Cloudfall | 47 - Mock, Stalk & Peril
Last time on Cloudfall. Journey needed to rest. She had just died after all and her mind was overwhelmed. But while she slept, Tibio let everyone know that she wasn't quite out of the woods with her condition and she may never be. When she awoke, Poppy was ready with some fresh baked magic and they began to gear up for their crash course in curse breaking.
Tim / GM:Tibio led them all to the center of the rotunda where a glowing portal torn in the weave was leaking a terrible blight into the land here. When the ritual began, they were immediately assaulted by the ghosts of their past that came racing through the portal. Diver's unsettled spirit came for Eren, a small battalion of slain knights came for Guy, and Dorne was haunted by the restless spirit of his childhood friend. In the end, they closed the portal, which means that the Feywild can finally begin to heal. But now that they've given it everything they've got, will they have enough left to make it to the tower?
Tim / GM:You're all standing in the center of the rotunda at the base of the Withered Palace, this tower that you've been approaching for days now. Here in the center, you're surrounded by a sort of curtain of woody thick vines that reach all the way up to the ceiling to this massive hole that leads to the next level up. It seems to be your only means of ascent. Looking around the room, you can see mixed responses to that. You can still see doubt and trepidation in Huber's eyes as he looks at the climb to come.
John / Doran:Doran looks around and is going to use enhance ability Mhmm. On the following people. It'll be Bull's strength which gives advantage on strength checks and carrying capacity is doubles. So I'll do this for Guy, Huber, and Poppy.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah.
Maggie / Poppy:I can carry like two backpacks.
Tara / Journey:I mean, you gave it to Guy and Journey, we could each carry a turtle.
John / Doran:Okay. I'll use enhance ability casting at fourth level to Guy, Journey.
Hannah / Eryn:Wait. I think I might be able to help with climbing. And if you help me, I don't know, I could try to carry some things. Yeah. It's not I don't know about people.
Tim / GM:Doran keeps getting like nine tenths of the way through the spell and somebody's like grabbing his hand like, wait.
Thomas / Guy:Well, actually I'm already pretty strong.
John / Doran:No. And that's Aaron pop oh, sorry. Jesus. Aaron, Guy, and Journey each get this effect. So this will last for one hour and I will be concentrating on that.
John / Doran:K. Hopefully, this helps with the climb a bit.
Tara / Journey:So Erin can be back up to carry Poppy in case Yeah. Poppy has trouble climbing.
Hannah / Eryn:I just thought it'd be useful with my ability to climb. I could carry other things up if I needed to. I'm not very strong normally. So
Maggie / Poppy:Are we climbing the vines the entire way up?
Tim / GM:Doran, you know that at least that much is not true. Once you're on that second level, there are some other halls and pathways and staircases you can take to get higher. So just this part is gonna be an actual climb.
John / Doran:We just need to get up this part and it'll be different.
Maggie / Poppy:And then maybe maybe I'll be helpful next next level.
Thomas / Guy:Probably. You all hear, and
Tim / GM:Huber is like six inches off the ground. And he's like,
Tara / Journey:God, do you want to carry Huber or Mackie?
Thomas / Guy:I'll give the old man a lift.
Tim / GM:Okay. Oh, that's much better.
Tara / Journey:Mackie, come over here.
Tim / GM:Mackie climbs you in this familiar position. He just, puts his hands, like, on your face, like, as he's getting situated and, like, covers your mouth and eyes and
Tara / Journey:Mackie. Right. Yeah. I got fall onto my shoulders.
Tim / GM:Well, sorry. I'm still sticky a little bit. At
Thomas / Guy:least he won't fall off.
Tim / GM:Alright. The rest of you, what are you doing to climb?
Hannah / Eryn:I'm gonna spider hat. Yep. I'm gonna go ahead and try to get everyone going on the vines to climb up. Yeah. And then I'm gonna fall behind because I can, like, quickly navigate if someone's slipping.
Hannah / Eryn:I can
Tim / GM:try to help them. Yeah. Poppy?
Maggie / Poppy:I'll get on Guy's shoulders. K.
Tara / Journey:Oh, he's carrying. He's carrying.
Maggie / Poppy:He's He's never mind. I
Thomas / Guy:mean, it's not that much extra.
Tim / GM:Yeah. What's an extra 30 pounds or whatever?
Tara / Journey:You could wear your shoes.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. I'll just, like, hang
Maggie / Poppy:on to Guy's belt loop.
Tim / GM:Perfect. Wait. This Doran. How
John / Doran:high up is it?
Tim / GM:About a 100 feet, just over.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, at least you can glide when you fall.
John / Doran:A 100 feet, you said?
Tim / GM:Yep. 10 d 10.
John / Doran:Okay. I don't wanna burn everything I got. Wait. I'll try to
Maggie / Poppy:Do you have
Hannah / Eryn:a rope? Yeah. Here. Just tie it to my belt loop and then we'll climb together.
John / Doran:Thanks. Okay. So yeah. I'll try
Tim / GM:to use the rope from Aaron's like setting the line basically. Okay. Aaron, Guy, and Journey give me athletics with advantage. Bobby, nothing. And Doran, we'll just need to make a regular athletics check.
Maggie / Poppy:Is pinch leg deflated now?
Tim / GM:I don't know that his weight ever changes anyway, but, yeah, he's, like, back down to normal size. Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:He's with me. 14.
Tara / Journey:K. Thirty twenty.
Thomas / Guy:17. K.
John / Doran:Is my check different since I'm climbing the rope rather than the vines? Or
Tim / GM:It's about the same effective difficulty, really. Yours would be a little bit easier. Your DC would change a little bit. Okay. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Seven. Yeah. So, Doran, of course, you're about forty five feet up or so, just reaching for the next handhold. You grab onto something, put your weight on it, and it just pulls away from the wall, and you plummet. Okay.
Tim / GM:And you're make an athletics check.
Hannah / Eryn:That's the rope pulling Erin down.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, you were tethered together. Yeah. Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Natural 20. Oh. Spider hat. Spider woman. It's like the
Maggie / Poppy:the chain all over again.
Tim / GM:Aaron, you're behind Doran. You're below him watching him crawl, and you see him reach for this vine, and he's not looking at what he's reaching for. And then he just kind of like empty hand grabs for something and just pulls leaves away from the wall, and you see him fall backwards. And you just kind of like shimmy a little bit to get in position, hold your hand out, and as he falls, you just catch him by the collar. And smash him into the vines.
Hannah / Eryn:Man, you're heavier than you look. And Aaron hoists him back to the wall climbing up the vines.
John / Doran:I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. Thank you.
Hannah / Eryn:It's gonna be okay. Just breathe. Breathe. Yep. Focus.
Hannah / Eryn:Also, don't grab the ones that are dying. Grab the green ones.
John / Doran:Okay. Okay.
Tim / GM:Give me another climbing check. Six. Jesus Christ.
Hannah / Eryn:Dorian goes He grabs
Tim / GM:a snake. Grabs a snake and just whoosh. Grabs a green snake and plummets. I need another athletics out of Aaron.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, god. If I roll another nat 20, that'd
Tim / GM:be great.
Hannah / Eryn:I do one attack. Eight. Okay.
Tim / GM:Alright. This time, he's too close to you when he falls, and so he gets to the full length of that rope tethering the two of you together. When he hits the end of that, the weight is too much. It breaks what you're hanging onto, and the two of you are falling together.
Hannah / Eryn:It's like Tarzan.
John / Doran:In a moment of panic, Doran casts a dimension door Okay. Where we're falling from. So and then I'm going to just have us like appear up above portal. And then he'll fall. Yeah.
John / Doran:Yeah. Straight up portal thing.
Tim / GM:So Doran. Yeah. Cast dimension door and you disappear as you see the exit portal up there. You look down and see a rope tethered from your waist to Eren through the dimension door going down. Eren's weight starts to tug on you.
Tim / GM:You're getting forced back in through your dimension door. What do you do?
Maggie / Poppy:How close is he to us now with the dimension door? Me and Guy.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You and Guy are almost to the top of this thing, but not quite. Okay. So, Doran, you teleported yourself to the top of this thing. You fell into the dimension door first.
Tim / GM:You're now standing comfortably at the top of your climbing goal, looking down at everyone still climbing. Because you're still tethered to Aaron, that rope is reaching through the dimension door upwards towards Aaron who is still falling.
John / Doran:Okay. I'm I mean, I'm gonna try to pull Aaron through.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. I need a athletics check strength.
Thomas / Guy:Killing those.
John / Doran:Matchal twenties. Yes.
Tim / GM:God.
Hannah / Eryn:The power of love.
Tim / GM:Alright. Yeah. Cast dimension door. You are at the top of this rotunda. You quickly look down and you see Erin still falling.
Tim / GM:You know that there is an impact tug about to come. You start sprinting away. And when you feel it, it yanks you back. You can all hear this slide, this scraping as Doran is yanked backwards across the gravel up there. He just kinda digs his heels in and starts walking forward.
Tim / GM:And Guy, as you crest the top of that rotunda and you see Doran pulling, you see a bicep. Flexing.
Maggie / Poppy:I've never seen that before.
Tim / GM:You see Doran in a display of physical strength you've never seen before. He is determined. He is sweating and taking one step at a time. He is pulling Eren through this dimension door. You see her kind of squirm and grab at stuff, and then once she reaches it, she's totally dextrous and okay.
Thomas / Guy:First, he's got the glowy eyes. Now he's got strong guy stuff.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh my god. Doran, thank you.
John / Doran:Yeah. I'll I'll practice.
Hannah / Eryn:Also, fuck you and Eren pushes him. I told you not to grab.
Tim / GM:Dexterity check to fall off.
Hannah / Eryn:I wouldn't push him off the cliff. I'm pushing him into the rocks.
John / Doran:It's okay. I think I am okay. Dexterity, 18. Okay. Yeah.
Tim / GM:You're fine. You stumble back a little bit and, like, yank on your belt and it tugs Aaron in towards you.
John / Doran:What were you saying? Sorry.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm just glad
Tim / GM:we're
Hannah / Eryn:okay. And then Aaron gives him a hug.
John / Doran:I'll practice climbing when we aren't always in immediate danger.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, we're gonna be doing a lot of climbing, I think, up this tower, so.
Tim / GM:The rest of everyone crawls over the edge.
Maggie / Poppy:Nope. I lightly let go and, like, do the
Tim / GM:little ping.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Tiptoe down. A Mary Poppins. Yeah.
Tim / GM:There's a little,
John / Doran:like, ping.
Maggie / Poppy:Wow. That was easy.
Thomas / Guy:A perfect climb, Goober, Poppy.
Tim / GM:He was like wiggling his arms like a little child and he's like, I got it. Now I got it. And he just does the final step himself and he says, ah, quite the climb. Yes.
John / Doran:We didn't even need the fingers. Like Tibio said, it was really dangerous but we did it so great.
Maggie / Poppy:Were you being reckless?
John / Doran:I was definitely not trying to be Poppy. This was
Hannah / Eryn:More like just clueless, I think. Because I
Maggie / Poppy:was gonna say it's only been five minutes you made since you made that promise.
Tim / GM:The area up here is quite different from what you experienced below. Massive slot windows all around the outside walls let in dim light from outside. There's a gaping hole in the center of the floor here the size of a house where water once flowed down into the rotunda center below, and a great reaching tree that seems to hang upside down from the center of the high ceilings here. You can see massive trees and vegetation cluttering this whole indoor courtyard withered and blackened with intense corruption from below. But once up here, you quite quickly realize that you are not alone as some distant noise settles.
Maggie / Poppy:Can I taste the air?
Tim / GM:Sure. Yeah. You taste extreme cinnamon spice up front.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, spicy.
Tim / GM:And then you taste something that seems sweet.
Maggie / Poppy:I don't know, guys.
Tim / GM:Seems sweet and then turns bitter foul.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, no. I I don't know, guys. I think there's danger up here.
Tara / Journey:No surprise. Yes.
Tim / GM:A few 100 feet away, you see a confusing brightness. A single slice of intense pink light laid across the ground as if a different sun were shining through a single window. And inside that slice of pink light is where you see movement. It's kind of like looking at sunlight coming through a window as it plays out against the floor. It's pink and brilliant.
Maggie / Poppy:We're still in dusk. Right?
Tara / Journey:I think so. We were kinda in the center of this kingdom. I'm surprised to see any other lad here.
Thomas / Guy:Someone should take a closer look.
John / Doran:I'll go. I'll walk towards it.
Tara / Journey:Seems right.
Maggie / Poppy:You're gonna listen to it? What?
John / Doran:I'm I didn't have to taste it to know what it is.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, I'm so sorry.
Tim / GM:After a couple seconds, Aaron, you get pulled along too.
John / Doran:We should probably untie these.
Hannah / Eryn:The rope is 60 feet. It's gonna
Maggie / Poppy:be a little bit.
Tim / GM:Yeah. If you really wanna get me there.
Hannah / Eryn:Now Aaron unties the rope after the tug. So sorry. Here's your rope back. Thanks.
Tim / GM:When you get closer, Doran, the scene only gets stranger. Within that strip of pink light, 10 feet wide by 50 feet long or so, you see crowds of people, Elegren and fawns, dressed in lavish clothing and laughing and chatting with each other. They all pass through that light with no awareness of the world around them and they disappear when they reach the other side of it.
John / Doran:Some sort of vision of the past. I'm gonna walk towards the light too. Mhmm. Can I roll no? I'm just gonna walk closer to it.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. Even kind of with your toes up to the line of this light, they don't seem to recognize you. They don't see you. They're all talking and chatting and pointing at things off in the distance, going about their days.
John / Doran:I think I'm gonna take a step in. Okay. Yeah.
Tim / GM:When you do, you see beauty all around you. For the first time ever, you see the autumn court as it once was, and this place is bathed in orange and crimson light of dusk coming in from the distant fields. You can see trees in a permanent state of beautiful golden autumn here in this courtyard. It's packed with people and life and food and celebrations and kindness. These were normal folk like anyone else before the calamity.
Tim / GM:And one of them stops and turns, and it sees you. It's looking right at you. Somebody bumps into them and suddenly gets startled. They say something in another language and look down and then up where you are. A small crowd begins to gather in and circle around you.
Tara / Journey:I'm gonna run up and yank Doran
Tim / GM:out I of
John / Doran:was gonna say I'm gonna try to step in.
Tim / GM:Step in? Yeah. Like, further into the scene? Yeah. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Stupid grapple.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I'm gonna try and
Tim / GM:pull. Scrapple from the grapple ball.
Maggie / Poppy:Gave bull strength to.
John / Doran:Nice. I'm oh, shit.
Tara / Journey:Sorry, Doran. 14.
John / Doran:Let me go. They can see me.
Tara / Journey:You should get out of there.
John / Doran:We need to know what's going on.
Tara / Journey:Not like this, and I yank.
Tim / GM:As you yank Doran, you feel yourself being pulled a little bit out of that light. Journey as you step into it, see what he sees. And Doran, when you're being pulled away, you see this Eladrin in front of you, his face melts away, and in his place, a shadowy fiend reaches out at you, trying to steal your magic.
Tara / Journey:I yank him out. I yanked both of us out.
Tim / GM:In the nick of time, you see all of these things lose their form, lose their shape, and lunge at you, Doran, like hungry fish in a pond, and Journey fishes you out.
Tara / Journey:What is wrong with you, Doran? Are you kidding me? After everything we just went through and you step into unknown magic and just go for it? You didn't even try to see if there was anything going on around here. You just went right in.
Tara / Journey:Are you kidding me?
John / Doran:I figured I'd be able to I thought there was a way to maybe send a message. It seemed like it it was the Autumn Court as it was.
Tara / Journey:This place is only trying to kill us.
John / Doran:Thanks for pulling me back, I guess. Yeah. Thank you.
Maggie / Poppy:Can we implement the buddy system again?
Hannah / Eryn:Erin starts tying the rope back
Tim / GM:to you. I'm just kidding.
Thomas / Guy:Another stunt like that, Doran, and you'll lose your finger privileges.
Hannah / Eryn:There's a fine line between stupidity and bravery, and I think you're in the latter. Is that right?
Maggie / Poppy:No. In the former. Shit.
Tim / GM:Oh, that's so nice
Maggie / Poppy:of you.
Hannah / Eryn:And I think you're in the former.
John / Doran:Okay. Yeah. I I will be more careful.
Maggie / Poppy:Everyone hold hands. Doran, give me your hand. Thank you.
Tim / GM:From here, can see it's obvious that you need to go up, but there's no hole in the ceiling this time. You can see structures all around the perimeter of this indoor garden, more pathways and offices and villas built into the walls of the tower itself. That might be the way.
Thomas / Guy:Would it have killed them to put stairs in this place?
John / Doran:It's like they didn't want people to come through. Right?
Hannah / Eryn:Start looking around.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Who's good at this? We always do this. You're good? Not me. Poppy?
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah.
Tara / Journey:John should investigate. Sorry. Doran should investigate.
Maggie / Poppy:No. John should investigate.
Hannah / Eryn:Forget about Doran. Everyone's mad at Doran this time.
Maggie / Poppy:What are you looking at?
Tara / Journey:Nothing. Something horrible is happening on that side of the table. Tim is looking at each of us and then rolling, and I don't like it.
John / Doran:I'm gonna make an investigate too.
Maggie / Poppy:Investigate or perception?
Tim / GM:They would yield different things. Investigate usually needs a target or a clue to move off of.
Maggie / Poppy:So I'm just looking for openings?
Thomas / Guy:Anything to get us up.
Maggie / Poppy:Dirty 20. Yeah. It would have been a 19 if it was investigations.
John / Doran:Okay. I'm doing the same just for the heck of it. That was good. Cool.
Tim / GM:Alright. Doran and Poppy holding hands are walking through this garden path kind of looking up and around. And Poppy, with your previous experience, you begin to notice familiar creature. Another one of those tree frogs. You see this giant lump up in the branches with this pink fluorescent tongue hanging down.
Tim / GM:They're slow and practically immobile.
Maggie / Poppy:Does it look like
Maggie / Poppy:above the trees is a way up?
Tim / GM:Not really. I mean, because looking on the ceiling here, there's no giant hole like the previous rotunda.
Maggie / Poppy:Everyone, stay away from the pink vines, lest ye be poisoned.
Tim / GM:Oh.
Maggie / Poppy:Or eaten by a giant frog. Giant frog. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Doran, you remember being here, starting to come back to you. There are more floors like this one. This time Maeve isn't by your side to show you the way, and it's even larger than you remember it being. You don't have the slightest clue of which way to go.
Hannah / Eryn:Mhmm. So you said there were, like, windows letting in light around
Tim / GM:the area? Like, slotted windows that, like, you can see outside a little bit. But, like, inexplicably, there's one patch of pink light on the floor that's, like, showing visions of the past.
Hannah / Eryn:Is there so that light is coming in through a window?
Tim / GM:Yeah. It looks like it would, but looking through that window, you see the same outside as anywhere else.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Could I fit through one of the windows?
Tim / GM:Yeah. If you want to.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Aaron's gonna pop their head out one of these slots in the windows to look at the outside of the tower.
Tim / GM:Yeah. The window here is big enough for your whole body to, like, move through normally that you could just start crawling on the outside of the tower here if you wanted to.
Hannah / Eryn:If I reach out far enough, I'm gonna I'm gonna climb. I forget I can just stand on
Tim / GM:the walls.
Hannah / Eryn:Yep. I'm gonna go ahead and stand on the outside of the tower Mhmm. Just like horizontal Yeah. Against the with my feet on the tower. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:And I'm gonna just try to look around and see. Is there can I see any other windows or openings or cracks in the tower up Mhmm? Above?
Tim / GM:Yeah. You do see, like, in a higher level, there's some kind of at the angle you're at, it's hard to tell what it really is, but there's some shape to it. It looks like there's almost some kind of outdoor pavilion on a higher level.
Hannah / Eryn:Is it can I tell how far?
Tim / GM:It's a good ways away. It could be, like, three or 400 feet away from you.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, damn. Okay. With that debacle earlier.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, I can get there, not the rest of you guys is the problem.
Tim / GM:On top of that, you hear this strange noise like a flag waving in the wind, and you hear a distant
Tara / Journey:Is it cream?
Tim / GM:Turning up to look, you see a small flock of something that looks like a stork with extra legs. Oh. Its neck is twice as long as it should be, and when these things round the corner, they start to dive at you like needles.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh god. And Aaron pops back into the window.
Tim / GM:With their full wingspan, these things are huge like pterodactyl when they get close. They fold in their wings to try to attempt to get through that window slot the same as you did, but one of them just goes and launches itself, gets stuck in the window, and is just wildly flailing side to side, shedding these corrupted feathers everywhere.
Maggie / Poppy:So me as lucky.
Hannah / Eryn:Just stay away from the birdies in the window, everybody. And Erin just backs up slowly.
Thomas / Guy:Killer frogs, killer birds.
Hannah / Eryn:I saw a pavilion up the way. It looks pretty far. Otherwise, there's not a good way for me to get up at least just to the next level. I was gonna try to help you guys if I could get up there.
Tim / GM:But I
Tara / Journey:can try and see if maybe there's a way through here that's been used before. Oh, yeah. I would like to try and do a survival check to see what kind of movement has been through this place.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Tara / Journey:If we can find, like, a path that has been used previously. If, like if if this tower is basically untouched except for Doran moving through it however long ago Mhmm. There may be signs or signals that indicate which way is the right way.
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Tara / Journey:Because Doran and Lanati were humanoid Mhmm. Can I get advantage of this because they're my favorite enemy type?
Tim / GM:If that's what you're tracking, yeah.
Tara / Journey:They're either fey or humanoid, and it still is my favorite enemy, so I'm trying to track movement through here as in people who left.
Tim / GM:Got it. Yep.
Hannah / Eryn:24.
Tim / GM:Oh, yeah. Very nice. There has definitely been humanoid movement through here. Quite a bit of it, and quite recently, and lots of different kinds.
Tara / Journey:It seems like there's been a lot of folk moving through this space. Do I get an indication of any particular direction they tend to be going in?
Tim / GM:It seems they travel like familiar paths here, and they're kind of circuitous. It doesn't look like anybody was directly trying to get anywhere. Seems like these are paths that are traveled every day.
Tara / Journey:I I don't understand. Thought this place was abandoned.
Thomas / Guy:Guess whom else would be using this tower? Lanati perhaps?
Maggie / Poppy:Maybe the blight.
Tim / GM:You all hear a great commotion as the bird struggling in that window eventually forces itself through. Oh. And is now in this room with you.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, no.
Tim / GM:You see a small burst of black feathers and it's kind of waddling on these four strange legs, like scrambling towards you, almost like half falling every time it tries to walk. When it gets up to your group, it just kind of crashes into you with its beak open. Its beak is practically as long as any of you, and it's just snapping at your whole group trying to swallow one of you.
Maggie / Poppy:Remembering past experiences with giant birds
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm going to prestidigitation to make the pink area more shiny and like delectable.
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, where the frog is?
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, yeah. Okay. I'll I'll do like a light up by the frog.
John / Doran:Okay. I will do some prestidigitation building off of what Poppy's doing, make make some sparkly effects and things like that.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. Yeah. I'll I'll waft like meat smells.
Hannah / Eryn:Bugs Sure. Bug smells. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Alright. Yeah. You all create this illusionary effect of different senses to try to confuse the thing as best as possible. And that frog tongue starts to glow and sparkle and wiggle like a healthy little worm. Eventually, you do see this bird perk up and starts to scramble waddle towards that tree.
Tim / GM:It'll buy you some time. These things are stupid as they come. Journey, come with me.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, no.
Maggie / Poppy:I was gonna say, can we pass that trace? But now Journey is disappearing.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, no. Journey. Oh, no.
Tim / GM:The bird is now somewhat patiently sitting under that tree waiting for its opportunity. It seems kind of nestled and content to wait for that frog to fall until it gets tired or something.
Hannah / Eryn:Should I try to kill a bird or what?
Maggie / Poppy:I think we should just run away from the bird. Hide from the bird.
Maggie / Poppy:There are, like, little office spaces you said. Right?
Tim / GM:Along the outside of the walls here, built into the walls themselves are where the actual, like, offices and villas and homes and apartments or whatever are all constructed into those walls.
Maggie / Poppy:One of these has to have a way up. Right?
Thomas / Guy:There must be.
Hannah / Eryn:A maintenance chute? What about,
Maggie / Poppy:like, how Baxie had tubes and pipes and stuff?
Hannah / Eryn:I don't know. Maybe the Fae doesn't need any of that stuff, but we could try to check out one of these homes, I guess.
Thomas / Guy:Yes. Let's leave these creatures alone.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Let's go into one.
Maggie / Poppy:Is anything, like, particularly magical feeling
Tim / GM:around you? No. In fact, the only sense of magic comes from far above you.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay.
Tim / GM:On that note, Guy, you're feeling something. Some great interference at a great distance. Like a radioactive core scratching at your internal Geiger counter.
Thomas / Guy:The faster we can find our way out of here, the better.
Tim / GM:What's your plan of action? Where are you headed?
Hannah / Eryn:I wanna go in one of these houses. Are they I'm kind of imagining them like townhomes or brownstones Yeah.
Maggie / Poppy:Sort of
Hannah / Eryn:built into the walls.
Tim / GM:Exactly that.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. So I wanna go into one and try to
Thomas / Guy:Buddy system. Let's all investigate one of these homes.
Hannah / Eryn:What well, together we can just go in this one.
Thomas / Guy:Sounds great.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. So full party buddy system.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Okay. Alright. You all walk into this home, and it's relatively well kept. Aside from most of the, like, valuable useful things being taken out of this place, nobody has gone out of their way to destroy it or damage it.
Tim / GM:The calamity has glassed over a lot of the stonework. It has burned things in here, but it looks more or less intact. In this particular apartment though, there is no way up.
Maggie / Poppy:Do they have any maps?
Tim / GM:Or No. They don't have a map of their house.
Maggie / Poppy:No. Of the city they live in.
Hannah / Eryn:Is there money or jewels?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Give me a investigation.
Maggie / Poppy:I don't think we should take anything from here.
Tim / GM:It's bad.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh my god. Six.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You're opening drawers. You're you even find, like, an old wallet, and you're like, what the hell? You open
John / Doran:it up
Tim / GM:and a butterfly flies out. Oh. A moth. A moth. That's right.
Tim / GM:Not a butterfly. I like the idea of a butterfly. It's a
Hannah / Eryn:butterfly because we're Twist
Tim / GM:it. Yeah. A glowing butterfly.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, there's not much in here.
Tara / Journey:This place was abandoned.
Maggie / Poppy:It just it doesn't seem doesn't seem reasonable that there wouldn't be a staircase or something.
Thomas / Guy:Who who used to live here?
Hannah / Eryn:It was the lords of the Autumn Court.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. The whole Fae Court, I think, lived here.
Hannah / Eryn:Basically, anyone who was royalty or ties to royalty.
Thomas / Guy:Perhaps the rulers didn't want people from down below visiting them up above.
Maggie / Poppy:I demand an audience with the king.
Tim / GM:You hear some rustling movement outside.
Maggie / Poppy:Is it the birds?
Tim / GM:Could be. Sounded like footsteps though.
Maggie / Poppy:Is that a bad idea?
Hannah / Eryn:Is there a window we can look out? Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:Guy's gonna take a look, a peaky look.
Tim / GM:I don't see anything in the darkness out there. Give me perception check.
Hannah / Eryn:Guy's gonna smell Why
Tim / GM:did I do that? Three. I'll see Guy take a step outside. Come with me, Guy.
Maggie / Poppy:No. Are they getting cursed? Why'd I
Thomas / Guy:do it?
John / Doran:What do you see other guy? I heard footsteps.
Thomas / Guy:I heard it too, but just this silly bird.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm gonna peek out the window.
Tim / GM:Give me a perception check.
Maggie / Poppy:That's a natural one.
Tim / GM:Wow.
Maggie / Poppy:I can't even reach the window.
Tim / GM:Poppy, you look out and you see the bird and you go, I
John / Doran:have a high passive insight on Guy. He said it's just the bird. I don't know if there's anything there.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Let's have Guy do a deception with advantage.
Thomas / Guy:I'm great at that. 14. Okay.
John / Doran:Passive is 18 for insight.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Doran, something is up. He seemed dismissive. Could be that guy is scared or literally can't see what is out there.
John / Doran:K. Poppy, you didn't see anything?
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, I saw a bird.
Tara / Journey:Just a silly bird. K.
John / Doran:Could've sworn it was footsteps.
Maggie / Poppy:Just a silly bird. They both said that.
Thomas / Guy:Birdsilling. Poppy,
Tim / GM:things keep getting worse. You've been putting on a brave face for a long time, but what you've been through is too much for anyone, let alone a halfling baker from a city. You're starting to feel the weight of the tower above you and the physical challenge that lies ahead here, and something is already going wrong.
Maggie / Poppy:Guys, I think we should just stay in the Feywild. Oh? It's just too hard. We can't find the way up, and I'm tired. I wasn't meant for this.
John / Doran:I, for one, greatly dislike this whole climbing aspect of getting out of here, but I feel like we've overcome bigger obstacles than this.
Tim / GM:It's true, Poppy. You're you're a much better climber than I am.
Maggie / Poppy:No. I just ride on coattails, literally.
Thomas / Guy:Well, I suppose we could stand a break.
Hannah / Eryn:Why don't we head back out and maybe we can take care of this bird and try to investigate the tree thing in the center, maybe? I don't know. I don't think these houses are gonna lead anywhere.
Maggie / Poppy:There's been a tree in the center this whole time.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. He described it when we came in.
Tim / GM:Oh, there was a tree hanging from the ceiling in the center of this place. Yeah.
Maggie / Poppy:Upside down. Mhmm.
Hannah / Eryn:So Aaron walks out. Yep. And then I'm gonna try to shoot that bird with a crossbow bolt.
Tim / GM:Yeah. K.
Hannah / Eryn:Can I hide to get advantage?
Tim / GM:I think you're already hitting. It's not looking at you. It's not focusing on you. Yeah. We'll take advantage on this anyway.
Hannah / Eryn:26 to hit.
Tim / GM:That hits. Alright.
Hannah / Eryn:22 damage.
Tim / GM:Very good. You sink an arrow into this bird and it looks back over towards you, and you see that it's gone through part of its neck. It tries to stand up again, it's kind of like lumping itself forward like it did before. It's clear these four legs were never meant to carry it. And as it's getting close to you, it's kind of dragging the streak of blood across the floor, and Singh will probably die pretty soon.
Tim / GM:Not right now, but it's not strong enough to really fight. It's just kind of dying in front of you slowly.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron starts to load another crossbowl. Yeah. Bolt to shoot it again.
Tara / Journey:K. Junie goes up and stomps on its neck. Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Woah. Watch out when you're walking in front of someone with a bolt.
Tara / Journey:She shrugs and says, just a silly bird.
Maggie / Poppy:What? I don't get it. Everything's weird. Doran, let's go home.
John / Doran:Yeah. We're working on it, Poppy. If I have to, I'll try to cheer us up. Definitely sensing a strange mood here.
Tim / GM:We just gotta keep going, guys. Let's do the next house, look for stairs, then we'll do the next house and there's only like 300 houses.
Tara / Journey:Journey gestures forward to the next house and says, buddy system.
Maggie / Poppy:I grab Doran's hand and I like slowly drag him over.
Hannah / Eryn:No. I don't wanna go in the houses. I'm going there. And Aaron points to the tree thing. And then Aaron's gonna take a running jump.
Hannah / Eryn:I don't know. Is it touching the ground?
Tim / GM:No. Not at all.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. How high up is it?
Tim / GM:The ceilings here aren't quite as high. So the tree's probably 40 feet up or so.
John / Doran:The so the tip of the the end of the tree is 40 feet away still.
Tim / GM:Probably 20, actually. Okay. Like the very tippy top.
Hannah / Eryn:I will just find a way to climb up and, yeah, walk up the walls and then get to the tree. Cool. Spider hat.
Tim / GM:Yeah. That tree among all of these is the singular seems uncorrupted tree. As you move about the branches on here, you find normal foliage, not yet tainted by that blackness that seems to hold everything else here.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin walks up to the trunk and says, good tree. Pass it.
Tim / GM:Erin, among the branches up there, you start to see some ropes, some cloth, some other objects. Looks like something comes here often. Maybe makes a home here where it's safe.
Hannah / Eryn:Does it look like Journey's perfect cabin back on the ship where a furball would sleep?
Tim / GM:Be close to it. Yeah. Looks ideal.
Hannah / Eryn:Hey, Journey. I think you're gonna like this. It looks like a furball nest.
Tara / Journey:Journey frowns and looks up and then says, this place was abandoned.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, maybe. Does it seem like it's been here a while? Or you said recently someone was here?
Tim / GM:Quite recently. Like within the last day or two.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:No. I think they were here recently. I I don't really know how to tell, but
Tara / Journey:Perfect furball nest.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Something's weird with Journey.
Tim / GM:Come with me, Erin. Uh-oh.
John / Doran:What the fuck is happening?
Thomas / Guy:Tim just told me he was proud of me.
Maggie / Poppy:And it sent you into a weird spiral. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Alright.
Maggie / Poppy:Do we have to go up there?
Tim / GM:Erin?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. I mean, you should come up. Perfect for Boulgast.
Thomas / Guy:And how do you propose we make it up there?
John / Doran:Okay. Buddy system for real. Let's all gather around something Erin, are you able to come down easily?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Let me try to find some rope. I don't know. Climbing's good. Right?
Hannah / Eryn:And then Eren's gonna try to just like tether ropes together and be tying ropes.
Tim / GM:Mhmm. Yeah. There's a bunch of rope scrap up there to use.
Maggie / Poppy:Lauren, I don't trust anything.
John / Doran:Yeah.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm casting fly at a fourth
Maggie / Poppy:level with me and Doran.
John / Doran:Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:And we're gonna go up to the tree. Okay.
Tim / GM:Are you good with that? Yes. As the two of you move into this tree, you see Aaron at the edge of the branches and you notice two things. One, Aaron is unconscious 10 feet away from Aaron. The second thing you notice is that this tree is a pariseline birch, and so is every other tree in this courtyard.
John / Doran:Okay. Good call, Poppy.
Maggie / Poppy:Should we grab Erin
Tim / GM:and and
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, hi Erin. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Don't you think Journey would like this? I
Maggie / Poppy:definitely do. You know what? Journey also likes a warm campfire.
Tim / GM:On the ground, you all hear Guy's voice coming from inside one of the houses and it says, Mikey, I found something for us. Come check this out.
John / Doran:Don't listen to him, Huber. Mikey.
Tim / GM:But Guy wait. He's out here.
John / Doran:Stay away from them. Wait. Is Guy in there?
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. Grab grab Aaron. We fly?
John / Doran:I'm gonna use bonus action healing word on the unconscious Aaron.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:And then once we take off, I'm gonna cast great bonfire on the tree.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Thomas / Guy:Still waiting on that buddy system.
Tim / GM:You all see a light inside of that tree. The birch begins to burn. Aaron, you weren't hurt at all, but the smell of the smoke and the cinders nipping at your heels do wake you up from your slumber. You rouse in this tree and you see fire everywhere.
Maggie / Poppy:Aaron, come with us. Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Can we still see the other changeling? Looks like me.
Tim / GM:Yeah. It's like sitting at the edge of the branches now like a scared animal. It's looking around at all the fire, and it's kind of like its form is like wiggling in and out because it's trying to do something more useful for climbing.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron's gonna shift quick to be the turtle. What was his name? Tully.
Tim / GM:Tully.
Hannah / Eryn:Mhmm. I'm gonna shift to Tully and say, you need to get out of here quick to the change lane.
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Hannah / Eryn:And then I'm gonna shift back into young Doran and I'm gonna say, come on, it's not safe. And then I'm gonna shift into Aaron, and I'm trying to convince that I'm one of them to trust us k. So we can, like, tie it up and try to
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Capture it.
Tim / GM:You see sudden recognition in that changeling's face and they look embarrassed. They they give you these eyes like, I'm so sorry.
Hannah / Eryn:Come here. Quick. Still young Doran.
Tim / GM:Yeah. It comes right towards you.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm gonna change did I already say I was gonna change back into Aaron?
Tim / GM:You hear him say, Ketkeisha.
Hannah / Eryn:Do I understand that?
Tim / GM:You don't. Okay. But it it seems to be speaking a language with you.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm gonna use the ropes that Aaron had Yep. That dropped at their feet Yep. When they were tying them up, and I'm gonna try to nod at it. Mhmm. And then I'm gonna pretend to, like, hug it, and then I'm gonna try to wrap it in ropes really quick so it is trapped.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. It's like trusting you with its arms at its side all up until the point you get a couple of wraps around it, it's just watching you nodding. And then all of a sudden, it just starts to, like, scowl at you, and
Hannah / Eryn:I'm gonna push it into the tree and then jump.
Tara / Journey:Can we hear the, like, the shrieking sound down Yep. Journey's gonna turn around and attack whoever's closest.
Thomas / Guy:Okay. They're all up in the tree. Right?
Tim / GM:That's true. So, yeah. Journey goes after Huber.
John / Doran:And we did tell Huber and Mikey to stay away from everyone, but
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. You look down and you see Journey chasing after Huber, and Huber's just like, Mikey, like, in toe, like, holding hands or just running around that central hole in the rotunda.
Tara / Journey:You hear Journey just saying, buddy system. Buddy system.
Tim / GM:Buddy system has backfired. Journey and Guy, please make constitution saving throws.
Thomas / Guy:Still have hell yeah. 18.
Tim / GM:Okay. Both of you, Rouse. Guy, you are in an alleyway just outside that house that you went to inspect. Somebody, a changeling, had come up behind you, slammed a puffball mushroom against your face, instantly putting you to sleep, dragging you into the alley. Journey, you awake under that tree.
Tim / GM:That frog is gone. Near where the bird was.
Tara / Journey:Silly bird.
Tim / GM:Everyone is back in it. You're all separated by several 100 feet.
Maggie / Poppy:Doran? Are you Doran?
John / Doran:I am pretty sure I am. Look it. I got a finger.
Tim / GM:Okay. Put that back.
John / Doran:We we need we gotta get back down there. Protect Huber and Mikey, I think.
Maggie / Poppy:Is it a bad idea to light the tree?
John / Doran:No. I mean, it's getting a lot of smoke in here, but I think it was a good call. We gotta deal with these change things.
Tim / GM:You all look into that central rotunda, and you see burning branches beginning to fall from that tree, and they're cascading down into the withered dry brush everywhere else. You also see a burning alive changeling bound in rope falling from the rotunda Oh. Through that central hole down another 100 feet. A few seconds later, you hear. I
Maggie / Poppy:I I I I panicked. I don't I don't really wanna kill them. I think they're just surviving, but I don't know. Is it a bad idea?
John / Doran:It was not. We need to kill them.
Thomas / Guy:Oh, what's going on? Why
Tim / GM:are there two of me? Changelings.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron's jumped out of the tree and is trying to just climb down. I don't know how you said it's like 40 feet, 60 feet? I don't remember.
Tim / GM:It's pretty easy for Aaron and Aaron to climb down on this tree and everything. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:And I'm I'm just underneath the tree?
Tim / GM:Yep. You're fine. Okay.
Thomas / Guy:But there are another Journey and another Guy, I think. Yes.
Tim / GM:The changeling Journey and Guy are still chasing Huber and Mikey Yep. In a giant circle around this thing. Okay. And then the real Guy and Journey just woke up in their respective spots where they were kidnapped. Yep.
Tim / GM:Yep. Got it.
Tara / Journey:Do I have my stuff?
Tim / GM:Yeah. I think the only thing they would have taken is your bow and quiver that I have to get back.
Tara / Journey:What happened? Do I see them running around?
Tim / GM:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Journey. Up in the tree, I think the changelings are living there. It looked like a camp. I just escaped.
Hannah / Eryn:I don't know. Doran and Poppy?
Maggie / Poppy:We're right here.
Tara / Journey:Alright. Well, let's let's put an end to this. And I am going to as they run past, are the changeling journey and guy close together?
Tim / GM:Yes. Very.
Tara / Journey:I'm gonna cast entangle Okay. On the spot where they're running. Yeah. And grasping weeds and vines sprout from the ground in a 20 foot square. They have to succeed a strength saving throw or be restrained.
Tim / GM:Nice. Not exactly strong, these things. We'll do the journey one first. Nat one.
Tara / Journey:Great.
Tim / GM:Nat one, the journey one is running and gets its ankle snagged, it and just kind of does like a forward like Superman. It falls on the floor, and in doing so, the quiver and the bow slide off of them.
Tara / Journey:18 passes.
Tim / GM:Okay. Rips the entangling vines from his legs as he continues to sprint.
Tara / Journey:Okay.
Thomas / Guy:Guy's gonna run after him and try to tackle him.
Tim / GM:Okay. Give me an athletics check against his athletics check.
Tara / Journey:Hell yeah.
Thomas / Guy:Athletics? Athletics? Yeah. 25.
Tim / GM:Grand total of nine over here. This thing is running, making the same kind of sounds that you do with your armor even though it used like bone and stuff to create its plate mail.
Hannah / Eryn:Ew.
Tim / GM:You're chasing right behind it and you were like double time catching up with this thing. It takes one look over its shoulder, and you hear it under its breath go, fuck.
Thomas / Guy:Well, I'm gonna go for the sword first. He has my sword. Right?
Tim / GM:He does.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. Wanna try to wrestle that away from him.
Tim / GM:Yeah. In in a sort of panic, as you catch up to him with such great ease, you go to like reach in towards him as if you're gonna like rip his heart out or something, and in a panic it just kind of like fumbles the sword and almost hands it to you.
Thomas / Guy:Okay. Well, speaking of ripping his heart out, I wanna know what happens if you try to remove a changeling Dullahan head from its body. Right?
Tim / GM:Yeah. They cannot do what you can do. Yeah. Yeah. This sort of like head split that it has is a very like superficial kind of look to look like a Dullahan, but it can't do what you can do.
Tim / GM:You all see Guy begin to tear at this thing. Oh. With his gauntlets, he grabs this. It's weak as any animal. It's really not special, not powerful, but under its jaw and on its collarbone, you see Guy flex outward with his gauntlets and you hear a sickly tearing like pumpkin guts falling onto the floor.
Tim / GM:Ew. And he just sets the halves down.
Thomas / Guy:No. I'm I'm tossing the head down to the bottom
Tim / GM:floor. Swish. Yeah. You see it go in his central rotunda a few seconds later.
Thomas / Guy:Nothing but net.
Maggie / Poppy:Uh-huh. I'm
Maggie / Poppy:gonna I'm gonna be flying around using control flames to try and extinguish. It's a cantrip, so like as many Yeah. Little cubes as I can as
Hannah / Eryn:I go.
Tim / GM:You you all see Poppy on the far side of this place, kind of closer to where you first came up. She's, like, suppressing these flames, and she gets, like, an entire thicket to, like, calm down. And Poppy, when you turn around, this place is illuminated. There's too much. This whole place is going up.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm so sorry. I thought the Perilene would help.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, I don't I don't think they like it.
Maggie / Poppy:I don't know. Everything's going up in flames.
Tara / Journey:I think we gotta get out of here. I run forward and I grab my bow and quiver, and then I briefly crouch in front of the changeling that I caught that looks like me. Mhmm. We don't wanna hurt you any more than we have to.
Tim / GM:It's still like breathing heavy looking at what just happened with Guy.
Tara / Journey:Don't follow us.
Tim / GM:You don't know if it understood you, but it's not going to follow you.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. Ask it how we get out.
Tara / Journey:How do we get out of here? We wanna go up.
Tim / GM:Point up. It squints at you.
Tara / Journey:I point up.
Tim / GM:It narrows its eyes and looks at the vine wrapped around its ankle and looks at you, looks at the encroaching flames, points at the flames. It wants to get free in exchange for information.
Maggie / Poppy:Do it.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I cut it out. Okay.
Tim / GM:You reach down and slice the vine. It scrambles free and looks at you, and with a big grin, licks its lips. Throws one finger toward a building, nods, and runs.
Tara / Journey:Alright. I think that's the best we can do. I think Journey's gonna shoot an arrow at it. As it's running?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Okay. Make it make it a deck with advantage.
Hannah / Eryn:You guys
Maggie / Poppy:are evil.
Hannah / Eryn:No. Am I close? Yeah. Can I shoot one also at the same time? We both draw at the same time.
Hannah / Eryn:I've always wanted to shoot at the same time,
Maggie / Poppy:at the same target.
Tara / Journey:That's a 21 hit. Yep. Hits.
Hannah / Eryn:16 to hit.
Tim / GM:Also hits. Alright.
Tara / Journey:10 damage.
Hannah / Eryn:Nice. It's only six damage.
Tim / GM:Okay. 16 damage is enough to wound this thing pretty terribly. Sort of the same situation as that bird. It immediately hits the ground, and only after a few seconds do you see it start to rouse and slowly kind of push its way along. You don't know if it's gonna make it out of the fire by the time it's done.
Tara / Journey:Can't follow us now.
Tim / GM:It's getting hot in here, except for Doran. You're fine. And Journey, I believe you have a badge as well. Yeah. You feel fine.
Maggie / Poppy:Why are you fireproof?
John / Doran:It's a badge.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay.
Tim / GM:Just calmly while you're flying together. I
Maggie / Poppy:don't feel right about any of this.
Tara / Journey:That creature pointed at one of these houses, maybe we can try that.
Hannah / Eryn:Let's get out of here.
Thomas / Guy:It could be a trap.
Hannah / Eryn:This place is going up in flame.
Tara / Journey:No better than where we are.
Thomas / Guy:Okay. Let's go.
Tim / GM:Alright. You all lead Hubert and Mikey to that singular house, and to your surprise, you see a staircase headed upwards. It's not a house, rather a semi large gate, this wide staircase that leads up.
Hannah / Eryn:There was a staircase here all along, I
Thomas / Guy:knew it.
Maggie / Poppy:I knew it. Quick. Tortles first.
Tim / GM:Yep. They go up at total speed.
Maggie / Poppy:Mikey is hopped up on sugar.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You're right. Yeah. Mikey's move speed is 100 feet right now. Yeah.
Tim / GM:He turns into a beam of lightning and travels up the hallway. You ascend a wide elegant staircase up this tower and enter into a grand hall. Even now, the craftsmanship and grandeur of this castle is obvious, though it's also warped and covered in lustrous glass. Some of the steps on these stairs seem to have multiplied, morphing into 10 tiny steps where a single step should be, and the shape of it looks remarkably like a bismite crystal. As you all get to the top of these stairs, you're looking into this hallway and they're lined with portraits.
Tim / GM:Doran, you remember seeing these when you were younger, but you know what they are now. You see a larger than life depiction of a face. The picture itself was destroyed by the calamity and the passage of time, but even so, you see a powerful resemblance to Lyrian. It's not him, but his family. Other portraits in this hallway confirm your suspicions.
Tim / GM:You see a portrait of Lady Viren laid out like a shrine with melted offerings laying before it. And sure enough, tucked away at the end of the hallway, hanging crooked in its place insignificant, a half melted portrait of Lyrian Hale himself. We also see dead Bismite everywhere, gray, crumbling on the floor, and sconces on the walls stored here. Finally, at the end of this long hall, which is obviously used to bottleneck people before entering the Throne Room, you see another slice of pink light illuminated on the floor.
John / Doran:There's another spot of that light again. It's possible we could glean something from it, but
Thomas / Guy:What did you see in there, Doran?
John / Doran:It was Autumn Court. I probably stepped in too soon to learn much, but
Hannah / Eryn:What if you just try to what if you try to listen rather than go in?
Tara / Journey:There's no reason for us to look in there. We know what happened here. There's nothing we can do. There's nothing we can learn that is more important than what we've already learned here.
Hannah / Eryn:That's a good point.
Maggie / Poppy:I don't know.
Hannah / Eryn:Just don't go in it again.
Maggie / Poppy:If we look and listen and we don't walk in.
John / Doran:First, Doran will look at the portraits and look one to the left of where Lyrian was. Mhmm. So the Autumn King most likely. Correct. What's that condition of that one?
John / Doran:The king is in
Tim / GM:as good condition as it could be and centrally placed. You can tell just by the configuration of this room that Lyrian was an afterthought, uncelebrated among his people.
John / Doran:The Autumn King's portrait, is it within arm's reach or anything like that? Yeah. Okay. I'm going to go up and look back at everyone. Can we is it okay if I take a look at this?
Maggie / Poppy:Are you looking with your eyes?
John / Doran:No.
Thomas / Guy:The portrait. So we're clear.
John / Doran:Yeah. Gonna try to take it off the wall. Mhmm. Does it come down? It does.
John / Doran:Alright. I'm going to yeah. Look at it more carefully, see if there's a way to like open it or anything like that.
Tim / GM:Not really. I mean, there's a paper backing to it that
John / Doran:you could perhaps peel off? Yeah. I'll take a look at that and see if there's anything there.
Tim / GM:Yeah. If we see like a date that the art was created, a dedication to the autumn king, still no proper name.
Maggie / Poppy:Does he have blue eyes? No.
John / Doran:We could use a name.
Tim / GM:Okay.
John / Doran:Well, I'm gonna take the hilt of one of my swords and like smash the glass on it. Yeah. I'm gonna try to carefully like take out the portrait itself.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. You roll it up and you can take it with you. Okay. It's pretty thick.
Tim / GM:It's like a oil painting almost on a canvas, but Okay. It still travels.
Maggie / Poppy:Why are we taking it?
John / Doran:This is the one that's causing everything. Right?
Tim / GM:You all see bodies. Two soldiers step into that pink light and stand astride the door to the throne room. They seem to be switching the guard, taking their positions now.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, is it across the the door?
Tara / Journey:So we can't get past them without walking through the pink light?
Tim / GM:You could actually avoid the pink light if you wanted to, but it does span most of the hallway. But you could easily just kind of skirt it.
Maggie / Poppy:Journey, this might be a good opportunity to prove what happened.
Tara / Journey:I saw what happened. Tibio showed me. When Dorne was in that other slice of life, those beings were ready to attack him.
Hannah / Eryn:What if we send Pinch in there?
Maggie / Poppy:Well, okay. So that's a great idea in theory, but Pinch is me. So if they suck his soul out, they're sucking mine out.
John / Doran:I can use Ganymede and try to listen. I won't step in. It's worth a shot.
Maggie / Poppy:Aaron could also look from a distance. Yeah. A safe distance.
John / Doran:We could both approach.
Tara / Journey:I mean, if you guys wanna line up right outside the light, I'll have a hand on either of you in case you try to get pulled in.
Tim / GM:These two guards are standing tall, one of them a fawn, one of them an eldrinn, both in heavy armor with glaives at their sides. You see another creature kneel down in the pink light facing the door, and it speaks something. And then it walks forward as if to move into that door. The guards don't do anything. The guards don't open the door for them.
Tim / GM:Something needs to be said to open that door to the throne room. However, outside of that pink light, you get none of it.
Thomas / Guy:I suppose I could poke a head in. Seems safe enough.
Maggie / Poppy:Your head. Does your head contain your essence?
Thomas / Guy:Is the soul in the head? Probably not. Right?
Maggie / Poppy:Well, see, there's some theories. I did take a class on this at Telldry. Before
John / Doran:we go there, we could try an echo bell maybe. Toss one in. See if we can hear the words.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh. It's a good idea.
Thomas / Guy:Clever.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron's gonna reach down for their echo belt. And as they're reaching down to pull one off, they also are touching the bismite kaleidoscope
Maggie / Poppy:Mhmm.
Hannah / Eryn:On their hanging off next to the echo echo bell. Aaron hands the echo bell to Doran to throw in, and then he has the other one he can listen to.
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Hannah / Eryn:And then I'm gonna pick up the kaleidoscope and just kinda be like, well, maybe shrug and take a look through it to see if I can see anything special in the light or the this room or the I haven't looked at it in the Feywild, so I'm not sure if it looks any different.
Maggie / Poppy:I thought you had that.
Tim / GM:You kinda peer around this room and you don't see much with that pink light. You were hoping that something would come of that or maybe some kind of incantation on the door. This could reveal like magical runes or pathways or something. But what you do see is a sort of ley line, a current, a stream of pink light outside through a window. You see these lines that are all moving up towards the top of the tower, feeding the top of the tower.
Tim / GM:It strikes you that this bismite kaleidoscope, it reveals the travel of energy.
Hannah / Eryn:Like the weave?
Tim / GM:Potentially. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Cool. Well, nothing useful here. Aaron just cuts it back. No. Aaron tells everyone what they
Tara / Journey:see. Pragmatist.
Tim / GM:Holding up that echo belt, you do hear through that mysterious connection here. You see another figure come towards that pink light. It kneels in its armor and says, in Sylvan, on my true name, I shall do no harm. And then stands and moves forward.
Tara / Journey:Does the person say their true name No. In addition to that? They just promise on their true name?
Tim / GM:They swear that bargain before entering the room.
Tara / Journey:I see. Do know Sylvan?
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. I know Sylvan.
Hannah / Eryn:We all know Sylvan. I'm just
Tim / GM:The both of you went to Sylvan Learning Center? Yes. Mhmm.
Thomas / Guy:I got my two year degree.
Tara / Journey:It sounds like they're doing a fey bargain before they enter the room and promise to do no harm.
Thomas / Guy:Of course.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, I don't know if that's gonna work for me. I might have to wait this one out.
Thomas / Guy:Yes. Not a bargain I am willing to make.
Maggie / Poppy:What if that's the only way in? Okay. So in in the fairy tales I used to read in secret in the dark
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Maggie / Poppy:There are always loopholes to fey bargains.
John / Doran:You're right.
Thomas / Guy:Who's to say the magic even still holds to this day?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. I mean, you just happen to create a bonfire for warmth and it it's not to hurt anyone, but then they step in it. I mean, did you intend harm? Right. Right?
John / Doran:And also, I mean, to be totally honest with you all, I don't harm much anyways.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. That's So
John / Doran:maybe I could I could make this offering and everyone goes in with me.
Maggie / Poppy:I don't think it'll work.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, that's actually not
Tim / GM:a bad idea. Something.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, can try it, but
Hannah / Eryn:door near uselessness is coming in handy. So sorry.
John / Doran:You're so sweet.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm just kidding.
John / Doran:I snatched the echo bell back quickly into the pink light. Mhmm. And then I'm gonna head towards the door.
Tim / GM:Yeah. The actual door. Yeah. You are before this large double door that leads into the throne room here.
John / Doran:I'm gonna try to open it.
Thomas / Guy:Smart. Yeah. It's locked.
John / Doran:It's locked.
Tim / GM:Yeah. During that too, you also see a very familiar sigil, horns above the door here. Horns. Just like in your ship, above the master bedroom.
Tara / Journey:The hail horns.
Maggie / Poppy:You know, we promise to shatter horns everywhere we go.
John / Doran:Everyone close? I don't know if it's gonna work, but
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:They're ready to move through that door.
John / Doran:Could someone write it down? I can't actually speak Sylvan.
Tara / Journey:Did we get the feeling that it has to be said in Sylvan?
Tim / GM:No telling, really.
Tara / Journey:Okay. I mean, you could try it and comment and see if it works. I'm sure the magic recognizes it regardless of language, but I'll write it down for you phonetically if you need to.
John / Doran:Okay. Tell you what, I'll use universal speech, which allows any creature to understand me, basically. It's creature, but maybe it's a it's a bit of a stretch.
Tim / GM:But Sure.
John / Doran:I'll try using that ability and see if it works. On my true name, I shall do no harm.
Tim / GM:Journey and Guy hear the most cringeable Sylvan accent you've ever heard in your life.
John / Doran:Yeah. Just kinda look at each other.
Tim / GM:Please open that this door for me. My wife. But with that, the door actually clicks and opens itself gracefully wide open. You don't see a line on the ground. You don't see extra magic going on here.
Tim / GM:The door is open. Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:We all go in together. Let's go.
Tim / GM:However
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, I knew it.
Tim / GM:When that door opens, you're all blinded. This room is entirely illuminated in a vision of the past. With a brilliant sunset pouring in through the windows and a tall narrow hall that ends in a raised stage, and sitting on that throne, you see a fawn. So much like Lyrian, but taller, stronger, and older. He's sitting in a tall throne of bent wood framed by a menagerie of spears pointed outwards behind his throne like a rays from a setting sun.
Tim / GM:And all around this chamber, you see bismite, deeply colorful, brimming with power. You see the autumn king begin to speak, but you can't hear anything unless one of you steps in or throws an echo bell in there.
Maggie / Poppy:Throw it in.
John / Doran:Pass it in. And we huddle around the other end. One. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You're all crowded around this echo bell looking in on this little stage play going on inside this room.
Maggie / Poppy:Cheeks squished together. A
Tim / GM:spirit walks into the room between all of you. And when he shows up, you see the Autumn King stand, and he is tall. You hear, took you long enough. Why the delay? My apologies, your highness.
Tim / GM:Your son and his cohorts, they could not be located. Do you wish to continue regardless? Your kingdom has been gathered. Alright. That is his choice.
Tim / GM:If he wishes not to witness his father, I care little to witness his exploits. Let us begin then. Introduce me below, and I will usher in a new dawn for the autumn court. You see him take a heavy step down that stairway. As he does, Bismite from all around the room races towards him, and he forms around his body deeply ornate armor covering every inch of him from hoof to horn and a massive Bismite spear in his left hand.
Tim / GM:But then that fades away and the room dims. You're met with the same dark bleakness as the rest of this tower and its true age begins to show through. But this room seems to have never been accessed before. All around this room, on the shelves and sconces, you see Bismite humming with power. Looking up at that throne, you see a single silvery glaive sitting in the throne.
Tim / GM:You see several retired suits of armor. You see an ornate gilded box next to the throne. All of the Autumn King's personal effects are here for the taking.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, I don't trust it.
Tara / Journey:Did the pinkish light fade and now we can It's gone. Through here?
Tim / GM:Yeah. This room is bleak and dark like every other spot, except it seems to never have been touched by outside raiders.
Tara / Journey:Let's go in.
Maggie / Poppy:This seems too good to be true.
Tara / Journey:I agree we shouldn't touch anything right away.
Hannah / Eryn:Wait. Who still has their anti charm?
Maggie / Poppy:Not me. Not me.
Thomas / Guy:I do.
Hannah / Eryn:I still have mine. We could see if it's a trick.
Thomas / Guy:That glaive looks pretty cool.
Hannah / Eryn:Do you want to use yours or should I use mine?
Thomas / Guy:I'll go for it.
Tara / Journey:Okay. When we get into this room, I'd like to close the doors behind us.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Easily done.
Tara / Journey:Also, that Echo Bella with us still?
Tim / GM:Yeah. It didn't, like, travel. Okay. It's all dusty.
Tara / Journey:It's just on the floor.
Tim / GM:It's corroded now.
Hannah / Eryn:Go for it, Guy.
Thomas / Guy:Wait. Yeah?
Tara / Journey:I'm gonna cast find traps.
Tim / GM:Alright.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. Guy's going in for a visual inspection.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Guy gives the spear a quick ocular pat down while Journey does the real heavy lifting here.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I cast fine traps. So anything that would inflict a sudden or unexpected effect that I consider harmful or undesirable. Yeah.
Tim / GM:There are no manufactured traps here. Nothing to wish anyone harm because I know that can't detect like natural decay Mhmm. Which might always be a threat in this castle. But this room is not trapped. It is meant for the king.
Maggie / Poppy:You say there was unused bezmite in here? Yes.
Tim / GM:Lots of it.
Tara / Journey:As far as I can tell, this place is safe from malicious intent, but be real careful.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. Journey, we need to get you some of this Bismite.
Maggie / Poppy:That's what I was thinking. You were not awake when we talked about this, but you are gonna need to stay close to Bismite for the rest of your life or you'll die again.
Tara / Journey:Oh, okay.
Maggie / Poppy:But I was gonna make you a pendant. If if we have ten minutes to spare, I can
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I I guess that's fine. Okay. I mean, I I guess I'm not surprised that there's a cost. And you see Journey kind of like rub her fingertips across her sternum a little bit.
Tim / GM:Guy, you are nose to nose with that spear. Mhmm. That glaive. What do you do?
Thomas / Guy:I touch it.
Tim / GM:You plant a hand on it. You just hear a little bit of crackling as you pull it away from the throne out of its little holster. Seems nothing bad is going to happen here.
Maggie / Poppy:Can I sense arcane anything?
Tim / GM:Yes. There are magic items in this room. Plenty of them.
Maggie / Poppy:Which ones are?
Tim / GM:Quite a few things actually. You see a tiny little box, a silvery box right next to the throne. Magic coming from that. You see a pair of gauntlets on a suit of armor. You see an entire suit of armor.
Tim / GM:You see little bracelets. You see that spear.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. All of this is magic. Just so you know, before you do anything. I don't know what effects they have.
Hannah / Eryn:Does the room see, like, seem like it's in really pristine condition or does it seem like dusty in the cave? Like, what's the state of things?
Tim / GM:A little dusty and it was hit by some of that, like, calamity, that that fire that made everything all glassy. Okay. So some damage around here, but certainly never accessed completely vacant.
Maggie / Poppy:If if there's anything in particular you want, I can try and look harder at it, see what it does.
Tara / Journey:I mean, I got this wand too that I can see what things are.
John / Doran:Perfect. It's perfect.
Thomas / Guy:Well, good news, gang. I do not seem to be possessed by the spirit of a long dead king.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm mostly I'm just really concerned that the king is gonna be mad.
Thomas / Guy:Oh, I think he'll be mad no matter what. We almost burned his house down.
Tim / GM:Guy, as you gesture with the spear, it melts. Oh. It loses its form and it wraps around your wrist into a bracelet.
Thomas / Guy:Oh, that's new.
Maggie / Poppy:Are you okay?
Thomas / Guy:I've tried to, like, shake the bracelet off.
Tim / GM:Nothing from just shaking it like that.
John / Doran:Usually, spears don't do that. Yeah. Or glaives.
Thomas / Guy:You know? If I am being honest, I liked it more as a spear.
Tim / GM:Guy, when you express the desire for the spear, that bracelet turns into a spear. Oh. More than that, Guy. As you're gesturing, you let go of the spear and it continues to float in the air until you grab it again.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh my god. You're just gonna be surrounded by weapons.
Thomas / Guy:This is the best day of my life.
Tara / Journey:I wanna point the wand at the bracelets that are sitting there.
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Tara / Journey:What are those?
Tim / GM:Alright. These are the bracers of twilight. They provide resistance to necrotic and radiant damage. You also gain a plus four bonus to stealth while outdoors in evening or night.
Tara / Journey:These bracers are pretty cool.
John / Doran:Do they help you climb?
Hannah / Eryn:Only one of us can have a spider hat.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. If there's anything in particular you guys wanna know about, the more times I use this wand, think the less information I get. So maybe prioritize stuff that
Maggie / Poppy:I was gonna pick up the box and, like, arcana check it?
Tim / GM:Yeah. It doesn't seem magical. It's also unlocked.
Maggie / Poppy:It's said it was magical. The ornate box?
Tim / GM:There's magic coming from it, but it's not the box itself is not trapped.
Maggie / Poppy:I open it, and then I investigate the inside.
Tim / GM:Inside is a small pouch, a small mirror, and a necklace. The pouch and mirror are non magic, but that pendant is magical.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. The pendant.
Tim / GM:This comes with some kind of charm magic involved. Enchantment.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. I don't know. It's just the magic ring. Magic pendant. I don't know what jewelry is.
Hannah / Eryn:My mom said wearing jewelry was for skanks. Well,
Maggie / Poppy:she never wanted to spend the money on it, so any kind of jewelry I had growing up was from my
Hannah / Eryn:own funds. Can Eren be looking for a way up to the next level of the tower? I'm not getting distracted by all this because I wanna get the fuck out of here.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Eren, you move right past the throne itself and not far behind it, there are kind of two staircases that wind up to the higher levels where normal people were not allowed to go.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Hey, guys. I think I found
Maggie / Poppy:the way out back here. That's great, Erin.
Thomas / Guy:Oh, we're still Guy's done the spirit bracelet thing like 100 times. Were
John / Doran:there other magic things in the room or is that all of them?
Tim / GM:A pair of gauntlets also in there, a full plate set, and that pendant has been not figured out yet.
Maggie / Poppy:Could you figure out what the pendant does?
Tara / Journey:I could try. What are those?
Tim / GM:It's called the resplendent pendant.
Hannah / Eryn:Cute name.
Tim / GM:It is for bards and it helps bards bard other bards. That's as much as you get.
Tara / Journey:Well, Dorne, I think this one's for you.
Maggie / Poppy:Here you go.
John / Doran:Pendant. Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. I'm not a bard.
John / Doran:Oh. Alright. What where do I put it?
Tara / Journey:Aunt?
Maggie / Poppy:It's a pendant, Doran. It's a necklace. Okay. You can put it under the help.
Tim / GM:Doran tries to step into the necklace.
John / Doran:Okay. Cool. Thank you. Alright. So gauntlets, we should not leave anything behind.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. I can't wear armor.
Hannah / Eryn:I feel like not good about this stuff for some reason. And trust me, I'm always one to steal things, but there's just something that's given me a gut feeling about this. When
Thomas / Guy:Eren doesn't want to steal something
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:Does give me pause as well.
John / Doran:Doran sits on the throne.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, why are you doing that? Why
Tim / GM:would you do that?
John / Doran:Doran was looking around and just thinking like about that vision and just trying to like get in the mindset
Hannah / Eryn:Just tired.
John / Doran:Just trying to get in the mindset of the king Hail. So he approaches the throne.
Tim / GM:Sitting in the throne, you suddenly can no longer hear your cohorts. Instead, you hear a speech from the king far away downstairs.
John / Doran:Okay. Close my eyes and listen.
Tim / GM:He tells his people that he has found a new way, that he has found everlasting, that he's going to take them all with. The autumn court will reign forever, and the moment is now. And during you begin to shake your head and scramble as you hear the shrieking of thousands as they die.
John / Doran:I try to get out of the throne. Get out of that vision.
Tim / GM:You're able to step out and you kind of stumble down the stairs when you do.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tara / Journey:You alright? No.
John / Doran:No. I that was a bad idea. That was a bad idea. Yeah. The vision we just saw, I think I know what happened next.
John / Doran:He killed everyone at the court. I mean, we kind of figured something like that must have happened.
Tara / Journey:That's what Tibio showed me. He told them that he was gonna make things good or better, and he consumed them.
John / Doran:He was found everlasting. Well, this is complicated. Lyrian left along with the rest of the Autumn Court.
Tim / GM:Poppy, you're still fiddling with that ornate box, and you've dumped out a little bit of that pouch onto the mirror. Mhmm. Poppy turns around with a line of white powder on a mirror, not knowing what any of this is for.
Maggie / Poppy:What do you think this is?
Thomas / Guy:Some sort of sweetener, perhaps?
Tim / GM:Erin, make a history check with advantage.
Hannah / Eryn:It's drugs. You had nat twenty and a nineteen.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Wow. Erin, this is a insane amount of this narcotic. This is pure pixie dust.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh,
Hannah / Eryn:shit. Poppy, be careful with that.
Maggie / Poppy:Why? What is it?
Tim / GM:Knowing what you know, the amount here required the life of 50 plus fairies.
Hannah / Eryn:This is pixie dust. Like a lot. Okay.
Tim / GM:Diver used to do handfuls of this stuff and then go kill people.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm gonna be very careful with this pouch, but I'm going to keep it. Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:I put it in my pouch of, like, baking items.
John / Doran:Let us know if you make anything with that in it.
Hannah / Eryn:Just Don't don't think it's sugar accidentally.
Tim / GM:Confuses it for baking soda.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, it's funny you should say that because I actually need pixie dust so I can mix it with sugar.
Tara / Journey:Would Journey know what pixie dust is made out of?
Tim / GM:It's pixie wings. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Yeah. Poppy, just so you know, that pixie dust, it it's
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, I don't wanna know. I don't wanna know where it came from.
Hannah / Eryn:It's what they're about. You know? That's what we always said on the street. It was like pixie poo. No.
Maggie / Poppy:Do they have a pee?
Hannah / Eryn:They called it pee pee the street name?
Tara / Journey:Generally, yeah. Well, it's And if not death, it is torture.
Maggie / Poppy:It's great that I found and repurposed it so I didn't have to kill any myself.
Tara / Journey:I mean, think real hard if you ever plan on using it.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:I mean, I guess it makes sense that it takes laugh to restore laugh.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, I have it now, so that's great. I'm never gonna use it for anything else. I promise.
Tara / Journey:Okay. Okay.
Tim / GM:The last item in this room are those gauntlets. There's a set of full plate in here, but it's ornate and probably very expensive, but not magical.
Tara / Journey:These are good for getting around in the dark and being stealthy?
Hannah / Eryn:I'm okay. Think so.
Tara / Journey:If no one else wants them, I could take them.
Maggie / Poppy:You know what the gauntlets or the armor does?
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, you have the gauntlets.
Maggie / Poppy:Mhmm. Do we know what the armor does?
John / Doran:It's mundane. Ornate but mundane. Not magical.
Hannah / Eryn:Give it to Huber. Just kidding. What
Thomas / Guy:do you think, Gus?
Tim / GM:Gus folds your arms?
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. Not for us.
Tara / Journey:Journey puts on the gauntlets.
Tim / GM:Sorry. Separate things. Those are bracers. Gauntlets are completely different. Oh, there's
Tara / Journey:also The bracers I put on. Yep. And then I'll use my third use of the wand. What are those on the gauntlets?
Tim / GM:You hear. Crush them into submission. Oh.
Tara / Journey:Interesting. Well, we can bring them with, and I can try again another time, but it sounds like these maybe have some sort of strength component.
John / Doran:Great.
Tim / GM:Oh.
Thomas / Guy:Yes. Let's take them with.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Alright. Moving forward? Mhmm.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. Wait. I wanna try something. Yeah. Guy throws the spear into, like, a door or something where no one else is standing.
Thomas / Guy:Yep. Just throws it tries to get it back.
Tim / GM:When you beckon towards the spear, it begins to float. It wiggles and pulls itself out of the wall, and it drives itself back towards you as a full spear. It doesn't melt again.
Thomas / Guy:Oh, I can I turn it back into a
Tim / GM:bracelet now? A bracelet. Oh, correct. Yep.
Thomas / Guy:Like I said, best day of my life.
Tara / Journey:Wow.
Tim / GM:Spending just a moment with these things, Guy. This is the Glaive of the Autumn King. It deals one d six plus one piercing and an additional one d six force damage. As a bonus action, you can make an attack with plus six bonus at a range of 30 feet. Cool.
Tim / GM:The pendant. Doran spending a moment with this, the resplendent pendant. Whenever you barbically inspire somebody, they may immediately use their reaction to barbically inspire somebody else with the same effects. Popcorn inspire. Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:That's so cool.
Maggie / Poppy:Could they inspire the bard who cast it?
Tim / GM:Yes. Cool.
Thomas / Guy:Infinite recursion loop.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Mhmm. As you're all leaving and walking up those stairs into the part of the notes that I haven't written yet, Journey turns and looks back into that room and kind of points around at the things, making sure that everything's been accounted for, every nook and cranny has been checked. When you point up at some of that Bismite, Journey, with everyone already on the stairs looking away from you, a stream of Bismite races towards you and wraps around your arm like a bracer. You understand in that moment, you are connected.
Tim / GM:And I think we end it there.
Thomas / Guy:Well, that takes care of making a pendant for
Maggie / Poppy:me.
Tara / Journey:No thanks. I'll make my own.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, now we gotta sign up.
Tim / GM:Thank you all so much for listening. I am Tim, your GM.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm Hannah, I'm playing Aaron.
Tara / Journey:I'm Tara, I play Journey.
Thomas / Guy:I'm Thomas, and I'm Guy.
John / Doran:I'm John, playing Doran.
Maggie / Poppy:And I'm Maggie, and I play puppy Kenmore.
John / Doran:Please share the show with people you love, and we'll
Maggie / Poppy:see you in the
Tim / GM:next one. See you the next one. Something like that.
Maggie / Poppy:I I
Tim / GM:think think we got it right now. Can we all do it at same time with a weird cult? Mhmm.
Hannah / Eryn:Share the show
Tim / GM:with people you love and
Maggie / Poppy:we'll see
Tim / GM:you in the next one. I got it wrong again.
