[00:00:19] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to interrogation, where guidance will always find you when you need it. I am your guide, Dusty. I use they he pronouns, and today I am joined by the lovely Amahan.
Why don't you introduce yourself a little bit and also introduce who we'll be talking to today.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: Yes. Hello, everypony. My name is Mihan. I use he they pronouns. And today we will be talking to Kalei Maltaso as heard on capricious providence, the TTRPG podcast.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Beautiful. I'm very excited to learn more about them. I think we're both maybe going to learn more about them together.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: For those listening for the first time, this may be the first thing you hear on this. We are going to discuss Calais and learn a little bit about them. And then we're going to do a tarot reading to kind of find out where they are, what they're looking for, maybe. Maybe something they're not looking for. That's kind of how tarot goes, right?
[00:01:37] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: And after we do that, we'll have a discussion to see, like, how. How things panned out and how, like, generally you feel.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Oh, yes.
How I feel about my blurbo.
My poor blurbo.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: For those who, for whatever reason, have not listened to capricious providence, could you give us a little rundown of who Kalei is?
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Yes, Kalei is.
Yeah, no worries. Calais is. The campaign itself is set in, like, this sort of homebrew fusion of five. E is Eberron, but a couple of other games like Pathfinder and just so many other elements we kind of fuse together to make this world.
But he is one of six divine children of the war goddess Corinthia, of the silver flame, and that makes them a demigod.
And he was raised to fight in a war because his destiny was to help end the war. They were born for a specific purpose, and it was prophesied long before they were born.
And when they joined the war at 18, it was just deeply traumatic for both them and their siblings. And the war kept happening despite them being the prophesied, the fated two in this great war. And this big explosion called the morning occurred, which was magical energy that sort of devastated a large portion of the continent of Corvair, where they all live. And then his mother, Corinthia, the goddess, disappeared, and him and his siblings ended up searching all over to try and find her. But alas, she is missing, and she has still been missing.
And Kalei just stumbled into working for this organization called Dask alongside his friends.
That essentially was somehow, I guess, divinely given to him. He instead focused on his connection with his aunt by technicality Fortuna, who is the goddess of luck.
And despite all this, though, his connection to his faith and his religion has been sort of dwindling. Kind of seeing the effects of this war that he participated in, how it has changed the world and how people, how the life that he cares so much for as a healer has been negatively affected by this war.
And that's kind of a rundown of his backstory. But even currently, now in the story, they're at a very pivotal turning point in which Kalle has figured out some things about his, the religion that he's followed for the entire life and namely that the church that he lived in is actually the skeleton of an evil overlord.
[00:05:40] Speaker A: You know? You know? Yeah, I think that would make most people question everything.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Yes.
And that, like, that was, like, the large turning point for him. And something that he's always been stuck between was just, you know, deciding to go with prophecy or deciding to choose, you know, to do something else. Because as far as him and his siblings know, they are fated. They are now fated to die.
They're fated to die. They're fated to turn into these incomprehensible beings and just die.
And I'm trying to keep it as big as possible, but, like, it's while this is all happening, right. They feel their siblings are currently doing a sort of, they're in. Sorry. Feel free to cut out the bits and pieces here. But he had lost his connection to his mother, Corinthia.
Connection to the divine has been depleted completely, like, broken. After traveling to the Fae realm, his siblings are off on a mission in the mournlands in one of the most dangerous places on earth to try and stop this energy from being harvested for nefarious purposes.
And his lover, Finch, is not who she claims to be.
I will also try and keep that as it's just a lot going on that's devastating them and breaking them. And I feel like that's what would lead them to try and go to a khartome answer because they can't reach out to the gods anymore. They're not listening, and they have their friends can't really help them, and they're feeling incredibly betrayed. And I think that's what would lead them to go get a tarot reading.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Yeah. That, it sounds like they have a lot of burning questions. That I feel like if someone knows that, like, if I was in that position, if I could even get an answer to one thing, maybe I, like, that would push me. It's like, okay, like, I have one part. What's the next one I could do, like, now? Like, I could be on, like, a solving spree or try to, like, understand more, because. Yeah, this sounds like they're. They're going through it.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: They're having a time.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: They're. They're having quite a time.
Yeah. So, at this moment, they have all these things happening. What. Is there one. That question that takes precedence over anything, or is it just kind of, like, all accumulating into this big unknown?
[00:08:55] Speaker B: I'd say it's accumulating into a big unknown, but from that, Calais would sort of draw the question of, you know, where do I go from here?
No. They have no sense of direction anymore.
And maybe even asking the questions, who am I? You know, if not, like, you know, was I meant to be just this weapon of war?
Or am I slake? Am I meant for something else? Or can I choose something else? Like, kind of struggling back and forth of knowing their place in the world, their place amongst, like, the life that they care so much, the people that they care so much for. Like, is that. Is life something they can experience or just, are they all always going to be a tool? Is that what he's always going to be?
Yeah.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Before we talk to Kalei, I actually have a couple questions.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: I want to know a couple things that Kalei finds true.
Like what do they. Um. Pardon me. Just for me. Are they pronouns? He, him, he, they.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Oh. He, they, he, they.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. Is he. Is he, they?
Are they?
What? Does he believe that he is truly good at something, that he knows that it's their place in this world to succeed at?
[00:10:50] Speaker B: Calais is deeply empathetic.
He knows that his love and his care for the people and the places that are most important to him have always been the source of, I guess, their willpower and their drive. But they know that their devotion is something. Their devotion to love is something.
I guess that would be. They are good at that. They are good at offering that care, that gentle.
I suppose the gentle touch of a healer, so to speak. That's a yes. It's what they were kind of born to do, but also, it's something innate to them. Their ability to care and connect with others in such a vulnerable way.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: The sweetest boy. My heart already. We haven't even done the reading yet.
And this, in contrast to that question, what do they know are rather.
Who do they know that they can actually truly trust?
Or can they?
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Oh.
Or can they.
Who do they know they can trust. So that's a really amazing question.
They.
They actually.
They have lost.
I think that, like, the position they're in right now, they have lost the ability to really trust others because they cannot necessarily.
Like, they're so disconnected from themselves that, like, I don't think that they.
They currently are capable of trusting people as much as they would have. I think that the person that they trust the most right now is their friend Sylvanas, who is a fellow party member who has experienced a similar level of trauma with their former warlock patron. And also, Sylvanas has experience being lied to by everybody, the people that they were supposed to care about them. Right. And I think that sort of bridges, that is a way Kalei still feels connected to his friend Sylvanas.
And because they've been through such similar things, I think that is who they trust the most.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: Well, I feel like we're maybe gonna learn a lot more about Kalei in a second. Right?
[00:14:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: If you're about ready, why don't we go into the reading?
[00:14:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: Why don't you? Omihan kind of set the scene of where Kalei is searching for, or maybe happening upon this card of answer. This. This shop, this stand at a local fair or local, you know, gathering, bazaar.
Where are they right now?
[00:15:06] Speaker B: I would say that they are in the city of Towers, Charon itself.
Always busy, always bustling, always having layers and layers of different lives kind of overlapping and affecting one another in the sort of wave of the ebb and flow of city life, as it were, kind of washing over this bizarre.
There is this. This is a normal day off, I guess, for Kalei to be kind of walking around the city by themself, trying to get a sense of, I guess, self, a peace, even though it's probably very loud at the moment. But I think that they have been probably numbing themselves emotionally and even physically, sort of dissociating as they are struggling to sort of find their way around without divine guidance, without a trusted friend to be able to give them some sort of advice.
Because when you lose the thing that you've depended on, right, you have nothing but yourself to.
You have no one but yourself to really face.
So I imagine they would wander kind of lost, but curious at the same time, looking for anything to guide them.
And perhaps there is some corner of this bazaar that's, like, a little secluded, but somebody is offering cartomancy readings.
They themselves are a diviner of fate.
And though Calais cannot currently speak to his own mother, Corinthia, and though their ability to connect to any sort of divine being. That was an ability that was supposed to come, like, natural to them, especially as a demigod like this.
I think Calais would just take shrug, you know, and head on over and approach a little hesitant, kind of looking over the wares, looking at over what the stand looks like.
[00:18:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I think as you approach, there is kind of like a makeshift sign, almost like a banner hanging from this tent where it just says, guidance.
And as they approach, they see the wares. There's shelves filled with oddities, bottles filled with different color liquids, like books that look older than time itself.
And sitting further back behind, you know, a simple, humble table with a red tablecloth, a person wearing a hood where their face is hidden. And they chum up and say, you're a. You're a strange one to come into here, aren't you?
[00:19:09] Speaker B: As they're saying this, Calais sort of runs a finger along one of the old books and sort of rubs the dust between their fingers and looks at them, and they say, yes, I don't normally seek others for this kind of service. No, I'm a little bit out of my element right now.
I apologize.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Never apologize for needing guidance. That's why I set myself up here.
Wasn't sure why, but I think I found the answer.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: Answers, maybe.
I'm glad you found an answer. Um, I.
And they sort of, like, nervously play with their fingers and sway back and forth, and they go, I would love if you could offer.
If you could kindly offer any sort of guidance or maybe answers to at least one of the questions I have.
I'd hate to burden you with my entire life story. And they sort of scratch the back of their neck while approaching the table.
[00:20:52] Speaker A: You hear, like, the smallest of chuckles. And the arm with, like, you see their robe. The robe is long sleeved, wide open sleeves as well. It almost looks like it's internal darkness within. And they wave their hand, and a stool appears on the other side of the table. And they wave you over and say, well, answers I could not guarantee, but I'd be more than glad to offer guidance. At least.
[00:21:24] Speaker B: That is better than the cards I have been dealt with recently. So, yeah. Yes, very, very cool parlor trick.
And they sort of take a seat, like, a little bit gingerly, a little bit, I guess. Not necessarily skeptical, but you can definitely see that their body language is like, they've definitely never done anything like this before.
They've definitely not sought the company of a cartoon answer before.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: As you sit and take the setting in, this person kind of waves their hands again. And there's like, candles in this area.
Some of them go off to give, like, a more moody lighting to used phrase. And they put their hand down and they show a large deck of cards.
The backing is white with red designs on the back. And in front of you, they place down three cards and they put them on the table between the two of you and they go in. Well, I can offer you an insight to what may be pulling at you, what may be affecting that force. The idea.
Something you have not seen, something that has just been outside of your sight, your reach, but we'll get there.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Calais peers over the cards and over the person that just changed the lighting in the room very dramatically. And there's sort of this feeling that washes over Calais, a sense of not necessarily doom, but there's something pooling at the bottom of their stomach and something tight holding around their throat. And they sort of, like, you can tell they, you 100% the cartoon answer has 100% their attention.
They are not. They're glued to the seat now.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: Yes, the garden mansurous, who, again, even sitting close, you can't see under their hood.
Their voice seems to be coming from a void. And they look at you and kind of see you taking everything in. It's like, well, let's flip over the first card, if you would, the page of wand. You may be having trouble with something going against your creativity, your enthusiasm, your confidence, your courage.
So it being reversed, maybe that something is just starting or it's not what you'd expect.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: I see Caleb sort of creases their eyebrows and sort of peers up into the void that is beneath the hood.
They don't ask questions because they've seen shadier figures before, but they peer down at the card and they say, um, yes, there's many unexpected things happened recently.
Um, I've.
I I. It changed a lot for me. And I don't know.
I don't know how to connect to that part of myself again.
[00:26:11] Speaker A: You see the wheel of Fortune.
[00:26:21] Speaker B: That's so cool. Wait, stop.
Well, go ahead.
[00:26:27] Speaker A: The wheel of fortune, though affecting your destiny, you're at turning point, having a personal vision that's affecting your courage, your creativity. This is something that maybe your own destiny is getting in your way.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: Kallei repeats the wheel of fortune as a card kind of strikes a chord in Calais.
The wheel of fortune, the wheel of fate, the same wheel that they are.
Their goddess fortuna spins their aunt, someone who will also not respond to Calais prayers. And please, for the imagery itself to show up here, there's a sort of.
I think you can see Calais wince a bit and kind of step back as if the card's dredging up memories.
And he says, I.
Long before I was born, my fate was predetermined. And I have lived my life with that knowledge, and I have let that lead me to so many different places.
I've always felt trapped by it, though.
Despite living out what my purpose was meant to be, I never felt like I was ever truly.
And what does. What does somebody do when.
When everything you've been told, your entire world shatters?
If what.
What does one do when the inner machinations of fate bring you to a point of self destruction?
And then I think Kalei sort of sinks into the chair. But.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: The guide is taking this all in and is looking at the cards. And I cannot answer that for you.
No, I can show you something you have not seen yet, something that isn't the outside force. To all this, to your destiny, to your courage.
We turn over the last card to reveal the tower.
Their hand kind of hovers for a moment as they put the card down, and they're looking at you and saying, the tower, sudden change, downfall, revelations.
All of this just outside your grasp that will make sense, or you mute.
[00:31:06] Speaker B: They collect sort of stares at the tower.
Their eyes follow the lightning striking from the heavens, lighting the stone masses ablaze, the people falling away from it, the crown toppling from it.
Destruction and chaos.
And that you can see Calais eye, his golden eye, the symbol of their connection to the divine itself. It is.
It flashes a bit, and as if in.
In recognition, they sort of peer into the void and then back to the other three cards. I mean. Sorry. They peer into the void underneath the hood and then at the other two cards and back to the tower. And they say, I have been living suspended, trapped in this wheel, in this cycle.
I have clung to these ideals, these rules, these prophecies, the silver flame, my mother, my family, my purpose. I've clung to all of that in order to have a sense of self, because that's all I had. That is all I lived for.
That is who I lived for.
But the tower.
And their hand sort of reaches out towards it and sort of, like, touches it. The tower.
Destruction, sudden change, upheaval.
Something does need to change.
Maybe. I don't see how that happens. And I don't know what it will bring, but I just.
I don't want to spin the wheel anymore. I want to break that wheel.
I want.
I want. I want to. I want it to change.
I want.
I don't. I don't want to be limited by the confines of whatever master plan someone has already has decided to plan out.
And they kind of stare a little bit, and they sort of, like, look up at this caped figure and sort of tilt their head a bit of. And they're like, what have you make of all of this?
[00:35:38] Speaker A: I do not know your past. Do not know your future.
I don't know your present, though the cards are telling me the only thing standing in front of you stopping what you need to do is your destiny, your fate.
Sounds like you need to destroy that.
And they haven't moved very much. Their hand is going to hover over the tower. They're going to pick it up, and they're going to physically hand it to you and say, keep this a reminder.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: And Calais sort of takes it from their hands, in between their forefinger and their middle finger, and they sort of softly look at it in the way that it shines in, reflects off of the candlelights in the room, highlighting, I guess, the fire imagery that's on the cardinal.
And they say, I will.
I'm going to destroy it. My destiny.
I'll get rid of it, and I'll write my own.
[00:37:05] Speaker A: Hooded figure. Dods, it sounds like you don't have the answers, but maybe one of them.
[00:37:19] Speaker B: Yes, there is a sense of.
I guess Khalee takes a few seconds to kind of sit there and then look at the card, and they say they just suddenly look up, and they sort of jump up out of their seat a little bit, just kind of looking around. It's as if. Like, they suddenly realize, like, where they were. But, like, they. It's. It's not that. It's more like after dissociating for so long out of. After not being present within themselves, they finally feel that sense of grounding, um, with this card. And then they turn to the cartomancer and they say, no, I don't have all the answers, but that's okay. I think I have the tool, I think.
Thank you. Thank you. This is.
This is valuable.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: Figure nods.
They say, you should be on your way.
If you need me guidance, we'll find you.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: Kalei sort of nods. And then, I think, for one last time, they look over the room and they peer at the figure, just like going over the.
I guess, the serendipitous occasion of just strolling into a room and being presented with cards, something very simple, and being presented with a key, a tool, a way out at the crossroads in which they were positioned and they sort of nod respectfully, they tuck the card into their satchel, and they run out with their gait noticeably changing instead of the sullen, hesitant posture that was seen when they initially walked into the room.
He stands a little bit taller, and his tail sort of switches with this renewed, I guess, energy.
There is something different about them.
And they head on out the tent.
[00:40:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I think where we will leave, we see them leave the tent and go on their way. And when you leave, you turn around and you see that the tent is gone.
The guide, everything in there disappeared.
However, in your hand, the tower card still remains, and I think that's where we'll leave you.
I think let's get into it, because I am dying to know you. Your reaction, because it sounds like this was quite a reading.
[00:41:28] Speaker B: Yes, actually it was.
I think it couldn't have been more perfect because the fact that the wheel of fortune even showed up in the first place, that's sort of what the tale of capricious Providence is kind of built upon. At least they do use in the podcast, I use the tarot cards as a way to depict what's going to happen in the episode, like, beforehand, like, I kind of, like, I have a card that, like, suits the episode. Right. But overall, the podcast itself, the story itself is represented by the wheel of Fortune. And there is a character, a goddess, fortuna, who sort of represents the values of this and has like a big roulette wheel. She sort of spins a.
And as she's like, she the goddess of luck and fate and fortune, vice versa.
It's to me, the whole purpose of the.
Not to me, but in general, the whole purpose of the story itself is to explore what it means to fight against the way things are, to be presented with a fate and then to change it, as it were. And that being a card, the card that I was drawn, I was like, whoa, no way. And that's the problem. That's the obstacle. Destiny is the problem. And I was like, I couldn't have think of a better. Like, it's just the perfect card to go in that position that it was.
And of course, the page of wands, like in reverse. I think that makes a lot of sense for where clay is at. It's like there's a fire lit within them that they can't even start right.
And they can't bring themselves to start it because they're afraid of what'll happen if they do. And so the way I see it, especially with the tower, which I thought was like, I thought was I thought was beautiful. I don't know personally, from what I know, and I know people listening probably don't know the context of everything that's happening, but the. What I've always wanted filet to do is to literally just embrace that destruction. There's a beauty in the brutality of the destruction of the facade of everything that you know and love and have devoted yourself to, like, falling apart. And that can apply to so many aspects of their life right now in the terms of the story. But with their lover Finch, for example, they have both kind of lived and died, quote, unquote, over and over again, sort of changing each other as, like, mirrored reflections of one another. And the more that they get to know one another, the more their sense of self sort of collapses around them because they're not who they thought they were. Neither of them are, but especially not Kalei. And the way that I see it, it's like you have the page of wands, right? Wands are used to make fires, and there's. I see it as Kalei just taking.
Taking the wand from the wheel itself and using it to kindle a fire that starts at the bottom of the tower, like. And destroying it itself. That. I see it as Calais just taking fate into their own hands and then literally breaking it. Destroying it and using. And that being a way to reclaim their agency, the agency that they've never had.
[00:46:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I think this. So, this. The. This reading was the first reading for this deck.
It is a. It's a deck that has been sealed. No way. And I shuffled it right before this. This is the very first reading of this deck. And I think that's, like, even, like, for me, pulling those cards and hearing Goliath and me, I don't know if you heard it, but even I hesitated because I pulled a tower. I'm like, oh, okay. Um.
[00:47:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:47:05] Speaker A: Especially, like, the tower being, like, the outside force, the thing that's, like, affecting it that you didn't even consider this. This is why I love tarot readings. This is.
[00:47:18] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:47:18] Speaker A: This is so good. I think.
Yeah, that was, like, just going over everything one. Jenny told me beforehand and that Kalei was, like, experienced through this. Like, I don't think there could have been a better reading for this moment that they're in.
[00:47:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
Agree. Agree. I think it's so cool that, like, you only just announced, like, the first reading, just right out the door, right off the bat.
[00:47:45] Speaker A: Yeah. It knew what it wanted to say.
[00:47:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:47:51] Speaker A: How.
How much do you think this will affect them and their further adventures? What they're facing next.
[00:48:01] Speaker B: I think that this is.
It's directly going to impact how they problem solve or view situations. Right. Instead of.
Instead of viewing them with the old ones that they had before, they're like, they are going to have that tower mindset. What needs to change? What needs to be. What needs to be. What upheaval needs to happen in order to reclaim my agency. Reclaim Kalle's agency.
How can Caleb gain control of their fate? And the answer is to destroy it. Get rid of it. To get rid of the destiny. Get rid of his destiny. And I guess, like, I know a little bit about tarot.
Like, a tarot person. I know that the card that comes after the tower is the star. There's hope, and from that destruction, hope can always sort of arise. And I think that is the guiding light. That is what Kalei is going to sort of lead themselves by from now on, instead of surrendering to their fate, their destiny, to their circumstance, they're going to fight against what's happening and change things for his. His own sake, but also for, like, what they perceive to be the greater good of everything around them. And that's probably going to change a lot about, like, how they.
Their demeanor, you know, like, I think that. I think that they're still going to have that very gentle, kind, like, loving center, but I also think that they are very. They are very, very passionate, and will they have so much anger and emotion sitting inside of him that that's, like, the fuel to the fire. That side of him is going to come out more. The one that is more outspoken, the one that, instead of just sitting and doing as you're told, like, no, wait. Hold on a minute. I don't actually like what's going on here. Here's what I'm going to do.
That kind of attitude, I think that's. I see that being how clay solves his problems.
Who's to say how that'll play out for everybody, though?
[00:50:53] Speaker A: Well, I. I feel honored to have been their guide this time around.
I think maybe that's where we'll leave them and where. Just one more time, so people can remember, where can they find what you do on Mahan? And where can they find Kulain? What they're doing?
[00:51:12] Speaker B: Yes, you can find me at the Rose cleric on any social media platform. Just search the rose cleric, and I'm probably gonna come up. Capricious Providence can be found on Twitter.
That's c a p r I p o v.
There's links and stuff to the website. It's on Spotify. It's wherever you can pod your cast, as they say.
Yes, incredible.
[00:51:48] Speaker A: Well, that will leave us for now. And remember, guidance will find you when you need it.
Goblins and gaze presents interrogation if you like the show, please rate and review and share with a friend. You can find more tabletop shows at goblins and gaze online. Our intro and outro theme was by Farris. You can find more of their work at eferrisgames itch IO. You can also follow the show online at Interrogate and if youd like to reach us, you can do
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