Tag: D&D

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. Tucker's the brute who knows not his home, he loves to sing and fight. Vigors have health, he shifts his shape, and wields his spear with great might. Billy's a thief, his tiny size does mask the largest heart.

Best and brightest they may not be, but their friendship outweighs their smarts. So gather round friends, and listen close, for the tale's about to start. Hello everybody and welcome to Spout Lore. Every time I say that I'm realizing there are fewer times that I'm going to get to say that. Stop! We already all cried. You're already crying. If you want to see me cry, patrons, or listeners, you gotta subscribe to the Patreon. I'm just blaring this out right now because I'm crying so hard.

Oh my god, our subscriptions are going through the roof. Your people are fucking freaks. I'm your Game Master, Sean O'Hara, joining me as always playing Tacoma Dome, the Barbarian, Abdul Aziz. Hello everybody. Playing Ving, the Half-Elf Druid, Paul Oppers. Hello. Playing Fat Billy, the Halfling Thief, Jessica Tai. Hello.

When last we left our heroes, they were recovering from the re-ignition of the High Spear Tower and the return of communication to the world, or at least whatever part of the world is nearest the tower and matters to us. Whatever the part of the world still exists. Yeah, that's true. Who knows? The fire's burning at the edges of the world. The party reconvened in the tower, Tuck and Ving attempting to impart some sort of disciplinary knowledge on Billy, who was not having it.

Really fumbled it in a big way. You blew that one for sure. And then meeting up with the four wizards now in this tower, the largest concentration of wizards in a hundred years. Almost 34% more wizards. Yeah. Yeah. Almost 34, but not quite. Morris Wadge, Perel of the Blue Tower, Aquaria, and Waleed the Speaker, all in one place.

Conversation began in which Waleed was updated to the situation regarding the Gibbous Man and the conflict therewith, and also your plan for, hopefully, reconnecting with all of the wizards trapped inside their hotspots. Yeah, and he said that the tower should be able to do that. Yeah. Not to something I just realized, that would be all the wizards' first wizards. Yes.

Because, sadly, any of the other wizards either perished or were locked away by other means, but we can't do anything about those guys. Yep. Waleed agreed to the plan and said that he could very well make this work using his expertise of the tower. Paul, I'm so sorry, I just, it was a realization that I made. It was a throwaway realization that all the other wizards are gone or dead. Yeah, unfortunately, the ones that are left- What? I zoned out for a bit.

Not all the wizards went through the hotspots. Yeah. Some of them got, remember, like Perel got hunted. Oh. Or trapped. Aquaria was almost killed. There was a wizard genocide. Yeah. Yeah, there was a war on the remaining wizards, unfortunately. A wizard-cide. Yeah. Yeah, Perel was locked away. All the other wizards, I believe, were locked in boxes. Yeah. But, that's not our problem. God damn, there you go. Yeah. Jeez, hotter cold, Sean.

This is exactly what you said about the- Whoa, hold on, hold on, hold on. You're kind of misquoting it, to be fair. Tough. Which part are they misquoting? So the party realized- Would you like some of my drink? Is that what you're looking at? No. It's a low- I- Do you want a sip of my mocha? No, it's caffeine. No, it's caffeine. No, it's caffeine. No, it's caffeine. No, it's caffeine. No, it's caffeine. No, it's caffeine. No, it's caffeine.

Jessica gets three sips of all of my caffeinated drinks. That's a compact we made long ago. Not all at once? Two. You crazy? You only have one more now. There's one more sip left. Sean. It's because I chugged my drink. It's already done. It's just water. Okay. Yeah. That's going to hit her like a truck in about 45 minutes. We gotta go fast. Go, go, go, go, go. The party then decided that it was time for them to go.

Time for them to enact their plan, which was to track down the final remaining piece of the moon and rest up a little bit because everybody's pretty fucked up. So they headed back to Hither and Yon, but not before saying a tearful goodbye to Perel, their dear friend and comrade. They have spent a good portion of the podcast protecting and defending. Yeah. It's like when your uncle that lives in the basement finally gets his own apartment. Yeah. After years of being divorced at your house.

And you're like, man, this kind of sucked a lot of the time, but I'm going to miss you. Yeah. Wait a second. Yeah. It's like losing a piece of me. Yeah. Like a toenail that's under the sink. I don't want to let it go. You said that to him when we were leaving. You're like a toenail under the sink, bro. For some reason, I'm going to miss you. This was Billy and I had already left and you kept talking and then he's like, maybe you should go now.

And the party hung out in hither and yon for a little bit. Mears and Victoria LaBlanche kind of chatting a little bit, bonding a touch. But Mears, though his hair has never looked fuller or fresher. He knows that he knows a dangerous person when he sees one. It's got the vibe now of like, you know, like the seventeen hundred pirates. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, like Jeffrey Rush's wig in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Yes. Or the beast from Beauty and the Beast. Yeah. Bedazzled nails.

No. Totally. He's doing a lot of this on his drinks. Yeah. Yeah. And whenever he shows you guys a new piece of cutlery, he does that where he puts it in front of his hand. Like it's a TikTok makeup tutorial. Ving, while the party rested, headed up to the roof of the High Spear and communed with the moon. Oh, yeah. Discovering through his connection to Lillian's own lunar power that the final piece of the moon in the wind is contained within the hilt of the waning knife. Oh, big revelation. Cool.

Which I realized last time we were recording and I looked at the knife and I went, whoa, it's kind of white too. Cool. No, I've been planning that for years. Yeah. And Ving connected with Cloud Piercer, who he had given the knife to a long time ago, and got an update on the war with Thronebreaker. Thronebreaker is winning. He is slowly destroying Cloud Piercer's flock and has corrupted in some way or convinced Cloud Piercer's closest friend and confidant, Gale the Thunderbird, to turn on him.

A horrible betrayal. I form a love. Now that she's no longer interested, Tuck's starting to become interested. Wait a second. What does Thronebreaker have that I don't? A bezoar? A cloaca? I could get one of those. I could get both of those if I wanted to. Ving tries to take the knife away from Tuck, when he had his forehead.

Cloud Piercer also let Ving know that the grey, the magical spiritual fog surrounding Hibernia and the northern part of the Sea of Graves has begun to recede, revealing the island and lessening its protection, which Thronebreaker's flock has become interested in. For the piece of the moon that lies underneath. For the piece of the moon that lies underneath.

And upon knowing that the knife that Cloud Piercer carries contains a piece of the moon, he agreed to deliver it to Ving in a place that the Gibbous Man would not be able to recover it easily. In the Marsh of Mother Neverwas. Not great. No. Not ideal. Ving, returning, imparted this knowledge to the rest, and a plan was made to get going. Billy went to go pack his stuff, and while doing so, Tuck and Ving continued their conversation about how to protect Billy from the coming dangers.

Trying to find a way, think of a way, to keep him in Hither & Yon where he is safe and protected. Billy overheard them wanting to trap him in Hither & Yon and decided that he was going to get out first. Billy ran away. Billy ran away. It is the plot of like easily four or five movies from the 90s. He wanted to steal me, I don't know what to say. I had to get out of there. Yep.

So Billy hopped out a window, something we've never seen done in Hither & Yon before, transporting the bar on his own to the Marsh. The Gray Marsh. The home of Mother Neverwas. That is where we find our heroes now. I imagine we cut to Billy. Ooh. Like, padding through him. Like, what was Billy's plan when he hit the ground here? I guess he's just, he's thinking like, well, I'll just wait for, I'll just walk around until I find a cloud piercer.

You know, he'll probably want to land somewhere, you know, wide and open or maybe in the trees for hiding. I don't know, but it's kind of scary in here. So maybe I'll just make myself feel better while I walk around. What did you learn in school today? You're a good boy of mine. What did you learn in school today? You're a good boy of mine. Just singing seriously. Growing. on the ground. Oh, right. You have a bundle full of bread. Full of bread.

Oh, I'm leaving little bread crumbs for Cloud Piercer. Uh-huh. Oh, smart. Yeah. Uh, okay. So, Bill, you're wandering around. You're throwing bread on the ground. Uh, the marsh here is, as we… Well, this is the first time we're seeing the marsh. Oh. Should I have a looky-loo around and describe? Yeah, you could discern some realities. 2D6 plus wisdom. 2, 5, 7, 8. So… You get one question off the list. Um, what here is useful or valuable to me? Okay. Okay, so…

This is the first rumblings of what Jessica's slammed drink are gonna do to her. Billy, are you okay? Yeah. Are you allergic to bread, Billy? No, he had too much stew before he left. Oh, yeah, and it was old. Bread for a cauldron of stew and, honestly, half of these loaves already. Uh, yeah, so the marsh… I mean, you're walking through the reeds. There's high grasses. Because you're so small, it's, like, tough to see. Mm-hmm. Um, and you part the grasses and you are on the edge of a wide pond.

There's still water bugs, like, flitting over top of it. You see big, fat dragonflies as big as your forearm. Mm-hmm. Zipping across the water. Light bugs. Yeah. Light bugs glinting at the edges of your sight. Up the hill or where the trees start getting thick. Yeah, there's some thicker trees up this hillside. And, uh, in the distance, you can see, like, off to what would be the west for you.

You can see, like, the peaks of a far distant mountain range that you know is the range that you just left. Oh, cool. Minutes ago. And as you're like, oh, this is a great open spot that is visible from the sky. I'll throw some bread in here and then Cloud Piercer will see the bread from the sky. This is perfect. Cloud Piercer loves bread. All birds love bread. All birds love bread. Yeah. Birds love bread. I gotta make them big chunks, though. Yeah. Just, like, whole loaves. Loaf. Perfect spiral.

Yeah, so you're throwing these loaves of bread out into the water. This silent marsh throwing splash, splash. Any moment, he's gonna show up. And the camera sees, off to the side, reeds further down the pond starting to shift and move. Oh. And we'll cut to Tuck and Ving. We're, uh, we're, uh, running. We cut back. Door bursts open. Yeah. Where does the door come out? So would it be in a different place than the window? Uh, no, I think it's, maybe it's one structure. Oh, I see. I think so, too.

Like, maybe it's like an old shack. Okay. Like, it's like on stilts. A kind of rotting wood shack on stilts. Oh, like where they would farm peat moss? You know how they had, like, they would do that on, like, stilts? And then they would pull the moss up and dry it out within the shack? Yeah, totally, yeah. So, uh, you come out of the door of this shack that looks like it hasn't been inhabited in years. Fall nine feet. Splash, splash. Splash! Fuck! Face first.

Because you're, like, 600 pounds, you sink two feet into the mud. Fuck! And then I land on him. Ving, watch out! Watch your step! What's that? Tuck? Where are you, Tuck? Uh, and yeah, we gotta, we need to find Billy. That's all we care about right now. Yeah, totally. Can I discern realities? Yeah, absolutely. Can I yell out loud? You can, yeah. Billy! Do we hear him? I don't know. Do I hear him? Oh, you know what? I think he- I think I do, and I go, I'm not letting them find me.

And then they're gonna put me back in there and leave me be while they have an adventure? I don't think so. Okay. Here we go. Discern realities. 2d6+. Wisdom. It's a nine. Okay, I'll aid. Okay. Head out of the mud. Scoopin' mud out of his ears. Uh, six. Failure, unfortunately. Mark a point of experience. Cool. And you get one question off the list. What happened here recently?

You see in the mud, coming around one side of the shack from an open window, uh, that you see, like, the curtains of Hither & Yon's bedrooms blowing through. Uh-huh. You see little feet off into the swamp. And I do the Aragorn thing. Crawl across the ground. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. A hobbit lander. off into the swamp. And I do the Aragorn thing. Crawl across the ground.

A hobbit landed here. A hoveling landed here. He had- He dragged behind him a sack of bread. The ropes were cut. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. A fart beckoned. And, uh, as your- the sun has been going down for quite some time and sinks- begins to sink further behind the- the distant horizon and a mist begins to rise from the ground. Oh no. Thick. Dense.

Mist. And the sound around- around you begins to deaden. Even your own voice is traveling only a few meters before dying away. As we kind of follow the trail, I try and scream for Billy to make my voice- can I make a roll to make- try and make my voice reach? Say constitution. Six. Okay. I will aid. Okay. How are you- how are you aiding? I'm screaming. I'm screaming. Yeah. That makes sense. I'm putting my hands up to his face. I failed again. Wow. Wow. Oh my gosh. Interesting.

I'm getting the vibe that this marsh is much more dangerous than I thought it might be. No. Yeah. Billy! Oh, it's the lonely marshes in that way. Like, it- it drives people apart. It puts distance. It makes you get lost. It's hard to find your loved ones. Right. Hard to connect. Yes. Maybe there's something like that. Well, I mean, yeah, I think like the marsh is the domain of Mother Never Was. Yeah. It has agency. Yeah. Yeah. Like the negative space is what's powerful here. Yeah.

Oh, interesting. So the marsh is like creating distance between you. Yeah. Okay. The fog. That's the fog. Yeah. And the fog is like wrapping around us. It feels like it's tendrils grabbing us and like muffling our voices. Ooh. Yeah. That's really cool. As you're screaming like next to each other, you start- it becomes harder to hear each other's voices even. Ugh. Talk! And now- Can you see each other? You can see each other for now, but your visions are starting to cloud a little bit. Ugh.

So you gotta move fast. Shit! Uh, we'll cut back to Billy. Um, the voices are sounding weird now. Mm-hmm. And so now I'm like, oh, maybe it's not even them. Maybe it's something else. And then he like really hides. Oh, sure. Okay. Yeah, that may- okay. So give me a Defy Danger Dexterity unless you have a different move to like hide hide. I don't. Ten. Ten. Okay. Yeah. So how do you hide in this marsh?

I do the thing where I grab a reed and I go underwater with just my eyes poking up and I'm breathing through it. A cartoon shark. Just your eyes poking out? Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, at the edge of the pond where you really- you creep into the water, little reeds sticking out, blub blub blub blub blub, you see your bread chunks floating in the water in the middle of the pond. And as you're watching, like looking around, listening, the bread chunks bob for a moment and then get sucked under the water.

And as- because you hid so well, you've masked yourself. As you're bobbing here, you feel something pass under you in the water. Spooky. A shape seen only momentarily. What do you do? Oh, oh, I'm scared. I shouldn't have left first. Uh, could I, uh, could I do, um, could I do Who Goes There? Yeah. What's that one? I would sort of billow the wisp, and I would roll plus wisdom to lure, trick, or distract something. Oh, yeah. Okay, so you- I want to find a- now I want to get out of there. Right.

So you're trying to distract whatever this thing is. Distract it while I leave. Okay, cool. I like that. Okay. Okay, so first you're, like, creating a little billow the wisp light to lure this thing- to lure whatever this is away. Okay. Great. Like a couple fireflies. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Fun. Uh, six plus wisdom, seven. Yeah, so on a seven to nine, it's, like, you can distract one thing temporarily. Okay, yeah. Okay. So it would be, I guess, that one thing. Okay, great.

I don't know if there's more in there. Uh, so, yeah, what are you- like, where- which direction are you trying to send it? Just, like, away. I don't know. Like, opposite direction of the side of the pond? Yeah. Yeah. So you- Well, I back out of the side that I climbed into. Yeah, makes sense. Okay, so you're- you're backing away.

You see your billow the wisp, like, the little cat kind of jumping around on the other side of the pond, jingling and jangling, trying to make- make a- make a- make a distraction for you. Mm-hmm. And- It's batting at the fireflies. Yeah. Oh, cute. And as the mist becomes denser and grows, you hear the sound of the bells, like, deaden a little bit, just as a massive form breaks the surface of the pond. How big? Big. Like a horse-drawn cart. Get out of the fucking water, Billy. God damn it.

And, uh- Yeah, I can't get out of there, for sure. Yeah. I can't get out of there. I'm as tall as these reeds. Surely, it won't see me. And you're in the- in- in the swamp now. Cut back to Tuck and Ving. Shit. What do we do? Fuck. Paul, what do we do? Uh, I don't want to mark an animal close to me. I want to grab a firefly and send it out into the air and see if I can see from it or something. Like, just grab a bug near me and throw it as far as I can. Quick, mark me. Yeah. Mark and throw me.

Mark and throw me. Okay. So, yeah. Roll it to fight danger. How are you- how are you getting a bug? Just grabbing one? Yeah. I just want to grab one. Yeah. Dexterity, for sure. Seven. And then, okay. So, you grab the- you snatch a firefly out of the air. Spirit tongue him. Please. You got to do something for me. Hey! Hey! Hey! Get your heads off me! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Open up! I'm opening. I'm opening. Hey! No, he hasn't yelled yet. Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!

We barely know each other. Oh my god. Tell me a little bit about yourself. I'm Vang. This is Tak. We're looking for our friend Billy. He's small. He's round. He's around here somewhere. I don't feel safe. Vang, how'd you guys meet? Huh? It was… How did we meet? We met at a ski chalet. Ski chalet? Now what is that? Okay, okay. It's very nice to meet you. I have some… Aren't you going to ask my name? What's your name? What's your name? Pierre. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Enchanté, Pierre. Hello. Good to meet you. Whatever that means. Okay. Dude. Seriously. I grabbed him by the wings. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I only got four more of those. Okay. Look. Our kid is missing in this swamp. Uh huh. We're pretty sure some fucked up witch lives here. Oh yeah. Wait. What? Oh yeah. You know about the witch? Oh yeah. What do you know about the witch? Uh uh uh. Can I parlay with you? Fuck you, dude. Fuck you, dude. Oh my god. Pierre.

Pierre, our kid is missing and I'm so fucking scared. What's in it for Pierre? What do you want, Pierre? What do you like? What do I want? Yes. I want to be a star. I can make you glow. I can make you stand out. Oh. I can make you the brightest bug in all the swamp. Oh. Can you actually do… Can you actually do it? Shut the fuck up, dog. What the fuck. Now we're talking. You can roll a parlay with that. Okay. I'm rolling a parlay with that. Alright. Two to six plus charisma. Seven. Seven.

So on a seven, he wants concrete assurance of your plan right now. Okay. You can make Pierre glow, huh? I think so. Let me see it. Um. Shh. I have this. Wow. I don't know what I got. Oh my god. Do you know how to make stuff glow? I have… No, not really. I have… Elemental mastery? Yeah, you're connected to the moon. Oh my god, I can give him a piece of my shine. Yeah, you can give him a little moonshine. I want to give him a little moonshine. Oh. Not the drink. Oh. Hit me.

I'm gonna roll elemental mastery. Two d6 plus constitution. Uh, 13. 13. Wow. Okay. I choose the effect I desire comes to pass and I retain control. Okay. So I don't avoid paying nature's price. Okay. Nature's price in this case is being seen. Yeah, I was thinking that. Oh, yeah. And then, you know, whatever's out there, we'll see you. The moon, like the radiance off of Bing just grows and grows and grows. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good idea. I mean like, uh, and I'm like, what? What?

Yeah, that's great. So you start to, you imbue Pierre with this glow of the moon which pours over him and he's like, wow, I'm beautiful. You're beaming. Thank you. And so are you. And so are you. Wait, am I? Yeah. Both of you. Fuck. Glowing. Please. Looking for the smallest roundest boy. Please help us. You promise. Okay. I, you know what? And he gives you a salute. All right. Pierre is at your service. I'm on it.

And he gets up and he flies off into the swamp and you see the like glow of a, of a bright, bright firefly zip off into the mist. Okay. Should we drive home? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Here we go. If anything, he's lighting the way so we can see better. Yeah. But hold my hand because I feel like the swamp is trying to separate us. It's not because I'm scared. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Uh, what would this be? Defy danger. The danger of being separated. And I'm trying to run as hard as I can.

And you're carrying me with strength. Yeah. Strength it is. Eight. Okay. So on a seven to nine, you retain a hold on Ving's hand. You two are not separated. But even as you step, it feels like every step in this place is so exhausting. Almost like it's, it's, you're stepping further than you think you are. Um, you're becoming tired and it is slowing your progress to a crawl and the mist is becoming denser around you. Almost choking. You can smell it in your lungs. Fuck. Taste it in your mouth.

Getting all pruney. Because of how wet it is. Prunifying me. Fuck. I'm not meant for this climate. I'm a desert boy. Oh, my hair is straightening. And you continue head on into the mists. And, uh, just off in the mist, a light bouncing and dancing. Billy, you are among the reeds. I'm watching this figure rise up. Yes. Out of the swamp. It stomped, stomped into the, uh, the reeds on the other side of the pond, displacing water as it goes and pushing reeds aside with its great bulk.

Can I, like, spout lore about it or? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 2d6 plus intelligence 6. Oh, God, we're fucked, dude. No! We're so fucked. No! Wait, okay, I'm using a fairy child. This is important. Okay. To turn into a 7 to 9. Okay, great. So, a 7 to 9, you get something interesting, but not necessarily useful. What? That's how the move works. Come on. Don't give me what. That's not even Sean's thing. That's the game. What? It's the name of the show. Fine. Let's hear this really interesting thing.

Yeah. So, Billy has spent a lot of, he's been on the earth for quite a, quite an amount of time. He's been to places such as the Gray Marsh or the Everwood Valley. Sometimes, you know, you're aware of this world and the fact that sometimes there are animals and sometimes those animals get really big. This is an animal? To the point. But big. But big. To the point where some animals become so unusual and so large that they develop a singular reputation. And, uh, this creature you've heard of.

A bullywug? No, unfortunately not. A bear? Somewhere in between. The name that you've heard from people that have, that have whispered about it. Mm-hmm. Fishermen and reed farmers and peat gatherers that have lost their lives. Mm-hmm. And also Alec's roommate. Alec's roommate. The screaming old man. Stetton Walden. Yeah. This is a dragon turtle. They are enormous turtles. They're slow but they're very powerful and they are carnivorous. Carnivorous?

And their size means that occasionally they are man-eaters. Eee. Yeah. Okay. Are they related to dragons? It's just, as far as Billy knows, it's more of an analogy than it is a direct relation. Okay. It's a turtle that is so fearsome it may as well be a dragon. Mm-hmm. Like a tiger shark. Like a tiger shark. Yeah. Not really a shark. Yeah. Exactly. But a sad, wet tiger. Yeah. 80% tiger. Actually, wait. If I heard thing and tuck behind me, that means that this thing might see them. Mm-hmm.

I have to shoot first. I have to try to attack it. Oh. Try and draw it away. I can't let it hurt them. Yup. God, Billy. Just let us know where you are. I'm sorry. So you're trying to track it down now, trying to find it. Because it's moved into the reeds following the Bill of the West. It's huge. Yeah. I mean, if you're not being cautious, if you're trying to just follow its trail. Yeah. I'm just following it because I've got to protect my parents.

Just for me, how many tip points do you have, just so I know? I have loads. Just tell me. I have my full hit point. Okay. 20. 21. Okay. Yeah. That should be enough. Okay. And I'm very strong. Excuse me. At zero. Fuck. I'm very charisma. I'm really charismatic and dexterous. Okay. So, which are good things? Do your thing, buddy. All right. I'm throwing a huge rock. Oh, you're going to just follow? Well, hold on. Because it's on the other side of the pond, remember? Yeah. I don't know.

I'm not that far from it. Like 10 feet away. This extremely dangerous creature is way closer to you than it was when I was thinking about it. Okay, fine. Probably like 15 feet away. That's really close. It's like not that close. From here to there. Yeah. That might be 15 feet. The whole room. The whole room is like 22 feet. Okay. So, about the whole room. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's about 22 feet. I'm only five feet. Five feet. I can't see over a fridge. I don't know. I can't see over a fridge.

I can't see over a fridge. I don't know. I'm not that small. I'm five foot six. I'm pretty actually above it. Yeah, you're tall for a woman, yeah. But I still can't see over the fridge. No, you can't. Wait, this is an explanation for why you don't know how far 15 feet is? Yeah, because you can't see over fridges. Yeah. I don't know, man. Just fridges as far as you can see. It's pretty funny. Okay. 22 feet away from Billy. Yeah. Like child's play for this kid. Sure.

Like he can whip a rock, no problem. I'm whippin' it. Two to three feet. I'm whippin' it. I'm whippin' it. Six feet away from Billy. Yeah. Okay, that's an explanation. 26 plus dexterity for Volley. Throw your shit. Eight plus dexterity is … Wow. … ten. Is 10. So I fucking, I get it. I fucking go for it. Yeah. I get it. So, with Volley, you deal your damage. Awesome. Yep. Three. Three. That's not much, but that's all right. Yeah. So you pull your little arm back. Whack.

Whip this rock across the pond, and you hear it clack really hard against this thing's shell. Does it chip it? No. It's like a clang. Like it hits it. It's like it's hitting a shield. Okay, I'm going to do that again. But you have got its attention. Uh-huh. You hear it stop moving. Uh-huh. Yeah. He starts turning around. I'm gonna whip another one. Okay, this is… Alright, yeah, go for it. 2d6 plus dexterity. You did pick knives, just so you know. I did, but I'm not there yet. Okay.

Can I keep that one? Do I have to roll again? What happened? It was a 6, but it landed on the ground. If it was a failure, would you have kept it? No. Reroll it. I see it in your eyes. 6! There we go. See, that's what you get for being honest. Yeah, you're right. Okay, and then plus… Dexterity. …is 11. Great, roll your damage again. You get another hit. It's easy to hit this thing. It's huge. Yeah. 2.

Yeah, it turns, and it's slowly plodding around in a circle, and you see its giant snapping head swing to the side, and you glance it off its shell again, but it sees you. Okay. Through the mist, you can see some sort of animal perception. Piercing eye. Yeah. Oh, and it's only got the one. The other you can see from here is like a mass of scar tissue. Ew. And it starts moving in your direction. Starts sinking back into the pond. Where it can move faster. Uh-oh. Tuck and Ving.

We're walking, holding hands, and Tuck's like, Billy's lived in the wilderness forever, right? He knows to be careful in the wilderness, right? This is not the wilderness. What does that mean? I'm so scared. I should be making, now I have to make you feel better? So you did see a light, remember? Yeah. We're heading for the light. I want to hear the crack. Can I try and hear the crack? Uh, you can roll to discern realities. I will discern realities. Wisdom. I got 12. 12, three questions.

Uh, what here is useful or valuable to me? Okay, yeah. Through the mist, though deadening sound as it is, you hear a faint clack. And then a few seconds later, clack. He's over there. He's throwing rocks at whatever something is. Oh God, he's throwing rocks at something. Oh my God, this sounds like a very big turtle. We started running, uh, who's really in control here?

Yeah, so as you're rushing through the reeds, following the sound of the clack, you stumble over an otter, or rather, half an otter. Whoa! A big, like, mean-looking river otter, like those huge, huge giant otters. And you are like, hearing the clack and seeing this and the bite pattern of what chomped this thing in half, you realize that you are in the hunting territory of a large predator. What here is useful or valuable to me? Maybe I grab half the otter. It seems to like or hate otters. Yeah.

Ving, why'd you pick up that wig? That's a wig, right? Ving, is that a wig? Ving, please tell me that's a wig. Why is that wig all red on one side? Allison, is that you? But that does help, so you realize, oh, this is like a predator's hunting ground. Yeah. You grab the otter because whatever this thing is, as an expert in the natural world, it is motivated by food and safety.

So you think that, like, whatever it is, if Billy's throwing rocks at it, it's probably going to do something because it's pissed off, but not because it has some sort of, like, malign intelligence. Mm-hmm. Okay, that's all my questions, I believe? That's all your questions? That's good. Okay, I have a plan. I saw a documentary about this once. A guy named Bear Grylls shoved his way into a seal to distract a shark. So when you say, in this fantasy world, I saw a documentary.

He heard a song about it. By that. So that… He saw a play? I saw… The library… The librarians would come and, like, give, like, demonstrate… Like, natural history demonstrations. So it was the Natural History Channel. Uh-huh. The National… It was National Geographic. And he… And it was… He… It was… Fantasy name for National Geographic. It was a compendium of mythical beasts. Yeah. Yes. And it happened to be seal week. Yeah. It was seal week. The… And the librarian…

It was one of those wandering librarians. Sure, yeah. He had… He had said he did this. Mm-hmm. He talked a lot about drinking his own piss. Yeah. A lot. Uh-huh. And… And then also he talked about, like, he skinned a seal and put it on. Yeah. So I'm gonna do that. With the otter? Yeah. And I'll distract it so that Billy's safe. I mean, it could work. I'll look like it's prey. Uh-huh. But underneath, you're a big, strong boy. Yeah. So seven-foot-tall Tacoma Dome is putting on half of an otter.

Yeah. And you can go into the water. Yes. It just seems… It's… Do you… And… This is the best idea we have. I have no other ideas. And then Tacoma says… He leans over, he grabs your shoulder, because we're still holding hands. Yeah. He looks into your eyes and he says, Do you trust me? I mean… Yes. Okay. Vink tells him with a sincerity. And I… Sincerity in his eyes. I gently take the otter from his hands. He slips out of it. And I… And trails onto my hands.

I shove my hand into it. And I start working its mouth like a puppet. Sure, yeah. I'm not bad. No, I'm good either. Okay. And now you're trying to make it to wherever this thing is. Yes. Okay. This is going to require a roll, too, just because of the mist. We can get a plus one from the discerned realities. Okay, here we go. We both roll, yeah? Oh, yeah, you can both roll, sure. Defy danger… Say… Wisdom this time, probably. Thirteen. Seven. Success? Partial success. Vink leading the way.

You hustle through the reeds, splashing through the marsh. You hear another couple clacks, but you are making it to the pond. Billy, you are watching as this thing descends into the water. Yeah, it's knife time. I have to whip a knife before this guy goes under the water. Oh, okay, so you're throwing it from the other side of the pond. Great. Defy danger dexterity. Fuckin' do it. Nice. Okay, five plus six plus two is thirteen. Oh, wow, and another d6. Three. Yeah, you, uh, as it, like…

Can it hit, not its shell? Unfortunately, no, it's got… Come on! It's significantly armored. Yeah. And as it's, like, plodding into the pond, it slips under the water and your knife just clanks off the back of its shell. Alright, I give up, let's go. You see, like, light growing on the other side of the pond, and Tuck and Ving come popping out of the reeds. And you see Tuck has a big, dead otter on his hand. Billy screams. And Tuck goes, Billy, is that you? And he moves the mouth of the otter.

And with Tuck's seven to nine, you turn around, and this giant turtle head breaks the surface of the water, and you see its nostrils open wide. Oh, no. As it zeroes in on the dead otter. And then Tuck turns the otter towards the turtle and continues to work the otter's mouth and goes, you leave my kid alone, you fuck. Uh, don't, you don't have to worry about that, because it's coming after you. Okay, cool. What do you do? I, I wanna punch it with the otter.

Okay, so you're gonna wait for it to come out of the water. I'm gonna, yeah, I'm waiting for it to come for the otter, and then I'm gonna try and punch down its throat. Uh, okay, so it's coming out of the water at you. This thing's huge. Like, again, like a carriage size, all the way across, massive, spiny-looking shell. Dark, dark plates that look iron-hard. And a huge, scaly head with a, a beak that is razor-sharp. Okay. What's Bing doing?

I'll, I mean, I'll, I'll get Pierre to go fly by and get in his eyes while he's coming out of the water and kind of, like, dazzle him a little bit while Tuck's trying to do something. Okay, yeah, uh, give it a two to six plus charisma. Okay. Uh, thirteen. Oh, yeah, okay. Pierre puts on a show. Yeah, Pierre's like, oh, I've been waiting for this. Razzle and dazzle. He flies in front of him, like, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, doing, like, kicks and dances. It's the light of life.

And the turtle's, uh, one eye is blinking rapidly. I'm gonna just punch it. Alright. Yeah. Hack and slash, two to six plus strength. Fuck you, turtle. So that's, uh, a roll to five? Oh, my lord. And then my strength is two, so seven. Okay, so it's gonna hit you, too. That's fine. Alright, so roll your damage. Two. Fuck. Uh, two.

Okay, going forward, if you guys can come up with a way to bypass the fact that it's got this big shell, you can roll a defy danger and then not have to deal with its armor. Okay. But, yeah, this one doesn't work, unfortunately, as it, like, pulls its head into the shell as you punch at it. When it ducks, I get embarrassed because a turtle dodged me. And I pull my arm back and I go, fuck, it's snacking so fast! I skitter away. I'm like, what the fuck was that? How was it so fast?

And it starts plodding after you. That's gonna be the seven to nine on this one. Usually you would, if it wasn't for Pierre, you would have taken a pretty bad bite there. Shit, Vig, do something! I'm gonna use call of nature and call upon the spirit of the swamp. And bring out a swamp turtle on my own. The only thing that can fight this turtle is a turtle. Yeah, that's the only weapon. That's imagination full of running away with itself. Jesus. Okay, roll plus con.

I'm gonna use eager beaver, so I have a plus one request. Yeah, great. Oh, wow. Holy shit. Man, I'm rolling hot. Tonight, 13 again. Holy moly. This is gonna be a hot turtle. This is gonna be such a hot turtle. Abs, front, and back. Whoa. Yeah, it's like fan fiction ninja turtle. Sure, yeah. Just hum like a whore. Okay. Spirit performs a task for you. Oh, we got three requests. And remember, the way the move works is you basically roll plus request to get the spirit to do something.

So you're summoning this swamp turtle. What does it look like when you do this? It's like there's the reeds on the other side. It just kind of like comes up with that.

big whole area of reeds, and trees, like little trees are growing on the side of the swamp, so it's got like a whole island on its back, and it is like a black mud turtle, almost snake-slithering, like it's, it looks like it's slopping forward, doesn't really have a form, but the mud is vaguely turtle-like, or reptilian, and then just an earthen shell. That's cool, that's really cool.

Okay, so you're gonna use roll 2d6 plus 3 for the request to, what, get it to scare the turtle away, or seduce it? Yeah, just engage it. Yeah, totally. Oh, wow. 15. Holy moly, yeah. The dragon turtle, like, opens its mouth wide when it sees the earth turtle, and your earth turtle opens its, like, mud mouth that kind of, like, slops open, and big globs of mud fly off, and they slam into each other, and are just snapping and pressing against one another.

Yeah, and you know, like, in T-1000, when it's, like, head over head, like, because it's just made out of mud, it can, like, be, like, splashes, and heads over on this side, snapping and slamming at it. Uh, yeah, so this thing is engaged currently, and it's a big turtle, so it's quite slow. If you wanted to leave this, you hear that, Tuck? I fucked it, the fucking bog was slowing me down, or something. Their necks are really fast, but they don't move fast. Their necks are fast.

Their neck stinks, Joey. I didn't even see it move, it was so fast. Thanks, man. Don't run away from, uh, we, as we're walking, uh, we'll start walking away. Yeah, we just walk away. Behind you, it's like, boom, pow. I feel embarrassed, I was embarrassed in front of my son, he ran away because he heard a thing I said, because fucking thing is too loud, when he talks. No, it's because you said you were going to, like, just leave me there and lock me up, and I didn't want to be locked up.

We didn't want to fuck, fucking, fuck Billy. Billy, you didn't hear the whole conversation, you're picking and choosing what you want to hear. No, it's not fair if you leave me behind. Billy, we're not talking about leaving you behind, we just wanted to make sure that you were safe. You can't always guarantee that. I know, but- But in this case, Billy, and while being gestures at the wild turtle- I could have done it if you hadn't sent your fly after me. You got in my way.

How much damage did you do? You know, more than you did. Okay, fuck, fuck Billy. Guys, guys, please. Billy, I, you said their necks were fast. Yeah, and I didn't say that it was so fast that I couldn't hit it. I got it a couple times, and no one says, good job Billy, we're glad we took you on. Billy, you ran away. Because I had to. Okay, we stop, we stop, and I sit down on the moss in the path that we're on. There's just a titanic battle happening behind you.

Just turtle getting flipped over, slam, mud flying into the air. Like an elbow drop. Yeah, it does look like a ninja turtle sometimes. Yeah, exactly. And I cross my legs, and I put you in the middle of my legs, and I just look eye to eye with you. Yeah, I cross my arms and my legs. Be defensive. I try to pick you back up so I can see you in the eyes. Too sturdy. Ving holds Billy at your eye level. Billy, look. What? It's, I know you're old.

Like, I know that you're a thousand years old or whatever. And you can take care of yourself, but you still look like a boy to us. Well, what do you want me to do about that? Do you want me to just go in my gross form, and then you'll be scared of me, and I'll prove to you I'm big and strong? No, Billy. At the same time that you are a thousand, you are still a little boy, and it is still our job as your parents to keep you safe.

So we have to have the conversation of whether we should bring you into dangerous situations. Billy, as you're having this conversation, as you're hearing him say, you're just a little boy. You're a thousand, but you're just a little boy. You feel the tension growing in you as your seasons are starting. Like, the change is near. Yeah. You remember under the tree snatches of memory of your winter form saying that they could have a little more time with you. Right.

But that time is coming to an end. I don't have long. I don't have long, you guys. You can't treat me like a little boy forever. I can't stay this way for that long. What do you mean? I just feel like the next season coming, and if you keep me locked up, I'm not going to be ready for it. Wait, what does that mean? What happens when the next season comes? I don't know. I just feel it picking up in me. I need you guys to trust me that I can take care of myself. What does it feel like?

It feels like time catching up to me. Billy, no matter what happens to you next, we will still be here with you, okay? Mm-hmm. We'll see. We will. Hey, look at me. Look. Bing's got the side of his head, like, quivering. Billy, look at me. I will be here no matter what happens next, okay? We'll see. And it was wrong of us to have that conversation without you. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

We won't exclude you from anything that we're doing, but in the same way that we promise not to leave you behind, don't leave us behind, okay? Fine. It's a three-way promise, deal? Deal. Deal. Three-way. Three-way. Three-way. And as you make this promise to each other, knowing that the end of the road only happens if all three of you are there, behind you a turtle gets picked up and thrown into a pond. And then he goes, And the giant mud turtle slops back over to you.

So are we, like, good or what? You are released. Ah, wonderful. The oblivious void. It lifts its turtle hands, bloop, back into the swamp. The spirit returns to the spirit world. I didn't even get his name. It was Gordon. And now you're in the swamp. The threat of the turtle has been eliminated for now. But I will say that, because all creatures, I don't even know if I've ever said this, they have a list of instincts and behaviors. And I will describe this to Ving.

Ving, you can hear with your elf senses, after a little bit of silence, you hear, like, the water splash, and the reeds start to, like, be pressed aside again. One of the behaviors of the dragon turtle is move forward implacably. We need to get out of here. So this thing is slow, but it's just going to keep coming as long as you're in its territory. We should get up the banks, into the trees. High ground. Somewhere where Cloud Piercer can find us. Yeah. We need to get above the fog.

What is your plan for getting above the fog? Knowing it is dangerous creates distance and deadens your senses. I guess, like, I mean, these trees, I imagine the trees are pretty tall. We could try to climb up. Yeah. Over the tree line. Let's do that. All right. How are you, who is guiding the way out of here? Oh, is this a perilous journey roll? Oh, maybe. That's fun. We haven't done one of those in a while. We could do that. We don't need rations, do we? No. Quartermaster won't factor in.

Oh, God, I lost all the bread. So who is scouting ahead and who is navigating? What are the things you roll with it? Scout ahead is wisdom and navigate is intelligence. I'll scout ahead. You should navigate. What's your intelligence? Negative one. Okay, I have zero. Oh, yeah, you should scout ahead. Okay. What's your intelligence? Minus one. Follow me, I know the way. Backwards on a horse. Just back into its mouth. Oh, in here, for safety. Clomp.

Yeah, like he's parting the fog in front of him using a little elemental. Yeah, a little like… Cool. So you're scouting ahead? Yeah. Okay. And Billy's navigating. I'll navigate. Okay. I'm chasing the dirt. I'm chasing more like dirt, so we're going the right way. This way, this way. All right, 2d6 plus wisdom, 2d6 plus intelligence. It tastes less like turtle piss over here. That's 11. Oh, my Lord. Holy moly. That's a straight 11. It's beautiful. And I'm holding onto the back of Ving's shirt.

It's just like mud skiing. Just follow it. All right, guide me out of here, Ving. The fog seems to be affecting me more than most. Can you please put that otter down? No way. Sorry. Tuck's so bad at navigating and the fog's messing him up that he just keeps tugging you guys in different directions. We should go this way. Okay, so scout ahead. Take two from the list below. You get the drop on whatever lies ahead. You discern a beneficial aspect of the terrain.

You make a capital D discovery, or you note a sign of a capital D danger. Oh, the second one? You discern a beneficial aspect of the terrain. Yes. A shortcut shelter or tactical advantage. Yep. We're trying to get up high. Excellent. And then a discovery. Great. So Billy's going to be navigating the shit out of this. You guys are getting out of this swamp. My mouth is full of pine needles, so we're in the forest. We're in the forest now. We are getting there. He can't see anything.

So you're just scooping stuff up. It's like every scout. Yeah, this feels more like forest.

I can see the dirt's dry now great job everyone way to go so you are moving the fog aside he's doing like like like McCall and like when he was in McCall doing his tai chi yeah totally for a while yeah the mist is parting at your movements satisfying and Billy is eating handfuls of dirt underneath you spitting them back out like a like a sommelier yeah and tuck is functionally useless right now carrying the otter I'm care I think it's you we're gonna find your legs Billy I really feel like we should go that way and you start climbing up this hillside the the fog is definitely even as you're navigating you can tell it is trying to lead you astray you feel it tugging you in different directions and you're like no no no fog not today folks tugging me off over here you're getting yanked off by this fog and he yanked off is so dismissive yeah it's just like oh my god get out of here and Billy leads you up the hillside into the denser marshy trees and you find at the edge of the mist as it like reaches the top of this hill and and stays below in the bowl of the the hunting grounds that you were in you see that the mist does continue into the distance that this marsh is large this is a wide and and dangerous place and right at the edge of where the mist ends and the forest begins you find piles of dried flowers and carven idols it seems like hand-drawn pictures and portraits massed against the roots of an old gnarled tree whoa and there's just this thing is festooned I have a look yeah you can discern realities yeah two six plus wisdom try and figure out what this is for oh you I kind of like the idea that like you're looking at this pile of stuff and if there's anything that Billy loves in life it's a pile of stuff pile of garbage and I think as you're looking you know there's like yeah there's dried flowers there's carving idols pictures letters in some cases well there's like a doll like a stuffed like sack doll like from Mulan kind of yeah like the top of Mulan yep and before you even really realize what you're doing like Jessica is aware of this Billy might not be your little hand snakes out and grab something and puts it away in a pouch mine does yeah my hand puts it about that your hand puts it in one of your pouches let's grab something off this pile Billy the choice yeah here I'll tell you I'll tell you three things and what do you think Billy instinctually goes for there is a bent and twisted copper spoon the neck of it has been spun into a spiral all right next love it next there is a wooden carved duck okay cool next about the size of a thumb oh like it and there is a bundle of black hair tied with a red ribbon that's the one all right take this black hair pop it into a pouch don't even realize that you did it and you guys are just standing here in front of this shrine okay look at it yeah totally yeah discern realities okay here we go let's take a look at this thing six plus wisdom wisdom seven okay one question my ear is not what it appears to be you are from a country from a nation mm-hmm that is steeped in ritual McCall is a place that was built by humans under the direction of a god mm-hmm and in many ways in honor of a god mm-hmm and you know the difference between a shrine built to honor someone and a shrine built to implore the favor of someone and you would guess that this is a pile of offerings made to mother never was oh fuck to ask for favors okay guys and I tell you guys I was like this is a these are a bunch of deals and I take a step back nobody touch anything yeah oh yeah no I didn't yeah this is these are a bunch of deals these I these are deals that I think have already been made with mother never was this is what was traded what kind of stuff is in this pile it's nothing of like value value but it seems like a lot of items of personal value whoa should we leave something well we want to enter a pact with her just yet I don't think I think we don't have to I feel like we don't even want her to notice that we're here I think we should probably go yeah we're well we got away for we got climb this tree and make contact history well whatever the fucking tree we got the tallest tree by far yeah by far okay let's climb this tree wait for cloud piercer and then get the fuck out of here before she realizes that we're here I hate this is the tree giving you bad vibes and there's a bunch of hair at the bottom of it sorry sorry man yeah I'm just scared and I want to get scared to get ornery it talks like yeah someone dropped a weird wet wig over there he's like waving his hand off I don't like the smell of the base of this tree at all I think that you've got time enough to climb the tree without rolling you're climbing up this tree would you say we're spending time in this place yeah oh I can I commune the whispers you can commune with the whispers here if you'd like I also don't want to open it up to yeah the visions upsetting frightening or traumatizing that makes sense the worst that could happen here I want to use commuter whispers while we're up in this tree of never was okay so you're climbing the tree you're all sitting you're seated in the boughs of this tree as you climb up out of the like small canopy all the trees in the swamp up here like weirdly stunted yeah small but this tree is tall and gnarled and twisting and as you emerge from the canopy the branches up here become it's almost like they've been stripped bare and what is left is like a skeletal grasping hand of branches it's like it's almost like the wood is dead but it's still growing yeah weird and you're all just kind of nestled in the basket of the of the branches up here and I like that we get above maybe the fog a little bit yeah and the the night sky that which is silent but is almost deafening and it's like ambient sound told sound of the wind and the creatures and the birds is like whoa it's shocking you can see you're facing kind of like southerly in this tree you can see far off to your right the peaks of the mountains that High Spear City is nestled in far to the south you can see glinting on the edge of the Bay of Pinoose remember that Bay that you named yeah after I tried to draw a map I did a pretty good job really good you did a great Pinoose you can see the lights of what you can only assume to be vert grass and then off off to your left the east the black tree principality which you've spent absolutely no time in but you see a dense dense forest marching off into the distance like that primeval like a Sleeping Beauty style yeah primeval like yeah thank god yeah I like the stars above that part of the sky are brighter because there's no like oh I was actually gonna say the opposite oh that's cool yeah where it was like because the gibbous man does not look here oh there should be more stars there should be more yeah there should be more but there isn't oh there should be more but there's yeah and thing you have some time while you wait to commune with the whispers here okay I'm gonna come you with whispers role plus wisdom whoo six plus three is nine okay oh I can help how is Billy helping I am being quiet I was having a sing-along by myself and you said Billy Billy I need to concentrate in a moment of or before right but then you do start driving on Tuck's belly all right 2d6 plus bond 7 okay 7 makes it a 10 great thank you and on a 10 plus you what the vision will be clear and helpful to you okay so you're communing with the whispers of the gray marshes in this shrine tree the shrine tree okay so you who commune with this area the tree the marsh surrounding it and you see in the branches of the tree beneath you you see eyes see the faces of people right Yeah, like in the canopy or on the ground the canopy on the ground.

They're in the trees They're they're standing on the ground only Ving can see them. You can't see anything. You can't see anything Billy and I are playing thumb war. Yeah quietly. Yeah, and you're hearing like What do you wish for what do I wish for are you speaking to me? Yes, who are you? The deals that have been made we are that which never was The choices that you have made in your life the choices the choices the choices the choices that you have made Have left other choices unmade.

Have you ever wished to know the choices you never made?

Choices and he hears his own voice echoing through the trees choices choices and choices And you see like a child climb like a small child climb up out of the can Shadow child Now delete the podcast Usually like I wish to know a mother's love mother never was became my mother and shouting up from the bottom I wish to know a life where I was better than my brother and she took my brother from me She could do the same for you and an old woman who an old halfling woman with long Disjointed limbs.

Oh, yeah, then becomes a sweet small woman. I wish to know the way of the herbs She taught me the ways and asked me a little in return What have you come here for? Oh, yeah. What did I want out of this? What did I want to commune? Yeah, I need help. I think a little bit. What did we want?

I guess This is something I would like to know how Communing with the lands of mother never was can help us in defeating The gibbous man or maybe can give us a boon Because that is the thing is like we are we are in her territory and he fears her Because of the early deal because of the the first deal the deal that made sky the deal that made Lillian like that was that?

Was their bargain is of long ago before the world was ever made the gibbous man wanted children And so he made a deal with mother never was the woman who her dominion is everything that doesn't exist To help bring into the world the moon like a daughter for him and their contract was the sky I want her to honor her deal That is sick.

That is so sick that the fact that Lillian's not here It means her contract is void It is the contract that she is unable to fulfill must be driving her insane as well Or like must be a very motivating for her or whatnot. Yeah, so that's what you say Yeah I want for mother never was to honor her the original deal She made the first deal she made and then you hear whispers in the trees a deal I think all the eyes look in one direction it at once.

Yeah at one of the figures in the trees Okay, what is this yes all of the eyes turn to the child to the child Yet all the eyes lock on the child who then Begins to take another form Melting away to a woman with long braided graying hair your mother Ileana or rather Adernac all water as she looks older older than you ever saw her wrinkles in the eyes grit more gray in the hair mother my son You've returned to me and the voice is different You get the sense that this is the voice that she had always spoken before she was your mother You've come to make a choice The choice was made for me long ago.

I See the purpose you've laid out for me And I don't know if I can fulfill it, but I now here can help you make the choice that you have not made What do you see is that choice? and she reaches out a Long thin arm and a long thin finger and pokes you in the chest where the knowledge seed lies Shivers you look over at tuck and Billy and we're frozen like oh Billy's thumb is over top of tux and tux like I Gently cast her hand a finger aside.

She tended you as a garden The seed has been planted the tree takes root how long until it blooms This isn't up to me. It can be I can make it happen. I Feel like I Have been your son my whole life thinking that I Was a boy and a man created to walk his own path but in learning What I was created for when you say that the moon glow kind of like radiating. Yeah Created in your image, and it lights up her face and it's sag like really.

Oh, yeah version I Feel like I am NOT the son that is born of you. I feel something different I feel like I am The son that never was You see her she smiles and she nods That I can work with and she kind of is like her head is twisting as she's looking into your eyes Kind of like like how a snake's head kind of like moves from side to side. Yeah yeah, she's sizing you up every living creature on this planet looks up to the night sky and Is witness to the original deal that you made?

unfulfilled a Deal to make to make a daughter a deal to make a daughter and Every deal this tree points at the tree gestures that the tree is full of deals Every deal you've made since that original Negotiation has been in service of chasing that original deal that has gone unfulfilled Unfinished the original covenant still broken As the coronet this guy broken as the coronet in the sky just like I said Just like I you know flawed up on all my own my poetic self And with great knowledge of the podcast and it's lore All the things I remember all the things I remember unto myself You've already chosen sides in the past with chimes you made a deal in his attempt to save Lillian gestures at the moon as He's saying this thing is putting his arms out and tracing through the constellations on his skin Correlate with the story.

I am a record of your deals unfulfilled We know you feel the responsibility you have a place in this fight, where do you stand? Mmm-hmm You see that? Keep in mind with all that's about to be said that you see this land with her even in this this aspect this form of Adirnak all water of your mother Ileana you see like the face shifting and turning though She stared she she looks directly at you. Mm-hmm. She shifts and moves and turns.

I choose no sides I Cannot choose I make deals with all who come My covenant was fulfilled the child was made the moon hung in the sky What happens after that our choices made and beyond like n? What of the deal you made with chimes?

He came he offered I made the deal and you see she's still like shifting like she's Straining against something she's shifting and moving and turning away from you while still looking dead-on The black ink on my skin turns to bright moonlight and I shine the constellations as Bright as they are in the sky. Hmm. Oh Cuz you can't you like this the night sky is like blocked out. She's not confronting you Like blocked out. She's not confronted with her broken deal ever. She's blocked it out.

Perhaps. Oh, yeah Yeah, that could be part of the deal that she made with us. She doesn't have to understand. Yeah Yeah, she's you can it's she's like roiling almost like a like a boiling pot of water Yeah, like when t1000 falls into the magma exactly. I've never actually seen the Terminator movies Yeah They're great T2. Oh, I gotta watch it.

Oh, yeah Robots and people running around those are the two things I love in movies Yeah, so you you illuminate these constellations on your skin and though she is again mother never was as hard to look at Even though she is staring directly at you. You see that she see that she is turning away and shielding your eyes and almost recoiling from the Recognition of something that is represented on your skin.

She's like I cannot help My realm is the things that are not done the choices that are not made I cannot act but if you want to roll something you can try and try and glean something out of this situation Because you're dealing with a with a very Strange entity right now I will use druidic lore consult the trove of ancient knowledge within me to examine the events of the world all wisdom you have the contracted you. That's so sick. 2d6 plus wisdom, 11. Okay, and on a 10 plus with druidic lore?

On a hit the GM will ask you a question about the subject, whatever you say is true. Okay, so I'm asking you and then you're just telling me how things are. Okay. Do you think that, based on what you know about the the turnings of the world through the eyes of the druids and their peoples throughout time, mother never was his role in the creation of the world and her role in the creation of of the moon and the sky.

Does Ving think that mother never was is a pure and cold entity or do you think that she is a woman bound by the rules that were placed on her? I think that she is a matriarch that is crippled by the guilt of not being able to nurture. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. So you can see in what she is fighting against is that this is a mother. She is mother never was. She has created so many children and by the laws of her reality she has been denied the ability to be there for them. Well, that's sad.

Yeah, like the rules of her are that she cannot interact with the world. She can only make the deal to make the thing, but she cannot be part of the world itself. And she also can't do anything about what people do with the gifts that she gives. That's such a sad thing to think about parents.

You think about people like Nana, this old woman who came back, like she asked for this gift and mother never was tried to give it to her, but she returned and so much time had passed that the people that Nana cared about were gone. Right. So did mother never was turn Nana into this twisted bitter thing or did she use her gifts to become that in anger? Yeah. Oh, and then all this blame put on mother never was. She's the boogeyman. She has made choices. Yeah.

She has made choices that have hurt a lot of people, but nothing in the world is purely good or purely bad. Even the gibbous man. Yeah. Honestly, in mother never was you're seeing an aspect of the gibbous man. He has been cut off from an aspect of himself due to choices that he made out of fear and he has been living with the consequences of that fear for centuries. So what you're seeing in this is that mother never was wants to help you, but she is bound to laws that she cannot break.

So you need to find a way to get her aid in a way that she is able to aid you. She can only make a deal. You have to make a deal with mother never was if you want her help. Okay, what is our deal with mother never was? And we can bring Tuck and Billy into this as well. That's what I was thinking. I was also thinking about your ability to push beyond reality. Right. Oh shit. Yeah. You might be able to break these laws. Right. The unbreakable law. Yeah. The unbreakable deal. Mm-hmm.

That we can get something from her without having to make a deal. Perhaps. Potentially. So I have breaking the law, which is if I take a debility to one stat, I can make an impossible thing possible. Would it give, like if you broke the law, would it give then Ving like room to make a deal that's not possible? Or would it give like mother never was a chance to do something, to like to make a choice for herself?

Yeah, I think that's the latter where it's like, yeah, because it's like she wants, she, the only thing she can do right now is make a deal, which her deals tend to go sour, which is basically Ving signing up for a curse. But if like, if Tuck can use breaking the law, we can break the rules of her realm, of her like constriction and say, like basically. Maybe she can give us a boon. Yeah. With us having to give anything for it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah, I'm down for that. That's really cool.

That's very cool. Yeah. Okay. The deal, Ving says, is not mine alone. I have a lot to consider in this world, and I gesture at them. I have my own family. I need to make this decision with them. Grant me at least this. I welcome all who come to make a deal. And Billy and Tuck, you suddenly come to, you are surrounded in this canopy. We're distracted by the thumb, and I'm like, ah, Billy, oh! I can't always win. You're too strong! I'm not even touching you. Oh, your thumb is so strong!

I don't play anymore. Okay, fine. And you are, you look around, and there are faces in the canopy. Holy shit! Where, where are we? Where is that? They're the deals. These, these are the faces of the deals. Of all the stuff on the ground? Guys, I've been doing a lot of things. You've been frozen for, like, half an hour, it feels like. I knew it. And you see this shifting. Each of you sees a face looking at you. I knew it. I don't know. You've been frozen for half an hour. I knew it.

I would never play a game that long. This is Mother Never Was. Mother Never Was, this is my family. Hi. Please don't eat me. I come in peace. I could not if I wanted to. Thank goodness. Your friend has come to make a deal. And Tuck is like, Ving, what the fuck are you, what are you talking about? What are you doing? Mother Never Was wants to help. I do not. I cannot. And you see her form roiling as she says this. Yeah. She has as much pain invested in the Gibbous Man as he does. Deals are made.

They cannot be broken. Royal turn twist. She lives by a law that I'm hoping you can help break. Um, uh, yeah. She's willing to help if she could. I cannot and I will not. And royal twist turn. Tuck takes this. The canopy's starting to shake around you. The tree, the branches and the marsh are starting to twist and turn. Hey, hey, hey. And then Tuck kind of like, he, he moves like kind of towards her on the canopy, like climbs a little bit out. And he's like, what do you see in me?

As you walk out, the branches are turning up and around your legs and the trees are starting to bind you in place. What do I see in you? Choices unmade. Deals broken. I can give you something else. I can help you find what was lost. Wait, what do you mean? A life, a family, a past hollowed out, filled up with something foul and dark and then emptied out and tossed aside. Emptied out by who? I'll tell you nothing else until you give me a gift. Make a deal.

I'll tell you everything you want to know. Tuck goes, I, he reaches forward and he like extends his hand to her. She looks at it. The tree binds his wrist. Oh yeah, you get locked in this imploring pose. Yeah, I, I don't need anything from you. I lost something. I can tell. There's something important that is missing. But I don't think I need it anymore.

And it's like in, in this like space, this liminal space that we're in, Tuck like tries to conjure like, like the images of the Battle of Olan Spring, the Husky, like the shores of Crystal Bay. He's like, I don't think I need whatever it was that got taken away. And he kind of like against the, the strength of the branch that's holding him, like pushes his hand out further. But I do have a gift for you, given freely, with no need for repayment. What is it? It's a choice for you.

Okay, so I want to be clear here, because what we talked about has kind of changed. You're offering her this choice. She will make her choice and you will get nothing in return. Yes, I do not want to make a deal. I want to use breaking the law to give her the chance to make one choice. Oh, what choice would she make? I give you one of the choices of my life. You can use it freely for whatever you want. Hmm, what is a choice that Tuck made? Oh, in the past?

I meant in the future, choices unmade as well. Hmm, choices yet to happen. I see, I see, I see. But it's, I guess it could be something in the past, but he, his intention was for the future. Oh, so what you're saying, let me know if I'm on the right track, is that there will be a choice at some point in the future that Tuck is going to make that will be taken from him. Yes. I like that a lot. That's a, that's quite a, that's quite a weapon to have.

A choice is a powerful thing and by my understanding of what you are, you don't get to make any. You are bound by the choices that we make. So, I think I can give you one of mine. And, uh, her form turns and twists and then you see before you, Habibi, a kind-faced Macaulan elder man. And then it shifts again to, like, a Macaulan.

woman I do not recognize oh oh didn't mean to make that sound oh what oh what what if I say something and it turns into another form of Macaulay woman that you don't recognize a young adult maybe a bit a bit weather-worn a bit harried like she's lived a bit of a hard life and she the branches recede from your arms and legs and she reaches forward and she takes the hand she places another hand over the side over the other side of your hand and says this gift I accept from you my son and I I take the debility she takes the choice she melts away into the canopy you don't have to roll for it yeah I don't it's a good ability what do I take an ability to uh what do you have left dexterity intelligence charisma charisma yeah you feel as as this image departs you feel a part of you leave with it and that's where we're gonna end it for this week I'm your game master Sean O'Hara joining me as always Tacoma Dome the barbarian Abdul Aziz so Ving the half-elf druid Paul offers take care that Billy the halfling thief Jessica tie hi everyone thank you to all of our patreon supporters around the world without you this show simply would not have been possible if you want us to support the show in this these last few months of spelt lore and get ready for our brand new campaign which we hope you'll love you can join us at patreon.com slash spelt lore or spelt lore comm slash money please thank you to Aaron Reid for our intro and outro music and all of the music produced for the show also Taylor Swindles for producing music for the show and as we come into the last stretch the home stretch of spelt lore we are feeling just so grateful for all the people that have stuck around or this big long journey that we've been on and some of those people are this is we're back in 2019 2019 yeah Wow this is where it was such a different place in 2019 holy shit different as it will be in 3019 yeah you mean in a thousand years in a thousand years from now the world will barely be as different as it was exactly seven years ago okay 20 2019 very fine chef Tony Tony thank you so much you so much for being in this home with us monarch Rachel Rachel you've been sticking around for a long time thank you so much for your story she you know we love you Rachel K I'm gonna squint and I'm gonna read Rowan thank you so much Rowan thank you so much Andrew Andrew Andrew can I call you Andy I can't okay that's fine I like the formality what about drew Andrew spine Andrew spine Josh Josh L Josh L Joshua Joshua Joshua L Mender hunter hunter oh yeah great hunter I remember when hunter this is so so stupid when hunter subscribed I went hunter cool man won't ever forget Jax we already said Jax oh Jax yeah yeah we got Michael B Michael B very fun chef Dan H did it just been around for ever another Jessica we're the best Jessica J you're the best a LAN that's the thing after you yeah Wow Zeke W Zeke what up Zeke thank you so much Zed's dead John R John R see I've been I've been seeing that name John been seeing you around for a long time thanks so much John I think John was on the Facebook fit like fan girl yeah before we had a discord yeah the Facebook fan group which still exists and still there's still people out there that are on the Facebook group and they're like liking stuff and commenting on John R might be one of them I know thank you so much for being on Facebook see me on Facebook I'm gonna say this really fancily Andres yeah thanks for your support Andres Greg H Greg thank you so much Greg anybody watching the video right now sees this just look at least look in the camera once in a while yeah what's up everybody Isabel A Isabel thank you so much someone's anonymous oh it's Ashok oh my god oh cuz he made his name so it I see Ashok Ashok rhymes with coke we thanked you Ashok yeah you know what thank you again fucking piece of shit whoa whoa whoa good friend he's a buddy of mine Maddy yeah oh I've written you so many postcards and every time I'm like I better spell it all right Caesar the man with four names yes Tara Tara T bone what's up Hannah B and our friend Dave our friend our friend Dave you piece of shit stop trying to get me to follow you back on Instagram I think that's you personally I will I think I just did he what did you know no I forgot Josh we lost our place now I don't know I don't know where Josh B Tom H Tom H Willis P we're gonna do it a rapid-fire now okay Brian T okay Robert E Claire Claire Nathaniel G Lulith David Chris Abby M Randall Samuel Q and star Kelly Corey Stewart the speed with which we're still going yeah with which we're saying it has nothing to do with how much we care about you no no yeah we all that we we may have saw you that last little bit that's true Tom and Reese just get to do a little dance I'm just a little dance Reese G cool last name we're not gonna say oh yeah that's another one that I always write I yeah that's a sick name that's a sick name Kelly M MS Kelly M s Corey K Corey K thank you so much thank you Corey Stewart L you're the best yeah thank you for being a support yeah Rory Tom and Reese Fox Richard Megan or Megan oh Megan okay I mean it kind of looks like Megan but it's Megan it's Megan Megan or Megan put it in the comments yeah I think it comments everyone vote in the comments Ainsley thank you so much for your support and second see Zeke G Zeke G Zeke's what are the odds what are the odds I can destroy yeah yeah that's we'll do that for now thank you so much all of those patreon supporters all of you you guys are the best thank you literally if it weren't for you we would have stopped doing the show a long time ago oh yeah back then you were buying us chicken wings yeah and now you're buying us fat burger yeah and you're buying yourself continuation of the podcast yeah yeah thank you so much all of those supporters for all of their support and all of your support and we will see you next time bye-bye and so ends the tale of adventures three who tried the best they can the dumb and scared and lost they be for times abreast in and though our journey may be like 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 law the Fable and Folly Network where fiction producers flourish Mount Absalom a community a heritage a home the green jewel in the majestic crown of Ohio for 200 years Mount Absalom has been a place to play and 32 BINGO!

a place to learn for in thy green and growing arms we have everything we need all right now let's get out our math homework a place to work here at the Celery Bottling Works we produce over 2,000 bottles of celery soda every day a place to raise a family it's a girl And here we have the barrel of whiskey that Confederate soldiers stole from Mount Absalom Patriot Amelia Pleasence during Morgan's reign. And of course, a place of celery. 201st Celery Festival, I dub thee open!

Mount Absalom is the perfect place for making memories. For making memories. Make your memories with us. Make your memories here. Mount Absalom. Paid for by the Delphic Order of Mount Absalom and Celeric Bottling Works. Refreshing Celeric Soda and Diet Celeric Soda. Unwell. A Midwestern Gothic Mystery. Learn more at UnwellPodcast.com Spelt Lore is proudly a Spelt Lore Studios production. A podcast for best friends by best friends.