The Glass Cannon Podcast - Gatewalkers Episode 3 – Ooh Baby Baby, It's the Wilewood
Episode Date: September 29, 2023Having 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
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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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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
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
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?
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?
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.
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,
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.
The shirt compliment happened before.
Oh,
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. 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.
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?
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?
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.
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
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?
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
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
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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
singer.
Nailed it.
I guessed.
You got by
at the cocktail party.
I didn't know an actor
named Dua Lipa.
A woman singer?
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,
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?
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.
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
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
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?
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
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
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
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.
We'll be right back.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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...
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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...
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?
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.
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.
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.
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,
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
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
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?
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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,
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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,
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
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
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
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?
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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,
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.
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.
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,
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.
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?
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?
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
I guess we won't get dinner.
I hope the show is good.
Let's go.
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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...
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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?
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.
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.
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
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,
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?
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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?
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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,
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,
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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
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?
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.
Is there magic at play?
Like,
can I do an arcana check?
It does feel,
do any of you
have detect magic?
Yeah.
Yeah.
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
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.
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.
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.
Except its eyes
are giant black pools.
Oh no!
And we'll see you next week.
Natural twilight? I wonder why.
Gorgas.
Done.
Gorgas.
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.
Rolling for initiative.
Next week.
Next week.
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