Dice Shame - 2-20 | 'Close To Home'

Episode Date: January 12, 2023

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Oh, we could have taken them out hours ago Yeah, that's right, that's right. No, yes, yes, why are you saying no? You got the cat first? All right, listen, there's only one Bowie in this group, okay? It's not that I don't want to see it. You can put it in yours, but I wouldn't recommend it. Not in the academic sense, no.

It was a gift from your mom to me. Don't mind her, she's always wet. Oh, what? As someone with his own set of family issues. You're doing that thing again. He's waffling again, Jack. He's waffling! Oh, that's...

That's a neat trick. Oh. Oh, do you're, don't. Oh, no. Danger. What? What? What?

MVP this week. Hello, hello, who's a member of our Discord server. Hollow just posted, Wahoo! First up-to-date episode for me. Woo-hoo! Sounds like you're all caught up, which is no easy feat. Thanks for joining us, Hollow. You're the best.

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Let's flip into it. Yes. Yes. Having vanquished the nearest stone giants and with the rumbling of distant footsteps still in your ears, you continue making your way east along the gray veil run, hoping to put as much distance between yourselves and loud water as possible before nightfall. which is coming.

The stone bodies of the Tressum and the halfling woman carefully tucked away in the portable hole you make camp for the night. Well, well, you fucked up. I guess we were supposed to question that guy, but that's okay.

We're all human, Red says, avoiding Mari's gaze. None of you are human. Yeah. We're all... They're bipedal. We're our humanoids. Yeah.

I don't think we made any error. In fact, I think I need to congratulate the three of you on a successful battle there. I mean... Ork splitter's like, yeah, that was awesome! Yeah, that's right, that's right. I mean, come on. Let's give ourselves a pat on the back. Going into that, I didn't know, but, I mean, hell.

Even you, you did great, Mari. You're like a seasoned fighter. Mari's been, like, pretty quiet on, like, the whole, like, the walk, like, afterwards, and she's just sort of sitting there, and she's like, I think I overcompensated again. I think I kind of overshot the mark She's really just sort of been mulling it over in her brain Like, oh, that was not

No, no, no You see, when it comes to giants If you give them an inch, they will take a mile It's just how big their steps are Exactly, and if you give them a chance They will literally pick you up and eat your head So, you know To be clear, we did want to keep one alive for questioning

Well, fair enough, fair enough But at the same time things happen I guess I could have waited until it actually tried to eat someone's head to turn it to a pile of gravel. Now, look, your instincts were good. I'm with Doran, for the most part. I just also want to acknowledge what our goal was, just to reiterate for next time. But I think your instincts were right. You know, they definitely wanted to hurt us.

And hey, we saved some people in the process. Yeah. I think they're people. Sort of. And red gestures to the halfling woman who are like propped up next to the fire. hanging our coats just our coats our coats are like

draped over them Mari's been like awkwardly she like had a bunch of like made a bunch of flowers and just sort of put a little crown on the on the halfling

just because she's like needed something to do with her hands it does feel like they're looking at you oh we could have taken them out hours ago Dorn's like

filing his nails on the halfling's hair you know it's like there's some like that's a person Doren come on

hey they're not feeling anything and it's a perfect stone it's nice and granular I can really get my nails in there. Look, anyway, I guess our next plan is to head to Doran's hometown of Scarborough, and then we want to ask them maybe where the stone giant's layer is, because unless we run into some more stone giants that we don't kill and we question.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, who knows? Maybe we'll be continuing along this path on the way to Scarborough, and then we'll suddenly find the thing that we're looking. for which will take us in a different direction gladly. In a different direction. What do you mean this thing we're looking for?

You mean the stone giant's base? The lair, yes. Yeah. You think we're just going to walk along this road and find the lair? Well, no, but I mean, we might come across somebody that knows. It might be find another giant. I'm just saying we may not have to go to my home in order to get some

directions. Do you not want to go to your home? Well, I mean, I would be I think it would be nice to see my yeah you're doing that thing again

he's waffling again Jack he's waffling I see it I just think he always does this when we mention his home he always waffles Doran the three of us have been talking about this

and it's time to put you to the mat why do you waffle every time we talk about heading to your home well I guess you could say that maybe

I don't I don't have the greatest relationship with my family and friends that are left back home. Fair. Okay. I mean... Very fair. Didn't we all just assume that? You didn't want to go home.

That seems pretty cut and dry. And I mean, you know, I had brothers, you know, but... Yeah. Yeah. But then why are we heading there? Why do... Let's just avoid it. I mean, I feel like you've walked this line between having this tumultuous...

tumultuous what's the word jack tumultuous yeah the one with all the breadcrumbs between having your family in that state and having them you know a part of your past look if you don't want to see them we can just avoid them but you also have this kind of weird connection with them well

it's not that I don't want to see them I just don't you know I don't really know how things are I haven't talked to my family in a long time and I think I as someone with his own set of family issues. I don't know if this will be at all helpful. But I did find it kind of fun and

freeing to go to the Dredas party the other day or to somewhere where previously, you know, I felt pretty uncomfortable, but I went in with a team this time. And I mean, you're not, you know, from what we know about you, maybe sometimes it was never a triumphant visit home. But look at the armor you're wearing. That comes off a real Dwarven hero. You're going back with a whole you know, sack full of stories of how fucking awesome Doran Iron Fist can be. Well, you know, it's not that the thing is, well, the thing is, um, I just, I haven't been home in a long time.

And when I left home last, things were said. And I just don't know exactly how things will turn out when I do return home. And so I guess I've been apprehensive about wanting to go there. and see my family again because, yes, you're right. I feel like in your eyes, maybe I am very accomplished, you know, I've been to war and people know my blacksmithing skills. But, I mean, hell, that's not anything compared with some of the people in my family. And maybe they know my name because my name is also attached to other great blacksmiths, you know.

but you've got the acts of Toral Flame Tone And you're wearing the armor of Nurgill Chaos Hammer Like you've been deemed by those luminaries To be a big fucking deal Despite anything else that's happened in your life Did the reason you left on bad terms Have anything to do with your wife? Well

Yeah I mean has a lot to do with a lot of things too I mean whether it be the I mean Surely if you fell in love And they visited Is Kremlott's family around here Or are they far away?

Well, if she's got family left I suppose they would be nearby And these forests are pretty vast Dense and deep I mean if there's If there's closure that needs to happen You know with your family I don't know if it's closure

Or if it would open new wounds Or not Let's just say that You know when I met the, well, the two of you, I was on a path away from home and I hadn't been home in a long time. And I haven't been home since. And I guess I'm afraid of the unknown and where things were left last. There were things said.

Well, it's always going to be unknown if you don't actually face it. Yeah. And that's why, you know, I haven't said that I don't want to go home. It feels a little bit strange. I've heard this old Dwarven saying, sticks and stones can break your bones, but giants grind them up to make their bread. That's right. Yeah.

Exactly. Dwarves don't really, it's not like, it's not like an A to B thing. I was trying to do the translation in my head. It doesn't translate well. It's like one of those words. Bones giants. I sort of took it to mean,

and you can correct me, you know, if there's a cultural context, I'm missing, but, you know, giants suck and we should fucking go get them. And what is there to be more scared of than that? Let me explain this dwarven saying to you. Yeah. I mean, you know, there is a lot of truth to that.

In fact, when you're facing these tasks, you have to realize that there's something that's much worse. And that is, you know, you could be facing some pretty harsh, harsh things, you know, at home with family or relationships, but at least you're not being ground up into giant bread. Right? Or bland stew. I think I'm ready to travel home if the path so takes us there. You know, and there's one thing I've learned on the road and with you people is that, yeah, I mean, you have to rely on yourself.

And sometimes it doesn't mean that it's always the people that you think you need to. You know, I think you can, you know. It's true. Hey, family is what you make it. And you three are my family. Believe me, you, I'm closer to the three of you than I'm back to anybody back at home. I got nothing for me back there. Yeah, yeah, same here.

I mean, I think you'd get along very well with my younger sister. Yeah, is she blue? No, yes, yes. Why did I say no? Yes. I'm the only one like this. Never questions Mari's history until she, like, waffled on that moment. That was the one who's like, is there more here?

No, no. No, yes. You're sisters, you know? Yeah. No, she, well, she's kind, she's more like a greeny kind of color. I love primary colors, let me just say. So if she's blue or yellow, I'm in. Yes.

Right. Duren, how many brothers did you have? Or do you currently still have? Is this a fluctuating number? Well, I had two. Two brothers that I was very close with. And many, many more sisters. and cousins, but

that's a pretty tough story. Maybe I'll come back to that one day when I've had many drinks and I'm not so concerned. They'll take a sad tinge now. Yeah. So, and Duren pulls out his wine skin and he says,

so, yeah. And he takes his swig and he goes, and this one's for Lauren, he pours a little bit on the ground. And this one's for Gorin. He pours a little. bit on the ground.

Wow. I'd like to give you inspiration for all that. Thank you. Very, very well done. I love getting a little bit of insight into Doran's. And Lauren's. And Lauren's. Now we've got Oren.

Torin. Doran. Lauren and Gorin. Lauren and Gorin. The five Orins. So, Mari, do you have a plan to see if we can help these two tomorrow? Yeah. Red and Doren?

I just looked at where it's a hard. Arlen's face, just be like, what the fuck? I mean, they're really, I know they... Why, he's never seen Jack's safety hut. Yeah, I mean... I'm excited about that. The what? This is my safe space.

As we're really settled into camp, Jack takes 10 minutes to go walk around and draw a circle around where we're sleeping. And a transparent wall of force sort of appears around us in a cylinder. You can leave it and you can see, you know, today it's white like the snow to sort of let us blend in. But as soon as it goes up, the temperature is wonderful. It's perfect.

It's, you know, the snow around us starts to melt. There's no breeze. It just becomes extremely comfortable. Huh. I'm going to do one last patrol just to make sure everything's safe. Marri, did you want to come? Yeah, I'll come with. And she sort of touches sort of around the air around.

I keep going to call it the safety dance, the safety tent. Castafart, cast a part. The tiny hut. And she's just, sort of taking a look at taking it in to sort of like trying to understand this magic because it's just it's something she doesn't really understand like she knows understands it but she doesn't get it um but it feels different to what she's used to but it's interesting it's a wizard thing yeah it's a wizard thing she rolls her eyes yeah fucking wizards and uh i feel like red like kind

heads out, and at first he's sort of under the guise of like, yeah, so when we're out in the wild, you know, I usually like to take a little last minute. And then the minute we're kind of like, out of your shot, he turns, he's like, what the hell was that? What the hell was what? The weird, majestic bow thing you turned into. Oh. You know, the guy noticed?

He was like 10 feet from me in the other tree. I honestly thought that you were distracted by all the other stuff. that was going on. Look, I am aloof. 99% of the time, but never in combat. I am the most tactical person in this entire squad. I mean, I don't know if I used the word aloof, but I'd use other words. Oh, look at that bird.

What? What? No, listen. What was that? She's like a little, she's a little, not embarrassed, but like that feeling when you're like, oh, I did not expect that I'd have to really explain this. super soon and uh and she's like well i don't i don't want to go into too much detail right now but i uh i this is just part of what i've learned in my druid circle and we tap the power from the stars and it

sounds always very silly when i try to explain it but it is it is something very special to me and and uh it's it's a power that i'm still kind of learning how to use um And I wasn't really sure how to tell anybody because it feels very weird to show anyone. I've never actually done that in front of anyone before. I've only ever just practiced on my own. I've never had to fight. Well, let me tell you something. That was fucking amazing.

You were gorgeous when doing it. Thank you. And I think that was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. Well, like, it feels cool. Like, I will say that. It looks so cool. It's amazing. Wow! You were like

Piao! And then there were like stars in your eyes and I was like, wow! And I always fell out of the tree and I wasn't even mad about it. I'm just glad that you're not mad that I stole your archer. Why would I be mad? You went, what? That was an archer? All right, listen, there's only one Bowie in this group, okay? It's David, aka me, Star Child.

Red David-handed Robin. Now, look, I don't mind sharing any of that And in fact, frankly, we could use another range Fighter on the team Look, look, look, whenever you feel comfortable To reveal to the others, that's fine But you have nothing to be embarrassed about or ashamed But that was amazing, Mari

That was so Fantastic I mean, I'm proud of it But I also Kind of used it at the wrong time And maybe kind of melted that giant When we could have talked to him Oh, giants of dicks anyway, don't worry about it.

Look, in the end, the bad ones are going to go the way of the dodo anyway. Let's just, if we ease them along that path and all the better for it. And we'll find the place no matter what. Don't beat yourself up over that. Yeah, it'll be fine. I think I can do something to help that half-ling. But can you do me one favor? Yeah.

I don't tell the others just yet about that. Not because I don't want them to know, but because I think it'd be incredibly funny just to dunk on Jack one of these times. And Red just kind of like fall still for a second and he's like, I don't think

I have ever liked you more and I like you in this moment. I will always help you dunk on Jack. Thank you, Red. We walk off into the night. You do like one of those hero handshakes together. Where I grab your wrist, shake it mightily.

It's like the scene in Predator and they're both gripping, but they both have, like, skinny arms. You son of a beach. Dylan. I thought you were dead, man. Guy'm over. You guys head back.

The star is glimmer. It's nighttime and beautiful, and you take your rest. Everyone all in a cozy puddle. Heck yeah. Are we doing a long rest or is just asleep? It's a long old rest. I mean, you can sleep as long. If we're going to do that, should I bother doing this, the thing for the, what's her, the, the halfling first?

I mean. Because that I could at least reset it then. It probably makes more sense to do it in the morning rather than being like, hi, we're Mari. Do you want to sleep with us? And it would be weird to do the cat first because could you imagine being the owner of that? And then finding out that for a full eight hours, the cats first. You woke up Gregory first? This asshole?

He doesn't even do anything. Yeah, for real. We're friends now. He's a total dick. this cat. I know. I've been talking to him and he's been saying the most racist things. I'm Trevor, the racist cat. Goblins are the worst. I also keep forgetting what the, what the species is called. It's in my brain. I keep calling it a tresome like the shampoo. Basically, not a threesome. I also a threesome. My search history is a nightmare. Yeah. Tressum, treasomee threesome. The third.

It's very silky. Treseme, Treseme, ooh la la. You gain the benefits of a long rest. Yeah. Morning, dons. Good morning. Morning, darling.

You snuggled extra snuggily last night. There's like this weird thing that happens when it snows on top of the dome where there's like a cap of snow that you guys can't see through, but from your perspective inside. the dome looking out, it's just like hovering. It's the backside of snow. That's right. The backside. All right, Doran, what is it? Jerky

again today? Give me some of those preserves. Yeah, I've just got, I've got salt. I've got a little bit of Oh, just scrape off the mold, it'll be fine. Yeah, and I've got some... Mold on the salt. No, well, that shouldn't be a cabbage here. That doesn't feel right. Dorn's like rummaging through his tool

belt and there's like he's pulling out like an old old onion. Doren, just scrape that mold off the bread, it'll be fine. Jack's cheese that he bought a few weeks ago Still looking fine, I think And like a very, very limp carrot There's some more of that rat stew Jack made a few weeks ago

We could use that We're like a handful of days out If we're this down to the bottom Already I can make something Huh? What? Yes, please.

Food? Mom? I mean, Maori? What? You could cook? Cook? I'm nothing special But, you know, I grew up in a big family And everyone has to do their part

and I can do some stuff. Oh, hell, yeah, that would be amazing. I can hunt anything you need. I'm great at that, and I'm great at jerky. Yeah, if you can get me, if you can get me something to make a fire with, then I can get that going. I just need some wood. Oh, yeah, but I mean like, you know, rabbits or pheasants or anything in these woods.

I can hunt it. Just tell it, to pick anything, I swear. Red's like up, like ready to pace. I don't think anything killed just yet. Are you sure? Because I can kill anything. He's like stretching his legs. If you need to just get it out of your system, if you need to go...

Okay, I'll be right back! All right. And Red like runs out of the tent. All right. Well, I'm going to just start sending this up anyways. I think, yeah, Doran pushes together the pile of wood that was his leftover from last night and grabs a few extra pieces. And he says, oh, would you like me to start the fire for you? Mari just uses druid craft and sort of waves a hand, like not even thinking and it just lights.

Fuck you! In the hand, it like Doran's holding it. It like lights on fire, the wood in his hand. That's a neat trick. Oh, Doran, don't... Oh, no. Danger. What?

What? Actually, I'll let that one pass because it kind of just is. You're not wrong. Yeah, this one is. By the time the fire is, like, getting to its ember stage, Red comes back in. There's, like, two hairs dead, like, kind of hanging his hand and, like, a fish on the hook. It's like, there was a river nearby, and also these two hairs, they're plump and ready.

All right. Don't worry. There are more. by this point is already she's has like a like a big sort of flat pot in her bag like sort of like a like a almost like a frying pan but a tiny tiny bit deeper and uh she started making what's basically like a porridge but she has cinnamon and stuff like that and has worked sort of ground some of like a grade some of that in missing in yeah fire root yes and it's a real spicy boy and dorin like a child in the kitchen is like sitting there watching you and then you see him like reach over and

rip up some of the fresh grass that's melted inside the hut and he's like about to put it in and you're like you can put it in yours but i wouldn't recommend it no grass oh okay all right oh i guess i'll let you do the cooking you know what grass in yours dirt to thicken or you're i've got a i've still got some cabbage left and he pulls out like this like rotting limp cabbage shrivel oh it's got still got lots of nutrition left in it if you want to you we can use this cabbage yeah And Red turns around again, and the hairs that he had his, like, back to you for, like, two minutes are now, like, skinned and, like, completely ready to be, like, quartered and stuff. Oh, well, I appreciate it, and she, uh, do you guys have any, I have a little bowl, but do you guys have anything? Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And Red pulls them all out from the bag of holding. That's so cute. Yeah, Doran made these for us early on. He carved them out of a stumbling. And I usually just eat with my hands anyways.

Oh. The woodwork is quite lovely. I think you're just being nice. And then there's another one of those Ren and Stimpy shot style pictures. And it's like this like bark, bark bowl. Just eat around the splinters. Yeah.

He's more of an iron worker than a woodworker. Well, she like, she looks at it. She's like, no, no. And she like quickly looks back to Jack and just like nods her head. She's like, I'm just being used. Clearly they've been hacked. You know, they've been made with an axe. They're rustic.

It's fine. It's in our object, four months old. Yeah, it's a trick. And it's been made with an axe that's too big to do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, she portions out some of this sort of... There were originally tables. Oh, God.

We left a trail of angry inns. Yeah, you guys have like a savory oatmeal going on? Yeah, yeah. It's got breakfast paella. Yeah. and serves that up. This is fantastic. She's a tiny little salt cellar in her bag, and she puts a little bit on, and she's like,

yeah, this salt actually comes from where my grandparents are from. And this is before I left, this is what my grandmother gave me. Oh, wow. That's all she gave you. Too salty now, though. Too salty. Can you take some off? Yeah.

It is delicious. It is delicious. It is delicious. very special. This is very delicious. And then Dorek kind of put some grass in it. But with the flare, you know, like really has it that long fall for the cast. No, no.

Instead, he's like, yeah, this is really good. And then he turns to Jack as he's like sprinkling some grass in it. And he's like, yeah, it's good. But I mean, really we didn't need the whole hype of blue, whatever. It's not nearly bland enough. No, it's very flavorful. I mean, don't get me wrong. Because he's used to the, to bland.

lands too. Doran would have eaten dirt and him and fine. Oh, Maori, that feels good. I'll save the rest of this in the bag of holding. We can heat it up for lunch. It just throws it. I'm just imagining him just being like, sloppy, wet.

And then you wonder why Jack's like, I'll keep the portable hole. No, it's perfect and pristine. I'm taking that goddamn hole back as soon as I can. As soon as I'm sleeping. Red's going to be over you. It was a gift from my mom. Precious.

It was a gift from your mom to me. Yeah, that seems reasonable. She handed it to me. You were your gift from your mom. To you? No, thank you. Return to send her. And I'll take my hole with me.

Ah, delicious, Marie. Hey, what do you think we get these stone people back to life? Maybe they know where the, I almost said, dragon layer. Oh, that's the surest down my spine. Oh, yeah, I guess so. Red stands up from the stump that they've been all eating and sitting on and stands the thing up. Yeah, yeah.

Are you even sitting on that poor halfling this whole time? We all have been. Oh, my God. It's like open hand is like holding the pan. Like, we're just housing it to hang stuff. There's like a tick-tack toe board drawn all over their back. Mari's furiously cleaning it off like, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. I won't know the difference.

It's great. All right. Jack, do you do you know anything to help with this? Well, so as Jack reaches down

and feeds the last little scraps of his breakfast to Kieran and, so that, I mean, it's not, you don't leave any. It just falls through to the ground.

It's like, it's like that scene in Casper when the ghosts are eating and all the food falls fucking to the ground. Doesn't pass through like a ghost? It's still very cute, though. I mean, I have a couple of theories about what we could do to help.

There's a charm that I was bestowed by Elrin, this feathered draconic spirit from the great worm cave that, you know, had a power that I think could have brought them back to life, but we'd had to use it earlier. But I think it's some sort of restorative magic like that, which is not necessarily my strong suit, but might be something that, you know, if you've ever heard of that kind of, you know,

charm or healing something, you know, in your traditions, I'm, you know, I'm sure we could adapt it to this. Yeah, I know a few things. I know a few things. I know the stuff that my, my mother taught me before I left, and I think I can try something. She gives Jack a look and she's like, do you don't have any experience with this kind of magic, do you? Not in the academic sense, no. I've I've felt the effects of it. I could certainly, as one petrified, try and walk you through what it felt like to become unpetrified. I don't think I need to know that at this minute.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember that red? Oh, that's crazy. Yeah, that was nice. Just remember a week of silence. It was so nice. Mari looks at the halfling and she's like, she's like, Jack, I just want to show you something.

And she like puts her one. hand out to him. Like just take my hand for one second. Absolutely. And she puts the other hand on the petrified halfling and starts to concentrate really hard and as she does. Oh. It's almost like she's trying to untangle the pieces of the rock and the pieces of the person that's within and trying to pull each part like away from each other so that they separate and so that the halfling becomes whole again and the rock gets pulled away and there's this sort of warmth that builds through the whole thing that Jack would be able to feel this this magic that comes up from the earth and moves into the person that she's depetrifying doing his best to whatever part of the conduit that he's

helping to conduct something from the earth to try and not disrupt that well like picking apart in his mind like oh abjuration interesting i wouldn't have expected you know he can't help himself she's mostly just trying to show him what this kind of magic is like because his magic just feels deeply foreign. Yeah. And like Doran turns to red and they're both kind of not paying attention, but Doran like gives red one of those smack on the arm. Look, look, look.

Huh? Yeah, look. That's amazing. Oh, Robin. What? Well, they're making that pulling the stone out of them. Magic uses using magic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You may not find interesting. I find it, wow. I find it interesting. Like, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just watch.

You know, it's kind of every day, really. Like moisture wicking up a cloth, color begins to creep back into the halflings form. Her posture softens and then slouches. And she sinks to the snow for a few heartbeats before her eyes fly open and she lashes out boldly with a fist and hits only empty air. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa. You're safe. You're safe. Calm down, that tiger. You got to hit somebody. Who? Who are you? My name is red-handed Robin. This is my best friend Mary, my best friend Doran, and my best friend Jack.

And we're adventurers and heroes. Hello. And Mari here healed you. Hi. And we're not giants. Yeah. I guess it worked. You saved me. Yeah. I guess we did.

Thank you. You're welcome. Yeah. I'm sorry. I just gave me a little. Oh, I'm sorry, just gave me a second, and she, like, puts a hand down to the ground and sort of settles back. Yeah, and as she does, red wipes the X that we left on her back accidentally from the X's and O's games. What's your name? Veranda Jezrel.

Nice to meet you, Veranda. Isn't that like a balcony? It's Voranda, like, with the O and not an E, but, yeah, I've got that my whole life. Oh, okay, Miranda. Vranda Jezelneck? Jeseril Jezirle Mari gives her a glass of water

Don't ask where the water came from Just accept it I won't I never look a gift water in the mouth So what happened Were you running from Those giants back there? Yes

I was Well traveling the road As I suppose you are She looks around Seeing herself in familiar Environment Yes

I was traveling the road, and these stone giants came upon me. I put up a fight, and they trampled Todd. Oh. And then I, it all went black. What happened? Well, stone giants have been known to turn people to stone, and it's a pretty uncomfortable process, so we're imagining that's what happened to you and your Tressam friend.

Do you have her? We do. Can I see her, please? She's still a little stiff. What are your thoughts on statuettes? What do you mean? And Red reveals the statue Tressum still. Oh, flycatcher.

I can bring her back. It's just I need some time to get some strength back because bringing you back was a lot. And I can't, I don't think I can do this more than once. It's every day. It's very, there's like a, there's like a thin sheen of sweat on Mari's face. Oh. I mean, gross.

Ew, how dare you. Oh, what? Girl sweat. Don't mind her. She's always wet. Who's the one who just brought back the halfling? Yeah, I got all sweaty doing it. Well, and she was working really hard.

Yeah. Not very ladylike of you. Listen. Was Todd another halfling like you? Oh, you're donkey, obviously, right? Yes, my donkey. Oh, it was a donkey. We saw it got squished out all over the cabin.

Yeah, that's right. Sorry. I loved that mule. Hey, but at least you're alive. Yeah. Yeah. So where are you coming from? Loudwater?

Whereabouts were you heading? I was heading to Loudwater, actually. Oh, really? Yes, I travel the roads here and there. I can't ever find a place to settle, really. Why is that? The road calls to me. I feel that.

I do know every innkeeper from Never Winter to Dead Snows. It's one of the benefits of being a traveler, I suppose. You make ends meet. Do you perform? Do you take up idle tasks? Oh, no, I'm not a performer. I just mostly ask for work wherever I live. land, you know, cleaning, stalls, washing dishes, telling stories sometimes, but mostly just of

the places I've been. You mean people pay you to tell stories? Yes. Oh. Sometimes. I need to find one of those places. Where were you coming from, Varenzal? It's Vanandal Jezelneck.

Show some respect. Sorry. Vananda. Don't worry about them. They haven't learned my name either. Willick's-dexic. I came from Oral Bar. Oh.

Oral Bar. You know it? Alex doesn't know it, but Doran would. Whoa. Whoa. Guys, it's dropped for a moment. I didn't realize you were with Alex in here. There is... Oh, yeah, Oral Bar. I'm so grateful that you helped me.

Of course. Have you had much running with giants before these two? Well, yes, unfortunately. They've been causing trouble in the communities all throughout the Grey Peaks and the land surrounding, as far as I know. stone giants especially in this area

though I've never really had the misfortune to come this close before they sure don't like other people's structures they built that's for sure no they're racist like your cat incidentally what it's a callback

hey if there's anything I can do to repay you or and she looks up at Mari if I could please beg of you the same power that brought me to my current for flycatcher. Yeah. I know you said that you're tired, but... Too bad?

He's the closest friend that I have in the world. No, of course. Of course. As soon as I can again, I'll bring him back. Yeah. Just hang with us for a little bit. Yeah, if you don't mind backtracking a little bit, we're probably going to be hitting that town of yours. I mean, it'd be nice to have a night's rest before trying to hit Loudwater again anyway, I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah, on the way back, yeah.

And on the topic of stone giants, just before we get off it too far, we're actually up here looking for their layer. Well, we're basically ordained through God to stop essentially the giants from terrorizing Fyroon by addressing the reordining. So we're kind of like celebrities in a way. But anyway, if you happen to know or have heard anything about where maybe, Stone giants would concentrate or culminate. Any information you have would be very much helpful to us. I didn't understand half of the words that you just said, but I can probably help you.

I've heard tell that there is a place called Deadstone Cleft. In the northern reaches of the Grey Peaks, she picks up a stick in her hand, and she begins to draw a general map of the area. As her stick touches the ground, Jack puts a map underneath it with his illusions. He can't let it go. He doesn't like low quality. I'm a visual learner.

I just need to see it. One day it'd be nice just to go rustic. 1080P or nothing. Once you've been spoiled. 4K. Jack's one of those guys who are just always like worrying about like FPS when it comes to like games or whatever. They're always going to squeeze a few more frames or optimal performance. Your eyeballs don't even work that well.

The thing about her map. is that it's not from the top down it's more from the perspective of someone walking the roads it's like you're trying to give someone directions to a place using road signs like you want to go past the thing and then take a left and blah blah blah with she's not really giving you google maps view of it you know what i mean right but you can definitely pull things from her description and use them to illuminate the map that you have for sure that's kind of cool As she's drawing, she tells you of some of the dangers that might await you, these tribes of stone giants that are so aggressive that they'll throw boulders at any movement that they see, these dark shapes in the sky that have been seen by many travelers that hunt people down, and the rumbling that comes from deep in the mountain as the rocks themselves move and shift. Well.

But eventually, she gives you as good as an X on your map, Jack. It's some distance from Doran's hometown. Again, the gray peaks are a vast range of mountains, but you have a general sort of direction that you should be heading. Oh, thank you so much. That's actually very helpful. Those are great directions, yeah. We were looking for a little bit more of a way to nail down our, uh,

our goal intimidating as it may seem so tell me Varanduke have you been down to Scarborough I haven't been there lately but it is a nice spot now I'm I'm concerned that

giants have caused problems have you heard anything of giants causing problems down there definitely in the area though as I said I haven't heard anything lately is that what you're headed maybe in a roundabout way

Hey, Dorn, that also makes me think If you're on good terms with your wife's family Would it be wise to stop in and make sure they're doing okay as well? Oh Maybe they could use some help Well, if there's anybody alive left I suppose I guess we could if it's

Let's just worry about it if we get there Maybe they don't want to see you But you might have a responsibility You know, you told me what you did on the surprise party and those who are left behind might need your axe. Let's just worry about it if we get there.

All right, Red. It's kind of difficult to think about. Mari's just sitting off to the side with Veranda. Just like, I think he's a divorcee, but I'm not sure. These things get so complicated sometimes. This is delicious, by the way. Oh, thank you so much.

Yeah, yeah. I'm glad that I was able to, I remember to bring some spices with me. So you guys are, headed out into the mountains then, I guess. I'll just come with you until, like you said, you regain your strength. And if there's anything, obviously, I can help you. I can help you carry this.

She points at the pot with the porridge in it. Whatever I can do to help, however I can repay you. I like anything, pretty much. I'm sure we can use a little bit of help. But, uh, but yeah, for now, I think we're pretty, we're pretty ready to go and we've got our stuff. And Doran stands up and leaves the circle while you guys are talking. Uh, he's one of those stoic, strong types, uh, you know, real toxic masculinely. You should have seen him with the flower he gave him the other day. He covered it right up.

Yeah, and then he ate it. And then he ate. No, I ate it. Oh, right. Yes. One of you ate it. That's because I like the flowers. That's true. Oh. So, uh, verando, or whatever your name is, uh, you seem awfully helpful. Well, as my mom always told me, make yourself helpful in this world and you'll find your ways made easy. That's a great, great way of thinking. Anyway, I suppose we might as well head, uh, north. It's a two-day journey to that town, so we might as well get moving. Let's get to it. I'll go get Doran. He's standing looking exactly in the direction of where his home would be, way off in the distance.

And just kind of like watching for, you know, smoke or any, any, anything at all. And just thinking. The mountain tops that conceal your home city right now are couched in clouds. It's too high up to even. be able to see from this distance and really the mountains are themselves are barely discernible on the horizon they're kind of just a dark smear across the land you know they're there but they haven't resolved yet you're still far away Thank you once again to our wonderful Patreon supporters. Alexander, Artistic Witch, Brian Blass, Brianna Weber, Michael Weber,

Brain Marie, Christopher, Colin Burkart, creature, cytosine, Daniel, Elizabeth H, Glory, Doug, Kirsten Wolf, Haley, Heather Nichols, K.R. Lazz, Lazzania, Leader J, Lerleigh Feldman, Last Ruth on the left, Lost with Two Faces, Marimo, Melissa, Moss, Matilda Rushing, Matt Wordberry, Merlin, Michelle Khan, Tama Kornatsa, Reagan, Shadow Haven, Sky, Tara, Tony Pepperone, Trapper 939, and Tyler Fowler. Thank you so much. So naughty. Secret backside of snow. Snow butt.

What the fuck is that? I was me drooling over this snow's sexy ass. Look at all this ass snow. Snow ass. Now the tent's like sweaty. I gotta get out of here. I gotta get out of here. Sweaty snow ass.

The perfect temperature and yet somehow it feels very awkward. It's damp. No, I didn't say any of that. That'll be for outtakes. Why is it clammy?