Session 1 V2

Serafina reaches out to her old friends Mordred, Idaho, and Doran for help in finding her missing sister Hope. They all agree to come back home and reunite. On their way, they encounter two guards who ask for a toll to enter the town. They pay the toll and continue on their journey. We're constantly running, running away from our past. The truth is, the past can catch up with you, the past is with you right now, affecting your daily life. But the future, the future is always tomorrow, just out of reach. But what if it wasn't? In desperation, we can find our friends, and we can relive the past, and maybe, if the letter that Serafina sent out reaches desperate ears, then maybe they can meet their future. Would you like to take us away, begin with reading of the letter? Yes. Okay. Oh my gosh, I'm nervous. Dear Mordred, Idaho, and Doran. I know it's been a while, five years actually, since we all graduated, but I hope this letter finds each of you well. Mordred, you've been incommunicado since you set off with that druid to hone your powers, and supposedly went travelling on your own to see all the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer. I really miss hearing about all the new animals you've encountered. Idaho, I appreciate the quest sponsorship flyers from your military training platoon that you keep sending me. A little impersonal, but it's nice to know that you're doing alright. Now, um, that leaves you, Doran, my best friend. You moved to the Great Save immediately after grad, and I haven't heard from you at all. You're probably living the life in that big magic city, pulling off schemes and heists that dwarf our childhood pickpocketing antics. I don't even know if you get this, but hopefully you can take a bit of time out of your busy city slicker schedule and help out an old friend. Anyway, I'm reaching out to you because I need all of your help. As of two months and four days ago, Hope went missing. One afternoon, she didn't return home from elementary school, and I've been frantically searching for her in and around town ever since. That is, until yesterday. I think I may have gotten the lead. I now realize that I can't do this on my own, and I need the three of you to come back home and help me find my little sister. Hope needs you. I need you. Godspeed, Serafina Dumas. Hello everyone, I'm Christian Spence, I'm gonna be your DM. It's time to meet the players! Everybody, if you'd like to say your name, your character, and then like, a witty line. Hi, I'm Carlos Garcia, I'm playing Mordred Wilhelm, and I am also in the trees. I'm playing from my treehouse. Hi, my name is Idaho Manifont, I am also here in the trees, and I am not in a treehouse, I am under the tree. I think we were meant to start with your actual name. And I'll be playing Wyvershare during the parts where D&D isn't happening. They actually got me from the Forgotten Realms, but I'll be playing Wyvershare when we're not in Fantasyland. Hi, my name is Samuel Hahn, I will be playing Doran Greychild, and he's a little bit of a bad boy. Hi, I'm Helen Antoniak, and I will be playing Serafina Dumas. And unfortunately, unlike my counterpart, I don't have huge horns. That we know of. To be clear, you really want them though, right? This is an unfortunate state of affairs, you wish you had giant horns. And with that, we're gonna begin with some D&D. It is evening time, as a single cart strolls down the lane. It's an old wooden cart, with an old man on the front, and two horses. There appears to be a door on the side of the cart, and if one were to open that door, well inside they would find a very strange fellow. Wyatt, would you like to introduce your character? Hey everyone, my name is Wyatt Vershare. You guys are gonna see in the cart, Idaho Manifont. Idaho is 5'10", and also 5'8", sitting down. Lot of upper body, not much leg. He's got a bowl cut, and he's just covered in these kind of faded scars. His bowl cut is slightly balding, he kind of looks like one of those monks from the 1600s. You know that really really hot haircut that they had? Idaho is a cool kid, you know he grew up the most popular kid in school. He was saving kids from bullies with his mighty sword. The hero of the school round, that is according to his diary. That's not actually true, he was kind of a loser. But now he went to paladin school, he's back, he's an Oath of Freedom paladin. A slightly homebrewed Oath of Devotion. And he's going back home because he's on leave, and he got a letter from his old school friend, Serafina. And as Idaho is in this cart, it's like a closed off Victorian style passenger cart. It's moving slowly, hitting a couple bumps, and suddenly the cart comes to a halting stop. And as it comes to a screeching halt, you hear the voice from the person in front, Idaho. The old man that picked you up, talking with someone. Really quick and short, before coin seems to be exchanged, and the door is opened. What you see behind the door, Will Mordred, would you like to explain your character? Yeah, I'm Carlos Garcia, I'll be playing Mordred Wilhelm. I am a Circle of the Moon druid. I am a young, half-elf, young man who has kind of come home from adventuring around, learning all that life has to give for being a druid. As you'd see him, you'd see him having a long robe. And yeah, you do see him as he walks up, he's got a notepad and he's just viciously scribbling on it. He seems kind of more into whatever he's writing than the rest of the world. Until he looks up and sees his old friend, Idaho. Someone who, presumably, we haven't seen in years, I guess, right? The moment he sees Mordred, Idaho, leaps to his feet and then back down. To anyone, it would look like a mock bow, but it's definitely a real one. Mordred, my sword is yours. Hi, Idaho, it's been a minute. I see that you've upgraded swords, for sure. Yeah, I got a real metal one now. They finally let me have one. How are you doing? It's been so long. Yeah, you know, it feels weird to be going back home, you know, after so long. I'm really sorry for not really communicating with you guys. It's really hard to get any messages out in the middle of nowhere a lot of the times. But I'm just excited to see everybody, you know? We're all going to have a good... I know it's not under the best context, but it'll be nice to have each other again. Seraphina needs us, and you know, we're going to be there for her. Yeah. And I'm excited to see everyone again. For sure, yeah, no. You'd think owls would be better at communicating letters. They're not. They just rip them up and eat them. So it'll be nice to talk with everyone. The to-from line is just who. You can't send it anywhere. First joke of the podcast. I could accept that. You'll let that one go? I'll let that one go. Sweet. And as you guys are talking, the carriage is beginning to move forwards again as it continues to just lurch on its way towards the town of Bayroll, where both of you are from. It's a long trip. It's several, several hours before either of you get there. But after a while, you do finally arrive, exhausted because it's hard to sleep in a carriage going over a bumpy road, otherwise intact. And now it is evening. We're going through, like, the last ten years of Murderball, really, like. Very intricate history of every year we've run. Did you guys hear when John Jacobs the Wizard really took it to those fucking Griffins in the last season? It was great. The stage blew up. He was taking magic steroids. And with that, you guys pull up to something that you're not too familiar with, a wooden fence around the town. Speaking of out, can you get out of my cart? Right, yeah. Yeah, thanks for the ride, old man. Hey, and as they say where I'm from, good luck in your future. I think that guy has a lot of interesting backstory, and I really wish we, uh. I'm sure we'll meet him again. You spent the entire night talking about Murderball, and you have no idea. We should have talked to that guy, shit. And the cart rides away. You see and hear the voice of a stout man go, Oi, stout, ya business? We are but weary travelers returning to our hometown of Beirut. And you hear a second voice go, Oh, is that so? And what you see in front of you is a shorter stouter man and a taller skinnier man wearing guard insignia for the Grey Kingdom, which, as you know, is the general kingdom of this area, but rarely venture to Beirut. Hi, yeah, we're just coming home. I mean, we've both lived here for a long time, and yeah, we're just kind of hoping to see our families and local people. The big one waving his head back and forth as though his limbs aren't fully connected goes, Hmm, I've never seen you around. Hey, you two seem frazzled. My voice changed, don't worry about it. You look much more approachable now. You've changed something about you. And yeah, I'm more than well home. Hey, thank you. Maybe a little gold can help you get inside, you know what I'm saying? I was like, is this a bribe? Are you shaking me down? Yeah! Yeah, we're shaking you down! I don't know, should we let him shake us down? I mean, like, if they just are asking for the money, is it really a bribe, or is it just... Yeah, is this just like a toll? It's a toll. Is it even really a bribe at this point? Like, we're not, like, bribing them to do... Like, I'm sure that their guard duty isn't, like, to keep everyone out of the town, right? Yeah, that's impossible. They're just asking us to... I guess we can pay a toll, like... Yeah, sorry, kind fellow? What's the toll for the toll booth? Three silver pieces! Yeah, three silver pieces. Is this, like, coming out as well? What? Like, if I want to leave. Yeah! You look uncertain, but look. You get a stamp as you leave the town. I guess I just reach into my bag and look for some silver pieces. Perfect, yeah, you pull out six silver pieces, no doubt. Yeah, and I give them to him, and I go, Thank you for your service? I don't remember you... You're welcome! We're new! Yeah, we're new! Cool, don't let the critters get you down, okay, buddy? And I'm going to give a pat on the shoulder on what I've learned. I really appreciate it. These guys love physical touch. I turn over to Morgz, and I go, like, Maybe I've been away from people for too long, too. Because I don't know what the hell... This is odd. Yeah, I don't... I don't remember them. Did they... Should we tip 15%? No, no, no. Either one of them are Colin, right? I think I remember what Colin looks like. I don't think... No, I remember Colin. Colin was a short guy. Yeah, that's not him, though. He was a rat man, right? Yeah, right! He's like a little mouse guy. Never mind, that's not them. Okay, we should go. We've got places to be. Yeah, we skedaddle to the bar. Oh, you guys head over to the bar? Perfect. Yeah, I think the bar is where we want to go, right? That's kind of the local hot spot of town. Yeah. As you guys head over to the bar, you walk into this podunk establishment, if that word isn't problematic. I don't know. You walk into this old, falling-apart bar. Inside, patrons clank their drinks and then do shots. It's a bit of a party in here. To be honest, it's way better vibes than you guys last remember. And part of that reason is a bartender who's been here a little while. Helen, would you like to introduce yourself? Yeah, hi. Behind the bar, you see a burgundy-haired tiefling woman with magnificently broad brown horns flinging bottles of liquor and glasses serving her patrons. A disarming yet sweet smile plays on her freckled face as she chats with all the patrons. The tiefling is a college of eloquence bard who specializes in painting vibrant images in people's minds and telling stories, although her usual audience is comprised of one person, her little sister, Hope. And she looks up to hear the racket near the door and her purple eyes light up and she greets her old friends. Idaho! Mordred! What are you doing here? You guys came so quickly! Well, yeah, we weren't just going to leave you hanging. This letter sounds wild! Are you okay? Um, not entirely, but it's just good to see you. I figured it would take longer for you to get here. Hi! We took a really fast cart. She's running up to give us both the biggest hug. Yeah. Yeah. Give a big hug. Hell yeah, you guys all embrace. We hug Serafina back. How was the journey here? You know, I wasn't... Has there always been, like, a big fence around this whole town? It's... It's feeling a little stuffy. There's, like, a toll booth. There were people asking for money outside. Yeah. Serafina, you would know that this went up about two months ago, and you would know that the two fellows out front, because they're frequent patrons of your establishment, um, are named Stink and Sweet. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, um, it's been up for about two months, and um, the guards you probably met are named Stink and Sweet, and I'm honestly not exactly sure which is which, who's who. Um, I've literally never seen them without the other, so they usually come into the tavern, though. Um, lightweights, but they tip well. Yeah, no, it just seems like there's been a lot of changes. I kind of look around, and I see probably a bunch of faces I don't recognize. Well, you do know that it's been six years since you guys left, so of course things are going to be different. It's been a while. It has been, huh? I... I guess I just kind of lost track of time. Yeah, I don't recognize anybody around here. I'm sure there aren't any clocks in the forest, so... I can't really blame you, can I? Have you seen Doran? Like, is he around? Is he still, like, you know, putting poo in mailboxes and stuff? Or is he up to... You know, I actually... I haven't heard from Doran since he left to the Great Save, to the big city. Um... Yeah. I've heard that he's back in town, though, so... I've left a letter in his mailbox. Or, maybe, it used to be his mailbox, but maybe he'll be joining us? I'm not too sure. I really... I have no idea what happened to him. She died. I would know that. You would know that. I would know that. Okay. Maybe just say, I don't know if anyone's living there. Or, you know what, we can fix that later. I'll write in my notes, she died. Okay. Oh, yeah. I mean, it would be a shame to have a whole reunion and not have him around. Um... But, yeah, I mean, regardless, well, we have to find Hope, right? That's the number one thing. Yes. Um... Yeah. I, uh... I really appreciate you two being here. She... I mean, as you know, was pretty much the entire reason for my being. And, um... I'm a little more calm now, because it's been a while, but, uh... She's been gone for over two months. And... I haven't been able to find her. I've checked in town. I've checked the surrounding towns. I was adventuring through the forest. She's just... Maybe we can, like, you can walk us through where you've looked, the last place that you've seen her. Yeah. Sure. All those kind of things. We can get started with that kind of thing. But, you know, I think that's great. Yeah. Can we have a drink? Yeah. Um... Gosh, we've not even seen each other since we could drink. What do you two take? I'll whip it up. Oh, I will take an orange juice. And I'll have an apple. Wow. Not his ever. Okay. Coming right up. And Seraphina starts to whip up the apple and orange juice. So... I guess she just starts telling Mordred and Idaho about the last known whereabouts of Hope. Um... The day that she went missing, I got her dressed for school and sent her off. I walked her to the elementary school, and it was just like any other day. And then, when it was time to pick her up, she didn't come out of class. So I went inside. I talked to the principal and to the teachers, and they hadn't seen her all day. And nobody knew where she was, and so I went to the general store, I went to the park, I even came here to work, and nobody had seen her. It's as though she'd vanished. And I've not been able to find her since. Hmm... It's not like I can get in contact with Sprinkles or the old gang. It seems like they have the whole thing walled off. Really? Can I attempt to, like, go out a window and give a big whistle? You know what? I'm going to say, if you want to give the first roll of this campaign, do you want to give an animal handling check? I would love to. I rolled a 14, plus my animal handling proficiency gives me 5, extra points to a 19. Oh my god. Okay. Good first roll. You make a loud whistle noise. Yeah, I give a big I can't whistle that well in real life. Two people look over. I'll have what he's having. With a 19. It's a familiar sound to the ferrets. The ferrets hear a familiar sound, and you hear as two ferrets run up under the windowsill. Unfortunately, you know a ferret's lifespan isn't very long. So you do not recognize these ferrets, but what you recognize is a unique striping on them that is the same striping that Sprinkles had. Your ferret from high school. Sprinkles babies. Yeah, I wipe a tear as that they are the kid that's left behind. And I am going to, uh, just can I attempt to, like, touch it? Yeah! Yeah, you see they're, like, reaching up their noses and they touch your hand. I cast a de-spawn. Hell yeah. You cast de-spawn on one of these ferrets. I imagine the ferret's intelligence is not four or higher. No. Alright, we now have a telepathic link to communicate simple emotions and concepts. The ferret communicates happy. Alright, I'm going to lift up the ferret and then point it toward Seraphina and be like, have you seen someone that looks like her? But younger. But younger, smaller. And you can only, and Christian, you can only respond in emojis, right? I can only, that's great. Let me find some emojis that I can respond with. Christian, I think if you want to do emojis, I think you should describe the emojis. What? Can you read these out for us? Actually, Wyatt, can you read them out? Yeah, I would love to. I would love to, Christian. You don't need to see them. Wyatt's reading them out. So, um, hearts, heart eyes, heart eyes, um, the figure on a bathroom, three houses and a tree. So they were in, so is it like in a building with a tree on it? Could be the person was in a house, in a tree, a tree house. Okay. Well, okay, buddy, here's what we're going to do. Did you say a person in the bathroom? I, okay. Well, it's a silhouette, like you know you see on like a bathroom sign. Alright, I think I know how I'm going to play it out regardless now what the emojis are. Okay, so you got those emojis. I'm going to look at the small parrot very confused and I'm going to go, okay, um, okay, buddy, I don't know how many of you little guys there are now, but yeah, if you, if any of you see someone that looks like her, but smaller, come to me, okay? Tell all your little friends, I knew Sprinkles, I don't know if I smell familiar. Yeah, Sprinkles! Yeah, yes, yeah, we... You see the parrot nods and gives you like a little army salute. Alright, buddy, yeah, go tell everybody. Okay, and then it... Drop them out again. Yeah. And then... Perfect. As you go to drop the parrot outside, you do see a familiar face. Doran, you want to describe what you look like? Well, my name's Sam and I'll be playing Doran Greychild. As Mordred looks out the window, he sees a shaggy-haired drow man with three sparrows in flight tattooed on his left cheek. He's clearly been pacing back and forth examining the letter in his hand. Doran Greychild is an orphan, raised as a foundling by Lady Patricia Ashmead, a wealthy widower in the town of Beirut. A troublemaker as a boy, Doran has spent the last six years working for the Sparrows, a thieves' guild in the Great Stave. Now, with a childhood prophecy looming over him, he has returned to his hometown to prepare himself for what is to come. Mordred, is that you? Doran, what are you doing out there? Come inside! And I'm gonna just try to balance myself out this window, like... Come on! Is Doran one of the ferrets? Do you have a ferret named Doran? Mordred, did you say Doran? Yeah, right there! And I... Obviously, you can only see my legs, so it's like me kicking my legs with a... ferret that turns and hides out of view of the window. Okay. It's really him. It's really... Doran! And I'm gonna start reaching out for Doran. I feel like, ethically, I have to grab Mordred's legs here, just to stabilize, just to, like, hold the Okay, I got it! Now that I feel extra stability, I'm going to reach. It's been so long, buddy! Good to see you too, Mordred. Now, why don't you just get back in the window, and I'll be right in. I look over Mordred's whole body. Hi, Doran! Hey, Idaho! You wanna pull him in? Oh, yeah, okay, I can do that. And I pull him back in. You should come in, it's warm, and there's less ferrets in here. Unless, I mean, you do you, but... Is Seraphina in there? Yeah, she works here. And she's our friend! Well, I got her letter. Seraphina, Doran's here! You should come say hi. Shut up, Idaho. Okay. I'm gonna walk up to the door and open it. You walk up to the door and open it. Seraphina, are you still hiding at this point? No, I have turned around to the bar, and I am furiously cleaning glasses, because I didn't think he was actually going to show up. Okay. And that's the scene as you walk into the bar, Doran. Mordred, Idaho, good to see you guys. It's been a long time. Yeah, it's been so long! Oh my god, it's so great that we're all here! I mean, except for Colin, but... he's in the great tunnel underneath the earth. Well, I mean, I can see Mordred still... He's on a nice tunnel farm. He's... playing all the other rat people for... What has happened to your hair? Oh, um... So it turns out that baldness runs in my family, and I find this quite acute. It comes on very early. And this is actually a really trendy look at Paladin Academy. Well, you look like a choir boy. The circle, it represents like a halo. Do you know what I mean? It's like the angels what's holy and good and free and just, you know? So you are a choir boy. I like to think of myself as the best soprano in the choir. Wow. But I am not in the choir. I failed. I couldn't get in. You have no name, Mount and Reach Vulture. That's the most amazing thing I've ever heard. We'll come back to that. Um, I'm going to walk up to the bar and order a drink. What can I get you? I'll have an ale. Any particular kind? Your best. They're all pretty shitty. I'm going to put a gold piece on the bar. I pick it up and flick it back at Doran on the house. And I walk over to the tap and I pour a very very foamy ale across that to Doran. Thank you. That looks delicious. I turn to Mordred. Wow. It's so good to see good friendship. You know, free ale, extra foam. Oh, you really love to see it. Don't you just? Yeah. They look like right where we left them off. Seraphina is like kind of ferociously looking at Doran but also, like, there's so much sadness in her eyes. Doran is looking everywhere but at Seraphina, mainly into his extremely foamy beer as he tries to get a drink out of it. I walk up behind noticing a lot of tension and I go, Doran, are you here to give us a hand? You know, we're all back together. You know, a team once more. Yeah. I mean, I heard about your sister. It felt like I had to come. Thanks. I heard that you were in town and, well, you didn't say hi. But I guess that's not really surprising. But what I'm trying to say is that I'm surprised you're here. Yeah, well, you sounded desperate, so. Hope is missing, Doran. These other two, they came of their own volition. They came quickly and the first thing they did was find me and we're going to find Hope together. You're in? Yeah, I'm in. Good. We can go sit down though. Just while we're here, Modred, I heard you want refills in the juice at all before we can sit down. Oh, I'm sorry. One juice. You know, I might have to go in the cart later. I could use a refill. So I'll have one more. Yeah, I'll toss it out. She takes a glass, tops up the apple juice. I could use a refill, too. I hold up my now empty foam glass. The foam's all evaporated. That's impressive, honestly. I drank it. Foam. Serafina takes the glass and properly fills up a very, very liquid-filled glass. Hardly any foam. And hands it back to Dawn. Thank you. I love it when they order a drink and they get a drink. Yeah, that's usually what happens. Man, isn't it great to have the gang back together again, guys? Oh, love it. Just friendships everywhere. It's good to see you, too, Clawboy. Shall we go sit down and... Yeah, let's go sit down. Here, Mordred, why don't you go in? What's this place right here? Walk over to a booth, sit down, so I'm by the wall. I gesture at my newly-found friends again. So you're all sitting in a booth. Yeah. There's this kind of palpable tension in the air, not just between Serafina and Doran, though I would be lying if I didn't say primarily. It's been a while, and the letter is hanging over all of your heads. So, where do you think we should look for Hope? Well, um, until recently, I really didn't have much of an idea. I've been searching around town, told the boys that nothing in the general store, in the forest nearby, the park, any of our old places, but I found out that around the time Hope went missing, so did that old time druid. That guy? That weird guy from our childhood? Weird? Weird? He wasn't weird. He was psychotic. Weird includes psychotic. He summoned a giant ferret. I liked that ferret. That was a good guy. It was for sure kooky. Well, it's the only lead I have currently, and I don't know what else to go off of, so it's what we have to work with. Well, I think... Of course it is. I think I still know how to get in there. We could go to where he lives. That would be really good. Also, Doran, you probably noticed when you came in, but there's a wall, a fence around town, and that was established shortly after Hope went missing, and I guess now the druid went missing. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were. Hey, Mortimer, you know the time druid, right? You know that guy? Yeah, he did teach me the early stuff, and he did drop me off with the first circle I stayed with, but to be honest, he wasn't like the rest of them. The stuff that I really learned from him was just kind of off the wall, not traditional druid grove traditions and stuff, and how to do magic. So that wasn't just druid stuff. That was just a weird guy. That's not just how druids are? He was a druid for sure, but not like any other that I've ever seen. I can't quite put my finger on it, but he is druidic, but he's no druid like everybody else I've ever met, to be honest, after. Well, maybe we can find him. I remember when we were young, I don't know if you guys remember this, but we found his house in the forest. This weird stone house. Oh, man, those are good memories. Hey, Jordan, do you remember that? Yeah. Yes, Idaho. I remember that. I remember that very well. That was also my first day of school, when I met you guys for the first time. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Those were such good times. Good, good, good times. Those were not good times. Hey, any day where I get a couple more friends is a good time to me. It's also the day I met Sprinkles. There were some good things, and there were some bad things. Yeah. I don't think we can just focus on one and negate the other. I don't think it really matters. At this point, Doran is fully pouting, like literally grinding his teeth and staring at his beard. Well... Doran, I'm sorry. I sense that I've misstepped here. And I want to buy you a drink. I'm sorry. I'll take your drink. But I don't need your apology. Let's just figure out what we're going to do. Okay, I go to the bar to order him an orange juice. I was about to say the usual. Seraphina's literally sitting down behind you. Yeah, I want to get an orange juice for him. The vitamin C really can't be overstated. Coming right up, and Seraphina walks up to the bar, pours an orange juice, and walks back to the booth she was sitting at with you, and puts the orange juice in front of Doran. She does charge Idaho. This one's not in the house. Hold out your hand. Thank you. Thank you for that. How much is an orange juice? Two coppers. I put in three copper. Thank you, Idaho. I didn't realize you were such a good tipper. Thank you, Idaho. This is great. This will really help me with the scurvy. I appreciate that. When the smallest increment of your money is When the drink is only two of the smallest increment, it's hard to not tip a lot if you want to tip. I think Seraphina does just think that's your normal behavior. You tip 50%. Anyway, I know it's not your favorite place, Doran, but maybe we should check it out. I think it could be a good idea. You can still get us in, right, Morges? Oh yeah, I know that place. Oh yeah, I know that place like the back of my hand. I really don't see where else to start, so why don't we check it out? Sure. Fine. Maybe he can help. Doran, can I ask you something? Is it the druid you don't want to meet again, or is it the temple you don't want to go to again? Oh, I guess it's frankly, I should have killed that druid a long time ago. Well, I'm glad you didn't. We learned at the academy that murder is generally frowned upon. Yeah, I learned about that too. Is that a standard cut? What? For you, like the hair, is that a standard cut to all of them? Yeah. I lean down to show him the hole in my hair, and I go, well, it symbolizes a halo. It's a very divine thing. It lets us kind of get closer to the gods. And I think this is very stylish, you know? I'm going to pull out my notepad, and I'm going to flip through it to find a page of a vulture that's been drawn by me that has no hair on the top, and I'm like, like that. It's actually like that, and vultures are pretty stylish. That is an uncanny resemblance. Well, on a lighter note, keeping it fresh, shall we head tomorrow? It's getting pretty late. Is it like, if I look at it, is it nighttime? It's like nighttime, and you know Idaho's already had one orange juice, and you've had two apple juices. I want to go back and say hi to Mom. I'm buzzing. I'm on a sugar high. Let's hit the night. We'll head to the weird forest temple first thing tomorrow. Yeah. We could even meet up at the school. Yeah. We could do that. Sure. Why not? Sweet. You all go home. All right, everybody. The team is back. You all go to sleep for the night. You wake up in the morning. Some of you various different times. I imagine Idaho's up early. I imagine Doran's up late. I continued drinking after everyone left. So I would have had to have served you. I like to think I went home to my big empty mansion and drank alone. I also don't think Seraphina's been sleeping well, because it's the home that her and Hope share. So I imagine that she also would not be very well rested. Probably hasn't been for a while. Some of you wake up early. Some of you wake up late. Some of you, namely Seraphina, might not get much sleep at all. And Mordred, honestly, you have a great sleep. You're back on the farm with your mom. I see how my luck is with the horses nowadays. Oh, they all hate you still. I figured. Just pure hatred emanating from these horses when you're around. It's not the animals like me, it's just these animals fucking hate me. The animals that know you. Just the ones in the farm. I'm sure there's a few horses that have been taught hatred. You know, violence behests violence. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Yeah, I know. I wake up, do the Morton chores with Ma, and I head out. Hell yeah. You do the chores with Ma. You do Big Kiss. She talks to you and asks about a whole bunch of things that probably won't make it into the podcast, so I won't bother going into them. But she's very loving, and she's just missed you. And she's happy that you're doing well. And you head back out to that full stomping ground. And you all meet at about the same time at the end of things, after Idaho's done his morning routine. Mordred do chores, and Seraphina does. Once you show up as well. And you all go to where there used to be a school, and now there's just a placard saying, in memoriam, the high school. Man, they really, do they not have any more kids? It's kind of weird they never rebuilt it. I guess they're sitting here. I don't really know why they never made a new one. The neighboring town's close enough, I guess. I guess if they're not having any more kids, they don't need to do it. But Hope would have needed to go to high school. Eventually, yeah. Maybe she went to high school. How old is she now? Hope's 11. Hope's a brilliant young girl, but she couldn't have skipped all the way to high school. Well, let's maybe we can hope, and then be pleasantly surprised, perhaps. I really don't think she's at high school right now. Seraphina, I know she's not at high school, but you know, and please, I promise you I don't mean this in any kind of facetious way, but don't give up hope, right? That's the first step to anything, right? And if you're not willing to look forward to the bright side of what could happen, what's the point of doing it in the first place? Quick question, Idaho. If you tried really hard, do you think you could be any softer than you are right now? I know that at least he has a heart and can feel emotions for his friends, like concern. Yeah, that's nice. It is. It's really nice. It is, isn't it? Thank you, guys. This is really nice. No, but we're not talking about me right now. I want to talk about you, Seraphina. Seraphina, it's really important to me that we find hope, and I just think it's really important that we go into it thinking that good things can happen. I do appreciate it. I hear how I'm sounding right now, so I'm going to stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know. My mom decided on the name before she passed in childbirth, and I think it's kind of fitting for her, but it's a common word. I understand. I know you're not trying to be facetious. I get it. But I appreciate it. To his credit, I don't think he's capable of being facetious, so probably in the clear on that one. Yeah, I think we should really skedaddle towards where the druid used to live. I hate to say it, but I agree. Okay. Can I try to find the clearing that we found as kids, or just the general direction that I've been through, presumably? You've walked so much on that path that it turned from a deer trail to an actual path, so I'm going to say that the path now has probably returned to a deer trail at most, but you've walked up and down it so many times, you know its location. You know it. It takes you right up that mountain. You walk up to the pair of old doors. Surrounding the doors, the steel is teal stone, slightly protruding from the mountain. It looks dirty, and as though perhaps even a small rock slide or dirt slide has covered up a fair amount, but it's still easily able to be entered. With a 15 investigation check, I will say you do note tracks, but the only tracks that you note appear to be going into the doors, not out of. Can I walk up to the door and see if there's any like druid runes or something, like anything written? There isn't. Alright, I'm going to just try to open that door then. Oh yeah. You open the door, and as it creeps open, you see inside this place, Mordred, that you've been to not a hundred times, but tens of times. A cozy interior with some cool doors that lead off to antechambers, and one other door in the back that you all feel the ominous presence coming from, and Doran, you in particular know this door all too well. Doran, you alright? Are you okay? You've kind of caught your breath here. Do you guys feel that? I feel something. There's something coming from behind that door, right? Yeah. Do you guys notice that? Uh, yeah. Is that the room from the first time we were here that he took you into? Yeah, that's the one. Doran, I don't... It seems like you're reliving a moment here. I want to ask you, if Hope ran off and ended up here in this temple, would she be safe from what you... Because you know this place more intimately than we do. Well, aside from maybe Mordred. I don't know if there's been behind those doors. Safe is... Safe is really a matter of speaking, isn't it? I mean... She's more likely to see something she shouldn't than, I guess, be physically harmed. I guess he wouldn't kill her. But, because you saw something that you shouldn't have seen back there when we were kids, right? Yeah. Okay, so she's probably not dead. You know better than anyone that people can live through things that would make them want to be. Maybe she's at high school. You know, it might not be this. I don't think she's at high school. Without going to high school... She's not at fucking high school, choir boy. I'm sure she's safe. I can understand the sentiment. Let's just... I appreciate the sentiment that you think you guys think that she's safe, but I'm going inside that fucking door and, Doran, I don't ask that you come with me. But I have to go into that door and I have to find hope. It's not up for debate. You can join me. You don't have to. But I have to go through it. I don't see what he could do to me now. I'm not going to let you go in there. I want to blow a spell slot and I want to cast protection from evil and good. Okay, what does that do? It's going to be for ten minutes until the spell ends. One willing creature you touch is protected against aberrations, celestials, elementals, fae, fiends, and undead. And it goes on to describe what that protection means. I think I'm just saying a prayer. Clearly Idaho is misstepping a little bit in these conversations and wants to feel like he's actually being helpful in some way so I think I'm going to cast it on Seraphina. If you are willing to receive this. Do I, would I feel anything? I think because we're going heavy on the choir motif here, I think I I I I I No, no, no, hold on. I kind of gesture towards Seraphina and I go, Seraphina I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I