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Ep. 37 To Plinth or not to Plinth – De Profundis
107 Plays4 years ago
Follow us on our Twitters - @FellowshipTable
Intro written and produced by Joseph McDade - https://josephmcdade.com/
The Fellowship Party Twitter Pages:
- The DM/Mark - @HastilyRolledDM
- Drago/Ian - @IRolledA1
- Folly/Callum - @TheD20Gamer
- Princess Helena/Casey - @unicorncrit
- Carstan/Will - @Natural20Will
- Robin/Darren - @DarrenPage06
- Claude/Danny - @totalpartythrlz
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
He's going to put it in anyway just to see if it does anything. I've had dates like that.
Introduction and Remote Recording
00:00:33
Speaker
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Fellowship of the Tabletop. We are a live play 5e D&D podcast set in the world of Aerith. My name is Mark, I am the Dungeon Master, and for the first ever episode, we are on the web. Also with us for today's episode, we have- Hold on, technically we've always been on the web. I know, I sound like a granddad when I said that, didn't I? Yeah, you do. Like that's how most users listen to our podcast. I'd say that we're recording remotely for the first time.
00:00:59
Speaker
There you go. You've already said it now, you've ruined it. Well, we've got Ian, who plays Dragonborn, Barbarian, Drago. What up? We've got Darren, who plays the human fighter, Rogue, Robin. Holy online form, Batman. Danny, who plays the human cleric, Claude. Bonjour, je suis Claude. Callum, who plays the gnome sorcerer, folly, fizzlebang, the ninth. Hello. We've got Will, who plays the human bard, Class. Hello, everybody. And Casey, who plays the human champion, Helena Sleepguard. Greetings, all.
00:01:29
Speaker
Thank you everyone for joining us on this, our first ever, yeah, via the web again. What is wrong with me? You know, I mean broadcasting. No, we are broadcasting. We are following government policy and recording from a self isolated position.
00:01:45
Speaker
Hence why this is now remote. And while we're at it, we'd like to thank all the servicemen and women out there who are doing their bit for this horrible thing that the whole world is facing. And no, truly, we really thank you all. So this is good.
00:02:02
Speaker
key workers, sorry, servicemen and women, key workers, you know, everyone who's doing their bit, because it includes people who are self-isolating. That's a hard enough task as well. So thank everyone. As you've probably guessed by now, because we've probably had a few episodes out during the beginning of it. Yeah, we record a couple episodes in advance. So this will probably come out, I don't know when it'll come out, but hopefully it's done.
00:02:24
Speaker
Hopefully, and hopefully we can look back at it and hope it never happens again. But anyway, let's delve deep into some lovely, cathartic role-playing where we haven't got to think about real life for a while and just deal with the problems we've got in game, which seems so much far removed from what we have to deal with in
Recap and Battle Aftermath
00:02:42
Speaker
real life.
00:02:42
Speaker
So on last week's episode of The Fellowship of the Tabletop, we find ourselves in a rather large battle in a situation going on in the caves of Blackmouth, near the back of the city. We entered in through there and came across a number of these flamed, arrived in flamed skeletons that seemed to erupt out of the ground. And I've just remembered this, for the whole battle Drago ran around trying to hit things. So beautiful.
00:03:11
Speaker
which was for the reminder.
00:03:14
Speaker
It was a lovely form of blink, actually. It wasn't my character. I didn't make the creature up. Some genius online. I'll try and give them some credit at some point. But I created this amazing creature where the blink is an explosion. And I loved that idea. So we had a number of these creatures appear and really gave the party a run for the money. We're in this massively large cavernous space underground in the mine area, where the Skull Road Mountains, where
00:03:42
Speaker
A lot of the ore has been taken out of it and left the area bereft of anything except this large echoing cavernous space.
00:03:52
Speaker
During the battle, we at the beginning of the episode actually, Tali was kind of captured by one of them and in the process really badly burnt her face in the process, which we managed to stop it. Robin went hell for leather trying to make sure that she was all right using everything really to get this creature off Tali, which he did manage.
00:04:15
Speaker
The rest of the creatures were smitten, and we find ourselves now in the silence, in the dark, except for Claude's light, which is still on. And we're in this large space, silence, and the cool air kind of returns still. There's no movement, and it's just darkness, as far as we can see, apart from this pool of light, which we're all kind of sat in. Tali sat up at this point. The battle has just ended. The piles of ash where these creatures once stood lay motionless. What would you like to do?
00:04:45
Speaker
Well, that was annoying. Is anybody hurting? My pride. My ego. No, I'm fine. Don't worry. Is that normal to happen on an adventure like this? More normal than what you might think. We've had our fair share of battles. Well.
00:05:12
Speaker
Well, while this is happening, Robin is just kneeling next to Tali to see if she is conscious and to make sure if she's all right. How's she doing, Robin? Can you hear me, Tali? Yes, I can hear you. Have you got anything for the pain? Let me help you. Thank you. And I'm going to cast Cure Wounds on her. OK.
00:05:39
Speaker
You seem to take away a modicum of the pain. She seems to feel the damage done to her face is now aesthetic more than anything else, though it does seem to still hurt her. She's the kind of laying, sorry, she kind of sat up on the hard, cold asphalt ground, but this, these marks on her face really do kind of cover quite a large portion of kind of the top of her forehead, around one of the eyes, luckily missing the eye and down across her right cheek as well, leaving some quite bad kind of black and blue
00:06:11
Speaker
It's been healed slightly. You have the feeling that these wounds need proper treatment really coming out the other side of it. She looks up at you, Robin, and thank you. Thank you for going out of your way to help me there. I shouldn't have let him... And she looks away. Charlie, I don't mention it. The only thing that matters is that you are safe. Is our business done in here? Can we leave?
00:06:40
Speaker
I've got no reason to stay. Are we sure that this was the problem? I mean, there's more of the mine. We haven't seen all the mine. Yeah, that's what Robin means. Shall we go further? I think it's best to go further, don't you? Perhaps a short rest just to make sure that Talia is okay. Well then maybe we should keep a watch. I thought you wanted to go.
00:07:09
Speaker
I want Talia to be safe. I don't want anyone to die. I mean,
Rest and Exploration
00:07:13
Speaker
we could rest for an hour, couldn't we? And just take our time and then maybe, you know, Claude seemed to know if they were unliving in the mountain. Maybe he could do that again. Oh, let me check. One second. I'm going to use that ability again. Mark. Eyes of, no, what's it called? Eyes of the Grave, yeah. Are there any undead within...
00:07:38
Speaker
Within 60 feet, there are no pings. Okay. I think the coast is clear somewhat for now, somewhat. Listen, I don't need to rest, so I don't mind keeping a watch. Fine, we'll take a rest. Are you sure, I don't know, that you don't mind taking the watch? No, it's fine. I only lost a little bit.
00:08:05
Speaker
I mean, it's only an hour. I mean, it's not like anyone's going to sleep. Fair enough. Well, if anybody does sleep, then, you know, at least we've got somebody feeling a little bit tired myself. You could say I'm exhausted. So maybe maybe an hour will do me good. Yes, of course, Drago, you've got that one point of exhaustion from your friend. Pointless frenzy, yes.
00:08:30
Speaker
Pointless frenzy. Yeah, I like that. That should be an actual action, the pointless frenzy. And Tali at this point has kind of stood up and then he's a bit woozy on her feet for a second and kind of grabs a hold of Robin's arm just to kind of balance herself in it. Yeah. I think actually our rest might do me some good to actually, um, are we just stopping here or finding somewhere else? I can't see anything.
00:08:52
Speaker
Let me help and I'm going to conjure lights in like a circle around us to make like as much illumination as possible. Okay and the light that's currently already there kind of pulses out and becomes slightly wider and bigger.
00:09:09
Speaker
even from this angle you still feel like you're kind of suffocated by the darkness there's no other light source you're not reaching any walls the only thing you can really see that isn't the air in each other is this asphalt kind of blackened ground all around you you can't see either of the walls you can still hear though off in the distance if you remember before the battle took place you could hear what sounded like running water and you could all hear that it sounded was echoing from quite far away but you can still hear that
00:09:38
Speaker
Almost like the noise you'd hear of like a mini waterfall, but far off in the distance. It sounds like falling water as opposed to trickling water, if that makes sense. Are you sure you wish to follow us, Tali? No one would think any less of you if you decided to go and get those wounds looked to. She'd be fine, Robin.
00:09:57
Speaker
I'm not going to just stand out there by myself. I don't know where the fuck we are, let alone what I do, what go back to the tavern with that man. No, I'd rather stick with you guys. I mean, we could continue on and find where this great cavern leads. Maybe there'll be a doorway or an entranceway and we could stop there rather than sort of feeling like we're sat in the middle of the void in here at the moment. Right.
00:10:23
Speaker
I like the sound of that. There was a room back up the track where we came from. Perhaps that might be a chance to regain. I'm sure where we are right now is fine for a short rest. The battles just happened. I don't think that anyone else will be coming here anytime soon. And if they do, you can defeat them like last time. You helped a little bit.
00:10:53
Speaker
Yeah, so let's take our rest. I'm gonna go and take a little nap. Okay, and Tali will just lean over and just kind of trepidatiously put herself on the ground and just use bonfire and just make quite a small controlled fire and just plonk herself down next to it just staring into the fire. Under this you can really see now the shadows.
00:11:17
Speaker
that the flames are kind of flickering up across her face. These marks do seem quite iridescent and thick in her skin here. Doesn't seem to hurt her anymore thanks to Claude's cure wounds, but the aesthetic damage is still there on her face and every now and then she reaches her hand up to kind of touch it before pulling her hand away as she just sits by the fire.
00:11:39
Speaker
So with us sitting down to rest, the moment we've all sat down, Karsten will take out his lute and he will just be idly plucking a few strings and I will be using Song of Rest to give everyone an extra D8 worth of hit points for those who spend any hit dice in this hour. So now will be the time if you do need, if you're going to be spending any hit dice, spend them now, but you also add on one D8.
00:12:03
Speaker
While we're there, Antaly's just punks herself down. Drago, you take yourself away to lie down and just close your eyes for an hour to try and catch a moment or two of sleep. Folly, and I'll start with Folly then to begin with. Folly, what would Folly be doing at this time during this rest in this massive large cavern? Folly's basically spent a lot of that fight running around. So we're going to...
Discoveries and Mysteries
00:12:32
Speaker
a little bit out of breath but he's not really talking any damage or anything like that he's going to take a torch out of his sack it's a way
00:12:47
Speaker
He's going to take his torch out. He's going to use Control Flames cantrip on it twice. One to light the flames, and then one to double the area of bright light and dim light that it can actually cast. So as opposed to a 40-foot range, I think a normal torch would actually give you, as well as the light cantrip. I think it doubles it up to 80 feet that I can actually see. And he's basically just going to be wandering around this expansive area, not straying too far away from the party where they are always in
00:13:17
Speaker
line of sight but it's just investigating looking to see if there's any any clues anything unusual that might actually pop out to him.
00:13:27
Speaker
Could you give me an investigation role, please? Okay, not natural. Is that 20 and not natural? With that, what you do notice is you start to walk around the space, you do start to come across these outcroppings of rock. You can tell these are areas that had been heavily mined, but what you do notice under closer inspection, you're still with the line of sight, that on the ground seem to be that have been hewn from these areas, these small
00:13:52
Speaker
kind of not balls, but kind of small rocks of the metal though, obviously mining. You can still see remains of the thinner veins of it in this rock.
00:14:02
Speaker
And some of it has been chipped away and could easily be collected if you want. It's a heavy, dense metal, and it's very, very light in color. It stands a real contrast to the black rock, which seems to form up a lot of this sleek art world, as you're very much aware. It matches the coastline. It matches a lot of the area. This black rock seems to run through the area. And so this metal, this is very, very light, almost titanium style, very, very
00:14:30
Speaker
white clear almost almost mirrored to an extent and you can notice a few of these probably about this you could probably There's a couple of bits that probably the size of your hand folly. So relatively small but you could probably collect Yeah, probably about a kilos worth of it. If you really went to town on it Yeah, he would he would basically every time something would come up that looks like it could be a of use interesting or required further investigation he would pick it up and
00:14:56
Speaker
So yeah as he's going around looking for any other kind of crevices or any other entrances or exits or anything like that He wouldn't basically be picking these up and putting them in his rucksack as well
00:15:06
Speaker
Yep, after you've done that, you do wander a little further around just to see if there's anything else you can find of interest, like you said, and which is an exit. And as you hold your torch up high over the rocks, you climb on to one of the smaller little mounds of rock and hold up your torch. You can see off in the distance to the opposite direction, kind of going deeper into the mine. Off in the distance on the right, you notice a small wooden door that seems to sit open.
00:15:32
Speaker
off in the distance it's probably about 500-600 meters away but it's kind of down if that makes sense to the lights up and manages to kind of get down on it it's going down and we're kind of at the top of this
00:15:47
Speaker
area okay that's fine um if that's all that he would he would basically come back to the um party um at that point yes so i i don't know if this is of um interesting people venturing further down just on the right there's a slight drop and um but there's another door there so it leads further into the mine um would anybody interested in looking at it with me i mean we could do it after we've rested
00:16:17
Speaker
How long have I been walking around? Only probably about five or six minutes or so. It doesn't take very long. Okay, fair enough. Yes, yes, well, that's totally good then. Yes, I just wondered if we were done here or that seems to be the only way I can find going down there. Yes, maybe after we've rested that would be a very good place to go. Thank you, Folly. You're welcome.
00:16:41
Speaker
Speaking of which, Helena, what have you found yourself doing during the long rest? Where have you sat yourself the next week? I'm not sitting down. I'm going to be standing up, pacing a little, being very alert. I've got my weapons ready just in case we're faced with what we were just faced with or anything of the like.
00:17:00
Speaker
Nice, nice. And Robin, what about yourself? Yeah, so Robin, as soon as the rest commences, will wander around and pick up any arrows that were left in the creatures. He will cast mending to repair them, any that are damaged. The next thing that Robin will do is he will sit down, he'll take out the small brazier from his rucksack
00:17:24
Speaker
He will take some incense and he will take some charcoal and he will start to ignite them with a fire. He'll sit next to Tali using the bonfire to ignite the contents of this brazier and will sit there. As an hour passes he'll pick out an apple and start to cut it open with his knife.
00:17:47
Speaker
And eventually what will happen is a small cat will emerge from the shadows and climb up on Robin's shoulder. And Robin will take a morsel of apple and feed it to Nura, who is now in cat form. And he will say to her, I'm sorry, my girl. I didn't mean for you to catch fire quite like that. As you can see, I'm a man of my word. And here you are in a different form.
00:18:16
Speaker
and Nero will just bite the apple and give a... And run down off Robin's shoulder, at which point Robin will click his fingers and Nero will disappear into the pocket realm. I think you might be safer there though. And that's pretty much what Robin would do for the hour.
00:18:33
Speaker
Lovely. Lovely. So we've managed to find your familiar again and got Nira back, which is lovely. Awesome work. Thank you very much. Karstan, what have you been up to? So Karstan's literally just been, he sat down cross-legged on the floor, sort of near the bonfire. He's been plucking away at his lute, just playing his little song. Oh God. You little plucker, you. So he's been plucking a few strings, perhaps finally can...
00:19:02
Speaker
sorry as to why you say plucking it sounds dirty as hell pluck away pluck away will pluck away perhaps trying to tweak uh the song that he started to write uh when he was coming in and he might then take a few snacks that'll be central but that's about it you say you've been practicing he'd been practicing a little song
00:19:26
Speaker
Yeah, so he started one when they first went in. Obviously, they've had this song of rest as well to help them with that. Would that be a continuation of the song that's passed on previously? So the lyrics go, when the hammer falls and it sounds through the halls, when the hammer falls, freeing treasures from the halls, when the hammer strikes and sleep guard comes to life, when the hammer pounds
00:19:54
Speaker
in the, and it thunders underground. Shut the fuck up, I'm trying to sleep. Oh, I'm sorry, Drago. Are we done with this rest yet? Almost, just want to see what Claude's doing. Claude would have spent the time investigating now fallen corpses. Are they still intact? Are they skeleton? Are they ashes? Are they, what is the residue left?
00:20:22
Speaker
You can, give me an investigation check please, Claude. Shouldn't there also only be two corpses because two were banished? Seven. Okay. As you look through it, you can pick out some bits of bone, only very small fragments though, probably the length of your little finger. And then the rest of it is that of ash. Everything else is either bone to weight. As you do pick up these shards though, you still feel the heat kind of emanating from the ash. But you can pick these up if you wanted to.
00:20:49
Speaker
I won't disturb them in any way, but Claude will conduct himself as he does any time or something that has recently deceased. He will perform his ritual gentle repose and prevent the target from becoming undead.
00:21:07
Speaker
which he has done on many occasions since. He has indeed, lovely. Okay, so we'll say that the rest then comes to the end of all those activities are kind of happening and have we all popped our hit points back up to you what they should be. Thank you, William. Yeah, cheers, Will.
00:21:22
Speaker
You are very welcome. The rest comes to an end, and almost presuming this was going to happen, Tali very quickly clicks her fingers off, and the flames kind of go out of the bonfire, and we're left relying on the light of Claude and those that have darkvision, which, from my memory... Folly's torch is still going at this point, by the way. Folly's torch. Does anyone else have darkvision? Just Robin, I think. I've got those goggles. Yeah, I've got those goggles, so I do. I've got the goggles. Wow, party with almost no darkvision. This is great.
00:21:52
Speaker
all manner of things can sneak up on you. Lovely, so we... Creepy. Yeah, the bonfire's gone out now and everyone's kind of standing back up ready to go. Sorry, I'm Folly. Folly, you have darkvision, don't you? Just to... Yeah, I have darkvision. So it's me and Folly, I think that's it. Okey-dokey. Okey-dokey. So we're standing up, everything's kind of sorted, we've packed away anything we've kind of got. What's the plan? What do we want to do?
00:22:19
Speaker
I think we should head to that door that Folly said. Back to the door. Folly, you found a door? Yes, yes, I found a door. Shall I take you there? Is that the only route you found out? The only one I can find. I mean, I suppose there could be something high up, but I can't see that far. Folly's very good at finding things in small dark places, so we're trusting her. This is a big dark place. Lead on, Folly.
00:22:49
Speaker
Yeah, lead on. Follies, basically, apparently going to take point. Glass cannon taking point on this. I'm not taking point. I can't see. It's still going to have the torch showing. Even though we can see 60 foot with darkvision anyway, there's an additional 20 foot of what's going to be dim light ahead of that regardless. So just weird mix of stuff there. But yeah, he's going to make his way basically back to where he found the door, just basically stopping at the top
00:23:20
Speaker
of the actual hill, as it were. It might get a bit steep here, people, so just be careful.
00:23:30
Speaker
slowly just walk down not rushing it's a cautious pace. What we've approached now really is kind of like it feels like a big big mountain of slate a very small flat stone that seems to have been built up like shingle lots and lots and lots of it built up here so it's kind of it sinks underfoot but it's not like sand it's larger two inches in kind of diameter worth of size with these kind of black slate pieces that seem to have broken off from somewhere.
00:24:00
Speaker
There's loads of it forming this part part part of the kind of hell down. Can I have everyone make an athletics check, please? Can I do acrobatics instead? Always one always one 19 14 3 23 yes
00:24:23
Speaker
I got athletics check, yeah? Yes, please. I rolled a 17 to win my modifier. That's 19. Lovely, Callum. Sorry, Volley? I got a natural 20. Oh! Oh! Straightly. I'm leading the way. I'm in perfect kind of cool. I don't know. You're in perfect age for the Olympics. Don't forget to add your modifier to that because you don't get natural 20s on skill checks. Exactly. Poop. Or do I need disadvantage?
00:24:53
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Yes, you do actually. Which one was it? Was it athletics or acrobatics? Athletics. Oh, come on. In that case then, a natural 20, you dropped it down to 19. I've got a minor strength. And Raga, you got a 15 plus 5, so you're on 20 anyway. Natural. And Robin.
00:25:12
Speaker
at 24, 18 plus six. Lovely. Thank you very much. So you will manage to get across this ground absolutely fine and start making your way down towards this door. The air down here does seem to get colder. The sound of this running, falling water seems to be slightly louder, but still very, very echoey. So even at your current location, further down and deeper into the cavern.
00:25:34
Speaker
it still sounds like it's off in some distance. The air is still, you can't hear or see anything except for this pool of light. Very much think of it like the fellowship of the ring in the minds of Moria. Yeah, so just a huge cavernous, I didn't mean it to be that way, but this huge cavernous space with just silence, nothing else. No one, no one do a merry and knock a pale eye. I am walking around with very clank
00:26:03
Speaker
I forget you are the clank man. I mean, I mean, I can play some bagpipes if people want. No, no, no, no, just no, no, please no, no, no, no. If someone puts some money in Drago, he's broken. No bagpipes, no one, no, just no. I've never even heard a bagpipe before. I'll play them for you soon. Don't worry.
00:26:30
Speaker
We approached the door which seems to set itself out of the rock face. These rock faces are very forced and there are big chunks taken out of it on purpose. This doesn't seem to be the natural much as the same in this mind that everything has been forced out of this place. It's bereft of anything that made it part of a mountain.
00:26:52
Speaker
And this door sits looking rather old and forlorn open. And inside you can see just blackness at the moment, but you're still kind of approaching it. Is there anything anyone wants to do?
00:27:02
Speaker
Are we still on the decline? Are we still moving on a level? Are we descending? We have descended and now we've stopped descending. And as you look off further past the door, it's kind of leveled off and it's more darkness beyond. Is it still the same sort of groundwork, just like, hewn out pits? Or is it now on like...
Industrial Revelations
00:27:39
Speaker
Think of it, in my mind, it's the size of the worm in June, that kind of huge monolithic borehole that has been forced into the site at an industrial level. I mean, Claude especially would know about the industry that took place in Blackmouth before the
00:27:45
Speaker
formulated paths?
00:27:58
Speaker
Before the rebellions that took place there, the amount of industry money this place was making in terms of exports of stone, of the metals and all the rare gems they found deep within the Skullroad Mountains were infamous. And so this doesn't surprise you that this opening to the mines, this mine in particular, which is just industrious in the size of it, but this door seems a little odd.
00:28:22
Speaker
So Kastan would be up front with Folly being like really enthusiastic. So Folly, is this the first time you've ever been in a mine like this? A mine like this, yes, but I must emphasize the importance of quietness. Based off those creatures that we've had before, we don't want to put anything into shock, surprise, where it can attack us. So just...
00:28:45
Speaker
OK, I'll try and talk really quietly then, OK? OK. OK, that's right. You're going to kick the door down, right? I think the door's open. OK. It's open. The door's already open anyway. I'm going to close the door and then kick it. OK, it's a pool door, so... I thought I was going to also have now, just as an FYI, as we get to the door, because obviously it's quite dark ahead and this is a now unbeknownst area,
00:29:16
Speaker
he's going to cast Mage Hand just to take control of the torch and he's going to have that hovering by an additional 20 feet in front of him so it's even kind of further range that we can kind of see in front. And Folly as you do that and the Mage Hand takes the torch and kind of takes it 20 feet in front of you and I imagine a little bit higher not massive.
00:29:38
Speaker
Absolutely. Probably about Drago's height level. Yeah, okay. As you do that, the light of the torch emanates further and you notice, especially from the front, that this door seems to lead directly to some stairs.
00:29:52
Speaker
these are man-made stairs now. So is it like stonework or is it like bits of timber sleepers that have been laid down? So from your current location, you can't really tell what materials are further down the steps here. All I'm saying is that from this position, that you really see further down from your current position. It depends if you want to get closer or not to have a closer look and folly and cast and you're at the front. So it's kind of your call.
00:30:20
Speaker
They wouldn't really be thinking of that at the time. He would just still cautiously make his way down. I mean, so what does Kastan, with my passiveness, what am I passively noticing? I mean, am I seeing steps hewn out of the rock? Or is that as Danny says, are these stones laid or wooden planks laid into the rock? Yeah, but I'm following Folly down the steps. I assume I can look at the steps because he's got a torch. You can, yeah. And as you approach the steps, I wasn't sure if you want to...
00:30:50
Speaker
But yeah, as you approach the steps and you kind of doorway go in Castan you notice straight away that yes, this is man-made this has been built on purpose It's about two two two people wide But as the stairs go down that do seem to go on by 40 or 50 feet down You can see from the torch the stairs seem to get narrower. These are stairs that have been
00:31:13
Speaker
cut out of the rock but then there are a series of wooden beams around the outside of this to hold the small doorway in place. The wood seems to be quite light colour. Okay, it gets a bit narrow further down so you might want to be careful when we're going down the stairs. Drago looks at you and he looks towards himself, looks himself up and down
00:31:39
Speaker
I can only be so careful in small places. I just thought I'd warn you, that was all. Perhaps single file would be the best approach to this. I agree. OK, so can I take a running order then? Who's going to be at the front? I was the only other person who's capable of producing a fight and can take a punch. I would go first. I mean, I'm very keen to be up there at the front as well.
00:32:07
Speaker
So literally, I mean at the moment it was him and Polly but no need to kind of move around while we're on the stairs I imagine you're not quite at the stairs yet I'm perfectly happy to hang back and be towards the back of the bus as am I Yeah, it will stick himself in the middle just to try and give a general area effect of light in an even direction for everybody Well, Helena will fit wherever then wherever she's needed
00:32:32
Speaker
Okie dokie, so at the moment I've kind of got you with Claude at the front, followed by Karstan for the Helena, and then Folly, Drago, Robin and Tali at the back there. I don't think we'd have Tali at the back. I will go at the back because I've got darkvision so I can at least keep an eye on what's happening over our shoulder as well.
00:32:54
Speaker
Okie dokie, so I've just moved it so that Robin's right at the back entirely, she's next to Drago, between, sandwich between Drago and... Nice little sandwich. You're a bad man. And as he starts, what I meant, I've had to... A meeting between a Drago and a sandwich. We know what he meant. As we start to move down these stairs, the air starts to still even further, the sound of the running water fades away slightly, and what replaces that sound is a very low...
00:33:23
Speaker
almost visceral hum and doesn't seem to come from anywhere in particular it just seems to emanate from the rock from yourself from the air you're not really sure where or why these stairs go on for quite some time the air becoming stale but what you notice castan as you're walking down these steps with your high perception
00:33:44
Speaker
This path has been walked before. This isn't the first set of footprints to be made. You cannot make out and discern specific footprints, but you can tell because there are dust on the edges and there isn't in the middle. This has been a used staircase in the not-too-distant future. Sorry, not-too-distant past. As the stairs get... Sorry, I'm going to talk, or I was going to... Yes, you're... Claude, Claude. This person is just tapping Claude on the shoulder at this point. Hello.
00:34:14
Speaker
Look, on the stairs, someone else has been down this way recently. How do you know? Because I can see where there's dust on those steps just ahead of us, and there's like none in the middle, which indicates that someone's disturbed the dust. Why would someone come all this way just to disturb? Why would you do that?
00:34:33
Speaker
I don't know, maybe they have a cleaning obsession or they've got other nefarious means. Well, maybe leave them to it. I mean, you know, this place is absolutely filthy. But also, they might have more nefarious sort of doings going on down here. I don't know what nefarious means. It means evil.
00:34:56
Speaker
evil doings yes that's my middle name i'm going to do another eyes of the grave please mark any undead i'm gonna go what's the 60 feet yeah let me just have a quick check for you clawed evil doings oh hang on i'm gonna say something the moment we finish this i've got a line to say can't wait you ping out and you get almost nothing
00:35:21
Speaker
Almost nothing. You get a slight haze, like similarly in the forest, a while ago. It just kind of disrupted the ping, you get that. Okay, we are definitely, excuse me a second, we are definitely approaching danger. Is evil doing really your middle name? I don't have a middle name. Oh.
00:35:46
Speaker
I might just suggest that we all take a listen to whatever that noise is. It doesn't sound particularly encouraging or comforting. I think it's Carsten's voice. No, no, no. I agree that that's not encouraging or comforting, but actually... That really hurts, guys, but I'll take constructive criticism and I'll do the best I can. Have we already not been told to be quiet?
00:36:18
Speaker
In that silence, Mark, before Claude chipped in with no more speaking, what exactly does that? Robin's going to try and use his perception to try and pick out what that sound is or if it's something they may have encountered before.
00:36:31
Speaker
I think only Danny could pick that up because of his unliving sense. I thought Mark said it was quite visceral. What Danny picked up is his Eyes of the Grave. Previously, I imagine like a sonar and his sonar was kind of muddied before and that's what I was telling him about. But the rest of us can't. No, but the rest of you could hear and kind of feel a really, really low rumble, almost
00:36:57
Speaker
It almost creeps up on you. It doesn't really start, it just air. And it's only that you have very high perception. Many of you in the party have high perception that you'd even notice it's kind of, you know, like when you have the sound of like a fan or an air conditioner on, and it's not until you turn it off that you realize, oh, that was on. That's what's kind of happened, but really low kind of humble rumble. So Robin, yes, you can. Do you want to give me an active perception role or use your passive? I won't be using my passive because it's garbage.
00:37:27
Speaker
That's a 10 plus.
00:37:31
Speaker
as 12, which is my passive anyway, so 12. Garbage, garbage. You listen, and in that silence that Helena, with her kind of voice of royalty, silences the group for the first time almost ever, and silence kind of takes over, you can hear this slight rustle of the water from outside. And this hum, you try to locate a position of where it comes from. It doesn't even seem to be coming from down the stairs, it seems to just be emanating from the space. And you can't really discern much more apart from that.
00:38:01
Speaker
I don't know what that is, but I'm not exactly enjoying the ambience. So, Claude, are there actually evildoers ahead of us then? Yes. You mustn't speak anymore. Princess orders. Sorry.
Pillar and Statue Discovery
00:38:18
Speaker
so as you continue to walk down the stairs you enter into a small room which as you take a left turn opens up into a slightly larger room it still feels quite stuffy there are two doors one directly in front of you after a little alcove and one to your left in the very center of the room is a
00:38:36
Speaker
was the ping I received at the door to the left or the alcove to the south you don't know it kind of it was just a fuzz there was no actual location to it really for you okay in this room is a single pillar which seems to have at one point been supporting something it seems to be of a very different architecture to the walls surrounding it this seems to almost be placed it seems to be out of out of place slightly
00:39:03
Speaker
the floor is of now a more controlled slate panels almost like a five foot by quite large panels of slate that seem to cover the ground and the walls seem to be properly cut not with brickwork but just cut out of the uh of the area okay there are two doors one in front of you leading south and one to the
00:39:27
Speaker
east you have two choices there or you've got a pillar in the middle what would you like to do can i investigate the pillar please yeah do you want to give some investigation check please um i'm going to take my passive of 22 please 22 okay so as you look at this pillar you start to look at all the different areas and shapes and see if there's anything you can push pull change or anything
00:39:48
Speaker
and what you notice is that this has been moved this isn't its natural location this pillar has been taken from somewhere else the rock is different to that of others as you move around this pillar it seems to be quite low actually it kind of sits at your hip height you notice that it seems to be of an older
00:40:07
Speaker
an older time really this must have been found somewhere you know very little of this in terms of your history knowledge cast and but you do know that this rock doesn't belong here this plinth stone i imagine imagine it's like one of the one of the pillars in kind of grease those acropolis style pillars that kind of feel to it and it's of a lighter stone or the other stone here is quite dark
00:40:28
Speaker
give us load bearing in any way or does it like reach the ceiling and no not at all it stops at about hip height for cast and so about three four feet given our corner check against the pillar of course you can yeah make an arcana check and then we'll go back to cast on okay can i get an idea if there's anything magical about this because reason for obviously i'm putting it down um 19
00:40:52
Speaker
Okay? With a 19, what you do, Folly, is you approach this and you look at the base of it and you can see very, very small, a symbol of an iconic property. You can't really make it out. And as you blow to move some of the dust away from it, some of the dust actually gets into your eyes slightly as you've blown it away. And what you suddenly realize is that this dust has
00:41:17
Speaker
has some kind of property of its own accord and what you realize now is you've got enhanced darkvision okay so something within this stone has improved your darkvision however what you cannot discern though is why you don't know if it's the dust the blowing the stone but something has changed your vision okay is there any of this dust there that i can possibly
00:41:47
Speaker
bottle up in a vial is there any leftover for me to kind of grab a few pinches of yep just next to it you can take a couple of pinches of the dust oh i will grab a bit of the dust then uh castan was there anything else you want to do after your investigation magic game pillar and follies on the other side
00:42:03
Speaker
Okay, so investigating it, obviously, I've seen that it's been moved here. Is it obvious how recently it was moved here? Whether you're passive that high, you can tell that it's been there for a number of years, given that there's a lead dust on it and around it. However, a much shorter time than the rest of the space. You can imagine from this it was moved in the last year or two.
00:42:27
Speaker
Okay. Does anybody know anything about these mines? This pillar's been moved here, but only in the last few years. It just seems odd for someone to place a pillar like it's like a plinth. Someone should be sitting on this. I don't know. But Princess, can we speak again? Yes, what for? I don't know. Princess, do you know anything about these mines? You might be the most... Do you really want us to call you Princess?
00:42:57
Speaker
No, you can call me by my name. Princess. Helena, we'll be fine. Helena, same question to you. I kill wear and sleep guards. This is, yes, you don't need to call me by my royal names. Thank you. I can have a look at my history. I mean, if you could, it's clearly been moved here by somebody, but why, I don't know. Does it really matter? Well, everything matters really, Drago.
00:43:25
Speaker
No, that's not true. I'm not sure about that opinion. Mate, can I roll for history? You can indeed. I was just going to let them argue it out for a second. But no, absolutely go ahead. I will do that whilst you argue it. Sometimes, I mean, everything matters. Just sometimes some things matter more. I rolled a 12. OK. You cast your mind back to your time in the Sanguine Lands. You cast your mind back to your childhood at Goldview on
00:43:53
Speaker
on the sleepguard coast and try to see if you can remember seeing anything like this. You remember your time spent in the museums and libraries of Goldview and if through your history and your training
00:44:09
Speaker
or your teachings and your schooling, you remember anything like this. The plinth reminds you of some of the architecture that would be in Moonrise, which is one of the other kingdoms. It seems odd that it would be in the bottom of a mine, and it seems odd because you've seen ones like this in museums.
00:44:30
Speaker
um i can't say that i'm i entirely know what this is it reminds me of some of the architecture that i know of from from a city in the city kingdom kingdom a kingdom moonrise um but i can't say that it reminds me of anything why it's here if it's been moved who it's been moved by if you think that i'm sorry i can't be of any more help
00:44:57
Speaker
You were really helpful, Princess. Thank you. It's a plinth. It's a big stone plinth in the middle of a random room. It's a random object. I don't understand why we're still stood here. I hate to say it, Drago, but there's actually nothing random about this. Someone has placed this here and it's completely out of place, which means we should proceed with caution. Proceed is the key word. I like that. Proceed.
00:45:21
Speaker
What this plinth suggests is that there's some kind of method or something, and that suggests intent behind whoever is down here. We should also look out for any traps. There might be someone still down here we're not sure of. Well, from what it looks like, I think we have the option to go straight ahead south or turn east and see that way. So, we're... Margot, you have an opinion on this? Well, we're confirming that the plinth does nothing, right? For now...
00:45:52
Speaker
Cool. Sorry, just to add on to that, Karsten, you would have also noticed on the top of it, it does level off, it has been kind of cut off. And you do notice a small, probably six inch by six inch circle, which seems to have been cut. And there's nothing, it sits almost like an opposite coaster. Does it look like a golden idol should sit there? And if I removed it, a large rock would chase us. Absolutely.
00:46:20
Speaker
Okay, I mean the opposite of that then there's nothing there. Oh, so it's all right. I mean Clearly this that something should have sat here. So maybe maybe it's been removed and looted or maybe it's I mean, I'm not a smart guy here, but we did pick up a big bright shining diamond Are you suggesting that that should sit on top of the plinth? Maybe we could give it a go Folly over to you. He's not tall enough
00:46:47
Speaker
Give me a diamond. Have Mage Hand shut up. Of course. With that, Folly's going to grab the torch, he's going to bring Mage Hand over to him, grab the torch manually, send his Mage Hand into the backpack, he's going to rummage around for a few things, you actually hear it moving and touching a few things before it brings out the diamond. Is it actually big enough, is it the right size to fit into the pedestal?
00:47:11
Speaker
You could put the diamond in it, but it doesn't fit snugly by any stretch, no. It's going to put it in anyway just to see if it does anything. I've had dates like that. I'm glad you said it because I was going to. I knew someone would say something.
00:47:31
Speaker
Brilliant. So as the ethereal blue mage hand drops this large diamond on the center of this plinth, there's a silence that kind of takes over at the party as we wait for something to happen in that moment of trepidation, which goes on and on. Nothing seems to have happened by placing the diamond there. Okay, take the diamond off it. This is why I don't decide what to do to stupid plinths in a stupid room. Let's move on.
00:47:59
Speaker
I'm not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed there. Oh well. I kind of agree with Drago though. Perhaps the thing that we're looking for that this may involve could actually be further into the minds anyway. We're not necessarily saying it's been taken. It could have just been moved. I believe it's been taken as well. I don't know why I've been taken.
00:48:19
Speaker
While this is happening Robin is going to very cautiously as if he's about to commit a bank heist move towards the southern door just checking for traps along the floor around the ceiling as he goes and just seeing if there's anything to indicate what could be that way.
00:48:37
Speaker
Okay, as you approach that southern door, it's a wooden door and it is shut. You can look around it, it seems to be a relatively thin door, more first. There are no traps that you can discern or notice. Do you want to give me a roll for that? Yeah, investigation. Yes, please. 25. Yep, there's definitely nothing there. You check the floor, you check the panels of the floor, the side of the door mechanism itself. There are no traps there that you can notice on that door. And is the door locked?
00:49:08
Speaker
you try the handle and it seems to click and open if you chose to push it further. Yes, so it's open. Okay, with no detection of traps, Robin will very gently put his hand to the door, turn the handle, softly push the door open. I guess we're going to the south entrance, guys.
00:49:28
Speaker
Okay, and you see a short corridor, only about 15 feet long, and then another door. However, to the right, the doorway, the passageway opens up into a larger passageway to your right. Is the eastern direction, is that a door as well, or is it just an open corridor? It's a door as well, both the doors. I'm ignoring that then. Unless Folly wanders over that way.
00:49:55
Speaker
He's probably going to have a wander over. Follow the wanderer. Oh my god, it's his generation game. Party split. Party split. So we'll just deal with the door as well. It is a door as well, yeah. He's cautiously not slamming. He's not doing anything to that. Just as best as he can. Reaching up to the door knob or when I was actually on there or just pushing or pulling it open, whichever one actually works. Push the door.
00:50:22
Speaker
Maybe a push, and you see the beginnings of a corridor. You take a couple of steps in, and it opens up to the left and to the right. Looking down it further, you can see it open up. It goes further on down to the south, and then just to the north, you notice a small crate. Sorry, the passageway ends to the left. Kind of a couple of steps, and then there's this crate, and then off to your right, so south. It continues going on deeper and deeper, and you can't see the end of it. Everyone, we found the box.
00:50:53
Speaker
Paolo's curiosity is just going to get the better of him, and he's going to head up to the crate that's on the north. He's going to give it a quick look, see if it looks odd in any way, shape, or form before he opens it. It seems to suit the location. It has a thin layer of dust over it. This hasn't been touched in a while. It doesn't seem to what it seems to be made of, the same kind of beams that adorn the walls of this mine also are made of.
00:51:22
Speaker
And that's about all you can just say. He opens it up. Okay. Great. What does he say?
00:51:27
Speaker
Within it you find the crate is filled with straw and a lot of the straw has become hard and crackly and crispy under hand. As you move your hands through it slightly you do come across an item and you come across a small wooden statuette of a woman wrapped in a sheet, a shroud almost, and you can tell it's a woman from the features of the face, either a woman or an elf.
00:51:53
Speaker
you aren't sure which but this does seem to be a wooden statuette and as you look at this figure which kind of fits quite large in your hand you notice the base of it seems to match the size of the plinth you saw in the earlier room.
00:52:06
Speaker
Okay, he turned around, he'd probably see Kastan there, just behind him anyway. Kastan, look, as I thought, there's an actual figure. This looks like it might fit into the plinth. Ooh, amazing. Mark, does the figure look like any kind of god or particular figure we might recognise from Aerith?
00:52:28
Speaker
Yes, I forgot the name of it though, bear with me two seconds. It is the figurine, and you would definitely know this, and Folly, you wouldn't, because you don't have much interest in the religions here, but Castan, you definitely would. This is a figurine of Tiriani, which is one of the major religions in the area, which, funnily enough, centralised around the area of... Folly, can I have a look at the statue for a minute? Yes, yes, yes, just don't break it.
00:52:56
Speaker
Okay, oh my god, this is a statue of Tiriani. Look at it. Oh, the craftsmanship is amazing. Maybe this will fit on the plinth. It's Tiriani. Yes, Tiriani. Who is Tiriani? Tiriani is one of the, she's one of the three gods, you know, the three gods that people are allowed to worship, you know, before the bad thing happened with all the gods. I don't have time for gods.
00:53:18
Speaker
Oh, um, okay. Well, um, should we go back to the group or... I have to get the group. Get their attention. You use that voice of yours. Okay. And Carstan will raise his voice slightly and say, everyone look, we found a statue. Found a statue. Found a statue. What statue? What is it? It's of Tiriani. I think it fits on the plinth. Tiriani? Carstan, you know this.
00:53:47
Speaker
You know Tiriani. Yeah, she's one of the gods. From when we found that lady in the burnt down hut, what was it? Cart. Cart. She was a priestess. Yes, her god was Tiriani and it's also somebody who I worship.
00:54:16
Speaker
Well, if you could have this, then your Majesty and Castan will hold out the small statue of Tiriani. Did you not say it's going to be for the... If I may, yes, I believe this fits into the plinth. Perhaps you would do the honours, put it in there. Maybe someone who's faithful to Tiriani should put it down, though, because maybe it belongs there. I can try it. OK. There you go. I'll put it on, questionably.
00:54:42
Speaker
okay and as you put this statuette into the plinth it fits perfectly and as you place it down there's a slight click
00:54:52
Speaker
and all of a sudden a number of torches on the edges of the room start to just light up and you hear this sound go off into the distance as you feel you've almost kind of switched the lights on if you will for for this area of the dungeon so you'll be clear to see vision but the issue you might have thinking is that
00:55:14
Speaker
Have you just given away your location to those, if there is anyone else nefarious in the mines? But the mine seems to light up and you can see even clearer now than before, the state of disrepair this mine seems to be in, this area seems to be in. Stand back everybody, get your weapons ready. Cough and get your loot out. Not the loot, your weapon. Helena, Helena, no one's coming, I can't hear anything. Are you sure? I think you've just turned the lights on.
00:55:44
Speaker
Can I do another Eye of the Grave? It was just very unexpected. Another Eye of the Grave, was that, Claude? Yes. Yep, you can do. I mean... 60 feet, please. Yes, you get a ping. From where you currently are, which is on the southern door, facing south, it's coming from the south-east. We are... There is a nasty, really...
00:56:12
Speaker
Carstan, when you went into the east area, did you just go the one way? Yes, I mean, there was a corridor that Foley and I saw going sort of further in, sort of towards the south, but that was it. Claude, where did you get this vibe of Overworthy? Sounds like it's where that other place was. What? Noisy didn't go.
00:56:35
Speaker
Oh, it's moved now. We can't see anyone, Matt. Maybe Karsten, you and Folly should go back into the eastern area. I don't think they should go alone. That's fine, I will stay here. I'm not entirely sure splitting up is a good idea if we're detecting something that could potentially cause us mischief and harm. Can you tell where you detected this, Claude? Yeah, I'm already running in a direction. Follow me. Okay. Karsten, I'm going to book it to Claude.
00:57:04
Speaker
Okay McLean, McLean, McLean, McLean. I was kind of already there right behind him anyway. Is everyone going down there? I'm going to sort of stay in, yeah Danny just put me, yeah. So I'm going to sort of stay here which is in the, just in the entrance to the eastern area because I don't want to lose sight of that room that we just put the statue in. So we're in this long corridor moving and what you notice is it's kind of too wide
Confrontation and Cliffhanger
00:57:31
Speaker
broken pillar which does seem to have at some point it's supported it's it's stone on the picture but it should be oh you can't see it because i've still got it
00:57:42
Speaker
There you go. It's broken in front of you. It's made of the same kind of stone that you've seen the rest of the area made in, okay? Just in front of that is a drop, a large pit, which seems to sit about 15 feet down. The pit seems empty as you approach it. You cannot see anything within it, but then it does come up on the other side. And there are some baddies on the other side.
00:58:09
Speaker
what you see in front of you are a triad of these creatures that you have never seen before none of you have ever seen before they seem to take on the guise of this skeletal scorpion almost the best way of describing it the top half almost like centaur style the top half is of this
00:58:28
Speaker
ancient decrepit military skeleton with a large almost long sweeping scythe with a dark metal helmet on and red glowing eyes the bottom half of this creature seems to be that of a oversized
00:58:45
Speaker
scorpion with large pincers coming out of its kind of hind legs and a large stinger at the back of it as well and there are three of these flanking the other side of this mine
00:59:00
Speaker
They stand there looking at you. They seem to almost be shuddering with energy. The vibration which seemed to emanate from the mind seems to become even stronger here. You can hear almost a buzzing now in your head as they look up. The central figure steps onto the plinth on the opposite side which is also broken. This obviously seems to be where a bridge used to be over this gap.
00:59:24
Speaker
steps up onto it and lets out this glottal kind of visceral scream out of it which seems to partially deafen you as you cover your ears and one of them on the left side steps down drops down the 15 foot into the mine sorry into the gap and pulls out a bow and just looks up to the lead one the taller one the larger one that stood on this plinth the larger one just slowly nods its head
00:59:53
Speaker
And the other one steps down as well and they start moving towards you. And that's where we're going to end this week's episode. Oh, daddy. Oh, shit. Engineering. Thank you very much for joining us, everyone on our first recorded virtually. I keep getting this wrong. Thank you very much, everyone, for joining us on our first remote recording session. Thanks to the coronavirus. We appreciate you listening, even in these hard times. And we're hoping that these episodes actually serve to some distraction for what's going on in the world.
01:00:23
Speaker
And that's what we should all be doing at the moment. And can I suggest that you get some group of friends on the online interfaces, and use Roll20, and use D&D Beyond, and just start playing some games? Because you know what? We can all come a little bit more together, even though we're further apart. You know? Beautiful, man. That's there you go. Is that what you wanted to say, Mark? That was exactly. Basically, I put that in a message and sent it.
01:00:51
Speaker
I thought so. We're so linked together. We are so in sync. It's unreal. If you wanted to follow us, guys, you can do. We have a Twitter page, which hopefully you know by now. But if you don't, you can find us at Fellowship Table. You can find us individually if you wanted to, to explore all the mad universe that we create, that Mark creates out from his mind. I'm just talking shit now. So you can follow me at iWorldA1. You can follow Will at... Natural20Will. You can follow Callum at...
01:01:22
Speaker
D20 Gamer. You can follow Darren at... Darren page 06. You can follow Case at... Unicorn Quit. You can follow Danny at... At Total Party Thralls. And you can follow our fabulous DM who's so close yet so far to me right now at... At Hastily Roll DM. And until next time guys... Farewell!