep an eye out on our social medias this week because we are announcing some very exciting coverage a little different than we normally do starting in February 2026. Thank you as always to our master librarian, keeper of all the Stargazer papers, AKA our content researcher Brooke and of course our executive producer co host of the Fantasy Fanfellas and our sanity manager, Hayden. We flippin love.

[Lexi]

Ya. We are very active on social media with weekly trivia, book guides and lots more. So please be sure to follow us on Instagram and slash our TikTok at Fantasy Fangirls pod. And if you're watching this on YouTube or you want to watch on YouTube, pretty please hit that subscribe button to keep following along. And same goes for the Fantasy fan fellas to give them a follow at Fantasy Fanfellas. Get all the latest on the new show we're hating. Stick Steven Deep dive into.

[Nicole]

Mistborn. While you're hitting all the buttons, don't forget to hit that five star rating button. Not only for the show, but for any podcast you listen to. It is so, so so helpful. And if you're feeling extra generous, write a little love note in that review section. It means the literal world. I just read through some actually the other day and it made me so happy. It was such a big warm hug. I loved it. And friends, last but not least, share this episode with your fellow Brimstone friends. You know, I like to think that Zarath has interfered in many of our lives and he has brought some wonderful people in them. And if your friend would understand that joke, then this is a great episode to send to.

[Lexi]

Them. Wait, I don't get.

[Nicole]

It. Lexi.

Okay, goodbye.

Bye.

[Lexi]

Everybody. Bye.

Spatula. That's what I read right.

[Nicole]

There.

[Lexi]

Sepulcher.

[Nicole]

Sepulcher. I'll work on it. Could have wanted to make.

[Lexi]

Sure. Sorry, all I think about is fish 6 and the south park.

[Nicole]

Episode. Okay, wait. Fish. Do you like fish.

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