Timothy (DM)
Welcome to Shadows of Prophecy, a D&D real play podcast, where we will find out what it takes to become a hero, face our darkest fears, and pull ourselves out of a pit of despair. Shadows of Prophecy is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast with violent themes and adult language. Listener discretion is advised.
Timothy (DM)
With us today to traverse through adventures of loss and tragedy, we have myself, Timothy, as our ambivalent DM; Helen as the self-assured THUNDERCLAP fanatic, Iolite; Dan as "Mother Mushroom" crochet champion, Maury; and Chris as are ever-so-timid, kind, crunchy, calculated, and most importantly, STACKED Baleford. Join us as we enter the Shadows of Prophecy. Prologue: A World Unravels. Chapter Ten - Aether Nightmares.
Timothy (Silk Cyril)
You follow this yarn, and do you feel this tension pulling on you, pulling on you, pulling on you, and then "FINE! If you're not going to make it easy for me, [mean whisper] we'll do it the hard way!" and they drop your hand.
Helen (Iolite)
Oh! All right. It's just you and me now, Baley. Let's find Maury.
Timothy (DM)
Moments later, Baley, you feel a weight whack you on the side of the head. Roll for initiative!
Dan (Maury)
Do I hear this? Am I close enough?
Timothy (DM)
You, Maury, have been tracking lots of different voices around you, but there seems to be one consistent thread in the direction of the yarn, and you hear somebody get smacked with something.
Chris (Baleford)
Ow!
Timothy (DM)
And Bale calls out.
Helen (Iolite)
That was good.
Dan (Maury)
I would like to peek briefly. Like, really quickly *boop* open up the eyes.
Timothy (DM)
Alright. You blink your eyes open quickly. You see Io holding Bale's arm, a twisted woody creature has just slapped Bale across the head. You see them standing right next to Bale, their claws growing.
Dan (Maury)
Oh, good.
Timothy (DM)
And then you see Cyril standing off to the right in a backdrop of blackness.
Dan (Maury)
How far away is all this? Like?
Timothy (DM)
Cyril is maybe 20 feet to your right. Bale and Io are 15 feet to your front.
Dan (Maury)
Gotcha.
Helen (Iolite)
And we're connected by the yarn.
Dan (Maury)
And we're connected by the yarn.
Timothy (DM)
And you see the yarn, yeah.
Dan (Maury)
I'm, like, torn because now that they're in, like, wood person form, can I look at them and not be transfixed or whatever bad thing is supposed to happen?
Timothy (DM)
Well, roll initiative.
Dan (Maury)
Oh yeah. [laughs] 15 I'll just write this down. I can write this down. What do y'all get?
Helen (Iolite)
12.
Chris (Baleford)
I also got 12.
Timothy (DM)
And I have a 14 for...
Helen (Iolite)
Does that mean we, like, have a roll-off?
Chris (Baleford)
No, you have better Dex on you.
Timothy (DM)
--the creature. I have a 14 for the creature.
Dan (Maury)
[talking to himself] Sprite.
Timothy (DM)
And a 14 for Cyril, and they have identical Dex.
Dan (Maury)
Yeah. Oh! I got a 15!
Timothy (DM)
So, put Cyril first. So Maury, what do you do?
Dan (Maury)
Maury is gonna risk it and just leave her eyes open. Just gonna look, and she's gonna put her crocheting away. She's gonna tuck it in her bag. Just because now's not the time, and then I can do like a lazy jog up to this thing, and I want to backhand it. [Tim laughs] Does a 17 hit? [Helen laughs]
Timothy (DM)
A 17 does hit, yeah. [laughs]
Dan (Maury)
So, for all of you listening at home, Maury is a druid with a strength of 16.
Chris (Baleford)
Whoa!
Dan (Maury)
And the fighting initiate unarmed--what is it? Unarmed Fighting feat, uh, so she's gonna... oh, God, I threw the dice off the table. She's gonna backhand it for 6 bludgeoning damage [Helen laughs, Chris *WOMPS*], and she, like, um, not that all... both... everyone's eyes are closed, and nobody sees this, but she, like, does that thing where she, like, throws her entire body into it? So, like, her arm is almost, like, this, like, just, like, lazy, like, hanging thing and just, like, uses her shoulders to, like, whip her arm up and back hand it.
Helen (Iolite)
Her hips are in it. Her shoulders are in it. Her knees are in it.
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, She back-hands it for 6 bludgeoning damage.
Timothy (DM)
So, you backhand this creature. You start to notice that, like, its body is this twisted woody shape, but, like, each one of its appendages has, like, reflected a different piece of each of you. So, it has, like, an arm that looks like Cyril with his robe; you see, like, another that is scaly and blue dragon scales; a leg that's this green mushroom-covered; and then.... a pant... leg.
Chris (Baleford)
Yeah, just a regular chino pant leg. [Helen and Tim laughs]
Dan (Maury)
"Get off my friend, you weirdo." *POW* Yeah, I think that's my turn.
Timothy (DM)
So, Cyril is going to hear what's going on.
Helen (Iolite)
The sound is like the sound of someone's slapping a watermelon.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, exactly. That's a perfect explanation for what that would sound like. [laughs]
Helen (Iolite)
I'm helping.
Timothy (DM)
So, Cyril hears the commotion and opens their eyes as well. You all can hear and, Maury, you can see a crackle of static electricity as they're going to cast Witch Bolt at the creature.
Dan (Maury)
Fun.
Helen (Iolite)
[snidely] More like Bitch Bolt. [Tim laughs]
Dan (Maury)
More like Bitch Bolt. [makes backhand motion] Backhand.
Timothy (DM)
So, the bolt of electricity bashes into the creature. You see it kind of fizzles out a bit, but then immediately this, like, light electrical cord is, like, built between the two of them, connecting them and tethering them together. So, they take 4 lightning damage.
Dan (Maury)
[to themself] Nice. I did more, but that's okay, too.
Timothy (DM)
All right. What is the sprite doing?
Dan (Maury)
Oh, so at the start of its turn as my reaction... I'm going to... oh, wait, oh, yeah, I can (I don't have to be in my Wild Shape form to do this)! I'm going to use my reaction to do Halo of Spores on this thing. So, Maury is going to pull open her cloak, and for those with their eyes open at this point, you see that there are crocheted pockets on the inside of her cloak that are full of substrate and mushrooms growing out of them just like everywhere. There's, like, a bunch of different kinds, and she just grabs a mushroom and, like, throws it in the thing's face. Oh, it has to make a Con save.
Timothy (DM)
A Con? All right. Does a 16 pass?
Dan (Maury)
[resigned] It does.
Helen (Iolite)
Awww
Dan (Maury)
It resists the spores.
Timothy (DM)
[gleefull whisper] Yes. All right. So, as you toss your mushroom at this creature, it whips its head towards you. Immediately, you feel this, like, pricking hair standing on end on the back of your neck as you're forced to look at it in the eyes--
Dan (Maury)
[defiant whisper] No! I look away.
Timothy (DM)
--and as your face is drawn, and your gaze is drawn to meet its, you feel the energy draining from your body. Make a Wisdom saving throw.
Dan (Maury)
[sing-songy] I'm good at that. That's a 17.
Timothy (DM)
All right. You feel the lifeforce starting to drain from your body, and you're able to, like, pull yourself out of it, snap out of it, and, like, pull your gaze away. Io, what are you doing?
Helen (Iolite)
Okay, well, my eyes are still closed.
Timothy (DM)
You've heard a whack, another whack, and static electricity. [laughs]
Dan (Maury)
And then you heard a look.
Timothy (DM)
[laughs] You did not hear the look.
Helen (Iolite)
I guess you can't fight with your eyes closed.
Timothy (DM)
You can, you just do a lot of things with disadvantage.
Helen (Iolite)
I feel like if I try to fight with my eyes closed, I'm going to hit Maury. [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
[sagely] That's possible.
Helen (Iolite)
Iolite panics and casts Light on the yarn tying her to Maury.
Timothy (DM)
All right. [laughs] You cast Light on the yarn--
Dan (Maury)
[exhilirated] Do I have a glowing sock now!?!
Timothy (DM)
--and it begins to glow. [Chris and Dan laugh]
Dan (Maury)
Tucked in my bag. [laughs] This is stupid, it's so dumb.
Timothy (DM)
It is not the same yarn as you're making your sock out of.
Dan (Maury)
Oh, okay.
Timothy (DM)
It's like a cord [correcting himself] (the idea of a cord) tying you together, and it's been shortening as you get closer, so it's not like you need to, like, collect it. It's just been kind of shortening and pulling you together as you are following its instruction as manifested by Io.
Dan (Maury)
Gotcha.
Timothy (DM)
All right, and it is now glowing. [Dan laughs]
Dan (Maury)
Perfect.
Helen (Iolite)
Io peeks a little. [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Io peeks a little, sees the illumination of the cord going off and towards Maury.
Helen (Iolite)
But my eyes are still closed.
Timothy (DM)
Oh, I thought you said you peeked a little bit.
Helen (Iolite)
No! I PANICKED. I PANICKED.
Timothy (DM)
Panicked, okay. So, you can't see the glowing light that you created, okay.
Helen (Iolite)
But I was touching the yarn, so I was, like, "Okay, I'll cast something on the yarn."
Timothy (DM)
Perfect. All right. That brings us to Baleford. What are you doin'?
Chris (Baleford)
Baleford opens his eyes again to see that Io is to his right, and the sprite is right in front of him. So, Baleford says, "Io, don't move. I'm going to do something." [Tim laughs] So I-I--
Dan (Maury)
[in a cool voice] Do something real cool.
Chris (Baleford)
I release Io's arm, and I put my quarterstaff back on, and then I move to the other side of the sprite, and I'm going to cast Burning Hands on it, and it has to do Dexterity saving throw.
Timothy (DM)
Alright, does an 18 pass?
Chris (Baleford)
It does, but it still takes half of 3d6 fire damage.
Dan (Maury)
Noice!
Chris (Baleford)
So, it takes a total of--
Dan (Maury)
That's a lot of numbers.
Helen (Iolite)
15 is 7.
Chris (Baleford)
7 damage of fire.
Helen (Iolite)
Do you round up or down?
Chris (Baleford)
I round... I don't know.
Dan (Maury)
I typically round down.
Timothy (DM)
I usually run down.
Chris (Baleford)
So 7, and I say, [coolly] "You can copy our notes, but you can't copy how we look!"
Helen (Iolite)
Oh, that was a good one.
Timothy (DM)
And as you say that, it repeats your words right back at you.
Chris (Baleford)
[smartly] I didn't ask for a parrot. [Tim and Helen laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Alright, that brings us back up to Maury.
Dan (Maury)
Maury is going to feint with the backhand of her left hand this time, but instead bring her tail around to do an Unarmed Strike, distract it with the hand for flavor.
Helen (Iolite)
You said "feint" and I thought you meant like *Ahhh* [fainting motion] [all laugh] She's got one hand on her...
Dan (Maury)
Does a 15 hit?
Timothy (DM)
A 15 does hit.
Dan (Maury)
Yusss. Let's see if my glitter dice give me better hits than damage. They do! That is 9 bludgeoning damage [Chris whispers "WOW"]. She womps them with her tail.
Timothy (DM)
You WOMMMP them. You hear the crackling of their body as they... [correcting himself] the idea of breaking a bone... [Dan and Helen laugh]
Chris (Baleford)
The idea of disintegrating.
Dan (Maury)
We can stop that. I'm so sorry I started that. [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Oh no, I'm kidding. Yeah, you hear the cracking of their body. It's like the snapping of twigs and bones combined? It's quite unsettling.
Helen (Iolite)
Gross?
Dan (Maury)
Did, um, did Baley take damage when he got back-- like, when he got womped in the back of the head?
Timothy (DM)
Uh, no.
Dan (Maury)
Okay, gotcha.
Helen (Iolite)
It was a friendly womp.
Dan (Maury)
A friendly warm, just little tiny womping. A baby womping. Then I will end my turn.
Timothy (DM)
All right, so you all here again the crackle of static electricity as the tether of Witch Bolt sends a current between Cyril and the creature for another 8 points of lightning damage.
Helen (Iolite)
How's this thing looking?
Timothy (DM)
It's looking quite battered.
Chris (Baleford)
Can you tell? Or are your eyes closed? [Dan laughs]
Helen (Iolite)
[changing senses] How's this thing smelling?
Chris (Baleford)
Yeah, it's crackly.
Timothy (DM)
It's smelling crackly. You smell...
Dan (Maury)
What is the idea of this thing? Smell, from like a health perspective.
Helen (Iolite)
[Valley girl voice] What kinda...what's, like, the vibe right?
Dan (Maury)
What are the energies I'm getting off of this thing?
Helen (Iolite)
I'm getting, like, a really red aura.
Dan (Maury)
He's being really negative.
Timothy (DM)
It starts just, like, mirroring each one of your voices as it's just, like, repeating back to you all whatever you say.
Helen (Iolite)
I'm a big stupid monster.
Timothy (Silk Cyril)
I'm a big stupid monster. [Helen laughs, the monster laughs in response]
Helen (Iolite)
[satisfied] Did you guys hear that? I got it so good.
Chris (Baleford)
You did good job.
Dan (Maury)
You did great.
Helen (Iolite)
Thank you.
Timothy (DM)
And your eyes are open now. Right, Bale?
Chris (Baleford)
Yeah, it was to attack.
Dan (Maury)
Did it go? Is it its turn?
Timothy (DM)
It is its turn.
Dan (Maury)
I'm going to Halo of Spores it again. [laughing] I'm gonna throw more mushrooms at it, and literally, I'm just, like, grabbing mushrooms out of my cloak and, like, tossing them kind of haphazardly.
Timothy (DM)
Con save?
Dan (Maury)
Yes.
Timothy (DM)
Does a 12 pass?
Dan (Maury)
[a bit peeved] It. Does. Just. Pass. I want to hurt it with spores!
Timothy (DM)
Well, you put your stats into Strength and Con. [laughs]
Dan (Maury)
[puts on shades] I'm cool.
Chris (Baleford)
Melee, yeah.
Dan (Maury)
Maury LIFTS. [to Baley] "Do you even lift, bruh?"
Timothy (DM)
And now, Bale.
Chris (Baleford)
You're probably... you're a lot stronger... I have a negative initiative, so you're stronger than I am. [Dan laughs] Yes?
Timothy (DM)
Bale, you feel your gaze pulled towards it as if it's, like, dragging your chin off towards its direction. Make a Wisdom saving throw.
Chris (Baleford)
That's my bread and butter! I really hope I do well. That's a natural. 20 for 25.
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, baby!
Timothy (DM)
You're able to shake it off, blink your eyes closed, and pull your head away. Io, your turn.
Helen (Iolite)
Okay. Io's finally going to open her eyes. Am I close enough to touch the thing?
Timothy (DM)
Yes.
Helen (Iolite)
Okay. Well, she grabs the arm? and she goes "Ew, so gross." and then she cast Shocking Grasp.
Timothy (DM)
All right.
Helen (Iolite)
10?
Timothy (DM)
A 10 does not hit.
Helen (Iolite)
Oh no. So, she touches it and goes "Ew" and then pulls her hand away. [Tim and Dan laugh] Can I?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, it feels like... so the arm you grab is the one that's mimicking your own arm. It's, like, really fucking trippy because it feels like you've just grabbed your, like, own arm, and you're just like "This is... my brain is not..." [laughs]
Helen (Iolite)
Can I close my eyes again afterwards?
Timothy (DM)
You can.
Helen (Iolite)
Io closes her eyes again. [Tim laughs] "I don't like this, guys." All right. Baley's turn.
Timothy (DM)
It is Baley's turn. [correcting himself] Bale's turn. [laughs] Bale, Baley, Baleford.
Chris (Baleford)
Well, I have so many nicknames, names. Thankfully, nobody's called me by my last name.
Timothy (DM)
Fordy?
Chris (Baleford)
Forty? Who's 40?
Timothy (DM)
I don't know. It's like "Baleford", maybe "Fordy".
Chris (Baleford)
Oh, yeah, Fordy. I thought you were saying like "For-ty". Like 40 years old.
Timothy (DM)
Oh, no, no, no.
Chris (Baleford)
Okay. Well, I see this thing has eyes?
Timothy (DM)
Yes.
Chris (Baleford)
Okay. I'm gonna. I'm gonna take off my shirt, and I'm gonna try to wrap it over its head. [Dan laughs]
Helen (Iolite)
Does it have a head?
Timothy (DM)
Baleford strips and tries to wrap the shirt around its head. Give me a contested Dexterity.
Chris (Baleford)
Okay, that's better than Strength.
Dan (Maury)
I'd like to make a Perception check to see what the fuck...
Chris (Baleford)
That's a 16.
Timothy (DM)
I rolled an 8. So, [laughing] you rassle this creature after stripping your shirt off--
Helen (Iolite)
Hey, can I also get a Strength check for, like, how good his abs are?
Dan (Maury)
Like a flex? [Tim and Helen laugh] Is-is Baley wearing an undershirt?
Chris (Baleford)
No.
Dan (Maury)
Perfect.
Timothy (DM)
So, you wrap it around its head. It's clawing at you trying to rip the shirt off. Now, give me a contested Strength.
Chris (Baleford)
Oh, to keep it on?
Timothy (DM)
To keep it on.
Dan (Maury)
Because you're grappling it in this instant.
Chris (Baleford)
[a bit crestfallen] Okay, I kind of thought that would be the thing to keep it on at least for this turn. Okay.
Timothy (DM)
We can see.
Chris (Baleford)
That's a 17.
Timothy (DM)
Okay. I got a nat 20. [Dan laughs] But, so, you wrap it around its head, and it starts kind of clawing at it, and it's Maury's turn.
Dan (Maury)
Great. Maury gives Baley a look... like a side-eye look.
Chris (Baleford)
[defending his choices] I thought this was helpful!
Dan (Maury)
[lasciviously] Not that kind of look. [Tim and Dan laugh] and then backhand the thing. [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Oh my gosh.
Dan (Maury)
And I'm gonna fronthand this time. I will GRACE its presence with the front of my hand. [Helen laughs] Does an 11 hit?
Timothy (DM)
It does not.
Dan (Maury)
Oh, that's unfortunate. Okay, well I missed.
Helen (Iolite)
We're just really flail-- we're just really flailin'.
Timothy (DM)
But it does-- wait! You would have advantage on it 'cause it is currently flanked and blinded.
Dan (Maury)
Oh, right. Is that triple advantage?
Timothy (DM)
No, that's not how D&D works.
Dan (Maury)
Does an 18 hit? I'll roll as many d20s as you want me to.
Timothy (DM)
An 18 does hit, yeah, mmhm.
Dan (Maury)
Let's give it another WOMP. Oh boo. That is 5 bludgeoning damage. Wait, if I wanted to grapple it? [Tim entertains the thought] Does that... is that... do i... do i forego damage to grapple it?
Timothy (DM)
No, but you would use your action.
Dan (Maury)
Instead of attacking?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah.
Dan (Maury)
I thought you have to make an attack to grapple, or am I remembering the rules wrong? Oh, well...
Timothy (DM)
There are grapple effects of specific attacks but...
Dan (Maury)
Gotcha. I'll just smack it. It's all right. Yeah, open handed.
Chris (Baleford)
And that's the weird thing about grappling, where it... you only make it so they can't move; it doesn't... it seems like it'd be a lot stronger than it is.
Timothy (DM)
Yes. [laughs] All right. That is Cyril's turn. So, again, you all here (and some of you see) the crackle of static electricity, and this thing's body is, like, charred and twisted at this point. It's, like, barely hanging on as it whips its head around towards Cyril--
Dan (Maury)
[chomping at the bit] And I toss a mushroom in its face! Toss a mushroom in its face!
Timothy (DM)
--and you toss a mushroom at it?
Dan (Maury)
Hi-YAH!
Timothy (DM)
A 12 passes?
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, dammit.
Helen (Iolite)
Mushroom just keep, like, landing on the ground.
Dan (Maury)
Like bouncing off the floor.
Timothy (DM)
Well, it's a Con save, so it's just, like, not affected by it.
Chris (Baleford)
It IS nature.
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, so I shove it in its face, honestly.
Timothy (DM)
So, it whips its head around to Cyril this time, and this time you see this, like, glow of, like, smoky black energy shoots from its eyes at Cyril.
Chris (Baleford)
Through the shirt, creating two holes.
Timothy (DM)
Through the shirt.
Dan (Maury)
They have holes in your shirt. [devilishly] Where are the holes in the shirt? So, when he puts it back on...
Chris (Baleford)
Nooooo. [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
And it misses. [Chris and Tim laugh] All right! Io.
Helen (Iolite)
Io is gonna open her eyes again, and cast Magic Missile. Okay, which I don't have to roll to hit for.
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, Magic Missiles just auto hits.
Timothy (DM)
Magic Missile automatically hits.
Helen (Iolite)
Oh my God! Wow! Okay. Magic Missile, AND I'm going to cast it at 2nd level.
Chris (Baleford)
Whoa.
Dan (Maury)
Spicy.
Timothy (DM)
Alright, how much damage do you do?
Helen (Iolite)
One more, which gives me another dart, another missile even. [picking up dice] One more? Yes. Okay. Good.
Dan (Maury)
Magic missileSSS.
Helen (Iolite)
Three, so that that gives me four missiles total. Okay. [self-assured] I know EXACTLY what I'm doing right now. [all laugh] Okay, so that means that I'm gonna roll 4d4.
Dan (Maury)
Do you need more? We've got this giant one.
Helen (Iolite)
Ummm, I can't find my bisexual d4. No, there it is. I have... I have four, thanks. [rolls dice]
Chris (Baleford)
That's a lot.
Helen (Iolite)
9, and that is magical force.
Helen (Iolite)
Oh that's right. Yes. Okay. So 9+4. So, for a total of 13 magical force.
Chris (Baleford)
Plus 4. It's 1d4+4, or 1d-- 1d4+1 for each.
Dan (Maury)
Point blank. [Dan and Helen laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Alright, so you open your eyes, you point at it, you shoot four missiles from the tip of your finger, and they smack into the body of this creature, and it is THROWN and as it gets thrown, you see that you're standing at the edge of the forest (the idea of the forest) and it's just starts floating off into, like, the black aether. You're out of combat.
Chris (Baleford)
[on edge, really hoping for a win] Did I... maintain hold of my shirt?
Timothy (DM)
Nope, you lost your shirt.
Chris (Baleford)
Noo! [Tim and Helen laugh]
Timothy (DM)
For the rest of this adventure, uh, Baleford will be shirtless.
Helen (Iolite)
Um, Baley, why is your shirt gone?
Chris (Baleford)
[nervously] I panicked, and I thought I could help this way. [Tim laughs]
Dan (Maury)
"Baley, it's okay, I've got you" and she's going to take out a new needle and yarn and start knitting a crop top [all laugh] Crocheting a crop top.
Chris (Baleford)
Oh, I love it!
Timothy (DM)
All right. So, you have just blasted this creature out into the Astral Plane. It floats away motionless. You all can see if your eyes are open the edge of where the Astral Plane begins and the forest ends. It kind of dissipates into a, like, swirling black astral nether, and in the distance, you see a speck of, like, bright white light.
Chris (Baleford)
Cyril, what was that?
Timothy (Cyril)
Oh, that's them. They don't really have a name. I'm actually surprised that's all we ran into. There's usually quite a few more. You heard them, didn't you?
Chris (Baleford)
We heard and hurt them.
Dan (Maury)
[giving high five to Baleford] Yeah, we did.
Timothy (Cyril)
They are [thinks] lost, snd they... well... [inhale] the Astral Plane functions differently than the material world. Time doesn't pass here? So, anything stuck here is here for eternity, and eternity gets quite long, and those creatures are corruptions of what would happen to consciousness should it be confined to eternity.
Dan (Maury)
So,like, we would become one of those have we got stuck here?
Timothy (Cyril)
Potentially.
Dan (Maury)
Oh. It wouldn't be too bad, right?
Timothy (Cyril)
But they crave to return to the Material Plane or... well, out of here, and they will latch on to you as you reenter. That's why the safest way to exit is actually by dying.
Chris (Baleford)
Well, we'll have that as a backup, I suppose.
Helen (Iolite)
I agree, Wasabi. [Tim and Dan laugh] [Editor's Note: Helen is referring to Tim's cat, Wasabi, that snuck into the recording room]
Timothy (Cyril)
All right. Well, we're almost to the first trial. Are you ready?
Helen (Iolite)
That-that wasn't the trials?
Timothy (Cyril)
Oh, no. No, no, no, no. That was merely the transition. [Tim and Dan laugh breathlessly] Well, after you all. If you can make it to the trial room; that's your first test.
Helen (Iolite)
Where's the trial room?
Timothy (DM)
You see the motion to the speck of white light in the distance.
Dan (Maury)
Would Maury realize that Io summon yarn to bring them together?
Timothy (DM)
Give me an Intelligence check.
Dan (Maury)
Intelligence, not my strong suit. 12
Timothy (DM)
You're not quite sure how Io managed that.
Chris (Baleford)
I link my arms in both your arms.
Helen (Iolite)
[singing] We're off to see the Wizard. [Tim laughs]
Dan (Maury)
"Um, no, thank you." Maury's gonna pull her arm, like, slowly out of yours. [Tim laughs]
Chris (Baleford)
What, you don't want to link arms with a shirtless man? [Helen laughs]
Dan (Maury)
No, that's... that's okay. I guess thanks for the offer? Um, but I think I'll be okay. Do we like fly or something?
Timothy (DM)
Well, what do you try to do?
Dan (Maury)
Mmm. Maury would like to toss a mushroom out into the blackness.
Timothy (DM)
All right, you toss a mushroom.
Dan (Maury)
I want to hit this... I want to... I want to try and hit the shiny bit. So, she like winds up and like *whoosh* pitches it.
Timothy (DM)
Give me an Arcana roll.
Dan (Maury)
OOH! That's a nat 20, so that's a 19. [Editor's Note: Gotta love those negatice modifiers]
Timothy (DM)
All right, so you toss your mushroom at the speck of light, and you wind up, you throw it out, and you see it just zooms out quickly into the distance towards the light.
Dan (Maury)
Then Maury would like to manifest a lasso of spores and hook on to the mush-- the flying mushroom and get dragged with it. [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
All right, give me another Arcana roll.
Dan (Maury)
Oh no. 2. [laughs] I did so well before!
Timothy (DM)
So, you start imagining this lasso of spores, and as you do so, a cloud of spores just starts raining down around you,
Helen (Iolite)
Maury, what are you doing, girl? [Tim and Dan laugh]
Dan (Maury)
Sorry. I was just trying to... I was trying to, like, ride the mushroom to the place. I mean, I'm going to continue try to manifest (I don't know) a mushroom to ride on?
Helen (Iolite)
Can we walk?
Chris (Baleford)
Yeah, I think walking might be the most direct route.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, you can start walking.
Helen (Iolite)
Okay, Iolite starts walking. "And Maury, why don't you imagine while we walk?"
Dan (Maury)
Maury's still going to... Maury's not going to listen and still going to try and manifest a giant mushroom cap.
Chris (Baleford)
Is the yarn still tied between the two of you?
Helen (Iolite)
That's a good question.
Timothy (DM)
At this point, it's probably dropped.
Helen (Iolite)
Iolite slipped it off of her wrist, and Maury kind of reeled it back into her bag maybe?
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, well, probably *POOFED*.
Timothy (DM)
And then it, Yeah, it kind of just dissipates. It becomes one with the aether yet again.
Dan (Maury)
Am I able to manifest a giant mushroom?
Timothy (DM)
Well, the other two start walking,
Dan (Maury)
I'll walk and do it, try and manifest at the same time. [Helen laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Alright, so you all are walking and you're walking annnnd you're walking, annnnnd you're walking annd you're walking...
Helen (Iolite)
Does it look getting closer?
Dan (Maury)
How many Arcana roles does that get me for a manifesting mushroom? [Helen laughs]
Timothy (DM)
This speck seems just as far as it was when you began.
Helen (Iolite)
Okay. All right.
Timothy (DM)
It's like light years away, it feels like.
Helen (Iolite)
Well, Io has had a little bit of success so far using just her imagination in the Astral Plane. So, she's going to imagine that they have all arrived at the light. Really hard.
Timothy (DM)
Give me an Arcana roll.
Dan (Maury)
I don't get one for my mushroom.
Helen (Iolite)
7?
Timothy (DM)
7. So, you are imagining that you arrived at the light, and you're not quite sure what to imagine because all you know about this speck of light is that it's a speck of light, and so when you try to imagine what arriving at that location would be like, all you see is a bright white light, and it doesn't feel quite right. You're missing something.
Helen (Iolite)
Iolite seems disappointed.
Timothy (DM)
Would you like to attempt again, Maury?
Dan (Maury)
You hear Maury mumbling to herself. "Mushroom wagon, mushroom wagon, mushroom wagon." Over and over and over. Why did I roll two? What is going on? [he rolled two d20s] That is a 15?
Timothy (DM)
So, you start imagining this mushroom wagon.
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, it's like a big cap mushroom with little mushroom toadstools on top that you can sit on. So, it's, like, with, like, three or four seats, so that they can get on and fly.
Timothy (DM)
So, as you're imagining a mushroom wagon, you see off to your left, maybe 10 feet away, this image of a mushroom wagon starts to fade into view. It's, like, almost like a picture at first but then it becomes more realistic and more 3D, and now you have a wagon. [Tim laughs]
Dan (Maury)
Guys.
Helen (Iolite)
[impressed] Maury, did you do that? Oh my god.
Dan (Maury)
[gestures with arm] "Welcome to the Mushroom Wagon." [Tim laughs] and she's gonna hop on and sit down on one of the little toadstools.
Chris (Baleford)
How does this thing move?
Dan (Maury)
Tentacles burst from the bottom [laughs] in start to, like, shimmying a lot.
Timothy (DM)
Are they like mycelium tentacles?
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, they're like pseudopods, I guess.
Timothy (DM)
Cool.
Helen (Iolite)
Iolite holds on tight to the Mushroom Wagon. A little piece breaks off, and she gives... she, like, nibbles on it.
Dan (Maury)
It's an edible mushroom wagon, clearly [Helen laughs] but this mushroom wagon is imagined to take us to the light.
Timothy (DM)
All right, y'all give me Arcana rolls as a collective.
Helen (Iolite)
What does that mean? Like, we just all take the best roll?
Dan (Maury)
Take our highest.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah.
Dan (Maury)
It's not mine.
Timothy (DM)
What is yours?
Dan (Maury)
2.
Helen (Iolite)
22.
Chris (Baleford)
I got 23.
Helen (Iolite)
It's not a contest.
Chris (Baleford)
Hey, it's just what the dice say. [Tim laughs]
Timothy (DM)
22, 23, and Cyril rolled an 18. So, the four of you sit down in this mushroom wagon, and you start manifesting a forward motion, drawing you closer and closer to this speck of white light, and now you are ZOOMING through the Astral Plane on this mushroom wagon. The spores are, like, flying out behind you, this like--
Timothy (DM)
Aurora Borealis.
Dan (Maury)
Aurora Borealis. [laughs]
Helen (Iolite)
Aurora Sporealis. [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Aurora Sporealis, yes!
Dan (Maury)
No, the tentacles are made out of yarn! The tentacles are made out of yarn. I'm so sorry I didn't think of this before. They are yarn tentacles.
Helen (Iolite)
We're retconning the Mushroom Wagon.
Timothy (DM)
And you're zooming through the Astral Plane on this imagination powered mushroom wagon. [all laugh]
Dan (Maury)
How long does it take us? Is it pretty quick? Oh, I wouldn't know.
Timothy (DM)
Time's not really a thing here.
Dan (Maury)
So, can I have finished the crop top by now?
Timothy (DM)
Uh, give me another Arcana roll.
Dan (Maury)
That is a 17.
Timothy (DM)
17. Yeah, yeah, that will do it. So, you're finding that, like, it's going really quickly. You're there very quickly, but also at the same time, you've had plenty of time.
Dan (Maury)
Perfect. It is a crop top tank top that is made with a glittery rainbow yarn and I pass it over to Baley. "Here you go."
Chris (Baleford)
Oh, this is for me?
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, you needed a shirt. Right?
Chris (Baleford)
You're... correct.
Dan (Maury)
Don't lift it. Don't look a gift tarrasque in the mouth, okay?
Chris (Baleford)
[diplomatically] Hey, I-I love this. Thank you. I appreciate the work that you did to make this "shirt".
Dan (Maury)
You're so welcome.
Chris (Baleford)
And I put it on, and how's the fit look? I model it for the people in the cabin.
Helen (Iolite)
Can you do a Charisma check? [Helen and Dan laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, perfect, lovely. Charisma.
Chris (Baleford)
That's 13.
Timothy (DM)
13. So, like, you aren't quite sure how to hold your body.
Chris (Baleford)
I've never had such a short shirt before!
Timothy (DM)
You're just kind of, like... you're doing, like, the arm over your head pose, where you're, like... the bicep, not the bicep, the tricep show off? but, like, you're kind of, like, kinking your neck as you do it, and kind of controverting your upper torso and see you look rather uncomfortable.
Dan (Maury)
No, like, lead with your hips, like, push your hips forward [Helen laughs]. It'll give you, like, a nice... elongate. Make a line, long line. No, I-- Okay, I'm giving up.
Chris (Baleford)
Yeah, I look like--
Timothy (Cyril)
And we have arrived.
Chris (Baleford)
I'm all contorted. Yeah,
Timothy (DM)
As you notice that you've been approaching a glass box. Inside the glass box is a room with wooden floors, and a living room furniture set. There are candelabras, and you don't pass through the glass, but you come out already inside it. So, as you've been traveling towards the speck of light, you, like, enter the light, and as you enter the light, you find yourselves in this room. As you look around you, you see darkness all around, like, swirling black darkness, and you hear Cyril start to say something and then the sound drops out. His lips are moving, but you are all in utter silence.
Dan (Maury)
Maury's going to try and clap.
Timothy (DM)
You clap your hands together. You feel the impact of one hand meeting the other, and you hear nothing.
Chris (Baleford)
Can I try to cast Mage Hand?
Timothy (DM)
Yes, you may.
Chris (Baleford)
Does it work?
Timothy (DM)
It works. So your verbal components of spells are effective, although you cannot hear them.
Helen (Iolite)
Io's sweating.
Dan (Maury)
[laughs] Dragonborn sweating [all laugh]
Chris (Baleford)
[correcting Maury] Imagining sweating.
Dan (Maury)
The feeling of the idea of sweating.
Timothy (DM)
Beads of moisture collect on your scales, and they're dripping into a puddle at your feet.
Helen (Iolite)
So, um, what's the... what's the trial? [nervous laughter] What are we doing?
Timothy (DM)
You talk. You know the words that you just said, but nobody hears them.
Helen (Iolite)
"Hello? [nervous laughter] Hello." Io waves her arms around at Maury and Baley.
Dan (Maury)
Maury waves back.
Timothy (DM)
Cyril waves at both of you.
Chris (Baleford)
What exactly is in this room? There are candelabras...
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, and then, like, a... like, sofas on top of, like, an ornate woven rug, and then the walls are like glass that just, like, look out into the darkness, and the room is very well lit. There's, like, candelabras all around.
Helen (Iolite)
You notice that Io's looking at the floor. Is the floor also see through?
Timothy (DM)
The floor is wooden.
Helen (Iolite)
Okay. *phew*
Chris (Baleford)
"Well, I'm gonna look under this rug" and I pick up one under the rug and I look underneath it.
Timothy (DM)
You lift up the end of the rug, and you see the wooden slats of the flooring beneath it.
Chris (Baleford)
It's good to know
Helen (Iolite)
Io goes over and touches the glass.
Timothy (DM)
You touch the glass, Io, and it's rigid to the touch. Do you look out, or are you just touching and staring at your feet?
Helen (Iolite)
Like, gingerly, like [nervous laughter]
Timothy (DM)
So, you feel the glass. It's like, frigidly, cold. You're, like, finger tips leave the, like, condensation marks on it.
Helen (Iolite)
So, if I cast a spell that made sound, they wouldn't be able to hear the spell.
Timothy (DM)
No one could hear the spell, but they were working, so, like, Bale--
Helen (Iolite)
That it works, and I saw Baley do that?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah.
Helen (Iolite)
Okay.
Chris (Baleford)
Can I search through the cushions of the couch? [Tim laughs] You know sometimes people--
Timothy (DM)
Give me an Investigation check, Bale. [Helen laughs]
Chris (Baleford)
--People leave coins in their pockets, and they just slip, and they never think about until you have to sweep out... oh that's Investigations poor. It is a 7. tTere's just a lot of lint; there's, like, paper clips for some reason.
Helen (Iolite)
There's no paper clips in this world. [Tim laughs] Okay, so, I-I would like to try to cast Thunderclap, and see if I can break the box. It's a burst of thunderous sound that can be heard up to 100 feet away. Each creature within range other than you must make a Constitution saving throw, but if they can't hear, do they still have to make... well, I don't know, it's thunder damage.
Dan (Maury)
What's the range?
Helen (Iolite)
100 ft.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so it's pressure. Thunder damage is, like, pressure. Static pressure.
Helen (Iolite)
[laughing] So, they WOULD have to take a Constitution saving throw.
Timothy (DM)
Yes.
Helen (Iolite)
[thinking] Hmm, what to do in the box?
Timothy (DM)
What is Maury doing? Cyril is standing, observing.
Dan (Maury)
[splaying out spell cards] I'm gonna look at my things and see if I can do anything.
Helen (Iolite)
Io sits on the couch and continues to stare at the floor.
Chris (Baleford)
These are glass walls?
Timothy (DM)
Yes.
Chris (Baleford)
Okay. The floor is wood?
Timothy (DM)
Yes, it is. What are you doing?
Helen (Iolite)
Io curls into the fetal position on the couch.
Dan (Maury)
Maury is going to sit down next to Io and pull out her crocheting and, like, pat Io on the head and then crochet, but, like, look around the room to see if I can find anything worthwhile. Like, do an eye scan. [laughing] Shrugs to the room.
Timothy (DM)
Give me a Perception check.
Dan (Maury)
Okay. 18.
Timothy (DM)
All right. You look around the room. The contents of the room seem rather mundane. The environment is nothing but extraordinary. This glass box seems to just float in the aether, and as you look out past the glass, you can see that the light illuminates to a distance enough that you can see that the blackness is kind of swirling like black smoke swirling in like a faint light that's cast on it, and you start to notice that the wisps begin to take form...
Dan (Maury)
Of???
Timothy (DM)
Like, humanoid shapes.
Dan (Maury)
Great. Well, do I want to let those in? [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
And you see that they start grasping at the glass, and they're, like, dragging appendages along it as they continue to swirl and mix around you.
Chris (Baleford)
I want to grab one of the candelabras as a blunt weapon. "I don't know how long this glass is going to hold because we pass through it like nothing, so I'm wondering why they didn't come in."
Dan (Maury)
Yeah, there's no entrance anymore, right? We're inside the glass box.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, you're just inside the glass box.
Dan (Maury)
What happened to the Mushroom Wagon?
Timothy (DM)
It dissipated as you started kind of interacting with the space. It kinda fell out of your mind as you started interacting with new information.
Dan (Maury)
Got it, got it, got it.
Helen (Iolite)
Io stands from the couch, looks like she's screaming even though you cannot hear it. [Tim laughs]
Timothy (DM)
You all see Io stand up. [Helen laughs].
Helen (Iolite)
And Io casts Thunderclap. So everyone needs to make a Constitution saving throw
Dan (Maury)
I'm sitting right next to you. It's fine. [laughs]
Helen (Iolite)
Anyone within 100 feet.
Chris (Baleford)
Oh, so Cyril too. Oh, well, I fail.
Dan (Maury)
What number's that? I also failed. I think; I rolled an 8.
Chris (Baleford)
I gotta 9.
Helen (Iolite)
Dan, what did you get?
Dan (Maury)
An 8.
Helen (Iolite)
And Cyril?
Timothy (DM)
Oh, yeah.
Helen (Iolite)
'cause they're here.
Timothy (DM)
A 3.
Helen (Iolite)
3. Okay, great. So, everybody is gonna 1d6 thunder damage.
Timothy (DM)
Lovely. Love it
Helen (Iolite)
4 thunder damage,
Timothy (DM)
all right, not too bad.
Helen (Iolite)
This is a burst of thunderous sound with 100 foot radius. Does it breaks the glass?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so you clap. You don't hear a thing, but you all feel this, like, pressure in your eardrums, and then you see a crack start to form on the glass of the box, and the crack starts to tendril out before you see the glass shatter. The pieces flow out into the aether, thrown out by the force of your Thunderclap, and that's when the swirls start to pour into the room.
Timothy (DM)
And that is where we will put a pause on today's story. Thank you all for joining us for a plunge into the abyss. I hope you all enjoyed this episode of Shadows of Prophecy. Join us next time to find out becomes of our unfortunate players in this most dreadful act.
Timothy (DM)
Shout out to my brother, known as the chill electronic vapor soul artist LUSQ, for writing our chillingly epic theme song; editing by Scrubcast, and a big shout out to Syrinscape for some amazing atmosphere and music. Make sure you check them out at syrinscape.com. I always use them at my game table, and it adds that little something special to bring your players into the story. Also, please follow us on Twitter @shadowsprophecy and Instagram @shadows_of_prophecy. And hey, show us some support by becoming one of our fabulous patrons at patreon.com/shadows of prophecy where you can get access to bonus content like handouts, encounter maps, and even adventure guides to run your own horrific campaigns or one-shots. And at the very least, give us a five star review on your podcast platform of choice. This is how we get the word out about our podcast and we love sharing it with you all. Thank you, and tune in next time for more tales of dread and despair at Shadows of Prophecy