Timothy (DM)
Welcome to Shadows of Prophecy, a D&D real play podcast following the ill-omened web of lives, whispered by the Void, their names repeated in the darkness. Shadows of Prophecy is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast with violent themes and adult language. Listener discretion is advised.
With us today to traverse through adventures of dread and trepidation, we have myself, Timothy, as our ambivalent DM.
Ellie (Markie)
Ellie playing "Two knives, great vibes" Markie.
Chris (Sal S)
Chris playing "Tall and wiry and read through someone else's diary" Salvador Saltrose
Dan (Wren)
And Dan playing "You're not-so-local physician" Wren.
Ellie (Markie)
That's a good one.
Timothy (DM)
Join us as we enter the Shadows of Prophecy. Act 1: In the Shadows. Chapter 11 - The Forgotten
All right. So, yeah, this figure has just appeared in front of you all. [dramatically] But before that, [laughing] let's do a last time on Shadows of Prophecy. [Dan: *airhorn noise*] So, some spirits haunt this place, many of them with a penchant for dramaturgy [groups goes *AAAYY-OHHHH* with finger guns]
Dan (Wren)
Very dramatic. Everything's dramatic. [Chris laughs]
Timothy (DM)
--the party runs into a corpse-hopping shambler demon, [Dan: "Oh"] and make some dramatic poses. Before--
Ellie (Markie)
Obviously.
Dan (Wren)
Unintentionally.
Ellie (Markie)
Goes without saying that we're dramatically posing at all times.
Chris (Sal S)
If there's a staircase, we must pose on it. [Ellie: "Obviously"]
Timothy (DM)
At the top of the stairs, they come across a set of soggy footprints leading towards a door. Ensue a battle of will of slamming and reopening doors...
Chris (Sal S)
And smashing vases.
Timothy (DM)
And smashing vases, yup.
Ellie (Markie)
A haunting competition if you will. [Ellie and Dan laugh]
Timothy (DM)
--which ended in a dramatic blast of lightning... with a wet ghost appearing in front of them.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeahhh.
Dan (Wren)
[in unison with team] WET GHOST, WET GHOST, WET GHOST, WET GHOST! [alone] The real hero of this story.
Timothy (DM)
[upset with himself] Alright, I said it: wet ghost!
Ellie (Markie)
Ah, wet ghost Yeah.
Timothy (DM)
Not my choice of words, but they are th-the title for this ghost now.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, poor Tim was trying to come up with, like, a more refined way to say wet ghost.
Dan (Wren)
It is just a descriptor. It's a... it's an accurate descriptor.
Ellie (Markie)
It's a wet ghost; there's no need to make it complicated.
Timothy (DM)
It's a wet ghost. It IS dripping all over the carpet. Like, you know those, like, really dramatic horror scenes with the, like, corpse that just, like, you don't even know where the frickin water is coming from? It's just, like, pouring out over them [Ellie: "They're just SO wet."] and just pouring onto the floor? It's pooling beneath them, and they are standing, staring at you, arms at their side, head kind of hanging a bit, and, like, this really droopy frown on their face, and the whites of their eyes are, like, solidly static on Wren.
Dan (Wren)
I was worried it was gonna be Twilight for a second. [Chris [manically]: "ha ha ha"] Don't you dare!
Timothy (DM)
--and Twilight is still hissing on your backpack.
Ellie (Markie)
They probably drowned, right? [Dan: "Probably"] We're all in agreement that they probably drowned, and that's why they're so wet in the afterlife?
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, I'd imagine so. It just makes sense.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah. It'd be weird if they've died from, like, falling from a great height, and they're inexplicably wet and yeah, [as a otherworldly pencil pusher] 'Sorry, clerical error.' [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, 'Watery was... Yeah.'
Ellie (Markie)
'We checked the box that said drowning.'
Timothy (DM)
What are you doing, Wren, as this flash of lightning brings this figure into your view?
Dan (Wren)
Wren will slowwwwwly make his shortsword available to him, like pull the hilt out.
Timothy (DM)
[raises an eyebrow, seductively] Make it available... [laughs]
Dan (Wren)
I don't want to... if it's not hostile, I don't want to, like...
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, you start kind of, like, very casually unsheathing it but not--
Dan (Wren)
Maybe not unsheathing it; just like pulling my cloak aside, so I can easily grab it if I need too--
Timothy (DM)
So you have access? Okay.
Dan (Wren)
Again, making it available.
Timothy (DM)
[inhale] It... doesn't move for... a bit before it slowly starts to raise an arm, and you see the, like, draping of its, like, billowy shirt...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, you didn't mention that they were wearing a billowy shirt. [Tim: "A billowy shirt"] Is it white? Is it seethrough 'cause it's wet? Is it kind of hot??? [Dan and Tim laughs]
Dan (Wren)
Did we just enter a wet T-shirt competition?
Timothy (DM)
It's kind of... [laughs] it is a white, like, undershirt. Like, maybe this person was a noble that hadn't fully finished dressing themselves.
Ellie (Markie)
Are we talking about like a drowned pirate, like: pale skin, cold to the touch...? [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
The top is kind of open up with, like, some hair poking out--
Dan (Wren)
Wet hair. Chest hair.
Ellie (Markie)
Wet hair. Wet chest hair.
Timothy (DM)
Wet hair, they--
Ellie (Markie)
Like my lover returned from the sea: strange, different, and yet their cold touch--
Dan (Wren)
Do I hug it before it murders me? What's going on here? [Dan and Ellie laughs]
Timothy (DM)
So, they stretch out their arm, you see, like, the wet billow of their shirt kind of sag and, like, drape under their arm as they very... just, like, slowly extend [Dan: "Dramatically."] their arms (so dramatic) and, like, point a finger off towards the right of the room, and that's when their gaze shifts towards the tip of their finger, and their hand begins to tremble.
Dan (Wren)
Behind us? Are they pointing behind... I guess, Wren at this point?
Timothy (DM)
They're like pointing off to your right.
Ellie (Markie)
Can we look where they're pointing? Take a gander? [Chris: "Yes."]
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, slowly turn, but keeping an eye on the wet ghost.
Yeah, keeping an eye on the wet ghost to make sure you don't, um, lose track.
Dan (Wren)
I cross my eyes backwards to look at both [Ellie: "Yeah"] at the same time.
Ellie (Markie)
You keep an eye on the ghost, I'll look at what it's pointing at. [laughs]
Dan (Wren)
[laughing] Sounds good.
Timothy (DM)
So, as you follow the direction of their finger--
Ellie (Markie)
[gasps, whispers] Maybe it was slamming the doors because it wanted us to come down here!
Dan (Wren)
Oh, maybe, but it didn't slam the door to the other room?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, we gotta secret...
Dan (Wren)
Alright, go on.
Timothy (DM)
--You see another door.
Chris (Sal S)
Where does it exit to? The wall that is on our wall?
Timothy (DM)
So, there's like... so, you've kind of entered into this space, and there's, like, a hallway, and there's, like, a living chamber that you entered into the right, and they're pointing back towards another door that's on the far end of the room from where you entered.
Ellie (Markie)
I'll go open the door? Keeping, like, an eye on the ghost.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, I can look at the ghost.
Ellie (Markie)
But, like, back-back up towards the door and, like... See, does the ghost do anything as I start, like, moving towards the door, like, 'Okayyyy, we're doing the doorrrrr.'?
Timothy (DM)
It continues to gaze at the tip of its finger in the direction of the door, unmoving other than the [Ellie: "The trembling"] the shaking of its hand. You make your way over to the door. It is currently closed.
Ellie (Markie)
Slllllowly open it.
Timothy (DM)
You start to turn the handle, and it doesn't go very far. It must be locked.
Ellie (Markie)
Ack! I don't know why I didn't think of that.
Timothy (DM)
To the right of the door, there is a placard. [Ellie: "Okay."] And the placard reads 'Knock knock.'
Ellie (Markie)
[trepdiatious] "Who's there?" [long pause] I say?
Timothy (DM)
You say 'Who's there?' [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Who's there?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
And then you hear this incorporeal voice kind of, like, in the back of your head go. "I am."
Ellie (Markie)
Ooooh, I didn't think that was gonna work.
Dan (Wren)
Is it just Markie who hears this?
Ellie (Markie)
Is it just me? Or is it, like... can everybody hear it? Is it happening in the room?
Timothy (DM)
It happens in everybody's head.
Ellie (Markie)
Do we think that's the wet... does the voice match the way we think the wet ghost would sound? [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Hard to tell. [Ellie: "That's fair."] It is a masculine voice... of sorts.
Ellie (Markie)
Can you open the door please?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
Silence.
Chris (Sal S)
"What's the deal with this ghost?" I say into the open air. [Chris and Ellie laugh]
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
Silence.
Ellie (Markie)
I try "Knock knock" again?
Dan (Wren)
Have you knocked on the door? Do you knock on the door?
Ellie (Markie)
I haven't tried knocking on the door yet. I say "Knock knock."
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
[breathy] Who's there?
Ellie (Markie)
I am.
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
I am who?
Ellie (Markie)
I am Markie [Dan and Chris laugh] The kobold bard... [thinking about the implications] Please don't steal my name. I maybe shouldn't have said that. Uh oh! I shouldn't tell my name to mysterious voices I hear in my head, should I?
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, probably not, but...
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
That's not very funny. [Ellie: "Oh, sorry."] Try again.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, well, you start. [pause] I have a great joke, but you have to start.
Timothy (DM)
[skeptical] Give me a Persuasion check. [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, that's a 13.
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
A 13. It's silent for a couple moments, and then you hear "Knock, knock."
Ellie (Markie)
[chipper] Who's there?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
Lena.
Ellie (Markie)
Lena who?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
Lean a little closer, and I'll tell you another joke.
Ellie (Markie)
HA HA HA HA HA! See, I told you it was a great one.
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
HA HA HA HA HA HA.
Ellie (Markie)
[on the edge of her seat] Does it work?
Timothy (DM)
[baffled] And then lock unclicks. [laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
Whoooa, finally got that social interaction.
Timothy (DM)
And the door begins to swing open... until it slams shut.
Ellie (Markie)
[sadly] Oh...
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
I see what you did. That was my joke.
Ellie (Markie)
[laughs] Oh, you got me. You're too clever for me. Okay, will you only do knock-knock jokes, or will you accept a riddle? [Tim: "Hmmm."] It's sort of like a riddle joke. It's a funny riddle.
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
It best be good.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay. And this one's them-- it's thematic too. Where does the king keep his armies?
Timothy (DM)
Hmmm... I do not know. Where does the king keep his armies?
Ellie (Markie)
"In his sleevies!!!" *giggles* [all laugh] and Markie wiggles her arms through her coat. [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
[laughing] Oh nooo! Oh, my gosh.
Chris (Sal S)
The door kicks itself.
Timothy (DM)
The door kind of, like, jiggles a little bit before (again) you hear it unclick and start to slide open.
Ellie (Markie)
And can I go in? Or can I, like, push it open a little further? I'm still... I don't want it to, like, slam on my fingers.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so you gingerly go over--
Ellie (Markie)
Is the wet... how's the wet ghost doing? Does the wet ghost laugh?
Timothy (DM)
The wet--? No, the wet ghost did not laugh. [Chris and Dan laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
Dammit! Tough audience.
Chris (Sal S)
They're more of a visual comedy, slapstick comedy than...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh yeah. [Dan: "That's true."]
Timothy (DM)
They're still just standing there pointing at this door.
Ellie (Markie)
Trembling a little bit.
Timothy (DM)
--trembling just slightly, ever so slightly, their gaze still just as daunting, and you gingerly push open this door, and it leads into a small kind of vestibule-like hallway. To the right, you see another door, but in this room, you see a couple things: there's a-- an orrery.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, that's, like, the globe, like, celestial...
Timothy (DM)
The planetary, yeah, arrangments.
Ellie (Markie)
--going around, yeah.
Timothy (DM)
And lots of books in the walls and a writing desk with a small wooden box on it.
Ellie (Markie)
I look back through the door. "It seems relatively safe in here, guys. I don't know if you want to come with or you want to stay with the ghost. It feels kind of rude to, like, just leave them behind?"
Chris (Sal S)
[side-eying the ghost] I mean, they can always follow us if they want.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, it's true.
Ellie (Markie)
They do seem to be able to, like, phase through walls and go invisible and stuff so...
Dan (Wren)
So, we'll just leave the ghost [Chris: "Yeah"] It's... we'll s--
Ellie (Markie)
[to Wet Ghost] We're going into the room that you're pointing at. So, we're gonna take a look around.
Chris (Sal S)
Thumbs up.
Ellie (Markie)
Feel free to come in and point at something else. [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
The ghost does not move nor speak.
Chris (Sal S)
So, is there a pool of liquid, like, puddling underneath it now?
Timothy (DM)
Oh, yes. Starting to kind of, like, pool and dribble towards a section of the room where the floor kind of sags a little bit more than other places.
Dan (Wren)
Sounds like a clue... or just old buildings... [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
[conspiratorily] There's a crack in the floor!
Chris (Sal S)
I pull out my crowbar and start pulling up the floors!
Timothy (DM)
So, yeah, what do you doin'?
Dan (Wren)
We'll go in the room.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, I follow in.
Ellie (Markie)
Can I take a... take a little look-y at this box on the desk?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so...
Ellie (Markie)
Does the door let everybody else in without issue?
Timothy (DM)
The door does not make any more sounds or move as the other party members tried to enter.
Dan (Wren)
Cool. Cool, cool, cool.
Timothy (DM)
The box [Ellie: [marvelling at the handouts] "Oh!"] has six keyholes [Ellie: "Bug box"] and below each keyhole is a placard with the image of a various bug.
Ellie (Markie)
We've got an ant, a cicada, a dragonfly, a fly, a freaky looking dude with pinchers (maybe a wood louse is what that is?) [Dan: "Let's see..."] And then we've got, like, a stag beetle.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, is that a termite?
Dan (Wren)
Earwig?
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, yeah, earwig, that's right.
Ellie (Markie)
Earwig, okay.
Dan (Wren)
Right, because its pinchers are on the back. Right?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah. But then... all of these keyholes, and we don't have any keys. So, like, what can we really do about the situation?
Dan (Wren)
We can raid this room to find the keys--
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, Markie, as you turn around to show this box to Wren and Salvador--
Ellie (Markie)
[holds out box] Bug box!
Timothy (DM)
--you notice near the door is a key hook with six keys hanging on it.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, guys, this is g-- Look, keys!
Chris (Sal S)
They made this puzzle so easy!
Ellie (Markie)
--Oh my gosh, I'm so good at solving puzzles. [to Salvador] Don't say that! I think it was a hard puzzle that I solved really good! [Dan laughs] ... by turning around.
Chris (Sal S)
No, you're-you're right. That's very perceptive of you.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, so we got some keys here, and all of them have different teeth and different handles [Dan: "Ohhh."]. And...
Dan (Wren)
[pouts] So there are no bugs on these keys. [Chris: "Mmmm"]
Ellie (Markie)
There are none, but I feel like th-- thematically, maybe they sort of, like, match the bugs?
Chris (Sal S)
It looks like the wings. Like, these... this has, like, broad wings.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, like kind of fly-like wings.
Timothy (DM)
You take the keys off the rack, and you start examining them. Each one has a different intricately braided handle. They're all hefty keys, maybe of a brass, and they have intricate teeth of various shapes and sizes.
Wren would like to look through the books in the area to find a book maybe about bugs.
Yeah, so give me an Investigation check.
Okay, oops, that isn't... Oh! That's more than I thought it was: that's 16.
So, as you start perusing this library, you find a lot of, like, old classics. So we're, like, Catcher in the Rye [Dan and Tim laugh] The Color Purple...
Ellie (Markie)
[reading the titles] Elf Catcher in the Rye, Gnome Color Purple... [Tim and Chris laugh]
Timothy (DM)
So, lots of classics in this world, and a lot of... again, more, like, cosmology, astronomy, books on the arcane, and just, like, general hobby books, so there's some books about plants, books about birds, and... a book of bugs!
Dan (Wren)
[jerks arm in a celebratory manner] Yesss!
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, bug book!
Dan (Wren)
Bug book.
Ellie (Markie)
Ah, bug box!
Dan (Wren)
Bug book. Bug box. Bug keys?
Ellie (Markie)
Bug keys? [Chris: "Hmm"]
Dan (Wren)
I am going to sift through this book and try and find those bugs in the book.
Chris (Sal S)
I think I have a cl-- I have an idea. [Tim: "All right."] If you notice that, like, the ends... like, this has one end, this has two, this is four, six, five, three? Like, dangly... like the ends of the key?
Timothy (DM)
Oh, the teeth. [Chris: "Yeah."]
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, the teeth. So, the handles might be a 'Rosa Kipper' as it were, a red herring. Well, I mean we can just try, like, and see if it turns the lock and probably get super cursed if we're wrong to be honest. [Editor's Note: Rosa Kipper was a character in Chris and Ellie's other campaign, and her name is a literal homage to red herring]
Dan (Wren)
So, maybe start with one and go through six?
Chris (Sal S)
Wet ghost? [Tim laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, well 'cause this has one, right?
Dan (Wren)
So, one for 'ant'.
Ellie (Markie)
One for 'ant'.
Dan (Wren)
1-2-thrant.
Ellie (Markie)
Two for 'cicada'. Wait, no. Is this two, or is this two?
Chris (Sal S)
I think this is two and this is four 'cause this has four little teeth off of the two teeth.
Ellie (Markie)
Do you want to look at the bug book? I'll... we'll try and put these in order while you check the bug book. [Dan: "Yeah."]
Timothy (DM)
Give me an Investigation check with that bug book of yours.
Oh, that is a 25.
A 25. Wow. You... [laughs] such good reads.
Ellie (Markie)
Wow, you are reading SO good.
Dan (Wren)
Wren is smart.
Timothy (DM)
Wren is smart.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, excellent reading comprehension.
Dan (Wren)
Nobody place Intelligence-based characters, I feel like. It's very--
Chris (Sal S)
Other than wizards.
Dan (Wren)
Other than wizards. So, I like them. I'm a big fan.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so you make this amazing Investigation check, and you are quickly identifying... I mean, you know what most of these are already, so you're able to, like, use the index just to cross-check and validate. So, we have, like... you find a carpenter ant page, you find a cicada page. We've got a staghorn beetle. A... and this one's a little tricky: you're not sure if it's a dragonfly or a damsel fly. The sketches are very similar.
Ellie (Markie)
It's really about the type of tail they have, which you can't see in this top down view, right?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so the tail is hard to tell as you're, like, reading through and trying to determine dragonfly/damsel fly. One of those. The next one really is just a fly, like a horse fly. Earwig and... am I missing any?
Chris (Sal S)
No, I think that's six.
Dan (Wren)
The beetle.
Ellie (Markie)
No, 'cause you said stag beetle earlier.
Timothy (DM)
Stag-- yeah, the-th-- sorry, stag beetle is the last one.
Dan (Wren)
I think I figured it out, y'all. [Ellie: "Yeah, what's that?" Chris: "What is it?"] Ant starts with 'A', cicada 'C', damsel or dragonfly 'D', fly 'F'.
Ellie (Markie)
[in unison with Chris] Oh, earwig.
Dan (Wren)
Earwig, and then 'B' for beetle? I know it's technically a stag beetle, but...
Ellie (Markie)
But beetle... 'cause 'B' is the only one we're missing.
Dan (Wren)
So, one = A, C = three. Does that make sense? So the number of teeth...?
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, yeah, so instead of the number of teeth [Chris: "Ohh.] Okay, so: 'A', ant one; 'B', beetle, two; 'C', cicada, three; 'D', dragon or damselfly, four; (oh boy, I'm just moving all the paper all over the page. A-B-C-D--) 'E', earwig, five; and then 'F', fly, six. Okay, we try that?
Timothy (DM)
All right. So, you take these six keys, you look at each one, count the number of prongs or teeth, line those up with the bugs matching the corresponding letter of the alphabet, and turn each one in the keyhole and the box... unlocks.
Dan (Wren)
[all rejoice, Tim laughs] YREEEEAAHHH! No puzzle too complicated!
Timothy (DM)
Oh my gosh.
Ellie (Markie)
I turn around to see if the ghost saw. [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
This is Team Puzzle. [Dan laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
TEAM PUZZLLLLLLE! Team Puzzles and Jokes. Oh my gosh.
Timothy (DM)
--Team Puzzle, y'all are so FAST. I need to make these more complicated.
Ellie (Markie)
Does the wet ghost look impressed a little bit?
Chris (Sal S)
[joking] There's still point-- they're still pointing to the chest. [Ellie laughs politely]
Timothy (DM)
As you turn back to where the wet ghost was, it is no longer there. [Ellie gasps, Dan: "Oh shit"] It has disappeared.
Ellie (Markie)
Any wet footprints on the ground anywhere besides the big puddle?
Timothy (DM)
The ground is still a big puddle. [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
Ohh, so it just melted into the floor.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, well I hope they're watching because that w-- we did a REALLY good job on that. [Tim laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
That was like two minutes!
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, pause: we found those keys so fast, you found the book so fast, we solved the puzzle so fast.
Dan (Wren)
I didn't really NEED the book, but... [laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
It helped you identify, like, damsel versus dragonfly.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, I think it's true.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, they're both D so it wouldn't have.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
[eagerly] All right, what's in the box? [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Alright, so the box unlocks, and Markie flings it open [Ellie: *HWAH*] and inside is a scroll. Give me an Insight check, Markie.
Ellie (Markie)
Wow, not rolling great, but that's a 9?
Timothy (DM)
Alright, the scroll is yellowed, and the edges are kind of frayed, and it is a particularly large scroll rolled many many times and closed with a ribbon and a wax seal.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh. Should we... I assume we should open it, right?
Dan (Wren)
Yeah. I don't see why not.
Chris (Sal S)
I don't think anyone else is waiting around for it.
Ellie (Markie)
I use... I take one little claw, and I carefully... Actually no! I pull out a knife. Two knives! Just in case if I need a backup knife, and I-I gently use the tip of the knife to kind of, like, wiggle under the wax seal and try it pop it off without, like, breaking it. Gently.
Dan (Wren)
'Cause that's how you get a curse. [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Give me Sleight of Hand check.
Chris (Sal S)
Does the seal have something on it? Like, was it a--?
Timothy (DM)
It does; it's the seal of the Valerian family. [Chris and Dan: "Oh"]
Ellie (Markie)
That's a 10.
Timothy (DM)
A 10. All right, you pop it off without breaking it, but you very much misshapen and nick it.
Ellie (Markie)
Well... eh.
Chris (Sal S)
Now they'll know that we looked at it!
Ellie (Markie)
Nobody's gonna get mad I guess.
Dan (Wren)
The dead people, yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
It's not like I'm gonna get less cursed because I left it intact. [Chris and Dan laugh] And, so I unroll the very long SCROLLLL.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so you start unrolling it and it is... um, how do you unroll it? Do you just, like, whip it out, or do you just like--
Chris (Sal S)
Whip it out! [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
I have, like, the free end in one little clawed hand and then I have the other, and I'm just doing, like, a kinda *shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo* [Tim: "Okay, yeah."] until I get to, like, my full arm length, presumably, which maybe it's longer than because I got short little arms.
Yeah. So, you start rolling it out, you pull it out with your one hand, it starts to unfurl, and you get to as far as your arms can go, and you're still holding a substantial amount of scroll in your other hand,
Ellie (Markie)
Based on what I've unrolled so far, like, what's on the paper?
Timothy (DM)
You see a very fine print that is just, like, going the length of the scroll, not the width of this scroll of text.
Ellie (Markie)
Is it, like, all text on the whole page?
Timothy (DM)
The whole page is just COVERED in test.
Ellie (Markie)
[in distress] Wren!
Dan (Wren)
[exasperated] Oh, just give here.
Chris (Sal S)
You just start running around the room.
Dan (Wren)
Wren'll do a power read.
Ellie (Markie)
Look at this like you looked at the bug book: use your good brain and your powerful eyes.
Dan (Wren)
I'm in the zone. [Ellie laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Alright, so you start, like, reading bits of this scroll. It's obnoxious, because, like, every line is the length of the scroll.
Ellie (Markie)
That's true. So, you have to unroll the scroll--
Chris (Sal S)
So, yeah, I'm on one side and you're on the other side, just like--
Dan (Wren)
I have to go back and *woop-woop-woop*
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, oh yeah, we-we both unroll it between us.
Dan (Wren)
And then just walk back and forth! [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Go team! Go team! Go team! [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
So, okay, so-so two of you unroll, you have to go back into the other room. [Chris: "Oh", Ellie: "Oh my god"]--
Dan (Wren)
That big?
Timothy (DM)
-- to unravel this scroll.
Ellie (Markie)
Like, how many feet long fully unraveled?
Timothy (DM)
Um, this is like a 20- to 30-foot-long scroll.
Ellie (Markie)
You have to use all your movement.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah. One-- Six seconds from one end to the other. [Tim and Ellie laugh]
Timothy (DM)
And it is all written in this fine print [Ellie: *gasp*] that is jus,t like, over and over and over. So, you start pacing back and forth, following the lines, and you're, like, oh my gosh... start losing track of which line you were on--
Ellie (Markie)
Watch Timothy pull out a handout for this [Tim and Dan laugh, Chris: "Yeah, it's just like--"] 'AND SPEAKING OF WHICH.' he, like, hoists out a huge scroll.
Timothy (DM)
[laughing] I actually don't have a handout for this one, unfortunately.
Ellie (Markie)
That would be so funny. We'll, like, run up these stairs. [Editor's Note: we record in Tim's basement.]
Timothy (DM)
I freaking love handouts, though. I know you've realized that by now. [Ellie: "Oops", Dan: "So funny."] But no, I don't have the handout for this, but you start reading it. You're, like, losing track. Can you give me a... what would that be?
Dan (Wren)
Intelligence? Our intelleigence?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, just a... yeah, give me an Intelligence roll.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, no, that's not good. An 8.
Timothy (DM)
Okay. So, you're having a hard time reading this text. It's incredibly fine print. It's these long running lines of text in this giant wave of words, but you start to pull out some things that keep popping up, and you keep seeing this word about the Harbingers and a lot of weird cryptic references to tarot cards, like the Fool, the Empress, the Scholar.
Dan (Wren)
Are tarot cards common in-in this world, like... would-would I know that they're, like, used for divination?
Timothy (DM)
Um, I mean, most of your experience with tarot cards has been, like, people who claim to be fortune tellers might use them as a tool, but there's a lot of people who make that claim and their abilities don't turn out to be very accurate... so to speak. [laughs]
Dan (Wren)
But they're... but the the tarot deck as, like, we know it--
Timothy (DM)
We're gonna make it a canonical concept here.
Ellie (Markie)
Gotcha, and it's, like, it's not uncommon to know about them. Like, to know... let 'em so we know what they are, but like, you'd be like "Oh, the Fool is a clone..."
Timothy (DM)
You know of them, like, you start to realize that these are, like, references to cards in the tarot deck. Not all of them are the same as our real world one [Dan: "Sure."] but their version of a tarot deck [Dan: "Gotcha, cool."] so archetypes and again, the Harbinger comes back again and again and again, and as you start to, like, notice this pattern, you start to, like, find little snippets, and you see a line that says "The Hanged Man is marked by a set of wings." You see a passage about the Harbinger bringing about the end times, and then you find a note about the Hierophant: "a pink tiefling marked by a rose." [Ellie: "Oh my god!", Chris: "Ohhh.'] "The Oracle is a seer marked by a cat. The Scholar is a wizard marked by floral silks." And lots of these little references about how these characters are part of a grand prophecy, all coming back to this idea of the end times.
Dan (Wren)
So, I'll be reading those, like, bits that I find aloud.
Ellie (Markie)
[points to Wren and Sal] Oh my god, it's about you. Right? [Chris: "Uhhh.."]
Dan (Wren)
I mean, at that point, Wren will, like, lift up the inside of his cloak to show that there are wings, like, stitched to the inside.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, you're the Hanged Man? [Chris: "Yeah."] Where's the... What about.. but you also have a cat? So, you're both
Dan (Wren)
But I also have a cat. Or maybe the cat's a wizard? [Chris and Ellie gasp] The Wizard? No. What was that, the Wizard?
Ellie (Markie)
The wizard's in floral silks.
Chris (Sal S)
The wizard... the Scholar is the wizard with floral silks.
Dan (Wren)
The Hera-- Hero-- Hierophant.
Chris (Sal S)
The Hierophant is a tiefling with a rose. [Dan: "Oh y--, a Seer."]
Timothy (DM)
The Seer marked by a cat is known as the Oracle.
Dan (Wren)
Oracle. [cheerfully] My cat's the Oracle... no, that's not right. Aw, it could be--
Ellie (Markie)
So, you're either the Hanged Man or the Oracle?
I mean... [throws up hands] this just seems too on the nose. [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Whaattt??? Noooo.
Ellie (Markie)
I've never met another pink tiefling in my whole life, which I have recently learned is [Dan: "Is 12 hours." Chris: "12 hours"] a 12-hour span.
[reads scroll] "Marked by a rose." [looks at Salvador]
Chris (Sal S)
Yes, I suppose that would be me because that's my-my surname. [Dan: "Oh."] Saltrose.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, didn't know that. [whispers] I forgot.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, there's a lot going on.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh yeah.
Dan (Wren)
No, I, like--
Ellie (Markie)
Does it say anything about how--
Dan (Wren)
--the spell made me forget.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh yeah, that's right, that's right.
Ellie (Markie)
OHHH yeah. We keep forgetting you don't have any memories. Does it say anything in there about a cool girl???
Timothy (DM)
Anything about... anything about kobolds or [Chris: "Poets"] storytellers?
Ellie (Markie)
Maybe, I'm, like, the Moon. Or like a cool, like, Queen of something?
Chris (Sal S)
You're the Queen of Hearts!
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, give me an Investigation check.
Dan (Wren)
Ok, redeem myself.
Timothy (DM)
--as you are specifically looking for references to a kobold [Dan: "13"] or Markie or...
Ellie (Markie)
Which there probably is not because Markie lives in a time loop and doesn't do anything. [laughs]
Dan (Wren)
For now. [Ellie: "For now."] We'll-we'll free you. Wer'e invested at this point.
Timothy (DM)
All right, nothing references a kobold. Nothing references Markie specifically. You don't see any names in this entire... like, you haven't come across a name yet. Everybody's just referenced by their markings, and you come up null.; nothing about Markie. At least not that you're making a connection to.
Ellie (Markie)
That makes sense.
Dan (Wren)
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. [Ellie: "That's ok."] I mean, like, I'd rather you be in there than me personally; I don't want to be a part of this.
Ellie (Markie)
Ellie is fine with it, but Markie obviously wants to be involved. [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
Especially having the Hanged Man as your sobriquet. [Dan laughs]
Timothy (DM)
It is tough, like, a lot of these references are very cryptic. Yours... You're familiar with yourself, you know yourself really well, so when the moment you saw the wings, you were like, 'Oh my gosh, like, that sounds like me.' And like, the pink tiefling? That's so specific. But a lot of the other ones are a lot more vague.
Ellie (Markie)
Did you get your cat from someone?
Timothy (DM)
No, he was a stray. [Ellie: "Ok"] and just, like, hung out near where I lived, and I picked him out. At least that's what I know about him. I mean, stranger things have happened.
Ellie (Markie)
Maybe he had a life before you, yeah.
Chris (Sal S)
Scholar.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, this is probably too big to bring with us, right? This scroll?
Dan (Wren)
How tall is this scroll?
Chris (Sal S)
How big is the book?
Ellie (Markie)
It's probably very heavy.
Timothy (DM)
How tall is it? [Dan: "Yeah."] Like the the width of it versus the length of it?
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, if we're holding it up like...? [Tim: "Yeah." Ellie: "Right. Yeah."]
Timothy (DM)
So, it's about maybe like a foot tall.
So, if you roll it up... I'm gonna fit in a small box. [Chris: "Yeah."]
It fit in a small box. Yeah.
Dan (Wren)
So, we'll roll it up.We'll-we'll take it with us.
Ellie (Markie)
You're carrying it.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, that's fine. [Ellie laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, anything else in this room? Any more doors? Do we think this is what the wet ghost wanted us to find? It doesn't say anything about a wet ghost. [Chris laughs]
Dan (Wren)
But the wet ghost is gone.
Timothy (DM)
The wet ghost is gone. There is another door to the right of the entrance that you came in.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, I suppose we should check that just in case the wet ghost wasn't pointing at the box. [Chris: "Yeah."] There's a lot of stuff in here. [Chris: "Yeah."] Furniture, probably, right? Paintings on the wall?
Timothy (DM)
Lots of, like, very extravagant things in this room--
Chris (Sal S)
Oh yeah! Eyeball paintings, we have to keep an eye out.
Timothy (DM)
--um, that are... that all kind of feel like they belong here. Like this is... this is what you could assume to be the noble quarters, like this might be the king's rooms, this might be the queen's room. [Ellie: "Rich rich." Dan: "Mmhm"] Everything's, like, gilded in gold. [Ellie: "Wow"] Beauty beautiful oil paintings. These are, like, gorgeously bound books.
Chris (Sal S)
Novelty doors.
Ellie (Markie)
Novelty, oh yeah, novelty doors!
Timothy (DM)
This is like a collection... a personal collection library. And this, like, really dramatic orrery.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh yeah, I just forgot that the orrery was there. That's kind of interesting, but I was also gonna say like, do you think that the king told his door a knock-knock joke every time he wanted to go to bed or something? [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
They're dad jokes, yeah.
Ellie ("Victor Valeria")
He's like 'Dude, I'm not really in the mood for this today.'
Ellie ("Lena Liddlekloser")<br>
You CREATED me, dude! You ASKED for me to be here. [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
[laughs] "You had me put in!" Wren's gonna kind of sift through drawers of, like, tables or the desk and what-not and just look for things of value that... small, like, jewelery--
Ellie (Markie)
My god, you little opportunist.
Dan (Wren)
[defensive] What?!? [Tim and Dan laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
He's a grad student; he needs to make supplemental income.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, omigosh, but, like, you can grab SO many things--
Dan (Wren)
But I can only carry so much.
Timothy (DM)
--that you can carry, like, yeah, so--
Dan (Wren)
--don't have a Bag of Holding, so I can't just shove-- [Ellie laughs]
Timothy (DM)
--you can, like, go for things that are, like, a big bang for the buck... [Dan: "Yeah, yeah."] where, like... relatively small light but very intricate, so probably very expensive. [Dan: "Mmhm-mmhm."] So, yeah, we can talk after this session about exactly, like, what the fuck you find.
Let's just make an assumption that Wren picks up invaluable things 'cause...
But there's just so many things, all coated in, like, a layer of dust [Dan: "Perfectly fine. Clenable."] Anything fabric or textile sort probably destroyed, decayed a bit. [Dan: "Right."] Wood has been aged. There might be some rusting of this silver, or the silver is probably pretty tarnished.
Dan (Wren)
Again, cleanable!
Ellie (Markie)
Can be fixed.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, so I'm looking for, like, precious metal and stones and things like that.
Timothy (DM)
Lovely. You're picking it all up. It's wonderful. Sooooo excited.
Dan (Wren)
I'm just jingling as I walk. [Tim laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
Make a Stealth check.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh god, Stealth with disadvantage. [as Wren] 'I don't wear armor but boy-howdy do I just have soooo many rings. [Dan laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
Loose jewels. [Ellie: "Yeah."]
Timothy (DM)
So, yeah, there's this door. You were gonna... what were you doing at this door, Markie?
Ellie (Markie)
I think I'm gonna open it?
Timothy (DM)
Alright. Again, you put your hand on the handle, and you begin to turn it--
Ellie (Markie)
Is there a plaque?
Timothy (DM)
There's no plaque. [Ellie: "Ok."] But it is locked.
Ellie (Markie)
Knock knock.
Timothy (DM)
You hear another incorporeal voice. [Dan: "Oh no!", Ellie laughs]
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
I am what a man love more than life, fear more than death or mortal strife, what dead men have and rich require. I'm what contented men desire.
Timothy (DM)
[in unison with Ellie] Time, right? [Chris shakes his head no]
Ellie (Markie)
Come on, Salvador. If you have something, say it.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, you just shake your head at us. [Ellie laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
I think it's 'nothing.'
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
Ah, clever one. You are correct. Shall we do another?
Timothy (DM)
You don't have control over this door, do you?
Ellie (Markie)
[accusatorily, laughing] You're just a riddle guy.
Dan (Wren)
You just... you're just... you just wanted to keep this going. [Ellie: "Yeah."]
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
What are you saying?
Ellie (Markie)
Just that you're, like... you hang out here and do riddles.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, you're-you're the other door.
Ellie (Markie)
You're the other door.
Timothy (DM)
You just haven't talked anybody in probably centuries.
Chris (Sal S)
You're the wordplay ghost.
Ellie (Markie)
Do another riddle. Let's play.
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
I would neverrr. I would neverrr.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, all right. Do another do another. That first one was good.
Do another, do another. Yeah, that was good.
Timothy (DM)
I-I don't know what you're talking about. [Ellie laughs, Dan: "Yeah, we'll find out."] Anyways, on with the next, 'Names give power magic to control, but what is broken when it is spoken?'
Ellie (Markie)
[lightning fast] Silence!
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
So quick! [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
"Ha HA! Yes!" Markie does a little... she spins round in a circle. "Woo!" [Dan laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
Finger guns!
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
I have never had anybody so quick with riddles. I guess I must permit you to enter this room.
Ellie (Markie)
Thank you.
Chris (Sal S)
[mocking Frederick's wispy man voice] 'That's so kind of you.'
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
[politely] Yess...
Ellie (Markie)
Are you mocking their voice???
Dan (Wren)
Yeah.... [Tim and Ellie laugh] The second time... [Ellie and Dan laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
What was the first time?!?
Ellie (Markie)
Poor Snake... Snake Fang?
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, oh, yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
Snake Fang or whatever.
Timothy (DM)
Two strikes. The third one, and you are OUT!
Chris (Sal S)
I'll be just bolted by God, yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
Salvador is just one of those people who, like, unconsciously, like, mimics people's accents and then you're, like, 'Oh, this is so embarrassing.'
Dan (Wren)
Just reflects energies. Just like... just like... [Tim laughs, Tim: "Oh my god."]
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, yeah, I'm mirroring this is what they teach you in-in...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, it's... makes people like you? You read a book about it?
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, I-I read a book, yeah.
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
So, the door begins to slowly creak open as you hear the voice begin to fade. "Do come back."
Ellie (Markie)
I mean, sure if you got another one, we can do it now. We're not in a rush to be honest. This is the nicest room we've been in so far.
Chris (Sal S)
You're so court-- Well, honestly, you are very nice, yeah.
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
Oh! Oh, really? [Ellie: "Yeah!"] You-you would care to answer another ridddle?
Ellie (Markie)
Sure. I mean, I can't guarantee I'll get it but that sounds nice. [Chris laughs] Sure, why not? I mean, if you're lonely... [whispers to Sal and Wren] I mean, guys, come on: it can't hurt to have the building on our side.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, that's true.
Chris (Sal S)
Maybe it knows--
Ellie (Markie)
Maybe other doors?
I do have a question, um, [trying to figure out how to address them] Door-person?
Door riddle? Door riddler? Riddle Door?
Dan (Wren)
--Riddle door?
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
Frederick.
Dan (Wren)
Frederick! Oh, it's got a name
Ellie (Markie)
Frederick! Yeah, that's really nice.
Dan (Wren)
Are you just the door, or are you an entity of the building? [Tim: "Hmmm."] Are you the other... Did you also--
Ellie (Markie)
Did you do the other door or was that somebody else?
Dan (Wren)
--were you also the knock-knock door?
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
I... That's a good question. Let me think.
Ellie (Markie)
I wish... I hope the knock-knock door and the riddle door can talk to each other. [Chris laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Oh my god, is this, like, some sort of poor spirit tree that was, like, chopped up into doors. [Chris: "Oh noooo"]
Ellie (Markie)
Oh my god.
Dan (Wren)
That's exactly... it reminds me of--
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
It was, like, a fey tree with, like, a dryad in it or something.
Dan (Wren)
It's just a dryad. [laughs, Ellie: "Oh noooo."]
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
I remember a man wearing extravagant robes talking to me quite a lot.
Ellie (Markie)
Probably the king, right?
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
That was some time ago now. But before that, hmmm, I do remember something. I remember... I was in a forest.
Ellie (Markie)
Uh-oh, tragic backstory. [Dan winces]
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
I could feel the sun. On my... what do you call those things that jut out from your body?
Ellie (Markie)
Your branches?
Dan (Wren)
Your armies? [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
Arms. Your armies.
Ellie (Markie)
Your... well, I don't want to assume what form you are in, but br-- either branches or... well, limbs. Universally limbs.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, your limbs.
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
Limbs. I could feel the sun. [Dan: "Oh."] It's been a while that I felt the sun...
Ellie (Markie)
Alright, I get out the screwdriver, and I start taking this bad boy off the hinges. "We're rescuing this door!"
Chris (Sal S)
You're comin' with us!
Timothy (DM)
I'm gonna go knock on the first door and be like, "Hello? Hello?" [Ellie laughs]
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
[jovial] Knock, knock.
Ellie (Markie)
A different...
Timothy (DM)
I'm sorry. What's your name?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
What is a name?
Ellie (Markie)
When it's spoken, it's broken? Blah-blah-blah. Name gives power, magic... Say something?
Dan (Wren)
Okay, nevermind. I don't like this door, and I gonna go... just walk away from it.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, no, that's a... Sorry. a name is like a... [Chris: "What you're called."] It's a special word that only means one thing and that one thing is you.
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
I have been many names, then. Hmm.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, I thought it was a riddle.
Mostly, Knock Knock. I'm sure. [Ellie: "Ok."]
Dan (Wren)
Is it Frederick, by chance?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
Recently, I think I was... Lena? [Ellie: "OHhhhhh." Chris: "Mmmmm.", Ellie laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Do you also remember the sun?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
What is the sun?
Timothy (DM)
It's, ugh, a burning light in the sky.
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
I know a riddle about a sun.
Chris (Sal S)
Is that the answer, or...?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
Or a joke. I know a joke about the sun.
Timothy (DM)
Got a joke door and a riddle door. [Chris: "Ok."]
Ellie (Markie)
And they're different things.
Chris (Sal S)
Well, Lena, it's been a pleasure. We'll be right back. [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Do you know Frederick by any chance, Lena? [Dan laughs] Do you and Frederick get to talk ever?
Timothy (Lena Liddlekloser)
What is a Frederick?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, don't worry about. [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
"That guy over there." and I point to Frederick the Door.
Ellie (Markie)
Why do you think they can talk to us but not each other?
Chris (Sal S)
Do they have, like, an air--
Timothy (DM)
Well, they're speaking into our brains, right? [Chris: "Ohh", Ellie: "Do they not have brains?"] It's not like audi-- It's not like audible. It's some sort of telep-- telepathy.
Ellie (Markie)
But if they can speak telepathically, it seems like they should be able to speak telepathically--
Timothy (DM)
Throughout this, Frederick has been continuing their story-- [Dan laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
[laughing] Oh, no! Sorry, Frederick, we didn't mean to ignore you.
Chris (Sal S)
[imitating Frederick's voice] 'Oh, I was dancing in the wind!'
Timothy (DM)
--just completely... like, they just start going on this tangent, like... they start recalling bits of a life that they lived. People they knew once. Family, lovers...
Ellie (Markie)
We gotta get Frederick outta here.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, no. We've got to get 'em both outta here [Ellie: "Gotta get them both outta here."]. I can't imagine being here.
Ellie (Markie)
[to Tim] Okay, are the hinges screwed, like, into the...
Dan (Wren)
[laughs] Into the stone?
Ellie (Markie)
--into the door fr-- stone? Doorframe? What's the situation? How easy would it be to get these doors off of whatever they're attached to? [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
I mean, you could eventually get it off. Yeah, it's not easy, but it's not difficult.
Ellie (Markie)
Are they really heavy? Like big wood doors?
Timothy (DM)
Oh, yeah. These are like [Ellie: "Oh", Chris: "Solid"] solid oak doors.
How many pounds each just to... just to gauge? Are they, like, tall doors, too?
Like, 40 pounds?
Ellie (Markie)
[Dan sighs] Are there windows?
Chris (Sal S)
[in unison with Dan] There are windows!
Timothy (DM)
They're like iron-re-- iron-reinforced.
Dan (Wren)
We just shake them?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, so maybe if we just shove them through, can they feel-- [Dan: "Oh nooo.", Tim: "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh."]
Chris (Sal S)
Can it fit even?!?
Ellie (Markie)
Can they feel physical pain? Probably not.
Chris (Sal S)
We can lower them down; I got rope.
Ellie (Markie)
And then they're outdoors!
Timothy (DM)
Do we stab it? No, we don't stab the door.
Ellie (Markie)
To find out if they can feel pain. [Tim laughs]
Dan (Wren)
I'd be sad if they, like, shattered on the ground, though.
Chris (Sal S)
I got rope and bedsheets.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, we got rope and bedsheets; we'll lower them down.
Ellie (Markie)
But also if they were trees, and they were chopped up to be turned into doors, it obviously didn't kill them, so break--being broken or like... that doesn't kill 'em. What are the parameters of this door situation? [Chris and Tim laugh] We gotta... We can't just leave them here! They're all lonely!
Timothy (DM)
No, you're right, but I like the idea of using rope, lower them down slowly [Ellie: "Yeah."] 'Cause we're one floor up [Chris: "Yeah."] Like, it's the tall floor, I'm sure, of the castle.
Ellie (Markie)
And through the window? These are big windows. I'm... so, we just have to get them out--
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, right? There's not, like, grates on the window that would keep us from doing that?
No, these are, like, really fancy stained glass windows.
Dan (Wren)
[unceremoniously] Well, fuck these windows. [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, great. Fuck these windows! Yeah.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, we're going to be a ghost of our own! And we throw a vase out the window.
Ellie (Markie)
Obviously somebody in this house already disrespects the windows, so...
Dan (Wren)
So, I guess we'll spend the next hour or so. [all laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Try to get these doors of the hinges.
Dan (Wren)
[laughs] Taking these doors of the hinges.
Timothy (DM)
Shall we have a short rest while we're at it?
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, yeah.
Dan (Wren)
That'll be good. I'll get my hit points back.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, and I'll get some of my Channel Divinity back.
Timothy (DM)
Oh, gosh. I'm gonna let y'all have this one. [Ellie: "Thank you!" Chris: "Nice."] But remember I let you have it.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, because you're gonna do something terrible.
Ellie (Markie)
These doors better come back at some point in the future.
We're gonna divide them up between us and always have a piece [laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
They'll be a p--
Timothy (DM)
A splinter of Frederick? [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
And at any point during any session, we can say 'I pull out my splinter of Frederick. Tell me a riddle.' [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
Oh my... [speechless]
Chris (Sal S)
I love it.
Ellie (Markie)
Just to torment the DM. [laughs]
Dan (Wren)
In my mind, we put them in... into somebody.... we put the... we install them somewhere as doors somewhere, and they live out their lives talking to people. [Ellie: "Yeah."]
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, like the door to a inn or tavern or something.
Ellie (Markie)
The door to the Yik Yak or something, yeah.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, but make sure that they know that, like, they should just let people in and not...
Ellie (Markie)
Like, the jokes and riddles are, like, optional and if people want to "yes", but if they don't, like, just leave them alone.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, maybe taking them out of the castle too will, like, break that sort of, like, requirement. [Chris: "Yeah."]
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, take a... take a hint, y'know.
Chris (Sal S)
Even... it doesn't even have to be like "the door", but it could just be like a doorframe inside of the tavern that if people want to do it--
Ellie (Markie)
--they can just, like, walk through for fun. [Chris: "Yeah."]
Timothy (DM)
Oh, so, like re-- like take-take the wood panels off and, like, re-make it into something else like, like a backsplash of the bar!
Chris (Sal S)
Upcycling.
Ellie (Markie)
Or the bar itself! [Chris and Dan: "Oh wow!"] Oh my god, your bar just, wow!
Chris (Sal S)
You just take doors and make them into bars. Oh yeah. Or like...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh my god. Yeah, and you're just sitting there and it's like 'Knock knock...' That would be so much fun! People love that.
Dan (Wren)
Fuck this prophecy. This is what we're doing! This is the campaign! [Tim laughs] Picture: Frederick and Lena are safe... [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Insane campaign.
Ellie (Markie)
Safe, loved, appreciated, well-oiled!
Timothy (DM)
--screw everything I prepared. Screw all of my other handouts that I have done--
Ellie (Markie)
you said you were taking the guardrails off!
Timothy (DM)
You said we could do anything!
[*siiiiiiigh*] Biting my tongue.
Ellie (Markie)
We rescue the doors; they're happy forever.
Dan (Wren)
And we lower them down... hopefully can get out there later to grab them.
Timothy (DM)
So, yeah, I will... I will... I will *permit* this.
Ellie (Markie)
Great; we have shatter the windows and sorta lower them down.
Timothy (DM)
You take some time (you get a short rest in mechanically) and [laughs] take the doors off the hinges, bust open one of the windows and slowly [Ellie: "Make, like, a rope sledding."] rappel them down to the yard beneath the windows.
Ellie (Markie)
We could rappel down; we could leave!
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, this is a... but we have to get the INFORMATION!
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, right, sorry. We're solving a puzzle, that's right.
Dan (Wren)
What about that second door that we're... we riddled through so we should probably check that out too.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Timothy (DM)
You COULD leave. No, yeah. You're not REQUIRED to stay here.
Ellie (Markie)
What's behind the--
Timothy (DM)
--some of you may be MOTIVATED to stay.
Ellie (Markie)
What's behind Frederick?
Dan (Wren)
What's behind Door #2?
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, yeah, we take them off the hinges and these... yeah.
Timothy (DM)
As you lower... Lena doesn't say shit. Like, after you take Lena off... unless you are prompting Lena...
Dan (Wren)
So... but taking her offer hinges doesn't, like, kill her.
Timothy (DM)
Not that you're aware of.
Dan (Wren)
So she responds once we...?
Timothy (DM)
If you can, like, ask her questions or something, she responds. But again, very methodically, as if she's just, like, she has a library of information that she's pulling from.
[awed] Oh my gosh, they were the same tree. They were split into two: right brain, left brain.
Dan (Wren)
Ohmygod...
Chris (Sal S)
Whoa!!!!
Timothy (DM)
But Fredrick, like--
Dan (Wren)
Put 'em back together. Double doors.
Ellie (Markie)
Ohmygod. Double doors!
Timothy (DM)
-- continues their existential crisis for a bit [Ellie: "Oh no! Frederick."] Like, intermittently, like, they keep having, like, little interjections of, like, a memory that they have. And they live... they seem seemingly lived a relatively lovely life; they had a family...
Ellie (Markie)
The way that they're describing... the way they describe it; do we think they're, like, a tree or are they talking as if they were like--
Timothy (DM)
They were a person. [Chris: "Mmmm"]
Dan (Wren)
Oh nooo. [Tim: "Yeah"]
Ellie (Markie)
They got, like, trapped in a door... haunting! These doors are HAUNTED! Ohmygod, obviously! [Chris: "HaAaUuNtEd DoOoOrS"] Duh, this place's so haunted.
Dan (Wren)
Does the... does the telepathy, like, fade as the farther we get, so, like, even when we're lowering them, they're like... the voice in the back of your head just, like, gets quieter and quieter?--
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, it gets quieter and quieter and quieter as they're, like, further away--
Ellie (Markie)
But, no, because they interacted with the king, so this is not like a haunting; this was like... these doors have been here and deliberately even when the castle was occupied [Chris: "Yeah ."] It's not like a recent thing.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, yeah, so like it was like a soul of a person was put into a door
Ellie (Markie)
In a FUCKED UP way probably 'cause that's the only way souls get into things.
Chris (Sal S)
I wonder if it was like a life-sustaining thing like they were gonna die but then they got reborn as this... [Tim: "Awwwww"]
Dan (Wren)
So, maybe, either we make them double doors somewhere where they can talk to each other or we find a way to release them.
Ellie (Markie)
Let them go into the afterlife... and it can you imagine we have the ability to transfer your soul into another vessel so that you can continue to live forever--
Dan (Wren)
...we chose a door.
Ellie (Markie)
--We're gonna put you in a DOOR and make your write riddles!
Timothy (DM)
In the back room of the king's quarters.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, you have to, like, listen to the king do, like, whatever he's doing in his quarters. [Dan: "Ho boy."]
Tim (Frederick Riddle)
But as you finish rappelling Frederick down to the yard, you just hear him call out 'Thank youuuu.'
Ellie (Markie)
You're welcome. [tearfully] Guys, we did such a good job!
Dan (Wren)
We did a good thing... now let's go raid this king's room. [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
All right, yeah.
Chris (Sal S)
Pull out the sack; put on the gloves.
Dan (Wren)
Anything shiny goes in this bag.
Timothy (DM)
You enter, like, a powder room with, like, wardrobes situation. Like, you just see.
Dan (Wren)
That's where jewelry would be...
Timothy (DM)
Like, yeah, you see little cabinets of fineries, jewels, baubles, pins, a couple of crowns... [Dan: "Yes!"] just kind of sittin' out. [Ellie: "Don't touch those."; Dan: "I'm takin' 'em"] and like just robes, furs, silks all, like, hanging up on racks and, like, a small cosmetic table.
Ellie (Markie)
I can't believe this place hasn't been, like, raided and set... well, no... Oh, wait it's full of demons, nevermind.
Chris (Sal S)
It's also impenetrable.
Dan (Wren)
It's also in a time loop.
Ellie (Markie)
Also, riddles. Nobody else could have answered those riddles. We're the most smartest people in the world. Are all the textiles pretty decayed or can Markie snag, like, a nice fur coat?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so, like, a lot of textiles are pretty decayed, but there might be one or two that are in better shape.
Dan (Wren)
Well, was Frederick airtight? Because... [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
I don't think this stone castle is like hermetically sealed.
Timothy (DM)
I don't think... Yeah, not hermetically sealed, not weather-proof... time-proof or any of that sort of thing.
Ellie (Markie)
Especially now that we've broken all the windows.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, the windows are opened, the doors are removed.
Dan (Wren)
Decay sets in.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, wait WE'RE sacking the castle.
Timothy (DM)
So, yeah, there-there is like... there's, like, a fur stole.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, perf. Markie has shown remarkable restraint up to this point, but she is gonna grab a fur stole, and like... Okay.
Dan (Wren)
Is there, like, a fancy short sword by chance? Lyin' around?
Timothy (DM)
A fancy short sword? There was above the bed. Two rooms back I'm
gonna go back for that.
Ellie (Markie)
There was a bed two rooms back. Oh, that's where we took our short rest again. Yeah,
Timothy (DM)
that's that was the yeah,
I've said what goes
Ellie (Markie)
with the white ghost. There was a bed in the white ghost room.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. Living Quarters because the ghost was the important part of the room. But it was a bedroom. Slash living. Like there was like a little couch and like coffee table.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, like a fancy bedroom?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah.
Dan (Wren)
When I pick it up Do I feel cursed?
Timothy (DM)
Give me like roll religion or
religion. Actually don't have that backs my intelligence pretty high, but I wrote like garbage. 12
You don't feel cursed? Okay, cool. We'll find out. Next Mo. winds blow past you. You don't feel a chill. Your fingers don't tingle. The hair on the back of your neck doesn't do anything.
Is it good and sharp, like usable? Or is it just like display?
It's a little bit more of the display. That's a little bit blunt. Yeah, it's good to sharpen the king ceremonial sword that they bring with them into the throne room, but they're not actually fighting anybody. It's just all for show. That's what the guards are for.
Ellie (Markie)
But it's probably worth a lot of money.
Timothy (DM)
Probably worth a lot of money. Just like drooling crusted health, beautiful.
Chris (Sal S)
Can I do an investigation to see if I like going through the rest of these rooms in this area of the castle to see is there any traces of the wet ghost or any other sort of a theoretical spookiness about any more
Ellie (Markie)
doors to like riddles?
Timothy (DM)
Are you? Are you like going back? Or are you staying within the kingdom?
Chris (Sal S)
So we are only in the king's quarters, we've only ever been in those. From what we've seen those. Yeah, I'll sweep that room and then I'll go to the Queen's ones next door.
Timothy (DM)
All right. So are the others following him? Or are you like, how are we going about this? Like, you've gotten to this powder room? You did? Rated after you raided their closet and found some new fashion choices? And are you all just like, Okay, let's just start pulling apart this castle, or do you have other intentions in mind, I would
Ellie (Markie)
like to look at go back and look at the Ori and we have some of the like, little celestial diagrams and stuff. That's right. I'm
Timothy (DM)
gonna like you do have some celestial diet.
Ellie (Markie)
I'm gonna, like use my little claws to like, turn the dials and stuff
Timothy (DM)
them up with the diagrams.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, I'm gonna kind of like, look at the diagrams, like look at the Orrery and see like, you know, because I don't know about space, like, you know, this is sort of all new to her. So she's gonna like,
Timothy (DM)
yeah, you might not even know what the fact is planet planet.
Chris (Sal S)
It's like this world, but another one. Yeah, but she's not like
Ellie (Markie)
dumb and like some of the symbols maybe match and so I'm just going to kind of like to play around with that. See if I can have any pic insights. Oh, help. Oh, help marquee
Dan (Wren)
spinning things, like point out anything that I might know about the planets.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah. And you just holler if you need anything, because we're just staying within like, yeah, we're Yeah, so not that far.
Timothy (DM)
All right. So you are playing with the Orrery methodically playing
putting them together, give me and Insight check. And Salvador as you go over to the Queen's quarters, give me an Investigation. check.
Ellie (Markie)
I got a 17 for insight. I got a three.
I got it. Wow, your mark is the one putting pieces together.
Timothy (DM)
A 10. Okay, so yeah, maybe Ron is still going through outfit,
things just run red light comes down and like tries to help mark it with things like catches me like, Oh, I'm just gonna quit. I was
Ellie (Markie)
like the Auris like gold with gemstones. And you're like,
Chris (Sal S)
I take that planet without
Ellie (Markie)
like, screwing everything up,
Timothy (DM)
like. And you notice that like, it's on gears, so that it can do like the full like, rotation schedule of like the planetary motion. So it's not like one of those ones where everything's just on a swinging arm, and you have to, like put it into place. Yeah. Third grade science project. This is like a legit, or a that is like, there's dials on the side that are related to like, dates.
Ellie (Markie)
And I'm remembering like, what
Alice said in her diaries about how like the coordinates of the city are specifically tied to like the celestial positions of stuff and like, yeah, just sort of puzzling out like what's going on with the city that I've lived in my whole life?
Timothy (DM)
We remember the city
Ellie (Markie)
my little head high No, this city like the back of my hand.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so you you realize that this is like a legit or a? I mean, you're not super familiar with the planets kind of a relatively new concept for you that like, oh, yeah, I thought all this Twinkie light lights were all just stars, but like as your, your their rents kind of just like present and you're kind of moving these around. You kind of start to realize that like, Oh, these are like big rocks that float around in orbit. And that's kind of the idea behind it.
Chris (Sal S)
Question About the ori if I move just to plan it into a position, will it give me the date in which it will be there? Or as I have to set the date? To find the position? Yes, when price is
Timothy (DM)
relatively well oiled. Any piece that you move, kind of initiates that like orchestration,
Dan (Wren)
okay. Moving interconnect, because I want to train the mind the mind,
Ellie (Markie)
like in this picture,
Timothy (DM)
yeah, they're all in a line, you can kind of move one of the planets, and everything else shifts the dial shift with it, everything is kind of everything is on its own orbit, just like planets are. So like, one might go around the central star like three or four times before another one finally makes it around. And there's like a lot of complexity to it. So what are you attempting to do?
Dan (Wren)
I'd like to see if we can line all the planets up like a full
Chris (Sal S)
like a clone
Ellie (Markie)
lined up, like figure like rotate one until they all sort of evened out and line up.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, all right, would you that takes too long, give up
Ellie (Markie)
100 years or whatever.
Timothy (DM)
So you start spinning. And you do eventually get them all lined up. And you look at dial tomorrow, and the last time we'd ever get to tomorrow. All of the planets lined up was December 12. of 1452.
Ellie (Markie)
And can we figure out when the next time they're gonna line up will be
Timothy (DM)
the next time you start spinning it forward for for Ford Ford Ford is a date in the future. Thank goodness, that makes sense. And it is going to be August 29 1466.
Next year next year. Yeah.
It could be the end of the world but that's fine. Okay,
Ellie (Markie)
how's the Saudi?
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, was able to ascertain any more clues about our puddly pow or?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so let's drink the water. Scooch on over to Sal Sal, you are going to head on over to the other part of the Royal quarters, which is markedly covered in a lot more silks and fabrics and you see a gown on a kind of dress form in the like main areas. Space. How are you going about the search? Are you Are we going through drawers? Are we just doing kind of like a survey.
Chris (Sal S)
So I see that the main feature of this firm is just a dress. Is there other effects like a vanity or like some like a minaret or no nonminor spinnerette. There's like something that the Queen would have in a bedroom or living quarters.
Timothy (DM)
There's another bad it's like a little sofa area. There's this dress. There's like a little table with a mirror and like a little short stool on it. There's like a little room divider that's all very like ornately decorated with like floral paintings on like a semi transparent stretch stretched fabric or leather or something that has been kind of decayed a bit.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, I'll search through the drawers of the of anything with a drawer on it.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. So you start going through drawers. You're finding things like a hairbrush, a little hand mirror, a little like cigarette holder, like things like that. So very personal items. All very intricate, kind of fitting of someone in the royal family.
Chris (Sal S)
I look at all the doors and I are their doors exiting. Is it like a mirror image of the king's? Yeah, it's
Timothy (DM)
a mirror image of the king's quarters in turn. terms of layout. So again, room off to the left this time with spins off into another room to the left. That is her. The Queen's like powder room and wardrobe. Those doors are not barred by semi sentient d4
Chris (Sal S)
You're gonna be the Kings thing. Yeah, it's just a nerd.
Timothy (DM)
Instead of having like a personal library in the second room, she has like, a little sitting chair and like a music player of sorts. And like little hobby things. She might have like, cross stitch
Chris (Sal S)
just closer to the cross stitch. Does she have a loom like a small loom?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, it may see a loom sitting on the sitting chair. And then you also see like a little basket with like, lots of other like on I don't know what you call it.
Chris (Sal S)
It's kind of Waller or something. Yeah, exactly.
Well, I shout over to the other room as a marquee I think there's a more apparel for you to try out.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, okay.
Chris (Sal S)
But this seems to be similar to the to the other room. No talking doors but some some other just personal effects.
Ellie (Markie)
I try over Is there anything that looks I've got my little stole now?
Timothy (DM)
Well, it's a little bit on the beautiful little stall stall
Ellie (Markie)
there anything over here like a yeah,
Timothy (DM)
there's like I said the gloves are not gonna fit me you could try them on your like claws kind of poke through the tips.
Ellie (Markie)
Are there any little like nice little like a tennis bracelet?
Timothy (DM)
Or like bangles with like jewels on the no like Jim Jeremy bangles. Oh, Jamie bangles. I put on
Ellie (Markie)
to Jeremy bang
with my little stall, no pose.
Timothy (DM)
Pose. The camera zooms in on you.
Yeah, there's probably like, maybe like a little shawl number that you could find.
Ellie (Markie)
I'm not gonna get greedy. I
Timothy (DM)
think my gemmy probably going to be a little cumbersome.
Ellie (Markie)
That's already scooping.
upgrading my look, I'm not going crazy here.
Timothy (DM)
Okay, Wren, how bad have we gotten? Like, what's the damage? Like? Are we walking around with like, a sack of
Ellie (Markie)
do we need to? encumbrance?
Timothy (DM)
I think like, I feel like you would have an eye for like the valuable stuff like the necklaces with like, precious gem things that are made out of like small things that are made of gold that are like, easy to travel with. Because the idea is that he's going to have to travel home. Yeah, that's what you can't do
on the level of zero to disadvantage on stealth checks where
we have I would say somewhere in the middle of course,
of course. So no disadvantage and sales tax that will matter when we discuss what you have actually ended up pocketing in terms of value later. Salvador What are you doing right now?
Chris (Sal S)
So I'm thinking have we actually found the library that we think Alice was talking about because we found a small private library, but it didn't seem to be like a great fountain of knowledge other than like bugs.
There's the bug but
Timothy (DM)
there is the bug bug so I'm which like did not look like anybody else had opened it? Yeah, in the recent history. The wax seal was still on the scroll.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, the bolts lucked out. Yeah, Alice's no fan of riddles or jokes or, or puzzle boxes. So
Timothy (DM)
that's not the vibe you get from her diary.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah. She loves the sticky buns and yeah. Marquise
Timothy (DM)
Marquise has lots of lovely bracelets. Sorry, finding a picture so Ren has lots of stolen objects. They're not stolen raided. Rescue rescue. Yeah. Rescued, salvaged, salvaged I don't think you forge humanoid made things person made things. I want to come up with a good language for explaining people as opposed to using the term a humanoid for people need things And then Salvador's still trying to like, find some
Chris (Sal S)
perfect keep us on task.
Ellie (Markie)
Library. I don't think that was the library.
Chris (Sal S)
So I'm thinking it might be on the third floor.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, yeah. All right, third floor.
Chris (Sal S)
Sounds good. I take some of the Skylines with me, let's kinds of string. Okay.
Timothy (DM)
All right. So you all want to go to the third floor? Yes, yes. All right. So you'll have to exit out of the Queen's quarters slash kings quarters area. out back into the hallway on you remember passing stairs that lead up to the third floor?
Chris (Sal S)
All right, we ascend we do that avoiding any flying. Yeah, vases.
Ellie (Markie)
Hopefully. Mostly left alone. Ghosts of all kinds.
Timothy (DM)
As you push open the door back out in the hallway, you again exit into the hall, where there are torches along the hall. And they begin to flicker.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, marquee pixel looks for The Shadow person. I think The Shadow person is on our side like how the white ghost
Timothy (DM)
is. Give me a perception five, five you're like oh my gosh, I needed to find my friend The Shadow as
Ellie (Markie)
your nice
Southam.
Timothy (DM)
As you are looking around, the flickering of the torches becomes more dramatic. And then one by one, they begin to go out. Solo as you feel a gust of wind blowing down the hallway towards you. What do you do?
Ellie (Markie)
Maybe that's good.
Chris (Sal S)
Are there any windows in this hallway?
Timothy (DM)
So at this point, the light it gets pretty dark gets pretty darn dark. You do see some very faintly glowing natural moonlight trickling in from the end of the hallway over the balcony. Where you can see stained glass windows from the ballroom
Dan (Wren)
on the other side of the hall, okay, well, you should still go for the stairs.
Ellie (Markie)
Still go upstairs. Carefully I've dark vision. I don't know about you guys.
Awesome. Yeah, short. itty bitty. darkvision.
Chris (Sal S)
Really? Well, cuz you're only like quarter. I'm like quarter elfers Oh, you
Ellie (Markie)
have anybody? darkvision Yeah. Okay, well, come on.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, we didn't make that canonical we gave you
Ellie (Markie)
10 At least you won't trip over anything. Right? I'm blind.
Timothy (DM)
So let's go for the stairs going towards stairs.
Ellie (Markie)
Not necessarily like we're not creating any source of light on our own because Sal and I can both see well enough in the dark and you can soar.
Timothy (DM)
Alright, as you do that, I'm gonna make a roll.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, I'm gonna make a grade. I'm rolling to just do your roll. roll roll when that 2014
We go up the stairs really good.
Timothy (DM)
That's fun
Ellie (Markie)
guaranteed way to piss off the DEM roll every time they do.
Timothy (DM)
Dramatic roll so my tape just pillows behind me as I send to the stairs sorry as I descend the
stairs don't think you will so the lights have just gone out. You see some moonlight trickling in the hall come out from last
Chris (Sal S)
cry same exact show. It's a good one.
Ellie (Markie)
It's a good one.
Timothy (DM)
So you are pressing on towards the stairs and Marquis Oh,
Ellie (Markie)
yeah.
Timothy (DM)
Your shadow friend. Oh do you think you see them the cast on the wall as they start to melt down the wall on the ground and an arm starts to swirl up towards your foot.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, I thought they might like point at something hopefully like I you know they're my friends but we have to be much better friends before I let you cross my feet so I gently lift my foot away
Timothy (DM)
so you kind of sidestep this like motion on the floor of this like dark shadow as you look around and realize that all of the walls around you are now melting with the shadows on them into the ground and they start to reach out up into the space in around you everybody roll initiative will take
Dan (Wren)
him on why don't we stop?
Timothy (DM)
As this like wall of darkness surrounds each of you.
will crash initiative every MCMC
All right, what a run would you get? 1010 so good Salvatore. 18 t fer we're six better so while Mari was the first one to notice and see what the heck was going on Salvador will go first. So what do you do as this like wall of a amorphous shadowy blobs like sinks from the the walls into the floor and then kind of like grows up around you?
Chris (Sal S)
I think I want to cast and others fell. All right, I'm gonna cast sacred flame in a direction that is not in the direction my party mates.
Timothy (DM)
All right, to alright, I appreciate that. Let's do that.
Chris (Sal S)
I'm just gonna try to attack this wall with sacred flame which is a attack I think.
So clarification these shadow tentacles, right?
Timothy (DM)
You started notice they have like humanoid ish forms but like their lower halves kind of like taper off into like a wisp
and are they like shadows like attached to walls? Or are they like floating up into thin air?
They are now floating up into thin air Gotcha. They kind of like move they slink occupies The Shadow
Ellie (Markie)
so they were like cast on the floor but then sort of like emerge like somebody's sticking out
Timothy (DM)
from the shadows these forms kind of grew out that's cool. Love the vibes love the vibe
Ellie (Markie)
the experience love them
Timothy (DM)
so Dexterity save intro I thought so. Okay, they are going to get a seven
Chris (Sal S)
okay they fail right? Today aerating damage and they take eight points of radiant damage
Timothy (DM)
eight points a radiant damage so as you cast your sacred flame it goes through the like torso of one of these forms. And like the shadowy smoke splits in the area and starts to dissipate as you notice that it's kind of losing its form. Ren What are you doing?
How far away are these things?
They're like all around you like you around
so within the 10 feet of that my vision has been I guess you just cast sacred flame so you're like hey guys, why don't we stop all right. I guess I'll run up to the one that cell burned and take a swing with my sword here goes nothing I guess
she like as you run up towards it. You see that? Its form is just completely falling apart.
Oh, so it's dead. This one's dead. Alan's dead oh, then I'll just and then I'll go to the next one. And again, sword here goes. The best I've got here. Well, I'll take a swing at it. I'm gonna use my bonus action to analyze Not like that's probably going to help but lets me do better does a 1919 does hit shocked honestly that is 12 as a piercing yeah piercing damage with a short sword right
12 piercing damage as you cut through the form it like it goes through the form like butter just like so smooth and swift as if you hadn't even hit that thing and you see it kind of whisked out along your sword but it's fun form maintain strong
Ellie (Markie)
yeah I don't know if I'm getting much help here
Timothy (DM)
Marquis What do you do in
Ellie (Markie)
are there torches like unlit torches in this hallway
Timothy (DM)
or they're all unlit now
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, and how far away are they
Timothy (DM)
from me? I mean, there's one like every 10 feet so
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, cool. I'm gonna use prestidigitation took her to light a torch within 10 feet of me
Timothy (DM)
beautiful. The torch goes on. And that almost gives these shadows more form as you can say. Each one is well before they felt very like blended into the darkness. And now you can see they have like true clear form. It's still this like wispy, Black Shadow II newness,
Ellie (Markie)
right, but we can tell where you can clearly
Timothy (DM)
see where they are now. They aren't as blendy and stuffy.
Ellie (Markie)
Great, and I'm going to use my bonus action to yell to Sal, punish them my pink PAL and I'll give you a Bartok inspiration
Timothy (DM)
All righty, fun time. So
Ellie (Markie)
due to how that you
Chris (Sal S)
know how that works, I get to add it to damage or is it just an attack
Ellie (Markie)
roll or saving throw?
Chris (Sal S)
Just the 20s Okay,
Timothy (DM)
yeah. All right. So the shadows that are all around you and now very physical seeming are all going to just swarm mio so there's like several figures all around you the one has dissipated, but there are still quite a few more and they start to just kind of lunge in and try to like drown out the light around you. So let's make some rolls. Again like I'm making rolls. Do I know I'll roll with me
Dan (Wren)
another net 20
Timothy (DM)
So they are going to try to swarm you all and Salvador one of them is going to just like completely just like in capsulate you everything goes dark around you as if like it like engulfed you and you just feel like this pain as your skin starts to feel pretty ugly friendly the whole darn you all your your skin starts to feel all prickly and dry and you feel this like lethargy wave just consume you and you are going to take seven necrotic damage this is also going to happen to Marquis oh so murky, you also just like consumed by darkness. And you are going to feel this pain and take a 11 necrotic damage and both of you are going to have your strength reduced by three as you feel this energy just like ripped from your body. She said this cause like super sudden just like wall of fatigue
Chris (Sal S)
as my reaction I cast hellish rebuke. All right. So that's your dexterity say yeah.
Timothy (DM)
All right. dexterity saving throw here we go.
Chris (Sal S)
I just called it sturdy, basic. Yes,
Timothy (DM)
it is going to get a an E
Chris (Sal S)
fit fail. So it takes the form brunt of 3d 10 fire damage
Timothy (DM)
is fucking bad.
Chris (Sal S)
Every time you get hit No, I Oh, it's a tiefling thing I get to use it once per long rest as a second level spell.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, that would be insane.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah. So it has a total of a plus 13 fire damage to it.
Timothy (DM)
You see that like, as you point out it, rebuke it with flame that shoots out of your finger you see like it's shoots up in flame and this like light comes back into your vision. And it has like lost so much of its form. What are you going to do next? It's your turn again
Chris (Sal S)
to do a repeat performance and other sacred flame at the one that's currently in golfing marquee. All right. So let's do another dexterity saving throw.
Timothy (DM)
Yes. Love these decks throws totally going well for me and nat 1 A baby. Yeah,
Chris (Sal S)
so do it doesn't do anything on a fail.
Timothy (DM)
I don't think it's 22
Dan (Wren)
I don't think sacred flame does.
Chris (Sal S)
Kendra Yeah,
Timothy (DM)
so it's gonna destroy the sacredness? Yes. And holiness. You're holier than thou.
Chris (Sal S)
Hey, I am a pushy, religious. I'm fairly religious to begin with.
Dan (Wren)
Sort of like five hours her monka on. So funny.
Chris (Sal S)
It's a transactional thing. It's like, yeah,
Ellie (Markie)
like, I believe, God, I guess because I can cast fire out of my finger
Chris (Sal S)
to shatter things by looking at
Timothy (DM)
very transactional for you.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, yeah. It's I mean, we both have agreed to it. He gets whatever adoration or whatever temples built to him. And we get to use
Timothy (DM)
this thing. You would assume you've never spoken with him but like he's busy. Yeah, he's,
Chris (Sal S)
his line is always off the hook. But yeah, that's my turn.
Timothy (DM)
All right, Wren, what are you doing?
Dan (Wren)
All right. Like, visually, can I tell them they've been hurt my compatriots? Like do you look at your bleeding?
Timothy (DM)
I mean, y'all are gonna attack. They're like swarming. Now. Like, this is like a flurry of shadows. Like, everything's moving real quick.
Dan (Wren)
Okay. If that's the case, then I'm gonna try and grab the torch that marquee lit off of the wall. All right, and maybe swipe at one of them. All right, do I have to disengage with the one that I'm in front of to do so? Or is it within grabbing? Distance? Gosh,
Timothy (DM)
I think mechanically, yes, you do.
Dan (Wren)
Okay, then I'll use my bonus action to disengage from it and use a superiority days, which is I just hate that. And I'll run over to the wall, grab the torch and then swing back into the one that I had disengaged from.
Timothy (DM)
Alright, make an attack.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, I would use intelligence for that. Hey, do I get my proficiency bonus if it's a
Timothy (DM)
proficient in torches? I don't know. Now, unfortunately,
Dan (Wren)
can we have a club because I am proficient with simple weapons. It's like, oh,
Timothy (DM)
yeah, no, I guess that's true. Let's do that. Okay, so it's basically just a club. It's a simple weapon
Ellie (Markie)
club on fire.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah. That is a 14. Oh, it's actually not that bad.
Timothy (DM)
I feel like there needs to be a song. That's called clubhead and fire. That's a 14.
Dan (Wren)
Perfect. That is one bludgeoning for fire damage. And I guess plus seven to bludgeoning so eight bludgeoning because of my attack bonus damage bonus.
Timothy (DM)
You just bash this thing with the torch. It kind of like lights up in flames and then kind of just dissipates into a smoke
Ellie (Markie)
voice. Keep doing that.
Timothy (DM)
Just keep doing that. Marquis What are you doing?
Ellie (Markie)
I guess I will do dirty boop boop
Timothy (DM)
currently engulfed in darkness.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, so am I like grab hold or am I just like in Melee?
Timothy (DM)
Just a melee. Okay. With with shadowy darkness
Ellie (Markie)
it's dagger time. Deckard I pull out my two daggers,
two knives great vibes. It gets to heaven.
Timothy (DM)
All right, make those attack rolls.
Ellie (Markie)
So I the first one is regular. And the second one when you use your off hand when you just don't get your proficiency bonus
Chris (Sal S)
or don't don't get damaged.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, okay, got it.
Ellie (Markie)
So first knife. That is a 14 to
Timothy (DM)
hit a 14 We'll
Ellie (Markie)
hit OK and then The second knife is oh naughty 20
Timothy (DM)
And then you crit on the second one great, lovely. All right, so give me that damage. Okay, so these just start laying into this thing
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, so that's eight points of piercing damage. All right, as I pull up my daughter's let's start
stabbing blob
Timothy (DM)
shoving your knives into them. And it like seems like you're you're seeing these like wisps of black smoke that are like, pouring out of the like, gaping jab holes, gaping holes, it's not a wound, it doesn't look like a wound in any like, sense that you would normally associate wounds looking like. But it's like a hole in the body. And this, like, wispy black smoke is pouring out. You don't fish, but it keeps most of its form like Oh, all right. Doesn't seem as effective as some of the other things going on. All right, I think everybody's ready for another swarm spinning around swarming, you all attacking I'm gonna roll some more attacks. I'm excited. Especially since that's a crit. That's the second crit.
Ellie (Markie)
I have a reaction I'd like to use if that's okay. Yeah, for one of these. Oh, I'd like to cast silvery Barb's Okay, as a reaction when a creature you can see 60s or attack roll inability chakra saving throw you magically distract the triggering creature and turn its uncertainty into cards but part of their creature, though a lot you have to reroll the D 20. And I choose a different creature and give them advantage.
Timothy (DM)
All right, rerolling that
Ellie (Markie)
when I say stop that shit shadows,
sketchy shadows.
And then I point at Red and I say fuck about my feisty friend. Nice. No, so you have advantage on your next attack attack roll ability
Timothy (DM)
to reach attack, we all know it's going to be a torch. Torch attack. Cool. So you saved Salvador in that but that still means that Marquis and Ren are going to take some damage. All right. Great. So let's see. For Wren you are going to take seven necrotic damage and your strength is going to be reduced by two if your strength is reduced
Ellie (Markie)
to zero Do you die? Yes,
Timothy (DM)
yes.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay noted.
Just checking and also if you die from necrotic damage you don't get death saves right? Thanks
Dan (Wren)
so you just like dead Yeah,
Timothy (DM)
it's like Nick cracking Yeah,
Chris (Sal S)
is that a rule yeah tells you we can like make it Hey, tight tight tight tight died before
Timothy (DM)
didn't stick for you. Marquis is going to take 10 necrotic damage rolling way higher for you that I am sorry,
Ellie (Markie)
not doing good. On the ground on her like just like ah,
Timothy (DM)
your strength is only gonna be reduced by one this time.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, that's not the most immediate problem but it's
Timothy (DM)
it's again, you feel like this wave of lethargy and just like your bones begin to ache your muscles begin to ache will begin to just drain from your body and get them off me. Alright Salvador. Okay,
Chris (Sal S)
so get them on for I can cast healing work because it's a bonus so I can you can cast two spells if one is a cantrip
Dan (Wren)
I believe it depends on the action economy
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, cuz this is about action and then I'll use the cantrip as an action but the use of those action to heal Marquis at third level which is going to be 3d for plus myFICO casting amount of sci
Timothy (DM)
fi he'll third level spicy Spicy.
Dan (Wren)
What's the Healing Word of the Day?
Chris (Sal S)
The Healing Word is mink mink because of the main shot the cook that Yeah.
Dan (Wren)
So I was the main think so you
Chris (Sal S)
take a total of seven plus my spell casting modifier which I think is my wisdom. plus your proficiency right now is no because it's just my intelligence it's not like my attack modifier
Timothy (DM)
you cast with charisma Do you know wisdom?
Chris (Sal S)
Wisdom because I'm a cleric so I think that's a total of 10 healing points that you get back. I'm gonna use my sacred flame to illuminate the situation like Get the hell away. Do a lot of dexterity saving throw that's all basically all my spells are just deck saves because it's like avoiding lightning or something. So you need to do I like the way you
Ellie (Markie)
phrased it as like you take 10 points of healing how many just
Chris (Sal S)
Well, I can only do one attack Yes.
Timothy (DM)
Okay. So one of the Bible's gone a day to try to dodge a thing. They are going to enroll 15
Chris (Sal S)
That doesn't do anything. They're illuminated so I can see
Timothy (DM)
illuminated so you can you get a advantage on the attack.
Chris (Sal S)
No flavor. I'm gonna rush over to just be next marquee now, so they might glom on to me
Timothy (DM)
Oh sweet. Ren.
Dan (Wren)
Ren is going to just attack The Shadow that's on marquee with the torch. With advantage Oh, but I didn't analyze it with my bonus action, which is fine. Hopefully that's a 14 to hit
Timothy (DM)
a 14 does Hey,
Dan (Wren)
I don't do as much damage but here we go. Um, that is 11 bludgeoning damage and one fire damage. And then I will use my bonus action and spend that superiority dice to use. It's called smelling salts, but it's it heals. For the number that I roll on the spirit dice. So I like pull up this bottle of smelling salts and like just like flick it under Marquis no is take a big hit. And it just revitalizes you for three no wait
Chris (Sal S)
I'm feeling a lot better. Three to proficiency now.
Timothy (DM)
Okay, yeah, yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
off so glad I'm with you.
Timothy (DM)
Little Mark doing now. She's back in the game. Hopefully.
Ellie (Markie)
It's sweet, sweet little marquee would like to set the carpet on fire if that's okay. So See? See? So my prestidigitation says instantaneously light or snuff out a candle to torture a small campfire. Like I set the carpet on fire or like some Yeah,
Timothy (DM)
you can set a torch sized section of the carpet on fire.
Ellie (Markie)
I'd like to slap my hand on the carpet like kind of where are the The Shadow closest to me it was originating I just feel like edit starts like okay,
Timothy (DM)
well so we're gonna do a thing make an attack role to aim that on the point
Ellie (Markie)
plus, let's see what would that just be plus is this like what plus my spell casting modifier and attack spell
attack?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah,
Ellie (Markie)
that's a term. Okay. Not great.
Timothy (DM)
So you light part of the carpet on fire? That's a little too far to the left. But now there's a fire Okay, that's a sorry there's a fire the room is more lit now. These shadows are really physical. They're right there.
Dan (Wren)
Is there a gauge of how many are left or do they kind of want a amorphous blob
Timothy (DM)
that's as this like combat has been going on if you've been starting to like realize exactly like their forms. They started like very amorphous when the lights were out. But now that everything's well illuminated you've been fighting them you realize there's only four left
Dan (Wren)
only four
Ellie (Markie)
guys I have advantage on attack rolls if an allies within five
Timothy (DM)
do let's right click on that make another I'm so
Ellie (Markie)
sorry. I should have been using that the whole time.
I wrote the exact same
Timothy (DM)
the D&D gods are not an ally side to read your character sheet. All right. I hope y'all are ready for more swarming. This is gonna happen every round.
Chris (Sal S)
I'm just waiting for something to hit Hill. Yeah.
Timothy (DM)
So this time I only get four rolls.
Ellie (Markie)
Only four
Timothy (DM)
All right, all three of you're gonna get hit. Nice. Yay.
Ellie (Markie)
So I'm glad you guys are having a good time.
Timothy (DM)
Everybody's having a good time. We're sharing the love Have no crisis time though no crisis time so everybody is going to feel the lovely lovely joyous time of getting their life drained from them. Salvador eight necrotic damage and your strength is going to be reduced by three marquee 11 necrotic damage which
Chris (Sal S)
damage should we just leave this room and go down the stairs
Timothy (DM)
and your strengths can be reduced by two
Dan (Wren)
know we look at Mark
Ellie (Markie)
not the strength is becoming a bigger problem than the HP but the HP is also not good
Chris (Sal S)
if you guys get out of this hallway can do some massive shit. Oh,
Ellie (Markie)
why didn't you say
Timothy (DM)
and that really Ren Hey, yeah, me The Goddess be ever in your favor? Seven necrotic damage and your strength is reduced by one.
Dan (Wren)
That's I mean that's still a problem.
Timothy (DM)
I'm rolling so well. I'm so sorry. I'm having the time of my life and we're back up to Salvador.
Chris (Sal S)
So how we're not very far from the staircase that we ascended on?
We're like at the top of it right? Yeah.
Timothy (DM)
From the to the first floor back
Chris (Sal S)
to the second floor.
Dan (Wren)
climbed the stairs to the third he knew
Timothy (DM)
you were about to oh okay, I thought we were in the upper he had not made it to the third floor. You were like just about to start heading. This these shadowy figures swarmed you Okay, your friends.
Ellie (Markie)
You know what? I really misjudged the vibe
Chris (Sal S)
so the creature that hit me has to do a dexterity saving throw because it hit me with an attack.
Timothy (DM)
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes.
Dan (Wren)
Are you removed from it? We know you care.
Timothy (DM)
Does a 21 Save it
Chris (Sal S)
does but it takes half damage but I'm going to use my destructive wrath to make it a crit. 28 damage of light
Timothy (DM)
you guys see per se
Chris (Sal S)
in. Takes a total of 12 lightning damage
Timothy (DM)
that one's gone. That one.
Dan (Wren)
Just like lightning jumps off of you.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah
Dan (Wren)
well, you're patching wounds with smelling
Ellie (Markie)
a sniff this
Chris (Sal S)
so hopefully we don't run into anything more powerful because I will be spent but but yeah, I I'm using up all my my cleric abilities.
Timothy (DM)
Library's cleared out as well. Or something. Yeah.
Chris (Sal S)
Fingers crossed.
Dan (Wren)
We can take a spell rest. Yeah,
Ellie (Markie)
man. I picked all social spells
Chris (Sal S)
and whole person and definitely not happening here. Yeah, I've got like, I distort value. Value that can be helpful with my but yeah, it
Timothy (DM)
will totally reward creativity, the weird ass spells that nobody ever picks.
Chris (Sal S)
So now is my attack. Attack. And that was my reaction. Your turn.
Timothy (DM)
Wow, you were a force to be reckoned with.
Chris (Sal S)
And now that you've leveled now I'm going to use guiding bolt
Timothy (DM)
no longer the squishy level one.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, once you get past the second level, you can really do some damage. I'm gonna do guiding bolt on one of the things I finally get to do an attack roll on it. So I'm going to use your the help was your helpful word thing. Was it my Bartok inspiration? It's gonna be he's gonna do a range to attack on it. And that's going to be a total of four plus six plus six is 1616 Hit OK. So that's going to be 46 of race damage.
Timothy (DM)
I mean, you could totally flop on a 46 and just get four
Chris (Sal S)
you know what, that's probably no that's a total of 19 radium. Geez
Timothy (DM)
19 Okay, another one gone. Goodbye. On the wall. Yeah, there's scorch marks on the wall behind it.
Ellie (Markie)
I have another thing on my character sheet that I have a highlighter
Timothy (DM)
because Well, we'll find out soon enough, but that was because it is written churton
Dan (Wren)
Okay. I Well, I'm coquille Marquis.
Timothy (DM)
By the way, just a reminder,
Dan (Wren)
I'm gonna use my action to heal marquee for what do I use this for? I use my bonus action to analyze you as part of my shtick. We know that's not right. Is that right? No, that's alright, just kidding. Just kidding. I'm just gonna heal you. I'm just gonna heal you.
Timothy (DM)
Heal so invasive.
Dan (Wren)
11 healing.
Ellie (Markie)
Wow, okay, great. At this point, it's really the strength thing.
Chris (Sal S)
That's like because, yeah, and
Ellie (Markie)
that can't be
Chris (Sal S)
rushed to get it back.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, it will be a short rest.
Dan (Wren)
I will, I don't know. Put myself between Marquis and the nearest chateau.
Ellie (Markie)
Thanks, guys. I'm sure
Dan (Wren)
you know what I'm gonna. I'll hold. I'll use my off hand to swipe at the like, use like my main hand to heal. And then I'll hand take like to swing at the closest shadow.
Timothy (DM)
Sure. Sure. Sure.
Dan (Wren)
Okay, that's a eight.
Timothy (DM)
An eight is not going to do so you just kind of you like, try to understand it. Yeah, but do no damage. Marquee. What have you learned about your character?
Ellie (Markie)
Well, it's not helpful right now. But did you know that when I make a persuasion or Deception check, I can treat a role of nine or lower as a 10. So I can't score lower than a 19 on a persuasion check. Deception check.
Timothy (DM)
Oh, gosh, I go forever always. At minimum.
Chris (Sal S)
That's a cool thing. Now
Ellie (Markie)
No, it's a bard thing. I think it's like the the Bard College that I chose. But that's not helpful right now. Right now I'm going to disengage and exit the situation.
Chris (Sal S)
Queens quarters,
Timothy (DM)
you don't need to disengage because Wren was able to weasel his way in and great, cool tack for ya. So see you are free to run. Oh, hey.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, I'm going to run so I'm about like just on the edge of 10 feet away from The Shadow creatures and then I'm going to curl for a little while and rock back and I'm groveling because you feel bad for me? Want to go back to my time blue? There are no shadows in my time loop.
Timothy (DM)
All right. Okay, so it's my turn to roll. So I'm gonna do that joy. Only twice this time. It's less and less each time around. And the carpet that I set on fire. How's that doing? Like, it's just sort of slowly building like, yeah,
Ellie (Markie)
we can get the white ghost
Chris (Sal S)
in here. Ding ding
Timothy (DM)
All right. So this time because of your valiant, heroic, lovely effort Ren you will get hit. And you're the only one taking damage.
Ellie (Markie)
What can I use my reaction to Castle rhubarbs. Again,
Timothy (DM)
you can Okay.
Ellie (Markie)
It has disadvantage on that roll and you haven't used your advantage that I gave you. Oh, you have Okay. Give it back to you.
Dan (Wren)
Yay.
Timothy (DM)
All right. Recommend it does nothing it it has like it with your resolve it like latches on you and tries to pull that bit of energy out of you and you're like, No, no. You're the toughest person I know. That brings us back up to Salvador.
Chris (Sal S)
Okay, there are two remaining foes two remaining folks. You know the drill do decksaver Yeah, I cracked my fingers as I say well, this thing again
Timothy (DM)
is going to be at 17
Chris (Sal S)
that passes so Salvador's like man this thing is really hit or miss.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, it's been I've been doing really well on the last couple.
Chris (Sal S)
I'm gonna sidle further down the hallway towards the smoking carpet. So I'm gonna stand near the fire.
Timothy (DM)
Stand near the fire. Okay, it's very warm.
Chris (Sal S)
I have yes I enjoy that. Don't bother so he's from Hell yeah. Assume
Timothy (DM)
you know must be a demon right? I've made friends with demon but not as spiky as the one we saw
Dan (Wren)
You know, Dean or pinker
Chris (Sal S)
think he's a pinker tone.
Timothy (DM)
So Wren What are you doing?
Dan (Wren)
I'm gonna take a swipe at the one in front of me. Advantage. Thank you for your sparkly Barb's
Timothy (DM)
sparkly Barb's
Dan (Wren)
that is a Oh, am I analyze it first to get alright 17 to hit 17 We'll head come on mostly fire damage. Nope, that is 10 bludgeoning and one fire damage.
Timothy (DM)
All right. So you give it a good whack, but you're you're swinging so hard that the like torch is starting to kinda dwindle. Oh
Dan (Wren)
good. Oh, good. I will go out right No. I am going to use my bonus action to disengage with my maneuver. Back towards Marquis, making sure that Sal is between us.
Chris (Sal S)
Gotcha. Yeah.
Timothy (DM)
Lovely. Lovely. Marquis, you're up.
Ellie (Markie)
I see ran running back towards me and is there another unlit torch nearby?
Timothy (DM)
Oh yeah, of course.
Ellie (Markie)
I say read.
And I pointed another torch and it lights on fire.
Dan (Wren)
I liked I liked the idea that rented just like oh yes, thank you and just like veers off
Timothy (DM)
cool so yeah, you've let another torch so you have kind of offered Salvatore up as
Ellie (Markie)
Sal said if we clear the hallway he can do some crazy stuff. So
Chris (Sal S)
yeah, Salvador looked at this book. He's like Oh, I can only do that outside because I can't see the sky. You didn't put a hole in the ceiling Ah
Timothy (DM)
Oh total flop. They are like they're starting to feel very discouraged Yeah, everybody's been turned into dust. They try to swim you sell but you are able to fend them off. It is your turn. What are you doing?
Chris (Sal S)
You know my signature move
Timothy (DM)
Oh, another flop. That's a for
Chris (Sal S)
that fails. So finally flourish Salvador says you light up my life and it gets a 14 for radiant damage 14
Timothy (DM)
is gone by one left just one one measly shadowy figure left. And it is Wren Stern.
Dan (Wren)
Okay, Ron was going to grab the newly lit torch to dual
Chris (Sal S)
wield torch
Dan (Wren)
This is stupid but Ron is going to run towards it and the nice slide with both torches out to the side
Timothy (DM)
to try and trick guitar starts playing
Dan (Wren)
so I'm gonna slide next to it so that both torches like swipe through swipe through it
Timothy (DM)
all right Give me those attack. I love
Dan (Wren)
and I don't have advantage right no I didn't get because I already use that advantage. I analyze it first unless does my grabbing of the torch counters that would be a free action Okay, and then I still have my bonus action that means that as a 16 and a 19 or both we'll hit Finish him
Timothy (DM)
this is probably going to be a finishing move. Which is perfect. We got the electric guitar got the nice slide we've got the fire
Dan (Wren)
a huge D for I don't know why it's like different sizes from all the other nice that is for fire damage and six 714 bludgeoning damage
Timothy (DM)
finish it
Dan (Wren)
I mean that's what I do I
Timothy (DM)
have just
Dan (Wren)
both arms out to the side as I like slowly stop mostly from balance to like balance because I'm being nice like
Timothy (DM)
probably tear up your fucking knee is asleep and that is end of combat y'all.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh marquee lights
Dan (Wren)
I could use a sit down
Chris (Sal S)
about that 10 minutes short
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, but I can't do that for me. I don't think oh
Timothy (DM)
yeah, other people
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, let me double check but
Timothy (DM)
shame Yeah, let's double check Dalits like make sure to get quick Gander I forgot to pronounce that be so sad. I'm like oh the the Forever Mom can you only I will busy body over here.
Ellie (Markie)
Let's see okay up to three wheeling creatures that are of your choice you can see within range
Dan (Wren)
that doesn't say other futures just three wheeling creatures fall unconscious
Ellie (Markie)
spells duration
Timothy (DM)
concentration I don't It's not concentration you don't need to be conscious for it you just need to cast the spell
Chris (Sal S)
we're just be very vulnerable for attendance we just
Dan (Wren)
let's go lock ourselves in the quarter. Royal quarters. We were safe there before.
Timothy (DM)
I will get your allow allow. Okay, great. You're You're good.
Ellie (Markie)
Hey, team. This naptime. naptime for Marcie. She slowly gets shuffled back into the chamber.
Dan (Wren)
You know, it'd be helpful right now. Magical d4 To put between
Ellie (Markie)
they answer the rent all well, we have regular doors,
Dan (Wren)
doors. Do you have regulatory go to the back of the Queen's Chamber? Yeah, she'll be sitting the closet.
Ellie (Markie)
Behind us maybe like move some furniture in front of them? Yeah. Everybody sit down, or you're gonna fall down when you go unconscious?
Dan (Wren)
I don't know about that.
Ellie (Markie)
I flicked the little metronome and it starts ticking. And I sort of start like mumble mumbling a little story like and hear ye A Tale of the sleepiest silly billy Is that ever or so? goes on with this like story as her voice slowly drifts off and we all fall asleep for 10 minutes. You falls over 10 minutes and
Timothy (DM)
it's and all of your missing stream comes back
Chris (Sal S)
down things down doors.
Dan (Wren)
So remind me for hit Dyson short rest. It's you can roll up to half of that. Oh up and then do you add your constitution?
Chris (Sal S)
No. Oh, no. No, you did. I've never we've never really done a short race before.
Timothy (DM)
Why it's you guy that hard to pull off in a lot of situations.
Dan (Wren)
magical stuff.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, I'm all better. I pop up. Oh, better after 10 minutes
of snoozing.
I'm back baby. Marquis back.
Back
We wake up in, like, I don't know, a pile. We probably, like, piled up a bunch of dresses or so, and like... [Tim: "Cocooned"]. Actually, I think it's canon-- well, canonically, Markie probably, like, squishes right in between the two of you because she really likes to sleep in like a pack. [Chris and Tim: "Aww."]
Dan (Wren)
Wren probably, like, scoots over a little bit whenever anybody's touching him in his sleep. He's like, "No." Great. We're back, baby.
Timothy (DM)
All right, you had a short rest. What are we what are we doing, Marie? We're heading up
Ellie (Markie)
the shadows. What are more shadows.
Chris (Sal S)
We just have to bring lights with us this time.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, I'll do will torches.
Ellie (Markie)
marches. All right. Lots of light. Yeah. Should we wait until day time? Are there windows? Does that prevent the critters from but like light didn't really seem to cause problems for them? No. It kind of made them more solid? Yeah.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, it didn't have so much of an effect on it on it other than like, where you could see it better. So you make your way back out into this hallway yet again. anticipating some fuckery as we do, we do as expected now. Make your way up the stairwell on third floor land
Ellie (Markie)
that was on fire. I was stamped it out before markeaton But somebody else was paying attention.
Timothy (DM)
It's also a rather musty rug.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, it's the wet ghost. Fire you walk through there.
Timothy (DM)
You're never quite calm.
Ellie (Markie)
That's fine. That's probably the best. Wonderful see the wet Coast again. I think Tao the wet ghosts would never do a story
Timothy (DM)
like no definitely never do it. And you make your way up to the third floor. Landing you are on another or in another hall. But this one ends at a balcony. And if you can look beyond the balcony you can see the like ballroom below,
Chris (Sal S)
like a glass ceiling or it's just a very tall sticker. Yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
Like two storey RMS two stories tall.
Timothy (DM)
The bottom is two stories. And there's really only two options here. There's a door to the right. Two doors three, and a door to the left.
Ellie (Markie)
Is there any difference between them at all? Do we notice anything
Timothy (DM)
any placards asking nice, heavy, solid oak, iron reinforced doors befitting of the Royal Castle? Right or left?
Ellie (Markie)
Let's start with the left. Sure.
Timothy (DM)
All right. So he make your way down the hallway. And you approach the door on the left. Who's opening it? I will open these doors. I wonder why.
Dan (Wren)
Squishy friends.
Timothy (DM)
So Salvador you turn the door handle, it's unlocked. You push open the door and it's first dark. But then slowly, you see one torch go on at a time. Throughout a room illuminating stacks of books, shelves lining every wall raised up to stories with ladders. And there are like little there's lecterns there's like shelves of books. There's like little seating areas, and these candelabras that just are like going on one at a time lighting up this room. And that's where we'll end the episode.
And that is where we will put a pause on today's story! Thank you all for joining us for this spooky saga as we plunge into the abyss. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Shadows of Prophecy. Join us next time to find out what becomes of Wren, Salvador, and Markie in this lavish library.
I want to give a special thanks to JayCeeAitch (JCH) and Chris B, our fabulous patrons keeping the candles lit here at Goblin Forge. Your support has meant the world to us, and we are so greateful for your absolute generosity.
I would like to thank Scrubcast for some incredible sound mastering, music and effects. They have been so easy to work with and I highly recommend checking them out if you’re ever in need of audio editing, especially for their epic music and effects design.
I would like to thank Syrinscape for some outstanding atmosphere and music. Make sure you check them out at syrinscape.com. I use Syrinscape all the time at my game table and for our Twitch streams, and it adds that little something special to bring your players and audience into the story.
I would like to thank our players this evening. Dan, Ellie, and Chris. I'm so happy to have you in our cast and can't wait to hear what ominous adventures we'll find ourselves in next time.
Our Theme song was written by my brother, the chill electronic vapour soul artist Lusq. You should check out their most recent single, Gus.
This has been a Goblin Forge production. Please follow us on Instagram , join our Discord, and if you really love us, show us some support by becoming one of our fabulous patrons at Patreon.com/Goblin_Forge, where you can find FREE bonus content like handouts, encounter maps, and even adventure guides to run your own horrific campaigns or one-shots. Shadows of Prophecy is a fully personally financed project and our first foray into the TTRPG arena. Any and all support is greatly appreciated! And at the very least, give us a 5 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 to find out what secrets lie in these dusty stacks. Does Alice lead them to any answers, or do more questions await?