Mayday Plays - Ashoka: Precious Cargo Ep. 8: "The Ahēwo Wilds"

Episode Date: May 29, 2021

Finally arriving on the shores of Marrow Point the party meets the next leg of their journey the Barbaric wilds of Ahēwo. This episode contains profanity, violence, and references to drug/alcohol use. CAST OF CHARACTERS • Aaron - Trig • Allegra - Xauti • Amanda - Snuvall • Caleb - Anchor • Eli - Dungeon Master • Zakiya - Kenny • Sergio - Rad MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS • Post Sound Supervision: Sergio Crego, Allegra Shivers, Eli Hauschel • Mixed: Eli Hauschel • Original Music: Aaron A. Pabst • Soundstripe (soundstripe.com) MAYDAY ROLEPLAY LINKS • Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/maydayrp/) • Twitter (https://twitter.com/maydayroleplay7) • Mayday website (https://www.maydayroleplay.com/) • Patreon (patreon.com/maydayrp/) • Twitch (twitch.tv/maydayroleplay)

Ashoka Precious Cargo is a D&D actual play campaign with violent themes and adult language. Viewer discretion is advised. Aloha, Kako friends. Happy Aloha Friday. My name is Eli, and I am your Dungeon Master. I'm Aaron A. Pabst, and I'm Trig. I'm Allegra, and I'm Shodi. I'm Amanda, and I'm Snabal.

I'm Caleb, and I'm Anchor. I'm Sergio, and I'm playing Rad the Sea Turtle. I'm Zakiya, and I'm playing Kenny. I'm Anchor. I'm Sergio and I'm playing Rad the sea turtle. I'm Zakiya and I'm playing Kenny. Be sure to keep tabs with us on Twitch as we're bringing you amazing content every single week. We got Aaron at the sheep farm.

We got Iron Sworn Eye of the Storm. We got heroes you should know about. Be sure to come and join us at 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time every Friday as we're live streaming Ashoka. We'll be up in the group chat hanging out and listening alongside you. If you want to support us further, please be sure to subscribe to us on Patreon, where you'll gain access to our Discord channel and amazing perks like art and music. And all of your contributions continue to help Mayday make content for you to enjoy.

Be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to tell a friend. Thank the gods for the Genasi colony. I didn't doubt their intentions to do the right thing, but I worried for our ability to negotiate our reasoning for keeping Buran. Now we're sailing on a new boat, the SSFF. It's interesting to have a boat with a name so flashy, but it seems to have brought us good luck. The ship kept us safe up until just off the shores of Marrow Point, where

we were set upon by Wall Raven's uninviting sea life. We made quick work of them, between Trigg's trigger-happy nature and- wait, that must be why he's called. Oh, this makes much more sense. And Kenny's ingenuity to strap herself to one of them and ride out into the sea. Well, the battle was over in seconds. We go now to meet the people native to this continent of Walraven. There's been questions raised on the prospects of Rad's new powers after returning to us. Snooball worries for his soul. I can sense it sometimes

in the looks she gives during our time together at the oars. She is a kind soul, though, and she fights every urge to give up on us. Doubt has also been cast in Jaudi's direction, whether we can see them fit to care for the child with their magical condition. They've proven themselves capable for Buran more than any of us.

If we're to judge them, well, I might as well judge myself. Because I'm having dreams again. Of standing on the deck of that ship. Of death and strife and even worse, of her. Shrouded in flame and asking of me something I refuse to give. I don't know what it means, not yet. My only wish is that a person truly can't escape their past, and that dreams are nothing more than bottled fear, crystallized in its maturity. I hope for the best for us. Thank you. It's raining when you arrive on the shores of Marrow Point.

You can see a long, craggy cliff face and just the stony shore as three ships break on the shoreline. You guys see this small fire and a tent in the canopy and you guys approach it bringing one of the sharks from your battle out at sea. An offering. None of you have ever been to Wallraven and you've only heard

rumors and whispers of the barbarians that reside there. And you only hope that this shark and whatever was put on your map will give you answers to why you're here. And as you guys approach and put down the shark at the foot of this fire,

a elephant-looking man kind of peers out. As he kind of leans into the flame, you notice this large bone guard that goes from the bridge of his trunk up to his face that kind of frame his golden brown eyes that have the flames that flicker against it. He's got tusks that come and jut out. One's got a chip on it. Very large man. He's over seven feet tall. And as he sees the shark and kind of looks out to you guys, he kind

of extends his hand. And he says, Takab, be praised. As he gives you guys a smile and he stands up in his large barbarian form. Well, that was easy. I think that Rad, you know, thinking he's ever the friendly one would

probably, like, you know, take a step forward and... Hello, um, we are bennies in a strange land, dude, and we've come to travel across this land of yours, hoping to get to the other side. He kind of walks towards you, Rad, and as he does, he kind of picks up this very large-looking, crudely made sword. And then he goes and he kind of just, like, sticks it into the shark,

and then he just looks out at all of you, or looks kind of down at all of you, with the exception of probably Shodi. And he says, I've been expecting you three days. You've been expecting us? Expecting us? Yes. Vasul's been waiting three days now. Thought you guys were going to come.

Do you mind elaborating a little bit more? Because, to be very frank, this is a first for all of us. I was told to meet a group of people, a group of travelers here by the Otter Man. Oh, that's right. Tengu Atal. Oh. So does that mean you're Vassul? No, Vassul was the... He nods.

Oh, this makes much more sense. I still don't get it. Just stand there and nod, Trigg. I was beginning to worry that no one would show. Perhaps you had never made the journey or managed to get this far or succumbed to the marrows in the cove.

A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. We were lost at sea for a time, but we made our way. We bring you this shark as a good faith gesture and hopefully for us to seek passage across your lands. No need. I was told to escort you across Wall Raven to the other side by the Otter Man. One teeny problem with that, we got this big-ass boat that we're going to be needing down the ray. Down the ray, down the way. We're very attached to it. We just named it.

That is no problem. Why is that not a problem? Um, there are ways to transport boats. It's not a problem. Well, sure. I mean, of course, but I mean, like, how? He goes and he pulls out

this, like, glass looking orb that's kind of, like, surrounded in, like, netting How? He goes and he pulls out this glass-looking orb that's kind of surrounded in netting, and it looks like they have some water at the bottom of it. And he holds it out to him and says, there are ways to transport boats. Like rolling it up on logs? I think, and correct me if I'm wrong in this, are you implying that you're going to put our ship in there?

And I'm going to motion towards that crystal orb thing. Yep, he holds it out. Exactly. Is it safe? Will the boat be safe? As safe as a boat will be in a glass container. I see. And then we rolled the glass container along on logs.

No. I'm sorry, then where do the logs come into play? There are no logs. Come, I'll show you. That's no fun at all. Let's go take a look outside. Let's go look outside. If the orb breaks, does the Does the ship come out of the orb

And does it explode, or does it just Start really small and then get really big Or does the orb not break Has that ever happened to you before He doesn't say anything and he walks out of his tent Alright We'll find out if it happens then I suppose Too many questions

Rean and the rest of the genosses, as well as Snafu and Po the Bear, they've kind of made camp around the shore, along the boats and stuff like that, as night is beginning to kind of settle in. One of their ships is heavily damaged, and it doesn't look like there's hope to kind of repair it. It's looking like it's taking in water. It's starting to kind of sink in the shore. But as you guys kind of get together, Vasu walks out to the water and kind of wades out to what he thinks is one of your boats.

He doesn't even bother to ask. And he takes that little glass orb and he kind of just like dips it into the water. It seems like the water seems to kind of rush forward and kind of like expand around the boat boat kind of absorbs into the little orb. And then he comes back and he hands you Trigg, this orb, and inside you can see your little boat. Wait, he hands it to me? Yeah, he hands it to you.

I don't think I should be holding this. I quite agree. I take it out of his hands, and I'm going to put that in his anger. I didn't know that barbarians could do magic. That was awesome. Not all of us can do magic, but we have spent many times with the druids years ago, and we've learned a trick or two. And Basul, because we're hanging out with you, the other tribes will leave us alone? No.

Oh. Well, it's nice to know you at least are going to lead us. It'd be better than if we just went alone. Well, I owe the favor to the Otterman, and I'm here to pay back a debt. How would you feel if I called you Elephant Man all the time? I would prefer Vassul. and I'm here to pay back a debt. How would you feel if I called you Elephant Man all the time? I would prefer Vasu. Then why do you think it's okay to be calling this other guy the Otter Man?

I love this one too. Makes you think. I think his name was Nock if you can't remember. He's the wife. There was a terrible fight at the atoll, and we had to leave him behind. Have you heard from him? Was he alive? When you left?

No. I mean, I do not know. I'm actually asking Shadi, because I left the moment there was a hole in the wall. I don't really know what happened up there. Rad, why don't you ask Kenny? Why don't you ask Kenny if he's still alive? Please.

There's a significant chance that he's still alive. Oh. Because he healed me. And what makes you think that? Because I cast a spell that made dying very hard, but I don't know what happened after the spell, man. I watched him die in your arms. Who's lying here? I'm confused.

I don't think anyone's lying. I think everyone's just a bit confused. Because we had to leave him behind. I know the matron. She was alive when we left. I'll try to cover Bron's ears a little bit. We left them up there. It was too late. We had to go with Bronn. Very confusing.

We've gone through a lot, Vasul, since we've gotten here. Seems so. Oh, are we walking now, or should we rest we should actually rest I could use a rest I wouldn't mind resting we should rest and give

safe passage or at least a good proper goodbye to rain well is there a place very close nearby that we can just go and rest I mean if it's just beyond the beach that's fine there's the tent that Vazul has up, which might be enough to shelter you guys enough uncomfortably,

but it'll be enough to keep you guys out of the rain. There is the other two boats, or one of the other boats that you can kind of also sleep. I think that maybe we should go grab that shark, come back, and throw a thank you feast for Rain and the rest of the crew for assisting us and for some of them giving their lives.

And we can have some shark soup. I assume you do soup. I've never had shark. And move from there. I agree with Anchor. That's very well thought of, Anchor. Beach party! And move from there. I agree with Anker. That's very well thought of, Anker. Beach party! I'm gonna go ahead and start heading towards back that shark.

And what I'm gonna do is try to start cutting it, maybe smoking jerky, and just start cooking pieces of the shark in different forms. If anyone wants to join me. Yeah, I'll come with Snivall. We'll be grill dads together. Grill dads.

Grill dads. Are there trees? Oh, you can roll me a perception check. And Anchor or Snivall, roll me a performance check for your cooking skills. Well, not looking good for the trees. I got a nine.

Nine. I mean, you look around, it's pretty dark and it's also raining, so it's kind of also obscuring your vision a little bit. For what you can see, all you see is just like stony shoreline and then that cliff face that just goes up, but it's kind of misty at the top, so you can't really see if there's trees up there. I want to climb up that

cliff so bad. You can do it in the morning when it's not raining. I'll consider it. You might slip and fall and die. And then you couldn't shoot things if you slipped and fall and die.

I start tying a harness. Oh, please don't. I'm just tying a harness I'm not saying I'm going up there right now that doesn't seem wise to me though I don't trust that you won't go up there if you've already got a harness on it seems like you're preparing to go up there and you're just telling us that you're not going to go up there now

because we're worried about you and then you're going to go up there, and you're just telling us that you're not going to go up there now because we're worried about you, and then you're going to go up there in the middle of the night by yourself, and then you're going to fall into your death, and we're all going to be sad when we wake up and see a little splat of a man. But I got two boat lines on my sad. But it's got slippery on its side, and that thing that keeps us on the ground. And that thing that

keeps us on the ground, that too. That's the reason we don't float away. Alright, fine, but I'm tying this harness anyway. What was the performance check? I got a 21. Oh, thank God.

I got an 80. How did you get it? You start cutting into the shark, but you've never really cooked shark before, and you're just hacking away at it. It's messy, and it looks real bad. I think Ninker is standing behind her with his arms crossed,

doing that judgmental dad grunt. I'm like, hmm. Hmm. And then he finally stops himself and steps in. cross doing that judgmental dad grunt like hmm hmm and then he finally stops himself and steps in I must admit I'm not like this is no no that's okay you tried

that's the most important part I mean if it's I mean if the shock needed to be beat down I'm sure I could have done something there, but... Oh, absolutely. It's not too bad, is it? No, not bad at all. We'll just have to get rid of 20% of it.

I can roast it, though, or smoke it. If we flake the skin like this, we'll get rid of the black. Okay. Okay. Okay. Ooh, you guys got ash? Sure. Yes. Put it in this jar.

Trig pulls out a mason jar and unscrews it. Go on, scrape it on in. Okay. I start scraping it in. No sense to be letting that go to waste. That's some good ash right there. What do you use this for, Trig? I make crossbows out of it.

Out of ash? What? Yeah. How? Well, you start with the ash, and then there's like a glass pot involved, and then I start a fire, and then I'll wait a couple of days,

and then blammo, I got a crossbow. That is the exact recipe? I mean, I skipped a couple of days, and then blammo, I got the crossbow. That is the exact recipe? I mean, I skipped a couple of steps for the purpose of narrative conciseness, but more or less, yeah. Trick, I know you want embellishments, but I'm

so sorry, I just don't quite believe that. It doesn't even help that. I thought... Right here. Do you see inside the wood? Yes. It's inside the wood. The ash is inside the wood?

Yeah. Ash wood. I've not thought of that name. You know what? Have all the ash you want. I can definitely make you more down the road. That is no problem. Trier seals up the glass jar and tucks it away in his pack like it's a treasure. Snuball, I had a question for you.

Have you finished your board yet? I had to, unfortunately, when we were swimming, I had to leave that behind. We can look for a new tree while we're traveling. That's what I was thinking. I would like to see a competition of sorts between you two. Oh, that reminds me. He turns to Vassoul and says, Dude, how's the surfing on the other side of Wallraven?

It's fair. Summertime this time of year would be good depending on the conditions we should totally all surf once we get there do you surf perhaps i'm not much of a surfer but not yet Not yet. Anchor, may I ask you a question? What's that?

Does surfing require a lot of flexibility? I wouldn't do it. I've never done it before. I'm not very flexible. So yes. Okay. Better question for Rad. Yeah, Rad walks away completely insulted that you asked him and not me.

If Rad walks away, you know what? I'm going to sigh and go after him. I just look at them leaving and I go, good, good, they need that. Rad. Oh, hey, what's up? I'm sorry It's just dark out and it's raining Sorry you caught me off guard

Yeah I've been told I can be a little intimidating Yeah you're really quiet dude This surfing It requires I asked Anchor But I should have asked you. That was mine. It requires flexibility, correct?

I wouldn't say flexibility so much as nimbleness and dexterity. Believe me, you're going to pick it up immediately. I should be. That's the thing. I should be flexible to? That's the thing. I should be flexible and to do... Right? I mean, it'd be nice if you could, like, bend over and, like, touch your toes. Yeah, sure. That certainly helps

in the process. Okay. That counts, I believe. You don't want to be, like, handicapped and surf. But I've even seen some turtles with one leg be able to surf. How would do you know? It's about balance, dude, which you've got in spades.

Okay. I will participate not tonight, but soon when we all, we should all do that so it's not just me. I agree, dude. My life would be complete if I got you all to serve.

That was an interesting phrase, but yes. While we're traveling, make sure to look out for a good iron tree or something. We've got to find another board for you. Okay. I will be sure to do that. And when we're almost done with the food, we'll just bring that up. Hey, um. Yes?

Snuval, are you still pissed because I died? At me specifically. It's okay if you're mad about it. I just don't want you to be mad at me because you're my friend. It's not you. It's me and I'm trying to work through that and I can be I'm realizing it

and I know I'm over talking you which I should not do it's okay go ahead just I would ask that you be lenient for me as I become flexible. Oh, I see now. Well, I'm glad you realize it's totally you and not me.

All right. Nope, nope, nope. I'm not going to. I'm going to go sleep with Paunch now. Again, that was an interesting phrase goodnight goodnight and I'm going back into that hut with Anchor the night carries on

Anchor passes out variously well cooked shark fillets to everybody I keep the anchor-cooked ones for Rain and the recently deceased crew, and then

we get the Snooval blackened pieces. It's Cajun. It's jerk shark. It's Cajun jerk shark. Cajun jerk shark. A little ash on top. A little ash never hurt. But yeah,

but eventually the night carries on and you guys take your rest. Vasul goes back to his tent and is sitting at his fire. And I assume you guys are crashing on the boat somewhere? Yeah. Yeah.

Out of the rain for sure. Yeah, out of the rain. Sure. Okay. Yes. Out of the rain. Try to stay as dry as possible. And you guys all fall asleep.

Does that mean we can get a long rest in? Yes, you'll get a long rest. And we wake up in the morning with no dreams. Peaceful sleep. Anchor? For the first time in the last couple of days, you actually don't have a dream. Day comes, it's gray, it's still kind of raining. A little bit lighter than the night before when you guys arrived,

but you can see that it's just going to be overcast and dark gray for your day. You see rain, and the others are breaking down their tents. It looks like they're trying to pack up, and they're trying to figure out their plots out off this coast. And you see Vassoul as well packing up his tent and getting ready for the day.

Before we pack up, is the shark carcass still... Because it's still there, correct? Yeah. Because I want the jaw of it. Okay. Because I want to make sure I dislocate the jaw so I have its teeth in it and I just got a feeling that's going to

become handy. Okay, cool. Is there anything else for you to do? Snap the jaw. I think we definitely want to say bye to rain, right? Yes. As you guys are getting yourselves ready, I think we definitely want to say bye to Rain, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

As you guys are getting yourselves ready, packing up your stuff and prepping to head out, you guys eventually approach Rain, who's helping cast lines and stuff like that. She's standing on the shore and she sees you guys. Like, oh, hey, what's up? You know, like we said before, Rain, if you've fallen in love with us,

you're welcome to come with us. Well, I mean, I have fallen in love with you guys, not gonna lie. You guys are quite the interesting group, but I think I have to go back to Galen. It's looking like we're gonna have to scuttle this one

ship. There's nothing we can salvage of it. It's taking on too much water. It'd slow us down. I need to make sure... Can we have the lumber? I think what Trigg meant to say was, is there anything we can do? I mean, there's nothing quite we can do. We're just

going to pile up on one ship and try to make our way back. Should be easy enough to do. Well, you've sacrificed a lot for us in the little times you've known us, so thanks for everything. Of course. It was kind of asked of me, and I was happy to help.

And actually, in fact, there's one last thing I have for you all. Is it the lumber? Drink. It's not huge. She calls out to somebody for you all. Is it the lumber? Drink. She calls out to somebody in Auron, and eventually somebody, one of the other genasi's, carrying

a leather satchel. She grabs it from them and she opens the satchel and pulls out three things. She pulls out a bottle, she pulls out a decanter, and then she pulls out an orb. And she said, you you know the elders had mentioned to you all that they were unsure about this journey mainly because they could see the rifts between you all but from what i saw on our way over here i can see that you guys may be odd

and strange but you guys are set on completing this task full-heartedly, each and every one of you. So they said at my discretion I could part these gifts to you. They have elemental properties and might aid you in the rest of your journey. And she hands it off to you guys. What does the bottle do? Oh, I'll send it to you guys. I'll send you to the top.

How are you going to send it to us? I don't understand. Why don't you just tell us now while we're on the beach? Ray, you're acting very odd. You were in possession of the bottle. You could just tell us. Whoa.

I mean, each bottle has kind of an elemental property or aid that it can do for you there are certain words you have to use we don't have to attune to these things no no badass

as the warlock who only has two spell slots I'd love one of these I just received the PDF. Thank you, Rain. Oh, we got a cool shovel. No, not the shovel. Oh, damn. The shovel.

I said the ore of the bottle and the decanter. That's true. No shovel. Damn it. If we shake her down, she's true. No shovel. Damn it. If we shake her down, she'll give us the shovel. Okay. Cool.

This is a hell of a gift. Thanks again, Rain. Thank you, Rain. No problem. This is incredible. Thank you. And I, for one, can promise that once all of this is over,

if I still breathe, I'll come back to the colony. We can have a drink to celebrate. You are all welcomed back. I hope, and I'm very certain our paths will cross again soon. That'd be nice. Thank you. I will not apologize for us not actually telling you the truth at first. That feels really bad.

I feel bad about that. I wouldn't tell you about Bronn. But it also makes sense because we were nervous and things have been after her. But I still feel the need to apologize to you for that. Or lie by omission because that's not okay. But she's safe and we'll keep her safe. And you're lovely. So thank you

she goes and she like puts a hand on your shoulder and she just like looks at you and is like I understand and I know you'll keep her safe great we will and I'll see you eventually one day

all is forgiven great good wonderful thank you One day. All is forgiven. Great. Good. Wonderful. Thank you. Shorty walks away really awkwardly. I'm so sorry. Who took the items, by the way? I think Rad had them. Well, I'll hold on to them. If you want one of them, you're welcome to take one.

No, no, no. I'm just holding all of them in my hands. Can you stuff that in your shell? Is that possible? No, but I've got this sweet bandolier that I could at least put the bottle and probably the orb. I think she said that they came in a satchel.

Ah, well then I've got another satchel, yeah. So I've got the satchel and the bandolier. Insensitive, Amanda, that you just think people can put stuff in their turtle shells. Well, I mean... I didn't think we were being ignorant on this podcast. Austin's

fucking loud. I allow that for turtles, because that's something that happens in my home brew, in my home team. Well, they have like a hinge in one of the shells, they can just put shit in their shell. You can go inside the shell.

Yeah, that's right. So my druid has like shelves and stuff inside the shell. Yeah, that's right. So my druid has shelves and stuff inside their shell. Well, well, well. Because they meditate inside the shell at night. All right, so you see Rad for the first time with all three of these things. He just goes into his shell, and then he comes out, and they're not in his hands anymore. Yes.

I didn't do that when he was being murdered that's a good question it raises my AC but not by that much Rad, can I ask you a potentially insensitive question? sure, go ahead if you jump around does it make a little clanky noise like there's things inside you?

I'm going to jump around to see if I can hear anything. I mean, unless you have stuff, like, set up in there. No, yeah. Yeah, you hear just, like, your thing moving. Shodin just giggles for a solid three minutes. Feels really weird. He rattles a little bit. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that's just fantastic.

No, this is karmic. This is just like when you were a chest earlier. Oh, right. This is just basically what we were doing, yes. I relate to you so hard right now. Oh, I'm glad we understand each other on this level. Even though I don't remember being a chest, it's nice to have this connection with you. That's lovely. Thank you. I think while everybody else was saying their heartfelt goodbyes, Trigg probably snuck away. Yeah.

But he just has like a big measuring tape out. He's just measuring the boat. I just picture him in the background of our conversation. Just turning around. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly what's happening. But Rain says her final goodbyes and she eventually jumps up on the ship and as you see the rest of the Genasi as well as Poe and

Snafu they kind of waving off the sides of the boat as they cast off. I'll hold Varon up so she can wave. Yeah, Varon is waving, laughing, kind of smiling. Gonna miss that bear. Very nice. I'm not gonna, wait, my figure eight! While I check my bag! Roll an investigation check.

Oh, yes. That seems like some of her- 23! Where are they? How many did you have? It was eight. Yeah. Start counting 123456777.

You son of a bitch. Get back here. I start chasing after the departed boat. Both the boats. Yeah, I'm going to kill you. What's going on, Trig? What's going on, buddy? They stole my friend. We're all here. We're all still here.

Not you guys. That hurt a little. You had another friend on the ship? I had eight other friends. And now I only got seven. They took a crossbow? No, I got those. I can make another one of those.

The friends are priceless. Can you see the seven friends right now? Yeah. Yeah. Are they in your bag? Would you like to show your friends? Me? like to show this to your friends? Me? I'm shorty, I asked. Trick, I would never want to make you sad.

I'll show you one. Really? But no touching. Okay. Bronn, no touching. I reach into my bag and I pull out the nice new dragon that I got at Tengu Atoll. This is Jeremy. It's a nice little porcelain dragon.

Hello, Jeremy. Nice to meet you. I'm Shoti and that's Kenny and Snuval and Rad and Anchor. Don't smother him. He's very sharp. I'm very sorry. Have a nice day Jeremy's gonna go back to sleep now

I should put that away Lysol is waiting for you all alright alright fuck yeah we're doing shit Trig are you done with the boat cause I think we're all ready to go. Oh, do you have the ship in the bottle, Thany? Get the dead one.

Okay, I'll try. Can you do that? Is it going to destroy the ship we already have in? It only holds one boat. Oh, no. Damn it! I'll carry as much as I can. Okay, yeah.

You take some time and you grab some lumber. As much as you can. For one person. I'll go until I'll take as much as I'm just, until I'm just like barely not encumbered. Which, let's see how many pounds I got left. Oh. I mean, I don't run it. So that's 140 pounds of wood. Oh my god. Okay. So that's the hon. Yeah, that's a hundred and forty pounds of wood Someone's gonna be slow, you know, I will lend eggs and beefcake here and I'll carry some some wood with me, too

Okay, so you help carrying the load, okay you got there you gather your load of wood and you approach Masul, who's been waiting on the shoreline. Now that it's daytime, you can get a little bit better look at him. He's got chunks of parts of his ear missing. They're like pieces. He's kind of battle scarred. And around his neck, you didn't notice this last night, given the fire and the dark. He's got a necklace that's kind of wrapped around his shoulders all the way to the back end,

and they have, like, fingers attached to it. Double road. Their fingers have, like, different colors, but there's at least four of every kind, and it's just kind of nicely decorated around. Does it look like they're different races? Yeah. Okay.

Do they look well-pres are they like rotting? They look well preserved. Like they've taken the time to, to make this and keep each finger individually. Like the day was severed. You like pickled. Do we have to give you one of our fingers as payment for taking us across the island?

Unless you intend to cross blades with me in battle and you lose, you can keep your fingers. Alright. As soon as he says the words battle and lose, Trigg pulls one of these and gives you a look. I shouldn't have asked. I'm very sorry.

Trigg, are you getting sick? Are you sneezing inappropriately when you shouldn't have asked. I'm very sorry. Trigg, are you getting sick? Are you sneezing inappropriately when you shouldn't? It's a head cold, is what it is. Let's keep it that way. Mom's here. Trigg's quiet now. Trigg's quiet.

He looks at all of you and he's like, because we've lost three days, we'll have to take a little bit more of an expedited route. It'll take some time to cross all the way through these jungles. It's a treacherous journey. Whether it be the barbarians or the lupines or the jungle itself. So I hope you're ready. I'm sure before the journey is done, we'll have some more fingers for you.

Only Tukar can answer that for me. He eventually leads you to the base of the cliff face. And he says the fastest way around would be up and over. Okay. I run at the

rock wall screaming and I just start bounding up it. All right. Roll me an athletic. Roll me an athletic. Oh, no. Oh, boy. Eight.

Yeah, you charge full ahead and you jump at the nearest little platform. But as you do, it's pretty wet and it's kind of slippery and you kind of slip and you fall back down on the ground. Alright, alright, so that's the way not to do it, right, Vasil? I would say slow and steady, given the rain. Should we tie ourselves to each other or something?

I was thinking the same thing, Rad. I believe we should take some rope and tie it about our waist. I'm already harnessed. Shouty, can you... If you need it... Could you polymorph yourself? What's that exactly? Could you, like, change your form? Could you be, like, a giant eagle or something?

Oh, no, I've never tried that. All right. That's a possibility. I didn't know that. Think about it real hard. I believe you can do it. You just gotta think. Before you do anything, may I take the child

away from you? Oh, right, yes, that would be a good idea. I'll pass Bron off, and then I'll sit down and I'll think real hard about trying to turn into an eagle. Is it working? Do I have wings yet? I really didn't mean to go down this rabbit hole, but all right.

Try the flap. Try the flap. See if you can do it. I'll start flapping my arms. You're doing it. I don't think I can do that, Rat. Doing it the old way, then. Gonna climb.

Eli. Eli. My favorite terrain is coast. Okay. Can I try to be the first one that goes and identify a safe path, the safest path up this rock

wall? Sure, roll me a survival check. Do I get advantage because it's my favorite terrain? I believe that's the case, right? So that'll be a 22. 22? Yep. You, like, as you guys mull over, like, this plan, and you say you're overthinking it,

you just start scurrying back up onto the cliffside, and you start navigating a couple platforms that seem to be sturdy enough and not as slippery as you kind of slowly start making your way up, and you're pointing out to everybody below, like, which ones to kind of start hopping up on. Now the question is if everybody in the party is going to trust me to

give them directions up a dangerous rock cliff. That is the question. That is the question. I mean we're still bringing you along so we're really not that intelligent. But the rest of you have seen Trey kind of scurry up, and he's kind of jumping, testing rocks,

and jumping to the next rock, and being maybe a little extra about it, but he's navigating points. Do you guys want to follow Trigg, or do you just want to start just climbing? Well, he's alive so far, so... Yeah, I'll follow him. I'll follow him.

All right, everybody roll me athletic checks. If you ever want to throw an acrobatics out, I would love that one too. Alright, I'll give you acrobatics. Yes! Okay. Trig gets a 21. 21? I've got a dirty 20.

Dirty 20? 12. 12. I got a 15. 15. 12. I got a 15. 11. Rad got a 5. Baby boy. Yeah.

You all start climbing. Those with higher rolls and stuff like that, you easily make it up with Trigg kind of leading the pack. Vasul's kind of shortly behind you trig followed by anchor and snival um shody and and kenny you guys are kind of struggling a little bit um just not getting the right footing or every time you kind of reach out it kind of a little bit of the ledge kind of slips and stuff like that it's taking a lot longer rad you are

trailing the pack whether it's like the heavy load of your shell on your back it's just taking you a lot of time um you actually reach out to one of the ledges and it kind of breaks loose and you kind of slip down to another ledge and you kind of like thud but you are trailing the pack as you're slowly climbing and climbing it takes hours for you guys to do this um because it is a very tall cliff face that you guys are are doing i would say about an hour into it you hear something on the rain you're just like one by one climbing up climbing up climbing up but you kind of hear something between the pitter patters of the rain sounds like a song of some kind someone's singing for? Like someone singing.

It's hard for you to kind of discern what it is. I mean, you have heard the bird calls of the storm birds and stuff like that as you guys have traveled off to sea, but it's kind of hard to tell what is what. Why don't everybody make me a wisdom saving throw? Uh-oh. Why not? I know what this is.

I got a 20! Oh yeah. Wisdom saving throw. Wisdom saving throw. I got another 21! Nice. I got a 12. Oh no.

You got a 12? Yeah. Dirty 20 for Rad. I got a 3. Oh, no. You got a 12? Yeah. Dirty 20 for red. I got a three. Oh, no. Oh, no. That's terrifying. I have the child, everybody. Okay, yeah.

Mm-hmm. You guys just hear this song just kind of trailing across the cliff face and between the rain and stuff like that. And it's kind of really enchanting and mesmerizing and you guys almost stopped for a second and you guys can just feel like for a second just like this sudden like lull-ness that you kind of like drift for a second but all of you kind of like snap back and like kind of shake it off and you just keep climbing and keep moving and stuff. But Snival, you stop.

You are charmed by this song. So I'm currently charmed, right? Yes. Is there any way I can use my stillness of mind and basically just stand there for a couple minutes to basically go into a quick meditation to get out of being charmed? I don't know if it's an action or not.

Well, for me, it's an action. That well for me it's an action that's why you'll have just enough time while you're falling to your death yeah yeah i would say you can i'm just gonna like just kind of just wibble wobble on the rock and just kind of sway snoozeball you okay i'm just gonna kind of moan for a second. Guys, I think it's Harpies! Trey just screams down, What? And keeps scurrying up. Yeah, I'm sticking down by Snooval

in case, you know, this shit comes back up. Yeah, Rad's gonna stop wherever he is and try to get a decent footing and just brace. Snooval, as you're like taking that moment to gather yourself as you're trying to fight this sudden urge to stop moving and to continue

to listen to this song, everyone else can hear this kind of screech through the sky as something seems to kind of flap down towards you. And Rad, you could probably see this, but you see this large woman-looking

bird creature just flap its wings down to Snivall as it attempts to grab it with her claws. It misses, it swings wide and stuff like that, it attempts to grab onto you, but it kind of loses its grip, and it kind of tugs you a little bit.

Would I be within five feet of Snooval when this happened? I would say you're not quite in five feet. You're making your way towards it. Perfect. Did that kind of wake me out of my charm-like state? No, it misses its attack on you. It tugs you a little bit, but you still are gaining your footing. We can all see the creature, right?

Yes, but most of you are either closer to the top, with the exception of you, Kenny, Rad, and Ang. Can I just fire a guiding bolt? Sure. A 23 will hit. Yeah, a 23 will hit.

23. 23. 18 points of damage. Ooh, nice. Nice. Damn. Yeah. You loose a bolt as it snaps up against this creature.

It slaps its wings hard and kind of soars back up into the air where you kind of can't see it as it kind of looses through the mist and the fog. So, Amal, you're still hanging on, but eventually the fog kind of starts to clear and you regain your focus. You're no longer charmed as you regain your senses. Come on, Simal. I'm going to keep climbing quickly.

Everybody towards the bottom, roll me athletic checks. Seven. Everybody towards the bottom roll me athletic checks. Move your way up. Seven. Seven. I have an 18. Yeah, not much better. I got an 8. 22.

22? Yeah, for the bottom lot, it's a struggle to get you guys up. Anker's kind of keeping pace, even though he could keep moving up. He's trying to keep pace with the slower ones at the bottom of the pack kenny rad the rest of you eventually after uh another half an hour or so finally eventually reach the top of this cliff face um trigg you're the first one to kind of make it up there followed by everybody else oh followed by followed by basul pulls himself up as he starts to like reach down and help everybody else up and eventually you all reach up this cliff side um you can kind of hear the sounds

of that lulling song in the air and stuff like that but it's a little farther in the distance away from you guys you can't quite hear it anymore you know what I'm gonna do now that I'm up on the top and I have an understanding of what's going on. I'm gonna take this rope that's tied as a harness around my waist and I'm gonna lash it to a crossbow bolt and cock it into a crossbow. All right, with you attached to it. Yeah.

All right. Okay. I'll make sure that the rope is as long as it can possibly be. Of course, I'll be exactly how long that rope is. It's 50. Where is it? Yeah, it's 50 feet. Okay. Yeah.

I'll allow you to have the UV attached to a 50-foot rope to a crossbow. Sure. Alright. As you guys get pulled up onto this cliff face, slightly exhausted, you guys take a moment to kind of gather yourselves, but you guys can kind of roll me a perception check if you want to take that moment to gather

yourself after climbing that cliff. Natural 1. 12. 12. Nat 1. See,four. Twelve. Twelve. Nat one. Jeez, it's two. See, this is a shit day. Okay. The rain is pretty heavy, and it's kind of hard to see,

but for, I believe, Trigg, you kind of turn around, and you kind of look together your surroundings outside of this cliffside, and what you see is a large looking forest that just covered in vines and and and roots and just full of life and just rainfall i don't think i've ever been in this kind of forest there's so much lumber i want to stay here Beautiful, yes, but looks are a-seaving. This is the Ahewo Wilds. It's home to the vines and the swamplands of the soul tree that's kind of at its epicenter. You'll see it eventually as we trek through this.

It'll be a long journey through this wilds to the other side. How long of a journey do you think it will take about several days which is why it's gonna be any more of those things floating around and then some all right even the jungle itself you mentioned a soul tree. What is that exactly? It is this very large tree that is at the epicenter of our island. It has deep powers that not even I quite understand. I see. The forest can play tricks on you.

Well, we'll just have to be extra alert, everyone. Trig. I'm always alert. Tricks like illusions? Illusions, memories. Huh. Things you want to keep hidden from yourself and others. Now, say someone were to remove some lumber from this tree.

What would hypothetically happen to this hypothetical person? I would not advise it. These wilds are alive. That makes sense. I'm not hearing a no. No. We should... We should get moving.

I found it. Yeah, let's go. If we're going to be in here for days and the danger is as real as you described, we should move as fast as possible. Let's get it over with. I'm going to actually go to Rad and just motion towards all the trees

and be like, do you think we'll be able to find my board here? Oh, most definitely. We might even find better lumber than that iron would. Oh, okay. So keep an eye out at Asvasul. That's a little different for me to see, really. Oh, yeah. I'll look out for us then.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm gonna walk deep in. Alright. Falls deep inside a wild forest. Let's go. What could go wrong? It looks so peaceful. Who's gonna step into the Sarlacc pit accidentally?

That's the real question. You gotta ask that question. It's me! I don't know. Kenny hasn't had any weird shit happen to them in a minute. Because Kenny doesn't go looking for weird shit like that. She also is the one that almost fell in a pit.

That's true. It goes looking for her. What are you talking about? You could say I'm a pit fiend. That's true. That's true. It goes looking worse. What are you talking about? I thought that was lame for a second. You could say I'm a pit fiend. Hey, parpiter. I mean, I guess you could say that. I'm so sorry.

I'm so glad. No, no, no, no, no. We need this. I love this. Okay. I mean, you're allowed to. It's not illegal to say that. So Vasil's gonna take the lead as he is

your guide to this wild as you should. But what is the marching order for the rest of you? I'll go first. Okay. Trig? Rad's got pretty decent survival, so he'll probably be close to the front.

I'll take up the back. I'll go third. back. I'll put third. Ideally, I'd like to be in the middle because I'm still holding Baran. So between Snuball and Anchor. So say Anchor... I mean, I would say Rad and Trigger toward the front.

Kenny, Shody, Snuball, make the middle and Anchor, you will take the rear. Kenny, Shody, Snival, make the middle and anchor you. We'll take the rear. Trig and Rad, roll me perception checks. I'll point out that

with Rad at Trig's back, he's walking uncomfortably fast. Uncomfortably fast, okay. Natural 20, 24 total. Nice! Nice! It's nice, nice. I'll give it 21. Ooh, that's good too.

No way! Yep. The, uh, the deeper you guys go into this forest, the less rain you guys feel as the canopies kind of... keep a lot of the water at bay. You can still kind of hear trickling through the leaves and stuff like that but things are fairly dry. Even maybe a little muggier than even what you guys kind of experience even for the summer. But it's quiet for the most part for what a jungle is. I

mean it's full of like birds and wildlife and you can stuff rat and and trig as you kind of look up. You occasionally see, like, a monkey or another jungle creature just kind of scurrying through the trees. You see kind of birds flapping away. It's nice. It's peaceful. It's almost kind of weirdly beautiful. Almost

like something terrible was about to happen, and someone wanted this to be the last thing that we saw. to happen and someone wanted this to be the last thing that we saw you like like how far up is the canopy level are we talking like a like a football field before we see the tops of the trees or yeah i mean it's it's like a um it's like a rainforest in a way there's like these large trunks of vines and roots and stuff like that that kind of stretch out, that kind of make up into these twisting of like banyans and stuff like that. It's more like a giant banyan

grove. Gotcha. If I were playing a druid again, I wouldn't fucking leave. For the most part, for right now, you guys, nothing seems to be bothering you. The day kind of stretches on and starting to get towards the hotter part of the day. The rain starts to kind of trickle and fade away, and you see bouts of sunlight now reaching through the canopies, and it's starting to get a little bit hotter and muggier as you guys continue on. Somebody in the middle section, roll me perception checks as you guys are continuing on.

Okay. 19. There we go. Yeah, there we go. 19? Yeah. Just, just show me. I'll go. Should we all go? Do it, Zach. Okay, it's a boy. Okay, that's a

14. Nice. 14. 14. oh boy okay that's a 14 nice 14 it's gotten like really muggy and like really hot and you you can kind of like wipe this like the sweat off your brow as you kind of like cross over this like large kind of root that kind of stretches over and it's at least like 10 feet tall and you're just kind of like looking straight all of a sudden you start feeling like this nice little gentle breeze out of nowhere and it's kind of like really nice and it's light and as you kind of like

look around eventually you just see this tiny little like little tiny little spirit thing just kind of sitting on one of like the vines and stuff like that and seems like it's blowing air in your just general direction and gives you like a little wave i wave back and sort of do the like bird thing where you like stick out your hand if it's a fan i would like to keep a fan yeah Yeah, I mean, it's not a fan. It does, like, jump off the thing, and it kind of, like, floats down. It's got, it looks, like, almost like a little mushroom of some kind, but it's got, like, these tiny, like, big eyes and, like, a little mouth and

just, like, blowing wind in your direction. Seems to be, like, it almost looks like a little, like, marshmallow puff. You are so cute. it's blowing wind i'm gonna watch it be poisonous watch it be poisonous turn around and try to like show who's right behind me uh snooval this is so cute it's a little mushroom marshmallow mushroom man. That's nice. You point it in your way and it like blows air in your face and of all. Nice gentle breeze. Does it have good breath?

Is it smell? Is the breath hot? It's not. The breath's not hot. It's like, it feels like a nice little gentle, like, cool sea breeze. No. And then I hold it out to Rad. I don't know if we should be messing with

the wildlife. Basul, should we be messing with the wildlife? He looks back and he sees that and he kind of just kind of laughs and says, those are harmless. They're just Chuuga's little

air spirits Chuuga's even the name is cute the little air spirits are practically harmless this guy's quite lucky seems to like you thank you little friend I mean I love him now

but when you say practically haunted, what is the practical? What's unpractical about it? I mean, even a puppy is like, you know what I mean? Even they've got a little bite to it. I mean, it's a little spirit,

and spirits can be mischievous. I mean, but, I mean, of one of little size, it's practically harmless. Ask him if he wants to come along. Do you, I mean, do you want to go on a boat? I mean, just through the woods. Oh, we don't mean to take you from your home.

I'm sorry. You're not supposed to do that. You want to just walk with us? Kind of like jumps from your finger and kind of like goes on your shoulder. That is adorable. This is a blessing. That's very sweet.

This is my son. Time to adopt the second child. Oh wait, no, I'm not. Fully out of character. That's it. No, no, I'm out of character. No, no. That's enough. But as you guys regroup and start making your way and continuing on

with your now little friend, Shodi, you just kind of just take one last residual glance as you're just looking out, making sure everything is safe. But as you kind of look out making sure everything is safe um but as you kind of look out you like see this little like it's it looks like a small path but it just like looks like a little bit of clearing ways in the woods but you look at it and seem drawn to it for

a second looking at it like you should go down that route it's not too like far off the path and like no okay it's not terribly far off the path, but everybody else is starting to move on, but you just kind of notice it casually as you were, like, just looking about. I'll nudge anchor and be like, I'll be right back. I think I saw something over here. I'm going to just check it out, and then I'll be right back. Okay. All right, thanks. I'll wait here.

Oh, don't get too far behind everyone. That's okay. Alright, thank you. I'll just start off down the path. Okay. Yeah, you go down that path and eventually you're just met with just more woods, more trees that are just stretching up and the canopy is just green. And you're looking at it and it's real nice. It's real peaceful. Shorty spent a lot of time in the woods previously. And so I think they're trying to, like, catalog the differences between, like, their woods that they're used to back home. And these, like, new woods. And trying to, like, remember all of it to tell.

And as you're, like, noting all of the beautiful shrubbery and how it's just not like the woods that you remember, you kind of notice something that kind of like skitters across the trees. And as you're like looking and stuff like that, eventually you just see kind of feathers kind of falling, like a bird kind of let loose. And as it kind of falls, you kind of see these like nice little white wings, but you kind of, they seem really familiar. Can I try and catch one of the feathers? Yeah, you catch one of those feathers.

It's fairly long, a large white wing, but remember it fondly. It reminds you of somebody. I'm going to try and track where it went and see if I can follow it. Keep going. I keep going. Uh, and then if I still see like a little bit of a trail of feathers, I'll really quietly say, Talia, is that you? Yeah, as you keep going, you see just like feathers falling.

So you keep following down that path and keep going, trying calling out to Talia. You don't get a response. This isn't funny. I've been looking for you forever. Come out, please. You're kind of almost frantic at this point as you just keep following down the trail. And you can swear you can almost hear her laughter as you can just see the skittering of feathers.

And you move and you move and you move, and eventually you get to this kind of like, just a rose of like just vines that kind of like shroud over the path and eventually you just kind of rush through and as you open it just nothing just a row of trees loud sound of jungle no feathers falling just emptiness nothing tell you if this is a game this is really mean don't hear anything i'm gonna just start like whacking through the vines This is a game, this is really mean. I'm gonna just start like whacking through the vines. Yeah, you whack through the vines and stuff like that. You hear animals chittering and scurrying away from the sound of the loud noise and motion and stuff like that.

But you're seem to be alone in this part of the woods. they're like on the verge of crying and just calling out endlessly i don't think they they're thinking about going back i think they're just yelling her name yeah um anchor eventually gets a while as you've you've kind of slightly moved on but you're kind of slow slowing down to just kind of match pace, but eventually you realize Shodi's not, hasn't come back from where they had walked off to. Okay. I am going to

catch up to the other group and let them know, and then I'm going to come back and try and investigate that path. I know they went down. Okay. Is anybody else going to go with him, or... I'll try to help scope out Shodi's tracks or okay no I'm staying tight with the child you know rad would definitely go along and look for shouty good okay so you so you essentially all right am I the only one staying on the path with the other thing I stay with the kid and keep them alive up on shore all right well please come back with all limbs and watch trig

okay fasul's gonna kind of lean up against this stump i'll lean up too all right everybody else you go towards where you you saw shody you wander off and you go into the woods. Everybody roll me perception checks, those who have gone off to save Shodi. Can I specifically be looking for their tracks? Roll me a survival check then. 14. 11. 17.

11. 17. 16. 16. Okay. You guys are wandering through this path down the woods and stuff like that. You're listening to it. Trig, you kind of look down and you do notice like tracks, but they're uneven given the terrain. There's moss and vines and stuff. So you get the occasional one footstep that kind of displaced piece of grass.

But it's enough to kind of follow generally. You think you're on the right path and direction. The rest of you are kind of just looking back and forward, kind of just looking for shodi, trying to see your tall friend. Anchor, as you're kind of like peering through the woods you see another like divergence in the path and as you kind of like look down there you kind of are drawn to it and it's kind of got the familiar smell of, like, sea and sea spray. It reminds me of home. It's attractive. Is it so attractive that I can't stay with the group?

It's attractive enough that it's distracting, like, very distracting. Okay. Makes you question the direction of which you're going. question the direction of which you're going. I think I'm going to attempt and steal myself and stay with the group knowing, remembering back to Vasul mentioning the nature

of this place. I think he's as afraid of that path as he is enticed. Okay. You continue down the way and even you, Rad, as you kind of look out and stuff like that, you see like another path down, trail down the woods and stuff like that and it seems ent path down, trail down the woods and stuff like that, and it seems enticing. Do you also hear that familiar sound

of wood being carved? Yeah, I think Rad also would remember to be careful and worries that Shouty has fallen under some trap. Okay, you rolled an 11, right? You rolled a 17. Okay. I also see a trail.

I hear sounds like, sounds of coins being stacked and collected. Are you gonna keep... I'm going to find my friend first. First. Okay.

After a certain point of marching along, Triggs said, hold on, everybody wait just one second. Be quiet. He gets down on the ground, prone, buries his left ear into the ground, and closes his eyes, and I'm gonna use primeval awareness, and you have to tell me,

you're contractually obligated, to tell me if there is a aberration, dragon elemental fae fiend or undead within one mile if there's anything you tell me where it is you you definitely feel faith scattered throughout that one mile radius you definitely also feel elementals scattered within that mile. No dragons. No undead. Oh, no, actually, there is some undead. I mean, it seems like as you kind of gather, there's just a lot of kind of scattered about within the mile.

I mean, this is a giant wild. You don't even know where it begins or where it ends. So I'll just stand up and I'll say, if someone don't smell right, watch where you step. No more explanation than that. Did he just put his ear and shit on the ground? Is that what he told us to do? A couple more minutes and you eventually cross over this vine, vines that kind of hang over the pathway.

And as you kind of push it, you see Shodi and they're kind of just kind of looking and darting around back and forth, looking and calling out for somebody. At this point, they're like full crying. Shodi, Shodi,

what the hell are you doing? Wandering away from everybody like that. I saw my, we were worried about you. Yeah. It's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I just... I saw

my friend and she's here and I can't find her. You saw your friend? Shoudy, you have to remember what Vasul said. This place plays tricks on you. No, no, she's here. She's in the trees. Look, and I'll hold up the feather. What's your friend look like? Is she holding

a feather? Is the feather still there? There's no feather. She's holding a leaf. It's okay. I sometimes get trees and birds confused too. No, it was it wasn't a leaf. It was a feather. It was a white and brown feather and she was here. I swear she

was here. I wouldn't just leave like that. I i'm sorry i'm really sorry would you like to hold jeremy no trick thank you i don't need to hold your dragon i know you don't like to share i'm sorry i worried you um we can go back now it's fine i'm sorry it's okay do you want to tie this rope between you and anchor for no particular reason no thank you i understand that it was a trick now and i won't fall for it again i think they're fine we can trust them and they're just like furiously wiping their face and trying not to make it make any more of a trouble and they'll follow back. Shoudy, I think Bronn was asking about you

so maybe we should get back. I'll, uh, yes, sorry. Let's keep going. I didn't mean to derail us like this. And they're gonna tuck the leaf that was a feather in their little black notebook next to the real feather and like

check and make sure it's a real feather not just another leaf shut my notebook and tuck it back and follow back snowball you're you're hanging out with vasul and baron kind of get a little restless and squirmy do you like to play a game and squirmy. Do you like to play a game? A game? I was mostly, I'm sorry, I was talking to the child, but

I mean, but I mean, you can participate if you like. Depends, what is it? Well, I've never done this, but I've seen the elders take care of younglings at a temple. They would

call it How High. Have you ever heard of that? No. So what you do is you take the youngling and I'm going to go ahead and toss Baran in the air. Oh no. That's my love.

This is how it ends. She can float. It's fine. Oh god. And then catch her. Not gonna go, like, super high, but I... You just hear, like, the shrill scream of Baran. Like, it's a joyful one, but one, but you know how kids go.

And you catch him. Did you guys hear that? I'm gonna swore I just heard Baran screaming. Shodi takes off. Dead spray. I'm gonna go ahead and just do it again. Just gonna keep tossing Baran in the air. My God, we gotta go fast, they're in danger.

I'm gonna say like, you can do that. Not to be rude, but you can, if you'd like to participate, she seems to enjoy it. I could, I guess I could try. I'm gonna take Baran and I'm gonna toss it, but like a nice arch, but high so Baran will have some fun. And then like toss it. You toss Baran into the air and it goes well over Vasil's head. And Vasil just takes his trunk and he just kind of just reaches his head up and he just like outstretches it and as

as As she comes down he kind of like catches her but kind of like cradles it in her trunk as he just kind of raps and brings her brings her down to to his hands and she's laughing and He starts to chuckle to himself as he sees as he's holding this thing Eventually the rest of you come through and you just Drink no chuckle to himself as he's holding this thing. Eventually the rest of you come through and you just see... No! I'm gonna have my finger up and I'm gonna be like, we're playing

how high? No. What's how high? Basul, show them what I just taught you. Basul, like, takes Baran and puts her in her hands and eventually just goes down and undercarries and just throws her very high into and eventually just goes down and under carries and just throws

her very high into the air oh that's quite nice all right and he's just like he's just watching and he's just carefully watching and eventually he just stretches his trunk out again and he catches her she's just laughing so he looks like they want to cry again throw the baby in the air even drake knows that's not safe I told you children would be perfectly safe okay first of all I know you said that but this is a lot all at once can we keep going please uh

Michelle do you mind if I take Baran back yeah he just outstretches and hands it to you is everything alright? Yes, everything's fine, can I please carry her around for a little bit? Uh, okay Hand around over to Shuri

Gonna put her on my shoulders And just keep my hands on her little ankles And try and Not lose my shit I promised me the child was perfectly safe I know, I know, I know She kind of puts like both of her hands On the top of your head lose my shit i promised me the child was perfectly safe i know i know i know i know i know she kind of puts like both of her hands on the top of your head and kind of like

you feel her like chin just sitting nestled on top of it i don't know what if we built baron some kind of a bubble suit anchor kenny um did I do bad? is that not supposed to happen? no you're fine it's just the forest playing tricks on us that's all we were worried for a moment but it's good it's good you're playing with the child yes I think

if anything it seems like Azul was enjoying it that's only got to be good for us later right? yes Azul you have quite the arm on... Or trunk. Whichever. Well, when one wields, he pulls up his really large swords. When one wields this, one has to be strong, I guess.

Oh, it shows. Flex on us real quick. Yeah. Shit, dude. Okay. Damn. You guys continue on for the rest of the day and eventually you guys will make camp somewhere in the forest. You actually kind of reach this kind of clearing area,

um, and from what where Vos will lead you you it seems to be like a uh oh well hello scatter scattered about i'm left behind um there's a waterfall in a small river where you guys can collect water and stuff like that for For, just so that we're crystal clear, do we see some sort of an otherworldly statue looking menacingly out from behind a bog? Yeah. It's like a statue

that's been, like, toppled and it's just sitting inside the water of this pool, um, and there's like a waterfall attached further down. I give it 60% odds that that thing's a lab. Is it made of gold? It's made of like a bronze and like stone. Okay.

Kenny's less impressed. These are just ruins of old Ashoka from the past. How far away are we from the other side, if you don't mind me asking? Days. This is only the first day. Well, we better set up camp then. I'll start working on

that. Easy enough. You guys break down, make camp, make fire. It's remarkable that people used to live here. I can't even think of this place being civilized the way that we've seen it. No one knows why we've returned back to our nomadic roots and abandoned

the ruins. I mean, it was all one big continent at one time, wasn't it? One point, from what I've been told. No one quite knows. Rad, do you mind going and getting some, using your skills to find us some fish? Sure, I can look for a stream or something, but I don't think we're anywhere close to water.

There's a waterfall and a little river. Okay, I'll jump in and try to look for some food. Throw me a survivor check. 18 total. Yeah, you dive into this. It's not as deep as you would hope for, but there seems to be some river fish circling around. Yeah, I'll scoop some up, enough to feed the seven or eight of us.

Or nine of us, I guess, at this point. Easy enough for you. You eventually throw, like, you just see fish kind of slowly being thrown up on shore. Eventually, Rag comes up with enough fish to get you guys through the night. Basul sets up his own little tent and sits down at the fire. Helps make dinner with the fish. What's that do? Really quiet evening.

Does anybody want to take watch? I'll take one. I'll do one too. I'll take the third. I'll take, I was about to say, whoever wants to end theirs, just wake me up if you need to sleep. Just let me know.

I'm going to go into deep meditation. What is it? Show to your ride who's taking first watch? I will. I'm sure he's probably been scanning the canopy the entire time. I'm watching the canopy all night. As eventually the fire gets low. Anger as you fall asleep.

You're out at the open sea in the familiar parts of Asawe, you know the southern parts of the continent, you know those channels well. And you're sailing towards, you're making your heading, and you're looking at the map, and you see that you're just so close to the end of the point on the map where you need to be where where you know Elginon is supposed to be and everybody's standing around you everybody's eager to to complete this this mission seems that nothing has gone wrong clear skies full sails feel safe and you're checking the time and it's like just the right time where you're supposed to be, the time of the end of the summer solstice.

And you make it, you make it for where you believe you're supposed to be and you're just looking out at this open sea between the two main islands of Asawe and Saren and you don't see anything. No island comes, no island shows. You wait there and you wait there and the day passes and stretches and nothing happens and you wait and you wait and you wait. The island never comes and the island never shows

and you're all just sitting there looking at each other and you're just watching the hope just kind of fade away from your friends as like you've been led all the way out here you've been brought all the way this far and you're not the island's not there it doesn't exist i think um if we're waiting that long and just before the dream ends i think i'll slough off my armor and dive deep

where I think the island would be. I jump from the tip of the raft and just try and swim down as far as I can. You dive down into the water and you try to swim down and down and down and you're just thinking that it's got to be somewhere. If it's not above it's got to be below. But you keep swimming down and down and you just feel the pressure of the darkness just slowly enveloping you and it turns into nothing. All of the hopes, all of your

expectations, all of what you all the good you hope to accomplish rendered nothing. Eventually you're getting nudged and stuff like that as Shodi or Rad is waking you up for your turn for watch. Is it time already?

Are we moving? Yes. No. It's just your turn. Okay. Thank you, and I'll go out to watch. I'm not of myself. I'm all out of sorts and panicked, but I go out and I sit and I take out the tapestry and I wait for my watch to end. The rest of the night goes uninterrupted.

You hear chattering of creatures in the night and the woods and stuff like that. They might alert those on watch. But it seems with the numbers you have, they seem to just kind of eventually slink away into the trees above you. And eventually the next day comes. I'm awake. Right, C2? Yeah, let's do it.

We should get out of here. So we can kind of do what we do with sea travel and stuff like that. There's several days, about six more days we gotta go through. So if there's anything you guys wanna do in between between those times we can I'll occasionally have you guys roll perception checks and see if you encounter anything is there anything you guys want to do in this particular day though before we get started I'll

definitely try to keep an eye out for a decent looking tree that maybe Snooval could use for a board I was gonna say the same thing I was gonna say there's any good trees nearby. Both of you can roll survival check to see if you can see a tree. Sure. My rolls have been great so far. Yeah, me neither.

I get a dirty 20. Yeah, I rolled like a 10 or something, so she rolled better than me. I better get like the infinity gauntlet of fucking trees. I'm so mad right now with this roll. You guys are kind of looking around like, Rad, you're just seeing

all these trees are covered in moss, and you're just like, nah, this won't do, won't do. Snuball, you kind of use your sense in the way that you found your ironwood tree as you kind of feel something knock back on this one particular tree. Brad.

Brad. You found something? Do you mind taking a look into this? And then I'm going to indicate to the tree. What do you think? I'll knock on it and be like, yeah, I think this will work. All right, let's back away.

This time to both of us because I shouldn't be standing next to it when I cast this spell. And at the base of us, because I shouldn't be standing next to it when I cast this spell. And at the base of the tree, I'll cast shatter once we're kind of hidden. That one makes a lot of noise, right? Cool.

Maybe I'm going to take much further, farther steps. Oh yeah, it does. Yep. Alright! Let me know when you're ready! Yeah, you can shattered. I mean, against a tree, it just blows that tree up.

And then we'll collect a nice big piece for her surfboard. It explodes, it splinters like a typical bot managed to find a chunk big enough as you guys walk back, but it was a very loud crack and splinter

that kind of echoes through the wilds and forest. All right, I'll strap it to my back since she kind of is taking care of the kids sometimes. So I've got her chunk of wood. Cool. Thank you for carrying that. Anybody else doing anything while they're doing that? I have this whistle in my inventory that I've never blown before,

and I want to blow it. Cool. It's like a little, like, you know, those long, thin ones with the little, like, a sailing whistle almost. And he takes it out from his pack, and, you know, those long, thin ones with the little, like, a sailing whistle almost. And he takes it out from his pack and, you know, he waits until we're all just sort of bored out of our minds. And once there's like a big valley, I want to give it a try. But when I blow it, name of a person or place unknown to me is the sound instead of a whistle sound.

When you blow on that whistle, you hear the name Vervain whisper through the... Is that a person or a place? I guess it could be either. Maybe it's a person and a place. Pretty cool trick, though. Right? It's never done anything for me, but works at parties.

Where'd you get it? Oh, it was a gift from the person who trained me. But outside that, not much is known. Does it have any other purpose besides just saying a name? Nope, that's it. I don't know. Sometimes I like to think of it as a barometer for how I'm doing. Maybe someday it'll tell me something I need to know.

Right now? Yes, but most of those names I've forgotten. I have them written down somewhere, but none of them have ever come up. Maybe Vervain will be the one that's different. Does anyone else have any interesting gadgets or tricks? It's show and tell now. I've got this piece of wood that's stained and has a bunch of holes in it. I don't think it does anything, or I've never seen it do anything.

I just like it because it has holes in it, and don't think it does anything, or I've never seen it do anything. I just like it because it has holes in it, and it's pretty. And sometimes I'll put a pencil through it, and then I'll pull it out, and then I'll put a pencil through it, and then I'll spin it on the pencil, and then I'll take it off because there's quite nothing. Brad thinks about it for a second, and then he reaches

into his bandolier, and he pulls out this little vial of purple fluid and he says, I found this in a shipwreck a long time ago but I don't know what it does. You want me to drink it? Maybe a little. Maybe just taste it.

Or maybe we drop it on the tree to see if it's acidic first. No, knock it on back. What are you afraid of? I feel like as the one member of this party that might be the conscience. Are you sure you want to do that? I'm gonna pop it and smell it. It doesn't smell bad.

And then I'll just drink it. Oh my god! For the next hour, I become translucent. Whoa! I'm like the predator! Can you see me? I'm gonna reach out and try

and put my hand through him. I still see you, but then again, you didn't disappear. Everything's the same to me. Yeah, I'm like see-through now. I can see the waterfall through your back. Let's see if arrows have the same physical property. No no no no no! Maybe don't!

That's- No, Drake, I can still see him, so I wouldn't worry. Since I'm invisible, I'll take first watch, cause nobody'll see me. Wait, we just started the day, are we resting again? Oh, oh. I'm sorry. No, you guys have been walking this whole time. You can scout ahead. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll scout ahead. For the next hour, I'll be ahead of everybody.

Okay. Roll me a perception check at advantage since nothing else will see you. Double 14, so 15 total. You run ahead of the group now that you're translucent and invisible just to kind of keep watching and look out for any potential danger that might be lurking and just can't see you.

I'm humming. Teenage translucent turtle cheating. You're like humming to yourself. But eventually, as you're walking through, you just see things darting through the woods, something of a smaller humanoid size. It seems like three or four of them, and they're running from tree to

tree but it seems like they're keeping pace with your group do i get the impression that they're animals or are they heavier than the average monkey um they have a an animal feel to the the way that they walk and the way that they stride but they're they're standing on two lakes okay it seems tall enough to be a person before the the hour's up, I'll just return to the group and let them know that we're being followed by something. Where? They move pretty fast. Just keep an eye out.

I don't think it's a big deal. It's probably just a couple of monkeys. Thank you for the heads up, Brad. Are there monkeys here, Vasil? Yeah, many. There are many different kinds of animals and beasts that lurk. Do any of them got sticky fingers?

Probably. Keep Jeremy close, Drake. I'm keeping my things close. You guys continue on and the rest of the day seems pretty uninterrupted. Eventually you guys make nightfall and you guys break for camp. Is there anything else you guys want to do for this day?

Let me just look through my goodies again. There's something I want to try. Kenny, what you got in the bag? Sure. What do you want to do, Kenny? If she's taking first watch by herself, she's going to take off the essentially file cabinet that she keeps on her person and open the first drawer light a candle and put the oh geez okay put the the ring that she has the weird cat's eye that she has and a gold coin that snuval gave her

out in front of the candle altar that she's making and cast divination okay i want to ask what the most dangerous thing in this forest is while we're in it. You get a whisper back, the whisper of the gentle voice of Joaquin in your ear. It tells you that there is a large elemental creature that lurks in the center of the island that is one of the most dangerous creatures. That's it. I'm like talking to most dangerous creatures. And that's it. I'm, like, talking to her now. Yeah, that's it.

She's gonna wait. Does she not say anything back? Outside of telling you about the creature? No, that's it. Did you want her to say something else? It's fine either way. I just...

If she doesn't say anything back she's just gonna sit in silence and then just say okay I love you bye I mean you've been this like whole time just kind of like enveloped in her like golden light and you just feel her radiant touch upon you and stuff like that and it feels good like

it doesn't feel like she's upset with you or you know she seems very welcomed and open armed with you you've been touched cool who's taking who's taking next watch i'll take another one uh okay you want to take once in a while i'm just gonna say um did you want me to take i can take it because i know that's cool either way okay yeah i, I'll do it So you take watch And you During that watch As you're just watching

Out at the tree lines Keeping eye You do notice Vasul kind of gets up from the fire And he kind of walks off for a little bit Vasul, are you alright? Gonna take a small stroll Would you like to join me? I'll join you.

You as well? Come on, Suval. Sure, yes. Hey, you know, Vasul, I've been meaning to ask you, you keep thanking somebody whose name starts with a T. Is that your god?

Tukar. Tukar, yeah, that's the one. Yes. What's Tukar about? Tukar is one of the gods of War Raven. All the barbarians kind of serve him. He is the god of death in our part. Is he kind of scary looking?

I would say to outsiders, he can be viewed as very scary and terrifying. He's a god of the sea as well. Interesting. Can you tell me more? I'm quite intrigued by this subject matter. Well, Tukar is brothered to Taradok, which is the god of the rains and storm, and he's also known as a god of fertility. And they're brothers in the pantheon but they both share a

common common dominion i guess and which is warfare well war is everything to a barbarian here in wall raven and the act of dying in war is just as sacred as as the act of killing in war just as sacred as the act of killing in war. And we share that relationship and we show that relationship in the battles we fight and the way we die and the way we preserve our dead. I see.

Where are you taking us? I'm going to just pray to Ka. Cool. If you are willing to join me. Yeah, sure. Snuval's going to hesitate, but no, she'll nod along and go along with it. He eventually finds like a small clearing

where there's just like scattered moss stones and stuff. And he eventually kind of stacks some of those stones together, and he pulls out a small shrine of some kind scattered with bones and feathers and candles and stuff that he kind of alights, and he just kind of sits over it, and he kind of slowly starts to pray over it in a language that neither of you understand, and he eventually, like, goes and he takes one of the fingers off from, like, one of the back ends of it, and he he eventually, like, goes and he takes one of the fingers off from, like, one of the back ends of it, and he kind of, like, lays it down at that offering.

He just continues to talk and converse. These people, they're kind of in the background. I'm going to, like, nod towards him and be like, quite interesting, isn't it? Yeah, I wonder. Vasul, you think I could maybe ask Takah if they've ever heard of someone named Lemos?

Sure. He nods. I'll get on my knees and just kind of mimic what he's doing and just kind of mentally reach out to Takah and see if there's anything, any images or anything I get back when I think about Lemos. Roll me a wisdom check.

Okay. Not bad. Straight up wisdom is going to be 18 total. You sit there, and though you don't understand the language that Vasul is speaking, you kind of get into the same similar mindset as you kind of reach out and ask the question, what is limos? And eventually your mind just kind of wanders into that kind of darkness, into that void.

And you just eventually hear just like chittering whisper in the darkness. And it's saying the words limos like over and over again. Limos, limos, limos. And then it just starts saying over, like in different volumes and different voices. It says like the hunger, the loss, the stolen, the death god. And it just keeps saying those whispers over and over again. And it mentions being shackled and bound.

And it mentions the way the earth breaks and trembles and swallows, and it mentions again that hunger, the desire, the need to feed and consume. That's all you hear as you kind of roll back into the sounds of the forest and the world around you. I'll come out of it and just kind of look to Snuval and say, I'm not sure, but I think I have a better understanding. Lemos, the, my patron,

he's, he's some kind of shackled God, some kind of deity that he's all about the hunger, the hunger of the world. And I don't know, I'm still kind of trying to understand it, but I think it helped. Do anything else pops in your mind?

Not really, besides what I just said. And are you all right? Are you feeling well? Are you nauseous or anything like that? No, I feel pretty good. I'm feeling tired. I'm about ready to take a long rest. When you do deep meditation like that sometimes,

you reach out and speak to them. That'll help. I gotta be honest, it's kind of my first time. Quite an experience, isn't it? Powerful, yeah. Hella powerful. Good for you. Everyone should experience that once in their life, in my opinion.

Vasul, I think we'll leave you alone. We'll head back to camp, alright? He kind of gives you a nod and he kind of returns to what he's doing. They send out anything if you need help. And I'm to walk back with Brad. Night comes and goes and again, uneventful outside of the noisy

craziness of the wild. You pull into another day of just trudging and walking and sorting through. You do notice that there is something that is following you guys throughout this day the kind of just trailing in the distance in the tree line doesn't seem aggressive but it

seems like it's following you it stops and it goes it seems to trail away after a while but you can pick up its its tracks between a lot of you and your guys's perceptions um but again eventually you guys break for camp you guys got about maybe three more days of travel through these these wilds in this woods you eventually come to more of like a clearing where there's like a lot of hanging vines and some stone strucking off into like canyons into valley sections in this part of where you guys are at tall pillars of stonework and trees kind of break away from the usual vines and and roots that you've been kind of seeing over the last few days.

Is there anything you guys want to do in this evening, moving you guys along? Unless there's anything interesting that piques our attention. You can roll me a perception check. 19. 19. You guys are setting up camp.

You guys are propping up tents, making fire, figuring out what you guys are going to do for food-wise this time, but Trigg, you kind of just scan the horizon, the tree line and stuff like that, and you do notice something of a medium humanoid height dart between the trees at a very quick pace. Those monkeys are still fucking chasing us, now tell me that ain't suspicious. I never said it wasn't, but I don't know. If they wanted to talk to us, I feel like they would do that. Maybe they're shy. Maybe they're waiting for us to reach out first. As long as they keep their distance, I'm all right with them.

Hello, monkeys. Nope, let's not do that. Oh. Remember, this is their home that we're just- What do monkeys like to eat? Bananas. Do we have any of those? We don't know for sure that they're monkeys.

I feel like that might be- That's fair too. I don't know what else it'd be moving up in the trees so fast like that. It looked like a person so I assume it was a monkey. Not a tree line like at the bottom, like equal height to you guys. Not above you guys. Still. How about we just leave it alone?

We all remember we are walking through many creatures' homes. Probably best not to aggravate it any more than necessary. I agree. Why is it following us? Are all the people on here, is everyone big and trunked? I don't want to call you an elephant person because you didn't like that before,

but are all the people here in the tribes, are they all like you or are they different? There are many different tribes and many different kinds of people and races. Oh, well, it may be them. I'm just one member of the tribe. It could be anything. I've learned over time that it's better to just leave things alone unless they plan to attack you. That's actually not a bad idea. How I stay alive this long.

I'm going to attempt to construct a snare just outside of our camp. Just outside of our camp, not where it's going to hurt anything innocent, but like just on the periphery. Whatever you put up, can you make sure you take down when we leave? If I remember,

you might have got to remind me. Okay. It's easy enough for you to set up a snare. You set up one snare in the middle of the jungle. And I'll put a ration in it. Okay. I made it. All right.

The night comes and goes uninterrupted with you guys. You guys get up the next day. Keep pressing on. You're going to remember your trap. Yeah. You know what? I'm gonna remember it because I don't want that food to go. The food's still there, right? When you

do go back to the trap, the trap's been triggered, but the ration's still there on the ground. This keeps getting weirder and weirder. The ration smashed like whatever it was. It was smushed and smashed. I'm gonna scrape the ration up and make it my breakfast. You collect it. You collect all

the snare and ration. Out of spite. Tracks. Tracks. You guys continue on. You guys got about two more days of travel to get through. By now you guys

have reached more of the hearth of Wallraven and eventually you guys come to, as you guys are I've reached more of like the hearth of of wall raven and eventually you guys come to like as you guys are seeing more of like the valley sides these little crags of like rocks and formations and stuff like that eventually you guys come to see in the distance far away you guys are often in the various distance and there's just like a wide valley that kind of leads off to the soul tree that's miles and miles away from you guys.

Well, we better go touch it, huh? I usually say no, but actually, I really want to touch it. Anchor, can you do me a favor? I'm getting a little tired watching after Trigg, and it looks like Shorty's enticing him. Can you please watch him? Absolutely.

Thank you. Trigg, I'm watching you. Cool. Okay. Good. Alright. That was so... Are you doing something to the ball? I was just trying

to prevent certain doom. I don't think... I got you covered. I said i was watching no i believe i also feel bad because i'm constantly watching this fool trigger you've seen a tree this big and all that i can remember how long do you think it would take for us to walk around it it depends are we walking around it or are we chopping it down? No, we leave it. It's so big and beautiful. Well, think about how many boats it would make. We've got a boat. We don't need more boats.

But what if we had more boats? But we wouldn't have people to pilot them. It'd just be us with a bunch of useless boats. And a no big tree that's so pretty. The tree must have roots that go as deep as the island itself. Oh, that sounds right to me. I'm going to hold Baran up and just like sing a song about the tree. Oh, I'm sorry. Why did they call it a soul tree again?

I bet it's living, I bet it has feelings and thoughts and a soul. It's not because it sucks up dead people. Well, technically, Bronn does that too. Wait, Bronn's a soul renderer and that's a soul tree. Maybe they're friends. I think we gotta go touch that tree. We probably shouldn't do it. Everybody, we're touching a tree! Can we still see

the person that's following us? Can I make a perception check? Yeah, you can make a perception check. Normally I'd say I'd want to get in on that, but I'm fascinated by the tree. As everybody's eyeing the trees and stuff like that, Kenny, you're making your rounds, and you, just for a brief second,

also catch something still walking along the tree lines. Seems to be maybe four or five of them darting through the trees. But they're, again, not showing any signs of aggression. They seem to just be tracking and trailing. Seems like they're waiting for you guys to keep moving.

Okay. We should ask the group, because they're... We have to take them with us, so we should ask them if they want to come too. I'm asking. The group of people following us. No, all of us. All of the people? Okay, us, us. So, so, so, Baran's a soul

render, right? And she's part of the soul render, and has the word soul in it, right? And then, and then this is the soul tree! And it also has the word soul in it, right? And then, and then this is the soul tree! And it also has the word soul in it. So, they're definitely connected, right? What if Baran absorbs the soul tree? So big. No.

That would be too much for a tiny little body. Oh no, I don't want to do that to her. Exactly. She'd just be a big tree. Oh no. Well, we don't know that's gonna happen. The tree could just suck up That's not better Really I started to say it was better I just said it was

An alternative possibility What if they try to suck each other up and then it just becomes This whole terrible whirlpool thing And then we're all sucked into it ourselves And then oh no I don't like this idea anymore We shouldn't do this This seems like a bad idea now Oh no And then, oh no, I don't like this idea anymore. We shouldn't do this. We shouldn't do this.

This seems like a bad idea now. Oh no. Rasul, does our route take us across the soul tree to get to the other side? I mean, it's miles away in the opposite direction where I was supposed to take you. It was not intended for you to go that way, but I'm not your babysitter.

We appreciate that. And I think we should stick to the plan, correct, Anka? Correct. I think this should be a vacation for another time. Give a thumbs up to Anka, finally. Someone else is on team no. Team real parents.

Okay, we should go then. We can circle back. Alright. I'm sorry I changed sides on you, Trigg, but I thought about it and that sounded really bad all of a sudden. It's okay. We can go back and see the big tree, though. Tartar's tree next to him. Trigg, when we go kill all the bad people that I wanted you to help me kill, we'll come back and look at the tree too, okay? Okay. We'll make a double trip of help me kill, we'll come back and look at the tree too, okay? Okay. We'll make a double trip of it.

All right, we'd better. Okay. But then there's not going to be a baron to touch it. Well, I think that's probably for the best. But that's okay. And if we do what we set out to do, maybe there will be a baron to touch it. Just no soul absorption. She can just like the tree.

Oh, that would be so cute. Baron, would you like the tree oh that would be so cute braun would you like the tree do you like it now she's looking out at the tree and she's just like you know four-year-old attention span towards it that's a big tree we won't make you touch it i didn't mean to make that a possibility i'm very sorry i know she can't understand me but i'm saying it anyway. We should beat feet. And away we go. Will you guys continue on after taking in the sights of the soul tree? The day comes and goes.

Got about one more day of travel. You guys have been exhausted. You're tired. It's been hot and muggy. Uncomfortable last few days of getting through this woods. Not to mention the weird shit you've seen along the way. You're eagerly waiting to get back to the coastline.

But yeah, you guys are walking through this forest. Anybody want to give me perception checks? Yes. I'll do one too. Anyone but me. 15. 18. It's just been like

same day over and over. Things wandering up through the trees staring at you. You guys continue to notice the band of whatever it is is still kind of trailing and tracking you guys. Are they gaining numbers or have they been the same

amount the entire time? So far it's been the same amount and tracking you guys. Are they gaining numbers, or have they been the same amount the entire time? So far it's been the same amount from what you guys can tell, but you lose track of them every now and again, so it's hard to tell if they're coming in waves or it's just the same people, but they've been tracing you and tracking you for a while. Shodi, you, again, as you're kind of walking through the woods, you kind of see that

pathway, that trail, that call to just be sucked towards the woods. Hear a little bit of that laughing. Oh, man. Kenny, in the same direction, you hear that saying, that coin being snatched

familiar laugh kind of also catches your attention an older man very familiar to you Shodi's probably gonna stop and seriously consider going back down it Kenny knows that it's an illusion but still the like the chance of seeing this person

even as an illusion is nice so she's gonna So like the chance of seeing this person even as an illusion is nice. So she's going to try to go. If I see Kenny going, I'm going to. Like I'm not going alone this time. So I'm of the same mind and going to. Are their paths in opposite directions? Or are they walking down the same path?

They're both going down the same path. Okay. All right. Trigger on me a perception check. Hey. You don't see much because it's just trees and trees and trees. You don't see the familiar path that Kenny and Jody have, but you do hear a very familiar voice,

voice of a man that you remember from your past. Is it a good voice or a bad voice it's never good you hear the voices of the bandits from your hometown where wandering in the woods you don't know where i run in the direction of the path wherever i hear it i'm i'm going i don't fucking care i'm going okay yeah yeah you do the of you, you guys just see three of your members just dart in opposite directions. Shrako goes one way, Kenny and Shodi go the other. Off the path, into the woods.

Who has a child? One more time. I don't know who has a child. Who has a child? I think Shodi has a child. I had her last night. I don't know if I do this morning. Okay, then I'm going after Shodi instantly. I turn to Rad and I say, I'll get Trigg if you get

Kenny. Yeah, sure. You got it. Okay, we'll meet back here. Vasul, I'm sorry. And I take off after Trigg. Anchor, you're the only one going after Trig? I think so. I think we all split up, like I'm going after Jody.

Yeah, we've all got... We've all got our respective child. We've all got our dumbass for chasing. That's what happens when everyone dumps intelligence. Dumps intelligence. No, I did not. Everyone but you. Which is not fair.

It should be Sergio that's the smart one. You guys split off to run after those who've darted into the woods, hearing the calls of familiarity. Shodi, you're looking back up in the trees. You're calling out for Talia. You hear the sound of her laughter kind of dancing over through the woods as you go deeper. Yeah, I feel like I know this time that it's not, like, real.

So I'm not calling out as much. I'm mostly just trying to see her, if anything. Like Kenny was saying about seeing her person, too. Even if it's fake. Kenny, you two, you hear the familiar laughter of of someone you remember um and you you're just looking through the trees you're looking for some type of thing but but you're just continuing to move down further down the path um trig you eventually like make it through to like a clearing and like from what you can see is just the faces of those bandits,

the ones you remember. Hey, just stop right there. Yeah, they got their crossbows drawn as well. They're ready to attack you. Now, boys, you know the way this is going to go. You pull them down right now or you're all going down to the ground with them. They raise it up. I open fire.

All right. Go attack. The feather turned into a leaf, right? The fuck is a bandit gonna turn into? I'm just getting another d20. Oh, Jesus Christ. So, is it... Do I just get one attack, or is it like a regular turn? It's a regular turn.

Okay. Well, then I will take... So, you say there's eight of them. Yeah, from what you can tell, it's the full pack. Every single person was there and responsible. Great. Eli did the voice and everything. That was so cute.

Responsible. That was beautiful. I'll point both of the crossbows right at Dirty Larry, who's the front man, and I'm opening a fire on him first. Dirty Larry. Okay. who's the front man and I'm opening a fire on him first. Larry.

Okay. Ah, damn it. Forgot to call sharpshooter. That's okay. So that's gonna be a 22, a 27, and a 19 to hit. Okay, the first attack is going to be a, I'm so sorry everybody,

the first attack is going to be a, I'm so sorry, everybody. The first attack is going to be a disarming strike. DC 14 strength saving throw where that son of a bitch is dropping his crossbow. And that will be on the first strike, 14 points of piercing damage. Does he drop his weapon? Yeah, he drops his weapon.

Ha! Sucker. Wow, two more arrows are going into his immediate person. That's going to be just nine points of piercing damage. Of course, one of those was my crossbow expert attack. Is the front point man still standing? He looks really hurt, but he's standing. But he's, like, staggering. Action surge.

Sharpshooter. Two more. That is a 16 and a 9 to hit. I'm assuming the last one misses. Yeah, the last one misses. Okay. So this one will be a trip attack with the sharpshooter damage. That's going to be 17 points of piercing

damage. You unleash onto these bandits. Dirty Larry! Dirty Larry. And you just one right after the other just pop pop pop pop pop your crossbow. Anchor, you eventually like run

you're trying to, you've been catching it, you eventually hear the sounds of bolts being loose and stuff. Eventually you find Rad firing into a tree. Okay. Just over, almost menacingly, just over and over and over and over and over again. You son of a bitch! Firing it over and over and over. There's nothing there.

Trig. Ah! I beg of you, Trig he's not hearing you he's focused, he's in kill mode waking someone from sleepwalking I'm going to take out my longsword

and I'm not using it lethally or anything like that, it's just for when this guy tries to shoot me, like I know he's going to, and I approach and I try to put a hand on his shoulder, holding the long sword, pommel first on top. Well, when his hand goes down on the shoulder,

one of the bows stays in place, and the right one just goes right over the shoulder, and a crossbow bolt is pushed up into his forehead crossbow bolt what bow bow bow bow make sure you can shoot me in the head very calm little sweaty trig what you distracted! I'm a little busy, can't you see that? You're shooting a tree. No I'm not! What the fuck? It's okay. It happens to the best of us.

Oh, that's... Dirty Larry! You'll get him next time. Now let's collect all those bolts you shot. Oh, Nate, I got more. Okay. You want to walk first? You want to walk together?

Let's walk together. Okay. You'll get them one day. And I clap them on the back. Deep, Dad. Let's go find the others. We gotta make up some time. You guys start collecting

the crossbow bolts and roll me a strength check. Strength save, both of you. Oh no. Let me get caught in my snare. At least I was born for this.

You're loud. You've been loud. You've been screaming through the woods. Strike, you say? Yeah. 18. I've got a 27. 27. Damn.

Okay. Yeah. You guys are collecting the bolts, kind of pulling them out one by one. And one by one, there's a lot of them that trick loosed, and you think you've collected everything you're just about to go and turn and you feel something kind of wrap around your

both of your legs, but you guys kind of like yank it out and stuff like that as you just see vines starting to recoil up into the trees. I'm not falling for it! It's an illusion! I'm gonna take the... the longsword in my hand,

I'm gonna swipe at it, and I'm gonna call out, uh, Fizz, fudge it! Fizz, fudge it! As loud as I can. Okay. It's an illusion, you can't be calling that one, it's just a trick of the imagination. I don't think this one's a trick, Trigg.

Do I see anything? Um, I mean you look up and you see vines and foliage in the canopy of the trees above you guys. I like nothing but some plants. But they've laced around us, right? Like it's moving. They did. I mean, they did at one point. But when you guys pulled away, it kind of just quickly snapped away and like went back up into the trees. Was it similar to when he was shooting at the tree?

Or was this like it was definitely like, do I have any indication that I was being charmed or illusion? I guess I wouldn't know. Being charmed or illusioned, for what you can tell, just seems like something was dropping down. Yeah. Trying to match. Shodi and Kenny,

you guys have been walking, continuing down the path and following the laughters and sound of the voices of those that are familiar to you. You guys eventually make through this kind of clearing, passing through some vines and stuff like that. And yeah, from when you both enter into this clearing, you just see the familiar faces of your uncle Kenny and Talia, Shody, kind of standing there.

She's got her wings kind of extended. I'm going to go run and hug her. Yeah, you go and you run to her and you hug her and you kind of feel something hard and you wrap yourself around it. You're alive. You're alive. That's so cool. Hi.

Kenny. Uh, okay. He's like how far away is he? He's like 10 far away is he? He's like 10 feet away from you Oh yes Okay I thought it was going to be farther than that I'm just going to look at him

For a second Can you Can you talk? Yeah I'm here Oh that sucks. Oh, I hate this so much. Okay.

There's like, maybe like a tear falling from beneath the mask. This is, I, this is what I wanted. That's it. That's all I want. We can go. Rad, we can go.

Alright, well, I'm glad you realize it's just an illusion. Yeah. No. That would be super fucking weird. Yeah, it's fake. Shodi, we should go. Talia, come with us. You're stuck in this forest.

You can just come with us. We can... You can come with us and you can talk to Baran and she can... You guys can be friends and they're like happy crying. Or you can stay here.

Stay here with me in this forest. It's so nice she can't come with us I've got to take Bron though she's got to be safe I've got to take her you don't have to stay here I have friends

one of my friends he's going to help me destroy the school he's really good at fighting he can help us get rid of them and then we won't have to run anymore and we'll be fine. We'll be safe. We could be safe right here. Do you trust me? Shodi? Come with me.

I'm going to approach from behind and I'm going to put my hand on Shodi's shoulder so I'll be like, Shodi. Take a step back. Okay, well, can you see her? She's right there.

Um, do I kind of, like, even, where do I see, uh, Eli? Because I don't, I won't see, like, like, I don't see colors, I don't see anything. What do, like, what mask do I see in front of me? I mean, you see like

what you can tell to be like a tree trunk of some kind. Yeah. Wood mask. She's hugging a tree. She's hugging a tree, that's what I thought. Shorya, believe me, I don't

want to say this, but I don't think you're hugging what you think you're hugging. And then I'm going to gently try to pry Baran out of Shodi's arms. She's in my backpack, so it's easy. So I'm going to pop it out of the backpack and I'm going to take the child to make sure they're secure in my arms. Does she still look like Talia to me? Yeah. Shota, take a step back and look. Do you take a step back?

Yeah. Yeah? When you kind of, like, let go of the brace and you take a step back, it's just a tree. You're standing in the forest with all your friends there looking at you. That was a person two seconds ago. I know I said this last time and it was a leaf, but it's... I know you said this wasn't real and I fell for it again and I'm really sorry. And they're like vibrating, just upset and trying to get their shit back together.

We're not judging you. Brad, Kenny, I'm nodding towards Shoudy. Obviously, the illusions are really powerful, but there's no one there, Shoudy. Kenny, you saw something. Did they go away? They were real, right? You saw something, they were real away they were real right you saw something they were real it was very convincing but i think that's all they are okay gently guide with my other free arm shody and i'm gonna actually bring them into a hug. If they'll allow me. Yeah, I'll hug Stupal back.

Okay. Okay, yeah. And then I'm going to also guide them towards back to the path, but like still really hug her. You two roll me strength checks. Strength saves. um wait is this strength check or saving throw i'm so sorry um strength save oh okay uh i get to actually use my dex just heads up because i have no weapons or armor yes yes yes

yes I'm gonna use tides of chaos on this one actually 24 24? alright yeah 24 yeah that's better 19 you both are embrace each other

you you let each other go and you start to just walk back and regroup with the rest of them and as you as you do you you feel this vines kind of like stretch out and like start to like kind of wrap and coil around you you guys kind of break free um but But since you are holding the child as you are trying to break free and stuff like that, another one of those vines

kind of reach and stretch out and grabs Baran and kind of yanks her up into the tree. God damn it. Is she yanked out of my hands? She got yanked out of your hands. Whoops.

Oh, fuck. Can I cast Sacred Flame at the vines? Sure. Yeah, if I'm around, I'll shoot some Eldritch Blasts at it. Yeah, I'm gonna Firebolt it too. Sure, sure, sure. Hold on. Kill us!

We're gonna kill it now! Don't wait for the child! Okay, fuck you, tree. We're on a it now. Don't leave the child. Fuck you, tree. We're on a zombie. You get it? I'm gonna hold. Ron's in the trees. Okay.

This tree's about to be a bitch. How far up did it bring, Ron? So far it's like 20 feet up. Just like yanking it straight up into the canopy. So you guys are firing at the vine that is wrapped around Baran. Yeah. Hey, guys, all sorts of four-year-olds survive 20 foot drops. It's cool.

She can float. She's falling off of things. As long as I can catch the kid, I think we'll be fine. It's going to be 11 points of damage. 11 points of damage? Fire damage, radiant damage. 11 points of damage? Fire damage? Radiant damage? Okay. Do I not have to worry about hitting?

Do I just roll damage? No, roll attack. Okay, so the lowest I rolled was a 14. That does not hit. Okay, does a 23 hit? 23 will hit. Cool, I also rolled 23. 13 points of damage.

Ben, that tree like back him. Uh, I did a total of 12 damage. 12 damage. Okay. Um, you rolled roll to, uh, rolled, uh, to show to your right. Right, yeah, I did. I did tides, and then I rolled an 18

just now. Okay. You are fine. Yeah, it's both. Tides and autumn, I think last time we did it, tides was an automatic. Yeah, tides is an automatic. Okay, I figured. I just wanted to make sure. Roll me the table then.

All right, okay, okay. 44. 44, One second. You all cast after spell. Between you, Rad, and Kenny, and Shodi. Easy enough. As the vines get cut through and Baran starts to topple and fall. Though, Shodi, as you do that. But as you cast your spell and stuff like that you poof

once again like you did before you turn into like this little stuffed like doll that resembles yourself oh that's cute though tread on the ground but baron is falling from the air. Um, I know I'm dangling, but, uh... You didn't get snagged, did you? Oh, I thought I did get snagged. No, you didn't get snagged. You rolled a high enough string. Oh, sweet. Yeah, no, I'm gonna go catch this kid. Okay, yeah. You go roll me an acrobatics check.

Do not fuck me. Oh, please. Thank you. Thank you. Dirty 20. Dirty 20. That's hilarious. Okay.

Yeah. You go, you like, you hear the sound of the wind of Baran falling and stuff like that. And some of you are expecting her to kind of like float like she has done before but she's just dropping oh no free falling but soval you start sprinting and you jump into the air and as you jump into the air and you go to like reach out to catch baron something else also has like kind of leapt out of the wood and has jumped and reached out and as you guys both connect and grab varan you notice this rabbit looking person and you both like land on the ground you you have have brawn in your hands but this rabbit person is now just standing

in the middle of the rest of you i'm gonna whip my hair in this face get off yeah you you whip you whip it over um you can roll me an unarmed strike. Damn fucking right. Get out of here, you little piece of shit. Oh, I got a 12. Come on. No, 12 does not hit. You whip your braid over,

and all you hear is loud clanking of armor against that weighted braid as you like see is this this rabbit creatures like brought both of its hands up and it's like been braced by the two gauntlets on either side of it but you what you stand before you is what looks to be some medium-sized rabbit person in armor with with these talon shards on the bottom of its large feet. And he looks around. They look around at all of you. And that's where we're going to end tonight.

Oh, crap. That was lame. I'm going to go. Thank you.