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 riddles and reticence, we have myself, Timothy, as our ambivalent DM.
Dan (Wren)
I'm Dan, the human scholar and nicety nabber, Wren.
Chris (Sal S)
I'm Chris and I'm playing tiefling spellcaster who is an atmospheric cleric with a ficus named Erik, Salvador Saltrose.
Ellie (Markie)
And I'm Ellie, I'm playing "Bespangled, be-bangled, and hopefully unmangled" kobold bard Markie.
Timothy (DM)
Join us as we enter the Shadows of Prophecy. Act One: In the Shadows - Chapter 11: The Forgotten.
Previously on Shadows of Prophecy, we watched a wet ghost... [Ellie giggles] It stood there and watched us back--
Dan (Wren)
Soaked specter.
Ellie (Markie)
You stare at the wet ghost.. a wet ghost stares back. [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
...as we had several interesting conversations with some weird doors: one told shitty jokes and expected them in return, while the other (a bit more sentient) had some riddles for us. Our party supposedly saved them by setting them outside in the weather.
Ellie (Markie)
Supposedly saved them?
Dan (Wren)
We're gonna get them!
Ellie (Markie)
We're picking them up on the way out! It's temporary.
Chris (Sal S)
It's a process.
Dan (Wren)
Like, you know when you leave things at the counter when you're at the store 'cuz you don't want to carry them around? Like, that's what we did.
Ellie (Markie)
Ugh, wouldn't it be embarrassing if somebody thought we, like, were leaving them... 'Free pickup on Craigslist: these talking doors' Curb alert! Curb alert! [all laugh]
Dan (Wren)
At least they'll have a home.
Timothy (DM)
Then we proceeded to steal some bougie-ass shit and found a weird prophecy with some cryptic references to (we think) our party. After that, our friends, the shadows, turned out not to be so friendly. [Ellie: *womp womp*] A fight ensued, but our party was victorious and finally made their way up to the library.
Dan (Wren)
*dun dun* Library.
Chris (Sal S)
Third floor library.
Timothy (DM)
Okay, so y'all have just entered the library. It is like that magnificent, like, Belle and the Beast library with, like, multi-levels of shelves and ladders, and lecterns and more shelves and books and paintings and all sorts of library stuff. What do you do?
Dan (Wren)
Is it lit?
Timothy (DM)
It is lit.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, that's unnerving.
Ellie (Markie)
But this whole place is lit.
Dan (Wren)
Oh that's true.
Timothy (DM)
Much like the hallway and the throne room and all of the critical points so far have been led.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, that's true. You... the shadows put out the lights. That's why I was thinking it was dark. When we fought the shadows, they put out all the lights. I remember because you had to light the torches... for me. Thank youuuu.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, that was a cool moment... for me. [all laugh] We think we may find Alice up here, right?
Chris (Sal S)
Either that or some other clue to her research or...
Ellie (Markie)
Like, the time witch, maybe Desmond? Maybe Alice?
Dan (Wren)
Yeah. How... like, how expansive is this library? Like is it... like, it's a lot?
Timothy (DM)
It's a lot. Yeah, yeah, it's a... it's a fairly large room.
Dan (Wren)
Not like Beauty and the Beast...?
Timothy (DM)
It's pretty close! It's pretty up there.
Dan (Wren)
Spiral staircase, lotsa ladders.
Timothy (DM)
It might be a little smaller than the Disney animated version. More of a realistic French castle version. [Dan: "Okay. Okay."]
Ellie (Markie)
Well, should we look under 'P' for prophecy? [laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
'P' for prophecy? 'S' for spooky.
Ellie (Markie)
T for time loops. [Chris: "Yeah."]
Dan (Wren)
I feel like it might be a good idea to, like, hunker down here for a hot minute. Since we've been going at it for a while because we haven't, like, actually rested since n--.
Ellie (Markie)
But we just took a great nap!
Dan (Wren)
But it was... isn't the great nap a short rest?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, okay.
Chris (Sal S)
Is there, like, a bookshelf that I can move in front of this door?
Timothy (DM)
Chyeah, there's plenty of bookshelves that you can move in front of the door and lecterns and probably sorts of little pedestals and display cases.
Ellie (Markie)
While he does that, I'd also like to canvass the space and see if there are any other doors that should be blocked.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so it does seem to be a one entrance sort of deal, um--
Ellie (Markie)
This place is not up to fire code.
Timothy (DM)
--where most corporeal beings. It's a double door! :)
Dan (Wren)
No fire escape? [Chris laughs]
Timothy (DM)
There are stained glass windows along the outer wall.
Chris (Sal S)
Perfect.
Ellie (Markie)
Somebody's goin' out one of those. [all laugh]. I'm predicting it now. That's my prophecy.
Chris (Sal S)
Chekov's Window. [Editor's Note: This is an allusion to Chekov's Gun, a narrative device.]
Ellie (Markie)
All right. Well, there are no other doors to be blocked. So... this one looks good. Great job, Sal.
Chris (Sal S)
Thank you. I, uh... look around for a cat-- card catalog so we can figure out this expansive library... that is realistic.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. Why don't you give me an Investigation check.
Dan (Wren)
I will also help with that.
Timothy (DM)
And if anybody wants to do a Perception check as well.
Ellie (Markie)
Sure, I'll proceed while they investigate.
Dan (Wren)
OH! I rolled a nat 20 for Investigation. We investigated this SHIT!
Chris (Sal S)
I got 19 too.
Ellie (Markie)
I got a 15 for Perception.
Timothy (DM)
A 15 for Perception? Okay, cool. Lots of things are gonna happen then. [Ellie: "Uh-oh", Dan: "Oh geez"] Except Sal, you said an 8?
Chris (Sal S)
I got a 19.
Timothy (DM)
Oh, 19. Oh, shit. A lot of shit is gonna happen. [Ellie: "Oh, God." [laughs]] Welcooooome. So, there's a lot of things that you start to notice, Markie, as you are moving around the space. One of them is that along one of the walls above a set of bookshelves are series of paintings of... like, group portraits, large group portraits. Everybody in, like, almost Victorian garb so, like, wide lapeled suits, frilly lacy, like, blouses and hoop skirts, and, like, each one is kind of dated one year after the next.
Ellie (Markie)
And are the people often the same? Or do they change?
Timothy (DM)
Often the same. [Ellie: "Okay."] You do (the other two people) do you find a card catalog that starts kind of giving you a little bit of insight into the organization system. It is not the Dewey Decimal system; that does not exist here. It is mostly alphabetical by topics although there is a reference section that's a bit unique, mostly having ledgers of various bands of dates.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, we have dates. We know dates, right?
Chris (Sal S)
We have a LOT of dates. [Dan: "Oh noooo."]
Ellie (Markie)
I also got some dates over here on this wall.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, these are the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes!
Timothy (DM)
Are we about to be inundated with dates?
Ellie (Markie)
Inun-DATE-d! [all groan]
Dan (Wren)
Oh god. Oh, Lord.
Timothy (DM)
Oh, Lord. Okay, LORT! But what would you all like to do with this information? You also find, like, lots of little, like, pedestals and, like, things on lecterns, like loose sheets of paper, letters, random things in display cases all rather fancy, some big tomes and shit too.
Ellie (Markie)
All right, Wren, have at it.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, yeah, I'm gonna go... I'm going to go look at the fancy stuff first: 1) to see, like, what the books are... like, what are the... What are the, like, um... Like, why are they important?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. So, one of the books that you come to first is just, like, a really old book, no title on it, very clean binding, no ornate details but rather tattered. It's behind a glass case. You notice another bookcase that does have, like, a little bit more detail on the border. It's in better condition, metal clasp around it, and it has *this* symbol on it: [Dan: "Oh"] an eye with three parallel lines running from top to bottom.
Dan (Wren)
We know this one, we know this one after all.
Ellie (Markie)
We know that one!
Chris (Sal S)
It's not ominous. Yeah.
Dan (Wren)
I would like 'Creepy Symbol' for $400. Thank you. [Editor's Note: This is a referene to the game show Jeopardy.]
Timothy (DM)
Next to that one, you find another book: vvvvvery ornately detailed. It has, like, silver border and trim around it and a jeweled clasp. It has a symbol that is a circle with three arrows spinning off of it: one towards the center of the circle, one along the perimeter, and one spinning outwards.
Ellie (Markie)
That's time loop.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, it sure is. Oh, yeah, it sure is! That the time book.
Ellie (Markie)
You should get that one!
Dan (Wren)
Well, I'm, uh... can I open these cases or are they locked?
Timothy (DM)
They are locked, but they are glass cases.
Dan (Wren)
Well, I have two options. I can either pick the lock (which I probably could do fairly easily) or I just smash it open. I'm gonna pick the lock. I'm gonna try and pick the lock first.
Timothy (DM)
Alright, give me what your associated skill is. Do you have lock picking tools? Thieves' tools?
Dan (Wren)
Yes, so Sleight of Hand. That is a 24.
Timothy (DM)
With a 24, very easy.
Dan (Wren)
26, I'm so sorry. The math's wrong.
Timothy (DM)
Wow.
Ellie (Markie)
Actually, in that case, you fail.
Timothy (DM)
You just, like, twirl out your little pick, stick it in, *ka-ting!*--
Dan (Wren)
I just look at the lock the right way and it clicks open.
Timothy (DM)
--and the hinge just very slowly opens as if it has, like, um... you know those, like, nice fancy drawers that have the hydraulic systems?
Ellie (Markie)
LIke soft-close drawers? Wow, they shelled out for the good stuff.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, wow, I've never seen these before!
Chris (Sal S)
Got to impress your guests when they come over.
Dan (Wren)
I've heard about these before. I've never seen these kinds of doors before. Wowwww, okay, well...
Ellie (Markie)
And you're a scholar, so I imagine you see a lot of glass-encased books.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, anywhere. I've seen a lot of smashed glass from people who'll just dropin' the lids and breaking the glass everywhere.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, ugh, it's terrible.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, I'll take the books out, and I'm gonna go through... I'm just gonna look at the front of each book, like, first few pages to see, like, what topics are there?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so they basically recount a lot of the, like... you know, they're like a manifesto [laughs] to put it blunt. So, the first one is very much the manifesto of a group called the Veil.
Ellie (Markie)
We know about them, right?
Dan (Wren)
Yes, this is the unmarked book, right?
Chris (Sal S)
They're the monastery.
Timothy (DM)
Oh no. So, okay, sorry. I should clarify. So... unmarked book. Unmarked book is... give me Wisdom save.
Dan (Wren)
Save? [Tim: "Yeah.", Chris: "Knowledge is power!"] I am going to use a superiority dice (because I can do this now) to add to my... because I roll the 10 [Tim laughs] and I need to do better than that! [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Pump that bad boy up a little bit.
Dan (Wren)
That is a 13 then.
Timothy (DM)
Okay, a 13.
Dan (Wren)
I die again. [Ellie laughs]
Timothy (DM)
--you start flipping through these pages, and they are all over the place... like, there's no one thought seems to be brought completely to fruition; as if whoever was writing this text was just kind of a flow of consciousness, just, like, word-vomiting onto the page. It's all hand written in various handwritings throughout the book. There's, like, big flowing curses scripts, there's, like, very blotchy just, like, scratched into the pages, and everything just keeps flowing from thought to thought to thought, and you start to notice a lot of themes, a lot of themes that are akin to some of the scripts that you've seen written by our friend Alice.
Dan (Wren)
What did Alice write about again? Like, she... her-her visions, obviously.
Timothy (DM)
So, she wrote about her visions, but in her journal pages that you found there's been a lot of theories on existence, on her philosophies around our purpose in life... the Viewers are mentioned a couple times, and there are several pages that kind of jump out to you because they have been quite thematic in your life.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, in your life.
Dan (Wren)
In my life? Oh, that's fair. [Tim laughs] Let's see 'Into the void' just written over and over again. 'Consume me'? Just ask permission first. [Chris/Ellie laugh] 'We welcome the Void. It is... it is our release.' Um, great. This book is *creepy*.
Timothy (DM)
So yeah, like, kind of, like, tucked in between pages of, like, theories and thoughts and, like, conscious flows, there's just these, like, random pages that keep popping up that are just, like, completely nonsensical rants. Just over and over mentioning the Void, the Watchers, the Viewers, the-the destruction of self... like, so many just, like, random bits kind of poked in there.
Chris (Sal S)
I'm getting a sense there's a lot of gods... 'cause the Consumption... this-this makes me think of the abyss cult or the God of the Abyss because there's all this chaos. So I'm wondering... she also made mention of Ascension in her diary, which is a Pudicium thing. I guess she was dealing with the monastery anyway, so this is somewhat religious.
Timothy (DM)
Would you like to give me a Religion check?
Chris (Sal S)
Suuuure. I'm a cleric.
Dan (Wren)
You have that.
Ellie (Markie)
[laughs] I feel like you're the most unenthusiastic cleric ever though, right?
Chris (Sal S)
I... It's very transactional. I...
Ellie (Markie)
You, like, signed... oh, you're like 'Fine, I'll sign up.'
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, yeah, God bless us all. C'mon.
Chris (Sal S)
You pay your union dues, and you get the special magic stuff.
Ellie (Markie)
Right, exactly.
Timothy (DM)
Tao is interesting because Tao is not a religion that is very popular in Everfear. It is a very small sect that kind of evangelized an area near Salvador's home.
Chris (Sal S)
It's also very destructive. It's the god of storms. So, it's not like "OoOoOh", it's not like you get the beneficial things like "love" and "clemency" and...
Ellie (Markie)
You get lightning!
Timothy (DM)
There are PHILOSPHIES about finding yourself and being true to yourself.
Ellie (Markie)
Does Sal actually know any of these philosophies or does he just get lightning?
Chris (Sal S)
Uh, I think there's stuff about rain, and there's definitely the lightning... maybe wind? Dust storms? I don't know.
Dan (Wren)
Sal's, like, in front of the... whatever the church is, and they're trying to convince him, and he's like 'So you say I can throw lightning? I'm in.'
Timothy (DM)
[laughs] I'm in. Down.
Ellie (Markie)
They're like 'It's about... it's like a metaphor for actualization.' and he's like 'Righhhht.'
Dan (Wren)
'But I can actualize lightning?' [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
'I'm in! Sign me up, baby! Give me one of those pendant things!'
Timothy (DM)
What was... what was that Religion check. [Chris: "I got 12."] 12. Okay, so yeah, I mean, there are references in Tan Vanum's scripture that you are somewhat familiar with that do reference this, like, futility of life, but you do also know that Tan Vanum teaches that, like, that futility is not a reason to throw away life; that embracing that futility is part of embracing our existence.
Chris (Sal S)
So when you open the book, was this the eye book or the time book?
Dan (Wren)
This is the unmarked book. [Chris: "Oh, Okay."]
Timothy (DM)
Shall we move onto book number two?
Dan (Wren)
Yes, I'm gonna go for the eye book next.
Timothy (DM)
The eye book: this is the manifesto of a group called the Veil.
Ellie (Markie)
That's the monastery, right?
Timothy (DM)
Yes. So that is the monastery. And as you kind of peruse their manifesto, it seems rather mundane: it's a lot of exploration of the reasons and purposes of our existence, a pursuit of knowledge to unlock the secrets of the universe. Nothing about the details of what they have determined or found, but just that they have set themselves up to... to pursue this knowledge. Almost like they have put together a group of scholars.
Dan (Wren)
It's pretty boring.
Timothy (DM)
It's a very dry plot.
Ellie (Markie)
Really? That's RIGHT up your alley, dude. [all laugh] This is like Wren's shit!
Dan (Wren)
I mean 'Yes, this is great...' Eh, technically, I'm a scholar, but I'm more of a physician, I feel like is what it is. [Ellie: "Ok."] Like, if you give me a... if you get a book on, like, biology, he'd be like, 'Yes, every single day.'
Ellie (Markie)
But like philosophy, he's like, *raspberry* 'Yawn.'
Chris (Sal S)
Give me some hands-on experience. [Ellie: "Yeah."]
Ellie (Markie)
Shall we do circle book next?
Dan (Wren)
Yeah. Let's look at the circle book. Are we all, like, sitting in a circle? [Chris: "Yeah."] And putting the book on the floor?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah. I feel like you probably called us over. [Dan: "Yeah."] You're like 'I found...'
Dan (Wren)
These... Look, important books!
Chris (Sal S)
You're, like... yeah, like a teacher giving a...
Ellie (Markie)
I know... I feel like Markie was just, like, overwhelmed. She's like, "There's so many books here. I, like, don't even know where to begin." And you're like "I found a list--
Dan (Wren)
Here's a list of members of the Veil. [all laugh, Ellie: "OoOoOo."]
Chris (Sal S)
This is their senior quote. [Tim groans]
Dan (Wren)
Jimmy signed with the corner of this page.
Ellie (Markie)
HAGS. [Editor's Note: This stands for "Have a Great Summer", a common phrase written into yearbooks.]
Chris (Sal S)
'Never change... you won't ever change because we're in a constant time loop!'
Ellie (Markie)
Right, oh my gosh.
Dan (Wren)
Nothing ever changes. All right: time book.
Timothy (DM)
So, time book: you see the third book with the circle and the arrows and all the lovely things on it that are very much making you think of time in the loop that you're currently in. However when you open it, you start to peruse it, and there's no reference of a time loop or temporal anomaly or any of these other things you've heard Alice mention or seen Alice mention. But instead, you start reading about something called the Cycle and the Titans. In particular, you start to read some names: the Dreamer, the Corruptor, the Devourer, the Director, the Assimilator, the Alpha and Omega, the Infinite, the Void... and it details the story of the Cycle: a game of the gods. Round after round of slumber and awakening, each time a draw.
Dan (Wren)
Is it like...? Is it described as, like, like, so the gods are playing games, and it's, like, or is it like... they're, like, beating the shit out of each other and...?
Timothy (DM)
The... give me, give me an... some sort of related Intelligence check.
Dan (Wren)
I'm good at that. I'll just do Investigation.
Timothy (DM)
Do you have, like, an Insight? It's probably more appropriate.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, probably. Insight is Wisdom but that's a 4 then. I rolled a 4.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, Insight's probably more appropriate. A 4. Yeah, it's hard to tell. I mean, you see reference to the Game, but you're not quite sure if that is... what's being referenced in the book or if that's something else that's not being detailed.
Dan (Wren)
Gotcha. Some kind of competition.
Ellie (Markie)
To the gods, our lives are in game. So... [Dan: "Yeah."] you can't really take them at face value when they talk about games.
Dan (Wren)
That's true. Well, that was riveting.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, I really thought that was gonna be about time loops to be honest.
Chris (Sal S)
On the portraits that you marked out, Markie, what's the last year on the plaque?
Timothy (DM)
The last year that you can see on a plaque is 1452.
Ellie (Markie)
April 12 145-. Oh, 1465.
Chris (Sal S)
Can I go...
Dan (Wren)
That's today, right?
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, that's today. Can I go to the card catalog, and the section that had reference on the years: what's the last range of years in there?
Timothy (DM)
There is a... the last one has a range of "1449 - " with no end date.
Chris (Sal S)
Perfect. So, that really does not clear up if we're in the future or the past.
Ellie (Markie)
What??? Are we in the past?
Dan (Wren)
I thought we were in the present.
Ellie (Markie)
Wait, have you guys thought we were in the future or the past this whole time?
Chris (Sal S)
I couldn't tell it. Because you said that the castle had been populated whenever we were in town, right?
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, right. Yeah, so if it's all unpopulated...
Chris (Sal S)
It's either like a weird past timeline or we're in the future.
Dan (Wren)
But how do we know? Like, had you...? You've never... you said you'd never been to the castle, right?
Ellie (Markie)
Right. But some of my friends worked there. [Dan: "Oh."]
Chris (Sal S)
And Alice's journal said that she talked to the guards there and they wouldn't let her in. [Dan: "Oh, right."] And that was at least in '57. And you said 1452 was what was on the portrait plaque?
Timothy (DM)
Correct, yeah.
Dan (Wren)
Uh, do w--... do we recognize any of the people in these portraits? I'm going to patrol through. I have... I have a FEELING that I'm going to RECOGNIZE somebody [laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
Who could it be?
Dan (Wren)
I don't know.
Timothy (DM)
[coy 'ha'] You start reading through the names on the plaque underneath each portrait. [Dan: "Oh, good."] So, they're each dated with a various year, and you're going through the names until you come across 'Edmund Haj'.
Dan (Wren)
Oh! A Haj.
Ellie (Markie)
That's the guy you're lookin' for?
Timothy (DM)
And next to Edmund's name, 'Clarissa Haj'. And you keep reading, and several names down you see 'Gladys Calderos'...
Chris (Sal S)
That's her!
Ellie (Markie)
Time witch!
Dan (Wren)
So, these are all in the same portrait, these three people?
Timothy (DM)
Mmhm. As well as Vladlan Purdue and Victor Valerian. [Chris: "Okay."]
Ellie (Markie)
Vladlan Purdue.
Chris (Sal S)
He was the person that was a contact for Alice initially.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, right. Wow, so everybody's all here as a team.
Dan (Wren)
What is the year on this particular portrait?
Timothy (DM)
This is 1448.
Ellie (Markie)
And are they the same people in the following portraits? Where... what's the last portrait that these specific people appear in?
Timothy (DM)
So, you start comparing portraits...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, I don't know these people, but they've got distinctive appearances.
Timothy (DM)
Can everybody give me Perception checks? Or Investigat-- let's do Investigation. Sorry.
Dan (Wren)
I rolled another 4! So that's an 11.
Timothy (DM)
14.
Ellie (Markie)
7.
Timothy (DM)
Okay. So, it's taking some time, but you start kind of following these names and portraits. Is there anyone in particular that you are looking for, Wren and Salvador?
Dan (Wren)
Wesley at this point.
Chris (Sal S)
Gladys.
Timothy (DM)
Okay. Gladys is pretty easy to follow. Gladys is in every... single... portrait.
Ellie (Markie)
Time witch.
Dan (Wren)
Time witch! Doesn't age, she looks the same!
Ellie (Markie)
Lived forever. Nobody thought that was suspicious?
Timothy (DM)
There is no Wesley.
Chris (Sal S)
[a big dumb-dumb] Who's Wesley?
Dan (Wren)
My dead lover.
Timothy (DM)
But you do follow Edmund and Carissa Haj--
Chris (Sal S)
Oh... I thought it was Edmund... Ohhhh! Nevermind.
Timothy (DM)
You find that they are in portraits going back to 1447 and ending in 1452. They go back... the portraits go back further [Dan: "That's only five years."] but end in 1452.
Chris (Sal S)
Is there any description on what this group is? Do they look like they're in, like, scholarly... er, you might've said they were scholars.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, they are wearing, like, Victorian sort-of elaborate clothing. I might think that they are, like, part of the nobility or something.
Dan (Wren)
Were there any other Hajs besides the two of them?
Timothy (DM)
No. No other Hajs have come up. You also notice that Victor Valerian is in portraits going back to 1421 and ending in 1452, and Vladlan is in portraits from 1419 to 1448, but not the final portraits.
Chris (Sal S)
So, the entire range of portraits is 1419 to 1452.
Timothy (DM)
Yes, and it's quite a small group in 1419.
Chris (Sal S)
Okay, so I'm wondering... like, Vladlan and Valerian had some bonds that connected them to the Veil, and Vladlan was here first, so that seems to mean that Valerian was brought into power after Vladlan was already part of the nobility here, and he died before... or no Vladlan left... Vladlan's not in the paintings whenever Valerian's in the paintings at the very end, and Vladlan... oh! 'cause he was teaching at Harrow (he was a professor) so they must have left town because he was contacting Alice in 1460-- [correcting himself] 1457 and '56.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, so like, these people just live their lives, like, came in and out and did stuff. I don't know. I've seen a bunch of people in paintings before, what do we think is, like... is there something fucked up going on here?
Dan (Wren)
I mean, Gladys not aging?
Ellie (Markie)
"I mean, besides like..." she gestures.
Chris (Sal S)
Everything going on? Yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
But, like, we knew Gladys was a time witch already, right?
Dan (Wren)
Right, and it's... and it's like, I don't think it's a coincidence that everyone that we know that's connected to that group. So, Desmond and Wesley, and... [looks at Markie]
Ellie (Markie)
I don't know anybody.
Dan (Wren)
Right, but you got that... I'm not sure where you... who passed on that...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, I found it my hat from a discerning... a discerning enjoyer of my performances, no doubt.
Dan (Wren)
But the non-random encounters of this... the eye symbol, so on the-the amulets that you have and the amulets that I know Wesley had, are all connected to this group, which is the Veil. [Ellie: "The Veil."] So, they were all part of whatever that is.
Ellie (Markie)
So, we got to the Veil!
Dan (Wren)
Yeah. Where's that?
Chris (Sal S)
It's near Harrow...
Dan (Wren)
The monastery, right? [Chris: "Yeah."] That feels right. [Chris: "Yeah."] [to Markie] Are you ready to leave the city?
Ellie (Markie)
I don't know if I can.
Dan (Wren)
That's fair. You DID leave the city, though.
Ellie (Markie)
But everybody I know and all of my friends and all my family are still back there reliving the same day over and over again. I can't leave them like that. Without my songs to cheer them up? Without my stories to make them happy and glad?
Chris (Sal S)
Well, they'll remember them.
Ellie (Markie)
But what happens if you break the day?
Dan (Wren)
Well, I can't imagine that every repetitious day is *exactly* the same. It obviously isn't because we showed up and... rocked that boat.
Ellie (Markie)
True, and nothing bad happened-- wait! Actually lots of bad things happened; I'M LIVING IT RIGHT NOW! [all laugh]
Dan (Wren)
That's actually true.
Chris (Sal S)
This is all material for future songs.
Ellie (Markie)
[tearfully] Yeah, you're right. You're right. But I just don't know if I can journey away and feel good in my tummy about leaving everybody behind.
Dan (Wren)
Well, let's do some more digging and see if we can figure out ways to break this loop, maybe? This seems to be the origin point of this...
Ellie (Markie)
That's true. All these people who are a lot smarter than me seem to have done a lot of research and that Gladys lady, if I ever see her, it's on sight! [all laugh] I have a feeling she's the one who's causing these problems. And if she's not dying, that means she's still around, which means I can kick her ass.
Dan (Wren)
Sounds good. [Ellie laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Salvador. [Chris: "Yes."] As this conversation is going on, in the portrait of 1447, you notice something: the members have all been wearing these amulets [points to the eye symbol] in previous paintings, the eye with the triple lines. However, in 1447, you notice Victor Valerian and Clarissa Haj are wearing a different pendant: a spiral with four arrows pointing outwards.
Chris (Sal S)
This bears a resemblance to something that I've seen before, I believe? [Tim: "Yes."] In the wizard's tower?
Timothy (DM)
On the beach.
Chris (Sal S)
On the beach@ Oh, this was the cult-- the cultist's pendant. Okay. [to Markie and Wren] Back whenever I was first shipping off to the war, our boat got attacked and, uh, there was this giant squid that came up and, uh, [points to portrait] these guys had a similar symbol on their acoutrement.
Ellie (Markie)
So, this is like a squid cult?
Chris (Sal S)
Yes, it is like a squiggle.
Ellie (Markie)
[more sternly] A squid cult.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, it-- Yeah, a squiggle. Yeah, it's a... [Dan laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
SQUID CULT!
Chris (Sal S)
Squinkle?
Dan (Wren)
[clarifying] A cult of squids! [laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, squid--
Ellie (Markie)
SQUID CULT SQUID CULT SQUID CULT. [Chris apologizes]
Dan (Wren)
[imitating the previous conversation] 'A squiggle.' 'Squiggle?'
Ellie (Markie)
Like a squiggle?
Chris (Sal S)
It's both. It's some sort of corrupted... because it... I originally thought it was for Tan Vanum, which is a spiral, but this must be a sub-sect with adding these four lines. But yeah, well, that's odd. I... so it was Valerian and one of the Hajs? [Tim: "Mmhm."]
Ellie (Markie)
And we found books with the other symbols on them; are there books with this symbol on it anywhere in the library that we've seen?
Timothy (DM)
Not that you've seen yet. But as you're thinking about these amulets and these symbols, you notice a new change.
Dan (Wren)
A new change?
Ellie (Markie)
A change?
Timothy (DM)
In the paintings...
Dan (Wren)
The paintings CHANGE?!?
Timothy (DM)
[bluntly] ...no. [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
I dunno! That was my thought, too. I was like, 'Oh, they're, like, morphing in a weird way.'
Timothy (DM)
In 1449, you notice a significant drop in membership, and all of the amulets have shifted, yet again: an eyeball with a spiral in the middle of it with four arrows pointing out. A line is drawn down to a strange oblong shape, and this symbol does match something that you've seen in the card catalog.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, they have pictures as well?
Timothy (DM)
There was this symbol drawn to that final ledger.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, the one I haven't picked up yet. [Chris: "Oh."]
Ellie (Markie)
Wait, the date that ended... that didn't end?
Timothy (DM)
Correct.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, the 14-- the book '1449 to X'. Okay.
Dan (Wren)
So, this is like their last iteration of...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, well, you can tell because the symbol's getting more complicated. They're probably having an internal arguments.
Dan (Wren)
The eye and the swirl with the arrows? [Ellie: "Yeah."]
Chris (Sal S)
Looks like a face. Like a cyclops.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, it does look like lips a little bit. Maybe one of the Titans is a cyclops.
Dan (Wren)
They worship a time cyclops... that summons squids?
Ellie (Markie)
We're never gonna be able to kill a time cyclops! [Dan laughs]
Dan (Wren)
That can summon the Kraken!
Chris (Sal S)
It is a cycle because it has a circle in it; like a cycle, a cycle in the eye.
Ellie (Markie)
The cycle-ops *groan*
Dan (Wren)
Gotcha. So, there's a time witch cyclops...
Chris (Sal S)
With a squid cult.
Dan (Wren)
With a squid cult.
Ellie (Markie)
This cult needs to get their heads on straight. I'm just saying their branding is all over the place.
Dan (Wren)
Right; stick with a theme!
Chris (Sal S)
You're getting too complicated.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, well, let's check out the book that goes... that has no end date.
Dan (Wren)
The book that never ends. It goes on and on my friends...
Ellie (Markie)
[sing-songy] 'This is the book that never end...'
Chris (Sal S)
*doo-doo* [Editor's Note: Chris began humming the notes to the Neverending Story theme]
Timothy (DM)
It's pretty easy to find. You find this ledger. It's dated. Everything is in numerical order in the reference section.
Chris (Sal S)
So, it's from 1449. It's labeled "Silence." [skimming the ledger] There are the Hajs. Oh, it's a group! So, the group that was proposed by, I'm guessing Wesley's mother, Clarissa? There are several... Oh, Midge! Midge is... she's the queen, or she's the mother of the king of... of Everfear. Or that might be a different Midge, um... There's a bunch of people. Camille Saint-Saëns?! Oh, wow, he's a really great... composer.
Ellie (Markie)
[baffled] ...what?!?
Chris (Sal S)
In real life!
Timothy (DM)
[laughing] The two of you are listening to Salvador just, like, ramble about things he's reading in the book.
Chris (Sal S)
I'm sorry, I should be reading this out.
Dan (Wren)
I feel like I leaned over me, like [to Markie] "I thought I KNEW a lot of things."
Ellie (Markie)
Markie's about to, like, start stomping her feet. [all laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
[laughs] You're, like, jumping up to... [laughs] It's a ledger book from a group called 'Silence'. The first entry reads 'February 24, 1449. First convention of the group, the Silence as proposed by Clarissa Haj. Attendees include: Vandreal Cleverton, Mince Midge, Mabel Tint, Vince Lightfoot, Garl Guric, Tuck Dunder, Camille Saint-Seans (the composer), Valerie Vrie, Lilywater Drips-in-Light, Garke Vol, Heather Solud, and Katarina Katerniss. And the topics of discussion were a debrief following the events of the Schism, which I think there's the separation... there's like a separation in the Veil between, like, good Veil monks and bad Veil monks.
Ellie (Markie)
It makes sense that they will be called the Silence because that looks like a mouth with the line over it. [Chris and Dan: "AaAaH!"]
Chris (Sal S)
'Vladlan Purdue and Gladys Calderos attempted to perform a coup today.' Okay... 'Citing discrepancies in ideology and direction. Unfortunately, they escaped our countermeasures, and we are to believe they have fled to Vladlan's elusive base, suspected to exist somewhere in Harrow. Several members gave themselves to the cause today, to ensure our success. We memorialize Fervor Windfall and Corinne Everlin. As such, we gather today united under a new name, demonstrating our fortuity in our faith and for the cause. The Silence shall fall.' And there's another entry that reads: 'We've located the original cateclysm site to the heart of the Corrupted Woods. The expedition begins in three months time. Our resources will be redirected to preparation for the trip.'
Dan (Wren)
So, what I got from all that, was that Vladlan and Gladys Calderos...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, they bailed.
Dan (Wren)
They tried to... well, they tried to overthrow the group [Ellie: "And then escaped."] and then escaped to... I imagine the monastery near Harrow or Harlow or what's it called? [Chris: "Harrow."]
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, the Veil.
Dan (Wren)
Which might be where (if Gladys is still alive)...
Ellie (Markie)
That's where she would be.
Dan (Wren)
Which, she's a time witch, so she probably is! She probably be there.
Ellie (Markie)
Do you think being a time witch is inherited generic-- genetically, because you're not looking for Gladys?
Chris (Sal S)
No, well, I was trying to find some... at least some... somebody to break the news that Desmond is, um... I don't know if he's alive or not or missing, but at least let him know, and to deposit this coin. Like he asked me to.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay. And then Vladlan is who Alice was talking with. [Chris: "Yeah."] So it's weird that Vladlan directed Alice to come here when... this was not his zone anymore.
Chris (Sal S)
Well, I think she found that out AT the monastery, because she went there for like a year or like six months, and then she's like, 'Oh, I found this weird connection between Vladlan and Valerian: I gotta go check that out.'
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, so Alice's journal does reference that Valerian was kept from her while at the monastery. [Ellie: "Oh, okay."] That they did not speak about Valerian and that she found it on her own.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, gotcha.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, they tried to be hush hush about it, wow.
Timothy (DM)
There was also reference to her being aware of Gladys while at the monastery.
Chris (Sal S)
And Victor Valerian only shows up after the coup attempt in the paintings at least.
Ellie (Markie)
So he was like a replacement.
Timothy (DM)
Victor Valerian? No. 1421 to 1452.
Chris (Sal S)
Okay, nevermind. Oh, sorry. I was reading that as a different... Okay, nevermind.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, Victor's pretty much in everything except for, like, the really early days. Anything else in the library that you'd like to look at? There's all sorts of things.
Chris (Sal S)
You said there are, like, items in the cases rather than books.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, yeah. I want to...
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, there are some, like, fun little items, lots of, like, really extravagant, like, gold and silver and jeweled things kind of related to the library in some fashion. So you see, like, a magnifying glass, a very thin sheet of metal that has some intricate etchings on it. It's long and thin... it's a bookmark. [laughs]
Dan (Wren)
Oh!
Chris (Sal S)
Is it holographic?
Timothy (DM)
It's holographic.
Dan (Wren)
Does it change when you turn it? [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
There's, like, a couple of other just, like, artifacts with, like, placards that are, like, something about a historical thing that it is, like... 'this is the brush from, like, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandma Valerian.' And stuff like that.
Dan (Wren)
I would like... I'd like to open them all up. [Tim: "Okay."] I mean, they're... I'll unlock all of them. [Tim: "Yeah." And just peruse them like, "Magic? Do you do fun things on a wave you around?"
Ellie (Markie)
Just checkin'.
Dan (Wren)
Just checkin'.
Timothy (DM)
GIve me an Arcana roll.
Dan (Wren)
Great. I'm GREAT at that. Oh, that is Intelligence. I'm actually okay with that.
Chris (Sal S)
Can I help you out? Can I help him out with that?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah.
Dan (Wren)
As in 'Should I roll with advantage or do we both roll?"
Timothy (DM)
Roll with advantage.
Dan (Wren)
Is he, like, hovering?
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, you're like, 'Oh, that one looks...'
Dan (Wren)
That is a 14.
Timothy (DM)
Helicopter Salvador. A 14. They're all inert, nothing magical about them that you can sense--
Dan (Wren)
I might pocket some of the more gold-plated ones...
Timothy (DM)
Just like really nice and fancy expensive shit.
Ellie (Markie)
While they are ransacking the library for goods, can Markie scramble up the card catalog and I would imagine there are, like, some epic poets or storytellers that she is aware of that have, like, informed her work and she would like to use her little claws to finger through the card catalog and see if she can find any, like, copies of their books here maybe because that's not something that she has access to in her regular life and she's very excited about potentially getting to read their works instead of just hearing them told secondhand by somebody who's probably kind of drunk and doesn't really remember them.
Dan (Wren)
Some signed originals?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, exactly.
Dan (Wren)
First edition!
Timothy (DM)
I mean, you... that's really easy to find.
Ellie (Markie)
AHA! It's a good day for Markie.
Timothy (DM)
Like, as long as, like, you know their names, you can pretty much find them. A couple of them, you might need to know their works... like, the name of the title of the work. So give me a History check.
Ellie (Markie)
All righty. That is a 12. [to Wren] "Are you profi--? Would you like to...? No, you're busy.
Dan (Wren)
[distracted] What? No, what?
Ellie (Markie)
No, it's fine. You're busy; you're stealing things.
Dan (Wren)
No no, I can put this down. No, I've already stolen the things I want.
Ellie (Markie)
No, it's okay! I see you're busy. I just thought you were, like, a smart guy and maybe you could help me out... with my brain.
Dan (Wren)
Sure, I can do that. What do you need?
Ellie (Markie)
"I'm trying to find these authors" and she, like, lists the... "They tell stories. There's one about , um, it's like, big deer and it's got 14 legs and it's so long..."
Dan (Wren)
[laughing] 14-long deer?
Chris (Sal S)
You look under D for "deer".
Ellie (Markie)
But, but it's a good deer. It's on the heroes--'
Dan (Wren)
"Good, G" [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
And then there's another one and his... it's by some guy named Ortrude, and it's a story and I don't remember how most of it goes but the part that I heard, it was like a really big party but half of the people were on the ceiling and half of the people were on the floor, and they didn't know about the other people, and so they were both having their own parties separately. But then at the end, like, they meet each other, and of course, there's, like, a love story.
Dan (Wren)
"Oh, it's like a..." I was about to say Romeo and Juliet. [Ellie laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
'Two parties, both alike in lit-ness...'
Dan (Wren)
In LIT-NESS!?!
Ellie (Markie)
And Markie goes on and continues to try to, like, explain.
Dan (Wren)
I mean, yeah, can I, like, rummage through and see if I can find...?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, you can assist Markie.
Ellie (Markie)
Do I get to make the roll with advantage then?
Timothy (DM)
So yeah, make the roll with advantage.
Ellie (Markie)
EXACTLY THE SAME! 12. [laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Ok, so, I mean, you find one or two of these right away, and then you, like, continue to kind of sift through and you find a couple others, so you do find, like, four or five of these collections, and you're able to then locate them within the library as well. It's a very well-organized library.
Ellie (Markie)
Not after we're done with it! [all laugh]
Dan (Wren)
I imagine that we're going to spend, like, a significant amount of time here? Like, we boarded it up. We're, like, safe enough... it seems.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. Mmhm
Dan (Wren)
Also, how long has it been since we, like, started our day in, like... not Valerian hours; in, like, real time--
Ellie (Markie)
In FAKE time!
Dan (Wren)
--in 'I've-been-awake' hours.
Timothy (DM)
Good ide-- or a good question.
Dan (Wren)
Like, how exhausted are we? [Ellie: "Yeah."]
Timothy (DM)
I mean, you've had quite a long day. It's been, gosh--
Ellie (Markie)
We did navigate through that WHOLE, like, underground thing.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, you've been... ever since you were at the cottage, which was actually partway through your physical day because you also were at the tavern at noon... [Dan: "Right, and then went to go to the housing,."] And then went to the housing place, and then you went to the cottage and then you went through a dungeon and then you've been fighting shit in the castle.
Dan (Wren)
Fought a ghost. Fought a zombie.
Timothy (DM)
It's been a LONG day, like, you're definitely probably going to want to sleep in the library. Like, you're getting to that stage.
Dan (Wren)
Eh, it seems safe enough, right?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, I mean, maybe we find, like, a corner where we can have our backs to the wall, and I'm going to read myself to sleep with my big stories. [Chris laughs]
Timothy (DM)
As you were helping Markie look for these books, you noticed some letters, some envelopes, sitting on a lectern with the name of 'Vladlan' written on them.
Dan (Wren)
I pick them up and I wave them... wave them over. "We got... we got a..." Here, I'll pass one letter to... somebody grab it, please. [Chris and Ellie furiously grabbed the letters] Oh, okay, I just... both here. I give both letters away.
Ellie (Markie)
We both grab letters. Wren doesn't get to read either of them.
Timothy (DM)
And a third drops down.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, three letters then...
Timothy (DM)
Not in an envelope, ust a piece of loose piece of paper with some scribbling and scratched-out sections.
Ellie (Markie)
Mine has a date. Should we read them in chronological order?
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, I also have a date '48.
Ellie (Markie)
I have '48 February 12th, '48.
Chris (Sal S)
I got January 28th.
Dan (Wren)
I have '52, so it's you guys.
Chris (Sal S)
Ok, so this seems like a juicy one.
Ellie (Markie)
O-ho-ho-ho, alright. Markie sits down and makes herself comfortable.
Timothy (DM)
Juicy lore! We're in the library; I got to write a LOT of lore for this. [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
So, it's on January 28, 1448, which I guess would put it near before the cult or the... before the coup occurred. 'My dear...' Er, it says [sultry voice] 'Vladlan, my dear. I wish I was sitting in the sun this afternoon just thinking about how much you've changed me and my life. It is a brighter world ever since we began deliberating on the Veil together, one, which may have many regrets; choices that were made out of ignorance and desperation, but nonetheless, bliss. I know you've work to do in Harrow, but my greatest regret is not coming with you. I feel increasingly lost in this place as if I no longer belong. I wish for you to return soon to me. With love, Gladys Calderos.'
Timothy (DM)
[holding back laughter] Was that your Gladys voice? [laughs]
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, I didn't--
Dan (Wren)
You were so soft and...
Chris (Sal S)
And airy? I don't know.
Ellie (Markie)
It was good.
Dan (Wren)
We're gonna meet Gladys and she'll like [New York accent] "HEY! I'm GLADYS!"
Chris (Sal S)
[imitating Tim's narrator voice] What are you doing here?
Ellie (Markie)
So let's see. I'll try replicating it. So, we... I have February 12th, 1448. [sultry voice] "Vladlan, for whence you return to Valeria, it should be noted that Victor and Clarissa have become increasingly more cavalier with their Final Judgement nonsense, and I fear we are seeing our members flock to said supremacist concepts. What they have come to determine I must regretfully say has been encouraged by my earlier transgressions. While you have shown me since the importance of the Experience, one and all, they have become vocal that they have found supposedly enlightened purpose, a purpose which now frightens me. Their value of life has been greatly diminished, and I believe that to be entirely dangerous. I still believe their minds to be brilliant and capable of furthering our understanding of the Veil, but we may very well be turning down a dark path yet again. My dear, I worry and maybe selfishly wish you would have come home sooner. With love, Gladys Calderos.'
Dan (Wren)
[softly] They were in love.
Ellie (Markie)
They were in love! Wait, when they...
Timothy (DM)
Love!
Dan (Wren)
Then she put a time spell on the city.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, you'll never leave.
Ellie (Markie)
So, in the house purchasing records, when it says Gladys and who purchased a house?
Chris (Sal S)
There were multiple Calderoses...
Ellie (Markie)
Calderi?
Chris (Sal S)
So, there's Veritable, Aldwin, Vivian, Gladys, and Veritable. Or I said Veritable already.
Timothy (DM)
And of course, you taped all of these pieces of handouts together, so that they'd be in order. [Editor's Note: Chris taped all of the housing records together.]
Ellie (Markie)
In a logical order.
Chris (Sal S)
I'll have to do that with the diary entries too. [Tim laughs]
Timothy (DM)
Salvador is our records keeper.
Ellie (Markie)
Veritable and Gladys... so was Gladys... had a partner, Veritable, but was also in love with Vladlan or is Veritable and Vladlan the same person?
Dan (Wren)
Or Veritable could have died. I mean, that was hundreds of... like, over 100 years ago.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, that's right. Gladys is a time witch! Of course, she has multiple lovers over the entire span of centuries.
Chris (Sal S)
So, the last date that we would have had from these is, like, 1450... 1355 or 14-- 1365. So, yeah, she-she
Dan (Wren)
From the records.
Chris (Sal S)
So yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
My brain is not good at ... 'time'. [all laugh] It comes from living in and growing up in a time loop my whole life! [laughs] Okay, your turn, Wren.
Dan (Wren)
So, the note that I found--
Ellie (Markie)
Don't forget to your... do your Gladys voice.
Dan (Wren)
*h-hem* It's not Gladys. [Ellie: "Oh."] It's... it's Victor. It's from Victor, so...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, ok. Oh, but he never sent it.
Timothy (DM)
And it very much looks like it was never sent. [Dan: "Hmm."] Potentially, this could have been like an original attempt at writing the letter, but then corrections were made.
Ellie (Markie)
Or he was couped out before anything.
Timothy (DM)
Or couped out!
Ellie (Markie)
[to the tune of "Roll Out"] Couped out!
Dan (Wren)
It is... it is... It is to Clarissa. So, December 12th, 1452. 'Clarissa, I finished the preparation for the Axiom' (whatever that is) 'Have you finalized your decision on who to bring into the fold? I am steadfast in my belief that the price is worth the knowledge we will gain. Gather at midnight, Victor.'
Ellie (Markie)
That's SO ominous.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, what's the Axiom? That's a new... A-X-I-O-M, axiom.
Chris (Sal S)
Axiom is, like, a phrase or it's like a credo, I think?
Ellie (Markie)
A lot of proper nouns.
Chris (Sal S)
Or maybe it's... Yeah. They love to capitalize things. As in axiom... axiom is like a... It's a phrase, but I can't... I can't tell if I'm...
Timothy (DM)
It's a rule or law.
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, cuz it's a math term.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, okay.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. It's like an immutable fact. Yeah. So, you also find a little photo in a stack of papers.
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, it's, it's... there's a woman. They're wearing an intricate lacy blouse and an embroidered frock with thin rimmed glasses. She is in front of what looks like a ceremonial magic circle with lots of candles and mirrors facing in. Oh, and on the back, it says 'Gladys Calderos. (We know who this is now.) February 8th, 1444. Today, Gladys performs the temporal lock ritual and from the look of it, she was successful. We must keep our secrets hidden from the world.' [to Markie and Sal] She did it; confirmed. Temporal lock ritual.
Ellie (Markie)
GLADYS!
Chris (Sal S)
[shaking fists to the sky] Darn you!
Ellie (Markie)
I want to find a Temporal Key and do a temporal unlock ritual... please.
Dan (Wren)
I would like to 'Thieves' Tools' the temporal lock. [all laugh]
Ellie (Markie)
I would like to roll a Sleight of Hand check on the temporal lock!
Chris (Sal S)
What is the... what is it embroidered with? Is it like a floral design?
Timothy (DM)
[clearly making it up] Yeah. [Chris: "Okay."] [coyly] It's floral. They're little roses.
Chris (Sal S)
I can't tell... Oh, roses, because of the roses in front of the [cottage]. Because I'm thinking back to the wizard on the tarot card.
Dan (Wren)
What was on the tarot card wizard?
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, it was just a wizard in a floral silk. So, I'm wondering if... she's obviously tied up. She's obviously involved in this whole mis-- [Ellie: "Prophecy!"] prophecy magic and all that. Yeah. Okay. Well, I... can we go back to the card catalog? Is there anything around 'temporal' or 'time' in the card catalog?
Ellie (Markie)
Time lock, temporal lock? Yeah.
Timothy (DM)
You go back to the card catalog, and you look for anything about a time lock, temporal... nothing actually about magic is in this library, you start to notice. Lots of history.
Ellie (Markie)
Mmm. They probably have some... a different secret library for their magic stuff.
Timothy (DM)
Lots of history, arts, poetry, and then the reference section, which is all about the organization. [Chris: "Okay, yeah."]
Ellie (Markie)
Shall we read the entire reference section? [all laugh]
Dan (Wren)
I mean, I feel like we're gonna hunker down and long rest here. We could probably spend some time just perusing, like, looking at titles of books and just seeing, like, if things catch our eye. Maybe more casual? We don't actually have to, I dunno. Just a thought. Yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, all the titles of books are just dates in the reference section. So, it's, like, nothing's gonna catch our eye per se.
Dan (Wren)
We'll actually have to look at books on the book shelf.
Ellie (Markie)
Look at books!
Timothy (DM)
[mocking] Oh, noooo.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, let's start at the beginning.
Dan (Wren)
A very good place to start. [laughs] [Editor's Note: This is a reference to Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music.]
Timothy (DM)
You do notice that it is dark outside. [Ellie groans]
Chris (Sal S)
Well, wasn't it night time whenever we were fighting?
Timothy (DM)
But all of the torches are lit. [Chris: "Yeah."]
Ellie (Markie)
Welllll, I guess I'm not tired because we did take a short rest pretty recently, but I am going to need a nap. And I do really want to read my special book! Also, I find it much more interesting than learning about these psychopaths who trapped me and everyone that I love in an infinite cycle. [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
Escapism yeah!
Dan (Wren)
Do you want to set up camp then? Or camp... [laughs to self] [Ellie: "Yeah."] Set up our bed rolls?
Ellie (Markie)
In the little alcove, like one of those reading nooks? [Dan: "Yeah."]
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. There is a cute little reading nook. Several, actually... in the library.
Ellie (Markie)
That's so great. Let's all pile our bedrolls up and we can all sleep in a big cozy pile!
Dan (Wren)
[half-hearted] Sure.
Ellie (Markie)
Yay! This is the happiest Markie has been in hours. [all laugh]
Timothy (DM)
It has been a very LONG, DRY, somewhat terrifying, dangerous day. [laughs]
Dan (Wren)
Yeah, honestly, I would LOVE some downtime. [laughs] To not have to think about any of this.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
"Yeah. Want me to tell you guys a story while we fall asleep? [Chris: "Please!"] about the 12-- the 14-legged deer. [Dan: "Yes! Absolutely., Chris: "Please do!"] The long 14-legged deer? Okay, yeah." And so I have... I just can do good rests. Oh, wait, that's a short rest. [Tim: "Gooood rests."] But I yeah, I tell everybody, like, a nice bedtime story from this book that has NOTHING to do with anything that we've been dealing with and it's just a fun story about this 14-legged deer and its adventures. And we do a long rest.
Timothy (DM)
And you do a long rest. Anything that y'all need to do before passing out for the eve?
Dan (Wren)
[seeing Chris inhales] Go ahead.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, no, I wasn't gonna say anything. I was just inhaling.
Dan (Wren)
Wren is gonna, like, saddle up next to Markie, probably when Sal is, like, I don't know, off looking at a book or something. [Chris: "Yeah."] And be like, "Ah, can I ask you a favor?"
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, what's up?
Dan (Wren)
"So..." he pulls out his leather journal and, like, rummages through it and pulls out... [to Ellie] I made handouts. [Ellie: "HANDOUTS!", Chris: "Whoooa."] He pulls out a handful of slips of paper and hands them to Markie. "So, Wesley used t-- when we were on different missions in the war, he would write me poems and such, [Ellie: "Oh my gosh!"] and his last set of poems before he died he wrote in little parts but gave them to me in the wrong order, and it's incomplete (I'm pretty sure) and I've been racking my brain for years now how to finish it and I just can't put it together, so if you could... if you could help me, I would appreciate it."
Ellie (Markie)
"I WOULD BE BEYOND HONORED TO FINISH IT." Markie is, like, tearing up crying.
Dan (Wren)
He like... he's like... Wren is, like, fiddling with, like, the corner of his, like... the corner of the pages in his, like, as in, like, NOT looking at you at all. Just bein' like, "If you could, I would... um...I would really appreciate it."
Ellie (Markie)
Oh my gosh. Markie grabs your hands in her hands and looks into your eyes soooo earnestly, and is like, "There is NO privilege greater that you could bestow unto be that allowing me to tell the story of your love. I would be HONORED! *blllrurur*"
Dan (Wren)
"Great. Ok." He's gonna pull his hands away, and be like "Thank you. Um..."
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, boy. Yeah, she sits right down and starts, like, putting them in different orders and, like, trying out different like that *duh-duh-duh-duh-duh*
Dan (Wren)
So, I'm pretty sure I know one of them; there are two that fit together really nicely. So if... if we want to...
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Okay.
Dan (Wren)
Do we want to read them? Do you want to read them? I can read some of them.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, tell me the ones that you think go in order first.
Dan (Wren)
I've got this one is 'Then break my heart. Oh, fair, young thing.' I'm pretty sure is right before that last one.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, 'cause he was the rhyming type.
Dan (Wren)
He was a rhyming type. Yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, not the way I would have composed it, but that's just fine. Different strokes, different folks.
Dan (Wren)
Y'know, he wasn't a professional like you.
Ellie (Markie)
"Well, yeah. All right. All right. So, we've got 'In the wind, I hear you call my name.' That's a lovely sentiment. 'May the wind and grass guide you back to my arms.' Sweet..." Markie is making VERY earnest eye contact with you as she reads ALL of these.
Dan (Wren)
Wren is NOT joining in on the eye contact. [Ellie laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
'On rolling blades of grass, I feel your hand in mind.' Okay, grass guy; he was a grass guy. 'Then break my heart. Oh, fair young thing, now that it's learned to dance and sing.'
Dan (Wren)
I'm pretty sure those two go together. That makes sense.
Ellie (Markie)
And those two go together.
Dan (Wren)
They rhyme, it feels right.
Ellie (Markie)
You're pretty sure okay, we'll keep them... we'll keep them together. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of sad, though. At the ending. Did you break his heart?
Dan (Wren)
No, I don't think so. I mean, he's dead. So...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, well. Of a broken heart?
Dan (Wren)
I don't... no. It was a... pretty sure it was knives. [all laugh]
Chris (Sal S)
It's broken now!
Ellie (Markie)
Well, I, like... would be so honored. I can't give you something off of the dome, of course, because something of this sensitivity requires a great deal of thought and consideration. But I would love to help.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, yeah, if you could just, like, think about it. I've... I've literally tried to write so many different lines and none of them. None of them work. Not the creative type.
Chris (Sal S)
Very right brain. [Editor's Note: Chris is mistaken, and he meant left brain]
Ellie (Markie)
Well, that's what... I'm here for you, and you helped me find my books, and now I'll help you finish your poem! [heartfelt] Are we best friends?
Dan (Wren)
Yes.
Ellie (Markie)
*happy gasp*
Dan (Wren)
I have a few... just so we're clear. [Chris laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Your cat.
Dan (Wren)
My cat, Twilight...
Ellie (Markie)
Who's still hanging out there.
Dan (Wren)
I got a... I got a friend back home. She's pretty cool. You can... you're, like, up there. You're, like, up with them.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, great. Yeah. Great. I'll take that. Okay. Cool. Cool.
Dan (Wren)
Thanks. [Ellie: "You're welcommmme."] [grabbing the poem] I'll hold on to these. And then...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, I mean, I'll write them down here. I write them. I use my various equipment that I have
Timothy (DM)
You have writing equipment. You're also in a library, there also things.
Ellie (Markie)
I have a bottle of ink, an ink pan.
Dan (Wren)
If anything, I'll tear out a piece of construction...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah. So yeah, I copy them down, and then give the originals back to you. Of course, of course. Because these are your treasures. There you go.
Dan (Wren)
"Thank you. Well, I guess I'm just gonna go to bed now." [Ellie: "Okay"] and he, like, [laughs] awkwardly scurries off to his cot or whatever?
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, okay, bye.
Chris (Sal S)
Sal's gonna be... while they're having their little bonding session over poetry. Sal's gonna be walking...
Dan (Wren)
[laughing] Sorry, Sal.
Chris (Sal S)
Oh, he... he's busy.
Ellie (Markie)
It's personal.
Chris (Sal S)
He's-he's studying the portraits to sort of see... just walk down the row, back down and forth again, because I imagine it might be easier to have pictures to show of who we're looking for. If they don't know these people's names. So...
Ellie (Markie)
True, we got a photo of Gladys. Yeah. So are you, like, making copies? Like sketching copies?
Chris (Sal S)
Yeah, I'll be sketching copies of the heavy hitters. Victor and Vladlan and so-and-so. [Tim: "All right."] Are they listed in order like underneath the plaque, like who is...?
Timothy (DM)
Yeah, just like if you were to open a yearbook.
Chris (Sal S)
They're all on the bleachers. They have the little class of 1442.
Timothy (DM)
They are standing on wooden bleachers. Yeah. So yeah, you make some sketches before you doze off for the evening. And as you all settle in for the night, the sounds of the castle start to creep in all around you. Remember: this place haunted is SHIT.
Ellie (Markie)
It's so haunted. And stuff can go through walls.
Timothy (DM)
You hear random wails throughout the night, rattling of chains and random objects throughout the castle crash into the ground and slam or break.
Dan (Wren)
Luckily, Twilight purrs very loudly. Sounds like a little radiator going.
Timothy (DM)
But nothing disturbs your sleep. And you get a long rest. [group rejoices] Congratulations!
Dan (Wren)
We nailed it! I literally don't even get anything back from a long rest.
Ellie (Markie)
We didn't get the wet ghost at all. [Dan: "I know.", Tim: "No wet ghost."] No wet ghost. Whatever happened to that wet ghost? I felt like that guy was on our side for sure.
Dan (Wren)
No sopping spirit?
Ellie (Markie)
I know.
Chris (Sal S)
Puddly poltergeist.
Dan (Wren)
Oh, I like that one.
Timothy (DM)
Salvador, you fall asleep with a lot on your mind. All the names and dates just pass through your head over and over and over as you tried to make sense of all of it, and as you have a rather fitful night, just consistently rocked by the events of the day, begin to have a particularly lucid dream. A flurry of colors and speckles and sparkles swirl about your mind and you look down at your hands. You look down at your feet, and you see that you're floating in this ethereal space as you begin to have random thoughts, and they start to manifest in front of you, what do you... what is on your mind?
Chris (Sal S)
Salvador's thinking, 'Oh, well, geez, this is a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be involved in trying to break this news. But now that we're figuring out that there's some sort of philosophy, philosophical cults and time loops, and I don't know, it just seems a lot more complicated than I originally thought.'
Timothy (DM)
As you're having these thoughts, you start to see their faces, the people from the portraits start to form out of these ethereal clouds, just kind of standing off to your right. Then you see swirls of clouds turning over on itself to your left as images of clocks start to surround you.
Chris (Sal S)
No, Gladys... do I... can I see Gladys in the crowd?
Timothy (DM)
You do see Gladys as face and as you think of her name, her face becomes more vivid. Her body forms, and you can see the intricate details of her dress.
Chris (Sal S)
Gladys, what is the meaning of why you've called us to be here, or at least was the meaning of Desmond's sending me here?
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
[breathy] Now, now, now, Salvador. This isn't Gladys. This is only a manifestation of your dreams.
Chris (Sal S)
Gosh, dangit.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
But Someone is here. I've been watching you, Salvador. I've been watching you a LONG time. Since before you even were 'Salvador'.
Chris (Sal S)
Not sure I understand how, but...
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Before you were thought...
Chris (Sal S)
Hmm, I don't believe we've met before.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Oh, Salvador. You've always known me. I've always been here. No need for introductions. You seem... confused?
Chris (Sal S)
That would be an understatement, I'd say. Why have me and my newly found friends. Why... Why are we here?
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Hmmm, the answer to that is quite inconsequential. You could be here, you could be elsewhere and it really wouldn't matter. There is no reason for you being here. You didn't need to, and you never will be.
Chris (Sal S)
And these townsfolk in in the town of Valerian. Why... Why did they remain in this time loop? Why was a time loop made?
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Salvador, why are you so concerned with inconsequential things?
Chris (Sal S)
Because I'm unclear on what is consequential.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Why are you trying so hard to figure something out when there's other things for you?
Chris (Sal S)
Well, if you have a list that I can peruse that might illuminate on what exactly the hell I'm supposed to do...
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Have you ever wondered why your life makes so little sense?
Chris (Sal S)
Occasionally.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Why you continue to find yourself in such nonsensical predicaments, people coming and going as if warping through a portal? Places manifesting all around you with no logic, rhyme or reason?
Chris (Sal S)
Well, based off of that creepy looking book that we found, I'm sure it's related to being playthings like leaves in the wind.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Oh, no, no, no, Salvador. I do not see you as a plaything, merely as a partner.
Chris (Sal S)
Well, as-as a partner, we shouldn't have any further secrets from each other.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
No, we shall not. And I don't believe I have kept any secrets from you. It's just a matter of what you're able to comprehend. I must temper you.
Chris (Sal S)
Well, I'm, I'm all ears, because I feel like we're going to need some, some guidance on how to fix all this.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
I think you're ready for the next step.
Chris (Sal S)
And my friends, what do you think about them?
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
They are your "friends" so you say...
Chris (Sal S)
[narrows eyes] Don't say inconsequential.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
*sigh* But, Salvador, they are inconsequential, but I'm not going to take that from you. You can keep your friends; I have no ill will, Salvador. I don't know why you have such a wall up around you. But one day, you may learn to trust me. Plus, I have a gift for you.
Chris (Sal S)
Salvador... is this voice coming from? It's just like all around?
Timothy (DM)
It's all around you.
Chris (Sal S)
Ok, and I'm still monitoring the-the crowd of faces. Okay, but I'm listening to them.
Timothy (DM)
Yeah. And well, so as you've been having this conversation, the sound originally felt like it was coming from Gladys, but then continued to just kind of envelop you, and as you mention your friends, they too manifest out of these clouds, and little bits of the conversation start to manifest as well. The words start to kind of just scribble across the screen. And as the voice mentions a gift, you see a rose appear before you, a little bud and it blooms, blossoms and begins to just circle your head.
Chris (Sal S)
It's a nice variety. I think I've seen it before.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
You're welcome.
Chris (Sal S)
Can I pull it out of the air?
Timothy (DM)
You go to reach for it and you try to grasp at it, and it continues to just spin, dodging your hand.
Timothy (Sal's Dream)
Let's circle back. This gift is in good faith. But I need to remind you, Salvador: there is greatness within you. Call upon it. Know who you are.
Timothy (DM)
And with that your dream begins to fade. And you fall into a restful slumber.
Markie, you drift asleep with the thoughts of your new poems, of the task from Wren, and all of the weird nagging thoughts of strange shit happening around you, including the one of existential dread that you've been stuck in a time loop for 17 years and everyone you love and know is stuck in it with you, and THAT'S a really terrifying thought, but, uh, let's think these poems? Yeah? Yeah, yeah.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, it's the big one I'm compartmentalizing.
Timothy (DM)
So, you drift off to sleep, and you're pretty good at sleeping. Everything kind of fades away. You let the world just drift away... until you start to hear a voice, very faint at first: "Do you remember me? Do you remember me? Do you remember me? [Ellie moans] Do you re-mem-ber who you ARE?"
Ellie (Markie)
[scared] I-I don't remember you. I'm Marky!
Timothy (Remy)
[terrifying nerd giggle] Hee-hee-hee-hee.
Ellie (Markie)
No, I don't like this. I don't like this at all. This is not a good dream.
Timothy (Remy)
Markie, Markie! It's been FOR-EV-ERRRR. So long, so long I've been trapped here... *sighs* I see you. [giggles]
Ellie (Markie)
Iiiiiiii... think we can probably come to a solution to this issue that's acceptable for both of us, but, um... I... do you have a... hmmmm
Timothy (Remy)
[frantic] I am so sorry. Did I frighten you? I didn't mean to frighten you.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, you're freaking me out, man. I'm sorry.
Timothy (Remy)
I... it's just been so long since I've had anyone to talk to.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, well, hey, yeah, I-I get that. Where do I know you from? I'm so sorry. I think I've forgotten.
Timothy (Remy)
Everyone forgets me.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, well, maybe you should have like a signature... look. You have, like, an accessory or something?
Timothy (Remy)
[flustered] A look? What do I look like? Do I look like anything? I don't remember.
Ellie (Markie)
Am I just seeing, like, blackness right now, or is there like... [Tim nods] ok.
Timothy (Remy)
Yeah, it's just completely pitch black. ALL that there is is just the voice.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, okay. Hmm.
Timothy (Remy)
Mark here. Do I look like anything? Can you see me?
Ellie (Markie)
No, not currently.
Timothy (Remy)
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I must find myself again. This always happens. I'm always forgotten. They always leave me. You won't leave me, Markie, will you? Please don't leave me.
Ellie (Markie)
I don't even know who you are.
Timothy (Remy)
[sad] Oh no... I don't know who I am either. Has it been that long?
Ellie (Markie)
Do you live here? In the castle or...?
Timothy (Remy)
There's a castle?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, that's where... well, I'm in a castle right now.
Timothy (Remy)
[giddy] I'd LOVE to live in the castle?
Ellie (Markie)
Are you in the castle?
Timothy (Remy)
Can I live in the castle? Will you live in the castle with me, Markie?
Ellie (Markie)
Well, I gotta go home. You can come live with me at home, though, I guess if you... if you're cool about it.
Timothy (Remy)
Oh, yes. I'll be very cool. I'll be soooo COOL. I think? I think I'm cool...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, well, what are, like, your hobbies?
Timothy (Remy)
What are hobbies?
Ellie (Markie)
It's like the stuff you do when...you know, if you have some free time, and you get up to things. Do you remember what your name is?
Timothy (Remy)
*inhales deeply* I have LOTS of free time.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, so maybe you need hobbies.
Timothy (Remy)
Yes, hobbies. Yes. Yes. Let me, let me... Ohhhh, I see you. I see... I see where you are.
Ellie (Markie)
Castle? Yeah.
Timothy (Remy)
I see the castle. The castle looks so fun.
Ellie (Markie)
Well, it's... to be honest, it hasn't been that great of a time for me. So, I don't know if I would recommend it, but you seem maybe like some sort of incorporeal ghostly being, so perhaps it would be right up your alley.
Timothy (Remy)
There are so many people here...
Ellie (Markie)
In the castle?
Timothy (Remy)
Yeahhhh. There are so many. So... OHHHH, I like this one. I would like to play with this one. Markie, will you play with us? But first... Oh no. I must find my body.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, okay. Well, where did you last see it? What were you doing with it?
Timothy (Remy)
*inhales deeply* I don't remember.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, yeah, that's tough. I've been having some memory problems myself lately.
Timothy (Remy)
No good. No good. That's not good, Markie.
Ellie (Markie)
I know. You know, I feel like I got the wrong impression of you originally, kind of crept into my mind while I was sleeping with a creepy voice, and it freaked me out a little bit, but it seems like we actually have a lot in common.
Timothy (Remy)
That's right: we do. I remember why I'm talking to you.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, great. Care to share?
Timothy (Remy)
I have always been with you, Markie.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, y--? Oh, yeah. See, this is kind of the creepy thing that I'm talking about though. That's like a creepy thing to say.
Timothy (Remy)
Oh, it's not my body. Oh, it's not... [sadly] Oh, no. Nevermind.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, you saw... Hmmm. You're not going to take my body, are you? Just checking?
Timothy (Remy)
I thought that it was mine. But...
Ellie (Markie)
My body? You thought my body was your body?
Timothy (Remy)
You see, it's very hard to tell when I've been in it for so long.
Ellie (Markie)
You're in my body?
Timothy (Remy)
Mmhm! Yeah...
Ellie (Markie)
WHAT? Oooookay. That's... I'm gonna be honest, that's invasive. You're in my body?!?
Timothy (Remy)
I meeeeeean, like...
Ellie (Markie)
Are you like a tape worm?
Timothy (Remy)
[stammers] I'm just--
Ellie (Markie)
--because I've had worms before.
Timothy (Remy)
Well, there's so many dimensions that you just weren't using. Do you even know they're here?
Ellie (Markie)
Know what here?
Timothy (Remy)
Your extra dimensions?
Ellie (Markie)
No.
Timothy (Remy)
You're only taking up three. Why is that? Did you forget they existed? [giddy] Oh, Markie, I can help you as you help me.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, um, well, sure. I mean, three has been pretty good for me so far, but if there are extras, I don't see why... why not? Might as well check them out a little bit. Is that where you are?
Timothy (Remy)
Yes, I am in... Oh, goodness. There's a lot in here. Which ones am I in? Five, seven, D, elephant, red, petrichor... and feather. Yes, I think those are all of them.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, gosh. And here I was just in X, Y and Z, I guess... [nervous laugh] Haha, that's a little joke for ya'. What do you think about that? Do you remember your name? Is there something I can call you?
Timothy (Remy)
Oh, you did read about me earlier. I'm...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, I did. I gotta be honest. I've read more today probably than I've ever read in my entire life, so you're gonna have to be more specific than that.
Timothy (Remy)
But that's not my name! It says I'm the Forgotten One. Who would say that about me?
Ellie (Markie)
Not me, I guess! You're the Forgotten One? Well, that doesn't... That seems like a self-fulfilling sort of name. How about I call you the Remembered One?
Timothy (Remy)
I like that very much.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, great. So--
Timothy (Remy)
I'm remembered now.
Ellie (Markie)
And I'll call you Remy for short.
Timothy (Remy)
Remy? Oh, I like this. I will hold on to this one.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay, well, so great. So we've got you a name. Next up, we've got to find your body. But you don't know where you left it? And because you are in so many dimensions, and I'm only in three, I'm worried that maybe your body is in a dimension I don't know about. Is that possible? Do you think you could have...
Timothy (Remy)
Perhapsss, um...
Ellie (Markie)
But actually, can we revisit something? Because you said you're in my body?
Timothy (Remy)
[pause] Mm hmm. Mmhm. Yes. It's quite nice. You have so much... room for activities...
Ellie (Markie)
[offput] Yeah, it's been working pretty well for me in some ways and not so well in others, I guess. Is there... why have you never talked to me before? If you've always been with me, and you live inside my own body, which I'm still a little freaked out about, but I'm putting a pin in it and I'm compartmentalizing.
Timothy (Remy)
Is this not before? Or is this after? Time is... uh... I haven't visited that dimension yet!
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, the dimension of time. Um. Hm-hm-hm. Well... well... do you know...? Actually, could you visit the dimension of time? Is that something that you're capable of, Rems?
Timothy (Remy)
Perhaps. I'd have to remember how... if I ever knew.
Ellie (Markie)
'Cuz I'm having some trouble with time to be honest, and it's going in a circle when it's not supposed to be, and I'm wondering if maybe the way to get out of it is to get into the dimension of time and straighten it out myself.
Timothy (Remy)
OH!
Ellie (Markie)
Is that something you can help me with?
Timothy (Remy)
It doesn't move in a circle?
Ellie (Markie)
Usually, it's typically not supposed to at least on the microscale (my understanding is).
Timothy (Remy)
[quizically] How fascinating.
Ellie (Markie)
Perhaps it's a bigger circle, but, like, right now it's a smaller circle than it's supposed to be. [Remy: "Ah, oh, yeah."] Does that makes sense? Because-because, see, two can play at the cryptic game.
Timothy (Remy)
Yes, it does make sense. I-I see what you're talking about. Hmm... It seems... Let me try something.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, yeah! Okay, sure.
Timothy (Remy)
[thinking] Hmm. What's that in the basement? What-what-what-what is going on down there?
Ellie (Markie)
The basement of the castle?
Timothy (Remy)
Yes.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, I can't see down there. Can you tell me?
Timothy (Remy)
Therrrrrre's some mirrors...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, does it look like a big spell circle?
Timothy (Remy)
I don't know what that is.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh. Well, okay, it's got... it's like a circle and a bunch of lines and some errors. It sounds like you're what you're describing, and it's in the basement, you said?
Timothy (Remy)
If basement is down and attic is up.
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, that's correct. You remember that!
Timothy (Remy)
I do!
Ellie (Markie)
That's great. I mean, for a multi-dimensional being, I feel like I wouldn't... if I had that much going on in my head, I couldn't remember what basements and attics were made. Man, I couldn't even remember whether I was ascending or descending stairs!
Timothy (Remy)
[narrows eyes at Ellie] Is that a joke?
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah, sorry. It's a little joke. Just a little joke. Do you know any jokes? I met a door that loves joke. Sorry, we're getting off topic, though. So there's a spell circle in the basement. You're looking for your body. You're not sure where you left it, though, so you're using the dimensions of mine that I'm not using, which, like, as long as you don't do anything terrible with them... I mean, if I'm not using them, it makes me feel a little weird, but I guess I can't really object. And you seem like a decent enough... "being", right?
Timothy (Remy)
I don't know what the quality of "decent" means but...
Ellie (Markie)
Well, you don't seem to have done any... you haven't, like, cursed me in my sleep or anything? Right?
Timothy (Remy)
Why would I do that?
Ellie (Markie)
Right! Because you're decent. A not decent person or existence might you just do it as a hobby. Remember how we talked about hobbies? Some people's hobbies are making other people sad. And that doesn't seem to be your hobby, and so that's why you're a decent thing.
Timothy (Remy)
No, why would I do that?
Ellie (Markie)
Right. Yeah. See, I don't get it either. But the world is full of messed up people.
Timothy (Remy)
[pathetically] My hobby seems to be making myself sad.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, Remyyyy. No! No, no, no, no! *slap*
Timothy (Remy)
Oh! But I found something!
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, you did? Yeah.
Timothy (Remy)
It's for you. [hands Ellie a paper handout]
Ellie (Markie)
"It's for me?" [to Tim] Does a piece of paper, like, float...?
Timothy (DM)
A round "blacker-than-the-black-that-you've-been-looking-at" thing appears in front of you.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, I thought I was in the Void, but THAT'S the Void. [both laugh]
Timothy (DM)
And you're able to touch it. It's tangible.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, okay.
Timothy (Remy)
You... you had this in the feather dimension.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, so it was mine, but, like, other-me who's busy doing other stuff... Okay. Well, gr-- what is it?
Timothy (Remy)
I don't know.
Ellie (Markie)
I touch it. I'm, like, trying to pick it up. I guess.
Timothy (DM)
You can pick it up. Yeah. [Ellie: "Okay."] It's a hole! [laughs]
Ellie (Markie)
Great...
Timothy (DM)
It is a hole that has manifested in space, and does what a Portable Hole would do.
Ellie (Markie)
[reading her handout] Ah! I see: a fine black cloth, soft as silk. [Tim laughs] "Wow. Remy, this is so great! Gosh, I wish I had something to give you..." I've... pat around my pockets. Do I have my pockets in my dream dimension?
Timothy (DM)
You do have your pockets in your dream dimension.
Ellie (Markie)
"Uh, ah, Oh! Would you like, um.." Oh, can I... do I have the book of epic poetry I fell asleep holding?
Timothy (DM)
You can.
Ellie (Markie)
"Okay. Well, so obviously, I don't want to prescribe you hobbies because I think it's important to find your passions on your own. But! this is a really great book of incredible stories that I really enjoyed, Remy, and if you've got time to kill while you're wandering around the Void searching for your body, I think you should give these a read." and I hold out the book into the Void. [both laugh] "Can you get... can you get that? I'm not exactly sure how this works to be honest."
Timothy (DM)
As you hold out the book, you see a kind of, like, blob of blackness just covers it and you then... you no longer feel it in your hands.
Timothy (Remy)
I love it. I love it, I love it, I love itttttttt.
Ellie (Markie)
Aw, great. That's really... well, so we do have a lot in common.
Timothy (Remy)
Markie... Poetry is my hobby now. This book is my hobby now. I have hobbies!
Ellie (Markie)
You dooooo!
Timothy (Remy)
Oh, I forgot about the basement.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, the basement? Yeah, sorry. We were in the middle of talking about it. There's mirrors down there and stuff? [Remy: "Yes."] But you said the castle is full of people. [Remy: "Yes."] So maybe you're looking--
Timothy (Remy)
These are all true.
Ellie (Markie)
--You're looking at it at a different time than we're in it now because we're-we're in the castle; there's nobody here. Hmmm... Is there any way you can take me to the castle time that you're looking at? Can I visit your version of the castle with you?
Timothy (Remy)
Maybe, but not in the current circumstances...
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, yeah. I don't know much about circumstances, so you're probably the expert on that.
Timothy (Remy)
Hmm. And on your time loop...
Ellie (Markie)
Yeah. My circle that's smaller than a circle's supposed to be.
Timothy (Remy)
It's quite small. That's not right.
Ellie (Markie)
Right, that's what I think.
Timothy (Remy)
It's much bigger usually.
Ellie (Markie)
Right? It's supposed to be like span of decades and centuries and like stuff and instead, it's the span of a single day, way too small! [Remy sighs] But it's also not your problem to solve. I mean, I know we're... we just met or maybe we've always known each other... either way, you know...
Timothy (Remy)
No, but YOU can solve it.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, yeah? You... do you have an Insight?
Timothy (Remy)
But you'll have to pay the price.
Ellie (Markie)
[sadly] Well, I only have five gold.
Timothy (Remy)
Not that kind of brace.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh! Do you know what the price is? I can get most things. I'm very resourceful.
Timothy (Remy)
There's something in the basement that I would *like*.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay. Well, I'll go look, I'll check in the basement. I... Well, now I can't promise because I think the basement that you're looking at is at a different time than the basement that I'm in or going to, but I will go check the basement anyway and maybe it'll still be there.
Timothy (Remy)
Yes. [Ellie: "Okay."] When you find it, you'll know what it is. [Ellie: "Okay."] And I would like it very much. And it just so happens to be the price!
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, great. Well, that really works out well. And so I pay you the price?
Timothy (Remy)
[crytpically] In a way.
Ellie (Markie)
Okay. Yeah. I mean... sure.
Timothy (Remy)
All things do... eventually make their way to me.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, including that book, I guess. Haha... Well, so yeah, I'll go look in the basement and then when I find it, do I just go back to sleep again holding it and is that how I give it to you? I'm sorry, I'm kind of new to this.
Timothy (Remy)
Hmm, you'll have to pay the price to break the time lock. [Ellie: "Right."] You'll have to perform the ritual, Markie.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, Remy. Rituals are a little out of my area of expertise. Will it kind of be self-explanatory?
Timothy (Remy)
...no. *giggles*
Ellie (Markie)
No, okay. Can I dial back in and ask you... Can I phone a friend, Rems?
Timothy (Remy)
You won't need to. [Ellie: "Okay."] You have friends... [Ellie: "That's true."] that will help you.
Ellie (Markie)
Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, you're right. I guess Salvador and Wren are both really smart and they know a lot about magic so they'll probably be able to help.
Timothy (Remy)
And Markie [Ellie: "Mmhm?"] There's so much in here. [Ellie: "Oh!"] So much... for you.
Ellie (Markie)
Wow, is this all stuff?
Timothy (Remy)
Have you forgotten? You must have...
Ellie (Markie)
I guess so I don't remember having any of this stuff.
Timothy (Remy)
Well, we'll see what is to come. Will you reverse the lock and become the unknown hero or escape and create your name?
Ellie (Markie)
Unknown hero? Oh gosh, okay.
Timothy (Remy)
The choice is yours. Will you be remembered?
Timothy (DM)
And with that, the sound drops out into, like, eerily quiet, utter silence. And the lucidity of your dream fades, and you fall back to sleep.
Wren, the faces of Edmund and Clarissa Hajburn into your mind as you struggle to fall asleep, and so does Lark's. You can hear his voice echoing through your mind, and you just remember how much you miss him, how many days have gone by... And how that's all brought you to this point in time in this bizarre and haunting castle with more questions than answers and piecing this altogether just nags and nags and nags at your mind as you try to fall asleep. You don't quite remember when it happened, but at some point you must have... because the world around you begins to melt. Images of the stacks of books start to droop and drip into puddles on the ground. The sounds of the castles begin to warble and melt into a drum of rumbling noises and then you begin to hear a voice as the pools of colors collect at your feet.
Timothy (The Void)
WREEEEENNNN
Dan (Wren)
[whispers] Oh god no. [normally] Yes, that's me.
Timothy (The Void)
JOIINNNNN USSSSS.
Dan (Wren)
It's been YEARS since I've heard this bit. No! No I won't.
Timothy (The Void)
JOIINNNN USSSS.
Dan (Wren)
Who-who... what are you?
Timothy (The Void)
WEEE ARRRRRE ALLLLL.
Dan (Wren)
You are all? You're ALL things? Excellent.
Timothy (The Void)
ALLLL BECOMMMES USSSS... IN THE ENDDDDD.
Dan (Wren)
No, absolutely not. You can leave now. You can go. You can GO AWAY. That's perfectly fine. What... what do you... what do you even want... what do you... what do you want with me?
Timothy (The Void)
WEEE WANNNNT EVVVVERYTHING. JOOOINNN USSSSS.
Dan (Wren)
[imiting the Void] NoOoOoO. Y'all can FUCK right off.
Timothy (The Void)
[zombie laugh] You WILL join ussss. Whether you want to or not!
Dan (Wren)
I would like to politely decline that offer. Try again next week? 'kay, I'm gonna close my eyes we're going back to sleep (I'm probably already asleep but I'll try anyways.)
Timothy (The Void)
You can't leave what is a part of you.
Dan (Wren)
Noooo...
Timothy (The Void)
We will always and have ALWAYS been part of you, WREN.
Dan (Wren)
*bleh* [laughs] Sorry, I don't what t--... No, thank you. Again, no thank you. Please go away. Uh, gross.
Timothy (The Void)
If you insist... but I will leave you with a parting gift.
Dan (Wren)
"Again, no, thank you." [Tim hands him a handout] Oh, I'm being passed things.
Timothy (The Void)
You must pull the parts of yourself that you have forgotten up to the surface.
Dan (Wren)
What? What? I don't think I forgot. I mean, I guess I've forgotten things since we, like, entered and left the town. I shouldn't be asking you questions. This seems... this seems like... but what are you talking about?!
Timothy (The Void)
Don't you want to protect them? Keep them safe? Do you want what happened Lark to happen to them?
Dan (Wren)
Um, noooo, I don't. That's pretty obvious.
Timothy (The Void)
You all share a heartbeat.
Timothy (DM)
And it falls silent. You sit in darkness for a brief moment longer before the lucidity of the dream fades away, and you fall fully asleep.
And that is where we will put a pause on today's story! Thank you all for joining us for this hallowed haunt 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 the grim, dark basement.
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 devilish 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 our what difficult decisions await poor little Markie and how she will rise to the occasion.