Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Hey, Barry. Hey Al,
Speaker 1 00:00:03 Why do wizards like fireball so much?
Speaker 0 00:00:06 Why
Speaker 1 00:00:08 It's a well-rounded spell it's time for Kimbell duel. Hello everybody. And welcome back to compel duel. I'm Al and I'm Barry, and we are a single-player Cody out to Dungeons and dragons. Fifth edition, actual play podcast. Last time
Speaker 2 00:00:37 Duel Ferrara, Val sine had probably the worst day of her life. She entered the Voltaren city of GIM Tara, along with her adventuring party in search of a magically fueled portal up in the mountains that Leo is apparently going to use to bring an invading force into
Speaker 1 00:00:57 Australia. And while she was
Speaker 2 00:00:59 There, she had a reunion with her old friends, Sabine, Javares, and Laura
Speaker 1 00:01:04 Lasha chrono, and
Speaker 2 00:01:07 Also, um, met her uncle and her mother and her sister.
Speaker 1 00:01:14 So after the trauma of that incident,
Speaker 2 00:01:16 I didn't fee went out to get wasted at a nightclub where she promptly ran headlong into her brother after five years.
Speaker 1 00:01:25 And the time before that layer of Alpine had to make a budget for the first time in his life, he entered the Voltaren city of <inaudible>. He had a very interesting time with trying to replace certain pieces of equipment that were stolen from him. When he got kidnapped in the toward union city of Southwood, and he learned, uh, some things that had been going on on the Island of Lux to Gallen the seat of the Assurion church. So after that taxing taxing day, Leo went out to get absolutely hammered at a nightclub and very nearly left with one MREs ed stone bloom to go have some fun in a more private area, but was interrupted when he ran headlong into his sister Ferrara for the first time in five years. And that's where we're going to pick back up with Leo, Leo, you are standing in this nightclub wearing sparkly, booty shorts, having just a weird night, man. Zed is behind you. I think he has like one hand on your back. Cause he was trying to herd you out of the nightclub. Fie is standing in front of you swaying a little bit. She's like pretty obviously drunk jaw dropped eyes
Speaker 3 00:03:00 Huge. Like the size of dinner plates. Joe is looking pretty much exactly the same way. Eyes wide. Very clearly hammered. Just gaping. Yeah, I think again, Leo just says shit very softly. He says, what the fuck? Uh, um, uh, you hit w w why? Why do you mean Y Y you, you Y and then from behind you, Zed says, hi, still standing here. Nice to meet you as headstone Blim someone explained. Um, yeah. Yeah. Um, if he, this is my Zed feed, just looking shell shock very quietly says hi. As ed said, this is my sister, the hand that was on your back moves as a tosses, both of his hands up. And he goes, wow. Okay.
Speaker 3 00:04:13 No, but seriously, what the fuck are you doing here? What the fuck are you doing here? Jerks his head back towards Zed and then glares at her and goes, well. I mean, currently I was on my way to do something that can't really be discussed in polite company, but apparently that's all gone out the way window. Don't take a tone with me. You bumped into me. How is this my fault? Leo's eyes narrow at her. Can I roll insight on her? Yeah, absolutely. I'm really drunk. That's a 10. You're not totally sure. What's up. The looks surprised.
Speaker 3 00:04:54 So what did father send you, as you say, that fee winces and straightens her posture, and you watch her put the mask back on. I don't see how it's any of your business from behind her comes up. This not as tall as fi, but like taller a Sherry and woman deep Brown skin with the blue undertones slate, gray hair in a very nice dress for the evening. She comes up and she grabs fi by the elbow with a jingle of these cuffs on her wrist that are just covered in bells. And she says, fi what's up? I thought we were going, Oh, and you brought it friends. How precious did they have to give you extra staff to help track me down after the shit show and estrone Wytheville through this woman behind fi looks at you. And then she straightened her posture
Speaker 1 00:05:58 And very cool lady. She says, Sabina virus, and you are literal Val
Speaker 2 00:06:06 Sign grand Duke of Australia. Nice to meet you.
Speaker 1 00:06:10 Oh, right. I'd forgotten that face. It's not very remarkable. And Leo make me R Wiz save. Okay. 20, nothing happens. You can tell. She just tried to cast the spell at you though. And she just says, fi let's go fi breaks, eye contact with you for the first time to look over it. Sabine and says, yeah. Yeah. Let's um, and then from behind you that says we should get going. And then he like grabs the back of your shirt. Leo makes him
Speaker 2 00:06:49 Eye contact with fi and as he is being pulled out of the door, says, we said we were going to cross this bridge. When we came to it fee, you get in my way, I will push you off the side.
Speaker 1 00:07:03 Roll insight. 14. As the door is closing in front of your face, you watch FI's face, fall. And she just goes really pale
Speaker 2 00:07:18 Zed, pull me out of the nightclub. But as soon as we are outside, I am turning around and looking at him and going, this is a me problem, but I'm not exactly in the mood anymore. I'm going to,
Speaker 1 00:07:33 I need to take a walk and leave
Speaker 2 00:07:36 Turns around and takes off completely directionless. He has no idea where he's going. He just needs to get away.
Speaker 1 00:07:45 Hm.
Speaker 2 00:07:45 And fi you were standing in the loud thumping bass and flashing lights of this nightclub, watching your brother walk away
Speaker 1 00:07:55 Fi has gone from, uh, quite, quite drunk to, uh, sober as a fucking judge. And more than a little bit overwhelmed in the space of like three seconds. I think she's gonna like, bring her hands up to hover around her ears for a second and then say, okay, okay. Uh, um,
Speaker 2 00:08:15 Sabine looks gravely concerned. She reaches up and gets a hand on your shoulder and says, do we need to start mobilizing things? Is this about
Speaker 1 00:08:24 To get bad? Well, it's not going to be good Sabine. Uh, I, I need to get out of here. I need, I need to leave. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:08:32 I've got Lorelei and the others be safe. Get back to the end. Safe please.
Speaker 1 00:08:39 Yes, I, um, I need some air and then feeds out feed leaving.
Speaker 2 00:08:44 Are you headed in any sort of direction? Are you going?
Speaker 1 00:08:49 I think feeder starts walking down the streets, but I think subconsciously she is pulled to the water as
Speaker 2 00:08:56 Someone who has never really been in a subterranean city before. There is a little bit of a feeling of claustrophobia. This massive underground cavern that Kim Tara is in is very big and very open, but you still can't see the sky. It's just solid rock overhead. And I think that in that moment, as you are so overwhelmed, it feels very close and very claustrophobic. And you find yourself wondering down towards this big Bay at the bottom of this towering dam, and there's the big dam in front of you, but you can still see the stars up in the night sky overhead and hear the lapping of the gentle waves coming in from the locks over onto the shore and onto the docks. It's late. I mean, it's after midnight. There's not a lot going on down here right now. I think you just wonder past all of these more ships and empty docks, and you eventually make it to this little spit of sand and rock.
Speaker 2 00:10:01 That's like a little beach down after the docks end. You're not looking out at the actual ocean because that's being held back by the dam, but the water is still lapping close to your toes and roll me. You could choose perception or religion, natural 17. And I have plus five to religion. So at 22 down on this thin spit of land, past the end of the docks wedged directly up against the side of the dam. You see a faint, stormy glow washed up against the damp wall of stone feet pulls her stormy cloak, a little close around her and then starts walking towards it.
Speaker 2 00:11:01 As you travel down the spit of land, you are now fully out of sight of all of the buildings and the bustle of the docks of guitar. Um, you can really only see the place where the dam meets the mountain at this point, and sitting down on a big Boulder with invisible feet, dangling down into the water is a very tall, about seven foot eight, seven foot nine cloaked figure face obscured, just sitting there. And with that good of a check with that 22, you can tell that this encounter with this figure is different from the last one that you had. That was in a weird liminal space, almost like a dream. This looks like a person you could out and physically
Speaker 4 00:11:54 Touch. He's gonna clear her throat and like roll her shoulders back and say, so this is new, the storm bringer, because that is the only name you have for her shifts to face you. And again, you see the two crackling electric blue points of lightning that she has for eyes in the recesses of this hood nods and with a voice that rolls like thunder says, yeah, no shit, huh. Great. Always wonderful. To hear words of wisdom, you could see the colors in her cloak shifting in time with yours in perfect sync. She stands up off the rock and takes a couple steps over towards you.
Speaker 4 00:12:49 You asked me for answers. This is where you needed to come to get them. And yet I've only gotten more questions. The digs, the orb that her biological mother gave her out of her pocket and says, first of all, what's up with this shit. She crouches down to get at eye level with you. Those two crackling electric eyes just staring out of the shadow of this hood. She reaches out and almost touches the orb in your outstretched Palm, and then quickly withdrawals the hand back into her sleeve. She shakes her head and stands back up an old trinket, a Relic of simpler times.
Speaker 4 00:13:42 Fantastic. This might as well happen after the day I've had. What do you want to talk about? I want to talk about what you think. What I think is that my life has fallen apart, that everything I thought I knew is wrong, that every bridge I've ever built has been burned and that I am probably going to have to kill my brother within the week. So I don't think much of anything I've had for like four glasses of vodka. Those electric eyes narrow. She says just straight vodka. I think there was also glitter. I don't know. I don't order my own drinks that shadowy robed head tilts to the side and over the roll of thunder. You hear girl, just get a long Island. They'll fuck you up twice as fast as they taste better than straight. Well vodka, what are you doing? I reiterate I've lost control of my life.
Speaker 4 00:14:53 That's not the point. She stands back up to her full height, which towers over you, those crackling eyes disappear back into the shadows of the hood. And she says, you mean to tell me in all the time you've been here, you haven't found a single answer. Not when I've liked the eyes appear again, narrowed. And as she speaks, you can hear thunder rolling in a storm is forming over the ocean up at the top of the dam. This thunder rattling your bones. You hear, do you want to hug? Do you want to cookie? Perhaps suck it up.
Speaker 4 00:15:44 I'm here to help you Ferrara not hold your hand. No one ever got anywhere without working for it. Oh, you've been helping. That's what you've been doing six months ago. I was, if not happy, at least comfortable, at least sure of myself, as much as I have ever been. And now my life has fallen apart. I have nothing. I have nothing anymore. You have the truth. And now that you know what you know, can you honestly say that you would go back to the way things were before? No, I'm not in the habit of picking people who are content to live a lie for. I understand that you want answers, but I can't just give them to you.
Speaker 4 00:16:57 Of course you won't, you won't even give me a name. She leans down again and extends her arm. And she says, I'll make you a deal. The next time we talk, you will give me a name and I will give you an answer. Thief grabs that hand and shakes it. There is a crack of thunder from overhead and a white hot crackling bolt of lightning comes down and strikes exactly where the storm bringer is standing. Still clutching your hand. And she disappears. She's gone. You're looking at empty air in a scorch Mark on the ground feet, tilt her head back and to nothing. Well,
Speaker 3 00:17:50 That was dramatic. And you are
Speaker 2 00:17:53 Now a level seven divine soul sourcer
Speaker 1 00:18:01 While that's happening. What are you doing? Leah? I am
Speaker 2 00:18:07 Claustrophobic and I don't want to be under all this rock anymore. I am trying to find any way to get out under open sky.
Speaker 1 00:18:14 Can the city of <inaudible>, you know, is kind of like Crescent shape. It's arranged on the shores of this like vast underground Bay leading up to the dam on either side of the Bay. There are these like narrow land bridges that extend out past the city. So people can go to the dam and do like maintenance. So I think you go over one of them all
Speaker 2 00:18:39 Or do whatever I have to do. I'd like to just get up on top of the dam. So I'm just in open air and I'm not trapped anywhere. I can't be inside an enclosed space right now.
Speaker 1 00:18:51 Um, make me a RA in check and that's a dirty 20 baby. You creep over one of these land bridges and you managed to find like set into the rock, face a door. She what appears to be a lift, like the one that you saw on the wizard's tower. I try to make this
Speaker 2 00:19:10 Elevator that I'm wholly unfamiliar with work. I just find the top most button and push it. That seems intuitive. I got a dirty 20. You press all the buttons like
Speaker 3 00:19:20 Callister
Speaker 2 00:19:22 Yeah, just fucking home alone to it all the way down.
Speaker 1 00:19:29 So this elevator starts slowly creeping up. Ding, ding, ding, you make it to the top of the dam. It's a very wide structure. It has to be to hold back the whole ocean. There's just this wide walkway with these large likes fences on either side. So nobody tumbles off while they're doing work. And on one side of you, you see the entire city lit up, spread out. And on the other side, there is open ocean. The sky is dark. It is a about half moon. So there's a little bit of light, but it's not bright out. And there is a storm brewing overhead. Is the fence scalable? Is there like an
Speaker 2 00:20:14 Area of ground on the far side of the fence?
Speaker 1 00:20:18 Yeah, not super wide, but like probably a foot of stone on either side wide enough to sit down on. Yep.
Speaker 2 00:20:28 Can I climb over the fence and just sit down on the outside of the fence? My feet dangling down over the side of the dam And I am just going to sit up there for a very long time and try to convince myself to not nosedive into the ocean.
Speaker 1 00:20:49 And you sat there for awhile. Uh, what's your passive perception? My passive perception is 17 with a 17 passive.
Speaker 3 00:20:59 Can you hear the sound of like very soft footsteps coming towards you over the damn, I don't even turn around. If somebody is coming to yell at me, I don't give a shit from behind you. You hear dad say, well, I'd ask what a nice guy like you is doing in a place like this, but I know better. Leo laughs with absolutely no humor in it and goes about what we're doing here or about me being nice is that laughs to himself and says a little bit of both with a couple more footsteps. He makes the rest of the way over to you and sits down on the inside of the fence.
Speaker 3 00:21:48 Leo shuffles over until they're back to back on opposite sides of the fence and just kind of leans his head back on Zen shoulder through the bars. She's here to take me out. I know that I've never talked about her that much, but five years ago, when I got out of Australia, she, she helped me get out. And I guess I just thought that things would be different, but she's here to take me out. Well, I'd point out that you don't know that for sure, but you know your sister better than I do. I know that Isaac Ash thorn was reaching out to Australia to extradite me. I know that if anyone connected to the Australian crown puts me on a boat home, I'll be dead within a day of getting back because I know my father better than I know anyone.
Speaker 3 00:22:48 I don't know what else to think. His head stretches a little bit. And he says, it's times like this make me glad I'm an only child. He just like reaches a hand back through the fence. Leo doesn't take it after a second. He just lets it fall. So his arm is just through the fence strangling and he says, look, you know, I'm not one for complicated situations like this, but I have had my fair share of people who want me dead. And personally, my strategy is always to just keep moving and not give them the satisfaction. You know, Leo goes like, he's going to reach for the hand that said still has through the fence, but stops an inch way and just curls his hand into a fist and puts it in his lap. They're back to back. So his dad can't see this, but his lower lip wobbles notice. And he says, I'm really tired of running. He said, yeah, yeah, me too. Very carefully stands back up and climbs back over the fence to sit next to him. He sits down still keeping at least a couple inches of distance between them and says, there's a choke about you talking me off the ledge somewhere in here. But I can't right now.
Speaker 3 00:24:29 Well, I get the feeling now. There's a reason I stayed on the side. I'm sorry about how I treated you after that night. And I'm sorry for earlier that wasn't right. I shouldn't have said brings his arm back from over the fence. And I think his hand just rests on the ground between the two of you. And he says, shouldn't have what I look, stuff got complicated. Okay. And I know that you said that you wanted to keep things strictly business. So said laughs. And he says, this hasn't been business in months. The money ran out in aftermath.
Speaker 3 00:25:24 Yeah, it did. And even if it is, I hadn't, I've been a pretty shitty boss. I feel like every time I turned another corner, I just fuck up something new. So frankly, I don't know why you're still sitting here waiting around for me to finally do some right. I guess you're worth waiting for godliness hates himself for this. But he grabs him and kisses him full on the mouth. There is a brief moment where Zed kisses you back his hand like tangled up in your hair. And then he pulls back and just very quietly. He says, not like this. I uh, I'm still a little drunk and it's been a rough night. And then he just untangled his hands from your hair and like Patsy on either side of the face. And he says, let's put a pin in that one, promise that grins, you see it, the Moonlight from overhead reflecting off of his task jewelry. And then there is a bright flash of lightning that just lights his whole face up. And he says, now when have I ever lied to you? Never, even when you were being mean, so I'll take your word for it. Let's uh, let's go back to the end and we'll
Speaker 1 00:26:55 Put a pin on this until both of us have a chance to be a little bit better. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:26:58 About it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. He gets to his feet and he holds the hand out. I take it
Speaker 1 00:27:16 And yeah, we're headed back to the end fee. Where are you headed after this very loaded encounter?
Speaker 3 00:27:26 Fee's headed back to the Tavern. Marsha is supposed to meet
Speaker 1 00:27:30 It is well, well past midnight when you make it back to the Tavern there aren't a lot of people gathered in this main hall, couple dock, hands that have just gotten off the graveyard shifts, sitting around one table over in one corner, a sleepy looking bar, keep wiping down the bar. But in a back corner booth, you see Sabine still in her club clothes with a gently trancing Laurel Iesha, chrono laying across the booth with her head in her lap. Sabine is just absently, petting down. Laura lies hair. She takes her trance and she looks up and she sees you, her eyebrows raise. And she nods at the seat next to her in a manner as not to wake Lorelei up, he's going to go over and sit next to her. She has an arm up to wrap around your shoulders before you even get into the booth and just tugs you to her side, super close feeling, then not sure how much comfort this is going to be, but everybody else is okay. Fen and Calissa are upstairs taking their trans Arivale got back from the library super late. She looked really freaked out about something, but I made her go rest too. I had to have the talk about playing it safe with Verity tonight, which was not something that I was prepared to do, given that I met her like eight hours ago. But she seemed to understand it everybody's okay.
Speaker 3 00:29:14 Okay. Is not the word I would use. I was hoping he wouldn't be here. I figured this was his plan. I was prepared to make sure that no one got hurt in the pursuit of him getting what he wants, but I just hoped he wouldn't be here yet. Well, I don't know how much it's worth, but I do pride myself on having a pretty developed ability to read people. He wasn't carrying himself like somebody in charge of an army. He was scared. So maybe there's more here to unpack than we're thinking of.
Speaker 5 00:30:02 What am I supposed to do? Just wag my finger and tell him he can't have the shiny toy that he wants
Speaker 3 00:30:08 This time. It's not, it's never been like that. It's no, I, I understand that role perception. That's a big fat 12. You don't see what Sabine grabs, but she reaches into her bag that she has with her and grabs it something and holds it super tight. She nods again and says, it can be really hard when a person that we really want to care about, fucks us over. It can be really hard and there's not a whole lot that can make it better. I wish I could tell you that it stops hurting, but it doesn't. So sometimes the best thing we can do is just give ourselves a good reason to fight. What are you fighting for? Fi fi shaking her head. She says, I spent most of my life being
Speaker 5 00:31:21 Used as a cudgel against my brother,
Speaker 3 00:31:24 By my father and inward
Speaker 5 00:31:29 Turn. What I've gotten from him is hatred.
Speaker 3 00:31:37 And then I find out my father didn't care about me either. So I am tired of fighting and I am tired of both of them. I don't know what comes next, but I am fighting for me. I guess Lorelei mumbles, something in the middle of her trance and Sabine reaches down and pets her hair down again. She goes quiet with her other hand, Sabine reaches up and presses her Palm to the side of your face. So am I, I consider that a privilege, see nods. And she gets out of the booth and she says, goodnight, Sabine can night fee. She stands up. Lorelei is kind of lanky, but she's not very big. So Sabine just kind of sprawls her across her shoulder. The best that she can while she is still semi-conscious and carries her out of this bar. Are you going upstairs to take your trans? Absolutely. It's been a long day
Speaker 1 00:33:05 And Leo you're headed back to the end. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:33:10 I mean, there's nothing else that I can do right now. So yeah, I'm headed
Speaker 1 00:33:15 You and Zedd kind of hurt each other, still technically quite any abbreviated to the streets of guitar. Um, to the end that you're saying at you got the stairs, you got booked a few rooms. You hear a low discussion from the room that was booked for Celica until Andrea and you hear ravine say something in a tone of severe embarrassment is that next to you kind of goes next and you hear furious giggling from the room booked for Mia. Well, at least
Speaker 3 00:33:50 Somebody is having a good night, I guess,
Speaker 1 00:33:55 Zed like snorts as you fast the door and you come to the room that was booked for you. And he reaches up to scratch the back of his neck and he says, well, here's your stop. Um, can I be really shitty again and ask for a favor? Yeah, sure. Anytime I swear to camera. All right.
Speaker 3 00:34:19 Hand to the sky. I'm not going to try anything and I don't want to, I just, I'm afraid of what's going to happen. If I'm alone. Can you please just stay with me?
Speaker 1 00:34:30 There's a pause. And then he nods. Yeah. Yeah. I can do that.
Speaker 3 00:34:37 Go inside and try to fucking take my truck
Speaker 1 00:34:42 Said keeps a respectful distance, but he is out. As soon as his head hits the pillow,
Speaker 3 00:34:52 You
Speaker 1 00:34:54 Open your eyes and you are aware that you are dreaming around you. Is that vast, still ocean and behind you, you see flashes of light in front of you sitting on the surface of this incredibly, still mirror like water. Kimmerle the Lord of bones
Speaker 3 00:35:16 Says, have I ever mentioned how violently I actually dislike you? But what was this part of the fucking plan the whole time? If I just been playing into somebody's hands
Speaker 0 00:35:42 Again, he tells his head a little bit to the side and he says, our choices are, fuck you. I am so tired of people giving me
Speaker 3 00:36:01 Backhanded comments like that. Like me having a choice for once in my damn life is something
Speaker 0 00:36:06 Bad.
Speaker 3 00:36:09 I tried so hard for five years and I lost everything all over again. And I get here and I get one choice in my life that makes me happy. And then everything bad about what I left behind, comes knocking on the door to remind me just how shitty everything is.
Speaker 0 00:36:30 So
Speaker 3 00:36:30 Don't tell me that I make my own choices. Like it's something that I should be,
Speaker 0 00:36:34 I'm done. I'm tired of it. There's a long, silent pause, caramel nods to himself. And you watch again, just a flash of light in time with a growing brightness in his purple silver eyes. And he says, perhaps better than you do then what is coming on? Oh,
Speaker 3 00:37:07 Well that's not fucking ominous or anything.
Speaker 0 00:37:11 What, what do you want? He just like grabs you by the front of the shirt gets like right up in your face and says, I sit here, like you can take the path that I am offering. It has been
Speaker 3 00:38:13 Is the power you're offering me going to help me get home. Why did I even buy the new Aguirre bones? Fine.
Speaker 0 00:38:27 I stick a hand out caramel grabs. Your hand slowly releases your with a clack of bones and then wraps his hand around yours. Advice about death, et cetera.
Speaker 1 00:39:05 And Leo, you are a level seven death cleric damn bitch. Why does that
Speaker 2 00:39:11 Feel so much like a roast? And then I wake up And in a different Tavern across the city of GIM Tara fee, you also wake up to rapid pounding on your door. Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock on the wood.
Speaker 1 00:39:30 Yup. Yeah, I'm up. I'm up. Feed gets up and answers. The door. Verity is
Speaker 2 00:39:37 Outside in a fluffy bathrobe and some pink slippers. You have no idea where she's gotten them.
Speaker 1 00:39:44 Good morning. I
Speaker 2 00:39:45 Kissed a really cute boy last night. Um, Sabine wants all of us downstairs for something. She called a war council. I'm not sure
Speaker 1 00:39:52 That is fantastic. I'm so hung over.
Speaker 2 00:39:57 Oh yeah, me too. I feel like absolute shit, but I'm still just kind of right.
Speaker 1 00:40:00 Hi. He was really cute. Fi I am so happy for you. Are you ever less perky? No, not really. So good. So good. So good. He like scrubbed the hand over her face and says, uh, yes, let me put clothes on. Um, I'll be right down. You get dressed head downstairs, everybody
Speaker 2 00:40:23 30 down there except for Fen is apocalyptically hung over at Arivale Arivale is also
Speaker 1 00:40:30 There too. They're sitting in a corner
Speaker 2 00:40:33 Booth of the Tavern downstairs with a big breakfast spread on this table in front of them. The window over the corner booth is open and Phineas has his head stuck in through the window, eating off of
Speaker 1 00:40:45 If he sits down and says right, we should plan things. I thought you'd know
Speaker 2 00:40:51 For ask Arivale who was the second most perky person in this room after Verity reaches into a scroll case on her back and pulls out a big roll apartment. She rolls it down across the table. Waits, sit down with like a couple of glasses of orange juice and a plate of biscuits.
Speaker 1 00:41:08 It's an old
Speaker 2 00:41:10 Geological survey with the stamp of a Voltaren mining company in the top right corner. And there are a couple of different things marked on it. There's the big, main entrance of a mine, but further up this mountain, as you're examining this map, you see
Speaker 1 00:41:26 Something marked
Speaker 2 00:41:26 That appears to be some kind of archeological sites, something that says, you know, don't dig here. We're not authorized to go here.
Speaker 1 00:41:35 And Aerobase says, I've crossed
Speaker 2 00:41:37 For instance, this map with the one from the mural at the OMA Groth site. And I think that this is what we're looking for, which is highly beneficial because we have an entire trail map that tells us how to get up.
Speaker 1 00:41:50 So the logical next step is we go up there. We find a way to disable the portal or lock it somehow. So Leo can't use it, uh,
Speaker 2 00:42:02 Which brings us to a potential setback.
Speaker 1 00:42:04 I, she looks very pained as she admits this. I don't know how to do that. I can activate a portal. Certainly disabling one is a level
Speaker 2 00:42:18 Of reverse engineering that I haven't
Speaker 1 00:42:20 Had time. And frankly that I don't have the wizardry ability to sit down and do I
Speaker 2 00:42:27 Did my best. Oh, also I think your brother's here.
Speaker 1 00:42:30 I meant to mention that. Oh good. You figured that out. Yes. We ran directly into him last night. Thank you. Oh, that sounds right.
Speaker 2 00:42:40 Anyway, the academic implications of this are absolutely fascinating. I found these documents over here and she pulls more stuff out of her scroll case. She literally does not give a shit.
Speaker 1 00:42:53 Essentially
Speaker 2 00:42:53 What you take out of this is that you know where the portal is. Arivale can not shut
Speaker 1 00:42:58 Down. And she presents all of this information to the rest of you Fe
Speaker 2 00:43:03 Then who again is like the one person who was sober all night, last night, other than Arivale at this table raises a hand.
Speaker 1 00:43:11 Well, um, you know, I don't know. I don't know
Speaker 2 00:43:15 Shit about fuck. I'm starting to realize that very rapidly.
Speaker 1 00:43:17 Uh, but
Speaker 2 00:43:19 From a perspective of a security professional, the next best thing we could do is get up there and physically lock it down. If we can't magically lock
Speaker 1 00:43:29 It down. Right. You know, Leo's
Speaker 2 00:43:31 Going to have to go through all of us to even get access
Speaker 1 00:43:34 The portal. That's a good point. Then Colossae also looking severely, hung over shifts, uncomfortably in her seat. Okay. Yeah. So we got up to the portal. We, I don't know,
Speaker 2 00:43:49 Should I put on my fence voice for this? We establish
Speaker 1 00:43:52 A perimeter around the portal fan with a strip
Speaker 2 00:43:55 Of bacon and his mouth goes, Hey, fuck you.
Speaker 1 00:43:59 She had you there. Yes. I suppose it'll just have to be a physical blockade. And if worst comes to worst, he raises a hand crackling with lightning. I have more than my fair share of destructive capability. One way or another. He's not going through that portal. Colossae purses, her lips and nods. She says, yeah, just if worst comes to worst, just let me talk to him first. I will do my level best
Speaker 2 00:44:37 Being across the table, kind of runs a hand back through her hair and
Speaker 1 00:44:40 Nods. I need
Speaker 2 00:44:43 To go make arrangements for Laura
Speaker 1 00:44:47 Because I'm coming with all of you. I think we
Speaker 2 00:44:49 Are all agreed that this is not a situation we want to bring her into for me,
Speaker 1 00:44:53 Multiple reasons. No, no, obviously not. Uh, yes, go do that. She needs to be safe. All meet all
Speaker 2 00:45:03 Of you back here in two hours and then
Speaker 1 00:45:05 We can head out. Fantastic. And then he announced herself, turns back to the table and says, I need so much greasy food. I'm so hung over.
Speaker 2 00:45:18 And wordlessly shoves a plate toward you. That is piled high with hash Browns and bacon and
Speaker 1 00:45:23 Pancakes. Fen. You're a lifesaver. It's a very
Speaker 2 00:45:29 Grim situation. But fence marks at you, as you say that.
Speaker 1 00:45:32 Hold on, say it again. No, you get it once
Speaker 2 00:45:37 It was his head back and cackles, but then takes a hash Brown off the plate and you guys keep eating
Speaker 1 00:45:43 Breakfast back in another end. On the other side of <inaudible> Leo, your rented rooms door flies open at that point.
Speaker 2 00:45:54 Zed is, I feel like Leo is just curled up in as close proximity as is socially. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:46:00 Acceptable. You are woken up out of a dead trance by this door slam and loudly Mia Sanitas drawls. Alright, boys.
Speaker 2 00:46:15 But this is a fucking bitch ass guy.
Speaker 1 00:46:18 Um, my darlin's we have much to talk about. There will be blood today. Get your ass downstairs. That doesn't sound optimistic. Is that like mumbles and slowly sets up clutching his head. Okay. One second. One second. No, you got to wake up. Mia says that there's going to be blood that says, well, that's a grim look at our situation and Mia claps and says, Oh no, boy has, I am downright shipper. Haven't gotten a stab at anything in a weeks. Let's go. Sounded like you were stabbing something last night. Mia capitalism says a lady never tells darlin downstairs come out, or I will stab you.
Speaker 2 00:47:10 It's up. Does not bother to change out of his pajamas hair, a mess, and just follows them
Speaker 1 00:47:15 Downstairs. You get downstairs. Celica is just like pouring over notes at a table with one hand over on ravines back. His head is just down on the wood. Hey, I don't know if you heard me across
Speaker 2 00:47:30 The club last night, but uh, did you get it? Or,
Speaker 1 00:47:34 Or van like slowly looks up and says get what the,
Speaker 2 00:47:40 But uh, well it, it being okay.
Speaker 1 00:47:44 It seems like you had a really nice night. It was, it was nice. I met a nice girl. She had really soft lips. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 00:47:54 Fond of you, Leo claps him on the shoulder and sits down.
Speaker 1 00:47:58 So like I says, all right. If we could wrap up this discussion, she looks a little bit uncomfortable. I would love to talk about magic. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:48:10 Ah, magic. Sure. Let's discuss that because I don't want to discuss anything else that happened last night, for sure. For sure. For sure.
Speaker 1 00:48:18 Zed slide, then the seed next to you and says, add how I'm holding his hand under the table. He squeezes your hand. Yeah. Mia, just slide into a seat and start sharpening a knife.
Speaker 2 00:48:30 Jude breakfast, like maybe some coffee before we bring out the weapons. No,
Speaker 1 00:48:36 I can multitask. I'm chasing my bliss. Lamb.
Speaker 2 00:48:45 You know what? Fair enough you chase your bliss. Um, my bliss is at the bottom of a bloody Mary. Oh my God. Can I get one of those? Anybody barking?
Speaker 1 00:48:55 The barkeep delivers you a bloody Mary and Celica jot something down on her notes and says, so I have been able to unravel how I think these portals work and I've been able to reverse engineer the process by which a key to activate the portals could be made. I think I could do it. I need a rather large gemstone, which is a bit of a kink in our plans. Oh, I've got one of those. Leo pulls out his hip pouch and he did
Speaker 2 00:49:29 Digs out the diamond that he bought right before they went to South.
Speaker 1 00:49:34 Celica says thank you. And to snatches it without a original key to base my hypothesis off of it might not work as fully intended. It will definitely be able to open the portal. I'm just not sure. We might have to brute force it. You understand
Speaker 2 00:49:55 Brute force. Do you mean like Zed brute force or like my clerical brute force? Cause those are two variables.
Speaker 1 00:50:04 The latter, the thing is without the schematics for the actual key, I will have to make it sort of a, a range effect to put it in layman's terms. When you get close to the portal, it will activate if you are holding the key. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:50:25 Well, I don't see any problem with that. You know, we keep you in our vein, back from the portal and Zed Mia and I hop
Speaker 1 00:50:33 And do our job. Yeah. That seems like the best course of action. I don't know if it will shut back off. Well, if I take the key through wouldn't it, it should, but it's a bit of a, a tricky bit of magic. Essentially. What I'm hoping to do is punch a hole through the smell. Okay. Now that's a little
Speaker 2 00:50:57 Bit of magical theory I can get behind. That's cool
Speaker 1 00:50:59 As hell. Theoretically,
Speaker 2 00:51:01 I don't have the strongest grip on conservation magic, but if the key is what's activating everything, if everything stays open, once we come through, I could always just destroy it.
Speaker 1 00:51:15 That's true. Uh, there's also a chance that once you go through the portal of the key will destroy itself and you won't be able to open another portal with it. I appreciate the thought Celica, but uh, I won't need to, we have a,
Speaker 2 00:51:32 A vague plan in place, but regardless of anything else that goes down within that framework, it does end with me as knife in my father's back. So
Speaker 1 00:51:44 Mia around a mouth full of sausage and how you haven't even met
Speaker 2 00:51:49 The old man. He's so stackable, you're going to have such
Speaker 1 00:51:52 A great time. Oh, I am looking forward to it. And really
Speaker 2 00:51:57 All I need access to the portals for, I have been informed by Linda that you all don't necessarily want me coming back to.
Speaker 1 00:52:06 So once this is
Speaker 2 00:52:08 Over our business relationship is concluded.
Speaker 1 00:52:12 How did he say that Silicon tilts her head? Like she's listening to something and winces and says, yes, that would be best. Well, as long as everyone's aware of the risks, I see no reason why we can't get started. And then she pulls out a little, like a jeweler's chisel from her hip bag and she says, I'll get started on this. And then she just starts tapping at the diamond. Oh, by the way, did I tell you guys that my sister's here rolling insight, check 18 Mia's eyes flash at that they briefly pause, sharpening their knife and then go back to it and say <inaudible> what do you mean? They flash? They just look weird for a second. Hmm. Okay. So
Speaker 2 00:53:03 Yeah, while we were all having fun at the club last night, I ran into my sister, physically ran into my sister on the way out. So that is a potential problem. We might,
Speaker 1 00:53:15 You have to deal with silica still, just like tapping away at this diamond says, well, I don't see that it needs to be a problem unless make it a problem. No one, I feel you, but also she like actively wants to kill me. I'm pretty sure. Well, I'm sure that's not a rare sensation for you. Yeah. You know, Celica not wrong way, way, way across town in front of another in Ferrara's party is gathering in front of the door. You come outside, you see everybody kind of gathered out in front of the door of this in fairness, standing their armor on shield slung over his back. Battleax at his side. Colossae has on her. Very nice Rogue's armor that you've seen her in before Arivale and Verity looked pretty much the same. Arivale kind of always has a small, like hardened leather breastplate on under all of her stuff.
Speaker 1 00:54:10 And Verity doesn't have on any armor at all. You assume she doesn't have any, you guys are all just kind of milling out in front of this in and you see Sabine come trotting down the street after a minute. And she is also in what looks to be Rogue's armor like very flexible hardened leather armor looks like she has a lot of freedom of movement in it with her beacon medallion pin to the breast plate. Her hair is pulled up in the braided crown that you've seen it in before. And she kind of just takes a step up to your party nods and says, all right, well, uh, access up the mountain is back towards the rear Gates of the town. I know my way up there. If everyone is sure they're ready for this, then lead the way Sabine and of a take point.
Speaker 1 00:54:57 As you guys work your way through the back streets of GIM Tara, to a big set of Gates that are literally carved into the mountain. Sabina's obviously very familiar with how to get out of the city, but she pauses when she's out the gate, because there are two trails that seemingly go up this mountain. There's one to the left. That has a lot of what appears to be mining traffic going up and down. It like wagons Laden down with big hunks of raw or that are coming down off the mountain and going up the mountain. And then there's one that is quite a bit more abandoned and looks a little bit more dangerous. Well, I would assume the mining trail has more access. If everyone is comfortable, Arivale reaches over her shoulder. She has her scroll case and she pulls out the mining survey that she had on the table at breakfast kind of traces her finger over it. Well, yes, it would provide us direct access might be a little bit slower than taking the other trail, but also there are rock slide warnings here and here and here, and she points up along the trail to the right.
Speaker 1 00:56:11 So a few members of our party and feed does not look at Verity would probably be slowed down enough by the rock slides that it's more efficient to take the other way. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:56:24 Fair enough. I'll take point. And Arivale Scout's up ahead of you guys and you start making your way up this mountain, despite the fact that traffic on this trail is a little heavier and it's a little more well-traveled, it's still not easy going. It's a very steep winding Rocky trail up the side of this mountain. It's bitterly cold. As you're making your way up this mountain trail, you see Arivale stop at a couple of different points, kind of close her eyes and put her hand down to press over where, you know, the necklace is tucked under her shirt. She's using one of her horizon Walker abilities called portal sense, which is basically you can sense where there is an inter planar portal. I will tell you you've got about an hour and a half at least of a hike up to the top of this mountain. It's a long way, and it's not easy. So most of you are just trying to focus on physically getting yourselves up this mountain side, After a good bit of time Fenn who has been walking directly next to you this whole time, kind of leans over and nudges you in the side and goes so, uh, have we given any thought as to what happens after this?
Speaker 4 00:57:46 Nothing concrete. I have a few ideas
Speaker 2 00:57:53 This point I know better than to think that we're just going to go home and everything's going to go back to normal. So a vague pitch would be great, just so I know what I'm dealing with
Speaker 4 00:58:06 For obvious reasons. I initial plan of playing along with my father until an opportunity arose to change. Things is no longer viable. So I'm probably going to have to do some things that I'm not particularly proud of. And I would be very happy if you would back me up on any action that I need to take. Well, that's never been a question. I just
Speaker 2 00:58:43 I've just got to do something to make sure that my dad's okay. If that is all right with you.
Speaker 4 00:58:49 Yeah, of course. Obviously,
Speaker 2 00:58:54 You know, all the fairytales, they told us when we were kids really fucked us over in the end. There is no just going home when the big battles over is there.
Speaker 4 00:59:09 No, but I don't think I ever really believed there was. And then she's going to just reach over, clap him on the shoulder. He puts his
Speaker 1 00:59:22 Hand over yours where you get them on the shoulder and just gives your hand a squeeze and then lets go and shoulders ahead of you up the trail, the trail narrows until you're essentially traveling in a single file line of this very, very narrow little mining trail. After a certain point, you see Arivale up at the head of the pack. Put one hand up as if to tell everybody to stop. I stopped. Um, offense still next to me, I'm going to like grab his shoulder and make him stop. Also Verity hasn't been paying attention and runs fully into Sabine's back. You look up to the kind of head of this trail where Arivale is standing and see that the trail has opened up into a big expanse of this Rocky Ridge. On the side of the mountain. The air is very thin. It's hard to breathe.
Speaker 1 01:00:17 There's this large flat Ridge that Arivale is standing at the very edge of. And then up from that shooting up about, I would say like 15, 20 feet each, there are two separate smaller ridges. And then up just hidden almost among wispy clouds is the mountain top. But through this mist you can make out the giant silhouettes of three large dwarven looking statues, standing in a circle, looking down around what you could only presume is the portal. At this point, you're at the very top of the mountain. There is nowhere else to go. Aramay still just has her hand up and goes, all right, we have a couple decisions to make grand Duchess. Uh, I default to your wisdom on this, Ms. Enmar I have good news and bad news. You might want to make your way up here. I, again, just like squeeze fence, shoulder, and then I'm going to nod and I'm going to push past him.
Speaker 1 01:01:22 Okay. Draw a level with Arabic. You can see what Arivale is looking at and kind of the whole spectrum of this area of land up here. Again, you're on a very wide Rocky Ridge that goes straight down off the side of the mountain. Like if anybody were to fall off this ledge, it would be very bad. You guys are very high up and it is a straight trip down. I am going to kind of jokingly say, does anyone have feather fall prepared from the back of the pack? You hear Calissa go. I do. Colossae you're a fucking treasure and don't you forget it. So the back of this very wide flat Ridge, there are two more slightly craggier ridges that make their way up to the mountain top where you can see these statutes use up among the mist. Arivale nods up the statues and goes good news is I checked
Speaker 3 01:02:20 In and she taps at her necklace under her shirt. The portal is definitely up there. So what's the bad news. She turns her eyes away from the Ridge where the portal is up at the mountain top and looks off across this big Rocky craggy stretch of land. You guys are on nods to the mist and goes that roll perception. 11, you see five humanoid figures slogging their way up through this mist across this Ridge takes a very deep breath and says, fuck,
Speaker 1 01:03:04 And let's go back about an hour and a half Leo. You were companions have assembled in front of the end that you were staying at ready to go up this mountain. Okay, here we go. Um, I'm extremely nervous about this. You guys start to set out Mia, kinda like cracks their neck and says whale. If I know anything about Boulder and architecture, then the Gates to get us up. The mountain will be, and they like lay the lay point down the sheet of that away. I am
Speaker 3 01:03:43 Rapidly learning that. I don't know anything about anything anymore. Mia. So I'm just going to go ahead and take your word for it.
Speaker 1 01:03:51 You all start setting out, you go through these very straight grid, Voltaren streets, you hit these Gates. And I think everybody kind of draws to a stop just outside the Gates. There are two paths snaking up the mountain. There is one on the left that has a lot of mining traffic. You can see kind of going up and down like a bunch of wagons, carrying heavy loads of, or, and like a bunch of miners, just kind of generally chatting to each other as they walk alongside these wagons. And then on the other side, there is a more abandoned, like disused looking track. It looks like it may be, would have been used for like sightseeing, but that has fallen out of fashion for whatever reason,
Speaker 3 01:04:35 Kind of clears his throat and goes, um, Hey, uh, to Lindora your input on this is valuable. I don't know anything about what's going on.
Speaker 1 01:04:46 You watch their body language shift as Tila Andra kind of comes to the front and says, well, for my money, we're better off not being seen as we try and commit acts of aggression. I, the foreign power on Boulder and soil. Well, I mean
Speaker 3 01:05:04 The acts of aggression are going to hopefully be taking place in a straight area, but understandable. Okay. So
Speaker 1 01:05:12 The road less traveled
Speaker 3 01:05:13 By. It is no matter how creepy it looks, I
Speaker 1 01:05:15 Guess she kind of laughed a little bit. She says as long as everybody's good with a little bit of exercise then. Yeah. And she just started setting off Mia like size dramatically, man. Fucking hate hiking. Okay. Cylindra seems to know where the hell she's going. I'm going to
Speaker 2 01:05:39 Take rear guard with said just to make sure no buddy follows.
Speaker 1 01:05:44 Yeah. So the marching order is to Len DRA Mia ravine and the Newman's ed taken up the rear. So you started marching up this mountain. I'm going to say it takes like about an hour and a half as you're going. Um, you get to a point there's like an ominous rumble under your feet, and I'm going to need you to make a deck save.
Speaker 2 01:06:10 I rolled
Speaker 1 01:06:11 A natural one. Okay. So, uh, that group save averages out to a 14. It was a DC 15 to not have anybody take any damage. So Leo having rolled a natural one, everybody kind of jumps out of the way as those rocks start bouncing down the side of this mountain. Zed grabs you by the back of the shirt and gangs, but you take five bludgeoning damage as a rock. Just absolutely clocks you in the head. Oh, that is swearing so loudly. And I think he just goes, Oh, okay. This is a I'm getting why they don't use this path. I just have blood streaming down one side of my head. No. Yeah.
Speaker 2 01:07:01 The scenic route never been a fan of it. Uh, I'm not wasting a spell slot to heal myself. It was only five damage. I'm fine.
Speaker 1 01:07:09 Everybody else gets out unscathed because it was like half a roll. You keep going out the mountain. There are a couple more of these like small rock slides, but you get to the point where you can like predict when they're happening. So you kind of like back out of the way, we're going to make a group athletics check to see how fast you get up this mountain. That's actually a 21. I'm very vigilant after getting hit in the head with a rock. As you like dot out of the way out of another rock side, Zed, very calmly says, you said that my training had no practical applications.
Speaker 2 01:07:53 Laughs. And then just reaches down and grabs his hand. And I'm going to hold his hand as we're walking,
Speaker 1 01:08:00 I'm going to do the rest of that group check. Cause there are like piles of rocks on the trail. It is very difficult to pass. Okay. So that averages out to 18 with the worst role going to poor ravine, as he's climbing over a rock pile, he is like loudly complaining. I understand that everybody else here did sports. I read books. That's all I do. I mean the
Speaker 2 01:08:30 Latest sport and I still got clocked in the head with a rock. So you don't really need to feel bad.
Speaker 1 01:08:33 What about yourself? He like huffs. I don't want to hear that from you. You're already over this fucking pile of rocks. I whoop. He likes stumbles as a rock of that from under his feet. I reach up and catch him. Thank you. Don't worry about it. He is just muttering. Like mute necessarily. Want me to fucking make an animal skeleton dance. I can do that. Oh, speaking of animals, skeletons. After we,
Speaker 2 01:09:00 You get past the worst of these rock slides, I am going to burn one of my third level spell slots to cast a preemptive animate dead. So that's going to bring up Dexter who I think I've had with me this whole time. So I'm just going to recharge his animate dead and also my goat and my possum, which I have named John and Jenna Daya, respect
Speaker 1 01:09:21 Hated here. Okay. You bring up your skeletons. So yeah, after I bring up my skeletons, I'm going to close
Speaker 2 01:09:30 Those in on the front of the pack and try to walk alongside to Linda for a couple seconds
Speaker 1 01:09:34 And go Hey to Lindros. So, um, I know that
Speaker 2 01:09:39 Our conversation yesterday, wasn't fun
Speaker 1 01:09:42 For anybody.
Speaker 2 01:09:44 I also know that if everything goes according to plan today, we're never going to see
Speaker 1 01:09:48 Each other again. And
Speaker 2 01:09:51 That's mutually beneficial, I think. But I just wanted to let you know,
Speaker 1 01:09:59 I've been thinking about things and yeah.
Speaker 2 01:10:03 If our business relationship ends today, as I am hoping it will. I just want you to know
Speaker 1 01:10:09 That as soon as I get home and as soon
Speaker 2 01:10:13 As I am able to secure enough power to do
Speaker 1 01:10:15 So, I'm going to find out what's going on. And that Island is never going to take anybody again. And that's a promise till Andra purses, her lips and nods and says it doesn't undo any of the harm that has already been done, but it's a start. And then she just keeps going with mountain. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 2 01:10:43 I'm going to wait for the rest of the pack to catch up with us and then stick back with said, thank you
Speaker 1 01:10:48 Going, like I said, I think it takes you about an hour and a half to get up this Ridge. You start to cross the top, you see a big flat Ridge and then above it, like another smaller Ridge, about 15, 20 feet up. And then another one above that 15, 20 feet up. And you can just barely see the silhouettes of three large dwarven statues arranged in a circle to Allendra I think stops at the edge of this Ridge where she's taken point and says, we've got company
Speaker 3 01:11:26 Fee. As you look out through this mist, you see a party of people led by your brother, move in across this Ridge. You meet in the middle of this wide Rocky stretch of land, right before the mountain shoots down into the open sky below you see that he is followed by the big half work dude that you saw hustling Colossae at pool last night, a tall willowy lady with coily red hair pulled back in a pony tail. Someone that looks like they should be an Australian elf, but also not quite very odd looking person with Amber skin, eyes, hair with so many knives on them. It doesn't seem possible. And before you can recognize who the last person in this party is right behind you, Verity shoots her hand up into the air and waves and goes hi ravine. And then you see this stocky not quite Elvin. You're not really sure what's going on there guys. Step forward. He takes two steps onto the Ridge, sees Verity waving and quietly says, Oh God, both of your groups move forward. And you end up toe to toe with Leo in the middle of this ranch.
Speaker 1 01:12:52 He looks up
Speaker 3 01:12:52 At you, nods curtly, and then kind of leans out to look around your shoulder. And everybody standing behind you sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth
Speaker 1 01:13:02 And says Calissa, nice hair. And
Speaker 3 01:13:09 Beside you, you feel Colossae go rigid. And she just starts stammering. She's not saying anything coherent. It's just
Speaker 1 01:13:16 No, no, but you have to, you have to understand. I very quietly. He says Colossae you don't have to explain anything to him. Leo throws his head back and laughs coldly cruelly then
Speaker 3 01:13:34 Leans over to your other side. Nods again, it goes Fen keeping up on the protein shakes.
Speaker 1 01:13:42 Gang's all here almost where Soren still too
Speaker 3 01:13:47 Bitter to look me in the face and tell me what I already know.
Speaker 1 01:13:52 There is a long pause where fi is just kinda like gobsmacked by that. I don't think she even has the thought process to filter herself. I think there was a long moment of silence. And then she says, Leo, Soren's dead. He's halfway
Speaker 3 01:14:12 To another snide comment and stops with his mouth hanging open fi there's a long moment where you make eye contact with your brother and you watch this physical process of him taking a step back and blinking a couple of times, his eyebrows drawn in and a deep frown etching at his face. Now, if that's your you're lying, I don't know why, but you're lying. That's not true.
Speaker 4 01:14:42 I don't think she has the presence of mind to have a filter about this right now. I think she just shakes her head and she says he was arrested for sedition three months ago. He's dead. Shut up. I don't know what you think.
Speaker 3 01:14:58 You're getting over on me with this bullshit fee, but it's not
Speaker 4 01:15:01 In a work. I don't care if he hates me. I don't care if me leaving, put
Speaker 3 01:15:07 The nail in the coffin of everything I ever gave a shit about. I already know that
Speaker 4 01:15:12 Shut up. I'm not trying to get anything over on you. And then she pulls the chain out from under the neck of her dress with the beacon medallion and Lee, his engagement ring on it.
Speaker 3 01:15:25 You could hear a pin drop on this mountain top.
Speaker 4 01:15:30 You and Leo
Speaker 3 01:15:30 Are already standing pretty close to each other. He slowly takes another step forward and just very gently reaches out a Palm and puts it under the beacon medallion and the rain
Speaker 4 01:15:47 You're standing close enough to your brother to watch
Speaker 3 01:15:51 The realization that what you are saying is true. Cross his face, close enough to see his eyes glass over with tears,
Speaker 4 01:16:03 Close enough for
Speaker 3 01:16:04 Him to subconsciously lean his weight on you. As he collapses to his knees,
Speaker 4 01:16:10 Close enough
Speaker 3 01:16:11 To hear the sound that starts in his throat as a whale of agony and leaves his mouth in a scream of rage.
Speaker 4 01:16:21 I understand
Speaker 3 01:16:22 That because of your alert feet, you cannot mechanically be surprised. Something that is so fundamentally surprising and impossible happens that you are not going to get any mechanical benefit to this. I need you to roll me a constitution saving throw
Speaker 4 01:16:40 That's a nine,
Speaker 3 01:16:43 Your brother collapses to the ground, screams and rage and loss and pain. You watch the choker with his Royal seal hanging off of it, wrapped around his neck flash and he casts a fourth level light at you. Your brother, who has never been able to cast so much as a cat trap in his life does 20 necrotic damage to you in the space of less than a second everybody roll initiative.
Speaker 2 01:17:25 And that's going to do it for us this week on compelled dual everybody. How you feeling? Not good, not good. I also am not feeling good anyway. Get ready for a full
Speaker 3 01:17:39 That episode. Next time kids it's about to get so much realer. See you guys next time on compelled dual <inaudible>
Speaker 2 01:18:05 Hey, everybody, Barry here with the postscript, just clearing up a couple of housekeeping things here at the end of the episode, as always, we're going to plug our social medias. We are on Twitter, Tumblr and Tik TOK at compel duel. You can also find us on Tech-Talk at Capell dual adios, where we post audio templates from the show. We have a lot of other cool things, including an official Spotify profile and an official website. You can find all of those linked on our various social media profiles. If you're interested in supporting the podcast, we ask that you consider pledging to our Patrion starting at just $2 a month. You can get early access to all new episodes and add higher tiers. You can get things including access to exclusive Spotify, playlist, and even letters from your favorite character every month. If you're interested in supporting the podcast in ways, other than pledging to our Patrion, we ask that you leave us a rating and a review on Apple podcast that helps us get promoted to a wider listener base and grow our audience. And as always word of mouth advertising is our most powerful advertising tool. Right now, if you're enjoying the show, we just ask that you tell three friends about it and if they enjoy it, ask them to tell three friends about it.
Speaker 2 01:19:15 Uh, we're down to the wire folks. Our season finale premiers on Friday, April 23rd, 2021. Or if you are a member of our Patrion, you'll have early access on Thursday, April 22nd, boy. Howdy. We will see you guys next week. Thank you so much.
