Episode 9 – The Ranger’s Heart is a Winter’s Bloom

Hi everyone, it's Fat Billy here. Thanks for coming, listening to our podcast. If you want more podcasts, you can go to patreon.com slash spoutlore, where you can give us some money. And I like money, so I can buy snacks. 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 half-elf, 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. Gather round, friends, and listen close, for the tale's about to start. Spoutlore. Spoutlore. And playing Fat Billy, the halfling thief, Jessica Tai. Hi. When last we left our hero, Tacoma Dome had been struck down by the powerful Borge. I'm in the party now.

Let's describe Borge to us. Oh, you know, he works admin in a parking department. For us, a municipal parking department, so he's a guy that people come… In McCall. In McCall, yeah, he's a good guy that people come to when they get parking fines and tickets and stuff. Uh-huh. He's a dispute manager. He's a dispute manager, and he's really… He's good at managing the situations, because people don't like talking to him for that long. Like a sloth at the DMV.

They just give up, and they're like… His torso is shaped like an egg. He's a dispute manager at a municipal parking department. He's 1,300 pounds. He's 18 feet tall. He's a dispute manager at a municipal parking department. His flesh is made out of soil from the heart of the earth. Yeah, he's a giant. He's got a little tie. Yeah. Hi, guys. I'm Borge. Who's getting the cake for Deb's birthday? Uh, fuck. When last we left our heroes, they had arrived at Heartwood City.

They decided to disguise themselves, as they often do. Mm-hmm. And Paul really pointed it out. You guys decided to disguise yourselves. You guys decided to disguise yourselves in a method that would demand the attention of everybody that looked at you. Which is the way we always seem to do it. You hide in plain sight by making yourselves as, like, visually attractive as possible. Yeah. So… And it's never let us down. Yeah. It's true. Works every time.

So, Billy disguised himself as a ball of yarn in a giant scarf. Mm-hmm. Tuck disguised himself as… I think you described your outfit as looking like that of Steve… Steve Bonnet from Our Flag Means Death. 100%. So, cravats and a long coat. I also put Fig Elf ears on, but they're way too long. Yeah. So, they look like rabbit ears. Yeah. Perfect. And Ving decided… Ving's dressed like Justin Trudeau in the 80s. No. No, no, no. You're dressed like a full centaur. Half a centaur. Half a centaur.

The top half of a centaur. Just the top half. And the bottom half of a man. So, the plan was to enter the market with some, quote, unquote, livestock. Stock to sell in the form of the sugar gliders, which you did achieve. Making contact with Wendy, the ranger who was undercover in Heartwood City. Using the most basic subterfuge possible to tell you that she was going to be at the Doubletree Inn having dinner. Mm-hmm. Billy made some friends slash enemies with a pie man slash science lady.

Ving and Tuck made a good deal, honestly, selling some sugar gliders to the military because that's part of your plan. Yeah, we got 1,500 gold coins. 1,500 coins. 1,500 coins minus 30 up front. Pfft. And then you went to meet Wendy at the Doubletree Inn where you got some food and drink in classic Speltlore fashion. Right. It was give us a nice drink and then the weirdest meal you've ever heard. Yeah. Which was a full roast beef and all of the birds that you have.

One thing we never do here at Speltlore is glaze over a meal. We acted out in painstaking detail, including incorporating the service staff. Yeah. And also, can I have some? Can I have a menu? Yeah. Is a thing we constantly ask. And it's also shocking how much we bring up receipts for meals as well. And there's always a wait. That's the thing. It's like you order the food and then some stuff happens and the food comes later. Like we don't jump to the food.

No, we're very realistic with every approach. With this. With this. Meals only. Yeah. We talk about bathroom breaks as well. What a quest you've been on. Yeah. What an incredible adventure we've undertaken. So you spoke to Wendy briefly about your plans. For getting to the actual Heartwood. Yeah. To investigate slash cleanse the corruption that you have discovered in the center.

Before we were so rudely interrupted by a shrill voice proclaiming, requesting, nay, demanding the attention of his mommy. Finn, the small elf noble boy has arrived in the hotel bar of the Doubletree Inn with his mother. And that is where we find our heroes. Now, what do you do? Oh, shit. Tuck slides down in the booth that we're in. So you could just see that only the ears. And being seven feet tall and like 500 pounds, the whole table moves. Of his body becomes way more visible.

His legs stick out under the table. He does an accidental fruit basket again to the entire restaurant. A waiter walking by trips over my leg. Lamplighter drinks go everywhere. Yeah. There's a huge commotion. And at this table, like drinks spill. The table moves. The scratching record in the heart player stops playing. Yeah. And you look to your immediate right thing. And Wendy is gone from sight. Whoa. She just disappears. Oh, shit.

Billy panics and he grabs the whole rose and curls up into a ball to like think like become a pillow. Become a pillow. Yeah. So what is your plan here? Is it to is it to just hope he doesn't notice you? Billy is hiding. I'm hiding. And Ving is. I've. Yeah. I've combed all my hair over my face and I pick up the trays and I put on like the towel and I'm like, I'm the waiter now. Oh, yeah. OK. So smart. For some reason. OK. OK. So defy dangers, dexterity, dexterity and charisma.

Can I do charisma since I'm hiding? You're hiding. What? Emotion. Like with your personality. Yeah. I'm trying. I'm making my first. OK. Yeah. Good point. Yeah. Good point. This doesn't make any sense. Yeah. Yeah. No. Good point. Good point. I got three plus charisma zero. But I did dent the table. Whoa. Holy shit. That's worth it. I got nine. OK. Seven. Seven. Nine. Nine. Three. So you're not going to be able to get far.

I think that's Billy and Tuck is your partial success is you're hiding, but you're stuck in this booth. OK. Ving got a failure. So you get up and you put the rag over your arm and the the train your hand. And as this huge commotion happens and there's crashing in the drink spill, somebody that looks like he's wearing like a vest. Like a shorter elf man in a vest and a short hair and a mustache walks over to you. And he's like, what's going on? They've they've spilled their drinks. Go.

Go get them more drinks. Go get their food. And he's like, we're pushing you towards the bar in the kitchen. You my manager with that tone of voice. No, I don't think I will be much longer. Oh, my God. Get them their drinks. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'm so sorry. Oh, my God. And he comes back over the table. He's like, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And then Tuck goes. I have never. Never. He's slouched down pretty far, too. I have never. He's slouched under the table. Yeah, pretty much.

And he's acting indignant. Yeah, just his chin is on the table. His ears so long. I have been a patron of the Doubletree Inn at Wingdom Hotels for years now. I will take my loyalty card to the Marriott. Sir, I don't think that will be necessary. We would be more than happy to make this meal complimentary. For you and your small son. Daddy, is that true? Do we have to go to the Marriott? I don't like the Marriott. Their roast beef is inferior. I lost my roast beef in the kerfuffle somewhere.

I happen to have misplaced it amongst all the chaos. And then Tuck is just like, the Yelp stone outside of this restaurant will be afire. With. With comments. Pull out a chisel. Don't make me use it. The Yelp stone outside this restaurant will know my wrath. If my son does not get a second roast. He's got his fingers woven in front of his chest in supplication. And he bows so low to you.

And he goes, sir, we will do your utmost, our utmost best to make sure that your stay here at the Doubletree Inn is exemplary. I would like a private dining room now. Okay, now you got to roll something. You're asking. You ask too much. 2D6 plus charisma. Or yeah, I guess parlay. Yeah. Unless you want a 13. Doesn't matter, I guess. He goes, of course, sir. Of course. We would be more than happy to bring you to our canopy lounge.

And I want a curtain brought over here so nobody sees us go over to the canopy lounge. Because we're embarrassed about how. Covered in this liquid we are. Oh, yeah. Because you're glowing from the drinks. Right away, sir. And he reaches up and he goes, like he claps. And Ving, as you're hustling into the kitchen towards the double doors that go into the back, they flap open. And like half a dozen elves come out with curtains and go like across and spread out in front of the table. So fancy.

Welcome to the Doubletree. Yeah. They take service seriously here. Wow. So I'm in the kitchen. Yeah, you're in the kitchen. Yeah. At the bar. Yep. And you see through the like service window, you see Finn and his mother, Fen, be seated at a table in the lounge. Ooh. Yeah. I don't really need to do anything here. Well, as you're standing there with your tray. Just standing there like.

A larger elf, bald, little chef's hat on, greasy, just like comes up with two plates and puts them on your thing and goes, table five. Table, which one's table five? The fifth one. Okay. No problem. Roll a discern realities to find table five. I mean, yeah, yeah. Go ahead and roll discern realities. Don't tell my players how to roll. I got a 10. Okay. So you get three questions off the discern realities list. What's about to happen?

What's about to happen is, um, you can see tuck and Billy being like ushered into a private dining room. That's like just off the main lounge. And I'm like, Hey, what's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?

You come into the lounge and as they're being taken into this private dining room, you see Finn's mother then like look over like there's a private dining room. Oh shit. And I'm in the main lounge. Acceptable. And she starts snapping to like get the manager to come over. What should I be on the lookout for? Uh, wherever Wendy went, like she's like your main kind of connection to what's going on with the Rangers. In Hartwood City, so you need to track her down at some point.

Okay, here's not what it appears to be. There's a bartender at the bar who looks a lot like Wendy, who's mixing up drinks. And I walk up and I… Ving just goes out there and charms Table 5. Oh, did you get any on the plate on your fork? But he's just like a really good waiter. Yeah, well, you're gonna have to roll for that. Okay, I'm gonna go and wait the shit out of this restaurant. Defy danger charisma for charm. Six plus charisma is zero. Oh, we got six. Can we aid from where we are?

Billy can aid from any distance. Okay, so Tuck is carrying me over his shoulder like a baby. Yeah, and I'm patting your back, pretending like you're crying because your roast is gone. The roast that he has with him. It's between us. It's being pressed against your white suit. Yeah. So yeah, I'm gonna aid him. From a distance. Yeah. 2d6 plus bond. Six. Shit. Shit. Can I aid Billy? Like I'm being like carrying him and hugging him is like offering some kind of spiritual support.

The burping is really helping as well. He's feeling clear and fresh. Yeah, the lamplighter was too carbonated for you. So it's giving you acid reflex. I'm burping it out of you. Eleven. Okay, so you burp Billy and uh, a bunch of a big burp. Yeah, and a bunch of bioluminescent like gas comes out of your mouth. So you like a little glittery yellow cloud forms in front of you. Blow it towards me. That's so fucking good. You then you smell a burp wash across your face colorful.

I'm lift my feet are off the ground. I'm floating on this burp all the way to table number five. Yeah, put the plates on the right table and as you like touch down the cloud kind of settles over them and they're like, oh, I'm gonna burp. Oh, you are such a charmer. I swear if I was a hundred and fifty years younger, don't tell me that I might age myself. Oh, what? You tweedle away. So we'll go back to Billy and tuck. You are welcomed into the canopy dining room.

Yes, and the canopy dining room has a roof that is made out of the living woven branches of the tree that the double tree in the canopy dining room. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. There's a ton of work.

Of cool and then like tall you know like in Lord of the Rings how like elf windows look all fucked up and weird yeah it's like that like it's like very spirally like wood designs and then like very tall fragile looking glass that looks out over this very fine district of Heartwood City but you are also taken you know with the sort of the gloom and tension that has been washing over the city oh yeah it's a beautiful sight but you can feel like the tension oh shit you can see the lights of the city only go so far and then it's just like black dust and like yeah like crying babies and stuff yeah dogs barking car alarms you know that kind of stuff yeah I go and I look at the window and like the darkness of the forest is stark like it's a kind of darkness that eats light like usually like in a city it'll like throw light into like the surrounding areas but like it just ends and then it's black past it not unlike the Gibbous Man himself totally yeah I like it and I just realized that I have that move I think that I the first time I encounter something I can ask about bardic lore yeah yeah so what do you ask what question are you asking ever since Tuck came into the city he cannot stop thinking about the prophecy yeah he's like he is beneath a massive tree that is a light with like bioluminescent fire so he's just like how specific are yeah these prophecies symbolism like I don't understand anything about symbolism like her as in it it doesn't have like her as I don't think this is symbolism oh my god it means it's a metaphor which is even worse though but yeah Tuck is he wants to know more about the history of the tree and how it works yeah so because this is bardic lore of course you are gleaning this from stories and songs that you've heard heard and learned over your years as a traveling musician yeah so the thing that you know historically is legends say that the elves are the fruit of this tree whoa these are stories this is like a creation myth within elven culture is that they are the fruit of this tree that like the first elf was grown from the branches of this thing oh cool and that this was not only the heart of the forest but the heart of like elven culture cool and because of that for millennia uncounted because elves have existed for tens of thousands of years and their culture is sort of like unbroken they treated this tree with unbelievable reverence so most elves at least for a long time like they lived under the shade of the branches and they lived under the shade of the branches and they lived off the fruit of the trees and that kind of stuff but they left the care of the tree to the gardeners so gardeners have lived in sort of a cloistered temple around the tree forever which ving mentioned I think either last episode of the episode before has been built up more defensively over the last few years like there's now a wall wall for defensive purposes as opposed to a wall to delineate like the borders of the temple are there ever any like open days where the cloister and the church that are associated with the tree like allow you to get close enough to it to like examine it like allow the populace access to the tree right ritualized yeah processions or like yeah any kind of like church like you know how like seasonal things yeah or like a festival or like a weekly thing something where it's like you go and you pay homage to the tree or something is that part of their religion or their culture and is it saturday or sunday yeah uh there definitely used to be like because the this wall and the sort of isolation of the tree is relatively new tuck probably wouldn't know if it's still happening but there are definitely holidays there's probably a holiday that's like the beginning of spring that is the beginning of like the lamplighter life cycle so the tree is especially vibrant at that time as the lamplighter start to hatch and sort of grow cool um so that's probably yeah the blossoming of the flowers before the fruit of the lamplighter yeah leo mentioned a holiday that was coming up he did it was what did he first light first light so there are holidays like that but it's probably pretty far away which is not to say you couldn't settle in and play the long game and wait for first light for first light but that's probably a few months away there's also academies where people before they get to the gardeners like a priest um school you know like a seminary seminary yeah there's so many schools so there's like a school that you go to learn about the gardener way before so that could be somewhere that we start hypothetically we could kill someone steal their outfit yeah and then take their identity and then pretend to be priests yeah you guys could just like breaking into the death star style yeah find a couple guys steal their outfits or kill them or kill them you could kill them um that is on the table that's what Texas says to Billy as we're like looking at the window at the heart tree I was like you remember how like I put on that guy's outfit outside of the clear water and then I used that to get in that's I feel like we could do that again we definitely could but I also remember you crying a lot for a lot of nights after you did that and I was like he's crying more than usual more than usual and I don't know maybe I'm wrong you can tell me if I'm wrong but like does that have anything to do with you killing that dude to steal his pants are you crying because I'm bringing it up the chicken's just so spicy it's so spicy Billy's eating a whole roast during this conversation by the way Billy is like stone like not crying at all and Tuck is like weeping biting a rose like an apple back to the dining room Ving and Wendy are like cocktails and dreams Tom Cruise style bartender tricks right yeah and the cloud is like yes yes yes Wendy flips it up in the air the little martini shaker snatches it opens it pours three drinks in a row slides them down the bar in different directions Ving drinks them all spits them back in a different concoction he had gin in his mouth he switched it up and a couple people go oh okay lights them on fire oh that's cool we're back in and she's trying to she's like alright who's next for a drink in the bar and she's doing all these tricks but she's leaning in easy big fella she's leaning in okay what do we do we cannot be spotted by the young man and his mother she is a noble she will rat us out for sure we could get her blind drunk brilliant so okay so your plan is to get her drunk yeah great sure fine that's a great plan let's get her really drunk let's get her super wasted just keep giving her free drinks do I have to roll for that maybe charisma defy danger charisma to not come on too strong okay I'm gonna try and get her a bit more drinks just so she's a little more loosey goosey in the mind so she's unreliable in her memory great I got snake eyes oh my fucking god okay how can this situation escalate in some way yeah she comes up to the bar shoulders her way through the excited crowd having fun yeah excuse me she tells me and I drop a Caesar on her oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ma'am I am so I am so sorry oh my god oh my god and he's putting vodka on a towel and like damping your face trying to oh my gosh I never I demand to see your manager post haste yeah um wait a second I'll go get the manager yeah and she's like squinting after you as you rush off to go find the manager I hope some of that Caesar landed in her mouth and through the back door where's the manager I need the manager you're actually gonna go find the manager manager's in his office there's a lady there she's very happy with the service she wants to talk to the manager well that's a I'm glad to hear that uh and he goes he walks past you I'm gonna go back to you guys okay I'm not causing too much shit and you're so you're gonna sneak through oh you're going through some sort of back door yeah yeah there's a of course there's a private kitchen entrance to the the canopy lounge and you see the kitchen entrance to the the canopy lounge and you see the kitchen entrance to the kitchen entrance to the the canopy lounge and you see the kitchen entrance to the No, I thought about it, though.

You were thinking about it. I think there's other ways of getting clothes. We can think of other ways. There's other ways of getting clothes. That's a good one. Yeah, we tell you the plan. We explain everything that we figured out about the tree that we could maybe dress as a priest and the priest in training get in there because there aren't that many festivals where they let you at the tree. Because the first one is First Light. First Light is not for a few more weeks. Yeah.

I mean, during First Light, there is always a procession around the tree where each household brings a fruit, something that they've grown that year. Yeah. A representation of the first elf born fruit. The first fruit. That's very cool. So then there's like a fruit feast kind of where like everybody brings fruit and there's a feast. Or at least that's what it was when you were a kid. You remember it being that. Yeah.

And then, yeah, I'm just going to add, it's not pertinent to your planning, but then I think that there are. There are gardeners that travel outside of the wood with like little glass globes full of lamplighters and they take the light from the tree to the other towns and like spread that first light of the year to everyone. And it represents the spreading of the knowledge trees. Exactly. And the unity of the elf civilization. All our lights will burn at once.

But that has not happened for many years. As Wendy says, having suddenly appeared behind you. Holy shit. The light of the heart tree has not been spread to the outer cities. Why not? Because the hearts of elves have grown dim in return. Wow. You're really melodramatic sometimes. She goes over to the window and she puts her hand on the glass.

And then Tuck does a similar thing because he's crying and like he goes up and he puts his hand on the other side and he's like, sometimes I think back to some of the things that I've done and I feel like the lights in my heart have dimmed as well. Wow. Bing comes between them, puts both his hands on the window. And sometimes I feel like I'm also getting dimmer. Billy's hands go up on the window and some gravy smears on it. And he just goes, I just wanted to feel part of the group.

I just imagine Billy putting his hands up, smearing gravy and going, there's a dog down. There. Look at that dog. So fluffy. He's so brown. He's got a little brown face and he's got a little brown body. Slappy on the window. Hi, brown dog. Like Billy shows his face at the glass. What kind of dog are you? What kind of dog are you? What kind of dog are you? And the three adults in the room are trying to feel cool while you're doing this.

Everyone's brooding while Billy's screaming into a piece of glass. What kind of dog are you? I'd like to roll to find out what kind of dog. Yeah, totally. Now, are you trying to recall what kind of dog it is? Are you trying to ask the dog? I asked the dog. Oh, cool. So discern realities plus charisma. No wisdom. Five. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.

Wendy, where are our fucking weapons? They're in my room. Why would I have them on me? Your axe is about six feet long and weighs 90 pounds. What's the fastest way there? Tuck runs at the window and jumps into it. Okay. I rolled. Is it Defy Dangerous Strength? I don't know. You just rolled. I guess Defy Dangerous Strength, yeah. Okay. That's 14. Cool. So 14, you smash through the window. There's about three stories beneath you. Oh my God. What? Oh, wow. We were on an overlook.

Are you trying to go all the way out the window or are you trying to grab something? What room is she in? Do we know? Up. I'll grab something. Yeah. I'm not stupid. There's probably so many trees outside of this tree. I'll just try and grab the side of the tree. Dexterity to grab it quick? Yeah. Five. Oh. Oh, Lord. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, Tuck, you see Tuck go, I've got it. And he runs towards the window and reaches out his arms as he smashes through and you see his fingers close on open air.

He got it all right. Yeah. So what do you do? Does anybody try and help him here? Okay. I can try and give him a big shot of wind. Totally. Yeah. You could elemental mastery him out of this. Elemental mastery to give Tuck a little toot up into the air. But you know what? I'm going to let him fall for a second while I ask Wendy, what room are you in? What floor are you on? I'm in room 15. Three. One. And you get here the whole time you're having this conversation. You're going to go. Okay.

Elemental mastery. There we go. 2d6 plus constitution. Nice. Elementalist. I got 12. Okay. So that means that you only have to pick one from the three. I will pay nature's price. So it's like classic, like, ah, like stopping just above the street level. Yeah. Oh, as I hit a cushion of air. Cushion of air. Nice. Ooh. Ooh. Back up into the air. Yeah. And you are all watching this from the window.

You see Tuck like, oh, and because with a 12, let's be real, Tuck, you like a light on a, you very gently set down on a balcony, on a, on a balcony, about two, two floors above the canopy lounge. He like looks out onto the city and then takes a bite of a chicken that he has. I love this city. Oh. Oh. We can figure this out. So pay nature's price. What does that mean in this context? Hmm. I, well, okay. So I do think I'll just hold onto this in this way. I think like you call this wind spirit.

Who's like quite powerful. That shoots tuck up two stories. And as you're like, all right, let's go. You kind of feel like you're like buffeted in the shoulder. And there's just like a, you see in your spiritual sense, there's like a very excitable wind spirit. That's now kind of following you around. And it's just like, what's up? What are we doing? We have like a Tasmanian devil. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's like, just like an East wind sort of like, okay, let's do it.

Let's go fucking blow some stuff down. Come on, let's go easy, easy, man. Whoa, man, just, just blow some steam, but no, let's just, you just go, you just go do what you got to do. I appreciate what you did. Thank you. No problem. How much do I have to pay you? Like what is nature's price here? It's just going to follow you around for a bit. Okay. Yeah. I should say, yeah, like every once in a while, like a lamp tips over because this thing is just flitting around. Yeah. What the fuck?

Oh, don't answer the wing goes. Wendy's bangs are just like flapping in her face. Like, is this going to carry on for much longer? I'm not sure. Um, Billy starts unraveling himself out of his costume, right? Making like a big yarn string rope thing. And he's going to try to climb up and leave a rope behind. Amazing thing to follow. Yeah. And Wendy, and Wendy, yeah. Nice. Uh, so yeah, go ahead and throw that two D six plus dexterity. Nice. Whoa. So strong. A 14. Oh, hell yeah.

Make like a rope ladder with like two sides. It's so good. Yeah. And you realize like anybody watching Billy do this realizes that he did this ahead of time. Like he made it into like a yarn rope ladder that he then wore as a scarf. And, uh, yeah, you, with your little fairy accuracy, I guess, flip it right. Up onto the balcony where tuck is tuck. Can you catch a catch, catch it. And you just arm straight out in front of you as everybody climbs.

The ladder is just dangling on the bottom, waiting his turn. Yeah. One arm. Yeah. So strong. He's eating chicken. So strong up the cavity of the chicken, eating it off. Okay. Candied apple inside the chickens. Yeah. Amazing. So yeah. Bing and Wendy following up. Yep. And you are on the second floor. I believe I said, quick, we don't have much time. So Wendy leads you through this very nice room into the hallway.

And, uh, she's doing the like hand signals, like stop, go this way and takes you up a stairwell to the third floor and the room that she is staying in, which has a double bed, a chest of cabinets. It's got a small curing coffee maker. Oh, and then it's got a pile of weapons, all of your weapons. Oh, sick. And then you're like, and then tuck grabs TLC right away. Yeah. And you, he feel it like hum in your hand as you pick it up. Oh, they're humming. Good to see you, bro.

It's good to see you little bros. I, and everybody just straps on a straps up. I put on my strap on. Oh, I didn't know this was here. I didn't know if you would need it or not, but I found it in your pack. I bet you did. And she sits in the little chair that's in every hotel room that you're not really sure what it's there. I've been there before. And, uh, she turns to you all. So what did you determine about the tree? Did you have any thoughts on the infiltration process?

We wanted to know what you know and what has been set up by the Rangers before we got here. That I'm afraid is confidential. What? Wait, you hired us. Yes, but I'm going to be honest with you three. Mm-Hmm. Nathaniel brought you in and brought us in, but that doesn't mean that I trust you. Whoa.

You must understand that the life of a ranger is one of constant danger and one of constant vigilance and the door to the closet pops open and shadow par her beaver cat leaps onto the bed and is standing behind you. You tell me right now why I should trust you or shadow Paul here will rend you nape to neck. Shadow Paul, you're not going to do anything, are you? Oh, you don't know what I'm capable of. Jesus. This has been his voice the whole time. He's a Jersey bro. I don't get to talk very much.

I don't talk very often, but I know that you've got a voice and I'm glad to hear it, but I'll rip you to shreds. I don't know how to make you trust me. I could tell you a secret. It depends on the secret, but very well. Okay. The more embarrassing the better. Okay. I pee in the bathtub every time. Every time? I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't help it. It's so warm. Then Wendy nods. I trust you.

I told you the level of water was going up. There's no way he's peeing enough to change the level of the water. I swear it changed. It does not change. I didn't put that much water in there. You? She looks to tuck. I also pee in the bathtub every time. I have to use the same bath water after. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. There's no way he's peeing.

There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way.

Well, what about the poetry book that I see you write in all the time? What about the time you lost your virginity in the book? Tuck pushes Billy to the ground. Amateur poetry, you say. Well, that does sound embarrassing. Read me a poem from your book and perhaps I will trust you. Fine. And then Tuck looks at Billy and he's like, you fucking betrayed me. I'm so sorry. He takes a marble out of the jar. He dumps half of the marbles into the toilet.

And Billy has to hold his fist up to stop himself from crying and screaming. I earned this. I deserve it. Shadow paws just like, whoa, man, that's pretty harsh. I've heard of these marbles. These little kids love them. I can't believe you would do this. Get my M&M now. Read the poem. Okay. Can I take a second to write a poem? Oh, sure. Yeah, totally. It's a poem about Wendy. Oh, that would be pretty good. That would be pretty embarrassing. Okay. All right. So Wendy leans back in her chair.

Tuck is like, he's flipping through. And you see at the top of every page is a different lady's name. What does the book look like? Like, what does this little book look like? And how long has he had it for? Who comes before W? Me. The book is, so he stole it from bar. And it's like, just like a bunch of like purchase orders, essentially. That was like going into the trash. And he was just like, I'll just use this for a book. So it's not even a book.

It's a bunch of stapled together pieces of paper. Yeah. You're writing on the back of? Yeah, I guess so. It's like woven with like a piece of leather with holes along the spine. Yeah. And he's like, he's taking a piece of leather and like wrapped it around it as if it is. The cover. And then he carved like a picture of him in Black Spire high-fiving into the leather in the front. And it says best friends underneath.

And then on the back, it says, do not look in this book or I'll fucking kill you on the back. Do you read the book? Oh, what have I done? Do my wife, I love her. He is very much a child in his mind. Oh, yeah. A lot of ways. So he's flipping through the pages and you see, you're seeing like lists of drink quarters on the front, like 20, 20 vodkas, 60 oxbloods, like that kind of stuff where it's like they're replenishing inventory.

But then on the back, every page is like a different woman's name and he flips to the most recent entry and it says, Wendy, you said you wanted it to be embarrassing, right? Proceed. Fuck. This is the most embarrassing what I can read you. That thing's like, no, no, no, please. No, please. No, I can't watch this. Please. I'm just going to go in the closet while I read this. Very well. It's like, I just don't want you to look at me while I read it. You get to the closet. Okay.

And you're enshrined in darkness and bathrobes. And beaver cat piss. Yeah. Yeah. It's a real nest in here. Shadowpaw really. Shadowpaw said, this isn't even your room. Yeah. I'm marking my territory. So any beaver cats that come in here know this is my turf. The ranger's heart is a winter bloom. It hides from ice and bitter winds. But with the warmth of sun at noon, the beauty breaks and friendship mends. The door's closed. The door's closed. The door's closed. The door's closed. It's opening.

Was embarrassing. So, perhaps it is time I let you in on our side of the plan a little bit more. The Talon is in the city. We are here, as we have been commanded by King Nathaniel, to support you in your efforts to cleanse the Heartwood Tree of its corruption. We will do it thusly. Nesh, the young ranger that you encountered in the forest during his karate moves, has been placed inside the seminary of the Church of the Tree. So, with any luck, he will be within the cloister soon. Sick.

Where's everyone else? Taurus is amongst the people, blending in as a simple laborer. Cut over to Taurus for a second. And he's beating the shit out of a woodcutter. And there's like six women lined up watching him. Yeah, it's just a crowd of people as he like pulls his jerkin' off and his glistening elf muscles. Jerkin'. Jerkin' off. He's pulling it. Jerkin' off. Wow. And Lysander has been in this room this entire time. Show yourself.

And he emerges from like a corner where he was just so still. He comes from underneath the sheets. He stands up and just rises up. He's just under the sheets completely. And he just flips up and flips them down over himself. Hello there. I've been here the whole time. It looks so flat. He has a lit pipe in his mouth as he pops back up. Ving was sitting on him and didn't notice. Yeah. So these are the kids, huh? Yes. They are, if Dathaniel's word is to be trusted, our only hope.

And he holds out his hand to Ving. You got a firm grip there, son. He's old. Remember, he's got gray hair. He's quite old, but he has stayed a regular rank and file ranger his entire career. Kind of looks like a… Looks like Sam Elliott. A little bit. Yeah. Darker skin. Darker skin. Like, yeah. Gray hair. Yeah. And then also definitely the handlebar mustache. So we are here to support you, Nesh, with his infiltration. Lysander with his stealth abilities. Taurus with his combat support.

And me, other stuff. Tell me a bit about your plan and how we can best aid you. So should we kind of be… Straight up with them? Do you guys think? Yeah. That's our… That's usually our… M.O.? Yeah. It's amazing you have not told them everything yet. All right. So Tuck has a bag of six obsidian coins and he tosses it on the table in front of everyone. He's like, what do you guys know about these? They spill out of the bag. Hmm. She reaches down and picks it up and holds it up to the light.

I can't say that I've ever seen one before. What manner of currency be these? Clink. The… Beacons. Magnets. Magnets for demons. Demons, you say? Icons is another word for them. Icons. And what relevance do they have to our current situation? There is a guy wandering around the world handing these out to people. Have you heard any stories of a traveler? An elderly man with a kind countenance. Dressed all in black. Big black hat. Wandering through the world affecting things. Cold as the night.

And Lysander chomps the end of his pipe thoughtfully. You mean the gibbous man. So you've heard of him? Only stories. But he is not one to be trifled with from what the tales have told. What do you know about him? Oh, just that he… He appears offering aid to people in need. But that his intentions are… Always his own. I always thought he was… A myth. What do you feel these myths offered those who heard them? Comfort? Solace? He means to disrupt all these things.

So you're saying that he's real? He's very real. We've seen him with our own eyes. Well, at least Bing has. And you've seen the touch of his fingers on the land. All that has been happening to the forest comes at his hand. Then our quest is even more dire than I imagined. La Rungarvinga, she turns to you. You are the spirit walker. What counsel you next? My counsel is… Not my own. I wait for… The world to tell me. I will… Counsel the tree. The… Deedly-dee. And her eyes are…

Leave me be. On balcony. From whence I sit. And… And… And smell beavercat shit. I will come up with a plan. For if not, I am the spirit man. And Tuck throws his notebook to the ground. So angry. He's like, you fucking improvised that? This fucking sucks. I suck. And Bing winks at Tuck. Tuck kicks the chair that Bing is sitting on. And he rolls backwards out through the door onto the balcony. And stands up. Yeah, lands in a llama, llama, llama. Looks so cool. And Tuck is so mad.

He goes into the bathroom and slams the door. Bing is piggybacking on the wind spear. He's sitting on his shoulder. So he's like hovering on the deck. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Okay. So what move are you going to use? I'm going to do communion of whispers. When I spend time in a place making note of its residents, spirits, role plus wisdom, be granted a vision of significance to you, your allies, and the spirits around you. 10 plus, it's clear and helpful. I got six. Okay, six.

Can I aid from a distance? Totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can aid. How are you aiding? Billy is being helpful by shoving sheets under the bathroom door to muffle out Tuck's crying. You're trying to make it more peaceful? Yeah. Yeah. I work so hard. I got a 10. 10. Nice. I work so hard. And you are alone communing with the spirits of this place. So you get a seven to nine, which means a vision with an unclear meaning. Mm-hmm.

So what you see is the most beautiful, pristine, grassy hill you've ever seen. The light of the sun shining down. An elf in a long green robe, like floats into the vision and plants a sapling in the hilltop, cups his hands over it and his hands fill with crystal clear water that waters the earth that the sapling is in. And it sprouts forth into the air, its branches arcing and twisting beautifully, creating a canopy under which on the branches, beautiful fruits begin to bloom and grow.

Out of the most beautiful flowers. Exactly. And those fruits become heavy and they drop to the ground and where that fruit is, that fruit touches the elves spring to life. Millennia pass before your eyes. Beautiful elves and beautiful elven culture spring forth and are thriving. And then shadows begin to swell in around the edges of this canopy, breaking against the barrier of light like waves against the shore.

The fingers of the darkness start like reaching in through the roots of the tree and rotting the heart of this trunk. And the elves weep. They weep as their culture rots before them. And the green robed figure who, you know, to be the embodiment of all that makes this order what it was and was meant to be. You see them turn towards the darkness with like staff and trowel and hand ready to take back what the forest deserves from the clutches of this darkness.

And as you do, you see the face of this mystical, gardener figure, the Vox sylvi, the first voice of the forest shift to the face of another that sticks in your mind. You don't recognize them. And they put the, the staff and the trowel together. Yes. To make a weapon. Yes. Oh, cool. To create like a trowel spear sort of gardener's tool. Sick. Distorting the original intention. And then you see a quick flash of a few visions of like a young elf in a green robe.

Who's like watching people become, um, hard and mean and the way that the gardeners treat the tree as like a tool rather than a thing to be revered and cared for. Uh, you see them like sneaking out in the middle of the night, leaving the cloister, which you know is forbidden amongst gardeners in the order. Picking unripened fruit, which is like, yeah, no, no, it's like, it's a cursed act. Yeah.

And what you mainly see is you see a face that sticks in your mind that you believe to be a person that lives in this place. But that is, that is all you take. All, all you can take from the vision. As you are returned to the material plane to somebody that is now displeased with the way thing, the, the gardeners have been run. That's what you believe. Yeah. Cool.

Uh, and for those of you that don't listen to the bonus content, cause we mentioned it in a, in a bonus content segment, the Vox Silvi is one half of what we talked about. Elvin justice being there being in all of these kinds of proceedings, the Vox Silvi, which is the voice of the forest speaks, for the land. And then the Vox populi voice of the people that speaks for the elves. There's dissension in the ranks. You saw this in your vision. Yes. There is an unhappy gardener.

Would you recognize this gardener? If you saw them? I think I could. Okay. Then we must get you close to the gardeners. Yeah, I think we should, uh, I think we should stake out the church. And then you hear tuck go through the door. Yeah, we need to get close to the church. I think we should, uh, I think what we should do. Tears streaked down his face. So wet. His beard is damp with tears. Yeah. Let's go to the church or whatever.

Lysander, uh, gets out of the bed and reaches down, picks up tucks, poetry book and hands it to him. I, I gotta say, I liked it. Really? Yeah. You got a real talent kid. He like pats your arm. Thanks man. And he walks past you making the face. That's like, Oh boy. Uh, so how would you be observing the cloister? Um, yeah, I could be a little hobo getting alms. Yep. I like that. We could also all pick a, like, sort of like the other place. Like storm and Norman was here. Yeah.

Like where we're, we're, we're all going to watch a different zone. Yeah. Make a little triangle. Yeah. We go, we could all go out and like, uh, stake it out to try and get some information on how to get in there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. We're all getting less codependent and can split up for a little bit, but the whole time everyone's like, man, I really should get back to this too. What are we up to right now? The guy's walking around behind me. Yeah.

But Tuck's doing something pretty awesome right now. Yeah. I miss Billy. And you cut to Tuck and he's like, fucking piece of shit. Ving being good at poetry, fucking asshole using his fucking stupid Elven brain being better than me at better, better than me at fucking word stuff. Fuck words. Words are fucking stupid. Tuck's back. Tuck's poem was so good. It was great. It was a great poem. It's fucking stupid. Ving's poem literally contained the word beaver cat shit.

And then Tuck scribbles out the wedding poem and he's like, to the beautiful Wendy. You have put a spell on me. Yes. Keep going. We were doing so well. Okay, great. So Jessica, you mentioned something about Billy going to a soup kitchen or something or getting homes. Oh no, I was, I thought I'd like kind of sit outside and like a little ragamuffin thing.

Sort of like what he did in McCall where like the kids would just like sit around and like, you know, beg for money or like ask for snacks and treats and stuff. Um, and he sees another ragamuffin who's doing a similar thing and he's got a sign up that obviously Billy can't read, but he's like, Oh, I've never seen anyone use a sign before. So he grabs like, I've never seen anyone use a sign. Is this kid the first one who uses a sign? Yeah.

So Billy's like really interested in, he's like, I want to make a sign too. So he grabs a piece of bark and a rock and starts etching in what he, what he thinks is the same thing as the other kids got on his side. That's pretty great. So Billy, what Billy doesn't know is that his sign says will work for food. Yeah. Can, can do, uh, can do tricks or what? I don't know. Tricks, uh, and wood chopping and babysitting. Uh, is this an opportunity for Billy to use, what is it?

Contact his ragamuffin move? Yeah. I'm going to try that. So I'm, I sidled in a little closer just to see the sign better. Copy it. Does he have a vest on? Yeah. Yep. He's got a little vest and he's got a little hat on, but it's a top hat. It's not a flat cap. What a fancy little guy. It's got the, yeah, it's got the pop, the top popped out of it. Oh yeah. Classic, classic ragamuffin. Yeah. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, classic ragamuffin hat. And I'll say, hey. Hello.

How often are you out here? Oh, just about every day. This is sort of my place that I come to. There used to be more of us, but as time went on, more of the kids, more of the ragamuffins, you see. You look like you're a ragamuffin yourself. I am a ragamuffin. I can see the type. A lot of us realized that the church was getting less and less generous, so they moved on. Well, that's a shame. Oh, you know how it is. Just how it is here in Hartwood City. Oh, don't you know it? I'm Larry.

My name's Larry. What's your name? Oh, my name? My name's Biafandar. You could call me Biff. Biff? Call me Biff. Larry's short for Laryngitis. Nice to meet you, Laryngitis. That sounds like a proud Elvin name. It is. Passed down to me from my dad. Yeah. And then his dad. We all call it Laryngitis from my great-great-great-grandfather. We were sharing one water bottle. You know, I'm just wondering, like, do they ever come out of there? It's been a while since I've, like, you know.

You know, hung out on the streets. You're gonna have to roll the connections for this. Eleven. Jeez. Okay. So with an eleven on connections, what is that ten plus? So on a ten plus, someone has it just for you. Oh, perfect. So Biff goes, oh, yeah, you know, not as many as they used to. But there are a couple gardeners who still, they sort of have their prescribed, quote, unquote, prescribed times that they're allowed to come out of the cloister. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Some of them choose to use that to give poor old souls like us a coin or two scrap of food. Oh, boy. Can't wait. Would love a scrap of food. Oh, well, you're just in time then. And you hear. Billy starts, like, positioning a sign, like, waving around. Like you are outside of a Little Caesars. Yeah, like a pizza twirler. He's kind of doing a dance. Spinning it. And Biff sees you do this. And is like, you got the right idea. And he gets up and he starts spinning his sign around.

Start getting competitive. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm spinning, like, weaving around myself. Yeah. And kind of tossing it between my legs. Holy shit. Between your legs? Well, it's a pretty small spot. There is not a lot of room in there. No, Billy has to jump over it a lot. And Biff kind of puts it on his finger and tries to twirl it like a Frisbee, but he's not very agile. So he just keeps doing it over and over again. But the doors to the cloister. Creak open.

And as these two ancient massive church doors open, what gets revealed is these two little grubby urchins doing signs spinning like crazy. Yeah. And there are only two gardeners. There are a number of guards. There's probably like half a dozen guards per gardener that comes out. Billy drops his sign and takes a really long time picking it up to try to scope out the faces. Yeah. Discern realities. Go ahead. Yeah. Ooh, that's only a six. Okay. Shit. So you get a point of experience.

Or can I use… Oh, you have fairy childs? So yeah, I'll use one to turn a failed roll into a seven and nine. Okay, great. So you get one question off the discern realities list. What here is useful or valuable to me? What here is useful or valuable to you is that one of the gardeners is quite old, wizened, bent, long.

White hair hanging down on either side of her head, hunched, but like on an old cane that looks like it's like grown around her, like not into her hand, but it's like grown with her hand basically over the years. Whoa. And she walks over and she drops a few coins of elven silver into the hat of Biff. He goes, thank you, miss. Thank you. And she comes over to you and she does the same, gives you a few coins. Oh, thank you. Oh, of course.

It's the will of the trees that the little boys be taking care of. And she turns and says, you'll see, Elman, this is the true role of the gardeners and wit has been forgotten. And Elman, who she is talking to, is striking to you. Something about his features seem very familiar. Oh. Oh, shit. What do I do? I'm going to… I'm trying to like ping my ring. I'm just like squeezing it in my finger, like a fist, like, guys, I see him. I see the guy.

I think it's like as Billy's like hitting his ring with his thumb, like trying to turn it on. Elman nods and goes, ah, yes. And he reaches into his sleeve, like he pulls his hands out of the sleeves of his robes and he has like two pieces of fruit. And he gives one to you and one to Biff. And they nod at you and they turn and the old woman. Totters back towards the gate and Elman walks with her. I pick up my stuff and I follow from a distance. Oh, cool.

So they are going right back towards the gate. Shadow dance. Oh. Oh. Oh, my God. Shit. I'll leave my body here, though. That is true. It is a sacrifice. No, really. Actually, I turn around really fast. I give my sign to Biff and I say, can I take a nap right here? I suppose. Thanks. You can have my silver. That could be a parlay. Yeah, parlay. Yeah, absolutely parlay. Just watch over my sign and watch over me while I take a really fast nap. And you can have my money. Okay. 2d6 plus charisma.

Ten. Ten. Shit, yeah. You got a deal. Easiest silver off ever made. And plop. Out. Oh, my God. Billy? So, yeah, I'm going to use shadow dance. I'm going to spend a hold of fairy child and roll wisdom. Okay. To see how long it can stay. Excellent. I only got a six. A six. Um. I mean, you do have one more. Yeah, I'm just going to use them all. Yeah. That's it for me. Okay. So, this is the last fairy child for the day. Yeah. But you. So, I'll get one hold. Yeah, you try and leave your body.

You try and enter the fairy, this sort of halfway state that you have been able to enter transition so easily in the past. But it's like something's holding you back. Yeah. For a second. And you really have to focus. Yeah. Weird. Yeah. But you're. It's almost like there's like sticky sludge in the tree. Yeah. It was really hard to get up off the ground. Yeah. That makes sense with the sap. Mm-hmm. It's like when you're running in a dream and it feels like you're in tar. Yeah. Yeah.

But you are able to enter the fairy and you are the fairy again. You leave the boy behind for a moment. Okay. Stay focused, Billy. Yeah. I actually. I like the idea that when Billy is the fairy that he has to keep reminding himself. I am Billy. I am Billy. I am Billy. So he doesn't get lost because in this place with this vibrant spiritual tree. Yeah. It's probably just. It's like coming home from a long trip and seeing your own bed in front of your own toilet. Yeah.

I could take the most comfortable shit in the world right now and never ever get up. Oh, boy. Okay. Keep focused and follow that dude that you know the face of. Okay. So, Billy, you kind of flit through the fairy after Elman and the old woman through the gates into the cloister. Who's next? Tuck or Ving? What are we doing? We're just. We split up. Yeah. You split up to survey the cloister to see. The cloister wall. To like see different parts of it. I had nothing. If you have something, do it.

I have something. Okay. Yes. Tuck. Yeah. So, Tuck is climbing the cloister wall. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Something. This is exactly what I would expect to happen when you three split up. So, you're climbing through over the outer wall. Of course. You have determined that there is enough of a gap in the patrol that you can climb over this part. Yes. Okay. So, first things first. Defy Danger Strength. I'll fucking show Vang who's good at words. 11.

Words never climb the wall. Yeah. Oh, you know what's good at walls? Arms. Words. Words can fuck themselves is what words can do. So you can't get in a cut phase. Arms can. So you pull yourself up over the wall. Yeah. And you are like far enough away from any patrols that you're kind of safe right now. And when he gets to the top of the wall, he says, arms one, words zero. Fuck you all.

And you see a butt like you get to the top of the wall and you look over at the walls of the cloister, which are, of course, because the second wall was built. These aren't made for defense. So you see the massive trunk of the heart tree in the cloister. How big across do we think the trunk of the heart tree is? It's like the width of like a big house, like a mansion. Yeah. Okay. Cool. I love that. Yeah. Okay. It's pretty big and gnarly. I like how gnarly it is.

So you can actually climb into it potentially because it's so, it looks like Methuselah. So it's like you could get in there. If you needed to. I think that's what you, what Tuck sees initially. Yeah. Is that there are like gaps and gnarles in the trunk where you're like, is there, I mean, if there's something, if there's a corruption in the heart of the tree, is there a corruption in the heart of the tree? Yeah. And then you have to think quick because there are patrols coming back your way.

Can I use, is there any way I can use the coin in my chest to like do something? I mean, well, what do you mean do something? To like study the like corruption at the heart of the tree. Yeah. I think that, you know what? Okay. So this is something that we maybe never considered is what you could use to study the corruption at the heart tree is your eyes. You're familiar with the gibbous man. You're familiar with corruption and demons.

You can probably look at it and try and determine how it might be twisting the tree. Open your eyes as wide as possible. Get your fingers in there. Oh, I have an ear for magic. But can he use an ear for magic to see the corruption at the heart of the tree? Can he try to? What is it? Yeah. You have. I should be able to with all the stuff in him. Yeah. Yeah. You do have a coin in your chest. Yeah. I want to ear for magic the fuck out of this tree.

Please read the move and please integrate it into your decisions instead of just saying the name of it and swearing. Yeah. I'm feeling very attacked right now. I'm fucking ear this tree. So goddamn magic. It's going to be insane. Okay. So can you read an ear for magic for me? Was that a poem? When you hear. An enemy cast a spell, the GM will tell you the name of the spell and its effects. Take plus one forward when acting on the answers. Shit. So you just ask. Yeah. And I have to tell you. Yes.

See, this is why I was like, we should limit it to certain kinds of energy instead of all of them. But I think the demon stuff is, I think you feel the coin. In my chest. Yeah. Yeah. You're not reacting to it. Oh, like it's, it's like having a piece of magnet. Yeah. I feel like it's even just that you're aware of it. Yeah. You're not always aware of the pain of the coin anymore. Cause your, your pain tolerance is so weirdly high. Yeah. But you are just like, like you kind of shift around.

Um, you think that. Oh. What? No. Yeah. You tell me. Here's what I think it is. The coin in Tuck's chest is still like not in one piece. Like when those coins are in one piece and there's a demon in them, they're just white. Right. Yeah. Because it's contained the demon. But like, there is like, I think iconic energy.

Just like kind of leaking out and like, it's almost like when you put a microphone and a speaker in front of each other, it's creating like feedback where the coin in the tree is reacting to the. Oh, I will say that you don't know what's in the tree. Oh yeah, we do. Oh yeah. It was a piece of a piece of obsidian. Yeah. The coin in the tree is reacting to like the shards of obsidian in my chest that have like a demon in them, which is reacting to the coin in the tree.

So it's creating like a feedback. Like a loop of like demonic energy. Yeah. Iconic energy. Yeah. Okay. So that is, that is the answer. There's definitely something in the tree, physically in the tree. The other thing that you think about is if I can feel the coin in the tree, it can probably feel me. Whoa. Whoa. So that's something to be aware of. And what was your, what was your specific question in terms of Ear for Magic? Is there a demon in the coin in the tree? Ah, that.

Well, I guess that reactive. Feeling would tell you. Yes, there is. Ooh. Tell me what demon it is. No, I will not. Yeah. I will not. So cool. Um, do I have to like do anything to like withstand the energy that's like building up? Not yet. Okay. Ving. Yes. What are you doing? I'm just casually walking along the routes. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Oh, interesting. He's having a casual walk about. Yeah. I like that.

That you're going to like the different parts of town where like the roots kind of poke out. Yeah. And trying to get information that way. Doing a different style. Yeah. So what you like put your hand on the root and try and connect with the spirit of the tree. Yeah. Spirit tongue. I just want to know like if, if it can direct us to the pain, what the nature of the almost like diagnostic. Like, I kind of want a triage.

Knowledge triage knowledge triage yeah okay so I guess that would probably be discern realities yeah okay 12 boy oh boy sick so you get uh three questions from this list what should I be on the lookout for uh so what you should be on the lookout for is um you're trying to separate like what the tree feels naturally versus like what you're remembering pilgrimages to heartwood as a child and like meditating under the knowledge tree and vigil when you were younger and remembering that feeling of like wisdom and vitality and you're you're feeling in this tree a sense that you'd never had when you connected with them in the past of a hunger like a need a need to sustain itself over all of the of the other living things a hunger that wasn't there before yeah what here is not what it appears to be ah so you're like in your mind you're like the coin the coin I have to find the coin and you are filled with a resistance from the spirit of the tree that tells you it is not a coin what what we saw a coin but it's not a coin you saw a night black piece of obsidian oh fuck words tricked us again what else is obsidian uh moving on moving on next question pick the right one so we figure this out who's really in control here hmm yeah I think um oh oh!!

Whoa whoa whoa whoa I've been your game master Sean O'Hara Joining me as always playing Tacoma Dome the Barbarian Abdulaziz so long everybody playing Ving the Half-Elf Druid Paul Oppers take care Playing Fabulous the Halfling Thief Jessica Tai Bye everyone thank you to Aaron Reed for our intro and outro music Thank you to all of our Susporters around the world for supporting The show without you this show would Not be possible if you would like to support Us find us at patreon.com Slash Spout Lore for a whole bunch of bonus Content and most of all thank You to all of you for listening See you next time And so ends the tale of adventures Three who tried The 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 your chores And for you I'd gladly Spout Lore