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Ep. 12 Sand Like, Water Like, Substance - Shadowmend Tales
101 Plays2 years ago
To spring the trap, or not to spring the trap? That is the question we answer in this weeks episode.
Follow us on our Twitters - @FellowshipTable
Intro written and produced by Joseph McDade
Music kindly provided by Fesliyan Studios
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Transcript
Introduction and Banter
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, everyone, and welcome to tonight's table. Okay, Google, stop. This is how the machines take over. That's the opening, by the way. I'm going to keep all of that.
00:00:36
Speaker
Hello
Player Introductions and Technical Glitches
00:00:37
Speaker
everyone and welcome to tonight's episode of The Fellowship of the Tabletop. We are a live play 5e podcast set in the disputed lands of the Verandian jungle, in the magical homebrew world of Eryth. My name is Darren and I'm going to run some DnD for you today. These are the Shadow Men Tales. With me tonight we have, playing the human ranger McBenna, Will. Hello there.
00:01:00
Speaker
Playing the- I still can't do it. Playing the bugbear druid Chungus Bongwater is our one short extraordinaire, Wilbot. I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Could you repeat it? Absolutely not. Playing the dragonborn rogue Syengar, we have Mark.
00:01:19
Speaker
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Hi guys. Sorry. My, my headphones dropped for a second. It's all falling apart. I'm back with you now. Um, I had a really good, this is the BBC reference and now it's all gone to shit. Hi. Next time, baby. Next time.
00:01:32
Speaker
And playing the Dragonborn Paladin Drago we have Ian. I will say this though, it's weird for the first time ever because I respond on the word Dragonborn because there has never been another Dragonborn to respond to at the opening. So when you first said playing our Dragonborn, I got ready. Turns out I should have just done it anyway, but there you go. I'm sorry guys.
00:01:58
Speaker
That's okay, Mark. We will forgive you because sometimes you just need a prod or a recap to remind you of what's going on. And on that very seamless transition, we're going to pass over to the wistful tones of epic voiceover guy. Previously
Recap of Previous Events and Nemesis Discussion
00:02:16
Speaker
on the Fellowship of the Tabletop, the group went traveling again after a
00:02:26
Speaker
Interesting watching which certain members of the party tried to ice blast other party members. Then evening went well. Breakfast occurred and then the party found themselves against a waterfall. At this point certain party members decided to get a bit weird and turn into a spider.
00:02:48
Speaker
Without actually using a Spider-Man reference, the party reached the top of the waterfall, and at which point they saw two dead goblins suspended from the tree, purple vines in their eyes. And they knew that their arch-nemesis, the bastard that is Khaljit, knew he was being followed. Cutting down the two goblin corpses, the party
00:03:18
Speaker
decide to lay these goblins to their rest and mulling over the fact that Karl is ahead and yet is still causing them pain. The party, Mick Camp. I love how he's literally now called Karl the Bastard. I think that's just part of his name. It's canon, isn't it? Karl the Bastard.
00:03:44
Speaker
That sounded inspiring stuff there, Will. Thanks. He still has a hangover inspiration from last time. Stack it. He can't have stacked inspiration, Jesus. But what I will say is that you've managed to renew your inspiration voiceover. Thanks, too. Thanks. Is that like renewing a contract?
00:04:01
Speaker
Yeah, you have to do something epic and voice-over-y and it renews at the start of every episode. Is it auto-renewal? Yeah, it's not an auto-renewal. It's on the proviso of an epic voice-over montage. The direct debit of an epic voice-over. Yeah, I see. Yeah, absolutely.
Antagonist Karl's Actions and Reflections
00:04:18
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Okay, cool. We're going to...
00:04:28
Speaker
And that's it for tonight's episode. Okay. We're going to pick up later that evening. Oh, it's going to be a fun episode. Once a respectful funeral has been given to Karl's victims, a solemn, mournful and respectful silence falls over the campfire that evening. It falls across the crikey trio of our goblin kin that have seemed to join your traveling party.
00:05:00
Speaker
You find a suitable campsite without its issue, a cave, that between those of you with jungle wares would know has long since been abandoned by whatever was once here. It is a peaceful night, cooler, calmer. Yet a sense of unease over the sheer malice of Karl's actions affects you all in different ways.
00:05:21
Speaker
For some of you emotions run high on anger and vengeance. For others, your emotions turn to sorrow for the injustice dealt out to his victims. Before nightfall arrives, are there any conversations that want to happen?
00:05:41
Speaker
Yes, Syengar would like a conversation with himself. By conversation, he isn't going to have a conversation at all. He's just going to mutter something about getting some air to everyone else and then is going to leave into the forest and yeah, go off on a little jaunt on his own away from the camp to quote unquote get some air. Okay, thank you, Syengar. We'll pick
Plan to Scry on Karl
00:06:09
Speaker
up what's happening there in a second.
00:06:12
Speaker
If no one else at the campfire has anything, Ren is going to be the first one to speak up. And she's just going to say to you, those of you who are still sat with her, which will be the three goblin kin and Drago and McBenna. She'll just say without looking up to anyone, he knows we're following him. That was a warning, wasn't it?
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah, it was. And we always knew there was a chance that he'd know. I would have liked us to get a bit closer to his tail before he realised, but given the powers he had, he was bound to have summoned up his sleeves. The Elf. Yours and Robin's friend, Drago. You felt always that you could save him when he turned?
00:07:15
Speaker
Drago's been sat there with his eyes closed, just in a silent commune with Akiva feeling the souls of the dead, of the two goblins that he's just kind of helped usher on their way and he's just trying to kind of
00:07:37
Speaker
search for them in the afterlife, as it were, just to see if the souls had passed. He's still very new to this whole paladin thing, but he's taken, as always, drawing inspiration from Claude, and he's just trying to be mindful of this kind of new spirituality. So he's a bit stirred, where you mentioned Elthea. Sorry, Wren, what was that? You?
00:08:08
Speaker
You said with Carl that you'd seen this before and that you were able to save your friend, Elphir, the one who traveled here with you and Robin. Yes, though it wasn't without heavy losses to our side. He was corrupted by
00:08:31
Speaker
some otherworldly being whom I thought I had killed. So it's a bit protruding seeing the same almost magic in Karl's eyes. Hence why I'm following through this. And of course, I swore to MacBennar that I would do. You say it was at great cost you managed to save your friend.
00:09:00
Speaker
In lives, I assume. In lives. And in just moments that are cornerstones in your life, cornerstones that you don't really want to remember, but come and bid unto you. So it does take a lot.
00:09:30
Speaker
Well, if we get that chance, it might happen. We might just take the easy route and just kill him. I think you're both overcomplicating this. I'll just kill him then. Alright, thanks Ren. No. It sounds like your friend was conflicted when he reached out to whatever it was.
00:10:00
Speaker
from what I've seen of Karl, I think he willingly sought it. And that level of cruelty, she glances over at the goblins and the goblin kin and looks back at you both and says, I can't see any redemption for that.
00:10:20
Speaker
I'm not even suggesting there is redemption. I said that I managed to save a friend from such things before. I, in all honesty, don't know Carl, so it's more of a situational call when I next see him again. If McBenna needs vengeance, I understand and will support that. But if I sense through my communal
00:10:49
Speaker
religious bond that there's some darkness at play, that is beyond the darkness that might reside in Karl already. Then I'll see when the time comes. But keep it simple, I think is the correct path forwards. And MacBennar, you take lead
Moral Debate on Scrying and Strategy
00:11:09
Speaker
on this. I'm just here to support and aid you in all I can. Well, in my opinion,
00:11:18
Speaker
if he's as bad as Ren says then and I would agree that someone who does this you said Drago that your friend were sort of controlled and tempted as Ren says I don't think Karl were tempted he was seduced and went willingly and
00:11:50
Speaker
When he dies, if there is a bit of him or a part of him that's still good, then whatever afterlife he has, that bit will be able to go there. But we'll keep it as simple as we have to. We've got a job. We know how to stop him. We know that we were given a warning that he couldn't take book and he took book. So we need to deal with him.
00:12:18
Speaker
Yeah, whatever you need to do, I will help you. Same. There is one thing I think I can do to help. The teleportation to where if it seems to have affected me, some of the spells I used to be able to cast, I've not been able to do since I was here, but I... Have either of you ever heard of a spell called Scrying?
00:12:45
Speaker
I'm familiar with the idea of scrying. I've met charlatan who say they could scry and I've met folk who could scry. So you reckon you can scry for him? I used to be able to. I'll keep trying but if I...
00:13:08
Speaker
He seems to know where we are, the thought of me potentially being able to track him. She glances at you, Drago, and says, if you don't know the spell, it's effectively... It allows me to track him and to be able to see what he's doing for a short period of days. Why do you assume I don't know the spell? Do you? No. But that's not the point. It is my question, Wren. Not as someone who can cast it myself.
00:13:39
Speaker
Given Karl's potential power, is there a chance that he's able to know when you're scrying for him? Is he able to feel or sense when you're looking through his eyes or however it works?
00:14:00
Speaker
I know enough about the spell to know that my mother was always careful of it and she would make sure we didn't leave things behind because if someone has something that belongs to the person who is
00:14:12
Speaker
who is being subjugated to the spell, then it can make it harder for them to resist it. Yeah, but what I'm saying is, the point is that he might have powers that mean that actually he doesn't mind if you know where he is, because actually he'll use it to know where you are and fuck with your head. That kind of thing. Because his magic is
00:14:36
Speaker
his powers is of the mind and of being able to whisper and influence your thoughts. And I worry if you're making a connection with him, what happens if he sends something back? Wren pulls her knees up to her and she contemplates that for a moment and goes, so you think I shouldn't try to cast growing? I think if we're going to do it,
00:15:04
Speaker
then we should make sure that we're ready and that we know what the saying is when, I love the fact that you want to try. Just don't do it without telling us that you're going to do it so we can drag when I can be prepared to be watching out for you so we know that we can either protect you or knock you out if it looks like it's going wrong, whatever. Just don't think, oh, I'll just do a quick scry now while they're off.
00:15:32
Speaker
foraging food. You know what I mean? All right, I promise not to try casting it without telling you first. Does that seem all right about you, Drago? Yes. But the point remains, I'm more likely to be successful if either of you have anything that belonged to Karl. I've got something that was in his possession.
00:16:01
Speaker
I'm not convinced he technically owned it. Oh, you can try with it. Well, actually, actually I do. I do. And Drago, fuck off. What the fuck was that? What? What? Who's in my head? I can't stop controlling my body. I don't want to leave. And McBenna will reach into his pouch and will pull out the knife
00:16:29
Speaker
that Karl embedded in the boat. Okay. And he will pass that over to, sort of, you know, pass it towards Ren, Hill first. This were Karl's. I would give you the pot of ash, but I feel like that's connected to someone else and could get complicated. But this was his knife. This was his. All right, then. I will
00:17:00
Speaker
I'll take this, I'll keep trying to return the powers that I lost when I teleported here, and I will let you know if I'm able to do so. I promise, if it happens, I won't cast the spell without talking to you first. Good glass. And don't lose knife, because I've got to kill him with that.
00:17:26
Speaker
I have an empty holster actually. It's called a scabbard, not a holster. Oh well, okay, I have one of those then. And she's just going to place the dagger through the scabbard. She's then going to say to you both, if we want to keep up time, I tried one of those good berries that the furry goblin over
Chungus's Night Visions and Departures
00:17:49
Speaker
there was talking about. They actually were, and I hadn't been hungry all day, so they could maybe
00:17:55
Speaker
They could help us expediate our travel if we don't have to stop the nourishment until the end of the day. Just a thought. No, it's a good idea. I've used the berries myself on a time, so maybe it is something we'll take them upon. I'm not eating no fucking berry.
00:18:18
Speaker
It's quite good actually. Some say that the flavour is actually individual to the person who tastes it and that no berry ever actually tastes like any other berry that anyone else has. Tasted like gooseberry for me. I've had one that tasted like chicken.
00:18:41
Speaker
What is this Willy Wonka fucking thing? I'm not familiar with Willy Wonka, is that a sword course thing? No, I've not heard of Willy Wonka. It's something that a sign guy used to do.
00:18:57
Speaker
Is it, is it, oh, hang on. Actually, I did know a lass in village near the keep and she did it to himself. No, maybe, maybe. Me and Dengon always kept ourselves to ourselves when he did it. Maybe she was prepared to do a Willy Wonka for right amount of gold. I don't know. Maybe, maybe, maybe this artificial camera needs to go outside and find him. Yeah, yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's, I don't want to know what that is. And as she says that, I know an awkward silence descends over the campfire.
00:19:27
Speaker
We're going to cross out into the darkness of the verandian jungle and join Syengar. Syengar, what are you up to? Hopefully not the only Wonka.
00:19:44
Speaker
Syngar takes himself outside of the cave and does take a deep breath of air in through his nostrils and breathes out through his mouth. And then takes one more deep breath in and places the mask over his head so he can see and he has dark vision. And he walks for a good five or six minutes out into the depths of the jungle away from the forest and into kind of a thicket, a deeper wilderness away from camp.
00:20:12
Speaker
He finds a rather large dead tree that has the inside and was bowled out, scratched out by some large dinosaur or a large creature that creates almost a little alcove for him. He sits down in it and in his mask that has these two kind of hanging down almost like dreads, thick dreads, pipe-like dreads that run down either side and kind of sway with each hulking step, he unscrews the bottom of one of these kind of spiked ends and out pops a small orange crystal.
00:20:42
Speaker
He holds it in his hands for a second and it's the first time he realizes that his hands are, claws are shaking and he kind of shakes his head for a second and then puts it in the middle of his hand and smashes it down, crushes it down so it's just powder. He then takes the bottom of the tube and kind of just sprinkles it back into the tube, reattaches the lid and then takes a second to himself, breathes out and then lifts the tube up high above his head.
00:21:12
Speaker
and takes a really deep breath and he has this kind of shuddering kind of convulsion almost before he becomes still and he kind of lies back almost sedentary asleep. His chest is still moving but the rest of him is still and he will spend probably a couple of hours in that state. Okay. Thank you.
00:21:37
Speaker
What we're going to do in the absence of Danny and Callum is I'm going to expediate through the long rest until the final rest unless there is any interjection from anyone else.
00:21:55
Speaker
So yeah, I'd just say he'd come back after a couple of hours and just seem quiet and groggy and like hungover. But would then do any watch and do anything that's kind of asked of him quietly. And yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's all good work by me. My Ben will do the watches, but I've got nothing that I'll explicitly want to do so you can fast forward through. Okay.
00:22:21
Speaker
Right. We will assume then that the watches that evening all go without incident until the last watch, which is going to fall to you, Chungus. I know, still saying that bloody name. You take your watch alone. You reflect on what the cards have advised you over the previous weeks. You remember seeing a card that suggested of two brothers and you think upon the two dragonborns that you have found.
00:22:51
Speaker
You think upon the presence of the human and the half-elf, which was also foreseen. You think about the darkness. You think about where you are going deeper into the forest. Your mind drifts towards the one tea. You see in the cards their darkness, a darkness that you have also seen in reality. You think about some of the other signs that you've seen that don't make sense.
00:23:18
Speaker
the darkness, the presence of the dark serpent, the purple eyes, the lantern, all seen in the cards, and the last two played out in horror with the death of the two Doblinkin. Before your watch is done, both Kratts and Ukabara rise early. They make sure to rise quietly while the rest still sleep.
00:23:41
Speaker
They tell you that on the honour of Goblin Kin that they are bound to find the tribe of the fallen goblin and return their weapons and personal keepsakes to them. You explain to them the cards compel you to stay with the travellers that you have met. Parting with Kratz is particularly hard, but you know that the code of your tribe drives him and a different code. This mysterious beguiling code of Selen is driving you.
00:24:10
Speaker
You resolve to agree to meet in dash calorie and part. Unless there's anything in particular that you want to reflect on on this watch, I'm going to go to the party waking up. But with all that in mind, is there anything that Chungus would do before the party wakes? No, I think that's...
00:24:32
Speaker
covers pretty much everything but maybe the one small thing he would do is cast Druidcraft to basically predict the weather for the next 24 hours. What he's trying to do is see if he's got more clear skies for the night as well and what the following night ahead takes so that he can take his guidance one more from the stars. But that's it.
00:24:57
Speaker
So what do I have to tell you from Druidcraft? Just let our listeners know what that spell entails and what I have to do for you. Of course, it's just a small, harmless sensory effect that basically predicts what the weather will be like at this location over the next 24 hours. If it's going to be clear skies, it takes shape of a golden orb, almost like a full moon, if you like. A small cloud for rain, snowflakes for snow, that kind of stuff. And it only lasts for six seconds or so. It's a very small,
00:25:27
Speaker
spell that would basically get in that information. Okay, what you see is a golden orb, the colour of the sun god's soul. That is interspersed by a moment of sheer darkness.
00:25:44
Speaker
followed by the flickering presence of clear stars, which you would take to read a particularly hot day, which would have the potential to lead to a particularly tempestuous storm followed by that clearing into a night sky. Thank you. As you end your watch, Ren is the first one to wake and she comes over to you and says, you got any more of those berries? Oh, yeah, I've got about
00:26:14
Speaker
six lift if you fancy another one. How's your tummy? Oh good, yeah thank you. I'd rather take my chances with those berries than some of the dinosaurs or whatever it is that we've been cooking up. I'd much sooner take my chances with the good berries. Oh good, yeah no worries it's just a
00:26:37
Speaker
I just thought that, well, sometimes the batch is a little bit funny, but if it's good for you and he'll pop one in his mouth and hand another one over to you. She looks at it and then says to you, is this the same batches yesterday? Oh, yeah, they're good for, you know, about a day and then they're pretty much useless for, you know, the nourishment part of it. But obviously, because I put it about probably about midday just after yesterday, they should be absolutely fine. I mean, I feel full.
00:27:07
Speaker
Okay. And she eats the berry. Blueberry this time. Hold on, where are the other two? And she glances around looking for Krabs and Ukaburra. Oh, yeah. They had to go to the two little fellas that we cut down yesterday. They had to go to... I don't know how I'd be able to explain it to you other than there are certain customs that we had amongst the tribes.
00:27:36
Speaker
uh, here in the jungle. And it's, it's kind of like a, an all about duty for them. But, uh,
Travel Plans and Magical Berries
00:27:43
Speaker
my path, I seem to think lies with you and any kind of nods over to the sleeping dragon boards and, and then, so we're going to meet up again in dash Calvary. So it's, it's not a problem, but, uh, they've, they've got other things they need to be doing right now. Okay. Cool. Um, I'm gonna,
00:28:08
Speaker
I'm going to try and brew us some tea, I think. That's a good idea. Sorry, go on, Chungus. I was going to say, have you got a nice overcoat or something to protect you from a bit of wet weather at all? I've got my hood. Ah, great. Not to worry. I actually think the two dragonborn would probably appreciate something cooler.
00:28:37
Speaker
As she says that, we'll cut over to the rest of you who are waking. Is there anything that you want to do as you rise for the morning? Chungus, I believe Ren was extolling virtues of the berries you had produced via the magic. Yeah, I've got a good batch, no shits from this one. So yeah, take one and I'll flick one of the good berries over to you.
00:29:07
Speaker
and McBenna will catch it, sort of wriggle his fingers a little bit after he's caught it and go, ooh, not quite woken up yet. And he'll pop it into his mouth. Hmm. This one tastes like, yeah, I'm definitely getting steak from this one. Definitely, yeah, very, very odd. No. Intriguing. Drago and Tsangar,
00:29:36
Speaker
They are quite good. I've asked for them myself. No, you're okay. Yeah, you're okay. I'll have one though. I'll have one. Yep. Yep. Okay. You're not a problem. And again, I'll kind of head over and hand you one. Thanks. He just pops in his mouth. Yep. Thanks. Shall we get moving?
00:30:05
Speaker
I'm ready to go, we might as well. Jungus, did you know this jungle? Well, it's quite a big jungle. I don't know every single tree and root and fungus, but I don't know where it is. What I'm asking you to, as people who have been here longer than us other three, is how far away are we from the sea?
00:30:35
Speaker
Aaron, would we know that? Yeah. So this is effectively day four. No, day three of you guys traveling together. But Ben, you would recall that you were told that with a fair travel, you were about 10 days from jungle. Thank you. You had two days travel on that before, but with you, Jarvan and Ren. So this is actually day six. So you were about four days away. You anticipate from reaching dash calorie.
00:31:05
Speaker
Thank you. It's about three days as the raptor sprints, but obviously we're not that fast, so a bit longer. No, okay, that's good. I knew how long they said it'd take, but I didn't know whether our route had stayed true enough to keep up with how far the tort will toil as we were going. Okay, so four days, three. And McBennall just quickly evaluate his pack.
00:31:36
Speaker
I'll be close to the river and the waterfalls still, Darren. The river has been your constant. It's never far. And so the nourishment of Eris Gift and the great verandian river that flows from it is never far. You're following that literally upstream. That is in this great verdant expanse. That is your path.
00:32:00
Speaker
I'll make sure to keep an eye out on any thing we can eat along the way, just to make sure we've got other food with us, as much as I appreciate your berries, just in case you're not able to produce them, just to keep us going, just in case, and especially as Drago isn't partaking, we'll make sure we keep our rations up. But aye, let's begin on with our journey then. Okay.
00:32:30
Speaker
The morning seems to pass easily enough. It starts normal enough if every other morning there is an uncomfortable heat which in particular will affect our two silver iced veins, dragonborns. You notice that the grass and the verdant beneath your feet, it starts to become less well trodden. It becomes thicker and denser. Occasionally you have to cut your way through some particularly more difficult vines. For you, Syengar, you're reaching
00:32:59
Speaker
The furthest points that you have traveled with Fish Tortoll, the fishing village being your point of reference and somewhere to go for hot food, a bed and a bath, being four or five days away from that means effectively it would be a 10-day trek and you've never really carried supplies deep enough to handle such a journey.
00:33:24
Speaker
For you, Chungus, you are now probably, as the Rangers of the Rainier even at Bennett, don't tend to roam this far. Chungus, you are becoming the most knowledgeable member of the party on the expanse that you are currently moving through.
00:33:46
Speaker
The day
Encounter with Yuan Ti Signs
00:33:47
Speaker
appears to again go without incident. You do see some curious insects and smaller reptiles. A couple of Stegosaurus appear to be moving through the expanse just off on the horizon though after what you've seen over the previous days. The presence of dinosaurs now doesn't seem to be quite so
00:34:16
Speaker
as awe-inspiring as it once was. Mercifully, you've yet to run into any more of the carnivorous types of dinosaurs that are present within this great dense jungle. You do notice one thing as you come across a dark and old tree,
00:34:38
Speaker
And it seems to make you stop in particular, Chungus, as you see engraved into the tree, what appears to be a series of crude engravings of snakes. You would immediately recognize these as the marks of the one tea, the Yuan Tea, however you want to pronounce it, the feral snake worshippers of the jungle. Oh, shit.
00:35:10
Speaker
I second that. I'll turn back to the group. We're getting a little bit closer to some pretty bad territory. Fucking death snakes. Death snakes. Oh, that's a great name. Snake worshippers. Yes, do you know much about the Yaunty?
00:35:38
Speaker
I don't know anything about U1T, I know there were some folk who were wrong in ed who used to sometimes think that they were snakes or worshiped snakes and I've heard I've heard tell I've never never seen a U1T myself but I've heard of people who worship them. Oh it's not just stories. Oh no the U1T name. What words do you use to describe this Karl person?
00:36:06
Speaker
Bastards. Oh, yeah, they're bastards, all right. They're fucking snake bastards. You'd want to rip off their heads and shit down their long scaly necks, for sure. They're not the nice ones. All the way down, fill them up like a shit stocking. Yeah, but you wouldn't want to wear it afterwards if that's what you do. Probably not. Still. So what you're saying is we need to be careful about encountering these men.
00:36:34
Speaker
God, I mean, I like to think that I could see the good in most people and most things, but the lessons I've learned, the only good you want is a dead, you want to trust me on that one. Either we should find them all and fucking kill them. Uh, there's probably quite a lot. Um, not really seeing what you're fighting is like, but, uh, I mean, you just gotta be careful. They usually,
00:37:04
Speaker
Quite a bit like I see in nasty bunches. Quite a lot of dark magic going on as well. I've experienced some of my time here only briefly, but they are tough. But removed from the jungle would be a bonus. I'm sure for all involved any kind of nods towards the chungus. Oh yeah, no, I agree. I could tell you some pretty nasty stories about the aunty.
00:37:31
Speaker
This is all well and good, but we do have a destination here and a person that we need to catch up to. As much as going on a hunt and killing these bastards and hunting them all down, it seems like a jolly. And don't quote me, I'm quite a jolly person in my own way.
00:37:51
Speaker
I could tell. I reckon I'm with Drago. If we encounter him, we can kill him. But let's just, we've got a way to go. Now, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, one second, one second. Someone's gonna put up his claws and kind of like, whoa, whoa, hang on, hang on, hang on. Your cat person we're looking for, he fucks with people's heads, yeah? Yeah.
00:38:12
Speaker
Well, Chungus has literally just said, these guys deal with dark magic, head magic, stuff that fucks you up. Now, I don't know much about your cat man. I don't know much about these Yonti, whatever they're called, snake people. You know, their names, I've just encountered them. But I often find that evil attracts evil and good attracts good. What's there to say that these guys haven't in some way been ensnared or been involved in your cat bastard
00:38:42
Speaker
dealings in some way. If he's passed through here, he will have seen these signs. He will encounter them. He will understand them too. More than anything, might that just not be more evidence, perhaps? Or am I totally off-piece here? No, I think you're on the right piece, but
00:39:02
Speaker
Correct me if I'm wrong in thinking there if we just carry on as we were and following Karl. If you're right, and Karl has mixed himself up with whatever these snake people are, just by following Karl, we'll come across them. All I can say is, oh, sorry. All I can say is if you see one of them, well, you'll know what they're like there.
00:39:29
Speaker
You don't want them to get talking. You don't want them to get up in your head. We've lost many a good goblin from it. Just trust me. Kill them on sight. Kill them on sight. Don't let them speak is what I'm hearing. Is that correct? Is there any other weakness? Is this a warning chungus or a signpost? I don't really speak Yuan Ti. I'm not well versed in the scribblings of the snake people.
00:39:59
Speaker
All I know is we're probably pretty fucking close. Darren, can I investigate the area just to see if I can see any signs of any tracks or anything like that? Yeah. Or any signs of like either Carl or signs of U1T passing? Yeah. Do you want to make a survival check? Yep. Right. That's a nine.
00:40:25
Speaker
You glance around and you note that there are some more markings on some of the other trees. You...
00:40:31
Speaker
you glance at them and what's unnerving about some of the other markings is that it's not of snakes but appears to be of snakes that seem to be some form of humanoid hybrid. You see on one of the trees a half snake human where the torso is that of what appears to be a male humanoid, perhaps an elf, and the bottom half of the snake. The other one seems to have a
00:40:58
Speaker
female what appears to be legs and lower torso but the upper half of a snake and you can see on one of them that this presence of a dark scribe almost as if the bark has been stained black this presence of a large dark serpent
00:41:22
Speaker
It's really hard to get a bearing when this is all you have to go off. There is nothing immediate to suggest that there is anything near present. There are no discernible tracks. As you glance around and see that, Ren is going to just chip up and say, we've been following the river so far. If we leave it, we lose our compass to the city, Dashkalre.
00:41:52
Speaker
I think I'm agreeing with what Drago is saying, which is if we come across them, we'll do something, I suppose, but we can't leave the river trying to find them. We have to stick the path that we've chosen. I can't find any sign of Carl having been here or done out now. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of stuff here. I don't know whether Enron
00:42:21
Speaker
I think that's like the seventh time you've mistaken McBenna for a long time. Everyone big go. McBenna will be examining the extremely dark shape. Now I don't know, this could just be scorch marks, but and he sort of lifts his hands on it and lifts it to his nose and sniffs it. Could be blood. So it could be some sort of
00:42:48
Speaker
sacrificial place, given all the symbolism around us. Either way, go on. I was going to say, you just mentioned sacrifice. That's like their thing. If they don't eat you, they sacrifice you to their dark gods. Right. I don't see any evidence of Carl having been here, or if he was, he didn't stay too long.
00:43:17
Speaker
I appreciate what you're saying, Syengard. Part of me wants to do what you're saying equally. Part of me wants to follow up, Ren and Drago are saying, if we get to the city and we find out he's not arrived yet or whatever, because we know where cars are going after the city. We know he needs to go there for equipment and supplies. And there's only going to be a few people who might
00:43:47
Speaker
No, be able to sell him the stuff he wants and he's not exactly inconspicuous. So if we get there and he hasn't arrived yet, then maybe we can turn back and retrace our steps to find him.
00:44:03
Speaker
It's worth saying, Chungus, that you would be aware that this means you're entering a de facto no man's land. It's too far away from Dash Kalarei for anything to be under the protection of the Drake Wardens.
00:44:19
Speaker
it's now too far gone into the jungle to be anywhere near any discernible civilization. So if you were to encounter the feral Yuan Ti, you are effectively entering their territory, along with territory where you may also encounter the continual threat of some of the more carnivorous dinosaurs and monstrosities of the jungle.
00:44:50
Speaker
Just to put that on your horizon, Chungus, as a native of this area, you would be aware of that. Yeah, and I think you probably would pipe up and just say, I think this might be some sort of border beyond this point. I mean, we're getting into their territory, their nasty territory. I mean, we're a marauding tribe, or I came from very much a kind of a
00:45:16
Speaker
A tribe that would move from place to place and we would never go properly into there. It's not safe. Good. I could do with a scrap. Anyone got a knife that I can borrow? Yeah. Ego. And Emrom... Oh, fuck off. Fingos. I'm getting my frame. What's going on? I do not know what is going on, to fuck's sake. I can't wait until you get back to Emrom and keep calling him a bit better. I'm saying Macfana. Oh, tell me about it.
00:45:43
Speaker
McBenna will pull out a long hunting knife that's been strapped to a sheath in his boots and hand it to you, hilt first. Ian, you can borrow that. I appreciate him. Dragga takes the knife and he walks over to this mural or sign or warning and he's going to start carving away at it. What are you carving? And I'm carving the symbol of Akiva. Oh shit.
00:46:14
Speaker
Okay, make a slight hand check as you get to do something with a carving. I suppose slight hand is the right check for that. Can you tell what it is yet? 17. Surprisingly good for someone who swings a great sword in the giant axe at this level of finesse knife play. It actually is surprisingly good.
00:46:36
Speaker
After Drago's completed it, he's going to put his right hand, clawed hand on it and then left hand to his amulet and just going to notice this kind of glowing happening from the amulet almost as if Drago is kind of communing with Akiva and marking this spot.
00:46:56
Speaker
And then he's going to turn back, flip the blade up in the air, catch it on the bladed part and offer it back. He'll first to McBenna. Cheers. I wasn't sure. I thought you were going to engrave a phallus into it, but that's a little bit better than what I was expecting. And McBenna will put the knife back in his sheath by his boot. Okay. Perhaps we best to
00:47:27
Speaker
to move quickly and as inconspicuously as possible, Ren will say. I might be able to help with this. Just give me a second. And Chungus is going to kind of close his eyes and hold on to the deck of cards and his leather pouch around his neck and you'll kind of see his fur kind of
00:47:50
Speaker
flow out kind of to the sides and it looks like magic channels from him down to the ground all the way along and and up your legs as well as he casts his casts pass without a trace um on the group yeah nice just for the next hour we've got a plus 10 to our stealth checks fuck yeah nice
00:48:15
Speaker
I'm going to say that that naturally makes even those of you who aren't inclined to move stealthily more stealthily. Can I just confirm the marching order as you move forward, if you enter this particularly dangerous part of the verandian jungle? I wouldn't
Karl's Trap and Quicksand Encounter
00:48:37
Speaker
be at the front. I don't think I'd lead it, but I think I'd be near the front.
00:48:42
Speaker
I'm pretty saying I'll be at the front then and but obviously kind of walking and then kind of looking back to like this way from from Chungus when he gets the nod he'll continue walking in the right direction so very much taking the lead but taking the lead from jungus as well I'd bookend it Dragonborn on Dragonborn okay and look Ben will be in the middle so he gets a chance to use his bow
00:49:05
Speaker
You're all the sandwich in between a Jack-and-board sandwich. So is Ren. Yeah, Ren will fall in an area where she's behind and around behind McBenna but in front of Drago, allowing Drago to bring up the rear of the party.
00:49:25
Speaker
You travel on for a few more hours and then you come across a series of thick vines that appear to be punctuating a clearing. And at the end of that clearing, you notice within these vines appears to be a figure. They appear to be completely restrained and bound by these vines.
00:49:52
Speaker
as you approach the figure looks up at you it appears to be a female elf or half elf it's really hard to say she looks to be somewhere
00:50:08
Speaker
in her mid to late 40s. She has this dusty colored hair that appears to have gone from mousy towards a more gray color due to just being in a particularly dirty area. Her body is completely constrained by these vines. And as you approach, she looks up at you and says, help me.
00:50:49
Speaker
I'd like to ready an action. If this is a trap and U1T appear, I would like to shoot the first U1T I see.
00:51:01
Speaker
I would like to not actually hold an action, but actually just with the past, with that trace and everything else, just slink backwards and find somewhere where I can have my back to something solid and draw out my rusty short sword and just kind of watch everything else that no one else is watching. I would probably also clock them if Ben is doing something similar, but I'm going to kind of just use my stealthy stealth and just get ready for the same kind of thing as my Ben. Are we beyond the hour now or are we still under past that trace? If it was a couple of hours.
00:51:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it feels like a dick move when we'll spend eight stars doing it. So I will say you're within the hour still, I'll wreck on that because it feels like that's just a DM dick move. Do you want us to roll stealth or not?
00:51:44
Speaker
Yeah, if you're trying to hide, yes, those of you who are trying to do stuff stealthily without her seeing you, yes, or without... Oh, well, I mean, I assume she's potentially seeing you. Oh, okay. So without any other prying eyes potentially seeing you, yes. Yeah, what I'm saying is, because obviously, if someone is about to launch a trap on us, there's potential that they don't notice us. Yes, I would like you to roll stealth for any hypothetical
00:52:23
Speaker
Yeah, again, you move so deftly that it's not even immediately apparent until Ren glances around and sees you're both trailing off that you're leaving the party. You move that quietly. You're both able to find thick moss or a tree.
00:52:36
Speaker
creatures that may or may not be present.
00:52:41
Speaker
to basically hide behind and peer through this clearing and then see what appears to be at the other end a series of two large trees and then what looks like these vines that are springing from the tree that appear to be just holding up this restrained woman.
00:52:59
Speaker
I know, go for it, Chungus. I was going to say, it might just be worth noting, I don't know whether it's going to be relevant or not, but with Pass Without a Trace, just I read the last sentence here, it says a creature that receives his bonus leaves behind no tracks or other traces of its passage, so we won't be able to be tracked to this point, just in case that's relevant. You've not been leaving tracks since you cast a spell, you are leaving deathly and without leaving trace. I wonder how that spell works, does it like materialise a broomstick behind the last person?
00:53:26
Speaker
moves from left to right, sweeping away there. Effectively, by reading the book from what I remember from Playing Range, it literally means that as you put your foot down, it just stops leaving an imprint. You lego-ness it over the... Yeah, basically, essentially. Yeah, it's a very cool spell. Very useful. Drago's going to just grasp his amulet. Oh, sorry.
00:53:52
Speaker
Drago's just going to grab it. Oh my God. I can't say grasp. Drago's going to fondle his amulet and do a quick Define Sense, which you all know what Define Sense is by now, but he's just going to lightweight the red glow. Yep. Epivates from his hand and he gets a radar ping at 60 feet.
00:54:23
Speaker
Nothing. Cool. And then he's just going to watch chungus and get up close to provide any support. He's concerned about the actual person who's entwined in the vines.
00:54:41
Speaker
not thinking so much about a trap. You can see these eyes are shut. Like she's got her eyes absolutely kind of like just squint shut as if to open them themselves. She's terrified. You're not sure why she's doing this but you can see this frantic movement from her as she appears to be. Is there someone there
00:55:06
Speaker
That would, with that extra information, Chungus would kind of pause and hesitate and probably hold out a hand if anyone is kind of behind him. Are you grabbing my crotch? What are you doing? Sorry, it's just an accidental crotch grace. We need to see your eyes. Could you open up your eyes for us, please?
00:55:35
Speaker
He told me not to. He told me not to. Who told you not to? He said his name was Carl. Oh shit. Please help me. I'll turn to face Drago and kind of await instruction. Please.
00:56:03
Speaker
Yeah, I've got the axe, I'll just start whipping the vines down. Yeah, as you move towards the vines, all of a sudden your foot, Drago, becomes stuck. As does the other one. And can I ask you to roll a d4 for me, please? Aw, man! Thanks, Chungus. Trap.
00:56:32
Speaker
It's a trap, too. Okay, you sink three foot into the ground and you realize that you're on this sand-like, water-like substance that appears to be just slowly pulling you deeper into the earth. Suddenly, this creature's eyes open and you can see what appears to be these jet black eyes and a smile in this woman's mouth as she says to you,
00:57:01
Speaker
Karl has
Cliffhanger Ending
00:57:02
Speaker
a message for you all. And with that, that's where we're going to leave it for tonight's episode. Oh, shit. I was just about to reply. Okay, that was dope shit. Someone had to spring the trap. It was about to be Chungus. I thought it was going to be Chungus.
00:57:28
Speaker
I mean, the moment I turn back and look at Drago. All right, fine. Okay. The moment that I described this woman entanglement vines, I'm like this. It looks like a trap. Smells like a trap. It is the trap.
00:57:44
Speaker
This has trap redundant. Should have a sign in neon saying trap. Isn't it like some sort of Vegas sign? This is a trap. Speaking of trap, we hope that we've entrapped you all into wanting to hear next week's episode. And if you wanted to, whatever reason, keep up to date with the podcast, you can do so on one of our various social media pages. That was a good segue. I must admit. We have a fellowship.
00:58:13
Speaker
page on, oh god, we have new ones, Hive and Masterdawn. Is that a thing? Yes. Yes. They're at Fellowship Table, as is our Twitter and Facebook at Fellowship Table. We have a website which is fellowshipthetabletop.com. Then if you wanted to go one step further and follow us individually, you can do so. I'm at iRoller1. Chungus Bongwater is at. Fellowship NPC PC.
00:58:40
Speaker
Will is at? Natural20Will. Legally have to change your name to Chungus now. Mark is at? I used to be called Deanne. And our very cool DM is at? Darren Page06. Until next time, guys. Farewell.