176. Light in the Dark

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome Back to Barely DND, your sort of Dungeons and Dragons podcast. 80 DND 20 piss trademarked. [00:00:11] Speaker B: That made me laugh so much more than I thought I was going to. [00:00:13] Speaker A: This is episode 176. [00:00:16] Speaker B: And we're back. [00:00:18] Speaker A: So I, oh, this might be the last. [00:00:21] Speaker B: In my head, I was like, I'm gonna signal her when it's time. And then I just clicked the button looking away from you, and I was like, why did I do that? And I like pointed at you really fast. And I was like, I hope she's looking. I heard the button. Yeah. Can't spell, but without butt. [00:00:35] Speaker A: But we're in person. You can't spell my name without butt. [00:00:40] Speaker B: That is true. Well, I mean, that's what. Only one te though, right? [00:00:44] Speaker A: That's what all the kids told me on the playground. Yeah, Tough. [00:00:47] Speaker C: When I go to the playground, I was homeschooled. [00:00:50] Speaker B: We know. When I was in elementary school. You know when you're a kid or someone calls you something, it just bothers you. [00:00:57] Speaker A: Yes. [00:00:57] Speaker B: Like, like you're just like a name. And so somebody started calling me Packery. And that's the dumbest. Like, what's the issue with that? But as a five year old, I was like, that's not my name. [00:01:11] Speaker C: That's such a five year old thing. [00:01:13] Speaker A: Yes. Mine were Jackie Chan and hey, Jackie Butler. [00:01:18] Speaker B: And I was like, okay, but Jackie Butler is hilarious. Jackie Butt is hilarious. [00:01:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Think of seven year old Jackie going, [00:01:29] Speaker B: I think that would get 30 year old Jackie. I feel you. [00:01:32] Speaker C: I really hate. And no offense, if you're high listener. [00:01:37] Speaker B: No offense if you're a high listener. [00:01:38] Speaker C: I'm gonna start saying that every time because I forget, like, I forget that we have like a few listeners now. Well, it's like there's like a few of them and like, I don't know, all of them, they're out there, high listener, just listening. Hello. Don't be parasocial. But I am gonna say, [00:01:55] Speaker A: but, oh, [00:01:58] Speaker C: I'm so sorry if your name is Gail, but I, I hate that name for myself. And it's, it's, you know, my name is Abigail, so it could be Gail. [00:02:11] Speaker B: Oh, because of the. Okay. [00:02:13] Speaker C: The first time I heard the name Gail, I physically, like, I was like, ugh. [00:02:18] Speaker B: Because you were like, that's not my name. [00:02:19] Speaker C: I hate, I hate it so much. [00:02:21] Speaker B: Okay, so it has nothing to do with the name. It's like because of, because of your feelings. [00:02:25] Speaker C: No, I just, I don't like the name. [00:02:27] Speaker B: No. I'm giving you an out right here. And you're doubling down. [00:02:31] Speaker C: That's how. [00:02:32] Speaker B: Gail. Our listener named Gail. You heard it here? I tried, and then she was like, no, this prejudice is unfounded, and I'm doubling down on it. [00:02:40] Speaker C: I'm sure that it suits you. It doesn't suit me. [00:02:43] Speaker A: Yeah, you don't seem like. [00:02:44] Speaker B: It didn't feel genuine. Gail, don't you feel better now? [00:02:46] Speaker C: I love you, Gail, but not her name. [00:02:50] Speaker A: Don't be parasocial. [00:02:51] Speaker B: But don't be parasocial. Gail, we've talked about this. [00:02:54] Speaker C: Gail can be Paris. If your name is Gail, you can be parasocial. [00:02:58] Speaker B: Everyone else, talk about this. [00:02:59] Speaker C: Gayle, if I don't know you, I [00:03:01] Speaker B: don't know, but stop. [00:03:02] Speaker A: Gay. No, no, no, no. [00:03:03] Speaker C: Gayle can be parasocial. No one else. And the Australian listener. [00:03:09] Speaker A: What if the Australian listener is Jackson Field? [00:03:12] Speaker C: What if it's Robert? [00:03:14] Speaker B: I'm so sorry. He's not. [00:03:16] Speaker A: How do you know? Maybe he listens under an alias account. [00:03:21] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. [00:03:22] Speaker A: That's true. [00:03:23] Speaker B: Hello. [00:03:25] Speaker A: DM me on Instagram. [00:03:27] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. [00:03:28] Speaker A: You can be parasocial. [00:03:34] Speaker B: That's the latest flirt ever. You can be parasocial with me, a good flirt. [00:03:39] Speaker C: If you're like, we know this Australian listener. We are parasocial, too. [00:03:43] Speaker A: You like Sims and the Supernatural. [00:03:47] Speaker B: All right. [00:03:48] Speaker A: Hi. [00:03:48] Speaker B: We're gonna move on now. [00:03:50] Speaker A: That's how I flirt. You like what I like. Cool. [00:03:55] Speaker C: Should we hang out? [00:03:56] Speaker A: Hang out? [00:03:58] Speaker B: Jackie's currently getting flustered, and no one's here. She's talking into a mic alone. She's turning red. She looks a little like, oh, my goodness, is he looking? And it's. We're talking alone into a mic. Sorry, Jackie. That was that too far. So if your characters had a pet, right? I mean, it could be. It could be Greta's raccoon. It could be any number of things. And it pissed on your shirt. How would they. What would they do? How would they react? [00:04:30] Speaker A: How would a lot of our character. [00:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:33] Speaker C: I'm gonna be so honest. I think Greta might wear the shirt. [00:04:41] Speaker A: And Rowan notice. And Preston, did you date you immediately. [00:04:46] Speaker B: You whispered it. It's so much funnier than you were. Like. Like you were trying to hide it from Gail, the Australian listener. That's so much funnier. [00:04:55] Speaker C: I just kind of think that, like, if it was. [00:04:58] Speaker B: I'm worried she would too. [00:04:59] Speaker C: I don't think that she. Like, if it was dripping wet, I don't think she would wear it. [00:05:05] Speaker B: I drank that. I drank that hard cider in such a way that as it back into the bottle a little bit went into my eye. [00:05:13] Speaker C: That'll get. But I think if it was like. Like, if it was dry and crusty, maybe not. [00:05:18] Speaker B: Oh, hey, dude, no, we don't have to do that at all. That's actually voluntary. [00:05:23] Speaker C: It was like, damn. I think that she would only wear it if it was, like, properly damp. Like, not dropping away. [00:05:30] Speaker A: Not improperly damp. [00:05:32] Speaker B: I've never had to skip a person. But you're so close to being moderated here. That's crazy. [00:05:37] Speaker C: Crusty, but it's like a damp look. [00:05:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And then Jackie left the podcast. It was crazy. [00:05:44] Speaker C: Okay. [00:05:45] Speaker A: RO immediately pressed to digitate it, and then. [00:05:51] Speaker B: No, I'm good. I twitch. We know this. [00:05:52] Speaker C: Yeah. I thought I caught in your eye. [00:05:54] Speaker B: No, no. I twitch. And then the bottle's still, and I'm across the house. [00:06:00] Speaker A: I'm like. Then she would turn into. Let's say she has. Let's say it was like, favor. She would. She would turn into. [00:06:09] Speaker B: I forgot about favor. [00:06:10] Speaker A: She would turn like. Let's say it was a black cat. That she would then turn into a black cat. And then she would be like, see [00:06:16] Speaker B: how you like it. [00:06:17] Speaker A: See, Exactly. [00:06:18] Speaker B: She would say, see how you like it? [00:06:19] Speaker A: Go to his shirt or bed or whatever and piss on it. [00:06:23] Speaker C: Damn. [00:06:24] Speaker A: Because that's what I tell Diggle every time I go, how would you like it if I pissed on your bed? And then she does, No, I don't do it. But I'm like, how would you like it? [00:06:35] Speaker C: Dm, I would like the NPC to be Bell Andra. Would you kill the cat, is my question. [00:06:43] Speaker A: I'm gonna leave. I am gonna leave. [00:06:44] Speaker B: I. 100% Bella. Okay, here's the thing. Here's thing. If. If an animal pissed on her any clothing, the solution would be very simple. She would get rid of that animal. Like, the animal would leave. [00:06:57] Speaker A: I thought she was going to throw out the clothing. [00:06:58] Speaker B: No, no, she'd be. I mean, she would. [00:07:01] Speaker C: Expensive. [00:07:01] Speaker B: She would throw out the clothing. I mean, if. Unless it was, like, her, like, actual wizard gowns that had, like, some very fine fabrics and enchantment, I think she would throw out the clothing and throw out the animal and be like, you're being donated. However, I will say this. And I'm not just trying to ingratiate her. I do think she would be a cat person, and I think she would exactly be that kind of cat person. Who. And I love cats. I. They're currently the only animals I have. Though I do love dogs equally. [00:07:29] Speaker A: I do. [00:07:29] Speaker B: I just. We've been in small apartments for a long time. And anyway, because I won't have to talk again, but she would. I think she would absolutely be the kind of cat person who has no patient for any animal except a cat who kind of hates her. [00:07:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:44] Speaker B: And they're both, like, too important for each other. [00:07:47] Speaker C: I mean, I. I prefer cat. Cats. And I like. I like cat people, but sometimes cat people are bad and annoying. [00:07:56] Speaker B: As someone who loves cats, cat people are kind of the worst. [00:07:58] Speaker A: I'm just kidding. [00:08:02] Speaker C: I, like, much prefer cats over dogs. And I love, like, all the people that I know that, like, love their cats are wonderful. But sometimes it's like, yeah, you own cat. [00:08:11] Speaker B: No, there's a difference. There are people who like their cats, and then they're like cat people, and it's like, like, I. I will. I will be a Dallas Cowboys fan till the day I die. And they're also a garbage team. And Cowboys fans are the worst. We're the. We're easily top three worst fans in the nation. [00:08:30] Speaker A: The Ohio people. [00:08:32] Speaker B: And there's also Philadelphia to think about. But what I'm saying is, like, we're top three suckage in terms of sports fans. Anyway. Anyway. Go Cowboys. But we're gonna move on from. Where did. How do we get. [00:08:45] Speaker A: I don't know. My guy. [00:08:46] Speaker B: Okay. I answered for. [00:08:47] Speaker A: I want the listener to know it is. [00:08:50] Speaker B: No, we don't have to. No, let's. Let's not be specific. All right. [00:08:59] Speaker A: Listener adding in that laugh. [00:09:01] Speaker B: Teeth fully bare. [00:09:05] Speaker C: I like that laugh. Oh, no. [00:09:24] Speaker B: You made me laugh a little too hard. And a tiny, tiny, tiny amount of this came out. She was a little pimpy. [00:09:32] Speaker C: I also almost missed the. [00:09:35] Speaker B: But the 80s bittiest amount. The amount that Greta would absolutely still wear. Sorry. Greta would be like. That's just. That's just a little bit of perfume. No, you don't get to say. This is. This is the crap I'm talking about, Abby, where I do a tenth of the joke you said and started, and [00:09:54] Speaker A: then you're like, ick. [00:09:55] Speaker B: And it's like, no, that's. That's hypocrisy. [00:09:58] Speaker C: I'm sorry. [00:10:01] Speaker B: No taking nerds. We're officially sorry. Can you tell that we're tired? Can you tell it's late, too? Don't worry. I will lock them in with tragedy. [00:10:15] Speaker C: I know we're gonna comfort Bell. [00:10:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:17] Speaker A: Please, please, please bring the worst person. [00:10:20] Speaker B: You know, I've worked so hard on this campaign. Please take it seriously once it starts. Yeah. [00:10:24] Speaker A: You know, we do. [00:10:25] Speaker B: I. Well, yeah. But also. Yes, yes, you do. And then sometimes we get started and you guys are crackheads, but I just. I. Anyway, how do you free your mind from the terror of Black Fang? I don't know. It's just vibes, you know, that lives in my head. But. [00:10:40] Speaker C: Did I say that? [00:10:41] Speaker B: No, it was my. But we're moving on. This is episode 176 of the. Oh, it's kind of sad that Mike already went to bed, but that's fine. I named it after her. But it's episode 176, the Accidental Adventures. Light in the Dark. [00:10:55] Speaker C: Oh, [00:10:59] Speaker B: I will take that emotion instead. It is a level 16 adventure. About the session title. That's sweet. The date is 3488. Pb. Still see me call the 14th. Not Tim. Also, hey, here's just a quick heads up. At some point, there's gonna be, like, a little shift in the dates to make everything make sense. And I'm just gonna not acknowledge the fact that the dates are gonna change just a little bit. [00:11:27] Speaker C: So, Jackie, you just have to intuit when he's doing it. I just have to. [00:11:32] Speaker A: I just have to bite my tongue and go, I'm fine. [00:11:37] Speaker B: Why would you say that? [00:11:37] Speaker C: I'm sorry. [00:11:38] Speaker B: I work so hard. [00:11:39] Speaker C: You do work so hard. And there's so much confusion, and we keep changing everything. [00:11:48] Speaker B: It was also pretty funny. [00:11:49] Speaker A: I will not point out any date confusion from here on out. [00:11:52] Speaker C: It's a texting no, but I'll know. [00:11:53] Speaker B: But correct me, though, if I'm wrong, please. What if I don't know if you're wrong? No, you'll know. You'll know, because all the. All of a sudden, it'll be like, six days different, and we'll just be like, hey, we're moving. [00:12:03] Speaker C: Okay, what was the episode title? [00:12:05] Speaker B: 176. Light in the Dark. [00:12:12] Speaker A: I'm down. Hit points. [00:12:13] Speaker B: Let's get into it. You are. [00:12:15] Speaker A: I forgot about that. [00:12:16] Speaker B: Which musical playlist are we in? We're in this one. That is actually perfect. Also, real quick mad shout out to Asky. If I'm saying your name correctly, I've shouted him out before. A S K I, I, I. Yeah. Or two eyes. A S K I I. I don't imagine you'll ever hear this, but, dude, you're the bomb. You and Kevin MacLeod I or Kevin McLeod. I don't know if we would be able to do this stuff. Anyway, your music is a lifesaver. Thank you so much for all the sick tracks and for having such reasonable prices on Bandcamp. This is. This is an unsponsored advertisement. This is. This is just a straight up recommendation. [00:12:56] Speaker C: We like these guys. [00:12:58] Speaker B: Yeah. If you are running a DND campaign, if you just want sick music, you should use their soundtracks. And if you want sick royalty free music, dude, use ASCII and Kevin McLeod. They are incredible. Is it MacLeod or McLeod? [00:13:11] Speaker A: I thought it was MacLeod. [00:13:12] Speaker B: I also thought it was MacLeod. [00:13:13] Speaker C: Insane for years. [00:13:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:14] Speaker B: But then the other day I heard someone say McLeod. Anyways, you should use them. [00:13:19] Speaker C: Kevin, let us know. [00:13:21] Speaker B: Kevin, come on the podcast. All right. [00:13:24] Speaker C: Special guest, Kevin Butler. Kevin McLan. [00:13:30] Speaker B: McLeod. Welcome. Welcome our special guest, Kevin McLan. [00:13:34] Speaker C: We all say it slightly differently. [00:13:37] Speaker B: We hope he gets lost in the community. A rush of thermal energy. [00:13:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:44] Speaker B: A sudden shift. And not all, but most of the fun guys. Greta. Ro, do you want to say that Craig stayed and Tello came just so that we've got someone. [00:13:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:58] Speaker B: We could talk or. Okay. Craig. One night. And the three of you, as well as Paulo Coelho and Sarah. I don't even know if you ever learned her. No, you don't know her last name. Are suddenly whisked away, pulled from one point of the planet and thrust through time and space into another in one of the most powerful conjuration spells in existence, performed by the great bard of this era. All right. And you all are transposed from one part of the planet to another. And as you all arrive with a sudden burst of energy, you are in a cylindrical white stone room, staying on top of an ornate and gorgeous teleportation circle as you arrive. Ro. Okay. Almost perfect. This circle is beautiful. It is inlaid with lapis lazuli. And all of the circle geometries are inlaid with gold, but the glyphs are all inlaid with platinum. And you get the feeling that the gold would have transmuted it fine. That was just like one last extra dunk. And you swear it looks like there's powderized pearl sprinkled in it. It's gorgeous. And you arrive in this room that is essentially just this circle. And then the luminite in the ceiling traced in. That's lighting everything with a pale white light. And that is it in the space. And there's staircase going down, leading you to the next chamber. But [00:15:37] Speaker A: I kind of call out. I go, bela Undra. [00:15:40] Speaker B: Okay. There's a pause before you hear some shuffling feet. And then walking differently up the stairs is a human woman. You remember her well, she's tall, elegant, not like, gorgeous, but lovely dark hair. It's got a bit of a curl to it. You get the feeling that the shape it had the last time you saw her was a bit more of a manufactured production and that it's in a bit more of a natural state right now. And it's actually fairly curly. I mean, not straight up curls, but it has a lot of shape to it and its volume is shaped around that movement. It's actually, quite frankly, like. While her other look was more magnanimous, more imposing, this is actually kind of a better look, except that it is not well kept at the moment. [00:16:36] Speaker A: Whose is in these times? [00:16:41] Speaker B: The woman stumbling up the stairs is. She's kind of. She seems both a little injured and also quite trepidatious. She also has a rather imposing bruise that's kind of creeping up the back of her neck up through here, and you can see it coming out of her cloak. And she has a bit of dried blood in her white robes. And as she's up around the shoulder and as she's moving up the stairs, she's running her hand along the wall and she's looking at you all just fine. But it's nervous and you can't tell if it's grounding herself or her trying to keep her balance or what. But she's moving her hand up the wall and she says, fun, guys. [00:17:23] Speaker A: Are you in need of healing? [00:17:26] Speaker B: She takes this hard blink and she kind of studies the floor for a moment, fully looking away from you all. And she says, I don't know. [00:17:34] Speaker C: Greta walks up and. Grandmotherly kind of embraces her. [00:17:44] Speaker B: And could you actually. Oh, you're. You're embracing, like, hugging her. [00:17:50] Speaker C: Yeah, like a gentle. [00:17:51] Speaker B: Okay, could you actually offer me a persuasion check? [00:17:54] Speaker C: Oh, okay. Oh, no, that's okay. I got a [00:18:07] Speaker A: nine. [00:18:09] Speaker B: Greta, as you arrive, an unimposing figure. I mean, you used to be pretty frightening to look at a haggy old crone, but you're a much more becoming person nowadays. But as you arrive, you watch her, like, kind of flinch back, and it doesn't look like someone rejecting you. It's like a reflex. She, like, flinches and you even hear her say, sorry, but she doesn't look like she's very huggable at the moment. And again, not that you did anything wrong, just that, like, she just kind of stutters a moment and she even wavers toward you slightly. [00:18:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:44] Speaker B: As if she's willing. But then it's like she's not. Yeah, she just pauses and she says, [00:18:47] Speaker A: I'm [00:18:51] Speaker B: a bit out of sorts. [00:18:52] Speaker C: Yeah, we all are. [00:18:56] Speaker B: The sky was burning. [00:18:58] Speaker C: Yes, I. [00:19:04] Speaker B: I've seen three People die. [00:19:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:11] Speaker B: And I don't like to tell people this, but I've never seen a dead person. Doesn't quite fit with my mystique, but [00:19:21] Speaker C: it's awful. [00:19:22] Speaker B: I'm. I don't mean to tell you that the bell towers is safe refuge for you if you are hiding here. [00:19:34] Speaker A: We need to get back to our home base. But these. [00:19:38] Speaker B: Is it safe there? [00:19:40] Speaker A: We have a place in. What's the country that. [00:19:47] Speaker B: The continent is Telethenom. [00:19:48] Speaker A: We have a place in. [00:19:49] Speaker B: Actually, excuse me. The continent's Naraskana. The nation is Telethenom, where. [00:19:54] Speaker A: We have a place in Telethenome. That's a pretty solid place. That's where we just came from. But these two. This is Sarah and Paulo. We were wondering if they could. [00:20:07] Speaker B: Sarah's not doing a good job of looking trustworthy with her burned face. She just kind of scowls and already instinctively has her hand on the pommel of a dagger, being in a new place. And Paolo, caked in blood, looking like crap, just gives a smile and waves, doing a much better job. And she, like, looks kind of warily and lost at both of them, but nods. [00:20:28] Speaker A: They. They're. We just. I mean, we just got done in a really big fight, and they. They were our allies. [00:20:38] Speaker B: She looks at them and she says, [00:20:39] Speaker A: they are our allies. [00:20:40] Speaker B: Are you skilled? And Sarah just. She just goes, no one will get in alive. [00:20:47] Speaker A: And then. [00:20:48] Speaker B: But like, Bella nods and says, the entrance is magical, but the first floor is best for you. And Sarah just nods, like, finally in order and a place to guard. And she's just down the stairs. And Paolo goes, are you well? And she says, I think I'm fine. And he approaches very slowly, very even steps, but slowly, and does this curious thing where he turns his palms upward but not too far forward as he walks. And as he gets close, he starts muttering, but very loud and clearly, and his hands light up with some white healing. And he says, may I heal you? And she says, yes. And she reaches her hand forward and kind of flinches, but he just leaves his hand there waiting until she puts hers in his. And eventually she slides it in and he puts his other hand over. He closes his eyes and he whispers a little bit. And he put his armor on before you left, we'll say. And his symbol flashes a little bit and some healing moves into her and she, like, shudders slightly and then takes a breath and slides her hand out. She says, thank you, Paolo. He says, got me. He turns back toward you all and he says, I could use a Sit. No, his voice. I could use a sit down, but please let me know if I can be helpful. [00:22:13] Speaker A: Thank you for all you've done. [00:22:15] Speaker C: Do you. Do you want to stay here? [00:22:19] Speaker B: To be entirely clear, yeah. I'm not certain the tactical benefit of one place over the other right now, but if I'm best here, I'll be here. [00:22:32] Speaker A: Okay. [00:22:33] Speaker B: I also know that sometimes you can have too many people in one place. [00:22:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:39] Speaker B: Things are not good, and I could use a rest. But if you need me, come get me. [00:22:46] Speaker A: I think it would be good to have a healer here with Bellaldra. [00:22:50] Speaker B: If this is an ally, we'll protect her. [00:22:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:52] Speaker B: But if you need me, come get me, okay? [00:22:55] Speaker A: I'll find you. [00:22:56] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:22:57] Speaker B: I don't want to be sitting out while the world's being fought for. [00:23:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:00] Speaker C: Okay. [00:23:01] Speaker B: Okay. [00:23:03] Speaker C: Take care of Sarah. [00:23:04] Speaker B: Peace and justice. And he just walks down the stairs, clanking and thudding. [00:23:09] Speaker C: Is he a cleric? [00:23:10] Speaker B: He's a paladin. [00:23:12] Speaker C: Oh, okay. I think Greta's kind of. She's like in the. All of this is going on, but in the back of her head, she's like, okay, that was good. [00:23:19] Speaker A: We got a lot of paladins. [00:23:20] Speaker B: Yeah. If you remember, he's a paladin of Tyr T y r. A God. More common among the dwarves. [00:23:27] Speaker C: Yeah, but I just. The way that she likes, like, was observed. She observed the way that he. [00:23:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:23:33] Speaker C: Like, the healing in that. She was like, okay. [00:23:35] Speaker B: She was like, oh, not twitchy and gnashing. Understood. No, I'm kidding. [00:23:41] Speaker C: I did not. Nash, [00:23:44] Speaker B: tell those over your shoulder. And he goes. Maybe a little more like that you're not doing good. [00:23:51] Speaker C: But she goes. She goes. [00:23:52] Speaker B: Yeah, the palms up was good. I wouldn't think of that. [00:23:54] Speaker C: That was slick. Greta turns to. [00:24:03] Speaker B: Belandra's still there with you. Yeah. [00:24:05] Speaker C: She turns to Bella, Andra, and she says, we need all of the. Any diamonds you can give us. [00:24:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes. Yes, of course. [00:24:19] Speaker A: Before you. Is there anything. How much do you want to know? [00:24:27] Speaker C: Greta shoots. Greta shoots a look at Ro. She gives Ro's eyebrows. [00:24:32] Speaker B: Um. [00:24:32] Speaker A: Give me. Oh. [00:24:35] Speaker B: Like, not that you're lying, but give me, like, a deception check for, like, being inconspicuous to not be surreptitious as you do it. [00:24:46] Speaker C: Okay. [00:24:47] Speaker B: I also didn't know where your dice were there for a second. You moved the sheet, and they weren't there. And I was like, where are they? [00:24:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:24:52] Speaker C: Oh, man. This is deception. That's a six. That is not slick. [00:25:01] Speaker B: You sure? You shoot her. The eyes and it's so like your head turns a little bit and Belandra is just like. I go reads it and looks her [00:25:10] Speaker A: fur and girls turn just. We're just. We're worried about your state right now. [00:25:17] Speaker B: Of mine, I think so I'm fine. And her as she says that she's standing a little more straight now. Her left hand is just continuously trembling. And she says, I know that I study the arcane. I know that this a magical barrier around the world. I know not much more of it. But I've surmised that much with my excellence intelligence and. And she like this. This voice that was. You all have had so much experience. Your whole understanding of yourselves and the world has changed. But there is still something a little disconcerting to hear someone who was so above everything, especially when you all met her, less sure of yourselves, like just fumble through a statement of confidence. And she continues and she says, but I don't know what sort of cosmic force could make it. Why it affected me. [00:26:25] Speaker A: Yeah. To be frank, that barrier gone. [00:26:33] Speaker B: That. That makes sense. What has done it has a spell on her eye. [00:26:47] Speaker A: There's a force that Ro. Keeps looking to cry. Like they're looking at each other, trying, [00:26:55] Speaker B: looking back and forth, neither looking at the laundry. [00:26:58] Speaker C: There's a very, very evil force that broke. [00:27:04] Speaker A: It happened once before, a long time ago. And we've known about it. [00:27:10] Speaker B: Yes. I don't know or anything like it, but I know any well educated arcanist knows that there is a great split in history. [00:27:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:29] Speaker A: The. The. Well, [00:27:34] Speaker B: she's like snotty and sniffling and also doing this voice is making me like. I'm like fake crying a little bit. So now my nose is getting stuffed [00:27:42] Speaker A: up stuff, I think. I mean there's no context within. You saw it in the sky that what we can say is the hate fall has happened again. [00:28:01] Speaker B: She just looks confused. Yeah. All right. How can I be helpful? [00:28:08] Speaker C: Well, we need one of our diamonds. [00:28:11] Speaker B: You said we need. [00:28:12] Speaker C: Yes. [00:28:13] Speaker B: Come with me. [00:28:13] Speaker C: Okay. [00:28:14] Speaker B: And she just starts walking up this. The. The. I mean her tower is terribly elegant. It like is. There's that stairwell that just traces the circular wall up between every floor. So you all start banking up it and you move up to this space that Boz was led all the way up to that previous time that you all did not enter, which is like her like arcane like reserve and kind of laboratory space. And there are all of those fine arcane implements and accoutrements. All of these and like items in production. And did you finish the e yeah. Nice, dude. [00:28:47] Speaker A: Nice. [00:28:48] Speaker B: Nice. That's why they call her Abby. And you can see also shelves stocked very well with components. And she, like, begins tracing her fingers along things and reading. And you all watch her get. I mean, she sounds, like, magically transformed, but you watch her get, like, a little calmer, as if now set upon a task. And in this space, in a very simple way, this, like, haptic, sensory moment of, like, tracing and searching and is, like, soothing her to move from all this confusion to, like, an expert in her spot. And so she's not necess. I mean, she knows where everything is in here by heart, but she, like, spends a moment, like, sort of, like, taking inventory and checking. And you get the feeling that part of the moment she takes is for her. And as she traces through, she's very quickly snagging things off of shelves. And reflexively, a mage hand appears and starts gathering things for her as well. And eventually, she brings over a small assortment of precious gems, and she lays them out on a table near you all. You actually both have to pull up your chairs. She, like, flicks a finger forward, and they. We're so short because neither of you are tall. Like, the table is built. This space is built for her. [00:30:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:12] Speaker B: And so you have to climb up on tables and, like, raise yourselves up to the metal table to see, but there are a number of gems laid out before you. So first of all, I need an odds or evens on whether or not a gem of that value is here. And actually, so here's the thing. She's not a divine caster. Yeah. The collectors of potent diamonds tend to be divine casters. Arcane casters have different implements, but there are some spells with similar implements. So, first of all, I'm gonna need an odds or evens, and I'm not using the Zorgram die on this. I use those for the bad things. But this is a good thing. So, yes, I would love to use your tower. Thank you. I really want to buy one for me. Oh, you're gonna change the color to a good color. Oh, that's fun. I don't want it red, so I'm gonna. Odds are even. Somebody [00:31:08] Speaker C: evens. [00:31:09] Speaker B: Abby. Your engagement ring is so gorgeous. [00:31:10] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:31:11] Speaker B: I love the stone color. [00:31:12] Speaker A: I do, too. [00:31:13] Speaker C: Can you see it? [00:31:13] Speaker B: There's nothing wrong with a clear stone, but yours is gorgeous. [00:31:17] Speaker C: I love it very much. And Noah designed it, which makes me very happy. [00:31:23] Speaker B: That is an eight. So as you all search through the implements, it's not finely cut, but there is. There are, like, some Pearls and a couple rubies and a topaz, a little baggie of, like, powderized emerald. There are also some finely ground precious like, metals, but there is among them a sizable diamond. And you all estimate that it would probably like. It looks about the size and quality of a thousand gold diamond, but not as finely cut, but looks like it would do the purpose. [00:32:03] Speaker C: Yeah. This looks great. Do you have anything else? Do you have any dust? Do you have any diamond dust? [00:32:16] Speaker B: No, I don't keep diamond dust. [00:32:19] Speaker A: I'm so sorry. We're like, bump our. Do you have any healing potions or anything, by chance? [00:32:24] Speaker B: No, I don't need that sort of thing. Yeah, obviously I produce healing potions for the city at exorbitant rates, but no one is. I'm out at the moment. Okay. I could make some for you. [00:32:43] Speaker A: That would actually be really helpful. We could come back. [00:32:46] Speaker B: It would only take a few weeks. [00:32:49] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:32:52] Speaker C: Greta, she. [00:32:57] Speaker B: Are you all hungry? I'm famished. [00:33:01] Speaker C: Yeah. Let's go eat. [00:33:02] Speaker B: I can get the stuff, make you some sandwiches. [00:33:04] Speaker C: Wait, let's go to the kitchen and find something. [00:33:08] Speaker B: All right. [00:33:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:33:10] Speaker B: And you all gather the diamond. You slide off of the chairs and she. [00:33:17] Speaker C: Go ahead, go ahead. [00:33:17] Speaker B: She just doesn't turn for a second. She just remains at the table. And as you all look back, she's rubbing her fingers over the smooth metal, just staring at the blank stone wall, soothing herself. And eventually she does this odd thing where she straightens herself and, like, nails her posture again, but doesn't presume that air of haughtiness, as if, like, in this moment of confusion, like, she just corrects her posture. She moves back to these trainings. And then she, like, follows you all in step. [00:33:51] Speaker A: As we're following her down. Ro gets. [00:33:53] Speaker C: I don't follow. [00:33:54] Speaker A: Ro gets a thought neutral. She's, like, taking mental inventory of everything. And she's worrying about her allies and the lack of resources we have in this moment. And her mind goes to the crystal gate stone that the. [00:34:17] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:17] Speaker B: The Lords of the Faecort. [00:34:18] Speaker A: Yeah. The one that Ro has is diamond. And she wonders if in a dire moment, instead of. Could it be used for. [00:34:29] Speaker B: Give me an arcana check row. No. Jackie's biting her tongue. [00:34:38] Speaker A: 26. [00:34:43] Speaker B: It's funny because your last roll is a 13, so this roll is literally double that. Your next roll is going to be a 52. So I don't know if that's possible. Ro, you, like, briefly slip the stone out of your pocket and examine it. You are aware that at its nature as an item Capable of taking you back to the fake wart makes it of exorbitant value. But if you discredit that for a moment, it's function and you focus on just its composition. Yeah, I mean it's really big now. It's hollow. And you know that like, I mean you could value this differently in a market, but the whole like a component worth this or component worth this is based in literally the amount of mineral. There's something about the lattice structure of gemstones that makes them terribly conducive to magic. In the same way precious metals can be and other minerals are not necessarily. And so you are aware that. The hollow structure probably reduces it by some amount. But with that excellent check, considering all the components you've worked with and how they contribute to stones, this probably isn't a thousand worth gold diamond so much as like a 5,000 gold worth diamonds. Oh, it is the size of your palm, but hollow. [00:36:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:17] Speaker B: So I mean if it was whole, that would be a gross amount of money, a fortune. But you hold in your hand like, like, I mean, I mean even hollowed, it's so large and it's so finely cut. Yeah, this is like a 5,000 gold worth diamonds. So yeah, this would do for the diamond component for any spell, basically. Okay, except that I think there's one that's 10,000 and I don't think it's that. But anyway, other than that, everything. [00:36:48] Speaker A: I think that's the true resurrection. [00:36:49] Speaker B: I think that's true resurrection. [00:36:50] Speaker A: But everything else Rogers, like basically banks that away of like, okay, I have this and, and if it means not having that getaway and I can save one of my allies. Cool. [00:37:07] Speaker B: You also perceive that perchance the whole letting the fake horde know thing maybe has sailed a little. Well, yeah, they're probably aware. [00:37:19] Speaker A: Yeah, true. [00:37:20] Speaker B: Maybe they're not. Who knows, they might already be getting. They might already be well underway with that whole peace out, see you later. Okay, you guys didn't exactly take the he's here poof, gone route. You stayed and fought true. [00:37:38] Speaker C: I would like to. [00:37:43] Speaker B: You stayed behind. [00:37:44] Speaker C: I didn't leave. [00:37:44] Speaker A: I'm. [00:37:45] Speaker C: I'm just gonna like do another sweep. [00:37:47] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Give me an investigation check. What are you looking for? [00:37:51] Speaker C: Diamonds, diamond dust and incense. [00:37:54] Speaker B: Okay. [00:37:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I just. [00:37:57] Speaker B: Yeah, check out the investigation. She's doing the old lady face 8. [00:38:10] Speaker A: That's how Greta looks when she's searching, buddy. [00:38:18] Speaker B: The problem with this space is that it is so well organized. Like many things are in cabinets and drawers and those appear to be locked. And also part of the issue facing you is there are things on shelves without ladders, and you're quite short. [00:38:38] Speaker A: So mean. [00:38:39] Speaker B: It's just like without making a ruckus, it'd be a little hard to exactly determine where everything is. [00:38:46] Speaker C: Fair enough. Well, okay. She follows them, okay, [00:38:53] Speaker B: Passing down the stairwell, you all move back through this laboratory space, back through the teleportation circle chamber, back down through you. You get the feeling her quarter is like, all the way up at the top so that you know the furthest remote from everything. But you move all the way and then through another layer back down to this, like, entertaining space that, like, central chamber. You all entered. And she has you all pause there. And when you get there, it's. First of all, on the first floor is now Sarah, just kind of waiting, armed, like, okay, this is better. She doesn't look happy, but she seems like she has purpose and focus. Balu is there, like kind of reclined in a chair. And Belandra's staff members are also there. And there are. There are the two Dragonborn individuals you all met quite some time ago, as well as the smaller halfling fellow, the portly man, and his. What do they call them? Satyr wife. They are both there. And I mean, things aren't nice, but everyone's there together in that space. And the luminite is overhead casting that cold light, but they have like some candles lit around the space. And everyone's just. Oh, and also her, like, groundskeeper fellow, that really intimidating baldwarf with all the tattoos, he's also there. And everybody's just sheltered inside. And there's also someone who is not a part of Belandra's staff. There's just some lady, some middle aged older halfling woman who just doesn't appear to be associated with anything. She has sort of curly blonde hair going silver. She's dressed in pretty plain clothes. She looks like she might work in one of the finer shops around here. She's like, in an apron that looks stained with some unclear materials. And everyone's just there, sheltered and hidden. And those two Dragonborn sisters are just handing out cooked food, warm cooked food to people. And as you all gather and pass to that space, that is what is transpiring there. Oh, yeah, what was that, Abs? And can anybody remind me the episode where you guys met Belladra? Oh, no, it was in the home coast. [00:41:35] Speaker A: Wait, it was an episode that I just recounted from Thespis because the whole time Abby was going, I want to [00:41:41] Speaker B: go to the Tower 37, the Pale Tower, I believe. Right? [00:41:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:46] Speaker B: Guys, not to brag. I'm. My DM notes are really low organized, [00:41:51] Speaker A: but I want to go to the tower. [00:41:54] Speaker B: I've got all the NPCs here. Let's go. I'm really proud of myself right now. Yes. So the two Dragonborn sisters who you all met, one copper, another one sort of copper and brass. Sarai and Vispa Aketh, Holy cow, Zack. Are handing out the sandwiches. And as they come round, they hand one of the sandwiches to Bellandra and she just takes it very normally. And she looks at them and she says, thank you, Sarai. And did not address them by name when you were here last and just begins kind of listlessly eating. And as you all return, you get some weird looks like the staff was not told you were coming back. But some nods like, okay, sure. There's a kind of concerned glance exchanged between the sisters. Do you all take some food? And across the space, the. The auburn haired, freckled satyr woman who's. Wait, is she a satyr? She was half elven. Oops, half elven woman who's taller. And her, you remember, her name was Merida Edelsman. And her husband, Joaquin Edelsman, the middle aged, smaller halfling fellow with dark brown hair. He's got those big old mutton chops, very dense, wavy hair. They both smile at you all warmly and wave. Not like, hey, everything's good, just kind of concerned, but smiling. Oh, hey, those people we had a really positive interaction with. But you all are here in the space as Abby returns. [00:43:53] Speaker A: Uh, thank you for the. For the food. Is there. We're gonna need to be going pretty soon, but is there anything we can do for any of you? Or if y' all have any questions, [00:44:12] Speaker B: um, Joaquin pipes up and he says, I can't think of anything in particular. We're well stocked for food for now, but not exactly sure how long all the chaos will ensue. So if we need any food. Yeah, we'll let you know. [00:44:27] Speaker A: Okay. [00:44:27] Speaker B: And Sarai interjects and she says not to be rude, but we could not feed you all for long. [00:44:39] Speaker A: No, no, no, we're gonna go soon. Like, like within an hour or two. [00:44:43] Speaker B: Okay? She nods. And then Belandra chimes in and she says, if you all have need of any other services, I could be of use. [00:44:57] Speaker C: And she's actually just. [00:44:59] Speaker B: Okay, okay. [00:45:00] Speaker C: Staring off into space. [00:45:02] Speaker B: Yeah, and you can, even now you can lower it a little if you need to. Sorry, just because, like, as a lapel mic, if you put it right up there, it's A little intense. [00:45:09] Speaker C: I know. I don't want to have it on while I cheat. [00:45:11] Speaker B: No, I appreciate that. [00:45:13] Speaker C: So she's just. [00:45:14] Speaker B: It's a little listless, but eventually she grounds the look with you again. [00:45:19] Speaker C: I hold her gaze for a little bit. Does she hold it back [00:45:25] Speaker B: as you hold it for a moment? She does seem to kind of blink into registration. And she keeps it not like laser focused like you wouldn't want her doing surgery right now, but like. [00:45:36] Speaker C: Okay. [00:45:36] Speaker B: Yeah, she seems to kind of know what's going on. [00:45:38] Speaker A: Okay. [00:45:40] Speaker C: I look at Ro and I. We need all the help that we can get. And you're an incredibly powerful caster. If you want to join us in battle, call us tomorrow. [00:45:52] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:45:53] Speaker C: Battle. [00:45:54] Speaker A: And if you don't, those healing potions would be really nice. [00:45:59] Speaker C: And if you don't. If you don't want to help us, you can help the people in town. They need all the help that they can get. And you have a powerful voice, and they will listen to you. [00:46:20] Speaker A: Also. [00:46:21] Speaker B: And she just turns and walks up the stairs, looking a little confused. [00:46:31] Speaker A: Ro looks to the remaining. She goes, if. If y' all need anything, please help Bell Andre, send for us. [00:46:44] Speaker B: The Adelsbands just nod. The caths exchange a glance and look back to you all. The groundskeeper. I also have. Oh, no. I closed the document. Wait, hold on. Hold on. I can do this. I've saved all my notes and I'm so responsible. Oh, my goodness. I have the dock master's name. Let's go. Yes, Mr. G. Mr. G. He just nods grimly. You notice he has a little blood stained on the left leg of his pants, kind of. And up onto his shirt a little bit. [00:47:24] Speaker A: Do you need healing? [00:47:30] Speaker B: He looks at you very flatly and he says, it is not my blood. [00:47:41] Speaker A: Ro gets the tiniest of smile on her face. And then she goes back to solemn. [00:47:47] Speaker B: Understood. [00:47:55] Speaker A: Shall we head out? [00:48:02] Speaker B: Oh, Abby. [00:48:03] Speaker A: This is why we lapel you. [00:48:06] Speaker B: We stuck it to her. [00:48:09] Speaker C: I'm gonna look at for one more thing, I think. [00:48:11] Speaker A: Okay. [00:48:12] Speaker B: Okay. Where and how? [00:48:14] Speaker C: If I walk out, do I see Bell Andra? [00:48:17] Speaker B: Do you mean up? [00:48:18] Speaker C: Just. [00:48:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:19] Speaker B: Okay, so you depart from everyone row. You're left there. [00:48:23] Speaker C: I say. I look at everyone and I say, you guys are doing great. With some nods, stay strong and help out where you can. [00:48:34] Speaker B: Okay. You return a the stairwell. There's a moment and then Tello goes, ro has some good songs. And then, Greta, you're going up the stairwell and you go back up through the entertaining space, back up through the teleportation circle. And as you get back up to that laboratory space, Bella Andre is there and she's like putting all these tinctures together and like putting them into this, this like long kind of like really, really cute kind of like purse sleeve thing. It's this like, instead of the purse being like wide like a clutch, it's like long and cylindrical with this kind [00:49:19] Speaker C: of like, like a poster tube. [00:49:21] Speaker B: Yeah. But like, but like, of a very short cheek length, like maybe like 10 inches. And it's got this almost like, like this kind of bowed, like almost trapezoidal shape. But then it's kind of like, it's like. It's like a little like a leather art piece. And it's very impractical to put anything in. But as shape after shape after shape is disappearing and you're like, oh, it's a bag of holding. And because it's an interdimensional space, she just had it made to look like absolutely whatever she wanted. So it's this really cute, unique like art thing. And it's got this long strap and she like puts thing after thing into it and then she buckles it and puts it over her shoulder. And you walk up into the laboratory in the space. She still looks a little listless. [00:50:01] Speaker C: I kind of clear my throat and I go, hey, this is a long shot and we've already taken so much. But I wonder if you had a parapet of wound closure or if you know where I can get one. [00:50:18] Speaker B: No, the termite. But the tone, the opalescent tone. I suppose there are no rivals in this times. You might ask Connor. But no, I don't have a periaps of any sort. [00:50:40] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:50:41] Speaker B: But I'll make your potions. [00:50:44] Speaker C: Okay. Greta approaches and like kind of slowly puts a hand out on her shoulder. [00:50:54] Speaker B: Well, you can't put a hand on your shoulder because you're. Hold on. Oh, it's not here. Are you 3ft tall or are you less? Yeah, and she's a fairly tall lady, so I'm four foot. So you're approaching. [00:51:11] Speaker A: So I don't know what that means. [00:51:13] Speaker B: I believe Greta's the smallest, but. Greta, do you reach up like a hand? [00:51:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I try and grab her. [00:51:19] Speaker B: Okay, so you reach out a hand and she just complies. She just puts her hand in yours and it's at this weird kind of handshake space and your hands aren't perfectly aligned in size. And she's just looking at you. She's just holding your hand, looking at you. [00:51:35] Speaker C: I say it's going to be okay. [00:51:40] Speaker B: Of course, everyone's. Everyone's been fed. Must feed guests. It's good manners. And then she lets your hand go and she just walks right by you down the stairs. [00:51:55] Speaker C: Okay, I go find Ro. Okay, well. [00:52:00] Speaker B: And so to find Ro, you have to follow down behind her. [00:52:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:52:02] Speaker B: It's this weird, like, walking down the stairs after she does. And finally everyone returns and you all have gathered back down there again, joined up. No. [00:52:13] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:52:14] Speaker B: Were you playing music? [00:52:16] Speaker A: If the vibe was right? I don't know. [00:52:19] Speaker B: It wasn't particularly vibe. [00:52:20] Speaker A: Okay, then I don't think she would have. [00:52:22] Speaker B: Then, Greta, as you return back downstairs, Tello's in the middle of the room going. And, okay, the deal. I mean, he's a very wealthy man, but he was very pompous about his possessions. So the inn was to talk about his art collection. And he's just recounting some story from his time as, like a patron of all these. Like the job he had before you guys. [00:52:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:45] Speaker B: And Row, you're just sitting there like this is some. Some tele lore you did not know about. He's just telling stories, and you're like. And [00:52:56] Speaker A: when no one else is holding the room. [00:52:59] Speaker C: Has Greta heard this story again? [00:53:01] Speaker B: If you need about. About the position of a lapel. So you've got one right down here. [00:53:06] Speaker C: Sorry. [00:53:07] Speaker B: No, Greta, you haven't. [00:53:08] Speaker C: I look at him, okay. And I go, who's that? Doesn't matter. [00:53:12] Speaker B: Nobody. [00:53:14] Speaker C: She gives him a look. [00:53:18] Speaker B: Grey, stay farting as long as you got that sass. I got that gas. You know what I'm saying? Bang, bang. How's. How's the story gonna get anywhere on this trip if we don't have gas to get there? [00:53:34] Speaker C: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm trying to say I'm ready. [00:53:42] Speaker B: Yeah. This story doesn't get better. So I can go? [00:53:45] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, I guess. Let's go back home. [00:53:52] Speaker B: You all are sort of gathering together, and Balandra turns to her staff and she says, keep. Keep the wine aerated. And mana, see that the vegetables are cooled. And she steps toward you all. [00:54:12] Speaker A: Are you. You're coming with. [00:54:16] Speaker B: You said to make your potions. [00:54:19] Speaker A: You can make them here if you'd feel more comfortable staying at home. [00:54:22] Speaker B: Yes, but you spoke long ago. This spag bar and that he was also capable of casting. And if I had an assistant, I could make the potions more quickly. And you said that I was to be of assistance to you. [00:54:37] Speaker A: Actually, that would be. Yeah, that would be wonderful. Are you okay? Yeah. Let's do it. Then, okay, yeah. [00:54:45] Speaker B: She just absentmindedly lifts her hand and pass it by her head and mutter something. And she casts a quick glamour magic over herself and her hair, like, reshapes and reforms and, like, make she just. The last thing she does is, like, fix her hair. [00:54:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:54:59] Speaker B: And then she lowers her hand again. [00:55:02] Speaker C: I look at the people remaining and [00:55:04] Speaker B: I say, you look at all our [00:55:06] Speaker C: staff, and they're all like, do you guys have a. [00:55:09] Speaker B: They're all looking at each other confused. [00:55:10] Speaker C: Do you guys have a sending stone? Oh, you're a paladin. [00:55:15] Speaker B: You look at Paolo and he goes, no. [00:55:18] Speaker A: No. [00:55:21] Speaker C: Do you know sending? [00:55:23] Speaker B: No. [00:55:24] Speaker A: Okay, and we'll check in. [00:55:27] Speaker B: Belandra says, I have fun. [00:55:33] Speaker A: If you want to stay in touch, we have several. So if you want to leave that with them if you'd like to. [00:55:39] Speaker B: You watch as the Adelsmans, like, exchange glances. And then Valandra uncaps her bag and reaches in and pulls it out and she hands it to Vispa, the younger of the two, like, cook sisters. And she just reaches out and is like, thank you. She holds a like. And her sister's like, I don't know. They just stare at each other. And Bell Andre goes, it's squeeze. And I just look confused. And she steps in with you all and she says, are you conjuring us [00:56:16] Speaker A: or am I. I can. Yeah. [00:56:19] Speaker B: Splendid. [00:56:20] Speaker A: Okay. I think it's good that I teach. She thinks of the inside of the house, but not. Not the. Not the cave. [00:56:32] Speaker B: Okay. So you start strumming, and Bellandra turns toward the Akeths again and says, your sandwiches are lovely. And then they both just look like One of them get, like. The older sister just looks, like, scared. And it's just like she, like, recoils in disgust a little bit. And then you. You stroke out the. The tune complicated and lovely. And everybody is suddenly transported and you all are rapidly returned to your home in Narskana. You all arrive back, the four of you just appearing in the home. [00:57:17] Speaker C: Who's in there, Mike? [00:57:20] Speaker B: What? [00:57:21] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. [00:57:22] Speaker A: I look out the window. [00:57:24] Speaker C: Who's there? Who's there? [00:57:27] Speaker A: Who's there? Who's there? Who's there? Ro. [00:57:33] Speaker B: You gaze outside. Snow. The sky's still dark. There's less light out outside. It's like, dim. And it should be mid afternoon. But as you look up, at first it's hard to tell if it's just dark storm cover. But yeah, the sky is still interlaced with smoke. It hasn't burned off. It's kind of hanging in the atmosphere. This might Be a little equivalent. You wouldn't have the language for this, but for Jackie the Player, it's. This might be a little equivalent to a nuclear winter where that heavy gas isn't going anywhere. And that might start having some implications pretty soon. Winter might turn into winter. But as that smoke hangs in the air, the afternoon looks like twilight. And you look toward the town. No clear plumes of smoke, no fires, but everything's very quiet and very still. So it looks like that riot Craig was accidentally starting is not popping off. But people definitely seem to be hidden away. And if tragedy has struck, it is not apparent where. It's a little unnerving to see parsage this way. [00:58:57] Speaker A: Way. Yeah. Ro goes and knocks on the oven. Well, no, because the oven wasn't covering. [00:59:05] Speaker B: No, you moved it. [00:59:05] Speaker A: Yeah. So she opens the hatch and she goes, hello. Okay, that's Fish forgave her, Right. [00:59:16] Speaker B: Craig's face just kind of comes in frame and goes, you guys aren't dead. [00:59:21] Speaker A: Yeah, good. We brought a friend. [00:59:30] Speaker B: Craig looks a little confused. And you hear a little. You get the feeling that Nom is loading a crossbow. And then you hear a voice go now. And then you hear a little as if it's being unloaded or uncocked, rather, staying loaded. But as you all. You watch as Shipper Goobers face appears. And he goes. He's like. There's some like smeared blood where it's like he's like washed it away but not done a good job down in the cave. And as he walks up, he goes, Everybody's welcome. [01:00:07] Speaker A: If you guys. You guys can come up here now if you're able. [01:00:13] Speaker C: Shma. [01:00:13] Speaker A: Goober, we may have a job. A job for you. [01:00:20] Speaker B: Yeah, okay. Soon enough. One by one by one, everybody crawls up. Ethmund has to squeeze up the ladder. And he does. And Belandra's body is. [01:00:32] Speaker A: You mean Alondra? [01:00:33] Speaker B: Yes. Excuse me. Alandra's body is passed. [01:00:35] Speaker A: Belandra is crown surfing. [01:00:38] Speaker B: Belandra's yellow. No, Alondra's body is passed upwards. And as it is, you watch Belandra. She still seems a bit dazed, but her eyes fix on Belandra and she looks. [01:00:48] Speaker C: They know each other, right? [01:00:49] Speaker B: Her brow froze a little bit and she looks a bit shocked. She says, oh, no. [01:00:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:00:57] Speaker B: And slowly but surely, everybody gathers. Shippooper's coaxing nom for a little bit, but she comes up and ever slowly but surely, everybody moves back up to the level and the. The doors. [01:01:10] Speaker A: Rose starts a fire in the hearth of the house and warms it up. [01:01:16] Speaker B: I think you guys have the stove? [01:01:17] Speaker A: Okay, we have a stove. [01:01:18] Speaker B: It's heating things. [01:01:19] Speaker A: Okay. [01:01:20] Speaker C: Greta kind of goes around, and if she can talk, she doesn't, like, call attention to the group, but she kind of goes around and like, tells people in groups if she can. She's just like, people are gonna ask, and they're gonna ask us because we seem important. But if people ask, just say, an evil force entered the world and people are doing their best to stop it, but just tell people to spend time with their loved one and loved ones and be kind one another. And she's just cut because. Yeah, I think she's. She's like, I don't know what to say to people. If you guys have better ideas, let me know. But I'm just trying to encourage people to. I've been telling people it's gonna be okay even if I don't know. It just. She's just, like, kind almost talking out loud, but also trying to, like. [01:02:18] Speaker B: Yeah, working through it. [01:02:20] Speaker C: Kind of tell people, like, what to say, you know? [01:02:22] Speaker B: Craig nods and he goes, do not run away around shouting, the hate king has come. [01:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:02:29] Speaker B: Nobody knows what that means. [01:02:31] Speaker C: Just, if people are going to survive, it's best that they don't have broken limbs or looted shots. [01:02:38] Speaker B: Ehmund responds to that, and he goes in, Zedge, when we killed Yeppen. Xavian went to a town square and said, we have killed the dragon, and I've taken its dark powers from myself. There was a riot. They had to leave the city. Then that's it. [01:03:00] Speaker C: That's not. [01:03:00] Speaker B: He just goes back to listening. [01:03:03] Speaker A: I looked at Greta and I looked at Thespis like, this is the guy you hang out with. [01:03:07] Speaker B: Like, he just looks at Ethmund kind of confused, like he's never heard that story before. And Thespis looks back at you. Rowan just kind of mouths like, he's never said that. [01:03:21] Speaker C: I say, cautionary tale. [01:03:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Everyone goes, he was stupid. [01:03:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:03:28] Speaker A: Yes. [01:03:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:03:35] Speaker A: Bellhondre Spaghuber. [01:03:38] Speaker B: Spaghuber walks up and goes, hi, I'm Spaghuber. And Bellandra goes, lady Bell. Andrew House Dunham. And shakes his hand, and he goes, okay. And he shakes hers. [01:03:55] Speaker A: If anyone needs any cleaning up, I can take care of that if you don't want the blood on your face anymore. [01:04:04] Speaker B: Some predications go around. It takes a while for some, but eventually people are cleaned and an afternoon proceeds. People get some rest. People need to bundle pretty quickly, but you have some spare blankets around. This place has been getting prepared for winter. So people start bundling. People start Putting on blankets, coats where they are. A lot of people gather around. The stove gets pushed toward the middle of the room so it can heat as much as it can. And you'd be facing an issue, a situation of some really limited resources, except that you have quite a few magic users here. So the fire is sustained. And Ehmund immediately gets to. He takes some implements that didn't need to be soup, starts making them into soup. Soup's this guy's thing. [01:04:46] Speaker A: Yeah, he likes soup. I give him the. When there's, like, a moment, I just. I go over and quietly, if. If I had it, I give him the. The resurrection diamond. Say when you're ready if you want, or. [01:05:01] Speaker C: Yeah, [01:05:06] Speaker B: let's do it before dinner. [01:05:07] Speaker A: Okay. [01:05:08] Speaker B: So that I know how many portions to make. [01:05:12] Speaker A: I can help inspire you too, and help. [01:05:16] Speaker B: Yes. [01:05:17] Speaker A: By the way, I wanted to tell you, Thespis helped bring you back. I just wanted you to know he was. He wouldn't leave you. [01:05:30] Speaker B: His clear demeanor. [01:05:32] Speaker A: He was with me. [01:05:33] Speaker B: He. You've never seen Ekman do it. He smirks and he goes. He goes, I knew. I didn't know, but I knew. [01:05:45] Speaker C: Yeah, [01:05:48] Speaker A: I couldn't have done it without him. [01:05:53] Speaker B: Green is a good color for you. And he puts the diamond away in the pouch. And then he goes back, looks at [01:06:00] Speaker A: her hands, and is, like, cool. Cause I can't shake. [01:06:06] Speaker B: And then for just one moment, there's like a Vietnam flashback to blue and farty. But then you shake it off and you focus on the terrors at hand. And people are preparing for dinner, and they are also high. Elandra moves to, like, the side of the room, and one of the counters starts moving out tinctures. And actually she goes down to the. They start repatriating the cellar below. Like, space. [01:06:30] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:06:30] Speaker B: And they start using the tops of the, like. Somebody goes and, like, takes, like, some wood panels there to level things, but she just starts setting things out and showing goober stuff, and they're working down there. After some time, you all get the feeling that it is the period when you would be trying to resurrect Alandra. Her body is laid out. Ahmu kneels beside her. The soup's going, but it hasn't quite been started yet, [01:07:02] Speaker C: I think Greta. Yeah, she just sits down next to Ethmundkai and, Like, puts a hand on his shoulder. [01:07:18] Speaker A: Rose sits down and starts playing something kind of like, what's playing right now? And just trying to inspire him. And he gets a D12 inspiration. [01:07:33] Speaker B: I'm not gonna roll Zorgrim's D12 for this. If you could give me me yours, [01:07:38] Speaker A: I think it would be great if you didn't do that. You know what? Use rose. [01:07:43] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [01:07:45] Speaker A: And here's the D12. [01:07:46] Speaker B: Well, I have the D20, but thank you. I'm sorry. I was confused and moond. [01:07:56] Speaker C: I give guidance to him. [01:07:59] Speaker B: Okay. Could I get a different D4? [01:08:00] Speaker C: You want guidance? [01:08:02] Speaker B: Yes. This feels appropriate. [01:08:04] Speaker A: Okay. [01:08:07] Speaker B: He just places the diamond on her chest, and Thespis sits down across from him and just starts praying quietly. And Epmund puts his. He puts his hand and he presses the diamond into her chest. And before he gets the ceremony going, he just whispers, if you come back, if you stay, you served us well, friend. And he presses the diamond in and he begins speaking. Ro what is played as you inspire him through this hour long ritual? [01:08:55] Speaker A: I think it's something similar to, like, what's being played right now. But also she's like, the singing that's happening is like an old song. So she's using soul mender and like you're hearing like six different harmonies at the same time. Like it's. And she's just keeping the rhythm. She. I think she goes into a trance almost of not. Not even looking. She's gotten to where she doesn't have to look at her loot. Hardly ever anymore when she's playing, but just staring into that diamond that's sitting on Alondra's chest. [01:09:48] Speaker B: You play for hours. And moon mutters and whispers. And as he does, there are these shadows clinging to the ceiling that deepen you all watch as thin, illusory bits of light start to gather to the geometries of the spell, kind of raising over you all like a halo rather than being bound to his arms. And at one point in the spell, he elevates his voice and they shatter into thousands of points of light, like a firmament of stars rotating over you all. And every time his voice inflects, they illuminate slightly more and then dim. He's gonna make a check. Jackie tried so hard to read my face, but I got that DM poker [01:10:44] Speaker A: face going and you grabbed the D20 before I could look at it. [01:11:03] Speaker B: Okay. And after an hour of tensely waiting and whispering, Ehmund. His palm has been pressing a consistent pressure for an hour before it finally presses down into her chest and the diamond disintegrates to dust. As it turns to a thin, silvery mist on her chest. Emily takes one long breath. Then he puts his head on the side of Alandra's head, rubs his thumb across her forehead. And he says, sleep well, sister. As his total was a 21. And Alandra has died numerous deaths. Many of the man of us have not all. Quartz had very few, but she's known quite a bit of battle. And her DC was 25. [01:12:16] Speaker C: Oh, wow. [01:12:18] Speaker B: I rolled excellently on your bardic inspiration and wanted your guidance, but I did not roll well on my D20. And Alandra, degrade of juror is dead. Ehmun takes one long breath and he. We bury her. [01:12:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:49] Speaker B: Tonight. [01:12:50] Speaker A: Okay. [01:12:53] Speaker B: Under any hope of starlight. [01:12:55] Speaker C: Yeah. I look at Ro and I see we could do it with Belfry and Paul. [01:13:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:13:03] Speaker C: We're nearby or something. [01:13:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:13:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's nice, Greta. That's a good thought. [01:13:13] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. What time is it? Dm? [01:13:19] Speaker B: It's moving toward evening. [01:13:20] Speaker C: Okay. [01:13:21] Speaker B: And everyone very somberly rises with a flat demeanor and starts ladling out soup. [01:13:27] Speaker C: Greta takes a deep breath and I'm gonna go see if I can talk to anyone, but I'll be back. Save me some soup. [01:13:42] Speaker B: Tello puts a hand on your shoulder and he goes, I think you're doing a really great job. [01:13:50] Speaker C: You too. You too, buddy. [01:13:54] Speaker B: I can always stand around and look pretty. And then he starts passing out bowls of soup. Gotta. Where do you go and how are you trying to talk to people? [01:14:04] Speaker C: I just walk into the town, I think, and. [01:14:07] Speaker B: Oh, into citizens in the town. Okay. [01:14:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:14:13] Speaker B: You're out for a while. [01:14:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:14:16] Speaker B: Just for the sake of our time. I mean, this would be a great roleplay, but we need to move on. So in a sort of more narrative fluid sense, the challenge. Some people are so frightened, they don't open their doors. Some doors don't open and you're worried why? You don't necessarily get immediate answers. And then there are a number of people who you have trouble peeling away from once you engage them. Fear is finding many different expressions here, and they are all rather harrowing in one form or another. But if there's anything that grips these citizens now, it's just terror. [01:14:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:14:58] Speaker B: But I'd like you to give me a persuasion check and advantage. [01:15:01] Speaker C: Okay. Can I kind of say how I. What I'm saying? [01:15:04] Speaker B: Absolutely. [01:15:04] Speaker C: Kind of what I said, I'm trying not to explain a whole lot, but just like explain it. She's. I feel like it changes every time, but she's just trying to explain it, but she's just trying to tell people to, like, take care of each other and like, she's doing it like, lot of lying. She's like, it's going to Be okay. We're going to figure this out. Like, people are working to. To stop this. Well, that's not a lie. But she just. [01:15:28] Speaker B: She's just like lies of a mission. [01:15:31] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. She's like, it's going to be okay. We're going to figure this out. Just take care of your neighbors. Like, don't rob people. You know, don't. [01:15:39] Speaker B: And the house shall not steal. There is a degree to which this is easier in this place. Easier in. [01:15:47] Speaker C: Can I guide myself? [01:15:49] Speaker B: You can, actually. [01:15:52] Speaker C: And she heals people that she sees. [01:15:56] Speaker B: We'll call that the guidance. [01:15:58] Speaker C: Cool. 19. [01:16:08] Speaker B: She's doing math, folks. Wow. She's thin her head. It's not some resounding victory. The town isn't moved to peace, but fear does not turn to terror. And that message you give, take care of each other, that seems to really land with the people of Parsage. That for all of their many flaws, and while there are certainly probably some outliers in the town, that's probably something that people around here have been doing well for a long time. [01:16:44] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [01:16:46] Speaker B: And they seem to rally around that. [01:16:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. She just guides people and. Cures them when they need it and stuff. [01:17:00] Speaker B: There are a lot of very heartfelt thank yous and warm hugs. [01:17:05] Speaker C: Does she have mending? [01:17:09] Speaker B: No, [01:17:14] Speaker A: I do. [01:17:15] Speaker B: Hours later. [01:17:16] Speaker A: Sorry. [01:17:17] Speaker B: After everyone has been fed, Greta has returned. Alondra's body is. You all don't have the spare cloth, so Ehmund has taken the outer mantle of her cloak, ripped it, and it's been used as a sort of burial cloth for her head and arms. And once night truly falls. And what a black night it is. No stars above, no light penetrates. Even colder than it would have been. Naturally moving out of the rear door to the home, past the oven, still in the process of creation for Naan. Ehmund carrying her shoulders, Thespis carrying her heels. Belandras carried out into the night, led by Euryl's directions. Shpagoover comes along. Tello comes as well. Boz, Craig, both of you. And remembering things well, you all tread for quite some time, maybe like 40 minutes of walking before you reach through snow at night. But plenty of sources of magical light and good memories. [01:18:41] Speaker C: Bless you. [01:18:42] Speaker B: Thank you. Allergies, you are. [01:18:44] Speaker C: Oh, sorry. Go ahead. [01:18:46] Speaker B: Okay. You all move to. To a lone bit of quiet field. Snow is laden heavily. And you all can see now that falling down with the flakes of snow are also heavier, thicker flakes of gray. Yes, Abby, are you looking for anything in particular? I found it. [01:19:22] Speaker A: I'm sorry. [01:19:23] Speaker C: Sorry. [01:19:24] Speaker B: You're okay. You find that it's snowing ash from the clouds above. And it's starting to darken the snow all around. And there are these two mounds. I do not recall. Do you remember if you used any markers other than the points where they were buried? [01:19:51] Speaker A: I think. [01:19:53] Speaker B: Did you put their weapons at the heads of. [01:19:54] Speaker A: I think something. [01:19:55] Speaker B: I believe so. [01:19:56] Speaker A: I think Craig or something did that. Or put some rocks there or something. [01:20:00] Speaker B: I believe there were marker stones and there were weapons, I believe. And so there are Ploth's hand axes and Bilfrey's sword. And it's so strange to walk back to these graves in a world that is so completely different and find them so undisturbed, so well preserved. Stuck in time. Aphman takes a deep breath. He left his armor behind. He's just out in heaviest cloaks as he can. Having brought a shovel with him, he begins to dig, takes turns with Thespis. Tello helps briefly, but he's slower than both of them, so he just lets them go back to it. Craig is very useful. And before too long, a shallow grave is dug. There's this quiet vigil. Belandra is laid down. [01:21:13] Speaker C: Nope. [01:21:14] Speaker B: Into the. No, thank you, Alandra. Their names are very similar. Alondra's knee is laid down and the cold earth and the dirt mixed with snow is shoveled over her. The snow over that in a mound that matches. Ahamun takes out from his pocket a white stone, not very large, smooth, very white. He doesn't say anything, but before all the dirt is laid back over her, he puts it on her chest and the dirt covers. Not sure what it's for. Thespis just watches in silence for a while and then looks up to all the clouds. He has to close his eyes a little bit because snowflakes are coming down in ash. He covers his eyes a little bit, but it's like he's watching for stars, hoping he can see them somewhere in there. Boz clenches his eyes and just kind of looks away in frustration. He actually walks 10 or 15ft away and just stands nearby, kind of half looking and half not. Craig gives his message. Tello refrains, not really his sort of moment. Thespis doesn't intrude. Ehmun says. Selune servants or to guard travelers, those in need of protection in dark nights. But we are all travelers in this life, passing through only for a time. You stayed for quite some time. You helped all of us. You were better than great. You were kind. And I was proud to call you Friend, I hope you know very much. Rest. I will see you soon, I hope. Unexpectedly, Shpuguber speaks up and he says, Thank you. For keeping my adventure safe. I can only imagine you are a wonderful person. [01:24:39] Speaker C: I think that is she. I think that before she was buried with dirt. I think Greta D just puts a hand on her face and just kind of strokes her face a little bit. And through sniffles, she just says, like, quietly, not for everyone to hear, but just to her, she's like, I just hate that you had to go the way that you did. And just kind of fixes her hair a little bit, fixes Alondra's hair a little bit and like straightens her dress or something. [01:25:27] Speaker B: Tell her. Holds your hand. When you stand back up, [01:25:41] Speaker C: Ro [01:25:43] Speaker A: just starts. She looks at. It's like she can't look at the. The actual grave. She's just looking at the ground next to it and [01:26:03] Speaker C: she's. [01:26:03] Speaker A: Jesus, thank you for all you taught us and all you sacrificed. And for being a friend. Every time I drink a cup of tea, I will think of you. You deserve. You deserve to. And then she just goes and she grabs Greta's hand and just stands there. [01:27:06] Speaker B: The long while hung on the awkwardness of the moment hung on the shock of the last 48 hours, hung on the desire among some not to walk away because it would make it so final that in many ways the leader among all of you died eventually, one by one. It's not all at once. Some people return before others. At some point, Boz comes back and looks at the grave. When Edmund and Thespis have walked away and Craig has gone back, Boz comes back and he looks at it. He just says, I'll make sure it wasn't all a waste. He just walks back to the home. Kind of angrily. Shippe Goober actually peels away. He walks over to the Kahl's grave, kneels down, and he just sits in the snow where it's quite cold. He puts his hand on Plough's headstone, the marker stone. He just whispers, I miss you very much. I'm very sorry. None of this be. None of this was how I thought it would be. And I was the one who asked you to get on that ship. But I'm so thankful for that time I got with you. And I actually wish I had said it more. But I loved you too, very much. And. If they have ships where you are, I'd like to go sailing with you all again. I don't know what I'm saying. You were Both very strong. And I just wish you were here because you made me feel very safe. No captain's ever had the bad crew. He just leans down and he kisses the stone. He stands up. And he nods and he begins crunching his way back through the snow. [01:30:40] Speaker A: I follow him. [01:30:47] Speaker B: And one by one, in that dark, cold evening, the fungi's return to their home in parsonage. When the party returns to their home, people are exhausted. Some of the newcomers have already gone to sleep. Bellanger is tired for the evening. Ehmund has gone to sleep. Thespis is exhausted. Many of the fungi's are still awake. And the party's just kind of gathered in a bit of shock. [01:31:40] Speaker A: How am I supposed to do anything after that? [01:31:42] Speaker B: You don't have to. [01:31:43] Speaker A: No, I want to. If I don't do it now, I won't do it and I won't. [01:31:50] Speaker B: Where did those come from? [01:31:52] Speaker C: My bag. [01:31:53] Speaker B: Okay. [01:31:56] Speaker C: I don't know. [01:32:01] Speaker B: That's the trick. Nothing is. [01:32:06] Speaker A: Before Thespis like goes to sleep, Ro goes to him and she says, [01:32:20] Speaker B: This [01:32:20] Speaker C: is your old time. What? [01:32:23] Speaker A: She says all of this is. I just so much death and finality and I just. Do you remember when we met up with you again quite a while back, I. I had asked you about if I could like show you something and. A dream and. [01:32:54] Speaker B: Sure. [01:32:55] Speaker A: I ended up not doing it because I was. I didn't want to. I realized I didn't want to spy on your talking with Ceylon. [01:33:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that. That would have been really inappropriate. I'm glad you didn't do that. Yeah. [01:33:15] Speaker A: I mean, it would have been consensual. Like you would have had that. Show me better. Yeah, I. I just. [01:33:26] Speaker B: He just kind of smiles at you a little bit. [01:33:28] Speaker A: I was just wondering. Could I. When you go to sleep tonight, could [01:33:36] Speaker B: you come in my dream? [01:33:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Could. Could I show you something? I don't know. [01:33:40] Speaker B: You could do that. [01:33:41] Speaker A: I. I've done it a couple times. [01:33:46] Speaker B: Honestly, Ro, that sounds kind of nice. [01:33:48] Speaker A: Okay. [01:33:52] Speaker B: Is it. How does this work? Is it like a. It's a spell. [01:33:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:33:57] Speaker B: Okay. Parts are really different. [01:34:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:34:00] Speaker B: It's cool though. It's a cool different. [01:34:02] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It won't. I just. I want. I just want to show you some stuff. If I'm okay with it. [01:34:17] Speaker B: Sure. That. That sounds fine. Could I. Could I get like a baseline on what kind of stuff that is? There's just been a lot of shocks lately and I kind of like mentally prepared for what kind of thing we're talking about. [01:34:32] Speaker A: Cuz like I don't Know, I kind of just want to show you kind of our story. Everything I show you, it will feel real, but you won't be able to get hurt. Like, [01:34:54] Speaker B: that sounds good. [01:34:56] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. [01:34:59] Speaker B: I'm invested in your story. [01:35:01] Speaker A: Okay. [01:35:04] Speaker B: Sometimes I feel like a character in it. [01:35:07] Speaker A: Stop. [01:35:12] Speaker B: Yeah, that sounds good. [01:35:13] Speaker A: It'll be like a dream, but more [01:35:16] Speaker B: so do I just go asleep or is there like. [01:35:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I can like. [01:35:19] Speaker B: I don't have to do any incantation or anything. Unless all me, I'm going to fall asleep really easy. So that's. But deal. [01:35:28] Speaker C: Okay. [01:35:29] Speaker B: I'm going to. That's going to like take me 10 minutes to get me all. And he like walks away. And then like 11 minutes, like 11, 12 minutes later, he comes back and he goes. I don't know if I was supposed to stay in the room or come. [01:35:41] Speaker A: You can like. [01:35:43] Speaker B: Am I supposed to sleep out here or. [01:35:45] Speaker A: You sleep where you know what. And she cast plant growth where everyone's sleeping to like give like a bed [01:35:53] Speaker B: up through the wood and the floor. [01:35:54] Speaker A: Yeah, this is my house. I could do what I want until it goes. [01:35:59] Speaker B: Oh, I mean, I was gonna. I sleep in the bed, but this works too. Yeah. [01:36:04] Speaker A: Oh, I figured Bell. Andra took some pictures. [01:36:06] Speaker B: Yeah, she probably did. And he just. He just like lays down and somebody goes, oh my. This is nice. Sleeping outside. Did that a lot. That was good. It's kind of soft, actually. Yeah. I. When I was doing all that traveling was what you call a hedge knife. And. He's out. Yeah. A long day. Oh, yeah. [01:36:40] Speaker A: I don't like being this. I don't like being in charge. [01:36:49] Speaker B: Is this the right one? No. [01:36:50] Speaker A: No, this isn't. What if you. No, you don't go to sleep? [01:36:54] Speaker C: Wait, I'm listening. [01:36:55] Speaker B: Which category did you. Oh, I found it. [01:36:57] Speaker A: I found it. [01:36:57] Speaker B: I found it. [01:36:58] Speaker A: Yeah. And it probably needs to be turned down. Yeah. [01:37:01] Speaker B: Listener. This is a song Jackie made. [01:37:05] Speaker A: Whoa. [01:37:06] Speaker C: Jackie Butler. [01:37:08] Speaker B: Jackie. But lure. Sorry. Listener. Inside joke. [01:37:15] Speaker C: I can't wait. [01:37:16] Speaker A: So as he drifts often asleep, Rose sits by him cross legged, playing a soft like lullaby sound from Soul Mender. And as she does it, purple and gold mist kind of seep out of the loot and around her and around him kind of around the everywhere. And her eyes start to glow gold as she continues playing. And her hair starts to kind of swirl as like an invisible wind picks up around her. And she slowly, just like the last time she cast this just kind of floats just a few inches off the ground. And she searches for the connection with thespace and reaches out her hand. [01:38:10] Speaker B: You find it. [01:38:11] Speaker A: Okay. [01:38:13] Speaker B: And in the dream, he's not armored, just in plain clothes. [01:38:17] Speaker A: And suddenly she is standing there with Thespis in like this purple and sparkling mist. And in the distance, there's like a beautiful tree, like the one she saw in a dream not so long ago, yet a ago. And she holds out her hand for Thespis and she says, like I said, like a dream. But more. [01:38:47] Speaker B: This is beautiful. You're doing this. [01:38:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:38:53] Speaker B: You're two very different kind of spellcasters. [01:38:58] Speaker A: Like I said, everything I show you here is gonna feel really real, but you're not gonna be able to get hurt. There'll be things. [01:39:09] Speaker B: He turns and smiles at you and he goes. It feels real. [01:39:14] Speaker A: There'll be things beautiful and terrifying. Wicked wonderful. Sorrow, Joy. Just about every emotion I've ever felt or seen. And then there'll be things that just are. They're not good or bad. Just a piece of the story [01:39:37] Speaker B: I like to see. [01:39:39] Speaker A: Yeah. So as the mist swirls around him, and I'm gonna do this in Rose, all in Rose voice, but it's what they're seeing. [01:39:55] Speaker B: So very cool. They're both experiencing it at once. [01:39:58] Speaker A: Yeah. They're kind of standing there, kind of like almost like Ghost of Christmas passing while they're watching. [01:40:04] Speaker B: Heck, yeah. [01:40:06] Speaker A: So as the mist swirls around them, Rowan Thespa stand, and they kind of fade translucent, like ghosts not seen by the passing figures in front of them. And they stand in a beautiful temple, a Temple of Selune. A few children are running and playing as a l' Auxon woman tries to wrangle them in for supper. And a small girl with light green skin and oil slick black hair tied messily in two braids plucks at a lute, awkwardly frustrated. She keeps turning, turning back and forth between pages of an already worn songbook. And after several attempts, a few tiny violet sparks flare magically as she begins to strike the chords correctly. She yells out in excitement to Yenny, the Loxodon comes running and clasps her hands around the girl in pure joy. The purple mist swirls around as the image fades from view. And now we see the same girl, several years older now leaving the temple. We see her in Zedge on her own, getting on a boat. There she is in Vashtun, busking on shadow streets, going to a library where she sits with giants and learns their tongue. We see her happy, meeting someone for drinks. He's handsome. He proposes. Plans are made. We see Vashtin fall to Kefkins People losing their homes, their work, death. She comes home to find the man she trusts wielding a Kefkan sword. She leaves letters back and forth between her and her first home. The salient infant Kefk is conquered. News of heroes. The holy Hunters. Purple mist swirls as Ro guides Thespis through Holmcove. A new home. A new family found. The opalescent tome. Magic items. And a mage more powerful than she's ever known. Someone who knew her mother. Night after night, playing in taverns, singing, casting spells, learning. Crossing the sea in another purple and gold mist. La Palma bear unsent. The smell of honey bread surrounds them. [01:42:02] Speaker C: Ale. [01:42:03] Speaker A: A warm bed every night for months. A formal request to play her loot in public for real silver. From a countess, no less. She finds a wonderfully weird band of misfits. Someone who actually looks like her. The first she has ever seen. [01:42:21] Speaker C: Crap. [01:42:22] Speaker B: Hey, take your time. Take your time. There's no rush. [01:42:27] Speaker A: A tall and lanky Druidic elf says. We're what's called half dryads. We come from a lost land. An old but jovial and sturdy gnome. A hardened yet soft hearted dwarven warrior. And a noble wood elf with a secret. The opportunity to travel with other people. This could be a new family. A new adventure. All by accident. Then fire. A city engulfed in flames. Another wrong place, wrong time. Kefkans. No. The Kefkan. The wandering death fighting for life. Fighting along. Someone for the first time. Escaping. An inch away from death. A magnificent tiny vessel. A home. A dwarven captain. A misfit crew just as lost as the rest of us. A tiny tough goblin with a shell too hard for even I to crack. An orphaned brother and sister. An orb as old as time itself. A friend opening our eyes. And now yours. Thespice to what the world is. How much greater it is than all of us. An orb itself spinning in the purple and gold abyss. Kuo Toa Poultry pirates. More Kuo Toa Love. Under the mountain Home. Come again. This time with the puzzle pieces of a family that fits together. More Kefkins. Trouble. Cupcakes and sweets and flowers and laughter and games of dice and chants. [01:43:43] Speaker C: See? [01:43:43] Speaker A: Seeing family once again and introducing them to the new family. A closer family that has ever been the fun guys. Mistakes made. Dolgoth was his name. Singing to a room full of captains. The man who tore about my original home. Hiding red scales. The manabus. Our world and our knowledge of it being broken again. And then fruit. You. A whole other lifetime. [01:44:08] Speaker C: You. [01:44:09] Speaker A: More mistakes. [01:44:10] Speaker B: Squeezes your shoulder A bit taunting ridicule. [01:44:13] Speaker A: Shame. Thespis the memory one falling to the ground unconscious not breathing the memory Rowena disguised and hiding herself from Kes cheering on the execution Thespis running from the laughter the slaughter without looking back Rowena satisfied in the conquest yet for some reason still pulled to run after him. Yet he didn't see the naive hardened Rowena run after him. Dropping her mask he had kept going, never to look back. And both expecting to never see the other again. Crossing the sea again navigating the purple mist of the dreamland like Ro learned to navigate a ship Unlikely friends An orc and a goblin Buttons the brass chalice A friend or foe more Kuo Toa A God under the deep sea Parsonage could this be a new home? The hate King Drake A curse Every bone, every shattering piece of obsidian jutting out of the earth Red lightning Cursed the maker burned into skin a boon yet cursed a beautiful beautifully walled up kingdom Tragic history Blood spilt meeting that same blood in the streets by fate A castle the green bottles the toadstools A terrible old man. A king A depressed king Speak of monster A performance of fading the Chaos Mage in front of royalty Another finger of Kef Lashla Distress running hiding again Parseage home Solace hiding Purple mist and gold swirl around to show a spark. A fire. A town in panic the wandering Death defeated New friends. New family warriors of the well. A sorcerer who doesn't know her full power yet. A savior. An arch priest. Someone we now both share is a friend family. Ro looks over at Thespis and squeezes his hand as that Archpriest of Selune revives Greta. The very one who struck him only weeks before. Back from death running. Betrayal. The worst kind. That of a friend. A brother. A once noble fun guy. Rocky times. Rocky landscape. A box that could have ended us at any moment. The truth finally. Finally forgiveness but not forgetting. A dwarf's heart of stone. His true family reunited again but not in the way he hoped. Escaping bees A tree in our tiny vessel Balls is gone. Math and music and magic put to the test. A cleric with no God. Fae figuring things out Ro and Greta truly seeing each other for the first time. Two old men in the sea finding common ground. A Kefkan soldier of all people shows that things aren't all black and white. The Chaos Mage himself watching the sun rise above the bow of the ship while doing push ups with Craig 12312 purple and gold swirl around and we are coming home Rose the original home back in a Tiny orphanage Yesben ro performing balls finds his way back to us his found family learning new languages with each other. That the Count Bones awakening in the middle of nowhere at night A chill twinkle flies A paladin finds us in a dream from Ceylon A literal knight in shining armor Returned reborn On a mission to a crystal cathedral A cleric finds a new God A just God, a knowledgeable God Iun you say maybe everybody is just kind of a mess. Forgiveness Little hand, big hand Horizon, a distant ache Platinum tides We know the hate King comes A holy hunter in the woods with his beloved bones the first flame Hags, hags, hags the Westwood A tomb, a forge of creation A creation of our entire being A tree of life and of rebirth for our druid the maker we are made how everything was made we are well blessed Fun guys Now players A the Old song Carriers of the old flame Bathed in a new in golden light the lost lands A lost father found A new piece of the ever growing puzzle Fitting together more and more perfectly Jath father A new axe to wield, to play to strum as a warrior Divine intervention Magic is wild and unkempt here the shadow fell Fear the bizarre vows Running, hide survived Living, dancing, breathing Fungus tumbling through the air Falling, falling, falling, falling Saved the Big Mike the Big Mike A mad prince A bewildering keep the feywild A wish before the court the court A wish for Walter for the old song that ties us to defeat the bloodied one A wish war family A way out A last resort A diamond send or so much knowledge A cleric becomes a curator A small star becomes big A curse Bloodied ones all around Veils are falling he is coming Iron obsidian bone Hatred piercing through a vision too soon to become true A sea hag a new brawligath A silver spoon and a fortress fit for the Fungi's legath Back to where the fungi's lore first formed the Count the foe the heart in the jar pulses harder, faster nearer A vapid stupid winch A paladin meets his maker Must make amends to mend any more wounds and fight any more battles A labyrinth, a dungeon get disintegrated and get back up Too many choices can't save everyone A brother and sister Our brother and sister Slain Gone for good but at rest Pieces of our puzzle Ripped out without warning A gash in our found family the Fun guys are minus 2 forever a wound that can't be cured the fun guys battle cry the fiend found Found by the vapid stupid winch Sent Back to his hell by the fun guys. Morning. The jar shattered. The heart pierced. And still for good. A tiger in the shadow saves us. A dream reveals too much. The Kafka have fallen. The five fingers broken. Scrambling. Another veil torn. Red lightning. An empire once ruling now scorched earth. [01:49:58] Speaker C: Home. [01:49:59] Speaker A: Bring the brother and sister home to rest. Parsonage not far found again Commune with the maker. A hug in the hand. A hag in the ground. Legend lore in grim treasures taken. The veil blade. Acolytes of the apocalypse. An old friend returns to help a man of his stressed. Fallen. Fallen. Fallen. This time we save ourselves. Black Bang. Kuo Toa. Kuo Toa. An unceasing massacre in a land of death. Friends, extended family of the souls we've met along every path. All coming to fight. All coming to a cusp. All coming to a possible end. But willing to. To save everything as we know it. Whether they know it or not. You. Seeing you for the first time in so long. A new light. A lasting gaze. A lingering touch. A kiss for good luck. Stay alive. Stay alive. Stay alive. The towers fall. We rush to topple Black Fang for all not knowing who lives, who perish. The Lich Queen falls. But it doesn't matter. He breaks through. It was a ruse. Too weak to resurrect anyone. Craig and the maker and star Splinter raise a mage of old from the ashes. It doesn't matter. All for nothing. He broke through. The veil blade pierced. We saw him. You saw him. The fire burned every speck of magic in my soul. Burned. Burned us all. He is here. You though. You brought back my brother. Our druid. [01:51:17] Speaker C: Our Boz. [01:51:18] Speaker A: A paladin of Ceylon. You stayed by my side. Home. Parseage drained. Three revived. Fire is coming. Roaring towards us. You didn't leave. An arch priest. A friend resurrected. Our captain. Our rock saved. Purple clouds swirl around them and gold starts to shine through. Still too much ahead of us to see that end clearly. Too much death. Too much blood. Hate has fallen, as they said it would. What lies ahead is terrifying. But what led us here? The journey. The accidental adventures we were thrust into. We live on in legacy. The maker, Saline. The fun guys. And now a paladin, My knight. All here. All found. All mismatched puzzle pieces somehow fitting together into the story. Our story. The fog clears and the tree stands there. From a long past dream looming in the distance. Seven stars flicker above them. And she looks at Thespis and she says. I wanted you to know who I really am. All of me. The good, the shameful the chaotic, the love, the hate. If something happens to me, I may not make it out of this next find. I don't know what is going to happen in the coming days or weeks if I don't make it. I want someone, not just someone, you, to know my story. Our story. The fun Guy story, the real story. All of it. Tell it or hold on to it. It's your choice. I trust you with all of it. All of my heart, Please. [01:53:08] Speaker B: As the mist clears, Thespis, just [01:53:16] Speaker C: as [01:53:16] Speaker B: you all are still in that liminal, gossamer space, Thespis has tears in his eyes like we do, and his jaws just slightly agape for the part where the visions are resolving. But as you give that last bit, he turns toward you. And he didn't notice as he went in, the same way that Abby didn't notice that her mic was tied to something that would fall over and went slamming down the table. She's so tired. And Thespis, it's still. It's still around your other cord there, buddy. [01:54:04] Speaker C: Mic on a mic. [01:54:05] Speaker B: Okay, you're gonna. But if you don't unwind it from the other chords, it's gonna follow. Okay? [01:54:09] Speaker C: All right. [01:54:10] Speaker B: You got it. He. He just kind of turns and takes one of your hands in his and holds that one hand with both of his. He. I guessed, but I. I couldn't have come up with anything that amazing. I don't even know what to say, Ro. [01:54:43] Speaker A: You don't have to. [01:54:44] Speaker B: No, not about that part. I mean, I can't believe everything. I never even really dreamed. I don't know. You're like the stuff of myth and legend, except you're not. You're this person right here with me. Thank you for showing me that. I'd like to never stop having that dream. It all came in flashes. Maybe piece by piece. I gotta be honest, I haven't thought about much in a little bit here. Maybe I've had my expectations kind of low for a while. I'd like to keep having that dream. Maybe I'd like to be in it. I would love, if we're not dead, to keep dreaming with you. I used to try so hard to be what people told me was beautiful because I hated myself so much. Here I am with more beauty around me than I would have ever drink. I. I think you might be the most beautiful thing here. And, I mean, you've got a really goodlooking face, but, I mean, you. I can't believe any person could come out of the other side of all of that. Let alone, like, how you are. I would be glad to accept the privilege of just starting to get to know the person who came out of all of that. But to be clear. Yes. Romantically. [01:57:20] Speaker A: And then he, like, so funny. [01:57:22] Speaker B: He, like, turns a little red and he goes. I've never really gotten to this part, if you can't tell. I feel like we're similar levels of awkward. So I think. [01:57:34] Speaker A: I mean, you would. I have a lot of charisma on paper, but it doesn't translate. Sometimes I feel like I'm statistically the [01:57:44] Speaker B: exact same way, but maybe not so much in practice. [01:57:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:57:53] Speaker B: Yes. My answer is yes. And there's no pressure other than the end of the world. [01:58:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. You know, sometimes it takes that. [01:58:06] Speaker B: You know, I think that's the main thing, too. I want to be there to the end. [01:58:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:58:15] Speaker B: If you're riding into battle, I want to be there. You just seem to make everybody else brighter, Ro. Everybody who gets close to you. You, like, reflect them. It's really beautiful. Thank you for this dream. You. You missed a little part at the end. And then he takes your face in both hands and kisses you. And you actually. [01:58:48] Speaker A: I looked at your Abby to make a face, and she said, ew. Ew. [01:58:55] Speaker B: He actually. He kisses you. That's so sweet. And then he backs up a little bit and he goes. Was it okay like this? [01:59:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that was. That was my final part of the dream. But you beat me to it. [01:59:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:59:10] Speaker B: And then he picks you up because you're so much smaller than you. [01:59:13] Speaker A: That's true. [01:59:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:59:13] Speaker A: I am quite shorter. [01:59:15] Speaker B: He spins you around a little and kisses you again. [01:59:17] Speaker C: That's so cute. [01:59:18] Speaker A: That's really cute. Sorry. I'm trying to be in the moment, and I'm being a fan here. Yeah. And then the. It. It just kind of swirls around them and the dream kind of eventually just fades out. [01:59:36] Speaker C: We have to kiss in real life. And Ro, they just kissed in their dreams. They have to do it again. [01:59:42] Speaker B: As your eyes sort of blink open, playing on your loot. Thespis is just fully asleep there in the clovers. But as he sleeps, he's got a little smile on his face. [01:59:56] Speaker A: And then I think Ro goes to sleep. Ro puts down her loot. And in the bed of plants, just right there, she just kind of, like, curls up and falls asleep next to him. [02:00:13] Speaker B: And is the party in their various states and positions? Does the. Oh, wait, this is the wrong. So I accidentally. I thought I should have been playing the Tension song. I thought, who's having the dream? [02:00:25] Speaker A: Who's having the dream? [02:00:27] Speaker B: No, I thought we were. I thought that was the wrong list. And as the party falls asleep there in all their different spots with additions they never expected, missing people they never thought would be lost pieces fragmented before a coming apocalypse. Everyone puts the state of rest, holding on to little lights in the dark. Hoping that maybe tomorrow can be different. Everyone except for one person. I guess I technically have to make a check for this. Okay. That's the kind of world I want to see. And nobody detects. Mr. Pe gets back up and goes to Rose bag. Just slips his hand in and pulls out the sending stone. And he goes. And he sits on the sill and he looks out at the square snow. He squeezes it and he whispers. [02:01:53] Speaker A: Hello. [02:01:55] Speaker C: Hi. [02:01:58] Speaker B: I think we met once. Yeah, my name's. I probably should declared this with everybody first, but things aren't great here. Yeah. Same for you guys. Okay. So I think it's time we got everybody together. I think we're gonna try and save the world. Yeah. Like from the fun guys. [02:02:26] Speaker A: Yep. [02:02:29] Speaker B: Yeah, we're in a place called Parsons. I'll explain it tomorrow. But I think it's time the fun guys got together with the warriors of the whale. Don't worry. I cook really good breakfast. And as there's a little bit more chatter and then Shipper Goober kind of lowers the stone and he looks back at you all scattered all around the home, sleeping in the spots you have. And he says, my adventures. And that's where we end episode 176 of the Accidental Adventures. Listener don't know what I could say that hasn't been said. So let's just say this life's a really incredible adventure. And you're an important part of it. We'll see you next time, Skippy. Wam Dada.