SPRING IN HIERON 20: PASSING OF VOICES
Transcriber Cole
Austin: Hadrian, in 36 hours, in a day and a half, you along with Fero, Ephrim, and the Throndir will begin your long journey northeast to the distant islands of Alcyon. But before you go, you need to speak to your wife and presumably also your son, Rosana and Benjamin.
Art: Separate conversations.
Austin: Separate conversations. Um, where does the Rosana-? Which- Rosana happens first, right?
Art: Yeah. Uh, I mean we sort of have to like- just because of the sensitive nature of the information, I think we have to tell Benjamin like, when we’re sort of like, on the way out, right? Like-
Austin: Sure. Sure.
Art: Because of like- you don’t want to give- you don’t want to give Arrell time to-
Austin: Plot.
Art: Yeah, to like, you don’t want to like, ‘Oh, they’re leaving tomorrow. Well, I’ll get all my shit together, and like-’ It sort of has to be the morning of, you know?
Austin: Right, right. Um, so where do you have this conversation with Rosana?
Art: Somewhere that I think is like, suitably outside of the university. Like... hey what’s all this crap on the map?
[Jack de Quidt’s “Something” begins playing in the background]
Austin: Yeah, so uh- I added a bunch of tents and refugees and bigger tents to represent-
Art: Oh, those are tents?
Austin: Those are- If you zoom in real tight, you’ll see that those are tents.
Art: Oh, ok. From- from outside they look like little, brown pacmen. [Austin and Sylvia laugh]
Dre: Oh yeah. I can see that.
Austin: Arrell’s plan has already come into motion.
[Music plays out to end]
Austin: Welcome to Friends at the Table, an actual play podcast focused on critical world building, smart characterization, and fun interaction between good friends. I am your host, Austin Walker. Joining me today, uh- Art Martinez-Tebbel.
Art: Hi, you can find me on Twitter @atebbel. You should listen to the triumphant return of One Song Only, that I presume is coming.
Austin: Oh, it’s good. We recor- we totally recorded it by the time you hear this. [Keith laughs]
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Also- also joining us, Keith Carberry.
Keith: Hi, my name is Keith J. Carberry. You can find me on Twitter @keithjcarberry. You can find the Let’s Plays that I do at youtube.com/rutton… runbutton. youtube.com/runbutton, please.
Austin: Uh, also joining us, Andrew Lee Swan.
Dre: Hey, uh, you can find me on Twitter @swandre3000.
Austin: And Sylvia[1] Clare.
Sylvia: Hey, you can find me on Twitter @captaintrash, and you can listen to my other show emojidrome on Google or iTunes or your podcast app probably.
Austin: We are continuing our game of Dungeon World by Adam.. Koebel and Sage LaTorra. I normally say those names in the opposite order, and it’s throwing me off today. Um, my agenda, as always, is the portray a fantastic world, to fill the character’s lives with adventure, and to play to find out what happens. Normally, I do an intro that ends with ‘What do you do?’, but I felt like maybe these conversations were gonna be a little long, and I didn’t want to give Ali like, a 10 minute long open before we do ‘What do- what do you do?’
Um, and also, I should note that- This is just not connected. This is a complete non sequitur. You can support the show by going to friendsatthetable.cash, Patreon.com/friends_table. Um, I want to shout it out again today because I- I made some noise about it over on my Twitter, and I made that noise because it felt like some people didn’t know what we were offering over there. And I know I do this spiel kind of often on the show, but it’s easy to hear it at the beginning of the show and by the end you’re like, ‘Ok, yeah. I’m just- I’m- wow. I’m in tears because of the great performances from all of these friends. I can never think about patreon because I’m so busy being in tears.
And also do you hear this new song Jack made? Wow.’ And that’s it, uh- so, I’m gonna say it right now, still at the top of the show, but maybe you’ll pause and go support is friendsatthetable.cash is where you can support the show. For 5 bucks a month, you get access to- and this is the thing that- that kind of blew my mind- 143 hours of content.
Keith: Wow, already?
Austin: [laughing] Yo. Uh huh. Already. And that might not even be-
Keith: Jeez.
Austin: That might actually not be true anymore. We- I think we’ve already beaten that. Cause I did that count like early last week, or something.
Keith: We uploaded 2 things since then, right?
Austin: I think we did.
Keith: Pretty sure.
Austin: Uh, let’s see. I’m also- ok wait, wait, wait- It’s 86,023 minutes, which if you do it like that, that sounds great, Yeah, 143 hours, no plus yeah, plus at least 1 other thing, maybe 2 other things that are not on this list yet.
Keith: Wow, think of the minute to dollar value there.
Austin: It’s incredible. And so, 2 things I want to shout out really quick. Uh, Keith you can speak to Messy Business, the current Bluff City arch.
Keith: Oh boy. Yeah. I can.
Austin: Which is just so fucking good. [laughs]
Keith: Yeah, I love that. I really love that one.
Sylvia: It’s been very good to listen to, is what I’ll-
Austin: I- It is super fun. It is uh- we do- we combine a game called Lacuna, which is sort of a like, neo-noir, Dark city, Matrix, Inception-y game with tech-noir, the way that like, tech-noir is kind of investigation map worked, which you might remember from the beginning of COUNTER/Weight, if you listened to us back then. Um, and that is really cool, but it’s also just like, us on our most Lynchian bullshit. It’s like, weird- you know- weird things in the- in the corners of rooms and telephones mysteriously ringing and NPCs that are a little too friendly for their own good. And- and [exhales] there is just some cool fuckin’ shit. All, again, all of the players were just entirely on their shit. Keith plays really out of type in a way that I really loved.
Keith: Yeah, that one was- I did- I play- I- Yeah, definitely out of character for me. Literally.
Austin: Yeah, you play someone who is like, a super straight-laced cop, basically.
Keith: Yeah, I play the cop.
Austin: Like, the secret agent who is like, the boss and who is very ruled-oriented, which [laughs] is- I’m just gonna say,
, not your normal bag.
Keith: Yeah, no. It’s not. It’s not.
Austin: Um, and then the other thing I want to shout out is the Road to Season 6 stuff, which is the-the stuff that we’re gonna be doing as patreon stuff between now and the event- eventually release to Season 6. Which is the follow up to Twilight Mirage and COUNTER/Weight. It’s the next thing set in the Divine Universe. And- which I’m just gonna start calling it that, I think. I think that’s what it’s called, The Divine Universe. I think that that's like… Maybe not universe? The Divine Trilogy? I don’t fuckin’ know. I’m keep playing it.
Keith: My Divine Drop In?
Austin: My- My Divine Drop In. Yeah. Uh, we’ve done a bunch of games already. We’ve done three? Is it three? Two.
Art: Two.
Austin: Two? Um, so yeah. Go listen to those. 5 bucks a month gets you access to all of those. There’s other tiers, obviously. I should note that the $25 tier is a postcards um, tier where you will-
Keith: Those postcards are so good.
Austin: They’re really good, one. We did a whole season of Twilight Mirage ones. Then we did an entire Bluff City one that was set as a single package that had like, a bunch of cards in it plus a letter. And the one that we’re about to start doing, hasn’t gone out yet, so if you subscribed- I think if you subscribed by now, you’d still- you’d still be able to get all of them, will be- something we’ve already kind of set up in the world. Which is there is this Golden Lance duo, who's gonna start traveling the world of Hieron and looking at all of the um, like trying to put together kind of a survival guide. Like a- like a post-apocalyptic, or like mid-apocalyptic survival guide as the world is on fire for people.
Keith: They’re doing a- they’re doing a Gig.[2]
Austin: They’re doing- Right. Uh huh. They’re doin’ a Gig. They’re doin’ a Gig. Like, yeah. We talked about Gig, we talked about um, who was the… whose the Fallout character? Fallout 3, Moira? Moira? Moira’s guide to the wasteland? Was that Fallout 3?
Keith: Yeah. I think that is.
Austin: So, you know, putting together a survival guide basically for everybody. And that’s gonna be really great. Janine’s doing all the art for it. Very excited for that to- to start goin’ out. Also, so, different tiers, you know, live shows. All sorts of stuff. So, go check that out. Friendsatthetable.cash. I’m sorry for the long plug.But it’s- it’s- We don’t plug anything else, you know? We don’t- other than our other podcasts. [laughs] We don’t do ads. I don’t ever want to do ads on this show. Um, and the only reason I can do that is because people support us. So, friendsatthetable.cash. Where were we?
Art: And then also, underwear from meund- oh wait, no.
Austin: [laughs] Just from us. Just also, on patreon, we’ll send- [Keith laughs] We’ll buy underwear and just send it to you. It’s not ours. It’s just underwear we bought from Target.
Keith: [laughing] Yeah, it’s just u-
Art: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah.
Art: Target underwear-
Keith: Gift receipt.
Art: -from us to you.
Keith: [overlapping with Art] If it’s wrong, there’s a gift receipt.
Art: We won’t write on it. That would be weird.
Austin: [laughs] That would be weird.
Dre: Eh.
Keith: We could write on the package.
Dre: If you’re into it though, I mean, I’ll do it.
Keith: [overlapped] We could say, hey- we could like-
Sylvia: We can write your name on the waistband so you don’t lost it.
Austin: That’s true. We could write your name. We’ll sign it with your name. [laughs] New patreon tier.
Art: We’ll all write your name.
Austin: On underwear.
Art: -on some Target underwear.
Keith: Each of us will write your name.
Austin: We’ll send it around to each of us. It’ll take a little while.
Sylvia: [overlapped] Yeah.
Art: [overlapped] You’re not gonna like what it costs.
Dre: Wait, are we just gonna write the script for the anime, ‘You’re Name’? Or are we writing people’s names? Now I’m confused.
Austin: You know, we’re gonna- it’ll be a surprise for when they get it, you know.
Dre: Ok.
Austin: Um, god. Alright, Hadrian?
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Where are you having this conversation with Rosana? Is this like a by the river? By the woods?
Art: Yeah, probably by the river, right?
Austin: Ok, yeah. But not like, in the refugee- Like, further out. Not where there are like, people gathered, I guessing.
Art: Yeah, maybe like- er maybe by the giant evil tree?
Austin: Ok. That’s a little close is what I’m gonna say. That’s a little close to the campus.
Art: That close?
Austin: Yeah, you’re gonna have to like- you don’t know. The thing that I want to emphasize is you don’t know how a conduit works. Is it the same room? Is it the same building? Is it the same 5 mile radius? What is it?
Art: I’m not going 5 miles, so-
Austin: Ok.
Art: -I hope it’s not that. How much is like, here?
Austin: Love it. North of the cemetery temple, yeah. North of the cemetery and the mound, yeah. Totally.
Keith: Do we know the tree is evil?
Austin: No, well- we know more about it because of the conversation between Alyosha and- and uh, Ephrim last week. Ephrim would you say those trees are evil?
Sylvia: I would say, they’re not good for us. I definitely would say that.
Austin: Uh hm.
Art: Would you want to hang out around it?
Sylvia: No.
Austin: Well, Ephrim- Ephrim-
Sylvia: Well, Ephrim would.
Austin: -talked to Alyosha because he hung out around it a little too long, so- [laughs]
Sylvia: Ephrim does, but I don’t know if it’s- if it’s doctor recommended. I guess I’ll say that, you know?
Austin: Yeah, good. Um, yeah. Up here is totally fine. This is kind of like a- a low plain after this- this uh, kind of um, what do you call those burial mounds? Those like, big hills? [typing] A barrow. A barrow is what I was gonna say.
Dre: Oh yeah.
Austin: Yeah, like a barrow. Uh, so is this like a- Are you like, ‘Meet me north of the cemetery?’ [laughs]
Art: No, I mean- I think we can go out here together. There’s no like-
Austin: Ok, ok. I- my question is like, does this feel like a conversation where it’s like, ‘We need to have a conversation.’?
Art: Yeah, Uh huh. And we can’t have it here. We have to walk north of the cemetery to have it.
Austin: Alright. Um, I think she makes small talk that we don’t need to zoom in on about the various spoons you want to buy and about like, how things are going in classes she’s teaching.
Art: Sure.
Austin: Um, and like, I think at a certain point, probably like a little earlier than you want to, in terms of how far north you’ve walked, she’s like,
Austin (as Rosana): Honey, what is… why are we-? What’s up?
Art: And I think like, Hadrian like, tried to like, be too quiet for it, which is probably not how it works.
Austin: No.
Art: But like,
Art (as Hadrian): [whispering] Ok.
Art: I looked around. I like, looked left and right into my microphone, [Sylvia and Austin laugh] which doesn’t come across. [laughs]
Austin: Uh hm.
Art: Um, so I’m-
Keith: I could feel it.
Art: Yeah. Ok.
Art (as Hadrian): We found out about Arrell’s conduit.
Austin (as Rosana): The way he um, teleported that man here. Have you dealt with it?
Art (as Hadrian): No. Um-
Austin: She squints. [laughs]
Art (as Hadrian): It’s- it’s Benjamin.
Austin (as Rosana): How? It- [exhales] It- [sighs] It’s Benjamin?
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah. He’s like, marked somehow.
Austin (as Rosana): How is our-? [breathes deep and pauses] Is it because-?
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, probably. Yeah.
Austin (as Rosana): [sighs] Well, how do we un-mark him? What does-
Art (as Hadrian): We don’t know…. Oh, sorry.
Austin (as Rosana): No. It’s fine. Have you talked to anyone else? Have you talked to Benjamin?
Art (as Hadrian): Not yet.
Austin (as Rosana): Not yet.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, I was gonna talk to you first. We’re gonna- I thought we needed a- we need a united front here.
Austin (as Rosana): Of course.
Art (as Hadrian): I- I took- I took Throndir and Hella and we talked to Sunder.
Austin: She squints again. [Dre laughs]
Art (as Hadrian): No, it was the right choice. [laughs]
Austin: I guess she doesn’t know that Hella wasn’t part of finding this out, actually. So, she shouldn’t make that read, you know? Um-
Art: Sure. But I took-
Austin: But she does- [laughs] Yeah.
Art: -Throndir and Hella is a weird way to say it. [laughs]
Austin: [laughs] Uh huh.
Austin (as Rosana): And Sunder? What does Sunder say?
Art (as Hadrian): Sunder thinks there could be a solution. But not right away. And that it’s dangerous to have Benjamin here while they figure out a solution. Arrell might’ve-
Austin (as Rosana): It’s dangerous to have Benjamin here? This is his home.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, uh huh. I know.
Austin (as Rosana): Don’t ‘yeah, uh huh’- Ok.
Art (as Hadrian): I know that it’s bad.
Austin (as Rosana): We’re not sending our son away somewhere else where Arrell can menace him.
Art (as Hadrian): No, we’re- He- I was thinking that he could come with me, and- [Austin/Rosana sighs] and- and a group- a group of us- I don’t- Um, you know, let’s- let’s just say- [Austin laughs] off the top of my head, Throndir, Fero, Ephrim. [Sylvia and Austin laugh] And we’ll go on just like, a quick, little- a quick, little milk run. Just-
Austin (as Rosana): A quick, little milk run.
Art (as Hadrian): Uh hm.
Art: That’s probably an expression, a preindustrial expression.
Austin: [overlapping, laughing] That exists in… Yeah.
Austin (as Rosana): Where?
Art (as Hadrian): Oh, you know. Just um… I think Ephrim wants to go look for some uh- some- some stuff up to the northeast, and uh…
Austin (as Rosana): Hadrian.
Art (as Hadrian): You know, the islands to the northeast.
Austin (as Rosana): How long do you want to take our son into the wilderness for?
Art (as Hadrian): Um, oh, who can say? I mean, travel is so unpredictable.
Austin (as Rosana): Hadrian.
Art (as Hadrian): Um-
Austin (as Rosana): Do not do this schtick with me.
Art (as Hadrian): Weeks?
Austin (as Rosana): Weeks?! [breathes deep]
Art (as Hadrian): Like a low number of weeks.
Austin (as Rosana): A low number of weeks. Hadrian, the last time you left for a low number of weeks, it turned into a decade.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, and that almost definitely can’t happen this time.
Austin (as Rosana): Why would it not?
Art (as Hadrian): Why would it not? I- it’s- it’s a simple trip. We have- we have good people with us. Most of whom weren’t- all of whom weren’t gone for 10 years the last time they left for a short amount of time.
Austin (as Rosana): I want to go with you. [Art/Hadrian exhales] You can’t do this again.
Art (as Hadrian): Ok. It’s dangerous to come with us.
Austin (as Rosana): I know it’s dangerous. I know what you all do.
Art (as Hadrian): Ok.
Austin (as Rosana): It’s dangerous to be here.
Art (as Hadrian): Um… yeah. But you have- I’m just- I’m just waiting on… Um… yeah. Yeah. You’re right. I was gonna say I thought that your work here was important, but it’s not. It’s not more important than-
Austin (as Rosana): It- One, my work here is important. [Keith laughs hard] First and foremost.
Art (as Hadrian): That's not what I meant.
Keith: Oh boy. [Austin laughs] Yeah, for a second I thought the stuff you did mattered, but then I remembered [laughing] Yeah, I don’t care about that.
Austin: You teachin’? The kids can teach themselves. [laughing] There’s books.
Art (as Hadrian): No, no. I meant it’s not- as im- Yeah. I just meant that it’s, you know. That-
Austin (as Rosana): I understand.
Art (as Hadrian): I- Yeah. You know what I meant. It’s not important.
Austin (as Rosana): [laughs] I-
Art (as Hadrian): No, It’s not important that I expl-
Austin (as Rosana): I understand. I’m gonna- Alright. When should we-? We should tell Benjamin we’re going on a trip. We should-
Art (as Hadrian): Uh huh.
Austin (as Rosana): -tell him as soon as we can. As soon as it’s safe, why we’ve left the university. And we should let him know we are coming back.
Art (as Hadrian): We’re definitely coming back.
Austin (as Rosana): Alright. I’m gonna go talk to Sunder, and then I’m gonna start getting my stuff together.
Art (as Hadrian): Great. Um, be care- you might want to bring Sunder back here?
Austin (as Rosana): Back where? Here?
Art (as Hadrian): Here.
Austin (as Rosana): Because?
Art (as Hadrian): Because we don’t know about-
Austin (as Rosana): We don’t know about- Right. [sighs] Ok.
Art (as Hadrian): I mean, Sunder knows better than- I mean, I don’t- Ask Sunder where you should go. [light laugh] And hope the answer isn’t ‘definitely not north of the cemetery.’
Austin: [laughs] She laughs.
Austin (as Rosana): Do you remember that we used to collect tithes for the church in Velas? That was- that was the thing we did.
Art (as Hadrian): Uh hm.
Austin (as Rosana): And now we are leaving the Last University of Hieron to go on a journey to the islands to the northeast so that an evil wizard does not use him, our son, as some sort of magical leapfrog.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah. And we also have to hope that- that it doesn’t- That it doesn’t just like, anger him enough to use this magically leapfrog to like, ambush us all in our sleep or something.
Austin (as Rosana): What if he heard you say that?
Art (as Hadrian): I mean, that’s- that’s the most- Anyone would’ve come up with that plan. Anyone who is making magical leapfrogs would’ve come up with the ‘kill everyone in their sleep’ part of the plan.
Austin (as Rosana): Alright, well, we just- we should all be careful about what we say and maybe we should- [sighs] be vague about where we’re going and what we’re doing. Because we don’t want to give him any ideas.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, I think that’s- that’s a very prudent and sensible idea. I don’t know that- that it’s gonna- I don’t think like, he’s gonna head us off at the pass. I think he’s just gonna magical leapfrog to us, but-
Austin (as Rosana): We don’t know what other conduits he might have set up. If I were a wizard-
Art (as Hadrian): How many conduits do you need?
Austin (as Rosana): If I were a wizard, I would set up at least 6 conduits.
Art (as Hadrian): 6 conduits?!
Austin (as Rosana): One at each corner. And then one in the middle. And then one at my favorite place.
Art (as Hadrian): No, that’s too many conduits.
Austin (as Rosana): This is why you’re not a wizard.
Art (as Hadrian): I could be a wizard.
Austin: [laughs] She- [Keith laughs] She laughs and takes your hands and kisses you on the cheek. And then begins to lead you back to the university. Um, alright. Uh, before we continue, should we go over bonds and stuff like that? And- and alignment?
Keith: Yeah, sure.
Austin: Fero, do you have any new bonds? And what is your alignment?
Keith: Uh, my alignment is neutral. ‘I have been pulled in every direction by every person around me, but I will find my path.’ Um, for bonds, do you want me to read through them? I don’t think I have any changes. I want to have had changes, but I don’t think that I should change anything.
Austin: Read the ones that are- that relate to this party today.
Keith: Sure, so I have with Ephrim, [clears throat] ‘Lord Ephrim thinks helping means being in charge.’ I have for Throndir, ‘Throndir is a fool who will get us in trouble.’ And that is my only- those are my only two.
Austin: Ok. [laughs] Good… good straight-forward bonds. Um, Throndir, the fool who will get us in trouble, what are your bonds and alignment?
Dre: Gotcha. Uh, the one that hasn’t change is Ephrim’s. ‘Ephrim never wavered during the worst years of the last university, so I’m happy to follow his lead.’ Um, my ones for Her- Fero and Hadrian have both changed. Uh, Fero’s is ‘Fero is brash, but he was spot on with how we should have treated Addelton.’
Austin: Hm.
Dre: [continuing] ‘I should see how some of his ideas play out.’
Austin: Cool.
Dre: And Hadrian, “I was upset with Hadrian, but no one deserves to pay for their mistakes this deeply. I must help him keep Benjamin safe.’
Austin: Good. Awesome. Uh, Ephrim, how about you?
Sylvia: Alright. My alignment is also neutral. ‘Increase the prestige of yourself or your stronghold. My bon- I’ve changed bonds for Hadrian and Fero.
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: Um, Hadrian’s is ‘I will help Hadrian’s family, but the university’s safety comes first.’
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: Uh, Throndir’s is still, ‘Throndir helped me get where I am today, and I owe him for it.’ And then Fero’s is, ‘If Fero wants to act like a child, then I’ll treat him like one.’
Austin: [laughs] Oh my god. [Dre laughs] Great group to bring your family to, Hadrian.
Sylvia: Yup.
Dre: Good friends.
Austin: Uh, Hadrian?
Art: Yeah.
Austin: What’s up with your- uh, alignment and bonds?
Art: Uh, alignment is good. ‘Suffer or endure hardship so that someone else does not have to.’
Austin: Uh hm.
Art: Um, bonds with this group- I should note just aloud for myself that I’ve- need to- I need a new Adaire bond, but Adaire is not with us.
Austin: Right. Ok.
Art: Um, ‘Throndir has been through hard times and come out on the other side. He is a valued friend.’ And I’ve been sitting on this bond since last holiday special. Um, and that was the last time we were in the same group. But, ‘Fun is fun, but Fero would let my family die. Never trust him.’ That might come up this time. That might uh-
Austin: Yeah. It could.
Art: We might get something with that one.
Keith: [overlapping] Yeah.
Austin: Um, we’ll see. We’ll see if any of these change. I would hope that some of them will.
Sylvia: Uh hm.
Art: Yeah, I’m not mad about that anymore. It’s just- That’s just- [stammers] It’s still there.
Austin: It’s just still there.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: It hasn’t resolved. Alright. So, I- the same thing that I did for boat party last time, I’m gonna do here, which is like, I’m not gonna make you go through and buy specific amounts of rations and figure out how long the- you know, how many rations you’re gonna use here. We’re gonna abstract it out a little bit. And the rolls for Perilous Journey are going to be based on um, the outcomes of the rolls. Or so- the rolls are gonna produce things like statuses, right? Um, or not statuses. What are they called? Um, debilities. Instead of it being like, you don’t- you burned through all your shit. Like, that’s not fun. I’m not gonna make you go shopping unless- I do want to know, is there stuff people want to bring or prep or take care of before you leave the Last University?
Dre: Um…
Keith: I do have a quick question. Art, did I do something that almost let Hadrian’s family die?
Art: Oh yeah.
Keith: I don’t remember doing that.
Art: Um, well-
Keith: What did I do?
Art: I mean, hmm. That’s really open to interpretation. Toward the end of the holiday special, I was lying to whoever we were talking to at the time to redirect resources to Velas ahead of the Ordennan Invasion, and you were strongly against it.
Austin: Hm.
Keith: Ok.
Art: Which at the time-
Keith: Why?
Art: I don’t remember. [Keith laughs]
Austin: [laughs] It was 2 years ago.
Art: And it was 10 years ago in game, like-
Austin: Right.
Keith: Yeah, yeah.
Austin: Um, ok.
Art: I don’t think Hadrian’s like, waking up every morning being like, ‘Gotta kill Fero’. [Austin and Keith laugh]
Austin: Um, so yeah. Anything else people want to do at the university before you- you- you kick off? Ephrim is- Are you basically like, Corsica, you’re in charge?
Sylvia: Yeah, I think like, we’ve estab- kind of like, tried to establish that Corsica and Ephrim are on almost even footing here.
Austin: Yep, totally.
Sylvia: So, I think it’s kind of unspoken- even unspoken between them-
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: -that when one’s gone, the other’s in charge.
Austin: Are you bringing people from your retinue?
Sylvia: Uh, I was thinking of bringing my retainers, yeah.
Austin: Yeah. All of them?
Sylvia: Just- Well…
Austin: Cause you have what? 5 people.
Sylvia: I have 4.
Austin: Ok. I do love- I do love Fero’s bond being Lord Ephrim thinks helping means being in charge, and Ephrim getting ready to go on this trip is like, ‘Well, me and my- [laughs] Me and my 4 retainers are ready.’
Sylvia: Look.
Keith: Me and my 4 retainers think you're acting like a child. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin: Oh, it’s great. Uh, who are they? And whose coming?
Sylvia: Uh, so I have- the four I have are Highwater, who is the cobbin assassin that-
Austin: Yes.
Sylvia: -I recruited in season two, in Winter.
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: Um, Marigold, who is an unstill soldier. *They’re like my most reliable one. They have- they carry a big shield with them. Uh, Summit, who is the most fearsome. They are a halfling guard. And then Brother Hugh who is- I haven’t really- I never decided on if- I think he is a still a priest. I put like, ‘former’ in like, with a question mark on it, but I like the idea of just having a priest in my group. I think-
Austin: Uh hm. Yeah.
Sylvia: -now that I’ve gone through them… I might just bring 2.
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: [laughs] I might just bring Marigold and Highwater.
Austin: Ok. That sounds good.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Marigold is they/them?
Sylvia: Uh, Marigold is she/her.
Austin: Oh, she/her.
Sylvia: She is a- She is an unstill soldier.
Austin: Gotcha.
Sylvia: Um, yeah.
Austin: Cool. Marigold and Highwater. Awesome, and your special thing there is that when they help- help you fight, you get +1 armor.
Sylvia: Uh hm.
Austin: Great. That’s useful. Uh, anyone else want to handle anything? I’m just- checkin’ stuff here. Anyone have moves they need to use before they bounce?
Art: We’re not bringing Blue J?
Austin: [sighs] I- The thing is- So, the thing is, I think Benjamin would ask you to bring Blue J, if he knew the stuff with Arrell. But by the time he knows the stuff with Arrell, you will have been leaving.
Art: Sure, but I mean, by having the presence of mind to ask if we could choose that Hadrian is also aware that Benjamin might want Blue J to come.
Austin: Yeah, totally. So, at that point, are you just like, inviting Blue J?
Art: Unless you’re telling not to.
Austin: I’m not- Well, I- What I’m telling you is characters will continue to exist wherever they are on screen, you know? So like, you bring Blue J, Blue J will be here along with all of these other people. [laughs] And- and I’m not saying like, Blue J will be- Uh, Blue J will be more in harm’s way because this is where the camera is. Do you know what I mean? Um-
Art: Sure, I also don’t want to like needlessly overcrowd it for you.
Austin: No, no. I think- I think Benjamin would love to have Blue J on this trip, for sure. I mean- The real thing here is like, does Red Jack come at that point? Probably not? But maybe.
Art: Well, we wouldn't tell- we wouldn’t tell Red Jack what was going on. [laughs lightly]
Austin: Oh, ok. So, Red Jack has no idea.
Art: I don’t- I don’t see what purpose that serves. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin: [amused] Anyone else in the party have feelings on this?
Dre: I mean, uh, Blue J does need extra practicum hours for their ranger internship. So-
Austin: [laughs] So, yeah, y'all are just lying- Ok, good. Great. Fantastic.
Keith: Well-
Art: Look, it’s not important what is and isn’t considered kidnapping.
Austin: They’re both like, 18. I guess it’s still kidnapping. Is it still-?
Art: Ok, so it’s definitely not kidnapping. [Austin laughs]
Keith: You can kidnap someone that’s an adult.
Austin: That’s true. Uh- My-
Dre: Adult-napping.
Keith: It’s just that the word is kidnap.
Austin: The- the thing that I want to be, as a fan of the players, and this is good. I’m happy to have this, if it happens to shake out this way. But the world in which Red Jack learns later that you have specifically taken his child and carried them on a trip exclusively with the person who can sum- who Arrell can- can summon himself to, is a thing he will have feelings about.
Sylvia: Yeah. I feel like we are sidestepping this. Like, I- I forget it sometimes, too that Red Jack is definitely Blue J’s dad.
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: And not just like, their[3] cool mentor.
Art: You know who Red Jack likes? [simultaneously] Throndir.
Austin: [simultaneously] Throndir. [laughs]
Dre: Yeah. But I’m also thinking like, in character, Throndir might actually want Blue J to stay behind.
Austin: Hmm.
Dre: Because they’re somebody that Throndir does explicitly trust.
Austin: Right.
Dre: That if like, things went sideways at the university, they would probably- Throndir would probably rather have Blue J there.
Austin: Do you- Is that a conversation that happens between the two of you? Where like, Blue J is like- wants to come on this trip, but you’re like, ‘Listen-’
Dre: Well, I think- that conversation only happens if we tell Blue J about this trip, which-
Austin: Right.
Dre: -we might not. Under the guise of, you know, that if Arrell is able to like-
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dre: -hear, the more we talk about this with more people…
Austin: Right, the more Arrell is just like, ‘This is a weir- They’re really dancing around this weird trip they’re taking.’ [laughs lightly]
Dre: Uh hm.
Keith: Yeah, there’s nothing- there’s nothing stopping us from explaining to Blue J what- at least partially what’s happening and offering, ‘Hey, do you want to come?’
Sylvia: We could also give another- cause there are other reasons to the trip, too. We have other goals on our trip
Austin: Right, yes.
Sylvia: And if we want to talk about where we’re going specifically without giving the details of Benjamin’s situation, we can do that.
Austin: Right. That’s true. You’re going to Alcyon. You want to find the plates for the pala-din. Like, the blue-prints.
Sylvia: Uh hm.
Austin: Um, is there more to that, too? There’s- just- Oh, also-
Keith: Yeah, there’s magic is not disappearing there.
Austin: Yeah, magic is not disappearing from there, right. Exactly. Um, yeah. It’s one of those things where it’s like, if I’m playing Blue J honestly, Blue J would want to come. But also, I do think it’s- I do think it’s interesting if Throndir is like, ‘No. The university needs to have its ranger right now.’ You know? Which is true. [light laugh] Uh, especially if we’re pulling- we’re pulling a lot of very competent people away from the university right now. Which is very funny given the side of the game y’all haven’t heard yet because things go down. [laughs]
Art: But aren’t they staying home?
Austin: Yeah.
Art: They’re all competent people.
Austin: They are.
Art: Well…. There’s at least 2 competent people. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin: Shots fired.
Art: Ok. But like, seriously, what’s everyone's like recent score on Lem? [Austin, Sylvia, and Keith laugh]
Dre: Woof.
Austin: Yikes.
Keith: Low.
Sylvia: I love Lem. Lem’s a disaster.
Austin: Lem contributed.
Art: I’m not- I’m not talking about Lem as a person. I’m talking about like-
Austin: Listen.
Art: Lem’s accomplishments lately.
Austin: Y’all haven’t heard it yet, but Lem fought a big monster in the last recording.
Sylvia: Hell yeah.
Art: How’d it go?
Austin: I don’t- So- Hella did most of the fighting. Wh- It went bad, y’all. It came ver- It was- Yikes.
Sylvia: Well, luckily, we’ve called this both a milk-run and a simple task, so I’m sure nothing will go wrong.
Austin: [laughs] Perfect. Alright. Um-
Art: I was lying. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin: Oh, got it. Right. Ok.
Sylvia: That doesn’t un-jinx us.
Austin: So, yeah. Let’s just say- Let’s say Blue J stays home. Let’s say Rosana, Benjamin, Highwater, Marigold, uh- Fero, Ephrim, [laughs] Hadrian, and Throndir. So- just a small group for a little milk run.
Dre: Uh hm.
Keith: Yeah.
Sylvia: It’s under two-digits, so… you know?
Keith: It’s a gang. We’re a gang.
Austin: It is a gang. You’re a small gang. [laughs] In Sprawl terms, you’re definitely a small gang. God. Um, ok. I was writing this all out, so I could see exactly. So, it’s 7 people? Hadrian, Benjamin, Rosana, Ephrim, Highwater, Marigold- No, it’s 8 people. Cause that’s 6. That’s just 2- between the 2 of you, that’s 6. Then Fero and- and Throndir. Love it.
Dre: [sung to the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’] And my big dog is coming, too.
Austin: [laughs] Oh, right. And Kodiak’s there! Boom. That’s 9. Can we get a 10th?
Art: I mean, I was saying, should we invite Red Jack? Leave Blue J, take Red Jack. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin: I hate this.
Dre: Now, you’re just now- now you’re just doing that just to do it.
Austin: We didn’t even- we haven’t even gotten to a boat yet. We’re off- we’re not even on- Yeah.
Keith: Does the big spoon count? [Dre laughs]
Austin: [laughs] God.
Art: I’m not gonna bring the spoon.
Sylvia: I mean, I can bring the rest of my retainers if we want to make it to 10. [light laugh]
Austin: No, no. No, let’s go. [light laugh]
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: This is just more people you know I’m gonna forget in the middle of combat anyway.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: So, it has been a little over a week of travel. A combination of rations that you’ve prepared and food you’ve gathered along the way along with the- the old, imperial road that runs northeast, past the Shredded Steppe and towards the coastline has made this kind of an easy journey so far. Um, I’m guessing you’re all on horseback, except for Fero who is probably some sort of weird, freaky horse.
Keith: Um, yeah. I’m gonna be the hor- I’m gonna be a horse. I want to be my own horse.
Austin: Ok, just a regular one though.
Keith: I want to make- my own horse and my own rider.
Austin: Oh, so you’re- Ok. Good. So, uh-
Keith (as wholetaur/fulltaur): Long trip, huh?
Austin (as Benjamin): [laughs] Dad, it’s creepy, but it’s kind of cool.
Art (as Hadrian): It’s horrifying. [Austin laughs]
Austin: [laughs] Um, the group of you makes it to this kind of northern point here-ish. You’ve gone all the way up- you know, like kind of east of the mountains of- of where the Archives once were. Um, and to the- the kind of northern craggy, beaches of- of the north of Hieron. Southeast of the Isles of Flight. And you’re beginning to head east. And you’ve kind of made it a little bit further on and you’ve- you kind of reach a treeline, which I will make appear on your screens. Uh, and you see a fork in the road.
To the north, the north-northeast, the old imperial road continues running along the craggy northern shoreline. You know, because of signage, that this will eventually reach Alcyon along with a number of other smaller cities and towns along the northern shore. Um, but even from here, you can see that the road breaks and gives way, sometimes to simple gaps, holes in the ground from erosion and natural disaster and flooding. But also sometimes it gives way to the other worldly shine of the starstuff. Or of the glimpsed nothing of the Heat and the Dark. This will be a difficult journey, but you know it will get you where you’re going. And you know exactly what you'll be facing.
Uh, alternatively, to the east, in past the treeline, there is a fresh path. A wide, if shallow, trench driven into the- into the earth by what looks like a thousand, thousand hoofprints. Fero, Ephrim, Throndir, you recognize this. The thing is Rosana would, too. Uh, this is the work of the Grand Tour. And by the shape and direction of the hooves, it looks like they are headed eastways into the densed Spring woodland and all the dangers that brings. That is still generally the direction you’re headed in, but you don’t know for sure if it will get you all the way where you’re going. Um, and you don’t know what’s inside of the woods. These are them- the decisions you have to make. Which- which of these paths do y’all want to take?
Sylvia: Does anybody have any like, strong feelings on either way right out the gate? Or should we just kind of like, talk through this a little?
Keith (as wholetaur/fulltaur): Might be nice to have a little shade. [Dre laughs]
Austin: [sighs] God.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): As much as I hate to admit it, I’m inclined to agree.
Dre (as Throndir): It- Would it be useful to try and connect back up with the- the Grand Tour?
Sylvia (as Ephrim): I think it’s less about connecting back up with them and knowing that if they went this way, it’ll be- it’ll more than likely be steady ground beneath us, and the other way I- I don’t really like the idea of us accidentally falling into either nothingness or the stars.
Austin (as Marigold): Permission to speak sir.
Austin: Says Marigold.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Absolutely.
Austin (as Marigold): I do worry about the civilians in that- in that wood. The dangers of the Spring. What if we get lost?
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Hm.
Austin (as Marigold): The 3 of us will certainly survive, but the rest…
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Yeah. I mean, that’s- Hadrian, it’s your family. How do you feel about this? Do you-?
Art (as Hadrian): I- I guess I didn’t see the- the [laughs lightly] This is uh- on me. But I didn’t see the- the first path as being all that dangerous, but now that I’m saying it out loud, it sounds super dangerous.
Austin (as Rosana): Because of the Heat and the Dark, right hun?
Art (as Hadrian): Uh huh. Yeah.
Austin (as Rosana): Yeah.
Art (as Hadrian): But like, that- you at least you know where you sta- like, at least you know that that’s there, whereas there could be anything… the other way.
Austin (as Benjamin): I wish Blue J were here.
Austin: Says Benjamin.
Art (as Hadrian): Uh huh.
Austin: Also, wait. We kind of like, skipped over the fact that you’ve told Blue J about the Arrell stuff at this point.
Art: Benjamin.
Austin: What’d I say, Blue J? Yeah, Benjamin.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: [makes dismissive mumble] You know, kid.
Art: Yeah, I was a little surprised we didn’t-
Austin: Yeah, I- I was just so busy looking at my prep.
Keith: Here’s a- Here’s something though. We- Does- We did- Arrell didn’t know that we knew until we told Benjamin.
Art: Correct.
Austin: As far as we know.
Art: Maybe.
Dre: Yeah.
Keith: Ok.
Dre: That’s our hope.
Austin: That’s our hope.
Keith: Right.
Austin: I don’t want to zoom in all the way on this Benjamin, Hadrian, Rosana conversation cause I really don’t want to have to talk to myself. Which is what will happen because they’re-
Art: Yeah.
Austin: -Benjamin and Rosana are both adults at this point.
Art: We can yada-yada it.
Austin: Yeah, yeah. I-
Art: If you want to like-
Austin: Yeah. So, yeah-
Art: You want to like, just do like, the bullet points?
Austin: What are the bullet points of that conversation? What’s that look like? Is it- [sighs] I think Benjamin is taken aback.
Art: Sure.
Austin: And I think Benjamin- I think Benjamin feels bad. I think Benjamin feels like he fucked up.
Art (as Hadrian): Absolutely not. This is, if anyone, um- You know, it’s not important who’s fuck up this was. [Austin laughs hard] Uh-
Austin: Hmm.
Art: Um, [light laugh] it was a long time ago. Who can even remember?
Austin: Yeah, who?
Art: Who came up with any specific ideas.
Austin: He is- I think he’s like,
Austin (as Benjamin): I should’ve- caught it somehow. All the magic that I’m studying. How did I not think about this? I- [sighs] I knew…
Art (as Hadrian): It’s not. You’re fine. It’s-
Austin (as Benjamin): I shouldn’t go back.
Art (as Hadrian): You couldn’t have known.
Austin (as Benjamin): I shouldn't go back.
Art (as Hadrian): You- you should go back because when- when we come back, they’ll have figured everything out.
Austin (as Benjamin): But what if before we- they can do whatever they have to do to me, he shows up and just…? He’s very powerful.
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah, well. So are we. It’ll be fine.
Keith: Uh-
Austin: Uh huh? [laughs]
Art: Did someone just start talking and then not talk? [laughs]
Austin: Yes.
Keith: I did. I kin- I had assumed that you’re scene was over, and I did- I actually didn’t know that that was for sure-
Austin: Hmm.
Keith: So, I stopped talking.
Austin: That’s different from what I thought which was that Fero had decided to be part of this private family conversation. [Sylvia laughs]
Keith: No, no. It’s just- It sounded like we were- It sounded like the end-
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: -and then I was like, ‘Oh, wait. I actually don’t know that that’s the end’, so I stopped.
Austin: Yeah, no. I- I mean, I think that’s-
Sylvia: It was Fero walking in and then leaving.
Austin: That’s the jist of it is very much Benjamin being distraught over being dangerous in this way. Um, but like-
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah. It’ll be fine. We’re gonna fix it.
Austin (as Benjamin): Right.
Austin: Believe it or not. That alone hasn’t- [laughs] hasn’t eased his mood. Um, so, back at this fork in the road.
Keith: I- Don’t I have a ‘see the future’ move? What is that called?
Austin: I don’t fuckin’ know. What’s your ‘see the future’ move?
Keith: I’m pretty sure that I have a ‘see the future’ move. Communion of Whispers. There it is.
Austin: Hm. Yeah.
Keith: Um, I guess I can’t do this.
Austin: Wait, why?
Keith: So, I take it back. When you spend time in a place, making note of its resident spirits and calling on the spirits of the land, roll + WIS. You’ll be granted a vision of significance-
Austin: Yeah. You can do that.
Keith: -to you, your allys and the spirits around you.
Austin: It just means like, you do this while making camp that day, you know?
Keith: Ok. That’s time enough?
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. Like, this has been- again, it’s been a week and a half of travel, right?
Keith: Yeah. Uh hm.
Austin: So like, as you’re coming to this fork in the road- or I bet you made camp at this fork in the road, you know?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Everybody else has to eat. You don’t have to eat. While they’re eating, you can spend time in a place making note of its resident spirits and calling on the spirits of the land. [light laugh]
Keith: I can- yeah, yeah.
Austin: So, yeah. Give me a-
Keith: ‘Are you hungry?’ It’s like, ‘No, no, no, no. I’m making- [laughs] I’m making note of the resident spirits and calling on the spirits of the- it’s fine. [Austin laughs] But I’ll have a plate.’
Austin: But yeah, if there’s like- Yeah, yeah. So, give me a uh- wisdom.
Keith: ‘Uh, raviolis? Yeah, I’ll have raviolis.’
Austin: Love to travel- have travel raviolis. Travelolis.
Keith: 11.
Austin: There you go. On a 10+, the vision will be clear and helpful to you.
Keith: I- This is only the second time I’ve made this roll. This is a great move.
Austin: That’s a great move. You should make this move more ofte-
Keith: I know, right?
Austin: Last time you made this move, you got arrested. So- [Sylvia laughs]
Keith: Yeah. [laughs]
Austin: And then half of Rosemerrow disappeared. Um, wait. It’s- Rosemerrow’s back on this map, by the way. And it shouldn’t be.
Keith: Hold on. It was only the-
Austin: It’s only the long sand.
Keith: -beach disappeared.
Austin: But like, the thing is that long sand had previously been a lot of Rosemerrow, but it had turned- you know. Anyway.
Keith: Oh, I have a- I have a lo- I have a lore correction that we- from an episode that I wasn’t on that I was listening to.
Austin: Oh sure.
Keith: Um, you- there was some point where you said that something was- Oh, I think it might have been when we were tal- someone was talking to um- to Uklan Tel. And you said that something was sand. And then you said, ‘Oh no. it can’t be sand. There’s no more sand left.’ There’s only no more sand left-
[heavy cross talking]
Austin: Of Rosemerrow sand.
Keith: -if it’s Rosemerrow sand.
Austin: Yeah, it’s a specific type of sand.
Keith: There is- Yeah.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: So, I just don’t- I don’t want people out there thinking there’s no more sand left on the entire-
Austin: No, no. There’s plenty of other sand.
Keith: -Hieron. There’s plenty of sand.
Austin: We’ve seen beaches.
Keith: Sand will be fine.
Austin: We saw a beach on the Isles- the Isles. Like, a couple episodes ago. It’s fine.
Keith: Yeah, but you know, someone hears something, and then all of a sudden, there’s no sand.
Austin: Yeah, I get- yeah, I- Yeah. Game of telephone. Um, so, with an 11, I think what you get is a pretty clear vision of what the 2 paths are ahead of you. Uh, in terms of what the difficulties are and what you’ll encounter and what voices speak back. Um, I think the- the kind of key is just like, it underscores what those dangers are. The dangers to the north- on the northern path, for the most part are not organic dangers. They’re not- they’re not sentient dangers. They are- it is hard to climb rocks.
It is difficult to navigate an area where like, the Heat and the Dark has torn a jagged hole through a hillside. Um, it is tough to- you know, it takes extra time to walk around an area that has been covered over with starstuff because you cannot safely walk on starstuff. Not you, cause you can fly, but the rest of the group, you know? [light laugh] And so that is about like, difficulties. And then the other thing with the northern path is you do kind of hear- I almost like this game of telephone actually that we just joked about actually kind of happening here.
Where there is a sort of- [exhales] a sort of passing of voices to the east. And in the north- to- on the north path, you eventually hear the voices of a small town um, that is… there’s a bitterness kind of passed back to you. A bitterness and a dismay. Um, and also a weird like… there is a sense of homecoming or something that’s being passed back to you there. And so you will know that if you go north, some of the- some of the encounters you will end up having will be about kind of personal, historical trauma and the relationship between this town and the changing world around it.
Um, to the east, through the treelines, you immediately understand that like, ‘Oh, there is- This- They’re full of dangerous things.’ And like, yes, the- uh- the path that has been made by the Grand Tour will be safe to walk on in a way that the- the imperial road to the north cut up by the Heat and the Dark and the starstuff will not be, but the trees are filled with dangerous things. And importantly, the voice you end up hearing back front here is one that is angry about the Grand Tour having passed through here. Um, that this is not the Grand Tour’s space. But also, under that voice, you hear that old, familiar desire to consume and grow that you know is keyed to the Spring plant-life. The flora.
And so this is maybe the first time that you’re hearing- You know we talked about the- the kind of stuff that you fought in the- in the Stoneworks. The kind of big turtle and the big like, crocodile-y thing. The flower ones as being like, some of the first animals you’d seen. Or like, animal-like things made of the flora. This is the first time you’re hearing conscious thought that’s coming from the flora. And it is angry, and it is frustrated and it is- it is a new- like, this is not some old ancient spirit of the forest that is like, ‘How dare people tread through here.’ This is a new arrival who is still feeling like, ‘How dare people come through here.’ And it is a spirit of the woods.
Keith: Yeah. ‘Impede my growing.’
Austin: Yes. Exactly. Exactly that. Um, so, that’s what you know about these two diff- these two directions.
Keith (as Fero): So that’s what I know about these two directions.
Austin: ‘Nice raviolis.’ [light laugh]
Keith: ‘Butternut squash raviolis, what a treat.’
Art (as Hadrian): I’ll level with you. It’s hard to parse this information. [light laugh]
Keith (as Fero): Thanks.
Austin: It’s just like, do y’all want to like, maybe run into weird plant animals or do you want to meet some bitter people after climbing some bad rocks?
Keith: God. You know, both of those sound bad. Bo- Here’s- So, like, ‘Oh, plan- plant- I don’t want to fight a bunch of dangerous creatures. But then I also don’t want to like, talk to some rude people.
Austin: Uh hm.
Art (as Hadrian): I think I don’t want to climb rocks. I think that’s what I think is more-
Keith (as Fero): Yeah, let’s go south. Let’s take the southern path.
Art: As someone traveling with less experienced rock climbers, whispers,
Art (as Hadrian): You guys didn’t get really good at climbing rocks when I was away, did you?
Austin (as Benjamin): No.
Art (as Hadrian): Ok.
Keith (as Fero): Wait, did you get really good at fighting plant monsters?
Austin (as Benjamin): Also, no.
Dre (as Throndir): Benjamin did have to climb up into the weed smoking room though.
Austin: That’s true. Benjamin- [Sylvia laughs]
Art (as Hadrian): Excuse me?
Austin (as Benjamin)The- that’s where we… It’s where we lay out the weeds that we’ve- that we’ve weed-whacked and we smoke them for flav… we smoke them like the way you smoke like, a meat. You smoke- you smoke… it’s like a smoking room. Not for…
Keith (as Fero): It’s an herbs chamber.
Austin (as Benjamin): An herb- Right. It’s where you smoke the herb [laughs] to have-
Keith: Fero’s grinning now.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Perfectly natural for someone his age. I did it all the time.
Austin (as Benjamin): The flav- You add it as flavor to things.
Art (as Hadrian): Hmm. [Austin and Dre laugh]
Austin: Benjamin is like, shooting you a fuckin’ look, Fero. [Keith laughs] ‘Can’t believe you narked me.’
Keith: Wait, did you say Fero?
Austin: Was that Throndir? Who was it that narked out-?
[crosstalking]
Sylvia: It was Throndir that did it.
Keith: It was Throndir.
Austin: Throndir?!
Dre (as Throndir): That’s fine. You’re an adult now.
Austin: [laughing] Yeah, I’m allowed. The bill passed.
Sylvia: [laugh sighs] Oh. Alright, so are we- are we thinking-
Austin: Benjamin breaks out a little vape pen. [Sylvia laughs]
Sylvia: Uh, are we thinking east then? Since we seem to be very anti-climbing.
Austin: It seems like it.
Sylvia: Also, it’d be easier-
Keith: Yeah.
Sylvia: -to keep our horses and stuff with us if we went that way.
Austin: True. True.
Art: Yeah, these horses can’t climb for shit.
Keith: Dumb-ass horses. [Dre and Austin laugh]
Sylvia: You never know. They haven’t had a try yet. Maybe they’re great at it.
Art: [jokingly] ‘Hey, horse, do you guys get really good at climbing rocks-?’
Austin: Ugh, god. Um, real quick, I do want to figure out like, y’all basically have a bunch of hirelings with you which is not a thing we ever use. Um, but we should real- we should. Give me- because there’s a bunch of people here, and they all have skills. Like, none of these people are just throw-aways. Like, I said civilians, but honestly- Um, so give me 2 minutes to figure out how hirelings work. Um, “a hireling’s skill is a special benefit they provide to the players. Skills are related to class abilities, allowing a hireling to fill in for a certain class. Skills don’t limit what a hireling can do, they just provide mechanics for a certain ability. No hireling works for free.”
Yeah, but you know. Whatever. Uh, alright. “Hirelings do what you tell them to do, so long as it obviously isn’t dangerous, degrading, or stupid, and their cost is met. When a hireling finds themselves in a dangerous, degrading, or just flat-out crazy situation due to your orders roll+loyalty.” Uh, how do we determine loyalty? Uh, “on a 10+ they stand firm and carry out the order. On a 7–9 they do it for now, but come back with a serious demand later. Meet them or the hireling quits on worst terms.” Um, here we go. Uh, [thinking sounds[ duh-duh-duh, oh loyalty changes during play. That’s interesting. Um, so I’m just gonna knock out some stats real quick. Skill, cost, loyalty. Um, I’m gonna give a +3 to Benjamin and Rosana here. Family is a big deal, you know? I’m gonna give a +2 to yours, Ephrim.
Sylvia: Alright.
Austin: You’re not family, but they’re damn loyal, you know? I’m not gonna write anything for cost because we’re just gonna- You theoretically pay your people, right? Ephrim?
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: And you don’t pay your family because that’s not how families work. I’m sure Benjamin has a-
Art: Usually not.
Austin: -has allowance. But I don’t think that’s what’s gonna cost him loyalty. Oh, I guess it’s cost- Costs are interesting actually. Costs are not just money. Like, money is one of them. But cost can also be the thrill of victory, uncovered knowledge, fame and glory, debauchery, good accomplished. Um-
Art: Well, we are not paying him in debauchery. [Austin and Keith laugh]
Austin: Great. Great.
Keith: No, he’s already got herb obtaining.
Austin: Perfect. Um, skills. Alright. So this is where- this is what I need here. Adepts are like- Ok. “An adept has at least apprenticed to an arcane expert, but is not powerful in their own right. They’re the grad students of the arcane world.” Um, I guess that’s not really what he is because this is like- this aid- this- the adept can like, aid in casting a spell. Um, damn, that’s useful. I’m still gonna make him an adept and say he has a 6 skill. Um, we don’t have a burglar, or wait, High- Is Highwater a burglar?
Sylvia: Highwater- Highwater was an assassin.
Austin: Right. But of the-
Sylvia: So, I think we could make that… Yeah.
Austin: Yeah, of adept, burglar, minstrel, priest, protector, tracker, or warrior? Probably-
Sylvia: Yeah, it’s probably burglar.
Austin: Probably burglar? Not tracker?
Sylvia: Tracker could work actually cause track- the way we met was *them tracking me.
Austin: That’s true. So, tracker’s thing is they can study stuff when making camp, to follow trails, or they can- Oh, “when a tracker leads the way, you automatically succeed on any Perilous Journey of a distance (in rations) lower than the tracker’s skill.” Hmm. This is a- such a far distance that it’s not gonna- I don’t think that would actually help out, sadly.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Um, burglar is “When a burglar leads the way they can detect traps almost in time.” Almost in time. Great line. “If a trap would be sprung while a burglar is leading the way the burglar suffers the full effects but the players get + the burglar’s skill against the trap and add the burglar’s skill to their armor against the trap.” So yeah, let’s do burglar. Good at-
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: Good at- good at preventing traps from hurting you. Um, also gonna- I’m gonna draw Benjamin’s-
Sylvia: It’s- the description makes it sound like they’re good at stepping on traps for you.
Austin: [laughs] That is- You know, a little bit. Um, and I make- I’m gonna make Highwater a 7. Um, Rosana is definitely the priest, right? “Priests are the lower ranking clergy of a religion.” Like, that’s how we’ve shown her. She’s also- she’s gonna be 8. Um, she, just so you know, she can heal- she’ll heal you for +8 HP when you make camp. So like, that’s good. And also, she can also just, in the middle of com-, “when a priest staunches your wounds heal 2×skill HP. You take -1 forward as their healing is painful and distracting.” So, even when you’re not making camp, she can just be a healer for this party, which is great. Um, and then Marigold? Is that a warrior or a protector?
Sylvia: I, um-
Austin: Is she uh-
Sylvia: I think probably protector. I’m kind of torn between the two cause the- my picture of her in my mind is someone who really wants to be Corsica, but is not there at all.
Austin: Hmm. True. Ok.
Sylvia: Um, but I think protector works.
Austin: Alright. So, protector is- “When a protector stands between you and an attack you increase your armor against that attack by the defender’s skill.” Which is 5, which is great. “Then reduce their skill by 1 until they receive healing or have time to mend. And then Intervene- When a protector helps you defy danger you may opt to take +1 from their aid. If you do you cannot get a 10+ result, a 10+ instead counts as a 7–9.” So, it’s like, you’ll be a little bit easier to get a success, but you will not- it’s impossible to get a full success.
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: Interesting. Alright, cool. We got those written down. So, you’re going to head east into the- the Spring forest here. We need to determine [exhales] who is taking what role. There are 3 roles. Quartermasters, which will make it so that your food goes longer. Trailblazers, which will make you get there faster. Or slower depending on how the roll go- goes. And scouts, who will spot any trouble quick enough to let you get the drop on it. Um, each of those is a wisdom roll.
Dre: Hmm.
Austin: Who wants what role?
Keith: Um, I believe I still have Hella’s uh, spy glass that gives me a +1 to all Danger- or Dangerous- Perilous Journey rolls.
Austin: We…
Keith: I don’t know that I ever gave that back.
Austin: We noted it in her inventory in the last recording, but it didn’t come up. Um, and I think if she-
Keith: Ok.
Austin: I’m fine with you having that on loan still. Like, it didn’t-
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: It was not a- I didn’t put it at risk or anything like that.
Keith: There isn’t a Perilous Journey at the-
Austin: No, no.
Keith: -dragon fight?
Austin: Also, if that happens to come up, it will be very funny that you have the-
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: -the thing.
Keith: Yeah. Yeah, I’ve got it. [Dre laughs] I’m sayin’ that I’ve got it still. Which is great cause that’s a plus 4. That’s pretty much- that’s pretty much a success.
Austin: Sounds good.
Dre: Wait.
Art: Wow, I can’t believe you said that.
Keith: I think there’s only one possible failure roll. It’s one- Out of all the combination of rolls, I think it’s only one thing that you can fail on. I would have to get- I would have to roll two 1s to fail with a plus 4.
Art: Ali, just cut right here to Keith rolling two 1s and failing the roll. [Austin laughs] Just you can ski the next-
Keith: [singing the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song, "Frolic" by Luciano Michelini] Dun-na-la-na-duh-na… duh-da-duh-da.
Austin: [laughing] Yeah, exactly. Thank you.
Keith: Um-
Austin: So, you will then take the- Is that scout?
Keith: Sorry, well- I was gonna say which one of these do you think is the most important to succeed on? Cause I don’t think anybody else can get a +4. Gives us the best chance to-
Austin: I think that the- that the telescope only gives it as a plus- Er no, it’s- it is. It’s all perilous- wow.
Keith: No, it’s all of them.
Austin: Wild.
Keith: Yeah, it’s all of them.
Austin: Yeah, good question. What is the one you most want to succeed at? Per- uh, so again it’s- it’s quartermaster is reduce the number of rations required, which means- the way I’m gonna play it is a 10+ means that you’re well-fed the whole way through. You’re gonna get a +1 forward. A 7-9 means- means that you perform as expected. And a failure means that you’ll all get a debility like weakened because you've had to like, spread that food a lot- a lot further than you thought you were going to. Trailblazer reduces how long it takes you to get places because you’re the person who is like, cutting through the woods with the note that like-
Keith: Uh hm.
Austin: -you will literally be cutting through the woods here, and that a bad trailblazer fuck up could also get you lost because it’s the woods. Um, and then the scout will spot trouble if trouble is gona- is gonna hit you and will let you get the drop on the trouble instead of the trouble getting the drop on you.
Keith: So, I would say either the trailblazer or the scout. Right? That makes-?
Art: I think the scout sounds like the best choice.
Keith: Ok. yeah, I’ll do that. I will look out for trouble.
Austin: Just Fero on top of trees with the brass telescope.
Keith (as Fero): Nothing yet!!
Austin: Great. Alright, so who else? Quartermaster, trailblazer.
Art: Hey, Ephrim, How’s your wisdom?
Sylvia: Uh-
Austin: Oh, good question.
Sylvia: Plus 1.
Austin: Oh damn, does everyone else just have mediocre wisdom?
Dre: Yeah, mine’s plus 1.
Austin: Why did I think this group had a big, good wisdom?
Sylvia: Mine’s also plus 1.
Art: I have plus 0, so I will be trying to do none of these.
Dre: Ok, so my… Is everyone else’s wisdom just plus 1?
Sylvia: Uh, mine is, yeah. And I think-
Art: Plus 0.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Dre: Ok, so I guess Sylvia and I make rolls. [Sylvia and Dre laugh]
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: Maybe I should’ve give- handed that telescope over to someone else.
Dre: That’s ok.
Austin: I mean that’s possibly to. Like, I don’t- You could still do that. No one’s rolled dice yet, right?
Art: Keith has rolled dice.
Keith: I rolled my 13, but I didn’t- I didn’t have-
Austin: Oh, I didn’t see that.
Keith: I didn’t add the plus to it.
Dre: Oh, here’s a-
Keith: I just rolled wisdom.
Dre: Here’s a thing. Can Hadrian roll to aid or interfere on a Perilous Journey?
Austin: I think so. Yeah.
Dre: Ok.
Austin: Definitely.
Keith: Which is great because uh, he’s gonna have to suffer the consequences whether he aids or not.
Austin: Right. Right. Fair. Uh, alright, I’m almost at the-
Art: Should I wait till after? Or should I do it preemptively.
Austin: Let’s preemptively do it. Pick one and preemptively do it.
Dre: So the rolls left are-?
Art: Which of you is doing what?
Dre: Is it uh- quartermaster and…
Art: And trailblazer, right?
Keith: Trailblazer.
Dre: Ok. Um, Throndir would probably do trailblazer. Like, he’s not the Ranger anymore, but it hasn’t been that long.
Austin: Uh, for the record, veracity 2. Cunning 2. Armor 0. Instinct plus 1.
Dre: Ok.
Austin: Uh, and then strengths- it’s fun to be able to describe Kodiak for the first time in a long time. Um, so-
Dre: Oh, huge is there.
Austin: It is. [typing throughout] Strengths: huge, keen senses. And then training: guard, fight monsters, search. And weakness, which has not come up that often: stubborn.
Dre: Ok, so I’ll take trailblazer.
Austin: Alright. Sounds good. Uh, Hadrian do you- did you already do your roll? Your help roll?
Art: No.
Austin: I guess you didn’t cause you didn’t pick who you were gonna…
Art: But I’ll help Throndir.
Austin: Ok.
Dre: Uh, you don’t need to.
Austin: Damn.
Dre: Got this shit on lock.
Austin: Damn, trailblazer good. Scout good.
Sylvia: Alright. Quartermaster.
Art: Wait, should I-
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: What? Ha- Hadrian, what’s up?
Dre: Hey, you got a 7.
Art: I was gonna say it means I should switch my aid roll, but-
Austin: At this point, it’s fine. At this point, you’re good.
Sylvia: I rolled a 7, by the way.
Austin: It’s- You rolled a 7.
Sylvia: For the listeners.
Austin: Which means you-
Art: Well, it means if I decide to help Ephrim and failed, it would fail the roll.
Sylvia: [laughing] It’s true.
Austin: No, no, no, no. It wouldn't. It wouldn't. It wouldn't reduce anything. It just- it just puts you in harms way. Uh, it just- you would fail. I would do something just for you that would be bad, but the roll wouldn't fail.
Art: Should I roll the dice or not? I said I was going to do it.
Austin: You should- you should roll the dice. You said you were gonna help.
Art: This is for Throndir.
Austin: Ok.
Art: Who I said I was going to help.
Austin: Ok. And you failed.
Dre: Oh boy. [laughs]
Austin: Get that XP. [Sylvia laughs] What wa- Throndir, what was your role again?
Dre: Uh, an 11.
Austin: No, sorry. What was your role? Your R-O-L-E. You’re trailblazer?
Dre: Oh, yeah, sorry.
Austin: Alright. [exhales] So, you’re about 3 days into these woods, and it’s been mostly ok.
Keith: And everyone else is only 2 days into the woods.
Austin: The- actually I- I think it’s the other thing which is I think Throndir has found a good rhythm. Goes ahead. You know, makes sure that everything is cool. Clears out some pathways. Um, you’ve noted some things. I want- with these rolls, I want to give you some extra stuff here a little bit. One, Fero, you find a body, not too far from the like- I’d say, we’re gonna go another day ahead at this moment, but like a day before that, you find a body that has been hung up in a bunch of vines and killed, actively. And so, part of the reason why no one gets hurt directly is from your good scouting is you identify a type of vine that um, looks completely innocuous but, in fact, kills people. Um, and so-
Keith: Hm.
Austin: You have- you’ve found that. It’s killed local wildlife. Like, you see birds strung up in it. Um, and the thing that- one of the things that it does is- er one of the breathes that it does is as it- as the wind blows through it, the wind hits these little holes inside of it that make bird tweet sounds that draw other birds to it. And it catches them and eats them. Also, briefly, is Safewater here?
Keith: Yeah. Safewater’s here.
Austin: Sa- How is- Safewater’s just like, very close to you this entire time. When you discover this weird like, vine-thing that is built to kill birds, Safewater is just so scared. [laughs] And is,
Austin (as Safewater): [whispering] Safewater.
Austin: Just-
Keith (as Fero): Do you want to hide- I have- Do you want to hide in my pouch?
Austin (as Safewater): Hm.
Austin: Nodding.
Austin (as Safewater): Uh hm.
Keith (as Fero): Yeah, ok. That’s fine. You can- you can get in there.
Austin (as Safewater): Hop.
Austin: Hops into your little pouch. Safewater is a- is a wren for everyone who hasn’t listened to the- the end of the Isle of Flight games. Uh, and-
Keith: Wren is short for ‘fwrend’.
Austin: Right. Of course. [Sylvia laughs] Um, the- So, that’s one of the ways you’ve helped. Um, Ephrim, you know, you- you end up having to mix some local wildlife into your- your feeding here. Flora and fauna, but it’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. With a 7, you know, a mixed success here does not mean a thing where like, ‘Oh, things go basically bad.’ A mixed success on Perilous- [pauses] Excuse me. On Perilous Journey, a 7 to 9 just means you performed as expected. A normal number of rations are consumed. The journey takes about as long as expected. No one gets the drop on you, etcetera. So, also nice work. Um, Throndir, the thing that you notice with an 11, as the- as the- the- I almost said loremaster which is not right- as the um, the trailblazer-
Dre: I’ll take it.
Austin: -is, as the loremaster, as the trailblazer, you know that the path is getting thinner and thinner and thinner and then eventually stops. Um, or it- it damn near stops, right? Um, it becomes just horses moving through the woods, and it stops being the kind of thing that the Grand Tour does which is like- The Grand Tour traditionally completely battens down anything it runs over, right? But bit by bit, it just slowly eases off, and what you notice is that the horses are turning north and south as you go through this continent, right? Like, it’s as if things are peeling off from the Grand Tour and going elsewhere. Um, to- uh, you don’t know where. You haven’t been out here. You don’t fuckin’ know. But bit by bit, they’re all turning away and going different places. Um, the- uh-
Dre: Can I tell if that’s people going- Is it like, individuals? Like, one or two horses or is it like, like, small groups-
Austin: It’s- it’s-
Dre: -breaking off?
Austin: Everything and above. It’s- it’s all of the above.
Dre: Ok.
Austin: Sometimes it’s one person. Sometimes it’s 12.
Dre: Gotcha.
Austin: Sometimes it’s 30. Um, but- but it’s a mix. And it’s just as often 2. You know what I mean? Like-
Dre: Right.
Austin: Um, and this is the whole way through this forest, basically. Um, I think you probably catch it pretty earlier on. This is a long journey. This is the longest anyone has ever gone on screen in Hieron, by a long way. Like, you’re covering half the distance of this continent, basically. East to west. Plus half of it north to south. So, like, it’s a- it’s good rolls. And we only have to roll once here, which is nice. Hadrian?
Art: Uh huh.
Austin: You failed your roll. So-
Art: Uh, yeah.
Austin: I want to know, how did you get lost in the woods? Did you make a wrong turn?
Art: Hubris?
Austin: Did you hear something that you wanted to check out?
Art: Oh. [light laugh]
Austin: Were you peeing? Like, what happened?
Art: Um-
Keith: Were you peeing?
Art: I think um- I think it’s like, Hadrian kind of trying to like, show off a little bit. Like-
Austin: Oh, buddy.
Art (as Hadrian): Oh, I think there’s a shortcut over this way.
Art: [laughing] And then just like, several hours later Hadrian is not back.
Austin: Well, so everybody else, you’ve made camp, and several hours later, Hadrian is not back. I think Throndir, you come back having figured out what the next direction is for y’all to go. And when you get back, Hadrian is gone.
Dre: That seems bad.
Austin: Rosana’s nervous. Uh, Benjamin is like,
Austin (as Benjamin): [sighs] I thought he was gonna meet up with you.
Dre (as Throndir): Ok. Hold on. I’ll- I- Listen, I can- I can go find him.
Dre: Um, ok. Let me make sure I still have this move. God, I hope I still have this move.
Austin: You do. Track.
Dre: Ok. Yeah.
Austin: A person?
Dre: Uh huh.
Austin: Track. Doin’ some trackin’? [Dre laughs] Yeah. Totally.
Dre: Ok. Yeah, I gotta- I’m gonna go try and find Hadrian.
Austin: Ok. Is there a-
Dre: He’s stompin’ around in a big ol’ thing of armor. How hard could it be?
Austin: He is. He is doing that.
Keith: I also will go.
Austin: Ok. Uh-
Sylvia: I’ll guess- I’ll stay. I’ll stay. I’ll stay cause we-
Austin: Ok.
Sylvia: -need people to help in case something happens, and-
Austin: Totally.
Sylvia: -Rosana and Benjamin-
Austin: Right, maybe this is a trap. Who could say?
Sylvia: Yeah. So, me and my retainers will stay.
Art: I wouldn’t be- I wouldn’t be walking into a trap.
Keith: Well, if there was danger, I would’ve gotten- I would’ve seen it before it got the drop on us.
Austin: Totally. So-
Keith: But still stay. Like, that’s real.
Austin: That’s why I’m- I’m letting you figure out this track thing before I tell you what’s up with Hadrian. [Dre laughs] Uh, so, when you follow a trail of clue left behind by passing creatures, like Hadrian, the best creature, roll plus wisdom. You follow the creature’s trail until there is a significant change in the direction or mode of travel. Uh, but you also have a- Kodiak with you, right?
Dre: Right.
Austin: And so, Kodiak will- What’s Kodiak add, instinct?
Dre: His cunning, which is 2.
Austin: So, that is a 2d6 plus 3.
Dre: Yep.
Austin: And is- is Fero helping?
Keith: Um, yeah. I can help. And I know how I can help.
Austin: How is it?
Keith: Oh, I guess I don’t actually need to roll that.
Austin: You don’t fuckin’ need to. Jesus Christ.
Sylvia: Holy shit.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: That’s a 14. Throndir, you are rolling the rolls that the other party needed so bad.
Dre: It’s ok. Roll20 was just savin’ ‘em.
Austin: For you.
Keith: Yeah, they could’ve used 4 of those points, and you still would have gotten the best possible roll. [Dre laughs]
Austin: Um-
Keith: Just can we put those in a bank and donate them?
Austin: Jesus Christ. Yeah, right? When-
Keith: I have more than I need.
Austin: So, you know- you follow Hadrian’s trail. You also gain a useful bit of information about your quarry. You’re GM will tell what or determine what caused the trail to end.
Dre: What’s Hadrian’s preferred brand of deodorant?
Austin: [laughs] Useful. Useful bit of information.
Dre: Oh, ok. Oh, you know. Presence.
Keith: We could- So, I could turn into a- some sort of hound and sniff the deodorant.
Austin: Hmm. True. Um, so what I’m gonna just say is, for the party who is going after Hadrian, the extra little bit of information you find is that someone else is tracking Hadrian right now. Um, you find a set of like- it’s a weird track that kind of partially um, trots and partially slithers behind Hadrian.
Dre: Oh, that’s fun.
Art: I- I hate it.
Keith: Did I make this?
Austin: No. No. There’s other people makin’ stuff now. This is the thing. The world is makin’ the world. There is um- it’s sort of like a- Ok, so there’s 8 feet, but also there is some sort of- there are eight feet. They are hooves. Uh, hoofs- hooves. Hooves.
Keith: Hooves.
Austin: Hooves? Uh-
Keith: It’s- I think it’s both.
Austin: Ok. They are- let me take a look at how these- these hooves work. They have the- they’re the hooves of a- of like a- I mean, you’re a fuckin’- you used to be a ranger, you’d know what a boar hoof is. It’s a boar- it’s a set of boar hoofs, but there is 8 of them. And between them, there is something like dragging across the ground on top of that. Which is weird. And there’s at least one of these. Um, I think it’s fair to say there’s 2- there’s 2 of- You know that there’s 2 of these actually. Um, so some sort of weird plant boar.
Keith: Are you sure it’s not just 4 boars and 2 snakes all traveling together?
Austin: 100% sure. [Keith laughs] I know it’s easy to imagine. But- Uh, so yeah. That stuff is poppin’ off down that way. Er, up that way.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: Hadrian?
Art: Hmm.
Austin: Um, I- you know what? I’m gonna say that you were- because Fero got that 13 on the- on the scout roll, you’re able to find each other before the trap is sprung, so to speak. Or actually, you’re allowed to get the drop on them. So, actually what you get is- we get the shot of Fero um, you and Throndir now see 2 of these boars that are made up of bark and leaves and like, not just thorns, but what are the- what are the like, the thing with burrs? The thing that like, gets stuck- yeah.
Keith: Burr. Yeah, the little balls?
Austin: Yeah, just little burr- spiky balls.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Those. And uh- 2 of them are like, [animal snorting foley for boars] in the woods as they- they are like, coming closer and closer to Hadrian, and like, stomping their feet and getting ready to charge. And behind- in front of them, you see Hadrian who is like, ‘I know where I’m goin’.’ [Sylvia and Keith laugh] So, you’ve gotten the drop on them, but they are about to get the drop on Hadrian. What do y’all do?
Keith: Do their- In the snorting, can I- I can understand the snorting?
Austin: Yeah, yeah. Um, and I- Here’s the thing that’s wild. You hear 2 voices. From them you mostly hear like, [in a low, gruff voice] ‘Grow. Grow. Grow. Grow. Consume. Grow. Grow.’ And then you hear another voice that’s sort of like, placating- or not placating them, but kind of like, directing them and- and like pet- it’s almost like a- a voice that’s like, ‘Yep, grow and consume. Yep, just go ahead and eat that man.’ [Austin and Dre laugh lightly] So, something is-
Keith: Damn.
Austin: -communicating with them and like, controlling them. Not controlling them. Communicating with them. It’s not like a remote- remote control. Something has like a very similar relationship with them as what Throndir has with Kodiak, basically. Um, so yeah.
Dre: Hmm. Let’s see. I’m trying to make sure I don’t have anything in my… inventory or something that would be-
Austin: Always a good check.
Dre: -good for tra- good for trap making, but I don’t see anything.
Keith: Um, I am fine with just attacking.
Austin: [light laugh] Alright.
Dre: Oh, ok.
Keith: I mean, right? Like, what are we- I mean- A trap is great, but do we- We don’t have a trap.
Dre: No.
Keith: Can you just make traps? How does that work?
Dre: No, I can’t. I was just making sure I didn’t have something for one.
Keith: Ok, you just have to have one.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: Ok. Um, can I try- uh, hmm. I don’t think that I feel like I shouldn’t just try and attack these things.
Austin: Do the thing that you think Fero does, you know?
Keith: Yeah. Big animal is what I do.
Austin: You become a big animal. So, you're doing shapeshifter?
Keith: Yes.
Austin: Whoops, I rolled that.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: That was not your roll. I clicked that button by mistake. That doesn’t count.
Keith: Ok, ok. I see. Yeah. I didn’t even- I didn’t even notice that that was your thing.
Austin: No.
Keith: Or- or my move. Um, why is this not making the noise that it makes for rolls? That’s fine. Whatever. I’m not concerned about it. Uh, yeah. I also- maybe I should- maybe- Ok, we’re- we have the drop on these things. I- We can take a second and look around and figure out what's happening and Discern Realities.
Austin: That’s a good call. Go ahead and give me Discern Realities. That is a 10.
Keith: 10.
Austin: Ask me 3 questions.
Keith: Um-
Austin: Also, briefly while you’re figuring those out, Hadrian, I’m guessing- have you promised to protect someone at this point?
Art: Yeah, it’s probably Benjamin.
Austin: Yeah. Ok.
Art: Not present.
Keith: Um, ok. What here is not what it appears to be?
Austin: [exhales] The- I mean, I’m gonna- I’m just gonna kind of give that- use that to give you- Ok. Here’s what I’ll say. These-
Keith: I could- I can ask instead, ‘who is really in control here.’
Austin: No, no, no. No, no, no. I’m gonna- I’m gonna say what is not what it appears to be. These boars are part of a larger being. Um, or- or they aren’t individuals in the way that we think about individuals, right? There- There is individual action happening, and there is
Keith: Is it-?
Austin: -individual volition happening. But there is not- they are also tied directly to another being.
Keith: Is it like that forest that’s actually just one big tree with like, the same root system.
Austin: It’s like that. Yeah. Um, but that’s not- it’s not that everything in this forest is connected, right? In fact- in fact, you can see-
Keith: Right.
Austin: -that- that is what I will say. That is for that one question.
Keith: Ok. Um-
Austin: Two more and remember to take the plus one forward. Just like, in fact-
Keith: Yes.
Austin: -mark it on your sheet right now so that it’s-
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: -just there.
Keith: What- plus forward, ok. What should I be on the lookout for?
Austin: Who is controlling them. You spot that there are- there are vines that are connected to them. Right? On- on their bellies basically that run out into the woods, and so, you’re not sure where those go, but those vines are probably what is connecting them. Um, and you don’t know if that’s like, ‘Oh, if I cut the vine, that’s it.’ Or like, you don’t fuckin’ know. But that- you know that something is probably connected. And the other thing you should be on the lookout for is other things that are connected to this same single like, networked individual, basically.
Keith: Got it. Yeah. And uh-
Austin: And I’ll say that like, with that- This is a Discern Realities roll, that person- or that being is not far away and is actually on the other side of Hadrian. You basically see those 2 cords loop around to- or like, around one to the left, one to the right, back and around to where Hadrian is and then behind Hadrian further down into the woods. So, it’s almost as if they’re gonna pincer in on him.
Keith: Ok. Alright. That’s great. Uh, I mean, not for Hadrian.
Austin: No. No.
Keith: But it’s great that I know. Um, ok. Hmm. I’ve gotten a lot of information, I’m trying to- it’s like narrowing down which will be the least overlappy.
Austin: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: You know? Um, wha- was that ‘what should I be on the lookout for?’ That’s what I just asked?
Austin: Yes.
Keith: Ok. Uh, what…. Hmm.
Austin: Any other thought? Any thoughts from anybody else who is like, itching for one of these?
Dre: Maybe what is about to happen? Just to solidify that plan?
Keith: Yeah, sure. What is about to happen? What here is about to happen?
Austin: Uh, and so here’s the third bit. Hadrian is going to wander into some those vines. Is about to be picked up by some of those vines. Like, unless someone does something, Hadrian is going to get caught by those vines, and then the boars from the south and whatever the being is to the north are going to pincer in as he is hung up there.
Keith: Got it. Ok. Alright. So, here’s what I think the plan is.
Dre: Uh hm.
Keith: Can- do you think that you or Kodiak could get in and move Hadrian away from the path of these vines that are about entrap him?
Dre: Oh yeah.
Keith: Ok. Then while we do that, I want to go to the other side and attack, I guess, the root of the problem.
Dre: Uh hm. Good pun. [Austin laughs lightly]
Keith: Thank you. Um, yeah. You know, the- the per- the thing- The person.
Dre: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Keith: The- yeah.
Dre: Sounds good.
Keith: Um, ok. I- I want to- hmm.
Austin: Which of these things is like, firing first? Is it the fix- saving Hadrian? Cause it sounds like that might be like, the- the camera follows- Fero sees the stuff, goes like, ‘Ah, ah!’ And then-
Keith: Yeah, yeah. I think that’s gotta happen first.
Austin: Alright. So, then Throndir, how are you getting Hadrian to not stumble into these vines?
Dre: [laughs] Um, let’s see. I could just yell at him.
Austin: You could. He’s very close. Like, I do want to be clear. Like, and also there’s vines everywhere, so it’s hard to know- So, I think this is- it’s gonna be a roll, right? Do you know what I mean?
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: It’s about like, can you communicate obviously enough which vines not to hit?
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: Or not to bump into.
Dre: Um, ok. What I think I want to do is um- Throndir’s gonna like, stay kind of hidden in kind of the bushes or the trees.
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: And will send Kodiak out to basically go up and like, kind of like, pull on Hadrian’s like, belt or whatever.
Austin: Sure.
Dre: And be like, ‘Hey stop.’
Austin: Right.
Dre: Um, with the idea of maybe I stay hidden, so when these boars pop out, I can still get the jump on them.
Austin: Ok. Give me a- uh- I think it’s Defy Danger. What do you use to have Kodiak tell people things? Is that-?
Dre: Um-
Austin: I think that’s Cunning?
Dre: I-
Austin: When you Parley, add its cunning to your roll.
Dre: Oh, ok. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: I think that’s what that is, right?
Dre: Sure.
Austin: It’s not really Parley, but like- and I think it’s just Kodiak’s. Like I don’t think- oh, you’re charisma is zero anyway. So, yeah-
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: Defy- it’s Defy Danger DEX, but plus cunning, so that’s plus- plus 2. So, 2d6 plus 2. That’s a 12. [someone whistles]
Keith: Yeah, wow.
Austin: Uh, Hadrian, you hear like a very familiar like, [does foley of footfalls followed by Kodiak barking foley]
Austin (as Kodiak): Roof, roof, roof! Ra-ra-ra-ra-ra. Rar!
Austin: And like,
Art (as Hadrian): Hey, Kodiak.
Austin (as Kodiak): Ra-ra-rar! Ra-ra-rar-rar! Rar! [Sylvia laughs]
Art (as Hadrian): Did you come to help?
Austin (as Kodiak): Ra-ra-rar! [laughs lightly] Ra-ra-rar-rar! Roof! Roof! Roof!!
Art (as Hadrian): Awww.
Austin: And is like- [laughs] is barking at the assassin vines which are like, pulling away a little bit and redirecting where they are. Um, they are actually pulling back and are now trying to make like, a- almost like a beaded um, like a beaded, uh…. What do you call that? Uh, not a- I keep wanting to say like, necklace or blanket. Neither of those is what I want. Like, hanging beads. What do you- Like a beaded curtain style thing.
Dre: Oh yeah.
Austin: Like a curtain between you. Between the- it’s like, y’all in the back, the boars- now the vines are in front of the boars, as if they are like a curtain the boars will pass through, but then you’ll have to deal with the curtain. Uh, but Hadrian is now safe. And a dog is there and is like, barking all around. [laughs] Hadrian, this dog is barkin’ wild. Just barkin’ all over the damn place. What? What is this dog barkin’ at? Who could say?
Austin (as Kodiak): Roof!
Art (as Hadrian): Yeah! Is there a- Is there something in the- in the brush for ya?
Austin (as Kodiak): Roof! [Austin and Dre laugh] Ra- roof! Ra-ra- ra! Ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-a!
Art (as Hadrian): Did you come for snacks? I don’t have any snacks. [Sylvia laughs]
Austin: Um, alright. What is the team- rest of the- You know, real quick. As this is happening, back home at camp, [Sylvia laughs again] how’s- how’s camp life goin’, Ephrim?
Sylvia: Eh, it’s pretty good. Um-
Austin: You hear- I think you can hear Kodiak barking off in the distance, but you know, Kodiak.
Sylvia: Uh, yeah. Nah, I- I said I’d stay at camp with everybody, and I’m gonna do that. I think Ephrim’s kind of like, messing around with that little um- I like the idea him messing with that flower he got because that’s very much being to Benjamin, ‘Hey do you want to see me fidget spinner? I’m cool.’
Austin: Yeah, how’s that work? We were gonna look up- we were gonna figure out how that thing worked, and we never did.
Sylvia: So, you described it as a daisy compass. And I kind of like the idea of it having like, one like, petal that was a different color.
Austin: Uh hm.
Sylvia: That is used to point in a direction.
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: Like it spun around like that. Um, but we didn’t figure out like, any specific-
Austin: What’s it do? Yeah.
Sylvia: -specific moves or what it does yet. Cause I haven’t really- Like, done Lore of the Forge since then.
Austin: Right.
Sylvia: But since we’re in a forest that seems to be heavy pop- heavily populated by Alyosha’s flora, that’s probably gonna come up pretty soon.
Austin: Oh, definitely. Definitely. My guess is that it’s like- I mean, one, we should’ve used- let you use it as a plus one on like, Perilous Journey rolls, right? Cause definitely-
Sylvia: Eh, I would have gotten an 8 anyway. Like-
Austin: Yeah, yeah. Totally, totally. Um, and then like- I don’t know. I’m gonna have to- I’m gonna- I’ll probably- I should have known by now. This is when I should have known by, but the way we recorded this did not give me time to come up with a cool thing that a compass does. Um, I’m gonna look up like, cool magic compasses between now and- and next time. And-
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: For now, just understand that fucking, Ephrim doesn’t know how it works either.
Sylvia: Yeah, no. For sure. Um, but for the most part, I think it’s kind of like we’ve got- I want to just like, to set up like, who is keeping watch on-
Austin: Yes.
Sylvia: -with the thing. It’s kind of going in and out of shifts between Highwater, um- Highwater, Marigold, Ephrim, and then like- I don’t know if Ephrim wants to have like Benjamin or Rosana doing that because like, Hadrian’s already missing.
Austin: Right, sure.
Sylvia: But I think he’ll be like,
Sylvia (as Ephrim): If you guys hear anything, please tell us. Like, you’re just as capable. [laughs lightly]
Austin: Totally. Um, so here’s what I actually think it does. It does 3 different things. One, it always tells you what direction- a direction- ah, you know what? It always tells you the direction of the university. It’s like, keyed to the big tree. The big tree in the university.
Sylvia: Ok.
Austin: And so you can always, one fea- One, not feather, one petal is always like one color. Uh, you can tell me what color that is that is like, back home. The- another um, uh always- another petal will- and maybe this is the first time you’ve seen it, but like, another petal slowly fills with color, and that’s probably like, red or something that indicates that nearby flora is- is dangerous. And that is pointing in the direction of Hadrian and Hadrian’s crew.
Sylvia: Ok. Well, now maybe I should go.
Austin: I mean, you don’t know what that means.
Sylvia: Sure.
Austin: It’s just a red petal is pointed in that direction.
Sylvia: Yeah, I guess that’s- Ephrim right now is just like,
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Huh, that’s interesting.
Austin: And then yeah, and then plus one on Perilous Journey rolls. So, take all of those.
Sylvia: Ok. I will write that all down.
Austin: Rad. Um, and yeah, I think Benjamin- I think while you’re doing all this- like looking at this flower, Benjamin is like, asking you questions about- about magic because in his mind, like he knows you used to do magic, but it’s not clear where that magic came from. And he’s like-
Austin (as Benjamin): Well, Fantasmo says that the- there is different schools of magic. And the magic that people say comes from the divine actually comes-
Austin: [trailing off as Benjamin continues talking] Da-duh-duh-duh-duh. And is just like, [laughs] Benjamin’s like,
Austin (as Benjamin): But I’m not so sure because my dad met Samothes and so-
Austin: And it’s just like, [laughs] ‘Let me tell you about my favorite pokemon.’ [light laugh]
Sylvia: I think- you know what I think is really cute in this moment? I think Ephrim’s gonna pull out that old fairytale book he has.
Austin: Oooo, that’s really good.
Sylvia: And be like,
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Here’s some stuff about old wizards, if you’re interested.
Austin (as Benjamin): Hell yeah.
Sylvia: Yeah.
Austin: Definitely. Um, awesome. Uh, alright. Back up to boar town.
Keith: ‘Hi, welcome to Boar Town.’
Austin: Welcome to Boar Town, the new podcast on Gimlet media. Um- [Sylvia, Dre, and Keith laugh hard]
Art: Oh shit.
Austin: Fuckin’ give me that Gimlet money.
Art: Give us that Gimlet money.
Austin: If we beef- if we beef with them, and they beef back, that just raises our profile. Gimlet media could not have an actual play podcast as good as us.
Art: Yeah.
Keith: That’s true.
Austin: Sure, they would get like, world famous actors on it, but come on.
Keith: It would co- I mean, it would cost about… a- 12 hundred times more than it costs to make this show.
Austin: Yo, podcasts cost so much money. [laughs]
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: More- like they really- I know some numbers about podcasts, and what they cost because of being in the business I am in. And it’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous how much some podcasts cost to make given the quality of those podcasts.
Keith: Some is the very key word.
Austin: Oh yeah. It’s multiple. Anyway.
Keith: Because some- some podcasts cost like $100.
Austin: Yeah. You could at home- Go make a podcast. I bet it will be better than a podcast that costs-
Keith: When I was-
Austin: -let’s say, $30,000 an episode to make. Cause those exist.
Keith: When I was 17 and did my first podcast ever, uh yeah, it cost, I think $60- was what we put into our initial equipment.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: And I’ll listen to it.
Art: Fun fact. When I was 17, I don’t think the iPod existed.
Austin: Is that true?
Art: I think-
Dre: Yeah, I still have a- uh-
Art: I got my first iPod for my 18th birthday, and they weren’t like, new-new, but I don’t know if they were a year old.
Austin: How old are- How old are you?
Art: I was born in 1984.
Austin: Ok. [laughs lightly] But how- Ok, how were you in 2001?
Art: 17.
Austin: Alright. You- So, no. You did not have- Well, wait. 2001 October 23rd is the first iPod.
Art: Ok, so that- that is 6 months after- er 5 months after my birthday.
Austin: Ok, so. I don’t remember what the- what the context of this conversation even was. I’m now thinking about my M- my Rio MP3.
Keith: Oh, it’s our Gimlet media beef.
Austin: Oh right.
Keith: Our totally real Gimlet media beef.
Austin: Our real Gimlet media beef. Exactly.
Keith: Yeah.
Art: Yeah, Alex Blumberg, come meet me in the street.
Keith: [overlapped] Can we beef with Stitcher?
Austin: [laughs] Alex Blumberg has not met anybody in the streets ever in his fucking life. [Dre laughs] Can we beat- What? Can we what?
Keith: Can we beef with Stitcher?
Austin: I’ve been beefin’ with Stitcher.
Keith: Can we beef- can we turn it up then? [laughs]
Austin: [laughs] God. Ugh. Anyway, alright. Um, uh, boar crew? [Dre laughs] What’s- what’s poppin’ up here?
Keith: We are- we are not afraid to squash-
Austin: Not afraid to squash these boars. Uh, Throndir-
Art: They say, so I squash the boar.
Austin: [laughs] Yeah, Fero, what do you- what are you all doin’? As Hadrian is oblivious.
Keith: Uh, so- Ok, so Hadrian is oblivious. Wait, is Hadrian oblivious? Cause-
Austin: Hadrian didn’t get hurt by the-
Keith: -Throndir got a success.
Art: I didn’t get hurt.
Austin: Yeah, Hadrian did not get hurt by the vines.
Art: I stopped, yeah. I stopped-
Keith: But does- You don’t know what’s happening. You just- you just didn’t get-
Austin: That seems to have been the case. Hadrian's playing it that way. And I’m happy to let him.
Keith: Ok. Got it. Ok. So… Sorry, I was eating a popcorn shrimp. [Everyone laughs one by one] Um- [laughs again] So, while this is happening, I want to go straight for the- the control- the controlling element here.
Austin: Ok, you know what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna make a new map.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: So, we could get just visual thinking happening.
Keith: And I have a fun thing that I haven’t done before-
Austin: Ooo.
Keith: -that I want to do.
Austin: That’s fun.
Keith: It’s a twist on things that I have done.
Austin: I see.
Keith: I’m going to make a chimera.
Austin: We’ve done- we’ve done a chimera. You did a chimera last episode.
Keith: I did. [Austin laughs] And- [Sylvia laughs] But what I haven’t done is do a chimera between-
Austin: Ah.
Keith: -a mountain lion-
Austin: Uh huh. Which we know you know how to make. Uh huh.
Keith: -and a sprangaroo.
Austin: Ooo, you’re do- Ok, this is different.
Keith: A chimera between a thing that has always existed in the world and something that I have made.
Austin: Right. Uh-
Keith: And my goal here is I want to launch up and uh, over the- the field of play. The field of fight. And uh- and land and instead of doing that move where I like, smash into like- I basically like, punch someone by coming down from the sky-
Austin: Uh huh.
Keith: -I want to use like uh- big wild cat claws to shred up the um, the vines.
Austin: Oh, that’s interesting. Ok, cool. What’s that- what’s the- what’s the rule on that?
Keith: Nothing. I can just do it.
Austin: Oh, you just do it. Chimera just lets you take any 2 forms that you’ve had before and shapeshift into them.
Keith: Up to 3.
Austin: Up to 3.
Keith: Yeah. Yep.
Austin: Ok. Cool. So then give me your shapeshift.
Keith: Um, there it is. Hold 2.
Austin: Hold… 2. Yeah. Totally.
Keith: Yeah. So, I can do 2 special moves as the
Austin: Yes. Uh-
Keith: -creature before having to-
Austin: Did that plus one forward not- Did that trigger here, or no?
Keith: Um-
Austin: You’re not really acting on this information yet, so I’ve save that for when you’re acting on your-
Keith: Ok.
Austin: You know what I mean?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Like take that plus one forward for the next roll, not this one.
Keith: Got it.
Austin: Alright. Um, so you’ve become a… [exhales]
Keith: So, it had- it had hands, right? Like, it had hands.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: This is the sprangaroo- everybody knows sprangaroos at this point.
Austin: Yeah. Classic.
Dre: Old hat.
Keith: We all know about the sprangaroo.
Austin: Do we?
Keith: I’m kid- I’m- I was- I was saying that, but I don’t actually know. Does everybody know about the sprangaroo?
Austin: I do. Does the rest of this party?
Keith: I do.
Dre: I don’t think I do, but I think I could probably intuit.
Keith: So, it is a wallaby-
Austin: You want me to tell you something real quick? You cannot.
Keith: Yep.
Austin: You cannot.
Dre: Ok. Yeah, no.You’re right. [Keith laughs]
Keith: It’s a sort wallaby-like mammalian glider creature that has rigid- rigid arms. They don’t articulate at the elbow, but they do articulate at the shoulder.
Dre: Uh hm.
Keith: And so, it uses those arms as pistons to launch itself into the air and then it flies sort of like a fixed wing plane- it glides. And then it use- it moves those fists to the front in order to dive bomb and uh- and attack people. That’s a sprangaroo. What I have done here is replace those punch hands with sharp claw arms.
Austin: They still have the piston though.
Keith: It still has the-
Austin: Ok.
Keith: You still gotta launch into the sky with the fists. And so that’s the sprangaroo with a- with a puma twist.
Austin: Great. And so now you’re in the air as a sprangroo. Fero’s just like, up above the coud- er above the canopy. So, Throndir? [light laugh] That popcorn chicken- or popcorn shrimp gettin’ to ya?
Keith: Yeah, yeah. There was a- there was a kernel in there.
Austin: Gotcha. Wait. [Sylvia and Dre laugh]
Dre: Now I-
Keith: Huh? Do we have 2 different ideas about what I’m eating now?
Austin: I’m not- I’m gonna keep moving. I hate it.
Sylvia: Oh god. [Dre laughs again]
Austin: The butter would be nice. [Keith laughs] The butter would be nice. Other than that I hate it. Anyway.
Dre: Uh ok. Are these boars still just chillin’ or-?
Austin: Uh, they are getting- I’m letting you take an action because you- because the scout thing was successful. You get the drop on them.
Dre: Ok. Um, yeah. I mean, I guess I’m just gonna shoot one of these things.
Austin: [light laugh] Ok. You know what? You know, you’ve snuck up on this thing. You’ve made some smart decisions here. I’m gonna just let you do damage as established.
Dre: Ok.
Austin: That will kick things off in a more real way.
Dre: So, yeah. I do damage. I just have regular damage. I don’t have any extra damage stuff. But I do have- my gun is forceful.
Austin: Which does like knock-back and stuff like that. Yeah.
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah.
Dre: Ok, so I’ll just roll my damage.
Austin: Sounds good.
Dre: Uh, can I click in where-? Ok
Austin: Yeah, up top. There’s the damage. Just the word damage.
Dre: Oh good.
Austin: Oh my god. What’d you roll?
Dre: It’s fine. Uh, a 1.
Austin: You did. You did roll a one.
Dre: I tickle that-
Austin: We’re sure you don’t get a plus on anything with your gun?
Dre: Nope.
Austin: It’s just far range, forceful, two-handed?
Dre: Uh hm.
Austin: Far range. Uh, which is- that’s useful, certainly. Um… yeah. Ok. Great. I was double-checkin’.
Dre: I- I tickle this boar.
Austin: You don’t-
Keith: Next time, instead of doing damage, we should do damage. [Austin and Dre laugh]
Austin: Yeah, I think this is-
Dre: That was it. It’s cause I rolled damage. Not damages.
Austin: So, I think the thing that actually happens here is like, as you fire it, it like um- You- you go for the headshot because yeah, duh. You’re a gamer. Um, and it bounces off of and as it’s like turning, it like- you hit it off angle, off of the boar’s tusks which almost take like a metallic glowing sheen on them when you- when your blast fires out and hits them. It’s like the- the- there’s almost like a um- What do you call it when wood- uh, it’s like a petrified wood. Almost like a hard as a rock element to the- to the tusks of these boars. You just gotta make sure you don’t hit those tusks with your weapon because it’s just not gonna do any damage. Um, so- so yeah. Useful. We’ll see if that comes in handy here. Uh, Hadrian, you hear a gunshot go off behind you. And turn and see-
Art: Yeah, that’s probably nothing.
Austin: -Throndir there behind a- a curtain of- of clearly dangerous vines, and then there’s these 2 boars. One of them is now gonna run at you and charge at you. Uh, Fero, this is an opportunity for you to- if you want to dive bomb, now is a good time. But if not- if you want to save it- that’s also fine. It’s just you said you were looking for the person in charge, right?
Keith: Yeah, I’m looking for the person in charge.
Austin: Alright, so then, let’s- let’s- let this other boar do its thing and see what- what happens with Hadrian. Hadrian, this boar is charging you.
Art: Alright, I draw- I draw my sword. My uh- this is the first time I think I’ve used this sword.
Austin: I think so, too.
Art: I think I try to like-
Austin: This is a new sword, right?
Art: What’s that? Yeah, this is the-
Austin: Can- can you describe this sword?
Art: Can I? What does this sword look like?
Austin: I don’t know. It was- it was like- it’s the base of the golden sword you had forever ago, right?
Art: Yeah, we’ve-
Austin: That has now reforged again. [light laugh]
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Now with starstuff as the blade?
Art: Sure, so it’s probably all like, star-like. Um-
Austin: Great.
Keith: Sounds really dangerous.
Austin: It’s really dangerous.
Art: Probably fine. Um, I don’t know- What? We’ve established the starstuff being like, like shiny?
Austin: Yeah, it’s like, it has- It’s bright, but it doesn’t illuminate. It’s like hard to look at, but it doesn’t provide light in darkness. It is light and you can see it in the dark, but it wouldn’t like, make your face light up.
Art: It doesn’t radiate light.
Austin: It doesn’t radiate light, exactly.
Art: And yeah, I think it’s more of like a, like a brace- Like I’m trying to like, use this thing’s speed against it-
Austin: Ok. So, is this a-?
Art: -as it charges.
Austin: Are you trying to get out of the way or are you trying to fight it back at this point?
Art: I’m fight- This is a- This is- This is intended as a Hack and Slash-
Austin: Alright, well then, give me that-
Art: but like, a clo- a thinkin’ man’s Hack and Slash.
Austin: Gotcha. Gotcha. Then give me 2d6 plus strength. And your strength, of course, is 2. Plus 2? Yep, boom. There you go. That’s an 8. So, when you- you deal your damage to the enemy and the enemy also makes an attack against you, doing its damage. Uh- [typing] The nice thing about your sword is it just like, straight up ignores armor because of being made by starstuff.
Art: Aw, that’s cool.
Austin: Yeah. Go ahead and roll your- your damage. We’ll see how this all shakes out. God damn!
Art: Did I roll good?
Keith: Wow.
Art: Wow.
Austin: You rolled a 9. Jesus. I rolled a 7. [laughs] And it ignores 3 armor, so uh- I don’t know what your-
Art: I don’t think I have 3 armor.
Austin: You don’t. You have 2 armor. So, it does all 7. And you do all 9. This is messy. This is the messiest fight we’ve had in a while. Um, so you do-
Art: Yeah, 16 points of damage in one- That’s not right. Uh, 24 minus 7 is- Oh yeah, 17.
Austin: No you got it. You got it. You got it. Uh, so you did 9 to it. Phew.
Art: I think I hit- I got to like, 16 total points of damage and was like, ‘Oh, I had to- I have to subtract 16’, and that’s not right.
Austin: So uh- it gores you. Like it smashes into your legs, I think, and catches you with its- with its- uh like, into the thighs. Into like, high up on the thigh. Not so low that you’re unstable yet, but like, it hits you hard. But then when it’s- when it’s in you, you’re like- you can hit it with your star sword. And then it disconnects and like, moves back around to do another pass. That heavy-ass hit for- of 9 damage did not kill this thing. Uh, Fero? Up in the sky.
Keith: That’s me.
Austin: At this point, by the way, Ephrim, you’ve heard a gunshot in the distance.
Sylvia: Yeah. I’m- I heard a gunshot from the direction that this flower is pointing at.
Austin: Yep. Yep.
Sylvia: Um, I think I might start heading that way and leave Marigold and Highwater here.
Austin: Um- Benjamin is like,
Austin (as Benjamin): Is my dad ok?
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Your dad’s- [sighs] Your dad’s really strong. And Fero and Throndir are out with him. I’m just gonna go check to make sure. We’ll be back soon, ok?
Austin (as Benjamin): Let me come with you.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): [pause] I promised him I wouldn’t do that.
Austin (as Benjamin): I can help.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Benjamin. [sighs]
Austin: Rosana’s like,
Austin (as Rosana): Benjamin.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): You need to listen to your parents.
Austin (as Benjamin): I don’t need to listen to- I’m a- I’m an adult. I can do what I- [sighs] Come on.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): [sighs]
Austin (as Benjamin): You know I’m ca- [sighs] I’m not gonna get any better at anything just sitting around at a campfire with some retainers. No offense, Retainers.
Austin: And they’re like,
Austin (as unspecified retainer): Oh yeah. No offense. [Art laughs]
Sylvia: Um… hold on. I want to just see if I have anything in my inventory I can give him to help him protect himself.
Austin: Hmm.
Sylvia: Um… Damn. Ok. No. I thought I bought a shield, but I didn’t. [Austin laughs] Should have done that. Um, I think I meant to do that like a season ago. [laughs]
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvia: Alright, um-
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Two rules if you come with me. You [exhales] always stay behind me, and when we find the others, you don’t leave our sight. Cause it is so- you’re dad got lost in here, and I- Ok. Between you and me, I know you’re not- you’re kind of smarter than him. [Austin and Dre laugh] But it’s still very dangerous.
Art: Hey, I’m 9 smart. [Austin laughs]
Sylvia: Sure are, buddy. [Dre laughs]
Austin: God. Great.
Art: On an inexplicable scale of 1 to 18, I’m a 9. [laughs]
Austin: Perfect. Um-
[Jack de Quidt’s “Something” begins playing in the background]
Sylvia (as Ephrim): At the first sign of trouble, we’re coming back. Like, not the first sign of- If things get hairy, we’re coming back here, ok?
Austin: He’s like,
Austin (as Benjamin): Fine.
Sylvia (as Ephrim): Look. I know both your mom and your dad, and I don’t want them killing me if something bad happens to you.
Austin: Rosana’s like,
Austin (as Rosana): You be careful. And listen to whatever Ephrim says. And then your dad if you find him.
[Music plays out to end]
[1] The name in the audio recording is no longer in use, hence the audio/transcript discrepancy.
[2] Referring to Keith’s character Gig Kephart from Twilight Mirage.
[3] Misspoken as “his”.