Bruce:

Nother realm is real play Dungeons and Dragons podcast where in Bruce that's me Tanner and we'll try to make dumb jokes and a compelling story. Some of the content within will not be for children. But if that doesn't bother you, then here's what happened on the last episode of Nother realm.

Tanner:

I will offer you a bit of a boon, if you will, magical browsers, but in return for a favor.

Will:

I don't have much experience but I do know that favors can be kind of a big deal.

Bruce:

Like I said, I don't like it, but I'll go along with it.

Tanner:

Luckily nearby right off the road you do you see a cabin.

Bruce:

I punched the door.

Tanner:

You come in and doors does What does not does not knock. Doors work.

Bruce:

Alright. Let's go then.

Will:

We're specifically looking for the Leylen Ruins

Tanner:

of a soccer. sprinter runs. You are currently getting closer to who you now can certainly tell are the black hold collective. The Onyx company is out here.

Bruce:

What kind of signal would you like to use?

Will:

Just say alcohol.

Bruce:

Nice. I got a bit of alcohol and we'll share it

Will:

dark.

Tanner:

You can see there are some jars that seem to have some organic looking material inside them. They're relatively small inside this kind of blue goop, which looks familiar to you six Professor Malko

Bruce:

I presume? Right? Well, you

Tanner:

see that is a need to know basis and you

Will:

think we need to know.

Bruce:

So here's how far from me

Tanner:

he's probably cleared another 10 feet. Go alright, and swing. Alright,

Bruce:

and as I do so I say well, six it looks like he's all guy.

Tanner:

USA inside the tower, you went up to a couple fights. And now you found a guy working on some stuff. You got his name. It was Professor Argo mal caught. And he's like, the hell. And you're like, We're the new guards. And he's like, cool. Why do you sound familiar? And now he's walking forward and I need you to roll initiative.

Will:

Nice. Let's go.

Bruce:

Already swung?

Tanner:

You did you're gonna get a surprise round. Okay, yeah. Yeah, it's still gotta roll initiative. But like, surprise.

Will:

He wrote in that 20 surprise. Yeah. All right. I wrote a tin

Bruce:

I wrote, I wrote an 18. Okay.

Tanner:

So, Archie, you've taken your great axe and you're taking just a straight swing at this dude. This middle aged guy. Scholarly don't act like he's defenseless. Yeah, you're you're swinging at him and he realizes it but not quickly enough to stop you from doing anything. So go ahead and roll that attack. Please sir.

Bruce:

There's a 17 hit. Yeah, okay.

Will:

He's just a dude look this guy.

Bruce:

I hope he is just a dude cuz then he's gonna be a dead dude. Alright, five damage

Tanner:

damage. Okay. You take your great axe and Argo realizes it's coming just too late and you slice him across his fine scholarly robes causing it to breach and showing some skin you've made contact and done a little bit damage to this middle aged scholar who's just trying to research it tower man

Will:

is thinking he's not just a Middle East scholar trying to research

Bruce:

of course he's always he's a bad guy from I know because I'm a bad guy.

Tanner:

Okay, you know, he's bloodied Lee has he has

Will:

blood I can't got more than do this dude is okay, we'll see. Let's go.

Bruce:

I have more intense HP. I have five times that and I'm only allowed to say

Will:

this. crazily. You do not have 50 HP.

Bruce:

I have no five times the damage

Will:

I cheated Bruce.

Bruce:

Now if I max my I mean, I'm pretty close to Max, I would actually be

Tanner:

as bad. Like, stealthily start adding HP to this guy.

Bruce:

No, no, no, my. Yeah, my Yeah, I wouldn't do that 2828 would be my max level 209

Tanner:

So you're just three off. That's cool. Okay, so Argo will stop his approach towards six. And you can see him start muttering and moving his hands about and this magic begins to manifest around him this sort of Crystaline magic shield appears and he readies himself to control I

Bruce:

raged. So technically he took seven damage Sorry.

Tanner:

Okay, that that happens and then the thing that I just described happens he cast Mm hmm right let's go.

Bruce:

Not much for getting killed by somebody's experiments. I hear a smirk.

Tanner:

Sideways smirk appears on his face. Right. It's now Archie's turn.

Bruce:

Oh, he just put up a magic shield. Is he still within melee range?

Tanner:

Yeah, he did not leave. Okay, cool.

Bruce:

I reserve my turn to attack if it appears as if he is. He is doing something offensive

Tanner:

as in a hurt that will hurt your sports or something. I agree. Yeah, exactly.

Bruce:

I can't take that kind of.

Tanner:

I don't want that

Will:

on my nah, whatever. Six has to smell. I don't think it's a nose.

Tanner:

olfactory sensory.

Will:

Chip. Yep, that one. Go.

Tanner:

Alright, so you've reserved your action?

Bruce:

Yeah, he's uh, yeah, he's got some whimsical bullshit surrounding him. I'm not I mean, I'm a bad guy. But I'm gonna stupid bad. It's

Will:

good article that six can tell what you ate for the last three days from your farts. So

Tanner:

it's not. So Archie, Archie reserved is now you've reserved an attack action to when he does something offensive to either of you. Okay, cool. Then now we move on to six six. What do so

Will:

am I an experiment?

Tanner:

He'll look over to you and raise an eyebrow and cocked his head and say, well, we could have it's too late for conversation now.

Bruce:

I'm offended I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. Totally kidding. But I had I had to say it's great.

Will:

To be fair to my partner, Archie, and I know this is probably I'm just gonna use toilet second. I'm gonna use my talking as my action. I don't know if I want to swing on this guy. So I'm just gonna I will use a bonus I will talk as an action is that okay?

Tanner:

Good say concisely say what you want to say all

Will:

my friend Archie knows that the we know that the people came from this place now because your guards released robots into okay this is more than six seconds.

Tanner:

It really is I just I can't he's keeps letting you keep going and that was you called it that was your action so go and finish what you want to say.

Will:

We know that the robots released in the in Leylen came from here because of

Tanner:

Yeah, and as you finish that statement A blast of cold air erupts from his raised hands as he whispers another spell and you are smashed by a cone of cold while these things happen simultaneously go ahead and give me the attack roll

Bruce:

Oh and another total of 17 Yeah let 10 damage go okay,

Tanner:

so I need both of you to make a constitution saving throw

Will:

the constitutional good at okay,

Tanner:

what is your what are your rules?

Bruce:

I got a 16 Oh, very nice.

Will:

I haven't rolled yet hold on constitution save to 1515

Tanner:

Very nice both of you save so you will take 17 damage

Will:

what Oh, some team baby.

Bruce:

Now seems about right spells hit hard. Hit hard bro. Even even like level two like Kona cold hits pretty fucking hard and five years. All right.

Tanner:

And then he will look over two of you and say oh, that was I woke me right up. How are you feeling?

Bruce:

I swing okay,

Will:

it is her not

Bruce:

natural 29 out of 26 damage.

Tanner:

Oh that's nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Oh So

Bruce:

I feel just fine mate.

Tanner:

You bring back your axe, and you sweep it across the floor making sparks come off it. As it scrapes against the stone, you come up and cut into his side, you can see that it does a very deep gash in his left side and he is he's looking bloodied. At this point, he is a bit winded, kind of looking at the damage that you've done, and tries to re bolster himself to regain some of his confidence. But that is where that stands. Can you do anything else?

Bruce:

I six it'd be good if we could use a little bit of your assistance right about now.

Will:

Don't worry, I've got it. Alright. So six is going to this. This did not go the way I'd planned. kind of wanted to talk to you. But I understand the situation we're in. I channeled divinity and give 10 hit points to Archie. And I'm also going to use healing we're on Archie. Okay, and then I'm going to run away. Because I have very little influence. So 10 points goes to Archie, that's how much your max HP is 25. Right? So I can give you all 1024 24 Okay, well I can I can give you all 10. So Healing Word is one of the four plus one plus my spell casting modifier plus five. So you get up another 910 10 hit points I just showed you 20 hit points. Cool. So and then six is gonna get us the all of his movement to get let's just say 30 feet away from that guy.

Tanner:

30 feet away. So this room, I never got the chance to describe this room. So I'll give you a little bit more imagery of what you can do in here. The room is 40 by 40. With two shuttered windows that are closed, one exit down the stairs. There's the Bunsen burner setup with various powders and liquids on the table behind Argo and two are and quite a few large unlit lamps hanging on the walls between various they kind of seem like they could be war forged parts, but not fully constructed at this point. But yeah, that's what you're working with. So if you're going to try and go down the exit, or get farthest away, you can go into an opposite corner. But right now everyone's kind of in the center of the room. The best way to get farther away is going to be down the stairs.

Will:

And just for the people listening just so we're all on the same boat. We're saying that we took a short rest even though we never officially announced it because

Tanner:

when you leveled up I mean Sade. Subash the aura of St. Sebastian.

Will:

Doc got

Tanner:

it filled you with health.

Will:

We never announced the service. I just don't want people to be confused because I use my channel divinity in the last battle, but I get it back in short wrist so we're good. Yeah. Okay. Yep. All right, sister. I guess I moved to where the stairs are I move out into the stairs.

Tanner:

So that's only about 15 feet away from you. If you want to get if you want to go down the stairs you can

Will:

I'm gonna go down the stairs and I'm gonna play look out and I say, Archie, I got you back. I swear I'm not running away. But I'm also I also know there's people coming down from down here. So I'm watching out

Bruce:

I think

Will:

what? What people okay, we know there's people behind us, like Strickland in them.

Tanner:

Oh, right. Yeah. All right. Yeah, fuck. Okay. Yeah. Thanks. Okay. Then we are back to the top of the order with Argo. He will look over himself. And look back up at you, Archie and ask. So it seems as if we have both proven a little bit of poise in this situation. What do you say we do talk him down there. But you seem to make the decisions.

Bruce:

Well, Mike, here's the problem. I'm perfectly fine now and you're not. So here's what we're going to do. You're not going to do any funny waggling with your fingers, or any funny whispering or I'm going to clear your head clean off your shoulders. You can agree to that. Yeah, sure. We can have a bit of a discussion.

Tanner:

What are what's your immunities during rage?

Will:

Slashing bludgeoning is not immune Jesus just resistances just yet just basically to the physical stuff.

Bruce:

He's trying to figure out how I can fuck my world. So

Will:

he is 100% Look at his face. Right look at his stupid face. He's doing he's doing it.

Bruce:

How will strike to egg the DM on to kill me. Hear that? He's trying to Okay. Let's go. Alright. Um,

Unknown:

so Argo will do

Tanner:

We'll look at you you can see this this glow coming start to come from his eyes as he begins whispering smack

Will:

it's not your turn

Bruce:

his head off. Hey, Tom. Oh taught.

Tanner:

We've I was very lenient with the coaching so far. Okay, this is what happens. He does talk and you do listen, as he says, sit and wait. And I need you to roll. Give me a wisdom saving throw. I said, Okay. You sit, and you wait, and he looks down at you. And he nods without making any sort of dickish comments like at first popped into my head. That's not him. And he will begin walking towards the stairs. His hands, he will bring down to a side and he says hello, sixth. Hello. Now you see,

Will:

how do you know my name?

Bruce:

I

Tanner:

know great many things about you six. And you seem to have found yourself in some interesting company and adjust your back over to Archie

Will:

or He's very nice. He's my friend. Good.

Tanner:

It's good to find friends when you're different.

Will:

I'm different. Oh, wait. It was the last

Tanner:

eight hours. We're good.

Bruce:

Well, I was I was I was really lucky. That's eight hours. That's all I gotta say.

Will:

Yeah, that was funny to watch. Bruce was sitting county with his fingers. Okay, let's go ahead.

Bruce:

Archie was also doing that. He's still doing actually doesn't know how long it's lasting.

Tanner:

Yeah, you said it's good to make friends. You responded with some stuff? Look, I'm certain that you have a fair number of questions, but I'm not certain that now is the time to answer them. Because you see, you've sort of put me in a bit of a predicament that I'm guessing the guards down at the bottom floor are dispatched of

Will:

a barbed one on the head. With my mace

Tanner:

Does he still breathe? Yes. Oh, that's nice. Very good. Is it? Is my life all

Will:

human? Yes. I try not to kill them. But when I try to interrupt them, yes. What am I saying? What was going on?

Tanner:

What? Okay, right. Listen,

Will:

that.

Tanner:

Do you think we can trust your friend to keep a cool hand in this matter?

Will:

Oh, absolutely not. Nope.

Tanner:

You could certainly you could certainly talk. He didn't say

Bruce:

no fucking chance. Yeah, old bastard. Yeah, no, I guess God. No fucking old bastard.

Will:

He's definitely my favorite human that I've met so far. But not cool headed is not one of his traits.

Tanner:

Right. So listen, there are a fair number of things that could be done at this juncture. I could completely in both of you very.

Will:

I'd rather you not do that.

Tanner:

I'd rather I'd not do that at this point, too. You're too precious to me six. Huh?

Bruce:

Here's the question. If you were precious to him, was your head in a fucking bag? That doesn't make any sense.

Will:

Yeah, and do you know brother cancel trying to find him? He brought my head

Tanner:

Alright, so which question Do you want me to answer first brother Ganzel? Brother Ganzel brother ganzes a fucking thief. Oh, next question.

Bruce:

Sounds likely for the man over here make an explosive robots to kill town people. They don't explode. Notice how he didn't avoid to kill townspeople? Oh shit. I

Tanner:

wasn't I fixated on the one part. No, they also weren't did they did not kill anyone, did they?

Bruce:

They sure as hell tried.

Tanner:

They did not to because they also didn't injure any townsfolk. Now if anyone tried to stop them from doing what they were doing, then bothered

Will:

storehouse folk.

Bruce:

And they definitely injured him. Definitely. Ah, and they definitely destroyed his forge that I had to save him from.

Will:

Absolutely. Ah. All right,

Tanner:

well, that was a little unplanned. I haven't really gotten the soul fusion correctly. It's sent it out in the Utica.

Will:

Well, what were those? You use two words in conjunction? That doesn't make sense soul and fusion.

Tanner:

Yes, it's when you fuse a soul to with you have forgotten so much. Oh. Know what else to say there?

Will:

Why But I guess I'm explain.

Tanner:

I would honestly love to explain more, but I'm certain that there is something to be said about information overload six. And based on what we've done in the past. I, we, you and I,

Will:

whoa, do I get any memories from that?

Tanner:

You get a flashback. You're a baby.

Will:

I can assure you this is my first time meeting you.

Tanner:

I can assure you it's not. There are a fair number of things that I would like us to discuss and figure out, listen, I am. He snaps his fingers and you can feel you're freed from the suggestion, Archie. I'm going to trust that you're not going to come up and fucking whack me again with an axe. Owl by the way. Because we have a lot of pressing, things to discuss

Bruce:

depends on what you do next.

Tanner:

I'm going to calmly walk over to my desk and take a look at some things.

Bruce:

All right, then the x stays for now. Great.

Will:

I'm watching you.

Tanner:

Well, I wouldn't. We've been talking I don't expect you to actually look in any other direction.

Will:

I looked down the stairs.

Tanner:

That also hasn't changed. ADHD is just a fucking thing across all spectrums, I suppose. And he begins walking over to the desk and unraveling a few scrolls. You can see him looking through some parchments and some of these scrolls, catch your eyes as you're looking at it. And both of you can see these. They're like maps with lines of multi colors, like these magical lines streaking across them. And what looks like to be glowing runes on these same things. There's like a few scrolls that have these scripts that you don't recognize. And then he ends up coming to one particular scroll that he pushes aside for a moment and then does a double take as he's looking at it. And he looks back at both of you and says I have are there have you noticed anything odd very odd on your way here?

Bruce:

You know my I got out of the clinic about five days ago and everything I've seen is odd,

Tanner:

right but I mean like it's dreadful. Ooh, rangy What's up Rangi Reggie says

Bruce:

a goblin who can guide you through the split Anlin Oh no, not

Tanner:

so not not not the No, no, it's

Bruce:

not your robots getting they're not robots, your whatever getting brutalized by guardsmen in a town because they are tacking townsfolk

Tanner:

with those didn't have souls.

Will:

I've never seen the earth quite move like it did in the splinterlands I've but that's my first time to the splinterlands

Tanner:

That was quite a quake but wait, he begins flipping very quickly through some of these other scrolls he lands on a map and you can see this purple line coming down that's arcing across it but you aren't close enough to see what it's doing and he is tracing this line with his eyes and you can begin to see beads of sweat appear on his brow

Bruce:

while we're waiting live

Will:

well your heartbeat is increased and your your you got water coming from your forehead

Tanner:

All right you're correct on both accounts you don't have a heart rate monitor I definitely have God's fucking kids not It's not you don't

Will:

also have soiled yourself. What's what's happening

Bruce:

being that was me oxide nothing to do what is already in right now.

Tanner:

I'm really being I have not replicated or urinated inside my clothing. I am quite and you drink vodka

Bruce:

that's me. You smell alcohols?

Tanner:

I am I'm 15 years sober.

Will:

Oh, it must be Archie Archie gross. I

Bruce:

just said it was me and him. Can we move forward now?

Tanner:

There is there is something making its way here. i i And you can see like, color starts to pour from his face as he seems to get more worried.

Bruce:

I know that's not my fault. You're not losing that much blood.

Tanner:

Can No, no wait. He starts flinging some of his vials and stuff around and he pulls out a red vial pops the cork up and knocks it back and you can see like his wounds beginning to coagulate some. That's a bit better look. Alright, so there is something coming And I should it might not be coming here we we could be okay. And then you can see the lanterns on the wall begin to glow with this faint purple light. And he says, oh fuck, no, that's the vicinity alarm and they begin to get brighter and brighter. And you said, that's, that's not right. Something with that power shouldn't unless he begins to trace his finger back across the parchment that he's looking at. And if you two got closer you can see it's a map and you can see that there's a faint line trailing from his finger but the brightest point is getting ever closer to that looks like the location of the Leylen Ruins and he traces his finger all the way back to the end of the faint line, which begins at the closest mountain range. And he says something comes from the jailbreak with great haste.

Will:

Huawei the jailbreak mountains that's not where we were, is it the opposite

Tanner:

outbreaks mountains are to the or to the east,

Will:

to the further east. Okay, it's like further into the continent. Okay, so where we came from was wound hole which is on the west. Yeah, that's

Tanner:

a canyon. There's the mountains got.

Bruce:

Alright, so you've got a fancy colorful map that lights up and says things are coming. What does that mean?

Tanner:

It means two things. One, something that I'm uncertain of what it is, which is wild is on its way here. It could have been the massive trimmers that have traced across the splinter lens that we haven't had in decades. But I don't know how that could have gotten something called something from the veil break that makes no sense.

Will:

And in the veil break

Tanner:

I've mountain dwarves I don't know it's right on the edge of of basically no man's land and then to farther east is Eema vest the land of the desert elves so there's there's there's not much that I know of in the in the jailbreak mountains other than mountains.

Will:

Should we run

Tanner:

at the speed that it's going? I don't believe that running is an option. I believe we must prepare to defend ourselves.

Will:

While using my canonical heartbreak heart rate meter, I can tell that you are serious.

Tanner:

roll roll for heart, a heart beat my heart monitor

Will:

that's the 69 days. What do I add to it?

Tanner:

Nothing. You certainly think you have a heart rate monitor. Okay.

Will:

Maybe we should go out to greet it. That

Tanner:

Well, I suppose there's no better thing to do.

Will:

I can tell you that there's also the Do you are you aware of the black hole collective?

Tanner:

Yeah, they're fucking assholes.

Will:

They're almost here. Oh,

Bruce:

you know what? Just for that. I'm sorry. I hit you in my axe because they are so

Tanner:

like, Everyone Everyone knows that. But okay. Ah,

Will:

heal him. I use I use a Cure Wounds. Okay,

Tanner:

you heal up the last bits of them. You can see his wounds. Basically, the blood coagulating and not continue to drip. He looks better.

Will:

That's two of my spell slots. But I think that I want to see I'm hoping this guy's on our side. It seems like,

Tanner:

Look, I I think we abandon all things here and make our way down. If you'd like to greet this. How powerful is it and the purple lights on the walls get brighter and brighter until the glass around them breaks. That's, that's not normal. That's a very that's not normal. And he begins to hurriedly walk down the stairs.

Will:

Can I look at the line on the map again, before I will see

Tanner:

a lot of faint traces of lines. As a matter of fact, you can see a very, very faint line coming from the direction that you came in across the splinter lens beneath the wound.

Will:

Well, I know how close is that one is it looked like they're going to arrive at about the same time.

Tanner:

No, it looks like that's already here.

Will:

Oh, oh, was that our line? Are you saying that's our line? Or is it

Tanner:

it's a single line like okay, all right. Well, that's fine. I roll it roll our cannon. You can roll Okay.

Will:

That's a 10 on dice was to 12.

Tanner:

I mean, across this map, you do see a lot of faint lines kind of moving. Most of them are just dots really? In little sections. But yeah. Okay,

Bruce:

I'm gonna I'm gonna look around the area before going on stage and see if there's anything I can use as a improvised explosive device.

Tanner:

There's a lot of liquids and powders on the table he was working on next to the Bunsen burner setup.

Will:

Okay, well, while he's looking for that I do before I get off this map, is there any other really bright lines? Or is this the like, biggest brightest light bullshit love

Tanner:

this, this, the purple line is the absolute brightest thing on the map, and you can tell where it is. And it's getting really close at this point. By the edge of it being the brightest, the point of it, that is near Leylen ruins, there's a few other bright, not nearly as bright but brighter than most other things off in the region of EMA VAs between the two mountain ranges on the map. And a few larger but not brighter lights off far to the east.

Bruce:

I just I begin to collect random things.

Tanner:

Okay, go ahead and roll. What would you roll for just trying to put together some things? Oh, I was

Bruce:

gonna say I assume that we just wait until I use them and just roll it and see if something. Yeah,

Tanner:

you start you start just pouring stuff in a single glass container. And like all this stuff begins to swirl together these powders and liquids and you just have you have this one nice, large cork bubble vial of liquids.

Bruce:

Yeah. All right. Cool. So something has got to explode. Yeah. Well, Randy's

Tanner:

got explosive downstairs.

Will:

That's right. So

Tanner:

yeah, that's what you're able to put together. That's what able to see on the map. Professor Malik hot has gone downstairs, you can hear him his issues clicking in stairs as he continues to descend? Yeah,

Bruce:

I'm gonna follow. Okay. Come on six. Let's get out of here.

Will:

I don't see a better course of action. Follow as well.

Tanner:

Okay. All right, the two of you, with your improvised liquid bomb head downstairs, and you meet up, you individually catch up to Professor mount cut. Down at the bottom next to the entrance, he is looking around frantically and trying to see if anything's on the horizon to the east. And as the three of you look out in that direction, you can see this, it almost looks like smoke. But it's strange, in that everything that's in it doesn't seem to be obscured by the smoke, but just seems to not exist when it's engulfed by this sort of inky moving substance. And it's, it stretches across a decent distance, you probably think the better part of 100 yards wide off in the distance. And it sort of undulates, and it's approaching at a rapid speed, which is kind of hard to tell based on its mass, but you can just see it getting larger and larger. And you're thinking it's because it's getting closer and wider.

Bruce:

Olga, is that is that the thing? That is

Tanner:

something I have never seen. But it must it must be well,

Will:

what before whatever that is gets here. On a scale of one to 10 How would you rate our interaction today?

Tanner:

You've taken forms and done it into this for your person. I think God I guess put we know now that personality doesn't change between the transference. Fantastic.

Will:

Oh, you knew me before this. Was I a fan of forms? Because I'll do like forms.

Tanner:

Yes, it's it was incredibly annoying. Everything was a checklist off form of this is not the time. That thing which is now kind of formed into this much smaller but pinpointed mass that is just coming at you incredibly quickly. And Argo begins like weaving his hands together, you see forming like a fireball in between his fingers. We must throw. Here's the problem with incredible, incredibly powerful entities. It could be good. It really could be. But why is it coming here this quickly?

Bruce:

What is it? What was it after?

Tanner:

That's a good question. I've got no clue.

Bruce:

So hold on. Let me quick summary. There's a large powerful entity, blistering tortoise and you are researching it but you have no idea what it actually does.

Tanner:

I'm researching things like him. I'm building this and he pointed six.

Bruce:

All right, then why do you know what this thing is? Or had a map for it?

Tanner:

I've just got an icon From the I've come from the college. And I Yes, there are there are there are spells that have been cast on that map for years and years to be able to trace particular powerful entities. It's a sign of warning, and it's attached to those lights to go. Ding ding, get the hell out of here before something comes in, kills you.

Bruce:

All right, then. One second. Hold on. I gotta look for Ranji.

Tanner:

Okay, you go look. Yeah, Randy is on the remember, he's on the edge of town, you could trace your way back to him, it's gonna take you 10 minutes to get there and back.

Bruce:

Out didn't realize it was that far. It will

Tanner:

10 minutes total, so wouldn't be 20 minutes total. But yeah, it'll take you for like five minutes to get on the edge of town.

Bruce:

What if I run.

Tanner:

If you're going at breakneck speed trying to get to the edge of it. You could probably cut it down and half the time. So you could probably make it in five minutes there and back.

Will:

But that thing is going to be here within five minutes more than likely this way, the way it looks if we can already see it. And it's coming that fast. That's my guess.

Bruce:

No idea what we're going to try it because I need something that goes boom. And I don't know if this does.

Tanner:

Okay. Go ahead. You you take off. And

Bruce:

I don't even explain myself.

Tanner:

Mathcad goes what? That's so much for character, I suppose.

Will:

I'm sure he has a plan. He would not abandon me. We're best friends.

Tanner:

You've haven't even known him for more than a day.

Will:

Best friends.

Tanner:

Alright, so another check off the list. The concept of friendship apparently is rewritable.

Will:

So does that mean that Archie and myself are not powerful enough to show up on your map? You would have been warned of our presence.

Tanner:

I would have been. I am wandering the lights warn me to look at the map to try and see the things that are powerful coming in my direction.

Will:

So we don't set up the lights dim? No.

Tanner:

I'm sorry. One day I will set off the light. Like I Yes. I mean, I know. I knew where you were. You are on the map. Really? Well, I don't I have to have a tracker on you. It would have only made sense to Ganzel came in. It's fine.

Will:

Look, I have so many questions.

Tanner:

I will and I will answer them after we take care of this entry points off in the distance and this thing is now probably a quarter of a mile away as it is barreling towards you. It seems to be like a wave undulating over itself crashing down. You can't see anything behind it so you don't know what effect it's taken on the land. And now we'll go to Archie who has gotten to the end of town and you can see there Rangi is winding up in a cartoonish fashion. His arm with a bomb as the black hold Collective is now using the time of stillness across a splitter lens to make their way closer and closer.

Bruce:

raunchy don't throw that disregard don't do it. I'm still running. Disregard. Don't do it. Okay.

Tanner:

You make your way up to him. And he's like, You look so disappointed.

Bruce:

This Dory will throw something bigger. I just grabbed him. I just like like, like a small child under the arm and not fit on. The big block thing. That's what we're gonna hit.

Tanner:

Go ahead and give me contested strength contest.

Bruce:

Okay, isn't it so strength save.

Tanner:

You can give me athletics. Let's just drink contest, just real strength and add your proficiency.

Bruce:

Okay, I got a 19 on the bass. So Oh, yeah,

Tanner:

no, you pick it. You pick up with these ends, like, I'm just I'm trying to break into his voice while still talking with mine. He instantly goes limp. Like, like a cat does, but it doesn't want to be picked up. And he's like, Oh, I'll shut up. each other can burn well, okay, the area around him could have gotten burned because it just dawned on him directly just melted southern fall to their death.

Bruce:

Well, you added that last part on there, but sure, it'd be okay. Trust me. Just just just just hold on to the promise.

Tanner:

I've done this. I've done it up. Bam.

Bruce:

I absolutely do that.

Tanner:

We'll go back over to six. Look, if there is anything you want to know, I can explain once we're free of whatever this is now with as bright as the line was and what it was doing to the lights. It's going to take all of us to try and stop it. If we were to flee. I don't wait. They could be attracted to something I've been Why would an entity have that power and wants something that I've been working on? It makes no sense. I'm the is only there's only a few people that know that I'm doing this and none of them that I know of could have control of a something like that. Especially not coming from that location.

Will:

Honestly, I am more confused now than I've ever been. And I was ahead in a bag.

Tanner:

I had had a whole body for you. It was

Will:

really? Yes. Is it here? Yes. Well, can I have

Tanner:

it? No, it isn't. It's not sadly, it's actually still back at the colleges back in Casta Haven. I wish I had it. It would have come in handy.

Will:

By go to Castor Haven, I get a nice body.

Tanner:

Yes, if we make it out of this I you guess Yes. You must come back with me to Castor Haven. If we make it out of this. It will we'll be able to, we'll be able to go back to the way things were and solve everything and figure it out.

Will:

Only if my best friend Archie can come as well.

Tanner:

Fine. I don't care, the more protection we have while moving across the better and he does kind of seem the criminal sort. Is he going to make it through guard checkpoints?

Will:

Oh, probably not.

Tanner:

Right? Well, I can I can handle that. That's fine. And then you look off in the horizon, this thing is very close. At this distance, once again, you cannot see anything the trees and the ridges in the hills that it passes by, you cannot see into but it doesn't look like it's smoke obscuring these things. It just looks like these things just aren't there anymore. And by this point, Archie is is almost back to

Will:

you. From your perspective, is the whole thing. The entity or is something creating this smoke. I can't tell.

Tanner:

That's a that's a very astute question. I'll go ahead and roll.

Will:

It's a 14 on dice plus five perception baby knighting.

Tanner:

Okay. As you look into this thing, it moves organically. The parts of it that seem to be moving like organic looking,

Will:

smoke is moving or get like it looks like it's not really smoking or something.

Tanner:

Well, it seems to like be moving as one entity, right? Like it's not like smoke moving off it it seems to be this one thing. Moving over the hills organically like, you know. Like it has a mind and a movement and emotion to it. It has weight behind it and intent. It is sentient. Seems that bikes are

Bruce:

sentient.

Will:

Yeah. I explained that to Argo. And I said, you know, at this moment, I would suggest that we ran. But I don't think that's going to help.

Tanner:

Oh, we probably would have run 100%. But if we do happen to make it out of it. We can pick up where we left off. It would be a beautiful thing six.

Will:

Huh? You never answered my question on a scale of one to 10.

Tanner:

And now you start to hear it. This thing moving is this. This the End of sound silence washes over from that direction. And it's just this eerie lack of wind or anything as it moves in this direction. And Archie you make it back with the little goblin in your arm. And Rangi is still he's he's holding his bomb in his hands and he looks off to the east and sees this thing and his eyes go wide and you can feel him tense up. And all of you are standing there facing this thing that is barreling towards you. I'm not going to ask you for any sort of initiative. I just want to know what you're going to do.

Bruce:

I set Ranjit down and I say see these big vile I'm gonna throw it you start you bomb afterwards

Tanner:

Hassan bomb looser but you survived my throat bomb.

Bruce:

Exactly. Ron G

Tanner:

thought we're in this flow to probably

Will:

right? Oh God, what can I do? Alright, I'm just going to cast guiding bolt on it at the same time to do on this. I'm going to I'm just going to use guiding bolt.

Tanner:

So you're preparing guiding bolt you can see that Argo is forming a fireball in his hands. You think it's going to be this bell? Fireball? You're welcome.

Bruce:

Because it's a fireball.

Will:

I specifically would like to cast guiding bolt before they throw the bomb actually, because it gives them advantage on attack rows.

Tanner:

Okay? You'll have to let them know that.

Will:

Let me go first. That's what I said. How

Bruce:

about all right go

Tanner:

as this thing approaches because you were you were looking so intently at it before six. You can see almost a humanoid figure for a split, brief moment. appear right at the the front of it, and then it's engulfed by the rest of

Will:

it. Okay.

Tanner:

Okay. All right. So go ahead and roll your guiding bolt attacks, because I'm assuming that's an integral.

Will:

It is. And that's a 1414

Tanner:

All right. Yeah, this thing is pretty big. So you send a guiding bolt straight down at it, it pierces about where you saw the figure in it and you can see the guiding bolt become swallowed by by the entity as he starts to slow a little bit on its approach. But you release that and it hits

Will:

do they Does it get any effect? Do I need a roll damage?

Tanner:

You don't? You don't know. But go ahead with it.

Will:

Okay, I will roll damage.

Bruce:

When we say silence Are we talking like like a silent room? Are we talking like? Yeah, like kind of silent?

Tanner:

Oh, well, okay. No, it's like the absence so like, yeah, like sound doesn't project from it. So yeah, like a like a completely enclosed soundproof room.

Will:

So I actually did 18 damage to it and and if it has any effect on anything, then they then Bruce would get advantage on his throw here to hit it.

Tanner:

Okay. It did go into it. It did. Air quotes hit it. So yeah, everyone else can old stuff at the bench.

Bruce:

Cool, because otherwise I would have loved one. Okay.

Will:

In the Bob lads, he whips

Bruce:

I guess like a 19 hit.

Tanner:

So you just you hurl your modified liquid bomb, explosive. Hopefully, as you throw it. arco looks up and goes. What the fuck was that? In its sales towards this thing. And then right after you throw Rangi hurls his little bomb off at it. And Argo is sitting there. He continues to form his fireball as it gets larger and larger preparing to launch it out. As you throw this, you can see that it's a perfect arch towards it. And Randy's bomb is flying closer and closer right behind it. And Rangi Rangi says this big berm and it explodes right behind yours. And yours shatters. And you can see this multicolored mist fly out and that ignite forward. As soon as it does. Argo sends out his fireball. And all of this multicolored flame is split, and then gets pulled in behind the fireball in towards this thing. And you don't see any indication of the light from it after it reaches. This thing continues towards you. And before it's about 30 feet from in front of you. You hear off to the side. The yells of Strickland, who is just pissed. You can see he's got some pieces of his armor off. still picking a few spiders off of him. And he says, You pieces of shit caused us to almost fall in Skinner is more pissed than I am and what the fuck are you doing?

Bruce:

Not to be rude, but it's not really the time.

Will:

I completely ignore it. I'm just watching these things even helped. Okay?

Tanner:

Once all these things went in, you can see it starts to kind of shift and changes directions. It's going back and forth, kind of like the head of a snake slowly moving forward. It's engulfing parts of the ruins now and is very close. You feel as it stops that it senses you and somehow rears back this. This inky blackness and lurches to Ward's Oliver Strickland amidst his yelling finally looks over and sees this mass coming and his eyes go wide and he stops himself. I need all of you as this thing barrels towards you to roll me a dexterity saved to try and dive out of the way.

Bruce:

Thank heavens I get to manage on that nice

Will:

is it does it happen to be poisoned?

Tanner:

Know what you got

Bruce:

not natural, Tony. Nice.

Will:

I'm pretty sure I'm dead

Tanner:

for four. Okay. As this thing is barreling towards you. You can see the bit of it up front come to a point at this point you can kind of see the trail behind it. You can see that it is it does come to an end it's not just this endless black mass. What's happened to this stuff behind it as you dive over arching you can see that the landscape is untouched there is the hills and the trees and everything off in the distance still remaining. So whatever sort of silence effect has happened seems to be located only in it. You are able to move out of the way as is ranging however, six as you attempt to move something inside you something catches it's relatively nuisance to you at this moment. It is fear. And this thing crashes into

Will:

before it does I look to I look at Archie says this should be interesting.

Tanner:

And then

Bruce:

I'm trying to like figure out I'm trying to I'm really trying to figure out this would be because like Archie is a criminal but he's not a coward. I don't know if he would dive out of the way that's the only thing.

Tanner:

I mean, it's it's it's a barreling black mass coming towards you. It's just no Yeah, absolutely. It's like instinctive. It's like a white

Bruce:

flag. That's what I thought but I just I'm just like,

Tanner:

and in that same moment. Professor Argo mascot is also caught in this thing crashes into him. And then instantly, Archie thought crosses your mind and says, Why did I come here alone? What was I supposed to find in the tower? And why am I looking at this thing? You look over to your side at the goblin thinking this is the I came by myself across the splinterlands to find something that some guy in a town is like I'll give you some money for and now you're just here with a goblin was this a smart move?

Bruce:

i What was your name again?

Tanner:

You know you remember arranging? Okay. You just you have no recollection of Professor Argo Malka or six what are the only things that you're looking at right now? Are the goblin besides you? Who is your bomb throwing buddy Strickland and the onyx company and their guide across this module and so you hate and this entity in front of you that is undulating and twisting and seems to be its mass turning to face knew what thought goes through you're

Bruce:

not a hero should play to here and I should have left fucking Claire to die in this workshop.

Tanner:

And as you say that this thing comes barreling towards you. The only thing that you can do as it why he's off in front of you. You think maybe in this moment you can save the goblin next year.

Bruce:

Kick Rangi out of the way.

Tanner:

You basically rear back your foot and through Spartan kick Rangi out of the way basically back beyond one of the the rubble walls in the direction of the Onyx company.

Bruce:

I just I just my coat afterward as I stare this thing in the face,

Tanner:

okay. Without any fear. This thing rushes into you and then it's nothing. Wait it got Archie to got Archie to

Will:

Oh, nice campaign guys. I'll see y'all next.

Bruce:

We're level two and it's a massive entity. What makes you think I'm gonna get away from it?

Will:

Yeah, luckily Hold on. Luckily I rolled another character. I'm happy to introduce Sasha Grey. Wait, wait blocking Forestar Nother Why are you doing? Nother Thank you, man. Yeah, dude probably is. That sounds like such a pornstar to Jesus Christ. That's cut.

Tanner:

No it's not no it's not

Will:

suck it's important your wife to listen to.

Bruce:

Right kid,

Tanner:

but they then are of all fucking

Will:

names I could have done it. Yeah,

Tanner:

but it was certainly de related like, like Johnny sins or something.

Will:

Yeah. Because there's so many names like, I can't think of any other pornstar name right now.

Tanner:

Like it was quite a few years ago. Let's go. Okay. Yeah, so you to feel this cold rush this sort of dread as everything you know is ripped away from you. You can't feel the ground beneath your feet. You cannot feel your extremities your heart rate seems to not exist you feel unnatural. And your senses are tossed around in this sort of undulating motion ebbing and flowing like like the waves as you're in this. It's not darkness. It is nothingness. It is the expanse of the universe where things forgotten, tend to just drift away into nothingness. And then you can hear something off in the distance something that maybe if you tried hard enough you could get closer to it's the sound of waves gently washing along the shore. Just a slow motion of small whitecaps as they crest across sand. You can follow it or you can drift away

Bruce:

yeah, I guess I'll go towards the sound

Will:

I mean, I'd like to follow it I'm curious it's very curious Hello, dear listener, it's me again will aka the voice of six and I'm here to thank you for listening to episode five of our very first campaign than ever there. If you want to find out more about the world of your set and the continent of Lear, you can find a bunch of nerdy world building info at Nother realm.com Our next episode will be released on Monday, September the 26th. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you to

Bruce:

think you're doing you're doing it without me. I told you not to do this without me. Oh,

Will:

Archie, I thought you were away.

Bruce:

Oh, you think I'm stupid. I'll show you the difference between dogs and wolves don't get out of my face. Now, for my brother's loves and dogs out there. This is it. We all knows who you came here. And if you could go to the review section of the streaming service in which you are listening to and rate my wonderful performance that would be perfect. And if you don't, I'll be doling out another lesson about wolves and dogs.

Tanner:

The two of you. Do your best to pull some semblance of movement together without any sense other than the sound this emotion that you feel trying to find something and you edge closer and closer to the sound of the way moves. And eventually, as the as the nothingness begins to dissipate, it turns into this sort of dreary Gray. The sky is this looks like it's about to rain, that sort of feeling where the clouds are slowly rolling in, and you eventually can't see the sunlight anymore. And you can eventually see the source of the waves. And then you realize that your bodies are here standing on top of water. The waves are just the the slow motion of the water. There is no wind here. But there was just anyone

Will:

else. No,

Tanner:

it is just this gray that we can't even see each other. Oh, you can you can see each other. And you can see, Professor Melkite actually is here as well. He got caught. You're just in this endless expanse of waves and gray sky, and water and gray sky.

Bruce:

Can we see ourselves as well? Like I like yeah, you're

Tanner:

aware of your body? You can you can see you feel that you don't feel normal just because of the place that you're in. But like you, you can do what

Bruce:

Yeah, I just want it because you were saying it was like nothing. I just wanted to make sure like, we're not just some floating cocktail. And

Tanner:

as you as you reach the waves, and you know this area, have you you've basically come to consciousness in this area after being

Bruce:

my check I just my my coat again.

Tanner:

It's completely fine. And actually, any damage that you might have taken recently is not there.

Bruce:

Okay, cool. So the things that the glyphs or the Greeks did to my coat is also fixed. Yeah.

Tanner:

You not only do nice, not feel like exhausted or tired, you don't really feel any sense of tiredness, or you could almost spell slots, but you don't you don't know.

Bruce:

I looked down at that golden symbol or whatever that

Tanner:

that is still there. That is still there. Yeah, as you try and get a sense of like your spell slots and stuff, your your spells, your magical abilities. Six, you don't really feel like there's any sort of connection to magic, you just feel like you're just here. You're just here, you don't really feel like any connection to any sort of energy. Like if you were hungry before you're not now if you were out of breath or exhausted before you certainly aren't now you actually, you know, just are. Are here, you're just here

Bruce:

is my x also just here, your x is everything that you were carrying is also listed. Don't take that out, because this is fucking weird.

Tanner:

Yeah, you take it out. All right, I

Will:

guess I try to talk to everybody then. Can I talk? What do you say? Okay. I told you that would be interesting.

Bruce:

I mean, it's actually a little bit blind if you truly wish to describe it.

Tanner:

This is very bland. I mean, if you're into the kind of endless ocean gray sky landscape, then I suppose it's not so bad.

Will:

Some times bland can be interesting.

Bruce:

When? Right, I suppose.

Tanner:

Oh, okay. Yeah. All right. No, you you got me there. Through all of my knowledge. I have no knowledge of this. So we're standing on water. You're standing on water.

Bruce:

I bend down and I tried to put my hand through the water.

Tanner:

Yeah, it goes down into it. And as you're looking down into the water, you can see what looks to be figures of people. Elves, Orcs. halflings. Dwarves just floating beneath the waves unaware of your presence.

Bruce:

Gentlemen, have you tried looking down recently?

Tanner:

Yeah. Okay. See the same thing?

Will:

Question outside of game. Bruce completely forgot who we were. And now he's seemingly knows who we are. Correct. Okay, I did not.

Bruce:

Remember, yeah,

Tanner:

I guess I should say this. Aren't you? You remember, both six and Professor Argo malcode. Once you see them again. You You remember the moments before you were taken or engulfed or whatever has happened. And you can remember like the split second of of not remembering them.

Bruce:

You guys know who I am, right?

Will:

You're my best friend Archie Archibald Theodore Cromwell.

Bruce:

So apparently the effect only happens on the outside or whatever the hell this is. What effect? Well, when you two were taken for split second I forgot your complete existence.

Will:

Oh, that is interesting.

Tanner:

Was there? Was there any bit like what did what? What happened?

Bruce:

You were taken for whatever. And I sort of had an existential moment about why I was sitting in dirt next to a goblin with a giant, black, Inky mass about to consume me, it's kind of odd. Don't much think about things like that. Argo,

Tanner:

he, his face is stuck as he appears off into the distance. Clearly thinking trying to piece together what's happened here. As you do look down beneath the waves. Again, these figures don't take any, there's no indication that they see you. And you can even see some of their eyes are open peering upwards. But they kind of are just just floating seems there's some currents down there, there are some that are drifting lower than the others. Just people beneath the waves, and you can you can reach down, but if you tried to reach it doesn't seem like you could ever reach any of them.

Bruce:

Gotcha. So my handle will go under the water, but it seems like they are just very, very far.

Tanner:

I mean, they're not. They both they just seem unreachable. Right. Like, it's this weird feeling of, you know, they could be close, based on you know, proximity and size. But like, they just seem unreachable.

Bruce:

Gotcha. Okay, so they're always like they're always just out of reach. Yes. Okay, gotcha. Yeah.

Tanner:

So yeah, Professor mal Cox looking off into the distance and then you hear this voice, and it sounds like stones rubbing across each other. It's not really like a human voice or a humanoid voice like something organic. Just like just this you scraping noises that seemed to be deep and still making words understandable words

Will:

sound familiar?

Tanner:

It does not sound familiar. Um, you know what? Let me let me say what it's gonna say and then I'll let you know how that feels. You hear the voice say interlopers in the drift. You should not be here yet. And you see a shadow begin to take form nearby. This one unlike the thing that engulfed you outside does seem to be purely shadow. Something that you can see it's partially transparent. Something about this humanoid finger figure. Something about this humanoid figure fills you with this existential dread and yet you feel as if you know them like their dear friend that you just haven't met yet.

Bruce:

We weren't supposed to be here yet. And why did you drag us in here?

Unknown:

Was not me.

Will:

What is your name?

Tanner:

It laughs in this this again. That's the grading of this sort of stone sound it is very unnatural. It says

Unknown:

all show going to know me in their tie. I am then charged with the final tasks. When the last life across all universes sinks beneath the drift. My task will be complete. And I shall rest.

Will:

Nice to meet you there.

Bruce:

I know what you are. Oh, yes. Yeah. No death, Archie.

Unknown:

I am known by that and quite a few universities. Yes.

Bruce:

That explains why we're not supposed to be here.

Tanner:

You can feel this. Like you can sense this figure is nodding. And it begins to walk closer.

Will:

So how did the three of us leave?

Unknown:

No one has ever escaped the drift. Why should you be any different?

Will:

That's a good point. I don't know that I'm special. But I will like to leave. I still haven't found out my whole story yet.

Unknown:

Every one is special. You are special. And most people don't know the end of their own story.

Will:

Wait, if everyone is special, how am I then special? It

Tanner:

chuckles again

Unknown:

is a question that I think you must answer for yourself in time if you are too drift off to another plane of existence.

Tanner:

And it continues to get closer to we hit him

Bruce:

where I'm just waiting to see what Argo does too, because he's here.

Tanner:

Argo does finally, after staring at this being for a minute listening. If it is not yet our time, then why can't we go? And death will respond.

Unknown:

That is a good question. But if I were to let you go, or if there would to be a way out, that could be the end of the mortal realm. It could destroy the balance of everything.

Bruce:

Okay, Archie's gonna squint at death, and he's just gonna be like, you know, make I've been living my entire life on borrowed time. I think I'll keep doing that. I think I'll go find a way out there.

Will:

If there were to be a way out, where would you begin looking?

Tanner:

This laugh echoes throughout the area.

Unknown:

I wouldn't begin looking inside yourself. Or I suppose myself where I have to be in your shoes.

Will:

I opened up my panels. Didn't get around if

Tanner:

you open your panels and a few chess pieces fall out.

Unknown:

Oh, I have heard those stories in other universities. I do not play games.

Will:

If I when you let me out. It's worth a shot.

Bruce:

He said he's walking towards us, right? Yep. slowly walking

Tanner:

towards you. He's probably about 20 feet away.

Will:

Alright, six sits down and starts thinking

Bruce:

okay. It starts walking towards death. Okay as embodiment of death.

Tanner:

As you walk forward. You're currently Argo is currently between you and death. And you can see his hands flicking behind him and the sparks of something fluttering up in his hands behind his back.

Bruce:

Oh, he can do whatever you want, son. Yeah, that's fine. I just said, as I'm walking towards death, I just say Archie just says, I was in my entire life not knowing if I see my next meal and the next day, it's not going to change now. I'm not afraid of you. I never was.

Unknown:

You shouldn't be. I don't know where this thing came from that you should be afraid of death. I am a friend escorting you to the next plane. That is all. I don't take life. I just asked one life to another form.

Will:

Can I roll an insight and see if I could understand you know what he meant by looking inside myself?

Tanner:

Yeah, go ahead roll inside.

Will:

nonplussed to know what that means. 514 14

Tanner:

what you gather from that is, you know, he wasn't talking about escape he was talking about leaving and leaving this place doesn't necessarily have to mean going back to where you came from. It could be to go on to whatever the the next thing is.

Will:

So Resistance is futile. We can't escape. There is no point in fighting you I would assume.

Unknown:

There is never a point in fighting the end.

Tanner:

And as death says this Argo shouts a spell and he was spreading fingers out in front of them. You can just see this these arcs of playing going towards death as Argo runs at it, and he passes by you Archie and looks back and says I'll hold him back as long as I can escape and find Cantelli but Ganzel find Cantelli and death will raise its arms and grasp. With Argo seemingly in some sort of struggle with him as much as you think death might struggle with a living being well,

Will:

it's clear direction I just I take off running in the opposite direction of Archie

Bruce:

we're not done he just kind of turns around with his hands and his hands up like he didn't know what the fuck is going on? Because it's just endless glass any direction

Will:

and is there a wall that I can see?

Bruce:

Right it's just endless glass. It's just water reflecting clouds. Yeah, just endless glass.

Tanner:

Yep, you could you could stay that is a choice that you can make if there is an

Will:

end I'm going to find it thank you for this kindness argue.

Tanner:

Why are you still talking fucking run?

Will:

I'm saying that as I'm running. Okay. I speak perfectly because I'm not winded. Robot.

Tanner:

Yeah, well and you don't feel winded? Even if you could in here

Bruce:

to get I'm trying to figure it out why? Like I'm trying to figure out why Archie would feel like in any way shape or form worried right now because he literally has lived his entire life on borrowed time. So it's like okay, I don't know. I don't know that he would run that.

Will:

I can't do this alone. Archie. Come up like 60 feet away at this point. Yeah,

Tanner:

this is this is entirely a decision to make you could stay and and see what happens and you could try and fight death you can do whatever you want to do. Whatever you want to do. You're gonna bruise

Bruce:

dude, I'm sorry. I got my character was

Will:

just waiting to see all taters keeps you Okay?

Bruce:

Wait, how do I just see oh Tanner flings me out of this world I don't want to make it hard but like you know,

Will:

you're not sorry I'm not trying to dissuade you

Bruce:

Okay, I gotta think for a second

Tanner:

if I from our first time actually playing when I started DMing and you just completely fucking sacrificing a character because of the primeval that was attached to it. I don't expect you to run from jack shit by dude.

Bruce:

Okay, cool. Cool. Cool. I just wanna make sure I'm not like screwing No,

Tanner:

no. Like if you if you feel if if six saying that to you, makes you think makes Archie want to try and escape then that's fine if you want to try and fight that that's fine if you want to just watch the inevitable happen as Argo tries to hold off fucking the universal form of death, then that's fine too. But again, fucking fighting off.

Will:

You said the way you say biting off fucking the worst. Like

Bruce:

he's gonna give it to death.

Will:

Give a death about it. Get

Tanner:

it all speaking of Sasha Grey. Jesus Christ.

Will:

I'm so bad that I said that name of all names. I was just trying to think of a name I came up with Sasha I was like what goes up Sasha? Oh, great. Book be right.

Bruce:

Okay, yeah, here we go. I got it. I know. He points is he's gonna kind of point his axe out at death and he's just gonna say sweat me whole life running from you. Every day, every second. Not knowing if you were closing my yields are far away by dialing the warmth of a nice home in front of a nice hot or cold goddess or the street. Don't run. You're gonna get me you're gonna get me. So so be it. And he turns and he just starts walking away.

Tanner:

Okay, yeah, you start walking across the waters and you don't look back. You can feel the presence of death and the struggle that another living being or maybe living being is having. But you feel no Chase. And you walk in the same direction as six, six as you're running away. You You don't feel any sort of cowardice or anything by doing this. It is the natural course of life to try and escape death to continue living and it will What What are your thoughts like? What? What in your mind? Would you seek? In a place like this? Would you seek refuge? Would you seek some sort of door a portal a gate? Would you seek someone who might know something here? There's plenty of people or beings floating beneath the waves. What would you seek here to help you?

Will:

I think I think that he has a pretty one track mind, the only thing on his mind is Cantelli. To tell you something, or somehow in here, he would look at he would just do that, but really what he's searching for, and the way he thinks he's gonna find his way out is he's just going to find the edge of this thing. First through it. That's what he's that's what kind of like, the glass is just gonna appear in front of him, he just rams into it. That's why he's running full speed.

Tanner:

Okay, give me a straight D 20 rule. Nothing added just to D 2013. All right. You continue running and as you have the thought of finding the edge, your foot connects with a step. And you find that after a few more steps of your own, you are ascending and is building is before you that really wasn't there before it didn't just appear, it just seems as if it was and now you are climbing the stairs. And now you can take a moment. You can either stop and try and take in what it is or you can continue ascending.

Will:

Stop and look to see if Archie's following me because I haven't you know, felt him running beside me or anything.

Tanner:

Yeah, as you look back. Archie is actually not that far behind. Even though it was quite a few moments for him to make his decision and slowly walk in you were running it at a sprint. He's not that far behind at all. And in the distance you don't see either the entity of death or professor Argo Malka. So yeah, that's what you see of our gene. As you take in that moment to look back, you turn back in front of you. It's this large white stone building with massive columns holding up the roof up front. It seems to be made of this marble. Everything is polished and smooth. And it doesn't seem to be on any land. Nor does it really seem to be floating the waves slowly and gently crash against its sides. No sign of erosion. On this thing that seems to probably have been here for a long time. The stairs lead up into an open doorway, that it does seem a little dim inside. You really can't tell what's inside though.

Will:

Oh, well. Hey, Archie, I'm very glad you decided to come start walking up the steps.

Bruce:

Okay. All right. He didn't really say anything. He just kind of shrugs and just as code as he's walking, okay.

Tanner:

You adjust your coat and follow six up the stairs. And six as you reach the top of the stairs, and your eyes sort of adjust to this, this darker area you can see inside is lit by sconces along the walls, and all over even without going through the doorway in front of you. You can see paintings inside along the walls. And Archie, you end up walking up besides six and you can see the same thing. It seems to be you're on the outside of some sort of gallery.

Will:

What are all the pictures?

Tanner:

Okay, you go inside and do you look at pictures. There seems to be like these sort of classical style paintings. They depict a great number of things. But in this section right at the entrance seems to be the same person or people in each of these paintings, and it seems to kind of trace a lifetime through all of these. It's a winding gallery here and you could follow it back and in the middle. As you trace through these areas, you can see there's a Dyess in the center and in this Dyess there is a closed book underneath a glass dome. And all around are just these paintings of this one life. And if you follow them and what seems to be the order from the entrance to towards the back of this building, it seems to trace the life of this man. This this elf as he ages and goes through life experiences and at the end, he dies and you can see in the last painting the shadow of death Reaching out it's hand towards this elf. And that's the last painting in the gallery.

Bruce:

Was the book have anything written on it?

Tanner:

There is nothing written on the cover. What is there is just this big circle. So this book is this large, leather bound tome. It's this black leather and in the center is just this large silver circle.

Bruce:

It's got a glass cover over it

Tanner:

as a glass cover over.

Will:

Do we recognize the elf in the paintings?

Tanner:

You have no idea who it is. The glass cover seems like you could just

Bruce:

say that. Archie walks right up to it. And he basically just got almost with disdain kind of just push it off of being around this book. Yeah, no, no, no care for it at all. Like he's his impatience. And his his impatience is beginning to show through, okay.

Tanner:

You basically take your hand on it, and you feel like it rotates over and sinks back into the Dyess and you see the book there. And then you hear a voice off kind of coming from one of the shadows up nearby. And the voice says I wasn't done with these yet.

Bruce:

I picked the book up.

Tanner:

I'm like, you could you could you can flip through the I wasn't done looking at these yet.

Bruce:

Looking at what, okay, I look for where the voice is coming from.

Tanner:

You look up in the direction that it's coming from an on top of one of the Decorative columns nearby. You just see a child sitting up there seems to be a human child and common clothing. He has a clean cut black hair. And he's just sitting up there kicking his legs, like children do when they're sitting on a chair that's too tall for them and touches the ground.

Bruce:

Well, I mean, you weren't done with it yet.

Tanner:

Well, this is this is the first elf and I just thought this was a cool one. And you know, like I'm I like these of all the ones that I've looked through. I like these the the best so far. I mean, there's tons apparently but these these somehow comfort me a little a bit I think.

Will:

Who are you?

Tanner:

Oh, I'm, I'm My name is Navarre. Who are you?

Will:

I am six.

Bruce:

I'm just kind of glancing around the room seeing what I see.

Tanner:

Yeah. Again, it's just these these paintings depicting apparently the first elves life. Like if you trace back from some of it, it's got magical events, it's got all these things happening. A lot of the paintings are filled with these amazing colors. A lot of them are large moments in this person's life. But some of them are just dull and dreary and nothing happening. Some he's reading a book in front of a fire and just, you know, doing benign normal stuff.

Bruce:

I still don't understand what you mean by you're not done with it?

Tanner:

Well, if you if you open the book up, and you select the name, you get to see their paintings.

Will:

My name is six. And this is my friend, Archie. I open the book.

Tanner:

Okay. The child jumps down and lands on the stone floor and says it's nice to meet you. I mean, I've been here for a long time. So yeah, it's up to you can have a turn. That's okay. I'm sorry. For trying to tell you that I can always find the name again. It's fine. You open the book. What do you flip to? You see, this just lists of names upon names. There seems to be no order to them. They're not alphabetical or anything. It's just names.

Bruce:

Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah. They're just names and

Tanner:

are you searching for one in particular?

Bruce:

Well, so Okay, so, I think what Archie probably would do here is he'd probably look for like some of the old people who used to run with okay, then pour it way worse, but we haven't really set that tone. So please do.

Tanner:

Let's set that tone.

Bruce:

I think I'm gonna look at Argos name because he went in an interesting way. Okay. It's gonna make more sense. You

Tanner:

flip a couple of pages. And there you see the name. Most of the names are in black ink on this paper. Argos name is written there in silver. And as you see it, you both here this shifting. It sounds like paper flying across each other. And all these paintings, rearrange the numbers of them The way that the walls were were formatted before with the painting of the Elves, or the paintings of the elf. They kind of seemed to shift against each other. And now you can see back from the entrance, the life of Argo malerkotla, it starts off with him being born in his parents, arms. A few events of him as a child, you know, studying things you can see at a young age, he was very astute as he observed animals and, you know, was a little too brave on a few experiments and hurt himself. As he got older, you can see him going to Castro Haven, the mage college that's on an island nearby, the capital city of Velia. He's getting on a boat, you recognize port waivers to go out to cast your haven. And then a few paintings later back in Castor Haven on a boat, traveling the world and eventually making his way with a few people, you recognize the same people in each painting. So he kind of has this group of friends that he's traveling with. And he makes his way off, exploring and studying things and he gets older. And as he approaches sort of middle age, you can see him in this one person working together in these labs. There's one person that's kind of appeared since since Castor Haven. And then paintings of him meeting the two guards that that were outside and working in the tower right before. Right before the end. And unlike the painting of the elf before, the painting at the end of this is this wild mix of paints and colors. It seems to be like you can almost make something out of it very impressionist. But like there's these these forms and figures that it just it doesn't look right. It doesn't look like if there was a painter of these things that they were in their right mind at that moment when they were trying to paint this final one

Bruce:

got. Is the person who's working with him clearly depicted? Yeah,

Tanner:

yeah, the person that's working with him is clearly depicted.

Will:

Yes,

Bruce:

I do. I let I'm waiting. I wait for six to make

Will:

us see

Tanner:

all these paintings. And the child Navarro will say, Hmm, well, this is is a pretty normal one. That into painting is really I've never seen that before. I've looked through a lot of names and I've never seen that one before.

Will:

Your to the pictures of the person he's working with and just look at them. Okay, what do I get from that?

Tanner:

You don't recognize the other person in this. The only real standout feature here that I will describe to you is a moustache. But I would like for you to describe everything else.

Will:

What did we say I was

Tanner:

my ELF you can be whatever you want to be.

Will:

Okay. So well do you

Tanner:

want that? Do you want the mustache?

Will:

Oh, yeah. Okay, the mustache is great. Okay, let's let's keep the mustache so it's a it's a very dorky looking dude with glasses. But he does have a nice like, straight up. Bert mustache going on. Oh, Burt Reynolds mustache going on. It looks I mean, it's not quite what's on his face right now. But he's about six foot something six foot one. Just normal looking dude, very skinny, very pale. And just a just a overall dork, disheveled hair. Like a darkish, brown colored, disheveled hair going on there and just kind of like has that. absent minded Professor look.

Tanner:

Okay. As you take in this image of this person here, it's these weird synapses begin firing in your brain unit.

Will:

That's these are you human, by the way, here's a human okay.

Tanner:

There are these sparks of recognition, these these things these something in you is trying to tell you something, some some emotion, some feeling. You, you know, you know this person, you know you. You saw them a lot. You know, you saw them? Maybe every day, you know, maybe maybe you knew them. Maybe you knew someone that that didn't know them. Maybe you saw them all the time in the mirror. Maybe it is. Maybe it's your reflection, maybe. Maybe this is you. And all these things are flooding your mind and then the cacophony have voices that spoke to you before sing out again. And this time Archie, you can also hear them and they say seek truth above all else so you can kind of express what you what you feel they don't say anything else.

Will:

I've certainly learned a lot about myself today. Can I see that book?

Bruce:

Sure, friend, Archie hands it passes it off to him.

Will:

I look for Archibald Theodore Cromwell.

Tanner:

All right, you flip a couple pages. And they're in silver is Archibald Theodore Cromwell. And as you look at the name, the walls once again kind of begin to shift to to best display these paintings. You hear the fluttering of paper against each other and all the paintings rearranged to show the life of Archie. You can see his childhood in the slums of Portway worth some incidents of him running into the law as he got older, finding a group of people that he seemingly became close to and the incidences that have led him to here. Would you like to describe a couple of couple of paintings?

Bruce:

Yeah, okay. And so first and foremost, when he flips to Archie's name, and Archie recognizes the events of his life. He pays no attention to the paintings, purposely avoiding them. And he'll say to six, feel free to get a good look. I know what happened in my past, I don't need to see it again. So the big you'll see two defining moments. One is the beginning of what appears to be a very large scale mansion heist, between him and his fellow street gang members. You will see that it appears to go swimmingly. And then you will see in another painting, Archie, surrounded by guardsmen, and the following one, you'll see him in jail. And the following one, you'll see all the members of his gang murdered, brutally slaughtered, and then you will see a betrayer who is speaking with the men who had handcuffs, the painting with the betrayer in it Archie's gonna walk up to and he's going to try to he's just going to try to lift it.

Tanner:

Okay. As you walk up to a painting, Navarro says, I wouldn't mess with them. I don't know how the gallery really works. But it just seems to be kind of not the greatest. Well, I don't know how to do it, this might be cool. So you walk up to the painting, and you attempt to lift it.

Will:

While he's doing that his six had a pretty specific reason for doing this. He he walks over to later in the life obviously, before we got here, and wants to see if he sees himself in there, and what he is depicted at is in these pictures.

Tanner:

Oh, you can see the the ladder points. Once again, you can see the last image and it is just this messed up form of color and mashed together. It's like, you know, some messed up finger painting or deal that someone's just haphazardly spread across the paper. But you can see the moment that he met you in a couple of paintings from your travels and where you fought the Greeks. A lot of

Will:

but it's six it's not it is his old form.

Tanner:

It is okay it is not as old form.

Will:

I was just I was curious about that. But also curious about Archie's life. So well, Archie's doing that. You just here's, I guess six is kind of reflecting on all this. And Hmm, I guess this truly is me now.

Bruce:

Basically, and the other thing is for our readers, it seems like the paintings with the paintings in the slums are very, they're very dark and kind of tragic. And then there's one particular member of the gang that is in every single painting. The like when the gang is present, this person is much more detailed than other members of the gang showing some kind of importance like a very good strong friendship in. That person's details are also the most explicit in the paintings. of the deaths of this of those gang members. So it's clearly there's clearly some kind of relationship to this person there. And the image of the person who is interacting with the guardsman or the other the people who, quote unquote, you know, cause Archie to get caught cause this all to happen seems like almost devilish, like, like, you can tell that Archie, like, you can tell from the painting that there is the utter there's the highest amount of loathing for this person, okay, there is no like there is no potential for recompense it is it is that like you can feel it from the painting.

Tanner:

Yeah, there's there's this aura around this this person it's not it's not this sort of tangible way of painting it but like it is this sort of, you know, the, the way that it's done whoever the artist is, has made some sort of emphasis on there that just makes it this this man is the focus of this and it is not kind the the brushstrokes that are made to paint him. Yeah.

Will:

So now that Well, now that I've looked at that one painting to see what I wanted to see, I come back and start looking at the rest of it. And as he's walking up to that painting, I'll ask Archie, so who is that

Bruce:

this is the bad painting the one was

Will:

clearly like when you were going to take off the wall and stuff.

Bruce:

Okay, so it kind of walks by he's not not in a rude way like he's not trying to brush you off or anything. He's just focused. And we all know that Archie Archie can be quick to act but generally he's pretty a pretty calm person as far as that goes. But you definitely know he is not calm looking at this painting. Like it's almost like his entire body is shaking with it with just pure you've seen him rage This is put this pales in comparison to his rage and battle pales in comparison to the his rage currently.

Tanner:

Just describe this painting for me.

Bruce:

So it's, I guess we'll say it so it's like an Archie in cuffs on his kind of like, on his knees in front of like a panel of what appear to be Guardsmen. And then the person is also in this area where the Guardsmen are and he's kind of pointing at Archie. And it's like just a devilish grin on his face, like, just under betrayal like he just betrayed betrayed is nothing but betrayal. And in the picture, Archie's portrait is very dejected. So it's like he's not he's, he's, you tell us like the lowest point in his life, basically.

Tanner:

And are you like in a, in a jailhouse courtroom?

Bruce:

Like just yeah, like a courtroom, okay. And it's immediately succeeding the picture of all the other gang members who appear to be dead in some way, shape, or form. Okay. Now, I was gonna say So success is that question, Archie takes the picture off the wall, and he kind of stares at it

Tanner:

as you so you go to you go to reach, and you put your hands on either side of the the pretty plain wooden picture frame, and you try to pull it off the wall. It does offer some resistance. Do you still just try and yank it off?

Bruce:

Yeah, I mean, it's just kind of nice. Yeah. Okay.

Tanner:

As you as you pull, you put some effort into it. And you hear Navarre from behind, say, never taken a painting off disk. I mean, it's just a painting, right. And as soon as he says that you hear. And it's the backing of this painting, tearing off the wall from whatever hook it was on. But then the tear kind of continues. It's like this. This allowed tear that emanates outward from the painting, and you can see this crack begin to form behind where it was on the wall. And the paints in this particular scene start to sort of glow and the tear of this becomes deafening. And then light pours from the crack and colored spills from the painting as the paints turn into water and liquid and this multicolored paint flies towards you and engulfs all of you here as it fills the room and then you no longer hear this crack. And now this as your as the color dissipates. The two of you find yourselves in the gallery of a courtroom, Archie, you immediately recognize the surroundings. You know the room, you know the people in it, you know I have the judge that is standing at the head of this trial. And the thing that strikes you the most is you know the person who is currently standing trial. And you know, the judgment that's about to be passed upon them. Because the person standing there is you and you're about to be convicted of murder.