Anthony 0:00
Greetings, adventurers, and welcome to the Adventure Incorporated podcast. I am your Dungeon Master. My name is Anthony Reed. This is episode four, and it is the fourth episode of The New Beginning story arc. And I say fourth. I obviously, I have a pattern here. If you’re new, let me just, there’s a pattern here. I know it’s a little redundant for me to say episode 4, fourth episode. But it’ll all even out eventually, you’ll see. I want to thank our patrons at patreon.com/adventureinc who make this show possible. And a reminder that on the third Thursday of every month, over at twitch.tv/srsbiz_network we do our Tavern Nights. Tavern Night is a roleplay heavy, semi canon, hangout night where we play. We have the characters come. They just hang out. And they’re very silly. They are a little loose. There’s no dice rolling per se. They’re just kind of chill outs, and they are a blast. So if you have not been to one before, Thursday nights 8pm Eastern Time, twitch.tv/srsbiz_network. And I mention this with the patrons because the patrons are why that happens. We have enough patrons backing the show that we’ve hit that goal that we’re out there making that thing happen. And so if you want to be a part of it, you want to come and check it out, you should come and take a look and you should be a patron at patreon.com/adventureinc. I would also be remiss if I did not mention another way that you can support the show, which is to go to our website. adventureincpod.com. There are two ways on the website that you can support the show. One of them, you can buy some of our merchandise we have here. We have shirts. We have a poster. We have stickers. All of those are cool ways that you can support the show. You can wear the merch. You can get something back from the show that you are contributing to. The other way is free. And that’s to go to the wiki, which is at adventureincpod.com/collective and to fill in the wiki with information you hear on the show, you know, just build out those pieces. Be a contributor. That’s a free thing that you can do that all it takes is a little bit of thinking about the episode you listen to and a little bit of time. We can all build it as a community and have that resource available for everyone. And that would be exciting to me. All right, that is all for this week. Let’s get started.
Nobles and farmers, knights and scoundrels gather round gather round to hear a tale of excitement and mystery. Brave adventurers facing grave dangers. Belroth, the Ranger.
Belroth 2:58
She’s a grimalkin. That’s understood. No pets allowed. Even though she’s not a pet. I will wait outside. Everyone, if anyone needs anything. I am outside.
Anthony 3:08
Skarpin, the Cleric.
Belroth 3:10
Should I just try and snipe them from over here?
Skarpin 3:13
Yeah, okay. I did say they were as good as dead. I would hate to break my word on our first contract with Adventure Incorporated.
Anthony 3:21
Ellori, the Bard.
Ellori 3:24
We would want you to leave this warehouse.
Anthony 3:27
He points behind you. Church!
Ellori 3:30
Oh, sorry. We want you to leave this church.
Anthony 3:34
Deeran, the wizard. He say you no, worship Shattered Fang.
Deeran 3:39
Yeah, man. He’s like super wrong. We love Broken Tooth, uh Shattered Fang, man.
Anthony 3:44
Prepare yourselves, for these are the tales of Adventure Incorporated.
The alarm rings out through the forest. You can see the golden orb of light some 30 feet away from you shimmering and pulsing as this loud sound blasts through the forest. You don’t think this one’s gonna go unnoticed.
Ellori 4:18
I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I just, I tripped and I dropped them and…
Belroth 4:23
You didn’t, no, it’s fine. I stepped on the trap.
Skarpin 4:26
Ellori, come on!
Anthony 4:32
Roll initiative.
Belroth 4:32
Yeah. Belroth draws his bow.
Ellori 4:38
Nat 20. What a waste.
Belroth 4:43
- Not with team initiative. It’s great now.
Skarpin 4:45
5.
Deeran 4:47
1.
Ellori 4:52
Withour powers combined!
Belroth 4:54
We are 10!
Deeran 4:55
We are 10.5!
We’re 10 rounded down!
Anthony 5:03
Great. Great work everyone. Okay. Rushing from the camp you can see a group of people already forming up to move toward the alarm, and as those people gather one of them seems to have like enough where with all to realize that this trap is not just some animal scampering through, or, you know, a mistake, but actually a band of people. And so they raise their hands up, spin them through the air, and you can hear their voice begin to echo as a spell blasts out from the campsite through the woods toward you.
Belroth 5:53
Wow they beat 20
Skarpin 5:53
They have spellstone, so they can like, do shit.
Anthony 6:00
Well, we’ll get to that assumption. The sound reverberates through, and as it comes towards it you explodes in this shattering sound that like bursts your eardrums almost as it explodes out near you. It’s so loud, this thunderous crack. So, I need everybody to make a Constitution saving throw.
Deeran 6:34
Anthony, that’s not how this is supposed to work, remember?
Skarpin 6:36
5.
Deeran 6:38
I’m supposed to not get hit.
Belroth 6:47
I rolled a 19 plus 1 so 20.
Skarpin 6:50
You’re rolling hot!
Belroth 6:51
I know it’s gonna, it’s about to explode in my face.
Ellori 6:55
11
Anthony 7:00
Skarpin what was yours?
Skarpin 7:02
- Anthony 7:04
Okay, so everyone but Belroth, you take eight Thunder damage. That was a very low roll.
Deeran 7:15
Deeran is not looking good.
Anthony 7:19
Belroth, you take four Thunder damage. Deeran are you capable yet of casting second level spells? I don’t think you are right.
Deeran 7:26
Nope.
Anthony 7:26
Okay.
Belroth 7:26
They get pushed back too, right?
Anthony 7:29
Not with Shatter. But a bunch of the stones in the area just like explode at the sound, cracking and turning to dust around you.
Belroth 7:40
I thought it was Thunder Wave. Nevermind.
Anthony 7:44
No, he Sattered you.
Belroth 7:45
Shit.
Anthony 7:49
Okay, from what you can tell there is at least this spell casting guy, and at least four others have joined him at the edge, trying to check out this alarm. And it is your turns.
Belroth 8:08
Well, they fired the first shot right? Belroth draws his bow and shoots off a spell. Whoa. He cast Hail of Thorns with his bonus action, and he shoots his bow at the spellcaster man.
Anthony 8:36
So, um, there is partial cover from the trees.
Belroth 8:41
Okay.
Anthony 8:43
Know that.
Belroth 8:44
I do. I want to make sure that archery doesn’t give me anything other than just plus 2. It’s just plus 2. Okay, so I rolled 16.
Anthony 9:13
Okay, so you’re targeting which one.
Belroth 9:18
The spellcaster and then if I hit, Hail of Thorns goes off.
Anthony 9:23
Okay, you do hit
Belroth 9:24
Okay. So everyone within five feet of the attack has to make a Dexterity saving throw.
Anthony 9:31
Does this include your attackee?
Belroth 9:34
Uh, that’s a good question. In addition to the normal effects, the target of the attack and each creature, so yes.
Anthony 9:43
Yeah, I would say that’s pretty definitive.
Belroth 9:46
So Belroth basically pulls pulls back as bowstring and powers it with a little bit of arcane energy, and as it releases the arrow he shoots out like splinters and is charged at the area and just kind of shotguns whoever’s in that area.
Anthony 10:06
So you hit the target with the arrow, but he resists the magic of the spell.
Belroth 10:14
Okay.
Anthony 10:14
Two people next to him both fail to resist the magic of the spell.
Belroth 10:18
Okay, so the guy I hit, he takes regular damage. So he takes a d8, and I’m going to use my not Hunters Mark. My Hunters Mark in my pants. The new Ranger Hunters Mark. I don’t know what it’s called.
Skarpin 10:35
Not that.
Deeran 10:37
Not that.
Ellori 10:39
I, no.
Belroth 10:41
Favored Foe. That’s much better. I’m gonna use Favorite Foe him as well. So a d8 plus a d4. Yeah, a d8 plus a d4 plus half of a d10.
Skarpin 10:53
That’s unnecessarily complicated.
Belroth 11:00
I know! What am I a spellcaster? He takes 9 damage and then everyone takes the d10 of 5 for the Hail of Thorns. Whoever passed the save takes half of that, so 2.
Anthony 11:23
Okay. Great.
Ellori 11:34
Ellori is going to run over to Deeran, who you said does not look good?
Deeran 11:39
Yeah, he like he’s just started bleeding a little bit. Like his ears, have that like blood trickling down from them like the little boy from Jurassic Park.
Ellori 11:51
Yep. So what Ellori is going to do is she is going to put her, she’s going to put her index fingers on his temple, but she’s also going to like-
Anthony 12:01
Right in his ears.
Ellori 12:03
-fan out her fingers so that like, she’s, you know, her fingers are in the blood. We’ll just say that. She will sing, fights aren’t easy, wounds could kill, but if I can help it, none of them will, and he is going to regain 9 hit points.
Deeran 12:25
Hell yeah. He looks perfect.
Ellori 12:26
She is going to take her hands away, and she’s just gonna give a little like (sucks on fingers). Like, she’s gonna turn away and she’s gonna
Deeran 12:29
Weirdo finger suckle?
Ellori 12:37
Yeah, just like when, you know, you eat chips and you have that sweet sweet chip dust on your fingers and it’s just, mmm.
Belroth 12:45
Like Cheetos, and you have that stuff on your fingers?
Skarpin 12:47
Nice.
Belroth 12:47
Nummies
Anthony 12:48
I love this because like, that’s what I would do if I serve chips to my kids. Right? I’m not gonna eat the chips, but I’m a little bit. That’s that’s what she’s doing. She’s not gonna drink your blood. But she’ll have a little bit of blood.
Ellori 13:03
She’ll taste it. A little blood dust. She’s not gonna like, suck on her fingers in front of Deeran’s face.
Skarpin 13:13
Please more.
Belroth 13:16
Now I’m just thinking of blood Cheetos.
Deeran 13:22
Bleedos.
Ellori 13:25
Yeah, so that’s 9, 9 healings.
Anthony 13:32
Okay, great.
Deeran 13:33
Yeah, and so, as like, the fog clears from Deeran’s head from the like, incredible sound that he was just subjected to, he looks up. Is that spellcaster still, like standing?
Anthony 13:50
He is.
Deeran 13:53
Great. Deeran’s like eyes roll back in the back of his head and like, turn white. His hair like, rolls back a little, and he picks up the the talisman around his neck. He says, like words in a language that he doesn’t normally speak. And then a purple bolt of light comes out of his hand to strike out at the guy. He’s casting Witch Bolt.
Anthony 14:25
Which bolt?
Deeran 14:27
Yup.
Belroth 14:27
Which one?
Deeran 14:29
The Witch one. That is a 19 to hit.
Belroth 14:38
Third base!
Anthony 14:34
That hits.
Deeran 14:38
Great. It deals one d12 damage so it deals 4 damage, and on each of my turns, I can use my action to deal one d12 damage automatically to him.
Anthony 14:51
Okay, great.
Belroth 14:52
That’s fun.
Anthony 14:55
Skarpin.
Skarpin 14:56
Skarpin is still recovering from the blast. He kind of shakes his head and says, oh, you need to relax. Take it easy. I think you’re all done here, and he pushes forth Sleep from his shield, and casts it at a 20 foot radius. So, he’s trying to catch as many people as possible.
Anthony 15:19
Okay.
Skarpin 15:20
Especially he wants the spellcaster in the circle.
Belroth 15:24
Deeran falls asleep
Deeran 15:26
That’s honestly what I’m worried about.
Anthony 15:29
You’re not within 20 feet.
Skarpin 15:31
26 for the amount of hit points he would put to sleep.
Anthony 15:35
Okay. Okay, so basically the spellcaster and the two people beside him that Belroth hit, they fall asleep. The other two do not
Skarpin 15:53
Are you sure you want to continue this? Look at them right there. They just passed out in fear.
Anthony 16:02
Make a persuasion check.
Skarpin 16:08
Eight.
Deeran 16:11
That was pretty intimidating.
Skarpin 16:14
The Voice throws it off, the intimidation.
Ellori 16:16
Yeah.
Anthony 16:18
They look at each other, and then they both raise their hands and a bevy of magical darts of force begin to fly from them toward you. So 6 darts between the 2 of them fly out so Deeran gets 2, Ellori gets 2, Belroth gets 1, Skarpin and gets 1.
Belroth 16:51
I get a hit point. Nope, don’t add a hit point. I lose a hit point.
Maybe, it’s a d4 I think.
Anthony 16:58
Deeran you take 7. Ellori you take 10.
Belroth 17:04
Oh, it’s that was the dice number. It wasn’t a number number.
Anthony 17:07
Belroth you take 4. And Skarpin you take 2.
Deeran 17:17
As the Force Bolt comes in toward Deeran he waves his hand, and a shield drops in front of him, absorbing the impact of the spell.
Anthony 17:28
Yep. You also, if you so choose, Deeran, can roll against this. Because it’s first level.
Deeran 17:37
Oh, sure. No, I don’t need to.
Ellori 17:40
Um, Ellori falls down.
Anthony 17:45
Okay,
Skarpin 17:46
Oh no. It looks like they’re, they’re done, so
Anthony 17:55
Before we do that the Sleep, do they get to save against it on their turn or are they just asleep for an hour. Like how does this work?
Skarpin 18:03
If they get attacked…the sleeper takes…so until the spell ends, which is 1 minute.
Anthony 18:14
Okay, so they’re asleep for 1 minute.
Skarpin 18:16
Or if someone tries to wake them up. wake them up.
Anthony 18:20
Right, right.
Skarpin 18:21
Um, cool. Skarpin seeing Ellori fall he goes up, and casts a thing that would be powerful.
Belroth 18:41
It’s our turn again, right?
Anthony 18:43
Yeah
Skarpin 18:43
He’s just gonna run up, and take a swing, and cast Inflict Wounds on one of the people.
Anthony 18:53
So they’re about 35 feet away. So you can’t push through the woods and get to them in one round.
Skarpin 19:02
Cool. He then just kind of tucks in behind his shield and casts Guiding Bolt at one of them.
Belroth 19:09
Inflict Wounds on Ellori.
Ellori 19:14
Please don’t.
Skarpin 19:16
Guiding Bolt will be an attack roll, I believe. Yeah. Nope. Roll the 2 plus something or other.
Anthony 19:29
Okay, yeah, you fire the bolt off. You hit the tent. It just flashes on the backside of the tent behind them. Who’s next?
Ellori 19:41
Ellori is going to roll it a Death Save.
Anthony 19:43
All right. Whoo. Three. Okay, that’s one failure.
Belroth 19:50
Belroth is going to move his Favored Foe to another one of those spellcasters, and shoot off another arrow.
There we go a dirty 20, baby. With the Favored Foe, it is 5…6…7…8…9 again.
Anthony 20:19
All right. So that’s at one of the uninjured?
Belroth 20:24
Or one of the ones that are still up, I guess, yeah.
Anthony 20:27
Yeah. Okay.
Deeran 20:31
How bad does that first spellcaster look? The one that my Witch Bolt is connected to.
Anthony 20:38
Right. You’re pretty far away from it, but you can feel through the strand of energy that you have tied to this individual that if you stand a pretty good chance of snuffing him out if you trigger this. Not a guarantee, but a pretty good chance.
Deeran 20:57
Yeah, Deeran’s gonna take that chance. I don’t know guys. And he pushes the bolt, like he pushes power through the Bolt. It does 8 damage
Anthony 21:10
And, sleeping the you watch him convulse and then die.
Deeran 21:21
Yeah, Deeran looks at the two that are left and he says, hey, man, y’all are next.
Anthony 21:40
Okay, Skarpin. Oh, Skarpin already got this round, right?
Belroth 21:46
Everybody went
Anthony 21:47
Okay, okay. They look at you, and they begin to cast another spell. They both step forward through the forest getting a little bit closer.
Deeran 22:02
Twins? What the hell? They’re both casting the same spell together. Creeps.
Anthony 22:08
No, no, no. They’re not casting the same spell this time. One of them is casting Ray of Frost. So that’s an attack roll.
Belroth 22:17
Robert Frost.
Anthony 22:21
That’s a 16.
Deeran 22:26
Okay. Yes. So 16 does hit.
Anthony 22:33
So you take for Cold damage.
Deeran 22:36
Okay.
Anthony 22:37
The other casts a Toll the Dead so that the bell bongs out. So go ahead and make a save against that.
Deeran 22:50
So, Wisdom save.
Skarpin 22:52
Everybody’s picking on Deeran.
Deeran 22:55
That is a 10.
Anthony 22:58
Okay. That’s a d10 right?
Skarpin 23:03
12.
Deeran 23:05
It’s a d12 because I’m injured.
Anthony 23:07
Because you’re injured right? Okay. For 10 points of damage.
Deeran 23:14
Deeran looks very bad. Oh yeah, this the sound again, like his ears, like blood just like starts pouring from them. Much worse than last time. Oh, Oh, God. And he’s going to, like move his hands in a circular motion to summon his own Bell and then swing it. He swings his right hand hard, trying to Toll the Dead against the same guy that just did it to him that’s injured.
Anthony 24:00
That guy fails.
Deeran 24:03
8 damage to him.
Anthony 24:05
The bell rings out, and he just collapses onto the ground. You can see the pain in his face as it contortus his features as he falls down dead.
Deeran 24:19
Deeran flips his hair out of his face, and he just like narrows his eyes at the last guy.
Belroth 24:25
If you put your weapon down, we won’t kill you. You have the option to do this. And he knocks his bow, points it directly at him. Put your hands down and your weapons and whatever you can do.
Deeran 24:38
Yeah, by weapons I think he means your hands man. And your mouth.
Belroth 24:42
He like adjust his glasses. You’re right, it is a spellcaster You’re right.
Anthony 24:51
We’re not going to let you come here and just murder our families and our people. Not going to happen.
Belroth 24:57
We don’t have to. We are looking for a missing person. Someone who went missing because his caravan was ransacked.
Anthony 25:06
It’s none of your concern.
Belroth 25:07
It is my concern.
Anthony 25:09
It’s not. It’s not your concern.
Belroth 25:13
What are you 12? What is happening?
Anthony 25:14
This is our family. This is our problem. It’s none of your concern. Get out of here and we won’t have to kill you.
Belroth 25:23
He knocks the bow down. He puts he puts his arrow down and he looks at Skarpin, he says like, is Ellori okay?
Skarpin 25:31
No, no, not yet. No, she’s not okay.
Ellori 25:35
12.
Anthony 25:37
One and one baby.
Belroth 25:39
Do you want to make her better? I can heal, I mean, you’re a healer. I can help. I feel like this is your wheelhouse.
Skarpin 25:48
I wasn’t going to heal her until we had imminent danger taken care of.
Belroth 25:55
That’s fair.
Anthony 25:59
That’s a very dangerous proposition. If she’d just rolled a 1. She’d have been dead dead.
Skarpin 26:06
1 in 20 I’d risk it.
Belroth 26:12
Belroth goes over to do a medicine check on Ellori.
Deeran 26:22
Yeah, man I think we can talk this over man. Like I think we’re all at least a little bit in this.
Anthony 26:29
You’ve just murdered two of my family.
Deeran 26:33
They’re only down, man, we can stabilize them. Just like you did to ours.
Skarpin 26:39
Skarpin casts Cure Wounds on Ellori.
Anthony 26:45
She seems fine!
Deeran 26:51
Right, we’ve got the power to help.
Belroth 26:54
We we are looking for a missing person.
Anthony 26:58
And again, that is none of your business. It’s our family. Our business.
Belroth 27:05
Irvine is not your family.
Anthony 27:09
How do you know anything about Irvine?
Belroth 27:11
I don’t.
Anthony 27:11
You don’t know what you’re talking about at all?
Deeran 27:15
Yeah, Renaris sent us over here, man.
Anthony 27:18
Renaris is a cheat and a thief, and he deserves everything he gets.
Skarpin 27:24
Heals for 4.
Belroth 27:34
Listen, I don’t want any more bloodshed, and we will help your friends. We don’t wish them to die. We just want to understand what is happening.
Anthony 27:43
And again, it is none of your concern. We just want to be left alone.
Skarpin 27:51
Yes, yes, we hear that. Just give us, let us talk to Irvine, and give us the spellstones and we’ll be on our way. That’s really all we came here for. We don’t want trouble.
Anthony 28:01
Oh, you’re definitely not getting the spellstone, and he starts to raise his hand again to cast another spell.
Ellori 28:06
Oh, no. Somebody please-
Skarpin 28:08
Skarpin starts going towards him.
Anthony 28:11
Okay, so he unleashes a spell on you. As you start to charge toward him, a blast of fire bursts from him in a cone towards you. So give me a Dex saving throw.
Skarpin 28:29
Natural 20
Belroth 28:31
Hey, look at that turtle go!
Deeran 28:34
Let’s go!
Skarpin 28:40
Ambling through not very gracefully, but he’s just like-
Anthony 28:46
I like to think that, yeah, you’re just moving through and he goes to cast this fire, you’re just like, you turn your shell toward it, and it like repels up. You take 1 damage.
Okay. You can-
Skarpin 29:04
25 feet on the last time, so I can reach him this time, I imagine.
Anthony 29:10
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Skarpin 29:10
Okay, excellent. Last chance! And he swings back and starts to swing at him before he can answer.
Anthony 29:13
Last chance. Wham!
Skarpin 29:24
He just got to 5 so he has another chance.
Anthony 29:28
Yeah, he dodges back as your swing goes through. Is anyone else gonna do anything in this?
Deeran 29:37
Deeran is going to pull some of the rope out of his pack, and, like, start tying up the one that like needs to be stabilized.
Anthony 29:50
Okay, so there are two that are down.
Deeran 29:53
Yeah, the one that attacked us first.
Anthony 30:03
Okay.
Ellori 30:07
Ellori is is holding on to her head and trying to get herself back on her feet. So she is going to cast Cure Wounds on herself. Nice, for Nine
Anthony 30:23
Okay, Belroth?
Belroth 30:29
Belroth is gonna assist Deeran who’s tying up one of them against the tree and do like the same on the other.
Anthony 30:39
Okay.
Belroth 30:41
Is that one dead, dead or is that the sleeping one?
Anthony 30:47
So there are two asleep and two in need of stablization.
Belroth 30:52
I grab one that needs stabilization. I try to tie him to a tree and stabilize them. If that’s possible.
Deeran 31:00
Tying was gonna be one round and then stabilizing was the second round is how I thought about it.
Belroth 31:04
So, tie is what he does.
Anthony 31:09
The spellcaster in front of Skarpin, looks to you Skarpin. Let me look this up real quick.
Skarpin 31:21
What the hell are you? I’m your worst nightmare.
Ellori 31:29
That’s a good that’s a good tagline for Skarpin.
Belroth 31:36
Oh, yeah, it took me a second.
Anthony 31:39
Oh, he says, uh, hey, when I’m done with you, you’re going to need Shell-ter. And he casts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter at you. So, yeah, make a Wisdom saving throw.
Skarpin 31:58
Natural one. Good. Did you hear that one?!
Anthony 32:10
Yeah, you fall to the ground.
Deeran 32:16
Deeran is going to try and take that one.
Anthony 32:19
Like you’re gonna try to attack him?
Deeran 32:21
No, I’m gonna try and, oh, I can’t take that. Wait, yeah!
Anthony 32:25
Uh you can roll against it.
Deeran 32:26
Because I saw it happen, so I’d like to. Arcana is plus 5, so 14. Nope. I do not do it.
Anthony 32:44
Just shy.
Belroth 32:45
Rip. Is that an action or like?
Anthony 32:51
I think it’s a reaction. Okay.
Skarpin 32:58
Skarpin tries to not find that so hilarious.
Anthony 33:02
Good luck.
Skarpin 33:05
He still finds it real funny right now. I heard it again in my head.
Belroth 33:13
Belroth noticing that Skarpin is down, redraws his bow and knocks another arrow, looses it right at him. That’s 8. No, 4 plus 7 is not 8. That’s very wrong.
Skarpin 33:29
Shorting yourself by at least 2.
Belroth 33:30
What an idiot. I am. 11.
Anthony 33:34
Okay. 11 does not hit.
Belroth 33:37
I didn’t think so. And then I was maybe trying to continue to potentially stabilize this guy if I can?
Anthony 33:44
I mean, you already used your action though.
Belroth 33:45
Okay, fair.
Deeran 33:47
Deeran is going to try and stabilize his man here.
Anthony 33:53
Okay.
Deeran 33:55
That’s a Medicine check, right?
Anthony 33:57
Yep.
Deeran 34:00
18.
Anthony 34:01
So I think that gives them two successes. Is that what that does? Or does it just, I don’t know. It’s fine. He’s had two successes already. So we’ll just say you do it. You save him. Okay. He’s now stabilized.
Deeran 34:15
Great. And his hands are tied up behind, like around the tree so that he can’t cast spells.
Anthony 34:21
I mean, he’ll be unconscious for two hours anyway, so.
Deeran 34:30
That’s fine. I just don’t want him to do magic at me.
Anthony 34:33
Right? Sure.
Ellori 34:36
Ellori is gonna twist her chakram off of her tambourine and swing it at this guy. It’s gonna be 14 to hit.
Anthony 34:51
14 will hit
Ellori 34:55
3 damage.
Anthony 34:58
Okay.
Ellori 34:58
She’s just like weakly, like grazes his arm.
Anthony 35:06
Okay, um, I think he’s gonna try to Ray of Frost you since you’re up in his face. He got rid of Skarpin down on the ground, but now he’s gonna have to Ray of Frost you.
Ellori 35:21
When you say “You” it sounds like you mean me.
Anthony 35:25
I do.
Ellori 35:26
But I just wanted to check because
Anthony 35:29
Well it’s cuz you got up in combat with him so you’re the one he’s next to right now. So he does hit you for 1 cold damage
Ellori 35:48
She looks at him and she says, brrr.
Anthony 35:57
He’s mad about it. It is very rude.
Belroth 36:04
Belroth would like to try and stabilize the person in front of it.
Skarpin 36:07
Skarpin.
Anthony 36:07
Okay.
Ellori 36:13
Is this a thing we do now?
Deeran 36:16
I don’t know, it was so complicated. You know, like I figured like
Ellori 36:21
Oh, I missed a lot. I think. Maybe. I missed the point where we went from trying to kill them to trying to save them is when I was unconscious. I think is what I missed.
Deeran 36:34
Oh yeah, uh, there was whole thing, like, uh turns out it’s not quite as cut and dry as like Renaris, you know, like made it seem. So like we got to talk it all out man.
Ellori 36:49
Okay.
Skarpin 36:49
Haha-I don’t agree-hahaha
Belroth 36:54
Belroth rolled a 12.
Anthony 36:56
Okay, with a 12 you can tell that this guy is dead. Oops.
Belroth 37:03
I stop tying him up.
Skarpin 37:06
24 for the saving throw.
Anthony 37:09
Okay, yeah, you stop finding the joke funny.
Skarpin 37:14
That’s very rude. And he tries to swing. I imagine the caster put his back to Skarpin to cast.
Anthony 37:21
Well I think ou do it at the end of your turn.
Skarpin 37:25
Nothing of what I said was wrong.
Deeran 37:31
He does try. He just can’t do it.
Anthony 37:37
Seeing that you are up and that despite Ellori’s rudeness, he is going to cast Ray of Frost at you Skarpin. But he misses. Your shell absorbs or maybe your shield, you know, in that wintery symbol on your shield absorbs the Ray of Frost.
Skarpin 37:59
Really? Really? And he takes his quarterstaff and swings and cracks it over his shield and casts Toll the Dead.
Anthony 38:08
Okay.
Belroth 38:09
Bong.
Anthony 38:11
He fails.
Skarpin 38:12
Nice. That’s gotta be a dice I have. d12’s such a weird die. 11 damage.
Anthony 38:30
Okay. Yeah, he falls the phone. He falls unconscious. atrophy.
Skarpin 38:38
Jerks! Ugh. Now, which one can I eat? He says that to himself.
Belroth 38:48
Belroth waits. What’s the plan now because it seems more complicated than before.
Skarpin 39:06
Fine, why is it complicated?
Belroth 39:10
Well, it seems like Irvine might be in on it.
Deeran 39:13
Hey, man, we got to do something about this one too. Like, Deeran runs over to try and stabilize him while they’re talking above him. Oh, right.
Skarpin 39:27
Can anyone just stabilize anyone?
Deeran 39:29
It is unsuccessful in helping.
Belroth 39:32
Yeah, anyone can attempt.
Anthony 39:35
Okay.
Deeran 39:38
Is anybody gonna like, help me out here?
Belroth 39:40
I mean, I’ll, yes. And then Belroth runs over and tries as well. He rolled a 5.
Anthony 39:48
Okay.
Skarpin 39:49
What else does Skarpin see? He takes a look and kind of wanders around the area.
Anthony 39:54
Okay. Hey,
Deeran 39:56
Hey man, like if we don’t like-
Skarpin 39:58
I’m listening, I’m listening
Deeran 39:59
-do any thing with this. No, if we don’t do anything with this guy before he dies, like it’s gonna be really hard to figure out what’s going on here if we’ve like killed a bunch of people, you know, it’s like really hard to get them on our side after.
Ellori 40:10
I’ve got him. I’ve got him, Deeran.
Anthony 40:12
Right, Skarpin. And as you walk further in, you can see that this little tent village has families moving about in here. Children and their caretakers and like this is almost like a little encampment of people. Just like the village but just out here in the woods.
Skarpin 40:40
Okay, he walks back to the other members of his group and tells him what he saw. Uh, I don’t see any other guards. So yeah, I can help you out. Which one of these need assistance and he goes to that one?
Ellori 40:58
I rolled a 16.
Anthony 40:59
Okay, so you heal the the guy on the ground. He sees you-
Ellori 41:08
Oh, no, I just rolled a Medicine check.
Anthony 41:10
Oh, you just did a Medicine check. Okay, yeah, disregard. Okay. Yeah, he’s unconscious.
Skarpin 41:19
He just has sleep apnea.
Anthony 41:20
You don’t think he’s gonna die? He seems like he’s unconscious.
Ellori 41:25
I don’t think this guy’s gonna die. So I think we should try to find Irvine as fast as we can.
Deeran 41:32
Yeah, should we like tie him up to like the rest of them?
Skarpin 41:37
Yes, yes, yes. Let’s tie him up and wander about more and learn a little bit more about this place.
Anthony 41:43
The two who were sleeping begin to stir.
Skarpin 41:45
I’ll take care of this one.
Ellori 41:47
Let’s tie them all to this tree.
Belroth 41:53
Do we have enough time to try and tie those to a tree?
Anthony 41:55
You can give me a Dexterity check.
Skarpin 41:58
Yeah, Skarpin helps with the tying of the people?
Belroth 42:05
Dirty 20.
Skarpin 42:06
6
Belroth 42:09
Dirty 26.
Anthony 42:13
Okay. Yeah, you managed to tie them up just as they begin to wake up. What? What the hell? Hey, hey, get us out of here! What the hell? Is he dead? Are these people dead?
Deeran 42:28
No, man. Well, one of them. Listen, hey, like, you attacked us in the woods, man.
Anthony 42:42
You attacked our home?
Deeran 42:44
No, we walked in the woods and then you shot us with magic.
Anthony 42:52
Everyone who comes here has one reason to be here, and that’s to get us out of here. We’re not going.
Ellori 43:00
That’s not why we’re here.
Anthony 43:02
Why are you here?
Deeran 43:06
We’re here to find Irvine.
Anthony 43:09
Yeah, okay. Let me guess. You were set by someone from the town. Renaris?
Skarpin 43:15
Yes, we have a contract and everything.
Belroth 43:17
That is correct, yes.
Anthony 43:19
That’s what we thought.
Skarpin 43:21
Okay, good.
Deeran 43:22
What is
Anthony 43:25
He keeps sending people to try and get our shit back from us, to take us out. We’re not gonna stand for it. He’s scum. We’re done with him. And we’re done with you.
Deeran 43:37
He seemed pretty upset that like Irvine might have like, gotten hurt, man.
Skarpin 43:43
Oh, I’m sure he did.
Deeran 43:45
He wanted us to find him and like, make sure that he came back to town okay.
Anthony 43:53
Irvine is with us. He’s our family. He doesn’t need Renaris.
Belroth 44:02
Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your name? I don’t want to keep referring to you as just you.
Anthony 44:08
I am Grevil.
Belroth 44:11
Nice to meet you. My name is Belroth.
Anthony 44:14
Okay.
Belroth 44:15
Listen, I just want to understand the situation here, and I want to understand the person that hired us to do something that may not have been as noble as we thought.
Anthony 44:26
Yeah, well considering I’m the one tied to a tree right now I suspect you might be right.
Belroth 44:31
Well, considering you shot off spells at us. I mean, you’re being very obstinate, and we’re trying to just understand.
Anthony 44:39
I am trying to protect my family. You came into my home. I am trying to protect my family. And you tied me to a tree, and killed my friends. I don’t feel like I have a place here to to treat you with civility.
Deeran 44:54
Okay, bud.
Belroth 44:55
He’s also not wrong, I guess.
Deeran 44:57
And Deeran just like pulls a handkerchief out of his bag, or like a piece of cloth or whatever, and ties it around his mouth. He’s not going to help us, man. Like, we should go talk to people who, like, are actually interested in like, understanding each other instead of like this guy.
Ellori 45:17
And Irvine.
Deeran 45:19
Yeah.
Ellori 45:20
If we can hear it from him that he’s happy here, and he wants to stay here, that’s a whole different.
Skarpin 45:25
We really just need the spellstones. It would fulfill this contract by the way I wrote it.
Belroth 45:34
To be fair, how much do we trust this random halfling we met? Like he could be just
Ellori 45:41
That’s why we need to go find Irivne. And Ellori is gonna walk into the camp.
Anthony 45:46
Okay.
Belroth 45:46
Belroth follows.
Anthony 45:47
As you walk into the camp you see some of the people in camp who were, you know, they’re clearly not guards are soldiers, right? You see a guy cooking over a fire. He’s got two little kids with him. He sees you. He grabs his kids. They go right into their tent. The whole place kind of, everyone just sort of disappears around you when someone who is not their guards comes wandering into town.
Skarpin 46:21
It smells lovely here. Hello?
Belroth 46:27
Ellori, do you think we’re the bad guys here?
Deeran 46:33
I mean.
Ellori 46:33
I mean I was unconscious for most of what happened out there, so this might be a better question for Deeran or Skarpin.
Deeran 46:40
They think we’re the bad guys, but we haven’t done anything yet. Like, we did our best to like not have anything bad happen.
Ellori 46:50
We killed one of them because they openly attacked us.
Deeran 46:56
Hey, Irvine, are you like in here or whatever?
Anthony 47:02
A woman steps out of one of the tents, and she says, what do you want?
Deeran 47:12
We’re looking for Irvine. He had been driving a cart that we saw knocked over on the path.
Anthony 47:24
Am I to assume if you are here that our protection is dead?
Deeran 47:32
No. They’re they’re just like, tied up. They tried to kill us, man.
Anthony 47:39
Yes, of course.
Deeran 47:42
What of course? We’re not from here! We don’t understand!
Anthony 47:46
You have come to our home. Our people need to protect ourselves from outsiders. That is what we have done. I hope you can understand the need for that.
Skarpin 48:04
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
Anthony 48:07
Especially since
Ellori 48:08
Honestly, we don’t understand anything here. We were sent to find a missing boy, and we would just like to talk to that missing boy.
Anthony 48:16
Behind her, a young boy of 14 comes out from the tent. He has a look of fear on his face as he approaches you.
Skarpin 48:28
Does he look like he’s missing a straw hat?
Anthony 48:32
Yeah, he does. He absolutely looks like he’s missing a straw hat.
Belroth 48:35
Belroth takes the hat off.
Deeran 48:37
He’s got a like a brim mark across his forehead.
Belroth 48:43
And Belroth walks up and he hands him the hat. I’m sorry for the holes. I can’t help my own horns.
Anthony 48:52
He looks down at the hat. He looks up at you, slowly puts it on his head, and he says, I, I didn’t, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I’m sorry.
Skarpin 49:08
It’s caused some confusion here. Somebody’s real worried about you. We actually came here to possibly bring you back. What do you think of that?
Anthony 49:20
He’s not worried about me. He doesn’t care about me. He wants to merchandise.
Skarpin 49:25
Well that too, yes, we need to recover that as well. Where is that by the way?
Anthony 49:33
The woman behind him shakes her head.
Deeran 49:39
What’s going on?
Anthony 49:43
Many years ago, we were a part of the town down below. We lived there with our family. We were driven out of the town by Renaris and others. Driven out because we thought differently than them. Because we believe differently than them. And we were driven here to the woods.
Belroth 50:18
If I might ask, what belief system were you driven out for?
Anthony 50:26
We are followers of the Teachings of Diam.
Belroth 50:31
Oh, and Belroth, he like lowers his shirt to reveal a marking that is emblematic of the Teachings of Diam.
Anthony 50:45
We were driven away for our belief in the bettering and the greatering of oneself. We were pushed here because of greed, because we would not allow what they wanted to turn that place into, to profit off the misfortune of others. And so we were driven here. And we have taken our opportunities to take back the pieces of ourselves that we can from those who do not deserve them. Renaris does not deserve them. He does not deserve to survive and to profit off what he did to us and what he does to those people.
Ellori 51:54
Can you fill us in a little bit more on the misdeeds of his company? Is he, is he taking advantage of? Is he gouging prices, or what is he doing?
Anthony 52:09
They have built an industry around fleecing people in their most vulnerable moments. When a family member has passed, and they bring them to Mourning Hill, they bring them to bury them and to give them peace. Everything about that place is built to pull money, pull coin from the pockets of those who would use their service. That place is not meant for anything except a place to bring those who are dear to you. We were happy to maintain that as a service to the people of the Empire. Now, now it is a faucet of gold for Renaris and for the others.
Skarpin 53:20
That doesn’t sound great, hmm.
Ellori 53:25
But is there something that, I guess if these families are trying to honor their loved ones by giving them services, I understand that it’s wrong to overcharge for things like that, but are they doing it willingly?
Anthony 53:53
I think that when you take advantage of people when they are at a point that they cannot make those rational decisions for themselves, you are the evil in the room. We said that. That is the stance we took, and we were driven out for it.
Belroth 54:17
Ellori, I’m sure as you know, the Teachings of Diam are not necessarily the most popular in the Empire, so I’m sure they used anyone who agreed with you. I’m sorry, what is your name?
Anthony 54:31
I’m Velyra.
Belroth 54:35
Anyone who agreed with Velyra, they just used the Teachings of Diam as a cudgel to push them out anyways. The people who didn’t probably want to act, they didn’t say no, but they didn’t stop it. Am I wrong?
Anthony 54:51
And we have made our place here with those who were pushed out. Our family.
Ellori 54:59
Can I ask a question? If we had been coming here for refuge, you would have just killed us?
Anthony 55:04
There is no refuge here. Not anymore.
Ellori 55:08
So, you’re not open to taking people in.
Anthony 55:11
No. We took the people who were pushed out. That was a decade ago. Now we can barely support the mouths we have, and so we take.
Deeran 55:24
And what about Irvine?
Anthony 55:27
Irvine was born here. He is one of us. We found a way to sneak him back into the town to provide us this opportunity. Easy access. It has become too difficult to him for him, so we pulled him out. I didn’t mean to bring I didn’t mean to bring this kind of attention here! Shh, it’s fine. We understand that it was not your intent. We will make do with what we have.
Deeran 56:13
Deeran is still, like mopping up blood off of his face. The wounds are starting to stop bleeding, but he’s still real fucked up. I don’t know you guys, like this feels like it’s out of our, out of our like, jurisdiction, you know? It’s more complicated than, uh we were led to believe for sure.
Skarpin 56:53
It’s not just as simple contract. Ugh, honoring the dead is very important. Ugh. He takes out the contract and goes to tear it and looks at the group. Maybe we’ll just continue on with what we were doing.
Belroth 57:11
Belroth gives a thumbs up
Deeran 57:15
Yeah, Deeran nods.
Ellori 57:19
Would you be willing to give us camp for the night, and point us in the direction of some tall stones in the morning?
Anthony 57:30
My people are all safe?
Deeran 57:33
All but one of them
Anthony 57:37
Oh.
Deeran 57:41
In the heat of battle, they wouldn’t talk to us like you would. We tried.
Anthony 57:47
We have we have spent this decade defending ourselves time and time again from people who are not interested in speaking, from people who are here to kill, and from people who even when they have come in the guise of speaking are here to kill. We cannot take that risk anymore. I am very saddened to hear that one has passed. While I understand why you did this, I will not give you refuge here tonight.
Deeran 58:40
Makes sense?
Anthony 58:41
But if there is something you are looking for, and I can point you in that direction, I will.
Skarpin 58:53
And Skarpin looks at Ellori with the contract still in his hand. Eh? He just tears it up.
Ellori 59:11
We’re looking for a stone monument.
Deeran 59:15
Yeah, it’s got like some old runes on it or whatever.
Belroth 59:20
This was, this was an unfortunate detour.
Deeran 59:25
We we saw a problem we thought we could help you know we just wanted to be like good citizens of the world.
Anthony 59:36
You seek the standing stones.
Ellori 59:37
If they’re a big tall stone monument with runes on it then yeah, that’s what we’re seeking.
Anthony 59:46
The stories of the old days speak of the standing stones as gateways to realms beyond.
Deeran 59:54
That’s crazy. You think it’s real?
Anthony 59:58
No. But I will point to you where they are.
Belroth 1:00:03
Thank you
Anthony 1:00:06
She looks at you Belroth. You, please come and speak with me privately before you leave. For the others, you will head south of here through the forest. Before you break into the road maybe 500 yards, you will find what you seek. It will be about an hour’s walk from here.
Deeran 1:00:42
Do you have enough, like able bodied folks to go get the the people that we have tied up just outside of your camp, like and help them back here?
Anthony 1:00:56
Yes.
Deeran 1:00:57
All right.
Anthony 1:00:59
My recommendation-
Deeran 1:01:01
It’d be weird if we did it, right?
Anthony 1:01:04
Yes. My recommendation: avoid our patrols.
Skarpin 1:01:16
Thank you.
Ellori 1:01:18
Can you tell us where your patrols are so we can more easily avoid them?
Anthony 1:01:22
They are patrolling. They are in the woods. Do your best.
Ellori 1:01:36
Honestly Steph fucking hates these people. I hate everyone in this camp.
Skarpin 1:01:43
Skarpin puts the bits of paper in the fire. He doesn’t want to litter. I want it to be in-story that he didn’t litter.
Anthony 1:01:56
But he also didn’t keep them. He’s not interested in holding on to them.
Deeran 1:02:01
No, who would be? It’s a paper trail that we didn’t fulfill a contact. Shred that shit.
Belroth 1:02:10
We didn’t get that notarized. It doesn’t matter.
Skarpin 1:02:12
It wasn’t official. Doesn’t count.
Anthony 1:02:13
Yeah, yeah. Bring it up with the Guild of Contractual Arrangement!
Belroth 1:02:22
I go speak with Velyra.
Skarpin 1:02:26
By, Belroth.
Belroth 1:02:28
It’ll be a moment, I promise.
Anthony 1:02:32
You walk the path that we walk.
Belroth 1:02:38
I do. Well, I did. My mother is more devout than I am. I was raised within the Teachings
Anthony 1:02:55
This path that you are on, things that you are doing, how are you using this to build yourself, to empower yourself?
Belroth 1:03:17
Well, I’ve lost a lot. I thought I had one path in academics. That didn’t pan out. I thought I had a partner. She’s missing. I am trying to find that point that I can build off of to strengthen myself because right now I feel like I’m treading water. Velyra, I honestly don’t know what this path is going to bring me, but someone I trust suggested it. My sister. I’ve met people I trust, and it feels right, but I don’t know yet what I am to do.
Anthony 1:04:22
We call one who speaks as you do, seeing with clouded eyes.
Belroth 1:04:31
Sounds about right.
Anthony 1:04:35
The best way to see more clearly is to find that piece of yourself. Everyone has a piece of themselves that they know they can strengthen, that they are good at strengthening. It is easy. It comes naturally. Everyone has a piece of themselves that does not come easily. When one walks with clouded eyes it is best to find the hardest struggle, the biggest fight within yourself: the thing you find most difficult, and tackle it. That is what the Teachings tell us. That through the suffering, through the pain we inflict upon ourselves that clarity will come through.
Belroth 1:05:48
Thank you, Velyra. I apologize for the passing of your loved one, and I wish this village the best of luck because it sounds like things are tough, but that’s what we do.
Anthony 1:06:10
Good luck.
Belroth 1:06:12
You as well.
Anthony 1:06:15
May you find the path you seek.
Belroth 1:06:18
And Belroth turns around and joins up with the
Anthony 1:06:24
Okay.
Deeran 1:06:29
Y’all, we like we really gotta avoid these patrols, man. Deeran spit some blood out like as we leave the camp.
Skarpin 1:06:45
I agree. I’m, i’m also quite damaged here.
Belroth 1:06:51
Let’s move quickly and with haste and make a camp and lick our wounds.
Anthony 1:07:02
Okay, so where are you headed?
Deeran 1:07:05
Ellori’s eyes light up when Belroth says lick our wounds.
Belroth 1:07:11
Some more blood Cheeto dust.
Ellori 1:07:14
I think that we should get to the standing stones. It’s just an hour’s walk.
Skarpin 1:07:24
I agree. Let’s get there safe.
Ellori 1:07:28
Deeran I can give you a little bit of a boost along the way if you need it.
Deeran 1:07:35
I don’t want to like, you know. What if something bad happens, and, like you need it?
Ellori 1:07:42
What if something bad happens, and you die? I know for a fact that you don’t want to be a ghost.
Deeran 1:07:49
No, it’s true, man.
Belroth 1:07:51
You did confirm this.
Deeran 1:07:53
And I definitely have some unfinished business.
Ellori 1:08:00
So, let me help you out.
Deeran 1:08:03
Alright.
Ellori 1:08:04
And she’ll palm the sides of his face, gently, but she is not avoiding the pools of blood. Fights aren’t easy, wounds can kill, but if I can help it, none of them, will.
Deeran 1:08:25
Yeah, and Deeran’s trying to sing along at the end.
Ellori 1:08:29
That’s sweet. 7.
Deeran 1:08:31
Great, thank you. He looks much better.
Ellori 1:08:38
And then now that you feel a little better, can you use your magic scanner to make sure that we’re not hitting any traps along the way?
Deeran 1:08:47
Umm, no.
Ellori 1:08:51
Okay.
Deeran 1:08:53
I used all my spells in the fight.
Belroth 1:08:57
That’s fair.
Deeran 1:09:01
It was, it was dangerous, man. You missed like a really spicy part, Ellori?
Ellori 1:09:08
Oh, no, I, it’s, I’m not, I’m not blaming you. I just didn’t know.
Anthony 1:09:19
Okay, everyone give me Survival checks.
Deeran 1:09:24
Deeran survives.
Anthony 1:09:27
Prove it.
Belroth 1:09:30
Belroth rolls a 22
Skarpin 1:09:32
20.
Deeran 1:09:36
18 baby!
Anthony 1:09:38
Look at you guys surviving.
Skarpin 1:09:41
We’re just trying to survive. That’s like our bare minimum right now.
Anthony 1:09:46
So as you’re making your way through the forest, you do come across another one of these patrol paths, and it looks like it was used pretty recently. So you’re able to follow behind a group of patrol people so you know, like there’s probably not another one, like right behind them far enough away that they don’t detect you, but but close enough that you’re comfortable in you’re not being followed. And after an hour, you find yourself down by the standing stones. The patrol path does not come down to the standing stones. It breaks off before. That’s a high enough roll from the four of you that you scout out the area right around the standing stones, and you don’t think that they patrol down here?
Skarpin 1:10:36
Yes, I could use some rest.
Belroth 1:10:37
Should we make camp or just go right through
Skarpin 1:10:40
Camp.
Ellori 1:10:41
Oh, no, I, I think we need to make camp.
Skarpin 1:10:44
Camp, camp, camp.
Belroth 1:10:45
Ok, let’s make camp.
Ellori 1:10:47
I am very hungry. I’ve had a couple snacks today, but nothing that’s gonna get me through whatever is happening on the Demon Isles-
Belroth 1:10:58
A couple snacks?
Ellori 1:10:58
-and I don’t know how many rabbits I’m gonna find there, Belroth.
Belroth 1:11:01
Oh, um, that’s a good point. I don’t know.
Deeran 1:11:07
Hey, um, Belroth, do you remember anything like this from back home?
Belroth 1:11:16
What do you mean?
Deeran 1:11:17
As he looks around these standing stones. Like, do you remember, like have you seen this stuff before?
Belroth 1:11:28
So, that’s a question for Anthony.
Anthony 1:11:32
The standing stone is a single large stone arch. You know, two stone pillars with a stone across the top inset with these symbols that you do not recognize.
Belroth 1:11:46
So, I’ve never seen this architecture, like a random gate anywhere?
Anthony 1:11:50
Correct. From your memory of the Demon Isles there’s nothing like this that you’ve seen. Certainly you have not been all over the Demon Isles. They’re not like 10 feet wide, right? They’re a chain of islands. There’s a whole bunch of them, and they’re pretty big. So you know, you don’t know for sure, but you definitely haven’t seen one before.
Belroth 1:12:18
No, I definitely haven’t seen these before, and I feel like I would because these are very interesting symbols. He is like investigating. He’s like inspecting them. He makes sure the stones aren’t near each other so that he doesn’t accidentally… And he’s just checking them out, and trying to figure out if he can understand anything or if it’s just unique, cool, Arcana symbols that he’s never seen.
Anthony 1:12:53
Yeah, they are definitely symbols that you do not recognize at all.
Skarpin 1:12:57
Skarpin’s trying to remember if Wesley called them something specific, or standing stones, or is that what we’re calling them?
Anthony 1:13:10
He called it the Nexus point.
Skarpin 1:13:17
Can Skarpin do a Religion check on these runes?
Anthony 1:13:22
You may.
Skarpin 1:13:26
13.
Anthony 1:13:29
You do not recognize them from anything relating to your religion.
Skarpin 1:13:33
Cool. All right, I’ll take first watch.
Belroth 1:13:43
All right.
Ellori 1:13:45
Alright, and I’ll take the second half of the night.
Skarpin 1:13:48
Yep, and Skarpin takes off. This is how he’s always watched, and you just trust him. He knows what he’s doing.
Ellori 1:13:59
Skarpin-
Skarpin 1:14:00
Yes, I’m just rounding the area to make sure there’s no-
Belroth 1:14:03
Don’t kill any of the guardsmen, please.
Ellori 1:14:07
I was gonna say, just don’t let them kill you.
Belroth 1:14:11
Also that.
Skarpin 1:14:13
He’s gone.
Anthony 1:14:15
Give me a Survival check, Skarpin.
Belroth 1:14:22
Big money, no whammy. Big money, no whammy.
Skarpin 1:14:25
16.
Anthony 1:14:27
Okay, yeah, you manage to avoid any sort of patrol in the area while still hunting, and you pull a couple of small game. They don’t sate your hunger. Nothing does, but it feels better than nothing, I guess. Actually it kind of feels the same as nothing. You know, for those few seconds, it’s almost like it feels better than nothing.
Skarpin 1:14:51
He makes a little noise, but like not too much noise.
Anthony 1:14:56
Yeah, for sure.
Skarpin 1:14:58
And he’s like, oh, no. And he happens to not find somebody, but he’s like not super quiet about it.
Anthony 1:15:08
I’m just out here, hunting!
Skarpin 1:15:13
He eventually hands off watch to Ellori. Slim pickings out there. I didn’t run into anybody. And he goes and lays down.
Ellori 1:15:23
Oh, good night. Ellori looks at this little bunny. I’m gonig to have a good midnight snack.
Anthony 1:15:36
Also give me a Survival check.
Ellori 1:15:41
- Oh wait, 18.
Anthony 1:15:47
Okay, yeah, you find some food to drain, some nice livestock to consume, and you avoid the patrols as well. So day breaks in the morning, and the everyone is well rested. And you stand in front of this standing stone now.
Belroth 1:16:13
Is everybody good? Is everybody ready to go have a good sleep? Anybody need to stretch?
Skarpin 1:16:19
I need to stetch, yes.
Belroth 1:16:22
I don’t have any coffee. I can’t offer anyone coffee. I would love a coffee.
Skarpin 1:16:26
We got to stock up before we head out next time.
Belroth 1:16:29
We really need to bring coffee with us.
Skarpin 1:16:30
I feel we can do this better.
Ellori 1:16:33
Guys, I’m just so ready to meet Belroth’s family.
Belroth 1:16:38
They’re fun. You’ll like them. They’ll like you.
Ellori 1:16:41
I hope so. Honestly, I think last night is the first time somebody has not liked me, and I’m still feeling a little bad about it.
Deeran 1:16:53
I don’t know. It probably wasn’t you, Ellori. It didn’t seem like they were gonna like anybody.
Ellori 1:16:59
I’m usually not just anybody though.
Deeran 1:17:07
Hey, can we start this ritual? Like, what do we do?
Belroth 1:17:12
Belroth takes out the stones. Um…
Deeran 1:17:16
And while he’s figuring it out, Deeran’s gonna pull Ellori aside and be like, hey, thanks for changing the subject. You know how like how intense it gets when I start talking about how, like the Coffee Cabals are like a big deal you know? I really appreciate you like having my back. I didn’t want to have that fight before we got into the Demon Isles, you know.
Ellori 1:17:39
I know, it’s okay I’ve got
Deeran 1:17:41
But you know it’s true!
Belroth 1:17:44
I can’t wait for a good cup of Demon Isles coffee. They don’t make it quite like it does anywhere else.
Deeran 1:17:52
Did you figure it out, Belroth?!
Belroth 1:17:56
Belroth takes, like the stone and just, like pushes it to the standing stone.
Anthony 1:17:59
Yeah, as you push the stone beyond the barrier of the archway, the green veins within the stone begin to glow brightly, and a swirl of green energy appears in the center of the standing stone and spreads to the edges of this gateway, creating this shimmering green energy between these stones
Belroth 1:18:27
Yes, I did.
Deeran 1:18:30
Awesome.
Ellori 1:18:35
Ellori walks through.
Belroth 1:18:36
Shall we?
Skarpin 1:18:38
Yes.
Anthony 1:18:38
Okay. Ellori, you disappear into this green energy.
Belroth 1:18:42
Belroth follows.
Skarpin 1:18:44
Skarpin does too.
Deeran 1:18:47
Deeran is like lost in the swirls for a minute. Oh, oh, oh gosh. And he runs.
Anthony 1:18:54
Yeah, because after Belroth walks through, they begin to close from the edge as the stone passes through. So Skarpin you get in there. Deeran you’re scrambling at the last second to, like leap through as the portal closes behind you. There is a rush of sound and light. A sensation of green energy as it twists and pulls and presses in on you. There is this sudden popping sound, and the green lights spins in front of your eyes, and then you are standing at another pair of standing stones, very similar to the ones you just stepped through. The symbols may be different. They don’t all look quite the same. And around you is a dense jungle overlooking the sea.
Belroth 1:19:46
Well, we’re home
Anthony 1:20:10
Hey everyone, DM Anthony here, just reminding you that if you’re enjoying the show, tell your friends, tell your family. Let people know word of mouth, and you can support the show at patreon.com/adventureinc. Or you can check out the shop at adventureincpod.com/shop. Make sure you check the show notes and the website for all our social media including our Discord where you can come and hang out with some great people. We’ll see you there, and until next week, I wish you nothing but critical success.
Adventure Incorporated 1:20:44
Serious Business.
We’re super serious!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai