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Ep. 7 On the Heels - Shadowmend Tales
104 Plays2 years ago
With the betrayal of Karl leaving a bitter taste in McBenners mouth, our little party start making ways towards vengeance.
Follow us on our Twitters - @FellowshipTable
Intro written and produced by Joseph McDade
Music kindly provided by Fesliyan Studios
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Transcript
Introduction and Campaign Reflection
00:00:00
Speaker
Now this campaign has kind of gone past the four episodes that we thought it would do. I really wish I spent the time getting golds and jewels in the molds when possible.
Welcome to Fellowship of the Tabletop
00:00:26
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode of the Fellowship of the Tabletop. We are a live play 5e podcast set in the Kingdom of Shadowmen in the realm of Eryth. Welcome to the Shadowmen Tales. My name is Darren and I'm going to run D&D for you this evening. And with me this evening, it just takes two, baby. I have two players. I have, playing the ranger hunter McBenna, Will. You know, I'm kind of glad we kicked Will after his antics last week.
00:00:56
Speaker
And playing the Dragonborn Paladin Drago, Ian. What up? Okay. Allow me, because once again, do you know, I've really got to start doing what Mark does and actually nominate someone to do
Underwater Journey and Warning
00:01:09
Speaker
the recap? Yeah, you do, you do. I did a whole season one recap. I'm done on recap now. I know, maybe I should like, Will, can we coax Epic VoiceOver guy back? I can, do you want me to try and see if I wing it and then you can add anything I miss, okay?
00:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, go for it. Actually, yeah. And yeah, go for it. Why not? We'll have you wing it. Sure. In one foul swoop, Darren's just managed to shift that responsibility. Previously on Shadow Men's Tales. Our intrepid four people were locked in their own little airlocks whilst the wet vessels travelled deep under the sea. As night passed, Macbenna
00:01:50
Speaker
received a voice in his mind, summoning him to the front of the ship. Awakening, he saw that the Tabaxi was gone.
Betrayal and Battle with Khajiit
00:02:02
Speaker
Following his hint, McBenna went to the front of the boat and was told that the Tabaxi was not to be trusted, that he was going to do something very dark.
00:02:17
Speaker
and very evil, which, as our listeners will know, is exactly what Will does. So, Macbennar went to find his one person that could help him, Drago. Traveling to the front of the ship, Drago and Macbennar confronted Khajiit, the bastard. Facing him, Drago fell under the
00:02:46
Speaker
liquid gold words of the Tabaxi and was frozen in place while Macbene bravely charged forward and didn't have enough movement to get there so threw his dagger instead. Being beaten to the ground Macbene faced death and Drago chose to save the ranger but the Tabaxi escaped diving from the ship
Damaged Ship and Mission Reflection
00:03:13
Speaker
Khajiit and his lantern disappeared, leaving Drago and Macbenna on the deck of the boat.
00:03:26
Speaker
Well, that is some inspiring recap. And I think for that, you better award yourself a dice of inspiration. Yeah, second. Thanks, baby. Considering you weren't preparing to do that this session, well played. It is much better than me as well. So if I can call upon the services of Epic Voiceover. Yeah, I'll do it. I can. I'll make sure to make. I completely forgot about all of that as well. So it was really good for me. Yeah. I mean, it was mainly because I was looking back going, OK, the last episode was actually, yeah.
00:03:55
Speaker
It was waking up and yeah, that was it. That's it. As dawn breaks across the deck of the endless horizon, the true state of D'Artona's Tempest, the ship that you have been gifted is revealed to you. It is damaged. The mast sits at a nearly 90 degree angle. There are clear holes in the base of the ship near the bow.
Betrayal and Karl's Threat
00:04:18
Speaker
which are so severe that daylight revelation seems to go all the way through and as the sun rises it starts to creep through these holes. Yet due to the action of Drago, or a Drago at least, the ship is yours.
00:04:34
Speaker
The saying one person's treasure with another person's trash rings true. You see as day breaks that the entire fleet of Sariah Mistfall has taken to the surface, there could be up to 100, 150 ships here, all maintained to a high standard, all except one, the ship gifted to you. All of this actually rings quite hollow right now, as you are actually left to process the betrayal that you have suffered.
00:05:03
Speaker
Karl has the mysterious tome
Concerns and Mysterious Warning
00:05:06
Speaker
that was found in the depths of Fatherkeep. Karl killed Eddic and Miki. Karl serves a power that is to be feared, a power to be reckoned with, and perhaps a power that you fought defeated.
00:05:25
Speaker
That thought dawns on you as sole risers. Suddenly there's a commotion beno deck. A host of Gennasi emerge and you hear a groan from the crow's nest. As the guard who was slumped over but a minute ago seems to start to stir from whatever mechanism was putting him to sleep. Soraya and Petrichor emerge. She looks around the deck and immediately glances at you two, particularly seeing the wounds that you have suffered, McBennaring goes.
Magic Realization and Next Steps
00:05:53
Speaker
What happened here?
00:05:58
Speaker
That fucking tabaxi is gonna die. What do you mean? He's... I was warned one of your... one of your fork was in the...
00:06:18
Speaker
front of the boat and said that the Tabaxi had to be stopped, that he had the Torm from Fatherkeep, he had the Torm, and he was going to deliver it to his master, his patron, and it was going to be bad if we did, and we had to stop him, and we failed. Sariah processes this and she glances across to Petricor who steps forward and goes,
00:06:49
Speaker
and who exactly you spoke to? I don't know. It was dark, but they said they were a diviner, an explorer of futures, of what could be. And I don't put any stock in the future. I make my own. But I mean, he's probably down there. We can go and find him. He has to know. He has to be able to tell us what to do.
00:07:18
Speaker
He was in the front, he was at the bow of the boat in your storage bay. Sariah and Petricor look at each other. There seemed to be a concerned look across both of their faces, a look of confusion. Petricor turns to two of the Gamassie and goes, search the bow and search the hold. Find whoever is down there and bring him up here. And two of the Gamassie disappear below the deck.
00:07:45
Speaker
The guard in the crow's nest has started to descend the ladder. He comes down and looks at you and appears to be in a state of confusion and says, I don't know what happened. I thought it was a good idea to go to sleep.
00:08:11
Speaker
Drago, you in particular start to process this and it dawns on you now the type of magic that Karl had at his disposal, the beguiling wordsmith that he was. It perhaps also starts to dawn on you why you were so obedient and agreeable to him at the start of combat, despite his obvious hostility.
00:08:32
Speaker
You notice also at this time that as the two guys disappeared back down the stairs under the deck of the ship that Ren has also appeared, her hood pulled up and is just noticing the commotion that's going on around you. She looks at you, firstly confused, but then sees the wounds that McBenna is now sporting, for want of a better word, and a look of concern comes over her face.
00:08:58
Speaker
Sariah turns to a couple more of the guards and says, such the decks look for any damage or theft.
Distrust and Plan for Repairs
00:09:04
Speaker
You say he was working for a patron. All the messenger who give me warning said that the Tabaxi was taking it to the dark and that was all he said, this taking it to the dark. And I
00:09:27
Speaker
I don't know. Do you think he was still working for Drezlin? No, no, this was... I don't know whether he's had this from the start or what he is. I don't know. I really don't know. She glances to Petrico, who looks back at her.
00:09:56
Speaker
with a beguiled and concerned look still, and she turns back to you and says, none of that was any concern of me or my fleet. I will hold true to my bargain. Petricor will escort you to Fishtotol. He'll take care of the fee for repairing this ship. I'd like you off my ship as soon as possible. Does the dark not mean anything to you?
Internal Reflection on Magic Threat
00:10:25
Speaker
No, but he jumped from the boat and his lantern, it was hard to see, it's like he, did he disappear into it? I don't know, did the lantern hit the water or did it disappear?
00:10:43
Speaker
So as you look over to Drago this whole time, he's been sat there, eyes closed, hand grasped on Claude's amulet, and he's deep in thought. And if you could peer into Drago's head, what you'd find is just Drago trying to commune with Akiva, just asking, I thought that Grazia was dead.
00:11:12
Speaker
I've seen the eyes of someone taken by that magic before. And what I saw in Karl Jeet's eyes was
Communication with Akiva
00:11:21
Speaker
the same that I saw in Elphir's eyes. I believe it's the same magic that tried to take Robin. I believed that magic came from Grazet. And I killed Grazet. Do you know anything of this? It's rather unsettling.
00:11:42
Speaker
So Drago's been kind of doing that as an internal monologue this time. Do you want to give me a religion check in lieu of remembering how your, the mechanics for your communications with Akiva? Do you want to give me a religion check? 12. Yeah.
Promise to Reunite with Robin
00:12:04
Speaker
vividly remember defeating Grazette. You vividly remember feeling his evil expunge itself from the world. Yet there was something overly familiar in the darkness that Karl sought out. What strikes you as strange is that you remember that Elfir went to
00:12:04
Speaker
You...
00:12:33
Speaker
went to Grazette in despair, in frustration and anger, but also in despair. You get the sense that whatever Karl reached out to, he did so willingly. And if this isn't Grazette, it's unnervingly similar. So do I get that in feeling or in words? Feeling with a 12. It's just something that
00:13:03
Speaker
It's just something that Akiva gives back to you. So during this kind of internal commune, Chaga will again issue a conversation with himself for all intents and purposes. Okay. God, that's definitely dead. Whatever this new magic is, I need
Preparing to Leave and Confront Karl
00:13:28
Speaker
to look into it.
00:13:31
Speaker
and try and figure out what this new corruption is. And try and put Christ out of my head, and it's been undone. And sorry, what were you saying, Will? And then as you come out of that, you'll suddenly hear MacBennar's voice go, Drago, the lantern, did it hit the wall or did it disappear?
00:13:57
Speaker
Carl's lantern. Yeah, the one that it illuminated and he was gone. I don't remember seeing it in the water. I was too busy healing you at the time. My apologies. No, thank you for that. Do you still have that vial of dust? Yeah, I do. And as Drago reaches into his satchel and pulls out the vial to hold it up,
00:14:24
Speaker
Can I have it? Yeah. Yeah. There you go. The next time I see Carl G, I'm going to shove this down its fucking throat. I understand where your rage comes from. Right.
Arrival at Fish Tortol
00:14:42
Speaker
I believe, I think the Knessy kind of want rid of us.
00:14:48
Speaker
And as you say that, the two guards that went under the deck come up and seem to whisper something to Petricor, who in turn comes to Saria and says, I don't know who your portent is, but there's no sign of him on my ship. I don't know what happened to you.
00:15:09
Speaker
The portent that your friend here described is warning you about the Tabaxi. There is no sign of anyone by such a description on this ship. He was definitely there. You're sure it's not one of your people who's trying to be humble? Do any of your folk have divination inclinations? Yeah, I wouldn't be the first person to shapeshift themselves today.
00:15:39
Speaker
I know, people. There's no one that is present upon this ship with my crew. Hmm. There's some strange magic happening. Did you say, MacBenna, that we were to leave? I think, I think, um, lady Sariah, um,
00:16:19
Speaker
As you glance over your shoulder, you can see now that the morning mist is starting to reveal
00:16:26
Speaker
the great verdant expanse of the verandian jungle. What you can see is what appears to be a small village sat upon the shores. There are some pontoons and some piers that seem to jut out made out of wooden structures. There appears to be a small outpost or settlement there.
00:16:45
Speaker
Saraya looks at you both without eyes darting from one to the other and you get the
Supplies and Suspicion at Fish Tortol
00:16:50
Speaker
sense that the truss drago that particularly that you started to earn last night that that's gone, that she's been unnerved by what has happened here. She looks at you all and says the village of fish tortal is over there, the tortals who dwell there will be able to repair your ship but
00:17:12
Speaker
It will take a while. Tortles? Really? Yes. I would appreciate it as soon as you were ready that you bored Petrichor's rowing boat fishing vessel and he'll take you ashore and arrange for your ship to be repaired and from there, well, you can do anything as long as it's not within the grounds of my fleet. Why? What would happen?
00:17:46
Speaker
She looks at Brandon and says, there's something that's happened here during the darkness of the night that I don't fully understand and I don't care to. Well, at least it happened and it didn't affect your crew or your ship in any permanent damage. We are one with Daytona. The ocean holds no peril for us, but
00:18:15
Speaker
Perhaps it seems that your friend did, or at least he held Malice for you. Yeah. Friend is a very loose term. I knew Carl Jeet as much as you did.
00:18:33
Speaker
So we are more akin than you realise. Nevertheless, I understand where you're coming from and why you want us on your off your ship. But know that we didn't mean any harm. And we leave with full respects.
00:18:59
Speaker
I value my niece. I value the debt that I owe this other Drago, and it is for his sake that I bequeathed to you this ship. Yeah, another word about this other Drago. There is only one of me, so you might have distrust in the people that stood in front of you right now, but you've been played by this other pretender. Don't forget that.
00:19:31
Speaker
Very well. Perhaps you'll find him yourself. We dropped him off here not six months back.
Tracking Karl through the Jungle
00:19:38
Speaker
And you say it's another dragonborn. Unmistakenly. And with that she...
00:19:52
Speaker
gestures towards Petrichor who climbs into the fishing vessel that you arrived in yesterday. A few more Ganasi climbing with him with oars. Well maybe one but we're in the winter months which means days are wasting. When you folk are ready I'll take you ashore.
00:20:12
Speaker
McBenna will just look in the fishing boat, is our gear that we left there? Yes, everything that was taken from you you can see has been returned and is waiting for you bundled up in the deck below. Sariah comes to you herself with a jaw pouch and says,
00:20:33
Speaker
Never let it be said that I'm a thief. I assume you'll go looking for this in the first instance. And she hands back to you the pouch that contains the rings and jewels and emulates that you took out of Thaverkeep.
00:20:47
Speaker
Thank you. And McBenna sort of grabs that and puts that somewhere. Now this campaign has kind of gone past the four episodes that we thought it would do. I really wish I spent the time getting golds and jewels in the votes when possible.
00:21:05
Speaker
I'm feeling particularly skint right now. The wealth is very much lopsided in this party at the minute. We have a very wealthy Macbeth and a very destitute Drago. I am disgustingly rich.
00:21:22
Speaker
I mean, I've not tailored it, but I'm looking... And you've got to find the buyer. That's the other thing. I've been reading with DM's Guide. Finding a buyer for really expensive stuff isn't easy because it's just beyond the normal merchant. That's all right. That's all right. They're going to be bartering. It's fine. I wish I had that problem.
00:21:41
Speaker
That's why he also took small denominations of jewels as well. There's large ones. They're all smart. Yeah, there's no coin here. I could tell this wasn't your first time, Macbeth. You're going to have to be smart with what you do, because there's no coin here, really. It's just literally the jewels that you pick. That is the party's wealth at the minute. Oh, yeah, I know. Yeah, it's not a bad footing to start with. There was also a dagger that was left by this girl.
00:22:09
Speaker
Do you mean cut the dagger? That was embedded in, Karl, when he jumped over the deck. That's mine, Drago. Yeah, I mean his own dagger. Oh yeah, the one he stabbed in there. Yeah, we should keep that because... I think you should take that. So I can kill him with it and skin him with it and wear his fur like a fucking coat. Petricle last night. Kind of. I mean...
00:22:32
Speaker
That's a bit darker, would you believe, than I was thinking of, but maybe you could use it to, I don't know, carry a scent to mark it with vengeance of some sort. Gonna use his claws to pick my teeth with. You know, you've got a very real thing going on right now and I'm not gonna, I'm gonna just let you be who you need to be. Gonna cut off his head and use his oars.
00:22:58
Speaker
Then close your ears. She at this point has walked past and she's quite disturbed by what she's heard. And she's glanced at you both and has just vaulted over the side of the ship into the fishing boat, ready to go ashore. No questions. As Drago looks after her. She looks back at you and says, as Petricor said, David Waston, come on. All right, let's be going.
00:23:29
Speaker
And
Drago's Reflection and Pursuit
00:23:30
Speaker
as you climb back into the rowing vessel you see the curious but now somewhat suspicious face of the Ganasi watching you as you go. Petricor begins to row you away and what you see is the mist emerge that seemed to emerge around the fleet last time as it emerged from the ocean on the first day.
00:23:49
Speaker
The sea is calm, there's no signs of the rumbling that would suggest that the fleet has just descended, but it does surround itself in mist again, which seems to be one of the natural things that it's able to do to allow itself to be so elusive despite its size. As you come through that mist, the shore starts to emerge in front of you.
00:24:10
Speaker
You see once again now, there's the size of this verdant expanse. It's dense. The trees are exotic. They're unlike anything you've seen before. So, Drago, you think back to the Neverwinter Forest, which is probably about the only forestry you've seen akin to this, all the areas that were defining the blight. And what you notice is that this is a very different world. It's tropical. It is almost idealistic and pleasant.
00:24:40
Speaker
As the... Sorry? Is it warm? Yeah, it's warm. Even for the winter months, you know that the sun has been setting around 5pm, which would suggest that you're in the winter calendar. Yet despite that, it is still seasonably warm.
00:24:56
Speaker
You noticed a series of huts positioned on the beach. These seem to be lapping up the waters of the tide as it comes in and out. Though you get the sense that, as you can see, tortles emerging from them, that actually water coming into these huts and then leaving again probably doesn't bother its inhabitants. There are a series of piers and wooden promenades that, for Final Fantasy X listeners among them, would remind you of the likes of Bessade.
00:25:23
Speaker
This is actually one of the most picturesque parts of very few scenes. Sleet guard is quite grubby and medieval. This has a very different feel to it. Is there a blitz ball on there? There isn't. There are two large huts that appear to be either sides of the large veranding piers. Petricor says to you, as some of the other ganassi are rowing, that one on the left there, that's Vayman there. He's a tall, provides a good meal if you like crab or white bait.
00:25:52
Speaker
Big one over on the other side is Zubar's trading poles. He'll sell you basic supplies. Otherwise, it's mostly fishermen and fish will hurt. Tortles are pretty good with wood, but they don't use boats themselves. They form up in filmations to swim out and fish. It's quite a sight. I've never seen it personally, but I've seen the jungle before and I fucking hate jungles. It is rather warm as well.
00:26:21
Speaker
This is the winner month. You should be grateful you ain't here in summer. There's going to be shit in there, Drago, that quite frankly, you'll eat it and you'll turn purple and it'll be fucking horrible. So just be on your guard once we're in that jungle. Can't wait. Yeah.
Realization of Old Companions Alive
00:26:39
Speaker
It's grim.
00:26:41
Speaker
Well, if your friend didn't teleport and made it to shore, the only place he could have gone last night would have been Vayman's, unless he snuck in somewhere. Yeah, there was something magical, he didn't jump in that water, something happened. Fair enough. It might be worth checking out Vayman's though, just in case. Ah, yeah.
00:26:59
Speaker
Your ship's going to need a crew, and you won't find that amongst the tortles. Their place is here. Dash Callery is the place. It's right underneath, and he points to the horizon, and you can see this spectacular giant mountain, bigger than anything you've seen so far. And he says that there, at the foot of that mountain, which is known as Aerith Gift and the Common Turn, that's Aerith Gift, you'll find the Great City of Dash Callery here.
00:27:26
Speaker
It's very easy to find. You just follow the river inland and upstream and eventually you'll come to the foot of the mountain. Right. And that's... McBenham... Sorry, sorry, sorry. McBenham. Yeah? What's your plan? I mean, I know that. You've been marked by Dreslin.
00:27:55
Speaker
But you're the only one left from the original Party of the Vaults. What do you... Well, what are you going to do now? Have you got... Have you got vengeance in you for Carl? Are you gonna keep running from Drezlin? Have you thought about what you're doing? I reckon that... Drezlin's a known factor.
00:28:22
Speaker
So as long as I'm moving, I'm always going to be running from him in regards to the Khajiit. And you see MacBenna sort of stop and he almost says the name then just doesn't. Fear of the name only increases fear of the subject. He's wronged me and I will kill him.
00:28:52
Speaker
But not only that, but I don't know, Drago, this warning and this darkness and whatever else, it's not, I'm a ranger. I went into the ravine. I went to fight things that I could see. I'm not one for your grand stories of saving the world and all that fucking shite.
00:29:22
Speaker
It's not as bad as you'd believe it was. Sounds fucking exhausting. Yeah, it is that. The reason why I bring it up. The magic I saw that was in Carl's eyes. I believe I've witnessed something at least similar to it before. And the source of what I know
00:29:51
Speaker
of that magic was not only
00:29:56
Speaker
bad for myself, but particularly bad for the world that it was inhabiting, that of Aerith. So it's for me a little bit disconcerting to know that that magic still exists because I killed the source a few sometime. I'm not entirely sure how long because of the transportation magic, but I killed that source some time ago.
00:30:24
Speaker
So the reason why I bring that up, to know what your plans are, cards on the table. This here girl, this dragon points to Ren, is quite important to myself and more important to a brother of mine. And he, he's called Robin.
00:30:50
Speaker
I would assume is in Sleekguard somewhere, so my plan was to get Ren, fix up this ship that was kindly given to us and take her all the way to Robin in Sleekguard. But now, having seen what I've seen, and knowing the potential of this darkness,
00:31:21
Speaker
and the happenstance in which I come to be here again I owe it to my own deity to flesh this out and I think I could do with your skill set and help all I can offer you is vengeance to which I have sworn an oath for myself
00:31:54
Speaker
Well, I need to see McBenna sort of fold his arms and rest against the side of the fishing boat for a moment. Feel free to take some time and think about it, I dare say. My first port of call when we get to land is to find a drink. Preferably alcohol. But I thought you should know. Never let it be said. What are the rear near?
00:32:25
Speaker
was ever going to let a threat go unfaced and unchallenged. So it may be a few years since I was, you know, a ranger and I know I'm getting on, but if you'll have me, then I'll
00:32:55
Speaker
I'll be with you, because I'll be honest, I've got fuck else to do. And, you know, if your path takes us to where I can deal with that Khajiit, then at least if Drezling does catch up with me, I can die a happy man. It also means that you wouldn't face Drezling on your own, as Drago holds out a hand. And I appreciate that. Glad I do.
00:33:25
Speaker
And McBenna will take Drago's hand in a warrior's grip. Yeah, so it's not hands, it's forearm. Yeah, no, I got you, man. I got you, bro. How do you feel about this? She glances around at the horizon and turns back to you and says, what would Robin do?
00:33:53
Speaker
He'd have a rather annoying trait of sticking by me and finding out what's best for the world around him. And that's what I'm doing. She says that she just turns back at the horizon. Not looking at you now, she then says, just promise me you'll get me to him.
00:34:23
Speaker
I will do everything I can to uphold the promise I made to your brother about reuniting you two. Jug's going to hold out his hand again. She'll turn around and pull off the glove and you'll see that the gem... No, no, no, no. Just you don't need a... That's fine. Gloves are fine. She'll pull it back on and... I've seen magic uses before.
00:34:53
Speaker
Fair enough. I can always control it just so you're aware. You can't or you can. I didn't understand your tone there. The bad option. OK, so.
00:35:10
Speaker
You know, if you need to stand two meters away, that's understandable. That's okay. I've got a loud voice. It carries. Oh, you know, 31 feet away, whatever works, you know, 60 foot. What's the, what's my distance? What's the radius?
00:35:25
Speaker
We're on a boat. Fuck. We haven't thought this through. On a serious note, I won't be doing any more teleporting. Last time I nearly dropped it in the middle of the ocean. I mean, it does seem like a get out of jail free card if I give you the place to teleport to to get to Robin. I have to have been there, otherwise I'll drop it somewhere completely random. I mean, if it's teleport somewhere random or potentially die, I'm going to go teleport to start with. I don't know about anybody else. It worked out okay this time.
00:35:53
Speaker
I'll roll that dice. And it's worth noting with Ben there as well that because you've encountered teleportation circle before, you know that that basically that the person casting it has to know where they're going or they can go anywhere that there is it's a spell that has to be controlled or will just be completely. I mean, if you want to take us back to anywhere, you know, that's perfectly fine. And we can get ourselves from there. Don't worry. Well, I can take you back to Soraya Mistfall, or I can take you back to Fava Keep. Those are the two options at the minute.
00:36:24
Speaker
Well how about when we get to the village you sort of have a good look round and then maybe you can take us back here just you know. Okay. This might help. And with that you will road up a shore.
00:36:41
Speaker
You notice as you come ashore that there are a series of tortles who appear to be going about pulling up fishing nets. They glance around at you but don't seem to be particularly interested in you. They seem to be, there are a couple of curious glances but most of them just seem to be diving into the water and pulling these nets out. One seems to be grasping it in his teeth as he takes a harpoon in his hands about to go about his day's work of fishing.
00:37:11
Speaker
As you climb up onto one of the pontoons, Petricor just says to you as he starts to row in a different direction. You take care now, I must have thought about getting your ship fixed. Could be a while, few months, maybe longer. I will fetch you quite a good price once fixed if you decide not to keep it, though I wouldn't sail back to Haddles Bay. Shadowman Dink would be a safe place for you no more. Am I free to name this ship?
00:37:37
Speaker
You do whatever you want. It's yours. Are you going to leave it in the corner so we can get the totals to... It ain't moving from where it's moored around now. You can see back just out into the bay that it's moored far enough so it won't run a rock, but it's also within eyesight. This is where it's going to stay. Okay.
00:37:58
Speaker
And just to confirm, just so I know from at Bennett's benefit, obviously we're at the verandian sort of jungle on the coast of, we've now essentially left Shadow Men haven't we? You're effectively now in Wildheart or the unclaimed territories of northern Wildheart.
00:38:15
Speaker
Sounds really glad that I called this and they had the Tales of Shadowmend. No, I've already edited this once, Tales of Shadowmend.
00:38:32
Speaker
Wildheart is domesticated towards the south, but the northern part of it, if you think, and this again helps classic D&D fans, the Neverwinter jungle, the Verandian jungle is about the same side. It could take you months to traverse it. It is absolutely huge. It's effectively the Amazon rainforest of Aerith. It is a substantial verdant expanse. And at the center of it is the great jungle city of Dashkaloe.
00:39:02
Speaker
Okay, thank you. I was trying to work out my terrain in my head of where we were. So as you pull yourself to, sorry, well, as you pull yourself to, Ren starts to dust just basically herself down and she looks at you both and says, so where to?
00:39:20
Speaker
I believe seeing Vayman, the one with the food and potential drink and potential tips on where to go was good. Then after that, we go to Zubar to get equipment and then we go to the city to, I don't know, get a crew of footnotes. I heard drink. That's all. Let's do that bit first.
00:39:47
Speaker
Okay, yep. As you make your way down the pier, you can hear your footsteps echo off the wooden docks and you can hear the soft crashing of the waves. This is a very sleepy place. There are probably not much more than 40, maybe 50 people here, Max, which for a civilized area is relatively small. But Ben, have you ever spoken to a tortle before?
00:40:14
Speaker
I mean, there was one who sometimes stopped by our fortress of Brother Mike Fort. He fucking talked really slow. I mean, maybe it was just a local thing. No, it's not a local thing. Hey, you over there.
00:40:42
Speaker
Just out of interest, where's the nearest place to drink alcohol here?
00:40:47
Speaker
Well, in the middle of the day... Drag is looking at you while this exchange happens, MacBenna with wide eyes. Head on over to old Zubar. Vayman's only open afternoon, for he'll be sleeping, because he serves through the night. So I'd head over to old Zubar. He will sell you a drink in the meantime. And what direction is that?
00:41:13
Speaker
Well, you've got old Vaimans, which is on the port to the right, and so are you there, and if you head all the way over to the left, we'll take you at a few minutes. You'll find old Zubar. He's open for breakfast and the like, and we'll do you up a drink, acre the split.
00:41:34
Speaker
Right yeah and thankfully the total I know sport even slower than that so actually that was quite that was quite speedy for a while. I'm quite far still have you know why I'm a fisherman we have to be quick. Slow down lads slow down you're gonna you're gonna you know right and two bars he said thank you let's let's go
00:41:57
Speaker
Yeah, and as you make your way down the pontoon, you can see a sign on Weymans as you walk past it, and it says, open at noon and has the image of a tortle upside down carved on it in wood on its back with zeds coming out of its mouth. So as you make your way past this, you can see though that Zubar is on the other side of the pontoon, that there is smoke coming from the chimney and that there is a tortle who appears to be coming out of the hut. As you make your way over there,
00:42:27
Speaker
You notice that the smell is starting to hit you even from the outside and it's quite a pungent smell it smells effectively if you've ever been in a fishmongers it effectively smells like that and as you enter the shop which I assume is what you're going to do.
00:42:47
Speaker
There are a series of buckets on the side. I mean, that's what we're doing. Let's do it. Do you want to enter the shop or not? But before we go in, what time of day is it? So it's been effectively no more than a couple of hours since. Of course it has, of course. And that was dawn, so it's early morning. Yeah, cool. That's fine.
00:43:13
Speaker
Do we go into the shop or do I keep walking? Right. Trade shop sells everything, also just food when the other place isn't open. Great. It's like a one-stop shop. Let's go. It's very cooperative of them. It's like a one-stop, or I'd know they could come up with a name, I'd know.
00:43:37
Speaker
Yeah. Again, you glance around this fishing village and you notice just how functional it is. This is clearly something that just... It's a functional shot. It seems to have like a community sense that basically between this in Weymans, this is the two places that you can go within Fishtortle too.
00:43:56
Speaker
to replenish supplies. It has the feel of like a jungle outpost to it so that you get the sense that people who are on the verandian trail can come in here and get respite either here or at Zubars. You see immediately as you enter behind the deck there are a series of fishing utensils and hunting supplies.
00:44:16
Speaker
The smell of the bait hits you as you open the door. There are tubs and buckets and barrels surrounding the area of the shop near the door. Around the shop seem to be a series of shelves that seem to contain the usual things you'd expect from the adventure of Outpost. Tinned rations, hunting scents, musks that are designed to keep off and you would recognise some of these immediately, Macbenna.
00:44:41
Speaker
some of the musks that are designed to throw off some of the verandian dinosaurs off the scent. As you see this, you all of a sudden hear a bell bristle from across the back door and Zubar seems to appear from a back room and says, well, hello. Apologies for the smell, that's the crayfish.
00:45:04
Speaker
How about I help you? And you see quite an old tortle has just emerged. He has a series of thick spectacles that seem to have like different kind of like focal lenses over it. He pulls another set of lenses down and glances at you all trying to take you in. I see we've got a two human kid and a drape born. I've not seen a drape. Dragonborn. We call them drapes in the verandian.
00:45:33
Speaker
Drake, it's a form of dragon. The Drake riders of Bashkala Bay, they ride them. It's quite the sight, but yes, we have Drake's native to the verandian.
00:45:48
Speaker
like a dragon but smaller yeah no dragonborn thank you apologies again for the crayfish and oysters but i can make you up a breakfast at the middle ah some uh some some breakfast don't worry this smells fine i knew a man called uh smelly john he was awful smelling yeah he was really smelly what do you smell of
00:46:10
Speaker
Shit. Shit would just be a very broad term. I don't know. He didn't bathe much.
00:46:21
Speaker
But anyway, nobody liked to share barracks with him. It was, it was, it was fucking awful. So we'd, Mr. Mr. Zubar, if we, yeah, some, some vittles. So yeah, breakfast would be lovely. Alcohol, if you've got it, is good. And then
00:46:42
Speaker
will then need some supplies. And then obviously you've called Drago A. Drakebone. You wouldn't happen to have seen another one recently, maybe in the last six months. Yeah, that first Drakebone I've seen in a while. Sorry. So you haven't seen another one dropped off here?
00:47:06
Speaker
Should I have? I'm quite forgetful. Oh, of course you are. Well, how about you... No, but I have a thing for that. Hold on. Hold on one second. I have a thing that can help with that. Cornelius! Cornelius!
00:47:21
Speaker
And what you see if this light, little, what appears to be mechanical rat comes out. I had a few adventurers stay here a while back. They were on their way to the other side of the world and one of them, for my discretion, said that he would make me something to help me remember things.
00:47:38
Speaker
I'm a curious trio. But anyway, they were very friendly, and they made me Cornelius here. He's a rat, but I'll show you what he dads. And what happens is there's a flash, and then all of a sudden, there is a hologram of the free of you stood directly facing back at you. He allows me to take care of it. That's fucking weird. Yes, but he allows me. I'm not very good, so I use him to remember people who came into my shop. Would you like me to look through for another drapeborn?
00:48:08
Speaker
Dragonborn. Dragonborn, yes. Yeah, if you could. Another Dragonborn. Looks a little bit like Drago, but I believe the description was it was a bit shorter than Drago.
00:48:20
Speaker
Alright, I'll have a look for you. And while you do that, perhaps you could take us a table or something and then we can sort of rest while you... Oh, yes, well you can have a stall at the bar. I don't have any tables. If you want the fancier stuff, you'll have to wait for Zainan to open in a few minutes. Okay, bar's good, but good word. Grab yourself a seat. Is crab stew okay for something to eat? I've got some white bait.
00:48:43
Speaker
No, crab stew is fine. Have you got any... I love the white bit. Thanks. Any ice as well, just a... It's really warm.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yes, well, I can also get you... Let's see what I've got here. I'm just having a look what I've got had. Like, uncomfortably warm. Yes, well, we're used to it here. I suppose you're not, are you? No. Okay, well, I've got some coconut-induced golden amber and there's some ratoon-laced vodka you can have either of those. Both.
00:49:15
Speaker
Okay, both it is fine. I'll go get you. So how are you be paying for this? Well, all depends on obviously, we're going to be interested in buying a few more things for our journeys. Now, perhaps if I could put this to you and I'm going to get out a little
00:49:39
Speaker
amethyst gemstones worth about a hundred gold pieces. Perhaps if I could offer you this as a sort of tab to keep open and perhaps you can just take from this, it's worth quite a bit. That's how you reckon that could be, right? Are you sure?
00:50:01
Speaker
Yeah, if we give you sort of this, then you can sort of, if we want some stuff, you can sort of have a little tab open and when we've used up what this is worth, you can let us know how that work. It's a finer cord as far as I'm concerned. Okay, I'll get you a breakfast at Cornelius. Show them the entry from the last 24 hours while I do that beer, fellow.
00:50:29
Speaker
How long? Six months, fucking hell. He said we were told that this Dragon Ball was dropped off six months ago, perhaps. OK, Cornelius, show them the entry to the shop for the last six months. Be a good fellow. And he heads into the back room. Immediately, the surveillance that Cornelius, the surveillance rat, that is appearing on
00:50:57
Speaker
and projecting the image of the three of you, it flickers through a series of tortles, but then seems to stop on a hooded figure. A hooded figure with purple eyes and cat-like ears and a tail. And these purple eyes seem to almost glance straight at you as if they weren't a hologram. You both processed this
00:51:25
Speaker
and you take in this figure and it becomes apparent to you that you're not sure when, but Karl was here. What the fuck is he doing here? I don't know. Can I get a look at his eyes?
00:51:47
Speaker
purple as they were last night this is this is effectively casting the spell major illusion and whilst he is hooded you can see from this he appears to be wet as if he has come out of the sea that's that's not that's not possible because that just happened and this is this is several months ago that's several months ago no that's what we asked him it was said because this the the
00:52:13
Speaker
Just to retcon there, McBenna, Zubar said to you that he was showing you entries from the last six months, which could be anything from six months ago to up to recently. I mean, I assume that little Cornelius here was starting at six months and coming forward, he could be starting from now on these back. Rewinding rather than before. We should probably ask Zubar in a minute. So that means
00:52:40
Speaker
I've got your raccoon-based vodka. Don't drink too much of it. It's a bit of acquired taste. It's a form of venom. Very good for relaxing the muscles. This one here, and MacBenna points at the image. When was this? Can Cornelius tell you when this was? Cornelius, timestamp, please. And it projects this morning. Oh, God, that was a few hours ago. Why can't I remember?
00:53:09
Speaker
Oh, yes, now I remember. He was asking questions about the Arctic horizon. Many leaks from here, I told him, because it is many leaks from here to the east. I told him he'll need proper winter supplies from dash calories to go there. He suggested... How long ago was this? A couple of hours ago. Great. We could probably follow him.
00:53:34
Speaker
And you sent him to Dash Calloways. I told him that was where he'll need to go, because I don't have the supplies for the horizon. He'll need to go there. That was a city in the mountain, at the base of the mountain. Okay. Did he say anything about where he was going after that, after he spoke to you? Artic horizon. He mentioned the horizon. He wanted some supplies and suggested he'd pay double of nothing. And I said, that was a good idea. Well, how did I do that?
00:54:09
Speaker
So he's got a plan to go to the Arctic Horizon. What is the Arctic Horizon? Drago looks towards Cornelius or... He can't tell you, he's just a hologram projector. I can tell you though, it's a land to the east.
00:54:26
Speaker
Curiously, far to the east, the verandian gives way to a frozen wasteland. The heat immediately gives way to cold and, well, the ice appears. Yeah, but what's special about it? Why would one go there? Nothing, it's a wasteland, as far as I know. Yeah, but there's something there for this person to want to go. Could be anything buried underneath the ice. It's been a frozen wasteland for thousands of years. Perception check.
00:54:53
Speaker
Go for it. Do you mean Insight? Yeah, you probably mean Insight. Insight, check. I'm not used to rolling these. As it shows on here, nine. Appears to be sincere. So, we have a choice. We can either... We've got the Dragonborn issue, or he was here a few hours ago.
00:55:23
Speaker
We can follow him, and we can try and catch up with him. If you're going into the jungle, I'd recommend the Colmar Musk. It keeps the worst of the dinosaurs away. I'd also recommend Zubar's Antidote. It's good for dealing with form-shades, venom, and form-shades is beautiful, but very dangerous. It's striking the turquoise down to you if you find it. Yeah, we'll have some of those. Yeah, we kind of need to make haste.
00:55:53
Speaker
I'll prepare you a basic here, and he's going to give you a pre-prepared parcel that appears to be a large satchel that will contain your basic jungle adventurer's pack. Where's the drink? There are some bowls of some stew, there are some shot glasses and some pint glasses. The pint glasses contain the ale, the shot glasses contain the vodka.
00:56:22
Speaker
Drago just takes all the alcohol of that was situated for him, not McBennars, he's not that much of an asshole, and just proceeds to donk, donk, donk, and gone.
00:56:38
Speaker
Also, we've got a boat out there that needs repairing. Oh shit, forgot about that. Yes, don't worry. We're in our petrichor. He has already sent word. Yes, don't worry. How much? He says Drezlin's paying for it. He says it was his boat and that's where that's what the...
00:57:03
Speaker
That's what the Gamassie do, they steal from there. So we don't need to pay you to fix Bolt. And Dresden's going to cover the costs.
00:57:11
Speaker
I don't think Drezlin's willingly covering the costs. The Ganasi are quite good at robbing him. That sounds like a Ewan Ganasi and Drezlin thing, that's fine. So we've got supplies. Have you got out else, anything adventures have left behind, anything special, anything like that that we could... We're in outposts. We stopped the stuff that we can find around here. That'll do.
00:57:37
Speaker
You'll find more at Dash Callery, obviously. It's about a two-week trek from here. Right. And MacBenna's sort of like drinking the broth, wipes his mouth and goes, OK. I draggled. I mean, if you want to stay for a bit, I can track him. No, I've been in this situation before. The sooner we can get after him, the more likely we are to find him.
00:58:05
Speaker
Right, let's, yeah, let's go then. It's still the morning times on our side. He's been here, what, a couple of hours before us? All right. Dash Calre to the, let's head that way and hopefully I can try and pick up his trail. Drago looks you up and down, assesses your age, your mobility.
00:58:31
Speaker
You ready for this? So you see McBenna, it's really weird. Sometimes McBenna comes across as looking quite frail. And then there are other times where you see like that, that glimmer of perhaps the person he used to be more in his prime.
00:58:51
Speaker
And you're certainly seeing sort of like the, that primeness in him now. Though obviously probably in your mind, there might be that thing of, you know, at what point is he going to push himself too far? Hi, I'm ready as I'll ever be, Draggle. We're going to get this bastard and we're going to deal with him. Okay, well, let's go and get this bastard and Ren, you're with us, right?
00:59:19
Speaker
You see at this point she's just been shovelling some of the... Yeah, sure. And then she takes one of her own bonkers and necks it and then the ale and does what you did and necks it and goes... Steady. Hey, I can handle my liquor. Better than Robin can. Whoa, okay, shots fired there at the archer. You know what, I'm here for it. Right, let's go hunt some Khajiit. Okay, as you make your way out of the store,
00:59:51
Speaker
I need something to happen. Can I ask you both to remove your headphones, please? No. Both of us. There's only two of us here. I'm aware. Darren's going to talk to himself. Fine. Okay, fair enough, fair enough. Enjoy this, listeners. Yeah, he's talking to himself. Whatever. Okay, I think they're gone. Welcome back, Mark. Hey, guys. How are you doing?
01:00:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think we're doing good. Okay, a few hours pass from where we last saw our adventurers and you, Mark, you return to the fishing village of Fish Tortole. The sun is starting to set and a calm evening is settling over the D'Artonian Ocean. You have slung over your shoulder, your bounty.
01:00:46
Speaker
Have you been tracking game or medical, vegetation or both? What sort of things have you spent your your bill pass through days looking for? So as I head out of the jungle, slung over my shoulder is what looks like a large floppy log and it is of a decent quality. It's a type of vegetation that the turtles especially covet and brings in a decent bit of income for my character.
01:01:16
Speaker
Nice, thank you. Can you roll survival followed by nature and will ascertain just how fruitful your search is being? Oh God, here we go. Right, survival. Come on, D&D Beyond. Nice, 23 for survival. We're on 18 plus five. And then nature, man, these are good. 14, 10 plus four. Nice, okay, yeah. You're quietly confident this is one of your better halls.
01:01:45
Speaker
You reset yourself as you enter the village and you think about the name that you've given yourself. Drago. Drago. As you walk across the pontoon, you do as you've done so often in the six months that you've been here and you catch your reflection in the D'Artonian Ocean. Could you just let our listeners know what you see as you see yourself in the rippling waves that are lapping up against the shore? Sure.
01:02:15
Speaker
Sorry, Darren, just at this point, are we talking mask or no mask? It's early evening. I would say at this point that the mask is either on the top of your head or is dangling around your neck, wherever you keep it where you're not wearing it. Okay, cool. Just wanted to check. Of course, yes, during the day. Apologies.
01:02:39
Speaker
You make out the features of a rather gnarled, grizzly, dragonborn head. And draped over his quite wide shoulders is just a very bleak, black, shabby, loose black cloak that hangs down over his body, giving away no kind of outline or features or weaponry. You can't even see hands, say, for the one arm that's kind of holding on to this kind of log-shaped item over his shoulder.
01:03:07
Speaker
The mask that's draped around his face is the only mitigating feature that draws the attention away from his Dragonborn features. And it is quite a large chunky piece that sits under his snout. It's almost like an ivory white beetle head with two large dome black, almost mirror-esque eyes, almost on either side of the skull.
01:03:32
Speaker
what hangs down from where kind of nostrils slash the mouth would be are two long, loose, almost trunks, but more like tusks that seem to hang loosely down and kind of shake with each step, each pounding step that the dragonborn makes as he peers down into the water below, he sees the mask below his own face and kind of notices some irony in the two kind of identities he seems to be taking on the jungled self and then the civilized self.
01:04:01
Speaker
That is a beautiful description. Thank you.
01:04:05
Speaker
You glance up and you see Zubars in front of you, the place where you have spent and you have sold your wares and what has been a place of continual refuge as you occasionally leave the wilderness of the verandian. You don't typically spend too much time here for fear of the traces that you have left yourself and protect some of the people who could be following you. As you enter Zubars,
01:04:32
Speaker
He glances up from behind the desk and goes, ah, it's you, Drago. Good haul this time, was it? Zuba, you wrinkly old fish fuck. I've got myself a Grangrash here. Something you're interested in?
01:04:52
Speaker
Yes, I'm very much interested in that. A lot. I could give you... I reckon that's about ten golds worth. Yeah, whatever. Just keep it for now. You know what to do. I do. How's the night vision hood working out for you? The mask, the beetle thing. And as you see in the dark, doesn't it?
01:05:18
Speaker
He kind of fingers the mask a little bit, looking down at it from Brandon Snout. Yeah, it's not a perfect fit, but yeah, it does the trick. Thanks for that, by the way. You didn't have to do that. Appreciate it.
01:05:33
Speaker
I've got quite good at keeping our identity safe in the way that you asked. Strange Folk came in here earlier and asking after another Dragonborn, I told them I had no idea what they were talking about and that I hadn't seen anyone, just as we agreed. May have been from Shadow Men, so you might want to be careful about that.
01:06:00
Speaker
At that mention, his spine tingles, he sits upright and his hand reaches down towards the short sword that he wields more like a dagger than a short sword. He just braces his hand on the outside of the cloak over the hilt of it and just kind of grasps it slightly.
01:06:17
Speaker
Which way do they go? Car down, car down, dragon, they're not here. They were after this fella. And he kicks Cornelius that projects the image of a tabaxi with purple eyes, which strikes you as being quite curious. It got into the jungle. Oh, I got my... Oh, hold on one second. He kicks Cornelius again. And what happens is like a gut punch. It takes you time to process this.
01:06:47
Speaker
You think it can't be, but it is. You see too human, King, but that is insignificant. That is unimportant. You see a dragonborn. Unmistakable. Missing a sword, but unmistakable. It's him. The years since you last saw him have aged him as they have you, but it is him.
01:07:18
Speaker
drago the drago someone you know
01:07:29
Speaker
at that and the kind of depression, kind of pushing him down again from this image, he draws, he reaches under and in an absolute flash, like without him realizing the cloak is up, the sword is out and it's at the tortoise throat. Don't pull these fucking tricks with me.
01:07:50
Speaker
and I'll put the only tricks, I would get drago, I've been your friend, I could have told them about you and I didn't, I'm on your side, honest. He grabbed the hand of the creature that's showing the image, make it stop, that's impossible, what you're showing me is impossible. Cornelius, drop it. And the image goes. The short sword falls out of his hand and he's deep breathing as he kind of steps around pacing around the room.
01:08:19
Speaker
He's dead. They're all dead. They can't be again. Why the fuck are they here? Which way did they go? Up into the jungle, at the start of the day. Which way were they heading? That way, following the river, dash cowry.
01:08:42
Speaker
to Eryth's gift. Okay, picks up the short sword gives you like a knowing kind of sorry for threatening your life nod, pats the little creature and I'll see you when I see you. Oh, and don't forget this. He still has the log thing on his shoulder, the thumbs onto the floor. Just keep the fucking money. Just, just be here when I get back. And then he leaves, runs.
01:09:12
Speaker
Thank you, Mark, if you would kindly disappear so I can bring back Ian and Will, please. Okay. And as you head off into the Verandian jungle, that is where we're going to leave it for tonight's episode of The Fellowship of the Tabletop. Wow, I mean, I hope you had a good chat to yourself then. Had a great time.
01:09:41
Speaker
Yeah. Little one-on-one with Darren Page. That's just a normal Friday night, isn't it? Too, too familiar. Too, too familiar.
01:09:51
Speaker
Well, I was going to say, but I have all you fine folk who keep me company every Friday that I listen back to this episode that we record. So there you are. Which leads me to say thank you to everyone who tunes in on a Friday or hell any day of the week to listen to our voices as we tell stories that are based on the manifestation of our minds.
01:10:21
Speaker
Cornerstones manifestation. You didn't know where you were going with that way. There was too many dirty things that I had to navigate in my own mind. You talked yourself into a corner. But if you wish to DM us about those things that were going through Ian's mind. I like it. Take it away, Will. Then you can reach us at our Twitter page, which is at fellowship table.
01:10:45
Speaker
In addition, we also have a website, which is Fellowship Tabletop, and we also have a Facebook page, which is at Fellowship Table as well. You can reach us on there. And if you wish to follow us individually, you can do so. I'm natural20will. Ian is at... I want one. And Darren is at... You're supposed to say our Fantabulous DM is at...
01:11:14
Speaker
I mean, I feel torn, but actually, our Fantabulous Current... That's like choosing your favourite parent there, wasn't it? Our Fantabulous Current DM is Darren at... Darren Page 06. And obviously, listeners, you now know that returning in a blaze of quasi-orgasmic glory is Mark playing a character, playing for once, so you'll find Mark at...
01:11:42
Speaker
I've genuinely forgotten how easily rolled the M. Until next time everybody.