Rialla leads the party through the forest, trusting in the trees as instructed by Rey’s journal. One wrong move could be dangerous, but it turns out the trees are the least of the group’s worries.
The group travels upstream, and as they get beyond the clearing the woods once again become unearthly silent. Following the trees, which seem to point the way, they find a stone bridge that allows them to cross the fast-moving river.
As they continue deeper into the woods, the air becomes cloying and the trees now grow too close to continue with the cart. Unhitching Bessie, Eight gives it a forlorn pat before leaving it behind. Trying to disregard the tricks of the forest, Rialla discovers the group is being watched. Her attempts at diplomacy are ruined when Arthas charges in to protect her.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Cole @ColeMorreale and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends [00:28]
Mysterious music begins [00:30]
Dax: So last we had left off, the group had packed up all of their belongings. They had found a journal filled with notes, supposedly directions to lead them out of this forest. The words in the journal said, “The trees know the forest well. Trusting them will lead you out.” And there was a little drawing accompanied by it, an image of a bridge over the river. You all headed upstream, away from the direction you had originally come from when you arrived at the cabin. Other than a copy of what was in the journal, you have left everything as you found it, rotting and covered in dust. You passed the gravestones as you get farther away from the cabin, and after a while, the sound of birds die down. And you are once again surrounded by the unearthly stillness of this forest. What are each of you doing, as you head upstream?
Neil: Searching every tree that I can get my eyes on for a clue.
Dax: Roll me a Perception check and you can roll it at Medium difficulty.
Neil: A Success and a Failure.
Dax: Okay, so those two cancel out. So it sounds like it’s a wash.
Neil: Darn.
Dax: So, you’re looking around and you in particular don’t notice anything different about these trees. They all are tall and their canopy keeps the area around you dark. But nothing seems different about them.
Cole: I think that I am just listening, I have my eyes closed and I’m focusing.
Dax: What are you focusing on?
Cole: We’ve been told that the trees know the way out and I’m seeing if I can hear them. Or feel them. I don’t know how they communicate.
Dax: Rialla, would you make me a Survival check at Medium difficulty?
Cole: Two Successes and a Boost, illustrious DM.
Dax: Two Successes and an Advantage?
Cole: Yes.
Dax: Okay. So you’ve got your eyes closed, and you’re walking, I would imagine, relatively slowly through the forest. Being careful not to trip over any errant branches or rocks. That unearthly silence is choking, almost. As if it’s making you feel a little claustrophobic. It’s very close, and something, you’re not really sure what, but something nags at you and gnaws at you and tells you to open your eyes. And the first thing you see when you open your eyes is a tree and that tree has a jagged opening. The closer you look at it, the longer you stare, you realize that jagged opening almost looks like a face. And it looks oddly happy. It has a single branch pointing across the river.
Cole: I look it over and I smile back.
Dax: Jokul, are you doing anything?
James: Just kind of riding along, keeping an eye on everybody else, but not saying anything. Just like, looking, inspecting all the trees, making sure there’s nothing around us. But he’s not, er I’m not really paying attention to like what the trees are saying. The whole experience at the cabin, he’s not having a good time right now.
Dax: Okay. So kind of keeping watch almost?
Cole: I also think that, I think I’m going to pull an empty vial out of my pouch and I’m going to pour some water into it. I’m going to tuck that into the roots as an offering, give a bow and walk in the direction of the branch.
Dax: Okay. So if you walk in the direction of the branch, you are going to walk right into the river.
Cole: Is there a bridge nearby? And how close is the river? Because I’m walking in that direction, obviously waiting.
Dax: So the river is probably about ten feet from where you are currently standing. No, the cabin was relatively close to the edge of the river.
Cole: So then, I still leave the offering because thank you, tree. I want to close my eyes and see if I can find the next tree.
Dax: Okay. I’m not going to make you make another Survival check. You have your eyes closed, are you still walking forward? Or are you standing still?
Cole: Standing for a moment until I feel a nagging feeling again. Walking maybe slowly forward, actually.
Dax: So, you walk forward maybe a little further, and maybe about five to ten steps, you feel that nagging feeling again as you stop. And that nagging feeling is very much on the right side of your head. You open your eyes and you look to the right and you see another tree. This tree is pointing, has a single branch pointing back the way you came. And it also has a jagged opening. This opening is very gnarled, as if the mouth were agape in a very large scream. The knots above the opening almost look like wide frightened eyes.
Cole: I want to go over to the tree. Is there anything alien? Does it look sick? Is there something stuck in its roots?
Dax: Nope. It does not look any different than the tree you last saw, other than the structure of the opening.
Cole: I put my hand to it and touch the bark and I listen.
Dax: You still hear silence. You get the nagging feeling that you should go away from the tree. But other than that, you hear and feel nothing.
Wren: Upon seeing Rialla stopping, first at one tree and then stopping and scanning, and then walking slowly down the river for a bit, or stream, and stopping and paying a large amount of attention to this tree, I will stomp my way up behind and regard the same tree that she is lingering on. I will ask,
Wren (as Eight): Rialla, is something the matter?
Cole (as Rialla): Just a touch confused. I, have you felt anything?
Wren (as Eight): You know I do not feel much of anything.
Cole (as Rialla): That tree is pointing that way. This one is pointing back the way I came. And also this one looks frightened. But I don’t know if anything’s wrong with it.
Wren: I take a step back and look at the tree. Note the single branch and follow the path it is tracing in the air, and take a look at the other tree that you pointed to.
Wren (as Eight): Oh! I suppose I should be paying more attention to the trees. I did not realize that they can smile and frown. Is this normal?
Cole (as Rialla): No.
Wren (as Eight): Oh. Perhaps… Hmm, wait a minute. [clicks tongue] We were supposed to follow the trees, yes?
Cole (as Rialla): Mhmm.
Wren (as Eight): Perhaps…
Wren: And I run back a ways to the other tree and look at the other tree. I call over to you,
Wren (as Eight): This one appears happy.
Cole (as Rialla): It does.
Wren (as Eight): But that one appears sad.
Cole (as Rialla): That one points directly to the river. So we shouldn’t go that way.
Wren (as Eight): I see. Perhaps the smiling tree knows the way to go.
Cole (as Rialla): There’s not a way across though.
Wren (as Eight): There’s always a way across.
Wren: DM, how deep is the river?
Cole: Isn’t it 100 feet wide?
Dax: Yeah, it’s huge and it’s moving relatively fast.
Neil: I could walk that.
Cole: Everyone jump on Arthas.
Dax: I mean, if you would like to try, you’re more than welcome. But I will offer anybody who would like to, to roll an Intelligence check, or an Intellect check.
Cole: Me! Please! [laughs]
Wren: Me! I’m good at that!
Cole: I’m also good at that!
Neil: I’m not but god, I can try.
James: I’m not, and I’m staying out of it for that reason.
Cole: Just a straight Intelligence, a green?
Dax: Yeah, just go ahead and roll your Intellect. No difficulties.
Cole: That’s three Successes.
Neil: A single Advantage.
Wren: One Success and three Advantages for Eight.
Dax: One of the things you saw in the journal was that there was a drawing of a bridge across the river. So you are still more than welcome to roll across, to try and walk across the river.
Cole: I asked if there was a bridge.
Dax: Yeah, you didn’t see one right in the near vicinity.
Cole: Oh!
Dax: But in my introduction, I did say that the two -
Neil: Ohhhh -
Dax: Things you copied over from the journal were a drawing of a bridge over the river.
Cole: And the trees know the forest well! Okay, well, I want to walk to the bridge then. [scoffs] Fucking idiot!!
Dax: [holding back laughter] So you keep walking upstream -
Cole: God!
Dax: And eventually you do see a bridge [laughs].
Neil: Yeah, but being dumb is on brand for me. I don’t know what your guys’ excuse is.
Cole: I don’t, I missed something apparently. And like, I have it here in my notes, but I just zoned in on “haaa, it’s a puzzle! We’re going to talk to trees!”. And of course, my hippie brain was like ‘that’s a great idea! Why wouldn’t you talk to trees?’.
Wren: The bridge!
Cole: Wow. Wow. Wow.
Dax: It’s fine.
Cole: No, it’s cool. [chuckles] Mocking us!
Dax: You have to have a little fun.
[laughter]
Cole: That’s true. Well, I’ll let you have it.
Dax: You continue upstream after running into those two trees. And you do eventually see a bridge. It’s a decently sized bridge, probably could fit two people side-by-side across. It’s made completely of stone and seems to be in pretty good shape, all things considered. There are no roads that lead up to it or, from what you can tell on this side of the river, none that lead past it. But at the very least you have a way across.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, well perfect! A fine piece of architecture for us all to cross.
Cole: So, okay though. Like, how stable does this look? Are we just going to be holding Arthas’s hand while he crosses the river barefoot or like, can it hold an 11-foot tall giant?
Wren: I’m already crossing. [chuckles] I take Bessie and I just kind of start pulling on the lead and clomp ahead.
Wren (as Eight): The bridge! Just like in the picture that you mentioned.
Wren: And I just kind of put my hand on the banister on the far side. I’m assuming it’s like a cobblestone bridge or some nonsense, and I just start stomping across.
Dax: Yeah, it’s one of those, you got like two steps to lead up above the level of the river. Probably in case it floods and goes a little bit over the bank, and then it’s flat stone all the way across. The edging around it is probably only a foot high. So there really are no handholds.
Wren: Oooo. Alright, well, I link Bessie up and I turn around and wave to everyone.
Wren (as Eight): Come on, everybody! We can cross the bridge from here.
Wren: And I just keep going.
Cole: As we were walking to this bridge, I definitely would have, I’m like right by Jokul. Probably like arm-in-arm, and we cross together and hope, I have my fingers crossed. Like, in my pocket. Hoping that Arthas doesn’t put his foot through the bridge before we get to the other side.
Neil (as Arthas): I feel as if I should huck my club across before I go, to try and lighten this load some.
Wren (as Eight): I’m sure the bridge can carry you. It’s doing fine for Bessie and myself.
James (as Jokul): I’m sure throwing your sword would just risk damaging the bridge before we get across it. Might be wise to use it as a walking stick, test it.
Neil (as Arthas): Also fair.
Neil: Alright DM, I’m going to start trying to get across this as carefully as possible.
Dax: So please tell me, how does carefully as possible? Are you doing a specific posture? Are you just going really slow? Please tell us what you mean by ‘carefully as possible’.
Neil: I suppose slow, as if I’m trying to be quiet across the bridge, as if that’s going to make it somehow more structurally sound. I don’t know, but it certainly feels like it might.
Dax: Please tell me, is Arthas doing T-rex pose as he goes across the river? [laughs]
Neil: A little bit.
Dax: You take your time and you make it across the bridge just fine. Every single one of you are now on the other side of the river, and it is just as unearthly silent and still as it was on the other side.
Cole: Are we in a clearing? Is it more trees?
Dax: So you get on the other side of this river and there is a little bit of an area that is open, similar to the other side, close to the river. Almost just before you would get to the banks, and then after that, it is all thick trees. Just like on the other side. It’s almost as if, if you weren’t paying attention, you would not really realize that you’d actually crossed a bridge.
Wren (as Eight): I wonder friends, who do you suppose built this bridge? There seems to be nothing in here for miles around yet, there is a sturdy, well-built bridge of high-quality stone seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Cole (as Rialla): No idea. The only people that we saw out here are gone now so…
Wren (as Eight): Yes. That is strange. Ooo, I suppose we should look for some more smiling trees!
Cole: I walk forward. I feel like I’m pulling Jokul along at this point.
Dax: Okay.
Cole: Because I kind of have my eyes closed and I’m walking, so I assume that he will move me out of the way of a tree.
James: Yeah. Like, if you’re doing mystical mumbo-jumbo, he’s just kind of following you like, grab you by the scruff of your neck, like ‘No that’s a cliff. No, that’s a tree’. Like, just doing that steering you by the shoulders at random intervals. I imagine Rialla’s got like a hood. So there’s plenty of material fabric right there to grab, like aha!
Cole: I’m listening to the trees. Would you like me to roll a Survival check? [laughing]
Dax: No.
Cole: Okay, cool thanks.
Dax: You walk closer to the woods and you’re looking back and forth and you do find a tree. A single branch pointing straight ahead from the bridge. The face again, wide open almost as if it was smiling. The knots formed in such a way as if their eyes were looking joyous.
Cole: I give it a gentle pat and follow.
Wren (as Eight): You found another smiley tree! Excellent! Yes, very smiley. Perfect. We’re going this way, Arthas!
Wren: And I just point idly and -
Cole: I’m surprised Eight hasn’t yelled ‘look for the smiling trees!’.
Neil (as Arthas): Did the tree tell you to go this way?
Wren (as Eight): The tree told someone to go this way.
Cole (as Rialla): I don’t know, it’s smiling and pointing in a direction so just don’t follow the frowning trees.
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmm. Don’t like that. But I will follow the direction.
Neil: And I’ll start trucking.
Cole: These trees are like redwoods, right? Like they’re taller than Arthas?
Dax: They’re huge, yeah.
Cole: Okay, alright cool. Just, I suddenly had a picture of us in the forest but it’s like a panned out view. And all you can see through the canopy is Arthas. [laughs] Because 11 feet is just not comprehensible to me but…
Dax: The trees are tall enough where if Arthas wants to see over the canopy, he’s going to have to climb over them. Or, climb up them. So you head into the forest and the woods around you become closer. The air becomes more cloying, and you start to notice that the farther you go in, the harder it is to move the cart.
Cole: I go to look at what we have in the cart and I, if there’s anything I can carry on my person, I take that. Is Bessie having a hard time? I imagine Bessie’s okay.
Dax: Bessie’s fine.
Cole: Is there anything we can’t carry in the cart? I don’t remember what we have in the cart.
Dax: I don’t think so. I mean, you guys would have just had your backpacks and things in there. It’s not like you are carrying major items.
Cole: Yeah, I didn’t think so. Yeah, I just take my stuff and put it on.
Dax: Okay.
Cole: And I’m ready to ditch the cart.
Wren (as Eight): Are we abandoning the cart?
Cole (as Rialla): Unless you want to fight with it for the rest of the way.
Neil (as Arthas): It belongs to the forest now.
Cole (as Rialla): It probably won’t last very long, considering.
Wren (as Eight): I suppose it’s fair. It’s made of wood, therefore we return it to the woods.
Cole (as Rialla): It’s the perfect end, really.
Wren (as Eight): Okay. Everyone take your things, I guess. And we will abandon this cart and all the memories that it holds along with it. Goodbye, cart. It was nice traveling with you.
Wren: And I give a forlorn pat with a giant gauntleted hand on the far end of the wooden frame. [gets emotional] I sniffle.
Wren (as Eight): I will miss you, cart.
Dax: I’m going to guess you’re going to take your cauldron. It’s probably the biggest thing in the cart.
Wren: Yes. That’s my pot. I would never abandon it.
Cole: God I kind of wish Eight would wear it as a hat, but I think it’s too big for that. We abandon the cart, and I, yeah I’m keeping an eye open for smiley trees. Because we like those in this house.
Dax: Make a Survival check again, Medium difficulty.
Wren: Did you say it was getting darker?
Dax: I said that the woods were closing in. They’re getting, the trees are growing much closer together, the air is feeling thicker and very, almost claustrophobic.
Wren: Gotcha.
Cole: That is one Success.
Dax: You abandon the cart, and the group of you continue on straight forward as you had been. The trees continue to get closer and closer. The canopy is, as thick as they are, make the sky above you darker and darker. It’s getting hard to see the trees. But you manage to find another face. This one, the branches are all hanging low and there seems to be a small pool in amidst the roots at the base. The jagged opening is turned down, and the knots are very elongated.
Cole: So, it’s elongated. So does it look like it’s crying? Does it look like a weeping willow?
Dax: Yes.
Cole: Okay.
Dax: It does.
Wren (as Eight): This tree looks sad.
Wren: I would like to light my torch because I cannot reliably use magic.
Cole: Oh that’s smart.
Dax: Alright, so you’re going to light a torch? Okay.
Wren: Lantern.
Dax: Lantern. Right, you’re going to light the lantern.
Wren: It looks like the one that’s on our logo.
Neil: Good tie-in, good tie-in.
Cole: I was just about to say that. [laughs]
Dax: So you light this lantern.
Wren: Shining it on the tree, casting a shadow down the face, across the elongated knots and down its downturned visage. Question, is there liquid coming from the eyes of this tree?
Dax: It appears so. And as you lean in a little closer as you’re inspecting this tree, you see that it’s not so much water, but sap. And the pool at the bottom is a viscous puddle of tree sap.
Cole: Can I, oh, no I don’t want to do magic. I’ve had feeling from the trees before, so I do want to see if I can close my eyes and try and hone in on that again? To see if it’s in pain? The other one wanted us to go away, does this one like [meows]. That’s what trees sound like. They told me so.
Dax: What did I have you do, Survival?
Cole: Yes.
Dax: Go ahead and do that again. Arthas and Jokul, please roll me Vigilance.
Cole: Two Advantages.
Dax: Okay.
Neil: Two Successes and an Advantage.
James: Do we get our Heightened Awareness back and forth? Since…
Wren: Eight also has it.
Dax: Okay, and you rolled your boost right, the blue die?
Neil: I did not. With my blue die, it’s two Successes and two Advantages.
Dax: And Jokul?
James: Do we get the stacking d8 or d6s boost from Eight giving it to me and me giving it to other people?
Dax: Yeah.
James: Huzzah. Oh my gerd. I have four Advantages and one Success.
Dax: Okay. I’ll keep those two rolls in mind. Rialla, you put your hand against this tree and at first you don’t feel anything. But then something tells you to look down. You see your face reflected in the sap, which is unusual considering first of all, sap generally doesn’t puddle at the base of trees. And second of all, it’s usually not as reflective as this. It looks almost like you’re looking into a mirror.
Cole: I put my hand to it.
Dax: To the mirror? Well, the water, sap, whatever it is.
Cole: Yeah.
Dax: You reach down and just before your fingertips touch the surface, you see another face behind you. It’s that of Bran.
Cole: Oh. I’m not phased. I know the forest is playing tricks on me.
Dax: You stand there, staring at the other face. The forest is playing tricks on you. It has to be, it’s been doing it this whole time.
Cole: Mhmm.
Dax: And then you hear it.
Dax (as Bran): [raspy voice] I’ve been waiting for you, Rialla. I’m so glad you could have joined me. I’ll be waiting for you and this time you won’t escape.
Cole: I want to close my eyes and focus on my feet on the ground. I’m going to grab at my cloak and focus on that touch and then I open my eyes again. Is he still there?
Dax: No.
Cole: I touch the mirror.
Dax: Your finger goes through it. It’s sticky.
Cole: I punch my hand through, I’m literally just like..
Dax: It’s almost gives a little resistance.
Cole: Okay.
Dax: Your fingertips, as they touch the surface, give just the slightest resistance because this is so viscous. It’s not water, and as you move your fingers ever so slightly away from the surface, it’s, your fingertips are sticky. It’s just tree sap.
Cole: Looking down, it’s not a mirror anymore?
Dax: It’s still very reflective, yes.
Cole: Okay.
Dax: But it’s just tree sap to the touch.
Cole: I want to think to the tree,
Cole (as Rialla): Was that a trick you played?
Dax: You get no response.
Cole: I give it a pat and stand back up and looking around, it’s just my companions?
Dax: Mhmm. All of you see Rialla turn around and Rialla, what do they see?
Cole: Puzzled, a little nervous, but thinking. Thoughtful. Looking around.
Neil (as Arthas): You look distressed.
Cole (as Rialla): Just the forest playing tricks again.
Wren (as Eight): Friends, did you know that if you boil sap, it can make syrup?
Wren: And I just scoop a bunch with my finger, just like [makes a fart noise].
Cole (as Rialla): Are you sure that you want sap from this forest, though?
Wren (as Eight): Well, why not?
Cole (as Rialla): I mean..
Cole: Looking around..
Cole (as Rialla): Lots of weird things have happened and it might not be safe for consumption, no?
Wren (as Eight): I can judge that.
Wren: And I just put my finger in my mouth and scrape the syrup off into my mouth and just kind of hold it there. Because I can test for poisons. I’d like to do that [laughs].
[Cole laughs incredulously]
Cole: NO! What are you doing?
Wren: So, so my culinary savant ability, if I put something in my mouth, I can make a Medicine check with a difficulty assigned by the GM, to identify any impurities or effects that it might have. If it even matters.
Dax: Yeah.
Wren: Because if it’s literally just tree sap, then [chuckles]. There’s no need to make a check.
James (as Jokul): I think what Rialla’s getting at is it’s not poisoned physically. Magically, it might be tainted.
Neil (as Arthas): I’ll be the judge of that Jokul.
Neil: And I’d like to mirror Eight’s exact actions.
Dax: Arthas, you imitate Eight. And as you stick your finger in your mouth, you get this somewhat sweet taste. It’s very sticky, very [smacks lips]. It’s not sugary, it’s slightly sweet. But other than that, nothing much to it. Eight, you put this same sap in your mouth and you don’t detect anything unusual. The impurities you would taste are those naturally found in the sap itself. Those, you know, dirt and other things that would have been caught in the puddle as it sat there for who knows how long. Maybe a bug.
Wren: Excellent. I will take a jar and I will scoop a little of it into a jar and just tuck that away in my bag for later boiling.
Neil (as Arthas): See, perfectly fine.
Neil: I say as I spit out a bug.
Wren (as Eight): Yes, nothing hazardous at all.
James: To be fair, we asked for this when you labeled us with the group mom and dad title.
Cole: Yeah, looking around, I’m going to try and find another smiley tree.
Dax: So I won’t have you make another Survival check. I will say that you look around and you do see one tree, looking… the knots are turned downward, almost as if in a scowl. The opening is very wide and the breaks almost look like jagged teeth. And the branch points straight ahead.
Cole: Well, fuck. I don’t want to follow that one.
Dax: As you continue to look around, you do see off in the distance, another tree. You do see another opening, but from this distance you can’t tell what the design is or where it’s pointing.
Cole: Is it far from where I’m standing?
Dax: Probably about 30 to 35 feet.
Cole (as Rialla): Stay right here. I’m going to go look at a tree over there. I just don’t want to forget where we were. Okay?
Wren (as Eight): Do you need a light?
Wren: I hold out the lantern and it jingles a little bit as I shift with it.
Cole (as Rialla): That’s probably a smart, well no I should, you should keep it so then I can find you.
Wren (as Eight): Okay! We’ll just stay here.
Cole (as Rialla): Okay, I’ll be back. I can see in the dark.
Cole: Off I go! I’m constantly looking back to make sure I can see the lantern.
Dax: Rialla, can you make me a Vigilance check at Easy difficulty?
Cole: That is a Triumph and four Successes and one Threat.
Dax: You walk closer to this tree, and you see it is indeed another one of the happy trees. It is pointing northwest of where you currently are. You go to turn to face back towards your companions and you hear a snap of a twig behind you. Now, what would you like to use your Triumph for?
Cole: Could I use it to ask for guidance from Baradesh because she loves me, maybe? And if not, can I notice something around me about the trees? Those are my two. Is there? Okay, tell me about the trees.
Dax: I’ll give you the second one. You turn to face your companions, and you hear this snap behind you. And as you make a sideways glance, your body not moving, you notice there is an arrow lodged in the base of the tree to your left.
Cole: My hand slowly goes for the dagger on my hip.
Dax (as the stranger): [imitating a British voice] You get any closer to that dagger, and I’ll cut your throat. Put your hands up.
Cole: I put my hands up.
Dax (as the stranger): Now turn around. Slowly! We’ve got eyes on your companions.
Cole: I do as she says.
Dax: When you turn around, you see a figure. Hooded, their face from their cheekbones down covered by a mask. They’re covered head to toe in leather armor, an arrow notched in a bow, the stone head pointed right at your face.
Cole (as Rialla): We don’t mean to cause any trouble.
Dax (as the stranger): What are you doing wandering in the forest?
Cole (as Rialla): Trying to find a way out.
Dax (as the stranger): How did you get in here in the first place?
Cole (as Rialla): We are on our way to Kidohlva, and the path that we were on led us to here. We were told to follow the trees.
Dax: Their head moves ever so slightly. Make a Negotiation check, at Hard difficulty and upgrade it once.
Cole: Oh, god! I’m not even lying!
Dax: This person doesn’t know that.
Cole: That is two Successes, and a Threat.
Dax: You see this person nod towards your companions.
Dax (as the stranger): Walk slowly back there. You can turn around as you do so.
Cole: I do turn around, but I kind of keep my hands outside of my cloak a little bit.
Dax: Okay. You don’t hear anything behind you. Out of curiosity, Eight, Arthas, and Jokul, were any of you watching?
James: Yeah. Rialla, well, Jokul definitely would have been keeping an eye on the direction that Rialla wandered off into.
Dax: Alright. So you would have seen Rialla come up to this tree, stop, look around and then suddenly put her hands up. You would have seen her turn away from you for a little bit and then seen her walk back.
Neil: If Jokul wasn’t near me right now, I would be making a move for her as quickly as I could.
Dax: Now, Arthas and Jokul, you two had rolled Vigilance earlier. As you see Rialla turn her back towards you, you hear behind you on both sides
Dax (as a second stranger): [imitating a British voice] If you make a move towards her, you’re dead. All of you.
Neil: Was it literally all around me or a point near me?
Dax: Do you just stand there and watch as Rialla has this interaction in the distance? Do you trust the voice? What do you do?
Neil: Do I have an idea as to where it came from?
Dax: Every single one of you heard it. But it was loudest near you and Jokul. Off to your left.
Neil: I would like to charge that.
Music shifts to tense violin music [32:45]
Dax: You want to turn and charge?
Neil: Oh god, yeah.
Dax: Okay. Roll me a Cool check straight.
Neil: Success and an Advantage.
Dax: Jokul, Eight, you do the same.
James: Yeah. Triumph and an Advantage.
Wren: Two Success and an Advantage.
Dax: Alright, so here’s the deal. It’s going to be NPC slot, and then 3 PC slots. Arthas decided to charge.
Cole: Since I was already kind of engaged, is this a Cool check? Since I’m not…
Dax: You’re not involved.
Cole: Oh, I thought we were all rolling. Just kidding.
Dax: Oh nope. This is just for the three of them because this is happening while you’re talking, while you had your back towards the group.
Wren: Dammit, giant.
Neil: Someone threatened me, it was their first mistake.
Wren: Yep, I know.
Dax: So Arthas, you are charging and as you do so, you hear a thump. What’s your Soak, Arthas?
Neil: Four.
Dax: You are going to take 7 points of damage as an arrow strikes you in the shoulder.
Neil: Gotcha. I’m still standing.
Dax: PC slot, whoever wants to go.
James: You just got hit with an arrow? Well, that’s all yours man.
Wren: Right, you started it, you can go first.
Neil: I would like to crush whatever shot an arrow at me.
Dax: So as you’re charging into the direction, you run further and further into the forest line. You don’t see anything at first, until you suddenly see a figure standing in and amongst the shadows. Covered from head to toe in leather, their head covered by a hood and only their eyes above their cheekbones visible, in the midst of trying to notch another arrow to their bow.
Neil: Better yet, I’m going to tackle them.
Dax: You want to tackle? Okay! Okay, so..
Neil: I got a Success and 3 Advantages.
Dax: I have no idea how to do just straight melee damage. Brawn plus Successes? And you have what, four Brawn?
Neil: Four Brawn.
Dax: Alright, so four Brawn plus one Success. That’s five damage. Alright, so that’ll be three damage. So you run into this individual and you tackle them to the ground. For you, of your size, that’s not that hard. This poor petite-ish person falls to the ground. PC slot.
Wren: Jokul, you can go next because Eight literally was not paying much attention.
James: I’m imagining Jokul’s kind of like, ‘oh there’s people threatening me? Oh wait, there goes Arthas’.
Neil: Quick Jokul, people are threatening us [fades out].
James: Double check, Rialla and whoever’s with her, where’s shifty hiding dude over there with her? Has he…?
Dax: Well, you don’t see anybody with Rialla. You just see Rialla’s back towards you and her hands are up. You can’t see beyond her.
James: Oh, I thought you said she had a knife to her throat so somebody’s behind her.
Dax: Nope.
James: My bad. How fast and far did Arthas run?
Wren: [in a quiet, high-pitched voice] You can go one ranged band a turn!
Dax: Thank you.
James: Right. Right, right, right. So we’re within one ranged band of each other. So, I’ll just urge Maeve towards Rialla because obviously something ticked off Arthas. Just, ride Maeve in that direction as backup.
Dax: So you’re just going to try and do your full movement, you’re not going to take any actions at this time?
James: I don’t have a target. If I pick up a target while moving, then I might take an action. But if not, I’m going to take an action just towards Rialla.
Dax: Okay. Eight?
James: If I’m double-moving, just half a movement, look around. Nothing, keep going to Rialla.
Wren: Oh so, like a maneuver to do your move and then forfeit your action to do another maneuver to close that distance?
James: Yeah.
Wren: Whelp, good old Eight. So, Jokul just spurred Maeve. And I’m left with a sticky finger and a jingling lantern, and Arthas just bolted the other direction. I have no idea what’s going on here so I turn and I shine the light towards where Arthas ran. Just cutting through the shade of the forest. Do I see the person that he’s fighting?
Dax: You don’t see the person Arthas is fighting, because all you see is Arthas on the ground.
Wren: On the ground?
Dax: But as you are shining the lantern, you do see the slightest glint of metal.
Wren: How close to me?
Dax: It’s one range band.
Wren: Interesting. Well, that doesn’t look right. I would like to go with my maneuver towards it to have a closer look. And I will trundle off towards the glint of metal that I saw. As I draw closer, what do I see?
Dax: As you draw closer, you hear,
Dax (as a third stranger): [imitating a British voice] Stop!
Wren (as Eight): Why?
Dax (as the third stranger): If you don’t, I’ll knock you like your friend.
Wren (as Eight): Wait, what did you do?
Dax (as the third stranger): I said, stop in your tracks now.
Wren (as Eight): Did you shoot my friend?
Dax: Are you stopping or are you still walking?
Wren: I’m still walking.
Dax: Alright. [sound of dice rolling] What’s your Soak?
Wren: Let’s see. I think I was in composite plating, so five.
Dax: You’re going to take five points damage as you feel an arrow catch right in between your plating and hit your darkwood center.
Wren (as Eight): Ow.
Dax (as the third stranger): I said stop.
Wren (as Eight): Ow! Why would you? Owww.
Wren: I’ll like pull the arrow out, and I’m just going to go ahead and say my eyes go from that nice, jovial blue color and just shift dark red.
James: Activate angry iron giant.
Wren: And I would like to suffer two Strain to draw my hammer, as my second maneuver.
Dax: Your meat tenderizer?
Wren: My meat tenderizer. It’s a hammer. And I’m gonna fucking smash his face in.
Dax: Okay. You do see the same thing that Arthas and Rialla have seen. This individual from head to toe in leather. Go ahead and do your thing.
Wren: Make a Melee Light check. My Brawn is three, my Melee Light ranks are one. It’s a Melee check so two difficulty unless there’s anything else this guy or, sorry. This person has in their favor. So, I have a Failure but two Advantage left over so even though I’m not causing, I’m not actually hitting, hmmmm. With those two Advantages, I would like to, essentially as I swing this mallet, I’d like to trigger Concussive and stagger this foe.
Dax: Alright.
Wren: As my hammer connects, it doesn’t really cause damage but it leaves their head ringing as I come down with force on them.
Wren (as Eight): It is most impolite to attack folks who are lost in the woods.
Dax: Before we rotate in Rialla, roll me a Cool check. As you are finishing your conversation and you are being instructed to turn around and go back to your party members, you see that Jokul is riding off on Maeve in one direction. Arthas is running off in another direction, and you see Eight is stomping off into a third direction and engaging with another one of these individuals.
Cole: That is two Success, two Advantages.
Dax: Yes, Jokul is headed towards you. Thank you.
Cole (as Rialla): Jokul, what? What’s going on?
Dax: The NPC slot still goes first. Arthas, that’s the one that you are dealing with. You feel this individual squirming underneath you, trying to get out. If you could make me a Brawn check, Easy difficulty?
Neil: I have one Success.
Dax: This person is trying to get out from underneath you and you easily hold down one hand and then hold down the other. This person is going nowhere. PC slot. Who would like to go?
Neil: I have a plan.
James: By all means, take the first slot then.
Neil: I’m going to pick this elf up with me, I assume it’s an elf.
Dax: You don’t know yet.
Neil: And I’ll resound a, this weird sort of skinny human, and I’ll belt out,
Neil (as Arthas): This one dies if you don’t come out.
Neil: And, I’m trying to think of how much I want to ham it up.
Neil (as Arthas): I’ll grind its bones to make my bread.
Neil: As I start, I would never do it of course. But I begin to pull an arm out of its socket.
Dax: Okay! I will say, make a Deception check. Make it at Hard difficulty, but give yourself a boost die, because as you are slowly starting to pull this person’s arm away from their socket, you start to hear,
Dax (as the second stranger): AHHHHHH. Do as he says!
Neil: One Success and oh yeah, one net Success.
Dax: Eight, the person that you were dealing with, after they’re done shaking their head, they look over in the direction of Arthas. And you see them lower their weapons. Jokul, as you are nearing Rialla on Maeve, you see the person behind them, behind her originally with their bow drawn and an arrow notched. You see them start to lower, their eyes locked on yours. You, Rialla, from behind you hear,
Dax (as the first stranger): We’ve lowered our weapons.
Music shifts to a suspenseful melody [43:36]
Cole: I rush over to, is Jokul walking or on Maeve?
Dax: On Maeve.
James: Yeah, I’m in the saddle, just chain coiled around my left arm? Yes, I think I said I was left-handed.
Cole: Yeah, I come over to you and I start gesturing, like,
Cole (as Rialla): We should definitely get out of here.
Cole: Making our way back to Eight and Arthas.
Dax: Okay. Eight, you see this person lower their weapon.
Wren: My eyes are still pulsating with that bright red color and I have the hammer just clutched tightly in my fist. I realize that I have, I still have Bessie behind me as well. Probably in my other hand, still have the lead with the lantern, clutching it. I still have the hammer at the ready, and I look at this figure who lowered their bow. My eyes are furrowed, my brows are furrowed, and I almost growl at them.
Wren (as Eight): We want to leave the forest. You will show us how to escape.
Dax: Make a Negotiation check. And make it at Advantage, so one boost die, sorry. Medium difficulty.
Wren: I’d like to spend a Story Point to upgrade my second green to another yellow so I have two. Because I’m probably going to need it. That’s two Success and an Advantage left over.
Dax: The individual opens up their hands, palm up, in a supplicating gesture and starts to walk towards the rest of the group. All of you, as you’re converging back in your original location, you start to see more of these figures emerging from the shadows. Every single one of them dressed the same way. You probably are surrounded by a good 15 of these figures, from all directions. Arthas, do you release the one that you were holding?
Cole: I feel like, as I approach, because I just negotiated with that one and I see Arthas being violent. So I’m just like, I want to kind of be like,
Cole (as Rialla): Let her go! Let her go!
Neil: Before that, I was trying, remember what that knight had told me, that always have all the leverage in a situation. What with the ‘let her go’, I release my grip on its neck and its arm.
Dax: Say that again? [chuckles]
Neil: So, I want to try giving Arthas more opportunities to pick up mannerisms from the knight he was studying under.
Dax: Uh-huh.
Neil: And he seems like a little scummy. Like, the knight at least.
Dax: Uh-huh. [giggles]
Neil: So having all the leverage in this situation with this hostage seems like a good idea. But with Rialla, you know, ‘let her go’, Rialla knows what she’s talking about so I’d let her go.
Dax: Okay. So maybe you hesitate for a little bit, and then you just kind of drop this person on the ground?
Neil: Pretty much.
Dax: Okay. The one that had been talking to Rialla, steps a little closer to you. You all are encircled by these strange figures, these masked individuals. And as this one steps forward, they reach up and they lower their mask. You see underneath the mask, almost an androgynous face. You can’t really tell if it’s male or female. They pull back the hood and you see pointed ears.
Dax (as the first stranger): I’ll ask this one more time. What are you doing in our forest?
Cole (as Rialla): We were enroute to Kidohlva, our path and the map that we were following led us to here. We got lost, we found a cabin and a page in a journal that said the trees know the way out of the forest. We were simply following. We did not mean to intrude, and we mean you no harm. We simply just want to leave. That is all.
Dax: The individual looks up at Jokul and then looks at each of you in turn.
Cole: I take Jokul’s arm.
Dax (as the first stranger): You brought an Adar-Kai. [spitting noise]
Dax: They spit.
Cole (as Rialla): Not exactly.
Dax (as the first stranger): Looks like an Adar-Kai to me.
Cole (as Rialla): He’s not.
Dax (as the first stranger): Then why does he not speak for himself?
James (as Jokul): Because she is the smarter of the two, and I’m more likely to kick your ass than talk to you.
Music ends [48:19]
Dax: Thanks for listening! We hope you’ll join us next time but in the interim, follow us on Twitter @RoadsUncharted.
The “Roads Uncharted” podcast is GMed and produced by Dax, using the Genesys Roleplaying System published by Fantasy Flight Games. You can follow me on Twitter @GM_Dax.
Jokul Genhorn is played by James and Arthas, Champion of Offam is played by Neil.
Rialla Lenoir is played by Cole, follow them on Twitter @ColeMorreale and check out their art.
Eight is played by Wren, who also composed the music for our opening theme, follow them on Twitter @ThornyDryad.