Welcome back to Tabletop Diaries, we'll be playing Shout out Chris Scroll Zine volume 1 Dialberry episode 9 the story so far.

Y'all returned to Waterwood after defeating bandits and underlook and a suspicious looking knight of Idris.

Back in Waterwood, a funeral is held for Gertie, one of the fallen Archers.

Allure arrives through magical teleportation.

You all have talks with her.

Discuss what has happened.

Decide to go back to Hope's Keep with her to discuss more of her findings.

While at Hope's Keep you find out Laura was able to decipher some of the ancient books that Durack has.

You find out where Bitter Mold Keep is.

You also find out some truth about these so-called patrons that some aren't actually gods but more of higher Eldridge beings that disguise themselves as gods.

You also find out through Titania's statue what her purpose for the gloaming is and how basically the tower and her obelisk, her monolith and not that far from Pope's Keep that you all have run into is some sort of.

It might be some sort of portal to a different realm, possibly the Fay realm.

Unsure of if it's a one way or if it's just acting as a conduit, you get the impression that Tanya uses this realm.

It's kind of like a play thing for her.

She doesn't take it too seriously, which may or may not be in your favor.

With this newfound knowledge and this odd message from another worldly being, something of the realms are not watching you.

You guys decide to make your way back to Warder Wood through Laura's teleportation magic, where you find yourself in the middle of town.

I believe there's some discussions about possibly taking the river or just putting it on foot through the woods, but you seem to be on the path of trying to find your ex.

Seem to be on the path of getting ourselves killed.

It has been an honour playing with you guys.

Likewise, yeah, if we go.

Night is difficult.

Night.

Yeah, if we perish.

I love you all.

So after much, much deliberation last time, we came to the conclusion we're going to follow your ex's footsteps, Yeah.

We'll be brave.

We're going to have to brave it out and just do what we do.

Cross the bridge into treacherous territory.

Because.

None of us is in the mood of building a boat or a kayak or whatever that.

Is we were warned to avoid the lake, never go into the.

Water.

Yeah, it.

It sounded more like of a a poor investment.

Yeah, it's been a few 10 days making a raft just to die on it.

At least on land I can try and die of fighting.

And try to run away.

On the water, I don't think we're going to have that off and.

Just imagining A cracking like giant tentacle crashing down on our little boat and.

That's what it sounds like.

Rolling new characters.

Probably I'm, I'm not going to, I'm not going to give it away, but there might be something out there.

Sounded like it.

Real quick, everybody give me AD 4.

We're going to do something a little different.

OK.

Miss Redcap, What'd you get 4?

You get 4 luck tokens.

Oh, wow.

Three.

OK.

You get 3 luck tokens.

Yeah, and you get 2 left tokens.

Wow.

Something tells me you're going to need.

It.

Oh boy.

I was going.

To say.

This.

This sudden generosity is not a sign of life.

Hey guys, I love.

You hey guys, you're.

Going to die.

We're going to die.

More of a you might need this here.

It'll depend on our.

Luck.

It's dangerous to go alone.

Here take this.

Good job rolling A4.

I, I was hoping it was good, you know?

OK, so we pop out of the portal in the 24 chimneyed town hall.

No, in the middle where the basically fountain thing inside, I don't know if there was a fountain, but there's a fountain now.

Is the portal still open so.

Sorry, there's a well.

There is a.

Well, yeah, it's a big well, but let's just say there's a fountain there too.

A well and a fountain, yes.

Cool, here we are.

It's a good place to put it by the well.

Is the portal still open?

No.

OK.

All right.

Once you guys went through, she closed it immediately, OK.

Well, here we are.

Yes, seems our choices are not good.

All of them.

Guys, did I remember?

Did I remember Mr.

Redcap and Missus Redcap is going to feel her clothes around.

Did you bring him with you?

I hope he did.

I think so I.

Think he's going to come in handy a lot?

Miss Redcap is going to lift up her head.

Give me a percentile.

Oh.

God.

We haven't started yet.

She just doesn't care about her familiar.

That's what this is about.

I think we're going to need him this time because.

42 Is it 42?

Yeah, you do not find Mr.

Man, I was hoping to send him as a Canary, you know, for every step away because I don't want it.

Sounds like everything is dangerous Having a rat go look before you stab.

You good luck tokens will be I think we'll be OK.

All right.

Well, Missus Redcap is just going to be like, well, I guess he's off again.

Does he run away a lot?

Well, I mean, I, I move quickly.

It's not really about him.

I think he's traumatized from the last experience.

Yeah, well, I mean, I don't even like him.

Let's just keep.

Going what?

Jesus, no wonder he runs away.

So shall we start our journey?

I, I guess so.

I mean, we're as prepared as we're going to get.

Yeah, I have a feeling that we're not going to need any more preparation.

We got some torches, but like, I don't think we could make torches on the road, you know?

I think we're going to have to just get lucky.

Maybe some traveler will show.

Up.

Oh yes, well, we've run into them twice already.

I've got a.

Hatchet so I can make I can make some things that would maybe Vern or Val.

You got some skills.

Hey, the ones we're trying to make, but trying.

To make do we still have any?

Other.

Cloth.

And some we had food.

We bought cloth for those fire bombs.

Yeah, we used all of it.

I don't.

Think we have expanded all of it.

Check your inventories.

I wasn't holding it, so I'd.

Yeah, I don't have it either.

Just Vern keep any of it.

Nope.

OK, I think, I think we used it all.

Up.

Yeah, I don't have it, so I guess we did use it.

Shall we purchase some cloth?

Yes, I guess if we need to make torches, we need it.

Could we make torches like that if we just bought cloth, chopped down wood and.

All that.

OK, cool.

Maybe we can't use them as weapons as easily, right?

But and I have a Lantern and it has oil so I can just dip.

True, true.

There you go.

Well, let's swing by the general store and goods as.

A matter of fact, I'm going to buy one more spare jug of oil just in case.

Come in handy so far.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, let's go see what was her name again?

Amarilla.

Amarilla.

Sarsaparilla amarilla.

Amarilla.

I don't remember.

Him a good memory misses right cat.

You make your way to Amarilla's general store and goods, and you also notice that there's a sign, like a paper sign that somebody notched up on post right next to it says missing sword, missing long sword, one gold peace reward, Zeke Ingram Smith hammer.

Is it that laughing sword or whatever?

Crazy one, yeah.

The one of the purple.

Already he lost it.

Wow.

Weird, I thought he Smith did already.

I don't know, maybe the sword walked away by itself.

Or someone came for it.

It was a very vicious sword.

It was just rude.

Yeah.

It was quite rude, quite annoying.

Very annoying I suspect.

He probably, you know, upset some of the patrons of the blacksmith and that person probably grabbed it and took it away to smash it to bits.

I wouldn't be surprised.

It's kind of odd to take it away from a blacksmith to break it.

Yeah, why would you just let the blacksmith do his job?

It'll break it eventually.

Right.

Or melt it.

We're better off without it, just like Mr.

Redcap.

I agree with that.

Well, although I don't know about Mr.

Redcap, it kind of helped that one time.

Kind of he he's always about to help us.

I was about to, but never actually interesting.

Yeah, I'll make your way inside.

You see Amarillo there though the familiar looking female elf is dusting off somewheres.

Oh yes, what can I help you all for?

I would like to purchase some oil if you have any.

Oh yes I do.

I have two flats.

I would like to purchase both.

All right.

I believe that's 5 silver apiece, the one gold, right?

Right.

Do you have any more of that cloth?

Oh yes, how many?

How much cloth would you like?

Just something cheap but for torches on the road.

Oh.

OK, I could probably cut up some scraps in the back real quick.

I'll probably do it for like 3 coppers.

OK, that works.

Stay with that, you'll get 5 cloth for torch making.

OK, just put it in one gear slot.

Evan, can you hold on to this for me?

Wilburn over here is a packing old.

I'm all full up.

Right, two oil flats.

I got a 55 units of cloth.

Yes.

How many torches per unit of cloth?

Maybe like one torch, one cloth?

OK, that works.

Is the is the sculptor near the shop?

Yeah.

It's not too far.

You can see him see he recognized his signage.

OK, I'll meet you at the gate.

Going to see Tabitha again.

Yeah, sure.

All right.

Well, don't.

Don't take too long meters of the gate.

All right, and Mr.

Redcap is going to bounce and go to the sculptor.

She'd like to peer inside the sculptor shop if there's like a window or something.

Easily enough, yeah.

You walk up to this red building and you see you've been there before.

You kind of peek in the window and you see deadly.

You know she's on her way at some rock.

Is is it the Gertie Gertie's statue, that clay thing?

Yeah.

OK.

All right.

Missus Redcap would like to cast Shadow Dance.

Yes, give me.

Yeah, give me a spell check.

So I rolled an 11 total of 12 to catch Shadow Dance.

So that passes.

I need to get 11 or higher so I can create a minor illusion, and I'd like to create the ghost of Gertie just above him chiseling out.

OK.

He starts chiseling.

He stops suddenly.

He's like.

What?

What bloody what is this?

Well, that doesn't look like me at all.

But I'm I'm.

He looks at the coast.

Looks like I'm sorry, which please don't hurt me.

Please don't hurt me.

I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to commentate.

Jake.

What is happening?

So Mrs.

Redkev is keeping this.

She really wants to like keep him fooled.

So she's peering through the window and she wants to be able to like decrease, like remove the solution as quick as it might get like touched by something or anything that if if the illusion gets touched at all, then the person realizes they're being fooled.

So like she has to like time this pretty well.

So the the Gertie, the ghost of Gertie is going to just be like, so, so that's that's supposed to be me, right?

Yes.

OK, well, I just, I'm not seeing it, you know?

Are you trying to get a discount or something?

I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm sorry, how can I, how can I make this right?

I mean, I was, I'm just, I'm just an Archer like I was, I was just doing a thing.

Or is there any other more interesting work that you got?

I'm.

I'm sorry what?

I'm not understanding I.

Mean is there any other cool projects around here?

Like I can't, I can't go to rest until this whole thing is like finished.

But shouldn't I work I guess faster on this?

I mean, I mean, my folks really appreciate what you're doing, but like, I honestly don't care.

I I just want to go to where I'm supposed to go.

You're keeping me here, dude.

Oh, I, I apologize.

I'll I'll, I'll start chiseling this out.

Actually, if you could just hold still, try to get your lightness real quick.

I'll.

Do what I can.

I'm, I'm just kind of flowing around here.

You've.

Got to have more interesting projects around here.

Like I I didn't really do much anything.

I I got a few kills in and then I died.

There's a painting I was working on for the Dutchess, but I mean there was he looked around.

I think there was this like small sculpture.

This old lady wanted me to what work on also a halfling.

I think it might have actually been one who was who you may know a certain Tobin fella.

It's a smaller statue.

Those have been commissioned for it.

I it's over there on the the shell you see a shelf.

Well, what's what's he, what's Tobin doing?

Is he doing something?

Cool, he was burning the balls off a troll.

That's amazing.

That's so much interesting than my sculpture.

Just do like a bare bones like quick thing on mine and work on work on this like epic fight thing.

He seems like he's shaking with.

It so much cooler than me.

If that's.

What do you wish?

I mean, Yes, I will.

I will expedite this immediately.

Or else I'm just going to show up again, you know, to commentate.

I'm I'm sorry, whatever you you wish, I'll I'll just start like chiseling bastard.

OK, maybe I'll see you later, Boo.

And.

He just pieces.

Elastic this is red gap always being like.

The agent of Chaos.

Oh God.

So that happens.

Wow, take death.

I.

See why Tobin is annoyed with you sometimes.

Right.

Suppose y'all make your way to the gate.

Hang out by the gate.

Where the hell is Mrs.

right now?

Probably fanning over some potion ingredients or something.

Or causing mischief somewhere.

And Mrs.

Redcap peer around the corner.

Sure, but to see them?

Yeah, to see them, you're like, easy enough, OK.

And then she's going to like act like very nonchalant, like nothing happened and just like whistling and walking towards.

The there you are took you so long.

I had to.

What, you had to ruin somebody's day?

Yeah.

Sure, I knew it.

Oh dear.

Mrs.

Red Gap is just going to cackle.

You know, we might die after this, though we would like to leave our reputation at least good.

Vile kind of good.

All right.

All right.

Hey, you guys are heading out, so looking at the map you guys decide to just follow the road as far as you can.

You know, leave out the gate, follow the road.

East.

A little SE, yeah.

Like fall on the road.

Right, Yeah, We're going to go out east and southeast along the road.

Somebody give me AD 6 go 14.

Let me let me choose my D6 carefully.

Choose the one I'm.

Very self-conscious about dice right now, just this time.

Choose the one that's behaving.

All right, six nice slam bang.

After walking for a little whiles everything seems to be chipper still midday you know two hours pass and you make it through the 1st hex.

I need another D6.

All right, Tobin, use one your one of your metallic dice.

Spiky Dice 5.

Dice.

Yeah, so far so good.

Day goes on.

Another two hours pass by, another believe what 6 miles pass so far, Yeah.

Notice that Tobin's a little sweatier than he probably should be for how nice it is outside, and he's his hands are shaking a little bit.

You all right there, Tobin.

Yes, no, I'm fine.

I know you're not accustomed to, you know, snooping around the woods and walking a lot.

Oh yes?

Well, we've been doing so much of that recently, I wasn't even really thinking about it.

And he'll stay.

Hydrated my friend.

I'll kind of reach into my underneath my armor, scratch around a little bit, and then kind of throw my hands down on my side and keep walking.

Miss Redcap would like to look around at the plant life around Tobin in the group.

Something specific you're trying mushrooms Give me a percentile.

OK, 36.

There's no mushrooms insight.

A lot of grass trees are starting to look starting to almost look like autumn.

Oddly, even though it's still, I guess it would be the tail in the spring.

Missus Red Calf is going to kick the dirt next to the road in frustration.

Oh, you're not going to eat fancy meal tonight?

Nah, just we just go.

We got to.

Eat on the road, you know Rd.

food.

Road food.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, at least we have Val and Vern with us.

They're quite good at catching food.

Yeah, yeah, we got plenty of Ashtons from what I could tell.

Yes, we do.

Well, let's press on.

Pressing on I will need miss brick after roll ad sticks.

All right, all right.

And we are dead.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Y'all walking along the road starting to get a little evening ish.

You still got about like 2 hours that you can travel before you have to start pressing on when you hear somebody in the back just running kind of towards you like.

Hey, there you are.

There you are.

You, you vermin.

It just starts running up towards you guys.

Turn around and look.

Who's that?

What's going on?

Stop complimenting us.

You see an old lady running up to you, humanoid, I mean, torn, kind of tattered looking, dressed more like rags at this point than makeshift sandals.

Just some old lady with a cane.

She's running like kind of pointing to you, your guys in your direction.

Hello.

You, there's you, you 4.

But I was I've been looking for you 4.

To have we met.

Of course not.

This is right, Cap is going to pull out her dagger.

I don't trust.

People.

Mistaken us for somebody else?

What?

What?

What's going on here?

Oh, you ruined my garden.

We did not do such thing.

We just.

Lost.

You ruined my garden.

I don't want.

Vengeance.

Do you have evidence?

Do you have evidence of us ruining your garden?

Prove it.

Can you prove it?

She points at your feet and all of a sudden the grass starts growing and starts wrapping around your legs.

Val, I need everyone to roll initiative.

Oh God.

Miss Redcap, what'd you get?

9.

9 Total 1414 Cobin.

3 - 1 for A2.

Wow.

And Vern, I rolled like a four with a nine for a three, and for her I rolled a 17.

Oh.

Hells, she quickly pulls out her cane and you see it just becomes like a dagger and she's going to run up to I'm assuming y'all are basically together.

Yeah, yeah.

And since Val you are basically restraint, they can't make movement.

OK, I have my bow, I can shoot.

She's going to attack the other old lady in the group.

Oh, she's going for the red cap.

That's a 5 to hit.

That misses.

Bigger, right, It's gonna take it to.

Me.

Clockwise.

Yeah, gonna take it to you.

Counter.

Yeah, counter clockwise.

I'm doing this thing that I saw somebody where it's like whoever wins the highest roll, whatever number that is, if it's an odd goes counterclockwise.

If it's even, it's gonna go clockwise.

Interesting to kind of switch it up then.

And but still leave it up to the dice.

Yeah, that's cool.

So she pulled her cane, turned into a dagger, and she ran up and tried to stab Missus Redcap.

Yes.

OK, then I'll pull out my Mace, leave her alone and I'll try and run over and bash her in the knee.

In the knee.

OK, give it a swing.

Natural 20.

God, you broke his knee so.

Bash at it give me damage.

Oh Dang, OK, so.

So basically double die right?

Success is that.

Double anyone.

Numerical value.

That's right.

But I'm gonna choose the number of D sixes.

She's dead.

6789 you.

Smash this poor old.

Lady not trying to kill her.

Like you're not trying to kill I'm.

Not trying to kill her.

He smashed, he smashed her in the knee and she flips and hits her head on the on a rock and then the full flip it is bam and you just see blood gushing out unconscious as the form starts to shift into a small little kind of winging devil looking creature.

Gross.

The blood red or is it?

The blood is still red.

It's like red with like black wings, kind of straight across, but it still looks like a little little baby devil.

Honestly unconscious.

He didn't want to kill it.

Yeah, no.

Well I'm going to kill it you wretched old freak.

How can you do this to my boots?

I just purchased these brand new boots.

You don't even have to roll for it.

You just go there and stab it.

Yeah, I'm just going to.

Take my sword and just slice away out of those vines, whatever, and then go there and just.

Well, once it has failed unconscious, the gun, yeah just Withers away and goes back to record.

Disgusting.

Creature and just stab him right in the chest.

You just what the Hell's this this thing anyways?

We barely, I mean, you just started this journey man.

I know it's, I mean we've been travelling most of the day, but looks like some kind of devil creature.

Shapeshifter trying to trick us.

Can a can a rule of intelligence or wisdom see if I know what this thing is?

Is it more intelligence?

I'll let you, yeah.

Oh Oh no, that was better than I thought it was.

Rolling Wisdom 15 + 2 for 17.

You recognize this creature to be an imp?

Oh, a devil imp.

To be a specific devil imp about cat size got, you know, it looks like a red devil with oversized wings and a pale and horn and everything.

Classic.

Yeah, we got attacked by a devil imp.

I recognize these little barrel creatures.

These woods, man, never, you know, stopped from surprisingly.

I bet it didn't even have a garden.

And probably not, no.

No, she was trying to trick us or it was trying to trick us.

And Missus Redcap is going to bow towards the creature, and she's going to take off her cap.

Oh, come on.

Missus Redcap, what are you doing?

What's?

The matter with you?

I just want to this thing's say a few words.

This thing attacked me.

It's a devil, him.

It's disgusting.

It was very clever, it complimented us and it tried to stab me.

Complimented us.

She insulted us and accused us of stealing from her, ruining her garden, whatever.

And Miss Redcap is just gonna like, shrug, and she's gonna start dabbing her calf in the blood.

Oh.

God.

Misses Redcap.

This is disgusting.

I'll honor her sacrifice.

OK, let's just go.

Let's just go and start walking off.

And I wipe off my start and it's like I don't want nothing in my that this blood.

He has to carry on and basically travel for another two hours and it's starting to get dark now.

Time to camp down.

We must set camping.

Or.

You can press on, but you'll have to make Constitution checks.

We camping?

We can't.

Yeah, we're not making dangerous bets.

Yeah, no, we gotta play it safe.

Yeah, all right.

We're gonna huddle together and camp.

Fair enough if you want to knock off 3 torches to make the campfire.

Wait, 3 torches?

Total amount takes 3.

Torches to make a campfire.

I'll I'll toss one in.

I'll toss one.

OK, Val, give me a wisdom.

12.

You start looking around and even kind of, you know your nature, your nature tune, and you have a good sense of direction.

You're at the map at the very end of the road where it starts to turn and head further east.

Towards the bridge.

Yeah.

And you know that you're probably like 2-3 hours away, probably like 2 1/2 hours away from the old bandit camp if you were to travel, but it would be back travelling basically southwest basically for me, so.

We're setting up camp now.

Yeah, and we are not that far away from that old camp of the bandits or what it used to be.

Yes, that was crazy.

Some bones, but I'm not willing to walk well.

Just in case let's, you know, keep quiet passing through that.

Who knows if some of them return?

True, though there weren't many left of them.

Yeah, but whatever the case, we don't want to entangle with them anyways, even if they are like few.

Best to stay vigilant, yeah?

Y'all betting down?

Yeah, set up camp.

We start taking watches.

Tobin's hands are shaking a little bit more.

You'll.

I'll take the first time all.

Right, I'm going to do it this way for the British expediting stuff and make you one of you.

You all decide.

Just one check, 1D6.

Go for it.

Doing it all.

That I shall pray to the gods of the dice.

I need inspiration.

We don't have any bards, so there's no bardic inspiration.

Yeah, look token, look token.

Blessings of key.

Mrs.

Redcap, I need you to close your eyes and think of something else, because I need your negative thoughts outside of this bubble.

Mrs.

Redcap is going to think about North Mort and her bowing before June.

There you go for the kill.

Is it worth a luck token?

Is it worth a?

Luck token.

I'm going to do a luck token.

I have three.

I'm going to sacrifice once.

Screw that.

OK, OK.

Another.

One OK, if it's another one, I give up.

I'm out Six.

OK, that was worth it.

OK, good stuff.

Lucky night.

Good stuff.

The night goes on, uneventful and you all feel rested.

Consumer ration, Consumer ration, everybody take a ration off.

That was a perfect use of a luck token.

Good job.

New day, sun rises, y'all get up, make your breakfast, roll up your bed rolls and zoom.

Venture forward.

Yes, we shall.

Oh right, who we left off of.

What was it, Red Cat?

Yeah, and then Daniel for the night.

Unless.

You want Vern to roll?

That's up to you guys, Vern.

Yeah.

Yeah, Vern.

You didn't have luck token.

Oh, are we going this way?

OK.

Yeah, it's Vern.

I know that 6 all right.

You guys walk for about two hours, of course, about two miles I guess.

You start walking and you notice a makeshift trail heading South.

Is it, are we kind of in the same area as the camp at this point?

From the bandit camp.

The old bandit camp.

No, you would have passed this.

OK, so it's behind us.

Yeah, now, but now it's probably like 4 hours away.

OK, yeah, makeshift.

Path.

It's a makeshift path heading South.

It looks like it's been.

But the route to the bridge is not makeshift.

Isn't it the?

Rd.

Keeps going east too.

If you look at the map here, it looks like maybe it's one of these two things that are marked.

Maybe a Hut or kind of cave?

Val and Vern would know that it it would basically be the Hut is what you're looking at itself, because you guys would have gotten these markings from the Scouts or Warnerwood, hence the map.

They just know that there's a Hut because someone went down there.

You think it's worth a detail it seems.

To be abandoned.

Should we just keep going?

Yeah, we should keep going.

OK.

I mean, unless the majority disagree, I do not be necessary.

I'm fine with continuing, right?

Yeah, I.

Love Bridget.

Hopefully there's not a troll at this one.

Just don't burn it until we pass through it.

We'll see what it's made out of when we get to it.

You know, stone or wood?

I'm curious.

Someone else, The parole, was it going?

I guess, yeah.

Tobin 4 You make your way.

Another accessible venture forward another two hours.

Four hours in, you come up.

You start to see another path headed South.

This one seems a little more olden.

To The Cave or some a cave.

Some kind of cave?

Yeah, not worth this trouble neither.

Agreed.

Also suddenly I feel a strong wind push north and when I say a strong wind you're used to like gust of wind coming in.

This wind lasts for a very awkwardly long time, just pushing straight N from directly where you're at.

This is unusual.

Yes.

What is going on?

And I'm holding my Cape and I'm debris all over my face.

Once the wind stop, there is no other wind.

That was strange.

I sensed instead telling me that this is an invitation which I will decline.

Usually the winds are a sign from Gheed.

The I'm under hope of you.

Be careful, there could be a deceptive wind.

True.

What would your ex do?

Head across the bridge to try and find his people.

I assume it's.

Gone to the bridge.

Well, I believe in targets.

My target is the bridge.

All right, and I'll reach under my armor.

It's up to you.

Fishing for my flask and then sigh and and clench my face.

Continue to walk.

Val, give me a D6.

6:00 Nice.

This is like the 4th, 6th, I wrote this night.

You're staying with me.

That's the good one.

Guys, make your way across nice and well.

Another two hours.

You got another two hours to go, and you know about basically another two hours.

You'll make it right at the bridge right at dusk.

Basically, you'll have to camp at the bridge if you want to push forward.

Of course.

Camping near the bridge press on.

Mr.

Ray Camp, give me AD 6.

6.

Nice.

You make it to the bridge and it's a pretty big bridge.

It looks like it goes for like a mile and a half across, like this giant river.

So the yeah, what's the land like around us near it?

Like does the does the tree line cut out?

And then there's some grass for a little bit before the river.

Or does it usually dump straight in?

South, it looks like the grass kind of very dried out mostly, and it's very bare to the north of it.

You see, it's kind of just foresty, regular, just trees.

Yeah, they kind of just go along the line further north of following the river.

What's the structure of the bridge?

What does it look like?

Like Stone?

Stone, stone, Old bridge.

Like an arch bridge?

Yes.

Nice.

That well, actually, no, it's not Arch.

Oh, OK.

It's slightly arched, but not that much because it goes for like a mile.

Oh wow.

And a half, yeah.

It's a huge, huge.

Bridge yes and it is wide about two like you probably do 4 carts like wagons if you will, side by side, still have like a little bit of room.

Like a highway.

Essentially, they're edges to it.

Yeah, there's a little edge that goes about like for a normal person about chest high.

They kind of seen the edge and then some of it's broken off in spots that you could see probably through weather and time or maybe something else you don't know of.

Should I come up to it, I'll just.

But it's dark right now, so.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is officially the furthest we've been.

Definitely.

This bridge is amazing.

It is massive, it is.

It's an awe inspiring construction.

It's the biggest construction I've ever seen.

Wow.

It is quite mighty.

Something bad happened here.

Must.

Have.

How can you tell?

Nobody's here anymore.

Wow.

Yes, this is the kind of bridge for a lot of no traffic.

Somebody had to build it.

It is far deep into the woods.

You know, I don't think many people can withstand the dangers going through the woods and all the shadow dark trying to make it all the way here.

True, but I bet this was before the the shadow dock.

Before the gloaming.

Was the gloaming.

Perhaps in his, in its haze, in the heydays, it was a busy route or commerce in traffic.

Indeed.

Well, we camp here.

Yes, it's a camp on this side and we'll, we'll kind of go off I guess to the north side where there are trees for more, a little more cover instead of the muddy grass side.

The northern side.

All right, y'all make out camp another three torches halfway through.

My torches.

Now I'm glad I picked up the oil.

Yeah, I've got one more torch, but we do have the cloth to make torches.

I have two more torches left and that's it.

OK.

All right, y'all bedding down.

Yeah.

The furthest from home I've ever been, Mr.

Frodo.

Yes, I indeed.

And lucky for us, I don't have the invisibility ring.

What?

What?

I'm Frodo, right?

But seriously, yes this this gives me a little bit of anxiety.

Once we cross this bridge, it's.

No going back.

Boy, I mean, you could walk.

That's quite the walk.

Yeah, well, we'll all be seeing new things and experiencing new dangers that we never have.

We're all ready for this.

Reluctantly, yes.

Yeah.

Tobin's the only one who's hurt.

Anything OK, I gotta.

You guys ever had that feeling where you need to get into a fight?

Not really, no.

No, no.

Try to avoid those.

Blood lost all even.

You're young, you're young.

Just wait for enough of the shadow dark to get in you.

I I feel like I usually get all that out to me when I'm hunting.

Yeah.

That's not, that's not a fight, you know, the deer don't normally don't fight back, you know?

I mean, come across a bear, if I'm a throw a wolf, it can be kind of frightening.

But I understand what you're saying.

That's all very odd.

Well-being this far here, you know, it raised an anxiety in me.

Now my sense of cautiousness is at a level that I've never experienced before.

I am extremely cautious, but you might see me hesitant a lot.

I think that ship might have given you some PTSD.

Well, if you.

Go through what we've been through and go this far.

I think I have to calculate every step I take.

Not their own luck I.

Mean everyone has warned us that this is a very dangerous path.

True, true.

I'll reach for my flask again and Dang it, kind of punch the dirt beside me.

You don't care that lad.

Yes, no, I'm fine.

Scratches the back of his hand a whole bunch I think.

We can all use a drink right now.

Oh God, yes.

No, I mean just a little bit, Not too much do.

You have any on you in a?

Second, Tobin, are you not supposed to be drinking?

I I mean not necessarily, no, but did get me in trouble in Gee's Earth.

I gave up my blast to and I miss it.

Well, maybe we'll be able to party more once we deal with this.

And then Mrs.

Redcap is going to look into the air.

This slime, it's goddess.

Whatever it is, I don't want to say it's name.

The slimy one who shall not be named.

Yes.

Well, I just hope we're safe and our travels there.

Yeah, let's not whisper words that we might regret.

We don't know who's listening right now.

The.

Whole earth shakes.

We'll get some, we'll get some treasure and we'll get, we'll get plenty of merry liquids and food.

Well, let's get some sleep and see what happens.

Yes, I'll, I'll take first watch.

Not really ready to sleep yet.

I hear you.

I'll probably sleep with one eye open.

Yeah, it's this weird.

We're at the customer here.

That's the way it happens.

Good night.

Give me AD 6 Tobin.

Come on, baby dice.

69 Yeah, you're way too lucky.

Watch goes on quite peaceful as you are probably what would towing be doing well so tonight he's.

Sitting by the fire, one hand on the holy symbol, just turning it around, rubbing it with his thumb and kind of gritting his teeth and looking around and really fiending but trying not to give in.

As you're doing that, looking around, going through withdrawals, pretty much you look down and you see a plant that you recognize if they hop grain.

Hop grain What?

What do I recognize about a hop grain hop?

Is, you know, one of the main ingredients, then ales.

Oh dear.

Look down and kind of look up at the sky for a second and then look back down at the hop grain and just kind of run my hand over it a little bit.

Start touching it, your holy symbol kind of flashes and it starts to sprout a little bit.

Well, hello there.

I'll just kind of like, I don't know, didn't inspect it a little closer, look down, see how fast it's growing.

I mean, it sprouted pretty quickly, but after just like probably a little leaf popping up, it's just right there like a little sprout.

Yeah.

I mean, you could basically pick it up like a little seed that that cracked and just started sprouting.

Oh, OK.

That's obviously you know doesn't happen at that kind of a rate, but.

What are you trying to tell me?

Just kind of look around at the trees and the leaves, pull out the I'll pull the little plant out, start chewing on the root.

All right, you, you do that and eventually your what?

Your watch goes on.

Uneventful.

Who's next?

I'll go and wake up Val.

Is it my turn yet?

Yes, Sir, you're up.

Thank you all good so far.

I get up and stretch and then I open goes to sleep.

It gets quiet a little bit.

Now suddenly all my Ranger instincts are at the highest, like I'm very nervous.

So everything is that maximum 100%.

I notice every movement, the trees, everything is a targets like I'm in a hunting mode.

I make less noise, I move slowly and I'm just watching every corner surrounding us pretty much like I'm in debt.

The tension is like I'm in intense.

Give me AD 6.

11 No, just right when my instincts all right.

You're so focused you miss the ogre that attacks.

But I was at home.

The GM just rolled a lot of dice just for that one eye roll, Val.

You are sitting there, honed in to the Wilds around you.

You start to heal Brustling before you turn around to check it out.

See 3 halfling sized humanoid figures jump out the brushes in front of you.

Do a Lego lost movement.

I was just kidding.

So the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to scream to everybody to wake up.

Everybody get up, you know?

All right.

As you do that and you guys are slowly getting up, three more pop out from behind you.

I mean, I need everyone to roll for initiative.

All right, Miss Redcap.

Roll the 12 + 2 decks for 14 total.

All right.

15 total.

Hey, what'd you roll?

15 total.

Oh, just OK, straight 15.

Yeah, I have the zero with the.

OK.

2 - 1 for one.

They rolled 3 for five and then I did 13 for 12.

All right, so Val, you are up.

You see in front of you 3 They look like halfling size humanoid creatures with giant cloaks over them, covered in fur.

What you can surmise be coyote pelts, just completely covered in pelting cloaks.

Yeah, and you can kind of see their face a little bit.

They have sharp teeth and sharp claws.

They look like halflings, but they look like there is something clearly wrong with them.

Well, for me, I'm in the very wrong mind of the state of in mind for these people.

All I saw is something jump and something move.

I take a step forward and you know, with my long sword, that awesome sword that I acquired recently, Riot Ruins, and take a giant swing at the first one right in front of me.

Yep, right into him.

I take a step forward and 12 + 1 + 114.

The 14?

Yep.

That unfortunately does not hit.

No way.

That's a bad sign.

That's a very bad sign.

OK, that's not cool at all.

I'm assuming you're swinging at the one behind you.

It kind of just popped up.

It's the closest one to you.

Yeah, yeah.

You turn around real quick to see one of these, like right next to you as it's just probably creeping up on you.

It just popped up.

You swing wildly out as it just ducks real quick.

And yeah, that will bring us to Miss Redcap.

Redcap is gonna cast.

I bite on no the half lane 2 bowels left and I got advantage on.

I buy it OK roll the 15, but I'm going to just see if I can roll higher.

15 + 116 so I passed the spell check.

Cast this spell and you can see it's eyes which that familiar thing where it looks like teeth coming out of its above like around its eyes sockets and in closing its eyes like an extra set of lids just kind of popping out but made of.

Teeth 1D4.

Gruesome stuff.

Well, with the spell casting, I just have to succeed at the spell, all right?

OK, one damage, one damage to the creature.

I hate before.

Yeah, it happens.

But he can't see you until the end of your next turn.

Yeah, or his next.

Turn his next turn.

His next turn.

Yeah, sorry.

Yeah, that's right.

All right, it is Vern.

Can you point out Vern real quick?

He gonna recognize a threat when he sees it, and he's going to help his buddy Val out and shoot an arrow.

Oh, that's not gonna hit.

I rolled A4 with all this stuff.

It's not gonna work.

It's not gonna matter.

Dang.

All right.

And that his go.

Unfortunately, now it's their turn.

We're gonna start with these guys first.

He's going to you see him start swinging a sling and he's going to shoot it at Vern, but an 11 total which hits his AC-9 for an 11 going to hit Vern for three points of damage as basically a rock flies out of this halfling creatures slinging and hits Vern doing 3 points of damage.

Smacked him good.

The other one is also going to get a sling out and aim at you.

Miss Redcap.

That's a 7 to hit.

He misses as he flies overhead and into the woods.

Then the other one is going to swing a shoot a sling as well.

To you, Tobin, that's an 18 a hit.

That hits.

And it is going to do whopping 3 points of bludgeoning damage as a rock hits you and that side of your chest brings it to the other ones on the other side.

That one on the far left is going to get close to Val and basically swing at him.

That is an 18 to hit Val.

That hit.

He's going to use his mob feature and does five points of bludgeoning damage as he hits you with a club.

The other one is also going to hit you.

You're a try.

That's a six to hit you.

I assume that fails this.

1.

Yeah, fails now.

The one.

I'm sorry next to him but the other ones also going to run up to him.

9 to hit.

And.

He misses as well.

They make all their swings.

1 catches you.

One gets Tobin with a sling and brings us to Tobin.

You ugly foul creatures, hold on Val and I'll rush around the fire and dash over to Val and I will cast cure wounds on Val, yes.

So 17 + 3 for a dirty 20I succeed, which means cure wounds goes off and my cure wounds is better.

Now get.

Two of some dice.

Roll.

I think it's 2D6.

Now roll a number of D sixes equal to 1, plus half your level rounded down.

So half my level's 1 so I get 2D sixes.

Nice.

OK, so you get 9 health?

Back.

I'm back to Max Sweet.

All right, so I rush over, grab my holy symbol, touch Val's leg, and little light glows, and his wounds close up a bit, and that's my turn.

I am super enraged about what just happened and I'm just like the rage keeps building up and I just with my sword I'm going to hack the same person right in front of me.

Give me an attack roll.

It's a 17.

17 that hit.

Go ahead, roll damage.

7.

You swing and you slice through him and he splits in half and he's dead.

That's the rage.

And yeah, the front, the one in front of me, he dies and I'm going to turn to the other one behind me.

Missed Redcamp?

Your turn.

What you like Redcamp?

Is gonna try I buy it on the same one.

She attacked her earlier 4 on the first roll, so that's real bad.

12 + 1 it's 13 so that passes the spell check.

Nice.

Okay.

Thank goodness for advantage on that.

Yes, that's great.

Okay, all right, so 1D four against that for damage.

Plus the one he took earlier.

You cast eye bite again as you see is the fangs around his eyes disappeared then they reappeared and this thing just like stops suddenly just blood splatters all over his mouth.

So they just drop to the ground in a stash?

Girl, good job red cap.

That's not true.

There is no mob mentality there.

You're right, they have a mob where they deal in extra damage in melee when besides in LA.

I'm paying attention.

You said that mob thing and broke the chain it.

Is now Val Stern, and he is going to.

You mean Vern?

Sorry, Vern.

Yeah, Vern's turn.

Vern is going to turn and shoot at the one that hit him.

I mean, gets a 15 roll to 15 for a 4:15 and basically straight because I have a plus and a negative.

So it's just a straight roll for him, but it hits.

Yeah.

Nice.

That's just half lanes are hard to hit.

He pierces it for four points of damage.

As you see that arrow, as you see that half Ling get sucked in by an arrow.

All right?

And yeah, he's just going to stand the ground.

That's going to take it to their turn.

We're going to start with the one that got hit again, just got hit one arrow.

He's going to retaliate, swing back.

That's a natural 20.

So this is going to be bad for Vern.

That is 6 points of damage and Vern goes down.

Clocked right in the head.

Yep, he gets clocked right in the heads of rock, hit them and he just falls back.

The other guy with a sling is also going to swing and aim at Tobin.

That's a 10 to hit.

That misses.

Misses.

Other ones going to follow suit.

Hit Tobin, try to 13, misses, and then the other one's going to try to attack.

They're going to attack a Val that's a nine to hit.

They all missed.

All right, Tobin, you are up.

Look over my shoulder after that last rock missed me and see Verns down.

Don't worry Vern, I'm coming and I will cast cure wounds on Vern.

Yes, 14 + 3 for 17, so I succeed.

Job man.

678 Life back to Vern, you touch.

Vern and he sees us, magic infusion come healing, magic infused healing pour in him as he just breeze back to life, feels rejuvenated.

I've got you, buddy.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tobin.

You're welcome.

That will take us to Val.

Yeah.

There's one next to us around.

And the rage.

My eyes are just like you are next.

How dare you.

I miss.

What you get 5, five?

Yeah, it's not going to hit right miss.

Redcap.

Here we go.

This Redcap saw Vern go down and she's going to go after the the weak one who who attacked him, so she's going to try to cast eye bite again on that one.

All right?

Yeah, the slingshot guy who took down Vern temporarily.

6 first roll not good enough.

Let's try again.

Oh, yes.

OK, 17 + 118 Yeah, no, I, I kept, you know, missing earlier like I bite wasn't as useful when I didn't have advantage on it.

Yeah.

OK, All right, so let's roll for damage.

This this guy's already weak.

OK, 2 two hits damage.

See him like with his arrow he starts to pull it out and as soon as he pulls it out your I bite effect takes over and he just squirts blood from his ears, mouth and nose and he just falls over.

He is dead.

Nice.

Success to Sean.

All right, that's going to take it to Burns go.

He's going to turn and shoot the other guy, the other Slinger and that's not going to hit with an 8.

Those can be their go.

Slinger is going to sling at you miss Redcap for a natural 20.

Oof, that is good.

That hits.

Low on that.

I think that hits.

That's eight points.

OK, Miss Redcap's down.

As a rock hits you in the in the head.

She got 2 down before she went.

Yeah, she did good.

The other one's going to swing at U Tobin.

That's a 10 to hit.

Misses.

That misses, and then the other one's going to swing at U Val for 15 to hit.

Yeah, hit.

Right.

All right.

He swings with his club doing one point of damage.

OK.

Thank you.

For a scratch, yeah.

There go and it brings us to tell me.

And glance over, see Miss Redcaps down now.

God Dang it, here I come.

The ambulance running around the.

Medic and I'm going to cast cure wounds on Misses Redcap.

OK, so I rolled a 6 + 3 is 9.

That's not good enough, but I have a luck token that I'm going to spend, right?

Here big mistake giving us those red.

No, it was intentional.

Is trying to level the playing field.

Oh no.

I am going to spend my second.

Was that an actual one?

Because that was a gnat 1 and I'm not failing another spell right now.

17 + 3 for 20.

It goes off.

I'm out of luck tokens but I I cast your wounds successfully and you get 4 health back.

Awesome, almost back to full health for me.

Sweet.

Thank you.

Of course.

So I'll Crouch over Mrs.

Redcap and close my eyes.

The glow kind of fades for a second, but then comes back.

And this is Red Caps healed.

Shakes the pendant a little bit.

Come.

On.

Come on.

Hurry up.

All right, that's going to take us to Val.

I see all my friends just popping down and then Tobin running around bringing them back.

This just adds up to the rage and I just look at that one standing in front of me.

Still alive.

It's like I'm wondering why you're still alive, swooping and dumping.

Yeah.

Natural 20.

Yeah.

All right.

Add anything.

Go ahead, roll your damage die and six doubled which would be 12.

Wow so 12 points of damage.

You swing straight down and split him in two.

Is it just?

From that rage.

Nice my friends.

And he is goner, all right.

And then I move move me next.

To Vern it is miss good redcaps turn.

Missus Redcap was gonna cast I bite on the top top roller of the enemy that's still left middle middle one, yes, that's 17 + 1 for 18 passes the spell check.

Good stuff, Let's try.

Well between the healer and the magic it's like, and the physical fighting like we got a good balance that we can fight other groups.

OK, one damage on the.

Still good?

It adds up.

You see your eye bite form hits him and he see like a basically Nosebleed just kind of happens still standing.

Is he blind when he gets eye bite?

He can't see her.

Just yeah, OK.

Till the end of its next.

Turn.

That brings it to Vern's turn.

He's going to hit that one.

That big break at it, 17 for straight 17, so that hit.

Yeah, nice.

Get him burn.

Burn his pit, right?

Yeah, he got knocked out.

Wait.

That's the wrong guy.

Also, that's not he died.

Burn just like sharply in the heels like.

I'm so.

Tired of dying?

I rolled A6 and he pulls back as far as he can and it's right through the neck of that halfling as it drops dead.

But now.

Finish that guy.

There's one left and it is his turn.

He's going to screech and like I don't.

Know.

And he's going to swing at Utah?

Or is that the three counts in this third case?

Yeah.

Next to each other.

No, no, he's going to swing his little thingy.

Oh, it's swing.

It's a 14 hit.

14 hits.

Yep.

And that's going to do 3 points.

OK, she's got one hit point left, but she's still up.

All right, And all of a sudden you see another one comes running out from the side kind of where you 2 are, and it's going to run straight up to both of you.

And that's what it can do is it presents itself.

That brings us to you, Tobin.

When I see Mrs.

Redcap get hit with another rock.

Oh, dears, are you all right?

Just save your energy for what needs to happen.

Turn and see this new one coming in.

Does he look like the others?

But yeah, he looks exactly like the others.

Got a club?

He's running towards you with a club.

OK, I'm going to swing at him.

Probably a miss.

Yeah, 6 + 1 for seven.

That misses is he swing and he kind of does his turn real quick and you hit his back and you hear a Duke and then he just pulls off and you pull back and you feel like you hit something weird.

Like he's got something under that cloak.

Yep, and he just turns around and hits his turn.

To.

Val.

Can my movement take me up to that guy?

Yeah, you move.

Close basically yeah take me there I'm gonna finish him off same thing I'll swing at him in the face because I just saw the other one pop in here and I was like you know he already got hit 18 plus my 2 extras that's 20 total of.

20 Nice.

8.

You slice his head off clean off as it just.

Falls down, I'm not messing around.

Good dot that will bring us and then I guess I don't have any movement.

That's the full movement that brings us to Miss Redcap.

Redcap is going to turn towards the thing that just ran up and she's going to cast.

I bite right in his face.

Nice.

Might as.

Well, that.

20.

Nice.

That definitely hits.

So you're going to double the same thing?

Yeah, double damage, double any numerical value I.

Did not know that.

1 * 2 is too damaged.

Yeah, yeah, he's the blood comes pouring out.

He's still standing though.

That's going to bring it to Val to start burn.

He's going to turn quick and arrow between you 2 and for a 19.

Yes, he shoots unerringly at his target and does a whopping one point of damage.

Not bad, not bad.

Keep at it, Fern.

All that though.

Because he already got stashed.

You see, it takes that hit and an arrow thunk into its side and it's just kind of reels back and I have to do a check, morale check, DC-15 Wisdom check for him and he failed.

So he runs.

So he turns around and he just starts running.

It's going to bring us to Tobin.

I'll basically have one round if you guys can either finish them off or choose to just let him run off into the wild.

I'll see him.

I'll see him start to run.

Oh no, you don't.

And I'll chase him down, clock him in the back of the head with my Mace.

Give me an attack roll.

Wise choice.

Darn 8 + 1 for A9.

That misses.

You go to swing at his head and he kind of ducks in like a turtle and you feel that clank again happen.

There's something clear on the bag that he's probably hiding with his cloak.

Fingers to Val.

I mean, I'll run to him too.

You are not escaping.

You think you can surprise us like this and just get away with it?

12 and unfortunately 12 does not hit as Tobin.

You hit it and you feel that clanging.

You pull back and then Val rushes in and kind of does a stabbing.

He just kind of turns just at a perfect time between you 2 and it just you also feel that weird thing behind that's under his cloak and he starts to tear his cloak a little bit, but you hit some weird hardness as he just kind of does a spin and still starts to run off.

That brings us to Miss Redcap.

Redcap is also going to chase after him with her one HP, and she's going to try to cast ibite in the space again.

First roll, the five second roll, yes, net 20 again.

Nice.

Sweet.

You technically don't have to roll because whatever you get, he has two hit points left, and if you roll one, it's double, double.

Yeah.

And yeah, Good, good.

He does his twirl and all this, and is he about to run?

The eye bite takes effect and he just like head basically explodes with blood, doesn't explode, but like blood comes out of all his open orifices and he just falls over you.

Know I turn around in excitement to dissatisfactions.

Thank you, Mrs.

Redcap.

Thank you.

Good job.

None of them should have escaped alive.

We did.

It that's the most times I've ever used I bite successfully.

That was pretty amazing, that.

Was great here, let me.

Guys are out of combat.

Come here, Mrs.

Redkap, I'll place a hand on you and I'm going to cast Cure Wounds.

Yeah, I didn't.

I knew that was going to happen, but so I'll try and heal you and the glow will fizzle out on my on my holy symbol.

I have a healing potion for 1D6.

You could maybe just check to see if you're going to pass the yeah?

We, we can try to save it during arrest.

Well, because.

I wanted to try.

We're still at the bridge.

We haven't even crossed the bridge yet.

You know, we're, we're just fighting at the foot of the.

Bridge never passed a Constitution check for an interrupted rest, so.

Oh, wait a minute, because you did your watch.

I failed in my watch but we have two more watches.

Right, could get interrupted again.

Oh, I don't know, it's the red cap needs to be healed.

Yeah, I just failed it though, you know.

What I'm saying I can give her the potion.

Oh yeah.

For one of these six.

Wait, how many watches did you do?

Just two.

He did, I did and everything went South.

So there's no her and Vern, right?

4 watches.

3 watches.

Yeah.

I say, I say we keep the healing potion just in case we need it, in case we do have to fight.

We stay close together, loot the bodies.

That's a really important part.

OK.

And then then we wait, wait a second.

Was there something underneath this guy's cloak?

What was going on here?

Some kind of shield under there, I think.

Let's take a look.

I'll move back the coyote pelt coat on that one that I had a hard back.

You notice, and you you could do this with all of them.

You notice that?

Yeah, they had Shields.

Like some makeshift of wooden Shields tied to their backs.

Very clever love on me.

Suppose you want to lose the bodies.

Oh yeah, I'll go around with them.

Any gold?

They don't have anything of value, just bunch of scrap.

And the the wooden Shields.

Yeah.

They have cloaks, right?

Yeah.

Torch material.

Good idea.

I'm gonna cut some of them out.

Take it.

So they got wooden Shields and they got coyote pelts.

Like could we use that?

I guess all those gloves, but it's all makeshift, you know, You wouldn't get any kind of monetary value out of it.

No, I mean for torturing.

For torturing.

That's what I'm thinking the.

Gloves allow.

With everything there you probably get 3 torches and four more or five more.

Cloth I'll give you.

I'll give you 1045, which I'll add some Verns 3.

Torches so.

I'll take one of them.

I'll take one.

What Torch 2 all.

Right.

Yeah, economy being from now on you have to think economy because there's no shops.

Good thinking.

All right, I'm going to need another check for the rest, the remainder of the watch, and then Constitution check for interrupted, interrupted rest.

Just watch.

The honors.

Watch Roll.

Oh dear.

There's nothing.

OK.

Yep, here we go.

Yep, I thought I was afraid of.

Hey, Mr.

S Cab, you need to stay far away.

Fast from far away.

This is pretty much like the most successful casting.

Yeah.

Session.

Yes, we started playing.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Like block tokens, baby.

Not equal to anything else.

Redcap, as you are just sitting there taking your watch, you hear a howl off in the distance.

Sounds kind of far, but it also sounds like it's a pain.

And a debate where the not to wake everybody up because they need rest.

This Redcap is going to do nothing but listen.

Give me a percentile.

74 you.

You hear the howl again, but it sounds even further off before you just stopped.

Red Cap is going to take out her silver coated dagger and her silver dagger, and she's just going to watch closely for the rest of her shift.

I guess other than that your shift actually goes on honey bevel.

I need everybody to roll a Constitution check.

We.

Need cure wounds we need to get back up to full health like.

All right, let's go around the table.

Miss Redcap, What'd you get?

What'd you get?

16 - 1 Constitution for 15 total.

You passed erase 1 ration and you get all your you get a full rest Val what'd you roll?

I got 17 -, 3 that's 14 believe.

Erase the ration and you get a full rest.

Nice.

Of holding my breath.

What'd you roll?

What'd you get?

15 + 1 for a 16.

You passed.

Erase the ration and you get a full rest.

So lucky.

Vern rolled A18 straight, also passes.

Do we all pass?

We yeah, you all pass.

Wow.

That never happens, right?

I wasn't even sure with the 17.

I was like -3 I was like.

Yeah -3 of your Constitution.

Not the best dumb stat all.

Right.

You guys of rise in the morning actually refreshed?

And the spells are back, I guess, yeah.

You've helped.

Definitely did a.

What a night.

I think the first.

Time that has ever happened, yeah, for.

Real Why a night?

Oh wait, is everybody?

All right, Yeah, you guys feel good.

There's a pile of dead halfling creatures in the corner.

Flies already started like around them was like, yeah.

They're now peltless, but you can see they do look like halflings as far as like halflings go, but their eyes are kind of like sunken in.

And now, now that they are dead, they're just totally blacked out.

They have sharp teeth.

They have sharp teeth and claws.

Very unnatural.

Weird.

This is a strange type.

Yeah, I wonder what did this to them.

These words look around you.

Heard who they called out.

Oh, that's true.

Not even that that much closer and we're already hearing more about this mug to blub again.

They.

Didn't even have any blub slime on them.

Well, at least we know whatever this mug to blub can make can be killed.

True so.

Yeah, we did surprisingly well last night.

Thanks for the cures Tobin, a real clinch.

Yes, I'm always, always glad to bring you back.

It was fantastic.

I'm glad it it came through when we needed it.

When I saw Vern fall the first one, my heart dropped.

Yeah, I had been in there for 1/2 minute.

Yeah, those rocks hurt.

Yeah, they really do a.

Strange weapon I'm.

Hitting the chest and it hurt.

I can't imagine the head.

No, you don't want to get hit in the head with the rock with this weird little leather piece.

All right, all right.

Would you either of y'all want to take one of those in case you run out of arrows?

Never run out of rocks.

What does Phil?

What about take a sling?

Yeah.

Val, do you want to take one of those slings?

Sure.

All right, I'll go and pick one up.

I'll use it against them.

And yeah, slings, by the way, do 1D4 damage.

Wow.

But you don't have to have arrows for them.

You just pick a rock up.

Yeah, if you're ever out.

All right.

It's the new day.

You guys are refreshed.

What do you want to do?

We head into the bridge, obviously.

Time to cross the bridge.

There it is.

Now I can see it in the daylight.

I guess in the daylight we just realized how wide it is.

How big it is?

Yeah.

So they said it's about a mile long.

Mile and a half long.

Mile and a half long and you can fit 4/4 carts side by side.

Wait, I take the bag.

It's not.

It's some.

Yeah, it's about a mile, mile long.

Yeah, but it's still, it is still pretty big.

Yeah, it is still very large.

Wow.

You guys are making your way across.

I'm gonna need AD 6 from somebody.

Whoever wants to start it rolled the last.

Yeah, that Vern's go now.

Yeah, is it?

Let's make Vern do it, OK?

Yeah, rolled it 4 You guys make it way about halfway across the bridge and when you hear something off from the right side, you're like, hey, can I get a hand?

What could that be?

Then you notice like a part of what I was saying, like the, for lack of better term, the hand rail that's like about waist high.

This part is like cracked off.

Like clearly something fell here and it kind of like it's old and worn.

You see some kind of moth kind of growing into it and you know there's some pieces missing from like the the floor as well and the bridge.

I'm going to jump ahead real quick with my pals and just follow everybody.

And OK, before we go any further, this sound we heard, I think we have established so far trust nothing, right?

OK, the first person who came looking like a an old woman was a devil.

So.

So we trust no one and we don't get involved unless we have to.

Do we just see some fingers dangling just.

Heard a voice.

Is the voice in this from this hole?

From like the side of like you're walking through the bridge and you know, it's kind of like the, you know, one of the chunks as you're walking, you see chunks missing here and there and probably fell from who knows.

And there's this one kind of like bigger spot with the moth growing over right?

Like even though kind of floors kind of cracked, just kind of like kind of caved in if you will.

And there's a big probably like 4 or 5 foot stretch of just nothing there.

I think the most nimble of us should take a little peek.

But the elves?

Oh, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm going to try and look into it.

Just, I don't want to reveal myself.

Just, you know, Snoop around.

Like a sneaky peek.

Yeah, sneaky peek.

Because yeah, technically it's like in my head, I don't want to get involved.

I don't even want to help.

That's like literally I.

Could use a hand here.

You here again.

No.

Can I see?

Can I look and see?

What it is?

Give me a wisdom check.

15 + 1 for 16.

You slowly make your way to the edge before you see like a male figure just holding on to like a rock about 10 feet from the fall.

10 feet below the bridge.

Yeah, onto like a tree.

No, he's hanging on the bridge.

Onto the bridge.

Yeah, there's like a kind of a crevice that he summized, he captured, caught.

Maybe he fell.

Maybe he was climbing on him.

Onto the side of the bridge, yeah, OK.

So I'm gonna go back to my mates.

So there is a a human like person hanging from the bottom of the bridge, dear.

Now, before we jump into conclusions, how long this person's been hanging you waiting for us all this time to come here and help him?

Well, we could try talking to him if he is in need of help, he won't be able to get up.

How good of a look did you get at him?

Pretty good.

Did he have 6 fingers on his left hand?

I don't think so.

OK.

All right, well, maybe we can trust him then.

Or if we don't engage with them, we can just pass through.

I.

Know there's someone there I.

Can sense you.

I have great hearing.

This is quite ridiculous.

I just need a hand.

Just throw me some rope please and we can go our separate ways.

All right, I guess at this point, since he said that, I'm just going to go peek in and look at him straight.

How long do you have been hanging here?

You see this kind of wide brim like hat and he finally looks up and you recognize this person.

Recognize.

Who is it?

It is the traveller.

The Wandering Traveller.

The guy who sells.

Stuff, although he doesn't have his backpack.

Oh oh hey, I could use a hand friend all.

Right.

We'll, we'll throw it.

Down and I'll relay the information.

You guys are not going to believe what that is.

I have a rope 60.

Foot rope, The traveller with the big backpack without the backpack.

Oh, no, Yeah, OK, OK, yeah, let's don't worry.

We'll we'll get our rope out.

This red cap is on slinging her rope and like.

Two hours at all.

I've been here for several hours now.

I mean, I would like to not be here.

I'll kind of hop up and peek over the wall edge.

You see him just one hand is like, hey fella.

Hello.

Still just hanging there.

What happened?

But can't you like move between realms?

It's the.

Craziest thing, I was walking and then suddenly I wasn't.

Where's your backpack?

Oh yeah, don't worry about that.

I do worry about that.

Well, I mean if you'd like to buy something I would surely like to help you, but I'm kind of stuck.

Misses Redcap is awkwardly throwing the she's getting a grappling hook on one end of the the bridge and then she's just awkwardly throwing the rest of it down to him for it will help.

He sees a rope comes oh thank you and grabs it, starts pulling himself almost effortlessly and then pops up.

It's like oh man, felt like I was there for days.

Is it go?

Ahead.

I honestly don't know.

Time is weird here.

Strange.

Where are you from, Traveller?

And where's?

Your backpack kind of from everywhere.

I've just kind of from everywhere, nowhere.

I really don't.

Have a home.

That's why I'm called the Traveller.

I see.

Or could you not just walk to a different realm from the side of the bridge there and then come back?

Things are tricky.

We've heard really bad things about the lake.

Did you get wet at all?

Oh God, no.

OK, wait, what lake?

The lake to the north.

Oh no, I haven't been there yet.

Do.

You know anything about the Mugdo blub?

Give me a wisdom check.

Oh gross.

8 plus was it 2?

Yeah, or A10.

You mentioned that and he's no can't say I've heard of that name before.

Wait a minute, can you teleport?

Wouldn't call it teleporting, but.

Jumping from one spot to another and skipping the travel time.

I think people just call that walking.

I'm talking about instantly being in another spot walking.

Through instantly put 1 foot in front of the other and I'm somewhere else.

Eventually all.

Right.

Do you need any food, traveller?

Are you hungry?

Oh no, I got plenty of snacks in my backpack.

Where is your backpack?

Oh, it's right here and he snaps and just pops up.

Right next.

To him, would you like something to buy?

I probably know exactly what you need.

Bathing potions.

Health potions.

I've got those for days.

She was one I could do is 50 gold.

Oh come on, we just saved your life.

I don't make the prices.

And he looks up to the sky.

Who Who does make the prices?

Traveller.

You know, there's this omniant being that kind of almost predetermines things, but loosely, you know, that's.

A salesman language your your ingratitude is very, very offensive.

It just saved your life and you're.

It's OK, Val, it's OK.

We let the man run his business.

Miss Redcap would like to buy one torch from.

Him.

Oh, you can have a torch.

Oh.

Yes.

Correct.

You know what?

Here have a boon and he gives you all torches.

You all have one torch.

Nice one extra torch, say Mr.

Traveller.

Yes, there's a town you really do need to go and visit, not too too far from here, but really there's this general store lady who's heard of you from that town and she doesn't believe you're real.

Her name is Amarilla.

She runs a general store and we would really like if you stopped in and maybe did some business with her.

OK, you pointed out on a map.

Sure, sure, Val.

Let me see the map and I'll show him where Wardenwood is.

I'll kind of point it out to him.

That's odd.

He pulls out like a big map and he's like looking at it you you can barely understand any of it.

It's.

Like swirling in some.

Yeah, it looks.

Like there's some pinpoint when he's looking at.

It starts like touching things and like it kind of lights up like you like, you know, when you're like when you touch a a screen or something and it kind of like does a thing.

Whatever.

Yeah, that's what his map is kind of doing.

And he kind of like just move stuff.

And you see some of the writing move.

It's like, well, you know, and I'll just then he just looks at the map.

I'll, I'll just get it from memory.

And he starts like this.

And The thing is, the map is like, I don't know, 10 feet.

Like.

Wow.

He rolls it up and just kind of shoves in the back and it just like, disappears.

My jaw drops.

I'm just watching like wow.

Well.

Well, if it helps if you make it to that town, just mention our names and tell them we sent you, you know, let you win.

Sure.

Other miscreant wanders.

Well good day.

He throws his backpack on and just starts walking.

Basically where you guys came from?

You might want to just carry the rope and the grappling hook on you just in case.

The bridge.

That's a good idea.

Nah, you can have it.

I'll I got plenty of rope.

So he could have done that to begin with, all right.

Be well, my friends.

And then, like he says as he waves back and in in front of you in the direction you're going, you hear.

Oh, and don't.

Forget always keep your feet clean as you all turn and be like what?

And then turn back and he's gone.

Wow, strange fellow.

He's very strange.

I can't make if he's he's nice or rude.

I think he's just kind of, I'm in the middle, yeah.

Yeah, he's just kind of borders.

Or he's too seriously businessman.

I still think he might be from the fair realm.

Got a very fair realm energy about him.

Whatever the case, he didn't want to sell us.

He was trying to RIP us off.

50 gold for a life potion or healing potion?

I mean, come on.

We we have enough torches to get back now, OK, We should at least be happy about that.

Well, yeah, I guess looking at the bright side.

True.

All right, moving on.

Press on.

All right.

Yeah.

So far to cross this bridge we fought.

What a bunch of rats.

Good looking thing.

And then we found this mysterious dude hanging, so I don't know.

I'll call him rats.

Hafling.

Yeah, hafling rat.

I find that offensive.

There are some very attractive wettable people who look who look rat like.

You stopped writing whenever.

You what?

Wait, what is that?

Mister Redcap is actually Mr.

Redcap.

All right.

You'll cross the bridge and immediately on the other side you start to notice that the ground over here is more boggy than anything, kind of like almost like a swampish or it starts to become like swampish.

You know the ground when you step off the bridge, it's still dirt, but it starts to seem like more muddy than usual.

Also, I forgot to say this in passing, when you're crossing the bridge, you notice on the South end that the water splits up in the three, the river splits off in the three and you would be able to see it from that distance too.

You make your way to the other side of the bridge and you can kind of see off in the distance a kind of looks like a stronghold to the north.

Already.

There's it's clearly something there like, yeah, it looks, it's pretty big, like.

Some kind of walls and walls that visible in the distance like.

Yeah, yeah, about.

Well, another hexagon over.

OK.

But just some kind of big structure.

Actually, half a hexagon, I should say.

Yeah.

So it's a big structure.

You can see it'll take you basically another two hours to get over there.

OK.

And then just looking down the the road that we're already on.

Oh yeah, when you there's no longer a Rd.

It just ends at the bridge and there's.

There's just these kind of dusted trails that there's good clearing that you could kind of see what seems like the road.

One kind of seems like it's going to this giant structure, and one just kind of keeps going east.

But there's no, like, actual real path now.

It's just kind of muddied trails.

I mean, you see some footprints here and there, but I mean, they could be animals.

It's hard to tell.

And it's more like, you know, almost like kind of potholes here and there just filled with water and mud.

Well, good or bad, think we should go to the structure?

I don't know they.

Don't think bitter mold keep is really that close right they sound.

That much too easy?

Eric's was here.

He would go to that thing.

If you didn't already go to the other things, yes, That just seems like the biggest thing of civilization we've seen in a minute.

And who's those when when anything else would happen?

I mean in one hand it would be good good to know what's this close to Warden Wood.

Well, I'll leave it to the group because I'm not sure.

Not either.

Either continue straight or ghosty.

What's in this structure?

True, we are supposed to go north and go around the lake to try and find better mold keep.

When when people build buildings, sometimes they put treasure in them.

Could be treasure in them hills.

True.

Well, maybe we'd walk by it and take a look as we go around.

As Red Cap approves, she's nodding her head.

Oh that sounds fair Vern feel if if your ex was coming this way why wouldn't he not stop there?

I mean we just travelled 2 nights and it's just seems kind of fruited to stop.

Unless it's just avoiding cities on purpose.

I don't, I don't know.

Right.

Well, let's go take a look.

Careful look.

Yeah, keep your distance.

We're kind of vaguely head in that direction.

It's a big structure.

Y'all make your way closer to this, especially a palisade.

At this palisade you noticed a couple of things.

The area around it is very boggy.

You notice the river is not that far off as you're walking up.

You can even see over this palisade about like a 4050 foot wall of Palisades.

A gate where you see some maybe humanoid figures standing up and it goes deep within a ways you would see as you're walking up to it, but you kind of see inside past it.

There's even another basically top hill probably in the middle or further back of this palisade that seems like a smaller little guarded area at the very top.

Clearly it's deeper in through the palisade.

This place looks pretty big for as far as like villages go that you've seen.

So as we're walking up 4050 foot palisade, there's a gate, Maybe some humans, humanoids and then seeing from over the top.

You see something, there's the top, like some sort of house structure.

Further in behind that front wall, yeah.

Can we get closer to see those humanoids better if they are guards, you know, if they are properly dressed, Does it?

And how?

What is the state of these walls and that structure further in?

Does it look in ruin?

Does it look pretty?

It looks decently kept.

It looks decently kept.

It's wooden.

It's definitely wooden.

It seems a little more primitive, okay, but it's still, it's still basically a proper stronghold.

It's not like a stone castle, but.

It's no.

It's wooden structure, wooden structure, wooden structure.

Okay.

What do you all?

Want to get a closer look at those humanoids?

All right, Well, we should be careful this does not look.

Because if they look like guards, you know, with official uniforms, there might be people that we can reason with and ask questions.

Maybe.

Or if they are looking conspicuous and different, we can just avoid the whole thing.

Yes, let's play this carefully.

This I don't know, Something seems strange about this.

It is.

Let's approach carefully.

OK, so we'll try and stealth closer to get a look at the humanoid figures outside.

So you're basically walking and there's really no stealth in this because it's a wide open area.

They can basically they, you assume they could clock you unless they're just blind, but granted, you don't know their field of vision.

There's obvious guards standing at the door or sorry, the gate.

Give me as you, as you start making your way closer.

Give me a wisdom check, anybody.

3 + 2 for A5.

-1 for A2.

We're foolish.

We're so foolish.

17 + 1 for 18.

Nice.

These guards are clearly guards wearing plate male armor.

There is something weird you've noticed about them.

They are kind of humanoid, but not really humanoid.

As you start to look at their features, their hands seem like they have like kind of fins or something and there's like they're webbed.

As you get closer, you start to see some facial features that are really bizarre.

As you finally walk up and they see you and they're like hold pull goes there and you can see these essentially kind of like catfish looking people.

What?

Are people.

Essentially, but they are decked out in these two anyway.

Appear to be in full guard uniforms.

Readings.

Greetings.

Hello there.

Hello poker, we're just travelers passing through.

State your purpose.

We're just traveling through the land.

Do you have lodging?

We do, Missus Redcap is going to start jumping up and down.

Oh yeah.

No poker face.

Yes.

Can we pay for a lodging for a night or two as we travel if that's OK?

Air Marsh Goal.

She's the elder first winter Reeves Tarly earned.

Must make sure you are proper people, creatures.

We just got attacked.

We don't want any more mischief.

I understand that we respectfully just wish to sleep at night and continue in our travel.

What did they look like?

You know what a Skrill demon is?

A what demon?

Skrill.

If anybody wants to make it intelligence check.

Well, we just fought demon looking creatures in the woods.

5 - 2 for three.

We don't know what that is, but we can talk to your elder about it.

Anyone.

Else wants to make an intelligence.

Check.

Go ahead and 11 -, 110.

You do kind of remember reading something, probably some kind of fairy tale book, but you've never seen one and really heard much about it.

But, you know, they're kind of like kind of like velociraptor looking like creatures with like pooped kind of arms.

What's their name?

Skrill Yeah, SKRELL.

We were attacked a couple nights ago by about 20 of them.

Yeah.

They all ended up taking a soul.

We lost twenty of our own kind.

We managed to kill them.

But Winters is not very paranoid about everyone coming in, so you must sign Ledger and make sure you're not Skrill or.

Demon summoners, we understand and we are going to abide by all your laws.

We are just traveling, peaceful people.

May you show us the way.

You just killed the devil imp recently.

They just look at each other.

It's like I'm good enough from here as the gate starts to slowly open from the outwards and you go or ushered in as you are walking through this village, you know, it's a lot of things.

The common folk here are mostly of these weird fish people of these weird fish people.

It is a big village and there is a lot of these creatures.

They some of them look like regular, like almost humanoid.

Some look like fish that just grew arms and a leg.

Like the majority of their bodies still look like fish or something.

Have we heard of these people before?

Do we know of this?

Give me, you know, wisdom.

OK, 19 + 2 for 21.

You've heard of Taylor maybe one night at either Wardenwood or Hopeskeep when your restless sleepness you might have went into like the library or maybe you were just out about near Derek's home and might have overheard Bauer or even Ellora speak about mutant catfish folk.

But from what you heard of their tale, a lot of it was bad.

Like these are abomination like creatures and that they fought.

You are not sure if this is kind of like a spawn of them or maybe some branched off.

You honestly have no idea.

But this is like probably the closest sounding description of what you heard and it shocks you to see the number of these creatures.

They're all just kind of going about daily lives.

Yeah, they are just, there's hundreds.

Wow.

And yeah, there's they're just living.

What other things do we notice?

Other than this, it's a basic village.

You do actually see other creatures like an elf and a halfling, but there are very few and far between.

Probably like you could spot 3 as you're being ushered straight up to the top of this pill where it's also another mini palisade.

Palisade with a giant house.

It was nine.

Yeah, a lot of foreigners or other species.

Quite strange.

It is unusual.

Well, I heard of this.

Kind of people before, but there was supposed to be like crazed or, you know, chaotic in nature.

But these, well, just all people.

All.

Elves usually exaggerate the event.

You know, Anything that is different than yourself is usually a monster.

Yes.

However, seeing an elf among them, it makes me feel a little bit comfortable.

Yeah.

You can only catch like one elf that you've seen that you assume is an elf.

I should probably said but it it does definitely look like a normal humanoid creature as opposed to like the majority of everything of everyone you see being some sort of mutated fish like creature.

Fish folk.

Fish folk.

While they seem to be going about their business as an average village down so.

I'm just trying to work.

Avoid certain buzzwords, OK?

Can't say certain phrases around these folks, OK?

Oh no, you.

Can't say the strike.

I was going to huddle them together.

OK, we can't say bottom feeders.

OK, we can't say that.

We can't say chicken of the sea.

OK, we can't say any of those words.

We're shooting fish in a barrel.

Shooting fish in a barrel, we got to, we got to just be very careful about.

Or not spell casting as you're being ushered by 6 any.

Any hook imagery we just got to we just got to avoid.

OK, figure this out.

All right, you make your way of to pass this molten barley hold to this other palisade.

Basically mini palisade with a huge building structure here.

Here's where Reeve Charlie Winters resides.

He is our leader.

You speak to him if he foresees your good, then you have free range of the city.

Also welcome to Marin's hold.

Marin's hold.

Marin, you're all like ushered into this big, big castle like building through this Great Hall in the center.

And it's already like a throne room.

Like when you first walk in, you can tell there's way more stuff in the back, which is kind of odd because you'd expect to like walk in and be like in a waiting room, if you will.

Or, you know, some other kind of, I don't know what you see when you walk into a castle, but this one is just straightforward with a throne room just waiting and you see this big probably the biggest kind of puffer fish looking humanoid thing down there.

Poor her.

There's people coming to see us.

New people.

Yes, sure, Otter.

Hey girl, show respect to Charlie Winters as they usher you all forward.

What do you all?

Do we're going to do a quick bow, you know, gentle bow, yeah.

A.

Little gentle bow, it's.

Right Cab is going to wink.

A few years.

All new character.

Vern also vows.

Your honors, it is our pleasure to come across your settlement.

We are just travelling and we wondered if we can spend a night here.

You have lodging or a price?

Of course, there's the Crayfish Tavern back where you came from.

I'm sure one of the men could show you.

As long as what are your intentions here in my city?

Just to sleep, get a good night's rest and we'll be on our way.

We're we're also looking for a friend.

Have you seen any?

There's there's some good ones and some bad ones, but have you seen any Knights of Idris around?

You see a couple of the guards kind of shift a little unsettled as Charlie just kind of looks.

Can't say we have any nights that you just hear or any of them actually come through of my awareance.

Maybe someone's seen someone passing by, I'm not sure.

You'll have to probably ask around us to just probably ask around the Tavern.

Crayfish Tavern.

Excellent.

Sounds good.

If if we see any squirrel demons, do they have a weakness?

Sharp.

Pointy objects, usually straight to the mid area section.

It usually doesn't.

Pretty good.

OK, good to know.

Well, since we're inquiring and you are being very generous, Your Highness and I bow again.

What do you know of Magda BLOB?

You hear gasps throughout the entire hall grill or speak that name ever my.

Apologies if I have offended you.

We killed 7 of them.

Didn't he look?

We've been attacked a few times by followers of He Who Shall not be Named, Mr.

M, Mr.

M and we seek to know more and ideally bring an end to that individual.

There's anything you can know that could help us?

We would love to learn.

Give me a charisma check.

Oh dear, that's good.

I got a straight role though.

Natural 20.

Good shot.

He's mom.

This is important guys.

So what was your question?

If he knows anything about Mugdelblub, learn more about him and ideally end him if we can.

Yeah, there's everybody.

Leave me with them, Natural 20, all but two guards.

The closest guards next to them leave, and every other fish folk in that area shuffle out.

You hear the doors closed.

They say our people came from his ooze, or his ooze polluted the waters which spawned our kind.

There are some of us who are craved mad, not necessarily worshippers of him, but either fight for or fight with others.

We more sophisticated have turned our ways against mug the blub and we would want nothing to do him.

We have created lives for ourselves and I would like to keep it that way.

We've been living peaceful for years now.

Honestly, and we're glad for you generosity and having us here.

We're very experienced diplomats and we'd like to open trade negotiations between Marin's Head, Marin's Hold, sorry, so many places, Marin's Hold and Warden Wood and hopes keep.

Yes, indeed, If you really are peaceful people, we.

Trade the business.

We come from a place called Warden Wood.

It's on the other side of that bridge, not too far from here and about two days travel.

The prosperous village you can name, they do a lot of business and they try to live peacefully and we had a problem with bandits and we solved it.

So the route there is safe, relatively safe.

What about witches?

We.

They had a witch and we took care of that as well.

It was a it.

Was a hag.

It's completely different.

There was a hag that was plaguing the area and it took us a while to deal with that issue, but it's resolved.

0 hags.

I have reason to believe of since the recent spread attack on our poem that the witch might be amongst us.

I've been doing sacrifices to said witch up north to Boots Hill.

Boot Hill is far up north from here and the only thing I know demons in witches take for sacrifice to lessen these attacks.

You mean you do the sacrifices there?

Yes, it appears to be some link where something holy of the land.

We just burned 3 witches.

That's really good.

That's that's a tried and true method.

And you suspect there is another witch is that What if I understand?

I assume that they were witches to be honest and I think that's why they have some in these Skrill demons to attack.

But we just had this recent attacks, there's probably a witch somewhere amongst us.

We're we're kind of an independent party.

So if you hear about any witches you know and you want them to get God, we can do that for you.

We might be able to assist you.

We can sniff out a fish.

Without any social.

I'm sorry.

That's.

A.

Slip.

And a conscious, I mean, we can sniff out, we can sniff out a witch if you would like us to assist.

Did you even know they have rats as pets sometimes?

How gross is that?

They are vile creatures indeed.

This is worse as a squirrel demons that came to attack.

Well, it's it's odd.

So you think the witches control the squirrels?

Do you think it's like an imp that would control the the those kinds of demons or something?

Sure.

It's witchcraft, OK, All the ones that it's clearly the only thing while it's calling these demons to attack us.

I will say if you flush out any witches, stop these attacks.

I will negotiate trade for this warden.

Would and hope, I believe.

Yeah.

That sounds fair enough.

We will spend the night here and we will to inquire about this, which we have the advantage because we are outsiders just arrived.

I'll be so.

Warned we will she probably not affecting us.

Their demons, these squirrel demons are very clever.

They learn real quick about tactics and they seem to attack with tactics.

Very odd they use distraction in the way.

Here we encountered something similar, an old looking woman came in rambling about us trampling her garden and that was not her intentions and she turned to be something else.

Well, we are familiar with the method.

It's.

A devil imp.

We are familiar with the method.

Demons and devils are clearly the plight thing blah blah blah blah, as he hears.

Well, do you have any information or any leads on these bitches maybe or?

Or those we burn from up that boot here N from here pinpoint some other areas I know across the waters there's I believe orcs reside.

We have little trade but they seem to stay at Bay.

They haven't really attacked us or we've traded once with them.

What direction were the orcs?

South, but it's hard to get past the water.

It's more of a Creek.

Once the river passes the bridge, it splits off into Three Rivers, which slowly become creeks.

All right, with your permission then we should head to this Tavern and start investigating the whereabouts of Dead Witch.

One more thing about this night of Idris I personally haven't.

Seen any of them but there is a stronghold to the east of us.

I can have someone point it out on your map if you'd like of course.

Yes please.

It seemed to be abandoned and I don't know if it's nice of Egypt or what they were before, but it might be worth checking out, especially if this is where your so-called friend came from.

As long as you don't have any ill will here, you are welcome to Marathold well.

Thank you, Sir.

Yes, we again, we're peaceful, peace, peaceful people passing through.

And yes, if if we can work out some sort of cooperation with your village here and ours, then we hope to see that through someday.

Well, your generosity has inspired us to try and help you.

We will see to it to prove to you that we can handle these issues.

Perhaps we can rid your village of this, which before we leave, there'll be our token of gratitude towards your generosity.

Most excellent.

George Smith and he puffs up and dizzle loud like crow his slowly inflates that reverberates the entire hall.

The doors start to open as you see two guards pushing it open.

Jordan Marin's hold, and again, no mischief, no ill will upon you and your kind.

Thank you Sir.

Do a little bow and leave.

All right, we found a place to stay.

Yes, I guess it was a good move.

I'm a witch hunter from now on, OK, I'm not.

Not not a witch.

Witch Hunter.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

All right.

Yes, that was some some good acting there, Missus Redkap.

You got you got to go full bore reverse course.

However, we have a lot of responsibility in our shoulders.

True.

We want to keep the reputations and we want to establish connection with these people.

We have to demonstrate that our goodwill.

Yes, this is the.

We will try to help best we can.

Right.

And this is the closest point of civilization we know of now to bitter mold keep.

So if we don't have to go back as far to Warden Wood.

And just establish a base for us.

And they seem nice people who are just living their lives.

So it's.

Trying to figure out how to stop these Skrill demon attacks.

Indeed.

So how can we sniff out this Which?

We go to the Tavern first.

OK, well they they say which burning is helping them, but who knows.

Well, maybe they are burning these proxy witches.

There is probably the most powerful one who is still manipulating the situation right?

If they just got attacked yesterday, this means whatever they burned were apprentices.

Yes, maybe they're mad because they're.

Any any woman with property or mental health issues is fundamentally under target those kinds of earnings.

OK, that there's just that's just going to the history of that.

OK, well.

In this case, I think the which we're looking for is much more clever, well, much more sophisticated.

That he said that the Skrill were clever, you know, so they could just be be mysterious about who controls them.

You know, they might they might feed misinformation there.

So we, we got a really, maybe we get one scroll demon and we like, we lie to them and say that we'll let them go.

But we really, we got to get some information here, some solid information.

Because it could not be a witch at all that's causing it.

Could just be.

Wait a minute.

Portal somewhere outside of town.

Or a hag.

Let's see if they have some corpses of these calls and we can examine one of them.

Would be a good idea know what we're looking for?

For a clue.

Yeah, but he he recommended the Tavern for some reason.

Well, not for lodging all.

Right.

Let's see, I'll ask one of the guards if they have any of the corpses left of the scrolls.

Are you asking?

The guards, I assume they're escorting us out and they know that.

We're all you guys are outside the castle and you see a couple guards.

You walk back and he was standing.

How do I?

Help you?

Yes.

Do you happen to have any of the remains of the recent attack of the scrolls?

They've all been burnt.

You might be able to find a skull outside if you really wish.

Skrill Skull.

Yeah, if someone still has one they might want to keep them as trophies maybe, although.

We want to examine one from the recent.

Attack, try to escalate the guard.

Oh, up at the front, am I?

No.

OK, please come on or off, doctor.

Or special investigators.

So don't, don't.

We don't want to stay stuck.

We want to maintain the element of surprise.

OK, all right, all right.

Because this switch doesn't know we're here A.

Sacred.

Special You go back to the main gate.

Yeah, you see a guard standing there.

Obviously you want to make sure no one wanders out or in without any documentation.

How can I help you?

Yes, Hello.

Do you have any squirrel bodies we could look at?

Most of them are.

Bark.

But if there's a pollen, he points to a pile of bones.

Looks like a pile of bones, and you could kind of see like a head in it.

It looks like a.

That's Mrs.

Redcaps that you're expertise.

It looks like a rafter's head.

The skin has been all the flesh has been burnt off and you do notice like 1 like giant hook now they attack where they're hooks.

There's per hands.

They have just hooks per hand that are like no.

Like, whoa, that.

Almost like a lizard or something.

And.

The tail and talons on its feet and.

They're.

They have.

Like Giant Lizard's.

Teeth.

Oh yes, can you read the bones?

Their eyes roll around wildly, too.

So while while Tobin is talking to the guard, can misses Redcap like quietly go onto the the other end of the pile.

Sure it's unwatched.

Give me a stealth check.

OK, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because she wants she has to talk to Shun very privately in this area.

But like.

OK, Is that plus Dex?

Yes, yeah.

OK, so 16 + 2 Dexterity for 18.

The cars don't notice you.

No one else is really paying attention.

You know, behind the pile.

This OK large pile of bones.

She's gonna ask Shun real quick.

She's gonna, she's gonna collect some bones together and just be like, OK, who, who or what controls the scroll demons and just past the bone.

Give me a percentile.

OK, I was so as a character, I was afraid of Warden Wood being burned.

Like as a player I was afraid that Miss Redcap would be burned at the stake at Warden Wood.

But this is the place.

Where she actually.

Needs to be worried about it.

On your toes.

Oh good grief, this is very important.

No mischief.

Yes 84 Nice.

The bones start to shake and shift around before turning into dust and then blown into a word that reads no one.

Interesting.

All right, well, Miss Redcap is going to quietly walk back to the group, and she's going to listen to Tobin.

Keep distracting the card.

Yes.

They're hairy.

Do they have scales?

Do they feathery?

Gabby.

Leathery, vile creature they're.

Gabby and leathery.

There's our claws and sharp.

I mean this red cap is like going to awkwardly wink her wince towards Tobin and just like like point away from everything.

Oh dear.

Oh, well.

Thank you very much for your help.

We we'll keep our eyes open first.

Scaly and leathery.

Be safe.

Thank you.

And I'll pretend so the way to the Tavern is this way, right?

Thank you.

And.

We'll take off.

Easily find the Tavern you're walking towards it it's OK.

Big big Tavern that has the just giant fish that says Crayfish Tavern on it.

All right, we got a table.

So I'm going to, once we get our nourishment, I'm going to, I'm going to tell everybody.

OK.

So I asked Mr.

S what this is.

You're right.

You're right.

No, I should know that I should know it misses S what was going on.

Yes, yes, with the with the bones from the the scrawl demons.

OK, she said.

Nobody.

Nobody controls them.

That's not good.

No.

Well, that's that.

Well, we just need to know the direction that they're in, you know?

Good.

Not exactly certain.

I mean, your God is a vile God.

Well.

She wants to reveal truth.

Well, if it's right, OK.

Worse and all, if it's right, which means no one's controlling these things, and then we can't share this information with them because they're gonna ask us how did you acquire it?

And then we have to reveal Mrs.

Redcap.

So we.

Need some kind of extra proof?

So we need to find the proof.

It's important that to know that Boot Hill doesn't help whatever they're doing, you know?

Like, if nobody controls it, how can those things, how can those burnings of those supposed suspected witches do any good, you know?

We should ask those guards at the front if we leave again, which direction they came from.

That might tell us better.

Yeah.

I mean, worst case scenario we can investigate and pretend and then at the end we'll just say we didn't find anything and leave.

Well, he, he wanted us to stop the attacks, you know, So that's the biggest thing.

Then we can we should go out and find the source of these squirrels.

True, he also told us where Uriks is most likely to be that fortress to the east.

So we should.

I don't know.

Yes, ultimately bit of mold keep is where we need to go, but.

But for now, we have to deliver something to these people.

Yes, I I agree.

But we need to track where these scrolls come from.

At least we can say we went there and we discovered that they are just controlling themselves and they have their own selfish motivations for attacking you.

Maybe.

Maybe we ask around the Tavern, maybe we research in the library a bit.

If this town has a library, I I'm sure this town is the library.

We just, we get a direction, you know, all we have to do is stop the attacks.

We don't.

Well, either stop the attacks or find an explanation.

Give them some Intel that the attacks are happening independently from anywhere, because it seems that they are convinced there's a witch among them.

We.

Don't need to use the W word.

Oh well, yeah, the itch the.

Itch hunters.

Yes, the itch hunters.

And So what does this Fish Tavern look like as we're sitting here chatting?

Quietly, I figured you're standing outside.

Yeah.

No, we got our table and we chatted.

Well, before I guess all that.

So that was, I guess outside.

Right, cuz you walk up to this huge Tavern and you see the big fish posted up U-shaped fish and it says crayfish Tavern.

It's it's big, it's two stories wooden work.

Walk in there's tables like probably like 24 tables to one side, a bunch of like booths to the left side.

And then you can see stairs going up to the rooms at top.

You see a bunch of obviously fish people walking around, but you also see 2 halflings, 1 seems to be working behind the bar at the far end and one seems to be running around serving and then like 2 elves off the ends talking to other fish people with some of them, some of them playing poker or what use them.

It's some sort of card game.

All right, it's something we can work with, you know, go have a chat with the elves.

All right, I'll go up to the bar.

And you take the athlete.

Got it.

All right.

So I'll walk up and walk over to the bartender.

Hey friend, another halfling haven't seen you around here.

Yes.

How's it going?

Pretty well, pretty well.

What can I do for you?

My name is Tobin Sunderland, it's good to meet you.

Ah, still my hand for a shake.

Jon.

Jon, good to meet you.

Jon, how long have you been here with these?

Well, what?

What?

What's the term they they like?

Fishfolk.

Honestly, fishfolk.

OK, I've been here for probably 5-6 years.

Wow what?

Where did Where are you from originally?

Just further north there was a handful of us.

Our village got attacked by some squirrels and we just ran S from there.

Sorry to hear that.

Yeah, it was, it was rough.

A lot of us died originally 40, and now there's like five of us left.

We were just travelling, you know, through the shadow dark and well, we found this place and it's kind of been where we've been for a long time.

That's my brother over there.

He's helpful with the tables.

It's Sam.

Sam, Sam, Sam.

Yeah.

Jolt and Sam.

Well, where the where the River Sid Kin or River Sid clan?

Riversid Clan.

Yeah, River Sid RIVERSID.

Well, I'm very sorry to hear that.

As I'm sure you know, most of us in the Gloaming have gone through very similar things.

See, my companions that I walked in with and I, we were from Night Haven Harbour originally, much further north, and yeah, so our town was destroyed.

We went South and made a little home for ourselves as well.

I'm glad to see you found the fishbowlk and then kind and, you know, generous people.

Yeah, it has been a blessing.

These are odd creatures, I must say, and you kind of get used to the smell and all the mud and you know, the bogus everywhere.

Right, it is.

It's smelly around here.

Yeah, but that's why I drink a lot.

It kind of numbs the senses.

Speaking of, can I please, please get a mug of something?

Yeah, sure.

I'll give you our well, I want to call it our best stuff, but it's stuff that I've been fancying as of late.

Just anything, please.

Just whatever it costs.

Sure, just three copper.

I'll toss nothing.

Fancy.

We call it our Crayfish Ale.

It's just whatever we can muscle up at the time.

We got some fancier stuff and of course trade comes and goes from here.

And some of the fish folk actually go daringly either through the river or some even to the lake, although many have not returned for the lake.

And they kind of stopped doing that.

Really.

Did any of them say why?

No, because they never returned.

Oh dear.

So we just assumed that hey, let's not, they assumed to just not go that route anymore.

I'll throw down 6 copper pieces for two mugs as as we're talking.

You force them up.

And.

Advise them to you has.

Anybody said where those squirrel came from from that attack?

Squirrel are always coming and going on all sides.

Was well aware.

They, from my understanding, I believe one of the guards said came from the north and some from the east and some from the South.

There are about 20 of them.

They're kind of split around, but it sounded most of them came from north and northeast.

I wish it'd be better help, but I try not to travel out into the shadow dark anymore.

I've spent many years out there, me and stamp and I'm I'm quite over.

I like this.

This is a sense of normality that I haven't had in years.

Well, I mean, it's been years, but prior to that it I just I'm over it.

I mean, you can only be out there for so long before you just go completely mad.

Finishing my first mug.

Yes, I very, very much understand.

I was not one for travelling around in the shadowed Ark myself until quite recently.

I've been drugged around by these wonderful people.

Yeah, yeah, I don't.

I don't envy you, my friend, the adventuring.

My days are over.

I will happily be with these fish folk.

And I think, again, it's not the greatest place, but it's definitely better than being out there.

Cheers to that, I'll raise my second mug and take a couple gulps.

He grabs a mug of his own like cheers.

And you know, if we can do a little mission or something for old Tarly, you might be in contact with a civilization you're more familiar with quite soon.

We we came from a town Well more normal than this place.

That's interesting.

Yeah.

I would love to see another town.

This again?

The smell is God awful.

It's there.

It doesn't.

Escape.

It smells like wolf fish everywhere and whatever.

A box smells like the brine.

Just constant.

What are you doing, Val?

I approached the elf guy behind the bar.

Right.

Oh no, the elf.

There's an elf in one corner, probably the northern corner, just kind of sitting by himself.

And then there's one playing cards with some other fishbowlk.

You're going to the one that's just in the corner by himself.

Yeah, I'll probably go to that one.

Before I do that, I'll pick up a couple of drinks from the bar too.

All right, just 6 copper.

Yeah, take a Topper.

Assuming you want the the generic stuff as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sam happily brings him over.

And I'll go to the guy sitting by himself.

Hi there.

May I join you a friend?

Do you see this stolen looking elf now you can tell he's older, just has a cup and just looks up.

Got like long hair.

It's kind of like graying kind of seemed to.

It used to be blonde honey friend.

Sure, why not?

It's been a while since I.

I stood down, fellow elf.

I'll stood down and I'll be like, please accept this drink.

I put a drink in front of him and I start drinking from the one in my hand.

Give me a charisma God, he's my 12.

He grabs the mug, smells it, looks at you, watches you down it, sighs, takes a step.

So what do I owe the pleasure?

Well, we're travelling through this land and to our surprise we found this place.

We stopped by here for a night and I was surprised to see another elf here.

This.

I've never seen folks like this before.

Besides, yes, there's not much of us left around here, and especially around here at.

He looks around Baron's hold.

Just one night.

Well, just one night.

Yeah, well the place I come from there is more elves.

It's a a town N from here Warden Wood and hopes keeps those two different villages towns.

Sounds much nicer than this place already.

Well, it's drier and it doesn't smell, and there are more elves.

You.

Have to forgive me, I in a bit of a morning that the attack lost a good friend as he looks down into his cup reminiscing.

I'm sorry, Please accept my condolences.

I was not aware I we were told coming in that there was a recent attack by these scroll things.

Scroll.

Burrell.

Yes.

I don't know why he was out there, but it was just bad timing.

I'm sorry, what's your name, Sir?

Val.

Nice to meet you, Val.

Nice to meet you.

Hydro.

Hydro it was just a pleasure to stay familiar with it.

Likewise.

So these scrolls.

Scrolls.

Scrolls.

Do they know the reason of their attack or where do they come from?

He's scarf.

No one knows where he comes from.

If you talk to Winters, he'll have you believe this.

There's witches around conjuring these creatures.

Well, we heard that, yeah.

We had to meet him before we were allowed here.

Yeah, I suppose he wants you to hunt down some witch.

Well, I don't think there is a witch, my friend.

I don't think so either.

Yet he sacrifices any one of us and it's always us, none of these fish folk.

And you kind of grabs his mug and ushers a gesture over the Tavern.

It's always us, L.

They're halflings.

They're human.

Never the fish folk.

Well.

If he keeps at it, soon enough there will be no one to sacrifice and he needs to realize there's no witch in the mix.

Seems these trolls they are just attacking on their own will.

It appears so.

Well, good luck.

Good luck trying to convince him that human flesh is not the answer.

And he starts to look at that in his cup.

Longingly pauses for a long, awkward moment.

Well, we have faced worse than this.

I think I can convince him.

Well, here's to that.

Gets there.

It stares at the mug.

Thanks for the drink.

It's a rare kindness see these days, actually.

My pleasure, but you seem down in need of company.

I hope I wasn't intruding.

You can't intrude any more than what has already intruded in my life already.

Your sister Quietly.

All right.

Kind of step there.

Yep, it's great.

Cat, what are you doing?

She's quietly drinking a beer and trying to not draw too much attention to herself.

Maybe Vern's there, you know, but just like.

Yeah, Vern, wait, so you don't look like you're just completely.

Trying to do a low profile, you know.

Like that's pretty weird and also it smells to high heaven.

My God for this ale.

I suggest we just, you know, stay here just the one night, just the one night and we try to.

Move, sure.

I mean, what else?

This place kind of it doesn't it gives me weird vibes, but honestly, it's the smell and the mud everywhere you step and all of a sudden you step into a hole and then you're, you know, ankle deep in muddy water.

It's it's gross.

It's just, it's just gross.

Well, hopefully the lodgings are a bit better, drier.

We'll see.

We'll see you tonight.

I guess I'll walk back to the crew.

Yeah, I'll meet up.

I assume here at like it's the table.

Yeah, we got a table.

Or a booth, There's booths to the side and there's like just a row of tables there.

You can see some patrons just kind of everywhere.

I would say a booth is a little more private.

Yeah, we'll take a booth.

I'll sit down and put my drink on the table.

Well, not much to find out here.

Yes, Jan, It was a Jan.

John, John, John, Mr.

Jonath over there was telling me that the some of the guards were saying the Skrill came mostly from the north and northeast, but from northeast and South it was, it was kind of a like a well, like Winters said, a tactical invasion.

But he said that they they came from or they were the River Sid clan and came from far north when their village was attacked and came and found Marin's old.

They've been living here about five years.

It seems like they're coming from everywhere and also people are not keen here on this strategy of their leader sacrificing everyone else but the fish folk really To the witch as my new friend, What's his name again?

Hydro.

My new friend elf over there Hydro.

He suffered a loss from the recent attack and he seemed not to be happy with the methods of the chief here.

Sacrificing humans, half links, elves, and anybody else who's not a fishbowlk.

So he's just killing the outsiders.

Well, he is convinced that there is a witch behind this, which means he's acting on a misguided conviction informations.

Or maybe he's under a spell, Who knows.

Or we really do have to help now if he's going to kill the outsiders.

Let's get some warm lodgings.

Let's keep our feet clean tonight.

And you know, let's, let's look at maybe, maybe look at the library tomorrow.

If there is a library here, then we we skedaddle.

We should just leave.

We can always say they were researching up north the scrolls, you know?

But that's also the way to Bitter Mulkey.

We tell the the the nutfish folk here about Warden Wood and how to get there.

So if if he's just going to keep killing them off, we shouldn't leave them here to die.

While the folk fish are safe, right, but the.

Elves and halflings and humans are not.

You could do a copy of the map if you wanted to.

We only got the one map right?

You could we could try to make a copy.

Well, well, I haven't thought we should perhaps also take a look at this sacrificial area where he conduct his witch offering whatever he was talking.

Yeah.

Could be worth.

The one, yeah.

Everybody give me a wisdom check.

Miss Redcap, what'd you get?

9 - 1 eight total.

Val 16 + 1 or 17 and Tobin.

4 + 2 for six.

Val and Redcap kind of over here, similar conversations between the fish folk.

You just overhear this in in passing as you kind of hear some of them whispering or water over garbage neck.

Real rush is just trusin and picking.

But if Russell seems kind of random, who gets sacrificed?

Yeah, yeah, it is kind of weird.

Like there could be anybody.

It's just is there a trail?

I don't know.

It was like, I don't know, but I can't trust anybody these days.

It's like all the toss up, coin toss or.

Someone just says.

Something, you know, gotten.

They'd be accused as quick as anyone else, yes, and it's kind of banter between that.

You get the sense that people are starting to think that this whole witch thing is also kind of bull crap.

Seems to be because of the consensus going around, but no.

But everybody's also kind of paranoid of each other.

If they are writing each other out or not, it's hard to tell.

Convinces me that this leader guy is under some kind of bell.

Or maybe he is the witch would be.

He did say that the reason they don't say the name of you know, who is that some of their people spawned or their their kind spawned from his, his who's.

So we've we've been seeing his followers attack us and you know, Mr.

Him maybe 1 or some of them have been corrupted by you know who.

Maybe these scrolls are actually trying to defend themselves of these fish people, or else squirrels.

These fish people, who are they?

You know, they have seen examples of them elsewhere, may be inflicting some harm on them, so it's our reaction.

Maybe we need to find something, some kind of evidence or proof.

So tomorrow we head out.

All.

Right.

I'll go ask about rooms and I'll go to John.

Yes, the rooms are a silver piece.

A piece they are upstairs.

Would you like one or three?

We have money for four.

Yeah, 4 available.

Sure.

All right, here's 4 silver.

I'll I'll pay for you guys all.

Right, OK, I I got money too.

You need.

I got it.

One of the rooms are quite common.

There's nothing, there's nothing fancy about them, but they are upstairs so you don't have to worry about like trudging through anything.

Just like a common room with a bed, a little night stand and a chair and a little like candle for you if you want to do something like night reading.

We adjourn.

Good night, friends.

All right.

Be careful, stay aware.

Next morning comes, you all are well rested, brand new day and for starters updated your map.

That little X nice is where the mound is.

I didn't realize that was when I made it.

It should not be redacted because obviously you would know where it's at because he would have told you.

I bet that almost straight South of where we are, I bet that's the orcs.

They said it was across the Creek.

You would be correct there.

Then there's some other mystery stuff and then all that mystery stuff.

You guys just walked right past.

Yeah, there's a Little Rock circle thing on the side of the bridge we came from, but on the north side of the road.

That's where the wind was trying to push you, but you guys beelined it to Marin's hold.

It's a new day and what do y'all want to do?

Pick up some lures and some hooks at the local.

Store.

We had for the the sacrificial area or.

A library or something?

Something in the city.

I don't think the library is going to offer as much.

Doesn't take too long.

Yeah, there's again a veto.

Nobody else wants to go to the library.

Maybe we shouldn't.

That's one for books.

We we could look for a shop, see if they have anything useful, any rations, any.

I don't know.

What else do we need?

Hey, healing potions.

Wealth friends, From what I overheard yesterday, I'm not.

I'm not very comfortable sticking around.

I'd rather be doing things and deeming more useful outside these walls.

True.

I don't want to leave the people who are going to get killed here though.

While we're not leaving them, that's the thing, it's in their best interest and ours to try to unravel this.

How about we fake go to the library and in the library we just make a copy of our map so they could go somewhere else to open?

Yeah, if they have one, I guess we could try that.

Or maybe on some of the cloth we could make a rough map.

Well, the easiest way is if you flip the map to your friend at the bar.

He could tell everyone else.

And he is from around here and he's a halfling.

He knows how to get the word to his counting or anyone else who is a target.

True, that's the bartender is the better way to conduct information.

Let me see the map.

I'll hand him the map.

I'll take the map and I'll go to the bar.

All right, it's early morning as you see.

He's getting breakfast ready and whatnot, handing out, you know, some hair of the dogs to some customers who've been there probably the night before.

Oh, Tobin, was it?

Yes, John.

Right, John?

Well, look.

So I'll kind of look around leaning closer and I'll pull the map out and show it to him.

We are going to look into where these squirrel are coming from, but we don't feel right leaving if he's going to sacrifice only you outsiders.

So if you have any way to copy this down, please do so.

And here is Warden Wood.

You all will be safe there.

If you, you know, show up and tell them you know us, Tobin, Valve and any of us just in case you you want to let the others know and you want to get out before we can resolve this.

Oh, that's actually pretty awesome of you.

Yeah.

Give me.

Do you mind if I take this?

Yes, go go copy it down.

OK, any snaps fingers.

Sam, can you rally shop?

I got to do something really important.

It's it's really, really important.

You see Sam's in the corner just rubbing a table down, wiping a table down.

Oh, OK.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh God.

Fine.

Whatever you owe me, though.

Yes, this is I owe.

You know, this Will this will help us both.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He grabs the map.

Thank you.

And he sconchers off.

I will say it'll probably take him about 30 minutes to make a makeshift map basically marking the spots of the.

Landmarks.

Yeah, yeah.

OK, I'm assuming you're telling him Warden Wood and.

Point them out to him.

Tell him which is which.

Yeah, about 30 minutes later, probably between breakfast, he or Sam brings you back to it, like puts it on the table and gives you a wink and.

A nod and wanders off and the map back to Val, just in case all.

Right.

Well done.

Thank you.

So yes, we could hit a shop, see if they have anything worth buying, or we can just head out.

Yeah, we just head out.

My inventory is maxed out, Yeah.

I mean, I'm really loaded down.

We have everything we need.

I'm encumbered.

I'm encumbered.

I'm barely walking, I think.

What's that?

All right.

Well, yes.

Let's take advantage of the time and.

So 2 bitter mold or are we gonna look for scroll?

I think we should go east and then N just one hex over E to that stronghold.

You're gonna look for Urichs.

Yeah, just a little bit.

We may have missed them, we don't know.

But any any mark of civilization could be useful.

Any allies could be useful.

All right.

Or Regis Bale I.

Wouldn't mind finding him again either.

Yeah, but sure, let's do that.

All right, Do the stronghold.

Lead the way, Val.

All right, you all make your way out and you're headed east towards this mysterious stronghold for travel.

Sick.

I'm going to need someone to roll AD 6.

Lead the way, Val.

5 yes.

You've been good at those tonight.

I rolled.

You got to shake it a lot.

Yeah, shake the bed out.

Everything was going great until it was.

Until foul rolled the fire.

You walk through the forest headed east and you come up to it pretty quickly.

It is a soaring high stronghold that at first glance it looks pretty impressive.

As you get closer and closer you start to see all sorts of imperfections.

Overgrown vines, cracks in the walls, pieces of the tops, missing parts of the tower, some towers completely just destroyed, shattered stained glass windows as they start to get closer and closer.

Basically an abandoned stronghold and it just gives you a really uneasy feeling, but you make it basically to the front gate at the door.

There is no like gate is completely destroyed.

It's just a giant opening.

And Mrs.

Redcap try to compare the vines that she sees to the the vines that the Bog thorn had around it.

These are just regular vines, nature grown after centuries upon centuries.

You all would recognize this from the tails it etchings and patterns along the wall itself in certain old decrypted like signpost if you will, as you're walking around of the green Knights, which you know of tale to be what the Knights of Aegis used to be.

There's a great tale has been told.

These Knights were fighting evil.

They were basically the stand up good guys until this.

The Gloaming became the Gloaming and you're basically seeing an ancient relic from the past somehow still standing, this giant stronghold of what used to be the Green Knights.

Can't believe we're seeing this.

It's incredible.

Fantastic.

It's huge.

We only heard tales and stories, but there it is.

And eat herself, reclaiming it for standing in her realm all this year, all these years.

And any sign of movement, any noises we're moving up to, it is.

Eerily quiet as you're making your way basically to the, I guess the castle itself.

Yeah, but we take a look.

I mean, your expert was almost definitely here, and if he's either still here or he's moved on, maybe something inside would tell us where he went.

We could take a little peek.

I bet it's too big for us to search in one day, but we could take a let maybe a little peek just on our way N whatever this main gate is.

Go northward maybe?

A quick walk around, see what there is.

Well, let's stay together.

Watch your steps, yes.

Keep your feet clean.

All right, so you don't want to actually enter the stronghold, you just want to.

No, we're going to do it.

Yeah, we want to.

We'll just cautiously approach, but we'll go through and walk around and.

We're going to like the basically the main castle because this is like a huge stronghold and then basically like a fortress, but it's obviously entire things in ruins because it's been here for centuries upon centuries.

We're going to, we're going to try to just like pass right through it the, you know, from one entrance to the other That's possible.

Go in and head north.

Perpendicular.

OK, like to see yourself without hitting the actual castle, All right.

Well, be like a VCA, it'd be there.

Yeah, like, you know, in the map, like the road is behind it.

Yeah.

We're going to go to the what we think is the northward gate if we think there is something like that.

Well, it's kind of like a stronghold like because you can go into like the foyer of it if you will, and it's a long ways before the main castle.

This was like a giant stronghold like walls with like that like a just kind of like an inner city ish.

And then like the main structures in the middle on the inside.

If you were to walk into this, you can get to the castle and if you want to walk around the entire thing to see if there's like a exit there, here's like ships on the wall, but it's just a, it's a wall.

So basically you'd have to go out and walk around completely to go around to the other side.

I.

Think we, just we.

Should just leave, leave some wood that just says Tobin was here and then we should keep going around?

And what do you guys think?

Why just me?

I mean it's it's shorter.

Val is the shortest, no?

Val OK, well, well let's we could just say Val is there.

All right, let me in script, let me scratch my name on that stone Val.

All right, yeah, you scratch your name, Val.

Do it stone because you want to add some other message.

Maybe N just point, Yeah, point NI don't know.

All right, let's walk inside.

Going inside or around?

Inside or around?

Inside or around?

Should we roll for it?

You guys want to roll for it?

Yeah, let's say 11 and up we go, in 10 and down we don't.

OK, who wants to do it?

You're right.

That was froggy Nah 20.

Not the best thing to spend it on you we.

Go in we.

Go inside.

We have to go inside now with a nap.

Right decision by the group.

You guys walk into this and like I said before, it's it's eerily quiet.

There is no life, it would seem here, except for the overgrown vines.

There's no items, no things that we can like it.

Seems like this place was ransacked ages ago.

All right, there's just bare bones stone holes.

And all that until you get to the castle, the very impressive castle, which also is in ruins with stained glass mostly, some shattered in, some somehow still holding up before you get to again.

No door there.

It's a little dark, but it's still early in the day where you can kind of see light shine in where you can see this, the inside, which just seems like a big empty room, and then you just kind of see some stairs leading up to the very back end and then doorways that lead further in.

You know what, fellows?

We go to this castle and we go all the way up.

We can get a view of the surroundings that would give us a view to where we're heading north, correct?

Take a peek.

Maybe see better mold from the top.

Whatever it is, yeah.

I got a really bad feeling about the center castle guys.

I agree.

I think if anything is here it would be in there, but it could be Uriks in there too.

Well, our option is to turn around and get out or go inside.

I think, I feel like we could just go.

We didn't, We went into the stronghold, but we go around the castle.

I feel like we could just leave another message if he's there, you know, Val and then just a northward pointing direction.

I really don't like this castle, guys.

I really, really don't like it.

If he feels strongly about it that way, then I guess that's exit.

Can we send in Mr.

Redcap?

Can I check if Mr.

Redcap is on me at this time?

You.

Can make cuz the Wait.

What?

That was a part of the Cauldron thing, wasn't it?

The teleportation was Did like Mr.

Redcap come with me through the board?

Yeah.

No, no, no, no, no.

Because how did you get a familiar?

That's a really.

Long story, I think.

That we may have to ask.

You, but no is your characters have a familiar.

As a Mr.

Yeah, Mr.

Redcap has Mr.

Redcap the Rat as the familiar.

You know, just probably a percentage.

Right 27.

You check your person again and do whatever rat call and you get no response.

Men and so so she's just me like guys I I I have a had real bad feeling about this.

I feel like this is one of these places where people die or what's it called PC version TPK something like that.

We should just we should just go around to the center of this thing.

We'll be brave with Mr.

M Let's just go up there, try to search the Skrill Sing and Mr.

M at Bitter Mole Keep.

Let's just do that.

Well, I've never seen Mrs.

Redcap this apprehensive, so let's.

End this time.

And let's follow her instinct.

We can always come back later if we.

Want correct all right, we do not think.

All right, well, you start leaving before not few demerals anything.

Paul turn around and head basically way back out to the front because there's only one way in here.

Oh, there's one way in and one way out.

Yeah.

It's a stronghold.

It's a stronghold.

OK, All right, I get it.

All right.

Get it now?

You all turn around from the castle and start making your way back to the entrance of the stronghold when a suddenly a seagull flies out of nowhere, lands on your head Val and starts squawking and coughs up a bottle bottle and it just lands at your feet and then it flies away.

What?

What in hell is this?

What's the bottle?

I freak out.

Oh, very strange.

Yeah, keep looking around.

I look at Mrs.

Redcap.

Should I touch it?

We got to investigate this bottle, we got to know what it is.

How many times does this happen in our lives?

I've never seen or heard of that.

Ever I I pull out one of those cloth that we we got from the those main demons.

You asked Vern for a cloth.

No, I remember.

We we took clothes.

Yeah.

He's got all the clothes.

He's.

Carrying all the clothes we made.

It into torches or Vern has it, yeah.

Vern, hand me one of the cloth.

Give that piece of cloth.

Yeah, it came out of that the.

Bird, did you just see his?

Hand I fit in there.

I wrap my hands with the cloth, you know, and I just pick up the bottle, gentle, and raise it up to the sky, you know, some light, see what's inside.

ABV percentage you can clearly see there is a tight up wrapped up piece of paper in there.

When I open it and take out the message.

How you pull it out, unravel it, and it's hard to read.

Do any of you speak Sylvan?

I do, everyone feels red cap me.

Misses red cap.

Can you read this gibberish?

Well, they're all elves, so.

Oh, sure.

Oh, is that?

I'm the only non elf, yeah.

There's Elvish and Sylvan.

It's not clear if they're the same thing.

Simply, Sylvan is basically Faye, Wild elf, whatever we want to really get down.

Just and the two misses red cap.

Do I want to roll for it or any?

Percentile OK, let's think you know what this message is.

I've been so good with percentiles tonight I'll retire couple of.

65 You get 3 words out of it.

The first word you get is meet.

Like, meet somebody up.

OK.

All right.

I thought, I thought it was MEAT for a second there.

All right.

OK.

You recognize the word meet back in seven.

I thought she speaks that language, no?

It's, I mean, it's.

It's.

Hard to read.

It was transferred by a bird inside of a bottle.

She recognizes the language, but it's faded.

What does it say?

I'm getting the word meat, the word back, and the word 7.

Is it 7 written out or the digit I?

Mean the same thing.

OK, all right, all right.

Anyways, so we just got a message from someone and they're telling us to meet them back at some place.

Is there any place that we're at that says 7?

Time of day.

Or maybe, or maybe the seven that we killed.

Or, oh, it could be a deception from this muggle BLOB, whatever name is.

Is the bird still in view?

It's blue dot.

Could be the traveller for some reason seems weird like him.

I'm sorry, it's a great.

Theory maybe maybe it is a time maybe your first get guess me back seven at 7 at the stronghold.

But why would it be in a bottle?

In a seagull.

Maybe they're afraid of being watched by the Realms.

So what you're saying is we have to stay here till 7?

I mean, do OK DM in shadow dark.

Is there like a 12:00 thing for time?

Is it 24 hours?

Is it Yeah.

Is it reasonably known by everybody?

Yeah, yeah, for for sake of simplicity and not having a yeah, descriptions of yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it's just.

Irregular Standard Time.

Yeah, they have daylight savings and everything.

Can someone send this can?

Someone OK?

Can someone else look at the look at this?

Can somebody else try to read this gibberish?

Somebody.

Else do a triad.

Can I try and read it?

Be an intelligence check for anyone who wishes decide to pass it around 11/11/11 what you get told.

Me 11 -.

2 for A9.

And do any of you speak the language?

Nope, if it's celestial.

I I do speak Selvan.

Sorry, I didn't look.

Yeah, I do speak Selvan.

Well, if you'd like to roll me a percentile.

I will.

Maybe you could get a couple more words out.

7 I think.

007, yeah.

77 Yeah, you can't.

Make out anything.

You can't even make out what Miss Brett Cafe even saying what.

About Vern?

What about Vern?

Does he?

Yeah, he's been Even so fine.

Why not speak?

He speaks seldom.

I'm.

Grasping at every straw, I guess.

OK, I'm doing it.

I'm here for it.

That's 30%.

He barely recognizes the words you found out once he pointed them out to him and he's like, Oh yeah, that is that that dog can't do dogs.

Looks like gibberish.

Thanks Vern for being about to help us.

Goofy the goofy Archer.

This is just with us last dude arrows and I don't know things.

Yeah, I I don't know about sitting here and waiting till seven.

I'm not doing that.

And it could mean, like you said, the seven creatures we killed.

I don't know who would send you a message in a bottle and a seagull.

And it was Val.

It wasn't any of us.

Does 7 ring any bells for you, Val?

Is that number important?

No.

What about from your day's sailing?

Anyone from your past that it was a seagull and a message in a bottle is usually in water that typically.

No.

Strange things you need.

Maybe it's a message from a Laura.

Maybe it wasn't meant for us.

Over there or maybe, yeah, that's correct.

What a Laura sent a seagull a message in a bottle in a seagull I had.

I had to do that math.

Well, I'm not going to read too much into it.

Well, I guess we just keep going, yeah.

We are not going to risk our safety on the message that we can't even read.

3 words is not enough for me to gamble.

And then Sylvan too.

That's correct.

So we carry on the way we were about to.

Sounds good to me.

All right, we will exit the stronghold and.

We will keep the scroll with us too, just in case, yeah?

All right, because y'all are making your way back out and I figured because the entrance is from the South so you have to make your way back out and then circle around and then head up where you do notice the road.

Bill probably will or with questions and answers.

But maybe y'all feel like you're on the right track.

Hard to tell.

You do now know that the stronghold exists, and it is clearly marked with the Knights of I'm sorry, the Green Knight was Yurik here.

May not know yet, but maybe you'll find out.

That's where we're going to end.

It what a mystery.

Wow.

Yeah, doing some exploring today, guys.

I was thinking Yurik sent that message.

It could be.

I can't understand.

You can't read it?

Yeah.

Talking to the mic.

Oh, sorry.

I thought you you turned off.

Oh no, no, I still got to say my goodbyes.

You got to do the after goodbyes and after party, Yeah.

I tried to let you guys.

I thought I thought Urich sent that message, but I guess I was wrong.

Yeah, maybe.

Who knows, It could be any number of people.

It's.

So vague.

Right.

But I'm still very uncomfortable about oh Mrs.

Redcap, so adamant not to go inside the castle.

I mean, if anything is going to be in there though, that's where the IT would be.

It's true and it could be not friendly.

Which means she sends something serious.

He's never like that.

Just get a bad feeling sometimes, guys, you know, right in my gut.

And it's not just like Mr.

Redcap trying to kill me.

It's it's something, something genuine.

What did you eat, Mr.

Redcap?

No.

Well.

He hasn't shown ever since that none one night.

That's the bandits.

Actually, you know, these are some pretty good questions.

I.

Don't keep track of them.

You know, it's just too much.

It's like, it's like more with the squirrels.

You just got to give up.

What happened to that show?

Wait a minute, how did you lose the rat?

I I don't know.

He's not my husband.

Oh my God, the.

Name should makes it seem like he.

I have you know what you know not that's going to carry on and grab this little nap that's whistling in himself.

Yeah, Missus Redcap, that rat is a valuable asset.

He can give you eyes when you don't have to go and risk your life when.

Did he actually help us?

Like when did he actually?

He gave us a visual life.

He can just he can just crawl back to me, OK?

He can just crawl back, OK?

He'll find his way.

He's very difficult to notice.

Guess we'll have to find out if Miss Redcaps gets her RAT back.

Next time on tabletop Diaries.

Yeah, next time on Tabletop Diaries.

Thank you everybody for listening to Tabletop Diaries.

This is episode 9.

After parties should be coming out soon.

Stay tuned.

Let us know if you're enjoying this.

Let us know the any feedback at all.

You can catch us obviously on this channel or at Spotify and YouTube and whatever else we're on.

I don't.

Is that that?

Whatever.

More importantly, let us know what we should do because it's starting to get confusing.

What does the me back 7 mean?

We're clueless.

Who knows, who knows?

Also, the music tonight, as always, is brought to you by a Sirenscape.

Sirenscape.

Check it out for all your tabletop and board game and just ambience and studying music and sound effects.

They have a huge library of all kinds of stuff.

Until then, thank you all for listening.

And I guess thank you again.

Bye.

Keep playing Yeah, you never hear the GM roll like one dice, always like a bunch of stuff and it just.

Yeah, how many Dragons he's going to throw at us?

4 Dragons land in front of you.

One for E.

Yeah.