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Ep. 51 Onwards - De Profundis
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Intro written and produced by Joseph McDade - https://josephmcdade.com/
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- Robin/Darren - @DarrenPage06
- Claude/Danny - @totalpartythrlz
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Transcript
The Dilemma of Elphir
00:00:00
Speaker
Drago, I'm afraid the answer to that is probably both. I think the only way of freeing our fear is to end his life.
Episode Introduction
00:00:34
Speaker
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Fellowship of the Tabletop. We are a live play 5e D&D podcast set in the world of Aerith. My name is Mark and I am the Dungeonster. And also with us for today's episode, we have Ian who plays the Dragonborn barbarian Drago.
00:00:52
Speaker
I swear you said for fellowship. For fellowship. I did. He did stumble over it. I heard that as well. I watched Gardener's World earlier and now I'm trying to do my best Gardener's voice. Ian who plays the Dragonborn Barbarian Drago. What up? We've got Callum who plays the gnome sorcerer Folly Fizzlebang the Ninth.
00:01:09
Speaker
I hope you've got your hoes ready for the gardening. Will, who plays the human bard, cast an? How can I follow that? How can I possibly follow that? Casey, who plays the human champion, Helen, a sleet guard? Aurora! Danny, who plays the human cleric, Claude? Don't stick your trowel in there! Darren, who plays the human fighter, Rogue Robin?
00:01:31
Speaker
Only for fellowship, bad man. Our last week's episode of The Fellowship at the Tabletop, mainly not to ruin it for everyone, I'm not going to really tell you what happened. All
Recap and Current Situation
00:01:40
Speaker
we do know is they were currently on the Skelroad Mountains. We have worked our way up. Claude became a owl. We jumped over a ravine. We found a place to camp up to get our long rest and level up to level 11, which we all have done now, thank you very much. And we've been working through the watches.
00:01:59
Speaker
We are going to start with the end of the final watch of the long rest. Now, Baron, this is awkward because we haven't slept through the night. We have slept through the day, and now it technically is evening. So you are going to walk through the night. That was the decision you made, that you were going to walk through the night and sleep through the day to get rid of the exhaustion before it kicked in.
00:02:24
Speaker
You start to notice those of you who were asleep. So the final watch, if you remember, was Folly and Robin. And those of you, as you wake up within the tiny hut that cast and set up, as you look outside, you can see snow now start to fall relatively quickly. It's starting to settle very lightly over the ground. And as you look around, you can see the area has become enveloped by this snow. And you can imagine it's going to fall quite consistently through the night.
00:02:54
Speaker
those
Injured Allies Return
00:02:55
Speaker
of you who are just kind of waking up or just coming up coming to notice Robin and Folly walking in from where they were standing on the watch and we're going to pass it over to Robin and Folly as you just kind of walk into the hut if anyone's awakening i'll leave it to you to decide who who kind of awakes and we'll start the kind of start the morning so to speak it's quite obvious as we enter that we've been in
00:03:24
Speaker
A fight, shall we say. We've been in some form of combat. Yes, both Folly and Robin are panting. Both Folly and Robin have signs of wear and tear. Folly is bleeding slightly. Robin is bleeding slightly from the jaw. He actually has a large bruise forming on his collarbone as well. And let's say, just for expediency, let's say that it's Helena. Helena, you will wake first and see these two entering back into the hut.
00:03:53
Speaker
What's going on? What's happened? Robin will sit down. Robin will take a sip near the fire and he will take his hip flask out and just start to swig at some of the whisky before pouring some of it over his wounds. And he will just go have a run in with a very old friend, Princess. And Helena, as she's still sort of belting up and putting on her clothes in quite
00:04:20
Speaker
a rushed way, is looking up and down, Folly and Robin. What friends? Just to pause there, as you're saying that, Helena, the others, so Claude, Tali, Drago, and Karsten would start to wake up and Kennard as well, would all start to kind of rouse as he was speaking, so the rest of you are privy to this conversation. I mean, we're not going anywhere until you let us know what's going on.
00:04:48
Speaker
Oh, it's due to fall over or something. No, they've ran in with an old friend, so they said, Castana. I'm not sure what's going on. I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. Which friend were you bleeding? Elphir. Elphir. You ran into what? Hang on. Hang on. Did you kill him? No, Hank, what? What? Yeah, did you? Do you see him? What do you run here?
00:05:13
Speaker
Allow me to go back to the beginning. I think this is going to take some explaining. OK, I think we've got about an hour before the huddle disappeared, just so you know. Don't think it will take an hour, Carstan, but thank you. Myself and Folly were undertaking our watch. We were discussing things and then Folly froze and I appeared in the tent and the rest of you had frozen.
00:05:44
Speaker
I don't remember freezing. I can assure you that you did. Two days ago, I had a dream where this creature pretending to be Freestan, and I'll look at Drago and Tali and say, the hanging man, he's a God goes by the name of Freestan.
Robin's Dream
00:06:07
Speaker
You remember him from the Sword Coast. He approached me and said,
00:06:11
Speaker
should I give my service to him, he would bring my sister to Aerith. I shook you off as a dream until he froze you all and appeared during my watch. He demanded an answer of me and while I refused his answer and my reasons for which, perhaps I'll be able to explain someday. Either way,
00:06:40
Speaker
he revealed he wasn't phrased down and he was instead something something well something evil and uh so he so gone he was something evil and he he revealed to me that he'd already managed to add one to his army from the sword coast and he wished for me to be the second
00:07:09
Speaker
at which point he revealed outfit. Right, so let me get this straight. You've had a dream which you cared not to share with anybody else before today, and we've been frozen for how long?
00:07:21
Speaker
You've been frozen for, I don't know, an hour, 20 minutes. Right. Well, that's not as bad as I thought. Maybe I thought it was all night. But still, we didn't have any idea about this, Robin. You didn't say anything about this. We could have all been prepared for this. Did you fight Elthea? I did. Was it Elthea as we know, or a processed...
00:07:48
Speaker
Elthea. Did he have purple eyes? Oh, he had purple eyes and more. His face was disfigured. His hair is gone. And he's aged. This freestand was, in fact, Elthea? No. Freestand, I believe, is one of the gods of this place. I don't know. He's one of the illegal gods. Right. There you are. So we are following an Elthea and you found him? No, he found me.
00:08:18
Speaker
What happened? We thought the fight was... Well, before I go on to that, one of you was able to break out of that frozen state. And I'd be most curious to know how. But anyway, Folly broke out of the frozen state and joined me in the fight, caused quite a bit of damage to Elphir, at which point his deity, his patron, his master, whatever, intervened and
00:08:48
Speaker
transported him away it's worth saying this this deity approached me for a reason and i think the reason is that elfie is not the servant that that this deity 40 was there appeared to be some conflict between them as in that elf here that we know is trying to fight the right side i don't know what i do know is
00:09:17
Speaker
is we're not racing Elphir anymore. He will have the means of getting to there before, as he was able to teleport. But
Elphir's Fate
00:09:26
Speaker
is this Elphir a victim? Or is he an arse? I suspect both. Be the way. He's dangerous. So he's been teleported where? To the Onyx Reaver?
00:09:47
Speaker
I don't know the answer to that. All I do know is that this creature has the means of teleporting him. So we should assume that this creature appeared before me now because it doesn't want us getting up to the Onyx Reaver or it wanted me to act as an agent in his course to stop that happening. I honestly don't know. Are we trying to kill Elthir or rescue him is what I'm trying to ascertain here. As I say well.
00:10:17
Speaker
Drago, I'm afraid the answer to that is probably both. I think the only way of freeing Elphir is to end his life. Well, I don't know how much of an expert you are on that matter, but it doesn't sound like Elphir is of his own mind. You didn't see him. Very true, that's why I'm trying to ask you. If he is trapped, I think... I think...
00:10:40
Speaker
We cannot turn our backs on your old friend if he's still able to be saved. Agreed. I'd like to explore all avenues before we just kill him. It goes further than that. He's murdered innocent people. He's killed people to serve this deity. Very true, but if he was not of his own mind, maybe we can save him. I'm not abstaining him from everything bad that he's done.
00:11:07
Speaker
But he was part of this party, and if he had been mind controlled, and still is, that's kind of a torture that I wouldn't want to wish on anyone, friend or foe. I agree. The only way this creature could have got to Elphir is through his acceptance. It's the only way it could have taken control of me.
00:11:30
Speaker
You have to let this thing in. I'm sure of that from what I've seen. But what if the creature did what it did to you? I mean, if it pretended to be Thraestan, or if it actually was Thraestan, it maybe tricked him? Maybe. Anyway, I would hold off on the witch hunt for Elthir for now.
00:11:51
Speaker
Folly, I just want to ask about you. How are you? You're bruising on your shoulders. How did you get out of the frozen state? You do look at Folly. He's just kind of sat down on the floor at the moment. He hasn't really acknowledged the conversation going off. He's just kind of staring into the fire. He certainly does seem a bit distraught by what's gone off.
00:12:22
Speaker
As Helena just finished it, you're going to... To be honest there, Helena, I'm... It was something very unusual, but it was the book from the mines. It shook so violently. The woman party has? No, no, no. The one that...
00:12:51
Speaker
created the portal. It reacted so very violently to this person's presence. It's something I never felt. It sort of shook me to life. Was it trying to help you? Or was it responding to its presence? I'm not too sure. I need to examine the book a bit more closely to try and determine, but
00:13:19
Speaker
there was just a definitive reaction between the book and their presence. Whether it be good or bad, I do not know yet, but it certainly wasn't normal. I consider myself lucky that I was able to come round and assist Robin in the evening. I've certainly gotten more powerful.
00:13:45
Speaker
then perhaps we need to spend some more time studying this book. If we get the chance, it sounds like it's, um, very powerful or, I mean, I know Robin's had a better experience with books, but I don't think the mountaintop is the best place to, uh, no, you and I, but you and I should sit down. I think you and I have probably got the most experience of reading. No offense to everybody. Absolutely none taken.
00:14:12
Speaker
If I may, I wouldn't mind Tali being present as well. She has both experience with both books and magic. I suppose so too. She could offer some alternative insight. This is true, and the more of us that are there between the three of us, that way if anything happens, one of us can be ready to defend and yes, we can be prepared. Okay, but I don't know what good I'm going to be, but I'll be there.
00:14:40
Speaker
Right, well in the meantime I think that someone should get you cleaned up. Yeah, are you guys okay to travel or are you dealing to rest? No, I'm fine. I'm fine. Robin. Give me 20 minutes or so and I'll be fine. Okay, and I have to agree with Helena on this. We do travel together and we need to trust each other, so Robin, if you have any more of those dreams, premonitions, thoughts, let one of us know at least.
00:15:11
Speaker
Yes, we need to be aware so we can be prepared. Folly could have had the heads up of what was coming instead of walking into that, well, it sounds like a hell of a battle. With all due respect to Robin, while the dream may have been unusual,
00:15:32
Speaker
I don't believe any one of us would talk about all the dreams that we have. It was a dream to him and I foresee no reason why. If it's a dream that affects the party, if anyone has, and this is for anyone.
00:15:44
Speaker
If anyone has dreams or premonitions that affect anyone of us here, yes, we tell each other. I don't care if it's about your home or your dog or your cat, but if it's to do with the people around here, we deserve to know. Are you sure you want to open this particular jar of worm struggle? Yes, I do. I have been writing
00:16:08
Speaker
in my head, not that I can write, but devising a five-act play, if you will, about all of us here. That's a wish more than a dream. We're talking about visions, something that's really placed in our minds. We don't know what otherworldly beings are out there that are trying to sway us with our thoughts. We need to all be on the same page, I'm sorry.
00:16:37
Speaker
It made no sense, Princess, and I don't take kindly to the insinuation that I was keeping things from you. Well, in this case, Robin, it seems like you were. And I've got your back throughout all of this, but I didn't even know. I'm just glad you're both well and safe. Yeah, likewise. OK, we'll give you 20 minutes. Rest up. We'll get you some food. You'll need something to keep your strength. I'm going to go out. I'm going to watch.
00:17:06
Speaker
I'm going to follow Drago out. Don't get too cold out there. As you step outside into the cold, the snow has started to fall slightly thicker now. There is no wind. There's no air moving this. The snow falls directly down. And it feels now the area becomes deadened somehow in terms of sand doesn't seem to travel as well. There's no echo that you had earlier for the two of you.
00:17:29
Speaker
As you step through the newly pressed snow, you come to the edge of a chasm. On your right is the path you came from. On your left is the path you are taking. In front of you is a drop thousands of feet down and behind you is the now-grade rock which is the tiny hut left. That's troubling. Why did we sleep through all this?
00:17:53
Speaker
I don't know, magic probably involved. It sounds like Elthea has gotten stronger, and Korn to Folly and Robin. I mean, they both look like they've had their hell beaten in.
Exorcism Preparation
00:18:03
Speaker
Yeah. Someone didn't want us to witness. Oh, I'm not there. Helena telepathically says it. Yeah. If, yeah, Claude's going to look quite resolute towards Drago. If
00:18:22
Speaker
He can be saved. We save him. Okay. I'm going to spend some time while we're journeying with the Master and just make sure that I'm prepared and I have the ability to at least attempt to get rid of whatever evil might be inside Elthir, but just so we're sure,
00:18:48
Speaker
i would like both you and robin to agree at the moment if the moment arises yeah i'm sure robin will agree and i agree we'll talk to him about it but if robin's got a point elthea has crimes to answer for but i'd like him to be of sound mind to answer for them so if there is a chance to save him from whatever madness has consumed him i think we owe it to him for what he has done to us he's saved my life before and mine i think
00:19:18
Speaker
He saved a lot of people. I can't write him off just yet. I will spend my time making sure I'm ready to exercise whatever demon is playing with his bowels and all the other bits. Robin's got another point. We need to get to the Onyx Reaver.
00:19:42
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really worried about the jungle that's at the top of this mountain. They're not gonna lie. I've never been in a jungle before. Yeah. Is it true that there's bugs as big as your hand in jungles? I wouldn't know. I've never travelled these parts. Is there no jungles in the Swords Coasts? There's many jungles and forests, and Robin's better equipped to talk into you about the demons and animals you'd find in there. Demons? In a jungle?
00:20:11
Speaker
Yeah, I'm sure there's demons. Many things. Oh no. Do what you can for health here. Yeah, can you save me from the demons though? I think we all need to save each other at some point. Okay. Okay. Hey, Claude. Yeah. Keep an eye on Robin for us. He has a tendency to bottle things up.
00:20:38
Speaker
Yeah, and I just think that if he wants to share with anyone, he won't share with me because, you know... Take it from someone who knows you're alarmingly disarming. Okay. Maybe I will think about making him a teddy bear soon too. Maybe. I just... You're better at this than you think you are. Thanks. That's very kind.
00:21:05
Speaker
And yeah, Claude will just go and inspect. Is there any dropped blood from the conflict? Any sort of, yeah, any, there is no DNA system in D&D, but like, is there any of spilled blood that might have been spilled by L3?
00:21:25
Speaker
As you look around, can you give me an investigation check, please? No. With a minus one, my investigation, that is a zero. Amazing, you're on a one. You're on a one. So zero. Brilliant.
00:21:46
Speaker
As you look around the space, the snow has fallen now and a thin layer of snow now covers everything. If you were to notice any lines of blood or scuffle marks from combat, it would have taken place before the snow. However, as you look across the film of the snow, you are almost certain that there is a layer of ash also laying across the snow, layered almost, ash and snow
00:22:17
Speaker
etc. Okay. Would it have been 20 minutes, do you reckon? I would give it that, yeah, probably. If it has, just, sorry to interrupt there. No worries. 10 minutes time, or 11 minutes time, in that space of following his regaining his breath, he would have reached into his rucksack and pulled out the bell that one of those creatures had
00:22:43
Speaker
that we fought in the mines that gave off a very magical kind of glow or some kind of aura. Folly would basically spend about 11 minutes casting Identify on this said bow. Okay, nice. Going to be presenting it to Robin. Presentation ceremony. Man, Robin's got all the magic weapons. Can I be the flower girl?
00:23:16
Speaker
Okay, do you want to tell me that now? Let's start with that by now. You can do. I mean, it is 10 minutes follow, just kind of sat down. He's got his rucksack still behind him. The bow is almost seemingly hovering slightly above him as he's doing this, but he just kind of got his hands on it, just caressing the bow up and down. I was going to say the shaft, that's completely wrong and terrible word to use, but he's basically caressing the bow. Oh my God, that's worse.
00:23:44
Speaker
I can't think of a good way to describe it. With a cheeky grin on his face, looking over at Robin, just caressing this bow. Horrendous. Okay, so the bow, if you want to know what it is, Callum, it's called above black, and it is a plus six to hit. It is a 1d10 plus two, and a plus one necrotic damage. Finally, just off the back of that, as you are exploring this bow, have you got your rucksack on?
00:24:14
Speaker
Or is that sat next to you? I do have it on, yes. I am indeed wearing it. You feel the rucksack very, very lightly vibrate as you are inspecting the bow. And the minute you stop and the levitation stops and you understand what this bow is now, the vibration in your rucksack also stops. Right, OK. Did you figure out what it is? Robin will say if he sees Folly looking at it.
00:24:44
Speaker
You probably kind of timed it just in time and to be finished with the bow. It's a bow of great darkness but it is indeed very very powerful. I do believe you would possibly be the person to make the most use out of this and he would stand up and just present the bow to Robin.
00:25:12
Speaker
Like how? Like on one knee or like? No, he's standing up on both of his tiny little gnome feet. He is holding the bow with both hands because it's a big bow and he's not strong enough to hold it with just one. And he's just kind of lifting it up towards him. I actually have had... Is it a darkness that you understand?
00:25:41
Speaker
Not entirely, but I believe it's a darkness that, as long as it is away from me, it will be fine. So you're afraid of it? Let it say this bow disagrees with me. Not necessarily anybody else, just me. Are you going to take this damn thing? Yeah, Robin will take the bow and he'll go follow me and he'll walk out with a hut and...
00:26:12
Speaker
He'll stand on the edge of the cliff. He'll think about everything that's happened. What are you doing? Don't jump. I mean, just don't jump, Robin. He'll look back at Folly and he'll just drop the bow over the cliff edge. Claude, does he know that we're here? What? Does he know that we're watching him drop a bow off the cliff?
00:26:42
Speaker
No, if we don't speak, he might not think we're here. Carson's going to turn to people in the hut. He's watching them going, I mean, you probably could have sold that bow to someone and could have made up the money you've lost. Could have. I have no interest in whatever darkness is at the heart of that bow and neither should you.
00:27:07
Speaker
What if this strikes an innocent walker by, lowered down in a cavern? And I'll recount on my deathbed. OK. Robin, while you're here, are you hurt in any way? Do you require any help from the master?
00:27:29
Speaker
If the master is able to stop my jaw from hurting, I would appreciate it. Absolutely. Will you allow me to press my fingers upon it? I'll look at Draghi. No, you may as well let him do it. He's going to do it either way. Fair enough. OK, I'm going to cast, and I'll do one to Folly as well when he is around. So I'll just roll it now. Folly right next to Robin anyway. OK, you both received 22 points of healing. Hey.
00:27:58
Speaker
Awesome back up to full you just as a I think because your combat happened before the long rest ended Depending on how it works technically you would have gone to full health anyway because of the long rest, but you know When we ran it mark you said for gamekeeping consider the long rest is done. Yeah, that's right. I'll just sorry.
Kastan's Whispers
00:28:20
Speaker
That's fine. I didn't know that Okay the
00:28:26
Speaker
hut quickly disappears around you as you realize the time left on its spell ends and suddenly you were all thrown into this now very cold environment with about an inch worth of snow falling around you with a strange hemp kind of circular what would be 20 feet across by 20 feet sphere of lacking snow where the hut did stand and suddenly you were hit by the cold of the evening air
00:28:52
Speaker
The sun is low over the sky and sits between two peaks of the mountains of the Skull Road, mountains far off in the distance. As you realise, this walk now will take place in the dark. I'll just talk you through the journey and then if you want to retcon and have a discussion. Can I just before we set off, Robin would do something? Yeah, sure. Robin wouldn't have seen Claude look for Elfid's blood, but as they set off, he would stop and
00:29:20
Speaker
have a, it's in mind that he would have a think to do that himself. Could you see if there's any trace of Elthea? Oh right, okay, no problem. And yeah, do you want to give me an investigation? Do you? Don't roll a zero. That's a 14. Better than a zero. Much better, it's 14, better than a zero. And as you look around, you remember very clearly the positions at which Elthea withstood the positions he took, the stances he was in, the speed at which he approached you,
00:29:50
Speaker
the attack on which he launched towards Folly, you can see in your mind where they all are, but the falling snow blocks any chance of you seeing any signs of blood. You'd have to move the snow away. And as you do over the area where you remember very clearly that Elthea was stood, there is nothing there that's tangible. You're not sure if that's because it's been absorbed by the snow or any other reason, but you can't find anything there. Okay, Robin will
00:30:18
Speaker
Assuming that's the place where he thinks Elphir was, he will glance back at the party and he will just take out an empty vial and he will just cram as much of the snow in that area into the vial. You get a full vial's worth of snow and you bung a cork in there and you can keep that. Lovely.
00:30:39
Speaker
As you approach the cliff edge where Robin is stood and the group kind of stands up, Kennard, Tarly, everyone else that we forgot about, approach you as well. The path on your left is the path you want to take.
00:30:51
Speaker
This path continues to snake up around the mountains. It takes a long winding and incline up along the edge of a large curved mountainside as you almost double back on yourself as you continue to climb and continue to climb up through the mountains.
00:31:14
Speaker
On your way up, the snow continues to fall heavier and heavier until it starts to approach kind of shin height. Most of you find this absolutely fine to walk through. Though, for Kastan, something strange happens the minute that the hut is dissipated.
00:31:33
Speaker
the whispering returns and it doesn't dissipate, it doesn't go away. It actually gets in the way that when Tali or Helena or anyone else has any small talk with you, it sounds like you're wearing basically headphones or like you're underwater. Almost their voices are slightly dead and given, it's almost like tinnitus. Imagine you've got whispering tinnitus in your ears
00:31:59
Speaker
that seems to run over your, apart from a normally excellent hearing that gets in the way there, okay? Ah, Mark wants us surprised, folks. He's nullifying my perception.
00:32:12
Speaker
And would you want to discuss it with anyone or? Yeah, so as they're walking along, Carson's probably walking beside Helena and she's because obviously they had a nice bonding moment before the long rest. They did. Helena. Yes, Carson. I keep hearing whispers, you know, like before when I could hear whispers on the mountains, they've come back.
00:32:40
Speaker
Right. Do you want me to give a word to everybody else? I don't know. I don't know whether it's just me. Is it on the mountain? No, I think we need to let everybody know. Thank you, Castan, for letting me know. Who's next to me in the march? Well, if we assume we're taking the same marching order of last time, it's whoever's kind of in the middle. So I assume that would be someone like Folly.
00:33:03
Speaker
Sure, then I will bend down to Folly. And I'll give him a little tap on the shoulder. Folly, Costan is hearing voices, whispers. What do you suggest? What's around us? Folly will take a moment, just as I'm assuming we continue walking, and at the very least, he will take a look around. Folly not being one to really trust his eyes.
00:33:33
Speaker
will be looking for more or trying to feel for more of a magical aura. So is there any sense of dark presences anywhere within this mountaintop that's along the same lines of possibly what he would have felt with Elphir? Could you give me a an Arcana check with advantage please?
00:33:52
Speaker
I can. Yeah, six feet. You are aware that these mountains hold some kind of magical property, something old, something ancient before sleep guard, before the 11 kingdoms, something that's been here since these mountains were formed and ancient power resides here.
00:34:14
Speaker
not sure where exactly it comes from. The air seems to just crackle with energy even though even walking through the dead and still snow falling mountaintops. That's all you can really glean. Okay, after that little thought to himself it will turn to Helena and finally we kind of slight worried look on its face purposely. He'll be going
00:34:41
Speaker
With all due respect, Helena, ever since we came onto this mountain, I felt a very, very dark presence, something very unusual, but something very powerful. Yes. While I can't suggest anything, I'm afraid that kind of stuff is beyond my skill. I don't know if Claude may be able to help, but I think for now, the best thing we can do is try and get through this mountain as quickly as possible.
00:35:12
Speaker
Right. Kennards did say that we would hear whispering and we'd need to ignore it, but I know that for Castern that's quite difficult, especially if it's disturbing as it is. Well, believe me, when I say that the power of words, even whispers, can have dangerous side effects, especially magic. Just because one can hear those whispers doesn't necessarily mean that one can fight them.
00:35:38
Speaker
Can I hear this, Mark? Yeah, you're there. You're listening to them. Can I talk about you? I mean, I talk about, I know the power of words. I use them. So, Folly's right. I mean, can I understand what they're saying? Are they in a language I recognize, Mark?
00:35:54
Speaker
They're the kind of whispers where it's too quiet to make anything out. You can just make out S noises and T. The sort of snatched words and that kind of stuff. Absolutely. They sound like the kind of noises you would hear in common, but you can't discern any words or sentences out of the noise. Yeah, I can. Kastan, do you think that we should ask Claude? He might be able to help. Maybe. Maybe.
00:36:23
Speaker
But I'll tell you what, let us try something here. And Follies is going to hold his hand out, almost kind of sprinkling with the other hand. He's going to cast Pestidutation, create a non-magical trinket or illusionary image or whatnot. He's going to create a set of earmuffs. Just basically a decent size for cast and put these on and see if they have any effect.
00:36:48
Speaker
OK, I'll put them on. That's very handy. As you put the headphones, the earmuffs on, they do seem to ever so slightly deaden the noise of the whispers. However, now they're large on the side of your head and stick out rather large. Basically almost doubling the size of your head, pretty much. Would you believe it? You look quite cute. I think they're working.
00:37:18
Speaker
And Polly's just going to give a bit of a thumbs up towards him. Definitely working. I think they're definitely working, guys. I will actually just tap Claude and just mention to him about it, just to see if he, unless he's heard all of this, just in case that he has anything that he wanted to add. And actually, I'll do so quite... Oh, what's the word?
00:37:44
Speaker
surreptitiously, vocally? No, no, no. What does surreptitiously mean? Because that might be the one. No, basically, because I don't really, I'm not really still feeling that I want to talk to Claude at the moment. Oh, with some trepidation. Yeah, there we go. Yeah. So I'm going to just do that quite reluctantly. That's the word I needed. Go on then. Thank you to my brain. Claude.
00:38:08
Speaker
Princess, yes? Um, Castor needed some help. He's been hearing voices, and I will gesture behind me to his fluffy earmuffs. Are they coming from the sheep on his ears? No, no, they're coming from the mountains. I wondered if... Well, you might be able to do something about it. We'll try, Princess, of course. Stand aside, everyone. I must speak to the crazy one. What's going on?
00:38:39
Speaker
Um, it seems... Ah, Princess, I spoke, please. Well, no, I was just about to say you didn't need to make a big deal of it, Claude. You just needed to do something under wraps. I'm hearing voices everywhere. Is this a toilet break? I mean, there's plenty of snow. I'm hearing voices. And Carson will just say this loudly, because obviously he's got a name on the phone. Um, Carson, moment. Are these voices like the voices you heard when you went to that very dark place?
00:39:09
Speaker
Or are they different? Mark? They are different. They're different. They only started when we started to come up the mountains. And I thought it was just the wind and perhaps our voices bouncing off the mountains. But ever since we emerged from our camp, they've got more. And Keelan, I know you said we shouldn't really... She's sort of shouting a bit. You sort of said we shouldn't really be listening to the mountains.
00:39:39
Speaker
Cannot turn around from the front, Beau slumped over his shoulder and hearing about the mountains, he goes, no, don't listen to the mountains. We've lost many good men here. They say they hear these voices in their heads, walking them off cliffs to their doom. Don't listen to the voices. Okay. I'll, I'll, I'll make sure to not walk off any cliffs. Let me, let me, let me help. Let the master help.
00:40:07
Speaker
Oh, hang on. What kind of way does this help? I'm going to cast a spell on you. It's funny when it's not me. I will put both hands on your shoulder and just look you in the eye confidently. A lot like that time where I tried to tell Tally not to be afraid of what was happening
00:40:42
Speaker
I'm going to cast Protection from Evil and Good on you, Kastan.
00:40:47
Speaker
Oh, nice. Mark, for your reference, it's 10 minutes. This is just basically like a, not placebo, but a paracetamol towards tackling the real problem. But hopefully, if it works, I'm a bit closer to diagnosing what these whispers are about. So, until the spin ends, so for the next 10 minutes, you are protected against creatures of the following, aberrations, celestials, elementals, fee, feigns, undead.
00:41:17
Speaker
The protection grants several benefits. Creatures of those types have disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. The target also can't be charmed, frightened or possessed by them. If the target is already charmed, frightened or possessed by such a creature, the target has advantage on saving throws to break it. So if anything has like got into your brain and started whispering sweet nothings in your ear, you've now got like a shield against that.
00:41:46
Speaker
It's 10 minutes, isn't it? 10 minutes. So yeah, what I'm basically doing is I'm testing it with a lower level spell to see if it helps protect him. And then I've got a much more powerful spell that will indefinitely protect him. The whispering instantly stops. Oh, it's gone. Oh. The whispering stopped, Claude.
00:42:06
Speaker
Thank you. That is okay. It's only going to last for a short while. But that means you can determine what it is. At least I can hear myself talk in my head now. Isn't that a pleasant thought? It is a pleasant thought and then also a scary thought cast down because what this implies is that something was trying to frighten you or possess you.
00:42:32
Speaker
I can... I've got some... I can play some music. I know how to play music to stop things from charming people. Fair check with Robin there because he likes to make sure we're quite quiet moving up the mountain. Robin, can I play some music to stop me from being convinced to walk... fall off a cliff by the voices? Well, no one wants to see you walk off a cliffcast and just do it as quietly as you can, I suppose. Okay, no bagpipes. I get ya. No bagpipes. Never bagpipes.
00:43:02
Speaker
What I'm going to do, my new friend, is I will walk behind you and if I see anything going strange, the master's blessing will fall upon your brain once again. Okay, I'll play some music at the same time. It might make everyone feel a bit cheery as well. Yeah, do you know anything that's composed by and for the Sleetguard family?
00:43:25
Speaker
You know, like, King Leopold forever, in Leopold with trust. I don't know. Let me see if I remember. Give me a history check. I made an answer, so fuck knows. I wish minds like that worked in real life, where you could just be like, let's see if I remember. Roll a dice. I do. Control F. So I got a 12.
00:43:51
Speaker
You've heard of them, but you do not know the words or they tuned to them. You've heard them probably once or twice. I'm sorry, Claude. Sleep guardian songs aren't my expertise. I don't know them very well. Well, why don't I teach you to keep your mind off the scary whispers? OK. Well, you sing along. I'll play it. You sing it. I'll play along with it. It'll be fine. OK. So, yes, I will basically be doing this like you would do to calm a child from feeling sick about something. I will be using
00:44:20
Speaker
my magic and the music ability of Claude to distract Castan from walking off the cliff I'm gonna have to ask what does that sound like which one well yeah all of it I think okay I vote King Leopold
00:44:42
Speaker
Well, what is your favourite princess since it is about your family? Yes, that one that you suggested. In Leopold we trust? That's the one, I love that song. So it's got some inspiration from a 7th century gold view travelling band called Mosiast.
00:45:05
Speaker
And there's lots of... Sorry, I would like to say that I do favour the bagpipe, so just whenever you feel like it, I would like to hear that. I'll play that at some point for you. Maybe not on a mountain full of snow that could probably create us an avalanche. Just saying. I have never heard a bagpipe. Well, I will play. One day for you, Claude. I will play for you. Continue with Mozart. OK, so it goes like this.
00:45:35
Speaker
In the Apollo world, we trust to uphold the law of the land, every child, woman and man. Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
00:45:59
Speaker
There is a verse here, but I don't remember it. I just remember the lines that specifically say Leopold. I'll put you out of your misery there, Danny. Thank you. Kudos. Surely that's worth inspiration. That was great. You dug that hole. Can I give that to Kirsten? Because I feel like that's okay.
00:46:24
Speaker
No, that inspiration is for Danny, not for characters. Well, thank you. I will never say no to a challenge, despite the fact I don't know how to sing or rhyme or anything like that. What I've got now is, every time we do that now, it helps develop the culture of this land. And I've got one of my other artists of Sleepguard called Mosey Art. If you ever want help devising national anthems, I'm your man.
00:46:49
Speaker
It did sound a bit like that. That was one bit where it was a bit, oh come let us adore him. I love him. As he's doing that, Carson's pulled out his little pan flute and he's playing along as best he can with it. I'm going to be using counter charm mark.
00:47:08
Speaker
Okay so as an action I basically as long as I keep performing, me and any creature in 30 feet that can hear you have an advantage on any saving throws against being frightened or chanced as long as I keep playing. Lovely okay I won't make you play the pan flute because uh you know
00:47:24
Speaker
otherwise it'd become a musical show. As amazing as that would be. Maybe we'll do Ian's musical episode one day. But anyway, so this intrepid band of travellers now seems to have a singing bearded man with singed beard and still bits of seaweed within it, of singing out of tune, along with a small human, I think kind of like King Robin run away, kind of on his toes, running behind playing the pan flutes, following along with a rather
00:47:54
Speaker
Rather probably distress Dragonborn at the front with the human Kennard and Robin following along as well. So very distressed. I imagine so. I'd rather hear the noises on the mountain. No, no, I do have a flute, Darren. Just don't have flute. Maybe next time. So you're making this travel very long. Anyway, no, it's fine.
00:48:17
Speaker
So the path continues to wind and we'll say this all happens over a series of hours of walking and nothing else seems to really happen apart from those events that you just described which sound brilliant by the way. Just Paul Park, sorry Mark, really quick. How many times do you think I'd have to refresh the protection from evil and good?
00:48:37
Speaker
like would it ever get perilous like he's about to walk off a cliff boom but burn others bell okay fine fine no he seems to after that it doesn't seem to you it seemed to notice it returning cast and you didn't seem to notice it returned to you sorry sorry it's okay as you reach the peak of one of the smaller mountains
00:48:55
Speaker
You come over it and you see the path dip down slightly and split into two. There's a fork in the road. Kennard turns when you approach this and turns to you. It's now dead of night at this point, bear in mind. So you're singing and dancing and jovially running along this path in the middle of the night, by the way, with the snow still falling. Kennard turns to you with a torch in hand.
00:49:16
Speaker
we're getting close now it's probably another day or two ahead of us it's going to start getting really cold from here on we've got two choices here as you can see straight ahead will take us there the quickest time up to the verdant and then straight in on the evening of the fourth day he points off to the path to the left of you almost doubling back on itself and heading up a different side of the mountain that one will take us another day but that's where
00:49:45
Speaker
The strange things seem to happen. That's where, usually at this point, someone goes up there and doesn't return. So I'm gonna say now...
00:49:57
Speaker
We should just avoid that and we should just carry on with the path. But I think you should have all the options, you know, before you make your decisions. It sounds to me that you're saying that the safest way is the quickest way, at which point this seems to be a no-brainer. Yeah, I mean, it's not even a choice. If the dangerous way takes longer, then why take it? And we need to get to the Onyx Reaver, like yesterday.
Path Decision
00:50:20
Speaker
Hey hey hey, I cannot throw his hands up. I'm just giving you all the information I know of this place. Like I said, I don't know everything. Jamis, you know, Jamis, blokey runs, blackmouth with no more. But he said he lost a couple of guys up that way that never returned. And every time we send- We should find them.
00:50:39
Speaker
No, Claude. Claude, I'm talking years ago, mate. This isn't like yesterday. If they're gone, they've chosen not to come back, but it's my attempt to give you a tour of the area and give you the bits of information I know. I mean, we can come back for a tour, but right now we really, really, really want to get to the Onyx Reaver. So straight ahead, then? Straight ahead, I think. Everyone agrees. I would like to question. I need to question if...
00:51:08
Speaker
Keltrad is up that way. It's a substance. Right? Keltrad. I've never heard of it. What is it? I don't know. It's a substance. I'm looking for it on my way to the Onyx River, just looking for Keltrad.
00:51:28
Speaker
Uh, why? So we sort of skipped this part to my quest because everybody rushed out after Robin, after this elf-ear thing came about, so I didn't actually tell you everything that I needed to tell you. But I'm basically looking for a substance to help save my mother from dying. The Queen? Yes. I thought she was...
00:51:59
Speaker
So there's a way to help her? Well, I don't... I was... I've been told by my... Well, it doesn't matter. I've been told. Oh. Listen, I don't... I don't suppose... We can... We can walk on. I don't want to stop here. I think we need to... What do you remember about this skull shra? I just need to find it. It's just a substance. I've been told. It was on the skull road mountains. I need to... Is it like stone?
00:52:24
Speaker
No, I think it's a plant. A plant? It could be in the jungle. Kennard, you haven't heard of this plant? No. It was in the verdant area in the mountains. I have never heard of it. Not a plant. Robin will turn to Kennard and we'll go... Does that path also lead to the top of the mountain? In a very roundabout kind of way it does.
00:52:52
Speaker
There's no sense in racing to the top to try and beat Elphir. He's going to beat us there. I don't know your mother, your majesty, but well, I suspect if we can save her, we should probably try to. And if it's going to take us to the top anyway, then... Hey, if you're looking for the verdant though, your majesty, you want to be heading up this path and he gestures to the path in front of you, the shorter path that you mentioned earlier.
00:53:20
Speaker
That'll get us there a day earlier. It's all on the way. You go through here. We reach the verdant. We go through the verdant. We end up on the other side of the Great Siphon. That's where we need to go. Well, there you go. Perfect. Yes, let's go this way. This is obviously the path for us. It's quite handy. We spend some time at the verdant. Just a little while to try and find this, Kelsha. Aye, we've got to walk through it anyway. It'll take us about three hours to get through it.
00:53:45
Speaker
Yes, let's go now. We don't want to waste any more time. It's quite an experience of being honest. It's quite handy. Everything seems to be in an order set out for you. You know what the plant looks like, so we know what we're looking for when we get there. Is it a plant? No, I don't know. I really don't. Who would know? OK, OK. I think this is a high pressure situation. Let's carry on for now. And Helena.
00:54:07
Speaker
Just trust us when I say we will find the plant to save your mum or your mother. None of us know what it looks like. But we can find out more information when we're not getting peppered. Yes, let's carry on. Let's get the onyx reverb. We need to get there quick. You know me, I'm in a rush. Let's just go. It's all on me. And Drago just keeps walking up.
00:54:30
Speaker
Okay, as you continue to walk on up, Tali runs up next to you, Helena, and says, Your Majesty, how did you know about all this? It's my God, actually, Tali. Terry Ollie? She told you? Well, I have... Yes, I sort of have connections with them. Didn't you get a letter?
00:54:57
Speaker
Yes. I told you that. Just check it. Just cuckoo, cuckoo. And then Charlie just disappears. Sorry. If you look at the letter, Casey, there might be a little more for you. If you've lost it, let me know. I keep everything back up. Don't you worry. Nura, where have you got? Oh, you're on Charlie's shoulder. There you are. Thank you for coming. Come back here. Is that a big?
00:55:30
Speaker
Anyway, on the mountain, let's make haste. And we walk on, and for expediency we'll say the rest of the walk for today goes fine. And I'm keen to get us moving a little bit, so I'll run through night quite quickly if that's okay for our setup. I'm assuming that Karsten would have the tiny hut
00:55:50
Speaker
Yeah, so so essentially, um, so i'd cast it so I would probably um cast it as a ritual So it would take 10 minutes to set up but just means it saves any spell slots in case we get interrupted Um, but it lasts for eight hours. Um, but essentially yeah, so it can It can it can exist for eight for eight hours Uh, and then yeah, so I can set that up whenever and then we can get in sync with the daylight
00:56:17
Speaker
Yep. That's what I was thinking as well. Brilliant. Okay. So as you set up, you find just on the side of this path, actually it's opened up a little bit now. It's a bit, it's a bit wider. The path isn't just quite as narrow. So there's areas just off the side. You could easily set up a 20, a 20 foot hot towards 10 meters, 10 foot radius. So yeah.
00:56:35
Speaker
So you find that an area to set this up quite well. All I need now really is just, and we can do this quite meta just to set this up because I'm keen to get us moving, is just an order of the watch, really. And I need some roles for perception. So who, let's imagine that there's going to be... We double up, given how threatening, like, you know, with the last watch win. Absolutely. Yep. So who wants to take the first watch? I'll take the first watch.
00:57:01
Speaker
I will join Drago if no one else is. Oh man, I was going to sit next to him. There's so many silence there. It's like, I fuck you all. Robin, why don't you join him? Serving Robin and Drago. Is that right, the first one? OK, second? I'll take cast, Dan. I'll sit with Claude. OK, third? Polly and Helena, then. Yeah, we'll go last.
00:57:32
Speaker
So you're leaving the two NPCs? Yeah, Tally and Kenneth. Yeah, we're leaving the complete on the last watch. Yep, that's how that works. It's going to go down then. They're going to roll dog shit. No. So can I ask that Drago or Robin, can you roll with advantage for perception, please? For your watch. Perception. I'm going to just roll it straight up. 24. Okay. The dead of night starts to...
00:58:00
Speaker
a breeze starts to move around you and you see the moon pass very low behind you casting slight shadows it passes down and the clouds start to pass overhead leaving a now open sky you can see the stars above you as the snow has stopped falling at about a foot in depth it's quiet though but a breeze rolls across this area of the scale road mountains you watch passes with no I was gonna say no effect there but no
00:58:29
Speaker
Could I just say something to Drago? Yes. Robin will, at one point in the quiet, just go, he knows about your brother, this, whatever it was that spoke to me. Are you saying Elthir knows or Tracedan knows? Well, this thing was, I think this thing was pretending to be Fracedan, but either way, the answer is both. I think they both know about Syengar.
00:58:56
Speaker
It makes sense, Elthir knew everything about Syengar because I told him. So it'd have been a source of information. It is what it is. I dare say we'll deal with it when the time comes. We have to take simple steps in confusing times. So Onyx Reaver and we need to talk to Helena about her predicament. And now what it's like to lose a sibling, it must be a big thing. Still?
00:59:27
Speaker
I haven't opened that door for a long time. I don't intend to open it any time soon, Robin. Well, I think this door is going to find you. And, um... Well, as long as I've got this, uh, Drago, uh, kinda puts an arm behind his back and taps Dengon's deception, I'll be okay. Assuming I have you guys as well. Always. I'm glad you're okay.
00:59:59
Speaker
I'm okay. He's... For all his wisdom, Drago, he's... He's a husk of what he once was. But... In that slavery that he's committed himself to... Is a power that we can't comprehend, and we just... I don't know what's left of Elphir to save, that's all I'm saying. Well... We've gotta try. I'll try. Give him a word.
01:00:30
Speaker
then that's, having known you as long as I have, that's worth its weight.
01:00:39
Speaker
And as you say that, you realize that your time on watch has ended and you pass over to Claude and Karsten who are awoken. Claude and Karsten, can you either separately or one of you roll a perception with advantage, please? Karsten, take it with advantage. Do not let me go near a dice today. That's better. So a 23 or a 26 passive. As you take your...
01:01:07
Speaker
places and start looking around outside of the tiny hut you can see again the clear stars you can see the breeze whipping across you can see off about 20 or 30 feet off to the side where the edge of the mountain is and falling down thousands of meters down into the chasm below the snow kind of whips up in a nice little pattern and falls off the edge of the of this kind of precipice off to the edge as you look through the darkness
01:01:36
Speaker
This is the kind of darkest before the dawn time as well. Hey, nice. At the end of your watch, you do start to see the sun very slightly start to rise. You can feel the warmth in the air start to increase and the stillness of the day now starts to take hold. This is a very still, very quiet morning that starts to approach you. Your watch passes with no effect. No problems, so to speak. Incident.
01:01:58
Speaker
Incidents, thank you, that's the word. Your watch passes with no incident. I take it once we're in the hut and the hut up, I don't hear the voices even if I'm not under the effect of Claude's spell. Correct. Thank you. So, Claude and Karsten, your watch passes without any incident and you wake up Folly and Helena. Between the two of you, Folly and Helena, could you make a perception check, please, for your watch? Can I just give mine to Helena so she can roll with her advantage? Of course. I do not trust my perception.
01:02:28
Speaker
I slept through a burning house. That was a unicorn, thank you. Ooh, a 20. Plus... Oh, indeed. Plus... Hang on, I got two on this shit. No, actually, I've got nothing. A 20. So it's just 20, yeah. OK. The sun continues to slowly rise of this really, really quiet, quiet early morning.
01:02:50
Speaker
There is a real stillness all around you.
Tali's Tragedy
01:02:52
Speaker
You can't really hear much outside the hut, but there is a real stillness all around you. But you hear a stirring, something stirring from within the hut. Helena, you noticed this. Tali starts to kind of toss and turn. And then all of a sudden she stops and stands up.
01:03:10
Speaker
kind of looks with a frowning look at you, Folly, and at you, Helena, shifts her weight from one leg to the other, looks down by her side and picks up her father's spell book. She looks down to her other side, picks up her satchel, puts the satchel on her shoulder, and looks up and starts walking out of the hut. She passes through the outside of the hut and starts walking towards the edge of the ravine, or in the direction of the edge of the ravine.
01:03:42
Speaker
Tali? Tali, where are you going? She doesn't stop walking. I can't hold person. Okay, what do you need? Was it a con saving throw? Wisdom. Wisdom. Oh my god, thank god for whole person. 18. I'm sorry, what? 18.
01:04:00
Speaker
shit. Okay. She pauses for a second and continues to move through it. This time, as she does, she starts to quicken her pace. She drops her father's spell book on the floor. The satchel falls off her arm as she continues to sprint towards the edge of this cliff and just as she approaches, she dives off, arms spread wide as almost she seems to hold and oppose a poised position for a second. And that's why we're going to end this.
01:04:27
Speaker
No! No! No!
01:04:32
Speaker
This is how Mark gets rid of an NPC who's been playing for ages. Oh my god, Robin's gonna fucking... Oh my god, I'd be right now. Oh god, Helena would have run after her, but I don't know how far she would have caught up with her. To be honest, Molly would have been doing the same, just trying to catch up. Shit! What the fuck are they gonna do, Molly? You're gonna just jump on her and she'll still take off.
01:04:59
Speaker
like you would have been about 10-15 feet ahead of you even if you were running you're running you're the same speed so to speak so you're never actually caught up with her up to that point at least oh god okay okay well i'm ready for the next episode now i'm already ready i know what i'm doing as soon as this freaking podcast resumes
01:05:17
Speaker
Well, just like everyone else, Callum, you're going to have to wait a week. And speaking of everyone else, thank you everyone for tuning in and listening and making us a part of your everyday week. We love you for fuck me. Jesus Christ, this has got me. That was a good one. Good episode. If you want to stay in touch with the podcast where you can look at how, you know, we're going to tweet some self-help
01:05:40
Speaker
numbers out there so you can get in touch with. You can find them at our at fellowship table Twitter page. And then if you wanted to go one step further, you can do so by following us individually. I'm at iWorldA1 cases at Unicorn Crit. Danny's at Total Party Thrills. Darren's at, Darren page 06 that was and Folly's at D20Gamer hashtag Save Tally.
01:06:11
Speaker
ha ha ha too soon will is at natural 20 will and our fuck head of a dm is that tasty rolled dm until next time guys