Critical Role - C3E17 Heart-to-Heartmoor

Episode Date: March 24, 2022

With a strange job to take and stranger mysteries to chase, Bells Hells prepares for their journey into the Oderan Wilds while opening up about their lives and their secrets...Due to the improv nature of Critical Role and other RPG content on our channels, some themes and situations that occur in-game may be difficult for some to handle. If certain episodes or scenes become uncomfortable, we strongly suggest taking a break or skipping that particular episode. Your health and well-being is important to us and Psycom has a great list of international mental health resources, in case it’s useful: http://bit.ly/PsycomResourcesWatch Critical Role live Thursdays at 7pm PT on https://twitch.tv/criticalrole and https://youtube.com/criticalrole. To join our live and moderated community chat, watch the broadcast on our Twitch channel.

Hello, spellcasters, sages, and spectators. I'm Ashley Johnson, and you're listening to the Critical Role Podcast Network. Tap into our magical narrative by watching Critical Role as it airs on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Pacific on twitch.tv slash criticalrole or youtube.com slash criticalrole. Twitch subscribers can watch the video on demand right away, or you can catch it the following Monday on YouTube. As always, Critical Role will be available right here in podcast form on Thursdays, a week after the initial broadcast. And now, let's scry into the story and see what mysteries it holds for us, shall we?

Hello, everyone! Welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. We play Dungeons & Dragons! Tonight marks Critical Role's seventh year anniversary! We've been doing this shit

for way too long, and thank you for coming along with us and watching us ungracefully age all this time. We are genuinely super thrilled to celebrate this with all of you. This is such an incredibly special occasion, whether it be a Twitch, YouTube, or apparently in theaters with other critters,

which is crazy things to say right now. That doesn't make sense. But welcome, those of you who are here. But thank you for coming along for this wild ride, whether it be just this is day one

or you've been us since the very first time we aired. Just so appreciative. This is so weird that we're still able to do this together and still be weird and wild

and it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. Go get your snacks. Yeah, okay. But thank you. We'll go ahead and get this off before we jump into the game with some announcements,

beginning with our first sponsor of the night, Cash App, Sam. Yeah, boy! Welcome one, welcome all to the first ever Cash App Presents The Finger Championship Games! I'm Vince McSam, owner of and promoter of the FCG, and the first thing you need to know is all the cash in my hands is fake. Why? Because I use Cash App, the easiest way to send, spend, and save money, and the reigning champion number one finance app in the App Store. And speaking of winners, it's time to crown one in the Finger Championship Games.

Yeah, boy! This ain't your grandpa's wrestling circuit. No bloated beefcakes here at the FCG. All the thumbtastic action happens with your fingers in the Finger Ringer. Yeah, boy! What the hell? To kick off the hot digital action, Cash App has

scheduled an exhibition match for the ages. I'd like to introduce two of my finest rookie finger wrestlers. First up, weighing in at 6.2 ounces and fighting through a hangnail injury, it's Travis, the Palm Pilot Willingham. Yeah, boy!

Why do you keep saying, why do you keep saying, yeah, boy? Save it for the match, Palm Pilot. And the holy grail of fingernails, the honeysuckle knuckle, the hand that understands, the bride of Chucky from Kentucky, it's Marisha Finger Blaster Reigns! Not the name that I agreed to. Let's get right to the match. It's Marisha Finger Blaster Rage! Not the name that I agreed to. Let's get right to the match.

I want a clean fight. No snapping, no flicking, nothing above the wrist. First one to pin gets a huge prize that I will conveniently send to you via Cash App. Oh, how much is the prize? All right, you ready? Let's get prepared to thumble! Go it's on music is playing i don't i don't know how to do this just oh don't you come after a deadly hand slam

oh that's a knuckle breaker for Marisha the Finger Press. It's over. It's over. Marisha, you win the grand prize. I'll send it to you. How much is the prize? I don't have cash. Oh, well, it's easy to download at the App Store and Google Play Store. And if you sign up now, new users can use code CRITROLL, that's CRITROLL, for $15 and $10 will go to our very own Critical Role Foundation.

Terms apply. Oh, that's cool. How much is the price? Also, you can do your investing in Cash App by buying any stock for as little as $1. Cool. The price. Find out next time Cash App sponsors the show. Matt, back to you.

Yeah, boy! I think I pulled a finger. Oh no, can we get a finger medic? Finger medic! That sounds wrong. Thank you, Sam. I almost hate that character as much as I actually hate Vixen Man. So, well done.

Well done. Almost. He's still the worst. I hate that character as much as I actually hate Vixen McMahon, so well done. Yeah, well done. Almost, he's still the worst. Yeah, fair game. To carry that same intense energy forward, tonight's episode is also sponsored by our friends at Griffin Saddlebag and their highly anticipated book two sequel to the first 5E compendium

containing over 500 magical items, 12 subclasses, two playable races even, and 14 campaign agnostic settings. And more than 400 pages in this big boy. GMs and players alike can look forward to finding a treasure trove of exciting new content to enjoy. Every magic item, subclass, and race is illustrated, written, and balanced using the core rulebooks as a guide, making sure the contents of this book don't throw off the balance of your game. Now, I have the first book. It's amazing. And you can check out everything available for this special campaign,

including an actual leatherette saddlebag backpack right now at bit.ly slash crsaddlebag2. Nice. It's fucking awesome. Snap into it. What's the bag look like? I want to see that. It's pretty.

The bag, it's got all these. No, the bag. The bag. I don't have the bag. No one gave me a bag. Where's the leatherette bag? I'm sorry. I don't have it with me. Warm leatherette. But it's pretty. Oh, there it. The bag. I don't have the bag. No one gave me a bag. Where's the leatherette bag? I'm sorry. I don't have it with me.

Warm leatherette. But it's pretty. There it is. Yay. That's cool. That's really cool. Thank you, Kyle. What?

That's awesome. Yeah. This is the actual, like, Griffin saddlebag they use for their iconic stuff like that. Is that real leather? Yeah, it's real leather. That's cool.

It's really cool. So you get some cool stuff more with our friends. Leatherette. It's real Griffin. So you get some cool stuff more with our friends. Leatherette. It is Leatherette. Yes. That's good. That means it's...

It's not actual. It smells nice. Okay, Leatherette. Leatherette, sorry. Also, called The Nether Deep, our first 5 fifth edition adventure with our friends at Wizards of the Coast

is available right now. This cool adventure, it begins in the wastes of Jorahas and leads to the glimmering city oases of Ankh-Harel on the continent of Marquette. And from there into a sunken realm of gloom, corruption, and sorrow known as the Netherdeep. This incredible design team was led by James J. Hick,

Christopher Perkins, and myself with an incredibly talented writing team that include Mackenzie DeArmas, Latia Jaki, I always fucked up,

sorry. Latia Jaki, Cassandra Kahn, and Sadie Lowry. They're all incredible. All the work they've done in this is amazing. So proud to see this

come together. And the book is filled with so much amazing art from a vast team of artists from all over the Critter community, including the artist for the cover of this, which is Mintu Haininen. And it is amazing.

Pick up right now through the Critical Role US store, D&D, or your local friendly game store. Amazing, dude. It's real pretty. Can you show us some? I'll show you some cool stuff, though. Those who are familiar with Bazzozan from Campaign 2. Are we allowed to read this, Matt?

Or does it involve stuff that we might bump into? Oh, you guys are going to read this. Okay, okay. Oh, good. Oh. He knows I won't. I know. I called you a bluff, Regal.

Laura, you got some stuff to talk about. Yes, I do. Hey, you guys, guess what we have. What? Oh, goodness. Well, I'm just going to bring him out with that at one time. I don't know. Maybe she'll-

Too late. Oh, my God. That's so fucking cute. We have Kiris. Y'all, we have Kiris. We have a Kiri hanger plush. Oh, goodness. Look at this.

She could hang from your rear view mirror in your car or your keychain or your backpack. Uh-huh. So many things. And we also have a big Kiri. Oh, my God. Look at this, buddy. It's so fucking cute. And, wait, I hope you can hear it.

I am Kiri. She's got voices. Welcome to the Mighty Nein. I won't play them all for you because some of them should be a surprise. Do one more, do one more. Yes, I am very sweet. Both Kiris were designed by Jenny Park. They're available in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Critical role shops.

Check it out. I hope this happens, because you can take her hoodie off. Look at her cute little Kiri head. She needs to be protected even more. I just love her. I'm going to put this on Sprig. That is also about newborn size, too.

Yes, it is Wait I can't recommend that It's not child safe Sorry I fucked that up I ruined it all Anyway Still going on my dog Oh you know what

I think the backpack comes off too Okay anyway Also going on your dog You can deconstruct your own Kiri So anyway there you go Just go get him Okay This is my idea Okay, anyway. Also going on your note. You can deconstruct your own, Kiri. So anyway, there you go, just go get him. Okay.

This is my idea. Oh, perfect. Thank you, Laura. You're welcome. I believe that brings us to the conclusion of our announcements, so let's go ahead and kick off the special seventh anniversary Oh boy!

episode of Critical Role. Hello there! episode of Critical Role. Hello! Critical. Critical. It's Thursday night! One by one we climb until we reach the top. Two by two we fall. Will we meet our end

or meet our destiny? Hold your breath and roll. Bye. There is magic and mystery Who knows what will happen He might But one thing's for sure We never give up on the fight From the healer to the renegade We all share the same goal Adding more allies Taking more chances Hold your breath and roll

You can certainly try It's Thursday night All ye critters come join us It's time to continue our play It's Thursday night There is magic and mystery From darkness our friendship will rise When one thing's for sure

We never give up on the fight Oh, get ready It's Thursday night And welcome back. Celeste left off. Bell's Hells had seen their friend Dorian off with his brother Cyrus on Eryx Eshteross's airship to Tal'Dorei to keep them both safe for the time being. Upon looking to delve into some of the mysteries

surrounding your recent ill luck in social endeavors here in Drusar, you ran into the Green Seekers, a pair of well-known investigators here in Marquette and beyond. To build trust from them, to absolve yourself of the growing mistrust they seem to have in encountering you, you together delved into the mines

deep beneath the Smolder Spire in Drusar, battled through shade creepers and eventually stumbled upon, on the trail of Lady Emoth Katt, the Shade Mother, a large, misshapen entity that seemed to be the source of the ever-mutating shade creeper hordes

that were tunneling through the city, stealing and thieving. You manage to capture Lady Cat herself and roll her out while escaping the Shade Mother through the help of some ingenuity and the sacrifice of one magical rope into some drilled machinery left in the abandoned mine. After going your separate ways,

you manage to gather yourselves and what strength you had left after a long, hard-fought battle. Bruised and battered a bit, you went and got rooms for the night there at the Soot and Swill, if I recall correctly, where you were looking over a glowing stone

that you had discovered within the area of the Shade Mother's den, as well as you sleeping through an important date you had set. God damn it. So. You better get your platinum back. As we left off.

Imogen. Yeah. Fuck. You might have forgotten. Let's go. Let's get real real. I bet it. You might have forgotten. Let's get real real. I bet it was a good one with you. You find yourself stepping through the familiar fields.

The grasses and weeds touching your fingertips. That late afternoon sun warm on your back and your shoulders. The smell of sweet, fresh grass, and something else on the wind that catches your attention, like a coming rain, but iron-like. And that familiar shiver hits your back,

and you turn to see once more the terrible, roiling, booming red storm coming. Your wind is tossed around. You hear the winds crashing past your ears, tearing past your face, having to guard your eyes from the dust being thrown into them. You think to yourself,

this is coming to eat you like it always does, and you hear once again in your mind that familiar voice, Imogen, run. And right as the phrase finishes, you sense something in your hand. You glance down and see in the palm a small purple gem.

Something is comforting about the gem also. It offers a different path. It offers a different means of escape. The voice shouts again, Imogen, run! What do you do? Fuck. I take a few steps back.

What is this? Flashes of red are sparking throughout the cloud as the bulk of the storm begins to hit the space where you stand. I turn and start running. Mother? Mother? You've not delayed like this before and you can feel the wind battering your back.

The hair being tossed to and fro across your face, blocking your vision. You trip and stumble and pick back up and keep going. You can feel the heat behind you, pushing, pushing. The stone still in your hand, you see in front of you, the farmhouse. So far, but you keep running and you keep running. The heat in your lungs is beginning to burn

from breathing, the exhaustion kicking in. You run, you run and you hear the voice, distant, muffled. Imogen. This is too far. Run, run. You get close, you get close. Before you wake up.

You sit there on your bed Clustered with your usual bedmate And there you see cradled in your arms Like a pet or a small child That same stone Not how you went to sleep But there it remains. Lothna.

What, are you all right? I'm fine. Another dream? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what that is. That stone. I don't know what it is. Was it... It was in my dream.

Did it do anything in your dream? It... I don't know. It was like, um... It was telling me to do something different. You know, I didn't Should I have done it? I've been having this dream for years

It always ends the same way Maybe I should have just Done what it said Maybe I should have just tried I don't know Walking towards the storm You know, I've never done that Maybe I should have just tried, I don't know, walking towards the storm. You know, I've never done that.

Maybe I should just give in. Did it give you a positive feeling in the dream or a negative one? It felt wonderful. It felt comforting. It felt... different. Do you think you could go back? If you willed yourself? I don't know. I'd go and I'd get her a glass of water.

It's pretty usual. Wipe her face? It feels like if that storm catches me, I'll be gone. Just gone. Well, I certainly can't lose you. But perhaps... Maybe it was... Trying to tell you that you're strong enough now. Maybe...

My mom was still telling me to run. Though... I mean... That's gotta mean something. I wish I could be in there with you. Me too. You should never have to run into the storm alone. You know, I fell asleep holding on to the stone.

Maybe if I fall asleep holding on to your hand, you'll come into the dream with me too. That'd be something, huh? We can certainly try. Yeah. All of this shit is super weird. I'm not gonna question anything. Okay. I'd rather not go back to sleep right now, but next time, maybe just... I'll just stay close to you, alright? I normally wake up. I was just so exhausted.

No, we had a long day. It was different. I was just so exhausted. No, we had a long day. It was different. It was so different. What time is it? From what you can glean, and from a little bit of an outside light you have, you're maybe a few hours from sunrise. You went to bed relatively early

due to the physical state of things, so you, for the most part, have completed a long rest. Right. You say the word. If you ever want to go back, talk to your father, go back to your home, you know I'm there with you. Yeah.

Maybe when we get out of town, these notes that the Lumos twins had, maybe it'll lead to something, you know? Yeah. Do you know this new group that we found ourselves with? I'll look over at Fern, who's asleep next to us. Y'all are insane. Orym is pill-bugged up in the bend of Fern's knee,

whichever way they bend. Whatever way. Sideways. I think they'd be down for the journey. Yeah. It is pretty great to have a group that's, um... not inclined to run like everyone else is, huh? Yeah.

Maybe they'll run off, rub off on us a little bit. Yeah. How's your arm? Are you feeling all right? It's doing better now that I've rested a little bit. Yeah. How's your arm? Are you feeling alright? It's doing better now that I've rested a little bit. Yeah. I think a little bit of that healing is still sitting in. Feeling better, though.

You go back to sleep. I'm just gonna go downstairs and sit in the bar for a little bit, alright? Do you want me to go with you? Would you like company? Get some sleep. It's still early. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm gonna leave this here. Alright. Don't let anyone touch it. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm going to leave this here. All right. Don't let anyone touch it.

I don't know what it is. I want to have SCG look at it when he wakes up. All right. If anything happens, if you run into anything, you know, there's all sorts of weirdos out right now. Just probably take me a little bit to fall asleep. Just message me. All right. I will. All right.

I'm just going to go downstairs and eat some very early breakfast, maybe keep Pretty some company. Okay. At this point in the evening, food isn't really being prepared. That's fine. And Pretty is probably off sleeping,

because she has to at some point. Yeah. In fact, there are no other patrons there. There's just the older gentleman who is running the night shift at this space. Looks to be a wayfish dwarven fellow who's half asleep at the foot of the bar itself in his chair, leaning against it and nodding off slightly.

But other than that, it's fairly quiet. You know what? Oddly peaceful. That sounds fucking fabulous. I'm going to sit by myself for a while. Okay. I stare at the stone for a moment. Just go and I find my cloak from the other night and throw it over top and wrap it in a bundle.

I'm just going to set it aside out of view. As you're wrapping it, there's like a... Try not to touch it. Okay. As you kind of wrap it, it's not like a smooth polished stone. It has a rougher, a natural texture to it. But go ahead and you wrap it up and you set it where?

I look at Fearne as she sleeps. I just kind of wedge it like between the bed kind of near me. Okay. On the opposite side of where Fern is. Okay. Tuck it under the bed a bit.

You got it. Before I do that though. You stare deeply into me. I know. You got it. Before I do that, though. You stare deeply into it. I know. I look under the bed. Are there any fucking holes? I don't want this shit stolen. Make perception or investigation check, your choice.

Oh, oh, you're rolling? First roll, first roll, come on, here. I'm sorry, I sacrificed my better part. Aw! Come on, let's do it! That's super cute. Come on, buddies. I appreciate that. Redemption!

Would you say investigation or perception? Investigation or perception, your choice. 16. 16. That's not bad, that's not bad. Half step, walk before you run. Exactly. Baby step this, like, what about Bob? You feel pretty confident that this room

you're in currently doesn't seem to have any overt or noticeable holes or breaks in the baseboards or visible masonry. It's low lit and it's not a massive chamber, but from glancing around, you're left feeling fairly comfortable. I'm super paranoid after those few weeks.

So I take out a piece of my red ribbon really quick, tie an end to the bundle and then tie the other end to my belt and then I drop it down. So if someone pulls on it, I'll feel it. Okay. Good to know.

You sleep with a belt on? Who doesn't? You got to sleep with your armor on. Bad shit happens. All right. You go to sleep. Yes. And you spend the next few hours

waiting for the sun to rise in quiet contemplation, ruminating on the facets of the unfinished dream until eventually light comes cresting over the far visible streets and with that, a strange warm comfort of the new day to rise. Oh. streets, and with that, a strange, warm comfort of the new day to rise. Oh.

You all finish a long rest. Long rest? Does she as well? Yeah. Oh, phew, thank god. Yeah. Because you guys went to bed fairly early, for the majority of you, it wasn't the eight hours. A lot of you slept in 10 to 12, which sounds amazing.

Yeah, right? It's been so long. It must be. 10 to 12. Many years. Yeah. But you all come to. I pulled on it.

As you go to pull on the thread. Don't fuck with me, Matt Mercer. It's still there, you're fine. Can we hear him through the walls? Yes, you can. Oh, God. Well, come upstairs with four coffees. Thank you so much. There. Mm. Oh my god.

Thank you so much. There you are. Oh, not yet. He meerkats up with Bedhead and then just drops on the floor and starts doing pushups. Oh no. Not awake. Are you serious?

Oh, you make us all feel like shit when you do that, Orym. Yeah. I'm just trying to get up. Hey. You awake? You okay? You up? Yeah, shiny day to you, of course. I've been up for a while just kind of looking at you.

Yeah, I'm going to let that go. You doing okay? Yeah, I'm just going to sort of roll around a bit, twist my joints, blink a couple times. Here? Yeah, sure, it goes that way. Sure, why not? I think I feel right as rain, yeah.

And you know that yesterday you were a little off. I do, I was aware. Okay. But just felt a little, I don't know, stuck. Just a little stuck, but I feel better now. Well, if you figure out what was going on, please say it out loud. We need you working. You need you working.

Of course I will. You know you're never going to disappoint anybody or anything like that if you need something. Maybe I'll try to run some sort of self-assessment protocols or something just to try to see if I can figure out what that was. Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Let's collect everybody. Yeah.

I guess we'll rendezvous downstairs. Yeah. I guess we'll rendezvous downstairs. Yeah. Rendezvous in the morning. Hey, Siddiqui, were you keeping the stone safe? Laudna? Huh? What? Were you keeping the stone safe? Yes. Did you all sleep okay?

Yeah, I'll take it. Thank you. Still keeping it bundled. Yeah. But close. Did something happen? Did you have a bad dream? I did.

Yeah. Are you okay? Yeah. I am very interested in having FCG look at this, though. So. Okay. Oh. Hey! Oh, perfect timing.

Oh, can't look at that. Hey! Oh, perfect timing. Oh, hell, look at that. Morning! Morning! How was your evening? Oh yeah! Oh, it was fine. You know, I got up.

You didn't even wake me up when you came. I know, I can get up very quietly. So just beware of that. So I went out there, and he just didn't answer the door. Is he dead? I don't think so, because I just heard him screaming. Okay. I think so.

That's how you tell when someone's not dead. Screaming. How bad? I don't think screaming for his life. Screaming in ecstasy? Could be. Maybe someone else gave him a visit. We'll find your special someone soon, Fearne.

I just know it's- I think so too. It's just, I know I'm a bit of a handful, but you know, it's exciting. As they say, it's very- Exciting handful. Yeah. Why rush? It definitely would be a really interesting math equation. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I can think of so many things, you know, which I don't know. Yeah. Yes, of course. I mean, I'm really in no rush. Yeah. You know. Uh-huh.

At the same time, between pretty and Chetney, there's a lot of letdowns lately, if you'd like to talk about it. I'm always here. Sure, I would love that. Yeah. How did you sleep? You seem a little better. I feel fantastic. You were acting so weird.

I know. Well, I know. I know. I was just sort of, I wasn't processing things as smoothly as normally. Does that happen a lot? No, not at all. That's never happened before? Not that I've seen. Oh, wow. It's been a stressful few days. It was stressful to see.

I'm sorry. Do you feel any differently today? I think I feel the exact same. You know, FCG, you're so good at offering, you're lending good at offering, you're lending your ear to the rest of us. If you ever need to talk, you know. That sounds lovely.

You know, talking about your issues and problems is really a good idea for all of us. So I would be happy to take you up on that. And maybe we could schedule some time. Maybe when we're on the road, I could grab your ear. Not grab it because it will fall off, but just metaphorically. You can borrow my ears anytime. Well.

Just don't use the saw blade. But you wanted me to take a look at that thing? Oh, I did very much, yes. I'm going to go gather Chetney. Okay. Don't touch it. Oh? Don't you have to?

Well, do you? No, I just have to look at it. Okay, then I'm just going to place it in front of you and open up the bundle that Laudna put together. Okay, I'll try my best and hope this works this time. I just stick a finger on it. Okay, a little lens pops over, and I will stare at it and cast Identify.

Okay. As you focus on it, the information comes to you through magical means, but what this is is a very small shard of what's referred to as the Gnarl Rock. The Gnarl Rock. The Gnarl Rock. The Gnarl Rock is a

mythological stone that exists deep, deep in the Fey Realm. It is a stone that, there are many theories as to how it got there. Some believe it's always been there. Some is a stone that there are many theories as to how it got there. Some believe it's always been there. Some believe it was placed there. It grew there. There are many individuals within the Fey Realms

that have their theories, but what's known is where it resides, everything around it mutates and twists and this mass thicket of nightmare nature now entwines for miles and miles around the Null Rock. This is but a small shard that seems to have been taken from it. Huh.

And all this information spills out of me just sort of mechanically, as if being read through an encyclopedia or something like that, but... So it changes you for the worse. I don't know. I guess technically it could mutate something for the better if it started off pretty bad.

Maybe it just changes you and there's no good or bad to it. Yeah. Did you get that feeling from it? I get a very... A very strong feeling of wanting it. Of wanting it? Yeah.

Well, let's not forget who had it. I know, that's... Let's not forget Duggar and Emoth. It feels like it's promising things, you know? It feels comforting. Maybe it's not about starting bad and mutating to good. Maybe if you're bad inside, it makes it worse. But maybe if you're good inside,

it just manifests in a positive way. That could be. That's looking on the bright side. When you discovered it, wasn't it being held in a positive way. That could be. That's looking on the bright side. When you discovered it, wasn't it being held in some special way by like an object? Yeah, it was in a device. I think, I mean, it's just my guess that it was amplifying it in some way.

But like, do you remember what it was made out of? Was it stone or metal? It was a gold metal, wasn't it? Yeah, some sort of like a gold and like brass metallic, like twisted metallic pillar that was clutching it and kind of using it in the center point. You remember the way the stone looked in the Nightmare King's lab?

I think so. It just kind of felt something sort of similar to that, like all around it. Well, I'm just trying to think, like, maybe we shouldn't... If you think that was an amplifier, maybe we shouldn't touch it to metal. Maybe we should carry it in something that's not metal. Maybe. I don't know.

I guess I can just keep it in my pocket then if y'all think it's all right. I don't see any problem with that. I mean, you if y'all think it's all right. I don't see any problem with that. I mean, you slept in a room with it at this point. What's the... Can I give it a sniff? Yeah. Doesn't smell like anything.

It smells loosely of earthen salt rock. It's like a mineral. Do you know anything about the Gnarl Rock? You can make a history check if you'd like. Do you know anything about the Gnarl Rock? Would you like to meet Gnarl Rock? Oh, I don't think it's very good. Seven.

You've lived a comparably cloistered life for certain elements of your youth in the Fey Realm and haven't really been much of a studious individual about the histories of the breadth and expanse of the weirdness that the very edges of the Feywild can contain. This, you've never heard of before, but it doesn't surprise you either.

Yeah. I mean, I've heard stories, but I'm not quite familiar enough with that, but it sounds interesting. Maybe we consult an expert.

Who's an expert? Well, we have access to an academy, we have access to some rich people who I we have access to an academy. We have access to some rich people who I assume have access to smart people. Right. Find a cleric and ask if the Gnarl Rock is right for you.

Yeah. Maybe I'll just keep it in a pouch for now. Okay. In my pocket. At least we know the bad guys don't have it anymore. Yeah. Maybe I'll just keep it in a pouch for now. Okay. In my pocket. At least we know the bad guys don't have it anymore. That's true. That's true.

I do think it's what turned the shade creeper mother into something much darker. Maybe it's what they were using to make all those mutants and now they can't make any more. I mean, if it turns you into one of those slug things, that's gross. Yeah, that's true. Well, and Duggar was just a guy, right? And then they said that he just sort of changed over time.

That's right. I hope you don't change. If it starts making you feel funny... We'll take it away. Yeah. Do you want me to hold it? No. Because maybe it won't do anything to me.

Why wouldn't it do anything to you? I don't know. Maybe because it's like, oh, you're just where I'm from. I don't know. It would make more sense for me. I'm already rock. I don't know what another rock would... Oh, that's true. Or maybe another rock would make it worse. I don't know what another rock would. Oh, that's true.

Or maybe another rock would make it worse. I don't know. Or maybe, I was thinking you were grass. Yeah, maybe it wouldn't do anything to me because I'm not alive. We've put a lot of things in you. Well, or you. Well, I'm alive.

Oh. Is that true? Yes, she's alive, yes. Talking to us? Technically. I guess I don't know. It's just kind of in between the lines, you know? Well, I'm not, so maybe I could.

You are, I think you are alive, FCG. Well, that's an opinion. And opinions are like opera. Sure, you can listen to them, but why would you really? That's pretty good. I was wondering where that was gonna go. I was, too. I'm really impressed by that, actually.

There's some good ones, though. I've seen some great operas. I'm gonna just hold on. A little boring. I'll hold on to him. I kinda wanna touch him. My initial thought is there's probably more of them. More of the stones.

If you just have one, why would you just leave it there? I don't know. Do you touch the stone? Yes, I do. I don't want you to take it out. I'm just going to touch it in the pouch. Okay. It has like a gentle warmth to it, but beyond that, it just feels like a stone.

It's a hand warmer. Just a stone. Okay. Nothing happened, I don't think. That's what you think! A worm ass is growing out of you! Oh no! I'm a shade mother! You know, Fearne?

Yes? I know we've talked about this before, but I'm just, because you've come over from the Fae realm. But you don't... What did you tell us? Do you recall? Do you remember much?

How long have you been here? What's your deal? What's my deal? Well, I... This is good. We can judge it based on what she told us before, and we can see how much is the truth. Well, I don't exactly know.

I came here to explore and to find my parents, which I haven't seen in a very long time. That's about it. You didn't mention your parents before. I did not? No. Oh. Are your parents from Tal'Dorei or Exandria? Or are they originally from the Fey Realm as well?

Originally from the Fey Realm as well. And they left when I was pretty young. So I haven't seen them. Gosh, I can't remember when they left. I want to say I was in my written down somewhere. I want to say maybe in my 40s. But yeah, they've been gone for a very long time because they went to go do something, but I don't know what they did. You don't know where they went either? I've been getting letters from them. Oh! And, you know, they've been traveling all over.

Oh, when's the last... Postcards and... When's the last letter and where was it from? I think the last postcard was from... I want to say it started with an A. A. A? On Kirill?

No. A-mon? No. Amon? No. I think one of them was Astral Sea. Aor? Aor? Aor? Maybe.

Aor? Yeah, I don't know. Do we know where that is? None of you would know where that is? None of you would know where that is. Look, Oseet, they knocked on Chetney's door and he didn't come out. Oh yeah, yeah, where's Chetney? Oh, look, Oseet, Chetney! God, I fucked it all up.

Sucked in this room this whole time. What, who is it? That old man crying. I can hear you crying through the door. It's Laudna. What, what do you okay? What, who is it? That's an old man crying. I can hear you crying through the door. It's Lodna. What, what do you want? Oh, Chet. What happened?

I slipped in. On that ass. Well, you know, Chetney, I think she was very disappointed. Really? Yes. You know, I don't think that was your only and final chance. Oh man, you don't know.

Sometimes it just passes you by. I was just so fucking tired. They don't offer wake-up calls. We were all tired. It happens to all of us. Look, we're about to go on a very long hike. We're going on a hike? People get really horny on the road.

Really? Maybe I should just play it cool. Yes. Should I be aloof? Like I didn't sleep in. I meant to. Don't. I'm building the anticipation.

I feel like that's never been good advice. Oh. All right. So you're saying treat this as an opportunity. Don't feel like I fucked it up at all. You got it. Round two. Coming out stronger than ever, the Wolf Owls. Just be chill, Chetney.

Oh, Chetney's chill. Chetney's awake. Oh, boy,ney's chill. Chutney's awake. Oh, boy, what a morning. How is everybody? You doing all right? You fucked it up real bad last night. What? Shit.

Heard you slept through everything. No, no. I was actually out getting a 10K in because, you know, I do fasted cardio. So sometimes you just got to take care of yourselves before the sun comes up. It was a poor life choice, if that was true. Yeah.

Took care of yourself, did you? Mm. Second orb. So, anything interesting happen last night? Anybody get their rooms invaded by any holes or anything? No. Whoa. No.

No? No. No. Wow. Unfortunately. Is this going to be a thing? Are we witnessing? What are you talking about?

We're just two adults. Just reacting to chemistry. Yeah, you know. I'll probably make my rounds through everybody. Sometimes you just got to start with the appetite. I feel like that's the first true thing Fern's ever said. thing for a second. No, my parents, my parents did leave when I was young.

What? Are you talking about your parents? Oh, well, no, we're just trying to figure something out. What the fuck's going on in this room? You got me up after the parent conversation?

Oh, it seemed like it was going to go into some important backstory elements that I felt like I didn't want to miss out on. You missed so many things last night. Like, so many conversations

in the fly. We stayed up all night. We played truth and dare. Next time, don't get a room by yourself. Yeah. Unless you're sure it's going to happen.

You know what I mean? Don't rely on some random time frame. Fucking Imogen. Okay. That's a good call. Where were we heading before we got interrupted by those grain seekers?

Oh dear. Out of town? Out of town. We were going to Seattle. We were going out of town. We were going to see your heart. That's right. So we should head that way again, correct? I mean, if everyone's down, I'm down.

I would love to get out of town for a little while. Oh yeah, I think that was their advice too, right? Yeah. Should we let Eshros know about the Shade Mother? Actually. Wow. Right. Yeah.

Wait, don't you need to stop by somebody? A woman? Yeah, that's where we're going after. That's where we're going. Friend is a very complicated word, but yeah. While we do that, maybe we can pop by Shadana's. Let her know we're heading out. Let her know we're heading out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pay her for the month, maybe the next few. Yeah, so she doesn't need to rent the room. Exactly. All right. All right. All right. Quick run around. All right, so which team is going to

Jiana Hexum's? Are we rolling together or are we splitting up? Or are you guys going as one? Yeah, we should go as one. We'll just stop by, drop off some money, keep going. Yeah, we're going to plot out the route that makes us spend the least amount of silvers on trolley. Yes, of course.

Okay. That would likely be, because you'll have to go to the Lucent Spire where Hexum is, you'll have to pass by the windowed wall. Okay, so let's do that. All right. So as you guys stop by, you climb your way up through the different neighborhood platforms

until eventually you get to the abode of Shadana. She opens the door early morning, the bright light in her eye just blinks a bit. Yes, good morning. Remember us? I do. Okay, good. It's very nice to see you this morning.

We should have brought her some tea. She sounds old. She does seem old. Has she aged in the past week? I don't know. She's always been old. What are you talking about? She's...

Shadonna, we just wanted to check in, so we're going to take a little bit of a road trip out of town. Certainly, yes. Just be very careful. We will, and I'm here, and I hand her a... I don't know, how much is it? I don't know how much is it. How much is it for a month? Why are we mumbling about the price of the room?

Is that how you cast Messer Scott? Yeah. She didn't set a price, you guys just gave her whatever you felt was right, so. I give her a 10 gold. It's dingy now. Oh, only 10? Damn. Oh, you care about it.

No, that's a good amount, right, for her? Do you give her 10 gold? 10 gold? How does she react to it? Oh, thank you very much. It's unnecessary. I was happy to provide home instead for those who needed it. Is that enough? Do you need more? Madonna, we just want you to be able to take care of yourself and not worry about

renting it to anyone else while we're gone. Very well. It'll be done. Just come back soon. It's nice to have company. Okay. Do you need us to put on a hot pot of water for you or do anything before we leave? No, no.

I have that taken care of. Thank you very much. All right. I feel so guilty. I know. Does she seem off at all to us? No. Okay.

We can inside check if you want to. Oh. Whoa. Oh. Oh, 20. Just going about our business for the day. All right, she's great. Unexpected company and just kind of happy to see some faces.

All right. All right. Okay. We'll Unexpected company and just kind of happy to see some faces. All right. All right. We'll be back in a few weeks. Very well. I'll be here when you return. I hope so. Goodbye. Goodbye.

Goodbye, friends of friends. Goodbye. Goodbye. I think during that whole conversation, because she's a sweet old lady, Orym probably grew some flowers on her door. Aw. On the doorknob. Okay.

That's a desert orange. That's fucking adorable. I'm just a wee boy. Can you grow flowers anytime you want? Aw. Shit. Oh. Thanks, Orym. All right. Thanks, Orym. All right.

You go ahead and take the cart, cross the cable to the Lucien Spires. That's eight silver, or seven silver for your lot since you're one day. Each of you can mark one off, or one of you can pay for it if you like. I'll pay the eight silver. There you go. Eight silver off of Ashton over here. To the bench, you are all led

to the black and green wood estate known as Hexham Manor, with a brief knock at the door and waiting for a servant's arrival who opens the door to the side. Upon recognizing you at the front, doesn't even give you a word, just nods and opens the door to the side. Upon recognizing you at the front, doesn't even give you a word, just nods and opens the door and offers an arm for your entry.

Come on, y'all, and prepare. She'll be with you in just a moment. And the servant closes the door behind you. You all stand within the entry foyer of the house. You can see there is a staircase that starts extremely wide and then pincers together before splitting off into two different sides.

There's a window above that centerpiece that goes to a secondary floor. To the right, pardon, the door got dry. To the right and left of you, you see two closed doors that lead to other chambers, but are currently not visible from where you stand. There are all manner of short pillars with strange sculptures on them.

Some appear to be busts, but when it goes past the shoulders, the heads seem to lose any sort of features, almost like it's just a very, very well-sculpted shoulders and torso, and then where the head is, it's just a blank. And you wait here for a few minutes, and eventually you hear the footfalls gently

on the steps descending. There you see a mature elven woman stepping down the stairs in a long, draping, dragging, dark blue robe with a dull bronze trim to it, all manner of jewelry bracelets hanging from her wrists and around her neck as she descends and looks about you all. Welcome to my abode, friends of Ashton and the Nobodies.

Would you be so kind as to introduce me to your friend circle, Ashton? I am. You want the full rundown, or? You can be as succinct as you like. Fearne, FCG, Imogen, Laudna, Orym, old guy. Chetney. I was going to say Bertram, but that works.

No, it's terrifying. It's actually my favorite. So these are your new nobodies. We're actually calling ourselves the Bells Hells. The nobodies are nobody these days. How quaint. Gianna Hexum, everybody. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.

The pleasure is mine. He doesn't know you yet. Your statues, your busts, they don't have faces. Not in the moment. Take a closer look. Okay. As you lean closer to it, you watch as the face shapes

to form a mirror of your own. Whoa, cool! What is that for? Why, it's to off-put any guests. That is, do you, is it for sale? No. As you pull away, it reverts back into a blank. How big is it?

Immediately start tracking for it. It's about that big, shoulder to shoulder. Lay down again. Put your face down there. I put my face right next to hers. Make it choose one. You're fucking with the app filter? Yeah, yeah.

Who's it going to be? Who's it going to be? Who's it going to get? Let's see what their child looks like. Interestingly enough, it does create an amalgam of your features. Oh, yeah! You can see it.

You're beautiful. It has the immaculate brow line of Fern as well as the kind of impish fey jaw and the bulbous nose of Chet. It's a strong feature. It is a unique blend. Very unique. The future. Oh, wow.

I swear they're competent. They're even, honestly, more competent than the previous. Can you use that to check if you have lettuce in your teeth or something? Oh, boy. That's a good idea.

I haven't tried, but I'll have to go ahead and attempt it next time I get lettuce in your teeth or something. Oh boy. That's a good idea. I haven't tried, but I'll have to go ahead and attempt it next time I get lettuce in my teeth. I certainly hope they are, as this wager depends on their capability, not just yours. So you all agreed to this little wager, have you? We're not exactly sure what the little wager is,

but sure. Would love to hear it in your words. Very well. I have asked your leader here, Ashton Graymoor, to abscond with you to the north, to the Hamlet, the Hartmoor Hamlet. There resides a compatriot of mine. I say that, the term compatriot of mine. I say the term compatriot loosely.

An individual that I've known for some time against my own vetted judgment and will. Mr. Evon Heidroger. What? He is the... Evon? Yep. Evon Heidroger. Heidroger. Heidroger. Evon Heidtroger. Heidtroger. Heidtroger. Avon Heidtroger.

He owns and runs a very unique establishment in this city, mostly for his own bragging rights and also as a means of making a little bit of gold in the side for passersby. It is known as the Twilight Mirror Museum, an oddities collection. That's fun. All sorts of strange gatherings

that he wishes to, well, keep under lock and key. We've had sort of a debate for years, kind of a, I apologize for the base term, a pissing contest in regards to whose collection was more majestic. With my recent break-in this past year, he has been a rather loud thorn in my side in our shared social circles, so I wish to test his ability to prevent such a break-in. He's bragged about how

strong his defense capabilities are from burglary, so I told him if I could bring a well-trained group of burglars to bypass his defenses and retrieve an item of his choosing from the center of his museum, uncaught and unspoiled, then I win the wager. You all get paid, and we work through some of our historical baggage. This is excellent. You were robbed earlier, you said?

You had a break-in? Yes. I had a break-in. I wouldn't call it entirely successful. Oh, shit. Okay. And it wasn't this Avon. No.

Nope. Okay. Let it go. Do you know who it was? Oh, we're letting it go? Yeah, let it go. We're letting it go. Well, now I'm very curious.

I think I should tell you all about it. I'll be happy to. This item that we will be procuring, do we know what it is already? I get the sense that Avon will tell you upon your arrival. And if any other items go missing, is that bonus or is that... Wait, Avon will tell you upon your arrival. And if any other items go missing, is that bonus or is that- Wait, Avon will tell us

the item that we're supposed to steal from Avon? We're a bet. He knows you're coming. Oh. Doesn't it seem to me like he just upped security on that one item? I mean, it doesn't really show a good judge of what kind of security he normally has.

Yeah, we should steal, like, everything else. Which is why... Yes, that's true. Which is why, if that item is procured, it's that much more delicious victory of him. This pompous face. So we're not going to get in trouble by doing this? No, no, not at all. There's no trouble, no legal issues.

This is an agreement between us. Ashton mentioned that there might be some competition as well? Yes. As part of this social circle we keep, he's also brought in a mistress, Isha Sabanis, another one of our compatriots in these social groupings

who, one, wishes to take him down a peg and two, wishes to take me down at the same time and has stepped into a ring they were not invited to. So there is a possibility of competition. So this mistress will also be trying to steal the item at the same time or will be defending it for? Will also be presenting her own champions to do the same. All right, so we have to get the item

and defeat the other burglar team. Or at least get it before they do. Time. Welcome to West Virginia. I'm just going to suppose this forward based off of previous deals we've had. Would there be a bonus for abject and intense humiliation of everybody involved?

Well, I will be providing an unflut overall cost of 300 gold for food and travel expenses. Upon success, 500 gold apiece to each member of your team, as well as our previously discussed arrangement. In the opportune chance that you thoroughly embarrass Mr. Hydroger, I will put, I say, a smooth additional 500 gold apiece on the table. Whoa!

And also one of the statues. Make a persuasion check. Come on. or 500 gold apiece on the table. Whoa! And also one of the statues. Make a persuasion check. Come on. God! No. It's too late. 15. That's pretty good.

She said, hopefully. It depends how I'm feeling about your job well done. Absolutely. I'll consider it a possibility to be considered. Okay. That may be the nicest thing I've ever heard her say. Thank you. You mentioned 300 gold for traveling fee or something like that?

Indeed. Would it be possible to get that in the form of a single diamond by any chance? Should that be your preference, of course. Yeah, that's great. I don't like, you know, I don't have much use for money, but I think that might be a useful. Claps twice and the servant you see

dart back up the stairs and returns with a small, looks almost like a jewelry box, about that big, opening it up. And you can see there was space where a necklace or a bracelet would have been set, but instead there is placed a diamond about that big in the center of it.

It's not cut extremely well. It's rough hewn, but it looks like it's still worth quite a bit. Lovely. Could we take that box that it's in as well so we don't lose the stone? Certainly. Thank you very much.

Now, and I mean this with all respect, where did you have this automaton designed? Strangely, that's a mystery. Really? But they are kind of Strangely, that's a mystery. Yeah. But they are kind of their own thing. Ashton is being, of course, humble, as they always are. Ashton was definitely involved in my design because Ashton is a fantastic thinker and planner.

Make a deception check. Okay. 19. Hey! Yeah. I know people. You are a endless bounty of surprises, Greml.

You should have thought my mother was. Well, I would like, upon your return in success, to discuss the specifics of its design and who you had spoken with and worked on it. I have not quite experienced one with such articulation and autonomy. I'd like one myself. Well, that can be a discussion for later.

Very well. FCG is not up for sale. Yeah, this is ours. Particular about it. Just out of curiosity, how much do you think I would go for? Well, the last one that I lost cost me 20,000 gold pieces.

You would be, depending on the interested buyer, somewhere a little higher. How much do you think you could get for him? That's good to know, if you all get in a pickle or something. FCG. I'm just saying, if you're in jail or something. Yeah, we'll keep it in the arsenal. Yeah, it's good to know.

Post bail. With that, we are going to wrap up a few things here, Put in the arsenal. Yeah. It's good to know. Post-bale. With that, we are going to wrap up a few things here, get on the road, and prepare to disperse your very particular flavor of humiliation upon your foes. I appreciate your candor and your professionalism. Anytime.

Let's, uh... Our timeline is just to beat the other group, right? Professionalism. Good timing. Our timeline is just to beat the other group, right? We don't know when they left or if they've already started? The game starts when the game starts. Fine. It's very likely they've been there for quite some time, waiting for your arrival. Another week or so beyond your currently,

depending on how quickly you plan to travel. Arrival date may have forfeited this entire wager and I would be quite displeased. We'll be leaving very shortly. Today. Unless you have some sort of magical means of us getting there quicker or anything? I do not.

Not at the Heartmoor. Do you have any connections with the pilots of these? The Simmericks? Yes. I do not. A number of them are independently owned and I will not travel by such a base beast. Really?

They're pretty cool. I do too. Regardless, good luck. And please do not disappoint me. Oh, one more question. You said your prior automaton? What was their design, purpose, assignment? Specifically, they were a guardian of mine.

At least that was how I had them commissioned. Or they were stolen. Your guardian was stolen. That's a shitty build. Indeed. And should you ever find the one responsible, there's quite the bounty on his head. Did your...

Blue skin. Yes. Wide shoulders. Longer hair. Huh. You seem to say you knew something about this. Mm. Huh.

That's also a discussion for when we get back. Did your guardian have a soul? Well, that's what makes him special. Well. So. She's a weird one. Yeah, we're going to go. We're leaving, we're leaving.

Thanks. I'll let you know. Be safe. Orym had, moments ago, grown out a little leaf and wedged it in his teeth. Oh, and then he runs out. Did you see it? Did you see it? I saw spinach in my teeth. All right, you exit the somewhat

oppressively creepy manor and find yourselves walking once more through the Lucien Spire in the later afternoon of the Jazar Day. Oh, gosh. I love the Haunted Mansion ride. We're headed to... We just need to get out of town. Yeah, but I think we need to stop by.

Eshteross is on the way out. Eshteross is on the way. Let him know what we're doing and what we saw. And do you want to stop by Milo's and see if they have any idea of what was going on with you yesterday? Yeah, sure. I mean, if we have time, I don't want to hold us up. We got to get gone. Yeah, it's a bit of a race now.

Oh, yeah. It's already getting late. Do we want to head out in the night? Yes. Milo's on the way. We also don't know how we're traveling, right? I assume we're just going to get some horses and make our way.

Yes, I know. Wow. Maybe Eshteross has a recommendation. If not, we'll get some silcotes, bare minimum. Oh man, that would be fun. Yeah. Let's find out. We had this whole discussion before we spotted it.

We did. And then we just forgot it all. I don't remember what the goal was. I don't know if we scheduled on anything. So much happened in the last 24 hours. It's true. Well, should some of us go to Eshteross and some of us go to the church house?

Save some time so that we can get, maybe some of us go see Milo. I mean, if you think it's worth it, I would hate for something worse to happen to you letters while we're out on the road. I mean, I feel wonderful right now. So, I don't know.

I mean, I can go, we can go swing by Milo's while y'all go to Eshteross and meet up in two hours time at a predetermined location to depart? Should we have, like, a team Eshteross, a team Githors and a team Mylos? Oh, yes.

And then meet up at the base. Oh, because it is all the way on the way down, right? We'll meet at the base of the- Center spire. The core spire. Center? Yes, where? Mylos. Mylos is in the core spire. The gate out of town is actually in one of the sp Spire. Center? Yes, Milo's. That Milo's is in the Core Spire. The gate out of town is actually in one of the spires.

Yeah. The Lantern Spire. The Lantern Spire. But there is an actual bridge that goes from the Core Spire. It's the Fate Walk that goes from the Core Spire to the Lantern and then down into the actual. All right, so let's meet at the gate. We'll meet at the bridge.

We'll meet at the bridge that the heads to the lantern spire. In two hours? In two hours time. All right. Team horses? We're doing horses or are we taking simurgs? We'll see what you can find. Simurgs, horses, or soul goats.

Simurgs. One of those three. Okay. I'll come with you. Simurgs probably passes. I feel like I should go. I know horses. You know horses.

That's true. You want to come team horses? Oh, we got to get horses. Yeah. like I should go. I know horses. You know horses. Oh, that's true. You want to come team horses? Oh, we got to get horses. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, I- Then who's going to go Eshteross? You? I can go to Eshteross. I mean, come on. Yeah. Should you bring a buddy?

Or a minder? Are you- Take a run. Who's going Eshteross? Well, that's what we were trying to do. Fearne. Right now, Fearne is solo Eshteross. I was talking about horses, sorry. Oh, I'll go Eshteross, it's fine.

But you're the horse expert. You're the horse girl. You should go get horses. I know horses. I've eaten a few. I have. How about you go with Chetney, I'll go with Fearne. Okay. And you? Where are you going?

To Eshteross. Okay, so I'm going with you. Yeah, that's fine. Okay. Boy, we're going to do great on this mission.. Okay, so I'm going with you. Yeah, that's fine. Okay. Boy, we're going to do great on this mission. I'm cool with you. Great. You and me chat to get horses.

It's a pair up. Let's do it. All right, come on, girl. Let's go. Let's go, girl. You stay here. Make sure he doesn't leave. All right.

So for those going to Eshteross, go ahead and Norelha, I will begin with you. As you come to the manor, there you are with his associate and left into the room, the main chamber where he emerges from his dining hall with this metallic cane once more, armed to the back.

Good morning. Good back. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. We have much to tell you. Very well. I am at your disposal. Whew, where to even start? Where did we leave?

Why did we come here? Big story. Method actor. Can I tell them about the slug? Yes. So we were leaving to go to the Cartmore area. Yes, the Hartmoor. The Hartmoor. The Hartmoor Hamlet.

To go do some stuff there. Right. But on the way there, we were on the bridge, and we got stopped by the Greensleeves. The Greensleeves. And they stopped us, and then we ended up going to fight the, oh my god. Come on! Tell him.

Tell him what we saw. I think you should tell him. All right, so. This is the last episode of Drunk History. The Green Keepers were like. You were taken by the green seekers. The green seekers. That's what it is.

Not keepers. We've got badges. They deputized us. Yeah. We're part of their, it's the whole thing. We're deputies now. Yes. But we went underground.

Genuinely, it's like, what the fuck? We're like two 11-year-olds trying to tell a story right now. And then, guess what? We went to the CIA and they nepotized us. So we went to the Smolder's mine? Yes, to the Underbrush mine. Underrush mine. Yep.

Because the green seekers were like, ooh, you're responsible and you're interacting with all the shady people. And then the guy Gus was also dating one of the people that was working at the underbrush farm. It was this whole thing that was so crazy. Yes, Ardis, do you know Ardis? I know not of this individual.

It was very dramatic. So we went down below. He starts looking over towards his half-finished breakfast. We're losing him. We went down below, and we fought a bunch of shade creepers, but then we found this creepy, and I ever so slightly start transforming into what she looked like. A slug monster named the Shademother.

And she was speaking in her minds and shit. And she was like, ooh, come be my children. She was 60 feet long. She had a really big, sluggy ass. Yes. She was gross. She had a really big sluggy ass. Yes. She would like, she had like a secretion, she would like secrete on us. It was kind of like a caramel sharding.

He adjusts his cravat. Yeah, it was gross. Caramel sharding. But then we captured, gross. Caramel sharding. But then we captured Lady Emoth in a circle and got her out of there. We had to roll her down the street. Go get some popcorn. Got a purple stone.

Just go get some popcorn. Now's a good time. Matt does the top of every episode. Not the caramel popcorn. Oh, God. Just the regular. Yes. And a purple stone that changes people.

That's apparently called a gnarled rock, and it's, like, from the Fey Realm or something. This was yesterday. Yes. So, basically, we just came to tell you that all the shade creepers and all the stuff coming out of the walls and the holes, there's a big mother down there that's doing all of it. But Lady Emoth is arrested and in the hands of the green seekers. Oh, and green seekers. And they said that they were being employed by Mistress Tashadri. Hmm.

Interesting. There it is. It just hit there was a lot of backstory that we had to give you. Yes. And we're going to go now, but we just wanted to tell you all of that. Thank you very much.

Any questions? Any baked goods? Cookies for the road. Yes. Cookies. He gets a tray of cookies, brings them over. You can tell there's a ginger snap type scent to them

as he holds them out to you, but he's still processing all the information. He goes, So Sir Shedry was the one hiring the green seekers. Yes. What were they seeking? They were seeking the people who were responsible for destroying the Moon Tower.

Do you get the sense that these seekers are to be trusted, or are they working with the enemy? No, I think they're to be trusted. They were really nice. Yeah. And they were like, oh, we just want to do things for good. And Ashen was like,

mm, bah, I only do things for money, because, man, money talks, a bullshit walks. And they were like, man. That's a very good impression. Yeah, it is very good. Dark mare. I will contemplate on this. Would be nice to think we have others in places of power

that we can call allies beyond my small circle. Oh, yes, and, and! She said, or the Green Seekers, their names was Olly and Gus. I'm aware of them, yes. Yes, and they said that Mistress Seshadri hates Armand. Hates him so much, just despises him. Hands over the platter of cookies,

full platter to your ear, and she goes like, This is good to know. It's given me something to ruminate on while you go about your journey. Thank you for letting me know. I will discuss with my network of birds and allies and see what can be done next. Travel safe.

Be wary of the wilds. They can be strange. How are they? They're so good, so snappy. All right, thank you. Stick to the Honored Trails, please. The Honored Trails? Honored Trails?

Okay. How? Why? Just, that. The Honored Trails. Honored Trails? Okay. Why? Just, that's what you do. Okay. Perhaps the wilds have many alluring mysteries within, but they are known, superstitiously, to have shifted and changed based on whatever entities call those places home.

Ooh. Welcoming or not, it is hard to tell, so be wary. The trails are the most safe. Fuck that. Anything else? I would like the rest of my cookies, please. Oh, you know, it'd be awesome to take one for the rest of the house.

I mean, there's only two left. Make a persuasion check. Can I? 14. That's pretty good. Split the rest amongst you. Well, there's only two left, because I ate a lot of them. Fenn!

Your cheeks are just popped out like a chipmunk. Take them, I'll take the tray. Can we keep the tray? I want my tray, thank you very much. Tucks under his arm, gets his cane back up. Sorry. Travel safe. Thank you. Let me know when you return. You be safe as well.

All right. Maybe there'll be more cookies. Okay, bye. We love you. Or bye. He takes two steps away and stops. Sorry, and you know when you, it's like when you're watching a show and you're like, enjoy the show, but they're just taking your ticket. He takes two steps away and stops. Sorry. He shakes his head and keeps walking. It's like when you're watching a show and you're like, enjoy the show,

but they're just taking your ticket. Why limit yourself? Why limit yourself to the player character? Okay, bye. Thank you. Enjoy the show. You too. Give her campaign.

Gotta have one PCNPC romance. Bring it in. You already see you're not Aegis, it's great. Let's just roll those. Kibba, I love you. Oh, gosh. She's so much older than him now. That was my manager.

I know. Now Estros has to die. To the bridge. To the bridge. All right. Now going to Crookhouse. The two of you go ahead and trek back. Three, you're with us, Orym. To the bridge. All right. Now going to Crookhouse. The two of you go ahead and trek back. Three, you're with us, Orym.

That's right. Trek down through the Fonzie Hollow, down through the network of metal ramshackle ridges and platforms and ladders until eventually you come down to the familiar exterior of the Crookhouse. So is it the Bell's Hells? Or is it Bell's Hells?

I mean, I'm just assuming Bell's Hells, but I was thinking with the Zs. Well, you gotta be able to be fast and loose with it. Okay, well, I just want us all to be able to say the same. So we're the Bell's Hells. We're Bell's Hells. We're Bell's Hells. We're Bell's Hells. I'm a Bell's Hells.

But for around children, it should be Bell's Hecks, We're Bell's Hells. We're Bell's Hells. We're Bell's Hells. I'm a Bell's Hell. If we're around children, it'd be Bell's Hex, probably. Bex Hex. Bex Hex or Bell's Hells? All right. Bill's Bex. How long have you lived in this city, by the way? Oh, quite a few years. You seem to be in the shit with everyone we meet.

Yeah, yeah. I'm bad at saying no, so you just end up in bed with an awful lot of people, so to speak. Literally or figuratively? Mostly figuratively, honestly. But hey, look where we are. Milo!

Annie! What? Effin. Who was that? I'm not entirely sure. Milo. Okay, that one'm not entirely sure. Milo. Okay, that one. Oh, excellent. Milo. Come in. Thank you.

Come in, and there's this large wooden bowl that's filled with some sort of an oatmeal-type concoction with raisins in it, and a big old spoon that looks massive in Milo's smaller form. Large glasses on their face, and the knitted cap kind of pulled tightly over the ears as they're just sitting there kind of scooping big mouthfuls. What? Is this what everybody does at this hour? They're fucking eating?

This is what I'm missing? You want some? No. You guys can't come. Good. I have a quick question. Hi. Actually, yes. It's good to see you. Hi! Actually, yes.

It's good to see you. You too, Milo. FCG's been having a little bit of a problem. I don't want to overstate, but... The bowl tips and spills a little bit on the table as Milo's right in your face. They're glancing over you, adjusting their glasses. Yeah, I ran into some interesting hiccups yesterday.

It wasn't physical. It was more of like, I don't know. Okay, okay. Internal assignments. Help me out, get him on the table. All right, all right, here we go. Leaning onto your back in the middle of Milo's tinkering table. Sure, and I'll take my hair wires

and offer them to Milo in case he wants to examine the ends of them or plug them into anything. As they want to, yeah. As they want to, yeah. Just try and relax. You'll be fine. I've been here.

Hi, I'm Orym. Oh, hey, yeah. Hi, welcome. Goes ahead and pulls a lantern and kind of scoots it over and has like two hooded sides that clamp down to go ahead and focus the light down over where you're arranged on the tables.

They start reaching out and grabbing some tools and start strapping elements of your body down. I'm going to put the hammer down so you can stand on it. Let me know if this gets uncomfortable at all. Sure. There you go. They go ahead and grab a small headband

and place it over a couple of large magnifying glasses, almost comically large in some cases, begin to be arranged in front of their faces. They glance in closely. Giving you a look over, goes, It's hard to pinpoint, but it looks like there's a lot of just, like a pent-up energy.

It's like a faint vibration or buzz to the body. It's odd. Pent-up energy? Yeah. Okay. Where? And is it being stored anywhere? Just listening and listening and listening.

Listening. God, do I have to have sex to get rid of it? You do. Boosh! No! No! No! Ow, you're spicy. Self-health. Self-care. Yeah, self do it. Boosh! No! You said you couldn't let it out. No!

Ow, you're spicy. Self-health. Self-care. Yeah, self-care. So many options. Oh boy. I have one regular hand and one buzzsaw hand. You're pent up, you're buzzing, you're halfway there. This was only the time before it all became

just a dating simulator at the table. Think of it more like you have something for everybody. That's right. It's very, very minute, and it seems kind of wherever the metallic elements of your body are, so most everywhere beyond just your wheel down there. Oh, okay.

Do you know if this type of energy buildup can be conducted or stored or somehow, I don't know, siphoned? Released? Splooged? Nothing. These are technical robotics terms. Skip the jargon, please.

Whoa. I'm excited. I'm not entirely certain. I know if or how this can be splooged, per se. I might just need time. All right. Well, I rested. I went into stasis mode, and I feel much better.

So that could be it. Maybe that just does it. I have myself arranged a few devices with low-level arcane powering internals, and when utilized aggressively over long periods of time, sometimes there is arcane feedback. Sometimes if the device isn't soundly put together, it can begin to rattle apart.

There's many different things. I don't think that's the worry here, but I'm just saying generally over time, they restore their energy. Sometimes it's in the view of like, you know, enchanted charges they need to restore over time. Could be a similar circumstance. It wasn't the worry before,

and now I'm thinking about it. Thank you so much. Hey, while we're here, I don't want to interrupt if you need anything, but we're going out on the road. And I was wondering if there was anything you had cooked up before you patched me up so good when Ashton brought me in. And even sort of, in some ways ways made me even better than before. I didn't know if there was any sort of advancements that you had been thinking of, like, in the off time. Like, for instance, I have this grappling hook that I fire out sometimes.

Oh, wow. Yeah, but it takes a long time to sort of prep it and reset it and stuff. Let me take a look. Because they grab it from your hand and start looking at where the different joints are meeting at the side of your body. And take a couple of devices and clamp them around and kind of pull it apart slightly. It doesn't hurt. It just feels pressured. Huh. Okay, yeah.

I can see why it takes a while to put on here. There's some sort of wear and tear, some long acquired damage in the inside of these joints. I can take care of this right now. Great. They go ahead and jump up onto the table, like right over you, almost straddling you to the side, and start grabbing different sections of what looks like a crushed dark cobalt metal,

and begin grinding it into a mortar and pestle circumstance. They go ahead and start pushing it into an odd gray putty and what looks to be some ball bearings as well. It's so fast you're not quite understanding how the mechanics of this function,

but within the next 30 or 40 minutes has arranged an additional kind of layer around where that joint is mechanics of this function, but within the next 30 or 40 minutes, has arranged an additional kind of layer around where that joint is. He goes, alright, watch this. If you go ahead and press in this little side element here,

and twist it, and the shoulder just pops off. Woo! Now I've affixed this same connecting point to the grappling arm, and you just go ahead and it slides back and then clicks into place. You feel it. It's a little off. Oh, hold on a second.

Tweaks a little bit and gets it right where it's supposed to be. Wow. So with this, it should be able to be very easy to drop one and put the other in. This is amazing. Thank you so much. Wow. You're amazing. Hey, it should in. This is amazing. Thank you so much. Wow. You're amazing. Hey, it should work.

It should work. I don't know. I've never done this before. Yeah, this is great. It feels awesome. I'm just going to sort of move it around. Make sure that it's working correctly. I have no idea how any of it works.

It's working correctly. There's a little drift as you move, but it's correctable maybe. Yeah, I can correct for that. I'll just have to. Walk it in. Yeah. So just note, tell me if you ever roll a one.

Okay. Oh, yeah. Good to know, good to know. Cool. But you can now essentially switch out your arm to the grappling arm and or the buzzsaw arm as part of your action. Let's go.

Whoa. That is so cool. So it takes one action to change him? It's just like drawing a weapon. You can just like, and use it in the same turn. That is so cool. That's huge.

MCG. Let's go. Thank you for your magic. That's great. That is really good. Of course, no, just put it on your tab. We're going out for a couple weeks. Wait, what?

Pack some business. Hopefully the last one. Okay, good luck. Nothing to be done about it. I mean, we could just run. Yeah, that'll work. That'll work real well. That's true, that's true.

All right, well, just don't get killed. No. Preferably. If you do, leave a note saying you leave your shit to me. All right, that should be obvious. Oh, actually, if I do die and you see Annie, tell her that I believe in her and that it's not about talent, it's about tenacity.

And she's got tenacity. Okay. That'll be my legacy. Cool. All right. You all right? Sure. Take care of yourself.

Good to see you. Bye. Bye. Anything you need from the wilds? You're going to the wilds? Oh, yeah. Yeah. You need scrap metal or anything? Yeah, going to the wilds? Oh yeah. Yeah. Don't you need scrap metal or anything?

Yeah, any like stringets, any... Oh yeah. I mean, any scrap you can find. Just fine. Yeah. If I see something I think you'll like, I'll bring it back. That'd be great, yeah.

Always. Cool. All right. Don't touch my stuff for three weeks. All right, to the Fate Walk. To the fate walk. To the fate walk. Do you actually have stuff? I have some clothes.

I don't, I have things I sleep in. And, you know, I've got some art that I made. Okay. I've got a cup. You've been wearing that coat for weeks. Smells okay. I don't have sweat sweat. It's, you know, it's more of an oily coating. I just assume whatever happens with you

when you are punching things kind of bakes it off. Actually, that's a pretty good idea. I haven't really thought about it that hard. I probably should. I hop onto FCG. Let's go, let's go. Okay, hold on. It feels good to have a segue in the party.

Why don't we do that more often? I will keep up jogging. That light trot-jot that you have to do when you have a kid who's running off and you're like, uh, uh, can't run full speed. It's cool. The segue emotionally lasts you probably about 30, 40 feet before you come to your first of many ladders,

in which case you have to help FCG get up there. Go! Team horses. Team horses. It's the best kind. Lord. No, we're not eating any horses. You don't know?

Do you eat horses when you're not a wolf? Well, no, there was a little leftover one time, but without a campfire, it was crap heat. Yeah, I would imagine. Okay. You come eventually to the outermost portion of the Lantern District, right before it begins to descend in the switchback path

that heads into the heart of the jungle surrounding Drusar. There, you come upon, and you saw this when you were coming into the city, specifically. And you probably saw it when you were coming in as well the first time. You should. You definitely saw it, because you have a history of loving and appreciating horses. And it's called the Rapid Path Stables.

It is a large stable, and it looks to be kind of a carved for lack of a better term a pseudo pasture they've tried to develop by taking down a number of trees and keeping a space here that is mostly clear

it is not anywhere near the open fields that you grew up in but definitely as far as a dense jungle this is at least space for horses to kind of run around while they're awaiting whether it be training, being reared and raised, or being sold off to somebody who needs them, like

right now. It is looks like it probably makes a good amount of clients as they come through, people who bring a horse with them and want to sell it to the stable and then resell it to those who are leaving. But as you approach the front, you do see an older gentleman, kind of weathered, rosy brown skin, a big, big bushy kind of black and gray salt and pepper beard, just a big

old chin beard right there, kind of wild hair on the sides, balding on top, kind of a small, round, kind of button nose in the middle, and this bright smile as you approach. She's using the process of brushing one of the horses at the front. Hello, friends. You look intent with business. Potentially, yeah. We're planning on making our way to the Heartmoor Hamlet. To the Heartmoor Hamlet.

Okay, very well. Do we need two horses for this journey? No, we're going to need more than that. But is it just horses that you have? We've also heard a lot about the silgoats. I do not carry silgoats at this establishment. Why not? Unfortunately, because we focus on horses. The sill goats? I do not carry sill goats to this establishment. Unfortunately, because we focus on horses.

But don't sill goats, they traverse the terrain like the mountainous stuff, right? They're better at that? They are, yes. Do you know anyone that has sill goats since this establishment doesn't think to cover that sort of transportation? Sure.

If you want sill goats, this is not the place for you. No, I understand that. doesn't think to cover that sort of transportation. Sure. If you want Silgo, this is not the place for you. No, I understand that. I understand that. What do you mean we can't get a cheesecake at my Forever 21? Would you recommend taking a horse into the Heartmoor Hamlet? I did hear that the terrain is rather rough, but...

If you stay on the paths, it should be all right. All right. The trails are designed for horses. I would not be selling them in these jungles otherwise. If you are looking to go off the paths, that sort of gets a little more difficult, and still goats may be more your interest. But those are also far more dangerous

and likely to lose the goats along the way based on what you run into. Probably horses, Dan. Yeah, I mean, they feed you longer. So we're looking for some sturdy horses. We've got, hold on, let me do the math. One, two, right, four. Four plus

Orym, you, and FCG, so probably five horses altogether. So I'm not here, but do you fold? Oh yeah, like what happens to your landing? I know, I don't know how that's supposed to be. Maybe we can take the wheel. Maybe it's a portion of her heart. I think we can take the orc off.

That would be nice. Roll me in the back. I could be a wagon behind. We can try to figure it out, but your FCG is about the same weight as a normal body that's that same size, so I imagine it would just be meaning to... Yeah, five should be fine. I don't know.

Backwards wheels? I don't know. Like horse wheels? I don't know how that works. I want to be a wagon. Just hold on a bit. Do you have any carts or wagons as an accessory sale or anything like that? Yes, we do actually carry wagons as well, if you would like.

Wagons, but no sill goats. But would it slow down the travel a lot? I mean, a very small wagon, we would just need to, like, almost like a chariot sort of situation. We have various sizes. A smaller wagon should not impede movement travel. Unless you're in a full gallop, it won't slow the horse down,

but I can guarantee it'll be comfortable for whatever goods or individuals you wish to keep within the cart, but. Excuse me, I have to speak to my associate for a second. Very well. Did you just ask for a fucking chariot? A small wagon. But a chariot, like... I said about the size of a chariot.

I'm not asking for a fucking chariot. I mean, we can get a chariot. I mean, FCG could probably build one. Can you build a chariot? You're good with wood. I mean, if you want some fine craftsmanship, I can make you just about anything. Maybe we shouldn't be buying anything.

Can you work fast? I haven't seen you do anything fast yet. I don't know how this turned on me, but if you had Silgoats, we wouldn't be in this situation. I don't, what, I... How much would that run us? Five, five horses? Let's see, five horses.

Literally going to do some calculator work here for a second. Plus the cart you were requesting. I'm literally going to do some calculator work here for a second. Horseman. Plus the cart you were requesting. 340 gold. Okay. If we weren't purchasing them, but were potentially renting them

for a few weeks to bring back. I will say that will cost you 150 gold with a 150 gold deposit because bringing various mounts and beasts of burden through these jungles comes with dangers. Some don't come back, but you can retrieve that 150

should they all make their way back safely. All right. I'm just going to discuss with my friend. Associate. With my associate, sure, yeah, that's better. It's a better title. It sounds more professional. Yeah.

I don't have that much money on me. It's personal. But I know you have a lot of money on you. Yeah. We're good. That was a great ask. 150 plus 150? No, that's not bad. That's amazing.

Those horses are never coming back. I would know. That's reasonable, right? That's a reasonable one. Yeah. I dig it. Yeah, do you have that kind of gold on reasonable, right? That's a reasonable one. Yeah. I dig it. Yeah, do you have that kind of gold on you, Chip? I do. Yeah?

Yeah. All right. Three hundo for the five horses and the chariot carriage? That is correct. Hmm, okay. Sounds good. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Very well.

You pay up front both the payment and your deposit, and I will retrieve them. Could we look at the horses before we head out? Yes, of course. We have quite a few to choose from. I'm sorry I didn't catch your name. My name is Willem. Willem? Willem.

Hmm. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. What is your name? Imogen. Imogen, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well. Let's look at some horses. Oh shit. It leads you through the large stables.

There are multiple stable hands and individuals tending to the horses and making sure that there are some that are currently being cleaned and there are some that are being prepped for riding with fresh horseshoes, barding, and depending on people's needs for them,

travel. Some of them are being arranged for pulling of carts. Some are being arranged for just solo riding. Some are for more light travel, fast messenger horses, all manner of different setups here. But what are you looking for in particular? Sturdy. If we did end up off the trail,

horses that could traverse non-trail situations. Actually, the majority of them here are brought here specifically because they're more attuned to this topography anyway. So yeah, easy enough to find. And I'll say there are five horses of whatever color scheme of preference you'd like. Oh boy. Oh boy.

Within natural. Yes, there are 20 minutes to the character creator. Yes, I know. I'm so glad. A chestnut, a pate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you like, I want one that's like tawny, you know? Okay, yeah.

One that is all black. Okay. That would probably be far more expensive, I'm assuming, so I think like all black with like a mark on it, so it's still like affordable. A little heart mark on it? No, that's way more expensive. It's probably like one paw or something.

A weird little skull. One paw. Like horses. Like a moth. Horse with claws would be freaky. Bring out that purple stone. We'll get some claws on us. Just four hands.

Note to self, horseshit claws. Some King of Death shit right there. I feel like I've seen that art. Five digits on the ground. I'm pretty sure that almost made it into our series. That's three. That's three, no, I said... Tawny, blackish.

Paint, chestnut. Yeah. Chestnut. And just a pretty brown one with a blonde paint. You don't want one that's all white? Yeah, I mean, that seems like your thing. This is a fantasy realm. I don't want a replacement for Flora. Oh, okay.

I want, you know. Okay, all right. Easy enough to find approximate proxies to what you're looking for. Good personalities. I'm looking for good personalities. Yeah, which you would as a person who has spent a lot of time in your youth working with horses, know how to find the ones

that work well, follow well, seem to not be too temperamental, seem to be at least somewhat experienced in traveling these spaces and aren't spooked to be taking from their comfort zone. 100%. So yeah, you gather up five horses and they are affixed with saddles and reins.

You're given a cart and one of them is situated to carry. It is small enough so there isn't heavy equipment, necessarily, but it looks like you're pulled pretty evenly. Great. Are there any markings or brands or anything that identify these as property of the rapid path stables? You can make an investigation check or a perception check. Yeah, I want to check out this horse.

How are they around Chetney? Are they skittish at all around? Do they know? 20. Also make an animal handling check for me. Animal handling. Ooh, I haven't made one of these in five years. 16. 16.

Not too bad with Chetney, especially with his probing looks and lifting around different parts of the horses. One of them begins to pull a leg up and you're waiting for it to kick him in the head and then it just gets comfortable again. So he's going, okay. Yeah, you got to recognize the alpha.

No, I'm actually really impressed, Jett. Thanks. The saddles are marked. And you notice that beneath the saddles, there is also a marking on the rear beneath where it sits. They are not branded. These horses are not branded. It is just a magically applied symbol to it.

Like a temporary tattoo. Temporary tattoo. More or less, yeah. With the horse sticking on. We should probably... Three hundo for you. You will definitely see these horses again in better care than they were picked up.

Not to say they weren't in good care. They're very clean, well-tended. Just saying they might, you know, could use a little me. Take some pictures. I appreciate your judgment, but more appreciate your patronage. You're welcome.

Watch out for that one. We should go back up, because I told everybody to meet at the bridge, like a moron. And that way we can probably get supplies and stuff before we bring back down. We can, this is on the way out of town, right? Correct, yeah. All right, cool then. on. And that way we can probably get supplies and stuff before we bring back down. This is on the way out of town, right? Correct, yeah.

They can hold the horses for you until you're ready to go. Great. We should be back very shortly. That is fine. I'll keep them at the ready at the front of the stables. Thank you so much. Chet, I have a question for you. Yep. You traveled a lot before you came here, right? Yes.

Did you ever in all your travels see a storm that was red? A red storm? God, this is like one of those furniture comes to life questions. I just... No. I've seen storms that kind of turn green, but that's usually like part of a thunderstorm or like a wind vortex or a tornado or something like that. Red? No. Have you?

Well, yes. Yeah. Haven't I done? Yeah. Just in my dreams, not in real life. But last night, anyway, the storm, I noticed it smelled like iron. And I'd never noticed that before, and I just didn't know if maybe you knew what would cause something like that.

I know you have a really strong sense of smell. Sure. I mean, that's the smell of blood. Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. You've never personally seen like a red storm, right? This is just a dream? Yeah, I've never seen it. And you've never met your mother? No.

Are you sure this didn't happen to you when you were very, very young and you just are remembering it? I don't mean to get too deep with it. I'm just saying, it just seems such a reoccurring thing as something trying to push its way to the surface. Yeah. No, I never thought of that. I don't believe that it happened when I was young. I feel like I would have known. Is there any magic in your family? Not that I know of, but of course, my mom is in that weird little assay that I found, so I would love to find out.

So, yes. Potentially. I'm a little new with this blood magic stuff, but let me tell you, the power in blood, it's something else. This isn't the only thing that people can do with it. I mean, I'm fucking amazing when I change. Yeah. And I know the attraction is real, so let's keep it on the low. Oh, I know.

Your feelings are strong for sure. But I mean, there are other things that people can do with it. Maybe the red storm isn't an analogy or a metaphor. What if it's real? Yeah, that would be fucking terrifying. If your mom's in a library somewhere, it's something terrifying. Yeah.

Well, hopefully we'll find out more soon. This is going to get good. I mean, the more I learn, I'll share with you. Maybe if you learn that all of a sudden I become a blood wizard, a blood wolf wizard. Oh, fuck! Unstoppable. Really. Oh my god. I'll get like a hat and robes. This will be great. I'll get red robes and then we'll be the red seekers.

The red sleeves. I like it. Ooh, I like that a lot. The red sleeves. Do you really like it or are you just going along with it? No, I hate it. I hate the idea of it. But I do like the idea of seeing you in a little red wizard robe. That sounds really good. I'm just saying, I wouldn't turn it down.

All right. I don't try to hide these guns. What is that tattoo, by the way? RTA, right there. Yeah. Gotta recognize the alpha. Oh, God. Oh, my God.

Oh, God. Oh god. Why, you don't... Look, Imogen, there's an alpha inside all of us. Oh. Okay? Oh. He's leaving? Nope. Oh. You got to learn to assert dominance.

He's insane. All right. I let Ashton just put himself forward there, but we know who's really leading this pack. Make an intelligence check for me, Imogen. Okay, I will. I will do that. Do we all need to make wisdom saves? Yeah. Intelligence check.

I feel much better with every plan I make. 11. 11, that's fine. You know enough to know that most of the existing study on alpha mentality is based on completely debunked information about wolves. The actual physiology and sociology of their history, it is untrue, and anyone who claims anything about being an alpha is completely speaking on a basis of falsehood.

You get a real-time fact checker. Oh my god. Just remember, when you feel a little unsure, tap into the alpha. Tap into the alpha. I will. Anyone can be an alpha? Well, sure.

All right. You just have to recognize it. I like that. I'll remind you. Thank you. I'm sure you will. Wow. I thought it was like,

the royal tinkering academy. What's the Santa Claus pun that's gonna hit us? That's so fucking good. Get your third character ready. Got him in locked and loaded. This one's lasted much longer than I thought. Wow. Oh my goodness.

Wow. I'm so pissed. Oh man. Can't wait for a Chetney plush in three years where you press the button and it's like, recognize me now. Oh, I hate it all.

I love it. His next character is an elven great-grandfather. Older. Older. I really want to adventure. I just need someone to pull me up.

Oh my God. He just has levitate, pull me up. Ah. Oh my god. He just says, levitate, that's it. Yeah. Real question, though. Yeah. Who stays with the horses while we go get everybody else? Are they being messed up?

No, no, no, they said they could stay there, and then we'll just go get everyone, come back down and grab the horses. Okay, great. So you all reconvene at the exterior of the Fate Walk within the Lantern Spire. Yeah. We should go, yeah? We should go.

I need to make sure we have enough supplies for the road, right? Sure. Just quickly hit the market and grab a bunch of shit. Okay, what are you looking to grab? Enough food, supplies. Water skin. Yeah. That's fine, no.

Food for the trip, for the whole group, I. Water, skin. Yeah. That's fine. No, food for the trip, for the whole group, I'll say for the trip there and back, there and back again, if you will, I'll put it at about 10 gold each of you. All right. 10 gold each? 10 gold each. You want me to cover you?

I got it. Okay. For now. I caned. 10 gold each. 10 gold each. You want me to cover you? I got it. Okay. For now. I can cover if you're, nah. Okay. Because I'm talking about the rules. While we're at the market, I'm going to just pick up a drop of blood, a piece of flesh, a pinch of bone dust.

You have the things you need, the normal stuff? Yeah, the normal stuff. Do you need those for certain? Yeah, I have a list of fucking spell shit that I need. You need blood? Yeah, it's one of them. A jeweled... You got blood?

I'm full of it. Great. I need graveyard dirt. Oh, I've got you there. Oh, great, great. I just shake some out of my hand. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. It's about a gold for feed for all the horses for the trip as well.

Okay. Do you have like a little easy bake oven that the stuff goes into? I have a backpack. Right, no, I know that. I mean when you use them. That is a good question. Do you need live blood or do you need blood from someone who has died? Just a drop.

It says drop of blood. Okay. We could all provide that pretty easily. Yeah, you can give you blood whenever you need live blood, or do you need blood from someone who has died? It says drop of blood. We could all provide that pretty easily. Give you blood whenever you need it. Okay, you seem a little eager to share your blood with me. It's your shopping list that's making everything weird. Everyone else is just trying to be nice. Alrighty. I was just trying to be nice.

Any other specific materials? I mean, general goods are available. Incense. Incense you can do as well. A couple ropes. You know, we need some ropes, probably. Okay, hempen or silk. You can take your choice because how much you want to spend.

Hempen. Hempen is more inexpensive, but it's heavier. Should get like 150 feet of rope. Three 50-foot sections. How heavy is it? I'll look it up here shortly. We can go ahead and do more of the purchasing here while we take our break.

But for now, you gather the necessary supplies, we'll decide over break. You all reconvene, collect your horses. Looking out over the dense jungle canopy ahead, you hear the welcome, musical cacophony of the various jungle birds, all collecting their music and sounds through the air. The moisture of the underbrush

and the dull, yellowish-green glow of the sunlight that peeks through the vines and leaves. You move past the groups of individuals that live here amongst the steps of Jrusar, the base of the jungle, the base of the spires. Follow the trails beyond civilization and begin your trek into the unknown beyond. That's where we're going to take a break.

To the plot. To the hard mall! We're out! We're out! We're on the road again! Here we go! We are out of the city, guys. We will see where that takes us now. We'll be back here in a few minutes.

17 episodes. So go take a break, go pee, if you're in a feeder, go get snacks. I don't know. We'll be back here shortly. We'll see you soon. Go get your caramel sharts. Come on. Why, hello there. This is Critical Role's resident

art dad, also known as Liam O'Brien. We are continuously amazed at the artwork this community creates. That's why each Thursday at 8 a.m. Pacific, we share a curated gallery of submitted fan art over on critroll.com. If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, visit critroll.com slash submit.

And thank you to all of the incredible artists who share their talents with us week after week. And welcome back. So. As you all set forth from the central city of Drusar, heading towards the Hollowed Trails, the surrounding jungles of the O'Dearan Wilds. Oh! Oh. Oh!

Oh! Oh! Oh! New things! Oh my god. There's plants outside the windows. Yes, I was waiting for this. The decor of the set worked out perfectly

for this, weirdly. But you have, depending on the speed of travel and what you encounter along the way, three to four days of travel on horseback along the Honored Trails. Listen. It's pretty good. Pretty good.

I just got a little bit teary-eyed in my face. In my face. Okay, okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry. It was somewhere. Somewhere where we pee. Yeah, when we're out, I'll just want to hop off my horse

and walk 50 feet away from everyone. Okay. And just breathe. It is welcoming, especially this far from this molder spire, where the occasional scent of the exhaust and soot catches you. Out here, it is clean, earthy, damp, but cool, and filled with insects.

That's fine. It's silent, is what it is. All right. I start flicking my ears like a horse. Oh, I got instantly itchy just like thinking about it. Yay, that's called immersion. You're riding in the back of the chariot cart, correct? I mean, I would prefer

to fasten myself as a pulled wagon behind a horse. You did buy extra rope. That can be done. What if you were a wheel on the chariot? Yeah?

Wait, this chariot is a two-wheeled thing or a four-wheeled wagon? What did we get? It's a two-wheeled. It's a two-wheeled. Oh, it's a two? Yeah. A two-wheel?

Just go horse-kying. So if you hold onto the back, it could be a trike. We got five horses. Yeah, I pulled up my minis. Yeah, like I'm water-skiing. Yeah. I don't think minis. Like a reverse plow. Yeah. Like I'm water skiing. Yeah. I don't think I've ever ridden a horse before. You've never ridden a horse? No.

Oh. It's simple. It's simple. Yikes. I'm trying to imagine exactly what the anatomy put together there. It's odd. Please.

It's odd. I want to say for the purposes of this that the horse that you chose, you chose because it has a somewhat similar fur tone to what you have. So there's kind of a hopeful connection. Oh, hello, sir. Yeah. We got a brown one with a blonde mane. Okay.

That one could work real well. Okay, great. Do you think it can hold me? And we also got a chestnut. Which one's closer to your fair amount? Who's on what? I don't mind. I'll wear, I'll ride whatever.

I know. I've got to be on the most goth-looking horse. There is a black chosen horse with one marking on it to offset the straight black coloration. Oh, yeah, that's perfect. Is one of them a pony? No. Yeah.

I'm sorry. No, I just figured all the tiny tots could be on one. Yeah, I thought you and Chet could ride together. I picked a paint chestnut. Sure. You want to steer? And I'll ride on the back? Yeah, either way.

There is an available cart, and you are riding as a secondary cart. I'm water skiing behind some, I'll water ski behind Imogen's horse. Oh, great. Correct. So that's the case. Each of you can take one horse independently.

Actually, I'll do behind ashes because I feel like you're going to want to equestrian. Don't you want a better ride? I know, but aren't you going to want to ride free and jump over things? That'll be fun for you. Okay. I was wondering what the problem was going to be.

It sounded really good. Jungle ski over different pathways. So run through it again. The colors of the horses are what again, character creator? The importance. We have, yes. We have a painted, a brown and white painted, a tawny, a chestnut, a black one with a white leg.

Yours. And a brown one with a blonde mane. Fern, which one have you taken? I'll take, I'll take, well, I'll take whatever one. Whatever's biggest to hold me. The chestnut. The chestnut. I'm taking the chestnut. So with Fearne on the horse,

which takes you a moment to find the comfortable sitting position, the coloration is close enough to where it looks like the upper half of a person and then a mutant horse with two additional legs hanging off the side. It takes a minute for you to focus and be like, oh no, that's Fearne on top. It's like this shitty Halloween costume.

Exactly. Like the ones we got. The inflatable ones. Yeah. Oh my god. We got three inflatable dragons that we could ride with Ronan. Oh my god, that's so cute. That just flashes me back to Campaign 2, anytime we cast Polymorph, it was just us and inflatable T that we could ride with Ronan. Oh my god, that's so cute. That just flashes me back to campaign two, anytime we cast Polymorph,

it was just us and inflatable T-Rex. Yes. Yeah. Well, for this three to four day journey, are you going to be traveling max speed, regular speed, stealthy speed, as stealthy as you can be on horseback? What is your preference here?

I think good. Well, not the slowest, because we're on a schedule here. We have to get there before we miss out. Yeah, I think we go fast until the road gets a little questionable, and then we'll slow it down. Understood, all right. As Sharros did say, to stick to the honored trails. Yeah.

He was very specific. He kind of kept going on about it. He was like, oh, bad shit in the woods. Really stick to the honored trails. Yeah. He was very specific. He kept going on about it. He was like, oh, bad shit in the woods, really stick to the trails. I lost interest, honestly. Yeah. That's so sad. And I certainly don't want to run the horses too hard. You know what I mean?

Even they can only maintain maximum speed for an hour at most. Yeah. Back it off. Back it off a bit. But yeah, and considering that pace, we'll go ahead and roll for the first day's journey northward through Yo Dear and Wilds.

I would like somebody to roll a d20 for me, please. Start over here, we'll make our way down. Big money, no wow. What that means? Natural 20. Woo! Oh my god. That means we fight a dragon.

It means you roll a d6 for me, please. Yep. Yeah! Oh shit. Let's roll a d6 for me, please. Yep. Yeah! Oh shit. Let's roll the everything is wrong die. One. Okay. Oh god, my stomach's full of stuff. Yep. Might as well just do it.

Is it a dragon? Oh. Gelidon finds us a dragon. Moab, they make Moab dragons? What the fuck? So. Oh no. Mjölnir. We'll say

about four hours into your... Sam can't draw. He's drawing a sheep. I'm drawing fern on a horse. Hold it up. That is not a horse or fern. What is happening? Show the viewers. I'm just saying.

I know how animals work. I'm trying to my knees. I have to go backwards. If you make a note in class you pass a note, I know how animals work. I have to go backwards. If you make a note in class, you gotta show everybody. Everybody watching on TV. Can we let everyone know that before the game, Sam was talking about Fern

and didn't realize she wore clothes? He's been picturing her naked. I thought she was not naked. Also because you just didn't look at the art. I mean, we still have that top-down camera, you know, like right about here. You put it on the CR.

It's pretty awful. There you go. Pretty terrible. Wow. Sam has also asked if Fern's knees bend backward or forward. Yeah. I don't know how anatomy works. Also, this is not a script.

It's just ad copy. Cut the feed! Cut the feed! The script's on the monitors, guys. In our contacts. Yeah, exactly. Last time we're going to laugh, this is Cyrus. The rough four or so hours into your journey of this first day of travel This time we're going to laugh. This is Tyrax. The rough four or so hours into your journey

of this first day of travel along the northward winding Honored Trail. Mm-hmm. The path itself is a combination of occasional rough packed gravel and well-pressed dirt into a tan and medium brown walkway

that is relatively easy for your horses to maintain and traverse. There's no rails, and the path itself does occasionally widen or thin along the way, but you can see there's all manner of travel to and from. And it doesn't take long for you to pass by a miniature caravan of three carts, all being pulled by travel to the side, and you have to widely step over as they pass.

Continuing on. Orym, Fern, Laudna, and Fresh Cut Grass. As you're all continuing forward, you hear this rapid rustling to the right-hand side of the road. It's like, jumping immediately out of the brush from the right to the left.

For a split second, you almost see time slow as this large dog-sized, like a timber rabbit leaps out of the brush, probably about four feet from end to end. You can see where the ears are. They're long and dragging behind the head about an additional two feet. It has this heavy mane of wild matted, light brown fur around its face and its jaw,

something that glimmers, this odd pinkish coloration, as it just darts off into the jungle off the left-hand side. Whoa. And disappears from view? Unless you do anything, yeah. What was that? What color was his fur? Like a medium light brown. That was a giant rabbit. What was that? What color was his fur? Oh, like a medium light brown.

That was a giant rabbit. What was chasing it? What was in its mouth? It had something in its mouth? Yeah, it had some sort of pink glow to it. People said that the animals around him mutate and get weird. Hey, hey, hey, hey!

Oh. It's in the jungle. Orym, you want to chase after it off the honored path? Is that what we're doing? We're chasing animals? I don't know. It seems interesting. That seems like just... Oh, fuck!

Leaps off. He was surfing on top of his gigantic horse. He's just surfing. Oh, yeah, we were doing it. We got to stand up behind the shoulder haunches. Oh, I see. Teen Wolf surfing. When I saw the were doing it. We got to stand up behind the shoulder haunches. Oh, I see. Team Wolf surfing USA. When I saw the rabbit, I was like...

My number two. I'm not going to go far. I'm going to run like 30 feet into the bush just to see if I can catch another glimpse of this creature I've never seen before in my life. Okay. You dart 30 feet into the jungle, kind of dodging through.

Make a stealth check for me as you do so. That's where my love of the game started. No, I'm not. Oh, it's a one. I get to reroll it. Can I try to do a rabbit call? 15. Sure.

Make a... Only if you do it for us. Sure. Okay. Go ahead and roll, and I'll say an animal handling check on this one. 11. What does it sound like?

Ooh. Okay. That was good, man. And what was your follow-up? 15. 15. Okay, as you're making this call out into the open jungle around you,

you dart into the brush, and you can just see it leap, stop a little ways ahead, hear something odd in the sound of the direction of the rest of your crew. That strange clicking sound. It listens for a second, wiggles its nose. You can see that strange pink object in its mouth still.

Can I see what that is? Make a perception check. Drop it. Raw hit. It's a natural 20. And a 19. Ooh! Damn. Okay, for a total of 25.

It is a smoothly polished stone about that big that it's just kind of holding in its mouth like a toy. It looks back and you can see, now that you have a better look at its face, too, the front teeth are very long

and kind of curved backward. And you can see it's kind of resting behind the teeth, the tongue's kind of pressing against it, and that's how it holds it in its mouth. Also, in the front of its head, the skull comes to this kind of odd curved horn. It kind of hooks back about six or seven inches or so before the rest of the fur mane kind of

collects around its base. It just looks back. It begins darting off into the further west. I'm going to chase it. I'm going to chase it, and as I run, I'm going to grow some lettuce leaf in my hand and try to catch up. I'm not going to run off a mile into the...

No, no, no. You're good to go. Okay. I'm not going to run off a mile into the... No, no, no. You'll never see me again. You're good to go. Okay. We haven't stopped, right? You are now giving a chase. What is your movement speed? 30. 30.

All right. So you spend the action to go ahead and create this kind of head of lettuce in your hand and begin running after it. This creature is currently in a double dash mode, so it is getting away at the moment. Okay. But as part of this chase,

I want you to go ahead and roll another stealth check for me to see if you make the noise. 14. Necessary, 14. Okay. You create this and you begin darting forward, jumping off the side of a tree, leaping down into a bush, and as you peek up, your feet land and your foot skids for a second,

and you catch the rock tumbles. The creature looks back in your direction. Hold out the lettuce. And it, unfortunately, spooked a little bit, and it seems like it's getting further away. Do you want to continue to pursue? Yes. What'd you do?

What is the matter with the rock? Feed that timber bunny. One more time. Yeah, run. Okay. So you can go full run behind it now? Yeah. Full tilt.

Okay, okay. And I'll go like this. Las Vegas gambler. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're trying to mimic the noise? Yeah, yeah, I heard it. I know where it was coming from. It's really bad, but I'll do it anyway.

Make an animal handling check for me. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Ooh, terrible, terrible, terrible. Five. So you make the noise. It's more of a... And the creature suddenly leaps up from the middle of the brush,

its ears wide up and flopping forward, its eyes suddenly with a look of fear, like it heard the sound of a predator. I'm holding it to sleep. I know. The animal handling check is a predator. I'm holding it to sleep. I know. The animal handling trick is not good. And it just continues to dart. Now it's darting kind of a northwestern direction.

So now it's not going directly away from the group. It's almost like starting to go a little more parallel. But it is still getting away. Like it's starting to get a little smaller in the distance. What do you want to do? I'm going to run. I'm going to run. I'm going to run.

Okay. Run. Do you hear any stealth? Are you trying to stealth this time or are you just going to the you want to do? I'm going to run. I'm going to run. I'm going to run. Okay. Run. Do you hear any stealth? Are you trying to stealth this time or are you just going to the first one? No, I'm just trying to catch up to it. Okay. You gather by how it moves

that if you both run full tilt, it will outpace you. Oh. I don't want to hurt it. Kill it. Get stealth. No, fuck you. Destroy it.

Nope. No, I'll let off. Okay. If I have to do something like throw a dagger at it to stop it, I'm not going to do that. Either take it out, or if you want to attempt to approach it quietly once it calms, but still pursue it, that's the other path you can take.

That's a new mount. But it's a challenge. Why does it have a stone? You're on the precipice now of- I'll stop and listen. Okay, you stop and listen. Mm-hmm. You seek.

Is it still just- Make a perception check for me again. That is real good. That's a 24. 24. It continues to move away from you at a rapid pace. You hear. And then it stops.

All right, so the last thing I will do, because I'm not going to run two miles off into the Oderan Wilds, is I will take a good 10 minutes to slowly creep away. Okay. Or creep toward. Creep towards it, okay. Roll a stealth check for me. While this is happening, what are the rest of you doing?

A werewolf comes in and tears its entrails. Thanks for the distraction. What the fuck was he doing? 23. Could he just chase after a fucking rabbit? Can I look? I'm going to jump off the horse and start looking for some herbs. Okay.

Apparently, we're taking a stop. That's what's happening. Well, I know the healing. The quad leaves with the red spots? Sure. Let me get those. Go ahead and roll a nature check. Are you okay?

Am I close enough for that? Oh, you are so close. You are plenty close. Yeah. He's, at this point, from following and pursuing, a few hundred feet off the path just so you know he's still plenty within range

okay seven you gather some plants you're like oh these are herbs and you kind of pull them together and start looking at them and realize or they're just weeds but they're green.

Oh, yeah. What was the thing that she said? The quad leaves and the red spots. The quad leaves and the red spots. I was looking for some things. I have some ideas. Oh? To help maybe access your dreams. What?

To help, you know, maybe feel like a lucid dream. Get in and sort of... Control it? Yeah. I would love to control it. Okay, well, I'll keep looking. I'll keep looking.

There's just some things that you can either smoke or have as a tea to help. All right. We can make you a nice tea. Okay. We'll see. We'll see. I'll keep looking.

Okay, while this is happening, you do begin to creep up quietly in the direction where you heard the sound over the next few minutes. Keeping low, pushing past different low-hanging vines and bushy ferns and kind of different kinds of ferns until eventually you see, low to the ground, vines and bushy ferns and different kinds of ferns. Until eventually you see, low to the ground,

the strange, polished gem on the ground in front of it. You see the bunny creature smelling it and looking around, its ears up a little bit, the flopping down by its shoulders. Druidcraft, the saddest, tiniest little carrot. It doesn't see you yet. Okay. It stoops down to pick up the gem in its mouth quietly.

It looks like it's beginning to prepare itself to continue its path away. What do you do? I drop the carrot and sprint, and I'm going to try to grab the stone. Okay. Try to be faster than a rabbit. You were just darting for it.

Yes. Now I drop stealth and just book it. Okay. I will say, go ahead and roll a d20, add your initiative modifier. I get advantage on initiative rolls. Can I add that?

Yeah, for this instance. Thank God. 19. 19, it got a 16. So you do manage to go first. So you dart outward, it turns to see you, and for a second you see its feet kind of grinding into the dirt as it's trying to escape,

but it can't quite catch enough friction yet. And as it's beginning to put its hands down to pick up a moment to burst out with all of its strength, you catch up right towards it and you're trying to snatch it from its mouth. Snatch it, yep. All right, go ahead and roll an athletics check to try and pry it from its mouth.

Come on. God, come on, come on, come on, come on. Steal from the cute bunny. Why do I have advantage on that? That's the rope, which is gone. The rope. Okay. Oh, the rope, which is gone. The rope. Okay. The rope would have been so useful here.

22. I ride this moment. 22! Nice! It rolled a 20 altogether. Oh! Oh, nice! Lucky motherfucker. That's funny. So you reach out and you grab behind its mouth, and you can feel the hot breath and the moisture in its jaw.

And as you grab it around the stone, it tears away. And for a second, you're afraid that it's just going to bite down and take your finger off. Up close to this creature, it looks cute from a distance. And up close, it looks a little monstrous, or at least a little dangerous when skittish, in this instance, for its size. And it is technically bigger than you, by all accounts.

With that, though, you manage to... Everything is. Yep. You manage to twist it and pull it free from its mouth, and it bites after your hand, but you pull away, at which point it pauses for a second,

looking at you, its head to the side, and then darts off a huge leap. And I go in the opposite direction. Perfect. And I'm walking back through the trees and going, it's a poop. Man. I was really just thinking.

It's a poop. Why did I do that? Feels good. What do I, like, now that I have a chance to examine it on my short walk back what am I looking at here you turn

it is smooth and polished on one side and the other side itself what's up it's just a rock it's just a rock the other side is kind of rough

almost like it's broken or broken off something but it has like a it just looks pretty just like a piece of colored glass cool I will walk back But it has like a, it just looks pretty. It's like a piece of colored glass. Cool. I will walk back and break out onto the path and I will find Imogen on her horse

and I will go and land on the back of your horse, just standing, surfing. You can startle the shit out of these things. I'm really light. All right. You like stuff like this. You're not a thing. You like stuff like this. You're not a thing. You're a great girl.

Anyway, start. What is this? I don't know. You seem to have a thing for pink rocks. Oh. Oh, does it feel tingly, like it could transform me at any moment in time? No, it's a different shade, texture, and consistency. The stone that you found in the layer

that you have currently contained in that pouch at your side is more opaque and rough and has like a weight and heft to it. This is very light and looks almost glassy. Like it has a translucence to it when you look at it at certain angles. The back of it's kind of rough and broken

like it was sheared off of something. It's light. So hold it up to the sun as it's see-through? Yeah. It has like a translucent nature to it and light kind of pokes her.

As you lift it, you can see kind of the bright pinkish light refraction on her face. Kind of shading her skin. It's like Ashton's hair.

No, it's beautiful. Maybe he's just, you know, thought it was food or something. These horses don't have names, do they? I named mine. Oh, what's your namehton's hair. No, it's beautiful. Maybe he just thought it was food or something. These horses don't have names, do they? I named mine. Oh, what's her name or his name? His name.

His name is Sir Floppers. And I've only had him for an hour, and I would die for him. Sir Floppers. Sir Floppers, good. I'm calling mine Rabbit. Aw, that's cool. That's Kay. Anyone else have names?

Pew! I'll name back my horse. What are you going to name your horse, Chetney? Loonch. Loonch? Yeah. Yeah. It's four, and don't worry about it.

Okay. It'll pay, don't worry about it. Okay. It'll pay off in 17 episodes. Guess this is escargot. Hello, escargot. That's really good. And what about you? Heart. Oh, heart? Aw. Heart, rabbit, escargot, Mr. Floppers, and Looch?

Sir Flopper. Sir Flopper. Sir Flargot, Mr. Floppers, and luch? Surf floppers. Luch. Surf floppers. Surf floppers. Sorry. It's okay. I was gonna tell him Mr. Floppers. I did, but I could still take a look at it and just see. I don't know, maybe. I'm just gonna hand this to you, surfing behind me.

Oh, wow, I didn't know any of this. I'm here for some luch. What do you call that thing? One way. Oh. That's the only place that thing? One way. Oh. It's the only one he's going to get. Or the other. That's as far as he's going to get.

Knowing our track record. Yeah, yeah. I don't like to get attached to things that are clearly going to die. Like all you. All right. Can I just look at this thing and see if I know what it is? Make an arcana check, if you'd like.

No. Since I have an advantage on arcana checks made to reveal information about a creature or object you can see. So that's advantage. If it were magical. Okay. Four.

Four. Nope. You have no idea. Yeah. Nope. You have no idea. Yeah. Can I take a look at that thing? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, you got sort of rocks in you. Yeah, is it the same?

Does it make a noise? Yeah, what do you hear? What was yours named? You should know. Rabbit. Can you hear the ocean? Tastes like rabbit saliva. Ah. But I know, I would know what that tastes like. Tastes like rabbit saliva. But I know, I would know what that tastes like.

Tastes like rabbit saliva. Why do you keep licking it? I don't know. Can I taste it? Yes. It's good. We'll figure it out. That's why I kept it.

We only have five horses. How do we have six names? Where did it come from? Oh, no. Roll initiative. You know what? Because Chetney and Orym are sharing a horse, but they both gave it a name.

I thought we said there were enough for everybody. Someone said the sentence, we have enough horses for everybody. You have enough horses for five of you, and you have one person who is riding in the cart, and one person who is riding on the back. But if you guys are sharing it, then... If you take Rabbit from me, I'll kill you.

No, you can have Rabbit. You can call him Loonch Rabbit, or Rabbit Loonch. Yeah, just combine the names. Just combine the names. You've never had Rabbit for Loonch, you're missing out. Ah! Rabbit Loonch! It's canon.

I'll take lunch. I feel like it still conveys the same thing. Oh, so yours is named Looch? Yeah, it's ours now. The one-way lunch. One-way lunch. All right. Shall we continue?

And you do. A relatively uneventful rest of the day. You did get a later start. That wasn't like a first thing in the morning exit from the day. You did get a later start. That wasn't like a first thing in the morning exit from the city. You had to gather your things and procure your mounts and everything. So you left probably a little afternoon.

So you're looking at about an additional two more hours of travel before eventually it gets darker and darker and you find yourselves now traveling through a darkened jungle. We should start looking for a clearing off the road that we can camp. I love walking in the forest at night.

Can I sniff the air? You know, I always loved it when you would stand at the side of the road and just like... Oh, God. Just see if people piss their pants. Yeah. This is so good.

Have fun. Could I give the air a sniff and just see what might be near? You can. Go ahead and make a perception check, please. Five. That's a really bad roll. Advantage, but keen awareness of the forest. Oh, I have advantage.

Five. That... It's hard to pick up much beyond the natural earthy scent that the jungle itself carries around you. You do catch the moisture getting thicker. And as the temperature begins to shift to a colder night here in the jungle, you begin to notice a low mist beginning to roll in.

I know you've seen this mist from a distance. Some of you have come across this before when you traveled to Jrusar using the honored trails, depending on where you came from, which would have been you two. Are you two there? You and you. You as well, actually, may have actually seen this as well, but it is not uncommon for most knights here

in the wild to have some level of mist or fog obscure a lot of the lower floor of the jungle. Sometimes it's strong enough that it begins to completely encompass what is visible. Tonight, it looks like it's not that strong, at the moment, at least. Do we remember anything odd or supernatural to the mist?

No, it's just more of a natural occurrence, and based on the weather and the patterns of temperature and moisture in the air, it can be heavier or not. Are we in the dark, it can be heavier or not. Are we in the dark now or not yet? I'll say you are about 20 minutes after sunset, which means the orange and reddish glows are giving away to the purples and blues. You have maybe about 10 minutes

before it gets pretty dark out here, beyond just the light you carry on yourself. Sun sets faster in the forest. I am not the person to find where we're going to camp. That is not in my skill set. Does anybody know what looks good out here? Because this all looks like shit to me. I mean, we were on the road for a while,

so we can find a good spot. I'm pretty sure my survival, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, mine's decent. That's a nice little shack for him. I mean, I can absolutely find us a great spot. Okay, whoever's helming this, if you could go ahead and make. I'll give Imogen advantage. Oh. Okay, whoever's helming this, if you could go ahead and make. I'll give Image an advantage.

Oh. Either two of you are rolling separately, or one person is rolling with advantage. Your choice. I don't think I should do it. Give Image an advantage. All right, make a survival check with advantage, please. 20.

Doesn't take you too terribly long to find about 40 or so feet off the right-hand path, you see a divot in the ground. There is a small portion of the jungle floor that recedes about five or so feet that would allow you to set up an encampment that would not be visible immediately from the road. So if anybody were to be traveling at night,

the nearby tree line and the jungle floor would likely obscure anything the fog did not. Great. Good to find. Excellent. Tie the horses up. Yeah, lead them down. Okay.

You all head over there and begin to build a fire and set up for our night's camp. Gather your bedrolls and prepare for rest. Is anyone keeping watch? Oh, I can't wait. We should definitely do that. I'll go first. Yeah.

Yeah. What's the moon look like? Make a perception check. Can we see the moon? Does this mist affect seeing the sky at all? The mist tonight is not so strong. Okay. So you can look up and you can see,

there's a little bit of obfuscation, but you can still see the night sky, though the stars are a little hard to make out. Yep. Can I? 20, very 20. From where you can see through the canopy, Catha is up, though it looks like it's partially waning,

kind of leaning into a thick crescent, if you will. Ruidus is a little ways across the sky from Catha. It looks like it's still making its way towards its zenith, probably in a few months. A few weeks or a month. Waning its way. That's about it.

The little box that had the diamond in it, would that had the diamond in it? Yes. Would that fit the purple stone? Queen should. Yeah, you can go ahead and fit that together. I'm going to do that. Okay.

I'll recall. You got it. All right, so we'll say three shifts for watch. First shift is you. I'll take the second. Okay. I'll join for second. First shift, go ahead and roll perception. I'll stay up with you, Chet. Thank you. I don't want to shift is you. I'll take the second. Okay. I'll join for second. First shift. Go ahead and roll perception.

I'll stay up with you, Chet. Thank you. I don't want to sleep just yet. You want to roll with me on perception? Sure, sure. Or is that a bad idea? No, I'll give you advantage. Okay. Ooh, four.

Oh no. Natural one and a three. Wow. Four. Natural one and a three. Wow. Just for shits, I'm going to see what I would have gotten. I rolled a one, so that's good. I didn't. The two of you take your shift for the night, confident in your ability to keep this encampment safe. No problem.

About three hours into your shift, nothing happens. Oh. Hey. You finish your shift without issue. You're taking second shift? Mm-hmm. Go ahead and roll a perception check for me. 18 for me. 15 for me, brother. 18 for me. 15 for me. Okay.

You both watch like a hawk, and you do see shapes up in the trees, shadows shifting, smaller creatures that are nocturnal and hunting, but nothing that seems to be specifically of interest to you or finding interest in you. Occasional flying predators, their

shadows moving over the exposed night sky. Your watch comes to a close without issue. I also spend part of it druidcrafting yellow flowers and tucking them into little seams

in FCG's structure while I watch the night. Is that some kind of like a Shari shit you're doing there? That is some Shari shit. Fuck. It's pretty cool. Yeah.

A Shari shit. Yeah. Smiley day. Fuck. Who's taking the third and final watch? I'll take that. Oh, we can both. Two of you go ahead and roll perception checks.

Covered in flowers. I'm going to cast light through, you know, my eyes shine like two flashlights, and I will have my head slowly just sort of twist around 360 like a lighthouse, just kind of going around and around. Viper arm take. 12. Sorry, the flower went away. 23. Okay.

Are you getting bit? No, no, no. Someone put these flowers on me. Or maybe they grew on me. Is the jungle reclaiming me? What if it is? Maybe you are alive. Maybe you're a tree. That doesn't make any sense.

No. Such a conclusion. Did we see anything? No. You feel pretty confident that this particular place that you found can be pretty tuck and safe for the knights. We're very safe here. We are. We are.

What time do you reckon it is? If it's 3 a.m., does that mean you get frisky? for the nights. We're very safe here. Tuck and see. We are. Tuck and see. What time do you reckon it is? If it's 3 AM, does that mean you get frisky? Maybe. I think it's past 3 AM. Oh, okay. I think we have the morning, almost the morning shift. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So it's the second shift. Are you okay,

by the way, just missing your parents like you do? Yeah. I mean, it's been a very long time since I've seen them, and I think I've lived more of my life without them than I have with them. But I sure would like to know if they're okay. Aren't you worried that if they send you another postcard, you won't be home to get it? Or just someone at home to forward it to you? Well, my grandmother is home.

And if they send it, then she'll keep them there for me when I come home. So I'm sure I will have so much mail by the time I get home. For sure. Because we've been gone for a while. Oh.

Yeah. I hope you find them. For sure. We've been gone for a while. Yeah. I hope you find them. Me too. What were their names? Oh, Ollie and which is funny and shit, I forgot what I was going to say. Oh, that's fine. It's late.

It's late. What was your mother's name? I should remember this offhand. It's been. What was your one? Just a second. I should remember this offhand. Wow. It's been so long since I've seen her. You can check your notes and get back to me. You can just make up anything, no? But she actually has one for this one.

It's just been a minute since I've actually thought about them. Was it Whitestone Andy? A really well thought out name? It's Kaiser Sozin. Oh, God. Man, I know Danny knows that. It's fine.

We'll say that you answered. Oh, God. How could I forget? My mama's name is Birdie, and my daddy's name is Oleander. Oleander? Birdie and Oleander? Mm-hmm. Aw.

Sounds like a musical. It does. It does. My grandmother's name is Maury, short for Morrigan. Oh. Yeah. Amazing.

Well, good night. Good night. Yeah. Amazing. Well, good night. Good night. Eventually, the cold morning, misty air shifts to a warmer sunrise. The insects begin to accrue. The noise shifts once more, and you all come to consciousness for your second day of travel.

You gather up your horses. We wake up, and I have a death grip on Laudna's hand. Any dreams? Nope. Next time. Next time. All right. Stepping back onto your horses, moving onto their backs and preparing them for the journey.

Do you have time to really take a look at this weird piece of glass? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's really take a look at this thing. I sure will. I look at it and cast Identify. You do. Identify. Identify.

I identify. The text is flying through my memory banks like the Terminator. Yes. Perfect. It is a Feywild shard. Like the Gnarl thing? Ironically, similar origins,

but very different material. Nothing but shards. What the hell's that? All the way down. Yeah, this one's peppermint. A Feywild shard. Correct. Like a piece of essential Fey rock?

You glance at it, and now that you can guess its attention, you look at it and it has this odd shifting of coloration on the inside, almost like the pinkish coloration shifts to orange, like the golden hour of a sunset. Cool. It is very small

and you can attach it to a small object if you'd like, but you have to attune to it. It's an attunable item. Can be used as a spellcasting focus, but it needs to be attuned by a sorcerer. Maybe I am one. What if you are, and you just don't know? Maybe, but we don't know a sorcerer, do we?

I'm a sorcerer.'t know a sorcerer, do we? I'm a sorcerer. You're a sorcerer? Wait, do you have fur all over your body? Am I naked? You're a sorcerer? A sorcerer. Oh. I thought you were something homebrewed. I mean, Laudna's a sorcerer, too.

Ah, what? We have two sorcerers. We've been playing this game for a little bit. Who are you? I kind of chased it down for you. You did? Happy seven-year anniversary. You wear it well.

Thank you. It does look good. What happens if you connect to it? I don't know. Where should I put it? I want to wear it. You should touch it to the other one. Touch shards? Yeah.

I kind of agree, but I do kind of want to see what would happen. What if it ruins it? That other rock changes things. We could eat it, that's true. We're just gonna... I mean. Do you need a spellcasting focus? I other rock changes things. We could eat it, that's true. We could eat it. Do you need a spellcasting focus? I don't have one.

Oh, well then, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Ooh, I want to put it in my hair. Oh, you can make it like that. A little clip. Ooh, a little clip, yeah. You can do that if you'd like. Wear a piece of jewelry.

Yeah. Okay. Do you want to turn to it? Can you whittle barns? Shards. For the morning rest, all right. So essentially, you can add the Feywild Shard to your character sheet that's in of jewelry? Yeah. Okay. Do you attend to it? Can you whittle bar mats? Shots! For morning rest, all right. So essentially, you can add the Feywild Shard to your character sheet that's in D&D Beyond. Oh!

Once a day, when you use metamagic. Metamagic. You can choose to also roll on the wild magic table. What? Metamagic. You can choose. Chaos. You may What about a magic? You can choose. Chaos. Chaos, chaos.

You can choose chaos? Yeah, you can decide to just, this is the time, castness spell, let's roll on the table and see what happens. It's like graduating from the deck of many things to the deck of everything. It's really great. It can ruin your life. It's not as bad as older editions. No. It's mostly great. It can ruin your life.

It's not as bad as older editions. No. It's mostly just silly. It's just mostly, I know, it's mostly, every now and then, though, it's perfect. Sheep, everyone turns into sheep. And also, if the result on the table, the Wild Magic table is a spell, and it requires concentration,

it does not require concentration in this casting and instead just lasts for the duration of the spell. Ooh. So on the occasional chance that the metamagic does cause a spell or the wild magic causes a spell and that spell doesn't need concentration, it just kind of stays for the duration. Okay, cool. So it's a weird little unreliable fun effect that you can decide to engage in. Wibbly wobbly Fae.

It's fancy. I'm so excited. That looks beautiful. Thank you. Thank you, Orym. That's really working. Well, I don't know how to use anything like that, so. Shit.

What would have happened to that bunny? Had to just ate it. Oh. She's just filled with fun. Shout out some Fae magic. It's a bunny roll on the table.

Let's see what happens. Shut some shards. Fairy fire on the table. Do you think it was a Fae wild bunny? Maybe it came over with it. What's with all

the Fae stuff around here? I know. What the fuck is up with that? What the fuck is up with that? Like a doorway

or something. Well, I was... Oh my god, we got distracted. I was trying to ask you about that the other night, and then I think I just fell asleep. But when you came through, was it like a portal, or did you teleport?

Yes, it was a gate. Is the gate just always there? Yes. People can just pass through it freely? I think so. I'm not... I've never seen anybody go in and out of it before. I don't think.

I mean, I've gone out of it and you remember going through it yeah yeah we've been there Orym's been to the gate before really? yeah you know what you talk about it because it's where you're from so freely but it's really another

dimension it's really you're from so freely, but it's really another dimension. It's really beyond everyone's ken. What does that mean? It's special. Oh. You, Fearne, you're special. Well, we all come from, you know, our own different places, and...

Yeah. I don't think it's... I mean, it is very different here, but... Your place is hard for us to reach. Close to impossible. I've only ever, like, heard of it. Yeah. Have you guys ever been there?

No. No, definitely not. Anybody? I haven't been to a lot of places. Where's this gate that you guys were at? Well, I'd have to find it again. Is it here? Well, it is.

It's, it's... I don't really remember. It's on Tal'Dorei. It's in the Verdant expansion. Not too far from the city of Emon. Not too far. Yeah. We should all go there sometime.

We could stay with my grandmother. She's an amazing cook. She makes amazing meat pies and all sorts of just candies. Ooh, that sounds wonderful. I think if you're inviting us to another plane of existence, the answer's probably yes. Yeah. Okay. We'll go sometime. That'd be wonderful. Why do you think there's so many

fake creatures here right now? Maybe it's leaking. Maybe there's a gate here. I mean, maybe the gate is leaking. There could be a gate here. She's oozing.

I think there are more. Would you sense it? Do you think you would sense the farewell? Let me try. Yeah, reach out. Let me try. What do I do? What do I do? I want a hot dog real bad.

A hot dog real bad. Holy shit, she's totally a bitch. Go ahead and roll a d20 and add your wisdom modifier to it. Come on, come on. Get ready, because I'm going to find it right now. With a pebble dice. That was a big one. It's gone now.

That one's gone. That's a natural one. Oh! Knew it! Nailed it. Nailed it. Oh no, I'm trying so hard. So here's what's interesting. You are attuned to the source of your magic and essence. So you don't, there's no pinpoint or direction,

but there is just a general faint fey energy to this jungle. That's about all you can pick up on. Nothing directional, and it's very faint. It's just suffused the air and the ground. I don't... I just feel like it's kind of tickling me everywhere, but it's not a specific point. Like it's in the water?

Yeah, it's kind of floating around everywhere. But I mean, I don't know, maybe other parts leave like I do. Is it a discolored vibe or no? No. Wow. That's strange. We got to press on.

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. Saddle up. Come on, rabbit. Pushing forward, I would like somebody to roll a d20 for us, please.

I think we're going around, aren't we? Yep. You're up. Okay, come on. Second rabbit. A six. A six. You continue on this path for a number of hours. Stop, give your horses a break, have yourself some snacks,

some midday lunch with your rations and bits of edibles you've kept with you. Remount, continue on until the better part of your eight-plus hours of travel on horseback comes to a close, safely, unbothered, winding past the sound of distant rivers and the occasional rush of wind

that blows through the jungle and you hear the canopies rustle like this soft, heavy, continuous, sourceless growl that swells and vanishes. Eventually, the horses, you can sense them getting tired, their gait beginning to slow, and you know it's probably getting close to time to set camp. Another couple of days left.

Yeah. Start keeping an eye out for an area that would be good. Okay, all right. Roll a scrap of check, please. I'll throw you advantage. All right. See what you found last time. I can afford again. Jesus.

20. 20 again? Ooh. All right. You find, this is a little bit more of a journey to take, but roughly 100 or so feet off the northwestern edge. The path itself is curving a little bit to a northwestern direction, and so you head further up that northwestern area.

There is a drop off, a small cliff that goes down about 10 or so feet. But there is a gradual decline around the side and you can see that it'll get you in a way where you're mostly not visible from the road and low enough where it's the best place to build a camp that you can find in your current topography. All right.

So you go ahead and gather your horses, settle up down there, situate your fire, prepare your evening's meal, and take your chosen watches for the night. Okay, I'll take first watch. Yeah. All right, if you don't mind,

go ahead and make a check for me, perception check. I'll take it. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. 19. Six. Okay. You fall asleep a little early, but only because there's a specific thrum

of a particular insect at night that's... I'll actually say I have a slightly different distraction if you're down for it. Sure, go for it. I'm going to try and pickpocket. I'm going to try and grab some shit. I'm not watching, I'm down for it. Sure, go for it. I'm going to try and pickpocket. I'm going to try and grab some shit. I'm not watching, I'm going for something. Okay, okay. Zero distraction pickpocket.

Anything in particular? What you got? I mean, I have quite the collection. If you're just trying to grab what's there. I'm going random. Okay, go ahead and roll a Sleight of Hand check. You go ahead and roll a Sleight of Hand check. You go ahead and roll a perception check. As you are currently glancing off in the distance

towards the distant lines. Lots of breathing. 10. Eight. Oh! So you're looking off, keeping a close eye on the distance, just as the blast of light begins to fade, and you feel a tug at your hip glancing over,

and you can see Ashton's arm there reaching into one of your pouches. Excuse me. I was just checking. It's still there. That's good. It's all still there. Oh, that's very good. You can always just ask. What do you want?

I want to not ask. Fair enough. Game on later. Okay. Well done. Are you... That might be a rude question. Never mind. Oh, please.

Are you... Are you all rock hard? What time is it? Is it three? That's second shift. I mean, I don't know. I haven't checked. I mean, the outside, yes.

And what little inside I've seen is yes. I'll tell you what, I wasn't always. This wasn't how I started. What do you mean? Well, I mean, I was soft once. Do you bleed? Kinda, yeah. I think you've seen it, actually.

I know, but... You've seen me get the living shit kicked out of me, I believe. Well, you were there, I think. Yeah, I was there. I just, I wasn't, I was, I was kind of just not paying attention. That's not true.

No, no, I'm just having this moment where I'm realizing that perhaps one of the reasons why I allow myself to get the shit kicked out of me is in the hope that people are actually fucking watching. So that weirdly hurt, holy shit. I was just trying to take money out of people's pockets while they were busy.

Apology accepted, thank you. Wow, yeah, that's some insight shit. You weren't always this way? No, no. Started to kind of shift when I was younger. How young? 10, 11, 12-ish, I guess. You shifted?

Slowly, yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Don, yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Don't really know why. Got some theories. But, yeah. Can I touch it? Yeah.

No? That's weird. I'm not charging you anymore. Yeah, sure. I was just debating asking for some cash. Yeah, go ahead. It's just very pretty. Thank you. Wow.

I might try to steal it one day. I would be very entertained. I'm just kidding, I won't. I'll let it stay in your head. Oh no, no, no. This isn't over. Okay. This isn't over by half.

Game on. Game on. What we're supposed to be doing? Fuck. The rest of your watch goes on uninterrupted without issue. You finish your shift. Who takes next shift? I'll take the next one. I'll join her. All right, both of you. Perception check, please.

Natural one. A lot of ones on this. 17. That's great. Six total, not that I don't think it matters. 17. The first thing you notice about an hour into your shift is the heavier clouds have taken the sky

and a bit of moisture begins to hit your nose as it begins to rain through the jungle. The temperature drops even cooler. It's not cool. Laudna is distracted by, she's got Pate, and she's going to make him dance in front of the fire, and he's making a little shadow puppet display, and he's going to make him dance in front of the fire, and he's making a little shadow puppet display, and he's like...

She's just very distracted, entertaining herself, and maybe Orom. I don't think he cares, though. It's mainly for her. No, he's got one eye on the surroundings and one eye on Pate. Pate's hard to ignore. Ladna.

I'm going to keep looking around. Yeah. Yes. What was it like in Whitestone? Because I don't know a ton, but what I do know sounds hard. It was pretty rough. I was a bit naive, too. The real Whitestone was living a simple life.

Just kind of assumed that that's how all cities were. A little terrified. But everyone just tries to suck it up and go along, right? Any good memories, or was it... Oh, sure. I had a lovely childhood. I lived on the outskirts, on farmland. Any good memories, or was it... Oh, sure. I had a lovely childhood. Lived on the outskirts on farmland. You know, my days were spent running in the forests and digging up worms and running around bare feet.

This is long before them, right? They came in sometime in my youth. Yes, things slowly started to change. It wasn't an overnight shift. Political coups were so out of my family's purview. We were all so ignorant, I guess. Try not to concern yourselves with the problems of people who make a lot more money than you. It's a long time ago. Mm-hmm.

This might be too forward, but do you remember much about the end? Like the end, the end? There's some blank spots, yes. But I remember quite a lot, for better or for worse, I guess.

My parents thought that getting an invitation to the palace, to the castle, to meet the Lord and Lady Briarwood was a great boon. We were promised a wonderful feast and an amazing party, and we were told we were going to be serving a greater purpose for Whitestone. I would say it's a crapshoot. It's not like I was best friends with my boss. I was just an employee, but it's possible I would have overheard discussions of this.

Would I, can I roll to see if I understand that? Go ahead and roll a history check. Come on. Biggest roll of the night. History? Yes. 23. Like a shock of lightning in your head,

you make the connection. You heard the terrible tale of what happened. I want to throw something at her. Shut up. You know what's interesting about you? I would hope a great deal of many things. Well, there's the obvious. But you're the happiest person in this, Butch.

Of course. The worst thing that's ever happened to me has already happened. What the fuck is up with that? I remember being tossed Clothes to wear Told to change Be served a wonderful dinner Which we were, it was actually quite fantastic.

It was like a filet, a little surf and turf, had some lobsters. And then... that was it. They dragged me away, separated me from my parents, was brutally beaten, and then... It's a little fuzzy after that, but next thing I remember was waking up being hung from a tree. It was the sun tree, actually. It was quite a spectacle.

Yeah, I gathered. I gathered. I'm I'm so sorry It was a long time ago Respectfully So fucking what? I've had plenty of great things happen to me since then. Obviously doesn't even feel like it was me.

Different life, you know, as they say. Well. Sorry. It's really cold out, but I'm feeling kind of hot. Are you all right? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, I am. Yeah. Don't you pay no mind to me or my past. Focus your brain forward. It's not worth being sad about what can't be changed.

Well, I know that to be true. I'll just... I'll just leave that between you and me if... I don't want to... That's a lot. You see this? You see my ears? Yeah. I take little gold cuffs, little pointed-eared gold cuffs off.

Why are these to hide it? Because people get all gagged out about it. They cut my ears to make them pointy. To further match whatever warning signal that I was. You seem okay, but, uh, and Orm will stand up and hug her crouching semi-living form. You should have gone to Chris for that. What? Sorry.

Nobody should have had to face anything like that. I am sorry. And I'm impressed with you. Thank you. It's very kind. It's strange.

I don't think anyone's apologized for that. It's not really your place, but... I mean, it means a lot. Not for it, just... Words don't really handle that. Well, I think it's clear that you empathize because you understand. I'm sure you've had many a bad day. You can't. I'm sure you've had many a bad day. But we'll talk more about that next watch. I kick Chetney in the butt, wake him up. Yeah?

Your turn. What time is it? No idea. I think just before or just after three. Okay. Sweet dreams. Yeah, about that. Orym's going to go lie down and pretend to sleep and take a point of exhaustion

because there's no fucking way he would fall asleep after that conversation. Okay, go ahead and mark that point of exhaustion. Chetna, are you taking the next watch yourself or are you partnering up? I'll get up. Okay. Yeah, night owls.

Woo! Team horse. I feel like the third watch is the hardest because you've got the pre-sleep concrete. Yeah, I know. You already got the appetizer. Yeah. All right. Both of you guys roll perception checks for me, please.

Okay. 17. 17. 17. Nice. Keeping your eyes out for the night, the cold rain is causing you to shiver, and though the canopy does help offset a lot of the rain falling from the sky,

it still hits a majority of your camp, and you try and keep going to move closer to the edge of the tree or that cliffside for the best cover you can get. It's not comfortable sleep, but it's enough. Your shift goes by without major issue. Eventually the sun rises onto your next day of travel. The rain continuing, the sun not visible,

just a lighter gray sky above as you progress. I would like somebody to roll a d20. Oh, it's your turn. I'm up. 16? 16, roll a d6 for me. What color is the dragon? Pink. Four. Four.

Four, okay. The rain gets heavier. Oh shit. And heavier as the clouds grow darker and darker. You did this. And you hear the distant roll of thunder. Is that a different rain effect?

Cool. We had light rain and heavy rain. Oh, wow. The occasional flash. Oh, shit. Whoa, what just happened? Yeah, this might be the first one. Rolling through.

It's miserable. You all take whatever cloaks and hoods you have and tuck up tighter, continue pushing onto the track, the trail. How are the horses doing? The horses are going. Uncomfortably so. They're never going to make it.

No, it'll be fine. They'll be fine. I'm starting to skid out. Maybe I should ride in the cart for a while. Yeah, ride in the cart. It's full of money. Rusty. Gunk up your gears. Yep.

Get you out of the way. But as you press forward, about three hours into this journey, the heavy fog getting thicker and thicker. Not too far from the road, there is a blinding flash, the sound of wood splintering, and a massive, massive sharp sound that causes you all to instinctively grab your ears.

The horses rear up. You end up crashing back down, some of you almost falling off, but you catch yourselves. You can see this plume of dark smoke rising up about 200 feet, 300 feet above and to the right of the trail that you're on. Was it just a tree? Like a lightning strike?

I kick into a gallop. Oh. I fall in. Whoa! Well, shit. Okay. Water is splashing around you. The normally packed, dried dirt of the trail has now become a thick mud,

and occasionally you feel the slip of the hooves, but you continue pushing forward. You can see the smoke plume coming, and it is a ways off the path, and you get to the point where you can see loosely where it is, and it's starting to slowly subside. The blackened smoke's becoming more of a gray. Yeah.

Are you riding towards it? Trying to. I've never seen a tree struck by lightning before. Go off the trail? Yeah. Okay. You're now riding the horse through- All the warnings.

The tougher parts of the thickened jungle. As you move through the horses, having to move a little more gingerly and carefully as the slick stone and the rocky topography make it dangerous to traverse. Yeah, if it starts getting a little gnarly, I'll hop off and I'll throw a rein over a branch and just time up and continue on foot.

Okay. Probably safer as things progress forward. So are you all going with Chetney? Well, I was riding behind him, so I'm going to go along. Yeah. I just want to see it. Leave the horse. Okay.

So as you all slowly trudge through this heavy, stormy rain behind Chetney, make a perception check for me. I'm going to use my hearing and my smell for advantage. Yeah, the smell, definitely, on this one. 11. 11. Not too difficult to get the general scent, as you can smell the burning scent pretty strongly through the scents

of the cleansing rainstorm. You step down into this, for lack of a better term, a soft ravine, a part of the ground that is torn open a bit and drops for about 20 or so feet before the two sides of it catch itself. And you step along the left side of it over a slight ridge.

And there you see there is a twisting tree that has split down the center. You can see where the green canopy has torn at the sides and smoldering embers still burn a dull red, the rain slowly taking out what may have been a brief fire on this tree. You can see along it's split. There are shards of splintered wood everywhere,

and the blackened interior of it, it's like this gradual, heavy V. The tree itself may have stood 30 or so feet, but right now it is laid down to a mere eight or so off the ground for the split eventually subsides. In the space around it, the ground, you can see the brush has been pushed back

by the impact, the force of this strike. It's amazing. I'm going to pull a piece of wood. Look. Never been around a tree that's been struck by lightning before. This is a sign. I start breaking off pieces of timber from the tree.

I'm going to make a fucking baseball bat and throw it in the brain-drainer's hand. Win that game. The natural bit. I'm going to make a fucking baseball bat and throw it in the Rangers. Win that game. I'm going to start helping. Just start peeling pieces of wood off. I'm just going to put my hand on the tree and look up at the storm. The rain coming down.

I'm sorry, what were you saying? You're going to... Put my hand on the tree and look up at the storm. Look up at the storm. It's beautiful because this canopy is extremely dense at this time, but this one opening since the tree and look up at the storm. It's beautiful because this canopy is extremely dense at this time, but this one opening since the trees have been split gives you a direct look up into the heavy, dark skies above,

and you can see the flashes of distant lightning striking elsewhere within the Odyran Wilds. Orym and Fearne. Ooh. As everyone's looking in the space, glancing around, you both see something odd in the center of the split. It makes no sense. There's a growth.

Small, shaking, impacted by the heavy rainfall. Talking about like? A faint bluish coloration. Orym? Like glowing within when you see almost like a cancerous bulge on a tree. Maybe, but thin. Easy, easy, easy.

I'm going to get up behind Chetney and Imogen. It's like, hold up, don't move. I'm going to try to get a closer look at it. Getting right up to the tree, can I make anything more out? As you get closer, it is a bit high up, but from a certain viewing point, a little bit off to the right,

from your height especially, you can see better. It's a flower. A blue-petaled flower that seems to stand there in the center of this freshly split tree, like it had always been there, or it should not have been there at all. Bluefire and the storm?

Mm-hmm. I feel like that's something. I feel like we heard something about that. Does it? It's ringing bells. Blue? Feels like some fair watch. I mean, yeah, we should definitely take that. I mean. I think that's weird.

Reminding anyone else of anything? You said a blue flower? A blue flower. I think of our friend who we said goodbye to a few days ago, and I'm going to gingerly reach out and cut it free. Okay.

You go to reach for it, and as you do, your hand gets within a couple of inches of it, and the blue coloration of the petals seems to get slightly brighter, and right as you notice, this energy arcs off of it towards your hand, I need you to make a dexterity saving throw for me, please. It's a gift from the Storm Lord.

18. 18, okay. You only take five points of lightning damage. Okay, that's not so bad. You hold back a bit and reach in and then cut it free. As you do, you hold it in your hand and it's buzzing with energy.

Even in your grasp, you imagine prolonged holding of this would probably cause your hand to go numb. But as you look at it in your grasp, it looks like it is beautiful and oddly ethereal in a strange way that that blue glow is unnatural, and it still seems to hold some sort of innate energy within. FCG.

Yeah, you got something for me? Always. Sure. I do think that was a gift from the Stormlord. All right. I won't touch it, but I will and identify. Okay.

That is a chromatic rose, specifically a blue chromatic rose. Chromatic rose. What does that mean? Here, a chromatic rose, this is Chromatic rose Here a chromatic rose has its chromatic soul While holding the rose from its stem, you gain resistance

to lightning damage If you would take more than 10 lightning damage after resistance from a single source it destroys the rose Oh But you take no damage in that instance From a single source, it destroys the rose. Oh. Okay. But you take no damage in that instance.

Yeah. Also, or alternatively, you can take an action to blow the petals from it. And a 20-foot cone of lightning can blast forward. That's cool. That does destroy the rose. That is a one. Okay, so it's. Limited use item.

I'm going to twist the stem of it around my belt so that it's right there. Cool. Very cool item. It's a cool forest. Very cool. Well, they say stay to the path, but everything cool is off the path.

Absolutely. You guys have got some really lucky rolls. You got some good wood there? The best. I can feel it vibrating with energy. What'd you find? Keepsake. Stupid flower.

Oh. Okay. Back to the horses, make me. Back to the horses, yeah, yeah. If they're still alive. Well, I find that in here, man. I didn't get off mine. Well, I find that in here. You didn't get off your high horse.

It's dramatic rose. No. I'll ride that in here. You didn't get off your high horse. It's Mattacrow's. No. Da-da-da-da-da-da. I'll ride that high horse. Baby! Through every campaign. You're required to sing that when you do blow. Yeah, when I use it. Are the horses still there?

Horses are still there. Horses are still safe. Getting back onto your mounts, you continue onward. The rough storm, it does slow your journey a bit. So that three to four day journey becomes a four to five day journey. Depending on how the next days go, you may have an additional day added to it,

depending, we're on the cusp. But the rest of this day does eventually come to a close. The storm begins to subside, and you find the light of day fading as it is time to set camp for another evening. It's worth it for the projection effect. Mm-hmm. It's worth it.

Dude. Yeah. All right. I feel like we should keep these fine, these flowers on here all the time. I know, it's just so beautiful. At least till we get to the next step. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

While we're in the jungle. This could be the road flowers. They're all real, though, so they're gonna start to rot. All of this is. Nothing is real. This is what happened to the last set, too, and then the vines just lasted there for forever.

They were cool. They were cool. All right. Do we need to survival check? Somebody has to. I'll do it. They were cool. All right. Do we need to survival check? Somebody has to. I'll do it. Somebody has to. I thought it was Ash.

Okay, Ash. Well, you already rolled. That's for travel. We've already done it. We're checking for- They are checking for- Are you checking for a campsite? I'm checking for a campsite.

Okay. Oh. 14. Do you want advantage? Too late. Okay. Sure, Oh. 14. Do you want advantage? Too late. Okay. Sure, yeah. A little harder to find, especially in the midst of the storm the previous day.

A lot of the hidden spaces are now extremely muddy, which makes not only one, finding wood that's dry enough to start a fire challenging, aside from any kindling you may have brought with you or decided to purchase. But it still keeps a cold night air and honestly, a spread of bog-like locales that would have been normally

away from the road's point of view. But you find something that'll work, you think. Try and keep warm around a low-set fire. Who's taking the first watch? I will, since I didn't last time. I'll join. Okay. Do we perception-y?

Perception check, please. Ooh. Ooh, good. Oh, no. Natural 20. Nice. There you go. 13. First watch, no. Natural 20. Nice. There you go. 13.

First watch, thankfully uneventful. You finish out that. Who's taking next watch? How do I feel? I'm feeling good. I feel good. How are you feeling? Want to talk to me about your dreams?

I mean, nothing more than I already cool. But, I mean, I feel great. What does that mean? Why? Because we're out of the fucking city. Oh, you don't like the city? I hate the city. So many voices constantly. It's like you're half of yourself

because you're just trying to keep up these walls to keep all the voices out. Yeah, that would be- This is great. That would be terrible. Can you still hear our voices, our head voices? I keep that out for the most part. I don't want to invade on any thoughts. Oh, that's nice.

Unless you want me to. Anytime. Anytime you want. I don't know, the last time I did it, it felt like... You know, we have such similar abilities. It might be interesting to just sort of like... What if we did it at the same time? Simulprobe.

You want to do it? Oh my gosh, you'll be like... Okay. Let's do it. I'm going to go deep. Me too. All the way. Hard.

Deep and hard. Deep and hard. No one else is awake, right? No, no, we're good. All right. Well, how many attachments you got? How many what? Never mind. What are you talking about?

All right. I'm going to cast Detect the Hunt. I'm going to cast Detect Thoughts also. Okay. Wait, let's see what I can do. What happens at a higher level? I don't think anything. Oh, which is nothing. All right. I'll just do it at the regular level. Is this when you hold the microphone

really close to the speaker and just like get the loud feedback that breaks your brain? Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Okay. All right.

Is this like Dark Crystal where they start mind melding? Oh, yeah. I remember our childhood. So you are both casting... Simultaneous detect thoughts.

And we're going to go deeper. And I'm not going to resist. Me neither. It's just going to create a feedback loop. I want roll for Freaky Friday. No, I'm legitimately... One of you roll a d20. You got it.

Just a weird 11. I don't know what that is. You got it. You. Just a weird 11. I don't know what that is. Okay, okay, 11. It is challenging, because the two spells themselves seem to Ouroboros for a moment, and for a brief moment, it feels like you both opened a well into the space between you,

and both of you are about to be pulled in. Like, this was a mistake. This was a terrible mistake. And then you push through that, and it is more or less a soft merging of consciousness. There is a moment where you both are having a conversation, but with just emotions and memories. And it's very unique.

There's not language more than it's just expressing and sharing. And it comes to memories that involve you growing up, you helping rear and take care of your first foal, and raising horses and dealing with the frustrations of working in farm and pastures under Mr. Fjarramor. Mr. Fjarramor. Memories of the reoccurring dream,

you now get to see it. You get to actually experience some of these memories and visions, this deep red, ominous, flashing storm, the heavy dust and winds, the sense of hunger and growing doom. Scary thought. Mm-hmm.

Lots of meaning and subtext. Conversely, you begin to look into Yeah. SUG, and you see memories of traveling with Dancer and the troupe. You actually can now see the other automatons they traveled with. You get to see the campfire parties.

You get to see the stumbling through town and the odd looks, but the sense of belonging that was felt and enjoyed. Your family. You see a flash of those same individuals scattered around, unmoving, bloody.

You see a figure darting off into the shadow of night and the loneliness. The night and the loneliness, the sorrow and the loneliness. Roll a d20 for me. 11? Freaking 11. Mutual 11s. Yeah, that means something. Okay. It does. Synchronicity. Yeah, that means something. Okay. It does. Synchronicity.

That's about as deep as it gets for this. You get the sense on both of your parts that there's probably more there, but this is still new. This is still odd. And right now, this is about where it should sit. I just hug him.

Yeah, I'll hug you back. Yeah. I feel like we're the same person now. I mean, you probably know more than anybody I've ever met. That dream was really, it was just so big. I know you so well, man. Fuck, you're burning. You're beautiful.

You're so fragile. You're so vulnerable. I just want to hold you. I just want to hold you. She... Hey, yeah. If you need therapy, if that helped at all, I'm here for you. It felt good to sort of... I didn't get it out, but you got it in.

Yeah, like I did. I know. Doesn't it help to know but you got it in. Yeah, like I did. I know. Doesn't it help to know somebody knows? Feel closer. Yeah. Hey, maybe we can keep trying and like, you know, the next time we do that, we can like tornado deeper. You know what I mean? Yeah.

It might help us both. Yeah. Some new form of therapy. Yeah. I think we discovered it. Yeah. It only works with us. Yeah. I think we discovered it. Yeah. It only works with us. Yeah.

All right. Oh, shit. Were we supposed to be watching? Oh, shit. Roll initiative. Just like your previous party, we're all bloody and scared. Oh, my God.

Not again! Not again! Oh, my God. There's just Loudon apart, some different logins in the tree going, again. Oh, God. Oh my god! Oh my god! There's just Laudna parts and different loggings in the tree going, again. Help, it's again. This is fine.

Yep. Delightful. Your watch goes uneventfully, beyond just the remnants of the cold, wet jungle night. Who takes the third and final watch for the night? I will watch. We do. All right, two of you, go ahead and roll perception checks, if you don't mind.

Natural 20. Natural 20. Come on! Nice! 17 for me. 17, very solid. At one point during your watch, you do hear this distant growl. Kind of a.

And you hear others, and it sounds like a fight. Like two night predators encountered each other's turf and are just duking it out. It sounds hundreds of feet away, but loud enough that it is kind of audible in your space for two of you who are attuned to both keeping a vigilant watch at night and tuning out the distant noise and sounds.

You both kind of keep your weapons at the ready and just kind of listen. It sounds like the scuffle your weapons at the ready and just listen. It sounds like the scuffle careens off further away. The territorial dispute continuing safely away from where you were resting. But the rest of your watch is thankfully uneventful until eventually the warmth of light begins to find its way to the jungle once more

and your next day of travel is before you. Where are you going to whittle for me? You want to know what it is? I've been thinking other people made requests, but I kind of, I guess I kind of want you to surprise me. Oh yeah, I just figured I'd fill in the blank. It's interpretive.

All art is. Well, right, I'm just making it to suit you, or rather how I see you or a part of you. Oh, boy. Yeah, you're going to like it, don't worry. I have no doubt. Speaking of art, I see you got the moons on that sleeve. Some sweet ink, bro.

I mean, it's... It's no, uh... alpha male tattoo, but... Alpha what? Alpha wolf? Alpha, uh... You mean this? Yeah. Oh. Alpha wolf? Alpha... You mean this?

Yeah. Oh. You know what this is? Does it say DPB? RTA? Oh, RTA. It does get a little faded with time, but it's relatively new, so.

Oh, when'd you get it? After I changed. And how long have you been dealing with it? Well, it feels like forever. I think in reality, maybe a couple of months. Wow, that's new. Yeah. That's new.

Comes in handy, though. It does. Is it hard to keep a handle on? No. Only in certain situations, but it's very few and far between. There are times, though, where it gets a little... A little dicey.

Cool. But not in a dangerous way or anything. Okay, a non-dangerous dicey way. Do you have any experience with our kind? I mean, I just see the love. The love? For the moon. Oh, yeah. What's that for?

The ink? Well, the moon. The moon. Yeah. Oh, well. Ugh. It's to help me remember my husband. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. And is he not... Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks. Again, it's a beautiful piece. Yeah, I like it. Can I ask what his name was? Yeah.

Will. His name was Will. Still missing. It's been six years, still missing. Six years? Yeah. Feels like a lifetime ago? Some days, it feels like it was just, like yesterday. Some days it feels farther away.

Yeah. Times weird like that. Yeah. Soup. Wow, I'm so sorry. You're so young. So is he. Changed my life, though, for the better.

My goodness. You know what, though? The time we had was real good. And I'm not gonna lie, I mean, most nights, I miss him, but the time we had was real good. That's great. Was this back with the Air Ashari? Yep. He died that day. The attack.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God. Oh, this is personal for you. This is all connected to that. Oh, yes. Oh, fuck! But it's also my duty,

and it was his, all of ours. And, you know, we chose our life with eyes wide open. You were both protecting the hand of the Tempest? Voice. Voice. Voice. Voice. I mean, when we were with the big caterpillar butt,

like, did you want to stay and drive home on what all that is? I'm sorry, don't follow. Well, didn't the shade creepers also attack Y'shaarj in the same? Ah. That's not what I'd ascertain at this point, right? No, what you encountered that day was...

It's melting away. Correct. It was an odd dark black-gray liquid. And they weren't little gibbering... No, they were... Some type of people. Yep. Dark, gray-black leather clad, very highly skilled killers.

No, that was a different thing. Oh, okay. I guess a little sort of the same, but very different. I forget sometimes, I'm sorry. You're a good guy, Orym. I'm sure Will was very happy. I don't know what I'm doing, but I do try to do right by him.

And, uh... By all the Ashari. Everyone. You're a rare one, I gotta say. I actually believe you. Don't see that very often. I'm not super good at lying. No?

No. No, I don't have a very good poker face. I haven't talked about him in a long time. Not in months, anyway. She knows. Who? Fearne. Oh. Yeah.

And Dorian? Got it. Anyway, thanks for talking to me about it. I want to hear more about the moon sometime and what it meant. I'm figuring out my relationship with it, so. Well, that's not complicated. I don't mind sharing it.

He was a half-elven and a big moon, little moon. Oh, god, I love it. Oh no! That's great. Do you hear growls? I did, like seven or eight minutes ago, but I think it passed. Did it pass? It's passed now.

Yeah. It's getting slightly lighter. Oh God, they're behind me. Emotional damage. I think the sun's coming out. Yeah. Probably like the others. Not yet. I got to get some work out. Yep. I'll probably wake the others. Not yet.

I've got to get some work in. I feel inspired. Slowly, the rest of you wake up to the subtle sounds of... I'm just doing it above Ashton's head, so all the little chimp. And they wake up to tea. Yeah, I've made tea in advance of everyone waking up. Fantastic. Tea gathered, strength returned.

You pick up your horses once more and traverse further northward, Tea gathered, strength returned. You pick up your horses once more and traverse further northward towards the Heartmoor hamlet. Let's go ahead and have somebody roll a d20 for the next day of your journey. Hey, Fearne. Hey, come on.

Hey, Fearne. Hey, Fearne. This is it, this is it. Two. Two. Oh, what does that fix? Just above a one. Oh Two. Two. Oh, what does that fix? Just above a one. Oh boy. Two ones. No. You continue onward

with the remainder of the day without issue. Come on! Look at that. You do notice the topography of the jungle beginning to change slightly. The extremely tall, twisted, gnarled, long-branched, thick, heavy-rooted jungle trees are beginning to grow a little more sparse.

They're starting to drop lower from some of them being 60, 70, 80 feet tall are starting to drop closer to 40, 50, some 30, 20 feet. And the thick jungle floors that you see filled with all manner of bush and fern, beginning to give way to occasional bits of marshy spots, connotating that you're starting to get

a little bit closer to the Heartmoor. You likely have one more day of travel. Okay. And you might be arriving at the Hamlet right around the time of night, should all go well. So we'll go ahead and rocket forward for the purposes of travel to the next night's travel. Next night's camping,

so I'm going to go ahead and make a survival check for me. I'll do it again, yeah? You're real good at it. I'll give you the vantage. All right. Vantage. Power. Vantage. Power. Vantage.

That would be 18. 18. Now, we're under the similar issue you did previously where- 16. 16, okay. To where the lower pockets in the landscape here themselves, though it has been post-rain, they seem to carry heavy moisture through most of the year. And you find that bog-like atmosphere

making it hard to find something that is not visible from the road, or at least is not as well hidden below, dipping underneath the treeline. So instead, you find one of the larger swamp trees is not as well hidden below, dipping underneath the treeline. So instead, you find one of the larger swamp trees with the taller roots and hollow bits within and decide to set up within there.

The fire might be smaller, but who knows? Maybe that little hollow on the inside might make for warmer space as you rest as well. But you set camp, and who takes the first watch? I'll take it. We all do. No one's here. Excuse me while I try and remember.

I didn't hear what I just fucking heard all night. We'll talk later. All right. Do you want to roll, too, or do you want to? Just general perception? General perception. Yeah, let's roll together. Roll ease. Roll ease!

I'm doing a roll perception. 15 total. Oh, thank god. Oh yeah, I like three. Three. Okay. Both of us, they're taking first watch, chatting a bit, looking out over the jungle.

You notice there's a hillside that you guys are against and the heavy tree that you've set your camp under. Glance off and maybe about 40, 50 feet from where you are, in the dark of night, there is a bit of a glow. A faint, a very faint light source.

Glow like a singular mote, or almost like fireflies. A singular mote. Singular mote. I don't like that. I'm a fucking slave. I know. I don't like that. Fucking slaves. Oh, I know. I hate all the candles. I've never told anybody this before,

but I just want to... What the fuck are you looking at? Campfire confessionals. You're on critical. I just take my bony fingers and wrap them around the side of his head and I smash my head against his and point to my eyeline.

What the fuck? You glance over and you see, about 40, 50 feet over, what looks like a tiny humanoid figure with little wings. Just, you know, everybody. Oh, it's cute. Drifts and lands on the ground.

Woo, Dizzy! It's hard. I don't like it. I don't like it either. Do we just see if it passes? Let's just see if it passes. You can make things run away, right? You can get all scary and things will run away, right?

Sure, if they're fucking scared. If they're from the faint wild, they might not be afraid of me. Well, maybe it'll think you're hot and then you can seduce it and it'll be your friend or something. I don't fucking know. It's pretty cold. Let's go.

I could use a little, like, fairy that just flies around me. It just kind of hangs there for 20 minutes. Oh, God. for 20 minutes. Oh god. Slowly, it begins to rain once more. Oh. Poor little fairy, getting wet.

I'm sure over here. I'm fighting the urge to do something stupid. It seems so bad. What does doing something stupid. It seems so weird. What does doing something stupid mean? Kind of want to say hello. I know that's a terrible idea. What if it has big pointy teeth and it's like, ah, let's eat us? I mean, how big would those pointy teeth actually be?

You don't know. I don't. I was hoping you would. So you just want to be like, toodaloo. Should we move up on it a little? I'm just going to wave a little bit. Does it do anything? Does it see us?

Does it know? It seems to be just kind just resting a little ways out from a trunk of a tree, keeping under the canopy from the heavier rain. It doesn't seem to notice you moving your hand at all. It's not like, it's hard to tell this distance if it's looking towards you or looking off to the side. You can just barely make out its general shape

and that soft glow that surrounds it. It's maybe about that tall. Maybe they're resting. I don't want to... Should I throw a rock at it? No. Unless it's a really pretty rock. I mean, then, you know,

it could be taken in either direction, 50-50 chance. Following your lead here, what do you think? You cough loudly and you watch it skitter around the back of the tree that it was at, out of sight. You didn't see it travel anywhere else. You know where it is, but it is definitely

hiding from the source of the sound. It's skittish. Mm-hmm. Hello? That's a terrible idea. Silence. Hey? Hi? Such a great conversation list.

The glow drifts slightly out from behind the tree and just hides back behind it. I've never, this is pretty cool. I don't know. It's very fun. Do you want to eat our face off? Don't offer. There's no response. Don't.

Oh. I wasn't offering. I was just getting to the chase. Okay, well, it sounds like you're putting on the menu. I thought you were going to, hey, we've got some food here. There's fire, but no, you were offering. And how would it even eat my face off? This is not an eatable face.

We have some horses. I mean, they weren't going to make it anyway. Would you like a puppet show? Why am I sounding old? Trying to sound like Chetney, just out of pure hope. I try and position Pate to where his shadow casts towards our direction. And he does a little like,

dun dun dun dun. Okay. Drifts around the side, shifts about 10 feet away from the tree and approaches slightly, just a slight leap. That's about 30 or so feet away. I make the petty shadow seem coy, and then he bows. He stands there with the wings occasionally like.

Fuck, that's cute. Yeah. What do we do? Do we talk to him? Do we encroach? Do I wake up Fearne? No, no. No? I mean, Fearne will get weird.

I mean. Fearne will get weird? I mean, maybe. I move forward like 10 feet with Pat'Tay leading the way. God, I'm going to die. Pat'Tay is out there. Okay, get a little closer.

You can see it has this live humanoid arms and legs, but just thin, almost featureless, except for the musculature and the soft, whitish glow that emanates from the body. You see these large, almost woman-like eyes and these pointed ears and these wings that slowly flit in place.

Its light pulse glows in your direction. We're not here to hurt you. Go ahead and make a wisdom saving throw for me, please. Oh, fuck me. Saving throw? Yes. Fine, fine.

You're wise. It's small. It's fine. Can you save? Okay, okay, okay. That's not too bad. 17 total. 17. Not bad. The pulse, it seems like there's some sort of

communication it's attempting, but it's not quite registering. There's something like, it's wings trying to shift and there's like a light pulse on it. And it's almost like, it's a familiar type of sense as to when Imogen tries to talk to you. Shit. Weirdly familiar in that sense,

but it's just not quite reaching. Maybe I should wake up Imogen. Maybe she could do something. Feels like it's trying to speak to us. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, it's not running away, and it's not really attacking. I use Prestidigitation to make a little light emanate from Pate, and I mimic kind of its pulsing.

Okay. The light pulses once more. Make another wisdom save with her. Oh, boy. Natural 20. Nice. That same sense again. It just kind of pulses

and you make Pate look like he's pulsing. Nothing else is happening. It just kind of stays put. Hold Pate. Imogen! Imogen. Imogen. No, what? Yeah, I think there's like a pixie or a fairy.

You glance over and about 30 feet from where the encampment is set in the dark, rainy night atmosphere, lightless from what you can see beyond the kind of low, fiery ember of the fire. You see this tiny fairy-like creature just kind of set on the ground, almost on this like root vine,

and its wings kind of... In the rain? And its wings aren't even getting wet? He was kind of like, he was pulsing a little. And I feel like it's trying to communicate with me. And it kind of reminded me of that feeling I get when you enter my head. I look at the fairy. Hello, fairy.

I send out. Mentally. No response. I feel like it could also maybe infect my mind. And take over. And make me like a droning, you know. I take ten feet back once I hear that. Like, it's either a good thing or a bad thing.

Does it look wet at all, or does it just look like... Make a perception check. Yeah. 20. 20. Yeah, it is wet. It's getting wet. The rain's hitting it. It's just resting there. Oh, it needs help.

It needs help. You should definitely stick your hand out. Poor dog needs water. I know. Cricket. Poor little purse. Poor little fairy. What can we do?

I got an idea. Hold on, hold on. It just, just. Oh, thank you. Come in, Petunia. I'm just going to, I'm just going to. Smash it with a hammer.

Glitter just. Eat the good, fairy. Yeah, I'm just gonna just unzip a chunk of the, like, I've got like chunks that my little jumper can come off into and I'm just going to try and make a little makeshift tiny like lean tent off one of the trees that we were sitting on.

A little lean too? Right by your encampment? Yeah, I'm setting it up like, we were kind of sitting at the edge of it, so I'm just kind of setting it off a little off to the side of our, you know, at a reasonable distance. You making a fairy house like a daughter? I'm making a little fairy house and then I'm just kind of setting it off a little off to the side of our, you know, at a reasonable distance. You making a fairy house like my daughter?

I'm making a little fairy house and then I'm backing off. That's so cute. It's a little fairy tent. You made it a fairy tent? You made it a fairy tent? That's the fucking cutest thing. Out of sleeves, yeah.

Did you put it like outside of your camping space, outside of the camping space, closer to the creature? Like I'm trying to figure out where you put it. Oh, well, creature's here,

our camping space is here. Like right there, like the next, like if you were like, if you were reserving a camping space, creatures here, our camping space is here. Like, the next, like, if you were, like, if you were reserving a camping space, a neighbor. Yeah. Same grill. Same grill.

Are you within melee? No. Okay, cool. Just everyone's comfortable. Just trying to make a comfortable space. Okay. As you kind of go over and set it over there, the light kind of glows again.

Go ahead and make a wisdom saving throw as well. Fail! This'll be funny. He's going to crawl into your nostril. Oh no. Oh no. Natural 20. Yeah. Damn it.

Can't talk to us. It feels like it's trying to reach out and communicate, but you'd fight it off. We'll never. It starts to withdraw. Oh no! We always roll too good. What the fuck?

All the 20s we've ever had. Should I wake up Fearne? Maybe she can talk to it. Maybe. Maybe she can understand. Wait, Fern! Wait, Fern! There's a fairy! Oh, you know what? Maybe Fern has seen those kind of creatures before.

What's happening? We think there's a fairy or a pixie or a fae. He's got wings. Bitches! No, go back to bed. Leave it alone. What? I just go back to bed. Leave it alone. I just go back to sleep. Hell yeah. Fuck.

Hell yeah. All right. I feel like we should have learned something here. I just don't know what it is. Don't wake up for a mental lesson. What? You guys actually saw a little something little, little something or other? Yes, he was glowing, and I felt like he was, he was like pulsing,

and he was trying to communicate with me, but I feel like it could have been bad, but maybe it was good. I don't know. I actually have no idea. You can faintly see the glow of it now like 50, 60 feet away, just kind of withdrawing. Go get it. There's a small cry emanating from it.

Go get it. Those are like rats, just... Taking my fucking sleeves back. The pizza rats of the Feywild. Sometimes... Hold on, let me do my fairy cry. Oh. Awoo!

Awoo! Awoo! It stops. These little hops. Just opening too far to the camera. Oh, it looks so cute. And it stops at about that, you know, that 30-foot edge inside of the campsite. She's there.

Hey! What do you want? You trying to take our stuff? She's kind of looking over in your direction. I'm just going to go walk over. Okay. You walk over towards it, trudging out of the top of the cliff side where the tree is, down into the space towards it.

Go ahead and make a wisdom saving throw. Come on. Come on, roll bad. Oh, okay, I did it. Eight. Eight, okay. Uh-oh. As you walk towards it, it gives this pulse glow to it. The rest of you watch Fearne walk towards it and just walk past it and just keep walking.

Uh-oh. Where's she going? She's just walking away from camp. Whoa, now. Fearne? I'm going to run in that direction. Can I reach out? I'm trying to get the...

The pulse hits you. You're supposed to go this way. You're supposed to go this way. And you just kind of go into a light jog away from camp. Fearne, where are you going? I'm running. Running full speed. You're running full speed?

Mm-hmm. Towards her? Towards the fairy? Towards her. Okay. Going around the ferry, whatever the fuck that was. Okay. You go, kind of, just running past it? I'm fast, so I'm gonna just be like,

fuck that thing and run, yeah. Okay, you run around. Guys, I think we call that a loss. You catch up to Fearne, and Fearne's just kind of like, jumping for a second. You catch up to Fearne, and Fearne's just like, jumping in for a second. Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, whoa! Ooh! And you stop at about,

you know, from where you were, you go about 30 or so feet, then you just stop, and you see her standing, dazed. Hey, hey. You hear this strange, tugging slither sound. Uh-oh. And you glance over and you see the fairy moving over to you, but it's not jumping and flitting.

It's just like... You glance down and you see that where the feet are, there is a tendril, some sort of a long snake-like vine, and it pulses. I need you to make a wisdom saving throw. A little angler fish situation. What are those fish with the little legs?

Angler fish, not angler. Angler? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 18. Oh! 18. Once again, you feel it, and you put it aside, and you see it still continue to withdraw, and as you see where it pulls back slightly, the wing's still doing this,

but now that you're close up to it, you can see the features on it are soft and vague. And it looks like an approximation of what a fairy-type human would look like. And as you watch it withdraw a bit and you see Fearne just standing there, the rest of the jungle floor of what a fairy-type human would look like. And as you watch it withdraw a bit, and you see Fearne just standing there, the rest of the jungle floor in the vicinity around you,

you see, drawing inward, about 15 to 20 feet of vines and roots shifting, as one of the nearby trees was not a tree at all, but a large 15-foot-t tall, craned-like plant creature with a heavy sharpened beak and a whole mane of darkened red, blood-like colored leaves. As these tentacle-type vines begin to unravel around and its mouth opens up.. Opens up the single

vine-like lure glaring in front. We're going to pick up there next week. Oh! Probably should have left it alone. You guys almost did. It was withdrawing. It didn't catch anything from the sound

and it was just pulling away. It was a button. I was going to press it didn't catch anything from the sound and it was just pulling away. Yeah, we went and hit that button. It was a button, I was gonna press it. Hey, I, whoa. We had a flashing button. I haven't pushed a button all day. I rely on the button push. I like that with a closer look,

it had all the fine detail of a gummy bear. Yeah, pretty much. I would wander into a forest for a flying gummy bear. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so. Done it before? It's not a gummy bear. Do it again. It's not a gummy bear. It's way out there, but it's not a gummy bear. We, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you've done it before? It's not a gummy bear. Do it again. It's way out there, but it's not a gummy bear.

We'll pick up at the top of whatever this is next time in the middle of the rainy night deep in the jungle on the outskirts of the Heartmoor of the Oderan Wilds. Thank you all so much for joining us. Yay! Happy anniversary.

For our seventh anniversary. This is wild. It's magical. It's weird. And I'm so excited that we all get to

continue to take this weird journey together. Have a wonderful night to all of you watching at home, all of you watching in theaters.

It's still wild. We love you very much and is it Thursday yet? Good night. Good night. Just kidding. No homework for you, but if you are inspired to do some writing, please leave us a review. Your words can really help new folks find our show and encourage them to give it a try. Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure. Until next time.