The Glass Cannon Podcast - Gatewalkers Episode 93 – Owl's Moving Castle

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

As their journey nears the Crown of the World, strange phenomena seem to dog at the heels of the party's every move. Watch the video here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/8heQzsKjDGY⁠ This episode was sponsored by Foundry VTT and Norse Foundry. See why tabletop gamers everywhere have made the switch to Foundry Virtual Tabletop at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundryvtt.com/gcp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For all your random number-generating needs, visit Norse Foundry at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://norsefoundry.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Access exclusive podcasts, ad-free episodes, and livestreams with a 30-day free trial with code "GCN30" at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠jointhenaish.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Troy Lavallee, Joe O'Brien, Skid Maher, Matthew Capodicasa, Sydney Amanuel, and Kate Stamas as they tour the country. Get your tickets today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cn8wr0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cmY380⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Watch new episodes when they premiere every Thursday at 8PM ET on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/theglasscannon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prime Day is here so you can get a great deal on a new footspot Transforming you into the queen of kicking it. Wait, this has bubble jets Okay shop great Prime Day deals now You are listening to the glass cannon network the premier source for role-playing game entertainment Premier Source for Role Playing Game Entertainment. Last week on the Glass Cannon podcast. You are ready to set off to the high ice. Over the next few months, you're going to traverse increasingly bleak

and frozen landscapes. Day 26, you catch a glimpse of this mountain range. Oh dear. There is a castle that seems to flicker with light. Going to get some sleep. Yes, the next morning. Gick. He wakes up, comes outside.

Mountain range is no longer in sight. No flickering light, nothing. You just feel like you're starting to crack. Everyone saw it, right? As we described. I think the snow is getting to you. Stop. Everyone stop. Pfft.

Day 42. You're tired. The mental strain has been getting worse. You set up in the yurt and get ready to go to bed. Ramius, you take the first watch, so you go outside, step out into the night. Whew. And as you're out there, you faint.

And you awaken, but you can't move your arm. You're encased in ice. A sound like chewing emerges. You dart your eyes downward where you'd see several shadowy figures gnawing on the frozen parts of your body. The adventure continues... now. I I hope you're enjoying these last few episodes of Gatewalkers, but little do you know that you may be enjoying the last few episodes of Sydney being alive. Thank you, Troy.

You just got married. I'm sorry I laughed. Yeah. You just became a wife. I know. A wife.. You just became a wife. I know. A wife. And I just became a wife.

Is there an H before that W? Yeah. A wife. Husband and wife. I was sitting here not paying attention to your banter, your witty banter here as we prepared to start the ep. It sounds like you're afraid you're not going to make it. Yes.

What's going on? I don't have many fears. Most of them, I would say, are pretty rational. Fire? Fire. Decapitation. Decapitation. Chlamydia.

The big three. The big three. That's what, yeah. That any sane, well-adjusted person would fear. But I have, I've struggled with my teeth. I don't have good teeth genes, as they say. Wasn't born with them. Bad teeth from the start.

You have a wonderful smile. I don't know what you're talking about. What goes on behind them. They're like chalk. Oh, behind the scenes. Teeth are like chalk. They're beautiful, pearly white, but they're as soft as a baby's teeth. Yes.

Thank you. Now, so this, before you start blaming the teeth, do you take care of them? Absolutely. Brush twice a day? She has to. She does. Floss? Oh, yeah.

Okay, she does. I got a water pick in the bathroom. Okay. I do all the things, which is why it's so- I did the water pick for a while. Do you like it? I was like, I can't do this anymore. It's so silly. Because I hate flossing, and I thought

it was going to make flossing more tolerable. But then I was just standing over a sink getting blasted in the face. Oh! Water going all over the sink, all over my clothes. It's way worse. When you angle it- It's way, way worse.

You have to be so precise. When you angle it bad, it's just water goes everywhere. Yeah. You have a dirty mirror. Yes, exactly. It's just dribbling out of your mouth. But recently I went to the dentist, which I do because I have to, not because I want to. I take care of my teeth and they were like, you thought you were taking care of your teeth. Root canal.

I've never had one. Never had one. And it's- Anybody had one? Root canal? No. I'm looking at you. I've only had one cavity in my life. Anybody had one? Root canal? No. I've only had one cavity in my life. That's crazy.

You have amazing teeth. You have amazing teeth. I have good teeth. I have good teeth. That's impressive. Wow. And I think because I've never had one, I don't know a lot of people that casually

have had root canals. And I know that it's, you have to go, it's like a special thing. Not every dentist does it. I have to- The death of the tooth. They kill it. They kill it. And they scoop it. Yeah. And they give you a special thing. Not every dentist does it. I have to- The death of the tooth. They kill it. They kill it.

And they scoop it. Yeah. And they give you a fake one. And I watch videos. What? I went on YouTube immediately. Color will never be the same. I watched surgery video.

I watched like in your mouth videos because I was like, I want to know what's going on. Oh, no. What's Marathon Man? And it's still, it's still scary. I don't know why. I'm afraid, I think of the 1800s, I'm afraid that I'm gonna die from a tooth.

Because I'm afraid they're gonna mess it up. They go in, you pay a bunch of fucking money, and then like a year later, they're like, remember that root canal you had? It's gone to your brain. That's what I was talking about that documentary, What Happened to Aunt Diane. Did you end up watching it? I did watch it, yeah. You did? And they, because that's what they think happened to her. documentary, what happened to Aunt Diane. Did you end up watching it?

I did watch it. Yeah. You did. And they, because that's what they think happened to her. There's something wrong with Aunt Diane. There's something wrong with Aunt Diane. That's so fucking good. Yeah, it's great. But she basically, she goes insane and like, they don't know, no one knows why, but it's like, that's one of the things that they imagine did happen was that she had this like

recurring kind of tooth problem. What if I have a tooth pain and then I get in my Toyota Camry or whatever it was and I drive up the wrong side of the highway? Yeah. Or what if something goes wrong here and we have to put you down? Yeah. Yeah. That does start happening.

She leaves us with no choice. I mean, I will say- You start acting crazy, erratic like Martin Lawrence in the streets of California and we're just like, we can't call. There's no time to call police. That is why- Take her out, Brody. I think it was genius sniper.

He's ready. He's got that eye. He's got that photographer's eye. He'd be a great sniper. I will say it was a really good idea that you guys put in the panic buttons for all of us at our individual seats. Just in case one of us does something, we can all collectively hit our panic buttons. Yeah. If three out of four hit the button once, that's the sign. They know. It's Joe. Joe is the one. The other seat blows up.

Turning two keys in a submarine. A big cage comes up. It's time to take her out. But yeah, I don't know. Do you like the dentist? I don't mind the dentist. I do find that it hurts. I don't look forward to it.

As a kid, I was like, it's great. Now I just like, I'm spitting blood by the end of the cleaning. But now you know, you're like, oh, am I going to have a cavity this time? Luckily, I haven't had one in a while. But I know like you get older at a certain point, it's going to start happening in the cavities, the root canals and everything. But you're very young. I want to get all my teeth replaced with titanium teeth. That's fun. Whoa.

Like jaws from the Bond movies? Just so you don't have to ever worry about them again. Yeah. That's how I feel now. I'm like, you might as well pull them all out at this point. You have to get knocked out for this? No, I don't think they knock you out. Maybe they do.

With my insurance- They numb like half your face. Yeah, they numb like they really numb it up. Yeah. But with my insurance, I'm sure that they barely even do that. You can get big honking veneers. Wouldn't that be fun? Yeah.

I love watching those videos of people that go to Turkey and get veneers. Giant white teeth. All one tooth. Yeah. It's like, if you end up like Matt Dillon in something about Mary. You don't want to do that. Oh, that movie. That's a classic.

So, when is this going down? Are you shopping around through the marketplace? Such an annoying, you get it, insurance stuff. Everybody gets it. It's so, it's like, oh no, you have to call them. They'll call us. We'll call the insurance. They'll call you back.

And as we know, according to the American Insurance Institution, the teeth are not part of the human body. And the eyes. Eyes are also separate. Teeth and eyes are separate. Oh, right. Separate concerns. But now I might shop around because they sent me one, the only one seemingly in New York City that's in my plan. And I looked up reviews, one star, one star.

One star. And many of the reviews were like, smells like urine inside. How does it? That's why. Why would that? Like, my first question- Because, like, during the procedures, people are pissing themselves, like, just trying to escape. Or the doctor knocks people out and starts pissing in their mouth.

This is my example. That's where my brain comes from. That's where you're at. That's your first thought. That's why you- I don't think one, I think one star is being generous, if that's the case. Yeah, that happens. This might be the culmination.

The person that gives the one star review, being like, honestly, I think I star is being generous if that's the case. Yeah. This might be the culmination. The person that gives the one star review being like, honestly, I think I'm being generous. That's one star too many. He knocked me out and pissed in my mouth. Could not recommend this to someone. I think this is both of our fears, like the worst thing combined. Yeah. Because I don't want to go to the dentist.

You don't want to be knocked out. Knocked out at the dentist? Oh, so intimate They're so in your mouth like your mouth I button my shirt wrong when I got in there like do you usually button it or leave it on button? I guess I'll keep I guess I keep you guys. If I come in and like half my face is swollen, you'll know. Oh, it's gotta be a situation like, you're gonna have to work this around your camera schedule

or you're just gonna look really weird. I'm gonna look crazy. I think you'll be fine. We'll see. You'll probably be fine. Yeah, it's just like an athlete. For the rest of the afternoon, your face is gonna feel kinda weird, but that's it.

I had a, It's not so like, Hey, bye-bye. Is it the root canal where they like, or is it just when you get a new implant? What's the one where you have to not have a tooth for a few months as the base settles in? I think that's where they make you a custom implant.

That's not a root canal. No, I don't think so. So my dad had it. He had to get stuff all taken out and then an implant put in, and then for four months he just didn't have a tooth like in the front. He was like, this sucks. If that happens to me,

I'm gonna make it my whole personality. Oh, I bet you are, you'll lean in. Just one tooth. Where do you fit on the tooth? You have good teeth, bad teeth? I have good teeth. Good teeth? Yeah.

You take good care of them? Oh you do, I saw you backstage with your little. Well that's cause I like my breath to not smell when I'm talking to people. Does your make-up with somebody on stage? I take regular care, yeah. You floss? I got lucky.

I took all of your tooth luck, basically. That's how it works. Thanks. I think so. There's a limited pool. When God is making us, he's like, I'm gonna take some tooth luck from Sydney, put it in Kate.

They min-max max me and Kate. They took all my tooth stuff and they made me really funny. Just take these brain crystals. These brain crystals. I can think of some other stats they planted on. Yeah. Intelligence. High intelligence.

They gave you height? They gave me height? They took my tooth. Good height. Are you tall? Good height. To me, tall. She's got great height for a human. Thank you.

What's your height? Slightly above average. What is it, a five? Five feet. What do you think? What were you gonna say? Five, seven. I was gonna say five, nine.

Five, eight. Five, eight. Oh, it's respectful. I thought you were five, nine. That's like perfect height. I think your presence adds another inch. A lot of people say that. At the VIP meet and greets as well, they go,

I thought you'd be taller. And I was like, yeah, I give off real big tall inch. A lot of people say that. At the VIP meet and greets as well, they go, I thought you'd be taller. I was like, yeah, I give off real big tall energy. But I'm average. Sometimes you wear silly shoes that make you tall. That's true. Yeah. That's true. Teeth, you like your teeth?

You have great teeth. Shut up. I think I'm kind of in the middle. Well, I have good teeth. I think I've had like six cavities maybe, six or seven fillings. Brother, if you can count on your hand how many cavities you've had, you have great teeth.

Oh, is that good? I have had significantly more than you. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. So I guess I have good teeth. I take care of them. I'm like – I'm pretty obsessive about my teeth and then watch them call it the – but

now I'm getting to the age where I'm getting fillings that I got in like middle school. Yeah. Refilled. Refilled and like they need to be like retaken care of. And it hasn't been a problem. I have a good dentist. I go in, they do it. It doesn't hurt.

It's fine. But yeah, it's like they're starting to wear away now and I have to get like replaced. I got my girlfriend at the time many years ago Broadway tickets for some shit, her birthday maybe. I want to say it was Sunday in the park with George and I fucking hate going to these shows. So I got him for her and then we broke up and I was the breaker upper. It was time. At the show?

At the show, no. At the intermission and I was like, how do I go? Before the show? This doesn't work out. No, but yeah, well, so I bought the tickets, say it was for a birthday, right? And then after that, we ended things. This was like a long three-year relationship, something like that. So when it came time for— Is this the girl you were with when I met you? No, this is before I met you. So when it came time for the show, she, I think, wanted to

still like rekindle things. She was like, I'd like you to come with me to the show. And I was like, I've already moved on. But okay, I felt bad and I felt guilty too for various reasons. And so I went to the show with her and again, I think it was Sunday in the Park with George and I was sitting there and it must have been God striking me down because at a certain point I was like, what the fuck? Oh no. A piece of my tooth fell out while I was sitting there. I was so poor for so long. I didn't have health insurance or dental insurance

for about 13 years. You weren't eating anything? No, I was just sitting there. I was like, a piece of my tooth fell out. Were you stressed sitting next to her and clicking a draw? I'm like, jeez, get me out of here. What a nightmare. Oh, my god.

I finally went to the dentist. They're like, you need insurance. I'm like, I know I need a lot of things. It was just a cavity that had just went on. Oh man. And it wasn't hurting you? Like a lot? I don't remember what happened. I just might be like, what the fuck? Oh God, that's so horrible. A chunk of tooth.

It's like a nightmare. Yeah, it was like a nightmare. Am I dying? My cousin, like she, one of her friends was in Africa and like came down with malaria. Oh no. And they got over it. And then they came back to New York and like all of a sudden one day

they were riding the subway and all of their teeth just practically crumbled in their mouth. Oh my God. Which is something that can happen like after you get malaria. Oh! And it was like, oh, I can't think of anything more horrific. That's your future.

Maybe you have malaria. Mosquito nets. Maybe you have malaria. Oh my God. That's crazy. Worst thing we thought, yeah. See, that's the scariest stuff. Oh, oh.

You think you're good. You survived malaria. Yeah, it's just like she felt fine. And then it's just like, boom. Worst fear. A horror movie, like a nightmare, like you said. It really is. You have those teeth, they say it's a sexual.

No, they don't. They say it's a stress dream. Your teeth fall out. You wouldn't be so stressed if you were. Getting it on the reg. Getting it on the reg. Yeah, it's stress. I know one way to relieve it.

Dose of vitamin D. We'll be right back. Alice Isn't Dead is a road trip mystery podcast by New York Times bestselling author and creator of Welcome to Night Vale, Joseph Fink. A truck driver searches across America for the wife she had long assumed was dead, but Alice isn't dead. It has been called one of the best horror stories by the New York Times, and the gold standard of story podcasting by the Irish Independent. Find Alice Isn't Dead wherever you get your podcasts. From the creators of the Leviathan Chronicles comes a new audio adventure.

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How does noise affect your health? These are just a sample of the fascinating topics we discuss on my podcast, Something You Should Know. We bring you leading experts on topics important to you, things you can use in your life and that will fascinate you. We deliver three episodes a week and have over a thousand episodes available to listen. So get listening to Something You Should Know,

wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, we're back. I want to thank our sponsors Norse Foundry. You guys got your Norse Foundry dice? Always. Yes. Yeah. Look at this gorgeous iridescent beauty on my rose quartz. The old Sir Will Die I got from our buddy Eric. Oh, natural 20.

Oh. He was just fooling around. Crush it. The old sir will die I got from our buddy Eric Natural 20 just pulling around Russian a d100 We're gonna be rolling some bones today. I think maybe not. We'll see. I really don't know. I have no idea what's gonna happen And also want to thank foundry virtual tabletop They're just the VTT of champion s the VT. Have you made the switch yet? What are you doing? Stop messing around with inferior virtual tabletops, of which there are many out there. Too many.

Too many, if you ask me. Stop dicking around. Exactly. That's time to get serious. That should be Foundry's new slogan. Stop dicking around. Stop dicking around. Stop dicking around.

See that t-shirt. You guys make that t-shirt for me. I'll wear it. Andrew, you heard Skidford. We are, you know, I don't want to say the road to the end has begun because it already began. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah.

It already began. It began a while back. It's happening. We haven't talked too much about it. I don't really know how many more reps it's going to be. I have an idea. I have an idea. I have a goal. But we'll see. Things have definitely sped up and improved

since Matthew left. Are the two related, Sydney, in your thoughts? I wouldn't say so. But you know what? You're the GM. You see everything. You have your bird's eye view. I would just say more engagement, more views, more

likes, more general fun at the table. So rude. Wow. We definitely missed out on a lot of cogent interjections when you mentioned Sunday in the Park with George. That's true. I mean, that saved time. I'm so glad.

Yeah, that saved a good 45 minutes off the episode. We didn't have to go through the whole soundtrack. I'm just imagining. I'm like, who are these people? You're talking about more engagement, more views. I'm like, who are these people out there that are like, wait, they heard it through the grapevine? Matthew's off the gatewalkers?

Oh, now I'll watch. Now I'll watch. That makes a lot of sense. Finally. Finally. You have entered the long journey over the crown of the world, a journey that some of us have made in other adventure paths many moons ago. We were happy. You started to make it sound like we did it in real life. Yeah, we did. Many of us have made it. It felt real. It was real to me.

And we have begun this journey. You think it's going to take over two months to get from essentially Ice Gate or the Temple of Findelad Lara to where Dr. Riddleson believes the nameless spires to be this, what, civilization, this city, this ruin, this monument somewhere on the crown of the world, that is your destination. The journey has been fraught with a different kind of danger. You haven't had to really fight any enemies so far. The enemies you're fighting are the enemies in your mind because this is wearing on you physically and it's wearing on you mentally. The coal, obviously you have protections against the cold.

You're using endure elements to protect yourself from the extreme cold. But you know, even though you've got your comfy little year at the end of the night, you're starting to see things. You're starting to hear things and you don't know how much of it is actual supernatural events and how much of it is your mind playing tricks on you. You're seeing things that appear to be mirages. But again, is this all part of what's going on with the soil or are you just deteriorating

mentally? And we ended last week's EPP with Brother Ramious taking first watch. Even though you got the yurt and you feel pretty safe in there, it's a nondescript looking yurt from the outside or a tent from the outside. You get inside, it's a palatial mansion. You feel like you're falling asleep and so you sneak outside to get some fresh air just to wake you up, like rolling the window down if you have a 70s car and you're driving and sleepy. You get outside and the cold air hits you and you start to feel really drowsy and you pass out.

When you wake up you have that feeling initially of sleep paralysis that you realize isn't quite sleep paralysis. You're like encased in ice. That's what I believe I said. You feel like you're frozen. You've got an itch on the bottom of your leg and you can't move your arms. And you look down the edge of your body and there are these shadows sort of gnawing at your legs. And that is where we pick up today. What is your deviant ability? Ghostly Grasp.

Okay, and how has this manifested thus far in our adventure? And it's also grown in power. Yes, he hasn't used it much because it's mechanically irrelevant. It's mechanically irrelevant. But it manifests as a ghostly hand that can reach out, I think up to like 15 feet away. Okay. And it can grab an unattended object as it starts. It increased in power when he could use it to grapple an opponent, which I attempted to do once.

I think it was successful. It was when there was inside the the gnome village where we fought Bolon there was like it was when Lucky was getting attacked by those things that jumped us and I tried to stop it, reached out with the hand. Yeah I just don't use it much if you know obviously you're a cleric you feel you got to spend most of your time healing rather than grappling foes. Yeah. But yeah, that's how it manifests. And I have always thought of it as like, the way that he lost his brother, the last time he saw his brother, he had fallen.

And he was right next to him when he fell. And it's this image of like trying to reach out. It's like Magneto in the beginning of X-Men, where he's like reaching out for his mother. Yes! It's like his powers out for his mother. Yes. It's like his powers are like, manaprassing. Exactly, it is stretching and then the gates are like, yeah, yeah, something like that. So I feel like that explains it to me when he came back, why he has this ability. OK, well, I think that this situation is one in which it may want to manifest.

You can't physically reach down to like brush off these shadows and to itch your foot. And so your mind reaches out and you try to manifest this deviant ability, we'll say. And as you do so, not only does it not seem to work, it perhaps backfires because these shadows that look vaguely humanoid as you try to like you know you're like leaning like trying to look down you can't see you just see shapes they look like dark figures like actual people that are doing things to

your legs you feel a sucking wet sound and as you reach out it does not work but shadowy hands start reaching out towards you. So your devin ability starts to manifest from these shadows and the hands come up at your throat. And at first they like grasp it tightly, but then it's like a gentle caress. And then more ghostly hands reaching out over your body, feeling all different parts.

And it is not a pleasant feeling. You feel violated. You feel probed by these alien hands all over your body. One, two, three, till there's a dozen hands. Now they're like pulling you in all directions. You feel parts of your body disappearing, being not at, being torn off. Teeth. Phantom pain.

Teeth. We're pulling out individual teeth. Right? You hear it. Compine, somewhere in the distance, phantom pain from phantom limbs that are being eaten away. Vague smell of urine. Yes, the very smell of urine. Filling your mouth so you can't breathe. A voice distant that sounds like your own,

but with thousands of voices underneath it that says turn back now or suffer this future. And everything goes black. In that blackness, there is a light. Do you walk toward it? A light. Wait, I can move again you feel sort of like a non-body at this point the concept of walking you understand but you do not feel your feet

on the ground you feel as if you can move toward the light Move toward it or away from it Interesting there is no wonder if he walking one of you thinks He thinks that he died He thinks that I jumped like Outside the tent. You would. And died. And he's, don't imagine this, right?

Like he's a man of faith. More frosted than. Yeah. He's thought like, how do I meet Gruhasna? What will happen when I meet the Keeper? What will that look like? What will that be like? He's thought about it his whole life.

In that light ahead, you see a silhouette. Again, not unlike the shadowy figures, vaguely humanoid. Vaguely humanoid. Flash of your brother at the bottom of a cliff. That same distance away now is this figure. You feel like you can walk towards this figure. Okay, he'll start slowly walking towards it squinting his eyes trying to discern who this is. If it's a recognizable avatar of his God or if it's his brother or someone else he knows. Walk towards this figure first you think perhaps as your brother and for a moment you see Barnes wasn't expecting Barnes chills keep walking but they're sort of backlit and not fully

Like a normal shape Almost like a blot that's getting less and less in focus the closer you moved forward it and then You feel a stirring as you get a certain distance away like a shaking Shaking a shaking and then you wake up Jesus to Gic like a shaking, shaking, shaking, and then you wake up. Jesus. To Gic. Waking you up inside the yurt. Fell asleep.

Watch. Hey. You're asleep. We're supposed to switch. And he starts pawing at his legs, looking down, looking at both of his legs. Wait, where is he? Outside? Inside the yurt.

Inside the yurt. Inside the yurt. What? We got critters? He just goes off during his... We got bugs? You're sitting close to where you were sitting when you passed out on your watch. My gosh. He'll jump up and yeah, he just slides like scoots back. With his back up against his head, looking at his legs and then looks at Gic. Looks around, starts to realize he was dreaming.

Sorry, I didn't realize. I must have dozed off. Yeah, we're supposed to switch. Are you okay? Are the other two asleep? Mm-hmm. Okay. He looks at them, looks back at Gic.

I had another dream. I didn't see the Salman Kaha, the masked face, but something else, something that said that we must turn back, that we must go away or we will be consumed by shadow. Shadows were covering my face, my eyes. They were pulling me apart. And it was so clear that we needed to leave. I'm not sure what to think. Sorry, it sounds crazy. It's just a dream. Just a dream. No, it doesn't. I mean, it doesn't sound crazy. We've had dreams before where we ended up in different places. Physically, we're physically hurt. Are you okay?

I think I am, yes. Does he feel okay? Does he feel as if anything's changed? Like if he looks down, does it feel like this actually happened? When you first started to dart up, your legs were like still asleep. And you hit, you know, and you're like, it's like a chariot. You kind of stumble a little bit. It felt so real. It's parts of your body that even feel cold.

Like you did leave the yurt. You start to wonder, did I actually leave the yurt? Did this happen out there? You would have froze to death. In your mind, you remember feeling drowsy and walking outside to get fresh air, but you don't remember coming back in. You don't, you know in you don't you know

You don't know if it actually happened outside if it happened in here the passage of time between like oh, I'm cold I need to step out to like waking up with gig shaking that there's so it didn't feel like a dream It didn't feel like a drag. Yeah, very very real to you. So he's gonna walk over He's gonna step over to the I swear I went outside. I don't remember coming back in and he's gonna walk over he's gonna step over to the I swear I went outside I don't remember coming back in and he's gonna walk over to the opening of the yurt and See if there's any sign of like Is there any snow just inside or melted snow just inside or anything that indicates coming or going? I mean you would be able to look you wouldn't even need to you could dig in further with perception

It'd be like footsteps fresh fresh footprints like right outside if you went out there. No it's a little damp but there's no indication that you ever left. And so if I open the earth even a little bit just temporarily and like cast a little light outside just a little hovering glow to any footprints out there any. Other than the ones you made it's just you know closes it again so strange kick I feel I feel like I went out there and maybe as he turns back maybe there's some like some ambient light that's just like sort of behind Gic and she's sort of like silhouetted in the moment. And he

just sort of like startles at her. And he's like, oh, wait, and there was another part. It was I saw a figure. I saw a silhouette of Barnes, I think. Was it Barnes? I think I saw Barnes by a light, but it was lit from behind, and so it was difficult to tell. Sorry, I'm talking too loud. He's like whispering this. Keep it down for the sake of the gods. I tuck Buggles back in. Sorry, Buggles. I mean, this doesn't sound...

I believe you. I'll be honest, when I woke up, you were dead asleep in the yurt. I don't remember you going... I didn't see anything. I can't tell you. But I get it. But this doesn't sound like Salman Karr or Riddleson nonsense. Do you think this could be like a Gruhassa dream? Do you think it was trying to warn you about something? Perhaps the Keeper works in mysterious ways, but that seemed far too dark, far too evil.

It was not a warm embrace. It was not the warmth of knowledge and purpose. It was this darkness clawing its way up. It was, I don't know, the spirits of of the dead those damned to whatever fate held They whatever fate conquered them at the crown of the world. I don't know They said turn back Of course we will not Right, I do fear what lies up ahead

Something beyond the monsters Well ahead. Something beyond monsters. Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. Why don't you just try to get some actual sleep and I'll I'll stand guard. Thank you, Gic. Thank you. And he'll try to lay down and try to sleep, but good luck with that. Now Gic is also freaked out too. Gic goes sits by the fire and she's like in her furs and just staring at like the flap,

the opening of the yurt and kind of looking at Ramius, looking back at the flap and thinking, for hope I don't fall asleep. Yeah. It is funny just the mutual descent into madness like cross this featureless wasteland over the course of months. Yeah.

Stuck just with each other and this, you know, the biting cold and the blankness of the landscape is just very, it's really. I mean it's such a huge part of these, you know, when I read about these kind of expeditions, like not only back in the day, but also like modern mountain climbers and stuff like that, like how important the mental fortitude is among your group. Yeah. Because, you know, one person starts to slip. Yeah.

Like I feel I told I tried to get that job in Antarctica and like failed the second exam. I was like, no, you're right. I can't argue like I would not have done well. It's also like, even in my day to day, if somebody tells me something, they're like, you're remembering it wrong. I'm like, ah, you're probably right. I have kind of a bad memory.

I defer. But imagine in this, you're the crazy one, but I'm just like, ah, they're probably right though. I don't know. It's just. What is the sort of meaning of madness in a world, like a high fantasy world like this, where anything can be real? Could happen.

Right. Like, you could be crazy, but it's like... It could also be a hostile spell. Right. It could be a hazard. And we've, we've literally been having nightmares. Like it is a mechanic that we've been having that has been caused by all of this like Gatewalker Riddles and stuff. So it's very hard. Yeah, it's very hard to know where it's coming from

Right and he didn't call for a save at all. So from a meta standpoint, I'm like, it's not enough So I'm like what was that? Yeah Yeah, everything you've faced this far on your journey that we've highlighted the giant footprint with the stain in the middle journey that we've highlighted, the giant footprint with the stain in the middle, the snow drift that was calling out to you and you found a dwarf with a dagger in his neck, the city that seemed to block all passage that when you woke up the next morning was gone. You've been rolling saves against these things and your sanity is eroding. You don't know what those mechanical effects are yet, but yet another strange happening

here. And as you wake up the next morning and continue on your journey, you all suffer a similar nightmare that Brother Ramius faced, that loss of time. You all experience a that loss of time. You all experience a similar loss of time. It doesn't manifest in the same way. Like, oh, I need to get some fresh air. But there's this moment where you're awake, and you're supposed to be awake,

and then someone is waking up. Well, you're waking up with a start. You see a vision of light of someone in there. Oh, everybody saw? Same thing? Say something a little bit different. We don't see Barnes? No, you see a shape of a person that, you know,

now as you've had time to like talk with each other about these memories, you realize that like what you're seeing might be something that you're projecting. Like for Zephyr, initially you'll maybe see, what was the name of the young boy? Ollie. Ollie, like you're like, it's Ollie.

But if we were watching this from an audience perspective, it's just like a shape. But then Ollie, you start to see Asta, or Lucky. You start to see different things. For you, Buggles, you gave up a very dark memory in the cave on Castorvale. So there is a confusion in what you see. You start to get this tickle in the back of your mind of memories that don't quite make sense.

But you all experience this, and you all hear this voice beckoning you to turn back, that this will be the fate that you suffer, a fate worse than this and on day 55 it becomes overwhelming in the middle of your journey that day. Everyone give me a will save. And here comes that roll. Here comes that roll. He did it late. You said it. Sneaky son of a B. Son of a Biscuit.

Jesus, dude. I can't pass a will save since getting the will save upgrade. Just do it better. Since the will save upgrade, I've failed every save. Okay, let's start with you then. 23. Okay, let's see.

So 23 minus that. Okay. Minus that. 31. 31 minus that. Okay. 29, and if it's a success, it is a crit success. Okay.

Okay. That is huge. I have performer's heart. This is what I can't get. You only failed one of these will saves. Whereas Zephyr critically failed one and failed the other two. Remius failed two of them and Bugles failed one. From the castle?

From all the stuff you've seen so far? I think it was the castle. What was my worst save? Oh man. And what did you roll? 19. Oh brother. Oh that's brutal.

Nobody wants to cap it? Nobody wants to cap anything? What cap? It's two. Oh actually, you're okay. All right so. You don't have any? Good news, bad news.

Gek, your mental fortitude is very very strong and you Feel yourself ready to crack, but you don't quite go all the way whereas You get the sense your companions are not doing as well Zephyr brother Amias and B Bugles are stupefied too. Question, is this an emotion effect? Ooh. I'm forlorn.

Wait, so you're already too sad? Yeah. You're like, you can't hurt me, I hurt me. You can't make me sadder. My brain already does that. Yeah, I took this because I thought it made sense story-wise and I forgot the last few times, but the way you're describing it makes me feel like maybe it's emotion.

What do you get a bonus to it? If I roll a success on a saving throw against an emotion effect, I get a critical success instead. Okay, it was not a success. Okay. What? So yes, it is emotion.

Damn. So yeah, the three of you become stupefied too. Wait, the three of us? Oh. Wait, what? Brother Ramus, Buggles, and Zephyr. All critically failed? No, that's a regular fail. Okay, so we all regularly failed.

Buggles was one point from a critical fail. I was just impressed that he didn't critically fail. And 23 was not a pass, right? No, no, no. We all failed. 31 wasn't a pass. Oh. 31. She also had a pass. Oh. 31. Cause she also had a cumulative penalty to everything.

All the serious ones. Okay. Okay. So you're stupefied to. How does this manifest? Let's say that you'd like, the three of you crack. I think I've been drinking too much yurt wine. I don't feel like fully there in my head. Is there a moment that it does or is it just in the morning this is happening?

Or like what's happening? No, it's like midway through the day. There's a crack, you know, you can see it happening. I'm just curious if you're, you know, maybe not interested in roleplaying and that's fine but if there's a moment like, how does it manifest for the three of you? Whether it happens simultaneously or not is so important.

I think Gic takes out the map again and is talking through route options with you guys and just saying like, well, okay, we still got, we can make a stop here about halfway. What do you mean route options? There's only one option. I know that, Ramius. I'm straight shot. I know that. I'm saying when do we stop next?

Because we're going to get exhausted if we don't. It's the weather is too rough. I mean, you're tired. I understand. The weather is fine. I've we're magically protected. The weather is fine. So you magically protected. The weather is fine. So you want to keep going?

That's the question I'm asking. No, I don't want to keep going, Kik. I want to turn around and go home. I want to return back and not take another step forward. But here we are. Buggles, how much do you think you can travel? And I think Buggles, he's looking through the food stores and he just sees something is missing and he just looks up and says, where the fuck are my hard boiled eggs?

And he just starts knocking stuff over. And he's just like, he says, those are mine, I was saving those. Whoa. And he's just knocking stuff over like a brazier. Buggles, stop. What is wrong with you? Where are the hard boiled eggs? He's just knocking stuff over like a brazier and just like... Grogles! Stop, what is wrong with you? Where are the hard boiled eggs? What are you talking about?

I've never seen any, didn't bring any hard boiled eggs. I had hard boiled eggs! There were four hard boiled eggs in there! I was saving those for my own breakfast! I saw the eggs, but I didn't eat them. Wanted to, didn't. I didn't see any eggs. Wouldn't be rude.

Zephyr, did you see any, any eggs? I will say her breath does reek of eggs, but that might be a preexisting condition. Buggles, keep your voice down. There is no way for us to know who may be listening. He's like looking around in the distance.

Ah! You're all terrible! And he bursts looking around in the distance. Ah, you're all terrible. And he bursts out through the flaps of the tent out into the ice. And I burst out in the opposite direction and leave the party. Steph is staring at Hubert and she's like, you know what, I think you did piss in the wine. What?

Yeah. I would never. You little weird mouse. I'm not a mouse, I'm obviously not a mouse. I would never. You little weird mouse. I'm not a mouse. I'm obviously not a mouse. Stop peeing in the wine! Gigg grabs Hubert by his loin cloth, lifts him up. I think you grazed it. Did you eat?

Did you eat Buggles' eggs? I didn't eat Buggles' eggs, but your breath smells like rotten eggs. I think you're the culprit. Why don't you just tell him? Why don't you just tell him so he'll come back? Dick puts her hand over his face and puts him back on the ground hard. I need you. She's hurting me! To shut the fuck up.

She scratched my eye! You're not making it better. Buggles is clearly upset. He's tired, we're all tired. And I'm gonna need you to keep your little mouth shut. The reason you get angry at me, I wouldn't yell at you. Ramious is outside the tent. He has started walking away and he hears them bickering inside and

and maybe a blast of cold, fresh wind into his face. He just sort of he realizes what's happening here. And everyone's emotions are on edge. The journey is really getting to us and he knows that he's responsible for this. He's has to be a better leader in this situation. And that all of these things are external, they're external and they're coming in, we're letting them in and they're bothering us and he starts to stop, he stops and he just closes his eyes and he begins to pray and he begins to think that the strength

has to start coming from within. From within we have to guard ourselves and our minds from these outside distractions, these illusions of things that are causing us problems. And so he is going to attempt through prayer to give himself holistic care, which is emotional and spiritual care. And this is one of my feats. I have the ability to treat my own stupefied condition. Oh. With medicine, with a medicine check. So I do a counteract check against the DC of the effect.

Oh, so I get basically another roll. Oh, is it higher than your will? I think, yes, now it is, because my will suffers from stupefied. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this turns more into a medicinal, psychological thing. It's like some beta blockers. Yeah, exactly. I immediately feel better.

Yes. Give me a roll. You realize that your mind is slipping here. You wanna try and write it. Yes. Give me a roll. You realize that like your mind is slipping here. You want to try and write it. Yes. Oh, 28. That's a success. You'll go down to stupefied one, right? I believe that that is how it works. Because I feel like you did this before, if not this game, another game, and if you crit it, it lowers it by two. Yeah, so it can reduce the condition by one. So he goes down one and he starts to feel a little more clarity.

He starts to feel a little bit more clarity and again, he's hearing this bickering and he stops and he turns around and he starts stalking back toward the tent and calmly and not yelling. He's, please, please, please. I'm holding Hubert's head high on the ground, like palming a basketball. Jugg, kill me! Jugg, kill me! Stop yelling. What?

Gigg, please let him go. She just drops him. Ah! Hubert, just a moment. We are all, all of us, falling victim to an attack here. You want me to go get Buggles? No, let him blow off some steam. I'm a razor for your armpits while you're at it. I take Hubert and I throw him outside the tent. Ah! Ah!

He just right through the flaps like flies out of the tent. So amazing to just physically throw an entire- So small, so small. Okay, so yeah, so he's just like, we're under attack. We've been through this before. Usually our enemy is right in front of us Attacking us straight on and we band together and we stand up to these threats take damage we healed with bandages and and wraps we pray and find ourselves

stalwart against this violence and our ability to push through Comes to us. Here, this enemy is not right in front of us. This enemy is so devious because they don't even seem to be there. We are becoming our own enemy. We are letting the environment cloud our mind, poison each other against each other. These effects can easily be fixed through focus, meditation, prayer.

Please, let's take a moment. Just sit with me or kneel if you prefer. And let's meditate for a moment and think about why we are here. What comfort we left long before we even met Riddleson to come find out what happened. Why we were chosen to fix it. And he's gonna start slowly treating condition on everybody. AABRIA. Gic, Gic kind of, she sits down with you, but when you come up to her, she kind of like shoves you off and she's like, I'm fine.

MATT. I think it will help, Gic. Wait, are you not stupefied? AABRIA. No. So she's a little upset because it's kind of like the, you're all acting fucking crazy and I'm the only one trying to plan the route that we're just so she's a little bit PO'd But she also is like yes, let's sit down Let's calm down Shouldn't be fighting like this

I'm I'm cool Cool We are in a fight Zephyr a spiritual one Cool. We are in a fight, Zephyr. A spiritual one. We must stand up to these shadowy forces that we can't identify, can't name, can't see or hear. They're creeping into our minds.

Will you meditate with me? Okay. A little bit of a headache, but sure, sure. Did you ever meditate in your training? Yeah, I think in the beginning, I was like flavoring her preparations as like her meditating and stuff, and that she was trying to be like a chill girl,

which is obviously not now. She used to be a chill monk, now she's different. She used to be one of the cool girls, but yeah, now she more so just has like these rituals that she does like the way that she wraps her hand wraps is how she Like recenters versus just sitting there trying to meditate Tell me when when they first trained you how did they do it was the process? For meditating meditating yes, they were like Sit still

if you didn't sit still they'd whack you with the ruler and then Yeah, just like empty your mind don't think about anything So I tried to do that about anything. So I tried to do that, but it would empty sometimes and then just come back harder after it was empty for a while. So I just kind of faked meditating. Yeah. It doesn't sound very pleasant. No. What? When you meditate, it's like nice?

It is. There's this connection that I feel happens with the Keeper. You understand your place. Your place is unimportant in the grand scheme of everything. It is helpful to know where you stand. You are one of but many, many, countless beings that populate this universe, all working in tandem to understand survival, understand existence, and even touching that for a moment, seeing how unified we all are, despite what our minds may trick us into thinking

from time to time. It's a very pleasant experience. See, that's how I feel when I'm doing my exercises, not when I'm sitting still. Oh, well then show me. Okay. What are the exercises? So she starts like, okay, well,

I'm gonna take it a little chill. I'll do some beginner. No, no, he does like a comical thing with his hands. You can put those down. My understanding is this is how fighting is. We're not going to fight. We're just going to do some movement. And she starts maybe doing some like some stretching and like maybe like in Jiu-Jitsu

you do these like these drills where you're kind of going to throw some of them, but not really. They're just like the drills to get the body memory down. So maybe some of those, but just like simple movements. So he's trying to follow along, and really he's just treating your condition. It's just kind of like letting you drive the ship, but he's also enjoying a new attempt at physical, what'd you call it, just uniting the body and the mind, right?

Mind-body connection. Mind-body connection. And Gic casts musical accompaniment in the background, which I can use technically as a bonus to like diplomacy, intimidation, deception, whatever, for a feeling, to evoke feeling. So she puts on this kind of our, what we're listening to, this meditative like string, this kind of like low string. I thought you were gonna do 80s montage. Nope.

Training montage. It's meditation music, but to what you're doing to like connect the mind and body. So it's like low strings and then like plucks, almost like raindrops and like really peaceful sounds. It's amazing how music could bring it all together. And maybe Buggles, you hear that from outside the yurt. Suddenly from the fighting and everything,

there's like these cello strings, the closest instrument to the human voice and just these lovely motifs happening in these beautiful plucked like. Doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop, doop. Maybe you feel a little better. No. Uh.

Nope. Buggles is outside. He's just like stalking away from the yurt and he's like, you big folk, long shanks, no respect for property, no respect for anything. And he like tries to cast like ignition out of frustration and he can't because of the stupefy.

He's just like, ah! He just starts gathering up snow and just like throwing snowballs at nothing. And then he just starts like beating his little football head with his little fists. And he just like just starts crying and like throws himself on his back in the snow. And he's just like, what is happening to me? What is happening? And he's just like beating what is happening to me? What is happening? And he's just like beating his little fists into his brow and with these tears like streaming down his face and the water,

tear water on his face, it's like starts almost freeze with the extreme cold and he's just like, until he just like wears himself off, wears himself out. And then maybe he hears like the strings of the music from inside that might draw him back. You lift your head up and you hear the strings. You can see in front of the yurt Hubert is like dusting snow off himself, muttering angrily to himself. And as you make your way back, you see perched on a tree nearby is a snow owl that seems to be regarding you and watching you as you walk.

Just sort of stop dad staring at it. Like tilts its head a little. Tilt mine too. And it watches for a moment, kind of looks around at the surroundings and then flutters over to the tent, because outside the yurt just looks like a regular tent, and sort of sits on it. Like looks down at Hubert and then flies off in the direction that you will be heading. I said, Brother Ramish, you want to try and remove these stupefied? Yeah. So I misspoke.

The stupefied condition does lower his medicine as well, it seems. So yeah, let me just read this again. Your thoughts and instincts are clouded. It always includes value. You take a status penalty to intelligence, wisdom, and charisma-based roles in DCs, will saving throws, spell attack modifiers, spell DCs, etc. down the line. So yeah, it's all of it. But him getting one success on himself is helpful. Now he's up one point. So yeah, he's gonna roll for his effort. That is a 27. Cre's creeping down. Success. Okay. Woo. And then so you're stupefied one. Then he'll

roll for a Buggles. That is a 20. Let's fail. I lunge at him, my claws digging into his throat. I mean I can try this every 10 minutes I don't really know how you want to play this. Okay is there a penalty for fail a critical failure? Critical failure? Yes you increase the value by one. Okay but ultimately it's something that you can just you would probably be able to eventually fix you might make it worse a little bit. And ultimately, it's something that you can just, you would probably be able to eventually fix. You might make it worse a little bit. And it might, it might take our journey a little bit longer, right? Like we might need a day of like not moving toward the objective and just self-healing. A self-care day. Self-care day. Yeah. But I think it's, I think it's worth it. I mean, these attempts by the book take, you know, 10 minutes. I wonder if we could and I can redo them every ten minutes in the year

Like do like a like a finished steam bath like in the thick effect There's like a fire like our hot stones or something we could actually tub. Yeah, yeah, we could do a steam That'd be cool. There's a bunch of snow in it. Glacier steam. Yeah, we need a self-care day Yeah, that's how that's how the Sami people, that's how they deal with the... I like this. We sweat out our demons. We sweat out our demons, smoke a little flay leaf.

Yeah. Listen to a little music. This is some music. We hotbox the yurt. Yeah. Sounds nice. All right, so spa day. Yeah, spa day.

I think it's worth it. I mean, we can't keep pushing with the stupefied. Because your roles only get worse, right? Your saves, your penalty. And also, we were acting crazy. We need a spa day. Okay. You take a spa day, then.

I'm not going to go through this ol' regma role. But it will slow down the journey. And I'd like to think for role-playing purposes, even though the stupefied will be removed, there is this lingering, you know, presence of doubt and fear and just being a little mentally off even as you continue forward the next day. A few more days pass. You're getting closer to what Dr. Riddleson estimated the time of the journey would be. You know, you still haven't seen much. You haven't even seen like if these spires are so big, you think you'd at a certain point

see something in the distance. No. It's day 60. It's another brutal day. Brutal day. You've been going at this now for two months and it's cold and ramius. You're casting these spells to keep people warm and though you may not be suffering the effects of D6 cold damage, D12 cold damage, you're fucking cold and uncomfortable and there's nothing to subsist on off of the lands.

You're like overeating at night when you get into the yurt and then by midday you're starving. You can't get your calorie count right. You're messing with your body temp. Snow squalls all day long slow you down, you feel as if you've only made half progress through the day, you know, half the progress that you had hoped for when you started out for the day. This is now like the second or third day in the row where that's happened. Now you almost regret taking that spa day because you're like, well, maybe we could

have just figured it out instead so you feel like whatever that first estimate was 68 days now You're wondering if it's 70 72 73 75 80 you don't see anything in sight Bedtime in the yurt that night was the lone respite from the horrors of the day But these recurring nightmares just make sleep worse than being awake. And they're just getting worse and they're getting more troublesome and more like turned back. You do not know what you do. On day 61, you place the yurt at the end of the day up against an ice wall, sort of like leads up to a cliff above. You don't think you need to climb it. You can kind of go around it,

but there's like a lone tree there that's like standing in the shadow of the cliff, just like you finding sanctuary. Maybe it'll be a little less windy as you're setting everything up. As you sleep through the night, for the first time in what feels like Weets weeks now, all of you, even as you drift in and out of slumber, waiting for this dream to appear now, this nightmare,

you're almost like, let's just get it over with so I can wake up and move on to the next day. The nightmares don't come. Maybe like this tree, you've found some peace in the shadow of this cliff. Huh. The Lee. The Lee of the cliff. The Lee. The Lee of the cliff.

You awaken on day 62, refreshed and set out. Early in the day, you find yourselves approaching... Lee Carvalho's pudding challenge. Didn't even see that You approach an unknown shore like near a frozen lake and While you assume you can safely traverse the ocean here if need be Your vision is drawn to something you haven't seen in over two months. Signs of life. Ah, just beyond the shores of this lake ocean, you don't even

know, you see what appears to be a small village full of low dug-in shelters built of sod and like whale bones or some other animal bones, animal skin pelts instead of doors. And as you regard the village, that same snow owl that you saw a few days earlier flies and lands on a tree that looks very similar to the tree near the hut you slept in last night and squawks at you flies into the village as if to say follow me we'll be back right after this quick break I know this snow Owl. Yeah, I'm remembering. Your survival, every move, tract and commodify. The revolution is coming.

It's already here. Stay alert. Stay human. Stay free. Recursion on the Realm Podcast Network. Listen before they silence the signal. In humanity's search for other worlds, we found something unexpected.

It's a massive collection of tiny pocket realities, and each one is a story. But when we explored those stories, things didn't go as planned. Mr. Darcy! I am Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Ah, humbug! What happens when classic stories go wrong? I go in to fix them. I am Dracula, and I bid you welcome.

Subscribe and listen to Muse, the latest audio drama from Dayton writer's movement and realm. From the podcast that brought you to each of the last lesbian bars in the country and back in time through the sapphic history that shaped them comes a brand new season of cruising beyond the bars. This is your host, Sara Gabrielli, and I've spent the past year interviewing history-making lesbians and queer folks about all kinds of queer spaces, from bookstores to farms to line dancing and much more.

You can listen to Cruising on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes air every other Tuesday starting February 4th. Snow Owl flies into this little village. You did read the whole adventure before you started the campaign. I did. People think I didn't. What do you do? First I try to remember why exactly.

This Snow Owl is in the first episode right? The first snow owl. The first save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line.

The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line.

The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. The save line. That's why you wrote down? Yeah, why did I write it like that? Because you're stupid. Why did I make a haiku for myself? Why did I make it a mystery for myself? Find the other clues. To unravel later. The only other time you've seen a snow owl is in the, you yourselves, the players saw

that your character's not seen, is in the opening, the cold open of episode one. Right. There's a group of people working on something and an owl flies down and lands on a woman's shoulder and she talks to the owl. I always thought of it as an animal companion for a wizard or a druid or something. I have in my notes that there was an excavation that was paused after an explosion. Ah, okay. So that was the blast. There was a blast, I'll put a parentheses, explosion.

We go back and listen to it after this episode. Why did I write Sivala? That's her name. That's her name. Or something. Yeah, her name was Sivala. Sivala, a hooded. It comes after her, named Ice Rider.

She says, what news, Ice Rider? And, well. Also, our characters don't know this. Yeah, this is. We know this. Our characters don't know this. Yeah, but it's. It's cool.

It's good for the audience to remember. For the audience to remember. I just wanna make sure we don't walk in and go, Savala. That should be right. We know you. 100%. We know you and your owl.

Yeah. Why? I mean, Bugles seeing the owl and having this previous encounter with it. Oh yeah, you just had an encounter with the owl. Yeah, he's just like, he's just saying, come on, follow it.

And he just pulls his cloaks closer to his body and just starts hustling through the snow towards his village. Bugles, wait, wait. Be careful, we don't know who's there. And Ramius starts shuffling up next to Buggles to try to keep up. All right, so the four of you with you, or the five of you walk toward, toward?

Toward? Toward. Toward. Toward. Why did I say new direction? Toward. Toward. Toward. Toward. I added an R inard. Toward. Toward. Toward. I had an R in there. Toward.

Toward. And there were like forward and toward. Well, if there was a, if there was a tour, like a small hill in the distance, we were walking towards it. Toward. We'd be walking toward. Oddly enough, there is a tour.

So yes, that was right. You were. Don't need to correct yourself. Moving right along. We walked toward, and eventually into this little village. And you see the snow owl flying and it lands on top of a larger building near like the center of the village.

It's a partially raised structure consisting of, it's very interesting, like three 40-foot diameter domes merged into like a vaguely clover-shaped hill or tor. There are no people around. You don't see anyone milling about the village. You think maybe this village is abandoned? But there are cook- Is this a Salman Kar village? There are cook fires.

It seems too small. Too small. Like they don't have large doors and gateways. You see cook fires that look like they've been used recently. They give you, as you're walking by, you're like that maybe somebody else came and used it. You don't know. There are animal furs like drying over

racks. So maybe you start thinking about skywatch like, Oh, this is another village that abandoned. But as you approach this hut, the owl again looks at all of you, especially Buggles has made some sort of connection here with Buggles. And it flies through the flap and into the tent. Let's go to the map. Oh. Okay. Speaking of map, I just want to clarify too,

on Riddleson's map, nothing is marked where we believe that we are. There was no like outpost or like scribbled in information. None whatsoever, yeah. And you also get the sense that he never came this far. Like, he ended at the Temple of Findelad Lara. I'm sort of jealous that you guys got to go all the way to the Nameless Spires eventually. But yeah, there's no indication on his map of anything like this.

Well, we should continue to walk toward. Oh my. Buggles, I think continue to walk toward. Oh my. Buggles, I think you should walk toward first. I shall. It seemed like that owl kind of likes you. Zephyr went in. Oh, all right. You can go first if you want.

Maybe the owl knows Buggles. right behind you. You walk in, the floor of the room is like almost dug into the frozen earth and the walls of this entryway are insulated with animal furs. It's warm, it's not like magical yurt warm, but you think, oh people could live here. There is a flap up ahead, Foundry has it as a door, but I'll say that you could pull the flap aside and see what looks like a central living area up ahead with a small fire pit. Oh, it's on the fire pit. The fire is lit. Yeah, there's an active fire. There is an active fire. Fire! There's a hole.

Oh no, what are your fears? Don't look at it. There's a hole in the top of this dome so that the smoke can be released. And there are two rooms off of this main room. And then there's one flap up ahead There are two rooms off of this main room. And then there's one flap up ahead. And the owl is in this room with the fire and then flies through the flap up ahead.

This is one clever owl. Leading us to something. Should we just follow the owl or go to the sides? Buggles is gonna just make his way straight for the owl. I also don't wanna disturb like their, I feel like they're here, so I don't wanna start digging through their shit. This isn't like Riddlesome where like,

let's just look through everything and kill everyone. Yeah. What the fudge is this crab? What? Oh! There's a human, something, there's a woman in here! She looks nice though. She does look, she has a kindly face.

Yeah, or he, I'm not sure. There is an old woman sitting in a chair. Oh. And the owl is perched on the arm of the chair and the woman is petting the owl and talking to it. She's talking to the owl. And you can see as she speaks with the owl and talking to it. She's talking to the owl and you can see as she speaks with the owl, she has tears in her eyes. She says, oh, I'm so glad you're home now.

And she looks towards you. Now tell me about your friends here. Oh yeah, oh, right. And she talks to this little owl and nods, and then looks at all of you. Malcolm, what are your names? I'm Buggles. Yes, yes you are. I'm Gik, Gik Muck. Zephyr. Arameus, did you already know that? Did not know your names, but I knew of you. How?

Do you know where you are? We only know that we are in a wasteland of the, of the, what do you call it? The- Crown? Crown of the World, yeah. The wasteland of the Crown of the, what do you call it? The north, the- Crown? Crown of the world, yeah. The wasteland of the crown of the world. We knew of no settlements here. What is this place? This village seems, there have been people here recently,

but we haven't seen anyone except for you. Yes. Edge goes speaking to us. I'm Eubod Edge. Oh. I'm part of this adventuring party as well. Pleasure toin Edge. Oh. I'm part of this adventuring party as well. Pleasure to meet you. Yes.

Sorry, he interrupted me and I lost my train of thought. No, I'm sorry. He does that. Well, welcome to the party. He does that to us all. I guess we're one of us. It felt as if I had something vital to say and now it's just gone.

Yep. Oh, you asked what this place is. Yes, this village. This village is called Aminuit. Oh, wait. Wait. You know... You know Sakawatche.

He's my grandson. Oh! What? We know Sakawatche. We travel- You already knew that. Yes, and she strokes the owl's head. Yes, I imagine he told you of me.

My name is Sesshu. Sesshu. Yes. Wait, we split up from Sakawachi, though. And did he come back? In a way, I'm concerned you are not aware of what's happening. Um, please sit. We may not have much time.

And there's like a fear in her eyes as she looks around. They were all like a, you know, uh, I guess, would be the equivalent here. It would be if this is one E, I would do geography or even history, but this is sort of society. Baby. 30. Damn. 28 for Brother Ramius. 33.

Damn. I have a plus one in society. What'd you get? 13. It shows you. What? You don't understand. Very cultured.

What's going on here. The three of you, you don't think Aminuit is on the crown of the world. Right. Right. That's why we were so confused. My first thought was I thought this was a much further southern longitude. I was literally thinking this must be Aminuit, but we asked what's his face, the elf we saved at Findelon Lara.

Yeah. If we were like- Ilkhani. Yeah, and he was like, no, no, no, you're nowhere near that. He was just like, no, that, no, you're nowhere near that. He was just like, no, that's not this. But yet here you are. What the heck?

She is under duress here and she says, ah, this will be a lot to share, so try and listen as I may not be able to repeat it. A nightmare not of this world lies frozen in the ice below us, where it has remained imprisoned through the sacrifice and vigilance of the people Today, only one yet lives. His name is Aynumuron, and when he is no more, the nightmare will be freed. He knows this, Aynumuron does. He is the last of the Salmonqa, and so he shared with me his people's legacy and showed me what must be done should the nightmare stir once more. And now it does stir once more.

It quickens in the ice as she says this. You almost feel like tectonic plates shifting the ground beneath you, stirring a low rumble like a low-grade earthquake. This nightmare uses portals and promises of power to trick others into engineering its freedom. And now, Aenumuron has been taken, bound to the very temple in the heart of the nameless spires his people once built as a tomb over the Nightmare's grave. A tomb they bolstered with the sacrifice of their own god.

My grandson, and she pets the owl as she says this. His destiny became intertwined with yours. Yes, you met him and his friends on their journey? Yes, but we parted ways with them some many months ago. Yes, he left this village months ago, seeking the living god who must be sacrificed to save us all. He was right there, my boy. You must have known," she speaks to the owl. My grandson, he is too pure for this world, or perhaps he believed there was another. She looks right at Buckles. You. The god you carry

in your soul must be the new lock to the Nightmare Cell once Ain Amuron is no more. You carry the living god within you that must be sacrificed. What? Do you know this? Do you know of the power you carry within you? And Buggles just, his eyes wide just like shaking his head. He doesn't like when you talk to him like he's two people. I am sorry. I wish I had more time, but sadly I worry the time is eroding.

And as she says that, you almost see like dust start to fall from the walls of this little hut around her. This is probably much for you to take in, but those who travel with you can be trusted to escort you to the first and last temple of Akakaru, the snow mother of the Salmon Car. That is where the nightmare must once more be contained. You and your friends know the route well. You were there after all, when Aina Muron was taken. And when she says that, it's just like... Pshhh, pshhh, pshhh.

A rush of memories starts flooding your brain and all of your memories from the missing moment come back to you. You almost black out you don't even see her anymore everybody give me a will save. Oh my god my brain my bean. I can't do it. Just stop rolling poorly, I don't know what's so hard. Natural one. Oh! Do you have a cap?

No, I haven't had a cap for four months. What the hell? Maddie caps took them. Oh, I took them with them. No caps, no caps. So natural one. She's brutal. 26.

26. I think you're going to die. 25, but if it's a success, it's a crit. Okay. 24. 24. You two are stupefied one, you're stupefied two. And that's very important. Good thing you cleaned the other ones out.

But in this heartbeat, as like again, those like chunks of the hot seemed to be like falling as these memories start flooding back to you You recall all of the details as if it just happened yesterday of when in a trance like state Under the control of a soil you played all of you along with Barnes along with Asta along with Lucky your part in Capturing the last Salman car. I know on Dragging him on a sled covered in a tarp to the nameless spires Where you left him with agents of the Black Frost whale you see yourself? Handing it over to like these black frost zombies and creatures and shadows all working in unison with you.

You see the nameless spires, you see a hexagonal pyramid, you see the ground starting to rip open and black ice coming up from within. It all comes back. You are the ones that captured the last Salman Khar and you are the ones that will bring a soy oak back You come back from this some of you a little off now from the stupefaction and The walls again just home like a big chunk from the ceiling just falls at your feet Yes, I'm sorry. This must be much for to take in. You did not know what you did, and my grandson, he apologizes for judging you. He saw that you were the ones guilty for it,

but he did not know that you were not of your own mind. I am sorry you were manipulated by that being. The powers you now possess are echoes granted by the nightmare during the missing moment. Echoes of gifts granted by Asoyo to you. Powers that let you overpower Einamoron and drag him to his doom. As to what's become of the last Salmon Car, you will know soon enough. This nightmare, this Assoyo, has not yet been fully loosed on the world. Thus some part of Aenomoron must still live. A big chunk lands like inches away from Ramius' head.

If the god within you, she points to Buggles, can be delivered to the temple before it is too late, the nightmare's tomb can be bolstered anew. Sakawachi is close, aren't you, my dear? Yes, yes, he is here with us now, and now knows that you were not in control of what you did, but now you are in control. You have done so much and have come so far to try and set things right. You must take the final steps to return the Black Brost Whale to its prison. Come close so that I may give you a gift to aid you in your quest.

Please, grab my hand." And she reaches out her hand. Oh, what the hell is going on? And you all put she reaches out her hand And you all put your hand on her hand and in a moment She infuses you with magical energy magical energy that you can direct either to a weapon or piece of clothing that you're wearing So Yeah, what do you want to do? You can make some decisions right now or you can think about it.

I will suggest. Do you have an idea of what it is? It will, you can basically choose from the following runes. You can make something energy resistant. You can make something have a rune of invisibility. You can make something resilient or greater slick. Resilient? I'll take resilient. And that's for clothing. You can make something resilient or greater slick Resilient or resilient and that's that's for clothing if you decide to do it with a weapon you can make something corrosive

flaming frost shock or thundering Oh Probably gonna take a weapon one for my hand wraps. I'm just I don't know which one don't, I will have to do clothing just cause I don't really fight with weapons. Read or slick. Invisibility, so invisibility for clothing would not make you invisible. It would be a ruin of invisibility. So it would act like the spell. Okay, okay.

You just have to activate it? I've never applied that to clothing before So we can do flaming Yeah, you just Activate it one action once per day you gain you become invisible for one minute. Oh, I put the The options in the chat there. Okay, great. Oh, thank you. Take a second to think about it. I don't need to think about it.

I'll take Resilient. Resilient, and what does that do? What does that do? Plus one item bonus to all saving throws. Damn, that's good. Oh, maybe I should just do that too. What's great or slick? Yeah. I think if you're grappled. It makes armor slippery. Maybe I should do that What's greater slick yeah?

Like when if you're grappled plus one slippery plus one two acrobatics checks to escape and squeeze Yes, but this would be a plus two because of this is greater. Yeah Yeah There's a lot of good stuff energy resistant I mean, I don't know old energy if we're gonna get cold damage coming down on us And we soya has used like the herb Minions have used cold kind of cold. Yeah ship you could put that aiming on your hand wraps Yeah, I already have it on the dagger that we found but it'd be nice to have two items that have that Frost or thundering yeah, I don't have a weapon and so I definitely would go armor and I feel like

Energy resistant. I mean the hit points could save his life But I feel like the saving throws are gonna be so important on so many different levels Yeah, and invisibility is fun, but I'm gonna take a hostile action quite quickly Right, I think there's gonna be Yeah, if there's gonna be reflex saves, I think there's gonna be fortitude saves and I definitely think there's gonna be will save so yeah I think I will take resilient. I think that's gonna be fortitude saves, and I definitely think there's gonna be will saves. Yeah. I think I will take resilient. I think that's just the smartest thing to do.

I'm leaning towards flaming for my hand wraps. Okay. Oh my God, hands are fired. Yeah, that's cool. Because my saves are already really good. Will is my lowest one, but I mean flaming hand wraps. Guys. Counterpoint. It's just too badass.

Flaming hand wraps. And where are you leaning, Skitt? I want to go either energy resistance or resilience. I want to do something different. So I might do energy resistant. So against cold. Against cold, yeah. And resilience is just resilient, resilient not greater not a plus two

I just just read and the other one is an energy resistance five resistance five. I believe so yeah Plus one striking flaming hand wraps of mighty blows Striking flaming hand wraps of mighty chards As she channels this energy into each of you, a strange sound, almost like the ripping of wet leather combined with grinding stone, sorta tears through this nice little moment here. Sesshu, still holding your hands, she like begins to flicker in and out of existence almost starts to

fade like Marty McFly for a moment and then you see fear enter her eyes the little snow owl that she's talking to as if it was Sakawatchi also like appears on her other shoulder a moment later is back on this shoulder she's like oh no your nightmares as of late, big chunk comes out of the wall. They have drawn attention from predators beyond the wall of sleep and she's saying this and like not even all of her words are getting out because she's starting to fade and her voice is fading with it. As things are falling off the sides of the wall you look beyond and you don't see that village beyond you see pure

Inky blackness you see the nothing beyond the walls of this She says you must you must defeat these dreamscapers before you can and as she says that a thunderous ripping sound Echos through cuts her, and she and everything around it disappear completely. You are in nothingness. You feel there is something beneath your feet, but you see no ground. Oh. It's the Four Kings, right?

It's the Four Kings? Yeah, the Nameless King? The Nameless King. No, I think it's the Four Kings. The Four Kings, Dark Souls. Anyways, look it up. In this darkness, you hear a sound of something approaching, and you see figures in the distance,

these creatures that just like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, get closer to you until there are these four large floating maggot-like abominations just appearing near you as if ripped out of holes in reality. And these holes that like for a moment appear as they merge right near you, seal up. And we'll see you next week. Oh my gosh. Seal up. And we'll see you next week. Oh my gosh.

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