Legends of Avantris - Vagabond's Heart: A Dimwood Tale | Ep. 4 | Taxation and Theft

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Our group of unlikely heroes faces corruption, taxes, and dragonflies...   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/QJYARuu9SvY?si=oKnzFURjX3TXY8aN

This is Mikey Gilder, and you're listening to Vagabond's Heart, a dimwood tale. Here's what happened last time. What a tragic thing for Mr. Smiles to be murdered by Vagabonds. We've got ourselves in quite the predicament here, ladies and gentlemen. I think we smash our way out of here. What are you going to do with me? I'm not going to kill you. I knew you to write a confession note right now, and we signed it with your phone name.

Of course, we're taking everybody to the pearl. Well done, Vagabond. Godspeed, thank you, Alabaster. A large, the clearing appears for you, Whartwall, a town built onto the river. Mr. Alabaster said that maybe we found the mayor or something. Well, I received the letter that they'd be vagabonds, bringing justice to for Mr. Smiles, may he rest in peace.

We had a shipment of taxes that went missing, and so we have to just pay up somehow, and the townsfolk, and especially me, I am bending over backwards to make sure that we are delivering what's owed. I have the horrible, monstrous fluttering dragonfly out on the marsh. Of course, that's a monster's dragonfly. Well, that's certainly a tale that's believable in is a thing that exists. Well, they made off with all of our tacks.

You see the mouse woman, she's wearing a bonnet, and she's crying and she's holding her cheek as she goes back, a dejective hang in her head. I wish so this, then. I've been sent to collect the taxes that failed to make their way where they should. If we could, you know, somehow we claim the missing taxes, you wouldn't need to take these extra taxes. Is that correct? That's correct.

And we have your what? We'll get those taxes in you. Please stop what you're doing. Have you ever seen a dragon fly? Suddenly you hear a loud bell. Clang, clang, clang! Get to your homes! Dragon Flats!

are all, wherever you would like to be on this evening, or wherever you were, as the dragonfly had just soared over, buzzing, the buzzing of this creature, seemingly shaking the entire town. As you saw the massive eyes, the slavering, not proboscis, what are the mandibles? Mandibles of this creature, the razor-sharp appendages of this massive insect, fly over north in the direction of where Roady, the small henchman, had told you the taxes, had been gone missing. I'm sorry, go ahead.

You left the refrigerator open. Oh, yeah, I'm putting his back. Jesus. I'll shake my head at the window of the place that we're staying at after seeing this thing, walk over, walk back to the bar, slam the remaining amount of my drink,

put the glass down and say, yeah, one more, one more. It's all I go right now! And I start getting my arm wrong. I'm sure. I guess is it gone? It's gone. I'll still put my arm around. Are you in the room?

I'm like down at the bar. Yeah. I'm by myself. It just flew north. Peggy, you can be wherever you'd like to be. I'm in my workshop of where in wherever. Yeah, no, you're in Whartwellow. So Peggy, Penny pieced out to her workshop before you all settled in for the evening.

And we know the way there. We've been there a couple of times. We'd been there according to Mike a while ago. So it was enough. me to fulfill my wonder lust or whatever. But you know where it is. You guys would know where it is. You've been traveling with Peggy.

Can I swim? I thought it was like, it was like secluded, right? Is it like, is it like, well, I take, I take a little lily pad that I'm back here. You can get that.

I'm saying, but like for the rest of it was like, you can get there. You just have to figure out how to do it. It's on a lily pad in the middle of the lake. It's not easy to get to like one. Yeah. So like,

you know that, that you have, have gotten fairies in and out. Um, and obviously Peggy doesn't need that because she can swim very well. But so Peggy, you're working away at the workshop on whatever you're crafting. Oh, I am. And so you've also heard the horrible buzzing, and maybe you were too busy.

Oh, yeah, I didn't hear it. And I was running my little, I've created my very own rotary sander, and I'm sanding down the tips of these feathers. I like where this is going. Not the Booker knows. But I like it. So you're in the room? So, yeah, once I get my arbor on, I'm going to stomp downstairs.

Are you still out? Yeah, I'm sitting on this fountain going, oh, that seems bad. So everyone that you had been waiting for the hustle and bustle to die down, but rather than making it easier to steal, as soon as if this has put a lot of the denizens on edge, and everyone's fled to their homes, what do you do? What's around me in the square? You are sitting on this huge fountain of the goofy statue of Mayor Boghop.

And there's a number of carts and some vegetable carts that would have been boarded up or some shops and in, it's a, it's a well off town center. You know that it kind of gets to lower class areas the further away from this town square that you get. And do I see, it's a dragon fly. Do I see it? It's like buzzed past as it come back yet or do I see it somewhere? No, it just flew over the city or flew over the town, the clearing, and just kept going north. And everybody's like fled to their homes. And as the quiet returns to the town, you kind of hear, you see your shutters opening and windows sliding open as the creatures holding candles and lanterns are looking cowering. I'm going to climb onto the fountain and see if I can pry some of the, like, gold. filigree off of the fountain. You said it was like really like elaborately like yeah.

Yeah. You can't eat that. I'm just gonna pry. I am, but I really hate him. I'm just gonna try to like pry a chunk off before people start coming back outside. Okay, attempt some roguish feats. We'll see how you do. I put my good dice. I tested all of them over this. As you do. Oh, what are they penis? Is it finesse? Yes. Sorry. I can remember what it is. roll with us. Okay. So that is a 10. 10. Okay. So, um, you pick,

so you need to leave evidence on my rotary behind. What is it? So you're going to leave some evidence. Yeah. So where, you see this large statue and, uh, forward facing, he's holding up both in his hand. There's actually some large gaudy rings, almost built onto this thing. But there's also, his butt is pushed out as well as he's looking he's like trying to look like an adonis so you're where are you climbing up on this statue and it's all gilded uh i don't know like does he have toes like i just like take something like yeah okay yeah so you you just to like deface

this property more so you uh lean forward and you uh start uh you easily uh are able to take your your your blade and shave off and shave off a few sheets of gold. We'll give you that one box of of, of to-toe. Of to-toe. Of to-to-gold.

And you're able to do that as you just see the statue just standing there and glimmering and glinting in the moonlight as you manage to secure that. And then people start to right as you get off, you stumble a little bit,

a large acorn drops out of your pack and there's actually a little trail leading directly to you. Oh no! As you do that and the job that you did is actually pretty rough and it's very clear that someone

scraped it and so you'll just see some guards starting to walk in your direction. Oh, that was terrible. Do you see what that dragonfly did? Oh my gosh! I should really do something about that. It's terrible. The guards aren't even paying attention and they're just looking up and they're like

yeah, yeah, yeah. You get the sense, though, that if they start to look down and investigate, they make... Do I see the acorns? What was that? Yeah. Oh, look who left acorns. He dropped acorns too. It's awful, and I'm going to picking those up. You do that.

You let food go to waste when so many... You dropped these acorns, not me. I didn't drop the acorns. You start picking up the acorns, you put them back. And it's very clear that, like, the toe to toe has been scraped with gold, but it no longer is looking like it's leading directly to you

as you do that. I'm going to start hustling back to the end. Okay, you hustle back to the end. What are you two doing? I'm going to stop downstairs and I'm going to just walk by the bar without a word. I'm going to grab a book here by the scrap. Can I attempt? We're going to save the town. Can I attempt to resist?

Yeah. I mean, I don't have strength. What would be... Grappled. Why don't we do a grapple check? He's been like a reverse rappling me and I'm trying to reverse grapple? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I failed. I got a 10.

Oh, you crushed me. You picked me up. I'm just holding on to my drink, though. I'm making sure I don't spill a drunk. Even though I'm flailing, I'm not going to spill my drink at all. And I will walk outside of town, and I'll look around to see if I can see any guards or anything. You look around and you see Hazel with her cheeks full of acorns. And a little glint of gold in her paw as she scamperes.

on back. And you start to, you see that there's a number of heavily armored cats and actually a few mice here and there as they are walking out and they're like, order, order, calm down. The beast is gone. Back to your homes.

They're crumbling. What's a big idea? Didn't you see that giant thing? What's oldish then? What's going on? It was horrible. It was this huge thing. It flew over. Can you see it? Is it going to come back? How often does this happen? You see one of the cats turned to you to red fur Poofing out of armor as he has a large halberd

As he looks at he's like, At ease, citizen, this is just standard lake business From the back of the crowd I help Ha! It's Addies, citizen! How often does this happen? Well, you have to be careful of giant dragonflies and giant lampreys. and giant beetles and all the other horrible monsters of the lake in the river, the forest.

You don't say! Oh, right. Well, you're only goodness. You're recently not keeping an odd watch because why can't fly right in the town? You can't stop it. You can't shoot it with arrows. I'm not going to shoot it with arrows. Last time we tried that, two guardsmen got plucked off, never to be seen again.

Only two. It was quite a tragic day. They're families And he, citizen I'm sorry for their loss Good night And I'll take my helmet And I'll walk back with the game

And I'll absolute fools I don't think we should stay in town And not I put Peggy slipped off and went to a workshop We shouldn't meet they're there I mean if we have a way to get there Then sure I know it's a little difficult Well we can try

Can you swim I think all done Not very well with my my arm on, probably. We can't get a boat. We've ridden one once, didn't we? Do we know if there would be like... You know that there's a bunch of docks all around this lake, and, you know, there's a lot of... There's a number of lily pads and structures all build on to various

lily pads, and you know that Peggis is out a little bit further than the others. You've taken boats operated by frogs, toads, otters, heron. You've got... plenty of boats. They'll usually do it for a coin if you find someone up that late. It's not that. It's not super late. I will approach one of the boats. You look, you make your way through the town and you don't really see anything. But then you actually see a muskrat with these bushy whiskers. He's a little bit portly as he seems to be tying up his boat after just getting in from some fishing. Oh, are you, friend? Yeah, yeah How much

How is your friend? Or you Land You get I'm gonna learn I'm over than you are How much To take us over

That little bit A little bit of the leg there That one That's pretty far Two pieces of coin Gold pieces probably And Two pieces of coin

So that's one there, one back Correct Perfect, great deal You Make it persuade an NPC track A roll Move I got a 7 but it's with charms

That's going to be a 9 You could have Someone could assess I would love that I will assist Are you going to do that Yeah go ahead Yeah well he said

I mean one goal there and one go back It's perfectly reasonable How long are you going to be? Over night. When do you want to leave? Why don't you come back in the morning and pick us up? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, in the morning.

What time? I don't know. How does Tom work? Don. Don't be good. Don, that's really early. Can we make it like two hours past all of them? Two hours past, Don.

We have a deal. Okay, great. I hand him one gold piece. I'll mark one. I'll hand him one gold piece as well. I'll mark the one to K for my bag of coins. You all pile into the boat and you all make your way through the clear water of the lake that shimmering in the moonlight. As you see a number of these huge lily pads, a quaint little homes built on top of them and then you see your destination as you get a little closer, a bit farther away.

It's harder to access, especially for a lot of the, um, the might. and the cats that rule the area. The cats, being cats, they don't care for water. And you now see your destination. What do they see, Peggy? Oh, they just see like a ramshackle old hut built on a lily pad. It's like very weasley, burrow style, where it's like a bunch of different things kind of piled in top. A weasel burrow? Weasley. From Harry Potter, you know their house? Oh, it's the burrow. It's the burrow.

Yes. So it's very much. The burrow. Yeah, I was like a weasel burrow. He's my movie. How unusual. Bravo. It's the Weaselboro. It's like the Weasley's burrow from Harry Potter where it's like, you can see that there was like a basis of a building, but that Peggy has just built on top of it.

They're like towers and all kinds of other little things that are built out of all kinds of things that she's found. It's random two by four. The door, yeah. Exactly. It looks like a strong gust of wind would knock the whole. thing over, but little do you know it would not. Got it. And you're working hard away.

Yeah. My door's locked. You approach this ramshackle workshop and almost like with... Rood way to say. Ramshackle's a great word. SAT word. As this workshop, as

you approach with like the work that's going on is kind of like bouncing up and down like a steamboat willy. Occasionally it looks like it's going to topple or fall into the water. She's kind of like steam is... Oh, his bonoom. It's blowing up.

And it's like steamboat, Willie style, Popeye style, as this a large workshop. It gets closer and closer. And eventually you arrive at the other end. And there's a little dock that's built out. It's tied up with all these fronds of the lily pad. Some nets for catching fish. Some nets.

And you all are made. managed to ferried off. You give him the other coin, right? We gave him two. Okay, yes. Yes. So we each gave him one. Okay, I'll be here. Two hours past Dawn. Yeah, you better be. Hey, that's really early. Quit that. Really early. We were trying to get to start by Dawn.

And we gave him two extra hours. Wait, what? Unbelievable. The point is... Wait, do you have to be up at dawn? Oh, two hours after Joan. We just told the gone. The real problem here is that we were complete sitting ducks crossing the river like that. Heaven forsaken things. I can't believe you would even put us in danger like that.

How else is going to kill that thing? Who else is going to kill that? You think there's just one of them? You keep saying that thing. Like, we're going to do something about that thing. It looked big enough like they wouldn't be this to main one kind of thing. Oh, my sweet, sweet summer grumbly. Well, I don't know.

I've never seen. Have we seen a huge dragonfly in the time you've been here? I would say that you probably, you know that the lake and like the river, because the river goes to the forest, there's a lot of horrible creatures in there, and what comes out of the water of that can be very rough. I'd say Peggy has definitely told you stories of some horrible things, and sometimes maybe wouldn't have believed what she said because of how horrible and massive and vicious these are. But, yeah, no, I don't know if you would have seen them. I thought you had said I'd seen them in Muck, then. Oh, yeah, maybe you've maybe seen giant dragonflies, but nothing of that size. So it's even worse than I already thought of it was?

Yes. That's what I'm trying to tell you, Brumley. So this is a dragonfly of unusual size? And there's probably lots of them. Don't carry off whole families. Can we please just get inside? Peggy! Peggy, please let us end, please! Peggy! It takes a moment, but you see two gigantic frog eyes magnified by the spectacles that I'm now wearing, as I look over into the mirror, or the mirror, the window at my door. Yeah, what's the code word? Oh, I, the code word.

It's the code word. I forgot the code word. Code word is fly favorite, the flavor of ice cream. No, that's not the code word. But that sounds exactly like something Book would say. It's like that over the door. Oh, thank you, Peggy. I appreciate it.

I was getting a little nervous on. Yeah, wake your feet off before you come in. Of course. Of course. Whatever you need me to repair. put over on the ambivalier there. Oh, well, thank you. What is it kind of of it? Oh, there isn't one. Oh. Are you? Well, that's why it didn't sound familiar. I will

take off, I'll put my sword there, I will put my armor in the corner. And I will say, I don't know how much you can repair on these guys, but perhaps, you know, if I can get just a little bit done on each of these, it would definitely help me out. Is that all right, Peggy? Yeah, I use the repair move at my workshop, and I repaired damage personal equipment at my workshop. Is there, is there like a limit? As long as I have the tools and resources, and I do because in workshop, I made sure that I took all the tools and resources.

Okay, I just have- But I had to give up other things to do it. I have one exhaustion on my leather armor, so I'll, like, take my jacket off and be like, hey, this hole's in my jacket, if you wouldn't mind. Well, don't repair all of them. I just repast some of them. I don't want to look too good. Hey, you all right, just put it over there. I'm a little busy. Do you tell us if we get decay on, like, our commitment?

No, there's a, there's like, they have abilities. Oh. I tried to grapple a guy, and I marked exhaustion on my lover arm, that I'm flavoring, and it's just my normal clothing. But so I use. Yeah, so I'll give decay on, on certain objects that you have. So I'll repair there. Okay. My workshop's repair. You have all the tools and the resources that you need. You've done this a number of times. and it doesn't take you very long

as you all enjoy the evening repairing. You're the best, Peggy. Yeah, I know. I'm trying to make some kind of a weapon against, you know, jerk faces that try and get us to do things we don't want to do. Oh, you mean Brumley? Because right at the moment, Brumley's making me do

lots of things that I don't want to do. I don't know, what's he trying to do? He wants us to go kill the dragonflies. I use that with the plural because there's always more than one. Why would we want to kill a Because they're evil big old dragon flogged. He didn't know they're evil. One flew off it just now and didn't kill anybody.

That's true. I was outside. He didn't kill anybody. It did deface public property, which is pretty awful. Now, it didn't kill anybody. The root of the problem here is that we believe that the mayor of this fine town has been collecting taxes and then sending them to the Marquis, to Cat, the Marquis 8 if you will, and one of those ships didn't arrive and they blamed it on the dragon flies.

So what you're telling me is that he's stealing all of the money. He's blaming on the dragonflies and then they can recollect the taxes from the people and get that sent to the Marquisite's eight. So they're getting paid, but he's also making money as well. But we're not telling anybody around town that because we're working with the mayor to get lots of free food and drink. So until you get more information. Yeah, I didn't want to be a leech, if you will. Is that way you just took your shoes up when your feet smell like that? You told me to take money.

You know, Peggy, I'm trying to do you a favor. No, I told you to wipe your feet. I didn't tell you the big the shoes off. Well, I'm comfortable now and I'm not taking it back. At least go over to the wash bin and wash your socks. Fine. Damn it, Booker! No, we heard from the guards that that dragon flower picked off two guards and killed them horribly.

Wait, that's it. I thought we were about the... We were worried about the taxes. That's why you picked a plate. You should have seen the guy Gromley tried to pick a fight with. He was bigger than four of me. But Grumley, you killed like a lot of guards the other night. I didn't kill anybody. He's the one to kill the guy.

the guards. What? You shoved the guards in the face. Oh, so you should we kill? That was after I got shot. Well, who was in self-faced? I'm going to be honest with you and say, I don't really have a problem with murder. Like, what I'm doing right now, I'm really trying to figure out how to murder a lot of people at one time, so. It's just... What? Sometimes when you're in the trouble in me, might need to murder a group of people. I don't know if you were with me when we were in that last town, but some of those people

weren't the greatest. What are in the gosh? Oh, the guards said that the last time that they tried to shoot at the dragonfly, killed two guards, that's self-defense too. Well, all I'm saying is that with you... No, I said hot, and that means we're done. Oh, oh, but is that how it works? I don't know, but I have baby say it once.

Oh, wait, we gotta get those taxes, we gotta get all that coin back. Okay, well, if we're gonna do that, probably should go to the mayor's house and look through it and steal all the taxes back that he's taken from all the people. No, we were told that the dragonfly took it on. Oh, do you know what? I have something I want to tell you.

What? You're green. I'm not green. Okay, so I guess not everything everyone tells you is true. Thank you, Peggy. I appreciate you put it in a perspective. While we're on the topic of the mayor, though, do you have any information regarding this guy? No, why?

I didn't know if maybe he'd been in power for a long time, and maybe you knew if he were recently elected or some other business. Yeah, you know, I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff, but I'll send a message to Hamilton. And he hanged out in town all the time, writing papers and stuff, so I'll see if he knows anything. write me a letter. All right. I figure maybe if we get some proof that he's actually pilfering some of his taxes before we go risking life and limb for no reason. Yeah, no, he gets tired all the time to write letters and stuff,

pamphlets and official documents. So maybe he'll know something interesting. I hope so. Probably doesn't, but maybe. Well, off the way, we know that there were taxes. We know that they were put on a boat, though, and taken north, right? Allegedly. I mean, that's what we were told. So all I'm saying is even if it wasn't these dragonflies We've got to figure out where they went

We can track them down We know where they went You're a race Which of us is a ranger? Which of us took that class feature? What do you mean ranger? What the hell is a ranger? Well, I'm an arbiter

I'm trying to bring truth and justice In the dimwood way You actually call yourself that Do other people call you the arbiter? Well, I think you sound as cool I didn't know that you go ahead and soon Well, I mean that's what the cats used to call me Oh, there goes Diabana.

Um. With his name. His first name is awesome. Oh, uh, Phil. Phil. Phil. Oh, how many Phil's are in the dim one? What do you?

I don't know what you mean. Oh, me neither. Okay, fine. Peggy, you got to drink around you? Yeah. I just point over this crazy mechanism that's like filtering water up from the, from the lake, and it's filtering it and making it clear as it drops it into a bin that's got crystal clear water. This is just what?

water. Yeah. I was hoping for something a little more kick. Okay, but then you'll ask for water.

Fair enough. You want whiskey or something? Yeah, I'd like some booze. I'd like some booze. I might think swimming the ass back

over to town. You asked why we came all the way out here and I told you that's why we bought good favor with the, with the, uh...

I'm kidding, I got a show up. Thank you. I appreciate it. You mind if I put a couple bottles up there. I'm kind of waiting down.

The little stucky stolen? Oh, I didn't steam it. Okay, sure. I just brought it over here from over there. Yeah, sure I tend to blind eye. I don't care. Why would you turn an eye if it's already blind?

You know, I never thought about that. Grandma, what do you think? Well, you turn a blind. I don't know why they see that. Why do they see you turn a blind eye? It needs to stop looking at something. I mean, it's pretend like you're not seeing it. But if your eyes already blind, why are you going to turn it?

Yeah. Why, Booker? You got me there. Booker. I want to talk with you? Why? Why? Why?

Looker? Hey, oh. Are you? I'm going to hear it. You know, what do you just go? No, love. I'm going to send the letters to my sister Fliza, and I'm going to see what she thinks. It's what I am.

Did she live in, in, what do we are we right now? Yeah, she lives in the, she lives in the much larger house somewhere else, and I don't like be in there. It's not my style. Is she a probe to? No, no, no, no, no, she's not. She's the cat. Is that with an A or an S?

Or I mean a Z or an S. It's spelled like a L. Just flies. Got it, that's how I spelled that. Great. That's a long time. That's why Hamilton. Hamilton. I didn't realize

why you were Peggy? Yeah. This whole time. Yeah, so that way randomly I could say and Peggy. So you could be the other random sister. We were all crossing the pond on the boat on the boat. We looked at work. We're looking for a frog at work.

We're looking for a frog at work. Whoa. Oh. Okay. So you were all enjoying some beverages. Peggy finishes repairing the armor. And is there anything else you're doing before you head to bed?

I'm just going to scowl at Grumley for the next 12 hours. So what are we going to do in the morning then? What are we going to do? We're going to march under our deaths. I don't know why we're chasing after taxes that clearly don't exist, only to find horrible, horrible beasts and creatures that are going to swallow us old. Maybe we'll just find the taxes.

We're going to track down. You honestly go. You honestly believe. So you think that the mayor just rounded up. taxes and moved that out so I'm going to stashing it and not near in the city. Maybe it's got like a little, like a little hut, like a frog hut. What a hut? Do frogs live in huts normally? A mud hut.

You know, that's a little offensive. Is it? You live on lily cats. I just didn't know. Well, you just presumed you know, frog's living mud huts? You know, some, it really depends on the frog. You know, some are tree fogs, so they live in trees, some of water frog, so we live on lily ferns, so we live on the water. What's the big ugly mayo? What kind of frog is seen?

Oh, he's a tide. Yeah, he's just like my friend Hamill. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not your friend Hamilton. Yeah, you probably won't. It's fine. Pretty convincing. Also, then what a toad?

Maybe a mud hut? Is that defensive? I think whatever we do, once that guy comes to pick us up, we're going to have him go all around the lake, or the river, and we're going to look for any signs of near-do-wells. I don't think we ought to bring that guy with us. I know we've got to pay him the coin, but we should probably...

Wait, who did... No, we only paid the boat guy coin to take us back to the mainland off the pond. We haven't paid anybody else any coin. Well, no. Did you build a boat? Did we?

Well, I think we could... Not by the morning. Convinced a guy can take us to... Not by the morning. A boat's like a big thing. That's fine. Destination is a destination.

Yeah, we already paid the guy. He's got to take us somewhere. We need a return journey. That's a good idea, though, is if you had a future to, like, a long tin project making a boat sounds like a great idea. Can your lily pad move? Yeah, don't see why not. I just don't have a way to make it move.

What have they built like a, like a... You mean like a rudder? Yeah. Yeah, but we don't have any of the supplies for that. Or like a propeller. Or like one of those like hamster wheels where you run and then it scoops the water. Do you want to be the one that runs in it? Well, I'm a chipmunk, so not a hamster.

Well, you know, not all frogs live in mudluts, but tone. Maybe few. No, I'm telling me I'm just saying that. I'm sorry. I think it's a little great. If you're gonna be up for a while, there's a few dings, a bit of rushed in me on, and me, yeah, you know, I already did it. I did it while he was talking.

Oh, and did you finish fixing up me how good from last time? You gonna pay me for it? Sure, how much you want? Nothing, you could take it. I'm already done with it. Oh, all right. Are you good with that? the halber having vicious strike. All right, I feel

complete now. And I pick it up and I give it a tap and I'll put it. I'll put it away. What is the vicious business? You mean? It's a weapon, it's a special weapon move that I took when I level up. A vicious strike. A vicious strike. When I viciously strike, who would have thought? An opponent where they're weak, I mark an exhaustion, a role of might on a hit, they suffer serious harm. On a 10 plus, you get away into the strike.

Got it. Okay. So it's a way that you can kind of do damage without taking a hand if you're a little bit of. Okay. Cool. Very cool. So, you, uh, is anyone else doing anything else before bed? No. I'm drinking. I'm sleeping. I'm eating. Okay. Okay. You all... Peggy's tinkering, but then I'll go to bed. Okay. Peggy. Uh, everyone else falls asleep. and it's at this you're working late into the night

you're tinkering on probably a lot of fun stuff you maybe write a letter to Hamilton of whatever it is but I really want to roll plan You are so welcome Mike No you don't you can do whatever you want No I do want to write a letter to Hamilton

and ask you have you seen my sister Fliza Yeah And Peggy You know that the you know that you're pretty far out into the lake and you know that the Old Tom's

River that splits the dimwood goes basically the lake is formed in the center of the dimwood and then continues out where to the clearing town where Booker's from which is Muckbend Creek and you're used to the occasional very very

very distant light at the other end of the lake but for the hour you notice out of your window as you're finishing writing the last letter to hamletoe. You see that the far end of this lake, there seems to be movement of the light, and the light seems to be in the sky, almost like dancing lights flickering around all above where you believe Muckbeth Creek to be. And it seems like there's a lot of late night activity, and it seems strange for this hour.

And that's what you see. I'm going to go around and shake everyone awake. Yeah, I think you should get up and look out the window. There's all kinds of stuff going on in the city. In the town, the village, whatever. What do you mean? I'm still asleep. I was going to play strange.

Okay, well, you're the ones we want to know what's going on with all these taxes, and I'm telling you right now there's a big lights that are happening? It's just gromily, but fine. Point the direction, please. What did you see? What you could see for yourself, and I point out the lights. you point out and and Booker

you see where at least where you grew up, Mockbed Creek and you see that... How far is this? It's absurdly far. It is... But it's like just relatively flat where you can just kind of see the... Yeah, it's across this massive lake. So it's almost like just past the horizon

and normally you could just see the glow because of how huge this lake is. You know, that these are because they're on either end of a lake that these clearings, you know that the very edge of Warlowe, basically, the very edge of Warlowe and the very edge of Muckbed Creek are not too far as far as a lot of the other clearings, but it still across this massive, nearly great lake.

Why don't we take a look? Yes, please. So, yeah, you normally wouldn't be. Is that point, isn't it? No, what is that? Oh, I can't read. Oh, it's, where is it? So, so, um, oops, I'm going to move this.

Okay. Oh, yeah. Oh, it's a lot closer than I thought. Yeah. Okay. So we were here, and then, so we're probably like on this side of the lake, right? Yeah. The workshop.

Yeah. I got to, I thought, it was a different, I was picturing it as a different clarity. That's my head. And so it's south. And you see that there's a lot of movement in the air. Isn't it looking anything's coming closer? It doesn't look like there's anything like heading towards you, but it seems to be very clear that there is a lot of, of operation.

going on. And that's unusual? Yeah, for this, for this hour. Do I know what, who controls that clearing? I know I can look at the, but you know the earie. I do think that's normal? That's like a normal thing. The Erie has controlled it for a very, for a long time. They maybe have lost it, but you know that that was when they, after the Civil War, you know that was the first clearing that they took back.

And it wasn't very difficult because the otters are more than amenable to having some grease bombs. Well, I hope everything's all right. I mean, that looks unusual for Muckbredbbed. I hope the people are all right. I hope the autos are all right. Wait, so, you've never seen anything artists? No, that's why I woke you up.

I'm not really in the habit of waking everybody out to things that I've seen. Well, we appreciate it. But I can, you know, if you want. Now, stick to emergencies, I suppose. Wait, so we see this arm up in Whartwall? No, it's in the direction of Buckbegg Creek. So you see, and then normally you can only see the glow past the horizon, but you can see the lights in the sky moving around.

And you had seen the similar lights before of the eerie soldiers carrying torches and the like. In your adventure in session one. I'm worried that means trouble. Well, there's not much we can do about that right now. I mean, I'm not worried about it. I've been home in a very, very long time. I don't intend to just go home now. What family?

What family? You have family? I mean, I did at one point in time. They might still be alive somewhere, but I... No, I don't really have family. I mean, you guys are my family, we're vagabonds. That's what we do. We travel.

We see the world. We say our wonderlust. He's a wandering vagrant. You keep throwing around these terms. I don't know where you're pulling them from. My name is Booker. Well, yeah, you're a booker, but you're all shabby, You're always trying to pull a car.

And it's like a textbook, Vagrant. I'm a person. I exist. I do things. And you're just trying to slap a label on me. You know, you're putting some patches on your pants. Sometimes when you bend over, I can see more than I want to. Why didn't you tell me sooner?

You know, because I didn't really think about it as being a problem. But now that Grumley puts it that way, yeah, he's right. You got time to do a quick patch job? Yeah, but could you put another pair on first? Do you have a towel? Yeah, over in the washroom. All right. And I take my pants.

I throw them to the table. I strut it over and over the towel. It's completely naked. Here we go. Russell around in my pouch and I get a needle in some thread and I match up his... Thank you, Peggy. I appreciate it. You know, I am offended.

You do? Oh, you mentioned your brothers and sisters. Yeah, I just kind of thought you guys didn't maybe like yours or something, but I thought you still had one. Well, I mean, I'm relatively indifferent. I mean, they were good to me while I was there, but thank you. happen and people move on. There's things in people to see all across the world. The dim wood is a very large place and I have to see all of it. But wouldn't it be nice if you saw all of it and then you went home and told your family? Wouldn't it even be nicer if I made a new home with lots of riches by myself? Or with you guys, I suppose.

Nice sounds pretty nice. Why don't think that we didn't like a family? I don't think Romley has done anything that makes you think he didn't like his family. My family's very far away. But you know, see, that's what I'm saying. I thought you all had, like, family you were missing, and you do. And you are just kind of different, okay? I've been home in English. Mine are just down the road.

Angelicrope, Flies, you know, we're all there. Is it was stabbing in and seen them? Yeah, why are you introduced it? Why are you looking at me? Because you look at me like me. Like, what? I feel bad we've been here like a lot of times over the amount of time that we've been here. But it hasn't been quite some time.

Quite some time. Oh, we haven't been here quite a bit. That's what I'm saying. So, so would it be one would you stop in and see your family? Nah. I mean, no pressure. Yeah, there'd be like, you know, flouncing and prancing around town doing their like fancy, fancy things. Fair enough.

It's not my gig. Fair enough. I'm a little too oily to go to the, you know. the potty they like to frequent. You and me both, Peggy. Yeah, well, at least my crotch isn't hanging out. Tushay as I like floss the towel between my own ways. Oh, boy!

Did you dumb with those pants yet, Peggy? Yeah, it was done with them two minutes ago. I like crack the towel and like flop it over where I found it. They're like, thank you, Peggy. I appreciate it. That once was a yellow towel. Please describe what color it is now in great detail. For the viewers at home. It's like a very speckled gray.

Well, it's probably just a lot of raccoon hair. Thanks for the pants. I put my pants back on. You do that, and you all eventually settled down and go to sleep. And the next morning, the next morning you awake probably near dawn, and you have a little bit of time before the old muskrat gets there. So where are we going to help you take us? Well, I'll think we need to go.

through the clearing on the river and go north for any kind of evidence of these taxes going missing, dragonfly otherwise. So that's just it. We're ready to move on and see what we can find. That's your plan. Are we all in agreement? Is anybody going to

vote against Crumley, like Booker's? Yeah, I'm coming with you. I do want to go up the river there. I'm about half and half. Like, if you were standing like years now, I'll be like right in the middle. So what is your counter proposal? So I want to go up the river, but I don't want this muskrat fellow with us.

What does it matter? It's just a guy with a boat. So what if we find something nefarious? Peggy already said she devised a device that could kill 30 of them, so it's fine. No, no, he's working on it. I don't think that it's anyway mere functional. Who cares if we find something? He's an old man with a boat.

He's not going to give a shit. What if he is? I mean, what if he cares? Then Grumley will drown him like he's murdered people before. He's a musgrave. I'm never really, you know. I'm never, you know. I'm never, what, what do you propose?

We, we, we, we, we, we, we, I think we should get a boat that we can take on our own. So you want to just kill the guy and steal his boat? I don't want to do that either. I think it's perfectly valid. You know what, Hazel, I think that boat that he's got is full of pumpkin pines. You think so? Yeah, but I don't, I know that guy. I usually can smell.

I know that guy. He hides them in a non-smellable box. I'm just, confused as to why we care. This is important. He doesn't share those pies with anyone. That's really selfish. I know.

How many, you know what? I think he even steals him from the kids. He should probably kill him. Kids from their pies, probably. We should only kill him. We don't need to kill the man. I don't understand why you're concerned about him just taking us up the river. He's going to drop us off on any river bed like anybody else.

Think of the children. I don't. How many pies do you have on your person right now? That's none of your business, but go ahead and take a guess. If you guess wrong, you own your gold. That's wrong, one gold, please. Show me. I open up my coat and I like, I turn my pocket and says out.

No pies, that's one, please. I'm gonna request a pat down. Fides above your head. Show me the gold. Spread your legs. And lift your tail. I do this, but I'm ready if she tries to lift something off. Okay.

I'm patting around for pies Do I find any pie? No, I don't have a fucking pie! You don't have any gold and you're a liar. I have a gold, you owe me well! You prove my point. He's got a bunch of pies and you don't have any. How did I prove that point?

And I don't think you guys do either, so we should probably get the pie. I don't think there are any pies. He's got a whole pie stash and he moved him from the boat and that's why I didn't smell them. I think he's going to be here in a couple hours. I changed my mind. I vote with Brumman. For the pie?

No, we're headed up north. Who would have thought I was so smart that doing that would get you to side with friendly. I was lying about the pies. Of course you're lying about the pies. And it's like you look like a pie and you look like a pie. You've got pies. It's like all I can see is pie. And I haven't got any.

Maybe we could go into town and just have lunch. Well, how about after all this is you said and done, you can get a pie. But there are people dead. They're going to live there. their homes. They're going to lose their positions. You know what I'll do? This is what I'll do, all right? You can help me collect some things, and then maybe we can make, like, another in something in my workshop, and then we can make our own pies.

That sounds really nice. And then you can have a pie whenever you want. What do you need? We have no idea. Well, let me have been gone in, all right? Some stuff if you need it. But I'll work on it for you if you help out whatever they want to do. All right. Okay. Done. Done. We already paid the men. We just tell them to take us North, correct? You know where we're going, right, Bromley?

Well, then you're leading the way. How's my arm? I gave it back you last night. Why do you even asking? Oh, you know why? Did you get hit in the head? You did it all in, like, an hour before we did it be? She said it like three times. Oh, wow. So does I just clear all my exaltzing?

Yeah. That's what it does? I literally have nothing in combat. That's all I can do. Yeah, I'm doing. How do I clear a, like, regular exhaustion? So when you sleep, me get rid of one. Oh, we slept. You each have the snake oil business, which clears two. Can we do stuff in her workshop? I don't think I ever wrote that down.

I mean, I have food and drink in my workshop, so we can eat and drink. But I don't know that that. I don't think I ever wrote that one down. I would say that if the food and drink is something, I would say. Yeah, I had to choose. I would say that if you can choose food and drink, I think that probably once a day, you could either choose a decay or an exhaustion to get rid of. Okay.

So basically decay would be your packing whatever, you're stocking up, or exhaustion would be your eating to get nice and hearty. So you can clear injury if you were to like spend decay and be like, I'm going to use some medical supplies to like heal. And I would say that Peggy, you can either do one or the other. Basically the supplies at Peggy's place that are exclusive in the moves would just be like the food could be one decay injury or exhaustion, however you're going to deal with the food. You can shove the fish into your wounds. So I'm going to read two exhausts, one for sleeping and one for eating. Yep. Cool.

Cool. All right, well, definitely the guy's almost going to be here, so we got to take him. He's going to take us up north, and he's going to help us find wherever this missing, missing taxes went. All right? You lead the way, and I will try not to die. And he doesn't have pies. Remember that?

There are no hidden parts of the apartments. No, I just forgotten about it. You didn't have to bring it up so soon. I just want to make sure they were not on there, and you're like, oh, look over there. And you're looking around his pockets. And we're not killing anybody, unless we need to. I didn't say it to kill anybody.

You thought about it. Probably for a minute, and you didn't know that. It was in my head. You thought about it out loud. Well, to be fair, the last time we advanced, you know what's now literally a murder note. I was hoping that no one would mention that and it would come up naturally as opposed to in a medicine.

But thank you, Grumley. Thank you. Well, other way, I think we need to find these fireflies and we're murder these dragonflies. Yes. We'll murder these dragonflies. Well, we're going to try, and we're most likely going to die for it. I don't think you realize what we're up against. I've been trying to tell you this now, Grumley, for roughly about, I don't know, the last, almost a full day, right?

You don't understand what we're up against. Well, I guess we won't know what we're up against until we get there and take a look. Or until, you know, we saw it fly over the head, but regardless, it doesn't matter. I'll just get the boat and die. Maybe we'll have against it's just a big pile of Texas in gold that is waiting for us to come rescue it. I wish. I can only hope. I can only hope.

Yes, yes. That's what I pray for. I pray. I pray that you are right, Hazel, I pray. You pray enough? No, no, just in this instance when I'm pretty sure I'm going to die. I'll weave the guy down. It's not much longer until...

Thank God. It's not much longer until the old, the old muskrat shows of you the creaking of his boat. It's big enough to fit the lot of you as he arrives. Okay. And as promised two hours best on. Great. You got your payment.

Now take us where the pug is telling you to take us. So you need to take us to the north side of the clearing. And keep going. and we'll let you know where you can drop us off. Oh, okay. Where did you get this boat from? Hi, I bought it a couple years ago. How much?

A good amount of gold in whatever the setting is. Something that would be feasibly un-purchaseable for you, huh? No, it could be quite purchasable, actually. Maybe like... I'm sorry, I'm not the game, master. Fifteen gold pieces, why not? Fifteen, goodness gracious. Yeah.

That isn't like 15 decay, but... Well, we... It could be... it could be, right? I mean, if we have bag of coins that we mark with decay, and then decay we mark with decay, I can come up with one, two, three... I'm gonna... I'm full right now. Not that I'm gun, I don't want a boat.

I was just, you know, metaphysing. Theoretically, right? In a metaphysm, if you will. Doesn't matter. I'm not interested. I don't want your boat, old man. Okay. Why?

Why were you thinking about taking my boat? We weren't. You the one who brought it up. Oh, okay. Shut up and roll, old man. Okay. Okay. Sorry, I'm just, I'm old, no, I'm not hungry.

I'm a little on edge. I might be a little hungover, but I'm not, I'm not hungry. See it. You're not hearing a little piece of inkling. They call me old man, crebe. Did anybody ask you? What you said? part of my name

Old Man That was one of the most unfortunate circumstances I've ever happened upon We once almost got killed by a spider Wait, just none Old Man, you met an old man? Just row, just row, please Hey

And You're all I'm sorry It's okay He paid me so it's fine And he rose you Through Old Man Cream

What a name. What an absolute name. Roll rose you through to the shore of the lake. And he's like, wait, you're not getting off here and World War II? We're going through it? Yes, sir. That's right. We've got all the way through. We never explicitly told you where you would drop us off, so you agreed to us. Do what grumbly the arbiter. Tell us how to do. Yeah, they call me the arbiter. I just roll my eyes.

Yes, some guy named Pete. Okay, well, I guess I should have looked at the fine breed. I love that Mikey cracks you up so much. It's literally all the time. They cannot be in a room together. He continues to row north. As you make your way through the town, and along either side of Old Tom's River,

there's a lot of docks. There's a number of fishermen. There's people making their way. up and down the river, there's some barges of shipment. And as you get close to the towns, you're just to see that the townsfolk are a little on edge. And you go beneath a bridge and hear the loud marching footsteps of soldiers. As you make your way to the other side of the bridge,

you see a number of spears and pikes, tall longbows, as a regiment of Marquis 8 soldiers walk over it. And everyone, all the denizens seem to be very on edge. And as you make your way in the bend around, it really encircles almost the town square, you see that same large bloated statue. And Hays, we can see that little bit on the toe that scraped off of the gilded statue.

as you see down one row in the number of the same four cats, the large leather hooded cat of nine tails, making the way with the wagon of the taxis. But however, you see that the road that's coming into Whartwallow from the, what's that clearing, from a click-clock crossing, is there's a number of soldiers. soldiers marching in.

No one? Was it? Oh yeah, Noington. Yep. Noington is to the east. Yeah, to the east. And there's more regiments of soldiers coming in. Wait, from that direction.

They're bringing soldiers from the king. Yeah, they're bringing soldiers from nothing to show. As they're going in and you actually see in the center of the circles as a number of denizens are all forming a crowd. They're looking nervous. They're whispering back and forth. And you hear Mayor Boghop as he's standing on a platform that's elevated. And he's on almost like this pyramid.

In the very top, the wood is kind of buckling a little bit. As he moves around in his boots, it's, now now there's no reason to be alonged. The eerie may perhaps be advancing. And they may be the ones that are responsible for all the taxes that were taking. It was probably the Erie. They was using their scouts to take all the taxes. And even if they think they're going to attack us,

we have the protection that I have called for from the Marquis 8. So remember, Mayor Boghop is looking after you. And that's what you catch on the wind is he's shouting out this. to the crowd as you all make your way up the river through the town. What do you do? He keeps coming up with different excuses as to where these taxes are going. First of the dragon floor and out of evening? So are you convinced that we might be on a wild goose chase per se?

Well, I don't think that we were doing anything that has to do with wild goose. So you know if wild geese have an eight kinds of medicinal properties, but maybe even some voices and anything? I couldn't doubt it. Well, I would think I would hope you would know before you lead us on a chase after them. No, Brumley is the one leading this chase if you hadn't noticed. So, do you know? Wait, what would have... What's the purpose of us going out to some wild geese?

We're not going to an actual wild geese. Why would you bring it up? Yeah, why would you bring it up, Brumley? Don't bring it up when they put it up. Yeah, why would you bring up? It's one of those crazy idioms, you always said. Absolutely not. I don't even know what you're talking about.

No, I think you're right. I think he did bring it up. Don't bring up wild geese if you're not going to follow through. You know, Bucke's always like, it's a turn of phrase, Peggy. It's a turn of phrase, Booker. Grim.

Gromley, Gromley, it's a turn of phrase. It's just a turn of phrase, Gromley. You're idiom? He's always calling me an idiom. I swear you're not nice at all. It's not nice at all. You're not an idiom,

an idiom is just another word for a turn of phrase. It's not an offensive phrase. It's not an offensive thing. It's just another word for a turn of phrase. I'm just saying, don't bring up wild geese if you don't intend to dull them out. Come on, grandma. Please.

Haven't you wrong by now? I guess I won't bring up wild geese again. Anyways. I think we all learned a valuable lesson about. That's very true. Yeah, because poor Hazel here, you know, she could make a meat pie out of some wild geese. I don't like to do the trucking and cooking. I don't want to see how much the kids made.

I just want it to live. What are we doing? I knew a cobbler once she was a wild goose. Don't say the word garbub. around. Oh, no. What have I done? I don't know why you did that.

She's not going to stop doing of coblers for at least the next four hours. I don't want to chew kind of cobbler. Leather, cobbler. Did they help that? I wouldn't write it all completely. I'll put it in my journal. Don't eat leather. We're talking about shoemakers here. We're just trying to set you straight here.

How would you eat a shoe? No, you wouldn't eat it. Comeley, how far until it gets to what we think we get to All right, old man, Cree. Go all the way through the clear until we see something suspicious. So just for the record, if we're convinced, you literally just heard the mayor

saying that the taxes have now gone somewhere else. What do you think we're going to find when we get where we're going? Well, often we're going to find a hideout where the mayor is stationed himself. All right, going to find some of the troops. No, I've got a question for you there. Why would the mayor send us

in the direction of where the hideout is that he's stashed himself? If he wanted us to go out to a dragonfly that's stealing all the taxes, but there's not actually a dragonfly. Don't you think he's going to lead us in the complete opposite direction? I think that Peggy is on to something. Well, it's all we have to go on. So we're going to look until we find something. We're going to follow every lead.

And if it leads to know it, and oh, well, I guess he was wrong. You didn't bring any of that booze from your workshop with you, did you? Is there a reason we let him tell us where we're going? Because I try to argue. I get nowhere. And then if I get frustrated, he just picks me up and I kick and I kick and I kick until we go somewhere anyway. By the way, you send a letter to Hamel?

What does it say? Hamlet Toad? Yeah, Hamlet Toad. Say the whole name. Hamletoad. Hamletoad. I basically said what you said. Have you seen my sister, Fleiza?

It's been a long time. A long time Z. my sister Angela Croke never writes to me but I know that your great pen pals so please send her my best do you know anything about the mayor is he doing you know

is he doing anything strange make sure you keep this under wraps and try and get some rest stop writing like you're running out of time Peggy okay and so are you going to just drop it off at the post as you pass by maybe a postman

you see a postman walk in a long-necked goose. You remember the old postman, while, as he walks over, he goes, oh, hey, Peggy, I'll take your letter, and he stuffs it in his bag, and another love letter to Hamill. That would imply love.

Oh, you! And he stuffs it in his bag, and he flaps off. And does that every time. I don't know he's talking about. What an interesting thought. And he flies off with the letter, and you coast north, and you continue to row. And as you get further and further away from the clearing, you see all of the, many of the denizens are terrified, as if they weren't afraid enough of the Cat O'9 Tales and having to come up with another year's worth of taxes, it seems.

Now there's unrest as if the Erie might be mobilizing. And you see a number of... Is this a nickel back? Oh, no. Yes. There's a number of individuals or families that have packed up just small carts with barely anything in them. As they begin to make their way, you have to see some families, mostly mice, a few frog families with just their last belongings pushing past the rows of them. soldiers that are marching in to

Whartwallow as they begin to make their way up to Nookington. As you continue to roam, or not you don't, but Old man, whatever is the cream. Crebe. I wrote Old man Crebe.

I just, old man, crebe, boat guy. Buscrat. He's a muskrat. Boatman. I should have a muskrat. You know that these rivers are relatively treacherous, but, you know,

normally the otters of the Riverfield company that are the masters of these rivers, but muskrat, otter, eh, you're on a budget. So, it's your shave. That's right. So he takes you north and the water gets choppier as the thick reeds and grass on either side gets more and more choking. Almost

when it's not choking the river. There's crazy rapids and he's trying to row very hard and you get to a stretch a forest where there are just willows on either side and you seem to be very close to where Rody had said the taxes were last seen. And then to turn around a bend in the river going north. the low willow trees the hanging leaves and fronds start to shake

as you hear a low buzz that gets louder and louder as it's almost seemingly coming right along the bend on a stretch of water as the river expands what do you do? I don't like that tell them to pull over here, Gromley, right? That was the whole plan, right?

Maybe we can go through the leaves and hide for a minute. Why don't you bring the boat over to the shore here, mate? Can we like see the shoreline or is it through the willows? So you see that there's a, the river starts to once again widen as there are willows on either side. And you see through, you can see the shoreline, but around the bend off past, on one side of the shore of this river. You hear the buzzing as you're to see the leaves start to shake. We should definitely pull over and take refuge, like Hazel suggested, before we get too close to that buzzum.

Oh, right, yes. You can just drop us off here and go back on your way. Don't for so far. How are we going to get back? Yeah, we'll figure it out, right, unless you've got another gold piece to let the man wait around to get eaten by dragon. No, it's far too dangerous. We'll find our way back. We'll stop to the marsh if we have to. Well, that does sound dangerous, and I? Oh, oh, man, the Kee, Kreeb ain't looking to be eaten. as he starts rolling away after he drops you off on the shore. Fantastic. You make your way onto the shore and your feet sink into the thick mud

as you make your way up to the bank and there's a huge log on the side. And you peer over and you see that there is a large opening of the river almost forms like another kind of mini lake, but of the river being split by these huge rocks and these rapids. And you see up ahead that there seems to be a scattering of wood and scraps of metal here and there. You see some glinting off in the sand and the mud of this riverbed. But as the once again the buzzing gets louder and louder, almost shakes the ground, you see that directly ahead of you, you see a bit of, of,

of flapping, a kiteness wing, as you see what's probably the massive monster's dragonfly, is resting on the edge of the water, just the wing flapping and disturbing the willows. But we do see that wreckage. Yeah, you do see some kind of wreckage. Oh, my, acorns. Is it possible that the male was telling the truth? It looks just like it's all glinting and shiny. How far away is it from us? It's probably a couple hundred feet up, as you're looking over this log. If I had bet every ounce of wealth I ever made, I guess I might have been wrong.

I hate to admit it, but I was... What if it's hurt, and it was shot out of the sky, and it landed on all that stuff, and broke it because people were trying to kill it because they thought it was doing this thing that it wasn't actually doing, because the man is actually doing horrible stuff. And it's laying up there, it's wings in the water because, you know, Dragon's one is going to put their wings in the water, because then they get it. why they gotta wait for it to drive before they can get up into the air. So that doesn't leave them much room for escape. And I'm just spitball in here, so I don't really know. But I'm concerned, and I don't think that this is the good thing, it's all I'm saying. What if it's not hurt, and then we get close to say, hey, are you hurt, and then it eats us?

Yeah, well, then we would be dead. Very much, very dead. Then they would pull a hazel. I wouldn't eat you guys. You're friends, not food. I think it's just a beastie. Just a beastie. I'm distracted while you guys

go check it out Why don't we just sneak around? So what I'm concerned about is that the wreckage that we see there isn't very substantial. So even if the mayor was telling the truth, I'm not sure there's much to salvage. We might be able to salvage someone

but not to save the, you know, the innocence, so to speak. Do I see any, like, places where anything was, like, dragged away from that pile or, like, does it look like it was just smashed there? So all you see are, bits of wood and scraps of metal, you get the sense that

some of it has drifted down from up through the willow trees. As you get ahead. So you're not like looking at the remnants of like a large cart. You see pieces, but it looks like whatever it's It's very much not a salvageable thing. At least from what you can see

as you start to see once again, you see the buzzing of wings as and it's very difficult to see through the darkness of the overhang of the canopy. And then you see occasional flash of this bluish-green armor and the flick of a large spiked tail as it flaps around a little bit of dark blue and green with some shades of orange and pink. As the wings continue to move but nothing takes off into the sky. Well, why don't we go sneak on over there and connect what's there?

If the operative word is sneaky, you can actually do it. that and remain hidden than maybe. Well, are you to distract the thing? I'll sneak over there. You choose. If you distract the thing, you die. If you sneak over and you make noise, we all die. Do you think that you could talk to a dragonfly? No, I don't think so. Does it speak frog?

I don't think it speaks at all. It's a big, fowl-beasty. So are you, but you talk? Wow, that was crazy savage. I understand it. That was a joke. As the youth would say, you got nai-nate. I don't know what that means. What's that done?

It doesn't matter. Let's move on. So what are you guys doing? I'm going to be honest. Lillie paddened. I'm not willing to take the lead on this one because I don't want to risk life and limb for what may or may not be anything. I would not advise that. Well, I can jump out of there, hopefully, before anything happens.

I don't think this is a talking situation. And the thing is, they can't swim. So if I go over there and I just leap into the water and then I swim away, then we know. Then stay close to the shore. And you make an opening and I'll come in with more homework. I'll let you know. Oh, heavens. So here, this is what we'll do.

We'll have code words. I'm going to go over there. If it's in trouble and it needs help, I'm going to say, no, that wouldn't be good because you think is the wrong thing. I'm going to say, um, dragging down. Dragon down. Oh, right. Okay. And then, no, you're going to shut up.

Let me do this. And then if I get over there and it's a bad guy and I need help, I'm just going to yell help. And then I'm going to jump into the water. And you probably shouldn't come to try and help me because then you'll just die. All right. Okay. So you're going to do all your tinkery stuff. All right.

I will stand by and get ready to fill the foul beast. You go sleep over there and you're going to steal all the taxes back. No. And then go there. You sell it some soap or something. No, that's not what we're going to do. I'm not you to just stay here and not move and not do anything at all. And then I'm going to find that what's going on.

And I'll come back here regardless of what's happening. If it's bad, I'll come back here. And if it's good, I'll tell you dragon down and you come over because it means it's okay. I'll be ready. Would we have any reasonable knowledge about like these creature sections? you'd get the sense that they are they're not like sentient people basically to what it's a beast to what like a wild animal would be

to humans it is a beast okay it's not like a smaug you know I'm a giant monster but I can talk and out of that station we got you got you okay okay I'm gonna sneak through the I'm gonna sneak through the vegetation that's aligning the water and I want to get close enough to see if it looks like it's been hurt

and that's why it's doing, just basically to scan the area and find out what's going on. If it looks like it's going to attack me, I want to just leap into the water and swim. Got it. But if it looks like it's just in pain and will let me approach all attempt to do that. Okay. So, I just get an attempt roguish feet to see how quick can you stay by the slippery mud and still approach stealthily? The nest. Ten.

Ten? Okay. So you pick one of the other clear path of escape. You use some resources or you leave evidence of robbery behind. Okay, so wait. Oh, yeah. You pick only one of these things. But you succeed.

All market decay. Okay. So you pull out some, maybe some weeds or fronds and you get some camouflage, some active camo or however you would want to do that in order to sneak. And you can see like this bush, this swamp bush, scamper off. Sometimes it hops more than a bush should hop. And you begin to creep your way through. A little much hop to a bushhop hop.

You see three pairs of ears behind you from the log as you see another three pairs of eyes watching you as you make your way through. And you manage to get close to the water and come around the bend through the willow fronds. And as you get closer, you see once again the massive form of this huge dragonfly resting on the water. As you get closer and closer, you start to smell, smell along with the river bed, just that dank smell of the creek, which you may be used to from your time in the swamp in the pond. as something is mixed in.

Smells like blood. Fresh blood. Fuck. But something else. You look to your left as you creep around. You see the scattering of coins, gold coins, around. As you look up ahead, as you get closer and closer, you see a smear of red blood. and you look, pass through the willow leaves,

and you get close enough to see the scene ahead of you, almost totally enveloped in this massive tree's canopy. And you see a, not a humanoid, but a critter figure lying down with a huge harpoon-like spear, clutched in webbed hands, a slain toad, seemingly, seemingly his throat torn out. As you get a little bit closer, you see another one laying down on its back as well.

And directly ahead of you, resting, almost tilting into the water, you see this massive dragonfly that is flapping its wings and buzzing as it seems to be attempting to get some kind of lift and you see that the wings now are shredded as you see a number of harpoons impaled on it on all sides as you see the coins and the bits of these wood are from these huge crossbows

that are splintered next to several of these toes you see some tracks going off into the rest of the swamp in the forest along this massive river as you see the wide eyes of this huge dragonfly. It is insectoid, but you do see a sense of distress and pain as attempting to fly as it is

almost kind of sliding back into the water, just kind of perched on the side of the river as the water is rushing past it, as it seems to be just covered with all these huge bolts and harpoons. I'm going to hop back. I'm going to hop into the water and swim back to my friend. Okay. We'll keep that role. You are not noticed as you swim back and Peggy appears behind you. Yeah, so, you know, it's definitely hurt like its wings are completely shredded. They were hapoons there that it destroyed. And some people did it killed, but it looks like they were attacking it. So I really want to go repair its wings, but I don't want to do that until. I know whether it's good or bad.

So I'm thinking we should do a little more investigation and hopefully it doesn't die in the meantime. Or I can go and I can take some of the spider silk and some of the cloth that I have on me and I can try and repair its wings, at least enough where it's a start feeling. And then we'll see what happens from there, but I don't know if I should do that.

Might be really happy if you did that and be honest us. But you might try and eat me, you know, it's really hard. It's a thing, right? Well, I don't think that it's inherently evil. I think you're right about that Peggy. I don't think that we necessarily need to be restoring any kind of strength of this creature that has been wreaking havoc. But you don't know if it has. You don't know if those people ran out here just because the people in town have been saying that it's stealing all the taxes.

I want you to think about it this way. That's true. Let's say you don't have much money, right? And some big cat of nine tails comes and roughs up your family and steals everything you've got. And they say that the reason that happened was because the Dragonfly took it. And the Dragonfly didn't take it, but you think that. So you come out here with your heart. problems and everything, and you're hurt an innocent creature that hasn't done anything to you.

I don't disagree with you at all. I think that you are on the right track. I guess my point is there is no finding out whether it's good or evil, and that it's just a beast. It just eats and does what it needs to. And you don't want to risk your life trying to... Which is kind of my point, right? Like, why would a beast that just eats and does what it eats and why wouldn't we steal intact? I agree. I still think that this mayor is rotten to the core. I just wish Hamilton would send me something. He would not. What were these toads doing out here? Maybe they're the ones that was carrying the taxes,

and they got attack by the scorn killed. Maybe the taxes are over the bar. We don't have to kill this dragon flying first place. Well, we can try to... I certainly don't want to even get close to that thing, even wounded, and it'll still kill all four of us. I would rather try to figure out what happens here and get some evidence and move away from the danger.

But that's just my vote. Let's do that. Do you want to repair the wings while we look around? I don't want to try. I'm wrong. We don't want you to die. Yeah, you know, I don't want to die either, but sometimes you gotta take a chance. You gotta trust Faisal.

Well, I'll help you with the dragonfly and Booker and take a look around. It's very sticky. Maybe it would stick the wind up together. What will cause the like horrible infection that will make it worse and its wing will fall off? Well, maybe. Why don't you eat the honey while I do all of the hard work? That's a really good idea. I know.

That's why I'm the smallest in the room. All right, Bromley. Let's try to find some of this missing taxes. So I'll wait until they're kind of taking the attention. We're going to go and start to look around. So how are the ladies approaching? So I am going to put together a basically two more bushels where we look like we're hopping like bushes to kind of get back to the area. And then I am going to...

You know what? I am going to load up my blowgun with one of my paralysis darts. Oh, no. Okay. And I'm going to paralyze it, hopefully, so that way it can't do anything so I can repair its wings. Okay. Because I can't think of a way that I would be able to approach it without it freaking out and trying to just kill us. need it to be perfectly still to try and repair him.

Okay. So. I'm going to do that. Then whoever wants to do an attempt for Uyghurish feet, I'll just have that for both of you. So one of the things that I've been working on, I've been talking about my bamboo shoots. I've been basically making one of those pipes, like the Piper's Pipe or you go, and each one of them has a dart on a pan flute. Yeah, pan's loop. So each one of them is loaded with a dart.

I'm going to put four darts because it's significantly bigger than a skinkertip. Okay. I'm going to put four of my feather darts, so I've been sharpening my feathers that I've been collecting and filling the shaft with some of the poison. So that way it can pierce it and fill it. So I'm going to put four in there, and we close it up. I'm going to go and shoot it with four of them. Okay. Which should be enough, I'm hoping, to bring down a beast that size, but not kill it.

Okay. So as you... Just never wake up. Yeah, but, you know, choices. So, as you all approach... So someone want to do a attempt Rogesh feats for both of you. 13. 13.

So pick another one. You don't have a clear path of the state? 13. Lead evidence. I'm going to do another decade. Okay. So you use more of the reeds and you give some to Hazel. As you approach.

And as you make your way through this chipmunk and this frog covered in reeds and leaves, as you see now, Hazel, you see the site. that Peggy has seen. As you look up ahead, you see a number of slain toads with their harpoons and large crossbows. As you see this acre pouring into the river now, a blood that is spilling out. As you approach... Spilling out of the dead toads or out of the dragonfly. Out of the dragonfly.

You see the blood of the toes. You see the dragonfly, as you now make your way around to get a good shot, where the wing isn't flapping, kind of directly beneath the large head of this creature, seems like there could be a good vantage point, especially getting it closer to the heart or the brain. And you see now that there's a huge wound of this large harpoon that sunk pretty deep and make an attack roll. How does that work again? We'll do target.

Or you can trust fate. You've done from the type of attack you're doing. Try to trust fate to see you through because it is a tinkered thing. Or if you made it and you spent time in your workshop. Arranged attack is what? Target. Target, yeah. So you roll with finesse.

I will roll with finesse. There's target someone. Yeah. When you try to target a vulnerable fillet range. 11. 11. Okay. That's fucking good.

Okay. So with the 11. You see, you see Peggy go as all four darts pierce in to this creature and they crack the the kite in the shell of the dragonfly. And the buzzing starts to get crazy.

And you're not sure if the darts actually pierced all the way through for this toxin. And you just see as it shifts as its massive legs, heave itself up and shift around. And his wings are buzzing, not finding purge from how much they were shredded. And it turns to you. But as it turns to you, it starts to slow down and lock up. And it should still be conscious. It is. It's just paralyzed.

It is. So I'm going to run over to it. And I know that you can't understand anything that I'm saying. And I talk in like a really soft voice. And I know that you're probably horrified. And I'm going to like slowly pet the side of its face. I'm going to make you feel better. And I'm going to take those things out.

And then hopefully you'll be all right. And I'm just going to, I'm going to kind of like try and just be as kind to it as possible. And then I'm going to go over and I'm going to start breaking and pulling out all of the harpoons. And I'm going to show Hazel how to do that and I'm going to have her on harpoon removal duty. Well, I then take leaves,

a bunch of leaves that I can find around, basically my entire stock of fabric scraps and my entire stock of spider silk. I made a big ball of spider silk and I'm going to use those to make it to kind of patch up its wings. Okay. So, yeah.

So I will say to see what, as you're doing this, make a persuade an NPC check. Oh, God. So buy Spider-Silk. Top. Left. No. Um, and that uses charm.

Yeah, so a two. Oh, shit. A two? A two. Okay. I think. Yeah, no, no, it's a two. It's minus one.

Wow. Okay. So, you approach. Is this? What happens with our twist of fate? Don't we have one? You get a plus one. So even if we all are assisting you get a plus one,

that puts you at six, which is no bad. So as you approach, you see its eyes are wide with fear. As it starts to shake a little bit, but you use all of your spider's soap and you begin to start patching it up as unable to resist. But his eyes are still wide with this animalistic insectoid fear and pain very clearly. He goes on, what are you doing?

I'm going to still in my full bush skirt, come up and just grab it by the head. You're going to be okay. And then I'm going to pull some harpoons out like she showed me. And then I'm going to take some of the alcohol that I had and try to like clean off its wounds. And just try to like push up, you know, like put pressure on it, make it stop bleeding if I can. Okay. So I'll give her some of my fabric cloth and the spider cell.

So essentially packing the wounds and then wrapping the spider silk around it to keep it in kind of like a band-aid. Okay. So you do that. Fellows, what are you doing? So we were basically waiting to see if the ladies were going to be all right before we took off. You didn't want to leave them for dead.

Yeah, so you creep up behind them, and you see Peggy shoot off the darts, and the dragonfly gets paralyzed. And with all four darts, and you start to see both of them in Roach. They're not horribly torn apart, and they're not ripped apart, you start to see as they begin to patch up the wint.

All right, so we're looking for any kind of evidence that there may have actually been taxes here, actual real valuables that it may have been taken off into the woods. Aye. Yeah, you look around for all the shiny stuff and I'll keep an eye out for danger. Say no more, my friend. We're looking for any evidence

that there was actually some sort of, you know, some sort of payload here. That looks like it may have, you know, because a smattering of coins here and there doesn't do us any good. Yeah. And so I will help him, but my main focus will be like keeping it on the horizon, seeing if there any signs of like,

sure, toads or whatever. Okay. Okay. Okay. And so you look around, and as both of you are approaching Gremlin, you're peering through the marsh, the foresty marsh,

as all of your boots sink into this wet soil. As you look around in Booker, you see all these coins scattered about, not the huge kind of payload that you were expected, as you begin to approach. And you see now that there are a number of, every single one of these individuals is a toad. And it seems as if their pockets are ripped,

their coins were just scattered across from this. But as you, but due to this, you'd actually see that there's a total of three dead toads that have been totally slaughtered, cast aside far from the dragonfly where the ladies are working. And as you look around, you're standing directly above this dead toad. Grumly, I'm concerned that this is still not what we're looking for.

I don't think that this has been missing taxes. Why don't you take a look? She's got me kind of riding on him. Like, what are it from the man? Fine. I'll search all three of these poor unfortunate bodies. Okay. Poor unfortunate toads.

Yes. Yes. You begin to, you begin to pat them down. and reach in and you find that there, that each of them has a pretty sizable satchel of gold, the one that didn't get completely torn up, and the other two have, that they're remaining. The two coins, purses seem to be a bit more gold than you would expect for people, someone to just kind of carry around.

And you see that it's this velvet sack, this purse. velvet and you see a familiar seal on each of them. It is the symbol of Mayor Boghawk that he used to stamp the seal the letter that you saw. And as you rifle around, you see that one of them, the one that had this, that has had this huge crossbow device with a number of these massive bolts in a basket on his back, now splinter across the ground. You have find in his pocket a rolled up, crumpled a piece of parchment. And it's broken. And it's, the seal was broken. It's that same seal of Mayor Bogdorf. And as you pull it out, you see that, that there are, that there's a very quick note written.

And it said, the beast is up north. take it out and the victory and glory will ease the pain of the taxis. And if some pesky foreigners show up, take care of them too. I need to make sure that I can have full protection of the gold that's in my belly. Well, at the very least, Peggy was right about something. The... He's right about everything. The, uh, this, this dragonfly was, was set upon by, by the man.

I mean, it says it right here. It looks like these were some sort of mercenaries or something paid to, to do the, uh, the man of dirty work, telling us creature. It was definitely a distraction. It sounds like they were paid to take care of us in case we came out here. I knew, I knew, I knew, wrongly, I tried to tell you the taxes weren't out here. tried to tell you that. I don't like being right in this situation.

I want to see if I can smell any live, like, viral a live toads. Live alive toads? Uh, a hive alive alive toads. I would say, I would say

you, you sniff around and you actually find tracks. You find tracks that, uh, that are coming towards this marsh. Um,

but you only find three sets. and you have three bodies in front of you. But you see where they came from going into the forest to a path. I'm going to keep the scroll on my person and make sure that it's safe. All right, let's wait for the ladies. I think we should follow these tracks.

Let's see where they lead. I think our next course of action is the mayor himself. So you don't think all these, these poor bastards are dead. I think there were three of them. Three tracks. three monies. I think they're all dead. Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you might have found tracks leaving

this place off into the woods. Well, there are tracks from where they came from. They came from somewhere that wasn't... I see. They just came around. My apologies, well, I misunderstood. I was hoping someone had survived so that maybe you

could give them the old grumly treatment. Me too. Me too. Let's get a little bit closer and keep an eye on the ladies and make sure that they're all right. Okay. You creep up and watch them as both of you are patching up this creature.

I'm using my needle in the spider silk, and I'm trying to patch, like, sew apart, sew together the parts of the wings that were torn apart. So that way, once it all heals, it would be able to fly again. Okay. So it's like we're packing the harpoon wounds and then sewing, I'm sewing up the wing. Okay. So as you're doing this, you're using all these things. I would say that's probably just, I want to see a general trust-fate role to see how you do.

You're just seeing that you're actually succeeding. Does that most? Yeah. Ooh. It's just for eight. Yeah, innate. What is it? Trust fate is luck.

Yep. I got a fun. I got a fun. a five, okay. Trust fate sucks but you only pass if you get a 10 plots. No, I'm gonna hit you.

Yeah, I thought it was a 10 plus. You scrape by? No, no. I can't use it on a 10 plus. That's what I was like, I don't ever want to use it. I get a 10, 11, or 12. It's definitely, you know, trust fate is still, it's a crapsheet, right?

You're literally trusting fate. But it's not, it's not awesome. That doesn't feel like trusting fate. That's why I took one stat and prove me. in a lot from my uh... So after you finish, it takes up all of your, uh, all of your spider silk, and you need to even pull out some extra thing. I'll say an extra decay, but then as you step away, um,

probably an extra decay from both of you. But as you step away, you see that, uh, that you did a pretty darned bang up job. All this disgusting black icker that was pouring out of this beast has stopped. and it's all washing away down, God, I hope it's in a collapse on me. It's not going to get. It's washing away down the river as you start to see that the eyes are wide, and this massive insect looks a little confused, despite it not being able to move.

And as you begin to back up... I'm going to go up to its neck, and I'm going to pull out the four feathers that I use and pocket those. again. Okay. And then I'm going to, I'm going to put my hand on it one more time and say, I know you don't understand this, but you need to find somewhere else to go. You need to find a new home.

Get far away from here. And I hope that you feel better soon. And I'm just going to kind of give it a little affection, and then I'm going to back away, slowly. Okay. I don't think you like me very much, but I wouldn't like me very much either right now as I pocket the feathers. I think he feels better good at all.

No, and especially not after I shot him in the neck with three feathers from that really drunk bird. They were ass feathers, too, so I don't know how sanitary they were, but I washed them off. I feel like those with my booze on him, so I think he's pretty sanitary. Unless babies isn't sanitary, I just kind of assumed. I mean, I don't know. It burns, so hopefully it burns the bacteria. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. We think we did a good job, and I give you.

a high five, but I miss. It's fine. I've never been very good. They say to look at your elbow, but everybody's elbow was longer. And, um... Yeah, if I looked at yours, I hit you in the face. Oh, Christ, sorry. You all back away as you start to see that the movement starts to return.

As, uh, the, uh, the paralyzing venom starts to wear off. Uh, and it wasn't, it was relatively not a very long. long time. You imagine that Phil was probably wiped out for much longer than this as the massive creature. The venom runs its course and you just see that the leg moves and

as the it turns towards you all six legs, crabs towards you. Its eyes are wide and the wings it looks kind of just tilt its head very slightly as it looks at either side of its wings as it gives each of them a little buzz

and it starts to lift off as the gust hits all of you. And, uh, you see as it, as it turns and surveys all of you. And it starts walking towards you and then stops. And then after what seems like an hour of looking at you, it turns and starts buzzing. the sheer gust almost knocks you off your feet as it takes off into the air and flies very low through the willow.

And you see on the other side of the river is a massive beetle. A little bit smaller than a spider that you had killed. This blue shell that is a chunk torn out of it, similar shape to the mandibles that you had seen. And it flies over, picks up the remainder of this giant. beetle and flies off north. This podcast is brought to you by our Patreon.

Become a patron today at patreon.com slash legends of Aventris and gain access to tons of exclusive perks, including a monthly movie night and a weekly Patreon exclusive camp and set on the high seas, shroud over saltmarsh. You can also go to The Crookedmoon.com to pick up your own copy of our first published supplement, the Crooked Moon, a folk horror tone for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, and don't forget to snag all the extra goodies like dice, miniatures, plushies, a tarot deck, and more. Thank you. Wow, that was, that was quite the accomplishment, ladies. Nice, nice job. Thanks. I've got bad news, though. I guess the good news is... Grumley's dead. No, Grumley's,

well, that's neither he nor there. The good news is that you were right, the bad news is that you were Right, and we were set up. Yeah, no, I have, I'm not surprised by that at all. So you guys didn't find anything? No, we found mercenaries hired by the mayor, and they were the ones that were slaughtered trying to kill this creature to bring up morale in the town. They were going to blame the, you know, the tax losses on this creature. Obviously, that's why you changed the story today.

Because if the dragonfly were dead and the tax theft continued, then it obviously wasn't the dragon fly. But if now all of a sudden the Uri is taking the tax money, oh, it wasn't the dragon's fly, but don't worry, we got him anyway. It's actually the Uri. It's much easier to control. It's a really bad guy. All the way, I think we follow these tracks, and we see where they came from.

I'm guessing they just came from the clearing, but we can maybe get our way back to the clearing by following these tracks. I think there's one last important thing to notice, and I'll roll out the scroll and say it says right here, It says specifically he's keeping the gold in his belly. And I don't necessarily mean that feel like that means in a literal sense. But I think that it may be some kind of, I mean, it could be. I mean, he's a large, large individual, but there may be a hint here to where he's actually keeping the taxes.

I mean, all of the people of this clearing wouldn't have just given them gold, correct? We saw them taking items and things. So it's like if they didn't have the gold, they would. might pay in possessions. And part, there's a hint here. In food. And I'm... Cobblers.

What are I telling you about saying the word cobblers? Sandwiches. You can't say the word cobbler around Hazel. Oh, sandwich is that cobbler? What are you trying to do to me? Women out here all day. I was referencing more inedible individual. And I think that the belly is a metaphor for something.

Perhaps it's like a basement. Oh, it's like a belly. Like a different bit. Right, like a metaphor for one. So... Like a big belly. Like his big belly. Like the fountain.

I was at his fountain when the dream life you were over. And I was just sitting there mind my own business. I didn't do anything wrong. But he's like a big fat toad in his statues and even bigger, fatter toad than he is. What if it's in his belly? So you're thinking they're just stats in the bushes right in the statue, right?

the slender a town where anyone could find them. Or it's in his belly, but I've got a good nose for things, and I didn't smell any gold on when we met. Well, let's do what Brumley said. We make it back to town and we see what's going on. All right, well, let's go. Let's not wish you any more time. So, with that, if you're going to collect the gold,

that is around, also you can probably each get an extra fill of decay from what's around. and remove a decay. Remove a decay. Pardon me. And you follow the tracks. And you see that they just go off to a path into the woods.

I say we follow them. We see where they came from. Maybe they have some kind of hideout or something. We just don't want to get lost. We know the woods are a dangerous place right now, all right? All right. We'll follow the track. Okay, you follow the tracks and it's going to lead you through the forest in the direction of Wort Wallow. So we're going to do a travel move through the forest.

So we need to at least give each one exhaustion? Exhaustion is the path, decay is the forest. So if we each give one decay, we break even on the roll. Otherwise, very deficit. I can offer up one decay. I would be maxed out at one decay. I was just maxed out. We could just risk it.

Hold on. Two, four, six. I'll max out my deca. No, no, no, I don't think you need two. I mean, if you want to stop you, but two, four, six puts us at what, plus two? Plus two? Yeah. So we don't even need, we don't even need, if you need, save your decay.

Save it. I'll give two. That's four. Can you spare any decay, grumly? I'll do two as well. That puts us a plus. Well, that's a lot of decay for one forest trip. I'll say we just break even.

Well, then you know. don't have to donate anything. That's why I asked you what you. I'll do one and want of you take away one of yours. That's fine. Hazel just to give the one. You should? Yes, I'm sure. Just don't, don't ask me again or I might change my mind. All right, you row since you mark two of you. I don't like how I always get chosen for this. Seven. Nice. No plus anything. So just a seven.

Seven. Okay. And then, so I don't think I did this the last time. We did like chain mail. So anytime we travel not. woods or road, I have to do an exhaustion. Oh, geez. That's what I want to do. No, what do you mean? We're traveling woods. Yeah, but I have chain mail, so

it's weird. What is it saying? When you travel with your chain mail. Yeah. Yes. So that, yeah, you mark one. So I mark one. So that is part of the plate. I can't take that off. Yeah. Well, but then you don't wear it. But then you don't gain the benefits that it gives you. But you don't have to wear it. You can just leave it at the workshop or whatever.

Doesn't it give you something? I mean only when I use it, I guess. But then you can't use it. That's the idea. When I engage someone's sword to sword, pick an additional option. Yeah, so if you were trying to sword fight somebody, you get an extra bonus to your, like, a tackle's basically. And if you take injury from a fight,

you can mark him on the chain mail instead of... I'm wearing my chain mail. Yeah, it's worth the exhaustion. It's real good. So, as you're making your way through, you're trying to stay close to the river, but you're still deep into the forest at this point. as you make your way through.

And as you, as you're going through these, sometimes the tall grass and you're sinking into the muck as you start to continue your way. And then suddenly you turn around to bed and hop over a log and there's a large swath of mud of mud out in front of you. and all four of you kind of jump over, suddenly you sink in. And your feet, your boot sink in, and you try to get them out, and then you start to sink in more and more. In terms of all of you have been ensnared in some sinkholes. Quick sand. We all, we all are?

All four of you are now sinking in as the forest are all around you. Well, this is quite the predicament. This feels really bad. Don't move too much. It's what I saw once somewhere. Just try to remain calm as we figure out how to solve this problem. I'm shaking. No, no.

No, Grumly, no. No, Gromily, no. Gromily, you start to, as you try to viciously escape, you sink more and more. And you wear yourself, take an exhaustion. Oh, fuck. Gromley, Bromley, stop. Come on, buddy. Come on.

Come on, focus, focus. No, no, stop. You have to calm down. You're not going to get anywhere. We have to hope. that our brilliant leader and the brain of the operations, Peggy, has some way. What do we do,

Peggy? Is it working? To get us out of us. Please, before probably drowns and sand. What's it like around us? It's a wide swath of muck. About probably three feet behind you is the large log that you jumped off of. And there's probably

trees, probably 10 feet in front of you. A couple trees. Branches are all shooting out in all directions. I'm going to reach it. I'm going to grab my rope and I'm going to attach my hammer to one side and I'm going to attach my big metal shears to the other side and I'm going to attempt to throw it around the nearest tree so I can use it to pull myself out. Okay. So I'm basically going to hold on. I'm going to hold on to the hammer side and throw the sheer side with the rope around. If we ever had an apocalypse, I call you. So that way I can get both of them and then pull myself out.

Okay. Let's... How do you want to do that? How do you want to do this? I rolled for you. Just tell me... I think that's a... I would say that you could attempt roguish feats or trust faith.

I will attempt roguish feats. And that will be 11. 11. Yeah. No. So, yeah, do you... I'm going to lead... Leave evidence.

Leave evidence, yeah. So you'll be able to see, like, where the shears, like, sliced into the bark. It was coming around. You managed to fasten that together and throw it over and you heave yourself out as you manage to pull yourself out

and you see Peggy, her bottom half, coated in this muck and she flies out, and you get yourself on solid ground. And then I am going to then take my, the hammer and the rope side, Actually, no, I'm going to take the sheer side and dig it into the ground and, like, lock it in place. I'm going to take the hammer side and chuck it into each one of their little pools, so it kind of weights it down and they can pull themselves out.

Make sure you go for Brumley first. He's panicking. He's panicking. He's panicking. All you can see are his floppy ears sticking out over the bottom. Yeah, Grummelie is very nearly there as Grimley, you heave yourself. out and you manage to pull yourself out of this muck. And I'll say

what's there's anything else that you guys want to do that you're just going to keep tossing. I want to use my halber to try to get some kind of leverage to like pull vault with the help of Peggy to like try to get out of this not be a digging with my pulse. So you're going to try to pull vault?

Wait, so what exactly did you do to my sinkhole. So I attached my shares into the ground. It's attached to my rope. And it's locked in place at the base of a tree. And then my hammer's on the other side. See, I would say that you're able to, with that, you're able to climb out as... And then I'm just reeling it back out and then dropping it into the next sinkhole.

Then I'm reeling it back out. And then I'm going to clean them off and put them in my... Thank God. One of us is smart. Peggy, good quick thing. What does that mean? I appreciate you saving all of us now. That was rough. The only reason you bring me with you, to be honest.

I'm not very good elsewhere. And you... I think I like this swimming woods situation. They call me a Ford, a fix or repair daily. Wow. It's just someone who spelled Froggin correctly. Tusha. Wait, they weren't referring to like a Ford

as you cross a river kind of thing? I didn't that would make sense? No, they just sell frog. correctly. Oh, well, I'll see how that happens because like if it did the D upside down and then flip it out. Well, no, I think what will probably happen is they saw it spelled out once and someone had accidentally drawn a line through the G. It was enough of case G and it turned to the into a D, but flipped the other way. You know what I mean?

Only an idiot would do it, but this person was a real idiot. And so you eventually make your way through the, uh, the woods and you arrive onto the outskirts of Whartwallow as you see more civilians evacuating. And you see that there are a number of toads of similar style to the one that you had seen slain in the forest by this dragonfly, trying to like convince people to stay and they're trying to like get in the way. And you see that at every entrance that there is a cat with a clipboard checking off, stopping them, making sure that they paid their taxes before they can leave. And you see that this is happening.

And you arrive at Warhol, what do you do? We should just walk right up to them. We're people of the mayor. He knows we've been talking about him. We're being free room and board. There's no way can stop us from letting us in. We're on official mayoral business. You do the tokens.

Done. Okay. Hey, you with the clipboard. Yes, we pay your taxes yet? Nah, I don't pay taxes. I'm here on official mayoral business. May he was Booker. And this is Peggy and Hazel and Grumley.

And we were on a dragonfly business. Dragonfly business? You mean the one from this morning? Yes, that would be correct. Is there the dragonfly that died? You die? Yeah, dead. Now, all the toad warriors, they were murdered battle toads, as you will.

I look down and covered in blood from the dragonfly and Iker both, hazelai. Yeah, it really is a mess. But as you can see here, we really want to clean up, looking, and smelling awful. We've done the job. You killed the dragonfly? Yeah, they were a couple of, they were a couple of casualties, but. Well, and a couple of dragonflies is an understatement. It was a swarm of them, but we held our own.

And we got the big one. make a fool a nvcc a role in cunning that'd be a 10 a 10

oh okay so they well well done I assume the mayor wants to speak to you yes of course

yes they're once yeah come through come through thank you vagabonds don't pay taxes unbelievable as you are

Now in the center of the town, as you see, as you look around, and there seems to be formations of soldiers kind of being formed at the edge of this lake, as you try to see. Where there's a number of these large wooden boats that are being brought up to on all of these docks. Many of the fishing vessels have been pushed away or being converted, as it seems like they're preparing for combat. What are you guys doing? Well, this does not look like a situation. We want to get ourselves roped up in. Why don't we go and take a look at that magnificent statue? Maybe give it a tap, see what it sounds like on the inside.

Hazel, you don't think you can lead us there? I mean, it's really big. I don't think you need me to, but I'm afraid that we'll get in trouble. If that's where the gold is, maybe we shouldn't go there, you know. So this is what we'll do, okay? We just got back from finishing our mission. We're really proud. The mayor's our best friends.

So I'll have the three of you stand next to it as if you're, I'm drawing a portrait of you, okay? And I'll be out there with my little notebook and I'll be pretending to draw you guys. And you'll be on it looking happy. And in the meantime, you'll be like tapping on it and also listening secretively. And I'll pretend to be drawing on you and making a big thing. I'll be just a little back in it. They probably would like that. But I don't know.

Well, unfortunately, Booker sold all of us so far. And we're also on official mayoral business, so as far as I'm concerned, we're going to push that envelope as far as it will possibly go. So I can bathe in this big, gaudy fat. Yeah, absolutely. And if anybody questions otherwise, we'll say we're here on mayoral business, and I'll slap them. Hey, what will we do without you? Besides, I'd murder lots of guys. Yeah, I don't know.

No, it's just you that one to do the murder. I didn't murder anybody. I'm pretty sure you're the one that murdered, though. I haven't murdered anyone. Well, you shot them in the throat and killed them. I guess not like murder. Well, it took several shots, and that was after I got hit in the clavicle. I'm not saying you shouldn't have killed those guys, but I'm just saying.

I don't think it's really murder at that point. I agree. It's not really murdered, per se. But you know, what really matters is whether it was premeditated. It certainly wasn't. I was following Brumley up a staircase, crashing and bashing through the whole joint, and the next thing I don't have an arrow in my shoulder. I don't think Booker meditates at all. He's pretty hostile. Thank you. So are we going to go, you know,

do that thing where we pretend to be Let's go, let's go, come. I'm going to watch God. I think that's a lovely plan. Well, no, you have to also be in the picture. Yeah. Oh. And you can watch God. The three of you are going to be in the picture and I'm going to pretend to be, I'm actually going to be drawing it.

It's not my best way to judge it. Correct. And you're still going to watch God while we do our things. Yeah. So everyone get in position and we will do what we can. Do you want the top of the bottom? What? The top of the bottom. To do what?

To jump on the belly of the thing. You get on my shoulders and I'll stay on the bottom and push down. It's sometimes speaking a different language. Sometimes I just don't know what you're talking about. Let's just, come on, let's make a paste here. So as you make your way through, what is your plan? So we're going to go to the town square where the statue is, and we're going to pretend like we're super happy and really proud of what we've just finished.

and to commemorate this day, the day the dragonfly fell, they're going to get in front of the statue, like, tourists. And I'm going to draw them to commemorate the moment, but they're secretively going to be tapping on it to see if there's, like, a cavern on the inside. I'm kind of picturing this, like, Grumley, standing there with this thing going, and then I'm on your shoulders.

Yes. Yeah, I'm on his shoulders, and we're trying to stand up or we're swaying, And I'm kind of knocking as we sway and patting things around. But we're all laughing. Like, ah, ha. You know how tourists be. So as you're making, as you're making your way through the thoroughfare, you're almost, you've almost arrived at the town square.

And then you see a large shape directly in front of you, almost kind of appear from behind a corner. and you see Mayor Boghop coming from the direction of the statue. And he seems to be sweating if Toads can sweat. Probably not. But he's sweating. Oh, you're alive. You're alive.

I mean, of course you alive. Oh, my acorns. Where did you come from? No, I, I, I, I, I, do you not know that this, this, there could be war? This could be war. This, but don't worry, don't worry. You are alive.

Well, good, good news. Good news! How are you here alive? But we did what you asked us to do. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We did exactly that. Yeah, we went over and we killed that dragonfly. We took care of them. Yeah, you got a couple of your men beforehand, completely dead.

Yeah, those battle toes, they were covered in sits and pimples and ravenly dead. They're all dead. But, you know, other than that, we... I think it was dead, but... No, they were covered horrible boils. You didn't see them up close. Unfortunately. nature of battle toads. Unfortunately, the battle was really difficult when we were unable to bring their bodies home with us.

So they're just going to rest in the east of them. It's too many pieces really. It was like... Didn't have a bag. You wouldn't happen to have any more battle toads, would you? Yeah, yeah. Well, no, I got a few battle toes. They're quickly evacuating the town square because there could be battle coming to these shores.

I thought this morning you said it was open to the other robots. Oh, I mean, it's going to be... Keep your voices down. Keep your voices down. It's gonna be fine It'll be fine The Marquis-Zey is coming to save all of us I'm getting out of town

Wait You can't be serious You're serious I mean I understand our game master's laughing But you can't be serious Of course I'm seeing it as boys I'm getting out of town You're just gonna abandon everyone

Well I'm not gonna abandon everyone I just need to You kill the dragonfly That was the big threat. So what about your missing taxes, my friend? Well, did you find the taxes? We didn't yet. Musta sunk beneath the river.

Musta sunk beneath the river. Well, I am so glad that you have to, I can't leave quite yet. I got to figure this fuck out. Uh, yeah. Yeah, what do you have to do, Mr. Nay? Uh, 11 plus two. You know it's a good roll for Richcote. You can hold, you can hold three.

Oh, you do it. from under. Oh, no, you don't. I do this. Oh, I usually give it my own back time. I do it like, that's, yeah. I always give it one of these. You're like, oh. Like when you have a good sneak attack. That's a good. Bingo. So you get three questions. The richest version of Faya's Natural 20. That is. You're right. It is. Much better on the ears.

Yeah, yeah. A lot better on the ears, let me tell you. Um, is your, is your character, is your character telling the truth? Absolutely not. Wait, about which portion? About... Oh, good point. Yeah. Is he telling the truth about the oncoming, the incoming Uri soldiers?

He seems to be genuinely nervous about that. Okay, so that's two questions. But he's not telling the truth about the whole gold and all that stuff. Yes. I'll use that as my... I wasn't sure if he was being honest and leaving town. That's my... I will hold my third. Okay. Well, I suppose as vagabond, you'll probably just moving on... moving all

long here. Well, if it were up to me, we'd make sure that you got your taxes because we'd care so much about the Marquis-Ait, so what are you going to do if you skip town and then we find the taxes? Well, I, oh, wonderful idea, wonderful idea. Perhaps we can all get a portrait together to show the heroes that save the town from the dragonfly. That sounds like a lovely idea if you were to tell us maybe some more information while we head over to this portrait place.

What are you trying to do with you? We're trying to get out of you. I understand you want to leave. I'm saying what happens if we find the taxes after you leave? Well, I, I think they're lost to the river. You wouldn't want someone to maybe deliver those taxes to you personally, would you? I'm just saying. Well, no, I think that they are lost.

I think the cat of nine tails, he's going to get most, all of those taxes back, and it will be just fine. the Marquis they will give what they are owed, and I don't need anybody to bring taxes because they are lost to the dragonfly, lost to the river. So you're sure, you're saying if there weren't four individuals who might be willing to work for you to make sure that you got the taxes that you need, if they found them, that you would just say, well, they've been lost, as it were. I'm just saying. What are you saying, Booker? I'm saying if these taxes were to be recoverable, maybe there were four individuals who would find them. for this fine gentleman and returned them to him.

I think he's saying that they're lost to the agent. And I'm trying to see if that's actually the case. So are you trying to get him to feel, to kind of level with him? Yeah. I basically am trying to roguishly say, we're willing to recover these taxes for you and get them to you if you tell us where they are.

He seems to be... I mean, I'm laying off thick, right? Like, oh, if these taxes were to be recovered, Maybe there were four people who could get them back to you. Well, I gotta tell you, I gotta tell you, I don't think that they are recoverable. I think the dragonfly up and took, I mean, you, did it look like the taxes were there?

It did not appear to be the case. They must be lost, oh. Oh, the people are just gonna be so upset that they're gone and you've given up hope. It's so- Tragedy. You know what would be- Really horrible too?

too is if the dragonfly wasn't dead, but it knew exactly what you looked like, and the moment you left town, it hunted you down and murdered you. Wouldn't that be so terrible? They'll be really awful. I thought you all killed the dragon fire. Oh, we did. I'm just saying, what if we didn't?

You know, there also aren't just one of them. I mean, you know that that's not how dragonflies work, right? But I'm saying that one specifically, you know. And it would be like, say, if you say, if you say, that the taxes were gone and then they weren't. It would be a very similar kind of statement. Yeah.

We killed the dragonfly, but maybe we didn't. You think the taxes are gone, but maybe they're not. And you think they'll leave in town's a good idea, but maybe it's not. How can I get this guy to leave town? Like now. He wants to leave town. Why are you trying to do that?

Because Rumley thinks the taxes are still in town. I agree. He seems very nervous like he needs, he wants to leave, but there's something that he needs to do or get first before he can, before he skips town. And he seems like he's waiting for the town square to be evacuated before. You know, I never like that.

Why don't we just escort you out of town right now? Oh, yeah. We'll just head you straight there. No, no, that's fine. No, no, there's no need for that. You all have got enough. If some reason that dragon's lies, It's not bad.

There's no way you're surviving unless we're the ones to take you out of town. But we're really busy, you know, because we still got to find out what's going on and try and protect the village with you leaving like a scatty cat. So, we'll just take you out of town now. I don't, I don't know. Oh my God, what is that behind you? Ah, sorry, I thought it was a dragonfly.

I'm more concerned about the, uh, the earring. The earring. I mean the owl behind you? Make a tricking NPC. What is the favorite truck in NBC? 7.9.

Yeah, well, he's cunning, cunning. Yeah. 11? 11. You succeed. They take the bait and do what you want. He turns around, he's looking. Did you see him?

He's totally behind you there already here. The area's already here. No, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I am nervous now, you are making me nervous. Aren't you with vagabond supposed to be helping me out? And we're trying to get you out of town right now. At the very least, it sounds like we already upheld our end of the deal

and what we're doing here is extra nice. If you're concerned with the eerie, it seems like they're already... What I would suggest, ma'er, is that if you want to leave town with your life, you should probably leave right now. Do you understand? Look, I'm just going to level with you. We know where you put it.

and you're not getting it so you might want to go. Excuse me? The tax me? I didn't put the text in no way. You're not getting it out of your statue. Now go. I didn't.

So if we go, so if we go and we break it open and show all that money spilling out of your statue, everyone's going to know. Do you think you're going to make it out of town with your life when all of the townsfolk realize you've been lying to them and you've been stealing the coin? Why are they going to believe vagabombs? Because if we break it open and.

It's out of you. My boy Gromley here likes wrecking things. Show them to litter. I'll take it out and unravel it in my hands and kind of show up. We wouldn't happen to be the foreigners you were referencing in this piece of parchment, were you? And the dragonfly, the one that you have clearly mentioned is a ruse. Well, foreigners could also mean eerie. And the dragonfly that you clearly mentioned, you could.

clearly mentioned was a ruse. They, they, they, they, they were going to, to, to, to kill it. My man, the other one would like to make an intimidation or a persuade and Oh, bullshit. Oh, shit. This is the arrow. Oh, it's persuade? It's persuasion.

It's intimidating or, or, uh, convince. I got none of the goods on that. Boy. Uh, six plus two is eight. eight. I remark an exhaustion. So that's going to make you a 10? Actually, I can do that

for an exhaustion, but I can give you a plus two for one exhaustion. Oh, fuck. Well, then, there you go. Save your things. She gives me a plus two, makes it a tent. Took a sweet and everything. Now, you drive a hard bargain

bag upon friends. So how about this? We split it fair and square and we hold Skip Town. We don't going to split it. we're going to give it over to the Marquis 8, their own dear taxes. And if we don't give it an end, that cat or nine-tails and all the other goons are going to beat it out of them. We're giving these taxes to the Marquis 8. Well, as long as you drive a hard bargain, so you all know where it is,

so I am going to come up with an idea of where I found these. Where did you find the tax? Was with the Dragonfly. Before. The Dragon Ball found the taxi with the dragon. Dragonfly! Before we go another, even a second step, you also have to have the cat and nine tails return everything they took from the town's fault, because the taxes have been returned safely. That's true. And, just because you've been kind of a nasty guy, I think you

ought to give them the something of yours. Like what? I don't know, pick something and I'll see if it's good enough. Maybe that little cane with the gold topper on it. My cane? Yes, you're a cane. You don't even have a lid, do you? No, I just do it to look fancy. Well, that's just preposterous, so you give it up. Everything will be fine. Return to you at homes.

Let's go, let's go. And he starts walking you through the town. As people will start to pass by. And you see that the cat soldiers are starting to kind of get, be prepared. down along by the lake bed. And in this town square, it seemed to be totally evacuated.

And the only people that are, that are in this square are several battle toads. And you see that, Roedy, the smaller toad that is there, is blinking. And he says, boss, are, did the vaguely want to you? I'm going to immediately take my thing out.

I'm going to shoot all of those battle toads with some of my darts. Whoa. I'm not playing. Guns of the blazing day. I'm shooting them with my darts. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I would say for, for getting all four in one go,

that would be a trust feat. Oh my goodness. No. So, you pull out, so you pull out your pan flute, and you, all of the darts. fly out and because they're spread out,

they all start to stick in the various walls of these buildings. And the man's like, whoa, take it easy. They're with me. They're going to help us out. Yeah, that's the problem. Send them away. They're fine. They're fine.

I think we can handle them if anything goes wrong. Don't you worry. I'll keep going lead away. As Eddie is, man, you see, they all have been pulling out sores. There's man, that he's man. This is going to be fine. This is going to be fine. And he, you see that there's, actually, four of them total.

There's one at basically at either entrance to this large square. As you all make your way to the statue. And he says, so what do we suggest we do now? I said what we suggest we do is we get the cat of nine tails to return all of the the ill-gotten gains to the people of this town because we found the tax money that's going to Marquis-Aid, even though I don't necessarily like that either. The important thing here is that the people of this town are not robbed further. Understood.

Hey, I really sad. What? The mice. They were just really, really sad. And we're going to set things right, correct? Yeah. So you tell these thugs what they got to do to return the things that they took, and then we'd get that. the taxes to the Maki Zait and everything is all right for now, correct?

As long as, y'all ain't gonna rat me out to the Mockys 8, are you? Well, if we rat you out, then you're no longer good to us, are you? We have a mutual understanding that you take care of the town, like you said you would, you let the poor mice of the clearing go. You skip town if we need a favor, we find you. Well, make a persuading MPC. Nine. Nine.

Okay. Um, he... I'm not getting so much trying to help you. Okay. That's okay. So with that, he... He... And you've been helping this whole time.

There's anything else you want to do in this moment to exist? As, uh, that, as he finally, uh, breathes, and he says, well, well, I suppose so. Uh, Brody, get the cat of nine tails. Tell him to get all that useless shit. back to him. We'll give them these taxes. You four. Go tell the people everything's going to be fine. Don't let anyone leave the city until they got all their things. These fine friends are the heroes of the town and I found them. Now there is one last thing we have to discuss and that is the actual hearing. Are they actually descending upon the town? Well, I guess so, but that ain't my problem.

Well, it's going to be your problem when they come knocking on your door. Well You're not gonna tell the citizens of this clearing to stay here And when they're in mortal danger Well, I'm sure the Marquis-Aid soldiers can figure it out Gromwell Come now You were so concerned about the citizens of this clearing

And you're just going to let him talk about him like that Saying the Marquis-Ate was sorted out while he slinks off into the darkness I have faithed the Marquis-Akees-Ake and repeal him in the attack It's not unreasonable They've done plenty of times before. Just because they're marching on his clearing doesn't mean that any civilians are going to be in danger?

All right. I'm trusting it. Because this all started because of the citizens of the clearing. But he is the mayor that's representing the Marquis X. So he's in danger. That makes sense to me. Provided he stays in the clearing

and accepts his punishment. Well, I ain't let no birth get their talents on me. As long as the people get their possessions back and the taxes are paid, I don't care what you do. And you see him walk over. Well, y'all get your taxes back from the dragonfly. And he reaches up. And you see that he gets up on the side of the fountain.

And he knocks his fist along the statue. And you hear it hit stone and Goldman. You hear something, an echo. of knock as he reaches up and pulls aside as the, uh, the large belly swings open. You see there's a treasure trove of gold coins and, uh, gold coins and gems and, uh, and paper notes. And he says, well, here it is. I've upheld my end of the bargain. Well, she's ended a bargain again.

Return the taxes make sure that the people are compensated appropriately and not overtaxed, I suppose, which I don't necessarily think is a great deal, but it's better than nothing. Well, at least it's fair the Marquis gets their due, and don't do this again. We'll know. Now, get out of here. No, aren't you my heroes? We'll be your heroes, but I'm saying when you live town to lay low, it does everything. I'm just saying you want to want to be my heroes. think about what you've done.

Make a one more persuasion child. Eight. Eight. He seems, he seems, he's, he's not quite sure,

as he says, and he, he looks at you, and you get the sense that he's not really sure that he can trust, that you are going to either back his story

or that when the taxes suddenly show up with a bunch of vagabonds, uh, that people are actually, Or actually that the Marquis 8 are going to buy it. And if he is actually going to have to split town, if he knows if the Marquis 8 find out that he was actually extorting from that.

And so something along those lines to either threaten or convince that you're not going to spill the things. We'll kind of get him to, he seems like he's kind of sticking around to make sure that he can get the story straight. All right. What are we, what are we? Are we just going to go along with this guy? I mean, I don't necessarily like him skipping town, but you've, made you position very clear. I mean, I'm open to ideas.

I don't think it's a problem if he leaves town. I don't think he's the best thing for this town. He's going to steal people in it. They need a new mayor. I just hope that there's somebody who can guide these individuals in a time of need, especially if the area is on their way. Has he implied that he'll just come back his mayor and just getting out while there's danger? That's what seems to be his situation.

He's worried that he doesn't part of that role will tell you. I think part of the thing that he's nervous about is that if the Marquis 8 find out that he was taking the taxes and not sending it to them, then he's actually going to have to flee town forever. Maybe that wouldn't be the worst thing. No, I agree. I don't want to leave these people without some sort of leader. Look, we missed life and limb for what? The denizens of this clearing and then we're just going to reinstate some garbage leader after this repelled area invasion? Maybe somebody is.

It's a pretty big problem. Pretty big time. I agree. Somebody's got to be better. Look, this isn't my wheelhouse, all right? I've already been dragged through the muck more times than I want to be. How many times is that? More than one.

One was more than I wanted zero. Zero times would have been preferable. Oh, it sounded like you wanted to be dragged through muck a little bit. No. Now, look, here's the way I feel about it. We've got something on you. We've got dirt on you. Yes, agree.

That's true. So we won't tell anybody as long as you promise to never do this again, and we will find out if you do. This is our home base. We come back every once in a while, so you'll see us again. And I'm just telling you now, you do one wrong thing. I get one sniff in my nose. Now you're up to no good. I'll go straight to New Felicity and I'll tell the Marquis herself.

And I pull out my Marquis A tavern. Oh, no people. I still have connections. Well, I hope that one day my connections and your connections can meet, and I can get all your connections, but y'all drive a very hard bargain. But I'm convinced, and just heroes of the town. Heroes of the town. Yeah, and Rory, he's getting the cat of nine tails,

and you see that coming down the alleyway is far away, is Rody leading the Cat of Nine Hills as well as with these large wagons of loot. And they also need to be partitioned off in certain bags and things to each family. As you see that all of the thugs, all the battle toes are pulling all the gold out of the statue. And then before any of the cats get there, they close it back up. And he says, well, congratulations. I'm going to skip town. Y'all have a good luck and don't get killed by the Erie soldiers.

And like Romley said, we'll be checking in, so keep your nose clean. Well, I don't have a nose. Oh, oh, Rody, come on, let's go. Mr. O'Nan-Tales, it's been a pleasure. I'm going to go official toad business. Tootles!

And he and Totee, Roady, shamble off. Doody to Tudy. As they, as the, as the Cat of Nine Tales shows up and looks at the pile and says, So you got this from,

no, that's not more an accent, there we go. There we go. I was going to say it. Well, no, it was, because he's a Russian blue, I should have actually given him in a Russian name, so he had a big rig. Yeah, and, no, I've got to keep it like this. You got this from a dragonfly?

That's what we said. Yes. So right he is. That is what we said. Well, Texas is taxes. Okay, we'll count this, and if it's everything, we'll give from the township. All the nearly worthless possessions, ma'am. That's very, very kind of you.

We're doing wonderful work, sir. It should all be here? It should add up. You see the cats walk up, and they start to count through as they were doing this, and it seems if it does all add up. As the gold is all partitioned and starting to count up, and you see that more of the cat soldiers are starting to walk back as the large wagons are pulled aside. You see a number of frogs and toads start bringing several of these mouse villagers

and the like as they all walk up and they start getting their possessions back. It's like, okay, here you go, okay, and it starts a scene as if you're setting this right by, they're starting to get their possessions back. You know, it's the kindest thing just before the mayor bock-hop left, he decided that he would donate this Haldry garish statue to help a fund for the townspeople who couldn't pay their taxes. That's right.

You said he'd melt it down. Yeah. So you can take that and count it against whatever they have to pay in the future. You take, looks at his clipboard and he looks it up. Trick an MPC. I'm going to assist the shit out of this. Fuck yeah.

I'm taking my last exhaustion to assist the shit that of this. Let's see if she needs it. Yeah, Connie. I think we have a... I got no clue. We do. We have one twist. Let's see you, yes. I got a six. Seven, eight. Eight. Nine. Ten. I'll do one.

So we're going to use the twist. We're using the twist. We're all going to assist. How will you assist? The power of friendship. I mean, I was... Yes, I, yes, I agree. We, we have it on May. We are working on official mayoral duty. I'm saying this more than once. I'm going to jump up on it and

pull one of my rags out and I'm going to like buff up the gold and be like... But the bottom line is the mayor said while he's out of town that nobody needs this but the good of the people. Isn't that right, Brumley? Yeah, that's right. And I think that this could pay for maybe

several months of taxes. Easy, peasy, as they say. And he forgot to remind me. And he gave me, and I'm going to reach my pocket, he gave me a couple of these shavings so you can see that's gold. He looks at all that. And he looks at all that. And he looks.

up at it and he says he leans and he take the shavings oh this is with much more than all that take it give it to the moss I don't care you look

he pointed some cats as like stop chipping away at this frame as they take chisels and knives as they start shading off the gold and you start to see as all of these mice

and frogs and toads are coming up to you and some otters and herons and ducks. They're ducks. As they are. Oh, thank you. Thank you for slaying the horrible dragonfly. I thought we were done. As they're all thinking they're getting not just their possessions back,

but also their portion of the taxes as the Cat of Nine-Tales and his soldiers begin to strip the statue and you hear a loud creak as the belly bursts open now empty and the gold door falls off and the stone statue

kind of starts to chip and you see how eroded beneath this gilded veneer it is. Well, to be honest, I was going to say that this didn't really feel like a good win. Until, Hazel, you surprised me.

That was absolutely stunning. You know, I just didn't like him. He was really not a nice guy. No, I don't like that guy either. He's a jerk. But it seems... Now, statue, it was just really ugly.

They didn't need to be too malevolts. This is much, much, much better than I thought it was going to turn out. This was good. This was great. And they think we all could die in the middle of the swamp. How old? In luck. You're not wrong.

That's true. But we didn't. Instead, we saved a bunch of people. and we kicked the mayor out of town. And, you know... This next time we come back to your workshop, we should just make sure there's no funny business going on. Agreed?

All this being really awesome people's hungry work. Can we grab a snap? I suppose we could. Well, there's nothing saying we can't take a little rest. I think we still owed a room and board at the inn. Yeah, I mean, he's paying his foot. bill for that for sure. I'm going to get my fill. That's for damn sure. Um, as that happens, you see the cat in nine tails, uh, with his clipboard all checked off and all of it's been

taken away, all there. The individuals are returning to collector things. And he, uh, extends a goal, a satchel of coins. And he says, well, y'all are tax collectors now. Here's some payment. And he tosses you a bag of coins. And, uh, I would say, you. say that's enough for two decay for each of you. Can I add it to my other sack of points? Yeah, I've just been expanding the sack of coins. Yeah, I'd say that's fine. For actual payment bags that you get, that's fine.

Right, right, right. Okay. Anytime that it's been like remove a decay for this thing, I've done the other. So I'm actually up to six to K in a bike of points. Like if he gives me that, can I, and I have two decay? Can I just take away my decay? Yeah. Yeah, right?

Okay. Yeah. really carpentages. And, and you see as he turns and everything checks out, and as well, we finish our job before the year he got here. Not bad timing, lads. And he turns and you see the large nine-pronged whip as he turns and leaves. And as the, as the townsfolk are collecting all of their things, they, you see that although

they're very grateful when they're thanking you, they're still the fear as they're like, oh, what's going to happen? I don't know. I think, I don't think that the Marquis A. Lose, like, I don't know if I can handle living in an eerie clearing. As they're nervous, maybe not even isn't necessarily about

dying in battle, but just having it switch hands. You get the sense that maybe it has switched hands in the not too distant past. As what I understand that, like, if there's a battle in the clearing, it's still like they're slaughtering civilians.

The soldiers are fighting. They haven't yet. Right. Right, they haven't yet. So, your point. And you see old old man crebe

walked by and says, Whoa. The fact that it's jarred with an old man is the part that really bothers me. Like if it doesn't even just crebe, it would be one thing. Hey!

I ain't dying there, no, no, dragonfly, I ain't dying at all, birds neither, I'm getting out of here. As he makes a noise, as he scampers off as he gets out of town. And as everything is, kind of the commotion of the thoroughfare starts to get a little bit more as the town is no longer evacuated. All of the battle toads are seemingly gone, maybe off with Mayor Boghop, or maybe they're just trying to get out of Dodge as well. As people are coming back, they're no longer being exported away from the statue,

quite the opposite. As there's a large gathering of people who had come in to collect all their things, you see that there's actually a crowd kind of gathering and there's unrest. And you see kind of far off standing on the first layer

of that wooden structure that Mayor Boghop had been standing. as a town crier. You see a toad, a lot more slender, and a very nice, like, blue jacket with gold buttons and like epaulets, and he's standing in the square, as he says, there ought to be someone that shows the mayor that he is not the right ruler of this clearing,

as he is crying and shouting, and you recognize the voice in the appearance of Hamel. as he... Why is Hamel Christopher walking? Oh, wow! Oh, wow! As you just see people

kind of crowding around him, he's holding up things. He's starting to spread anti-Mare Boghop propaganda, and you are in the clearing, and he's up to see it. Yeah, that's my best friend, that's Hamel. And one and only.

And then as this has... He's a toad. Noted. Noted. start to see that there are, that across the, across the lake that these, that these barges and ships are starting to get loaded with soldiers. And you're in the middle of the clearing. It's probably approaching sunset at this point.

Can we see the map? Yeah, let's do it. Oh, God, I don't want to go to something else. Okay, so we're here. So the Erie controls Nookintan, right? Yes. Okay. Where's Rybarra Falls? That's north. All the way up here.

And then we've got Drake Smith. Drake Smith all the way down here. We have Muckbid. Where are we in... We're kind of in the middle. Okay, the middle one. So we're in Wirtwallow. And then what's the blue one below that?

I can't read it. This is Muckbend. Muttbid. Okay. Um... Are you going to introduce us to your friend? He seems like he's a little busy spread in propaganda. But if you look over to the side, you see the cross-side toad, or the cross-side frog over there, that's my sister flies her. She's totally in love with him.

You see her looking up. She's completely cross-side. And she's holding these large white gloves and a little too big fur. She's just looking up lovingly at Hamel. So do you think that we can maybe spend one more night here before we head out? Oh, no, it seems are getting pretty grating on here. We certainly don't want to get caught in any of this Civil War nonsense. We just, we want to move on.

I don't want to be involved in any kind of eerie and marquis eight fighting. That's not for us. We've got places to go, people to see. Namely to say, Rye Barrel Falls is where I'm interested in going. Never been. Maybe we should go in the morning, though, because I am a little peckish. Totally agree. I know that, I know that Hazel's incredible peckish.

We get a good night's rest. and maybe head to ride out. Yes, so let's go back to the, did I write down the day with the inn? That really nice, a windy willow inn. I'm certainly going to keep milking the old mayor for everything is worth, especially before he gets back into town and realizes the bill. That's my goal. Let's go have a lovely meal on the mayor, of course.

That's right. Okay, you all are in the inn, and there is, um, there's a, an old map. that is behind the bar, and he provides you all the drinks. And he's kind of wiping down the bar, and he says, I don't think the Marquis Aida are going to be able to handle the forces. Why don't you? Well, when the soldiers look scared,

so you know it's going to be a bad battle, I've seen the lights across the lake. I've seen them. Wait, have you ever seen that before? I ain't seen that many birds in the sky and the dog's age, it's quints of you. It's terrible. What is that supposed to mean?

Is that an idiom? You better hope. It's being like that. It's a short time. It's just a ton of phrase. Is that because dogs are not long-blende? They poke their noses in the business that's not theirs, and yes. Otherwise, no, it's just the same as the rest of us.

totally fine. Well, so all those lights that we saw, those were soldiers in that thing. Yeah, yes, yes. That's more than I've ever seen, ever, especially at Macbeth. Do we want to get out of Dodge, then?

I feel terrible just leaving all these people here. Well, again, it's not really our problem, and that's why I suggest we head north and get far away from this as possible as it's supposed to dive into the heart of it. But that's just me, and I've also never seen the Rive House. and they've got a lot of good things to say about them. So are you saying maybe we take the river north to click-clock crossing?

Yes, absolutely. We can't have a long way to go. Well, the bottom line is we have four places ultimately we need to see, and this one is the most out of the way. No matter how we cut it, and I'd like to steer clear whatever Marquis Aet-Ey fighting is going on. What was supposed right out of the way? Bye, Barrow.

Oh, but I guess what I was thinking is why, since we're already basically here, and all the eerie soldiers are coming here, why don't we criss-cross them? Because we don't want to get caught between Marquisade and Erie business, is what I'm saying. Oh, great, I don't want to be trying to cross the lake while they're Erie soldiers coming up the other way. And while I've never been, from what I understand, the more north we go, the more with Grumley's people we might be. So are you saying the river companies, the river flow company is going to take them on their barges up the river? that's when I've heard the soldiers whispering they've come in here and got drunk this morning

that they think that this clearing is going to be changing hands and they're attacking within the next few days they must have paid the river for quite a bit of clams all right well one night we're going to like to join me please if you don't mind you should invite your friend Hamill

and Flazer and whoever else. Be sure to charge the Maya double, because we're going to be needing it. It's on his tag. Okay. Yeah.

If you see Hamilton or you see my sister Fliza or Angela Croke, you just let them know that we're in having dinner and they're welcome to join us. Okay, I'll be here with you. What would you like for dinner? I'm not sure what do you have available.

We got a variety of women. Do you have any shoe flies through? Of course. I don't have a restaurant. Can I get some shoe-fly stew in a bread bowl, please? In a bread bowl, yes. We have great bread.

We're mice. What have you got for dessert? We got pie. Rubarb pie. Rubarb pie. Okay. And then what? That's all we got.

You only have one pie? Well, I mean, dessert isn't very popular around here. But that's just stupid. I would lie. He looks genuinely hurt. That's my mother's recipe I'll take the pie But I just

You know Why don't we sit down And I'll go through my book I've got a lot of recipes I can share with you Well I guess I'm gonna probably Need to

Make even more money Once I'm paying taxes To them I've eaten a lot of pie So I can give up a lot of recipes When the night gets quieter I don't think I'm gonna get many visitors that are sticking around.

But the battle will probably be on the lake. Once the Marquis 8 lose, they'll just march and fly in and meet the new boss, same as the old boss, that's what I say. Do they charge the same as the Eerie? I think the Eerie, let's pick your poison.

All right. I thought you were confident that the Marquis Ape might win this. I have faith in the strength of the Marquis A. You, what do you think the chances are here? seem like it's going to change hands here. I'm already preparing. The shoe fly soup, I'm going to maybe add some worms

to it because it's going to be birds. Well, then we're getting the hell out of here at the crack of dawn, agree? Is that all right if we go north? I think that's the safest course of action. I don't think we want to head into the heart of the fighting. According to the map that we've got, we could always do some sort of a loop around and see what we've got to do, but there's no real

where we're currently at, there's no real easy place to where we're trying to go. I think I think riot is the best place. But that's just me. I can't get caught here if the area's taken him first. No, none of us want to get caught here. Trust me, the area definitely don't... Well, nothing to get into right now.

The point is we want to avoid the fighting at all costs. I order meat. Same. You enjoy... Trash panda meat. You enjoy trash panda meat. Well, no, we're not eating trash pandas. Ew.

You're eating regular pandas. No! No! That's enough for 12 of us. the shoe fly soup is delightful in a bread bowl. Hamel and flies up. I mean, no one can get a hole of Angelicroke. No one can get a hole of Angelicroke.

And they're both... She's probably on vacation with her husband. They're both optimistic. I mean, they don't like the eerie very much. And Hamlet Toad, Hamill is... Why would you say his full name? That's just weird. Who says that?

Hamel is It's almost like he'd never be satisfied He boasts ride in his soup I will never be satisfied This isn't very good He will never be satisfied As he picks out the flies of his soup He's not very happy about it

But he thinks that it might be an opportunity If the eerie takeover And he might be the opportunity to get rid of Mayor Bogha. Because there's not a good chance that the Erie would take the same mayor. I'm so mad. I didn't think of that. So when you're super proud of your friend, but you're also really bigger than they thought of it first. I'm in a glass cage of emotion.

And then you all enjoy your, you have the rooms. The old mouse that runs the inn is kind of, is not particularly scared like a lot of people. You see that you get the sense that he's probably seen the clearing change hands a couple of times. And it's just another day in the dim wood. It seems to be the situation. And he says he's not leaving. And that's what he does. And we're all drift up to sleep.

That's anything else who want to do. None for me. Okay. Can I clear my exhaustion track from the goal that the tag? do this? Cat of Night-Tales? Yes. It's a pretty big payload. Yeah. Yeah.

So, you... Actually, I guess I didn't really steal it. Never mind. Never mind. That doesn't count. But you did steal all that gold off of the toad for the statue. That one would have counted as a big payload, though, would it? Well, he gave it to the Cat of Night Tales, so... Yeah. That was for someone else.

So you all finish your... You all get to sleep And you feel as if You went up by two reputation with the denizens And Two with the Marquis 8 Oh shit! I bump up another one with the Marquis So if you go one over

Does it spill over or no? No, because it reads it... What are you plus one? I'm at four with the Marquis 8 So plus two is going to put me to six. Did we get... So you have to go up to ten to level up to... No, no, no, no. No, I've got plus one with the dentist, so here's where I'm at.

I'm plus one with the denies... Oh, oh. I'm four with the Marquis-eight. I thought you already... So I'm saying, what happens to the extra? Did we... Did we gain reputation last session? No, it was the session before then.

No, last session two and two. Did we? Yeah. With what? With the Marquis eight. We got two... You brought justice to Mr. Y. and you basically

we got two from the Marquis 8 last session so then yeah we each get four reputation for the Marquis A for the session but then we got from the Denizums last year no that was the session before no it was both yeah it was two and two

holy shit two and two and that's why I'm plus one but this is just the Marquis 8 because I'm not to be plus one for each so what do I do because I was two and two this time as well as you get your reputation you awake in the morning and it's you hear the loud crack of thunder

as the sky is still dark outside as the clouds of the storm have rolled in and you hear the pattering of rain hitting the roof of this inn the windy willow what are you all doing? Well I certainly hate to head out in this weather

but it sounds like we don't have a choice are there any orders in this town that we could bar passage up up a clearing. We'd have to take a look or see if Peggy knows. I mean, I know them in Muckbed Creek,

but I haven't been up this far in a very long time. Oh, frankly, we could just go through the woods. We could, but I'm sure we're using the audits as faster. We could also go see if we could talk to old man Crebe

and see if he was willing to go out and this kind of weather. He said he was going to leave town. I think he left last night. He's also no otter. The otter's the best of what they do and there's nobody better. If we're willing to spend the coin,

it might be worth it to check out what's available. Otherwise, we're trekking on foot. do we get a sense that if we were to pay the otters to take us up the river we would avoid a lot of the danger of the forest and the decay and all that?

You would imagine that it would be treated like a path? A river-themed path. Oh, yeah, I guess that's exactly right. And the otter would be the best, but then you could probably pay a frog or someone else that is willing to go up the clearing. Normally it's like, you know,

the otters take a lot of money for their river boats. Well, because what we're dealing with we're deep in the muck and, you know, There's muck, there's clans. Well, maybe we find someone that's not an honor, like a frog or another muskrat or something. I'm just saying you don't pay for an imitation if you want the real thing. That's all I'm saying. Well, why don't you ask around?

This is kind of what you do. You're from this sort of area. So, or Peggy, I don't know if you know, if you, do you know somebody like a family friend that might on a boat that could take us? No, so you seem to think that I know a lot of people in town. I spend 99% of my time alone in the room just making things. Oh. So I don't really know anybody.

I'm sorry. This I'm gonna be sorry for. I really like my alone time. Oh, you guys just hate hanging out with us all the time. I wouldn't say I hate it. To say. I'm gonna see if I can ask around and see what I can find. All right?

So there were a lot of, like, boats that you said have been pulled up, were they left with people? So, uh, or like any boats for coming around? A lot of the dock space, the slip space has been devoted to like barges for combat. Oh, I see. And you get the sense that they're... Yeah, troop transport basically.

I think people were like pulling their... And then a lot of like the fishing boats are kind of pulled off to the side or, you know, anchored out, basically. They need to take dinghies here and there. But you know to go up the river or down the river and needs more than just like a rowboat. You'll need some kind of ferry. And you hear that the... that whatever river folk company stations there are in this town, especially now with the impending battle on the lake, allegedly,

that was going to happen, is they are, they have jacked up their prices tremendously, and you get this totally expensive. And that's just the price of doing business, you know? If we don't want to do it, we can go on foot, we do what we can, and we roll the dice. Can't try it like, talk them down as simple? Of course.

That's what they do. They love to haggle, and as do I. So if you'd like, I will go do what I can. I'll see what I can do. All right. Maybe we can, I don't know, maybe we can like sell them something. It's not worth a lot, but maybe it'll think of this or not and we'll take to Christ now. We're not trying to trick them.

We're trying to, we're trying to haggle for a fair deal here. These are smart individuals of dealing with. Isn't that kind of like just tricking somebody to get them to let you know? This is coming to a mutual agreement. We each give a little bit on both sides and see if we can come. to something. We're not trying to trick anybody here. So, you're leaving and you're going about the town?

Hey, I was going to see if I could find some otters or any passage. See what, see what our options are available. Obviously, for the otters, because I think that they are the best of what they did. So, the rain is falling down as you all leave in, and you see that all of the houses are boarded up,

are tightly locked. and as you turn around the bend in one of the streets you see the huge lake in front of you and you see out ahead the you know that it's a cloudy day but you see kind of a cloud of black shapes in the sky and it seems like a cloud of birds and it seemed to be far off but heading

and you see on the lake heading in the direction of the town is a number of boats and off on the lake moving towards that direction them is a minor fleet of a cat, Marquis 8, controlled vessels, as they seem to be heading out to engage.

There's a number of birds flying as well. Some of the songbirds and, not shorebirds, but like, well, yeah, shorebirds of this lake area are flying along with them. And you see that there's a lot of archers and anti-air ballistae on these ships as they are heading out to battle.

And you look around and you find that the otters are charging an exorbitant amount of money to get people out. There's only a handful of them. Most of their shops are closed, but there's one that's kind of off to the side that seems to be open. But you do actually manage to find that there is a frog that seem to run like a freight business. green spots and he seems to be just kind of sitting

waiting on the boat his arms are folded and he sees a little sign on a rope in sloppy handwriting it says get out of town far away cheap

well well well this is the sign we've been looking for all day excuse me I apologize my name's Booker I don't mean to come upon you like this Booker?

Yeah, Booker. Yeah, with a K. Trying to get out of town, friends? We are. We understand that, you know, with high demand comes high prices, but we're wondering what you're charging. Depends on where you're going. Met, please. Because I haven't memorized all 400-clothin.

Well, we're trying to make the click-cloth crossing at least, but we'd like to make it there first. If weather permits and you're still taking us, we're heading our way to ride by our... The Falls. We're heading all the way to the falls if possible. But we'd be happy with at least getting the clock crossing. That's a long way. But y'all folks seem like you are need.

You're helping wed hand. But I ain't charging as much as the orders are, but it ain't going to... Being competitive in a competitive market. It ain't going to be cheap. And he tells you the price And it would be about Combined 6 to K We need to mark additional decay and still make a roll

Or would that 6 to K set us at like Eden or plus 1 or whatever That's a great question. How would that affect our path to? I would say I would say 6 decay would set just to get the passage Up the river because normally it's just either paths or forests Right So I would say that it would treat

that is the price to basically use a river instead of a path or a forest to travel. And this is all homebrew. This is not in the system. I'm just allowing this. So then if we wanted to try to break even, we'd still have to spend extra. And so then you would be exhaustion. We have these exhaustion, which I am a little tight on. I'll say we just take passage and we see what happens.

Well, at the very least, I can spare decay and I can spare some exhaustion from a medicine to make it at least closer to even. I'm willing to do both. I've got... Six decays an awful lot. I can't spare any more exhaustion. That's fine. I'm going to be maxed out once we finish this travel. That's an interesting point.

So my plate armor, I mark an exhaustion when I travel. If I'm sitting on a boat, would that be countered? I would say no. I'd say that would counter that. But still, I would say don't offer up any exhaustion. I can offer up three decay and two exhaustion for the trip. I'm willing to do it for my friends. I could chip in certainly a decay.

I have three, three possible slots. So that's four. I can do two. Plus two. Three, four, five, six decay. So that covers the cost of... You're just going to type the six decay?

I thought we were going to haggle. This is a much better deal than I thought we were going to get. So we're going to take it. You're marking three. You're marking two. And I'm even offering to pay for it. So don't give me that face, Hazel. Oh, no, I'm sorry.

That's just your face. It is just my face, but it's the face that I make when the con man's getting con. We're not getting conned. I don't think you understand what the odds are charging. We're doing ourselves a favor here. Trust me. And I'm offering up almost half of the cost. So why don't you just settle down and sit down, cheeks?

And I give up two exhaustion in addition to three decay. So we're good on decay. How much exhaustion do we have? I've given two. Two? That's so good. Are you getting up any exhaustion? No.

I don't have any. That's okay. That's right. I don't expect. What do you do? got. You're going to give anything for this journey? You're just going to sit there and stuff your face. Well, you've made me really mad now. Good, good, good. I'm not happy with you. You called me a con man. That's rude.

You are a con man. Bullshit. Offer up exhaustion or not. Let's go. I can give one, but I don't want to. Could you? I can give a decay and one exhaustion, if you give an extra exhaustion. and not a decad. Done. I'm not going to sit here and haggle. So I'm back to four decay. My bag of coins. My only one here remembers him saying

we were going to haggle. It doesn't matter. You don't understand what's coming. Do you see that? And I point to the absolute hellstorm that is behind us. We're getting out of town now. So we're covered on decay.

How much exhaustion we have? Three? I gave one. I pound my snake oils, uh, whatever it's called. And I give an additional two-door exhaustion. You don't count those. I do.

I thought, right? We each have one. I have three. Oh, we passed them out. I drank mine. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just because I wasn't sitting here, doesn't mean you get to pass them out. No, we passed them on the session and got them.

We each had one. I took all of them. Did you? Yeah. Give them a potion. I had one, too, but I thought we gave you extra. Am I crazy? I've offered up all these options.

Yeah, I believe that you'd pass it out, but... I had all four. It's fine. We can do it that way. With that, who would like to make the role? Not me. I'll do it. Are we at a plus zero, plus one? Plus zero, right? Are we going to zero? Yeah, plus zero.

My real. She's the same fist. Three, four. You blame who? Yeah. Attitude. I don't stop to. Reach across the table.

Good thing. Good thing. So we got a four. With that, you push off and you see behind you as these forcets seem to be sailing off to engage. And you see them clash as there's a cloud of bird figures all in the sky and you leave Wharlow behind. and as you make your way north, you turn around the bend and you make your way up the river, you're probably traveling all day,

and as night approaches, you see a light through the forest along the edge. And you're way far away from civilization. But through the trees, you see a small flickering light, almost just coming from a lantern. And as you turn around the bend, you get close to the shore, you see a cloaked figure in the rain emerged from up along the bank with a lantern. And you see two eyes peering down. And a feathered hand reaches up and pulls down the hood.

and you see Jericho, the Greek Horn Owl, that started your quest, and that's where we're welcome the session. Oh, shit. All right. All right. Thank you so much for listening to the Legends of Adventures of Adventures podcast. We hope you enjoyed the session. If you want even more campaigns to listen to, become a member of our Patreon at the Pearl Dolphin Tier or higher to unlock Shroud of her Salt Marsh, a patron exclusive campaign set on the high seas. You can find that at patreon.com forward slash Legends of Aventris.

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