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Chapter 25 - Gone Glimki (ft. Ink Blade Publishing)
24 Plays10 days ago
When is a jar, not a jar? When it's a door... no that's not right.
Meet the cast:
Dungeon Master – Zach Meikle (IG: @zachabee)
Clay Campbell – Prima Zhao (IG: @primbdraws)
Faunalyn Vaydark – Shannon Meikle (IG: @sharsharbinks)
Glimki Treefellow – Jordan Johnsen (IG: @jordan_johnsen)
Peter Goodacre – Elliot (IG: @inkbladepublishing)
Check out Gothica: Plagueworlds here: https://www.inkbladepublishing.com/
And follow the Kickstarter Campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inkbladepublishing/gothica-plagueworlds-5e-compatible-ttrpg
Edited by Zach Meikle
Follow the show:
Instagram: @bard_soup
TikTok: @bard_soup
Website: www.bardsoup.com
Music & Ambience
Music: Beyond the Horizon by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Roaming One by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Coconut Caprice by Alexander Nakarada (www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Might & Magic by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music & Ambience: The Desert Awaits by Tim Roven (www.tabletopaudio.com)
Music: Cocktails and Lobsters by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Skaga by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Blue Hour by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music & Ambience: Cave of Time by Tim Roven (www.tabletopaudio.com)
Music: Landskab by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Crossroads by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music & Ambience: Mummy's Tomb by Tim Roven (www.tabletopaudio.com)
Music: Countdown by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: The Desert by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music: Dragonsong by Alexander Nakarada (https://www.creatorchords.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Additional sounds provided by Pixabay
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Now, let's see. Where were we? Ah yes, that's right.
The Voyage Begins
00:00:09
Speaker
After setting sail for the Anchor's Chain, the party enjoyed a mix of, well, party and near-death experiences while aboard the luxury vessel The Vigilant.
00:00:21
Speaker
Their trip began fun enough with a raucous evening hosted by Clay and joined by most of the ship's passengers, with the exception of one individual, a minotaur man named Savito Wale, who was in possession of a strange cube that induced an intense feeling of vertigo in anyone who looked at it.
Rescue and Strange Tales
00:00:40
Speaker
On the fourth night of travel, things grew stranger still, as a man named Antoine Chuma was fished out of the sea, telling stories of masked men and horrifying toad creatures.
00:00:52
Speaker
As the trip neared its end, our heroes were awoken to find their ship had run aground, entangled in a web of tanglecorp, and under attack by a group of aquatic spider kin.
Unexpected Attack and Loss
00:01:04
Speaker
They fought them off most valiantly, but things quickly turned for the worse when a portal opened upon the deck of the ship, and three figures, two wearing masks, and the third a horrifying toad creature stepped through.
00:01:18
Speaker
Scattered and unprepared, our heroes were quickly brought down by their foes, and as Glimki fought to save Clay from drowning, he witnessed one of these masked men depart the ship in possession of Savito Wale's cube.
Arrival and New Allies
00:01:31
Speaker
The ship was badly damaged by the attack, and several crew members were killed along with Savido Wale. Despite the damage, the ship eventually managed to reach Kolbaris, where our heroes were greeted by members of the Jararth Learning Center.
00:01:46
Speaker
Members such as Tabora, a wayfish woman who spoke at length about Jararth's teat, as well as Slade Kronik. the former partner of Marlon Whisperhand, not dead, but merely hiding from Marlon.
Victory and Strange Encounter
00:02:00
Speaker
Most importantly, they met Ja'arath, the charismatic leader of the Learning Center who preached the merits of a round world and facilitated a disc golf tournament, which Glenview won.
00:02:11
Speaker
Clay proceeded to join Jar Arith in his office and painted his portrait and made some, well, creative choices that he surprisingly loved and he promised to help repair the Vigilant with his acquired resources.
00:02:26
Speaker
As night fell on Kobaris, our heroes each went to their separate sleeping domes and as Klimki slept, he heard a voice crying out to him. He awoke and saw ah humanoid shape made of swirling flower petals asking for his help After looking for a sign from his god Mulare, he ventured out into the dark, and unbeknownst to his companions, someone, or something, found him.
Humor and New Connections
00:02:55
Speaker
You already said all that. Club, I feel like we're going around in circles. I thought we were going around in spheres. Oh, not you two. On with the story.
00:03:21
Speaker
Come gather round, travelers, and sit on the stoop. We'll tell you a story about Batsu. Three lovable scamps in our traveling troop.
00:03:35
Speaker
We'll tell you a story about Batsu.
00:04:03
Speaker
I sang that song. I don't remember what it is. Is it a graduation thing? A wedding song? but so i don't remember. Well, guess what? It doesn't matter because it's barred soup and I'm joined by three people who know what that was.
00:04:14
Speaker
Prima, tell me, what was that song? Hi, I'm Prima. I play Clay Campbell and that song was amazing. Don't know what it was either, but it was great.
00:04:25
Speaker
Very good. Normally, I would say Jordan and is next, but guess what? That guy, ah turns out he was a CIA asset the whole time and he's gone back to America and we aren't going to see him anymore. So he's gone and we go straight to Shannon. Good riddance.
00:04:41
Speaker
That was the song that we here in Canada play when you expunge a foreign agent from your ranks. When I play Final Invade Arc. Amazing. And lastly, and what's this? Lastly, a fourth name on the roster? What?
00:04:55
Speaker
Speaking of foreign agents, i don't know if that's okay. Elliot! Hello, and i don't have anything to say about the song other than I think it was used in Monty Python just as an air of Britishness over to you, over to the podcast.
00:05:09
Speaker
There we go. How apropos. Elliot, would you like to just like say actually who the hell you are and where you're from and all that good stuff?
Gothic Plague World Introduction
00:05:17
Speaker
I'm Elliot. I'm from England. ah But no, I am Elliot, and you can find me from or on Inkblade Publishing.
00:05:26
Speaker
That's inkbladepublishing.com or just through the socials. I am making a TTRPG. It's called Gothic Plague World. It's 5e compatible, and it is a sort of gothic gaslamp fantasy. So think Victorian, Georgian,
00:05:39
Speaker
you got that sort of Bloodborne Van Helsing Castlevania vibe lots of plagues that's kind of the main thing we got plagues lots of diseases everybody um yeah it's lots of fun I'm gonna have Shannon and Zach on for an episode so you'll get to see if you if you like these guys I'm gonna put them in a really creepy world and you get to see me torture them so see Zach torturing these guys a lot let's let's flip it around and put him in the hot seat yes so yeah Amazing.
00:06:09
Speaker
And I'm Zach, the guy who, there's a reason I don't do the intros anymore. Welcome back to Bard Soup. Let's dive in.
Morning at Jar Arith Learning Center
00:06:26
Speaker
The sun rises. On the Jar Arith Learning Center on the island of Kobaris. I'm so sorry. Doesn't the sun not rise in Zav?
00:06:39
Speaker
After completing its nightly rotation of the sun revolving around around the world, the sun rises. Science is weird on Kobaris. Anything's possible. Everything you thought you knew to be true disappears from mind.
00:06:51
Speaker
The science, it's getting to us. We need to get out of here. I'm going to be convinced that the world is round at this rate. It's all fake. Don't believe it. And the sun rises on another beautiful day on Xav.
00:07:02
Speaker
Clay, Faunelin, you awaken in your individual sleeping domes. Dawn, your provided white robes with the little brass accents around the collar and the sleeves.
00:07:17
Speaker
They're not quite your usual style, either of you, but... They're kind of fun. I'm putting that onto you. They're kind of fun. And the two of you gather in the dining dome where you are served hard boiled eggs that have had the tips shaved off so that they are more spherical.
00:07:36
Speaker
And Amala joins you after some time She looks terrible. Her eyes are bloodshot. Her hands are shaking. who Hello, dear.
00:07:46
Speaker
Any luck on getting us off this godforsaken island? i I'm afraid I'm feeling not quite myself. Play, show her the picture. It's our ticket off. Okay, so i have completed my first draft of a portrait for Draw Areth.
00:08:02
Speaker
And he's agreed to help Captain Zaralo start getting the ship back together. And I pull out the the painting. What do you think? Oh, I didn't know you dabbled in pornography.
00:08:14
Speaker
How interesting. It's not porn. There's a vision. Dabbled in pornography, please. Clay perfected pornography. Oh, my apologies. I digress.
00:08:25
Speaker
I do as well. I'm going to digress back to my dome and try and get some sleep. I feel terrible. do You don't happen to have any wine on you? um ah wish I did, but there might be some hand sanitizer in the washrooms.
00:08:39
Speaker
Oh, that's a good idea. I'll go try that. Best of luck, darling. she She wanders off. You eat your breakfast. Your eggs. There's nothing but eggs. I'd like to make that very clear. It is all eggs.
00:08:51
Speaker
There's the many round things that could be served at a breakfast table. Oranges, maybe an apple, if you kind of like squint a little and blur your eyes. They just serve eggs.
The Search for Klimki
00:09:00
Speaker
Are they all chicken eggs? I'll never tell.
00:09:03
Speaker
Oh. That's a good question. Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to. I want to know. oh my bad. ah No, they're not. They're turkey. Cool. Glimke does not join you.
00:09:15
Speaker
You eat the entirety of your meal, and at no point does he join you, but you think he's probably just going to meet you at the at the morning session. Should we bring Glimke some breakfast? he likes food, I think.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah. I've certainly seen him eat. How many eggs do you think he'll want? Dozen? Yeah. Two dozen to be safe? How about ah two dozen, just in case?
00:09:43
Speaker
Two dozen, just to be safe. Maybe three. Three? Two. We'll go two. It's fine. Two and a half? Two and a half. Oh, brilliant. Two and a half. So you'll hold two dozen and I'll hold six.
00:09:54
Speaker
Okay, sounds good. You scoop up 30 eggs and leave the dining dome. And we won't dabble on that. You wander through the, uh, or leave the, yeah, you leave the dining dome and go over to the the residential quarter where all these smaller domes are assembled.
00:10:12
Speaker
Very dome-based architecture here at the Jar Arath Learning Center. It's so on theme. Yeah, you wander around and eventually you find the one that you think Glimki is staying in. I knock on it. Glimki! Glimki?
00:10:26
Speaker
you awake? We brought you some eggs. There's no response. Is he still asleep? Make sure you're decent. We're coming in. open the door.
00:10:37
Speaker
It is unlocked and it swings open and you see that Glimke is not there. You step into the the the main area of this dome and do you look you look in.
00:10:50
Speaker
He is not there. There's nowhere really to hide in these domes. They're pretty small. They're basically just tents with solid walls. But you look around and the bed appears to have been slept in.
00:11:02
Speaker
And weirdly enough, there is a scattering of flower petals on the floor in front of the bed. But otherwise, no one is here. well That's very romantic in here.
00:11:14
Speaker
Where is he though? He talked a lot about the hot springs yesterday. He was constantly going on about checking the hot springs. We should go check out the hot springs. That's the only place I can think that he would be. you think he might be there?
00:11:26
Speaker
Wait, so is his stuff in the room? Like his pack and armor and stuff? You feel free to look around. You look around. There's trunks provided in each of the rooms with which you can store your personal belongings.
00:11:39
Speaker
It appears that most of his things are gone. Not everything. There's a few pieces of clothing, perhaps, but his armor is gone and his sword is gone. Okay. Maybe he got up early.
00:11:52
Speaker
Maybe there's like flower beds here he was tending to. He does love gardens. That's true. What kind of flower petals is this? Because I thought we were in a desert. That's a good point. Give me an intro check.
00:12:04
Speaker
Okay. Okay. I rolled a six for a total of five. They're pretty ones. Okay. Yeah, maybe he was attending to some flowers. Should we go look?
00:12:14
Speaker
Yeah, okay, that's likely. I don't think it's very likely that he's in any of the classes, but and maybe he's trying to side hustle. Maybe he's found like a business opportunity. Okay, so three leads on where Glimki might be.
00:12:26
Speaker
Somewhere side hustling, at the flower gardens or at those hot springs. Or talking to the captain. Oh, he could be talking to the captain. He could be anywhere. Yeah, why wouldn't he come find us? Oh well, let's go look for him then. I know!
00:12:39
Speaker
We're so codependent, I don't like not knowing where he is. I know. Well, should we split up or should we stay together? I promise not to be anywhere other than the hot springs. Well, kind of want to see the hot springs also.
00:12:52
Speaker
Let's just go there first. Okay! So we'll go together and then we'll hit up the hot springs last because if he's there, we can just stay there. Okay. Perfect. Good plan. So, where are you going?
00:13:05
Speaker
Not hot spring. We're going to commence ah commence a little search. Yeah, we're looking for flower gardens. Are you staying within the confines of the learning center, this basin in the desert?
00:13:20
Speaker
think so. Okay. You start, yeah. Yeah, you walk around and it's big, but it's not that big. It doesn't take you long to kind of get the main sense of how things are laid out and the public facing buildings. There is, of course, the disc golf course. You walk along that. There's some people getting an early round in They're wearing all white garments, but like golf clothes.
00:13:50
Speaker
You could picture it. No flowers planted there. There's a amphitheater where sometimes public presentations are done that don't necessarily pertain to the teachings of the round Zavars. And there's a poetry reading going on. And Ruckus Perez and his brother Tucker are sitting in the front row with little glasses on and they're wearing turtlenecks that are also white.
00:14:14
Speaker
And they're taking notes and nodding appreciatively. You poke your heads back into the dining dome and... There's a few administrative buildings, but you don't find any flower beds.
00:14:25
Speaker
You see like maybe the occasional cactus with a flower growing off of it, but it's it's not of the kind that you found in Glimke's dome. And you're kind of left with the choice of making the journey back to the docks if you think he could be there, or venturing up to the hot springs.
Hot Springs and Mud Magic
00:14:45
Speaker
springs right yeah i was gonna ask is the captain like staying at the learning center or on her boat she traveled with you yesterday to the learning center and you're not sure if she is planning on staying here full-time or what she would have spent the night here at least but you don't know if that's her plan going forward okay well we could check out the hot springs first and if he's not there maybe we can go find the captain if he's side hustling Okay, that seems likely. I think that's a good plan.
00:15:18
Speaker
And I really want to see the hot springs, so... Yeah, we have time for a bath, right? Of course. It's not like he's in mortal danger or anything, right? Right. He's probably just, I don't know, hiding or something. Actually, I'm a bit worried. Yeah, I know.
00:15:33
Speaker
I'm worried he's in the classes and becoming convinced. Yeah, I'm worried he's, like, wandered into the desert or something because he, I don't know, saw a business opportunity.
00:15:46
Speaker
um To the hot springs then. Yes. You walk up this winding path that leads up the side of the basin. You can see the steam rising up in the morning air of these hot springs. And you you climb to the top of the basin.
00:16:01
Speaker
And you see it's almost almost like a little oasis of sorts. Normally an oasis is far from society, I feel like, in in all the movies and TV that I watched as a kid, but not here, which makes sense on a certain level if you think about, I don't know, why people would place things where they place things. Anyway, big pool of water, big pool of water, and it's steaming, it's bubbling, there's little rocks spread out around, and some people are sitting on them, and they've got towels, these nice white fluffy towels laid out. There's various folk and enjoying the morning at the hot springs.
00:16:33
Speaker
Some of the faces ah appear familiar, others not so much. You see Slade Chronic is sitting on a rock, dipping his feet into the into the pool and just kicking his feet slowly back and forth, smoking a cigar.
00:16:50
Speaker
You see that young woman who appeared to be a teenager, but you have since been told is an auditor from the The high church is kind of wandering around with a little notebook and pen, taking some notes.
00:17:05
Speaker
And you see young human man sitting at the edge of the hot spring, playing with something looks to be mud or dirt. He's got some sort of small small clump of earth in his hands. And Elliot, would you please describe your character?
00:17:24
Speaker
Sure thing. They see sort dressed in this round Zava adorned robes and the sort of ah garments.
00:17:35
Speaker
You see that he's sitting there and very seriously concentrating on this mud. And it doesn't look like anything other than sort of just little clumps of wet mud, maybe clay. He has these sort of dark brown ringlet hair that sort of is a little bit short on the front. It's almost mullet like.
00:17:51
Speaker
So it's got sort of sits on his shoulders and a little bit down the back. It's a little bit hard to tell how tall he is, but he seems on the shorter side as he's currently sat down. But he seems very invested in what he's doing and he does not really sort of taking in anything around him.
00:18:04
Speaker
Man with dirt seems like a good Glimki lead, right? Yeah, maybe he's seen Glimki around. Should we go ask? You there, with the dirt!
00:18:17
Speaker
Oh no, now, come on now, look. You've got, you've got, you've you've been working on this spell for so long, and you've got these magical hands, and I really wish I could just, sorry, were you talking to me there?
00:18:29
Speaker
I was, yes. I see now that you were very busy with something important, maybe? Sorry to interrupt. It's just we're on a mission. On a mission? Oh, okay. Well, we're all on missions here. um what what could i e What could i yeah ask? it is Is your mission here?
00:18:45
Speaker
Well, right now we're looking for our friend. He's like this tall. He's got branches and leaves in his hair. Yeah, we just haven't seen him yet this morning. Ah, branches and leaves.
00:18:56
Speaker
Well, I've seen a few people like that, but ah am I can't say I've seen anyone that short. You say he's a bit short fella? Yeah, he's a gnome. Oh, okay.
00:19:08
Speaker
No. Okay, thank you. It's okay, it's right, was my pleasure. And he goes back and goes, okay, so if I had maybe a touch more clay in this hand instead of that hand, oh no, but then the magic, it wouldn't feel right.
00:19:22
Speaker
And he sort of goes back to himself. well It's hilarious that he's looking for Clay and your name is Clay. Oh yeah, we did you say something to me? What are you working on? No, no, sorry there.
00:19:34
Speaker
Was your name Clay? Yeah, that's right. What's your name? Oh, my name's Peter. Peter Goodacre. It's pleasure to meet you. Yeah, nice to meet you. And I didn't catch your name. oh no.
00:19:46
Speaker
yeah This is... No, go ahead. Sorry. Oh, just want to say this is Faunolin. Hi, pleasure. Pleasure to meet you, Faunolin. This is a reach and a half.
00:19:57
Speaker
But I've actually found in my life that if you ask for outrageous things, sometimes outrageous things happen. You mentioned magic. You couldn't happen to, I don't know, do a little spell and find our friend Glimki for us? i'm Well, my magic's more of a sort of a show magic. um It's very presentation-based.
00:20:15
Speaker
I, the applications aren't very useful in finding things. It's more of showing things. Um, was he staying on the island? Yes, he's, he's like in our adventuring party. We're kind of a codependent trio.
00:20:29
Speaker
And we can't find him this morning, which is unusual because for the last, like, two weeks that we've been together, we basically have only been separated to sleep and sometimes go to the bathroom. Yeah, so we're getting kind of worried.
00:20:41
Speaker
i have his breakfast here. It's getting cold. and I show him flirty eggs. thought you wished it was getting cold.
00:20:52
Speaker
Yes, we brought him 30 hot eggs. Actually, do you want these six? Because they're burning my hands. You see that Peter sort of reaches out a very mucky covered hand.
00:21:02
Speaker
Well, now go on then. I'll have a couple of eggs. Okay. How many would you like? ah
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, he fishes them out and tries to sort of brush them off, maybe he dips them in the water. You wouldn't happen to know... what was the name of that other magician, Zach? Remind me. I wrote, we met a silly magician in my notes, which is not helpful for this moment.
00:21:23
Speaker
Yeah, no, I was kind of going for broken and rebuilt man, but we can go a silly magician if you prefer. i don't even know if you asked his him his name, frankly, but it it is Hamish. Hamish Veraslo.
00:21:34
Speaker
We know because he walked up and introduced himself. You don't happen to know Hamish, do you? I just, we met him last night. Didn't talk a lot, but he seemed to have a similar kind of shtick where he was about like the showmanship, like sleight of hand magic.
00:21:47
Speaker
Uh, Zack, you want know Hamish? Yeah, Hamish does not like you. ah You... He came to this island. His tragic life story was he, ever since he was a boy, all he wanted to do was be ah a brilliant performing magician and he would pull coins from people's ears. and Guess what card they had?
00:22:05
Speaker
And he quickly realized that in a world where people can summon dragons and open portals in space, that his parlor tricks were never going to be as respected as he wanted. And he came to the island seeking refuge and seeking a new beginning.
00:22:20
Speaker
And that is when he met you, a promising young magician. Okay. Yeah. Oh, no, I do know of Hamish. Yeah. Um, we don't get along swimmingly. Um,
00:22:34
Speaker
He thinks I'm a bit of a ah better grade wizard than him, but I would say we're we're on par. I think his is more street magic and mine's more stage magic, but, you know, it's it's all for it's all magic in my case. And I reached out a hand and, well, when I shocked him by accident with my arcane fingers, then I think ah we went we sort of started off at ah on the wrong foot.
00:22:55
Speaker
But, no, I do know Hamish, but unfortunately we're not on the best of terms. You know... He was rather off-putting yesterday, so I think it speaks well of you that you don't get along with him, you know? Glimki would like you so much because Glimki would probably be like, let me buy your life rights and we'll put up a show and then we'll like set it to music.
00:23:17
Speaker
Man, if we find Glimki, I'm going to send him your way. You'll get along beautifully. This Glimki fellow sounds like quite the entrepreneur. He is. Out of nowhere, a couple days ago, he showed such a passion for side hustles.
00:23:33
Speaker
And I just, you know, it's nice to encourage your friend's dreams. So how long has your friend there, Glim, been missing? I don't know. i last saw him last night, I think. And then he just wasn't in his dome this morning.
00:23:46
Speaker
No one's seen him. There were flower petals strewn about, which is odd. He's a gardener, but why would there be flower petals in his room? Did he start growing flowers, maybe? Is he embarrassed? How would they grow? Is that why we can't find him? Like, maybe he started growing flowers, but did he finish growing flowers?
00:24:05
Speaker
I don't know. mean, he already has leaves in his hair. Maybe there's flowers there now, too. That's true. Okay, well, Peter, if you see someone with flowers in his hair... Actually, do you accept commissions?
00:24:19
Speaker
Well, it depends on what the job is, but potentially. Actually, I don't have very much money at all. But maybe we could work out a quid pro quo and you could sort of sprint about yours. You seem to go here as a student. I assume you're a round earther.
00:24:34
Speaker
ah've ah I've recently educated myself up into a higher position, thank you. And he points down at his robes where he sort of adorns the next level of stripes or what have you.
00:24:45
Speaker
Level two. It's like Star Trek rank six. But no, no, yes, i have I have been educated here and I have been born and raised here. So i I know my way around. So if there is anywhere that I could look, maybe if you could tell me where you've been, I could go and go on my way and have a little look for you.
00:25:04
Speaker
That would be tremendously helpful. Yes. so born and raised here, they're procreating the Round Earthers? Like on this island or in this camp, like in this compound? No, no, no.
00:25:16
Speaker
on On the island. Not that I wasn't conceived at the at the hot springs. No. I have a little bit of a, I mean, I won't get into it now, but yes, there's I was effectively born here and They've been very good to me. They've taught me their ways. And anyway, it's it's not for me to tell.
00:25:32
Speaker
let lets me Let me help you find your friend. Oh, that would be very nice. And as you say that, a distant bell goes off. It is signaling that it is 10 o'clock and that the morning session with Jar Arrith will be beginning very shortly. This is a daily part of your life here, something you have never missed.
Teachings and Inner Conflict
00:25:53
Speaker
And as soon as that happens, you sort of see like a shock in his eyes. Oh no, sorry, we've been talking for far too long and I've been playing my silly little mud. I'll help you look for your friend after this. I've got to go. And he wipes his hands on his like robes and oh no, look at this now. It's bloody state.
00:26:07
Speaker
And he gets the water and starts to sort of splashes it smears it around. he's like, oh no. And he just starts running off sort of whispering and muttering to himself. Oh, wait, did you know that they were like indoctrinating children here?
00:26:21
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know people live their whole lives here. I thought this was like a two-week program type thing. know. Like, I thought it was like kind of a sinister money scam thing, but now I'm realizing it's like a lifestyle cult.
00:26:35
Speaker
That poor man, Peter, he must have no money left. Oh, man. Oh, my God. Did he have money to begin with? Oh, my God. He's like an indentured servant. Oh no.
00:26:47
Speaker
Well, if we see him again, maybe we can, I don't know bring him with us? I really do think Glimki is going to want to side hustle him. Maybe that will like open his horizons up.
00:26:58
Speaker
I think Glimki could make this man into like a famous stage magician or whatever he wants to be. Glimki is very capable and he has lofty goals, so he's yet unproven, but let's see what he can do.
00:27:12
Speaker
We have to find him though. I'm actually starting to get like fairly worried because this isn't consistent of Glimki. I know. Do you think he would attend morning session? Should we go check that out or should we look for him other places?
00:27:25
Speaker
No, he doesn't like the round earth stuff. He hates it even more than I do. So I don't think he would. Yeah, that he gave me that feeling also that he really hates being here.
00:27:36
Speaker
Do you think he went out like outside of the compound then back towards the ship? I mean, he does like a good story. Maybe there's like a pub or something out in the dunes that he might have gone to looking for, you know, a tale, a bit of adventure.
00:27:52
Speaker
just can't believe he wouldn't leave a note. And what is up with those flowers? Was the flowers a note? Were they making like a word on the floor and we didn't read? Oh God, did we walk through it?
00:28:03
Speaker
did we mess up his oh love the rose petals he laid out for us? Oh no! He's not trying to propose, is he? You two had a thing for a moment there. No, I thought he had a thing with the captain. That's why I was thinking maybe you can ask her.
00:28:19
Speaker
Oh... Grimki puts out wild vibes. Okay, let's go talk to the captain and go check to see if the flowers are making a word. Okay. Yeah, I will say do run down the hill.
00:28:32
Speaker
Maybe you walk. What's the urgency? Slow down. You walk down the hill, back into the basin proper, and the largest, well, second largest dome, in the entire compound is the personal residence of Jar Arrith.
00:28:51
Speaker
And as you are walking towards, we'll say, the residential section where Glimki's dome is tucked away, the door opens and the captain, Zoralo Depthspane, steps out, followed by Jar Arrith, of course.
00:29:07
Speaker
Zoralo, this dwarven woman, and Jarrah, this skinny elven man with a spray tan complexion and miscolored roots and just blindingly white veneers, steps out behind her and he says, Now, I believe everything we've talked about will be taken care of soon as we can assemble the requisite wood and nails and what have you. We'll have your ship right as rain.
00:29:32
Speaker
and I, in return, will receive many more portraits. And the captain says, well, again, I don't know much about the portraits, but we'll be glad to be on our way. Thank you, captain.
00:29:43
Speaker
Thank you. I'm the i'm the captain. You're the captain now. Aye, you're the captain now. He says, ah we don't captain Phillips post here. Thank you kindly. And they split up and he sees the Tyrfian says, now you better hurry up. We got the morning session starting soon. and It's a doozy. We're talking about the har horizon problem.
00:30:02
Speaker
There's a problem with the horizon? Oh, there's a big, pardon of my French, fucking problem with the horizon. Am Faunalan's eyes keep darting between his chest and his eyes.
00:30:16
Speaker
He's like flat chested, isn't he? yeah Yeah, very much so. ah There's not much that he is a very lithe individual. There is not much excess, we'll say fat for lack of any other words on his person. knees he is there He definitely does not have breasts.
00:30:31
Speaker
I will say that does not have much extra flesh anywhere for that matter. Well, thank you, Master Arith. And may I say, I've seen Clay's portrait of you, and it is a vision.
00:30:42
Speaker
Isn't it, though? it yeah It's really got me thinking about some life changes I might want to make. Make them. For the good of society. I suppose I will.
00:30:54
Speaker
Are we mandated to go to this session thing? You are expected as part of your general attendance here at the Learning Center. There's the morning session and the afternoon session, as well as the various optional sessions throughout the day with breakout rooms and bonus presentations.
00:31:10
Speaker
One such presentation tonight by our dear Peter, who's been working on Some, uh, well, he hasn't told me too much about it, frankly, but he he thinks he's found definitive proof that Xav is round, which I already knew, and most folk with common sense know by now, but sometimes folks need more than just common sense.
00:31:33
Speaker
Cool. But you don't know what his presentation actually is about? Oh, he's always playing in the mud and doing his little magic spells and... I assume it's something to do with that, but I'm always welcome to be surprised.
00:31:48
Speaker
That's nice. What's up with him? He grew up here? Oh, yes, he grew up here. i found him in a basket in the water and more or less raised him as my son ever since. And he's always saying, Papa, I would like to go and see the larger world. Please let me off the island. And I said, no, boy, it is too dangerous out there for a simple minded fellow such as yourself.
00:32:09
Speaker
You need to stay here and keep learning about how the world is round. Otherwise, you might fall off it. He's not a prisoner.
00:32:19
Speaker
Yes, I think conventional parenting wisdom is that children should be kept in one place forever and never allowed to leave, right? So it sounds like you're doing everything correctly. You must be a mother yourself.
00:32:30
Speaker
ah Sorry, did I cross the line there? ah ah You just seemed very knowledgeable about parenthood. I was not trying to imply anything, but you seem upset and now I'm upset because of it.
00:32:42
Speaker
Well, actually, okay. No, yes, I'm looking for my son. He's about half my height. He has leaves in his hair. Where is he Have you seen him? I need to parent him properly or something. Ah, Mr. Treefellow.
00:32:56
Speaker
yeah Yes, yes. yes Mistletree Fellow will be in the Reformation Room for the foreseeable future. Sometimes newcomers come with their far-fangled, flat-zive ideals, and you can just tell they've got deep roots, and I find some time in the Reformation Room can sort of, uh... Well, it's sort of a herbicide, if you will. Sort of kills any of those free-thinking ideas, and really brings one online to the the truth of the world, so...
00:33:25
Speaker
He's there for now. We'll let him out in a day or possibly a week, whenever his mind is sufficiently altered. No, it's not enough punishment. Let me go in there and I will give him the hot spoon. We're going to clear it away and he will be far more open minded. He needs proper discipline, you know, as a parent yourself.
00:33:43
Speaker
He shakes his hand and says, no, no can do. Reformation room works best when it is that person alone with their thoughts and my lectures. I find if you bring in more than one individual, they can muddy the waters. They can use each other for emotional support to try and get through the ordeal. But we can't be having that.
00:34:01
Speaker
Okay, and then the counterpoint. I was going to say so we can avoid it. Yes, where is it? Mm-hmm. Don't you worry about that. You keep asking questions, you'll find your way there soon enough. I promise you that. Why don't we head into the morning session, talk about the horizon problem, and then I believe there is a lovely egg race this afternoon.
00:34:20
Speaker
It's going to be a delight, fun, laughs all around. Everyone's going to have a good time. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye. Clay. Clay. Yeah. We need to ask somebody who knows where the Reformation Room is.
00:34:33
Speaker
Do you think Peter might know all that he might be preparing for his presentation? He's literally the only person we know who knows this place that isn't Marlin Whisperhand's partner, and I don't want to talk to him again.
00:34:46
Speaker
Okay. That's fine. I didn't want to talk to you either. Oh, Mr. Kronick, I had no idea you were there. It's your invisible cape. This doesn't need to be a thing. And he just walks past you into the learning center dome.
00:35:00
Speaker
Okay, yes, let's ask Peter. Where? Okay. Isn't Mr. Kronick an investigator like Marlon is? Maybe he could help us find Glimke. But I'm worried he's sexist, too. Oh, you know what? It's probably fine. Yeah, you're right. We'll circle back around to him.
00:35:15
Speaker
At least we know where Glimke is. He's just being minorly tortured. It's fine. Yeah. We need to find him and get him out of there, though. Urgently, yes. Is it believable that I could be Glimke's mother?
00:35:28
Speaker
Um, no? Thank you. Okay, good. but Yes, good. Okay, good. You're more the older sister type, I think. Older?
00:35:39
Speaker
I am older. But, yeah. Anyway, I need to up my skincare routine. I mean, you're both just we had so And so young. You're like baby. You're too, like, 300 years old.
00:35:50
Speaker
I'm 101. young <unk> like a baby to like three hundred years old dr didn Give or take 20 years, 20 to 40. I forget what I wrote in my backstory, but I'm sub 150. Yeah, that's very old.
00:36:04
Speaker
Glumke's also very old, which I found out recently. Yeah, she's like a little old man. and know. Okay, let's go to the morning session. Okay. Wait, we're going to the morning session? Okay, let's go. Yes, because we need to ask Peter where Reformation Room is.
00:36:19
Speaker
Okay. Okay. The two of you link arms and walk into the entrance of the Jar-Arath Learning Center. It is of course, this large presentation room, like a university lecture hall that wraps around. It's this big circular chamber, and there's just rows of benches that are...
00:36:39
Speaker
stacked up on top of each other leading down to the central stage. Some of the glitz and glamour from the opening session is absent in this presentation. There's no smoke. There's no sudden appearances, but Jar-Areth is standing at the center of the room. And as the two of you sit down, he picks up a piece of paper and he says, now who here can tell me what is this piece of paper?
00:37:12
Speaker
Miss Campbell. It's a piece of paper. ah Wrong. What? It's flat. Flat is some people would have you believe the world is.
00:37:24
Speaker
Now, Miss Campbell, why don't you come down here? Okay. And you you descend down the stairs and stand on the stage with him. And he kind of stands a foot away from you.
00:37:35
Speaker
And sort of at eye level, he puts the piece of paper between the two of you. So kind of just like your eyes are just poking out, staring straight at each other. Now, you can see me, right? Yeah.
00:37:46
Speaker
And I can see you, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Now, isn't that interesting? We can see each other across a great flat surface. Huh.
00:37:58
Speaker
Now, try this one on for size. And he takes a ah one of the globes that you see just everywhere on this facility. And he picks up on this globes and he holds it between the two of you, blocking your face from his.
00:38:12
Speaker
Now, how about now? Can you see me? Um, yeah, can see you're holding the globe in between us. Okay, but can you see my eyes?
00:38:23
Speaker
No. Correctamundo, why don't you go take a seat? Now, this is what we refer to as the har horizon problem. If Xav were a flat world, presumably I could walk up to the coast and I could look across the El Sween Sea and I could see the entirety of the world laid out before me. I could see all the way to Nil Valdir, see them little dwarf fellows running around on their little mountain top.
00:38:47
Speaker
Wouldn't that be something, huh? But guess what? You can't see that far because the world's not flat. It's curved. And so that's why you can't see them.
00:38:58
Speaker
Has anybody here looked across the ocean recently, seen a bunch of dwarves running around a mountain? Peter, you seen any dwarves running around a mountain recently? ah No, no, I haven't seen any. I i i tend not to look out the into the sea. It scares me a little bit, but...
00:39:12
Speaker
Good lad, you let that ocean scare you, stay right here, keep filling that brain up with knowledge. One day you'll know enough to go out and spread the good word, but not yet, son, not yet. Now, that's basically the meat and potatoes of this whole thing, but I'm gonna stretch it out over another 45 minutes to an hour and a half, if that's good with
Secrets and Plans
00:39:27
Speaker
everybody.
00:39:27
Speaker
No notes? All right, perfect. And he just talks for so long with these annoying circular arguments that really don't go anywhere past what he covered in the first three minutes about how the world cannot be flat because you would see across it, surely.
00:39:45
Speaker
And as your minds start to just like hum and buzz and you feel just like a bit of blood trickling out of your ear, he says, all right, that's all. Everybody grab some lunch. Afterwards, we'll have egg races and then be back here for the afternoon session.
00:39:59
Speaker
I call it, what's up with clouds? And people begin to filter out of the learning center. Oh, Peter! Peter!
00:40:10
Speaker
Peter! Oh, oh, hello there. Um, how did you find your friend? Oh, he's in the Reformation Room. Oh, he's got ideas that need to be taken out of his head, I understand.
00:40:23
Speaker
Have you been in the Reformation Room often? i yeah yes Yes and no, I have fond and not so fond memories of the place. But if he's only been there a day, he might be out shortly.
00:40:36
Speaker
It depends on how tight-knit those little ideas are. if they' If they're really bedded in there, he could be in there a week. But if he's know if he's open-minded, he could be out maybe tomorrow. He's unbelievably stubborn and we need to see him now. So could you, would you just, would you just be, would you just be wonderful and show us the way to the room?
00:40:55
Speaker
um And he looks around, mainly at Jar. Well, I'm not really supposed to show anyone. But I'm sure you could have one little visit just to say that you know where he is and he could tell you that he's is on the mend.
00:41:09
Speaker
i'm going to I'm going to hop in here with a little bit of ah ah geography. You actually don't know where the Reformation Room is. Oh. Nobody... it is not in the basin.
00:41:22
Speaker
It is not in the Learning Center compound. You have spent some time there. You are aware that people are taken there. You don't remember... How you got there or how you got back.
00:41:37
Speaker
You remember getting sleepy and when you woke up you were in the Reformation room. But and then same thing with your return you one day after some time in there woke up back in your sleeping dome.
00:41:49
Speaker
That's awful. I'd i'd love to take you there for a visit, but I don't know where it actually is. You see, they take you there after you have a little nap and then you wake up there and, you know, bright lights and and of course, Jar is there talking to you.
00:42:03
Speaker
But, you know, you listen for a bit and you you nod and you agree and then you get to take, you know, you you go sleepy again and then you wake up in your bed. So, I mean, i I'm sure it's around here somewhere, but you really shouldn't go looking for it.
00:42:15
Speaker
Holy shit. Yeah.
00:42:18
Speaker
This place is crazy! So we have no idea where Glimki might be. Just that he was taken in the middle of the night.
00:42:29
Speaker
Oh, don't worry. He's safe. He's perfectly fine. His physical form would not be harmed in any way. The thing is, we like Glimki's brain the way it is. So I don't think that the Reformation Room is a good fit for our group.
00:42:43
Speaker
Ah, well... Might inquire why you came to the island in the first place? Are you a snitch, Peter? Peter, are you a snitch or are you cool? He like looks at his feet and then looks around.
00:42:56
Speaker
like I could be cool. Have you heard of Airdenine? It's a little ways across the El Swincy. I've heard of it. Unfortunately, I've heard about the poor education system as well.
00:43:07
Speaker
Teaching people about the conical system. It doesn't make any sense. You see, when you look across, did you let me get the piece of paper. Hang on.
00:43:17
Speaker
And he comes back with the paper. Now, look, I'm sure you're listening to Jar there, but ah you look, and he tries to hold it up against your eyes, Clay. He's like, look, now tell me, can you see me? I can see you.
00:43:28
Speaker
Now see, look, the people over there, i mean, oh, look, I can't do it. I can't do justice the way Jar does it. You know, he has that certain charisma. Anyway, yes, I've heard of the place. Minus the the quarrel with the education system. The point is, they have a princess and she's very well liked.
00:43:44
Speaker
Her name is Calista Galtries and she's been kidnapped by somebody. Also by Claire a little bit. But just in general, she's missing. But it's it's like a classic adventure. You like adventure stories, don't you? You've been trapped on this island all your life. You must, you know, yearn for a taste of adventure. The point is, we're on an adventure right now to rescue the princess.
00:44:07
Speaker
It's very epic and very heroic. It does sound quite the story, but as Jar says, keep your nose in the books and not looking out onto the horizon or at the sea.
00:44:18
Speaker
Don't even step on the coastline. But I mean, yeah, I mean, I stay inside a lot. So you're missing a princess, but you kidnapped her and now you want her back. And Glimki, this fellow, did he help steal her? and And I'm a little confused. It sounds like you might be the bad guys here. I'm not entirely sure.
00:44:39
Speaker
funnel and it sounds like he's a snitch. we need No, no, no. He said he was cool. No, no, no. Look, I was just trying to wrap my head around it. I think I don't understand. But look, I can still be cool. And he tries to like, you know, he like shrugs his shoulders and yeah.
00:44:54
Speaker
Okay. Okay. You look cool. I think a cool guy would find out where the Reformation Center is, the Reformation Room, and then tell us so that we can extract our friend and go find the princess before they warp his brain using some kind of perverse magic or psychological control hmm i would be going against all of the teachings of my entire life and i don't really know if i trust you i've met you for about don't know about an hour ago and don't you want to be cool i do want to be cool what do you really want beyond being cool what do you what's your price you know
00:45:29
Speaker
I haven't really thought about it. No one's, you know, a lot of people tell me what to do. I haven't had the chance to say, you know, no one really asks me what I want to do. I mean, I've got this touch of the arcane about me and I really, I think I could do wonderful shows.
00:45:42
Speaker
You know, there's lots of wizards out there. You hear slaying dragons and things, but I'm not sure I want all that. I want to just provide entertainment. Do you know, there's a really big world out there, flat round, whatever you call it. The point is there's a world with about a billion stages and people who,
00:45:58
Speaker
like to be entertained. And also they serve food that aren't just eggs. Yes. You're gonna love it. We can get you onto the boat that we're gonna take, okay? You just gotta help us a little bit here.
00:46:10
Speaker
o You see him start to sort of like twiddle his thumbs and sort of shuffle his feet. Your friend, i mean I didn't meet him, but he is he, he cool?
00:46:22
Speaker
Unfortunately, he's so cool that he makes me feel like a loser constantly. He's like the coolest guy in the world. Don't tell him I said that, but he's amazing. Okay, okay. Maybe then I could have a little nose around and see if I could find where they take people who have stupid ideas.
00:46:41
Speaker
No, cool ideas. Cool cool ideas. Yeah, yeah. I forgot. Yeah, let me let me let me have a little look there. Of course, it'll have to be top secret and I can't tell anyone because I'd be going against Jar's teachings there.
00:46:55
Speaker
Let me have a little look for you. Thank you, Peter. That would be very cool. Yes. Hey, we got to get this guy out of here. Okay. So ah what what are you doing? Peter?
00:47:06
Speaker
Yes? We need a secret place to meet and discuss. What is the best, most secret place for us to meet and discuss? o ah Zach, do you have any suggestions that would be a little bit out of the way?
00:47:19
Speaker
I mean, there's always the hot springs. I don't know about you, but I went to i went to a school that, oh man, you won't, I do know about you, actually. It was right by a Tim Hortons. That's a Canadian coffee chain. And that was always the place to hang out during, light if you if you were allowed to go off campus.
00:47:36
Speaker
but oh We're going to Tim Hortons. You best believe we're going to Tim Hortons. The hot spring is kind of the Tim Hortons of the Jar r Earth Learning Center. There's not really a lot of great spots to see people hang out with people. It's either either the disc golf course, really.
00:47:48
Speaker
Maybe the amphitheater if one's looking for, you know, A little bit more of an audience. you You have your own dome, of course. It's not quite a tower. You have maybe asked for one, but it goes against the zoning rules of the Jararth Learning Center.
00:48:03
Speaker
So it's a dome. reckon, yeah, we'll go there. Okay. It'll have to be super duper sacred, but you could meet me at my little residential dome. Okay. Okay. How long will you meet? When shall we meet?
00:48:15
Speaker
Well I've never really had to nosedle around because I've ah've really been quite happy here. But you're kind of trying to convince me and I i don't understand. But i've I've got this yearning so i really think I'll just give it a go. And I don't know maybe give me an hour and i I'll turn up again.
00:48:30
Speaker
and And I let the guys know whereabouts the the dome is. And then I'll hopefully be back. And if I'm not there let yourselves in it should be unlocked. And just don't go into my things.
00:48:40
Speaker
Okay, we wink. Won't go into your things. Don't worry. All right, we'll see you later. I don't really trust that, but okay. I'm going to be as quick as I can so I can be there back before you guys.
00:48:52
Speaker
Okay, and then I run off. Oh shit, we didn't do a blood pact. ah Oh, well. How are we going to trust There's just no way to trust him now. I'm going to snitch right now. No!
00:49:04
Speaker
Okay, so the two of you go looking for for his dome spot to to meet up, to rendezvous. Peter, where are you going? I will probably head over to is there a main building? Oh, this would be it. There's like a few like administrative offices, like kind of wrapped around. But yeah, this is this is the main building for sure. Okay.
00:49:27
Speaker
I probably would have been through here a few times. So I'll either head to like something like a HR or an office if there is that. I'd say as per your knowledge, you you were a young kid at one point here running around trying to get broken people with way too much money and not enough common sense to like play hide and seek.
00:49:46
Speaker
You've been through here. There's nothing really of that nature necessarily in the the learning dome, but there is Jars' personal chambers.
00:49:59
Speaker
I'd say if I've not really been there and I've had you know time to think about the other places that I've been in, the fo if there's an area that I've never been to, I'd probably head there. So if that's Jar's personal cause, I would sort of beeline to that, maybe while he's still busy, sort of finishing up from the show.
00:50:15
Speaker
Sure. And so you do. He is, you see, talking with this large half-ogre woman named Hallie, who's basically the closest thing this place has to security in case anybody gets a little too vocal about how the world is actually flat. She kind of steps in. You see Jar is chatting with her, and she's just kind of looking down on him and smiling with a a lazy smile.
00:50:38
Speaker
And you slip past and head to his dome. Okay. It is, as I mentioned, it is large, larger than the regular dome, smaller than the Learning Center dome, but it is nice. It's, you know, it's painted a ah nice blue color and has a simple wooden door barring entry.
00:50:58
Speaker
Okay. Can I just try and open it and head on in? It is locked. Would I know of the key he uses or like if it's a combination or?
00:51:08
Speaker
it would It would be a key. Yeah. He keeps it on his on his person, you presume. Is there or would I know of any other way in? There's a skylight. How tall is the dome?
00:51:20
Speaker
So now imagine a dome, right? Yes. Now imagine a big dome. Whoa. yeah Yeah, yeah. I can see. i see. we're we're We're connecting right here. no Okay.
00:51:31
Speaker
It is, I'd say, 15 to 20 feet tall at the center. Okay. Can I do some magic? I would love to see some.
00:51:44
Speaker
Okay. He sort of looks up at the dome, looks around, and he i' would say he heads around to like the the most secretive side, and you see his sort of clay hardened hands. He brushes them together and rubs some of the clay flakes off, and then you see that his fingers sort of start to turn purple.
00:52:00
Speaker
And he sort of hovers them over himself, but he focuses on his feet, and I ah sort of cast Adjust Density, which I will make myself lighter. Amazing. My weight is half of normal, my speed increases by 10 feet, and I can jump twice as far as normal.
00:52:17
Speaker
Oh my gosh. So with that, I would like to sort take ah a little bit of a back step, feeling sort of light on my feet, and then take a run up and try to run up the side of the dome, and maybe jump the first bit until it gets a little bit flatter, and then traverse the top.
00:52:31
Speaker
Amazing. You do so. You spring up and we'll say like in three steps you are standing at the top of this dome and yeah there's this little glass skylight that fills it with some natural light during the day and yeah you you feel exposed but no one seems to have noticed you for the time being.
00:52:54
Speaker
Okay can I approach the skylight and open it and drop myself in? Yeah. You know what? I'm going to say it is like a like a solid sheet of glass. Okay. you might have to break it unless you got another and adjust glass type spell, but it's not, it doesn't seem thick. You think it'll leave a mess for sure.
00:53:17
Speaker
And obviously be some property damage, but you'll it'll get you in at least. Hmm. I take out a lump of clay from my one of my pockets and I ball it up so it's like nice and hard.
00:53:30
Speaker
And then I look at the window and I look around at the island I go say, you've fucking kept me here for two fucking long, dad. And I fucking chuck the clay into the window and smash it.
00:53:42
Speaker
The glass just yeah collapses out the the light. It's already pouring through, but it's unfiltered now. Unfiltered light. And you are able to step in.
00:53:55
Speaker
I imagine you're still like a little lighter than normal. It's a concentration spell or up to a minute, but I guess I'm concentrating on it. So... So yeah, we'll say if you like just like step in, you kind of like slowly descend into Jarr's personal chambers.
00:54:09
Speaker
And it is like you've been in here supervised, you know, personal meetings, but you've never had unmonitored access to this space.
00:54:20
Speaker
And you look around and there is a very nice bed, this feather bed. There's this beautiful wooden desk. It's just carved from this big piece of elven lumber yeah bits of paper there is a little bookshelf mostly filled with jars personal texts that he's written he's written many books on the subject and there is this very nice it seems to be made from the same wood as the desk uh upright piano pressed up against one wall and you're thinking it's a dome how can an upright piano be pressed up against the wall and you would be right to think that and then more information on that okay
00:55:01
Speaker
I thought that was going somewhere. i was like, is it a curved piano or is there something behind the piano? I'm going to investigate the piano because that was weird. And I hope that was something rather than just a joke.
00:55:14
Speaker
It's hard to tell with me. Yeah. yeah Yeah, like said, it's this beautiful antique piano carved from this rich elven lumber. It's got these glistening white ivory keys and also some black ones.
00:55:28
Speaker
don't know if you know how pianos work, but there's usually both. And there are two pieces of sheet music placed upon it. One is entitled... The Lie, and it is about just like one-page piece of music, and the other is entitled The Truth, and there are the bars, but there are no notes.
00:55:49
Speaker
Oh, man. I'm going to say because I'm like somewhat stage performer, I maybe would have tinkered on a piano in my youth.
00:56:00
Speaker
There's not much to do here. Once you've played the disc golf course, you really start to run out of things to do on the island. And so some personal like private piano lessons under Jar's watch would probably have happened at some point.
00:56:16
Speaker
I'd say, you know, some basic music theory. Okay, so i walk up to the piano, the strange piano that I shouldn't because I've been in here before. And I look at the sheet music and I say, oh yeah, the lie.
00:56:27
Speaker
I've lived that, i tell you. And i flick the cover off of the keys and then I read the sheet music and play the notes sort very quickly and quietly of the lie.
00:56:39
Speaker
you play it no performance check necessary you know give me a performance check but not for the reason you think it's more like a history or like knowledge maybe a performance check but uh give me you can use your intelligence instead of charisma we're getting zany with it today on bard soup my first roll is a natural 20 so i will take that welcome to the show welcome to the show how auspicious nice performance is minus one That's fine. You play it still very well.
00:57:07
Speaker
You play it and nothing happens. i don't know if you're expecting something to happen, but nothing happens. It is a piano. It plays the notes. There's nothing, you know, it's not like you you hit like ah a weird dead note and you open it up and there's ah a skeleton and then the skeleton points in direction and there's like a key on a wall. Nothing like that. that Hey, I know what you're thinking. That's not happening. So calm down. There's no skeleton.
00:57:29
Speaker
But you play through the song, this one sheet, one page sheet music, and it is this minor song. And you look at the key signature and you see that there are four flats, which tell you this is in F minor.
00:57:46
Speaker
I look at that and then look over at the truth and just see what key signature that is in. There are no sharps or flats, which we'll say with 19, a different key signature.
00:57:59
Speaker
Okay. i take them off and flip them over just to check the backside of the paper. Blank. Oh man, I'm wasting time. Messing out with this piano. I would say with your performance check, evaluating this music based off its merits, assuming that it is not merely an omission, you would assume that the key signature of the truth would either be C major or A minor.
00:58:29
Speaker
Those would be the two key signatures without any sharps or flats. Can I play the like play the notes of the lie, but in C major? You can.
00:58:40
Speaker
And does the skeleton pop out? This time a skeleton does pop out and he says, I'm not supposed to be here! And then he disappears again. oh ah not Glimke's skeleton, is it?
00:58:51
Speaker
It is. It is. sad Like he's dead. I wasn't kidding about the CIA thing. He's gone. He was doing all the propaganda, if you recall. Always saying like, oh, America first. And I'm like, what do you mean? Weird thing for Glimke to say. stuff. Yeah, but it is a difficult, like at ah more a more difficult adjustment, especially to just like kind of transcribe on the spot but you manage like claw your way through it playing this key this in a in a c major nothing happens no no skeletons i was lying about the skeleton i'm sorry i won't do it again i will i will take them both fold them up and put my in my pocket and i will leave the piano okay i will quickly head into is there any rooms i would have never been allowed to be in here before
00:59:36
Speaker
It's a dome-shaped system. it's open. I will say, not a lot of dividing walls, but going back to the piano, there does seem to be like a solid wall behind. The piano is not curved. It appears to be a rarity amongst the dome-shaped architecture of your youth.
00:59:52
Speaker
A right angle behind the piano. Can I push the piano in any way? Yeah. you are You attempt to, and it it does not move. It is almost like it is bolted into place.
01:00:05
Speaker
Oh man, there's a puzzle here and I'm not getting it. boom I don't get it either. now lovingly sitting here like, yeah, I don't know. Can I roll some sort of investigation check to give me a clue?
01:00:22
Speaker
Yeah, just give me like a basic, just say like an intelligence check. You're a smart guy. o the and That's a 10 in total. C major didn't do anything.
01:00:34
Speaker
Oh, yeah. But A minor. Yeah. Also is a key signature with no sharps or flats. then I go, hey, let's try the other one and then continue to play the same thing, but in the different key signature.
01:00:48
Speaker
You shift everything up for semitones. You play the song with no flats. And as you play the final note, the piano starts to push up against you.
01:00:59
Speaker
As a pair of skeletons push it away from the wall, revealing a hidden passage and you can see a set of stairs leading down beneath the dome um and i poke my head around and say oh dad you were a crafty one This whole time behind the piano.
01:01:23
Speaker
I mean, it always, it looked strange, but you never let me play A minor. I've always wanted to play A he minor. You kept me away from that key signature for so long. And now I know why. And I, I run in without thinking of the other two.
01:01:37
Speaker
Whoa. All right. It is this set of stairs carved into the natural stone of the island, and they spiral down and down and down.
01:01:52
Speaker
And it goes on for several minutes, I'd say, just like descending deeper and deeper beneath the learning center. Until the stairs end and the ground flattens out and you step into this large subterranean cavern.
01:02:11
Speaker
There's a little bit of play in the floors and you look down and you see that there's deposits of clay. This is a clay rich island and this is a cave with a lot of clay. There are these...
01:02:23
Speaker
Bits of mineral-rich water that drip down from the ceiling, forming little pools throughout the space. But perhaps most interestingly, there's a set of tracks with a simple minecart placed upon them next to a lever.
01:02:38
Speaker
And you see that they sort of just wind off into the distance further than your human eyes can see in this dark, unilluminated space. I'd say there's parts of me that want to push on, but then there's that sort of moment I realised that the other two were desperate for their friend and i don't know if I'll have the chance to go back and get them now.
01:03:00
Speaker
But I think as much as I want answers, I also want to do good by them. So taking it in, I run back up the stairs. ah try and reverse what I played or play the same thing to try and replace the piano.
01:03:13
Speaker
I tidy up. I'm giving a lot of information. I tidy up as much of the glass as possible, and I remove my ball of clay, and I try and leave the front door if possible. Yeah, you unfortunately will have to unlock the door yeah and leave it unlocked to depart out the door, but you clean up the glass as good as you can.
01:03:35
Speaker
Hopefully, he just... thinks he forgot to lock up behind him or something else in the time you've known him, which is all your time.
01:03:47
Speaker
Sort of presents this folksy charm, this salt of the earth kind of guy, but there is a intelligence and shrewdness within him that you are fully aware of. It's the kind of thing that comes from breaking ah a window as a kid and trying to lie about it or stealing an extra, well, not quite cookie, but if you could turn ah just like a cookie dough ball, because if you cook the cookie, then it gets flat and that's sacrilegious. Yeah. Stealing an extra one of those that you never could really get away with much. So you just hope that maybe there's one time you can get away with it.
01:04:19
Speaker
And you unlock the door, slip out into the early afternoon. And it seems like the egg races are fully on. You look over at the disc golf course and there's bunch of people with spoons and more of those little round eggs. Yeah.
01:04:36
Speaker
in their mouths just running across oh oh what fun and there's maybe a little tinge of sadness and you realize things are changing maybe you're growing up maybe these outsiders are poisoning your mind something is changing because normally you'd be there you'd be you'd be running with a spoon and an egg in your mouth and having the best time ever you do it every three days here but like it's always fun but you hurry back to your personal dome and let yourself in and you find clay and faunelin doing What?
01:05:07
Speaker
We're rifling through his things. I'm sitting on his bed eating an egg.
01:05:15
Speaker
How many do you have left?
01:05:18
Speaker
I'd say four out of 24. Oh my god.
01:05:23
Speaker
So many eggs. I feel like we probably went through a phase where we were bored before we resorted to the rifling where we were like throwing the eggs into each other's mouths from across the dome. ah Yeah, we missed lunch, so you know...
01:05:35
Speaker
Yeah, we have some cold eggs here. Be ashamed to let them go to waste. And we're rifling through his stuff. And we're rifling through his stuff. Peter, you walk in and you see just like bits of smushed egg up against the base of the walls.
01:05:49
Speaker
And Faunelin is just fully in your dresser. and All your clothes are the same. They're all just white robes with brass accents. But she is she is going through every single one of them.
01:06:01
Speaker
And I burst through and I'm like, guys, guys, I told you not to look at me robes and my things. And why is there egg everywhere? Why did you wink when you said it if you didn't want us to actually do it?
01:06:11
Speaker
You winked. I didn't wink. I do someone winked. That's my bad. I knew somebody winked. Anyway, why would you care if we go through your drawers? It's literally 100 of the same nightgown. And he runs over and starts to like bundle them up and shove them like He's like, they're personal in anyway.
01:06:26
Speaker
And you didn't go in that drawer over there, did you? What's in that drawer over there? No, don't do it. And he runs and blocks it. Anyway, i found a secret tunnel in my dear dad's dome.
01:06:38
Speaker
Now went on running into it sort of brazenly. And well, then I thought of you and your friend and I couldn't leave you. So I don't know if now is the right time, but I tried to clean up after myself. And well, I'd like to take you there when we have an opportunity.
01:06:51
Speaker
Good work. Yes. Excellent work. Outstandingly good work. I wasn't there, but I feel like it was very cool. Very cool of you. oh there was a piano and skeletons and I had to play in different keys and I finally got to play in A minor. and I mean, it's a whole story, but I can tell you on the way.
01:07:08
Speaker
Very well done, Peter. must say, you're taking to this rebellion thing like a duck to water. It's really, it it looks great on you. You're glowing. and you start to see him contemplate, like, is this the right thing to do?
01:07:24
Speaker
Are you feeling morally conflicted? Well, it's been 20, 22 years here and I mean, and I've decided, I mean, there's things that have led up to this moment, of course, but now I'm changing it all in one day, it seems. and I've never done anything like this.
01:07:40
Speaker
Well, you know, if my home hadn't been set on fire... I wouldn't have found my way here and met my very good friends.
01:07:51
Speaker
And I would never know the truth about the world. So sometimes change is abrupt and scary, but you've just got to get through the scary bit so that you can get to the rewarding bit.
01:08:01
Speaker
And I think you're well on your way. so keep being brave. You're doing great. And you see like a little smile crack in the side of it, so that little tiny little smile sort oh, okay then. That's a touching story you've got there.
01:08:14
Speaker
Thank you. I'm actually outstanding. I'm really amazing myself here because I only started doing this be a better friend to people and be nice to people thing like two days ago. And I think that I've found my calling recently as well.
01:08:27
Speaker
Well, I'm glad I've met you now. You should be very grateful. So when can we go into the tunnels? Uh, would, question for Zach, would Jar be taking part of the egg race?
01:08:40
Speaker
He never misses one. Okay. Well, then, while they're running around their spherical eggs, I think we might have time to run over there now. We'd have to be very quick.
01:08:51
Speaker
Yeah, let's go now. Let's go. Okay. Sneaky style. I'll let you leave first, because I don't trust you in here anymore. oh I want to know what's in the drawer. I'm nosy.
01:09:04
Speaker
Okay, let's go The three of you sneak out across the the campus of the Jararth Learning Center and enter this large dome. And there you step in and Clay, you glance up and you just see shattered glass at the at the top.
01:09:20
Speaker
And yeah, it's this nice office that I described at once and I won't describe again, dear listener. If you weren't listening 47 minutes ago, then joke's on you, man. I don't know.
01:09:31
Speaker
Be better. Okay, now, guys, hurry on in and I'll have to shut up the door and look, head over onto the piano and i'll I'll show you how it it all works. I run over and play the same thing and hopefully it reactivates the piano. Yeah, once again, he plays this this sad tune and as he plays the final note, you are shocked to see ah two two little skeletons go, yeah, and they they push the piano open. Should they sneak up?
01:10:02
Speaker
It's a living! and And a passageway is opened. See, no, they didn't speak the first time. I genuinely thought they were little statues, but um apparently... Okay, now you two, don't snitch on me.
01:10:15
Speaker
Oh, well, I was going to suggest, just so that we know that no snitching occurs. Well, Clay, what were you going to say? Oh, no. was going to ask the skeletons to be cool.
01:10:28
Speaker
Give me a dollar! No. And then no promises! Dollars are flat and round. Isn't that blasphemy? Why do you think I'm dead?
01:10:40
Speaker
ah How about a couple of eggs and I grab the remaining eggs and I shove them into their like mouth and like across their jaw, like across their bony teeth. Yeah, they spit them out and then stick them in their eye sockets yeah and then start like walking around Oh, look at me, I've got eyes!
01:10:56
Speaker
Okay, they seem cool. ah But yes, before we start, we should do a pact. Just so no one snitches on anyone. Outstanding idea, Claire.
01:11:07
Speaker
What kind of pact were you thinking there? So we typically do a classic blood, spit, or piss pact. Was it blood, sweat? Sweat is interesting. Sweat could work.
01:11:18
Speaker
I mean, sweat sounds like the most nice bodily sort of fluid. And I like take a hand and put it under my armpit and like wipe it out and then put it out.
01:11:29
Speaker
Okay, then I'll do a spit and I spit in my hand. Okay, I'll do blood and piss. Just to cover all the bases. And you shake hands. I won't say what comes next.
01:11:40
Speaker
You shake hands. It's a high five. Three way high five.
01:11:46
Speaker
The true bird soup experience. yeah In a collision of flesh and liquid, the pact is sealed. There's like a puddle in his room now. it'll dig A Dig in a... He'll know exactly who's here. Okay, in we go.
01:12:04
Speaker
Welcome to Fantasy Pants, an actual play RPG podcast. The network won't like me saying this. Damn it. The Tithos tragedy was the result of nothing natural.
Terrorism Reflection
01:12:17
Speaker
It was an act of deliberate terrorism. We don't know anything except that we are and we are scared. But as always I choose to believe in the power of our luminaries.
01:12:30
Speaker
I will put my faith in the best of our worlds. And we must face the storm again.
01:12:38
Speaker
The beacon of light. That's our role. Then I'm shy. What are you doing? What are you talking about? You make us so much fucking better than me, don't you?
01:12:51
Speaker
You are... Weak! Take him! You have to remember! You have to remember! Look at the toy! Look at the toy, everyone! It's just the beginning, isn't it?
01:13:03
Speaker
Monster! Monster! Can I take your hand? Roll for initiative! These lights, they don't burn out at night Did you crit your pants?
01:13:16
Speaker
Are you kidding me? I crit my pants. Oh, I can smell it. crit my pants.
01:13:22
Speaker
Those cozy fucking beds at the pale moonlight. They're incredible. You
Descending into the Unknown
01:13:26
Speaker
want that place? Stop it, it's cool. It's not cool. You're fucking so dead. Wait a second, did you come with that? Shut up.
01:13:34
Speaker
I like it. Dude, this is the most wild fucking fight, you see? Shut up. Jason Taylor does not shut. The shirts are off. The lights.
01:13:58
Speaker
It is, like I said, you you descend down these natural stairs. There's a bit of like a ready readiness to them. And you descend for several minutes. You can tell you are going deep into the island's...
01:14:13
Speaker
core if you will it is dark for faunal and clay that's not a problem there's no light sources but for the two of you with dark vision that's that's not a problem peter you can't see so good but that's your problem frankly you figure that out i'm not gonna tell you what to And before long, you find yourself in this subterranean cavern once again. Like said, there's this drippy water from the ceiling, forming these little pools.
01:14:40
Speaker
You cannot see how far the walls of the cavern extend, but I'd say with your darkvision play and faunilin, you can see that there is this minecart on a set of tracks, and the tracks disappear off into an adjoining tunnel that winds further into the island.
01:14:57
Speaker
Cool. Are there any like torches or anything? There are none. Okay. Well, ah Peter, you keep bumping into things. So I'm going to cast, I believe I have either lights or dancing lights. i have light. I'm going to cast light on, i'm going to put my hand on Peter's shoulder and cast it on his robes so that he's just like wearing a glowing robe Yeah, it's like glow-in-the-dark bowling. Suddenly his his clothes are emitting a faint light and it's very cool.
01:15:28
Speaker
Now you see this is even more confusing because these robes have been with me for so long and now you're telling me that they are some sort of magical power in them. The closer I get down here, they're starting to illuminate. Now I'm getting really confused and I really, I want a clear answer here now because I'm going back and forth of if I should trust you and um this is not helping at all.
01:15:45
Speaker
Yes, feel the suspicion, feel the paranoia. Let it seep into your mind. It's productive. I don't like it. Anyway, let's let move on. At least I can see now. Are we going in the mine cart?
01:15:56
Speaker
Ooh. h Riding in a mine cart does sound fun, but that way looks scenic and mysterious. I think Gleamki would probably ride in the mine cart, though. Wait, which way are you? which Which way looks scenic and mysterious? I thought there's only one way.
01:16:09
Speaker
i thought I thought there was like a a winding path and then a mine cart. Yeah, the mine cart goes, the tracks lead down path. Vonwin points at a solid wall and says, that looks fun. Ah!
01:16:22
Speaker
We should go this way. it's so scenic and mysterious. That's a wall, Fondalyn. Is she okay? Fondalyn, you're like, I need to get my glasses adjusted. might need a new prescription.
01:16:37
Speaker
Yeah, Fondalyn takes off her spectacles, which never come up. I forget that Fondalyn has glasses. She takes out her glasses and pulls out another pair of little round glasses and puts them on. Okay, minecart. Who wants to push? Clay, you'll push, I assume.
01:16:50
Speaker
Yes, I'll push. I'll put a hand on Faunilin's shoulder and I'll also cast light on her ropes. Hey, can you see a bit better now? Yes, look at the power of this place, Peter! Wow. Okay, so it's more of a an outerwear sort of blessment. I understand.
01:17:06
Speaker
Clay, do you come from a place where you your clothes don't glow underground? Yeah, sadly, no. Oh, that's unfortunate. yeah Anyway, they might be on the final lap of the egg spoon mouth race. yeah Let's hop in the cart and go.
01:17:20
Speaker
Okay, you guys hop in and I'll push. I think there's a lever. Is there a lever? I think so. I think we could all, i reckon it might be a tight squeeze, but I reckon we could all hop in. Can we all fit in the cart?
01:17:30
Speaker
It is squishy, but you manage. who's the Who's the engine and who's the caboose? I don't know. Doesn't matter. Anyway!
01:17:44
Speaker
The three of you jump in in an ill-defined order. One that leaves plenty of options for anyone doing fan art. yeah Use your imagination. Sure enough, you press the lever and something clicks and the cart starts to move through the cavern.
01:18:01
Speaker
And it follows the track out of this chamber and things start to squish in a bit. The walls get in close, it seems like. This tunnel maybe was carved into the stone at some point. You think the original chamber you were in was maybe a natural feature. This definitely seems manufactured.
01:18:21
Speaker
And you follow the the cart through this winding tunnel for probably the better part of 10 minutes. And it's moving at a decent pace. And Peter, you're starting to think about the general topography of the island.
01:18:38
Speaker
There are parts of the island you are not allowed to go to. For as long as you've been alive, you have been permitted to be in the learning center and on rare occasions to travel to the docks.
01:18:50
Speaker
And you can't be 100% sure, that little little voice in the back of your mind is starting to tell you you might be under a place you're not supposed to be as you travel the walls start to expand out again creating larger a larger space more room for you and you find yourself in one of these another one of these large natural caverns you see bits of clay pour slowly down the walls piling up in soft misshapen stalagmites
01:19:24
Speaker
and pool of mud bubbles in the in the corner. The cart continues along before coming to a stop at the end of the tracks, and before you lies a tremendous brass door, just massive, maybe 15 feet tall and as wide.
01:19:44
Speaker
At the center of it is this robust silver lock shaped like a gaping mouth affixed to its front. And the cart stops. Peter, your home has unbelievable set design.
01:19:55
Speaker
Yeah, where are we? i'm and asking myself the same question. I've never seen this before. It's just it's a bit strange, isn't it? That they've, I don't mean to shatter your worldview any further, but isn't it just a bit strange that they've build like secret tunnels underneath your home that they never told you about?
01:20:15
Speaker
yes Well...
01:20:20
Speaker
Maybe this is the Reformation Chamber that we were looking for. And you've just never been on the way here, but you have been here before. I suppose that is the worry. Because on the inside, it's not too bad, but this looks pretty horrifying.
01:20:34
Speaker
Horrifying. I don't think your friend should be in there any longer. I've made the decision and i hop out of the car and walk over to the door. Okay. It is one of those doors, and I'm going to say one of those doors, and you you can feel free to disagree if these doors just aren't a thing, but it's one of those doors where the lock seems to be just embedded into it, you know, almost like a big old vault door, and like I said, it is it is silver, unlike the the brass of the door proper, and it just looks like this big gaping mouth, and it looks complicated. I'd say, Faunolin, you stick your head in there momentarily, and you're like...
01:21:08
Speaker
Yep, that's a tough lock. Gonna be real hard to pick something like this. I'm very proficient with lock picking, by the way, but a this seems to be one of those doors that I've never seen before but have heard of existing where the lock is kind of like embedded in the door.
01:21:23
Speaker
i don't think I can pick this. Any ideas? Are there any like gaps beneath the door or like how thick does it look, the door itself?
01:21:34
Speaker
We'll say
Battle with the Mud Goblin
01:21:35
Speaker
you like put a hand on it and lean on it put some weight on it. It does not move an inch. You try and like pull on it. You kind of stick your fingers in the mouth and start pulling.
01:21:45
Speaker
The door does not budge. It looks incredibly strong and handily. heavy it does feel like essentially like the door to a safe or something like that and impossible to tell exactly how thick it is for most folk probably but you get the idea that it is robust at the very least and it appears to be more or less flush with the the walls of the cavern okay is the the floor underneath Is that like a stone or metal or is that natural?
01:22:18
Speaker
It is stone, but you bend down to look at it and you see that it has been carved. It has been, it is not as rough as the surrounding cavern. It definitely looks like somebody carved out this opening or at least smoothed out this opening so that the door would fit it proper.
01:22:34
Speaker
Unless, unless I don't want to, I don't want put ideas in your mind. Maybe you think the door is a natural occurrence, in which case.
01:22:42
Speaker
Anything else around this cave? Yeah, there is, like I said, there's these little stalagmites of mud. They're mud. I know I'm describing something that sounds like poop emojis. They're stalagmites made of mud and clay, mostly clay.
01:22:55
Speaker
And there is a in one corner, not so far away, there is this burbling little mud pit. Can I go look at the mud pit? Sure. You walk over.
01:23:06
Speaker
What are you doing? Just look at it. Can I, yeah, i it look at this and then go back to the door. No. Yep, that's mud. Yep. That's boiling mud. Can I sense that it's like bubbling because of heat as I get closer?
01:23:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Do you want to give me like are they like a nature or an investigation check? Yeah. I rolled a 16. And you say nature? Nature or investigation. Yeah. I've got nature.
01:23:32
Speaker
that's ah That's a five. So 21. wow Nice. Yeah. You are aware that there's these, ah the hot springs on, on the, on the island or at least at the, at the learning center.
01:23:44
Speaker
You might not know if there's more out there, but it does speak to some level of geothermal activity. And you imagine whatever phenomenon is causing, it's causing those is probably also just heating up this, this mud pool and keeping it nice and warm. and you kind of hold your hand out and, you know, feel heat emanating off of it.
01:24:05
Speaker
And I would say, as you do, the light of your robes shines on this, on this mud, And like an inverse of, man um'm we're really going Canadiana with this.
01:24:17
Speaker
In the inverse of that famous postcard, polar bear in a snowstorm, you see two gleaming white reflective patches appear in the mud. And you see two eyes staring up at you.
01:24:30
Speaker
And suddenly a hand darts out and attempts to grab you. Uh-oh. Does a Probably... Yeah, probably. 21 hits. An asshole of a question, i admit. i i it ah Yes.
01:24:47
Speaker
Okay. This tough hand with these sharp nails grabs you by the throat, dealing... go In case it matters, uh, four bludgeoning damage and two piercing damage. So a total of six.
01:25:02
Speaker
Yep. And you are grappled. And as this hand darts out of the mud and grabs you by the throat, you hear from within the mud pit, Peter, and it starts to pull you towards the mud. I'm going to have everyone roll initiative.
01:25:16
Speaker
no I don't know what this is. What? Oh my god. Who knows your name? Sentient Mud? Sentient Mud. This is crazy. Oh no, that's not good. I got a 16. I got 2.
01:25:26
Speaker
got a 22. like got it twenty two Faunelin, you hear a sudden gurgling from the nearby mud pit and you look over to see Peter is being pulled into the mud. There is a hand sticking up out of it and just grabbing him by the throat, pulling him into the mud.
01:25:45
Speaker
What would you like to do? What the hell? And I'm going to, I'm obviously carrying my umbrella because I've learned my lesson. So I'm going to unsheathe my rapier from within my parasol and do a quick little hand flourish so that it's facing the right way in my hand and then cut at the mud in an attempt to sever the hand that is pulling Peter into the puddle.
01:26:07
Speaker
oh That's a natural 20. Wow. I'm not even surprised when it's you. I know. I know. I should stop acting surprised too. But it's really funny because I'm listening to an episode like from a few episodes back and I had bad rolls and I was like, haha, the streak is broken. And I think it's just evidence that I actually roll like a normal person. Normal person.
01:26:27
Speaker
Like with ups and downs. The epic highs and lows. it's High school D&D. Did you have Riverdale in the UK? Did cross the pond? No, I've heard of it. I don't know. It was terrible.
01:26:38
Speaker
Yeah, fair enough. Terrible. You dodged many bullets. Okay, so that was a 24 to hit, which I presume hits mud. Yeah, yeah. Nice. Just to return the question back at you. And um that is going to be, I get a sneak attack because my ally is within range. That's going to be plus 12 damage. You rolled Oh, 4d6?
01:27:01
Speaker
Crit. Yeah, you double your, use the sneak attack. You double everything. Oh, he's a crit. Forgot about that. ah That's a 23 damage. yeah.
01:27:13
Speaker
Faunolin, how do you want to do this? Yes.
01:27:18
Speaker
Okay, yeah, like I said, I pull out my blade, I do a quick hand flourish that it's facing the right way. As I'm saying, ew, what the hell? slice down, cleanly sever the hand, do another hand flourish with my own hand so that my blade is facing kind of backwards in my hand, and I stab it backhandedly straight into the mud puddle.
01:27:35
Speaker
And then I pull it out and i I'm not going to wipe it on Peter's robes. That's not nice. I'll wipe it on Clay's robes. Hey. That was weird. What was that? Peter, please explain.
01:27:48
Speaker
ah I have no idea. little mud goblin came out and grabbed me by the throat and well I'm glad you chopped its arm off and stabbed it in its head. But yeah I have no idea. It even called out my name there and I'm really... Well I have no idea. I've never seen it before.
01:28:03
Speaker
Why did it know you though? Oh I guess it's maybe seen you before because you've been down here right? Oh yes, I suppose. Unconscious. Unknowingly, but I've... Yes, I've been here.
01:28:14
Speaker
Maybe this thing is some sort of guardian for the door? I'm not really sure. Well, I guess that means the door is unguarded. Do you want to take a closer look at this so-called mud goblin?
01:28:26
Speaker
you I was going to say, can I like pull it out of the mud? Yeah. Clay, you reach down and you grab it by the remaining arm. Or the stump. Sure. You grab it directly by the stump bowling ball style and pull it out of the mud pit.
01:28:45
Speaker
And you see it appears to be a humanoid of some sorts. Sort of long... almost like unnaturally long limbs. They are covered in mud, kind of masking their features.
01:28:57
Speaker
But we'll say you kind of wipe it off their face. And to you two, it looks like a guy with sort of a long, curly black matted hair and just a handsome face, maybe at one point, but drawn a little gaunt.
01:29:15
Speaker
ah Just a guy. You don't know him. Peter, there was a guy few years back, several years in fact, his name was Jordan Johnson and was an attendance or attendee of the Jar-Arith Learning Center who was taken to the Reformation Room and you don't think you ever saw him again until now.
01:29:36
Speaker
I bend down and look at his face and I start to like wipe away some of the mud. Jordan! but And I try and like clean him up as much as possible.
01:29:48
Speaker
And I try and slap his face to wake him up. Jordan, no. No, come on now, Jordan. It's been... You've been down here, sat in the mud for this long. Come on now. You'll be fine.
01:29:59
Speaker
no. Clay, please fix this. Clay, please do some magic and fix this immediately, please. I don't want to deal with the moral ramifications of this. Ted, Ted. Clay, you but reach down and you check his pulse and he is, in your medical opinion, dead dead.
01:30:16
Speaker
Oh, no. Oh, my God. I've never killed somebody like this before. I'm going to be sick. I'm going to be sick. um I'm sorry, Peter. I think he's he's gone. i don't know. ah Do you know this man?
01:30:28
Speaker
What was he doing in the mud? Of course, he was he was a good good friend few years ago, but he disappeared. and now... Oh no, he's gone.
01:30:38
Speaker
and Maybe this isn't, this isn't true. this This place is full of lies. This can't be him. And I like just sort try and grab at him to see if he's like made of flesh or if he's made of like mud. Like, yeah, you, you start pawing at him and he is sadly solid. You wish your hands would squish through him, but he is flesh and blood, less blood than he was ah few minutes ago.
01:30:59
Speaker
have you done this to me? Oh my god, Clay, cast the healing thingy! I don't know revivify. That's out of my my skills. i haven't i don't I don't know it.
01:31:12
Speaker
my god. but Maybe if we preserve his body, something can be done. I try to pull at his ah severed arm and like stick it where the stuff is.
01:31:26
Speaker
Why have you done this to me, Zach? Why you done this to me? The crit did a lot. It happened so fast. There was going to be...
01:31:37
Speaker
He didn't have a chance to explain himself. No, it's fine. He was aggressive. He grabbed you by the throat. He had to die. He went straight for the but yeah went the throat.
01:31:48
Speaker
He probably deserved to die. Yes, he was an enemy. I saved you. Holy shit. Oh my god. o You just start to see like tiny little tears roll down Piersane.
01:32:02
Speaker
You see them drip onto the the mud covering Jordan's body. Jordan, it is I who slew you. I didn't know you in life, but I will make this right somehow.
01:32:16
Speaker
Oh God. Honolulu sits down and put her puts her head between her knees.
01:32:24
Speaker
But he's he's been here this whole time. Like you never saw him again after, what like a couple years ago? Well, yeah, he, I mean, maybe he he had a few moments there where he sort of talked, he talked of ideas that maybe weren't so true to the cause and, well, we almost come down here every now and then and we thought maybe he he lived up to his word and escaped or something.
01:32:49
Speaker
i mean, clearly ended up down here and I don't know how he survived in a boiling pit of mud for so long, but I don't know. And why would he attack me? he He did grab me by the neck there. and I mean, he felt like he was trying to pull me in.
01:33:03
Speaker
Yes, he grabbed you by the neck. That it was murderous. It was evil. It was bad. It was murderous. He was trying to kill you. I did what I had to do. He tried to kill you. I'm a hero. I'm a hero. And Fondalyn just quietly says I'm a hero to herself while she rocks back and forth.
01:33:16
Speaker
Oh, no. Okay, well, we should figure out what he's been doing down here this whole time. i don't wish this on anybody, but if Glimki's in a similar situation, we should get him out as soon as we can.
01:33:28
Speaker
How deep was that puddle of mud? Deep enough. He was fully submerged? He was fully submerged, yeah. Do you think the mud leads somewhere? Like, he came from somewhere inside of the mud?
01:33:40
Speaker
If we can't get past the door, maybe we can swim through the mud to the other side? Peter stands up and looks over the body and looks at the door and looks at you two and says, Look, it's been a long time. I thought he was gone.
01:33:56
Speaker
I'm not sure what to think. And if this is the same fate that your friend is going to lead into, then let's not have that happen. So we either dive through the mud, like Clay has said, or we somehow get through that big brass door.
01:34:12
Speaker
And i I run off and jump into the mud.
01:34:19
Speaker
Fonelin turns her head like slowly to clay like haunted style and says if he becomes a person of the mud I will have no choice but to slay him too
01:34:30
Speaker
No, we have to go in after him, Bonalyn. We have to go save Glimpeet. Okay. Carry me. I like take off my wig, lay it carefully on the ground, and then immediately climb onto Clay's back.
01:34:44
Speaker
Let's do this. Okay, cannonball into the mud. I'm going to get TPK'd
Unlocking the Door
01:34:50
Speaker
from asphyxiation. Mud in lungs. but The three of you jump in.
01:34:56
Speaker
is hot. Like hot tub hot. Not like burn your skin off hot, but like, you know, it's you think at a certain point it'll start to get uncomfortable. And I guess you dive down beneath the surface.
01:35:10
Speaker
It's feeling around. it is it is It is big, but it is you you find edges. You know, you dive down pretty deep, you find a floor, you feel around, you find walls, and it appears to be a self-contained pit of mud.
01:35:29
Speaker
No cracks or anything? Doesn't appear to be, no. Damn. How is this guy living? Are there any other living creatures? Yeah. It's just mud all the way down, man. if you wanted living creatures, you shouldn't have done what you did.
01:35:46
Speaker
Are there any bodies? You did this. I will say, no guess it depends on how you define a body. You find some bones. They don't appear to be human-oid, but like, you find a perfectly intact fish skeleton and a bug carapace.
01:36:02
Speaker
Weird. Hmm. This raises further questions. Not to circle back around, but Zach, I rolled 12 damage and then you said, no, no, no, it was a crit, remember? Yeah. this This blood is, this mud is all over your hands.
01:36:18
Speaker
I, hey, listen, last episode, 23, episode 23, big combat on the seas, very exciting. ah Two episodes ago, whatever, who cares? Who cares? Big combat on the seas, very exciting.
01:36:29
Speaker
So many small errors and it makes me feel bad. feel like I'm doing a bad job. Clay cast two spells in one turn. Jordan didn't crit on his smite. He didn't use the, he didn't double his smite damage. So now I'm i'm hyper aware that it reflects poorly on me as a man.
01:36:43
Speaker
When i don't say, actually, you get to do four D6 damage. So I'm trying to be better. That is true. Men only use one spell per turn. That's what real men do.
01:36:53
Speaker
Yes. I mean, to be fair, was an action bonus action situation. It would have been allowed in Baldur's Gate, but this ain't Baldur's Gate, baby. This is pen and paper. So true. Okay, I guess we resurface with the knowledge that this is just yeah a self-contained chamber.
01:37:08
Speaker
You say that the the keyhole for this door is super big? Yeah, big enough to stick a head in at least. A head in? Yeah. Be a shoulder if the shoulder was slender enough. i don't know. Could I mold Earth a key?
01:37:21
Speaker
Or is that going to be like ridiculous? You can certainly try. Can I try that then? Yeah. Why don't we call that a Arcana check? Okay. And it's going to be decently difficult, but you are welcome to give it a shot.
01:37:36
Speaker
Can we help in any way? Tell me how you want to help, and maybe I'll convey advantage. Clay uses her artistic abilities to examine the keyhole and, I guess, help point out flaws or or like places that look good to make the key shape look right. Give me an investigation check.
01:37:56
Speaker
to have 13. clay. Metal is not your chosen medium for your artwork, but you've got some experience. And you take a look at this lock and you're pretty sure it is silver.
01:38:09
Speaker
Something known for its malleability and its conductivity of heat, specifically. And I will say if you you you get the idea that if you applied some heat to this lock through the form of one of your spells, you might be able to make it a little more malleable and it might assist the effort to mold earth and force it open with a makeshift key.
01:38:35
Speaker
ah Okay. um What's the best spell put some heat on this? I will cast a sacred flame actually hot or is it just radiant? I think that's radiant damage. Okay. I will use burning hands then.
01:38:50
Speaker
Burning hands. Give me some damage. Okay. Oh my God. I did such poor damage. Okay. Oh, that's not bad. Seven. Seven.
01:39:01
Speaker
And Elliot, you got a 15. It's close. You mold this key and the metal starts to glow hot and the key starts to slip in and you can, it's awkward. Cause it's not like just like a classic keyhole. It's this weird mouth shape and you're not sure how much, how much of the negative space is important for getting this open.
01:39:20
Speaker
It's close, but it doesn't quite open. And you think maybe modification to the key or more heat might be enough to make the difference, but it's not quite there.
01:39:31
Speaker
Could I force like as much earth and clay into the negative space as possible? So whatever, but sort of any key-shaped hole is filled.
01:39:42
Speaker
Sure. I jam a little of dirt in that mouth then. yeah If this mouth could could talk, it would be going... oh Clay slips the last egg out of her pocket and also puts it in the mouth.
01:39:58
Speaker
Yeah, you, you smash it. You fill this hole with mud and egg. And sadly, sadly, like you think it's close. Like I stand, you think it's close.
01:40:11
Speaker
You think it needs to be hotter though. I think with your, your academic learnings, you think it needs more heat.
01:40:18
Speaker
I can cast Burning Hands again. Just recast it. I'll do that.
01:40:25
Speaker
Ten. Can I get another Arcana check from our magical locksmith? Ooh, not good. That's seven.
01:40:37
Speaker
You're going to think I'm a liar. You needed a knight. Aww.
01:40:43
Speaker
It is so close. The clay in the mud is starting to crack and harden. The lock is glowing like red hot. Heat is emanating off of it in wisps, but it's just not going. And I think you, based off this, start to gather that this lock seems made for this. It seems like the heat conductivity is by design and that perhaps the means by which it is typically open is by administering an even greater amount of heat than you have been able to.
01:41:13
Speaker
I think it gives you pause to question why. Why this there's a secret passage in Jarr's personal chambers. Is he coming down here with, like, ye olde fantasy blowtorch?
01:41:25
Speaker
it's It's odd. But, Clay, are you doing anything else? Fondlin, are you doing anything? Are you trying to... tip it over you it's like you're like holding the mud and you're like trying to like force it into every crack and you feel like it expanding and it you know you feel like going deeper and deeper into this mechanism but i think you get the sense that like it's not so much like filling the hole but that as the metal heats things are contracting which allows you to push in further and it just needs it needs a little more juice Well, I have scoured my own inventory and abilities, and there is nothing remotely fiery.
01:42:01
Speaker
But what I can do is lean in and go and blow on the flame, perhaps giving the health action. I probably have a fan on me. I could whip out my fan and start fanning the flame in there.
01:42:15
Speaker
Hanolin, if you take 1d6 fire damage from putting your mouth up next to a burning hot lock, then I will say it gives that one extra point needed. He rolled a six.
01:42:26
Speaker
He rolled a six. He rolls, keep grabbing. Sorry, Hanolin. I'm trying to get it as hot as I can. i deserve this. Fawnalyn, your eyebrows were singed off the other day, if you recall.
01:42:38
Speaker
I'd say your your wig starts to like smolder a little bit, but you breathe on it and suddenly there's a massive clicking noise as the internal mechanism is cracked and the door starts to swing open.
01:42:53
Speaker
Yes.
New Discoveries
01:42:54
Speaker
Oh, we did it. Thank McCrogh. My fire is hot enough. Looks like I can do more than simply destroy. Yes. yes See, I can do good. i can do good things. Yeah.
01:43:07
Speaker
Okay. I kick the door the rest of the way open. Whoa. Your foot bounces off of it. It's so thick. It's like a foot thick.
01:43:19
Speaker
Ah, my Clay limps ahead. but the two of you in tow. um She's like cursing on her breath. no.
01:43:31
Speaker
but Stupid Stupid door. Oh no. She's blaspheming now. He must have a flamethrower something. that Garbage.
01:43:43
Speaker
The door opens up and you you walk through, clay muttering to themselves the whole time, and the ground begins to slope up ever so slightly. And sort of there's this mix of mud and clay and natural stone floor in the previous chambers, and it becomes more solid, less muddy, less clay-y, just natural stone.
01:44:06
Speaker
And after a few minutes going down this tunnel, this passage, you start to see light ahead. And it continues to get brighter the further you progress.
01:44:18
Speaker
And the the walls of this tunnel open up in front of you and you see yourselves in this large, natural stone cavern. It has got a red coloration to it, very fitting with the the desert.
01:44:33
Speaker
And it also gets warmer. You realize that it was cold. You were beneath the earth. The ground was cold. There's a warmth in the floor now. And you look around and you see that there's this massive skylight emanating just beautiful midday sun down into this space, filling it.
01:44:48
Speaker
And you see that there's these large flat rocks scattered around a massive pool at the center of it all. Appears to be a hot spring as well that is just steaming and bubbling. And the three of you covered in mud, look at that you're like, maybe.
01:45:04
Speaker
There are tapestries throughout, all depicting Xav in various round spherical forms. Some of them appear to feature Jar-Arith.
01:45:16
Speaker
One of them is him in a hot air balloon, and the balloon is shaped like the round projection of Xav, and he's sailing across some vast ocean with a telescope in hand.
01:45:28
Speaker
And yeah, you find yourselves in this cavern. You see that there's several tunnels that branch off in different directions, but it is light and it is warm. Peter, does this place look familiar? ah No, not this little sanctum.
01:45:42
Speaker
Where I stayed it was a lot brighter and I mean the headlights really close into your face. It's um... But I mean here it's a little bit dull and I mean I recognize these artworks. i I don't know if I've seen them in dreams before or if they've been shown to me in texts but this is of course, this is Jar traveling the world and you know finding out about it.
01:46:03
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure he's been anywhere but ah Anyway, it looks like there's lots of ways to go and maybe each one of these has ah room similar to what I've been in before. So maybe your friend is in one of these.
01:46:17
Speaker
oh yeah. I turn to the tunnels and start shouting Glimki's name. Glimki, you in here? Your voice echoes off the stone walls.
01:46:29
Speaker
Glimki, you in here? But there's no response. There's no other people though. No one else responds. Nope. Okay.
01:46:41
Speaker
Three tunnels, three people. I'm a little traumatized at the moment, but I can handle, you know, I won't kill anyone else if that's what you were thinking I was going to do Don't worry. Unless they deserve it. Unless they try to kill us first. So we can split up. It's fine.
01:46:55
Speaker
You can trust me. I'm a good person. Or we can go together. Up to you, guys. I feel like the sooner we find Glunki, the better. But I don't know what's in these towns.
01:47:06
Speaker
You want to split up. I mean, yeah, be back here if we don't find anything. So you trust me not to kill anybody? You trust me. You know I'm a good person. You know I'm a good person.
01:47:16
Speaker
I trust you to defend yourself if someone grabs you by the throat. Yes, I was defending myself. Yes! It was justified action. It was an appropriate use of force.
01:47:27
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Yes. And you too, Peter. You should defend yourself if someone grabs you by the throat. It's okay. Okay, maybe next time i was a little bit caught unawares there. I didn't expect ah one of my old friends to jump out of the clay and start trying to strangle me and drag me into the depths.
01:47:44
Speaker
But yeah, I'll keep an eye out for past friends and acquaintances, maybe shaped like mud people. Yeah, we don't know what's in here. Seems like your dad's hiding a lot of secrets. Peter, you must understand.
01:47:56
Speaker
ah Yes, the he's the bad guy here. I'm not, he's the... Peter, you must understand. Historically, when I've stabbed things before, it does significantly less damage. That was... I didn't know I could kill somebody like that. I thought I was gonna... Like, to do you scratch? Last time we had a fight, I made a single wound and then I shoved bottles of alcohol in it and hit it did literally nothing. I'm not used to being effective.
01:48:22
Speaker
It's okay. I mean, maybe in my brain he's a monster and it was a replica of someone I used to know. That's what I'm hoping anyway. You absolve me. ah The boat's out. I wasn't really sure about you two in the first place. i'm I'm still a little bit confused.
01:48:36
Speaker
But we will say we're neutral people. Acquaintances, maybe. Okay, neutral. Neutral. Yes, neutral people who are also really good people who would only kill someone with a really good reason. Yes.
01:48:48
Speaker
Okay, good. Yes, I agree. Okay. And I march
Exploration and Illusions
01:48:51
Speaker
confidently down the middle tunnel. Okay. Leaving left and right available. Clay, which one would you prefer?
01:48:59
Speaker
I'll go this way and I point to the left tunnel, I guess. Just pick one. Okay. We'll start with Peter in that case then. And yeah, you walk through this space, past this hot spring and these warm rocks that are just emanating heat from them, past the tapestries of your adoptive father.
01:49:22
Speaker
And you continue down. is this more natural stone tunnel, but it's wide, maybe even 15 feet wide at points.
01:49:33
Speaker
Tall as well. like you feel You feel small within this space. I don't know how much Peter knows about natural stone cave systems. This one, it seems big, but you travel down it for a while.
01:49:49
Speaker
until you it opens up once more into this larger space you see more daylight streaming in from ahead but not from above from seemingly an entrance of sorts you see out through this there's something blocking your view you see sand beyond it just sand dunes these sweeping golden yellow and orange sand dunes and then you decide to focus in on the thing that's blocking your view And you see it is this massive stone carving of Jar Aruth, musculature like a Greek statue, like Greek god. And he is holding Xav upon his back as a massive sphere.
01:50:31
Speaker
What's the titty situation though?
01:50:35
Speaker
Huge cans. Yes! So beyond that is like an opening to the sand dunes. Indeed. And it's blocking like just the light or it's blocking like physical access around. No, you can, you see there is a large space, like um same, like almost like 10 feet wide. Okay. Underneath the legs, between the legs of Jarrah Arith.
01:50:58
Speaker
Oh, right. I would just investigate the, or take a closer look at the statue before passing under its legs. Yeah, he looks good. He looks strong, like he's been working out.
01:51:10
Speaker
It is that classical ah spherical Zav depiction that you have grown up your whole life looking at. The statue itself just appears to be carved from the same natural red stone as whatever this cave system is made from.
01:51:25
Speaker
But I will say, as you stop looking at the this artistry, something moves in your periphery and you peer out from Jararth's massive kneecap. and you see a creature moving through the desert.
01:51:40
Speaker
You were always told dangerous monsters lived in the deserts of Khabaris, and only Jar Arath was permitted to go out here because it wasn't safe for anybody else.
01:51:52
Speaker
And you look, and you see this massive feline shape moving towards you. It appears to have the body of a lion and an almost humanoid face and this large set of wings pressed up against his back.
01:52:05
Speaker
And it is just prowling slowly across the desert sands. Has it seen me? It does not appear to have seen you yet, but it is moving in your direction. And the entrance or exit to the tunnel is wide enough to accommodate, I think, this creature.
01:52:22
Speaker
Something bigger, even. no I'm going to slink back down the tunnel from where I came, if possible. Give me a stealth roll. Oh, no. Oh, no. Shouldn't have split up. Sorry. I'm going to get killed by a manticle.
01:52:39
Speaker
It's been great having you. Yeah. It's a five in total. Oh no. You are going to get killed by a manticore. You start to step back and in classic horror movie fashion, you trip and you continue just dragging yourself backwards.
01:52:54
Speaker
And maybe in the back of your mind, you're like, it hasn't seen me. Why don't I just stand up and run away? but you keep crawling backwards, trying to create as much distance as you can. And the creature's face appears in front of the opening between your father's legs and it locks its eyes upon you and it charges and it runs up in front of you and rears back up on these two legs and lets out this massive roar.
01:53:19
Speaker
um What do you do? I have no idea. ideaoooo Oh my god. Can i cast Adjust Density on it and make it really heavy?
01:53:30
Speaker
Go for it. Okay. the I assume it needs to do something if it's a non-willing creature. That's a cool spell. It's cool. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't seem to have. That's what I was looking at. It doesn't look like it looks like it just happens. hu That's handy.
01:53:45
Speaker
think so. Well, cool either way, it doesn't happen. How do you like that for narrative storyeretelling storytelling? it doesn't happen. Sorry. doublehabo sa ah But no, you reach out, try and just bring down the creature's weight upon itself, slow it down.
01:54:04
Speaker
And it's like the spell, it's like you can't find a target. It's like there's nothing to target. And as you're sitting there, the creature continues to roar and like claw air, but it seems unwilling to actually attack you. It does not actually claw at you or bite you or do anything else.
01:54:26
Speaker
I'm going to return to an old reliable and get a lump of clay out of my pocket and squeeze it in my hand and ball it up and throw it at the creature's face. It passes right through. all Dad, you've been lying to all of us about big creatures in the desert as well.
01:54:44
Speaker
When will your lies end? And I compose myself and stand up and I look at the creature and does it still attempt to attack me in its... Essentially, yeah It's like an animatronic that's just stuck on a loop and it just just keeps doing the same like four motions, but nothing beyond that.
01:55:02
Speaker
If I walk back down the tunnel, does it follow further? I'd say after you get like into the tunnel proper, it sort of just turns around and walks back out to the entrance.
01:55:14
Speaker
Okay, I'm going to head back to the the central room, seeing that that was probably just an exit outside and not really where I need to be going right now. And then I'd wait there. You do so, and we will cut to Faunlin.
01:55:28
Speaker
You go down the the the central tunnel, if you will, the forward-facing tunnel. You walk past this big steaming hot spring and enter this tunnel, and it starts to get sandy.
01:55:41
Speaker
You notice that your footsteps become a little more labored as the ground gets soft beneath your feet, and you notice that the tunnel is slowly filling with sand the further into it you go, until after a few minutes,
01:55:56
Speaker
you see that the tunnel is completely barricaded, just filled with sand and the occasional large rock that seemed to just fully block off any further access without shovel and a great deal of labor.
01:56:15
Speaker
Not for me then. Okay. I turn around. And then turns around. Hang on, hang on. Now hang on, now hang on. Let me investigate a little closer. Nothing causes you to change your course of action faster than me saying you do the course of action you just said you did. Than you agreeing with the course of action. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I'm going to look for a little bit of anything mysterious.
01:56:36
Speaker
We know that there's secret doors in this place, so yeah, kind of like any indication that this might be actually way that I can progress. Sure. That's a flat five. You attempt to start panning through the sand looking for openings or things buried beneath it.
01:56:52
Speaker
And you get bored so quick. It's just, it's just so much sand. And I don't know, maybe there's something in here, but like, that seems like servant work. Where are Clay and Glimki? As he was thinking, honestly.
01:57:06
Speaker
Okay. turn around, but I'm going to investigate the, um, the dirt pond. The hot spring. The hot spring. The mud puddle, if you will.
01:57:18
Speaker
Yeah. You are covered in mud that is rapidly drying upon your, we're going to call them what they are, cultist robes. And you walk over to this hot spring and you peer down within it. it is hot. It is bubbling. Give me, uh, either a perception or investigation check.
01:57:34
Speaker
Ah, that's another natural 20. So that's going to be a 24. There is something glinting at the bottom of this pool. It looks metallic and it looks relatively large. Like it looks larger than ah coin.
01:57:53
Speaker
And the sunlight that is streaming in from above catches off of it and just sparkles down there. Ooh. Okay, I finally get to check out the hot springs. I once again remove my wig and I'm going to dive right in.
01:58:06
Speaker
It is hot. It is bubbling, but you swim down to the bottom and you feel around. amongst the disruption of the water and your hand closes in on something. And it is surprisingly light for how big it is. It's maybe saucer sized, maybe a little smaller than that. And you grab it and you swim up, kicking up using the last of your breath. You get to
Rescue and Revelation
01:58:33
Speaker
the surface, you pull yourself up onto the, onto the rock and you find you are holding what appears to be a dragon scale.
01:58:43
Speaker
Clay, Clay, Clay, Clay. And I'm going to scoop up my wig and hurry myself down the hallway back towards Clay. You start running after Clay just as Keter comes back looking hard to read maybe his expression.
01:58:58
Speaker
A mix of maybe fear and annoyance, sadness, maybe very complicated emotion. One we won't get into. That's what therapy's for. And the two of you go running after Clay Clay, you have traveled down this this passage.
01:59:13
Speaker
It is like the others. It's this large, natural stone, red stone, and you follow it. And it ends in a door. Oh, another door. with ah With a small little circular glass window.
01:59:27
Speaker
And next to it, there is a trunk. A chest, if you will. I press my face up against the window and look through it. You look through. And you see large circular chamber.
01:59:41
Speaker
Similar to that room you just left, there is natural light pushing through, illuminating the entire space. You think that if one were to spend too much time in here, they would run the risk of getting severely dehydrated burnt and just suffer the ill effects of sun exposure.
02:00:02
Speaker
You see on one wall just this curved bookshelf covered with titles that you may have seen in Jar-Arith's office. At the center of it all is a massive statue, maybe 12 feet tall, carved from marble, depicting Jar-Arith holding the Globe of Zav in his hand.
02:00:24
Speaker
And though no mouth is moving, you hear just... muffled by the door, his voice seemingly emanating from the statue saying, One was to travel under that.
02:00:37
Speaker
One would say that there are things to see under that, no doubt. But there is no under be had, because for there to be a round planet is to denote the lack of roundness that must exist in such a world.
02:00:50
Speaker
If we were to look on the underside of a basketball, she would not say this the underside of a basketball. We would say this is just the underside of a basketball that one could play with and turn and it is just basketball.
02:01:02
Speaker
And are we not having a ball here in the Reformation Room? And your eyes travel over far away on the opposite end of the room. You see a simple cot with no blankets, no pillows, and your friend Glimki Treefellow is crouched up on it, hands over his ears, trying his best to ignore the constant stream of proselytizing that is emanating from this statue.
02:01:29
Speaker
my god. Glimki. I quickly back up and scan the door for like locks or handles or like that. It has a knob and lock, classic knob and lock combo.
02:01:41
Speaker
And I jiggle the door. Is it locked? It is locked. The lock is living up to its name. For it is locked. Oh god, these locked doors. Fate of my existence. I kick the trunk open.
02:01:54
Speaker
You find all of Glimki's belongings. Okay. And how thick is this door? Regular door. I bang on it to see if Glimki looks up and can hear the noise.
02:02:05
Speaker
I think over the noise of the statue, he can't hear you. Which is partially a narrative conceit, and also partially, so I don't have to deal with that. You want to pilot Blumkey for a bit? Nope.
02:02:21
Speaker
Kalei is going to, hearing the muffled sounds and seeing how Glimky is so affected and and non-responsive, but she's going to stuff with some like fabric scraps or cotton in her ears and then try to break the door down.
02:02:38
Speaker
Amazing. Just muscling through it? Just... yeah, I guess. Then she'll take her mace off her back and try to smash the handle and see if that... just smash the lock, see if that comes off.
02:02:50
Speaker
Give me a attack roll. With my base? Yeah. 19. Ooh, you land a solid blow. Give me some damage. It's a four. Clay. you take this mace and you bring everything you can into this blow
02:03:07
Speaker
and the wood splinters and cracks it doesn't knock out off its hinges but it it weakens it and you push the door open and the the your earplugs your makeshift earplugs help but you could still just hear muffled mysteries that even i have of acquired on <unk> say that i'm more no
02:03:28
Speaker
and you wade in and start shouting out to glimkee just as peter and fa in come running down the passage behind you you hear the full brunt of this loud voice jes constantly narrating and glimkee looks up and he sees you and relief washes over his face and he runs up to you and before he can open his mouth because i really don't want to have to do anything in post
02:03:54
Speaker
the statue suddenly stops talking
02:03:58
Speaker
there's blessed silence but it is replaced by a similar dare i say the same voice
02:04:07
Speaker
from the opening that you have just left from the door that you've just knocked open now ah knew that mr treefeow was going to be a problem and i wasn't entirely certain about the two of you it's tricky with outsiders sometimes they come with good intentions sometimes they come trying to ruin things for others but peter i must say i am very very disappointed son
02:04:39
Speaker
and you turn to see jar arith in his his familiar purple sequin suit with just this very irritated expression upon his face you see peter sort of freeze stare him and start so quiver a little bit dead ah see the undo your voice now i spent too long in your talk
02:05:07
Speaker
ive seen what you've been doing down here you've been taken people and you know when i was in here i thought it was for the best to clarify the mind this is a prison this is torturous you can't do this and don't care if we're right and they're wrong this doesn't make sense you can't teach people this way you have to let them believe and forcing ideas into their brains just not right and try and stand by ground which one of you killed jordan
02:05:37
Speaker
um um it was i who slew jordan i slew him and i will carry that guilt with me for the rest of my life yeah you must understand that's very irritating because he was ah nice little bit of added security not necessarily by his choice but for as long as he was looking for me he was kind of hanging out in that mudpit and i knew that i could <unk> past him unnoticed and just i wouldn't have to worry so i guess maybe that's on me for employing a severely broken man as my watchdog but thank you we'll deal with that later we' add that's your bill
02:06:13
Speaker
i'm sorry was this like a was this like i freed him from his eternal torment situation is that like this what we're dealing with no no i mean um'm not i'm not um i'm not here to put words in his mouth lord knows you silenced him long ago and long ago i'm guessing maybe thirty minutes to an hour ago because and know big great at autopsies but it looked pretty fresh i think we're losing the plot and he turns to look at you clay i wanted to follow up on earlier that portrait you did i i was serious it really made me start to
02:06:45
Speaker
reflect on myself and my identity and how i choose to present myself to the world and he he reaches up into his mouth and starts to like worry away at his teeth just like kind of grabs his in insides or and start still like wake a little bit and i don't think the breasts are for me personally i think ah not really what i'm looking for and a change but he just grabs his tooth and he rips it out oh and he kind of you see that they're all just it's like almost like a grill it's just like this large set like this large set of fake teeth that he just pulls out
02:07:15
Speaker
revealing sharper and just like rows of sharper teeth he drops down onto all fours and says no i'm thinking maybe i'm just goingnna live my authentic self and the rest of you can just learn to live with it how's that sound peter you watch as his skin which is this unnatural spray ta brassy color begins to look like it suits him in a way that it hadn't before it begins to solidify and it begins to segment as he grows and swells you see a tail bursts out from his purple sequence suit
02:07:50
Speaker
and you watch the
Conclusion and Invitation
02:07:51
Speaker
shadows because oh we love a narrative device cinema you see the shadows in this room elongate and stretch as his neck stretches out and these two massive wings out from his back spreading out you see he is covered in brass scales as this large dragon stands before you and that's where we'll stop tonight's episode of bar so oh god oh ha
02:08:24
Speaker
you
02:08:31
Speaker
o thank you so much for listening to this episode of bart soup i have been your religious little dungeon master zach mekel joined by primajao as clay campbell shannon meekle is fallenland vedar and elliot from ink blade publishing as peter goode you can check the episode description for more information on elliot's upcoming kickstarter campaign for gothica plague world and for seeing him and the meantime how which was a fivetar review on apple podcasts or spotify
02:09:04
Speaker
follow us at bart underscore soup on instagram or tiktok and check out ww wwww dot bardsoup dot com for some amazing artwork like i said we'll be back in two weeks so until then stay toasty and but bye a
02:09:23
Speaker
i really milked that sentence my brain started thinking about other things and you can tell you're thinking about one piece ah da da da da da da da it's so good man
02:09:35
Speaker
hopefully
02:09:38
Speaker
and usop's probably an artificer or possibly a ranger probably more of a ranger and i think that robin is probably a ah spellcaster for sure i don't know if she's a warlock or a sorcerer frankie is an artificer leg the walk you're taking it on buddy you
02:09:56
Speaker
i've given this a writing so far with this bit