The Glass Cannon Podcast - Gatewalkers Episode 3 – Ooh Baby Baby, It's the Wilewood

Episode Date: September 29, 2023

Having tested the gateways in Sevenarches, the heroes return to the caravanserai. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/gx-lM7Mc1Ic This episode was sponsored by Demiplane, Foundry VTT and Norse Foun...dry. Check out Demiplane's Pathfinder Nexus and character creation tools at https://bit.ly/GCNOfficialTools See why tabletop gamers everywhere have made the switch to Foundry Virtual Tabletop at https://foundryvtt.com/gcp Visit https://factormeals.com/gcp50 and use the code "GCP50" to get 50% off. Visit https://nordvpn.com/gcp to receive an extra four months for free. Visit https://magicspoon.com/gcp and use the code "GCP" to save five dollars off. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com and for hundreds of hours of exclusive shows and benefits, make your membership official and join Glass Cannon Nation today by becoming a subscriber at jointhenaish.com. Watch new episodes when they premiere every Thursday at 8PM ET on youtube.com/theglasscannon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 You are listening to the Glass Cannon Network, the premier source for role-playing game entertainment. Last week on the Glass Cannon Podcast. What do you want to do, though? Do you want to go straight to Patsy's? I want to go straight to the Arches. While scouting the grounds of an ancient monument. One never forgets their first sight of the seven arches. The heroes approached carefully. It's unfortunate that they put this rope around it, though.
Starting point is 00:00:31 You can't even get close. You can't even look at it. And discovered its magical defenses. At one point, you see a bird. And it goes and it lands on the rope. And when it lands on the rope, there's like this, like almost like a human scream. With no time to lose.
Starting point is 00:00:53 Whatever we're going to have to do to get in, we're going to have to either disable or work around the trap. I think I may have a way to defeat the rope. They executed a daring plan. You extend the aura recorder. You hold it there and you know that that time of the alarm is going to run out. To expose the truth. 18 seconds pass and suddenly the bulb at the end kind of looks like a mace head lights up like a torch.
Starting point is 00:01:22 The adventure continues. Now. Thank you. hello and welcome back to the glass cannon podcast i know what you're thinking wow troy that sweet dragon shirt is making me feel things that i've never felt before where could i buy one why you can get it from our store! GlassCannonNetwork.com available now! Do you think that they thought that in the first one second that the screen went on? Immediately, their brain
Starting point is 00:02:33 went there. Instantaneously. Where can I buy it? I'm not going to buy that shirt! You can buy it. It's for sale in our store. It's so shameless and gross. I'm so glad you asked. It's Glass shameless. Where is that store, Troy? I'm so glad you asked. It's glasscannonnetwork.com slash store. Just making sure.
Starting point is 00:02:54 Sorry, I'm just trying to type that. Can you spell that? Yep. S-T-O-R-E. Glasscannonnetwork.com slash store. There's a lot of N's in there. Don't be shy. Throw them all in.
Starting point is 00:03:04 Otherwise, you're going to end up on the wrong site. What do you think of my shirt? Is that today's band topic? Are we already lost on band topic? He's done a 180. He was really confident. He thinks everyone loves the shirt. And now he needs more.
Starting point is 00:03:21 The truth is coming out. He's unsure about the shirt. I don't know what the lighting is like in the cameras, but from my angle of my actual eyes to the background that you're set against, I can't discern what is the shirt and what is the background. You're just like staring into the mouth of hell. You're wearing camouflage. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:36 I wanted to wear this just last week. I wore the lit shirt also for sale. That shirt is dope. It's pretty dope. I didn't make a big deal about it, but the red shirt, I'm not a let's wear a red shirt type of guy. I've never seen you in a red shirt. I've seen you in a red sock shirt,
Starting point is 00:03:51 but never a red shirt. Just a pure red shirt. Red shirts are tough. Yeah. They're tough to pull off. I've seen you in a lot of red shirts. Unless you're like, unless you're giving up a year
Starting point is 00:03:59 of your college eligibility. Right. Or if you're like a quarterback during the preseason. Training camp. Training camp, yeah. Yeah. All this you're like a quarterback during the preseason. Training camp. Training camp, yeah. Yeah. All this talk of merchandise
Starting point is 00:04:08 is making me thirsty, so it's a good thing I have my glass pan and ice. Oh my God. Where can I get one of those? Would I have to go to glasscanonnetwork.com slash store?
Starting point is 00:04:16 Let's check. What did you have your cup on right here? Oh, is this a branded coaster? Oh my God. It's on glasscanonnetwork.com slash store as well. Right now?
Starting point is 00:04:25 Right now. You guys are so natural at ad reads. I'm honestly scared that everything is going to end up on the Glass Cannon store. Why is this happening? You like Sydney's weird shirt? Go to glasscannondetwork.com slash store.
Starting point is 00:04:40 I'm being sucked into the store. Sydney was just complimented by a barista. And what else did they say? Yeah. Um, I'll do a reenactment. Thank you for the, thank you,
Starting point is 00:04:50 sir. Uh, here's 20% tip. And see, that's what it is. You said that out loud. You just paid him to give you a compliment. I'm narrating.
Starting point is 00:04:58 The shirt compliment happened before. Oh, no, here's what really happened. I walked in, he said, cool shirt. And I said,
Starting point is 00:05:03 oh, thank you. He goes, it's cool. It's like, it's so funky. And then he made my drink. I said, thanks. And he goes, no, here's what really happened. I walked in. He said, cool shirt. And I said, oh, thank you. He goes, it's cool. It's like, it's so funky. And then he made my drink. I said, thanks.
Starting point is 00:05:07 And he goes, you remind me of somebody. And every time this happens, there's a split second where I'm like, glass cannon? And it's usually not. Rude. Rude. Very rude. Why would he do that?
Starting point is 00:05:22 Just the average barista in Astoria is going to be like, I know you from the glass cannon. It's happened, but I said, oh, whatever, I look like people. And he goes, I know who it is. Dua Lipa. Did he say, you look like Dua Lipa if John Waters chose your wardrobe?
Starting point is 00:05:41 My eyes probably popped out of my head. I went, Dua Lipa? And then I said, thanks so much. That made my day. And he laughed. And I left the store. And then I walked with Matthew and Kate and I said, I can die now. Dua Lipa. I looked at blonde Dua Lipa. I see it. Thanks, Troy. You're making my day.
Starting point is 00:05:58 I wonder what Dua Lipa would look like in this red dragon. She could go to glasscanon.com slash door and shop it. She would never. She could not to glasscanon.com slash store and check it out. Stop it. She would never. She could not. Glasscanon network.com
Starting point is 00:06:07 Oh, sorry, Glasscanon. Jared does the same thing all the time. He's like, just go over to the glasscanon.com Why don't you make a redirect? Why say it if you're not sure?
Starting point is 00:06:15 Why not buy that? Just don't say it. Say our website. Make them a redirect. Buy that domain and make a redirect to the network. Maybe a member of the nation
Starting point is 00:06:23 owns it and is willing to sell it for $180,000. Are you serious? No. Oh, that would be... I would go fight them personally. You would fight them? Yes, of course. I would win. I have a lot of questions. She can't. She's done all the fight training and stuff. She can do it. That's true. I've talked about this. I have a lot of topics and questions to talk about, but
Starting point is 00:06:37 first of all, I'd like to point out that Sydney is... We're three episodes in, and she's already broken the don't put a bland container on the table rule. You're only allowed to put branded content on the table. Oh, that's perfect. I'm even keeping my word. That's what Dua Lipa would do.
Starting point is 00:06:54 That's terrible. That's like an old, sad coffee in there. And you're drinking a dirty cup. That's how we sell it. Happyoka milk tea? Is that still a thing? I actually was really jealous. I almost walked back up into that
Starting point is 00:07:10 gentleman and asked him for a boba. And then he would have been like, you remind me of something. You remind me of... Wait a minute. Hold on. And I would have walked by and gone, hold on a second. Are you Dua Lipa's friend? Yes, I am. I live just like him. Here's my question today.
Starting point is 00:07:27 If you could press a button and have something immediately delivered to you, what would it be? Like right now? I know, it's you. I just did it. I would choose a nice old-fashioned. No, Manhattan. A Manhattan on the rocks with a nice ride. You mean at any time or just now?
Starting point is 00:07:49 Right now. Just right now in this minute. I would love a nice... You know, I was going to actually say an ice-cold beer would be great to sit and have a beer while we play a game. But this lighting does lend itself to an old-fashioned. Right? It feels fancy. It feels like we're sitting by a fire.
Starting point is 00:08:04 Yeah. Yeah. It's old-fashioned lighting Right? It feels fancy. It feels like we're sitting by a fire. Yeah. Yeah, it's old-fashioned lighting. It sure is. Yes, it is. What would you get? I can push a button and anything I want. It doesn't have to be a food or drink, but you get it right now. World peace.
Starting point is 00:08:16 Oh, my God. Cut that. You said it. It doesn't have to be a food or drink. It can be anything I want. All of our answers are going to be like, not good enough. I know. You've ruined it. I should have went to you last drink. It can be anything I want. All of our answers are going to be like, not good enough. I know, you've ruined it. I should have went to you last.
Starting point is 00:08:26 Then we would have all felt bad. Now we're just there on the hot seat here. Kate, what would you get? I was going to worry that you were like being super imaginative. You were just an asshole. He's just trying to get into heaven. I don't believe in heaven. But why am I an asshole for wanting world peace, Joe?
Starting point is 00:08:42 For saying it at a table like this, at a time like this. It's not the time or the place. This is not the time or the place to bring up something as disgusting as world peace. Seconds after Joe and I ordered a cocktail. That makes them look. I've lost my appetite. I'm not going to order anything. You can order world peace.
Starting point is 00:09:00 No. You already have. I don't need to. We already have it. We've got it. Unless you're not pushing the button. Well, now you can have a cocktail. Oh, that's true.
Starting point is 00:09:07 That's the saddest thing. Matthew has a button that can give world peace and he doesn't press it. Yeah. What does that say about you? Maybe the saddest thing of all is that I press it constantly.
Starting point is 00:09:15 You know what? I also don't think you answered the question because it's like, what would you want to have delivered to you? Deliver you. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:20 All right. Sir, would you sign here for world peace? Sure. Hey, Joe, a toast. Big old box of world peace here for world peace? Sure Hey Joe, a toast To world peace He's like, I need two more signatures on this Sorry, we're busy
Starting point is 00:09:32 That's it, you get a box And it's like world peace, and you're like, amazing It came, and you open it up, and it's a gun And you're like, what does this mean? You figure it out You figure it out Engraved on the side is the peacemaker. You know what to do.
Starting point is 00:09:48 You know what to do. It's one answer. What's your button going to give you? Gin and tonic, by the way. Gin and tonic served in a gun. What are you doing, Skip? All right, Sidney. Someone's going to just clip that with no audio.
Starting point is 00:10:08 Weird episode. That's the still on YouTube. You've already, you've already injured. You had a little bit of an interaction in such a manner on social media. Poor Kate. What would you get a bubble tea? Uh,
Starting point is 00:10:21 Dua Lipa. Do you get to the studio? That would just be. You get to... You're sent to the studio. That would just be wild, and I feel like we'd get a lot of views. Yeah, that's true. That would up the subscriber numbers. That's great. She's thinking of the company.
Starting point is 00:10:33 She's not thinking of herself. That's great. I was thinking of myself with world peace. No, that was very selfish. You can have anything you want. I wanted to see who she's repped by. Ooh, different agency. Too bad.
Starting point is 00:10:43 We could have met her. We could have had her. We could have had her. Could have almost literally pushed a button and had her. It was like a 50% chance we could have made some phone calls. What would you get? Just a cheeky like 10 mil. Oh, so you just get a stack of cash? Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:58 That is way, way smarter than an old fat. Oh, my God. I feel so dumb. I could get at least 10 old cash. It's not a genie. It's like, what do you want? Anything. It doesn't have. I want more buttons. Well,
Starting point is 00:11:12 if you want to break the game. Okay. My my cheap answer is I guess I would. You mean one step down from $10 million in a briefcase? Yeah. Whoa. She didn't say ask for briefcase? Yeah. Whoa, whoa, whoa. She didn't say ask for a briefcase.
Starting point is 00:11:26 That's true. You only get one thing, Joe. You can buy a briefcase. You know what I would have? There was a cocktail at our party at that really nice place that we went to. Yep, don't say it aloud. I'm not. I don't remember the name.
Starting point is 00:11:38 Couldn't if I tried. There was like a lavender lemon sparkling wine, like topped with a sparkling wine cocktail. Did it have a flower in it? I feel like there's a floating orchid in that drink. There was something floating, or a floating like burnt lemon slice or something. It was really good.
Starting point is 00:11:56 I would get that cocktail. Okay. See, now we're talking. See, this is making sense. We're all just saying cocktails because you didn't accept our answers. Why didn't you just ask us what cocktail we would drink? Kate took Dua Lipa.
Starting point is 00:12:05 Is Dua Lipa holding a cocktail and she hands it to you and then leaves? Dua Lipa serving me a mocktail. A mocktail. And then gracefully bowing and leaving. Yeah, then gracefully seeing herself out. What a horrible choice. I have a follow-up question. Does anyone know who Dua Lipa is?
Starting point is 00:12:22 No, I don't. Who is she, Joe? I don't know. I have never heard the name in my life. Hold on. I have a follow-up question. Joe, based off the name alone and my story about Dua Lipa looking like, it's a woman like her.
Starting point is 00:12:36 Who do you think Dua Lipa is? Tell us. I don't know. No, just like guess. You know she is repped by a major agency. Celebrity. That does. I would say singer. Nailed celebrity. That does. I would say
Starting point is 00:12:45 singer. Nailed it. I guessed. You got by at the cocktail party. I didn't know an actor named Dua Lipa. A woman singer?
Starting point is 00:12:52 I have a follow-up question for you. How big is the rock that you live under? It's really big. I don't, I don't, yeah,
Starting point is 00:12:59 I don't interact with outside forces. Joe, you just saw a Barbie movie. I did. She's in Barbie movie. She's in the movie? Yeah, you just saw Barbie movie. I did. She's in Barbie movie. She's in the movie?
Starting point is 00:13:06 Yeah. Plays Mermaid Barbie. Oh. Oh, Dua Lipa. She also has one of the songs. Yeah, her music is- The party song she sings it. Where the Barbies are partying in the beginning.
Starting point is 00:13:18 Oh, yeah. Yeah, she's a singer. All right, great. Nailed it. Skid, what's- So she's an actress? We're done with this question Leave it alone, Dua Lipa already delivered the drinks
Starting point is 00:13:28 She's a triple threat Your kids are going to be like, Dad! What's wrong with you? You don't know anything! In like five years Skid didn't know Dua Lipa Skid used to date her or something Skid always won, he's like Kevin Bacon Oh, Dua Lipa, my uncle's nephew
Starting point is 00:13:43 Maybe I'll have to look her up my uncle's nephew. Maybe. I'll have to look her up. My uncle's nephew. That's me. My uncle's daughter's neighbor is in a poker game with Dua Lipa. Is that how? What's your button?
Starting point is 00:13:56 Two Butterfinger Blizzards. Oh, why two? Because I'm just hungry. And I want like some Hershey's chocolate syrup to put in. Oh, that sounds good. So you have three buttons now, it's good? No, it's one button that delivers a package of
Starting point is 00:14:09 two blizzards covered in blizzards. That's what it delivers every time. That sounds so good. They're connected in cellophane, so it's just one order, but there's
Starting point is 00:14:16 two. Tape them together. I didn't think about the cellophane. I'm going to Wappinger Falls this weekend and there's a Dairy Queen there and I might ask for
Starting point is 00:14:24 that blizzard. What's Wappinger Falls? It's a city. a Dairy Queen there. And I might ask for that blizzard. What's Wappinger Falls? It's a city. In New York. Can you make that up? No, no, it's real. It's real. It's as real as this quick break.
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Starting point is 00:18:44 And we're back! We don't have any buttons, but we do have the best podcast in the world, as you'll soon see by episode three. Once again, big shout out to our sponsors, Demiplane, Foundry VTT. Got to see a lot of Foundry last week. And Norse Foundry, who we'll be hearing about if and when we ever roll for initiative. Will we? No. No. I think it's going to and when we ever roll for initiative. Will we? No. No.
Starting point is 00:19:05 I think it's going to be because we're just too smooth. I mean, the way things went last week, I feel like— Yeah, we can talk our way out of any trouble. Exactly. I think Troy's too scared to roll for initiative. Oh! You may be right. I may be crazy, but here's what I'm going to do.
Starting point is 00:19:20 Roll for initiative! I'm going to award the first bottle cap of the Glass Cannon Podcast campaign, too. And it goes to Sydney for your holding onto the ropes while you vomit idea. That was a good one. That was pretty good. The first bottle cap. You got two caps. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:19:40 I know. This is awesome. That's scary. I don't like is awesome. That's scary. I don't like that. It hurts a lot. Troy, don't give us the name. They put this jagged metal right into my eye sockets. I'm bleeding.
Starting point is 00:19:53 It's too scary. Where do we start? Last week. Oh, boy. Oh, man. You enter the City of Seven Arches, a city that is built on top of the elven ruins of a city from long, long, long ago. The druids have taken over and everything is very nature-oriented. The people who live there, because it's not just druids, druids sort of oversee the city.
Starting point is 00:20:16 They have done their best to not kind of ruin nature. You notice that things are sort of built around nature. They're trying to make everything in harmony with the trees and the bushes and whatnot because they don't want to piss off the druids. So you had a plan to go to Patsy's, a local pub here in Seven Arches, for ladies' night to maybe gather information. But instead you were like, you know what? Let's just go straight to the Central Plaza. Let's go to Arch Plaza and just like take a look at the arches. straight to the central plaza. Let's go to Arch Plaza and just like take a look at the arches.
Starting point is 00:20:50 So you get over there and sure enough, there are two oak stewards, these big dudes. They've got like, one guy's got a top knot with these like, almost look like antlers, these wooden, this wooden crown of antlers, long green flowing robes, like a huge shillelagh like stick. And one guy is standing at the entrance. The other was sort of roaming around and sure enough there are seven arches and just like a bunch of little dwarf trees around it with a single rope tied around the trees and one opening i've been meaning to ask you since last week i don't know if this is going to go the way of dualipa where i'm just the idiot but what is a dwarf tree yeah that's just a little tree are Are they planted by dwarves or they're favored by dwarves? Are they in honor of dwarves?
Starting point is 00:21:26 Have you ever heard of the expression dwarf planet? I have. Same thing. No, dwarf star. Dwarf planet too. White dwarf. White dwarf. There are dwarf planets?
Starting point is 00:21:34 Pluto. Yeah. It's not a planet. Right, it's a dwarf planet. Dummy. This fucking guy. All nine planets, right, Matthew? It's just a little tree.
Starting point is 00:21:48 It's a small tree. It's not meant to grow extremely large. Is it an actual species or is any small tree called a dwarf tree? I really wouldn't overthink the tree. It's not that important. It's not about the tree. Dwarf wheat caused an agricultural revolution. Okay.
Starting point is 00:22:02 Because it wasn't too heavy to fall over. The stalks could stay up and feed a lot more people. Cut to the finale of this. You pick the dwarves't, it wasn't too heavy to fall over. The stocks could stay up and feed a lot more people. Cut to the finale of this. You pick the dwarves off of it and then it's... Dwarf trees exist in our world. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out.
Starting point is 00:22:13 They were like before bonsai. All right, hold on. Let me just write... I was going to cut to the finale of the show where a gate opens and a anthropomorphic dwarf tree walks out. You should have asked more questions. It was right in front of you.
Starting point is 00:22:28 It's just a little tree. Not a big deal. If this comes back, I swear. If this comes back around, I swear. I would be playing a hell of a game of poker. Just a little tree. That's just my colorful language that I'm just reading directly from the book.
Starting point is 00:22:46 You, Talitha Breakwater, investigator extraordinaire, wants to pursue a lead? Is this what this is? I'm already pursuing. Pursuing a lead. You pursue a lead. You go through this action where you're really studying, and you study for a minute, and then you roll perception, and you notice a small little sparrow lands on the rope, breaks the surface of the rope perhaps, and an alarm that sounds like a human squirrel screaming goes on for a minute and you realize, okay, it is unsafe to try and just pass under that rope. But then Buggles wonders if there's a way perhaps you could disable it so that someone could sneak
Starting point is 00:23:22 through and perhaps use the aura recorder that Fionara gave you to test and see if these gates truly are real or not. So then you leave, you go to the bar, and no one gathers information. You just kind of talk out the plan, and you make a bit of a scene. There's a couple of shady-looking characters watching you on the way out as you're making this scene, but you come up with a pretty good plan. Brother Ramius leaves a little bit earlier and just watches, seeing if anything changes, and it's dark out, and there are a couple people maybe straggling back from the bars going to their homes, but still, two oak stewards. Are they the same ones as before? It's hard to tell. One patrolling, one standing at the little opening. He watches, he watches, he feels confident that there are no X factors here.
Starting point is 00:24:06 So then Lucky and Talitha, pretending to be drunk ladies, stumble over to one side and start being loud. One of the Oak stewards, the one on patrol, comes over and says, all right, quiet down, there are people living here. Lucky then pretends to vomit, having licked a bunch of her fur at the bar.
Starting point is 00:24:24 This is what arranged the bottle cap. And then vomits a hairball and while doing so holds onto the rope to set off the alarm. Really brilliant. To vomit over it. So now Zephyr and Buggles realize they've got about a minute to try and pull this off. Buggles goes over, lifts up the rope. Zephyr slides underneath, holds the aura recorder for 18 seconds, and it lights up, mostly purple. A couple other
Starting point is 00:24:48 bulbs as well. And that's where we start today. Jumping right into the actione? Jumping right into the actione. I'm going up. So you have perhaps seconds before this alarm stops. Maybe it's
Starting point is 00:25:03 even already stopped. What do you want to do? Zephyr. Maybe she's like for a second, like in awe of the gates, but quickly snaps out of it and tries to scurry back under the rope. I imagine you must have this feeling like you've been here now once in the afternoon or late afternoon, like you didn't feel sick. But there's that moment where it's like do i feel sick do i feel something coming over me like a little something deep inside my stomach am i just imagining this you mean the way that you feel every day when you wake up all All the time. You pull out and you slide under the rope
Starting point is 00:25:47 and you and Bungles just, what, head back into the night? Yeah, I feel like we try to get back into the shadows and then meet up with everyone. Yeah. Hatsies. I'm surveilling this whole scene
Starting point is 00:26:04 so can I see them getting out and sneaking away? You may even see, like, a tiny light from the end of the mace-like glass tube that Zephyr has. At that point, he's gonna... Then Brother Ramius is going to... With a book in his hand, he's going to cast light on his book as he's, like, hiding back in the shadows by where the apple carts were earlier in the day. And a light will emanate out from him and he'll kind of hold the book out and begin walking toward, pardon me, Lucky and Talitha, you know, making no secret of himself.
Starting point is 00:26:46 Just kind of walking forward and, I didn't even think of this part, but calling fake names. Just Mara! Bertha! And he just starts walking through like he's looking for these kids. Lucky and I make quick eye contact to try to decide who's Bertha and who's Mara. Mara! Oh no, Bertha, he's found us!
Starting point is 00:27:14 And so he'll walk up. I don't want to go back. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. I'm so sorry, talking to the oak steward. We haven't drank in anything. I didn't even... You know you're not supposed to be out. It's past curfew.
Starting point is 00:27:27 Now step back. Step away. Step away from these gates. They are sacred. Okay. I'm sorry. Hold on. And she's just like on all fours is on the ground.
Starting point is 00:27:36 And one last... And then she wipes her mouth. I'm so sorry. I'm so embarrassed. Just please step back. I ain't bumming at all. Just... Which one are so embarrassed. Just please step back. I ain't bothered at all. Just, which one are you, Mara? Step back.
Starting point is 00:27:51 The Oak Stewart comes into your light here. I have some flickering light on you on Foundry GT. I have it looked. And it's like, please, please take, they've had too much to drink. They must leave. They're setting off alarms. It's moving and shaking. Oh, yeah, flickering light.
Starting point is 00:28:06 This looks so much better. So, yeah, he'll step up to the scene, and they say, you got to go. Of course, of course. I'm so sorry for the disturbance. Sorry. It's quite embarrassing. Please, please, Bertha. How many times have we talked about this?
Starting point is 00:28:22 Come back. Come back to the inn. Sorry, sir. I say to them. And he'll just step back and he's not going to say anymore. He's going to let them walk past him and then he'll walk around behind them. Again, I'm so sorry to disturb you. I hope this doesn't...
Starting point is 00:28:39 I still wish to... I'm so sorry. And he'll scuttle away. He just shakes his head. And that's where we fade out. The Oak Steward shaking his head. The three of you. We come back up at Patsy's.
Starting point is 00:28:54 It's later now. It's maybe past midnight. Okay. Patsy's open past midnight, eh? We'll say it's like New York hours. On a Tuesday? They're open to four. On a Tuesday? They might close to four. On a Tuesday? They might close early.
Starting point is 00:29:07 We'll see if it's, there's not a lot of people in here besides the five of you. What about those guys at the bar? Gone. They're gone? And we're like looking shadily at them? Damn it. There's like a gaggle of dwarves that are still going at it, and a couple rabbit people. Rabbit people?
Starting point is 00:29:27 Smoking carrots. I thought that I hadn't had any today, but seeing strange things. No, that's real. Lucky, that was quite brilliant. Thank you. Performance. I actually had a really bad hairball, and that actually just kind of came out.
Starting point is 00:29:48 So kind of just worked in our favor, I suppose. Zephyr, how do you feel? Yes, how do you feel? You're alive. How do you feel? I think I feel fine. I think I just have a little bit of anxiety. But the aura meter, it glowed.
Starting point is 00:30:06 It, mostly purple. I don't, I'm not sure what that means. Is it still glowing? If you hold it out, it's like held, whatever. Oh, okay. It's red, yeah, so it's mostly purple, but there's like little nodules around the edge of it. Some of them aren't lit, but some of them are with fainter colors, maybe a red,
Starting point is 00:30:22 yellow, a bluish purple. Do we have any way of interpreting these results? I was going to say, can I roll an Arcana? Yeah, absolutely. And can I look around the bar to make sure nobody's looking at us as she's holding this thing up? Oh, yeah, I guess. Make sure nobody sees it.
Starting point is 00:30:35 Natural two. Natural two. Natural four. Yeah, I mean, you didn't recognize it when she brought it out, and so it doesn't surprise you that you aren't quite sure how it works. Natural five. Hold on, let me roll. On perception.
Starting point is 00:30:49 Let me roll. That's an adjusted 12. Natural three. Natural three. Wow, starting off hot. Get him out of the way. Yeah, get him out. You know nothing, and no one's looking at you.
Starting point is 00:30:59 Forgive me, I don't have this in my notes, but when were we supposed to meet outside with Finara? She said you can come back whenever you want. Just come back whenever. At any time. Yeah, so I wanted to ask you, like, you were able to successfully find this. I mean, you don't know what's what, but do you want to try and find a place to stay here in the city or head back to there? I think we should stay in tonight.
Starting point is 00:31:20 I think it's actually the least suspicious thing to try to, like, sneak back out of town after I just said I was here to research stuff. And we can gather info maybe tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah, because we're getting information for Fionara, who is going to exchange some information for us. Great. But Brother Ramius is very curious about these arches and wants to know if people are currently using them. And we kind of got intel that maybe some people are. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:47 Maybe it was a bit above the guards pay grade. He said, but he said at night sometimes, but he's not sure. I don't know. Would it be worth it to stake it out? Perhaps long-term, but let's get some rest tonight.
Starting point is 00:32:00 We need to, we need to deliver the reader to a fine arm Before we do anything else Because she has information that we and Dr. Riddleson need That's fair Well that can wait until tomorrow Agreed, that would be least suspicious Well, let's turn in then I'll ask the barkeep if there's
Starting point is 00:32:17 A room, Buggles? He's shining a glass After you We're going to be doing last call soon Can I get you something? Hello, good sir We are in the market Hello
Starting point is 00:32:31 Or a hello down here There you are We're in the market for a room or rooms Do you know of any in the area that are reputable? There's an inn down there on Inn Boulevard Why didn't I think of it? It's a pretty easy town to navigate. It's called Minotaur's Mansion.
Starting point is 00:32:52 I'm sure they'll have rooms. What is it, Tuesday? Thank you. He says there's an inn over on Inn Boulevard called Minotaur's Mansion. That sounds good. Shall we, Ziffer? Yeah, yeah. Let's go. We must keep up the ruse.
Starting point is 00:33:13 Oh, please. I'm so tired. I just want to sleep, Brother Ramius. I can't even move my feet. Let's go. Let's go. Don't draw any more attention to us than necessary. Why didn't you stop us?
Starting point is 00:33:27 Yeah, I had too much and I don't feel it. You walk out of Patsy's and we just see those two rabbits smoking carrots. What is up with those rabbits? This is like multiple layers of mystery. Why didn't we talk to those rabbit folk? One of them blows smoke. It just fills up the screen. And in that smoke, we see a flashback to Brother Ramius' dream.
Starting point is 00:33:55 Brother Ramius choking through the smoke of the great fire, looking out the window and seeing a figure staring up at him. Something that isn't from his real memory, but from the memory of this dream. And then trying to lift a chair up to smash through the glass to get to safety and being too weak, falling to the ground
Starting point is 00:34:15 and looking up and then seeing that figure just on the other side of the glass. Wham! Impossibly floating there with a white mask and giant horns. You never gave us any details on the horns. Are they like curving up? Are they curving down?
Starting point is 00:34:31 Are they spirals? What do they look like? Are they goat-like or ram-like? Yeah, ram-like or devil-like. They're horns. It's hard to remember what they look like. Follow-up question. Yes.
Starting point is 00:34:44 Is this figure rabbit-like in any way? No. Just checking. Not rabbit-like. Rabbit-like? Rabbit-like? Rabbit-like? Nor is it rabbit-like.
Starting point is 00:34:57 And we fade out of that to you all waking up in the end. No reason to role-play you getting a room, because that would take us 25 minutes. It would be so much fun. There will be time. There will be time. Don't worry. There will be time when I'm less prepared.
Starting point is 00:35:14 The booking of a room. Oh, I'm sorry, we're all out. Go try that in. Classic trait. But in this instance, you wake up, and you, having in this instance, you wake up and you having experienced this dream, having remembered this dream now have a power that has awakened within you. You all have these deviant feats.
Starting point is 00:35:39 I don't think we even talked about this. Maybe during the character creation session zero, but I don't know if we've talked about it since um the uh whatchamacallit the archetypes you chose from the adventure path did they each give you access the background yeah the background thank you yeah it gave us each a deviant ability right yes yeah okay having experienced this dream you now get a new ability. The Awakened Power Feet. What? Which is tied to your ability. Bad feet.
Starting point is 00:36:08 What? Did I have a dream? How do you have a dream? You did not, nor will you ever. How do you have a dream? How do you dream? How does one create a dream? What are dreams?
Starting point is 00:36:20 What are dreams? Awakened Power Feet is a fourth level feat that you get access to. Your power spontaneously evolves or reconfigures itself. You gain one awakening benefit for a deviant feat of fourth level or lower. And this is a feat that you can take multiple times, but you are given this freely. Amazing. Yeah, so take a look at that. You don't have to answer it now unless you see something that jumps out at you, but know that you do have this new power.
Starting point is 00:36:49 And now I'm assuming you want to head to the Caravanserai. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We can come back. Yeah, but we first need to report the findings on the Aura reader.
Starting point is 00:37:02 All right. You leave the city. It's still glowing. Yep. Has not changed at all., you leave the city. Is it still glowing? It's still glowing, yep. Has not changed at all. So you leave the city. Watching behind us, make sure we're not being followed.
Starting point is 00:37:10 Rabbits or men with hats. You leave the city, you return to the Caravanserai, and you get there, and it's, you know, people are, it's pretty big. There's a lot of people. Think of it as like a hotel with a roof.
Starting point is 00:37:22 There's just lots of little stalls and people hanging out. There's baths. You ask around for Fionara, and someone points you to her tent. And you get there, and she is sitting outside of her tent, and she's washing her feet in like a bucket. And she sees you. Do you guys have the recorder out, or is it hidden as you walk up?
Starting point is 00:37:46 I probably have it in a bag, yeah, as we walk up to her. She sees you, and she's like, oh, you have returned faster than I imagined. What news? Um, I think that the arches might be real, so I pull out the reader, and I hand it to her. She smiles as you hand it to her. She's like, oh, no, they are not real.
Starting point is 00:38:10 This is just as I suspected, and she points at the purple bulb. Illusion magic. Oh. And then she points at one of the bulbs that is unlit and not a trace of conjuration. Those arches are as fake as a siren's tits. that is unlit and not a trace of conjuration. Those arches are as fake as a siren's tits.
Starting point is 00:38:31 What? What did you just say? What did you just say? It's an old expression. By Inaro. My people. What? Yes, they are very, that is, those arches are not real. This confirms.
Starting point is 00:38:43 Wait, wait, wait. What I thought. The whole city is built around them. The city was built to house and protect and study and worship them in a way. Were they replaced, maybe? She smiles, kind of like, coyly. Come, sit, let me finish with my feet. Have a...
Starting point is 00:39:01 Orange juice. Have some fresh orange juice that I squeezed do you have any bagels? well I was sat there, no bagels and she finishes she dries her feet and you wonder to yourself when did she squeeze that orange juice where did she get the orange juice?
Starting point is 00:39:16 before, during or after the washing of her feet but it would be rude not to drink it so you all drink her feet juice and she settles back in her chair, and she's like, You have done a great service to me, so here is what I know. With my suspicions confirmed about the archers in the arch plaza, I know that the real seven archers are hidden somewhere south in the Wildwood, which is why the oak Stewards restrict travel there.
Starting point is 00:39:48 They also post guards. On the night of your missing moment, all seven of the guards at Seven Archers stepped through the portals, just like you did. But only one of them returned, a rather self-righteous oak steward named Bolan. When he returned, Bolan was a changed man, and not in a good way. After the high council chewed him out for shirking his post. He stole an important Oak Steward artifact and hid out in the Wildwood, along with some other malcontents that have rallied to his cause. From there, he's been sending these cronies of his to the city to harass the citizens, undermine the Oak Steward's authority, and recruit other discontented druids to his cause.
Starting point is 00:40:46 His ultimate aim, as far as I can tell, is a full-on coup. Now, I don't know what happened to this Bolan character when he stepped through the arch, but whatever he knows, I figure that you would want to know it, too. Riber, he's in the wild, would you say? That is what I have heard, yes.
Starting point is 00:41:12 Which is under guard and travel is restricted. Yes. How do we reach him? Well, since Bolan is both dangerously antisocial and deep within this restricted territory, I would suggest you start by talking to the Oak stewards. You had asked me before, I believe it was you, if I knew anyone in town and I was purposefully coy. As it happens, I am on good terms with a mid-ranking member of the Druid's Council,
Starting point is 00:41:43 a halfling named Lemma Feldthorn. I can, she reaches into her pack, pulls out some paper and like a quill, she's like, I can provide you with a letter of introduction so that you can meet her and offer to help with this Bolan situation. In doing so, you are bound to advance your investigation into the missing moment, and either way, the Oak stewards are good allies to have. They have their hands full with this obnubulate curse and whatnot. Having a group of outsiders handle this business with one of their malcontents
Starting point is 00:42:18 could serve you well down the line. So, if the gates aren't real, maybe that's why you didn't get sick, Sepha. Maybe there's a chance that if we were to find the real ones, that you could be in serious
Starting point is 00:42:38 danger. I mean, the gates weren't cursed, the town was cursed. And she's like scratching her arm a little bit. Was that you got an itch? Huh? Is that a rash?
Starting point is 00:42:52 No. How are you feeling? A bit flushed. He puts his hand up on your forehead. I'm fine. I'm fine. All right. Sense motive.
Starting point is 00:43:02 Is that true, though? Like the entire city was cursed or is it because of the gates well they said it was because of the gate right proximity to the gate right so if the gates are fake yeah and it was a lie or keep elves out or they or they thought it was real or the the gates even if they're outside the city the aura of the gates are so powerful that it extends and washes over the city. How far outside of the city are we talking about? A couple miles? No, it would be...
Starting point is 00:43:31 She doesn't know where it is, but she thinks it's deep within the Wildwood. It could be like a couple days' journey. Oh, man. They're hidden out there. She's like, Lemma may know more. Take it back. We will roll for initiative. As it turns out.
Starting point is 00:43:47 Couple days journey into the dark wood? She has no idea. It could be weeks. It could be, you know, she seems to think that they're pretty deeply hidden. Oh, man. Well, let's go fight this halfling. No, no, it's just a friend of mine. You said you wanted the halfling dead.
Starting point is 00:44:01 If we kill the halfling, you'll tell us what to do. She's one of the few friends I have. Linfeldthorn will die tomorrow. You have our word. Consider it done. Does Dr. Richardson have any other... Say no more. Don't say any more.
Starting point is 00:44:14 Don't say no more, say thus. She's the only friend I have. Any more information is dangerous at this point. Understood. I think we know what you mean. I'm winking Are there any more of Dr. Whittleson's protégés? No
Starting point is 00:44:28 Just us We were the best at understanding Oh god Where can we find this lemotheld form? Does she have any allergies? She should be in the In the city? The wicker house
Starting point is 00:44:42 Well now they call it the vine hall My people called it Called it the Wicker House. Well, now they call it the Vine Hall. My people called it the Wicker House. The Wine Hall? Wine Hall? Vine Hall. Wait, sorry. Are you German?
Starting point is 00:44:57 No, it's a V, Vine. They love their vines here. Is this in the city or is this, sorry, where's Vine Hall? Yes. If you look at the map. It's on the eastern side of the city. I will bring you back to the map of Seven Arches. Thank you for showing us this.
Starting point is 00:45:12 Thank you so much. It is just to the east of the Arch Plaza on the other side. Oh, I see. Of the Sutherland River. Every time you show us this map, there's something noted here as the Quaking Stacks, and I read it as the Quacking Stacks, so it makes me giggle. That's at the corner of Library Way. What is the Quaking Stacks, and I read it as the Quacking Stacks, so it makes me giggle. That's at the corner of Library Way. What is the Quaking Stacks?
Starting point is 00:45:31 That is a library. Oh, I like that. Yes. I like that they named their library. The Quaking Stacks. Other than just the Seven Arches Municipal Library. I don't know. Everything has a cool name.
Starting point is 00:45:45 Everything has a cool name. Everything has a cool name. Yeah, all these names are really fun. Have you been to the Minotaur's... Mansion? Mansion, yeah. We stayed there last night. Well, except for the Justice House. It's pretty straightforward. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:45:55 Minotaur Mansion also... Got a lot of imagination there. That's a bagel shop. The Minotaur Mansion was a bit of a maze. Justice House bagels. Well done, Sydney. Thanks, Matthew. You're the only one who cared about me
Starting point is 00:46:05 You're having fun Anyway So Do you want some more juice? No I told you everything I know Let's return to the show The only thing we want to drink is wine
Starting point is 00:46:16 The vine hall Well, I think you've overstayed your welcome Ladies' day Ladies' day You Ladies' day! You can stop with that ruse. I'd like my disguise kits back. I wash all the paint off. I will tell you, your disguise will not help you in the Wildwood.
Starting point is 00:46:36 It is not about hiding who you are. It is about staying alive. That is wild country. Not only do they restrict travel to keep elves safe and to hide their secret, but it is also a dangerous, dangerous area.
Starting point is 00:46:54 So the wild country just meaning this is a specific area? This is anywhere around the city that's not part of the city? Yeah, if you were to look up a map of the river kingdoms, you may even see it's called the Wildwood, like we're familiar with. Yeah, if you were to look up a map of the river kingdoms, you may even see it's called the Wildwood. We're familiar with the Verdurin Forest.
Starting point is 00:47:10 We're familiar with the Echo Wood. But it's basically like the river kingdoms in general are there's a land, at least formerly, before the Age of Lost Omens. I'm sure it's the same. It's a land with no king. There is no government. It is a balkanizedanized region yeah it's basically all miniature bandit kingdoms essentially
Starting point is 00:47:29 and when you travel the woods you are at a huge risk of not only constantly a war with each other yeah wildlife but also like everybody that moves through their merchants uh um bandits everybody is like they're all no one trusts anyone. And so there's a tendency to want to just like jump people and kill them rather than ask questions. So it's a very dangerous place to be moving through. If you look in the Foundry VTT chat, I've linked a image of the River Kingdoms,
Starting point is 00:47:58 if you want to bring it up. Oh, cool. And you'll see like to the northwest is the Echo Wood. Nice work, Troy. It's a broken link. With a bunch of technology, no wonder. No wonder that my buddy Troy loved that. I mean, I copy-pasted a link.
Starting point is 00:48:11 I don't know what else to do. It is an absolutely broken link. I'm going to look up. I clicked the link, and it goes right through. I'm going to go to the guide to the River Kingdoms. Really? Yeah. Yeah, my link worked fine.
Starting point is 00:48:23 Echo Wood is to the northwest But if you look There's the Wildwood All the way to the southwest Right at the border of Keonan And you'll see Rasmiren Is right there to the west Yeah As well
Starting point is 00:48:33 But now you see Where Seven Arches the city is The Wildwood I was like Wildwood, New Jersey Wildwood That's what I heard too Oh, Wildwood Wildwood
Starting point is 00:48:41 Wildwood Go on the boardwalk And get some You know It's not the electric forest, Kate But it'll do Well, shit No lasers Wildwood. Wildwood. Go on the boardwalk and get some, you know. It's not the electric forest, Kate, but it'll do. No lasers? But you see, yeah, that's pretty far where the city of Seven Arches is and where, like, the edge of the Wildwood is. So she's saying that they are hidden somewhere within there.
Starting point is 00:49:00 All right. So let's go talk to, uh, talk to... Fine Hour's contact. Friend. Lemma Feldthorn? Yeah, let's go. All right. So, you head into the city,
Starting point is 00:49:15 and you go all the way to the eastern portion in the direction of the Vine Hall with Fine Hour's letter in hand. And with that letter, you are able to gain entry to the building. It is also called the Wicker House. She made mention of that. This structure is the closest thing
Starting point is 00:49:34 the Oak Stewards have to a capital building. Like all the architecture here, you can tell that it was like once a ruined elven manor that the Oak Stewards filled all the gaps with ivy and creeping vines so now the wicker house's living walls and floors are apparently stronger
Starting point is 00:49:52 and more resilient than any normal wood and it was renamed vine hall you are ushered into a little sitting area and within moments a full sized horse comes bounding into the room and there's a
Starting point is 00:50:08 halfling atop it just knocking shit off of the table and walls and you hear a tiny voice she's like Mulberry! Mulberry! Calm the fuck down! Mulberry! Mulberry! She's a little halfling on a giant horse she's like I'm sorry. On a full-sized horse?
Starting point is 00:50:24 Yes I'm sorry I'm sorry she gets a little halfling on a giant horse. She's like, I'm sorry. On a full-size horse. Yes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. She gets a little riled up around men. She can smell their penises. But anyways, I'm Lemmerfeld Porn, and you are, according to this letter, friends of Fionara's. Yes. Buggles is terrified.
Starting point is 00:50:41 Yeah. Absolutely terrified. He's huddled behind Zephyr's legs. Oh, don't be scared. Mulberry doesn't bite. No, I know they do. The horses, they bite. They bite horribly.
Starting point is 00:50:54 No, not Mulberry. Mulberry only eats berries. Stop. Maybe it will mistake my head for a berry. Don't be silly. Here, I'll bring her into your room. Oh, Mulberry. Oh, do it, please. Mulberry bounds out of the room, knocking be silly. Here, I'll bring her into your room. Oh, my berry! Oh, dear, please!
Starting point is 00:51:05 Oh, it bounds out of the room, knocking everything over. Nope, nope. You just hear crash, crash, crash, and then she comes back in. I'm so sorry. I'd like to make a grand entrance. Um, what business do you have with the Oakstewards? Why would you bring a horse into a building? I just, uh, this is what I do.
Starting point is 00:51:24 Fionara said we might be of assistance here. You and Vianara are two peas in a pod. Yes, well, yes, Vianara, I can see that you are looking for something. Oh, yes, now that I'm really reading this here, it appears you know some things. Well, I will admit the oak stewards are presently stretched a bit thin. The seeming disappearance of this obnubulate curse has created not just an ethical conundrum as allowing elves in. Pointing at you, but not on purpose. Like she's just gesturing.
Starting point is 00:51:59 She's like, allowing elves in could be a disaster should the curse return just as quickly as it disappeared. But it's also a matter of national defense, for without the curse, some fear the strained relationship between Seven Archers and neighboring Keonan might blossom into an actual conflict. Factor in these increased gorger attacks
Starting point is 00:52:18 and the Oak Stewards have no time for Bolan's troublemaking. She says here that you may be able to help. Is that true? You are interested in helping us in our cause? We have certain skills, investigatory,
Starting point is 00:52:35 that we might be able to offer here in your search for Bolan. I see. Well, Bolan's crimes, you must understand, go beyond a mere rebellion. In her letter, Fayanara alludes that you are aware of our secret as it pertains to the archers. I trust Fayanara with my life, and so I would trust you as well if she would tell you this. I hope that you can be as discreet with that information as you will be with what I am to tell you.
Starting point is 00:53:08 Before he left, Bolan stole the gate key for the real Seventh Arch, a fanciful jade amulet shaped like a leaf that we call the Shadewither Key. There are so few active gates left in Galerion due to the key such as this being lost to time. We Oak stewards take the responsibility of the Shadewither Key very seriously.
Starting point is 00:53:33 Now I've heard rumors that he plans to use the key in some sort of evil ritual at the archers a few nights hence. If you want to help, I can perhaps consult the other Oak stewards, but I suspect they will agree that there could be a mutually beneficial arrangement here. While I don't know where Bolan himself is hiding,
Starting point is 00:53:57 I can point you in the direction of the real Seven Archers. And if this plan is approved by all parties, we can provide you with a bark writ as well. This is an official pass allowing you to roam freely in seven archers, including visiting the Wildwood and the real Ayodhara.
Starting point is 00:54:16 But in exchange, I would need you to investigate what Bolan is up to. Disrupt any rituals he may or may not be performing. Reclaim the gate key, and capture this rebel Oaksteward so that he may be punished for his crimes. Sorry, horsewoman, you said something about a boggart?
Starting point is 00:54:39 Boggart. Bok-fray-right? Bok-rate? Bok-rate? He said a word. Bok-rate. The slip, the permission, the pass. Bok-rate, yes. Bok-fre-right? Bok-rate? Bok-rate? He said a word. It's the slip. It's the permission. The pass. Bok-rate, yes. Bok-rate?
Starting point is 00:54:49 Bok-rate. Bok-rate? Bok-rate, yes. Have you never heard of the Bok-rate? Bok-rate, it's a gambling... No, it's a Bok-rate. Druids use them all the time. It's a druid thing. Is it a writ of bark?
Starting point is 00:55:00 Yes, yes. It's a pass that you will be able to use to show the guards that you are allowed to roam freely. Without it, you would be escorted out. Or worse. I have a question. So this Bolon... Yes! Why are you yelling?
Starting point is 00:55:16 Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just very fired up. This Bolon... Yes. If the Oakstirds are aware of his nefarious deeds and they're looking for him, why keep up the ruse here with these archers? Well, that is part of our history. It is much safer that people do not know where the real archers are.
Starting point is 00:55:39 They could be exploited. And so they are protected by not letting anyone in the Wildwood. They are safe. What do you know of the missing moment and the connection to your arches? Has one been observed? Did those Ayudar activate on the night the missing moment began? I know very little, but yes.
Starting point is 00:55:58 I am to understand that they did. And all guards went through, including Bolan. Unfortunately, he was the only one to return. But were all the guards there, ready? Yes, the Ayudhara, the real Ayudhara, are always guarded, just in case someone were to see... Sorry, the real Ayudhara? Are they not all real? I'm not talking about your illusions in your town.
Starting point is 00:56:22 I'm talking about the various Ayudhara around the world. Well, I know nothing of them, but I'm sure they are. I'm talking about the ones in the Wildwood. When they activated, on the night of the missing moment... Yes. These seven, were they always active? No, they could be activated with the Shade with a Key. I myself have never used it.
Starting point is 00:56:43 There are rumors that our higher-ups have used it from time to time to travel to other active Iodara in Golarion, but I... I have not been able to partake in such a thing. Who was in possession of the key before Bolan stole it? The key was here. On the night of the missing
Starting point is 00:57:00 moment, the archers came alive of their own accord, and the guards that were stationed there, Bolan among them, walked through. Only Bolan returned. How is it that all of the guards were there stationed ready at this time coincidentally? There are always guards stationed there. There are
Starting point is 00:57:16 always seven. If that night there was, I'd have to check the schedule. And he did not have the key. I don't do the scheduling! You must understand. I'm just telling you what I know. There were seven guards there that night. And he did not have the key. No,'t do the scheduling. You must understand. I'm just telling you what I know. There were seven guards there that night. No, but when he came back and rallied some of his friends to his cards, they stole the key
Starting point is 00:57:31 and took it. Who is the area of the real Iodara in the Wildwood now? Yes. Is that area under the control of Bolan and his rebel cohort, or do you, does the city have control over them? It is my understanding that Bolan and his men now
Starting point is 00:57:47 have control of the Ayodhara. If this rumor of the ritual is true, I do not know what they are up to, but it is very dangerous. The shade with the key is not something that can be used willy-nilly. How long ago did he take the key? This was a few nights hence.
Starting point is 00:58:03 So for months, many months, he never made an attempt to take the key. No, he's been biding his time, sending his lackeys into town to sow discord, finding people to join his cause. There are others among him. There are other Oak stewards and civilians that have joined with him. Other gate walkers? No, to my knowledge, only Bolan. Tell me, tell us everything you know about Bolan
Starting point is 00:58:30 and don't stop talking for 60 seconds because this has mechanical effects. Because I would like to lead it to pursue a lead on Bolan. Druidism draws many adherents, mostly because they love nature, but others because they hate people. Bolan Nagaso has always been the latter. He grew up in the logging camps of Andoran, the son of parents with too many children and too little affection. Shy and scrawny, he was
Starting point is 00:59:00 bullied by loggers' children and his older siblings. He took to spending as much time as possible in the woods, for here in the quiet among the trees, he could finally let his guard down. In time, he managed to make friends from local fae, brownies and sprites. Bolan prayed that one day he'd turn out to be a changeling, anything but the child of boorish humans. Yet time and time again, the same story would play out. One day he'd turn out to be a changeling, anything but the child of boorish humans.
Starting point is 00:59:28 Yet time and time again the same story would play out. Bolan would return to his favorite grove and find it clear cut. His fey friends nowhere to be found. The loggers took care of the trees and what little friends he had. As he grew older, though, he filled out, and he used his new strength to fight these atrocities. Yet the loggers, those same childhood chums who spent their lives bullying him, only laughed as they continued to bloody his nose. Hopelessly, he tried to drink his troubles away as the stories go. It was on one of these benders that he first heard of seven arches.
Starting point is 01:00:10 In seven arches, people served nature rather than the other way around. He learned of the Oak Stewards, nature's guardians who reminded citizens of the delicate balance between the needs of humanoids and those of plants and animals. Bolan set out immediately, vowing not to rest until he was apprenticed to these sagacious druids. It worked, and Bolan excelled in his training and soon became a full oak steward. With his knowledge and magic, he would say that he began to feel closer to the natural world than ever, while also appreciating the distance his status put between him and Severace's deferential citizens. Yet his joy was short-lived. Bolan falsely believed that the Oak Stewards actually put humanoid interests first. He began to clash more and more with his superiors,
Starting point is 01:00:56 eventually seeing them as just another petty hierarchy that was more concerned with international politics than truly safeguarding the natural world. He then volunteered to patrol the nation's borders, venting his merciless frustrations upon anyone he caught sneaking into Seven Archers. He was reprimanded for his violence, and he would serve punishment, and then he would be put back on the line. To be honest, we were happy to let him roam away, have his position be out there, hoping that he would just one day roam right out of town. And then came the missing moment.
Starting point is 01:01:31 Be careful what you wish for. How long was he gone? Two months. And in that time, there was a feeling amongst my friends on the council that it was for the best, though it pains me to say that. The others who left, we mourned them, but not Bolan. There was always a fear that he would do something like this. But then one day he returned. Different.
Starting point is 01:02:02 Are guards not restricted on policy to not step through gates? They are, yes. You have to have the shade with a key, and that is only given to the highest among the oak stewards. But it is my understanding that... What could have possessed so many to break their vow? Did it not happen to you? According to Fayanara's writ here, you too stepped through. All of you did.
Starting point is 01:02:28 Yes, but I had no vow. I had no... I did not serve the Oak Stewards. Did you choose it freely? I'd like to think I did. Well. Changed, you say. Changed how? More angry. More vicious.
Starting point is 01:02:47 Not right in the head. He always was a little off, but now he seemed emboldened by whatever happened on the other side of that gate. And what of the others? They just never returned? Never returned. Like so many of us. The rumors are that he has many to his cause now, and probably not just citizens and oak stewards.
Starting point is 01:03:13 He's been out there for months now, doing who knows what. He must be stopped. What is his cause? Anarchy. Does he wish to find his missing friends? No, I believe it's anarchy. He wants to take Seven Arches for himself, for he believes that he has the true way of nature and not us.
Starting point is 01:03:34 He is misguided. In this ritual you speak of, you know nothing of the rumors of the details. It is but a rumor, but these rumors end up being more true. Is there a knowledge check I can roll about the keys to Idar Keys? Like, other possible applications? Yeah, like, he stole it. Why would he still need it? Like, if he's gone through the gate, what would be his plan with the key?
Starting point is 01:04:01 Unless he's just trying to keep it from someone who would want to use it. Yeah. Or they want to bring something through the gate. Right. Yeah, roll a any of you can roll an arcana on the idea of the key or the shade with the key. It's a natural 20, 25.
Starting point is 01:04:15 Maybe. 22 for Talitha. Nice. Yeah, I mean, as to what his motives are, you don't know what he wants it for. To be able to travel at will, maybe, to prevent other people from doing it, for him to control that. If he wants to take over the city, him having the biggest power that they have makes sense. There's no, like, you break the key and it unleashes some other – you can absorb another kind of power, some other kind of application. You would think that to break the key,
Starting point is 01:04:47 you could shut down use of that gate forever. I mean, just having control over it exclusively gives him a lot of influence and power. Are you satisfied that I'm pursuing a lead on Bolan, by the way? Yes. No, no, no. You're the genius. I'm very satisfied. Fionara was right to trust you. Not you. You're the genius. I am very satisfied.
Starting point is 01:05:05 Fionara was right to trust you. Not you. Let's move on. I wish you best of luck with your lead, as you call it. The horse comes pounding back in. Malbury! Malbury, no! Alright, I'll see you later! She rides off. Why would you bring a horse into a house? And a druid, nonetheless. I don't like them.
Starting point is 01:05:21 Make any... the horses? No. In general, or that one? At all, any of them, especially that one. It was very energetic. Buggles, have you never been on a horse? No, I'd never be on one of those great beasts. They're horrible. I knew one brother like this at my abbey.
Starting point is 01:05:39 Brother Halloran. He loved his horse a great deal and would often attempt to ride him into the Great Hall. Not that kind of love. Not that kind. Where that came from. See, bubbles? Nice horses. Music.
Starting point is 01:05:59 There's really nothing to be afraid of with them, but that one's pretty... I disagree. Not well behaved. I disagree. You don't see them like I see them. I do see them. I see them for what they are. Beasts, monsters, murderers, killers.
Starting point is 01:06:12 Horses. Horses, yes. Draft animals. They're creatures of great friends. Drafted into a war. A great war against all of humanoid kind. I dodge that draft. I'm really... I hope you're happy with yourself. I'm really not
Starting point is 01:06:29 sure what you're getting at with the horse war talk. Oh yes, this is... Is this not common among your people? Buggles, it's okay. Nobody's gonna hurt you.
Starting point is 01:06:45 Come here. Sorry. going to hurt you. Come here. Sorry. He puts her paw into your hand. Good kitty. As we always do. Six-foot kitty. I pat you on the head. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:06:59 I've calmed down now. I just want to make it known that I don't want any horse-related gifts or any horse pranks to be played. Oh, Buggles, he doesn't like horses. Let's slip one into his bedroom at night. I don't want any of that. I won't find it funny. I don't like them.
Starting point is 01:07:17 You can rest assured we will not give you any horse-related gifts. Clarifying question. How do you feel about mythical horse-related animals? So unicorns off the table. No, unicorns, just a horse with a horn. Pegasus? Probably worse. Pegasus, a flying horse.
Starting point is 01:07:36 Worse. Triple threat. Okay, what about a pony? Good question. Small enough to avoid, perhaps But still deadly I really gotta look into this I have no idea what he's talking about I wonder when my staining door is going to come into play
Starting point is 01:07:53 No, please They hold a long, long standing grudge Against the horses But Buggles, I thought you told us That you were not raised among goblins I find it fascinating that the fear is so innate that it is not taught. I was raised with some of my kind, but the stories I heard from the elders, there were no horses in my country until the big folk came, no offense.
Starting point is 01:08:22 And when they did come, they crushed our skulls, broke apart our villages. They were the great, horrible mount beasts that the big ones rode in to subjugate us and kill us. Though I have little memory of it myself, I know it to be true. And you feel it to be true. I do, in my heart of hearts.
Starting point is 01:08:47 Lucky smiles a little bit, like her fangs are showing. They are incredibly powerful animals. They are. You are very interesting, Buggles. Thank you for sharing with us. I suggest we resolve our horse conversation so as not to traumatize Buggles further, and perhaps spend a bit of time gathering information amongst the town about Bolan, and then set out for the Wildwood.
Starting point is 01:09:17 I would like to go to the Quaking Stacks. I will meet up with you later. I'd like to go to the Honeybrush Cabaret. Well, I'll go to the Thornleaf Barracks where I can gather information about Olam. Oh, I'll come with you. I thought we were just all going different places that we wanted to go. Isn't that what was just happening? I don't know. The way Talitha said it made me feel like I was making a dumb choice.
Starting point is 01:09:46 I should let you know this will, if it were to happen, will happen two nights hence and it is a 50 mile journey to get to the Arches. We should go.
Starting point is 01:09:57 We will loan you our horses if you'd like. We'll loan you our horses. Her voice changes. Fangs come out of her mouth. Her face melts off. Or perhaps an ox cart. Oh, yes, that one.
Starting point is 01:10:12 Pulled by horses. No! But it would be... You can ride with me. It's fine. It's a two-day journey to get there. So whatever business you have here in Seven Arches, if you truly mean to help, now is the time.
Starting point is 01:10:27 Get going. Make haste. So we shouldn't see that show at the Honey Brush Cabaret. It's lovely, but it's playing for three weeks. I got tickets for tonight, though. I didn't know we had to leave immediately. Maybe you could sell them. All right.
Starting point is 01:10:41 You're not going to use them. You could just, Mr. Feldthorne and I could just... Well, I did buy them for, what was it, 20 silver apiece. I don't take them, though. They're just going to end up in the trash. I guess they will in that case. Yes, well, I happen to have a trash bucket right here. Well, I could...
Starting point is 01:10:58 I hate to see you litter in Seven Arches, Hoxton. You're right, I won't take them. Just throw them out here. Just throw them in there. I could give them to you for in Seven Arches, Oaks to a Thriving... You're right, I won't take them. Just throw them out here. Just throw them in there. I could give them to you for... Don't grapple them. ...a steep discount. I mean, a ten silver piece.
Starting point is 01:11:11 That's basic. Oh, we don't get paid a lot here. Giving it away, though. Nope. Thank you, though. Just throw them in the waste bin. I'm so sorry you'll miss the show. Oh, I might rip it, though.
Starting point is 01:11:20 Oh, don't rip it. That's foolish. It is an affront to the Oaks to its rip paper. It's like cutting down a tree. We could do five silver apiece. No Oak Steward ever rips paper. He never rips paper. He puts her paw on the table with the two tickets.
Starting point is 01:11:33 If one of my superiors were to see you rip that paper, you'd be beheaded. Five silver apiece. How about three? I'm not going any lower. Four silver apiece. Oh, I just happen going any lower. Four silver pieces. Oh, I just happen to have exactly four silver pieces here. What's in your pocket there?
Starting point is 01:11:49 That's just a condom. Empty it. Mr. Feldhorn and I are done. I get the penis talk earlier. It makes a lot of sense. I'll take the ten silver. I don't have ten. What's in the other pocket?
Starting point is 01:12:08 That. That's my keys. That's my keys. And I'll write five silver here. Ten total. There you go. God. Should they find your corpse, I want that five silver back.
Starting point is 01:12:19 I think Sidney deserves a bottle cap. You just got five silver for something you made up. Yes, you had him then sold to an NPC. Spontaneously generated ten silver. Very insistent. Very insistent. Very well done. That's a nice wee profession.
Starting point is 01:12:33 She's a swindler. Yeah. I know what Mr. Felthorn... That's basically how the stock market works. Yeah, it's made up. It doesn't actually exist. You and Mr. Felthorn enjoy your evening. We will.
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Starting point is 01:14:30 So are we getting... You want to just make it out there, head out there? Yeah. Can we get a knife? So we have no time. I mean, if the rumors of this ritual are true, you're going to want to get there sooner than later. But you have...
Starting point is 01:14:44 Basically, if you want to do some quick stuff in town go for it i don't want to stop you from doing that but uh uh if this is all right well he'll keep it quick he has to go to the quaking stacks he just um it's like it's almost like the library to study no for him it's like it's like being being near a church in a foreign land. Like, you have to go pay your respects, basically. And so libraries are holy places to him. And so he will literally just go introduce himself and just see it for a moment, take it in, say a quick prayer, and then leave with the full intention to go back. I mean, what I really wanted to do is read about this whole surrounding area and stuff like that, you know, to kind of know what we'd be up against
Starting point is 01:15:26 in the forest. Can't you check out a book? At the library? I could ask. Take it with you. Yeah, but these libraries aren't usually like that. You don't check them out. They're so precious. Alright, fine. We'll role play the circulation desk moment.
Starting point is 01:15:42 Enjoy. Go on, Joe. Good afternoon. Oh, hello. Oh, hello. Oh, no. Welcome to the Quaking Stacks. An old man comes up. Oh, it seems you are someone who enjoys a good book. Yes, indeed.
Starting point is 01:15:58 May the Keeper bless you. Thank you. The work you do here is truly blessed. Thank you. I'm merely the here is truly blessed. Thank you. I'm merely the person that checks books out to people, but I've always considered it to be an honorable position. Thank you for saying so. I am Brother Ramius of Latria. You are? Snailfoot Jones.
Starting point is 01:16:25 Sorry, is your first name Snailfoot? Yes, it's Snailfoot Jones. Sorry, is your first name Snailfoot? Yes, it's Snailfoot. Hello, Mr. Jones. Please, call me Snailfoot. Hello, Snailfoot. Yes, in my family, you would be named after an insect and a part of the body. Do you have any siblings? Yes.
Starting point is 01:16:46 Just an example, one of their names. It's a curious name in convention. Also, a snail isn't an insect, by the way. They're all ridiculous. Can you think of even one? Very tired. Even one of your siblings. Is this librarian crying?
Starting point is 01:17:04 My brother, Ant Hip. Snails are fun. Even one of your siblings Is this librarian crying? My brother Ant Hip Ant Hip Jones I gotta be mollusk Name another mollusk Anthony Mollusk Well you say you check books out Do you happen to have any Any books here that I could find
Starting point is 01:17:23 Just thinking of Antip, he died. Makes me so sad. Do you have any modern histories on the region? Any books about the surrounding governments, the surrounding lands, ownership, that sort of thing?
Starting point is 01:17:40 Honestly, you'd need a bark writ from an oak steward to even gain access to the stacks here. That is convenient because I actually have one. And he goes into the folds of his big gray cotton robe. He pulls out a bark writ and politely shows it to this snail foot Jones. Oh, I see. And when you rolled up on this, this was one of the city's tallest structures.
Starting point is 01:18:06 As it should be. And it's unlike any of the other buildings. You can tell that it, like, used to be a spiraling stone tower that, like, tapered at the top. But the ruins have been taken over by a grove of trees that look like they shouldn't be there. And you can see them like on the other side of where he's standing. And so it's just, it's huge. All the stacks go all the way up in this spiral of like a, not a staircase, but like you can see there's a way to get up, up, up, up.
Starting point is 01:18:40 But then beyond there is like a grove of trees with one great tree. And he says, oh, if you had enough time with this Baccarat, you could commune with the library tree. But do you have a lot of time? I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a rush. You have to return. With this, you would gain access. It is an honor to be able to do such a thing. Yes, I
Starting point is 01:19:05 would love to do that. What an incredible place you have here. Yes. Is there anything you could recommend, book-wise, that I could check out, perhaps, and take on my journey? What do you like? Wanted a book about the local region. Oh, the region,
Starting point is 01:19:22 yes. Not one for history. I enjoy good mystery. Hmm. I don't do much fiction, I'm afraid. History of the region. Any wood region in particular? Seven Arches? The, um, Wildwood Forest. The Wildwood Forest?
Starting point is 01:19:38 What's it called? Wildwood? Wildwood. Wildwood. Uh, yes, yes, hold on. And he leaves. And he comes back 40 minutes later, because he's really slow. He's like, here, I found one. It's on the history of the Wildwood. I think you'll find it to be most interesting.
Starting point is 01:19:59 And there may be a little mystery in it as well. Thank you so much. You're welcome. And he takes one of the books that are, like, strapped on one of the leather straps hanging from the side of his backpack and removes it and, like, puts it deeper into his backpack. Takes this book, puts it closer to him, snapping it on, and he'll say, Good day, I will return. Good day, you remind me. To commune with your tree.
Starting point is 01:20:22 Of my aunt, Wasp Knuckle. Well, she sounds like a lovely woman. She was very handsome. What was her last name? Wasp Knuckle Jones. Oh, also Jones. She kept her name when she married. When she married who?
Starting point is 01:20:40 Some guy named Bill. Because he wasn't subject. He wasn't beholden to the naming convention. Did they have children? What naming convention did they adopt? No, no, they never had children. Well, that's a shame. Because I'll start crying again.
Starting point is 01:20:59 All right, he will take that book and, yeah, he'll go and reconnect with everybody. We've already left. Wait for me! And the monk starts running up the road toward you. We're following the ox cart that is a clank, clank, clanking out of town. We are doing an ox cart? I really want a horse. A horse would be most advantageous.
Starting point is 01:21:24 I could always scale it ahead if I had one. What if we blindfold Boggles? Already half-dead. Make me blind as well? Hey, Boggles, and I kneel, kneel down, I'm very tall. Would it be okay if I rode a horse? Kneel down, I'm very tall. Would it be okay if I rode a horse?
Starting point is 01:21:49 Well, I would be afraid for you, but I know you're very brave. I think you could handle yourself even against one of those horrible things. So I suppose that would be alright. I really appreciate you saying that. I think I'll be okay, but I know you'll have my back. I will. I'm gonna go get a horse now. Okay.
Starting point is 01:22:11 I'll miss her so much. I think we all will get horses. I'll just get one. I'll walk with Buggles. That would be great. Well, let's get a cart for Buggles. Brother Ramis, you can't walk the whole way. I've walked a long way to get here.
Starting point is 01:22:24 What about a dog cart? Is that a thing? No! Ah! Dogs! Dogs are even worse. Dogs eat my ears! I watched it happen! Oh, oh gosh. Oh my... They would eat the unruly. Is there
Starting point is 01:22:39 some kind of beast of burden that might pull a cart that you would ride in. Camel. Okay, great, great. We're making progress here. Llamas, alpacas, elephants, mastodons, triceratops, mules. Mules. Mules.
Starting point is 01:22:59 There we go. Mule carts. Mule. So we get a mule and a cart for burlesque. Technically not horses. A mule, an ox cart for Buggles. Technically not horses. A mule, an ox cart, and three horses. So a mule-drawn ox cart. Yeah, and Brother Ramius will drive the mule cart.
Starting point is 01:23:14 With Buggles in the back. Three horses. And I'm riding a black horse. This is the best. I'm a black cat on a black horse. You can't even see me. Oh, wow. And you head into the Wildwood.
Starting point is 01:23:25 By now, it's late afternoon, and you want to get out to make good headway, because you'll have to camp out in the Wildwood at night. And you get about a half a mile in or so when you hear like woo-woo, woo-woo, like these sounds.
Starting point is 01:23:40 And then all of a sudden, like, five oak stewards emerge from the growth around you. It's like, sorry, the road is not safe for travelers. You must turn back. We are here under the direction of the Oak Stewards themselves. Brother Ramius, if you may. Yes.
Starting point is 01:24:00 Slow. Please. I simply wish to show you our bark writ that we were given so that we could make our way south. Any hands over the bark writ? Oak.
Starting point is 01:24:18 Oak. Good, good. Hold on, hold on They're fine, they got a barker, it's oak Why? This is a pine root! What is this, maple? Why is the road
Starting point is 01:24:36 unsafe? We know about this I want him to tell me what's going on They told us, they're blocking everyone from going down to where the real arches are. You had to have a barque. I didn't know if there was like something that they were just specific. Yeah, those horrible shadow beasts with the shadow. Gorgugs?
Starting point is 01:24:52 Gorgas. Gorgas. Be careful. The Wildwood is full of many fake creatures, some friendly, some not. And from the looks of this barquette, you know there are other troubles as well. Are there any guards between here and there?
Starting point is 01:25:08 Or is this the last line? This is the last line. Okay, then. We have friends, so they will watch you. We appreciate that. Then they look to the sky. Are they here now? Please.
Starting point is 01:25:29 Continue on. Can I roll a perception to see if he wants us to die? Because it really seems like it. That is a 25. No, you don't get that sense at all. The barker, it gives you passage.
Starting point is 01:25:43 But they, this is a dangerous area. Okay. Why don't you guys lead the way? Yeah. Yeah, I'll head out and fight with you. Clop, clop, clop. Yeah. Zephyr and Lucky lead the pick.
Starting point is 01:25:59 What's the mule's name again? Dog. Dog the mule. There you go? Doug. Doug the mule. There you go, Doug. Let's go. Hey now, Doug. Hey there, Dougie. So you head in and during the day, it's not so bad. There's a lot of sounds and stuff
Starting point is 01:26:18 you hear. Maybe some growling here and there but there's a lot of you. The sound of the wood. And hopefully only one predator from time to time that might be scared off by your party of horses and mule. And eventually night falls, and it gets dark
Starting point is 01:26:35 in the canopied forest above earlier than it would if you were in the open city. And so eventually you find a clearing with which to camp. Let's talk about this camp scene, which has become sort of one of our calling cards. You guys have known each other now for, I would say, at least two months, maybe a little less.
Starting point is 01:26:57 You've been out of the gate for three months. Let's say it took you a month to find Riddleson's cause. I imagine the relationships are forming a little bit, maybe some faster than others. What's a night at a campfire like for the five of you? I think just generally for Buggles, he was afraid of big folk, just generally. The two Tulls. has he had he was afraid of big folk just generally the two talls the two talls like because he had never in his life met one that was kind to him and so these people represented the first of of that that the people now where he's become attached to this group
Starting point is 01:27:46 but he's still wary so yeah I think he's just like and he's still like I think he's super shy and he's just like kind of trying to make himself useful but not kind of
Starting point is 01:28:03 unobtrusively I would say that yeah i think lucky it was one of those situations where like she didn't expect to make friends but it kind of just happened um she finds buggles very interesting like she's never met a goblin like buggles uh she finds brother ramius so dry but funny um zephyr she like feels a kinship with zephyr like she finds similarities with her zephyr and talitha it's like these these sisters sort of um but she also she can get very solemn sometimes i think it like when they bed down for camp, she's very boisterous during the day and she's a big fighter. And then at camp, sometimes she just takes a walk around the perimeter. I'll take watch.
Starting point is 01:28:55 And she just gets up and you just hear her singing to herself as she walks around. That's sometimes what she does. And it's in her mother tongue. Mm. Follow, follow my hoi moi moi moi. Just like in the distance sometimes.
Starting point is 01:29:15 Mm. What's ever? So, yeah, I feel like she probably doesn't know all of you that great yet, but having a crew around more like, more regularly, this is probably very nice and new. I feel like she probably likes hanging out with all of you,
Starting point is 01:29:33 but also at night is excited to, like, withdraw back into herself and do, like, her routine, her nighttime routine. What's your skincare routine that night routine um i'm not sure what she does at night i know like in the mornings i imagine her like waking up and having like maybe a stretching type of thing and exercising and doing her wraps i'm not sure what she would do at night maybe like undoing her wraps and just like relaxing and trying to shut down and meditating maybe so i feel like maybe she's off on her own doing that, inviting Buggles if he wants to join.
Starting point is 01:30:10 I feel like she wants to take care of you, make you not scared. Yeah. How about old Talitha? I think Talitha also clings to the kind of social unit we've created here and is disappointed when everyone wants to go do their own thing. You could go on a walk with... Oh, okay. She could go on a walk with Lucky to patrol around, listen to you singing.
Starting point is 01:30:37 But we don't talk. We don't have to talk. The good sign of friendship is when there's silence. You don't have to fill the air great friendships is when one person just sings and the other person stands walking in silence i think they do talk i think her and talitha might like gab a little bit like every so often it's like something from their past is like just like let out on the wind yeah and it's i also think i don't think talitha would ever admit this even to anybody here,
Starting point is 01:31:05 but I think she feels very comforted that there's like a fighter like Lucky with us too. It makes her feel a little more safe. Yeah, I think that's for Buggles too. I think this group makes him feel a little bit safer. He's still like scared pretty much all the time, but he feels safer with, with you guys. But it's like, and I think he is like particularly attached to Zephyr.
Starting point is 01:31:31 Yeah. What about brother Ramius? Kind of the odd man out. Yeah. I, I think he, I think he often asks you all at different times when it's appropriate and not invasive, like about your gait moment and about who you are.
Starting point is 01:31:56 And sometimes he writes as he talks to you. Sometimes he doesn't. He seems genuinely interested in who you are as people. But you would notice over time, you got to know him for a couple months, that he doesn't say much about himself. He doesn't talk much about, he never mentions his gate moment.
Starting point is 01:32:15 Even on asking, he just says, don't remember really. And this night, this campfire, I think similar to Buggles and Talitha, he feels uncomfortable being thrown into this situation. He's a researcher and a scholar and a priest, in a way, not even a priest, a brother. He's not an adventurer and he is not equipped to defend himself in the wild. and he is not equipped to defend himself in the wild. So he is very glad for Lucky and for what it seems like Zephyr can do.
Starting point is 01:32:53 So he's definitely a little nervous, and I would say tonight, he would also try to make some polite excuse to step away for a moment. Nature calls, you know know that sort of thing step out of the firelight and a good you know good distance away and then you know see him sort of like hands shaking like just like go into his robe like pull out this like like a piece of parchment, you know, and sort of like slowly tear it down the middle and like put some back. And then like sit down up against a tree, like place this parchment on his knee,
Starting point is 01:33:33 and then like go deep into his robes again and pull out this like dried leaf. It looks like tobacco he starts like breaking it up into the book paper and rolling it and it's flay leaf yep he like rolls it up and then like looking over his shoulder like lights a tinder twig and like starts smoking flay leaf like off in the woods and it's like his hand is shaking and his body is shaking and then within a few moments he eases down sort of smiles for a moment and then just like tears start running down his face can i ask everyone a quick question which of us would go home if they could?
Starting point is 01:34:29 Would anyone? No. Not that I wouldn't want to go back, but not right now. I think Lucky has maybe said, like, if this ever came up, Lucky has said, I have no home. Yeah, I think Jalitha would say, what's home? Yeah, okay. I mean, so that's something that would also,
Starting point is 01:34:46 that's common ground for each of us too. Yeah, you would also get the sense that Ramius is absolutely dedicated to finding out what happened when he went through that portal. I think Talitha might share the fact that she has a brother who also went through the gate and has not returned. And that is kind of her... Just one of the people we're looking for.
Starting point is 01:35:04 Yeah, exactly. So you're all kind of going through this. And this is your first night outside together. I think that in your time with the doctor, even when you were traveling from who's to love to seven archers, you were staying in hints, maybe another nicestns in town, but he took care of your room and board.
Starting point is 01:35:29 And so now you're out under the stars, although you look up and the thick canopy of trees, you can barely see any stars. It's dark. It's creepy. Maybe by candlelight before you go to bed, you start looking through on the history of the Wildwood by, like, some doctor, some scholar. And you don't get too far before you go to bed.
Starting point is 01:35:52 You want to be ready to go in the morning. Hopped up on Flayleaf. Hopped up on Flayleaf. Wait, what is Flayleaf? It's like a hallucinogen. Yeah, it's drugs. Are we aware or are you successful? He's hiding it.
Starting point is 01:36:05 He thinks he's hiding it, so I mean, it's kind of up to you guys. I think Talitha, our master detective, would be able to pick up on it. He's a user. Is there like, can I do a perception to see if I like, maybe I like. I think with your train of perception, you spend enough nights with him, you might smell something on him, but not know for sure and certainly not press. Not going to pry. Is it like illegal?
Starting point is 01:36:28 In some places, not in the River Kingdoms, you know, where there's no law. But yeah, it is. Yeah, it's a very like low end hallucinogen, natural hallucinogen. We've also established, Talitha, from your backstory that you hung out in the dirtiest taverns in town. You know Flayleaf. I know Flayleaf. You've also known him to smoke like tobacco as well. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:36:52 So it wouldn't be that weird, maybe. Yeah. It's Flayleaf Spliff. It's Flayleaf Spliff. Flayleaf Spliff. So you're reading about it, and you read that the Wildwood is the largest forest in Seven Arches, full of fey and wild magic. And the rumor is that one out of every ten animals in the Wildwood has been awakened to fey magic.
Starting point is 01:37:17 Wow. I hate fey stuff. Yeah, you do. Generally, it's one of my least favorite things, but this is cool. There are no roads larger than a footpath cutting through the dense interior of the forest. And, you know, you've also felt what you just, you read a passage, it's like everywhere you go, you feel like dozens of unseen eyes watching you. And there's all these stories about the Fae who inhabit the area, kind of treat the Wildwood as their sovereign nation. And the Fae that are friendly sort of have an accord with the Oak stewards. The book mentions the Oak stewards.
Starting point is 01:37:55 And those who are not friendly kind of have their own way of doing things. And then you read this story maybe as as you're drifting off, about a hydra that once stumbled into the Wildwood and came upon a gateway to the First World and was able to commune with the gateway and cause havoc until she was eventually put down. And you go to sleep. And you wake up now, hopefully, a day, less than a day away,
Starting point is 01:38:32 from the location that Lemafeld Thorn gave you. So you douse your fire, gather your things, load up Doug the Mule, and head out. About halfway through the second day now, the sun, did it set early today, or is it just unnaturally dark in this area of the forest? You're not sure, but it suddenly opens up into a clearing roughly 400 feet across,
Starting point is 01:39:07 long waist-high grass ahead of you as far as you can see, blowing in the wind like something out of a samurai movie. Gently rolling landscape. And you see way in the distance past past this open field, a clearing in a huge stone arch rising about 50 feet into the sky in the
Starting point is 01:39:33 center of this clearing, far away, and there looks to be some activity in front of the clearing. Reached St. Louis. You've reached St. Louis. Lucky says, That's the space needle. We made it. It's Pike's place.
Starting point is 01:39:51 It's Pike's place. Hold on. There's movement up ahead. I just want to say, I haven't had a chance to do it with all the role-playing and everything, but just letting you know, I don't have a lot of spells to prepare, but when he's praying in the morning, he's praying for his, like, combat set. You know, his, like, we're in a dangerous area. His blaster spells.
Starting point is 01:40:15 Oh, yeah. His blaster stuff. And Buggles casts Mage Armor on himself during his morning preparations as well. Should we? Can I do a perception check? Sure. So I'm going to give you... If this is Bolan,
Starting point is 01:40:30 or his... I would get a bonus for this with my Pursuer Elite. I'll keep that in mind. Ooh, natural 19. So that is going to be a 25. Okay. You can hear sound.
Starting point is 01:40:41 Again, this is a few hundred feet away. Muffled voices. And you see, like, something is going on near the base of the arch. But because of the grass and the distance, you can't see. And you can't make out who the figures are either. Maybe they have similar headdresses to the Oak Stewards. It's tough to tell.
Starting point is 01:41:08 Perhaps we should leave the horses for a moment and approach on foot. Cut through the grass. Yes. It would be hard to get the cart through this. All right, Doug. Easy. We'll be right back. And he'll tie up Doug.
Starting point is 01:41:23 And yeah. I'll do a perception too. As we're moving closer. Yeah. and he'll tie up Doug and yeah I'll do a perception too again as we're moving closer yeah I will as well do one as well same that is a 15 for brother Ramius
Starting point is 01:41:33 it's a 7 total it's a dirty 20 so you're trying to look as you move through the grass it's coming up over your waist it's awful have you ever walked in grass slices?
Starting point is 01:41:45 You're like, hope nothing awful is in here. I can't see snakes at my feet. You're walking through, and this whole glen seems shrouded in twilight, and it's too early in the day for it to be this dark. Arcana? Something is wrong here. Oh dear.
Starting point is 01:42:06 Is there magic at play? Like, can I do an arcana check? It does feel, do any of you have detect magic? Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:42:12 Is that a cantrip? Mm-hmm. Okay, if you're just like, you feel it, the presence. Presence of magic. Of all the world play
Starting point is 01:42:18 fey magic is just influencing this area. Just be aware there is magic here. I draw my Kopesh and Wakazashi. There is a fey presence, and who knows what we will see, but you cannot necessarily trust your senses.
Starting point is 01:42:34 Was there anything in your book about a stone arch? Not that I recall. It was mostly about the wildlife. It's possible it's an illusion. It's always possible with Faye. Everything could be an illusion. Everything you see, everything you hear. I cut the grass with my kopesh.
Starting point is 01:42:55 As you cut the grass with your kopesh, using your dirty 20 perception, you see something moving in the thick grass up ahead. And suddenly it just appears like 20 feet away from you in a second. And it looks like a hound.
Starting point is 01:43:15 Except its eyes are giant black pools. Oh no! And we'll see you next week. Natural twilight? I wonder why. Gorgas. Done. Gorgas.
Starting point is 01:43:30 God, they're going to hide every round. Not the Gorgas. Not the Gorgas. Oh, my God. We're going to roll for initiative next week. We're rolling for initiative. Next week. So excited.
Starting point is 01:43:40 Rolling for initiative. Next week. Next week. It's time to make your membership official become an official member of the nash today at join the nash.com that's join the n-a-i-s-h.com where you'll get access to exclusive
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