The Fate Index is a numbered list of 20 possible plot points. Before writing each chapter, Jeff and Ethan each roll a 20-sided die and the corresponding items on the Fate Index must be included in that chapter. Once an item from the Fate Index has been used in the story it cannot be used again and is replaced with a new possibility.
SEE THE FATE INDEX FOR SEASON ONE
SEASON TWO
JUMP TO: Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen
(don’t read these until after you’ve read the chapter)
Setting Up the Story
Before a new season begins, we create dice tables to determine the outline of the story (you can hear all about it in the first podcast). With these initial rolls, we are guided towards what type of story the Fates want us to tell.
High Fantasy
Low Fantasy
Magical Realism
Alternate Reality/Historical Fiction
Science Fiction
Spooky/Supernatural
Romance
Coming of Age
Self Improvement
Moral Imperative
Humorous Observation of the Human Condition (a lá Vonnegut)
Technology vs. Nature
Room/House
Neighborhood/Town
Country
Global
Interplanetary
Multiple Realms/Realities
Rural
Urban
Nature
Not on the Ground
Inside of Something Else
Ecumenopolis (planetwide city)
Bone Hammers
Ambiguous Middle Ages
Dystopian Near Future
Post-Apocalyptic Far Future
Intergalactic Spaceship
Several, Intertwined
Fate Index v.1
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Extended stream of consciousness
4. Protagonist’s identity is thrown into question
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. A weakness is discovered by accident
7. A great artifact of the past is found, calling to a new owner
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Spirits of the dead begin to spill their secrets
12. Monotony is broken
13. Religious indoctrination
14. Body swap
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Rules are disregarded
17. A tenuous bond is formed
18. Life is too good
19. Something is awakened
20. A new adventure begins
Chapter One
***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***
What did we roll?
Jeff - #6: A weakness is discovered by accident
Ethan - #16: Rules are disregarded
Our thoughts on these outcomes:
These were much broader plot points to work with than the first story and we were thankful for that. Honestly, it would have been nice to have “A weakness is discovered by accident” a little later in the story when there were big, prehistoric animals in the fold, but it was fun to think of the challenge in terms of other types of weakness. In this case, the weakness was exploited by accidentally poisoning everyone so the protagonists could break out of blood jail. And since the characters were stuck in blood jail for the whole chapter anyway, it made it pretty easy to weave in "Rules are disregarded,” as the #1 rule of blood jail is: DO NOT BREAK OUT OF BLOOD JAIL. Rule #2 is that you’re not supposed to keep a shiv hidden in your mattress, and boy, Ja disregarded that rule too. These rolls weren’t terribly exciting, but they were very useful in progressing the plot in the first chapter and gave us plenty of space to shape the world based on the larger parameters.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 3.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #6: Charismatic megafauna
(thanks to Kat)
Replacing #16: Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
(thanks to Aubrey)
Fate Index v.2
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Extended stream of consciousness
4. Protagonist’s identity is thrown into question
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. Charismatic megafauna
7. A great artifact of the past is found, calling to a new owner
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Spirits of the dead begin to spill their secrets
12. Monotony is broken
13. Religious indoctrination
14. Body swap
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. A tenuous bond is formed
18. Life is too good
19. Something is awakened
20. A new adventure begins
Ethan wasn’t too sure what to think about “Extended stream of consciousness,” especially since we created some extremely visceral extended consciousness streams in our last book. We joked in the podcast about him figuring out a way to give our cave people some kind of heroic dose that would drastically alter their minds, but Ethan went in a much subtler direction, using the confusion and panic of escaping the compound as an excuse to poke around Ja’s disjointed thoughts. As for the spirits of the dead spilling their secrets, Ethan strangely fought against his natural impulse to make the spirits overly gross or terrifying. But this is a “spooky/supernatural” tale, so instead of a Casper-style spirit he still opted for a meandering, preserved clay corpse that broke apart into the air as it gave its warning to the protagonists. Overall, these were good rolls that worked well with what was introduced in the first chapter and seemed to help move the story forward in a logical way.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 5.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #3: Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
(thanks to Shep)
Replacing #11: Discovery of higher technology
(thanks to Matt)
Fate Index v.3
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Protagonist’s identity is thrown into question
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. Charismatic megafauna
7. A great artifact of the past is found, calling to a new owner
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Religious indoctrination
14. Body swap
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. A tenuous bond is formed
18. Life is too good
19. Something is awakened
20. A new adventure begins
These rolls really lent themselves to excitement, but it was tough having to figure how to fit them together based on where Ja and Kaia stood at the end of Chapter 2. Having to deal with religion was fine in theory, but if we were going to explore the blood religion in Orn we would have to shift the story there, and it made absolutely no sense for the protagonists go there after we spent the entire previous chapter having them run in the opposite direction. It did feel a bit too early in the story to start using the mirrors to travel to alternate realms/realities, but in the end, it seemed like the most exciting way to have them encounter another form of religious indoctrination. Regardless, there was never a version of the story that wasn’t going to involve Jeff turning Ethan’s slimy, writhing vines into a colossal underground jungle octopus that was awakened from its slumber.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 7.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #13: Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
(thanks to John)
Replacing #19: A dam breaks creating massive flooding
(thanks to Rebecca)
Fate Index v.4
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Protagonist’s identity is thrown into question
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. Charismatic megafauna
7. A great artifact of the past is found, calling to a new owner
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. Body swap
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. A tenuous bond is formed
18. Life is too good
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. A new adventure begins
The Fate Index is always trying to get us to do things prematurely and that was definitely the case once again with “A new adventure begins” rolling in chapter four. Ethan decided to use this roll to introduce a new protagonist and a whole new clan of people who live in a desolate, icy hellscape with the boar faces that Jeff introduced in chapter three. An “adventure” begins for the new character, Torv, as well as for the reader, who is introduced to a variety of problems and solutions facing this world because of interdimensional travel. We joked in the episode where we rolled these outcomes that there were any number of “tenuous bonds” our characters could form, and true to form, Ethan made virtually every bond formed in this chapter entirely tenuous. Whether it’s Torv and the boar child, or Torv and the mysterious mirror traveler, or Torv and Ja and Kaia, or even the premise behind Torv’s entire Honor March, this chapter was just dripping with quality tenuous bondage.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 9.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #17: Something a character thought was important turns out to be totally unnecessary
(thanks to Jay)
Replacing #20: Cat eat food
(thanks to Milo)
Fate Index v.5
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Protagonist’s identity is thrown into question
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. Charismatic megafauna
7. A great artifact of the past is found, calling to a new owner
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. Body swap
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. Something a character thought was important turns out to be totally unnecessary
18. Life is too good
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
How do you incorporate an ancient artifact into prehistory? What sort of powerful mystic item could these cave people actually use and take advantage of? Whether he meant to or not, Ethan left some breadcrumbs in the previous chapter about the gray-haired man speaking multiple languages across multiple worlds, so Jeff went ahead and made the reason for that be the “Tongue of Kathaka, First to Speak.” This great artifact will definitely make it much easier for our protagonists to talk to each other in the following chapters. Torv was the obvious choice to have his identity thrown into question, as he is a deeply problematic and violent psychopath. This story is supposed to have a sub-genre of self-improvement; with his identity in flux, perhaps Torv is finally on the road to personal growth.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 11.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #4: Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences
(thanks to Johannes)
Replacing #7: Traditional gender roles are switched
(thanks to Charles)
Fate Index v.6
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. Charismatic megafauna
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. Body swap
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. Something a character thought was important turns out to be totally unnecessary
18. Life is too good
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
Our cavepeople don’t exactly have a lot of physical possessions they lug around on their person, so the idea of them learning that an item they thought they needed was no longer relevant seemed like kind of a stretch. So what did Ethan decide to have our protagonists forego instead? The newest protagonist that he had just introduced in chapter 3, naturally! Bye Torv! All the best! As for the “Charismatic megafauna” roll, Ethan decided to go hyper-literal with the mega part and introduce some god-sized beasties to instill terror in our poor multiverse travelers. Ethan’s always looking for a reason to introduce monsters into the story, and boy did he get the roll to facilitate that particular penchant this time around.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 13.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #6: An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
(thanks to Benji)
Replacing #17: The call is coming from inside the house
(thanks to Melissa)
Fate Index v.7
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. Body swap
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. The call is coming from inside the house
18. Life is too good
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
Thanks to Ethan’s cliffhanger in chapter six, it was clear before we rolled that whatever the Fate Index gave us this time around was going to be extremely consequential. Ja and Kaia had been plopped into the lap of the enemy; it was impossible to start thinking about what the next chapter held without the direction of the rolls. And what did the Fate Index give us? Body swap and Life is too good. Not a direction we could have anticipated! Or would have chosen of our own volition! Jeff was nonplussed at having to write a Freaky Friday chapter, but appreciated the challenge of trying to create something worthwhile with such a shoddy premise. It was clear that the body swap had to come first and then be followed by life for the protagonists becoming too good. Once it was decided that Ja was going in the Blood Summoner’s body, exploring the “good life” they would enjoy as a consequence seemed like a fun avenue to explore. It was!
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 15.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #14: A bond is formed with an unexpected pet
(thanks to Scott)
Replacing #18: Ghost story
(thanks to Brooklyn)
Fate Index v.8
1. Nothing happens when something is supposed to happen
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Social faux pas has serious consequences
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. A bond is formed with an unexpected pet
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. The call is coming from inside the house
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
This combination of rolls seemed to naturally skew towards awkward comedy, and that was the direction Ethan essentially went, skewing heavily on the awkward. Instead of one big “nothing” happening in this chapter, it’s a series of small nothings that add up to one big unfulfilling trip to the world of the Descendants. For the faux pas, Ethan decided to continue the gag of Ja constantly throwing up and then flipped the script at the very last moment to bring Kaia in on the humiliation. It all combines to make a chapter where no one feels good about themselves and absolutely nothing is accomplished.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 17.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #1: Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
(thanks to Jamie)
Replacing #8: Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
(thanks to Sarah)
Fate Index v.9
1. Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. A bond is formed with an unexpected pet
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. The call is coming from inside the house
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
This one was hard to figure out! The roll of “The call is coming from inside the house” required getting to the heart of what that idea signifies rather than introducing a literal call, as Jeff deemed it best not to introduce “stone phones” at this point in the story. He also got creative with the roll “Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences,” choosing that it would be Doro taking control of the mirror that would result in Ja and Kaia’s bad fortune. The rolls required that something nefarious be introduced in this chapter; something that has already breached their defenses and was manipulating them from the inside. A story about Ethan’s doofy skeleton being the multiverse’s purest, most-exploitable special boy was an interesting and unexpected end result.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 19.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #4: Include a historical figure
(thanks to Jesse)
Replacing #17: A stranger shares consequential information
(thanks to Rachael)
Fate Index v.10
1. Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Include a historical figure
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. A bond is formed with an unexpected pet
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. A stranger shares consequential information
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
At first, Ethan was worried because these rolls didn’t seem to particularly complement one another to create a cohesive chapter, but in the end, the combo turned out to be a fun and weird challenge. For the roll “A bond is formed with an unexpected pet,” he took the sarva from the previous chapter and gave them an expanded role. But if anything, Ja became the grub’ pet and not the other way around. With the other roll, there was an element of the sarva breaking away from their belief system, if being a drug-induced bug slave can be considered a “belief system.” The real change in confidence came from Doro, who realized that the Harvester had indeed been taking advantage of him all along, setting up a nice confrontation for the final stretch of the book.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 21.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #5: A hidden foe is revealed
(thanks to Matilda)
Replacing #14: A catastrophic end
(thanks to Bean)
Fate Index v.11
1. Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Include a historical figure
5. A hidden foe is revealed
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. A catastrophic end
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. A stranger shares consequential information
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
These rolls seemed like hot trash when we rolled them, but they actually came together to push the story towards the final arc in a surprisingly satisfying way. There was some initial panic that the roll “A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears” would require a larger pool of people than we necessarily wanted to introduce or reintroduce at this point in the story. The answer to that was to build on the story of the four existing protagonists as their own community and then have the key member disappear, pushing the others into disorder. There were definitely a lot of silly ways that we could have played with “Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes,” but Jeff opted to have poor Ja slowly transform into the tentacle monster from Orn, bringing back unanswered questions about the mirror shard and the awakening of the Ghora and making them crucial to the climax of the story.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 23.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #10: Physical confrontation with an inanimate object
(thanks to Sean)
Replacing #16: Torrential rain causes big problems
(thanks to Annica)
Fate Index v.12
1. Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Include a historical figure
5. A hidden foe is revealed
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. Physical confrontation with an inanimate object
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. A catastrophic end
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Torrential rain causes big problems
17. A stranger shares consequential information
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
There was a big opportunity to kill someone off before the climax of the book with the roll “The inevitable end is actually a rebirth,” but Ethan fought the urge. Instead, he used that submission to give Ja a terrible choice for the end of the book: let the Ghora continue its devastation or turn Orn into a plague-filled hellscape that technically still supports life but is...you know... super gross. With the other roll, “Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize,” he left the meaning behind Kaia’s fiery dreams to be examined in the thrilling conclusion of the story. Will Jeff make good use of this foreshadowing, or forget completely that it’s something he’s supposed to address? Only time will tell.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 25.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #9: A betrayal brings thoughtful growth
(thanks to Ric)
Replacing #13: One of the protagonists is actually a spy
(thanks to Dennis)
Fate Index v.13
1. Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Include a historical figure
5. A hidden foe is revealed
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
9. A betrayal brings thoughtful growth
10. Physical confrontation with an inanimate object
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. One of the protagonists is actually a spy
14. A catastrophic end
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Torrential rain causes big problems
17. A stranger shares consequential information
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
It’s not a great idea to get comfortable with any particular plot progression ideas you may have when writing a story like this, so Jeff was playing with fire when he came up with a series of events for the climax before getting his Fate Index rolls. As such, he was pretty convinced that all of his big ideas were going to be nullified, but to both of our surprise, the Fate Index let Jeff carry on with his ideas as planned. Even better: the two rolls added some real depth to his original ideas and expanded and improved them. Having Ja lose one of his senses caused Jeff to circle back around to hand language, letting Ja solve the problem of the Ghora with a skill he never assumed he’d need again after getting artifacts. Jeff also needed a good way to take care of the Blood Summoner, and “Cat eat food” was the perfect solution, especially after Ethan spent significant time in Chapter 12 developing Doro’s ability to calm and befriend agitated creatures. To thank Ethan’s 3-year-old son for his great contribution, Jeff named the murderous cat “Meelo.”
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 27.
New Outcomes:
Replacing #2: An accident leaves a protagonist with heightened senses
(thanks to Christoph)
Replacing #20: Infinity is discovered
(thanks to Liz)
Fate Index v.14
1. Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
2. An accident leaves a protagonist with heightened senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Include a historical figure
5. A hidden foe is revealed
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
9. A betrayal brings thoughtful growth
10. Physical confrontation with an inanimate object
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. One of the protagonists is actually a spy
14. A catastrophic end
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Torrential rain causes big problems
17. A stranger shares consequential information
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Infinity is discovered
Chapter Fourteen
***SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ THIS SECTION BEFORE READING OR LISTENING TO THE CHAPTER!***
What did we roll?
Jeff - #14: A catastrophic end
Ethan - #11: Discovery of higher technology
Our thoughts on these outcomes:
Well, the Fate Index sure had something to say about the happy ending we were moving towards at the end of chapter 13. With Jeff rolling “A catastrophic end,” Ethan had no choice but to steep the final chapter in bummer vibes. The “higher technology” that the group discovers is a plain old book that lays out what the Harvester had planned for the group from the start: By reforming the mirror, they would draw his enemies - the Dromluun - to Orn, where the sadness monsters would either be confronted by the Ghora or annihilated by Ja’s use of the plague from the Putrid Coast. Though Orn and half of our protagonists are met with catastrophe by the final page, there is still a glimmer of hope. We should have known that the Fate Index would never let us end our spooky/supernatural tale on an entirely positive note.
You can hear an in-depth conversation about these rolls and how they affected the writing in Episode 29.