Close your eyes and open your mind.
SPEAKER_02:This is Phantom Nirvana, a Dungeons& Dragons podcast. Be advised, this story contains dark themes that may not be suitable for some audiences. And now we present Phantom Nirvana. Phantom Nirvana In our last episode, the adventurers encountered their old friend Lucas, who explained that to make it home, they would have to help the people of the Undying Light find peace, whatever that means. They traveled back to the caravan where they were given a proper interrogation. This is Season 2, Episode 4, The People
SPEAKER_00:of the Undying Light.
SPEAKER_02:So they pulled the tent open and you all were ushered out into the late afternoon. And it's very hot in the sandy desert. Every so often there's a gust of wind that sort of blows through the caravan. And you can see that there's different things that are happening around. As you take in the view, you can see that there is the stables with these odd pig-like creatures that have like saddles on some of them and snorting around. There's a gentleman who is tending them. Yeah, you can see him coughing into his hand. And then you're looking over and there is a group of people who are cooking. There seems to be sort of a community kitchen that is adjacent to a circle around a large fire pit. There's some kind of wooden benches arranged around the circle. Like if you went to a big campsite and they had a where the park ranger is going to talk to you, that's sort of outdoor amphitheater kind of set up. You got some kids. I mean, it's like there's all kinds of different families running around too. You've even got some groups of kids that are running around and They're playing some games with these ribbons, kind of whipping them around in the air. And you can see that they're sort of moving in zigzaggy patterns and rolling around in the sand and playing. And there's like a mother kind of following after them and trying to get them to do something or other. And you don't know what it is. And then you got another guy who's stacking what looks like pelts on the back of a cart. from one cart to another. You got somebody else who's looking like they're, they're moving arrows and kind of putting little, this is kind of a Fletcher sort of putting together arrows and stuff. It's just a very kind of a lively, lively group of, of people there all gathered around that the tents are in more or less a circle and there's staggered palm trees that are kind of at this oasis and then just off to one side there is kind of a bubbling spring where it seems like this this water this pool of water is and you can see the last thing you see before i kind of let you free here to wander is that the pool looks like it's getting pretty low the pool of water looks like it's getting pretty low so You're all standing there side by side looking out at this. A couple of the caravan guards are standing with you. Hilroy and Mikael, Sonora and Glenn are kind of there, not far away from you. And how would you all like to proceed? Sam, do you get a good feeling about any of these folks? It's so hard to tell coming into the camp new. They told us to make ourselves useful, but I feel like everyone here already kind of has their role. And so I'm not sure where we can slot in yet.
SPEAKER_00:Same.
SPEAKER_02:I feel like we're all pretty proficient at fighting with these cool powers we have, but I don't see anything to fight right now, so. Yeah, yeah. We're supposed to be keeping the peace, Josh. You're right. We can fight each other for their entertainment. That's pretty cool. I'm not getting in a scrap with you. I don't want that. No, thanks. Yeah, we know how you fight. Cover myself. All right. Mal's going to go up to some of the kids that are playing and say hi. A couple of them stop and look up at you. And they're sort of taken aback by how you look. Very unique. And they respond, hi. I'm going to voluntarily roll charisma here, okay? Okay, sure. Make a charisma check, I guess. and I'm checking to be sure I'm not scaring them. Oh, fair enough. Fifteen. Yeah, they don't seem scared of you. In fact, maybe the other three or four that had run off sort of staggered back because their friends paused, and they're all kind of standing around looking up at you, and another one says, Hi, who are you? I'm Mal, and these are my friends.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02:I don't usually talk to children, but... I wonder if any of you know if your families might have room for some extra friends to stay over. A larger boy steps up and says, did you come across the desert? Yep, kid, we sure did. Did you fight any flying fish? I haven't fought a flying fish myself. Have you? No, I haven't fought a flying fish. I'm going to pull out my dagger. So when you brandish a weapon in front of the children, a couple of them, but a couple of the younger ones kind of step forward and are just, they're interested in the shiny object that you've just pulled out. I'm going to hold it up high out of their reach. Careful, everybody. It's sharp. The same boy. Can I hold it? Absolutely not. I'm going to do a turn and see like, Any parents who are nearby are going to notice that we're hanging out with their kids. Yeah, I think the woman who was kind of chasing after the kids at one point has caught up and she's... She says, hello, can I help you? I'm going to sheath my dagger real quick. Yeah, we're new. We just joined the caravan and we're wondering where we can take shelter. Well, have you got any tents of your own or are you... Where have you come from now? We came from across the desert and we've lost everything. Okay. Children, will you please go back to the fire circle? No, just please go back to the fire circle and I'm going to help these people. Mina, I don't care. Go back to the fire circle. Okay. I'm sorry. As the kids are going behind her back so she can't see, can I just Eldritch Blast up into the sky? Yeah, that's awesome. What's the goal there? What are you trying to accomplish? Just showing off for the kids. Just like a light show kind of a deal? Yeah. It's a classic Gandalf's cart at the start of War of the Rings. Yeah, I think you should make a performance check. Let's see. I rolled a 12. Okay, I think some of the kids are excited by what they see and others are really sort of startled by it. and stagger back, and some of them clap, and then all of them realize it's a thing to clap at, and they all clap, and it's like, oh, yeah. And the woman, the mother, we assume mother is, turns around and goes, oh, what was that? Oh, just a little accident. Okay, now what was, may I ask, what was your name? I'm Mal. Okay, Mal, I'm Corin. Nice to meet you. These are my friends. Nice to meet you all, I guess. What are your names? Hello, Corin. I'm Sam. Okay. Hello, Sam. And you? Howdy, Corin. My name is Josh. Nice to meet you. Okay. Hello. And how about you two? I'm Axel. All right. And? And I'm Marcus. Hello. Okay. So you've got no tents and you're looking for some place to stay. And we would love to know how we could be helpful. Oh, I'm not exactly the person that you're going to want to talk to. You probably want to speak to Rodrigo about that. But as far as finding someplace where you can sleep, it does get pretty cold. If you haven't got a tent, you can sleep around a fire circle to stay warm until you get a tent. But when you are able to barter or buy a tent, then Caleb Pemberton is the one you're going to want to speak to. And he's just over there. Is this the whole of your group? It is. Okay. What's your reasoning for being here with us? Have you been to see the queen? We have. Yes. Okay. And what was your reasoning for being here with us? We're hoping to do some good. Okay. I have to go back with these children. But like I said, you can talk to either Rodrigo or Caleb about the tents or the assisting with the caravan. I encourage you to do that. Could you point us towards Rodrigo, please? He's over there. He's got the goatee. The facial hair that he's got is just absurd. He's over there. You can't miss him. He's working with the arrows. And where's Caleb? Oh, Caleb. Yeah, he's back that way around the back of the wagon on that side there. Yeah, with the pelts. Caleb's with the pelts. And, Corin, what are the big... beasts over there in the corral i forget oh the queen mentioned them but i i can't remember what they were called i've never seen them before one of the kids has wandered back and he goes those are the goroks goroks yeah cool yeah friendly um sometimes i don't advise you to go into the pen with the goroks if you need something with them you can talk to you can talk to nicole OK, I was just going to look at them. No, I just wouldn't. I wouldn't get too close to them. They can be very temperamental. So and that goes for you as well. Joshua, you're going to want to stay away. She looks at the kid. Well, your name is Joshua, too. Yeah, that's my name. No, it's not. It's mine. No, it's not. It's mine. No, it's not. It's mine. Josh does three punches really fast in the air. And looks slowly and says, no, it's mine. They both step back like, whoa. I'm just kidding. We can both be Josh's. I'm just Josh-ing. I was waiting for it. Yeah, that's pretty good. So she says, okay, Joshua, please just go. My Joshua, please go back to the fire circle as I've told you once before. Please, okay? Please go. Thank you. Thank you. Go. Thank you. Thank you so much for the information. We will go seek out Rodrigo and his fabulous facial hair as he's fletching. Okay. Nice to have met you. I wish you luck. I hope you find what you're looking for here. Thanks, Corinne. Okay, bye now. She walks off. She looks sort of bedraggled. Sam, come here. Marcus, come here. What's the game plan here, y'all? What can we tell them that is our purpose if people keep asking? Oh, we have to save the world and all of existence from being erased by... Honestly, to start off, I don't have a clue. The thing that I'm trying to do is everybody, we need to try to keep a track of these names because I feel like with a classic Groundhog Day situation, if we can remember names, that can be some sort of easy proof that we've been through this before when we come back. Now, I am... Not good with sticking the names to faces right off the bat, but I think between us, we can try to keep track of that. And by now, I'm sure we're pulling up to Rodrigo. Hey, you guys, I'm really intrigued by the Gorax. I'm going to just go take a look at them. Let me know how it goes with Rodrigo. Let me know what I can do to help whatever we're doing here. I kind of want to talk to Caleb, get us a tent to live in. Okay, let's do Rodrigo first. So he is... Slender. He's got very eccentric facial hair. It's kind of a curled goatee. He's pretty tall. And again, if it weren't for the facial hair, he would be very attractive. Three of you step up to him. And he is currently working on an arrow. You can see that he's attaching some feathers to it. And he looks up from his work and takes you all three in and sort of grunts. Hello, you're Rodrigo. Is that right? Yes, I am Rodrigo. Hi, we're new to the caravan and we were pointed in your direction to try to figure out where we could slot in to be of some help as we're getting to know the lay of the land. Ah, well, welcome. Do you intend to join the caravan for long? Possibly. It's hard to say. We've been lost recently and so we're trying to get our bearings again. Well, this caravan is a great place for those who are lost. Many are found here. I myself have been here for several years. I am a flatterer, as you can see. Everyone here who wishes to stay must provide for the caravan. They must bring skills or abilities. In some cases, some have special abilities. And so I wonder if there is anything that you can offer. I can do a bit of magic. There we are. Magic. Excellent. And what is your name? Mal. Mal. What sort of magic can you do? Mostly violent magic. Violent magic? A warrior? Fantastic. Have you fought in many battles? Mal glances over at Josh and Sam and says, I don't know, how many is many? Four. I think we could say it's been four. Yeah, definitely, at least four. All of you are fighters, warriors, battlers, brawlers? Yeah, it's all been pretty recent, but it's been pretty intense. And we do have a friend with us who specializes in nature and another who specializes in music. Ah, excellent. And where are they? Looking at the pig things. The Gorox. The Gorox. Yes. Right. Yes, the Gorox. Very well. All right. So warriors, hunters as well, I assume.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Okay. And then he pauses suddenly and he glances over your shoulders at the large tent and you follow his eyes. You can see that he is looking at a small group of people who is coming out of the tent led by Rehana and followed by, um, the four, what you assume were council people, the older tan wrinkled man, the, um, disagreeable middle-aged ball buster woman. And, uh, The older, whiny sort of woman. And then finally, the very kind, soft-spoken supporter, the older man with the beard. And they follow her across and everybody kind of pauses what they're doing. And a couple of people who are close to give her a nod or a bow even. And they head to different tents. You can see you clock which tents that they go to. And Rehana pauses outside of her tent and takes a moment to scan around the caravan. Someone walks by her and makes conversation. And you can see that she is keeping up the conversation with this person, but also clocks where you are and talking to Rodrigo. Mal's going to put a hand up and wave.
SPEAKER_00:Rehana notices and remembers the message that she had sent earlier. So she just, nods and acknowledgement while continuing the conversation.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And what is the conversation about, Rihanna?
SPEAKER_00:Supplies that are running low and well-being of our people.
SPEAKER_02:So you are hunters as well, yes? He resumes the conversation with you. Oh, yeah. I've got the spear. I can hunt a thing or two. What kind of quarry is in this area? Before he answers... Mal wants to try to cast message to Rihanna across the square. Yeah, good. What would you like to say to her? Is there anything I can do to help? Don't cause trouble. And I'll just turn back around into the conversation with Josh and Sam. Corey, yes. Well, we have all sorts of things. The sand snakes are very valuable. Maybe you've encountered them, I wonder, in your travels across the desert. Have you tangled with any sand snakes before? Yeah, we ran into a trio of those not too long ago. What variety? They come in flavors? They do. These were spicy ones. Ah, the spicy, the fire. We also have set up our camp here because of the proximity to the outcropping of rocks there, as you can see, and he points off in the distance. Just there, we believe that there is an Eshion, a hiding. And if we can go out and hunt it here and harvest its meat and the parts of the body which are valuable, we can trade them. So this could be very good for the caravan. And we're hoping that we're able to hunt and kill this creature before the water in the pool here runs out. So if you were interested in joining us for that hunt, the Urshion, I know that I can put you in touch with someone to take part in that. What is an Urshion? It's a crab. It's a tall, oblong crab, gnarled, segmented legs. It can disguise itself as rocks, and one of our scouts believed that the rocks here were actually a home to one of these Urshion. Usually use long spears to hunt it. I know that you said that you were proficient in the use of spears, but we can provide you them if you were willing to join the hunt. We usually send about a group of 10 led by Rehana. Are there already plans to send a group out? There are. We are gathering volunteers. Oh, sign me up. Yeah. I think we can volunteer five. Oh, really?
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:My goodness. Well, okay. Let's jump over to, let's do Caleb. So you're talking Axel to Caleb Pemberton. He's moving pelts. For some reason, you can't really discern from one cart to another. He sort of clears his throat as you approach. Hello, sir. Are you Caleb or can you point me in his direction? Yes, I'm Caleb. I was notified that I could possibly obtain a few tents for me and my compatriots here. Are you a businessman? I'm just a trader, and who might you be? My name is Axel, and my group of friends back there talking to Rodrigo and looking at the creatures in the pen. I'm here to make a deal, if you would like to. Well, will you want a tent? Yes, sir, if I could. Big enough for all of us. How many is all of us? Five. Ten big enough for five. I might have something like that. What have you got to trade? Well, I've got some money. Money? Let's have a look. I have a single gold piece. We don't have much use for gold out here, but I suppose that's a start. Have you got anything else? Well, what might interest you, sir? Well, pelts primarily, as you can see, as my main, mainly trade in pelts, but anything of value, anything shiny, anything rare, anything like that. Magical, magical items, something like that. I'm married as well. Something for my wife might be nice. Garment, beautiful garment, something like that. Axel is sifting through his pockets looking for the finger with the ring on it and he can't find it because it was left behind. Well, I've got a few questions before I make an offer to you. Would these tents survive a hypothetical dimensional reset in which we would be reset to about a few hours ago? I'm going to say yes. Oh, perfect. Perfect. All right. Okay. So We can definitely find some pelts for you if needed. I also have a rare herb. And he pulls out the marijuana that he had. What's rare about it? Keep it between you and me. No one else really knows about it that I've seen here in this caravan. It doesn't do much, but it'll get you really fucked up. What are you talking about? Hey, you just got to experience it for yourself, man. If you want to experience this herb, I need a tent. Was it give you powers of some kind? You can see for yourself. It feels great. You feel relaxed. Something you and your wife may need. Let's have you make a persuasion check. 19. Peer pressure. Peer pressure. Well, as it happens, you know, something like that might be helpful for us. Now that you mention it, what's the value of such an herb? Well, it comes from a pretty far land. I don't know how to explain it in your terms, but it's, in my opinion, priceless. Well, I guess your gold coin combined with some of that might be... How am I to ingest it? Do I just eat it or put it in a tea? I love this. You can eat it with some food. It doesn't taste great. My recommended choice is to burn it and inhale the smoke. Ah. Sort of incense, if you will. So if I've got my pipe and I've got my desert weed, I can just put this in there with it? That would work. And does it last very long, the effects? Yeah, depending on how much of it you do, my guy, it could last hours. Okay. Let's have you make one more persuasion check. Okay. I have a plus two in persuasion, so this is nice. That one was an 11. Okay, yeah. I'll make that trade. A tent big enough for five in exchange for, let's say, four doses of your herb and your gold piece. How's that? You're really getting a bargain out of me with that, but you got yourself a deal, sir. He extends his hand. He hands it over. Let's jump to the stables. You're kind of sidling over, Kevin. And there is a woman. She's thick around the middle. And you can see that she's sort of sickly from a distance. You thought that it was a man. But as you got closer, you can see that it's sort of a larger woman. And she's got a very pale face. And she's covered her head with like a wrap. And she's giving slaps and prods to the different pigs. She's in the process of washing them, these big goroks. And you come close to one of the fencing along the side of the stable there. Hey, how's it going? She does not look over. She continues washing and coughing. Cool. Cool. So Marcus is just kind of looking at these things, watching her, watching the Gorox, kind of looking around the town. And it's not as creepy as Wolf's Water felt from the get-go. This is more of, it's like a farm kind of vibe. So Marcus is kind of enjoying that, looking at the big animals and song pops in his head just uh as soon as you start playing that song which i believe was country road right Winner, winner. Yeah. All of the Gorox, there's six of them in this pen. They all perk up and they start to shake. and rumble, and there's this big snort, snuffle. They all bash together, and the woman, she immediately turns and sees you playing your Bacchus to her as you lean against the fence. She dashes towards you, and just as you're finishing that first bar of the song or whatever, she grabs your shoulder and says, What are you doing? And in that moment, all of the Goroks, like they are driven mad by whatever that sound was, and you are bashed to the side and they go stampeding through the middle of the caravan. And a couple of them go careening into this one tent. Boom, the thing lifts off. The Goroks go running in all different directions. So you can see the three of the guards jump into action. They jump on a couple other of the Goroks that are not in the vicinity, and they go running off after them into the desert, trying to flag them down. And the woman is over top of you. She's heavy on top of you. And she goes,
SPEAKER_01:give me that. Give me that thing.
SPEAKER_02:What have you got there? Give me that thing. And she wrestles the kazoo out of your hand. And she looks at you and she holds it up to your face. She says, do you know what you've done? Do you know what you've done? No. What happened? That's a stampede. That could take weeks to get them back. What is this thing? What is this? It's a kazoo. It's a musical instrument. This is not a musical instrument. You just caused a stampede. Do you know what you've just done? And she takes it and she like snaps it in her big calloused hands. She just snaps the thing in half. She goes, this is trash. Now that's what it is. It's garbage. And she throws it down into the sand and stands up and starts stomping off in the direction that the Gorox went. She starts shouting to people,
SPEAKER_01:come on, we gotta go get them back. We gotta get back.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. There's some, he's got a big, it's not a thing. He's playing some song. They go stomping off into the desert. And it's just, like everyone's frozen and they're all looking at you, Marcus. And then they start to look around at like, who is this guy? We didn't even know him. And they started looking around at who, and then Rodrigo's there. He's looking at you. He puts two and two together that that's, you know, your compatriot, whatever. And, and he, he takes a step back from you with the arrow in his hand. And then Caleb takes a step back just as he's handing you the tent. He takes a step back from you and, and everyone pauses and, And there's this moment of silence and Rehana is standing there. A lot of the heads turn to you, Rehana, to kind of, I don't know, speak to this moment.
SPEAKER_00:So how many of the Goraks did we lose? Was that like our whole collection of Goraks? No, I
SPEAKER_02:think it was probably in total four or five.
SPEAKER_00:So we still have a good amount.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you've got, I mean, two or three are being ridden off into the desert to try and get those ones back. But it's, I mean, we got a ruined tent. We've got maybe some scared kids, some crying kids. I mean, it's less damage and more about a disruption in the caravan.
SPEAKER_00:Ray Hanna calls out to Rodrigo. Rodrigo, get your men. Go see if anybody was injured. See if anybody needs assistance with the tents. I'll turn to my side. I assume that my guard is near me. I'll turn to Mikael, and I'll say, Mikael, find any off-duty guards. See if they can assist in gathering the Goroks back.
SPEAKER_02:He nods. He nods and goes off immediately in that direction, followed by Glenn.
SPEAKER_00:I turn to Caleb, and I say, make sure any tears in the tents are repaired before nightfall.
SPEAKER_02:He gives you a nod, and he presses the... tent into your arms, Axel, and turns around to immediately get to work on that task that he's just been given. So you are in possession of the tent. I think Axel would maybe volunteer to try and get them back. It's kind of like in his wheelhouse. Are you going to go and talk to somebody about it? Are you going to go and talk to Rehana about that? Yeah, I think I would. Okay. Describe how you do that. You're like... I know we didn't get off on the best foot earlier, but I can help out with this. This is kind of my thing. I deal with animals a lot. I can probably help get them back before tomorrow, probably.
SPEAKER_00:Can Rihanna make an insight check to see if I rolled a 19 total?
SPEAKER_02:Okay. He's telling the truth.
SPEAKER_00:Would you be going by yourself or would your companions be joining you?
SPEAKER_02:If any of them want to help out, man, they are welcome to. Just give me a few pieces of meat. That's all I need to perform my duty. So Marcus walks up at this point. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm a musician. I play music. I have the instrument. I didn't know it would make them go crazy. Can I help, Axel? You're, I assume, going to go try to track them? Yeah, man, let's do it. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00:Time is of the essence. The water is almost gone from the pool. We need those Goroks back immediately.
SPEAKER_02:All right. Do you have any meat for me? It's important that I get that.
SPEAKER_00:Go to the communal kitchen. Avery can give you what you need. All
SPEAKER_02:right. I'm rushing over, pulling him with me. You have a quick interaction with someone named Avery who provides you what you need. All right, cool. Let's go. Let's get going. Head off in the direction that the... Well, I think he would know. Which way did the first one go, maybe? Or can I see them? Yeah, I think you would know the general direction. They're going to be heading towards rock outcroppings and things. I mean, it's a desert, so you can see they're pretty far off. It's just a matter of catching up with them. Is there any way that you would get there faster, I guess? Yeah, I'll turn into a horse. Hell yeah. Okay. Is he going to ride you? yeah yeah there we go all right so you guys go it's majestic as hell when you go oh my god like bareback riding him silver white do you ride him hard kevin or do you think marcus is gentle are you the one who objected to me saying the f word on the first recording of this What are you talking about? I just want to know how hard he rides him. I think at first hard, but then gentle, and then maybe hard again. Mix it up. I like that. Do you like that, Axel? No visible reaction. He's just going to keep it professional. Get the job done. Okay. So they're gone off into the desert. Several of the guards are gone off into the desert. Rodrigo's gone. What did the remainder of you want to do? Did they seriously just go after these things? Do they even know how to track one of these things? I don't know. Should we have gone with them? Oh, well, it's too late. If things go poorly, I suppose we'll reconvene at that spot in the desert. You know? Totally. That's a good point. Let's take some risks. Okay. Did Axel hand off the tent to us before becoming a horse? Sure. Let's assume he did. Yeah. You've got your tent. Okay, great. So we've got a tent. We need to stick out some sand and stuff. Okay. So you set the thing up. You're getting yourselves organized. There was a tent cleared out of the way by that stampede. Oh, my God. I think you're getting some looks from the caravan. Certainly, you're getting some looks. I think we should aim for the outer fringes. We're like, we're stringing suburbs here. DM, before we set up our own tent, the tent that was knocked over by the stampede, is it destroyed or... No. No, I think they've got it. They're putting it back together. Okay. Guys, why don't we... The only thing damaged really was the fence for the pen, and then the tent is being reconstructed. Strength is not my strong suit, so I'm more managerial, and I agree. I think both of you strong strapping boys should go assist with this tent situation. Okay. Come on, Josh. Yeah. Let's do it. We'll go help set some tent spikes.
SPEAKER_00:So Rihanna approaches Mal. She's trying to keep her composure. She can tell by speaking to everybody around the general atmosphere and attitude towards the group isn't so hot right now. But she can also tell that these people that have come are possible assets. So she genuinely wants to have a conversation. And so she pops up to Mal, just kind of stands beside her, looking at the chaos being fixed. looking at the goroks in the distance and asks, what are you doing here?
SPEAKER_02:Mal's going to keep her gaze forward at the chaos and repair ahead of them and say, I don't know how to explain it, but we were sent here to help you. Does that sound like something that you might want?
SPEAKER_00:It sounds like something that we need. but I do have to worry who sent you and to what end.
SPEAKER_02:You and me both, sister. Here's what I know. My friends and I are not from this world, but we found ourselves here, and someone that we trust very much has told us that you need our help. Finding peace, does that mean anything to you?
SPEAKER_00:More than you can imagine. Is peace a place? In my heart, yes, it is. In my dreams, yes. What does it mean to you to find peace? She kind of looks at Mel sideways, shakes her head. I don't know. Don't know why I'm telling you this. But peace is home. Peace is the home of my people. We are not actually nomads. No, we are travelers not by choice. We lost our home. We were tricked. And even now the spies are enemies aimed to destroy us.
SPEAKER_02:Who tricked you? Who are these enemies?
SPEAKER_00:The Yontai. I know that it was strange when Carol made your companion stick out his tongue, but that is the quickest surefire way to see and identify a Yontai.
SPEAKER_02:That kind of makes for terrible spies. They don't have a way to hide that.
SPEAKER_00:They have their ways.
SPEAKER_02:Wild, so maybe our purpose here is to help you reclaim your home.
SPEAKER_00:It is my greatest dream to reclaim Kalamesh. Unfortunately, fear and division stop us from returning. Many of my people are tired of traveling, but I do have to go with unanimous support. Even if I did ask for your help, the current reputation you and your friends have may not help the argument to win back Kalamesh. I hear that
SPEAKER_02:feedback. I hope we can be helpful to you in whatever way we can, in spite of our rough exterior.
SPEAKER_00:My advice is one step at a time. We are nomads. We survive day by day. Sure, this little mishap, I'm sure an honest mistake, will have soured Kalamesh. the taste for your company amongst my people, but that can be changed. It would be so helpful to have some kind of guide.
SPEAKER_02:I feel embarrassed asking the queen questions about your culture. Is there anyone who could do that for us?
SPEAKER_00:I may not be the best guide, as I do have to see to the entire tribe, but Renulf... wise and trusted councilman. He was a friend of my father until my father wandered into that desert so many years ago. He's remained just a true friend and he can be very helpful to any information that I may not have. But I do wonder, you all do look like fighters. I kind of brought the caravan this way because I saw the outcropping of rocks out in the desert. And I need good fighters to go and hunt the Urshian that we believe is hiding there.
SPEAKER_02:Is this the sort of crab thing?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yes. Very, very delicious. Rodrigo was
SPEAKER_02:telling us about the hunt. Yes, we would love to
SPEAKER_00:offer our
SPEAKER_02:services.
SPEAKER_00:Good. I think that with a successful hunt of the Urshian, I honestly believe that our tribe would value you. I think it would definitely help pick up your reputation.
SPEAKER_02:I've never heard of an ursian before. What sort of hunting is required? Is this like a beast that can be stabbed or does it need to be trapped or poisoned or lifted from the earth and spun around three times? It is a giant crab that can burrow in the sand and disguise itself as rocks, she tells you. And that is why they believe that it is hiding in this outcropping of rocks. There's some very valuable parts in addition to the meat. The shell. It's almost like abalone interior color shell. It's very valuable. It would be a big get for the caravan.
SPEAKER_00:I jingle jangle some opulent pearlescent earrings. Oh, nice. We have some quite talented people in the tribe. We use the shell for armor, for jewelry, for knickknacks, and we use it for trade. It really does help.
SPEAKER_02:And you noticed that some of it had been decorating the, if you recall, the Gorox had some adornment on some of them, and a lot of it was these abalone-looking kind of shimmery shell type. How are the men doing with the tent? Yeah, as they kind of come to finish the tent. So you guys have got the tent up. Let's have you just for fun make a survival check. Oh, yeah. I was wondering if you'd be rolling for this. Did you go to Boy Scout camp? I got 22 total. Yeah, you set the thing up and by now it is the sun is setting. The suns, plural, are setting over the desert. And you can see that a couple of the Goroks are being brought back. As you flap the tent door down and take a step back to look at your work together, assembling the tent. As they bring back a couple of the lost Goroks, you glance around to see if you can find your friends who went off to help. And they haven't come back yet. But it's only been about an hour and a half. You're not that worried about it. Sam, you step into the tent. It's dark inside, and there is a small opening, an oculus at the center, at the top. And you assume that, you know, you might be able to build a fire inside the tent and have the smoke go out through this oculus. And you're looking up, and you can just see the sky peeking through, this light peeking through this opening in the top of the tent as you stand there in the dark. And you're brought to... flashback, you are standing in a dark hallway. You're back in your high school and you're looking at a door that's cracked open. You recognize this hallway. It's underground. Under the multipurpose room, there was a hallway that led to an office. It was the office of Mr. Sanders, your band teacher, and also happened to be where a lot of the instruments were stored. So you'd forgotten your trumpet. And as you step close to this cracked door... You look through the opening, and inside there are a couple of figures, and it is Mr. Sanders, and he has got a young woman in there with him. They haven't noticed you, but you can't help yourself. You look in, and it is Rachel. She is back to the wall, and the teacher has got his hand around her shoulder. And he's sort of touching her hip and she's crying and she looks scared. And he's saying, shh, it's okay, it's okay. She's looking up at him with fearful eyes and he's trying to stroke her hair now. And it's a very uncomfortable thing that's happening here because his one hand is calming and his other hand is obviously a sexual sort of touch. on her hip and you can't help yourself you accidentally bump the door and it makes a creaking sound and he turns suddenly looking at the opening he can't see you and you don't want to be seen and you immediately turn and dash down the hallway and up the stairs and into the um into the multi-purpose room you find yourself on stage and you can hear his footsteps behind you, and you dart behind a curtain, and his footsteps hit the boards on top of the stage, and he's just behind you. And you curl around the side of the stage, and there is a restroom, and you dart inside the restroom door, clanks open and shuts, and you can hear footsteps outside of the restrooms, and you dash into one of the stalls, and you lock the door, and you stand in the toilet. and hide you hold your breath and you can hear the footsteps enter the restroom checking the stalls and just before he checks the stall that you're hiding in you hear mr sanders scoff and walk over to a high window that is cracked open and he assumes that you'd climbed out of that window and escaped And you hear him say, Shit! And leave the restroom in a huff. After what feels like ten minutes, you finally step down off of the toilet and unlock the door silently and open the stall. And directly across from you is the bathroom mirror. And you are not Sam when you look in the mirror. You are Lucas.
SPEAKER_01:It's gorgeous to me Personified, socialized, so I know what that means I'm dragging the whole lake to see if you're dead to me Yeah, I'm swimming in the bottom and I'm swimming for you I've been here before, your name is deja vu The farther I go inside, I'm farther from you shoes.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for listening to this episode of Phantom Nirvana, a Dungeons& Dragons podcast. Our cast is Regan as Axel Johnson, Michael as Joshua Ames, Ben as Sam Campbell, Kevin as Marcus Burkhead, Yvette as Rayanna, Phil as the Dungeon Master, and myself, Courtney, as Mallory Reed. Our music is by Seiji, Sun Umbra, Gypsy Vision, Gang Colors, and Turn Try.