Goshawk | Ep. 27

Greetings, listeners, and welcome back to The White Vault, Gosshawk. I'm K.A. Stats, writer and creator of The White Vault, co-founder of Fool and Scholar Productions, and personal spokesperson for our Patreon. Our company is tiny, independent, and almost entirely funded by listeners, so if you find value in the stories we tell, please consider checking out our Patreon. You are what makes us possible, and in the world of large companies and podcasting giants, we endure. If you are listening to this episode before February 2026, you have an interesting possibility ahead of you. What if you could bring home a piece of our horrors? Right now, on our Patreon, supporters are signing up for our tantalizing Guardian Tier, a level of support for fans who feel the frightening pull of tangible terrors. This year, to mark the end of the White Vault, we're conspiring with talented European craftsmen to build Guardian statuettes. versions of the White Vault's dark, unsettling creatures in their frozen form for you to bring into your home. As always, to learn more, click on the link in the show notes or go to patreon.com slash foolandscholar. Now we return again to the chill of the White Vault. The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not-so-dark, not-so-stormy, hard-boiled detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the Intrepid Chaotix Detective Agency as they take on their biggest case yet. This high-flying, action-packed adventure will take them across the world, fighting for every quill they can fight, It's one heck of a tale Which is good Because this story might Be the only thing that can save Their lives Well if that's all I can just dispose of you Wait what? All will be revealed in Sonic the Hedgehog presents The Chaotix Case Files Listen now Wherever you get your podcasts The war is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders and armies scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors claw to what's left of a broken world, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight. But in the shadow dark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring at its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time, and when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job. This is a brutal rules-light nightmare with a story that emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play RPGs in the 80s, and man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the shadow dark every Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on youtube.com slash the glass cannon with the podcast version dropping the next day. See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark. White Volt. Ghost Hulk. Thank you. Come on, he said... Come on, Georgana, it's gotta be... Here, here, breathe, breathe. Am I doing this right? Okay, rhythm? Not too much? Go away! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, great, great. Can't breathe just tight. Don't move, don't move, don't speak, focus on breathing. You stopped breathing for a while and I... Kid Lai told me about this thing ahead of time. Don't speak. Yeah, I hear footsteps too. It's more than one set or it may be an echo. Don't trust who you know. Gun. Stop talking and stop moving. I'll get the pistol. Can you hold the mask to your face? Hey, hey, stay awake. Can you hold the bag? If I see you, drop it. I'll start it again, okay? Hey, awake. Hold the bag. There's a light. Like a flashlight. Those things don't carry light. Maybe it's Adele. Or Kid Lat. Yeah, I know. Whoever is out there, I have a gun and I will shoot. Identify yourself and approach slowly. I also have a gun and will shoot if needed. I don't know that voice. How many are you? We heard more than one set of footsteps. There are two of us. How many are you? Also two. Are you the team sent by Walcicna? Part of it. If you know that, then you know there's something dangerous here. We can't yell like this. It'll attract attention. Move closer. I promise not to shoot if you remain well lit. And don't make any fast movements. Who are you? Why are you here? I'm Diz, Eldrunch's daughter of the Sitya family. And this is Kosuke of the EY. We are here to... find someone. Who could you possibly be looking for? We're in the middle of nowhere. We're searching for a possibly dangerous man. Jason Uchida. He came out here several days ago with some graduate students. We don't know what he's doing, but we think those people are in danger. You can come closer. My friend recognizes your names, I think. But don't think I won't hurt you if I need to. This situation has eliminated most of my polite, non-violent tendencies. And as for Jason... Yeah. He's been a problem. I understand not trusting this, but can you tell me what's wrong with your friend? Maybe we can help. She can't breathe. She was stabbed and... Dracana, wake up. She keeps passing out and I have to use the bag to help her breathe. Earlier she said her chest felt tight. Dracana, that's the... that's a Val Cicna agent. Wait. Stabbed? By whom? That can wait. She's unconscious. She's just... Pulse is weak. Hello? I don't know if you can hear me, but... I'm Iwaii Kosuke. I'm a doctor, and I'm going to try and help you. You. Tell me everything about her condition so far. Yeah, yeah, of course. She was stabbed around here. The knife was about this long. I have it. If that helps, we were able to bandage it, and it didn't bleed a lot. Not as much as I thought getting stabbed would. But we had to move her from the lake and into the cave so she didn get to rest It gotten progressively worse her breathing I mean and now she can seem to get air in at all I didn know you were a doctor How can I help Show me your medical supplies. Please hold the light. Right here, in the pack. Take it. Take whatever you need. I should have told you, Dees, but it never seemed pressing. I'm the family pediatrician. I wanted to be the family doctor, but we already have one. And as you can imagine, he's healthy and not retiring anytime soon. Give me some space. And stop the ambi bag for now. I need to listen. It's not the best selection, but you have the bare minimum of what we may need. And that's good enough. She has no breath sounds without assistance. Distended jugular, intermittent consciousness, minimal palpable pulse, tracheal deviation. And listen to her chest cavity. I think she has a pneumothorax. Restart the ambi-bag. Okay. What does that mean, though? Pneumothorax means that the stab she suffered punctured the space between her chest wall and her lung. Air can escape her lung, but has nowhere to go. And that air pressure has been building up in the cavity. This puts a lot of pressure on the lungs, making it more and more difficult to breathe as the air inside increases. Uh, yeah, yeah, that sounds right. It got worse as time went on, as we moved her. But before continuing, who are you? If that's Dragana, who are you? Were you sent by Volsigna as well? A fucking joke? I'm no one. I was out here taking photos of birds and landed in a pile of shit. Now help her, she's my godmother. Oh. Do something! What do we do? I can attempt an emergency thericostomy, which means I'll need help. An earthquake? We're in goddamn Maine! We need to get out of here. We can't move her. Not anymore. She'll need to stay here until the procedure is done and the pressure is dissipated. It's dangerous, but it needs to happen. For her sake. She won't make it much longer otherwise. Right. But there are things in the area. I don't know what you know or what you've seen, but something is happening at the old lake. So we need to get out of here quickly. How can I help? Tell me what to do. First, unbind the wound site. Then the goal of the procedure will be to release the built-up pressure and create a valve for the air to escape her body as needed. So you'll go in through the stab wound? No. I will have to cut and control a new small hole, directed at the intrapleural space to allow the air to escape. You don't have a large enough catheter or needle to perform a needle thoracotomy. There isn't any more? Where's your pack? That's all we have. I couldn't carry her and all the gear, so I just have this bag. It seemed more useful. Alright, we'll make it work. I'll need sterile gloves, a scalpel, some kind of small forceps, and the benzoin swab's there. I guess I never did ask what you did back home. Wash your hands and arms. I'll find the gloves. Benzo... Here are these? Yes. They have some clean gauze and put them down. Try to keep things clean. Scalpel, scalpel, scalpel, scalpel. No, no, let go. That's, uh... Those are our beds. Koski already found your medical kit. There. Look. Sorry, it's just dark. Here, a scalpel. What was the other thing? Forceps, but I have them here already. Now keep her flat and lift her right arm up and out of the way. Got it. Sorry, Georgana. What's your name? Ify. Ify. Take the ambi bag and continue the breathing aid like you were doing when we first arrived. Dees, I need you to find a small-sized plastic bag. Something flexible and keep it clean. I'll look. Now, Dragana, right? I don't know how much you're going to be able to feel, or if you can understand me right now, but this is going to hurt. Hopefully you're not too conscious. I'm going to start now. Making a decision. Fifth, intercost of space, right side. Top of lower rib. Okay. Clean gauze. Put it under her side to collect the blood. Uh, yeah. Got it. You can add another stabbing to the list, right, Jagana? This is nothing. Is she going to be okay? I'll do my best. Continue with the bag for now. Of course. You've done this before, right? Never in my professional career. Not a normal visit for a pediatrician. Oh. Gush. Force up. What? What? Do you need to remove something? No. The forceps help create an open passage. Stop the bag. For the air to escape. Was that the trapped air? Can she breathe now? Give her two more breaths with the ambi-bag. If you're squeamish, look away now. Another breath on the bag. Good. What did you have to feel with your finger? I could feel the reinflation of her lung. And I'm happy to say she's breathing on her own now. She is? The air in the cavity is gone, and... Hear that? Her chest doesn't sound like a drum anymore. And her lung sounds are slowly returning to normal. They're improving with every small breath. Is she going to be okay now? We will need to wait and see if air begins to collect in her lungs again. That might mean the stab wound punctured her lung and the air is leaking in. But for now, we need to tape an improvised valve over the incision. Hey, Jerkana. Can this count as luck? Got you a doctor out of nowhere. Gotta be, right? Please. Please. Please. Just breathe. When should she wake up? If she's breathing, shouldn't she wake up if she was just awake a minute ago? Has she gone unconscious before? Yes, a few times. How long did it take her to wake up from those? It was different each time. And it will be different this time as well. Her body's exhausted. Let her rest. We'll keep an eye on her. If it appears as if her lung is not leaking air, we can think about moving her. Until then, I'm sure we have a lot to talk about Yeah, sure We said we wouldn't let that bitch kill you You'll wake up You will Now that the niceties are out of the way, what did you call me here for? Niceties? Well, never nice. Not to you. I'm nice to your secretaries. Well, they think I'm worth being nice to. I'm sure they do. Your name's on their paychecks. Bad news, then. Perhaps It's been five years and we've still not found a way out of this Not even a full cycle of the sites has completed so I don't know what we expected to learn in such a short amount of time and the research done in the last two decades I don't want to hear your SOM stories Your family's had hundreds or thousands of years to work on a solution and all you did was twiddle your thumbs and rake in the cash You know that untrue You seen how much data we collected You helped collect it The only way we can strive for answers and a possible solution is with modern means. Something only the previous two generations have had access to. That doesn't forgive anything. I know, but the... I don't want to hear it. What am I here for? Sigh We've secured more partners from more sites Thankfully, some of the other families have been willing to share information and site access So long as we don't need to fear when their site becomes active Access to further sites we've secured through less straightforward means Like me And others Dragana, what if there is no safe way to end these cycles? What if the cycles are, by their nature the most controlled and least harmful system. Least harmful? Are you really the kind who thinks bad news deserves a face-to-face? It's so considerate of you. I understand, as much as I can, your intense distaste for me and mine. But what if we are the lesser of two evils? Would that suffice? Are you asking me for moral guidance? We have favor with the terrible things that kill people. We benefit from the abhorrent actions, but we have a say in the deaths. The number of deaths is precise and documented. If the solution were death on a much larger and uncontrollable scale, then isn't what we have the better choice? I'm not a scientist I'm not your family and I'm certainly not a moral authority if you think my answer is any different now than before you're playing with yourself no, you're actually worried you want me to say it's okay for people to die to break the cycle it wouldn't be us killing them Not in the same manner, not on as controlled a scale. And they will hate us for it. They will want to stop it. But there may not be another way. So far, these are your only two options? Yes. Is it indiscriminate? In some ways, yes. In others, absolutely not. If so, I guess one of us may end up dead Maybe both Store the ambi bag for now, but be sure it's reachable. I'm really thankful, Doc. But surgery or not, I still don't trust two random people who showed up in the same cave as me in the middle of nowhere. She's been telling me some messed up shit, and I'm not even supposed to trust the people I know, let alone strangers. That's understandable and good advice. We are here to look for Jason. And because we think some strange things might be happening here, we can't tell you much more than that for now. But we're happy to listen to anything you'd be willing to share. Your godmother works for a company. In some way, she works for the same company that I do. Ippie! Ippie! We made it out of the cave! If you're still in there, come out! There are creatures in the cave! We need to go now! Come on! Do you? Not her. Don't make a beep. There are things here. We saw it leave the caves earlier. It must be checking by the entrance again. So you know about the Guardians? Whatever they are, yeah. But I... I don't know how much I should tell you. I don't know if it's safe. We are not here to hurt you or stop you from leaving. In fact, you leaving sounds like the best course of action. No, I mean, I don't know if it's safe for you. You're right. You never know. We were told that Dragana had a team. Was there someone else with her? Yes, a man, Kidlat. He... well, I don't know where he is anymore. I hope he's okay. How did you get here? Did you come with them? No. No, I needed help, so I called her. She came here to help me. Dracana, I didn't... I'm so happy you're awake. How do you feel? Can you breathe? Does anything hurt? Give her a moment. Stay calm. Take your time. Small breaths. Just breathe as you normally would. Try not to overexert yourself. When you... Chircata? The fuck are you... You're in-cave physician. How's your breathing feel? Does your chest feel tight or small when you try to inhale? Breathing's easier. A stab wound aches like... Are there more of them? Did I get stabbed a second time? That's from the procedure, to let the air out. You sound better? It's good if you can't remember it. Now, please turn your head. Does it feel like you get the same amount of air each time you inhale? Is it getting any worse the more you breathe? Yes. No. It's fine. Thanks for the help. Now, who are you? You're from the families. You look too calm. It's a dead giveaway. They said their names earlier. You even gave me a nod. I was out of it then. I don't remember any of that. I will guess you're from the EY, based on the accent. And you, your Sijia. I am Dis, Eldros Drosidia, yes. And I'm Iwai Korsuke. Can't say it's ever been a good meeting with a citrus involved. And even with the ones I've met, your new... true daughter. Yes, and he's also a true son. We have the luck. As much as anyone does right now. Wait, they have it too? Are they related to me, or...? Different families. Same problem. Oh, so there's a lot of them. Us? It's a small world we live in. And a terrible one. Why are you here? This is a far cry from your sights. They said they were following Jason. There's more to it than that. Yes, much more. Fill me in, then. There have also been reports of radiation in the area, the kind usually linked to the sites. As for Jason, we followed a digital paper trail out to Maine, and then to a small town north of here. And after that, we assumed he was headed here based on the radiation readings. There was an earthquake as well, which is also a common indicator of active site activity. It worrisome as this is only a newly active Fisher location This Jason you after is he family Yes. Earlier you said he came out here with graduate students. I think they're all dead now. When I got here, Jason was the only one in this town. And now he's dead too. How? Can we tell them everything, then? They won't have the same problems, since they're from a weird family, right? Members of all of the families don't experience the madness like I told you for yours. Jason killed some people and dragged them to the lake. Then he killed himself by jumping in. No lake left now. The whole thing drained when a new door forced itself free of the rock under the water. What? Slow down. Explain everything. No. First you tell us how you got here. However you got into Gossok is how we're getting out. No. We can't leave yet. I don't care what you're doing. I care about getting Irina and Adele out of this mess. So did you bring a car, snowmobiles, helicopter? Snowmobiles. But we didn't want to attract attention as we approached. We thought Jason may be dangerous, so we parked the snowmobiles about two kilometers away. Then about half a kilometer from here, less than that I think, we found a mine entrance. It looked like he had rails set for extracting some kind of rock. Given that sites are usually underground, we took a chance and went inside. Eventually, that got us here. It was not very far. So, you didn't go through the old town? You haven't seen the lake? No? Or the trees. Trees? What do you mean? First time I've ever seen it. The trees around Goth's Hawk have become guardians of some kind. They attack, but they're slow. Well, they move closer slowly, but the branches are fast. I've never heard of such a thing. But we've seen the other creatures too. They've been breaking the trees down and hauling them off to the lake center. Yes, like the Guardian we heard earlier, I would imagine. The summit in Cairo. Alenia told me it was important, but that might go to shit. What happened? Any updates? She... It... It went to shit. Linnea is dead. Many people are dead. The summit turned into a massacre. Every family lost people. True sons and daughters. Dead? Guardians attacked the hotel. Impossible. There is no site anywhere near Cairo, and Guardians don't leave the sites. No, they do. At least some. Well, damn. And there have been several natural disasters. Snowstorms, volcanic activity, flooding. Seems nothing is working as we should hope. I'm sorry about your friend, Dragana. No. You... you never have to be sorry for her. And she wasn't a friend. She was my employer. The only thing I'm sorry to lose is her help in solving all this shit. And you're right, Sijia. Nothing's staying the same. So we don't know where to start. With Adele. We find Adele and Kidlat, and then we get out of here. They brought snowmobiles, and now we know we can get out through the mines to a place past the trees. So let's find them and get the hell out of here. So can I move around, Dr. EY? Are you feeling okay? No more tightness in your chest? Are you still taking in full breaths? No tightness. Much easier to inhale. Not like it was before. I still feel stabbed though There's a plastic valve rigged in place atop the incision under the breathable bandages It should allow any remaining air to escape from the chest cavity without letting any air back in But even so, you have two chest wounds And I didn't even examine the actual stab site You should avoid moving as much as possible Well, I'm not staying here We find the others, then get out of Gosshook, and then I go to a hospital. Absolutely. No, we aren't leaving, and we can't bring you out to the snowmobiles until we've done what we were asked to do. It's always something with Sutra. What do you mean? Who's asking you? You don't hear the woman's voice, right? What woman? No. We were asked by them. Fuck. What? Greplavidr. The White Vault. Gosshawk. Written and created by K.A. Stats. Co-creative, produced, and directed with Foley by Travis Vengroff. With script editing by W.K. Stats. Co-directed with dialogue editing by Gregor Römer. With sound design, mixing, and mastering by Finner Nielsen. And executive producers Carol Vengroff, Michael Villegas, Dennis Greenhill, and A.J. Punkin. Starring Lauren Tucker, Hildur Magnusdottir, Marcy Edwards, Tanya Milojevic, Dice Ketsuji, Thinner Nielsen, and special guest Ham Brewster. For access to bonus episodes, early episodes, and ad-free episodes, visit patreon.com slash foolandscholar and support this show and its creators. This is a Fool and Scholar production. Thank you for listening. Oh, the Regency era. You might know it as the time when Bridgerton takes place, or the time when Jane Austen wrote her books. But the Regency era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history. And on the Vulgar History Podcast, we're going to be looking at the balls, the gowns, and all the scandal of the Regency era. Vulgar History is a women's history podcast, and our Regency era series will be focusing on the most rebellious women of this time. That includes Jane Austen herself, who is maybe more radical than you might have thought. We'll also be talking about queer icons like Anne Lister, scientists like Mary Anning and Ada Lovelace, as well as other scandalous actresses, royal mistresses, rebellious princesses, and other lesser-known figures who made history happen in England in the Regency era. Listen to Vulgar History wherever you get podcasts. The show is brought to you by Producers, composers, directors, and we'll of course have some actors on as well, including some certain guys that played some certain pretty iconic brothers. It was kind of a little bit of a left field choice in the best way possible. The note from Kripke was, he's great, we love him, but we're looking for like a really intelligent Duchovny type. With 15 seasons to explore, it's going to be the road trip of several lifetimes. So please join us and subscribe to Supernatural then and now. Thank you.