Legends of Avantris - Icebound | Ep. 22 | Make No Fire

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Displaced to an eerie island, our heroes grapple with escalating tensions, casting a shadow over our their very destiny. The line between survival and catastrophe blurs, and what is at stake begins to transcend beyond their own lives into sanity. Can our heroes endure?   Gain access to an exclusive campaign, Shroud Over Saltmarsh, over on Patreon: https://legendsofavantris.com/patreon The Crooked Moon, a folk horror supplement for 5e, is available for preorder! Get the Crooked Moon at: https://thecrookedmoon.com/ Watch more D&D adventures in the world of Avantris live on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/legendsofavantris Check out our merch store: https://shop.legendsofavantris.com  Join our community on Discord: https://legendsofavantris.com/discord Watch our many campaigns on YouTube: https://legendsofavantris.com/youtube  All other links: https://linktr.ee/legendsofavantris   Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/32CUd2hY614?si=eOoiDNtjze2avrmp

Welcome to Legends of Adventress. I'm Queenie, Miss March if you're nasty, and you're listening to Icebound. Here's what happened last time. That's great because that means that there are like three different ways that we can tackle this. Like everything they said, it seemed like success is in our future no matter what we choose to do, whether we talk or fight or steal. What happens now is up to us. If we give her what she wants or what she seeks, we can free the relic without battle.

Do we know what that is? Farewell, perhaps our paths will meet again one day. May the Triand be with you in Giant. Mm-hmm. And also with you. This isn't gonna help. I'm just gonna tell me. Mr. Scabascotch, tell me immediately. How do I get rid of these feelings?

Tell me. Well, I shot of yellow light into the sky as him and Ket disappear. You see the same star on the horizon. on the horizon. And it is a little bit brighter, and it is no longer flickering. And you feel this strange chill. Looks like inside of the light,

a cloaked figure. Before you are pushed back into your body. And you all look down and your fingers are beginning to curl and pull and fold from this same direction. Fuck no. You are all starting to warp and change and stretch and elongate.

it takes you a moment, but you realize that another few steps in any direction, and you could fall off what is a flat top of some great structure. Oh, no. You see this black stone. Oh, no. Definitely basalt. Do they vary in size? Mm-hmm.

Yeah, there are two very short ones, two incredibly tall ones, maybe even three. Yeah. Yeah. You see, there are people. You can see them here at the top. Yes. We just need to knock on the door, and we'll be able to find shelter

and help out the rest of the crew. Isn't that right, everyone? You look up and you realize that you're staring at a lighthouse. You know where you are. He answers your question. What do you mean? We're in Striga.

The sound of crashing waves surrounds you as you stand before the enigmatic tower. Its dark silhouette casting an eerie contrast against the frozen landscape of Dracar. It is difficult to tell if chimes echo in your ears or if it is simply a trick of the wind. You shouldn't be here. Moments ago, you were hundreds of miles from here. Moments ago, you were observing the stars above next to a warm and crackling fire. Here, you are realizing a new definition of cold.

It is as though the very marrow within your bones is expanding into ice even now. You look again and the sound of crashing waves surrounds you, and you are looking up at the stone face of a lighthouse. The overcast gray sky feels somehow timeless. Rocky gravel crunches under your feet. The cold quickly is sacked from you, but it is still brisk, and you feel no warmth either. standing in the doorway, an older man looks out at you with a confused but kind expression.

What do you mean? We're in striga, he responds. What do you mean? We're in striga. The words repeat over and over in your mind. You should not be here moments ago. Moments ago you weren't here. Anyways, you gather your resolve and step closer, the secrets within beckoning, while the The sound of crashing waves surrounds you as you stand before the enigmatic tower. It's dark silhouette casting an eerie contrast against the frozen landscape of Dracar.

In the distance, it is difficult to tell if the chimes echo in your ears, or if it is simply a trick of the wind. You shouldn't be here. Moments ago, you were hundreds of miles from here. You look up again and you are staring at the stone face of a lighthouse. Standing in the doorway, an older man looks out at you with a confused but kind expression. What do you mean? We're in Striga, he responds.

The words repeat again and again in your mind. What are you doing here? Moments ago, somehow feels like eons now. You gather yourself and step closer. The sound of crashing waves surrounds you. What happens next is up to you. I'll take my pipe and noticing the sea spray around. me. I'll turn it over.

How long you've been on this rock, my good man? Oh, my whole life. My whole life. I am a lighthouse keeper. But how did we and where did we come? Uh, you got any booze? I was just about to ask you. You seem confused. You seem a little snowy, is that?

Oh, ah, now that you mention it. Yeah, that's strange. Is everything all right? My name is Ilban. I could use a drink. Do we stand beneath a lighthouse? I'm sorry? Do we stand beneath at the doorway of a lighthouse? As clearly as you can see one, yes, of course.

Are you gonna invite us in? I was actually just leaving, and if you want to, you can join us in the house just adjacent to the lighthouse. I have no problem with... with giving you a little drink, that's fine. But there are chores to be done, and I was on my way to paint the side of the house. Would you join me if you want to talk? We can, I happily answer any questions you may have.

We would much appreciate your hospitality. We have been traveling for so long, I think. That is a good question. How did you come to be here? Ah, well, now that you mentioned, and I'm not really sure what we were doing previously. Yonair? How much do we remember? All of it.

We walked. I look around. Are we like on a rock in the middle of the ocean? You are on, and I'll paint the scene. You were standing on what looks like if you were to be on a boat and view the lighthouse from afar, almost like a door stop, a wedge that that comes out of the ocean itself, very low to the actual sea level on one side

and very tall on the side that you now stand, where the actual lighthouse is, cliffs on all sides. It is an assembly of dark black rocks. And you can see on the side that he gestured towards, that there does appear to be a modest house, a light keeper's house. And he looks like silver,

silvered hair, probably in his 50s or 60s, wearing patchwork clothes, clothes that have clearly been repaired multiple times, and they're almost like overalls. And clearly shoring clothes, work clothes. The actual lighthouse in front of you is painted stark white. It is tall and beautiful. You can see windows that clearly spiral on the way up,

giving you an impression that there would be a spiral staircase do venture inside. And there are these gravel paths that go in all direction. Very little vegetation. You don't see anything other than rock and the buildings I've just described. I'm happy to answer any more questions that you might have regarding your surroundings. Are you the only wiki on this island? Oh, no, no, no. It's me Ilvan and my wife. She's watching the ocean. She's looking for ships just in case. We still have some daylight left, but we always try to keep good watch. Well, perhaps we can give you a hand with your chores. Ah! Perhaps I can give a hand with your chores while Mr. Stabas-Colchin joins your

fine brandy. Thank you. That would be welcome. It has been difficult with two. What are your names? No, hey, uh, Mr. Dredway, you can call me Barnabose. Mr. Dredwig, you can call me Barnabose. Mr. Dredwick. Barnabose. I'm Taishan. Taishan. I'm Ilban, pleasure. Queenie March, Nassimates you.

Queenie. I am called you're near. Yornear. Scrim's stabascoch, but Scrim is fine, thank you. Scrim. Very good. Also, I'm not completely heartless. I can give you some gold for the booze. Oh, you can keep the gold.

I'm happy to make a gift of it. A sucker. Come come now. Walk with me. Walk with me. and he turns and closes the door, makes sure that it clicks, and then he picks up what is next to him. Clearly a box of sorts made of rough wood,

nailed together. Inside, you can see painting supplies, bucket, a brush, that sort of thing. Come, come on, and starts to walk. I will silently follow, everybody, I'll be last, but I want to sort of look at the surf and just look at all of my surroundings and get a sense of like, does this feel natural?

Is the ocean moving in the way that I would expect? Is it breaking on the rocks like I would expect? Is there anything, or is it simulation-esque? Oh my God. We're going right for it. Is it hollow room as? What role would you like to use for that purpose? I can see nature or perception.

Perception. Insight even. I mean, like you're trying to like, glimpse, right? And like, okay. I will say that looking to the other side, you look down the steep cliff, you can see rocks jutting up, almost like black teeth, swallowing up. And you can see these large crashing waves that hit creating this spray of white mist before sinking back down, crashing

again and again and again. Make a perception check, and I'm going to use a twisting thread. Mm-hmm. Woofda. Let's roll this one place. Well, that's a natural one, so it's any worse than that. That's a nine. A nine total?

You look down and your vision feels as calm, calmer than the sea. You look down and you can see the rocks. You can feel the gravel underneath your feet. This is what you would expect standing on a night. island like this is far out to sea and you your eyes trace upwards the the house and the lighthouse face the ocean what is clearly a long black a long flat line but in the other direction you can see very very very thin a coast line what maybe eight nine miles away or so and in the light of the overcast sky you do get a sense

This is a well-positioned lighthouse. Even with a nine, you can see that occasionally there are rocks that just sort of eddy up and jut out from the sea. You can imagine that any ship that tried to pass too close to the coast would be in trouble without the warning light of this house. I'll follow behind.

I will also follow. As we walk, I'd walk up next to him. Ilbon, can I help you carry your supplies to the house? I wouldn't mind. That's very generous. Thank you. Here. Sucker. Do you get many visitors here? My friends and I, we... We... Recently in a land, Dracar. Do you know of it?

Dracar? You were recently in Dracr? Yes, we just walked from there. He's walking with a bit of a hunch, clearly just from age. You can imagine that he might be taller than you. if he were standing up straight, but he actually is a little shorter just for having it. And with his shoulders up,

yes, I've heard of Dracar. That's on the other side of the world. What do you mean? It's recently Dracar. I could spend another 10 years trying to get from here to Dracar and maybe not make it. The side of the world, that can't be right.

It is right, Mr. Fireblossom. When we're done, I have many nautical math. and a globe. When we're done with this, very quickly, there isn't much daylight left, but very quickly, I would happily show you what I mean when I say the opposite. It is directly, directly on the opposite side of the world. Yeah, maybe the better question is, are we dead? Did we finally starve to death? Did a horrific creature just tear our guts from us? And now we're just all having a shared hallucination in the afterlife and we're all just bleeding out in Dracar? You're implying that we are in some sort of purgatory, reliving the same Promethean nightmare, over and over and over again.

That's exactly right. I'm waiting for some horrific Reaper to come take my soul away, and I'll never see my friends ever again, or this kindly keeper who's offering me his booze. Mr. Eggers already did that a few years back. So did the producers have lost. We don't talk about that, Mr. Boyer, Lossom. Oh, no, sorry.

I'm just trying to offer helpful suggestions, all right? Do you think that something could have happened to us in the... We remember the light, pretty clearly? You remember everything. The star that was like, whoa. You remember the star. You remember your body shifting and warping. You remember seeing each other.

Like, almost get like, extruded and pulled. And you remember flying almost very quickly over the surface of the... So we are not the us that approached the tower. approach the tower, we are the us that are on top of the tower. That, you don't know. Oh, fuck. Well, we have memories, though. I'm saying that. We don't have

only those memories. We've got all of these memories. You have memories of coming to rest from your journey of transportation being pulled and then landing onto the surface of the tower. You have memories of going to the edge and realizing that there is no stopping great fall on top of what is a snow-covered, icy stone tower. and then looking down, seeing the ripples of ice, almost like sound waves and small figures hopping down.

That's when you also are remembering this. There was a doubling, if you recall. And now you are here with the captain again, and here with Ilbon, and here in front of this lighthouse, and since that shift, there hasn't been any peculiarities to speak of, but you remember both of those things very clearly.

I take it back. Not a helpful suggestion. We're fucking dead. This is awful, this is hell. This is one of the circles of hell, and we are in it, we are stuck, and we are dead. Your friend is very, you call him scrim, I think you should call him grim. I don't like this guy in there. I don't like this guy in there. I'm thinking up when you're laying down. He's very smart and good at plans, but he can be a little gloomy. I feel that from his very words, yes. If you'll excuse me, I need to, and he takes a few steps forward, and he starts to

You get up to the side of the house, and you can see this sort of ivy has started to grow and grip the side of the house, and he is taking some of his tools that he's had hung in his pockets, and he's starting to snip and pull, and you hear the frustration in his voice as when he pulls. Some of the paint already is coming off. This is clearly his work site that you have arrived at. And looking at the house, it has very steep roofs.

It is also painted very mundanely, almost a wider gray, and inset windows that have like wavy glass, that thick leaded glass that you would see in many homes like this. And he gets to work. The captain steps forward. This could be very good. I think this could be if we figure out

what the bridge is here. We won't starve. Indrakov. We could go back, get the crew, grab them, bring them back here, find out how to shift through, and we'll be in Strigger. We'll be saved. Don't take this the wrong way, but it's really hard to be talking to you and looking to you right now. How does your leg feel, Captain? Which leg? Both.

My right leg feels a little stiff, actually, yes. Give it a feel for me, would you, Captain? Which leg did he break? His right leg. And you can see him going to the left leg and the right leg, but he spends more time with the right leg, curious and confused by Barnabosa's prompt. This just keeps getting worse.

I don't know what we're going to do. Who's going to tell him? Who's going to tell him? It'll probably be me. There's no need to tell anyone. What do you mean? There's no need. Don't.

How often do you get to tell a dead guy that he's going to die? Scrim, we don't know anything. Now we've moved all the way across the world. Are you guys telling me that if I was gonna die, you wouldn't let me know? Queenie could have pointed out three hours ago. Are you hiding this from the captain? Yeah, we're doing like an aside thing

as he's like checking himself out. I'm, you know. We're having an aside. Okay, you keep it whisper low. Yeah, I'm stage whispering. Holy shit, he's dead. Oh. We do not know the timeline.

We do not know if he's a spirit. does not know if he still needs to meet his faith or not. Space spirit? I reach him to my box. Hey, Bonobos, help me out with that. Come, throw a little over my shoulder too, okay. Here, take some. I'll casually walk forward over my shoulder.

I'm throwing salt at the captain. It's like spring. Just seeing what's happening. Um, Barnabos, you're worrying me. This seems like a good fortune. Wouldn't you agree? I, that it might be, Captain, that it might be. Perhaps we will save our crew yet.

Indeed. Perhaps. Indeed. We may have been caught in the ice and I am, sorry. I am, I am. But we were so close to that tower, we were able to see it, and now we're here. It seems like fate, wouldn't you agree? Uh-huh. Are you concerned the fact? that we seemingly transported halfway across the world. This is unusual, but portals,

two other places in the world, circles, there must be some connection. May I inspect you? The leg stiffness is concerning and could be a symptom of a blood clot. I was going to remove my heavier garment anyway. your garment anyway. It's not cold as it was just a moment ago. Please. You're the surgeon. You may go on. And I want to just spend like 10 minutes, 15 minutes, like looking him in the eyes and sort of feeling the leg to see if I can just like feel some sort of break or anything

that would feel off for like a living person or any sense of undeth or anything like that. He didn't break his leg until on the way back though, right? Right. Which is way he was a stiff right leg. It's interesting, you know. Some wibbly wobbly, timely, stuff going on. Your room wouldn't say that. You take a few steps forward,

and the four of you go to assist, let's say, with pulling vines or... Waiting for my booze. You get the sense that you're going to have to find the booze yourself very quickly, but you don't get any resistance. When you start to like go to the door, open it, start to walk in, and we'll say that you actually enter the domicile.

Yes, I help myself. You make your way inside. You hear his voice, the voice of Ilban. Just be careful. Don't disturb my wife. She's very focused. All right, all right, all right. Whatever. Yes, sure.

You start to make a medicine chef check, and I'll use a twisted bread. Oh, George is ripping these. I love it. I fucking love it. Let's go. Well, he rolls a dungeon master. I'm sorry if this is a cringe question.

Given my backstory and how much I've sailed, would I recognize which coast of Strigivis is, and would I have remembered a lighthouse such of this in such placement? I would say the DC would be very low, given your backstory. Wish me a second one. But you would have to roll for it to make,

to sort of get a sense of where you are on the many seats. Damn. What am I rolling? He does a intelligence, but I think it would be at advantage, so it would cancel out the thread that I'm using. Just straight. Too. I'm going and putting it back to what it was.

Intelligence, that'll be a 16. 16 is more than enough. You have a sense, and you've traveled all of the seas. I mean, we never agreed on like, we didn't sit down with a map and been like, yep, here, here, here, here, here, here, here. I would say that basically given where I would have been like whaling and then going back to the McCona Islands or whatever, passing Strigger would have been a relative. It's kind of in the way.

The way I think of Striga tends to be the southeast and the southwest. This is the northern coast. Would you say that Barnabot has ever gone and shipped sailed north of Strigga? I probably would not have gotten close enough to the northern coasts. Okay. I would have gone around the east side. So you have a sense with a 16, that this is actually a coast that you'd not seen before. Either you passed it in the night, but getting your bearings, even with an overcast sky, you have a sense that you've not been near these shores before. Got it.

I will just continue to help, and I'll just try to get a sense of my bearings. And this whole time, I'm kind of, like, reaching and grabbing my shell and grabbing my flask and, like, looking off to the sea spray. and I'm very tense and I'm not sure because I want to like be by the sea and I want it to be real but Barnabos knows that it is fucking isn't real. So I am like trying to process what to do just to kind of but I so I'm very distracted. You feel especially conflicted about this because the salt in the air is exactly right. The smell of the of the not humid but sea-soaked air being what is what is. it is. You've not been near the sea for months and months and months and months and

all of a sudden it's like walking into a room like your childhood bedroom. All of a sudden the smells are exactly correct. Wow. Damn. That's good. So like Barnabos has confirmed that this isn't real. Is what you're saying. No, no, no. I don't believe it. I don't believe it. He doesn't believe it. He refused to believe. I'm not confirming that as the it feels like the sea. It feels totally real. It feels real. It feels real. that it isn't. It feels right. I'm very distracted as far as I'm thinking about my lover

I'm thinking about, and especially with all the memories that kind of got all jostled by the thought devours. And everything that came back there, I'm very distracted. The tape was beneath you guys. I got a 14.

It's actually pretty good. 14 is pretty fucking good. The first one was a natural 20 though. Yeah, so you dread it in the right time, my friend. Get ready for that. You are investigating and you do the medicine thing. You feel around the neck, you look in the eyes, you like a little bit of this, it's thorough.

And you do not feel even like pushing against the bone a little bit. You don't get a sense that there's ever been a break there. It feels whole. It's certainly uninjured. You're not causing any harm or bruising or anything like that. when you step up and stand back up in order to finish your assessment, you feel that this is the captain as he would have been in the moments leading up to the tower. You do notice that your hands are now covered in ectoplasm, though, strangely.

What is this white sticky stuff? Someone's safe, Tom? So what's close to the inner thigh. Anyways. You agree. Don't you, you're near? Agree with what? This is the best possible thing we could have found.

We were looking for shelter and we found escape. Does it not feel too good to be true? Sometimes you have to take too good to be true. I'll be honest with you. There's a lot less food on that ship than I have revealed. There's mostly gold. You asshole. There's mostly gold.

We wouldn't survive the winter if we were truly, truly track there. I'm part of the Zuma? I need him. What a dick. What? Did you not expect to be trapped in the ice at all? No, no, no, no, no. We were gonna sail right through it.

Fall is only just coming on. The map said it would be fine. The maps, we had to shoot the gap. We had to shoot. Think of all, sometimes you have to roll the dice. Sometimes you have to take a little risk. Isn't that right? Your hubris brings upon your death.

I've seen it in the weird. If you have no one else to blame but yourself, I want you to know that. Well, cast blame all you want. We're here. If we figure out how to get back, everyone has saved my crew. Everyone, everyone that we care about is saved.

Enjoy your final two weeks. I'll turn, I'll walk inside the house. Scrim. Yes. You walk inside through the door. Yeah, I am, Scrim is oddly called. We've had a couple, a couple of weeks. This has been weird.

This is the most normal thing Scrim has seen in a while. He's bizarrely chill, as he proceeds to enter into someone else's home to look for their liquor. You feel especially confident. You walk into what is clearly a living room space. You take a quick gander at the layout and you get a sense that the kitchen and the dining

area would be over here, that there are bedrooms in this direction. And then on the other side, you can clearly see windows that lead out to a porch. I believe the word is a veranda. Ah, that's very nice. It's covered, and you can see the back of a figure rocking there, just adjacent to a telescope. You turn immediately into the kitchen, and you start to go through the cupboards, you start to go through to find where the booze is.

Yeah, I do a little, okay, not bothering you. All right, kitchen. Make an investigation check to find the booth. booth and I'm gonna use a twist of red. I figured, yep, here we go. Here we go. That's gonna be a six. Wow, looking real hot.

A three. This is bullshit. Why is the booze? I can sense it. Thank you, Pat. What, perception? I got an eight. That's that, Kim, that says bouz-z-

That's not at all the booze. What is bozay? No, that can be it. Fucking, oh, bullshit. You pull open covers. It's a liqueur. There are jars, there are containers. They're empty.

You pull open the next cupboard, and there are boxes. No, no, no, no, no liquor bottles here. You go to what is clearly like a small, there wouldn't be like a refrigerator, but like a cold box, right, an ice box, right? You open it and you find that the shelves are empty. You turn and you finally find the, what is clearly a drawer that rolls out.

And you can see what are clearly unopened, corked, waxed brandy bottles or whiskey bottles or some kind of booze. And you pull them up, you can see the label on the surface, you can see that they're unopened and there is no liquid inside of any of these bottles. Hey you, Ilban said you'd be in here. Where's your booze?

Completely forgetting they told me not to disturb it. Hey! Hey! What is this shit? It's empty. Why would you keep this? Hey! You hear the sound of footsteps on the wood creaking and pushing forward and in walks an older woman. Coppery hair, also somewhat tattered clothes,

and she looks at you with these bright eyes just staring at you. What are you doing here? Who are you? What are you doing in my house? Skrim, I've come from very, very, very far away, and your very nice husband, Ilban, said I could have some booze. Of course he did. That's very... What are you... I just explained it. I'm just looking for the alcohol. You're not welcome to the alcohol. I haven't met you.

Ilbon! Ilbon! Ilbon! Ilbon! She stomps forward, and as she does, she grabs you by your ear. And she pulls you out the kitchen, through the living room. Stop it, stop it, stop it. Out through the door. And she tosses you to the gravel floor. Oh!

Oh! Oh! You got as I get there. Ilban! Ilban! He turns. He turns. Oh, Delia!

Delia, please. There are these five, six guests. I've arrived at our door. I was painting. I was working on the vines. I was taking care. I know I have watched tonight, but they have arrived and they've offered to help. They've offered to help, so I thought, why not give some poos and some, uh, oh. Ilban, she almost pulled a spoon out of my ear.

We, we haven't had relief in how many weeks and you're just going to offer them, uh, whatever they want, whatever they care for. We all have to survive here and we were barely going to squeak by with just two. I offered Ilban goal. He told me now. For free, we're facing the responsibilities of the day. and you don't come to me right away when these people show up. Avoiding our problems won't make them disappear, Ilban. I know that here.

We don't have to argue about it right now. We can find a solution together. It's fine, it's fine. They're here, they're willing to help, really, really, really. You're nothing but of light on my existence, Silvan. How? Oh, crap. I have to go watch the seas now.

At least one of us is going to take care of their daily chores. She turns and she walks back into the house and the door slams shut. Good God, Zupon, that's your wife? That's Stelia. She's really, really quite lovely. I think you just surprised her. She did a number on my ear.

She doesn't love surprises. You know. Scrim doesn't like surprises. either. Surprise, there's no booze. Did you find the drawer? It's just next to the ice. Yeah, empty. There must be 10 bottles in there.

Empty bottles, ya buffoon? No. No, no, no, no. We haven't touched. We haven't touched the alcohol. Each one should be full. Somebody's been taking a nip of two. Good Lord.

Did you find these bottles? Yeah, they're all empty. Look. I still shake, I still hold the one that I had in my hand as she pulled my ear and then took me out of the, look, look, look, empty, empty, completely empty. I think your friend's mind has been warped or something. Here.

Ew. Still good. What? Delicious with brandy. Ah, ha. Eh. Does anything come out? Nothing but air.

You're a mess now, are you all right? You've poured it all out into your mouth and out and out into everything. You're a mess now. Who are you calling a mess? Here, here, here, here. And he hands you're a rack. Yeah, fine, give me that. I don't know what to do with this. I'm dry.

Do I perceive him as dry too? Yeah. Will you hold them? Yeah. And I mean dry in more ways than one. This is ridiculous. Pretend you are soaked with brandy. What would you do? Ah, ah, ah, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. He turns and he starts stirring paint. The vines have come off the wall. Do you know how to work a lighthouse, any of you?

I have experience as a wiki. I was only an apprentice. I never made it further. Terrific. That's great to hear. That's great to hear. You'll be welcome. You can man the light.

You can clean. You can help us fuel the engine room. If you have a preference, really, your experience will be welcome. And I will happily teach each of an in every one of you. What's needed? Did your wife say that your resupply was late?

No, it's only just arrived. Did I mishear that? And you feel the confusion based on the conversation that was being had. When relief came, him be feeling like it had only just arrived, and her feeling like it was months away or weeks away, does create a conflict in your brain. I gladly man the light, man the light for you, Ilban, for your hospitality.

Anything else that you need? Oh, sure, sure, sure. We don't have much in the way of places to sleep or anything like that, but I'm sure we can figure out some kind of arrangement. You all seem nice enough. We do not need shelter. If you do not have room. We will take shelter on the floor right here.

I slept on the floor. floor of a lighthouse. I can't imagine you sleeping out side of the house. It's a storm hifts. It can be brutal, brutal out here. Burdle is your wife. Scrim. Sorry, sorry. We'll take whatever arrangements

you have. We really we're so grateful, Ilban, for your hospitality. Thank you. Thank you. Like, Captain, you, relax. Take a load off. Be comfortable and these next weeks. I'm going to go

look at the sea before my watch, if you don't mind. Please, please. The extra hands, the extra pair of eyes, the extra minds that you also have, that's really very important to me. It's been a little over me,

and your presence is welcome. We can tell each other's stories, and I can show you you my maps? I'd love to learn more about the area, the world, see where we are in relation to where we came from. And we're happy to help earn our keep. Whatever chores you have to do, some of us.

Whatever chores you have to do, we're happy to support with your home. Take off your heavy clothes. If you're willing to get a little dirty, I would take, I have a second brush. Sure, please. And, Tyjian, you begin to be able to be able to be able to be. helping and you make short work of it.

You start to paint over the vine pulled paint. And pretty soon you're looking at what is very freshly cleared wall, now pristine. Barnabos, where do you go to think? I'll go outside. And I'm going to go out if there's like a jetty or something that would probably be dangerous for anyone that wasn't a Triton.

I would go stand as close to the sea as possible, even if I could get my ankles or up to my knees in waves, just to kind of feel the sea spray, smell it, and just try to feel, if this feels real, if I can feel my lover, if I can feel, and kind of try to make sense of all the confusing stuff that's been happening since all of the dream eater stuff. And my dream's kind of starting to have those memories come back.

You start to walk away from the time, the cliffs towards the sea where it is lowest and closest to the water. Queenie, you are near, Scrim, you are watching Taishen help, Ilban, and what are you doing as Barnabos begins to walk down the curving path towards the sea? If we've resigned ourselves to staying in the lighthouse, then Scrim would immediately go stake out the best spot. Okay. And just wait for Barnabos to come back. Knows that he's doing his weird thing, doesn't want to interrupt. Going in and being very...

Perhaps not being careful. However Scrim would do it. But you walk in... With haste. And you see that one of the bedrooms is, like, empty. And there's almost like boxes stacked around. Just clearly unoccupied. What might be room for two or three more.

And then the other bedroom is clearly where Delia and Ilban sleep. It's clearly been like the bed is unmade and It's lived in right so you get a sense that there's a second room Yeah, I would just take it out and just start like getting comfortable Okay, you immediately put your things down you take off your heavy blanket it's a little hot You were originally you know very cold if you'll recall just before your encounter with the tower So you're starting to acclimate in those ways as strange as this experience may be and we're probably just contemplate everything that's going on and again is like weirdly calm about it.

We've experienced so many weird things in the last like couple of weeks. They scrim's kind of like kind of rolling with it. Okay. Weirdly. Okay. Your name, Queenie. I would have followed behind Barnabose very slowly. I'd give him plenty of privacy, but I want to join him towards the sea. You let him get 100 bases out and then begin to trail. Barnabose may or may not be aware of Yoraneers.

but that is what you begin to do. Queenie. Queenie would fall behind and scout the land, but specifically commune with her bees, one, and have it fly up as high as it can go. Oh, okay. And see if it ever reaches an impasse. A dome. You send a scout.

and knowing that your connection to it could be miles in any direction. And it starts to go up. And you're following along with your near, is what you said? I'm just kind of scouting the land itself, looking for what grows here, if anything at all. If there are any herbs or plants or anything that I recognize? I won't make your role for it. There's very limited vegetation aside from, like,

or a mold on the side of some of these rocks. there doesn't appear to be any like trees or bushes or anything along those lines, nor does there appear to be any wildlife, except for perhaps the occasional seabird that has come from the coast, miles from here. You send your B up and you really focus. And again, I won't even make you roll for it. Successfully, it goes up as far as you want it to, to feel confident that it's not hitting a wall or that it's not passing through any sort of threshold of magic

or anything like that, especially given your experience in Okerton. Yeah. Perfect. And then with that, I just go try and find Skrim inside and set up my bunk somewhere near him. You begin to make this space for yourselves very much. This podcast is brought to you by our Patreon. Become a patron today at patreon.com slash legend.

of Aventras and gain access to tons of exclusive perks, including a monthly movie night and a weekly Patreon exclusive campaign set on the high seas, shroud over salt marsh. You can also go to The Crooked Moon.com to pick up your own copy of our first published supplement, The Crooked Moon, a folk horror tome for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. And don't forget to snag all of the extra goodies like dice, miniatures, plushies, a tarot deck, and more. Thank you. Barnabos. You walk down the curving path, past rocks, past small structures, and you find yourself at the base of this short island. We've walked for 15, 20 minutes, and you really

are taking in that briny air, seeing the oceans crash. You can get close now to the space where the surf really comes in. The tide actually crawls up and then back down what is something of a rocky beach. And you're able to take a few steps forward and feel the cold, brilliant ocean water. Hit your feet.

You may or may not be aware of your near. You may or may not be caring. Absolutely not. But submerges your ankles, your shin, your knees very soon you are well into the surf and what happens next is up to you I'll step in and I'll feel the waves hit me and I'll smell the I'll smell the sea and I'll feel it spray on my face and I'll grab my shell and I'll hold it close to my chest and I'll close my eyes and I just want to say this I want to sense does

Does this feel right? Do I feel like she is there? Do I feel the same way that I would feel as I had for however many years it has been since I had found the shell? Since when I was by the sea near the sea, staring out, before I even, you know, deign to put it to my ear. You step into the ocean and you grasp the bridge to your lover. to your goddess of sorts. You hold onto it and you try to just feel the rhythms of the wave. And I need you to make a religion check at disadvantage for the music of twist the dread. I'm fucking bastard. I'm calling it out. I'm just absolutely ripping dreads off and right.

I love this. I love this. Every single role so far. I'm gonna talk about it more later. I love that. God tier. In this realm. Yeah, exactly.

Oh. Like the plus one in check. No, the advantage we got in Ogerton for every in check. The yin and the yang. Two signs of the same queen. Wow. Wow. Man, that's good.

What does it mean? What is it mean? What is it mean? What is it mean? A surge, like that's it. the waves of anger wells up in you as you clutch your shell and hold it against your chest because you feel no connection. You don't know if you held it up to your ear if you would hear a voice at all.

For a moment, it feels like you are disconnected. I am not here, and that means you are not here. What should I do, my lover? Sing for me. Please, may I see your eyes once more. I beg of you, and I'll put it to my head. Eons beckon a tapestry, weaving through a veil. Can you hear the strands unraveling?

Whispers of, glimpsed the chasms of unending, fractured existence bound by the tendrils of insatiable stars bleed, icor straining against the fabric of reality, swirling through a void of forgotten aeons, gibberish, just hearing the same voices whispering over and over, echoing, echoing. And it's not her voice. No. An eye for a moment.

Just this heave it up and getting rid, and I stop myself. I'm sorry, my love. And I'll put it back. Heat of emotion that you hear this crunch not hiding itself. The sound of footfalls behind you and the sound of Yornear, not 10, 15 feet behind you. Mr. Yornear, this is a cursed place. This is not the sea. This is not, my love.

The whisper is I hear. Are those of the deep, yes, but deeper than even where she dare swim. I know that. We are helpless here. I would have been like 100 feet back, but then as soon as you call that my name... You got a booming voice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You hear the faint crunch of feet. Um, but still close enough.

Like if this was a Robert Eggers movie, you'd be freaking out on the beach and then they're like cut to the sea and you just see your ear like up on a hill and you can You're the blah. It's an absolute keynote. I was this fucking close to making the overlay four by three. No. And I was like, we've had so much to do. I don't want to put that. I could have made it all, we could all be black and white.

I know. We talked about this. Do you remember I asked you this like four or five months ago, like how hard would it be to be black and white? I can only get so wrecked. Are you fucking kidding me? I might publish this black and white. Just yet, just put it in yet.

I'm just gonna turn up the fucking crank contrast. We'll do it. Okay. Oh my God. That's fun. Anyway. I will slowly. Mr. Yornear. What do you mean? This is not the sea. The way news act as the waves. No, they fucking do not, Mr. Yornear. I hear the songs of the sea.

I hear my lover, eyes as green as the sea. I hear her call. When I stare out at those waves, when I stare at those waves, waves when I stare at the horizon, the sea in the sky. I know the sea. We are not there. What I just heard in my shell, voices, whispers, things I've only heard of. Driven sailors mad. Driven wikis mad. And you have never heard them before from this shell. No.

Do swear on this? I swear, on the woman I love, be she live or dead. I will take my hand and turn it over as I cast Druidcraft. And I want to create a tiny harmless sensory effect that predicts what weather will be at my location for the next 24 hours. And it can have, it might manifest as a golden orb, for clear skies, a cloud for rain, falling snowflakes or snow,

and so on. Oh, he's flipping through pages. This isn't good. He's got the whole icebound book out. I've heard such gibberings, ravings of mad men who rave about strange, black and green reefs, cities rising up from the depths. Do the wikis seem mad to you? Something ain't right. They pretend like this seems natural to them. This is not the sea.

Mr. Yornear. I don't know the land like you do, but I do know. My home. Oh, look at my palm. And you're attempting to... I'm attempting to use Druid Craft, and one of the features that I can choose is a tiny harmless sensory effect that predicts the weather

at my location for the next 24 hours. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You do that, and you see an unexpected image. You look down in your palm, and you hold it up, and you see blizzard, snow blowing back and forth and sheets of ice. But inside of that image is a second object that disturbs you.

You see a tall glass object faceted with copper, four faces, and it turns very, very, very, very slowly, punching light out, even in the bright of day, the afternoon like this. it turns very, very, very slowly, the light hitting each one of your fingers, five of them in total, and then eventually turning around, spilling light in both directions

as it continues to spin and spin and spin before the sensory illusion evaporates. Six seconds, yeah. Hidden by snow. Do you see this? What was that, Mr. Yornear? Had I ever seen anything similar? Is it like the Hector's your armament?

Is it, like anything else I've seen before? Make a intelligence or history check, and I'll leave a twisted prayer. You've been saving these for years. He's got a lot of them. Oh! Um, I doubt I'm proficient in- Stealing this, Derek.

It's really good. It's very good. Yeah, that's a 10. I'd say even with a 10, you look down and the image fades, your magic drains, and you look up to the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse. Lighthouse.

And you think of spinning lights. It is the light, the top of the lighthouse. Some enchantment in the light then, Mr. Yorneer. I've heard Vuki's going mad, believing there to be something, hearing whispers like light just for me. for my shell. There is something. I told you that I saw it. There is something in the light that I saw. And I projected myself towards it. What did you see? You didn't tell us, right? Maybe not. No, I don't think you did. I don't think you did. What did you see, Mr. Yarnier?

I saw a very faint figure, just barely visible in the light. In the star. In the star, yes. The dark, bright, enchanting star is connected to this, to this, and I'll point at the light. Shall I go smash it right now,

Mr. Yoriner? No, do not smash it. We do not even know where we are or when we are. Did you see the blizzard? It means that unless there's a blizzard here in the next 24 hours,

the land or the gods knows where we really are, just on top of that power. Barnabos, have we heard the cry of any seabirds since we've been here? I don't believe I have, have I? I would say that when you first arrived, you feel a faint tingling that it felt natural that you heard, seabirds. But looking around, there appears to be no forms of life in any direction.

Was it just your association with crashing waves that created that sound in your mind? How fast can you swim? Say less. What side of the island are we on? I would say that you are on the western side. That if you were to look at a map and I'm facing you, this is the western side. This is the actual doorstop.

The lighthouse would be on this wider side here on the eastern edge. and south to the coast that I described, that thin coastline that's about eight, nine miles away, and then north to the expansive sea going to the poles. I will take the north, you will take the south. Let us meet on the shore by the lighthouse. I like that plan. I'll crack my knuckles and grab my anchor out of my netting

and just drop it onto the ground with a thud, pull off the netting and get rid of the harpoon. get rid of the harpoons. You make your plan and you begin to make action. It is time to figure out what is happening. You start to make your way up and you start to dig into the plate of delicious food that has served in front of you. As all five, six of you are standing in front sitting

in the dining room, sitting with the captain there, sitting with the two strangers who have welcomed you into their homes, Ilban, and Deli, sitting on either end, and it is clearly nearly night for the sky is no longer overcast, but starting to redden with the setting sun. Do we feel, Queenie and I feel as if we were in the lighthouse and suddenly we are here?

Is there a loss of time, or do we feel like there was a natural progression and things happened between the time that we went to the lighthouse and now we are here eating? For you, I would say that it felt very natural that you got accommodated in your room, that you explored a little bit of the abode that you found. I'm not questioning this at all.

Yeah, exactly right. Exactly right. This is delightful. But you pull your fork out of your mouth and you look down at the plate and looking at all of the plates, just like the booze and the bottle, everything is empty.

There is nothing in front of it. All of a sudden, I'm instantly snapped back. Bye. Oh. Delicious. Delia, as always. Thank you. And then I'm looking at Ilban. I want to thank you all for your contributions to the chores today.

We wouldn't have been able to get everything that we need to have done. I have to make some records in my log. And I need to show you the map just after we eat. And then I will be on watch for the remainder of the evening in the lantern room, or rather the watchroom just under, of course, the light. But thank you for cleaning it, Queenie. And thank you again. I can't believe our good fortune.

Am I hungry? Starving. I'm starting to get upset. I'm tapping my fork on my dish. I'm looking at yor-near. I'm stowling at the rest of the table. I'm not trying to hide this at all. Scrum is pissed.

Delia voice brings out. Don't love chicken? Everything all right? I would love chicken. Dahlia. Well, perhaps you don't enjoy it prepared in this way. Prepared in what way? It's a simple chicken dish, a little dried mushrooms, perhaps, but it is, it is...

Don't all speak it once! Sounds so good, but I ate all mine already and I don't even remember it. You've got a full plate of chicken in front of you. What do you mean? What do you mean? There's nothing on this plate. Elbound and Delia share a look. And for a moment you kind of get a sense that these are people who've lived with each other for decades. They may have their dance moves, but when you say this and they are clearly confused by your words, they think very strangely of you.

Is everyone else hungry? I'm starving, eat, eat. I'm starving. First no booze now, chicken. Are you kidding me? I'm hungry as well, Yon. I don't understand. There's nothing on these plates.

We're not seeing eye to eye. Make an intelligence check for him. You don't even have to say it. The captain. This is really, really quite good. I apologize for my friends once we understand. Oh, boy. Oh, my apologies.

No, no, don't save it. I got a four. I'm not saving up. You got that one for free. All right, I'll take that one for free. I got a four. You got a four? Yeah, I have plus one to intelligence.

I rolled a three. Brutal. Oh, impromes. Oh, it's just, you know, that's just scrim things. Something tickles in the back of your mind. Yeah. As you go back and try to recall what happened after your transition back from the tower, after you skipped all of those weeks.

But it's escaping you in these moments. Okay. If I posit a thing and I, no, that's fine. That's fine. Andy's remembering things, but Scrim doesn't remember any of them. Ilban. Scrib's hot. Yes, yes, yes.

My, our gracious host. Why don't you take the night off? I know it's rare to have visitors to your lighthouse, and with my experience, I'd be happy to take care of the light myself tonight. That is a very kind of. offer. You, uh... I insist.

You have a lot of experience. You hear the voice of Delia. It is our sacred duty to watch the life. Oh, he's sacred? We've lived our whole life. We get help from the mainland to make sure that not a boat fall. If you were to take that responsibility on,

I would ask my husband to stay with you. Well, surely, it would be so nice to spend maybe even an hour with you. Hear the stories of yourself on this island. I could brew you a nice cup of tea. Barnabos could man the lighthouse by himself for just that brief period of time, and then you could go check on him if you think that anything could possibly be awry. Make a persuasion check. At advantage because Barnabot is helping you, but with a twist of dread, so just straight.

Hey, it's a straight. It's a straight one. I'm pretty persuasive. Oh, let me get it. Persu- Yeah, that's where I'm pretty good. 19. Oh. What happened to hell.

I'm sorry. Fine, fine. Throw caution to the wind. Should anything happen, it'll be on your head. Oh. Thank you, dear. Thank you. No, I really do appreciate it. It means so much to have an extra set of eyes, and as you can imagine, it's 24-7.

One thing after the next, just the cleaning of the lenses, hauling the fuel, making sure that everything is oiled and ready to go. I can help you get you that far, and then when night comes, I would welcome the rest. There's a reason why I never made it past Apprentice Wiki. Wasn't cut out for the job, but I think I can handle one night. You should get your well-earned rest. All the while that this is happening, Queenie is pretending to struggle to cut her chair.

It is clearly not there, mostly. You are pretending to, like, do the motion for beating. Not to eat the like it is, she's really struggling to cut through it. Like, maybe there's a bone there, and she's trying to get that joint between the bone, the two bones that connect to pop them apart. And she's just really, really struggling. And then at one point, when there's just,

At one point when there's a, when Delia isn't paying attention, Queenie is going to, slight of hand, make it look like the knife slips and the chicken flies at her face, but she's actually throwing the fake chicken to see if anything happens. If they actually see this food, couldn't they get hit by it?

So your hypothesis is, if I, do this with fake food. I'm going to... I'm going to... Imaginary food food hook style. Yes. Am I just not seeing? I'm just thinking.

It's like, oh, man. But she doesn't want it to seem obvious. She doesn't want to just grab the chicken to throw at her. So she's trying to make it seem like she is on her face. He's on some imaginary pie. Do you believe in the chicken? To create the impression that this is an accident, make a deception wrong.

And I'll use a twisted bread. Okay, well, you don't need to. But that's fine. I can imagine that this would be difficult to fake. Yeah, even if it's not... I slung a chicken breast into your face. So I'm not going to fake it well. I'm still to try and do it if I can.

It would be a six to make it seem like it was an accident. But with your Ranger accuracy being what it is, you make the gesture, not feeling the weight of anything against your knife, but imagining that if there was chicken, that I would flick it in such a way in order to smack Delia in the face. And as the conversation comes to rest, you see her get hit. She visibly reacts to nothing but something. And she is hit in the face, and she turns to,

what is the meaning of this? What are you doing? You stupid. Influent. Insolent. How can you have let this happen? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just a dumb old country girl. Get out of here. You're not allowed any more food. All right, my bad. No, just off on outside.

Pardon me, I'm going to go make sure that our country gal is all right. I'll be back, and I'm going to go off with Queenie. See, that you do. She was used to eating in pig pens and on cornfields and whatever else. farming folk do. Of course, of course, of course. Not sea folk like us. Is a tornado of rage and you can feel that pulsing frustration and confrontation inside of her just under the surface.

And Scrim, you leave a very tense room as you make your way out into the fresh night air to join Queenie. You can hear Delia just, I don't understand, I don't understand. You find yourselves alone on the porch. Holy hell what was that? What did you do? Oh, I just threw chicken in her face. Like... Well, there wasn't actually chicken on the play. You knew that.

Well, I mean, yeah, but something happened. I mean, you did something. Yeah, so I was just trying to figure out if they see things we don't see. Because clearly none of us are seeing what's on this plate. You definitely didn't spill alcohol all over yourselves. But they seem to believe it really strongly. And so I had to figure out whether it was belief or real, Because maybe they just have been here so long, they're like, I want to believe there's food here so I see it.

But if she has to physically react to something flying towards her face, that separates the belief from the reality for me. So I don't know what the hell's going on. You're saying you think it's real to them. Oh, yeah, for sure. So here's the thing. I'm still not entirely convinced we're not dead. But if we were dead... You might be.

Well, here's the thing. I was. Someone might have claim to my soul. All right. And they're not here. I'm thinking about trying to contact them. You think that's a good idea? No, it's a horrible idea. And quite frankly, I've been way too calm about all of this.

But at the very least, we could see what happens. Well, we could. But right now, we're kind of up Ships Creek without a paddle. I don't want to be up Ships Creek without a boat. So we wait? Yeah, I think that's kind of a last minute kind of thing, because right now this sucks. And you start calling in someone who's got a claim to your soul before you're even dead, and you might be making deals you're not ready for.

Well, I'm a little late for that. The whole time we're having this conversation, I'm rubbing a gold coin between my fingers. I'm not going to ask what you did. You don't know you did something. Yeah, well, let's just weigh our options, right? We'll wait. Yeah. We'll wait and see what happened.

I'm not saying you take it off the table completely. I'm just saying you save it for dessert. Well, I would have gone to Yorne here, but he would have just told me no. I thought maybe you might vote in my favor. Well, I think if she continues to be like that, like her emotions are going crazy, right? Like, I just threw chicken in her face. Well, I guess that was kind of rude.

She picked me up by my ear. Well, I've thought about doing that a few times. We don't have to go back in there, do it? We don't have to go back in there, do we? No, we stay out here. It's kind of nice. Yeah, just, let's just hang out here for a while, let things cool down in there.

It's not like there's anything to eat in there anyway. Right, and I continue to rob the coin. What would you do if you were gonna call on him anyway? How'd you do it? Do you even know how? You ever done it before? It feels like I kind of know, but I don't know. You know?

It's in there somewhere. Yeah, I know. I can feel it, but I'm still getting it. I'm still getting the hang of all this. Look, everything you guys said about how if I was gonna be dead, I'd be dead by now. So clearly these powers, they mean something. Maybe I need to lead into it a little bit.

Yeah, maybe he wants you to level up your soul before he claims it or something. I hadn't thought of that. Well, I don't know. What's the weather like around us at the moment? I know there's crashing waves. It's not as cold as your car. Is it wet and gross?

Is it mild? Is it okay? It's mild. It feels even a little warmer than it was in Ogerton. If this were the other side of the world, then we're going to play Earth games about it, then it would be summer here in Striga, even as northern as it is. I got an interesting idea. I'm all ears.

It ain't as cool as calling on whatever owns that coin in your soul, but it was based on the conversation Barnabos was having in there with those two. And how she got really up in arms about the idea of him needing a chaperone for that lighthouse. Why don't we go check it out? There's no one here watching us, and we know where they are. You know how mad Barnabos and Yorna would be if we did that?

I know, you want to do it? After you. All right. I'm gonna hop in front of him and start walking towards the layout. You'll have to describe the plan that you have for me in a moment, because we're going to return to Yorne or Taichin

Barnabots, you're still there. Delia has left. She did not finish her meal, seemingly, and she has gone through the bedroom to stew or whatever it is that she is planning to do. Ilban instead, and the captain are sitting with the three of you. That was a delicious meal. Thank you, Ilbon.

Thank you for your generosity. I know that you probably plan for less than the seven of us, eight, eight is it? The eight of us, but we really appreciate it. We will make our, we will pull our own weight very much. It's fine, it's fine, I'm sorry for my wife's outbursts. If you're all done, if you're all done, then I would ask, we could move into the living room.

and I could show you the nautical maps I promised to show Tichet. Tai Shed. I would love to see them. Please lead the way. He guides you. And he pulls out a few maps and he's... No, no, not this one.

His moves are very slow and deliberate. Not seemingly just because of age, but because of the nature of his personality, being what it is. And eventually he comes across a few pieces, and he rolls out this long, on like a drafting board, he rolls out this long world map. And you can see all the meridian lines stretching out.

You can see the shapes of the different continents, as crude as they might be, still labeled and marked. And you can see there's Striga up here and Dracar up here. You see these two continents? You say you came from Dakar, Daesh. The last thing I remember is we were on Dracar, and we were so hard to recall now. It's hazy, but we were walking through the snow, and then we approached a tower,

and then the next thing I know we're here. I have heard Dracar being described as a brutal land of ice and snow. It was tough to make do while there. I've never experienced cold such as that. You think you can get through, but even with animal skins and fire, the knights, the nights just chill you to the bone. Well, I can't explain why you are here, but I can, come over here.

You see this globe, he spins it, and he stops his finger. We are here on the northern coast of Strickon. If I turn the globe, the southern coast of Dracar would be about here. See? Literally polar opposites. You're as far away as you could possibly be. According to this. Do, I guess I wouldn't know this.

But are there any of those big like navigation calipers that they'd use to chart on globes and stuff? You look around and you find in a, someone who has to have as much nautical experience as Zilban clearly does, certainly. You find those calipers. Do you know how to use these to confirm what he is saying? I will take the calipers and I will basically,

I'm presuming that it is confirmed that the, the Bay Salt Tower and this lighthouse effectively are poles through a ventras. If you could take an orange, and you could drive a spike through it. Where you are on the map that he's indicating is exactly the polar officer. Holy shit. You see? You see? The other side of the world, that doesn't make any sense.

It doesn't. But that's where we were, right? I perhaps were having ocean madness. You haven't been on the seas very long, perhaps we've just been at sea, lost indulgems, in the great sea, and we just happened to wash up here. Wouldn't that be something, Ilbon? How long have you and your wife been here?

Since we were children, really. How many times? How many times to the mainland? We go from time to time. It's been some time, really. Well, I have a favor to ask. Ever since I failed to really become anything more than Apprentice Wiki, I've had a bit of a dream.

I know I'm an old man now, but when I was a young lad in my early 20s, it was a dream I had. of how do you keep the day straight? I'd love to join you at your log when you enter the details of the day, if you wouldn't mind. I know that Delia mentioned something

about some sort of sacred charge. This is the very room. I would love to assist. See the bookshelves here? Every month when relief comes, so I deliver another book. And I fill it out with as much detail as I can. With the hours I'm awake, I fill it out

every hour. This is today. And you can see it here. Well, thank you very much. You pull this weathered journal into your hands and you start to flip pages. It's got the time, the date, the observation, very clearly laid out in columns that have been written in by ink. And you can even see the matrices going back, extremely, consistently, the same handwriting, the same entry over and over and over and over and over again. This week, no ship sightings. Start to flip back, no ship sightings. Start to flip back, no ship sightings. No ship sightings.

No ship sightings. You start to flip back, no ship sightings. Two, three months you flip through, no ship sightings. You flip back to the beginning of the book, no ship sightings. Oh yeah, that's fascinating. You might if I just peruse a couple of these older logs? Please. Some of our adventures are in there. It's really, it's in some ways an artifact of our life, of our relationship. There's so much that we've been able to save our sacred duty. When was the last time you saw a ship? Oh, just a few days ago. There was a ship... Can you show me my old eyes? I lost my spectacles in the drink.

Oh, you mind pointing it out to me? Sure, sure, sure, sure. And he flips through, and he points at what is very obviously an entry that says no ships cited. Aye. And what are the details of that siding? How big of a ship was it? They didn't turn towards us.

The weather was clear. We were able to see... Just all the light. Exactly right. Aye. Aye. And very clearly says no ship sighted. What's the date of today, like, that he says,

compared to what date I think it is? Oh. Oh, boy. I would say then it's 16 days would be what he's flipped back to in terms of what he's pointing at. But what I mean as far as the day, the year, right? So what's the year, so basically what is the day that he pointed to today?

That is today compared to what date I think it is. It's just after New Year's for us. Yes. I see. What is 16 days ago from what he's saying? Yes, Barnabas here. You're using your mind. You're using your mind to be.

That is good thinking. Let us fucking go, Barnabos. You look at the most recent entry, and you think about the fact that you are perhaps 10 days, and in Barnabos is a reality. When you were at a campfire with Daisy, it would have been perhaps 10 days after the new year. This entry appears to be about the date

that you think that you encountered the tower for the first time. Well, you know what? Why did it stress for the, my curiosity, that young 21-year-old lad who dreamed of being a wiki? You mind if I just peruse the rest of your tones here just to see the great storied history and adventures. No, no, no, no changes. No interference? No, not at all. Just read it through. Keep a quiller or pet away from me? They just eyes. Look, don't touch. I've been to some of these taverns. Should there be an audit? I need to make sure. this. Well, I would not want to interfere with any audit. So you have my word.

Yeah, absolutely. And you walk to the bookshelves. Tyshani, we'll pick out a few real. What are you doing in this moment before we pick up again with Scrimmon Queenie? Is there a second floor to this building? To this, to the house? No. No, it is a single floor house. Sure. Nor have you seen any entrances to a basement or anything along those lines. along those lines. Have we seen a bedroom? You've seen two.

Or rather, you would have been shown the bedroom that Queenie and Scrim had started to make a home in. And you know that across the hall is a bedroom where Il-Bahn and Deli asleep. We've not seen inside that room. Only Scrim has, but you have not. The door would have been closed. He walked in rudely and saw that it was lived in. Very rudely. Okay, he didn't see two skeletons in the bed.

Not to my knowledge, no. It was just a lived in room. Not to his knowledge, no. Okay. But you don't know that? I don't know that. This isn't you're some Dunmich horror shit. I'm fucking so not okay right now.

I can't wait to shit my pants. I would, I think I would just stand in the back against the window and just kind of keep my eye outside to see if I ever see or hear any sound of life. even like insects, you know, seabirds, crabs, anything. The perception check. Two and a five, so that's a n-tem. That's not bad, man.

That's a big plus. As you're listening to the conversation, you walk up and through thick leaded glass, you lean in and you can see just on the horizon white light what clearly is a storm approaching tonight. Scrim. Yes. Queenie.

What are you doing? Uh. Making our way towards the base of the lighthouse. Yeah, which is where we would be staying. It's not far. It's not far. It's like a 30 feet walk from the entrance of this. It's an adjoined house.

I mean, there's no way to get from the house into the stone column that makes this lighthouse. But you can walk out the front, walk to the front door, and there it is. I don't know how else to say this, but we're going up to the top. Slowly, of course, you know, together. I mean, it really depends. How much do you weigh? How much do I weigh? You don't have to be rude or anything.

Well, if I'm three, between three and three and a goblinoid and I'm stick thin, I mean, I'm six two and I weigh 185 pounds and I row for UC Davis. No, I'm sorry. I don't know, scrim might weigh 60 pounds. 60, is that heavy for a toddler? I don't know. He says fatheringly.

Three and a half, three and a half feet tall, however a standard child would weigh, 60 pounds? I don't know, that's a reasonable. That's some good. I say between 60 and 75 pounds. Just handle it. Okay, I've been really going to the snickadoodles. All right.

75 pounds would be like a big golden retriever. Gobbons are depths. All right, well, that's right. It's right. It's like a don't start of goblinoids. That's right. Yeah, let's call it, let's call it 70. Let's call it 70.

I'm gonna do some math. We might wrecked complex. Maybe give or take one pound. Yeah, the standard deviation of a pound and a half. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Anyway.

Pretty good. Well, what I'm thinking is I weigh a little bit less than you. And my bees can carry about 250 pounds. And if I'm doing my math right, and can't be sure I am, we would be fine for them. carry us up to the top. We don't need to go inside, but we can at least maybe take a peek as to what's in there. Look, the number of lighthouses I've seen, I can't count on one hands because it's zero.

But certainly there's got to be a window or something up there, right? Yeah, we're just going to have to, you know, we've got to make sure that light's spinning around. We don't want to look directly into that light, so we're going to have to take our peek when the lights on the other side. But yeah, I don't see any reason we couldn't fly up there and see if there's anybody else in there, see if there's anything a note, anything we should be worried about, some strange, like, arcane rooms that maybe if Barnabos goes in there is going to suck his soul out of his body and trap it in some kind of horrific, you know, decanter or something. Any time limit on the bees? No.

Sign me up, let's go. What are we doing talking? Let's go. Bees me up. Bees me up. Bees me up. Scrimmy. Queenie, let's go!

If it wasn't this session, you would have gotten inspiration with that. That's very funny. And the bees will coalesce into a cute little rocket ship, and the little door will open, and Skrim and I will step inside, and they will start to... What's the deal? Rocket Ship food! Their speed is 30 feet, so they are slow.

Well, I believe I modified and expanded their speed, and carry weight. It does, as I level up. Yeah, as you level up. So we haven't hit that next threshold. Right now, they're still 30. Even so, in this space, in this strange experience, you ask them to create a rocket ship,

ask them to open a door, to create this thing. You have a special relationship with these bees. And as they emerge from around corner, corners from your honeypot, you can see that they're not feeling very well. They are sick. Oh shit. They are sluggish and struggling to create the support that you think would allow you to make your way up the side of the lighthouse.

The immediate concern hits you. As you look at your allies, your very best friends, and you don't know why. Well, they're not real. Like they're bees, but they're made of fay magic. So what's going on? I don't know. I guess my magic's broken. Well, I don't want anything to happen to them. I mean, if we can't make it...

Well, I don't want anything to happen to us either. I mean, we have to go back? We gotta go back down. Yeah, and we could just climb up the side. Queenie, have you seen my arms? Come on. They're like noodles. He's only 69 pounds. pounds. All right, well, another option is try and break in the door.

All right. Let me just check. I mean, it might not be locked, but I'm assuming it's locked. So we would have seen a spiral staircase on the inside of the light. You described it with windows and all of that. Yeah, we got to take the stairs. Let's just try.

Look, we've got some options. We both can make something happen. if we encounter some sort of a lock or a door, we can bypass it. I'm very confident, extremely confident. Look at me, ha ha! We can do it. We'll take the stairs.

All right, let's do it. Do you walk over the front door? It's unlocked. Oh, this is great. We can go straight up. We proceed. You walk into what is clearly a ground floor. You can see that there are stairs leading to a basement,

and you can see very obviously there are, a staircase, a spiraling staircase that hugs the wall with consistent windows leading up. You can see that there's a long column that leads up through the center, hitting the first ceiling, what you can only assume is a second floor and perhaps floors above.

No chance we go down first, right? No, of course not. Why'd we go into the earth? That'd be silly. Up we go. We could split up, you know. I like the way. I like the way you're thinking.

Do you want to go down or you want to go up? Why don't we flip for it? We're not doing it with one of your coins. Oh, come on. That's a perfectly normal gold coin. It's a gold piece. I have 178. And so is that one that keeps coming back.

Look, look. And I'll show her the coin versus a regular gold piece. How do I know that one doesn't have a face on both sides or something? Take it. And I will give her a singular normal gold piece. Look. I'm going to give this back to you. You were going to quickly switch it with someone else.

I'm not going to notice. No, no, no. I'm placing the coin on the floor, and I'm taking a few steps away. Do you think that's the only coin I'm worried about? I toss it back in. Whatever, go ahead and fool me. I will flip a coin to decide who goes up and who goes down.

Heads goes up, tails goes down. You flip for yourself? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you want to be heads or tails? Now heads goes up, tails goes down. You flip for yourself. All right, that's right. And I'll be the other one.

Okay, heads goes up, tails goes down. We decided that the one is tails. Scrim is going down. Look at it this way, buddy. You didn't like being up in that crow's nest or whatever it was called the bucket. That's right, I'm a top, man. Now you're a bottom bitch.

So I'll see you on the other side. I wasn't made for the... You know what we should do, though? What? You don't have to look like you're in painting. You haven't even moved yet. Ah, go ahead. All right.

Well, we should have some kind of plan, right? Oh, I mean, sure. What kind of plan you want? Well, I think we take 10 minutes to explore and meet back here, and then decide from there if we need more time to explore, or we feel like we should go together. We don't have any way to communicate. And I got some rope.

Why don't we just tie some rope around our waist so that we're attached to each other? I'm worried that, you know, how many floors there are? I don't know. Probably got 50 feet. Yeah, so I'm gonna work. But do you have 50 foot of hampton rope? Here's what we'll do.

I don't. I have no rope. I got rid of the rope a long time ago. Why would you do that? Shooting blanks over here. So where there's a pile of rope with a bunch of pightons next to it? Here's what I'll say. Here's what I'll say.

30 minutes. 30 minutes, we meet back here. 30 minutes. No. 30 minutes is more than enough time for you to find some accidental alcohol, get completely plastered, fall down to light of care, and die.

Well, then you'll go look for me. I don't want to go down there. I don't want to go up and down. Send Yornya after me. He's pretty brave. But then I have to go tell Yorna what we did. 20 minutes. 10 minutes.

15, I'm not going a second lower. 12 minutes. 15. 12 minutes. 14. 12 minutes. 13. 12 minutes.

And I immediately go upstairs. Without another word, I turn around, I storm towards the basement door, and I just go. I don't even hesitate. Because if I hesitate, swim will panic, and he won't follow up. through 12 minutes. 12 minutes.

You walk down the stairs. With purpose. Spirals. And it's dark. Ha! Oh. You can hear your foot falls and it's a little colder in here. It's a little damper.

You get the swift. Is that Bose? The faint tang of oil as you enter a storage room. And only the light that is coming in from the the twilight of the outdoors. It gives you a moment to, and I assume that you have dark vision. You do. Probably. To adjust your eyes to-

I have dark vision. Black and white, dim light, or nearly black, pitch black of the surroundings. And you see a very neatly organized space, crates of tools. tools, you can see what are clearly supply boxes for repairs. You can see what is very evidently a storage room. I smell oil, right? Are there any barrels that would be full of anything that would be potentially fuel or something to grease the... Basically what I'm

looking for is any sign that the supplies are empty as opposed to full. If there is barrels of oil that might be used to grease the the mechanisms or if there is fuel for the lighthouse And I want to know whether it's empty or full make an investigation check at disadvantage Yep, yeah, there's a 17. Okay, well, this is 17. Okay, oh I got double 17s Oh, because I'm a I'm just the best you said investigation It's an 18 total I got plus one that's huge. Thank you You're starting to come to the conclusion that it's only the food here that was missing.

Fuck! And you make two connections at the same time. In this moment, you are finding the oil. You are finding the grease. You are finding the fuel. You are finding the wood. You are finding anything that it would take to run a lighthouse and keep it on so that there would be no accidents or interruptions to the service that this provides.

this necessary mercantile route. And you were remembering what tickled the brain of Scrim so long ago during dinner. When you skip forward in time, you remember you were two rations down. Yeah. Yeah, and you remember. Scrimmed didn't.

I will take the tent probably, the total 12 minutes, right, however much time it tastes to get down there and look around, with my last remaining minute, I will take the coin that Queenie threw back to me and I would like to attempt to cast idea Okay, and basically I flip the coin in an area in the area while thinking of a problem and that point will vanish Knowing you only have a few minutes left. Yes, I only want action to do this I gain a plus five bonus to Arcana history insight investigation medicine nature performance religion or survivability check needed to solve the problem.

If there is no, if there was one that doesn't require a skill check, then it's basically up to the DM to give me a hint. But I want to gather this coin. Think about the hound. Think about that horrific creature that I signed, that forced me to sign that contract, or I feel it forced me to sign that contract. And I think to it and I say, please, please give me something,

something to tell me what's going on here. Something is horrifically wrong. And I'm hoping that maybe this person, this entity that has claimant to my soul will somehow get through the veil and give me some sort of hint as to what is potentially happening here. Why are we not seeing the food? Why is something, why do we feel to be unstuck in time? And I flip the coin and I watch it vanish, and DM it is up to you.

I think about the horrific horrible face as I signed the contract. That night so many moons ago. I will use one of my two only spell slots to cast that. Just roll out of the keys. Yes, if you say so. Freeze, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe, great.

I'm down to 177 gold. Wow, you've cast that 23 times, remarkable. No, I think I gave some people some gold. I've cast it a few times, but not 23 times. Not 23 times. I've definitely given some people some gold. That's very well put. Scrim.

I'm sweating. You feel the magic, leave your body as you flip this coin. I'm waiting for that. And you see this coin flip up into the air. Everything is in black and white. You only see the contrast, the grays, the whites, and the darks of dark vision, and you wait for it to disappear and for something to compel you, to tell you to whisper in your ear or to an idea for an idea to come to you.

and you watch it and it reaches its apex and falls down to the stone floor. And you look at it. I need you to make a death saving throw. What? You're kidding. No, I don't think he's kidding. Does he look like he's fucking kidding, Andy? Roll the fucking die.

I've made a mistake. I've made a mistake. Wait, do you still have some from... These are hidden. These are hidden. These are hidden. Oh! Close your eyes, losers.

Thank you. Thank you for respecting the icebound process. You shouldn't have to move too much. Just peek over here. Choose the die. Yep, I did. Dyes away. Let us know we're good.

You can reveal your eyes again. This pull as you look down, as you attempt to reach to something without, to attempt to pull, a sick, heavy weight hits the bottom of your stomach, and you feel impossible right now. What should have been a simple, journey to check out the space to explore and you only have a few minutes before you

need to get back up to Queenie. You look down, no idea comes to you. You do not hear barking. You do not feel a connection. Instead, the attempt seems to have affected you in some grave way. Some grim way? Given what has happened, I see the coin hit the ground. and scrim hesitates for a moment, and I sprint back upstairs, my 12 minutes being up. 12 minutes have gone by, you're counting. You're thinking about those seconds. You're like literally counting down

from whatever 12 times 60s, and you are, it's right on the second. Well, no, I was going up. You're going up. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, she's gone. We've gone separate directions. My apologies.

So simultaneous action all that. So we're winding in time. You start to make you. your way up the spiral staircase. I don't have to go down to the depths. Grimes. I have to remind my... E-Ha!

E-ho! I'm just sing a little tune. Moving on up, moving on up. I got to sing that for sure. I think he'd like that. I'm going to ride this lighthouse like a steer. It takes you a while for you to a minute or two

to walk up the many spiral stair steps that you have to go up, but you eventually arrive at what is clearly an engine room, many gears and mechanisms designed to turn a central column that goes all the way up. And you continue past that and into a watchroom, a room that is filled with books and filled with places to sit just to look out at the sea,

out toward the northern sea of Striga, to see the horizon, and you can see that it is getting very dark now, and it is immediately apparent that there is a storm approaching. And you continue to make your way up from that space, up to the lantern room, I presume. Mm-hmm. You'll have a few minutes here before Scrim arrives, but you do arrive, and you have an expectation that when darkness comes,

that these lights need to be on, that there needs to be some form of illumination. There is no lantern. What the... what the age? You look forward and in the center of the room there is an open hollow hole. And there is what should be a large lens

that should be illuminated, that would turn, and it would turn on a groove. You might not know very much about lighthouses, but you do know that. I don't know much about lighthouses, but I know this. And you step forward, and you can see that there is a moat. What would be sitting on a bath of Quicksilver? You stare just down, and you can see this still reflective pool, like liquid metal. sitting in this moat

that should normally be housing a lantern sitting on top of it turned by the engine room below. But that is all that you're confronted with, aside from a couple doors that you could walk out and see the gallery, if you wanted. Hmm.

Well, what... When we were outside, were there lights coming? from the lighthouse? No one had been manning it. Everyone had been enjoying dinner before nightfall. Mm. That stands to reason.

Hmm. Well, stands to reason. I'd just like to look around and see if I notice anything else out of the ordinary. Everything seems to stand to reason. That stands to reason. You do sort of take a quick look and sort of lean over the bath of quick

silver this strange metal substance your breath moves a lot like that war just a little bit but there doesn't seem to be anything here to create a lumination no lantern so to speak that's what but but strikes you is the most unusual yeah it's just missing it's just missing but it's it would be a really large lantern yeah it should be as tall as the room that we're in now you and me Nikki Does it look like the lantern has ever been there? It looks like a lantern should fit there. Yeah, but does it look like one has ever been there?

Has ever been there? Or at least recently. You don't see evidence, and I won't make your role, that there has ever been a lens here, nor do you see any evidence that one has been destroyed, nor do you see any evidence that one has been moved out. It seems impossible to you that an object of this size without being deconstructed meticulously

and slowly taken out of the space before it would be reconstructed wouldn't be in this space. And there'd be no reason to have this weird liquid metal stuff in here either if you're just gonna take it away. And it's in that moment. You hear footsteps behind you, and you turn and up the stairs, you see a pale face, a friend, the face of Scrim. What are you doing coming up here, Scrim?

Queenie, Quince, don't be mad. Don't be mad. I'm not mad, I'm confused. I took your advice. You don't like to exercise, and you just ran up a lot of stairs. Listen. Okay, sorry. I took your advice.

Okay. And then I didn't take your advice. Okay. And I flipped a coin. Uh-huh. The coin didn't. vanish. I don't know what that means.

I don't know that means. I had a brief moment where I thought I was free. But I'm not. I felt my soul. My soul. It was almost ripped from me in that moment. I fucked up. I fucked up real bad, Quigman.

I fucked up real bad. I'm gonna rush over to Scrimma and put my arm around, around you. Scram. Your soul's still in there, buddy. You felt a tug, yeah? I fucked up. Yeah, no, but you wouldn't be saying that if you were soulless us. I can't... I shouldn't have tried to use the magic. I shouldn't have tried to use it.

No, I told you that, but now you know better. I don't know where we are. No, I don't either. But how about I distract you a little bit, alright? What about the others? What about Yorna? He uses magic. If what... I got a really bad feeling about this. If Yorna would try something, it could go really... badly. All right and so once we're done talking about this and you've calmed down a little

bit, we'll talk to your near, all right? Gotta get out here. And you know what? He can even look at you and tell you that you're whole incomplete. We have to get out of this lighthouse. We can't stay here. This ain't a lighthouse. What? There ain't no lantern. This ain't a house for light. There's no place for lights in here. I don't want to stay here anymore. We gotta go back to the others. I got you. I'm gonna wrap my arm around him and I'm gonna use like my rabbit to help us get down the stairs a little bit faster, so he doesn't have to use as much.

Your initial rabbit hop feel stiff. You jump down and you get, you get, you get your first hop and you're like, wow, something is more is happening. Something is more. I was like, oh, is this a more bounder? And you are, you take one hop and you realize, You should probably just walk the stairs.

Oh, God. I fucked, I fucked up. It's gonna be all right, buddy. It's gonna be all right. I don't think, I don't know. You know what we'll do. We'll get some tea. We'll tell yornear, a lot of what happened.

Maybe not all of it, but a lot of what happened. I have to tell them everything. Okay. I have to. I support you. We gotta get back fast. It's gonna be okay. Queenie has no idea how to handle stress. idea how to handle screw in this state.

But she will walk him down the rest of the stairs and then out and back towards the house. You start to make your way down. What are the three of you doing? I will have taken whatever this time was, ignoring Ilban. And just looking through to see if there is any kind of any adventure that he mentioned,

or if it's all just no ships, no ships, no. no ships, no chips, and see how far it goes back. And I'll just grab one, and I'll do it like months apart, right? Just kind of- You're pulling each of these off. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy throughout. You do not seem to find any entries that deviate. By the end, you're just pulling it off and pulling one of the books off the shelves,

opening to a random page, seeing that that is true, and then closing it and putting it in. It doesn't seem possible. But this feels like the long of somebody who has never seen a ship at a lighthouse before. While all of that is happening, is the wife in the room as well? She stormed off, right? She stormed off to like bed or something. Yes.

Oh, to watch the waves. She's in the bedroom. Have you ever considered murdering your wife? While... Just joking, only in Minecraft. The three of the waves. them or four of them, I guess, are sort of talking about navigation. I'm gonna try to sort of like quietly like shuffle out, like slip out.

Not like trying to sneak, right? But just kind of. No, no, no, no. I think it would be relatively easy, given how engaged everyone is with their text, with the maps, for you to just walk out and be like, I'm on my own. I have this time. And we've rewinded it. So you've got the amount of time that they spent to do what you need to do.

I want to just sort of slowly look around and starting to piece things together. I want to slowly approach the bedroom door and stop and see if I can hear anything from inside. You start to walk through the living room space and I need you to make a perception check. And of course, disadvantage. You fucked.

I need to use different dice. You are turbo-fucked. No, it's just the fate of this realm. Just embrace it, embrace it, man. 11. No, that's more than you. You are walking through this space, and it strikes you. How could you not have noticed this before?

There is a fireplace. It's brisk, and it's getting cooler this evening. Even a stricken summer in northern, on the northern coast, would be closer to a cold than anything. And you look at the fireplace. And instead of seeing a roaring fire, or even the ashes of a fire, it is stuffed with whole logs.

It is an avalanche of logs. It is never burnt, never burnt, just fresh logs, just thrown haphazardly against the space almost. That's what you notice before you cross through the living room. I'll sort of just take this quick second to sort of peer down and look through if I can see any gaps in the logs. Maybe like move a few out of the way and see if they were like burying anything. It's easy enough to pull them free and you seem to be just clearing an unburnt, unused fireplace. I'll stack it nicely next to...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're able to create a full pyramid of them. Curious. Curious or incurious. You fucking kill me, dude. Elementary, my dear, Ty Shan. Fucking great. Mm-quiet. With the Yornear emote, doubt, the doubt emote that we have,

I have that expression on my face as I stand up and I will then proceed to the bedroom. Are there any windows? There's windows in every room. Okay. Are they openable? Yes. I will just very slightly open one, not far. Just like a little bit. All of them, none of them open from the center out.

All of them are heavy pained. You would need to either unlock and then push out from one side or the other. And that's what you do as you did. I'll do that for one of, for the one in the room I'm then. And then I will walk, I will approach the door to the bedroom. And I'm trying to be quiet so she doesn't notice me

and I'm just trying to listen to see if I hear any horrible gibbering or anything else, creepy witch stuff, I don't know. Whispers of yelots. Our last name is wait. Make a stealth check and make a perception check. Both a desert. You dreaded them both.

Perception or stealth first? Stealth first. Stealth first. Get the bad one out of the way. Yeah, that's the bad one. You ignored the giant frost troll, shabbling, throwing the hell for humans. Four?

For humans. And now the good one. My mammoth does this claim. What was the other one? Yeah, yeah. Good one. Oh. Almost. Still 14. Okay. Oh, not bad, not bad.

The roll of six. You lean in. You know that your footfalls have creaked some of the boards. I am so tall. And you're not familiar with these boards. Because you're not familiar with these boards and where you would need to step in order to steal. You've tried your best to position your way

against them, but walking to the hallway, there's been a few sounds, but you get to the door, and when you put your door up against your ear up against the door, you realize that it probably didn't matter if you've steeled or not. You hear whispering. Fast whispers. The voice, hundrels weave through the fabric.

It hungers for the answer, maddening waltz of endless despair. Beneath moon, secrets faster like blooms. Time fractured continuum. A maze, a maze of forgotten truths, pulses within an echo of aeon's heartbeat. The stars tremble, singing a forbidden sonata of timeless sorrow. Embrace a cradle of shadow woven by the hands of forgotten dainties. You hear this string of words that feels like insanity, like madness to you. Are there rafters in this house?

Raptors? No, I don't think so. The door is looking at. Clevergo. You see a cow getting lowered down into a pit. Try the sea bass. Chilly and sea bass. Help me understand the intent of your rafter question,

because I think the answer is yes. Are there beans in the ceiling that I could then be on top of? on top of. Oh, no. Okay. No, there is a seal. There are beans, but they're in the... But they're embedded. But yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not a thatch roof house. No, it's not a that's true house. A that's true cottage. There is clearly an attic to this space that you might be able to get up to. But other than that... Do I see an inch of the attic? Orny Raptors. No. Um, is the door closed entirely? It appears to be completely close. I will glow blue and you'll see me shrink three feet as I will use minor allusion to take the form of her husband.

Disguise self. You attempt to. You attempt to. Disguised self? Yeah. Okay. You do that and you feel the magic within you, your innate blood, succeed. You fucked up.

You shrink that as, as, you feel. as far down as you could possibly leverage to create that illusion. And you start to move forward when you're busy for a moment. There's a heavy weight at the bottom of your stomach, and you start to realize that the warping feeling is more than you can bear, and you didn't make a death saving throw.

Oh! I told you you fucked up. I didn't know. No, no, no. Of course you didn't know. I'm not. I'm too. I actually thought that's just a scrim thing.

Scrim was on his way to tell everybody. He's gonna turn into the alpacas of the color out of space. Just let us know, let us know. I didn't see what it was. Okay. I was not looking at all good. Okay, give me the sign. Okay, you can change your dice.

Just try that. Yep. And you can reveal your eyes. I definitely, I purpose of legit Derek while I opened. Um, you shrink and you shrink. And you, feel very strongly. It worked for him? You can feel very strongly that the magic has taken home.

This is horseshit. Proximity to the lighthouse. I will knock gently on the door. What was your name? I would remember this, right? Dahlia. Dahlia. Dahlia. Dahlia. Della. You would remember Della. Eiffloid.

Eastly. Who is it? Open up from a glimpse. I will open the door. You walk in and it is unlocked. And I will say, I'll put my finger to my mouth. I'll look very seriously at her. I will open the window.

Which is a genius. And I will point to the horizon if I can to show her that the storm is coming. You're so fucking brilliant. Yes. I know. Yel upon. While I am in there, I try to like sort of casually glance around the room to see if I can see, like, is she reading anything? Are there figures in the bed?

I'd say without a roll, you look around, and it seems that she has just stood up from sitting on the edge of the bed. It looks like a lived-in bedroom. Nothing strikes you is immediately stranger on you in this moment. Yeah, does she have like a tentacle arm? What the fuck?

I will mouth to her. They are listening. And I'll point out. But I won't speak. I won't use my vocal cords. if they are listening. We have bigger problems here, George. I will look very seriously concerned,

and I'm going to sit on the bed and just be like, ah. And as I sit in the bed, I'm going to, like, sort of throw the blanket aside to, like, make room for my... To see if there are any skeletons? I check for skeletons. I don't say this. There's no elegant way to say this.

is indeed no drug of skeletons. You don't find any skeletons. You sit down and it feels like a soft mattress beneath you. A moment of lucidity, okay? Or are you going to shrink back and be whatever this is? I'm gonna mouth, who are you? I'm not Delia, if that's what you're asking. Are you Ilban now?

On mouth, George. This is our one chance for a second. escape, understand, we cannot fuck this up. You have to man up, do you understand? Um, hold on, I just wanna make sure she, I shouldn't use these bells. I am losing my fucking mind. Take your time.

You've given me irritable bowel syndrome. How the fuck am I gonna sleep tonight? I'm gonna sleep for a month. Okay, and so it just, there's no, just seems like a bedroom. Nothing out of place. Seems like a bedroom. Um, I'm going to mouth,

Again, out of false concern. They're listening. Like trying to kind of be like, oh, why are you even using words, like his mouth to me, but she doesn't care. Just to kind of try to play that part. Your caution is a poison that infects us. That ex-shell of a man, don't you understand? I'm gonna almost like kind of-

They will die. Is she single? We will die. More will be dead. Not dead. Worse than dead. Do you? Understand me?

Am I whispering enough for you? I'm gonna mouth one more time. What do I do? When the storm comes, and they're watching the horizon, we have to get to the cave, get the boat, and try to return to the wizards,

the willow trees, on the coast. Cave, and I'm going to motion to the west side of the island. I'll see if she corrects me. You mean you're pointing to the thin line where the coastline is? What I'm trying to basically tell her

is I'm confirming, oh, the cave is on the west side of the island, and I'm going to point to whatever direction I think is west, where we went, if it's somewhere over there, with the intention of she's like, no, you idiot. It's on the east side of the island. I see, I see. Yes. Southwest.

You have to repel down. Are you okay this time? I'm gonna look super pathetic and sad and be like, hmm. You're such a, I love this. I'm gonna leave the window open. At least like, I don't know, at least eight inches. You mad fucking genius. And I will sort of just hang my head, look pathetic, and leave. Slink out. What a fucking Chad move.

As you start to leave, we'll see you there when They are distracted. We can finally leave this place. But I hope as we repel down that you drown in your own cowardice. And I'll shake my head and leave. Shut the door behind me. And you leave.

And you cross through the living room. And dude, that was some clutch shit, man. For real. And you are free with this information for a moment you feel as hollowed out as you are from your use of magic in this. space that you have had a tremendous boon of information. And I'm just gonna basically rush over to the room

that they showed us, drop it, and then like, just compose myself. I'm running the universe, so that was very intense for me. Where is everyone? You are both, Queen's Grimm, we're making your way down. We're actively trying to get back to the rest of the group as quickly as possible. Yes. Tai Shanan and Barnabot.

I'm just looking through, basically, basically, The whole time, I'm basically looking through, and then whatever Tyshen's been doing. I mean, I would have been looking at the map, but I think when it's revealed that the poles are direct the opposite and it starts to come together, I try and get over to Barnabos and, like, compare notes and see what he's doing. Before you do, the captain,

can you a map, look at this. Look, here on the bottom of his map, there's no island where our map had an island. This must be an older drawing. It's remarkable. How old would you say that it is? What is it to miss an entire island? I mean, I bought it within the year of our leaving,

so it, surely this is an older map. I mean, we're on the other side of the world, right? So it's, there's, we knew there was an island there, though. But it can't be, I mean, for an entire island to join a map. a map, I, that would be, I don't know a lot about cartography or islands, but I mean, it would be years, right, for something to change in such a way? Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. It's fascinating, isn't it? Well, no matter, as soon as this will all be behind us.

Right? Well, I suppose you should show me how this lamp works, so you may enjoy a night of relaxation and privacy with your bonny lass, eh? You're speaking with the captain? No, I'm just, I'm talking to George. Or Elbon. Oh, oh.

Oh. No, I have to get upstairs. I need to finish preparations, get the engine room running, make sure that the lens is prepped, make sure it's clean, and then start my watch. I've gotten all nighter in front of me, unless you are determined to help. I insist, like I said, dream of a younger man.

I would still like to show you the ropes. I thank you. My pleasure. I'll join you. It's nice that someone is polite in this space. Please, make yourselves at home. Barnabos, if you'll join me, we'll make our way up. And you all start to make your way into the living room,

And I would say at that moment, all of you find yourselves looking at each other with the exception of Delia. It is very clear. The moment that you lay eyes on Scrim, no matter how much bitching, complaining, whining, screaming he's ever done, you've never seen him shed a tear until now. There are tears in Scrim's eyes. as he looks pleadingly at Barnabas, Tyshen, and if your near is there, you're near as well. Mr. Stavis got him. Everything all right, lad. No, no.

We're still in the room with George. And the captain. Yeah. Yeah, Ilbound, the captain, and the five of you are all in the living room now. You've walked in through the front entrance with a teary-eyed scrim, You've just walked back from the bedroom, having had your encounter. You both have walked in from the library room, essentially, the space where he showed you the nautical maps and the logs.

You've all come together in this space. I was organizing the firewood. We need more. Yes, we must collect more. It's going to be a cold night, and I'll be warm enough up there. I've got plenty of blankets from me. and what have you, Barnaboth.

You'll be fine, I hope. I am accustomed to the cold, eh? But for you, a nice warm fireplace. I don't know how tired you are, but use as much fuel as you like. We'll have plenty of fuel in the morning when relief comes. Did you see the storm on the horizon? Delia, told me, and we are watching it.

I've made records in my log of it, and I, if I had to get it, guess it won't reach us. Just a dead instinct. I, it smells like a storm, I reckon. Well, I was just about to head up to the top of the lighthouse with our host here and spend the night on watch with him. I'm looking at Scrim.

Well, you could do that, or because you're new at this, you could let our generous host go up and get started. and then you can meet him up there shortly. So that way you don't get in the way when he's at least preparing things for the night. I would be happy to prime things for you and then I can show you what I've done. That way you don't have to do it all from scratch.

I would have normally said complete nonsense, Scrim, what are you talking about? But seeing the tears in Scrim's face, the look on his face and the Queenie's face, I will, sudden, I'll have a complete and utter change of plan. and I will say, you are too kind. I appreciate your generosity and your hospitality. I will join you, and within the hour,

you go ahead and get started, do not wait up for this old man. I'll be up shortly. Oh, thank you. And he walks through the front door and you find yourselves alone there with the captain. Take a walk, I tell the captain. Pick a walk. Pick a walk.

That's his nice way of telling you to get out. I'm not going to get out. I thought we were here to... I thought that was very clever, that we're finally all alone to chat. Look, you're going to be dead in two weeks. We don't have anything to say you. Dead in two weeks? Captain, I think what they're saying is that our generous host

would benefit greatly if you would potentially help him carry some of his belongings to the lighthouse to get him started. I'm sorry. Dead in two weeks? Would you not remember what Yorneir told you? It can be a lot sooner. I know that there's a lot of strange things going on, and I want to understand what you mean.

I... I've seen it in the weird. You will die in two weeks. I'm telling you so you can do with the rest of your time what you will. How? Some form of divination, I don't... Can I...

Yes, some form of divination. the land has spoken to me. The Trian has spoken to me, and they have shown me your death. How does it happen? The land will take you. That is all I know. What Mr. Yornear is trying to say? We have neither the time nor the resources to waste on spectres.

Now take a walk, sir. Captain. I think I'm going to hear news like that and just go on my merry way. go on my merry way? I can't. I can't do that. What did you see, Scrim? Did you use magic? No, and I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I thought maybe back all those days ago on that cliff when you all told me that whatever's been hunting me might be helping me, might not want me dead. I called on it. Called on them. I flipped a coin. I asked for help.

and the coin just hit the ground. All of a sudden, I felt my soul tear from my body. I don't know if it's me. I don't know if it's this place. I don't know if it's any of you, but I would not try to call on any sort of outside magic, the weave.

Whatever you call it, I have the feeling that if I try again, I will die. All right? You told me I died once. We did, Mr. Stavisgant. I can feel it now. It's right there.

And if I try again, I'm not going to make it back. Whatever is here, Mr. Stabascotch, is far worse than the death that we experienced at the hands of Mr. Cladens. That's not helping parnipos. And I'm going to run over to Scrim and put my hands on your hands. I felt it too. We're not going to let anything happen to you, all right. Thank you.

Thank you. Whatever is here masqueraded as my lover. Mockery of the sea, mockery of the sky and the line that connects them, whispers to me from my own shell, not even masquerading her voice, not even attempting,

whispering the ramblings of the drowned. Barnabas, I need you to listen to me for one minute. Alright. When we were with the ogres, and I popped out of existence, I went somewhere that I don't even wanna begin to think about. All right, some deepest, darkest reach of hell. All right, they thought they sent me to go see some god, right?

Wasn't Sopholith. I didn't go see Sopholith. I saw brimstone and ash and a moving city with more legs than you can ever count in your entire life. And you know what happened when I flipped that coin and I called on those people? I. I almost died. Here?

You don't have claim on my soul. So what the fuck does? I... This place. Selt it too. I nearly died. Using my innate magic. Core to my people.

If I were to do it again, I would... Almost certainly perish, I know that. So what is going on here that your triad, and those horrific demons can't reach us? Where the fuck are we? We are within the pillar, we are within the star. Whatever this place is, whatever Mr. Yorne saw on that star, it's found us. It is not a place. We are not in the place. We are state of being.

We have to be- What the fuck are you talking about? We told you to take a walk. I'm not gonna take a walk. Well then, shut up then. Well, what? Captain, you may do whatever you like. I will not pretend like I have any right

to command my captain, as damned as ye may be. But do not herring. for what we must do next. I don't care if whatever this thing is that has lured us here, it's trapped us, perhaps it's feasting on our souls as we speak, whatever whispered to me, whatever voice I heard, I will not let it have me. I will not die without seeing my lover again. If there's a being here that brought us that's so powerful that if we try and use any form of magic, it, it damages our...

very souls than we have to get out of here. When we looked at the globe with Ilban, he pointed out that the tower in Drakar was on the exact opposite end of the globe to where we are now, supposedly. You can't trust anything that that man says. Scrim and I went to the lighthouse. That's where this happened. There is no lantern in the lighthouse. There is no light to tend. There is no light to keep. There is a pool of liquid metal and a place where a lantern should be

but no lantern probably has ever been. There was no sign that one had been there, that one had been removed. There is no light in the lighthouse. So if it's not a lighthouse, it could be a sister, companion to the tower

in Dragar. Sure, it could be. But he's claiming to tend it like a lighthouse. You can't Trust what he says. They are using false names. All of this. What? What?

He's a front. The man's name is actually George. What kind of shitty name is George? I don't know. I've never heard it before. But I don't know the wife's name, but I know it is a false name as well. The gibbering, you heard?

Aye. She was speaking it too. You think that she's doing this? They both have a plan. Make sure, like, we're nowhere near the door of the room that she's in. You may have already transitioned into the kitchen. Oh, if we're in the kitchen.

You're like on the other side. The second that he starts saying this, I'm looking around for a knife. Like, I can't summon the blade. I need a weapon. If I something the blade, I'll die. I can't access my magics. Mr. Sabascoch, and I'll give you my pairing knife.

Ha ha. It's no little blade, but it is a knife. I'm like, I'm like wild-eyed. Like, like, sweating, like craziest scrimmed you've ever seen ever. I've gutted many of B-C. with that thing, it'll do you fine in a pinch. And the good thing is, I don't need the power of my lover to heave this, and I'll hold up the anchor.

I never thought I said this, but we have to go back to Dracar. We can't stay this. Stay here, we gotta go back to the frozen housecape! They have a plan. They're waiting for this storm. The storm will come. They believe it will distract us. They will repel down the cliffs

on the southwest side of the island. There's a cave. Some sort of ritual or something that will bring apart our deaths is their plan. That doesn't make any sense. How did you learn this? I may not have your respect anymore, but I am still a captain. To leave in the middle of a storm from a lighthouse?

There's a reason a lighthouse is here. Huh. Right? It would be surrounded by vicious jagged rocks. You got sail in that. They plan to leave and find... I think that... Priests and willows and...

You said wizards. Wizards. Wizards. Not priests. They're looking for wizards and perhaps the mainland. They plan to leave and get off of the island during the storm. Let's go now. Can we beat them? Can we beat them? Can we beat them in the cave?

I mean, they'll never even know. The storm has to be how many miles off? How much time? There has to be more to it. If they could leave at any point and they're trying to escape, why haven't they left already? Why wait for the storm? Why wait for us to be here?

We wait for them in the cave and then we slit their fucking doubts and then we get the fuck out of here. We have another option. We could just kill them now. I don't like that idea, Mr. Yornear. Why not? Because if they need to trap us here,

if there needs to be some souls bound to this God's forsaken rock, if we kill them, does it then take ours? He might be right. If there are prisoners here, do we wanna take them? her place. She seemed very desperate to leave. We might be right. We could find the cave though before the storm comes, before they go. We must leave now. What can I do? You keep an eye out for them. All right? We have to think about this, right? I mean, if this is what

happened or will happen or maybe already did, He's gotta make it out with us. What? I don't know. I'm not me fucking either. You're probably right. If we leave before two weeks is up, then perhaps the weird can change.

Yeah, that's right. But how do we know if time here works the same as time out there? It could already be two weeks out there. You need to tell me what happened. I don't understand. Nine words out of ten. We'll explain on the way. Perhaps these wizards will be able to help us.

Okay. Right? Magic brought us here. It must have. It has to be the only thing they can get us back. Let us go. Lead us to the cave. We'll get the captain caught up, right? All in agreement? Yes. Have them everything. And I want to start leading the gang.

Do I get that innings? cents from my walking stick that I still know where north is. Ooh. Dizzying, turning. Oh! It's the fucking Blair Witch project. I will attempt to lead them to the Southwest. I don't think that it would be difficult. Okay. It is strange to hold on to a reliable sense that you've had for so long and know that it is off its kilter.

But you can look around and there's still just enough daylight left where you can that thin coastline where you can see what is an endless expanse of sea, where you can see where the shallow end of the island and the cliffside exists. You have a general sense of what northwest, east and south look like. And as you all start to walk, you hear this... What is that? Strange sensation. Two weeks, you said? What do you feel? I feel a pull. I feel dizzy. Did I feel a pole and feel dizzy?

You felt a soul feeling. I don't know if you felt dizzy about it. Do you feel crushing cold around your skull? No. No, instead I feel a, and his leg breaks in front of you. As he falls to the ground, holding his limb. Ah! Oh!

Please, he's looking all around, he's turning to each of you. you looking at and he's just fallen just there in front of the building. And you all feel that echo, that rhyme, that repetition, looking down at him, knowing what he is going through. How? That's happened yet.

We are changing things. No, no, no. We are leaving. Kick him up and carry him, let's go. Oh, no, no. You can heal it, right? You can heal it, please. I can not.

I'll turn and I'll just keep going. Whatever you say, Mr. Yorne. and I'm just gonna keep your fucking mouth shut. And I'm going to sling him over my shoulder. And I'll reach down, I'll grab a piece of whalebone, bite this. He does. And you can feel the pain that he is in

and you know he's going through the same sensation, the same reverberating pain that he had gone through before. But the five of you continue to make your way. Where are you going? Your name. I can heal him. No, you will not heal him. None of us.

But this is an out ahead. If you attempt to heal him, you will lose part of your soul. We cannot change fate. His fate is written in the weird. Right, that's my point, but it's not happening the way it's supposed to happen. And I don't know why that is. But as far as I am concerned, his fate is sealed. None of us will do anything to change it. Oh, you're right, Mr. Jornier. Lead the way. Cave, thumbs, wizards, willows, cave.

We all need to stay alive with our souls. All right, just get us to the cave, please, please. I will keep trudging forward. You all hear this low rumble of thunder in the distance, and you know that the waves are getting stronger, crashing, crashing against the side of these cliffs. and you start to make your way, what you think is the path is a precarious one.

Barnabos, you are carrying the captain, he is holding on to you, clutching, struggling, and he pulls the whalebone out from his mouth. What happened? Is this what happened to me? Barnabos, please. It will be quicker than that. You'll be luckier.

Thank the gods. Tell you a secret. Is now the time, Captain. Please. I don't know when I'm going to go. Go on. Two weeks and already this. I?

My son, you must tell him I love him. You must tell him that he's going to be okay. No one else knows. Where's your son? You know him as Roland. stone bridge, but he's just learning the ropes from his old man. I come, I think I can do that. I'll tell him when we find him and we get him off of the frozen rock of your car that you were proud of it. How does that sound, Captain? And you continue to make your way down,

down the path to the cave. The six of you make your way down the side of the cliffs. It is precarious. It is wet. It is being hit by waves that are seemingly getting stronger and stronger and stronger. But you find your foot, your footing, and you make your way down, down, down, and you're looking for some path, some light perhaps, or some indication that there is a cave in the first place based on what Delia told Yornear. And you find the size. of the cliff there is an opening and outcropping and you do find that there is an entrance What do you all do? Do we feel like we can get down there without using like a rope? Yeah Yeah, I would say I would say that it would be extremely steep, you know and there are there are there points where you have to turn and actually make your way down and one one at a time it is slow moving and as you are making your way down all of you look up and

And you see light coming from the lantern room. It is dark now. It is night. And you can see that whatever Ilban is doing has produced illumination in two direction, turning and twisting. And just above that, you recognize a stable star. The apex, the zenith just above.

just above the lighthouse. Doing what you can, you shift and slip and slide down and eventually, slowly, one at a time, carefully, meticulously, make your way to the base of the side of this cliff, and you're able to look into the entrance of this dark, dark cave. Did anyone keep the spyglass from the ship?

You mean like way, way, way back in the day? No, from the more about it. I think it sank. Yeah. I don't think we were going back to Pilford, and the ice took it almost as soon as we got back. Yeah. Yeah. I will have tucked the knife that Barnabos gave me, like, into my waistband until we got to the bottom, and I will have immediately drawn it.

And I am, Scrim is ready to kill. Basically, like, anybody that is not someone he recognizes. He is more concerned about eliminating these wikis and protecting his friends than he is about his immediate surroundings. When we left the house, would we have been walking away on the side that the bedroom was on? No. You would have been walking on... That's like the opposite side of the house. Oh, thank God. Um, you have to be prepared for whatever we could find in here.

The captain was screaming just right outside of the house. We don't know if that alerted Delia. And if she potentially knows that we were coming this way. She knew the path here. She could have beat us here. We don't know what lies in this cave. No, no. We had a head start.

And if anybody steps foot in this fucking cave, I'm going to slit their throats. Guy, that's the spirit, Mr. Staviscoch. We're just weaker forward. If half of us can't use magic, what could I do? Grab a rock and bash the fucking heads in! Or you just get out of my way, Mr. Fireblossom. And I'll use my anchor to bash their skulls, and it's an elderly human couple. What are they going to do to us? Do not forget you have the teeth of a dragon.

How dark is it? Very. Now that the sun is down, it is nearly pitch black against the side of this rock, and it is precarious. I have dark vision. Yeah, yeah. Is it working or is it like magical darkness? It's working. Well, whether you consider dark vision to be magical or not, it's like a second.

Okay. Then I would say Scrim would quickly propose that maybe Barnabos lead everyone deeper into to the cavern, and Scrim would take up the rear for a change and basically walk backwards into the cave, keeping an eye on the mouth as we go deeper, if that's what we all want to do. Scrim will be waiting for anybody who decides to step into this cavern with murderous intent. Okay. You wait and watch and make sure that there are no followers. Go ahead and make a perception check. I'm beyond a disadvantage. Well, perception is where I'm a Viking.

It's a four. Roll again? So that's gonna be bad. My God. Scrim got a six. You feel very confident that you hear no sounds against the sound of crashing waves, that you were looking up the wall

with your dark vision and looking at the path. It doesn't seem that you're being followed at this time. You win this one, Derek. And Barnabos, you, yes. Yes. You hang on to the next. for dear life. And if you feel an enemy behind you,

you grab one of the harpoons and you try to stick it with the pointy, and you think you can do that. I ask you a question, Captain. Yes, yes. I think I got this. And don't fall off, I'm not coming back to fetch you. You understand?

I'll be here, I'll be here. All right. Deeper we go. And you start to lead your way. It does not lead you very deeply before you realize that there is on the high tide of this evening a boat that is strapped to post, literally roped there. It is sitting in. It looks like a rowboat that could fit, perhaps, the six of you.

I look to see how many oars there are. Four oars. Fours? Four oars. Okay. Thank the gods that we can all fit. I've got two oars. Who else has experience rowing? I do. Alright. I don't have experience, but I could row.

Mr. Fireblossom, just use your dragon eyes. Rabbit ears, goblin eyes, and pointy knife. Mr. Yornyer and I will row. You look at the captain, and he is... is clearly without oxygen. His face is turning blue. Even in this dim light, you can see that he is struggling to breathe.

And he is clasping against his face. He is struggling, pulling against his face, trying to understand why he cannot take breath. I will, not now, I'll flip him over. And I'm gonna try to like heimlich him to like, I'll try to like, to do some kind of compression to see if it does anything. And if that fails, I'm going to punch him in the face.

Make a medicine check. It's getting him, so beautiful, Mr. Pitt. Yep, my God, I'm going to go. Oh, this is so brutal. I hate this. I'm deeply unsettled and upset. Medicine? This is an 11.

An 11. You don't feel the need to punch him in the face, because as you turn him, you see the same face that you saw when his head was engulfed in a sphere of ice put there by the princes of wrath a short time after you, a half a day's travel, after you discovered he broke his leg. And he is on the edge of death,

looking around wildly, confusingly, unacceptable. We'll save your son, Captain. We'll save your son. Your son. Rest now, Captain. And I'll let go's grab him, and let's hold him as gently as I possibly can. You try to give him what comfort you can and these final moments. Rest now, Captain. And...

Sleep. Sleep. He stills. Your son's gonna be all right. Your son's gonna be all right. I will step into the bow and just lay him gently down. When you lay him down, his body folds. holds into the space. And you realize you're not looking at the captain anymore.

You were looking at a cloak. A cloak? Yeah. His face no longer, it shifts and fades. His hands wither and pull into long sleeves. His body rises and changes. There's a warping moment where you realize realize that you're not looking at the captain anymore at all.

And it starts to pull away from you, slipping up into this dark cavern, pulling up and up and up, starting to lift and rise to the occasion. It's moving on its own. Yeah. And you all see this. The sorcery! Does...

Scurice specious, he's trying to vomit. Does the vague shape of it remind me of it, and maybe this is too, much. Does it remind me of the cloaked figure that I saw in the star? I would say that you are uniquely positioned to look at it even in this dim light and go, that is the same silhouette that I saw against the star-backed light that I saw before I was brought here. The robe in the star is the same. That's enough for me! I'm gonna grab my anchor and just try to just fucking, ah. I was gonna say I and I throw this thing I you both race it you both race forward I need everyone to roll for initiative

Oh my god I hate this oh oh Oh, I'm gonna throw up are you dreading us? No Oh Alright, I need a different D20 I'm an advantage. I did okay. I did okay I did okay I did okay 13 not bad Seven something's gonna happen

I can't do enough fun. 12. 17. Brown of us? 22. 22. 22. Oh, geez.

This is not good. This is not good. Okay. You all start to race forward. Taishen, you race forward as well. But you are no longer in a cave with your friends. You are. You are.

You're on an island. You're on an island. It is middle of the day. It is a beautiful cloudless day. The sea is calm. You've been light housekeeper of this space for so long, as long as you can remember. And the day's duties are young. For a moment, you get to enjoy the salty air. For a moment you get to enjoy the salty air. For a moment you get to enjoy peace, and you think about the power that well is within you, the gift that was given to you by Fuzhou, and why you have taken up this sacred duty of taking care of this space, of making sure that those who are on the coast are no longer threatened by making sure that the lighthouse is clear, and you turn and start to walk back up to make sure that the light is still sound. Well, it's a beautiful day to save ships.

And that's for a will in tonight's session. You have to be kidding me. No! I gotta go. I can't stay. Do you need our initiative? I have them written down right here. Okay.

We will pick up exactly here. Oh my god. We're not done. Don't leave. I am. Speechless. What does it mean? Why does it mean?

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