Ghost Stories

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And you get an entire album's worth of extra bonus content just for you. That's 10 tracks. Seriously, go to battlebards.com, check it out. We're going to be talking about them for the next few weeks and going really in-depth on certain things. Go through their library and see what it's all about. Battlebards.com. Let's do that thing and go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason, I'm the Dungeon Master, going around the table, starting with Mack. Hi, I'm Mack and I play Gullin and Walgares, the Wild and Shaman. And Jamie. Hi, I'm Jamie, I play Kori, Forest Keeper, a Goliath Seeker.

And Jasper. This is Jasper, I play Merrick, Ethelred, a human cleric. And Eric. Hi, I'm Eric and I play Ordon, King Shield, Dwarf Knight. And Bree. Hi, I'm Brianna and I play Thanatos, the Ghisri, Scion. So guys, last time we ended things a little precariously. You have been exploring this library, you made it there, you made it inside. Bit of a trial, the entire thing. And slowly but surely you're sort of finding some things out. There appear to be some, let's call them ghost-like apparitions. Kind of meandering about the place, you've seen a couple so far.

And then a larger pack as you explore the rest of the library. There are more books than you could probably ever read in your entire lifetime. And somewhere in here you're guessing that there's some knowledge that's going to help you out on your current quest. More importantly than all of that though, is the discovery of some sort of rift in the back of this library. And this appears to have been quarantined, sealed off. There's some sort of barrier around it. And you know this because Thanatos went to check it out. And there were several skittering gray figures.

And they appeared to just be kind of skittering up thin air. And there was one more individual who was different than all of those tiefling. So let's pick up right there. What would Thanatos do at that point? Like having taken this all in, there's been a couple of seconds to see all this. What would Thanatos be doing? And would the rest of the party just still be around the corner waiting? And if so, how long would they wait? I guess what she would do would kind of depend on the composure of the individual she is looking at. So if you could describe that, I could probably have a better idea.

Qom doesn't even begin to describe. Almost as if this guy is taking a pleasant stroll. Like, it's not phased by the skittering little demon-like objects around him. Just kind of walking around again, sort of tracing his fingers up and down like someone might do with a very serene wishing well. Something like a pond. Just kind of glide their hands across the water. That's what this guy appears to be doing. Tiefling looks to be, you know, not middle-aged, not quite there yet. But maybe in his thirties, somewhere in there. Looks wise. Again, very put together.

Very well dressed. Except for the nails. The nails are just really long. And sort of unkept. Overgrown. Almost like talons. And does he look to be completely physical? Uh, yeah. Whereas the "ghosts" that are totally ghosts. It's really bothering you that we're not calling them ghosts. Shh! Ghosts. Like, he looks different than the definitely ghosts. Oh yeah. Everything beyond this barrier, in this circular barrier here. Everything inside looks to be corporeal. It looks to be very physical. You could touch it. Except for the barrier, in the way. But yeah. They look to be physical.

And what do the gray things look like? Because I'm imagining little babies for some reason with those nails. Uh, picture, actually picture tiny hunched-over old men, almost. Sort of a cross between an old man and a really wrinkly dog with these protruding, gnarled teeth. Just sort of snapping and biting at the air. It almost looks as though they have cataracts. Their eyes are sort of glazed over with this white... Yeah, just kind of hunched over. Very small hands. Kind of like T-Rex arms. Gross. Basically, you just described a labradoodle. I'm pretty sure. This actually taps into my hatred of that breed of dog.

I fucking hate labradoodles. No. He's part labradoodle. No, I'm kidding. I love Sophie. Now she looks sadder than before. That's not possible. Sophie, no! There's one other thing you're noticing about them. And they all appear beyond the tiefling, gentlemen. All these little demon-like creatures appear to be very wet. Almost slimy. Like someone hosed them down recently. But in canola oil. Like very, very... kind of... Almost a greasy substance covering them. Ew. Alright, so Thanos would turn the corner, kind of... And she was going to punch. That was her go-to saying hello, really.

But then she's gonna kind of take in what is going on. And take like a half step back, look mildly disgusted, and then just kind of look up at the tiefling gentleman, who I'm sure is just lovely. And just say, "Who the fuck are you?" Like almost offended that he's here. Like she's mad at him for being here. Do me a favor and roll a perception check. Okay. Perception... Heh! I get to know all about this young gentleman who I know nothing about, and I'm sure once again is lovely. Well, here's the thing. What you're going to notice right off the bat is that this person doesn't appear to be paying you any mind.

Almost... He keeps making little noises to himself. And the longer Thanos listens, it's almost as if he's humming a tune. And it appears as though he's just doing it to entertain himself. And he's going to walk up and down the length of this barrier, just tracing his fingers and nails every once in a while. And he'll stop here and there and try to push outward. And then you can see that he's tensing up just a bit, as if he's just checking the barrier up and down, just looking for weak spots. And then he'll go back and start tracing his hands again. You're going to notice that these demons are sort of following him, but not in any...

Not like a pack or anything like that. More like... More like someone walked into a coop of chickens and has food. Like, they're sort of following him, but randomly, erratically. But he is going to continue to do this and pay you no mind. Guess at that point she'd probably just repeat herself, but louder and angrier. Okay. So, before we jump to this, the rest of the group is going to hear her. I can't imagine they're that far away. They're just around the corner. So the party would know that there is someone there. What would the party be doing? How would they react to that?

Hmm. I mean, I'm certain that Merrick is completely creeped out by everything that's going on and specters and apparitions or whatever they might be, freaking him out a little bit. I think he's just on high alert. So if he hears something with Thanatos just being, you know, Thanatos, like, "Who the fuck are you?" I think he'd probably actually feel a little bit at ease, like, "Okay." There's probably just somebody normal around. So I mean, I think he'd probably try to come around the corner, but I don't know what anybody else is up to. Have we actually lost sight of Thanatos?

Did they turn the corner? She would be around the corner, yeah. Okay. Then Ordon will advance and try to back her up with whatever's going to be coming on. Okay. So after the first time she says it, it sounds like the group is going to start around the corner. The second time she raises her voice, this person is going to stop. Mid-trace, his hand is going to just stop. And his head is going to tilt kind of awkwardly, almost like a dog that doesn't-- is trying-- it looks like they're trying to hear you better, something like that. And his fluttering, unfocused eyes are going to sort of-- you can watch them trace up the floor and then looking at Thanatos' general direction.

And he's going to turn his nose up, and it appears as though he's sniffing the air, just taking in one long breath. And then after a moment-- I would say at this point the party would be, you know, had rounded the corner and would be with Thanatos-- he's going to open his mouth, and there's kind of, like, sticky tendrils almost. It's like someone has a really dry mouth, like there's strands of saliva. "She's not with you." And he appears to be quite frustrated. Like all of a sudden it just kind of comes on. And he's going to be taking the party in and looking at each one of you.

Could we all hear that, or is he sort of saying that sort of quietly? It's quiet, but there's nothing else going on in this place. And the acoustics are such that it kind of echoes when you do anything. So it would not be hard to pick this up. I would say the party heard it, unless you're actively covering your ears. Would Thanatos know what a tiefling is? Oh yeah. Okay, just checking. Yeah, they exist on every continent for the most part. They're not as plentiful on certain continents, but yeah. How close is Thanatos to this-- I'm imagining this as a column, right, of like a force field, right?

Yeah, something like that. More a bubble. Okay, okay. How close would Thanatos be, like feet-wise? Probably within like two feet, because when she turned the corner she was right there. And then she took that little half step back. Okay. But she's not going to give any more ground. Okay, so she's definitely within arm's reach of it. Like if she reached out she could touch it if she wanted to. Okay, cool, cool. Okay, so with that in mind, and with Merrick just coming around the corner, sort of just digesting all of the species in front of him, I think he would--again, he's like super ready, he's got his weapon in his hand.

With his free hand, I think he would try to not grab Thanatos, but just sort of kind of like put his hand and sort of pull back. Like, "Let's be careful." Careful, right. And try to just kind of back everyone a little bit away from the barrier, from the edge of this thing. I don't know how Thanatos would react to that, but it certainly wouldn't be aggressive. She would put up a little bit of a fight at first, like she wouldn't want to give up the ground, but she will then realize it's probably a good idea and back up a little bit. Yeah, if there's any look, Merrick would be like, "It's cool, it's cool, just let's get back a little bit." Merrick's going to look directly at this tiefling, and he's actually going to say to Thanatos and to the rest of the party, "First of all, what the fuck is this?" But he's not breaking gaze with the tiefling, and then second of all, he's going to say, "Second of all, who isn't with us?" I can smell her on you.

It wasn't long ago she was with you, was it? Gaze? Maybe a week. That means she's close. Where is she? Ugh. I can't express to you, I don't even know how to describe this, but Merrick has the same look that I have on my face, which is complete and utter creeped out and, what the fuck? Ugh. I believe Kaluna already had Pig summoned, so they're just going to have him inch forward some sort of, "This guy's fucking weird, keep him away from me!" This is a good song, I liked it. Thank you, it's going to be on my new album. Thanatos is just going to look up at Merrick, the same look of disgust, but also maybe a little tinge of fear in the eyes, and she's just going to kind of give him a, like, huff in the tiefling's direction, and be like, "He's crazy, let's just go." I completely agree.

But I'm, I can't help it, I'm super curious. This is the most fucked up individual I think I've ever been around, and I've only been around him for 30 seconds. Who in the world is he looking for? I mean, I think there is something captivating, like, what is going on? It's like that crazy homeless person that is talking about having a potato in his pants, and you're like- It's so fucked up, it's like a car wreck. It's like a human car wreck. And you're like, "Wow, pew!" Not tiefling wreck. Well, let's talk about the homeless guy right now. Oh, okay. The fictional homeless person that we just made up.

I don't see, I don't know what's so weird about a potato in your pants, I mean, it's a perfectly okay size. No, it's totally fine. If it were a watermelon, it'd be different. If it were like a yam. It's not that there is one, it's that they're talking about it. Right. I have a potato in my pants, I've got a potato in my pants. Uh, huh. Why do you have a potato in your pants? I'm sorry, I have to ask. Um, what- I don't even know what to do. This is- Alright, first of all, we- What the fuck is this? Does anybody know what's going on here? Just, aha! Like, I don't know what this person is or what they need, what they're looking for.

Uh, Thanos, anybody? Does anybody? Corey? What is this? We roll a check of some sort? I mean, is there anything that- Well, let's see. I mean, from a character point of view that would be like, what the hell is this? Here's the thing. Now, I would let everyone roll a history check. Now, for some of you, the check is going to be a lot lower than the others. For Merrick and Caluna, the check is going to be fairly minimal because they spent a lot of time around Jadzia and the group and lived in Darmok's house. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to take all of the descriptions of this person and go, "Wait." Now, for Thanos, Ordon, and Corey, it might be a little bit tougher.

For Ordon and Thanos specifically, it's going to be tougher. For Corey, it'd be a little less tough. So everyone do me a favor, roll a history check. Whoa. Oh, really? Oops, that's the wrong one. Hold up. I can't- I crit- You're not stealing. I crit missed. Hey, you seem pathetic. Wow. I know all about this fella named Darmok even though I come from a completely different- I just got here, but I heard about this dude. Actually, Merrick, you told me, but I guess you forgot. I'm just imagining that Merrick right now is in complete- Shock? Shock and creeped out and also probably worried about everything that's going on.

So I don't know, but he crit missed like a mother. As this individual is standing here in front of you, again, there's something in his eyes. If you ever looked into a person's eyes and realized that they just aren't all there, like instantly there's something behind those eyes that you go, "Wow, there's something off." Like you could tell they're either heavily medicated or probably should be heavily medicated. They're unfocused and just sort of glancing, kind of pinballing from face to face. He seems to specifically be settling on Merrick though. And as he's looking, he's going to reach down with his hand.

And one of these little demon-like creatures is going to be standing there. And the demon creature too, his eyes are unfocused, but it looks more like they may be blind or something like that. There's something wrong with them. There's a lot wrong with them, but vision-wise, they sort of glance around constantly. And he's going to take his hand and slide it over the skull of this thing. And after a few seconds, you're realizing he's petting it, just kind of absentmindedly. And there's going to be this slick kind of slathering sound as his hand rubs against this bald skull of this creature.

Almost like someone's rubbing butter over a basketball, something like that. And one of you would kind of start piecing this together, and that'd be Calluna. As impossible as this sounds, the description that she's heard of Darmok, combined with some of the stories I'm sure that she's heard from the party, whether it be from Jadzia or Una or whoever had been in the party previous, combined with maybe seeing something in the house, be it pictures or artwork, something, that this looks and description-wise sounds a lot like Darmok. Calluna is going to...

I imagine Calluna was sort of standing behind everyone else. Just sort of like, they're so uncomfortable in this entire place. But they're going to sort of reach out to Merrick and just sort of grab on to what he's wearing and just sort of tug on him, like almost frantically, but they're sort of trying to stay calm. And they're going to say, "We need to leave." Calluna would sort of... They don't have pupils, so I guess it doesn't matter, but their eyes are going to sort of dart back and forth between Merrick and Darmok. And they're going to say, "We think that's the husband, the one that you said." And you know, they're just sort of trying to use words, but they can't.

No, the thing is that I remember that this was the big question long ago, right? I remember that Calluna, after the whole Darmok and Jadzia stuff first came up, Calluna was like, "Merrick, what's a husband?" It's like, "Actually, this is really complicated with this story." So I honestly think, unless there's anything that I should roll for this, I honestly think Merrick would probably key directly into that. If that's something that Calluna says. I would say, yeah. Yeah, it'd be like, "Husband, oh, wait, what?" I guess Merrick would just piece it together, unless there's anything wrong with that.

I think he would look back and forth between Calluna and this tiefling gentleman and put two and two together. Yes, we do need to get out of here. Merrick's going to just start trying to push people back. Like, "Okay, show's over," kind of a thing. "Alright, and just go go go go go go, just retreat retreat retreat down the stacks, wherever they can go, away from this gentleman and the bubble." Calluna will briskly walk away. The second that you start to walk away from this bubble, he's going to start to elevate his voice. And with the hand that's not stroking this gray creature, he's going to sort of brace himself against this bubble.

"You know where she is. You tell her I'm coming. He can't protect her forever, and when I get free, we are going to be one again." And as you back up, he's going to continue to raise his voice. "You tell her I'm coming." Yep, walking fast. Walking fast. Merrick's going to be, as everybody's going away, he's going to be staring at this tiefling gentleman and backing up away, just making sure everybody's, you know. Do me a favor. Merrick, roll a perception check for me. As you're backing up, and this gentleman is elevating his voice, because he wants to make sure that you hear him, he stops stroking this little gray creature with his right hand.

And what he's done is, you're going to hear a sound. And it sounds kind of like a scraping, almost? And Merrick's going to glance down for just a second and realize that he's taken his two, he's taken his index finger and middle finger and he's boring into this thing's skull. Jesus. Almost like an overripe pumpkin or melon, something like that. It's going to effortlessly glide as he drills into this thing's skull. And this creature is going to open its mouth, almost like it's in agony, and then just sort of slump over. And he's going to retract his fingers and there's going to be some sort of slimy, pulpy matter.

He's kind of a grayish pink, and he's doing this almost as if he's not noticing he's doing it. He is locked onto Merrick. And before you round the corner, he is going to turn and violently lash out at these things. And in one swift motion you are going to see this bubble from within ignite in flames. And unless you're going to stand there, are you going to continue to round the corner or just...? I mean, I think we just keep going, but I do... One perception question. If from within that bubble, if everything's sort of igniting and, you know, dharmak tantruming, is there any sense that the bubble itself is wavering?

It looks like the flames are completely contained in this thing. And as you round the corner, that's the last thing you're going to see. You're going to hear him scream and you're going to hear these things skitter and try to run and let out these horrible screams. And then one by one they're going to go silent. And eventually the fire is going to die down or at least sound like it's died down. And then it's just going to be stark quiet in here. OK, so question two about... There was a sculpted mural and we've got the apparitions. I'm trying to get a sense of the layout of where we are because I know there's a lot of stacks and there's the rift and everything, but I'm just trying to see where everything is.

The mural would be behind you. If you're rounding the corner, you'd be heading back toward that. OK. So the way it works is if you were to head back toward the mural, there's going to be a passageway on your left. And that would lead back to the main portion of the library where you came from. If you continue to head straight, then that'll take you to where that mural was. OK. OK. Just drawing shit out. No problem. OK. How would the rest of the party be reacting to all this? Well, Kaluna would have their totem clutched to their chest in both hands and they're shaking.

And as Merrick rounds the corner, they're going to give him a look like, can we please fucking leave? I think I think Ordon is going to be looking back and forth between Merrick and Kaluna because that exchange back there made no sense. Most of Kaluna's exchanges don't. I'll eventually settle on Merrick and ask, who was that? Let's find a place to settle down for just a second and then we can just rest and explain everything. But I feel like there there's probably some way that we can find our way back to the stacks that we could find, like a whatever felt like a safe place.

I mean, I know we're in a Dunjany library thing with maybe a hellmouth, but you know what I mean by safe. Is there something like that? But it's far enough away that we feel like, OK, we're living quarters. We could do that. That is totally an option. There's also there's also a seating area where there are long tables and chairs and books and things like that. That was clearly used for research. Well, that would be kind of out in the open, right? A little bit like we would. I think that's not a bad idea because I'd rather do that than be caught in a corridor or in a room or something like that.

So I'd I'd rather be out in the middle of everything just so that we could keep our wits about us. Would that be reasonable? That's up to everybody. That's what I mean. Yeah. Like if we're coming back that way and we find it, it's like, how about like how about here? That sounds OK to me. All right. So we can all sort of sit or sit down around like the library, library tables. So you're going to move back. You're going to move back to the stacks from from where you came. And eventually you're going to get back to the the main portion, like the big open area of this library.

And you are going to you're going to seemingly be alone because on the way back, you're you're you're all going to notice that you don't see any more of those those apparition like beings. As soon as you round at the corner, they appear to be missing. Gone. Good. But you're you're all going to make it back. And there are there are tables and chairs, places to sit down, things like that. OK. Keluna will sit under a chair. Can Keluna fit under a chair? I was about to say, Keluna is almost like... They can crumple up a lot. Their headpiece alone is like... I mean, yeah, that'll that'll hit on the chair, but they can...

I imagine that chair is just like sitting on top of Keluna's head. Right. Like none of the none of the actual legs are hitting the floor. It's just kind of balancing precariously. And like shaking. I don't think Keluna is strong enough to hold up a chair. It's very Scooby Doo. It's very Scooby Doo. I don't know. I just feel like we'll huddle close, but keep our wits about us. And I mean, I don't think Merrick feels completely safe. So he's got his weapon in hand still. OK. Ordon and everybody. OK, that OK, remember how I told you that there was a possible demon army that kind of in a matter of weeks could potentially take over the world?

Not easy to... It's kind of hard to forget that. Yes. Well, you know, there are demons and then there are bad people and then there are these rare individuals that are kind of they kind of transcend all of that. And this was one of them. His name is Darmok. It's complicated, but we have a friend. He's going to look at Keluna and look around at everybody. And Darmok is kind of obsessed with her and maybe wasn't really a great person to her. He's insane and he's very powerful and he's dangerous. There was an incident where, and I say rightfully so, I wasn't there, but I kind of got the idea.

He was kind of killed and honestly, his soul was kind of kept around. It's complicated. The bottom line is there's a really bad other demon that now has his soul. And anyway, that's him. He's dangerous. This isn't good is my point. And it looks like he's still obsessed. That's basically the story, Ordon. Keluna's right to want to get away as soon as they figured out who he was. He's, like I said, transcendent when it comes to the kind of power he has and the kind of influence he has. Whoever got his soul and whoever's coming up with a demon army, they have their star soul right there.

And I guess with that, Merrick's just gonna collapse onto a chair or something and kind of throw his hands up like, I don't know what the fuck to do now. Keluna knew the name of that weird demon dude, right? I think so. They would supply that name just sort of like as a little addendum like, yeah, that guy, his name was this. Right. This is basically why we're here, not Darmok specifically, but the fact that Darmok's part of this thing and his soul was taken by Velnar. This isn't good. This means things are escalating the way we expected them to escalate, but we're basically getting confirmation that this is the shit.

Does anybody know how many days we have before D-Day? Did you ask that, like in character? Yeah. No. Here's the thing. It was always kept very loose. What you guys were told originally was three months, but it was never flat out said. It's like, oh, on this day specifically. Right. I'm not exactly sure. I don't like confusion. I need to know the hour. I need to know the day. I know what the weather's going to be like. You may find out a bit more. So we, yeah, we have weeks. It's like not only did we get a clue from Julie, but we may have found the place where things are going to sort of go down and frankly, everybody, I'm at a loss.

I don't know what to do. I thought we were going to find some information. Sure. But what do we do? You have a very obsessed tiefling back there. I don't know who this person is they're looking for, but it sounds like you might be able to barter with some information. Hmm. It's not a bad move. Oh, but I have to go talk to him again. Kaluna will pipe up from under the chair. You're not going to tell him where she is, are you? Hell no, that's not going to happen. The last thing that's ever going to happen on Theria is that Dharmak's going to get back to Jadzia.

That's for sure. Would everyone sitting at the table do me a favor and roll a perception check? No. Great. Yeah. So sitting at this table, it's kind of covered in books. One or two of them are already open and there are sort of various papers and things scattered about. Looks like someone was taking notes, that type of thing, which appeared to be a really common practice here. Maybe passages or chapters, something like that, kind of bookmarked and highlighted. It's like, oh, this might be important, that type of thing. Sitting among the papers and Merrick and Thanatos would notice this eventually.

A lot of these papers appear to be older and any of the research documents, the actual books, appear to be much older than the paper that these people were writing on. There is one piece of paper here that appeared to be, not really notes, it appeared to be more of a personal thing. And Merrick and Thanatos would notice this. So would either one of you reach for it to read it or is this just a thing you'd sort of address the part of it like, oh, hey, look. Thanatos would probably reach for it because as, I'm not sure if anyone remembers being a child, but as the adults are talking, you get bored.

So I actually imagine that she would reach out to the nearest thing like, what's this? I'm bored. Probably also because you don't have a tie to Jadzio or... Blah, blah, blah, end of the world, blah. Yeah, this is like total story stuff that doesn't make any difference to Thanatos. Actually, I was getting bored with myself talking anyway. Alright, I'm going to read this quietly to myself while you guys continue to discuss whatever I'm fucking talking about. Well, Merrick noticed it too, so he's going to be like, what's that? Oh, shit. Thanatos is going to like slowly lower the parchment and look up at Merrick.

They all died in here. And then she'll hand it to him so he can read the fucking novel that Jason fucking... As he grabs it, he's going to say, who's they? They locked them in. He's just going to sort of like do a quick scan of it first to see if there's anything like super, super important. They're just going to say, fuck it, fuck it. Okay. Keeper Lindsey, I have noted your objections time and time again. Yes, mistakes were made, but the best we can do is learn from these unfortunate events and move forward accordingly. The knowledge we hold within these walls must be preserved and protected at all costs.

If some of these things were ever to ever see the light of day again, it would cause great pain, suffering and destruction. You also know that while the rift has been contained, he's going to sort of, you know, inflect as he gets to interesting things for the party. And we all have all of the faith that the barrier will hold. It would be irresponsible to allow anyone in or out of this place. Thus, I must decline your request to take your leave of us. You will be expected to continue to perform your duties just as you always have. The dwarf king and his people will be sealing the outer door in one month's time.

We will be staying here for the duration. I will consider the matter closed and we'll hear no more talk of you exiting this place in any capacity. Headkeeper Kendra. So they did die in this place. So they seal the outer door. So the dwarf king and his people seal the outer door. That's what we broke through to get in here, right? Santos's eyes are going to scan the ground and like the nearby area. And after a second, she's just going to say, where are all the bodies? Well, it's like how you don't see squirrel bodies all over the place, right? It's like, you know, bacteria.

I'm just proud of everything. That's something we would have fucking noticed. Well, I mean, until then, it wasn't even clear to me that there had been anybody that died here. I mean, I know that there are apparitions, there are ghosts, but that could have been anything. I don't know. Can, can Kaluna like, this is going to be weird, but can Kaluna like sniff at the air to see if they smell like dead things? I think that would be part of the perception check where I told you what the air smelled like as you entered. OK. Yeah, I was just like. It is stale and kind of musty, but you would notice dead bodies like you would definitely notice that smell.

Yeah, so Kaluna will still sniff at the air and just sort of look really confused and unsettled. Just like, OK. OK, go ahead. So in this room where you are now, there are a few offshoots to the main portion of the library. There are a couple of corridors. Sitting TV would be like a, it looks to be a smaller corridor leading to some room. And then there's the living area, which is kind of offset from everything else. It's kind of kind of inset. And then there's, of course, the way you just came from. There were the mural in that rift. And then there's back the way you came, which would be the exit.

And then, of course, there's the the the copious amount of books and stacks. I mean, I guess Ordon is going to be getting up and pacing a little bit this point, not leaving the area. But he wants to take a look down this corridor where there's this other room is located. One we haven't looked at. So if I if I focus down there, can I see anything that what it looks to be good? Roll perception for me, please. Absolutely. What it looks like is a shorter hallway, not not not crazy long. And at the end of it is another set of big double doors that are closed.

And then along the sides are just sort of like mild decorations, that type of thing. And it's really close to where the living quarters are. Actually, everyone do me a favor and roll a perception check. Oh, my. That's actually not too, too bad. So I'm guessing everyone's kind of taking in this this area and looking around just this is one of the after the after the encounter with Darmock. I imagine everyone's just sort of like taking taking in the the area. It's like, OK, let's really start scoping this place out. It does appear as though there's a rhyme and a reason to the way things are placed.

Like you were in that one corridor near the the tiefling mural and a lot of the books were about tieflings. So that that seems to be some correlation there. And the book stopped near the rift, probably to protect what was there. And then there does appear to be like you you encountered an area that was just about Valnor. So that was kind of its own section. So it does appear that there is some sort of rhyme or reason. Merrick and Kaluna are going to feel something. They're going to feel the air shift again. And it's going to feel like there's a gentle breeze kind of caressing them and it's going to feel very cool.

And looking around near this living section, you're going to see that same woman again. And it appears as though she is going to bend down and place something near one of the one of the beds. And then she's going to look around and start to walk away. And then she's just going to disappear. Wow. And and nobody else noticed that. Just Merrick and Kaluna that time. It was over in a second. Right. I think Kaluna feels the breeze. They're definitely going to skitter out from under their chair like, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. What the fuck is that? And they're going to sort of look around at everyone else to see if they noticed the thing.

How far away would that have been? Like, roughly? That would be that would be probably about 50, 60 feet away, somewhere in there. It's a good distance away. Merrick's just going to he's going to go straight over to where where he wants to see what this this apparition was messing with. If it's something from the past, if it's something that's happening now, just to see if there's anything there. Kaluna will go with him. Buddy system. This is not secret. This is not like, you know, slinking off from everybody else. This is just more like single minded, just going for it.

But right. But, you know, nobody's gonna be like, where the hell Merrick goes? Right. And I'm imagining everyone else is just kind of chilling near the table right now. Ordon's not much for chilling right now. Right. He was checking out that corridor. Look, looking over there. Right. If they start heading off toward the living area, that's kind of where I was looking anyway. They're kind of adjacent to one another. So I guess I'll stick with them for right now. Okay. Dantus will probably follow that if the majority of the group is going in that direction. Okay.

This living area, again, all the beds appear to be made except for one. But that is not where this this young lady appeared to be bending down. It was one of the other beds that were just very, very meticulously made, almost military style. Like very I mean, all the corners are tucked in. Everything's very rigidly manicured and made up. Everyone do me a favorite role of perception check as you get closer to this area. As you get closer near the area where this this woman appeared to be bending down. There's going to be another bit of parchment sticking out from one of the pillows just out from under one of the pillows.

The one of the well manicured ones, one of the well made up ones. I mean, as soon as Merrick would see anything like that, he would try to grab it. Is this is this where she was bending down or is this just in that area? This looked to be where she was bending down, like she was putting something there that might. That's what I'm trying to get a feel for is that was this like, would this have been the thing that was being messed with? OK. But yeah, he'll grab it. Is everybody kind of crowded around? I would say, yeah. OK. I mean, if Santos notices you pick something up, then she would try to get on her tiptoes and try to read it over your shoulder.

Merrick's just going to go straight for it. Read it like it's almost like there's finding clue after clue after clue. So it's just like, OK. Zwinkies! I combined zoinks and jinkies. I was about to say, zoinkies is nuts. I didn't know which character I wanted to mimic, so I did both at the same time. It didn't work out. Let's just move on. Joshua, I don't think I can stand it much longer. They just won't listen to reason. This place was started as a haven for knowledge, not a prison for it. What good does collecting all this do if we aren't going to share it with the world?

I can understand protecting it, but to simply seal ourselves off from everything is insane. I've talked to the head keeper about this and I'm hoping she sees reason. Ever since we sealed off the opening, I've had this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I feel like something terrible is coming. I just don't know what or when. If I'm allowed to leave, I want you to come with me. I know she's your mother, but as long as we remain here, you know she won't let us be together. Please give it some thought. I love you, Elle. Okay, so can anybody make heads or tails of this stuff?

I mean, I get it. There's a soap opera happening. There's drama happening. I get that people were sealed up here, but what can we do with this information? Right now I'm worried about the dead guy. She's going to look back over her shoulder at that corridor the other way. Darmok? That dead guy? That dead guy. Yeah, we should all be pretty worried about him. And where the bodies went. Also a concern. Also a concern. Noted. Absolutely. They sealed off this opening, and I'm assuming that's the bubble that Darmok and his creepy crawlies are sitting in. But even this person, Elle, feels like something terrible is coming.

I just don't know what or when. Jason? Mm-hmm? What kind of check would it be to figure out how long it's been since people have been here? I feel like that might be a perception check. Go ahead and roll a perception check for me. 21? So you can start putting the pieces together. Here's the thing. It's really tough to figure out because you don't see any bodies. All of the books here are coated in dust. However, where you guys were just sitting, and these beds, while they're immaculately made, don't appear to have been used in a very, very long time. There is a thick layer of dust covering everything in this place.

You're guessing that it's been probably over a century before anyone has been in here moving around. Right. So it stands to reason they weren't trying to lock Darmok away. Yeah. That was less than a century ago. If I had the hazard to guess. More like a month? Hey, Ordon. Yes? In the note a little bit earlier, it said something about that the Dwarf King and his people would be sealing the outer door in a month's time. Did you have any sense when we were outside how long this thing's been shut up? Uh, Jason? Ooh, okay. Here's what we're gonna do. Ordon, I'm gonna give you the option to roll a history check, or you can just roll a standard perception check.

Okay. Would he get a bonus to the history check? He's going to get- Yes. That's the thing. Whatever you roll, I'm gonna give you a plus three to it because you're a Dwarven and come from Stone Sunder. Okay. Um... I guess perception is what I'm gonna roll here. Okay. And that's with the plus three. Okay. Okay. So, Ordon's gonna think back to the opening and the construction and while it doesn't- the thing is that seal didn't reek of Dwarven architecture. It's something that would have been from a bygone era. Like, that's not- those aren't techniques that Dwarves use today.

If he had to hazard a guess, it's probably been at least a couple of centuries since any Dwarf would use that type of style for those brackets. The stairs, on the other hand, were definitely Dwarven, so there is some sort of tie there, but if it was done by Dwarves, it was done a long time ago. I'm assuming that's communicated. Yes, I relay all that. Um, okay, we're following a- we're following a story from a long, long time ago, everybody. Uh, good news is, it does mean that whatever they did to shut off this rift has been holding for a good long while.

And it doesn't seem, at this point, to be- to look like it's breaking. That said, there's a darmok at the top of it, and I'm not comfortable with that. Okay. Uh, Jason. Mhm? Uh, looking around this room while everyone's trying to figure this out, um, Orden's gonna be a little, again, antsy here. Um, are there any footlockers or closets or any, like, personal possession type containers? Uh, there are footlockers. They're kind of kept away from the beds, and they do appear that that would be where people put their personal possessions, something like that.

It wouldn't be hard to hazard a guess. Uh, can I head over there and try to open one? Uh, you sure can. Picking one of the random ones, they're not locked. None of them appear to be locked or have any apparatus, like, to house a lock. And Orden's gonna lift the, uh, lift the lid to one of these, and all that is gonna be inside is, uh, is a picture. Um, do me a favor, roll a perception check for me. 18. Okay. Um, that picture's gonna look really similar to one of the apparitions you saw near the, uh, near that mural. Okay. Um, at that, I'd like to flip open some more and see if that's what's in each of these.

You sure can. Going down the line, in each one of them, there appears to be a similar, a similar picture, like a sketch of each, each person. And at first, Orden's going to, uh, at first, Orden's gonna kind of think, "Okay, well, that, that maybe designates whose locker this is supposed to be." And as, as, as you go down the line, the sketches get, um, a little, a little rougher every once in a while. You'll open one and, and the sketch is a little more, uh, a little more haphazardly drawn, something like that. Um, one is of, uh, like a, a younger looking blonde, uh, guy.

Um, there's a couple of half-elf women. There's, uh, there's one that appears to be an older looking woman. And then at the end of it, there's one last footlocker. And when Orden lifts that one up, there's going to be a bunch of personal possessions in there and no picture. Um, and there appear to be robes and, uh, there, there appears to be, uh, like little, little personal effects, things like that, like a locket. And, um, no weapons, no, no armor, no, nothing like that. And you are going to find another note. Okay. Totally up to you if you want to pick it up.

I will pick up the note. Reading through this, I will pass it over to Merrick. Okay. I like that Merrick's the designated reader. Uh, so great. Merrick's got a stack of parchment. He's just carrying it at this point. Okay. Stuffing them into pieces of his armor. Yes. There's a part of me that can see things from her side. The more we find out about the seal, the more I feel like it's going to be a problem one day. Believe me, I wish that wasn't true. I know what you're planning on doing and I'm begging you to reconsider. I can talk to her again in a few weeks once she's calmed down about all of this.

We can make this work. You know I can't just abandon her here though. It would crush her. I can't go with you until this is resolved. Please don't leave me behind. Joshua. So the more we find out about the seal, the more I feel like it's going to be a problem one day. Hmm. Uh, Jason, um, does this feel like it's Lindsay's locker or Joshua's based on what's in there? Um, this appears to be, uh, this appears to be like a boy's locker. Okay. Can I, uh, can I actually pick up one of the other portraits from one of the other, the one next to it, I suppose? Uh, pick it up, look at the back, see if there's anything special about it.

Um, sure. The, the rest of them appear to be just a front-sided sketch. Like, just a, just a rough sketch. Um, there, there appear to be two, two younger gentlemen. Um, one with, uh, one with darker hair, one with, like, lighter hair, probably blonde, something like that. A couple of older looking gentlemen, uh, like middle-aged, something like that. Like, handsome, mustachioed guys. Um, and then there, the rest of them appear to be female. Like, a majority of this group appear to be female. Okay. Can Santa start kind of rummaging through lockers as well?

Just trying to find anything of interest in any of them? Sure. Not notes specifically, like, just- Just anything of interest. Sure. Literally, yeah, just because she is just standing there doing nothing. Um, do me a favor, roll Perception. 30? Um, a lot of these appear- so they're, they're all bare empty except for the sketches in each one of them. And they appear to be placed, uh, specifically in the center. Uh, just, just, uh, like someone, like, took a little time. It wasn't just haphazardly thrown in, it was placed in the center. Um, the one with, with possession still, uh, in it, uh, the one with, uh, with stuff still in it, it does appear to be a boy's locker.

And it seems as though that the note that was in there appears to have been sort of stuffed behind some things. Like, underneath some things. Uh, the rest of it's just clothing and little personal effects. Thanatos? Actually, everyone else in the party, do me a favor, roll Perception. Hmm. Okay. Everyone except for Orden, um, is gonna hear a noise. And what it sounds like is a- it sounds like someone's sliding on a chair from across the room. Punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch. Um, Thanatos will grab the letter that she found stuffed, and, like, without even looking at it, immediately turn to the source of the noise.

Yep, turn to the noise. Killin' a little jump spin. Is it, is it within visual range, or do we have to walk towards it? No, no, no, it's within visual range, it's back where you came from, it sounds like. Alright, so we could be able to see it, technically. Alright, uh, Thanatos will charge. Do me a favor, roll a charge. Well, that's my charge. Uh, she didn't charge very well. Um, what it, what it looks like is that same, that same girl again, but, but, but kind of sitting, um, and it looks like she's, she's holding something. Um, and you can, you can see her body kind of, you can see it shake just a bit.

And there's gonna be a figure come up from behind her, it looks like, it looks like a, like a blonde guy, like a younger looking blonde guy, like probably in his late teens, something like that. And he's gonna come up from behind her and gently wrap his arms around her, just kind of like hugging her. And then they're both going to disappear. Thanatos will calm down. And, uh, once they're completely gone, she'll read the note that she found. Wait, what happened? Hmm? You said that there, you said that there was a note that crushed up? Oh, the note that you had already found.

Yes. That's what I was saying, yeah. The, um, I'm talking about the note that was already read, the one that Ordon found. Oh, that's where it was. That looked like it would have been stuffed. Yeah. Okay. All right. I gotcha. I thought I found another one. No, I'm sorry. I should have been clearer. That's okay. Quick question. Um, this might be more of a religious thing, but do Wilden in particular have any superstitions about, you know, fucking with the shit that belongs to the dead? Ooh, do me a favor. You can roll a history. Actually, you can roll a history check for me.

Why do I need to roll a history? Because it's important. You asked a very important question. Oh, perfect. Don't! Stop it right the fuck now! It's too late. Yay! If you make things written by the dead, you will immediately die. Cool! There is a very wide streak within the Wilden community because of where they live. They live in the Silverglade to the Wilden and the Wilden alone. God. There is a famous Eladrin crypt in the Silverglade, deep in the Silverglade. This has been long forgotten, probably by everyone except the Eladrin, and the Eladrin are gone. So the Wilden are the only other community that know about this.

And it is considered very bad mojo to disturb something like that. That crypt specifically has been, to the Wilden, considered to be off limits. Haunted, for lack of a better term, cursed. Not to be touched. So I would say to Kaluna, anything involving the afterlife on this level, fucking with any of this is no bueno. And just related, because I know... Are Wilden and Eladrin on good or bad terms? I can't remember. They weren't on bad terms. The Eladrin that actually lived in the Silverglade, their ruler at the time was actually very welcoming of different races.

He was one of the only Eladrin that was sort of welcoming of different races. So that one? Yes, cool. Every other Eladrin kind of looked down on every other race that wasn't Eladrin. Okay, cool. History lessons. Okay. But um, okay. So yeah, Kaluna... I guess Kaluna's going to just watch everyone else do this shit. And sort of... They're going to clutch their totem even tighter, and they're going to look down at Pig. Just sort of like, "We're going to die here. We're so fucked." And then they're going to look over at Merrick and give him the same look. Merrick will probably just shrug, like, "Yeah, probably." So comforting.

That's the most comforting thing I've ever heard. Yeah, probably. If possible, I would like to make a Dungeoneering check in this room, checking out walls and things for anything that might be hidden. Oh, that is... that'll... Okay. So what we'll have you do is roll a Dungeoneering check for me. And this will probably take you a while to find something because it's such a big room, but we'll see. Go ahead and roll a Dungeoneering check. Rolled off the 18. I was about to say it was an 18 for just a second. So you will be looking around. Um, is... so how would the rest of the party react to... it appears as though this place is very haunted.

It's not just one or two ghostly sightings you're seeing. It's kind of like popcorn. It's coming on all around you all of a sudden. Can Kalina apologize profusely to the ghosts for everyone fucking with their shit? You sure can if you'd like. I'm just trying to do that just quietly and Elvin just sort of mumbling to themselves like, God, we're so sorry. We're so sorry everyone else is an asshole. Please don't hurt us. As soon as Orden would try to search for stuff around the room, and I know it's pretty big, I think Merrick would probably try to do the same in whatever other direction.

Just to cover more ground. Just gonna try the opposite end. Yeah, kinda. Do me a favor, roll an engineering check. So it's gonna be a while. I would say Orden and Merrick would spread out and kind of divide this place in half at the very least. Just poking and prodding and looking around. Down one of these stacks in particular, one of these columns of books. Eventually Merrick is going to stumble across something that looks slightly out of place. It's going to be like a brick. Like a stone that doesn't quite fit the rest of the motif here. It's slightly darker in shade.

Does Merrick still have his six foot pole? He sure does. Poke at it. Poke that brick. Okay. That brick is going to ever so slightly after Merrick pokes it, it's gonna slide back. It doesn't appear to be tied to a mechanism, but it does appear to move fairly easily. So it wasn't mortared in place or anything like that. That whole little section of wall appears to flex just a bit around that brick. Hmm. What does it look like would be possible to do with this? Like to push it, to pull it, to... What it looks like to you is that this was a section of the library that someone maybe put something in or hid something in and then stacked the stones to make it look like a solid wall.

When in reality this little section, it looked like someone meant to either come back one day or maybe put something here later, something like that. But this is very movable. Does it look movable like just grabbing a few things and pushing would do it? Or would it need a little bit more force? These are kind of heavy, it looks like. The stick definitely jabbed the one brick. And what you might be able to do is kind of really give it a nice punch or kick, something like that, and cause a little mini cave-in around that area. That's what I'm thinking. You rang?

Hang on, but do we need something that force punchy? Yes. You're not going to be able to punch it with your fist, you'd say? Like maybe if you reeled back in like you were trying to kick in a door? Like maybe... I bet if I tried. Let me just try for just a second, just to be merrick with like a good solid roundhouse type thing or something, some sort of cool karate thing. All right, well do me a favor. But you know, carefully. Okay, a really careful roundhouse kick. Gotcha. Great. Do me a favor and roll an athletics check for me. I'd rather roll kung fu, but that's fine.

Okay. So, Merrick's going to give it his swaziest kick. And his boot, I would say the party's going to hear this from around the library, his boot is going to collide with this stonework. And that the darker brick is going to push back just a bit, but the rest of this wall isn't going to give too terribly much. It appears like the weight sitting on top of it is just, it's probably a bit too much. Punch? Yeah, he's gonna like dust himself off for a second and he's gonna point at Thanatos and do the come here. Punch! Okay. That's the thing I do. Thanatos will come over and probably seeing what you did can infer from context.

And I would like to charge. Go right out. Merrick's gonna just kind of give like a, you know, like- I never get it! You're gonna do half damage. Fucking charge. Seriously? Can I charge again? No. Can I just let this one wear off and recharge? Like if I'm like, ah, this is a shitty charge and this is not time constraint. Well, the way it works is like you don't, like while you're charging, it's not like you feel like how that's going to be. It's more just like you just do it. And those are the results. What if Ordon grabbed Thanatos and threw Thanatos while Thanatos- That is, we've done this before in the show.

That is perfectly doable. I'm ready. No question. Do me a favor and just roll damage on a force punch. Okay. The wall's not gonna fight back. Did half of that to the wall. Eight damage. Thanatos is gonna reel back and punch, I'm guessing toward the darker brick. Mhm. So that's like fist level. And this brick is going to slide back like forcefully, just like poof, and just fly back. And there's gonna be like this poof of air and dust that kind of comes out of it after a second, like after this brick, after this big piece of stone hits the ground. And the rest of the, there's gonna be a hole and the rest of the wall is going to flex backward just a bit.

And that is all that's going to happen. So she did knock this one stone out. When you say brick, what size is it? Because I'm picturing like brick brick and I don't think that's the right size. Yeah, no, picture like double the size of that. Like a big piece of stone. That's why I keep changing it to stone because it's not quite a brick. Gotcha. Like, think the same lay as like a brick, like rectangular and stuff, but bigger. Alright. But the rest of it could come down if she didn't hit it like a fucking bitch. Pretty much. Alright. She's gonna notice this and go again.

Okay. Without pause. Like she's just gonna like see that she fucked that up and just be like fucking shit and then go again. That many, but normal because she didn't charge. Again? Yeah, it's the same number. Yeah. This time there's gonna be a much larger hole. One that it's just pretty much big enough for Thanos to step through. If she wanted to, you'd have to kind of raise your leg, but yeah. Like these bricks are gonna go, these big pieces of stone are gonna go flying backwards and it's gonna be just a tiny bit jagged where some of these stones have been knocked, you know, like to pieces.

And again, more dust like is just gonna come flying back out and it's gonna kind of coat the party a bit. Everyone do me a favor, roll Perception. The air is much staler here. Like corpse-y? American Kory are going to smell death in the air. Ugh. Now, after that settles for just a second, the party is going to see that this opens up into a thin corridor. And it appears there's sconces on the walls for torches and looking as far as they can see with their own torchlight, they're gonna be able to see that this stretches back a bit. But in the center of the aisle is this gorgeous, this gorgeous chest.

It looks to be decorated with silver etching and it does appear to be sealed and right in the middle. You'd have to step around it to get to the back. What's in the back? It's a little tough to see from here. Uh, Thanos will- God damn it. God damn it, Thanos. Thanos will go inside. Every part of my body is like, "No, check for traps!" But Thanos punched the hole, so she's right there and she'd walk inside. Stepping around the chest? Yes. Okay. Like, she does not give a shit about that chest. Stepping past the thing that might be valuable to get to whatever is in the- I'll take the box.

Well, Thanos would be walking down this corridor a bit. And as she moves further toward the back, that smell's gonna hit her nose strong. And this corridor's gonna open up. And what it appears to be is a mausoleum of sorts. There are going to be bodies very, very reverently, very, you know, respectfully stacked and sort of covered in sheets. Just looking. Do me a favor, give me a perception check. Hey, that worked. Cool. Okay. The one thing that Thanos is gonna take away from this is that these bodies were not all put here at the same time. Cool. I honestly thought you were gonna say, "The one thing Thanos is gonna take away from this is that these people are dead." No.

It's not quite that low. They're fucking dead. So dead, guys. Don't worry, guys, I found the corpses. Everything is okay. Sweet. Uhh, Mirek's gonna come in right behind. Can he fit in? I mean, I guess he could probably squeeze in. Oh yeah. Thanos made a specifically Thanos-sized hole just to find out the rest of you. I know, I feel like- Like Thanos-shaped arms and legs, like, perfectly in the wall. Very tiny. It may squeeze, but yeah, like it just kept getting like ducked down, like getting into a car that's too small for you. Are there torches on the walls, like unlit torches or anything like that?

Just disconses. Just disconses. Okay. Umm, Mirek's gonna check out the, uh, this chest. Would Kaluna be close enough to see this happening? Oh yeah. Kaluna's going to, like, try to make him not do that. You know, like rush in, like, "Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh." Well, to be clear, Mirek's not reaching for the chest or anything like that. He's just checking it out to see what the deal is. Oh, okay, then they would be more chill, but they would still sort of like scoot over to the chest, just sort of as a deterrent. Oh yeah, and I think Mirek would be like, "No, no, it's like I'm, like, checking it out, like keeping his hands away from it, just checking it out." Umm, is there anything other than what you've already said that is noticeable without touching or messing around with it?

It doesn't look like these bodies were put here with, umm, it looked to be a very "no frills" type of burial service. It looked like they had their clothes on their back, and then they were covered with a sheet, and then that was pretty much it. There's no coffins, there's no huge decorative weapons or gold or anything like that. It's a very, very, like a peasant's death, kind of, but very respectful. They're all, like, given their own proper space, like they're all spaced out, and they're all very, you know, yeah. The chest itself is set in the center of the walkway, you kind of have to scoot around, if you're any larger than Thanos, to kind of get around it.

Like, it's almost placed not as a deterrent to move in or as a barrier, just as, like, you can't miss it. Hmm. I'm really intrigued by the chest. Is there, like, a latch or a lid or anything like that specifically that looks like it should be checked out specifically? There appears to be no lock on this chest. There is a lid. Okay. I know. So, Merrick's gonna kind of, I think Kaluna's probably just right there. Kaluna's, he's gonna, like, stand back a little bit, and he's gonna use his stick to see if he can lift the lid. Can Kaluna, like, bat at the stick? [laughter] He's kinda like, "No, stop it!" Exactly.

Merrick will do the, like, the Yoda, like, "Whack whack whack!" Just kind of like, "Okay." Do me a favor, both of you roll an athletics check. Uh-oh. This is going to end really well. Merrick is going to be just a little faster on the draw than Kaluna is. Like, I imagine he's just standing there and he's internalizing what he's going to do and then just like, "Bap bap bap!" Like, just whack at the chest and Kaluna's seeing him raise his stick, "What the fuck are you doing?" Like, just swatting at it, but just missing the stick each time. It's that exact tone.

Okay. I'm assuming Merrick expected it to happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, he knows the part he's traveling with and it's like, "Okay, I gotta do this thing before the little one jumps in front of everything and the..." Then Kaluna tries to stop me from doing it. Okay, so. On the third whack, this chest is going to open. Like, the lid's going to pop backward. And it's going to do so with a creak. And I would imagine the two of you are just kind of waiting for something to just like either jump out or flames everywhere, something like that. Yeah. And nothing's going to happen.

I forget that's worse. Kaluna's going to sort of slowly look over at Merrick. So the lid's not off, right? Like, it's just opened up a bit? Mm-hmm. Okay, so he's going to take the stick and just kind of continue opening it, like swing it open. Okay. It is going to swing open all the way. And it is on a hinge, so it's going to reach the maximum amount of open. Do me a favor, roll a Perception check. 31. This chest appears to be largely empty. And are you going to kind of look inside, or is it you're just keeping your distance? Keeping distance, but kind of like peeking over.

Okay. Merrick, just from the torchlight, is going to catch this faint glimmer. And it appears as though something metallic is in this chest. Kaluna's going to give Merrick a look like, "Don't do it. Don't fucking do it." Merrick sticks his head and hands straight into the chest. His feet just kind of kicking in the back, like a little link opening the chest. And then it turns out it was a mimic. Right, that's what I've been expecting the whole time. No, just whatever it takes to get a closer and closer and closer look. Just sort of like maybe taking a stance, like he could back up any time, but just like leaning.

Yeah, and then rebalancing, and then maybe getting another inch or two, or whatever it takes to be able to see what's going on here. There appears to be a very highly polished bronze cylinder, like a tube. And that appears to be the lone object in this chest. Merrick's going to look at Kaluna. Is anybody else sort of hanging out with this? Yeah, what would the rest of the party be doing here? I'm just chilling with corpses. I don't know what you guys are doing. So, corpse party in the back. Ah, best game! Did that just for you. Thank you. Ordon will be just hanging back, watching this unfold with the chest.

Okay, by the time, and Merrick's pretty much sure there's nothing else in there other than what he can see in that tube. Yeah, if he's pretty sure there's nothing else in it, he's just going to grab the tube. Hold up. Hold up. I want to fight him. Can I do like a reflex or something? Do me a favor, both of you roll an athletics check again. This is my favorite. Oh. Okay, so Merrick's going to reach for this tube, and Kaluna's going to, I would imagine, just like grab his hands and say, "No, no, stop." Yeah, exactly. Are you going to explain to him why he should stop?

Yes. What exactly, is there anything specific that is supposed to happen, or is it just generally like bad juju? Well, it's, it's, so the legend is about this old Aladrin prince and king and stuff like that, but essentially it breaks down to don't fuck with dead people's things. That's essentially what, it's just, you know, nothing but bad can come from it. All these items are, you know, could be cursed or something. Like the wildling are very kind of superstitious people when it comes to that. My God, what a shock. Yeah, Kaluna's just going to look him like dead in the eyes.

He can't really tell, but they're going to look him dead in the eyes. And they're going to say, "Bad shit will happen." But listen, we're, we're, we're at a very special place that we probably should never have been able to even find. And we've got to find every bit of information we can about the seal and the demons and everything. And this is as safe as a place of, I mean, who's, there's a bunch of corpses over there, right? These are our friends that are, that are, Kaluna is going to like grab his face and just like, you know, just pull him close and say, "Bad shit will happen." *sigh* Kaluna, I've got to know what's in the tube. *laughs* Kaluna's going to just, they're going to move their face, like down, like they want to put their head in their hands, but their hands are busy.

They're going to say, "Marek, Marek, we have already gone through their things. We have seen them walking around. Marek, bad things are already going to happen. Why? Why would we do worse things?" The way I see it, we've messed with their stuff. Okay, I get that. It's probably not a great idea. This isn't theirs specifically. This is some sort of ritual thing or something, somebody else left this behind. Maybe it's a note. Maybe it's actually, listen, this is right in the way of trying to get to the, to our, our deceased friends back here. Maybe this is like the intro.

Maybe you're supposed to pick this up. Maybe you're supposed to check it out. This isn't like digging through a dead person's pockets. What if it's, what if it's, they're clearly like struggling with the word. What if it's got bad, bad magic? If it's got bad magic, and I'm sure there's a lot of stuff in here that does, we'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Yeah. Kalinda looks exasperated. Like this whole time they've looked, they've looked afraid on some level, but now they're just completely just done with him. We'll just deal with it. They're going to throw their hands in the air and they're going to look down at Pig because they have not, they have not dismissed him at any point.

"Bridgie's going to deal with it. Bridget's going to deal with it. Fine. Fine." And they're going to walk away. Not necessarily leave the room, but they're going to walk away. Just, just talking in elven to Pig like, "Bridgie's gonna fix it. It's fine. It's fine." Can, can Merrick, does, has Ordon seen this as well? Like has he seen the, the tube probably at this point? I don't think I can actually see the tube from where I'm standing. I'm still like back by the entrance, so I haven't approached the chest. Okay. Okay. Merrick's going to sort of motion towards the chest and he's going to look at Ordon like, "Check it out." I will come up to the chest.

This object appears to just be one singular tube and there appears to be little brackets so that it's, it was, it was sat in here so that it wouldn't roll around. It doesn't appear to be the same width of the, the chest, so it fits in here really nicely. And it looks to have little, little caps on the ends of it. So it looks to be some sort of container. I gotta, I gotta get this. Merrick's gonna look at Ordon and I'm taking it. Go ahead. Don't stop me. I'm not planning on it. Alright. Clunar will watch very angrily and still exasperated. Just ready, ready for the "I told you so." Merrick's gonna look, he's going to be staring at Ordon in the face as he reaches down and grabs the tube.

Basically this is Merrick just being completely frightened and he's just like playing it out, but he's going to grab the tube. This tube has some weight to it. This appears to be clearly for the protection of whatever's inside this thing. Now I'm guessing Merrick is going to sort of unscrew one of the caps. He's gonna take a look at the tube and see if there's anything special about it, but you know, unless there's any particular marking or anything else to it, I think he would do exactly that. It's decorative, but it doesn't appear there's any, any, any ascriptions or writing, anything like that.

It does appear as though you could swing this thing like a baseball bat against the stone walls of this place and probably not do a hell of a lot of damage to it. Can I do any sort of like an arcana or anything like that before opening it up? Like just to get a sense of what this probably is? Sure, if you like. Arcana? Yeah. Try it. 15. I would not say that Merrick's connection to the arcane is legendary necessarily, but he can pick things up once in a while. He's picking off, he's picking up some serious mojo from this thing. There is something very powerful inside of this container.

And Merrick unscrews the lid. *laughs* Two objects are going to be inside. One appears to be a note scrawled and sort of tucked away just inside the, just inside the calf. So after you unscrew it like that, that's going to be kind of peeking out first and then rolled very tightly next to that appears to be a decorative scroll. Mm-hmm. Into it. Okay, well, yeah, I think so Merrick will just sort of shake everything out to make sure he, you know, that there's nothing else in there. I think he'd go for the note first. Okay. So I'm just imagining Merrick would probably take the tube with the scroll still in it and put it under his arm, like his armpit while he's doing this thing.

And he's going to read out loud to everybody. "I'm the last one now. I've watched them die one by one. Soon it will be my time. I hope this object does someone some kind of good one day. May the gods have mercy on us should they ever be free. Keeper Terrence." Terrence? Merrick's going to look around. Have we heard that one before? Who the fuck is Terrence? He's Terrence. But the way you said that it was like, Terrence? What a fucking loser, right? I've heard of that guy. Who names their kid Terrence? Okay, so Merrick will sort of crumple up the note a little bit and, you know, like grab the tube again and shake out the scroll just to get a sense of it.

Okay. Like read the introduction or something. Who's standing near this? How near? Like, who's watching? Like, who's within eyesight of Merrick? Definitely Taluna. Are the corpses within eyesight? Um, I would say looking back down the hall you'd be able to see Merrick, yeah. Then yes. Okay. And I imagine I'm still at his right hand, basically, like right off to the side. Okay, everyone do me a favor and roll a perception check. Good. Ooh, yeah, okay, we're getting some good ones. Oh, yeah, okay. Everyone is going to watch Merrick take this scroll out of its container and I'm imagining he's kind of unfurling it a bit?

Uh, yeah, just, you know, like, not like reading it out loud, but just checking it out, see what it might be. Just looking at it, just sort of reading it silently. Now, this thing is very, very, very decorative. This, um, it would appear as though whatever's written on this scroll appears to probably have some monumental importance, considering how much effort and time. This isn't just like a grocery list someone scrolled down or something, you know. This is something important. And Ordon, Corey, Merrick, and Kaluna, I would like all of you to do me a favor and roll a history check for me.

Actually, Thanos too, yep, that just crosses the threshold. Everyone roll a history check for me. So good in history. Wow. Yes. Wow. I'm not from this continent, okay guys? I am, and I got an eight. You're lucky we speak the same fucking language, let's go. This is interesting. Corey is going to be the only one among you who knows what this is. And this is an object of tremendous importance in Theria. Many people believe that this object is completely made up. A lot of people around campfires at night tell each other about stuff like this. No one knows exactly how long ago, but a very long time ago, there were seven scrolls created.

And at one point they were just lost track of. And it is said that if someone were to read these words aloud, it casts a spell of resurrection that is guaranteed to bring someone back from the dead. No matter how long ago they died, or what condition the body is in, as long as you have the body, you can bring someone back from the dead. Dang. Would Corey share this with the group? Yeah, I think when she realized what it was, she would immediately relay that information. C'thun is going to look up at the ceiling. Antos is going to walk back in, away from the corpses that she was having the most fun with, and kind of just stare at the scroll.

Not saying anything, but just stare at it. So, Merrick may be holding one of the most important items in Theria right now. Hell yeah. Does it only break the one time? Mhm. It is a one time use object. That sounds kind of garbage. I don't know guys. Merrick is going to very carefully put it back in the tube, screw the lid on, and I guess he'll put it in his pack. Like, I'm keeping this. Well shit. Anybody have anybody they want to bring back real quick? Pretty much everyone in Theria. Not Kaluna. Okay, that's interesting. Just for kicks, is there any sense of anything else in that chest?

Like a false bottom or anything like that? Do me a favor and roll with Engineering. I mean, while we're standing there. 24. Doesn't appear as though there's anything else hidden. That is an object of crazy importance. I mean, what else would you hide? Exactly. Where would you hide something even more important? And that would be underneath something very, very important. Some sort of super chest. That's exactly where I would put something like that. In the false bottom of the chest is the secret to ending the demon war. The end everyone. I think it's a good time to wrap up the show forever.

Everyone do me a favor and roll Perception. Okay. Oh, wow. Okay. Delicious crit. Kaluna, thank you for actually having eyes. That was cool of you. Kaluna and Merrick are going to hear a noise. And what it sounds like is a stack of books falling over. And that sounds like it's coming from the table area, like that reading area of the library. So it is back to the way you came. I imagine Kaluna can't see it if they just poke their head out of the hole. You'd have to kind of walk your way back out to see because you're kind of in that maze of corridors of books.

Like bookshelves. Oh yeah, Kaluna's not going alone. Okay. But they'll turn around, but they'll like... No. I think Ordon will be leading the charge out of this little room. Yeah, Merrick will be close behind too. I mean, just like with noises and things and shit going on, I think it's just about being on red alert all the time. Let me ask you guys a question. Would this be getting to any of you that, like psychologically, would it be getting to any of you that it's not a physical problem you can necessarily hit right now? It's just kind of constantly like shadows and apparitions and shifting and noises and there's nothing...

It has kind of been bothering Kaluna the entire time, actually. It hasn't sunk into Thanos so she can't punch them yet. She's still fully convinced that she could punch them. Merrick is thinking that actually that's good news. It's like, well, there's nothing that I can do about it, right? Like I can't hit anything. So I might as well just ignore it in a way. But I think that's probably just his defenses. Like he's probably freaked out. Okay. I think Ordon feels a little immune to this. I mean, like there's no threat to Ordon at the moment because it kind of what Merrick was saying, like in a way, if we can't touch it, it can't touch us.

So the thing with Darmok behind the shield was also like, okay, like this is a threat, but everything doesn't... nothing feels immediate right now. See, Jason, you have a problem because everything in Theria is so fucking scary that everyone's like, "Ah, phew, it's just ghosts." No, no, I'm not sitting out to scare you. I'm just questioning. I'm just asking like, what would the party be thinking at this point? See, just, Kaluna went into this already like going into a dark, scary place. It's going to be the worst thing ever. And then it's like, hey, look, there's also ghosts.

That's cool, right? And then the ghosts make noises and Kaluna's already jumpy. So it's just, it's the worst. They're having a very bad time. So, yeah, we're freaked out, but we're cool. Yeah. Just wondering. So are we going to sort of head back in the direction of where we heard some books falling? I mean, I think honestly, Merrick would be more interested in, is there going to be more of a soap opera playing out than, you know, like some other thing, some other clue or something like that. As you make your way back to the open area of this library and you see the seating and stuff, do me a favor, everyone roll a perception check.

Hey, I didn't blow that one. Hey, I was the best. What do you mean noticing things? Go, Thanos. Thanos and Kaluna, Thanos, Kaluna, and Merrick. The same blonde haired man, the younger looking guy, he looks like a late teen somewhere in there. You're going to see him walking. And it appears as though he came from the seated area that you were all at when you were discussing the Dormach situation. And it looks like he's walking to the far end of the living space. And he's going to bend down to the crumpled mess of a bed. And then he's going to stand up and disappear.

Alright, I know it's up. Let's go check for the note. Straight to the bed. As you guys are walking back past the seating area, do me a favor, everyone roll a perception check one more time. Merrick, Ordon, Corey, Thanos, and Kaluna. As you guys are walking back past the seating area where people were buried, and remembering the layout of everything and how everything was, you remember the note that you found sitting there? Yes. It's going to be sitting at the table again. Just a little, just a little, just a little factual. Wait, did we have that? Like on our person?

Um, checking, I would imagine you'd check just after that. Mhm. Yeah, you still have the note. There just appears to be a duplicate copy sitting exactly where... Guys, we've tracked down renewable energy. We'll be in the paper forever. Actually, if the universe is creating new matter and it's expanding, this is a bigger problem. Oh, this is way worse than Darmok. Yeah. Here we go again. Thinking, thinking back, this is exactly where the young lady was sitting. Just, just, just a little, hey, there you go. And looking at the note, it's the exact same note? Duplicate, like down to everything.

The handwriting is identical. It pops to smiley face dots on the eyes and everything. The little heart shaped periods? Yep. That someone turned into penises? Someone, I mean. Or butts. Butts. Butts are easier. Butts are way easier. Are you continuing to the living area? Yes. Okay. Shh. Yes. Yes. While going back to the crumpled bed, there didn't appear to be anything there before. I would imagine you'd give the place a once over, but now there appears to be another note. Another note? Spooky. Grab the note. Grab the note. All right. Here you go. Merrick reads from the note.

Before you leave tonight, can I see you one last time? I'm sorry about what happened the last time we spoke. I didn't mean to raise my voice. I just feel trapped. In every sense of the word, I feel trapped. I know you're leaving tonight after everyone goes to sleep. I also know you. You wouldn't leave without writing something to the group first. You were always the most thoughtful person I'd ever met. After you write your letter, come see me by the east corridor. I need to kiss you one last time, Joshua. Kolyma's gonna wrinkle their nose. That bitch died. That bitch is so dead.

Before you find your freedom, do one last thing. It usually means a dead. But now I kinda wanna go to the east corridor. Well, yeah. That's obviously where we go next. Yeah, that's a list of these- Still not concerned about Zarmok, though. This is- Pretend that's not a thing. Well, the good news is he's trapped in a bubble. And that's the best place I've ever known Darmok to be. He's always safe when he's trapped in things. Totally. I think that's probably a good time for us to stop for the evening. Aw, but I wanna go to the corridor! The corridor! No, it's fine.

Eat in the door. We do have a Darmok to think about. There's a lot of things to think about. Honestly, I could spend hours in here with you guys. Keep going. I know there's a door I really wanna check out. I- Okay. This is gonna take a couple of sessions to get through anyway. I think so. How fucking selfish can you be? I know. Wanting food. Remember when you asked if any of us had a cut off and now you're the one- Do you wanna keep going? Yeah, right? No. We can keep going. I don't wanna be an asshole. No, no, it's really fine. No, go kiss him. Does anyone else remember classic Jason that wouldn't eat ever?

Wow. Right? Back when he cared? Okay, we're gonna keep going. No, no, I'm not going. No, we're going. I don't care. No one fucking moves, we're going. Oh no, oh no, I'm moving. Jason, you know I'm just joking, right? I know, dude. I know. And truthfully, this is such an immense place with so many things to think about that this is kind of like the part one and part two type thing anyway. There's no cliffhanger that has to happen right this second anyway. Well, we'll just keep going later. I really appreciate you guys sitting down. Thank you. This is awesome. You guys have a really important thing.

I can't wait to use it on Marcus Santa. We'll say, "Santos was eyeing that thing fucking hard." I'm just trying to figure out who to bring back. I don't think as a group there's anyone, I mean, if John Cena were here, she'd have a front runner, but I don't think there's anyone that everyone in the group knows about that's like, "Yes, that one." I think everyone has like individuals probably. Nathaniel, wait, no. Nathaniel's alive. Yeah, I was thinking- He's alive. What's his name? Strahd. Pat Grace would be the one John Cena would want back. That's true.

Oh, there's- There's just somebody that you don't fucking- But Eric had a good point in the Skype or in the Fantasy Grounds chat. Oh, it's closed. It was earlier when it's basically- If we brought Darmok back, he wouldn't be- I saw that. That is a good one. We'd have to be sure though. Totally. But I mean, just- We could like put him in a jail or something and just like, "No more. Fuck you. Time out. We're gonna make you immortal just so you can't fuck with anyone." Well, I mean, honestly, that's like- Bringing a vampire? Easy. That's not a bad- They're solved the end of the world.

Done. Anyway. Case closed. Obviously I don't know that it'll work. It was just a random thought that was bouncing around when we got it. It's one of those good ideas because it's like, it could mean- It's like a flip of a coin or something where it's like, "Okay, if this works, this is gonna work. If it doesn't, then we're all really, really fucked." You know what really sucks is I kind of wish that we were like group two and just kind of got it really early on. Because now we do know how important it is. Like they kind of didn't. Like they just brought back the first dead person they could find.

Right. Like that one. Because in traditional D&D those things just fall out of like- Right. Everybody who sells items, it's like, "Yeah, I got a few of these sitting around. Whatevs." In Theria, there are seven and that is it. And you don't know how many left of the seven there are. You know, at least one's been used. The one's rule. See ya James. That really fucking sucks because like, man there's so many characters I want to bring back to life, but there is no reason to bring them back to life. No, this is going to be used for something amazing at some point, somehow.

That's your get out of jail free card. That is your one. That is it. How quick is it to use something like that? Could it be used during a battle? It would take a round or two, but yeah. You know, someone did specifically say that Merrick, I don't know why they specified Merrick, but they said Merrick should bring back Todd the elf. I'm just sayin'. Oh right, yeah, no, it can happen. Who's Todd the elf? Toddisise or whatever the fuck? Tadeusia Silverleaf. There was one off character who ended up dying in the same episode he was put in where he didn't have any lines.

Nope. He became very important in the hearts of group one. Someone asked me in the chat on one of the streams and I was like, "Why Todd?" And why specifically Merrick? Why not just any healer? There's so much symbolic stuff. Okay, Jason, you gotta go eat. Yeah, I'm, yeah. Go. I'm really glad to have been able to sit down with you guys and you got a lot to think about. And maybe something to lord over the other groups. I don't know. Maybe it's something you could lord over with. Damn straight. Alright. Alright everybody. Thank you. Bye guys. Hey everybody, this is Jasper from group three.

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