The Road Ahead - Episode 112

The S crew has, at long last, broken the surface. But with Lara's grandmother beside them and the larger quest ahead of them, the party must heavily weigh their next steps.

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Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition playthrough of Out of the Abyss adventure module, written by Wizards of the Coast.

Dungeon Master: William Johnston
All NPCs: William Johnston
Artomis Star Caller: Andrew Walker
Sephel: Brendan Proal
Scylla: Sam Conklin

AUDIO:
Ice Cavern | Tabletop Audio
Latin Electro #10 | Dmyra
Cosa Peluda | Dmyra
Endgame | Tabletop Audio
Blackberry's Hedge | Secret Jane
Nerbuldar | Ambient Mixer
And Darkness Grew Like a Tree | Doctor Turtle
Night Sky | Jar of Flies
Kevin Macleod | Air Prelude
Kevin Macleod | Dreams Become Real

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Transcript

0:01

welcome to episode 112 1 + 1 = 21122 oh God stroke like get FY on the phone it's just no don't worry I'm just very bad at math but welcome to the madness table where you will have to listen to me do math on a regular basis I'm sorry for that uh thank you so much for joining us check us out we have a lot of fun um we got the YouTube which you're currently watching thank you uh we can find us wherever podcasts are found we'd love if you drop us a rate or review especially if you shout out Brendan's beautiful hair yes every review that shouts out brendon's beautiful hair gets three double emis points you know what they're good for yeah also please dump on our Discord where you can redeem those emis points and also our coffee when you could throw a coin to us it you don't get any arous points for that at least not yet we're working on the licensing for more emis points yeah um the the economy where Artemis points are are got and sold is actually very intricate month long Endeavor yeah if you if you don't understand both crypto and the international banking system I'm afraid Aris points may not be for you and the return rate is not worth it's bad I was looking for a better word and it eluded me it's just much as aremis coin will elude you um anyway I should stop talking will help me help me help me please well I can I can and I will help you we uh after that beautiful beautiful last episode episode find ourselves in a in a new camp uh I put you guys on a new map uh which is actually a map of the North and I just want to show you guys here on Roll 20 where you're at because I'm sure we're all familiar with this map of the North of fyon uh at some point in our D and gaming career but you'll see kind of towards the top middle near the bottom of the lurkwood there's this blue dot and that is where you guys currently are on the surface and this is so it's so fun because I have in front of me obviously not on the on the screen here but in the book it has superimposed over the entire north of uh of fyon all the locations and different sections of the under dark so I can see the north but I can see all the cool areas where they rep are represented underneath it's a it's a lot of fun um but that's where you guys have emerged and so you are you have to find your way all the way to gunal Grim which is way over here which is about 60 feet if we were going off the squares yeah what what's the mile scale there uh that's something that we'll talk about in game here okay but it's going to take you a while to get there unless you develop faster means of travel other than by horse however we are dropped immediately into this moment as star caller walks back into Camp uh you see all your friends are gathered around and you see well I guess safel and Sila tell us like did you guys just like grab a bed roll and settle right in did you start talking to anybody what what do they what is emis see as they come into Camp here uh I think sael was going to sort of in this awkward situation of like he wants to stick close to Sila to make she's okay make sure she's okay he really wants to talk to abbis whipping but doesn't want to break that like awkward conversation yet um but really he's just been waiting for the sun to fully go down and the stars to come out because this will be the first time since you know learning of his past and understanding more of who he is like a Starry Sky means so much more to him now and this will be the first he's seen yeah s is s is in the same I think they're just like kind of probably if there's a fire they're just like sitting together and waiting for the uh the Stars to come out and if abis whipping is there perhaps and um V Vana making some like light chitchat sure yeah as I as I described towards uh the end of our last episode she's actually there by the fire tending to The Cauldron and um she looks up to the two of you and Artemis you hear this as you're coming down the path passing the the large cart and by the horses that are tied up a little ways away you see vanana is sitting on a bed roll kind of taking care of her stuff but she's just like uh the abis turns you all and goes do not be shy this soup has been ready for a little while it only needed some heating again but please are any of you hungry I am quite hungry what is it exactly you are making it is a stew there is rabbits potatoes carrots celeries some wild seasonings of herbs that V was thankfully donated to it h I'm have you had something of this I do not believe that I have although the combination of miscellaneous items from nature is not foreign to me well I do hope you find it to your liking we do have some more stores that perhaps you are can look through if this does not uh meet the expectations of your pallette and she ladles out a bowl for you uh yeah Sila will take it my pallet is more tailored towards survival and the time and effort which you have put into this meal will be more than sufficient to appease me I would not call it anything more than survival stew but I do appreciate the compliment uh s while take bite is it good you tell me does it taste good to to to S uh I think it tastes very strange and I imagine it looks like she doesn't like it because she's taking like very slow bites and like really trying to understand the FL that are hitting her tongue um and then I think she just kind of sits there and like slowly chews and swallows I imagine there's like probably some of the broth coming out of your mouth cuz like did you have soups underwater you know like yeah think about that you're probably just like you know you're you're probably used to rations and just like you know what this handful of mushrooms is good Nom or just you know here some salted pork whatever um except for the fine meals that you had down below so you're probably just like right beautiful beautiful visual work there so you guys face in the yeah I just quite good I am glad to hear it SEL would you care for any though I'm not sure is your palette is probably changed you forgive me I um don't actually eat all that much lately so if if I were to partake it would purely be out of manners and I will not uh I will not take anybody's RS for the sake of being nice I do appreciate the honesty more than some manners and she pours a bow and like hands it to basano who she takes it but she doesn't immediately get into it she kind of starts cleaning herself up before she starts eating um Artemis you're coming into camp and uh for everybody that's probably screaming at home like what the [ __ ] happened to the Cav M and you guys are probably like d what what n no we forgot about that you forgot it's not important um emis you you're just coming down the mountain side ah is that soup I smell it smells delicious I love soup it's one of my 12 favorite foods name the other 11 right now B beans beef mutton rabbit in a sar sauce um like rabert peas like have you ever have peas before uh broccoli corn Funfetti Donuts the concept of a salmon but not the salmon itself of course a little fish just a small one just a small one that you have a very distinct palette how wonderful for you to tell us all of your favorite foods but here is some stew for you thank you she ladles you out some beautiful beautiful um the abis um pours a very small kind of bowl for herself and then comes over to the lot of you and she she kind of stands in front of you sael and goes so you believe my grandaughter to be under the possession of a Demon Lord you said yeah she she was struggling with her faith when I traveled with her and she I believe she turned to darker means and as we were we had um settled a a short-term conflict or we trying to with someone who had done us harm and we were overwhelmed and I believed that she had had died she we found her again in the Deep King's hold in GRL stug leading his military force but she was not herself and we fought the Deep King and her and she came through for a moment which is how I know that she was someone else but I believe her to be mostly corrupted she was quite formidable if she is your granddaughter that is Quite a feat she does come from strong blood she forgive me if this is rude to inquire she was um I believe an asamar yes does that lineage carry it does indeed we come from a long line that has been blessed for many years I myself carry it her mother carried it and she as well however I questioned some surrounding her birth I thank you for this information but I I must pray for some guidance and she goes back over to the fire and she puts down her her Bowl untouched and she walks a little ways into into the forest not too far that you can't not see her but you see in the shadows she goes and she sits cross-legged very much like kind of like Monkish like and uh she just drops her head and you don't hear anything from her but um she she's clearly in her own space for the moment and vasana looks across the fire to you all and goes I've seen her do that a number of times actually uh I'm afraid I don't know what God she prays to but she's clearly a very devout individual I I do hope that um I do hope our journey back to uh galgrim will be one of light Carefree in stories for I would very much care to hear of all the places and things you've both accomplished and seen simply so that I might learn and I'm happy and she's looking at you s she's like I'm happy to tell you of the Fay wild for what I can it is a confusing and vibrant Place much more so than here uh in in many ways not all though I should like that very much um where how does one get to the Fay wild how did you get here there are certain places that are are linked between uh Realms I came through a forest far far to the South and I well by the grace of my father I was then moved to the gates of gunal grim he has some considerable power at times though uh and you see her face kind of grows darker there she goes um but it is for business that I arrived there it may be that we my father also had much power although he is dead now I'm I'm truly sorry uh it is quite fine I just saw that you looked at Tad sad and wanted you to know that other people also have bad parents I I appreciate that thank you uh and you can see she definitely feels better uh than that she goes but uh I I don't consider um my reason for being here bad per se or or or or the mission that I might have but uh my parents believed something to be wrong here on the material plane something that could be uh could grow to affect other Realms and they felt that something of gaunle grim was tied within it and so I was sent as a Emissary of sorts to inquire more about this and I heard of the abs' mission and then I decided I might um appease some of my own curiosity the title yes the title of Emissary is quite impressive and your combat skills were I noticed them they were very Advanced and and so we are glad to have you here it you are here to investigate something in gunal Grim we well not within gond Grim itself per se but some deeper trouble here on the plane I my father was extremely crypti uh about it we are also investigating something that is pervading Ive and well deep it is I was told by the the the abis um for she was informed by the king but a handful of days ago that uh a new missive had arrived uh or reached his ears and he contacted us through sending that you had news something of horrible Darkness gathering in the depths yes many sources of Darkness um perhaps well uh and I think she looks at SEL like can I just tell her oh yeah there's there's demon princes all over that[ __ ] indeed Darkness might be the wrong word it is a corruption that festers in the heart of the under dark uh a cancer that we would Purge from the tunnels below yeah no darkness is imply Shadow and the lack of light th this is void this is entropy this is corruption and dis destruction at a massive scale she's her eyes are flickering in between the three of you and she's just like not to lay it on heavy but we've had to explain this to too many people and it is terrifying every time it's totally[ __ ] it's terrifying is at a minimum uh uh the smallest descriptor I would use my God H how how have they have they reached here how you said many multiple uh I think we've run into at least five at this point oh well and the jur is out I I think one of them uh is not actually a demon Prince it falls much more uh somehow more cataclysmic than that I'm I'm not sure of the full scale is it perhaps the the Demon Lord and then the demon Prince below is there um tears I I I'm sure there is a a cast system I'm I'm just not sure of the the full hierarchy of uh destroy everything in sight yes wow uh she having full panic attack at this point she's she's definitely surprised and she's a little bit she's like uh yes no definitely the next time I see my father there will certainly be a trap uh a a chat about uh what constitutes as a little bit of darkness and what is assuredly potentially a catastrophe for all [ __ ] [ __ ] and to be clear um well at least as far as we're aware I don't believe any of this has reached the surface yet this is I was about to say the same yeah it it is sort of isolated to the underdog now that might not last for very long um um yes but the goal is to contain it there and then deal with it somehow well um I suppose that we will have to be incredibly Hasty uh it was a long long journey to get here uh almost a month traveling with the cart oh oh um but that I don't know that we can afford to wait quite that long perhaps um I know the supplies were meant for bonstone but um now your guards were supposed to be the ones that took it back and but clearly the the D so uh we will certainly have to speak with the abis it was her missive I was merely company here uh assistance but I would say we leave the cart and make all haste as fast as possible for Gondor Grim yeah can you do any powerful Magics perhaps to transport us I have minor uh Magics what I would consider minor Magics to those that I know and no I'm afraid I can't yes teleportation in this instance would be incredibly useful and Sila slowly turns and then stares at seel yeah no as soon as soon Asel heard that he was like love the way that you both actually looked up at each other like like no no I'm thinking about it yep yeah yep yeah no he he's been like eyes have been in the corner of his not subtle and she's like just like full 90° turn right you probably see them just hardcore staring at each other yeah right oh they about to kiss I thought she had a thing with Jimmy this is weird she doesn't even have lips I don't think either of them do it's true but maybe that's what makes it work who am I to judge oh my God love knows no boundaries okay um well that that's a conversation for when when other people are are in bed um stop William William get your mind out of help SP the bosom companion listen listen I'll take this all you want why are y'all so ready to have s a [ __ ] something I'm not I'm just ready for that romance artwork because I'm a sad desperate little man I couldn't get dark you're married my dude most of us here are married anyway we just need we just we've all been thinking about Beatrice for a long time now it's true we all miss beatric it's all I talk about don't tell my w I'm pretty sure she was made she's in the other room like who the [ __ ] is B who is that [ __ ] uh no uh safel will like nod to Sila in in a way that conveys we will talk about this later uh yeah you'll talk about it later Jesus[ __ ] Christ Sila just like slowly nods and then turns back to the conversation I still like's just looking at you nodding back like oh okay yeah looks like she's about to straight up murder everybody around the fire yeah uh by the way vasana you've you've mentioned your your your father a few times is he someone we would we would like know by reputation um I'm not entirely certain that you would um I'm afraid I can't see say his actual name but he has been referred to as the Stag King o bro he was part he was not fully cely no he is between courts some would consider him of uh a darker nature but he is not evil hey we take all comos in this party that is true I do appreciate the understanding now he is of a he he lingers in the darker and forgotten places of the Fay wild places that the uncy consider not dark enough and the ceely too dark for them oh he he watches over many that uh some would consider lost or foror H I don't understand most of that but sure he sounds nice he has his good days star CER are you tired I I yes I will I will lie down go to bed Mommy and Daddy have a car yeah I'm he's going to whisper over to B I think that's all q and like a really awkward like wink um even with your higher Charisma I love that star caller still acts like this yeah yeah yeah um and she's just like of course privacy I leave you to it uh SAR like lies down the bed roll and then immediately plants Dawn's Edge into the soft Earth keep an eye on them and and like everything else too of course you see V walks off into the woods away until you can't see her damn she like really she really left she didn't she was like M these sleeping bags ain't soundproof baby yeah are you guys huddled under your sleeping bags like head-to-head just like all right listen yeah right I mean I think they would probably walk away from Star caller oh oh yeah because I wouldn't want obviously he's not going to fall asleep immediately yeah uh I would like to make this perfectly clear that I am trying really hard to ease drop uh I will be giving myself guidance and attempting to uh well so seel was about to so first cuz he was waiting for this have I'm assuming the stars have started coming out yeah it's it's night now okay uh Sila we should talk but I do actually want to show you this will will you accompany me up the hill yes of course we have much to talk about I conjure my familiar oh okay all right you do they they they they disappear into the trees and you're your familiar appears the dark orbed eyes of your horror bird [ __ ] demon creature yeah they've made it to the surface kill it with it no so safel will walk to the top and uh something that I think as they sort of Crest The Edge and the whole sky is like open to them he just kind of stands in awe for for a second he's like acknowledging every constellation seeing the expans like really taking it in I think they both are I think it's like seel in this like understanding of his past in until of like wow there's so much more out there um so we don't understand fully the nature of this item but it does seem like in the interest of time it would be best to get to gal Grim swiftly I would have to agree I do not know that we have 30 an entire month it's funny time has sort of kind of lost concept of it I don't know if I've been away from the surface for three weeks or three years H I don't I don't know what a month means at this point for in the timeline of all of this I will say you know if if we say we're using this The Jig Is kind of up I I don't know if I can fake teleportation magic I would not ask you to lie I think if we need to use it we just should well so here here's the awkward thing I lie once I'm like o I'm doing teleportation magic and then someone calls me on it and is like hey you can do teleportation magic take us somewhere and then I can't it gets awkward well then perhaps you should hold on to it oh dear God uh um that is an option I wouldn't deprive you of it I mean you you found this this is I don't want to hoard all of the magical wealth it has the now entrusted it with me which is certainly impactful and I will admit I do not want to part from it however I suppose it's a question of trust I think it is important for you to maintain possession I think you are tied with this item it was meant to go to you and I would not I would not mess with that I think listen we were everyone knows including starer because we're very forthright people the trust the trust that exist what the[ __ ] was that nothing I've been hearing these strange creatures yeah we we are aware of the level of trust that exists between us emus knows things are tense we know things are tense yes but we still need to trust each other as a unit and work together in that regard H we will not survive with tension we can deal with whatever our issues are when something far grander than them is not a foot very wise I in the morning we will I will show the item and explained its history and then we will use it do we know how many people can be teleported with that item up to eight uh up to eight yeah it works exactly like the teleport spells so up to eight willing creatures that you can see within range okay however I will say I have never been to Gaal grim and my ability to teleport us I imagine will require some sort of knowledge of where we are going right yes William yes it's me y boy boy uh both of you roll are or intelligence checks either one whatever is better if you can add a bonus I think they're the same for me yep 10 10 okay 26 26 always make friends with a wizard always have a wizard you you sp recall um actually a Time way back um did you use a knowledge or was that just like a a flat up roll no that was a flat roll flat roll nice a memory actually comes to you one in which you as like um 16 17-year-old were with a a couple of friends in a part of your old College school academy and you're it's almost like you there's books scattered everywhere you guys have been trying rituals late at night practicing magic when you shouldn't be like outside of hours and you guys are pretty powerful you're in your later years of the school here but but you're all like one of your friends is like we should totally teleport into the Dean's office and you guys have never seen it but you've definitely heard descriptions of it and you guys are like flipping through toes you're like all right all right all right all right let's try it let's try it let's try it we can do this we can do this and you find the teleport spell you guys are powerful enough you've been studying long enough however you guys like see that that there is a warning or while you can teleport to a place that you have not physically been to you have to have a descriptor however the chances of teleporting there accurately get Slimmer the less familiar you are with it so mechanically you if you're very familiar with a place you have um a 75% chance of making it IMM immediately on target a 10% chance to be totally off Target um another slightly less than 10% or more than 10% to be in a similar area and a 5% chance to mishap you guys just having a description of it have like a 26% chance to be on Target and those those odds of like being of Target to a similar area to a mishap or massive different like your chances of a mishap are almost 50% um I don't like that they call it a I don't like that they call it a mishap because that doesn't sound all that serious it's just a mishap a mishap I mean just a I mean so so is accidentally falling on the nuclear button but you know true so so I'll read you what a mishap means here because it's very nicely the Spell's unpredictable magic results in a difficult Journey each teleporting creature takes some damage and I roll and determine where you wind up similar area you're like within a certain vicinity or something very similar to what you wanted of Target is like you're within a handful of Miles perhaps or more on target you're there obviously now correct me if I'm I'm um mixing up spells but isn't there a component if you have like an item from that location it like guarantees or like jacks up the chance of getting there if you have an Associated object of the place or a permanent Circle yes like you're you're there but you don't have an Associated object right there might be a permanent Circle there you don't know no I'm just thinking um if if we know that you know if that is knowledge that with your 26 role like sure yeah you you know all this all this stuff about teleport so safel is just thinking that perhaps uh the ABS would have maybe something associated with Gaal Grim that might help our chances but they'll have to inquire in the morning yeah yeah okay and I think um their conversation would just end with like the risk of taking a month to get there may be the same if we can can't enhance our chances a a month is long but at least we know where're going where we're meant toh so we'll we'll talk with the ABS in the morning see if if our chances can be if we can be a little bit more confident we'll land where we want to agreed and go from there H do you guys then return to Camp or do you continue to to discuss for a while um I think Sila would return to Camp because she intends on watching the stars in her bed roll just like yeah hanging out I think sael actually will just sit down at the top of the hill um as Sila sort of goes down and he he plants his staff in the ground and opens the the head of it to reveal the Flory and he hold he you know positions it in a way that it's actually lined up with the night sky and he watches the moments where it's sort of the swirling sort of Blends that color and that view sort of become one and then shifts back and he sort of memori mesmerized by that for a little bit um as you're looking at it and you're seeing all the shifting I very much picture it's almost like you were uh I love this idea as if you were looking through your own personal version of the James webs telescope like it was just a immediate magnifying glass of like exactly where you're looking at the night sky you see all the nebulas and the Deep galaxies and it's like you are absolutely peering into the astral plane and everything Beyond like you see it through this this little orb Flory of yours and I imagine inside of you as you're peering through this and you're seeing that and you're you can like move it around and you're seeing different things and there's um this tug of like almost Nostalgia and uh and a little bit of sadness but probably excitement again because like as you're looking around you're you're like I feel like I know that that that place in some way but I'm not certain in this moment what but you feel this like calling like you've that's that's home what you're looking at um the rest of you in Camp star caller you threw what is your familiar name I forget off the top of my head I had it written Aquilla Aquilla that's right uh do you call Aquilla back to you as safel and Sila kind of break up their little poow there not immediately as I've been watching through their eyes the whole time spooky um you see eventually Sila comes through the trees and comes down to their C Sila do you say anything to Star caller as you do or you just quiet yeah I think so just uh she pulls her bed roll to like an open space uh and then she will settle in and I don't think she's speaking to anyone now yeah it's probably around 900 p.m. at this point and uh uh you hear footsteps as the abbis comes back into camp and she walks over to her bed roll where you can see like her armor has been set down and kind of neatly stacked and to assembled in some way there and she she looks to the two of you and she goes where is your companion's Phil he is taking some time to um meditate on the hill I see I will speak with them shortly then is Vasa nearby she went into the woods that way very well inconvenient but I I have decided and received portense of a more urgent calling for which I must tend to I must see to my granddaughter H but the people of bigden stone are in need of knowledge of their supplies they cannot be left wanting I know the king would not wish for them to starve or be unassisted of course so I shall disguise and hide the cart or perhaps I shall have Thea in the rest of you do so in the morning but I will venture forth into the underdark inform Miss digam Matic of where they are and what befell of you all and then I must make my way to GRL stug I must find Lara and bring her home I see safal would like to know this I know that I will inform him shortly B will know of the main roads I will leave the map here with you all for extra guidance of course you may take what Provisions you may need for the road and feel free to make good use of the horses the supply is hidden there is no need for them to wait and she uh she starts taking up her her armor and starts like really Dawning herself um and it takes a little while and and in that time van comes back to camp and uh the abbis goes over and talks to her what do you guys think about this this decision from the abis this individual who was going to be showing you the way but is now like well I know this thing about my granddaughter I commune with my God you know what I got to go do this other thing I mean I don't know how seal is going to feel about it it's kind of like two options now sure uh Artemis is still pretending to be asleep but he's like well I mean we really only need one guide so like it's fine I guess yeah like now it's just like we have two options and two guides sure we pressing business at the the place we're going we can't just go back to GRL where you two are wanted criminals I will require no assistance you are needed at gal Grim the king must know of what is happening below he has had certain warnings but to know the full extent he may be able to offer greater assistance to you and to all the people below I think your is clear to find him speak with him convince others of the cause for the demon Lords are nothing but a cancer one that once it has finished piling and deluding and destroying the underd dark will certainly grow metastasize to to the surface I will be sure to tell him all of that but if you would like to put it in a letter I could take that as well I'm sure if you tell him that my gods have spoken to me he will be understanding we are friends I am not in his service I do not owe him come in here was merely a favor I see I go where I must you have powerful allies then I have spent many years on the road many tales any trials and I have not been quit of this world yet and now I feel the call to family into arms so I must go I thank you for bringing me this news and I hope your journey is Swift in making to G the same to you perhaps we will see you again sooner than you think I hope we shall Sila I hope we shall and she finishes collecting the rest of her Gees gear she puts the large Shield across her back with its strap HS up a couple bags puts her mace through a loop on her waist and nods to you all and begins walking up the path and a few minutes later sael you hear the crackle of underbrush and eventually you see um the abbis appear good evening good evening did you find the peace you needed I found peace of aort enough calm that I may commune with my gods I thank you for informing me of my granddaughter I have admittedly spent too too much time away from family it is probably my greatest regret one that I hope to fix with what I have left of these years upon this Earth so I run to Aquila with all haste the hopes that I may free her from her possession we um we could take a detour and come with you there is no need as I said to your companions you have a greater Mission mine is my own I would have you complete your journey I seek to only Aid one if I help others in the process I suppose that is for the greater good and what the fates have decided to grant me but your purpose is far greater you may save thousands hundreds of thousands so stay the course of f sometimes a small sacrifice a parting of new found friends is required SEL doesn't say anything he's he's trying to find some break in her logic but he can't she uh he just nods she comes up around the the top there to your side and um she pulls from her pocket a coin with an Insignia of like a crown and a battle uh a Warhammer excuse me and she goes it is not much but it is from the mints of gondal grim it should serve as a token of sorts to others hopefully should any stop you on your path though I believe on these roads if you fly swiftly you will make your time there in perhaps half of what we did by C if if my knowledge serves me as well as it has will make the journey far quicker with this thank you she kind of looks at you quizzically I suppose as one with your powers you just might indeed I don't know if this is full proof for what you might be thinking but perhaps it shall Aid you nonetheless it has been a pleasure sael what is your last name hesk she holds out her hand SEL hesk it has been a pleasure short though it may be find your granddaughter save my friend and he'll take her hand and shake it I will do just that thank you and she begins her descent down the the rocks to the the cave entrance again she looks down to the camp where you can see the glow of the the fire through the Treetops and she looks back to you and she nods and she strikes a match lighting her Lantern and she begins to walk into the cave and disappears from sight Cel stands there and watches the space where she just was and he thinks about the last time that he had a choice to save Lara and did something else and he turns and finds a nearby tree not the one they buried indigo's chain mail under but another one and that rage and that pain he focuses his magic on the tree until the branches twist and collapse on themselves and Crush Inward and the bark starts to crack and twist and then he releases it and he turns once more to the stars and then returns to Camp you come back to Camp has everybody kind of retired for the evening accepting that tomorrow begins a pretty long journey or some of you laying awake I know Sila was staring to the Stars yeah I think watching the Stars until eventually falling asleep aremis was pretending to fall be asleep and then like halfway through like um the abbis like speaking to Lara like or sorry speaking to Sila he actually fell asleep nice love that uh Mas curled up in her bed roll she's got a l in her mind she now has to guide you you all back so you come back into camp and you see that Vlad has eventually reappeared and is curled up in one of the branches of a nearby tree still in Dragonoid form what do you do I think he he sits and he you know brings his staff back to rest and centers himself in his books and plugs a little bit more on on the Magics he's been working on to try to distract himself and eventually he sort of he gu like the the college experience just eventually like falls asleep with his head yeah falls into a trance of a different sort than usual yeah so I guess the big question here is are you y are y'all going to try to teleport in the morning or are you g to try to hoof it by horse to gal Grim that's a great question yeah I think yeah go ahead sorry I mean it's it's going to come down to well I mean seel thinks we have this coin and you know if it is truly from the mints of gunal grim to his knowledge that that is a large Boon in the teleportation process he does you know he doesn't it's not an exact science but he thinks that this may help um so that's kind of where his head's at he's but he's also still balancing that risk right of like if this messes up would it have been more worth it just to take the time uh I think s is inclined to teleport yeah okay Artemis is unaware of the Dilemma but if presented uh he would also be in favor of teleportation I I think in the morning it would be like this reveal where well let's jump to it let's jump into the morning you guys all managed to have a nice long rest you can go ahead and Mark those on your sheets thanks man your hit points and your your spells back and so here you are around this newly lit campfire um it's very early you know it's still pretty cold out um season wise you would think it's like beginnings of Early Autumn so it's there's like that slight chill it's pretty dewy on the ground but it's not enough for a frost with that ju Just in aside like using that can seel try to get some gauge of how long they were truly down there uh sure TimeWise yeah when you were when you were captured you would think that from like the day or around the time that you were taken to this moment that you personally maybe not the party you don't know how long it took of a journey to get to velin valve but you think it's been close to a little over 3 months maybe four damn nine 10 days baby um as the as the group is like awake and perhaps eating some form of breakfast um so I spent some time appreciating the de um she's just rolling on the The Dewy why is it wet now just I quite like this um and then the Sun starts to rise and I imagine she gets grouchy again because it's like G this less yeah yeah it's like a partially cloudy day so it's not horrible like there's moments but it's probably like horrible for you cuz it's like why does the orb of Hurt play hide and seek she stands in the a shade of the cart and the trees whenever possible it's bright and then it's not it's so unpredictable yes um and then she um I think she will wait gather everyone or wait until everyone is gathered naturally um star CER no yes Sor was reving in the dawn with Dawn ah you see this is the edge of dawn that Dawn was was named after yes there are commonalities between words meaning multiple things ah you understand very good I I have something to tell you there is more to what occurred within my wish from the afit I was given an item from the na to Aid me in my travel back to them and she will pull out the time piece of travel and hold it ah that is certainly a a cool rock you have there it is not a rock it is a magical item and this item will allow me to better understand my own location and also teleport once per day like you get to do a like the like the magu kind of teleporting correct myself and up to eight others I think should be sufficient for the amount of power I mean that's that's that's that's pretty good yeah it is um Thea I am telling you as well as this would potentially Aid Us in fast travel on our way to gal Grim oh um well that would certainly be quite lovely um I'm assuming we'd have to let go of the horses I would hate to leave them tied up H she she looks confused and like uncertain and looks at sael like can we take horses I mean as long as it's not more than eight creatures I mean does it specify humans vasana Vlad sael arous star color that's five view okay so how many hes three other willing creatures there was six okay so we could take half the horses if they wanted to yeah right it would depend on if the horses are willing and we could only take three yeah so they have to fight for for seats on the Lifeboat Artemis throws one of broken daggers in amongst the horses and is like fight for it only three shall survive Only the Strong make it home uh B is like I I suppose I could speak with him but I mean if our chances of getting there are quite good then I well about the chances SEL has told me that because I have not been to GTO Grim there is a chance that the teleport portation will go arai I I was however last night gifted a coin from the mints of gunal grim by abis whippen I believe that having something from the location that we are attempting to reach will make the chances far greater that we don't have a terrible mishap on the way I'm not certain magic is a Fickle Beast um well I um I suppose it's worth a shot um because if not we're just we're making the journey regardless I mean worst case too I mean we can do this once a day as long as we don't die is there a chance of death uh not good old splicing never the chance of death with magic is never zero that is just a a universal magical concept it is it is never zero uh in this case it is just significantly higher than zero like how significantly are we talking here well I mean well you roll up the percentage of of us uh I mean it's a percentile that we go where we're where we're trying to go and then within that percentile is nested another percentile that if we don't get there if I may I do not think that it matters what the percent is [ __ ] nerd was going into like a full [ __ ] thing and you just like blue screened him I mean like like star is like looking like a th000 ft through seel like droing drooling a little bit like you know what it so chances are very good excellent yes the magical approach and guys can I can I pause for two seconds every [ __ ] fire alarm in my apartment building started going off aming so I need to go run through the[ __ ] hallways and fix this I will be right back that's so funny oh while he's doing that I'm going go to the bathroom real quick yeah uh Sam are you attuned to the time piece I am I'm attuned to the time piece great the title chains in caliburn all right I used to be attuned to uh oh my I was attuned to something else before that oh I was attuned to my um gloves of missile snaring but those got uh acid acidified okay all right um the time piece of travel by the way that is for completing your New Year's resolutions let's go I mean even though like it was enough for me to Warrant giving you guys something um hell yeah so I uh I did the whole like random roll on the the let's go dungeon Masters Guide and it got like the the very rare box I was like okay well I know I have more very rare items now because of all the different boxes I have so I just went to like the very rare section on like anything I can put on D and D Beyond hell yeah like all right new table and that's what [ __ ] came up so like let's make it cool let's get it in there you know and I think it's like Poetic in that because we just been to so many places and we've made so many connections that I feel like people will really appreciate being able to go back and having flashbacks oh yeah I I mean there's this is also like one of those things too where um this time piece is not perfect so like it happens you you have been to a lot of places but you you have to go to one place right now that none of you are familiar with um and also like unless you guys want to spend a specific amount of time like taking deliberate time to train yourselves up and you know kind of become more advanced or go treasure hunting it's kind of that thing of like this could help shorten pacing a little bit so it's not just like here's an episode where they're on the road and we got to talk about days yeah uh because that's what it is I did the math out the actual mileage it would take 27 days of like regular um horseback normal pacing travel to get back to gal grim and I buy if you go fast pace and you have like places to stop where you can get fresh horses I think you can get it down to about 18 yeah um but yeah it would take you take you some time damn so I I I was like I don't know they might use the time piece I was like oh I'm sure it'll come up in conversation or I'm coming up I'm rolling a lot of Random Encounters ahead of time Maps which done about half well what's nice too is that being on the surface like there's way more maps available to you I feel like yes oh yeah I can so many random ones sorry y'all good all of the uh I was just getting this up yeah all of the fire alarms in our building are hardwired so if any of them throw an error every single one goes off that's it's you handled that very quickly my man yeah you did no that was good yeah I think star color was about to say something I think so too I was so if I remember star caller is drooling yeah he's looking to the void so if we use the magic we just get there if all goes well yes well I mean we could get eaten by a dragon so like I think the chances are about equal you know your perspective is refreshing sometimes yes so we teleport then sounds good really um cuts down the chances and running into any old enemies so big pluses uh vas goes over cuts the hores loose takes off all their stuff and she's she like slaps them on the the rump and she's like go be free we have no need of you and we will find others she comes back to the group of you vlad's there in humanoid form let's do some teleporting guys oh yeah hell yeah so Sam is doing this um is sorry is this something that can be aided no okay you the aid would be the auor yeah I I will give Sila the coin as we prepare this all right so Sila I imagine you spend some time kind of like watching over this and it's like it's definitely looks kind of like a pocket watch but there's no like hard outer casing because it's supposed to be something bigger but you see almost like the old rotary phones like it's almost like you can put your finger in there and like turn the dial on the surface and then you see like you do that enough times and your you're thinking and you're holding the item and you're like G gri gri until finally like the machine starts woring and you can see like and you see this like energy glowing within it and uh I need you to roll a D100 for me oh yeah not because of the object that you have which does give you a significant Boon but as per the time piece of travel it is incomplete and has the potential to misfunction unpredictably so I need you to roll a d00 okay what' you get I got a 94 wow which seems kind of bad yeah that's either really good or terrible this is good this is really good okay hang on one sec this might be a a time stamp thing [ __ ] oh okay no no no no this is going to be good this is going to be good this is going to be good all right uh what okay I've got he's like getting all the places around gunal Grim that will just get shunted into um can you roll me a d10 please that wasn't a no eight okay you're focusing on this image and you can see like on and around some of this Machinery it's like semi rusted and there's like you can see what almost looks like small Barnacles in some of the pieces and you're like ooh maybe that shouldn't be there but the Machinery starts worrying you're like oh I can flick that out and then all of a sudden like one of the the gears turns and shifts in spot and hits that barnacle and just shoots out but there's this blue spark and then you're all gone and then you are all immersed in this wet feeling as water all of a sudden just like splashes over all of you and it's then all of a sudden you're assaulted by this kind of foul is smell and you are all of a sudden cold and you can feel the water clinging to you and as you open your eyes you see that there is mud like coating you in this this water and you look down and you are up to your knees in what looks like swamp water and then you see like you are surrounded by Mists everywhere you can hardly see more than 10 ft in front of your faces but you're all there you're all together and vasana like looks at you all and she goes um I can just say that this is not gal Grim no that's a safe bet ah I was wondering what um do you know where we are no no not off the top of my head uh but that's that's interesting um I need all of you to roll perception checks oh good um will once we do that one of the benefits of the time piece of travel is that I can name any location within 10 miles of my current location that is known to at least one creature also within 10 miles of that location so does she know anything within 10 like a like you know what I mean well you have to know where you are in this moment too I don't think so well you yeah you'd be taking a guess you you could like say GA grim and be and hope that you're within 10 miles of it uh if that's if that's what you ask her to do are you like you're like do you know take guess yeah she she says that and nothing not great is this perception you said yep perception for from everybody what's everybody got uh I rolled a natural 20 for a total of a 20 nice can I guide myself sure 17 also a 17 you all hear like slow shallow methodical splashes kind of like coming in your direction like and then you hear like two quick ones like and then another and you all turn towards the sound and B and Vlad like immediately turn around Vlad is like definitely up to almost like just underneath their chest in the water and you see coming through the fog is this small figure who similar to about vlad's size but they are you see them like as a Mists are kind of like moving and swirling they kind of like fall off of a little null into the deeper water that you guys are in and just and you see that it's a a young goblinoid like a small Goblin child of sorts and they are wearing rags and they have like blood coming off their forehead and and they look exhausted and they're walking towards you and they're just help me please please what do you do but where are we child and we might Aid you the Moors you're in the Moors I'm my my home are you here to help us uh starcrawler will approach um and kind of how how like how young a child are we looking at here you would think um uh actually I would say because you've been around the Goblins in the Kingdom of Ember you would think that this one is like maybe 10 years old cool so pretty young pretty pretty hoist uh I'll hoist him kind of up onto my shoulder um get him out of the muck tell us child what has befallen you you as you're like do you like put them on your shoulder like fireman's carry how's this hoist look no I'm like I thinking like bending down and like having them almost like sitting on my shoulder um so I have one hand supporting them and one hand still on Dawn's Edge okay you hoist them up and they are very very lightweight like and as you do you can see that they're a bit emaciated um like they haven't eaten in a long while and you see that their legs are covered in relatively recent wounds like and they're they're becoming scars and to all of you that that see Artemis do this on the back of the kid you can see that their like tunic the ratty tunic kind of clothing has been torn as you see that there are like what looks like teeth marks on their back like a long snout of some sort chomped down on them and that's where a lot of that that blood is coming from he goes Papa told me to run so I did he he came he came I they started calling him the river King he was huge he was huge and i' never seen anything like that before the river King did this to you yeah I ran I ran so hard I'm very tired now I'd like to sleep rest now my child and star car will Pat him and lay on hands for about 4 hit points you can see the wounds um start to heal but they're they're pretty deep deep and his breathing does get a little bit bit easier um can everybody roll me a nature check please dice are hot well that makes one of us 18 18 nice um seven I'm gonna seven burn knowledge here SAA van uh 17 total uh vuna got a 17 as well um it's everybody notices that the the bite mark across their back and you can see it actually extends onto their their front the was what looks like a crocodile bite of Rel L normal size but then you notice something else about it is like there's like in the space around where the bites is so like if this was the edge of where the teeth left their Mark and here was like the middle you see that there's weird holes randomly dispersed there as well and you look at those spites those bites and um Sam what did you get again was it close to 17 18 um you seel and uh vanaa they look almost like leech bites like they're circular almost lampy like there's small almost like suction marks but they've made little holes where blood is seeping very different from the the teeth of a crocodile but it looks like they occurred at the same time and as you guys are like looking at this child and like discussing this you just just hear off in the distance this that deep predatory Rumble that I wish I could do but it's like and you all look out as this large Rumble Echoes over these marshy Waters and we'll see you guys next time oh boy woo mystery upon mystery Cliffhanger upon Cliffhanger just another exciting Adventure on the madness table if you're having a good time drop us a rate or review if you're having a great time hit us up on coffee it's spelled Kofi but it's coffee it's a great place to drop us a couple coins um we're also on lots of different social media Outlets you can get us on Instagram Facebook on X occasionally uh and on Tik Tok quite a bit um come on down have a great time hit up the Discord we'd love to chat with you and if you have questions for real like what happened in that cave you can ask him there and he is legally required to answer what happened in that cave y'all yeah what what the hell what the hell somebody getting Discord and ask him please weird weird I don't know guys well well we're waiting for your help and we'll see you next time later Matty batties