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“Kids on Bikes” One-Shot Chapter Three
246 Plays5 years ago
The gang is still reeling from learning the potential truth about what is happening in Pineville, but just when things seem to be calming down a shocking new turn of events pushes the group into action! But how can they stand up against a supernatural entity?
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.
Remote Recording Challenges
00:01:02
Speaker
This is Eric with a quick production note for this week's episode and the rest of our Kids on Bikes arc. Obviously with everything that's going on right now, we had to make the decision to record the rest of this arc almost completely remotely, which Jeff will give a brief caveat to. But something that Jeff was not aware of and none of us were aware of until very far into this episode is that we were going to have some internet woes.
00:01:32
Speaker
So you all will notice some degradation of the audio towards the end of this episode and potentially in the next two episodes for the rest of the kids on bikes arc. I'm going to do my best to edit my way around them to make the the final product up to as close as our normal standards as can be. But I just want to give you all a quick heads up that we are aware
00:02:01
Speaker
And we do apologize. It's a wild and crazy world right now. And we're doing our best to to call an audible and pivot and move forward. And we appreciate your all's continued support and patience with the show. I genuinely hope that all of you are staying safe and and doing what you can to ensure the safety of yourself and your loved ones.
00:02:28
Speaker
And I hope that by the time this reaches you, maybe we will have started getting some good news, but until that time comes, hopefully the next hour and the hour that we bring you all each week, most weeks, can at least provide a welcome distraction during this time. Thank you all so much and enjoy the episode.
Hosts Introduction and Kids on Bikes Session
00:02:57
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome to Eberron Renewed, an actual play podcast, but not Eberron today. We are finishing our Kids on Bikes one shot, well, in this session, not this episode. I'm Jeff. I'm Philip. I'm Randy. I'm Trevor. I'm Eric. That was not the order we did last time. Leave it in. Before we start, I just want to say really quickly to everybody,
00:03:24
Speaker
major things have been happening in the world that we've not addressed yet or wished everybody well. We record these things in advance and this happened so fast.
00:03:34
Speaker
that we weren't able to get out in front of it. In fact, we're recording this on Sunday to release on Friday, and I'm at a loss for what to say to you guys, because who knows what it will be like then. All I can say is that we hope you're staying safe. We hope you're staying alone. Isolated, that is. We hope that if you need someone to reach out and talk to, that you have access to that person, and if not, there are a myriad
00:03:59
Speaker
resources online or over the telephone, feel free to reach out to me if you need to know what some of those are. It's weird and it's scary and we appreciate you spending an hour with us to take your mind off of it and I hope we can do that for you. So with that being said, again, we're thinking of all of you, please stay safe and let's play some games.
00:04:24
Speaker
All
Recap of Kids on Bikes Adventure
00:04:25
Speaker
right, so. Ready for this. You know what? I changed my mind. I don't want to do this. Oh, in addition to that, we are also being careful. We're all recording remotely, except for Eric and Trevor, who look about six feet apart. Yes, we are keeping our distance and where they are. So the sound quality, we have no idea.
00:04:47
Speaker
what sort of Calvin ball this is going to come out sounding like we hope you'll bear with us for a couple of episodes, hopefully only a couple until we can all get back together again. Okay, so let's talk about what has happened thus far in our kids on bikes adventure.
00:05:04
Speaker
Um, creepy lady on a hill, um, made Rick vomit. It's true. Um, and we decided to investigate by going to Stephanie's house to because they had a TV. We could watch the one VCR in town, not recording Alf right now. Alex got a sandwich.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah, Alex got a sandwich. That was the crux of the episode. And then we went to go to. Did you say the crux or the crust? The whole time. We have to be with you the whole time. We consulted my grandfather. Yes, we went to what was it? Anomalies and Antiques was the name of the shop. I think that's right. Yes, I believe so. I do edit these things.
00:05:52
Speaker
But, yeah, go ahead. We left off with grandpa saying that he might know who the surgeon is that can help us to follow his own metaphor that he had started. Right. Yeah, what granddad told you that what you were dealing with was called a holdra, to the best of his knowledge, based on what you guys have said, a Norse tree spirit, a woman tree spirit.
Mystical Discussion: The Holdra
00:06:19
Speaker
And yeah, it did end with him saying like, Hey guys, we need to, I know some people who are like real experts in this and don't just know about it, but might know what we can do about it. Um, I think it's safe to say that it's late evening at that point. So I think granddad says, I think guys, um,
00:06:38
Speaker
I think it's time for everyone to head home. And we all make this up tomorrow. And, you know, because we established it was Friday in this the truth of this world is off is on Friday. And I'll see what I can do about putting us in touch with some some people maybe we can go meet with the people that I'm thinking of.
00:07:01
Speaker
So, obviously, Rick stays, because. It's true, I live there. He lives there. Stephanie, do you drive the boys home? I guess I have to.
00:07:18
Speaker
All right, so Alex and Duncan go home. I assume to watch Alf. I assume Mom's still at work. Yep. Stephanie heads home. If any of you have anything you would like to do tonight, let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to jump to something. But if you got something. Rick's going to sleep on the roof. Cool. With all the birds. Oh, are all the birds up there again? The birds are still not. Yeah, no, never, never mind. He's always been a fan of a feather duvet. I saw Matt.
00:07:48
Speaker
Okay. Okay, then. Sorry, you got something? No, I was just saying nope. Duncan and Alex just go home and watch Alf and then go to bed. Sounds good. And I guess I'll find out what Stephanie does. Well, here's the thing. I thought about it and I think, Stephanie, you probably live
00:08:09
Speaker
This may not be the case, but in my head, for some reason, it makes sense. When this town was founded, these were pioneer people, pioneering at the very least in this area. I think for some reason in my head, it makes sense that the more influential people in the groups would have homes farther upstream. So I think that Stephanie, you have a house.
00:08:34
Speaker
You know, near the river, you can see the river, you can see the woods, but far enough upstream that you actually don't have sight of maybe the runestone. I think you're getting ready for bed in whatever manner. A teenage girl did that in the 80s, brushing her hair 100 times like Marcia Brady. I don't know. But your window faces the woods as ever since you were a kid. When you were a kid, you used to like looking out the window and watching the animal and all that sort of stuff.
00:09:03
Speaker
I think you start to catch a glow. And you look out the window. That's the moisturizer. Nice. Nice. You know, good. I think there's a glow out the window and you go and you look at it. And you see this person, this girl that you didn't see the first time. And the reason she's so easily visible is because she's not the only person there.
00:09:30
Speaker
Stephanie, tell me about somebody, tell me about a male, a boy that's in your social circle. Oh gosh. Well, she's, she's the popular, I'm the popular girl.
00:09:48
Speaker
I don't know why that made me laugh so much. Who can say? I'm the popular girl. And so I feel like currently she's probably in a really terrible relationship with a football player. Okay, so you want it to be someone you're dating? Yeah, no, his name's Brick. Brick? Last name, House. Ow.
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah. Well, it can be someone that's like, she's interested in. Okay. Okay. Yeah. It could be a crush. I mean, it could be someone you're dating. I'm not, I just, cause I don't know if you remember what the holder knew, uh, but you're about to see that. Well, it needs to be substantial enough that she cares. I think it can be anything you want. That's why I started with yourself, though. It's at least a friend that you care about. If you want it to be more than that, then fine. Um, let's go with crush. Sounds good. So you look out.
00:10:44
Speaker
You see this glow, you see this woman, this girl, and then you see brick. You did this, don't make that thing. I know, I know, I did it.
Stephanie's Encounter with the Holdra
00:10:56
Speaker
It's short for Bridget. I was thinking brick hardening.
00:11:09
Speaker
I love it. I'm sorry. So stupid. Oh, this is dumb. I like Ricardo. So you see, you see Brick and you can't see Brick's face. He's facing the forest. He's facing the woods and she's walking backwards, keeping eye contact with him and he's walking forwards and they're just going into the woods. Does Stephanie remember what the Holdre do?
00:11:40
Speaker
I mean, I think initially she's like jealous. She's like, who's this girl? That's my crash. What's happening? And then she's like, wait. Oh, I thought an epiphany. OK. And then the girl she hates in her science class, her name's Epiphany. No, I'm kidding.
00:12:04
Speaker
Don't let any of them go by. Trevor, you take every swing you can think of. We've been quarantined. No. So, what was your question? Do you remember what the Holder do? Oh, yes, I do. Does Stephanie remember what the Holder do to boys? They lure young men in and kill them, right? Well, they might kill them. The nicer ones just enslave them. It's kind of unknown what exactly happens. All I know is the boys aren't seen from again.
00:12:33
Speaker
Well, then I think that clicks in her mind, and I think her first instinct would probably not know what to do, so she's probably gonna try and call either Rick or Alex. Not Alex, Rick or... Yeah, Alex. Oh, me too! Oh, I don't know, Stephanie. She's probably gonna call Rick. Okay, give Rick a call. Okay. Is it a...
00:13:03
Speaker
Okay, so I'm gonna call Rick I Would Yeah, I kind of defer to you on this Jeff It seems unlikely to me that there's the Rick has a phone in his room and
00:13:26
Speaker
I think that was that common, especially not for a... I think Stephanie would be the only one that's been with a phone line going to her room. I don't even know that she has a phone line. She does her own phone. Well, plus your room's on the roof, so... Well, if Rick has all that in the bedroom. So it's probably just the shop phone.
00:13:49
Speaker
that rings. I would assume I would assume if it's there's at least another phone in residence. And you can decide I'll let you decide if you get there more quickly than grandpa. I will roll flight. Okay, against grandpa's flight. Well, I rolled a five. Yeah, that'll do it. Okay.
00:14:16
Speaker
So it literally says in the in the when I was reading it, they have kind of guidelines for what difficulty should be. I think it's like three to seven is like, yeah, they should be able to do this. So I want to say probably Rick has not gone to bed.
00:14:35
Speaker
Rick has the stack of books in his room and is reading them by lamplight. I kind of imagine his grandfather. Most of my grandfathers and my grandfather who's still living goes to bed crazy early. So I imagine that it's pretty normal for Rick to be awake later.
00:14:59
Speaker
So, yeah, Rick is sitting with a stack of books. And so he hears the phone ringing kind of jogs over to where the phone is. So it doesn't ring too many times and wake his grandfather. So hello. Rick, I don't know what just happens, but I'm looking out my window. Oh, hi. It's really weird that Stephanie is calling Rick and he like and called him by his proper name. Well, yes, also she did do that.
00:15:26
Speaker
Well, to be fair, it rhymes with brick. Sorry. It sure does. And this is very important to her. She has no time for nonsense. Hi, it's Stephanie. So I'm looking at my window, getting ready for bed, and I see brick. Do you know brick?
00:15:49
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Um, well, I see him walking into the woods outside my house with that, um, crap. What was it called? Um, the woman, the thing, the thing we looked up the in the book, the, the holder. Yes. Yes. Yes. I mean,
00:16:18
Speaker
You didn't see it. I mean, it's not, it couldn't just be a, you know, a woman. Okay, that's what I thought, but look at me and I saw her. I would brick choose her. Anyway. She was glowing. Or there was a glow. I don't know if she was glowing or the forest was glowing, but there was a glow.
00:16:48
Speaker
Hold on a minute. Do I have a window towards the woods? We discussed that you could probably see, you could see the woods from your rooftop. Okay. But that you not like, in the sense that the woods are the horizon. Right. You don't really have a good eye on the forest line.
00:17:13
Speaker
I mean, let me, let me, let me, let me put this out again. She was glowing. It's late at night. You don't recognize her. She's luring somebody into the woods. Okay. So that's the information. I forgot. She was lowering him into the woods. Okay. Okay. Okay.
00:17:40
Speaker
Okay, so. It's not okay. I don't know why you keep saying that. Give me a minute, I'm 14. So there's a glowing woman walking into the woods with Rick. Yes, like luring him. It's like I could see her face, but not his face. So she's like, come on. I could hear, but I assume.
00:18:10
Speaker
I mean, that's horrible. I mean, but it is right. Yes, it's horrible. What are you still looking at? Don't you remember? Don't you remember what they did? What these things do to young boys, men? Did you, I mean, did you shout? Like, did you call brick? Like maybe if he, no, I called you.
00:18:38
Speaker
But I'm not there. True. So should I go after it? No. I mean, if they lure people into the woods, that'd be worse, right? Can you shout like for brick? Can you try to get his attention? Maybe if he doesn't look at her anymore. I mean, I guess. Question, do I still see them or are they in the woods? Have you been watching while you've been talking? Or did you have to go to a phone? I had to go to the phone.
00:19:08
Speaker
OK, go back to the window. OK, I'm at the window. They're gone. Oh, they're gone. Oh, I go back to the phone.
Urgent Call to Rick: The Holdra's Threat
00:19:15
Speaker
They're gone. Oh, God. We should. I mean, the sheriff's not going to believe this. OK. I'm.
00:19:39
Speaker
on my way. And Rick is like, phone down, Rick is like, off to the roof, throws on his club. Bird crap goes everywhere. Down the stairs, out the door to his bike, and he's gone.
00:20:06
Speaker
And Stephanie's like, I guess this conversation's over, because I don't hear him anymore. So she hangs up. And she calls Duncan. You call Duncan? Yep. Yeah, Duncan's already awake, so he picks up the phone. Hello?
00:20:25
Speaker
Duncan, yes, it's me, God. Long story short, I think I saw that, I always forget, Hydra, Hydra, what is it? Holdra? Holdra, thank you. Not gonna lie, I actually forgot. I think I saw that thing luring brick into the woods.
00:20:57
Speaker
by my house, out my window. And I called Rick and he kind of just left me hanging. So I think he's on his way. Oh, um, okay. Um, so Rick's coming over to your house. Brick is in the woods. Yes. I think, I don't know. They're gone now.
00:21:16
Speaker
Okay, my mom got switched to third shift, so she's not gonna be home until like six in the morning. I can't leave Alex here alone. What time is it, Game Master? God, at this point, it's probably like 9 p.m. Oh, okay. I mean, he probably just barely fell asleep.
00:21:45
Speaker
Okay, well, I guess I'll go get him and we'll head over. Okay, do I wait? Should I go into the woods? No. Just wait. We'll be there. I'm sure Brick will be fine. If not,
00:22:08
Speaker
Anyway, um, okay. Well, I'll go get Alex and head over and then Duncan hangs up. Okay. I think it's a movie. Nobody says bye. So I'm trying to think what, what Brit, what Rick, Oh man. Yeah, you did. I'm trying to think what.
00:22:36
Speaker
what Rick has that he would consider like in his collection of oddities that he would consider because in Rick's mind like this is this is all of the books that Rick reads and so in Rick's mind something terrible is about to happen and so we've got to be ready to do something about it and I'm trying to think what Rick would possess that he would consider
00:23:07
Speaker
a weapon that he would grab to go monster hunting is essentially what he's just been invited to. So are you are you wrestling around the house around the shop? Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Okay, if you're wrestling around the shop, you're gonna wait Grant. Okay. I'll let you know that now before you decide if you are.
00:23:37
Speaker
Well, Philip thinks about that. Duncan goes into Alex's room. I mean, it's nine o'clock at night. Is Alex asleep yet? Alex has got his blanket and cheat over his head with a flashlight and he's reading a comic book. Stupid Batman comics. So yeah, Duncan walks in and like pulls the sheet back. Alex. Oh, I'm just going to read for a little bit.
00:24:08
Speaker
Is it one of the Batman comics? Yes. Where'd you get that comic? It's the next one in the series. It's like two, three years old. Okay. Um, we need to go to Stephanie's. Well, we gotta go there for.
00:24:31
Speaker
She called apparently something weird's happening over there with some guy. It's whatever. But she needs our help. Rick's already on his way over. He needs help. OK. Yeah. So he stops out of bed and throws his clothes on real quick, grabs his backpack with his trusty slingshot. Let's go. OK. But we just need to lock up the house before we go. And they start about that business.
00:25:02
Speaker
Okay. I'm trying to think what would reasonably be around a house in this part of the country. Is there a bow and arrow in the house?
00:25:15
Speaker
I think that Rick definitely found some sort of bow and arrow after reading, I don't know, I guess the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sure. You know, same reason Philip did. That's definitely what Philip found after reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a bow and arrow. That's absolutely true. So yes, there's definitely a bow and arrow. There is a bow. Mm hmm.
00:25:39
Speaker
There are maybe some arrows, but these are in at best disrepair. At worst, they have plunger tips. I don't know. Let's go with disrepair. They're poorly fledged. They've definitely been in a target a bunch of times. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's what would be. I can't imagine that you would have any better than that. No, no, no, not nice things. Maybe like maybe a couple that he's attempted to make himself. OK. Out of dowel rods and that kind of thing.
00:26:08
Speaker
and old like old like Flint like what I did when I was when I was this age I definitely my dad bought me some dowel rods and we sat and we made him out of little Flint arrowheads you can you know you could buy the little Flint arrowheads in shop a little place that kind of thing so he's probably got a few that he's made himself and then some
00:26:27
Speaker
things that people have sold in the antique to the antique shop and that kind of thing. I have a question. Yeah. Do our adversary tokens from last time carry over? Oh, absolutely. It's allowed. Yes, definitely. I think I had three. I had two. OK, so so Rick's got that two of them. So I have one straps or slings it along his back Robin Hood style and.
00:26:53
Speaker
jumps on his bike, which is absolutely named Shadowfax and takes off. That's such a nerd. Just being being honest and transparent here. Oh, you said I was going to wait grandpa. I'm sorry. So I should not declare that I'm gone. If you go to the if that stuff downstairs. If it's in your room and you can slide out the window and go down to the ground level, then I don't think you wait granddad. OK, I think those things are in his room.
00:27:20
Speaker
Unless there's something, unless Rick would know of something in the shop downstairs that he thinks would be more useful, he wouldn't go and take anything from the shop. So unless, unless you're telling me there's like, some dude came in and sold this, this rune covered Viking sword a while ago. There's a blunderbuss covered in strange lore here.
00:27:43
Speaker
No, I think, okay, I think that's fine. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to impose something. Yeah, I think that Duncan and Alex got to move on more quickly than you did. Okay. Your place is on the way. I think here's a here. Yeah, I think that you guys chose to take a well lighted route because your little brothers with you. So going through the town square is on the way. I think you're getting on your bike. They're right. Like they see you holler. So the three of you are riding together. Okay. Yeah.
00:28:12
Speaker
To Stephanie's. Go ahead and North. Rick. We ride. As you ride past Founders Cabin on this Friday night. Oh, God. Oh, man. We're all three young men. This is so bad. You see. Oh, wait. It it lit from within. I almost said lights on, but that's not how old cabins work.
00:28:40
Speaker
You see it lit from within, you see a smattering of cars along the road. There's not a parking lot, per se, but there's kind of a dirt patch where people park or just along the road there. And it just so happens that standing outside a founder's cabin right now, taking a smoke break from whatever is going on inside is the sheriff. And he says,
00:29:11
Speaker
Oh no, fellas. Peter, uh, where are you going? Hey, don't slow down. Come here. Uh, Oh man. Okay. Definitely needs some help.
00:29:30
Speaker
Well, don't know why that wasn't going to happen, but. Oh, OK. Well, I'm thinking Alex's mind, he sees this guy is, you know. Yeah, totally. Totally. Yeah, absolutely. Her VCR didn't record Alf and I have a tape, so we're going to go watch it. Oh, no, that doesn't seem like any sort of emergency. This episode, this week's episode was crazy. Did you watch it? No, no, I didn't see this one.
00:30:00
Speaker
I hear he eats the cat finally. Well, don't tell Stephanie, we don't want her to know yet. We're going to watch out again. Yes. Okay. Well, why Alex? What did you think was wrong? Well, they said something about a guy or something. I don't know what's going on. The guy in the episode, Alex.
00:30:27
Speaker
Oh, what? Yeah, like. Describe the episode of Alf for us, Eric. Yeah, the guy's all about it. The guy got lost in the woods and Alf had to help find him. Remember, I said a guy got lost in the woods when we were talking about the episode and Stephanie needs to see the episode. So we're headed over there, right? Yeah, is is I assume his brother is giving him a look like
00:30:56
Speaker
Chill, dude. Yeah, I mean, I like. Well, obviously can't be too dramatic about it because a cop's here, but yeah, I mean. Take that with what you will, Alex, but I think Alex would get the hint. He knows his brother well enough to know that it's. Yeah, he needs it. I mean, I'm assuming I'm about to have to roll against this sheriff's whatever. So let's get too excited. I think what's going to happen, you've been doing the talking.
00:31:24
Speaker
Uh, so I think you're going to, you're going to be the representative of the group with the role, uh, which is actually going to be okay. I think share is going to say, um, now fellas, I think you need to be more forthright with me right now, or I'm going to have to just send y'all home.
00:31:46
Speaker
So I want you to roll, I want you, uh, Eric, to roll grit. And I believe you have a skill that would modify the number a bit, right? Rebellious. I think would do that, right? Well, I think it gives you a plus three to persuading kids, right? To resisting adults. Also plus two from an adversary token or adversity token for me.
00:32:16
Speaker
Okay, so plus five total. That's gonna be a nine.
00:32:23
Speaker
Oh no. Here's the thing. That was a good show. You're not automatically compliant. I can't magically make you do what he says, but he does not. Can Alex put on the charm? No, not at this point. No, Alex, you started this. No, I think he is going to say, now why don't you guy? How about this?
00:32:50
Speaker
It's dark. You got a really young one here with you. How about I ask what you're up there? If you're going to Stephanie's, I can follow you up there. Oh, okay. Okay. I mean, yeah, that's fine. Okay. I think.
00:33:13
Speaker
No, no, I have to get back to this. What are you guys doing there? I'm sorry. What are you doing there? The founders. What are y'all doing? Oh, it's just having a meeting. Meeting what? You know, Rick, I got a feeling that, um. Uh.
00:33:45
Speaker
It's not really my place to tell you. So this accident is all over the place. It's just the north of every country. That's who settled this place, the north of every country, only people from the northern half of countries. Why don't you ask your dad, your granddad about it tomorrow? I was about to say that, dude. Yeah, no, that was an absolute mistake on my part. Is his granddad there?
00:34:16
Speaker
Is my great my great out of the car? You're gonna have a car. Is his car parked out here? Huh? Is his car parked out here? Yeah, why not? I didn't hear him leave. Rick, this episode of Alf isn't gonna watch itself. Yeah.
00:34:46
Speaker
Yeah. Rick, you seem distressed. Would you want to wait here while I go get your grandpa? No, it's cool. That's not something people said in the 80s. No, I'm all right. I just didn't know he'd left. That's all. It's okay.
00:35:15
Speaker
Okay. Here's what happens. I think that the sheriff does escort you guys to Stephanie's. He walks you to the door. And when Stephanie's mom opens it, he lets her know they came here. I guess your daughter wants to watch Alf.
00:35:42
Speaker
I'll let you in. You're already there once or later in the day. Whatever. So. So you're in. I mean, you made it in. I mean, are are you downstairs waiting for us or? No. So are you in the house? I wasn't going to be.
00:36:09
Speaker
Well, I guess we'll need to rewind. So what have you done? Yeah. Let's see. Meanwhile, no, I was just planning on being on the front porch, standing there with the fireplace poker ready to go. OK. OK. That's fine. OK. Um, I think the sheriff really doesn't trust you guys now because you're bow and arrow. I was wondering if that was going to kill him. It is now.
00:36:41
Speaker
OK, Rick's just weird enough, though. Well, I didn't make this clear, but Duncan brought the camera with him. So there's also a giant camera box strapped to the bike. Like we look like a real suspicious crew rolling through town. OK, let's all go inside. My parents are asleep.
00:37:08
Speaker
So Sheriff reaches over and rings the doorbell 10 times. I think we might've woke him up. Go inside. There's nothing. A great roll of 60. You want to try it? Go inside. Welcome to my home, Sheriff. I think your dad comes downstairs.
00:37:36
Speaker
I think I'm not going to do two NPCs talking to each other for more than two seconds. So Sheriff explains what happened. And I think the Sheriff asks dad, would you mind keeping an eye on them for just a few minutes? Dad agrees. Sheriff leaves.
00:38:03
Speaker
You guys have a couple of minutes if you'd like to try to talk to each other while dad's right there. Dad, listen. We have this project for school. We have this project for school and we just really needed some nighttime footage. Duncan has a camera. I have this stick.
00:38:29
Speaker
poker and we have a bow and arrow because we're going to act out of thing that Duncan wrote. Yeah. Oh. Well, what'd you write, Duncan? Well, we're just supposed to. You know, it's about the history of the area and the bow and arrow is because I made these and I pull out one of the arrows that I have made and I mean, it's it's.
00:38:58
Speaker
I mean, it's not perfect. The, let me see. It's a dowel rod. So the woods more, I didn't straighten the wood myself, but
00:39:05
Speaker
We're kind of trying to talk about the, you know, the indigenous people of the area and some of the. And the script shows the the Viking warrior women, which is why Stephanie has the weapon fighting against the indigenous people is the script that we wrote. And so we needed some nighttime footage because Vikings were notorious for nighttime raids. And so it's very true.
00:39:32
Speaker
Thank you, Rick. I'm I'm operating under the idea that someone could get away with this in the 80s. Rick, Rick reaches into his bag and begins to pull out a book about Vikings. But we established this is near the end of the school year, correct? I think we said like six. Honestly, it's about this time of year. Maybe a little deeper in. But is there a curfew in town?
00:40:02
Speaker
I don't think that there is an enforced curfew, but this is the sort of town where there's no reason to be out past 8 p.m. Everything's closed. We do somebody going for a social visit to someone else is one thing.
00:40:18
Speaker
We just needed to get some nighttime footage when it was properly dark outside. So it seemed like the middle of the night in the film, but we didn't want to do it too late, obviously, because Alex is my assistant director. Well, you know, if you really need to catch the sort of nighttime footage that you would get this time of day with that camera, you could just turn it on in your closet and make some noises because
00:40:46
Speaker
It's dark outside. We have flash. There are no light. Okay. Okay. Let me see. How powerful are they?
00:40:58
Speaker
takes out a flashlight. Hang on. Wait, what? I can spend two advantage to have something with me. So I have no advantage. I don't have that. I don't have that thing. Yeah. So yeah. Duncan pulls out a flashlight. This one and you know, okay. It,
00:41:20
Speaker
It's something their family could afford, but decent enough. I mean, it's a flashlight and you don't, you don't know any better. You don't know what lumens are. And I was going to grab the one out of the glove box on our way out. Okay. I think that's long enough. Guess who knocks, guess who knocks on the door? Mm.
00:41:43
Speaker
Okay. It's because you looked up, but this is an audio medium. No, granddad's here. Sheriff went and told grand. Oh, no. Granddad's there and Mr. Stevenson lets him in and he said. All right, you four. I have some things to tell you, but before I do exactly. What was the plan here?
00:42:12
Speaker
We were just going to go find out what happened. The brick. Who's brick? Is Stephanie's dad and the sheriff all? Yeah, I think the sheriff stayed at Founders Cabin. I think Stephanie's dad is still there. Granddad is still there.
00:42:36
Speaker
I think that you catch a vibe off of Stephanie's dad. You know what, Stephanie? Roll brains for me. I know it's not your biggest, but you know dad, so. I have to see what I put on brains. You put a four. You're a four. That's the problem. Three.
00:42:58
Speaker
Yeah. Can I give her two of my tokens? You certainly can. I'll give those to her. Okay. Five. Honestly, I'm fine with you guys giving tokens after the roll. I like seeing you guys figure out what is important enough to give them for. So you got her up to five? Okay. It's still not enough, but I do want to give you something. So I think that you can't put your finger on it.
00:43:24
Speaker
But you catch a vibe off your dad that you don't see when he's talking to, say, employees, or just other people in town, or even when he's talking to you. There's just something, there's something there when he's listening to granddad speak. So you catch something. So I don't know how you impart that. But so, so granddad says, what was the plan? Hey, what were you doing in powder's cabin?
00:43:52
Speaker
Well, I did say I had some things to tell you, but I need for you to understand the severity here, so why don't you tell me what you are planning on doing tonight? Um, Dad, don't you need a drink? You look, you look tired. I'm hungry, Mr. Stevenson. You gotta, can I have a sandwich? Um. Charm, baby. Yeah, yeah, roll, you know what? Roll charm, but Mr. Stevenson's pissed.
00:44:23
Speaker
It's going to be an angry sandwich. It's going to be eight. I got. Yeah, I got a plus one eight. I think Mr. Stevenson says, I think we can let's answer the questions that are important and maybe we'll all have a sandwich together. But we'll all have several sandwiches. I got a party sub. I got a party sub. We do it on Fridays for the crew, the ship crew. I got one left over.
00:44:55
Speaker
Well, Stephanie called and seemed like it was urgent and. Brick was. Going into the woods. Brick is in the woods and if we don't get him, I might not get to go to homecoming with him. And he might be dead. Yeah. Which if that happens, Stephanie, whatever bricks in the woods. No brick.
00:45:22
Speaker
Yeah. Bricks in the woods. Call him rich. It's much easier. Stephanie. Yes. Why don't we just call him british? Brick is in the woods. Yes. I saw him at the window. My window. So we were going to go look for him. Does he know why he would go in the woods? Um, maybe he had a pee.
00:45:50
Speaker
maybe he had maybe because he's with the holdra thank you you're talking to granddad he told you about this but he also was somewhere that i didn't know he's going that's not cool and i didn't ask you permission 14 year old
Granddad's Insights on Mystical Entities
00:46:09
Speaker
I as a 14 year old feel agreed. OK, fair enough, fair enough, fair enough. OK, OK, OK, OK, that's good. No, it's not. No. Now that we're all on the same page. Is my dad on the same page? Kind of. He. What's your dad's name? Steve. Nope. I knew you were going to say it. I've already vetoed it in my head. And it also doesn't rhyme with Rick.
00:46:40
Speaker
Something that you'll all come to know is, throughout the generations, there's an organization here in town that's become less popular. Stephanie, your dad went through it. The chess club. Let's just hold on a second. Is it the Eagle Lodge? Your dad went through it.
00:47:09
Speaker
Uh, each of you could have been a part of it. Some were chosen, chose to leave. Um, but for those who make it all the way through the youth league, their minds are a bit more open to certain things. Carl, how long were you in youth league? He says, Oh, Oh, I graduated from the youth league. That's fine. I don't care what you think. You're some kids. Wait, does everybody know about the whole draft?
00:47:38
Speaker
No, no, no, no, no, nobody knows about the Huldra. Apparently, we do. Well, okay, let me say it this way. Up until this afternoon, I didn't know about the Huldra being here, but I know what they are and could recognize what you described. I feel like Brick knows about the Huldra now too. Yeah, it's not Brick. There is a version of the Huldra mythos.
00:48:08
Speaker
in which the Huldra are vengeful and murderous. And like, specifically, they kidnap a man, they seduce the man, and if the man does not please them, they murder the man. Not our Huldra. Hashtag not my Huldra.
00:48:25
Speaker
our whole draw in slave. So, uh, granddad says, listen, um, I know that's really scary, but from everything I've read, brick's not in immediate danger. He's probably, if, if he knows what's going on, he's probably quite scared. That's certainly true. Um, but I, we don't need to run into the woods with bad arrows and a hot poker for we shall surely fail.
00:48:54
Speaker
I mean, I didn't really think we were going to attack anything. You brought a weapon, son. Well, yeah, that's because if it attacks us, I would like to be able to defend as much as possible. But this would be a really stupid idea to go and provoke monsters. Well, I'm certainly proud of you for recognizing. What was your what was your plan, Stephanie?
00:49:20
Speaker
Well, just to clarify, you called Brick a friend and we're a little more than that, but moving on. How's Duncan doing with this? How's Duncan feel about Brick's situation right now? What happens happens, you know? I've just seen enough horror movies to know you need to have something. Well, okay. And I don't know how to shoot the gun that's on the wall, so.
00:49:55
Speaker
Well, kids, I think maybe our best course of action would be for you guys to come join us at the cabin. I know that there's a lot of rumors and I know that it seems spooky, but all it is is a meeting of people like me who kind of believe in this stuff or greatly believe in this stuff. And a few people who can help us
00:50:24
Speaker
Fix the problem. Does that make sense? No. Maybe. I guess so. Stephanie, let me be clear. You fight magic with magic.
00:50:51
Speaker
I was waiting for you to respond because there's one thing that is unassailable in your mind right now and that what you have seen is something magical. She was glowing. That's true. And she seduced a man away from you. Okay. Clearly must be magic. Thank you. As we're walking out, Rick looks over at something and says,
00:51:15
Speaker
Actually, in a lot of stories, creatures like this are vulnerable to iron, so it really wasn't the worst idea. Thank you. Um. Listen, I. Alex needs to get home to bed at some point, reasonable. Bobby, I'm OK. Um.
00:51:44
Speaker
granddad says let's car we've got our bikes okay how are you kids on bikes Rick no your kids in cars shut up Rick Rick why don't you hop in with me boys you can leave your bicycles here they're not gonna go where some of you can ride with me some of you can ride with Stephanie
00:52:08
Speaker
I think Stephanie's dad's going to stay at home. He is going to let Rick, uh, or he's going to let granddad do this thing. Um, let's get back to the cabin. The meeting's about to wrap up and there's some people I think you can. Do you get in the car to go? Do you roll grid against grandpa? No, I get in the car. All right. What's that for me?
00:52:37
Speaker
Okay, come on Betty. I just follow suit because I don't know any better. Check in with Stephanie. Is Stephanie concerned about Brick and wanting to figure out what's going on or are you at this point just resign something weird happening and you're a part of it? I mean I think 100% that she is concerned but she also has no idea what to do. That's fair. She is with the best group she can be. Perfectly reasonable response.
00:53:06
Speaker
Okay, so I think you guys get to founders cabinet granddad was right things are this people are dispersing the sheriff's vehicles already gone, you know, he doesn't get a chance to mingle he's got to get back on patrol and whatnot. I think that
00:53:27
Speaker
granddad had brought up that there was weird rumblings happening, asked if anybody else saw the lights before you guys showed up at the meeting, or the sheriff caught you outside the meeting. Some of the people said they'd seen the lights, so everybody's, they're not on edge, but they recognize things are being weird right now. Of course, everybody notices the birds. So I think when granddad comes in, there's a small group of people still talking,
00:53:56
Speaker
up towards what would have, like by the fireplace, you know, it's kind of what they, when they have assembly in this cabin, that's kind of where the speaker stands when everybody else sits in here. I thought I brought the hot poker. Yep. Yeah, thank God. So I think you guys see four people still chatting. There is,
00:54:26
Speaker
a young woman, a young woman, it's in her 30s, an adult, but a woman. There is a much, much older man, like older than probably around granddad's age, but just looks worse for wear, maybe. Then there's a teenage boy who you do recognize, and we can talk about who he is in a second. You guys can tell me who he is in a second. And then just another
00:54:55
Speaker
I think another middle aged woman and they're kind of sitting and talking and granddad walks in and they say, oh, oh, oh, Robert, wonderful. Come, come join us. Come join us. Come join us. Oh, who have you brought? Broughton? Who have you brought? Too much time with Oklahoma teenagers. Oh, and who have you brought? And I think Robert, who, which is granddad's name now, introduces each of you and says, um,
00:55:22
Speaker
I didn't get a chance to mention it because I didn't necessarily want to in the larger group. But among the smaller contingent, I think it's important you hear what these kids saw. Who wants to go? We were recording for a school project up by the Runestone and Duncan
00:55:52
Speaker
who was working the camera saw something through the camera. And then when we played it back, it wasn't exactly there, but it was kind of there. I made Rick Cuke too. It did, yes. And then tonight, Stephanie saw it leading a kid into the woods.
00:56:25
Speaker
Okay. I think that granddad looks at the assembled group. I think that first the old man speaks up and the old man says, Oh, um, yes. It's all, it all makes sense really, when you think about it. You say you vomited when the girl approached you. Yes.
00:56:54
Speaker
Right, right. That's interesting. My name, of course, is Clarence. I am the, oh, for lack of a better word, president of this organization. And I think you might have something to discuss with my niece, Leslie, here. And he points to one of the older of the two, middle-aged women. She's probably, you know, Duncan's mom's age, maybe a little younger, you know, early 40s,
00:57:26
Speaker
And she says to you, Oh, oh, you feel it. You feel it too. Feel what? Oh, just sometimes when when things that you can't explain are happening, maybe the air feels a little electric. Or when things you can't explain happen to you, maybe you don't feel so well. Have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night and can't explain why but you're scared and you weren't having a bad dream?
00:57:59
Speaker
Yeah, that happened last night. Oh, oh, it's the lights. Well, that makes sense. Um, well, you are what we call a sensor. E R one who senses like
00:58:19
Speaker
Like I feel the force or something. I don't know what that is. Um, I'm not into children's things, but, um, what, uh, no, at this time, this is, this is Rick. Okay. Okay. Okay. Fair enough. I'm fine with what you just said. Cause I was like in the late eighties, a 40 year old woman would think Star Wars was for children. Yes, absolutely. No. But I do think I know what you're talking about. I think the best way to say it would be you are.
00:58:45
Speaker
How can I say this? Sensitive to certain forces? That's what I said. Something that binds us all together. Oh no, hardly that. That's a bull crap. It actually sets us apart. No, I think she just says, you are attuned to something that many aren't. Unfortunately, that alone makes you a canary in a coal mine.
00:59:14
Speaker
Are you familiar with that reference? Yes. Okay. They die. Thank you. Duncan, was it? Yes. Cool. Nope. She wouldn't say that. Great. Totally. I think she says, but it is useful. And over time, if you'd like, we can help you attune it. But for now, I think it's just, it's simply useful. You and I can be there together.
00:59:44
Speaker
and hopefully provide some sort of warning system. But we need more than that, and we certainly need more than your bow. If what your granddad tells us and what you've told us is true, we're going to need someone with equal or comparable powers. We need someone who can do magic.
01:00:18
Speaker
Do you understand why, if you had gone out tonight, it would have ended poorly? I mean, look, a kid got let off into the woods by a magical creature. And it seems like no one thinks someone should go after them.
01:00:45
Speaker
Oh, no, we're definitely going. So we, you know, you're saying we need to go find a Jedi or something and I just. I don't think I need to explain to you guys now that magic is real. The old man goes. God bless you. Oh, yes, no, she's quite right. Magic is very real and. Luckily. There's someone in this room
01:01:16
Speaker
who's proven quite adept at certain arcane abilities.
Teenager's Perspective on Youth League
01:01:21
Speaker
And I think, I think it's time to see what they can do. And the teenager turns and looks at you guys and he goes, you should have stayed in Youth League. End of episode.
01:01:41
Speaker
Thank you guys so much for listening. We've got at least one, obviously, maybe two more episodes of this for you guys to hopefully enjoy. If you want to join us on social media, and boy, there is not a better time to be active online, you can find us on Facebook at the Geek Pantheon. We have Twitter and Instagram accounts, both at the Geek Pantheon. But by far, by far, our most active fan gathering place is on our Discord.
01:02:12
Speaker
I understand that a lot of people are in some serious financial question right now. So all I'm going to say is there's a $1 tier. And if, if you would like to join, we'd love to have you, but there's never any pressure, but right now there's certainly no pressure. In fact, I'll do my best to start being more active on Facebook for a while. For those who can't, I mean, even a dollar can be a big deal. So, um, with those of you that are on there or do want to get on there,
01:02:40
Speaker
It's patreon slash the geek pantheon. And I think that's it. Let's get a recommendation for another podcast. We are proudly part of the d20 radio podcasting network. If you head on over to d20radio.com, you can find the best little gaming blog on the interwebs, as well as all of the other podcasts on the network over under the podcast tab, including the story told RPG podcast.
01:03:05
Speaker
They are a great show that does a good amount of actual play and then will occasionally do kind of outside of that, but they jump around different systems. And the latest episode covers the midnight world, a game about survival and supernatural chaos, but so much more. It strives in gameplay to show how your limitations are a part of you, but never define you.
01:03:30
Speaker
And it's currently, I believe, in Kickstarter right now. So they cover that as well. But it's an hour long episode, so go check them out, as well as all the other awesome podcasts over at d20radio.com. Back to you, Jeff.
01:03:43
Speaker
Okay, um, I just want to reiterate again, this is five days before you hear this, and I just have no idea what the world holds for us. But I hope that it is. I hope you all find yourselves in healthy situations, both physically and emotionally. And I hope that this hour was a good escape for you for a bit. And we'll catch you next Friday. I'm Jeff and Philip.
01:04:06
Speaker
I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. I'm Eric. And that went great. It's hard when you can't see each other. Bye. Stay safe. Bye bye.