Critical Role - C3E62 A Long Walk of Reflection

Episode Date: June 22, 2023

Team Issylra trek towards the mountains of the Demithore Valley in search of a teleport spell while taking time to bond as friends and as a team... Twitch subscribers gain instant access to VODs of our shows like Critical Role, Exandria Unlimited, and 4-Sided Dive. But don't worry: Twitch broadcasts will be uploaded to YouTube about 36 hours after airing live, with audio-only podcast versions of select shows on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Google Podcasts following a week after the initial air date. Twitch subscribers also gain access to our official custom emote set and subscriber badges and the ability to post links in Twitch chat! "It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme Song)" by Peter Habib and Sam RiegelOriginal Music by Omar Fadel and Hexany Audio"Welcome to Marquet" Art Theme by Colm McGuinnessAdditional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 AlarmCharacter Art by Hannah Friederichs 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/PsycomResources

Once upon a time, a group of curious storytellers breathed life into epic tales set in the wide fantasy world of Exandria. This is Liam O'Brien, here to welcome you to Critical Role. We'll dive into the story in just a moment, but first, a few notes. This is the audio-only version of our broadcast that streams Thursdays at 7pm Pacificm. Pacific over on twitch.tv slash criticalroll and youtube.com slash criticalroll. If you subscribe to our Twitch channel, you can watch the video on demand immediately after the broadcast.

And it's also available Mondays at 12 p.m. Pacific on YouTube. And of course, for all you wonderful podcast listeners, freshly minted episodes release right here on the critical role podcast network one week after our broadcast on thursdays with all that said let's get into the story hello everyone and welcome to tonight's episode of critical role where a bunch of us nerdy ass voice actors sit around and play dungeons and dragons yeah well we're down a couple for the evening because they're not in the episode,

and they got shit to do, so we're going to make fun of them profoundly here. I'm not in the episode, but I'm here! We're going to make fun of you, too. Yeah, that's because you're addicted to sponsorship. I love it. Speaking of which, we do have to go, before we go into the episode,

our first sponsor of the evening, D&D Beyond, Sam. Hey, guys, be the hero of your table with a free D&D Beyond subscription trial and Hey guys, be the hero of your table with a free D&D Beyond subscription trial and get exclusive access to monthly subscription perks to personalize your play. Share your D&D books with your party and make unlimited character slots to bring all your character ideas to life.

But don't just be the hero of your table. D&D Beyond wants us tonight to be the hero of the internet. It's been a while since we've done one of these, but with the cast's help, we're going to make some meme formats with D&D Beyond. Great. We've done this before. We did this, but we made GIFs last time. These are going to be still images that you guys can turn into memes in the future. You've seen memes, guys. Don't really act like I invented them. I didn't.

First up, me and Marisha are going to do a meme called Guy Mansplaining. Okay, good. That could be any episode of Critical Role. Yeah, yeah. Taliesin's going to give us, give me a Drake-style nah, maybe. First, give me the nah. And now give me the maybe.

That's good. Okay, Matt, you're up next. Give me hot dog on your head. I don't think I'm familiar with that one. It's very popular. Just do it. This is for the sponsor. Oh, jeez. Oh, I don't know it.

Great, good. D&D Beyond is going to love that one. All right, Liam, give me Hide the Pain Herald. It's a little obscure. First, he seems like he's working on his computer. And then in the next shot. The old guy. Yeah, the old guy. Yeah, that's good.

Now Matt, Matt, follow it up with pineapple on your head. What the fuck? It's on TikTok. It's a TikTok thing. Okay. Just do it. Great. All right. Now Marisha. I hate this. Marisha's up next. Give me that cute doge.

Uh-huh. Now give me one does simply not. Now give me solfe. Very good. Now, Matt, can you create the classic handful of rigatoni on your head meme? No, no, no. If we've got the handful of rigatoni.

No, no, no, no, no, no. This is not happening. This whole thing is ridiculous. Just put it on your head. I'm not going to put it on my head. This is really stupid. We're about to shoot an episode, no. Yes, you're doing it.

No, I'm not doing it. Yes. If you do, would you, you, hmm. Sam, you're fucking pissing me off. If you ever do this again, I swear to God, I'm going to get! Yes! And if you do, would you, would you? Mmm, Sam, you're fucking pissing me off. If you ever do this again, I swear to God, I'm going to get you out of this goddamn thing. Go! Get out of the show! You're not going to get this episode!

Leave! Hey, we did it! We did the whole lady yelling at the cat meme! We did it! Thanks, Matt, and thanks, D&D Beyond. Start your 30-day free trial today at dndbeyond.link slash crsub. Matt, back to you. Cat to you. Oh, cat to you?

That was an easy one. Why do I let you do this to me? Thank you, Sam. Thank you, D&D Beyond. Liam, you have a next bit of announcements. Do-do-do-do-do-do! Oh my god, you guys. Are you feeling dente-less in this Chili's tonight?

Because that is what I have for you. I'm going to start off with the Mighty Nein die set for Essek. Did you say Den Thalys in a Chili's? In this Chili's, yeah. Oh, okay. It means they are dunamantic and lovely. Ooh!

In the 20s. And there is the dodecahedron. Yes. That's right there on the 20. But that's not all we have. Hidden behind my box is a Critical Role reaction figure, Essek Thalyss! The second of our exclusive figures

found only in Critical Role shops. It is made by artist, designed by Hana. I had spittle everywhere. Hana Friedrichs. Essek has that effect on Caleb, you know. Hana Friedrichs and Super Seven. The packaging is dope.

It has, look, it's got magic, it's got his parasol, it has time, it has soup. Hey, drop it, see if it floats. Well, it's hard to see. The figure doesn't stand. The feet are just above where you set it. It rests on the cloak. Can I rip this open? Is that okay? Do we own this?

Laura's not here. She's not the boss of me. I was going to say, I'll see if the text comes through. Now we're good. It's not hot boy unless he floats. Hot boy! Here he is, floating. I don't know if you can zoom in on that. Yes!

No feet touching anything. Amazing. That's about right. That umbrella. Looks so good. Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo. Fantastic. That's how I got. Thank you, Liam. Good job, Laura. Marisha.

Yes. Sam. You guys. Mitzt. Mitzt, Sam's baby. Our thing, our new baby. Don't blame this on me. We really hope you're enjoying it. And if you haven't listened to it yet,

then what are you doing? It's so good. Go listen. I like the whining. We are still in the midst of season one. Episode 12 just dropped yesterday, so it's a perfect time to jump right in. The episodes are slightly shorter than an episode of Critical Role,

so you'll be able to catch up a lot faster. Jump right into this reality-melting Misadventures, and it's a great series. You guys, it's got blackmail, it's got falling moons, it's got shady cabaret owners who love nutcrackers, and as Sam said, the episodes aren't as long as Critical Role, they're like 20 to 30 minutes. So you should watch it.

The sound design, the imagery, the narrators, they weave a tale in truly such a unique way, I'm reading this, in truly such a unique way that you just have to experience for yourself. That you do have to experience for yourself! You'll get to experience it! All right, that's it. So good!

You can find it on Midstock Co., our YouTube channel, or on your favorite podcast app of your choice. You can also uncover more about this mysterious islet and put together all of the interesting clues yourself through the appendices. Appendices. Those are like little bonus things that are released after the episode.

They're really cool. As long as they get in flame, you have to get them removed, too. Sounds like a dirty word. Look for all the cool artifacts and artwork over on our socials, at Midst Podcast. Boom. Done. You did it.

Well done. Congratulations to you both. Taliesin, you're up. Okay, I get to do one now. Oh my god, you guys! That was kind of mythic. It's okay. That's fine.

I'm going this way. Oh my god. It's the Mighty Nein Origins Mollymauk book. We have been working on this. I've been working with it so long. Oh my god. Wow. It's the Mighty Nein Origins Molly Mock book. We have been working on this. I've been working with so long. It's all of that backstory that I didn't get to tell because I am bad at rolling.

It's now available at your friendly local comic shops and bookstores. It was created in partnership with Dark Horse Comics written by Jodie Houser. Jodie Houser. Which was so much fun.

Hunter Bonham was the artist, colorist Kathy Lay, and litterer Ariana Marr. It's really amazing. I'm just going to show a page. Oh, look at those. Oh, look, spoilers. And it's thick with tarot themes. Lots of Moonweaver Oracle and lots of cool character background. A lot of thought went into a little bit of that. Carnival! So much Carnival. Anyway, check it out. Go pick it up.

Heck yeah. Thank you, Taliesin. I believe that concludes our announcements. So, let's go ahead and get Sam out of here and get into tonight's episode of Critical Role. Get out! 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. How do you want to do this? It's Thursday night. All ye critters come join us. It's time to continue our flight. 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 flight It's Thursday night There is magic and mystery From darkness our friendship will rise But one thing's for sure

We never give up on the fight Oh, get ready It's Thursday night Bye! And welcome back. So, last we left off, our troop of ragtag, thrown together, circumstantial heroes and friends have been wandering the center of Issylra. It is here in the Demethor Valley

that they encountered a village beneath one of the nexus points of the now seemingly continuous Apogee Solstice, upon which you freed the local villagers of what seemed to be an oppressive influx of Dawnfather faith, the temple itself encroaching and pressing its will upon the people, as well as the worship,

through relatively violent means, stormed the temple and helped them and the guardian spirits of the land, the Eidolons, to destroy the temple and send the surviving faithful to the Dawnfather away, not to return. In thanks, the Eidolons, to destroy the temple and send the surviving faithful to the Dawnfather away, not to return. In thanks, the people celebrated and the local elder, Abedina, granted you

some scrying of your requests before sending you onto the next leg of what you seek, which is a means to return home. Or at least for some of you, return to the people that are your home. Aw. Beautiful. As part of that gift, Abedinna sent a guide spirit, one of the smaller Eidolons,

in the form of a wind cougar that is guiding you towards your destination. An individual named Hevestro, the Hierophant of the Emerald Tree, that resides to the far north within the Erium Canyon. Told if you follow the precipice in the distance of the Ascendant Bridge Mountain, about four or five days travel,

you should reach the chasm that is the canyon, and within there, a shrine awaits, surrounded by blue flora. And with that, you've gathered your things, you've made the beginning of your journey early in the day, northward, back into the Serratus Wilderness here to seek whatever lies in front.

So as we now begin to press out into the day's journey, I guess, is there anything in particular you need to do while you're on the road? Anything you're particularly looking for? Or we could just have somebody go ahead and roll to see what events may transpire for the day. I just can't remember, did Bordor's cart got totaled early on?

Yes. Correct. Are we on foot? The reindeer ran away, too. Yeah, you are on foot. The reindeer ran away, too. Yeah, you are on foot. Okay. We are on foot. Whatever we're keeping, we have in the hole. I mean, both. And it's a sizable hole. It's a very big hole.

But I feel like, does the cougar look like it could go faster? Does it look like it's going slower to match our pace? It looks like it is matching your pace. It is scouting ahead a little bit and stopping and waiting for you to approach, and then it darts off a little further. Because I could get a little Phantom Steed,

but that wouldn't, I think we have too many people. We have a lot of people. Yeah. And only... We're little. Yeah, two of us. Two of us. Two of us are small, two of us are small, two of us are rail thin, and then there's me, and I'm a boulder.

Yeah, so let's just go at the pace that we can go. Sure. What does our cougar look like again? Our friend or our cougar? Yes, yes. I was waiting, I was waiting. I'm an Erelemental. From Flushing.

It is a semi-etherial-looking elemental, so it is a wisp of opaque wind that takes the form of a cougar, and around it, the dust kicks up in a small cloud as it stands or moves. It doesn't seem to make much noise, although the occasional low, guttural growl that itself echoes like the sound of wind

pushing through slats of wood on a window. Did we see a livery or a horse stable or anything in this town? You did, though it looks like it mostly, it seems to provide lodging for the various beasts of burden that are owned by the populists here. This isn't a major trade post.

Okay. You could try and purchase some off of locals, if you'd like to. I kind of gave her money away, I think. Yeah, I don't have any money. She's going to do it. I am also broke. I think I have money, come on. Who is, I don't have any money. She's going to be excited. I am also broke. I think I have money.

Who is? Hang on, wait. We have horse money, especially considering that these horses are never going to see the light of day again. What do we have in the, can we trade something from the hole? I mean. Dead body? Do we know all that we have in the hole?

I don't have, I'm not the one who has the list, but. What is the hole? I have a basic idea of what's in there. The hole is a. Do you have the hole? I have the hole. You have the hole, but you don't know what's, but something in the other I have a basic idea of what's in there. The hole is a... You have the hole. I have the hole. You have the hole, but you don't know what's in there. I know most of what's in there.

It seems like, since I've been around you, you just sometimes make a hole. It's this long, black, circular piece of fabric, which, like Looney Tunes style, if you flip it out and it makes a full tablecloth, becomes a hole. Yeah, that's a basement. It's about 10 feet deep. It's got some dead bodies in it.

Still? It did. Still? It did. We cleared them out. You can't get a dead body completely out. You can't get the smell out of it. No, never. It has some armor, it has some food. Oh, okay, okay.

Are we going to be heading out the way we came in? You came in from an eastward direction, a southeast, no, it would be southwest of where you are currently. You were heading northeast into the village. The direction you've been told to follow and that the Eidolon is guiding you is north to northwest. Abadena's village. Correct.

Yeah, we're still there. We're leaving there. Got it. I guess on our way out, if we happen to see any locals with horses, then I'll stop and talk. Okay, roll a perception check for me. Someone will stop and talk. You there, boy! Give me that scooter!

You there, at the pony party! Oh god. Happy third birthday, but. Starting great, starting great. Nine. Nine. As you have your supplies gathered and begin to trek outward, you look about and the only horse you see is heavily affixed

to a heavy plow that is currently tilling one of the fields and is being handled by two of the various farmers in the region. Or on foot. I don't know. I think, yeah. I got no problem being on foot. Yeah, I'm good, too.

I could use the fresh air and exercise. Okay. We'll hoof it. We'll hoof it. We'll hoof it without horses. Yeah. I think as we go, I should maybe just bring up the fact that, you know, I don't know if it was obvious, but I did, during the battle,

I may or may not have baby birded blood from my raven familiar and then summoned a demon from Hal. Yeah. And it's just like, if anyone wants to talk to me about that, because I know that that's like... You want your flowers? Oh, no.

I meant more if anyone is uncomfortable with it. No. Are you uncomfortable with it? No, I kind of liked it. I kind of liked it, too. I is uncomfortable with it. Are you uncomfortable with it? No, I kind of liked it. I kind of liked it, too. You do it again? Well, it requires blood of a recently dead person. We can make that happen.

Situationally. Don't encourage me. I am trying to be aware of the fact that, yes, I did enjoy the power, but it was for what I thought was a good reason. Does the person have to be dead? Newly dead is what you're saying. They have to have died within the past 20 years.

Oh, newly dead. You got the blood, right? Yeah. You killed the soldier and an angel. That was so intense. The angel I didn't think was going to die. I actually was wondering, because you don't know where your powers came from,

is there any chance they came from the Dawnfather and that's why the angel frowned at you? No way. Can't, that makes no sense. Okay. Not a chance. So it's been a couple of days, though, since you've had, this is all new to you, right? Since the jump?

I've never seen the kind of stuff that I've seen in the last two days before. Yeah, you've been throwing electrical. Farting lightning bolts. Farting lightning bolts around. Are you getting that? Sorry about that. The hang of it? Did you like it?

I think when I'm very, very scared, it comes out. That's all I can see. That's all I can say. You guys, the angel was right above you, right? Or you were on its back? No, Denise and I rode on Prism's friend. You were on the demon, which was big.

Did we ever get a name, or was there just no name? Bargador. Oh yeah. Baragador. Tootsie? Tootsie. Tootsie. Tootie. Tootie. Tootie. Tootie. Not true.

Between that and the rock monster, I think, when I'm afraid, the powers focus themselves. But I feel like with any skill, you can train it. And both Laudna and I know Counterspell. So if you ever wanted to practice, I mean, this is what we do back at the Cobalt Soul. If you're practicing and your form isn't right, then they just Counterspell you

and you don't have to worry about doing anything wrong. Right, exactly. And nothing is, we're just walking down the road, right? Nothing's happening right now, nothing to be afraid of. Oh, sure. So yes. Except Laudna, but other than that, and that's a constant, so maybe you could try

like a little bit, like a little zap. Yeah. Now, hit a tree or something. Or see if anything else is sitting in there, some sort of, anything else feels right. I don't know how any of this shit works. Sure, I'm happy to shoot at trees on the way. I just want to help you build your confidence, right? Because they say anxiety is just excitement

without the breath, so if you just give it some breath, you know, maybe it'll. No, we should write that down. It's honestly very well spoken. I think I read it somewhere already. I didn't believe in myself until that moment. That was so much, I didn't actually hear it. Did you believe in yourself?

Anxiety is just breath before fear. No. No. But also fear is accurate. No one crochet that. That's not correct. Both apply. Either way, I'm game. Yeah, No one crochet that. That's not correct. Both apply. Yeah. Either way, I'm game.

Yeah, I'm just saying. I think in a way, so, you know, Prism, stop me if I'm wrong, you learned your magic. Yes, yes. Over time. Painstakingly, yeah. You studied. I was like you. I was just born with it

and just had to discover it over time. And you're right. It's often just feelings and intuition and trying to go with your gut instinct. That's so cool. I point to a tree and I yell, Silvery Barbs! Did anything happen? Do you have Silvery Barbs. Did anything happen?

Do you have Silvery Barbs on your spell sheet? Nothing happens. Absolutely nothing happens. It is a pregnant pause, silence, a bird shits off a branch. Conical! Maybe it's been in you this whole time. Could be.

That one time it works, though. Yeah, I have faith. That silvery barb seems really exciting, and we really want to learn that one. You know, just follow your own truth. You know, just... None of us really, everybody here has their own thing.

I think that you, and yeah, I didn't have my stuff kicked in later, and I'm still figuring it out, but you got to experiment a bit. Throw some shit around. I guess I just wanted you to know that you're in a safe place to experiment, at least from where I'm standing, maybe not for Orym. Yeah.

Do you need to be afraid? Do you need anger? Do you need? Was that a height joke? Oh no! No, oh my gosh, Orym, no it wasn't. It wasn't a height joke. I just thought he was about to treat me

like a guy with an apple on his head. I thought I was about to get shot. He's going to fucking kill you in your sleep. Which we could try. I'll just keep him away from Denise. More lightning bolts. Thank you. That was really unfortunate, I apologize. Apology accepted. I'm very, very scared.

Well, should we get going? Mm-hmm. Oh, I thought we were going. Oh, we are walking. We're going to walk and talk. Oh, we're walking and talking. Oh, you've been on my shoulders this whole time. We're in a certain walk and talk.

Oh, this is a great walk and talk. We're west-winging it. That was a long shot. Wow. Yes. Guided by your Eidolon, and you eventually move beyond the relative safety of the Outerwalk Road and deeper into the northern Ceratus Wilderness.

This beautiful expanse of dense forest is occasionally broken by rolling hills and tall grass fields that sway in waves with the colder wind. Once you step within the canopies of the long, stretching forests that fill the majority of this valley, there's a dreamlike hue of green

amongst these shattered paths and underbrush. It's vibrant and encompassing, leaving you feeling both welcomed, but also incredibly small within the vast, unkept Timberland before you. The climbing hike is broken up occasionally with continuous peaks and valleys and cluttered across the landscape with lush growth,

rocky terrain, hidden rivers. The occasional summit breaks out of the forest canopy and you have a view of the surrounding valley itself, the distant mountain ranges that encompass it like the outside of a bowl. There before you, the point you keep eyes on, the majestic dark monolith that is the Ascendant Bridge Mountain, looming northward.

For the first day of travel, I need somebody to roll a d20 for me, please. Guest rolls. New people first. Guest rolls? Mm-hmm. Uh! Pre-rolled. Come on d20 for me, please. Guest rolls. Yeah, new people first. Guest rolls? Mm-hmm. Uh! Pre-rolled.

Come on, fucking that, 20, bitch. No, one, one, one. 17! 17. Wait, is that bad? Yeah, we don't know what that means. It's probably random. I'm gnarly. We like chaos.

The majority of your first day of travel is relatively uneventful. The beauty of the landscape, now that most of the clouds seem to have dissipated over the recent days, the vibrant blue sky above you with the whispering tangles of colorful rainbow, technicolor ley lines that still remain visible

even at the height of the day's sun in itself is, knowing the context of it, ominous, but still beautiful in its own right. And you can hear the life that fills this valley, the birds, the critters, the daytime entities that call this place home. And even in the most shattered places, there is a mystical beauty about the space

as you traverse it. Is this what hiking is always like? I don't know, I try not to do it. I definitely try not to do it. I've never been hiking. No, I'm an indoor kid for sure. Oh, yeah. At least was. First time you got to dig a hole,

you'll never want to do it again. Oh, that's so true. Wow. I like, yeah, yeah. We're right here. I don't think she did you. How about, yeah, I've shit a couple times, so I have dug a hole. In a hole? Yeah.

Isn't that what you meant, digging a hole for? Yeah. Okay, yeah, no. Yeah, I've shit, don't worry. It's beautiful. Do you still? Like once a month. Oh, bummer, that's got to be the worst. Can you still? Like once a month. Oh, bummer. That's got to be the one. Can you say it's still functionally moving,

but just very slow. Sluggish. So it's not more? I'm just imagining you climbing down a tree like a sloth. Yeah, a little bit. And then back up for another month. Is it like what an owl spits out? It's like a dry little husk

with a skeleton of a bowl in it. Ugh! All the undigested bits. I love all of this. Then they vomit out all the, it's just the skeletons of the rodents. It's more like a... It's like a cat's hairball.

Yeah, yeah, it is. Like a Killer Whale's ambergris. Yeah. I don't even know what that is and I'm not going to Google it. Well, as the day eventually comes to a close and the forest night and the sounds of evening begin to take over, the cold chill of the air and the gentle fog and mist

that seems to crawl in to encompass the forest floor begins to surround you. It's here in this space that you get the sense that most of your day's journey is done and a camp should be made. Who is going to look for a suitable place to make camp? I will! Let me see.

Yeah, what's his name? Pate should. I can start looking for wood and- Oh yeah, I'll have Pate help me do a scout. Yeah, I'll send Mother. Mother, go spend some time with Pâté. Get the flying creatures on it. Oh, all right, I'll go ahead and do it.

Come with me, Missy, I'll treat you right. The bird just goes. Yeah, it's about how I expected. She's warming up to you. Is she really? I feel like it. I feel like that's the first time she's acknowledged your existence.

So, progress. That's true. That's points! Yep. I need the spinoff with Denios and your mother and Kattang. I will summon Denios, too, and say, Denios, can you follow the Proveilliers? It's Three's Company. Are you absolutely serious right now? Denios, you can travel farther than they can.

Okay, I can see through your eyes from 300 feet, and I can only do it from like 150 feet. I mean, you're not wrong. They look incapable of really helping whatsoever. Also, Denios, you just seem like a man of such class and style. I feel like you would absolutely have the beat on the best place. You don't have to brown nose me. I know how good I am at things.

Okay. Very well. The book glides off and says, Wait up! Don't go too far! I'm going to stop making one-shots. I'm going to leave. Just don't. I can't wait.

Just don't. It's just me at the. Just don't. I can't wait. Just don't. It's just me at the table at this point. I hate this idea. All Tyler Perry. You're just like, all the characters. All right. So I will say, amongst them,

it is a survival check to look for the best place to set up camp. So whichever one of those three companions you want to have them roll a wisdom check. I don't know that Denilo's a wisdom check. Let's see, survival. I got a plus zero, but I think I would be using, I don't think he has his own stats.

There you go. 18 for Pâté. Whoa. I'm just trying to impress the lady. Go, Patti. Go, Patti. Hey, little flappy bird, look over here. Looks like you're so beautiful,

sitting up and having a nice rest. What you say? Yeah, that's right. How about you, Bookie? I regret everything that I've agreed to in the past half hour. I'm in heaven. One minute, one minute.

I'm in heaven. Ooh, but then we should ask, Hevestro, how they're doing, too. Huh? Who's Hevestro? Do we still have the cougar with us? Oh. The cougar you have.

Hevestro is the individual you're going after. Oh, the cougar. Yes. Oh, did we ask their name? Yeah, I just want to get another person in. I want to get another. Excuse me. Cougar, cougar to get another person in. I want to get another. Excuse me. Cougar, cougar, wild cougar. Using your heightened cougar senses,

can you smell or taste anything in the air that might be of danger to us, or hear anything. Aw. Cute. What did Pâté think about what the cougar just said? Pâté, do you have any insight? What's going on? I found a space, come this way! Oh, he's.

I got you all hooked up, don't worry. He's distracted. Is there any running water around us? Immediately, no. You've encountered one river a while back, but it was not parallel to the path you were taking. But you gather, based on the size of this valley and the recurring weather that you've encountered

in just the short time you've been here, that rivers are probably not uncommon. Just wondering about food. Fishing, berries. I think fishing would be fine. You can look for berries if you'd like to. I'm going to go look and I'm going to go find us some grub. All right, make a survival check for me.

I would love to go hunting. Wait, is this a nine or a six? That's a nine. Nine. I'll cook pasta. Ready to be boiled. Nine. Nine.

You're really excited because you found some really, really delicious-looking blackberries. What's nine plus six? 15? 15. You're extremely excited. You found some very delicious blueberries. Uh-huh. 15. You're extremely excited. You found some very delicious blueberries. Uh-oh.

You avoided the black ones, because you looked at them and went, those are probably toxic. Ha-ha! I thought you had me. Woods? Plus six. But you do return with a cluster of what you believe to be healthy to digest berries.

Oh boy. I feel like Denise just has a rabbit she's killed with her bare hands. Oh my gosh, it's still whimpering. That's okay. Oh my goodness. I could have just said I caught a rabbit. I didn't have to roll anything. No, I probably do have to roll for it.

Well, go ahead and roll to see the quality of the rabbit. Hey, you know what? My animal handling is superior. Oh, that's so dark. I'm really good at animals, so I can get out of that. I got a plus five animal handling check. You're going to animal handling? Okay.

I'm going to need it. What's that? Is that 12? 12, okay. See, now I'll wrap it. No, no, so yeah, you do manage to. Which is why it was so easy to catch. Same thing, survival is hunting.

Animal handling means you coax it to you in a friendly manner. It does not see you as a threat. That's awful. And as it leaps onto your lap. MATT and LAURA, LAURA and SAM and LAURA, So funny. The most fucked-up one.

I won't be ignored, Dan! And as with that, a fine dinner of berries and bunny is presented here. I like to pay rabbits, Orym. All right. I like to pay rabbits. Rabbit with blueberry compost. Oh, that sounds delightful, actually. Yeah, we could start a little fire. Blueberry compost.

Yeah, a little blueberry compost. I know that everyone has been playing video games this past weekend because all you want to do is craft, hunt, look for berries. I want to put a rocket on a coric. Let me shoot him into the running waters. You're only day one in the journey, we'll get there. But as you all gather, having your meal out here,

really the beginning leg of what you hope is the final leg of this journey in this strange, unfamiliar space, you begin to chew on your meal. Any conversations you wish to have, or we can go ahead and cut to an evening's watch. So, Orym, I was wondering,

do you know how to, I don't know, meditate or, I don't know, trapping? Yeah, is that something you want to do? Well, there was just an offhand comment a couple days ago that I should, I don't know, talk to rocks. I don't know, it didn't really. Talk to rocks. Or just be quiet.

I mean, generally, meditation is, yeah, it's about doing none of those things. You just sit in your thoughts. You want to breathe before you get to the fear and anxiety. So you just, here, just close your eyes. All right, all right, all right. Nothing good happens from that, all right., just close your eyes. Nothing good happens from that, all right. Yeah, close your eyes.

And I'm standing next to, have a seat. I'll stand. Okay. You just wanna exhale. Right? Okay, you're present, cool. And then just, but that's fine. You just want to keep doing that for,

we're going to go for one minute, just to start it off, okay? Okay, okay, okay. Roll a wisdom save. 11. 11. You start thinking of waffles. Yum. I'm hungry.

Can I open my eyes? I'm really hungry. I don't know where this is going, Ashton, but you generally just need to take a beat, sit down, and stop worrying about every single thing, which is kind of hard in today's environment. Well, I'm not a big worrier. And most of that is because I don't stop. I'm a very big believer and you just keep,

if you keep moving, then you know, keep, there's momentum means that, you know, you don't really have to focus on anything unpleasant for too long. Amen. And when you do, that's what, you know, there's booze and people. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no.

You okay? Yeah, no, I'm down. Damn. So you can always just, you know. Are you okay? Yeah, I'm okay. I just, I'm starting to think about my situation in ways that I'm not. I'm not being quiet about it. You're like 15 feet off on the fire.

I don't know. Yeah, I've decided maybe it's time to start thinking about my situation. That could apply to so many things right now. How I got here, what it means, what happened to me. I mean, the Ashari shit, the fucking helmet, this fucking thing.

I don't know. Yesterday kind of threw me. Yeah. How about a couple of days ago? That also threw me. Yeah. Yeah, yesterday especially. I mean, they both did, but... Yeah, I'm trying to recenter. Well, it'll probably help to get back to

our other half. Yeah, that'll help. And then maybe you'll find some answers while we try to fix this. Yeah. Maybe. I'm starting to wonder what fixing looks like. I'm starting to really wonder what fixing means. Sorry, Ash, I really wish I had something helpful.

Are you starting to wonder what fixing looks like? I'm starting to doubt it. Yeah. I'm doubting it. You too. I'm spreading out the blueberries into a thin sheet to make fruit leather. Ah, Lish. What's for dinner?

Fruit leather. I don't know. Just, just, yeah, you can, I don't know, I feel a little lost and confused, and I don't think I'm the only one. I'm just, I don't know. I think the best lost and confused and I don't think I'm the only one. I'm just, I don't know. I think the best that we can do for each other right now

is if you see me falling down, pick me up. Then I'll do the same. Thank you. That's not that far, so that helps. It's just a, yeah. No, that's a short joke. I would never. I'm very used to it. Very used to it. It was too easy.

Yeah, yeah, that's a... Thanks, man. That's... I'm going to work on that quiet sitting down thing and not brooding. All right. And while we quiet down over here, Orym's going to try, because I know

that Ashton deals with pain. He will slowly start to do that massage move where you pinch, but I'll do it real slow because I don't want to like- Oh, I can actually say that rapid, heavy movement's way easier than slow. It's very odd, but it is. Well, Orym takes that direction.

Just go for it. And tries to take your mind off of things. Ah, fuck, Jesus! Oh, wow! Nope, that's good, that's good. That's a good thing. Ah! How are those berries coming?

By morning, we'll have enough fruit leather to last us. A day or two. You're making fruit roll-ups? Yes! Oh my god. This is natural. That we can peel them out. Natural sweetener. Oh my god.

I guess I could. So I take out my dagger and I start cutting. That's cute. Stars and circles. Make a dexterity or performance check for me. Or use lightning. Yeah. That is an 11. An 11, okay.

What do you carve into it? A star, just a regular. Yeah, it's not bad. Some cute little shapes. Yeah, a little circle. Are we staying in a little tent or something? Because if there's a, I could put a little glyph, you know, I won't do the exploding stuff.

No, I was amused. Just maybe a little glyph for protection. I could just throw a whole person glyph there so that if someone approached camp, perhaps there would be a chance to catch them in the act. That's very nice. Do we have a tent? We usually just sleep rough.

Yeah. Just bedrolls. Sleep rough. Bedrolls. Okay. Then I'm just- Bedrolls are in the hole. Okay. Then never mind, I won't do that. Can I try something, though? Of course, what would you like to try? I've been looking at these Draconic Divine

Anti-Magic Old Magic Runes. Border, can I borrow your crossbow? Sure. I want to try and carve one of these runes into it and see if it does anything. Would you be morally opposed to that curiosity? I guess no, that sounds actually very interesting. Okay. That sounds cool as shit.

Let's see what it does. Yeah, so I just want to carve these runes in. Okay. Into the crossbow. Okay, go ahead and roll an arcana check for me if you don't mind. But then maybe somebody else shoot it for the first time.

I don't think it'll do anything, but you got to try sometimes. But then maybe somebody else shoot it for the first time. I don't think it'll do anything, but you got to try sometimes. 19. 19, very good. You go ahead and carve them pretty accurately. You're proud of yourself from what displays there. Your understanding of enchantment magic through your studies,

the process of enchanting an item itself is a protracted period of time, depending on the scale and power of the enchantment. Okay. But the Apogee Solstice is a unique circumstance, and you're uncertain if that would have any impact whatsoever. Okay.

It may be decorative, it may be destructive. I'm going to hand it to Denise. Can you please? Do you want to flirt with another rabbit and then point and blanket? No, I only do that when necessary. Should I point to a tree and then just... Do you want me to?

I don't want to, so yeah. I want you to. Yeah? Thanks. All right. She aims to a tree and then just, do you want me to? I don't want to, so yeah. I want you to. Yeah? Thanks. All right. She aims at a tree. I jump in her hole. Yeah. Now, in this moment,

in carving the rune, what is your intent with the runes specifically? Honestly, it was just naked curiosity. I just wanted to see if the runes had magic in themselves. It just seemed like a foreign magic. Understood. Honestly, it's just naked curiosity. No worries.

With your arcana check, you would know that runes by themselves set the groundwork to hold magical intent and power. So when the runes are carved in there, they're awaiting the power to be instilled within them. It's like filling a cup. Can I try to fill a cup with a spell? That's what I'm saying.

What sort of magic are you intent on possibly trying to put within this? Well, it is draconic magic, and I have a spell that's draconic in nature. So I want to try and put a 4th-level Dragon's Breath in it. Okay. That would be great. So maybe I should go over there and do it?

Or do it from afar? Yeah, just at the tree and aim it away from us. Just get a nice 15-foot cone. What does Dragon's Breath do? I'm on my way to find out. Oh shit. Yeah. I say pull the trigger. Okay. I tell the cougar, get in the hole.

Jumps inside. All right, so very dexterously, I think she finds a tree to stand next to and then points at a tree that's 15 feet away, maybe 20 feet away. 15 for a cone. Okay, so maybe within that. 30. Then counts to three, shoots it,

and then does a roll to the back of the tree. Okay. You go ahead and fire the crossbow. As you fire it, the runes that you had carved into it glow ever so faintly, and the bolt, as it releases, if you would look at this in a rapid slow motion, you would watch the bolt release, and as it crosses the threshold of the front,

it instead shatters like a powder of iron filings that then ignite into a massive burst of fire. Indeed, a flame bursts from it and a 15-foot cone that torches out for a minute, lighting Denise and singeing her eyebrows a little bit. Oh no! They're painted on. The paint starts melting. We're in Giuliani in this town.

Oh my god, what a pull. You didn't even spill any blood from someone who died. All right. Something like that. If you wouldn't mind, roll a d20 for me. Oh boy. All right, honey, show up for mommy. That's a three.

Nice! A three, okay. You pull back and that's incredible. You look back excitedly, the rest of you. The rest of you also notice the front of it is on fire. And flame is starting to consume the crossbow. Oh, shit! Uh, uh, uh, I throw it. And then I pour some dirt on it.

Quick, quick, pat it out. Okay. I just do a little press of digitation to dampen the flames. Okay, so it's a little bit charred. You don't think it's not functional. But what you gather from this exercise is by the nature of the heightened magic of the solstice

and the nature of the runes that you had carved into it, it can temporarily capture some kinds of magic to be expelled once within a short time after it's been put in there. You're not sure quite how long. It has a gradual expiration time, if you will, if it's not used. That's right.

Does the crossbow look filthy and functional or is it obliterated? It's not obliterated, but it looks like, also with each use, you have to see whether or not it can withstand the force of what it's doing, and with progressive low rolls, it may destroy itself. Border, I have to really deeply apologize because of what I did to your crossbow.

Gently hold the crossbow. It's okay. That was objectively incredible. And I think it's still going to work. It can still shoot arrows if I need to. Or bolts. Yeah, yeah. It seems like it should be. Can I do a little mending action on it? Just to see if it can bring it back?

Bring it back to its original form. So we're just going to beep. It looks beautiful. Interestingly, the areas around the runes still carry a bit of the charring, and you get the sense that the nature of the runes that are there, the damage is progressive. You can't mend away the magical damage that it's taken,

but it can still receive spells of a certain kind. Okay, border. So you just let me know if you want me to fuck around with your crossbow, because I'll try. Okay. You've got problems. You know, curiosity is a blessing and a curse.

Well, you've clearly studied. You can do a lot of things. You've clearly studied a lot. Do they encourage this sort of improvisation? No, not at all. When you guys saw me, I had never cast a spell before because every time I go to cast a spell, a consortium of mages just says,

No, your poem is all wrong, counterspell. So truly, I thought I was terrible up until my very first fight. So you've studied for years and never cast a spell and Bordor. Never successfully completed. You've only spent time with sheep and never cast a spell.

So in a way, you're starting at the same, like your colleagues. You know a lot more than I do. Yes, well, I mean, I did really actively study it for 10 years, so I have a leg up. Book smarts and sheep smarts. Mm-hmm.

Mm. Mm. I'm proud of this. Well, that's good. Shmarts. Speaking of, do you want to do just a quick, you know, before we all turn in tonight, just a little, you know, 10, 15 minute

intuition lesson? Impressive. Sure. I think we should. Ooh, okay. Let's make a dummy and I can magic mouth, intuition lesson? Sure. I think we should. Ooh, okay. Let's make a dummy and I can Magic Mouth, like, please don't hurt me, border. Don't like it.

Yeah. I don't like it. Yes, that's good. We'll make a little straw man for you to just go to town on. That's good. Didn't I grab some bones? Oh, you have a tooth. You have a tooth, don't you? I have a tooth.

Shooting a lightning bolt for fire in the middle of the woods that we don't know anything about a good idea? No, no, it's terrible. We did it. And there's also, I think clearly you can probably do more than shoot lightning. That's like, you've demonstrated that you know that.

Yeah, I think you've got seriously untapped potential. I agree. I don't know, actually. I'm so curious to see it. I think I might have hit my peaks. Orym is keeping an eye and an ear for any problems while we fire into the sky. Let's do it. I, with Prism's help,

if you wouldn't mind maybe holding a few things. I have an old spine. So I take the spine to use as it's big. Oh, okay, great. And then. There's some armor we have not cleaned. So that's what I was going to say. We can bring out just one of the cloaks

from the Crimson whatever. This is so fun. The Ruby Vanguard. I'll do a big beast hand to hold it Just one of the cloaks from the Crimson whatever. This is so fun. The Ruby Vanguard. The Ruby Vanguard. I'll do a big beast hand to hold it and make it move around. That's great. Okay, okay. Then I'll just find some sticks to stick it on.

Then um. Some terrible shit in my life. Some nightmarish snowman is what this is. Yeah. Then we'll use one of the helmets. Okay. Why won't we? Then we'll use one of the helmets. Okay. Boy, won't we. Then I'll take the tooth from the old man

and fuse it to the front. You guys are amazing to me. You're the best teachers. Really crafty. Just attach it and use some of my red string to very hastily, and it's a bit shoddy, but it works. It works, all right. I'm picturing Nightmare Before Christmas.

Look, that guy. Can I just use some of your blue goo to draw a face on it? Oh! Some eyebrows? Sure, I just do a little necromantic drips. Oozes? There you go. There you go. Orym watches next to Ashton little necromantic drips. Oozes. There you go. There you go. Orym watches next to Ashton and just says, there's no single way to cope with grief.

Hold on, let me spritz the wigs. I'm definitely getting that. I'm going to press the Digitations to make up on. Okay, that's not bad. So spine, stick arms, helmet with the dangly tooth. Yes. All right. The tooth is a cloak.

Is that Clemation Puppeteer who did the office on Wonderland? She's like,. Yes. All right, with the stage set and the training galley prepped, Boridor. Okay, how do I do a firebolt?

A firebolt? You have it? Yeah. Do you? Okay. Well, I actually don't know how to do it. I have Sacred Flame, so really, well, for wizards, it's about words, right? So I have to say a very specific incantation and a very specific tone following a very specific tome.

But for you, I bet you just picture one and it happens. Yes, four. So I look at this beautiful contraption we've made, and I start getting hot. I can feel my blood starting to boil a little bit. We've seen your character art, we know. Huh? Say what? We've seen your character art, we know.

Then I'm getting really warm. I'm looking at it and I see it go up in flames in my mind's eye. And then I shoot, oh, it's a cantrip? It's a cantrip. A firebolt. Correct. At the thingy. So go ahead and roll an attack. Come on, Porter. Poor guy. Just watch the hair.

One of those doesn't even have a GT 20. Roll a GT 20 to see if you hit first. And then you hit. Aren't these both GT 10? Yeah, yeah, that'll be one. No, no, I have a duty 20. Roll your 20 to see if you hit first. Aren't these both d10? Yeah, yeah, that'll be one. No, no, I'm going to hit. I think you are, too. That's a big four, baby.

No! Plus? Wait, it's my fault. I'm being too aggressive with my big fan. 12, okay. So the good news is, it's barely moving. It's more just being handled there. So you do manage to hit it. Go ahead and roll your d10. Yes! I rolled it already. It's a 10. It's more just being handled there. So you do manage to hit it.

Go ahead and roll your damage. Yes! I rolled it already, it's a 10. A 10, okay. Immediately, while the hand clutches it, the construction that you've managed to pull together instantaneously disintegrates and is engulfed in flame in a beautiful display of arcane town.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Impressive self-actualization right there. There you go. That was incredible. I saw it happen. It's still on fire. That was incredible. Yes.

Okay, I'm going to, I'm going to. Well, I'm going to grab my wig first. I'm going to try and grab the cloak and start bashing it out. Okay, eventually put it out. Yep. Wow. French law.

What a rush. You got, yeah. That was great. Got anything else in there that you're feeling? Like, you know, what is it? Quiet? Sit and be quiet? Yeah, think of something. Just think of, anything's possible. Think of something wild.

Yeah. And weird. Good night's sleep. Before we get a good night's sleep. Eight hours. That is wild. Reel it in a bit. Reel it in a bit. Okay, let's try this. Six and a half.

I go over to... Wait, who can I do this to? That's the biggest lie of D&D is that you can get eight hours sleep. Right. Okay, I'll go over to... My priorities are right. Yeah, should we just go to sleep?

Or do we still want to do this? Well, this is a good time to experiment if you want to. Okay, then I'll go over to, thank you, by the way, this is like, let the new guy figure out what the fuck is going on. No, no, it's all good. Let's have a montage. Ashton, I couldn't help but overhear you speaking

at regular volume about wanting to meditate. Yeah. And I have a feeling I might be able to help you in some way. regular volume about wanting to meditate. Yeah. I have a feeling I might be able to help you in some way. Okay. So is it okay if I touch you? I mean, sure, let's go for this. I don't know if this is going to work. I have no idea, but I just have a feeling.

I go up to Ashton and I hold right here, thumb behind his ear, just a gentle touch. Thankfully, I can't feel anything over there, so that's good. And I cast a sick, this might not work, I don't even know what this thing does, second-level Calm Emotions.

Okay, okay. Do you resist the magical influence? You can trust me. I don't know. Nah, fuck me. I don't trust you. Nah, fucking. Nah. Nah. Okay. Then indeed, while you were already pretty calm after the conversation you had,

there was an ever-present anxiety or a tension that buzzes in the back of your mind at all times. That faint bit of life trauma that never quite leaves as a specter in the back of your head. And in this moment, for the first time in a while, it's gone. And you feel this gentle wave of just relief come over you.

I don't feel anything. It's just sort of... I'll be over here. Oh, he's having a good time. What happened? It worked. Oh. Whatever you did was a good thing.

No, I'm good. Wow. You okay? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, I'm good. He's blessed out. Can I do it to myself? If you want to. Yeah.

Mage Whippet's over here. I'm going to go over here and think about rocks. I'll take a Mage Whippet. So I do it to myself, too. Can you do it to me, too? I think it's burn and throw. I think it does for a bunch of people.

No, I'm pretty sure it does for one. You're right, I only get three. No, no, no, but I think you can. You can cast at a higher level. The concentration? I think Commomotion's just for. I don't think it's concentration. It's a group of people.

You could do it to all of us. That's true, yeah. And get a good night's sleep. So then I just do it to all of us. Ooh, I love this. So that's two, because I used one on him, and then I'll use the second one on everyone. Ooh, yes. Nice.

I'm going to go find a, not too far away, I'm going to go find a rock and just do the thing. You're going to go talk to a rock? Yeah, I'm going to go talk to a rock. All right. I hope that works out for you, bro. Can I go to the cougar and ask if I can be her small spoon? Certainly.

As you approach, the kugrith's curled up over in the middle of the woods. You approach it. It's going to be cold all night. Okay. You're warm-sleeping. Room for me? Roll for animal handling. Don't you wish you were me? Oh shit, I lost my character.

Hold on. Where are you? I think that is going to be a 17. Okay. It's giving me a little bit, I can see it. The Eidolon looks at you for a moment, takes a step closer and puts his nose at the smell of your hand a little bit. It's a blueberry. Curls up and plops on its side.

Yes, I go in, I lift one of its heavy paws and put it over my neck. Pretty light, being an elemental, strangely. But it still plops over you. That's cute. It feels like you're- Is there warmth? No, there's no warmth, but there is an odd continuous buffeting of gentle wind,

almost like a very, very low-level Theragun or a massager. Okay, cool. That looks vaguely like Jennifer Coolidge. Jennifer Coolidge. You're taking the stab, dammit. I think Denise grabs another bunny, but she doesn't kill it, and she uses it as a...

Like an airplane neck pillow. Like a lovey. I just love the idea of Denise sleeping soundly and this poor bunny that's like, You killed my brother. You killed my mama. You killed my mama. He's right over there. I can see his bones.

I can smell him on your breath. I left his bones. I can smell him on your breath. I latched his skin! The undead one puked him out. And then I tell him, I'm going to sleep in a little bunker. Fantastic. It's a good point, though. I'll pocket the rabbit skin. Okay, there you go.

Good idea. We might need it for more targets. It's 100%. Lasts for a minute. A minute, oh, okay. It's a short term, but it sets you into a better mood. It's like having a melatonin. A reset. Oh,. A minute, oh, okay. It's a short term, but it sets you into a better mood. It's like having a melatonin. A reset. Oh, yeah.

It's only a minute, okay. Yeah, but that's good enough. It's good, just enough to get us a... Any other business for the evening? Go to sleep. Just, I'm going to, yeah, I'll take first watch and some of that's going to be just sitting on a rock. Enjoying it.

Listening to, you know, letting everything in. Okay. Go ahead and just roll a wisdom check for me. All right. I knew it. I knew it. I pulled too many dice today. Just too many dice.

I never do that. Ooh! That's nice. That's all. 14. 14. Straight wisdom. As the quiet sounds of the surrounding wilderness

encroach upon your now further stilled mind, you feel your very tense essence, for the first time in a while, discorporate a little bit, relax, and almost seem to reach out and mingle a bit with the energies of the nighttime forest that surrounds you. You begin to connect with the stones beneath you. You begin to feel the weight and eternal strength of the Exandrian stone that sits beneath

the growth and ferns. And you can sense the life that suffuses these spaces, both on a small scale, the plants that call it home, that set roots within the stone and rock that you yourself could possibly even muster within your body. You also, even in your still sense, can feel the vibration of the Eidolon

as it sleeps, cuddled up around Bor-dor with a slight purr. And from that, too, you can feel the dozens and dozens of other subtle spirits that wander curious beyond the campsite that you've chosen. You're uncertain how much time passes, but you feel focused. And with that, we'll say the watches

through the evening continue. Unproblematic, no issues that occur. Almost like the spirits that you reached out to were present to keep watch for you on your journey. Yeah. The next day rolls around as you all come back to the world of the conscious folk, gather your things, morning's meal,

and trek out for a second day's journey. Eyebrows back on. Long rest. Long rest for all of you. Yeah, I think I slept rather than tranced after that Calm Emotions. That was good stuff. Oh, I think I slept rather than tranced after that Calm Emotions. That was good stuff. Calm Emotions back.

Good stuff, Bordor. Yeah, that was great. That was really great. Hey, you got a connector. And with that, who would like to roll for the second day of travel? It's you. I guess I will.

Yes, you are. I'll use one of these. Go, Denise. Your nails are so fabulous. Natural 20, baby! Thank you. Okay. Battle for sure. Natural 20 means your second day's journey

goes not just without issue, traveling through there, but go ahead and roll a d6 for me. Okay. This is how many magic items we find. Some nice. Oh, it's a five. for me. Okay. This is how many magic items we find. That's not nice. Org's a five. Okay, a five. To this point, all right.

We see a magical unicorn. No. No, you do not. High-Bell's fine. But you do, later in the afternoon, come upon a clearing in the forest where the ground itself seems to divot about 15 feet across by eight or so feet deep.

It's almost like there's a crater in the middle of this clearing that is completely overgrown with vine and root and all manner of just local flora that has filled in this space. That's it. Crater with, okay. Crater with vines. Crater with vines.

So we shouldn't go around anything. Is anyone curious about the flora that is growing from this crater? Not particularly. You do. I'm in a mood. Can I mage hand a couple flowers? Sure.

Pull a few little fern leaflets, yank them off and pull them over in your direction. They, at a quick glance, roll a nature check. 16. 16. These look very healthy, and in line with most of the other natural life that has taken root within this forest.

Hmm. I'm going to do the old faithful, pull out a hand of ball bearings, chuck it in the hole. Great idea. Who does this? A couple of mice skitter off from living within there, but.

It's infested with rats! Do we get a sense of how, the diameter of this big crater? It's about 15 feet across. Oh. So we can easily walk around. Okay, you could easily walk around. Does it look like a crater from something from the sky?

Meteoric? Make an investigation check. 16. 16. 16. It looks like it could be either, if it's a sinkhole, it's a very consistent, consistently diameter sinkhole,

or if there's an impact crater, then the center is obscured by the growth that centers around it. Just lay it over close to this place of a center. Orym, can you, I know you've got some. Well, Orym walks over to the Eidolon and eye to eye says, does this seem okay to you?

I forgot about the Eidolon. It just sits at the edge. It doesn't seem to be acting nervous, but it also instinctually is taking the most direct path it can on its intended journey. What are the flowers like again? I mean, all manner of beautiful, different colorations to what you can see,

especially here in the middle of the clearing, which there's more sunlight that comes through. You can see there's bright reds and pinks and yellows. Sinpate in them. Hello? Is anybody in there? Is there anything threatening? No response. Who else is Sinpate in to do his little dance?

Okay. I can picture those birds that do the mating dance and they're like, all day, birds of paradise. Yep. Da-da-da-da-da-da. Okay. I can picture those birds that do the mating dance and they're like, Birds of Paradise. Yep. Da-da-da-da-da-da. 17.

17, okay. You don't see anything dangerous lurking and the bowl of this crater itself, the growth seems to be pretty close to the ground throughout. There's no trees. There's nothing beyond maybe just a few inches, like five or six inches of height.

I think Orym's struck by the absurdity and weirdness of the world being on the precipice, but the weather being so beautiful for the day and a half they've been traveling, and how peaceful it is here. He just starts growing similar flowers out between his fingers and knuckles and starts walking down into it.

And even though I don't think it's a good idea, maybe I do it anyway. Are you in a trance? I'm going to. I definitely like it. I'm becoming an adrenaline junkie. Breath comes before fear and anxiety. I did not know that.

Are you joining as well? Yeah, I feel like I'm aware that, I think if I see Orym doing something, I'm like, okay, we're all allowed. That's fair, actually. I'm going to walk around to the other side. When Prism leans down, he makes an identical red and yellow flower appear in hair,

right over one ear, and then he turns around to keep walking in. Okay, let's keep an eye on this shit. I guess I'll just go through the rear. Okay, as a number of you begin to slowly descend the bowl of this crater towards the center. Nobody's walking around. Okay, here we go.

Pate, of course, now you just sent Pate and he's like, on your shoulder, what are we doing? We're going in. I was told to go in as well, so if I go in as the team, it makes me feel safe. Do you still have that peaceful feeling? We're just trying to

do the dance. Live in the moment and inhale and exhale one breath at a time. He brings it real close to your ear and goes, Yeah. Oh. That's okay. He's so cute. He's such a charmer. I'm used to you.

I love him. This is fine. You reach the bottom of the crater rather rapidly. It's not massive. You stand here with the thick brush that covers the interior of its center, and you look around up into the sky, and it's oddly serene.

I'm just going to... That's my question. Well, I've got an idea, but it would require decimating the beautiful flowers. Burn it, right? I mean. Burning it is one thing. Or maybe we just pull them back a bit,

if we want to be. Yeah. I'll join Ashton and just get a little bit of that. Seeing if there's anything under there. Okay. You begin to pull back the plants, tear some of the roots and vines away. Very gently, I mean, gently, yeah. And indeed, there is something that has been grown over. You see the exposed half

of a petrified skeleton that sits embedded halfway into the stone of this space. You see a rib cage and a bit of a spinal column that's exposed as you pull back the roots. Humanoid. From what you can tell, you may have to clear a little further to see. I'll, here, everyone scoot back a little bit.

I'm going to cast Wither and Bloom right in the middle. Immediately, all of the nearby floor just shrivels away into gray and dust. It's beautiful as well. Sorry, Orym. Nice. Good job. No judgment.

Here in the center, This is fine. you can see the entirety of a humanoid skeleton that is arms and legs splayed out, embedded within the stone. Even the bone that's exposed doesn't look like bone texture. It looks like it's a continuation of the stone

or it's been petrified over time. You're uncertain. I'm going to try, and I know this is a weird usage of either Earthwalker using Merge with Stone or both of them to just see if I can get around it. I'm curious because I'd... Pull it out? Yeah, or at least raise it up a bit

because I know I've got... It's Merge with Stone, I know what it is, but I don't know if this is a weird usage of it. I like creative uses. I will get rid of that. So you watch as Ashton takes a step into the rock, seems to slide into it, almost like for a moment, he becomes part of the stone itself.

You reach down and indeed you can feel within the stone beneath, there is the other half of the skeleton. To remove it, I would need a high DC dexterity check. You can do it! Would my stone cutting ability have anything to do in assistance?

If you'd like to try and assist him in carving it free. I would love that. Yeah, I was going to say, yeah, I'll take whatever because my dex is fine. I pull the rock chisel out from my hair. You specifically have a tool for this. Yeah. Oh yeah. And I have Smith's tools.

Great, so you have a hammer with you, you have your rock chisel. I can just put pressure up while everybody tries and loosens it? Indeed. Here's the thing. Either you can do it with advantage, or you can both roll once independently. And then add dexterity? For you, it would be your dexterity modifier plus your proficiency modifier, because you're

using tools that you're proficient with. So yours would be better. Yeah, okay, so I'll do that. I may need a little help. Yeah, you roll one and I roll one. Okay, so then I add this and then I add plus three. Just a moment here. What are we doing? What kind of check?

It would be your... Dex plus proficiency. Yeah. Yeah? Okay. I don't even know what's being done. We're taking a skeleton out of a stone. She's trying to chisel the skeleton out. Sure. So add your dex plus your proficiency bonus,

which is probably four. 16. Better than mine. Okay. It is very delicate. And while you begin to pull some of its skull free from the stone by carving up, much like, this is a rapid style attempt at excavation.

Yeah. You get part of the skull free, and with that, some of the chest cavity collapses inward, unfortunately, through the process, but you do get the skull free, and it does dislodge. May I cast Identify on it? Yes. Yes, you may. All right.

The features of this, it is humanoid, and not larger or smaller than a standard human, though the features of it do seem more live. The skull is more, I want to say pointed towards the back, but the skull pulls back and is thinner in places. It looks delicate, but not elven, though it seems similar.

You cast Identify on it, and indeed, this skeleton belonged to a Githzerai, which you know to be one of the people that call the Astral Sea outside of Exandria home. Aniiti? I think this is an extraterrestrial corpse. A what? A what? From the sky.

Like a bird? No, no, no, further than the birds. Like from outer space. Like an angel. Like a moon. Oh! No, not even like an angel. Like, it's not an immortal being. It's just people who live in outer space. So you think that he crash landed here?

Or perhaps the fact that the body was fused with the stone would almost feel perhaps prison-like? Or... Prison meteor? Right, because there's a hole, so that something must have and then maybe killed it on impact? Could be.

If you want to make an investigation check to look into the details of the impact. With my plus zero? Oh yeah. Can I give her the help action? Yeah, I'll need that. Do you want to take one as well? I might do it with my stats.

You can do it with yours as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, good, I'll do that. Because that's my nine. So what'd you get? 16. 16, okay. 16. Two things.

One, the crater indeed is based on an impact, though an impact of this size should have shattered and destroyed any sort of mortal entity that crashed in here. The state of it means that its impact was also buttressed with an intentional enchantment. For receiving. So this was placed here as a punishment. It was. this was placed here as a punishment.

It was. This was placed here as a punishment. The second thing you notice as you're looking over it is while you can see there are remnants of adornments, clothing, armor that were once on it that have long been turned to ash and there's just the ghost shape

of where it may have worn things, the one thing that remains looks to be a singular metal band upon one of the stone bone fingers of the corpse. All right. He was married. It is around the finger and is still merged with the stone.

Well, I got my little tools. I'll try and give it a good lift up also from the bottom. Okay, I'll say between the tools, if you're not worried about damaging it. Yeah, I'll do skeleton's gun. Indeed, you tear the ring from it. Give it to the Luke. And it is almost like a...

Like a... What's the word I'm looking for? It's a smooth, shiny, metallic band. Almost like a malachite, I think is what it is. Oh shit. The green, that nice little... Is that one? I don't know, I could be wrong. Hematite, that's what I was thinking about. Hematite. Yeah, and it's what it is. Oh, cool. Nice. Oh shit. It's got the green, that nice little. Is that what that was? I don't know. I could be wrong. Hematite, that's what I was thinking about.

Oh, hematite. Hematite. Yeah, and it's all of this. This is iron. This is iron from the sky. I mean, like. Would I know that as my, is iron something that dwarves know about? Yes. You have a good feel

on stonework and architecture and historical significance. This particular metal, you're not too familiar with. Mind if I put it on? Give us a, I don't know. If you want to, go ahead and make an intelligence history check for me. History, okay.

Eight plus zero is eight. Hey! Yeah, you're still a little bit of a loss. You can do that thing again or no? Yeah. Like that. Oh yeah, I can. Zero is eight. Hey! Yeah, you're still a little bit of a loss. You can do that thing again, or no? Yeah. Like that. Oh yeah, I can. Have you read about anything like this?

Have I read anything about this? Denius, have we read anything about this? No, I have not. I don't spend my time wandering or researching the central sections of weird, absconded forest floors. No. Denius, we really never talk about you. What did you do before you were trapped in a book? Oh, I'm so glad you finally asked.

Actually, real quick, I just have to cast Identify. We'll talk about it later. Daddy's in a bad mood. Wait, undermine your book. Yeah, go ahead. I was very, actually, Denius, I do want to know. No, it's too late now. I know, I'm sorry.

I set you up to be sassy. The face goes away. Aninios, Aninios, I want to know. Our relationship has changed. Please come back out. I was being cruel. Okay, I will cast Identify. Cast Identify.

On this. Whoa! The fuck? Ring of volcanic flesh. No way! Smooth hematite-like band feels cold to the touch. While attuned to this ring, the wearer gains plus one to their armor class.

The ring has three charges. When the wearer takes fire damage, they may expend a charge to reduce the damage by 2d6. When the wearer is hit with a melee attack, they may expend a charge from this ring to deal 1d8 fire damage to the attacker and push them 10 feet directly away from the wearer. You regain all charges after completing a long rest.

That's pretty good. Pretty cool. Who's got a low armor class? Me, but it would not be well used on me. I feel like... I got a vibe from that. Yeah, go for it. Yeah. It's earthen and... If you don't mind.

It did come from the sky. It's for defense. I mean, it's for defense and attack, and it's... And it's dopeness. And for being in the middle of shit. Not to mention, you're earthen and then this is rock from the sky. I owe you some cool shit that looks better on you. No, you go ahead, honey.

You fake it. Okay, okay. I'm going to, actually, I have an idea for that. Yeah, yeah, all right. I'm going to, is this a, okay, it is an attunement thing, cool. All right, I'm going to. Is this a, okay, it is an attunement thing, cool. All right, I'm going to put this thing on. It probably won't matter until we take a short rest, but yeah. I'm threading flowers

through Pate's eye socket. Oh, that's so dark. That kind of tickles. Thank you. All right. Can we take a bit of this sky rock, too? I think we should. I thought so, too. We also should all take a selfie.

I can't remember this moment. I'll use my stone-cutting tools to, like, use a little sketch, just one by one. Just a good sketch. Excavating for the Grahams. Yeah, just the... Let me take an ecchi. Just an ecchi. Oh, wow.

Goodness. That's funny. You can keep it moving. Yeah. All right. Cool, magical ring. Not bad. Weirdest thing to find right now. Right? It really is.

Do you think that they came from wherever the gods came from? And doesn't it make you think of what's happening in Ruidus? Did it come from Ruidus? Body trapped in stone as a punishment? This feels like it's been here a while. I don't know.

Can you do an... Do you know how long it's been here a while. I don't know. Can you do an, do you know how long it's been here? Can you do an age check, whatever it's called? Can you carbon date it? Maybe an investigation. Yeah, I would need someone, I mean, that would be a skull. I'd say nature could also do that.

I was going to say, that's probably the skull would be the thing to look at. That's going to be a 21. Ooh! 21. It's a carbon date. Yeah. With all of your carbonating materials that you brought with you. Arcana date. There we 21. Ooh! 21. It's a carbon date. Yeah. With all your carbonating materials that you brought with you. Arcana date.

There we are. There you go. Hard to be specific, but based on the state of the space around it, the level of overgrowth, that doesn't appear to be dissimilar to the surrounding flora, you gather that it's probably been here for quite some time. This has not been a recent arrival.

Like years, probably, for it to overgrow like that. Possibly hundreds of years. Oh, oh, oh. Long, long time. I'm just saying there's a similarity with imprisoning someone in stone. It makes me wonder if perhaps, however distant, they may share some common source. Yeah.

But, you know. That's good thinking. All forward and stuff. All right. Continuing onward, pressing forward, your second day's journey comes to a close. And with that, the evening comes once more. Searching for a place to stay for safety,

are you sending Petey out for another survival check? Sure. Go ahead and roll a survival check. Do another scout mission. Two for two, I got you, don't worry. Don't fail me. Do it for the raven. 15. 15. I've had a very nice little soft space,

lot of fungus and sponges, lot of moss you like, it smells real good. Some mushies. A very nice little soft space, lot of fungus and sponges, lot of moss you like, it smells real good. Some mushies. Denios, Denios, I'm really sorry about earlier. I just, my confidence made me act sassy, and that was really unfair to do to you. Honestly, it didn't hurt my feelings that bad. If anything, I'm excited to see you

being slightly more sassy. Confidence is something you've entirely lacked this whole time, and to be also honest, entirely frustrating since I've been assigned to you. So be more sassy, be more confident, be more assertive. Tell people what you think, take what you want. Tell them what you need, and if they won't give it to you, remove it from them and make it your own.

You're getting read by a book. Daddy has spoken. Ooh. Okay, I will do that. Good. I will absolutely do that. Fantastic. Within reason, of course, I'm trying to, yes. Yes, certainly.

The face vanishes into the book. Is Denias readable? Readable? He's into the book. Is Denias readable? Readable? He's my spell book. He's just trapped in there. So this is private for you. It's like notes. Well, you could absolutely read it. I don't know if you could make magic from it.

No, I couldn't make magic from it. Oh, you absolutely cannot read me. Oh! Wow. Now the little flower. And press it. Oh! Wow. Now I'm a little flower. And press it. No! The book spits it out.

That's so funny. I'm going to sit and pack a pipe of tobacco and just chill for, actually, do you have food? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yes. Oh my gosh, yes, yeah. Do you smoke?, mm-hmm. Yes, oh my gosh, yes. Yeah. Do you smoke? Oh yeah, I'm a student, of course I smoke. Okay.

Has to light it. It won't work if you don't light it. Oh, what? I was eating it. Yeah, okay, right, light it. Yeah. Okay, yeah, right. I smoke it like a cigarette with the tobacco. Do I know what this does,

or do I not know what this does? We gave it to the guards at the gate. I would it like a cigarette with the tobacco. Do I know what this does, or do I not know what this does? We gave it to the guards at the gate. I would've figured this out. All right, I'm such an asshole. I'm going to spend the charge on that pipe. Okay, explain what transpires. All right. Oh, no.

As you're smoking, the smoke starts actually, isn't dissipating, it's staying in front of you, and it's becoming like its own weird little cloud, and it's just hanging there for some reason. Hello? Hello? Hello?

Slowly, it begins to reenact the scene of your most impressive and historic achievement. So why don't you tell us what we see in the smoke? You want to go there? We're going to go there? That's the pipe, not me. You want to go there? That's the pipe, not me. All right. go there? It's the pipe, not me.

All right. Dania's like, I have to see this. Okay. Is this starting to? Probably the most impressive thing Prism has ever done is you see a small stage is set by the smoke. Almost like a, yeah, a small stage is set by the smoke of the Shadow Realm.

So it's very bare, very cold, withered plants, just small, parcelized little villages. And you see a mage come, and you see this little tiny prism go up, make herself indispensable to that mage, to the point where, when the mage goes to leave, he invites her back to the Cobalt Soul. And she escapes the gloom and misery

of the Shadow Realm to chase possibly something more for herself and maybe something more for the Shadow Realm as well. Expelling me your way out of your hometown. Did you get a scholarship, too? Was this part of a contest? Did you write a portfolio?

No, no, it was just, I mean, a mage came and it's really hard to leave the Shadow Realm, so I just really cleaned his quills. That's not a euphemism. Now, if I say it again, it will sound like he's, I cleaned his quill, okay. I just made myself really, really useful, and then he extended an invitation,

and it's a really big deal to leave the Shadow Realm. It's really hard to leave, and it's a really tough place. So that is my most impressive achievement. And second would probably be that spell I cast the first night I met you guys. That was very impressive. Not the devil? Oh, I remember you did a demon, too.

Yeah, yeah, I've had an impressive two days. You're all hits. Thank you. Well, I think maybe an abuse in two days. You're all hits. Thank you. Well, I think maybe you guys are bringing it out of me because I have about 10 years of dormancy and questioning the fact that I ever left the Shadow Realm to begin with and wondering if my mother is mad at me

because I really only told her via letter. But I mean, she named me Prism, right? Naming you Prism. Rainbows and a world of shadows, right? That's got to be dreaming. It's a bit hippie, yeah. Of something more. Is this what you were hoping for when you spiked my tobacco?

Honestly. The tobacco's fine. It's not the tobacco, it's the pipe. Oh, really? Yeah. Towards Prism, I say, in Undercommon, you know, it's been quite some time

since I've had anybody to practice my Undercommon with. Well, you haven't lost your accent. Really? Oh, thanks. It's a little, it can get a little like, kind of. Phlegmatic. Yes. It's a pretty phlegmatic accent to begin with. It's true, It's true. Just the death rattles in there.

Oh, well, thank you. Well. Well, I think your mother is probably quite proud. You went off and you pursued something to seek a higher existence. Yes. I honestly think the things I've been doing

the past couple of days are the most I've felt that I have made her proud. And if anything, I've probably avoided going back because I've been worried I haven't done anything to make her proud. When is the last time you were there? Oh, I haven't actually been there. Oh.

I sort of just, I don't know. The language sort of just came to me one day. You ate somebody, didn't you? I ate somebody? You ate someone. You got their language abilities. Are you not still speaking Klingon right now?

I think the first thing we heard in common was, I ate somebody. Funny. That's what we were just hearing. We're not speaking Klingon. I think the first thing we heard in common was, I ate somebody. Yeah. That's what we heard. Do you speak undercommon? No. No. But roll an insight check.

Oh no! No, it's good, it's a three. Beginner's lock. So they're talking in growls. You're just between the board. Just death rattles. It's even funnier that he just asks if I ate someone. Yeah, like, now context.

You ate someone, didn't you? I drop out of undercommon. Just a guess. In a, I guess in a very roundabout way. I didn't really eat anybody. Just the undead soul of a necromancer found its way into my body. So, yes.

Well, you have to, I mean, if I were you, I would be very curious about what would happen if I were to go to the Shadow Realm. You know, there was a moment that we thought maybe our adventures would take us there, but it just didn't pan out. The whole solstice happened, but I would actually enjoy it.

I would love, I mean, I like visiting new places, so. I mean, it's a tough place. It's really not romantic at all. Sure. But, I mean, I don't know, I guess it would be curious to see what it brought out in you, too. Oh, yes.

Well, perhaps when we have a little bit of downtime, maybe we could go together. What'd you say? Can you go right now, or is it a distance you have to travel? No, it would be we would have to basically have someone send us there. That's not magic I can do yet. It's another dimension, sort of a...

Like a fringe realm. Yes, one or two clicks away from this one. Wow. You know, my mother, she actually wanted me to do very much exactly like what you're doing, to go off and be taught by Inlex and to see the world and to expand my horizons. So I don't know.

I'm proud of you. Thank you. Thank you. I really do hope someday I can see her and she can say, it was worth it. It was worth it, you leaving. I hope so.

And, um... She'll be. It was worth it. I promise you that she's happy that you're gone. I love the way you worded that. I think Prism, at this point, has two big tears, and she's just like, Excuse me, I need to go dig a hole and take a shit.

And then she just walks into the corner. Don't take the mic! Oh, she took the fucking mic! Shoot. I'm Susan Sarandon with you. This is the name of the tribe. The Cougar. The Cougar. The cougar. The cougar! Just going through, hot, famous ladies.

And I think I just stand behind a tree and go, Aw. You know, I love a self-made bitch, I sure do. I know that. Absolutely. All right. You have the conversation to have or we can move to the end of the evening.

I'll just hand out some blueberry fruit roll-ups. Yeah. Can I have the little Brutus and the little Katha? It's clearly supposed to be Brutus and Katha. It's a blue circle. Okay, no. I just did basic shit. Bluetus. Bluetus.

Bluetus! Ooh! I got jokes! Yes! I got jokes! This shit's good. Wonderful. Well, who's keeping first watch?

I will. All right, go ahead and roll perception for me. Would be a 26. 26, okay. Your watch goes without issue, and with a 26, you do notice, at certain times of the night, you catch something moving on the horizon,

your nerves begin to catch in, but you see a pair of glowing eyes, but they're oddly soft, not intense. And once you make connection with them, once you both acknowledge each other, there's a sense of comfort that washes through you that you can't explain. Seeing unknown eyes in the dark and is comforting?

Oddly. And you're trying to consolidate what that means. Is this dangerous? Should you be at the ready? And you begin to look around and you can see these little, amongst the fog that gathers and the smoke of the fire that's now down to a low ember between you and your sleeping friends,

you can see little wisps drift around and move for moments. With your very specific, honed vision, you see dozens of small, sprite-like spirits that just mingle with the smoke and drift around. And it's comforting. In ways that you're uncertain, it feels unnatural that you're comforted by them.

Sirens. Yep, yep, yep. I'm debating which magical person to wake up. I bump Prism from his ankle. That's a good idea. Yeah. Hey. Sorry. Yeah. Do you see that? Do I see it?

Takes you a bit to focus, but eventually you can see it a little bit. If you want to make a religion or arcana check, your choice. Okay. Both are banging. It's going to be a 26. Jesus. 26. Either a religion or arcana.

Woof. Love it. I'm intelligence, baby. The best that you can gather, which is pretty solid, having not studied this intensely, but based on what you have read, recent conversations and the spectral entity that has been guiding you on this journey, these are likely all local spirits

of the woods that you traverse, themselves growing more comfortable with your presence as you pass through, and just playfully sharing the space while most of you dream. Hmm. They're like, sorry? Is that a problem? I think it might be truly the? Is that a problem? I think it might be truly the exact opposite of a problem.

I think it may be like we're essentially having a little slumber party with the local spirits. You seem like you have some sort of affinity with nature or something. That's my, my mom does. Just a little. You might be attracting them. You see one that's drifting in the air. It looks almost like a wisp of smoke that drifts, like this gentle blue-green smoke, and it glides over past the sleeping Laudna

and then lifts up above, and you can see this soft pair of eyes apparate towards you, and this little wisp of it in the side, this tiny little oblong, dual-sided point of a spear, it goes, Mm-hmm. I think so.

Does it have form, or is it more like taffy, like spirit taffy? It's more like spirit taffy, but it has almost like a raindrop small persona that comes to points at each end as it just glides and drifts, and then it creates a pseudopod of its energy as it waves to you and then glides off.

You see it take off and other ones are just paring off and weaving through the branches around and playing and dancing through the smoke. Some of them are just sitting on the chest of some of your companions and just watching them sleep. Can I make a little Bigby's hand so he can dance with them? Just make a little elevation so he can,

if he feel called? Lift me on a hand? If you want to try. If you want. I'm not going to argue with anything unless you're going to feed me to a demon. It seems like they want to dance with you. And we dance. Sure.

Describe what your hand looks like as it apparates. Oh, as it apparates? Unfortunately, I am from Shadowfell, so it does look like a hand from the grave. I'm used to this by now. But then it really dexterously glides him But then it really dexterously glides him so that he can be amongst these little spirits. Okay, so I'll add to that.

The ride is a little strange, but workable, and Orym will, a little bit of a surf feel, but more the Zephyr-a-Thom. He will, with no weapon in hand, sort of recreate similar forms and movements that he does in his sort of practice. As you do, returning to this comfortable state and familiar, endlessly practiced forms, the glow

of the firelight from beneath, you can see more of the spirits begin to pull away from the rest of the group and begin to gather, almost like a collective school of fish. But here, amongst the smoke and clouds, they begin to swirl around you and this spectral dark shadow hand. As they glide up, their eyes begin to alight a little brighter, causing this almost firefly, cloud-like look as they spiral and curl silently around you. And it's this beautiful display, soundless almost, except for this faint bit of wind

that drifts through the trees as the fog begins to pour through. And it's this beautiful connection with nature, but nature in its purest form. There's something about the life and the energy here that is extremely ancient, while also innocent and playful. I think what Orym is thinking about

while he's dancing with spirits on a giant skeletal hand is how even in the most terrible of times, and these are the most terrible times right now, we still do find moments of beauty and happiness, just here and there in moments, do find moments of beauty and happiness, just here and there in moments, and then you still have to appreciate them, even when they're surrounded on all sides by darkness and hardship.

As he winds down, he just, with a half smile, to Prism, does, Breath before fear and anxiety. Yeah, take a deep breath, because I bet there's more fear ahead. Breathe it in, love it. I pat a large, skeletal finger. Since I think I move it,

I just nuzzle your head with it. Just like,. It's all creaky. Yeah. Yeah. . Oh, this is such vanilla fantasy. It's been so done to death. I like it.

Fantastic. As the spirits eventually disseminate amongst their evening revelry, some lingering and keeping their eyes, some copying the one time you waved, as you see a few more wave as they vanish off into the night, your watch comes to a close and you return to rest, and the evening goes without issue.

The third day of travel greets you the following morning. Ew! Go ahead and roll another d20 for me, if you don't mind. You're going to roll a d20. 16. 16, fantastic. With a 16. I don't know what I'm going to do all the time.

Amazing. You being guided by your wild elemental cougar. Sandra Bullock. She is wild. Letting you name them for each day. Terry Pratt. Wait, no, Terry Hatcher? Terry Hatt.

Yeah, Hatcher works. Yeah, that's right. Felicity Huffman. Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher. No. Margaret Thatcher. No free milk for you! A beautiful, warm day is ahead of you. Most of this is outside of the forest itself,

instead gliding past the exterior of a mass portion of the Ceratus Wilderness, and now into these beautiful rolling hills of tall grass that just shift over stone outcroppings that pierce out from parts of it. And indeed, the monolith of the mountain that you've been following, the Ascendant Bridge, grows closer still, and you get the sense

that you can't be more than a day or two's travel from your destination, but it is a welcoming journey. As the warm wind is a nice change of pace from the chill that seems to permeate this valley, most of the time that you've been here, you take in and appreciate this little moment of respite as you push forward. Denisse is sunning herself as she walks.

Titties out. Cleavage out, I mean. She doesn't know you that well. So cleave. Yeah. I mean, barbarians cleave. Yes, man. Hey. The cleave and cleave. What?

Didn't happen. I felt it. Felt it, it was right there. Then it was left. It was a sneeze. It was an almost-sneeze. Look at the light! I thought you were going to try to cast something. I know, I was like, nodding back!

You were saying something was going to cast. That's a... Nope. Pollen's real bad in LA right now, you guys. This is so bad. I really thought it was right there. It's gone. Look at the light next time.

I'm going to briefly walk next to Prism and just sort of, sorry about the pipe last night, by the way, I just, I felt like you needed a brag and I really wanted to see what a brag looked like. So. Thank you. I mean, that's really sweet. Well, as sweet as I get.

A really fun pipe. Yeah, I know, right? No one else knew about it either. I've been kind of keeping that on the down low. Really? Yeah. That's kind of wild. Well, no apologies necessary. I, if anything, you're right, it did turn into a brag,

because I was feeling like, oh fuck, I'm doing it. I'm finally doing what I came to do. So yeah, it felt good. Yeah, good. Been on the road with a bunch of very talented people, and you've got the vibe. It's good.

Thank you. You as well. Oh, I think. I've been doing this a long time, so. Really? Some form of it or another, yeah. How long? Eight years more, I guess.

I don't know, it's been a while. No, more than that. Wow. Since school. Since school? Yeah, I left school a little, well, I left school a little, well, I left school a little early to pursue a very lucrative life of crime.

It's a little bit fun, though, right? Yes. Yeah. Except when it isn't, but when it is, yes, it's very fun. Yes, I think I'm starting to get a taste for adrenaline. Yeah.

Yeah. I think I'm starting to get a taste for adrenaline. Yeah. Yeah. I think that, yeah. When it goes poorly, it goes very poorly. I look forward to finding out how that feels. The bad days are bad. The good days are very, very good. Yeah. But especially with, you know, these people.

Why are you waving? I'm not waving. I'm spiddling. I'm just overhearing your conversation, I'm sorry. Why are you see-through? You know, I have thin skin. Literally. You did very well.

Jinx, you owe me one. Yeah, just that. Did anyone have anyone that they were trying to scry on at any point? I mean, if you're offering, yeah, it wouldn't hurt to... To check in. Do you want to try and to try on your brother again? No, I had a question for you, though.

When we were, when we saw your friends on the mountain, there was one who seemed more important to you than the others. I don't know their name or what's the story there. But I just was curious. I didn't mean to ask in front of the whole group. I really was just going to ask just you.

I'm assuming you're talking about Imogen, whom I've known the longest out of this whole group. In fact, me and her have been together for two, three years before connected with these chuckle fucks. She kind of saved me, and I'd like to think I saved her as well. So yes, we're kind of sisters from another mister. Do people say that?

I've heard it before. You got the same dad? No, the same mom. Oh, that's nice. The same mom. Yeah. Oh, yes. Well, that sounds like really special friendship. Mm-hmm.

Yes, I just hope she's okay. She, I think, felt the effects, for many complicated reasons, of the Apogee Solstice, more than a lot of us. And I was afraid I'd lost her. She's something we've come to have learned, is Ruidus-born.

Wait, she was born there? No, she was born under the lights of a flare of Ruidus. So she has this special connection and got a lot of her powers from Ruidus. Do you know about this? I mean, I know what Ruidusborn means. Do I know anything more? Go ahead and roll a history or arcana check.

22. 22. I mean, it is known through history. There are many great or terrible figures through history that have been acknowledged to have been born under a flare of the Red Moon. It is classically and superstitiously, but also historically considered the Moon of Ill-Omen, and those born under its sign are destined for great,

usually terrible things. And that nature means that most children that are born under a flare of Ruedas often live a life of ridicule or fear, or they just do not let anyone know and the family tries to cover it up. It's usually pretty rare. Usually.

So there was, oh, yes. Is Shire all that? Yes. So you see inherently, was she born evil? No, no, not at all. I mean, part of me feels like the Ruitous Born thing, the great or terrible,

it's almost the cultural weight of that that might have more of an effect in skewing towards terrible and maybe is not inherently. Superstition. Absolutely. Wrapped around it. Yeah. It's difficult. Public opinion. Yes. And you know and after a while,

when so many people just put you in a category, sometimes it's easier to just lean into it. Sounds like you and her have a lot in common. Yes, you're very astute. Are your friends as powerful as you are? More. More. What? Imogen was very powerful, very capable,

but there was a risk, a fear, a possibility that she was going to get wrapped up and maybe assimilated into basically a Rudis-born cult. And it feels like we got really close. Yeah, I mean, when we get where we're going, you guys might want to split off from us because we're looking to dive back into the middle of all of this.

I mean, you're amazing, and you're figuring out amazing, but we've seen some shit in the past week. Yep. It's okay. I have some plans, and it seems like you have. I mean, we got to get you to... To Dariax.

You're appointed ass-kicking. Mm-hmm. I mean, unless you want to help save the world or whatever. That'd be appreciated, too. That's kind of along the lines of my plans. I mean, not in such lofty terms, but I do feel as though I'm good with texts, so I might perhaps exploit my Cobalt Soul pedigree to get access to some interesting literature. Got it. You got to find Dariax and scoop him up. Yeah, throw him off a cliff.

Pick him up, dust him off. Keep him close. Yeah, we'll see. You know, I forgot to ask Joanne is if Dariax was in Tal'Dorei. Like, when we scryed, could I tell where he was? Unfortunately, with scrying, it's usually pretty focused on the-

Just like a close-up? Yeah, everything in the periphery beyond a few feet gets a little blurry beyond that. It's just the focus of the actual spell. Right. Do you want to try to scry again? Well, I think he should do it for his brother first. I don't want to get above and ahead of the actual spell. Right. Do you want to try to scry again? Well, I think he should do for his brother first. I don't want to get above and ahead of the line.

I don't need to do that. I think it didn't work last time. On the road. There's no reason why we shouldn't help you out. Yeah. Exactly. Unless there's no brother. I can, I mean, sure. I'll do something.

I'll give her... The crossbow's not going to work. Oh, I have a sling that you gave back to me. Mm-hmm. Okay, a sling. Mm-hmm. Okay, a sling. Mm-hmm. And is this a possession of his? It's something that was in the home, yes.

I don't know if it was made in our house or not, but hopefully. Okay. Has he ever used it? I believe so, yes. We all did. Great. So I guess I should ask you, she gave me the scroll.

I hope that he's still alive. Can I have copied it down into my spell book? Yeah, I can see you've definitely done it over the past couple days of your journey when you were down time. Yeah. Because it does require a focus, you likely would have acquired one

while you were there as well, or she may have presented it. I also have a quill, so I copy things really quickly. Oh yeah, without issue. But the spell itself does require a focus of at least 1,000 gold worth, which I'll say, knowing that this is what was required of,

Holy shit. You could have required. What about that ring? Can I focus on that ring, or will it disappear? It's usually a crystal ball or a mirror or something that is designed for that. Damn. We pick everyone. What about a sentient book?

Right. What I'm saying is knowing this, when you acquired the spell, you likely could have been granted this by the elder as well, who may have given you... I think she would have given you a mirror. I think it would be a small, circular mirror about that large that has this

unique, twisted, hammered brass vibra on the edges that would go up into a filigree curl with little opals embedded on each side to hold it. A little magical ring light around the edge. Yes, exactly. It really brings it. Whoa. All right, Brody. Look in. I'll just put the little slingshot on. Yeah, exactly. It really brings it. Whoa.

All right, Brody, look in. I'll just put the little slingshot on. I'm just afraid. I won't say it to the group, but internally, I'm afraid that my brother's dead. Okay. Okay. As you focus your first time, letting this incantation find you, Okay. As you focus your first time,

letting this incantation find you, you close your eyes and you hold the mirror as a focus. The mirror begins to shift. The imagery on its surface begins to ripple, almost like the surface of water, and you instinctually close your eyes. Unlike the basin in the middle of this cottage where you saw it once,

you are part of the focus prism, and you feel your consciousness suddenly rocket out of your current self. You are thrust into the clouds of some unknown space, and you are plucked into a heavily wooded area. A cabin. An empty cabin. Furniture.

Kind of not heavily furnished, dark, shaded, empty. Can I see what she sees? You can glance into the mirror where she's holding it and you can see the same imagery. Where is he? Is this your house? Well, that's where he stays.

Yes, where is he? I don't know. Is there any evidence of dishes in the sink? Make a perception check for me. 17 on the die. 17 on the die. 17 on the die. Best you can see in the nearby surroundings is there's some leatherworking tools on the wall.

You can see there's a couple of tanned hides that are draped over a nearby stool. I would like to also use this perception check based off of what Denise just said to see, do I see any signs of a sick person being there? Not a sick person. You see furniture. It looks like a singular wooden,

almost like log cabin interior. There is a bed, a singular wooden, log cabin interior. There is a bed, a simple bed, but no one seems to be occupying it. Okay, so what is this? He's not here? Is that a good sign? I hope so. No, there's no way that can be a good sign.

Well, he's not dead. But he's not there. What if he was taken away? Oh, what if he got freaking? Shunted. Right. Well. Is there evidence that more than one person lives there? Or like, I don't know.

I'm going down a rabbit hole. But this is definitely a house you recognize this time? Yes, that's where he stays, yes. That's where he stays. Where he lives? I was just there. He just stays there, okay. Okay. Maybe the sling's more tied to your house?

Yeah. Doesn't make any sense. I'm sorry I couldn't get you better information. I think we've all learned to never go anywhere without a couple sentimental objects on our person. Yeah. No matter what we're doing. I'm sort of curious to know, like maybe we can get an update on their friends

or Ludinus, maybe kind of see what's up. I don't know. I'm curious. If I take an Arcane Rest, I can get another 5th-level spell and do it again. Okay. And like I said, I do have the likeness of Ludinus. We could try to scry on him. Let's try it tonight, just in case something happens

on the road to... Thank you for trying. Yeah, that's true. I'm sorry I couldn't get you more. Also, Vodna, maybe for tomorrow, you must have something that belongs to Imogen, right? Oh yes. I'm sure.

Okay. We started with Chet the other day, but maybe we could focus on her. There's no silvery barbs. Yes. So your journey continues on for a mercy of remorse. Yes. So your journey continues on for the remainder of the day. Eventually, the day turns into night. Just as you reengage with the forest across the field,

the mountain comes close and you assess, likely another day's journey or so, you will go ahead and discover, hopefully, the destination, the Irim Canyon. Did we roll a d20 for that day? I don't know. I don't think we did. Somebody else please roll as we close the day out.

Wait, no, I rolled 17. That's right, you did. Never mind, we're good. So we're good. Thank you for that. We're like, We roll, you did. Never mind, we're good. So we're good. Thank you for that. We're like,. No. We roll, we roll. You all settle into your evening's camp

based on what could be your last night before you reach your destination. But the fire is set. You can gather what materials you have for food or hunt if you like, and prepare for the journey ahead. What would you like to do? Would you like to scry on Ludinus or someone? I don't know how it works.

I don't have anything of his, but you think just a description. My only thought is I have this likeness of Ludinus on my canonically expressed playing card. Right. But wouldn't that just show you where the playing card was made? Well, just based on the description of the spell, but also if we're using it differently, that's also fine.

Would have to defer to Matthew for that. Matthew. Would have to defer to Matthew for that. Hell is Matthew, Priscilla? Well done, well done. Because in the scrying thing, it says that there's a minus two to the save to be scryed on if you have their likeness or picture.

Correct. Oh. But I'm also choosing, so you can say stop. No, no, no. I mean. Do what you want to do. Would you like to try this, Gryon? If it helps, looking at the card, he looked even more up his own ass than was painted on that card. Okay, so I'll press the digitation

to look more up his own ass. I'm just like, the smug. Yeah. So yeah, it might not work, but maybe we can try. All right, okay. Ready for another psychic rollercoaster. Okay.

You prepare yourself, you grasp the mirror, you finish the incantation in the center of the ritual circle you draw. You feel your consciousness pull from within you and then immediately stop and hang in the gray expanse of nothing. Like a wall. Oh fuck.

Ah, damn it. And there is nothing. He's got protection or some shit. I come out of it. Sneaky block. Yeah. I was hoping he would be too arrogant to have non-detection up, but I'm guessing he has some sort of-

He's got an unlisted number. You motherfucker. Yeah, he blocked my call sort of. He's got an unlisted number. The motherfucker. Yeah, he blocked my call. Yeah. He probably has magicians, right? Oh yeah. Sorry. Putting up spells.

He's got a lot of stuff. And that's it for the night, right? Yeah. Yeah, okay. Any water around? That's what I can do. You can make a survival check if you want to look for right? Yeah. Yeah, okay. Any water around? That's what I can do. You can make a survival check if you want to look for a water source. 17 plus whatever it is.

Oh yeah. You do a short walk around, take about 20 or 30 minutes and wander off, and you do find a river that is running. Throw it? Almost, not, yes. It may eventually become parallel, a crossover with the path that you're going, but it's about 30 minutes or so.

It looks clean, maybe either recent snow melt or from the nearby mountains or hills. It's not a heavy river. It's more like a wide brook, but definitely clean water at your disposal. So I get some clean water. Okay. Tinny still boils it, no matter what.

No, I'm sorry. I always boil some water. Any fish? I really some clean water. Okay. Tinny still boils it, no matter what. I always boil some water. Any fish? I really want to fish. Any fish? Go ahead and make a survival check. Yeah, so. What is this? So you go, he just leaves off into the forest. Are you guys all rabid anymore?

He just vanishes for 40 minutes into the woods. Nine? Nine? Yeah, that's what he's doing, fishing. It's tough. It's in your survival, yeah. Yeah. With a nine, you do manage to catch one fish.

Yes! After six or seven bites that get away. You pull it free and you take it out, and it looks, at first glance here, in what little modicum of light that you have, as a half-elf, if I recall, right? So you have, still able to see in low light pretty well, and you glance at it, that is about that long, about that thin, and a pale lime green.

It will significantly feed a few bites for one person. Oh no! I'll save it for the cougar. No. Just go right for it. Then I'll bring water back to the camp. Okay, so you gather bits of water and bring back clean water to the camp.

What are the rest of you doing? Border, do you want me to try and put a spell in your? Fish? No, we need a crossbow bolt. No, I'm okay. I want to save it for if we ever need it. But if you can make this fish bigger. I actually can. Yes! I cast Enlarge on the fish.

I don't know why this means so much to me. Jesus! Okay, now you can do this. The multiplication of the fish! I'll allow it. She's only one or two. Only for, I think. Turn it to wine!

It's only for a short time, so cook it real quick. Cook it real quick. So this fish about this long becomes this long. You go ahead and you cook it up real fast. You repair it and you share it. All of you enjoying the bites and it's like, you know, a snack filling. Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

And then at the end of the hour, you're suddenly hungry again. Oh! Anybody want a fucking rabbit? Yes! Why? Denise goes and gets a rabbit. All right.

Hey, little rabbit. Roll survival. Or animal handling, depending on what you want to do. They're both the same. High five, bud. Oh shit, that's a 24. 24. You hunt rabbit and a number of other

various prey animals that will make a fine meal when cooked for the rest of the trip. Of course Ines is a good cook. Now you're all. We can make a stew. We got everything you need. Great, in the hole. Oh yeah. With a dead body. Oh yeah.

Anybody got some adobo or tasson or something to go with it? We have some spices. We do. We did. We robbed the kitchen. We did? I took all the spices out of their kitchen. She makes a little sofrito in the pan. She's like this Puerto Rican herb situation.

So good. Y'all enjoying this fine, bountiful meal, cooked quietly eating around the campfire here. It's delicious. I scooch up next to Bordor. Mm-hmm. I'm doing all right. Sometimes I just look over, and you're staring off into nothing,

and just a little stressed sometimes. Then you snap back out of it, and then it happens again five minutes later. So, you know, I sense the struggle. Well, it's a lot to take in. Mm-hmm. And you say that your friends are stronger than you are. That's definitely makes a difference.

I'd say at least on par. You know, equal. Stronger than them. Everyone can hear. We're chatting, right? No, not Chetney. Chetney's kind of deaf in a minute. We're all around the campfire.

Yeah, let's talk some shit. Talk shit. But Chetney turns into a werewolf. Yeah, but how long is he going to live? Let's be honest. Chetney with a U or with an E? An E. Mons at best.

Very old. Chetney. Wheezes. You think the six of you are strong enough to kill a god killer? Oh no. I don't know, when you put it like that. I think...

I don't really think of it that way. Well, it's the way it sounds. That's, it's... That's fair, yes. Or do you hope to stop Ludinus, who you can't even scream on, scry on? Scream on. I've been screaming about how I couldn't scry, so that's fair.

I will feel pleased if we stop him or, at the very least, get some people who shouldn't be there out. We tried real hard to stop him, and it didn't really work. How many people did you kill? I don't know. Over the course of the entire journey, or?

No, when you were trying to, how many of his people did you take out? Decent amount. I don't remember. Kill or chaos, the other thing is. The ship. What ship? We did crash a whole ash ship

onto Ismallius Key. So I'd say dozens. You know, you kill a lot of people and you just get numb to it, I guess. There's a couple that stick with you, but yeah. Does that make you think less of us, Bordeaux? No, no, no. I don't think less of you.

I just hope that you got enough. You took out enough. When you said you were going to get people out, who are you talking about? He's got people prisoner. Are you talking about his followers? He's a cult leader? Oh, he's definitely a cult leader.

That was a cult. I mean, I know cults. That was a cult. He did have some prisoners. Or maybe you're talking about mitigating the damage that's going to be done. Or I don't think we know what we're even talking about mitigating the damage that's going to be done. Or I don't think we know what we're even talking about yet. Yeah, because are you trying to kill him?

Are you trying to stop the gods from dying? Or are you trying to stop a man whose followers believe in him? Are you trying to destroy their belief in him? Or are you trying to destroy the predator? I think. Predathos. Predathos.

I don't know if we can do that. When you describe him as a cult leader, it does make me think of something I've been thinking all along, which is that a lot of times, wizards come up with schemes based off of faulty information. And when you talk about him being a cult leader,

it makes me think of him believing something is true, but it isn't necessarily true. Yeah, we don't know for sure that there's a God Eater on this moon. Do we know that for sure? The description of God Eater sounds like someone else gave it that name. I do know that we just saved an entire village

from the wrath of God. A god. An angel. An angel. Yeah. Not a god. Father. The father. Ludinus, he's been around for a long time. Centuries, many centuries.

And the last time we saw him, he checkmated us into oblivion. You mean like here? Like through you here? I think that was an accident. He had a plan at least six years in the making, I'm sure longer, and my friends and I, especially me, walked right into it.

So he's been around for centuries. He's got this conspiracy theory, maybe, I don't know, and he believes that it's going to happen if he does A, B, and C. And people believe in him, and he's been planning this for centuries, so why do we think he's any closer than he was before? Wow. Don't know.

Good question. Don't know. I do feel like we maybe, we hopefully, mitigated some of his plan. Doesn't feel like it. Ne neutralized it. We just don't know.

I'll also, I got to be honest, I don't... I'm finding it harder and harder to... I think I want to stop him. Not because of what he wants to do, but because I don't know if that's the person I would like around if there's a vacuum. Yes. I'm not necessarily against the vacuum at this point.

I'm not sure if I am, either. Vacuum? Godless world. Getting rid of all of them? I think. Some of them. Getting rid of all of them? I think. I think some of them. As time goes on, maybe we just need to accept that

Exandria is going to change, and to exactly the point you're making. Maybe it's just about not even making a change for the better, but just not making a change for the better, but just not making a change for the worst. Maybe it's just not him. It's just not him. I got to be honest, aren't you tired?

Aren't you finished fighting? We're exhausted, at least I am. When have we not been tired? Why not just find your friends and leave? We've thought about it. I, for one, would welcome a change, given further research, because like I said, the Shadow Realm is a tough place, and a change for it could be good. God never did anything for me.

Not one thing. But I also agree with Border that if you want to just find your friends and relax and not feel like you have all of this on your shoulders, you also don't have to do that. The issue is just that you just know too much now.

I mean, even you talking about saving the town. I was just so frustrated and angry at them. And I think it's because we can sit here and say all we want to do is just try and control that which we can control in our very small sphere. But we know too much. I wish we were like the Hearthmore. I can't walk away with everything

that I've done has to be worth something. I can't walk away. I put too much into it now. That sounds like a gambler's mentality. It is. How many more have to you say? Time-sunk fallacy, yeah. You ask me why I stare off blankly. It's just because I don't know if you

are strong enough to do the things that you say, and I don't want to fucking die because of you. Might die without us. Well, that is probably why I'm still here. If we do nothing, people are going to die. If we do something. I can't promise, and I can't promise that I'll be with you when this happens.

No. Don't think any sane person should. I don't know how we can focus on anything other than getting back the people we lost right now. We honestly don't know what the hell happened, where we were. Yeah. Just seen things, done things.

You've got to find your brother. You want to find Dariax. I'm just tired of fighting, tired of running. I just want to settle down, retire my fucking weapons, my whip. Well, maybe I'll use the whip for something else. Keep the whip. Like, don't you just want to like...

You mean like get your coffee in the morning? No, no prism, not that. No, it's to make the toaster work. Oh, you're stupid. Sorry. Sometimes you just get tired. Yeah. You're fighting. You have people you love.

You know where they are. That's more than most. More than you? I don't know. Well, I don't know where my family is, but I can say that. I would choose them over anything. I totally see where you're coming from, Border, but I personally feel invigorated

by this entire experience. You're young still. I know. And I was going to say, it's probably youthful optimism. You just are inflated with a sense that you could really make a difference, that maybe you'd be the person who read the text and the ancient tome that you stole from the restricted section that made sense of everything,

and then you could report it to people and everyone would have better information on which to act upon. And I have to say, I'm glad to be here. Oh well. I don't think that I'll be putting the knife in Ludinus' back or anything like that, but I do think that I have a narrow lane that could...

That could... I'll do it. If you put me behind it. a narrow lane that could... that could... I'll do it. If you put me behind him. So maybe you do want a part to play after all. If it makes the pain go away, if it ends this complication or whatever this confusion is, I'd do it. You get me next to Ludinus, I'll stab him.

I think we got to grab the little playing card off the ground near Prism and I prop it up on a rock. That guy's got to go. That I agree with. I agree with that. I think we can all say that we have different ideas of the deities, but that guy's fucking gone. Let's get some rest.

I'll take first watch. Okay. Do you want company or no? Sure. Yeah. Okay. The rest of you find a modicum of rest after a somewhat tense evening conversation to close it out,

while the two of you both stay up to keep first watch. Anything you wish to discuss before you go ahead and roll perception? I feel like Denisse wants to listen in a little bit because she's got this, in a little bit because she's got this little bit of suspicion about the brother not being there. Do you want to roll an insight check? Yeah, I think I'll just, yeah, I will,

but I think just not like a, just like a... No, no, you've been listening for a bit. A little listen in, just in case. What'd you say? Insight? Nine. Nine. Kind of hard to read. Dang it. She's too far, she can you say? Insight. Nine. Nine. Kind of hard to read. Dang it. She's too far, she can't hear it.

Yeah. Over at Prism's fucking snoring. We're talking in under. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It's a spell. It's a spell with thumbs. Are you talking undercomic? I don't speak undercomic.

Hey, I speak undercomic. I do not speak undercomic. Waka, waka, waka, waka. That's a... Scabby-dabby. I'm pretty sure that's Muppet. I thought it was worse. I just thought, maybe I would know, but I don't.

No. That was okay. No, still nothing. There it is. Yep, you got it, you got it. That's undercover. You know, it's possible your brother went for help. Do you ever go to town?

Do you guys ever go? Rarely. Is there anywhere you'd want to go? Since you're out right now. I hadn't been out from where I lived in quite a while, so. Anywhere I would want to go? Yeah. No, I'm not like you. Just like thewhere I would want to go? Yeah. No, I'm not like you.

Just like the beach. I want to go back home. I don't. You, I don't understand you people. Give me your pipe. Done. I'm hacking it. Can't say no to that.

Smoke it. With this, with my lighter, my bick. I pull out my magical bick. Your white bick. Yeah. Said to my favorite brother. Like, ah! White bick, ash on the bottom. Yes, ash on the bottom. Stinks.

Stinks. I don't know if you grasped the enchantment on the pipe, right? Well, I don't know if you grasped the enchantment on the pipe, right? Well, I don't know. Yeah, all right, you smoke it. Okay. Tilt, shift, camera, show.

I'm so excited. So what the pipe shows, and I will pull it up so that I say it exactly right, because these things are very specific. Bless you. Where are we? There we are. It reenacts your most impressive and heroic achievements. So what you see, what we see, is me,

standing in front of all of you, standing in front of a makeshift dummy, doing a firebolt for the first time. What else? Do we see anything else or is that the one? Me lifting my arms up like this and feeling like I belong for the first time.

You know what? I'm taking the pipe back and smoking it, too. It won't work anyway. It only works once a night. That's fucked up. That's not cool. I thought this was a vulnerable moment for both of us. Yeah, I know. Yours is, honestly, I will say,

I think yours is better than mine. Well, now you know that my, I don't know what you know. I just thought you should know that. Do you know what that says to me, actually? I will say, yeah, I do know something now. I get the feeling it's probably all uphill from here. I think a week from now, that's not what's going to happen.

Oh, I thought you meant uphill harder and more exhausting. Oh, that too. That's fair. I didn't mean it that way, but that's also true. But yeah, I think this is the start of something if you want it to be. It doesn't have to be. Let's get to this vestro and see what he has for us,

or they see what they have for us. Yeah, I don't actually know what, well. Do you want to roll a, you roll. You roll a perception check. Oh, right, for the knife. Yeah. For the watch. 17. Nice. All righty.

Pretty solid view. 19. Fairly protected the evening. We'll save the entirety of the night based on the positive rolls you got on this journey. I want to do a little thing. Okay. In the dead of night. Okay.

I want to fart. Mm-mm. That's my secret to this. That's my secret to me. That's our cougars. Yes. That's the secret. I'm always farting. Me and I blame it on the cougar.

Damn it, Kim Cattrall. Damn it. Kim Cattrall. I love. Come on. Don't blame it on Kim Cattrall. Okay. No, I don't fart.

You wouldn't hear it if Orym did anyway. He's so wee. What I do do is... Subsonic. fart. You wouldn't hear it if Orym did. Anyway, he's so wee. What I do do is... Such a son. Only teenagers can hear it. That's right. Cute, cute. Is plant seedling,

blade down into the dirt, and I will spend a minute adoring it with flowers. And when I feel like everyone's out, I'll say, I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if you can hear any of us anymore. I hope you can. I've heard too many stories firsthand and read too many tales to discount the good

that you, many of you have done in this world. I don't know if you have any, anything left in you, but I'm praying we could really use a little help down here. I know you can too, and we'll do our best. But any miracle you can spare. I just leave it planted in the ground.

Okay. Go back to sleep next to it. I'd say the two of you keeping watch probably clock that quiet moment off to the side. Fucking idiot. But the evening goes by from that point without issue, until eventually the morning light comes, the warmth and hope of what may be your last day's travel to your destination before you.

And with that, we're going to take a break. We're past that time. We'll be back here in just a few minutes. We'll see you shortly. Thank you for listening to the Critical Role Podcast Network. This is Marisha Ray, Critical Role's resident creative director, with a quick reminder for you. We take the last Thursday of every month off from our typical Campaign 3 adventures.

Some months we'll enjoy a short rest, and others we'll air a one-shot or just try something new. Since this year's podcast feed is on a one-week delay from our initial broadcasts, that means the first Thursday of the month may look a little different around here. To stay up to date on our latest programming happenings and when our shows will air on Twitch, YouTube, and here on the Critical Role Podcast Network, check out our weekly programming schedule published to CritRole.com every Monday at 10 a.m. Pacific.

And now that you're sufficiently reminded, let's get back to the show. And welcome back. So, as you wake up, gather your materials and press on for the day of travel. Any preparation to do before you head out? Stretch. Stretching.

Stretching is important. Mm-hmm. Becca, I'm going to, I don't know, it only lasts for an hour. I'd like to do a sleight of hand on something, but I don't want to say out loud what it is. Oh, sneaky. Ooh, text the GM. Oh, we're helping out.

Yeah! This whisper, not brought to you by whiz kids or anything. But it is brought to you by whisper kids. Whiz kids's really cool. All right. Okay. Go ahead and roll a study hand for me. Archive. One.

No. It's not good, though. If I know what she's doing, can I help? Do you know? I feel like I know. That's not knowing. Whisper to her. I can whisper to you.

I just want to give you a help action. Although it's not, it's like, wait one second. Unless this is like some. I don't think it's on me. Should I do it again? Yeah, if she's helping me. I want to give her a help action. Okay.

No. Okay. That's going to be a 13. Is that with the first roll or? That was with the first, The second one's worse. Okay. But my stealth, I can add my stealth instead. Orym is doing pull-ups with a 31 passive perception. Yeah, you see the two of them conspiring.

It was supposed to be a cute little thing. Real cute, real quick. And now it turns into a thing. Now it's a thing, now everybody knows. I'll just put it back, I'll figure something else out. Well, I mean, it's not just putting something back. There is, sorry, I'm checking one thing. You got to talk about your slashes.

Stop emoting with me. She wanted to slice a hand and chew it from your butt. You should not have a personality of your own. That's how I make Metal Gear alarm sounds. Heather Locklear lets one out. Ooh. Heather Locklear. Oh my goodness, I'm having a problem with getting your...

My chart? Sorry, I'm having to check with the are now very challenging to have to re-log into. Marisha, two. Indeed. Capital O. No, blue! Well, I got to change them all again, thanks!

God. My mother-in-law has a thing on the back of her phone. I swear, this is not a joke. My mother-in-law has a thing on her phone that says, password, children one. No way! Is it a connection? No!

It's on the back of her phone. Children one. Children one. No. Can you believe it? Have you told her? Bank account. Yes, now everybody knows.

Bank account, three, two, one. Social security. Oh no. Now you're not loading when I finally get through all that? Okay. So much to say. So much to say.

Well, so much to say. So much to do. So much to see. Sure, whatever. Someone's wrong. We're taking the back streets. Cool, thanks, phone. Back to you, Matt. Nevertheless. Wait, Max Reeds. Cool, thanks, phone. Back to you, Matt. Nevertheless.

Wait, wait. Okay. I was down on the wire checking. Yeah, you succeed. Thank you. Okay. I'm just going to keep it in my pocket. Okay. Well, so you all trek onward to this final day of travel. Hopefully, depending on the roll,

I need one more d20 roll. Let's roll on the big one. Oh yeah. Let's roll to all three of our hands. Our powers combined. I love this. Cap. We're going with big one. Oh yeah. Let's play to all three of our hands. Our powers combine. I love this. Gap this. On a natural one, that's how you get a natural one. Bye.

Bye. Good. But we all like to add. No, no, you want low. Nothing. You want low. I want low. Really? You want low.

Why, because we want to fight? Because you want to, yeah. I want trouble. Tool. This is the trouble. Okay, roll a d6. Oh! We're doing it all together again, all together again.

There you go. Got to. And? Oh. Three! Three. That basically means? Okay, got it. Pull out the map. No.

No, shunned. You continue on for a number of hours, moving through the dense forest, pushing through branch and fern until eventually the tree lines come to an abrupt halt at the edge of a wide crevasse that winds through this rocky region of the wilderness. You're uncertain how long this crevasse is

from side to side as you step up to the edge of it. But the portion that you can see, completely surrounded across the way by trees and the tree line to your right and left before it curbs slightly out of your periphery on each side, it is about 250 feet across and about 120 feet deep to its base bottom below. You do hear the rushing of water

and glancing down over the side, you can see there is a river that snakes through the bottom, drifting through. It is also open rock and stone, but the river does carve through it and you can see signs of long-set erosion over heavy floods and storms of the past

that have continued to push this crevasse deeper and deeper. The cliff face before you is fairly sheer, over heavy floods and storms of the past that have continued to push this crevasse deeper and deeper. The cliff face before you is fairly sheer, resembling a massive sinkhole edge or a tectonic collapse of an older age with occasional, bless you, occasional shallow outcroppings that occasionally peek out of the rock walls, but the delve itself looks rather treacherous.

Other thing you notice as you approach is the wind cougar that's been leading you just walks off the cliff. Oh, Meryl Streep! And just walks down to the bottom and sits and turns around and looks up at you expectantly. Oh, just waiting.

Yep. Oh, cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. It's a fairly sheer cliff with some little... And you said it's 120 feet down? 120 feet down to its face. It's not a complete drop. No, right, right, right. But it's dangerous.

Okay. I just look down and I go, damn it, Charlize Theron! You could lower people down on that disc of yours. It might actually be- It actually can't do altitudinal changes. Sweet. It's a real...

Okay, so it's like this spell that you get really early on and it just teaches you how particular and punishing it can be to be a wizard. Yep, yep, that one in particular. So I can help with five of us. If someone else has something else that they might be able to do. I don't think you need to care.

I mean, I feel like as a mountain dwarf, I think I'm pretty handy, and I can probably take care of myself if you want to take other people. I could also do it in batches. I could also try to enlarge my mother. Not my mother, mother. I could try to enlarge my familiar, mother

to perhaps bring some fairy, some smaller. That's a good idea. Yeah. Okay. If you can do that, then I can handle the rest of us. Great. Yeah, I mean. Want to hop on? Hop handle the rest of us. All right. Yeah, I mean. Want to hop on? Hop on the mother. Okay.

Yeah, I'll enlarge mother. Okay, a mother. A nice-sized raven enlarged to about hawk-size. Hawk-size isn't large enough to carry Orym. Anybody, maybe Orym. Yeah, on the link. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. He is mother like a bear, go ahead, Orym. Yeah, I'm a link. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Can you use Mother like a miracle?

Hey, you can certainly try. Oh, no! So as Mother sits there on the precipice of what you now assume, based on the trajectory of your Eidolon guide, is to be Irium Canyon. Wait! Irium Canyon. Yeah. That's where we were going.

I got a map, though. Where is that? So we're looking for Blue Flora. Oh, Blue Flora. That's the shrine. Oh, it's down in the canyon. Oh, right, there's no space at the northern side of the canyon. It's the shrine on the northern side of the canyon, so yeah. The Eidolon will lead us there. Can't see that from here, can we?

No, not from here. Is that in the Midlands? I'm going to hit Mother River. People have a shrine in the northern depths of the Urien Canyon. Maybe send out Pate to look for some blue stuff. I could do that. I mean, we still have the cougar.

Yeah, let's get down there. The cougar's going the right way. It's going the right way. Great. All right. Let's go! I'm not googling some names to check them out. Yeah, let's get down there. The cougar's going the right way. It's going the right way. Great. All right. Let's go! I'm not googling some names to put them out there. Yeah, maybe. We're about to find out.

Oh no! We'll see how Orym does first. Mother is perched up on the edge. Massive black feathers that streak out in the back. The wing's at the ready. The head looks around. You're super capable. I'm feeling good.

I grab the feet. Bing! I have magical shoes. I have boots of springing and striding, so I leap. Okay, great. Yeah, I get a running jump with this. You're using Mother as a hang glider. You're not letting her carry you.

Yeah. Okay. Great, I love it. I'm going to try to glide to the opposite side. That's perfect. You're not going down? Past the river? I'm going down. I'm going to go at a downward angle.

You know how Breath of the Wild works. Yeah, right. So as Mother is, picks up into the air, and is going to lower to try and grab Orym. Orym grabs, and goes running with it. Mother goes like, and pulls back. Mother, submit!

Submit! A little thrown off the edge. They both leap off the side and plummet about 40 feet immediately as Mother is unable to capture the wind of being pulled out from under her. I didn't hit that button! However, Will attempt to catch herself beneath the wing. If you can go ahead and roll a roll an athletics check

for Mother, which, if she doesn't have a skill, it's a straight strength check. Basically, gods. She's enlarged, so you get to add a d4 to the roll. Let's go. Least one. Least one. Oh wait, she makes, I'm pretty sure enlarged,

you make strength checks with advantage. Is that what it says? Okay. Let me double check. I'm going to do it by the books. Until the spell ends, the chariot also has advantage on strength checks. There you go, there you go. Never mind.

Honey, I got a buff raven. Come on, gorgeous. Not bad. Okay, 18, but she has a minus two to strength, just like me. So 16. 16. Rapidly, wings fan out and picks herself up,

and as the wind catches underneath and you feel your hair get blown back, you almost feel yourself slip to the base of her talons, but hold on tight as she picks up, and for this moment, you are gliding. You are just being carried through the canyon. This beautiful perspective as she swirls around the open space, rotating, slowly bringing you

to the bottom of the canyon itself. I didn't see any blue flora on the way down. Make a perception check for me. Come on. Give us a good one. Oh, I rolled two ones, but as a halfling, I re-roll one. I get to roll again! No way! Oh my god! Oh! Oh.

That's a 30. I thought that was a 20. Jesus Christ. That's a 30. Melora. From... I'll put it here. I'll do this. I'll say that Mother, before she takes you down, actually brings you up above the canyon a little bit.

Because from being within the canyon, you only have as much view. It's not a straight line. It curves and cracks through, so you wouldn't be able to see much within the periphery of what you have. But with a little bit of elevation, you can see a little ways to the northeast,

maybe about half to three quarters of a mile from where you currently stand, you can see there's a glimmer of blue coloration within the valley. You're uncertain if it is what you're seeking, but it is the closest thing you can tell within the vicinity that may or may not be what you're looking for.

One single question. Does it look like it's on the opposite side of this crevasse? It looks like it's on what would be the northern side of it, yes. Okay. I'm going to be really irritated if we all get to the bottom of this canyon

and then just a couple of blue flowers. Then the cougar just goes like, Cool, you're here, and then goes up and goes on the opposite side of the cave. Yeah. That's what Mufraid is going to do. He made a face. He made a face. Oh boy.

Listen, Laura Linney, don't bump into this thing. I was trying to think of another cougar in the moment. I forgot. I couldn't think of any. What are you doing? I guess we have to go down, right? Yeah, you're going to take us all down, right? All right. Well, except for me.

I guess I'll just leave you. No, he's five now. Oh, okay, thank god, okay. Orym had his own little journey. Which I wipe a little bit of sweat off my brow, because that worked out. And yeah, and let's go. All right. Do you all trust me?

Yep. So much. Sure. I do. On the count of three, we're going to jump. Okay, ready? Yep. All right. You have to jump, you have to be falling. It's the only way it works. Okay. Okay, ready?

Do we have to fall at the same time or can I watch you do it first? I do want to go. We've all got to go. All right. Just don't get without 60 feet of me. This is so thrilling. All right, ready? One.

Oh yeah, let's do the death drop. That's even better. One, two, three. Ha! So you all leap. Feather fall. Great, and it's good you do it quickly, because the cliff wall is not directly down. It is at an angle. Oh shit!

An issue that has transpired once in a previous campaign. Yes. No! Long live the goldfish. The goldfish lives. You all immediately begin to glide at an angle as the wind catches you, and you are plummeting rapidly, but not at a speed in which you will probably hurt yourself upon impact.

It'll just be a little bit of a rough tumble or a catch yourself as you go. But as you begin to crane down, you can see the winding river that's going through. You can see the changes in the rocky basin that makes up the center of this canyon, and the rather jagged footing that some of the stone foot provides.

So you all have to maneuver as best you can through the wind as you go. For the sake of it, let's go ahead and do a, let's say a group athletics check. Mm-hmm. Athletics or acrobatics, your choice. a group athletics check. Mm-hmm. All right. Athletics or acrobatics, your choice. Come on, come on, come on.

Yeah! Ooh! Ooh, I look at that. Okay! Mira, that says 29. All right. 20. All righty. Okay. Three. Three. 11. 11.

Nine. That's just right. Squish, squish, squish. Three. Three. Three. 11. 11. Nine. That's just right. Squish, squish, squish. I roll both my ankles. Ow! Yeah, I for sure. Oh no. Farmer, the grad student, and the dead lady all eat shit.

Five points of bludgeoning damage as the three of you land onto uneven ground and sprain your ankles a little bit in the process. But you all are now at the bottom of the canyon. As soon as you all land, your spectral guide immediately gets back up, turns around and starts marching along what would have been the right-hand side

in the northeastern direction along the canyon. Right. Right up there. In the bottom. I know. No, Cher, don't! No, Cher! But following this, a lot of the ground around the river, and in some areas where it gets a bit thinner in places,

it's quite a bit of mud, quite a bit of thick, almost clay-like material that you walk across, your boots get quite a bit of mud, quite a bit of thick, almost clay-like material. You walk across, your boots get stuck a bit and you have to pull your boots out of it. You can see there's sections of the stone and rock walls where singular trees have sprouted and grown over time and sit isolated amongst the rock surface. You can see all manner of small bushes

and almost like bog plants that have taken root here in the more moist-held portion of this canyon. Who is leading this trek? I have two rolled angles, so probably me. I guess I can lead because I'm a good climber from Mountain Stack. Okay, yeah. This terrain is not unfamiliar to you.

It's fine. I might also use the Wake Up Call of rolling both my ankles to cast False Life on myself. Yes, you may. Get some temp HP. Go for it. You have some mage armor or some stuff like that. I did put mage armor on myself and on the bird. You got it. On the bird.

Who I'm walking with who is my height right now. Doing the dance that Pâté did on the thing. Just like. They're both three feet tall. She's taking a right-hand over him. I love that dance. Continuing along, you can eventually begin to hear the sound of heavier rushing water.

As you curve around a bend, close to where you saw that brief little spot of blue color in the distance, there's a massive waterfall that is just cascading down the southern side of this canyon, and where it hits the ground and spreads out into a small pool, and it continues to flow into that river,

which actually divides in two directions. It's almost carved in two different paths and is going into both sides of the canyon where it sets, or at least it's merging with perhaps another source of water even further beyond that you have not yet seen. But you can see the water continues past the waterfall in the direction you're traveling. It has this massive moss-covered hill

that settled at the base of it. You can just see a little bit across the side of the canyon and a little further beyond it, almost like an oasis patch of extremely vibrant blue bushes. I have Breath of the Wildbrain. extremely vibrant blue bushes. I have Breath of the Wild Brain. Can I send Denios to see if there's anything hidden

behind the waterfall? No, this is a rule you always have to check behind the waterfall. It's a law. Denios. Yes? You ready to get wet? I'm a book, that's the entire opposite of what I want at all times. What's wrong with you? No, I don't want to get wet? I'm a book. That's the entire opposite of what I want at all times. What's wrong with you?

No, I don't want to get wet. Come on out. Take a spectral form and just hug it. No! How do you not do that all the time? I don't know, I guess I'm turning into a jerk. Wait, so you pull him out of the book? Well, it's manifesting it.

Is it like Stefan? Are we looking at Stefan now? No, it's like a spectral form. From Family Matters? You know, like, you got hot? He's been hot the whole time. Daddy! Damn! Oh my god, I thought of Stefan for a long time.

As your tome returns, waterlogged and very unhappy, just gliding through the air with a huff. Have you ever seen a book huff towards you? This is maybe, for most of you, your first time. I regret to inform you that there is nothing behind the waterfall that I could ascertain, and now I am damp, purposelessly. Okay, well, stay out and dry off,

because, you know, it's a nice day. I'm going to, but not because you told me to. Good, I like a little defiance. Mm. Mm. How far away are we from the Vibrant Blue? Probably a good five-minute walk. That's a wet-ass paperback.

Yeah. Do you think that we just walk right towards this? Well, I mean, let's be cautious, but yeah. Avestro! Oh, there we go. Opal behavior right there. Food! What's Jodi Foster doing?

Continuing to walk alongside the stream and the moss-covered hill and the center of the canyon area over towards where you can see the blue growth has now gathered. It's like this large archway. This whole portion of the side of the northern part of the canyon wall is just this vibrant cerulean glow,

almost, with very, very healthy, richly colorful plants. All right, I'm kind of with Bordeaux. Yeah. No, don't. Skip over. Stop. Am I still leading the way, I guess? Can I look at my Whip of Warning? My whip? Yeah.

Anything? Your Whip of Warning. My Whip of Warning. Whip of Warning? Got a Whip of Warning! Whip of Warning. What? Yeah. Does it look, is it warming me up like it does? Or is it lighting up?

Is it warning me of anything? There is a faint warmth to its touch. Uh-oh. All right, just keep quiet. Nobody responds when I yell. No response, no. Keep. What is our cougar's demeanor right now? Is it on guard? Is it alarmed?

No, she's walking. Okay. Keep an eye behind us. I'm just going to keep looking around. This is definitely, we're walking towards it. My hand on my whip. You can see there's the blue bushes beyond. There's that muddy hill that sits next to the water,

has a patch of very vibrant purple and red flowers that sit on its apex by the water. You can see there's, to the left, on the cliff face, there's a heavy crack in the side of the mountain where it looks like a part of the stone is either crumbled at one point and left a pile of rock and dust on the ground. And there's just a beautiful, clear water that fills that portion of the river that flows through

and creates that small little pool basin. Can I do an investigation check to see if this is all an illusion? Yes, you may. Oh shit. This is definitely making me anxious. Dirty 20. Dirty 20.

There's nothing illusory of the immediate surroundings, which brings you comfort. Something about the hill feels off. The exterior of it shimmers slightly. I point that out to everyone. The hill with the purple and red flower on it? Petty. Justin. What's up? Fly into that shimmery hill.

It's like a fucking... It's not really shimmering, it's just sort of a hill. No, it's just, can you not see it? It's got a little bit of a glitter. I can't see it. Like, do I vomit? I don't have eyes. Oh shit, I've caught you two in a pie.

You can use your turn to see through him. I can. I mean, I can still see, it's a pot of magic. I'm just pointing out a very specific thing. But yeah, I'll go check it out. Go flying into the wall, yeah. Takes off over the hill. I swear to that guy, he does a bit

every time I don't trust him. Lands on the hill. Can he go through it? Try and go in it. Go in the side of the hill. I'm first! Yes. Like, goes and glides to the flowers

and drifts through the flowers. Pick one, pick one. Through the wall, Pate. Pick one and then put it behind Mother Seer. Tries to grab a flower. I can't grab it, it's not really there. Oh, all right, all right. But can you go into behind the bush,

like through the wall? What, through the wall? Yes, that's why I've said that three times. And you're gliding it to the crack in the wall, the bush? Yes. He goes ahead and glides over. You're looking through his eyes? Yes. Okay.

As you focus in and you get closer to that section where the cavern rolls around, the cluster of the arch you can see, there is a cavern entrance. There is an opening that leads deep into the rock beneath and through the north side of the canyon. Getting in a quick glance, you can see, too, where it is, it's a natural opening,

but it looks like it's been shaped, either carved, chiseled, or magically shaped to have a more continuous and... What's the word I'm looking for? Cylindrical? Half circle? Intentional? Symmetrical.

That's what I'm trying to say. Symmetrical opening, where you can see that there are small grooves intentionally written into the exterior of it, almost like there's some sort of a statement, language or writing. What language is it? Read it, read it. Well, the only one that's nearby is Pate,

so it would be. Can I recognize it? Yeah, the language? What languages do you know? I know Common, Shadowcant, and Undercommon. You cannot read this. All right. Can I recognize the origin, even though I can't read it? Does it look dwarvish? Does it look...

Make an arcana check. Primordial. Yeah. 21. Primordial. Primordial. You recognize this one. Which he does. All right.

Maybe you could try to read it down? Because you can see it, right? Maybe you can, I put a pen and paper in your hand. Or we could just walk right over there. Well, I figured we could just walk over there and look at it. But it might say, like, be careful. Don't step on the flowers.

Not my azaleas. To have that sign after you've already stepped on the flowers, it might be like, don't go inside here, because that's a bad idea. Can I do that? Am I able to try and copy it onto the paper? Is that doable? It says, while you die, talk about it.

You can certainly try, looking through the vision of your... Yeah. Make a dexterity check for me. I'm so excited. All right, this might be bad, I don't know, but we're going to try. Oh, I really hope it is. Just a straight dex roll.

Mm-hmm. I don't think it's going to work. Eight. Eight. That's not primordial. It's like the chicken scratch sleep sketching of someone trying to write down a dream they just had in Primordial.

Then you wake up and look at it like, this doesn't make any sense to me. It's like, yeah. You get to roar, shag up a cell. Grilled cheese. All right, I tried. We might just have to go up there. Yeah, yeah, we tried.

Okay. Your whip is burning in your grasp. It's really, really warm on your hip. Fuck. Denise. All right, well, listen. My whip is telling me. You stressed? No!

What's it telling you? It's just telling me that it's maybe dangers around here. Your nails are amazing. Thank you. I know, I've seen them the first time. Thank you very much. Okay, so I have a special thing here. Oh, wait!

Fucking Pirates of the Caribbean. It's just a joke. Oh! Lemonade, baby. Blow charts out. Hold on, I have... I noticed the blow chart. Well, oh, two-story work.

Can I climb up fast? If you want to, what are you trying to climb? Just because I'm a little confused here. So Pate went through, go ahead. So there's the canyon, right? Where there's the river that goes through and the waterfall that's coming down. There is the hill with the flowers on it

that's sitting next to the water in the center. Beyond that, there's the big crack in the other side, the north side of the hill. And then just beyond that, all of that, there's the big crack in the other side, the north side of the hill. And then just beyond that, all of that, just as the chasm curves out of the way, you can see the mass of blue plant life that has encapsulated what you cannot see from your perspective, but have been told

there is a cavernous entrance into the side of the canyon. I mean, maybe we avoid the hill, but go into the cavernous entrance that's with the blue flora. We were supposed to look for blue flora. That was the vibe. Maybe we avoid the hill, but go into the cavernous entrance that's with the blue flora. We were supposed to look for blue flora. That was the vibe. That was supposed to look good.

I definitely am like, maybe we're currently surrounded. I see. Well, if we're surrounded, we're already fucked. What's our cougar's temperament? It's just walking over towards where the blue. Okay, I'm walking behind the cougar. Yeah, I guess we can try and follow

the steps of the cougar, maybe. With eyes peeled, is it even worth trying to stealth this, or is it? Could try. You're going to try and group stealth? Pass without a trace. All right, everyone go ahead and make a stealth check. Make a stealth check, add 10.

Okay, gorgeous. Ooh! 27. 24. Add 10 to this number? Add 10. 27. Plus your stealth number. 31.

Ooh, 28. 29. 26. Hold on. Oh, wait a minute! What did I say? I was 27? I'm 38! Wow. Stealthiest bitch you know.

There you go. Welcome to that cluster. All righty. So, as you carefully maneuver quietly across the rock and shale and mud, you follow not directly the path of your spirit guide, necessarily, but the path that is driest and less likely to make sound. Following in single file, you do so,

almost catching one stumble into the nearby clay, but riding yourself as you do. As you begin to pass by the hill, you can hear, you especially, a low breathing, a long, drawn out, MATT and LAURA, in the background, Does it sound large? It's not a play hill. It's a out. Does it sound large? It's not a hill.

It's the Bloody Hill. The hill with the flowers on it. You can just barely see the hill shifting slightly. The hill is breathing. The hill appears to be breathing. The hill is not. This is the hill before we get to- This is where the flowers weren't real. Yes, where the flowers

aren't real. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. He couldn't have told us that the fucking hill was breathing? Hey. Okay, but now that we're passing by, can we try to read the primordial? Yeah, are we going to lose enough yet?

You pass by the hill unnoticed. Whatever it might have been, whatever the circumstance may be, it did not notice you passing by. Because you rolled really fucking high. Dumbass, hell. Let's get to the good shit inside. What's the?

Encounter that will never be seen. What's the? Aw! Wait, let's go back! Let's go back! Hell! No, no. Fuck you, hell! No, no. It's fun, I like it.

It'll go poorly when we try and leave. Yeah. But passing that, traversing that portion, you eventually come upon the vibrant, blue growth oasis here, and it just surrounds a massive wreath, this whole side. You can see now, within the rock, as you approach, too,

what you thought were glimmers of additional plants or bits of reflective water catching the sunlight. There are little cracks in the side of the mountain around this that have bits of crystal emerging. Like natural crystal has slowly burrowed its way through, or parts of the rock has cracked and fallen and exposed, crystal relying underneath, but there are these little veins of natural semi-opaque crystal.

What color are the crystals? Make a perception check. 15, 16. They appear to be prismatic. Prismatic. Did you do this? Did I? But you, but I. But I!

It could all be just a clear... Trick of the light. Like a trick of the light, or it could be that there are some that are red. Some that are red. There's elemental energies. There's fire and cold and acid, do you think? If this is primordial, it could be these have those elemental energies in them.

Let me read the label. Yeah. Read the label. As you approach the archway, being the one that can read primordial, the script reads, Within the Verdant Tomb, we keep her spirit enduring. There.

Are we still in view of the hill we snuck by? Or have we moved within? You're still within view. Okay. Orym's going to fade back in the group and stare at the hill. Since Orym heard a deep rumble, I'm just going to watch it for as long as possible

and see if I can figure out what the hell I heard, see if the hill shifts in any kind of discernible, living way. It was within the view of the hill we keep her tomb alive. Verident? Within the Verident Tomb. Within the Verident Tomb, we keep her.

Keep her spirit enduring. Verident is green, yeah. Okay. Healthy green. Healthy green, yeah. Are any of the crystals loose? You can go check it out if you'd like. I'd like to. Okay, you walk up to the nearest one.

It's a little ways off to the side. You can see there's growth around it. And a lot of these crystals have the blue plants growing vibrantly around them. And so you go up to it and one. It's a little ways off to the side. You can see there's growth around it. A lot of these crystals have the blue plants growing vibrantly around them. So you go up to it and you feel, and it's not loose, it's embedded strongly. Could I try and use my dagger to wedge one out? Sure, go ahead and make a strength check for me,

if you don't mind. I'm going to call Landseam same feeling. Wow. Ooh, it's a 20! Oh! Whoa, look at that! Because my strength is a zero. Fantastic. So indeed, you get your dagger there

and find a portion of the nearest crystal that looks like it either has sustained a little bit of damage from the elements or it's just the exact right wedge spot to get the dagger and a big chunk of damage from the elements, or it's just the exact right wedge spot to get the dagger and a big chunk of it cracks. It hits the ground and falls next to you. It is a beautiful, semi-opaque crystal

that has some areas that are imperfect, some areas that are perfectly clear, and it creates these refractions in it. As you look at it and pick it up and hold the light, indeed, it has a prismatic feel where the light comes through and seems to separate into different colors and different angles.

As you shift and move it in your grasp, too, the colors seem to almost change from different facets. Cool. Maybe you should cast a spell through it. Should we put it, can I see that for a second? Yeah. Am I getting anything for a second? Yeah. Hmm. Am I getting anything off of it?

I don't know, I'm looking into it, just seeing if there's anything. I don't know, I'm getting a... It's not deja vu, I'm definitely... I don't think I've ever been in a crystal cavern before. No, not necessarily. If you want to make an arcana or history check, if you'd like. Arcana. Arcana check, why not?

Nope. Not ringing the bell for you, necessarily. Odd. Do you mind if I just do something weird? Always. Can I just hold it to my hand and then cast Ray of Frost? Sure.

Into it, just to see if it's an elemental refractor or something? Sure, yeah. But I'm doing it just so, it's going to be so quiet, because I'm holding it to the ground, like the thing's here, so it's like the spell's going to be so quiet because I'm holding it to the ground, like the thing's here, so it's like the spell's going like. The idea of you smothering a spell is really.

Yeah. Perfect. Just a little queef, just. Matthew is so quiet. Oh, wait, you said cold. It's a shiver and queef. It is a shiver and queef. The fuck is it? There it is.

Long story. It's not one of my finest moments forever emblazoned on the internet. It was quiver and shift was what I was trying to say. I was trying to say quiver and shift, and it came out shiver and queef. That's okay. Nevertheless, as you- It broke us for a long time.

You can still make an eloquent mistake. Yeah. Thank you. There's always poetry. You tried to write one poem and you said another. I did, I did. Poem to limerick, it's a fine line. As you concentrate and force the cantrip into the cluster of imperfect crystal, it...

Children. Children. I'm fine. Children? Please. Oh, help. Children? Please! Oh, help. What? Sorry. I just, I'm in a movie.

A little sorry, but I am sorry. It's okay. Do I need to name knowledge? You push your ray of frost into the crystal and where it impacts. What? Sorry. I just.

Boy, here we are. Boy. Can you roll initiative? I will teach you! We've lost Leomord. To mock me? No. Lost, but we've lost.

The Ray of Frost, which has a specific amount of force and intensity to it, gathers within the crystal, and then there's a brief moment before it refracts out, almost like the force of it has been divided into nine separate smaller rays that all of a sudden fire out at different angles. I need to...

Fuck. You always got to be breaking my shit. Here we go. Does it matter to fire? I need... Who? I'll ask you honestly. Who here would be standing within about 30 or so? What's the range on the spell?

Is it 60 feet? The spell of Ravenfrost is 60 feet. Oh, fuck. So all of us. That's all of you. I'd like everybody to make a dexterity saving throw. But remember how quiet it was, though. It was very quiet. So what is this?

So I just have to go, what is this number? You also might have a dexterity. You might have a dexterity. Nice. You have danger sense. Oh, right. 21, so it's an advantage roll. What? You got a one? No, 21. 21, great, okay.

C, not 20. Dang. I can see this. Not 20, not 20, 21. 17. 17. 18. 18. All right. All of you just duck out of the way, and it doesn't strike any of you,

but a series of the points where it impacts on the rock nearby, you can see little clusters of ice that builds up where it is. Looking at it, these rays are nowhere near as strong as a singular cantrip, but it did seem to take the energy you put into it and then scatter it and disperse it in multiple directions. Wow. I want one.

This seems like a really important artifact. I want one. That's cool. Put it in my pocket. Cool. I definitely want one. Also, I'm really sorry for putting you guys in danger's way with that. I was really trying to be quiet. Well, here's a question. That was awesome. That was really cool.

If we get a bigger one, will it be more powerful? Or a bigger spell. I think if you put a bigger spell in it, it could almost amplify the number of people that it hit. Maybe it was just divided in one. Because imagine if you're in the middle of the city. What is that? The wind cougar that has been guiding you.

Oh. Walk is? Felicity Huffman, all right. Felicity Huffman. Huffman. There you go. Felicity Huffman. Huffman. Huffman. There you go. Huffman. The spirit enters the cavern

about 10 or so feet before it stops and turns around, looking at the rest of you, then bows its head and disappears. Oh, are you done? And the wind form dissipates and scatters. We win! Bye, J-s. We win! Bye, J-Lo.

Thank you for your service. Bye, J-Lo and Hustlers. Get them all out. Get them all out, get them all out. Having completed its task, it returns to wherever the elements carry it. Did I perceive anything about the hill before we all dodge the Shivering Queef?

Roll a perception check for me. Just gotten it out of my system. Oh, I roll low. It's a 20. It's a 20? Okay. Low. You swear at one moment, you watch the entire hill shift about a foot in one direction. You saw a couple things splash in the edge of the water.

Hmm. So I definitely get the sense that the hill is something. I feel like you should take some of this, right? Because you could throw it into the middle of a battle and then shoot just one Eldritch Blast and it would refract to a bunch of people. I love that idea. Are there any more crystals that seem loose,

like on the floor? Loose? No. There's the one that Bordor has, but you'd have to try and remove any others that may be present. How big is the one that I have? It's about maybe the size of a golf ball. Would you want to try and dislodge another one? I could, or we could just break this one, right?

No, no, no, that works perfect. And it refracts light, you said? Colors as it spins? Yeah, just in the light, you can see it. It creates almost a technicolor disco ball. If we see any reasonable-looking ones, let's just, we'll take an ax. I got an ax, I got my stonecutter's tools.

Oh, you have stonecutter's tools. Oh yeah, got it all. But I don't know if we should be stealing from this fucking place,ter's tools. Oh, you have stonecutter's tools. Oh yeah, got it all. But I don't know if we should be stealing from this fucking place, that's all. I mean, it's a mine. Is it really? Well, that's fair. On the way out, maybe. On the way out. Within the verdant tomb,

we keep our spirit in glory. But aren't we going in to teleport to another place? Yeah, we'll have time to, you know, we don't know what we're here to see. Find the Hierophant and, right? That's the term, right? How do we find the Hierophant? We don't know.

Down. Hierophant of the Inward Tree. Emerald, no? Emerald Tree. Emerald? Yes. But the Eidolon delivered us and just said it's Oh wait, there's a shrine in the rock we have to find, right?

Or is this the shrine in the rock? This is the shrine. This is the shrine. You all want to steal fucking shit from a shrine? Shrine! Too late. It wouldn't be the first time. Are we at a dead end or does it continue on? No, the cavern continues inward. You're all standing at essentially the entry.

I think we should keep going in. And I have darkvision. All right, what is the marching order here, if you don't want me to ask? Ooh, the marching order. What's that? You want light? I would love to be in the middle.

I do have light. I'll go first. You're trying to do caverns and that, right? Oh, are you sure? I have darkvision. I think I'm okay. Look, our little friends are here. Gordor said he wants to go first.

Okay. Let him go first. Well, I think the darkvision dwarf should be. I'm tired of going in the back. I also have to go first. Okay. Let him go first. I think the dark fish should be. I'm tired of Gordon and the guy. I also have light to provide. Okay. Yeah, sure, you can go first. I'll go second.

Yeah, go right behind. Can I just put my hands in front of Gordor? I'll be last, that way you've got some, we can put you in the middle of the, let's break it up. Doesn't have to be single file, either. Paperclip, paperclip and. You can go shoulder to shoulder.

I'll listen. Yeah. I'll listen hard. I'll go shoulder to shoulder with Fjordor. Okay. I'll go shoulder to shoulder with Orym. Shurder, shurder, shurder. I'll walk beneath Ashton. You're going shoulder to shoulder with Orym, you said?

Shurder, shurder. No, that's Fjordor. Shoulder to shoulder. Shoulder to shoulder. Step by step. That's like Captain Marvel. Sure. So.

Where am I? I should be in the middle. Yeah. I'm so big. Yeah, you should be in the middle. You should be a little purple. I know that Denise can see well on here. I can see okay because of the light the prism's casting, so I'm just going to be listening hard for problems.

You got it. Do we see anything? Oh, right, we should look. We're also still under, like, that stealth is an hour, so we should still be fine. Indeed. So no more than 30 feet or so within this dark cavern interior,

as your light fills the space, the width of this tunnel opens up from the 10, 15-foot wide entry arch that you step through to a 40-foot wide central chamber that has branching tunnels and alcoves that reveal themselves as the light catches them. You can see there are signs of living quarters for one or more individuals. There's wooden furniture and stump stools that are set up into spaces that have been carved into organic shapes. There are hemp rope lines that are run across the interior

of these chambers that hang tools and decor, some that looks handmade, some that was procured from finer distant locales that almost stand out as unique against this somewhat homey and natural living. unique against this somewhat homey and natural living. But it looks like this is a center of a small community or is built to sustain and host

a number of individuals, at least. Signs of any life? You don't see any signs of life, necessarily. You do see there are beautiful exposed geodes of multicolored crystal that emerge from breaks in the Cold Stone, just like they did in the exterior. These veins run throughout all aspects of the rock.

And as your light catches it once again, gives this beautiful, almost interior disco light feel to the chamber as you move through. You sure you don't want to break one off? No. Just a quick chisel? No. Belongs to them. Just to follow up on Ashton's question, everything looks relatively tidy.

There's no half-eaten plate of food that is just left. No Krokodil. No Krokodil. Ooh, ooh! 12. Can't see any here. Little two twos. Yeah. ooh! 12. Can't see any here. Little two twos. Yeah.

It's tough. The only thing you do see that's any sort of sign is you do see two stone fire pits that sit towards the front and then towards the back of this common area. They are blackened with soot and signs of old fire, but you're uncertain how long it's been since they've been let or used.

Any odor? the, any smell? Any smell in here? Make a perception check for me. 16 plus, wait for it, 18. 18, okay. Smelling around, you smell very mineral-heavy interior, bits of old smoke

that just sits within the chamber. Nothing terribly recent, but definitely it feels like there have been fires in here many, many times, and it permeates the atmosphere and the proximity of these fire pits. As a dwarf, do I sense that other dwarves live here? Does it feel dwarven? None of this feels dwarven.

Most of the caverns here are either natural or have been magically carved. Okay. Other than the entryway to these little alcoves and offshoots, which do have a fairly, I would say, circle or oval shape to them that looks intentional, most of the caverns themselves feel natural or natural formed. I see.

And furniture and living spaces have been built into them. But yeah, no signs of people. Maybe we should just write on a piece of paper, I mean, something better than We Come in Peace, because if we are entering a village, maybe sneaking in might be... Why don't we just say hello? Okay, I'm into just saying hello.

So in, what was it, Primordial, right? Yeah. That's the idea? Yeah, do you think? Oh, in Primordial. You could ask J.D.S.? Just in case, so we don't, you know. We haven't seen anybody. I know, that's true, yeah. What if they're watching us?

They're invisible, like... Like I can do? Yeah. So you said there are branching chambers. Indeed, there's a number of ones off to the side. But then is there one, there's a main one? The cavern goes deeper on the far end of it. You can see there's a descending cavern about 15 feet wide from side to side.

Should we dip off into one of these common areas? Well, I just feel like if we're looking for a shrine, but maybe my definition of a shrine is off, but wouldn't it be a place that has something to enshrine? Part of me is wondering if that hill was the Verdant Tomb in which they keep her spirit enduring. I don't know. Well, maybe we should just keep going down.

This is either down or to the left or right in the small little pockets? So there's the main common area here, and now that you go through and count, there are six different alcoves that look to have ropes with curtains that can close them off. If you wanted to, they're left open. You can see there's beds, there's sitting arrangements,

like simple bits of furniture. You can see some's beds, there's sitting arrangements, simple bits of furniture. You can see some simple tables around here. It looks almost like a rugged common area. So the offshoots you're describing are just like it's an irregularly shaped cavern and pockets once we go poking into them. A little monastery bedroom. Yeah. It kind of feels like that.

Let's just keep walking. Yeah, I say we keep walking. I'm just, yeah, there's... Any sound, voices? Chanting, perhaps? Let me bring it into a darker interior vibe. It's probably going to match. I'm just going to, yeah,

I'm not going to go into any of them, but I'm going to poke my head into one, just since we're here. Okay. Just nothing. Are our footsteps? I'm not crossing the threshold or anything. Right.

Glancing inside, you can see the bedding, the quarters in each of these chambers looks untouched, like it's been set and made and has likely been like that for a bit. There aren't signs of it being recently or suddenly messed with. Is there a bit of dust? Like not a thick layer, but a...

Taliesin will run her hand on the wall and see how long has that dust been there. I mean, the wall has quite a bit of dust. Well, maybe one of the furniture. And it's more, I'd say there's dust and soot. Soot. But if you want to roll an investigation check, you can ascertain some more details.

Shunted. Oh, fuck that, too. That's not the craziest theory. Right? Especially because this is clearly a shit. It was a two. Oh, okay. It's trash, sorry. Yeah, no, I mean, there's dust and there's soot.

I hope I didn't say anything. I was just like, no. There you go. You no, I mean, there's dust and there's soot. I hope I didn't say anything. I was just like, no. There you go, you check it and go, Anyway. There's dust and soot. There's dust and there's soot. I'm going to just say it. Hello, is anyone here?

Oh, maybe you should translate. Ashton, do you mind? Honestly, we should keep it down for now. If they see us, they'll let us know. They either already know we're here or we're I don't know, I'm with Bordor. In Primordial, I say, not loudly, but,

hello, if anyone cares, we're fucking here. Hi. I like that tone, that sounded very friendly. No response. Cool. Is it loud? Is it an echo chamber? With enough volume, a bit of an echo begins to pick up, yeah. Let's just keep going deeper. Yeah, I see if we can hit the end of this place.

I'm bad at this, too. I'm going to do a quick check on traps on the cavern going down. I'm not the person to do this, but our normal person is not available. I'm going to do my fucking best. How do you check for traps? Perception. I also have the 60 feet.

Yeah, investigation. Investigation. Investigation is crap. Mine, too. Oh, I have good investigation. You want to help? Yes. All right, I will give you an advantage.

Okay. This is normally what you choose if we're looking for wires, pressure points. Yeah, because I haven't looked for traps before. Okay, I see. Oh, I see. Okay, looking for traps. That is 22.

Yay! 22? Glancing around here, you do not see any signs of any wires or set traps, pressure plates, any hidden glyphs that catch your eye. You do see signs of footprints. Footprints. Footprints. Going down and not up, or going up and not up?

Both. I mean. Shoe and boot? Someone had feet. Bootless. Bootless! boot. Someone had feet. Bootless. Bootless! Bootless humanoid feet. These people are bootless. The 22 investigation. Likely elven or half-elven.

Oh, look at that. This is going to sound creepy, but this is elven or half-elf feet. I just got a foot fetish. Yeah. I don't read into it, but I know for a fact. You've been on wiki feet? Too late. I already know.

Don't read into it. Deep into it. No one can extrapolate anything from this, but I know this. Exactly. Just kind of like, with the wiki feet? Yeah.

Denise got a five out of five on wiki feet. Elven. Half elven. Wow. Okay, I say we just follow it, go deeper. Let's follow it. Follow the feet. So now in Elvish, then. Elven. Elvin?

Elvish is the language, though? I'm going to say, Hello, I'm here with my friends. I'm one of you. We mean you no harm. Have a good day. It echoes through the chamber, both beyond and back. I think it will help, too,

if you say the street you were born on. The street that I was born on? Yeah, go ahead, say it real quick. I'm from the Sirius Mountains. Yeah, but what street? What street? It's a mountain. But what street in the mountain?

What are you talking about? What's the mailing code? What? What's your brother's name? Jesper. Jesper. Okay. I yell into it.

I'm from the Sirius Mountains, the third dirt road next to the pine tree. No idea. Are there pine trees in Sirius Mountains? Yeah. By the third pine tree. No idea. Are there pine trees in Sirius Bones? Sure. Yeah. By the third pine tree. It echoes throughout

until eventually there is silence once more in the cavern. No response. Wiccan feet. The joke was Wiccan feet. Wiccan feet. Wiccan feet. How much further this cavern goes. Yeah, let's keep descending. Okay.

We'll pick up that thread a little later. I thought it was a good idea. I thought it was good. I thought you did the- You probably scared him off talking about streets. What are the coordinates? The cavern descends ever so slightly. The moisture on the interior of the walls

giving a glistening texture, occasionally broken by the crystals that push through. Along this way, you can see now, there are almost like flower boxes built into the sides of the walkway that you go through. And within them, there is soil and there are vibrant blue plants, so fusing the space within.

That's good, We like that. See? Plants that grow that. Some of the same sort of fauna that we saw outside. Indeed. And you can see now, within this area, there are almost bands of metal that are pressed now into the stone cavern itself

within Tent, and within them, you can see it's partially support and also partially decor. There is a faint light that is now beginning to kind of lowly light the descent below where you can see the floor begins to open up and the ceiling begins to widen out into a further interior chamber. Oh boy.

Let's keep going. Yeah, I say just keep Oh boy. Let's keep going. Yeah, I say just keep going. Yeah, just keep going. Keep moving. My eyes are healed. Okay. I got a bad feeling. We could all do back-to-back. How's your whip?

How's my whip? It's a little warm to your touch. Well, she's warm. As you all begin to step down, that faint green light that fills the space becomes brighter and brighter. Eventually, the ceiling begins to level out and you can see there is a beautiful,

majestic chamber before you, where a central platform climbs in natural steps a beautiful, majestic chamber before you, where a central platform climbs in natural steps of mineral and rock shaped over eons of a faint sound of water that is running down the walls from above. You can see they're reflecting light from a multitude of crystals

that now fill the walls of this chamber. Some of them clear, some of them clouded, and you can see the lines of water that run through in between them that drip, drip, drip, and form this small pool in the center. The apex of this climbing mass of stone steps rises up to what you can see

is a glowing green obelisk, a 12-foot or so monolithic crystal that comes to a pointed apex. And rolled. It is giving off a dull green glow that fills the chamber. It looks like it's shaded or obscured towards its center. Looks smooth, like it's been

either carved or set, or it has formed in a way that gives it a refined or cut aesthetic. that gives it a refined or cut aesthetic. There are markings on the walls that resemble glyphs. Ritual markings, recently set. Drawings and inscriptions across the stone where the crystal isn't occupying. You can see along the center of some of that rising platform,

there are all manner of drawings that you recognize as reminiscent of ritualistic markers. Grooves and shapes and glyphs that are used to channel and power magical energies. This chamber indeed is a shrine, as well as something that has been prepared for some sort of an event, prepared for some sort of magical moment.

You said the obelisk was faded or obscured somehow in the middle? It is glowing, but the deeper you look in towards it, it's just dark, almost like the middle of it, almost like the exterior of it is giving out light, but there's a shadow towards core. I wonder if this is going to be... I mean, I might as well try and cast Identify

on this obelisk. Yeah. I don't know that it will net anything. Any of this primordial or it's all glyph? You don't see any language. These are just runes and glyphs and bits of magical inscription. I'm just feeling like a mirror between

this crystal that disperses magic, and then the idea of dispersing concentrated magic of the gods. This is giving me a, yeah, there's something about, does this have a residuum vibe? Make an arcana check. Because I've seen residuum. You have. It gives you a similar vibe, yeah. 18. Here's a fun arcana check. Because I've seen Residuum. You have. It gives you a similar vibe, yeah.

18. Here's a fun arcana check, here we go. I never even look at this one. 15. 15. It does look very much like Residuum. What is Residuum? Oh yeah. What is that, too? It's a magic amplifier.

Yeah. Whoa. Can I remember this? Was there a copy onto that, though? It looks like residuum on the foot. Well, residuum is processed. Yeah. This looks natural. Would that be something Denise would've traded or stolen? Natural? Oh yeah.

In her day? Oh yeah, well, you may have heard of it. If it came across, it was very small amounts. Okay. It is. This is an enormous amount. Yeah. Yeah. The asshole in the castle said it can be used instead of material components.

Yeah, I do instead of material components. Yeah, I do remember that, yeah. Oh my goodness. I mean, this can't just be for powering a teleportation. This seems to be that we've stumbled on something else. I'm just assuming if this is what they refer to as the Emerald Tree. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Are there any other entrances, exits here,

or is there anyone else present? Make a perception check. Does this feel like a tune? 24. 24. You glance around the walls of the chamber and you see the same ritual markings. You can see candles that have been set up that have since expired the flames

or they've melted entirely, leaving wax drippings down the sides of the walls. You can see bits of herbs and natural offerings that have been arranged and set in specific patterns as part of this setup. You don't see anybody necessarily in the chamber. You're not approaching closely, but looking up at the crystal, that shadowed space in the chamber. You're not approaching closely, but looking up at the crystal,

that shadowed space in the crystal almost looks like an empty space where a body would be or the outline of a person. Or maybe that's our guide. Maybe that's our- And you glance up in the ceiling where you can see the crystals all rising, and amongst the cluster of crystals, you swear you see a face.

What? Right as you meet its eyes, it smiles. Fuck me. That's where we're going to end the episode. No! What? You're joking. Yep.

We'll pick up on you next time. Oh, I fucking knew it. It's still early! It's really not. We've only been playing 25 minutes! Oh no! Bob, Miss Jaeger Pilot is dying from allergies. No! I know.

Oh, buddy. But we shall pick up from there next time. Sorry, guys. We keep her spirit enduring. Yeah. So it feels like she might be in there, whoever she is. And maybe she doesn't even want to be in there.

Bloody fucking magical popsicle in the center of that goddamn room. There's just nothing but residuum. It's a giant battery. It's a giant magic battery. But Hevestro was the keeper of the shrine. We may have been set up. Maybe Hevestro is the one in the ceiling.

Could be. Or it's possible we've been set up. Yeah, that's what I'm starting to think. How did that bedina set us up? Then she all of a sudden was like, That bitch! All of a sudden, she was like, Mm, you can call me Joan.

At the end? What's that about? I don't know, but I slept next to her all night. We could have been so. That's when I immediately mistrust somebody, so they give me their name. Yeah. Call me Joan. Yeah, right.

That was named Joan. Okay, you can call me. You can't, you weirdo. I mistrust her. Matt. Whatever. Yeah, let me figure it out after all these years, Taliesin. After all these years. Oh man, well, we'll pick up from that on the lineage

next time. Possible, we were fucking played. Possible, but we'll find out next time. Thank you all so much for joining us. We love you very much, and is it Thursday yet? No! No, it's not! Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure. To help new listeners discover the show,

please give us a rating and review on whatever podcasting app you're listening on. Until next time, is it Thursday yet?