Anthony 0:01
Greetings, adventurers and welcome to the Adventure Incorporated Podcast. I am your Dungeon Master. My name is Anthony Reed. I’m gonna stand up for this. Are you okay if I stand up for this? Alright, excellent. Hold on. All right, here we go. This is part of the Ancient Secrets story arc, and I, you know, I want you to come and talk about this show. I want you to come and speculate. I want you to come and pick apart, you know, what’s said, where the story’s going. I want all of that to happen. There’s a great place to do it on our Discord, which you’ll find links to in the show notes. You’ll also find links on our website, adventureincpod.com. There’s a great channel that discusses this campaign as it unfolds, the events that are occurring, and you can come and talk about it with a bunch of other people who are listening and following along as well. It’s a blast to see. And I want you to come and join us, so do that if you haven’t already, come and do that. I think this one’s got some meat on its bones, this story arc, so you’ll definitely want to be there to check it out. Additionally, I want to thank our Patrons at patreon.com/adventureinc who are, you know, they’re just the best. I was talking to a Patron the other day and I was just like, “you’re the best”. And they were like, “we all are”. And I said, “it’s so true, the hypothetical Patron I’m talking to”. And so, you know, thank you to them. Thank you to the Patrons for being amazing, for supporting the show. And if you are not a Patron, and you can’t be a Patron for whatever reason, you know, it’s just not in the cards, say thank you to a Patron find one on Twitter or in our Discord, and just give them a thanks for being a Patron and for being so great about supporting the show, so that you can continue to enjoy cool stuff on their dollar. That’s pretty rad. All right. I think that’s everything. 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 2:20
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 2:29
Skarpin, the Cleric.
Belroth 2:32
Should I just try and snipe them from over here?
Skarpin 2:35
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 2:43
Ellori, the Bard.
Ellori 2:46
We would want you to leave this warehouse.
Anthony 2:49
He points behind you. Church!
Ellori 2:52
Oh, sorry. We want you to leave this church.
Anthony 2:56
Deeran, the wizard.
He say you no, worship Shattered Fang.
Deeran 3:01
Yeah, man, he’s like, super wrong. We love Broken Tooth- uh Shattered Fang, man.
Anthony 3:06
Prepare yourselves, for these are the tales of Adventure Incorporated!
There is darkness all around you and silence. If you open your mouth to speak even, no sound can be heard from it. You don’t hear the movement of people around you. You are just in a void of darkness. And then there is a tug the rope around your waist, pulling you through the darkness.
Belroth 3:45
Belroth puts his hand out to hopefully find where Freya is to like, hopefully kind of grab her for comfort. Because he’s like, disoriented.
Anthony 3:53
As you reach around, you can feel the rope, and you can feel the rope is tied to something, but you cannot feel what the rope is tied to. It’s like, your hands are numb and cannot feel anything there, but you can feel the rope.
Belroth 4:11
That’s terrifying. Okay.
Anthony 4:14
So, you’re sort of pulled through this void by this rope until you find yourselves on a landing. Your vision begins to come to focus, colors and shapes sprouting up around you, sound slowly emerges, and you are on a landing of a staircase that goes both up and down. And Archimedes is standing before you. He’s got the rope. He’s recoiling it, and as you step out, he unties you and begins to rewind the rope.
I apologize. I know that that can be disorienting.
Deeran 4:58
Deeran’s eyes are wide as saucers. He cannot believe it. What does he see?
Anthony 5:08
So, this hallway that is a stairwell that goes up and down- you’re on the outside of the tower, like the not outside the building, but on the farthest outsides of the tower like, on the edges. It goes up and it goes down spiraling around along the edge of the tower. The stonework is all a beautiful polished white stone, something that looks new, but also up kept. And you can see little slit windows along the outside here that look out onto the ocean. And when I say look out onto the ocean, I mean you can see the ocean has like two inches above the slit. So you are like just under sea level, and the ocean is right there outside the slit. And then it descends downward, also well lit, but with also with little slit holes that expose to the ocean.
And he says, while you are in here, I would ask that you refrain from attempting to use magic. It will not work, but it does put a strain on you that I would wish to not have you to have to recover from.
Skarpin 6:39
Oh, that’s, that’s weird. Okay.
Ellori 6:48
Is it because we’re underneath the ocean and magic is harder to cast underwater?
Anthony 6:54
That is clever, but no. It is because of the wards we have put on this place. Our members carry sigils that protect them from the wards. You do not carry such sigils.
Deeran 7:10
Deeran puts a hand out to the slit to see if like, he can put his hand out to the outside.
Anthony 7:19
Yeah, you stick your hand out. Your fingers pass through the slit and into the ocean. You can feel the water rushing along you’re like, you know, flowing across your fingers. You pull them back in and they are wet.
Ellori 7:37
That’s rad as hell.
Deeran 7:39
Yeah, he’s just freaking out.
Ellori 7:42
Steph’s freaking out.
Deeran 7:43
Yeah, he’s doing what Steph’s doing but like, inside his, inside his skin barely.
Anthony 7:49
Archimedes has a small smirk. He says, Force magic keeps the water from rushing it. It is constantly pushing out, creating the space that we are in here. There is a thin layer of force magic, one that you can permeate, but one that the water does not. As we go deeper, I would not recommend that as the water becomes harder for us to keep out, and so the Force magic is stronger.
Deeran 8:29
We’re going to go down?
Anthony 8:32
Yes, where we are going is quite a ways down.
Deeran 8:37
Deeran’s mind is reeling. He thought all these years right- like, you know how when you have like, when you’re 10 you have a picture of a racecar like, on your wall or whatever right, like, it’s like a Lamborghini or it’s like the Dallas Cowboys or whoever that you throw up on your wall. You know, like your dream anything, right? Like, that’s what is like- Deeran had drawings of the Tower of Vorai like, in his bedroom. He always thought like, it just goes up, right, like, it’s a tower that there’s an up to it, right? If there’s a down it’s only to the ground that it’s built on or whatever. He’s losing his mind.
Anthony 9:36
Even by the standards of if it were on land at the same height that you see it above the water, it would probably be the tallest building in New Meritta. So, it’s already very, very tall and then now it’s going into the ocean. So, you are right to have, to be, to have that thought.
Belroth 10:01
Canonically I now think that Deeran had a Tower a Vorai bed instead of a racecar bed. He slept in a Tower of Vorai bed.
Deeran 10:12
At the top. Like, it’s bunk beds.
Belroth 10:16
It’s bunk beds, obviously.
Deeran 10:17
Like, you walk up a spiral staircase on the inside of a bunk bed to the top lair.
Anthony 10:23
I didn’t know this went down into the living room!
Belroth 10:28
That’s not where I slept!
Anthony 10:31
He says, please follow me and he begins to walk down the stairs. You pass by several doors along the stairway down like, pretty much every 10 feet or so in decrease in elevation you see more doors. And then after about 7 or 8 doors, he stops and he opens it up and he says, in here. You walk into a room that has two inscribed circles on the floor. And he says, we are going much, much further down. This will be much quicker. Please.
Belroth 11:27
What do you, what do you mean? Do we go into the circle?
Anthony 11:30
Yes, this circle on the left. If you stand within the circle, it is linked to another circle here in the tower. One on the lower the area that we can travel to quickly.
Ellori 11:43
Ellori goes to stand on the circle, but she also puts her hands in her pockets.
Anthony 11:47
Okay.
Ellori 11:48
She’s a little nervous.
Deeran 11:50
Are we still tied?
Anthony 11:52
No. As you step on the circle there is a flash of green and then the green dissipates quickly, and you are still standing in a like, basically the same room, but all of your friends are gone. For you guys, Ellori just vanishes.
Skarpin 12:13
Skarpin goes on the circle.
Deeran 12:14
Yeah, Deeran runs after.
Anthony 12:17
Again flash flash flash flash flash. Now, everyone you are in this very similar room, and Archimedes comes after you. He walks to the door and he opens it. Outside the slit now, you see what looks like a cave.
Belroth 12:37
Belroth is very disoriented.
Anthony 12:38
The pressure here is noticeably higher like, on your ears. You can feel that pressure.
Belroth 12:46
If we go up too quickly, are we going to get the bends?
Anthony 12:50
Maybe. You don’t know.
Deeran 12:51
I don’t want to I don’t want to meet them. I’m not ready for the Bens. I’m having a hard enough time with one Archimedes.
Belroth 13:01
Archimedes, what exactly are we doing? I want I guess a little bit more context if that’s possible.
Anthony 13:09
You will get it in time, and he continues to walk down for 3 more revolutions around the tower.
Belroth 13:20
Good lord.
Anthony 13:22
And then he opens a doorway that leads into a chamber that fills the entirety of the inside of the tower here, which is quite large. This chamber has magical instruments all around the outside of it, tables and things that you recognize for any of you who have done magical rituals for experimentation and understanding magical principles. So both of you have been students in the Black Scale, slash teachers Black Scale, have seen stuff like this before in enchanter reliquaries and things like that.
Deeran 13:59
Is there like, any symbol on the door that like lets him know what this room is for? You know what I mean? Is there like, a directory?
Anthony 14:09
No. You get the sense that he just knows like, where he’s going and where he is. He opens the door and leads you in. In the center of the room, there is a large stone sphere, like, an 8 foot sphere just in the center of the room. It is made of stone and along the outer edge of it there are notches carved into the stone. He says, I have brought you here because we are seeking to understand more about this threat. We have been told that no one knows anything about this. Lanier would have been my most- I can’t imagine anyone else in New Meritta who would know more about something ancient than Lanier. That gives me a lot of questions, and I don’t have a lot of answers, just a lot of theories. So, I think it is time we take an extreme measure. Now, I have asked for your assistance in empowering this, and you have provided it, which tells me that I think you are honest in your wish to see this endeavor played out. The 800 you have acquired, the 800 Spellstone that the Silver Mask will put up, the 800 that we received from Mughamar, and then the rest that I pulled from the treasury of New Merittan Empire should be enough to empower this object.
Belroth 16:16
And what exactly is this…cube, exactly?
Anthony 16:23
Well, it’s a sphere.
Belroth 16:25
I- you know, what, let’s take that again. What exactly is this sphere? Well, it’s a cube.
Anthony 16:38
This is an object I acquired far to the west, across the ocean, and land called Cannodel. In those lands, they call it the God’s eye. They believe it to be an object that can be used to travel through time, though, I’m not convinced that that is something that can be done. What I believe is that this is something that can show us the past. Using it has been difficult as this is an object of Divinity, and their sense of Divinity is different than ours. They do not worship the gods that we worship in Cannodel, and so empowering it has not been the easiest process, but you have something, something unique that I think we can use to make this work. And then I believe if we put enough magical energy into anything we can make it happen. I do not know how safe this is. And I do not truly know what will happen. I just have theories, but I believe if there is some way for us to get answers from this. It’s worth it.
Deeran 18:18
Deeran is smiling so big.
Ellori 18:25
Skarpin wants to do a Religion Check on it, on the sphere.
Anthony 18:32
Okay.
Skarpin 18:33
Just to see if he’s heard of it before anything like it? 11.
Anthony 18:40
The sphere is unadorned. It does not have any religious iconography on it that you can recognize. There are 12 of these slots around the sphere that basically, they’re shaped like an oval with two ovals inside that are like, not depressed, right? So, they’re a little slot that you could slide something into that is oval in shape. But there are two ovals that stick out like pegs for each of these 12 slots, but you don’t recognize anything about it that would tie to the gods in any way.
Skarpin 19:28
He doesn’t say anything people. He’s just like keeps it to himself that he has no idea what this is.
Anthony 19:39
I believe that you have a piece of the Demon Stone with you.
Belroth 19:48
Yes, we do. I do, and he pulls it out.
Anthony 19:53
He takes it from you and he walks over to one of his little side tables that he has all the like equipment on. He places it down and he grabs a hammer and smashes it and he extracts from within it the gemstone that was visible on the stone tablet, and he walks back over with the gemstone and he places it on top of the God’s Eye. Now, there’s no slot or anything on the top, but when he places it there it just stands up. Okay. Again, I do not know what this will do, and I want to give you an opportunity to turn back now. It is only fair, but as you have seen firsthand more of this information than anyone else, and I need someone to do this travel, to see what they find out and to report it back. It seems it should be you, but I will understand and I can send some of my assistants or another team of adventurers, perhaps if you do not feel that it is worth the risk.
Ellori 21:28
Ellori shakes her head, no.
Deeran 21:30
Yeah, man there’s no way. I’m definitely going.
Anthony 21:36
I cannot be clear enough on this. I will open this hole, and I will pull out this Spellstone, and I will start this ritual, and you may keel over and die.
Skarpin 21:51
Eh.
Deeran 21:51
Yeah, at least we’re doing something.
Anthony 21:57
He smiles. Very well.
Belroth 22:03
Belroth looks down at Freya, kind of like, squats down a little bit. Well, girl should I find a place for you to stay while this ritual happens, or do you want to risk it all with me?
Anthony 22:18
There’s a look of determination in her eyes. She’s determined to find a place to rest while you do this.
Belroth 22:31
So you want to sleep? You need to be a little bit more clear. I know you’re a cat, but I need you to be a little bit more clear.
Anthony 22:40
Blink once for yes twice for now. Blink blink. Double yes. Let’s go!
Belroth 22:48
Well, I assume that means you’re on board, but I can leave out a food bowl for you if-
Deeran 22:59
Man, she wants to go. She said it. Let’s do this.
Belroth 23:05
Okay. I’m just worried about her. Okay.
Anthony 23:09
Okay. Everyone place a hand or a paw or a wing, I guess on the stone and we will begin. And he steps back and he opens the hole, the portable hole. And he puts it onto the wall, the portable hole on to the wall, and he just reaches in and starts just pulling out mounds of Spellstone that pours out down onto the floor and just continues to tumble out of this thing. He’s like, as long as there is a connection to the stones above, we should be okay. He pokes her head into the hole. Oh yes, okay. He pulls it back out.
Belroth 24:00
Very funny and weird.
Deeran 24:03
So fun.
Anthony 24:04
He kicks a foot over so it’s touching the pile of stones, and you can watch as the magic already begins to draw up out of the Spellstones into his hands as he begins to channel this power. And he pushes his hands forward and the energy washes over this orb. The orb doesn’t seem to respond except that as your hands are on it, you feel warmth begin to permeate this orb. He pushes more and more energy out as part of the ritual and the gem at the top begins to glow faintly at first, but it increases more and more and more and you can see the strain visible on Archimedes as more of this power- you’re watching it rush out of the hole on the wall and pour through him, channeled through his hands and pressed into this orb that just seems to be like, pulling all that energy into it. It’s just drinking deeply of this flow of energy, and you can see him straining like, barely able to maintain the flow. He says, there’s not enough power! He reaches into his pocket, and he pulls out a silver mask, shimmering and brilliant, and he pushes it forward and slides it on to 1 of the 2 pegs. It fits almost perfectly into that oval hole, and when he does, there’s this loud clang that comes from the stone. And you feel immediately it has absorbed a connection to you that even if you let go now, it would be too late. This is happening, and the stone begins to spin, slow at first, spinning in place until it’s going so fast that if you kept your hand on it, you would tear your skin off, but you’re still connected to it. You can feel it pushing and pulling on your lifeforce, and then as more energy pours into this, and the stone is moving so fast, it’s like a blur. Your eyes lift from the back of your skull, pulled outward. You can see your body below you. You can see your friends’ bodies and their spirits hovering above those bodies. As it spins faster and faster and faster you are pulled up and away from the stone still connected by energy to the sphere, and then all at once a lurching motion tugs you forward into the stone. There is a chorus of voices that ring out as your vision blurs from this stone like a wiping across your eyes. The chorus of voices chant in unison to a rhythm, a heartbeat, over and over and over. Then the voices fade away and bright sunlight breaks through. Your eyes adjust. You blink to the colors all around you, the smells smell like a edge of a forest, a clearing. The sight of green grass and blue ocean. Sounds of people in the distance. You are on solid land land all 5 of you. Freya included. And you are all together.
Do I recognize this as the Demon Isles?
As you look around, no. I mean this is most certainly not the Demon Isles. This looks like- well, everyone give me Knowledge Checks. Knowledge History.
Skarpin 28:32
- Belroth 28:35
Deeran 28:37
12.
Ellori 28:40
- Anthony 28:40
Great, you guys, you have no idea. You have no idea where you are.
Deeran 28:47
Is Archimedes there?
Anthony 28:49
No.
Skarpin 28:54
We have voices, do we see any structures?
Anthony 28:58
Yeah, in the distance is a small village along the side of the body of water, presumably the ocean. There’s a small village there. You know, maybe like the kind that has like 80 people in it.
Ellori 29:17
Wow. Well, maybe we can find out where we are. How are y’all feeling? I feel fine.
Belroth 29:26
More disoriented, but fine.
Deeran 29:30
That was the most amazing thing that’s ever happened.
Ellori 29:37
I don’t know about you all, but my eyes were not in my head anymore, and then my body was feeling like it was sucked and spinned, and, and it’s not connected to anything, and I am not sure I would like to feel that again. Especially the eyes part.
Belroth 29:53
Yeah, that was really gross. I didn’t like that.
Skarpin 29:58
Skarpin pinches himself.
Anthony 30:01
You are physically here to the best of your ability to discern.
Deeran 30:07
I can’t believe how incredible that was.
Ellori 30:12
Deeran I’m really happy for you.
Deeran 30:15
We just we’re doing something that like, no one’s ever done before.
Belroth 30:27
Do we know how long we have this? Do we have to hustle? I don’t, I don’t know.
Ellori 30:33
I think it’s probably best in any case to hustle, but no, Deeran I think you’re right. I think it’s a good moment to appreciate. As frightening as it was for my eyes to be out of my body and for me to think I was gonna die. But we didn’t.
Deeran 30:55
What do we do now?
Ellori 30:59
Let’s go find the people.
Deeran 31:05
All right. And Deeran looks to Ellori.
Ellori 31:14
Ellori walks towards people. She knows where they are.
Anthony 31:20
Roughly. You’re on a hillside at the edge of a forest and overlooking this village. So, you head toward the direction of the village, and you can see the pathway there. It’s not like a cut path, but you can find a way to get down to the village pretty easily, and as you reach the outskirts of the village, you reach a home where there is a man on his porch. He’s got a sword and a shield, and he’s just sitting on his porch with the sword next to him the shield like, leaning up on his porch like kind of far away. Human.
Ellori 32:20
Ellori is gonna turn to everyone and be like, we probably shouldn’t tell people that we’re from the future.
Belroth 32:29
Is that where we are from? Are we sure this is the past?
Deeran 32:34
That’s what he said, man. He said this was gonna be the past.
Belroth 32:38
He said that his theory was that this was the past, but yeah, but I still agree with you Ellori, I don’t think we should do that either way.
Deeran 32:51
Hey, man we’ve been traveling a long time. What day is it?
Anthony 32:57
Oh, Chanerel’s ashes, you look white as a as a sheet. Come here, come here, come here. What day is it?
Deeran 33:05
Yeah, man.
Anthony 33:06
That’s a strange question to ask. It’s a, it’s a day for working and a day for enjoying the light. What do you mean “what day?” It’s not a special day. There’s no holiday today.
Ellori 33:25
Oh, thank you. Um, what’s the most recent holiday that’s passed?
Anthony 33:34
Oh, gee, I guess it would be the harvest festival would be the most recent one.
Ellori 33:40
And about how long ago was that?
Anthony 33:43
Oh, I would say 4 or 5 cycles in the moon. Yeah, I think we’re on, we’re on the fifth cycle. That’ll be starting up now.
Ellori 33:53
Oh, great. I’ve been drunk a lot lately, what year is it?
Skarpin 34:08
Forgive my friend. He does drink a lot.
Anthony 34:11
No, I understand. It’s Durath’s year.
Deeran 34:13
He’s a real- Durath’s year, yeah I knew. Jeez, Skarpin, you could have asked me, man.
Ellori 34:24
Yeah, yeah, that’s true. Thank you, sir. You know, I have a lot to think about.
Anthony 34:33
I don’t mean to be rude. It’s always great to see new guests. I’m always happy to have new people making their way down this way. And while you’re keeping some eclectic company yourself, I do have to ask: sir, what are you?
Ellori 34:55
Oh, that’s, that’s a very rude question, but you know, seeing as you’re so kind and helpful right there, I’m a tortle. I come from where the tortles come from.
Anthony 35:18
I’ve never heard of that.
Belroth 35:20
They are quite a rare group of individuals.
Anthony 35:28
That’s something coming from you.
Belroth 35:32
Oh? Oh, I guess I am also a rare- we are very rare travelers, obviously. We are traveling-
Anthony 35:40
Well, he stands up straight, let me be the first to welcome you and invite you to our small village, but it’s on the rise. I’m looking forward to where this village is going and one day I think it’s going to be the crown jewel of this province. This is Varina.
Ellori 36:03
And what’s your name, sir?
Anthony 36:06
Well, I am Thylin.
Deeran 36:10
Hey there, Thylin. I’m Deeran.
Belroth 36:15
Belroth, that’s my name.
Anthony 36:18
Belroth, nice to meet you.
Skarpin 36:20
Skarpin over here.
Anthony 36:22
Skarpin, that’s a strange name, strange name.
Skarpin 36:26
That’s very rude as well.
Belroth 36:28
That is a rude thing to say to someone.
Ellori 36:33
Ellori is like, sweating. Um, because what she was gonna ask before Deeran yelled at this guy was if they should make up new names so that they don’t Butterfly Effect their entire lives and futures, but now that everyone else has introduced themselves, she’s like, kind of freaking out, but also, you sink with the team, right? Um, I’m Ellori.
Anthony 37:02
He smiles as you speak to him, and then his expression changes. And he steps backwards. He’s got-
Ellori 37:09
She closes her mouth.
Anthony 37:13
He’s got a look of fear on his face, and he reaches for his blade.
Deeran 37:19
Oh, no. No, man. She’s, she’s with us, man. She’s one of us.
Anthony 37:29
You brought a daughter of Nosfera here?
Belroth 37:33
I think there has been a big misunderstanding.
Deeran 37:37
Yeah, I like, she hasn’t told me your parents names, but that doesn’t sound super familiar.
Belroth 37:44
Belroth does his best at lying. If you’re worried about the teeth that you see, she as a child was in an accident where she had her teeth broken. She gets this a lot where she gets confused for someone with sharper teeth that might not be as-
Deeran 38:06
Totally normal, you know?
Belroth 38:08
She has just broken teeth. I really, honestly apologize for the-
Anthony 38:13
Give me a Deception Check.
Skarpin 38:16
Come on, Belroth. That was so good!
Belroth 38:21
- Exactly 10. 10 plus 0. 10.
Anthony 38:35
I heard your numbers. That’s not why I’ve stopped.
Belroth 38:38
I’m saying it a lot because I’m nervous. Belroth trying to be clever is always a bad idea.
Anthony 38:48
He grips the sword tighter, and he says, I guess it would be a little strange to see one of the Nosferat in the day like this.
Belroth 39:05
That is true.
Ellori 39:08
Um, yeah, look at all the normal food that I eat, and she holds out her hands to Deeran.
Deeran 39:16
Yeah, Deeran pulls out snacks. Whatever he’s got, let’s see. That is a 7 snack check, so yeah, I feel like it’s a marshmallow.
Ellori 39:28
And she pops it in her mouth. It gets a little stuck on our teeth.
Anthony 39:32
So, now you’re like ~chomp chomp~ and like, it’s way more obvious.
Ellori 39:36
And chewing like a horse, yeah.
Belroth 39:39
I mean, look at those broken teeth. They are nothing but broken-
Deeran 39:44
It was a tragedy, man.
Belroth 39:46
Yeah, her whole teeth got broken.
Deeran 39:50
She’s left disfigured and terrifying looking.
Well, I think they’re like, really cute.
Belroth 39:59
And now everyone thinks she’s a monster, and that is a bigger tragedy.
Ellori 40:03
Yeah, she can’t go many places, but we appreciate your kindness and understand.
Belroth 40:07
Yes, we do. And apologize for any fear that may have caused you.
Deeran 40:11
Hey, man, where’s the tavern?
Anthony 40:19
If you head this way down the main road, you should see it on the right, across from the main dock.
Deeran 40:26
Awesome, man. Thank you so much.
Anthony 40:32
He stares the whole way as you move in.
Deeran 40:37
Deeran feels like they nailed that.
Ellori 40:39
Ellori is freaking out, and will not- like, every time she talks she’s gonna talk out of the, you know, out of the bottom of her mouth so that her teeth don’t show.
Deeran 40:52
She’s doing that like, grandma impression where you pretend you don’t have any teeth.
Ellori 40:58
No, cuz if she tried to do that her fangs would like, burst her top lip.
Skarpin 41:12
I feel like you would have built up some calluses in there.
Ellori 41:14
That’s fair.
Deeran 41:17
You should grow a mustache that hides your face.
Anthony 41:22
He’s not wrong. You need a mustache so long, it covers your mouth when you talk.
Belroth 41:30
No, no, no, not your mouth, your face. That was what he said.
Anthony 41:35
You brush it up, you brush it to the sides, and you brush it down.
Deeran 41:39
I didn’t come here to be abused for the things I say.
Belroth 41:43
It’s not a bad plan, but it’s the words you said.
Ellori 41:47
So, Ellery is also going to put her sunshade away like, her umbrella.
Deeran 41:55
Why?
Ellori 41:57
Because like, if she’s hiding from the sun. Yeah, she’s gonna like, as they’re walking away, kind of like, tuck her umbrella back and be like, oh, I love this nice, sunny day. It’s so nice and sunny outside. And then just like, hope they get to a tavern really fast. Yeah, it should be, if it’s right over there like, we should be able to just pop in.
Anthony 42:23
You can feel immediately that energy sap away from you in the sun like this. Not enough to be permanent because you are moving pretty quick, but you definitely know if you spend any time out here, it’s gonna, you’re gonna feel it.
Ellori 42:39
Yep.
Belroth 42:41
I kind of whisper to Freya. All right, girl, if you see any of the villagers, or anyone making a sudden move, that looks like it might be a dangerous attack at us. Maybe because they are afraid of Ellori’s fangs, you let me know, to kind of indicate that both Belroth and hopefully with the assistance of Freya is keeping an eye out on the local fear that these tiny villagers might have.
Ellori 43:18
Are they tiny?
Deeran 43:19
So small because it’s back in the day. Yeah, remember everybody was shorter.
Belroth 43:23
It’s in the past. Everyone’s shorter by two feet.
Ellori 43:29
Love it.
Deeran 43:30
We assume.
Belroth 43:31
We go in the tavern.
Anthony 43:33
Okay-
Belroth 43:33
Wait, are they smaller or are they the same?
Anthony 43:36
Nope, they’re the same height, roughly the same height. Okay, the tavern is called the Crescent Moon, and the sign that hangs outside has a sliver of moon with a bit of cloud and two eyes hovering above it. Inside it is a tavern, a quaint tavern. This is a small village, but it’s a tavern. It’s familiar.
Deeran 44:08
Hey, they’re. Could we get- and he holds up 1 finger and then 2.
Ellori 44:17
Ellori nods.
Deeran 44:18
2 rooms.
Anthony 44:21
Oh, yes. We can do 2 rooms, yes.
Ellori 44:26
I thought he was ordering ales.
Belroth 44:31
Belroth puts his fingers down. He wanted ales.
Skarpin 44:32
I like that Ellori shut Deeran down like, to his one room.
Ellori 44:38
She thought she was saying yes to a beer, thank you. Not no to a room.
Belroth 44:47
Can me and this lovely lady get a- two rooms?
Deeran 44:52
No, I was looking at everybody to figure out how many, how many we wanted to do.
Skarpin 44:57
Oh, I could use a drink.
Anthony 45:00
Yeah, I can get you a drink as well.
Skarpin 45:05
I appreciate that, kind person.
Ellori 45:08
Thank you so much.
Anthony 45:10
A drink? Drinks for everyone?
Belroth 45:14
Yes, please.
Ellori 45:15
Yes, please, particularly normal drinks.
Belroth 45:17
Something maybe, if you have anything stronger I would also like that as well.
Ellori 45:23
But not like too strong that would be suspicious.
Belroth 45:26
What?
Anthony 45:27
It is noon. So, I think perhaps just regular ales should be fine. That should suffice.
Belroth 45:34
Sounds great to me.
Anthony 45:36
He gets 4 ales. 4 ales and 2 rooms. That would be 5 silver pieces, please.
Deeran 45:48
Do you have changed for gold?
Anthony 45:51
Sure, I could make change for a gold piece, certainly.
Deeran 45:56
Great. And Deeran slides one over.
Anthony 46:01
I’m sorry, what is this?
Deeran 46:05
It’s one piece of gold?
Anthony 46:10
I do not, um, I don’t recognize this gold.
Belroth 46:19
I mean, it’s gold. You can bend it, you can chew it. It’s soft metal.
Anthony 46:23
Yes, perhaps you should seek out a money changer who can properly evaluate the value of some of this.
Deeran 46:35
Oh…sure.
Ellori 46:35
Could you point us in their direction?
Anthony 46:35
I would hate to short change you. Yes, of course, of course. If you head down to the docks, and you speak to the boat right. He should be able to help you find who you’re looking for.
Deeran 46:51
Alright, man, thanks.
Anthony 46:54
I’ll put these rooms on hold for you, and you can pay when you get back.
Ellori 46:59
Ellori doesn’t like the sound of docs, so before they go out the door she’s gonna fish around in her bag, and she’s gonna find a big like, hat that’s going to essentially do the same thing. It looks like a fancy hat, but it’s got a little veil on the front, and so it’s gonna do kind of the same thing as a-
Belroth 47:18
A fascinator.
Ellori 47:20
No, not a fascinator. Isn’t a fascinator the tiny one?
Deeran 47:25
Yeah, a fascinator is just this thing, right, that goes over the front of your face.
Belroth 47:31
The Kentucky Derby hat, that was what I was envisioning.
Deeran 47:34
Yeah, yeah, that’s I think what Steph’s talking about, right?
Skarpin 47:38
Wear a fascinator, that’s cooler. All right, let’s head to the docks.
Anthony 47:51
You guys head outside. The docks are right across the main thoroughfare here. So, the boat right is a dwarf. She has a little stand set up where she’s just like, checking in people and dealing with boats as they come in and off the docks. Yeah, you got a boat?
Deeran 48:19
Well, no, I mean, we were told to come here to find the money exchanger.
Anthony 48:26
Oh, yeah, of course. Hold on. She reaches down below and picks up a scale and a small lens. And she says, money exchanger.
Deeran 48:40
And Deeran puts out one gold piece.
Anthony 48:45
Oh, wow. Look at this. This is fancy. You minting your own coins now?
Deeran 48:52
Yeah.
Anthony 48:58
She puts it into her little pan. She scrapes off a little bit, like a flake of metal, and you watch her taste it. Something in there I don’t quite recognize. Maybe like a nickel. Anyway. Let’s see. I could do 6 silver pieces for this gold.
Belroth 49:32
No, no, no, I think you misunderstood. That’s a gold piece, which is equal to 10 silver pieces.
Anthony 49:39
No, this is a gold piece that’s equal to 10 silver pieces. And she pulls out a gold piece that’s about an inch in diameter like, quite a bit larger than your gold piece.
Deeran 49:50
Wow, Anthony I didn’t realize we were going to get into a gold piece measuring contest. I just thought we were gonna be able to buy some drinks!
Belroth 50:00
A lot of banking in this arc.
Anthony 50:02
Yeah, all banking. It’s important. You’ll see.
Belroth 50:06
The bank arc.
Ellori 50:07
Thank you. Thank you so much for that. Um, could we maybe do 10 gold pieces? She looks around kind of like, yeah get some money, like I don’t know what we’re gonna need.
Deeran 50:20
What about like, 5?
Ellori 50:25
Okay.
It’s just 10 seems like so many cuz like, we know, we know what this is worth where we’re from.
No, I know. I was just thinking, okay. Anthony, you said the rooms plus the drinks were-
Anthony 50:40
Five silver.
Ellori 50:42
Okay, that’s fine. Okay. And Ellery gives out 4 more gold.
Belroth 50:48
All right, okay.
Anthony 50:50
She changes it over for you.
Belroth 50:53
Oh, well, nevermind. I was gonna contribute but I guess-
Deeran 50:56
Oh yeah, man. Me too. Oh, I was gonna try to help out too, man. Jeez, Ellori, next time you really gotta let me and Belroth help out. Deeran winks at Belroth to be like, yeah, I’m playing along.
Belroth 51:10
Belroth doesn’t get it. He was being sincere. Uh, y-yes.
Skarpin 51:10
Oh, well, while you’re here, we appreciate your help. We’re traveling through. Any news? What are the current happenings of the area?
Anthony 51:31
Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, I think there’s rumors going around that the general will be here shortly.
Skarpin 51:39
Oh, that’s exciting. What are they doing here?
Anthony 51:44
They’re searching for people for the war effort. Trying to deal with the demons.
Skarpin 51:50
Oh, wow, the demons. We’ve been out of touch for a while. What do you mean demons?
Anthony 51:55
Oh, well, down from the Demon Isles. This one should know all about it.
Belroth 52:01
Oh, no, I know nothing about it. I’m actually- I would i didn’t grow up on the Demon Isles, actually. I’m a stranger in a strange Land, if you will.
Deeran 52:10
Yeah, he’s a mainlander like all of us.
Belroth 52:13
Very rare, I know.
Anthony 52:16
Well, okay. Yeah, the demons down in the Demon Isles have been a thorn in our side for a long time. They’ve been a real problem, and we’re hoping that the general has a good plan to finally, to finally put an end to this.
Deeran 52:40
Well, that’s pretty, pretty neat that the general’s coming here because like, you know, we’re an adventuring group, and that definitely sounds like an adventure to me.
Anthony 52:55
Well, maybe. I think they’re picking up a big shipment at the mine tomorrow, or the next day. Whenever they show up.
Belroth 53:04
I have a question for you, actually. Like I was mentioned, I grew up- I’m adopted. Belroth, doing his best to lie-
Deeran 53:16
Building an extravagant backstory as is always so good in a lie.
Belroth 53:23
But I have heard of, you know, growing up I heard the same children’s tales that all of the other folks and kids heard about the demons. Are they all true or how much are exaggeration?
Anthony 53:42
Who would tell stories about demons to children?
Belroth 53:46
Oh my gosh, my terrible father.
Anthony 53:48
I would say so.
Belroth 53:52
But you know, not the good tails, the tails. Like, if you don’t brush your teeth, the demons with the spines on their tails will come and rake out your eyeballs. Those kinds, you know?
Anthony 54:07
Yeah, if you’re gonna tell stories to your children about the Whisper of Lies, or you’re going to tell them about the Midnight Star, I mean, I guess you could do that, but I mean, they’re terrifying, horrible monsters. I don’t know why you would want to frighten children with such burdens.
Belroth 54:28
Well, sometimes children are hard to negotiate with, so you’re just scared of them. That’s what my father told me when I grew up. He was not a good person.
Anthony 54:36
Boy, okay.
Belroth 54:38
I mean, he’s a fine person, but he’s a very cold person.
Deeran 54:45
Do you have like, a therapist kit back there, maybe you can pull out?
She looks down. She goes, no…
Belroth 54:54
She puts the therapist kit away.
Anthony 55:03
She kicks it under the table.
Deeran 55:07
I think the taverns a perfect place to get these kinds of issues out.
Belroth 55:10
I think so too.
Deeran 55:14
Hey, um- what’s up, Skarpin?
Skarpin 55:24
No, I was exclaiming. I said, oh, wow, but I kind of mumbled it so I understand, it was hard to hear. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have a voice.
Deeran 55:37
Yeah, man. You hadn’t said a lot, and like, usually you love talking to people about, you know, stuff like she deals with so I didn’t know. I guess I have a question about the mines around like, what do y’all mine over here?
Anthony 55:56
Oh, gemstones? Yeah, apparently the gemstones that we pull out of here are good for infusing with magic. And, the general’s plan has something to do with- he needs a lot of gemstones.
Deeran 56:16
Oh, cool. So, like, that should be a pretty big boon for the city- I mean the town.
Anthony 56:28
Yeah, we hope so. We’re thinking about building another dock and maybe a bridge across the starlight up there, but we’ll see.
Deeran 56:40
That’s pretty big plans.
Anthony 56:45
Yeah, yeah. You know, now we’re hoping it goes well. Depends on what kind of government contracts we can get for these gems.
Belroth 56:55
More banking. Let’s go!
Ellori 56:57
Thank you so much for all of your help and information. Um, what was your name again?
Anthony 57:03
She goes silent as you start talking to her.
Ellori 57:06
She’s talking without her teeth.
Anthony 57:08
Okay, all right. You didn’t do the-
Ellori 57:13
Sorry, I didn’t do the visual bit for the audio podcast.
Anthony 57:16
It was an audio bit. There was an audio bit to it.
Deeran 57:21
Yeah, there’s a bit of a mumble.
Ellori 57:29
Sorry, what was your name again?
Anthony 57:34
What was the problem with that?
Deeran 57:37
Yeah, I mean, it’s super fucking hard. I’m glad I don’t have to mask my character voice or the visual bit.
Anthony 57:45
I’m Freilla Bronzecore.
Belroth 57:47
Ellori, if she was a ventriloquist.
Ellori 57:55
It’s so nice to meet you, Frilla.
Anthony 57:59
Nice to meet you all too. Good luck. I hope the general scoops you up and pays you a lot.
Ellori 58:03
Oh, we hope so too, I think.
Deeran 58:08
Yeah. Yeah, man, sorry. We’re not from here. Deeran gets really nervous and walks away. Ellori follows him.
Belroth 58:20
We very much appreciate your time.
Anthony 58:24
She puts the scale and the lens down and picks up her boat ledger and she’s like, you got any boat business.
Skarpin 58:35
Well, maybe.
Belroth 58:39
Can we invest in boat? Belroth is like, galaxy-braining right now. If we invest in a boat now…
Skarpin 58:50
Honestly, not a bad idea. Like, with Varina on the up and up. We can get in on the ground floor.
Belroth 58:58
Skarpin do you want to invest in a boat?
Skarpin 59:01
I kinda want to invest in Varina. It’s gonna be big. But no, Frilla, have you ever seen anybody who looked like me in your travels? Maybe on the islands in the north?
Anthony 59:23
Ruggedly handsome?
Skarpin 59:26
Yeah.
Belroth 59:27
Oh, should I leave, I’m sorry.
Skarpin 59:32
Yes, I said.
Belroth 59:34
I leave.
Anthony 59:39
I mean, I wouldn’t say I’ve seen anyone that looks exactly like you. I mean, you got a pretty unique look about you.
Skarpin 59:47
All right, thank you for that information. Goodbye.
Belroth 59:57
Belroth looks back and sees Skarpin walking away. I thought you- why didn’t you-
Skarpin 1:00:05
Oh, no. She told me what I needed to hear? I wanted to know if she had ever seen any other tortles, but she said no.
Belroth 1:00:16
Skarpin she was into you. She called you handsome.
Skarpin 1:00:19
Yes, yes, I get that a lot. But you know, we’re busy. And another time, maybe.
Deeran 1:00:28
Ellori, why are you so nervous? Like, other than the teeth thing?
Ellori 1:00:32
It’s the teeth thing. I, I’m nervous that people are going to cast me out of this, and then our whole mission is is done. And also, I’m, I wasn’t really sure that we should be giving them our names because what if something happens, and maybe we become famous, or we change the way that our whole future is? You know, maybe maybe we accidentally killed someone that was our great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather, and then we don’t exist anymore, and we start to disappear and then if someone remembers our names, because they’re pretty unique to this area, then all the way down the line, you know, that might change the way that maybe there’s a- maybe I do something terrible.
Deeran 1:01:15
No, you could never.
Ellori 1:01:15
And then the name Ellori like, is like, like, bad for eternity and my mum doesn’t name me Ellori, and then I’m someone else, and I’m someone different, and I don’t know who I am.
Deeran 1:01:29
Oh, yeah.
Skarpin 1:01:35
So, she’s just worried about the teeth, huh?
Ellori 1:01:40
But mostly, it’s just the teeth, yeah.
Anthony 1:01:44
Oh, you’re back. Drinks for everyone, yes?
Belroth 1:01:50
Yes.
Anthony 1:01:51
Ellori gives him 5 silver. He happily takes it and puts out drinks for all of you and the two keys.
Ellori 1:02:03
Thank you, sir.
Belroth 1:02:08
Belroth roots around in his bag, and he pulls out the children’s book that he got from the library that he has no intention of returning, and he starts thumbing through it looking for the Midnight Whisperer and, sorry, the Whisper of Lies and Midnight Star or any sort of like, things, iconography that might represent them.
Anthony 1:02:36
Yes, yes, you find a story about the Whisper of Lies. In this story about the Whisper of Lies it talks about a row of sharp teeth, glimmering in the darkness, that if kids get out of bed, or you know, do things at night, when they’re not supposed to, the sharp teeth under their bed will get them. And the Whisper of Lies always tries to coax them out of bed. So, when they hear that voice, telling them to do bad things, it is the Old Scratch trying to trick them.
Belroth 1:03:14
Interesting. Belroth is trying to intuit- like, if we were to meet these what’s the mechanic- what’s the bossfight mechanic gonna be? Basically what is it gonna do to fuck us up?
Anthony 1:03:28
Weird thing for Belroth to try to figure out.
Belroth 1:03:34
It is a weird thing, but he’s thinking about it.
Anthony 1:03:36
Yeah, you search through for the other one. You find a story of the Midnight Star, and it talks about a deep hooded figure who, also known as the Soul Eater, that he comes to you when you die and rips your soul and consumes it.
Belroth 1:04:00
This children’s novel doesn’t have any plot. It’s just scary.
Anthony 1:04:03
Oh, it’s definitely not a novel. It’s like, little short stories.
Belroth 1:04:07
So, this is like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, but with demons.
Anthony 1:04:12
Yeah, yeah.
Belroth 1:04:13
Sweet. I love it. This is my favorite.
Deeran 1:04:16
Like, Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Belroth 1:04:17
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Skarpin 1:04:21
Skarpin wants to talk to the bartender. So, we’ve been talking to people around here and we’re hearing a lot about demons. The Whisper of Lies, the Midnight Star. I think there are 4 others that people have been mentioning. Which one are you most afraid of?
Anthony 1:04:48
It is a difficult question to answer. I would really prefer to not interact with any of the demon folk if we could. Obviously a war is being waged and things happen. My last village it is said that the Accuser arrived, and I can tell you firsthand that her presence definitely caused an effect that was not something we were looking forward to. Belroth, as you’re flipping through the book behind him you get to a description of the Accuser, and she is a lady in all gray. The story describes that everywhere she goes, you can watch the joy fall away from people, sucked away, as their emotions become blank, and apathetic. And it basically talks about her as the antithesis to living life.
Belroth 1:05:52
And this, I believe, we saw at least one- I think the first demon that walked out of the portal was a female who was hard to look at like, looking at her made us feel like, oppressed by just the presence if I remember correctly.
Anthony 1:06:14
The door to the tavern swings open and a gentleman in a red like, bright garish suit, and he has a flute like, strapped to his back like a weapon. And he comes in. He throws his arms wide, and he says, I’m here, hello. I’m ready. Can I get my meal? My free meal? I’m here for my free meal, please.
And the man behind the bar says, yes of course, of course, sit. I will give you your free meal. As long as you do a better job tonight that you’ve done. The last two weeks have been terrible when you have been here. You have not drawn in any crowd whatsoever. You just keep telling stories about demons, and no one wants to think about demons. I keep telling you this. And he walks away.
Belroth 1:07:06
I would like to hear about demons!
Anthony 1:07:08
Of course you would! Everyone wants to hear about demons! And he pulls out his flute and begins to play.
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 1:08:12
Serious Business.
We’re super serious!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai