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C3 Episode 50 The Voices in the Trees Chapter Three
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Regarding Swords
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Transcript
Introduction of Hosts and Setting
00:00:11
Speaker
your play podcast at the Everon campaign setting. I am your game
00:00:19
Speaker
master, Eric.
00:00:23
Speaker
and welcome to everyone your new natural play podcast that me ever on campaign study i am your game master eric I'm Mia. I'm Phillip. I'm Madison. I'm Jeff.
00:00:36
Speaker
Folks, what happened last time?
Episode Recap and Player Dynamics
00:00:39
Speaker
A masterclass of gamesmanship. the The best actual play podcast episode that's ever happened, I think.
00:00:50
Speaker
I sow distrust among my fellow players by being a real ding-dong is what happened. technique And we met a ghost. True. It did mean a ghost.
00:01:01
Speaker
And accomplished nothing with the ghost. Yeah, did we get the ghost's name? No, he's just a little goblin team. He's your buddy now. And we found out that no one knows anything about whoever's been painting in the chapel.
00:01:15
Speaker
And that he's not going to stop moving the books around. And we saw... you're putting in the wrong place. Apparently so. to be fair, if you stop giving a reaction, he probably will stop. That's true. I need to stop reacting. And we met a pre-campaign one Bamani, which just is pretty cool.
00:01:35
Speaker
Yeah. Bamani was our competent adult towards the end of campaign one. Oh, fun.
Character Spotlight: Bamani
00:01:42
Speaker
Came in was just unbelievably strong and driven. I did not remember her being six foot seven. I didn't either. That's been wild. Yeah. yeah We love a giant lady.
00:01:56
Speaker
Yeah, sure. That's awesome. just I think Kalishtar all like skew very tall. so I think that's right. i enough that Yeah. 607 is like crazy, though. Are they descendants of Celestials? Is that Kalishtar?
00:02:10
Speaker
No, they, like the good quarry, like, right. Kinded with them. That's what was. created a new race of people that all look like giant supermodels.
00:02:22
Speaker
So yeah, I showed, I showed Madison a picture of the first woman Kalistar that I could find. And it was just like, yeah, it's just big Gwen Stefani. She just named my punk band.
00:02:33
Speaker
Gwen Stefani. Big Gwen energy. So. Yeah, you and then Kaz went to town and met some people and came back.
Kaz's Networking Efforts and Challenges
00:02:45
Speaker
So I recruited a local journalist to my shadow network. Yes. Extremely smoothly. Like I was supposed to. um doing my job.
00:02:57
Speaker
I think she she told you how to do your job and recruited herself. ah No. Once I recruited her, she gave me some important notes that one might give to a coworker. And she did give you a potential contact and said, you should go talk to this person. And Kaz proceeded to not go talk to that person.
00:03:15
Speaker
Yeah. I am going to go talk to that person.
00:03:22
Speaker
But now we're going to jump Valk or Selena and your downtime activities and what you're up to.
Selena's Library Visit and Research
00:03:28
Speaker
Well, okay, after we meet the goblin ghosts, Selene is going to the library to tell Aurora what is happening to the books and that there's no end in sight to them being moved.
00:03:37
Speaker
But she would also, i think, number one, start but start the record of the the adventures that they've had so far.
00:03:49
Speaker
But also in the library, she would probably try to do some research on the new sword and see if there's any mention of it in any books or anything. Okay. Give me a intelligence
00:04:08
Speaker
direct references to your sword, unfortunately. eleven yeah you don't find any direct references to your sword unfortunately but okay In your research, though, you do find a more you know, different stances and fighting forms around what you've been researching of this, like combining the arcane and the marshal together into a fighting style.
00:04:45
Speaker
But you just don't find anything directly referencing your sword, unfortunately. Okay. I think s Selena would take notes on those specific like techniques to then go and work on later with Nyx.
00:04:57
Speaker
And Nyx will be so excited. It's true. Okay. This is a good time in Nyx's life. There's an armory. Someone wants to learn fencing. think it's great. Except that someone's sneaking into their chapel while sleeping.
00:05:10
Speaker
That's still not cool. Not ideal. Anything else before you go to talk with Nyx about training? No, I don't think so. Okay. Well, we can play that out then. Where is Nyx at? Nyx is probably, i mean, depending on what time of day it is. mobile-style series of baby traps for whoever's painting on the walls. I mean, that's that sort of definitely happening. There's definitely so but some tripwires that are going up at night, but she's probably some of the times working. I would assume setting up the armory was probably a all of this time, sort of bit at a time being done. Yeah.
00:05:45
Speaker
ah progress so she might be down in the armory or or really anywhere so okay i think selena would go and meet next armory and bring the sword um and the notes all on different different fighting things and just ask for a little bit of help oh yes absolutely we should start with a sword that isn't sharp Oh, okay. So Nyx goes up and and finds a couple of of training swords. She looks at Selina's notes and nods.
00:06:18
Speaker
Erik or Madison, correct me. I would assume sort of the core of this is you're using the sword one-handed because you need a hand free to do magic.
00:06:29
Speaker
I assume. Yes, there are, you you do note in the notes, there
Selena's Training and Transformation
00:06:37
Speaker
are some variations for two weapon fighting or using a two handed weapon.
00:06:44
Speaker
but the core of it has a ah free hand for the spell casting. But you see a large component of Nix as you're examining it is that the sword is the spell casting implement.
00:06:57
Speaker
So it requires a special weapon in order for it to function correctly. To function as magic. Right. So i I guess Nix would probably go through a lot of questions to Selena about
00:07:14
Speaker
how she feels most comfortable holding the sword, whether it's a two-handed grip, whether it's one-handed, whether she's thinking, she Nix would point out the the the notes on two-weapon fighting and whether that's something that Selina is intending to try.
00:07:34
Speaker
I'd like to try it, but maybe let's start with one. Good answer. Two weapon fighting nonsense. but Well, and I only have one. That was Philip. Two swords is nonsense.
00:07:47
Speaker
um Okay, so i think what it would start with is before trying to work on the actual like magic fighting thing.
00:07:59
Speaker
It would just be Nyx taking Selena and a couple of training swords over to the gym and just starting with basics of fighting with sword i mean footwork and entering fencing 101 kind of class the that Nyx would go through with increasing speed and intensity over the course of however long s Selena will tolerate it.
00:08:32
Speaker
Selena's pretty stubborn, so she's there a while, I think. Yeah. Yeah. so yeah, Nyx would spend a bunch of time just just sparring with Selena and then, you know, probably days in, Dart, because some of this would be Nyx...
00:08:54
Speaker
trying to learn the techniques because Nyx doesn't fight this way exactly. Nyx's spellcasting is very different from Selena's and so but getting the one-handed sword and the hand free for casting and and probably a lot of asking Selena to show her how she uses her hands when spellcasting because you know normally when you're fighting with only one hand with with a sort of just one hand the other hand is kind of trying to stay out of the way and this is very very different and so there'd be a lot of you know how how does it work how ah how is the position of your fingers necessary what is that like nick doesn't cast spells the same way that you do and so
00:09:42
Speaker
How do you wizard exactly has is some of the some of the conversation. Well, it depends on the spell. A lot of times I use both hands, but I can do it with one. So I'm going to have to to kind of work on getting more comfortable with that.
00:09:55
Speaker
But it's it's very fluid. I feel like it's more about the intention of it. So we can adjust a little bit. Right. All right. Good then. All right. So let's try.
00:10:09
Speaker
we'll get out. whatever target dummy she's put together in the in the gym. Or I guess probably we would at some point... I guess the gym is not really spell-proof, so we'd probably go to the danger room at some point if we're going to start throwing fire at stuff.
00:10:24
Speaker
We're going to kick Kaz out. Yeah. We go eject Kaz from the danger room, and Nyx sets up a ah target
00:10:36
Speaker
and start working through...
00:10:41
Speaker
forms that are probably a lot more, a lot more fluid, a lot more martial arts-like to keep the hand ready for spellcasting.
00:10:52
Speaker
do you, where I come from, rich kids take sword fighting lessons. Is that in your, I don't know how it is in Ernal.
00:11:05
Speaker
I was never allowed to do that. Really? Just because of, well, my heart, my whole pacemaker thing.
00:11:16
Speaker
my My dad would try to kind of protect me from anything that like could do that. He didn't even know I was learning magic, so I certainly wasn't allowed a weapon.
00:11:27
Speaker
All right, I don't. I don't understand that at all. All right. I... I wasn't either. I wasn't just... No, it's... It wasn't an option.
00:11:38
Speaker
We didn't... I didn't grow up in circumstances where sword fighting lessons were a thing. So that's... Well, you seem to be picking it up.
00:11:50
Speaker
Thank you.
00:11:52
Speaker
I'm not... I've never tried to do this from diagrams. It's different. Yeah, I... I can imagine that it is. you have any idea, during some break, do you have any idea what Vogue means when she talks about us having colors?
00:12:07
Speaker
No. And I want to know what mine is. I don't really understand, but I want to know what mine is. And it's not Autumn, because that's not a color. i asked and she just told me that my color was my color. And that doesn't even make sense.
00:12:23
Speaker
You're not there. That is not what I said. The wording is important. That is not what I said. I don't understand that at all. I don't either. don't know. want to ask, but I'm a little scared of Valk, so haven't asked. That's a treat.
00:12:38
Speaker
I sometimes think I understand Valk quite well, and other times not at all, but the way I don't understand her is—understand him is, I think, just a difference of experience.
00:12:55
Speaker
I think I scare him sometimes.
00:12:58
Speaker
Maybe. yeah Anyway, back to Nick's puts the picks the swords back up and
00:13:07
Speaker
compartmentalizes back to sword fighting. Okay. I mean, Madison describe the slain is like breakthrough, i guess. Like, when does it all kind of unlock for her?
00:13:18
Speaker
I feel like it's just kind of steady, like normal progress through the first little bit of working on just the techniques and things like that. But I think it's when we try to add the magic element to it.
00:13:32
Speaker
um I think she tries some some different spells and it kind of doesn't work as well as she wants. But then she tries one that's similar to Ray of Frost, since that's like kind of an element that she's used to working with.
00:13:48
Speaker
It's called freezing strike. And I feel like that's when it's like, it all kind of clicks. Okay. What does freezing strike do? It just sends out like a cold blast and it's cold damage and leaves the target a stuck.
00:14:05
Speaker
So it's just like an icy blast. i'm imagining a duelic yeah I'm imagining a dueling scene where we finally got sharps out and we're going at it. And then there's just this like explosive sound and Nyx is just like, you know, on the wall in ice.
00:14:21
Speaker
Ice. Yes. click And Madison, do you want to go ahead and describe to the audience what has happened Seleneth? Yes, Selina has gone from ah wizard to sword mage.
00:14:37
Speaker
So she's a sword mage now. And so the spells are different and she can do some different things using sigils and it's really cool. It's going to be give her a little bit more freedom with like melee fighting instead of having to kind of stay in the back.
00:14:54
Speaker
Yep. Kaz is the only one who doesn't use a sword for their magic. Loser. Cool. Great. Bring that up to Kaz. He's not going through enough. I mean, at some point during this, we don't need to narrate. Nyx is absolutely making Kaz work on fighting. Yeah, no, and Kaz intends to also.
00:15:17
Speaker
Mandatory after school activity. right you and starts like an organization dedicated to combat like a combat group or a striking commune there's gotta be a pithy way to put it but you don't talk about combat group I like striking commune feels like we might be a fight club we might be a labor organization but yeah sure you Why not both?
00:15:51
Speaker
Why not both? Throw some punches and talk about the the power imbalance in the workplace. Okay. From each according to their strength to each according to their mouthiness.
00:16:03
Speaker
Yes. Groundskeeper Valk. Yeah, so initially the idea was was stolen by the botanical gardens that we did not get. But then it was also saved by the goblin like the weird flowers.
00:16:16
Speaker
So we are just going to go with a garden and not a whole, like, structure. So Valk is going to be working the the garden in the back. um So he's going to be outside.
00:16:30
Speaker
is there...
Valk's Botanical Adventures
00:16:33
Speaker
been about this for multiple hours now. Is there a large empty space on the property?
00:16:43
Speaker
There is so much real estate on this property. Yes. Fantastic. I want to find ah spot that's not close to the house.
00:16:56
Speaker
I want to plant my giant acorn. There's a graveyard. and No, we'll get to that later. We'll get to that later. It's almost already fertilized. It is on my list. No, it's and it's already been dug up.
00:17:07
Speaker
And the bodies the bones removed and then put back. All the nutrients had already gotten into the soil. It's already tilled for you. And I mean, the goblins did die on the land, so i technically it's all fertilized. I want to plant the giant acorn. just want to make sure that's...
00:17:25
Speaker
okay amazing i love this i love we'll see what that goes i'm trying to think what check this would be probably wisdom gonna go with wisdom based check so okay that is chris that's a 21. 21.
00:17:46
Speaker
twenty wton twenty one Yes, or is it 16? It takes you a matter of, like, you know enough about plant life, Valk, just from a ah baseline to know an acorn this big is going to have to be put pretty deep into the ground to have a shot at, like...
00:18:09
Speaker
rooting and growing so it takes you a couple of weeks of dedicated time going out to the spot and digging hole down okay uh deep enough to drop the acorn ends um but you feel very confident that you know you you have your large pile of dirt behind you and you finally carry the acorn out i would imagine carefully and somewhat reverently i don't know that might kick it like a soccer ball but This was a gift.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yes. i But yes, you you are able to plant the acorn in a way that you are confident with enough time and care. You should see it metaphorically bear fruit.
00:18:51
Speaker
Okay. And then, yeah, I guess I'm going to work on the gardens in the back.
00:19:04
Speaker
I think in particular, i mean, it was really convenient. ah Valk is kind of pouring a little bit of magic into this.
00:19:15
Speaker
and yeah um Just to kind of test it's some of the least dangerous in the sense life forms to help. yeah Kind of put this weird, the weird magic into. so He's been doing that.
00:19:31
Speaker
I want to see in caring for the different plants, have I been able to like either change a plant or even like pull a plant from Zoria? You certainly noticed that like...
00:19:51
Speaker
Yes, by infusing your magic into the way that you're tending the plants, like, you get some roses that, when they bloom, are, like, cyan. Like, just a ah very odd color for them.
00:20:04
Speaker
And then probably the... the most striking manipulation that you've done to like plant of the material plane is there's a few fruit trees on the property.
00:20:16
Speaker
And as you tend to them, one of the apples that falls and hits the ground immediately like explodes into like a puff of red powder.
00:20:27
Speaker
Ooh.
00:20:30
Speaker
So yeah, which which is, yeah, just madness. Just weird, weird things. There are a couple of plants that you have been able to pull in from Zoriath that you can tell are just completely alien.
00:20:42
Speaker
and Invasive, should not be here. But they are. Can I repot those to try to at least somewhat hide the fact that I... Like, they're they're definitely going to be...
00:20:58
Speaker
there. I would probably put it in like the like a shed or something. speed Give me an intelligence shed to make sure that you get them fully you don't leave behind a seed pot or something.
00:21:10
Speaker
Oh, dice, please don't fail. I'm confident. Wait, what was It was wisdom? Intelligence. Okay. That's 17. That was an okay he That's not a good okay.
00:21:28
Speaker
I guess we'll see. but so god You come back in the entire Appelhampton Manor is just consumed by plant life.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yeah, you repot the Zoriath plants and take them to the shed. she than my I think my I think in the while I'm in the shed because I don't think that there's anyone there with me is going to I can't confidently say that I'm gonna put a bell on you like a cat so we know where you are because you are everywhere and nowhere at once please go away very good sir
00:22:15
Speaker
actually find a bell and put the bell on you and go away. Yeah, bell yourself. I'm going to reach into my vest pocket, the inner vest pocket.
00:22:27
Speaker
I'm going to pull out wrap of cloth. I'm going to open it. And inside of it is a more like a pen, like a brooch.
00:22:38
Speaker
It's silver. It's an eyeball with the wings around it. Can I, is it open? Is the eyeball open or is the eyeball closed? Eyeball open. Hey, we're going to wrap that up. and we're gonna We're going to swiftly wrap that back up in panic.
00:22:56
Speaker
And then I want to get a different pot and I want to bury it in that pot. Okay.
00:23:03
Speaker
and want to tuck that pot in the dark corner. Okay. I want to put a like ah blanket or like a tarp or something in the shed over that. Okay. Okay. And now... the rock on top of the blanket. Flaking on top of the rock. And then... I'm gonna put that box in the box and I'll smash it with a hammer! Okay. So I think Valk is a little uncomfortable with that, just with the discussion of... surveillance.
00:23:31
Speaker
So we're gonna... gonna keep that... tucked away. And now... I want to see the damage that has been done to the graveyard. You go to the graveyard and you see that there are three graves that have been, i mean, the dirt has now settled because it has been a decent amount of time since the last downtime.
00:23:52
Speaker
But yeah, you, the three graves have been recently disturbed. Uh, no No more. like what Once the responsible party was explained to about why we can't just go get extra bones that are laying around that no one's using, then they stop. Okay. but are there any like Are there gravestones for the ones that were... Yes, but they're very weathered.
00:24:24
Speaker
And covered in moss. you could You could try to restore them to a certain extent. It's going to take a check. Yeah. Try to identify the names on them, but you can certainly try. Yeah, i want to I want to do that. Okay.
00:24:39
Speaker
So there we go.
00:24:43
Speaker
am I checking with? It was just a straight Dexterity. So you're physically trying to. That's a 10. Okay. Okay.
00:24:55
Speaker
So one of them, you get in a decent enough state to see the name, which is Norn, N-O-R-N.
The Mysterious Sword Discovery
00:25:06
Speaker
Norn! should Geldon, G-E-L-D-E-N. Did I uncover any dates or anything, or is it just the name? Yeah, the year that you got for birth was 353, and the year that you got for death was 785. There's some sort of cryptic and cryptic inscription as to the cause of death. and Died on this very spot.
00:25:34
Speaker
and While reading a gravestone. with To a goblin. Is somehow right behind you. Always said the only thing I hated more than goblins was people reading my epitaph.
00:25:45
Speaker
No. No, the only thing that you see of note is the symbol of the god Orion on the gravestone. That is the god of law and knowledge.
00:25:58
Speaker
It's an open book is what it says. omarad I think definitely Valk over time probably would have been... No. No, actually, because I just so i just went there. So I'm going retroactively bring some of the non-weird flowers and put them on the graves.
00:26:14
Speaker
On the graves. Just to be a little nice. And then I will like kind of poke around to see if there's any... items or anything that has been like strewn not to steal but just to try to put things back in their order Valk is extremely respectful of things that have passed so weapons don't want to be buried I don't think that's always true the voice of Nyx I don't ah think that's always true but give me a wisdom check to look around the grounds to see what you can find
00:26:52
Speaker
That's my good one. 17. 17. Okay. Yeah. yeah As you are looking around, you find you find a ah sword with a curved blade that is but made of what looks like obsidian.
00:27:15
Speaker
a while since Eric said to believe something.
00:27:18
Speaker
What did I say? Not you. Oh, I didn't hear. Amazing. Somewhere Nyx and Slim are practicing. And Nyx just pauses and goes, wait. A disturbance.
00:27:31
Speaker
Somewhere, a sword. It's just an obsidian curve. There's some unique markings on it that, I mean, it's it's a type of elvish writing.
00:27:44
Speaker
Probably... No, going to say definitively not something that Valk has encountered before. I would be able to read Elvish. um Unless it's old Elvish.
00:27:55
Speaker
and Probably not. It's a different... The script is the same as Elvish, but the letters are used differently. If that makes sense.
00:28:06
Speaker
Yeah. In fact, you was just probably would have been encountered language. like Like, I can't read German, but if I see German written, I'm like, that is German. I just don't know what it says.
00:28:18
Speaker
yeah You know that this is undercommon, is the the writing. and oh It's just lying in the grass in the graveyard? you You find it kind of tucked behind a tree, like like lots of plate life overgrowing. Like it had been there for a while, kind of buried yeah underneath the grass and things like that.
00:28:39
Speaker
Saddest place. I mean, it's a... Well, how curved? is just a curved blade or is it are we hitting more like sickle-shaped type of blade?
00:28:51
Speaker
Scimitar? Yeah. Closer to scimitar. but Okay. But it's not as broad-bladed as a scimitar. so Okay. Okay. And the blade is on both sides. Double scimitar.
00:29:04
Speaker
No, not double. Sorry. Not double scimitar. But the curved blade is bladed on. Oh, it's sharpened on both sides. It's sharpened on both sides. Yeah.
00:29:16
Speaker
I see. A scythe scimitar combo. I'll figure that one out visually later. Or sickle. More sickle. With a deep and heavy sigh. It wasn't in a grave. i think Valk would just kind of speak openly and just like, I'm just gonna... I'm just gonna borrow this.
00:29:32
Speaker
I live in the house. He's gonna point to wait the house. If you need it. Give me a call. We already got a goblin. You know, just... I am going to pick it up.
00:29:45
Speaker
I am going to be upset about it and I am not taking it to Nyx.
00:29:55
Speaker
because i know there's going to be questions about where i found it it it it was tucked behind a tree your principles are intact just because i'm behaving hypocritically doesn't mean i want people to know that i'm exactly i want to don't know anything about the sword I'm going to take it to Aurora first to see if maybe she knows the language.
00:30:24
Speaker
Okay. um As you are walking back to the outrageous, ah you see Henrik hanging upside down from a tree, like using his feet to hold on to a branch, and he's reading.
Henrik's Examination of the Sword
00:30:37
Speaker
that's normal. It's a Tuesday equivalent. which Using his feet to hold on to a branch? Yeah. His big old... He's got monkey feet.
00:30:48
Speaker
Okay. like I guess. He's beast he's our beast analog, Jeff. Okay. okay beast okay i just i was very I've never seen a wolf. that because let it You haven't seen a lion burrow either. And I was confused by that as well. That's true. We had a lot of reaction to that.
00:31:08
Speaker
yes I'm sorry. Please continue. Henrik sees you approaching, Valk, and takes off his glasses, still hanging upside down. He's like, Valk, how's the day treating you?
00:31:20
Speaker
Very good. I found a sword. Oh. Interesting. but Where did you find it? By a tree. Can you read this? That's the answer.
00:31:35
Speaker
This is real heavy on his conscience. It's just like the exchange of, I found this thing. Oh, where'd you find it? None of your business. You brought it up. It was part of my day. i yeah, I can, I can take a look at it I don't know if I can read the script precisely, but, and he tucks his,
00:31:56
Speaker
He, one of his feet comes down and he like sticks the book like in between his toes. Um, he takes the sword for you. just to And he holds the blade in his hand he's like, well, it's definitely drow.
00:32:11
Speaker
I would say probably Volcore-y, I had to guess, based on the style of weapon. Very strange that you found it here, though. I agree. nice Sounded by the tree.
00:32:25
Speaker
There are a lot of trees. Yeah, it's very overground. It's a lot of land to cover. I'm just one person. um That's fair. You're doing a great job as the groundsman. lot ground to keep. A lot of ground to keep. He hands the sword back and takes his book back in his hand.
00:32:42
Speaker
um Yeah, I mean, i I'm not a weapons expert. I know that we have one here, but... I i know we do. Actually, I have a... This is post-Barnaby at this point, right?
00:32:57
Speaker
we We are living in a post-Barnaby world, yes. Okay. What did you end up doing with the construct? I'm still examining the various aspects of its construction in the lab.
00:33:12
Speaker
Okay. Does it still look like Barnaby? I mean, on the outside, yes. Okay. That's more exciting. What were are you saying? I thought you don't know ever i thought we were going to scan it by now. I'm sorry.
00:33:26
Speaker
That seems like the more ethical thing to do. okay Agreed. It doesn't need to have a face just taking you a little break from being inside. So just doing some some reading.
00:33:38
Speaker
yeah What are you what are you reading but Just something light, you know, yeah this is a collection of reports about the various influences of the overlords as recorded in the continent over the past 50 years. So i'm sorry it's really interesting given the nature of our work that we do here, because we seek to hunt down and extricate extra planar forces that are interfering.
00:34:05
Speaker
But based on... all estimations and counts overlords are wholly of the material plane, yet they still exert the same kind of influence that a plane would.
00:34:16
Speaker
So it's very interesting. I'm going to leave you to that. Yes. Have fun with your weapon. Love to chat with you. Not today. Do you go to Aurora next?
00:34:30
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not, I'm not doing but next. Valk is going to go to that goblin ghost before Aurora is in the library working on arranging some books.
00:34:42
Speaker
She sees Valk and turns like, oh, hello, Valk. Hello. okay I have a question. Yes. Are you able to read the script on this sword?
00:34:56
Speaker
Likely. but Did you want to guess try? Yeah. Say yes or no and just walk away. it Yes. Yes. Goodbye. I don't know. Can you? All right. This weapon has a inscription. It appears to be an invocation Volkor the Hunter. Forgive me. My undercommon is Rusty.
00:35:17
Speaker
Many. Many. die upon the end of the spleen. Either end. Which is really pretty cool. so And may I die at the hand of that which vested me. Okay then.
00:35:38
Speaker
How grim. How grim. It's fitting. It's fitting.
00:35:44
Speaker
Thank you. Fitting you say? It's an odd sword. Where'd you find it? Yeah, a tree! Alright. When you start cleaning the brush from the trees, you find... Swords. You find bugs, you find rocks, you find plaques, you find swords, you find... Some more rocks, a bone, squirrels. You found a bone?
00:36:12
Speaker
What kind of bone? They look kind of like a femur. Squirrel. and They've had a human femur? and You've had a human femur. I just clean the grounds. I don't analyze the ground. you i it I could show you where the femur tree ends.
Nyx's Vision of the Sword's History
00:36:30
Speaker
I already used it for bone meal. I'm sorry. Perhaps we find any other human remains on the ground. We don't destroy the evidence immediately. We didn't have fertilizer.
00:36:43
Speaker
Neither do you. Okay, yeah, that's fair. first I'm gonna go. You know who you should ask about this sword? and No, I don't. yeah I'm gonna go. Nyx.
00:36:56
Speaker
I'm gonna go. Amazing. kidding I get one strike point. You're gonna go talk to anyone else about the sword? We'll go talk to Nyx. Nyx is frozen to the danger room now. We're not talking to Nyx. We are turning around. Is is cheering. Slane is happy. I can smell the sword on you.
00:37:19
Speaker
I can smell the new blade. It's obsidian. We're getting here. I found something, but it seems like you're preoccupied. So I... It's fine, we're done!
00:37:32
Speaker
Okay. I found an item, which could be described as a sword, kind a location of the trees. Alright.
00:37:43
Speaker
Which tree? The trees.
00:37:48
Speaker
There's a lot of them. they There are, that's why I asked. Yeah. Do you want to look at the sword? Nyx sets down the sword she's been using because she doesn't she doesn't train with her soul blade.
00:38:01
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. Nyx walks over. It's, uh... This looks very old. It is. it was overgrown the tree. It was just pretty lying by a tree?
00:38:12
Speaker
It was the underbrush. It was overgrown and I was cleaning, keeping the grounds. That's crazy.
00:38:21
Speaker
Right, yeah. That's very strange. Yeah.
00:38:25
Speaker
On the other hand, we have a ghost that lives upstairs. Sure, Nyx takes the sword and will examine it with her Shabarath-touched abilities?
00:38:38
Speaker
and I don't know what else I'm going to learn, but I'll try. Oh, that's a really... that's... okay. A natural 20 for 29. twenty nine yeah Okay. oh All swords hit a Nyx.
00:38:50
Speaker
Never doubt. Never ever doubt. Never doubt Nyx again. i'm I'm inclined to like say that there is some element of supernaturalness to what Nyx learns just giving natural 20 and you have her a touch.
00:39:05
Speaker
100%. That's absolutely how Nyx learns. Like Nyx... No one ever taught Nyx how to do any of these things. Like Nyx does this because of what happens. So she, yeah, she touches the sword...
00:39:17
Speaker
to stick with Valk's way of saying swords have colors. um
00:39:25
Speaker
So you get some, but you get a few brief flashes in your mind's eye, Nyx, of this sword's use and history. You see a drow woman holding this sword above a drow man who is kneeling with his neck extended and the sword is brought down swiftly ah to execute the man by beheading.
00:39:52
Speaker
um Then you also see this drow woman briefly flashing forward And obviously in a cavernous underground environment is where you see that first scene. Then you see her bowing before a large figure that is half drow woman, half very large giant scorpion.
00:40:14
Speaker
And then you see her cutting her way through hobgoblin troops in dro am the dro am, uh, or Southern sure yeah to to use what nix would understand it as or no sorry i meant dark food is oh yes i meant dargum yes alongside some other drow interesting and then you see hobgoblin warlord yeah like smiling
00:40:50
Speaker
as he sticks his blade through the person wielding this blade as she is also smiling looking into his eyes and she begins to laugh before everything goes dark okay so nyx nyx takes the sword and and looks at it and runs her hands along the blade and all of this kind of just flashes through her mind i as as i just bleeds over from Shavaroth, where this, where this drow woman's sword wraith is absolutely still engaged in endless battle. I don't know how helpful anything I've just, that I'm learning is, but ah a drow warrior or this in battle against goblins in this area.
00:41:42
Speaker
A long time ago. I don't know how I don't have a concept of how long ago. Uh, based on the armor and everything, you can tell that it was, it was a long time. Yeah.
00:41:53
Speaker
She was killed. in battle with those goblinoids. I don't know what became of the weapon from that point on. and Perhaps that's how it came to be here, or it was taken by... and don't know whose hands it passed through since then.
00:42:11
Speaker
I can see her and feel her joy and it like Slaughter. and Unfortunately, that checks out with the inscription on the sword.
00:42:26
Speaker
Would I be able to tell if this his sword is like, like cursed? You certainly don't get any bad magic vibes off of it. Okay.
00:42:37
Speaker
Do we get any magic vibes off of it? Give me an intelligence check to investigate it. I just did that. You got a natural 20. I will, I will grade you that. No, you do not get any magical vibes off of it.
00:42:51
Speaker
It doesn't seem to be enchanted. Ah, it is very beautiful. Okay, thank you. Would you like me to hang it up with the others that you have intentions?
00:43:02
Speaker
Nyx offers the sword back. I'm going to take it back. i am The tree? ah yeah No, i like I am going to take it back from you. I understand.
00:43:13
Speaker
i might borrow it and then I might return it to the tree. right. Does it belong to the tree? Yes. It might belong to someone in the area of the tree. I actually mean that because we have talked to the tree. We have talked to trees in our travels. No, it's not a sentient tree, but it might belong to somebody resides around the tree, near the tree.
00:43:38
Speaker
All right, but if it's the one who's been painting in the chapel, i need to know. I don't think that they're getting up anytime soon. I was just afraid. I'm afraid.
00:43:53
Speaker
Valk is gone. Valk is sprinted from the danger room. You've never seen him move that fast. Especially with a sharp object. Stop running with it. All right.
00:44:06
Speaker
You all, on a particular day a little bit later, get summoned, not with the red light, but Javier does come and collect all of you. um i have something I'd like to discuss with you all in my office, if I can have a moment of your time. I can't tell whether we're in trouble or not.
00:44:26
Speaker
Isn't that an air of disappointment in us? so Normally he just pushes a light. I'm pretty good at knowing when I'm in trouble. who This not one of those times.
00:44:39
Speaker
hope it's getting curtains for the second floor cassettes.
00:44:45
Speaker
Yeah, why haven't we done that? ah It's so bright. You know, i walk I walk through the second floor every day now to get to my room and it's not nearly as bad as he's acting like it is. Or is it permanently damaging your eyes?
00:44:58
Speaker
He specifically said it was it's it is harsh to wake up to. like That is all he said. No, Eric. It's a blinding inferno of light.
00:45:09
Speaker
And because he's a good butler, he understands that a 16-year-old man is going to want to sleep in on days where he does not need to be up early and would not want to be woken up by natural sunlight. Overruled. i mean You have been overruled. yeah It is it's a natural light.
00:45:24
Speaker
His exact words were corneal damage tantamount to lasers. Yeah. yeah Anyway, you all get to Javier's office and he's sitting behind his desk in his normal attire. And as you all sit down, he says, so we have a potential addition to the manor and to the lighthouse that I think would be a good addition.
Dr. Tashana Vares Joins the Team
00:45:49
Speaker
but is going to involve bit of information gathering. And so I wanted to speak to you all on it, let you know what's happening. And if there are any substantial objections to it, I'm willing to hear them out.
00:46:08
Speaker
Nyx actually met her ah some time ago, when I was initially interviewing her in my office. Um, but Dr. Tashana Vares is interested in moving into Athelhampton Manor and joining the lighthouse.
00:46:25
Speaker
She is a renowned expert in a field that she calls planar psychology, which is specifically the study of how exposure to extra planar energies affects the mind, body, and spirit of mortals.
00:46:41
Speaker
you think it does? think it might. I have an inclination, yes. She works at Morgary University, or that's where she originally began her career. um so But she survived a pretty catastrophic encounter with a manifest zone.
00:47:01
Speaker
um And she then began working alongside House Jurasco to further her work and gain funding to...
00:47:13
Speaker
frigate for rear. And once word got out about us and what we were doing, she saw it as a unique opportunity to bring her expertise to a good use is the way that she puts it.
00:47:26
Speaker
I have a question, Eric. I have an answer, Philip. I grew up in a town full of plain touched people. Have I encountered this person?
00:47:38
Speaker
Have i were there books by her all over the shelves? Like probably actually. Yeah. You would, it would sounds like this is a place you would go if you were into that field. Yeah.
00:47:50
Speaker
Yeah. So yeah, probably you but you may have actually i'm I'm sad we didn't talk about this before because you probably would have recognized her when you saw her in Javier's office. I was really focused on the strange person in the hood that's wandering around the grounds at night. So she wants to join one because she is working on a unique framework of cataloging the planes based on different markers that aligns with some things that Aurora has been working on as well.
00:48:21
Speaker
But then additionally, she's offering her services to make sure that my field team is not slowly going mad from exposure to extra planar forces.
00:48:32
Speaker
You mean like us? You are my one and only field. Well, I mean, if I think about Zoria, my brain kind of feels like it's already eating itself. So i be it's a little bit late for that one.
00:48:47
Speaker
Oh, I don't think it's ever too late to start. I think it is. um Well, I'm not an expert in it, and we have someone that's willing to give it a shot.
00:48:58
Speaker
So so i i would I'm open to hearing any major concerns or objections. Are we going to have to like debrief with her regularly?
00:49:12
Speaker
Like, is that the plan? Probably. Yeah. out Like ah she had to go back to Sharn after our interview. So it'll probably take her some time to move out here, barring any issues, but probably after your next job, we'll make formal introductions and then you all will have sessions with her as a benefit of being a member of the lighthouse.
00:49:37
Speaker
A psychiatrist. Benefit or requirement. This is a great benefit. Usually they charge a lot of money. place i' I'm not going to tie you to a chair and force you to talk to this woman. Good.
00:49:49
Speaker
I will ask you, even if you're not interested in her services that she is providing for your benefit, you at least debrief with her on what you encountered on your jobs for her benefit of the cataloging work that she's doing, which is an extension of our work here at the Lighthouse.
00:50:04
Speaker
Are we paying her You will not have to pay her anything. Well, I mean... As of right now, she is not getting paid. No. None of us are getting paid except for... Oh, right.
00:50:17
Speaker
And he opens his door and pulls out a hundred gold pieces that he divides four ways. Your take from Barnaby's. Sick. From looting Barnaby's. He handed the money over. It's an unnecessary conversation for you.
00:50:33
Speaker
ah listen I feel better about it. Anyway, she believes in the Lighthouse's work. She believes in what we're doing. And I believe in what she's doing.
00:50:43
Speaker
And so this seat feels like a mutually beneficial endeavor.
00:50:48
Speaker
Is she externally funded by a different organization, religion, and or government? Sometimes. She...
00:51:00
Speaker
What? what What was that, Nyx? Sometimes. Have you encountered the doctor before? You came to Relicor a few times. Well, that makes sense, but I can assure you that Whatever intentions her visits to Relicor were do not align with what she is doing here. She has published multiple books and will still be free to leave the manor to go do her speaking engagements and things like that where she earns money.
00:51:32
Speaker
She is not being funded by an external entity. She earns her money herself. I think it would be wise to have someone a little force support in that area.
00:51:45
Speaker
from experience support in what way checking in on your mental capacity and strengths we will do our best when you all go out on jobs we have an estimation of your travel time how long the job is going to take you will try to align her schedule with yours to where she is available when you are in the house Nyx, you're doing the thing where you get really stoic and wall-y kind of broody in the corner because it's something you don't really like, but that requires you opening up more so you're not going to do it, so you're just going to kind of stand there and be a little mean.
00:52:24
Speaker
yeah This is the wall, Kaz. This is the wall. See, it's not healthy. It's working. It's doing a lot of work. I mean, I'm happy, I guess, to talk to her since you're asking us.
00:52:37
Speaker
I feel like a lot of my problems, the I know that I spent a lot of time in another plane, but I don't remember it. And that fact feels incidental to the life falling apart part of it, I think is really where more of my... But I'm happy to talk to her. And perhaps part of your lack of memory about your time there has something to do with the planar influence, which is what she...
00:53:00
Speaker
investigates and seeks to understand and could maybe work through. I'd show up in a book. Are you published in a book?
00:53:11
Speaker
Well, it's ah interesting. Something about stories, man, right? we all saw cas Not Oh, is she here? I'm sorry, i thought we were talking about her, not with her No, I'm i'm asking i was talking to nicks if... published in...
00:53:29
Speaker
A book, a study, volume one,
00:53:35
Speaker
two All right. Well, I'm getting uncomfortable. So i didn't hear any major objections. Selena, you were quiet the entire time, but I'm not against it. All right.
00:53:46
Speaker
Great. She's had great health care. So. Elena's already seen a therapist for a while. Yeah. It's fine. Okay. Well, appreciate it everyone. And great. Back to As You Were.
00:53:57
Speaker
And we will call it an episode there. so Thank you all so much for listening. If you want to be a part of the discussion surrounding this episode, you have it to our Discord. The link to it is in the description of this podcast. Also, we have a YouTube channel, youtube.com. If you want to watch some videos about TTRPGs, that's the place to do it.
00:54:14
Speaker
Phillip. Tales from the Laugh-and-Tree over on YouTube and Spotify. We have another actual play called Blades and Banners. It's pirates. That's true. We also have a Patreon, patreon.com slash thegepantheon. If you want to financially support the show, you can do so over there.
00:54:29
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. I have been your Game Master, Eric. I'm Mia. I'm Phillip. I'm Madison. Thank you. We'll see you next time.