Dice Shame - 109 | 'Common Ground'

Episode Date: November 11, 2021

The party comes face to face with a group from their past and makes a new friend... Comedy, action and a whole lot of shaming come together in Dice Shame, an Actual Play Podcast of Storm King's Thunder by Wizards of the Coast! Join our GM Jo; her partner Harlan, his brother Alex & their best friends Justin and Rob as they tackle the daunting world of Faerun in this legendary adventure module! Dice Shame is a podcast that welcomes its audience to the gaming table. Like the games they play at home, they try not to take themselves too seriously. The show aims to be entertaining, inclusive, and irreverent, while still taking the rules (somewhat) seriously. Join us every Thursday morning for brand new episodes available on all major platforms including; Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and more! If you haven't checked it out yet... what are you waiting for?!?   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I hate to say it, but you're probably right. What brings you here? Red, he's an anthropologist. I'm an archaeologist. This is important. Speaking of leaving and never coming back. That means that dude had sex. What a great rack on that one. It explodes.

You saw it move, you shot at it. An arrow goes into my stomach. Oh, no! What would I tell, Jack? I'm going to let Red answer that question because he is one of our most proficient liars. That's right. Cool. Welcome back to Dyshame. This is episode 109, Common Ground.

MVP this week is Connor Duffy, who wrote some kind things on Twitter comparing us to some other legendary podcasts. Thanks so much, Connor. Hope you continue to enjoy. Thanks, Connor. If you've been enjoying the show so far, please consider supporting us on Patreon. on. Our reward tiers offer great value for each level of patronage and you'll be an excellent company. And if that's not in your budget right now, go ahead and leave us a review on your podcatcher of choice or tell a friend or just take their phone and subscribe them to our show without their permission. People love it when you do that. Just help us any way you can. All right, shall we do this? Yeah, let's do it.

So I'm going to admit it. I didn't, I wasn't really crazy about. it when Harlan initially showed it to me, but now it's really coming around. I'm coming around on it. It's a TV show. You guys might know it. It's always sunny in Philadelphia. It is always sunny in Philadelphia. Do you guys know it?

Yes. I haven't seen it. I think from the internet, I've picked up something about milk steak, something about that meme with the crazy guy and trying to figure out all this stuff in a closet. it. Yeah. Pepe Sylvia. Maybe, and then I started blasting.

Is that from the show? Oh, it certainly is. Daddy DeVito makes it. So that's the sum total of what I know about this show is the meme stuff. Does it make you feel like you're missing out on something? No, I don't know. I didn't know anything more about it to care. But I'd love to hear what you're clicking with it.

What's making it work for you? Initially, I was like, man, these people are fucking awful. And I don't care about what happens to them because they're so. detestable rude and cruel to each other and then I was like but then but then I don't have to care what happens to these people you can kind of watch them just smoke meth yeah crack they smoke crack cocaine and they do let's take a one episode or two episodes oh well they do it takes the Seinfeld formula and and runs it through a meat grinder to a degree and I mean that in two ways one I think Seinfeld started off as a group of friends

But it quickly, and part of the reason I think it became so popular is because they're not really good people, the Seinfeld cast. They're all shitty. But they do it sort of in a way that still makes them good people. You're kind of like, oh, they're charming and da-da-da-da. And sort of the concept with It's Always Sunny is it's like Seinfeld, except with no redeeming qualities. They're all the Rorschach. They're all the terrible, terrible type of person. And even the people who you think are the good people in the show,

like Charlie, there's a few moments where you're like, oh, Charlie's got a good heart. Nah, he's the worst. Like, he's terrible. They're all terrible. He drinks a lot of paint. Oh, no. It's so wonderful to see a show that counters all of the obvious tropes that we have become so familiar with.

You know what I mean? Like, every episode on some family show you watch right now or whatever, whether it be like a modern family or this is us or whatever, They all have like similar things, you know. There's always going to be like an A plot and a B plot and tender moments. The happy resolution. Joe, was there? I just like that they just just don't learn from any of their mistakes ever.

Was there a moment that really changed your opinion on it? Or was it more like this thing that these shoes got worn in and suddenly they were comfortable after like painfully grinding to a point where you're... That's a good question. I like that way you put that on. Honestly, it was the... It's always sunny in Philadelphia drinking game that Harlan and I play. Oh, yeah, that's right. Harlan and I rarely drink, but I don't even remember what the whole, like...

Because you were too drunk after? No, no, no, no, no. You weren't really digging it. You were kind of like... I wasn't digging it. And you know what? You had just brought home some new beers from Chronicle and... Shut out.

Shout out to Chronicle. And you were like, hey, I want to watch some... It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Usually I'm like, cool, I'm going to go upstairs and whatever. Do some yogurt. It's fucking whatever else. Do you some yoga? And then, yeah, sometimes.

I think he said, do some yogurt. Alex, have you seen it? Yeah, I don't recall any specifics about it. Yeah, that's fair. Justin, have you seen it? I feel like you've seen it. Yeah, oh yeah, I've seen some episodes. I've got season seven randomly.

The DVD for season seven. The seven's a good season seven. I love a random season. Season four is the best season, though. If you only had to own one season, Rob, go out and buy season four. You know what's funny, actually? that comment that you just made her on when people say, oh, you have to

why, if you're going to watch this, you have to go and watch season two, or you have to go and watch season four. Like, the fact that you remember a specific season of a show is impressive. Because, like, for me, I'm like, I don't remember. Same. I don't remember shit. I'm like, there was

a good episode where they poop the bed. Alex is not a discerning customer. That's true. That's fine, though. I like an unsnobby viewer. Like, hopefully, everyone who listens to Dyshame isn't going to be like, oh, episodes 45 through 90 are the worst, and you have to listen up to episode 200 really good.

You're like an Alex listener. Does Dyshame have seasons? Like, do you, if you, are there story breaks where you're like, oh, that's where if this was TV, that would be the end of break one? Like, if you look back over the 100 episodes. Yeah. I think so, yeah. 100%.

Where do you see the, like, nodes in that way? Nightstone to Waterdeep. Yeah. Waterdeep to Grudhog. Yeah. Grudhog to Icewind Dale. Icewindale to Jallanthar. I see it more in terms of characters,

sort of till the first time we got to Waterdeep, and then the era of reconciliation. We ran out of budget, and so B and Oren had to go off the show. Yeah. Well, what scenes do you see as a season end? As a season end? Yeah.

The wedding in Shadow Top Cathedral is a season ending. I don't know. That to me seems like a Christmas special. Oh, does it? I mean, definitely Gred Hogg feels like that's a season finale. Right, like the win at Gred Hogg? I definitely buy that. Big W.

Have we done any other giant strongholds? Nope. He's the only one. You guys are right now traveling around getting the giant. Yeah. I feel like the Oracle is one. I don't know, but there's good bad seasons with everything. We were watching Bob's Burgers for a while, and honestly, I find it's just kind of gone downhill.

Agree. It's not a bad show. I still enjoy it, but it's just not really the same. It's like Simpsons. I mean, anyone who says Simpsons hasn't gone downhill does not watch the show. Oh, it hasn't gone downhill. Okay. I don't watch the show.

I think people can have whatever opinions they would like. Of course. You can say Simpsons is a commentary on gun control, but it doesn't mean it's right. For anything that's an institution, it's certainly not a monolith, right? I don't know. Absolutely. Because it's been, it's, isn't like 25 years or something? More than that.

Oh, yeah, it's so long. Well, where were you 33 years ago? I bet it's a different place than today. was one years old. We'll be doing this for 33 years. Yeah, we'll be doing it. We'll be playing Dice Shame. 1989 is when it started.

In 30 years, we'll be in our 60s. Jesus. Yeah, man. We're going to play old people D&D. That's scary. Come on that'll be middle-aged D&D. It's going to be D&D 7th edition. Actually, funnily enough, it's always Sunny in Philadelphia is the longest running live-action

comedy series ever. Live action comedy series. comedy series. It just, it, like, just surpassed, like, Bob Newhart or something. They're on season 15. 2005, yeah, that's... Anyways, so... Shall we play some D&D? We should play some D&D, guys. Let's play some D&D. Let's play some freaking D&D. Let's play some freaking D&D. All right, guys, you're on your way to the Great Worm Cavern. It's the 16 of Nightall, and you've made your way to the northeast end of the Valley of Kedroon. Deep in the spine of the world, you come to the spot marked on the map that Harshnegg gave you.

There's a rocky crevasse, thickly coated in ice, that conceals a cave opening. In fact, it takes you some time to locate it from the air, finally discerning some faint foot trails in the snow leading to its inkness. I think I see it down there, Red says, as he's like creeding over the bow of the ship, just looking down his eagle eye able to spot. the trail. He turns back to Jack, who's just standing without a coat.

How are you not cold? I know, your little warm ruin. What do you think, Jack, should we maybe do what we've been doing before? We'll go down via ladder and maybe have the thing go off a little bit. I mean, if anything, it could be kind of chaotic out down there, if their chieftain was the one we encountered at the Oracle. Right. You know, if that white dragon was a pet or a totem or something associated with them,

and that also hasn't returned in a while. Who knows what we're going to encounter when we get down there? We don't know what kind of people they are. It was a small band of them that had come to where we were, and it was a fair distance away. Why don't we head down, do sneaky-like, and do a little bit of scouting, and see what we can figure out before we make any brash decisions.

Regardless, I do think we should have the ship a little bit out of sight so that they don't think we're trying to do anything violent or dangerous. Yep, for sure. Hey, and we could always send your... a dog curing up and you can determine somebody. Yeah, Kieran's so adorable. Who's ever going to be mean to Kieran and gives him a... Yeah, I prefer cats. You know if they're going to attack a dog. Make sure his hat's on

properly and his little booties are ready for the snow and the most adorable golden retriever familiar is ready to go. All right. Well, let's do this thing. Red walks over to the railing, hops over to the unfurled ladder and slides down towards the ground. Thick ice hangs above the entrance to the cavern, forming icicles that stretch from floor to ceiling, and past the ice pillars, the dark mouth of the cave yawns before you. There are traces here and there on the

ground around the entrance that betrays the passage of groups of people, a little discoloration in the ice, a couple of thawed and re-frozen heel prints, a discarded piece of animal bone. And from deep within the cave, you hear the echoy sound of a baby crying. Clearly, the cave is occupied. Oh, hold on, guys. Lay back for a second. Red walks up to where the tracks start to enter the cave, and he puts his head to the ground. And I'm going to use my primeval awareness to sense roughly how many humanoids are within a five-mile radius. But more specifically, what I want to know is the tracks in and out, I can tell exactly how many of my favorite enemy has come in and out. And what I want to know is if they have patrols, if they are kind of rooting in there, you know,

are they hunkering down from a storm, or is this a passageway that's constantly traversed? There's about 70 humanoids in this cavern. Mm. And from your interpretation of the tracks going in and out, this is a frequently used area and has been for quite some time. All right. Red stands up and walks back to Jack and Kralath and Doran. Well, look, it's about 70 people in there. What? Oh, my goodness.

This isn't a off-trived. This is a well-used cavern. This is a place where they live. Hmm. I don't know, Jack. Do you know anything about them? I know the people that we encountered weren't exactly friendly, but I don't know. I feel like there might be a social play here. I'm not looking for violence. There doesn't have to be. I think we need to figure out where the giant relic is. And after that, we need to make a decision on how we extract it. Yeah, but if there's a lot of people around, it makes it really difficult to, you know, walk in and just take whatever we need. well there's also an option here that I don't know if you remember but the tattoo I got allows me to disguise myself

I'm not saying it's the first play out of the book you could make yourself look like a big winter Yeti monster and we could pretend to be defending these people from you let's call that plan F anyway I think we should just go in and talk to them yeah I mean Jack's still kind of marveling at the cave

trying to think about it Yeah, I don't know that I'd feel comfortable, you know, playing the role of the shaman or the chieftain we encountered in there, but it, you know, I'm just not sure that we'd have the context we needed to authentically be that person. But let's go see who's inside. All right, let's see the weapons, Doran. I sort of nod to him as he's holding orcs splitter dripping with blood. Yeah, yeah, no, let's approach unthreatening. And remember, close to the chest. I don't know what that means.

And Red stops a few steps. He turns out, let's not tell them why we're here just yet. Unless it seems naturally logical to tell them what we want, let's just keep our mouths shut. It doesn't mean we lie to them. It's a lie of omission. We just tell them what we need to tell them. I'll let you talk because I tend to say too much.

Lead the way, Red. All right, let's go. On entering the cave, you see that the floor, walls, and ceiling are all glazed with thick ice. An arrow goes into my stomach. Oh, no, who is with a bad idea, run! Red bleeds out. Party wipe. Door and falls from the edge of the cliff.

Let's go to back one last save point, and we can try it again. Yeah, let's reload. Reload. Reload. You reload? On entering the cave, you see that the floor, walls, and ceiling are all glazed with thick ice that gleams and glitters,

suggesting reflected light from somewhere further inside. Huge icicles hang down from the ceiling, but the tunnel quickly gains in lofty height, opening up to a giant cavern, some 60 feet from where you stand at the cave mouth. As you head inside, you note several features of the cavern. Up the cavern wall, about 70 feet from the ground, a ledge of ice-covered rock overlooks the entrance and encircles the entire cavern. Standing atop these ledges, looking down on the entrance, two stout. statues of some kind stand motionless. And several small caves at the base of the cavern appear to be occupied.

A human in furs walks back and forth in the opening of one such cave, shushing and rocking an infant. Another barbarian at the opposite side of the cavern is bent over, feeding a fire. Other cooking fires and torches provide dim light throughout this living space. This is a very large cavern. We're talking several hundred feet. rising from the back of the cavern into the gloom is a triangular promontory of ice-covered rock

120 feet above the cavern floor at least something large sits on the back wall of the cave at the top of this promontory but it's too far away and high up to make out any detail apart from its shape seemingly a hanging tapestry or decoration of something is anybody looking at us not immediately but you've barely come into the mouth of the cavern at this point.

Okay. I think we'll approach as far as those statues. And then when we can see them, I'll sort of just nudge Jack and sort of point with my chin up there. Yeah. You see the glaze of the ice? I can tell you from living in caverns my whole life that this cave has been occupied for quite some time because you don't get that kind of glaze unless people are living here. And then when he sees the baby with the man with the infant. He says, See that baby? That means that dude had sex. No one gets that kind of baby without having sex.

That's a real sex baby. That's, see that baby meat? That's really delicious good meat. Oh, no. Nope. Jesus Christ, don't learn that from Kremlott. What I was going to say was, oh, this could be very good for us.

Usually there aren't, you know, there aren't babies where there's warriors. This, this could be a no fight situation. No fight zone. But you can kill anything. Shut up. Kill the baby. Shut up.

Not this time. Yeah, Jack's sort of being as reverent as he can. He's very rarely been in like Uthgart tribe spaces that weren't destroyed in some way or another recently or historically. And so to see a space where people are living and making it their home and having families and going about their daily life, Jack's trying to soak in as many of those mundane details as he can about like how these people live. And also looking at these statues to figure out. what their deal is. Did you want to roll perception?

Sure, yeah. Let's see what there is. You're still quite far away, but I can give you some general details. These are outhouses. This is what they poop on. It is a lawn gnome. Yeah, my passive perception is 11, which is better than the 7 I rolled. Yeah, you're not sure.

But as you look up, you see the figures of several people approach the edge and spot you. They shout sharply. from the ledges, indicating that your entrance has been noted. What language are they showing? You don't know. Okay. I hold a hand up high, sort of in a sign of peace. My hands open, not holding a weapon.

Several people look out from the ice caves around the perimeter of the cavern, curious at first and then disappearing. A lone figure remains in the mouth of one of the smaller caves, leaning heavily on a staff. and the warriors standing atop the ledges brandish spears in a threatening manner, but don't attack you. We mean you no harm? Well, Matt, uh, yeah, I'm a dwarf. He's a dwarf. My name is Red.

This is my best friend Doran, the aforementioned dwarf. Yes. My best friend Jack and my best friend Kralov. Hello? The yelling from the warriors atop this ledge increases in intensity. I think I try speaking to them in draconics. because if they're the great worm tribe and they have a penchant for...

Dragon, kill it! Yeah, I'm... Because if they're the great worm tribe and they had a worm, I'm curious if they might speak that. So in draconic, I say we mean you no harm. Interesting. An older man wrapped in furs

comes out of one of the cave entrances that is quite close to where you are standing. and he waves overhead with one of his hands, turns to you, and kind of approaches warily. Kieran, go be adorable. They slaughter the dog as it runs towards them. Kieran runs up towards this elder that is approaching you, does a quick sniff around knee height, and then takes off into the cave that this human came from.

You hear the delighted laughter of several children. Kieran seems to have found his target audience. Just like our listeners. And the older man in very halting Draconic says, Are you friendly? Yes, we are friendly. Do you speak common or is Draconic an easier language for you to understand? Draconic bad, common no.

but wait and he gestures and then he says no arms no arms and I put my bow down by my feet yes that brings a big smile to his face yeah and then I pick the bow up again

but I kind of walk to a corner and I like lean it next to like a wicker basket or something I don't want to put my plus two bow on the ground and I kind of turn to everyone I say everyone put your weapons over here in draconic i i suggest i know magic that could help us understand you would that be okay if i cast that spell he kind of waves at you in a permissive way or in like uh in like uh i don't really

understand what you're trying to tell me but i just wait here a minute i know that waves so much i know that wave so well it's like yeah yeah the old person like anytime you're traveling and you're like can i have this and like uh you're like no now that i said that at that i remember something about the tribes and magic being a bad mix that Jack would have known, but he got really strung up on, but I could understand you, oh, but I didn't cast that spell. Oh, what was I thinking? So he's going to maybe not say that he's a wizard again. Doran, come put your axe over here. Yes, of course. They seem friendly, but he didn't want us to have weapons. And I turned back to the old man, and I say, it makes sense. We're travelers

from around here, and we're wondering if we could stay and speak with you. Are you, you the leader here? No, no leader. Um, is the leader gone? Or are you a tribe that doesn't have a leader? Yeah, he nods at leader gone. Ah, and I sort of give a unsuspecting eyebrow raise towards the others. And I turned back to the men and just say, is he a good leader? It was once a good leader. Oh. His face clouds with frustration at not being able to convert fluently with you and he beckons for you to follow him oh and we follow him he leads you back some 150 feet into the chamber and brings you to the mouth of a cave these caves look like living quarters small family units seem to occupy each one and he gestures for you to follow you

into this cave. It's dimly lit by a small wood fire. And a woman and a man and two children sit there in the darkness looking worried at your entry. The older man says something in a language you don't understand. The woman stands up and she says, I am Kavan in common to you. Hello, Cavan. My name is Red. This is my best friend, Doran, Jack, and Crayloth. Hello. We mean you no harm. Why are you at the Great Worm Tribe Cavern? Well, I go to speak, and Doran takes a half step forward. I'm going to let Red answer that question because he is one of our most proficient liars.

That's right. We are on a journey of sorts. One that was given to a... us from our place of immense power. Each of us adds pieces. Jesus Christ. And you need help? Help me. In a way yes. We are

looking for things that were taken from the giants long ago. She nods. We are on a task to retrieve. What, Alex? I'm just fucking around. Just continues for it. Sounded like a song. These are a song lyrics.

taken from the giants long ago and we're on a task to retrieve Welcome to the Great Worm Cavern The Ardenies This is the worst song I love it It's like creed She says

We have one giant Belonging Yes Is it of extreme significance to your peoples here? She takes you back out to the mouth of this cave and looking out into the larger cavern. She points at the far wall up behind the promontory, at this hanging thing. You're somewhat closer to it now. You can distinguish that it is semi-circular or crescent-shaped and is quite,

large she says there it is there can we go closer if you can she gestures that to get up to this promontory there are these two ramps that lead up to the like 60 or 70 foot ledge and they ascend on like a 45 degree angle and it's just sheer ice oh oh she says this is sacred ground sacred how the The bones of our beloved dead reside atop that ledge. I think this is where Doran probably steps forward too. We understand and respect sacred grounds of all people. And we've seen the destruction that some people have done to sacred grounds, and it's terrible. We don't not want to disrespect you and your people.

Would your ancestors be offended if we were to traverse in their grounds? If you spend time here with us and pray to them and speak with them and they permit you passage, I cannot disagree. I think we'd love to spend a little bit of time. Our friend Jack here is actually a long-time follower of various tribes around here. I'm sure he'd love to have a lot of. of information and I myself would love to see some of those little babies over there actually and maybe take a little tour

if someone could give me a tour and I look to the old man that speaks Draconic and in Draconic I say to him would you give me a tour of your lovely place? He says we walk in halting Draconic and Kavan says

that is Yol Grat he has seen many moons Yorgrat I like him And I turned to the others and I say, that seems fair, right? We hang out here a little bit and get to know them a little bit.

Kralath, you can take care of the praying for all of us, being the religious one. Yeah, I have no reservations. They seem like kind enough people. I think we could make some good friends here. Yeah, Jack's rack in his mind trying to figure out, like, when they say spend some time here and speak with our ancestors, is that a symbolic gesture?

Is that an actual thing that we would need to do? Is there a way to do that that seems obvious? Just trying to put it all in context, but mostly going with the flow, not almost paralyzed with that amount of like, I don't want to destroy the evidence, but actually it's just people living in their house and he's, you know, trying to bridge that gap. If you want to learn more about it or put the pieces together in your mind,

you can roll a religion check. I'd love to. 28. All right. Yeah, you've heard of a ceremony that seems somewhat similar. It would probably have to do with everyone involved, communing with these spirits together over fire and sharing food and then prayer for some time. I take a stab in the dark. Kevin, can we help prepare the food? Is there anything?

I mean, we're able-bodied. We're happy to work. How could you best put us to use? I'm afraid we are all hungry and have been for some time. Oh, that's awful. What's happened? It is a sickness. And you see in the mouths of all of these family caves now, people have come to watch you. Curiosity has overcome fear or trepidation and just blank curiosity on everyone's faces as they watch your strange party converse with their more learned memories. members. Did, did you say, Kavan, that you hunger?

Yes. You're hungry. And Red snaps his head to Jack, and he says, in a hushed voice to everybody, when we went to Marina Sindegathers, how she mentioned something about a hunger taking the north. It was what Renzo was dealing with. This problem doesn't seem like it's just the southern part of the lurk, but I think this might be something greater. Tell me about this sickness. One of our young members had to be chased from this home many days ago as he committed murder. It was with eating.

Ah, he ate them. Yes. You know what, Red? I hate to say it, but you're probably right. Chief Wormblood was unable to eradicate this man. Yes, tell us about your chief. this chief wormblood. Yalgrat here said that

he was once a good man, but he sort of seemed to imply that he wasn't right now. She nods reverentially, yes. Chief Wormblood gained power almost 40 seasons ago. But in the past cycle, he has become abusive

towards the tribes members. He left two 10 day ago, saying, he was searching for lost tribe member. Two went missing, yes, a man and a woman, but they are young people and free. He is not returned. Well, maybe, you know, uh, well, yeah, I'm sure he's fine.

We give a loud wink to the others. As we're talking about this, and are we walking and talking or have we stopped somewhere? Yeah, you do a little walk and talk. They're giving you a mini tour of the place. Kralath, while we're just walking and getting a tour, he's pretty quiet, but there's a look of concern on his face, and he sees red turn and look at him and feels like he's just wearing his heart on his sleeve right now that this is disturbing information, but clearly indicates that he doesn't want to bring it up right now. Red nods. An elderly man leaning generously on a staff stares at you quizzically. As your group makes its way to the back of the cavern, you're able to see his feet.

features more clearly now. His creased face is stern and gentle at the same time, like he's someone used to caring for and disciplining children. He doesn't wear the clothes of a barbarian, favoring instead a long gray cloak. His gnarled fingers bedecked with several rings. He's also wearing earmuffs, and he nods politely at you as you pass by. Oh, I give a little wave.

I kind of deviate from the group and I kind of just go over to that guy. He seems great. Hello. Hello. Oh, do you speak common? I certainly do. Hi, my name is Redd, Red-handed Robin.

Those are my best friends over there, Kralath, that one. Doran, that one, and Jack Page at the end there. But guys, look. And I kind of point, obviously, to this man wearing earmuffs. Hey. We all kind of wave. at the same time. Yeah, Kavan sort of steers the group back

towards this conversation that's happening so that they don't lose red away from the tour. I am Enduzar Thesor. Invoker of the arcane and anthropologist and traveler of the north as of late, though I'm known to my friends as

Andozar, and so you may call me such, what brings you to this doorstep? Andazar, what brings you here? That's so wonderful. We just came down from the spine of the world, and we're actually coming to various barbarian sites to, well, to inspect them, in a way. He laughs. I, for myself, am come from many places in my days. As for days, my life has counted almost 100,000, if you can believe it.

No way. I've been spending some time here with one of the primary colonies of barbarian peoples to learn about them in their culture. It's always been one of my chief pleasures to immerse myself in the biological milieu as opposed to reading about other accounts secondhand. You're like Jack here, and I spin around excitedly almost hitting Jack in the face with my hand trying to point at him. No, no, no. Red, he's an anthropologist. I'm an archaeologist. They're really different fields if you think about it. Like, I understand how you might get confused. He hobbles over to you leaning heavily on the staff and takes you by the shoulder. A fellow academic, what a. A lovely surprise. Oh.

Jack Page. Nice to meet you. Jack Page, you say. From Waterdeep. Ah. House of Wands. Ah, I see. I know it well, yes.

Well. You know Waterdeep. You know the pages. As I have said, I have lived many days. We've been to Water Deep. Doran, we've been to Waterdeep, too. How funny is that? All the way up here.

And here we all are. I mean, I mean, studying these, the sites. of these people have been one of my passions in life. It was sort of before I've been on a quest recently, kind of a side turn for anything. You don't need my whole life story, but... Well, perhaps I do. Maybe later, but you've been living here with them?

Oh, yes, for the past few days. Where's your bed? Just, just down here. Cool, Red skips off. This wonderful family has led me bunk with them, as it were. I think Red just runs into one of those little, like, hovels and starts looking around. You hear his muffled voice from the other room being like, oh, wow, that's so cool.

I wonder if he sleeps here. Is that comfy? He's like, oh, it is comfy. Really, just seeping in the culture gives me an excuse to practice my linguistic skills. Incredible. What language is it there? I haven't had a lot of practice with like the live tongue of these people. You know, have you, you've been able to become fluent?

Semi-fluent, I would say. I wouldn't hazard. a guest to say just how pleasant my intonation is to their ears, but I do my very best. Ataros Gu, Gu, Wanara

Ho, and someone laughs nearby, and he's like, I did my best. You have a nice bed, not much stuff, though, Red says coming back. Very comfy, though. Well, I travel light when I do, though I am getting up in my years. You don't look a day

over... A hundred. He told you how many days he, he told you how many days he was alive. That's why I didn't finish the thought, Jack. For tutus that you should arrive here, I've heard that Chifton can be quite unfriendly with outsiders, and I'm sure his return would see me evicted from my cherished. I'm sure he's not coming back.

Don't worry. In the cavern. Speaking of leaving and never coming back, what happened with this person that, uh, that, that ate someone? Ah, yes. I did hear about that very sad story. The man's name was Ulverd, and he left no shortage of carnage before he was chased out. Yes.

Unfortunately, the people here are not doing well. They are nomadic peoples, as I'm sure you are aware, young Jack. But they have not seen the hunting and foraging parties for some time. The family units stay here, of course, protected by their elders. And he gestures up at the top layer of the cavern where these crypts are. So I gather they've buried their dead up there. I was able to go up myself a couple of days ago. They have to do some ceremony to ask permission.

Mm-hmm. I required quite a bit of assistance to get all the way up there, not wanting to use magic, as you know. you're an archaeologist you say that's right yeah and have you had a chance to visit other spirit bounds or is this your first recently was at shining white of the griffin tribe obviously and prior to that had mostly my studies had had been a little bit a few old giant sites and a handful of smaller tribal barrier mounds in and about the sword coast oh very interesting Pralph, what do you say you and I go hunting? I want to try to get some food for these people and I'm not going to be strong enough to carry it back. Oh, yeah, I'd be happy to join you

and quite frankly, this intellectual talk might be a little over my head, so yeah. You and me both. Jack, Doran, Kralov and I are going to go hunting. We'll see you soon. Oh, yeah, of course. Jack, this will give us a chance to study this stone. Yeah, incredible stuff.

Red and Kralath. out in the cold, but in the sunlight. It's maybe a bit refreshing from the gloom of the cavern. Ah, hopefully we can find something good for these people. They said there's not much around here in terms of meat, but you know me, I have a pretty good ear for these things. Hmm. Well, not in here. Well, maybe some of these trees have some fungus or maybe there are things under the snow that we can... I'm sorry, Red, I'm a little distracted. I, um... Kralath, you hear the footfalls of your captain behind you. He's been close to your side since you left the Cindergather mansion, rarely letting you from his sight. His figure wavers, translucent,

and he just stares at you reproachfully. And Kralov glances back at him and turns back and shakes his head and says to Red, this is important. I don't remember. a lot from Borovia, but all of these happenings, the things we saw in Pella's Want, that centergathers, marinas, now what we're hearing from these people, this is all something that I've experienced before. You've experienced this? This hunger? I remember flashes. There are

certain memories that come back just I can't quite grasp them but I do know Treneros told me a word that resonates in the worst way possible What is it? Have you ever heard of the shadow fell?

The shadow fell? No. No, I haven't. You think that's part of all of this? And Red sort of looks around And I think the woods, despite the day, you know, they have this ominous presence in this area. We know that these cavern people have been dealing with this. That's why the woods are bare from animals and shit.

And maybe red senses that a bit, being so in tune with the, you know, terrain. The two of you are walking through the shelter of this pine grove. Their boughs and trunks growing thickly, perfuming the air with their sap. The soft crush of needles. dampens the crunch from the snow and moving deeper into the forest feels like sinking. It's very quiet. Look, if you

think this shadow fell is behind any of this then you need to tell Jack and we need to figure out if there's a solution. Why have you kept it to yourself? Well, to be honest, I thought that well, I don't know, I guess I really haven't given it much thought.

Look, that's all right. I get it. You're very used to running away from your past and not thinking about the things that might be on your mind. But that's not how we do things now. We've got to tackle this problem, like the awesome fighters that we are. And Red sort of turns to look along the horizon to see if you can't spot an animal.

Roll stealth, both of you. Let's see. Oh, happily. Roll stealth, everybody. No. 23. Four. Oh, no.

Red, you are silent as. a cloud passing over the moon, but Krayla... Kronka, chunker, chunk, chunk, is not so. And as he kicks a pine cone, you see a flash of movement in the near distance. A small herd of deer, maybe 30 feet away from you, dash between the trees, startled at this sound. They scatter. There's five of them headed north, deeper into the woods, and three run headlong east.

With lightning fast precision, red poles and... an arrow from its quiver and fires it at the closest deer. Roll to hit. That would be a 29 to hit. Whoa. Wow. Pretty decent shot. You miss.

It explodes. It's a shower of gore. I'll come a long way from missing a rabbit to hit a tree or whatever it was in episode one. And I think as the arrow sinks into the deer and it falls dead, the arrow hitting exactly its heart. he turns over his shoulder and looks at Kralath

and says we're going to tackle this thing come on let's go bring this to you back Can you make a point of that we do take it apart and butcher it and eat it all and it's not just hunting for the sport of it that's my point? No of course you guys are going to eat it

I think it's crystal clear because these people are starving let's just leave it there Kralath let's go home right I didn't think about that yeah yeah what a great rack on that one This is your personal, these are your morals? Huh?

Is this where Alex shines? It was a very odd request. That's totally off. No, but I'm curious, is that like an Alexism? No. Oh, okay. What? I just think, we'll eat the deer.

Don't worry about it. It's just a very bizarre request. You saw it, move, you shot at it. I don't know. I don't know what you were going to do about it. I just was going to say you should describe that. Kralov is very eager for some venison. Yeah, and I think Red sees that

And he's like, right, but remember, these people are starving, Kraloff, let's get their grumbly tumbley's first, bud. Well, I wish you shot a second one. You find a young buck heaving its last breath into the snow and arrow through its heart. Its legs kick once and then it's still, its eyes already fixed on nothing. There are some other tracks heading northeast.

You know what? This isn't going to be enough for everybody back there. Let's take this one with us, and let's see if we can't find something else. All right. And Red sort of heads towards the tracks. As we're moving along, Kralov has the young buck over his shoulder.

He says, I just wish I remembered things better. I mean, what would I tell, Jack? Just, oh, yeah, there's something called the Shadowfelt. I don't really remember what it is. I used to fight it, but now I don't remember much. You just deal with that. Look, he's knowledgeable.

You tell him exactly what you know. And maybe it'll lead us nowhere. But you know what? Stuff like this, we can't keep secret. Believe me, there's enough secrets between the four of us to keep us all up at night. Red says, as he looks longingly into the cold forest. It's so easy to want to move on, you know, and to find something new and fresh and get away from all that.

But literally, ghosts from my past are following me. Yeah, yeah. We can't run from the past forever. And I'm sure there will be a day when all of our truths shake out. And when that day comes, well, we'll just have to remember how much we care about each other. Not you, Red. You've been honest and open ever since day one. Yeah.

Yeah. I trust you with my life. I know you wouldn't keep anything from me. So I just hope that I can live up to your standard at some point, which isn't easy to do. You know, there's different layers to this stuff. You know, what if someone had information that could tear apart the fabric? of a group. You know, that wouldn't be something

you'd just want to divulge willy-nilly. You'd wait, you'd sit on it like an egg, and you'd wait until the appropriate time that it hatches, and then you would deal with the monstrous chicken that came out. You know, I thought that way, too, but

it was you that showed me that I really didn't have that to worry about. In the end, the thing that I thought was going to tear apart the group actually brought us closer together. It was a good lesson to learn. I appreciate your words of wisdom there.

And I pat red on the back. Yeah, and Red takes it like the pat and with sort of a pained smile looks back and he's like, yeah, yeah. Oh, my Kellenvore sense is tingling. Yeah, my dick is tingling, too. You what? You follow the tracks to a small clearing.

Pine limbs pierced through with sunlight no more than 10 feet across. In the clearing there's a deer browsing for bits of grass poking up through and you see on the other side of the clearing there is a boy.

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