Together

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[clink] [clink] Pickaxe. Coming to Apple TV+ on August 9th. You're the Marine? Yeah, you're the ex-con. Yeah, I did time, but you don't gotta cast aspersions at me. From the director of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity comes a new film. It's 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+. 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***. 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. Howdy folks, this is Brianna. I'm sure you're wondering what the heck I'm doing here. Well, I'm the one editing this episode. So it only made sense that I was the one who would tell you about our lovely sponsors. Let me tell you all about Loot Crate. I'm sure you guys have heard about Loot Crate from plenty of places, including this podcast, many times.

So let's just jump into what is happening this month. This month is the Cyber Crate. Terminator Genesis and Borderlands are right front and center with a brand new exclusive t-shirt. You can get a percentage off by going to lootcrate.com/danddr. That's lootcrate.com/danddr. And you can get that bundle. Our other sponsor is Noble Knight. Over 50,000 items on their store covering hundreds of games and pretty much everything you could think of. Such as the adult Red Dragon mini. It's 20% off. Perfect for that huge encounter for your D&D players. We have fought at least one giant Red Dragon and that was pretty fucking epic.

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Through there you can find our Patreon or you could go to patreon.com/danddra. There you could donate monthly which helps keep the show running and gives Jason, you know, food. Because that's awesome. And Bree gives Bree food. Both of them like to eat. So do that thing. And thanks for listening. I like it. I do enjoy eating. Let's do that thing where we go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason. I'm the Dungeon Master. Going around the table. Start with Jamie. Hi everybody. I'm Jamie Richardson. I play Cory Forestkeeper, a Goliath Seeker. And Xavier.

I am Xavier Apliactiaronis, the Brevan Cleric. And Danielle. Hi guys. I'm Danielle. I play Layla, the Human Slayer. And James. Hey, it's James. I play Deacon the Frustrated Aladdin. And Alex. I play Braelyn, the Halfling Bard. And Susan. Hey, I'm Susan Spinator. I play Erolove Grimnast, the Tiefling Invoker. So, last time on the show, you guys tried to open one of the gates and got so close. So close. So close. Couldn't quite do it though. As a result, Deacon pretty much collapsed under the strain and is wiped. Exhausted. Spent. You also got the news that both Po and Brianna are on their way to the cave right now.

And Bree, at the very least, wants to speak to the group, but specifically to Erolove. So how's about we pick things up pretty much directly after you attempting to open this gate? So is Deacon still passed out? Deacon is gonna be down, but he's not passed out. He's just completely exhausted. Drained. I mean, spent for the day at least. So we left off with the group pretty much huddled around Deacon. So can he walk under his own accord or... Yeah, no, he's just exhausted. I mean, it's pretty much like hiking in the snow all day. Like, it's one of those things.

You're just beat. Drained. All you want to do is get some kind of rest. Okay, I guess he would have... Everyone's there, right? I guess they could help him. Help him stand up. Just say, "This is bullshit. I've been waiting too long for this. I'm so frustrated right now." But he's gonna be visibly sort of holding back any anger. I think he would just turn and look at everyone with just this defeated look in his eyes and probably go lie down. What about the rest of the... You all watch the gate start to come to life. You all watch that purple glow that start to close in toward the center.

Like, what would be the reaction to that? What would be the general feel in the room? I think personally, I'm gonna look at Finway and be like, "What happened? What just happened?" I'm gonna chime in and be like, "Yeah, what the hell, man?" Finway's gonna look a little shocked like, "I would have thought Dagon would have explained something. He had the book. But he started to open it. I mean, that's pretty much what happens when it comes to life. Bree's done it multiple times. It always pretty much does to her what it did to him, though. It just completely takes it out of her.

Did he not explain to you what he was trying to do?" He explained what he was trying to do. I just didn't know the repercussions were going to be so severe. Well, he should just be really tired. It shouldn't do anything physically to him that I know of. While this discussion is happening, Actuaronis is gonna walk to the gate and sort of start inspecting it. Something he hasn't done yet, but just run his hand around the curved surface and actually walk through it even though there's nothing in it. Just try to see what it's all about. Okay. Do you want to run a perception check point?

Why, of course. Perception? Twenty. So this thing is very well maintained for something that supposedly is pretty old. It's very polished, smooth stone that makes up this thing. And there are several symbols carved over the bridge of this arch. But nothing I can recognize. Well, the thing is, it's been summarized so far that some of these symbols might correspond to certain places in Theria, although that theory's never been tested. Now there's a couple that are pretty vague. There's like a snowflake looking object and some that might take you somewhere in the north, but no one's really sure where.

The only symbol that people generally confer on and say, "Okay, that's probably gonna take us to Orash. There's a rope bridge looking structure." Although, Orash as a city hasn't existed longer than these gates, most people would guess. So it's kind of anybody's guess. Alright. So I'll turn back to the party and say, "I'll just go check on Dagon. He seemed distressed for the very first time, so I'll just see if he's alright." Brelyn will shout to our Dactoron, "Oh, wait, wait, wait! Take this!" And he's gonna pull out one of his last moldy bread rolls from his coat pocket.

Well, I'm not quite hungry yet, but I'll save it for later. Thank you, Brelyn. He's like, "No, no, no, no. It's for the boss man." So he doesn't maybe cheers up a little bit. That's very considerate of you. And he's gonna try to dust off some of the mold and walk away. What about the rest of the party here? While it was all happening, Aralav was awed and then concerned when her friend fell. But now she's like, "Well, this is a problem. Let's figure it out." So now she's gonna approach Fenway and be like, "Dagon gave you the book he had, right? Maybe we could do more research on that while he's resting the rest of the day?" "You know, so we're more prepared next time." Trust me, any free time I have, I'm gonna be looking through this thing.

Would you like an extra pair of eyes? I could help you out. I'm concerned for Dagon and I want to have all the information available. Yeah, sure. Absolutely. It might help out. The researchers in Onakol may have found something that I haven't so far. The bracelet helps. That's something. We know it helps track at least this gate down, maybe others, but maybe it has some other function, some other tie. We should try looking for more about that in the journal then, since Dagon's still wearing it. Okay, so how's about Fenway and Aralav are going to sort of go find a place to sit and read here?

What would Layla be doing? She'd probably just be sitting relatively close to the gate just looking at it. Like, ever occasionally reaching out and touching it, but just looking at it. Almost scared, but more in trance that big shiny lights came out of it. What about Braylin? Braylin would probably go up to Layla and sit next to her, like, really, really close. He doesn't know about personal space. He'd sit down and he'd look at her and he would ask her, "So is everything okay? Are you doing all right?" She'll slowly turn back to look at him and smile and go, "Yeah, I'm okay." And then go back to looking at the gate like he wasn't there.

He's going to reply. That's good. I wanted to tell you something because I felt really bad earlier when you were in here and we were setting up to go find you and I didn't immediately volunteer myself. And he's going to kind of like wince as he says it, like it's hurting him. And I just, I felt bad because I remembered, you know, I almost became a pancake on that rope when you saved me. And I wanted to let you know that I'm not usually like that. I'm usually very helpful. It's okay. If it's any consolation, I didn't want anyone to come find me. Thank you, though.

Of course, of course. And she'll go over and grab his hand and put it on the gate and go, "What is this?" My hand? His eyes are going to get big and he's going to be looking at the gate with his hand on it. Well, it looks old. It made a bunch of lights. That was pretty interesting. Is there any kind of check I can run, Jason? You could run a Perception or being a Bard, you get around, you hear stories, you could roll a History. Huh. Let's do History. 21. Again, getting around, hearing stories, there's talk that this is some sort of fast travel system. Like it was originally perhaps designed to get from one place to another in a hurry.

The only problem with that is whoever designed it, there's a lot of questions. Firstly, who designed it? Secondly, why would they design it and have it be so hard to open? Three, why wouldn't it be a system that would just be sort of permanent? Why not open some sort of permanent bridge from one area to another? There's a lot of questions. And some think that it's this hard to open for a reason. Like maybe there's some sort of horrible drawback that was unforeseen. Maybe it's not a fast travel system at all. Maybe it was meant to imprison something. They don't know.

That's the big question. Okay. Brelin will take his hand off the gate if Leila isn't holding it anymore. No. Okay. And he'll say, "You know, there's some stories about these kind of things, but unfortunately it looks like it's not working." Or it won't work without the boss man's juice behind it. Maybe we can get the other girl to help him out when she gets here. Once he says boss man, she kind of saddens for a second and asks, "Is he going to be okay?" Well, I gave a bread roll to actor Ronis to get to him. So, I mean, if I know, if he's anything like me, then you should be fine.

But I love food. She kind of perks up a little bit and says, "Oh, okay." And goes back to looking at the gate. How's about we catch up with actor Ronis and Dagon? Sure. All right. Slowly walking towards Dagon, I'll just walk with my hand extended with a piece of bread. I'll say, "It's from Brelin." He insisted. He'll kind of smile, but put his hand up, sort of passing. Are you laying down or meditating, sitting down? Probably just resting on my back. All right. So I'll just kneel next to you, just to strike conversation. You know, don't be so hard on yourself.

Only one other person was able to open this, even for the briefest of time. It's historically a difficult thing, and you'll just get a hang of it in no time. You've waited for so long. You've said it yourself. What's a couple days or weeks more? I know. I know. It's just... It's frustrating because I know I have it in me to open it and to move on with this. I just... When I first met the Witch and... my powers first manifested... I went nuts, but she took me out in a second. And when I was lying there, almost dead, she came up to me and said... She said that I had much patience to learn.

And of virtues, I possessed none. She said the rage, my rage, is the key to a terrible power. And therein lays the answers I seek. But if my temper is left unchecked, I will devastate lands and topple mountains. And then she left me. It's... It's there. I just... Are you... Dagon, are you afraid of using your full power? I'm terrified. And I've seen firsthand what it does to a Sion. You saw... But you've come a long way. You've trained. I see this patience the Witch was talking about. I don't see any of that rage, the old you had. You've trained. It seems like all you do is meditate.

You need to embrace that power that's in you. Because it is part of you. It is you. And as long as you fear yourself, how far are you gonna go? It's a part of you and all you have to do is accept it. I've rejected a part of me for a long... Well, I want to say a long time, but it's only been a few weeks. But I'm gonna have to accept a part of me as well if I want to move forward. And in that we are alike. Don't... Don't put yourself down. Don't be too hard on yourself. You said it yourself. You have it within you to do it. So... Stressed. We'll try again. Thank you.

And he just nods and it does a small creaking sound. How's about we catch up with Erlev and Finway? Alright. So while they're flipping through this book, I imagine there's kind of a silence. While they're both just kind of, you know, maybe even doing the same thing, like, "You done with this page?" Yeah. And then we, you know, they move on and stuff. Because there's only one book. That's the problem. So we're both intently looking at this. Yeah. And after a while, Finway's gonna break the silence. What do you think she wants to talk to you about? Her hands will tense because in my mind she's holding the book and they're both...

Because she... He's looked through it. So it's like her first time. So... Yeah. Her hands will tense holding the book, but then slowly relax and she's... You know, look... Like, put her chin against her chest and be like, "I'm pretty sure it's about my brother." Well, you don't know where he is. So it's not like she's gonna find that out. You... You said you sent a missive to Liara or Poe, looking so I could get information, right? Yeah. Poe's actually on his way now. Yeah. A small, very small smile. She's still thinking about her brother. They'll want her face and it'll immediately drop and be like, "I don't...

I'm pretty sure it's about my brother." That's why Brie's coming. Maybe it's to give me information herself or... To tell him. I don't know. I hope it's just for the gates. I hope that's why she's here. And that she'll chuckle to herself, but I doubt it. [♪♪♪] Like I said, she's been looking for him too, so maybe it's just... ...information at the most. Something like that. I don't... I'm sure it's nothing bad. I'm never gonna bet on that when it comes to Malkus. But we'll see. I can't make any more speculation. He always does the last thing I ever imagined he'll do, so...

So you haven't seen him in... how long? Twenty years? And that's right, Jason. He left before the seventeen years he was disappeared, right? Slightly bef... Yeah, I mean, like, it would be a slight gap, yeah. Between his actual disappearance and then, yeah, he'd been out for a while. So I'll say... I'll rephrase it. Nearly twenty years? Longer than he's been out of everybody else's lives. Oh, I'm... I'm sorry that happened. That's... That always kinda sucks when a sibling lets you down. It's one thing if he had just let me down. But he let down an entire continent.

And I have to live with that. How's about we do this? Let's jump ahead two days. Oh, jeez. Uh-oh. Phew! This is... this is where we kick things into high gear, 'cause this... this crossover's coming up and... things are gonna start moving quickly. Don't spoil it. No, no. No, trust me. In the two days that would have taken place, Dagon would have had a chance to get some rest. What would everybody be doing? Um, mostly, like, meditating and sparring with Leila if she's up for it. Definitely. Nice. And just tending to my armor, just like... More or less blowing in my thumb to make some of the plates pop back.

Dog! Let's do this. Leila and Acheronus. Let's say you're sparring around, you're having fun. Let's have some dice rolls to see who would win in a fight. Just kind of... Oh, Mortal Kombat! [Laughter] Um... Acheronus, do me a favor, roll a flat d20. Alright. We're gonna do this three times. Thirteen. Lucky thirteen. Leila, do me a favor, roll a flat d20. Sixteen. Ooh! I smacked the shit out of you. Very good! Your technique is impressive. Uh, do that for me again. Me? Oh. Well... Another thirteen from Acheronus. A fifteen from Leila. You're wearing her down. Yeah, you're starting to...

You're showing signs of fatigue, Leila. And one more time for me. Fourteen from Acheronus. One from Leila. Okay. I gave you one good shot. See? So, toward the end of it, Leila is obviously tired. So maybe it's a thing where Leila comes really hard at you for a while. Long while. A long while. You were fighting for a long time. That was like hours. Hours. I would say Leila got the better of Acheronus throughout the fight, but toward the end it was a little... it was pretty, pretty sloppy. I can see the victory view. But, uh, you'll see that the Athanasiases can take a beating.

Okay. She's been watching a lot of Daredevil. I gotta watch that. Also, Acheronus has had worse, let's say. Let's say. Just a little bit. Curbed stomp by a troll. Oh, wow. Ouch. I instantly got a headache. I'll give you a strong handshake after all this. I'm like, yeah, probably just walk back to the cave with you. Should think they should. So, what would Kori have been doing in the two days? She probably would be chilling with Fluffy, and I would assume with not much to do because she's not much of a researcher, so she can't really help there. She's not the healer, so she can't really help Dagon get better.

She would probably hunt, just to provide some food. People gotta eat. Right? Like, I'm trying to think, well, what is she really... What can she help out with in a circumstance like this? So, she would probably spend most of her time in the woods, not necessarily the cave that they're in. So, do me a favor, Kori, roll a nature check and let's see how bountiful the feast is going to be. Jason, I love it when you ask me to roll a nature check. It's like my favorite thing ever. And she brings almost... Thirty-one. Amazing. That is a pretty good roll. I would say that everyone's eating pretty well.

In fact, this has been the longest break that this party has had, and not been under the threat of death. It's not camping, because you're in a cave. There's sort of one way in and out in terms of where you are, so it's pretty safe. You guys are... This is a good chance for you to rest and recharge. Now, there is a bit of stress in that that gate is sitting there almost taunting Dagon, like mocking him. But, other than that, I mean, there's no threat of death. So, okay, after two days goes by, you're going to hear... Everyone do me a favor. Roll a perception check for me.

There we go. Alright. Let's see. Erolove, Dagon, and Cory are all going to hear movement coming from the entrance of the cave. So this is going to be... I would imagine there's kind of a lull in conversation, and you're going to hear a horse, and then you're going to hear footsteps. Cory will take out her bow and be ready, just in case it's not who they're hoping it is. Brailn is going to duck behind a crate really quickly, and he's going to hide. Since I don't notice anything, I'm going to sit there, and I'm going to rub my eyes, and yell at actor Onus for poking me in the eyeball.

I'm sorry. I was trying to make it mine. I didn't know if that was an accident, or if that was one of actor Onus's tactics, like a thumb in the eye. That's why I got a one, because I could no longer see him, and he just jammed his thumb right in my eye. He's at no weapon because I hate him. If you could give that back to me, I'd appreciate it. I think Errolove would take her cue from Cory, and stand up and have a hand on her. It's called a rod, but I don't want to say that, because I am associated with saying dirty things now. Well, as long as you don't say you're fingering your rod, or stroking your rod, you know.

I'm kind of nervous, so I'm going to gently stroke her. Just grabbing her rod also doesn't sound so great. But that is what her weapon is. DNR fanfic at DNR. She grabs your weapon. There you go, grabs her weapon. Cory will, since he said it was footsteps, she'll say who's there in a loud enough voice that whoever is there would be able to hear that there are freaking people in here. Yeah, you're going to hear someone draw a sword on the other, like down this corridor a bit, and you're going to hear a man's voice reply, "I'm supposed to meet Finway here." Errolove would recognize this as Poe's voice immediately.

She'll put away her weapon and be like, "Poe? Is that you?" And then brief pause, "Errolove?" And he is going to, you're going to hear him sheath the sword, and then he's going to come trotting into this room, just kind of running, and just sort of looking, like looking in this crown of phases. Now, Cory's going to draw his line of sight first. Hey, little man. Cory's eye-catching. And just for the briefest of seconds, like, holy shit, like that's new, that's a new addition to the cave. And then the bear. I love our party so much. Me too. The bear looked through her voice, it was actually the bear the whole time.

It's a dirty trick. And then actor Ronis. Just going to silently wave one arm. It's getting so much better. So there's this look on his face like, "What the fuck is up with this party? Like, what? Wow, this is a hodgepodge." Do I notice that? And then, oh yeah, I would say this is pretty obvious. All right, she'll put her weapon down anyway. Rude. And then he's going to find, he's going to find Errolove in the crowd and just start to make his way over toward her and just kind of throw his arms open wide. Errolove will step forward and return the hug. Yeah, he's going to wrap his arms around Errolove like, real tight.

Just kind of bear hug her. So, welcome back. Glad to see you're alive. You must have punched a lot of throats to make it. Um, I contributed here and there. Rip anybody's throat out this time. And she's like, happy. You can see that she's happy to see him. So she's trying not to cry by making humor. I will remind you we were going to die if we didn't fight dirty. They were still Dragonborn. You ripped out a Dragonborn's throat. Well, they hit hard. You have a sword. I'm not as good with the sword. Yeah, and your fish shouldn't be better than a sword. Anyways, and then she'll realize that she's in a group of people.

And she'll step back and be like, these are my companions. And she'll go down the line. Dagon, Brelin, Actaronis, Kori, Fluffy. (laughter) Layla. The bear's a pet. Kori's going to put her hand on Fluffy's head and just say, of course the bear's a pet. Yeah, we don't mess around here. Don't be jealous of my boogie. And then, Erlo will turn to everyone else and be like, this is Poe. He served with me in the army. Oh, that's Captain. Oh, that's Captain now. And he's going to bring his hands up to the collar of his armor, just rocking back on his heels, like, yep.

I'm hearing that Actaronis' body language is going to be more respectful a bit. It's going to do a slight bow. Oh, I was kidding. You don't have to do that. I don't even believe I'm a captain. It's fine. You'll get the hang of it. So, okay, I have a bunch of questions. Where have you been, firstly? Erlo was ecstatic to see him after all this time, but now she deflates. She... I left after the battle for the Evergreen with... Liara. I couldn't stay. Mason and I left. I just couldn't... Yeah, I kind of got that. You missed a party. I heard. I heard my brother was there.

Yeah, I wasn't there for that part, but... Yeah, he was around. I just need to ask you something. Finwe wasn't 100% certain, but was Malkus the one who destroyed all the War Forge? Again, that's kind of what we're hearing. You'd have to ask Bree. She was there. I wasn't. She's up north and she's making her way, but she got hung up. When Po says "yeah," it looks like that's the last thing Erlo wanted to hear, so she'll look down and be like, "Oh." That's... And then she'll try to pull herself back together and be like, "That's not important. What are you doing here?" We just sent a missive to talk to you?

I didn't know you'd be coming. Well, I mean, I don't have an abundance of free time, but this is pretty important. Finwe said you were going to try to open the gate, which is something we back-burnered, and... I mean, I wanted to see that you were alive, to be honest. She'll look down and be like, "You know I'm sorry for leaving. I just couldn't stay." He's going to hold his hand up, just sort of interrupt her. Yeah, I get it. Don't worry. You were put in a really shitty spot. Sorry about that. You know I wish I could have told you about it all, right? If you had told me at the beginning, I probably would have turned you in.

So it's okay. Turned me into Who, Patrick? And he's just kind of like chuckling it off nervously. Yeah, but I didn't know. Yeah. So, and he's going to clap his hands together and sort of rub them. Let's get to know your party here. That's a goliath. Her name's Cory. Sorry, Cory. Yeah. Cory will step forward and extend her hand to shake it. He's going to crane his head up a bit, because Cory towers over Co. And shake your hand. She wants to shake his hand very strong. Do me a favor, roll an athletics check. This is just rude. That's a goliath. Nat 20. That's a 38, ladies and gentlemen.

You'd break his arm. The fractures. So Cory's going to wrap her giant mitt around posing. And this grimace on too, like, it's nice to meet you. You asshat. But in her head, you know, it's not obvious. Right. Po is kind of an asshat, so it's okay. Yeah, he is going to, it's going to be like, oh yeah, how you doing? And then the second your hand wraps around his and starts to squeeze, his right knee is going to give out. It is very obvious you're applying a, it's like a, it's pretty much like a vice. It is, you are crushing his hand. Well, when his knee gives out, she's going to let go and be like, oopsies.

And he's going to recoil and grab his, it's like, okay, you're strong. That's good. You're strong. Thank you. I love a smile and look to Cory and be like, the first time I met him, I hit him in the face with my staff. Cory will chuckle at that and, you know, turn back around so he can continue introductions. He's going to, again, still holding his hand. Just going to, just going to wave to the rest of you, if you don't mind. And he's going to point, Braylen, right? Was it? I'm still like half hidden behind the box, but I'm going to shake my head like, yeah.

And I'll come out and kind of dust myself off. Yes. Braylen. And he's, he's good. He's looking at actor on us. Just, just. I am blanking on your name. I'm sorry. I'm bad with names. He'll put a hand on his chest and bow again and say, I am sir actor on a seed wall at the nazis Knight Rider of Onikal from the Russia bar order. And you were in a rock slide recently? Almost. Yes. I'm fine now. If you want, and I'm just putting it out there, we have resources to help you. We have resources back at the city. I mean, we could probably get you a new suit of armor. I'd rather hang on to this one.

It's a family heirloom. It has a very strong value for me. Oh, sure. Yeah. Maybe we can get someone to help repair it a little something. Take a few of the dents out. That would work. We do have some materials with us for armor enhancements. Oh, okay then. Layla, right? Yes, sir. What do you do? Cause no offense, I'm looking around this party and you look human. I smash things and kill things usually. Oh, okay. Well then. Just kind of like accepted the full. Oh, well then. And he's going to walk up to Dagon and almost kind of squint his eyes a bit. You're an Aladrin.

Yes. Sorry, go ahead. I was just going to interrupt with something stupid. Do it. It's just like, does Poe not have a filter? Because he's just sort of blurting out like, Oh, you're an Aladrin. That's a goliath. Like a kindergartner. It's kind of adorable. Okay. Poe's thing is like, I could die any minute anyway. There's really no reason to hold back other than plus he just spent, he just spent the better portion of a year pretending to be something he wasn't. So he had to constantly check everything he said. So now he's kind of in this phase where it's just like, I'm going to say whatever pops into my head.

Yeah. Picture a more friendly version of Una. Whereas Una uses that power for evil and just pretty much says the most hateful thing she could think to most people. He's friendly about it. He's just kind of blithering. It's still adorable. So Dagon will just kind of look at him like, no shit. He'll say, the other Sion, Brianna. She's not here, but she's coming? Yeah, she's a little ways out. She got hung up in Aubrey. I take it you two have a lot to discuss. Yes. Finway, I have an idea I want to talk to you about. Finway's going to nod his head. Yeah, okay. Whenever you're ready.

Whenever you're ready. Is this the thing where you're just completely disengaging with Poh and going to talk to Finway? Oh yeah. So Poh would be kind of like, well that's rude. And just go right back to talking with Erolove. So okay, I gotta ask, besides opening this gate, what's your party after? What are you here for? Well, as you probably know, Aladrin aren't very common. So we're going to help Dagon find his people. You think the gates have something to do with it? It's the only thing we have to go off of now. Old, possibly, elven technology. And he has a bracelet that pulled him towards it, so.

Yeah, Finway mentioned something about that in his letter. That's kind of a breakthrough, actually. I know Bree worked on it for a while, and opened it a couple of times, but we never really tested it with anything bigger than the sword. Dagon will kind of cringe when you say that she opened it a couple of times. You know what, let's do this. Let's see if Poh notices that. Oh yeah, that's a 27. He notices that. Powerful shadow dice. Yeah. So Poh's gonna kind of see you react. Hey, I mean, she had a lot of practice at it, don't worry. I'm sure you'll get there.

Yeah, we'll put a hand on her arm and look him in the face and shake her head no. Like, stop what you're doing. He's gonna lean in, "I'm trying to make your very rude friend feel better." I don't know why. That's not what he needs to hear right now. Whisper that back. He's gonna put his hands up like, "Alright, alright." So Finway's standing over here with Dagon. What would Dagon want to discuss with him? Is this like a secret thing, or is it more just... No, no, no. It doesn't have to be. Oh, okay, so outwardly being rude. Okay, cool. So he'll look at Finway and say, "Okay, so I can't do this on my own.

Do you think both of us could do it?" "Do you think two people could stand there and power this thing?" I mean, we've never tried that. It's not like Sion's growing trees, so we only had the one. I mean, theoretically, maybe if both of you grab one of the columns, maybe? Yeah, I think that could work. I mean, we might as well try. And what about the bracelet? Do you think there's something more to it? I mean, we gotta try everything here, right? Yeah. Okay, this is just a thought. I have no idea if this is... My only worry is, if you start... Let's say each one of you are holding one of these columns, and you give out before her, I don't know what would happen.

Well, maybe we can both put our hands on both? I don't know. Do you think it's a risk? There's more reward here for sure, isn't there? Again, we've never tried it. I mean, it could overload the thing. It could kill you. I have no idea. We've never tried that. Don't get me wrong, I want to, but I just... I know you're anxious to do this, but just know that there could be some kind of risk here. I'm aware there are risks here, but I'm at my wits end. Okay, I don't want to put anyone in danger. I'm just... I know I'm grasping. But we've got to be able to try something.

Maybe she can do it on her own again. How loudly would you say that you're speaking? Probably normal conversation level. I'm sure everyone could hear. Okay, so when you say, "Oh, maybe she could open it herself again," you're going to hear Po audibly scoff. Just kind of like, "Pfft!" Just kind of like, "Yeah, no shit, she could." And then he's going to see Air Love and just stifle that really quickly, like, "Oh, sorry." Dagon's going to whip his head around and you have something to say. Um... no offense. It's... again, holding his hands up. Do you think I don't have it within me to do this?

No, I don't even know you, man. I'm just saying that she may have killed Strahd. And I... I mean, your first go apparently wasn't... great. You don't know me. And you don't know what I'm capable of. Let's not find out. It's good. He needs to be angry. Yeah, I was going to say, that'll work out just fine for us. Po's going to take a half step forward here. Look, again, I wasn't trying to insult you. But, man, I don't like being threatened. Dagon's going to clench his fists. And... he's going to start glowing. Air Love will step up. Po is also going to clench his fist.

No glowing. Can Kori sort of walk up in between them? Yeah, Air Love was going to get in front of Po. Okay. I'll get in front of Dagon. Blaine was going to walk right up and stand behind... or stand right next to him. Bralyn's going to get popcorn. Acteron is wanting to do just that, but he was too slow, so he'll just stay back in the shadows. Yeah, Po's going to see a mob start to form here and just... Alright, maybe we're getting off on the wrong foot here. I can see that you were upset, so I'm just going to concede. And, again, still keeping eye contact with Dagon the whole time.

After he says that, Dagon will sort of catch himself and swallow it back. He'll just say, "You're lucky we're not alone." And he'll walk off, back to wherever he's been meditating. Po's going to lean in to Air Love. "Your friend's kind of an asshole." Have you looked in the mirror lately? Yeah, I guess you will say that, because she's kind of angry. Can anyone else hear that? I would say the people hovering really close... I would say that he wasn't necessarily trying to hide it. He wasn't trying to make a show of it either. He wasn't trying to call Dagon an asshole to his face.

He just threatened me a bunch, so it's more that. Okay. And Po would kind of make a face to Air Love like, "Okay, fair point." We've all been through a lot together, and this means a lot to Dagon, so could you please... I know you don't have much filter, but could you take it a little bit easy? Please? Sure. Look, I'm sure Bree's going to help him out. Have you given any thought to what you're going to do if you do get the gate powered up? I mean, it's not really a job anyone was volunteering to do before. She'll glance to Acta Ernest, because Acta Ernest did bring up his plan of pinky hand bonding.

Yeah. Right? Yes. Okay, so she'll quickly glance to Acta Ernest, and then back to Po. We kind of have a plan? I'll be the first volunteer. I guess we'll find out. Alright, well, from what I hear, Bree's going to be held up for a bit, so she's maybe a week out. Gonna have to get cozy with each other, I think, if we're going to do this. Unless you want me to leave, I could do that too. I kind of wanted to be here for this, though. We still have tons of food you can make yourself at home, and I'm not just talking about your bread. Leila will glance to Leila, Cory, and Breland before she'll say...

Because she kind of wants him to stay, because he's a link to her past, but she doesn't want to step on anybody's toes. So she'll look to them before she says anything. After the, I don't even know what to call it, almost fight between Dagon and Po, Cory's actually going to go over to Dagon and talk to him a little bit, but you guys finish up what you're doing. Breland will give a shrug, like, "Yeah, sure, why not?" Leila will walk up really close to him, like face to face, and look him dead in the eye and just say, "You stay away from Dagon." Po's natural inclination would be to kind of step into that, but he's going to give a glance over to Erolove and just...

"Alright, fine. I can make a bad first impression sometimes, so I'm just going to stick to myself." "We're going to put some tape down in the cave, and you stay on your side, and we're going to stay on our side." Technically he's a raven, the whole cave is his side. No, I specifically said, "We're going to put tape down." The side that the bear's on, he's not allowed on. The side of the bear's on, he wouldn't want to be on. Settled. Okay, well when Dagon leaves to go meditate, she's going to follow and sort of, I assume he sits cross-legged? I don't really know what your meditation stance is, Dagon?

Yeah, yeah, we'll go with that. Okay, she'll sit... That's how I pictured it. She'll sit across from him, also cross-legged, and she'll just say, "Dagon, are you okay?" I don't know. I mean, yeah, yeah, I'm okay. But I don't know, it's like I want to get angry. Like it'll help, it'll give me more power. And there's something very inviting about that. But at the same time, it scares me. It's scaring me as well. I've never actually seen you this obsessed over something, even finding your own kind. I worry that the gates are taking over you a little bit, and I just want to make sure that you're aware of how your actions are coming off.

Corey, I'm just... as you may have noticed, I don't let my emotions out. And there's good reason for that. I mean, I know this gate could lead nowhere. I mean, it'll lead somewhere, but it may not help me. But I just think that that small sliver of hope that's there has got me feeling again. And right now, I haven't wanted anything more than just to see what's on the other side. Do you understand? She's gonna sort of smile and nod her head. I do. I do understand wanting to know. Just try to save that fierceness that you felt just a moment ago for Poe, and save it for the gates.

Don't let it take over you. I know. I realized that, and that's why I stood down. I mean, that's not me. That's not who I want to be. It's just stuff right now. I assume that Poe will probably be staying until Rhianna gets here. Are you gonna be okay with that? Yeah. I'll sort that out. I was rude. I know. I know I was. Yeah, it's not a problem. And she'll sort of look up and smile and just say, "If you need anything, just let me know." And she'll get up and let him continue to meditate. Before or as she's leaving, he'll just say, "Cory, I'm glad you're still here." She'll look back and smile and then continue to leave.

Let's pick things up. Let's do that thing where we go around the table. That's what I thought you were gonna say. Let's start over. It's Groundhog Day. Let's pick things up one week later. Poe would actively be trying to avoid Dagon for the most part, just kind of give him a wide berth, but still... Over the week, I think they probably would have talked and maybe started over. Yeah. Poe's the type of guy who's like, "Don't worry about it. It was fine." He said people hit him. And it would be like, "Yeah, I get it. It's fine." He knows who he is. He has a very clear idea.

Yeah. A hit from the Scion would have been a little different, though. But yeah, I get it. It's okay. He has a Scion friend. I think Airlove at one point would want to talk to Dagon because she doesn't want to cause a rift between the two of them because of her old friends and her new friends. So she probably would approach Dagon and explain that, "Hey, we've been through shit together. I'm sorry, he's an asshole." Yeah, I think it just all came down to the circumstances and the frustration and someone getting in his face just wasn't a good idea. Yeah. But I assume Dagon would have been practicing or trying again within this week.

Do me a favor. Roll a flat D20 for me. We need a montage. Dagon. Ooh. Mmm. Seventeen. So I would imagine that this is a thing where Dagon is just trying to... It's like a muscle that you flex over and over again. So the more you use it, the more adept you are at wheeling it. Now with Scions, it's a little different because that power is linked to thought and emotion and that sort of balance. So with Dagon, what would Dagon be concentrating on to sort of psych himself up, to sort of prepare for this? Do you mean like how does he channel his energy? Like what would he be thinking about?

He wouldn't hold on to negative thoughts. He tries to do the exact opposite. And I think the one thing that's kept him powered and going is the thought of finding his people. Okay. That is where you and Bree differ. Exactly. Yeah. Speaking of which, it has been a long week. To park yourself anywhere in Theria, especially when you guys are used to being on the road, you're used to seeing the sights, doing things, I would imagine you start getting a little bit stir-crazy, especially since you're pretty much living in this cave. And as caves go, it's nice. There's some bedding and there's, I mean, it's lived in, but it's still a cave.

So I would imagine it's not the most comfortable place to squat for over a week. Finwe's used to it. But after a week, same thing as before, you're going to hear someone approach within the cave. This time, no horse. But the footsteps are much lighter. Everyone do me a favor, roll Perception check. Nice. Holy shit. Okay. Everyone's going to hear these footsteps, kind of very light. It's not someone wearing heavy armor. It's not someone wearing like big thick boots, something like that. Dagon and Kori are going to see a shadow on the wall because this person got much closer to you than Po did before you started to hear them.

This is a very tiny shadow. No sword drawn, no weapon whatsoever. Very confidently striding in here too, kind of like they own the place. Kori will do the same thing she did when Po is entering and draw her bow and ask who's there. Po is going to stand up and just sort of peer around the corner. Yeah, you probably don't need to do that. She'll put it down. Bria's going to come into this chamber here with the gate. Walking in, she looks... Okay, do me a favor, roll Perception on her. Womp womp. Yeah. Good lord, Kori. Wait, are we all supposed to do it? Yeah. Oh, sorry.

That's a problem. I thought you were talking just to her. Not that it matters. Let's see here. Yeah, Kori's going to notice... Kori and Dagon. Kori and Dagon again would notice that she looks exhausted. She doesn't look much better than when you found her in Odysseia. She's cleaned up a bit because she's not covered in the gore of a dragon and all that, but does not look health-wise better. She looks absolutely exhausted. If you'd take a guess, you'd figure she walked to get here. Didn't have a horse for some reason. She's going to take in this party and she is going to wave.

You're going to notice also that she has very much locked eyes with Erolove. And Po's going to walk up and kind of scoop her up and give her a hug. Which, it's not like she brought a lot of menace to the table, but it really takes up... There's absolutely no menace to someone who gets scooped up into the arms of somebody else and just kind of, you know, sort of bear-hugged. And she's going to kind of tap him on the shoulder and he's going to put her down. So Aubrey sucked, I heard. She's going to give a little bit of a nod. Yeah, they have problems, but, well, you know, they sent people up there, so it should even out, hopefully.

She's going to look over to Erolove. Hi. Erolove. She'll awkwardly, "Hi." And that's it. Yeah, this is a little more awkward than I thought it was going to be. She's going to motion to Actaronis. I really need to thank you and your party one more time. Because of you, I actually, I managed to save Una. And she's alive and, well, she's alive. And she's in Esterholt right now. Actaronis is going to approach her as she speaks, just listening, and about when she's done, he's close enough. He's just going to sigh and say, "Obviously, I'm extremely disappointed, but I'm happy for you." "She did come back intact, correct?" "She did not come back a monster?" "Do I need to clean up your mess?" "She's mostly fine, yeah.

She's not a monster, though that depends on who you ask, I guess." "Well, that is a relief then. I'm sure Craig will be happy as well." "Craig is alive?" "Yes, and he's doing well. He's on his way to Esterholt right now." "She's going to look dumbfounded by this. I didn't... I mean, I was a bit preoccupied, but I didn't see... I saw him get knocked over the cliff." "Braylon's going to interject, "Yeah, yeah, we picked him up off the side of a cliff." "Was anyone else alive in Odysseus? Did I... I mean, did you save anyone else?" "I'm afraid not." "She's... so she's going to look, you know, firstly, dumbstruck by that and then sort of sad again when you, you know, it's like, yeah, there's no one else." "Well, I can't tell you how happy that's going to make Una.

She... they were really close and that's... yeah, I'm sure it'll mean a lot to both of them." "Well, that... that... that is great news. Now you can share stories about that dragon, now that there's no... not a lone survivor anymore." "Yeah, I'd really rather not talk about the dragon if that's okay." "Yeah, my apologies." "So, um, if you can give me just a few minutes to settle in, I need to talk to Finway, and I would very much like to talk to you, and she's going to look to Erolove. If you have a few minutes." "She's going to tense up, but she'll say, 'Of course.'" "Obviously nervous." "She's going to nod her head and then walk over to Finway, and they're going to be speaking in this other portion of the cave that is sort of separate from everything else, and if you'd like to roll a perception check, maybe you could pick up some inkling of what they're... what they're talking about." "God damn it.

Would everybody could do this, right?" "I would say everybody in the room." "Brelan's beginning to understand." "Dagon and Cori." "She's got big ears, so it's pretty... big ears, big eyes. She can see and hear pretty much everything." "Dagon and Cori are going to... so they're standing over there talking for a bit, and at a certain point Finway is going to motion toward the gate and then to Dagon, and she's going to glance back at the two of them, and then turn back to Finway and nod, and then he's going to... he's going to continue to speak. And you're going to notice Bree visibly tense up.

And then she's going to take a deep breath and it looks like she's calming down a bit, and they're going to continue to speak for a little bit. Is the rest of the party going to do anything in the meantime?" "I think I'll just withdraw for now after that conversation." "Okay. Yeah, I'll follow up with Ronas." "Dagon would just be very concerned with what he's seeing, with tons of ideas rolling through his head, about what might be going on." "Bree's going to wrap up this conversation and then come back to the party, specifically Erolove. How about you and I take a walk?" "Alright." "And so walking...

I would say they'd leave this chamber and they're sort of walking down this corridor. You... I'm guessing you heard what happened in Winterhaven." "It's never been confirmed for me. Did he really kill all the warforged?" "I'm pretty sure, yeah." She'll sigh like that, and then not say anything. She's looking down at the ground. Her hands are fidgeting. "It's not exactly something I wanted to believe either, but every bit of evidence pointed to him being the one who did it. And then he... it's very clear he didn't want to be found after that. He didn't exactly stick around afterward.

It's just too much of a coincidence." "And very much like Malkus." "I'm going to ask you this, and I need you to be honest with me, Erolove. Do you have any idea where he might go?" "The mochus I knew is very different from the one roaming Theria now. I have no idea. All I know is if he was... trying to hide, my mom might have helped. But he's been estranged from all of us for the last nearly twenty years. I don't... I have no idea. I don't even know what kind of person he is." "Well, we've ruled people out. We're pretty sure he didn't turn to Valus." "Erolove will snort as well.

I don't believe he would either." "It's just that... it's not exactly like he made a ton of friends recently, specifically, so... It's been... difficult to track him down." "Jason, I hate to say this, but from Erolove's knowledge into his character... Or should I make maybe like an insight check to make guesses to where he would go?" "I mean, it has been nearly twenty years. She probably doesn't even know, or have any idea, but..." "Um, you... Sorry, I just gotta chill." "Yeah, no, go ahead. Roll an insight check, Erolove." "I don't want to. I take it back.

I'll make like an acrobatics check. Okay." "I'm going to jump to this conclusion." "Nice." "You don't pun." "I'm sorry, you're right. God, ugh." "No, that was great. Do it again." "It's my circle of friends. It's like an infection." "Okay, I'm going to do this, but begrudgingly, okay guys?" "It wasn't even that good." "It's alright." "And now the circle is gone." "Oh god. Ugh, I'm gonna go brush my teeth." "I wouldn't say, with that role, I wouldn't say that Erolove would have, like I would say the returning home would be your best bet." "Like your best guess." "Okay, and she established that, but she didn't think.

Okay. Yeah. I... "You probably have a better idea of my brother than I do, so your guess would be better than mine." "Trust me, I don't think I know him any better than you do." "So, tell me, uh, tell me about the gate." "Um, we arrived nearly a week ago. Dagon attempted to open it once. He was not able to fully open it, but it did, he was nearly there." "He's since then been meditating and getting himself ready for another attempt." "I heard Finway and Dagon talking earlier. He maybe wants to try powering it with you." "And she's obviously more comfortable talking about this, like it's... like a weight has been lifted now that she's not talking about her brother." "Well, let's... let's go talk to Dagon about that." "And you're gonna see her visibly tense up again." "Is something wrong?

Or should I make a perception check?" "Um, go ahead." "24." "Yeah. Okay, as soon as she reaches the word 'Dagon' in that sentence, you're gonna notice, yeah, she's, she's tensing up again, like she's... "Like she's very much getting ready for something as she's turning, she's getting ready to walk into the room with the gate, and yeah, there's that, like she's... "You can tell she's getting ready for something." "Elovel will say to her, 'Is there something wrong?'" "Because I don't believe this is a situation anybody wants to go into." "This gate is unknown to everyone.

Going into it filled with so much emotion might not help the situation." "That's probably the wrong thing to say to her, but that's what she's gonna say." "That's what Ironhide would say." "Ironhide would phrase it." "She's obviously being very gentle about it." "Right. Do me a favor and roll a diplomacy check." "Okay, yeah." "Oh, fuck yeah. 27." "Yeah, I'm fine. I just, um... I'm fine. Let's, let's all just go talk about this." "Elovel, let it drop. She doesn't want to start anything." "Bree's gonna walk back into this room and, sort of in the middle of everything, just, just very much in the center of this room." "And address the whole party but Dagon specifically." "So you want to try to open this thing, huh?" "Mm, yeah.

More, more than you know it." "And you think that's gonna lead you to the rest of the electron?" "I don't know. Probably not. But I've explored every other avenue and, and this is where we've ended up." "How does the rest of the party feel about that?" "We've been waiting a long time for this moment. I'm confident and ready." "Finwe told me you were actually going to try to step inside?" "Correct. If the people opening the gate are putting their body at risk or under stress, then I can only help carry this weight." "Did Finwe tell you what happened to the last person who tried that?" "It was vague, but I get the concept." "I also understand that the gate wasn't under control at that time." "That's how I heard it too." "And then she's gonna level, she's gonna level her eyes at Dagon's." "You sure you want to try this with a time bomb?" "That is what you said about me, right?" "Yeah.

Look, you, uh, you're clearly, uh, I'm not trying to piss you off here, but you clearly let your emotions get the better of you." "And if that's how things work for you, that's fine." "I'm not judging." "But, obviously you're aware of the risks involved in channeling your energy that way." "She's gonna look down for just a second." "It has its drawbacks." "When's the last time you rested? Like, really rested?" "Tell me you've at least rested since we last saw you." "Actually, the last time I rested was almost a week before you saw me last." "It's not really a luxury I'm afforded most of the time." "You know, you know what this is gonna do to you." "I've done this before, yeah." "And then you're even more soft than I thought." "Repeat that, please." "Look, like I said, I don't want to start anything with you." "Who, who even trained you?" "I'm not gonna do that." "She's gonna look away for just a moment." "And you can tell that she's clearly trying to compose herself." "But she is going to take a step toward Dagon here and ball up her fists." "I didn't know any other Scions." "But my father did what he could." "I don't know you." "And I'm really trying to see past your general attitude." "But I should remind you, I have opened this gate." "Yeah, your friend Po pointed that out." "I'm sorry, I'm terrible at talking to people." "And I tend to say things that come off as offensive." "If you would like to help us out, I would be forever grateful." "Well, firstly, don't worry about the not talking to people thing." "I have friends that are the same way." "And she's gonna give this little glance back toward Po." "Shots fired." Po's just gonna be like, "What? What did I do?" "Just kind of, not say anything, but..." "If you want me to help you out, I..." "We can give it a shot." "Again, I don't know how long I'll be able to hold it, but if you want to try stepping through, we can do this." "If you think this will lead you to the rest of the Aladrin somehow." "I...

I want to open it, I do." "I don't know where to lead, but it seems important." "I mean, Dinwai's been here forever." "I'm out of options here, and I... I'm getting desperate." "So, yes, I want to open it." "I don't know where it's gonna go, but I know I want to open it." "Well, your... your party helped me, and helped me bring back someone very important to me, so I..." "The way I see it, I owe you all a lot, so if there's anything I can do for..." "If there's anything I can do for the rest of you, just let me know, and she's gonna look around at the party." "Let's start with the gate, I guess." "I was waiting to see which one of you brought up the witch." I am just getting there. "Let's open the gate first before we tell Brie that we promised her to a witch, maybe." "I second that motion.

I have to, I have to." "But immediate concerns, then not so immediate concerns?" "Let's not stop the man from being honest." "Hey, Jason." "How you doing?" "I'm doing pretty well, having a pretty good night." "Oh, I'm good." "Anyway, um..." "We're done with it a bit? Okay." "I wanted to ask, because Corey actually hasn't really examined the gates, if she were to do some type of role specifically for, from Goliath lore, because Goliaths have been around for a very long time, they were part of the mainland, and then it split off sea, if you remember from the backstory-ness." "I do." "So, in kind of an old race, if she were to do some sort of role specifically for Goliath role, lore, as to what these gates might be, would that..." "Oh, that would be a history check." "Would that glean any information? Or you can't tell me until I roll?" "I can't tell you until you roll." "Okay.

I'm just gonna really quickly just throw this in here. Well, so nothing is basically..." "Corey wouldn't know anything." "Anyway, back to the cool stuff. Sorry guys, I don't want Actaronis to die, and so I just wanted to see if I could help." "I don't want to die either." "I'll be careful." "Please don't. Please don't die, Actaronis." "And as he walks past Corey, going to the gate, he looks at you and says, 'If I don't make it back, it's all on me. Remember that.'" "So before anything happens, Dagon will look up at Bree and say, 'I have something I need to tell you before this happens.'" "Maybe as a token of goodwill or just a warning." "What do you know about the Witch in Yemkar Swamp?" "World perception, please." "33." "Her fists are gonna clench right after you mention the Witch." "Her jaw is gonna lock down and she is going to stare daggers at Dagon." "Don't shoot the messenger." "She hasn't shot anyone yet." "We've been there recently.

We needed some very important information, and if you do in any way..." "...if you do indeed know who the Witch is, which I'm guessing you do, there was a price to be paid for said information." "She is going to ever so slightly widen her stance just a bit." "Oh my god, we're all gonna get blasted. We're all gonna die." "Why? We didn't do anything." "We promised her to the Witch." "No, that was...okay." "There we go." "She wants you." "Specifically she wants us, or me, to bring you to her." "But..." "And what did you tell her?" "Well, um...I thought I was quite clever in my answer." "I told her she'd get her scion." "Her eyes are gonna disappear behind a cloud of black, and her hands are gonna start to glow white." "Now wait, I did not say I would bring you to her, nor could I even physically do that." "I said she'd get a scion, I didn't say.

She'd get the scion she wants." "And before you go all apeshit, I decided beforehand that I would surrender myself." "I'm giving you this information just so that you are aware that she is looking for you." "That woman ruined my life." "And she's gonna pause for just a second. Again, still hands glowing, eyes gone." "Without getting into it..." "She played a pretty big part in who I am today." "And I get the feeling she's been looking for me for a long time." "And that's why I don't go to the swamp." "I try never..." "I try not to think about it, I try never to go there, and believe me, there have been times where I have been forced to." "Did she say why she wants me?" "No, no, she wouldn't tell me." "But I'm telling you..." "I wouldn't even try." "I said what I said, so she'd leave us alone." "And she didn't give a time frame, and I figure..." "We'll just deal with that another time." "I'll deal with that another time." "I just thought you should know." "That's it." "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories." She's gonna take a deep breath, and her hands are gonna slowly return to normal, or the black cloud is gonna dissipate over the pupils of her eyes. "Well, I appreciate you being up front and telling me that." "You're going back there at some point, right?" "I suppose I'll have to." "Maybe there's a way to kill her." "Surely there must be a way to kill her." "I say we give her what she wants." "What do you mean?" "Like I said, I owe you and your party a lot." "I'll go back with you." "I want to find out what she wants with me." "You know as much as I the risk involved in that." "I think we're better off..." "She's not gonna give up." "I'm not even sure she has any power outside that swamp." "I mean when we went to see her, I mean there were beasts and all sorts of stuff just coming at us." "But when we left, there was nothing." "It's like she controls the swamp, but maybe that's it." "She first came after me when I was a kid." "I was eight years old." "And she played a part in helping me find out that I'm..." "Well, you know." "Yeah." "She's not gonna give up." "She's not gonna stop." "I'm tired of running from it.

I need to know what she wants with me." "And it's not like I have a lot of time left anyway." "Yeah, if that's what you want, I'll help you." "Because it started for me there too, and I guess it'd be fitting to end there." "And I'll join as well." He's gonna walk and step down from the gate pedestal. And looking at both Dagon and Brie, he's gonna say, "We help each other out in this moment not because we owe it to anyone." And he's gonna look at Brie again. "You don't owe people in helping them." "You help people because you can." "That's all I do." "I could help you back then with that paladin." "And I didn't want to, but I had to because I could." "And right now you can help us with that gate, and we can very well help you going to that whiz." She's gonna nod her head, and then she's gonna step over to the gate.

She's gonna stand in the center platform here, just like Dagon did, and grip both of these pedestals. And she's gonna put her head down. "I'm gonna hurry back up." And you can tell she's concentrating. And it's probably not too difficult to figure out what she's thinking about, to kind of get there. And after a few moments, she's gonna snap her head upward and her eyes are gonna open. Again, gone, just black. And she is going to let loose from her hands into these pedestals. It's gonna be this blinding white light that is gonna fill the interior of this cavern.

And you are gonna watch this gate start to come to life again. And from the outer rim of the gate, it's gonna start to glow purple. And it is gonna start to creep toward the center again. And you're gonna watch her almost appear to double her effort here. And this light is going to become even brighter, and she is going to let loose this scream. The cavern walls are going to start to quake, and little bits of rock are going to start to... They're going to start to float upwards from her feet. And at the same time, it's going to start to tumble in from around the cavern.

Just a little, like... This is essentially a small earthquake, a tremor. And that light, the purple light emanating from the gate, is going to very quickly draw in toward the center. And it is going to complete. Everyone do me a favor, roll Perception. Is she struggling? Is the quake happening because she's having trouble? The quake just appears to be because of the force being out. When she screamed, was it like a Dragon Ball scream, or more like a pain scream? Oh, this is absolute pure rage and fury. This is not pain. Alright, cool. Perfect. I like that. Yeah.

So it is a Dragon Ball scream? I'm just... So she doesn't need an assist, basically. Doesn't appear so, no. Well, I am humbled. Well, Dagon is humbled. Well, you got her there. The witch thing is... Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure that helped. When she taps out, you can step up. Loosen the lid. The whole cave will collapse. Let's see here. Dagon. Air Love. Actor Onus and Kori. So everyone is going to see this happen. Some measure of shielding your eyes. I mean, this is fucking tremendously bright. It's pretty much when... It's almost the same thing as when Dagon started to illuminate.

But where his power is kind of a softer blue, this is just bright white. So after this gate fills... You know, it's completely filled and purplish. There's going to be this tremendous boom that goes off. And this huge kickback of force is going to emanate from the center of this gate and blast outward. Slamming Bree in the chest, and it's going to flick her back against the wall of this cave. She is going to go up and sort of ricochet off the wall. Her power is going to stop immediately. She is going to fly back against this wall and sort of bounce right shoulder off and careen almost like a rock being thrown against the cavern.

I think a Braille-in would go after her, like would run back and try to, I guess, heal her. Do whatever I could to make sure she's okay. Is there time to jump in and take over? Here's the thing. The gate's still open. So... Before it closes, I'm going to Glaive in my left hand and nothing in my right hand. I'm going to bring my pinky, my right pinky, in that surface. Do me a favor and roll a Perception check for me. 16. Acto-Runus is going to reach through. Just a dip. *laughs* Not that tingy. Acto-Runus is going to feel nothing on the other side. No pain. It's not causing him any pain.

It just feels like he's grasping at air. There's nothing, there's nothing apparently on the other side. Everyone else roll a Perception check for me. Okay. Airlove and Leila are going to see that Acto-Runus' hand is not coming out the other side of this gate. Wherever his hand is currently, it's not in this cavern. The rest of you are going to notice that Bree hit that wall really fucking hard and appears to be either unconscious or just lying still on the other end of this cave. She was launched back a good 25 feet. What would you like to do here, Acto-Runus?

I'll quickly bring my hand out and see if everything's there as fast as I can. Acto-Runus is going to draw his hand back out and it would appear as though everything is completely intact. Then I'll say, "10 to Brianna" and I will step forward. No. Acto-Runus is going to step through the gate. Acto-Runus, do me a favor and roll a Perception check for me. Oh, dude. Oh my god. That's a nine. Oh no. That is a crit one. Yeah. So Acto-Runus is going to go temporarily blind just for a second as he steps through. And then slowly but surely, his senses are going to come to him.

And he's going to hear the sound of grass swaying. Soothing. And then Acto-Runus is going to hear another sound. It sounds like a distant roar. Can I estimate the distance? Do me a favor and roll a Perception check for me. Okay. Push it to the limit. 26. A few things are going to be apparent to Acto-Runus. One, it appears as though he is standing in an open field. It's honestly gorgeous. It's tall grass swaying and there doesn't appear to be a living thing for miles. Behind him, in this field, with nothing else in it beyond him, is going to be this purple sphere.

Is there like a physical gate around it? There's no physical gate. All right. I'll start. There's one more thing. Hearing the roar a second time, you're going to pan to the left. And you are going to see the largest dragon you have ever seen. Brilliant white. And it appears to be flying over a city. And from here, it looks like that city is Esterhold. All right. Well, at least I know the way back if the gate closes. I'll take all that in and I'll head back through the sphere. Everyone else in the party, do me a favor and roll a Perception check. I am just so bad at this.

One day, Brelyn. I really like picking my notes. Dagon, Kori, Airlove, Layla. Everyone but Brelyn. Everyone but Brelyn is going to notice Actornis step through and then disappear completely. And then after a few moments, he is going to re-emerge from this gate and he appears to be fine. He appears to be completely intact. This gate doesn't appear to be closing, at least not yet. You have no idea how long this will stay charged. Bree does appear to be stirring on the other side of this room. Should I do a heal check, Jason, to help her out or no? Please do. 20.

There you go. That's the same thing, plus five. What the hell? Yeah. So, Brelyn is going to be over there assisting with Bree and trying to get her up. And she appears to have done some damage to her shoulder here. And she is obviously quite sore. And she's squinting looking over at the gate. And she's going to try to get to her feet here and use Brelyn as sort of a brace. Whoa! It's one of the few characters in Theria that she's taller than. So it's kind of like just leaning on. Not, not, not, there's no, it's not to be an ass. It's just like, okay, I can't stand up on my own.

Yeah, I'm going to tell her, hey, take it easy. Take it easy. Yeah, Finway is just looking intently at this gate. At this point, Poe would be racing over to Bree to make sure she's all right. Finway is just standing there with his mouth open. Yeah, it's that Jurassic Park moment. What would the party like to do here? Am I back? Oh yeah, you're back. What the fuck, actor Onus? Yeah, I'll be standing like in the, like just in front of the gate with my head down and still for a while. And then I'll raise my head and just go, there was grass and there was wind.

And there was this gigantic white dragon. And then I think there was Hesterhold. Take on it worked. Dagon will be looking at him with his eyes wide open going, uh-huh, uh-huh, and, and? Seems like it doesn't connect to another gate per se. I came out of a purple sphere, just like this material behind me. It would seem like the gate sent me there. Bree's going to stand up again, very much nursing her shoulder and leaning on Breland. You said it was a dragon? Yes, unlike anything I've ever seen. Much larger than the blue dragons back home. And you said it was over Hesterhold?

It was going towards Hesterhold, yes. So I don't know what's happening over there, but if you have friends over there, I suggest we meet. Maybe, maybe want to head in that direction. Bree is going to start to make a beeline for the gate. I'm just gonna like, uh, stop her as she walks. Seemingly she's like hurt. As I stop her with my arm, I'm just gonna use healing magics on her. Just so that, just so that even if she's exhausted, she's got some of a little bit of something to help her. Even if it's not actual hit points, I don't care. She's gonna give a quick nod to Acto Runas, just kind of like, "Thanks." And she's gonna continue through this gate.

Poe is going to be exasperated by this because it's not like this has been tested. And it's not like, like Acto Runas has already been kind of lumped up a bit. So it's, I mean it's one thing in his eyes sending Acto Runas through because you volunteered. And she's, you know, she just charges on through. It's not exactly been extensively tested. And Brie is going to disappear into the gate and vanish. Poe is gonna look to the rest of the party. I gotta follow her, so I get it if you don't want to or whatever, but I'm gonna go. The last person is gonna look at is Heirlove.

He's gonna look at Heirlove and just kind of nod at her. Heirlove will nod back and then look to Dagon expectantly. 'Cause he's the leader of this troop. [Laughing] Dagon's disappointed but not surprised that he didn't get the answer he wanted. Which sort of means this is kind of concluded. He'll just look at everyone in Agustin and just say, "I suppose we should help." Because we can and he'll look at Acto Runas. He's going to nod and say, "The gate is gonna stay here. It won't move. You might as well experience the feeling of going through it." And then when we figure out how to send us where we want, we'll just do it again.

Poe's gonna look at Dagon. We can explore this later. It's not like we have any idea where this really... I highly doubt that this is just going to Esterhold. This is just where it's taking us right now. So, I'll help you figure it out. I'm sure Brie will want to, too. We should probably follow her before she gets into trouble. Oh, she's gonna get into trouble. So, air level starts charting towards the gate. Poe will join her through. Before Dagon walks through, I'd like them to just look at the gate. Is there anything in particular that's lit up or something that would give any indication that, "Yeah, this would send us to Esterhold." Do me a favor and roll Perception. 22.

Something Dagon is going to notice, and this could be key, every time that they tried to do some sort of experiment, either here or in Onakol, that was written about, there was always one of the corresponding markers over the bridge of the arch that was lit up. Either them selecting it or just defaulted. Nothing is lit up at the top at all. But on Dagon's bracelet, there's still the marker for this gate. At least, that's what you're assuming. So, that hasn't changed at all. Would anything happen if I rotated the bracelet on my wrist or something? Would you like to try something like that?

How many of us are left? I still haven't gone through yet. I haven't gone through yet either. Oh, you, Braylin and Courtney. Courtney, sorry. I think maybe he would sort of just thinking about it kind of like, hmm, and then just maybe, yeah, just fidgeting with it kind of like, because he would notice that the symbol is glowing on the bracelet. Yeah, I think he would turn it. Now, are you touching just the bracelet or the gate? Is everyone okay with this? Could be nothing. I don't want to do many games. I would say it's your call. Right. Like, Cory is a little entranced and all that shit just happened in like a matter of 30 seconds.

So, she's still kind of, what the fuck? I think he would, you know, look up at the gate, look down at the bracelet, and sort of as he's walking through, probably rotate it around his wrist. Are Braylin and Cory going to join him? Yeah, yeah, he'll work up his courage to go through. Cory really quickly wants to like snuggle in a little bit with Fluffy because this is where we shall part. We said we wouldn't bring him out of the forest, so she's just going to give him a little nookie and then she'll start to follow Dagon. I know, I'm so sad. I'll get another.

So you're leaving him with Finn away? Oh, God, I didn't think about that. He's sort of tame. Oh, God, I would feel so bad if Finway died. But I can't take the bear to Esterholt. Dagon, Braylin, and Cory are going to be the last ones to step through this gate. And I think that's a good time for us to stop. Oh. We don't even know if we split the party. Yeah, so here's the thing. So I feel bad saying it because I feel like I'm mitigating it bad. You think you know how it works? Yeah, so... [♪♪♪] (soft music)