Episode 6 – Like a Heavy Metal Sailor Moon

Now gather round friends, let me tell you a tale of three heroes, noble and bold. A brute, a druid, and a thief who is but nine years old. You know them by name, you know them by deed, their quests are famously daring. So here I sit, singing to you an adventure that is worth sharing. Tuck is the brute who knows not his home, he loves to sing and fight. Fingers have health, he shifts his shape, and wields his spear with great might. Billy's a thief, his tiny size does mask the largest heart.

Best and brightest they may not be, but their friendship outweighs their smarts. So gather round friends, and listen close, for the tale's about to start. Hello everybody, and welcome to Spout Lore. I'm your game master, Sean O'Hara. Joining me as always, playing Tacoma Dome, the barbarian, Abdul Aziz. Hello. Playing Ving, the half-elf druid, Paul Oppers. Hello there. And playing Fat Billy, the halfling thief, Jessica Tye. What up?

When last we left our heroes, one Fat Billy had escaped through the window of Hither & Yon. Never before performed, perhaps by any living soul, escaping out the window of this liminal space. I blame his father for teaching him that he can break the rules of reality. I told you not to do that in front of him. You were talking too loud when we were having that conversation. I was.

And we traveled along with Billy as he made his way through the marshes of Mother Never Was, accosted by a dragon turtle, a massive turtle, out of a pond. Billy hid in the reeds and tried to perform some tricky fairy business to avoid the attention of such a fearsome foe. Tuck and Ving barreled through the marsh, entreating the aid of here-and-then-gone NPC Pierre the Firefly. The three reconvened, attempting to fight off this massive, dangerous, powerful turtle.

Eventually distracted and cast aside by a massive turtle made of mud and marshland, summoned by Ving. The party had a little heart-to-heart about the dangers that are coming down the road and the care that must be taken as we reach these final days, before traveling themselves out of this marshy territory, this hunting ground for the turtle, finding, just outside the basin, a shrine. But to who? Offerings, personal tokens, given freely to Mother Never Was in an attempt to make a deal.

Climbing up a tree, Ving communed with the whispers of this place, making contact with Mother Never Was herself. Ooh. Conversation was made. A deal was struck.

Ving, realizing that Mother Never Was might not be the cut-and-dry evil figure that we've come to assume, but instead, as many things are in our world, someone restrained by forces outside their control, Tuck made an offer, freely given, with nothing asked in return, to give Mother Never Was a choice of his that he will make in the future. Yeah, a choice that she can use at any point.

To make her own choices, which she accepted, taking the form of a young Macaulay woman that Tuck did not recognize, who referred to him as my son. That is where we find our heroes now, in the canopy of a marsh forest. What do you do? What are you doing? Was that your mom? I don't fucking know, dude. Was that your mom? I don't fucking know, dude. Yeah, fair. Very fair. I don't know, man. There's a lot I've forgotten about my life. And I guess she seemed nice, but…

So you got a feeling that she was nice? Did it provoke any sort of thing or feeling? No. I don't have… I don't remember anything from before. You heard what she said. Like, everything that was there before was wiped away. Before I woke up in that lab. I don't know. She said that something bad got put in, and then someone scooped it out, and then there was nothing before that.

I'm just trying to see if there's anything beyond thought, beyond memory, if there's any tangential tendrils of emotions there. I can't… I don't know, man. I don't know. No, I think it's what she said. I think I'm just like… I got hollowed out, and that's it. There's nothing left. So I guess I don't have a connection to whoever that was. Yeah, I suppose the only thing left to do is to wait for Cloudpiercer. So is that we're passing time in this tree, waiting for the bird to arrive?

I guess so. You know what? Maybe we gotta roll to determine whether or not Cloudpiercer was able to escape well enough to not drag anything here with him. I guess just roll 2d6 flat, somebody choose. Jessica's picking them up. A 1 and a 6. So a 7. A 7 to 9. Partial success. He's gonna get here pretty quickly, but I think there is a complicating factor. The storm follows him. Oh, yeah. The winds are whipping up around this tree.

So as you're sitting here, the branches start to blow in the breeze, Oh, that little clickety-clack of the deadwood. Yeah. And then harsher and harsher. Peter's like, holy fucking shit! Whoa! But as you're watching in the distance, you see and hear the rumble of thunder far off. And on the horizon, you see gathering dark clouds, flashes of lightning, but just the smallest little speck that grows and grows rapidly, and there is Cloudpiercer absolutely hauling through the skies.

Parting the trees as he rips. Oh, totally. A wake left behind him. Yes, Miyazaki style. Yeah. And he pulls up at the last second in front of you. You're buffeted by the winds of his flight. Fuck! We fly out of the tree. Never-ending story by the turtle. Whoa! Man in the muck. Wow. And he alights on the mother-never-was-his-tree, the tallest tree in this area. Ving! Billy! Tuck! There you are! I run up and wrap my arms around him. He's glad that he's still alive.

And he nuzzles you, you know, gets a little wing around you. I came as quickly as I can. Take the knife. I lay it across my chest. Thank you so much. I take the sheath. I wish I could get here quicker and easier, but unfortunately… And he casts a wide wing into the distance. The storm hath followed me. Oh no. What do we do? We should get back to the bar. Yeah, we should try and get back to Hylian Yon. Do you want to come with us? Into your house? I mean, yeah.

I can certainly try, but I have a war to fight, Ving. I'm sorry to have taken your weapon. Here, I want you to take this. Right, yes, there was something cool that you were going to give me. That was our agreement, right? Some cool weapon that I was going to get from you. Ving, off of his back, pulls his spear. You don't have your spear. I wish I had my spear. Why did you promise that? Do I have… Can we get the bar? Can we give him…

No, that doesn't make sense to give him the glass volcanic knife. No, no, no. Colmsword? We can't give that to him. I have… You're just going through your backpacks now. Ah, yes, your weapon here. I have this glove with… Venom. Paralytic. From the Harpsnake. I have a ghost horn. Right, a horn containing a ghost. Yeah. A glove might not be of much use to a bird. I have a bone-handled knife. Ooh. Elemental Mastery. I want to Elementum Master him a weapon. Oh, smart, yeah. You could do that.

I mean… The bone-handled knife is… There are two elements. Yeah. Bone and handle. Maybe there's a lot of things in this swamp I can draw on other bones. Ooh. Oh, scary. Spooky, creepy, cool. You can give him some kind of war form. Yeah, sort of. Like a battle cat. Yeah. And maybe the bones of the marsh… Maybe there's some sort of protection against the Gibbous Man. Potentially. Something, I don't know, it's from this land. Right, yeah. There's a potential for that. That is possible.

And because it's been soaking in the silt and in the muck, it's all black bones. They're like half-musclized. Oh, yeah, because they're in a moss bog. Yeah, they're in a peat bog. That's cool. I also want to hear how you're going to do this, because bone is not one of your classic elements. It's made out of rock, kind of. Bones is not made out of rock. What about this? They're so fossilized. I said fossilized. I said fossilized. You did say fossilized. This is what I'm talking about.

Yeah, you can justify it. Bones is kind of rock.

okay great and I think I think because of like like whatever we did with mother never was we sort of like appeased her like predatory nature so we sort of have I'm gonna say as the guy who gave her that gift feels like we have carte blanche in this situation sure amazing we could do whatever we were like a little less aggressive yeah yeah yeah I think I think I think the place is less trying to distract and destroy you now for sure okay so since Kate Blanch doesn't mind that we're here I'm gonna go ahead with this move okay elemental mastery 2d6 plus Constitution reaching out your spiritual perception into the soil and the silt yeah and the bones at the bottom of the pond mm-hmm ooh seven plus Constitution is nine nine whoa nice can I help or Billy how are you helping this I'm telling him how how sick I'm like give him fucking horns and put spikes coming out of his back yeah yeah give him a visor to help him with the Sun give him a visor and give him like a puffy vest kind of an account from 2004 yeah cloud pierces behind you going yes give me horns give me cool horns thing razor-tipped wing oh yeah like make his talons even sharper like put some put like hold on my talons are plenty sharp are they as sharp as this shushing and I make that noise makes it sharp is your weak human hand no I made the sound I'm making listen to how sharp it is okay one second listen and he tilts his head and he puts his wing up to his ear that's pretty sharp that sounds pretty sharp all right let's see what you can do okay breastplate made out of big ribs yeah on the on the breastplate it says if you can read this you're fucked okay well if this aid works yeah so you still got a seven to nine yeah that just means that all of the stuff that that tuck is describing it's just being was like this is not cool at all visor he's a bird can Billy step in today I had two people gonna head oh my god so how's Billy gonna add to this you're at like this is way too much weight for this little guy you know he's a big guy still a little guy yes like you're putting like basically like a truck on him nice let's just go bare bones I'll be aerodynamic their bones I like it the horns we keep the talons we keep maybe some sort of rib bone mask that goes up oh cool face yeah you gotta roll it six plus bond I get my feelings really said my idea was bad I go you don't know what you're fucking talking about we can't Batman I didn't want to say anything but I do have like a beak that takes up most of my skull that requires a lot of clearance to open and close so I don't know that a helmet or mask would actually help okay all that much I'll do by the way the storm is like a tree a small tree on fire yeah we should probably wrap her up so on a seven to nine I choose one of the following yeah the effect I desire comes to pass so I don't avoid paying nature's price and I don't retain control yeah so describe what you do create you're pulling these bones up out of the earth they're flying up out of the out of the out of the muck kind of the like bogs around us bones of the long dead animals stuck in it yeah and clinking together above him and kind of swirling around and clang clang clang and he's spinning around and cool yeah like a sailor moon like I'd like a metal heavy metal sailor moon situation yes it's forming on his body and then he does a pose and he's got yeah he's got like to the side he's got a visor he's got a chain with a pendant on it that's like the three of you made out of long blonde braids but what he is is he is decked out for war he is looking he's looking fearsome warbird fierce warbird yeah and he goes all right now that I am properly outfitted I will go and draw away the storm but you must get to safety as quickly as possible good luck yeah he touches talons with you three of you my friends arms spread wings on those arms when the time comes when the final battle is about to be waged I will be there boom and he takes off and the wind there's rain is starting to lash down the wind is picking up oof we're hearing lightning strikes trees splintering in the forest fires burning it's like that scene from Sherlock Holmes where they're running through the forest yeah the trees are exploding around you cool yeah yeah so you guys gotta run cuz the you got to get back to the to the hut okay shack perilous journey yeah I know this is this is more dangerous than perilous journey because as your spiritual power extends out into the marsh as these bones have been pulled up bones have begun jutting from the soil around you we have to be running with dexterity yeah dexterity would help I can lead the way everybody describe how they're doing it yes okay I'm leading the way yeah like a little like a little ballerina yeah yeah like a little Legolas dodging and turning yeah leaving big heavy footprints for you to follow me yes great do I roll first yes 2d6 plus dexterity yeah I got ten ten yeah Billy is bones are like exploding out of the soil and Billy's dodging out of the way of them as they can't grasp yeah yeah bony arms coming out of the soil and grabbing at you yeah how's Tuck doing it talks like slashing the axe through everything that's growing out of the soil and like fucking running as hard as he can yeah 2d6 plus strength that's five seven okay nice you you're slashing your axe and smashing these bones aside they're no match but as you're stepping through the soil and the muck you're going back down the hill towards where the hut was and your feet are sinking deeper and deeper into the muck you're so heavy yeah as these bones are coming out of the muck around you they're grabbing onto your legs and you find yourself immobilized temporarily you're gonna have to do something to get out of there we're gonna go to Ving first I'm just trying to run as hard as I can and also I see Tuck if if he's immobilized in front of me I'm trying to like push him and pull him out as I'm running yeah so that'll be two separate roles for sure you're either gonna make your role to get through or you're gonna make your role to help Tuck I'm gonna go to Tuck and try and help him smash off the bone sounds like 2d6 plus strength Billy's Billy's getting far ahead of you yeah great yeah eight eight okay so seven to nine it's taking some time like the bones they're trying to grab all of you but they're focusing on you at Ving as this like beacon of spiritual power they're coming up out of the marsh and you're seeing like muck covered human skeletons and like partial like animal skeletons lifting themselves out of the mud but made out of silt and moss and yeah and fossilized bone and it looks like you are on your way to getting overwhelmed having to deal with this as like a direct conflict but Tuck you are both now free to like continue moving okay but these these bone creatures are coming up out of the soil I pick Ving up and I like throw him ahead of me to like as a thank you for like getting me free 2d6 plus strength that was nine I'll aid yeah there you go I shift my weight in the in the sky like a tiger yeah nice 12 okay yeah so that's a 10 so you hurl Ving Ving does some acrobatic bullshit midair and clears himself of the the vast majority of the bones yeah that's actually pretty cool sorry some cool acrobatic bullshit as you land softly in the in the muck in the rain storm bucket slamming yes she's sideways yeah yeah and the like ripping winds are kind of making it hard to hear it's so loud here every once in a while like kind of a hundred meters down the trail where we were there'll be like a crack of lightning that like blinds us and like deafens us yeah it's a flashbang there's even branches falling off of the trees and like flying towards us oh yeah Billy so you're up ahead brain a branch of a huge tree like slams into the trail in front of you and there are more coming flying through the air what do you do what do I do I will tuck in Ving I should say are further behind you now as well you realize I'm going to stay I'm not gonna leave you because we had that conversation so I I rip out one of the tree branches from the muck and I start swinging it around batting off the And the bones, just whatever's coming at us.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you, uh, you pull a- you snap off a piece of the, like, the big- cuz the branch is bigger than you, but you yank a part of it off. I'm running around going, Warrior! Like a little Wade Boggs. And, as you do, like, more of these bony creatures are coming up out of the soil. And there's, like, a fossilized, muck-covered raccoon skeleton. Oh! Beared. Hollow sockets filled with muck. Sharp teeth. And the way that tar sands, like, preserve animals, so they're, like, Yeah. Preserved.

Oh, yeah, there's, like, some, like, mummified skin stuck to it. And it's kind of like, Ahhhh! And I go, Huh! And I stab it. Alright, hack and slash. Sure. Two to six plus strength. Six. I'm gonna turn it to- I'm gonna use a fairy child and turn that to a seven to nine. Okay, great. And you batter this skeleton aside. Uh, they're- they're fragile, fossilized bones. So they just disappear, but more are starting to take its place. And the seven to nine is, you hear, like, a cracking sound. Uh-huh.

And you turn back, and you can see the winds of the storm are kind of fighting with the mist of the marsh. And the mar- the mists are losing. They're getting blown aside. Whoa! And you see the shack that Hither and Yon has attached to, and you see boards start to fly off in the wind. Oh, and it's shaking on it. Yeah. Oh, no, we have to get to it. Yeah. Oh, shit! Before it gets blown away? Yeah, what do you do? Fuck! Fuck! I want to barrel over- try and get there as fast as I can.

Yeah, 2d6 plus strength or constitution if you're just, like, taking the brunt of the storm. No, I'm gonna try and, like, um, ballet my way there as fast as I can. Like, try and leap and bound. Yep, dexterity then. I'm gonna switch out one of these twos with my throw-me-a-bone from last night, which is a six. Ah! Making it an eight, plus- it's a ten. A ten. Okay, so you are able to, uh, get, like, bypassing by Billy, Tuck, who is, like, stomping through behind you.

Uh, you're able to dodge and dash your way, uh, through the reeds and the winds, dodging the branches that are flying off the trees. And the shack is ahead of you, it's within running distance. I'm stopping, like, with a hand out, offering to Billy and Tuck. More boards are flying off the shack, the stilts are shaking under the assault. I'm trying to hold it, like, hold the thing steady. Oh, yeah! That's very cool. Like Spider-Man. Yeah, Tuck, what do you do? Billy, uh, so, I try, mmm…

Billy's, like, a distance down the track from you. I'm always behind, right? But he's, like, coming towards you, it sounds like? Yeah, I'm trying to, like, meet you to help you get out of the situation. I see that, and I go, Billy, what are you doing? I'm coming to save you, just like I promised! And then Tuck, in his head, is like, oh my god, we're doing such a bad job! Bing, at that moment over time, goes, follow me, guys! I said I'd never leave you again!

Smash, skeleton, exploded under Billy's branch. Don't worry! I'm not gonna give up! Billy's fighting, like, frog skeletons and, like, possum skeletons. Awesome. Smash! This is when you listen! So, like, Tuck, he… He feels like he has to calm the storm. Can I use the lie to do that? Read the lie again? When you leverage your fundamental lack of truth to overcome a magical or metaphysical danger, On a 10+, you ignore the effect completely.

On a 7-9, you ignore the immediate danger, but choose one from below. Minus one ongoing until the threat is dealt with, suffer D10 damage, or the threat endangers an ally. Yeah, it is a living storm. I want to lie to it and tell it that it is not a living storm. It has no connection to the Thunderbirds or Lillian or Lillian's Rage. I want to tell it a lie of freedom. That it is its own thing. You can dissipate any time.

Yeah, that it is a storm that is controlled not by the will of others, but by the forces of the natural world. That it is as mundane as I am. It is worth a shot, for sure. So it's 26+, what? Constitution. Which I have a debility to. Yeah, you have a debility to everything. Please. What's new? Oh! Whoa! 10! 10, okay. So 10. That's so cool. You are, yeah, yeah. So the storm is blowing, galing. Trees are getting uprooted and tossed into the air. You say galing? Yeah. Galing. Oh. Yeah. And, and.

I see within the storm. Yeah, a flutter of wings. An hourglass figure. Absolutely snatched bird waste. And I, I, I look, I, I look as Billy is like fucking hammering through like frogs and centipedes and crickets and little ants and stuff. What? No, big, big dudes, like, like an elk head and a raccoon and a small bear cub. I am doing it. You're going full RFK, too. Yeah. So I, the thing, everything slows. The storm, the sound of the storm slows and muffles.

And I, I look up and I see the figure of one whom Sai once shared a bed with. I make eye contact with Kale. Hello, Tuck. Wolf. Wolf. Like an angel. The storm can't be stopped. A dark angel. I am now an agent of the storm. Wolf. And then Tuck looks her in the eye and goes, I have always loved you, Kale. The lie. Would, would that society could have let us be together? But so it was not allowed. And Cloud Piercer, the knave, always getting in the way.

OK, wait, now I'm lost on to what you're trying to accomplish. I guess I'm turning her against Cloud Piercer. I guess I'm trying to. The lie is that I love her. OK, so it's not to the storm. It's to Kale. But she is a representation. So as soon as you introduced Kale, I was like, yeah, oh, well, you introduced Kale. Actually, I introduced Kale. I think Jess and I did the same thing. You said Kale. But as soon as Kale showed up, I was like, oh, she's controlling the storm. I have to lie to her.

And the lie that I use is that I love her and I always have. And that if you let us go, we will be together. Would you kill one whom loves you so? She's kind of circling above, looking down at you. I knew it. That's why we did all that stuff that night. No, no, nothing happened in the nest for real. And I told everybody that that was the case. They never believed me because the sexual tension between us was so unbelievable.

It was your guitar cutter with a knife, a knife that was meant to cut through hot butter. The like of which I could spread on you. So if I turn the storm aside, you and I could be together right now. Yes. Is that what you're saying? That is what I am saying. I give myself to you to be your foul lover. Beautiful. Okay. And he's standing there like this. His wings turned out. Yeah, he's ready. Arms straight out. Yeah, just like the wings of a Thunderbird. Quake like gap.

And she can please one more circle of you in the sky and then dive. Boom. The mist parting, the storm beginning to recede, the clouds still dark and threatening above. You're not lying to me, are you, Tuck? I don't even know the meaning of the word. Then kiss me. I kiss. Quick, quick. What do you do here? Are you going to kiss a big bird? Are you going to try and get away? You said this. What are you talking about? I am not getting gas lit right now.

Before we started the recording, we were in the hallway. You said you have to kiss the bird when I give you the opportunity. I never said that. I said you have to tongue the bird. And I go, I will kiss you, girl. Close your eyes. And she begins to close her eyes. And I pick up Billy and I start running. Oh my god. Do I kiss the bird? Do I kiss the bird? Alright, how are you getting there? Ving is at the board holding Hither and Yonder. 26 plus strength. Oh, jeez. 12.

You can feel it start to crumble, but you're like grabbing it, holding it. get in place, uh, pillars of earth and soil are coming up and shoring up the platform in places. I, uh, I just run as hard as I can and then I, I, when I get there I climb over Vig and open it to the door and I do not help him. I'm so, I'm so grossed out and scared of Gale. Yeah, I rolled two sixes. Oh yeah. I got a 12. Billy in your arms, you leap up onto the platform. I smash through the door.

You do not smash through the door of Hither and Yon. Seeing it's about to be smashed, which would have unbelievable consequences, the door pops open as you run at it. Please don't. I'm hanging my branch out of the door for you to grab onto. Oh, thank you. Yeah. 2d6 plus strength. Yeah. I'll do my best. Two and a six, eight. Wow. Seven to nine. Nice. So, okay.

Seven to nine, Ving, you grab the branch, get yanked up onto the platform and the door is starting to close and through it you all hear, you betrayed me. Close the door, close the door, close the door. She swoops right at her massive Thunderbird form. I slam the door. Torpedoing, quick. 2d6 plus dexterity. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. What? I rolled a fucking three. Oh no. So as you're closing the door.

Oh, but as you're closing the door for just a moment, the absolute potency of her rage and betrayal, her head bursts through the door, this massive Thunderbird head. And she's trying to, she opens her jaws and she's trying to slam them closed on you. And then they're forced back open and she is forced outside the door. You can see like a shimmering field in the air. She brought upon an ill intention. Yeah. Forced back outside the door.

As the door begins to close, you see her eye, her huge Thunderbird eye, her gleaming bezoar. I will never forget this betrayal. And if I can't get you, Cloudpiercer will feel my wrath. No. And then I go, baby, this joke was too much for him. And I turn around, I show her my butt, and I sit close to her. She goes, and the door closes and the winds are gone. Silent, safe. Oh, wait, can I take another read on that line? Sure. I thought of a better thing. Yeah.

I go, baby, you weren't ready for this jelly. I thought that's what you did say the first time. One more, one more. Babe, you weren't ready for this jelly. No, a different one. A different one? Okay. More tension this time. More sexual tension. Okay. Uh, baby, this, uh, you're. Oh, hold on. Wait, wait, wait. Uh-huh. I can't. Doodly doodly bird head, my pear butt. Baby, sorry. My hug is a little too wild for you. You know what? The second one was actually better.

You can't make an omelet without cracking a fuck couple of eggs. Fuck couple of eggs. And the door closes. The winds quiet, safe. The shutters close. As you can see, like, boards from the platform are getting ripped up. And as the platform is destroyed, the shutters close and you are in hither and yon. Oh, God. We turned around and mirrors in Victoria were watching that whole thing. Both of their hair is like blown back. There's a stick in the wall. Wow. So didn't go good.

It went, actually went pretty good. Yeah. For us, that was pretty good. Yeah. Yeah, it was a success. We're all here in one piece. And we got the knife. Vic. You got the knife, right? I have the knife. Uh, does everybody want tea? Yeah. I would love some tea. Cut to. We're here in hither and yon. Tea has been served. Everybody, including Victoria and Francis and Black Spire are having little bowls of tea. We're we're we're all gathered around the fire. Victoria is back at her table. Okay.

Sullen a little bit. Can we go sit with her? Feels shitty to exclude her. Not bad. Yeah. Yeah. I want to do something crazy. I want to unlock her. Yeah. I want to talk about unlocking her. Let's ask Mears. I mean. Okay, so we're sitting around the fire and we're speaking quietly. Victoria is at her table. Mears is sitting there. He's got a cup of tea and a saucer in his hand. I'm gonna be honest with you. We have been chatting and she is kind of fun to talk to. Victoria? I know. I know.

She's seen a lot of the world. She's a pretty high class lady. She's got some cool perspectives on stuff. She's also very manipulative. She's extremely manipulative and it is working on me. So immediately your opinion is suspect. Yeah. Oh boy. That's a great point. I am probably being manipulated into being her friend. You're compromised. I'm caught. I've been compromised. I'm actually going to abstain from this conversation. I'm accusing myself. What were you going to say though?

I still don't think we should unlock her. This means we shouldn't unlock her. She can't. The real risk is if we unlock her. She's got free run of the place. That's not so big a deal. She can't hurt anyone as per the rules. But she could leave. Try and cut a deal with the Gibbous man. If she gets out. But it does seem like you two are getting along. We're getting… I mean, I can get along with everybody. I can get along with anyone. He's the bartender, man. Yeah. Everybody likes me. Yeah.

Just wondering if there's a way that we can use a connection with her to kind of soften her to our way. I mean, maybe. Try and get some info out of her at some point. I think over time that might happen. But I personally, as a guy who has been stabbed by her at least three times. I have also been stabbed by her. Yeah. At least a couple of times. Yeah. I don't think we should unlock her. Not yet. But I would vote and I look over and she's like doing like the knife thing. Yeah.

I was like, I would vote that we extend her chain so she could at least come hang out by the fire with us. All right. She can borrow my leash. Your leash? Yeah, the one that you make me go on if we're going on a big walk. Oh, yeah. So you don't get lost and end up in a lake or something. Yeah. It's really powerful. Yeah. The extender leash. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes we corkscrew it in the yard outside and just let them have fun. Yeah. It's awesome. He loves it. All right.

So you approach Victoria with the extender leash? Yeah. What is that? It's a little bit of trust, Victoria. Why would you trust me? I don't know. We want to hang out with you and it feels shitty that you're over here on your own. Don't you want to sit on the couch by the fire? Yeah. Pretty warm. And we're about to talk about the knife, which it would be nice to have you in that conversation. You've seen a lot of things. You have a lot of perspective that we don't have.

Come sit by the fire with us. There's a lot of expressions rolling across her face as you're saying all this. Okay, if you insist. And we put the… So it's a harness that Billy goes into and we put it on her. And because she's so lithe and skinny, it fits, but it makes her tits look fucking… Like a bustier? Yeah. Is that what you're saying? It's like a push-up bra. Billy's like, so? Do I look cool? Kind of, buddy. Kind of. Does it do that to me? Yeah. And she adjusts it and settles in.

I think it's quite fitting. Okay, but I want the big chair. What? That's… No. I want the big chair. I don't care what you want. You just get the… She starts rushing across the room. We all run, we all run, oh my god. We run over to… Yeah, I try to get the first. All right, who's… Everybody's trying to get the big chair. I try to get the first, that's my chair. How are you trying to do it? Shoving. I lose… What? Wait, what's strength? My strength, for sure. I get three. I shove also.

Yeah. So I get seven. I got five. I try to step onto her using dexterity to step on the chain. So on a seven, Billy and Ving are left in the dust. But with a seven and nine, Victoria and Tuck get to the… You get to the chair at the same time. Yeah, we're like wedged into it. She's like trying to… Yeah, she's trying to wedge herself in next to you. I just want the chair. I've been sitting on that bench for what feels like three weeks. Is that fair? But you fucking stabbed me, dude.

You get benched for a bit. Okay, fine. Then I guess we can just be nice and close. Oh, fine. Oh, she kind of like leans against you. Stop. No, you want to share the chair. This is what sharing a chair is like. Stop wiggling around so much, okay? Oops, I'm falling over top of you. Oh my god. Does this leash do anything to me? Are you really not getting out of the chair? No. She gets up out of the chair. Bam. I will sit on the floor. Okay, good. Like a prisoner, which is what I am, I guess. Yeah.

Okay. She just kind of plops on the floor. I put a pillow on my lap. No reason. For no reason. Just because I want one. Mind your own business. Stop asking weird questions. Yeah. Oh, your lap doesn't get cold? Yeah. Oh, you don't feel self-conscious sometimes with your belly sticking out in a big chair? This is a fat boy pillow. Okay, I think we've talked about the pillow enough. So. And Mirrors is sitting on a cushion on the floor.

all right the knife is on the floor yeah or like on the i imagine there's like a little table in front of the fire you know what i mean like a little kind of coffee table and it's just sitting on this coffee table i'm looking at it spinning it so this is what killed ryan yeah and this is the last piece of lillian that the gibbous man was trying to find i think so was there another oh shit the one in hibernia we still have that one is still and cloud piercer's on his way there yes yeah and that one is vulnerable yes oh cloud piercer is going to protect it yeah he knows he told us that he was yeah because throne breaker is headed to hibernia yeah yeah so what do we need to do there they'll be warned by cloud piercer but it's not very much warning they might see it they might actually see it coming yeah because the gray is god so and the druids are powerful do you think that they could handle throne breaker and the thunderbirds on their own i mean we couldn't handle throne breaker they haven't fought for ages that's what i was thinking they're out of practice i think we should help them i can also come with if that's necessary i remember just now that i am uh now a trained warrior it's true your stats and everything yeah yeah so we can fight with you we are stronger than we were the last time we bought him and smarter yeah we know more i have more i guess control over whatever demon shit is in this coin oh and we have black spire oh black spire and throne breaker's power comes from his like obsidian or we might be able to use black spire to to help defend the island and uh like if this is the fireplace like a little bit down the wall a little double half door pops open and black spire's huge head comes popping out what's going on i heard my name like a couple times hey do you want to use your little like fire blast thing you brother you better believe it yes i've been practicing in here what i need somebody to come in here and put out some fire oh shit i'll go put it out it starts billowing out from inside crackling on the side of his head yeah you see there's a bunch of like circular scorch marks on the wall or like holes bored through like piles of hay we do like a flashback and like every once in a while like one of us will go in and like just pull sandbags up for him uh-huh because the the whole barn is this one big kind of cavernous space yeah so he'll do like these like agility dexterity moves but where he'll like hit a hit a sandbag hit another sandbag run a little further hit it does not have that kind of no he misses most of them and all his agility is like shit boom rolling he's just unfortunately the dragon that you guys know is not what one would call the prime dragon he's a basement kid dragon yeah he's a big out of shape bulldog yeah that can kind of shoot lasers out of his mouth that's better that was better uh and back in the present yeah i'm ready to help what are we doing i mean we think that this like big fat bird is gonna try to attack a bunch of druids can't have that don't know what any of that means but i can't allow it to happen black spark uh this bird it's got a big fat piece of obsidian sitting in its head i think pink that's kind of what's giving it it's weird superpowers i think it might be leading him in some way giving him power dark obsidian power if we could break it somehow yeah and then i could eat it yeah that's what we're talking about all right this is this is going to be primo black crutch for you all right ways come out of a bird's head can't come out of a bird head yeah you're gonna have to catch the bird first yeah yeah i gotta eat bird head crunch yeah oh man all right well i'm still gonna do it but i just wanted to know i want you all to know that i think it's kind of weird all right i'm gonna rest up for the fight to come eddie reaches out with his mouth and grabs like the little rope that's on the inside of the door and tugs it shut grabs the other one tugs it shut and goes to get there's a hold i'm gonna get it i'm gonna get it i i we gotta make these a little longer i think for me uh we watch this for like easily a minute and a half got it pretty cute got it and he tugs it shut and the door's closed where'd the bezoar come from again was this man put there yeah because it was a different gem before it was red yeah we shattered it yes you shattered his bezoar yeah so we did kind of fuck him up before in a big way and he's like the size of a town kind of he's really big yeah his wake span is like a kilometer yeah it's massive yeah uh and he seems to have been getting the the snatches that you've seen of him through visions it seems like he's getting bigger um okay that seems like the right thing to do morally as well as practically help the druids fight off throne breaker fingers crossed take him out for good and then could we should we try and collect that piece of the moon as well if it's no longer safe there if the gray is no longer there i think so right the gibbous man might be on his way yeah as the gray clears it'll be easier for him to get there yeah that's no good is the knife safe here oh absolutely okay by the way we don't take it we can't risk giving him two pieces of the moon we should put it in the lost and found yes the safest place the safest place behind the counter oh there's that safe yeah yeah there's a little safe under the under the bar where like the barkeeper can only open yeah that money just shows up in sometimes oh yeah can you show can you open that for us just as you can give me the knife thank you and he takes it and he goes behind the bar dang it and he kind of moves in front of the safe and looks behind him i just want to see if it's real he looks like it is real a thousand dollars a thousand spell lord dollars you want to see if a thousand spell lord dollars is a real thing i've never seen that many coins in my life clank and he opens it that's empty right now next time next time puts the knife in and he whispers to himself it's not empty sorry what was that closes the door spins the dial all right so it should be safe in there only i know the combination okay good to go i guess unless people need to rest up a bit i want to i do need to rest up a bit and i wonder now that we have the knife and we know what it is because like last time we had it we didn't really know yeah it like it killed ryan it is a piece of the moon it's like it's comprised of like all of these like fundamental elements is there like can you commune with the whispers of it or something or billy is there something in your like fairy brain that knows it yeah can we find out more about lillian and the gibbous man and or the history of this knife through spending time with it is there a piece of information that could help us supposedly could try you can certainly try perfect i will commune with the whispers set the scene for me um this is like i guess we're gonna take a hither and yon three-day break yes yeah to rest up yeah it's healing so i could clear out a debility a lot of tuck sleeping i'm imagining him like fully like massive body splayed out on one of the beds upstairs snoring away yeah no i sleep by the couch okay so everybody's trying to live around this 500 pound man yeah yeah yeah this is just the way that it is i have an inconsiderate roommate i felt like my train set on top and around yeah so you can fall asleep really yeah mirrors in uh victoria are playing uh go fish like on tuck's chest because he's covering the coffee table i'm sitting cross-legged on his crotch spinning the knife on his legs with the whispers we're just hanging out on tuck yeah table talk okay great 2d6 plus wisdom 10 10 on a 10 plus the vision is clear and helpful to you i feel like the vision must be chimes and lillian following the birth of rian like holding uh oh maybe we see chimes in lillian's home for the first time like uh i think uh uh solidly built but obviously made by them like small one two room like shack on the shore of the sea yeah stony beach coniferous trees stone chimney stone chimney smoke smoke pluming out of it the waves lapping at the shore and like a wooden half door yeah wouldn't yeah the door's kind of store propped open so the night air can can uh blow in the moon shining through the windows from from where the uh the home is you see like just an unbroken horizon so you can always see where the sea see in the sky meet yeah it's part of what like lets lillian be there well it is broken by the graves right which were brought up by chimes to even make this life for them possible right and you hear you know that the night the silent that the lapping of the waves the quiet of the night is broken by a cry of pain and then a cry of new life and lillian and chimes are kind of wrapped in one another they are enclosing this squalling baby.

Which version of Chimes is this? He is younger, shorter hair, fewer tattoos, still like strong of body, hail of spirit. He's got like fresh scars on on his wrists from where he pulled the graves out. The chains, the chains, the scars of chains. The chains wrapped around his hands and forearms. You can still see red and raw and they and you can feel through this vision Lillian looking at this baby and knowing that she would do anything for this child.

And you see like the an image of her reaching into her chest and removing like a luminous handful of light and from that forging a small blade. A weapon forged by a god for a demigod. Is the moon in the sky? No. Yes, both moons are in the sky and both are intact. Cool. I like that she like because the blade is curved and she takes the white light out and holds it out the window up to the crescent of the moon and it creates a silver crescent blade. Yeah. Out of the crescent of the moon. Yeah.

That's cool and then she as she like drags the pulls the blade down it kind of makes contact with like where the sky meets the water on the horizon and it cuts through the sea itself and quenches in it. Oh yeah. Which makes the kind of like the wavy lines of the Damascus steel. That's so cool. Yeah. Pretty sweet.

Pretty sweet and you see on his first birthday a child older but still very small kind of toddling around uneasily on short legs and her hanging around his neck with the knife inside and you know coming out of this vision that the piece of the moon the piece of Lillian contained within the blade is love and then you think let alone just losing her son that this this thing that she crafted for him from her very own heart was used to slay him and you see beyond a shadow of a doubt why she would have burned the world for that.

Blames herself in a way. Certainly. But yeah okay that is what you learn. What is Billy doing on these three days of rest? I mean playing trains. What do I do if I don't need to heal? You do whatever you want you can spout lore about stuff you can just chill. Oh I know could I is it possible from here to put to use like connections to the fairies of Hibernia to find out news? Oh yeah it certainly could be. We do have the mail slot. There is the mail slot. Yeah. Oh fun.

Okay I will use the mail that's what I've been doing playing trains and writing leaving little messages to see if I can reach out to the fairies on Hibernia for news. Okay great and what have Billy's messages look like considering he can't write? They are leaves like little pieces of like plant matter. Cute. They are they're meaningful to the fairies. Yeah very cute okay then yeah roll your connection what kind of you're looking for news in general?

Yeah because like now that we know that the gray is receding I want to know like has Thronebreaker reached Hibernia or has there been any like fighting or danger approaching? Are they aware of what's coming? Is the moon piece okay? Yeah totally. What are we walking into? If they are aware how are they prepared? Yeah. Okay great then yeah go ahead and roll your connections which I believe is with Charisma. Charisma yeah that is eight. Eight okay so on a seven to nine.

I'll have to settle for something close to it or it comes with strings attached. Okay so it's not all of the news that you want it's just some of the news. Sure. Yeah you receive a message back in the also I guess like you find a pile of leaves in the mailbox one day? Yeah there's a shell and a couple sticks and leaves. Great yeah and you pull that you pull the sticks and leaves out in the shell and you hear just drop them on the ground and you hear like a like coming from the shell.

Uh-huh I hold it up to my ear. And you contained within is the voice of a fairy of Hibernia. Echo. I hear you. I don't have long there's a council meeting and we're all gonna go and we're all gonna listen but if you must know before we go the Druids do know that something is coming. Early birds have gotten the worms. Is that code? It means that Thunderbirds have arrived ahead of the main force but not all of them. And are they have they caused any issues?

They have the Druids have been able to cast a couple of them off but more arriving every day. And what are the worms? The worms it's real worms the birds have been eating all the worms on the island. Big worms? Big worms no worms left for anybody else it's horrible. And the other thing that you should know is that not all of the council members are here one is still missing. I bet I know who that is.

Anyway this is a pre-recorded message in a shell so I'll talk to you later if you show up come find me. Then how come you answered my questions? Wow that fairy did a really good job of guessing what you were gonna say. We have a connection. He knows me too well. Yeah so some of the birds have showed up so they know that a threat is on its way and one of the council members is in the wind. Stone Eye has got to be Stone Eye. I'm gonna also send that pile of sticks and stuff in the shell to Farrah.

She might know. She needs to know this too. I like that. She's just shoving it's like compost through a mail slot. She's smart enough she'll figure it out. There's books on fairy languages and written code wherever the library is now. Yeah because they did move it. Do we have any mail from Farrah? Not for a while no. Yeah but you could always try I mean you just tried to get a message to her so maybe you'll get maybe you'll get one back. Cool. Tuck while you're resting. I'm resting.

I cleared the constitution debility. I still have two. Okay so everybody's in Hither and Yon preparing to leave. You are fully in the in-between space. The shutters have remained closed all this time and the time has come to decide where you go next. I'm getting in my final meal before we have to head out. Yeah there is kind of a final meal vibe to this. A little bit. Because we are heading into a war. Definitely a fight. Yeah. Can I look around the stores in the Lost and Found for a weapon?

Yeah what kind of weapon are you looking for? Or I could fashion a bow. After all this time have a bow? Have I never had a bow? You had one in the first episode because you said I want to be a bow guy. Yeah and then you literally never used it. And then when you when you had the opportunity to meet the interdimensional trader and get whatever weapon you want you were like I think I want this cool bow because I'm going to be a bow guy and then you never use that bow.

God damn I keep forgetting about bows. I think that Fing wants to spend a bit of my time that's not healing tuck in fashioning a bow out of the Hither and Yon. Okay now we're doing a bow. Okay yeah let's do a bow again the third time's the charm. Yeah so uh with the with time and materials which you do have you can you can make a bow. Great yeah and some arrows. Yeah I'm plucking feathers out of the pillows for your bow. Oh thank you. Absolutely got a pillow.

There's some stuck in the door from when Gale's Forster's head threw in there. Thunderbird feathers. I got Thunderbird feathers too like dark dark bird. Warbird feathers. The feathers like shimmer like they kind of like shift as they as the light hits them differently. Yeah iridescent. Yeah pretty sweet. Pillow feathers. And some pillow feathers. And some down yeah. Okay so right keep in mind you have a bow no problem and you have three ammo worth of arrows.

There's like something kind of like uh full circle about this because like the last time Nathaniel showed up at this island with a bow he killed your mom. Yeah yeah I wanted some Nathaniel um circling back. Yeah um and I want to take the leather strap that is about my mom and dad because I'm thinking about them when I'm making this bow and uh Vink uh winds it around his wrist as a as a arm guard. Oh nice. Uh okay anything else that anyone's preparing to do? Could I fashion a a weapon bindle?

A weapon bindle. Cool. Like instead of it being filled with my bindle being filled with bread I'll fill it with different weapons. With a weapon. Uh-huh. With a spike with a heavy ball. Yeah a bunch of rocks. Yeah heavy thing. A heavy like a shot put? No to be to like so I can whip it around. Oh like a bag of knives. Yeah. Oh I thought you meant like uh yeah she means like a flail like turn it into a weapon. Great yeah you can put some heavy stuff in your bindle.

Cool um I'm gonna also rifle through the lost and found. Uh-huh what are you looking for? It's just a heavy thing to fit in the blanket in my bindle. Yeah yeah you find a a big metal ball that looks like maybe it was a cannonball. It's perfect. But a small lightish cannonball. It's perfect. Like a five pin bowling ball. Yeah totally yeah. And you throw that in your bindle and now you got a heavy ass bindle. I gotta use all my core strength to keep it up but it's worth it. Great.

Tuck what about you? I uh take a shower. Perfect. A very Long show. For the first time, it's so long. I think it's the first time I've maybe done it the whole show. What, uh, what sword does Mears have? He's got the, he's got Callum's sword. Good. Yeah. Oh, right. Callum's sword. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Can you bring it with us? I don't know. He's, he's the only one that can wield it. Oh, that's true. And it's quite powerful. And I am coming with you. Yes. Yes. We need you, buddy. Okay. Yeah.

You're coming with us. You're coming with us. I was asking a question. Oh, yeah. You're coming with us. That's great. I love to hear it. So that means Victoria's in charge of the bar while we're gone? There's no way. Francis is in charge of the bar. Oh, come on. I could have done this for sure. Should we take Victoria with us? I almost don't want her in here just in case. Yeah. How can we bind her? How can we trust you? I mean, she's bound already by the oath. Yeah. If she betrays us, she's…

You'll know right away. You'll know right away. And she'll face something worse than death. That is true. That is true. I'll be honest. When you said, let's take Victoria, I was trying to imagine all the ways in which I could escape or betray you. But I realized… She's flat. Towards the door a little bit. But, but, but, but, but, but, but, I can't because of the oath that I swore to Billy. Also, if the Gibbous Man gets you, he will fuck you up, dude. Oh, yes. He will kill me.

It will not even be like a cool thing that I'll just be gone from reality probably. Yeah. I imagine he does it really slow and painful. I hope I never know. So I will need a weapon then. I guess she will. I go into the Lost and Found and I rummage around and I find a saber, which is her chosen weapon. I see a bunch of sabers in like an umbrella bucket and I go out of my way to pick the one that has like a red jewel on the pommel and like it looks the prettiest.

And I take it out and I give it to her. Oh, wow. She takes it and she kind of does a whoosh, whoosh in the air, balances it on her finger so you can see how well balanced the blade is. Ah, sheathes it. This is a beautiful weapon, Tuck. Yeah. Such a wonderful gift that you have given me. The gift to kill. A tool of death. I think in another life our marriage could have been quite exciting. All right, let's go. All right, we're opening the door. Yes.

So before you open the door, I put my hand on it and I warn you about what was in the message to me. Oh, they're convening a council. And the birds are already attacking. They are. Okay. And Thronebreaker is on its way. And there's someone missing from the council. Stoney. I can only imagine. Okay, let's try and get this opened up right onto the council rock. Oh, yeah. Where door where would be? In that tree that Billy grew. Oh, the knowledge tree that Billy grew there. I forgot about that.

Yeah, Billy and Vic. Yeah, remember? Yeah. Can we do that? Uh, there's no door there. That's the only thing. It's like it kind of needs a door. It has to have a door? Yeah, those are the rules. I mean, the closest is like… My mom's hut. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, I mean, there was a door there. Yeah, the one down the cliff. We'd have to climb a bit. That's fine. That's close enough. It would also be like more of a quiet entrance if you were like on the island and no one knew you were there. Yeah.

Yeah. Might be good to get the lay of the land first. Could be. Okay, let's do that. All right. Who's doing it? I will. 2d6 plus Korea is… Six. Do you want to help? Oh, yes. It's your island. You live there. It's my island. Yeah. Ten. Ten. I know this island so well. Yeah. Yeah. And I can already feel the vibes are okay out there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the vibes. Okay. So vibes are all right so far. No current attacks happening. No. Great.

However, with the seven to nine, it does not go where you want it to go. Oh. But it goes close. So where do we think it goes that is like not catastrophic? I was going to say, what's that hut that you were like pissing in? Yeah, that we all pissed and shattered. Yeah, we all started all pissed and shattered. Don't blame it just on me. You probably started. We were being held in a hut that we that they had set a guard outside of that we shat and pissed inside of. Yeah. Into a hole.

Doesn't sound like us at all. We all did it. That doesn't sound right at all. Pretty fucked up. So the shutters open, pop open, and we see a gray daylight and hear like the quiet voices of people going about their day to day life in a small out of the way isolated island village. What do you do? To certain realities. Oh. You go through the windows? Yeah. Yeah. Ten. Okay. Three questions off the list. What should we be on the lookout for?

What you should be on the lookout for is you see there are the regular old villagers of Hibernia going about their day, you know, carrying baskets of things back and forth and making meals, playing with children. But you do see there are more militant looking druids traveling, like patrolling the village basically in pairs. Eyes on the sky. Yeah. It looks like they are. And they're outfitted for war. They have like heavy clubs and thick like hide armor.

Some burnt trees and holes and huts like burnt from lightning strikes. Oh, sure. Yeah. You can see that there are some trees that have been like destroyed by lightning. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, there are graves that they have dug. Oh, sure. Yeah. You can see like. Fresh graves. Yeah. So what this tells you is that it's going to be hard to sneak around. But it could be done. But it'll be hard. Who's really in control here? So you're watching through the window and you see all this of the empty sky.

A druid from the count from the Oval Council that you met last time on Hibernia walk past on his way to where, you know, Oval Rock is where they'll be meeting. And then 15 seconds later, as you're peeking through the window, like, OK, the council is happening. You almost feel that him passing in the earth, the heaviness of his footsteps. You smell brine and seawater and kelp. Stoneye stomps past the window on his way to the Council Rock. He's here. My white whale.

So Stoneye is here, which leads you to believe that the council member that is not present could be somebody else. But also, Stoneye is a sworn enemy of Tacoma Dome. OK, so the vibes were not so good, I guess. I misread it. I misread it. I misread the vibe. No, Billy was accurate in the vibes. There's not an active attack on the village right now. And the fact that your vibe check said that it was fine and Stoneye is here maybe means that he's he has he what he's not a bad guy.

He's just a guy that hates me. Yeah. Which is different. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of good people hate me. I'd say a lot. Most on balance. If you're a good person, you probably hate me. That's fucked up. You've done. He's done a lot of fucked up shit. He hasn't. Like weird stuff to himself. Maybe. You just shoot a lot of conventions. Yeah. I did shit in that hole last time we were here. I knew it. I knew that was you. We shit in the hole. Oh, Bill, you too. Hey, too, Bill, dude.

What here's not what it appears to be. So, yeah, it sounds like you're hearing a conversation that has been in process. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And Stoneye claps a shoulder, claps a hand on Aldus' shoulder and is like, wait. And Aldus spins around, wheels on him. And he's like, you don't know that the Thunderbirds are here to hurt us.

They have always been forces for good. They've always been protectors of the natural realm. We provoked them into the fight. So soon after the gray receded, we forced them to fight us. And Stoneye's like, look around at what they've done to our people, gesturing at the graves. Yeah, like graves piled, like a couple piled bodies, burned trees and huts. And he's like, he's got a, he's got like a lightning burn across his chest.

He's got kelp, like piled up against like the ragged edges of a burn down his chest. And he's like, you don't know what it was like out there. You weren't with him when he died. And all this is like Grimshay's gone now. The council in Hibernia have to press on without his leadership. No. We have to hear the birds out and we have to be prepared to welcome them as allies. And yeah, Stoneye just says, you're a fool. And if you won't hear a reason, maybe the council will.

And he pushes past them and they carry on up the path. I'm eating popcorn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whoa. That was intense. That was really intense. Grimshay's gone. They're divided. There's no leader anymore. Grimshay's gone. Hmm. They're divided. There's no leader anymore. And then Tuck goes, we have a leader. And then he looks at Bing. Bing looks in the direction that Tuck's looking at. There's a goat in the corner of the room. Who is that? Francis. You're looking at Francis. I'm looking at you.

Francis is like, okay, I'll do it. Let me at them. I can convince them. Give me a gavel. Just because I'm a pig doesn't mean I can't lead. Forescoring 45 years ago, I fought back the hordes on the halfling lands. You got one more question left, I believe. What here is useful or valuable to me? Ah. Okay, what else is useful or valuable to you? Isled up near the hut that you're in, you see a bunch of leafy cloaks that could be used as disguises if you so chose, but not necessary.

I think we should do it. Yeah. Tensions seem a little high. Mm-hmm. I agree. Okay, let's sneak out there and get cloaked up. Okay. Alright. Is one person grabbing the cloaks, or is everybody going? Billy, you grab the cloaks. You're sneakiest. I'll grab them. Alright. 2d6 plus dex. Alright. Twelve. So you have enough cloaks to cover up. Yep. Mm-hmm. Oh, because Mirs and Victoria are also coming with you. Yeah. We're all going, yeah. Victoria and I, we rip a cloak in half and share it.

Sure, yeah, perfect. Yeah. I take the smaller piece. That's good. This tuck could not handle her taking the smaller piece. Okay, great. This is such a crazy experience. Living in this inn with a woman who is a black widow spider of my life. Yeah. And you are in the main… The only woman you have carnal knowledge of. Yeah. Kind of, yeah. You've seen her unclothed. I saw her naked. Yeah. And she was the only… Except, no, I saw Ruby naked, too. Yeah. And didn't fuck either of them. Yeah.

No, I fucked Ruby. Apparently. Apparently. She said we did. I can say. She might have just been being nice. I'm kind of just whispering this thing as we're walking up the mountain. Yeah. It's a lot of this a lot of the time. Uh-huh. I heard Ruby actually fucked you. Okay. You know, whatever, man. It means I did something. Yeah. I feel like I'm going to die at the end of this whole thing. If I die as a virgin, that would have been fucking embarrassing. Wait.

Was that Tuck admitting that he was a virgin before? Oh, yeah. A hundred percent. I bet everybody knew that. No. Bing knew it. I intuited. I communed with it. Okay. You are in the village of Hibernia. The village that you remember. Sort of a long, the main drag of it is like a long, narrow, forested and rocky path with like huts and stuff on either side leading up this winding path to Council Rock. Yeah. Which you remember being a cliff on the side of the island. Yeah. Looking out at the sea.

But even from where you are walking up this path, you see the branches of a large Arbutus tree? Yeah. That Bing planted in Oval Rock and Billy channeled time itself into the seed to grow a full-grown knowledge tree there containing another fragment of the Druid's collected knowledge. Do you have any goals or wishes as you approach Oval Rock? Oh, God. I feel like I should. You're here. Billy, you feel the absolute density of fairy energy in this place? Yeah. There's a lot of chatter.

What does it say? A lot of chatter, huh? It's just, you know, little, little, little spirits in there. Little fairies asking, how's it been? What are you up to? Oh. Billy's back. Like everybody's just saying like, oh, what's up, Billy? They're not even that excited. They're just like, oh, there you are. Like they just saw me. Yeah. Right. On their timeline, they just saw me. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a lot of nods. What up? Fairy sitting on a pumpkin waves to you as you walk by.

Is there the feeling like there is more fairy presence on the island than usual? It's a good question. They're flocking here for some reason? Yes. There are more fairies than usual. It's pretty crowded. It feels crowded to Billy. He's like, what? I can't breathe around here. You climb on top of Victoria's shoulder to get a bit of air. Uh-huh. I'm just sorry Victoria is just so noisy down there.

But Billy, as you're walking through like this intense field of fairy presence, you feel yourself getting like, maybe it's just the uphill walk, but you feel yourself getting kind of flushed and warm. Mm-hmm. Like, yeah, like there's just like, you're breathing a lot. It's getting kind of warm under this cloak. Slow down, everyone. I'm kind of like winded up here. Bloody carry. You're being carried by Victoria. I brought this stupid bowling ball.

Right, you have a bowling ball in a bag over your shoulder. A cannonball in a bag. But yeah, you are, there are bodies on the track leading up to the Council Rock almost. You see some of these, sorry, human standing. Oh, okay. Jesus. There are people. There are people. There are people blocking the way, basically. Two of the armed and armored druids that you saw in the village are blocking the path. And I go up to one of them.

As I'm still shrouded in the hood, I go, we heard tell of your loss and we came to help. And then he kind of like squints and leans down. And I go, I bring back the native son, the prodigal son of the druids. We're doing this now? The once and future king. Billy, get ready. The once and future king? Of druids. That has not once been established. I lift my, I lift Ving's off. Yeah, I do that. I pull Ving's hood back. Ving, son of Iliada. Murderer of Dithaniel. Did he talk to you about this?

No, we're flying with a suit of our blues. Here to take his place, his rightful place as the head of the council on Oval Rock. Okay, so you've got, you just rolled a handful of dice. Didn't once tell me what you were going to do or what move you were trying to use. But it was, what a flourish. It was a great flourish. Didn't ask you to roll. This I suppose would be 2d6 plus charisma. Are you trying to like, what do you call it? Lie? No, I don't know. Convince? Yeah, that thing. Oh, parlay?

Parlay. Yeah. You need to have something they want to parlay. The return of their king. Don't have kings. Ving was never in line to be king. Well, let them decide. Let the people decide. Who the fuck it is? Go to the polls. Go to the polls. Ving 2026. This is an idea that Tuck had in Hither & Yon before we left where he was like, okay, man, he got really in his head about it. He was like, this is the best thing I've ever thought. They want Ving to be their king, probably.

I'm flattered, but we could have talked about it. And I would have quickly come up with a different plan with you. Yeah. So 2d6 plus charisma. All right. All right, here we go. Please. 8 plus 2, because I have an ability, is 10. So you do this whole flourish. You pull Ving's hood off. And the two druid guards just close their eyes and sigh, rub the bridge of their noses. Simultaneously, they're both doing this in sync with each other. They're twins. They're twins. They're twins.

Please come with us. They part and they gesture up the path. After you, my liege. And they lead you up the path to the council. Ving's walking really slowly and like, his hands out, trying to keep up the air. And you get to the top of the path just before you would pass through the copse of trees that leads to the rock itself. And they stop you and they go, just wait a minute. Wait a minute here. The meeting has started. They don't like being interrupted. So just wait right here.

Well, then they're going to hate this, Ving says. No, no, wait, wait, wait. That's awesome. Hear ye, hear ye. Oh, geez. Okay. Yeah. So you burst through. How does this look? Is everybody going? I guess so, yeah. Yeah. I just want to step in and see what they're talking about and then also present ourselves as why we're here. Yeah, totally. So you hear many voices talking over one another until Aldous goes, Please, please, please listen to me. They are coming one way or the other.

We can either meet them as friend or we can meet them as foe. And if we meet them as foe, all will be lost. And that is when you arrive. Not all have turned to foe, but neither friends they be. All the heads turn. All the remaining members of the council. You see all the druids that you. Ving also looks to where they're looking. Oh, they're looking at, okay. Yeah, they're looking at you.

And an old woman, Valari, the willow's daughter, with long weeping willow strands hanging out of her hair, says, What is the meaning of this? Oh, no. What? What? Why, oh, no. I believe last time you left, you were bound to leave. We did an oath that we were going to kill Dathaniel within six weeks or else. Oh, that was the gesh. That was the gesh. Oh, the gesh. Oh, and he's alive still. Yeah. No, but we did kill.

We fulfilled it by killing the version of Dathaniel that the gibbous man was trying to kill. I want to bring that then. Okay. I want to bring news of an oath fulfilled. And bowling through the rest of the druids, the council members, stone eye, massive body, huge blubbery guy, huge shoulders and arms. seawater-drenched beard, covered in kelp, eyes the color of worn ocean stone. Hell yeah. What are you doing here? Dude, you're looking fuckin' thick now. You bulked up, that's sick.

He goes in for one of these. He goes in to dab him up. He goes in for a dab. Lookin' heavy, my man. Oh, dude, have you been using Iron Neck? And unless you do something… I don't do anything. Boom! Huge fist right in the jaw. You're gonna roll 2d10 and take the highest. Jesus, that's cruel and unusual. We just rushed it. You also have unbowed, unbent, unbroken. I will do that. You love getting punched in the face. Lookin' thick, dude. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken.

When you prepare yourself to endure some hardship without fighting back, roll plus con. On a hit, you can either take half damage, or you can completely ignore one other ill effect. On a 10+, you can also defeat, expose, or frustrate your oppressor. I love that he punches you. Bam! Cheers to that. Good to see you. Roll the damage first. So 6 is the highest. So it would be 6 damage. Now I'll roll 2d6 plus con for unbowed, unbent, unbroken. So there's a 4 plus 2 is… 6? Oh, okay. Can I aid?

How would you aid? I would stay his hand. It's not being stayed. That's part of unbowed, unbent, unbroken. But you could kind of help keep Tuck upright, I suppose. Help me not fucking pass out like a bitch. I just kind of catch him. 8. Okay. So that makes it a 7. Makes it a 7. So a 7 to 9. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken. I can take half the damage. Yeah. So I take only 3. And I have armor of 3. Yeah. So I get hit, and then I go… I spit out a tooth. And I go, wow. That's sick, dude.

Feeling strong, guy. Way to go. Stone Eye steps… He pushes you away. Pushes you back. The last time you were here, you made a mockery of our ways. A mockery of our counsel. And then you made a mockery of our gesh. You wheeled your way out of our agreement. The agreement has been fulfilled. By trickery and deceit. The man you thought was Dathaniel was not Dathaniel. The gesh we were bound to was to kill the man who brought ruin to your island. We did that.

It was something older and more malicious than anything you have ever faced. And it still threatens your island. The graves we pass on the way. The trees that are burnt. The storm that gathers on the edges of the island. Uh, and at this, Aldous speaks up and says, They lie! The birds come bearing goodwill and aid in this time of darkness. The birds are split. They've been fighting for months. And if we continue to be split, we will be fighting and will lose to the birds or greater darkness.

And, uh, Noreen of the Quiet Step, the Panther Druid, says, How can we trust any of you? Ving undoes his cloak slowly and shows the Tree of Knowledge that is budding in my… that I hold there. I still hold the seed of all that is druidic knowledge within me. I come as a tome of all that is the druids and I gesture to the constellations. They see the knowledge seed. Your chest, like, parts and reveals the seed that is sprouting. And it's sprouting like it's…

Since we've gotten to the island and it's close to this druidic home, it's like really vibrant. And there's a bit of a hush that falls over them. And Noreen steps forward, quietly, absolutely silent movement from her. And she leans in and looks closely at the seed and the constellations, reading within something that even you can't see right now. And she turns back to the council and says, I think we should hear them out. And that's where we'll end it. I've been your Game Master, Sean O'Hara.

Joining me as always, playing Tacoma Dome, the Barbarian Abdulaziz. He's been, he's been, like, woozing this. I'm totally fine. I gotta stay standing so I don't look like a fucking bitch. Dibs on that tooth on the ground. Playing Ving the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers. Take care, everyone. And playing Fat Billy the Halfling Thief, Jessica Dye. Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters around the world.

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That's somebody, probably, Goku's in Dragon Ball, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you next time. See you later. Bye. And so ends the tale of Adventures 3, who tried the best they can, though dumb and scared and lost they've been, for times abreast in revelry. And though our journey may be like a conclusion, we will not leave you without a resolution. Return next week to hear some more whilst you commute or do your chores. And for you, I'd gladly spout more.