The Pariah Podcast - Philip 'Norvaljoe' Carroll

On Midsummer’s morning, after a quick breakfast, Keo returned to the top of the draw, and peered down it into the trees at the far end."What do you think, Leenie? Should we go down and take a look?"Yes.Keo laughed. "Finally committing yourself, are you?"The draw was steepest at the top and Keo walked sideways down for the first few yards to keep from slipping. Leenie didn't seem to have any problem with footing. The more they progressed, the ground leveled off in its slope and Keo stepped out a little faster, until he neared the edge of the trees. Distance had played with his perception and the trees were farther away, and taller than he had originally thought. Almost anything could be hiding in those trees.

Dinner was approaching as Keo and his creature made their way back to the cottage. He checked regularly to see if the pig frog was tiring, but she seemed to have endless endurance.The mess hall closest to his cottage sat immediately off the road Keo travelled. A crowd gathered waiting for the evening meal and Keo tried to skirt widely around them. Something in the milling group of creature handlers caught his eye—orange hair. Hope rose inside him filling a cavity he hadn't realized was empty and he was inescapably drawn toward his old friend. However, he didn't want to get close enough to other people that his creature would cause a distraction.Keo worked his way around the group slowly, trying to get into a position where he could catch Bree’s eye. He caught someone's eye, but it wasn't hers."Hey, look. It's the pig farmer," Storgent Vangled shouted and strode toward him.

Spoiler Alert: The egg hatches.

Keo learns about himself, and then the eggs start to hatch.

The three day ride back to the training camp in the wagon felt like a mortal punishment for all the sins of every ancestor going back to the time the old gods ruled the earth. If he could have begged those who had carried him to the lake to find the stretcher and take him up again, he would have. But, he was alone with his jostling pain as the wagon bounced and rocked, pitched and shook. His knee and wrist combined their agony, crossed all his bruises and scrapes in between to jump up and down on the tenderest places on his head.Each night on the road, he asked the healer for more of the mind and body numbing potion, but the healer claimed there was no one to watch him through the night. And patients already on the mend, when using the elixir, were known to wander around in their sleep. He didn't want Keo to fall from the wagon thinking he was merely going for a walk.#No one was happier than Keo to see the camp come into view on their final day of the march. The healer’s wagon was the first of the support wagons behind the training battalion travelling on foot. Propped against the back of the bed in a sitting position, he could lean his head out the side and watch the trainees disperse back to their barracks.

The trainees head into the swamp to find their creature companions

"I can't, Crystal," Keo said, forcing the words from deep in his chest. "I'm afraid during the night my desires will become too strong and I might take advantage of you in your sleep.""I wouldn't mind.” She took both of his hands and gripped them close to her. "You wouldn't be taking advantage of me, because I would want you to. Stay with me.""That's the problem, Chrystal. I don’t want that…We don’t want that kind of accident. We have too much at stake. We’re here to find our creatures and then grow with them. An accident, whether we were okay with it or not, would change all of that. We have to stay focused on the future, not this moment."His shoulders seemed to have crept up his neck without him realizing it. Keo sighed and relaxed. He wrapped his arms around Crystal and pulled her close to his chest and kissed the top of her head."I love you little girl." Keo looked down on her. "I hadn't planned on telling you that tonight because it’s so new to me, being in love, loving you. But, I do. Of all the girls in this camp, it's you who my eye keeps returning to, and my ears are forever straining for the sound of your voice[PC1] . Trust me. There will be plenty of time, later. When we have our creatures we can be together. I'll see you in the morning."1:30 [PC1]

The trainee's are introduced to the overwhelming emotional influences of the swamp in preparation for reaching out to their empathic companions still in their eggs

The trainees finally get to go to the Central Swamp in preparation to find their creature eggs

Keo develops his skills as a creature handler and as a Core Leader among the youth of the camp. He develops a relationship with another Core Leader, which may lead to greater difficulties.

The creature handler trainees learn more about themselves, creatures, and their company commander, Lieutenant Gorley.

Keo meets friends, old and new, and some old enemies.

Contentions come to a head and Keo is pitted against the members of his own core as one boy is seriously injured and others are implicated in the crime.

Nit comes into his powers through a bad experience with his parents.

Keo takes leadership of his core and has interactions with designate 3rd core leaders.

Keo finds himself thrust into a position of leadership. He must use his strengths to compensate for his weaknesses and compete within a new peer group.

Keo learns more about the capitol and his new friends.

Keo and Moorden make their way to the Capital city in preparation for selection into the King's Service.

Property values in Port Bannard follow the lay of the land and climb up the capitol city slopes to the gates of the royal palace. Constructed of golden granite, imported from kingdoms to the south, the palace stands, broad and monolithic to face the setting sun as it sinks into the ocean. Smaller palaces and manors crouch in its morning shadow, also gazing onto the ocean, the source of much of the kingdom's wealth. Traveling north, descending the increasingly narrow streets the city deteriorates, eventually, into slums. Hovels built upon stilts and pilings above the perpetually wet salt marshes seem to rot and crumble even before they are completed, and are thus in a continuous state of patching and repair. However, it is the lowland marshes which inspire Westener magic and give the coastal witches their true power.

Keo continues his travel along the Southern Highway, but is joined by the Designate Third, Moorden Farnding