Ep 50 - Welcome to Faenalin

## Episode 50 - Welcome to Faenalin

Listen to the episode Here!

Astra Blep lives a life like many others in Faenalin; a little bit spooky, a little bit magical, a little bit cat-adjacent. Her days are filled with simple joys and mild annoyances. She wants for little. Despite her good fortune, she does not believe in fate - but it seems, somehow, that fate believes in her.

Read the episode transcript here!

## NPCs in Description

NPCs in this episode:

* Gyiha - The former regent of Olvadell who became a circus fortune teller after its destruction. A friend of Bovil Flaskforge's, she has had possession of the journal in previous time loops.
* Tetra - A corpse flower floreid who desires to open a spa. It knows Janni from the long past, while escorting Aredus to retrieve a crown in Ovadell.
* Posthumous Blep - Astra's mother, a half elf who loves her a lot.
* Scritch Blep - Astra's father, a half elf who is a little more standoffish but ultimately proud of her.
* Glorihan Phirel - A goth mage raised in Faenalin. A Shadowend cadet in past timeloops. Is believed to die in every timeloop.
* Ansel Phirel - A poetical necromancer raised in Faenalin. Expelled from the local magic academy.
* Smol Blep (mentioned) - Astra's cousin, who has suffered from some kind of curse that eliminated his magic and shadow.
* Hybdall (mentioned) - Chaotic neutral god of chaos, travel, and space. Gafanrit is his demigod.
* Ogavia (mentioned) - A publisher, mostly of gossip rags about Patty Hurts and a ripped-off copy of Train Your Brain Gremlins.

## Summary

* It's a new loop! It's Idius 1st and Astra Blep is waking up in Faenalin.
	+ She heads down to the wizard's bazaar and chats with the text seller. A man jumps off a building after shouting in Protean (the language of chaos).
	+ They're draining the lake to make a scry network orb for an important announcement.
	+ Astra walks to the lake with Posthumous and Scritch Blep, her mom and dad.
* At the lake, Astra notices two goth siblings staring at her and her rapier. They introduce themselves as Glorihan and Ansel Phirel.
	+ Glorihan tells her that they were hoping to print a book of Ansel's poetry.
* A broadcast is shown through the watery scry orb. Queen Davenhall of Birwine and King Aimway VIII of Errosia tell the citizens of the Triad Nations that the god Hybdall is gone.
	+ Archmage Ventori announces the reopening of Shadowend to investigate what has happened.
* Time passes. Astra continues to live a slow life in Faenalin.
	+ Glorihan and Ansel leave Faenalin to join Shadowend, but they stay in contact.
	+ Madame Ogavia buys all of Astra's books and leaves her a gift basket.
* At the end of the month, Astra receives free tickets to the Yrisol Traveling Circus.
	+ She visits the fortune teller Gyiha, who gives her a reading. Gyiha tells Astra she is stuck in a rut, and she will have a chance to get out of it.
	+ Gyiha invites Astra to her caravan. There, she meets Tetra, a floreid aromaphile who's a little weird about scents.
* Gyiha brings out Bovil's journal. By combining Gyiha's psychometry and Tetra's ability to unlock memory, they return Astra's memories of the previous time loop.
	+ Gyiha wants Astra to figure out what's happening by reforming Janni Squad, all three of them.
* Secret recording time! Back in Faenalin, Astra erased Zelf's name out of the journal because he was investigating her too closely.

## Trivia

* This episode and Ep. 51 dropped on the same day to usher in Season 2.
* Justin made an image teaser that was posted to the BCBP Twitter and Tumblr the day before the episode dropped.
* On the Spotify app, this episode's poll reads: "Which of the poems Ansel secretly wrote about Astra is the least cringe?" with the results "My Beaded Muse" at 18%. "O Whimsical Prankery" at 3%, "I've Got This" at 12%, "She Walks in Mist" at 30%, "What She Says, She Is" at 27%, "Spiral Smile" at 9%, and "A Little Strange" at 0%.

## Characters

### Player Characters

* Astra Blep
* Tetra

### Actually Showed Up

* Text seller
* Man screaming about Hybdall
* Posthumous Blep
* Scritch Blep
* Arbiters
* High Mages of arcane, divine, and bardic magic
* Glorihan Phirel
* Ansel Phirel
* Archmage Ventori (via scry network)
* Queen Davenhall (via scry network)
* King Aimway VIII (via scry network)
* Gyiha

### Appeared in Flashback

* Janni Brightchild
* Patty Hurts
* Zelf

### Mentioned

* Manny
* Yris
* The Little Stranger (unnamed)
* Nalea (unnamed; old paladin that runs cat cafe)
* Traveling scroll salesman with giraffe neck
* Hybdall
* Gafanrit
* Posthumous's neighbor
* The Cause (formerly The Cure)
* Spira Adven
* Gore-met Goblins
* Madame Ogavia
* Yrisol Traveling Circus (vanara acrobats, beardless dwarf)
* Lunas
* Idon
* Ebnir
* Salenas
* Janni Innaj
* Bovil Flaskforge
* Smol Blep

## Locations

### Visited

* Yrisol
* Birwine
* Faenalin
	+ Wizard's bazaar
	+ Milk Lake
	+ Yrisol Traveling Circus (set up at Milk Lake)
		- Gyiha's caravan

### Mentioned

* Triad Nations
	+ Errosia
		- Neptis

* Whispering Woods
* Ganfanrit's forge
* Allathyr (unnamed; the capital)
* Thune
* Faenalin Academy
* Shadowend (Fort Adven)
* Arrowpeak
* Swanspell
* Olvadell
* Saphnea
* Bigrim