Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: All across the unknown world, rediscovery pushes.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Ever onwards to find the lands and people lost, all thanks to our brave explorers.
[00:00:15] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Nate and I'm playing Azakar and the Jani seraph.
[00:00:20] Speaker D: Hi, I'm Dan and I'm playing Vanya, the Wolfkin warrior.
[00:00:25] Speaker E: Hey, I'm Livy. I'm going to be playing Ray Reid, the spirit Ranger.
[00:00:30] Speaker F: Hi, my name is Fio and I'm.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Playing guardian and my name is DM Dan. I'll be the GM in these adventures.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: The further we go, the more we.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Learn of these magical tales from elsewhere.
Hello, world. Hi, welcome back. Well, welcome back. This might be the first episode you ever seen. Welcome to explorers of elsewhere. Live tales from elsewhere. Hello, hello, hello.
Exciting stuff. Exciting.
If you haven't watched the meet the character video that came out or if you just join in, hi. Welcome. That'll be out on a voda at some point or just go back and watch it. But I think we've waited long enough for us to jump straight in.
There is a sudden rushing feeling, the pressure in your ears rapidly expanding and contracting as your bodies are flung through highways of ether linking portal to portal.
And in the blink of an eye and a catch of the breath, the air that you can smell and taste is suddenly different, unlike the bustling sounds and the busyness of the streets of Avonore that you were in moment ago. Whereas you stepped through the portal in the silver square, you now find yourself in a homely looking tavern.
It looks quite new, recently constructed.
You can see that there are some parts of the construction of this building still ongoing, even as a couple of workers and presumably citizens of this town that you're in, go about their business or just catch a break with a quick drink at lunchtime.
And as you look around, you notice first off that there's no welcome party.
And peering around like you can see a staircase up to some upper levels, you can see kind of out the windows, you can see other buildings that have popped up in this settlement, but you find yourself looking at one another somewhat curiously. As normally someone would be here to meet you.
And as you ponder what is happening, you hear a scuffle of a run and a dark skinned lorivar, oh, like, rushes around the corner, pinning on what appears to be some sort of brooch of authority or some such, and he sort of like skids to a stop when he sees the four of you and a large chihuahua looking dog have already arrived.
My. My apologies. I knew that you. You were coming. I wasn't entirely sure, when you arrived. But it's good to see that you have arrived and you're all in one piece. Um.
Sorry, you've caught me. You caught me in a bit of a tears, but it's fine. It's fine. Welcome, everyone. Hello.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Hello.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Um, my name is Davin Dram, and welcome, everyone, to the town of new prosper.
And perhaps there is a sigh of relief as the man in front of you sounds it. Well, it sounds like you've gotten to the right space, if nothing else, as this man kind of looks to you. And how was your journey?
[00:05:06] Speaker A: I mean, what if I say it.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Happened in the space of a moment of portals? Are. Have you ever used portals? But they are magical, aren't they? Yes. Sorry. Sorry.
[00:05:15] Speaker F: Who?
[00:05:16] Speaker B: I haven't asked your names. I'm sorry. I'm still kind of getting used to this, you see. Yes, I am. Don't worry. I am the. I am the leader of this place. I am kind of in charge. But who are you?
He says.
[00:05:37] Speaker E: Ray Ray will be the first to just go straight in, takes his hand, shakes it.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Hi.
[00:05:46] Speaker E: Hi, baby.
Nice to meet you.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: Hello. Ray ry, he says, and he sort of like, bends down to, like, he bends at the waist to shake your hand, but as you, as you go to reach for it, he kind of stops as he looks at your, your pet dog. And is he, um, is he friendly?
[00:06:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:10] Speaker E: Depends what your intentions are. But he's fine. There's as many is just.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: He, he nods and like the rest of you, can't help but cock an eyebrow as this Loravar Mann, who sounds quite foppish like, looks at this oversized Chihuahua dead in the eyes and says, I'm. I'm just going to. I'm just going to shake her hand, okay?
And then like gingerly reaches out to give, like, offer you his hand. Ray ry.
[00:06:48] Speaker E: Very ecstatic.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Very good, very good.
Yes. Who's. Who, who are you? He says, peering over at you. Azakar.
[00:07:01] Speaker C: Azakar is gonna draw his. Draw his hands to his waist and he's going to bow and he's gonna go, Azakar. Azakar. Rylith. It's a pleasure.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Very, very good to meet you, Mister Ryliffe.
Thank you for coming on such short notice.
We and all of the people of new prosper, thank you for your promptness. Yeah. Sorry, what your name? He says, looking over to the Wolfgang.
[00:07:43] Speaker D: The camera pans around as the Wolfians sniffing in the air, getting a sense of the surroundings. And as he's been addressed, he turns.
[00:07:55] Speaker G: Around and is like, you shall call me vanir.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: Vanir very fat. Oh, I love. I do love your accent. You don't sound like anything like the. The wolf came from. Oh, no, wait. I shouldn't say. I'm told not to say that. That's very inappropriate for me to say. I.
Welcome to new prosper.
And you. Hello, sir.
And you are, he says, turning to the ace of r in the room.
[00:08:29] Speaker F: It's Cowen.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: The Loravah looks to you like, with his mouth open, an expectant face, and then he.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: Oh, you're.
[00:08:40] Speaker B: You're done. Okay.
Hello, Cal. Please to meet you, he says, and he shakes his head yes. My. As I say, my name is Daven Dram. I am the. I suppose. I suppose I'm the mayor. Yes. Still kind of getting used to it. There's quite a few people here nowadays. It used to be back in the early days, but now there's. There's quite a few getting used to it.
Yes.
Yes. Well, if you definitely don't give that impression. Thank you. Yes, I've got a good. A good kind of friend who's helping me with.
Kind of looking after. I'm actually not sure.
Give me a second. I'll see if I can find him.
And as he says that, you see through the little kind of frosted porthole on the door of the tavern, like the silhouette of a head appear at it, and the door opens and silhouetted in the light somewhat for a moment, a heavy footstep announces the arrival of a relatively old and broad shouldered Loravar man. An eye patch over his right eye, part of his right ear missing, a somewhat neatly trimmed beard and buzz cut hair.
And the figure this man looks at you with. You notice that he's got a firearm holstered in a holster on his back.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Um.
Ah, I see you've arrived.
Uh, my name is Sheriff Comstock. Thank.
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Welcome to new Prosper. It's good to see that you've arrived on time.
Um, and Davin just sort of, like, has stepped to the side, and he's just, like, nodding in the, like, pointing. Pointing at the Loravar that's just. Just arrived.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: Yes, you'll have to excuse Davin here.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: He's still getting used to the job.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: You see, but, yeah, if you please follow me, I'll give you a quick tour. I'll introduce you to the people you need to know, and, yeah, we'll get.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: You set off on. On the job that we've asked you here for. How does that sound?
[00:11:10] Speaker C: Very good.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Sounds good.
In which case, Davin sort of like gingerly steps to the side and, yeah. Comstock, like, turns on his heel and kind of marches out of the tavern as you follow.
[00:11:30] Speaker F: Can I, can I do something quickly?
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:11:33] Speaker F: We leave set. Okay.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:11:35] Speaker F: Can I turn to, to Davin as we, as we leave and just go?
Less words would be a better impression. Don't say anything else. And I just follow everyone else.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: You, you regard him just long enough to see him sort of like, blush slightly and look at the floor quite awkwardly. I will go gruffer. Karl. I will go gruffer. Yeah. As the four of you move out of the, move out of the inn, you find yourself like, you. You immediately smell like, the smell of the tavern is replaced with the smell of salty sea air. You can hear the sound of sort of like seaward, like birds flapping overhead.
But as you step out, you take a moment to regard what appears to be a large, very large wooden statue immediately to your right.
And you take a moment to regard it and recognize it as what appears to be a, like a theme. A young female keeper who's got one hand on the neck of a horse, like on the mane of a horse and another hand on the top of the head of a bear. And she appears to sort of be kind of scritching both of their kind of heads and, like, both their furs.
And she herself is kind of looking somewhat skyward in a, there's a sense of like, hope that emanates from this statue.
And those of you that have followed out notice that Comstock sort of takes one moment to look at the statue and then he, Azakar, you notice him sort of close his one good eye like, he bows his head slightly. It seems like he's murmuring something, perhaps a little, a very small kind of prayer or, you know, motive, memory.
And then he sort of like, looks up and, like placing his hands on his hips.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: He looks from side to side. Oh, where should we, where should we go?
[00:13:57] Speaker B: And as he's wondering, he's interrupted by a somewhat shrill voice.
Call me. Call me. Are they the explorers?
And a wolf King woman runs over to meet you.
Hi. Just in case he gets a bit too boring. My name is Frinka. I'm sort of the guide around here. I'm a liaison between here and the cabos, dear. And, yeah, he doesn't show you any of the fun places. So if you want to go somewhere where you can find some really fun and exciting things to, then you should come find me. My name's Frinka. Okay. I've got to go now, but I'll see you later. Okay, bye, she says, and then she. As quickly as she arrives, she then scampers back off.
Um, and, van? Yeah?
You noticed in this moment that this frinka character seems almost polar opposite to yourself.
But how does it feel at least knowing that there are kind of wolfkin and within this settlement? Like, looking around, you can see, as you would expect, like a lot of Loravar, but you can see a goblin tending the farm yards like that. The yard in front of the barn just to your left, you can see what? You can see a number of workers. There are some goblins. You remember seeing a goblin inside the tavern?
Yeah. How are you feeling knowing that at least there are wolf kin around?
[00:15:25] Speaker D: I think as Vanyar looks around and takes in the smells and the sights, he spent pretty much the entire eschaton alone surviving the wilds.
And then when he was brought in to the explorers of elsewhere, he finally not only just obviously, growing up in a little walking village, which is obviously no more due to the events of the eschaton.
It's not just walking, it's people, different races of different kinds.
But he's not alone anymore. And suddenly coming to a much more rural place and still seeing this vibrance of different people and even seeing Wolfgang, it. It gives him a strange sense of comfort knowing that there's such a diversity, but especially seeing his own kind.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: Sure.
Well, as you kind of. As these thoughts kind of filter through your mind, Comstock is just sort of like watching this wolf Kim woman just sort of, like, run off, and she seems just utterly frenetic.
She seems very busy.
But he sort, like, grumbles under his. Under his breath like he is. Mustache bristles slightly.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: And, yes, she.
She is a sort of an envoy of sorts. There was a village nearby, a kabos deepers. It was a wolf kid village.
And I won't go into the long details of it, but we've kind of combined, and now we help one another out. It's. Yeah, she's.
She's hard to keep up with, but she's good people.
Anyway. Yeah. Follow me. We'll see. We'll see if we can. I can find. Find who summoned you here.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: And as you walk through the town, you notice that, like, a lot of the buildings are still kind of partially completed. It, like, taking a look round, you can see that over the space of six months. Clearly, they've done a pretty good job of building as much as they have.
And, like, you know, the sound of, like, the sea sloshing against cliff walls gets ever so slightly louder with every step you take.
But next to two half constructed buildings in front of you, you notice what appears to be like a large tent of sorts and a, like a blonde ace of art steps out of the tent, sort of like thanking whoever's inside, and then they kind of look in your direction.
Hello Comstock, the ace of r says as they kind of wander off and Comstock approaches this tent and sort of like verbally says, knock knock before pulling the tent door aside.
And within you see what? Well, you see a, an ace of our woman with almost like bone white hair, a fair complexion, wearing a blue, like a comforting looking blue dress.
And she appears to be kind of filing away some notes in a diary and then she looks up and oh, oh, hello Comstock, I think, I say the, I say the adventurous, she says, looking over and Comstock nods and really.
[00:19:35] Speaker A: Have you seen, have you, have you seen him recently?
[00:19:41] Speaker B: And the ace of our woman is still kind of looking over in your direction.
No, no, I can't say that I have.
And as she kind of scans the four of you cow, you notice that her eyes fall on you for a moment longer than everyone else and she sort of like stands up from her, from her seat and steps out to greet you.
Hello. My, my name is Milia Sarah last. I am a counselor of sorts within new prosper.
It's good to see you've all arrived here safely.
If you need anything, please ask, but uh, yes, I'm sorry Comstock, I can't help any further. I've got some more people I need to see today.
Comstock kind of nods and then Milia kind of bows ever so slightly and then returns to her, her tent.
Comstock turns to you and.
[00:21:01] Speaker A: The, the expedition that resulted in new prosper, he.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: Says, kind of gesturing around, it was.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: A bit of, a bit of an uphill struggle, to be honest. But, um, we made it, as I understand, one of the first expeditions to have actually set up an outpost.
Yes, we're all looking, we're all looking good.
Yeah, if you, if you follow me.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: On, he says, and he continues walking and he, he heads more like, more in a southerly direction until you find yourself stood on the edge of a cliff approximately 200ft deep and you can see the sea sloshing up against the, like the stone far, far below.
And like looking out in front of you, you just see this beautiful azure horizon where like aqua meets the sky.
And looking at it you would all know off the, from your experiences of the eschaton that as you look at the jagged, like, the relatively clean edge of this cliff, you suspect that this formation is a result of the eschaton.
And, like, Comsoc seems relatively, like, oblivious to it. He clearly, he's kind of used to it, but he's talking to an aquan sprite and a loravar who are kind of peering over the edge, like peering out to sea.
But it makes you wonder, like, what? Well, what are your thoughts when you see what is clearly, like, a lot. There was clearly a large chunk of land here that is gone. What. What's your. How are you feeling about Rabih?
[00:23:13] Speaker E: I think Mary's a little awestruck. I think she.
She's relatively new to this exploring game.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: And.
[00:23:25] Speaker E: Just seeing an environment like this, which she would never have particularly been anywhere near sea, is just. She's just, yeah, just awe inspired by it. I think she'll walk all the way to the edge that she could get to.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: And just like, as you go, despite being blind in that eye, Comstock just seems to have this sense. And he turns to look you look.
[00:23:57] Speaker A: At you, and, oh, wait, he says.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: Like, he naturally puts a hand out to stop you, but then kind of catches himself, realizes that you're an explorer, and he pulls his hand back.
But Ray read, as you peer over the edge, you notice that this cliff face appears to be holed out in certain points.
And you see, like, jutting out of various kind of, like, tunnel holes, if you will, planks of wood and what appear to be other buildings, materials. And it seems that perhaps the people of new Prospero are looking to extend the city, the town down the side of this 200 foot cliff face to the water? Um, yeah. Have you, like, in your. Because you're relatively young, right?
[00:24:52] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:24:53] Speaker B: Is this the first time you've seen the sea proper?
[00:24:57] Speaker E: Yeah, this is be the first time she's seen. Seen the sea, smelt the sea, experienced the seaside. She's just taken it in. It's just salty a little bit.
[00:25:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:06] Speaker E: I think she's just excited. She's just looking over the edge, walking along, looking down the edge again, seeing if it looks any different. Just like, oh, what's that here?
[00:25:15] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness.
[00:25:16] Speaker E: What's over here?
Have you been down there? Ding.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: As a car.
As Ray Ri is having a bit of a meltdown, like, in. In the face of this, quite frankly, very impressive scene, like, you can't help but notice the tranquility of what you're seeing.
How does it make you feel knowing that 18 months ago, just over 18 months ago, this place would have looked wildly different.
Where's your head at? Now that the war has come to an end and the rediscovery has begun.
[00:26:16] Speaker C: I think Azakar feels, you know, quite, you know, quite content that the elsewhere is looking somewhat like how it used to.
I think he's still cautious, like, he's still very cautious about, this could all end again, like, this could all be upheaval again.
And so he, he tries his best to sort of see the joy, especially in what Rerey's doing.
He's trying hard to sort of hold that to himself and kind of go like, this is a time of exploration now, but there's something in him that kind of goes like, but this could quite easily be taken all over again.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: Sure.
Well, as you, in which case then, as you kind of savor the opportunity to take in what is frankly a, quite a beautiful sight, you over here, Comstock, thanking the two kind of citizens of new prosperity and sorry to, to.
[00:27:33] Speaker A: Send you all over the town, if you, if you follow me. Um, yeah, yeah.
[00:27:38] Speaker B: Who we're after is, is this way.
And then Comstock begins heading north back towards the, the tavern.
Um, and as you go, say, you can see that there's a, there's a certain camaraderie between the various citizens as they go about, like building the town. It seems like a very active process that they're kind of getting involved with.
Yeah. Comstock, you know, effectively returns to where you emerged. Davin stood at the front door and he like, waves at you as you go past and you notice that Comstock kind of does a very slow wave back. And then when he's out of line of sight, you seem just like, oh, shake his head slightly, an exasperation, but he continues on and you up. As you approach, you begin to hear and smell a blacksmith. This like the staccato metallic rings of metal on metal. And you also next door to it, you see what appears to be a lumber mill of sorts, the hulking form of a keeper carrying sort of like logs to the, like the manual winch cutting wheel to slice these logs into usable beams for, presumably the construction of the town.
But Comstock sort of like pokes his head into like the open front blacksmith.
And you notice two goblins inside who, when they turn round, you notice are identical.
And comstock sort of like stops like, nods to them and says, knock, bok.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: These are the explorers that you sent for.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: Um, and the two goblins with their, like, look at you, they cross their arms and they both sort of, like, begin sucking on their front teeth. Um, and then one of them, you're not sure whether it's knock or bock, looks to you.
[00:29:58] Speaker A: And, uh.
So you're the explorers in. Yeah, you answered up. You answered our job. Right. Well, I hope you are worth, worth your weight in the coin that we've had to pay for you. But, yeah, it's a relatively simple job.
It's relatively simple job, isn't it?
[00:30:25] Speaker B: And he looks to his brother, and.
[00:30:26] Speaker A: His brother goes, yeah, simple job. So basically.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: And he sort of, like, wipes his hat, his dirty, greasy hands on his apron.
Sorry, it looks like he's gonna wipe it on his apron, but instead he just wipes it on the plaid shirt he's got underneath the apron.
And he strides out again. You're not sure which one it is, but he's eventually followed by his brother.
And they sort of, like, point to the north.
And immediately to the north, you can see the trees for us, you know, clearly being cut back by the lumber mill as time goes on.
You also notice that through, you can see through the. The blacksmith kind of, because it's just one of those. So they got like, two walls kind of thing. You can see what appears to be like a cave entrance down somewhere. Just off to the. Just off to the, like. You're right.
But beyond this copse of tree, this small wood that, you know, joins on to new prosper, you can see on the horizon this impossibly large crystalline spike jutting through, like, well, over the treeline. And it gleams in the, like, the midday sun.
And it reflects in hues a sort of, like cyan and magenta. And it looks quite, again, quite beautiful to look at.
But, cal, as you peer at this structure, you immediately recognize it as, like, an arcane mana crystal.
And like a lot of mana crystals have been springing up from the ground, like, from the grounds in the aftermath of the war. And the nature of these mana crystals is still a bit of a mystery to some, but you've never seen something this large. We're talking, like, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of feet tall, like, dominating the landscape. But as you see this crystal tower, what, like, memory, does it rekindle from the war?
[00:32:50] Speaker F: I feel like for Cal, it brings up images of, like, I'm imagining during the war in the battlefield, Quentin, a lot of these arcane crystals poking up and taking out enemies.
Kind of like a bit like the seller type spell that twig had in the last game, but massive and encompassing and actually quite terrifying.
And pretty sure that Cal has had to ride into battle knowing that at any minute, he could get struck through by one of these crystals. So I think there's an element of him recalling that in his head. I don't think it's visible. I think it is very much an internal reaction, though. He may cross his arms and kind of stand a bit straighter, as if trying to embolden himself from the memory.
But, yeah, never this big. Never this big in all of his time in the war. Never this big.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: So, certainly, for all four of you with your time that you've spent in avermore, like, you would have heard, like, scholars and archaeologians and, you know, various majors talking about the phenomenon of these mana crystals, how, you know, these crystal. Mana crystals aren't a new thing for elsewhere. Elsewhere is thrived on crafted mana crystals. You. You chance to look at Comstat, the rifle, the firearm on Comstop's back, and you know that that itself will most likely contain a craft mana crystal with which it fires projectiles, like, fires blasts of energy.
But in the art, over the space of the last 18 months, since the end of the war, there have been more and more reports of, like, areas of landscape just slowly sprouting these crystalline growths, almost like a fungus.
And the more far fetched report are the entire tracks of land are being crystallized.
And, like, it's a lot, like, arguably, it's a lot of hearsay, but now, looking at this immense structure jutting from the land, it makes you wonder what caused something of this magnitude.
But you also notice that the people of new prosper Comstock, these two goblins, knock and bok.
They just seem also much like the beautiful view at the cliffside. They seem rather blase. It seems like it's a bit of a everyday life kind of thing for them, but, yeah. Bok. Oh, sorry. One of the goblins sort of, like, turns back to you, the four of.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: You, and says, uh, yeah, so, basically, we've got. Ever since. Ever since that appeared, we've. We've had, uh, like, we saw it out. Don't. It's not gonna be, like, monsters in or anything.
[00:36:22] Speaker B: And he pauses, and he looks at his brother.
[00:36:24] Speaker A: He hasn't gone. We got rid of the monsters, right?
[00:36:27] Speaker B: And then the.
[00:36:28] Speaker A: Yeah, I think.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got rid of the monsters. Yeah, yeah. Good, right? So we got rid of the monsters, and now we just send in, like, there was, like, research teams from, like, overmore, and they're just, like, going in there, having a little scope around just trying to learn things about the crystal. I, I said we should knock it down and like turn it into loads of money. But they didn't seem to appreciate that. But so now there's loads of investigation.
[00:36:53] Speaker B: Teams having a look through it.
[00:36:54] Speaker A: And basically the one of the most, one of the recent survey teams that went in, they haven't come back.
So your job, he says, and he.
[00:37:05] Speaker B: Sort like gives you a salesman pitch grin.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: Your job, yeah. You especially, you love your job is to go in, find the survey team. They probably just got lost, can't remember where the front door is and then just bring them out. Job done. Easy peasy. How's that sound?
[00:37:28] Speaker G: Sounds simple enough.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: Very good. Very good. And on the off chance that there are monsters in there, well, that's why we paid extra.
But yo, that was a just in case kind of thing. It's very unlikely that there are any monsters in there.
[00:37:45] Speaker G: No. I hope there are.
[00:37:48] Speaker A: Oh. Oh, wow.
Well, in which case I don't know whether I want to be monsters.
[00:37:53] Speaker G: It's not so good.
Makes it more exciting, does it not?
[00:38:00] Speaker A: Yeah, not for me or him.
[00:38:03] Speaker B: But yeah.
[00:38:04] Speaker A: I mean for you maybe, but yeah.
[00:38:07] Speaker B: As long as you can bring out the research team.
[00:38:09] Speaker A: Because like Davin gets in a real tits if things go wrong. So he's been in a bit of a Tiz ever since they've gone missing. So as long as you can make sure that team gets out. Alright then, Ruby Cushti and we'll make sure to give you a little, little gold star, little commendation, little tick, whatever is that? Whatever is that those wizards in Navumore want us to do whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Any questions?
[00:38:36] Speaker F: How long have they been gone?
[00:38:38] Speaker A: That long ago?
Wait, which team was it? Was it the one that went last week or was it the one that went like week and a half ago? Uh.
[00:38:50] Speaker B: And the two brothers like stand looking each other going odd.
[00:38:53] Speaker A: I think it's the one from a week ago.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Are you sure?
[00:38:55] Speaker A: No, that one's got Brenda in it.
[00:38:57] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:38:57] Speaker A: I'm pretty sure I've seen Brenda around. Or maybe is the one from a week and after not long.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:39:07] Speaker C: Did you say it was?
[00:39:09] Speaker A: So we're pretty sure that there were about.
[00:39:14] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: We're definitely sure that there were five of them in that party.
Yeah, it's just, you know, it's, it's a proper like glasses pencil pushing. Like nerds from, from Ava ball as I. They've got those street smarts. They probably just got themselves very lost.
Typical, typical. You know, but yeah, they'll be. They've got rations, they've got their pack launches.
[00:39:47] Speaker G: So looking for glasses, pencils and people.
[00:39:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:54] Speaker D: Monsters.
[00:39:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, if you do find anyone else in there that isn't, doesn't look like an abject nerd, then.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: Hmm.
[00:40:03] Speaker A: I don't know. I mean, whether we leave him in there or not, bring him out as well. I mean. Yeah, your choice, I guess, because we're paying you for the research crew, not for anyone else.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: But suppose.
[00:40:15] Speaker A: Yeah. It's up to you.
[00:40:16] Speaker B: So to you.
[00:40:16] Speaker A: I'm not your boss. I'm not your mum.
[00:40:20] Speaker C: No, you would be weird if you were my mom.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: The two goblins, just nod in agreement.
[00:40:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:40:30] Speaker E: Uh, did you see, did you see the monsters?
[00:40:35] Speaker A: Uh, well, well, did we, did we see the monster?
I could go one better than that, love. Uh, so we can go one better than that, love.
[00:40:49] Speaker B: Uh, and the two goblins sort of, like, stand shoulder to shoulder, so, like, cross their arms and, like, strike a cool Mandev pose.
[00:40:57] Speaker A: Not only did we see the monsters, but we fought.
Yeah, yeah. And it wasn't just a monster. No, no, no.
It was a dragon. Yeah. Me and my brother with the crossbows. Yeah. Didn't stand a chance. Yeah. Consolk was there. He helped, I suppose, but we were.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: There as a car is gonna look.
[00:41:21] Speaker C: At the Comstock and raise an eyebrow as.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: Is this true? Comstock has gone a shade of red and, like, he is biting on his bottom lip is eye is one good eye, is scrunched tight. And it's clear that he wants to say something, but he's, he's letting the goblin have their time.
You can't help but get the feeling from looking at his expression that perhaps these goblins were there and perhaps they did help fight a dragon, but perhaps they didn't do as much as they're making out they did.
But, yeah, Ray re, the two goblins.
The two goblins are sort of, like, spinning you this tale about how the.
[00:42:16] Speaker A: Two of them, like, delved into the dark depths.
There was a. There was a really big corridor, and they had, like, other corridors, and there were portals. And then, and then there was a dragon, and then weather was this. There was this weird lady, looked a bit like Millie. I didn't really understand that plot point, and I. But, yeah, there was a lot going on. But bottom line, shot him with the crossbow. End of the problem, you know?
I know, I know. We are amazing.
[00:43:03] Speaker B: What's going on. As you point at Comstock and suggest that he didn't really have anything to do to help him. This Comstock lets out this, like, vocal grunt that sounds like he's just developed a hernia, and he let's stand off.
[00:43:26] Speaker A: Of that knock and bok.
Thank you. Briefing us on what needs to be done. I believe you have work to do.
[00:43:36] Speaker B: He says, like, jabbing a finger back towards the blacksmith.
[00:43:42] Speaker A: And knock and box, sort of like, oh, fine, whatever. You spoil all our fun. Why don't you kill joy?
[00:43:51] Speaker B: And the two of them slope back into the blacksmith.
The old law of our man turns back to you in.
[00:43:59] Speaker A: Right, well, that basically summarizes why you're here, then. You're, you're here to find a research crew.
Should be easy.
No dragons.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: No, no, we, he says very pointedly.
[00:44:16] Speaker A: We dealt with the dragon. Don't worry.
[00:44:21] Speaker B: Um, and yeah, he.
[00:44:25] Speaker A: If there's, if there is anything, um.
[00:44:29] Speaker B: Feel free to ask.
[00:44:30] Speaker A: I suppose if given that, how long they've been gone, it would be good if you could, um, be somewhat quick.
[00:44:37] Speaker B: With your, with your investigations.
[00:44:38] Speaker A: We don't want to leave the survey crew languishing any longer than they need to.
Um, but I I think that's about it.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: He says, um, at which point, just as quickly as she left. Previously the wolf can woman. Frinka, you believe her name is, like, zooms back in from, like, a different direction, like, behind you, cow.
And she all comes to me. Comey, commie. Call me. Call me. She says, like, waving her hands and, like, as a car van. Yeah, like, you notice, look like comsocks hands, like, begins twitching ever so slightly just as he's, like, bombarded with all of these other people.
I forgot to say, before they go, he's down on the beach. He wants to have a quick word with them before they go up to the tower. Is that okay?
[00:45:38] Speaker A: Good.
[00:45:38] Speaker B: Okay. That's okay. Okay, I'll see you later. Call me. Bye. She said, and then she, like, dashes back off, sort of like, you hear a shout, you're doing a good job. And she runs off and, yeah, console just looks to you in.
[00:45:56] Speaker A: The beach, the shoreline. If you go through that cave entrance just behind us, the tunnel will lead you down to the shore.
I'll be here when you're ready, I'll be here. And then I'll point you in the right direction.
[00:46:18] Speaker B: And he, having seemingly lost all hope in his heart, Comstock, just like you see his shoulders sag. It's a tired man. And he just, like, begins walking back into the tavern, giving you free leave to head down to the beach.
[00:46:40] Speaker F: Can cal turn to Ryrie Ray.
[00:46:45] Speaker B: Ree.
[00:46:45] Speaker F: Ray. Ray.
Based upon her reaction to the sea earlier, you have been on a beach before.
[00:47:01] Speaker E: You want to get him over?
[00:47:09] Speaker F: You know, don't try it.
[00:47:15] Speaker E: No, I've heard about them. They're like where the land meets the sea. Like, they're like that.
[00:47:26] Speaker F: Think you're gonna enjoy it, but you.
[00:47:28] Speaker E: Can'T see the other side.
Yeah, I've heard about them.
[00:47:34] Speaker F: That's very. That's very good. Yeah. I wouldn't have explained it like that.
[00:47:38] Speaker E: Yeah, that's why it's called sand. This is where the sea meets the land.
Sand.
[00:47:45] Speaker G: This is what I've heard too.
[00:47:48] Speaker A: Wait, what? What?
[00:47:52] Speaker B: How am I as old as I am and I've never thought about that? Oh, my God.
[00:47:57] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:47:58] Speaker B: Ah. Okay.
[00:48:00] Speaker D: We've already broke the DM.
[00:48:01] Speaker B: Yeah, the DM is broken. Vanier, how are you feeling about this whole thing? How are you feeling about, like, this place, the people in it, the. The people who've spoken to what's. What's going through Vanier's head right now?
[00:48:15] Speaker D: Yeah, fan year is pumped. He's ready. I think the fact that he's. I think before coming here, we were in this city, even though he's gotten to get to know, you know, like, being in the same vicinity as some of the others here. You might have heard people's names being thrown about, hearing stories and all sorts, but actually getting back out into the wilderness, into. Into the actual realm, he's just excited that the smells of the fresh air coming in, the stark change in geography doesn't really throw him because he's where each survived through the eschaton by himself. It was very much every time he had to keep moving because the land was just being ripped apart. And 1 minute he takes a step forward and the land that he just left behind has just disappeared. Or he's been thrown because like, some creatures just smashed into the ground in a minute of a fight. And he was just probably in the middle of trying to catch a fish or something.
It's very much like a series of unfortunate events for him that he's just been, like, surviving through all this time. So seeing this stark contrast and seeing the sea, it doesn't really throw him, but it's not necessarily. He's really been very close to the sea. He's seen it from a distance, but nothing. Not being close. So he's taking in those sweet and salty smells off the ocean and it's.
[00:50:07] Speaker G: It's.
[00:50:07] Speaker B: I mean, you definitely would have seen the, like, the commoners who were dragging up a, like a net's worth of freshly caught fish.
And, yeah, I suppose given you are the professional culinarian that you are, you can't help but wonder what that's going to taste like.
[00:50:29] Speaker G: I'm gonna take a few of those before we go.
[00:50:33] Speaker B: In which case, as you, as your mind dwells on the concept of sort like that very kind of succulent fish that you suspect is probably gonna get cooked up for the tap in the tavern later, the fire, the four of you begin to head down through the cave passage down towards the seafront. And you notice as you're going down this passage, that, like, the tunnel itself seems to bridge, and it's clear that these tunnels then run through the bedrock underneath new prosper. And you suspect that those tunnels will then lead to the cliff's edge, which is rarely where you saw those kind of building supplies.
As you head down and you hear the sound of the sea sloshing against the coast, the four of you discover on the beach a curious, another kind of elderly looking ish, probably similar age to you. Cow, maybe a bit older. The Loravar man with a white mustache. Cut the curls, and he's got this, like, hunter's hat on, fur coat. He's also got a rifle, like a firearm rifle, but unlike Comstock, this, this man is currently kneeling in the water. And his trouser legs are like, rolled up above his knees, and he's like, kneeling down, squatting. Sorry. And he's got his hands on his knees, and he's surrounded by five creatures, like aquatic creatures of some sort.
And I'll leave up to you to decide whether or not you've ever seen them before. But they, they have certain, like, amphibious, frog like qualities. They stand on their, they stand on two legs, but they're all kind of hunched.
It's clear that they can't look forward because they're bulging, boggly eyes are on the sides of their heads, looking out, but you notice that the eyes seem to be moving around independently.
And they're sort like surrounding this Loravar man and who's, like, handing them bits of meat.
And you see, like, one of them's got a leg of something and it's just slobbering and, like, noming on it.
And, like, as you approach five of the ten eyes on these creatures.
So, actually, I'll pause. Um, realistically, these. Well, who's ever seen a creature like this?
[00:53:41] Speaker F: I'd argue counting quite a few things.
[00:53:43] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:53:44] Speaker F: So I'll say yes, as a car.
[00:53:49] Speaker C: I don't think has a car seen.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: Anything like this venue.
[00:53:53] Speaker D: Yes, he's seen countless creatures and monsters and hunted things, so he's bound to have come across these creatures at some.
[00:54:01] Speaker B: Point, in which case the two of you that have encountered them, you know that this man is surrounded by five Croix.
Croix being these amphibious humanoids that live in the sea and they are as dense and dim witted as the rocks that break the tide.
They have no sense of civilization or intelligent thought. They are, these are fundamentally if you took like an amphibious like predator race of sorts but then gave him the id of a toddler.
That's a croak.
And this Loravar man is crouching between the five of them, handing them meat.
And they're five of their ten eyes because they all move independently, just turn to regard you.
And as they do, the old man sort of like turns and oh, oh.
[00:55:13] Speaker A: Don'T, don't approach too quickly.
They startle easily, he says.
[00:55:21] Speaker B: And then he sort like shh. And then beckons. You.
[00:55:30] Speaker D: Broach subtly.
[00:55:33] Speaker B: Okay.
And as you approach the Loravar man, who's still sort of like squatting amongst these Croix like says, looks up at you and uh.
[00:55:43] Speaker A: No. Do any of you speak croak?
[00:55:52] Speaker G: No.
[00:55:54] Speaker B: Cal and Van? Yeah, you. As you, you've encountered them you would know this is a trick question because Croix don't speak croak. They have no language.
They do not entertain enough intelligence to have a language.
But this lord of iron man looks at you quite earnestly, like eyebrows raised.
[00:56:14] Speaker A: Do any of you speak growick?
[00:56:18] Speaker B: No. By control.
[00:56:20] Speaker A: Okay, you, you try with this one. Um, I'll keep on trying with the other four.
[00:56:25] Speaker B: He says, um, do you, do you.
[00:56:32] Speaker A: Know where the other, the other one that you.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: You.
[00:56:41] Speaker A: There were six, now five.
Where's the other? They're not getting it. How are you doing?
[00:56:50] Speaker B: Um.
[00:56:52] Speaker E: She'S uh, so rabies, doing the same kind of like thing of just trying to just kind of do various like zigs.
[00:57:07] Speaker B: The croak that you're talking to like the croic.
How's your dog doing with these, Croix?
[00:57:16] Speaker E: He's so, Vinny is just kind of sniffing the air around them, trying to determine if friend, food or enemy.
[00:57:31] Speaker B: Sure.
Where in the ven circle they are.
[00:57:35] Speaker E: Where in that ven circle are they? Because they smell like fish. Yeah, they're too large to be fish.
[00:57:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean because these are like, they're smaller than you, Ray. Re, they're about three foot tall, but like a lot of that three foot is taken up by their head. Okay, like, which would imply they've got big brains.
[00:57:57] Speaker E: Yeah. Like, this.
[00:58:01] Speaker C: Makes them buoyant.
[00:58:08] Speaker E: He's just kind of going in, sniffing them, then doing that thing where dogs just come back. Them coming in, sniffing them, going back, just, like, not sure.
[00:58:20] Speaker B: Well, as Vinny's going back, like, going forward and reversing, like, one of its eyes is just following Vinnie, going backwards and forwards. When the other eyes, like, focus on you. So it's kind of looking off slightly off angle so it can kind of see you both.
But, like, as you try to talk to, this creature is just looking at you and, like, intimately going.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: Yes, yes, that's it. I think. I think. I think you're doing it. I think you're doing it.
[00:59:01] Speaker B: He says, five.
And this croak, like, look to. And, like, the croak itself has got, like. So he's got a club made of what appears to be some sort of, like, flotsam wood. It's got some barnacle on the end. It's got this very rudimentary, like, seaweed loincloth of sorts. And it just looks at you, and it's like, as you gargle at it, it gargles back to you.
And then in this moment of perhaps you are making contact, you just see this, like, stain appear in the water around its midriff, as it, like, as the water washes in and then washes, whatever excrement just came out, this creature back out to sea. And, like, the. The croak looking at you, grins ever so slightly.
Oh.
[01:00:02] Speaker A: Oh, no. I think I wouldn't stand in the water anymore.
The fish poo is bad enough, but no, no, no. I've learned my lesson before, he says, and the.
[01:00:14] Speaker B: The laravel, like, splashes out of the water back onto the sand.
The croix just kind of stand in the water that's been sullied and just happily chew on the meats that this Loravar man has given them. He then.
[01:00:30] Speaker A: My apologies. I. I thought I was. I thought I was getting due to the Croix, but I've been trying for.
[01:00:38] Speaker B: For months.
[01:00:38] Speaker A: For months. I'm pretty sure I'm. I'm almost. Anyway, my name is Victor Kasbrezek. It's very good to meet you.
I'm the. I'm the deputy of new prosper. I assume you've met the others.
[01:00:51] Speaker G: Yes, we did.
[01:00:54] Speaker A: Very good. Very good. Well, I. When I heard that you were coming to an investigative research party, I wanted to make sure that I caught you on the way, because I think there is something of express importance that you need to know before you go.
[01:01:11] Speaker G: Well, what is it?
[01:01:13] Speaker A: Well, you see, there were six croaks, but now there are only five.
So if you happen to see a croak that looks a bit like them, they're all siblings, I think.
But if you see one that looks a bit like them, then, well, I would say tell them to go home. But I don't know if they'd understand you. You might just have to bring back the crowd.
[01:01:47] Speaker G: The croaks vital to this community then.
[01:01:53] Speaker A: Yes. This is a very fragile ecosystem.
This is of the paramount importance that that you make sure if you find this croak, you I mean, if you don't find the croak. I might find the croak. I don't. But if you find the croak, make sure to bring the croak back.
[01:02:13] Speaker D: Vanya will take a good sniff in the air to get familiar with the crow accent for memory.
[01:02:24] Speaker A: Just I see what you're doing. A fellow hunter. I see. I see. Just just bear in mind, you might have to filter out the poo smell.
[01:02:47] Speaker G: Yeah. No, Vanya is like, don't worry. I am quite good at tuning my nose to certain smells.
[01:02:57] Speaker A: I wouldn't tune it too well. Too well. No no. It's it's it keeps you up at night. It really does. It really does. Anyway, have you got any questions about our missing croak?
Which are which which which is over the utmost importance.
[01:03:13] Speaker E: Not a name.
Any distinguishing features?
[01:03:19] Speaker B: He looks at the five croak that are just staring.
[01:03:23] Speaker E: There could be another croak in there. And he might not be the one you're looking for.
[01:03:27] Speaker A: Oh, if there's even more Croix, then if you find any Croix, make sure to bring them back.
[01:03:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:03:38] Speaker A: It is vital. I'm I'm building a diplomatic relationship between the Croix and new prosper. And I have to make sure that there's as many croaks here as possible. For them to, you know, to build a thriving community.
[01:03:57] Speaker G: I think I understand.
[01:03:59] Speaker A: Good. Good.
Anyway, I'm going to keep on asking them, but yeah, console gets very touchy if you take too long to do something. Which I found out very frequently over the past or six months that I've known him. Anyway. Go, go, go, go. Um, I said I I would say, you know, you don't have to. It's the tower. You gotta go to the tower. But yeah. Go, go, go, go, go. And, uh, yeah, I'll hopefully see you soon. Hopefully with some cogs in tow. Okay.
[01:04:30] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:04:31] Speaker A: Bye bye. Bye bye.
[01:04:32] Speaker B: Bye.
[01:04:32] Speaker A: Bye. Bye.
[01:04:33] Speaker B: Um, and he rolls his trouser legs up a bit more, and he squats back in the water, and he. You hear him start his spiel again.
[01:04:41] Speaker A: There were six of you?
[01:04:45] Speaker D: Um, yeah. As we're turning away and as we're about to walk off, I just butter up into my breath.
[01:04:51] Speaker G: These friends look and smell rather fishy to me.
[01:05:00] Speaker B: I'm not giving you a hope for that.
[01:05:06] Speaker G: I wonder what they tasted like.
[01:05:10] Speaker F: Um, Cal definitely says something like, that. Man sounds like a moron, but fine.
[01:05:25] Speaker E: I don't think they understand anything at all, but, you know.
[01:05:32] Speaker G: Well, if we find other researchers, we. We just put the crowworks under. The researchers care, and we look after all of them like herding sheep.
Fine.
[01:05:51] Speaker B: Have your player characters or the players got any questions before you head back up to new prosper and then on to, presumably, the tower time of day?
[01:06:01] Speaker D: Is it.
[01:06:02] Speaker B: It's like early afternoon, it sounds like.
I mean, the way that, you know, that you've been spoken to about it so far, there's almost the implication that hopefully you'll be done and dusted by dinner time kind of thing.
[01:06:17] Speaker D: Okay, so is it within a close enough walking distance, then, to this tower that you could do it within the day?
[01:06:23] Speaker B: It would seem so, yeah. I mean, the tower, like, jutting up from the trees looks.
What? It's difficult to say because it's so big.
Like, it, you know, ground size, it would take up, like, a couple of acres of space. I think that's a pretty big space.
But then it's also, say, like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. Like, almost. You've, again, is. It's hard to say because of the perspective, because you don't know the size of the actual thing.
Yeah. So for the four of you, just so you know, Amelia is kissable and has a big heart.
So, yeah, it's hard to judge. But if you're heading back up, like, comsock kind of gives you a bit of a prep like direction. He tells you how far he is and, yeah, it's. It's like a couple of hours trek up to the tower. So you know that by the time you do that, presumably find this survey group and then head back, back and home for tea.
[01:07:28] Speaker E: So is it upon them, the terrain? Like, is it reachable by, like, land? Like, it's just on the side of.
[01:07:43] Speaker B: Yeah, so, well, like, less if we dive in. Yeah. Comstock explains to you, basically, you want.
[01:07:53] Speaker A: To just head north through these, through this small wood. Then you pass over the Omron Plains, which should take you about an hour. And then you'll arrive at the crystal spine forest.
You'll know when you've reached it because it's a forest, but all the trees have been crystallized and the cut. The tower stands in the middle of those. That wood.
Don't worry. Ever since we dealt with the threat that was in there, the. The forest has become somewhat inert. So now it's more of a tourist attraction, as Frinker likes to describe it.
But if you. If you're walking through the crystal trees, you absolutely won't be able to miss the. The tower. You'll be able to see it through the canopy all the way.
[01:08:52] Speaker G: Well, what are we waiting for? Shall we make a move?
[01:08:57] Speaker C: As a car? Would like to ask if there is anything that researchers were particularly looking for, if anything.
[01:09:05] Speaker B: Um, Comstock kind of scratches his beard.
[01:09:11] Speaker A: Um, no, I'll. I'll be honest with you. I. It's not particularly my forte. If Galena were here, she would be able to give you a comprehensive rundown. But from what I understand, the tower itself is.
Yeah, well, it used to be a lair of this wizard warlock. It's the history. But ever since the. The wizards of Ava Moore found out about it, they've been sending researchers there to study the nature of it because apparently very few of these towers have been seen. This is the first one that they've encountered.
They want to know why it's there, what it does, if there's anything they can harvest or extract from it. It's just become a hub for. For arcane research. As I say, I'm a bit confused. If I can't hit it with a sword, then it's, you know, isn't even worth knowing about, you know, that sort of thing. But.
No, no, no, it's. It's.
They're just doing wizard notes, as far as I know.
Wizard notes? Yes.
[01:10:27] Speaker B: And Constok seems very pleased with that description.
[01:10:32] Speaker E: Wizard notes.
[01:10:34] Speaker G: Wizard notes.
[01:10:36] Speaker A: Wizard notes.
[01:10:38] Speaker C: Wizard notes.
[01:10:40] Speaker B: Have you got any more questions for the sheriff before we head up?
[01:10:47] Speaker C: Um.
Is there, um. Is there anything we should be looking out for? When.
[01:10:55] Speaker G: In there.
[01:10:55] Speaker C: You've been in there yourself.
[01:10:59] Speaker A: Well, perhaps one of the things that knockenbock did get right is that the. The place does seem quite, um, sterile. Now, there's a.
There haven't been any reports of any of the other survey teams getting attacked or.
This is the first team that's gotten lost for some considerable time.
They've been gone for. They've probably been gone for about a week and a half, but that's not particularly unusual. Sometimes these research teams will take enough provisions to last for a good week or two in there before they come out, just so they can, I assume, do wizard notes. But, um, we.
[01:11:47] Speaker B: We.
[01:11:49] Speaker A: Yeah, we're a bit concerned for this lot. They were supposed to be drew back and they're not.
[01:11:54] Speaker B: But.
[01:11:57] Speaker A: The inside of that tower, it. It doesn't particularly make sense. So it might be that they've just gotten lost and it's difficult to explain until you've been there, but that's easier said than done.
Well, it's as easy to as doom as it is.
No, one of the things that we've discovered from some of the survey teams is that every time they went in to explore and they were, you're mapping out the interior, every single buggering one of them came out with a different map. So it's almost as if the, the tower itself is changing, is changing its. This layout.
But don't worry, we. There's a front door of sorts, but it's marked out. You'll see it, you, you'll know where it is. But yeah, it leads you to the same place. So given that that research team is in there, there's just a case of going in and finding them.
[01:13:10] Speaker G: Well, don't worry, everyone. If we get lost, I'll punch away art.
[01:13:17] Speaker A: That's the spirit.
[01:13:18] Speaker B: He says.
[01:13:21] Speaker F: I don't doubt it.
[01:13:25] Speaker B: Comstock.
Kind of recognizing a man of veteran experience such as himself, so, like, grins at you, Cal, and then gives you a firm slap on the shoulder and a good squeeze. Good squeeze of the shoulder and. Yeah, unless there's anything else, he, he bids you farewell so you can keep, so you can head off in the morning in the day's light, and I take a fish.
[01:13:56] Speaker A: Uh, sure.
[01:13:59] Speaker B: He says, you may add one fish to your inventory.
[01:14:07] Speaker D: No, you will see, um, as obviously most of the time at the moment as we've been traveling, Vanier has this, like, big overall white coat that sort of currently wrapped around with this like, fluffy mane of black fur.
And he sort of opens it up briefly to access a, some like this strange satchel that when he opens, seems to let off a slight cool breeze as he shoves the fish in the satchel and just closes it.
[01:14:41] Speaker G: It'd be good for this when we need it.
[01:14:45] Speaker B: Cheeky, cheeky.
[01:14:48] Speaker E: As it opens, mini sniffing all over your satchel.
[01:15:00] Speaker G: Don't worry, I'll make sure that for you too.
[01:15:06] Speaker E: He just sits just.
[01:15:13] Speaker B: Very.
[01:15:14] Speaker G: We. What does he ignore?
[01:15:15] Speaker D: Malay?
[01:15:17] Speaker E: Oh, anything. It's literally anything.
Meat.
[01:15:23] Speaker D: More in the moment, I mean, again, opens the coat, opens the satchel. That looks quite cool inside. And he just rummages around.
[01:15:33] Speaker G: Hmm, this should do.
[01:15:35] Speaker D: And he pulls out some mystery meat and he's like.
And he offers the meat to your pup.
[01:15:49] Speaker G: This is quite good. I've already cured it.
[01:15:52] Speaker E: Don't snatch it, you good boy. Don't snatch it.
He's literally, he's, he only takes your hand off.
[01:16:03] Speaker B: There's no chewing, just seagull.
[01:16:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:16:09] Speaker F: It'S like a seagull of a doughnut. Just like, anyway.
[01:16:15] Speaker E: Sits there just like.
[01:16:20] Speaker G: There'Ll be more later. You got to do your bit too.
[01:16:25] Speaker B: So as with Vinnie Vinny, the dire Chihuahua fed.
Yeah. The four of you begin your journey north. And true to Comstock's instruction, it doesn't take very long at all to clear the, like the small copse wood of trees to the north of new prosper before reaching what appears to be what you assume to be the Omoran plains, which like gentle kind of sloping hills going off in kind of all various directions which give you this beautiful sight of this kind of sky piercing blue crystalline tower.
And like, as you, as you're heading across the, like the hills of the armor and planes, you're like you're getting a better sense of perception and scale and realizing just how huge this, this tower is.
But you can also see that kind of nestled around its base, like in its shadow is this, like this. It's almost like you're looking a fabric covered in like, aquamarines and like fuchsia, like pink rubies. And it glitters in the, in the daylight.
And as you get closer, you realize that that glittering is in fact trees that appear to be root to tip made of this kind of blue pinkish crystal.
And as you make your, as you kind of reach the edge of the forest and then kind of head back it, like carry on in, you find yourself walking for some considerable time through the trees and where the trees themselves don't have any foliage.
You like Victor's right. You could see the tower and like where you're heading to and like, there's almost like a clear walkway. You, as you like, as you're following along, you notice that there's a ruins tower off to your left.
But something that you do notice is that as you're walking through, through it, you can't hear any wildlife.
You can't hear any cheeping, singing birds. You can't hear the scurrying of woodland creatures. This place seems like deathly still and silent.
A tranquilization, almost. But there's something ever so slightly unnerving about it all.
It doesn't seem natural. Despite what you're seeing. Apart from this ruined tower being presumably quite naturally formed, how have any of you encountered, like, crystallized strips of landscape since the war?
So places where these map, these untamed mana crystals, arcane as you know them, where they've just kind of, like, spread and propagated through an area, or is this your collective first times of being in somewhere like this?
[01:20:10] Speaker E: I think it would be first time seeing it on this scale. Maybe seeing small, like little, maybe like a slight creep of crystal into the wilderness, I guess, but not gale.
And I think we've. What raimi has seen in the past of what happened to the forest, that or the area that she grew up in, she finds it white. It's the first time that you can see on her face that she's not smiling. She doesn't enjoy the feeling of there being no wildlife. No, everything's still and almost dead and in natural, I guess.
[01:21:07] Speaker B: How about cow?
Is it. Is this your first time?
[01:21:16] Speaker F: I think it is. I think in a similar vein to he's seen crystallized plant life for maybe even, like, one big tree, but, like, not. Again, not to this scale. Yeah, I think. I think he's been an explorer a little bit longer than the rest of the group, for obvious reasons, but I still don't think there's a sense that he's explored much different from the rest of the group in that way.
And I think it still kind of takes him aback how new the landscape can be after so long.
[01:21:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:21:58] Speaker F: Knowing the landscape before, and I think that's a lot to process, but, again, takes it very much in his stride. This is all very internal. He's just very aware. Yeah, I think it makes him a bit more on edge, because it's an environment he does not know how to operate in. Like, how do you operate around crystallized trees? Are they safe? Are, you know, are they magical? Will something happen if they go near them? Like, there are their questions he can't answer, he can answer. What happens if you go near a normal tree, you know, and what that function will be. So I think, realistically, he's just like, let's keep as far away from them as possible. Let's keep close as a group and only approach them when necessary if we need to. For the past.
[01:22:54] Speaker B: Sure. I mean, as you regard your kind of broken, fragmented reflections in the crystalline trunks of these trees, like, as a cardinal, you being an adherent such a devout adherence, aya, and her divinity you find yourself in.
I mean, this must be thousands upon thousands upon thousands of, like, square foot of the effects of arcane corruption on a natural place of beauty, you would assume.
How does this sit with you seeing everything around you?
[01:23:47] Speaker C: I feel like Azakar would have had some sort of, like, training or initiation before joining the explorers and would have been shown. This, would have been shown some sort of, like, crystallization like this before, but like the others, like, on a very minute scale and really sort of ploughed into him, like, you know, this is the destruction that arcane magic has done to our world.
So, yeah, I think seeing it at such a magnitude would make him quite, quite angry.
[01:24:27] Speaker B: Sure.
And lastly, Vanya, how. How is this making you feel? Like. I mean. I mean, I'm imagining being someone that eats what he hunts, being in a place where there is no, like, you feel like you're the only living things here.
How's that feel?
[01:24:55] Speaker D: The fact that he can't smell or hear with his heightened senses or see anything around his vicinity, it definitely puts him on edge, considering his chaotic experience.
He's, you know, he's seeing things get flash frozen in ice. He's seen probably crystals sprouting from, like, clashes of battle or something erupting out the ground that he just doesn't understand. But again, he doesn't understand magic. So he's just seeing lots of different kinds of shiny rock and it's very much of.
Well, if there's no food around, I wonder if you shaved some of this ice off, if you could break it down, would it make a similar substance as salt.
[01:26:00] Speaker B: Magic? Salt magic.
[01:26:02] Speaker G: You described it. Would it be tasty?
[01:26:07] Speaker C: I would recommend, my friend, not to touch this.
[01:26:14] Speaker G: Is it magic?
[01:26:18] Speaker C: It is indeed.
[01:26:21] Speaker G: I will heed your word then.
I will not mess with it.
[01:26:28] Speaker B: As cal as you. Kind of, like overhearing the conversation between Majani, who you've known from.
You've known from a previous life, and the young kind of wolf kin warrior behind you.
You hear, sudden you hear, like, a twig crack, something shifting, and, like, your ear naturally just kind of pricks up in your. You find yourself suddenly scanning your horizon like your immediate surroundings.
And from.
From behind a number of the crystalline trees, three figures emerge out to kind of block your way.
And as they. As they step out, you recognize that these three figures are all keepers.
Can I just show you that? I can. There we go. That's better. Three keepers, one relatively young looking keeper with two others behind them. You notice once one sports a crossbow. The lady keeper in the back seemed to have some sort of large stone hammer of sorts, and the relatively young looking keeper that leads them appears to be holding a spear with a reduced, a red wrapping.
That's quite enough, says the young keeper. And despite, you know, he's young, but he's still pushing seven foot. Whereas the two keepers behind him, like, dwarf him, they're pushing seven and a half. The woman appears to be pushing almost 8ft tall.
Um, that's far enough.
Why are you here?
The young keeper says.
[01:28:54] Speaker F: We don't have any business with you. We are going to the tower. I think Cal's hand is on his scabbard with his blade, like he was already ready to pull out his sword. He's not. He's not like actively attacking. Yeah, but he looks ready, so he's like, we have no quarrel with you. We are going to the tower.
[01:29:17] Speaker B: That's all. We are doing as you like. As you go, as you're reaching for your sword, you notice the knuckles, the sound of leather stretching as the knuckles gripping the hammer.
Titan, if you have business with the tower, you have business with the corollary.
So I'll ask again, why are you here and who sent you?
[01:29:48] Speaker C: We have. We have come from New Haven.
They have wizards lost in the tower, doing wizard notes.
We have come to. To rescue them, to find. To search for them. We do not know if they require rescuing, but we have come to find them. We mean no harm.
[01:30:17] Speaker B: The young keeper looks left and right to the other two, and in this moment, you like, you truly notice that they all seem to be wearing matches, like shawls, diagonally across their chests, with this rich green, rich yellow zigzag pattern.
And the young keeper looks to you. And the last time explorers went into this tower, terrible things have happened.
I don't think I can let you proceed, he says, and as he plants this staff, like half down into the ground, stands in a defensive pose, you get this fleeting thought through your heads that this staff doesn't necessarily belong to this boy, but it holds a great importance to him.
And as the three keepers, like, size you up, we'll call it that.
Congratulations, everybody. Have I got a happy? Have I got. Sure, let's do this one. Happy music no, wait. Happy, happy, happy music there we go. That's happy enough. Congratulations, everyone, on completing part one of tales from elsewhere, story one.
[01:31:59] Speaker F: Yay.
[01:32:02] Speaker B: You have made it. And yes, this tale will be taking place in the setting of campaign one.
We have returned to new prosper, and I'm excited to see. Well, I mean, I say I'm excited to see. I've planned it, but I'm excited to see you see what I've got in store for you.
Yeah.
[01:32:25] Speaker C: I do apologize. I called it New Haven for some.
[01:32:28] Speaker E: Reason, which is just outside of Portsmouth.
[01:32:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
Just outside of Bryant. Yeah. And so, yes, I loving what you've brought with the characters. I'm truly appreciative of the whistle stop tour of loads of the player characters and NPC's from campaign one. You took the vast majority of them in your stride.
So, yeah, I'm very thankful. Thank you to everyone in chat. And if you liked what we're doing, make sure to hit the like button and comment down below on which of the campaign one player characters you think would have been most useful to have tagged along in this, in this little reconnaissance journey, this rescue mission.
[01:33:19] Speaker C: Dan, I've got a quick question.
[01:33:20] Speaker B: Yes.
[01:33:21] Speaker C: These are some wonderful maps. Who makes them?
[01:33:23] Speaker B: These are some wonderful maps. And I forgot to turn on the icon until near the end, but the maps that we've been playing. So tell you what, let's go. Bam. Let's go back here. I've got it. I've got it on the screen now. But this is a beautifully made birdie maps map.
And, and, and bam. Let's go back to new prosper. This is also a birdie maps map with loads of extra things. Oh, it's loading loads of extra things that I've stuck on it.
Yeah. Birdie maps does some incredible stuff. Oh, I double music. Birdie maps does some incredible stuff.
And you should 100% go check out his stuff over on Patreon as a patreon. Birdie maps. That's birdie with an ie.
Yeah. Like super affordable, super high quality.
Crazy, crazy stuff that he's doing over there. Yeah. Thank you for the reminder, Nate. I'm a consummate professional, so.
[01:34:25] Speaker A: Yes.
[01:34:26] Speaker B: Thank you for watching. Thanks for playing. If you like what you see, make sure to hit the subscribe on and the Bell icon for notifications when release new content. We've now got this going, so this is gonna be going live every fortnight and then the vods gonna be getting released like every week in each half. We've also got campaign two still running through Alicia Rising, which Nate is also in, where he's playing a ever so slightly different character.
We'd love to.
I'd love to find out if that's your new favorite thing.
Yeah. Thank you for watching. Thank you for playing.
See you later.
[01:35:05] Speaker F: Bye.
