The Once and Future Nerd · Glass & Madera

What’s Close To You, Pt. 2

February 27, 2022·29 min·2 clips

Lord Antonin Mooncrest stages a conversation with himself as a phantom to prove his worthiness to the garrison.

The announcements stay brief. A sponsor plug, a Patreon reminder, and a note that Riley Jones has stepped away from First Snow sit up front before the scene starts. Then Ardell tries to bargain and does not have the room he thinks he has. He asks a farm woman to waive payment, offers a writ of debit, and learns she has already clocked the fine horse beside him. Court manners run straight into farm math. The joke works because the grand Redmoor departure turns into Ardell riding away on a newly acquired ass. That sets the pace. The road scene moves from barter comedy into slow travel, with Daffodil stopping while First Snow reads the prairie. She spots motion on the horizon. Empty land, to someone else, becomes a place full of signs, and the moving line ahead means a herd. Water becomes the next small problem. First Snow wants to fill up before the animals disturb the stream, but her companion says they have enough. Then carrots derail the politics. Her companion stops to reward Daffodil, which turns a practical pause into a pointed little dispute about gratitude and dependence. First Snow gets impatient. The answer is blunt: if they do not want to walk, they should respect the animal carrying them. The proposal waits in the background. Once they move again, the talk shifts to what First Snow will say at the Federation. The stakes tighten without fanfare. A possible run for Speaker hangs over the trip, because the current term is ending and they may not get back in time.

As heard by us

A quiet travel chapter that folds politics, humor, and character pressure into the same saddlebag.

What starts as a practical errand turns into a dry, funny run of travel and bargaining, with Ardell trying to talk his way around a fee and First Snow being nudged toward speaking for the Federation on the prairie.

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Why you'd press play

A barter, a prairie ride, and a Speaker nudge for First Snow.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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