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Chapter 0 - Glimki's Story
37 Plays6 months ago
Sometimes a crow is just a crow, or is it?
Meet the cast:
Dungeon Master – Zach Meikle (IG: @zachabee)
Clay Campbell – Prima Zhao (IG: @primbdraws)
Faunalyn Vaydark – Shannon Meikle (IG: @sharsharbinks)
Glimki Treefellow – Jordan Johnsen (IG: @jordan_johnsen)
Editing by Zach Meikle
Follow the show:
Instagram: @bard_soup
TikTok: @bard_soup
Music & Ambience
Music: Magic Tavern by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Uplifting Ballad by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Sunrise by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Roaming Three by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Nowhere Land by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Ethereal by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Wonderland by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Wayfarer by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Additional sounds provided by Pixabay
Recommended
Transcript
Prologue Dilemma
00:00:01
Speaker
Ptolemy Henkel paused to think. He'd managed to hold the giant's attention through two prologue chapters. But did he dare attempt a third? Well, I guess we can get back to the ball. That seemed to answer that. But Ptolemy wasn't about to be dissuaded so easily. This was a good way to fill time, and he wasn't about to give that up without a fight.
Glimpkey's Backstory and Dwells' Culture
00:00:26
Speaker
Cloud, my boy, we can't just go back to the ball. You don't know anything about where Glimpkey has been.
00:00:32
Speaker
Oh, sorry. It just didn't seem like that would have a lot of bearing on what's currently happening in the story. He was right. But Ptolemy needed to stall for time. And frankly, he was running out of ideas. Besides, it's not like Glimky's backstory was totally removed from the current story. It would just require an expansive viewpoint on what constituted relevant information.
00:00:57
Speaker
Club, club, club. How could you possibly know what would have a bearing on what given that you don't know the story that's being told? That's a good point. Perhaps it just requires a more expansive viewpoint on what constitutes relevant information. I couldn't have put it better myself. Anyways, back to the story.
Glimky's Wayfair Preparations
00:02:09
Speaker
Our story begins. Or perhaps it is yet to begin, in the sprawling lands of Dwells. At its simplest, Dwells is the home of gnomes. It is where the many gnomes of Xav originated, but it is so much more than that.
00:02:24
Speaker
It is here amongst rolling hills, gently trickling streams, and small forests that the gnomes of Zav live their simple lives. The gnomes live life to live, doing everything they can to squeeze as much as they can out of their time on Zav. There are dozens of villages and hamlets spread out throughout dwells, although many choose to view dwells as one big village where all are welcome.
00:02:47
Speaker
Many gnomes call this place home, bearing a wide array of family names. But all can be traced back to five main lineages, the Pickertons, the Rockbottoms, the Tinkermans, the Baskers, and the Tree Fellows. It is the last of these
00:03:08
Speaker
Proudly speaking, the different families of dwells all contribute in a very specific way to life here. And your family, as tree fellows, have a long, proud tradition of helping keep the land safe from wandering beasts and troublemakers that would seek to disrupt the peaceful ways of dwells. Dwells sits between the sprawling elven forest kingdom of Ulith Orthiad to the north and the sprawling wilds to the east.
00:03:32
Speaker
Both of which contain their fair share of threats, although none have disturbed dwells in several years at this point. The worst you've had to contend with is perhaps the occasional bear or drunken gnome who's had a a bit too much to drink, although the corrals are ah a particularly surly group of gnomes that often make a bit of a ruckus when they can. However, that is all distant on Lumki's mind, not really something he's worried about, because we join him today, early in the morning, on a fine fall day. Faros, the Sun Phoenix, has nearly completed its journey from Golo, the large moon, to Ketchil, the small moon. The winter will soon be upon you.
00:04:18
Speaker
Despite the changing seasons, Glimpy has bigger things to worry about, because today
00:04:31
Speaker
he begins to Wayfair, a proud, time-honored tradition in which
00:04:53
Speaker
The last five days have been filled with partying and celebrations as gnomes throughout loans have come to your home in Glenhaven, a town or village where you have lived your whole life with your family. This has been the only life you've ever known, and tomorrow that all changes.
Family Advice and Emotional Farewells
00:05:09
Speaker
We can zoom in to a small bedroom in a cozy cottage, and we see a young, relatively speaking, gnome. Could you tell me what Glynki looks like?
00:05:22
Speaker
so he stands at a nice three foot three he's not uh not the tallest of of fellows but not the shortest of gnomes he's kind of got some lightish brown messy curly hair and i guess at the moment he he's packing his his leathers and his satchels going over i guess every list and and making sure he's got everything that he's he's been needing for this trip at this point there's definitely a nervousness to him as he kind of like thinks about the journey ahead. Yeah, that makes sense. And as you are packing up your belongings, you intend to set out early the next day. You don't want to waste too much time. You know that it's going to get cold sooner rather than later, and you don't want to waste good travel days with winter looming. The thing about Zav, as you know, and if our audience hasn't picked up on it by this point, then I'm doing a bad job.
00:06:21
Speaker
is it is a flat world and as such there's not really Arctic regions so much. There's not like a land of perpetual frost. There's mountains and things get snowy and maybe they stay snowier for longer than other parts of the world. But kind of when winter hits, unless you're on the islands, it's going to get a little cold. It's going to get snowy with some exceptions. And so yeah, with that in mind, you're packing up, you're getting ready to go. And there is a a small knock on the door. Oh,
00:06:56
Speaker
ah cup Come in. The door opens and you see your father, Frankie. He's this older, at least older than you, gnomish man. He's kind of got a full head of hair, but it's it's mostly gray. He's got kind of a nice beard, actually, almost like a like a lighthouse keeper, like salt and pepper beard. And he comes in and he says, Hey, son, just wanted to see how you were doing.
00:07:25
Speaker
ah Well, I'm doing good. i just I'm just trying to make sure that I have everything that I need. Are you sure? Just one cloak is good, or should I bring, like, ah more? Well, that's tough. I mean, on one hand, you don't want to be, you know, carrying too much stuff with you. On the other hand, well...
00:07:49
Speaker
Winters come in, it might be nice to bring your thicker cloak and then have something a little lighter for the spring. Right, right, right. Thicker and then a lighter one, okay. But at the same time, I mean, you're gonna be gone for probably quite some time, I imagine. And you're not gonna be able to bring everything you want.
00:08:10
Speaker
for the entire trip, you know, you're going to have to resupply at some point, you might be better off just selling what you don't need and buy a new, perhaps you find some pilgrims you can trade with and, uh, yeah, he's looking at the, the pile of, uh, of stuff that he's like set out on his bed and it's like, you can tell it's just beyond what, uh, any one man should be, uh, be able to pack in a back. Fair. Very fair. He says, you know, um, there's a,
00:08:40
Speaker
There's a shop, I mean, I stopped there when, well, when I way fared and not sure if it'd be the same same owners these days, but it's east of here, town called.
00:08:53
Speaker
little hambling. I remember when I was there, I bought a ah second cloak on the road and they gave me a fair price. and yes what was The town was a little hambling. I think the shop was ah Bodkin's on the cross. They gave me a fair price and treated me kindly. What else can you ask for? That that sounds like a good plan. aye You're gonna meet some kind people, you're gonna meet some some unkind people. The world's different outside of dwells. I hope we've made that clear to you. a I think, if if anything, that's the only reason I'm really nervous that, you know, the people here have been nothing but supportive. But, you know, there's there's stories, of course.
00:09:37
Speaker
Except for the corrals, but you know, besides that, I mean, but I think we all can get a little rough when we've had a bit to drink, right? Yeah, that's true. No, you're right. But you're gonna be okay. And he kind of like claps you on the shoulder. He says, you know, I'm really proud of your son. you You're gonna have an amazing time. And I can't wait to hear all about it when you when you come home.
00:10:07
Speaker
He starts to tear up a little bit. Hopefully i I can come home with some stories as cool as the siblings. They've all seemed to have some amazing adventures. oh Oh, they did. And you will too. I wouldn't worry about that. But yeah, you better, you better get that bag together. We gotta, we gotta take off soon. If we're gonna, if we're gonna hit the tree by, ah by sunfall. How is he, how is he seeming right now? Is he like,
00:10:37
Speaker
Yeah, give me an insight role. Yeah. Oh, look you look at that. Seventeen. He's sad on the scale of like closed off father figures. He's, you know, closer to the open ended scale. You know, he's usually pretty open with his feelings and whatnot. I think with a 17, you have a suspicion that he is sad to see you go.
00:11:04
Speaker
but also happy that you're doing this, but also he's sad but doesn't want you to see that he's sad. He doesn't want to take away from your excitement. I gotcha. A lot of competing emotions tugging at at Frankie's features, but that's dad's. Yeah, well, i'll I'll make sure that I get the bag packed. I got a couple of things to keep ah keep my eye out for. I know, you know, Folly's been asking me for all these these books.
00:11:34
Speaker
Oh, she will not stop talking about those books. If you don't come back with at least a couple, then, uh, she's good. She's going to be quite upset. I will do my best. We'll, uh, we'll see what I can find. Maybe that shop will have something. Who knows?
00:11:49
Speaker
Well, he's about to explain like what retail is in the wider world. And then decides, no, this will be fun for you to figure out on your own bites his tongue. Yep. Maybe. Yeah. He pats you on the shoulder once more and then kind of strides out of the room. He's getting up there in years, but he's still very, like very spry, very active.
00:12:15
Speaker
still works, goes out on scouting trips from time to time, make sure that reports of various things that go bump in the night are nothing more than stories and rumors and not some manticore, chimera, or any other number of beasts that sometimes make their way in from the wilds or the enchanted forests.
Community Celebration and Support
00:12:40
Speaker
And yeah, I would say you finish packing up your your bag and you go downstairs and you see that the the house is empty, which is odd. you know For most of your life, there's always been someone running around, making noise, doing something. There's been times where it's been less full where some of your older siblings have gone on journeys of their own, things have gone a little more subdued, but never for long. They've always come back. And in recent years, some of your older siblings have started to start families of their own. Gloria and her husband, Warji, have three children of their own now. And Asterik and his his wife, Isola, they have just had their first kid. Her house is starting to refill with a a new generation. But you walk downstairs and things are
00:13:36
Speaker
quiet. And I think it's a little unsettling. Interesting. Yeah, I'd like to call out to just anybody who might be home. but is so Did everyone leave? Dad, are you still here?
00:13:56
Speaker
There is no immediate response. And then about like five, 10 seconds later, the the front door swings open and your older brother has Donnie as Donnie. You tell me. As Donnie.
00:14:11
Speaker
as Donie. He opens the door and you see he's a few decades older than you. He's around 120. He's got a similar, albeit a little shorter beard than your dad. And he's wearing this, uh, this sort of tweed vest and pair of wooden clogs. And he kicks open the door and says, well, hurry up then. What are you doing? You're wasting all day. Sorry. ah Let me get my stuff. Sorry. Oh boy.
00:14:41
Speaker
I quickly gather up my things and run right back to the front foyer. He kind of like reaches to put you in a ah bit of a choke hold. Give me an athletics or acrobatics check. okay Hey, 14. He yeah reaches for you and you're no stranger to his nuggies, if you will. yeah And you duck out of the way and it says, oh, come on, one more for the road. Come on.
00:15:07
Speaker
ah Yeah, roll my eyes a little bit and it kind of lean in. You submit and he he rubs your head real good. And you're gonna miss this. I don't think I will.
00:15:20
Speaker
He steps it back outside, and if you follow him, you see that a caravan has assembled sometime in the early hours of the morning. Like I said, over the last week or so, people from throughout dwells have come to Glenhaven to celebrate your imminent departure.
00:15:45
Speaker
There are sheltercombs and bullwalkets, conwoods, forrets, a few scrafters and staefords, even a couple scoopers and burrotons. People from all over Dwells from the surrounding villages have come to see Glimky Treefellow off your family.
00:16:03
Speaker
are Tree Fellows. You are one of the five—if the closest thing dwells has to royalty, you are part of that, part of this honored lineage. But also deep down, you know that even if you were a lowly McDoodle, there would probably still be a similar turnout.
00:16:20
Speaker
The people of Dwells love to celebrate their own and send each Wayfarer off in style. And you see that overnight, all the people that have come and gathered in Glenhaven have packed up the things. They've got wagons being pulled by mastiffs. Some of them are just wearing towering backpacks and look twice as tall as what you've managed to assemble and you're shocked at what they've done. Yeah, I definitely see that clock. I'd be like, well, I could have brought so much more stuff.
00:16:49
Speaker
Maybe I should get my other cloak. You see, uh, Mr. Okadee's sitting on top of the, uh, the local, there's a water mill and he's sitting on the roof of that and he's got a little loot and he's just plucking away. And he sees you step out and says, well, hold up, Mr. Glimky. Hello. Good to see ya. I won't be making the trip with you today. And he like goes, that's more than okay.
00:17:14
Speaker
No, no, no, it's just money is acting up and I don't want to make the journey. But all the best to you lad and we'll see you soon when you return. Thank you for that. I'll keep my eye out for some new musical equipment for you. Maybe I can bring back some fresh strings.
00:17:29
Speaker
Oh, no need. I make my own. and He ah plucks in one of his hairs and you're like, that's not how this work, but okay. Mr. Okadees is a bit of an eccentric in a town full of eccentrics, but that's cool. We we love him anyway.
00:17:46
Speaker
Yeah, and you see that as you make your way past this caravan that's that's formed, you see your family. The entire family, in fact, is gathered this morning. You see your parents. ah Your dad is now talking to your mom, who's a slightly older, gnomish woman. She's wearing a nice fall dress. It's this lovely, like earthy brown color, and she's got a ah traveling cloak on. and You see they're they're fiddling with a carriage that's going to be pulled by this this real mean donkey that you've known your whole life. Wiggle raggle, real bastard of a beast, but there's no one you'd rather have pulling you in a carriage or in a wagon. Here it is perhaps a ah generous term.
00:18:31
Speaker
but wiggle-raggle the donkey. It's out a nice little, e oh and you see the rest of your siblings all helping load things up. You see several of the young ones, your nieces and nephews are being bundled up and forced to sit down. They're they're young. Some of them are like,
00:18:52
Speaker
two or three. One's just an actual baby. And your sibling, Gloria, who is, uh, she's fiddling with a tiny child that she's kind of got attached to her, like, you know, in a little... little baby bjorn Yeah, exactly. She looks up at you and she's got a tired expression of her fate. She says, good morning, brother. How are you today?
00:19:14
Speaker
I'm doing well. i'm I'm glad you made it. I would have totally understood if you wanted to get some extra rest with the youngins. Oh, wouldn't miss it. Wouldn't miss it. Her husband, Warji, who's this potbellied, if if a gnome could be like a lumberjack, Warji is that. He's just very, very thick, very squat man, barrel-chested gnome. And he says, hi, good morning. How are you today? I'm doing well.
00:19:41
Speaker
Oh yeah. for coming You are greeted by a cacophony of everyone who sees you asking how you're doing. This goes on for far too long until your father steps up on top of the ah the wagon and he claps his hands and says, all right then, we're ah setting off for the community center and oh we should be there by by evening and then um we'll really send the lad off in style.
Farewell at the Tylstowar Tree
00:20:04
Speaker
Ain't that right? You bet, dad. Everyone cheers and this procession sets off.
00:20:11
Speaker
Everyone knows that everyone who is about to Wayfarer usually has many days of celebration, of gift-giving, and merry-making. This will be the sixth day of celebrations for Glimky Tree Fellow, and it is custom that the last day of any one about to Wayfarer is spent at the base of Tylstowar.
00:20:40
Speaker
It is this great tree that
00:20:54
Speaker
Tillstowar is what the elves who gifted it to the people of dwells called it. Most people call it the gathering tree and those that choose not to use either of those names often refer to it as the community tree center. And it is here that the gnome from her dwells gather to govern, mourn, celebrate, and discuss matters of the utmost importance. It is simultaneously wedding chapel,
00:21:20
Speaker
parliamentary building, funeral home, the site of many a nice picnic and celebration, a harvest feast, a spring festival, all take place at the gathering tree till to the store. And yeah, under your father's instructions, the people start to move. There is music and there's people dancing and there's children running amongst the wagons and the carriages. There's a couple scoopers that are running around with a wheelbarrow. There's just like three scoopers being carried by a fourth in a wheelbarrow. nice And this menagerie procession makes its way through the wells. And you pass over many a shady brook and through many forest trails, down through a valley with a gentle
00:22:13
Speaker
flowing waterfall. You pass ready for the fall harvest. You see quick fingers plucking mushrooms and hand smackers looking for fruit that is probably past its prime at this point. You see the people of dwells just around each bend. You see a new familiar face that you're not going to see for some time.
00:22:38
Speaker
So before we get there, i can I check on Folly? Sure. Like before we get to the the festivities, we need to touch base. Please, yeah, your sister is sitting in this wagon with you and she's kind of dressed up for a celebration. She's got blonde hair and it's nicely curled. She's got ribbons in it and she's wearing a light blue dress. And despite the merry appearance that she has, she's got a rather serious expression on her face. Okay. Well, I'd like to break the ice by saying
00:23:13
Speaker
Okay, Folly, I've seen and I've been over this list of books, but I'm starting to think that you've made some of these up. Give me a inside roll.
00:23:27
Speaker
That's a nice six. you look for some telltale sign of deception. Whenever she's she's lying, she can't help but smirk the right side of her her her smile, kind of just always like twitches up a little bit whenever she's pulling a prank and you you look very closely for her giveaway and you don't see one despite your suspicion. And she says, no, they're all real. I promise. Yeah, if you say so.
00:23:56
Speaker
She says, let me look at the list. um I might need to add a few additional lists. Look here, number six, The and Enchanted Harp Song of Tales of the Fate. Where where is where am I supposed to find something like that? Oh no, a bookstore? A library? Okay, well, i'm I'm just thinking that this is a tall order, you know? I'm supposed to be out there finding myself, not all these books. I guess if it's too much work for you, then... Well, no, no, no, no, of course. I want to. It's fine. I mean, you're going to go off wayfaring and I'm going to be I'm going to be left alone with that Billy Scrafter. And, you know, he's such a bore. really scrap her ah Billy Billy Scrafter. Who the heck is Billy Scrafter? You know, Billy Scrafter. No.
00:24:41
Speaker
Not Billy Glosfer. If you're thinking of Billy Glosfer, that's the different billie Billy. Billy Scrafter, he's the one with the red hair and all the freckles, and he always likes to pull on my braids when when I'm not all done up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Billy Scrafter, yes, yes. Yeah. Okay, well, I'm gonna tell your other siblings to make sure that he doesn't hang around as much as he does. They're not gonna have any time for me. They're all busy. They got their own kids. It wasn't so long ago. I was the baby of the family, and now everyone's too busy looking after the actual babies.
00:25:11
Speaker
Oh, you're not gonna be here anymore. She looks up and she says, Whisper of the Gorge, could you add that one to the list? It's supposed to be- Whisper of the Gorge. Yeah, it's it's about this about this guy and he goes to a ah gorge and it whispers to him and I don't really know anything beyond that. I'm kinda just basing everything I know off the title. Okay, Whisper of the Gorge, add it to the list, of course. Okay, perfect. and Hey, of course everyone is building families, but that's what makes that's what makes us so great here in Wales.
00:25:39
Speaker
I like to imagine it like the whole city's one big flower. There's sometimes some pretty leaves or maybe some thorny elements, but that's not what makes a flower a flower. It's all of it together, Ollie. Okay, so even with the bad, it all makes it good. She looks at you and says, you got into Miss Plumdale's pipe weed, didn't you?
00:26:04
Speaker
but ah Not even a little bit Yeah, okay, I mean I don't know I'm just gonna be bored without you around but that's okay as long as you come back with lots of books then and I'll forgive you I promise I will come back with at least one Oh, also, could you bring the Lightning Wolf back? I really want to read the Lightning Wolf. The Lightning Wolf? Yeah, it's about a wolf, and it's made of lightning, I think. I don't really know much beyond that. I saw it when a pilgrim came through, i I saw it in his bag, and I wanted to steal it, but I didn't, because he caught me. Oh. Yeah. Well, I mean... Come on, it's about a wolf made of lightning! light Lightning Wolf, Lightning Wolf, yes. What do you do expect me to do? Not take it? I'll make it i'll add it to the list.
00:26:49
Speaker
Thank you. Gosh. I will miss you, Folly. Yeah, I know. And then, you know, before you know it, you'll be on your own adventure. Oh, I don't know. I mean, I'm not ancient like you, so. Ancient? Mike! You're 80 years old! You're old! Yeah, not even a hundred, so. You're old! Gosh. So weird you hang out with me. Don't you have any friends your age? I mean, well, okay, hold on. He's out wafer-ing himself, so.
00:27:18
Speaker
Yeah, I know. And maybe I'll bump into him on the road. You know, wouldn't that be fun? Yeah, that'd be crazy. Give me a perception check. Okay. Oh, God. This is really, really high. Four.
00:27:33
Speaker
She kind of turns her face away and stares back out at the road. Everything's good, and the rest of the trip goes by uneventfully. You see that the sun up in the sky above you starts to glow this sort of darker orange color, a deeper orange. The sun does not set on Zav, famously, but you do know that it explodes with a certain degree of regularity and usually this sort of a deep orange color is a precursor to that and you know that soon it'll be sun down is the wrong word i've been talking with your your contemporaries sun-splode has been floated as a more accurate descriptor sun-splode yeah and you know that sun-splode is probably no more than 30 minutes away wouldn't like
00:28:28
Speaker
like a nova like supernova but not what a what a an unsupernova yeah but like a nova yeah like yeah the end of the day started the new day what a hoity-toity word for such a simple man but I like it a nova. yeah as As nova is approaching, you crest over a hill, wiggle-raggle kind of hee-hawing indignantly. It's been on the road for quite some time. And you round this crest in the hill and you see a beautiful valley spread out before you. And at the center of it is a tree, hundreds of feet tall.
00:29:11
Speaker
300 maybe 400 no one's measured it good cuz that would ruin the allure it would yeah if people had like a sign and just said ah See our tree. It's 397 feet tall. yeah Where'd the mystery be? Yeah, it's easily 50 feet wide at the base at the the trunk of it and It is till still are the gathering tree your father sees it and says, all right, well, I should have just enough time before Nova to get everything set up and then on this party can begin. And the processional makes the rest of its way down to the base of this tree and people kind of spring to life and anyone who was starting to tire or nodding off as the as the miles went by, they spring to attention and people start to put up tents and there's some storage facilities nearby. They pull out tables and
00:30:04
Speaker
stumps that have been preserved and what have you. Fires are lit and food starts to be cooked. Several cooking pots get put down and people start throwing together stews and kegs of ale are rolled out and set up but on the back of wagons and wheelbarrows. It starts to take on the appearance of like a um tailgate party, if you will. Hell yeah. And as you are walking around, you're you're you're the birthday boy. You're the guest of honor. You are Exempted from all of this preparatory work and I think I think he would be still be trying He's pulling out tablecloths. He's he's pulling up chairs. Yeah, you start trying to help out and Your hand is smacked away your shoot off by several ladies. Yeah Yeah, you go from quick finger to dabberly, to shoulder comb. You go to each of them, you see the Fixies are a family that descends from the Tinkermans. They're setting up this long table that's going to be this like long dining table. They're quickly erecting that and they shoot you off and you wander over to this nearby creek and you see several of the scoopers have little pans and they're looking for nice rocks that they can use. as like a place setting and they start throwing the rocks at you and laughing when you try to help out. You see some quick fingers, they're descendants of the Pickertons. You see them walking around and grabbing some last-minute vegetables from nearby plots and shared garden spaces. This is my favorite thing. I love this so much. I'm smiling the whole time because it's so cute.
00:31:42
Speaker
You see a young ginger gnome that you recognize as Billy Scrafter just lounging under a tree. And you're like, all right, maybe I can just like lounge her a bit. And he's like, I don't think so. What do you know, Billy?
00:31:58
Speaker
You look up into the tree and you see a shelter comb who is a cousin of yours. The shelter combs are part of the tree fellow lineage and he's up in the tree keeping a watch to make sure nobody's sneaking up on you. The tree fellows and their kin can sometimes be a little paranoid. I think of the gnomes, they're some of the hardest to get to just relax and you're like, nothing's going to happen. Like, come on. But he's very intent on making sure that nothing does. And yeah, you.
00:32:27
Speaker
kind of wander around for a while and as you're wandering around talking to people trying to find work, the sun explodes. Nice. It erupts and cosmic stardust shades of green and purple and molten amber red go bursting out and fill the night sky in this routine nightly cosmic event. And the sun disappears from the sky and the light slowly fades and dissipates. The two moons continue to or begin to glow rather this ah this brilliant white light, a little a little fainter perhaps than you would see on our own planet, but still
00:33:08
Speaker
providing enough illumination that you can see clearly what's going on and as that happens the party begins in earnest and a vast cacophony of instruments begin to begin to tune up everyone who's brought a pot or a stick with a string attached to it or perhaps a proper fiddle or any other lute, lyre, instrument, whatever begins to play and people start playing and you've got just the most hobbit-ass sounding music dot dot dada da da da People start dancing and food is served and there's delicious stews made with vegetables pulled right from the earth here. There is ale flowing, you know, everyone is drinking and enjoying mugs of delicious ales and beers made from the barley grown into the valley here. You see a couple of the younger, younger being a relative term, but you know a couple gnomes in their 60s pull out a little bag of pipe weed. Start smoking and blowing smoke rings. I offer you some if you want. Yep. Here we go. Yeah. I did think Folly had thought I'd done this earlier. Give me a performance check. Yeah, dude. 18, dude. 18. What does your smoke ring look like?
00:34:26
Speaker
Oh goodness gracious. Just super circular. A perfect circle. The kind of circle that they say only a psychopath can make is what you manage to blow forth from your you're perfect magicians. You know when people do that like thing where they you're draw a circle with a straight arm on a chalkboard? It's that circle. It's that circle. I love it.
00:34:47
Speaker
yeah and as you're going around is there anyone you're seeking out anyone you're trying to uh see before this night ends uh i mean No? Yes? Folly is the one that I wanted to talk to, but she's... I don't know how she's doing, to be honest. I think when Glinky saw the ah sun ah explode, that sense of like, oh god, this is real, kind of like, set in. So now it's kind of like, okay, how do I just distract myself and until the morning comes?
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah, as you're looking for ways to distract yourself, could you make a perception check for me please? Yes. Oh wow, I'm really like super good. I got a one.
00:35:35
Speaker
With a one, you look around for another pipe. You're looking for some more pipe weed, and you fail to see Kalbus and Roswyn Correll sneak up on you, and you see these two ruddy-looking gnomes, kind of uncombed hair, their shirts, you know, his his shirt is untucked, her dress is kind of like falling off of one shoulder, and he says, heh heh heh heh, off to see the world, are ya lad? Oh, please.
00:36:05
Speaker
Not today, of all the days.
00:36:11
Speaker
And the the other one, Roswyn, she says, now, are you gonna leave without giving me a cash? Yes. That's an easy one. Thank you. Next question.
00:36:24
Speaker
She rolls a 18 as she smacks you across the face and storms off angrily. Kalbus says, that wasn't very nice. Shoulda let my wife kiss ya. Shoulda let me watch. Okay, I don't know what it is with you, the Corells, but every time you guys bring this up, it's always enough. ah You'll change your mind once you see the world. You come back in two years, you come find me, and I'll watch you kiss my wife.
00:36:52
Speaker
Have you ever even been on a wayfarer? I've seen you my entire life. Why would I? I've got everything I need and dwells right here. My wife? Hail? An endless stream of young gnomes willing to kiss my wife? What else could I need? Has anyone taken you up on that offer? Yes. I don't believe you, man. Give me an insight roll. Oh my god. Four.
00:37:18
Speaker
Yeah, he seems adamant in his belief. You choose not to believe him, but he seems very convinced of the cuckoldry that takes place in the Quarrel estate. Estate being a generous word. Havel, perhaps, is a better one. Listen, Quarrel. What? Mr. Quarrel, sir. Ah, call me Kalbus Quarrel. Sorry. Mr. Quarrel is my father. What does your name tell us? Kalbus? What the hell?
00:37:49
Speaker
What did you say? Sorry, a little too much of the stank, you know what I'm saying? What did you say? He downs his mug of ale and then just wanders off, does not speak to you, does not answer your question. Okay. And you just hear him as he wanders off. He says, who's going to kiss my wife? Oh my God. There's always a one.
00:38:17
Speaker
As he wanders off, you turn and you find yourself suddenly face-to-face with someone you were not expecting to see. It is a young, gnomish man about your age, early 80s, late 70s, somewhere in there, and you see he's got long, kind of flowing auburn hair down to his shoulders and he's got a pair of thick glasses on and He is your friend, Felzer Fixies. And he says, Surprise! What are you doing here? Well, I wasn't going to miss my best friend setting off now, was I? Glim, he just gives him a big, big hug.
00:39:05
Speaker
And he returns it. You're really happy to see him. It's been not that long. Honestly, if you think about it, like, sometimes the days kind of blend into each other, but he left last summer. So it's been well under two years. Okay, well, I've got a bone to pick with you. Oh, what do I do? Well, if you're here, yeah then who the heck am I supposed to bump into on the road?
00:39:28
Speaker
Oh, I don't know, uh, perhaps a knight, or a wizard, or a big old bear. Ah, you'll find someone. Oh god, Professor, this changes everything. i had I had it all mapped out. Oh. I pictured the first three months of solitude and sadness, and then right when I was going to decide whether or not to keep calling her to come home, I was going to happily bump into you on the road, and then it would all make things better, and then we would continue the journey as friends now.
00:39:57
Speaker
He's kind of got this easy smile on his face, and then it it, like, it fades a little. Like, it doesn't completely disappear, but he says, yeah, oh, oh no. I have the same plan, you see. And then I didn't run into you because you were here, of course. And I don't know. I just got homesick. I wanted to come home early. Oh, geez. That's all enough. I mean, the world's a scary place. It's, uh, it's tough out there. And I don't know. People aren't like they are in Dwells. I just, I always knew what to do here.
00:40:27
Speaker
That's exactly what I was saying. It's confusing. I don't know. yeah It wasn't for me. But, you know, everything we talked about, you know, I thought, you know, we're bigger. We're bigger than this. You know, the big dreams. Did jim did you get to see the cities? I mean, I saw a few. Not all of them. There's a lot of cities out there. ah did did you get your Did you get your big adventure?
00:40:56
Speaker
your Your stories to tell? Yeah, yeah. I've got quite a few. um Give me an inside roll, if you will. Oh my god. Who's your friend, damn it? You should know him. I'll give you an advantage on this. Okay, nice. Because he is your best friend. You've known him your whole life. Okay, the first roll was a 17, the next one was a five, so thank goodness. I was rolled well anyways. Felser is lying through his teeth.
00:41:23
Speaker
Yeah. I think he's going to let it slide and what he's going to do instead is put his hands on his shoulders and be like, Hey, you know, you don't have to share any now. I'm sure you're tired from the, from the journey home. How about we, uh, we do a little rain check and, and when I, I'm back, we can trade stories. That sounds good. I'd like that. Is something, something wrong?
00:41:52
Speaker
I didn't make it past Taylor and Sean. I was gonna catch a ship out there, and it seemed like the the quickest way to see all the places I wanted to see, and I got mugged on my first night. Oh, it fell, sir.
00:42:09
Speaker
Yeah, I lost lost everything I had with me, all my coin, everything but the clothes on my back. I spent the next year just scraping by and working odd jobs. And I didn't want to come home early, even though it's the only thing I wanted to do. And I ran into a cousin of mine. He said, you were setting off. So I decided I would come back and surprise you. And I am surprised.
00:42:38
Speaker
Yeah, I'm so sorry. elsewhere You didn't have the best times. But the the important thing is is you made it home and you're safe. And I think the goal is to learn whether or not you're made for the bigger world out there. and And I think you fit perfectly here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of. Give me a persuasion roll.
00:43:02
Speaker
Okay. Ten. That's enough. He seems reassured by your words and he kind of puts an arm over your shoulders and says, I knew I made the right choice coming back. It is stupid that you're leaving tomorrow, but that's okay. I'll wait here for you.
00:43:20
Speaker
stupid Well, I mean, you know, there's like I just I just got back and now you're leaving and I don't want to monopolize your time. But anyway, just it was it was good seeing you. Well, hold on here. let I'll see you when you get back. Okay. And I i you're going to just be careful if you if you if you head north. Watch out.
00:43:40
Speaker
Not every elf is as noble and elegant as they might have you believe. There's some mean ones out there. Sharp sharp knives. Good to know. Well, I'm glad you're here. I will try my best to be safe. Maybe I'll maybe i'll find your stuff. no That'd be something.
00:44:03
Speaker
Maybe they sold it to that store. If you find the shiny red apple I had with me, I'd love to have it back. It looked really good. Shiny red apple. I'll put it on the list. Thanks, mate. Shiny red apple, right after whispers of the gorge of lightning wolf. You're going to wind up with a book called Shiny Red Apple and your sister's going to be so disappointed.
00:44:24
Speaker
yeah and you know you spend some time with him and he did have like a few adventures in spite of the misadventures that kind of dominated his time away. It wasn't all bad.
00:44:34
Speaker
I'm sure there's some stories that he can tell that like he doesn't think are cool, but then like in retrospect, it's like, you did what? Yeah, totally you're you're in a small town and he went to the big city, something you've never done. And that comes with a certain element of coolness. And you can tell like, as you're talking and you're like visibly excited, he starts to feel a little bit better about his experience, even though it wasn't what he had envisioned for himself.
00:44:58
Speaker
After a little while though, your mum, she comes up and she she greets your friend and then says, hey son, um, sorry to, sorry to pull you away from your friend, but I'll talk to you for a bit. Of course. but What is it? I think it's, I think it's time. Do you, do you have your offering with you? Wait, what? Your offering for Mulare?
00:45:25
Speaker
Oh. Can you remind me what a good one would be? Well, I mean, something that comes from the heart, typically. Why? Why are you asking me about this now? You you remembered to pack something for the spirit, right? Well, I hold on. I'm sure I've got something packed somewhere. We kind of, yeah, we flash back to as you were packing up your stuff. You did grab something. You knew this was coming. Or at the very least, Gloomky knew this was coming. Yeah, yeah.
00:45:54
Speaker
What is something that he would have grabbed? It is custom for those about to Wayfair to make a offering, present something at the base of the gathering tree. They leave something for the the great spirit Mulare, the light watcher. What is what is it that Glimpkey has elected to bring?
00:46:14
Speaker
Something to bring, something to bring, something to bring. So it's fall, right? It is. and Okay. So he knew that this was coming in fall. Okay. He knew that he, he'd made this decision by himself a long time ago. So what he did was ah with the help of folly, he's made a, like a journal.
00:46:33
Speaker
of like press paper and he's collected all of the spring and summer flowers from the start of the season and they're all pressed in this this book and that's what he's gonna leave there at the uh the communitry yeah amazing ah so yeah you tell your mother this and she says oh good i was starting to worry that you forgot to bring something but that's a wonderful gift son the spirit will love it I hope so, and there's definitely and there's a moment where Glimpy was like, I did genuinely forget and I was gonna bring this along just for keepsake, but I think this is a good time to leave it. Nice. She says, I'll walk you to the tree. How's how does that sound, son? Of course, yeah, and I put my arm out for her to to walk with her.
00:47:20
Speaker
Yeah, she holds on. She's probably in human years, like late fifties, maybe. Getting up there, still still in good health and shape, but you can't help but wonder what she'll be like when you return and how long you will wind up being away for. There's no guarantees out there in the wider world, but she begins to walk you along and she starts to tell you a few stories that you've heard. You've heard them dozens of times about her her adventures when she was younger.
00:47:50
Speaker
Oh, and the troll. It said, you must give me a toll. Will you believe that? I'm starting to believe that that maybe you're making some of this stuff up. You wouldn't follow the eric code. No, I would. Oh, how dare you. You're going to be important, like your sister. She's a bad influence on you. Yes. You weren't like this when you were younger. No, yeah. we just She's got a good perspective on the world. Please do take care of her, mother. Oh, of course. I've taken care of five children before her. I'll take care of her, and she'll be just fine. and I mean, but let's be honest, mother, she's a little bit different than the rest of us. Yeah, but she reads more books than the rest of us, if anything. I don't think she's going to be getting herself into trouble. What's she going to do? Strain her eyes? She has been reading in the dark. Oh. I'll have to buy her some candles.
00:48:47
Speaker
Good idea. I'll add it to the list. And you continue on down this path, the tree getting ever, ever bigger. And she says, okay, well, I'll leave you here and you know, take the time you need. Some people say a quick prayer. Some just, just leave their offering and walk away, but take as much time as you need and I'll, uh, I'll see you back at the party. Okay.
00:49:11
Speaker
Sounds good, mom. Thanks. Thanks for the reminder. Of course. That's what mothers are for. And she ah she turns and she walks back up the path. What does Glimky do? I guess it's kind of quiet here. Yeah. Oh, very. The music is quite a ways off. You hear the different sounds of music and it all kind of starts to fade away into the background.
Glimky's Spiritual Vision
00:49:33
Speaker
I think like what Glimpy does first, obviously, he he lays that book down, but I think, you know when you like sit and you kind of like get overwhelmed, not overwhelmed, but like the sound of silence can get really intense. He's kind of looking for and hearing for every bit of nature sound that could fill his ears to really kind of surround himself in the moment.
00:49:56
Speaker
I guess if he picks that book back up and flips through some of its pages, like looking over, I guess like every, he can kind of pages leading up to some of the late summer blossoms at the end of the book. And yeah, he sets it down and I guess kind of offering just like a little bit of a prayer here to Malari. Basically just I think asking for a bit of guidance You know, he says, you know, I know that the journey in front of me is not not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. It hasn't been like that, even in dwells. But the world that I'm going to explore, I've heard many horror stories, but others too, of great adventures. I just hope that wherever I go, I can see a glimpse of this beautiful world that we have here. I don't want to lose
00:50:55
Speaker
cite or pull up my roots too far and know whatever happens out there, even if I am not able to return, I am not going to forget this place for these people and I hope they won't forgive me. As Glimky is sitting there,
00:51:14
Speaker
There's various items kind of scattered around the base of this tree. From Wayfarer's past you see a lot of it is often like food offerings or things
00:51:52
Speaker
A basker might leave a song. A pickerton might leave, yeah, like I said, something that they found. A rock bottom might leave a gem from the earth. A tinkerman might leave some creation they've made. How do you make an offering of vigilance?
00:52:11
Speaker
And while the Tree Fellows are held in high regard in Dwell's society, this is something that Glimky feels in this moment. And something more than just that feeling, you feel like you are not the first to feel this way and that generations of tree fellows before you have struggled with the same question. What is an adequate gift? And you also know that while many have been quite eager to leave this this place behind, to see the bigger world and to go on these grand adventures, you're quite certain that all have felt this sense of worry and this fear at the unknown that is
00:52:57
Speaker
lurking out there in the unknown world. And you sit there and there's a little jar with fireflies that someone left as an offering and they seem to be doing just fine in this jar. You're like, I'm not sure how long that's gonna last for, it but okay. And you place your book down at the base of this tree.
00:53:15
Speaker
And you're, like you said, you're flipping through the pages and you're looking at the different leaves and flowers that have been pressed within it. And you hear a, and you look up into the tree and you see a large black crow, these black eyes slowly like glinting, reflecting the light of these jarred fireflies. You see it looking down at you and it kind of cocks its head inquisitively and cause again.
00:53:45
Speaker
Oh, hello there. And it hops down off of this this branch and kind of glides down and lands on the ground next to you. ah are yeah Are you hungry? And I kind of reach around for some some bread or or something that's been tucked away. Yeah, you've got a little pocket bread. Of course. What kind of party would it be if you didn't manage to steal a couple of pieces of pocket bread for oneself?
00:54:12
Speaker
And you offer out some bread and it takes a piece and just cocks its head back and chokes it down and then does a little crow hop over to the book and starts to cock its head once more and is looking at the pages and then starts to peck at one of the leaves. Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?
00:54:32
Speaker
I got like pick up the book. but What do you do with this thing?
00:54:40
Speaker
and it jumps up and it flies back into the branches and you can see it like on a low branch looking down at you. this this This is a gift for Mulari, so you can't take it, but you can have more bread if you if you'd like. It pecks at the branch it's standing on oh and then looks at you. Oh, are you Mulari?
00:55:05
Speaker
Okay, I'll put the book back. It continues to stare at you. ah i don't I don't know what you want, Crow. You're very pretty, but i I... Wait, can I speak to this thing? I actually think I can. I think you can as well. Yeah. It's a small animal. Yes, it it is.
00:55:30
Speaker
Okay. what are you What are you up to, man? How are you doing? It calls back and flies up to a higher branch. And I would say with your ability to communicate, you get the sense it wants you to follow. You want me to go up the tree. I like look back at the glow of the party, like in in the trees. Okay.
00:55:56
Speaker
Sure, i I guess if this is some sort of a sign and I start climbing up the tree. You
00:56:27
Speaker
get up to that first branch that the crow was in and then you go from there up to a second branch and a third and every time you get up to the branches on it hops up and flies up to another one. Do you continue to follow? Like how high am I at this point? 50 feet off the ground?
00:56:47
Speaker
okay i like look up at the bird like listen said if this is who i think it is what are we doing here because we're getting pretty high up
00:57:01
Speaker
Okay, I mean, you know, I got a long journey tomorrow, and if I, like, hurt a leg, it's kind of putting a damper on the on the trip here. But I guess, you know, i'll do I'll do a couple more branches. Give me another athletics check. Yeah. Oh, jeez. Five. Five. You start to climb, and the branches are still thick. It's an impossibly large 100 of you would have to be standing on each other's heads for you to even come close step up onto a branch and you happen to glance down and your foot kind of slides off and you suddenly have the wind knocked out of you. as You kind of stumble down and you fall down and you catch yourself elbows up on this branch. I need you to make a dexterity saving throw.
00:57:59
Speaker
Yeah. Oh. Two. Well, two plus one, three. Glimky Falls. Glimky Falls from 70 feet off the ground. And.
00:58:17
Speaker
That's how that's 76.
00:58:22
Speaker
Glimky takes 27 points of bludgeoning damage and everything goes black. What the frick?
00:58:34
Speaker
You open your eyes. on the ground in front of you is a small black crow with shiny reflective eyes. You can see yourself in each of them.
00:58:58
Speaker
the hell what's going on You look around and you see that you are in a...
00:59:12
Speaker
that the sun, which is normally this blazing ball of fire, is a bird. And you've always known
Existential Journey with Mulare
00:59:22
Speaker
it's a bird. That's what you've been taught since you were a kid, but it's never looked like a bird. It's always just looked like a big, bright thing that you shouldn't stare at for too long. And you see it sort of flying around in circles above you.
00:59:35
Speaker
Oh my god, I am dead. The crow pecks at the ground in front of you and claws again and stares up at you. I kind of i like try to just stand up and I'm just talking to myself like, if Elsa made it a year, I didn't even make it a day. Are you gonna talk to me or what? It just claws and stares at you.
01:00:01
Speaker
Okay, what else is around me? Just the flying burning bird and and the crow. You look around, yeah, there's a flying, burning, glazing bird above you, there is a crow standing in front of what the heck is going on here, but take me home, or to hell, I don't know where we are. What the heck is going on here? The crow flies away.
01:00:34
Speaker
ah Okay, well, okay, maybe I was a little harsh. And Glimky is left alone. Now what? What do Do I have any of my stuff? look at the burning bird. That bird didn't talk to me.
01:01:02
Speaker
Mr. Mrs. Godly Pharaoh, sir. Hello? Can you hear me? If I can, it doesn't reply. Oh, God. You have to imagine to be this large of I liked birds while I'm having second opinions and second thoughts on them.
01:01:46
Speaker
a place as any. And I somehow, I might, I feel okay. You feel fine. Okay, so I stretch my back out a little bit, and then I start walking towards the
01:02:37
Speaker
the hill doesn't get any closer. Yeah, I start to run. You begin to run. The bird explodes. It is reborn anew. The bird explodes. It is reborn anew. The bird explodes. It is reborn anew. The bird explodes. The hell is happening? It is reborn anew. Okay, stop. You stop and you realize you're at the top of the hill. Okay. Well, Larry, maybe my prayer was misinterpreted. Or maybe I give you a bad offering. I thought the book was nice. Now, I don't know what to think.
01:03:10
Speaker
Is this a sign? is Am I dead? so Please, if any of the gods here? and Anybody? You look out and you see the bird above you burning persistently and off on the horizon you see a mountain range just peaks upon peaks filling the horizon.
01:03:39
Speaker
peaks of mountains okay well the hill was easy that looks about the same size from here so i will start walking that way you set off and you lose count of how many times the sun
01:04:04
Speaker
The shoes on your feet begin to wear thin and eventually fall apart and you cast them aside. The ground is harsh. You find yourself climbing over crags and through ravines. The terrain gets more and more difficult, your clothes start to tear, they rip. And though you walk for what feels like weeks, months even, years perhaps, your worldly possessions You fade away. yourself standing at the base of a mountain ridge. Okay, well, I made it this far, and I can make it this far. I can make it that far again, just one step at a time. And I'll place another shaky foot in front of the other.
01:05:04
Speaker
Your feet are calloused, they are toughened by years on the road. And you begin to climb. And whatever scraps of fabric that you still clung to your body are torn away as winds ripple through your hair, pulling at you, tugging at you, trying to drag you off this mountain.
01:05:34
Speaker
centuries until one day you see yourself at the top and you see the entirety of creation born out before you you see a small flat disc floating in an endless sea of stars but as you're looking the mountain opens it splits in two and you realize it was no mountain at all but a beak as you are absorbed into an impossibly large crow that bursts forward from the ground only to spit you out upon the ground from which you had came from. What the hell?
01:06:20
Speaker
and you look up and you see towering over you, a hundred, five hundred, a thousand feet tall, this crow, bigger than any mountain you've ever seen, eyes that each are the size of a moon, staring down at you and it opens its mouth and it says, sometimes a crow is just a crow and you really ought to be more careful as to which ones you trust.
01:06:52
Speaker
That was a very large tree you attempted to climb. Yeah, the biggest. Perhaps. Who are you? and Am I dead? Well, I am the one you thought you had found.
01:07:13
Speaker
And not exactly. You are between worlds, between states of being. Sorry, wait, who are you? I am Mulari, the Lightwater. Oh my god. The one you thought you had found, flittering around the branches of my tree.
01:07:32
Speaker
Oh, I see, yes, okay. Sorry, it's been like what feels like a lifetime since that that fall. And yet it has been merely seconds. And you look down and you see you are fully clothed. The book you brought with you is at your feet. And you look up at the top of this thousand foot crow and you see a second pair of glittering eyes as you see a small regular sized crow standing upon its head and it causes you.
01:08:03
Speaker
What the hell? Malari, well, I mean... Wow. An honor to to meet you. If this is real. I hope you like the book. Everything is real. Okay, well, I hope you like the book. Everything is imagined. Who is to say? That is... That's very confusing. And very poetic. Why... I... Would Golivki have heard anybody of interacting with gods? Or spirits at all? and To this nature?
01:08:32
Speaker
nothing like this okay so this would be like this is like whoa no one has told something about this No, occasionally people have claimed to have seen the spirit and some people seem to be just making it up for clout. Others ah appear to believe in what they're saying. Occasionally a particularly graceful deer has, you know, appeared to a band of of gnomes and it has graced them with its presence and other times a ah wolf has howled at the exact moment that a watchman was nodding off and it has allured them to the approach of
01:09:08
Speaker
an outsider bringing ill tidings or ill intent, rather. There's signs, they' the religious amongst your community believe that Malari appears in many ways and not always direct ones. And this is about as direct as it could be. Yeah. So Malari, for forgive me for the question. And again, I'm honored to to to meet you, but but why the why the trick? What trick?
01:09:36
Speaker
And it cocks its head curiously. Wait, so you did not lead me up the... lead me up the tree? Sometimes a crow is just a crow. What? Damn! That crow! It tried to kill me! Yeah, it merely wanted you to follow him.
01:09:56
Speaker
ah Well, i guess I guess so. You're right. Who am I to to know the the great mysteries of nature that is that is your domain, sir? And I'm now kind of getting a grasp on the situation. um Again, forgive me, Malari, and I kind of take a knee here. What is it that you've presented yourself here for me to to see you like this? No no reason? Oh, there was a question in there.
01:10:24
Speaker
You are not here because I have called you. You are here because you climbed a tree after a night of drinking in Revelry. Oh. And you fell to your death. Oh. But you have impressed me.
01:10:41
Speaker
You showed a tenacity of spirit, a curiosity that is remarkable, even amongst one of your lineage. You showed a certain resolve, a belief that perhaps was unwarranted, but so refreshing at the same time. Well, I... Thank you? Sorry, we just skimmed over a part. I am dead.
01:11:10
Speaker
ah well Well... yes and no. You are... in a state of limbo. Neither living nor dead. I just... obviously, I... hopefully this isn't too much to ask, but if you have any say in the matter, can you please give me another shot? I have a long list of things I'm supposed to gather on this trip, and I haven't even gotten a go on it yet.
01:11:37
Speaker
Malari tilts its head back and begins to caw. And you believe it's laughing.
01:11:48
Speaker
ah And then as suddenly as it began, it shuts its beak and it looks down at you with these two eyes, oh these two perfect black pools. And it stares at you for what feels like an incredibly long time without saying anything.
01:12:07
Speaker
But you are scared. You are scared to set off into the world. Are you not? I- Scared of what you will leave behind and that you will be forgotten? Well, I mean, yeah, of course, I- but But, of course, all of my, my friends and and family have gone on some wonderful adventures. And you know, I'm looking for a piece of that too. And it was a nice reminder when leaving the gift that everyone goes through this, this moment of ah hesitation. And I'm certain that once I leave tomorrow,
01:12:43
Speaker
If I leave tomorrow, then that anxiety will will fade away. The confidence will will come with each steady-foot plant after the other. I am sure of that. Very well.
01:12:59
Speaker
Then I present to you a choice. And you watch as the two black pools that are Mulari's eyes, you watch as they begin to swirl and shift. And you see in one eye, yourself, lying broken upon the ground, lights and fires and revelry in the distance. You may return to where you are.
Glimky's Renewal and Departure
01:13:27
Speaker
And you may continue upon your journey.
01:13:30
Speaker
ah and the other eye stays black, or you may know peace, and you need not face the dangers and uncertainties that lay before you.
01:13:48
Speaker
And he takes a moment in looking at his his his contorted figure there. He is reaching into his imaginary pushae and pulls out that list of things that's been growing and reads over all of the the book titles, the red shiny apple candles, and a myriad of other items that have been added to the list of every person he's interacted with over the course of the day. He goes,
01:14:13
Speaker
well You know, it's not just up to me if I go through and I don't follow through. Sure, that looks like it's gonna suck for a minute, but it would suck even more for the rest of the people waiting for these. So I got a lot to live up to. So I'd like to go back if I could. Very well. You are intriguing.
01:14:36
Speaker
Glimky Tree Fellow. Thank you.
01:14:40
Speaker
I have watched you for many years, running amongst my roots, climbing amongst my branches, though never as high as you did upon this evening. Maybe the highest ever. No. Dang it. And it closes its beak and is quiet for a great amount of time.
01:15:05
Speaker
You see in the black eye just nothing, not even your reflection, just an empty black void that continues forever. And you see in the other eye, your mother, who decided to come back and check upon you. And she screams, though you do not hear it. And you watch as the entirety of the party quickly runs over and stands around you.
01:15:35
Speaker
staring down at your
01:16:02
Speaker
Perhaps.
01:16:07
Speaker
what could you be afraid of glory These two eyes that are not actually eyes look down upon you and you just are brought closer to the sight of people observing your death and the effect that has.
01:16:52
Speaker
rebirth is contingent upon your acquiescence. It is not. But the same. I would invite you
01:17:22
Speaker
gift of life, then I feel as though I owe you something at least in return. You owe me nothing. Well... You may accept of your own volition. I would be honored, Velary. I would gladly
01:18:03
Speaker
shadows. Right. I swear it. The bird cocks its head back. and with the force of an asteroid brings its beak swinging down into the ground at your feet stopping what feels like centimeters from you and the ground splits you see a great chasm opens up and you see three glowing balls of light start to rise up from this this this fissure in the earth and
01:18:41
Speaker
you see they rise up until they're floating before you and then they begin to dim and you see three things stationed before you you see a glowing raven made of light you see a cloak that contains the stars within it and you see a leaf Perhaps a leaf from the tree that you fell from. Perhaps a leaf from somewhere else entirely. The crow speaks once more and says, choose one and may it age you on your journey. A crow, cloak, a leaf. The crow kind of effed me up, but sometimes a crow is just a crow.
01:19:28
Speaker
Sometimes it's not. Um, hmm. Cloak with the stars. That's pretty rad. I already have a cloak. I have two. The leaf is kind of sweet.
01:19:43
Speaker
I would like to choose the leaf. You reach out and you grab the leaf, and Malari speaks once more
01:20:12
Speaker
Watch the light on my behalf. My sight is powerful, but I am bound to the lands that I that depicts everyone standing around you. And it speaks no more.
01:20:41
Speaker
What do you do? Time to go back through the portal into the pain. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I guess I go back through. Okay. You step into Malari's eye. And as you cross the threshold, your own eyes open.
01:21:03
Speaker
You feel no pain. Oh. You feel confusion as you look up and you see a hundred gnomes standing around you, but you feel fine. Uh, damn. Okay. Hey, I look okay. Am I messed up? You look down at your limbs. They're straight and unbroken.
01:21:30
Speaker
And Folly, you see her standing at the edge of the crowd, and she says, looks like somebody had a bit too much to smoke, huh? Okay, now you're right. You see your mother asked her, looking at you, and she says, there's something different about you, son. but Whatever do you you mean, mother is, I kinda dust myself off you. I'm not certain, but... That's just the wayfaring glow, and I give her a nudge.
01:22:00
Speaker
your older brother, though you have several. But as Donnie, to be specific, he says, no, there's something different about you. All right. Oh, you seem taller or really shorter or this once you broke that. I don't know. there' There's something different about you. That's all. That's all I know.
01:22:26
Speaker
I've been eating a lot more lately. Maybe I did grow a little bit.
01:22:33
Speaker
What are we all standing around for? There's a party. You pull yourself to your feet and the crowd gasps as you do so. And you don't know what it is that they are, that they are reacting to. what What's going on?
01:22:54
Speaker
your father speaks up and says, you've been touched by the spirit. how do you how did How did you know? I'm like a dog chasing its tail right now. Yeah, you look around, you kind of look at your arms, you look at your legs, you look around, and you reach up to your head and you just feel a blanket of leaves. What? You feel around and you kind of like pull it one and the same leaf that you chose, that Mulari offered you, you just you reached up and you feel you have a handful.
01:23:35
Speaker
So my hair is leaves? Your hair is leaves. What the heck? Okay. That's new. your father steps towards you and then looks at the crowd and says, all right, ever everybody, back, back to the party. that's just ah Clearly everything is fine. Something perhaps strange has happened this evening, but there's no need for gawking. and Carry on, would you? And the crowd, with the exception of your siblings and your parents, dissipates. And you are left with your family.
01:24:13
Speaker
Your father approaches you and says, you do not need to tell us what has happened. I am just happy that you are all right. If you wish to discuss it, I am of course here for you. I mean, Hey, look, I have nothing died. I already got, I am zero days into wayfaring and I already have the coolest story of my life. My hair is leaves. Your hair is. Have you ever heard of something like this?
01:24:41
Speaker
I cannot say that I have. And with a big turnaround to his siblings. hu Day one, it's only up from here. Molly immediately runs over and like, starts like pulling at your hair and like, it hurts. Like every time she like plucks it away, it doesn't feel good. She says, Oh my gosh, this is so cool. I know. It's only up from here. The stories are only going to get better.
01:25:09
Speaker
I would say that everyone's clearly curious, but I think everyone kind of accepts that this is day one of your Wayfair. They thought it was the day before, but it seems like it began a little early. And they contend that they will perhaps have to wait to find out exactly what has happened on this evening. The night continues and there's a certain a certain reverence that perhaps wasn't there before. There was respect, but it was you know came from being the special boy.
01:25:37
Speaker
just a name yeah yeah one of many special boys that have each embarked upon their own wayfare but there is something different about you something has clearly visibly changed and the people are so curious and so confused and just beyond impressed and curious, I guess. It just keeps coming back to curiosity. they're just You just know that people are going to be talking about this this this party for decades to come. Nice.
01:26:09
Speaker
The night eventually wraps up though, and the party dies down, some people decide to set off that evening, others make camp and sleep in tents or hammocks that they have brought with them, some sleep in the back of wagons, some sleep in barrels, but eventually all rest, and you awaken the next morning, and you are made to say goodbye.
01:26:34
Speaker
It is time to leave. And I would say that everyone who is not immediate family or felzer sets off. They understand that their time was last night and this morning is for those that are closest to you. And yeah, you say goodbye. Is there anything particular you wish to say to any member of your family?
01:27:03
Speaker
more like a blanket to to everyone. Obviously this is I'm taking this as a good sign and I know that some of you mom and dad are are probably worried ah much like the siblings before me. I promise I will i'll be back with stories to tell eventually um to share with all of you and maybe a little bit more about how this hair came to be so So please be patient with me and and take care of one another. Folly, please don't stop you know pursuing all of the those books and your creativity because cause you're going to be the one to have to turn my word vomit into a storybook of your own one day. Yeah, thanks guys for for everything you did.
01:27:52
Speaker
they kind of pull you into this big tree fellow group hug. And Folly says, yeah, yeah, hurry up and leave so you can come back already. and Okay. And your father says, ah take this the right way. I am less worried about you than any of your siblings had left before you. You travel with Mulari's blessing and I know that you will be alright wherever your journeys take you. Thanks, Dad. I hope that rings true. You kind of have these little last second goodbyes with the the remainder of your siblings and your mom says a
01:28:37
Speaker
Can I? Can I walk you the first first little bit? Of course. The two of you set off. walk a couple miles together until you reach a small bridge of a lazy creek running through it. And she says, all right, well, I'd go with you the entire way if I could. Just know that. but I'll see you soon. Okay. I'll be back before you know it. Last chance. Um, I've got you down for candles. Is there anything else?
01:29:18
Speaker
Some candles will be fine. And she ah immediately starts to sob and like pulls you in close and gives you this big, this big hug that you stand a few inches taller than her. She pulls you in close. Then without another word, she turns back.
01:29:34
Speaker
from the direction you
01:30:04
Speaker
elven port city of Teilinchon, a place where your friend, Velzer, where his journey ended, more or less. But for you, it is just a beginning.
Narrator's Journey and Discoveries
01:30:15
Speaker
It is your first time seeing the ocean.
01:30:18
Speaker
my gosh and you'll spend many a a day just sitting down at the harbor, watching the ships sail in and the waves crash endlessly, and it enchants you. On one night of revelry, you're out at a ah local pub, you meet a group of dragonborn, merchants from Alan Arsha, who are setting off in a few days' time to return home.
01:30:47
Speaker
the land of the dragon and they are extremely curious about your hair that is not hair and they invite
01:31:07
Speaker
You land a weeks later in Alarsha and spend time exploring the the various islands and the main island where the dragonborn gather the dragonlords' meat. You see lush jungles that are so different from those that you are familiar with, the forest that you are familiar with. You see volcanoes smoking and spouting. You are told that the large volcano, it is where Makrog himself resides, though you know that is not true.
01:31:41
Speaker
they reside exactly, avoid much of the snow, but eventually you decide to return to the mainland and you sail south, and you begin to travel east along the coast.
01:32:11
Speaker
the sound of music nearby and you venture over and you see a group of boundless pilgrims, halflings with no home, who travel Zav in an endless cycle, never resting for more than a few days at a time in any given place. And they are also taken with your head.
01:32:28
Speaker
that is not here and they invite you to join them as well and for a time you travel with them they perform entertain in small towns you see them trade a night's rest in exchange for a quilt or a glass of wine and you see them they have no appreciation of money or coin they perform in exchange for a story A compliment. And then eventually you reach a town. A small town on a crossroad. The sign outside says Little Hamlet. And you spend a few days there. I know this place. You do. One day you see a tailor's shop called Bodkin's on the Cross.
01:33:42
Speaker
to travel east until you reach the Boscola Peninsula. And you know that this city of wonders, a city beneath the ocean, a city full of artisan wizards who craft arcane sculptures for the joy of creation, and you
01:34:13
Speaker
feel like you would be remiss if you did not go there. And you travel. You travel north up the coast of the peninsula until one day you see a city and you see part of the city is at sea level. Several islands with a castle at the far end overlooking the El Suin ocean. And you see other parts of the city are below sea level.
01:34:35
Speaker
There is a massive wall built around the city that keeps the sea at bay. though You see at certain parts it seems to cascade over and you don't understand why the city isn't flooded, why
01:35:06
Speaker
Man, you're really good. No. Yeah, damn. You did so much stuff. no