Episode 106

This transcript is machine-generated and may contain errors in names, terminology, or attribution.

(Coughing) Peacocks. This summer, during the biggest sporting event of the year, Peacock turns to two broadcasting legends for the Olympics coverage you can't find anywhere else. Um, I think they mean us. Oh, s**t. Um... (Clears throat) With an incredible duo sure to take home the comedy gold. Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. New episodes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only on Peacock. Coming to Apple TV Plus on August 9th. You're the Marine? Yeah, you're the ex-con. Yeah, I did time, but you only got to cast aspersions at me. From the director of Mr. and Mrs.

Smith and The Bourne Identity comes a new film. Is this your first job? I know what I'm doing. I'm a little late for a crit change. Starring Matt Damon. Everybody in New England is after us. And Casey Affleck. Go, go, go, go, go! What are you doing? Taking notes. Taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. The Instigators. Rated R. Streaming August 9th on Apple TV Plus. Episode 106 of the DNR Podcast is brought to you today by Loot Crate. If you go to lootcrate.com/dandr, you can get a percentage off of your subscription. A lot of people in the cast have already done it.

We've had tons of listeners try it out. They've got novels and t-shirts and all kinds of random stuff sent to them each and every month. There's a theme. This last month was Covert Ops, so all kinds of spy stuff. James Bond, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., all kinds of stuff like that. We're not exactly sure what the theme is for the month of April, but we can't wait to see. So go to lootcrate.com/dandr and try it out. Hey DNR listeners. My name is Susan Spinnater and I play Air Love Grimnast on group 2 and Sonja Bein on group DRP. If you like what we do here and you'd like to help us out, it'd be really cool if you could rate us on iTunes.

It's always 5 stars. I mean, be honest, but seriously, 5 stars. It helps to get more people to hear about the show and get more people listening, so do that. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. Also, we have a Patreon that you could donate to. It helps keep the lights on and gives Jason food money, because eating's good, and it keeps the show running. So if you could donate to that, that'd be really cool. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed the episode. Let's do that thing where we go around the table. I'm Jason, I'm the Dungeon Master.

Going around the table starting with Danielle. Hi, I'm Danielle. I play Leila Silverkin. And James. Hey, it's James. I play Dagon Arkenscape, the Aladdin Zion. And Xavier. I am Xavier and I play Actaronus, the Revenant Cleric. And Alex. Hey, I'm Alex and I play Brelin, the Halfling Bard. And Susan. Hey, Susan Spinnater and I play Air Love Grimnast, the Tiefling Invoker. Last and certainly not least, Jamie. Hi, I'm Jamie and I play Kori, Forest Keeper, a bad omen. Last time on the show, you guys trekked through Yemgar Swamp for a while to find the witch who lives there and to have her read Kori's lithoderm.

She did just that after a bit of bartering. You found out that Kori is something called a blood omen. You don't know much about it, but you did know that according to the witch, if you believe in legends and gods and things like that, Kori is supposed to signify the death knell for anything or anyone that gets close to her. One could make the argument that that has already been in effect since she's joined group two. Again, that could just be coincidence. It depends on how you look at it. The end of the session, Kori sort of slipped away from the group and sort of went off by herself into the swamp.

So how about we pick things up right outside of the witches hut. What would you guys like to do? What would the bulk of the party like to do? Actaronis will be outside. Everyone else would be joining Actaronis right now. Yeah. Ask Actaronis where Kori went probably. I'm just keeping an eye on her. She's right over there and I just point at seemingly nothing. She can't be that far. And then I kind of like concentrate on trying to feel that soul bond we have. Do me a favor and roll a perception check for me. 21. You're going to sort of feel Kori's presence. It's not that far away but she is definitely a little bit away from the group.

And she seems to have went in a northeasterly direction. Can I feel if she's still moving? No, that's not something that you'd be able to. Okay. Well I know where she is so if you want to press on and try to catch up to her. I can only assume coming from a blood witch that was bad news. Speaking of which, could I roll an insight check just to analyze the witches words? Sure. Because it's directly after the conversation. Sure. Go ahead. 21. So this witch is a little hard to read. You don't get the feeling that she was openly trying to lie to you about anything but at the same time everything she said seemed to have a tinge of there's another layer behind that.

Like that might not be the entire truth. So she may not have been outright lying to you but at the same time there may be something lurking behind that witch which may sort of alter the meaning of some of the things that she said. So as far as the party's concerned is that what you guys would like to do or is that something that Erolope would relay to the rest of the party? While I believe what she was saying was true she may be hiding something about Kori's lithoderms. There might be something more. I highly doubt that she's the tomb of us all. Is that what the witch told her?

Why are we even still here next to that blood mage? Let's just go after Kori. I had enough of this nonsense. And I'll start moving but you can go ahead and talk. As you're moving. While the witch did give some pretty bad information about Kori's lithoderms it's not necessarily the whole truth. I remember her telling me that with my emotions unchecked if I'd raged out I would be basically a weapon of mass destruction. And I took it upon myself to learn to control my emotions. I think Kori has a choice here whether she realizes it or not. When you mentioned the fact that you are controlling your rage and that you could blow up at any moment, Bralen's gonna widen his eyes and then kind of move away from you a little bit and kind of shift behind Echoronas slightly.

Do I notice that? Roll a perception. I would say that you notice him shift back a little bit as you're saying that. I'll just look down at Bralen and say, "Don't worry I've had many many years of practice." He's gonna nod. "Okay." Craig's just sort of watching this play out. And he's not gonna say anything yet but you can tell that he has probably 1500 questions. I'll keep on moving then. How about we catch up with Kori? What would Kori be doing right about now? Well I would think after she composes herself a little bit she's still on the ground of the swamp.

And after making the realization that, or what she believes to be real, that she has caused all this harm to her friends and her party. She would probably look back from where she came, like over her shoulder, stand up and keep walking. Just, I assume, looking at the map she's probably headed towards the forest. I know it's a long trek. Right. Do me a favor and roll a nature check for me please. Oh my god. 39. Jesus. Almost a crit. I didn't know that number existed. Jesus. Okay. That's a 39. Here's where Kori has the edge on the party. Kori is able to navigate through the swamp and avoid all the dangers that would normally hamper a bulky party kind of stomping through.

That is a skill that the party itself maybe doesn't have and that might slow them down a little bit. We'll see. I'm not sure. I would say that Kori would expertly just dodge any spider webs or any tentacles. Anything that has accosted the group so far, she would be able to avoid all of those things and continue toward the evergreen. The rest of the party, while we're doing a roll, who would be your tracker right now? Obviously you're relying on Actoronus and his connection to Kori to point you in the right direction, sort of like a compass. But who would be the one looking out for all the natural dangers of the swamp?

Who's going to roll me a nature check is what I'm asking. I have 10. Oh yeah. Whoever has the 10. I have 10. I'm 9. Okay. Okay. Too much pressure. Oh my god. Okay. 27. Not bad at all, actually. I would say that the group is almost keeping pace with Kori. There's a little bit of a separation. There may be a little bit of a hurdle here and there, but they've pretty much, for the most part, they've avoided all combat. They've learned about the swamp from trial and error, and they've managed to keep away from things like basilisks and spiders and hordes of rats and things like that.

Tentacles. Braelyn specifically has been avoiding all bodies of water. All bodies of water. I've just been avoiding everything. Yeah. Trees, water, bird. If I hear a bird, I jump a little bit. Craig is going to sidle up to Dagon here and speak up. Alright, so the plan is just to find the big one. He's sort of keeping his voice down, just speaking to Dagon. Well, at the moment, yes. Was that all you needed to talk to the witch about? What do you mean, is that all? There was some very personal, important information that was gathered here today. Alright. I don't know you, but it just seemed as though there was something...

There was something bigger on the line if you were going to risk your lives for it. All I saw the witch do was make the goliath cry and have her run off into the woods. I just thought there would be something a bit more. Some kind of direction. I promised her that I would find out what her lithoderms meant, and this was the only place I knew to go to get that information. He's going to pause and give it some thought. Alright. I'll help you track her down if there's anything I can do to lend a hand fine, but after that I need to start heading toward Esterhole.

That's fine. Nobody's keeping you here. Keep in mind. And he's again thinking it over and then he just kind of gives Dagon a nod and keeps pace with everyone. I think at this point Dagon's going to just sort of take a mental note of what his bracelet is doing. Well, it just so happens you are keeping pace with the direction of where this bracelet wants you to go anyway. It's a northeasterly direction and it is pulling you toward the forest. In the direction that Kori went? Yeah, pretty much the same general vicinity. I will also note that this pull is... you're feeling it stronger and stronger as you get closer to the source.

So this is something where you are feeling it. As you get close to it, it's not just pulling you in the direction of you can feel proximity. And that's the first time you've really noticed it since the last time you checked. Since disembarking from the boat, you just sort of... it's like, "Okay, wow, we're getting close to something." Can I ballpark a distance? Not really because you've never actually gotten to a source of anything with this bracelet before. Now, if you had, you can feel... it's like, "Okay, there's a height to it." When you reach that point, you'll know you're really close.

But right now it's just kind of getting stronger and stronger. You're not exactly sure where that cap is. So it may... you're not even sure. It may become unbearable. I was going to say, if we find the gate, is it going to start ripping apart my arm? You're not entirely sure. Or the whole time we're there? The more we walk, it'll stay gone with a single tear, just biting his lip. No, I'm fine. I'm fine, guys. Do we see any signs of him looking different? Would he appear to us to look any different since it's got a bigger pull on him? I'm going to try to keep it to myself right now since it's not really the most important thing.

Do me a favor and roll a stealth check. Oh, shit. Do you remember the last time I had you roll a stealth check? Yeah, that was terrible. Was that the time we all died? [laughter] Not all of you. Eleven. That's an eleven. So Dagon was not quite as crafty as he would have liked. I don't think an eleven is going to beat anyone's passive perception. You'd be surprised. Maybe. So I would say that the bulk of the party, I think everyone in the party is going to pick up on that. Just the little him checking the bracelet and feeling something but not saying anything about it.

I think Brelin would cautiously approach Dagon and elbow him in the knees since that's probably as high as he can get. And then wait for him to look down so he can ask him some questions. Okay, he'll look down. What is it? I didn't want to be the downer or anything but there was an end to that deal that we had. We have to go find this girl who's like you who can blow people's heads off. What's our plan? I mean, I know we know, find Corey obviously, but track down someone who's got your powers? That seems kind of dangerous. Dagon's going to think about lying but then he's going to catch himself and just say, "I have no intention of bringing that scion to the witch.

I'm not about to sacrifice somebody. Honestly, if it comes down to it, I will surrender myself." And then she'll have her scion. Brelin's going to open his eyes a little bit. "Oh, okay. Yeah." And he's going to make a grimace and then make a smile and walk off and mutter to himself, "Oh my god, what a crazy fucking guy." Dagon, do me a favor and roll a Perception check. Okay, Dagon did hear that. That was a crit? Yeah. I heard your thoughts. Yeah. He won't say anything but he'll think in his mind like, "Yeah, maybe I am crazy." Corey, here's what we're going to do.

Right now, you are on the edge of the swamp bordering the forest. And this is when the ground starts to become a bit more solid. The shade starts to taper off a bit and you can start to see some light coming through the trees. It's a much nicer environment. Except for the piles of dead warforged that start to border the forest here. Right now, you are coming up on an old Overwatch encampment. This is a portion of their logging. I want you to do me a favor and roll a Perception check. Okay. 34. Okay. On fire tonight, guys. On fire. Pretty good. So, again, crossing over into the threshold of the forest, there's a few things you're going to notice.

The warforged are one of them. This is an old abandoned camp. There doesn't appear to be anyone here. And you're going to start to, as you're leaving this swamp, you're going to notice where there has been a huge fire. And while the northern portion of this forest has been completely untouched, the southern portion, a lot of it has been set ablaze. And a lot of these trees have just been destroyed. And the patch of this forest is now just blackened and charred. Okay. We're taking this in because this was Kori's home for at least a little bit of her time on the mainland.

So, she will obviously be taken aback by what she's seeing. Though the whole time, I would say, her emotions right now are overwhelming so much that she doesn't think much of it. She's more or less seeing the faces of those that have fallen. Like she would go back to, like, Acheronas beforehand, Baraneth, all of the friends, Rikas, everyone that has fallen in her presence and all the bad things that have happened. And she's going to trek on. Do we feel better? Like, did the witch's cure work? Oh, yeah. Well, okay. Here's what I was waiting for you to ask about that.

Okay, so this would have been Dagon, let me see, Dagon, Brailin, and was it Erelith? Yeah. I just assumed it worked. Yeah. Always good to assume. You guys most definitely feel better. You don't feel feverish or lightheaded or dizzy or anything like that. You don't feel flush. So, for now, you're going to assume that this witch was true to her word and there are no ill repercussions for taking what she gave you. Nice. Did you have to add "for now"? Yeah, there's like a countdown until it comes back. That's her insurance, right? Until she gets the scion. Mm-hmm.

You guys are so... I don't want to be a rat. You made us this way. You know we listen to every single word, every tone. You guys do. We know better now. You hyperanalyze everything I say more than any other group. I've noticed that. Because we know you. Rightfully so, though. Come on. Fair enough. So the group would be getting to the same area that Corey just traveled through and actor Onis is going to be able to feel that they're getting just a bit closer. He can kind of feel it. It's the same feeling he encountered when he reached Fair Bay and came across Corey and Dagon.

So we're in the Overwatch encampment? Yeah. Would I recognize it? Oh yeah. Haha. Actually, Air Love would recognize this as the same encampment that she and Marcus and a few of the other Overwatch soldiers visited when they were gathering a force to get ready and head toward the White Raven Cave. She would just stop mid-stride, but look around for a quick second, then continue walking following the group. It'd be like a second reaction and then I have other things to do and then continue walking. Okay, so not really trying to hide it more just like I'll deal with this shit later.

Yeah. Okay. Everyone roll a perception check for me. 22. 23. Wow, 10. I'm so good. Haha. So good today. Do you want me to roll 2, Jason? Or just 3? No, not Corey. Not yet. I'm just so excited. I'm like, "Oh wow, Overwatch guys, yay!" In case you'd be neat to me. Exactly. Thank you very much, Jason. Haha. Princess of the King. Sorry. Haha. Okay. Okay. Actaronis, Dagon, Layla, all gonna notice the same thing with the forest. It's been burned, it has been wrecked, and I would imagine the first thing that you would wonder is, "What the fuck did that?" Anyone who's even kind of good at math would probably pin it on Strahd, being as how this is a massive, this was just a massive forest fire.

The Evergreen is miles and miles and miles of huge forest, and for something to just carve a fiery swath through it like that, it's immense destruction. Something huge. Brailein, on the other hand, is only kind of noticing the forest thin out a bit. Haha. He's like, "Huh, no leaves." Just kind of vaguely aware of it, but not really piece all that together like the rest of the party did. God damn it. Haha. Actaronis would know that he, you guys are closing in on Kori, like you're just a couple of minutes behind. And it appears to be, that gap appears to be closing pretty rapidly.

How would you guys like to handle this? I'm going to let the group know that we're getting pretty close, so keep your eyes peeled, and make sure you don't scare her away. I don't want her to feel like she's being tracked down like a weak prey. I would say that the group closes in on Kori. Everyone roll Perception for me, please. It's not going to be too hard to spot Kori in the forest here. I'm going to ask, at what point would Kori be able to realize that they are following her? Because they're not being stealthy or anything. No, they're sort of clip-clomping here.

Yeah, I'm really not stealthy. Really. Brailein can play a song, so to speak. Yeah. Be a fresh song. Haha. Well, that's two crits. Yeah. Do I roll it too? No, go ahead and roll Perception. 29. Okay. So Layla's not going to see much. Thanks. Well, I wanted to get that out of the way first. Thanks. I know. Kori would figure out that the party is right behind her right about the time that the party would see Kori. So it would be just about through the trees. It would be one of those things where it's just kind of running through. It's like, "Oh, there she is." That type of thing.

But there is a bit of a gap between you two. Okay. So we pretty much see each other at the same time. Yes. Okay. It takes Layla an extra second. Haha. I would think that Kori would probably panic, and I'm trying to decide if she would run or hide. It's going to be kind of tough for you to hide. That's what I was thinking too, but I promise that I'm not trying to leave the party, guys. This is just really what Kori would do, I swear. Uh-huh. I'm going to tense up and keep walking straight. Not picking up the pace, keep walking really steadily, but in a really straight line and just walk for days if I have to until I catch up to her.

I'm just walking there. So you're the Terminator. That's terrifying. Yeah. That is terrifying. Hey guys, don't scare her, okay? Terminator. Well, I mean, I'm going to hide all of you. Yeah. She's got to sleep sometime. I don't think anybody in the party is going to be able to keep up with her, so she is going to get to a point where she could slip behind a tree or something, and as long as she... Kori, do me a favor and roll a stealth check. That better be a big deal. Why stealth, Jason? Why? You're hiding. That's true. Okay. Thirteen. That's better. The trees are not thick enough.

See her arms sticking out on each other. Her shoulders are just highly visible. So Kori's going to get to the point where she feels there's enough distance, she's going to hide. Can she be like back against a tree, like keeping her senses open because she wants to hear if they're still coming? Right. Totally fine. Okay. And honestly, she's going to have her bow out. Okay. Shit. You're going to shoot at us? No comment? No comment. I think maybe most of us should hang back and maybe feel more comfortable with, in her mind, only one person dying. Yeah, I think Brelyn would approach the day and be like, "If you're going to talk to her, I think I can give you a little boost to something to help you out." Craig's going to get kind of catch up.

He was lagging behind a lot of you. And he's going to sort of lean over winded and put his hand on Brelyn's shoulder to kind of brace him. Just kind of a, "Oh God. Ooh." Just sort of a crush. Yeah, just leaning on Brelyn the entire time. He's going to hurt my shoulder. But yeah, I'll tell Dagon, if we hang back, you're obviously going to be the one to talk to her. I can give you a boon of sorts to maybe ease her back into the party. Thank you. I think it'd be best if maybe one of us approached. Okay. Then from the back, I'm going to say, "I'll do it." Are you still just walking towards the party?

If there's someone in my way, I'm absolutely going to take my hand at their shoulders and push them out of my way. Gently. I really should have let Terminator go towards her. I don't have glowing red eyes, though. Have you seen this blood? No, you just have fucking, like, yeah, you're just buried under a mangled fucking helm. That's equally as terrifying. Yeah, but that's not a surprise now. It's not a shock to anyone anymore. No, I know. Hopefully. I was just saying, like, that's straight out of a little kid's nightmare, what you're describing. Yeah, Dagon will just step aside if he's on a mission.

Okay. I'll play the song for Actoronus then. Bust out words of friendship and start playing We Are Family. Yeah. Effect. Actoronus, you gain +5 power bonus to your next diplomacy check. Ooh. Well, all right. That is helpful. I'll give you a slow Terminator thumbs up. Okay. I will say, we don't usually do diplomacy checks against, like, to make someone do something against their will. So that's the only thing. Lying and things like that, like lying and sneaking are one thing, because that is an effect you can point to and go, "Okay, the numbers say this," but you're not going to talk, like, you're not going to tell, like, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I just felt like, in case there was something coming up, maybe it might help. Totally. Yeah, but it'll help, like, Actoronus's diplomacy while Xavier is stuttering is in the way. Like, he's better. He's better than I can be. Do I, because I had my senses, like, attuned, I obviously know that the party is there. Yeah. Would I know that someone is approaching me, even though I'm trying to stay hidden and I know they see me? Yeah, you're going to know that someone's approaching. It's not, it's, they're not trying to be stealthy, they're not trying to sneak up on you, you can hear them, and the party came running into them.

Right. And they stopped, so, you know. Okay, so I assume, Kori doesn't know who is approaching, so she's just going to, like, turn out from behind the tree with her bow drawn, and see that it's Actoronus, and she's going to point it right at his head. And she's going to say, "You need to leave." What is this, Kori? Obviously I wasn't there, I was inside, but I don't need to know what she said to know that it clearly has got to your head. And whatever you want to do from now is going to be your choice, but I'm just here to help you make the right choice.

So, tell me what is on your mind, and we can talk it out. She's going to still have her water arrow drawn, still focused in on Actoronus, and she's just going to say, "That's right, you weren't there. You don't know what I am to you." And so, why would you shoot me? What are you to me? The fact that you're standing next to me means you'll die anyway. At least this way it'll be quicker. I'm sorry, I'm confused. I did die, and I came back. And the reason, the only reason I know why I came back is so that I could be on your side and Dagon's. And if you think you are the reason for all these terrible circumstances to happen, you're not.

If anything, we need you more than anyone else to help us keep living, just for myself. If I don't have you or Dagon, I have nothing, my body will keep on living, but my mind will chatter, try, and I would've been better off a simple ghoul. But if I can't help you, if I can't help you make this choice to keep walking, then I have a reason to live, and that's all that matters to me, and I will keep following you. Because this connection we have, this bond our souls have now is unbreakable, and there's nothing that's going to stop me from helping you.

Until you realize that whatever that witch told you is absurdity, I can only do my best. The history stands to show that what the witch told me was true. Trixie died, Baranath died, Rikus died, we've been attacked at all fronts. And what of this battlefield we just walked through? You weren't there, people die. This world is a place where people die, but it's also a place where people help each other to keep on going. No matter what hardship comes through, it only makes you stronger, and it should only bolster your will to help others survive that. I don't believe in magic, well I mean magic yes, but not gods.

I mean god yes, but I don't worship them. It's complicated. But I don't believe in fate. That's the thing though, if you let this idea the witch told you run around in your head, you might just end up enacting on that thought. Becoming what you fear you'd become, instead of becoming what you ought to be and want to be. Let me help you prove that witch wrong once and for all. She's gonna slightly lower her bow and say, "Acteronus, you're not a believer." And she's looking dead at him. "You came back from the dead. How can that not be a sign of fate? Let me ask you this." And she's gonna sort of look off to the side.

"When you were traveling through the Yumgar Swamp, the dangerous, treacherous Yumgar Swamp, and I wasn't there, what happened?" "Nothing. You were all safe because I wasn't there." "I'm not willing to go back without you again to test your theory because I'm pretty sure we won't be this lucky again. And though I'm not a worshiper, I'm not saying I'm not a believer." "In fact, I respect everyone who has a solid faith and I feel that's what I'm lacking. I think you're seeing a reality that only you are seeing." "Sorry, I took a bite of pizza." She's gonna take what he said and sort of like mull it over in her mind.

And then she's gonna raise her bow again and say, "Reality's reality." "And the reality is, I'm a danger. You've known me for what, two weeks? Yes, you died and yes, our souls are bonded, but you have Dagon and he can protect you far better than I can." "I'll just cause you to die again, actor Onis, and I don't want that." "Cory, I don't need to be protected because this is not why I came back for. I didn't come back to be a burden on you." "But if you need any proof that I may be a bigger believer than you think, and that I don't believe in whatever that witch told you." And he's gonna grab his clave with both hands.

He's gonna say, "I've been practicing with Erolove, honing, meditating, and I've found new realities within myself." And he's gonna grab his clave tighter and it's gonna start glowing as I'm using an encounter power. And as it gets brighter and brighter, actor Onis himself is starting to emanate a radiant glow. And for the briefest moment, right before the flash goes all white, you can quickly see translucent wings of radiant white light in his back. Bright light, well, faint white light coming out of his helmet. And then the flash goes wide. And then it all disappears.

And he's gonna say, "I came back for a reason. I came back with something different and I intend to use it to protect you, not the other way around. You don't need to be afraid of yourself." When he starts glowing, she's gonna take a few steps back because she was not expecting that to happen. So she's gonna take a few steps back and as his glow dissipates and he speaks, she's gonna sort of have this puzzled look on her face. Like she's confused. She doesn't know what to think right now. And she's just gonna sort of drop her bow so that it's facing the ground and force out the words, "I'm broken." And her lips gonna start to tremble and she's just gonna look down.

"Stand up, Cory. I just like looking down on you. I would much rather look up to you." And he's gonna kneel and extend a hand and say, "We can always..." Oh, doesn't sound... It's like a Terminator thing to say, but "We can always repair what's broken." Aww! She's gonna look back up at Actoronus with her eyes sort of welling up with tears. And though he's extended her hand, she's not gonna reciprocate. And she will step closer to him, just like a few steps so that they're side by side, but she's facing the group and I assume he would be still facing forward.

And she'll sort of whisper to him, "If one more falls by my hand, rest assured I will not return next time." "I'll be there to make you realize when it is actually the case that it was your hand. I mean, I guess that +5 diplomacy went away." [Laughter] I guess you really need it. So how's the rest of the group reacting to this? Berlin's rubbing his eyes like, "Wow, what did I just see? What?" I would say Leila's probably quietly sobbing. I think Dagon would think, "That's probably better than I would have done." Craig's gonna be watching Actoronus the entire time, especially after the light show.

Not... Just kind of very, very focused on Actoronus. Not so much Corey right now. Is Corey rejoining the party? Yeah, after Actoronus says his piece, she'll sort of nod, not looking at him, and she'll walk towards the party. I think Dagon would walk up to Corey and just grab her hand and just say, "Just remember your fate is in your hands." "There may have been some truth to what the witch said, but it's really up to you if you want to go that way." The second he touches her, she's gonna pull her hand away. And after he says what he needs to say, she's gonna say, "Don't fucking touch me." And she's gonna go to the back of the group.

Ouch. It's so weird to hear Corey talk like that. Sorry, James. You know I don't need you. Soon she's gonna talk like Cava. What you don't know is this is the origin story of Cava. This is how she became a dragonborn. It's crazy, but we're gonna get there. Yeah, it's so scary. That mirror. That mirror. I think Dagon's just gonna look at the ground and shake it off and be like, "Well, the bracelet pulls us this way." I suggest we continue on with our goals here now that this is settled, because he's kind of pissed off. He reaches out to face the floor and he fucking touches me.

She's doing it for your own protection. No, I get it. We went from Buffy to Sons of Anarchy in like ten seconds. That's a show I'd watch. I think Abralon's gonna go up to Ectoron and see if he's still standing by himself. Oh yeah. And kind of check up on him and tap him on the back of his leg, because that's as high as I can reach. Try to get his attention. Yeah, I'll look down. So you're like a guardian angel or something? I mean, what the hell was that? I don't know. How'd it look? Was it cool? Yeah, it was super cool, man. Okay. You guys are cracking me up. He's gonna ask Ectoron, if you can hold that form more, you can fly and stuff?

I have no idea yet. All I know is I can't find a way to channel this energy in my blade for now, but I'll definitely keep working on it. He's gonna shake his head. Yeah, do that, because I want to call dibs on first flight, if you can do that. I'm not that heavy, and you're pretty strong, right? So if you learn how to do that, you can carry me and stuff. I think we have a deal. He's gonna put his hand up to shake your hand. I'll take it. He's gonna look back. No take backs. This is rude. I never take backs. He will nod and say, "Come on, let's go." And I will limp behind.

Well, it should be noted that you guys have spent a significant amount of time between the swamp and this forest. And I would, and don't take this the wrong way, suggest that maybe camping is in order. Emma! Absolutely not. I think my grieving period about camping is done. I think I'm ready to live again. Might not. We are in a safer forest. We're not in a swamp. That's true. Amidst a bunch of dead bodies. But this was a campsite. This is a place where people camp. Yeah, and you see how that turned out. They're going out like potties. Everywhere. As far as we know, Strahd's already dead, right?

So we would think that the thing that causes fire is gone. Let's just hope we don't get sneak attacked by a war. Oh, God. Hey guys. Guys, we forgot our ship and all of our stuff's on it. Well, I would say a bulk of the dragon scales are there, but you would have, I would say that you'd have some of them. Would you say that? I would say that. Oh, wow. Soap it out. Oh, man. Everything's coming up, Millhouse. Just remember that when things like a total party death comes up. You got it. Is that a premonition, Jason? No, I'm talking about past tense. Damn it. Yeah. Sure.

I'm gonna bleed you for one damn second. Yeah, all that has paid. Again, I'm ready to love again. Okay, good. Thank you. There's no reason to have you trek all the way back to the swamp to get your shit. It's just mean. Um. So are you, you're heading toward the source of where the bracelet's pulling you here? Well, I think Dagon would turn to the whole group and say, uh, the, uh, the bracelet, uh, feeling I'm getting from this bracelet has grown much stronger. Uh, and I have a feeling the gate is, is probably close by. And then, uh, I guess he'll turn to Craig and say, um, I suppose we did have other plans on our journey here.

We didn't share with him about the gate, did we? I don't think so. I don't think I know about the gate. Craig? I don't think I know about the gate. I'll just show him the bracelet and say, uh, this bracelet is, it's a homing device of sorts. And it's pulling us towards a gate, uh, a portal to what we're not really sure where. And we've taken it upon ourselves to find one of these and, and try it out if we can. I am searching for the Lost Aladdin and I've really exhausted most of my options at this point. And this was sort of the next bet. Now you're welcome to come with us, but perhaps we're now in safer territory where you could find your way to where it is your goal.

While it would be extremely easy now to just walk out of the forest and start heading toward Esterhole, um, do me a favor, roll perception. 29. The entire time toward the end of, of, of you speaking, you're, you're going to mention that, you know, he could take his leave and go, and he's going to be looking at Corey. And then he's going to turn his attention back to Dagon. I can stay for a bit longer. If you're saying we're coming up on the source of this. I am. And we would definitely appreciate your help. Then I'll see that through. So let me ask the party something.

Are you taking a rest or are you continuing on? What time of day is it? You're, you're going to head into dusk here. And again, here's the penalty for if you want to push on, you're going to start taking a negative to certain, certain stats just because of exhaustion. You, you guys have had a thoroughly rough week, really. So it is up to you. You can take a rest and we can go from there or you can keep pressing on. Yeah. And technically we also don't have our dailies from like the, the swan encounter. Even though we re-uploaded the sheets, I think. I don't know if that kept track of it.

Yeah. Cause my, I still have one of my dailies is still gone. My glimpse in the future has been marked as used. So yeah. Oh, okay. And we're still wounded too. Does anyone else meditate as opposed to sleep? I think you're it. I'm it. I thought I could, I thought it was somewhere. Hold on. You're human. We can also take turns. Yeah, totally. But yeah, my sheet is like a full rested. So I have nothing from the last fights. Oh, very weird. Okay. So I suggest we take a rest so that. Tell me, Jason, what are the dangers of camping in the, in the evergreen here? Uh, James, would you like to roll a nature check for me?

I could. Okay. I'd very much like to. 12. Addressing the party, Dagon sees no reason. Put it on me. Why this is not a perfect place to set up camp for the night. Can I second guess my companion? I think Dagon is the one with the curse here. Um, Corey. Yeah, that is exactly what you'd be doing. Uh, if you, if you want to roll on top of that, it's more like, um, excuse me. Like what are you talking about? Okay. Uh, with a plus two for home field advantage. Yeah. Yeah. Woo. 35. Corey disagrees. Corey. Um, Corey would know that this is, uh, this is both Drake and dire bear country.

Now before, uh, this place was inhabited by the overwatch, which was an even larger danger and kept out a lot of the, uh, local wildlife. Currently it looks as though that that wildlife is starting to kind of filter back in. They were kind of kept, but kept out on the cusp of the forest and now they're, they're sort of allowed to intermingle back in the center of it. Now you, um, you may not encounter any danger at all camping out at night. As long as there's a watch kept, a lot of Drake's will not attack, uh, just straight up attack there. They have to be, you know, extraordinarily hungry, something like that.

And they usually hunt during the day bears are sort of a wild card because you are entering the time of year where they're getting ready to hibernate. Um, and what they do is they like to, uh, they sort of hunt all hours of the day to fill up on food and then go sleep. So that could be a danger. Dire bears specifically, they do have a history of attacking campsites and mauling people in their sleeps, uh, pouncing on top of tents, that sort of thing. Nature versus nurture. Nature always wins. Nature finds a way. [Sings the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner"] Were there any, um, um, like Overwatch buildings set up or anything like that?

No, these are all, these are all pretty much tents. They're really nice tents. A lot of that has been broken down. Someone's got the sniffles. Sorry, that was me. Oh, no problem. Yeah, they're really nice tents. A lot of them are broken down or burned or trampled, that sort of thing. But you can, you can camp out here for the night and sort of make use of, they have a fire pit set up and stuff like that. Has the grounds been picked clean? By, say, traveling merchants or burglars or something? Um, you can do me a favor, roll a, roll a perception check for me.

Ah, I see nothing. [Laughter] That's a 17. A lot of the area has been picked clean as far as weapons and all food is gone. Any, any, anything that hasn't been, you know, stripped clean for it. The tents and things have, have been left behind largely. Only the ones that, that already kind of have, are a little tattered. A lot of the ones that are packed up, bed rolls, everything, all that's gone. And what you would guess is that because of the area, it's probably a combination of elves and ravens that came in and picked this place clean. Okay, so you said that this was a bad spot to camp.

Not a bad spot, just, you'd have to keep an eye out. Would I know anywhere of shelter that would be a better spot, being that I'm from around these, these, these lands? Corey would suggest a cave. Something, there's a lot of these tiny caves that would both provide shelter from weather in case it started raining in the middle of the night. And it would, it would prevent something from sneaking up on you. So you'd only have to watch one direction instead of 360. So, yeah. So I think Corey would suggest that to the group. There, there is better shelter, a little, I don't know what, what direction do I know of a specific one, Jason?

Oh, they're all, they kind of litter the forest. Okay. Yeah, so you can head in the same direction. Okay. There's a cave not far from here. I think that would be better shelter than being out in the open like this. It didn't bode well for the Overwatch, as you can see. Jason, is this the, the camp where the kids, well not the kids, but the young soldiers were, or was that down the other side? Nope, that's, that's pretty much where you are. Oh, shit. Okay. What would Dagon's reaction be? To? Well, you saying it's like, this looks like a good spot to camp, and Corey's like, nope.

After I told you to not touch me? Yeah, she's under your case. Yeah, I think he would just kind of give her a glare and, he was injured a little by her comment. And, uh, he's just going to tuck that away for now, I think. That's so sad, you guys. Aww, they used to be best friends. Let me tell you something about my panel. Did you ever come up with a name for, like, your character's duo? You gotta be careful with that, because they thought, you know, listeners thought they were fucking anyway. Yeah. I don't know what it would be. Did they? Dory. D-D-Dary? On the forums, it was everywhere.

Yeah. Huh. Didn't see that. For the record, I think Dagon would only sleep with another Aladdin. Well, then his options are limited. I think he's fighting with himself. He's, uh, he's the, uh, hundred year old virgin. [Laughter] That's true, because you were a kid when they all went missing. Oh, that's so sad. That's April Fools' game right there. God, no wonder he's so frustrated. But he's too proud to, uh, yeah. I think there needs to be another drunken conversation for group two. Okay, so you guys are making camp. Who's laying down and who's staying up? Uh, well, Dagon will probably take position at the mouth of the cave.

And just, you know, uh, sit cross-legged and meditate while keeping an eye on things. Dagon? Mm-hmm? Would you do me a favor and roll a flat d20 for me, please? Two. Oh my god. That could be good. I just came back, guys. [Laughter] I just... Okay, let's, let's, let's, let's file that away for a moment. Two means nothing happens. Um, Corey is gonna, like, sit herself away from the group in the cave, like, as far away as she can possibly be. And she's gonna try to sleep, but it's obvious that she is not, uh, getting much rest. Um, who else is sleeping? Who else is staying up?

Braelyn would be sleeping. Erla would be rolled on her side, looking like she's asleep, but she's, like, fingering her chainmail. Not like that. I went somewhere else for that for a second. Yeah, it's not like, like, picking at it. There's, like, something on it. There was something red on it. She's picking on it. Right. Picking at it. Not fingering. Right, I'm just saying. Let me start this over, guys. Shocked. Picking at her chainmail. Now edit everything else out, Jason. I was just saying, there was such a long pause. There was such a long pause. You gotta leave it in.

You gotta leave it in. That was great. At the mouth of this cave, Dagen, I want you to roll a perception check for me, please. Why is there something there? Uh, 20. 20. Dagen is going to hear a rustling coming from outside of the cave here, this entrance. And then you're, Dagen's gonna hear sort of a sniffling, sort of drifting around the corner of this cave. He's going to see the largest dire bear he has ever seen in his entire life. This thing is massive. It barely fits through the entrance of this cave. Can I tell it to fuck off? You, you ask. No, no, no, no, no.

It is, it's sort of coming through the entrance, just putting its nose up in the air, sniffing around. And it blots out all the moonlight from the outside. It just blots all that out. The only thing, you know, so there's a little campfire going, but this thing barely fits through the mouth of this cave. It is immense. And it's going to wander up to the opposite end of the fire here and just sort of, it's still sniffing in the air and panning around this cave. And then it's going to level its gaze at Dagen. Is this the bear's cave? Does it take off its bear hat and say, "Honey, I'm home"?

Bears. Can I roll a perception since I said I wasn't sleeping well, or am I asleep? If you're all the way in the back of the cave, I would say it would be much tougher for you to take notice. Okay. Airlove is fingering her chainmail, so I would say... You're an asshole. Oh, that went another direction? Oh god. I quit, guys. I quit. Fuck, we're going to need another airlove. Let's just start the auditions now. It's going to be you with a mustache. Hi. I'm Gruzen. Hi, Gruzen. That's such a beautiful name. Is that like a family? Bear. Bear. Bear. Staring me down. So the bear stops dead after it takes notice of Dagon sitting here.

It stops dead and it's just looking. The thing looms over Dagon who you said was sitting cross-legged on the ground? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Looms. He's not even standing up. There's not really enough room in the entrance of this cave for him to stand. What did I read? The best thing to do is to roll in a ball at him? No. Sonic the Hedgehog, yes. Pretend you're a tree. So compared to me, how big is this bear? If he were to stand up, you would imagine that he would approach 11 to 12 feet tall. Like fully standing up. This thing is hundreds of pounds. This is massive. Sorry, is he outside the cave or inside the cave?

He's pretty much all the way in. His big bear butt is kind of outside the cave. All the bits that could attack are very much within. So is he drooling on my head basically? Kind of. He's sort of looming over the fire here. Not really holding his head over the fire. But I mean, if he wanted to lunge for you, that would be... yeah. It might make it a little bit difficult with the fire, but yeah. You're guessing that this fire would do too much to hold him back. Oh, shit. So what would, um... what would Air Love and Leela be doing? I would be trying to sneak over to wake up Cory.

Yeah. Since she's our nature girl. Do me a favor, roll a stealth check. Okay. Ah, 26. Nice. That could have went very differently. Yeah, we've been there before. Uh-huh. All right, so I will sneak over to Cory and slightly nudge her, but quickly put my finger to my mouth and just point at the bear. Okay, do I need to roll to wake up, Jason? No. You're not in a coma. That's okay. Just making sure. The second Cory feels the nudge that somebody has touched her, she's gonna sort of jump up and scurry back, and then she's gonna see the bear, and can I immediately roll a nature check, please?

Um, to do what? I'm gonna try to calm down this bear. Okay. Okay, we can do that. I wanna ride a bear, Jason. And I don't mean that in like the, you know, the term bear for like a big, girly man. No. I mean like... You don't mean it in a fingering way. You know what, just come over to my corner of the cave, it's cool. Whoa, this is turning into a far different... Well, send your fan fiction submissions into dnrfanfiction@gmail.com. Well, at this point, this is canon, so that's fan fiction. Yeah. It doesn't need fan fiction. Oh, the knight spit in the cave. Oh my god, so many fan fictions.

Now the bear is like, "Stop ignoring me, guys." Rude. So I'm gonna roll a nature check. Yes. Do I still get home field advantage? I'm just gonna keep asking you until you tell me no more. No. Okay. 30? How are you approaching this bear? I'm going... It was sniffling, so I'm going to... Well, I don't know that shit. Over to it with a look. Are you okay? Corey, before all of this happened, already had sort of like a nurturing tone to her, so I would assume that that's how she's gonna approach the bear. It's sort of like very calm, cool, collected, and like with a nurturing demeanor.

Are you going to say anything to this bear, or is it more just kind of hands outstretched, very kind of placating? It's more like hands outstretched. I'm not even gonna talk to a bear, I mean, god. Yeah, that'd be silly. That'd be silly. But you're going to try to ride it, and that's not... She's just gonna slowly approach the bear, and I assume... She's not gonna get to where Dagon is, but like from behind him. This bear is going to see Corey advance... Calm, cool, and collected! And he is going to raise one of his massive paws. Now, to give you an idea of how large this paw is, this is about the size of Dagon's chest.

It would pretty much cover up Dagon's chest if he were to stand on him. And he is going to swipe aggressively at the ground, and knock this fire, the logs and all, kind of against the cave wall, and it's gonna give this really hollow wooden sound as the logs and all this is gonna hit the ground. And let's see here. Would I know a more appropriate way of dealing with a bear? Well, you've never tamed one before or anything. It's more just like, "Okay, okay." Yeah, so this would be... So all the ash and cinder is just gonna sort of erupt from this, and for just the briefest of seconds it's gonna look like a thousand fireflies just on fire around this cave.

Ready. I would say some of this is gonna burn Dagon just a bit, because he's sitting just right there. Is Dagon going to react in some fashion? So, is Kori... He hasn't touched Dagon yet. And is Kori trying to tame this thing? Can I tell if it's going well or not? I mean, from my perception, I think it was not going well, but... I think my first instinct would be to get this thing out of here. So I think I would use an encounter power on this guy. Okay. Which is Displace, which causes the creature to teleport ten squares away, and then the creature is knocked prone.

Okay, so Dagon's gonna grab this bear. And he's... God. He's gonna grab this bear, and the bear is going to phase out of existence, and then I'm imagining you're putting him outside the cave? Mm-hmm. Okay, so he's going to materialize outside of the cave and just sort of fall over prone. And the bear's gonna look really disoriented for just a few moments. What would Kori be doing, having seen that? She's gonna take a few steps past Dagon and sort of... Well, really quickly, when he smooshed out the fire, because I know you said I've never dealt with a bear before, but was it obviously aggressive, or was it more like, "Well, shoot, guys, I was looking for shelter." It's more him testing, like, what kind of showing dominance, that kind of thing.

Okay, so she is going to walk past Dagon and sort of shoot back a look, like, "What the fuck are you doing? I could do this!" And then she's gonna address her attention back towards the bear and continue with her, "You gotta go, bear. This is our spot." I think at the same time that Kori looks back at Dagon, he's gonna be kind of looking at his hands going, "I don't know what the fuck I just did, because he's never done that before." It was kind of like a "save my friends" reaction. Right, just sort of adrenaline, yeah. Do me a favor, Kori, roll another... roll one more Nature check for me.

Okay. 25? 25. This bear's gonna start whimpering on the ground, and it looks like he's gonna have trouble standing back up. And then he's gonna raise to his feet, and his front paw appears to be not holding weight, like the rest of his paws did. So he's sort of just kind of limping, but he's gonna start to limp away from this cave. Like away from us? Okay. Yeah, just like, "I don't want any of that. Let's get the fuck away." That kind of thing. It's not worth it. Guys, should I try to heal check the bear? Should I just let it go away? I don't know if he's a threat now.

I think you need to heal him. I don't like it. You need to heal him. Okay, I don't like it either, and Kori is like, she loves the animals. Well, that's what he gets for putting his hand in a fire. I'll step up behind her and say, "You need to help him. We need to help him." Okay. And I'll swear at Dagon. What? We're trying to save everybody? Well, you heard it. You heard it real bad. I didn't heard it. He heard himself on the fire. Braelyn's still asleep. No, I think he broke his leg. Braelyn is still asleep. I just picture Braelyn laying on his back with his mouth wide open.

I'm next to him trying to rub my eyes, but I can't. He's a snore for sure. Yeah, Craig would definitely be kind of curled against a wall next to Braelyn. Maybe leaning against him a little bit, something like that. Cuddles. I think that it's awesome that they haven't woken up. Ew. Yeah. No roar or anything yet. Just sort of, you know. So, Cory, do me a favor and roll a heal check. I only have a +11. This might not go well. Or it could go amazingly because I got a crit. Did you watch the die twist? It's like, "Eh, no crit." I did. I did. But I haven't met Bear. No, okay.

Calm down. Calm down. Not every animal we come across gets to be your pet. Not every single one. I know, but I love them all so much. We'll need something to throw through the gate to experiment, right? Oh. You are not going to have any friends, sir. No friends. He's pragmatic above all things. Cory is going to approach this bear and very, very, very slowly sort of reach down. The bear's going to stop and sort of very slowly reach down to look at the paw. The paw doesn't look burned. So she knows that it wasn't the fire that did it. So was me. Had to be something in transit.

Maybe twisted his arm after falling. Something could have happened. Dagon broke its arm off. Not broken. It just looks like it might be a little sprained or something like that. Cory is going to sort of field dress it just a bit using a couple of things that are handy. And on top of that, she knows a few tricks. Not for healing people specifically, but for animals. She sort of has a real affinity for animals. So after a few moments, the bear's going to sort of sit back up and put weight back on it. And it appears to have a slightly easier time. This bear is going to sort of get face to face with Cory here.

Size wise, they almost match up. This bear would tower over Cory if it were to stand up on its haunches. But just kind of hanging out. Picture pretty much like a Labrador to a regular human. Kind of what you got going on. This is a much larger creature, obviously. But this bear is going to sort of start to nuzzle Cory's face a bit. Can I sort of give it a little pets behind the ear, like very gently and carefully to make sure it's OK first? But he did just nuzzle my face. Do me a favor, roll a nature check. OK. 27. 27. Yeah, you're going to start to... I don't want to use the word pet, but almost pet the bear.

And this bear is going to give one solid lick to the side of Cory's face. Just pretty much engulf the side of her head. Hair and all, just kind of like a little just one bit like a Scooby Doo lick on the side of her face. Do I have any dragon jerky left? I wouldn't say it's all gone. You guys had enough. You had plenty of rations. I'm going to give him a little piece of dragon jerky and then I think I'm going to call it good. He doesn't want to be my pet now. One more nature check for me, please. He doesn't like dragon. He's actually like a pescatarian and he's offended. 28.

He's going to snatch this right out of your hand when you offer and eat the shit out of it. And just sort of hover, like instead of taking off, just sort of hovered like you got any more like that kind of that kind of thing, almost like you feed a dog at the table and then the dog just kind of sits there waiting for more. In fact, this bear's actions sort of remind you of a dog in a weird way. And this is the second animal that Cory's run into that after a very brief period of time, she's developed a bit of a kinship with. Guys, can I keep the bear?

That was supposed to be a joke. No one laughed. Wasn't sure how to respond. Do you want to keep the bear? I mean, what could it hurt if he's not going to hurt any of us? And if he does, we'll just take him down. I always end up hurting them and then tame them. That's true. That's a good idea. And if anything, this is probably his cave, so we could just let him sleep here tonight and see what he does in the morning. Plan? I'm OK with it. Are there any objections? Dagon. I'm C. So I guess now we're going to... As long as there's a factor of control there. Cory will stay awake now.

So we're going to go camping, and instead of being sneaked by a dire bear, we are going to go camping with the full knowledge that there is a dire bear with us. Yep. Alright, let's do this. So what are the chances of this bear turning on us? Well, let's find out. Let's find out, god. There's only one way. Good to know. So this bear's just going to get to the point where Korial guided in and then just sort of flopped down, make itself pretty comfortable, and then close its eyes and go to sleep. Which appears to be why it was wandering into this cave to begin with.

It was sweepy. Let's pick things up the next day. Inside the belly of the bear. Do me a favor, everyone roll perception check while your sleepy, bleary eyes are blinking. 22. 30. Awesome. 27? It's always me, right? Not your thing. If anything happened, I'm going to blame it on poor judgment and not the curse. Yeah, absolutely. So even Craig's going to see this. Okay. Everyone but Braelyn is going to notice the bear. Off the bat. It's like, okay, that's new. That bear is just sort of... and it's perched right in front of the entrance. So you can't leave without waking the bear.

Or try to squeeze past its ass. Because bears are a little bottom heavy. Craig's going to raise his hand and sort of speak up to the group. Are we going to do something about that? Cory will put her hand up and just say, "It's fine." And he's looking around at the party like, "That's no explanation. It's fine." But it's not his place to really call anybody out. So he's just like, "Okay, I guess we got through the night, so we're not dead." There really wasn't any reason to wake you. It was taken care of. It's fine. Yeah, she did tame a Drake a few days ago.

It's kind of her thing. And he's going to grunt to himself. And then reach down and try and help Braelyn up. I'll be like, "No, no, no. I got it." And he's just going to pat Braelyn on the shoulder. Not in a "We're comrades," but more like, "Okay." Just sort of, again, kind of patronizing a little bit. Yeah, I get it. With his backstroke, I'm going to stick my tongue out at him and put my hand in front of my nose, thumb touching nose, fingers wiggling like, "Ooh." And then my hand's back down. All right, guys, what would you like to do? Um... Just continuing on?

I'd probably have a little jerky and get on our way. Yeah. Is the bear coming? That's up to you guys. Well, that's up to Cory, I guess. I'll try to lead the bear along with it. If the bear's following me anyways, then I guess if we were to head on our way, the bear would follow. Well, then, I guess we have to get to the important bit. Have you decided on a name? Okay, okay. Everyone gets a vote. It's between Fluffy, Yogi, Milky Way, and Reese's. Personally, I like Fluffy. I like Fluffy. Yeah, Fluffy. Fluffy. Well, there's no point in me voting. Fluffy it is. Which one did you like, James?

I was partial to Yogi. Oh. Because it's a bear, get it? I do. We're going to get sued. Alright, I guess the bear's got a name for now. Fluffy. This bear's going to keep pace with Cory. You can hear it just sort of, just lots of like, just almost, almost like a big happy dog, but you can tell, it's just because this bear isn't really used to running. And it's kind of, it's got a big stride, but after a little bit on the road, it's kind of got a little bit of a heavy breathing thing going on. Wasn't he getting ready to hibernate? Well, it's almost that time of year.

You guys got a little bit of time, though. You got about another month and a half or so before it really, yeah. That's like 80 sessions, so. Yes. Good. Well, let's, uh, okay, here's what we're going to do. You're going to spend another, uh, you guys are going to spend hours in this forest trekking north. And that is where, that is where this bracelet is pulling Dagon. Airlove, do me a favor, roll a perception check. Ha. One. Um, Airlove's going to notice where things are starting to get vaguely familiar, but, um, nothing's going to reach it. It's more like a sense of déjà vu, not, not, uh, not, not, not, nothing that's really reaching out and kind of grabbing her.

It's like, hey, I recognize that. It's like, I feel like I've been here before, but can't really, can't really put my finger on it. You guys are going to come to the mouth of a cave. This, this bracelet is going to be pulling Dagon relentlessly into it. There's a tingling sensation running up Dagon's arm. Um, it feels like he slept on his arm all night long. It's almost an electric kind of sparkling tingle. And if this is not the source, uh, this is not the source of the thing that is pulling Dagon, then he probably doesn't want to know where it is because this is a, this is an overwhelming sensation.

I can take the bracelet off, right? Um, you have yet to try. I'm going to try to do that right now. The clasp, uh, that fastened around, uh, Dagon's wrist seems to have disappeared. This is one continuous metal band. Um, I'm going to kind of panic a little and start like twisting it around my wrist, looking for the clasp and, uh, kind of pull at it and, you know, until I realize it's not coming off, um, sort of turn to, to everyone. Um, I'm, I'm pretty sure we're here and this thing is driving me crazy, but I can't get it off. And he'll look at Errolove.

Uh, is there anything you can do? Please? This is, it doesn't hurt, but it's borderline. Is there anything I can do? Roll an arcana check. Okay. Nope, no, no. 14. Nope, no, no. Knew it. Yeah. Errolove is going to fiddle with this and, uh, and kind of play around with the band itself. And she does not, she does not see or sense a way to get this off of you, um, without chopping your hand off. She does not suggest this. I've never tried a history roll. Wait a second. Don't, don't put words in my mouth. [Laughter] No, just kidding. Okay. Um, Errolove, do me a favor.

Roll a perception check. What? 17. This cave is going to be very familiar to Errolove. Oh, Errolove spent days here. Yeah, that's the, yeah. Um, so that will, she, she'll, yeah. It depends on how much you want to relay. Is it littered with bodies? Um, the surrounding area, yeah, it's, the surrounding area back away from the cave, um, there is some pretty nasty, many battles took place here, many. And it looks like the surrounding area has been cleaned out in terms of getting the husks of dead warforged and titans, uh, away from the mouth of this cave. But, they are scattered in the, in the background, in clearings and in the, this, yeah, a lot, a lot of awful things have happened recently here.

Errolove's a little familiar with them. Um, after fiddling with the bracelet, she'll look around and, I don't know how to get the bracelet off, but the gate you're looking for is up ahead. And I could lead you to it, maybe being near it will help you get the bracelet off, since that's what it's leading you to. And she's like, trembling too. Um, I guess he'll kind of look at her like, okay, well clearly you've been here before, but that's sort of aside from the point right now. There's nothing in the book that talks about this, is there? Um, not specifically, no.

Um, okay, he's just gonna buckle down and, and, and head towards wherever the bracelet's pulling him into the cave. Um, heading into this cave there, there is, there's a deviation. There's, there's a path that leads right and a path that leads left. Again, Errolove would know which way to go. Um, one of these ways is going to lead toward the gate. So, I would imagine, unless she doesn't want to, she would sort of instruct the group and lead them through. Yep, she will. She's slowly trailing her fingers across the wall as well, and again fingering, no, just kidding.

(laughter) No, just slowly trailing her fingers along the wall as she's walking, obviously deep in thought, there's a little shake to her hands as well. As you, as you are approaching the, the room with the gate itself, you're gonna hear someone shout from the darkness. Everyone get back! Just kind of panicked, um, and you can hear the, you can hear for them reaching for a weapon. Like you just hear the clattering of someone picking up a sword. Do I recognize the voice? Oop, one at a time. Go ahead. Do I recognize the voice? Um, you are going to recognize that voice as belonging to Finway.

There, uh, there was an elf there researching the gate, and that's pretty much his entire job. Okay, I'll, Erolove will yell out, "Finway, wait, it's me, Erolove, do you remember me? I helped protect the tunnel, I helped protect the gate." Um, and there's gonna be a long pause, and he's gonna stick his head out from around the corner here. Erolove? And then he's going to, he's gonna pan over the party. Who else is with you? These are my companions, I've been traveling with them for a while now. They, they have an interest in the gate. Finway's gonna throw down the sword and double step toward Erolove and then wrap his arms around her as soon as he gets to her.

And you're kind of picking up a bit of relief. Probably because he thought he was going to be attacked just then. Um, and he's gonna let out this little sigh, he's like, "Oh, okay, it's really nice to see you, I thought you took off though." I did. But, what happened? Why are you the only one here? Why is there no one guarding the gate? Oh, you didn't, you didn't hear. No. Um, Finway's gonna look past the party and make sure that there's no one else behind you. Come on in, I'll tell you everything that happened. What's the bracelet doing now? Oh, this is, it's even more intense.

It's not like trying to pull through my hand, is it? Um, it's not, again, it doesn't have any control over your physical body, but there is a relentless need to go forward. It is right there, you can feel it, it is steps away. But it doesn't hurt or anything? It doesn't hurt, no. It's more like an itch you can't scratch, it's like under your skin. So I'll just be fidgeting as I follow him? Like a meth head. Pretty much, yeah. Scratch marks on my arm, little bit of blood. Um, so, in this room, everyone roll perception for me, please. What the fuck, man? I don't know what happened.

Well, Airlove's gonna kinda get a bonus because she's been here before, but everyone else, even Actaronus is going to notice this. Maybe not super details, but you are going to notice the gate, which is this large stone structure, a dais built within this little cavern that there is room for someone to stand on. And then this overarching circular structure in the center of it, that looks like a doorway that leads to nowhere. And Corey and Layla are going to notice several, several symbols sort of etched around the archway itself. And there are, there are two, they appear to be hand rests where someone could stand and place their hands.

And Fenway's gonna lead you past that end of the room, and there are crates and such. A lot of objects you would recognize from the Overwatch encampment. Some crates, some chests, things like that, food, that type of thing, rations. Bedrolls, tents, that kind of thing. And Fenway's gonna have a seat and sort of motion for you guys to take a load off if you wanted to. You can sit on some chests or crates. You're fine. I'll just keep my hand on my sword and kinda stand relatively close to Corey, but kinda close to the gate. Just looking at it. And then I was gonna hop up on my crate and just like sit on it and like kinda move his feet back and forth like a kid sitting in a stool. [Laughter] I guess I'll stay like behind just to make sure like nothing comes from behind still.

If Fenway's sitting down, Erelove will sit down near him. I think Dagon will stick out his arm at Fenway and just say, "Have you ever seen this and you know how to take it off?" So Fenway thought for a second that you were reaching out to shake his hand. So he kind of was like, "Oh hey!" and then he realized like, "Oh no, that's not what you want." So he sort of recovers sort of like when you go up for a high five and someone just walks away and leaves you hanging. It's like, "Okay." So there's this moment of hesitation like, "Oh, I look like an idiot." And then he is going to lock eyes with this bracelet and he is going to start to study it furiously.

And he's sort of like turning your hand back and forth like looking for... I don't see a clasp. How did you get it on? There was a clasp when I put it on. But as we got closer to this gate, well it seems to have disappeared. And I would really appreciate getting it off. Wait, wait, wait, wait. You're saying it's connected to the gate? It's what led us here. It's been pulling me since I put it on. Okay, okay, okay, okay. And he's starting to get really, really excited. Okay, okay. I have been studying this thing for years. You have no idea. This is the first recent breakthrough.

Touch it. And he's looking over at the gate. He's starting to lead you over to the gate. Dagon's going to look at Erolove. Erolove, you trust this man? Yes. You can trust him as well. Dagon will pull out the book first and hand it to Finlay. Did you find this with the bracelet? The bracelet was in the spine of the book. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you so much. He's going to start to thumb through this frantically. Okay. I need you to do me a favor and tell me everything that's happening to you right now. Describe everything. Don't leave any detail out, no matter how minor you think it is.

Um, well honestly, there's not much to say. My arm feels, you know, you know that pins and needles feeling you get. And it's just been growing more intense since we've gotten closer to the gate. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to walk over to the gate. And I want you to touch it with the hand that you're wearing this bracelet on. I should mention that I'm a Sion. If that changes anything, I know my power can be used to open this gate. His facial features are going to change instantly. Like that's, it's big enough that you came here with that bracelet and the book.

You're a Sion? I am. Okay. Okay, okay. We'll get into that in just a minute. Touch the gate. I have a theory. It shouldn't hurt you. [laughs] Brandon's going to interject. Oh, shouldn't? Well, I mean, we're kind of in uncharted waters here. I don't think whoever made this bracelet would make it with the intent of hurting someone if it was meant to hone in on one of these things. I'll step up next to Dagon and keep close just in case it does hurt him. Dagon will give him a smile. And he'll close his eyes and reach out to the spot that Finway told him to touch.

The very second that Dagon's fingers make contact with this gate, the bracelet's going to stop tingling. And there's a small, there's a small symbol that lights up on the bracelet that didn't appear to be there previously. Sort of a pale blue glow. And it is going to stop glowing after a moment. But the tingling has stopped and nothing else seems to have happened. So look at Finway. What was that? Did you see that? Yeah. What do you feel? Nothing. It stopped as soon as I touched. OK. That's not exactly what I thought was going to happen, but that's progress.

OK. What I think just happened is that that marker might correspond with the markers on the gates. I'm not sure. I've never found another one before. I only know about this one. We had a scion living here actually until recently and she could, she could open the gate. It looked like we've just never actually sent any living thing through to touch it. Sent some warforged husks and some weapons, things like that. But no one's actually been willing, living participant. Show me how I need to know. Look, trust me, I want to see you try to open it, but you should know that every time she tried it, it took a massive amount of energy from her and she was pretty much wiped out for days afterward.

I don't know where you people are coming from, but you may want to get some rest before you even attempt it. Part of me wants to do this right now, but maybe you're right. After all, I've waited this long. Sure, another day is not going to hurt. Something is going to pop into his head. You can kind of see it like his eyes are going to kind of dart wide open and then spin back around to air love. I have a message from Po for you. I almost forgot. And he's going to wander over to this crate and there are several parchments kind of unrolled. And he's going to shuffle through them until he gets to the one that's meant for air love.

And he's going to read it over. He said you're welcome in the Overwatch whenever you like. Again, I have to fill you in on some things. Where did you go after you left here? I went to Esther Holt and then from there my journey took me to Fair Bay. But the Overwatch, did he return or was it taken? Did we take the Overwatch? We took the Overwatch. Yeah, they actually wasn't that long ago at all. That's why there's no one here. There really shouldn't be anybody attacking us. I mean, there really should be someone standing guard but we had a problem in Durn Hollow and they're taking care of that right now.

But we're over. They took the city. Wow, I have a lot to fill you in on. By this point, tears are starting to come out of Air Love's eyes and her hand is going up to her mouth. I can't... They did it. Tell me everything. How? Where? Who? There was a final push not that long ago. After the Warforge fell here, they made a final push to the Overwatch. I was filled in after the fact. After Liar became queen, they started sending ravens here to fill me in on what happened. I've heard everything secondhand. And then he's going to realize part way through, "Oh yeah, you didn't know Liar was queen." Liar?

Okay, I was there when the Warforge fell. Do we know how that happened? Did someone... How did we know how that happened? He's going to visibly recoil. There's a theory. It's not concrete, mind you. We don't know. But the common belief is that Malchus Grimness killed the Warforged. Her hand is going to fall from her face and her whole expression is going to go blank. Malchus. Malchus took down all the Warforge. Malchus Grimness. According to the letters I've gotten, that's... Bri sent me some not that long ago. She's been on the road, but she's been checking in here and there.

Apparently there's a group that's supposed to swing by this cave just to watch things. But shortly after the fall of the city, I got a couple of letters from her. Yeah, that's the general belief, that Malchus is the one who took out the Warforged. Of course. And then she's going to push him out of the way and walk out of the room. If no one stops her. Nope. Finwe's going to look to the rest of the party. You're all welcome to stay. We have places to bed down. It's not the most comfortable, but it's a lot roomier than it was a few weeks ago. Brelyn was going to raise his hand.

Hey, do you have any food? Oh, yeah. And he's going to walk over to this chest in the corner here and open it up. There's lots of dried meat, bread, that kind of thing. The bread's not great. It's a little moldy. Oh, I love bread. Brelyn's going to clap. Yeah, bread! He's going to turn back to the party. You can all help yourself to as much as you want. So, beside the gate, why are you all here? What brings you all here? I turn my head at Dagon, following this man, and then look at Kori and this woman. I was going to say, Brelyn's just shoving food in his mouth, like, "Oh, for the girl, for the Goliath." Kori will just sort of look down at the ground and make it apparent that she wants no part of this conversation.

She's going to go look at other stuff in the room. Or take care of the bear. Fluffy! Wandering into this room is going to be fluffy. Hey, guys. Yeah, just kind of exploring the depths of this cave. And very much like a kid in a candy store, just kind of checking things out, smelling everything. And Finwe's going to start to freak out a bit. Immediately Kori's going to be like, "It's okay, it's okay. Please don't attack Fluffy." Finwe's not really the type to attack so much as run. He's much more researcher than fighter. Right. Well, she'll approach Fluffy and sort of put her hand on his head.

Be like, "It's okay. It's fine. He's with us." Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to go check on Erolove really quickly. And you guys feel free to make yourselves at home. And he's going to point over to Dagon. "When you feel up to it, we're going to try to open this gate." Well, yeah, I sure hope so. That's what we're here for. And he's going to kind of clap his hands together once and start rubbing his hands together really excited and kind of double time it out of this room and go after Erolove. As he's walking out, I'm going to follow him. Just quietly, not looking at anyone.

Just follow him. Okay. What would Erolove be doing? She wouldn't have gone very far. It would have been just like down the hall or something, and then she would have like leaned against the wall and like did that lean, sit, lean against the wall. And she's kind of quietly crying to herself. Then he's going to approach fairly slowly and then kind of kneel down and sit cross-legged next to her. You okay? He disappears for 17 fucking years. And then he comes back to my fucking life and does this? I've thought for so many years that he was a monster. And then he helped bring down the place he helped start.

I don't know. I don't even know what to think anymore. Then he's going to reach over and put his hand on Erolove's shoulder. Well, again, we don't know anything for sure. No one's seen him since that. There was a battle outside of Winterhaven, and that's the last anyone's seen of him. Of course, of course. He goes in and makes a big fucking gesture and then fucking disappears. Of fucking course he did. That's what he does. That's what my brother does. He goes in, wins everybody over, then fucking disappears. At that very moment that she says "brother," Leila's eyes get really big and she spins, turns around and runs away, like completely out the door past everyone.

Back toward the group or away from the group? Past the group, out the door or out the entrance. She's just bolted. Okay. Well, Po and Bree would know more than me. I know Bree was looking for him, but she has this big project she's working on right now. I could get word if you want and see if there's been any progress. I'm sure Po would like to know if you're okay. Yeah. Yeah. I fought in the war that he helped cause, and then he does this. Yeah. Sorry. Yes, please send word, Po. I want to know. I want to know. So Fenway's gonna give Heirlub Shoulder kind of a squeeze and then go to stand up.

I'm sure they can find him and we'll sort all this out. But again, we don't know for sure. He did it. We just- everything I know is second and third hand. So try not to go into it with- just try to give him the benefit of the doubt, okay? He lost that. He lost that privilege so many years ago. Okay. Well, I'm gonna go send a raven out and we should hear from Overwatch in about a day, something like that. And he's gonna give a pause. I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to saying that. I- yeah. Just hearing Overwatch makes me flinch really. Just try and get some rest, okay?

I will. Thank you. Thank you, Fenway. Thank you. He's just gonna sort of shake his head and continue back down the hall. And after a few minutes, you're gonna see this white flutter kind of bolt past Heirlub and shoot out of the mouth of this cave. I think that's pretty much a good time for us to stop at Annalise. Anyone has anything else they wanna do? Mm-mm. Can't stop Leila. So good? Yeah, she can't stop Leila. Sounds like a good- Yeah. So guys, next session- Did it. Portals! That was awesome sauce. Gates. I mean, gates. So, I had a quick idea. How about we schedule the session now?

I'm free whenever. Let me pull out my calendar. I need to add my new schedule to that. Oh yeah, me too. You guys did phenomenal by the way. It was super fun. That was super fun. That was really heavy, man. Oh. Like, you know how some- No combat. Yeah, exactly. Some episodes, you feel like a lot happened because of combat or stuff like that, but there's not a lot of story development or anything. But I feel like so much was revealed today. Right. Me too. You all did fantastically. Very- Susan, look at you fucking tearing it apart. That was awesome. Holy shit. Yeah, I loved it.

Tears actually came to my eyes. Isn't that the best when you get wrapped up in it? God, that's the best. Fucking listeners. Yeah, that's gonna be great. It was all great though. Oh my god, Jamie. Like, that was perfect. That's exactly how you should have reacted. Like, perfect. Aw, thanks. Yeah, 180. It looked like you were leaving for a minute. I really didn't want to shoot you, Xavier, but I was ready to. Yeah, and then Xavier got out of it. That was- yeah, we all did awesome. We should all pat ourselves on the back. And you got a bear. And a bear! Fluffy. And a bear.

Oh, now we're gonna find out more about Layla too. Yeah, I'm interested in that. Very interesting. Everything got- everything got- Maybe she had to pee. I had to pee. If that was the time to follow someone, that was the perfect time to do that. Yeah. Damn it. I was thinking about it. I wanted to say that I chased her, but then I was like, "Now he'd still be stuffing his face with bread." Moldy bread. Thanks, Breland. That's wonderful. He's a man of- I was gonna come get you, but I was so- We've only been eating jerky this whole time. Of course he likes bread.

Tired of jerky. He eats carbs. Yeah. Very hobbitish. What's- okay, so you got- man, that's crazy. You got- you got the gate. If you are actually attempting that. We have to. Oh, absolutely we're attempting that. It's like a dream come true. Yeah, I love that group two was never involved in the "main storylines" and now we're finishing up all the open ones. It's awesome. Yeah. We're the bottom feeders. That's great. It's like Frank Reynolds from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That one episode where he's like, "The Dennis system." And it's like, "Oh, I call it- this is Mac at seconds." And then he gets clean up.

He gets thirds for all the women left in Dennis and Mac's wake. That's what we are. I wonder if we're ever gonna get to do the big Grimness thing. I want there to be a payoff for that so bad. It could happen. It could. That would mean all three groups though. No, just all three Grimnesses and Tessia maybe. I don't know. Not all three groups, just- Yeah, that's true. Spinoff series. The Grimnesses. That would almost assuredly lead to combat. Yes. Definitely. I don't see a way for Malchus to walk into that and not get hit by someone. I don't- because it's not like he would ever walk in and it would immediately be justifications.

Maybe if Tessia was there to stop them from fighting. Oh, if Tessia was there, that's the only hope. Yeah. You'd need that mom figure to say, "Shut up and sit down." You'd need that. That's good. I gotta get going here. Okay guys, thank you very much for sitting down to do this. That was a ton of fun. Thank you. I got a group for going up on Monday and then I'll try to get this edited. So- that'll be after the drums. I'll try to get this edited. And get it up sometime later in the week, probably Thursday, Friday, something like that. Because it looks like we'll be able to go back to posting two sessions a week and listeners will love that.

Alright. Alright guys, you take care. Bye! Bye.