Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
C3 Episode 29 Bright Moons Rising Chapter Eight
349 Plays22 days ago
There's something lurking in the underbrush
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/5YGEPY4mvb
This episode is brought to you by the generous donations of our amazing Show Sponsors: Laura Pickrahn, Irene Viorritto, Darrell DeLaney, Charles Compton, Deviouspoptart, Nastasia Raulerson, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Rebekah Gowman, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, Jerry Theuns, Mark Stanley, and Shelby Johnson.
Recommended
Transcript
Introductions and Welcome
00:00:00
Speaker
D20 um threatenly with the coach orange twenty Radio, your
00:00:14
Speaker
radio
00:00:22
Speaker
Hello, welcome to Everon Renewed, an actual play podcast sent to the Everon Campaign Study. I'm Game Master Eric. I'm Mia. I'm Phillip. I'm Madison. Track Time Radio. I'm Jeff.
00:00:33
Speaker
Welcome to another episode.
Recap of Previous Episode
00:00:36
Speaker
What happened last time, everyone? On the other side. hey we We gotta fight. We Shanghai Devin into, into coming into the woods with us.
00:00:48
Speaker
Uh, and... The unpredictable magic of Thaladis. I turned it into a fight with Ladislav a little sooner than anybody could have predicted. Who's a wereboar.
00:01:01
Speaker
There was also a lion at one point. Yeah, RFP that lion. There was also a burrowing lion. The burrowing lion that blew all of our minds. Such an afterthought after this was done. And then also Trayna, also were-tiger.
Standoff with Trayna
00:01:14
Speaker
Which I think is so cool.
00:01:16
Speaker
Because Trayna was also Dex's teacher about being were-stuffed. In another universe ever so many years ago. yeah I'll admit it, listeners. I didn't remember her name. I didn't remember her name. I thought the were-tiger was a whole different dude in our campaign.
00:01:31
Speaker
Some part of that crew was a different person. I only sort of remembered there was a were-tiger. It's been a long time. the Yep. So, where we left off is Nyx was about to stab somebody, whether or not it was Val, Kaz, or Trina.
00:01:44
Speaker
ah To be clear. That was an option. I'm just... Wait a minute.
00:01:54
Speaker
Uh... Yeah.
00:01:59
Speaker
I mean, Nyx says, Kat, get out of the way.
00:02:05
Speaker
Please don't do this.
00:02:11
Speaker
Why not?
00:02:14
Speaker
Because you don't have to. Because there's no good reason to. Because she's not for herself a threat. Because... It's a bad idea? it is a pretty bad idea.
00:02:24
Speaker
It's a little bigoted and that's a bummer. just wants to be my friend. We came here together and you're acting like this? I
00:02:33
Speaker
yeah
00:02:35
Speaker
ah love the spaghetti at the wall method. I'm just going to say all of my ideas. I have a lot of thoughts. Here they come. but They all feel valid.
00:02:48
Speaker
Reasons to not try to kill Traynor.
00:02:57
Speaker
I want to be like, thought you didn't even like those guys. it
00:03:04
Speaker
People you don't like can be right about things.
00:03:10
Speaker
Because I don't like these guys more.
00:03:16
Speaker
And I'm not going to move. I'm not going to stop you trying to go around me either.
Motivations and Reflections
00:03:20
Speaker
I'm not an insane person. Okay. I'm going to go out of my way to save Trayna, literally. You will stab me to get to her. I have full faith in that.
00:03:31
Speaker
but i don't be test Whether it's true or not, Kaz is unsure. So, the fact that you would turn around it and kill Trayna just simply because she is a lichen throw puts Kaz on his back foot that you might. So...
00:03:49
Speaker
I... I feel that if you can make peace as much as you can with living with one Lycanthrope, which I dislike and addressing Hendrik as such, it's very... it It doesn't feel right. It feels a little rude.
00:04:08
Speaker
But I feel like you can make an exception for one person who you will see even more temporarily. She's also supposed to take us to deep roots so we can end into this thing. And if she doesn't, the two ways I see this ending are the animals kill everyone in town or the Chiron government destroys these woods.
Mission Discussion: Deep Root
00:04:31
Speaker
And she talks to squirons. But people talk to squirons. Yeah, she held squir on her hand. She didn't even eat it. She's not much of a tiger.
00:04:42
Speaker
She's not even macho tiger. Does she look offended?
00:04:53
Speaker
ah Oh, man. Can Selina move yet? Okay, great, because we were kind of like, oh, what are you going to do on your turn? You can move. And I was like, oh, no, it's not my turn until after next. Well, Selina would absolutely get in between as well.
00:05:09
Speaker
be
00:05:15
Speaker
Um... I'm only trying to keep you from doing something that's going to compromise the job we got paid to do.
00:05:26
Speaker
He says a lying. Uh, Nyx...
00:05:35
Speaker
Uh, I think... probably... um in this position
Uncovering Truths
00:05:44
Speaker
that we're all in, um, Nix hesitates and i think probably catches.
00:05:55
Speaker
She doesn't usually carry this weapon. She catches her reflection in the, the silver on the blade and
00:06:09
Speaker
realizes how how far gone she is in this moment. And it, it kind of snaps her out of it to a certain degree.
00:06:20
Speaker
um and she lowers the sword and with just sort of a, an angry,
00:06:32
Speaker
ah turns in and stalks off into the woods a little ways. Sure. Valk is removing his hand from the hilt of his sword that was gifted to him by the next.
00:06:44
Speaker
Kaz feels the feeling return to his legs.
00:06:52
Speaker
Okay. Trina just kind of says quietly, Thank you.
00:06:59
Speaker
What do we do about this? He has screams to the forest. It's pointing at Maneslav's dead body.
Planning Next Moves
00:07:08
Speaker
He has burned my hand. Who is this?
00:07:11
Speaker
I think he's a spy. It God's hand is burned. Did you answer your question?
00:07:21
Speaker
um
00:07:23
Speaker
did you answer her question Not jokingly, as I said think he's a spy. Yeah, man. He's a Chyron official who was brought here to try to get things moving again. And, you know, as I think I turned around.
00:07:36
Speaker
He didn't really attack us, did he? He just showed up. He did eventually attack us after we had wrecked him. We did. was but like we got the first blows. yeah he did not. He did not strike first. Yeah, he charged. We confused him the whole time.
00:07:53
Speaker
just yeah he would have Just a scared boar in the woods. Well, lots of people go missing in these woods.
Negotiating with Deep Root
00:08:04
Speaker
Works for me. look i Look, I think I got Can I do inside on date? or own yeah That's exactly. See what our man's feeling.
00:08:15
Speaker
ready Better wisdom it wants to try. There's wisdom or intelligence for this. Wisdom. Okay. Mine's not good. That's a 10. I will try. Mine's pretty good. Davin seems like he's going to be real cool about all this. I do not like him. I got a 22.
00:08:32
Speaker
is very wide-eyed as, yeah, like Lycanthropes do, the figure returns to the form of Vladislav on the ground in his Chiron uniform, and like, as as you all saw him in the tent.
00:08:46
Speaker
and his breathing has grown kind of shallow and his eyes get wide and it's very much a like David's breathing. yeah so
00:08:57
Speaker
Um, <unk>s's it's very much kind of like, what have you done? Kind of thing. Like, i what do you want from the man? Oh, fair enough. What have we done? He was cajoled to coming in here, and then all of a sudden it... Yeah, anyway.
00:09:13
Speaker
No, you very much get the sense that, like, the second he has an opportunity, he is going to, like... You know, you all killed a Chyron official, and he's, like, a lackey, like, government yes-man.
Revelation of Marcus's Identity
00:09:26
Speaker
So ah very much seems like he is blaming you all for killing this guy. He'd still be alive if you'd kept your mouth shut. You brought him here.
00:09:34
Speaker
Well, no.
00:09:37
Speaker
Kaz did not notice any of this, just Selina did. I think Selina turns to Valk and just kind of motions over to... The guy that I can't say his name. David. David. Like Dave, but an N. guess Valk's not quite used to this. What would you have been used to if not?
00:10:00
Speaker
Normally, Selina would have done that to Nick's, but it's what? And Selina, it's nobody else to realize this. Receiving the hint of Vineland's a potential life. Yeah, Valk, what do you do Since this is a wordless exchange, and I love wordless exchanges,
00:10:13
Speaker
I think that's going to turn back to da da
00:10:23
Speaker
I'm doing my best. Just gonna walk up to him and just put his hand on his back and just start walking forward. got his hand, other hand. Burnt hand. Well, burnt
Handling New Knowledge
00:10:36
Speaker
hand on the back.
00:10:37
Speaker
Walking towards the body, towards Kaz and Selena. Towards Kaz and Selena. Okay.
00:10:43
Speaker
Reducing the, I think... You don't get out much. And i don't think you understand the weight of what has happened. You just killed the war of the cart.
00:10:58
Speaker
up. We were attacked. Did you not see the look in the boar's eyes? probably not you were behind a tree um not quite under control and there was a great chance if you were not shoved behind a tree you as the defenseless person would have died why why did he attack you i wish despise are you the ones he talked about like
00:11:28
Speaker
He's the spy. he Everywhere he's ever gone, he happens to be the only person to encounter a spy magically. David, turn your brain on, buddy. Look, I'm going to put this real simple for you.
00:11:39
Speaker
We, and I put a big circle around all of us, including him, went into the woods. We got attacked, and we defended ourselves. We, you're a part of this.
00:11:51
Speaker
Now, we are going to walk with Trayna to Deep Root, just like you said we you would.
00:11:58
Speaker
I didn't want to be here. and didn't want to do this. You walked out, homeboy, with us. Yeah, we say homeboy here. ah In Thelanus.
00:12:07
Speaker
It's Thelanian slang. I think that's going to say, no one has said that in such a long time.
00:12:17
Speaker
We don't say that at evening. Amazing. Retro, I'm bringing it back. 20 years is about right for the cycle. 25.
00:12:28
Speaker
uh we say we say it again of and uh i mean david is just in a state of shock but is not going to run because he's still kind of in a free out point if somebody wants to try to make a role to convince him to not like sell you all out when you're with that charisma charisma You have a diplomat as a background. I do. I do. I can make up for... You're right.
00:12:57
Speaker
and And I've got... I mean, I've got a good charisma, but unless I could also add, like, kind of being in the little mischief ringleader thing, know that I could... Unless you're showing you trying to convince him to go pants nicks or something. Hey. I would not recommend it. Probably. Do it. Introduce some love
Mission Report and Future Plans
00:13:12
Speaker
to you in this situation, David. yeah I got, like, an 11. She's got a tail. She's real hard to pants.
00:13:19
Speaker
I got 18. Wait, do we add level? Yes. I got a 20. Okay. I got 15. Okay. Um... i got fifteen
00:13:31
Speaker
um Yeah, I think the the whole tactic, of like, David is now culpable in this. Like, he was a part of your crew that went out.
00:13:41
Speaker
And so if he were to, like, yeah, try to try to implicate you all, then there's all the likelihood that it will fall back on him as well. And more importantly, his wife, who is serving in the military. There you go, right now.
00:13:57
Speaker
I think the last thing I say is, and now we are going to go see if we can't talk Deep Root about getting more people in your town not eat. Okay. You can be a hero, David. You can make the negotiations that keep people from your town getting eaten.
00:14:12
Speaker
Okay. Great. Just breathe.
00:14:18
Speaker
Good. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty good.
00:14:24
Speaker
Anybody go... I mean, Nyx, what are you up to? Nyx has just walked away a little bit. She's not yeah disappeared into the woods. She's just walked away into the trees and is ignoring all of this behind her. It is.
00:14:38
Speaker
trying to breathe and trying to ignore whatever Acheron is sarcastically remarking from eating from the branches.
00:14:54
Speaker
i want to roll I want to know if if Nix is angry at us for stopping her or conflicted about not doing it or conflicted about almost doing it.
00:15:05
Speaker
and I don't know if I'm possibly roll well enough to get past you or whatever he has you. Oh, okay. That'd be wisdom again? Yes. 22. mean, you tell me, like, how how much is Nix trying to mask? but Nix isn't masking anything. I'm going to assume. I think...
00:15:28
Speaker
Nix...
00:15:34
Speaker
I mean, the the the irony of the thing is, of course, that Nix's abilities slash curse are...
00:15:49
Speaker
not enormously dissimilar to the problem of lycanthropy. And so i I think that it is it is evident that Nyx is engaged in some ah some real deep self-loathing at the moment. i get The end to which I made this role. Mm-hmm.
00:16:08
Speaker
If Nyx does not, if I don't clock Nyx as being angry at me for stopping her, I'm going to go try to talk to her. But if I clock it as anger at Kaz, then I'm not. I would say that you would probably clock the anger as general.
00:16:25
Speaker
Okay, so I probably won't. As opposed to special. I need a moment kind of. yeah weird We're not that good of friends. yet what type of stuff does acheron say like acheron is not a benevolent entity acheron is a fiend yeah acheron is well i i don't know that we've i don't know what you have established in your canon as to the nature of nix's initial transformation and and who what powers are behind that but acheron is
00:17:02
Speaker
Akron is the the person that is the thing that taught Nyx to do all of this stuff. Yeah. And so Akron is usually encouraging. Yeah. Cool.
00:17:16
Speaker
Flew through you and whatnot. Okay. Yeah. Cool. Cool.
00:17:26
Speaker
Left to our devices after a bit, Nyx realizes we're still out in the woods and there's not anything to be done about it right now. And so she will stalk back, walk over to Ladislav's corpse and push the silver sword through his chest.
00:17:44
Speaker
David vomits. And then clean the blade off and put it away. Cool. Okay. I think I turned to David I go, you'll be surprised how quickly you find yourself ready to handle these things.
00:17:59
Speaker
Because two months ago, I was a child in Rowett. I don't want to be. um
00:18:10
Speaker
Nick glances over at Traynor and says,
00:18:15
Speaker
ah yes
00:18:20
Speaker
i assume you have someone who can deal with, who can dispose of that.
00:18:25
Speaker
And Lyddon steps away from
00:18:32
Speaker
train and nods. Kaz has a fleeting rational moment and wants to go over and see if there's any communications or anything. yeah yeah yeah Solid. Pockets.
00:18:43
Speaker
Cool. Or anything else, frankly. yeah Communications is the story under which he looks for money. Yeah, for sure. um Yeah, you find ah small bag on Lavaslav's waist.
00:18:56
Speaker
Lavaslav had a fanny pack.
00:19:00
Speaker
I have a fanny pack. I think it's funny that Lana's left in it. They're called bags. Are they? If you don't wear them on your fanny, then they're not a fanny pack. Apologies to our British listeners.
00:19:13
Speaker
um You first i thing you find is you find jeweler's tools in his pack. Those. What? People could have hobbies.
00:19:27
Speaker
He lived a rich life. I don't have paintbrushes and miniatures in my backpacks, though. You gotta do something in between framing people for espionage. It's true.
00:19:39
Speaker
Jewelers tools meaning like like a loop or like manufactured to make jewelry. Just wondering like if he was inspecting things. To make jewelry. Okay. Yeah. um And you also find some communication with Kyron Command basically reiterating what you were told that like but well specifically production must continue in Ashdown Hollow.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:15
Speaker
and Hold on. Rest with.
00:20:20
Speaker
Let's continue to click. Can you click over? Um.
00:20:26
Speaker
um
00:20:30
Speaker
You do see, at the like, you're you're reading it. There's a lot of, like, bureaucratic speak about, like, the um the situation. The notable thing that Kaz finds, though, is there's nothing by any means necessary. And, in fact, there's an addendum at the bottom that says if the cost of life is going to be too great in the city due to the escalation of ah attacks, then report that back and the government can try to, like,
00:20:58
Speaker
see how they can basically a lot of thought was supposed to come back and say, Hey, it's super dangerous and the animal tax are getting worse. And then the government can like try to assess, like, can we divert resources somewhere? at Like, but big, lot of stuff said, I'm going to make sure yeah that the trains keep running. It's very clear. The government wasn't like,
00:21:16
Speaker
Do production or we burn the city. like thing yeah The thing that everybody said was not going to be an option, by the way. um So, yeah, Lodislav obviously had his own kind of, like, head about his situation.
00:21:33
Speaker
The last thing that you find is a very old letter. And and you
00:21:44
Speaker
It's actually not a letter. It's a ah ah communication, like a flyer, flyer, but it's much more official pronouncement. And Nix, are you paying any attention to this?
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah, i probably. I'm saying it very loud. You immediately recognize like Paladin, the silver flame, like iconography at the top of it. Um, and it's an announcement for the, the beginning of the, the lycanthropic crusade and plays older and on the, yeah, on the back of it, you find a map that, uh, give me an intelligence check.
00:22:22
Speaker
Anybody looking at this? It's a, it's a map. It's a, it's a hand drawn map with like X's along the path. Yeah. Intelligence? Yes. Natural 20? Oh, good. There you go. My goodness.
00:22:36
Speaker
So you can, like... Pretty good. Let's lose this guy. It takes it takes you but a moment to instantly clock. This was obviously a a route that was communicated amongst certain individuals to get out of Thrain in the the wake of all of this without being noticed by the church that Lottislot took to get into Khyr.
00:23:01
Speaker
Natural 20. What else?
00:23:11
Speaker
Yes, Eric, what You find a list of targets for Nyx to begin hunting. no Yeah. I said the list is this. Here's all the bad lycanthropes that I give it to Nyx. I'm like, go nuts. They're bad.
00:23:23
Speaker
Um...
00:23:28
Speaker
with your natural 20, let's say you, you find another communication with lot of stuff and someone else that works in the Kyron government. Basically he hadn't sent it yet, but it was him like bemoaning the situation and talking about the softest of the Kyron government, but basically implicating that he was going to be going like against the wishes of the government kind of thing.
00:23:47
Speaker
If you wanted to have that in your back pocket, sure. Literally you could follow it up and put it there.
00:23:53
Speaker
Thank you, Philip. Um,
00:23:58
Speaker
And that's everything you got.
00:24:02
Speaker
right.
00:24:06
Speaker
Traynor looks around at all of you. Are we ready to proceed?
00:24:13
Speaker
Yeah, I am. Okay. They asked me, so go. The trainer begins walking through the woods, uh, deeper towards the heart of the woods.
00:24:23
Speaker
The canopy of trees above you begins to grow thicker. The sunlight beginning to grow more and more scarce. The sound of wildlife is growing louder and more varied.
00:24:34
Speaker
You are hearing like bird calls that you do not normally hear. um Everyone give me a wisdom-based check to perceive something. 16. 17. 18. 4. 14.
00:24:50
Speaker
sixteen seventeen
00:24:55
Speaker
fourteen d
00:24:58
Speaker
It makes sense. Nyx's mind is on stuff. Probably Trena. um Just eyes locked in. Kaz, you ah spot a, like, up in the tree canopy, you hear something w rustling.
00:25:12
Speaker
And you see, very benignly, like, it's not, like, stalking But you see a squirrel that's the size of a, like,
00:25:25
Speaker
a wolf. Oh. like a very large squirrel that's way more than handful terrifying like clambering from limb to limb yeah it's not even it's not even taking notice of you didn't even notice us okay yeah it's just in that case i mean like for nuts then i ask train them like is that normal around here that is um the lamadian connection um there are Fauna and flora that grow there that are of a different scale than what you'd be accustomed to.
00:26:00
Speaker
How many
00:26:07
Speaker
How big do the dangerous ones get? I mean, I've
00:26:15
Speaker
i've seen a panther large enough that 20 Ashdown hollows can fit on its back. Oh, that's pretty funny. Oh, that sucks. I not here, not here, not in these woods in Lamani. Oh, okay. Like, no, something like that has never crossed over, but occasionally you have some of the smaller, larger ones. Gotcha. Yeah. It's, it's a lot to take in.
00:26:39
Speaker
And then sometimes you see trees that are also of that kind of scale that you could fit.
00:26:45
Speaker
Probably not the entire city of Shorn in its trunk, but certainly you could imagine it. Well,
00:26:52
Speaker
I'm not sure that can, actually. I'm trying. Okay. Okay. Just wondering. Yeah. I mean, as we get closer to the heart of the woods, like we are getting more and more coterminous with Lamania. So just there there is a chance that we might encounter something that is extremely large. You all shown yourself to be capable.
00:27:12
Speaker
We did not do a quick rest after that fight, by the way. Apologies, everyone. So if you want to use any recoveries or recharge any spells or abilities that were used... It's still a relatively new system, everyone. Apologies to the listeners. oh
00:27:26
Speaker
What can I do about... and at Once per arc slot, it doesn't come back. and That's done until you get a full heal up. And then once per battle, like and I don't think going to anything to do.
00:27:38
Speaker
I didn't get hurt. Everyone good? Yes. Good? so my Um, too.
00:27:53
Speaker
So, uh,
00:27:58
Speaker
Jeff, you use since you're talking roll a d12. That's
00:28:04
Speaker
a one. Okay. I'll quit talking on the podcast. No, I'm not. I was just saying, I was trying to pick who to roll. Mia roll a d12. 10. Okay.
00:28:16
Speaker
ten
00:28:19
Speaker
Nothing happens. You all reach section of the woods where the trees seem to have grown very close together, very thick, their branches interlocking ah virtually all the way down to the ground.
00:28:32
Speaker
And Trina stops and looks at you all. This is the furthest I've ever been allowed to venture in. um And hand
00:28:44
Speaker
extends a handout And after a moment, a um
00:28:52
Speaker
goldfish flies down and lands on her hand. And she whispers into its... near its head. yeah um They have ears.
00:29:05
Speaker
And then it flutters off. And she says, I suppose now we wait.
00:29:14
Speaker
Well, let's just... This is awkward. Yeah, I know easy.
00:29:21
Speaker
How's David looking? I mean, he's on the verge of passing out perpetually. So he's still like nothing has calmed him at all. I mean, like giant squirrel didn't help. Yeah, I was going to say, like, things have just continued to get worse from a locale standpoint.
00:29:37
Speaker
So...
00:29:43
Speaker
What about Marcus is doing? Oh yeah, we should check on him. but but Who's Marcus? Who asked that?
00:29:56
Speaker
Trina. Okay. one You told him about it. He's one of the people you won't let unionize.
00:30:05
Speaker
A logger. A half giant. Hit it. He's been staying out in the woods, apparently. Trying to solve this problem. Honestly.
00:30:18
Speaker
guessing it's not going well it would not seem to be no i think we would have noticed a half giant return town that he has not he's staying in the woods and he's i mean i don't like his chances of survival
00:30:38
Speaker
yeah that's why i wanted to go check on him Don't to keep looking at me. I can't I'm going off.
00:30:53
Speaker
The goldfinch returns. Great. um It like whispers into Trina's ear and she nods and then she gestures in between two of the trees and Through there.
00:31:09
Speaker
um And the you see the tree branches kind of fold back and form a doorway into an even darker section of the forest. Sick. That's cool.
00:31:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:31:24
Speaker
i say, that's awesome. And then I wait for someone else to go first. I cannot lead because I am making sure. look Nyx. Nyx goes first. Davin? I go behind Nyx. Run.
00:31:36
Speaker
I'll go behind Casp. Where's Kazwalk? I said would buy Nyx. I guess. Where's Rob Walk? We'll have to keep David in the middle. Okay. If no one else is out, I have David with me. No, yeah, I have him.
00:31:51
Speaker
Okay. David, like very, like, cowardly lion approaching the wizard, like, just dragging his feet. But you all venture into the heart of the woods. Nyx has her sword out.
00:32:02
Speaker
Yes. That's smart. So you all... These woods feel much wilder. Like there's the the bird calling and the sounds of wildlife are cacophonous at this point as you enter.
00:32:17
Speaker
Is Trina with us? No, Trina did not. Trina stayed. Aww. Yeah. You got to set, like... It's unsettling. She have the drinking. If anybody, like, three if you all would have noticed she's not coming in, asked her about it, she would have answered. So if you want to retroactively say... would like to, yes.
00:32:32
Speaker
Then what do you say? Let's roleplay. you not coming? Are you not coming? traces I was invited or welcomed. oh but if we invite you, that's part of my efforts. Unfortunately, I thought I'd try.
00:32:45
Speaker
I appreciate it
00:32:49
Speaker
So step back to Jim size. Um, so you all, yeah, concocious noise all around you. I know the first time.
00:32:59
Speaker
And yeah I mean, everyone give me wisdom-based checks to perceive things. Special 20. Oh, very bad. That is, have to 21 for my notes. Seven. Eight here.
00:33:14
Speaker
was
00:33:17
Speaker
eighteen Dean. Nyx, Selena, and Falk all notice you, as you're walking, you, the first thing that you notice is this oppressive sense of being observed.
00:33:33
Speaker
The instant you step into, like, this darker part of the woods. And it's not... It's not the sense being stopped. It's not the sense of, like, a predator hunting after you. It's that, like, very human feeling of, like, somebody staring at you. Like, that unnerving feeling of, like, burning a hole in the back of your head. and um And for Selina and Nix, not Valk, as you all look around in response to this, you see...
00:34:04
Speaker
Like the trees are constantly rustling as you're walking, but there's no wind. yeah um And lastly, Nyx, with your natural 20, you can see, you know how, like, when branches break off the trees and stuff, they have those gnarly things that look like eyes.
00:34:24
Speaker
um You see those on some of the trees as you're walking, but you can see the center of them moving oh and following your movement yeah as you're walking. Oh, God. I did not see that. a natural 20, you know everything's fine.
00:34:38
Speaker
Nothing to worry about it. Yeah. You also... were you Were you listening to the conversation that Trina and Kaz were having about the floor and fauna of Lamania?
00:34:53
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Nyx, you also notice as you're looking around and kind look down, you see they're not connecting to any of the nearby trees and also you wouldn't make sense for them to... you but you see some roots coming up out of the ground and going back in that are about the width of like an elephant trunk um or sorry an elephant lake not an elephant trunk an elephant lake was like i got those in my yard um i mean an elephant's trunk you know what anyway uh uh
00:35:30
Speaker
ah
00:35:33
Speaker
was really sitting in ambiance there and then I ruined it anyway. So that's what you observe as you're walking through. You are also noticing more like you see a sparrow that is the size of a bald eagle, like sitting on a branch looking at you.
00:35:50
Speaker
you you all hear ah relatively large, like probably enough to make you jump and look of like a crashing sound into the underbrush. Um, and you see that it is a grasshopper the size of a Rottweiler.
00:36:03
Speaker
And yeah, so it almost feels like you all are getting smaller. Is kind like, I was actually gonna ask, is like the grass over? No, like, like it's just random things here and there that are getting much bigger, but then there are other things that are the size you would expect that would be natural to the forest.
00:36:19
Speaker
Um, Phil, roll a d12 for me.
00:36:26
Speaker
Nine. Okay.
00:36:31
Speaker
Madison, roll a d12 for me. Four. Okay.
00:36:37
Speaker
You all find yourselves walking unopposed, almost as if, like, you you all even see predatory things. You see a a insanely large panther, not enough to fit a city on its back, but enough that it would measure, like, 20 feet long.
00:36:56
Speaker
do That just stares at you, but does not make any movement to attack or impede, almost as if they have been told to let you pass. Which... Um, you all then find yourselves seemingly out of nowhere entering a small clearing and you see a massive oak tree with like the gnarled branches.
00:37:22
Speaker
um and in fact, the very top of it that you can see blending in with the rest of the canopy is lush and full of leaves, but the branches closer to the ground have died.
00:37:35
Speaker
so and are brittle.
00:37:39
Speaker
can Um, as soon as you all enter the clearing, all of the sound stops of the woods
00:37:51
Speaker
and you just hear a low rumbling voice in your minds say, welcome.
00:38:01
Speaker
Don't like that.
00:38:04
Speaker
And you all can tell intrinsically it came from the tree.
00:38:10
Speaker
You're Deeproot.
00:38:18
Speaker
that's the ah with Next turns to Davin. That's Deeproot.
00:38:26
Speaker
What... What am I supposed to say? What... Convince it to let you chop wood.
00:38:33
Speaker
Um... Or don't. You hear and feel a little rumble when you say chop wood. yeah don't up can we Can we say that on the walk, I did tell, i let David see the part of the Chiron letter that says like, no big deal if not.
00:38:50
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. However, that may have been itself, but I would have, I mean, I read about loud, but. Um,
00:38:59
Speaker
Hello, deep root. I am David, head of the Woodwrights Guild. Love that y'all put me in a position to role play with myself for one of the climactic conversations of this adventure.
00:39:18
Speaker
Hello, David.
00:39:25
Speaker
Um... We would appreciate it if you stopped killing they're hurting the people of our town.
00:39:40
Speaker
We would appreciate it if you stopped killing and harming the creatures of our forest. Oh, he's sassy.
00:39:50
Speaker
Um...
00:39:53
Speaker
Yeah, we,
00:39:57
Speaker
we, we, there's, and he just kind of like looks at you like, and we, we don't want, we can't, we shouldn't stop doing that because there are other people that use the things that we make and it helps them.
00:40:21
Speaker
And so
00:40:25
Speaker
And there's just a very long, quiet beat. I think I'm going to say to David, with like what are you not getting?
00:40:36
Speaker
You're dealing with unbelievably powerful entities and you're trying. Just say that you're sorry and tell him that we'll go back to how it used to be.
00:40:47
Speaker
your boy What are you getting out of this, David? I hope the tree understands that we're going to have a short sidebar. I'll be here when you need me.
00:40:57
Speaker
No. Davin turns. It's like, the town is growing. There are more people coming to the town. My wife is the soldier in the army. Well, fix it.
00:41:09
Speaker
Like, that's why we've shown you the letter. Suggest how. We fix it. You have a chance to fix it right now. You are the only person who approved increasing production.
00:41:23
Speaker
You have a letter from the government saying that it is okay if there is going to be too much harm coming to the town because of this increased production. You are the only person.
00:41:35
Speaker
You are the sole responsibility. of people dying and the people who are going to die and you have a chance now to make amends because I promise you if your wife learned that you had the chance to save people in your own town from dying and you chose not to to try to make her happy or give her rank she would not be very happy with you and i promise you you probably will not have a wife any
00:42:10
Speaker
And please understand, I'm not going to fight that. yes i i gesture to the 20-foot-long panther, and I go, you guys can't beat that. I was on board with the possibility, but now I am not.
00:42:27
Speaker
It will continue to escalate if we don't compromise. We are going to apologize. We are going to say we are going to reverse the increase of production.
00:42:40
Speaker
To save your marriage and save the town. ah And as we've seen, the government will source the materials elsewhere. You'll still get contracts.
00:42:51
Speaker
It'll just be for what you can safely gather. Also, I'm pretty sure the tree is listening and they kind of figured out that you were the person that increased production. So David's eyes shoot. to deeper You might not. Cass opens his arms out wide and kind of turns around and goes, you can't hang with any of this.
00:43:10
Speaker
Do what the tree asks. David says, that's why didn't want to come here.
00:43:18
Speaker
Daemon... Right, but if we'd come here and we'd had this conversation and we'd come back to you and said, oh, we can't we can't fight that thing in the forest us and you just need to do this. You'd have said, well, no, what do I do for?
00:43:30
Speaker
Nyx doesn't do it in imitation of his voice. Nyx yeah, you'd have... You wouldn't have believed us. You need to see what we're talking about.
00:43:42
Speaker
but
00:43:45
Speaker
Daemon looks at all of you and then turns to face Deeproot. Breeze. has but
00:43:54
Speaker
I am sorry that we overstepped in the relationship that we had with the woods and we will chris go back to how things were before we started taking more than what we had before.
00:44:16
Speaker
if you will stop harming the people that venture into these woods to gather things that we had gathered before.
00:44:32
Speaker
This
00:44:35
Speaker
is acceptable.
00:44:38
Speaker
Okay, let's go. Time to go. Okay.
00:44:43
Speaker
um Thank you. wait ah Deep root, if I'm hello, I am Vauk. You went to London. her I do now. um Can I have a string of two things? Number one, if you are able to, this is an assumption, can you sense if there is a half giant still alive within the woods?
00:45:10
Speaker
He has been missing and we need to know if we need to help him or recover his body or if he is okay.
00:45:20
Speaker
I am deeply attuned with all natural life within these woods. At no point have I detected a half giant or goliath present in the woods.
00:45:36
Speaker
Oh.
00:45:39
Speaker
That's concerning. What about just a tall guy named Marcus? Was I wrong in this thing? Do you know Marcus? We're right about what we were told. okay. There's a mystery afoot. Okay. we camp nash dot for There's some real cool stuff going on with Marcus that nobody wanted to go look at. I tried. Thanks yeah i we we we have solved We have finished our contract. And and then i i miss I could have like a really cool magical leg acorn that'd be.
00:46:16
Speaker
and That might be a little rude, because I feel like it's technically like your baby. As you're saying that, it drops from the can of kibab in front of Vop. Big ass mouth. Okay.
00:46:31
Speaker
If you want to infect the world with more deep roots, yeah, go for it. was an honor to have met you, sir. Now I will return to my somber.
00:46:43
Speaker
Ix is already walking back. Yeah, we're at Max.
00:46:48
Speaker
Okay. Yay. Yeah, you all are able to safely return. As soon as you exit the clearing, the cacophony noise resumes. like Was it Davin that told us about Marcus? Yeah, Davin told you about Marcus.
00:47:00
Speaker
And Syrah. Let's that question. So, do you... Yeah? Roll play! I know, I'm going to. When we get out of the...
00:47:13
Speaker
dark canopy part and back to the standard forest. Trace if they're waiting for you. Wolf-sized squirrels and not car-sized, bus-sized panthers. That was alarmingly quick. Yeah, we knocked it out.
00:47:24
Speaker
they hit they You knocked it out? No. no the The objective. Davin here saw the error of his ways. Oh.
00:47:35
Speaker
Good. Speaking of Davin errors,
00:47:41
Speaker
Why had Deep Root had no recollection of Marcus being in these woods? I mean, I i know that and unless Marcus lied to me, then and i I literally saw him walking towards the woods with his gear and his axe, I don't know.
00:47:58
Speaker
Any chance Marcus isn't actually a half-giant? and He says, like, Goliath, just to... Sorry, yeah, that was my fault. Any chance Marcus isn't actually a Goliath?
00:48:09
Speaker
And her eyes flash towards Traynor. Traynor sees that as like, I'm still an elf. Like I, it's an addition, not a subtraction or replacement. If a Goliath.
00:48:22
Speaker
That's a positive self-talk. I like that Traynor. It's an addition. If a Goliath were a lycanthrope, they would still be a Goliath.
00:48:35
Speaker
I'm assuming David's not going to find his way back to town on his own. So we either take him mar to Marcus. If you were to suggest it, David was just like. So we either take him to Marcus or we go back to town. and now we What time of day is it? How much time do I have a bit of my own. Remember how you were going to do some extracurricular stuff outside of the mission earlier just for your own whims?
00:48:53
Speaker
I want to see Marcus. That's Jeff. To be clear. um It is hard. It is really... The hardest voice switch I've have ever done is from Kaz back down to Jeff. For some reason, I can't do it consistently.
00:49:07
Speaker
That's what's easy to get rid of. You all would have time... to go through Marcus's camp where it's located on your map and make it back to town in time for sundown, barring a super long amount of time spent at Marcus's camp and any bungles in the navigation. It's not that you have to roll roll, you just can't roll poorly.
00:49:28
Speaker
And we also positively spoke with Ruth, so I'm assuming... Yeah, I mean, they're still, like... Wolves are still gonna, like, eat it. But not the nasty ones. Yeah. Just the normal ones. Yeah, if we come across... Not not a burrowing lion. Regular. dick yet Yeah. Unless you come the electric... still don't know why there was a burrowing lion.
00:49:48
Speaker
Like, yes everything else was just big, but it was still acting the way its animal usually acted. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, maybe Marcus will know. Let's go ask him.
00:50:01
Speaker
I feel like the bigger question is why was there a lion in... Maybe Deep Reduit. Nobody wanted to sow deep. It is really interesting.
00:50:12
Speaker
It's okay, we can salvage. We're good.
00:50:17
Speaker
Let's go. Let's go go find Marcus. Why?
00:50:22
Speaker
Because I'm curious. Because we have the time. We did the job, yes. If we go back now, there's no difference between going back now and going back in a couple of hours. We're just going to back that direction.
00:50:35
Speaker
And there is a missing person. There's a mystery to solve. I haven't been hired to solve mysteries. Yeah, I know, but come on. Yeah,
00:50:46
Speaker
yeah argue with that. I mean, I can't argue with what we've been paid for.
00:50:56
Speaker
cap We're still gonna get paid.
00:51:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:04
Speaker
So I'm rolling the dice and I'm gonna get it wrong. Davin can perhaps give us a little something for finding your missing person. You got right. not Not in that way.
00:51:23
Speaker
Some compensation.
00:51:26
Speaker
but i I suppose Let's go! Yeah, David, give me money. Jeez.
00:51:37
Speaker
But Nyx not going to try to walk... Nyx is not going to try to walk back on her own. Okay. Jeff, roll d12. 12. Okay.
00:51:49
Speaker
Yeah, roll 3.
00:51:52
Speaker
three
00:51:57
Speaker
Bless you. Thank you. Nothing happens on your journey to go find Marcus's camp. ah
00:52:05
Speaker
Go lead. ah
00:52:10
Speaker
Page turning for dramatic effect. Okay. You all find as you are approaching the spot marked on your map by David. um um
00:52:22
Speaker
You find a sparse camp set up in the woods. um You find a small weapons cache, some trapping equipment. What kind of weapons? See? Something worthwhile. I don't want to be here. Finding the joy.
00:52:40
Speaker
Patchets and axes. so Real woodsman type stuff. yeah And a collection of skins and trophies from fairly recent wildlife kills. Oh my god.
00:52:51
Speaker
Notably, the camp does not have a tent, a fire, or any kind of food supply. Or a Goliath. so um After you all have been in the camp for a moment,
00:53:05
Speaker
um
00:53:09
Speaker
everyone give me a wisdom-based check to see what you can receive. 14. 14.
00:53:15
Speaker
have fourteen fourteen Nine. I'm on my notes page. Hold on. Potential one. Wisdom?
00:53:26
Speaker
sixteen 16.
00:53:27
Speaker
sixteen 16? everybody Everybody but but slate Selina. now You all hear a slight rustle in the underbrush just outside of camp as if somebody was hiding.
00:53:40
Speaker
Nyx draws her sword. Actually, Nyx's sword. Yeah. Marcus, is that you? margas that to you Um, you hear the underbrush like parting as a figure steps out.
00:53:55
Speaker
You not see a goliath step out. And Devin lets out a kind of muffled like, Damon. Sorry. See, I didn't even realize. so I did, I was just not going to say anything. like It's almost like he went to go yell, but realized he was in the woods and probably shouldn't.
00:54:12
Speaker
but You see a six-foot-eight warforged step out of the woods. Wearing a tunic and pants, ah but and he, like...
00:54:24
Speaker
ah you
00:54:27
Speaker
Hello. I um And he like sees Daven there. Hey.
00:54:36
Speaker
I am Marcus Leaf. Is it a werewolf? what Not a thing. Turns into a Goliath.
00:54:50
Speaker
Oh. Hi, Marcus. This would... Like, Warforged are... My mind is blown. Very new. And, i mean, I'll let you all decide from your characters. Like, Warforged are sentient machines of war that have been created to be soldiers and kill people.
00:55:06
Speaker
This is pre-Eberron, like, doing a treaty, like... that make them full citizens like they they are they are literally created and sold as property to armies to fight to so seeing one in this context this is a runaway yeah so no
00:55:26
Speaker
and David is rendered speechless at this point Nix is stuck on how anyone thought this was a Goliath do you verbalize that confusion
00:55:46
Speaker
seems student like i Why do people think you are a Goliath?
00:55:53
Speaker
i e yeah was assisted in my escape by an artificer who gave me an amulet that could not affect my size, so Goliath was really the only option, but a boar attacked me and the amulet got caught on its tusk and it ran off.
00:56:11
Speaker
We didn't know find an amulet, right? Not, okay. A regular boar.
00:56:18
Speaker
He just got got bested by a boar at one point. Oh. And it ran off with his amulet. So I cannot return to town. And I'm now concerned that Davin is here and has seen me like this.
00:56:35
Speaker
Davin's recently turned over a new list. Davin's not going to say anything.
00:56:41
Speaker
Kaz doesn't know this is a bad thing. I need to be clear. Kaz knows what a Warforged is, doesn't... Has it the same context that you guys all do. I think it's an awakened automata, basically. Yeah, Nyx also does not see the conflict here. This is a ah weapon.
00:56:56
Speaker
Right. That's the problem. We have different lacks of conflict. Right.
00:57:03
Speaker
Selene is not one to judge, considering what unusual thing is keeping her alive. So...
00:57:11
Speaker
Um, I hoped that coming out here and proving my mettle of solving whatever it was causing the problems of the town would give me enough notoriety to be accepted.
00:57:25
Speaker
But I fear that is a foolish wish.
00:57:35
Speaker
But you are one of the loggers... which means you have a job, which means you have contributed to society.
00:57:47
Speaker
So I, in my naive sense, would say that that would be enough. I appreciate your optimism, but if I return to town, i will be sent back to serve in the Kyra. And that's the concern, right? Right back to the front line.
00:58:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:58:10
Speaker
Were you able to track said boar? No, I was not able to find it. We can go as deep. What do you think, I realized after one day out here that I was ill-equipped for my quest, but the amulet was gone and I could not return to town and without it.
00:58:32
Speaker
And I think the fact that I am a warforged and do not give off any notable sense of a living being that could be eaten, the animals leave be alone.
00:58:44
Speaker
You think Javier wants another buddy?
00:58:48
Speaker
a chance in the world Nyx is letting us take this thing back to the house. Oh. Why? It's a weapon. Oh, you're looking at it as a... It's a weapon. Not to be it's just a weapon. Nyx...
00:58:59
Speaker
Not to be rude. your Original purpose. i don't know to degree I don't know the degree to which Nix sees this as a person at the moment. I thought Nix saw it simply as a threat. Oh, sure. It might try to kill us, but Nix doesn't think that Nix doesn't see it as out of... It's an automaton. Nix doesn't see as out of control. Okay.
00:59:18
Speaker
Do we want... Is that is that a reasonable ask? I mean, is it is the Elinare going to track us down at some point? I don't, yeah, I don't know anything about that stuff. My bad.
00:59:32
Speaker
Does he know, does Marcus know if Marcus has a scry or or or in locating beacon or... sun beast Is there some way you're... Your owner would track you down.
00:59:47
Speaker
Well, I was sold to the Chiron nation, like the Chiron military. How long have you been in Ashdown? I've been here for years, so if they were going to find it, they'd want and they'd have found it.
01:00:00
Speaker
Fine. We could use a watch.
01:00:05
Speaker
Yeah, we need somebody to keep an eye on the creeper. What's his name? Guardian. Oh, the new butler. That's our terrifying butler's name. There's someone there to keep that check. Oh, I don't have his name up right now. What's back here?
01:00:19
Speaker
Strange butler. Uh...
01:00:25
Speaker
Like, I have a ah ah name in my head, but it will be wrong, so I'm not gonna say it.
01:00:33
Speaker
Eh...
01:00:40
Speaker
I have so much stuff that can't remember his name. Owl? Oh, yes. Freaky old man. Yeah, I'll go first. I have to zoom out. Ulster was the name of my head.
01:00:53
Speaker
Where do you all reside?
01:00:57
Speaker
Not far. Nick says deciding not to tell Davin where we live. Right. Yeah. Would you even want to go? i think that's a valid question. and don't like living in the woods.
01:01:11
Speaker
You're my friend now. can't go back to my home. yeah we So if you all are offering me a place to stay at least long enough to get my bearings, then I would very much welcome that. Yes.
01:01:22
Speaker
I mean, I feel pretty confident that after having welcomed in a Gorgon, not a Gorgon, sorry, a Medusa, there's no cows in the house, a Medusa and a Lycanthrope, I don't think Kabir would have a huge problem with throwing a Warforged into the mix as well. It would improve security.
01:01:38
Speaker
the um ah If you all are going to know me as I am now, then by my name is Zerumi. oh What?
01:01:49
Speaker
Arumi. He's Arumi! No. It's new perfect. U-R-U-M-I. Phillip, you can correct me on the pronunciation if you know the correct way to pronounce that weapon.
01:02:04
Speaker
One more time. Arumi. No idea. Describe me. One more time? A roomie, U-R-U-M-I. U-R-U. It is an Indian sword with a flexible whip-like blade.
01:02:18
Speaker
yeah That is what is what I watched videos of to see how decks would fight. yeah yeah Yeah, I found it. It was like, oh, it's a real life ribbon leaf. yeah eat um i I did not remember that was the name of it. Again, I didn't remember training either.
01:02:31
Speaker
a lot of stuff happened between 2019 and now. um Where should I wait for you all? Because I'll be so... On the road outside of town. It's still in the forest, so you can hide. Just stay. Right.
01:02:44
Speaker
If you need to stay... Sorry, separate. This was closer than Traynor. Yes. And we could just pop in, grab and pop back out. I mean, he could go on the other side of town wait for you get off the road.
01:02:56
Speaker
Okay. Let's do that. All right. I will gather my things and meet you there. All right. Have fun. Thank you. We're happy to have you. I appreciate that. Valk had a good idea. will that was a great idea.
01:03:11
Speaker
Didn't they give it first. Nice work. We're all misfits. Yeah, exactly. once one We are the manner of misfit toys. All right. So you all leave roomie to gather his things and head back. And Davin is still in, in a way scared mostly.
01:03:33
Speaker
Um, but you all get back into Ashdown hollow. Where do you all head?
01:03:40
Speaker
Harlan? was be Okay. You head to the command tent. He gets his chair back. So he does. Nix has been walking in the back at some point.
01:03:52
Speaker
Boy, I don't have any idea how to raise the topic. This group isn't good with segues to begin with. Yeah, true. You can just say it. No. No. Definitely can't.
01:04:04
Speaker
Who's here that you can't say? run David. oh David, earmuffs.
01:04:15
Speaker
We can telephone it. We should talk to you. Because if we um effectively drop him off after making sure that the production decree is reversed. Can Akron help deliver a message somehow to us?
01:04:29
Speaker
so I don't know. I don't know how reliably. He gets to choose what he says. Cameron can talk. Do we need to have David and Trina walk 30 feet ahead so we can discuss some things? i can't imagine either of them will say no. Trina did not come with you to mark Okay, that's a spot.
01:04:47
Speaker
Trina had a body to dispose Oh yeah, fair enough. I'm assuming he's going to be the topic of this conversation. And we do have... I can't imagine that we can't tell Davin to walk a few feet ahead of us because we have to discuss some things.
01:04:57
Speaker
And he would put up a second's worth of a fight. think the issue is that he might go ahead into the tent and then... Well, we're walking it back to where all got into the... wood Count.
01:05:12
Speaker
I don't know how to do this. um you could tele for yeah but She Typically people talk in a unique voice, typical different from their normal speaking voice, and then they speak in character to other people, and then they respond in character.
01:05:24
Speaker
That's how you do this. and just for
01:05:31
Speaker
Nix will fall back alongside Valk.
01:05:38
Speaker
Am I no longer being the keeper of... What? You all can shuffle around. Yeah, okay. Damien just sneezed and fell over towards Cass. There you go.
01:05:50
Speaker
Cass can still teleport one more time. Cass says, I'll watch the kid. You can't. No, can't because I teleported in between. all right. That comes. Would it be simpler?
01:06:05
Speaker
Neater? Safer?
01:06:11
Speaker
If... and also unfortunately didn't come home.
01:06:24
Speaker
Um... Um... Just... Not sure how I was chosen. wish I could take a picture of you right before Philp so that it right after it just for a new mean format.
01:06:41
Speaker
Like, i I just hear...
01:06:45
Speaker
It would, but I also believe... that still grow but yeah that
01:06:56
Speaker
Even though I'm not particularly fond of him, he should still at least have a chance to actually correct his wrongs now that he has not only been implicated...
01:07:12
Speaker
um in the demise of a government official, but also he has seen firsthand the, um natural threat that looms over the town that he is trying to be leader of.
01:07:32
Speaker
Does that motivation last beyond our departure?
01:07:36
Speaker
I feel like sometimes you need to have faith. And like you said, that's not what you're paid for.
01:07:45
Speaker
by not eager for the Chiron government to put out a bounty on us.
01:07:58
Speaker
We also have, or believe Kaz has the letter that says that Lottie was going to betray them anyways.
01:08:12
Speaker
He wasn't going to follow his instructions. Yes. Does that prove we didn't murder him in cold blood? It could. How? Because we found out that he was going to go against the...
01:08:31
Speaker
necessary, unnecessary reduction for stopping that. I see. We were finding a way to stop production or at least get production possible without greater harm to the people.
01:08:47
Speaker
And he ignored that explicit instruction it would be okay if we need, if the government needs to scale back. I'm not the great, I don't like this.
01:09:02
Speaker
Just trust us. Please. I'm not going to touch your shoulder again because you burned me last time, but... Just... I'm going to do it one more time.
01:09:17
Speaker
Hand on shoulder. It'll be okay.
01:09:23
Speaker
I'm getting really anxious. Nyx's eyes drop slightly. Please say something.
01:09:33
Speaker
Please say something.
01:09:37
Speaker
Right?
01:09:40
Speaker
Then... we won't.
01:09:45
Speaker
I don't think anyone else would like if you tried to kill him either. I'm just... I wouldn't try. ah you so oh you would. Oh, okay. I was the only thing preventing him from dying. Don't be difficult.
01:09:58
Speaker
Do you see him react to danger? he was this scared guy.
01:10:10
Speaker
I'm gonna go now. 30 out of me. Walking in the same direction. I'm gonna go up to the other two and just say somebody might wanna talk to Nyx. That's not me.
01:10:31
Speaker
And I'm going to take and continue to walk. Um...
01:10:38
Speaker
and you go I genuinely think someone else. I think I'd go back to Nick's then. Nick looks at Kaz and there's just a... Stop!
01:10:51
Speaker
Stop! Stop!
01:10:54
Speaker
ah say
01:10:56
Speaker
Oh. I think Kaz knows better. Okay. This is not going to suggest... not not going to but The 16-year-old is not the person who this is going to suggest whether we should murder this guy and leave his body in the woods. just want Kaz to go back up and tap on Selina. The 16-year-old's on the team, man.
01:11:19
Speaker
and And he's connected to a guy that's played for... all I know. That's fair, though. If you don't think you would be just a cat, I totally get it. Because I was going to all right.
01:11:35
Speaker
You don't screw us, but all right. hey you ah Okay. You all get back to Ashton Hall? head ten I guess so. Yep. but It's like everyone. think None of us could stop you if you decided to just kill David on the side of the road. And we probably would. Nix knows that. we would also forgive you because of the whole campaign thing.
01:11:59
Speaker
um Use your plot order. if That's what it's there for.
01:12:06
Speaker
Um, y'all walk into the tent. You see Harlan sitting in his chair again, looking over some documentation and he'll under. Oh, good to see you all back.
01:12:18
Speaker
Um, any updates?
01:12:25
Speaker
David here has agreed to and reduce production back to six months ago levels. Pre-increase. And Damon just nods and like, that's surprising.
01:12:42
Speaker
The situation in the woods was the Super Bowl. Yes.
01:12:46
Speaker
A negotiation needed to be had and we invited him as he was the one who was the catalyst. The animals are going to stop killing your people so often. Isn't that exciting?
01:12:59
Speaker
Yeah. Great. Assuming this really happens. If it doesn't, things will get much worse. Yeah, you've got to... We encountered a burrowing lion. They don't do that. I'm so aware. Thank you. we'd like to We all have questions.
01:13:17
Speaker
Well, it's not anymore, so... I mean, I guess the... Was it an active trait? So... um Furthermore, seems the money in.
01:13:30
Speaker
Yes. Where's this guy all of a sudden? Poorlymore.
01:13:44
Speaker
Ladislav Hytor was a were-boar.
01:13:49
Speaker
And as soon as we went into the forest, he lost control tried to kill us. Likely because of the connection with Mania drove him crazy I did not see this coming. I... Kaz is kind of shocked.
01:14:04
Speaker
Like, that this just said out loud. This is absolutely our best defense. I know, but he's still shocked. I'm too young to put that together. Nick's just heard the defense as it exists right now is he wasn't going to follow his orders. So we so we stabbed him.
01:14:21
Speaker
And that's not going to hold up. You took lot of song with you as well? No, he followed us. Why? Oh, I don't know. Because he had no intention of working with us or you. He came here to... To put a big boot on the problem, and that wasn't what the problem needed.
01:14:45
Speaker
Likely to add another name to his list. Harlan puts his hand up. I don't need conjecture or supposition and motivation so he attacked us as a giant boar and we killed him he grabs like some parchment and like starts scribbling down notes at what point did he attack you and did he did you know that it was about such and such a time ladislav no it was a giant boar it it immediately followed the lion we just assumed it was another woodland creature giant weird woodland creature attacking us at what point did you realize it was a lot of slump when he turned after you killed him when it
01:15:22
Speaker
Yes. Yes. All right. Nyx displays her gore wound. but He's asking, like, when did you realize, like, was it after you had killed the giant board? It turned back into lot of love when we killed it. All right. Make sense.
01:15:39
Speaker
Should not be too big of an issue to submit the reports on. um And also, has anyone considered the fact that all the people he killed were shown to be traitors after he killed them and not before? and
01:15:54
Speaker
I mean, I... Do we need to keep his letters, by the way? Uh... I don't know. To the acre. Harley just kind of looks at Nick's like, I... Sorry.
01:16:09
Speaker
You all do notice, like, with this problem, like, something like a flip switch in Harland and, like, he became... extremely competent and very like officious again on on top of it um and uh all right um nix looks like the least for his reliable witness at the moment so yeah feel free i mean i have the letters if if if you know if we think that they would be beneficial to head over yes
01:16:44
Speaker
Harlan's writing a couple different missives and like folds one it hands it to Nyx. It's like, this is an account from command of Bastrop Hollow in case anybody, I don't know who in the forest would have seen you standing over Lottislav Hytor's body, but in case that comes back to bite you, this is an account to send them back to me to talk to me about it.
01:17:06
Speaker
Well, this David.
01:17:13
Speaker
Um, and this, like, no, like, with you all, but yeah, like, just like we got to kill him. Somebody without the context that you just provided. um she's like, yes, but I'm not too concerned about Tatum, um, in this room.
01:17:29
Speaker
And, um, He closes the book and says, well, suppose we can take the tent down now as my post is done. Is that right, David? and it's good And go back to the way things were.
01:17:44
Speaker
Good. We should tell the others, too, so that everyone can hold each other accountable. Yes. ah the The word will be spread. Thank you. The new expectations within the town.
01:17:56
Speaker
i mean And then... and And Harlan just gives you a kind of world-wary smile. You come up to where things work.
01:18:09
Speaker
So unless there's anything else, um, job well done. I'm sure i will send word to military officials, both about Ladislav's unfortunate demise and, uh, that corruption, as well as the effort that you all put forth in solving this issue with Dash Channel.
01:18:27
Speaker
Hmm. Thank you. Maybe slightly delayed as they will want to The bureaucratic army of the current government, I'm sure, will want to assurances that production has returned to what it was before they paid for the job. But I will let them know that your investigation has concluded things should resume.
01:18:46
Speaker
Great. All right. Anything else?
01:18:53
Speaker
No. no no what All right. Well, same travels back. And should we totally go on Marcus's body? Nope. No. No.
01:19:04
Speaker
we didn that wasn't even there the mission That mission is concerned. We could tell them that. They're looking for a Goliath. So just for you late the day, are you all going to traverse the road at night or stay one last night Silversat?
01:19:21
Speaker
they
01:19:26
Speaker
We are walking, right? We do carb we don't have a wagon. Walking at night sounds like a bad idea. We all fell back there. We're roomy. Oh, yes.
01:19:40
Speaker
I mean, it would be easy enough to just, like, get word outside of town to him that, like, hey, we're going to take off in the morning. What's up, Nyx? yeah The Warforged will wait for us.
01:19:52
Speaker
but yeah no If we leave that we should you at night, we also have another party. and be but Welcome to the clan. one The roomie. Okay. Nailed it.
01:20:04
Speaker
Um... but Child, correct me. Um... Okay, so you all, Richard and Silver Sap, in for one last night of merriment and festivities.
01:20:17
Speaker
And dinner specials. They're the same dinner specials as last night. It's not that routine. It's a seasonal routine. Straight to bed. Casimir Panarin. Nyx orders stew and water. Where's Nyx sleeping? In the hall.
01:20:29
Speaker
Stew and who? Corwin, like, come comes up the stairs, sees Nyx, is like, Harlick said it's all done. Like, the beds are nice.
01:20:42
Speaker
I sourced them myself. Nyx does not answer.
01:20:48
Speaker
Nyx is sitting in the hallway with her long sword across her lap, sort of tapping it with her fingers.
01:20:57
Speaker
right. Good night. And Corwin goes and leaves. You hear the door lock. um Next morning. Breakfast specials.
01:21:08
Speaker
ah Then hit the road. ah Meet up the roomie. And we will end the episode there. All right. And probably the arc. We'll probably, like last time, do the return to the manor as the kickoff of the next arc. So...
01:21:24
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. you want to the conversation surrounding this episode, you can head over to our Discord, the link, which is at all of our socials. Nope. Socials. Socials. All the socials. It's in the description of this podcast because all social networks now are garbage fires.
01:21:39
Speaker
So, description of the podcast. Yep. We also have a YouTube channel at youtube.com. Slice the key. Pay it down if you want watch TTRPG videos made by myself. Phillip, go. laugh The Tales from the Laughing Tree on Spotify and YouTube.
01:21:52
Speaker
We have another actual play called Blades and Banners. It's Pirates. Cool. True. Anything anyone else wants to play? No. Okay.
01:22:03
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. If you want to give to Patreon, we have Patreon. Patreon.com slash G-Pantheon. If you want to financially support the shows, you can do so there. Thank you all so much listening. I've been your Game Master, Eric.
01:22:14
Speaker
I'm Nia. I'm Phillip. I'm Madison. Jen. I'll see you later.