Timothy (DM)

Welcome to Shadows of Prophecy, a D&D real play podcast, where we will find out what it takes to become a hero, face our darkest fears, and pull ourselves out of a pit of despair. Shadows of Prophecy is a Dungeons and Dragons real play podcast with violent themes and adult language. Listener discretion is advised.

Timothy (DM)

With us today to traverse through adventures of loss and tragedy, we have: myself, Timothy as our ambivalent DM; Chris as everyone's favorite soft boy, Salvador Saltrose; Russel as our beefy army ship chef, Paavu Skywalker; and Ian as an utterly discernible pirate, Arnold of the Sea. Join us as we enter the Shadows of Prophecy. Prologue: A World Unravels. Chapter 2 - It Came from the Deep.

Timothy (DM)

You have heard the tale of the thing from the deep. You've never seen it before. But this immediately strikes your memory. Who are these people? And how have they summoned it?

Russell (Paavu)

Kraken?

Timothy (DM)

The black cyclone spins around in the sky as you feel both ships shake with the force of the waves of eight tentacles bursting from the surface of the water. They crash down on the ship, tearing it in half. Make a Dexterity saving throw

Russell (Paavu)

Kraken!!!

Timothy (DM)

--and Arnold as well.

Russell (Paavu)

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I got on the wrong ship. 7.

Timothy (DM)

All right. Arnold, you are thrown from your hiding spot into the hole in the hull. You splash down to the water beneath the ship. Paavu you brace yourself, and you just barely stay standing long enough to see the ship begin to tilt, sinking quickly into the depths of the ocean. You see the tentacles writhing and splashing, thrashing about. The crashing of wood splintering, the screams of people. Everything is chaos. And then you are hit across the head with a board, and you black out.

Russell (Paavu)

[meekly] Okay,

Timothy (DM)

Arnold, you thrash about in the water, trying to stay afloat trying to avoid the projectiles flying off the ship. The deck comes crashing down above you. You're able to submerge yourself underneath the water just quickly enough to avoid the bulk of the damage, but it bashes you on the head, and you black out

Russell (Paavu)

[childishly] Haha

Chris (Sal)

Join the party. Salvador is blacked out, and he continues to be blacked out [Tim and Ian laugh].

Timothy (DM)

So, you've all blacked out. Definitely didn't railroad you into being unconscious.

Russell (Paavu)

I mean, I was about to grab Sal and start running for a lifeboat, so it's a good thing you did!

Timothy (DM)

All right. Arnold, your head sways as you notice your aching body is cold and wet. The wind chilling you to a shiver, and you slowly blink your eyes open. The sun burns your retinas, and the salt stings your eyes as you wince in pain and notice the lanky red body of a tiefling laying just a few feet to your right in the sand. Just beyond them, a big bulky figure, rippling with muscles... and tattoos and scars!

Russell (Paavu)

[seriously] I should warn you that I'm a sleep farter.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Oh man, it's cold! Whew.

Timothy (DM)

You are hungry, you're in pain, and you're exhausted. You've taken a substantial amount of damage in the wreckage, about 25% of your health.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

[incredulously] So, three damage? [the players laugh]

Chris (Sal)

Man, you're really bulky!

Timothy (DM)

You're at about 25% of your health.

Timothy (DM)

[as Edgar] "I feel a little bit chilly, and a bit peckish"

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

"Someone hit me hard in the arm"... wh-where am I? Like, I'm on a, I'm on a, like a wreck?--

Timothy (DM)

You begin to gain your bearings and feel the wet sand beneath you. As you look around, you see a coastline. Wreckage from the ships are washing ashore, along with the bodies.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

But there's... it's just these two people alive with me right now?

Timothy (DM)

That you notice breathing.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Yeah, I'll go walk over and... search their bodies for useful things [laughs].

Timothy (DM)

Alright, so you start shifting Salvador's body around, looking for--

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I'm also going to try to drag them to, likem a dry, like a drier spot, but also just sort of like you know, search on them maybe they'd have a health potion or something to help them...

Chris (Sal)

[sassily] The health is just in be, baby.

Timothy (DM)

Um, so you start dragging the tiefling's body up onto a drier part of the shoreline. You notice their--[to Chris] what are your weapons?

Chris (Sal)

I have a battle axe and light crossbow.

Timothy (DM)

Okay, you notice a light crossbow dangling from their hip as well as a coin pouch. As you drag them across the sand and drop their arm, they let out a spatter of water as they cough and their eyes begin to blink open.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Oh, am I still... did I manage to keep my, like, bandolier and cape?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, that's all tied on to you pretty well.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Throwin... throwin' that stuff... taking... taking everything off except the bandolier because it has all the stuff tied to it and just throwing it away It's like he was never wearing it.

Timothy (DM)

All right. So, you start to pull all of the make-shift pirate costume off, throwing it to the ground as, Salvador, you regained consciousness.

Chris (Sal)

[coughing] Wha- stah! Nooo! Wh-what are you? What are you doing?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Oh, I was... I was... I was... uh, I was just... just pulling you away from the water, man.

Chris (Sal)

What happened? I got hit by that a pirate, and how do I get here?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Uh, I don't know! I-I was in the pirates', pirates' hold, and uh, the, uh, escaped in the battle, and uh, you know it's... I'm on this-- the thing uh fell in the water. I don't remember anything, I just woke up like you!

Timothy (DM)

Sal, as you're talking to this person... [laughs]

Chris (Sal)

Ne'er-do-well?

Timothy (DM)

As you talk to this person, you wince in pain as you notice blood dripping from your nose. Upon reaching up to feel it, you notice that your nose has been broken.

Chris (Sal)

Well, this is no good. I...Is it broken that I have to like reset it?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah.

Chris (Sal)

Dang it! Well, at least, they taught us this much, and he he takes the palms of his hands, and he pops it back into the more or less the right position, and he he looks around-- is my pack still by me?

Timothy (DM)

No.

Chris (Sal)

Dang it. Can I... I know we've just met, but can I... can I take some of your cape to make a bandage?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I don't have a cape on. [Tim and Ian laugh]

Timothy (DM)

The cape has been thrown to the ground

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I took out took off all my pirate stuff off.

Chris (Sal)

Oh, so it's hidden. Okay...

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Well, it's... I, like, just threw it in the water. Okay, it's like nearby.

Chris (Sal)

[pointing to the cape] Can you go grab that cape?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

[earnestly] Oh, yeah, it's first time I've seen it.

Chris (Sal)

I take it, I make strips, and I start to make these long bandages. I look over Paavu, and I... how's he fairing?

Timothy (DM)

And then you hear a loud groan [Russell groans] Paavu, your eyes start to blink open, the sun burning your retinas. You are sore and wet and tired.

Russell (Paavu)

What in the coriander happened?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Oh, hey, man, you're awake, too.

Russell (Paavu)

Who are you?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I'm, uh, I'm, uh, Edgar. I just y'know, I was, I was uh, I was uh, you know, I crashed on the ship, and we're on the shore now. That's... that's what's happening. [Tim stifling laughter]

Russell (Paavu)

Can I tell if he's lying?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, you do you wait to do a... um

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I did not lie there! For what it's worth [Ian stifling laughter] Edgar ONLY TOLD THE TRUTH THERE.

Timothy (DM)

Yeah!

Chris (Sal)

That's a good point.

Timothy (DM)

Give me a, uh, Persuasion against a Insight--

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I prefer Deception, but...

Timothy (DM)

I mean, you can give him Deception, yeah.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Chris (Sal)

Oh, I got a ...

Russell (Paavu)

Chris (Sal)

20 Insight!

Timothy (DM)

Oh, okay. So, I mean, given the events of what's taking place, their story might be technically true, but like, whaaaaat?

Chris (Sal)

So, you escaped from a pirate's hold... on your own volition?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Well, there's lots... there's lots of stuff going on, and they got distracted. I think I heard some fighting in I ran. I saw ship and I ran across the thing and then [blasting noises], you [more blasting noises]. And then, yeah! Now, we're here on this beach together. It's just us.

Chris (Sal)

How did the ship get destroyed?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I have no idea. I just ran across.

Russell (Paavu)

[matter-of-factly] Uh, Kraken.

Chris (Sal)

A Kraken???

Russell (Paavu)

Yeeeah.

Chris (Sal)

You... You saw a kraken?

Russell (Paavu)

I.. I think show.

Chris (Sal)

Oh my god.

Russell (Paavu)

[assured] Yeah, it was definitely a Kraken.

Chris (Sal)

I just thought those were myths!

Russell (Paavu)

No, it... I think... would I know that they summoned it? Make Arcana?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, give me an Arcana roll, but also, like, something was happening that was being summoned.

Russell (Paavu)

Timothy (DM)

Yeah yeah, you definitely are like "Yes, there were those cloaked figures. They summoned it." and yeah.

Russell (Paavu)

The damned pirates summoned the thing.

Chris (Sal)

Wow, I... I... that's some powerful stuff.

Russell (Paavu)

Yeah, very serious pirating. Privateering? Yes. Where are we?

Chris (Sal)

[scanning the beach] It seems that we're on a coast...

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Yeah, I don't know. I just woke up, like, one minute ago, Was trying to save you guys from drowning, and just pulled'ya up

Russell (Paavu)

Y'know what, you have an honest face, so I believe you.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

[chipperly] Aww, thanks!

Chris (Sal)

Well, I guess, uh, I see all the unconscious bodies in the water that are...

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, there are bodies, broken boards, crates, a ton of different things floating ashore. You don't see any movement. Nearest you, you do see: it looks like somebody in a robe ( a dark robe) had crawled up the shore a bit before collapsing under their own weight. You see their face, kind of tilted towards you, their cheek in the sand, their eyes wide open and frozen in place.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

So, we're like on the coast that we don't recognize at all, right? We were just sailing towards a port, and, like, if you know, if we looked around, we could like maybe tell we're on a similar coast. Are we like on that coast?

Timothy (DM)

You're probably on that coast! Yeah, the tide would have brought you in, um. You don't see the port in sight. You do see a forest towards the mainland.

Chris (Sal)

Okay, well, I... I at least see this person on the shore. I'm going to go over to see what their situation is.

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, as you approach, they don't appear to be breathing. They are wearing a dark robe, their face in the sand, stomach down.

Chris (Sal)

[to Edgar] Are these people that you saw on the... on your ship?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

[smoothly] Y'know, I was, uh, they... a lot of people walked around. I saw some people in some dark robes that looked friendly with the... those-those-those-those bastard pirates. So, yeah, this looks like... these look like pirate people.

Chris (Sal)

Maybe they had something to do with the Kraken. Uh, can I investigate it? Like, pull the hood back, and do uh... they're not breathing, and they look like they're dead?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, give me an Investigation.

Chris (Sal)

Okay. Oh no, I've... I've negative to Intelligence. So, this is gonna be ROUGH. That's a 3.

Timothy (DM)

All right.

Chris (Sal)

Could it could it be a Medicine check?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, you can do a medicine check to tell if they're alive.

Chris (Sal)

Okay, that's only an 8.

Timothy (DM)

All right...[trying to find a silver lining] I mean ,they're not breathing! Yeah, and their eyes are like wide-fucking open and not moving, and that's kind of creepy.

Russell (Paavu)

Are they alive?

Chris (Sal)

It's a--

Timothy (DM)

Probably dead but

Chris (Sal)

It's an open-and-shut case: this is a deceased person.

Timothy (DM)

You do notice that near them there is a black satchel and embroidered on the satchel is a symbol. A spiral with eight arrows pointing out in every direction.

Chris (Sal)

Oh, I've seen this. This is some... it's a... I'm blanking on my religion class, but I believe this is a symbol of like a "chaos cult". [pointing to the symbol] You see all the swirlies in the arrows sticking out?

Russell (Paavu)

Chaos, you say?,

Chris (Sal)

Yeah, I think it's Tam Venom... Vanum?

Timothy (DM)

Give me a Religion check.

Chris (Sal)

Another Intelligence skill. That's an 8.

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, I mean, it looks very similar to a lot of the Tam Venum sigils that you've seen. The arrows are a new piece...

Chris (Sal)

Hmm. They're branching out, literally!

Russell (Paavu)

[dismissively] Those wackodoos...

Chris (Sal)

They're trying to distinguish themselves, but this cult is based around upsetting stuff, or I think they've been involved in some high profile assassinations? I'm not sure, but whatever they are, they are probably connected to that kraken that you saw. Is there anything inside the satchel?

Timothy (DM)

Some gold--

Russell (Paavu)

Spices?

Timothy (DM)

--a dagger. No spices.

Russell (Paavu)

Oh [sad face]. An assassination Kraken: that... that's new.

Chris (Sal)

Usually, they don't take on such specific jobs.

Russell (Paavu)

He just stops and is very deep in thought. [laughter]

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Well, guys, we should, uh, we should probably get to town, right?

Chris (Sal)

Yeah, I I suppose there's nothing left for us here now.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Well, Edgar starts, like, checking bodies for money.

Timothy (DM)

Alright, so Edgar--

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Looting the dead...

Timothy (DM)

--just starts pacing the coast, looking for loot fallen from the ship and the bodies. You're able to pick-pocket some gold, there's daggers! Not... not a ton of weapons because most of them have probably sunk to the bottom of the sea, never to be seen again.

Russell (Paavu)

Speaking of heavy things sinking, do I still have my... all my cast iron stuff on my belt? [laughs]

Timothy (DM)

How well were they secured to you?

Russell (Paavu)

Uhhh, pretty well.

Timothy (DM)

Okay!

Russell (Paavu)

Because he would wear them to combat

Timothy (DM)

Yep.

Russell (Paavu)

[relieved] Okay.

Chris (Sal)

Most importantly, is your rat skull there?

Timothy (DM)

How well is THAT secured?

Russell (Paavu)

I mean, I was... [panicked] OH NO, I left it below because we were drinking!

Timothy (DM)

Yeah.

Russell (Paavu)

[despondent] I'll have to find another one.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

C-c-can I roll to see if it washed ashore? [Russell and Chris laugh]

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, give me a--

Chris (Sal)

It is buoyant, yeah.

Timothy (DM)

--a raw luck roll. If it's a NAT 20, you can have your skull. [laughs] You have rolled a lot of nat 20s...

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I'm sorry; it was a 6.

Chris (Sal)

Oh :(

Timothy (DM)

No skull.

Russell (Paavu)

It's fine. Paavu will make new one.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Yeah. Lots of skulls on this beach.

Russell (Paavu)

Oh, you're actually quite right. Uh, the robedfigure? Paavu just takes his cleaver, cuts the head off. "I think this will do nicely."

Timothy (DM)

All right. [Chris laughs] You lob the head off of this figure. Blood is pouring out of its neck, you ..you lift it up. Its eyes stare at you

Russell (Paavu)

I wiggle it to help the blood go. [Tim laughs, Chris shivers]

Timothy (DM)

And, you all look around to gain bearing of your surroundings. You see debris scattering the coastline, sand going as far as you can see in both directions, and behind you a forest, but something does strike you as a unique feature. Maybe about a quarter mile off the beach, you can see the top of a stone structure just peeking out above the canopy.

Russell (Paavu)

Perhaps, we use to get vantage point.

Chris (Sal)

That's good. I'll give us a lay of at least this immediate area, and maybe there's some additional supplies there.

Russell (Paavu)

Yes, definitely not any monsters.

Timothy (DM)

Definitely not. So, you only have on you what was strapped to your body when you went down, when the ship went down. So, any of your main weapons are gone. Anything you left in your bunks, anything you left down in the galley, all gone. All at the bottom of the ocean. So, you really don't have a lot of equipment on you. Edgar has an unreasonable amount of things tied to their body. For some weird reason...

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I can tell you what they are if you want [laughs].

Timothy (DM)

What is tied to Edgar's body?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

So: there's a dagger, obviously (you'd keep that in your bandolier); there's a bottle of ink; there's an ink pen; and then, there's a map scroll--

Russell (Paavu)

[impressed] Oooh!

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

--and then there's a lamp and oil--

Timothy (DM)

Yeah.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

--and a flask, oil flask. Basically, whatever seemed the most "pirate" in terms of his own possessions.

Chris (Sal)

Yeah.

Russell (Paavu)

[in an Edgar voice] "All of these things starpped to my body and make me a pirate!"

Chris (Sal)

You know, what you would be really capped off if you had a nice cape, and maybe a headband.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

[defensively] I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know you're talking about!

Russell (Paavu)

Question:

Timothy (DM)

Yeah.

Russell (Paavu)

If I had two hand-axes, like, on my belt: are those gone too?

Timothy (DM)

Nope, you have those--

Russell (Paavu)

Okay.

Timothy (DM)

--but your cleaver's gone because you were holding that when you went unconscious. But, you do see that there are a couple crates that have washed ashore. Who knows what's inside them?

Chris (Sal)

[raising his hand] I do!

Timothy (DM)

Salvador has memorized the symbols on the sides of the crates and knows exactly what everything is.

Chris (Sal)

I have an encyclopedic knowledge of organization because I used to... I's, I was running the household for Elmira.

Timothy (DM)

Yep.

Chris (Sal)

So, I... I look around for any-any sort of pry bar to open these crates up.

Timothy (DM)

You could probably find some sticks or a board--

Chris (Sal)

A big rock?

Timothy (DM)

--or a big rock, try to find something flat.

Russell (Paavu)

Hand axe1

Chris (Sal)

Oh, yeah, you have a literal axe.

Russell (Paavu)

Two!

Timothy (DM)

Then, Paavu comes in with two hand-axes. Do you go, kinda, try to track down some of these crates? Pull out some materials?

Chris (Sal)

Yeah,

Timothy (DM)

So, you find one with provisions in it. So, you're able to crack that on open. Most of its super soggy, but edible. Probably a little on the saltier side.

Russell (Paavu)

Ahh, perfect for stew.

Timothy (DM)

And, there is a couple of sacks of provisions in that crate. So, if you want to just grab a sack, you have provisions; you can bring that with you. What type of equipment and things are you looking for beyond provision?

Chris (Sal)

Uh, I imagine we'll need something that's good for slashing. I mean, other than... it's good to have backup axes or something to cut

Russell (Paavu)

[expectantly to Tim] Perhaps, a great sword or great axe???

Chris (Sal)

Maybe some rope, and if there's any, like, general use oil or something.

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, give me, uh, a luck roll. Just a raw luck roll to see how many of those things you can tick off your list. Weapons probably being at the upper end of the difficulty..

Chris (Sal)

Because?

Timothy (DM)

[smartly] They typically aren't just stored in crates ... that float.

Chris (Sal)

Yeah, yeah, they would not... they'd have to be made out of like glass or something. That's a 3. That's... yeah.

Timothy (DM)

All right. Yeah. So, you start scanning the shoreline for crates of useful equipment. You see a couple more provision chests. You do find a chest that has general wares in it. You start digging through it, finding a lot of just random equipment, random ship equipment. Maybe if you were super creative, he could, like, figure out a use for it, but nothing really is coming to mind, and then you find a chest of rope.

Chris (Sal)

Okay, well, rope's got many uses. So, I'll take a bundle rope

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

[sagely] Bandoliers.

Chris (Sal)

Yeah! We're the Band of Bandoliers. [Tim laughs]

Timothy (DM)

Alright, so, you find your rope, you find some provisions, and you are coming up short of any other equipment that might be useful, so you decide to cut your losses and try to find a good place to make shelter.

Chris (Sal)

If anything, we have a multitude of daggers that we can... [in a brainstorm] maybe we can fashion... we could tie them to a stick and that's basically the same as a great axe or something.

Russell (Paavu)

[with a thinking face] I believe that's called the spear.

Chris (Sal)

No, but multiple ones perpendicular to the stick.

Russell (Paavu)

Oh, like at toothened great sword? [with wonder] Can we make such an abomination?

Chris (Sal)

I mean, there are planks of wood here...

Russell (Paavu)

It'd do piercing, though. Right? Not slashing?

Timothy (DM)

It would absolutely do piercing and it'd be one of the most weird things to wield, but you are welcome to attempt, so a spear would probably be easier to fashion and utilize.

Chris (Sal)

[accepting reality] Yeah...

Russell (Paavu)

I just stick with handaxe...[correcting himself] hand axes.

Chris (Sal)

I will fashion a spear. I'll..I'll fashion a few.

Timothy (DM)

All right. So, you take a couple of your daggers, strap them to the end of relatively straight sticks that you have found along the treeline of the beach, and you fashion a couple makeshift spears.

Chris (Sal)

Well, it's not... it's not the best, but it'll have to do, so... are we... You said, are we looking for shelter? Or we're going to the tower?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, that's... that's one... the... the only thing that's really popped out at you across the canopy line of the forest. Probably a good place to look, see if anybody's there. Or at least (the very least) it's a shelter that's already made.

Chris (Sal)

Yeah.

Russell (Paavu)

I'm quite good at climbing, I must say.

Chris (Sal)

Well, you've got... you definitely have the arm... arm span for it.

Timothy (DM)

And so you set off into the woods...

Russell (Paavu)

[reminscent of the Backyardigans] Into the thick of it

Timothy (DM)

[echoing Russell] Into the thick of it. [Chris laughs] On your way to check out this tower, it's a relatively quick hike over, oh, maybe only a quarter mile out before you come across the base of a tower. It's a crumbling stone structure. Although, it looks relatively intact. It's about four storiess tall with a small hole in the roof, but the rest of the tower is together. There is a sturdy wooden door on the front of it.

Russell (Paavu)

[knocking on the door] Anyone home?

Timothy (DM)

You knock on the soft wood of the door, and you wait for a response.

Russell (Paavu)

[answering his own question] "No!" And I kick it open. [Chris laughs] Or, "guess not!"

Timothy (DM)

With only a couple moments of pause, you try to kick open the door. Give me a Strength roll.

Russell (Paavu)

[constrained oh] Dirty 20

Timothy (DM)

All right, you bash in the door. As you hear the locking mechanism bust, the door swings open.

Russell (Paavu)

Paavu never skips leg day.

Timothy (DM)

As the door swings open, you see a cozy reading room. There are shelves of books along one wall, a... an aged rug across the center of the floor, and several reclining chairs next to small side tables. There is a spiral staircase in the center of the tower along a wall with two doors on it. As you look around the room, you notice several shelves of strange child-size figurines, but they're all distorted and twisted as if made of various mechanical and fleshy parts.

Russell (Paavu)

Well, that's suspicious...

Chris (Sal)

Child-size in that they are the size for a child's hand or they are the size of children?

Timothy (DM)

They are the size of maybe... infants?

Chris (Sal)

[accepting that fact] Okay.

Russell (Paavu)

[scared moan]

Chris (Sal)

What's... can we... can, uh, Salvador is going to wander over to the bookshelf and scan the titles on the... on the spines.

Russell (Paavu)

[resolutely] I'm going to go kick a baby--gently.

Timothy (DM)

Okay, so Salvador, you make your way across the room to the bookshelf, and you start scanning the spines of the books, and they start to read rather cryptically. Lots of very long complex titles. Give me an Arcana roll

Chris (Sal)

That's a 10.

Timothy (DM)

All right. It's really long, complex titles, lots of terms that you haven't really heard of before, but sound very impressive and, like, educated. Paavu, you go over--

Russell (Paavu)

I gently nudge a baby with my foot.

Timothy (DM)

They're on shelves.

Russell (Paavu)

Oh, I...okay, I examine one.

Timothy (DM)

Okay, so you go on over to one of the shelves of these figurines, and you start to examine them. Poke one? Is that what you're doing?

Russell (Paavu)

Oh, I'll just pick one.

Timothy (DM)

Okay, you pick one up. You pick one up off the shelf, and you start turning it around and your hands

Russell (Paavu)

Is it squishy?

Timothy (DM)

It is. In parts.

Russell (Paavu)

Gooey?

Timothy (DM)

Not gooey, but soft in parts, but then there are--

Russell (Paavu)

What's it smell like?

Timothy (DM)

--like porcelain pieces, and then mechanical metal pieces. It's all kind of haphazardly stuck together.

Russell (Paavu)

I shake it.

Timothy (DM)

You shake it, and you hear a, um, faint rattling inside it.

Russell (Paavu)

[excitedly] I think there might be a prize inside!

Chris (Sal)

[momishly] Paavu, what are you doing with that? [Ian laughs]

Russell (Paavu)

It has prize in the middle! I'm pretty sure.

Chris (Sal)

I dunno...

Russell (Paavu)

Take it!

Chris (Sal)

Salvador takes the baby-size figurine and he rattles it next to his head. Does it sound like clinking metal inside?

Timothy (DM)

Yes. It sounds like the clinking of metal inside.

Russell (Paavu)

Maybe it's a piggy bank.

Chris (Sal)

Paavu, have you ever heard of... of a watch?

Russell (Paavu)

Yes,

Chris (Sal)

I think this is like a big watch with a face but actual face not like a face of a watch.

Russell (Paavu)

How does it tell time?

Chris (Sal)

That's a good question, maybe we could ask it.

Russell (Paavu)

[to the doll] Hello? What time of day is it?

Timothy (DM)

You ask the question and put it up to your ear and listen for a response. Nothing happens :(

Russell (Paavu)

it's broken.

Timothy (DM)

So, there were... there are sconces on the wall. Have you lit those? Do you... like, the only light in the room right now is from the open door.

Russell (Paavu)

Mr. Tie-All-the-Things-To-You, do you have a...?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Uh, yeah. I'll... I'll light light the lamp. I'll untie the lamp, it takes a couple minutes

Russell (Paavu)

[to himself] Do goliaths have darkvision?

Timothy (DM)

So, Edgar unties the lamp from their makeshift bandolier and lights it. You can see several sconces on the wall of relatively nice quality. They're, like, candle lanterns.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

I'll light a couple of those. Get one and bring it with. You said there's a chair, too?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, there are reclining chairs with side tables next to them.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

'kay, what are the chairs made of?

Timothy (DM)

Leather.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Oh, there's like leather all around? So, if I flipped it its head, that the bottom would have leather too, or just the backs?

Timothy (DM)

The bottom would not have leather. Probably canvas underneath it? If you were gonna knock over a chair, and... yeah.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

While they're doing whatever the heck that was... What color is the leather?

Timothy (DM)

Tan?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

[disapprovingly] Hmm...Not a great choice... [Tim laughs] Edgar is cutting the back--

Timothy (DM)

Fashion choices...

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

--cutting the back out of the chair to, like, make a... trying and he's making like a belt and a headband.

Timothy (DM)

Oh, all right. So, you go about having a crafting project with these chairs--

Chris (Sal)

You break out your stamping guide, and you make your belt loops, yeah.

Timothy (DM)

Salvador examines the books, and Paavu examines the weird figurines, and that's when all the lights blow out.

Russell (Paavu)

It's haunted.

Chris (Sal)

Or there's a gust of wind...

Russell (Paavu)

Oh, yes. We did leave the door open. Paavu goes and closes the front door.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Well, it's pitch black now.

Russell (Paavu)

[aghast] Oh no. Paavu opens the door.

Timothy (DM)

Does Paavu want to go lights some lanterns and then close the door?

Russell (Paavu)

No, I don't have anything to light lantherns with; I lost everything!

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Yeah, Edgar's gonna try to light his lantern. While he's doing that, you see... you see his like demeanor change quite a bit, and he pops up his chest and goes. "We got a distress call from here and we... we've come to investigate and help you out. Is anyone in need of help here? Hello? We're with the local, uh, local guard. You can see that by my uniform" and he pats his head and belt.

Chris (Sal)

Salvador pushes the chair to, like, flip it around, so it's facing a wall, so they can't see where he tore the leather from.

Timothy (DM)

So, you call out into the tower, and you wait for a response but get none.

Chris (Sal)

What do you say, Police Chief? [Ian laughs]

Russell (Paavu)

[whispers] Oh no...

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

You have, uh, you have... you have 20 seconds to respond. [whispers to the group] We should probably go.

Timothy (DM)

So, you have allowed your-- as you're doing this, you have lit your lantern and it illuminates a small portion of the room, and you wait for a response, and the only response you get is the front door slamming shut.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Oh, that's bad.

Chris (Sal)

[sassily] I use thaumaturgy to slam it open.

Timothy (DM)

The door slams open. You are not locked in.

Chris (Sal)

Is there a book I can use to like shove underneath [Ian laughs] the... so like, wedge underneath the bottom of the door?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, there's plenty of books. You can find one that's about the right thickness, and just wedge it on underneath.

Chris (Sal)

Yeah.

Timothy (DM)

Now, the wind won't blow it closed.

Chris (Sal)

Salvador dusts his hands. He's like "Okay, well that's that's one thing." So, there are two doors on either side of the stairs--

Timothy (DM)

Yeah.

Chris (Sal)

--and the stairs go up further into the tower?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah.

Chris (Sal)

Should we open up these doors?

Russell (Paavu)

Can't hurt... [upon hearing Tim roll dice] or it can? [Ian laughs]

Timothy (DM)

All right.

Chris (Sal)

Door number one? Are these just wooden doors?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, they're just simple wooden doors.

Chris (Sal)

Okay.

Timothy (DM)

I mean, everything's a relatively high caliber of quality, but simple doors.

Chris (Sal)

Yeah. Okay. Sal will reach for the door on the left side of the stair.

Timothy (DM)

Alright, you turn the doorknob and push the door open. Just a crack at first. You notice a round table surrounded by several chairs. In the center of the table is a cluster of candles and along the back wall is a small writing desk.

Chris (Sal)

Seems like a study or maybe they play cards here. With candles. I mean there are no win- there are no windows in this tower?

Timothy (DM)

There are windows that you could see from the outside. They were on the second and third floor.

Chris (Sal)

Gotcha. Okay. So, this is like the basement.

Timothy (DM)

It's the first floor--

Timothy (DM)

Yeah,

Timothy (DM)

--sometimes you don't put windows on the first floor because of protection.

Chris (Sal)

That's a good thing. You need to worry about privacy as well. Is there anything on the writing desk?

Timothy (DM)

Yes, you go on over to the writing desk through the sliver of light being cast from the other room, the lantern in the other room, and you find several stacks of papers [hands Chris some props of aged papers]--

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Are those coffee stains... what? [laughs

Timothy (DM)

--that look rather aged--

Chris (Sal)

Hmm...

Timothy (DM)

--maybe hundreds of years, if not more.

Chris (Sal)

Well, I recognize these symbols as elements. I recognize that some of these are alchemical symbols as well. The dingle triangle, the DIVINE triangle. [reading a note on the page] And "So, it is decided, Tonar, you will be at the Henge of Tor. May this all be not in vain." Well, I go back to the party, and I lay these on the chair seems like somebody has made a decision. I don't know what these proper nouns mean. Hmm.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Oh, yeah. This is the, uhm, Chart of Life.... [giving up his ruse] No, it's not.

Chris (Sal)

Well, there is...

Russell (Paavu)

Can I tell what it is?

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, if you want to give me a History role or Arcana? Or both, if you want to do both.

Russell (Paavu)

[gasp] I'm proficient at both.

Russell (Paavu)

Chris (Sal)

I got 13

Timothy (DM)

A 13... I mean, you do recognize some of the symbols for the elements, although they're not commonly used symbols. We've only seen them in a couple older texts.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

The infant things--

Timothy (DM)

Mm hmm.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

--like are those... y'know, we have a passing knowledge of like creatures and parts of history, right? Like, like, would I remember anything about like golems being made in, like, past ages, or um, I'm proficient in History.

Timothy (DM)

Yeah, give me a History.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Timothy (DM)

19. I mean, they do kind of resemble some sort of golem. Golems can take any form or shape.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Sure.

Timothy (DM)

Maybe it's like a homunculus. Like there's a lot of mechanical constructs, but this is kind of hybrid, so it's a little little odd, but not entirely out of the question.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Okay.

Chris (Sal)

Door number two?

Timothy (DM)

All right. So, you go over to door number two, and again, you turn the doorknob, push it open just a crack at first, letting the light of the lantern stream in, and you see a large globe in the center of the room surrounded by several more bookshelves. As you inspect the globe closer, you notice that it is not a globe of the earth per se, but rather a constellation map.

Chris (Sal)

Is there a compartment inside that a light would come... like you can put a light inside and this seems like a projector, or is it just painted-on constellations?

Timothy (DM)

You're welcome to inspect it a bit.

Chris (Sal)

Okay, I have--

Timothy (DM)

There's nothing readily available.

Chris (Sal)

--I look for a latch or hatch.

Timothy (DM)

Alright, give me an Investigation.

Chris (Sal)

Tha'ts a 5.

Timothy (DM)

So, you start spinning the globe around on its axis, looking for some sort of mechanism or latch, but come up short as you hear the door from the next room over slam shut

Chris (Sal)

Paavu, are you closing doors?

Russell (Paavu)

No, I'm right here. I stay very close to you because I've been following you this whole time.

Chris (Sal)

I turned to my left, and I was like, "Oh!, you're right there. Okay." Well, it seems like this is just another drawing room that they would just look at the constellations at. Edgar, do you recognize any of these book titles or?

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Um, no, I don't I don't think so.

Russell (Paavu)

Do I?

Timothy (DM)

You're welcome to make an Arcana roll.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

Do they have "The Penguins Walk Over the Ice?" Is that a thing they have? [laughter]

Russell (Paavu)

Chris (Sal)

I think it's the Tree House Kids,

Timothy (DM)

[to Paavu] Not really.

Ian (Arnold/Edgar)

It doesn't look like they have those either.

Timothy (DM)

As you all make your way over to the bookshelf in the entrance room to inspect the titles a bit more closely, a painting off the wall crashes to the ground behind you.

Chris (Sal)

Sal walks over to the painting and picks it up, and what's on the painting?

Timothy (DM)

So, you pick up the broken frame and look at the painting, and you see a portrait of a young gentleman, quaffed blond hair, and a big cheesy grin, blue eyes, and a ruffled collar, and an emerald, like, silk-looking jacket, ordained with lots of little golden baubles.

Chris (Sal)

I'm guessing this is somebody who used to live here or related to somebody who used to live here and maybe they're haunting this place?

Timothy (DM)

As you say the word "haunting", you hear a series of giggles echoing omni-directionally around you.

Timothy (DM)

And that is where we will put a pause on today's story. Thank you all for joining us for a plunge into the abyss. I hope you all enjoyed this episode of Shadows of Prophecy. Join us next time to find out what becomes of our unfortunate players in this most dreadful act.

Timothy (DM)

Shout out to my brother known as the chill electronic vapor soul artist, LUSQ, for writing our chillingly epic theme song; editing by Scrubcast; and a big shout out to Syrinscape for some amazing atmosphere and music. Make sure you check them out at syrinsape.com. I always use them at my game table, and it adds that little something special to bring your players into the story. Also, please follow us on Twitter @shadowsprophecy and Instagram @shadows_of_prophecy. And hey, show us some support by becoming one of our fabulous patrons at patreon.com/shadowsofprophecy where you can get access to bonus content like handouts, encounter maps, and even adventure guides to run your own horrific campaigns or one-shots. And at the very least, give us a five star review on your podcast platform of choice. This is how we get the word out about our podcast and we love sharing it with you all. Thank you, and tune in next time for more tales of dread and despair at Shadows of Prophecy