Speaker 1: InterQuest created by Michael Freiberg, a production of iHeartRadio and
Speaker 1: Astro Media. Listen with headphones for three D audio or
Speaker 1: in you have to tell me what does the shadowland?
Speaker 1: King's secret weakness Either the truth is the truth is.
Speaker 1: Nero is no real king. He wields no actual power
Speaker 1: except in the minds of his enemies. He has no virtue,
Speaker 1: no followers who support him. He doesn't wish to lead
Speaker 1: or rule. He only wants to conquer so others may
Speaker 1: fear him. His kingdom is nothing but artifice. It simply
Speaker 1: does not exist. Nero is an impostor, a poward, an
Speaker 1: abstract manifestation come to life. If he could, he would
Speaker 1: betray himself at once. Nero is the antithesis of a king.
Speaker 1: He is a puppet of his own device. So how
Speaker 1: do we use this to defeat him? All of this
Speaker 1: he already knows to be true, but he's buried deep down.
Speaker 1: Capturing and confronting him with the truth is the key
Speaker 1: to his defeat. For as core as Nero's belief is
Speaker 1: that he is a great king, a conceit essential to
Speaker 1: his very being, his ego cannot fathom defeat. His body
Speaker 1: would break down his mind rejected the mirror. Either the
Speaker 1: mirror is the answer to deciphering the puzzle. By holding
Speaker 1: a mirror up to his true nature, you'll expose him
Speaker 1: for who he truly is. In the mirror, all will
Speaker 1: be reviewed the mirror. Either sand and barrel and the
Speaker 1: tea kettle, victory sword, no blade, black pages in the
Speaker 1: books armor not army armor armor crash and look the
Speaker 1: opals black dunbells. H. I should be going now to
Speaker 1: the central bell tower. I must keep look out for dero. H.
Speaker 1: I'll leave it once YouTube calm down. But either everything
Speaker 1: fade nothing here is real. Whatever you're trying to say, stop,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. King Oran already told me everything I
Speaker 1: need to know to open the black stone door to
Speaker 1: the Oasis ground. We'll get the water we came for
Speaker 1: and leave before a Nero even shows up. Thanks to me,
Speaker 1: we won't be fighting Waterland's war. Come on to the
Speaker 1: oasis door. No, what did Oran tell you is the
Speaker 1: key to the door's hieroglyphics cipher. I didn't ask, huh.
Speaker 1: But back in the throne room, Orn gave me his
Speaker 1: Royal Waterland badge to wear in battle. You know his
Speaker 1: prized emblem bearing his name with the symbol of the
Speaker 1: water buffalo and the word flow. So you think the
Speaker 1: symbol of the water buffalo is the cipher's key. Not quite?
Speaker 1: See the mirror on the door, What about it? Oran
Speaker 1: told me that the mirror is the key to deciphering
Speaker 1: the puzzle, and the mirror all will be revealed. Look
Speaker 1: the writing on the badge reversed in the mirror, flow
Speaker 1: become wolf exactly. The key to opening the Oysters store
Speaker 1: isn't the water buffalo. It's the symbol of the wolf. Brilliant.
Speaker 1: Either don't thank me, thank the guardian, or blow the
Speaker 1: waterland oasis, the one, the oasis waiting for us. Um
Speaker 1: just a little farther, I can see it. He don't
Speaker 1: stop now. We're almost there, by the mountain border at
Speaker 1: the end. A few more steps until he reach water.
Speaker 1: The water it's sand the oasis mirage. Oh what's that
Speaker 1: ringing noise? Her time? We have to leave now, Hu,
Speaker 1: don't just stand there, keep up, Oh, Neil put the
Speaker 1: arrival of the King of the shadow man sage of
Speaker 1: the ball. I turn up the night, but one true
Speaker 1: king kay Sirrah outa flight, start aways the store still
Speaker 1: up and get behind that dick car boring through fireball firecrackers.
Speaker 1: He also will get to be carrying a round point
Speaker 1: shovel over his shoulder. Welcome, Wow, comes on the Schapo
Speaker 1: land all of your grain, King hero by royal subjects.
Speaker 1: How nice have you to join me? You're just in
Speaker 1: time for the coronation ceremony. Orn's gone completely mad. Maybe
Speaker 1: we played pretend he let go good idea serious nero,
Speaker 1: are one true king. Congratulations of the highest order on
Speaker 1: your crowning. Poor timing, however, as you were just about
Speaker 1: the league logo your king fyebrows. They burned him off.
Speaker 1: It's a celebration. Deel the boy king long making rain
Speaker 1: and life longer? Maybe rain? What do we do? Huh serious?
Speaker 1: Charge him? No, it's too dangerous to defeat him. We
Speaker 1: have to confront him with the truth. Ah Ord, that's enough,
Speaker 1: stop this silly charade. We're leaving now. You must be mistaken.
Speaker 1: I'm hero k up the shadowland or in I killed
Speaker 1: him now, boy trying the celebration. The pigs, little pigs.
Speaker 1: Fine the flat stone door wide open and let the
Speaker 1: big bad come in. What's he doing out in the
Speaker 1: grounds and digging? Some kind of hole. Given his pension
Speaker 1: for fine grade pyrotechnics, and using the basis of inductive reasoning,
Speaker 1: logic dictates that he's digging our graves when he kills
Speaker 1: us then buries our bodies out in the fake away.
Speaker 1: It's a san right to the drawbridge. Sin right now
Speaker 1: the torch lights in the ground. Holler out, which way
Speaker 1: do we go? Serious? Track one? Printed dark? All right? Follow?
Speaker 1: I had draw bridge? All right? Wait, don't take another step.
Speaker 1: There's a trip wire on the drawbridge. It's rig full
Speaker 1: of explosives. Who now run the fire ship and off
Speaker 1: and it all that? Look the bridge? Are we out? Nero?
Speaker 1: What do you want from us? Never? Is it water
Speaker 1: you're after? We can take you where or in hit
Speaker 1: his barrels of oasis water. Just put down the fireworks
Speaker 1: and you can well, devils. I know there's no oasis water,
Speaker 1: and never was. I came from the royal chalice, buried
Speaker 1: under date the sand of the Imperial House, and now
Speaker 1: it's all mine. That water cup from Castle Banner. You
Speaker 1: got what you came for. Let us go to leave
Speaker 1: this kingdom. There's only one way out. You must pledge
Speaker 1: royalty to your king and seal your fate through the
Speaker 1: divine drinking ceremony. Divine drinking ceremony from the royal chalice,
Speaker 1: we shall consume me the vial of sacred redwater containing
Speaker 1: the blood of m Then I shall reign eternal in
Speaker 1: the intra, with you serving as my subject for ever
Speaker 1: in this realm and the next sacred red water. Ether
Speaker 1: that sounds like roaming unnaturally occurring toxin found in seawater.
Speaker 1: It's poisoned. I figured as much, Nero. There's no realm
Speaker 1: in this world where we serve under you as king
Speaker 1: of the water. I'm royal. Get it off me, Get
Speaker 1: off extra now quick. Let's head to the throne room.
Speaker 1: And it is it orangs escape tunnel, which leads to
Speaker 1: the outside right rod rod behind the throne. The entrance
Speaker 1: to the escape tunnel was hidden in the wall ron
Speaker 1: heavy her the door. The door to the tunnel's locked.
Speaker 1: Move serious smash. No, this door, like the one in
Speaker 1: the grounds, is made of impenetrable black stone. The only
Speaker 1: way to open it is by solving another hieroglyphic cipher.
Speaker 1: Try the symbol of the wolf. That's not it. It's
Speaker 1: somebody crying. Wolf sounds like my audience to bang it out. Bravo.
Speaker 1: Lucky for you three, there's still more to go. I'd
Speaker 1: saved the best for laugh a spock tractical to handle
Speaker 1: the show. If you out serve me in this life, yeah,
Speaker 1: serve me the next one. Oh, it's dynamite the bladder,
Speaker 1: the room. I didn't make you a ten seconds to
Speaker 1: build that naked into the water. Well you go, well,
Speaker 1: well you good lie at the bottom of a talking
Speaker 1: win cat her light narrow you win. We'll pledge loyalty
Speaker 1: to you and perform the drinking ceremony. Just lower the
Speaker 1: rope and let us out of here. Ah, so you
Speaker 1: wish to save as my royal subjects? After all, I've
Speaker 1: lowered the rope. Now prove it kiss the kings? So
Speaker 1: what prove your loyalty? Before I let you out? I
Speaker 1: want you to climb. I'm up here, one by one
Speaker 1: and kids the King's dude. Oh okay, okay, we'll do it.
Speaker 1: I can't bear it down here. I'll go first. M
Speaker 1: pick one's nuts. Come here and kiss the King's doe. H.
Speaker 1: That's sure to leave him. Bump on the old noggin
Speaker 1: buffoll of you. What do you doing here? Daddy? Would
Speaker 1: keep you safe my leash. Thank goodness you're awake. You
Speaker 1: had quite a stumble, Yes, yes I did. Wait a minute,
Speaker 1: the BG one. He knocked me out after you kissed
Speaker 1: my toe. No, no, no, no, you're mistaken. After we
Speaker 1: pledged our allegiance to you, your highness, you became so
Speaker 1: overwhelmed with rapture it seemed as if you were about
Speaker 1: to ascend to Umbrah's realm of the Intra without even
Speaker 1: conducting the drinking ceremony. That's when you passed out. Ah
Speaker 1: ah hmm, yes, yes, now that I think about it,
Speaker 1: of course that's what happened. He How could the light
Speaker 1: of you and then opposed a threat to the great king? Nero? Now, subjects,
Speaker 1: we must resume where we last left off the drinking ceremony.
Speaker 1: The chalice demands we drink from it harmdus milk, the
Speaker 1: blood of Umbra. We shall transcend this motor realm, and
Speaker 1: I will rule eternal patil. Where are the three of you?
Speaker 1: Where's the one with the ambulance? Ether he's out securing
Speaker 1: in the castle perimeter. He'll be right back. That breaking noise?
Speaker 1: What is that? Nero, my lord? We're under siege? What
Speaker 1: we're being attacked by who? Or but that's impossible, or instead,
Speaker 1: I assure you he's very much alive, my lord. He'll
Speaker 1: soon have crossed the exterior mote and breach the castle walls.
Speaker 1: We don't have much time, Oran. There's nothing I'd like
Speaker 1: more than to slay you again. Battle, stay sentence, prepare
Speaker 1: for war. My subjects serious thought to the barracks, report
Speaker 1: to the war room at once my lead, and you.
Speaker 1: Either you'll stay with me here in the throne room
Speaker 1: and help me get inside the mind of a fallen key,
Speaker 1: orin is no match for King Nero. What could Ran
Speaker 1: be after? There's nothing left for him here. All his
Speaker 1: people abandoned him long ago, Nero, my and true King.
Speaker 1: I served under Orange in the Waterland Kingdoms. I know
Speaker 1: how he thinks. What he's after. He's come back for
Speaker 1: the oasis the ohsus. Then we must protect the imperial
Speaker 1: grounds at all costs. An explosion in the barracks probably nothing,
Speaker 1: but I'll go check out and stay here in the
Speaker 1: throne room. Or an attack flame and time AfOR trate
Speaker 1: it out. Put it out? Is the sen from the
Speaker 1: bar room. Er Just stand in by Evan car her
Speaker 1: everything white Wiking. Yes, yes, of course, any news to report.
Speaker 1: Have we kept Oran outside the kingdom's walls. I'm afraid
Speaker 1: not Orn and his soldiers have entered the castle. Yea,
Speaker 1: how could this be? Shell? They head down to the
Speaker 1: imperial grounds and secure the oasis door at once, either
Speaker 1: at once. We must do everything in our power to
Speaker 1: insure Oran never gets his hands on the Oasis water
Speaker 1: the war room, White Lord, ye war go down to
Speaker 1: the imperial grounds, secure the Blackstone door and make certain
Speaker 1: the mirror is in place to keep Oran out. I'll
Speaker 1: check out the war room. What happy here? Cannon fire, sir?
Speaker 1: They have the castle surrounded with heavy artillery. We've sustained
Speaker 1: critical damage on the western front from the blast. A
Speaker 1: cannon ball not too close. It might still be active.
Speaker 1: It smells like a big ball of beetle poof. That's
Speaker 1: what cannon fire smells like. Good start, get that out
Speaker 1: of my face. That's not fit. The gris a king.
Speaker 1: That's not all. They sent a message, Nero, I am
Speaker 1: the physical reflection of your greatest nightmare. I've taken the Oasis.
Speaker 1: I'm coming for the throne, signed Orn, King of the
Speaker 1: water Land. I must return to the throne room at
Speaker 1: once eat where are you? There's no human defending the castle.
Speaker 1: They must perform the drinking ceremony before or in and
Speaker 1: his soldiers or silver Nights. One of them wears either ambulance.
Speaker 1: The three myself killed them. Now come for me, stab me,
Speaker 1: I thank you when you take the part, get the
Speaker 1: royal tars that he really that's all this about them?
Speaker 1: Ta me one, you come back to finish me, suspend
Speaker 1: it or a fright the moor on silver in the
Speaker 1: arms of your nights, and you've brought your own pouch
Speaker 1: of firework this time just like wine. M M. Put
Speaker 1: all ends here steps from the royal water well? Shall
Speaker 1: we read us on to these bag of tricks? Good?
Speaker 1: You agree? I want to face you man to man. Oh,
Speaker 1: I can't goes down. We did it, Nero shattered the
Speaker 1: grounds dooor mirror we were holding and fell into the
Speaker 1: water well. He should be unconscious now right where we
Speaker 1: want him. Serious Logo, we have to get down there
Speaker 1: and tie him up before he waits. Nero's mind can't
Speaker 1: fathom defeat. There's not a moment to waste. H help
Speaker 1: help trapped water water or is that you either serious? Logo,
Speaker 1: what are you free doing down here in the well?
Speaker 1: We came to rescue you. I must have passed out again.
Speaker 1: Who did this to me? It was Nero, wasn't it? Yeah? Nero? Oh?
Speaker 1: I knew he'd return. Is he still here? He's been
Speaker 1: defeated for now? Then the oasis water is safe. There's
Speaker 1: no oasis water. Orange, I see you found out the truth?
Speaker 1: The truth or the truth is that you're Nero. Impossible,
Speaker 1: It's beyond possible, it's certain. How how can that be?
Speaker 1: Nero was nothing more than a manifestation of umbre. I
Speaker 1: don't believe it, believe this royal jealous But but I
Speaker 1: buried that long ago, deep in the oasis sands, somewhere
Speaker 1: no one could ever find it. No, then it must
Speaker 1: be true, a Nero. We'll help you out of the well.
Speaker 1: But then we want the truth. What really happened here? Okay?
Speaker 1: Or I think I see it on the throne. Now
Speaker 1: tell me the story of the Waterland Kingdom this time,
Speaker 1: tell me the truth. Either the story I told you
Speaker 1: earlier was true but incomplete. I was the prodigal prince
Speaker 1: the Great Kingdom, and when I came of age, I
Speaker 1: did leave home on an expedition accompanied by a team
Speaker 1: of our best soldiers, blessed with the Royal Chalice. I
Speaker 1: was determined to prove myself that as not only a
Speaker 1: worthy heir to the throne, but as a formidable adversary
Speaker 1: with the kingdom of his own. After weeks of empty searching,
Speaker 1: I finally happened upon this oasis, This oasis which was
Speaker 1: nothing more than a mirage, This oasis which would be
Speaker 1: my downfall. I should have turned back at once, but
Speaker 1: I was too weak. I couldn't let down those who
Speaker 1: had given up everything to follow me. I couldn't admit
Speaker 1: my failures that I was no king. I couldn't bear
Speaker 1: to face the truth. So I became the mirage. I
Speaker 1: lied to my people, forbid them from entering the oasis,
Speaker 1: and spent my vast inheritance maintaining the illusion. The emerging
Speaker 1: trade routes served only one purpose, secretly, bring water into
Speaker 1: the castle by the Barrelful out of these lies, the
Speaker 1: water land Kingdom rose to power, and so began my
Speaker 1: reign as king. The Royal Chalice, as you can imagine,
Speaker 1: once I begin of hope and promise, was now nothing
Speaker 1: more than a painful reminder of the truth, so I
Speaker 1: buried it away deep in the oasis sands. I'll being
Speaker 1: to forget my past, and in doing so, I buried
Speaker 1: a piece of myself down with it. From that day on,
Speaker 1: my delusion grew. I began to believe lies were true.
Speaker 1: Eventually the resources were exhausted and the water ran dry.
Speaker 1: Could no longer keep up the facade. But I was
Speaker 1: so lost in my mind that I began to accuse
Speaker 1: my own subject of conspiring against me. Hunted by the
Speaker 1: memory of the chalice, I waged war on my own
Speaker 1: kingdom till one evening on a full moon sky, the
Speaker 1: shadow land King first arrived, a phantom from the black
Speaker 1: void of night. Nero took everything from me. Vi sanity
Speaker 1: from my mind, the spirit from my soul, the life
Speaker 1: from my body. One by one, my people left to
Speaker 1: wander in the desert or hideout in the caves, hopelessly
Speaker 1: awaiting the day I defeated the shadow King within that
Speaker 1: he could finally return home. And now I know the truth.
Speaker 1: I was Nero and Umbras to blame. Thank you for
Speaker 1: showing me this and breaking the illusion. There is only
Speaker 1: one thing left to do. Please follow me one last
Speaker 1: time to the oasis sands. Okay, we'll go with you, Oran, Oran,
Speaker 1: What else you have to find out here? Something I
Speaker 1: left buried in the sands long ago. But I've never
Speaker 1: forgotten the knowledge that this chalice holds no real power
Speaker 1: over me. I am the only king, the one true
Speaker 1: king of my soul. Either my badge, place it in
Speaker 1: the hold beside my chalice. Okay, serious, logo, Hand me
Speaker 1: the fireworks. This should be sufficient time to get rid
Speaker 1: of these, for the king is dead. Long live the king.
Speaker 1: Go to the cipher on the escape tunnel door leading
Speaker 1: to the outside is the symbol of the Chapas. Of course,
Speaker 1: it never did me any good. I was always too
Speaker 1: afraid to leave this place. Before you leave, it would
Speaker 1: mean so much to an old king if you three
Speaker 1: would accept my last remaining bottle of waterland water for
Speaker 1: your journey. Are you sure you won't come with us?
Speaker 1: How will you survive? And if Neuror comes back, what
Speaker 1: will happen to you? Where will you go? The king's
Speaker 1: kingdom is with his people. Don't worry, My people will
Speaker 1: return from me. I'm finally going home. Onwards through the
Speaker 1: desert to the Molary to recover the satellite dish or ends.
Speaker 1: Water will keep us hydrated during our journey. What's this
Speaker 1: in my back? A canteen? It turns out we had
Speaker 1: water after all. Well, you never can have too much
Speaker 1: of an offential resource A either you'll think nero gone forever.
Speaker 1: I don't know, serious, I don't know. All we can
Speaker 1: do is hope. Intquest created by Michael Freiberg, a production
Speaker 1: of I Hear Radio and Astro Media Executive produced by
Speaker 1: Michael Freiberg and I Hear Radio, co produced by Adam
Speaker 1: Raimunda and Chelsea English. Sound design and mixed by Dennis Denbeck.
Speaker 1: Music by Trey Toy, Performances by Matthew Brissard, Ether, Mike Leibovitz,
Speaker 1: Serious Mike Kaplan, Logo Lucy Pole Umbra featuring Dancy and
Speaker 1: Germaine Orren. Director and head writer Michael Freiberk, writers Tom
Speaker 1: Delgado and Will Julian, Story editor Chelsea English, dialogue editor
Speaker 1: Adam Raimonda, additional music Matthew blacka fully post reret fullcast
Speaker 1: and crew in the description. Find more podcasts for my
Speaker 1: Heart Radio on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts.