The Stillness: Episode 2 (raw)
Source: collected/042-the-stillness-episode-2-raw.mp3
SHA-256: af2689ec7e0ee9509cec0c23ee6ebef62583ce3fc2c00c8e7bee4f5e1eb069df
Model: scribe_v2 | Transcribed: 2026-10-10T18:17:50.165314+00:00
Machine transcript — uncorrected. Speaker labels are local to this recording and do not identify people.

[00:00:32.000] Speaker 1: Chapter two: Dead Man's Wheel. Amelia Sunder finally fell asleep, a simple mistake that almost cost her everything. She stirred in bed, still groggy from too little sleep, just enough to make her realize how exhausted she truly was. There were shouts outside her cabin. Something slammed into the wall. She stumbled over and threw open the door. "What in the..." A dark shape collided with her face, and then she was sleeping again. Sunder

[00:01:06.660] Speaker 1: slowly came to her senses. She noticed the bindings around her wrist and ankles. They were tight, but not tight enough. Then she remembered being clubbed in the face. You could kill someone with a hit to the skull like that, even if you weren't trying to. Theater fight scenes always made it seem like you could simply knock a person's head in the right spot and they would turn off. Even if you knew what you were doing, you could kill someone, and that person hadn't known what they were doing. She forced open her eyes. The timid noonday sun was blinding.

[00:01:41.960] Speaker 1: Pain, so much pain. It felt like something had come loose in her head. She was tied to the railing on the top deck. Most of her crew was similarly disabled. Weapons were piled on the deck in front of them, out of reach: cutlasses, daggers, even a rolling pin. She looked over her crew. They were each tied to the railing out of reach of each other. Most of them were uninjured. A few had dark red stains on their clothes, but they looked like splatter marks, so perhaps it wasn't their blood. Only one person seemed to be seriously injured, a man so

[00:02:16.600] Speaker 1: badly beaten he was unrecognizable. Only his loose-fitting, dingy shirt gave him away. "Arrest us." The man stirred, but couldn't lift his head to see her. Someone kicked Sunder in the meat of her thigh. The jolt made her head spin and her stomach weaken. She grimaced and fought to keep from puking. Sunder turned the grimace on the man standing over her. "Captain, there are two people barricading the door to the engine room. Order them to stand down and come up here

[00:02:51.420] Speaker 1: without a fight." Sunder tilted her head as if she couldn't hear Ortevos. He stepped closer, annoyed. "I said there are two..." She kicked him in the shins as hard as she could. He was too slow to back up, and she clipped him again in the ankle. He stumbled backward, his yellow and white robes billowing as he fell, clutching at his leg. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to break any bones. "You wretch! After I've shown you such kindness." Two footmen helped Ortevos stand on shaking legs. "You

[00:03:26.180] Speaker 1: lightless wretch. Fine, I'll speak to you in the only language you understand: violence." He turned to one of the footmen, then nodded toward one of the crew members bound to the railing, Davies. He was one of the ones with blood splatters on his clothes. And were there too few footmen here? "Over the side." "No, don't you dare." The footman ignored her. Ortevos' little soldier had the dull look of a pack animal about her. She marched over to Davies and tried to lift him. He lashed out at

[00:04:01.200] Speaker 1: her, screaming. Another footman came over, and the two of them were able to lift the terrified man up and over the railing. Sunder was shouting. Everyone was shouting. Davies hung from the other side of the railing off the side of the ship, bound by the ropes around his wrist. Ortevos scooped up a cutlass from the deck and slammed the blade into the ropes. He looked surprised when the ropes held. He sawed and slashed at the thick rope for a full minute before it finally broke, and Davies, still screaming, fell to the ocean below. Ortevos tossed the sword to the ground and walked back to the captain. He was breathing heavily.

[00:04:36.120] Speaker 1: "I'll kill you." Ortevos rolled his eyes. "Throw another one over then." "Try it, and I'll burn the skin clean off you." Yama sat in the center of the deck in her cushioned chair, unrestrained and holding her staff. She kept the light veil going this entire time. It was an incredible display of focus. It hadn't wavered even as she watched her friend's murder. A footman stood behind her with a dagger, looking to Ortevos in confusion. Presumably, he'd been holding the

[00:05:10.880] Speaker 1: beacon captive. But what was he going to do, kill her? He may as well stick the dagger in his own neck. Killing Yama would kill everyone on board. There was no way Ormeia could hold the veil until they got back to the Queen's Light. The stillness would seep in and... Sunder shook away the nightmare, every sailor's shared nightmare. So that was how he'd disarmed the crew. They had been unwilling to risk their beacon's life in a standoff. That was the trouble with pitting rational women and men against the insane devotion of Ortevos' footmen.

[00:05:45.760] Speaker 1: Ortevos was willing to die. Well, he was willing to let his zealots die anyway. Sunder heard a smash far below deck, followed by the sounds of screaming, the sounds of dying. If they damaged the light engines in that room, they really were all doomed. "We surrender. We surrender." The sounds of fighting continued for half a minute, then fell to unnerving silence. A young woman covered in blood was marched up the stairs at sword point. A single footman limped up behind her, then collapsed to the deck in a

[00:06:20.736] Speaker 1: growing pool of her own blood. No one moved to check on her. The callousness of that shocked Sunder. Did these people come from the Stillness? How could anyone be so heartless? Ermia stumbled over to Yama and fell to her knees before the older woman. I'm so sorry, Mistress. I left my staff in another room. I, I didn't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Yama took one hand off her staff and gently cupped the young woman's face. Next

[00:06:55.716] Speaker 1: time you bed a man, bring a pure light crystal. Just take it off the staff and hide it in your clothes. You don't need the whole staff. Just the crystal will do in a pinch. It's foolish to go unarmed, even to bed. This one's not your fault, Ermia. I blame myself for not sharing that bit of wisdom sooner. Ermia looked dumbstruck. Apparently, she had expected a verbal lashing, not practical advice. Land! Land! There's land! Ortevos looked from

[00:07:30.556] Speaker 1: Ermia to the footman standing behind Yama. His face was stuck in a permanent sneer, which made it difficult to tell if the look on his face registered as disgust. You, go find her staff. We're going to need both beacons. Terror shook her crew. They shouted in alarm. Were they going to take both beacons ashore? Would they really leave an entire crew tied up in the Stillness? That would truly be the work of a monster. Better to cut their throats now. It should have frightened Sunder as well, but she was busy.

[00:08:05.716] Speaker 1: Busy making it look like she was still tied to the railing while she covertly worked on the knotted rope around her ankles. Ortevos and the remaining footmen stepped onto a dinghy filled with cutlasses and daggers. They had even taken the rolling pin. You're sick, Ortevos. This is how the downturn kills. I know you think you're doing the right thing. Oh, shut up. You're not nearly as smart as you think you are. He pointed at Yama. Bring her. No, please. She hadn't begged before that moment. A

[00:08:40.296] Speaker 1: captain shouldn't be seen begging. But this was Yama. He couldn't take her. The old woman rose from her chair in the center of the deck and walked over under her own power. Don't, please. Stay, Yama. Send Ermia instead. Take Ermia. The younger woman shrank against the beacon's chair, as if it could protect her. Ortevos laughed. So you can leave us here? I don't think so, Captain. They helped Yama into the boat, and it was slowly lowered to the water. They rowed the dinghy away toward the shore just a hundred yards

[00:09:14.996] Speaker 1: away, taking their bubble of light with them. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Yama had always feared the Order of Light would come back for her, and in the end, they had. She had promised to protect her. Amelia felt the Stillness swallow the ship. It was like a rush of cold water, numbing, suffocating. Whispers in her mind told her to simply stop feeling. There was no point to this struggle. Darkness turned all the color of the world to shades of gray. A veil

[00:09:50.016] Speaker 1: like a miniature sun bloomed from the deck, so bright it hurt to look at Ermia. Too bright. She felt the whispers in her mind burn away. A single footman had stayed behind, timidly holding a knife to Ermia's neck. Sunder wasn't sure what the point of that gesture was. She finally pulled the knots loose from her legs, just minutes too late, then stood. She strolled over to the man holding the knife. Take one more step and... She punched him in the face. He fell backward, dropping the knife, holding his gushing nose.

[00:10:25.296] Speaker 1: Sunder picked up the knife and started cutting her crew loose. Raise the anchor. We're turning around right now. Push the light engines as hard as they'll go. Then she looked down at the man on the floor. He scooted away from her, mopping the blood from his face. And escort this man off my ship. You can't. You can't. If you leave... He didn't get to finish what he was saying. Two crew members picked him up under the arms and unceremoniously tossed him over the railing. They had already returned to their work by the time she heard the splash. Once he was

[00:11:00.256] Speaker 1: cut free, Errestus limped over. His face was so swollen that he had to tilt his head back to see her. The only eye she could see was watery. Was that because of the pain, or because... Because this was the end, damn it. Sunder looked out at the Stillness, pressing against Ermia's light veil, squeezing the life from it. It would win, eventually, and then they would go still. Not dead. Dying was a release. Being still was to be trapped in your own

[00:11:35.096] Speaker 1: body until the end of time, spiraling down into deeper and deeper despair until there was nothing left but a primal hunger for anything that could make you feel again. A wretch. She felt a sob force its way through her. Errestus placed a hand on her shoulder. Sunder looked away from him. A captain didn't cry in front of her crew. Not sober, anyway. I'm going to try something very stupid. I need you to do something for me in case it doesn't work. Anything

[00:12:10.140] Speaker 1: "Chart a straight course back to Azalea. Accurate as you can, but don't waste time. You have five minutes." Erastus nodded, then started to walk off. Sunder grabbed him by the arm and spoke again, hushed. "Drag a water barrel and a crate of rations into the engine room, too. Then look in the top drawer of my cabin desk. I need what's in there." "What is it?" "You'll know when you see it." The dead man's wheel was the very last resort of every captain. Officially,

[00:12:45.220] Speaker 1: only the captain and their first mate was supposed to know about it. Unofficially, everyone knew that if you couldn't save the beacon, you couldn't save the crew, but you could still save the ship. The wheel and throttle could be permanently locked in place. A specific flag could be flown. Then, if they aimed just right, the mighty current might make it back to the Queen's Light to be recaptured for future generations of luckless, idiotic sailors. First, though, they would have to murder what was left of her

[00:13:19.940] Speaker 1: insane, half-living crew. She shuddered. Erastus made the sign of light, then trotted off to find the key to their demise. She tried to tell herself that was just the backup plan. Sunder gritted her teeth. No one hurts my family. Then she marched up to the wheel of the mighty current and called for attention. "Are we just going to let them take our beacon?" The crew screamed their reply, a chorus of no's, some with more colorful language than

[00:13:54.740] Speaker 1: others. "Our friend, our family, our way home?" Then they let loose a wild roar. The crew of the mighty current was fairly laid back as far as Azalea's ships went, but this was a line you never crossed. Never get between a sailor and their only way home. Captain Sunder turned the mighty current toward the other, now distant ball of light. It would take a few minutes to reach them on an intercept course, and when that happened, they would have only one shot at saving Yama. She could easily

[00:14:29.660] Speaker 1: blow the dinghy out of the water. She could easily smash it beneath her hull. But saving an old woman, held captive at swordpoint by lunatics, while trying to board the tiny boat from a still-moving ship? Sunder swallowed. It wasn't the kind of thing you practiced. There were a thousand ways this could go wrong, and very few it could go right. Chances were, she was about to kill her friend, and in turn, doom them all. The two light veils moved closer and closer, like denizens of a very different kind

[00:15:04.580] Speaker 1: charging each other. Sunder pulled back on the old steel lever next to the wheel, completely disconnecting the light engines from the rudders. If she timed it perfectly, they would coast right into the dinghy's path without hitting it. Half of the crew leaned over rails with nets, ready to throw them on the armed footmen. The other half were hanging from boarding nets just above the water, and ready to board the dinghy, hopefully without getting cut to ribbons in the process. The two light veils combined, growing blindingly bright where they overlapped. The little boat disappeared under the edge of the railing.

[00:15:40.100] Speaker 1: People shouted. Sunder clenched her teeth. It was too late to maneuver now. If she'd gotten it wrong, the dinghy would be crushed. She simply hoped that the Queen's own grace guided her hand. The crew threw their nets down. Others leapt into the ocean. The sounds of splashing, screaming, and dying rose from below. "Captain!" Ermiah was yelling. "Not now!" Sunder ran to the railing to see if they were winning, to see if Yama was okay. "Captain!" Ermiah yelled again. Most of the fighting was happening at the

[00:16:14.920] Speaker 1: prow of the dinghy. Though small, it easily fit the ten armed footmen. They were tangled in nets, but fought viciously. When a crew member tried to climb into the boat, the ones who couldn't swing their stolen weapons simply slammed into the boarders and knocked them back into the ocean. The mighty current was drifting past the dinghy, and their window was quickly closing. It wasn't until the boarders started pulling on the nets that the tide turned. One by one, the sailors dragged the footmen off the boat and into the water. She should be down there. Her place was down there. She was about to dive in when a

[00:16:49.800] Speaker 1: voice startled her. "We need to go!" Ermiah shouted from right next to her. Yama was on the other end of the dinghy, away from the fighting. She wasn't looking up at her. She didn't seem concerned at all by the fighting, even though people were bleeding and dying not ten feet from her. Because Yama was looking into the water. "Denizen! Shadow Denizen!" A living shadow moved through the edge of the light veil. A mass of darkness with only the hint of a creature's shape. A creature so large it made the mighty current look

[00:17:24.780] Speaker 1: like a bath toy. Yama's veil flickered out as the creature entered the light. Ermiah fell to her knees, but kept hold of her staff, breathing heavily. The crystal at its tip hummed loudly and wafted little curls of smoke. The light veil shrank and shrank as the Denizen's body rose from the ocean depths. The crystal itself grew brighter even as the world around them fell into deeper darkness. Sailors and footmen alike screamed in panic. Their fighting, already vicious, fell into hysteria as men and women scrambled to get onto the dinghy, fighting

[00:17:59.660] Speaker 1: not to be consumed by the monster beneath them. Sunder slammed the throttle forward and the light engines kicked on so hard that the front of the ship rose almost five feet into the air. That sound of tortured wood and old steel was exactly like in her nightmares. The sound of a ship with a lethal wound. She turned the wheel hard right. The ship rose into the air on the left side. Ocean spray slapped her face. Then the mighty current slid down the Denizen's back and crashed back into the water, sending a wave across the deck that knocked

[00:18:34.656] Speaker 1: her from her feet. Sunder was washed down the steps and slammed into a wall. She coughed up seawater and tried to pull herself to her feet as the wave finally ebbed and washed back over the sides. It took a moment to find which way was up, and she briefly worried that the ship was capsizing. The ocean would rise like a giant wall to greet them before swallowing the ship whole. Somehow, it hadn't happened. She rose, ensuring that her brightsword was still in its sheath. Frantically, she searched the deck. There should be more people here. There were only two.

[00:19:09.636] Speaker 1: Captain, quickly! Orestes stood on the other side of the ship. Sunder ran over to find him holding Ermia by her robes, upside down over the side of the ship. They struggled to get her back over the railing where the apprentice light mage flopped to the deck, completely drenched. Sunder dragged her away from the side of the ship. Your staff! Your staff! Where is it? Ermia looked panicked, in shock. She was unresponsive. So Sunder left her there and rushed back to the wheel. She centered the wheel and pulled back the throttle, only slightly. Even then it

[00:19:44.676] Speaker 1: was pushed to the limit. There was a drag to the ship that wasn't natural. Something was deeply, terribly, horribly wrong. They were sinking.