Episode 3 – Reflections

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, he knows not his home, he loves to sing and fight Fingers have health, he shifts his shape, and wields a 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 Hey, what's going on everybody?

It's me, Sean O'Hara. And welcome to Spout Lore. I'm your Game Master. We're going to be continuing our game of Dungeon World today with me as always Playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian, Abdul Aziz. Hello everybody. Playing Ving, no last name. Paul Oppers. Ah, it's like Sting. Playing Fat Billy the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. Hi everyone. When last we left our heroes, the journey had begun.

After returning from the spirit world and meeting back up with Maggie Cole and the Menders organization, they had a loosely affiliated guild of sorts. They had agreed to continue their task of delivering Perel the Wizard's wardstone box to a place called the Vault. Some companions were left behind, such as Wicker the Cat, no longer with us.

And instead, now traveling with them, I assume in an attempt to have some sort of accountability, Mears Foulsmith, a newly minted Mender and stressed out teen. There was some shopping happened, and you are now in the possession of a huge hippopotamus sized shaggy pig thing that Ving has said is named Francis, and a cart, and you are on your way to the Firefields Principality. How's everybody feeling? I don't know, like I'm happy. I'm feeling happy that my friend is not dead anymore.

And we're, I, but also I feel a sense of loss. Because… Because we were gone for three months, so there's a lot that we missed. Right, yeah, you found out that upon your return, three months have apparently passed. I've, yeah, I think we missed the season finale of the Lone Tree Hill Players. The, they do that serialized teen drama about a group of teens playing basketball. I thought it was lacrosse. What's basketball again? Um, it's, uh…

You try, you have a bunch of baskets on the end of sticks, and you try, and you get, and you get a little ball in there, and then you try and hit, get it into a net at the end of a field. Lacrosse is when you dribble a bigger ball and try to get it into nets. Lacrosse is French, uh, is a French cooking competition where you make hot cross buns. But yeah, that's sort of where we start.

Mears, uh, is guiding the cart that you all find yourself in, and said that, If you're going to make it to the vault in time, if you're going to travel through the fire fields, you need to get there before the monsoons. Oh, yeah, we want to do that. You're leaving Highspear. Okay. You're traveling down the road and, you know, you pass the road that you know would take you back to Bullrush Village and the relative peace and safety that you found for a few days.

And I get out of the cart when we're passing that road. Oh, and yeah, Mears hauls on the reins and goes, ah, what's the holdup? What's going on? I'm like, I just have to do a pensive look down this road for a bit. So I just, I grab a handful of dirt and I'm like, I let it blow in the wind. I'm like, wait, what was her name? Oh, my God. Allaki. It was Allaki, yeah. I'm like, Allaki. Mears turns back and goes, does he do this a lot? No, I've never seen that before.

I've never seen it with the dirt. I mean, he says women's names all the time, but I've never seen the dirt thing. And then you just get back in the cart? Well, I go up to these guys. I'm like, how did that one look? It looked weird. I mean, there was no wind, so the dirt just fell on the ground. I mean, she didn't die. It looked like you were picking up where you knew her ashes were. Okay. Well, we'll go and try it one more time. And I just, I go back up and I, this time. Kneel. I kneel.

He's coaching me from far away. Kneel. Okay, I kneel. I come up too. Okay. And I start blowing. Like as the wind? Okay, yeah. Because the air is very still. Yeah, it's pretty still. So Billy's just walking around a kneeling tuck? Yeah. He's going. And he's doing the thing where he's waving his arms and pretending to be wind. That's really good wind, Billy. Blow, Billy, blow. They're spit everywhere. And as that's happening, I grab another handful of dirt and I'm like, one day.

This time I say one day. And I look at Ving for approval or coaching. And I say, now. And then I blow into my fist. And as he blows it, Ving runs up behind and gobs as much of the dirt as it comes to his mouth and then just runs down the road with it, throwing it up in the air. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Yeah, there's like every once in a while, somebody will walk by with like a hand cart. It's like, hello. Hi, we're in the middle of something. Yeah, people are giving you a pretty wide berth. Cool.

Because you're still pretty close to the city gate. And it's a pretty big city. Yeah. Well, sometimes we'll like turn back and be like, how did that one look? We'll all ask, but now we're all invested in it now. Yeah. And you hear from high up on the city wall, you see a guard go, pretty good. It looks pretty good. On a scale of one to 10 of pensiveness. Oh, like easily eight, maybe nine. Oh, we all high five. What are your criticisms? It's mostly technical, but I'd say you've got the feeling.

Okay, cool. We did it. Yeah. I turned to mirrors. I'm like, how long was it? He looks up at the sun and he measures with his hand against the horizon in the sunlight. Squints, says, I have no idea. Just get back in the cart. We should go. Okay. And he whips Francis, the woolly pig who gives a like. Do not whip Francis. No, it was like a, it was like a, yeah, you know. You'll be pulling the cart before I'm through with you. If you keep this up. Francis, could we go now, please? And he reaches.

He goes forward with his foot and prods the back of the. Hey. I'm just, I'm willing to take alternative ideas. Have you thought of ants asking Francis how he feels today? Or if he's thirsty or if he's hungry or if he needs to have a nap. Or if he's a he at all. Or I, yeah, maybe she's a she or they. He holds the reins out to you. I take them and I drive the pig. Mirrors. Watch this. Oh, Francis, may we please? My lady. And then clip, clop. So Francis, the woolly pig just lets out a.

And then starts clomping down the road. And then being hangs the reins back to beers. And beers just holds them in one hand and just lets, lets the pig do its thing. And yeah, over the next five days or so, it's fairly simple going. You camp at the side of the road when you need to. You stop at roadhouses here and there. What do they look like? This is like a nice area of the principality. Because from Bull Rush to High Spirits, a lot of rolling plains and river valleys.

But the mountain range that High Spirits are part of, the Cypress Mountains, continues on from east to west. And eventually breaks off into like another smaller range of mountains. And the trees start to get denser. And there's more pines and oaks and sort of other coniferous trees that start to get dense. So there's copses of trees that turn into small forests.

And you can see in the distance, the far, far distance, you can see the wall of pine forest that marks the edge of the firefields principality. So there's a lot of nice old wooden roadhouses or small villages in the distance around trees that look like lumber camps. You can smell like the smell of wood smoke all the time. Yeah, there's a point where it's just wood fires all the time. There's cedar in the air. And the road is like wooden planks in places.

And there's also some spots where it's like. There's like wooden bricks that have just been bricked up on this pretty nicely maintained road. Are we passing any people as we go? It gets lighter in this direction. You don't know if it's time of year, although Mears did mention like monsoons. So you think that maybe around this time of year, people don't travel as much because they just don't want to get caught in the rain. This is sort of a period of downtime and reflection.

Like there's a lot of time for you to think about your different things. And there's… Billy's just sleeping the whole time. No, it's so boring for Billy. He hates to reflect. Okay, so here's the thing that happens a lot for Billy. Perel appears before you a lot in this time frame. Because if you remember during your visit to the High Spirit Mall, he's able to sort of enter this state of your mind where everything else has slowed down or stopped.

And he can sort of have extended conversations with you. And he wants to talk about all the magic stuff that happened in the spirit world. And the fact that your crystals have crumbled into just like a hand. A handful of light blue gravel. And he's trying to teach you about magic. Something that you… That Billy took from… Because you and I have talked about this. Jessica and Sean have talked about this a little bit.

But after the planting of Gary, the Gary Oak tree in the forest, Billy remembered something about his past. What did he remember? Do you remember? No. What did he remember? What did I remember? That you remember the spot in your mind. In your memory that Perel has appeared to you before. The tree that you're sitting at the base of is a Gary Oak tree. Yes. But as we have established, Gary is the first Gary Oak tree. Oh. Yes. You remembered the future. Oh my God.

Or the weird screwed up nature of time and space post-Exodus. Maybe the past. Do you think that tree was Gary? I think it might have been. Oh. Cute. But that also with Billy's… He's informing from Perel that Billy is not quite a halfling child. Yeah. He's a little fairy boy. He's a little fairy boy. And that tree, as we've talked about, Billy remembers. What? What? Nothing? What do you mean? I laughed because Wes laughed. Oh, at little fairy boy? Grow up, Wes.

Oh, you're a little fairy boy, aren't you? You just like being a fairy boy with your tutus and your creamsicles. Your pants are so tight. You were short, short. Creamsicles. Creamsicles. Creamsicles? Enjoy lollies. Oh, man. So. But yeah. So what were you thinking Billy's relationship with this tree was? All right. So what I was thinking for Billo is that he is born from the woods. He was found at that tree at his age. Yeah. He's always been that age. He was just born fully formed, basically.

Yeah. Yeah. And he was found by the original William, who was a farmer at the time. William was a nice man. He farmed. He farmed. Root vegetables? Oh, yeah. Yeah, potatoes. Yep. As everyone did. Farmed potatoes and grains. Grains. Short grains. Now you get specific. So William took little Billy in as his own. And he was pretty nice to him. But William was an old farmer. And he left him in the care of his other children, William Jr. And his wife. And Billy doesn't really know him.

And Billy doesn't really remember all of them. But many subsequent Williams, like regular William, Skinny Bill, Hungry Bill, Big Bill, Small Bill. Wait. Did William name all of his kids and grandkids Bill? There's just not a lot of names. Halflings are pretty unimaginative. There's just a lot of Williams and Willys and Billys and Billows. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's so funny. That's why you're denoted to be Fat Billy. Yeah. So Fat Billy. Anyway. Yeah.

So Billy's remembered this part of his past as part of his childhood and his heritage. So he was born of the Gary O. Yeah. And a lot of people didn't like Billy because they were like, we've never seen this weird child. His hair is a strange color. He does weird things. Let's lock him up. Let's treat him like a piece of shit. Yeah. He's like an orange piece of shit. Yeah. Let's treat him like the little fairy boy that he is. Yeah. Oh, it didn't help that he wore like such tight pants.

I mean, also because he was so fat. All the pants just ended up being tight. All of the pants that halflings make are the exact same size because all halflings are the same size. And they were just like, this fat little fuck doesn't fit in our pants. We hate him for it. That's why they didn't like him. Because it was annoying. Yeah. And also because he burned down so many grain silos by accident.

And that actually factors into what Perel is talking to you about because he, in a many drawn out, extremely boring, like thaumaturgic, like academic lectures. Yes. He does realize partway through that he's been trying to force a way of magical thinking on you. Yes. But now with the knowledge that you're a fairy, he's like, okay, this might explain, why the crystals have crumbled. Because you were basically trying to force your magical energy through a tool that you can't use.

So while it was amplifying your magical ability, it was also destroying the structure of the crystal at the same time. God, speak English or whatever. That was the plainest I could have made. Speak common. Speak common. Common, please. That was absolutely. That was absolutely the simplest way I could have said that. No. Okay. Imagine you were trying to hammer a nail with a spoon. I have done this. Yes. How did it go? Pretty good, actually. Oh, I don't believe you.

It was a small nail and a big spoon. It went in. It did the job. Yeah. This is when we learned that Billy has, on several occasions, stolen hammers and used them to drink soups. That's the real trick. You think hammering a nail with a spoon is hard? Try drinking soup with a hammer. You guys think Billy uses utensils? Crazy. That's the trick right there.

But the takeaway from all of Perel's magical lecturing is, and he's getting real, like, over the days, he's getting really, like, stressed out about it. And his magical projection of himself from the box, he's, like, loosened his robe a little bit. He's got, like, some short pants underneath. And, like, basically. He's got short pants? He's underneath his robe. Yeah. And he's basically got, like, a polo shirt. Not, like, mid-thigh. You know, like, casual. He's got capris on? Basically.

What the fuck is going on with this? And he's just, like, he's got his. One day, he's got his hands on his hips and his robe's kind of open. And you can see his, like, casual wear underneath. And you don't know why his magical projection is doing this. You think that now, since he's been separated from this, like, dark part of himself for so long, he's, like, getting more comfortable with how he used to be. So every once in a while, you'll see him, like, with glasses on.

And he'll just have, like, these little reading glasses on the end of his nose. Like, what are we doing wrong? What are we doing wrong? You have the ability. What are we doing wrong? I like that he's just, like, becoming more and more, like, a distraught substitute teacher. Where he's just, like. I'm going to get through to these kids. He's just, like, when do I have to wheel out the TV and play Shrek?

At some point, he has to break down and be like, okay, today we're just going to watch a movie. Yes! But the takeaway of this, basically, is that he. He does eventually help you channel this sort of natural fairy magic that you have. And Billy learns to replicate a simple trick. What trick has Billy learned to replicate? Guys, what should I. Food. You just did it. A food thing? Something Billy centered. It's got to be something associated with, like, your appetites.

Because that's the thing about, like, the fae. They're driven entirely by desire, right? Is that true? Yeah. What are we doing right now, Sean? Is it? Are we not improv? Are we not creating the world that we are in? Is there a guidebook? But are we letting Jessica speak or are we directing it forward? No, no, no. I am explaining something to Jessica about something that she knows about. It is very important that she listens to me. Yeah. I call it correct-splaining.

Happy International Women's Day, everybody. Happy International Women's Day. Abdullah's shirt is open. He's wearing a wife beater underneath. And he calls it a wife beater. Okay. All right. I'll throw out an idea. No, no, no. I want to hear it. I asked you guys. Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that we were doing a back and forth. So, in other books that I've read, the fae are driven entirely by desire.

So, it's like all of the magic that they do is, like, it has to be in service to their desire. So, like, Billy's desire is rooted entirely in, like, satiating his appetite. So, that's why. That's how I would. Yeah. Yeah. Tactile pleasures. That's so legit. Yeah. Oh, and tactile. Like, soft. Yeah. The kid is soft and comfortable. Wicker. Yeah. Wicker. Also soft. Yeah. Yeah. Wearing around a raccoon skin. Ooh. Soft. Mm-hmm. So, I've. So, I talked to.

Like, you and I have talked about this, Jessica. And one of the things that you think that fairies are really good at is switching things. Uh-huh. So, is this maybe Billy has learned to, like, switch the materials of small things? Fuck yes. Okay. Yes. So. So, this will be very small scale to start. Okay. It just will be. I had so much. All right. No. Okay. No. Okay. What were you going to say? No. Just go there. I was like. Who's correct-splaining now? Okay. Sean. It's me.

I'm the correct-splainer. I've been the correct-splainer all along. I was going to. This is too big. No. But I was like. I could pick, like, little weeds and then they turn into tasty foods. Croissants. Croissants. A leaf becomes little mini croissants. It's all croissants. That's funny. Ving does the opposite. Yeah. Ving. Yeah. He just, like, he goes into a bakery. He just eats a jar full of. Nettles. Seriously. Kale. Chard. Rutabaga. Rutabaga. Rutabaga. So that totally makes sense. So you.

Billy can, like, pick a weed and make it taste like a different thing. Yeah. He can pick poison berries and they turn into little raspberries. Yeah. That's great. Awesome. So. Oh, I have another idea. Every bed that Billy sleeps in, like, when he wakes up is like. If you touch it, it's like all of a sudden, like, the softest, most comfortable thing. It's like. Almost like. It's an involuntary response where he changes his. His environment. To be more comfortable. Oh, I like that a lot. Yeah.

That's really cool. Yeah. That's really good. And that's why you should always listen to me. Yeah. The correct explainer. The man. A 30-year-old man. But when you figure that out, like, you turn. Yeah. It might be that you pick a weed one day and you make it taste like a new thing. A nib. Like a nib? Yeah. Like a candy. Like a licorice nib. Yeah. Yeah. That is a fun thing where we're just, like, walking down the road and Billy's like, try this one. We're just like, whoa. What flavor is this?

It tastes so good. It's pudding. Oh, Billy Wonka. My dreams. The day you figure that out, like, the day Billy does it for the first time, you're in one of those, like, mental, like, Professor X sort of Perel spaces where he's frozen everything else for a little bit. And he is so excited. Yeah. He, like, pulls a. You can see it in his short pants. Yeah. You can see how excited he is. They're quivering. Quivering short pants. But he pulls out a notebook and immediately starts writing it.

Like, this is incredible. Yeah. Even in my lifetime, I've never observed magic quite like this. So, so instinctual. So interesting. Yes. And then I let out a huge fart. And the time starts moving again. But as time is moving, he's, like, moving forward. He sighs a little bit when you fart, of course. And he gets down on one knee and he looks at you and he says, I am very proud of you, Billy. Thank you. And he disappears. Okay. That's nice. Yeah. And so we'll go to Tuck next.

Tuck, you have a new axe that has been basically created by three rock spirits that you had a very close, friendly bond with in the spirit world. Mm-hmm. Larry, Terry, and Chad. Yeah. When you came through with that axe, one Sweet Caroline, the orc mender, was like, that is extremely dope. Like, that is a very cool axe. Yeah. And. It looks. Because it was created in the spirit world. So it was created, like, partially from, like, my expectations and what was in my head when being created it.

Mm-hmm. And it is based on the artwork on an album cover. Oh, yeah. Okay. That makes sense. Which is why Sweet Caroline loved it so much. Yeah. Because Tuck and Caroline have very similar tastes in music. Yeah, totally. They're both into metal. Yeah. It was off the album. Uh. Uh. Uh. Roadhouse. It has a young Patrick Swayze on it in a monster truck. And he's holding. Back up. Back up. Fuck. Um. Yeah. It's. It's a Ferns in the Water album. Oh, yeah. Called Roadhouse. Yeah.

And it's a picture of Patrick Swayze on it. Um. Great. And, yeah. So Cartwin, as somebody that has a great deal of experience with the spirit world, was just stunned by this axe. Yeah. Yeah. Because, like, she's heard of spirits taking residence in items. But this, like, union of Ving's direction of the spirits and their, like, melding with a physical item is something that she hadn't seen before.

So over these few days, Tuck has a lot of time to sort of get to know this new weapon and how it interacts with the material world. And so, yeah. What has Tuck learned? So this is what it is. Okay. So I. The degree to which I know how to use this magic item is dependent on how good I am at communing with the spirits. Yeah. Totally. Which is something that I have no fucking clue how to do. So at the beginning, it's, like, a very rough tool.

It's just, like, I use it to, like, kind of stone spirit nature to smash other things that have stone or stone in them. Yeah. Very effectively. Yeah. That's awesome. And Ving's telling you to listen to the axe and you don't know what that means. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. And then later on, I can use it to, like, manipulate the other elements that are in the stone. Maybe to a degree that it's, like, the axe doesn't even have to, like, smash them. Yeah.

But it, like, it'll be, like, it'll give me, if I can commune through it with the other elements, it'll give me, like, an element of spirit talker or whatever world. Yeah. For sure. World, like, where you can, like. Communicate with spirits. Like, or manipulate other things. Totally. So. And then you find out that the axe is your father. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. That's great, then. And it's just a narrative thing. Yeah. Like, it's just, it's good at destroying stone. Yeah. I imagine it.

I imagine a scene where he's, like, trying to, like, figure out how to use it. And he keeps hurting himself because he's got so many sharp edges. Yeah. And I imagine, like, Ving would have to help. Like, Ving sees me in a clearing, like, trying to whip it all over the place. Yeah. Handle first, bud. And I'm like. Like, so I hold it by the handle instead of by the blade. Like an idiot. Okay. But, yeah. I imagine it would be, like, Ving.

That would be, like, this is how you kind of, like, clear your mind and commune with the spirits inside. Yeah. So, okay. So, there's a night where you're camped on the side of the road, sort of in a small copse of pine trees. And Mears has made a little campfire. And he's ripped open a bunch of ration packets. And you see he's got, like, some dried meats. And, like, vegetables and stuff like that. And he's cooking, like, on the campfire. And it seems like he's a pretty good cook, actually.

He's making this little meal. Thank God. He's got oils and spices and stuff that he, like, pulls out of a bag. Yeah. And he's just making this, like, really nice sort of rice with vegetables. And, Billy, I can see Jessica's eyes. She just whines into the mic. Like, what kind of spices are you talking? I'm just right over his shoulder. Yeah. And I'm like, oh, yeah. When's that going to be ready? It's like, oh, it should be. It should just be ready. Real quick.

But throughout the cooking process, he's, like, giving Billy a little bit here and there. He, like, cuts up an onion and, like, gives Billy some onion. And cuts up some dried beef and gives Billy some dried beef. And this is happening. Billy and Mears are cooking a meal together over the campfire. It's such a cute thing. Yeah. And just outside the cops, there's, like, a more open grassy area. And Tuck and Ving are out there with Tuck's new axe. Yeah. Shh. You hear that? I hear wind.

What else do you hear? I hear Billy eating. Listen inside your head. I hear guns and roses. I hear G and F and R. Yeah. I hear a sweet metal riff. The axe is trying to say things to you. And I can hear it in the music. Picture Larry, Terry, and Chad. Talk to them now. And I can't. I'm imagining them in my head as, like, the kind of, like, fused version of them. And I'm, like, trying to think things at them. But I can only hear, like, guitar riffs coming back at me. Just go with it.

Let the music go. Just go where it wants to go. That's the way that the axe is talking to you. So I pick up the axe. And I, like, listen to the music. And as, like, kind of the riff, like, extends up. Yeah. Yeah. Do it again. I, like, I take it and I, like, smash through, like, a rock that's protruding from the ground. And it, like, obliterates it. Yeah. It's just this huge, like, whoo. And it just explodes. It just explodes. It's into, like, chunks of rock and stone. Cool.

He's, like, that was easy. Yeah. That was great. I'm great at this. That was great. I don't need to learn anything else. And then Vic's, like, wait, wait. There's more. I'm, like, no. I don't need to know anything. This is so cool. Hey, Billy. I run off. I run off. I'm going to show Billy. I'm going to show him. Hey. I was sitting on that rock. Billy just goes rolling across the ground. I'm okay, but I lost all my food. I go and I scoop him up. And I take him over to Mir's. I'm, like.

We have to give Billy more food. I accidentally. Yeah. And Mir scoops out some more of whatever he was making. And you just have the rest of the night is, like, very nice. Yeah. And Ving, over this course of time, you have some time to reflect on your time in the spirit world and what that has done to you. So, how do you think this, like, extended stay in the spirit realm has affected Ving, who is, like, so connected to spirits and stuff like that, that it is, like, his whole life? Yeah.

Well, it is a rebirth. It is a death and a rebirth. So, he's changed. And that's part of the name dropping. And he's watching Billy, like, Tuck and Billy, like, romp around. And Tuck's, like, pretending to play guitar in his axe. And Billy's, like, eating hairs out of his beard. And you're, like, it tastes like spaghetti. And he's just, like, really there in the soft glow. And Mir's is mixing up his food. And he's. Just full of love and for the family. And he's. All that anger before from his.

What he was on a mission for. To get a bunch of money. To. He was. He was trying to. He was trying to raise. To get an army. A mercenary's army. Whoa. Whoa. He was trying to go after his dad. Whoa. Who is a high-ranking ranger. And. He was. He was trying to build an army. And he didn't know what that meant. Or how to do. Go about that. But he's feeling now. In this life. In this new life. He's feeling some of that anger go. And some of that attachment go. Which is why also he's feeling.

He has been feeling guilty about turning into the spirits. He's been feeling like. Like he can't manipulate. The spirit of things. And he feels really bad. He still has a. The. The. The look on the eagle's face. When he snubbed him. Mm-hmm. Uh. Um. And just everybody. He doesn't want to. Use. I don't know. Spirits anymore like that. Yeah. So. So how does. Like what does that mean for. Bing. Like does Bing not want to shapeshift anymore. I don't think he knows what that means right yet. Right.

Okay. Um. He knows that he can't. Make. Things. So he's going to have to try and find. Find a spirit that is willing to. Give and take. He needs to repair that relationship. Oh. So maybe it means that he doesn't just. Just chain into whatever he wants. But he will find. Uh. He will settle. Into a few different forms. Whoa. Okay. So has. Bing been spending time like. More. Like time sort of casting his mind. To the spirit world. To sort of. Connect.

Or is he trying to find something in the material plane? I think the thing is that he is trying to find. Yeah. Something more in the material plane. And he. He is. A part of him still walks in the spirit plane. Like he was. He was there for a long time. Also. This whole time. In the quiet. Moments. He's been. He's been contemplating. The crystals of his hands. Mm-hmm. And. I would like him to be able to manipulate that. And shape shift. Oh. Crystals as. What is it? Yeah. So. Over the.

The days that you've been traveling. Mm-hmm. At night. Yeah. He's just. Taking some time to meditate. And try and manipulate the crystals in his hands. And you do find a way to. Do like a low level. Of shape shifting. Mm-hmm. A more. Like specific method of shape shifting. So you can. Extend the crystals. Turning them into claws. Or you can make them take different shapes. That are useful. Mm-hmm. Uh. It hurts. Like knives of stabbing weapons. Yeah. Exactly. But it hurts. Quite a lot. Yeah.

Cause it's like. Integrated into your flesh. Gross. Um. It's not like you're turning your flesh. From one thing to the other. You're basically. Forcing these. Yeah. Shards. That are in your body. Uh. Into different like. Offensive shapes. Cool. Uh. Which is tight as hell. Snickety. Snickety. And so. Are you saying that. Ving is trying to find like. An animal. That would be willing to. Lend its shapes to him sometime. Or something like that. Yeah. Totally. I think it's moving from.

Like a shapeshifter. Of a bunch of different stuff. Into more of a spirit animal. Kind of situation. Okay. Spirit. So what do you mean? Can you elaborate? Just so I know. Oh. Just like. So it's something that's. Is his essence. And it's a give and take. And. Right. He lends something to this animal too. Maybe. I don't know. So it's like. Instead of just like. In it being. A casual. Spiritual relationship. Yeah. Where he kind of like. Like. Send missives. Later. You up. At like 2 a.m. Yeah.

And then. I need you for a fight. And then. And then you sneak out. The next morning. Of their. Of their spirit form. Yeah. This is one that you're going to move in. With. We're still open though. Yeah. No. I'm free. I'm free to see any spirits I want. Yeah. So it is a spirit. Just don't want to. It's a specific spirit. Is what we're talking about. Yeah. Okay. Sure. Well. Is that what you want? I don't. Yes. Of course. For now. The fuck I know what I want. Or is it like. Or is it like.

Now I get. Like you have access to the move. Animal companion. And you have like. I would love. To come upon an animal. And companion it. Okay. So. That is something we can do. Like we can. For Billy. He also wants. He's feeling. Yeah. Like Billy needs a bud. And a wicker's gone. I guess it could be like a thing. Where you like. Kind of like. Put a call out. And be like. Yeah. What answers it. Yeah. You're just waiting for a familiar to show up. I like that. Yeah.

I like that he's putting out these like. He's putting out these calls of. It's part of the meditation. So what do we think answers? I don't know yet. Don't know yet. No. Nothing yet. Nothing yet. All right. No. It's going to take a bit. We'll talk about this later. So just every night. There's these like spiritual waves going out. Out of his crystal things. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh I like that. Cool as hell. Smashes them against the axe. Uses the axe. Does it become the sort of thing where.

Now that Ving is putting out this nightly call. To whatever animal. Wants to join forces. Like every time a deer wanders into a clearing. Yeah. Ving just makes eye contact. Like. Yeah. Does it you? Yeah. Yeah. I like it. It's like he wants it too bad. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's why it's not going to happen now. Yeah. He's looking for love in all the places. Yeah. You know like when you're single. And you walk into a bar. And you're like. Which one of these ladies is going to be my wife?

Yeah. Yeah. But in the world of animals. Yeah. Wherever he goes. Every living thing. Yeah. Great. So yeah. That's sort of where Ving's at. Is he's learned to manipulate the crystals in his hands. Into weapons. Which is some cool ass Wolverine stuff. And he's also put out the call to an animal. Rad. Okay. That's great. I'm very interested to see where that goes. And so it's on this like fifth. Sixth day of traveling. After you've all sort of made these pretty huge revelations.

That you start seeing. The clouds on the horizon. Getting darker. And the sky is just getting. More intimidating. As it just becomes this like dark storm gray. And every morning now. Mirrors is looking up like. Oh man. The rains can happen at any time. We should put the tarp on the wagon today. Like he's being a real. Wet blanket. Worry wart. Yeah. Yeah. So at this point. I'm going to ask you all to make an. Undertake a perilous journey role. We're in the. Kind of on the border of the firefield.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's 2d6 plus wisdom. And you pick. Remember you. The three of you pick a role. Pathfinder. Trailblazer. Quartermaster. I'll do trailblazer. Okay. I'll be quartermaster. What's the other one? The scout. Yeah. I'll take that. All right. Whoa. I got 11. Holy hell. Wow. Whoa. 10. Five. Five. What was. What was yours again? Oh, six. Sorry. I got it. No. No. Six is still a failure. I know. I mean, I got the math right. Eventually. Yeah.

So take a point of experience from failing. And you were quartermaster. Yeah. So we all starved to death. Yeah. Everybody starves. It's weird that mirrors isn't doing all of these. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. I start like sitting in the back eating crackers. Yeah. This is his job. Pick up the slack, mirrors. Yeah. Mirrors is driving the wagon. Francis is driving the wagon. Yeah. Mirrors hasn't done much in the last. Other than cook. He's been cooking a lot. I got saffron. Fuck. Who cares? Yeah.

I care. That is what he's doing. Mirrors. Like. We're. Walking alongside the cart. And we see like. A fucking. Mountain of clouds in the sky up here. Like. Out of nowhere. We're like. Holy shit. And mirrors is like. Out in a fucking glade. Picking saffron. For dinner. You almost never find this in the wild. Yeah. So we cut to mirrors. While we're staring down the storm. And what does he do? He's. Yeah. He's picking. He's under a tree. Picking saffron. Like. Wow. You never find this.

Especially this time of year. And he's like. Shoving it into a little pouch that he has. And the pouch is like. Hanging off. The strings are hanging off. One of his. Like. Off his hook hand. And he's just shoving saffron into it. He's like. Oh. This is. You're gonna love this. He's talking to himself. Well. He's. Yeah. Cause he's not close by. Yeah. No. He's saying. You're gonna love this. Mirrors. And he turns around. He goes. You're gonna love this. Everybody. And. And he's telling himself.

He's like. This is. Mirrors is lucky day. Yeah. It's. What else is he saying? Or singing to himself? Yeah. Yeah. Pie. Yeah. Yeah. Music. Pie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's what the quartermaster failure is. Is. Cause. Scout. Succeeded. Unmitigated. What does a scout do? So a scout is. So on a 10 plus. You get the drop. On any potential threats. So Billy's a good scout. Cause he's what?

Cause he's got his hands up to his face. Like he's. Looking through binoculars. I'm scouting. He brings his. He brings his hands down. And there's like black circles. Cause we. Vig and I as a prank. Just put. We noticed that he's doing that. Put charcoal on his. So we put charcoal on his index finger and thumb. He'll look like a robber. So now he looks like an actual raccoon. Yeah. And the trailblazer. Reduces the amount of time to reach the destination. Okay. Which is great. But quartermaster.

With a failure. Means that. That you use up way more food. Than you were supposed to. And it's because. Mears gets so excited. About a saffron. That every night. He's cooking way more. Than he should be. So it's just like. Every day you're going. Through the food. Like this. Can't be right. And you realize. That Mears is used up. Like a week's worth of food. Like in the last three days. Everything's jumbled up. But it's been. It's been six days. Right. Yeah. But in the last three days.

Since he found the paella. Like over. And the rains have started. The paella. Yeah. Yeah. He made a paella. Because he found like. That there was some dried seafood. Well he's like. I had to make a paella. I brought a paella pan. Yeah. And I opened the. The dried shrimp. And we had to cook all of it. Because the paella. I can't. I knew the proportions. For a big thing of paella. I didn't know how to like. Change the fractions. To make it a smaller portion. So I had to cook all of it.

I am so supportive of it. And Billy. Is manipulating him. Oh. This is your fault. Yeah. Billy's looking at a pile of shrimp. Like. I don't think that's going to be enough. You should put another andouille in there. Yeah. Yeah. What's. What's Billy been doing to mirrors? Yeah. He's been opening all the shrimp bags. And he's like. Look. I found. More. And that I've been mysteriously opened. I think. It's Francis. Billy's using Francis as a fall guy. Well. Billy chatted with Francis. And he's like.

I'll take the heat. If anything serious happens. But I gotta have like. Some sort of. Scalpel. Heat coat. And Francis is not responding. To any of this. Francis is just chewing on a mouthful of grass. Like. Francis looks me in the eyes. And I assume. That means he agrees. And I'm like. We're in this together. My friend. And I put out my fist. For a fist bump. And. He doesn't do anything. It just bumps into his snout. Yeah. Big woolly snout. Yeah. And he gives a. Yeah. Woohoo.

I also think it makes sense. Because usually Ving's in charge. Because he's like. A forger dude. Yeah. But he's just been. Looking at his hands for days. And looking at. Like all the. All the bugs and birds around. He's very distracted. Yeah. Like. It's kind of like. We're all fucking with Mears. Yeah. That's true. The result is that. We ran out of food. Yeah. Mears' big first. Like solo mission. And he's already fucking it up. And you're helping him. Fuck it up. Yeah. Yeah. Great.

So that's been happening. And the rain started. A couple days ago. But it was pretty light. Like. Tuck your. Keeping an eye on things. To the point where. Shockingly. In between. Fucking with Mears. You're keeping things. Pretty well on track. And. You. You're like. Making good time. So. You have. Gone pretty deep. Into the fire fields. Like you're a few days. Into the territory. And the forests have gotten really dense. And the rain's been really light. So you haven't been like. Trapped.

In the rain yet. But you realize that you're. Really running out of food. Like you realize that this is not. A great. Time. So you have some time to figure out. What you want to do. Before it gets really bad. Yeah. Yeah. And part of the reason. Why. We've made such good time. Is because. Every. Every once in a while. I'll put. Francis on my back. And I'll pull the cart. Francis is easily. A thousand pounds. Wow. I'm strong. Whoa. How much do you think. Tuck can lift? Two thousand pounds. Yeah.

Okay. Well there we go. How much does Tuck weigh? We've said three hundred. But I realize that's seven feet tall. And is like comically large. As Tuck is three. Seven feet tall. Like five feet wide. Yeah. Three hundred is way too light. Yeah. He definitely weighs. Like seven hundred pounds. Oh my god. What a monster person. Yeah. Um. Yeah. How do you even fit. In the shitty cart. That you have? You don't. I kind of just walk. Beside it. And I drag it. Some of the time. That's true.

And Francis happily walks. Along beside you. While you're doing that. And sometimes I. Yeah. It's the. We're all having conversations. With this pig. Where I'm just like. Hey are you tired? And I take that. As tacit. Agreement. That he's tired. We're all putting a lot. Into this pig. Like. We're all having. Into this weird. Huge hippo pig. We. So here's the thing. Is we all. Have all just gone through. A really fucked up situation. And we're using the pig. As a therapist. Basically.

Where we're talking. At him. And then. He's just grunting. Back at us. And we're just like. I never thought about it. Like that before. You're so wise. Wise beyond your years. And then we try. And pay him back. By being like. You know. Like. Well. I'll take over for a bit. Because you've been so helpful. And then he's getting in. And eating a bunch of shrimp. He is. Because I'm feeding it to him. And also. I sneak him. Lots of bowls of paella. We have been. Wasting food. Yeah. That. Like. Crazy.

The failure is that. None of you had the good. Fucking sense. To use the food. That you had. Wisely. Even Mears. Who's like. On the clock. Like this is a job. Yeah. And Mears was just like. No. I'm going to just stretch. My culinary muscles. Yeah. Yeah. We're all implicit. He's trying to impress us. Yeah. Well. You've all been very impressed. With like. You know what? This might be a good opportunity. For you to. Like all the characters. To have a discussion. About what you want to do.

Because you realize. That like. You're running out of food. And you sort of get to. You know. Like the. The. The area. When you get into. Goldstream Park. And it's like. Mulchy earth. And there's like. Trees on the edge. But it's kind of wide. But you're still in the woods. You get to a thing like that. And there's a small. There's a small lake. In the trees. And. Tuck has been pulling the wagon. For. For a few hours. And Francis sees the lake. And goes like. And just. Wades. Into the water.

And you realize. That obviously like. Being a weird. Hippo pig thing. This is what Francis is like. Made to do. So. Francis. Wades into the water. And starts like. Floating around. Like a hippo. Like. Eyes just above the water. Bubbles coming out. And just like. Eating. Sea. Grasses. And stuff like that. Having a grand old time. Wow. Do we have to pay for parking? No. It's free. It's the off season. So it's not like. Goldstream Park then? It's monsoon season. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

And it's raining pretty good. But like. A comfortable amount. There's like. Mountains in the distance. And Francis is waiting around. And Ving. You've realized that the food. Has reached like. A critical mass. Like there's not enough. To keep going. Because Mears says that it's still. Like probably two days. To the vault. If he's reading. The maps correctly. Which he might not be. It's really up in the air. Mears is like. They made me like. The weird thing about the Menders.

Is they don't really like. To write stuff down. So Maggie kind of. Drilled me on this. And he's been using the maps. As tamale wrappers. He's just like. Well you just got it. The ink in the. In the. In the map. Really. Really. Lends it a flavor. But yeah. He's like. I'm pretty sure. That I remember where it is. And I'm pretty sure. It'll take like. Two or three more days. Holy shit. All right. Let's see. Let's scout this out. Throw me up a tree. Somebody. He also has a map. I pick him up.

And I'm like. And I. Just chuck me. I like. I. Identify the tallest tree. And I like. Underhand. Easy lob. Up there. So you can like. Perch. And Billy. You see. You land. A good distance. Up this tree. You're looking out over. Like around the edge. Of this lake. With your binocular hands. And. And. You're like. Are you doing it again? I can see so well. I can see so far. You guys. Oh my God. It's so beautiful. I can see the ocean. From here. Billy can see the ocean. Whoa. I.

I can't smell it though. I can see it. It's so blue. Oh yeah. So we've talked about. How the. The fire fields are to the west. Which means their coast. Like it has a coastline. And the coast. Is the sea of graves. Oh. So. Far. Far. Far in the distance. Billy. Can see. Small. Shapes. Wow. Individually spaced. In this far off ocean. The pillars. Yeah. In the sea of graves. Really? Yeah. Okay. Fine. All I see is a coastline. And some. A rocky. Building. Looking thing. But like really far away.

That's impressive. For this. For this boy. Yeah. It's because of his binoculars. But. Because he's fundamentally. Warping. The nature of reality. Around him. Um. Yeah. Maybe his hands actually do kind of. Yes. I think that's. It is. It is. Absolutely. Like when Billy. Because it's. Because Billy's a child. Yeah. So when he plays. He's like. Oh. This. Games become real. Yeah. Yeah. That's pretty fun. And it's like a minor enough thing. That it just makes him see like. A little bit better.

And we were always making fun of him for. Yeah. He said he could see the sea of graves. Oh shit. There they are. Oh fuck. He was right. Yeah. And there's gotta be a moment when he's like. No. Seriously. Look. And then he lifts his hands. This works. Oh my god. And then our eyes are. Got black rings really. And he's like. Motherfuckers. Gotcha. So as the scout though. Billy sees any trouble. Quick enough. To let everybody know. Before it's a problem. So what does.

Do you think Billy sees something. Sort of in the trees. In the trees. Yeah. Any potential trouble. Or is it like. The storm is coming. Like the monsoon's about to get really bad. He sees. A big pillar of smoke. Oh. Yeah. Could be good. Could be bad. Yeah. So yeah. You know. You don't have a lot of food. But sort of. On the other side of the like. Like far away. Like down the coast of the lake. You see. A pillar of smoke. Rising up out of the trees. Well it's. To the smoke. Head over there.

Yeah. Okay. And then so you. You just like. Call Francis back out of the lake. Yeah. And head off to the smoke. That's on you. Oh Francis. Darling. We're going. There's smoke up ahead. Francis. Right. And you could talk. To fucking animals. Can't you? I can fucking talk to animals. What does Francis sound like? Yeah. Francis is like. Coming. Darling. Yeah. Francis is like. Right away. I'll be up in just a moment. There's a particularly. Dense batch of grass. Here. I'd like to consume first.

Good boy. Yes you are. Very good boy. Aren't you Francis? Thank you old sport. Thank you. And then. Head dips under the water. You're like. I guess I start pulling the cart. Yeah. And then. And then. Yeah. Francis does follow. Eventually. And you head off into the woods. And you. Find a trail. That leads you. To. A gap in the trees. And you see that. Trees here and there. Are cut down. In the woods. And you hear like. Banging sounds. And smoke. And voices. And the. The trees part. A tiny bit.

On the trail. And there's like. A nice wooden. Gate. Sort of thing. It's not. It's like a. Like a gate with no door. I don't. Are those still called gates? It's like a. A trellis. Yeah. Kind of. Like a ranch. It's like. A log on either side of the trail. That goes up about like. Eight feet. And then a log across the top. That's been. Sanded down in one spot. And carved into the wood. It says pine wood. And behind. There's a collection of buildings. And there are. This is. There's a.

There's a village here. Hey guys. It's a logging town. Yeah. Hey guys. It's called pine wood. Nice. And so you enter the village of pine wood. And people sort of look at you. With. Trepidation. As they see. This like. Like. Massive. Man. With a huge. Scary. Magic. Looking axe. On his back. A weird. Wild haired. Elf. Looking dude. With some. Crystal claws. And a tiny boy. His face just. Covered. In charcoal. Riding. We've been. We've been doing this gag. For a week. Yeah. And it's just.

And Billy has not. Washed. Every time. He falls asleep. We take more charcoal. From the fire. And we put it all over his leg. And it's been. Starting to. We're starting to get concerned. Like. Does he. Never look at his hands? It's like. Yeah. At this point. We're like. How has he not. Fucking realized. It's like a research project. That he is. Basically in black face. No. No. But it has. It has. Like. Without his consent. It's. It's been raining though. But he hasn't washed. So it is like.

Streaky. Like. He looks crazy. Looks like Heath Ledger. Keeps getting in my eyes. And I wipe it. But just like. Puts more charcoal on there. Yeah. And. There's this like. Gangly teen. With a sword. And a hook. And a cloak. And. And paella pans. And stuff. Yeah. He looks like. Fucking Samwise Gamgee. I'm realizing. Like his. His pack is mostly. Cooking utensils. And also Guy Fieri. Yeah. Totally. He's got like. Bleach blonde hair. We've never. From this side. We've never established.

What color hair he has. Bleach blonde. Crazy spiky hair. Okay. Yeah. He's got. But he's got. Super saiyan. Yeah. And it's like. He might style it. But that also just might be. What his hair looks like. Yeah. Like he can't get it. To stay down. And then this. Massive woolly pig. Wanders in. The village behind it. With spots. And people. They see this like. Crazy. Group of people. Come into town. And everybody's like. Talking excitedly. They're like. Oh wow. Oh wow. They're here.

What do they sound like? Oh man. Let's do a new weird voice. Oh. A new accent. New accent. Yeah. Hello there. We've already done the British. No. I'm. Billy's doing. So you're just on the side. Like. Hello. Yeah. I want to make a good impression. Yeah. Totally. Hello there. What. What is your name sir? Tuck and I are like. Wow. Billy. That was amazing. Thank you. We do like. Small applause. In the background. Because. He's like our son. We're giving him. As much positive reinforcement.

For everything he does. Nice job. Like way too much. Yeah. He's going to be a problem. And. Child. He. Somebody. Like. So Billy says. What's your name sir? And this guy. He's got like. Mutton chops. That go into a big mustache. And it's like red. Like red mustache. Into big sideburn mutton chops. And. And big shaggy red hair. He's like a pretty strapping. Tan skinned. Kind of guy. And he runs up. And he's like. Oh. Thank the forester. You've arrived. Ha. You must have. You must. You must. And.

Like people are gathering up. Behind this guy. And he's like. My name's Merbo. What? Sorry. What? Merbo. Huh? M. Y. R. B. U. So just one R? Just the one R. Uh. Tuck is genuinely laughing. At this guy's accent. And he's like. Oh. We've been waiting. Weeks and weeks. For somebody to finally. Answer our notice. We called for warriors. And warriors have arrived. Where? I mean. Oh. Uh. Where? Why is Billy doing this? He's trying to impress them. I. At this point. Oh. Like. Vic and I have to like.

Be like. Okay. Like. It's one thing to do. An accent. To try and impress somebody. But trying to. Like. Do someone else's accent. While they're there. It's a little rude. It's kind of. Billy is so embarrassed. And. And. As you're talking about this. Murbels are like. Oh. I do not mind. This is. This is an auspicious day. For the town of Finewood. And he turns around. And he says. Our problems. Are finally over. And everybody cheers. And mirrors. Looks at all of you. And he's like. I don't think.

This is in the schedule. And that's where we're going to end it for this week. I have been your game master. Sean O'Hara. With me. As always. Play. Tacoma Dome. The Barbarian. Abdul Aziz. Goodbye. Everybody. Playing Ving. The Half Elf Druid. Paul Oppers. See you. Playing Fat Billy. The Halfling Thief. Jessica Tai. See you everybody. Sorry for the accent. I am not sorry for the accent. That's going to be a lot of fun for me. Yeah. That's funny. Thank you to Mark and MP.

For letting us come back to their house. Even though nobody's here. And record. And thanks to Wes and Abdul. For making all of the technical stuff happen. Thank you. And thanks to Aaron Reed. For our amazing intro and outro music. Thank you to you for listening. And everybody on Twitter and stuff. That sends us fan art. If you like weird fun drawings. Of Spout Lore stuff. Just follow us on Twitter. At Spout Lore. Or join the Spout Lore fan group. Yeah. There's a fan group. On Facebook.

That I apparently joined at some point. So I very vainly joined the fan group. For my own podcast. I thought we had to join. Well we're all part of the fan group. Well actually. I have not joined the fan group. You made the fan group. No I didn't. I have not joined. But I do creep it a lot. Well I'm a part of the fucking fan group. It's really gratifying. To see all of like. Yeah. Everything that the fans have done. It's pretty great. Yeah. Check us out on social media.

Give us a review on iTunes. If you feel like it. And we'll see you next time. Bye bye. And so ends the tale of adventures three. Who tried their best they can. Though dumb. And scared. And lost they be. For time's 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 you. Your chores. And for you. I gladly. Spelt.