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“Kids on Bikes” One-Shot Chapter Two
258 Plays5 years ago
The tale of Pineville continues as the gang tries to find the woman on the hill, or at least the answers behind her disappearance.
This episode is brought to you by the generous donations of our amazing Show Sponsors: Laura Pickrahn, Darrin Katzska, Irene Viorritto, Ryan Royce, Darrell DeLaney, Jessica Smith, Charles Compton, Richard Cree, Nastasia Raulerson, The Kamm Family, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Rebekah Miller, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, and Dustin Troupe.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
The following episode is brought to you by the generous donations of Elizabeth Clark, Darryl Delaney, Ryan Royce, Darren Katska, Irene Villarito, Laura Pickron, Devious Poptart, Natasha Rallerson, Richard Cree, The Cam Family, Charles Compton, Dustin Troop, Rebecca Miller, Edvard Arnoff, Michael Clark, and David Scrams, along with all of our generous Patrons.
00:00:33
Speaker
D20 radio, your gamers roll.
Meet the Hosts of Eberron Renewed
00:00:59
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to the Eberron Renewed feed. I don't want to tell people they're about to hear Eberron Renewed. It makes me feel bad. It is still the show. I know, it is still the show. Hello, I am Eberron Renewed. Welcome to Jeff. I'm Jeff. I'm Phillip.
00:01:18
Speaker
I'm Trevor. I'm Eric. I'm Randy. So far so good. Yes, welcome
History Class Project and Viking Myth
00:01:23
Speaker
back. We are about to start episode three of our Kids on Bikes One Shot. We haven't done this in a while, or at least I've never done it. Well, let's fill people in. We've done two episodes now, and we haven't done this. Let's do a quick fill in before we move on.
00:01:39
Speaker
Yeah, we're a bunch of misfits. That is true. Yeah, last episode, we were assigned a group project together in Mrs. Delancey's history class to go film a video of some kind. And we settled on covering the rumored burial ground of a Viking king where their rune was because Rick is into that stuff.
00:02:06
Speaker
Yeah, and Alex had to come along because both of his caretakers that aren't currently working have to go.
Mysterious Woman Sighting
00:02:16
Speaker
And at the end of the episode, while filming, Duncan, through the viewfinder, saw a woman a little bit older, like in her 20s, come over the hill, look weird at Alex and Rick and Rick puked.
00:02:31
Speaker
Did I miss anything? Yeah, when you put the camera down, she wasn't there. That's a big part. Yeah, fair enough. Thank you, Trevor. Okay, super cool. So, I mean, that's where we left off, is you put the...
00:02:46
Speaker
Uh, Rick hurled and then you put the camera down and the girl is gone. Go. Um, so, uh, Duncan, uh, drops the camera, like not throw it down, just kind of like, um, from a low, low distance drops it and begins running towards the Hill and, um,
00:03:11
Speaker
Shouts, Alex, get to Stephanie. And like I Duncan starts sprinting up the hill past Rick to see where this woman went and tries to get like look over the top. He's saying go get to Stephanie. Get to Stephanie. Roll. Roll grit plus three for your rebellious nature. Six.
00:03:35
Speaker
Yeah, he's your big brother, that's enough. He looks visibly shaken and is yelling at you, and you don't have any problems going to Stephanie, so.
Exploring the Hill and Technical Troubles
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, so I run to Stephanie. Stephanie, did you see? He just threw up, he got sick, I don't know what's wrong. And Stephanie's been sitting on the hood of her car and she kind of slides off and just kind of pats Alex on the back and it's like. Now what's up with Duncan?
00:04:00
Speaker
Um, you were going to say something. Sorry. I was just gonna say like, I don't know. Like Rich is like really weird. So maybe he is lactose intolerant or something. Oh, what's up with Duncan? What is he doing? He's yelling at me. I don't know. I mean, boys, right?
00:04:27
Speaker
Rick has sort of doubled over on his knees. He's got one hand on the runestone kind of holding himself away from it, desperate not to puke on the runestone. I think this is important. You are not nauseous anymore. The magical thing is gone. Your body is still feeling the effects of having just thrown up. That didn't happen. But you don't think you're going to.
00:04:52
Speaker
Anymore than somebody just rationally knows I might barf again. You don't feel like you're going to barf again. It's that recency bias of I just did it, so it might happen again. Well, I mean, you know, I mean, yeah. Yeah. But but yes, you feel like crap because physiologically you did just expel your lunch. So, I mean, how how big of a hill? Like, how long does it take me to reach? How high?
00:05:18
Speaker
No, I mean we're talking, we're talking this is just a gentle slope of a hill and you were probably halfway up there already because, catching the roll. So yeah, I ran to the top of the hill to try to look and see where this woman went. Yeah, there's nobody there, you don't see anything.
00:05:34
Speaker
I mean, Duncan immediately starts coming back down the hill to Rick. And like once he's with an in sharp in earshot, Rick, did you see her? What did she do to you? Stephanie. No, not Stephanie. The woman at the top of the hill. Rick kind of.
00:06:02
Speaker
digs around under the poncho and comes up with a handkerchief and wipes his mouth and kind of stands up. She must have been on the other side of the runestone. I didn't see anyone. I was just...
00:06:17
Speaker
I was showing Alex starts to walk away and like crouches like crouches down by Alex is like, are you OK? Do you feel OK? Yeah, I feel fine. What's the matter? Why are you acting weird? Yeah, Duncan, what is the matter? Did nobody else see her? Who? The woman on the hill that was staring at them.
00:06:36
Speaker
Rick has stood up and has now walked around the Runestone. He's I mean, Rick knows this hill. We should have a really good view. It should be very hard for someone to just disappear. I would assume if we're up on a big hill and the Runestone is the only thing there. So he's he's looking around trying to see who in the world Duncan is talking about. I was looking at the runs and then and then Ritz got sick and he started throwing up. To be honest, he wasn't watching. Shocker.
00:07:07
Speaker
Um, that maybe they just ran away. I did that. Maybe I guess. I saw her. Do I mean, there's nothing here, right?
Reviewing the Tape at Stephanie's House
00:07:21
Speaker
And as soon as Doug feels like the camera and runs over to like, make sure it's not broken at this point. Um,
00:07:32
Speaker
OK, I'm not going to. I mean, obviously this is an ability. So no, no, the camera definitely didn't break. I don't want you to roll brains because you're just so dumb, but I need for you to realize something. Can I try? Can I try something? Yeah, yeah. What would you like to try? So I see no one. Rick sees no one. He's standing up on the hill looking around. There's no one but us, right? OK.
00:08:04
Speaker
Can I use, I don't know if this is a brains thing. That's the only thing I can think of. Can I try to look for Prince? Can I try to, can I, I mean, Rick is a super nerd. Rick thinks he's a ranger. Can we cannot, can Rick try to track if there was a person here? I think that is absolutely possible. Yeah. Um, yeah, just go ahead and roll for me. Is it brains?
00:08:32
Speaker
Yeah, I think it is. It's certainly not grit. Yeah, I was I wasn't really sure. It seemed like I think I think if you were tracking them, I would make it flight. But you're just looking for evidence of it. I think brains is perfectly okay. What you got? And while he's I'll let him roll while he's walking around, I have rolled a 19. Yeah, you absolutely. I think I don't necessarily think that you see like footprints. What I think you see is now the dew would have burned off for the day. So
00:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, I guess it's going to have to be not necessarily footprints, but just that this is like verdant, nice, springy look. Let's say it's clover and what you and what you see on this hill is you don't see a trail, but you definitely see right behind the like basically the opposite side of the ruined stone that you guys were at. There is a small space that would accommodate the two feet of a human adult.
00:09:32
Speaker
And I think what it is is it's definitely pressed, but it's not crushed. It's not broken. It's not any of that. It's just like, it's almost as though maybe somebody just picked up a rock that had, you know, or, or, or a, or a ball even. So there's a space that, that is pressed down that is not as recently as maybe where your knee hit.
00:10:00
Speaker
Uh-huh. How about that? Yeah. When you, when you vom. Are there any like trees around on this hill? No, this hill has been, this hill has been cleared. Um, while he, while like just concurrently within timeline, while Rick is like looking around, finding this patch, uh, Duncan picks the camera back up and starts trying to look through the viewfinder around since like, that's the only, like,
00:10:24
Speaker
Oh, I see. So you're you're thinking I saw her through this. So maybe like I need to look through this this thing. Yeah. You don't you don't see anybody. I think that. Roll brains. Six explosion explodes. Do it again. Nice.
00:10:52
Speaker
Seven. Seven. Okay. Nine. Okay, okay, okay, I'm too big. I get the sense that that nine was not necessary, but you know. No, I think here's what happens. I think that while you are looking around, while you're looking around the viewfinder, a message pops up and it says, low battery.
00:11:23
Speaker
You don't see this person, it doesn't happen. But that low battery signal, when it pops up, so do some other, you know, it's like an older, yeah, HUD. And so some other symbols pop up too, like rewind, play, fast forward. I would like to go to the display option and rewind the tape. You can't. The battery is like dead, dead, dying, dead, dead.
00:11:51
Speaker
But, this is an old school VCR. That's a full size tape in there. All you, or old school camera. So, okay, yeah. And also, so what you need is a VCR. Who lives closest? I don't think any of you live so far away that it makes a difference. What I know for sure is there's no way that Stephanie doesn't have a VCR in the biggest TV in her house. And you know we're recording Alf.
00:12:21
Speaker
Yeah. He can't use yours. He can't use our means here. We've got half time. That's a great point. Can't use yours. Let's get Alex to be upset. Duncan walks over. Stephanie, can we go to your house? Why? We need to look at the tape. I know I saw a woman standing on the hill. I mean, yeah, I guess.
00:12:47
Speaker
OK. Rick, we're going to Stephanie's house. Someone was here. What do you see? Look. Duncan starts to walk over. Let's go see me. Rick points out to really starting to weird me out. Depressed area.
00:13:14
Speaker
Rick points out that Alex. Go ahead. Alex reaches and takes your hand and pulls you off, tries to pull you off the Jeep to go see fine Bronco Bronco. Sorry. Yeah, everybody walks over.
Supernatural Investigation Begins
00:13:30
Speaker
Yeah. And Rick points out the the space on the other side of the Runestone. I mean, it looks like someone was standing here, but you said there's not a trail like it's just like someone was standing here and then not.
00:13:43
Speaker
I think I think it's a thing where there really needed to be more than a steps worth of contact for the the depression to happen. So that's really a trail. So someone stopped here. I see. She stopped and she was listening to you read those runes for probably 15 to 20 seconds. Right. And so that was enough compression. Someone was here.
00:14:11
Speaker
Also important, you guys are leaving a trail behind you. Not like a major leave, it's just like you can see your last couple of steps. At the very least, before this clover springs back up.
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah. I, let's go to Stephanie's house, rewind the tape. I can't in the V in the camera, the battery's low. We'll can charge the camera over there. Um, and check this out. Cause I know someone is here. I saw them. What did she look like? Woman, like a little bit older than us, like college age. Um, how was she dressed?
00:14:54
Speaker
Oh, did you hear earlier when I was inside? She was dressed in something that would not be considered, you know, weird, maybe a little behind the times. But for the amount of time that you saw her, it looked just kind of like a like a kind of flowy white hippie dress. That's what you that's what you saw, because that's what you're familiar with. Yeah, like a flowy white dress like a hippie.
00:15:24
Speaker
Look, so you're trying to say like she disappeared like magic. I don't know. Like I, I dropped the camera. Well, I pulled the camera down when I saw her and Rick vomited, pulled the camera down and she was gone. So we can talk more in the car, but we need to get to Stephanie's house. That's the way that I'm getting scared. Let's go out of here. Let's get in the car.
00:15:55
Speaker
Everybody coming? What? I mean, I guess I have to. What are you gonna say? What? Relieving. Rich. Right. Okay. Yes. Uh, yes. We're going to Stephanie's house to check out the tape. Right.
00:16:15
Speaker
OK, so you guys go to Stephanie's house. I mean, you don't have to roll. You know the way there. And I think that you also know how to work the VCR. So it's Stephanie's mom home. Yeah, I think Stephanie's mom is home, and I think that she definitely side eyes you as you come in. But unless you are going to say one of you is going to say something to her. I don't think that she knows there's a project. She knows who you're working with. She sees you guys with a videotape in your hand. Hi, Mr. Stevenson.
00:16:47
Speaker
Rick is polite. Oh, hi, Rick. Yeah, sure. Can I have a sandwich, Miss Stevens? I really don't want to spoil your dinner, but I can put together a little PB and J for you. Yeah, I love peanut butter and jelly. Oh, apple, apple jelly. I like apple jelly. Mom, I hate when you abbreviate things. Yes, sure. We have apple jelly.
00:17:18
Speaker
Thank you. Okay. Um, so she goes to the kitchen and she's going to make you a little half Sandy and, uh, ill mom. I hate when you abbreviate things. What is that weird pool? Jeff saying half Sandy. So abbreviated. Yeah. And I'm not your mom. So you don't, she gave me my sandwich.
00:17:46
Speaker
Yeah, she's working on it. Yeah, she's making you say calm down. It's misogynistic 11 year old. Yeah. He's a small child that wants a sandwich. All right. So you guys get into the good. Is there a table in the living room that Rick can commandeer? I mean, there's certainly a coffee table. Excellent. Rick begins spreading books out on the coffee table.
00:18:16
Speaker
He's a coaster. Four books. Yes, she's dumb. Very small. Razor four doesn't mean she's dumb. It means thinking quickly is not her strongest. Flaws, ditzy.
00:18:32
Speaker
You told me I could pick whatever flaws I wanted. It was a list of flaws. Yeah, maybe I didn't send it to you. Who cares?
Visit to Rick's Grandfather's Shop
00:18:39
Speaker
I put flaws down. I just don't remember seeing a list. There's nothing mechanical for the flaws. There's just a big list of possible ones. OK, so all right. So you're unloading books and and such and I'm guessing you're putting the tape in and yeah. Rewinding and you don't.
00:19:01
Speaker
So here's the thing, when you rewind, are you rewinding it with the picture, with the image on the screen? Yes. Okay. You don't see anything when you rewind it, but that's, I mean, obviously you're still gonna hit play, right? Yeah. Okay. Are all four of you watching? Yes. Yeah. Okay. I imagine so. Everyone roll brains, but if you, none of you took, none of you took intuitive, did you?
00:19:30
Speaker
Uh, I mean that you, you said I have it for magic. I got a four. Yes. And there'll be, uh, go ahead and why don't you, why don't you give yourself a plus two? Okay. For this role. Total of 21. Okay. What else, what do we else get? Uh, I get to roll. I got a six, so I'm going to, yeah, go ahead. Another six. Okay. So 17. Nice. Four. Oh, you get to roll again.
00:20:02
Speaker
Okay, um, I don't think Stephanie and and I think neither Stephanie nor Alex noticed this but What you two see I think I think Rick has is like pointing tapping the TV saying look
00:20:20
Speaker
Yeah. I see. I see. No, no, no, no. Sorry. Sorry. That's what you see. OK. One of the things one of the things about the exploding dice in this is if you make a check thanks to an exploding die, you don't get to claim credit for it. Ah, something else has to happen. An intervention. But it's still a success. OK, so so you do see it after he finally points it out. You two just don't see it. But you also don't. You're waiting on your sandwich. You don't care enough. I don't care.
00:20:49
Speaker
You got skin in this game, because you're the one that was talking about it. So you see it every once in a while. There is no woman there. But what is clear is there's a kind of a column of, you know, steam haze? That idea, but more pronounced. So almost as as though
00:21:15
Speaker
was that content aware filter on Photoshop that can get rid of something, but it doesn't always look right. That's exactly what's happening here. It's clear that something happened to this image, this thing that's not allowing it to show up on the screen, but you were able to see it to the viewfinder. Why? Magic.
00:21:38
Speaker
That's right. So that's enough for Rick, I think. You can tell me, but I think... Yeah, no, Rick is absolutely 100% sold. And also, you got wild goosebumps again. Rick believes you 100 and crazy percent. Okay. I don't see anything. It's there. I don't see anything either.
00:21:59
Speaker
No, let me look. It's here. Like Rick just keeps repeating that as if that's going to as if that's going to help somehow. I don't see a girl. No, it's it's like it was there. Hey, guys, look this right here. Stephanie, that's a girl. Hi. OK, both of you roll grit. Who? Sorry, Alex and Stephanie. All right. Four.
00:22:31
Speaker
Okay. It was five. So I think what's going to happen is. I think you're right. You said that's not a woman. If you don't see a woman, you're not buying this. Yeah. Okay. This weird distortion thing. I don't know. Cameras are weird. There was a sunspot who gives a crap, right? It's a smudge on the screen. Yeah. Yeah. It's a thumbprint on the, on the lens except anything, but whatever, whatever gets you there, you don't buy it. You.
00:23:02
Speaker
let's say you know you see the smudge you don't see this much whatever it's your older brother and another older kid who you do look up to in a positive light at the very least saying this so while you don't know why you're on board you don't see this much necessarily or or whatever but you're like
00:23:20
Speaker
Hey, did you guys see it? I'm with you. All right. Something's weird. That's about the extent of what you've got, but you're on board with them. I believe you, but I still don't see a girl, but okay. Yeah. Okay. I'm really hungry. Yes. And you get a sandwich. Mrs. uh, Mrs. Stevenson comes in. When did you go back to my, when did you go back to my grandfather's shop? He'll know something about this. Surely somebody else has seen this.
00:23:51
Speaker
Thank you for the sandwich. It's kind of good, not as good as my mom's, but it's good. OK, you said he was filterless. I did. There was my own doing and I love it. You said you should have made Randy all those curses you gave Dex because I forgot them all and he killed it. You said it was something about it, but there's nothing there. What is he going to know about?
00:24:13
Speaker
I, he, there are all these books that he gave me and I didn't bring them because I knew that this is. This is. Delance, Delancey. Oh, is that what you were going? I'm so sorry. Yeah, I could have, I could have saved you there. No, I like the idea of Duncan Delancey. Mrs. Delancey wouldn't wouldn't want us to use them, but they're all like.
00:24:40
Speaker
all the weird things that people say they saw around the Runestone and all the weird theories about it that my grandpa's really into, but maybe one of them, maybe somebody has seen this before. Roll, which, okay, let me ask you this. How are you doing this? Are you trying to impress upon them the importance of this or are you trying to just talk them into doing what you need to do?
00:25:10
Speaker
Rick is Rick sees that this. Rick sees that this is the only logical next step like Rick is.
00:25:21
Speaker
what project, something weird just happened and we're going to get to the bottom of it. This is the only logical next step. Obviously this is what we need to do. He is stating facts. These are, this is the next thing to do. I will roll whatever you want, but I, I, I, Rick's law is know it all. So this is what we do. I think that's definitely grit. Then if you're not trying to put any sort of sugar spin on it, then you're going to roll grit and that's it. Yeah, do it.
00:25:51
Speaker
Okay. I rolled an eight, so I'm rerolling. Nine. Ten. Okay. Yeah. No, that doesn't. I had said it at ten. You were only trying to basically get Stephanie on board because she's got the car and that'd make it the easiest. Here's what I think happens. I think
00:26:20
Speaker
Will you tell me why do you find like fine? We'll go to your granddad's place. Um, it can't just be, I'm tired of hearing him try to talk us into it. Let's just give it. I think cause mom's hovering. Okay. She just brought in the sandwich, which is just kind of stayed there.
00:26:36
Speaker
And that's even better, because you exploded, right? Yeah. So it actually has nothing to do with what she's ready to go. Yeah, yeah, it's not me. That's awesome. That's perfect. Thank you for remembering the mechanic of the game, I almost forgot. Yeah, because I did that. Dude, take it. I just hated that. OK. I think two things happen. I think, yes, you guys all start to load into the car. I also think that you realize you find a second battery in the case. OK. Because, man, you think we're going to be driving through town?
00:27:09
Speaker
Perfect. I need B roll to be more important to your. It's time to shoot some B roll. I'm thirsty.
Ecto Cooler and Eerie Atmosphere
00:27:18
Speaker
Oh, can I get a drink before we go? Roll grit. Not you. Uh, sorry. Well charm. Can I roll charm and charm him into it? Cause I'm so charming. One plus
00:27:34
Speaker
Nothing. I feel like you're resisting persuasion from a child. Oh, four. Oh, plus three. So four. OK, so you go to the kitchen. Mr. Stevenson can. Alex, we're in a hurry. Alex would like something to drink. Do you have a plastic cup? I can send it back with Stephanie just to. Oh, you know, Mr. Stevenson has ecto cooler.
00:27:59
Speaker
She has you a high speed bar. Oh, OK. Thank you. And Duncan just feels immeasurably awkward. You said you said Alex is the only reason you got that ecto cooler, by the way. You would have gotten a glass of water. She wouldn't have denied you. Yeah, she's not a monster, but you would not have gotten ecto cooler. OK, you go, buddy. Thanks, Duncan. Thank you, Ms. Stevenson.
00:28:27
Speaker
That might be anachronistic, but if it is, it's by like a year maybe. Okay, so I think that while you guys are driving to, yes, while you guys are driving to the, what's the name of this place?
00:28:55
Speaker
Oh, man. We can all do this. It doesn't have to be filled. Yeah. The anomaly.
00:29:05
Speaker
I feel like there would have to be, in order to pay rent, there would have to be some actual thing that would like- Curios? Anomalies and antiques. People will come in to buy old crap that he sells, but that's not his passion. Okay, that's great. There's definitely, I saw the great, what's it? Magnets, t-shirts, things like that. Yeah, I think that's great. I think it's an antique shop that there is a corner of which
00:29:33
Speaker
an ever-expanding corner of which that is absolutely devoted to the ley lines. The mystical, magical history and future of Pineville, Wisconsin.
00:29:50
Speaker
So, OK, great. I think that but while you're driving there, I think that the one thing you notice, I think all of you do while I'm shooting B-roll. You're definitely shooting B-roll. Yes. You're you're you're you're John Krasinskiing right now and just riding around in your friend's car rolling tape. Rick is I don't know where Duncan sits in this circumstances, but Rick is. Like just.
00:30:16
Speaker
watching fixedly to see if Duncan sees anything else through the viewfinder. Like he's just I realized, you know, this is an actual he can't actually like look at there's not a screen. He can't look over his shoulder or anything, but he is just sure watching for any reaction from Duncan.
00:30:33
Speaker
I think that's fair. I think that's great. But what I think you all notice, and this is not a role that's needed, I think because all of you notice this, is for some reason it strikes you as weird. It could be that you know that it's the wrong time of the year. It could be that it's just never happened before.
00:30:59
Speaker
The bird activity is, they're not acting weird. It's just, where did all these birds come from? It's almost like they got flushed out of the forest and decided that for right now they're okay roosting on telephone wires or balcony rails or what have you. Rick's furniture. Yes.
00:31:27
Speaker
I don't know. Rick's his rooftop. Oh, yeah. They're definitely up on your fortress of solitude. So so, yeah, that's just it. All you know is for some reason, it seems like just tons of birds are. In town. Yeah. Now, and the only thing that makes sense is something for some reason, they flushed out of the forest for a while because this is not a migratory pattern location or time.
00:31:58
Speaker
Rick would probably know that I don't think the rest of your super into ornithology. Nope, you just know it's weird. Yeah, I mean, Rick's like. Anyone else think that's a lot of birds? Yeah, there's like the fourth one to poop on my car. Right, but that's like not that doesn't usually happen. Right.
00:32:26
Speaker
I mean, I am not in charge of where birds poop. That's a lot of birds. I play outside all the time and I don't see that many birds. Yeah. Okay. I do want to be clear. The birds don't see menacing outside the context of everybody knows about that movie. There's too many birds that is missing.
00:32:49
Speaker
I have walked out of buildings where there's like an uncomfortable amount of birds and I feel unsettling. It's definitely menacing. Birds are menacing. Except for their dead eyes and their backwards. There's so many of them. They decide to turn. It's not a fight. You remember that movie that you got in trouble when you watched it? That's good. Arachnophobia. Okay. So you guys... Did Stephanie just guess arachnophobia?
00:33:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely just gasteractophobia. Oh my gosh. Okay, the only thing I know for sure is that we need to force Trevor to take some sort of high intellect stats in Genesis, so he's not playing a dumb person, because we'll never get anything done, because that will keep happening. And it rules!
00:33:42
Speaker
But we do eventually need to be able to produce for the long one.
Anomalies and Antiques Shop Excursion
00:33:47
Speaker
So we return to anomalies and antique and antiques. So we are driving. We get to anomalies and antiques. Not a real shocker. There is definitely some parking right in front of the store. Sorry. What do you say? He said AA because he can't not. You know how Alex is delightfully filterless. Tremors. Tremors.
00:34:15
Speaker
Oh, I love Trevor so much. OK, let's keep going. So we arrived to anomalies and antique. Yeah, I don't like antiquities, anomalies and antiques. We arrived there and. Granddad is. Yeah, I mean, Rick is out the car to the door. He's really in a big hurry.
00:34:41
Speaker
Yeah. I think granddad does a thing this time. He hears the ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. He's got one of those doorbells that I love. Of course. He turns around, sees it's Rick, turns back around and over his shoulder. Like he's not ignoring him. He's like, oh, how's the project? How's the project going?
00:35:10
Speaker
We. You guys are all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I don't know yet. We got sidetracked a little bit. I don't know. Saw something weird. There's a lot of junk in here. You know. Between you and me, buddy, you're not wrong. I think every antique dealer knows that.
00:35:40
Speaker
But it's cool stuff, too, isn't it? And I think granddad takes down a. If I give you something, do you promise you won't make Alex hurt himself with it? Just say yes. He said make Alex hurt himself with it. I thought he was talking to you. No, not you. Oh, you're not Alex. I can't pull you back. Oh.
00:36:04
Speaker
yeah okay i think that uh he sees you and loves that you've led with that uh because it is you know it is absolutely canon that you're delightfully filterless so he's delighted by what you said i think he reaches up and he pulls down um so back when
00:36:24
Speaker
When we were kids, when like, yeah, when they were sort of, you know, those plastic clackers people had with the precursor of those was just two acrylic balls on a rope. And I think that he pulls one of those down and he takes it and he holds it between his thumb and his finger and he clacks it a few times to show you. And he goes, just try not to get too close to any of the other stuff. Okay. Okay. That's cool. Thank you.
00:36:50
Speaker
He's off clacking away. Look what I got. It's the only it's the only toy from that time that would be in an antique shop 25 years ago that I could think of besides like high horse while that definitely messed with those as a kid.
00:37:07
Speaker
Well, that was playing out between grandpa and Alex, like as a response to Alex saying there sure is a lot of junk in here. Duncan without even thinking about it, like standing near Stephanie goes, no, everybody wants a Simon and Garfunkel commander of plate. That's great. Just try like having a brief moment of like joking around with Stephanie before realizing what he's doing. And she laughs and then turns away.
00:37:34
Speaker
And then the door opens and a man walks in and he says, I've been looking for that plane everywhere! Name your price! That doesn't happen.
00:37:46
Speaker
be interesting. It does, but it's actually it's actually it's actually a Richard Petty commemorative plate that he's talking about. No. OK, so you said we saw something weird. We've handled the that. So I say. What is everything OK? Are you guys all right? I think so. I just I didn't I didn't bring enough books.
00:38:14
Speaker
Oh, and he knows what happened. Oh, I see. Why don't you bring them back down here and you'll leave them upstairs? Oh, no, they're upstairs. OK, I think Grandad says, do you want some help? Because you'll need to bring them down here is what I'm saying. If you want me to help you. Oh, no, it's our project. We can do it. OK.
00:38:40
Speaker
So I guess granted it's gonna just let you guys head up. I mean, it's your house you can bring your friends over so Yeah, I mean he's gonna take everybody up to the roof I Stayed out here and look at stuff. No Alex. Come on Fine Duncan Stephanie rolls her head back and she just goes Just don't know why we're making such a big deal out of if the stones already ruined. Okay
00:39:16
Speaker
How long was that? Yeah. For the first time, someone said Runestone. Yeah. OK. Yo, welcome. That's going to go on somebody's merch. Oh, man. OK. Yeah. So up to the roof. And I think I think that Grandad definitely lets Alex sneak away with the clacker back up to the roof.
00:39:45
Speaker
Oh, I thought he gave him to him. It was to play with while you were there, but he's definitely like, well, Alex thinks he gave him to Alex. I don't think he's going to try to get it back from you. Like all 11 year olds, you handed this to me. Oh, well thank you for the present. It's fine.
00:40:01
Speaker
OK, you want me to have this? So, OK. You're also now it. He goes to the pile of disreputable books and begins looking for I don't know. There's got to be one in this stack that is just. Like it's what the tourists buy and it's like strange phenomena that occur around the Runestone or something like that. OK, yeah.
00:40:32
Speaker
I think you also. Have the map of the ley lines still laying out there, yes, yes, it's totally it's spread out on on a crate on the roof and I assume he shoes away an unreasonable number of birds. Coming up here, I mean, here's the thing. There is a slingshot out. It takes some rocks. They are still just birds. They fly away as soon as you guys get on the roof. Yeah, I know. But I imagine it's like we're clank, clank, clank.
00:41:02
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. It is off-putting. Yeah, no. It takes off. Rick just kind of stops, like... No, I mean, really, that's weird, right, guys? That's weird. Yes, it's weird. Oh, this furniture? Yeah, it is weird. You know what? This place is awesome, so... Let's just take it down a notch. Okay. Teach their own. Roll grit. Rick cares about this place.
00:41:32
Speaker
Oh, that's so bad, too. They're not going to take it down any notches. They're not going to be meaner either. No, Alex thinks it's cool. OK, but he's just concerned the birds pooped. So you've got the Ley Lines map out. And what book have you pulled to start with? Um. Uh.
00:42:04
Speaker
anomaly sightings at the Pineville Runestone.
00:42:17
Speaker
Yeah, if there's anything specific like if there's any of these books in the pile that deal with like the I'm looking for the Runestone specifically like that place like is kind of where my mindset is at. So if I can find like a disreputable like
00:42:35
Speaker
the cursed king of Pineville or something weird like that. Okay. Okay. That's what I would pull. And while the big kids are pulling out their books, Alex pulls out the Batman year one. Okay. A tattered copy of it. And Stephanie is really interested in the map with the lines on it. Okay. You are going to, I was going to offer you, but I wasn't going to make you pick anything down there here because I would imagine it's like a different than any other map that she's probably seen.
00:43:02
Speaker
It is. I mean, basically. So what this particular map is, is this is just it's just your surrounding area. Think of it this way. If you were to if you wanted to show a map of where multiple large highways intersected.
00:43:21
Speaker
how far out you think you would need to go to make it clear that these are major arteries of something intersecting in a certain spot. That's what we're looking at. So maybe it's central Wisconsin. Maybe it's the state of Wisconsin. But it's small enough that you could you can see. You know, clearly where Pineville is and that all these stuff intersect just outside of in the forest, just outside of Pineville. OK. The rune is marked on it.
00:43:51
Speaker
Roll. But you're done. Roll brains. And that's a one. Yeah, no, you got it. I was going to offer an adverse retail. Yeah, but I don't think I can do anything for you, though. Yeah, no, no, no, no, I wouldn't have done it. Colors are like really. I think she didn't even do explode on that one to get it to where it needed to be. I think, though.
00:44:18
Speaker
I mean, you do notice that the Runestone is marked and it's on one of the lines. Yeah. But that's it. And I'm sure at some point you can say that out loud if you want to.
00:44:30
Speaker
And I think you also, I mean, everybody knows what the ley lines are in this town. It's, it's not, you may not know that as the ley lines, but you know, like something about like magic highways and they all meet here kind of thing. So you know that. So it is, it does mean something to you that they saw this weird thing that you still don't necessarily believe. And it's right on one of these now.
00:44:56
Speaker
Um, yeah, real quick aside, like as Duncan is starting to flip through the book and Alex does his business, Duncan stops and goes, when'd you get that? That's one of my other Batman books I have. That's an old book. It came out like two years ago. I just, I don't remember us going to get that one. Yeah, this is Batman year one. Frank Miller's awesome.
00:45:26
Speaker
Duncan's not in the comic book, so... Okay, there we go. Yeah, okay. And then goes back to the book. Okay. So your book is specifically on the lore surrounding the Runestone. Yeah. Okay. I think... I think I want you... It's a good pull.
00:45:52
Speaker
Roll brains. This isn't a part of the mechanic, but with advantage. Okay. Five. Okay. Seven. There we go. It's a seven. All right. I think that's the things that some of the things that you learn. Oh, uh, you needed two adversity tokens. My bad. Okay. Uh, the things that you learn, you learn that.
00:46:22
Speaker
What'd you fail? Grit. Ah, yes. I think the thing, some of the things that you learn are the Runestone was placed, allegedly, in the lore.
00:46:37
Speaker
the Runestone was placed to mark the overcoming, overpowering of, it just says an evil. It does mention the
Learning about Huldra and Next Steps
00:46:50
Speaker
rumor that there is a great Viking king buried beneath, but it also says that at some point they brought a seismologist,
00:47:05
Speaker
out and did some you know deep radio pulses and there is no corroborating evidence of there being a body down there but it was definitely um in this in this in this lore it was absolutely erected to commemorate the overcoming overpowering of an evil
00:47:27
Speaker
Some people think that it was possibly a Viking crew that was here that defeated an indigenous people group. Some people believe that it was a usurping of power within the Viking clan. Some people believe that there was some sort of supernatural entity that was overcome somehow on that spot.
00:47:53
Speaker
Okay. That's what, that's what you get. The one thing we know for sure is that according to science, there's not actually a body under there. Okay. Okay. You are reading just anomaly reports. Yeah. From this place. Okay. Um, same thing. Roll brains twice. 13.
00:48:21
Speaker
Yeah, very good. Okay. I think...
00:48:28
Speaker
First off, definitely every cryptid in the American folklore has been said to be seen in Pineville. Of course. Everything from like Mothman and Bigfoot and all the ones you'd expect to like, definitely some dude said he saw Nessie in the river. Or not Nessie, what's the champ? That's the North American one.
00:48:53
Speaker
And probably it's probably someone said they saw Nessie, like, you know, all these, all these, all these, all these. But I think that the introduction of the book says starts with. Ever since the strange lights. Written by the our Norse visitors.
00:49:23
Speaker
people have often been talking of strange things and unexplained phenomena around the town of Pineville. Now I didn't ask this earlier. The only person I elucidated was definitely asleep was, um, was Alec or I'm sorry, was Rick. And I'm going to say Alex was also definitely asleep.
00:49:50
Speaker
I should have asked immediately, I think I would have asked for you guys to answer in the mindset of two hours ago. Would either of you have been awake and if you were, was there any chance you would have seen these wild lights? They were bright, but they were localized over the forest. So like, honestly, they were bright enough, but localized enough to the point that if you had a window that faced the opposite direction of the woods, you probably wouldn't have seen it, but you caught it in a reflection of something across the street.
00:50:19
Speaker
Was it late at night? You were asleep. Yeah, I was so asleep. It was it was like two, three a.m. late at night. Yeah, I'd say Stephanie was asleep. Duncan was awake because he did have work that afternoon into evening. And Duncan's not smart, but he knows he has to do well in school in order to not end up like his dad. So he was up late still working on homework because it takes him a while to finish that. And so. OK. Yeah. Question for the group is the sawmill 24 hours.
00:50:50
Speaker
constantly working, constantly going. I don't know enough about a sawmill to answer that question with any logic. I think I think we can go delve into the realm of fantasy here and say it is a production and manufacturing facility. So if we want to say it's over 24 hours, we can say that. Yeah. I mean, I would say at least first and second shift, if not like. But yeah, we can say 24 hours. Well, that's why I didn't say first and second because they wouldn't be working at 28. Maybe that's why it's definitely interesting for you to have it be a 24 hour sawmill.
00:51:19
Speaker
There's a night shift for more people to be able to work there, so there's more jobs for the community. I mean, it's not. I missed part of it, but I don't care. I mean, let's say this.
00:51:33
Speaker
Now the hours of operation are immaterial because there's a security guard. There's always security around that area. But you haven't gone back to work yet. No. So there is that. OK. So you notice the thing about the lights, all of the cryptids. This is a good role. I need to give you something else.
00:52:00
Speaker
And the lady was. No, I think I'll give you this. I think I'll give you this. I think that what you realize is that. That very opening paragraph talks about the Norse visitors, and I think that there are maybe two or three other references to either Norse mythology or the rune stone or the Viking or something. And I think it gives you a path of inquiry. Does that make sense? I'm sorry, I say that again. You broke up there at the end.
00:52:27
Speaker
OK, it gives you it gives you a path of inquiry. OK. You're stringing together. I need to learn more about Norse whatevers. Yeah. OK. Yeah, absolutely. So. Rick says, listen, this one mentions weird lights in the same context as it mentions the Norse
00:52:57
Speaker
who were here and who put the runestone here. So I didn't, I didn't put this together and I didn't sleep well at all last night and there were these, there was this thing going on over the woods last night. And I thought maybe I was just,
00:53:26
Speaker
Not quite awake. But. There were these weird lights. Hmm. I think maybe it's connected to this. But we really need to dig more into the north into the mythology of it all. Well, where can we go to do that? I thought this is the place to be. Oh, it is.
00:54:00
Speaker
I think that granddad definitely knows a lot of Norse analogy at this point. Yeah. And Stephanie says, no, why don't we ask your granddad? He seems to know a lot. He gave you all these books, didn't he? Yes. He does know a lot.
00:54:25
Speaker
Rick says in an unreasonably defensive tone, because his standard reaction is to defend his grand, his, his kooky grandfather. And he begins to do that before he realizes that you actually said that his grandfather knew a lot of stuff. And so it just sort of trails off into. Yes, he. Yeah, he does. That's a good, good point. Have you looked at this map? That ruins stone is on here.
00:55:00
Speaker
And it's like right by where all these lines meet. Yeah, they're those are the lay lines. It's it's the the conduits of magical power that that run through the land. It's, you know, the people who come into town and do the festivals around the stone and and just come in to see it. And most people who buy stuff at my grandpa's shop, they're here to check out the the lay lines. OK.
00:55:30
Speaker
So do you guys go down to talk to Grandad? Yeah, absolutely. OK. I think you go down and Grandad has. He he has abandoned polishing the silver and he has abandoned dusting the creepy dolls.
00:55:53
Speaker
You said we did it. We're doing a roomstone project. You came home, said something weird happened. Granddad's in his books. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He knew eventually you were coming back down. Um, and, and Rick has the book that mentioned the lights. Okay. I think as soon as he sees whichever one he was the first one down, like as far as he's concerned, this is Rick and his friends and they're all as interested as Rick is. Great. So who's the first one down the stairs?
00:56:24
Speaker
Alex is running down the stairs. Sure. Hey, buddy. Come on over. Come on over. Everyone come on over. Come on over. I I approach. He has even he has even taken and there are four mismatched old chairs sitting there. Yes. Ready for you guys to have a seat. And he made sure that they're all fairly comfortable. So no one has to sit on like a milking stool or something. And I think he says. All right.
00:56:55
Speaker
I've pulled down several books on the, for lack of a better way to say it, mythical creatures of, of, of Scandinavia. So perhaps we can do some describing of what we saw and maybe we can work backwards from there.
00:57:19
Speaker
What's Rick's last name? What's Rick's last name? Rick's last name is... Oh, hang on. Rick's last name is Vassa, V-A-S-A.
00:57:47
Speaker
Uh, is this your paternal grandfather or your maternal grant? Does he have the same last name as you? He does. Yes. Okay. Just, Mr. Voss said, do you have a VCR? Oh, I mean, I, I do. Sure. We have a tape. But it's recording out.
00:58:11
Speaker
I can copy the tape we're recording at home. I hear it's going to be a great one tonight. We have a video tape of the anomaly that Rick is talking about if you want to see it first. Well, not first hand, second hand.
00:58:25
Speaker
Okay. Um, yeah, I think that I think he's got one. I think he's got one in his store, uh, you know, set up for when Rick was little and he wanted to keep him downstairs. He would throw a video in. I was really hoping that this kooky grandpa would only have beta max players.
00:58:45
Speaker
No, grandpa's got a VCR. Because I think by the late 80s, VCR had been around for about a decade. They had won, yeah. So yeah, I'm just thinking if that story holds up when Rick was little. Yeah. But yeah, if he was a kid like Ferris's age even five or six years earlier. So he's moved on to laser discs. Yeah. So yes, there's even a VCR in the store that
00:59:09
Speaker
Rick used to watch when he was little, and he's never disconnected it, just thinking, you know, sometimes maybe Rick will want to hang out down here with me. And sometimes Rick does, Rick's a good grandson. So yes, there's VCR, they pop it in, and he says,
00:59:27
Speaker
I need to be honest, there's not a lot in my books from Norse mythology that mentions how these creatures might react to being filmed. Why don't you tell me what you saw?
00:59:43
Speaker
Um, I was looking through the viewfinder on the camera recording some B roll. Do you know what B roll is? It's the documentaries. You shoot landscape and stuff that Stephanie was going to do voiceover over.
01:00:00
Speaker
And I was filming Alex and Rick at the Runestone, and then I saw a woman walk over the hill about 20 years old in a white flowy dress. And she looked mad and she was staring at them. And then Rick threw up a lot. Yes, it was gross. And then Rick spotted a depression in the clover where I saw her standing.
01:00:31
Speaker
Um, so, but when I pulled the viewfinder down, she was gone. A young woman, you say. Hmm. Um, what did she look like?
01:00:47
Speaker
dark hair like what? Okay, let me just ask it. Did she have long black hair? Yes. Okay. Um, is there any chance that you saw her from behind? No. Okay, that's gonna make it a little more difficult to be sure. But I want to tell you all about something.
01:01:15
Speaker
Did any of you notice that the rune stone is on one of the ley lines? I saw that on a map. You are certainly an intelligent young woman yourself. Oh my God. Thank you. That line leads all the way back to Norway.
01:01:38
Speaker
there is a large convergence of lines there as well called the North spiral or the Norway spiral. I can't prove it, but I believe that these were not Vikings.
01:01:57
Speaker
But they were ancient devotees of the Norse gods following these ley lines. And that's what laid these rune stones. Ours is not the only rune stone in America in a place not near the ocean. There's one in Ohio. There's several in Oklahoma.
01:02:22
Speaker
I believe that these were people following the ley lines to the next convergence. And they found it right here in Pineville. And that's who began clearing this land. You see, there's a Norse spirit called the Huldra. The Huldra are similar to the idea of a dryad.
01:02:52
Speaker
or maybe in some other sort of forest spirit, they protect the forest. I think that you might have seen one today. I ask about the back, because they are normal women from the front, and can make themselves normal in a 360 manner, but in their natural state,
01:03:20
Speaker
Their back is shards of bark from the forest they're protecting. And also a cow tail. I never really got that part. This like, if it's as widespread as you're saying, then why wouldn't like, I mean, it's not like the government would be covering this up. It's not like president King would be covering this up. Like, okay.
01:03:48
Speaker
I'm sure. I think it would have happened sooner if it was going to happen, but OK.
Episode Closing and Social Media Plugs
01:03:57
Speaker
When he was president. Yeah. Well, I don't think it's as much a matter of a cover up. You don't have to work hard to cover up things that most people don't believe. So I saw a monster.
01:04:17
Speaker
I think a monster is a strong word. I think perhaps we say, we saw, you saw something. And it sounds like, Rick, you experienced something supernatural might be a better way to say it. Here's something like that. Here's the thing.
01:04:46
Speaker
If you saw it, and if it made my grandson sick, and I don't know if any of you read, Rick, I saw, did you carry the book down, Rick? The one you were reading? I'm sorry, say that again. Did you carry the book down that you were reading? Yes. Okay. Rick, I saw the book you've got there. It mentions
01:05:13
Speaker
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I apologize. That's wrong. You. Do you have the book? Yeah. Okay. Uh, I saw the book you're carrying there. I don't know if you noticed it mentions that Runestone is to commemorate overcoming a great evil. I can't say for certain that these Huldra were the evil, but here's what I know. According to the texts.
01:05:37
Speaker
They try to entice young men to come into the forest and enslave them. I think it's possible. I don't know how, I don't know why. The Hultra have returned. And I think that we need to deal with this problem
01:06:06
Speaker
before we start losing young men from our community. Let's go get Sheriff Johnson. I appreciate your desire to go to someone that you see as a helpful protector. Um, but I don't think the police are going to take us very seriously. And, and unfortunately I
01:06:36
Speaker
I don't know how to handle this either. Think of it this way. I know a lot of information, but very little of it's actionable. I'm a biology teacher when we need a surgeon. Does that make sense? No. Then where's the surgeon?
01:07:05
Speaker
Well I do travel in circles. I'm no surgeon, but I know some guys. End of episode. Dad, thanks for listening to another one. I don't know how to do this part. Hope you're having a blast.
01:07:24
Speaker
Come check us out on all the social medias at the Geek Pantheon. If you'd like to get involved with some fairly regular sharing of ideas and thoughts, you can check out our Facebook page at the Geek Pantheon.
01:07:38
Speaker
or patreon.com slash thegatepantheon, and you can join and become a patron at tier start as low as $1, it gets you on the Discord, and it goes up from there, DM, spell book stuff that Eric and Phillip come up with that I know a number of our patrons have utilized. So if you're a DM or a GM, that might be something you'd like to check out. I think that's all, so let's get our erect.
01:08:07
Speaker
We're also proudly part of the D20 Radio Podcasting Network. If you head on over to d20radio.com, you'll find the best little gaming blog on the internet webs with new articles that go up daily. And if you head on over to the podcast tab, you will find our shows along with all the other awesome shows that are on the network with us, like the Guardians of the Whills podcast. Guardians of the Whills is a podcast dedicated to Star Wars media with a special focus of giving love to the old legends material, the old novels from like the 90s and early 2000s before the prequels came out.
01:08:37
Speaker
And their most recent episode, Episode 15, covered the Crystal Star, an infamously poorly written Star Wars novel that was written by a famous Star Trek author. So I got taken down from the inside. Go give them a listen. They they are a blast and take it away, Jeff.
01:09:03
Speaker
Bye! Uh, I'm Jeff. I'm Phillip. I'm Trevor. I'm Eric. And I'm Randy. Have a great day. Bye. Wow.