Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry - Chapter One: It's Just a Camping Trip | Sagas of Sundry: Dread

Episode Date: June 30, 2025

A group of five friends get together for a summer camping trip. On Sat's insistence, they're going to the same place they went on last year's trip. What could possibly go wrong?   Sagas of Sundry: Dread is an original macabre tale hosted by Ivan Van Norman where cast members Matthew Mercer, Satine Phoenix, Amy Vorpahl, Taliesin Jaffe, and Amy Dallen play a giant puzzle game to build the tension. You don't want to know what happens if the tower collapses!    Featuring Darin De Paul as Mr. Wren. Video versions are available at https://www.youtube.com/geekandsundry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Insurance isn't one-size-fits-all, and shopping for it shouldn't feel like squeezing into something that just doesn't fit. That's why drivers have enjoyed progressives' name-your-price tool for years. With the name-your-price tool, you tell them what you want to pay, and they show you options that fit your budget. Enough hunting for discounts, trying to calculate rates, and tinkering with coverages. Maybe you're picking out your very first policy. Or maybe you're just looking for something that works better for you and your family. Either way, they make it simple to see your options. No guesswork, no surprises. Ready to see how easy and fun shopping for car insurance can be? Visit progressive.com and give the name your price tool a try. Take the stress out of shopping and find coverage that fits your life on your terms. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. It's time to bring on the blooms at the Home Depot with Spring Guard.

Deals. Find savings on hanging baskets and flowers to brighten your backyard or any space that needs instant color. Then get everything you need to plant and protect them with low prices guaranteed on soil and mulch. Dig into spring garden deals for four days at the Home Depot. Now through May 10. Exquision supply, see Home Depot.com slash price match for details. Stories. They would bind us together since the dawn of human. We've been telling stories sitting around the dancing light of campfires making shapes and spinning original tales of mystery Love intrigue and triumph people are in fact just walking stories waiting to be read I just so happen to collect stories but not always the happy kind you see I am a bit of a

Curator ideal in tales of terror Now my darling It is time to explore. Another macabre story, one in which a dreadful tower will decide the fate of our heroes. These are the sagas of Sundry. I am Mr. Wren, and this is dread. Last year, five friends came into the mountain for one last adventure, where they found something that would haunt them forever.

Now estranged, they're back to deal with the demons inside. This is their story. Welcome everyone to Dread! Ha ha ha! Before we jump in, before I declare the setting and everything of what you are in, actions that you commit will be declared through a pull from the tower. Now the tower, should it fall, and it may, and it likely will. Whoever last touched the tower will be the person who will be the person who will.

is removed from the story. All right, I think we need a little refresher on who and what and where you are and why you're here today. But in the spirit of playing dread the way that dread should be played, I would like you to tell me who you are why you make a pull from the tower.

We have to start this thing off right. It wouldn't be fair if you had a clean tower at the beginning of the story. Sat, would you begin for us? Yes. Oh man, this is. You got this. I'm sat and I am the ringleader of the,

oh, that was nice. I'm the ringleader of this band of misfits. Oh gosh, can I change my mind about it? Okay, couple small ground walls for the pulling. You can feel it, you can touch it, you can tap it, you can move it, but as soon as a block is in your hand and you're pulling it the way she is, you must own that block.

I'm owning it. I'm already nervous. It's the first pull of the night. You've got a long road ahead of you, Sat. All right. Okay, thank God. I haven't seen my friends in a while, so I got them all together for a little bit of revisiting

of what happened a year ago. I just want to re-experience them with my friends, and also I miss my friends a lot, because we haven't seen each other in a while. But you know whatever it's cool they're here now so they are here now they've all answered the call and they're with you Mr. Caden I'm Caden I haven't really Talk to anybody in the last year and as for the rest

It's none of your fucking business Right Darby I'm Darby and I'm Darby and Ah, so you found our first hidden clue. We will read it, let's save it for now. I'm Darby Trellis, and I had what other people would consider a freak out. I found a purpose with this spirit of the goat and kind of dove a little deeper and realized he might have been trying to help us and as much as people think I've gone off the deep end,

I feel like I'm more sane than I've ever been, and I have found what I think are ways to communicate with this spirit and gain his aid or his power. And in doing that, I have become estranged with my, you know, now ex-girlfriend. But I'm excited to be here, and I'm here for a fucking purpose. Raina, would you please?

Yeah, my name is Reina, and the girl I love is losing her mind. And really, I went away to my first year of art school, which had always been my dream. But after this weird camping trip we took last year, she's gone down this road. And I'm so worried about her. But I've been 3,000 miles away,

so I haven't had a chance to even see her. This is going to prove that it's just a camping trip. We're going to make it through. Everything's going to be fine. And I'm going to help bring her back. to earth. Great. Tanner.

Well, I'm Tanner and getting to pool last, which is very fitting for me. It seems to be a theme in a lot of my life. The experience that we had together last year was unexpected, and I'm still trying to process exactly what happened. My rational mind tells me that what happened was absurd and was either a shared hallucination or something that this asshole slipped into our water. water, but at the same time there is some semblance of recurring nightmares that continue to follow and plague me. So I think there may be something to it that's

caused me to focus my photography. Occasionally not the subject but the dark space around them for every photograph of darkness that I take and develop and there's nothing there helps soothe me and know that whatever it is that we encounter isn't following me still. All right. It is June 13th. After eight hours of hiking from your car, the crunching of gravel underneath your feet tells you that your destination is near. The familiar sign of government property, no camping, alcoholic beverages, open fire, comes into your view. Completely fenced and barbed off, you have an intense desire to say something, Darbyne. What is it? Let's get a picture.

Yeah, that's nice. That's a good idea. All right. So, Tanner, are you going to indulge them with a photo? Oh, come on. I mean, let me record. Of course, of course, of course. Let's just get over. Come on, guys. Lighting's a little bad from this angle at me.

Just, there we go. Yay! Great. Caden, as you look towards the heavy fence in front of you, you notice a few of the poles holding the barbed wires seem to be bending in more of an easternly, the direction you're going, than before. and you actually even notice a bit of torn fabric

from when you and Tanner use your sleeping bags as buffers. No fucking way. How are you all getting over this time? I'd say based on just the memory of the fact that we had scaled this fence last time, and my general nature of trying to be the prepared one, I brought some wire cutters to try and clamp through from the bottom this time. Oh, you don't want to jump up like last time? No, I do not distinctly want to do that.

You want a damage property or should I damage property? I mean, if you're gonna offer. That's fine. All right, Kaden, as you come in with the clippers, you write up one of the poles and right to the sides so the whole thing just leans in so I can, we can kind of fake it back up. I can use the cloth to fake it back up and we can pop it down. That's pretty big.

Make a poll. I hate you. You offer. My God, these are beautiful. Man. We have four in a row. Oh yeah, fuck me. Oh.

Yeah. Liz. Oh, great. So, Caden, you trim the barbed wire all the way up and you watch as the fence first draining for a moment suddenly snaps and pulls itself back to Eastwardly and you watch as the large pole that keeps the barbed wire and fence flies some dirt up in the midst of the area.

Fuck. Come on, let's go. Sat, we are going back to the house. Yeah, totally. I think that we should just retrace our steps, right? Because I have these notes, and I was thinking that if we take pictures while we're there, and then we'll be able to prove that, like,

oh, of course stuff happened. You were there. It all happened. You took pictures, we just didn't get the pictures. Thank you. Do you encourage her. We're just going to go camping. Wait, what are you my mom now?

You don't encourage her? Like I need some patronizing. What is going to do? Okay, guys, come on. Like, we're just, we just got together. We haven't seen each other in forever. Let's just go and then, you know, like, we're talking. Well, just remember not to encourage me, I guess.

As you move farther into the woods, you actually begin to follow the pathway that led you to the old burnt-out cabin that you remember from one year ago. Darby, as you're wandering through the pathway, you, out of nowhere, seem to see a piece of paper folded up and braced against the side of one of the old, rotten, willowy trees

that are in the area. Yes. You pick it up and it seems to be an old note. He's speaking. Would you like to open it up? Yes. Simon, do not listen to your father. The devil is in 540.

My dear Agatha, sadly despite my best efforts, I can only find something of value on 540. The mountains are quite dense, you see, and I can find no better positioning. While there is a bit of interference, I hope you can enjoy what you can in your downtime. This is a beacon. This is a beacon for us. Let me see. It means we're in the right spot and we're on the right track.

Right track to what precise? To achieving our goal for being here. We don't know if it's the father we should be trusting or Agatha. But don't tease her. Why, you're doing it. As you all begin to read the note, a familiar sent purses into your nostrils. It's that old copper smell that was part of the first signs

and the first comings of what you remember before. Things started to get odd and it's there fleeting briefly for a moment, but then it's gone again. Would you like to purse forward? Come on guys, let's get there because it gets pretty crazy when it's dark here. Yeah. You feel all right?

been okay. You know, I've been through a year of this of everyone literally asking me that same question and I don't need this right now, Tanner. I am very cool. Look, I know we've all had a very interesting experience together and I've spent a lot of time just as you have, trying to come to terms with what it is that we all saw and there are actually a number of very prominent possibilities as to why these things happen, things that I hope we all can talk about and discuss. I've been trying to talk to someone this entire time, and no one has come forward and I gave up,

and so I leaned in, and that was the only thing I could do. I don't want to be persecuted for that. I'm not persecuting you. I would never, I would never persecute you for this, but I also, I don't want to see us lose each other over this. Never mind. Tanner, make a pull. In the midst of while you're talking,

you realize that the forest is getting more dense around you, and you've begun to wander off trail with Darby a little bit. In fact, you're pursing out from the side of the woodlands, and you feel something at the bottom of your foot as you kick a rotting carcass. You look down below and you see a deer that has fresh blood laid out in front of it, and it seems to have giant gashing wounds opening it. Half-eaten deer is laid out in front of you.

Oh my god, he's here. It's clearly a ripped apart animal. You can see that it looks like it may have been attacked by a bear or a coyote. It definitely doesn't look like it was killed for sport. It was certainly killed to be eaten. Is there a heart left? There is absolutely no heart left.

It has absolutely been torn apart and eaten with everything else that's inside of it. There's mostly bone, skin, and blood. Is there anything higher up, like any remains higher up in the trees? Most of the trees are actually really high-branched kind of pine trees that cover a vast canopy above you. Because of that, the darkness is much more pressing

upon all of you. It seems more like twilight than day. And that seems to be maybe a manifestation of your own mind, or is it just the lack of light from the trees above? It doesn't matter because as you begin you to walk forward more, you start to see a clearing in front of you as the forest breaks.

And yes, you see the withered single story frame still barely holding its tattered roof after this long year laid out in front of you, and you can see the old campfire that you made back then and all of your gear, the things that you left. Oh, there's a little bit. Oh, there's definitely like my half of the B-Together Forever

Heart necklace. I get that real quick. Put it away. Do I see that? Probably. Go and check and see if any of the film I had, my old pack is all still functional if it's been like waterlogged and ruin. Waterlogged would probably be in the circumstances.

Unless Tanner was smart enough to put it inside of plastic baggies. He would have had it probably in the little plastic containers and probably sealed away, but. Would you like to make a pool for? Go for it. Go for it. Have some fresh film beyond what you brought, maybe develop something that you haven't seen from that first trip. Thank you.

You. You know exactly what to say. All right guys, I did bring some supplies. I can do some quick. You can develop that film? With some time, I mean, it's not like a fast thing. I have to just set up a small dark space in here. Got some batteries.

Darkness, how will we find it? out here. Oh god. Shut up. You know what I mean. Greetings adventurers. Spring has sprung here in Los Angeles and that means it's a brief period where it's only 75 degrees instead of 95 degrees. I'll take it. And that means I've been outside a lot more. Walking around, occasionally galloping after a toddler hopped up on juice boxes, traveling a bit, you know the vibe. And after doing some spring cleaning, my wardrobe I gotta say it looking a little bit sad. I want clothes that can keep up with me and my son, but updating my wardrobe every spring sounds pretty expensive.

So that's why I wound up signing up for Fabletics as a VIP. It let me overhaul my springtime outfits without obliterating my bank account. New VIPs unlock major savings on that first purchase, so trying new fits feels way more doable. When I signed up as a new VIP with Fabletics, I got 70 to 80% off everything. It made it easy to grab a few new pieces without overthinking it. And the quality really surprised me. Everything feels premium and soft and breathable, but you're not paying those premium prices.

What I like most, though, is how versatile everything is. You've got stuff you can work out in, but also wear out. There's matching sets, lightweight hoodies, joggers, teas, you name it. The kind of stuff you can throw on in the morning and not worry about later. When I'm at home, my favorite thing to pull on is the oversized hoodie. It's so comfy I could just live in it 24-7. It's perfect for walking my dog on like a chilly night. But what I'm out and about,

I've really been loving the ribbed Johnny Collar polo. It makes me look like I should be taking a high-powered meeting by the pool at the White Lotus, but hopefully with less murder involved. I don't know. It's insanely comfortable. I highly recommend it. So shop now at fabletics.com slash critical role to get 70 to 80% off everything when you sign up as a new VIP. Take a quick style quiz and be sure to select critical role when prompted to unlock your 70 to 80% off.

This is a limited time offer, so don't wait. Again, that's fabletics.com slash critical role for 70 to 80% off everything as a new VIP. And now, on to the show. Greetings, Adventures, Lentures. Lately, I've been getting a bit more intentional about what I wear from day to day, because instead of just falling out of whatever laundry baskets nearby, I've been leaning into pieces that feel easy and comfortable,

but still put together because it just makes getting dressed simpler when I have a plan. Quince has been my go-to to help with that, because the fabrics feel elevated, the fits are clean and everything just works without me needing to overthink it. And Quintz has all the wardrobe staples you need for spring. Think 100% European linen shorts and shirts from just $34. They're lightweight, they're breathable, they're comfortable, your legs and torso will thank you, and you will still look put together.

And clean 100% Pima Cotton Tees with a softness. Well, you got to feel that to believe it, believe you me. Their pants also hit that same balance. They're relaxed, they're comfortable, but still polished enough to wear base. basically anywhere. And everything's priced between 50 and 80% less than what you'd find at similar brands. Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen, so you're getting premium materials without the markup. And since spring is here in Los Angeles, a brief period where it's 75 degrees instead of 95 degrees, I spruced up my wardrobe with a pair

of the comfort stretch traveler five pocket pants and the heritage wash denim shirt. Not only do they feel great, but I unequivocally look, good as hell while wearing them. That's just science. So refresh your every day with luxury you'll actually use. Head to quince.com slash critical roll for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash critical roll for free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash critical roll. plastic, the wonderful containers, and it smells like a perfectly undeveloped film.

Is that something you wanna do now is set up a dark room in this area? I'm looking for a good space to get that started once the sunsets. There is always the dried out burnt cabin. Other than that, you did remember your conversations from the old prospector who had mentioned that there was caves in this area

and with a little bit of looking and finding, you may be able to find something. Based on the previous experience in that house, I'd probably be a little more comfortable in like a shallow cave. Great. So you want to start looking around? Probably that, yeah. For a little cave. And is my sketchbook still here?

Yes, it is. It's waterlogged, it's stained. But you can still tell their Darby. And you can still tell their Darby. And it's covered in, it's just weird for me to look through because, like, I don't doodle dragons anymore. And it's, the ink is running, and you can watch is actually the line drawings

of your original artwork. These menacing. It was like half my portfolio for art school, you know. Yeah. These beautiful depictions of some of your best work, Raina. Literally, even with the running, dripping lines that make these creatures far more menacing than you ever intended, it is still some of your best work.

What about the rest of you? Are you gonna be setting up camp, or are you gonna help Tanner find a shadow cave somewhere? Hey, Kaden. Did you bring any of the stuff so we can kind of relive last time? Remember that fun stuff? I didn't. I brought this. Yeah, that works. That totally works.

Because I figured, you know, how else am I going to drug you all? Kidding. Funny. He didn't do that. I really didn't do that. He didn't. Only, that was a consensual thing that we did. Are you trying to, like, get us all riled up?

You're trying to push all of our buttons? Is this, is this fun? Is this a fun thing? Look at where we are. We are, we are pushing a giant fucking button tonight. Yeah, but it's better if we're all in it together, man. We are all in it together. Are we?

I'm here for you. Just because we weren't around each other for the last year, which is fine, doesn't mean we're not here right now, right? Yes. Yeah, we're here together again. Yeah, yeah. Darby? Glad you're figuring out Caden finally.

Do you want to help me find a cave? Yeah, I'm in. All right. All right, as we're, as Tanner and I are walking, Tanner, man, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm on edge, but like, that shit you're talking about, us talking and like being real people, that's all I've wanted. And no one has been around to do that. And I had to, you know, like, I'm a person. Like I have to do something.

And that, this thing of, oh, Darby freaked out. Darby got naked on campus. Like that, that is less crazy than you think. That was deliberate, actually. and it had nothing to do with anybody else, and it had everything to do with me, and it accomplished something. I'm not judging you for anything you've done. Look, I've...

You know, we've all had our weird shit we've dealt with over this past year, and we've all had our own methods of doing so. I just want to make sure that you understand, you know, that there are a lot of possibilities as to what happened. I still don't fucking trust, Kaden. I've a firm theory that he's largely responsible

for what we all saw. and it's just enjoying this year-long wait for it to come to a second sequel to the delightful little joke. As you wander around, you can actually start to see a small dirt trail come into view. And in fact, on the side of this small dirt trail, you can see the cornered edge of a brown and white side. It seems to be close to what is now the foothills of the Black Mountain. sheer scape that is coming close to you. Or would you like to clear it off to see what it says?

Yeah. Makeable? I mean, the weird thing is I trust all of you guys, you know? I want all of us to be really protected. And I think the best way to do that is to open up. I mean, my expectations when we got on this trip was for everyone to be like, hey, we're back, we're doing this. And instead it's just been silence.

It's also been a year since we've seen each other. And in that year, we've all had time to think about whatever happened last time where we were here. Give it some time. Just give it some time. I just hope we don't try to kill this thing. If there was a thing. Darby, as you pull the moss from the black and white sign, you can see an old campground sign. It seems to have the archetypical tent with the man in a backpack holding a stick that shows that this is a hiking trail somewhere nearby. And a lot of the name of the trail, as well as how far it is, it seemed to been rusted or worn out with time.

But you can see that the sheer mountain scape is not far by. In fact, it's just over the horizon. I'm looking for a cave, that might be the best bet we're gonna find. Yeah, all right. Now as you get closer to the side of the mountain, you look around and you can actually see an old trail. In fact, you can barely tell that there was even a trail there. It's so pathed over that it looks like it hasn't been maintained

for years, maybe even decades. And more importantly, that smell comes back. That dark, coppery stink ozone that seems to purse into your nostrils for just a second. And this time, it is rich, it is thick. Darby, for you, it is pure ecstasy. Tanner, what does it make you feel like? I immediately begin taking pictures of every single dark shadow

space where there is no light in our immediate vicinity. You take photo after photo, and as you pull your camera down, you see something. It's on the floor next to the trail. It wasn't there before. It seems to be leading up to the trail, which is so distinctly blocked from overgrowth and various nasty amenities that nature has given it over the years. To come get it?

Uh, no, I'd like to stare at it for a minute. Please, stare at it. That seems to have an unlatched hinged in the front. and a tiny little tortoise. Darby? What? Darby, do you see that? Oh yeah.

See, Taylor, it is real, and I'm not insane. Like this, our goat spirit is leaving us hints. Okay. He wants something from us, but it's fine. Like it's not, I mean, there's no such thing as evil. I beg to differ. And I know a lot about goats. I don't know anything about the spirit animal,

a turtle, but I imagine its stability, its sturdiness, and protection. Darby, are you going to come get it? Yeah. Oh, my God. Oh, it's separate. He's speaking to us. It's a protective totem. You should keep it.

I'm fine. I don't. Just open the box. Oh, man. Jackpot City. Seems to be old twine cord wrapped in a piece of rolled, dried, and hideed leather. Pick it up, put it down.

Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Five, pick it up, put it down. Derby? Pick it up, put it down, six. What? Nothing.

So Tanner, you look around and you can see that it is getting dark. Darby, I think it's probably not safe to continue. I was hoping we'd find something closer by, but we're- Okay, yeah, we can go, we can go. I think this is all we needed. We don't need, well, we'll get the film developed later,

but this is important. Okay, well, let's pick up the patient and vacuuming together. I'll see if I can set something up in the house. Okay. So, as you wander back, how are our three at camp holding? I have been taking my moldy, old, fucked up clothing and tearing it into strips and trying to make a couple torches just in case.

Why don't you make a pull? and make a torch for us. I hate you. You are the worst person. Oh, where are we gonna go? What am I gonna do? But wouldn't it be wonderful, Caden, to have a torch, the comfort and security

of dark, warm, light? I feel like I wanna deal with this base, man. What is it you're afraid of, Caden, that you feel like you need to make a torch out of the things that were once yours? So fuck yourself as well. what I'm afraid of, you can go fuck yourself. That's what I thought.

Raina and Sat, how about you? I go up to you, I'm like, Hey, so how's art school? What's the art school like? It's good, it's really good. You're learning, like, you know, I mean, I know I used to teach you and all, but like you're learning more, right?

Yeah, a lot of buildings and still life and stuff. That sounds super boring, I'm glad I didn't go. Yeah, I just, I kind of gave it up, and it's not a big deal. Bring anything to show? No. If you got something to show, I'd love to see it. I don't...

She doesn't want to show it. You can't pressure her into doing things she doesn't want to do. Pressure people into doing things they don't want to do all the time. That's true. It's kind of... You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet. How much did we save?

Enough. Enough to get lost! Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your oceanfront room. Just steps. from the water. The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. We all have that dream trip. We've been wishing we could go on. But too often,

life or usually price gets in the way. That's why price line is here to help you turn your dream trip into reality. With up to 60% off hotels and up to 50% of When off lights, you can book everything you need for your next adventure. Don't just dream about that next trip. Book it with Priceline. Download the Priceline app or visit Priceline.com and book your next trip today. Go to your happy price, price line. It's practically half my point.

You should totally quit and just like travel, you know, because like there's so much out there that you could draw. You know, I mean, it's just art school. Real like stuff. Yeah, real life experiences. But what have you guys? I called you didn't answer. answer. Yeah. Oh, did you call? Yeah. You called, yeah. You called him? You didn't call me. It's fine. I told you guys to come visit me. Shit got real busy and just got distracted. I'm sorry. I moved out.

Like, I live on my own now. Yeah, I got a couple friends that like hang out with sometimes. I mean, they're not like you guys. But, you know, like, I tried to tell some people about all this stuff that we experienced here. They totally didn't believe me. Yeah, it was weird. I don't talk about what happened last year. I really wish you guys would have answered my phone calls because I was like, you know, only you guys can prove all the stuff that we experienced,

but, you know, because my parents didn't even believe me. As you look down, Raina, not making the eye contact with Sat that she's so desperately looking for at this moment, you actually see somewhere scattered in the brush A set three, well, take a look. Wow, guys, these are like two old arrowheads. Wow, these are so cool. Oh yeah, those are totally like,

you find them everywhere here because of the battle that happened a couple hundred years ago. Hey, this is like, maybe this land is like haunted, like that movie that just came out with like, you know, like the houses that were built on the land with like the Indian burial grounds and stuff. I don't think it's on it.

That's not funny, but this is, what, what battle? Oh, there was just like neighboring tribes that were trying to fight for land. Should we be touching? As Sat is bringing this history lesson into Bear, Darby and Tanner walk back to the camp. Hey, this looks like fun. Look, we found arrowheads.

What were you guys doing out there? You guys were gone for a while. We tried to find some caves, but most of the paths are pretty overgrown. We figured, before it got to dark would be safe to just come back and camp here with you guys we found something yeah what it was in this box that I mean like can I just put the cards on the table that our spirit is speaking to us Darby no it's not

anything's possible because what we experienced last year was for real real like really real and if she has been doing research and has been looking up stuff. Maybe she's right. Rainer, I'm just asking you to try, okay? Guys, if it were real, why would we want it to talk to us? It is talking to us. The goat man was real.

We fought him. You were awesome. You were awesome. You were awesome. You were awesome. There's nothing wrong with this. We were awesome. You look up and you see a large lightning bolt

Strike down from the land as it's you look up and in the midst of your arguing, you see dark storm clouds start to move across the entire skyline. Grab your stuff, get the safety. We should help. How's the roof of the house? It's stable.

It has load-bearing beads. Right, does it look like it would be any protection to a storm's rain? Better than being out in the middle of it. Agreed, all right. There's also a cave. In the house. As I run into the house, this falls on the ground.

You dropped to. You want to comment on that too? Can I see it? Yeah, all right. So as you all run into the house, you look into it and see the familiar broken, dishevelled floor that was once there, and the hole of which Caden was referencing

that originally led you down this rabbit hole in the first place. Seems to very much not be there. In fact, there wasn't any sign that there was ever a hole in the first place. Okay. Fuck you. This actually helps me with my amount of fucking theories about last year. And now that we're here, I want us to talk openly about this.

Hallelujah. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. Look me in the eye. And please be honest. If there is any sense of salvaging any of these relationships, did you, under any circumstances, dose any of us last time we were here? Nope. He didn't even have enough, because he knew you guys weren't gonna do it. I only had 10 bucks worth. What, what drugs were you on last year?

A little bit of LSD, a little something, something. Okay. You sure you didn't think it was funny? I think a lot of things were funny. That doesn't sound funny, and it certainly didn't work out to be funny, so no. I have done enough LSD in the last year to know that you don't just LSD yourself into a hole. There's drug real and real real and that was not... I don't know what the fuck that was.

I don't know what happened. It wasn't fucking me. If there was some sort of drug-induced bullshit, it was nothing I have, I have nothing that fucking good. Do you remember? I still have burns on the inside of my arms from that crazy fucking shit. You can't, that's not fake.

Didn't fucking hallucinate that shit? Oh my god, that's the same. And the laughter, do you remember the laughter? Oh my god. See, I mean, we weren't imagining this. I know. You can actually start to hear the sound of the wind. wood creaking around you as the wind begins to pick up.

It actually begins to bend and creak the wood. You have to stop. You have to stop this. Stop it! Leave you stop alone. God damn it! This is important. This is happening, okay?

Jenner, you want to be practical. Entrances, exits, windows. You guys, fuck not now. What are the entrances, what are the exits? What do we have in here? I have a ritual that we could do that would protect us. The bending of the wood creptures. creaks even more and you can actually hear the splintering of wood underneath you, above

you, around you, to the side of you. Is it beginning to rain? Yes, it is beginning to rain. I'm taking my pack that has all of my film and my camera and I'm taking off my jacket and billowing it inside to protect it. So you wrap everything together and you can actually start to hear the small pat. Cuccoo! The thunder hits you and the base fills you as you continue just to look around you.

you as you frantically start setting up tents and putting things together. The only thing besides the padding of rain that is the comfort in your silence at the moments is this creaking, bending wood of this old, rotten house that you're currently bedding underneath. So where'd you find this ritual? In a book. What? In a book.

In the library. All right. What have you been looking for? It's very logical. We were attacked by something spiritual of the other world, of another realm, which I'm sorry, Sadd. I should have reached out to you. Obviously, we're on the same page. I can't believe you didn't.

Yeah. You don't know what I went through trying to convince everybody else. All I needed was you guys to like vouch for me. Brick wall, I stopped. Anyway, there is a ritual. It's a protection ritual. And I think we should do it. Absolutely not.

Raina, if it makes you feel more comfortable, let her do it. There's no harm in that. It would help if all of us participated. Everyone will get a mirror and everyone will get a candle. Everyone. The reason we're doing this is to protect us from the negative energy.

Immediately after doing this ritual, something bad will happen. But because there's so many of us, like absorbing the negative energy, it'll be a little bit diluted. The more people there are, the more diluted it'll be. The, thank you. The first thing we have to do is send our essence into the mirror. Once you're sure that you have your essence in the mirror, you're going to breathe and make a fault.

on the mirror. Then you're going to light your candle and make a scorch marker on the mirror. Then you've set it on the ground. We all hold hands. We can't pick it up, put it down, until we are all on the same page that we have sent away the negativity and then we all stomp and break our mirrors. But isn't breaking mirrors bad? Yes, that's the point. So are we doing this? Yes. For everybody's sanity, I just want you to just take one second and acknowledge that you may be crazy, but you may be right. Thank you for for acknowledging that I might be right. Everyone, send your essence into the mirror.

This is real. Good sleep is everything. That's why Ali's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-Dienine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights

won't stand a chance. Find Ollie's sleep solutions for the whole family at ollie.com. That's OLLL-Y.com. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home. With agents who

close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream. Now light your candles and make a scorch market. It can be as big or small as you When you're done, set it in front of you, blow out your candles. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down.

Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. No doubts. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down.

Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Pick it up, put it down. Take it up, put it up, put it up, put it up, put it up, take it up, put it up, take it up, put it up. Mine didn't break. There's a splintering of wood as you start to feel

that large bits of debris are starting to fall down around you. In fact, you hear a large crack as the roof above you starts to give away, and you can see rain starting to pour through as Darby make a pull the roof is falling on you. you and everyone around you. The splintering of the wood is pure and essenceful, as it essentially is bearing down on you. This small flimbing wood, this wind,

and this thunder, and this rain is pushing all around you as this ritual that you just performed as you invoked something bad to happen. And by God, if the roof falling down you isn't one of the worst things you could literally kill every single one of your friends right here and right now, unless you get them out. But you grab your friends and you pull them

all out and midst the side of this cabin and you watch as the roof collapses down upon you, crushing your equipment, everything, except for Tanner's bundle as it falls and breaks and scatters across the floor. That was all my stuff, that was it. That's all I had left, right there, and it's gone because your stupid, stupid thing that you did.

This was meant to happen. This is part of it, something, I didn't, you don't know these things, you don't know what's gonna happen. What do you mean that was all you have left? It's all I have, I just. You said you moved in with someone. I said I was living alone and in that tent and I'm not allowed to go home and that was all I had left.

Thanks a lot. Not cool. Nobody asked, nobody called me. It's not funny. Holy fuck, yes it is. That is you look out across it, staring at all, of everything that you've ever owned laying out right there in front of you. You look out and you can see an orange light. It seems to be in between the trees somewhere, but it's deep in the forest.

And your mascara and your eyeliner is running down your face as you are sopping, wet, all of you, as the wind and the rain is pouring onto you deeper and stronger. It's starting to chew your bones. Just go. There's a, maybe there's a building over there. See, you can salvage any of our shit in the fire.

Can we get anything out of the cabin? What would you like to get, Caden? My pack. Only the tower will tell you. Do you want it that bad? Yes, I do. As you begin to dig through the various debris, these memories are coming back to you

of looking through the debris before the roof had fallen down and just all of the things that were inside. And surprisingly enough, amidst the rubble, you can see the small bit of military green pack that you brought with you, and you pull on it, and you pull on it, and though you rip a strap off in the process, you manage to recover your pack.

Are we all heading towards the light? It's out of the darkness. I can start walking off. Towards it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As you begin to walk into the tree line yet again, there's a small bit of comfort in knowing that when you go through the tree line,

the rain ceases to be so intense. In fact, it feels much more like a gentle, pleasant drizzle. As you go through this forest, you start to feel the presence of the trees begin to get tighter and tighter. In fact, the straight, branched, safe trees that you were using, cover four ever so briefly, now seem to be more gnarled and their branches are twisted

and they seem to be reaching out for you with their small, clipping, clasping, tiny little twigs. Seeing as how the rain isn't quite as bad as it was, I'm going to take my photography pack out and kind of put the strap over my shoulder and I'm going to come up behind sat. Thanks to you. Cut up by the trees. As you get closer and closer to the orange light that is inviting you, you start to see that the trees are breaking a little. The area is becoming open and very quickly you actually come across an overpatched dirt road

that then leads to the porch of a house that you see in the distance. and the two glowing porch lights seem to be the two guiding beacons that lend you through the forest to this one house. Seems to have been built centuries, a century ago. Guys, there are people. Let's go knock on the door. They can let us inside.

Yeah, we should just ask. But on the off chance that, again, maybe I'm right, like this is easily haunted. At the very least, I think we should go carefully look into the interior and see what we're dealing with before we knock on the door. You don't build a door all the way out here

if you want people knocking in the first place. This is true. All right, so who's going to the front of the house? Rana, you? I'm probably gonna follow quickly behind her to make sure. I'll be careful. I know, I just, let's have a look

and see what we're dealing with before we actually. Well, why don't you both go to the house then? Oh. Yes. There is a house to see. As you two, walk up to the midst of the porch, you can see the white light,

and now the moon start to bear its own light down upon you. And as you look, you can see that, though there is lights in the house, the heavy curtains seem to be restricting any detail of what you could see behind it. Something scurries across the side of the window. There's a giant cockroach. So Tanner, as you reach your hands out,

you realize that the rain is picking up. There's something on the door. As you all gather up into the top of the porch, you can feel the occasional drip, drip, dripping of the water as it comes down through the various cracks. Guys, this is crazy. There's a letter stuck in the door, and it's dated June 5, 1924.

Do you want to read it? June 5, 1924. My dear Agatha, it is with the deepest regret that I leave you to render services to those who see my efforts as something of value. you. While those I work with are all underneath me, I am forced to leave my retirement to play mediator to their bickering. However, the continued payment I receive keeps both our coffers full and a porch in our house for our remaining child. I want you to understand, my Agatha, that I do not

blame you. And while things have been difficult, there can be no others in my life. It is with great regret to leave you in such grief, as the wounds are still far too fresh. I hope the radio I installed can provide a small amount of comfort while I'm away. We were lucky to find such a remote location where my head can be clear, and my work allows me to lease this land so I can spend my spare moments alone with you. Know forever, dear Agatha that you will forever hold the key to my heart. The bios. Well, I guess you never got the note.

I guess not. Or she didn't care. Or, no, I mean, I mean, he said he can only find something of value on 540. I mean, I, 540. On 540. Simon. Simon, do not listen to your father. This is her.

The remaining child. Or not. Wait, wait, wait, wait. So who's Simon? Their son. I think it's Tobias and Agatha are married or have a kid together and the son is Simon and Agatha is warning against 540, but Tobias is saying that there's something of value on 540. I think 540 is a radio station. Thank you. Those are yours. They're ours. Hold on. Thanks. Thanks. What's it say? Underneath the porch there is spare key. Oh my goodness. Okay. It's raining. No, it's course. What are you doing?

down all the things out. You want to get attacked by something. Well, I guess you don't have to worry about knocking. Thanks. You can feel the heavy rain torrent down upon you. As you dig around and look and you are pushing away old cobwebs and spiders. Guys, we found it. That's pretty gross.

That is really gross. I'm covered in mud now. I've dropped down to the ground. This box represents the small open chasm that is underneath the porch that you could very easy reach your hand into in order to acquire the spare key. Raina, if you would like to reach your hand under the porch to grab it, tell me now. Yes.

Then what I would like you to do, as slowly or as quickly as you like, plunge your hand in there and grab the key. And just for my own purposes, do you mind telling me what you're feeling and how you're doing while you do it? Oh, God, oh my God. I have spent so much trying to act like this doesn't exist,

but the truth is that I wake up with nightmares about it all the time. But I love these people, and you are brilliant. We'd be stuck out here to friggin get eaten by monsters in the rain if you hadn't put that piece of paper on the other thing, and I'm going to get us inside where we will be warm and safe. What's going on in there, Raina? I don't know what. I had a funny feeling.

Was it actually dry bugs? No, they're not dry. Yeah. Raina, you've got the key. You can go unlock the door. Don't you want to go inside and get away from the porch of which all the wiggly squigglys were in? Let's go inside.

No bad plan. As you approach and come around the side of the porch, you can feel as the wind and the rain are continuing to bed, down upon you and it is not letting up. It is getting cold and it is chilly and you can still feel the things wiggling in your hands as you now walk up to the door and place the key upon the keyhole. This episode is brought to you by Netflix's remarkably bright creatures.

What if a Pacific octopus held the key to a mystery that could heal your heart? Well, that's Tova's reality. An elderly widow working at an aquarium. Tova forms an unlikely friendship with the crumudgeonly Marcellus, Whose remarkable intelligence leads her to a life-changing discovery. Remarkably bright creatures is now playing only on Netflix. Relax and let Ralph's delivery handle your grocery shopping this week. We start with only the freshest items,

then review your list and carefully choose each one. Then we pack it all up and deliver it in as little as 30 minutes, so you can feel confident it's what you ordered. Fresh groceries, your way, with Ralph's delivery and pickup. Get free delivery during online deal days, plus $30 off your first online order. Ralph's, fresh for everyone. She does a lot for your family. Mother's Day is your chance to show her you see it,

with a gift from a brand trusted for generations to help people get the moment right. 1,800 flowers. With double blooms from 1,800 flowers, buy one dozen roses and get another dozen for free. It's a bigger gesture, backed by 50 years of experience delivering fresh flowers, so you can feel confident sending something, that lands. Show up for her with double blooms at 1,800flowers.com slash Spotify. That's 1,800flowers.com slash Spotify.