Fate Casters: Shadows of Stravia
A dark and immersive actual play experience where fate is as merciless as the night.
Fate Casters: Shadows of Stravia
The Waking Nightmare | Shadows of Stravia | Episode 53
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
After the horrors of Light of Doruusk, the party briefly returns to the waking world—but not everyone wakes easily.
Nyx lies unconscious after the impossible glimpse of Odin’s Eye, touched by something ancient, divine, and far beyond mortal understanding.
The rest of the party remains collapsed where they stood, trapped between dream and reality.
And Zelphira stands alone.
Protected from the mysterious sleep by her mother’s ring, she becomes the only member of the party left conscious enough to witness what has happened—and what may still be coming.
As Borislav returns and the sleeping party begins to stir, the lines between the waking world and Light of Doruusk grow more dangerous than ever. Requiem, Borislav, and the others come to a chilling conclusion: if the soul-stealing plague is to be stopped in the parallel world, the answer may lie in the real one.
At the old site.
Where the Gulthias tree once stood.
Where Virelia’s memory still lingers.
Where old wounds were buried, but never truly laid to rest.
Now, with Smiley Tinkersmith joining the waking nightmare, the party must travel back to the place where so much darkness began and discover what remains after the tree’s destruction.
A door?
A riddle?
A warning?
Or something much worse waiting beneath the roots?
Some places do not stay dead.
And some evils only wait to be remembered.
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Highlights
👁️ Nyx suffers the aftermath of glimpsing Odin’s Eye
💍 Zelphira is protected from the mysterious sleep by her mother’s ring
🌙 The party briefly returns from Light of Doruusk to the waking world
🐻 Borislav returns and helps guide the party toward their next step
🎭 Matt steps in as the NPC Smiley Tinkersmith
🧭 Requiem and Borislav urge the party toward the old Gulthias tree site
🌳 The party realizes the real world may hold the key to stopping the soul plague
🕯️ Memories of Virelia and the cursed site resurface
🚪 The mystery deepens as the party searches for what remains beneath the roots
⚠️ Waking world and dreamworld horror begin to collide
🌑 Old evil stirs in a place the party hoped they would never revisit
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👉 Like, subscribe, and ring the bell to follow the campaign live and never miss an episode.
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Hashtags
#DungeonsAndDragons #DnD #DnD5e #ActualPlay
#TTRPG #ShadowsOfStravia #FateCasters
#LightOfDoruusk #Doruusk #Stravia #Slavoka
#Nyx #Requiem #Zelphira #Borislav #SmileyTinkersmith
#Virelia #GulthiasTree #OdinEye #SoulMagic
#DarkFantasyDnD #GothicFantasy #FantasyDrama
#DnDIntrigue #EmotionalRP #DnDRoleplay
#ParallelWorld #DreamMagic #SoulPlague #CosmicHorror
#FantasyMystery #TabletopRPG #LiveDnD
Hello and welcome to Fate Customs! Don't worry, it's just me on normal DM. Nothing strange about me. We are back after a little break for us in IRL and for you with the content.
SPEAKER_09But it feels a little strange for me because I was playing for most of it. But who remembers what happened last time? Gabe's back, by the way. Hi Gabe. Yeah, who remembers what happened last time? I remember Nice Math. Eric was DMing for a lot of it.
SPEAKER_10I was traumatized. You died. I did. You died. Uh-huh. Yeah. I don't know why you're still don't know if I should be here.
SPEAKER_04I have Celine's voice in my head, but I don't remember if that was the one shot or something.
SPEAKER_09That was before the dream. Pretty gutsy. What about in the dream?
SPEAKER_04Oh, in the dream. Oh, yeah. We're here still. Cute little fox baby.
SPEAKER_09Who were then murdered. Brutally soul snatched and kidnapped and funny. Where you did it.
SPEAKER_04But but I saved them from falling. That's important.
SPEAKER_09I don't know what's happening with their bodies, but they were lifeless bodies you save them from falling. No soul bodies. Yeah. No soul bodies.
SPEAKER_03So it's so up.
SPEAKER_09This is Stravia. They can be animated, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_03Oh, Karina.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, you failed Karina, both in remembering your anniversary and in saving her soul.
SPEAKER_03Or Karina. And um uh yeah, you were you were riding me pretty hard as you were making fun of me.
SPEAKER_09The last one was making fun of me. That's my character. I created Karina. And uh Reggie, Reggie as a druid um uh revealed. What did you what did you reveal? Like right. What did you uh what was your vision? Do you remember that? I can help you out at that point. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_12Um so Reggie had preconditions on his mind set, and when he got to the sentient door, they were activated. And they did an encode thoughts kind of shared spell that revealed all the memories that he had uh suppressed as a result of this uh spell and showed that the treants had left the uh this plane to a gray plane because they were seeking to get away from Lario's army as it marched south and didn't want to burn, and had since been helping the uh trees and those kind to trees on the other side of the plane. Um, but there were uh there was a divination of his elephantine master and teacher that showed that um there was the possibility of all of that being undone. And uh so they destroyed the temple. And uh Reggie had his mind wiped a little bit, unless precondition uh things happened, and of course they they did happen. And the worst case scenario was revealed back where these things were were threatened. Um so you showed all of that stuff and revealed it to heroes that might be able to save the day to go and access a different temple at a different plane in order to get to the gray thing and stop whatever evil is happening there, and then you took your secret fully to the grave and your face melted off. Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, it's a super metal, though.
SPEAKER_09Supermetal. Yeah.
SPEAKER_11Barbarian Barbellian who tried so hard to do.
SPEAKER_09He really did. He was willing to die for you. Barbellian was. He's a hero. Um we were not. But that was the light of Dorosk. And this is Shadows of Stravia, damn it.
SPEAKER_08Please join us as we just melt your face.
SPEAKER_09In the midst, just moments after uh Zelfira being the only one uh at the table currently present and awake. Watch as your party uh systematically fall and collapse to the ground asleep. Um, several other around you do as well. You notice uh Karina falls uh asleep as well, and there was that faint, slightly pulsing blue light emanating from Nyx's uh uh caravan, Ny's um wagon. Um I need your immediate actions.
SPEAKER_04Um I think last time I was like next to Nyx, saw Reggie fall behind, and realized she did too, which is really weird. So I was like, I don't know if I need to roll to know whether or not it seems like it's, you know, magical or not. But I would have stayed with Nyx in that moment because he was Because he loved me more than Reggie. Because he was closest to the stone, he's where it's not. He's where it started. And the soap is trying to make sense of what's happening. And before Reggie fell, he yelled for what Pellin, whatever his name is, and all of them.
SPEAKER_10Pellin?
SPEAKER_09Yes. Uh so I will say there is general commotion. There's a dead stink book on this. So I don't know if they're all there's a general commotion um in the uh in the camp uh as well as yes, is is Pellin and others and uh you know many of your soldiers and other things are like convitated to you. Uh running, rushing to each other, trying to figure out if we're under attack or what is happening here. Are you in Nyx's um waking?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I was actually in there when I watched I we got to Nick's basically as she was by me because she somehow got levitated to me. I don't know, I'm really confused about it. But um and then fell asleep. Reggie was coming in that at that same moment. I'm in that room though. I'm by Nick's and was not, I'm like the only one in there that did not fall asleep in that moment. But I wanted to see whether or not Pellin? Pellin. Pellin and them were um running into the room because I would like to. If I if it sounds like there's still commotion, like some people are still awake and it seems like it's proximity. I want to yell at them to not get too close.
SPEAKER_09There's commotion outside, yes. Okay, so give me an arcana check.
SPEAKER_04Um, move on.
SPEAKER_09Holy friends!
SPEAKER_00That was good. Jesus.
SPEAKER_01I'm not even gonna tell you the rest of my body.
SPEAKER_09Yes, um series of events. You remember um you remember Sebastian, the fox, sneezing in the Midnight Garden, Paul, and when you were discussing, and you remember that that night, a natural drowsiness. Uh, and you remember a shared dream that you all had. This feels a lot like that. Um, and you you're with a natural 20, your mind goes to your newly uh worn um ring, the the marriage band of virillia, and burning hot on your finger as you understand that it has blocked very powerful magic from in its innate ability to prevent this exact scenario from happening to you. Um, and so you you do understand that this is a hundred percent connected to that first shared dream, that you're like, I would have gone into this shared dream too if it wasn't for this ring, and that um you do not sense any kind of area of effect, only that it's targeting certain people, like specific people that it's targeting.
SPEAKER_04Interesting. Okay. With that understanding that I don't think it seems to be aerial but specific. I don't think I'd yell at Pellen and them to be cautious. I'd just watch and wait for that to happen. Um but I would I don't know if I need to outwardly express this or inwardly express this, that I would be questioning Nyx right now.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. I'm gonna interrupt you because you notice something. Um your passive perception is very high. The the ring. I mean, I'm sorry, the the stone. Well, we're calling it a stone right now. You look down at it and it is um a clear, almost like glass or resinous sphere, really, but with the eye almost certainly just like a disembodied human eyeball inside of this orb, kind of like those like Halloween toys, you know, that the eye will float to the top and you put them in things and it shakes. And they always look up very similar to that. But what you see right now is that this eye is a hundred percent animate and that it's been looking around at things. Like when you entered, it turned and looked at you. And right now it is like sloshing, looking from one side drastically to the other, with like an inertia like moment. And you see as it does that, suddenly enough move enough momentum has gathered that it rolls. And it is moving, albeit very slowly, towards Nyx. Um, and you see, specifically, it looks like he's go it's going towards his face. Nick's has like fallen asleep and his mouth is open on the gr a little bit of drool is coming down on the floor of the. So it's it's rolling like super slowly uh towards that, towards Nyx. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Doesn't say, I'm gonna take because I have boots on, take my boot and I'm gonna stop between Nyx's body and the thing rolling. I don't know if I understand it completely, but I do know I don't want to touch it with skin. I don't know what I don't know much about this, right? I think I think I tried to look into it before I remember if I recognize it or not.
SPEAKER_09Just rolled a natural time as for something very different. I will allow you to roll another arcana or religion check, whichever you prefer or is higher.
SPEAKER_02Um, let's see. Hold on. So I got to do it.
SPEAKER_09Because I think who someone did make a check on it before, but I that was you.
SPEAKER_04So arcana or religion, they're the same.
SPEAKER_09That was a five. Five. No, it looks gross. It's like it is um I think it's it looks like an eye and a ball. Um but like and it looks like at one, it is a p like piercingly blue, like sky blue eye, but it something has changed. Like it is emitting light, and there's almost like nebula and stars go appearing over it. It looks crazy and magical, and it's a live eyeball inside of a glass.
SPEAKER_04Disgusting towards your like kick it kind of to the side at the furthest part of the room, and I'm going to be well, like, I'm not as like kick it to break it, more like away from his body. And I'm gonna go into like kind of a I guess you'd call defensive mode, and because now it's moving and it seems like it's actively trying to get to him, basically guarding it from them while trying to still get a grasp on like I don't know when they'll wake up. I understand what's happening, it seems similar, but protect them from that while they're here.
SPEAKER_09So you're like playing goalie with the iron. You kick it in the corner, you see it kind of sloshes away. Looks at you as this is single.
SPEAKER_04I will cut you. Stay there.
SPEAKER_09Kind of vibrates in place. Um Pellin enters the the caravan uh throwing open the what is happening? And he sees Reginald on the floor and my lord! And goes to his side and kind of actually his pulse is very high. Uh his his heartbeat is very high right now.
SPEAKER_04Listen, this might be hard to understand, but I believe they are in a magical dream world spell. Something of the sort. I don't understand. Why? I don't know, Pellin.
SPEAKER_08I'm saying This is a concern when the Crown Prince of Dorusk is suddenly in a magical coma. Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_06I agree.
SPEAKER_04And maybe I don't know how to explain it. I just know I've been in it before, and it seems very familiar to what was once happened, and trust they'll likely remember when they wake up. But we're like now, that thing in the corner is quite disgusting and it wants them, and I'm trying to keep it the way until I understand further what's happening, okay? So calm down and just help guard their bodies? I don't know, Pellin.
SPEAKER_08Very demanding.
SPEAKER_04Sir. I've had such high things to say about you. In the sense of humor the whole time.
SPEAKER_11I was gonna say, Reggie, Reggie this whole time has seemed like he does not like Pellin. He doesn't, which wait.
SPEAKER_04Did you watch that last one though?
SPEAKER_11Oh yeah, I watched the one.
SPEAKER_04The only reason Reggie likes him is because I told him to.
SPEAKER_09Nyx.
SPEAKER_04And I got called the helicopter.
SPEAKER_09Unconscious. Because of that dude. You're uh the last that you remembered was the eye turning, yeah, looking into your mind, and you remembered just uh influx of memory. However, you stand in a dream-like space with this eye, no glass orb, just this beautiful blue eye staring in front of you. Everything else is black. Behind the eye is a ring of doors beneath it, and then appears a huge wounded sky. It looks like almost like a giant spear has been stabbed into the sky, and there's like the blood red, and then orange, and then like of of like a sunset, but then purple and almost like a black of storm clouds of bruise that come from that wound. It really just looks like a wound in the sky, like could be 100% meteorological uh, but you're getting wound. These doors, as they appear behind the eye, one is green and warm, and you can't help but hear a woman's beautiful voice behind it. The next is black water, reflective, almost like a mirror. Another is shifting made of moths and ghostly visages. The next is a silver mask worn by a beautiful stranger. The next is f ash and fire, and very similar to this wound, almost a mirror in the sky that you see. And the final is a golden thread, and you see the thread is stitched through your own chest, like pulling you towards this door. Um I would like you to make an arcana check. Uh, I'm gonna say you want a 10, bare minimum. Uh 25. Whoa! Yeah, 25 is great. Um you understand very specifically that these are doors to a true memory that have been that has been taken from you. All of these are um critically important to uh you as a person or to your early history. Um but you understand that time is limited. And should you choose a door, this is the only one that you're getting in this moment. So sorry, if I choose a door, it's the only way I'm getting in to that one. It's the only, you're like these doors, these doors are beginning to dissolve. This is you have a limited opportunity, you have time to pick one door.
SPEAKER_03One choice. Oh man.
SPEAKER_09And I can repeat any of those. Screw it.
SPEAKER_12We're gonna roll for it. Yeah, yeah. We're gonna roll for it. How many doors are there? I'm hoping I'm gonna get green woman, but we're gonna see what what the uh the dice want.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_12Five. Ash fire like the sky, the wounded sky.
SPEAKER_04Ooh, what? You um man, you really leave it up to the dice.
SPEAKER_03That's why it's fun. So crazy.
SPEAKER_09You find yourself drawn to uh almost maybe because it's it's a mirroring this strange sky in such a way. You move to this door and you press your hand into it, and you see trees bending away from a hole in this sky, this wound. Something vast in this space opens like a mouth. You remember a word that you've heard before, but you know this is the name of it, as names are important. This is Arendil's echo. A grove, many beautiful trees that you understand are not from this plane, nor they are they from Fay, nor are they from the Shadowfell, but somewhere between. Somewhere very specifically between. This is not an accident that it is between these places, it is between on purpose, and if it is not between, then there is nothing holding these places together, right? You are standing in the glue between these planes. You see shadowy creatures, you understand them as minions, uh, nuisances almost, to this woman who is battling them. Her hands outstretched, calling nature to her will, uh, summoning uh creatures of her like to help defend this land. You think like, oh, they don't stand a chance, but it's they are legion. There's too many of them. And these shadowy creatures begin to overwhelm her and her her uh her allies, and they begin to set fire to this uh to this glade. Do I know who the woman is in the memory? You know that this woman is mother.
SPEAKER_12Okay.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, she is a she is of extreme significance to you. And you see the moment the glade begins to burn, she her attention turns from defense of this place and she goes towards you. You see, you don't get the moment where she comes and speaks to you because that's a different door. But this is the one where she turns and looks at you, and you understand that she understands that this is a good thing. She is doing is a lost cause, and now her attention is on you because that is the next hope. And your memory fades.
SPEAKER_12She chose the green woman.
SPEAKER_09Maybe. Maybe. That wasn't enough. No. That was fascinating by the way. I need you to roll a lecture on me. Okay. You want more ten or higher.
SPEAKER_03Let's go, baby. Get it. Let's get some answers. Here we go.
SPEAKER_07Six. Six.
SPEAKER_01That's good.
SPEAKER_09That's good.
SPEAKER_01Better than a thought. Okay.
SPEAKER_09Um with a six. Plop appears in this space. Oh, that's a bit of shiny, isn't it? Picks up uh the eye.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god.
SPEAKER_09Stucks in his loincloth. That's pretty nice.
SPEAKER_04Why is it why is everyone laying around for? In this place?
SPEAKER_09Oh.
SPEAKER_04Plop.
SPEAKER_09Oh, I'm not supposed to have this?
SPEAKER_04I don't know. It was trying to go into Ny's mouth and his look it's without texting that.
SPEAKER_09Nice. No, no, no, no, no. Nix is a freak, right?
SPEAKER_00I don't think you quite understand. Should I do that? Is that what he wants? I do blink.
SPEAKER_09Is this like a roleplay thing? Nick's blink twice if this is a roleplay thing.
SPEAKER_04I believe it.
SPEAKER_09Do I blink?
SPEAKER_04High significance. It seems quite disgusting, but somehow very powerful. And I don't know what happened here other than this is magic.
SPEAKER_09And I I happen to be a master of magic. I'll take care of this for you. Don't you worry.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_09Little bird. Alright, see you later.
SPEAKER_04Um God. I don't know. Well, you know, it's not gonna crawl in his mouth anymore, so that's all.
SPEAKER_09The members of your party asleep in uh in uh Nix's or Samwell's technically uh uh traveling nest.
SPEAKER_01If Nick's wakes up eye over him.
SPEAKER_09You see like all of them almost simultaneously exhibit um like signs of uh REM sleep, like you know, like uh rapid eye movement of behind closed eyes and like some twitching of arms. Uh very strange behavior. You have no idea what teeth chattering would even mean. Um Reginald especially begins like to kick his legs and seems like he's like his arms are scratching at his throat and his jaw.
SPEAKER_04He might be waking.
SPEAKER_09Outside you hear a cult. Um it it's one of your handmaidens, uh Zophia.
SPEAKER_08Um Karina is exhibiting uh extremely feverish uh she um she I believe she has a very high fever.
SPEAKER_04Yeah Well, shoot. Uh have you tried cooling her? Do we have any medics on on stand that can help? Are we?
SPEAKER_08I mean I was I'll get I'll try to cool uh uh a red done by we're gonna and um where'd you go?
SPEAKER_09Sure hope. Everybody's gonna be okay. Who's that? This is me, the DM.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_09Peace out, y'all.
SPEAKER_04Oh man. Okay, you guys are gonna give me issues.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_04I don't know it. That didn't sound like you. So I was like, who is this new person?
SPEAKER_06It's me, Matthew.
SPEAKER_04Me, Matthew. Jessica.
SPEAKER_03Jessica. That's my favorite sticker. Ever, ever. Jessica!
SPEAKER_04If Jeff could dress up like him, is that the five years? That's fine. That's fine.
SPEAKER_05Everything's falling, and part that part of the falling. Sir. That so be it.
SPEAKER_04That's what's happening. World's on fire. How about yours?
SPEAKER_12That'd be great. Oh. What am I gonna do without this?
SPEAKER_01Weirdly into this like Miami. Oh no, no, certainly look of yours.
SPEAKER_05I stitched it last night myself. Oh, all right, all right. Did I see the patches? I saw some additional patches on the branches here.
SPEAKER_00Where are they? Hold on.
SPEAKER_05I love it.
SPEAKER_00Bloody buddies?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's an agent patch! That one's cool.
SPEAKER_01Wait, are those on the whip plates?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01And bloody metal.
SPEAKER_09As a patch? Reggie, you want to do that. Do you see any other characters as a patch? And this is why I'm not sure. Maybe I wouldn't get snaps right here.
SPEAKER_01It's me. Why are you taking that off?
SPEAKER_09I'm hold on. I'm wearing a vest.
SPEAKER_04Why is it shit on under your back? Smiley, Ellie.
SPEAKER_09Because I'm smiley Tinkersmith, okay?
SPEAKER_04I mean Who's Sparbellian?
SPEAKER_08I didn't say nothing.
SPEAKER_04Just covering more.
SPEAKER_08Oh no, I like this guy.
SPEAKER_04Very disappointed. So yeah.
SPEAKER_12Let's do smiley.
SPEAKER_04Some stuff here, guys. You look very Kingersmithy. You did.
SPEAKER_12Oh, sorry, I'm not Nick's anymore.
SPEAKER_04I almost feel like he needs this for the Yeah, I'm over here now.
SPEAKER_12Just for now. Okay, so switch everything.
SPEAKER_10Alright. Probably gonna kill me again.
SPEAKER_01You're gonna be dead.
SPEAKER_10For sure.
SPEAKER_07I would do that.
SPEAKER_06I don't remember what it was like last time. Here's death again.
SPEAKER_11Yip.
SPEAKER_07I feel like I want something a little bit. Oh, I I made your dice. Did you see that? Oh these are for me?
SPEAKER_09Yes. They really need uh they really need the light. See, there's a whole galaxy going on in there.
SPEAKER_10So cool.
SPEAKER_07Thank you.
SPEAKER_04They're beautiful. I almost stole them and then told them one of the kids. You got dice?
SPEAKER_07Heavier than I thought it was gonna be.
SPEAKER_12Um, you guys ready to get into it? Ready to get it. Okay. Now I'm ready. We're gonna begin in the near past and the light of Darusk with a sparrow. A cute little sparrow. Soaring above the treetops in a very lush and green forest. It's swooping, it's kind of gliding through, and then it darts down between these elder branches that are kind of reaching over the top. It goes further, it's kind of going between these large elder trees, and then it makes one big bank down and between two uh ropes, a camouflaged rope bridge extending between two of these trees, one of many camouflaged rope bridges, unlit lanterns at intersective these different ones, and a Kenku, a bird person, steps out from the shadows for just a moment and says, Being a bit of a show-off cousin, before stepping back as he looks out on his perch above the forest, a guardian. The sparrow, unlistening, swoops down across the uh to a to a mighty ponderosa pine, down, down, down, and then at the very base, another camouflage little opening, moss cover, goes through. It is dark for just a moment, and then little glowstone on the sides of the rock within the cavern turns right down one pathway, another left, a right, a right, a series, a maze of different caverns opening up and spider webbing underneath, until finally it comes to one where there are two badgers, heavily armored, holding pikes, standing at the ready in front of uh one opening. It swoops through and comes up and it looks out into a massive dome area. Pinpricks of light coming through the top of the cavern and hitting mirrors, the mirrors hitting other mirrors, lighting this massive space, acres and acres across at the edges. Small bioluminescent plants crawling up the sides. Anywhere there are shadows, there are bioluminescent plants, putting off this phosphorus lights of pinks and oranges and blues and yellows and greens, lighting the space even further, and giving ample light to grow crops and vegetables. I want you guys to uh be welcomed to the burrows, the home of the humble folk. Um in this place, in this well-lit area. Both the sparrow and you, as the uh omniscient viewer now, are able to see huts of a variety of different sorts, small and large for different uh different types of animals, and nests small and large for different types of bird folk that are here. A lazy river winds through the middle of town, and at different bends, at different intersections, there are lodges, beaver lodges that have popped up next to those areas. Um, there are uh different kinds of mounds that have been kind of uh grouped up where um vulpin and badge and hedge kind of creatures have been able to make what kind of homes feel most comfortable to them. And at the far end, there is an underground waterfall. Who knows where this spring is above in the forest? But down here, mighty waters coming down crystal, pristine, blue. And as soon as they hit the base, mist sprays off and then slow into the lazy river. And it is here, at the end of that piece, five massive spires of uh mounds of dirt come up. And the spiral that comes up with it is irrigation of a type, and tiny little green buds of plants are coming up as it spirals there. In the water, a massive water wheel of wood and a wooden construction going up that connects to a series of different pipes that seem to extend over to the top of these different five mounds that are there. And beside this wheel is a Volpen man. About 30, 35. He is roguish in appearance, has a small scar by his eye and a little bit of white in a uh kind of a fox-like beard. He has his uh fancy sleeves rolled up in his green tunic, and he's kind of kneels down next to this uh wheel. Um, beside him, Borislav, ambassador to the region, um, perhaps the only human that has ever seen the burrows, a trusted person of this area, um, is there too to advise as you're kind of looking at this kind of giant wheel together. Um, you know this to be Cedric Bramblehook. He is a city planner and a leader of the town. And uh, you are helping him to construct this just in time before a big uh ceremony is about to go off within the entire town. And he turns to you without even, you know, like looking, kind of handing back and goes, uh, Buroslav, I mean that one tool, the custom one. You know, the one with the curved piece that has the jig on the end. Oh.
SPEAKER_11Uh this what? You mean you've got many things you this try this. No, no, no. Not this one, not this one, the other one. Let's see, this uh only the curved piece.
SPEAKER_12Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Sorry, they're all custom pieces. Okay, thank you, sir. Thank you. Um, behind you, after you know, a little bit of back and forth, you hear a female Volpen voice, Mirabel, his wife. Um, you had better get that fixed pretty soon. The ceremony is about to start. Borisov, I thought you were gonna keep him in check. His mind can wander. I am indeed he's he's a man of his own will. He does what he wants. So I'm here to help. That's it. About uh 30 feet away, you see her kind of, you know, chastising you a little bit. Yeah. Um, but her, her uh she is very uh she's like a town wisdom, a healer of sorts, perhaps a cleric if such a thing could exist here amongst the humble folk. Um she is also in her 30s and has a staff. Um she has a very cool haircut where it's like goes up and then hangs out over kind of her eyes and half over this, and then shaved, and then some cool tattoos climbing up like vines within the shaped half of her head. Around her neck, a massive, it looks like an acorn, but this is clearly a giant ember uh stone, a gem on a chain. Much too large for uh a Vulpen woman to be to be carrying. Well, make sure that it happens soon. I have to deal with this crowd over here. And she turns, and you see that a bunch of people, in fact, are coming to this area uh amongst these five major mounds, and they begin to to pair up and start almost forming a circle.
SPEAKER_11What would you like to do? Um so uh obviously I've been involved in this process uh with him trying to fix this wheel or at least uh establish this wheel. How close do I feel like we are to to getting it done?
SPEAKER_12Uh according to him, very close. Um, but go ahead and make an investigation check to see if you can't tell for yourself.
SPEAKER_11Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_04I love the Molkin people. I love that Eric. She sounds have so much humble. Makes me.
SPEAKER_12It's it's close. It is really close. It was actually working earlier in the day, and then this one thing happened, and he has to like custom fit this one piece to make it actually work. Um, with a 15, I will allow you to have advantage to see if you can't um point out one or two things that can give him, you know, kind of help to get the correction action on this.
SPEAKER_11Yeah. Let me uh let's see. It's a 13 and uh 15. Uh yeah, put put this little guy here and then maybe shave off a little bit on that end and shove it in there. Oh shove it.
SPEAKER_12Okay, yeah, do the shoving. He he like moves it into position, and you actually help him to like shove it in, and you hear a firm like lock in it as the pin like sets and the wheel like sets into a readied position where you feel it's at suspension.
SPEAKER_11Is that good?
SPEAKER_12Does that not seem like it's good? Oh, I th I it looks pretty good to me. I mean, uh, we're going to have to see, you know. Um big badger god up there in the sky will have to look out for us, I suppose. Um BPG. But hey, while we have a second. Have you made a move yet on, you know, Bruna? You know Bruna to be the only bear folk person here in town. Um Bruna. You uh with passive perception, you can see that she's lined up amongst all of these other people, and you can tell that they are all couples that have lined up in this area. Um you're you somewhat know of this area and some of their traditions, but I want you to roll a religion check to see if you really understand the ritual and the ceremony that you're about to take part in. Oh boy, okay.
SPEAKER_11Uh oh boy about to get married to a bear. Oh, that's not good. I got full.
SPEAKER_12Excellent. Um, you don't really know too much about it. It's probably like a dance or something like that. Um, because the couples are kind of lining up in this kind of area. You know, ceremonies they usually have dancing at at festivals and and stuff. And um, you know, Bruna has been dropping hints all week um that uh um to kind of give you a little bit of a visual, Bruna is the um she's the the local like school teacher of the the children. Oh, yeah. So she's a bit mouse and she has like little wire glasses on it, but the body is a straight fighter. She is like she's like Zina, the bar, you know, uh warrior princess meets like sexy librarian. Oh, I see. You know, kind of as a bear. Yes, yeah. As a bear. So that's that's uh that's what she kind of looks like. I have no problem.
SPEAKER_03Wait, is she bearman form? No, she's a bear folks. She's a bear folks.
SPEAKER_05She's a bear folks.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Fur in all the places. Um fur in all the things. Bruna. Bruna honey hide.
SPEAKER_11That's all the right place. Honey hidehide?
SPEAKER_12Honey hide.
SPEAKER_03Oh, honey hide! Oh my god.
SPEAKER_12Um, she kind of gives you like a little and then abashed as she kind of looks down, but has obviously left space in the circle for a bear-sized person to join her. She's reserved that much space amongst all these tiny creatures.
SPEAKER_11Am I currently so when I go to the um this the humble folks' home, am I typically in my half-giant form or am I usually in a bear form?
SPEAKER_12Um in the light of Daroosk, you usually prefer your bear form. Um but I will always grant player autonomy. It might have made more sense for you to have been in human form as you're helping to assist with this wheel, but your choice as far as what you choose to do from here on out.
SPEAKER_01Man, I would I would bring her a fish.
SPEAKER_12I would say that.
SPEAKER_04Bring her a fresh fish. Go catch her face.
SPEAKER_11Is she form or more? Um in my bear form.
SPEAKER_12Okay. Just a bear with titties. Do you think it's gonna be like a dance or something?
SPEAKER_01Bear with titties.
SPEAKER_10So you say very beautiful bear. Um beautiful mare. She's just walking. Sound like otters.
SPEAKER_11I have no thoughts of, you know, wanting to take that rule on for her. Because I think she needs to be with somebody that is more of her her own time. Roll a history check.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, okay. Gonna get her dating profile right here. Yeah, I guess so, man. That's 11. 13. 13, that's enough. By the way, I prepped a dating profile for her. A fake woman bear. What? Yeah, I'm gonna be able to do that you showed up to the case. Otherwise, it's like I don't want to throw that out there. Um, there have been, there's no per currently other bear folk in town. There have been others that come through. Bear folk typically for humble folk, um, are ones that are kind of like on the move. They're in rotation. They are warriors in different areas where they're needed. Not typically like tending to to little ones or farming kinds of things. That's not their skill set, you know. Um, so they will come through, but um, you've noticed that she has not been too interested in them. Um it's almost like she has her eye on another person. Um you know, it's just like I would like to, but I'm leaving room for what I really want. She won't get rid of it. So it's not like there hasn't been opportunity.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, Mikayla and him.
SPEAKER_01That's what I would think bear.
SPEAKER_11Is uh what was the uh Wolpin's name again one time? Cedric. Cedric. So is is Cedric and his wife going to be over by, or his mate going to be over by where she has opened that gap? Am I going over there by myself? I'm nervous, Eric.
SPEAKER_12Okay. I don't want to be rude. Welcome back. I mean, I don't want to be rude, but I also, you know, like this. So yeah, let me paint the picture for you. So there are these five big mounds. There is the waterfall behind you, and it hits the lazy river. The lazy river kind of curves its way through, you know, these these different mounds, and there's a small bridge that goes over the middle of it. Yeah. Um, Cedric and Maribel Bramblehook are standing at the middle at this bridge that is in the very center of this circle, and there are the mounds on the outside of the circle, and the people are lined up in a perfect perfect circle as couples on the outside edges of this. So they are in the very middle, and um, she is kind of like on the far, you know, right side, trying to make sure she can catch your eye, and has obviously left room. So that is that is the scene.
SPEAKER_11Well, I will uh and stand by her, um, still in my bare form.
SPEAKER_12Um Okay.
unknownYeah. Cool.
SPEAKER_12As you go over, you see um people of all different ages. You know, there's been couples that have been long since married that that are there, as well as people that are are dating that are there. There are um some some children, even, that um, you know, are kind of like cutesy, you're my first girlfriend, kind of like holding hands in in this uh in this thing. So a variety of different ages. And uh Bruna, it's a I I have left you some uh space.
SPEAKER_03That's her voice.
SPEAKER_12She is a bear.
SPEAKER_11Your bear looks very nice today. Thank you.
SPEAKER_12Yours does very much as well. She kind of uh does her delicate little glasses, but she is like a massive creature. Yeah. She would shred any person at this table, you know, to bits, right?
SPEAKER_11Yeah. Normally I walk on all fours if I'm in my bare form, but I I think at this point I would kind of like get up on my hind legs and try and like it.
SPEAKER_12She kind of holds you like steady as soon as you're doing it. I must ask. I don't want any do you understand what's going on here? I see you kind of looking around like you're not quite sure, right?
SPEAKER_11I am unfamiliar with what is happening. I know you are having a ceremony um as a town or a people.
SPEAKER_12This is um wintermint. This uh area is uh gosh, I can't get the voice perfect. Just imagine I'm a bear guys. Oh no, I can hear it. It's like husky, it's like husky voice that I'm going for.
SPEAKER_10It's like Von Hampala.
SPEAKER_12Von Hampala. I like this. Give me samples of this, like, so what we're going to do is um the the couples that this time of year with winter melt is the beginning of spring, it's the opportunity to give vows to people that you care about in some way. It is, you know, a new year. What what would you like to do or say to a person? It is an opening. Um there is no commitment that necessarily is needed, but of course you see some that you she points to an old beaver couple that are like holding hands. Like every year they renew their vows of marriage. But that is not exactly what is needed. Unnecessary. But she but she like left it like really hanging. That is not exactly what is needed.
SPEAKER_11Ah, so everybody here is couples. And this is a moment of Is it is it always involved in r one-on-one relationships, or is it more of like we are speaking on the behalf of the community?
SPEAKER_12She goes, I uh and then Mirabel, quiet everyone, quiet, you're all in your places. Yes. Okay, perfect. The sun is about to hit the right spot, so now is the time. Now is the time. Okay. Ready? And uh Cedric nods and he hits a um uh kind of a lever that goes underneath the water and the lazy thing, and it hits the the one wheel and it begins to turn. As the wheel turns, the piping at the top begins to kind of pivot and it kind of rotates until it's just perfectly centered over the top of these five mounds. And uh water starts diverting from the waterfall through these things and going at the top, and they start swirling down where all of these plants are. And at the same time, Maribel says, May you say your oaths for this next year, winter melts, be gone, and spring anew for us all. And as she does, she hits, she tu taps the uh the amulet, this amber acorn, and it pulses out the water going down as soon as it hits any like uh plant, the plant immediately grows and then blossoms and blooms, and the entire place begins to just become lush and beautiful around you. And Bruna turns to you and let's roll for this. Who's going to speak first is what we're going to roll. It's gonna be a luck check. If I will hire, Bruna is going to give her uh her vow to you first. If not, she then you are going to uh six. Five.
SPEAKER_09Oh wow. Lucked out of that one.
SPEAKER_12Borislav. Eyes of brow and I want you to know that I've saved myself for you. Our children will be mighty warriors. I don't know if they'd be a half human and half bear or not, but I don't care. We're all weird and accept each other here. And I accept you. And she has like you see, like a single tear. Oh god. Okay.
SPEAKER_10Richard. This is the next best love story I've seen on this.
SPEAKER_04How barely romantic. Wait, what's the first one?
SPEAKER_11How long have I known her? Regiment. Uh years. Years. Bruno, I have seen you become a pillar in this community. The way you take care of everyone else around you. It is a mighty beautiful quality to have as a person and a bear. And I foresee. Okay. I foresee a beautiful future to where we could work towards those goals. You will take me as I am. I am happy to be here at your side. So it does. Thank you.
SPEAKER_12She she opens her mouth to like, you know, kind of give like a you know, like a ah. Yeah. And uh behind you, you break our heart again. See the waterfall turn gray. And fall with murky darkness behind it. The lights in the sky, the hid, the holes coming turn dark as if shadow or shade or cloud has plugged up all of the holes coming in. Make a perception check for it.
SPEAKER_06Oh, the red comments. I rolled a one.
SPEAKER_12You rolled a one? That one so it's just so smitten by his big baby. That sucks for you.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_11I'm lost in the color.
SPEAKER_12Yes, you are you're so locked in what your answer would be. All you see is that they're gonna be tiny hands on. Yes, exactly. And so you see um that things have just gotten darker. What you don't see is dark roots on the top of the dome. Massive ones, some three feet wide, snaking down all sides of the dome. And the dome, again, is acres wide, right? And it is snaking down the sides of it, ghostly translucent. You begin to hear shouts in the the distant and in different areas. And while Bruna's holding your hands, all you see are those eyes and the golden eyes, and then stricken. And she falls into you.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_12From her back now, passively, of course, you'd be able to see a snake-like creature piercing into her back and drawing her soul away from her body. I want you to make one more perception check for me.
SPEAKER_03Away from her rockin' body. Rockin' bear body.
SPEAKER_12That's better.
SPEAKER_03Uh bear body.
SPEAKER_10Horoslovs is not allowed to love.
SPEAKER_12I'm not. Yeah, 19. She's drawn away. You look around and you see another and another, and another, and another, and another, another, and another, another, and another. The entire town is being swarmed by these ghostly vine snake creatures. No. Piercing, singular uh members of different couples in the distance. You hear children that were just laughing just a moment before cry out in horror. There is fear. There is chaos. A fire starts in uh one of the huts that that goes up. It is pandemonium. People start crying, yelling. Um, people are slashing out at things that are invisible to you at this moment. What do you do? Um I think immediately kills some.
SPEAKER_11Immediately I would look around. I I mean, obviously, I would try and react to whoever's in the most distress right now. If I feel like I could help them, um not her. I would try and well, I'd set her down gently. I can't do anything with a limp body. Um the area that I'm at, so I know I know I'm close to the waterfall. Yes. Kind of look cruises through these areas and there's the bridge in the middle. Does it look like it would be safe from fire or anything of that nature if um if for some reason I wanted to try and pull the humble folk that are in the area kind of close together and get them to where I feel like they're safe away from anything that can burn and fall on them? Yeah. So I I would spend the next few minutes trying to get them all gathered up together just to keep them in a safe position and then look around and see if I see anything else, anyone else that needs help.
SPEAKER_12Perfect. Yeah. You um you lay her down gently on the ground, her soul, her spirit being kind of drug up, her eyes still locked with yours as she kind of and then fades away. You run across the way and you see others just kind of locked in kind of agonizing like positions before they fall limp, and their souls like drift away as well. You keep reaching out to to get to people, but it's all happening so quickly. You reach the fire and you start uh give me a uh, I'll say, athletics check um to help to put up this this fire on this uh Beaver's Lodge that has sprung up from Nat 20, boom, 24. You you grab it and you're able to just like put it up and you hit it at that perfect spot at the like top of the the th the cone of the fire where it puts it out and it just steam and smoke comes out and you put it out in an instant with a nat 20. You turn around and Well while I'm running around.
SPEAKER_11Um if if for some reason someone is being snatched right at the moment, I do want to test the theory of trying to like swipe at the snake if possible and see if if any any sort of reaction if I try and hit like whatever the creature is.
SPEAKER_12Absolutely. Um so you you do that with a natural 20. I would allow this. Otherwise, it would not have been possible. Um the young beaver man, he you see here that he had kind of toppled over a table that had a candle on it that lit this thing. And with a natural 20, you bucket that and you almost drag him away. But this creature has got itself firmly in his back and begins to pull him out. Go ahead and make a swipe.
SPEAKER_11Seven.
SPEAKER_00Let me see what uh swiper swiper, no swiping.
SPEAKER_11I guess it would be an um unarmed um 15.
SPEAKER_1215. Non-magical, correct? Yeah, that's just a regular attack. Passes through the creature and it continues to draw away, and you see again kind of the shocked face and horror of this, you know, small elderly beaver man kind of like drift away. Um, and his body is limp in your arms before teeth chattering, and then in the distance you hear more and more and more uh rhythmic with every other person.
unknownIt's so creepy.
SPEAKER_11Oh, the crutch the creatures are doing.
SPEAKER_12All the bodies that have remained without these souls are all rhythmically chattering their teeth. And their eyes are REM kind of darting back and forth. Um holding this creature. You would have expected it to have an elevated heart rate, you know, with this just you know, passive medical check. Yeah. But its heart rate is slow. You're dead. Shut up. It is nearly dead. But stable. Shut up. Respectfully.
SPEAKER_03You're dead.
SPEAKER_12Mirabel reaches you with with Cedric. Oh, you put out the fire. Good. No. Did you see what those things were?
SPEAKER_11Uh they are little shadow creatures, but watch yourselves. If you see any, just move away from them. Run away as fast as you can.
SPEAKER_12Shadow creatures. Cedric pipes up. They looked more like ghosts to me. Something ethereal.
SPEAKER_11Perhaps. Yes, I would agree. Whatever it is, I tried to swipe and I could not hit it. Physical physical attacks mean nothing.
SPEAKER_12Physical attacks mean nothing. Mirabel thinks for a moment, you see just like a very intelligent person working a problem that is wise. She was this is extra plana, for sure. I know what this is, and I think I have a plan.
SPEAKER_11Okay. Can I hold an action? Yes. If I see any of them pop up with them, I'm gonna instantly turn into my great owl and grab them both and fly away as fast as I can.
SPEAKER_12As you begin to ready this thing and you're like hyper-aware of stuff, the light comes back on.
SPEAKER_04The uh it gives me chills. It's very vec night.
SPEAKER_12It is very vec night. I don't like this one, but this one makes me mad.
SPEAKER_04This one makes me mad. They are dead. Stop it.
SPEAKER_11They're not dead. They are alive, just messed up.
SPEAKER_04They are TikToking.
SPEAKER_12All music almost enters your player's mind as you. There it is. As as the uh the storm lifts. And the the light that cut had been coming through is now coming through perfectly, hitting the mirror system. It's all lit. The gray, murky waters that had come down are now pristine blue. The only thing that remains are many, many humble folk stricken, chattering, and a fire that has been put out. And Mirabel again, I know what this is. Gather help me to gather them all up and I'll explain in a moment.
SPEAKER_10Yes.
SPEAKER_12Um for uh a brief period of time, you and the other creatures all working together as a community helped to kind of line all of these out. You count exactly 44 of these creatures lined out uh amongst them. She goes, Yes, I'm positive this. This is extra planar. These creatures, when we got the corpses of those that had been killed, you remember, Cedric? The snake vine creatures that were dormant at the at the place, yes? Those were the exact same things. Cedric, I remember, yes. Um but where are you going with this? He said, we need to get back to the Golthias tree. Whatever that was, this is connected to it. I want you to take Borislav there with you. And if this is extra planar, you're going to need this. And she rips off the amber acorn gem and she hands it to you. You are currently a level nine. Um what what what exactly class are you for for everything?
SPEAKER_11It's a barbarian druid. So I'm actually 10. 5 and 5. Five and five.
SPEAKER_12Oh at uh a certain point, druids begin the the wisdom and understanding of extraplanar activities. Um you being circle of the moon is is absolutely a part of that. Um at some point, you'll be able to, you know, as working with other you know high-level druids, the ability to call um planar creatures to support you for periods of time. But you know, through Mirabel, that that spell can be reworked. If you needed to, and with a powerful enough item, you would be able to extra planar send yourself for a period of time as an ally outward. But you would need a key, an anchor, that would enable you to get to that plane. She sends you out with this reminder and this knowledge with Cedric to go and check out the Golfias tree.
SPEAKER_11Okay. I think uh in that moment I would change into my um my owl bear and uh or not my owlbear, my bear owl, and uh fly with him, uh chirping at him to guide me towards wherever it is. Assume it's a little ways away.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. As you are getting ready to leave, you hear a few things from from Maribel. One, you hear her say that she feels such relief that her kids were not here um in this place um to have to suffer this. But um she is send she is now going to go to their um fort ship to be able to collect her children. Um so so happy that that they're not here to witness this and that they are safe. Okay. The second thing that you hear is that um she has instructed some Herodnong um runners, so um kind of like rabbit people that are very quick to take some of these different humble folks, smaller ones like jar being like uh mouse creatures and hedge creatures as kind of like, you know, packages and sends them through these kind of like tree portal doors to uh the city of Greydell to uh see if the same thing is happening in Greydell um as happened here. I'm going to give you guys a little bit of meta stuff. You had done a perception check and you saw some creatures at the edge of the forest, which you were unable to persuade these were them. Um as you were um coming back and you guys failed multiple perception checks, um, this was also some of the same group people that you had hoped to persuade that you could have met um as uh as you were traveling towards the Golthias.
SPEAKER_01But I'm a ranger.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. But you guys rolled so bad. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We were rolling so terrible.
SPEAKER_12Okay.
SPEAKER_03We'll keep looking. Don't worry.
SPEAKER_12You have arrived at a Golthias tree. Um it uh based on where the the the village was and where this crew was that also went to the Golthias tree, um, our other adventurers actually beat you there. Oh and in the in the distance, you hear um talking and some some shouting a little bit, arguing maybe, some questions being asked. As you are approaching this area with Cedric, what would you like to do? Knowing that I have to put on a little bit of guardrails because things have already happened and we're playing this.
SPEAKER_11Yeah, no, Cedric is a kid's dad. Do I see them down below us at all? Um, I know that at some point they went down into the chamber.
SPEAKER_12You guys stealth up and you find kind of a good vantage point to like look down, and what you see is um the the group talking to an arcane door, a large face that's kind of sunken into features, like a person that has like smoked too many cigars and drank all of his life and has a seek had like a rough life, you know. And having some some conversations, and then all of a sudden, an arcane connection with um a dwarven fellow that is with them and goes up into kind of a movie. In the movie, you learn all kinds of interesting details. Specifically, that um this group is now needed to find another plane of existence.
SPEAKER_11That guy must be very important. He's got a big one. Which you're like me too.
SPEAKER_12Um and um if you they don't, then um this plane is certain to have death and ruin stricken upon it. That um in order to save whatever's going on as well as these people, you need to find a way to this other one as well. And then you see Richard's face melt off.
SPEAKER_11Um I'm gonna actually pause right there.
SPEAKER_12You have seen all of these things, you know kind of the mission, you know the history now with everyone else, um, and you've seen uh Reggie die. Um on the other side in the shadows of Stravia now. Wait, what let's resume with this group and see what they're up to.
SPEAKER_04Oh. Wait. The shadows.
SPEAKER_12You've been playing defense with this eye, and then Plop has just came out. I love this. I love this. Shit. Nothing's safe. Um you uh step back out of the um the uh the kind of cavern uh where the the the eyeball and all of that stuff is. Um you've just been told that Karina is unconscious as well. Pop. Hey, now goes next to to Reggie as soon as you step back, he cops back in and goes, ha, all right. Time for some doctoring.
SPEAKER_04You're the most doctor I know around here. Can you please right? That's right. Um trust but Okay, listen. Alright?
SPEAKER_12Okay, Reggie, we're gonna fix you. I've been teaching up.
SPEAKER_04Is he running a fever too?
SPEAKER_12Ah, let me see. And he feels like the bottoms of his feet. Yes.
SPEAKER_04It's like scuttle for it. I can tell.
SPEAKER_12I can tell. Something's happening here. The problem is he's not actually stuck here, he's like stuck somewhere else.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_12Right?
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_12Okay. And put sticky oil on the bottom of his shoes. And then he likes puts his shoes back on. Now you can't forget these. And he puts them back on.
SPEAKER_03I don't believe that happens with that female.
SPEAKER_08But sure. Make a uh perception check on Reggie now that Plop has administered some things to him. Some love stickies.
SPEAKER_04I don't think it was gonna be 19. Just gotta check my perception. 19.
SPEAKER_1219. You see Reggie's eyes and then breath. Like he was quiet for a moment, and then he stops. And you feel his heartbeat stop for a moment.
SPEAKER_01I don't believe he's breathing. He casts open.
SPEAKER_12You were alive.
SPEAKER_10Whoa! Oh my from the dead.
SPEAKER_12But he has changed. You see him as you're looking down, you awake him with an intense headache. Um, your chin and your neck are numbed. And you try to speak, but you find yourself unable to. As if there's something going on with your like tongue behind it, and it's numb.
SPEAKER_04Reggie, what is happening?
SPEAKER_12You have one point of exhaustion. Um I want you to mark that down. Oh man.
SPEAKER_04Stop looking at me like a goldfish and tell me what the fuck is happening. Reggie. Reggie, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_12From a player perspective.
SPEAKER_04I'm like checking his like pulse and stuff to see if he's fine, but like he's being weird.
SPEAKER_12Um, you'll see that he is uh he is smaller. He is smaller now. Reggie, two points from your constitution have been removed.
SPEAKER_04What?
SPEAKER_12What? And it has been replaced with wisdom.
SPEAKER_04I don't think you're a four by four anymore. I think you're a two by two. You're a two by two. I think he's I think you've here I don't know. I think two by two is quite accurate now.
SPEAKER_07Shorter than you did it. How do I do that?
SPEAKER_04Did he just get shorter or did he get less wide too?
SPEAKER_12Um he he seems more frail. So constitution is just kind of a hurtiness in general. One. He seems um fragile more than anything.
SPEAKER_04No.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04I'm gonna pick up the wee little dwarf and be like, but why aren't you talking?
SPEAKER_12You try to talk, but it's all coming out garbled, like your tongue is numb. Um Reginald.
SPEAKER_04I'll walk around and make sure anybody else is awake or not awake.
SPEAKER_12So, Reginald, you remember everything that just happened in the stream. Good. And you also remember the mold earth cantrip, which you will be able to use whenever you wish from this point forward.
SPEAKER_10Oh.
SPEAKER_12Um you also claw at your like face a little bit, knowing that you know, fire erupted, you know, from you as you went to the Orvin Grail Man in the Yeah. Under your beard, you feel scar tissue. And you see a streak of white um kind of over his shirt.
SPEAKER_03Like that just suddenly appeared.
SPEAKER_12It uh appeared as he woke.
SPEAKER_10Better not be plop sticky oil.
SPEAKER_12No, that's it. Also, your feet are very sticky.
SPEAKER_10Also, you feel you also feel that.
SPEAKER_04Very confused what's happening here. You're just a whole new maze. Dream world became real world. You ch you've changed a lot in not a lot of time. Are you trying to talk to me? It's not coming out.
SPEAKER_12Go ahead and roll a constitution saving throw for me. Your cons lower.
SPEAKER_01What's Peladin doing? Peladin' just Peladin.
SPEAKER_10Peladin, what's a peladin? Pelican.
SPEAKER_04A lesser version of a peladin.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, yeah. Nine? Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah. It continues to remain numb. Um, your voice is not returned yet.
SPEAKER_04Pelin.
SPEAKER_12Yes. What did What is Pelin?
SPEAKER_04Do I know what Pellin is?
SPEAKER_12It's like a human dude.
SPEAKER_04Does he have any skills other than being a human?
SPEAKER_12I have many skills. Creeping. Like speaking, note-taking, organization.
SPEAKER_04Great skills. Can you help your friend right now?
SPEAKER_12Very good.
SPEAKER_04That's not what he needs to do.
SPEAKER_11He needs Alfred the Batman.
SPEAKER_04He needs to be a very good thing. He also has lost a lot of weight and somehow has also gotten older.
SPEAKER_10I'm in my cuttings here.
SPEAKER_12Helen rolls a two on his medical pelvis. Jesus Christ. Oh. Wake me up. I think we should just put a bunch of booze in his mouth. Dwarves, that's usually the trick. That's it. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04But like he looks like he'll just get drunk instantly at this point. He doesn't quite look stout. I'm holding him in my hands for crying out loud.
SPEAKER_12At this time, with the commotion and things that have happened, everybody has kind of awakened and uh No, you remain stubborn and asleep. Karina, you see, feverish, has now curled up into like a fetal position. Uh you can gently so Pelin can kind of But other people from this cavern have uh have kind of come out, including. Would you like to introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_08Oh my god, Reginald!
SPEAKER_09Uh smiley Tinkersmith, you guys know him. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Was he asleep too? Yeah.
SPEAKER_09He just got woken up. Um but yeah, he's uh He wasn't in Dream World. He was just normal asleep. He was just normal asleep. He was asleep. Oh, so he's fine as well. He's traveling with the group.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god, yeah, I knew he was traveling with the group.
SPEAKER_09Wake me your gnome uh artisan companion that you convinced to travel with you back to uh Slope. He has his uh his blonde ice cream top uh hair, uh little blanco teeth, his glasses, he's uh maybe when he's painting, you know, his his apron. Um yeah, otherwise uh yeah, he he currently is running towards Reginald, looks very upset.
SPEAKER_04Um he's he's waking up. He can't talk, but carefully. Is she okay? Uh that's debatable. I dare you.
SPEAKER_08What can I do? How can I do?
SPEAKER_04What can you do?
SPEAKER_08Is he hurt?
SPEAKER_04Ah he looks significantly weaker. I like look at Reggie's eyes to make sure he's okay with me saying that.
SPEAKER_10Show all my scars.
SPEAKER_04He looks significantly weaker and um kind of frail for this what he was just a bit ago. I don't I'm sorry, Reggie, but you really do look a little bit frail, of a I don't talk.
SPEAKER_08Why can't he talk?
SPEAKER_04I don't know. Slap him all, slap him, somebody slap him. Slap him, somebody slap him. I'm sorry, smiley, do you have medicine chat?
SPEAKER_12Not medicine to say precisely. I already put the sticky oil what on his feet.
SPEAKER_02Pop, listen, I don't know if that everyone's.
SPEAKER_12Do you think there's anything more you can do? Look, he's not been walking around and everything.
SPEAKER_03I don't know if he's walking. He's kind of just sticking.
SPEAKER_12Fine, I'll go over and help Requiem next. Is that Mickey?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Requiem.
SPEAKER_10Pops over to where Requiem is. Am I like still functional or am I like in a ton of pain?
SPEAKER_12You uh you have an intense headache, you have a point of exhaustion, and you have those other you know things. The you know speaking is is difficult for you. Otherwise, you can absolutely walk around. Um you're able to do all the other things you normally do at the same time.
SPEAKER_10Can I like uh want to get the sticky oil off of my feet? So can I just like plop on the ground upset and just start He's pouting. Yeah. I'm pouting right now. Well he seems fine.
SPEAKER_12Is Nyx awake?
SPEAKER_04So you and I are both my attention would go back to the two sleepy ones because that's where it started.
SPEAKER_06So I'd be like, we have the Nick cross, so let's see.
SPEAKER_03I beat back to Nixon rec.
SPEAKER_09Um, I was trying to help him, but I might as two strengths.
SPEAKER_04I was smiling. It's very sweet. I think he appreciates it, even if he's not.
SPEAKER_12Eleven. You are unable to remove your shoes from your from your feet.
SPEAKER_04Hey Blond, do you have an anti-look at Z. Why? Um I j he looks like he's trying to anti-stick.
SPEAKER_12You just keep it stick. That's the way it works. But shoes get that science that is.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Well, you heard it.
SPEAKER_12Go ahead. You're welcome. Whoa. You saved your life. Whoa, whoa. You owe me.
SPEAKER_01Without waking me. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_12Um Requiem.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_12I'd like to come to you next.
SPEAKER_01I'm a like that.
SPEAKER_04You I'm just over yours on Nix's bodies because you're the two that are still. You are right.
SPEAKER_12You are different from the rest. You have you have to constantly keep like an anchor to stay here. But it doesn't have to be here. Right? And if you are between places, you have the an interesting constitution to be able to be connected in other ways that other players are not. Substanceless. Between things, as you already always are. And instead of fully leaving from your dream, you feel yourself drift away from your half-elf form. And instead, you choose to remain. You don't know how long you'll be able to remain, but we are now back in Light of Stravia. You guys see. I like the crowd. You see, and you from your vantage point see um a wraith form of the half-elfer woman hovering above her.
SPEAKER_02So then exist.
SPEAKER_12You know everything that you just did from that dream. You know that another um the temple needs to be reached from another plane, like the one you're about to return back to. You have a moment where you're able to speak to yourself and the group from the light of Stravia.
SPEAKER_04Do I see him?
SPEAKER_12I'm gonna say roll a perception check with disadvantage.
SPEAKER_04I was like, he sees us. We're pretty preoccupied by face mouth. Face mouth is pretty all consuming.
SPEAKER_10Try living it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. 17 is my worst one.
SPEAKER_12And a 13 advantage.
unknownFail it. Fail it.
SPEAKER_03Let me see your bare form. Massive.
SPEAKER_04Give me a good grunt so I can see you.
SPEAKER_11Two fourteens in a row. What's it? 14 or a 19? 19. That's a nineteen.
SPEAKER_03Oh. You do not need to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_12But you have a moment to be able to address these people, knowing that there must be a way to access the gray plane from another plane, and you are about to leave there.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_12What do you tell yourself and the other people present?
SPEAKER_04Which is just the group that was the Lightestravia group.
SPEAKER_12So is you Princess Zelfira? Um, Reggie is dead. The door has disappeared. It is just an ordinary stone arch. Door is no longer there. And some people that you don't see. Um and um there is a barbellion as well, and a Lenora.
SPEAKER_04Lenora, what happened to you next? I don't think I have a lot of time left here, but I'm going back to a place that is not from here. What? Yeah. It's weird. But if you can figure out how to cross the icing in the cake to get to the second layer of the cake, that's where I'll be. Crossing. Remember? Yes. Remember the layers?
SPEAKER_02Layers.
SPEAKER_04Someone. Oh dear. Okay. So This face manager! It's gone!
SPEAKER_06That is very great.
SPEAKER_01Bardellion, there is another plane. This is brain doesn't mean this. I don't know what happened.
SPEAKER_08Lenora Cascall Bones.
SPEAKER_04Lenora, please help. I'm gonna say it to Lenora. Lenora, we talked about other planes. I am probably gonna go back to the Do I understand that? No, we can't. That's what you're saying. I can't. I am being backer where Zelfira is different, Zelfira. You are different, Lenora. I am different, Requiem. He is different and better, honestly. And so And guess what? He is there in the other plane, too. Hopefully alive. I can't guarantee you that. I need you to figure out a way to get to me.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_04I'm going to float there. If you have, would I have any recollection of somebody's planar spell? Because we have another cleric and we've talked about being able to poof somewhere. Wasn't that like a couple episodes ago where we were trying to poof out of somewhere?
SPEAKER_07Holes. Reggie loved holes. I will let you guys know that uh no one has a clean lower.
SPEAKER_04Well then I will just do other places. Hopefully the bear can hear Requiem or um I don't know when I'll see you next. But I'm hoping that we can. I don't know if the problem here is the problem there, but I can feel that I am not gonna be here in 45 seconds.
SPEAKER_12What does half elf you think when she sees the Wraith version of you hovering above saying all of that?
SPEAKER_04Um I don't know if I billy goat and just like fall over. Um I might be hiding behind myself here. I might be like trying to hide, like I'm sorry. Is that in me? Is this you and you would see that? It looks like me. I don't know. What do I do? Why are you hiding from yourself behind me? I'm confused. If you saw yourself above you like this, wouldn't you probably want to hide? Look at that.
SPEAKER_06And I'm like, floating.
SPEAKER_04I mean, she's kind of hot. Look at her. Uh-oh. Thank you. So are you? Um we find you. What are we flirting right now? I don't know. Reggie never stood a chance. I'm gonna like lift up and see if I can like grab her. Does it just go like right through?
unknownSure.
SPEAKER_12You reach up to to grab her. Yeah. She is becoming more and more of that same kind of ethereal ghostliness that you had kind of seen. But um, there's a slightly different uh tint to it. Okay. There's a different tint to it.
SPEAKER_04Does the one behind me feel like stay like anchored?
SPEAKER_12Also leaving. What's up?
SPEAKER_04Am I flying? Like can I fly or am I anchored to the elf?
SPEAKER_12You are always hovering. Your character is always like, right? Isn't that your thing?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, just basically.
SPEAKER_12You feel your anchor pulling stronger. You only have maybe one, two seconds left. Any last things you would tell the group before you fade back?
SPEAKER_04Please come find me. It's called Shadows of Stravia. It's called Stravia. Stravia. Stravia. This is Stravia. What do you mean? Shona the wind.
SPEAKER_12You're in Dorusk. You've not really heard of Stravia.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I thought you have mentioned before that this is Stravia, still a town.
SPEAKER_12The the town.
SPEAKER_04Or the the place. No.
SPEAKER_12It was split up differently, though, right? Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Where am I from? You know, like on Peter Pan where they say the main city. Past the big clock, like fourth star in the north, like, and then they give coordinates. What I have some kind of like idea of coordinates to give them. You do not.
SPEAKER_12And you have faded away. Leaving the folks now still maybe screaming a little bit over a face being melted off. Maybe flirting after a weird occurrence here. A man is dead!
SPEAKER_04What do I tell your wife? She's also lying back there.
SPEAKER_12And I would like to uh thank you guys. And I would like to uh regroup with now Borislav. And Cedric, looking over the side, grabs your shoulder. Well, I think we just found your key.
SPEAKER_03What the hell just happened?
SPEAKER_11I don't know.
SPEAKER_12We could. But again, all you needed was the way to see. And you can almost still see like this little wavering bit of where the scar has um enabled her from leave from this to the next. You have an action to be able to activate the stone and transport yourself, a spiritual guardian of sorts, to that realm at this moment.
SPEAKER_11Yeah. Wish me luck. Um I'll try.
SPEAKER_12I'll watch over your body while you're gone.
SPEAKER_11Okay. Uh I'll find a tree where I have line of sight, kind of get close to it, and then I guess activate the anchor. Boosh.
SPEAKER_12You do it. It's um the light goes up. People that are in the other thing, you see a beam of light happen, and then uh spirit. It's like he was kind of left on like a little bluff above you. And then you see a spiritual are you what version of you are you wearing? Definitely be in my bare form. I'd like for you to describe this kind of golden, amber lit version of you um traveling down and through this scar to the other side. What would you like that to look like?
SPEAKER_11Oof. Um It definitely have like those green and gold hues, but I if I'm uh like almost an amber honey looking kind of bear, um, I'd be almost like I'm swimming in the air towards the sink because I'm unsure of how to get there, but I'll jump and start like swimming at it and uh yeah, if trying to make my way towards the scar, just following this golden light perfect towards it.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, it's almost like there's um, you know, an inversion of energy which creates suction and is just you know, and it's quickly through. You find yourself going through there ahead of you in the rift, you see the Wraith um version of Requiem um kind of traversing back through this kind of like time warp kind of a thing that's that's happening, and then the funnel ends, and you find yourself standing amongst a group. Um Requiem has woken up. Requiem has woken up. Oh Requiem. And um the folks that are in the other world, in the shadows of Stravia, you see Requiem uh come up. Requiem, when she awakens in the shadow of Stravia, does not have any of the similar ailments that the Reginald had. He's simply awake as if it was a dream before and you remember all of it. But standing beside you is Borisov.
SPEAKER_04Borisov, you are uh Borislav just suddenly appeared in this room.
SPEAKER_12He is now standing beside Requiem.
SPEAKER_04Did I bring you back?
SPEAKER_12So have like still darker.
SPEAKER_06I guess he's up.
SPEAKER_12You get to decide how you you know, I want player autonomy for this.
SPEAKER_11Yeah, so I would say if if I am my other self from the light of Darusk, you would you would notice that a lot of the darker furs are probably more golden brown, and the highlights that I had, which were red, are more like a yellowish blonde of the floor.
SPEAKER_04Like do you look like Borderslav? Like I'd recognize you.
SPEAKER_11I look the same. It's just everything's lighter, more near next to me. Warm tones. Yeah, I'm standing kind of behind you.
SPEAKER_03Um I'm like over him. In my bare form. So you just suddenly.
SPEAKER_11I tried to swim, I tried to swim through the path that you made uh behind you.
SPEAKER_04I want to know how it looked when he appeared in the room because she was already here. Yes. And I'm standing over her and Nick's because they're both cramping each other. It's crammed. So I'm like, I'm watching as she comes alive. How does he suddenly appear in here?
SPEAKER_12It looks like a rift opened up.
SPEAKER_04Cool.
SPEAKER_12And then golden light streamed through, and then amber poured out of it, and from that a swimming bear creature just kind of came out and you know, and is standing there and looks around.
SPEAKER_03Oh, but just as I'm right now.
SPEAKER_12What do you guys do?
SPEAKER_04And I'm like, You okay. You took two minutes away from this one. We have m memories, right? Of like what we just dreamed.
SPEAKER_12Everybody that dreamed remembers all of the dream.
SPEAKER_04I'm so confused because there is a dream me, but I'm not me. But Are you fine? I think I'm okay. Anything he didn't come back to turn around because I feel fine.
SPEAKER_09Borislav! Holding a paintbrush defensively.
SPEAKER_04How are you?
SPEAKER_09Reginald, it's okay.
SPEAKER_04Reginald, Reginald. Is he fine? Is he fine? He's alive. I mean, he looks a little bit worse for wear and a little bit fair.
SPEAKER_12Did you meet Boris previously a second?
SPEAKER_04Did you guys characters up for last completely dead?
SPEAKER_11Yeah, I don't think I've actually physically been there. The only interaction would have been conversation with the elves and he knows about the dream world? Reginald.
SPEAKER_04Are you talking about that?
SPEAKER_10But I know about Boris because I thought you were the one that liked it.
SPEAKER_04So Boris Borislav was you because it wasn't about Billy. It was fake, it was like and it's up to you if you might be. He was there at the town when we originally went to Light of Darush. And that was it. He never went on the adventures with us. Yep.
SPEAKER_12So yeah, I do not think that you've met uh Borislav in the U.S. Uh you definitely have not met this Light of Darusk version of Borislav.
SPEAKER_11Uh because I would I would not My brain huts myself right now. I would be like my Light of Darusk memories and everything here in this dark world.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, you are a Light of Darusk character through and through since birth, and that is everything that you've brought yourself now to this other plane. Oh boy.
SPEAKER_04Wait, so there's two rightwards. Right now. How did you get here? What just happened?
SPEAKER_09I what is that? It's like a little painting. I leave the sponge in there? But it's what I has my brush. It's a sponge.
SPEAKER_04Um calm down. He's he's he's a front. Reggie. There is a huge bell. He is a druid. Of course. Oh. And we've figured out the book. Well, that might have to do with the fact that your face melted off completely. I mend earth.
SPEAKER_10Can I write in the earth? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In your mouth. Start casting. And I do mold earth to speak.
SPEAKER_04Well, we gathered that. I asked you if you couldn't speak and you're trying to speak to me. Do you want to do a medicine check or do you want to just give it a little pans?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, give me a medicine check.
SPEAKER_04How are you?
SPEAKER_09Not 20. It would absolutely work. Okay. I will cast healing word on you. You're probably whole.
SPEAKER_08I asked you this. Sexy.
SPEAKER_04I'm understanding that.
SPEAKER_12Reginald, when your voice comes back.
SPEAKER_04Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_12When your voice comes back. And because sexy was the power word, your voice is melodious, tantalizing, sexual.
SPEAKER_01Let's hear it.
SPEAKER_12Oh I will say for the next hour, you have advantage on all um charisma checks that have to do with the side.
SPEAKER_04I'm sorry. What did you do to him?
SPEAKER_10Me? Looks like I'm back to Z. I have to voice.
SPEAKER_04It's your voice. Roll a persuasion check. Your voice is quite common.
SPEAKER_10Roll a persuasion check.
SPEAKER_12Very persuasive. Regle up. You have an advantage on these.
SPEAKER_04That's that was the This is a much better look for you than your face just absolutely melting up the bigger.
SPEAKER_12Ready for the 28?
SPEAKER_04No, I put him down and went back to the IBS. He was playing with his shoes and it felt weird because he was like, so I let Idris Elba-esque voice from across the way.
SPEAKER_12And you look over, and you know, his constitution might be looking a little bit more frail, but my God, that voice. Oh god.
SPEAKER_10Am I still the same size?
SPEAKER_12You are the same size. It's like it's just that you're more frail.
SPEAKER_04Oh, you're more precise.
SPEAKER_12Borislav is near you. I will allow you guys to role play this out however you want. I'm now put you guys all together. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Can I lean against Borislav and just like stare at Z?
SPEAKER_04Listen, am I still hugging you or do you might shake me off?
SPEAKER_11No, I'm just I I'm kind of really confused.
SPEAKER_04I said Borislav is friendly, but I don't think he's that friendly. I wouldn't quite lean on him.
SPEAKER_11Plus which is on if he's on one of my legs, my other arm is gonna like slowly go around Reginald and st kind of pat him. Here you go, Bear.
SPEAKER_07Here's a ration.
SPEAKER_12Just very confused.
SPEAKER_01Are we in the big parts still?
SPEAKER_12You guys have now kind of gotten out of the cart. Okay, good. I'm gonna say it's just Nyx that's sleeping in Samuel's nest. And you guys are now kind of out amongst the other people of the caravan.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Well, instead of following everyone out, can I medicine check Nyx again?
SPEAKER_04Like can I see what is going on with them? Absolutely. Um so what you don't remember probably is there was an eyeball thing. Was trying to eat well, it was trying to have Nyx eat it, actually. Plop took it. I don't know what Plops did with it. But Plop was here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09He's a very interesting fellow.
SPEAKER_04Was he the one that woke me up? Or did he leave? Huh? Did he wake me up?
SPEAKER_10I'd love to paint him here.
SPEAKER_04I do not believe so. Which one?
SPEAKER_10He put his fucking juice in my shoes.
SPEAKER_04Plop Plop did some medicine check to um to Reggie over here. And then he left it. Um and he took an eyeball. That's all I know. That's interesting. Okay, I'm gonna grab with that information. I rolled a 22 for medicine.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_12Um Nyx is unconscious. He um is unconscious in a way that is different than the other uh people falling unconscious. There's something else going on with him. With the 22, you know that um there's there's no medicine that you're gonna be able to provide that will awaken him from this, and he is stable. Um and whatever is going on is just gonna have to continue.
SPEAKER_02Remember the last dream. Do you? Mm-hmm. You guys were in a similar situation. I was not. Because I believe Mother somehow protected that.
SPEAKER_04And if they can I religious check? Religion check and see if this is like a trance that he's in, having anything to do with him claiming to be a god or mother, or can I I probably wouldn't have any way of feeding all this?
SPEAKER_12You cannot. I'm not gonna allow the check.
SPEAKER_09Is that a relic from Limera Skull?
SPEAKER_12I don't think there's enough information that would enable you to make that connection.
SPEAKER_04Not more than, yeah. He's just unconscious right now.
SPEAKER_10Can I try doing lesser restoration on him? You can you can try? Okay. I want to walk up to him and do lesser restoration. Okay.
SPEAKER_04I want to do a um I don't know, investigation check, I guess? Perception. What would it be? I want to know why you're curious.
SPEAKER_12Insight.
SPEAKER_04Insight.
SPEAKER_12That's the one Reggie, as you perform the lesser restoration, um, you see the magic go in and take hold. Um however, it is just as Requiem had identified with her medicine check, there doesn't seem to be any viable difference that you see. Is status remains the same, even though the magic did take. Um I want to resolve this, and then I got you next.
SPEAKER_09I asked because I smile overheard saying your mother and pointing to your ring. So he asked, is that a relic from Nimera Scorn? Because that's who he under would understand is your mother. Um and with an 18 insight, um I you definitely get like general curiosity, like he's uh he's an artist, um, you know, curious about those um those kinds of things. I think that you with an 18 you would get um there's some there's some like close relationship between Smiley and Nimera. Like the way he said it like seems familiar, like maybe he's done work for her or something is is what you get.
SPEAKER_04Oh. Like he just knows her. He knows Nimera.
SPEAKER_09And so when you said that, it's like, oh, I know Nimera is what he didn't say, but like what you get from the No, not quite.
SPEAKER_07Sorry, just an aside. I was just interested.
SPEAKER_12Borislav, your golden temporary presence. You know that you are on a clock to fix this problem. You also um know from where you are at. Actually, give me a survival check with advantage. That's exactly where I was gonna do that.
SPEAKER_11That's your head. I wanted to know where I was and if I recognized anything here.
SPEAKER_04So wait, do you recognize me?
SPEAKER_12That was bad. He knows the the light version of it.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah. Well, kinda.
SPEAKER_12There was that tiny vessel. Uh 18. 18. You know where you are in this for this, you know, you are the ambassador of this kind of area. Um, this is a common place where caravans will like kind of pull off in your side as well. And you know from where you are at, how to get um to where you think you need to know, where you could need to go, um, be the temple area. You know where that is from where you had just left.
SPEAKER_11Okay. Um I I think I would kind of look at Rec because I recognize her, and I would change into my half-giant form uh so I could speak plainly to everyone around me. And this place I understand is is much like where I am from, but this is dark, and now I understand the cake that you are talking about. We are in a different layer. Something here is harming people from where I'm from, and this layer of the cake has the key to fix that, and it is at and I'll try and explain as best I can where this temple is.
SPEAKER_04Well, I understand that, I guess. It's placement.
SPEAKER_12Talk about planes. Yeah. I I mean you um you did not have the dream, so you don't have those those bits of memory. No, I just remember um him from your dream, a previous one though. Yeah. So you are, you know, you like you get him a little bit more.
SPEAKER_04Well, I'm like, my this Z is combining this Borislav with the first dream Borislav, which I never met that one very well, other than he was at the city, but I know this world, Borislav. So it's like, I feel like I know him, but I also know I'm starting to realize he might not know me as well. So it's like a weird, but I just want to know if I understand where he's stating like the places that he's looking for.
SPEAKER_12Oh, the temple or whatever. Um You understand that he knows it, but you have never been there before. I'm not gonna make you roll for it.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. But your allies, you could obviously talk to them. We we know metagame that they do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_11You know, I think strikingly you would notice that like instead of the dark brown and red-ish tints that were to my eyes and my darker hair, like my eyes are more golden now, and then my hair is obviously a lighter brown and everything.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, I am the same person, but I'm definitely the more I look at you, the more I hear you talk, the more I realize you are not who I immediately think you are. You are, but you're not. So I'm like trying to piece because Z is smart. She's not dumb in this.
SPEAKER_12I think your passive insight would pick up that it's not that. I think you would know.
SPEAKER_04So I was gonna ask you, like, so the problem that we just woke up from there, are we like we are concerned and we're realizing that it ha it will affect us in this plane too, right? Because that was the whole thing that it was talking about. It's here. It sent you here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_12Um let's say I will, I will, because there's a lot of confusion, it's been a long time since we have met before. You guys know that with the vision that you saw, with certainty, it would affect the light of Dorusk plane. That was the vision. It's the the creatures are attacking them from the light of Dorusk. If something doesn't happen, then the creatures and the light of Dorusk plane will certainly be led to destruction. You now also know that consequences that happen in the light of Dorusk have physical ramifications, both directly from what you saw with Reggie. When you guys went previous times, there were carryovers and ties. Planes are connected, layers of a cake, right?
SPEAKER_04And you crossed the icing.
SPEAKER_09Could I just get a general vibe check on I'm proficient in arcana and you know, not a wizard, but yeah. Can I get like a vibe check on him appearing here? Did that feel like teleportation or plane air travel or like what they're freaking out about? Trevor Burrus, Jr. Give me an arcana check. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_12Did you I didn't see 14 Let's say the 14. Um you do not believe that this was religious, you believe that it was arcane. You do not know um specifically the origin with the 14 or anything like that. Yeah, I think you can rule out religious, but you don't know the specific arcana piece that that way.
SPEAKER_03Between Rivin's side, everything side of the world or like what you remember from the stream.
SPEAKER_04Because everybody had different stories of how they said so what your tale I would know at least your side of it.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_12Reginald you watched yourself die as Reggie. Those memories are with you. You have now some parts of him. The Mold Earth Cantrip came with you. What's running through your head as well?
SPEAKER_10Yeah, I'm not sure how I got into this other world. Yeah. I don't think I'm familiar with traveling to other planes. Yeah. So I'd be very confused. Um seeing a bear come out of nowhere too?
SPEAKER_12Yeah. Your previous self too had died for a mission that potentially you are able to help to carry out. Is there any motivation in that? Sure. Player autonomy, you do what you want to do. I will present questions and you get to respond however you're because I think Virginia was pretty just set on trying to get with Z.
SPEAKER_10Aside from that, I think there wasn't much going on. Simple man of the simple plan.
SPEAKER_04He doesn't care about the fact he just died and his face melted off. He's like, You like this voice?
SPEAKER_10Crazy dummy man.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Bag and the queen.
SPEAKER_12Well, okay. Bag and the queen.
SPEAKER_03It's crazy.
SPEAKER_12And uh, were you putting that DC for yourself or something? What were your friends on? Or do you want me to decide? On it? Do you want me to decide? I can decide for you if you want it. Is that what you want? With the 17, you do have that motivation.
SPEAKER_03Thank God.
SPEAKER_12Um there there is this thing. I mean, you saw yourself die. How could you not? You know? I think it'd have to have rolled very, very poorly to not have some inner drive to be able to see through the thing that another version of you died for. And potentially has carried over with you in some way. So you are probably more eager to begin on this journey as well.
SPEAKER_09I've got just the thing. I'll be right back.
SPEAKER_02Runs away. Boroslav.
SPEAKER_04This is going to be odd as I understand. You might recognize me from before. We know each other better than you think, but I'm realizing it is not this. It is the Borislav is here, currently working with us elsewhere.
SPEAKER_11That is good.
SPEAKER_04Yes, it it is. Um You saying here something is harming there makes sense as it is also harming here. And part of our mission has been trying to figure out how and where the root of it all is. I don't I was not part of this last dream of yours, but I was part of the other dream, hence why I recognize you. Back a while before. I've seen this version of you. So it being here is a little alarming, odd, but if anything, this reminds me of back when you had a conversation with somebody who might be able to help us. Sebastian. He is a fox of sorts, and he resides in my garden back home, which is where we're headed to, back home. Um I don't have answers as to how or why you are all here, but it seems connected and it seems like he might. You've talked to him before. Your other version of you.
SPEAKER_11Would I know if that is Light of Strabia, you have never heard of Sebastian, you don't know. Would that lead would I think that that would lead us towards where the temple is?
SPEAKER_12Um the the city that she's talking about is far to the south. Right. The temple is due west. Right. Okay.
SPEAKER_11So I think um I I I don't know if going to speak with this Sebastian would be the best use of our time. It seems to be uh urgent, especially with you. You you I saw you. You projected this.
SPEAKER_04You were there?
SPEAKER_11The whole thing, yes. I was I was watching, of course. I needed to know what was going on. Uh I was in this village with all these these humble hulken, these people, and they all were being snatched. Uh souls ripped apart. Were they doing the Yes, the creepy chattering, they were alive but not alive. Something was taking their souls, and we believe it's coming from here.
SPEAKER_02I could see how that would be. The tree. The tree.
SPEAKER_11Some nasty tree.
SPEAKER_04And this is gonna go back to where Matt might have to fill in.
SPEAKER_02I may not have been part of this dream, but I have had a dream. It was a vision.
SPEAKER_11In the past you did in my world, you helped me find what was going on with some humble folk disappearing.
SPEAKER_04It was the same tree. I remember that. But it's gone now. But here, in this world, I remember roots. I don't know where, but I know there was roots. Yeah, you and it's about having it should not be here and are here. And I I have a strong feeling that it is rooted to why my my town, my city is dying and elsewhere, and why the sickness is spreading. And even though we've had all this other stuff going on, this is something that has been in my head and I don't know where it's at. We were guessing that somebody moved the tree because the roots aren't there anymore. It's like someone shifted it to a different plane, like we did. Or like he did. I guess I just woke up. But there's no way that anybody could it was not burned. It was not transferred. There's no way anybody could have moved that big of a root and tree system out of the area that it was in.
SPEAKER_09Reginald, I've got it.
unknownHe's back. Okay.
SPEAKER_09When was I ready to show this to you, Edward? Do you remember what I'm saying? Uh uh holding uh like a small portrait. Painting. Withdraws it. And it is uh Reginald uh shirtless sitting atop a giant white ram, uh you know, which is which is common uh mount for for dwarfs. And um May this give you uh courage in the right moment, and should you ever need it, snap it in half and say No, sir, I'm a prince. Oh, uh for what? I have a feeling I know what this is. It can cast counter spell.
SPEAKER_12Oh damn. That is not what I thought it would be. I thought that's how you're gonna manifest Bardic Inspiration or something.
SPEAKER_09I do have to uh I I do it's it's part of my living tapestries features, so I can just take a long time and craft spells into sweet shirtless almost ROM.
SPEAKER_04And what a painting. I am a painting. Very well done, Smiley. That's an impressive painting.
SPEAKER_11Good likeness.
SPEAKER_04But obviously, to work it care. Weirdly insight check on how Smiley feels about Reginald.
SPEAKER_10Well, you actually explain that too.
SPEAKER_04Guidance because I'm leaning over going like this.
SPEAKER_10Like that it's a counter spell. Either way, it's gonna be a 19. Okay.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. 19? 19? Smiley seems interested in Reginald.
SPEAKER_03Okay, gathered that.
SPEAKER_10And you made me smiley size.
SPEAKER_04That's what I'm saying. Smiley response is accurate.
SPEAKER_12I'd like to do kind of a team group up with this. So there's been a lot of stuff that happens to just kind of group with you guys the things that are needed. Borislav has a limited time with you. His spell, he knows, will only be able to keep him on this plane of existence towards this mission for a finite period of time. And because you are not level uh 10 yet for doid stuff, um, you do not have like the full proficiency in these planar things. Um, it is only through this artifact that was shattered at its breaking that's cast you here that enables this to happen, but you don't know how long you have, but time is short. Or motivated to go to this temple, to get to the plane, figure out what's going on. And you guys know that if you do not, then there will be ramifications both for light of Dorus plane and your memory and your uh attachments to people there, um, as well as what may ripple over into your current states. So with that, I am going to go ahead and say that um you probably would begin to travel towards the temple. Is that a good assessment? Or would you guys like to do something else as I try to migrate the party towards the next piece of the journey?
SPEAKER_09Aaron Powell Absolutely. I'm saying, like, how much time do you think would there be as we're like packing up or Because basically Smiley has preparation stuff. Sure. If there's any if there's any time before we leave.
SPEAKER_12I would say an hour. That would enable enough time to make sure that uh final checks, sorry, will be done over Karina and the the party kind of has their marching orders for what needs to be. Since I don't remember the dream, north of Grey Dell.
SPEAKER_04Okay. I was like, since I don't remember the dream, but the fact that I had my own visions back when. And I would like to also state when I was telling you guys I saw roots, the roots were snakes. So that's kind of important with the roots was that in my notes, the roots were actually snakes. That root.
SPEAKER_12I had the the roots were snaking as an adjective rather than as a noun.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I just wrote roots or snakes. So I don't know, maybe he can correct this if it was actual snakes.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, I think the important things with that vision is that's this was this is north of Greydale, so like towards the Black City that you saw it. And you saw like these voids in the earth. Um, and I believe it is is snaking, is probably what it is.
SPEAKER_04Is that the same as my vision? Yes. Like north of Grey.
SPEAKER_09Same kind of information. But basically that there are these huge voids or routes that were, I think, wrong or something that seemed to be heading towards Slovoka was the information.
SPEAKER_04Trevor Burrus, Jr. So either way, even though I don't have the same memories they have, I have an overall sense of urgency that it's connected somehow, and that I believe these two when they say that's what we have to do, especially a different version of Borislav here saying this is important. I'm like gotta listen to it. What were our visions?
SPEAKER_09Was that like Wasn't that the same episode that we mine was back when you're gonna have a shared thing, and then yours was like kind of a moment when you were scouting ahead during the blizzard.
SPEAKER_04Okay, yeah. Yeah.
unknownThat's right.
SPEAKER_09So Smiley Smiley will use uh 40 minutes of that time to use his um living tapestries feature. Okay. And I spend um four Bardic inspirations and four level one spells to tattoo the shield spell on each of you.
unknownCool.
SPEAKER_09Um so uh it's it's it's a temporary tattoo that will stay forever if you don't cast it. But basically, it's like you have the ability to cast it for this one time. So where do you want it? And wherever you want, I'll put a I'll put a little stylistic shield on your body. That's cool. You have the shield.
SPEAKER_04Some my art. Excellent.
SPEAKER_09That's kind of how it's kind of how he does his bartic inspirations. They're just basically all gone now. I've made art for you guys. Beautiful.
SPEAKER_04Nice art.
SPEAKER_09You are very good. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04Screw it. I've been practicing very much. Very happy week. Brought you on the back. So tasteful. I think Reggie's too.
SPEAKER_12Leaving the caravan, heading towards the temple, Borislav uh leading the group with his successful survival checks behind an unconscious Karina in a fetal position, Nick's unconscious in a caravan, Smiley's men, and maybe plop somewhere remain with the group to kind of watch over. How are you guys choosing to approach the temple? Is it stealthily? Is it mightily, forcefully? What are you guys doing as you um teleport you guys through the forest with that direction, and now you are nearing the area towards the forest temple?
SPEAKER_04My suggestion would be quite a few miles out or like a good distance out to then check in, because I'm like, I don't know if Bordeshov knows anything about this area with the temple, but who knows if it's empty, abandoned, or if it's guarded or what it's like.
SPEAKER_09I have a way to check it out.
SPEAKER_04Do you do Shiley?
SPEAKER_09Yes.
SPEAKER_02What how?
SPEAKER_09Rayface, um I'm putting you on the spot, Eric. Okay. I summon forth my impfamiliar. Okay. That I despise, and I have chosen not to give a name, and I haven't asked. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Did you just draw something into life?
SPEAKER_12Yeah, impears. Um what do you envision your imp would be looking like?
SPEAKER_09Oh uh he's probably very uh very classic little red-skinned imp. Although um he he probably is dressed in finery, which is prob uh you know, probably unusual for familiar with imps, but like a well-dressed red skinned little little imp, you know.
SPEAKER_12Master, yes, you have summoned me. What may I do for you, my master? Yes.
SPEAKER_09Please fly towards the temple and report back. See if there's any enemies or what can you find. I shall do this for you, my master. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_04We're going to be looking very quizzically at Smiley, because every don't don't even start.
SPEAKER_09Don't ask about it. You know the world.
SPEAKER_02Every second that passes, we just learn more and more about you.
SPEAKER_04You're not just an amazing artist.
SPEAKER_02You are a familiar. Yeah. All right.
SPEAKER_12So um just flying through me. You didn't say stealthily or anything. He's just flying over that way. Do you have imps? Do you have imp stats?
SPEAKER_07Up uh imp stats. Yeah. So confused.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we're going to be a little bit more.
SPEAKER_04That was one of the quotes I was gonna have him do.
SPEAKER_12Uh it's 40-foot movement. What do you want to still?
SPEAKER_04Don't worry. We stuck.
SPEAKER_12Well, is he moving stealthily? I guess is my first question. Um and are you able to see through his eyes for this stuff, like I am with Pop?
SPEAKER_09It's yeah, it's full fine familiar stuff. So I can I can uh see, I think that's 150 feet. Um but it's just kind of unique because it's packed to the chain and that it can be an amp. Excellent. Um but I mean I I I I talk to him as little as possible. So I would I would hope he he would use his empty judgment and decide what he should do, but okay. Uh go ahead and um make a stealth check.
SPEAKER_12And uh you need to be to twelve.
SPEAKER_07His stealth is plus five.
SPEAKER_09Heck yeah. Oh but that's a seven. That's a seven. Yep. Excellent. Here's what happens. Okay.
SPEAKER_12He does have invisibility. Does that matter? Did you instruct him to be invisible? Is he invisible?
SPEAKER_09I mean let's do a luck check. Again, I I'm not controlling.
SPEAKER_12B to 10 and he was invisible, and therefore you get a damage.
SPEAKER_09No, he's not invisible.
SPEAKER_12Nope. You just told him fly over there. Yep. Yep. Yeah. This is like the perfect look at all this time.
SPEAKER_08He can shake shits and he can be invisible.
SPEAKER_12He's narrating everything that he's doing as he's going over there. Okay, Matter. I hope you can hear what I'm seeing. I'm flying through the fourth here. It's being real cool. Oh yeah. It's it's pretty there's something that's happening. I I see a building. I see a building. It looks like a stone or something like that. And there's like an arch. I see a face. That's pretty cool. And oh my god, what are those? Oh god! And then there's a flash of bright light that goes up, and you do uh I need him to make a um oh let's see here. What saving throw is this? Wisdom saving throw for me. Plus one. Yep.
SPEAKER_00Unnamed imp.
SPEAKER_12Um he becomes stunned and falls. I imagine he was probably twenty five feet in the air-ish. Is that about right? 2010. How high up do you think he would have been flying? I'll give it to you.
SPEAKER_09Uh I mean, the higher the better if you're scouting, really. At least 40 feet, I would say. Um maybe some branches will break. 2 D10 for every 10 feet, I think, correct? Oh, it's D10.
SPEAKER_12That's even that's right. I thought it was D6s for every six feet or something like that. I'm just gonna say one D6 for every ten feet. So one, two, three, four, five.
SPEAKER_04It's like Pop when Pop went. Remember when Pop banished? He was mad. He was big mad. Six actually likes him.
SPEAKER_12Uh Yeah. Yep. Okay. That's um 10, 20. Oh, he did. Um He's unconscious.
SPEAKER_09Okay. He poofs out. Okay.
SPEAKER_04It was all for love.
SPEAKER_09Well, yep, that taught us something.
SPEAKER_04What what?
SPEAKER_09There you go. Um He saw a building.
SPEAKER_02Right. Um there's some building.
SPEAKER_09And got himself killed by looks like a spell of some sort.
SPEAKER_12So as you were looking down, because you're able to see through him, when he was saying, Oh my God, what are those? Massive creatures, large as um well, I'd say a a small bus turned upright. Oh. Um, and multiple of them were going around the uh the structure. And then big flash of lights. Huge creatures. Yep. They were on the ground.
SPEAKER_09Like 30 feet tall, just kind of patrolling around. Don't recognize them. No, I'd say not quite 30. I'd say more like 15. 15 feet tall? Yeah. Don't recognize them.
SPEAKER_04Fifteen feet. They have one eye. Tall. Did they have one eye?
SPEAKER_09You know, he his vision is really I don't know how he sees it all. It's really poor.
SPEAKER_04This temple is manned. It's guarded, clearly aggressive. It didn't like an imp.
SPEAKER_09Who likes an imp though? Really? We can't really find a lot of people.
SPEAKER_04What's wrong with your imp? Why don't you like him? He he he looked very excited to please you.
SPEAKER_09Girl, I we can split all the tea, you know, later. But this is not the time. Okay. Just let's just let's just settle on.
SPEAKER_04You've gotten so casual with us since being with this party and quite surprise smiley. Really?
SPEAKER_09I'm trying to recruit this guy. My dear. I'm an artist.
SPEAKER_04I am aware.
SPEAKER_09He is.
SPEAKER_04You make beautiful paintings. Thank you. And tattoos. And tattoos. Yes. You get you know what? I think I think I should applaud you for how comfortable you get with everybody quite so fast. Yeah.
unknownReally.
SPEAKER_09That's kind of you know, when you have to say, hey, I've just met you. Please become nude so I can paint you. You you learn to be comfortable very quickly. Who got nude? Oh, all of kinds.
SPEAKER_12You know, art school and then Reggie, what have you done with that painting of you on the RAM? Did Reggie get nude for you? Yeah. Maybe Reggie didn't have to be a good idea. Trevor Burrus, Jr. But is it like poking out where any of them might have been able to see the metaphoricity? Yeah. I mean, I wasn't quiet about delivering a lot of residents. As the other half is stuck in, so you don't really see like the RAM.
SPEAKER_04Quite often it seems like a bigger one.
SPEAKER_12But it's upside down, so you get the lower half sticking in.
SPEAKER_04Clearly, Reggie is one because if they are, then I'm gonna incite and figure out you.
SPEAKER_09I just admire uh the you know sapient form, I suppose. Can you blame 'em? Yes. I mean no. Sorry. I would say humanoid, but I'm more open-minded than that.
SPEAKER_04The bear has spoken. All right. So plan. Yeah. I can go distract while you go in. What? What would you have fifteen football?
SPEAKER_12One thing I probably should disclose as a DM is that Reginald, you now possess a a lot of these memories that Reggie had passed over to you, including all the ones that you had seen in the vision, right? You know that the temple on your side was a place of peace, where uh healing was performed, um, where, you know, there is a kinship with nature. Um you are unsure if that is what is like in in other places, but you know that there is a a general sense of uh peace um that that these temples are associated with.
SPEAKER_10This temple has peace and a holy area for healing. We can now go in and cause a ruckus and fight.
SPEAKER_09Oh well did I make did I make a mistake by sending that terrible creature in?
SPEAKER_02Is it because of a little bit?
SPEAKER_10I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I was trying to be helpful. We can cleanse the area now.
SPEAKER_04Are you saying you believe the reason it attacked is because it was an imp, not because they're just aggressive.
SPEAKER_09I should have had him beat a raven or something. I'm so stupid.
SPEAKER_04Your imp can be a raven?
SPEAKER_09Oh, he can do all the time.
SPEAKER_04Do you think that can outsmart sentient stuff?
SPEAKER_09Should I bring him back? Do you want to do that again?
SPEAKER_02How long does that take us?
SPEAKER_09I can just he never leaves me.
SPEAKER_10I missed the aggressive part. I missed the aggressive part. Say that again. I missed the aggressive part, apparently.
SPEAKER_04They killed the imp. Whatever it was.
SPEAKER_10Oh good.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, well, a flash of light went up and the imp fell from the sky.
SPEAKER_04Right. So I'm saying were they only aggressive because it was an imp, because it was a you know, a demon creature, or is are they aggressive in nature? Do we need to be cautious of going there?
SPEAKER_10I would assume yes, right. Like because it's an imp, so they're going to attack.
SPEAKER_12Well, I mean, you don't really know. I mean, this this isn't the the plane that you're used to, you know? Or or you had gotten some of those memories with. You know what you know.
SPEAKER_04And Rec. You both can talk to animals. Animals have, you know, are part of the earth. Maybe one of you can speak with an animal around, if anything's around here, to maybe do it for us and see whether or not I'm my hopes is not that it will kill an animal, obviously. It's that an animal would appeal to the big thing. Do I see any animals or hear any animal screen too?
SPEAKER_12Uh survival checks to see if you guys see what the animal life is like around here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Because we're where are we currently?
SPEAKER_12We're not by Greyle.
SPEAKER_04We're not we're we're wowing.
SPEAKER_12Correct. Yeah. So on the road where your caravan stopped is about a day's ride uh north of Grey Delhi.
SPEAKER_04And Greydel is.
SPEAKER_12And now you guys have headed almost due west into the forest. What was your 29th. 29? 15. 15. Um, you hear some like uh animal stuff. Supersonic. You're hearing birds waking up in the morning, ready before dawn breaks, the mere rustling of leaves, you know. Um there's a salamander that has like one little like thing that goes up, you go, you know, just one little toe, and you hear that. Um the the the forest is packed with with animals.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. There are a lot of animals.
SPEAKER_12If anything, the forest is more rich with life here than in other places.
SPEAKER_04I will let them know. It can't be that bad if there's more life.
SPEAKER_10I wanna Can I just go in? Okay. Do you just want to approach? Yeah. Okay. I should know this the best. Let me go in and talk to him and I'll be out.
SPEAKER_02Wait. What?
SPEAKER_09Hold on, before you go. I draw some fierce-looking war paint. Yeah, some war paint, like an under-eye thing with some black paint. And I give you my last bodic inspiration. It's a D8.
SPEAKER_11Wow.
SPEAKER_07Oh, next time.
SPEAKER_04This was like This is where your face melted and you're trying to go there alone. I'm sorry. Hold on.
SPEAKER_09It's a different plane, right? So this is like a shared dream.
SPEAKER_04Does it matter that it's a different plane? You came back to this plane already weaker and frail. All of it. It's like multi-what factor.
SPEAKER_11Wow. Do you uh it's like a circle. It goes around and around and it's all connected.
SPEAKER_02I think there's i see like the color chart.
SPEAKER_11Yeah.
SPEAKER_07You talk to me out of it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I do. Right. Because you know what? What there's a lot laying on this, not just here, in general, for this we get past here and there's more. You can't die. Your father would be extremely angry. The temple was target, right? Yeah. No, but just said that that's what we're meeting to be. Show the outside of what the temple is. Yeah, and I guess it's outside, really.
SPEAKER_12Um I don't know other people. Well, you haven't seen it from from this side yet. Uh smiley has seen that, but he wasn't on the other side. So there's a disconnect.
SPEAKER_02Were you able to find an animal that can I will skip?
SPEAKER_12With your twenty-nine and the rich life, uh-huh, you could just reach down and grab an animal. I'd say opossum. There you happen to have seen a pot an opossum.
SPEAKER_02Where wasn't a flyer?
SPEAKER_12That was there.
SPEAKER_04What are we doing? Is he going for a I thought Yeah, yeah, sing again? My idea was, you know, instead of a demon creature going over lands of Holly, maybe an animal of nature that is not demon can go, opossum will get there eventually. Maybe a bird will reach a sky and hope that I grew up. That's fine. A robin.
SPEAKER_12Okay. Throw me a survival check with disadvantage because you're already holding onto a possum.
SPEAKER_04Well, if the opossum's down on the 26. Okay. What is it for? If you can find a robin because you chose a possum.
SPEAKER_12Okay. Unfortunately, one comes up and it brushes your fingers, and you're like, ah, and you kind of jostle this thing you already have in your arms.
SPEAKER_04Right. The possum will work. Maybe uh speak with said possum and see if it can um as quickly as possum legs can go. Okay. Go check and speak with animals. The area. Maybe.
SPEAKER_10I mean, technically you're sacrificing this animal.
SPEAKER_04That's not true if what you say is correct, which is that the demon is the reason it killed it.
SPEAKER_10But you've already talked me out of it.
SPEAKER_04What the hell are you saying, Reggie?
SPEAKER_10If you go, I can offer more protection.
SPEAKER_04What?
SPEAKER_10I'm weird. What kind of protection?
SPEAKER_04Whoops, we rolled a one-on-one authentic authentication check. We're heading into town to visit the blacksmith for repairs. Try again for a short after a short That's what my D on.
SPEAKER_12You have speak with animals?
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_12Okay. Just remember made a mark on your paper. You just use a spell slot.
SPEAKER_04Yep.
SPEAKER_12Okay.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_12So you're speaking with this uh possum. Are you going to do now respond to her in possum?
SPEAKER_09That's a good thing.
SPEAKER_01And then I'm going to wrap his tail around my arm and hold it up and just woke up, madam.
SPEAKER_04Oh yes. Oh, I'm going to give it a little chin spirit. And a little ration. Okay, we're just gonna free ball it here. 11. I don't know what my stat is because this website is down.
SPEAKER_12Roll a D6 to add on to it for funsies. How much you have your cell phone, you'd be able to find something there. Fifteen? Um it uh it does not bite you.
SPEAKER_04Um, no rabies today.
SPEAKER_12Yes. Um Madam, I am awake. What's uh it's the same thing. What can I do for you? If not, can you just put me back down?
SPEAKER_04Oh, I do have a job for who am I? I do have a job for No, who am I? You would requiem.
SPEAKER_09I do have a job.
SPEAKER_04Thank you. I have a job for you. Sunshine. You are so kind to be so patient with me. Lucine, I we have never been to this temple before. And we really would like to know. What am I asking it? Just to go scout. Can you not see through an animal's eyes? I don't know.
SPEAKER_12Not for this type of thing. Who's speaking with that? And you just see them hissing at each other.
SPEAKER_04I needed him. All right.
SPEAKER_05I want to see how this boys look.
SPEAKER_04Because you know what? Just see, see. We're asking him to see whether or not it seems go scope it out. Yeah. You know, I just need you to go please check it out. You know, danger. I need you to look for danger. Tell me where the danger is.
SPEAKER_12I suppose I could go and look for danger too. You wouldn't mind. What is in it for little old me? Sunshine label.
SPEAKER_04Oh, sunshine label, you are I have all of the rations for you. I'll hand them some or bee jerky.
SPEAKER_12I will certainly accept these rations. I believe. I shall be back for three times the amount.
SPEAKER_01You betcha. Excellent.
SPEAKER_12It's kind of struggles so you can put them down.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_12It's a swindler. I love it. You see sunshine kind of scatter off the bottom. Or you guys stay dead. Going to follow to see what happens, or are you just gonna see if this thing doesn't ever come back?
SPEAKER_11I I would like to kind of stay like a hundred feet, maybe a couple hundred feet behind it. I want to see where it's going. Sure.
SPEAKER_04Out of sight, but like close enough that we're not like way back where our camp is and stuff.
SPEAKER_12Guys, get closer, you get closer. Um make a group stealth check. It feels like you're being trying to be stealthy as you're you're going up. You just need to be to twelve. Sixteen.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Do you want me to let you out? Fourteen. How much twelve? I don't know. Or better than six.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, and I'm doing the the group, so I'm I'm taking the average. Uh eighteen. Okay. Yeah. As a as a group, I mean, very good. Is it turning back and give me little military sides with its like No, you just see like a tail like whipping around and it's like going through the underbrush.
SPEAKER_03You have little fingers, yes. Oh, yeah. You guys creeping up.
SPEAKER_12Um and you're able to find a good vantage point. We're able to kind of look through the trees and the brush, the pre-dawn light is is coming up behind you a little bit. And what you see out there is the little opossum going through the brush, and then it gets past the uh the brush into kind of like a clearing, low moss on the ground. And you see the stone uh temple in front of you. But you also see a glassy track, maybe 10 feet wide, and it is clear. It is almost like rainbow, you know, like a little drop of oil in a puddle, and it kind of makes like a shimmer, but glassy and hard. And then watching a little bit more, you see the opossum kind of go up and natural 20. Let's go. The opossum goes right up, and a uh a massive creature starts kind of like on this glassy surface, and you see a um a 15-foot-tall um creature. It looks like a snail, but massive. Okay. Um, for player reference. Looks like this.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_12Crazy.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Okay.
SPEAKER_12Beautiful. Beautiful. For our podcasters. A 15-foot-tall snail-like creature with five maul-like tentacles coming off of its head. Very colorful. Snail shell is scintillating, almost um like looking into an otherworldly galaxy. Um, and it is sliding on this surface, you know, um, first at maybe like 10 feet, you know, kind of uh speed, and then it sees the opossum and it goes up to it and stops on a dime in front of it. And the opossum natural 20 just and the snail just like backs off a little bit, and the opossum goes further over towards the um the building, and then the snail continues on.
SPEAKER_03My heart probably stopped watching in case I was gonna be wrong and I was gonna die. I'm like, oh my god, I just killed this possum.
SPEAKER_12The possum goes up to the building. Um make a perception check format.
SPEAKER_02So it was all of us or make sense.
SPEAKER_09Everyone hates in.
SPEAKER_10So we would have been fine.
SPEAKER_09I was gonna make you look like one of them. No, I mean we still could. No, like a snail, too.
SPEAKER_10Oh, okay. Um, don't make me running.
SPEAKER_12You see that there is a doorway to the left particular to where you are. But with getting just over a 20, you're able to see just the s beginning of a face that uh that exists in this. And you're reminded of the face that you saw um previously.
SPEAKER_02Sentient dorm.
SPEAKER_12Um the uh you also see the opossum go all the way up to it near the door, and then kind of scoot its little back feet near the door, and then comes back to you. You also see with that another snail coming into a rotation, and you remember seeing three large structures um from your aerial view moving in a circular pattern. The opossum returns to you, waiting for the other snail to kind of pass, and then it goes kind of behind it. It gets off the thing and it kind of gets this little pause, like something like wet and slimy on it, and it kind of like does little kicks, you know, and then it comes through the the brush back to you. I think that it the coast is clear. I really don't see any danger here. There's these creatures, of course, but they're sweethearts.
SPEAKER_04They're just like you. Can I pick them up tail back on my arm again and give them the ration?
SPEAKER_12Yeah, just dangles there.
SPEAKER_04Just, you know. Nice. That was so nice in my hurry punk and wow.
SPEAKER_03Just for everybody else, you know, who can't understand.
SPEAKER_09Um except it's rations and you guys have information. What would you like to do next? Do I recognize these snails in any of my illuminations?
SPEAKER_12Um man, uh give me a history check, I suppose. Um I think specifically you have Kavalia-based background, so I will give you advantage for reasons that you don't understand yet. 18. No, 19. 19. Um you know this to be a flail snail. Um the uh the there are people that will go and try to collect specifically like the uh glass-like tracts that they can make from behind themselves. Um they'll be used as like window paintings. Um but uh you've also been able to see them specifically in Cavalia as like you know, trinkets that they're selled within the artisan guilds. They're they're valuable to the right buyer.
SPEAKER_09I may need some of that for resources.
SPEAKER_02So Porsum was left unharmed. Imp was not. They're peaceful, but kind of. What is the line that they draw between bad and good?
SPEAKER_04What do they learn that they don't? Are they undead creatures?
SPEAKER_09Hellish. I can make us all look like one of those if we wanted to scurry inside of it.
SPEAKER_04Is it looks that matter?
SPEAKER_01And sounds almost indistinct.
SPEAKER_09I will try and approach my lady.
SPEAKER_01I will try and go and approach.
SPEAKER_10I would like to try and I'm really nervous. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Like approach the temple.
SPEAKER_12Remember, are you and do you just walk out into the the temple?
SPEAKER_04Well, I'll get all answer. How does it change what it rack?
SPEAKER_12You you walk out to the temple. The next one kind of does it, and you see it the way that it reacts to seeing you is the same way that it reacted as the possum. It charges at you. Do you do anything as it charges at you? Stops on a dot and it inspects you. Um it's got these long, like five, you know, tentacles and they're all like big as balls, you know.
SPEAKER_04I will just try and seem as docile and unthreatening as possible.
SPEAKER_12Okay.
SPEAKER_04Uh check me out.
SPEAKER_12Does the exact same thing as the apostom. It backs up a little bit. Okay. And it almost gives you room to cross.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_04What do I notice about like the entrance?
SPEAKER_12Like, yeah, you're still perpendicular to the building from where you're you're there. So the same thing that you saw from the perception chat previously.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_12Mm-hmm. Yeah. There's a doorway to your off to your left where there the face would be. Otherwise, the uh the the building itself is stone. There are no windows. It is a a simple thatch roof.
SPEAKER_10I was gone when that died. How did it die?
SPEAKER_04Um just walk back to the group very calmly, and then like, it didn't do. It just just let me go. It just comes right up to you. So I think just non-threatening. But I can see the door.
SPEAKER_01There's no was there anyone in front of the door?
SPEAKER_04You just no, there's no one in front of the door. Doesn't mean that there isn't something. Remember, for extreme, sentient was fine. Inside of sentient was not. There were. Inside in the snails? That's the first thing you thought when you saw the snails. You want to get inside the snails.
SPEAKER_09You said inside sentient was not.
SPEAKER_04The snails are not inside, though. I don't even think you can feed the inside. Not the snail, the door.
SPEAKER_09So the snails are the door in the scenario?
SPEAKER_04No, they're not. No, the snails are just the snails guarding the outside.
SPEAKER_09I would love to collect some of that slime.
SPEAKER_04I'm sure they would let you. I mean, you can't just very non-threaten threatening, but I'm sure they would let you.
SPEAKER_09I am pretty threatening.
SPEAKER_04You're fierce. Right. You're very fierce. Okay. Well, if they would let So undead is not a problem, as we have now discovered. Hell fiend, hellish, whatever you would call Abe, is. Animal nature is not. I don't know what the line is, but I feel like we're mostly safe.
SPEAKER_11After seeing Rec make it through, I'm gonna Borislavu go. Um still in half giant form, walk up to see how the snails react. Everything's put away, just very calmly.
SPEAKER_12Continue, you know, the cycle. The next one acts exactly how the other ones did. Close my eyes.
SPEAKER_01It likes you, Barry Slav.
SPEAKER_12Specs. Once it sees that you're not threatening, um, it uh allows you to pass forward.
SPEAKER_04Could I go back and try and speak with it?
SPEAKER_12Um as you now go back another time. Um kind of going out.
SPEAKER_04I was like, I'd be like cautiously but like walking and things out. Sure.
SPEAKER_12Try to s uh to speak to this flail snail. What do you say?
SPEAKER_04Flail snail?
SPEAKER_12Flail snail.
SPEAKER_04Flail snail snail. Hello.
SPEAKER_07Can I back at it? You back at it. Yeah. I've drawn it a sketch of itself. You want this?
SPEAKER_12It just sticks to him. It's just slime, you know, it just sticks to it. It's a snail. I'm just gonna start collecting as much slime as I can.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. Um it's you you capture some of it. It's it begins to solidify very quickly um as you're gathering it into a glass-like thing. Um you reach out, you touch it, shell. It's very docile uh creature. Um you gather that this is the exact same as if a snail you were touching one in like your little garden. It just happens to be 15 feet tall and could beat the shit out of you if you were you know aggressive.
SPEAKER_02So what exactly killed your I wonder from bright light? A bright light shot. Yeah.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. Let's see if you guys know anything about these creatures.
SPEAKER_04Sure.
SPEAKER_12You're curious?
SPEAKER_04Uh dirty 20. 17.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. Um I'd say with a dirty 20, well, let's go with your 17. Um, you know that um these uh the shell is very tough, it's very hard. Um it's able to retract itself just like another normal one would as you touch the shell. It is extremely like shield-heavy. It'd be hard to hurt these things if it did retract in. Um with your 20, you know that the galaxy part that you're seeing of it, you remember hearing of this thing called a scintillating shell. Aaron Ross Powell In which, if it does feel threatened, it's able to emit a dazzling colored light that can stun creatures.
SPEAKER_06Cool.
SPEAKER_12Um and then as it's stunned, it will usually use Die from the falling multiple-sided head to just bash it into a submission while it's in a stunned state. These are uh very dangerous creatures. Unless you're not a dangerous person.
SPEAKER_01I want to ride one so bad.
SPEAKER_12How much slime can I gather? Do you think? I need you trying to stay here.
SPEAKER_09I mean, there's definitely like Do you have containers? Maybe I mean I definitely have like empty paint containers and stuff. So any anything that I can reasonably fit. Roll a D4.
SPEAKER_12One. You get one uh jar of of uh the uh like a we're talking your 16 ounce, 32 ounce? Um I would say it's a 16 ounce jar. 64 ounce.
SPEAKER_09Careful of the implications this will have on the economy.
SPEAKER_07Perfect. Okay.
SPEAKER_12Um you guys uh make it all past the snails curving around, and you see a door. His face looks different from what you remember. Instead of there being this old sea captain weathered face, instead in front of you is an incredibly handsome young man. He has a a goatee, actually not too dissimilar from from yours, but lithe and and slim, you know, just just the the bit of one. Um he has slicked back hair. Um he has um a bit of a body. Before it was just a disconnected head. This one has almost uh a little bit of a form underneath him where you can see hands and wearing a trim suit, um, scholarly in appearance, um, very smart attire. Little bow tie on him, but um very, very handsome. Um passive perception, you know that the creature, the the face that you saw versus this one, they would look the same. But this one seems to be in much better health and is, you know, uh an attractive young, intelligent gentleman that you see before you on this door.
SPEAKER_09I am not used to this life. Might have to take a little break, like an hour. Snack.
SPEAKER_02Snack?
SPEAKER_09Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_10Why'd you look at me when you said snack? Ah, yes, adventurers.
SPEAKER_12I'm gonna start. I've been waiting for more of you, I suppose. It's time for me to collect more information. If you have gotten this far, it means that you are amicable, of course, to dialogue of sorts. So, what may I do for you? And what may you do for me? The magical face in the door says to you. A handsome, intelligent gentleman of a man, um the the fully formed version of the more corrupted, you know, uh gaunt-faced one that you'd seem to be. Oh, right.
SPEAKER_02Sentient, you're so different here.
SPEAKER_12Aaron Ross Powell Sentient? Um who is this?
SPEAKER_02Oh, you but in our dreams.
SPEAKER_12I am charmed, my lady, I suppose.
SPEAKER_04No, I don't quite mean it like that, but I mean really, yes.
SPEAKER_12Well, um you guys uh seem scholarly, of course. I'll tell you what, if you could answer my riddle, then I can answer some information for you. And of course, you may have entrance into the temple itself. You game for a riddle. A quaint Um Make an insight check for me.
SPEAKER_08Not one 2020.
SPEAKER_12Also announced one! Not one brothers. Yes, right. This guy is just as stupid as the other one. His riddle is gonna be super easy, and you're like, yeah, give me whatever. Yeah, and we can figure it out. This guy is intelligent. He is completely different from the one that you saw before. Um He is fully formed. You see him speaking eloquently to you. Um, he's very aware of his surroundings, while the other one was constantly trying to gather information and knew nothing. This one seems to know more than most libraries would probably hold. His riddle will probably be hard. His riddle will probably be very easy.
SPEAKER_02You got this. And if we can't answer the riddle, what's at stake?
SPEAKER_12Aaron Ross Powell Oh, just that you will not have passage and you know, your quest can end here.
SPEAKER_02How does the quest end here though? What does that mean?
SPEAKER_12Aaron Ross Powell Well, I can just call my guardians here and I can have you removed. You know, we can't have pedantic little folks coming about, you know, but leave room for others.
SPEAKER_04What if we are trying to help solve problems?
SPEAKER_12I love solving problems. It's you know one of my primary purposes, of course. So shall we get to it then?
SPEAKER_04Well yeah, I mean yes, either way we have to get in.
SPEAKER_12Without our dome comes around you guys. Um energy force fear. Um, keeps keeps you guys uh around him. Um and he begins a riddle, his eyes go white. What breaks yet never falls. And what falls but never breaks. And that's where we're gonna end the session.
SPEAKER_06Oh my god.
SPEAKER_12Um meet up with you guys next time for our players. We're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna come back to it. Waterfalls and water.
SPEAKER_09All right. Thank you guys, and I'll see you.
SPEAKER_04That's where my brain went, was waterfalls. Bye-bye! Waterfalls again.
SPEAKER_09Waterfalls. I think the answer is water.
SPEAKER_04Come back with us while we go chasing.
SPEAKER_09My brain thought door. Doors.
SPEAKER_06How does it waterfall back door work?
SPEAKER_04Hey, my mind went to back door because mine went to the door.
SPEAKER_10It went.
SPEAKER_04Of course you went to the back door. I tried so hard to wait.