hi i'm shane shane

0:03

shane and i'm your recapper shane

0:06

welcome to heart come back

0:12

[Music]

0:21

0:25

[Music]

0:38

at the bidding of the iron lights

0:40

collective

0:41

and their collective internal privation

0:44

our heroes packed their remaining prison

0:46

crystals and followed the breadcrumbs

0:48

laid by the cult of the red wolf

0:51

across the battle lines of cold crest

0:53

outpost into the swampy no-man's land of

0:56

blackpool

0:58

enroute to a banuk warehouse to the west

1:00

they encountered drek the clever swarthy

1:04

hollow guard assassin whoever so

1:06

casually requested their immediate

1:08

surrender either you all can get down on

1:12

your knees and put your hands behind

1:14

your heads and i will come by and tie

1:17

you all up one by one and i promise that

1:20

the i will be gentle

1:22

and you all will be restrained and come

1:24

with me or

1:26

in about 20 seconds i am going to attack

1:30

those are your two options they fought

1:33

and in a split-second decision alma and

1:35

march conspired to smash the two prison

1:37

crystals in their possession

1:39

possession being something of a key word

1:41

okay um so as you smash your warhammer

1:45

down you lift it back up and

1:48

neither the box or the crystals are

1:50

there anymore as instead you see these

1:53

um white wisps of this

1:56

almost fog like substance but it's got

1:58

more form than that um begin to to move

2:01

away from the box and like the sentient

2:04

fog it moves around and let's see what

2:08

happens

2:09

flynn you're you feel your consciousness

2:12

recede back into your body you are now

2:14

just a spectator to whatever is

2:16

happening outside you can but it's it's

2:19

almost like you're watching through a

2:20

window of what's happening

2:23

and as your consciousness recedes into

2:25

this this blackness walls begin to form

2:29

around you oh man and they turn into a

2:32

room that you're familiar with with a

2:33

table in the center with

2:36

a quill and some ink

2:39

a sword on the table

2:41

and the only difference is the door is

2:43

now wide open and you can see through

2:45

your own eyes what's happening

2:48

out

2:49

in the world

2:50

between flynn's compromised state and

2:53

drax technological traps and lethal

2:54

dagger strokes

2:56

they nearly lost it all sharia falls to

2:58

his knees his eyes are starting to roll

3:00

back into his head and he's kind of

3:02

breathing shallow are you still up

3:04

though they're still up mm-hmm yeah

3:07

we just dumped a lot of healing in there

3:09

yeah yeah and march just march just gave

3:10

me like healed you yeah then i'm i'm

3:13

really sorry about what's gonna happen

3:14

3:17

i'm being held up because i'm covered in

3:19

mud in stone but i am totally slumped

3:22

over on my nose so like fold it in half

3:26

armor

3:27

natural 20. that's [ __ ] weird

3:31

oh my god flynn you are about to face

3:34

off with this creature um

3:36

sword in hand

3:38

and

3:39

you hear from outside kalec yelling for

3:42

alma

3:43

and you turn around and you look through

3:45

the door and you see oma's body limp

3:48

while the the lower half of her is

3:50

covered in rock and holding her up you

3:51

see her completely limp kalec reaching

3:54

out for her you put your head down you

3:56

dash towards the door and you can feel

3:58

this time it doesn't feel like the gel

4:01

membrane that it was before but rather a

4:03

thin pane of glass as you shatter

4:06

through it and you once again

4:08

inhabit your own body um you feel a

4:11

searing pain on your forehead um as

4:15

these horns are still protruding from

4:17

you

4:17

that silver becomes uh

4:19

more and more orange until the mist

4:22

becomes lit like little fires

4:25

uh that swarm it into your lungs like a

4:28

breath of fresh air

4:30

come to consciousness

4:36

oh i'm stuck

4:38

i'm i can't move

4:40

eyes forward alma

4:42

eyes forward they made it out alive and

4:44

the binocular house awaited them as they

4:46

considered their options alma connected

4:48

the dots between something drek had said

4:51

and her experience with the hollow guard

4:53

you said you got these from rams house

4:56

ram is the lock smith's son is a

4:59

locksmith oh sun

5:01

5:02

kale

5:03

kale

5:04

so why were you santa's house exactly

5:06

they didn't tell us they never tell us

5:08

anything they just said go to this place

5:11

find the guy find some keys but we

5:14

couldn't find anything those are all i

5:15

found these letters so i figured so what

5:17

does the locksmith bram have to do with

5:20

anything

5:21

i don't know he's making keys for hollow

5:23

guard somehow but maybe if we keep

5:26

reading we'll find out i just wanted to

5:28

make sure i understood the context of

5:30

the letters well but there's nothing to

5:32

understand because i don't understand

5:34

any of it you find um one mention of

5:37

caom artemisia from kale to bram

5:41

caom is not a name it's it's a title oh

5:44

what does it mean it is

5:46

the highest station of uh a cleric of

5:49

amir why is the highest the person of

5:53

the highest order of an old god talking

5:55

to a lieutenant for kaldur but they

5:58

mentioned their friend in addersfile

5:59

might have turned so i can confirm

6:01

something changed with frieda artemisia

6:04

how do you know that because i saw it

6:06

she was doing some kind of blood magic

6:09

something awful i don't know what

6:11

happened i saw it it was there it was

6:13

real

6:14

and she defied every principle of me but

6:17

maybe it wasn't her maybe

6:19

someone replaced her maybe

6:23

maybe that's why she was working with

6:24

kaldor and then it changed when she came

6:26

back

6:27

we need to find this kale fella a quick

6:30

mostly earnest conversation got kellock

6:33

and march through the front doors

6:35

but no prison crystals or red wolves

6:37

awaited them

6:38

instead they found a dismantled

6:40

warforged named thaddeus whose still

6:43

functioning skull they

6:45

emancipated from its box he looks to

6:47

march and he says oh

6:50

amity to my rescue once again wow i love

6:53

what you do with your hair

6:55

uh where's where's bjorn in mr quan

6:57

amity's my twin sister

7:00

she died when we were 10. oh um

7:03

well

7:04

7:06

she's alive

7:08

7:09

[Music]

7:10

what do you mean she's alive that's

7:14

actually she's never mentioned the twin

7:16

she's been dead

7:17

for years for decades

7:20

where where did you see her last um

7:23

i don't know exactly how long i've been

7:24

in this box but i it couldn't have been

7:26

more than a few months ago

7:29

um we we were uh down at flastin um last

7:33

i saw her you're telling me

7:35

that my sister you were with her two

7:38

months ago yeah

7:41

if she's alive

7:42

i can't be here unable to pair her

7:45

urgent need to find her sister with the

7:48

more nebulous pursuit presented by the

7:50

cult of the red wolf

7:52

march bid a fond farewell to her

7:54

companions and to the little girl with

7:57

whom she'd shared so much you're not

7:59

like gonna go gonna go i mean

8:02

you're you're gonna find your sister but

8:04

but but i mean we've been together

8:06

forever so we're you're gonna you're

8:07

gonna come back for me right i'd always

8:09

come back for you oma remember when

8:11

flynn

8:12

gave me this acorn i felt like years ago

8:14

right

8:18

supposed to be to remember the good

8:19

times so i want you to hold on to it for

8:21

me until i come back

8:23

can you do that for me thaddeus's head

8:26

granted our heroes a somewhat discreet

8:28

entry into the bustling dwarven city of

8:29

solaris and with march's absence heavy

8:32

on their shoulders they took space from

8:34

each other to find their bearings kellik

8:37

seized the moment to further his

8:38

understanding of the new gods he admired

8:40

the well-kept gardens of amriel immersed

8:42

himself in the music of latiel and made

8:45

a solemn request to the one he believed

8:47

to be his new confidant zachriel

8:50

i've come to you from

8:52

one pit to another i don't know if i've

8:56

lived a

8:57

good life i have to

8:59

know that i can trust in the not just

9:03

the might but the cause

9:05

give me a messenger give me breadcrumbs

9:08

that's what you're up to isn't just some

9:11

grab for power have to know that what

9:14

we're doing here

9:15

will help the world but

9:17

ease the pain of others

9:19

we'll read the world of evil i know that

9:22

power is not infinite

9:24

and i

9:25

worry that evil might be

9:28

it's these little

9:30

shreds these little crumbs of hope these

9:33

little

9:35

instances

9:36

of love

9:38

kindness

9:39

those are the things

9:42

that you must do your best to provide

9:45

if you truly want the people of these

9:47

lands to win out over evil alma made a

9:50

new friend and went on a romp through

9:51

the city robbing a potions shop

9:54

walloping playground bullies and

9:55

climbing the tallest tree in the park

9:57

over there

9:59

right there oh

10:02

i see it it's got the chimney right

10:05

yeah it's that one you have such a nice

10:07

house

10:08

yeah it's okay

10:10

i mean it's one of those things like you

10:11

get used to it after a while i don't

10:13

think i'd ever get used to it if you've

10:15

been staying in the same place for you

10:18

know

10:19

months like we have the kitchen's the

10:21

kitchen

10:22

my bed's the bed

10:24

you know

10:25

no not really

10:27

i don't know i

10:29

i i don't have a mom and a dad so i

10:30

don't know what it's like to to be at a

10:32

home and and and and like

10:36

have to tell your dad where you're going

10:38

and have someone take the ball from you

10:42

but it seems kind of nice

10:44

it i guess over time you you just get

10:47

used to things um

10:49

i don't know if i'd ever get used to it

10:51

though she also met a certain son of a

10:54

certain locksmith you're uh you're the

10:56

girl from earlier right you're adam's

10:57

new friend

10:59

uh yeah uh-huh i'm oma very nice to meet

11:01

you all man he gets down on one knee and

11:03

extends his hand and he says nice to

11:05

meet you alma i'm kale

11:07

hi kale meanwhile shraya got roped into

11:10

a prison break to free the mother of a

11:12

group of old god worshipping halflings

11:14

meeting a peculiar wizard along the way

11:17

xavier archwillow this person is

11:19

completely locked in place just with

11:21

these chains and uh all of these binding

11:23

mechanisms you restrained one are you

11:27

awake why are you here

11:29

well

11:30

i just uh think they're a little afraid

11:32

of me

11:33

but uh that's all gonna change when i

11:35

get out of here

11:36

what would you say if i could give you

11:37

your freedom sooner i would be

11:41

the most impressed person in elbor if

11:43

you were able to get me out of these i

11:45

can't get me out of these and trust me

11:47

that's saying something

11:49

xavier

11:51

i hope you don't meet the same fate

11:54

as the man i saw earlier today and flynn

11:57

met up with a sentinel and went on a

11:59

secret iron light collective mission

12:01

underground to

12:02

stop the source of some hook horrors and

12:05

spooky spiders and this gate portions

12:08

off a little outcropping of this cave

12:11

you can see

12:12

uh probably a countless number of giant

12:15

spiders in there

12:17

as the drow is trying to close this gate

12:19

shut as these spiders are all writhing

12:22

around

12:23

rub my fingers together

12:24

see the blue sigil

12:26

tattoo on my arm glow

12:29

i take that rippling energy

12:31

tap tap tap down my leg as i rise it up

12:35

and channel that energy down and stomp

12:37

my foot into the ground hard as i cast

12:40

thunder wave and push it towards this

12:42

hook or hopefully knocking him off this

12:44

freaking cliff um that is a seven that

12:47

is a five plus two the hook or takes the

12:49

damage as it's blasted back uh 10 feet

12:53

and directly off of the cliff and you

12:57

can see

12:58

as it's falling its arms are like

13:00

scraping against the rock and trying to

13:03

grab something to latch onto but it's

13:05

unable to as it falls and falls and

13:08

falls and you can hear this screech as

13:10

it's falling

13:11

to the lava

13:13

[Music]

13:14

so yeah i told you i got it

13:16

i'm fine i got it

13:18

all by yourself and i kind of sit on my

13:20

butt

13:21

at the end of the day oma gathered her

13:22

party and showed them the way to kale's

13:24

place where he waited in the flickering

13:26

light of a dim fire to hear their tail

13:28

alarmed at the proximity of the hollow

13:30

guard kale made for a swift flight from

13:32

the city and gave them little to go on

13:34

when kellogg pressed all he got was a

13:37

name freda art amnesia does the name

13:39

mean anything to you

13:41

no she was a

13:43

a high ranking official of the temple of

13:45

amir i'm i'm sorry i don't recognize

13:48

that name i have to go we have letters

13:50

of her correspondence with your father

13:52

and

13:53

it's dam and evidence

13:55

that is not

13:56

13:57

path

13:58

you want to tread now i'm sorry i assure

14:01

you that it is

14:02

give me something to go on

14:04

if frida spoiled the light

14:06

that she's got to be stopped

14:09

and he pulls you in real close and he

14:10

whispers into your ear

14:13

vos ronath

14:15

reflecting on the dearth of insights

14:16

gleaned from their conversation shraya

14:18

revealed by happenstance his encounter

14:20

with xavier and the prison and whatever

14:22

consternation they felt was quickly

14:24

replaced by

14:25

immediate need to save the wizard a man

14:27

they knew nothing about save his value

14:29

to um and also while we're in indoria i

14:31

could go and um see if maybe xavier came

14:33

back home and he could probably help us

14:35

too

14:36

ulna yeah

14:37

you mentioned the name xavier xavier's

14:40

my friend he was gone he just kind of

14:42

disappeared and and

14:44

i've been looking for him since then i

14:46

did meet an older wizard

14:48

with the name xavier

14:50

but he was bound you met him today let's

14:52

go to the prison

14:54

oh but our heroes are not practiced

14:57

infiltrators or even adequate liars and

15:00

two prison breaks in one day is a high

15:02

bar and you look around and you can see

15:05

about 25

15:07

dwarven

15:08

tiefling

15:10

human

15:11

guards all in full plate armor

15:14

all with um swords and shields at the

15:17

ready

15:18

pointing them directly at a figure

15:22

who is floating completely locked into

15:24

position with

15:27

braces on their wrists

15:29

on their ankles

15:31

on their neck and on their hip

15:32

and you can see these these purple runes

15:35

are now glowing bright as you can see

15:37

the muscles contracting in this in this

15:39

person as they're trying to move but

15:41

they are not able to

15:43

you can see long

15:45

black and white hair

15:47

you can see robes

15:49

you can see this person is not wearing

15:50

any shoes

15:52

as the guards

15:53

move them along they are perfectly

15:55

floating in place not being held by

15:57

anything as they move into the center of

16:00

the room as these guards move along with

16:02

16:03

you look

16:04

and you see as the ground begins to glow

16:07

as consecutive circles in the ground

16:10

begin to form

16:11

around the 25 guards

16:13

and this one prisoner

16:15

as they light up

16:17

each form of the guards and this

16:19

prisoner glow from the inside

16:24

as they disappear

16:26

david

16:27

um and i run hey get her out

16:31

so i'm gonna turn around to face them

16:36

just

16:37

tears

16:38

streaming down my face

16:41

why'd you take it where are you going

16:43

with him

16:44

in free fall from the departure of her

16:46

safety net march and vexed by the sight

16:48

of her entrapped mentor

16:50

alma flew into a merciless rage

16:53

if you hit him we'll have the whole

16:55

fight all over again

16:57

and whoever else is here in this whole

16:59

encampment wait these people aren't even

17:01

our enemies they're my enemy i'm gonna

17:04

find savior and when i do

17:07

i'm gonna make sure everyone who kept

17:08

him captive

17:09

pays

17:10

you want to hit him again oh yeah

17:13

okay and i i pick up my other fist and i

17:15

say starting with you and i punch him a

17:18

second time

17:20

okay

17:21

natural 20

17:23

alma what did you do i'm back

17:27

savior oh my god save here come back

17:30

what are you doing girl whisper under my

17:31

breath another dwarf bites the dust no

17:34

shia

17:35

17:37

this is not what we do their failure to

17:39

save xavier exacerbated by the pitfalls

17:42

of their carelessness

17:44

the party returned to the inn in a

17:46

spiral they don't put those kind of

17:47

bonds on regular people

17:50

what kind of man was xavier

17:52

what was he up to he was good

17:56

he took care of me he was teaching me

17:58

was he dangerous alma no

18:00

did he teach you how to do that never

18:03

i don't know who what happened before i

18:05

met him

18:06

[Music]

18:07

but he was kind to me

18:10

and he took care of me

18:12

when i had no one but the morning

18:14

brought with it their means of salvation

18:16

a man known as seeker who could escort

18:19

them safely beyond the bounds of

18:20

kaldor's harsh judicial system you can

18:23

call me sika

18:24

seeker

18:26

sika

18:31

right should we pronounce it

18:33

the way you pronounce it or how do you

18:35

spell it you can pronounce it the way

18:37

you pronounce it how about that i will

18:38

18:39

that's very nice of you it seems you all

18:42

are not doing so well you've not been

18:44

here long but you've made a lot of noise

18:47

we have a habit of noisemaking

18:50

not the best here in solaris

18:52

they're not comfortable with this type

18:54

of law breaking he led them through an

18:56

old mining tunnel past hidden shrines to

18:58

the old gods positioned purposefully by

19:00

their persecuted parishioners

19:02

on the other side of the tunnel the

19:03

fresh air and clear daylight practically

19:06

mocked their clouded gloomy hearts i'm

19:08

worried about alma

19:11

yeah i think that's uh

19:14

i think that's an understatement

19:16

we all make mistakes then and when you

19:18

have power

19:19

the costs of those mistakes are grave

19:22

almost a 12 year old girl who could fell

19:24

a dragon the cause of her mistakes yeah

19:27

but should she be failing a dragon

19:29

she's kid

19:30

can you imagine if we tried to leave her

19:32

somewhere for them right now can you

19:33

think about how fast she'd be out the

19:34

door of whichever

19:36

well-intended individual we tried to

19:38

saddle her with and then she'd be on her

19:40

own well maybe which i i think she was

19:42

on her own for some time and then she

19:44

found

19:45

i don't know this wizard fella and then

19:46

she found march which was fortunate and

19:48

a hollow guard which is unfortunate so

19:50

we have to decide which one we're going

19:52

to be

19:53

was it lucky for her

19:55

to encounter us you're right

19:57

i don't think letting her go is

20:00

the right choice because who knows

20:01

what'll happen

20:03

but i think that we also need to

20:05

be more aware that

20:06

our actions affect how

20:09

she grows up

20:10

we should be better at it

20:13

she deserves that

20:14

she should be like this all the time

20:16

i'll look up to her riding on the wolf

20:19

trier wolf

20:20

20:21

starts bolting out down the

20:24

down the path

20:25

alma is on his back like

20:28

that's how she should be

20:30

not what would happen yesterday as um as

20:32

we're kind of twisting to go more

20:35

towards the temple alma starts to kind

20:37

of like jerk and shake in in kelly's

20:39

arms

20:41

and her head is moving back and forth

20:43

and she starts breathing really really

20:45

heavy

20:48

and it's almost like

20:50

her breathing starts to sound like she's

20:52

crying

20:54

i'll slow the horses

20:59

and she jerks awake

21:01

[Music]

21:03

looks around

21:04

you're all right

21:07

you're here with me

21:09

we're flying we're just heading up the

21:10

mountain

21:11

[Music]

21:13

21:14

think i think i had a nightmare

21:18

like i dreamt

21:20

i jumped about that room

21:22

with the ring around the ground

21:25

and i saw the dwarf's face

21:30

and then

21:32

and then and then his face was crumpled

21:37

oh child

21:39

[Music]

21:44

cowlick

21:45

i just i just clutch i just embrace her

21:49

as as as

21:51

clumsily as it uh it would be on the

21:54

horse

21:55

i don't know what to do now well

22:00

you know what she did

22:01

yes

22:05

and you know

22:06

why it was wrong

22:08

kinda

22:10

i was just so mad

22:13

yes

22:14

[Music]

22:16

what's your rage on

22:19

can't be put to that use

22:21

we must be better

22:23

than the things we're up against

22:25

or what's the point i just can't always

22:27

fix it

22:29

i can't i can't always control it i

22:31

don't i know it's not about fixing right

22:35

some things can't be undone

22:37

but

22:38

finding the path

22:40

when you come off it

22:41

getting

22:43

back on that horse

22:44

[Music]

22:45

we have a mission

22:48

the red wolf right

22:49

most certainly right

22:51

trying to end the world so whatever

22:53

you've done girl

22:55

you stop that

22:59

then

23:00

your life here

23:02

your power

23:03

it matters

23:04

i'm not saying there's a ledger i'm not

23:07

saying it's mathematics

23:08

but you have no choice but to try and do

23:11

good

23:11

do you think if i do enough good

23:14

it'll overwhelm all the bad it's not for

23:16

me to say alma well who gets to say

23:20

you have to decide for yourself why does

23:22

it have to be up to me

23:24

well you could ask the gods what they

23:27

don't have the answers either

23:29

the way is right in front of you

23:32

right and wrong are in front of you what

23:34

you are and who you are

23:37

are in front of you

23:38

not behind

23:40

keep your eyes open

23:42

keep your heart open

23:44

you all

23:45

drew the ire of this hollow god

23:49

i don't care why but your hearts seem

23:51

pure

23:52

as pure as they can be you

23:55

especially little one

23:57

don't fret

23:59

we should keep moving

24:01

so just keep

24:03

going

24:04

in front of you

24:06

not behind

24:07

eyes forward girl

24:09

eyes forward

24:11

go in front

24:12

okay

24:13

still try and made time to get his flirt

24:15

on with seekers owl eldra i've always

24:18

been very charmed by

24:20

owls such as yourself

24:23

24:24

you're big yes

24:27

don't let my size be uh

24:29

intimidating i

24:31

i've been also told i have a soft heart

24:34

24:35

[Music]

24:36

[Laughter]

24:39

as the sun begins to set our heroes

24:41

scale the bartok rise in pursuit of

24:44

freedom by way of a magical trinket

24:46

blessed by the old gods

24:48

but the ground before them is cursed not

24:51

blessed and the path ahead will take

24:53

more resolve not less

24:55

and the tumultuous waves of war and

24:57

magic in these embattled lands what

25:00

damage can be undone

25:02

what peace can be won

25:05

will their reckless trek leave this

25:06

world in tatters or will their power

25:09

matter

25:10

find out next time on venture fourth

Venture Forth is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast. We play 5th edition (5e) Dungeons and Dragons in a home-brew D&D setting. Our campaign takes place in the high fantasy realm of Elbor. A world filled with monsters, heroes and epic tales to be told. We've had the honor of partnering with DnD Beyond so if you'd like to support the podcast, be sure to head over to dndbeyond.link/venture !

Venture Forth is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast. We play 5th edition (5e) Dungeons and Dragons in a home-brew D&D actual play setting. Our campaign takes place in the high fantasy realm of Elbor. A world of monsters, heroes and epic tales to be told. D&D is a TTRPG, a tabletop roleplaying game, also known as an RPG. Our gameplay is perfect for beginners to Dungeons and Dragons from episode 1.Olma, Flynn, March, Ceallach, Shraya

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https://www.ventureforthdnd.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNl1hOaZiXruwLE8Ct1NNNA