Cloudfall | 8 - Cats and Burglars
Last time on Cloudfall. At long last, the party has landed at lower. They had a highly educational conversation with Huber, the prime archivist, about knowledge on their island. The torto living on the Isle of Lor have learned to record conversations within magical wooden jars. And those jars line the shelves of over a 100 towers around the island.
Speaker 2:In order to gain some of
Tim / GM:that knowledge, the party had to share their own. Though, when it came time for Journey to speak, she may have revealed more than she meant to.
John / Doran:Just a
Tim / GM:few minutes have passed since Journee had her vision, memory, experience that you all got secondhand. Doran is still standing near the front entrance of this little yurt, this hut where you all shared your stories, kind of fanning it, trying to get a lot of the smoke out of here. You can feel that cooler, crisper air cycle into this room as a, sort of heavy silence sits between all of you. April is trying her best to keep things calm and, is basically asking if you guys need anything, if she can help by any means.
Speaker 4:Journee, are are you okay?
Hannah / Eryn:Erin kinda scoops up Journey's hand and just tries to pat it, like, it's gonna be okay.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm alright. I I think maybe I just had a weird reaction to the smoke. I don't I don't know.
Speaker 4:It's not something I've ever done before, so I I I think I'll be okay. I'd maybe we should just get out of here and come back to it later.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Let let's get some air. Erin kinda helps journey up to their feet and then, starts walking out the door.
Tim / GM:April is right behind you, and as you step out,
Speaker 6:she says, I'm terribly sorry for the experience. I I'm going to go make us all some tea, and I'll be right back. You you have a sit here.
Tim / GM:And she gestures to a large, juniper log on the ground.
Speaker 7:Better not be anything funny in that tea, April.
Speaker 6:It's Earl Grey, if that's okay.
Tim / GM:We have that in fantasy.
John / Doran:All tea tastes the same, so that sounds good.
Speaker 8:How dare you, Doren. You don't even understand half of
Speaker 7:what it No. He's correct.
Speaker 8:No. Absolutely not. Everything has different flavors. Your palate is so unrefined. I can't even believe it.
Hannah / Eryn:Earl Grey is a bad man.
Speaker 9:I've never met him, but
Speaker 4:if he makes good tea, then I guess that's alright. Did you did you all see what what I saw?
Speaker 6:They didn't see it. They
Tim / GM:all heard it.
Hannah / Eryn:Could we see the rest of the memories?
Tim / GM:Only if you're the one telling the memory do you see it.
Speaker 4:Oh, so
Hannah / Eryn:the rest of us just hear Mhmm. The telling?
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Speaker 6:The the
John / Doran:chart is closed at Journey. So, do you know what that creature was you were talking about?
Speaker 4:It was it was just something something from my past, something you know, I I lived on the edge of the fair wilds and, you know, met all sorts of strange beings and creatures. And that was just a strong memory that I have kind of floating around in my head,
Speaker 2:and I
Speaker 4:think it just got caught up.
Speaker 8:Well, it it kind of seemed like you you you had, like, a panic attack or a nightmare or something, and and you just kinda stopped breathing.
Speaker 4:I I wasn't afraid. It was just just intense, and I I think I I got a little lost in it. But I I'm okay now. I promise.
John / Doran:Did that creature bully you into doing something? Did it threaten you? Did
Speaker 4:No. No. No. No. Not at all.
Speaker 4:Everything everything's fine.
Speaker 10:Okay. If you're sure.
John / Doran:The last thing it said to you, what what was it again?
Speaker 4:We were just saying hello. Torin, don't pry. Nothing.
John / Doran:Okay. Alright.
Speaker 6:Piping hot for whoever needs it.
Tim / GM:April approaches with a small wooden platter with a bunch of little circles in it where teacups can rest securely. She approaches all of you, and at that same moment, a lot of the mist here starts to dissipate. You get a rare moment of sun down here being in the second layer of the clouds. It's not common that the clouds break enough to give you a real sunbeam, but for a moment, you can see really far out onto this island. Where you're standing now, you can see down a little bit into this low valley, and you can see for about half mile, some clear rock spires and other cliffs here.
Tim / GM:And then you see something that potentially none of you have ever seen before. It almost looks gelatinous, this creature. It's circular in nature, but it's got these draping tendrils, and it's floating very slowly, very lazily through the air. You see April kind of smile to herself. She says, bright bulbs?
Tim / GM:Do you get bright bulbs on the mainland?
Speaker 8:I've never seen one of them before.
Tim / GM:If any of you have had ocean experience, you might have seen jellyfish before. These look almost identical, though much larger, and they seem to kind of harmlessly float through the air. After you see the first one, you notice another 20 of them floating close behind in a small cluster.
Hannah / Eryn:Are they dangerous?
Speaker 6:Certain varieties, certain colors. You don't want to get into the tendrils, but these are quite harmless.
Speaker 7:I do not care for these creatures.
Hannah / Eryn:They kinda look like snot.
Speaker 6:They make excellent soup.
John / Doran:Ugh. I look at my tea carefully.
Tim / GM:She just smirks at you.
Speaker 8:What what kind of soup? How do you
Speaker 6:You have to catch them. That's the difficult part. We have these poles that we use to tangle the tendrils. But if you can scoop 1 out of the air, you just sort of blend it up, and, you can cook it with herbs and a good, helping of salt.
Speaker 8:I am fascinated.
Speaker 6:They can be quite bitter if they're not in season. You only want the large ones.
Speaker 8:Do you, sell that soup anywhere?
Speaker 6:I'm sure you could get a taste.
Speaker 8:Thank you. I'll I'll look into it.
Tim / GM:See here, another rarity. You see something that looks like a small cat, but also kind of like a squirrel at the same time, and it's clinging to the side of the mountain, and then you see it just jump off and spread its arms, and it's got these little glider wings under its arms, but after that, it sticks out this giant fluffy tail, and it's so big, so much bigger than the creature itself, in fact, that the wind catches it and just casts it up into the upper strata again. She smiles and says, much more rare, a cloud kip.
Speaker 2:I want
Speaker 4:one. A
Tim / GM:cloud kip.
Speaker 7:Do you
John / Doran:make soup with those?
Tim / GM:She looks at you with just righteous fury. She says, no. You don't harm the cloud, Kip. Okay.
John / Doran:Okay.
Speaker 6:So rare as they are, perhaps the most coveted pet in all the clouds, and yet they never stay still.
Speaker 8:They're so cute.
John / Doran:I am worried this has derailed our long term mission. Everyone wants to get a cloud chip.
Speaker 8:New mission now.
Speaker 6:If you got one to stay with you, you'd be the first ever.
Hannah / Eryn:How big are
Tim / GM:they? They they're, like, pretty much like perma kittens.
Speaker 4:Even better.
Hannah / Eryn:Poppy and I go on a mission and catch our own class gifts.
Speaker 8:We get a bonding episode.
Speaker 6:She says, yes. We've got quite unique fauna here. Many of the creatures here depend on the magic of the bismite. They rarely leave the clouds.
Hannah / Eryn:Does every skyline have bismite like this one?
Speaker 6:They do. It's what keeps us aloft.
Hannah / Eryn:What happens if they mine out all of it?
Speaker 6:Oh, surely, we would plummet. We take a careful measure of the bismide we have. Lore is especially rich. We have much more than we need. We'll float for another 10000 years.
Speaker 4:Wow.
Speaker 7:I am certain no society would ever mind more resources than they
Speaker 6:need. She smiles. Yes.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:Poppy. Yep.
Speaker 8:Poppy. Yes, sir.
Tim / GM:Poppy, you see another thing, an alien thing, perhaps a creature, perhaps not, but very familiar. You see a spiral shaped shell on the ground. It looks a lot like an echo bell.
Speaker 8:Did I drop no. It's right here in my pocket.
Tim / GM:But it's a little different also because this one is connected at the opening to another spiral, another echo bell. They're in kind of a curled s shape.
Speaker 8:It's mating season.
Tim / GM:April walks over to it and, picks it up and very delicately snaps them apart, and you see, not the prettiest sight in the world. A large collection of very tiny slugs or snails crawl out of their shells, and she kind of gently ushers them onto the juniper log. She says,
Speaker 6:yes, Echo Wells. Quite lucky to have spotted this.
Speaker 8:I was looking at it because it looks like this thing I have.
Speaker 6:Indeed it is. However, yours is, a work of artifice.
Speaker 10:Yes.
Speaker 6:These beautiful creatures, they resonate at a very specific frequency, and they spend their entire lives seeking a mate that resonates the same. When they meet, they mate and dine, fused together to protect their eggs, and when they're ready to hatch, they leave behind 2 entangled shells that will always speak to each other.
Speaker 8:Just like how this one does?
Speaker 6:Indeed. However, yours, the frequency was forced. It seems somebody performed magical work on this to force the frequency to pair with another.
Speaker 8:Okay.
Speaker 6:It's really no different. We use these frequently here. She shows you on her hip she has an echo bell of her own.
Speaker 8:And they only ever speak to the the pair?
Speaker 6:Correct.
Speaker 8:Are you, are you gonna keep those?
Speaker 6:Oh, no. I think you should have them.
Speaker 8:Are they you said they were rare?
Speaker 6:It's rare to find them in such perfect condition and at such a good time, but not rare. We have these by the 100 here.
Speaker 8:Okay. So I'm not taking, like, a,
Speaker 6:Evans no.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. We all get plus 1 ammo handling?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. After the animal lesson. Animal lesson.
Speaker 7:I thought you were going to say they work by the slugs crawl into your brain
Tim / GM:to communicate. She shudders and kinda backs off.
Hannah / Eryn:You're welcome.
Speaker 8:So now we have another pair.
Speaker 6:Yes. Nice. Yep.
Tim / GM:You've got another set of echo bells.
Speaker 4:Cool.
Speaker 2:What time is it, April?
Tim / GM:She squints up at that brief moment of sun.
Speaker 6:She says we're well past midday. You must be getting hungry.
Speaker 7:All this talk of jellyfish soup. How could we not?
Speaker 8:I do really wanna try that.
Tim / GM:In that moment, you all hear a very distant bell, like a large bell, but you also hear the bell coming through April's echo bell.
Speaker 11:A lot
Tim / GM:of bells going on. You hear this chime go off through the echo bell and out in the world, and April says,
Speaker 6:ah, let's take a seat.
Speaker 4:Why?
Speaker 7:Okay. Guy looks around.
Tim / GM:She plops down exactly where she is. She says, just another ritual of the island.
Speaker 6:Once each day, we take 6 minutes in which we do nothing. We observe and appreciate. It is forbidden to make progress.
Tim / GM:Please. She, like, pats the ground next to her.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin looks really confused and, like, slowly sits down, kind of, like, shifty eyed everyone.
Tim / GM:April's just kind of, like, staring up
Speaker 6:at the cliffs, and she says, the stones here are beautiful. I often wonder how many 1000 of years they've stood.
Speaker 7:Does that count as doing something?
Speaker 6:No. I'm simply appreciating.
Speaker 7:But appreciating?
John / Doran:No. I'm Never mind.
Speaker 6:Calm yourself, Guy. Just simply observe. Check-in with yourself.
Speaker 7:Very well. Guy also sits down and looks shifty eyes everywhere.
John / Doran:Can I still drink this tea, or is that making progress on the tea?
Tim / GM:She closes her eyes and gives you a slow nod. Okay.
Speaker 8:I sit down next to Guy and flop onto my back and watch the jellyfish. Sorry.
Tim / GM:Bright bulbs.
Speaker 8:Bright bulbs.
John / Doran:How long have you been here, April?
Speaker 6:I am getting on in my years. I'm 37.
John / Doran:37. Oh.
Speaker 6:I spent every day on lore. Never had a heart for travel.
John / Doran:So we've only met, 3 here, and I'm not sure how many others there are. But,
Speaker 6:It depends how many of our lore hunters are on the island right now, but 50 or so of us in total.
Speaker 4:K. Lore hunters? What are those?
Speaker 6:On occasion, we do send out some of our lore hunters to seek out knowledge and bring it back.
Speaker 4:Oh, interesting. So it's not all travelers coming and dropping off their knowledge?
Speaker 6:Indeed.
Speaker 8:Are, are all of you, your kind?
Speaker 6:Yes. It's rare that we get non
Tim / GM:well, it's rare
Speaker 6:that people not like us show up here, she says. Now let's just take a moment to observe. Shall we?
Tim / GM:At this point in the adventure, you've all been through enough to have earned another level. Yes.
Speaker 7:We should meditate more often.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I'm
Hannah / Eryn:gonna meditate 5 times a day.
Tim / GM:So now being at level 4, you've all gained a little bit of extra power here. Since we've never done like a thorough check-in with the actual players behind the characters, I wanted to take a quick second and just talk about, your abilities and what you've gained recently.
John / Doran:I will go first as Doran, if that's alright. Yeah. So.
Speaker 8:Sorry. Who else would you be checking them as?
John / Doran:I'm just reiterating this so everyone keeps track of it.
Speaker 7:I think I'll go second it as Aaron.
John / Doran:Otherwise, they don't necessarily know, which voice this is. You know?
Speaker 8:No. No one could possibly know.
John / Doran:So Doran is a bard, and I chose the college of eloquence. That means I am focused on social skill interaction stuff. I do have a rapier. As far as spells go, I focus mostly on, again, kinda social things. I do have healing word, which is a bonus action healing spell, and then really kinda like buffs and debuffs primarily.
John / Doran:For the new level, I increased my charisma and added minor illusion and then, picked up suggestion, which is a spell where I can give a statement, and then I can basically ask someone to do something that's, like, not going to directly cause them harm.
Speaker 7:But
Tim / GM:So I think let's hear it. In terms of, like, buffing and debuffing, we saw you do silvery barbs in the fight with Diver. Right?
John / Doran:Yeah. That's where I can turn a successful attack against an ally into a reroll and then give an ally advantage, which
Hannah / Eryn:is spell is so good.
John / Doran:It's it's ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. Very good spell. But, then I also have, like, sleep.
John / Doran:I have calm emotions, which is where I can, like, target an area and cause people that may be hostile, for example, to calm down. Enhanceability, which hasn't come up yet, but that basically lets me kinda buff a particular skill or attribute for a character in some sense.
Tim / GM:Did you also cast command against diver earlier?
John / Doran:I have command and misty step coming from, Fey touch, which is actually a feat. Mhmm. And that has a story element to it that may come up.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I think we also saw you misty stuff a couple of times now. Mhmm.
John / Doran:That's not normally a bard spell, so that that's coming through
Speaker 7:the feet. Yeah. Okay. That's pretty much it.
Tim / GM:Guy.
Speaker 7:So Guy is multiclassed, which I don't think anyone else is.
Speaker 4:Not yet.
Speaker 7:He's got one level in Warlock, which gives him some of his more flashy dual hand abilities.
Hannah / Eryn:Did you say or flashy? Uh-huh. Yes.
Speaker 7:I just hit my 3rd level of paladin, which is this other class, which means I got to pick my oath. I picked the oath of vengeance.
Speaker 4:Classic vengeance.
Speaker 7:This gives me 2 things to do with my channel, divinity, which is abjure enemy, another fear effect. I've got, like, 5 of those.
Tim / GM:Yeah. So basically, your whole build is to try to instill fear in your enemy. Yep. Yeah.
Speaker 7:And the other thing it can do is vow of enmity, which is very good. As a bonus action, you can utter a vow of enmity against a creature you can see. You gain advantage on attack rolls against the creature for 1 minute.
Tim / GM:Nice. So you basically declare 1 person your nemesis for a little while?
Speaker 7:Yep. We get a couple bonus oath spells, Bane and Hunter's Mark.
Speaker 4:Nice.
Tim / GM:I wanna go over, Form of Dread. You've done that once, I think, so far.
Speaker 7:Yeah. Once or twice. Yeah. That is the Warlock skill. It's described as you manifest an aspect of your patron's dreadful power.
Speaker 7:Yeah. It's kind of a transform effect. I gain more hit points. When I hit a creature with an attack roll, they have a chance to be frightened, and I am immune to the frightened condition when in this form.
Tim / GM:I'm just using this as recon to ruin you
Speaker 2:guys later. Yeah. I know.
Tim / GM:Puppy, go ahead.
Speaker 8:In addition to being able to make magical food, I also took the chef eat, which gives me the ability to make treats to give people temporary hit points or regain extra hit points on a short rest.
Tim / GM:You're expanding your repertoire from simply baking to all of Yes. Culinary pursuits?
Speaker 8:I'm adding more health food.
Tim / GM:Just when you think Poppy couldn't be more well rounded.
Speaker 6:Mhmm. Yeah.
Speaker 8:I'm just getting rounder. I also learned and prepared 2 new spells. I took create bonfire for a cantrip because I learned a new one, which creates a bonfire.
Tim / GM:Is that what it does?
Speaker 8:Yes. But if I cast it around a person, they have to make a save or they take fire damage. So it's like
Speaker 4:That's a sneaky good one.
Speaker 8:I know. But I can also just use it for a campfire.
Speaker 2:And
Speaker 8:then I also took aid, which, I can bolster my allies with toughness and resolve, which also ups hit point max.
Tim / GM:So you and Doran on the buff squad.
Speaker 8:Yeah. I somehow made a bard out of a wizard. Yeah. So Okay.
Tim / GM:Let's do Journey.
Speaker 4:Journey is a very druid y ranger. I'm not multi classing, but I did do swarm keeper as my ranger type.
Tim / GM:The Feybuds being your swarm?
Speaker 4:Yeah. So the Feybuds are my swarm. They can cause damage. They can do some other stuff too. And taking that as my ranger type gave me access to magic, in addition to the access to magic I have because I'm a firbolg.
Speaker 4:So I've got some invisibility stuff that I've used before. Yeah. But yeah. So all of the spells that I have are either, like, hiding or disguising or making me more naturally damage y. So the the primal savagery is all about, like, teeth and claws, and, like, the thornwhip is all about vines, that kind of stuff, so very much in theme.
Speaker 4:For my level, I I put all of my ability score increases into decks. That's all I got.
Speaker 8:Very nimble.
Speaker 4:No spells. Rangers don't have
Hannah / Eryn:a lot of spells.
Tim / GM:We'll finish off with Eren.
Hannah / Eryn:So Aaron is a rogue and a changeling. Gasp. No. I'm just kidding.
Tim / GM:Big reveal.
Hannah / Eryn:For the 4th level, the only thing they got as a rogue was ability score improvements, so I just put both points into decks. My, roguish arc archetype I chose was thief, so I have some extra things that, help me steal
Tim / GM:stuff. Yeah. We've seen that in action a couple times.
Hannah / Eryn:Yep. Including fast hands, and, I also chose second story work, which lets me climb with no extra movement cost. Mhmm. And I can running I can do a further running jump by additional feet. Parkour.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Parkour.
Speaker 2:I didn't know you had that feet,
Tim / GM:and it worked out so well in the last session. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:So I can climb real good.
Tim / GM:Cool.
Hannah / Eryn:And then yeah. I feel like it's kinda funny because I think Aaron and Journey are super similar, but very different, like, people in the game. Mhmm. But also, like, sneaky killing machines is our MO. So, yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:We're gonna murder you while you're not looking, so watch out.
Tim / GM:Aaron, I think this would be a good time also to acknowledge the forms that we've seen. So far, we've seen Erin, the middle aged elf woman, but we also saw Tryndle Breath back in Farewell.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. I forgot. We gave her a last name. Breath? Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. The last name was Breath. God.
Tim / GM:And a couple times now, we've also seen a child. Was it the same child?
Hannah / Eryn:No. So the child is just kind of a randomization mode.
Tim / GM:When you need the sympathy of others talking to any adults.
John / Doran:Does any of the kids' parents murdered?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Exactly.
John / Doran:Yeah. I picked this one today.
Speaker 8:These are these are forms you often take.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. So I think children in general, it's just easier to trick people, but I don't necessarily have, like, a specific child I'm impersonating. But Tryndle is based off of an actual, person in the game, who is a noblewoman in the city of Farewell. But Tryndle was used before by Arryn to get up to some shenanigans when they were part of the blight.
Speaker 8:And now all of Farewell thinks that Tryndle is dating Doran Yeah. Or engaged
Hannah / Eryn:to Doran. Yeah. You know? Who knows? But I have a couple other, I mean, main changeling forms that will come out in the future.
Hannah / Eryn:But Eren, as a changeling, can change into anyone, anything. They don't have to have seen them before. The more time they spend with someone, the easier it is for Erin to impersonate them. So
Tim / GM:With that, the 6 minutes are up. The bell rings again, and, you were all really getting into it by this point. It wasn't long, but it was just long enough to resolve the thoughts that you were stuck on, to empty your mind, and to really look around. When that's finished, April collects all of your teacups, and she invites you back for, bright bulb soup later that evening. She gives you a deep bow, apologizes again for the scary experience that you all had, and, leaves you to your own devices.
Tim / GM:You've got the run of the island.
John / Doran:Tower 13? Tower 13?
Speaker 8:Wait. Which one 13 was the evil one.
John / Doran:I'm kidding, Poppy. Yes. They said that
Speaker 7:one was against the rules.
Speaker 8:It's cursed, Doran.
John / Doran:Well, maybe.
Speaker 7:Well, I was thinking during our 6 minutes. Yeah. It's not a fully formed plan yet, but what if we were to ignore the rules and enter the tower anyway?
Speaker 8:Do you guys did you not hear her say cursed? I mean, I'm inclined to believe people when they tell me things.
Speaker 4:Honestly, I've always just wanted a cat, so I really feel like I need to investigate the cloud, Kip,
Hannah / Eryn:a little bit more.
John / Doran:I was worried about that. Well, I mean, Guy, I don't I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but do you consider yourself cursed?
Speaker 7:I I do, in fact.
John / Doran:I've said this before.
Speaker 8:I don't like it when he talks about himself like that.
John / Doran:Well, I mean, what harm could come of learning more about curses, especially for Guy here? I I don't know. We have 2 weeks. I'm I'm open to it because, yeah, I think it's important that Guy can learn what he needs to.
Speaker 7:Yes. I would not ask anyone else to join me.
Speaker 4:I think that investigating the tower might be a good idea, but I wonder if we should wait until our ship is back on the way.
Speaker 8:That's what I
Speaker 10:was thinking.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Just in case we do get kicked off.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin nods and says cloud capsidas.
Speaker 4:Well, I did have one thing that I wanted to do, but it's just by myself, if that's alright.
Hannah / Eryn:Does anyone know how to hunt? Yes. And not hurt? Yes.
John / Doran:Great. Seems like hunting hurts.
Speaker 10:I mean, you guys
John / Doran:always hurts when you hunt.
Hannah / Eryn:Catch and release. Right? I'm pretty
Speaker 8:sure they said there was food here.
Speaker 2:Well, no. We need to get the cloud kip. Oh, right. Right.
Tim / GM:Need.
Speaker 4:We need I'm just gonna run this quick errand for myself really quick. I
John / Doran:Are you also going to look for this cat thing?
Speaker 4:No. I don't want a cat. I
John / Doran:think that check. 23.
Speaker 4:I don't want a cat. I if anyone wants to come with, they can. I'm just gonna have a moment to mourn the bud that was lost.
Speaker 8:Oh, that's totally fine. If you need space, that's okay.
Speaker 4:I just I just feel like I need to have a moment with the buds and sitting here and thinking about everything that happened in the past days, I've just kinda let that get away from me, and I think I need a moment just to acknowledge what happened.
Speaker 7:Very well.
Speaker 8:That's totally valid. We'll leave you alone.
Speaker 4:Any of you are welcome to join me. It's I just didn't wanna make you join me.
Speaker 2:It's such a fantastic
Tim / GM:game of, like, like, oh, no. You can all come.
Speaker 2:Oh, we wouldn't dare.
Tim / GM:Do you
Speaker 8:do you want us to do you want company?
Speaker 4:No. No. No. It's it's alright. I just it's alright.
Speaker 4:Journey's backing up and, like, has her hands up like, it's alright. I didn't need anybody to come with. I just didn't want you to feel like I was leaving you out. I'm just gonna walk around this way Okay. And I'll see y'all later.
Tim / GM:My question to all of you is is Erin still there when you all turn back around? No.
Speaker 8:You're asking us or are you asking Erin? Asking
Hannah / Eryn:Erin. Okay. No. You're all.
Tim / GM:She's asking dice.
Speaker 4:I'm asking dice.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Erin's still there. Okay.
Speaker 8:Oh, okay.
John / Doran:Well, it was pretty clear that Journey wanted us to not go with. So
Hannah / Eryn:what was in tower 13, Dorn?
John / Doran:I look around and make sure April's not nearby.
Tim / GM:You good?
John / Doran:That's the one thing they told us not to do, and that's the curse tower.
Hannah / Eryn:Which one was the one the true crime tower?
John / Doran:I don't know if they told us, and I I feel like true crime just kinda it, for some reason, loses its, like, oomph. That's not really I don't know. We'll have to ask Hubert about that, but maybe we want to just scope out tower 13 and see if anybody's there just to see.
Hannah / Eryn:You know? We weren't going for 2 more weeks.
John / Doran:No. We're not gonna go inside, but just to, like, see with the number and know where it is.
Speaker 8:I'm not going. I don't wanna get cursed.
Hannah / Eryn:Poppy needs to help me on a very important mission.
Speaker 2:I want soup. To get a cat. Soup.
Speaker 7:Okay. You should steer clear, Poppy. I will be alright.
John / Doran:Guy and I can go, and then if you 2 wanna look for a cat instead of Comforting Journey, that's that's fine.
Speaker 8:I want soup. I'm going to get soup.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron shifts into a turtle, and then walks off into the woods.
Speaker 4:Okay. Goodbye.
John / Doran:I didn't know she could do that. That's
Tim / GM:fast. Let's go with the first one to take action here, Journey.
Speaker 4:Journey is just gonna walk to the nearest, I guess, edge of any sort of cliff or anything. I don't it doesn't necessarily need to be the edge of the island. Mhmm.
Tim / GM:You end up on the west end of the island, close to, but not quite on the actual edge. This is a large, like, sloping hill. It's a little unnerving because at sometimes it feels like you're about to roll off the island, but you'll be fine. There is a a wind blowing at your back, kind of tossing all the tall grass here.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Journey just sits down cross legged and shakes her hair and lets the Fay buds all kind of come out and swirl around in the air. And then she just kinda sits and looks at them and, you know, reaches up her hands and lets them land on her hands and takes a moment to comfort them and to take comfort from them as they all went through something really traumatic that she didn't really have a chance to process before now. Just taking a moment to breathe and yeah.
Tim / GM:As you're sitting there in the grass, when you're lower down, it's actually much quieter, and there's much less wind rolling over you. And the feybuds even in the daylight here, you know, they cause a good deal of, like, color and light. It's very pretty to watch them kind of swarm around, and they disperse and move away from you and explore the island a little bit on their own just in the 50 or so feet around you, and they come back to you and begin to circle you again, and very suddenly, your vision is clouded terribly because another cloud has rolled into the island and, has taken away this little bit of sunshine that you've all gotten. Perhaps even you can't exactly see it at this point. Those feybuds are casting colorful little bursts of light in these clouds, and it's very easy to see them at a distance.
Tim / GM:But they swarm back to you, and that's the point at which they all acknowledge what had happened. Their initial excitement about the island is gone, and they gather into a loose circle. And they're not exactly joining hands, but they are having a communal moment.
Speaker 4:I smile and take a last deep breath and then gather them all back into my hair and and carefully make my way back, to the the main area.
Tim / GM:As you're walking through the grass here, you find a you find a trodden path that other people have walked before, and then you see a dark shape in front of you. And someone turns around to look at you, and there's a very, very old man, a human, almost bald on top, of pale skin, turns to look at you wearing this, kind of dingy, like, brown and green robe, and he just smiles big and gives you, like, a big nod.
Speaker 4:Oh, hi there.
Speaker 2:I didn't know there was anybody else out here.
Speaker 4:Oh, I was I was just taking a moment with my little fey friends. I I I didn't mean to intrude on your space if this is something you were if you were trying to be alone. I I apologize.
Tim / GM:He takes way too long to respond, and then he smirks and says, I didn't know there was anyone else out here. This guy is older than any human you've ever seen. His skin is so wrinkled, he barely looks like a human.
Speaker 4:I would like to use detect magic. I wanna get a feel for if he's really here.
Tim / GM:Oh, okay. When you cast Detect Magic, you see a lot of it within this person. They're certainly here, but they're dense with magic, dense like bismite.
Speaker 4:Okay. I step closer. Hi.
Tim / GM:He, again, seems to be not really tracking the conversation. He's looking at where you were, and then suddenly, he kind of looks up at where you are like he's delayed on everything. Alright. He says, what is this now? And he's gesturing at the, colors peeking out of your hair.
Speaker 4:I, brush a hand through my hair and bring some of the fay buds on my fingertips closer to him so he can see.
Tim / GM:His eyes start to glitter, and he smiles real big. There's something unsettling about this person. He's got an energetic look to him, an excitement about him even though he's so old. He's got piercing bright blue eyes. His smile widens, and he says, most interesting.
Speaker 4:Take a step back.
Tim / GM:Just don't be afraid. Any steps towards you.
Speaker 4:What what are you doing on this island? Are are you here to learn? Or
Tim / GM:Yes. I'm here to learn much, much about this place. He steps closer.
Speaker 4:I take another step back.
Tim / GM:He says.
Speaker 2:Come now.
Speaker 4:I'm gonna use primeval awareness.
Tim / GM:Okay. Fiend. A fiend with a little shot of celestial.
Speaker 4:I I think I better go find find my friends.
Tim / GM:He shakes his head side to side.
Speaker 4:Nice to meet you.
Speaker 2:Cody? Cody, where are you?
Tim / GM:The old man's eyes flick open, and he disappears.
Speaker 2:Jerdie. Jerdie. I saw you out here. You're far too close to the edge. You can't be out here when the clouds come around.
Speaker 2:Jordy.
Speaker 4:Hello?
Tim / GM:Ah, Jordy. Hubert pokes through the mist.
Speaker 2:He says, you can't be this close to the edge when the clouds come about.
Speaker 6:You don't know half where you are. You're
Speaker 4:a 100% rat. I, I just saw someone.
Speaker 2:Describe him. How big was the shell?
Speaker 4:Not shelled. He was he was human looking.
Speaker 2:One of the miners then.
Speaker 4:No. He was something else. Very old. Very powerful.
Speaker 2:Are you quite sure?
Tim / GM:He's, handing you a rope that is tied to his shell?
Speaker 4:I I grab it and I'm just still kind of babbling while I'm taking this rope.
Tim / GM:And then he just starts walking and he's got you kind of tethered?
Speaker 4:I don't know where he came from. He seemed like he didn't quite know what was going on, but then, I don't know. He I had a weird feeling.
Speaker 2:Are you sure it wasn't a bright bulb in the clouds?
Speaker 4:It wasn't a bright bulb. I don't know. Maybe I was maybe it was an after effect from the from the smoke. I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yes. I heard about that terrible interaction. Perhaps the driftweed is not for you.
Speaker 4:Oh, I've been having a weird day.
Speaker 2:You should take some rest. Get some soup.
Speaker 4:I guess.
Tim / GM:Let's move on to
Speaker 7:Erin. I've got episode titles for every one of our exploits. There's Journey Funeral for a Fae, To Catch a Cloud Kip, The Search for Soup, and Trouble in Tower 13.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh my god. Beautiful.
John / Doran:That's so good.
Speaker 2:If only
Tim / GM:they could all be episodes.
Hannah / Eryn:It might be.
Speaker 7:Micro episodes. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Erin, from up on that cliff edge when you guys were all having tea, you saw that cloud gyp. It was kind of in this juniper grove, a little bit farther down. It's almost the bottom of the island with the lowest point you can go, so that's where you head. That's your first starting point. You've seen some of those bright bulbs up in the sky, but now that the clouds have returned a little bit, it seems like you might be completely out of luck.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron is going to, try to shift into April Mhmm. As close as they can so that if anyone spots them or sees them, they don't come and ask questions, hopefully, from afar.
Speaker 6:Sure.
Hannah / Eryn:I am going to look for signs of a cloud kip.
Tim / GM:Okay. Give me a survival check. This is a sort of natural ability to track things.
Speaker 4:Cloud Kipps your favorite enemy?
Hannah / Eryn:Natural 20.
Tim / GM:Oh my god.
Speaker 4:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 8:We're getting a cloud Kipp. Well,
John / Doran:we got it, folks.
Speaker 2:That is crazy.
Hannah / Eryn:That's great because my survival's plus 0.
Tim / GM:Wow. Shit. Okay. You've been looking at the cliffs, the rocks, being that that's where you saw it in the first place. You would assume it's kind of in the same place, maybe in one of those little caves, but no.
Tim / GM:Where you end up finding it is deeper into this Juniper Grove. You can see part of this area is very much man made or turtle made. This area is kind of set up like a museum. There's these natural rock spires, but planted on top of them are small manicured bonsai trees. Somebody has gone through painstaking effort to trim these down into grand little bonsais.
Tim / GM:Clinging to one of those bonsai trees, you see a giant tailed cloud kip. The cloud kip has 2 modes, and it is moving erratically or completely still. Mhmm. You see it kind of, like, move in a spiral up this bonsai tree, and then stop abruptly and stare directly at you with huge eyes. And then it breaks and starts moving again and stops again and looks up at you, kind of hiding behind the tree now.
Speaker 10:It's so cute.
Hannah / Eryn:Could I see that it was, like, eating anything or interested in the tree for a certain reason?
Tim / GM:Yes. It seems to be attracted to juniper berries that have grown on this tiny bonsai.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. I will, pick up some berries, like, on a little branch Mhmm. And be like and try to make, like, a little I'm trying to imagine what a fluffy cloud cat noise would be.
Tim / GM:Let's all take a stab at cloud caps. I was thinking, like,
Speaker 6:a or
Hannah / Eryn:I imagine it more like a puff. Like yeah.
Tim / GM:Can You incorporate a puff into that, Maggie? Actually, okay. I think I like that the most. Yeah. Yeah.
John / Doran:That's right.
Tim / GM:The cloud kip is clinging to this tree and kind of sticks their neck out a little bit towards you when it sees the berries and goes,
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron says, come here. Come here.
Tim / GM:It, like, moves its head sideways just to get another perspective on you and then shifts its head the other way, and its eyes are just getting bigger and bigger. But for all that, it's moving no closer to you.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron's gonna just take very slow steps towards it.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 8:You're a
Speaker 10:pretty kip, aren't you?
Tim / GM:Make a stealth check.
Speaker 8:The only thing Erin is soft about.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Hannah / Eryn:13.
Tim / GM:Okay. It notices you moving. It, squirrels well, it it keeps behind the bonsai. It, flees behind the bonsai again and hides from you but doesn't leave.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron is just going to hold very still and just wait Okay. And hold the berries out. Yeah. And kinda, like, shake them now and then. Just gently.
Speaker 6:Okay.
Speaker 2:And
Hannah / Eryn:just hold there as long as it takes.
Tim / GM:You occasionally remind the Cloud Kip that there are berries to be had. And after 15 minutes of standing there, it starts to make its way towards you. It has made up its mind. It's going to try. It begins to climb you.
Tim / GM:It climbs your arm out onto the branch and starts eating the berries.
Hannah / Eryn:And it's like the size of a kitten?
Tim / GM:Yeah. It weighs almost nothing.
Speaker 4:That was an actual involuntary sound that came out of Hannah.
Hannah / Eryn:So Aaron wears, like, a cowl neck, hoodie?
Tim / GM:Total April wearing a cowl neck hoodie?
Hannah / Eryn:They are now. Why not?
Tim / GM:They're okay.
Hannah / Eryn:And they sort of shifted around gently and tried to, scoop the cloud kip off their arm into the hoodie part of the cowl.
Tim / GM:Okay. I'll need a sleight of hand check for that.
Speaker 8:Like a baby Bjorn?
Speaker 4:Yes. Trying to swaddle this kip. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:It's more like a kangaroo pouch. Yeah. Oh, so bad.
Speaker 8:8. Oh. The,
Tim / GM:cloud Kip just spanks right into the air and catches some wind, and you see it immediately drift back like a lost dandelion about 30 feet away from you. No. And it lands much higher on a tree.
Hannah / Eryn:What color is this one? Are they different colors?
Tim / GM:So this one is, mostly gray on top and then white underneath.
Hannah / Eryn:That's fine. I wanna hold out for a black one anyway. Aaron sits down for just a few more minutes just to watch the cloud kip to see if it comes back at all.
Tim / GM:You hear a a crunch
Speaker 6:of feet in the in
Tim / GM:the gravel approaching this place. The cloud kip gets extra skittish at that and kind of moves out of sight for a second.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron stands up and tries to hide. Okay.
Tim / GM:Make that, stealth check for me.
Hannah / Eryn:17.
Tim / GM:A very large turtle, the largest you've seen so far by a good deal, much bigger than Huber, is walking into this area. He's carrying a, large iron shears, like big scissors in one hand. And he's walking out to the bonsai, and, he begins just, like, trimming them up a little bit.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm just gonna watch them.
Speaker 11:You hear. Oh. What's this? Come here. It's alright.
Speaker 11:Come out now. Come towards me. It's okay.
Tim / GM:You see that cloud kip start to move again. It, like, looks at him tentatively and then it bounds out of the tree and lands firmly on his shell.
Speaker 11:That's a good girl, aye.
Tim / GM:He just, like, takes one finger and just kinda pats it, like, from the nose up the head, and it seems to acquiesce. The the cloud kip is fine with it. He continues to trim his bonsai tree, not ever knowing that you're there.
Hannah / Eryn:Aaron's just gonna watch him interact with the cloud Kip for research and then gonna try to catch another one another day and never reveal themselves to this turtle Sure. As he's there.
Tim / GM:Aaron, during that couple minutes of, recon or research or monitoring this guy, he starts to quietly explain what he's doing to the cloud Kip. He says, you see this?
Speaker 11:You know why we cut them like this? It's so we make it look like it's much bigger than it is.
Tim / GM:See here? And Aaron, you're kind of looking from a distance and you can kind of see what he's getting at. You know, the way he trims these things gives it the proportions of a massive elegant tree even though it's a miniature version of that. He says, it's beautiful, isn't it? Look here.
Tim / GM:Convince yourself of it. It's big. Can you see it? The Cloud Kipa is just kind of interestedly like moving its head back and forth, not understanding a word that he's saying. He says, it's beautiful because we choose to see it that way.
Tim / GM:Perception's a powerful thing, Old things can be big. And he gives a tap to that cloud Kip again. And then he just goes,
Speaker 11:oh ho ho.
Tim / GM:And it kind of like, bounds off of him back into the trees. And he departs with that.
Speaker 7:Big thanks to Michael Caine for playing the
Speaker 4:Michael Caine.
John / Doran:The turtle
Speaker 8:botanist. You always have to have one very calm British man Yeah. Explaining things to you in
Hannah / Eryn:a beautiful way. To us.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Alright. Poppy.
Speaker 8:Out for soup.
Tim / GM:You don't know where to go, do you?
Speaker 8:Nope.
Tim / GM:Okay. I think Poppy just wanders the island until they find
John / Doran:Follow your nose.
Speaker 8:I mean, could I follow my nose?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Give me a, it might be a survival check.
Speaker 8:Or a perception?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Perception's fine. Okay.
Speaker 6:That's a 12.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. Most of this island is very, like, damp smelling, very musty and piney. Not altogether unpleasant, but the one time that you do catch a whiff of food, it catches you like one of those hands made out of steam that draws you towards the pie cooling on the windowsill. It doesn't take much for you to catch this savory scent, but to track it down to the original source is a little harder to do.
Tim / GM:Thankfully, you do run into April, traveling down a narrow stone corridor.
Speaker 8:Oh, April.
Speaker 6:Hello again.
Speaker 8:Hello. I am trying to find that soup you told me about.
Speaker 6:Yes. Yes. It's nearly time. Come with me.
Speaker 8:Perfect. Thank you.
Tim / GM:She leads you to a much larger, hut than the ones that you've seen before. Again, this is made of largely cobbled stone, and then it has a kind of a mossy roof to it. When you enter into there, there's, like, 7 other turtle in there, of varying ages. Some very, very young. Huber is in there as well.
Tim / GM:Mikey is in there. You see some other, young turtle hanging with Mikey, and soup is on. You can see a large jelly being, like, stirred around vigorously so that it's being, like, broken up into the stew.
Speaker 8:That's so fucked up. Yeah. Is there a line?
Tim / GM:No. They're all just kind of lounging, sitting down.
Speaker 8:Okay. So it's not ready yet?
Tim / GM:No. Not quite.
Speaker 8:Okay. I stand awkwardly by the door, like one does in a cafeteria where they don't know anybody.
Tim / GM:Yeah. They all kind of look up at you. Nobody says anything, and Mikey just goes, hi.
Speaker 8:Perfect. Hello. Go and sit by Mikey.
Tim / GM:Mikey gives kind of, like, a careful eye up to Huber, and then Huber looks down at him and gives him a nod. And then Mikey looks at you and says,
Speaker 6:how are you?
Speaker 8:I'm doing great. Thank you. It's been a very interesting morning.
Speaker 6:Are you here for some soup?
Speaker 8:I hope so.
Speaker 6:It's pretty salty. Do you like salty things?
Speaker 8:I love salty things. Good. Good. You like it then?
Speaker 6:Bright bulb soup was my favorite.
Speaker 8:K. I'm now a little bit more wary of the soup.
Tim / GM:Based on Mikey's taste and culinary ability?
Speaker 8:Yes.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Around that time, April meanders up to the vat and gives it a nod. It's ready. They begin doling out clay bowls of soup.
Speaker 8:So you just you just eat it like soup?
Tim / GM:Mikey is grabbing like random shakers off the table and shaking different like salts and ground herbs into his. He's like, well, you gotta season it first.
Speaker 8:Well, how do I how do I know what to season it with if I haven't tasted it? That's half of the experience. Right?
Speaker 6:Fine. Go ahead and eat unseasoned bright bulbs. See what happens.
Speaker 8:Okay. I'll take a very small sip.
Tim / GM:It's like drinking salt water. Like, it's just salty and nothing else.
Speaker 8:So you're adding more salt to it?
Tim / GM:No. No. No.
Speaker 6:Don't you have seasoning spices?
Speaker 8:Yes. But I I assume that they're different everywhere else.
Speaker 6:Of course. These are from saffron.
Speaker 8:These all of these are from saffron? Indeed. Okay. So, tell me about them.
Speaker 6:Well, this one here, it it can make any spicy food not spicy at all. This one here makes any non spicy food almost too spicy to eat.
Speaker 8:I take out a little notepad, and I'm taking notes. Do you know what they're called? Or we can cover that. I'm sure there's info in the towel.
Speaker 6:I'll write it down, and
Tim / GM:you can just read it here.
Speaker 8:Okay. Perfect. Wait. You write I have Shh.
Tim / GM:Shh. Shh. Don't
Speaker 2:don't tell anyone.
Speaker 4:Secret book
Tim / GM:library. We're all poets, Noah. Yeah. He, picks out a few that might suit your delicate palette that he recommends to
Speaker 8:you. Are there any that make something less salty?
Tim / GM:Of course. He, reaches for a dull green shaker, Gives it to you. Some, very crispy looking herb chops fall out of it.
Speaker 8:What are these?
Speaker 6:I don't know.
Speaker 10:Okay.
Tim / GM:It makes things not salty.
Speaker 8:Perfect. I'll add a little bit of almost too spicy, some of the not so salty, and then cinnamon or something. I don't fucking know.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. At this point, it's almost like drinking, like, a savory Red Hot. It'll take some experimentation. Yes.
Tim / GM:Suffice to say, the base of the soup is not all that unpleasant, actually. It turns out kind of, like, creamy almost.
Speaker 8:Okay. Okay. Yeah. I will probably spend the rest of my week trying to perfect my own bright bulb soup recipe.
Tim / GM:And getting used to saffron spices. Yes. The real shit. Poppy, as you, finish off as much of the soup as you choose to eat at this point, Mikey just kind of asks the room in general. He says, well, what's for dessert?
Tim / GM:And they all kind of look at each other and Huber says, I think we have more
Speaker 2:of the, cake that you made, Mikey.
Tim / GM:And Mikey kinda, like, stares at the floor and, like, looks very ashamed.
Speaker 8:I think we kinda ate all of that, actually.
Speaker 2:It did. They did seem to enjoy it.
Speaker 8:Sorry. We did eat it all, so there's no no more cake left for anyone.
Speaker 2:So there's no dessert?
Speaker 8:I wouldn't say that. I might be able to whip something up.
Tim / GM:You see the simultaneous curiosity of 7 Tortle as they all extend their necks further and further out of their shells and lean in towards you, and Huber says, what is it you have for us, Poppy?
Speaker 8:Well, I haven't made anything yet.
Tim / GM:They all look at each other. Made?
Speaker 8:Yeah. I I bake. That's that's what I do. I'm a baker, professionally.
Speaker 7:They all look at each other
Tim / GM:and start nodding. And what do you bake?
Speaker 8:Oh, all kinds of things. Cookies and pies and and Pottery? What?
Speaker 2:Pottery?
Speaker 8:Pottery.
Speaker 4:You can't eat pottery.
Speaker 8:Although, I wonder if you could make edible pottery. I mean, there's there's bread bowls and stuff, so you could probably just move on to the rest of the
Tim / GM:Mikey walks up to you with another small turtle around his same size. Mikey says,
Speaker 11:do you have, sweets?
Speaker 8:I certainly do. I can make sweets.
Tim / GM:The one next to him says, we had sweets before. They're really good. We we get sweets, like, once every couple months when the whale comes by, and we everybody gets sweets. And, Bobby, we don't have any sugar here out the island, but, god, have we left this stuff?
Speaker 8:Well, you're in luck because I that's my specialty. I will make sweets. Do you guys have favorite, flavors?
Tim / GM:He looks in towards Mikey, and he goes, fuck yes.
Speaker 2:He even goes, Ralphie.
Speaker 8:Do you guys eat fruit?
Tim / GM:We get fruit on occasion.
Speaker 2:What is it you intend to feed these children?
Speaker 8:Oh, it's not just for the kids. Ah,
Speaker 2:in that case, how can I help you?
Speaker 8:Well, are there delicacies that you guys like to use? What do you eat? Just bright bulbs?
Speaker 2:This island gives us a plentiful bounty. However, flavor is not our element.
Tim / GM:Yes. Sustenance is what we have here.
Hannah / Eryn:That's just in the tower of flavor.
Tim / GM:You'd have to go there
Speaker 8:to find out more. Well, I I still have kind of a back stock. I wasn't planning on going through as much of it as I'll have to for this, but I'm happy to make something for everyone.
Tim / GM:Mikey goes,
Speaker 6:I want a chocolate chip.
Speaker 8:Just one?
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Speaker 6:I've had chocolate before.
Speaker 2:4 years ago, I got chocolate.
Speaker 8:Chocolate it is, I think. Yeah? Yeah. Okay. I'll go just whip up some chocolate chip cookies.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You come back in with them, and they are all seated at the table. Some of them have, like, bibs installed, like, coming off of their shells. Forks and knives, they don't know what to expect. Plates, warm water, cold water, they are ready.
Speaker 8:Alright. Everyone put your silverware down. You don't need those.
Speaker 2:Of of course.
Speaker 8:This is what we call finger food.
Tim / GM:They all start looking at their giant turtle hands and that'd
Speaker 8:be Hand food. I'll dole out a cookie each.
Tim / GM:The The first reaction is adorable. It's it's just Mikey smiling to himself, and he can see little tears well up in his eyes. When Hubert does the same thing, it's a little unsettling. He reaches down and touches the side of your face with his tortle hand and he just
Speaker 2:says, an angel unto this island.
Speaker 8:Oh, gosh. I wouldn't go that far, but, yeah. I'm happy to put smiles on people's faces.
Tim / GM:You see Hubert's face kind of squinch in, and he just does like a, so sweet.
Speaker 8:Too too sweet?
Tim / GM:No. Never too sweet. Yeah. You've got 7 extremely happy customers chowing down on some cookies in here.
Speaker 8:Oh, there's only 7 of them? Yeah. Oh, there's plenty of cookies to go around.
John / Doran:Perfect.
Speaker 8:I made a large batch.
Tim / GM:On the other side of the island, on the east end, in the shadow of a cliff, lies Tower 13. Standing before it, Doran and Guy. It is indeed the shortest tower on the entire island. If these are all the same size, almost the entire tower lies underground. The tower itself is scarcely higher than the door, maybe 10 feet tall.
John / Doran:Nobody's there?
Tim / GM:Nobody.
Speaker 7:Is there anything indicating we need to stay out?
Tim / GM:I mean, aside from some ropes and a small chain on the door, there is some writing that you do not understand scrawled onto the door.
Speaker 7:Well, here it is, Doran. Are we prepared to disobey our turtle masters?
Tim / GM:Give me a perception check, both of you.
John / Doran:13. 9.
Tim / GM:Okay. You notice that this tower is quite close to a couple others. It's not, like, isolated, kind of off by itself. But you also don't see any other turtle around here, nor any of your party. Seems the coast is clear.
John / Doran:I think we should stick with the group plan to wait to try this one out towards the end of our 2 weeks here. But good to know that doesn't seem to be guarded, and Doren's gonna walk around it, just kinda looking around, looking out away from the tower, but also glancing back to see, like, are there any, like, windows or openings in the roof or anything like that?
Tim / GM:Give me an investigation check. You know a little bit more of what you're looking for here. 14. Okay. You don't really get it, but kind of around the backside of the tower, you see just the vaguest outline of what looks like a chalk line drawn in, like, a rough door
John / Doran:shape. Do you see this guy? I kinda gesture with my elbow, looking off into the distance.
Speaker 7:Looks like some sort of marking. I'm not quite sure. Maybe all the towers have this.
John / Doran:Yeah. It's curious. Is door shaped?
Speaker 7:There already was a door, though.
John / Doran:No windows, it appears. I really can't believe nobody's guarding this.
Speaker 7:Maybe it's not as bad as they made it seem.
John / Doran:Probably. I don't know. I don't really feel anything standing here. Do you detect anything?
Speaker 7:Let me see. No.
Speaker 2:I
John / Doran:mean, it wouldn't hurt to at least just check to see if it's locked. Right? Wouldn't hurt to check.
Tim / GM:Gonna try the door?
John / Doran:So, yeah, Doran's just kinda like, maybe just like tossing a rock around, and kinda leans up against the door, and then I'm gonna slip my hand down, kinda stealthily, just kinda check to see if it's locked.
Speaker 6:Okay.
Tim / GM:Yeah. It's, the kind of door handle that you'd have to, like, push down on something to get it to unlatch. When you do, though, the latch is stuck fast. It is locked.
John / Doran:Okay. Yep. It's locked. I might need Aaron's help on this. Maybe we gotta catch a cat.
Hannah / Eryn:I have a question. Mhmm. How close were, Darren and Guy to where Aaron was looking for the cat, or is it not in the same area?
Tim / GM:Give me a d twenty. Let's check.
Hannah / Eryn:The 20.
Tim / GM:Natural 20? Mhmm. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 8:Holy shit.
Tim / GM:So you actually have watched them approach. You watched Doran walk around the entire tower. The clouds aren't so thick here that you can't see them, you know, a good 50 feet away as they are.
Hannah / Eryn:So, yeah, I think Aaron, like I said, was just making their way back to the main area and just happened to hear them, like, kind of poking around tower 13 and decided to have a little fun. I'm still in April's turtle form.
John / Doran:Great.
Hannah / Eryn:And I'm going to try to shake some bushes, like, nearby and make a little bit of noise to, like, sort of frighten them as, Doren goes up to the door to to see if it unlocks.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. You both hear that shaking bush.
Speaker 7:Woah. Did you hear that?
John / Doran:Yeah. Maybe it's a cat.
Speaker 10:Oh, dear. Oh, dear.
Hannah / Eryn:And I'm gonna, like, fumble out of the bush. Oh.
Speaker 10:Oh. Oh. Oh. I am so sorry. I didn't, see you there.
John / Doran:April, we were just checking to make sure it's locked, after we heard everything Hubert said.
Speaker 10:Oh, yes. Hubert does not want anyone to go into that tower. What
Speaker 8:are you doing?
John / Doran:Oh, yes. It is.
Speaker 10:Trying to go into the tower.
Speaker 7:Wait. I'm checking if it is securely locked as Doran said.
Hannah / Eryn:Did you touch it? April looks deep into the eyes of Doran.
John / Doran:You know, your prime archivist is a bit of a liar, April.
Speaker 10:If you touched it, we have to push you off the island. Don't lie.
John / Doran:As I was saying, the prime archivist is bit of a fibber, I think.
Speaker 10:I'm going to have to tell him what I saw.
John / Doran:What I'm trying to say is, April, was told sweet things are rare on this island, and I'm gonna lean in towards April.
Hannah / Eryn:What the fuck? April just looks confused.
John / Doran:You said you've lived here long. Right?
Hannah / Eryn:Is he trying to charm me?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yes.
Speaker 8:Oh my god.
Hannah / Eryn:You just see April's, has no lips and their little turtle mouth just closes tightly and just, like, purses kind of in a disgruntled face at you.
John / Doran:Oh, I didn't mean to offend.
Speaker 7:I did not touch the door, but may I also throw myself off the island?
Speaker 8:Oh my god.
Speaker 10:Now tell me, before I report you, what is it you seek in this tower?
Speaker 7:Doran, it's okay. I was seeking more information about the curse that afflicts me. Doran was only here to help.
Speaker 10:Mhmm. Cursed. Yes. I definitely can tell you're cursed. Well, it was nice meeting you.
Speaker 10:Good luck. Hope you know some flying spells. Oh, Hubert.
Hannah / Eryn:And, Aaron turns around and waddles off.
Tim / GM:And standing there is Huber, Poppy, and another turtle you haven't met yet. Let's rewind a second. Poppy.
Hannah / Eryn:Yes.
Tim / GM:As they're chowing down on their delicious cookies, first of all, Journey walks in.
Speaker 10:Journey.
Speaker 8:Hi. Hello. Come over.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. I think I need to sit.
Speaker 8:Yeah. Sit. Sit. Sit. Here's a cookie.
Speaker 8:You haven't had one of these yet.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Yeah. And, she eats the cookie and just kinda looks a little befuddled.
Speaker 8:You look more confused
Speaker 4:don't mind me. You keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 8:No. But we're friends. I mean, if you're if you're concerned, do you, do you often see things that aren't there?
Speaker 4:No.
Speaker 8:Okay. I believe you.
Speaker 4:Maybe maybe it was real. Maybe we'll wait till we see the others and then we can talk about it.
Speaker 8:I think that sounds like a good idea. Just rest. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Mikey and Ralphie are both staring at you, finishing off the last bit of their cookie, shoving their fingers into their mouth. Mikey says, what did you see?
Speaker 4:It was it was nothing. I mean, you don't need to worry about it. This is your home. I'm I'm just a guest.
Tim / GM:Mikey looks a little concerned, but you hear another voice at the table, you hear. Please elaborate.
Speaker 4:I saw a person, but I don't think he was really a person. He he looked like an old human, but then
Tim / GM:You hear chairs move very suddenly,
Speaker 4:humans. I mean
Tim / GM:He looks up at Huber. Huber says,
Speaker 2:human, certainly, that came on heaven's feather.
Speaker 4:Well, I don't think I'd ever seen him before and gave me sort of the heebie jeebies.
Speaker 8:Oh, that's not good.
Tim / GM:Indeed. We
Speaker 2:will have April take a look at your heebie jeebies. Describe this person.
Speaker 4:Well, like I said, old for a human, but I don't think he was really human. And, kinda bald. I can nothing on top. Well, I guess, turtle, I'll kinda have. Anyway, and then just real bright blue eyes.
Speaker 4:He was wearing some nothing fancy, just like old raggedy kinda We
Speaker 2:will search for him. This is most concerning. Thank you for telling us.
Speaker 4:Well, of course. I mean, I at first, I thought that maybe I was seeing things because of the smoke because I recently shared some knowledge, but
Speaker 2:a drift weed hallucination. It certainly could be. Is this what you were trying to tell me before? Why didn't you just come out and say so?
Speaker 4:Well, you made it sound like maybe it was a one of the brat bulbs, and I didn't wanna I don't know. I I'm a little out of my depth here.
Speaker 2:Perhaps that was dismissive. Blame it on low blood sugar. Hey?
Speaker 8:Well, I took care of that.
Tim / GM:At this moment, everyone in that room starts to hear Guy and Doran. Because when they found the door and they found the chalk outline, they didn't see the echo bell hanging off the door. Hubert looks up and says,
Speaker 2:we have a problem.
Speaker 11:Poppy, come with me.
Speaker 2:You have some explaining to do?
Speaker 8:I do.
Speaker 2:On his behalf?
Speaker 8:Oh, yeah. That happens a lot.
Speaker 2:Journey, you may rest. I I apologize for before.
Speaker 4:No. That's alright. I wasn't making much sense, so I'll just sit here and think about all of
Speaker 2:it. Very well. Mikey, Ralph, Donald, Leon, please see to her comfort.
Tim / GM:Huber is fuming the entire time. You're just listening to this conversation. On your way there, Poppy, that grumbly, gruff other turtle is walking with you. As the conversation goes back and forth, you learn that other turtle, his name is Shred. Yes.
Tim / GM:He is their, prime lore hunter. He's the only one to have, one of the only ones to have left the island and come back with stories, gathered lore.
Speaker 10:Okay. See, what you have
Speaker 8:to understand is that guy, doesn't know anything about, the world and how it works.
Tim / GM:You hear a thump come through the echo bell, and you hear Doran go, yep. It's locked.
Speaker 8:Okay. See, I don't I can't speak for Doran. He's he's a whole other entity, but Guy Guy really just wants to figure out what happened to him and,
Speaker 2:Poppy, the truth will be made clear when we encounter them. You need not cover for them.
Speaker 8:But I I just feel responsible because he he's kind of under my wing, you know? I took him in when he had nothing and he still he just has me.
Speaker 2:Understood. I will take mercy on him.
Speaker 8:Thank you. That's that's all I ask.
Tim / GM:You're now getting to the part where April is talking about pushing them off the island. You hear Hubert go, holy shit. What the hell?
Speaker 2:I think we need to hurry up.
Tim / GM:He has all of you jog out to Tower 13 and you see them. It's you, Huber, and Shred standing together facing Guy and Doran with April, quote unquote, turned around between you.
Speaker 2:April, what is the meaning of this?
Speaker 10:Oh, Hubert, just in time. These ruffians were trying to break into tower 13, and now we must push them off the island.
Hannah / Eryn:And, April is gonna make a wink, 1 huge turtle eye turtle eye right at Hubert.
Speaker 2:Okay. No more driftweed, please.
Speaker 10:You're right. You're right. Well, back to my cabin and
Speaker 2:Yes. Indeed. And and get yourself some tea.
Speaker 10:Indeed, Earl Grey.
Speaker 2:As for you 2, I
Speaker 7:think we will just follow April then.
Speaker 2:I think not. Oh.
Speaker 10:Told you so.
Hannah / Eryn:And then, April's gonna shuffle off.
Speaker 8:Poe, guys. Guy. Guy and Doran.
Tim / GM:Hi, Hubert. I believe this was
Speaker 2:the one place I asked you not to go.
John / Doran:And that's why we're here.
Speaker 2:Look.
John / Doran:You know what? I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say sorry. We haven't done anything. All we've done is verified the door is locked and verified this is the number 13 tower. It indeed seems shorter than the other towers, and, we haven't done anything wrong yet.
Speaker 2:Yet being the operative word. And what if it were unlocked? I imagine you'd be halfway down the tower by now.
John / Doran:Nope. We were not gonna go in.
Speaker 7:We probably would have warned you that it was unlocked and dangerous.
Speaker 2:Sympathize with me. How am I to trust you on this island for 2 weeks if in the first day you seek out the one thing I ask you not to?
John / Doran:I think I heard a bell and just need, like, 6 minutes to think that one through.
Speaker 8:Abby is just, like, smacking herself in the forehead.
John / Doran:Hubert, I understand there's great concern about curses and all of that.
Speaker 2:One moment. You've called me Hubert a number of times now. I must insist my name is Hubert.
John / Doran:Like, really, it's just Huber. Huber. I haven't seen it written out. I assumed there was, like, a silent t, and
Speaker 11:I don't know.
John / Doran:Okay. Sorry. Huber.
Speaker 8:Roland. No d. Yeah.
John / Doran:Roland. Mueller. Hubert. T's don't exist in this world. Yeah.
John / Doran:Look. I understand there's great concern about something that's happened in the past related to curses. You must know with your lore hunters in and out of the world that curses still exist, and in the right hands and carefully procured, some knowledge of curses could be good.
Speaker 2:I absolutely agree. That's why we've accumulated knowledge of curses here. However, as I explained, there was a terrible event here some 16 odd years ago.
John / Doran:Nobody's been inside since?
Speaker 2:No one has come out since.
John / Doran:That implies someone has gone inside.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, yes. Some of our lore hunters, more suited to the task, thought they'd be able to cleanse this place. They were wrong.
Speaker 8:Forgive me if I'm wrong, and I didn't really pay attention in that class, but I I thought that curses were taken care of like it was over.
Speaker 2:You're referring to the, events of the great mountain Vindorn. Yes. That resolved a great while ago.
Speaker 8:Yeah. I thought they just took care of it, you know?
Speaker 2:That has not annihilated curses from the world, has only stemmed the flow of the worst of it.
Speaker 8:Well, I dropped out, so you can't blame me for not knowing.
Speaker 7:Huber, if I may, I believe you said one of the consequences of entering this building is that death would soon follow those who enter. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:That has been our experience.
Speaker 7:What if one were to enter whom death has already visited?
Speaker 2:I know not what you refer to. However, I would take caution. This tower cares little for technicalities and qualifications. There are wretched things here. Creatures.
Speaker 2:Unimaginable darkness. I wouldn't recommend it. The knowledge you seek can be gained by other means. I promise you.
Speaker 7:Is this like a come back when we're a higher level thing? Or
Tim / GM:Shred, the other large turtle steps towards you and says, if I may. He looks towards Guy.
Speaker 11:Yes.
Tim / GM:General, if it's recollection you seek, it's not in the tower of curses.
John / Doran:Like general general information? You said general.
Tim / GM:I apologize. He kind of averts his eyes. He says, It's been a long while since I made my visit to Lodom, but
Speaker 8:do Are you a general?
Speaker 7:Do we know each other?
Tim / GM:I was but a brief part of it, but, seems I did not make an impression. Yes, we've we've met before. 10 years ago now, General.
Speaker 7:And, what is your name, Tortle?
Tim / GM:I'm known as Shred here.
Speaker 7:If you know of my past, I might wish to ask that you could share some of this with me. You see, I do not recall a great deal of it.
Tim / GM:Still staring at the floor. I mean, Shred's an imposing dude, but every time Guy talks, Shred looks away and kind of flinches. He says, you did not make your history known to me, but you did to the records.
Speaker 7:I see. What tower may these records be found?
Tim / GM:You would find your recollections secured in a, an advanced storage in Tower 25. It's where we store records of war and torture and crime and atrocities. Sorry.
Speaker 7:Wonderful. I may sink this tower at once.
Tim / GM:Huber is very concerned now with this reaction. He says,
Speaker 2:I'm afraid that knowledge will come at a high price.
Speaker 7:More stories?
Speaker 2:I am afraid so. The knowledge secured here that you had, apparently, given us before was given a very high price.
Speaker 8:Pardon me, but, sorry, guy. If I could speak on your behalf
John / Doran:Please.
Speaker 8:He won't be able to pay that. He doesn't remember. Is there any way I can pay for him?
Speaker 7:Poppy.
Speaker 8:I have I've lived a decent amount of life, and I have much to speak on.
Speaker 7:I mean, I usually let you pay for me in all other senses.
Speaker 8:Well, that's because you can't touch gold, but
John / Doran:can Doran insight Huber here?
Tim / GM:Yeah. So So
John / Doran:what I'm trying to glean is he suddenly said this costs more for some reason. I'm trying to understand if there's an ulterior thing he's trying to get at. Yeah. 4 14 for insight.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You can see there's genuine confusion in Huber's face about this whole thing, But when he talks about the price, he is pretty dogmatic and adamant. He is trying to find a way to make this work for you guys. Like, he wants you to be able to get the knowledge, but this is against the rules. You can't pay for other people.
Speaker 8:What kind of knowledge would pay for this?
Speaker 2:Well, I'd have to do some research, but it would have to be significant. Perhaps you have knowledge of bismite or new technologies.
Speaker 8:What if he could tell you a lot of recipes of foods you've never tried before?
Speaker 7:Seems like you could use it.
Speaker 2:Tempting. It is. However, Poppy, even the recipes of saffron do not compare to the, implications of war crimes.
Speaker 8:So so he'd have to go get more stories?
Speaker 2:I'm afraid
Speaker 8:so. Sorry, Guy. I tried.
Speaker 7:To think I was this close.
Speaker 2:This brings us to another point of concern. Already you have attempted to go somewhere we've begged you not to go. Now you have another such target. I must implore you on this island to not take that which is not granted to you.
Tim / GM:Please.
John / Doran:Can you let Aaron know about that rule next time you see them?
Speaker 2:Of course.
Speaker 7:That is probably very important. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
John / Doran:We're usually pretty good about that rule.
Speaker 8:Yeah. We've never taken anything that doesn't belong to us ever.
Hannah / Eryn:Like, Aaron already broken a tower 25 as this conversation obviously.
John / Doran:So one of us cannot go in and learn about it and then go tell Guy?
Speaker 2:We don't control the flow of information once it is given. However, Guy, your stories will always be filtered by the person giving you the information. You will never experience it firsthand in this way.
John / Doran:Well, that's not quite the same. What do you think, I?
Speaker 7:For a long time, I've wanted to know who I was before all this.
John / Doran:Rules or no rules, I do not think a locked door will stop me from finding out. Very well.
Tim / GM:There's kind of a moment of tension. Shred says, I will enforce the rules on this island no matter what it comes to.
Speaker 7:Guy places his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Speaker 8:Oh, let's why don't we talk about it a little more?
Tim / GM:And I think we'll end it there. Thanks everybody so much for listening. I am Tim, your DM.
John / Doran:I am John, still playing Dorn and nervous.
Speaker 8:I'm Maggie, and I play Poppy Kenmore.
Speaker 7:I'm Thomas. I'm Guy.
Speaker 4:I'm Tara, and I play Journey.
Speaker 10:And this is Hannah playing Aaron.
Speaker 4:Playing Aaron playing April.
Speaker 10:See you
Speaker 6:in the next one.
