Dice Shame - 2-111 | 'Move Along'

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

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I'd like you to repeat what you were telling me over there. I will tell people. I hear you. What do you want to do? I feel like I'm learning that one as we go. You're coming with us? No, it's fine. Shadowfell is out there somewhere. Why don't we lean into that?

How you doing? You're all right there. Are you angry at me? It feels like you're trying to punish me for something. I ain't sharing a bed with someone who's evil. All right. And that's 16-year-old dies in your arms. I don't know how you're going to be.

I think I would have to keep moving. Well, if my soul is torn asunder, at least someone knows why. Welcome back to Dice Shame. This is Season 2, episode 111. Move along. MVP this week is Faye. Faye is a super-duper wonderful person and fan of both Dyshame and Malevolent. They're always sharing their thoughts on the newest episodes by live blogging on the Discord server, plus they help out behind the scenes.

We really like you a lot, Faye. You're this week's MVP. Thanks, Faye. Extra Life is back. On November 2nd, hang out with Joe and I as we stream for 24 hours straight in support of Children's Miracle Network of Hospitals. We'll be raising money by entertaining

and having a grand old time with you. This year we'll be tackling the Hot Ones Wing Challenge, as usual, but with a twist. Dice Shame style. That's right. You'll get to watch the entire cast of Dice Shame take on the spicy wings, but only if we raised enough money, and only if you tune in. Link to the fundraising pages in the description. Donate today, and we hope to see you there.

It's going to be a lot of fun. All right, shall we do this? Yeah, let's play some D&D. Ow! Ow! Wow! side of the road, Mari and Doran, the two of you find some time to chat. And when Doran catches Mari in a lie, she relents, promising to tell him everything. He turns around slowly.

Just come over here. And she kind of sort of shifts the edge of the shirt and this spot on her shoulder that is now started, the color is started to leach from it and leave it this soft, silvery gray color as it slowly shifts down her arm. And she goes, whatever it was that I talked to, right as I left, he just put his hand on my shoulder and I felt this cold. And now there's this. Now I'm, I'm, I'm graying. I don't know. I thought I would do that when I was a little older and I thought it'd be my hair first that went. But here we are. And I don't think I'm sick. I don't think anything's wrong. but I'm trying to figure it out.

I'm trying to figure it out and see if there's some way to stop it or what it is or maybe there's a medicine or a solve or something, but I am not ready to frighten the others with this. It's not contagious or else, I don't know, we'd all have it by now, but it's, I've got to figure this out, Dora, and I just need you to trust me that if it gets worse, I will tell people. But right now, I gotta figure this part out. The rest of it, I will tell the others,

but I need to figure this part out on my own. Doran reaches out to place a hand on your shoulder. She lets him. puts his hand right on your shoulder where that spot is. Don't ever lie to me again. All right. This is not worth lying about. Aw.

Now, if what you're saying is true, This is bigger than the ordaining? Sounds like it. I think this is something that you need to bring up to Jack and red. Yeah. Back at the roadside. I hear you. What do you want to do? We can't put it through a trial by fire.

No, no, no. I'm not thinking anything like that. I mean, we're professional adventures now. Maybe we should... Is she flammable? Think about, like, actually taking her on as, like, an apprentice and making sure she has skills. and making sure she's, like,

don't just implicitly trust her to be okay in a fight, kind of like we did with Ellister. That got us in a lot of trouble. Like, there's an opportunity for her to learn from you. Well, I got Elister in a lot of trouble. Yeah. He died, right? Sure, we could take her on as Apprentice.

I mean, what if she's more talented than us, though? For all we know, she's a more powerful wizard than you. Then we should be really questioning what her motives are and why she was just hanging out in the cage and what... Whoa, whoa, whoa, Why do we have to question motives? You hired us without asking if I was a killer. Yeah, and I have some feelings about that, that had come up occasionally.

I, there are some things I wish I had known. But it worked out for the best. We know the Providence is a cage in a dragon we stole from's house. It just feels like buy in trouble. You're saying you don't trust her? You're saying you do? Of course. You hear the crunching of the snow underfoot as Wim walks back over to

she's dusting her hands off. Thanks, Wim. We have some questions for you, I guess. If you don't mind. She nods. And Red sort of looks to Jack with a raised eyebrow. I mean, I need you to know this journey we're on could be pretty dangerous. She nods again.

And that other people who traveled with us didn't always make it out all right or was a near thing. You know that going in. She nods. So why do you want to travel with us? She looks up at the sky and then sort of spins around in a slow circle. And then she opens her arms wide to either side. And she starts to spin a little bit faster. And then faster and faster until she starts to get a little bit dizzy.

And then she falls down on her butt and looks up at the two of you. Good enough for me. And then she scrambles over to where Doran's notebook is. and she tears out a page from the back. My drawing! There's like a nude goblin drawing. That's where I keep my passwords. That's where he keeps all the names of the people he's met

trying to remember. Never going to remember one, two, three, four. He just says, Mari, Mary, Margarine? I don't know. Martha? Blue hair. It just goes through all the options, crossed out one at a time.

He keeps inventing new ones. You have to flip it upside down. It's the answers to the pictures. why does she want to travel with us so she sits down in the snow with this piece of paper from doran's book and a quill and she starts to write out an answer for you and she writes i don't have much else going on i didn't either and then she looks up at you expectantly like any more questions yeah red's like trying to be helpful like he's trying to be like oh totally we got more questions and it looks to jack and he's like

What else do you have questions about? And her handwriting is like a reminder of her youth. Like it's not well practiced, you know? She's like 16, maybe. Red, you took Elister off into the woods and sent him away. And he knew what the hell he was, he had more years in the world to figure out what the stakes were and had already died once. And you said he wasn't cut out to be an adventure. She's 16 has got nothing going on.

Ah. You really think this is the best. Wim points at you and snaps her fingers. And then she writes down, I don't have that many years. More or less? She writes down the number two. Two what? Whim, what is two?

Two years, she writes. Hold on, you've two years left, what, to live? She nods at you. Why? How? Hold on. Are you telling me you're going to die in two years? She nods at you. By your choice?

No, she shakes her head. Oh, a curse? She does like a wishy-washy kind of some of this, some of that emotion. Oh. She writes, my parents were in Clarion's cult, and I was made to live a short time. I've always known this. oh

and there's this like quiet moment between the three of us both Red and Jack a bit like dumbfounded and then she gestures at the road like so what are we waiting for

dinner and Jack points at the fire he's used to people making food for him Jack go for it it's fine and Red kind of helps whim up and like looks at her and he's like you know as far as I'm concerned

and I do think Jack will come around too as long as you can handle yourself you're welcome to be with us she does like a flax like a strong man pose you know her arms up like where's the beach and then she shakes her hat like not strong yeah well more like a

resilience something that's not a stat on a sheet I guess maybe this is what Jack really wants to know we might not be able to protect you and we need to know that you can handle yourself if things get really dangerous. Do you think you can do that? She circles two years,

and then she writes in small letters underneath. I'm okay with this. Oh, right. Well, I am, if Jack is. Can't say no now, Red. You already told her we're going to show her the world.

Well, that's a bitchy answer. It is. I feel bitchy about it. I'm not going to lie. Whim sits back down on the ground and puts her weight back on her hands and looks up at you, Jack. Like, Like, tell me what you think. I think you're super, I don't know your story. I don't really, you know, we have only known you a couple of days.

And I, truthfully, my head has not been in it. So I don't feel like we've had a chance to connect. She draws a tear down from her eye with her finger and then sort of makes like a big pouty face. Like, hmm. Yeah. His new do is just reflective of how he's feeling with him. It's not anything bigger than that, I'm sure. She stands up and gives you big hug.

And then she pulls Red in to the hug, too. Oh, yeah, Red happily hugs. And I think Red follows Jack to the fire and sort of says, look, are you okay? I mean, look, I don't want any bad blood between us. I know you had a tough week. Red, I saw how you were when Asta died in your arms and Kralat didn't bring her back. When that 16-year-old dies in your arms, I don't know how you're going to be.

I don't know how I'm going to be about it. It's different than a guy who's lived his whole life. That's all. I'm just thinking about losing things and people walking away. Listen, I know, I know. You've had a very tough week, and I can tell you're feeling in the negative swing of things, and I don't blame you. I like your new do, if that's what this is about. I do think your appearance here is reflective of how your heart's feeling, and that's totally fair. I want to be the kind of friend that you need Hey, I even went and looked up that place without you Because I knew you were busy

And they didn't have an answer by the way They recommended I swung up to Candlekeep to get an answer Because I didn't want to bother you And I want to be sympathetic But you're being really negative You know, she might be okay Maybe, cool I'm glad, I'm glad I just

You're going into this eyes wide open red That I'm just as much thinking about you Are you though? It seems like you're trying to... I hope she's great and has two fucking amazing years left, if that's, you know, the whole story. Are you angry at me? It feels like you're trying to punish me for some. No, I'm not.

I'm just bitchy. But why, Jack? Why? Hey. And Red puts his hands on your shoulders. What's going on? I... Look, we're friends.

There's nothing more than what I've said, Red. But think of what you said, Jack. You display this picture of her bleeding out in my arms to punish me. You're trying. to make me feel bad about saying yes to a goal. And maybe you're right, but why? Why are you doing that? Because I think it's how you made me feel when we were talking about Elister. And I just, I just can't, the dissonance there is really getting to me.

So you're angry at me for how I made you feel about Elister and you're taking out on me now. Well, I just, I just, it doesn't make sense to me. They seem like, they seem like very similar situations. You're on very opposite sides. In my mind, Elister was a regular person. who loved Māori and wanted to be an adventurer. This is a girl who has already shown more power. She lit somebody up on the beach the other day.

She just turned them into dust with a wave of a hand. She is definitely magical in some way. I don't think she's with this party because she loves a person and doesn't want to be away from them. I think she wants to experience the world an adventure. It's very different than Ellister. Maybe she'd be a good fit for B's adventuring party. But we're going to the fire giant stronghold

by way of who knows how many other dangers. Maybe I would have been easier to understand your point if you didn't make it feel so personal like you were upset with me. I'm sorry, I made you feel that way. I just want to get back to a point where you and I feel like we're used to a little bit, you know, where you and I wanted the best for each other.

And, you know, despite the missteps, try to lift each other up and have each other's back when things got tough. It's only going to get tougher from here. Yeah. You know what, I'm going to think about it. You're 100% right. I'm going to start cooking dinner. Everybody loves what I do that, and we'll regroup in the morning. We've got lots of hours between us.

It's pretty safe between, you know, here and Rassel. our name failed. Hopefully we're not going to, you know, we'll have time to maybe talk about it together. You know, you're 100% right, red. It's only getting tougher from here. We've got to steal ourselves for that. Uh, guys, think you're right that it's only going to get tougher from here as Mari and Doran come back. Oh, hey. But. Did you throw up the oysters? Oh, no. Those were so good. I, I would, it would be a shame to have thrown those up. Those were really a taste of What Murray is saying is actually quite important and quite urgent, so I'd like you to repeat what you were telling me over there,

and maybe Jack and Red have a little bit more insight into what you're talking about. All right. The night that you guys went on your little trip to the spa, I did a little, for lack of a better term, soul searching. and I wanted to see if I could feel my way back to that edge of death that I have seen and walked in before. Out of curiosity, not because I was trying to bring anything back or not because I was trying to bring anything in, but something came through that I didn't expect. something came through and I walked into a space that I did not expect to walk into

and I think we are coming up to a bigger problem than the things we have faced and the things we are going to face in the ordaining in general I think that there is something bigger coming bigger than the ordaining bigger than the ordaining she mentioned something called the shadowcaster shadow fell Shadow fell. Do you know what that is? Oh. Yeah.

Yeah. If you remember in Silvery Moon, we had some questions about it after what Kraylath had been talking about and experienced. Oh. Yeah. I think Krayalov mentioned something that Captain Trenneros told him about the Shadowfell. I don't remember much about it. The hunger. Oh, yeah.

The hunger, yeah. The hunger, yeah. Yeah. The hunger is working its way into the north. The shadow fell is coming through. And north of here, deep in the forests and deep in the valleys, the veil is growing thinner. And I was shown, for again, lack of a better turn, a vision of what is coming. And water deep and Therun is going to be.

subsumed, and I think we have to stop it. So, there's another world that's coming through some sort of mystic, magical gate into our world, sort of starting to take over everything. And just the four of us need to stop it. Just... We're going to have to face that. I'm in. I like those odds.

I mean, I'm glad that you feel confident because I saw what was coming and it is terrifying. And soon to be dead, Red says and stands up and looks at Doran. Look, anything that they throw at us, we're going to cut it down to size. Right, Doran?

Right, Wim? Wim nods at you. Look, guys, we are part of this thing. We have killed giants and more. I hear your trepidation. It's probably smart. But at this point, what we need is a little bit of confidence. What we need is a little bit of, hell yeah, we can do this.

If we are the four to stand against this Shadowfell, then we must be pretty fucking powerful. Right? I mean, we fucking are, Red says, and stands on the little stool. Look, the Shadowfell is out there somewhere, and he points to the south, thinking it's the north. And when we get to it, and when it comes to us, we're going to do everything on our pound to take it down like we always have.

Come on, Doran. You know, you got something there. There he is. You know, we can sit here and we can worry about what could happen. But if there's anybody that's going to do anything about it, well, it's us. Fuck yeah, it is. And he stands up and he raises his axe above the fire. Hell's yeah!

Red takes up his bow and does the same. Look, we are brought together through destiny or chance, or perhaps just Jack's pocketbook. but we are together, and we are powerful as fuck. All I know is that if the fates think we can do this, well, God damn, we're going to do it. I think the way I'm looking at it, we have two problems. You know, if you're...

Red and Dorn are just holding their weapons over the fire. Wim, like, looks up a jack kind of cautiously and starts to put her hand on top of Red's bow. Damn right, Wim. We'll come up with a plan later. We always do. We always do. Right.

Come on, Jack. Put it in. Oh, yeah, I'm in. I'm here. Jack puts his hand on his staff and gives it a tentative heft before putting it into the middle. Uh, his, his mind already cranking away at the puzzle that sort of Mari's put in front of him. Hell yeah. Let's do it.

Mari sees this and she reaches to her side and she takes her dagger out and she very carefully places the edge of it along Jack's staff. so that the flowers on that start to intermingle with the flowers start to pour out of her dagger, little tiny little blue flowers that pour into the fire. It grows a vine around everything and all of our stuff is tangled together over top of the fire. Jesus Christ, Marie, come on. You know what, let's just abandon this campsite and move on.

Wim might have had the right idea. I thought it'd be cool. I thought it was cool every time. It is cool. It is cool. How yeah, guys, that's what I want to see from you. Look, we can do this. We can tackle anything. There will be plans.

There will be conversations. We do it to death. But right now, what we need is a little bit of faith in ourselves. We got this, Redlock's eyes with each member. It says, we can do this together. Yeah? We can. Whim nods at you.

Hell yeah. Or die trying. Oh, Jesus. You too. A little quiet one. You're coming with us. I have no doubt. We've got to.

Fuck you, Jack. She's pointing it. She gives you a thumbs up, Doran. All right, Red pulls his bow and puts it on his back. As Mari describes it, it's, you know, very reminiscent of what, of what we've heard in Silvery Moon before. We've got two problems. We have, you know, think of it this way, Doran. If you're in a city that's at siege and they're breaking down your gates, you need to stop the person attacking the gate and you need to fix the gate.

Absolutely. We've got a veil between two worlds. We've got things and chaos and disruption. making that veil thinner and we've got to stop that. And then we've got to figure out how do we reinforce this fabric of reality to make it a little harder to pass through. I like that, you know, I like how you related it to my terms. He's good at dumbing things down for us.

And I don't know how to do either of those things right now, but I think we can find out. I don't know how to do it either. But I think what you're saying, it makes a lot of sense. If we can stop these giant territories from, from, you know, tearing down that veil. I think that's the place to start. I mean, that's where we were set.

Well, and at some point, it's going to take a lot of people pulling in the same direction to make a change here. And the more people that aren't stomped by giants and are ready to fight to save us from the shadow fell, the better we're going to be. Agreed. Well, thanks for sharing that with this, Mari. This was like a vision or what? Like you had a dream?

Or did a big cloud giant come and pick you up like he did with us? didn't use those very expensive oils I had at Chol Skull Manor, did you? $1,000 stashed away. My mother gave me those. Yeah, sometimes magic is unpredictable. What? No, but like how did you do it?

I was trying out a spell. Oh, you did a spell and this guy came. Yes. What was his name, Liphilis or something? Lithius. Yeah, Liffelis. He was awesome. Remember him?

Big tree guy? Goldenfield. Yeah, not lifferless. Yeah, golden fear. You're talking about talking in a tree. So this tree came to you and told you the Shadowfell was going to fight. No, he was a guy. He was a guy. That's crazy.

I think it's a different name slightly. Yes. Did he remember me? No, he was a figure cloaked with gray skin and eyes of jet black. And a tree with tree limbs. Wow, that's interesting. I'm glad. You know, that's really fascinating.

We have this ordained quest, and now you have one as well. We're all on the same path. They're the same thing, Red. Anyway, Jack's going to make lunch. Shall we watch or help? Oh, no. Why, though, is going to be funny. I think I just, right now, I think I just deserve to watch.

I want to watch. I want to see what happens. Jack, make something. You got it. Oh, you're in for a treat. Am I, though? You know, we really should have done this inspirational stuff. in the morning. Hey, Red. Why? I mean, well, we just stood up and did old cheers thing

and now we're sitting down and getting relaxed. No, you build up the energy and then you have a little come down. Listen, I was ready to go. We even put out the fire, but Jack wanted a bite to eat. I guess I was confused at what time of day it was, Rob the player. It's the afternoon. Look at the sun. How do you, of old people, Jack, not know what time of day it is? So that's right. The very first words I uttered in the episode late in the afternoon and the fourth Right, but I didn't understand why we were stopped and not riding. That was where I got confused. Because we were taking a little break.

Because it's a game. Because we were having a little pre-suffer snack. Wim has gotten you guys all in the habit of eating six times a day. She does seem like the kind of person who always has a handful of almonds. I don't know what about her. She's not a granola bar stashed on her person. I like that. Roasted too.

Absolutely. Tamari roasted almonds. So now we've got that out of the way. I guess were, should we had yarder? Well, let's do this. I think since Sidiary asked us to hidden the places, plus now we have another thing to be looking for, signs of the shadow fell.

You know, who knows how far south, it's creeped from the north. Let's hit up Rassalantar and Amfail. I'd love to swing by the house. See how little Orin's doing. Whim mouths the word Orin? Orin, Yogelvie. He's a little halfling that, well, he found us in Goldenfield. He was a musician, and he wrote a little.

song about us when he met up with us in Waterdeep, and then he fell a little head over heels for my daughter, B. Whim punches you on the shoulder and then Mouth's daughter? Oh, yeah, I have a daughter. B, she's an adventurer, like myself. Probably more successful than myself, frankly. She's probably about your age. I actually have no idea.

I think she's older. I have a sister? I think B's a one of a little. I'm joking that red is now how all fucking B is. She's probably like four. At least five. She had to adventure on her own to find me across the other side of the world.

I couldn't have done that at her age. Precocious four-year-old. But yeah, here Jack and Redridge is into his bag and pulls out some day-old grouse. I was going to hunt fresh, but you might as well use this. It's still good. Wonderful. Is it wrapped in more letters from your ex?

I was really braced for jerky. So grouse, let's go. So I say we start out by making our way to Red Larch. Would you all agree? I think it's a great idea. Let's do it. Sounds nice. So after having a somewhat satisfying meal of grouse and whatever the fuck Jack managed to scrape together,

the five of you head north on the road toward Rassalantar and who knows what else. Ratsalantar. Resolentor! This is my brother, Sassalantor. And this is my cousin, Wetzelantar. My son, Gasselantar. I'm just imagining that you guys are like the characters are doing this

and like Mari and Jack are just riding along just like we've been doing this for two hours. It really left an impression on the Mari. Over the next six days, Reds Rovers travels north along the long road from Waterdeep to Red Larch. You pass through Rassalantar and Amphail. Without much fanfare, however, that's not to say that

nothing is happening within the party. Along the ride, Doran's making small conversation with Mari and is slowly coming around again to being more friendly. They've been talking about their siblings and telling stories. Yeah. Like sharing little bits and weird stuff like, bet. Yeah, and sharing other little things like how Doran's got this map and he's now he's tracking again the route that we're taking again. But we haven't really had that opportunity

because we haven't done much road traveling in the past. And I feel like there's a couple moments there where Mari's maybe confiding about the, her skin condition. Yeah, it's slow, but she can tell each day that just a little bit more has shifted to this sort of soft gray color, that there's, that it's, it's, it's like just, it's pulling the color from her skin. Dorn sort of sees you rubbing your shoulder and he kind of pulls you to the back of the, the, the, right, there, hey, Maria, how you doing? You're all right there. No, it's fine. It's fine. It's, it's, uh, it's slow, but, uh, yeah, I don't know. If it, I think if it gets worse, I'll tell the others, but, you know, I don't know if you wake up one day and I'm just gray and I'm not clearly stone or something.

Yeah, I give you permission to tell those guys. All right. But until then, I'm just going to keep trying herbs, various other tinctures, oils. It's not affecting your mind, Ray. You're not turning evil or anything like that. Well, we'll find out. If I suddenly start blindly murdering you in the night, I give you permission to fight back. All right.

Duren resumes his position in the traveling lineup here. Guys, I check she's not evil yet. I keep asking. She hasn't turned. Are you evil? Are you evil? And honestly, at least he's doing something. Every night he checks it for all evil.

I insured a bed with someone who's evil. I think a few days in, they've stopped by a river to maybe kind of wash a little bit. And Red sort of sees Jack sitting over by a tree and he sort of just walks over. It's still a little awkward since they spoke a few days ago. And he sort of just leans over his shoulder and he's like, what you're reading? A book. I don't want to bore you with the details. No, no, no, bore me.

I asked. It's my fault. It's another one from Zozenboffel called surveillance techniques that don't work. I'm just trying to get a feel for the language. Oh, anything I'm doing that I need to stop. Honestly, I can't even tell if I'm reading it correctly yet. So it's just, you know, keeping the mind puzzling. How about yourself?

What's keeping your mind busy on the road? Oh, I don't read. No, I just meant busy on the road. Oh, I play this game with myself called Zing-Zing. And basically, every time I see a tree, I say, zing or zang and sort of alternate between you know it doesn't matter look i just wanted to come over and say i hope things are okay yeah no i just they're yeah i think they're they're fine we got we got a lot on our plate and we're gonna take it one bite at a time you know

sorry i i mean i mean with you i know everything that happened was a whirlwind with torren and stuff and uh oh yeah well well i know sometimes you need a distraction and i'm definitely hit in for that. And sometimes you need an ear, and I know Mari is great for that. And despite me not having any, sometimes I can do a good job too. And I don't know. Yeah, you know the part that's hitting me today, sort of after lunch, I don't have a home to go back to. Like I get everybody else, like you guys are all, you've been on the road lots, you're, you're, but like in the back of my head, and I didn't have a lot of stuff. at Torren's house, but I was there for, like, the picking out of a lot of the stuff at our house,

and, you know, it's like I don't have a place to go back to, which is just weird. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, you know, it's not about me, but in my mind, the weird thing would be having a place to go back to, you know? I've slept under the stars ever since I can really remember. And coming from this side, things I can tell you it's it's really great you know not having to worry about you know riding or or or heading back anywhere um no like I mean in a way it like I think it's been a long time I don't know where where you know Doran would say he hangs his hat if not on the road these days or what you know Mari's left a place I don't know if she's what she left

behind there or not it was just thinking about a transition is on. Well, and Reds sits down next to you. Yeah, but I mean, Doran's got Scarborough and Murray's got where she came from, but you and I maybe were more like now than ever before, you know, because maybe you and I get to find a new home on this adventure, you know, a place that we can properly call home for good. Is that something you dream about? Like, do you have a vision for what home would be? Say we figure this out, we slap the shadow fell back to the dark side of, saloon and we're uh you know done with these giants what's home look like after that i was born on the move jack i've never found or felt the need for a home honestly troll skull man i was one in a

bet and i hadn't mentioned it for months that's how little it really meant to me i like having it because i like staff but honestly for me being with people i love and care about That's the closest I've ever felt to home. That makes sense. I can see that. So it'd be, it'd be, find another adventure or a place he hadn't gone then. I think so.

I think I would have to keep moving. I think if I stay in one place too long, I'll, uh, I don't know. Fair enough, yeah. To have to find a, a far-off Shangri-Lat or something to point your compass towards. Well, maybe you and I can just be always, old and gray, and very old, traveling forevermore. There's lots of this world to see, Jack.

Jack starts, like, scratching his face. The new beard's still kind of itchy. He's not, like, how do you never, you know what? I'm not going to compare the two. How do I keep my fur, so? I mean, I never shave, is my secret. Well, that's, you know, I feel like I'm, I'm learning that one as we go here. It was, it looks great, but.

The red stands up and sort of patch on the back and says, I like the sound of it. Old Red and Jack traveling the countryside. You know, we'd keep each other on our toes, button heads every once in a while, arguing over who gets this and that. Absolutely.

Farting in each other's sleeping bags when the other's not looking. Anyway, and Red walks away. There's a small sort of roadside in a couple of days ride outside of Red Larch that Jack, you know, finds Mari in the tap room and brings a book his finger covered with ink

that he was just writing in it which is, you know, Jack's normal style. Hey, I was thinking I'm trying to figure out where we're going to like nail down where we can find some more information about just to verify the stuff Lithius was telling you because

again, shady dream characters talking about big bad dark stuff. I already had a friend do that, got cursed, died, died again. Like I think, don't trust. that voice is moment one for me. I don't know how you're feeling about that. Well, he did mention Krayloth and the Nightwalker. That's not great. No. It definitely solidified what was happening, but this wasn't a dream. You know as well as I do that it's not just us in the shadow fell,

that there are layers of different spaces in between here and there. I didn't mean to deny that part of it. It feels you know when you everyone keeps saying it's a dream which makes it feel intangible kind of like it's a it's a whim so I mean I'm just trying to

put together all my notes about shadow fell stuff from some conversations we had with my mom and Silvery Moon some stuff we'd found some creatures that we think were from the shadow fell and what we know I'm sort of putting that all together you know Kray Loth had

this falling out with Kellenvore and then started speaking to this new entity, Rayel. Riel. Yeah. How do you know that name? Lithius told me to watch out for her if and when she comes for me. There's no reason to believe a single thing Lithius has told you other than he showed you some really fascinating bits of the shadow film. or that were purported to be the Shadowfell and were also very scary. It felt real.

It felt real, Jack. No, but that's the thing about the shadow fell, Mari. This is what I've been coming to understand and Jack opens the book he's got. And on it are perfect diagrams of his hands with all the little markings that were burned into him from the mystery box. The thing I'm coming to have a greater appreciation about is how, good the shadow fell is at lying. Do you remember when I had the shadow version of myself give me that illusion that Red was trying to kill me

and it like literally could have killed me? That was a shadow fell lie. That was illusion magic pulled from the shadow. I understand these are imperfect models we're dealing with the language about these sort of ephemeral places is tricky. But my chariot I've been riding around made from stuff from the plane of shadows over here refracted and given real form

they could have told you any kind of lie built out of anything we need to find a way to find things that are reliable can I can I tell you something Jack sure I uh I I found one of those pieces of paper from Clearance thing in my pocket. And I tried to sort of see if I could reach out through there. You found it. Okay. And Mari takes a look at what's on there and looks at the drawings of the hands and goes, do you know what these say? Do you understand this now? Well, this is the one that's in gnomish and says bound. And I've been trying to to transcribe it perfectly onto paper to see if this spell works

best on paper. If you give me a minute maybe we can dissect the other one here. Yeah. Jack begins the ritual with a pinch of salt and soot to get an intuitive understanding of language into his body and trace the words on

the page and try and figure out what the other cursed symbol says. Marhi's just watching and sipping her beer trying to figure out this magic. As your ritual culminates, Jack, you gain the understanding of the scar that has been etched on your hand. You read the infernal script and know that it says Providence. And now that you fully understand the translation of the scars that are on your flesh from

this infernal puzzle box, Jack, you have. been given a gift. Your fortune improves permanently. Oh. Once per long rest, Jack, you can now choose to roll with advantage. Oh, hey, there you are. Do you know what it says? The left hand is bound and the right hand in Infernal says Providence. Jack sort of looks at his hands a little bit. Don't know what to make of that, but it doesn't sound good. Could be worse. after the book is put away and we're you know two drinks in resting inside this place a little bit and I've been shooting the shit for a bit Jack kind of circles back when you say you've found a piece of paper at Clarion's well

what do you mean by that have you ever had like a like a little cut or something that you kind of just keep picking at or whatever you know it's bad you know you probably shouldn't you know it's going to leave a scar but you do it anyways there's There's something so fascinating about this world of, not death, but whatever it is in between. It should, I know Doran hates it. I know, I don't really know what Red's feeling about it, but I just find this, I just found it so interesting. And I wanted to see if I could, I wanted to see if I could find it again. And I'm sure somewhere along the way that you've found a little piece of magic in there that you should not be pressing on, that you should not be picking at, and yet you do.

And I'm not saying it was a good idea. I'm not saying that this was the smartest thing. And I can only hope that the spirit bound to that paper walks free now. it should. Maybe. Wasn't there when we did the rest of the ritual? I hope that anchor isn't holding one of the Knights of the Eternal Order down. Well, if my soul is torn asunder, at least someone knows why.

Jack, I did it because I wanted to, and I wanted to see what was out there. And I thought it might satiate something, but I think I want to see more. you didn't know Craylon you maybe don't have as personal a connection but I hope no one steals a bone from your parents' graves either right like this is I get the curiosity

I've been there I've summoned things from beyond and there's there's risks but this choice sucked it was a soul that gave a lot and you took a little more from it Jack, I don't, I don't, I can't defend what I did, but we're coming up to some really big stuff and I think I'm going to have to push harder into these spaces.

I don't love this part of myself, but I don't want you to take the wrong lesson away from this either, Mari. I think before the end of this, we're going to have to take bigger swings with less information and do the kinds of magic that Red and Doran are increasingly more uncomfortable with. But the reason this sucked is because it was from the Knights of the Holy Order who we were there to set free. And I knew a guy from them. And he was the reason we were there. And I don't like that I'm only upset because I knew them. and if it was some other grave, some other relic like that,

I probably wouldn't feel this way. But that's the part that I'm mad at. I'm sorry, Jack. Next time you've got that urge wanting to seek the edge of death, whatever it is to feel out with your magic, why don't we lean into that and just crossing the lines together

and at least both a little culpable. I think next time that either of us finds that edge, we take the other with us. Mari looks over at Jack and... There's just a little bit of the lamp shining into Jack's eyes showing the symbol from the infernal puzzle box in there from the explosion. She puts her hand up on her shoulder almost like it hurts for a moment and looks down and sees just on the very, very very...

very edge of her shirt just peeking out the tiniest line of gray that's starting to snake its way upper chest. Andrews, Alicia Duh, Manna Nicole, Amanda Romano, Anna Lena, Atholagoth, Axel, Beanboy Gav, Bird, Bob, Caspian, Charles, there's a lot of these, Christopher, sedate, Colin Burckhardt, Couch, Crow, David Shaw, Dippity, Diffy, DJ, Eldrich Unicorn, Emerson Forsberg, Erin Lightning, Fjord, Fuvulcrum, Gabby, Tau, Gareth Bradshaw, Haley, Harpo the Marks, Izzy, J.D., Josh Galusia, Joshua Nance, Joy Robinson, K.M., Karen Mandelae, Cass, Keith Adelae, Kelly Folds, Lambda, Letta J, Lickrott, Liz, Lorelei Feldman, Manderpants, Merrick's Moon, Mulinda Curley, Merlin, Michaela, Minty, Mizra, Moon, Nibia, Guiga, Nicky, Knox the Nightshark, Oakland, Okie-Doki, Pan, pinch of peppers, Queen, Rabida Naz cheese, Regan, Ren, Rigor, Mortis Riot Rowan Ruth Ann Reed Trent Scottie seer of time Shannon Waldner S ray 96 stab sunny tea kettle ulysses vol control waffle 427 zander morning dove Zephyrus and Zill Street

Elizabeth. Um, so, uh, see you next time. Thanks for listening. I sense the struggle within you. Young one. But I do. This, just to give you guys some perspective, was the sixth session we recorded.

Was when we went through this area. Just five years ago. Yeah. It feels nice to be retreading this close to the five-year anniversary. Yeah. That's pretty good. I'm reading my notes here. Do it.

Jack and Toren meet up when Toren's done work. They have sex. Pillow talk about red, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I have note. Kieran exists. I was born on the move, and I think you can attest to that. I really thought you were going to say, on the moon. I also was about to say, like, wait a second.

I'm a man I'm a taboxy moon moon It's called I just I would just I primed myself for it And then I was

I was also like Wait this is a part of Fred's backstory That I am here for He is from space I'm gonezo I'm from space I can see that being

canonical I can see that being canonical