SoloDark: Pelor's Quest ep71

-/-- Welcome to SoloBickering! It's a solo rpg, which means I roll dice generate a story and decide outcomes, and lose arguments with myself as I portray the exploits of my adventurers. 

--/-- Join me on a journey into the game world I play face to face in, and it may sound vaguely familiar to you. Like many another DM I stitch my world together from any bits and pieces I fancy, adding them into a standard setting, Faerun's Sword Coast.  

--/-- AI and NSFW: For this possibly brief adventure the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using CoPilot AI to buff my romance bar, because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that need social interactions. Some of the situations the young protagonists find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. I won't be deliberately aiming for that, but oracles are what they are. So if on either account you take an ethical stand against those, skip this episode and listen in to Rollohi, my other SoloBickering output. 

--/-- And having said that, let's get the game started. 

 --/--Music from Pixabay with thanks to: daynightmorning, Good_B-Music, JefWakeUp, LudoSoundX, makesoundmusic, Playsound, teodholina, and White_Records

--/--Selected tracks from "Ancient Realms" by Joel Steudler Music.

https://larrymannplayssolobickering.blogspot.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_07 0:00

Hi, I'm John from Tale of the Manticore. Robin from Stories from the First Watch.

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PJ from A Wasteland Story in the Solo RolePlayers Podcast.

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Simon from Legend of the Bones.

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Brian Rideau from Swords Against Madness.

SPEAKER_07 0:13

Carl from The Lone Adventurer. And I'm Trevor from Your Story Will Be Different. And with our solo roleplaying audio, narrative, actual play, drama powers combined, we are the Solo Roleplayers Podcast Network.

SPEAKER_06 0:26

Usually accustomed to delving the depths. Scouring the desert. Surviving the wasteland. Or facing the dragon alone.

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This time, we have teamed up to bring you a curated collection of the best, highest quality, most dramatic, and diceyest solo roleplay podcasts in the world.

SPEAKER_06 0:45

So if you're looking for your next solo roleplaying adventure, roll over to solo roleplayersnetwork.com, sample and subscribe to something that takes your fancy.

SPEAKER_07 0:54

And discover your new favorite solo roleplaying podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

See you there. Now, the Somber Hills. You crossed wild country before. You fought things most folk wouldn't believe. But the Sumbers and Winter that's a different kind of trial. Trails vanish, landmarks shift. A clear sky can turn to a white wall in the time it takes to draw breath. You've all done well, more than well. Red larch is safe because of yours. But this ride, this is the hardest thing you're faced yet. The world itself, cold and uncaring. Stay close, listen when I speak. And trust that I'll get you to Beliard in one piece. After that, well Aberana will tell us what comes next. Mound up, the sombers ain't waiting.

SPEAKER_04 2:12

Welcome back to season two of Palo's Quest, a solo dark adventure. For this venture, the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using Copilot AI here and there to buff my romance bar because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that don't really need tools. Some of the situations the young protagons find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. And if you're uncomfortable on either of those two scores, skip this and head over to the world of Rolli. Before we get into the action this episode, I would like to make a couple of acknowledgments. These come from Apple Podcasts. And once again I'm sadly behind with these acknowledgments. So first up, my apologies. January 1st, Young Grognard said, Both shows of this podcast are pretty good with pacing, keeping things constantly moving forward. Host has a great sense of humour and keeps the show entertaining both in the narrative and outside of it. That is an immense compliment, young Grognard. Thank you so much. I guess we're vibing with our senses of humour. As a slightly contrary opinion, on January the 12th, Misty 801 Exclamation Point said, I like the concept, however, there is a lot of sexual innuendo, which itself doesn't bother me. However, hearing a grown man pretend to be a woman talking about her boobs is awkward and weird, and there's talk of sexual assault, and I just don't understand why or how that progresses the story. I keep listening in the hopes that there will be less and less of it, but doesn't seem to be that way. That's fair, Misty 801. Both of my podcasts do include the menace that is exerted over young women in the wild or civilian women. So if you didn't like that, I have no defense. But thank you for raising that issue. Uh I will think about having a mature content in future. From my point of view, one of the great joys of solo play is that you can get into feelings that at a face-to-face table or online play just wouldn't get a look in. If a boy likes a girl quite a lot, you can roleplay that, and there are a couple of really good solo plays out there that are doing just that. I can particularly recommend Myth and Moon and the DD part of Roll, Ponder and Play. Roll as an R O L L. Otherwise, having said that, let's get on with this show. Welcome back to Solo Dark. A solo actual play using the Shadow Dark Rolls and set in Feyrune. Last episode, our four heroes, along with Garrick Thornwell, their guide and veteran ranger, thus far they have survived both a Fey attack, which cost everyone except Sakeb, who is a bit of a con monster, their con bonus, and a foray by Winter Wolves as they arrived at the quarry. This is to be their night camp. As the Winter Wolves attacked, they sheltered in a shallow adit, but now they've moved on to the main mine entrance and have moved the horses inside, and we pick up where we left off as having moved the mounts to a genuine mine entrance. Lucinda smells blood. Drum and Garrick both know that the horses won't settle if there's blood in the air. Rather than questioning Lucinda, they and then Sakeb focus on the horses while Drum says, Ah, best get your bow ready. Natalie already has her bow, so that's no issue. But what she does now is use her very average survival check to quickly get a torch burning. This is key to reassuring the horses as it turns out. Of the three men tending the horses, only Drum manages a good animal handling check. But once they feel the reassurance of torchlight, the horses begin to settle. Lucinda stalks a few paces forward, deeper into the mine shaft, and calls a challenge.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Keep your hands empty. And if you're ugly, my blade is ready. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

I mean Beauty is in the like the eye of the beholder, you know, brother.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

But uh uh I'm coming out, huh?

SPEAKER_04 8:18

And so saying, a remarkably tattered, remarkably handsome young man moves forward into the light. His arms are wide open and his hands are indeed empty. In fact, from the look of his belt, he has very little equipment to fall back on. As the adventurers assess the lad, who must be some years older than himself, Sakeb rolls a nat twenty. He spots the signs of accident and slip and possible immersion. The young man's lips are an unhealthy blue colour. First things first, what's your name, friend? I'm Sakeb. Oh jazz, like my name's Sir Lucinda steps past the youth. Pleasing as his face and eyes are, looks down briefly to verify, yes, he has bandaged a gash badly, and that is the blood she could smell. But deeper in the mine? What lies beyond she wonders? And she asks as much.

SPEAKER_05 9:46

What's further down, my fair friend Uh you know, like uh didn't really explore much, uh like there's a shaft He trails off.

SPEAKER_04 10:05

His eyes hold her steadily, but he really reminds her of those wretched outlaws to the east of Longsaddle, up into the Cerbrins. Keeping a tough demeanour helped against them, and she intends to keep the same against this young fellow. Garrick, too, sums him up in one wise stare, and then focuses on the mounts. The horses are beginning to settle, and indeed, looking about for some feedbacks, he looks around the reasonably large chamber that the youth has occupied. There's plenty of room for a fire, but the mounts will need to be moved away from the shaft they came in through. He sees Lucinda checking towards the rear. That's good. The guide knows her business.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Brushed down, and then you and I need to rig up some traps.

SPEAKER_04 11:20

He can see Sakeb and Natalie focusing most of their attention on this lad, Sal was it, and is satisfied for the time being. After the first minute, the four adventurers see to the routine of getting feed to the mounts, gathering the saddles and saddle blankets off them, brushing them down, and assembling firewood, tinder, and kindling of the supplies that they brought. They have plenty for now. Another knight trapped in the sumbers may begin to threaten that supply. Let's have Drum do another animal handling check. Huh, and it's his turn for a Nat 20. That is two very handy luck tokens. Between Drum and Sakeeb in two rounds. Excellent stuff. Nat brings her torch back a little so that the tinder, kindling, and firewood that they brought with them can be assembled and quickly built up into a good fire. Garrick seems to instinctively sense which ball will be best as a fireback, and that task is accomplished in seconds rather than minutes. I'm not going to be rolling for Garrick if he's doing it a routine task, but I will certainly make a survival tracking check for Lucinda now that she has a little more light to work with. And that's a third Nat 20. Still without saying anything to Sal, she quietly walks back and crouches down as though to warm herself by the fire and whispers to Garrick and Nat, Two pairs of tracks.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

He's not alone. And I think the other is a girl.

SPEAKER_04 13:37

Behind her back, Sal appears to be engaging Drum and Sakeb in horse talk. Saying things like, Oh yeah, like excellent.

SPEAKER_05 13:48

So that horse belongs to the old guy there? Oh yeah, okay. Oh, they're really nice. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

But let's not forget that Sakeb summed the lad up with a Nat 20, and politely but fairly firmly, the young priest of Tomora says, Sal, you're welcome to share our fire. Uh haven't you got a proper camp of your own further into the mine? There's obviously a story as to how you came to be without any equipment at all. Where are your heavy winterweight clothes and hand axe? Oh yeah, I mean it was like too awful, man.

SPEAKER_05 14:34

I uh I sort of fell into the lake and like uh lost my mouth, it's like supplies and everything, man.

SPEAKER_04 14:45

Unconsciously the youth slicks his hair back to show his admittedly beautiful face to better effect. Now, let's be honest, Lucinda is a red-blooded girl and she likes gorgeous men as much as the next straight woman. But she doesn't like scrawny men. And this fellow seems underdone. And there's that second set of tracks. There's a noticeably hostile tone to her voice as she says And tell us about your companion. Sal starts.

SPEAKER_05 15:26

Yeah right, I mean uh what can a guy do? She's like in love with me, man. Um we like ran away to get away from her parents.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

They were like totally hating on me. So if I was to go walking further in I wouldn't find her waiting there with a crossfow ready to shoot me. Oh no, no, like she uh she got like a chill or something.

SPEAKER_04 15:54

She's sh it's great you came, man. Uh do any of you have herbs? It is interesting that Sal raised this point about herbs or if you're American herbs. Because up here in the wintry hills, there is the opportunity for Drum to practice his herb law. He was taught the ways of herbs by his mother and can gather useful potion source material. And there's another reason he might be looking for herbs. For having plighted their troth with their bodies, Nat and Drum are a little bit worried about unintended consequences. Nat is quite keen for what would be the equivalent of a morning after pill. And so, before Lucinda can particularly object or ask further questions, Drum interjects with, I'd be glad to have a look at Erin.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

Cast about for some good herbs. This quarry is pretty sheltered, there might be some good winter herbs of use in making up poultices, if not anything better. Uh Garrick, what do you know about the locale? Garrick shrugs.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Herb was not my cup of tea, lad, if you'll pardon the pun. Right now, we have a number of calls on us. Rosinda would you mind keeping up with her eye on our friend in the fire? Natalie, Saky. See about this injured girl. Drum, you and I need to start on our preparations in case those winter wolves get over their dislike of cramped tunnels. They don't generally come after us here, but we do have some tasty looking horses.

SPEAKER_04 18:05

At this point, because he is quite suspicious of Sal's cover story, Sakeb fetches a torch, lights it from the fire, and he and Lucinda head off down the nearest side passage. Although they didn't discuss it, Natalie has seen and approved of this change of plan. Lucinda and Saki between them are a formidable fighting force. She herself has palmed her plus one dagger, she's ready to knife him if he is she's ready to knife him if he gets in any way troublesome. With the fire blazing merrily, although the air is still chill, and if anything, seems to be getting colder, she rises and smiles pleasantly at Sal, her hands behind her back as though playfully.

SPEAKER_05 19:07

What else lies beyond Sal? Have you explored much? Uh you know, like uh didn't really explore much, uh uh like there's a shaft. He trails off.

SPEAKER_04 19:25

His eyes hold her steadily, but he really reminds her of those wretched outlaws to the east of Longsaddle, up into the Serpents. Keeping a tough demeanour helped against them, and she intends to keep the same against this unspeakably good looking fellow. One hundred and twenty very cautious paces later, they can see that the passage widens, and the torchlight catches a pair of very scared looking eyes. If you have a weapon ready, drop it. Lysinda yells, but Sakeb calls. Sal sent us. We're here to help. Uh Winnie, is it? Winnie, the young girl who would be no older than Natalie, comes more clearly into the torchlight. She's shaking with fever, but other than that, doesn't look as though she's taken a wound. Her clothes are completely inadequate for the winter. They once used to be fairly fine and had a little fur trim, and that's about all that can be said for them. I think you'd better carry her, Sakeb suggests, and Lucinda snorts.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

I'd prefer to keep one weapon ready. You're the handsome prince and your fancy armour. Why don't you carry her? And I'll carry back some of this crap here.

SPEAKER_04 21:16

She gestures she gestures around to the sacking that has been made use of, not very expertly, to protect Winnie from the cold. I suppose this isn't a particularly good place to stay? It's well out of the wind.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

I don't like the idea of putting myself in a dead end. I don't know if you noticed or not, but that passage wasn't particularly stable. I think a lot of the timbers have rotted out.

SPEAKER_04 21:48

Well then. If you'll excuse me, Winnie. Sakeb sweeps the girl up and carries her back quite easily in one arm while holding the torch with the other, allowing Lucinda to keep her hand axe ready and also carry quite a bit of sacking. Sakheeb pauses as he reaches the fire. It looks as though Natalie has been very cautious keeping an eye on Sal and has not unrolled any bedroll as yet. Sakheeb makes this suggestion mildly and no longer needing torches in the firelight. The two women organize a sturdy horse blanket and a comfortable blanket between the ground and the injured girl. Why is it so cold? he grumbles.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 22:36

Natalie complains.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Well, Winnie, huh? She looks Are you awake, Winnie? She looks pretty bad. Let me have a look at her.

SPEAKER_04 22:44

Natalie kneels down so that the young woman won't take fright. She's barely conscious. This girl is in a bad state. Nat makes a rudimentary medicine check and rolls in Nat 20. Another luck token. That's four now. This is a blessed occurrence. Natalie looks around and up at the other two with a worried expression. Her gaze wanders across at Sal, who honestly doesn't seem that worried about the girl.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

We need to get her something against the fever. We need something. Something to help her quickly. Where is Drum?

SPEAKER_04 23:32

Thank you so much for listening. Ratings and reviews are much appreciated. For those keen to find out like-minded creators, check out SoloRolePlayersNetwork.com. It's a treasure trove of solo roleplay stuff. For those keen to get in touch with me, you can contact me through SoloRolePlayersNetwork.com or at LarrymanPlays on Mastodon. Or you can email me direct at LarrymanPlays at gmail.com. That's Larry with two Rs and Man with two N's. Larryman Plays all one word at gmail.com. Thanks again and catch you later.