01: The Swords of Foulstrum - Tales From Elsewhere: Sanctuary - Daggerheart Actual Play

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, and welcome to the Explorers of Elsewhere Tales from Elsewhere Sanctuary. You come and join us on the very first episode. Hooray. My name is Nate. I am the GM for this adventure, and I will introduce you to everyone as well. If this is. If you're new to the channel. Hello. Hello. Welcome. Very glad to have you here. If this is the very first episode that you're watching, you might want to go back to session zero first to get an idea of all the characters and how they have come into this situation where we find them today. But if you've already seen that episode. Hello. Thank you for coming back. We will say hello to Livy. [00:00:46] Speaker B: Hello. [00:00:47] Speaker A: Theo. [00:00:48] Speaker C: Hello. [00:00:50] Speaker A: Georgia. [00:00:51] Speaker D: Hello. [00:00:52] Speaker A: Julia. [00:00:53] Speaker D: Hi. [00:00:54] Speaker A: And Dan. [00:00:55] Speaker E: Hello. [00:00:57] Speaker A: So if you, as I said, if you're new to the channel, if you're new to watching this episode, recommend you going back to session one to get some background information of what's happening. But if you've come back to us and you like this episode, don't forget to hit the like button. If you're not subscribed to us, why not subscribe to us? We also have a members, uh, channel here on YouTube. If you click on that members, you can probably get to see episode two right over on there. It should have uploaded today. [00:01:29] Speaker D: Oh, you can watch it before this one. Great. [00:01:32] Speaker A: Yeah. If you want to be really confused. [00:01:36] Speaker B: Time travel. [00:01:37] Speaker A: Time travel. We also have a discord where you can join in with all of us, have a chat about things that are going on, and also find out about other stuff that's happening on the channel while Sanctuary is running at the same time. Cool. Well, with no further ado, shall we run the intro? [00:01:54] Speaker D: Yeah. Hello, I'm Julia, and I play Lucretia, a Laurovar wizard. [00:02:15] Speaker C: Hi, my name is Theo, and I'll be playing Pally, a Wolfkin Seraph. [00:02:21] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Georgia, and I'll be playing Vergil, a Sangrevar ranger. [00:02:28] Speaker E: Hi, my name is DM Dan, and I'm playing Myrdden, a Wolfkin guardian druid. [00:02:34] Speaker F: Hi, I'm Livy, and I'll be playing Beau, the dragon scent warrior. [00:02:41] Speaker A: And my name is Nate, and I'll be the GM for this adventure. So, from where we left the five of you. Well, specifically where we left. Virgil. Virgil, you're standing outside, sort of in the town square of Falstrom. You have been asked by your friend Mabella, the Terran sprite, to come at urgent need of the mayor, who you know is Mayor Bravan. You haven't heard much news of what's of what it's about. But you do know it's of high importance and that it's such high importance that even explorers have been asked from Avamor to. To help out. As, as you're standing there and you see the portal sort of whirl and flux into activity and four figures sort of jut out of this. Out of this portal. Who would we say is the first one to walk out of this portal? [00:04:27] Speaker E: I feel like it'd be Madam Maiden. [00:04:30] Speaker F: Yeah, I think so. [00:04:32] Speaker A: So, yeah, Virgil, as. As you're watching this. This portal come to life, this rather large hulking wolfkin man, dark skinned wolfkin man. Quite a presence. As he's. As he comes in with. With like these stone where you can probably tell her actually these stone runes that are sort of hovering above his head. He sort of strides out of this portal and takes in his surroundings. Mirdan, what do you make of the town of Falstrom? [00:05:11] Speaker E: So I. I feel like it's been a while since I've been here. [00:05:19] Speaker A: Let's say like a. [00:05:21] Speaker E: A year or so has. Has it changed? [00:05:26] Speaker A: Okay. [00:05:28] Speaker E: In which case I think there's sort of like a. Almost a satisfied little grunt at this town that is as Maiden remembers it and he, he remembers it as being like this kind of quiet, quite little quaint little town that you know, doesn't. That's just kind of happy just being. Existing on its own, kind of doing its own thing. Which is also something that made and appreciates on a soul. Soul level. [00:06:01] Speaker A: I guess One of the things that you probably recognize more is the fact that it does seem. It does seem a lot busier. It now seems like people have now moved here to sort of settle down for a quiet life in this town. So it does seem like a little bit more busy and it seems almost like a little bit more like normality. Like people are just going about their business. There's no like extra buildings being built up. There's no. There's no visions of light visions. There's no sort of sites of any other explorers or even any mages sort of walking around, sort of making preparations for safety and. And guarding in case, you know, another eschaton sort of happens. It seems that definitely the town has sort of settled in this quite tranquil safety that it. It seems to emanate. Who would be walking through the portal next? Lucretia. [00:07:09] Speaker D: Yeah, I was thinking either Lucretia or Pali possibly. [00:07:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I feel like Beau is definitely last. [00:07:16] Speaker A: Yeah, [00:07:20] Speaker D: I'm happy to come through next. [00:07:22] Speaker A: So Lucretia, as you. As you sort of pop your head through and sort of steadily lift up your robes to sort of pull yourself out of the portal. What's your sort of feelings of the town of Falstrom? [00:07:36] Speaker D: I think she probably finds it fairly charming in a way. I think she's already noticing sort of the bookshop across the square that she wants to go and check out. She sort of nods and says, yes, it's rather. Rather nice. Yes. So she just sort of thinks. Finds it quite. Quite pretty and, you know, for what it is, I think she. Yeah, quite likes it. [00:08:05] Speaker A: And as you said, you think Pally would be the next one through. [00:08:09] Speaker C: It would do, yeah. Yeah. Pali. Yeah, go on. [00:08:14] Speaker A: Yeah, go ahead, Go ahead. What is Pally's sort of first. First of reactions to seeing Fahlstrom? [00:08:23] Speaker C: Well, I think for Pali, like, I. I think he doesn't spend a lot of time in big cities. Like, Avenmoor was the first big city he'd ever been to, so he only really has Avermore to compare. Phil spent a lot of time on the road, so like in more kind of smaller places and villages before for. So depending on if, like, as f. Looks as a town, he will probably be a bit contenter that it's smaller. I think you can get lost in a big city and feel very much part of, like, lost and unimportant in a. In a big city where in his, like, life, it's always been about being, like, part of a community, in a family in, like, very small ways. And then so. And until war stuff. And even then you're part of a company which is quite small and intimate in Pali's mind. So, yeah, so I think he's happy to see it's a smaller town. He's like, oh, okay. Like, he feels like he can see where the exits are. He can see where people congregate, you know, that sort of thing, which is, I think, appealing to him. [00:09:35] Speaker E: Cool. [00:09:38] Speaker A: And last but not least, sort of creeping through behind the rest of them, Nosferatu style. What are we doing? Maybe being sort of like a little bit more vigilant. A little bit more. Definitely sort of taking in his surroundings on a much more sort of vision, vigilant level. What does Beau make of surroundings? [00:10:09] Speaker F: Beau is quietly pleased. It's a small town or reasonably small town. It looks quite quaint, which means there's probably some busy bodies, which means everyone knows everyone. And then hoping that a different person that. That might have arrived that may not normally be there might stick out like a bit of a sore thumb. So he's hoping that this can kind of, he's just kind of like, ah, easy work. They'll recognize. You know, the guy down the pub will definitely know something about someone. So, yeah, quietly contented and yeah, just on the lookout, just having a little look around, but not, you know, not in an obvious way. He's a called and collected character. He's just kind of having a little. [00:11:01] Speaker A: Okay, so as the, the four of you stand there taking in your surroundings, Virgil, both you and Mabella are sort of walk up. Well, it's, it's mostly Mabella who goes up to of sort of greet them. She knows that the, that these explorers are coming to help with whatever's happening. But Virgil, as you, as you scan your eyes over these newcomers, there's one face that almost kind of takes your, your breath away as almost. [00:11:43] Speaker F: Yep. [00:11:44] Speaker D: It's f. [00:11:50] Speaker F: Rose petals. Cherry blossom. [00:11:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Anime sparkles. It's the ship that I'm gonna make. Yeah. There's, there's one face that you can see that, that, that is almost like a, like a shock from the past. A face that you didn't believe that you would ever see again. And considering that how much time has passed as well, that how does this person still look the way that you remember? And you get that feeling as you look at Pali? [00:12:39] Speaker B: I think so he's brought his soup with him. He's got a little wooden bowl that he's carved himself in a little wooden spoon, and he's been hurriedly eating it as everyone comes through the portal. And then as Pali steps through, he kind of, he almost drops his little bowl. And I think it does. Is it enough details that in the right light he can tell that this isn't the person that he remembers? [00:13:06] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes, definitely. [00:13:09] Speaker B: Yeah. So he kind of, he does he look, you can see the look of shock that passes over his face. And then he quickly tries to recollect himself. Stop being silly. Brother talents. [00:13:25] Speaker A: Brother Talons just sort of looks at you and goes. Completely confused about what you are talking about. [00:13:35] Speaker B: Finish your soup. [00:13:38] Speaker A: Your birds. [00:13:41] Speaker F: Birds even eats. [00:13:44] Speaker B: He does now. [00:13:52] Speaker A: So going back to the four of you, you see this, this small Terran sprite sort of run up to you and she's just like, oh, oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. So I'm so glad that you're, you're here already. My goodness. News must have got to you fast. Hello. My, my name is, my name is Marabella. I, I, I know that you're coming. Please, please come with me. Come with me. I will, I will take you to the, to the mayor's assistant and she'll be able to, to guide you on what's, what's been happening here. And she, she sort of just beckons a hand and, and asks you to follow after her. And she also eyes you, Virgil, and goes like, oh yes, come on, come on Virgil. Please, please, please. As she, as she takes you over to the City hall, is there anything that any of you would like to discuss before we get to City Hall? [00:14:57] Speaker E: I will sort of like smile quite like quite broadly I think at Virgil and sort of like hands out. Virgil, my good friend, it's been some time and looks like you have still managed you, you are still evading the grave. [00:15:20] Speaker B: I do like to get out and about occasionally. Would you like some soup? [00:15:30] Speaker E: I take a look at it. It's not a particularly discerning eye, but on a scale of 1 to 10, how does the soup look? [00:15:40] Speaker B: Root, rooty, rooty, rooty. And some vegetables. Maybe you see a carrot in there. It's a welcome sight. [00:15:50] Speaker E: Mirdin lifts her hand and later perhaps lets us hear what this sprite and this mayor's assistant has to tell. [00:16:00] Speaker B: Yes, I wasn't expecting you to come through the portal or. Well, any of you. Really are quite an eclectic bunch, aren't you? And as he sort of scans the group, his eyes do linger just a moment on Pali and then away hurriedly. [00:16:14] Speaker C: Apparently has no brain cell. He does not realize. [00:16:18] Speaker D: I think, I think Lucretia. I think Lucretia would probably sort of lean in to whisper to Pali as they walk along. Just not so loud that Virgil could hear and say he seemed a little bit surprised to see you. Do you know him? [00:16:33] Speaker C: No, I've never been here before. But I will say hello obviously when we have a moment. I feel like they're like, like walking and talking and hurrying. I imagine the sprite is quite quick and they're trying to keep up. [00:16:51] Speaker A: Cool. So as, as the 45 of you reach and Marbella turn up to the town hall, she, she opens the, the sort of grandish jaws of it and walks in where there, there seems to be a bit of a bit of a hubbub. People are sort of doing sort of like day to day works, but it's almost seeming like everyone's like on edge. Like everyone's sort of like a little bit like unsure. Like everyone knows something but is unsure what to say to each other. Mabella sort of takes the five of you upstairs, the six of you including Brother Talons, um, takes you upstairs to this um, office and she sort of rapidly sort of taps on the door, um, and opens it. And she's, and she's just like, um, travella, Travella, they're here. And she opens the door to you and you. As she beckons you in to come into this office. At the, at the desk is this ace of our woman who is hurriedly sort of writing bits and pieces down onto some ledgers. And she's just like, oh, oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Thank the gods you're here. Yes, please, please take a seat and I'll, and I'll, I'll explain everything. And I mean, she says, take a seat. There's only like two seats that are sort of there. Who's, who's having a sit down? [00:18:43] Speaker D: Lucretia will stand. [00:18:47] Speaker C: Charlie was there, isn't it? [00:18:50] Speaker F: Oh, and the old men need a seat. [00:18:51] Speaker D: The old man needs a seat. [00:18:56] Speaker E: Mid. Stoically adopts a power stance with hands clenched at waist. [00:19:02] Speaker F: Kind of looks toward us like, well, beggars can't be choosers. [00:19:06] Speaker B: He just sits leg swinging. [00:19:10] Speaker A: Leg swinging, I think. [00:19:13] Speaker B: Virgil very cheerfully sits himself down on the seat and Brother Talons sits on the back of the chair. [00:19:20] Speaker E: Nice. [00:19:22] Speaker A: Travella, sort of. Was that the name I gave her? Yes. [00:19:30] Speaker D: It's all right. You're good. [00:19:33] Speaker A: So Travella, she. She sort of just writes another sort of bit down in her ledger and then she closes it and she's. You can see that there's, that she's stressed, that there's obviously a lot of. A lot of extra work that has landed on her plate because you can see sort of like these big pile of scrolls and paper that sort of like developed onto her desk and she's, and she's like, oh, okay, Mabella, how much have you told them so far? And Mabella sort of looks up and she says, I haven't said anything. They've. These explorers, they've only just arrived. And brother Virgil here, he only knows what, you know, what's been going on in the town, have been saying. And Travella sort of nods and she goes, okay, well, I know, I know this is going to sound strange, and I'm, I'm glad that the, the four of you, the five of you, Virgil, you as well, I'm sorry to, to bring you, to bring you on in this in such a. Such a strange situation, but it's, it's, it's awfully dire that we, we need someone of, of your knowledge anyway, and of your, your past of healing. You see, we have been encountering some strange entities at the, the east valley side of the woods. The east valley. For Horace, they've only just appeared over the last month. And we, we are not sure if they are some sort of remnants from the Eschaton. We've never, we've never had any encounters like this before. They are not mere creatures of that woods. A couple of. Of our guards went out there to check and unfortunately they, they never returned. We. We sent out a few more. We sent out a bigger brigade of guards and Mayor Bravan also went out there as well. And let's just say that, well, it's, it's probably better if you, if you see for yourself. And she says if, if you don't mind, I'll please, please come with me. The, the healing bays are, are just next door and, and I can show you what's what I mean. And as she, as she sort of stands up and sort of guide you to the, to the door, she leads you out of the, out of the door and out of City hall and literally just next door where there seems to be some sort of like, sort of healing center, some hospital, and sort of guide you in. It definitely seems like the citizens and especially like the employees of this sort of like healing hospital. I don't know, sort of like a fantasy name for it. It's a fantasy hospital. It definitely looks like the sort of staff that are around there, the. Oh, sorry Julia. [00:23:21] Speaker D: Infirmary might be infirm. [00:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah, Infirmary, let's go, let's go with that. It seems to definitely be like a mixture of, of like clerics and [00:23:35] Speaker E: sort [00:23:35] Speaker A: of like clerics and sort of healers sort of dotted around and including just sort of like some, you know, normal average day to day folk. But it definitely looks like that everyone is aware of the Mayor's assistant and they, they sort of like welcome her in and with her being there, they can kind of tell where she's going. And they sort of just say like, oh yes, like, like she's been doing this now for a couple of days. Like she's been coming in and out of this infirmary for a couple of days and she, she leads the six of you to, to this large ward. And as, as the six of you enter, you notice. Not so much notice. How about this? Could all of you give me an insight check? Let's get some dice rolling. Reaction. Yeah. Reaction check. Yeah. No, not a reaction roll, just a plain inside. Okay, so you got a 10. [00:25:07] Speaker E: All the dice. [00:25:08] Speaker A: All the dice cool to do with. I hope so. Yeah, probably. It seems that it seems almost like everyone here is fairly like like they've walked into this world. They've just kind of gone like, oh, this is a, you know, this must be, you know, sort of people taking injury. There's something nasty out there. So while, while there's no sort of like sinking, sinking sort of feeling of what like this could possibly be something else. The, the four of you don't seem to take any of, take any worry about it. It's just like this is just a day to day job. Pally, you feel something different about walking into this room. You. You can, you can. It may even be sort of like the wolfkin part of you that can smell something not there but like something missing. Like something's not like part of these people are like gone. Like it's just disappeared. And Pally, you may very well be then someone who's at like the front of the, the queue when you sort of walk into this room. Which means that you get this better insight as you, as you walk in. And there's probably about sort of like 16 people in this very large ward. And all of them look gaunt. Like their faces are sullen. Like you can see like bones sort of jutting out. Their faces are like a dull gray and their eyes are not sort of fully sort of like looking at anything. They just seem to be sort of just like they're either closed with them sleeping or they're just sort of like these, these almost like their irises almost sort of like blend into the gray of the rest of the. Their eyes as they sort of just look up at the ceiling and there's like a couple of them sort of murmuring nonsense to themselves. And you, you definitely out of everyone can tell why Travella is quite panicked to show you this. [00:27:54] Speaker C: I think go if you want to say anything. [00:27:59] Speaker A: No, no, no, you go for it. [00:28:02] Speaker C: I feel like p. Like the first like, I guess like the first person that he notices and like what he pays attention to. He. Yeah, as you say, because something is. Seems missing. He's trying to figure out what. So he's kind of frowning with like concern as he looks at all these people. Like he's, he's been on a battlefield. He knows what wounds and injury look like. He looks, he knows what also looks like to be destitute and in despair and soldiers shocked. And so he's seen that particularly in the eschaton. He feels like he's seen versions of this potentially before, but not in the same way. Like he can't work out if this is brought on by something or if this is a Result of something else. So yeah, he's. It's very intriguing but very unsettling. [00:29:07] Speaker A: Yeah. I think pally, someone like you and maybe even Maiden and Bo as well as, as three people who were in the war and actually to a level, Virgil as well, you have seen, you've seen soldiers that have come back from the war, like, and you can tell that all, all of these, these people here, like, there's no children. There doesn't seem to be anyone under the age of like 20, 19 sort of age and no. No one that's sort of elderly. Probably the oldest person there is probably 50s or so. So you can definitely tell that these are, you know, the, these people have been soldiers, these are fighters. But yeah, the, the fact that you've, you see them in such like a. Like obviously massively wounded, but in a different way. Almost just like something has been like, like sucked out of them. [00:30:20] Speaker C: Is there a way to ascertain [00:30:24] Speaker E: if [00:30:24] Speaker C: it feels like it's like their very essence is gone? Like, honestly, like, I think Paddy is trying to work out in his head, like, because if they're still moving but breathing but like stiff. I guess he's curious if it's something. [00:30:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, make me, make me an instinct. Roll on that. [00:30:49] Speaker C: Okay. [00:30:49] Speaker A: Okay. [00:30:54] Speaker C: I have no experiences for this. I'm just going to do a straight roll and see if I see what happens. [00:31:05] Speaker A: Okay. With a, with a 13, you. You can't quite. You're really sort of scrunching your head and you'll scrunching your eyes and really trying to sort of figure out what could possibly be. You kind of feel like it's their essence, but actually putting like a finger on it is you're struggling with. And it may very well be because it's not your expertise. What is sort of like what is. What has happened to them? [00:31:44] Speaker E: Is there. Is there clearly like a, like a, like a matron or sort of like a leader of this troop of like healers and like divine wielders? [00:31:57] Speaker A: Yes. So there you do see that there is a Majani woman who seems to be head of the healers. And she is. She's just got like a clipboard with her and she's just going around from bed from, from each bed and sort of making notes on each of them or maybe even sort of taking sort of hourly notes on their conditions, in [00:32:24] Speaker E: which case I just kind of like semi bellow across the room to this Majani what has happened to them. [00:32:36] Speaker A: She. She kind of turns around to you unexpectingly and then she almost kind of gives a small sneer and is about to bark at you, like, who. Who are you? Who are you to ask me this? But then she notices you with the assistant mayor and she. She sort of straightens herself up and she says, well, that's what we're trying to find out. We're. They came back. They came back from the East Valley forests and barely alive, I might say. And we're. We're trying to find out why they've come back like this. It's almost like she. And she wanders over to you, to the lot of you, and she says, I've. I've seen things like this. I. I was in the war. I worked as a healer during the war. It's almost like. It's almost like their manner has been just completely drained from their systems and the body is unable to retain it again. I've been. I've been trying to do what I can, but no level of healing that I can do seems to be working. [00:34:27] Speaker E: And they've been this way since you found them? Since they returned? [00:34:31] Speaker A: Since they returned, yes. [00:34:36] Speaker B: Do they say anything? [00:34:40] Speaker A: Nothing more than mumbles. We've. We've not been able to get a coherent word out of them for. For days. [00:34:53] Speaker E: Does Lucretia, to look at her, does. Does her appearance say wizard? [00:35:02] Speaker D: I imagine so. Okay, so pick picture. Hello. [00:35:06] Speaker B: I am wizard. [00:35:07] Speaker D: She's got long robes on. These are her glasses, and she's got a book with her. So, yes, yes, I would say she probably does scream wizards to look at her. [00:35:25] Speaker E: In which case there's a slow sort of like, head turn from Mirdin to Lucretia, and quite gruffly, he, you wizard. What do your books tell you? Arca. [00:35:42] Speaker C: What. [00:35:43] Speaker E: What do your books tell you that allows the Arcane to leave the body? [00:35:48] Speaker D: All right, Myrdden, first of all, we've met. My name's Lucretia. Second of all, Nate, what would. What would Lucretia roll to figure this [00:35:58] Speaker A: out or from a manner perspective, from a mana perspective? Well, I think more from, like, if to think if you've ever seen anything or read anything about this, it may very well be a knowledge role. So give me a knowledge for sure. [00:36:11] Speaker D: I'm an academic savant. So from my academic knowledge of magic and how magic pertains to the body and the soul and all that stuff, could I roll that with. With my experience? [00:36:27] Speaker A: Yeah, if you spend a hope to spend that experience. [00:36:29] Speaker D: I have to spend a hope. Right, Lovely. [00:36:33] Speaker F: I. [00:36:35] Speaker D: You know what? We're just going to roll it regular. [00:36:38] Speaker A: Yeah, roll it regular. [00:36:39] Speaker D: Don't need the extra experience this time. [00:36:42] Speaker A: Let's see. [00:36:45] Speaker D: Did I just roll that? [00:36:46] Speaker A: Yes, you did. 17 with 17 with fear. [00:36:50] Speaker D: Oops. Yeah. Okay. Why not? [00:36:55] Speaker A: Lucretia with the 17 with fear. You. You can probably go. You can probably recall notes on. On bodies that, you know where. Where the manor has been drained from bodies. There hasn't been, like, a hell of a lot of study on it, generally because of the. The rather cruel way and rather sort of unknown way of how you would drain, like a. A person of. Elsewhere, how you would drain them of their. Of their manner. [00:37:38] Speaker D: You're not getting it through the ethics board, are you? [00:37:41] Speaker A: And there's. There's also definitely been. No, there's definitely. So having arcane sort of drained from you, the very sort of vague notes that you know about it is. Is kind of the same which you. What you're seeing at the moment. But there was definitely some notes about how to return it, but it would require sort of a much more powerful amount of arcane to. To bring it back. Nothing. You don't know anything about. Sort of like divine magic being. Being sucked out of a. Of a. Out of a person there. Again, that's. That would mean no dragons if divine magic wasn't. You know, divine magic is given from the dragons, and it's not like, you know, you're not drained of it. So there's no sort of words on that. And because primal magic is still fairly new as a new concept because of the earth, the world, spirits and such, you definitely don't have anything around those lines. So this definitely looks like what you remember from your books, but you can't sort of. You can't sort of recall any. Think that would. That would help heal these people. Not without going back to Avermore and. And scouring through more books. [00:39:10] Speaker D: Well, to be honest, I have seen. I've read about something like this before, but I would have to do some serious research back in my tower to even begin to figure out how to reverse this effect. It's. It's dire. This is powerful. A powerful effect that has been inflicted upon these poor people. [00:39:35] Speaker E: There's a slightly held look, and then a. And then I turn back to look at these withered, withered folk. [00:39:45] Speaker F: How many people are in. How many people are withered? How many withered? How many withered are among us? [00:39:54] Speaker A: You count about 16. [00:39:56] Speaker F: About 16. Are they in beds, in rows? [00:39:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:00] Speaker F: Okay. Beau is gonna just walk down the middle corridor of these, like, the middle hall, like, just along. He's like, well, this is a sorry, sorry sight. Can. As he's looking around, are there any majority men [00:40:20] Speaker D: as. [00:40:21] Speaker A: As you're looking just. [00:40:23] Speaker F: Are these sorry, sorry fools? [00:40:25] Speaker D: He's just looking. [00:40:26] Speaker F: Just checking on the covers. Oh my God. [00:40:30] Speaker A: You're going up to them, going like snoot to face them. [00:40:36] Speaker F: I never seen something so sorry in my life. No, this one's fine. Watch this one. [00:40:46] Speaker A: I mean, there are. There are a couple of Magiani there and even with their sort of withered, gaunt looks, you can tell that none of them look like the majority that you're looking for. [00:40:58] Speaker F: Got this wanted poster. Is that. Nope, nope. [00:41:04] Speaker E: You have to scrump all the wanted poster up to make them look more like the more withered. [00:41:11] Speaker F: No, he's not. He's just kind of like looking. Just kind of like look as if he's looking at everyone. [00:41:16] Speaker D: But really he's just. [00:41:17] Speaker F: He's just clocking faces. No worries. That's all I wanted to know. [00:41:29] Speaker A: Mabella, who. Who's come along with you, who obviously is in with what's happening at the moment. [00:41:38] Speaker C: She. [00:41:39] Speaker A: She comes along and she tugs on your robes. Virgil. And she, she sort of beckons you over to one of the. To the beds where you notice this. This wolfkin man who you know as Mayor Bravin. And yeah, he looks. He's usually this very large bombastic man, a real sort of ray of sunshine in the town. Very well liked and. And seems to do whatever he can to keep the tout operational and going. So it doesn't surprise you that he also went out. Out with these guards to see what was happening. But now looking at him sort of like you can. That once sort of like round, chubby face is now like jutting with his cheekbones sort of like the frame. And his breathing is haggard as he's trying to sort of like keep. Keep some sort of rhythm. Oh, the poor fella sort of looks at you and says, I know that the healers have tried, but is there anything you can possibly do? [00:43:09] Speaker B: I will certainly try. And he'll sort of shuffle Brother Talons off of his head. This is a serious moment, I think. [00:43:20] Speaker D: Lucretia steps up and volunteers to take Brother Talons because she loves him. She invites Brother Talons to come and settle on her if he would. [00:43:32] Speaker B: Any excuse for a perch, I think. [00:43:35] Speaker D: Nice. Okay. [00:43:37] Speaker B: And Virgil will cast healing field. He'll sort of. He'll kneel down next to the Mercury bed and he'll. He'll place a hand on his head and he'll. He'll. He'll Try at least to cast healing field, which is the biggest healing spell. [00:43:53] Speaker A: He knows the biggest healing spell. [00:43:55] Speaker B: The biggest healing spell. [00:43:58] Speaker A: What does healing field look like to. To Virgil? [00:44:06] Speaker B: Sort of. So he. He channels. He puts a prayer up to Kagolden, his God and everything around them. Anything that sort of could. That anything made from something that comes from the forest will start to sprout to life. Moss will start to grow on the bed posts. Sort of vines will start to weave up the walls. Plants and flowers of daisies and wildflowers and things will burst from the floorboards beneath everyone. Beneath every bed. And I think I just see what the. It's quite a large area. I think. Oh, it's within close range. Anything within close range is human. [00:44:49] Speaker A: Okay. So that's probably gonna be. That will be sort of like Bravin and maybe a couple of the other beds that's in the. [00:44:56] Speaker B: You know, just throw them in as well. Just. Just. [00:45:01] Speaker A: Yeah. As this sort of like this moss starts to gather around, sort of like the bottoms of the. Of the bed posts, the. The wood from the floor will start to shake and then sort of almost grow like small sprouts and branches as if the wood is coming back to life as a tree. The flowers that visitors and family and friends have left on the side sort of grow and bloom extra large and they. And they sort of center them. They try and center themselves around this. This field that you're making around Bravan's bed. And as the. As you. You sort of channel in this imagine from this magic of Gurgolden and really focus hard on. On maybe even just sort of like the rhythmic breathing of Bravan again to get him. Sort of like to get him settled. He. You can see that his eyes sort of just like flicker open. He. He doesn't look any better, but there's almost like more consciousness to him as he. As he. You can hear him sort of mutter sort of something more coherently. And he's just saying the swords, the children, the swords. [00:46:39] Speaker B: What's that old thing? [00:46:43] Speaker A: And you can he. His eyes sort of open and he. He turns his back face to Virgil. He goes, virgil Mia. They listen. Listen for the swords. Listen. They the swords. Listen for them. Find them. And his breathing goes back to a much more comfortable. As well as the other two guards that are sitting in the other beds there. Their breathing starts to sort of mellow out and go to. To a lot more of a sort of comfortable rhythm as he. As. It's obvious that this took quite. Just opening his eyes and looking at you Took quite a lot out of him. But he seems to be in a much more stable condition as what you saw him beforehand. And this Bajani matron comes over and she breathes a sigh of relief and she's just like, well, at least we know that they're not far from saving. At least we know that they can hopefully make progression with time. Thank you. Whatever you did, thank you. [00:48:22] Speaker B: Gigaldin provides. I fear that is the best I can do. [00:48:30] Speaker C: Excuse me. Can I ask a question, please? I just wanted to ask. You mentioned that they were injured when they arrived. Did they have the same injury like. Or were they a varied injuries? I'm just curious about. He said the swords may be there. It links to what happened to them. [00:48:53] Speaker A: The. [00:48:55] Speaker B: The. [00:48:56] Speaker A: The mayor's assistant, Travella, sort of looks at you and she says, well, we found them like this. No. No other injuries? No. No battle scars? No. No. You know, nothing to say that swords were involved. Definitely no sort of weapons whatsoever. We. We just found them collapsed on the outskirts of the town. We. We don't know who left them there. We do know that a couple of the soldiers have gone missing. A couple of the soldiers that went out there, but aside from that, we. We don't know. I think we're worried. We're. That's why we've asked you to. To come today. We're worried for the safety of those remaining soldiers, that those who didn't return. And we need much more. Like, our guards are brilliant, but they're not explorers, they're not warriors, they're not fighters, they're not healers, they're not knowledgeable in the Arcane. We need someone with a lot more. Not more experience to help us with this. And I understand that seeing this may not put you in full with a lot of hope. We. We are in desperate need. And, you know, whatever we can. Whatever we can pay to return those soldiers so that they can get the healing that they probably most urgently require. We'll do anything, really. [00:50:31] Speaker C: Of course. Thank you. That's very helpful information. Just so we know. [00:50:39] Speaker D: Tell me. And Lucretia turns to the matron. Have any of them died? [00:50:46] Speaker A: Matron says, thank the gods, no. No, none of them have died. [00:50:51] Speaker D: Oh, shame. I. I don't mean shame. No, it's just. No, never mind. I can. No, they're not making a lot of sense is all. And I can. Sometimes, when. When the magic is just right, I can speak to the dead. So. Good. Good thing none of them are dead. Yes, that's the correct thing to say. [00:51:09] Speaker A: No, the soldiers that we have found dead have now been buried and very well lie at rest now. But with this group, no, they all returned like this. Well, besides from. Obviously the guards who haven't returned very well. [00:51:32] Speaker D: Maybe later. Yes, [00:51:36] Speaker A: well, I. I really hope not [00:51:37] Speaker F: any of them die. We'll come back later. [00:51:39] Speaker D: It's all right. If any. If any of them die, let us know and I will speak to them. [00:51:49] Speaker F: Both. This conversation like. Oh, this is interest is an interesting woman. So have any of them got worse since they. Are they declining or are they. They got worse since they've arrived. They've got better since they've arrived. They're no different when they're arrived. [00:52:15] Speaker A: I mean, what. What brother Virgil has done here has obviously been the only thing that seemed to. That's. That seems to have made them better. But since then they haven't gotten any worse, thank the gods. It's. It's only. They've only just stayed like this, unfortunately [00:52:39] Speaker F: and non. Contagious. [00:52:43] Speaker A: She sort of like looks at you and goes as far as we're aware. No. [00:52:50] Speaker F: Right. [00:52:51] Speaker A: I mean, you have just gone around and looked at them all square in the face. I did notice. So if they are contagious. [00:52:59] Speaker F: Information that I need, I'm just ascertaining the information that I need. I'm the expert here, as you have already said. So I'm just bringing in the. In the data that I need to make my. [00:53:10] Speaker B: Are you a healer as well? Would you like. [00:53:15] Speaker F: No, no, no, not a. I could [00:53:17] Speaker B: make space for you on the floor here. [00:53:22] Speaker F: No, I'm just, you know, I've been around a lot of like sick animals, see what they got. You know, they're a bit mixy. Got a bit of the mix of mitosis, but it's fine. [00:53:44] Speaker E: I think like seeing. Seeing Bo take the floor here. [00:53:50] Speaker C: I'll. [00:53:51] Speaker E: Mirden turns to Mabella. No, sorry. The Mayor's assistant Traveller. [00:53:59] Speaker F: Traveller. [00:54:02] Speaker E: At the risk of sounding. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, why is it that you called us here? Presumably we are. We are not here to simply witness the misery of these poor souls. [00:54:19] Speaker A: Well, as. [00:54:21] Speaker C: As. [00:54:22] Speaker A: As I've said, we know that the couple of guards are still out there and we need someone to go out there and. And hopefully either retrieve them, whether they be dead or alive and any other information that you can gather while out there. We're asking you not to intervene with these creatures. But if any information that you can gather from them from hopefully a safe distance, we'd be. We'd be more than grateful. [00:54:55] Speaker E: I made him look to the others and what. What sort of like, time? Where is the sun? [00:55:04] Speaker A: It would be. It would probably be about midday, I would say. [00:55:11] Speaker E: Yeah. I'll look to the others. Perhaps it would be prudent for us to make haste while the. The day favors us. [00:55:22] Speaker F: Agreed. [00:55:22] Speaker B: Of course. [00:55:27] Speaker D: What's up, though? [00:55:30] Speaker F: You know, we don't gotta rush. We don't gotta rush into anything. We can have a little chat around town, see if anybody knows anything. [00:55:38] Speaker D: Like, why just rush in time might be rather of the essence as far as these two missing guards are concerned. [00:55:45] Speaker F: I literally. She just said they ain't got any worse, so I don't think they're dying anytime soon. [00:55:55] Speaker A: But the matron sort of looks at you and kind of goes, I will say that they haven't got any worse, but that's because of our intervention. [00:56:03] Speaker F: Well, you didn't say that, did you? Look, you just said they didn't get no worse. So, you know, you got to give us the information as it comes. We can't just be, you know, we got that bow. [00:56:15] Speaker D: We got that even if you didn't both [00:56:21] Speaker E: sort of like, roll his shoulders and then place his hands on his hips, look at you, screw in the eye. Because I. I can't. I can't help but feel that this is probably what you were like when we last teamed up. I'm sorry, are you being paid by the hour? [00:56:40] Speaker F: I just, you know, we got. I just think, you know, don't rush in to anything. [00:56:47] Speaker B: I have. [00:56:50] Speaker F: Zach, you could go get some snacks. [00:56:52] Speaker B: Oh, I have plenty. I. I have soup. Well, I'm good to go. [00:56:57] Speaker D: It's not the time for soup, says Lucretia. [00:57:02] Speaker A: I know. [00:57:03] Speaker F: I. I came here on a pretty, like, tight timing. I haven't had any lunch. [00:57:08] Speaker D: I. Oh, I've actually got half of a spicy stuff sandwich in my pack if you want it. [00:57:12] Speaker F: Oh, very nice, Very nice. [00:57:14] Speaker D: There you go. She hands, she offers it to beautiful Vanya. [00:57:21] Speaker B: Sandwich has well traveled. [00:57:24] Speaker D: Yeah, very well traveled. Well, he only gave it to me about an hour and a half ago. [00:57:31] Speaker A: It's just a little bit soggy. [00:57:33] Speaker D: Only a little. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Travella turns to you, Virgil, and she says, and. And the reason why I asked you, Virgil, to. To come and join us, not only for your. Obviously your experience as being a healer, but you know the woods better than most of us anyway. I. And the. If you do find the guards, they will need urgent care. I was wondering if you. You would be. If you would join them. If you would join these explorers out into the field. I. I Understand that this, What I'm asking, is very dangerous, but we. We need all the help we can get at the moment. [00:58:21] Speaker B: The wilds will provide, as I. I always say. I would be, well, delighted probably isn't the word, given the. The circumstance, but I'm always happy to make new friends. [00:58:33] Speaker A: Thank you so much. So, is there anything else that you five would like to ask before moving on? [00:58:44] Speaker D: I guess I'm curious. After Virgil's healing spell that he did and the slight improvement in the patient's condition, like the mayor and a couple of other people, does it seem as if that has slightly restored a little bit of mana, perhaps? Is that what's just happened? Because that would be. [00:59:06] Speaker B: Can we just pump them full of mana? [00:59:08] Speaker D: Just. Just. Just come back every day for, like, keep doing it to them until they're all better. [00:59:14] Speaker F: Let's take our time. [00:59:15] Speaker D: Let's just come in every day. [00:59:19] Speaker A: It definitely looks like. It definitely looks like something has returned back to them. [00:59:26] Speaker D: That means that just a little, but [00:59:27] Speaker A: just a tiny bit. [00:59:29] Speaker D: Just a little. Okay. [00:59:32] Speaker F: To get them back up again. Yeah. [00:59:34] Speaker D: I think Lucretia's quite impressed with Virgil and with his massive owl, and I think she'll sort of come up to his head. Many have said. She'll say, oh, that is some powerful, powerful blessings from the wild heart who have there. I believe if we have you on our team, we'll have nothing to worry about. [00:59:57] Speaker B: Oh, well, it's just a few old tricks I've picked up in my time. You know, I'm always happy to meet another user of the Magix. [01:00:07] Speaker D: Oh, well, I'm quite different from you. I get all of my mine from books. Whereas it looks like you have a rather a powerful friend on your site. Good to know. [01:00:17] Speaker B: Good buddies, as they say. Yes, [01:00:22] Speaker D: very good, very good. But, yeah, that's it from Lucretia. She's happy to set out. [01:00:31] Speaker A: Anything else, or are you quite happy to sort of start making your. Your way out? [01:00:37] Speaker E: Let's go. [01:00:42] Speaker A: As. As you start sort of making your way down and out of the infirmary, there has. There's a little. Sort of like a little coach outside, and it has. It has like a sort of young, um, a young sprite sort of lift out these, um, these sort of traveling packs, and it's obvious that he's been asked to sort of bring you some traveling packs to take with you. Has anyone got their own sort of traveling packs, or would you require anything at all? Any sort of like, bed rolls, ropes, things like that? [01:01:23] Speaker F: Comes with the. I mean, comes with a kit I [01:01:27] Speaker A: think comes with the kit. [01:01:29] Speaker F: I think we should all have things like bedrolls, torches, basic supplies. [01:01:35] Speaker D: I don't know if I've got a bed roll actually. I wouldn't mind a bedroll. [01:01:38] Speaker C: I've got basic supplies, bundle, torch and rope. I don't actually have anything specifically like. [01:01:45] Speaker D: No, some camping basically if we're going to be out there for a night or two. [01:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So he, he gives you sort of like some basic, each of you some sort of basic camping equipment. The traveller sort of comes along out there and she says like we're hoping that you'll make it back before dark. We're not asking you to, to oberly stay anywhere past dusk. The, the creatures out there may be much more dangerous but hopefully Virgil will be able to, to guide you and good luck. Oh that's, that's all I can say. Good luck and, and please bring back those their families are, are missing them terribly. [01:02:29] Speaker D: We shall do our very best. [01:02:33] Speaker A: And she, she sort of guides you to the outskirts of the, of the town and, and the five of you sort of look onto this East Valley forest from, from most likely Virgil and maybe Mirrodan as well. What you definitely know is that the East Valley Forest was sort of like the closest that the town actually got to sort of experiencing the Eschaton. Like it just seemed that this town was very lucky and didn't actually experience some of the very you know, destructive, apocalyptic sort of sides of the Eschaton. They may have just felt like an earthquake or something but the, the forest definite and it's, and it's dense and there's, it seems to be thick with vines that sort of curl around each of these trees but you can see that there's made been made a very clear sort of pathway that sort of takes you through to the woods and as, and as the five of you sort of look back on Falstrom and Travella sort of looks at you with kind of just like clasping her hands in prayer. The five of you make your way through the forest. The East Valley woods, as you have been told yourselves or have you experienced yourselves is as close to the Eschaton as the town of Falstrom. Got the, the wood. The woods are heaving with foliage with brambles and vines that sort of weave their way through that have made the, the forest a just a cluster of. Of greenery that is hard to traverse through. The only way that you're able to make it through yourselves is this sort of man made trail that has been obviously made over the Last couple of years. But as the. As the five of you wander deeper into this forest, you can definitely see remnants of the eschaton that happened within this forest. Who would we say is at the front of this. This team going deeper into the forest? [01:05:03] Speaker B: I imagine Virgil. He's leading the way. This isn't a part of the forest that he knows intimately as well as he does his section of the forest. But he has been given the job of leading and so I think he feels like he must. [01:05:23] Speaker A: So Virgil, as someone who did experience the eschaton, what can you see as you travel through. Through that is not. That not doesn't look correct compared to how the woods, the west valley woods that you were living in. What doesn't seem right about this forest that you can tell has been a possible, possible aftermath of the eschaton. [01:05:54] Speaker B: I think there are sections of the earth where like rocks seem to have like just shot out of the ground sort of upwards at strange angles. And then out of the edges, sort of sometimes just sheer vertical edges of those rocks, trees are growing out again at strange angles. Like bits of the world have just been kind of put down. They used to be that way, but now they're that way. [01:06:22] Speaker A: Who would you think would be traveling behind Virgil? [01:06:32] Speaker C: Maybe. Maybe Pali. I feel like he. Yeah, I think he's. He's eager to help, so maybe his like, no eagerness to. To, to be of use. And I think he felt a little bit like knowing that something was wrong with these men, but not being able to help made him feel a bit like, okay, well, I couldn't help with that, but I can help with this. This is something I can help with. So very doggedly behind. Behind Virgil. [01:07:00] Speaker A: Would, could I add that would Pally be feeling any sense of protection towards Virgil because he knows that obviously the other explorers can look after themselves, but Virgil is in. In your eyes. Despite being a, a, A, you know, obviously a very talented healer, he is still pretty much a civilian. Do you think Pally would feel any sort of need to be extra protective towards him? [01:07:29] Speaker C: Yeah, probably. I think Pally, I mean, I feel like on the road he will introduce himself properly also. Fine horizons friend. My name is Palia Deander. I'll be helping with the other explorers. Pleasure you that. That healing was fantastic. I am here to help so you know, any, any danger we come across, I'm more than happy to, you know, protect you as best I can. [01:08:00] Speaker A: I was gonna say Virgil. How do you feel about hearing that name? [01:08:06] Speaker B: I think he'll. He'll look at him for like just the slightly. Like a slightly frozen smile on his face for a moment. And then slightly uncharacteristically for what you've known of him so far. Jolly good. And then he'll just turn around sharpish and keep going. [01:08:25] Speaker C: Okay. [01:08:26] Speaker B: And you'll notice as like as you're walking that Brother Talon seems to be observing you from high above, less so the rest of the forest around you as you would you if be expecting. But he's looking at you. [01:08:39] Speaker A: I thought you were going to say he's standing on your shoulder, but his whole body is facing forward and his [01:08:45] Speaker E: head is just turned around just looking. [01:08:48] Speaker C: That's what I thought as well. Okay. Well, Paddy doesn't know what he's done to. I feel like he would sense that something is up, but he. I don't think he quite understands what [01:09:01] Speaker B: the vibes are off. [01:09:03] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not great. [01:09:05] Speaker C: So Pally is just like trying to like keep chipper because he is that little gold retriever boy. And he's like, okay, well I'm still gonna do what I said that I'm gonna do. So I'm following behind. Keep keeping an eye. [01:09:20] Speaker A: Cool. Who would be behind Pally? [01:09:27] Speaker E: I I. I volunteer as tribute. [01:09:29] Speaker C: Yeah, [01:09:33] Speaker A: well, actually, I didn't ask. Pali. Pali. What? What do you notice about the forest that make that shows that it has been ravaged by the Eschaton? [01:09:47] Speaker C: I feel like the. There's a sense that there was kind of cracks in the earth, so different levels. There's like different levels in the woods where it felt like it used to be like a flat, like completely flat. And now like what, what you could assume to be like, oh, that it's just a hill. Like this is like the, the earth was torn. So it's like quite jagged. Woodland escape apart from like some of the paths that have obviously been now like trodden through that seem like safe paths at this point. But yeah, the actual forest itself seems a little bit disfigured. As though like bits of it have changed in like level quite dramatically. [01:10:42] Speaker A: So I guess the same to you, maiden. What do you see in this woods? [01:10:52] Speaker E: It's so the, the thing that me and. The thing that me and kind of picks up on isn't sort of like from the forest per se, but it's the, it's the sort of like the inverted comma's voice in the back of his head that he knows is sort of like the, the voice of Artosa, the world spirit that's kind of boomed him power. And it's not a voice of words. It's a voice of sort like sentiment and emotion. And yeah, Art. Artiosa [01:11:39] Speaker A: is like. [01:11:43] Speaker E: It's almost like an ever so slight snarl, right? Like. Like RTs who doesn't trust something. It's like, you know when you. When your dog just starts growling at an empty room because it can see ghosts. [01:11:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it's that. [01:12:00] Speaker E: It's that. And then that in turn is then kind of making the hairs on Myrden's neck stand on end and his like shoulders have risen slightly. [01:12:11] Speaker A: Has Myrden ever experienced this before? [01:12:17] Speaker E: I mean, yes, in more obvious like fight or flight like scenarios. So you know, when, when it is clear what you know, the threat is that has kind of got Artyosa, like the. The spirit of Artyosa kind of flared up. But perhaps what doesn't help in this case is that as me looks around he can see. He can see a forest and all he knows of it is like the stories of what happened or the story of what happened to this. The guards that went looking off looking for the entities. But like me and can't see what's wrong. He just. Yeah, there's. There's a. There's a lot of deep size and huffs as he's like he just knows something. Something's up. [01:13:14] Speaker A: Something's up. Okay. And who would be behind me? [01:13:22] Speaker E: It's not going to be Beau. Sorry, Lucretia. [01:13:26] Speaker D: I do like to think Lucretia prefers to be in the middle of the pack. She knows that she's potentially vulnerable if she brings up the rear. But also she wouldn't be near the front because she's fascinated by everything that she can see around her. She has a particular love of the natural world and learning about it. So I think she's using her. Her staff as a sort of hiking stick and sort of taking it all in. I think the thing she the. The tell for her. I mean obviously the stuff that Virgil picks up on with the trees at weird orientations and angles, pretty obvious. But also just the foliage more specifically. There's, you know that there's sort of areas of the forest where the foliage is kind of a. A different color than it should be. As if sort of sprays of magic have kind of affected the. The foliage and the leaves themselves. And sometimes they're bizarre shapes or orientated in weird ways on the different sort of trees and bushes that they're on. So those are the sorts of pells that indicate to Lucretia that this place was girged by the Eschaton And I'm [01:14:38] Speaker A: guessing that Lucretia finds this much more fascinating than sort of scary in a way. [01:14:44] Speaker D: Oh, yes, she is. She obviously realizes something pretty bad is afoot, but she's also fascinated to find out more. She has no plans to let herself or her colleagues get mana drained, but she really wants to find out what's doing this. Cool. [01:15:02] Speaker A: Cool. And lastly, taking up the rear. What's. What's Beau sort of doing at the rear of the. Of the. Of the trail? [01:15:12] Speaker F: It's kind of like. Just doesn't really want to be here. Kind of want to stay in town a bit longer. Here we are, nobody to talk to. So, yeah, he's just kind of like he's. Because I imagine he's walking at the back and then Lucretia is just kind of like, oh. And then just looking at something and he's just kind of like waits there, just moves on and he says, okay, go. They just wait. Yeah, it's a mushroom and it's okay. So just kind of slowly bringing up the rear and the just general vibe of the place. He doesn't really like he's of. From previous life. He's obviously spent some time in a reasoning sort of rural environment. He doesn't like that he can't hear a lot of wildlife. It's like it's not really a habitat. [01:16:19] Speaker A: Right. [01:16:20] Speaker F: Feels you really feel like things are living. Like there's not like the buzz of bees and a little bit of bird twitter or anything. It's a bit like. Bit eerily quiet. Other than the trudge of our steps and the mumbles of Murden. And Pally, just. Say, yeah, [01:16:54] Speaker A: cool. So leading the way, Virgil has, has taken you down this sort of forest [01:17:00] Speaker E: path [01:17:02] Speaker A: and you're taking in your surroundings, taking in whether or not you've. You've been in forests like this before. If you've noticed sort of sites like this before, unsure about certain feelings within inside yourselves that are calling for maybe sort of like a little bit more attention, but you're not completely sure why. Let me, let me know if you [01:17:41] Speaker D: can see all this. Don't worry about the spookiness at all. It's fine. [01:17:49] Speaker A: Yeah. As the five of you traverse further into these woods, you come across an area where, where the. The foliage does seem to give way way a bit more and much how you were saying, Pally, that that sort of level of ground is jutting out at sort of irregular sort of areas. It did seem like that once upon a time. This is probably just sort of flat land but now sort of like the hills are. Are jutting out in sort of different ways. A feeling just a bit unnatural for how the. The. The ground probably was to begin with. It's not on this map, but you do notice that in the. The center. So if I. I can do a little bit of a. I thought I could do like a little. Can I do like a little bloop? [01:18:45] Speaker D: Bloop? [01:18:45] Speaker E: Can I do a little left click hold? [01:18:49] Speaker C: No. [01:18:49] Speaker A: Okay, left click hold. So, yeah, sort of around in this area, sort of like on. You can kind of see over this cliff that there is like a small abandoned campsite. There is a. A fire, a fire pit that has been long since used, some trampled tents. And it may very well be that this is where Bravan and the rest of the guards had made camp, um, back a couple of days ago. [01:19:25] Speaker F: How far up is the. [01:19:29] Speaker A: It's literally like about. It's. Yeah, it's about five foot. You can. You can quite easily scramble up. [01:19:35] Speaker F: I just can't see. [01:19:37] Speaker A: You can't see up it, but you can quite easily sort of get over there. [01:19:42] Speaker F: Okay, everyone's looking. Oh, there they are. [01:19:48] Speaker A: But yeah, there's definitely. There's. There are very old footprints, but it's definitely like this campsite has been. It's a couple of days old and no one's been around here for a couple of days. [01:20:03] Speaker D: Okay. [01:20:06] Speaker F: I give Pally a little. A little tap. [01:20:11] Speaker A: Oh, hello. [01:20:15] Speaker F: Can you give. Can you give. Give a guy a boost? [01:20:20] Speaker C: Sure, Yeah. I will, like, lean up and I'll offer. [01:20:24] Speaker F: As you start leaning, he just jumps onto your back and goes up before you even just. [01:20:29] Speaker C: Thank you for standing on my new pack. Okay. Oh, actually, no, because my. I guess my shields on my back, so. [01:20:38] Speaker B: Your [01:20:40] Speaker C: little ramp, I was like, [01:20:46] Speaker A: Adorable. [01:20:48] Speaker C: You're welcome. [01:20:50] Speaker A: Cheers. How are the rest of you getting up? You're just pulling yourselves up? Sure, Yeah. [01:20:57] Speaker B: I do a little scramble. [01:21:00] Speaker F: Bo, offer a hand down to Lucretia. [01:21:06] Speaker D: Oh, thank you. Thank you both very, very gentlemanly. And she takes your hand. Does he actually have any pulling power [01:21:15] Speaker A: or is she going, do you have [01:21:16] Speaker F: the strength or the pulling power? [01:21:19] Speaker D: Oh, sorry, sorry. I don't know what I'm. I don't know what I'm thinking. Of course he does. [01:21:24] Speaker F: Yeah, he has some strings of warrior. [01:21:26] Speaker A: He's just little. [01:21:27] Speaker D: Okay. Oh, no, no, that's fair, that's fair. I just thought he's so small. Small, small boy. [01:21:35] Speaker A: Lucretia. So tall. [01:21:37] Speaker D: So, Lucretia, really quite tall. [01:21:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:21:44] Speaker E: Myrrh has just strode into the Middle of this. [01:21:48] Speaker D: Okay. [01:21:49] Speaker E: Like abandoned camp. [01:21:50] Speaker D: As Lucretia's going now, we should really keep our wits. Oh, okay. Yes, Myrddin's in there. Very well, [01:21:57] Speaker B: Dan. Sorry, Nate. [01:22:01] Speaker C: Yes. [01:22:05] Speaker E: It's begun. [01:22:09] Speaker B: Can I. I have an ability. I have gifted tracker. Can I cast with my eyes? Gifted tracker on this campsite? [01:22:20] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. What do. What does that do? [01:22:24] Speaker B: So when you're tracking a specific creature or group of creatures based on signs of their passage, you can spend any number of hope and ask the GM that many questions from the following list. What direction did they go? How long ago did they pass through? What were they doing in this location? And how many of them were there? [01:22:40] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. How many? I assume how many would you like to ask? [01:22:44] Speaker B: I'll ask the one if it's kind of a vague enough question, I think, other than the obvious of they were camping here. But what can I see what happened to them here? Is there signs of a struggle? Is there signs of them being attacked by something? Or did they leave the camp? [01:23:05] Speaker A: Cool. [01:23:05] Speaker C: Okay. [01:23:06] Speaker A: So yeah, spend a. Spend a hope on the question that you would like to ask. [01:23:12] Speaker B: Huh. Then, [01:23:15] Speaker A: so, yeah, which one? So basically you wanna. [01:23:20] Speaker B: What were they doing? [01:23:21] Speaker A: Yeah, what were they doing? Say, okay, what were they doing in this location? So you can definitely tell in this location that this was. This was used as sort of like a rest spot. But probably from the. From the tussle of the. Of the. The. The campsite sort of being a bit of a mess, you can tell that that's probably not been done by animals or the weather or something along that like. Like a tussle happened here. You can definitely gauge that from. From what you can see, [01:24:03] Speaker B: I believe there was a. I appear at Murden shoulders, [01:24:17] Speaker E: In which case, as you say, this maiden is looking around like he's. He's looking for. You mentioned that there were old footprints, but we. I'm looking for any prints that don't look like humanoid or don't look like they belong to, say, the guards. Like, are there any kind of animal prints or. Yeah. Footprints that aren't like ours, obviously. Also acknowledging that there are keepers, so there might be hoof prints. [01:24:51] Speaker A: But yes. Roll me an insight, an instinct. Check instinct. [01:24:59] Speaker E: I will. So because I'm on the lookout for like what is effectively predators and predatory threats, I'm going to fire off one of my experiences for a hope shepherd of the flock. So that's plus two. That's a crit, baby. [01:25:29] Speaker A: A crit. [01:25:30] Speaker E: I rolled it privately. [01:25:32] Speaker A: That is a crit. [01:25:33] Speaker E: You'll have to Trust me, I can see it. It. [01:25:37] Speaker A: It's a, it is a crit. So you've got a 14. That was nice. That was nice. [01:25:45] Speaker E: I go back up to three and I am stressless. [01:25:49] Speaker A: You are stressed, so it doesn't matter. Pardon me. With, with a crit, you, you take a closer look at all these footprints and you can, you can agree with Virgil that there was a struggle that happened here. Even though how faint these, these footprints have gone, they. They are sort of like a. Running around. Around in circles. But as you peer around further on, what surprises you most is that there are no footprints going off in any other directions. There are no, like, they're not, they're not traveling back across the, the path that you just came across. You didn't see any there. You don't see any that are going off in any other directions. They are pretty much central to this spot. Regarding animal prints or hooves or anything along those lines, you don't, you don't see anything that gives an indication of, like, other people. And unless those footprints that you, that you've looked at are, are of maybe their attackers. But you can kind of tell from the, you can kind of tell from how many there may have been that that was, it was probably with a crit, I'll say you can decide that it was just them with a crit as well. I would say that you, as you said, you can't see any sort of like, animal prints. You can't see any other, like, attacker print prints. There is sort of like a weird. There seems to be almost sort of like a weird glittery sort of like ash dusting that just sort of sparkles along certain edges of muddy sort of footprint. Footprint ridges that you are not aware of ever seeing before. [01:27:58] Speaker E: Okay, if I stoop down to kind of gather some of this dust on my, on the pad of my finger, is it like. If I rub it between my finger and thumb, is it like gritty? Does it feel smooth? [01:28:13] Speaker A: Is it. [01:28:14] Speaker E: Does it look like overgrown moth dust? [01:28:17] Speaker A: Like you rub it between your fingers. And while it doesn't really feel of anything, you almost get this sense of unease with it. Like how as minimal as it is, you can kind of like almost when. When you wake up from an uneasy dream, but you can't remember what happened in it, it just made you feel like a little bit, like, just made you feel a little bit grim for the rest of the day. It kind of gives off that feeling of a memory that you can't quite remember but has made you feel uneasy. [01:29:02] Speaker E: Okay. I do what is become slowly becoming a characteristically mir and gruff huff. And so I brush the dust on my thigh. Either they either whatever attacked them floats or uses the trees or in fact they just did this to themselves. But based on. Based on what Virgil and I have seen seen, those guards were the only ones here. [01:29:53] Speaker F: Is in the camp. Is there any items left? So if they were dragged off and when in a hurry or something happened like is that there any like is it. Does it look like it was a camp and they literally just like is there personal belongings? [01:30:16] Speaker A: Yeah, it. It kind of looks like that. They may have very well just started setting up. So like there's only one tent and there's a couple of tent rolls that are still sort of like scattered around but haven't been fully erected. There's a couple of bags hanging around that will have sort of like rope and camp supplies. But besides from that those are the only things that you you find sort of like basic camp supplies, a couple of tents, a couple of bed roll. [01:30:58] Speaker D: Okay. [01:31:00] Speaker F: Well, it didn't look like they were here long. They were here what setting up. Why is everything covered in this weird glitter? [01:31:18] Speaker E: Sorry, I'm just gonna quickly jump back in. Bo Mentioning the glass glitter spawns another huff and Mirin's gonna grab the like the. The stone like pendant he wears around his neck [01:31:39] Speaker A: and he's. [01:31:41] Speaker E: He almost like starts to curl up slightly and Bo like right next to you. Mirden suddenly begins growing at a surprising rate until he topples over onto all fours as a giant bear. [01:32:07] Speaker F: Has Beau seen this before? [01:32:13] Speaker E: When did we do our buddy cop routine? [01:32:17] Speaker A: Said a couple of weeks ago I think. [01:32:19] Speaker F: A couple of weeks ago. [01:32:21] Speaker E: I'd like to imagine that he didn't use this party trick. [01:32:26] Speaker A: Okay. [01:32:27] Speaker F: Yeah. So Bo's just like Jesus. Well no go on. [01:32:34] Speaker D: Fire the El Salvadion of Jesus. [01:32:36] Speaker A: I as teats [01:32:40] Speaker F: exactly. [01:32:41] Speaker D: Please not never say that again. [01:32:50] Speaker E: Yes I. So Miran turns into a giant bear. The the kind of orbiting rune stones continue to sort of like orbit around this large brown bears form the up close bow. You'll notice that Mirin's right eye is even in bare form is still like the runic like the gray stone eye with the the glowing yellow runes. But oddly on here on his front left like shoulder there is almost like a spiral like col miscut. There's a spiral patch in the fur that is a lighter brown than the rest of it. The rest of it is quite like dark brown black. It's this almost auburn spiral. Also I've spent Some stress. And I have a thing that lets me not maybe care. So just quickly roll that. [01:33:52] Speaker A: Don't want to care about that. [01:33:53] Speaker E: I. I do care. I do care about it. [01:33:56] Speaker A: You do care about that. [01:33:56] Speaker E: I do care about it. So, yeah, no worries. [01:33:59] Speaker F: I think the bo's instinct, he's still like Lucretia next to him is just kind of like puts an arm in front of Lucretia, gets his, like whips his gun out like super fast, just. And then it's kind of looking at the bear. And then he kind of notices the eye and is a bit kind of [01:34:24] Speaker E: like, wait, yeah, me and looks at you and it's odd to see with a bare mouth. You're really going to shoot me? That was your plan? [01:34:40] Speaker F: Give me a heads up, say, hey, buddy, I'm gonna be a bear in a minute. You could have said that. [01:34:51] Speaker E: I. I think the results speak for themselves. [01:34:56] Speaker F: And I can see you're a bear now. [01:34:59] Speaker E: Maiden's gonna start sniffing because in this form I have advantage on tracking. So I will mooch on over to. It's not just for sure. I'm not. I'm not showboating. I'm gonna sort of mooch over to where Virgil is and then sort of like start helping with any additional tracking or like trying to sniff out this glitter, seeing if it, like how far it goes, where it stops, if there's any concentrations. Yeah, I'm cocaine bearing this. [01:35:36] Speaker F: Because he's doing this just like Beau kind of turns Lucretia. Just like. I. I didn't know he could do that. I. [01:35:45] Speaker D: How do you think the talking in bare form thing works? Because the vocal cords aren't right. Are they fascinating [01:35:53] Speaker E: world spirits? Not even once. [01:36:00] Speaker D: Or is he still down? [01:36:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say you. Are you still down at the bottom of this small. [01:36:05] Speaker C: I think I did climb up and [01:36:07] Speaker A: I think you climbed up. [01:36:08] Speaker C: Virgil did say he scrambled up. So he's with. He's out there. So I think I've just been observing, like, I feel like the bear ball. He's just like, oh, whoa. It's like very impressed. But also could have probably pissed himself because that was a. That was. That was a bit. That's a bit much. That was a little bit much for all of us. Yeah. But obviously he's not gonna. He's just any spo had the sense of be like, whatever, let me know next time. But I'm just like, he's recovered now. But the initial experience was, whoa. [01:36:49] Speaker A: So Miran was there. Was there anything you wanted to do? Were you just having a good snuffle around? [01:36:55] Speaker E: Well, I mean, I think you've already. Well, yeah. Unless say I'm kind of. I'm continuing my snuffles around this sort of like glittery dust. I mean, hat. Well, you're happy to roll if there's more to know to learn beyond the crit kind of. [01:37:15] Speaker A: No, there's. There's nothing really to learn more from. From. From the crit. As the. As. As the. The especially sort of like Vergil, what's your sort of reaction to bear foil? [01:37:31] Speaker B: Virgil is friends with all the animals. If an animal is going. [01:37:38] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:37:42] Speaker B: If an animal is going to eat him. Gurgolden has decided it is time to go. [01:37:50] Speaker E: Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. [01:37:53] Speaker B: You have to find fight Brother Talons for that honor, I think. [01:37:59] Speaker D: Wait, wait. Is Brother Talons just waiting for his opportunity to eat? Virgil, like most pets sticks around. [01:38:13] Speaker B: He's put up with so much too. [01:38:18] Speaker A: One day. So yeah, as. As Barefoor Maiden is. Is snuffling around on the ground and the. The rest of you are sort of just patrolling this area. There's the. The fog has thickened definitely while. While you. You've traversed longer into the woods. And it does make it sort of like a little bit hard to see. Sort of like probably a good. A good 50ft in front of you is quite sort of like dense with fog. And the quietness that Bow had mentioned earlier on with being sort of like no birds, no sort of like movement of foliage besides from the wind, how it feels like nothing really lives here. It. It startles the five of you when you just suddenly hear this. [01:39:33] Speaker E: Nope. [01:39:35] Speaker D: Sorry. What now, Nathan? [01:39:39] Speaker A: The five of you would just kind of turn around. This unexpected noise of a child laughing. [01:39:49] Speaker D: No, no, no. [01:39:51] Speaker A: As it echoes. [01:39:54] Speaker B: So we're all getting out of this forest. [01:39:57] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. That. Beau's right. We should spend more time in town. Definitely. [01:40:03] Speaker C: Bo was always right. That's going to be. That's going to be the motto of the entire campaign was right hand shot first. Bo was right. What next? [01:40:15] Speaker F: Can we ascertain where the is coming from? [01:40:21] Speaker E: It's. [01:40:21] Speaker A: It's quite difficult. It almost sounds like it's. It's echoing everywhere. I would. [01:40:29] Speaker D: Okay, yeah. [01:40:31] Speaker A: But as. As. As the. The five of you are sort of like turning around trying to gauge where this sound is. You sort of look in one place once. Nothing is there. You sort of turn around and by the time you look in that sort of space again. [01:40:46] Speaker D: Oh. Oh. [01:40:48] Speaker A: You see this sort of shadow of a Child. No, sort of standing there. [01:40:55] Speaker B: Oh, no. [01:40:59] Speaker D: Hey, little one. [01:41:01] Speaker F: Hey. [01:41:03] Speaker A: You okay over there? [01:41:05] Speaker E: Hey. [01:41:05] Speaker D: Don't talk to it, Bo. [01:41:08] Speaker F: You're saying I shouldn't talk to a child? [01:41:11] Speaker D: It's not a child, Bo. Use your eyes, Bo. [01:41:17] Speaker A: The shadow doesn't seem to sort of respond in any way. The it just sort of stands there and it stares at the lot of you and we'll take a break. [01:41:31] Speaker D: Cool. [01:41:34] Speaker A: If you are watching this, thank you. First of all, thank you for watching this. These get released every Thursday for the foreseeable future. So please do come and join us if you are a member and you're watching this on regular release, Episode two should be out now for members if you so inclined. So if you're really excited to see what's going to happen next, why not throw us a couple of quid and go and watch session two right now? As always, if you like this video, hit the like button. If you you so inclined, why not subscribe to us and keep up to date of when we release these episodes. You can join our discord. It's free for everyone, but we also have a Patreon where the episodes get released a week early as so for the YouTube membership as well. I think that's around about it probably from session one. Now we are also playing Draw Steel live on Mondays which is obviously ran by our by the wonderful DM Dan. And it's another Tales from Elsewhere. It's completely different characters and obviously going with the. With the system Draw Steel. That will go on for five sort of Mondays and then it will. Then we'll carry on to a different system, new games and Dan will be able to explain it all there. But that is live and you'll be able to watch it and chat with us and chat so and so forth. So yeah, if you're watching way past that, then s. It's probably up on the channel and you can still watch it. But yes, thank you for watching. Thank you five for playing. We will see you next time.