A stranger met by the river’s edge has an oddly familiar presence.
The group travels toward the river and as they draw near they realize the sounds of nature are returning. The sun quickly sets and they can hear small critters now scavenging in the underbrush. When they reach the river they stumble upon a cabin inhabited by a woman and her young daughter.
She offers them supper and the group accepts, spending the evening in comfort at the cabin. Jokul, however, finds no comfort as he comes face to face with reminders of his past. Eight manages to convince the stranger to act as a guide, as an ally that knows the woods is better than wandering aimlessly.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Cole @ColeMorreale and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends [00:28]
Mysterious melody begins [00:30]
Dax: The group has decided they are going to head northwest, where Eight found out that there is water. Potentially a river, a creek maybe. The sun still is in the sky, still does not seem to be as if it is moving with the passage of time. The forest is still, almost unearthly still. There are no birds, no insects, no mammals wandering in the underbrush. Your feet are sore from what feels like hours of walking. Your backs are tired and stiff from keeping such a straight posture, your muscles weary from being tense and being on alert. And then, you start to hear it. Every single one of you starts to hear the sound of rushing water, and with it, slowly, comes the sound of birds in the trees. The sounds of gnats buzzing around your head, and oddly enough, the sun starts to climb. Or rather descend, towards the horizon and the closer you get to this water, the louder it sounds and the darker it begins to get. As if somebody has switched on the sun and it is now making up for lost time. It gets darker and darker, much faster than it normally would out in the wide world. And then you see it. You see that river flowing up ahead of you, and next to that river is a little hut with smoke pouring out of the chimney. It is getting darker with each step you take, but you can see the lights slowly turning on inside.
Neil: I’ll start heading towards the hut.
Cole (as Rialla):Are we sure we want to do that?
Neil (as Arthas): I mean, they know the lay of the land better than us.
Cole (as Rialla): I guess I can’t argue with that.
James (as Jokul): Somebody living out here by their lonesome must know the surrounding topography and how to survive. They must get their supplies from somewhere.
Cole (as Rialla): Okay.
Cole: Rialla will, uh, I will follow everybody behind. Yeah, I’m towards the back.
Neil: I will approach the door and knock gently.
Cole: By ‘knock gently’, he means ‘knock the hut down’.
[Cole laughs]
Neil: As carefully as possible.
James: Is a knock on the door like you flicking it?
Wren: Out of curiosity, how wide is this river?
Dax: So, it’s not something you can easily cross. It is probably a good couple hundred feet. And it’s not rushing very fast, but it’s rushing fast enough where if you tried to walk across it, you…it might be a little treacherous to walk on those stones but, it’s not like if you stepped in the water you’d be swept away immediately.
Wren: Do we see any bridge or crossings near by this hut?
Dax: Not that you can see.
Wren: And final question from me, at the moment. Is the hut on the same side of the river as us?
Dax: Yes, yes it is.
Wren: Perfect.
Dax: Which is why I didn’t say anything when Arthas said he was going to go and knock on the door.
Wren: I will allow my companions to rush ahead to knock on the hut. I will wait closer to the edge of the woods, my face in a fairly somber frown still and I will wait and see what happens.
Cole: I would like to mention that Rialla is, or I am not rushing. Not rushing towards hut! (laughs) Trailing behind.
James: I was going to say -
Cole: Keeping my distance.
James: If we’ve been walking all day, Jokul would have offered Maeve to Rialla, so she can just ride on the saddle. He’s just cruising along on foot, just.. I mean obviously Arthas is going to cover more ground just..[imitates a zoom noise].
Cole: That’s fair. I think at this point, I would have gotten off and seeing Arthas approach this hut, has me kind of like ‘what’s, what next? What’s coming? Are they behind the weird magic happening, not magic happening in there?’. Like, I’m not having it.
Wren (as Eight): You are tense and suspicious.
Dax: Arthas, you knock on this door. It isn’t long before you hear,
Dax (as a stranger): [higher pitched, soft feminine voice] Just a minute!
Dax: Now, how close are the rest of you to Arthas at this door? I know Eight, you said you were hanging out by the edge of the woods and the river. What about Rialla and Jokul? How close are you to Arthas?
James: If Rialla was dismounted, Jokul probably would’ve approached the river. So, within 20, 30 feet of Arthas and the hut. He’s just taking Maeve to the river, refilling their waterskins, letting the horse drink, eating some fresh grass, whatever she can find on the shoreline right there.
Dax: Okay. So Arthas is really the only one facing the cabin. Okay. Arthas, the door opens and in front of you, you see an average-sized human woman. Long, wavy, reddish hair, brown eyes, fair skin; wearing a billowy-ish white, well not really white, but off-white shirt, brown pants and boots. She’s got her sleeves rolled up, she’s got an apron wrapped around her waist. She’s wiping her hands on a cloth and she’s got some flour on her nose.
Dax (as the stranger): Oh! Well aren’t you a…? Hi…
Neil (as Arthas): Hello forest-dweller. I am Arthas Boston Wapon Dynevy Marston Thurlow Lilford, the Champion of Offam. And I’m looking for directions.
Dax (as the stranger): Okay, um, do I have, is that whole thing your name? Can I shorten it, a little bit?
Neil (as Arthas): Arthas is preferred, I suppose.
Dax (as the stranger): Alright. Well, Arthas. Hello. I guess… you’re looking for directions so I’m guessing you came into these woods not knowing where you were going.
Neil (as Arthas): Correct. I rarely do.
Dax (as the stranger): Alright. And is it just you, by your lonesome?
Neil (as Arthas): No. My friends Eight, Rialla, and Jokul are that way.
Neil: And I motion over, pointing at the group.
Dax: I’m going to turn and look or, she’ll turn and look. That’s right, I’m DM. I have to speak in third-person, y’all have to speak in first person. She turns and looks beyond you Arthas, and,
Dax (as the stranger): Oh, alright. Um, well I mean, as you can see, dusk is settling in. I can’t really provide you directions right now, you certainly wouldn’t want to go out and wander the woods at night. It can be very dangerous. Would you like to stay for supper at least? Before you make camp?
Neil (as Arthas): I certainly appreciate that.
Dax (as the stranger): Well, why don’t you invite your friends in and Arthas, I’m, oh…oh, you’re a little tall and won’t be able to fit in my door…
Neil (as Arthas): I can lean in through a window.
Dax (as the stranger): I suppose that would work.
Dax: Points behind her and you can see, directly across from the door is actually a relatively large-ish window. We would call it a bay window, and you can see beyond that window, that in the fading light, there appears to be quite a bit of open space. So perhaps it’s like a backyard, or maybe there’s a garden. Who knows what’s outside? Something that would require a larger window to look out.
Dax (as the stranger): I’ll have my daughter open that and why don’t you tell your friends to come in through the door? Dinner is actually almost ready, and we’ll get that window open for you, alright?
Neil (as Arthas): Certainly. And I didn’t catch your name.
Dax (as the stranger): Oh, you can just call me Ray.
Neil (as Arthas): Thank you Ray, I’ll corral my companions.
Dax (as Ray): Perfect!
Neil: And with that, I walk over and give a thumbs up.
Cole (as Rialla): That seemed to go well.
Neil (as Arthas): Yes. Her name is Ray. She has dinner.
Cole: I kind of look to Eight and Jokul, see what they’re doing.
James (as Jokul): I mean, she’s not attacking him with a rolling pin. Maybe we can camp in the front yard and say, learn something?
Neil (as Arthas): That has happened before.
James (as Jokul): Somehow I’m not surprised.
Neil (as Arthas): Maybe people shouldn’t leave pies on window sills if they don’t want them eaten.
Wren: From the tree line, I kind of slowly walk over.
Wren (as Eight): She seems friendly enough, and if she’s offering dinner to strangers, she must be hospitable. Perhaps she can give us some indication of how to escape these woods. [begins to whisper] Unless she’s trapped here! And has made a life for herself.
Neil (as Arthas): Better to make an ally in the woods that knows it then.
Cole (as Rialla): Yeah, I suppose that it can’t hurt. We should, worst case scenario, we have to take off in a rush but hopefully she’s able to help us get out of here.
Wren: I will look for a hitching post to tether Bessie, despite the fact that I know very well that this mechanical donkey will go nowhere without any direction. I would like to go through the activity of tying the knot, patting Bessie on the head, getting that metallic “clink-clink-clink”, and then waiting for everyone else to go in.
Dax: I will say, it is very easy to find a hitching post. In fact, there is a, the set of poles and the perpendicular bar outside the house that is indicative of somebody who might have travelers and needing a place to tie up some reins.
Cole: I have my arm linked with Jokul’s as we approach.
Music changes to a somber tune [14:31]
Dax: So as you come up to this door, you start to feel the warmth emanating from inside the cabin, of a stove that has been running for a good few hours making something. It does smell very much like warm venison stew, fresh baked bread. You walk up to the door and it’s a modest sized cabin, you’ve got, when you first walk in through the door, you’ve got the kitchen area to the left. You’ve got your wood stove, you’ve got a table with some chairs. You have some cabinetry, some herbs drying and hanging from the ceiling. Off to the right, you see one door. You assume it might be the bedroom. And then you see a partially ajar door, sorry. That first door was closed, the second door is partially ajar. But you can see there is a woman, her back to you, digging through some cupboards. So possibly a pantry.
James: I feel like, just for the irony of the situation, being the horseman, Jokul is not tethering Maeve. He’s just kind of like doing the whole, what is it? It’s like drop-training or something. So as long as she knows ‘hey, my reins have been dropped. I can just chill in this area.’ He’s just kind of leaving her in the front yard, like ‘does that look like a garden? Alright, we’re going to stay over here away from the garden so you don’t eat all her.. the entirety of her garden. We don’t want to introduce ourselves by going ‘I ate your garden’.’
Neil: I am specifically not trying to crush any plants that could be out in the back, and I lean in. I feel like I can basically get one of my arms and my head through.
Cole: Yeah, as we approach, I’ll give a friendly little bow and a small smile.
Cole (as Rialla): Thank you for your offer of dinner. Have you been out here long? Pardon me asking.
Dax: She hasn’t turned to face you yet, she’s still rummaging through whatever is in front of her. You can hear tin cans moving and -
Cole: Then I would bow and everything when she was looking at me.
[Cole chuckles]
Dax: So she, like I said, she hasn’t turned towards you and you ask this question. She says,
Dax (as Ray): Oh, I’ve lived in these woods pretty much all my life. Me and my daughter, anyway.
Dax: She starts to back out of the pantry and she closes the door. Just as she turns around, Jokul, you recognize this person. If you didn’t know any better, you’d be looking at Raylene.
Cole: Oooooohhhhhh fuck!
James: (nervous laugh) Similar to Cole’s reaction, just…(laughs) You said her name was Ray, I immediately, I’m like, noooooo. That can’t, it just can’t be the same! No, no correlation whatsoever. But yeah, um, seeing, like, not really paying attention. Jokul’s just kind of cruising in, following Rialla. But he totally freezes up, just like, he does that whole double-take of like wait. And then, like, again pause, am I crazy? Like, gives himself a slap, be like nope, not crazy. Okay.
Dax: The whole time you are making this very confused look, and I assume Rialla, you, would you still have bowed when she turned around to you? Or are you standing there in shock?
Cole: I have not seen Ray before. So I’m not sure that I know.
Dax: Would Jokul have described her to you?
James: Yes. Jokul is not making a secret out of his previous relationship. He would have told -
Cole: Mm.
James: Rialla how everything went down, who she was, how it ended.
Cole: Oh I guess…
James: Rialla would be well informed.
Cole: Okay, I didn’t know how well she was described. So I guess if I, I’m looking and I recognize, I think I would kind of pull back and look to Jokul, look back to her, look back to Jokul, look back to her.
Dax (as Ray): Is there something wrong?
James: I have the, that whole fish out of water, just (gasps) face. And he’s like, (inhales) take a deep breath.
James (as Jokul): No. You share a shocking similarity to a friend of mine, and it took me by surprise.
Dax (as Ray): Oh, alright.
Dax: She’s going to move into the kitchen with her few cans and she starts opening up these tins. As she does so, she looks over her shoulder and,
Dax (as Ray): Ugh, Mae! Mae!
Dax: And you hear from the closed door.
Dax (as Mae): [youthful, feminine voice] Mama, I’m reading!
Dax (as Ray): I need you to come open the door, or the window. We have guests.
Dax (as Mae): Alright, I’m coming.
Dax: The door opens and this little girl steps through, who looks almost a spitting image to her mother, with the exception that her eyes are sea-green. Her features are slightly more angular, and she has white hair, cut into a little pixie cut. She waves, a little meekly, to all of you.
Dax (as Mae): Which window?
Dax (as Ray): Oh, I need you to open the large one. They have a friend of theirs with them that can’t fit through the door.
Dax: She scrunches her face in confusion for a minute.
Dax (as Mae): Okay…
Dax: She slowly walks over to the kitchen window and unlatches the two latches at the bottom, and pushes open that window nice and wide.
Neil (as Arthas): I certainly appreciate that, Ray.
Dax: Yeah, I mean probably both of your arms and your head. I mean, the window is rather large. You may be tall but you’re not that bad. I would say that there is nothing right in front of the window, the window does overlook a garden a little ways out. But it is not close enough to the window where you have to worry about stepping on anything.
James: Given that Jokul’s not stupid, but he’s wise and I’m thinking having seen the duplicate Raylene, he’s gonna see the kid and be like, ‘no, I gotta be dreaming!’. Then he’s going to look at Rialla and be like,
James (as Jokul): I’m going to get a breath of fresh air.
James: He’s gonna about-face, go right back outside.
Cole: I’m following.
Wren: As the two of you leave, I step back, like getting out of the way because I followed in after everyone. As you push past or move past me, I just say,
Wren (as Eight): [hesitantly] Is everything okay? I…okay!
James (as Jokul): I forgot to tie up Maeve, just -
Cole (as Rialla): Everything’s fine.
James: Just zip around Eight.
Wren (as Eight): Okay. I will speak with our friend and see if this woman can help us escape the forest.
Cole: As we’re approaching horse Maeve, not..oh god. As we’re doing that, as we’re out of sight, I immediately take Jokul’s hand.
Cole (as Rialla): I wanted to ask if you were okay, and I know that you’re not. We don’t have to stay.
Music shifts to a sentimental tune [23:34]
James (as Jokul): Am I dreaming? Am I going crazy? Can you, work your magic. Do something.
James: Vigorously slaps himself, like harder than anybody really ever should. Just like, ‘slap’ ahhh. Ope, nope, just hurts.
Cole: Well, she, I take your hands to stop you from doing that.
Cole (as Rialla): I can see what I can do. I.. it’s her then, yes? And the young one?
James (as Jokul): A spitting image of her. Like, without a doubt it would be her, I mean appearance-wise. I’m not sure about personality, but..
James: Does the voice match, DM?
Dax: Perfectly.
James: Okay.
James (as Jokul): It’s a clone of her, almost exactly. Voice, appearance, even her daughter. I mean, you can’t look at that child and say…
Cole (as Rialla): She has your eyes.
James (as Jokul): Thank you. Am I, are we in an alternate reality? Am I, did I somehow, are we dead?
Cole (as Rialla): Um, I don’t think so. I don’t know. Does that mean there’s another you?
James (as Jokul): That’s mildly terrifying. Although that does like..
James: I pause. Alright, where would I be in this situation? Based on the surroundings, she’s at home, the kid’s at home, is there a barn? I take in the surroundings. Alright, if I lived here, how would I act? What would I be doing at this time of day? I would be coming home from hunting, I would be fishing, something. He kind of looks like, ‘alright, where’s my duplicate?’
Cole: While he’s doing that, before I let go of his hands, I press a kiss to one of them. And I want to pull out my mirror. I want to see if I can reach and, I guess, either find out if there’s a duplicate. If that’s what kind of like, parallel we’re in? Try to glean, I guess some facts about this timeline? Like, some of this house’s history, the people inside, that kind of thing.
Dax: So let me just, normally I wouldn’t do this. Considering what happened the last time Rialla scried in this forest, is that something you still want to risk?
Cole: Oh fuck.
[Cole sighs]
Dax: Normally I wouldn’t discourage you from doing anything. I’m still not discouraging you. I just want to make sure that -
Cole: No. But it’s been a while and I did forget about that.
Dax: That’s the only reason I’m bringing it up.
Cole: No, no, no. You’re good, you’re good.
Dax: You are still more than welcome to take that risk.
Cole: I think in this situation, I think she’d power through it.
Dax: Okay. So tell me what it is you need to do to scry, what skill you’re going to be doing. While you look that up, I’m going to go into the house and have Eight and Arthas, while you figure out what you need to do. When we get back to you, we’ll have what you specifically want to see and we’ll work through that. So Eight, you and Arthas are, well you’re in the cabin. Arthas is hanging out through the window. Go ahead. What, you know, this woman has opened up her final tins. She is mixing something in a bowl.
Music returns to a somber tune [27:57]
Wren (as Eight): So Ray,
Wren: And I kind of lumber forward a bit. My boot steps kind of thumping on the wooden floor. I stop in front of the table and kind of rest a hand, palm down, as I look over towards her.
Wren (as Eight): You said, if I was hearing you correctly, you’ve lived in these woods your whole life?
Dax (as Ray): Yes!
Wren (as Eight): And your daughter, how old is she?
Dax: She smiles at you, as she’s mixing the stuff in a bowl.
Dax (as Ray): Oh, Mae’s about nine.
Wren (as Eight): Fascinating. And, is it the two of you?
Dax: She looks a little sad at this.
Dax (as Ray): Yes, unfortunately. My husband went off to war a few years ago and he has not returned.
Wren (as Eight): Oh. I am sorry to hear that. Conflict is meaningless, isn’t it?
Dax (as Ray): Well in this case, I can’t agree with you. He went off to fight the Emperor and that has a lot of meaning. Even if it costs him his life, it would mean our freedom.
Wren: I furrow my brow.
Wren (as Eight): I suppose if the emperor is unjust, then… I’m sorry, I do not want to argue semantics of political leaders over a friendly dinner. Would it be too much trouble to ask the quickest way out of the woods, once we finish dinner and enjoy our company with you this evening?
Dax (as Ray): Well, the woods are a little trickier than that. It’s not like you can just head west or head north and find a way out. You have to be able to navigate. I suppose in the morning, I could offer myself as a guide? I’ve got some notes in a journal that I keep and, it’s been so long since I’ve been outside the wood that I.. James told me that he needed me to stay safe and didn’t want me to leave the woods. So, um, but I can, I can try. You folks seem like you’ve seen a lot and I don’t know, the tall one looked at me funny before he went back out of the cabin so I… yes, in the morning I can offer myself as a guide if that is what you would like.
Wren (as Eight): That would be spectacular. And, we really do appreciate you inviting us for a meal. It is ever so much fun to cook for strangers, and loved ones, is it not?
Dax (as Ray): My husband always did say that that was one of the things that he wished I was better at, was cooking. I’ve kind of had to learn with him not around. So I suppose, in my own way, when I cook for strangers and loved ones..
Dax: And with that, she looks over at Mae.
Dax (as Ray): It kind of reminds me of him.
Neil (as Arthas): What was he like?
Dax (as Ray): Oh, tall. Dark skinned, white hair. You know, people didn’t want us to be married because at the time, the Adar-Kai were growing in power and the Emperor’s tyranny was coming to its peak. And unfortunately, that meant that they saw him as a danger. But you couldn’t find anyone sweeter.
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmm.
Dax (as Ray): He was a brave man. Not an excellent farmer, but I mean, I suppose in these woods, it’s a little difficult to grow things sometimes. But we make do.
Wren (as Eight): Well, we hope that he returns to you.
Neil (as Arthas): I’m sorry for your loss.
Dax (as Ray): Thank you. I hope for that every morning when I wake up, that by the time I go to bed, I’ll see him cresting over those trees, down the river. Maybe someday.
Wren (as Eight): There is always hope.
Wren: And I turn and give a bit of a cross look at Arthas with my back to Ray, just so that she doesn’t see me give the look.
Neil: I just look back and give a shrug. I don’t know what I did.
Dax: Now Rialla and Jokul, Rialla you had your mirror out and you were going to scry. So why don’t you tell us what that looks like for you and tell us, let’s say, one specific thing that you’re looking for that will help you discern the information you want.
Music shifts to a sentimental tune [34:32]
Cole: And how difficult of a check?
Dax: I would say in this instance, considering the magic that surrounds the area, make it a Hard check and upgrade it once. So two purple, one red.
Cole: That’s a Success and a Threat. And what that looks like is I’m going to pull out my mirror. I’m going to gaze into it and I’m going to close my eyes and I feel the ground beneath my feet. I have Raylene’s face fresh in my memory and Maeve, and I’m focusing on that. I’m honing in on it and my finger circles the ring of the mirror four times. When I open my eyes, what do I see?
Dax: And you’re looking to see what in this timeline tells you?
Cole: Yeah, is it another version of them and any information about this?
Dax: You see flashes of images, it’s not normal for how you would normally see in your mirror. The first image you get is Raylene wearing a very simple white robe and a flower crown in her hair. She has this amazing smile on her face as she walked towards an individual. This individual, you can’t see, other than the back of their head. And it is a tall figure with long white hair. The next flash of image that you get is her toiling in the dirt and plowing with a plow horse while in the distance, that same figure, still faceless, is working on building the cabin which you now see. Then the screen goes dark again and when it pops back up, you see a baby being born. You can hear it crying and this is the first time you get a glimpse of this individual that you have only seen in the distance or from the back of their head. This individual looks somewhat like Jokul, but it is not a spitting image. He looks down at this baby, this newborn, and is swaddling it. Then the next image that you see after the screen goes dark is the same man, dressed in a soldier’s uniform, kneeling down and giving what looks like a hug goodbye to this toddler, this little girl. And then the screen goes dark.
James: I’ve forgotten, can Jokul see what Rialla sees in the mirror? Or is it a blank mirror to anybody not her?
Cole: I think it’s blank to anyone else. It probably, uh, the edge of it probably looks like it’s glowing a little bit. But other than that, it’s blank. My eyes are white as I gaze into it and my eyes fade back into their white-blue color.
Cole (as Rialla): Well, there’s, he was you but not you.
James (as Jokul): How is such a thing possible? Are we, I know we’ve plane-shifted but to have more duplicates?
Cole (as Rialla): I don’t know. I, I don’t know enough about different planes. It was not, it was not something that I did a whole lot of studying on. We’ll have to look into it and I’m so sorry. I don’t, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now.
James (as Jokul): You’ll forgive me if I retreat inside myself slightly while we’re here. The presence, especially knowing that she’s a look-a-like, and what could have been my future? I’m going to keep my distance as it -
Cole (as Rialla): I know.
James (as Jokul): Breaks my heart to see what could have been (chokes back a sob).
Cole: I’m going to wrap my arms around Jokul and just give him a really tight hug, rubbing his back.
James: I kind of melt into her, which is normally not like, Rialla’s hugs or, I’ve hugged Rialla before and he’s normally very stoic and like, ‘yeah, I’m here. Lean on me’. But this is the reverse, like he’s, I’m just kind of like, ‘I’m going to melt into you. I need this hug’.
Cole: I’ll reach up and plant a kiss on his cheek.
Cole (as Rialla): You take as long out here as you need, okay? It’s okay.
James: I nod.
James (as Jokul): I’ll set up our tents and try to be un-intrusive. Just, let me know. Keep me informed.
Cole (as Rialla): Of course.
Cole: Squeeze his hands and kiss them, and slowly let go, before going back inside.
Dax: You go inside and you see that Ray is setting out bowls on the table. Mae is trying to.. she has a pad of paper in front of her and she is drawing something. You see that she keeps stopping and looking at Arthas. Then she’ll scribble a little bit on the piece of paper, and then she’ll stop and look at him. Then she’ll look at Eight, she’ll start scribbling again, but she’s very careful to make sure that that pad of paper is close to her.
Neil (as Arthas): What are you drawing?
Dax (as Mae): Um, it’s a secret.
Dax: She goes back and she’s still scribbling. Ray turns to you, Rialla.
Dax (as Ray): Oh, perfect! Supper’s about to come on the table, is your friend coming in to eat?
Cole (as Rialla): He’s not feeling well. He went to get some air. Would it be okay if I brought the food out to him?
Dax (as Ray): Oh, um, sure.
Dax: Takes a bowl, scoops some of the stew into it. She tears off a hunk of bread, puts it on top of the bowl and passes it over to you.
Cole (as Rialla): Thank you so much.
Dax (as Ray): You’re most welcome.
Cole: Rialla will go back and give Jokul dinner.
Cole (as Rialla): Do you want me to sit out here with you?
James (as Jokul): No, it would look even more awkward if you were to stay out here and distance yourself. If anything, I would like you to learn what you can on my behalf. That’s.. more your strong suit anyway than mine.
Cole (as Rialla): Okay.
James (as Jokul): I’d be a drooling idiot, as memories run rampant, so… I will make sure our campsite is prepared for all of us.
Cole (as Rialla): You’re much more than that. But, okay. I’ll do that.
James: If nothing else, Jokul’s like, clearly trying to figure out like, Arthas’s hammock, or like how the heck do you tent?
[Cole giggles]
Cole: Yeah, so after that, I’ll go back inside and, I think, I think I would wait for everyone else to take a seat. And if I could, I would sit next to Mae, and I would say,
Cole (as Rialla): All the great artists have their secrets.
Dax: She looks up at you a little slyly, a little coyly at first. Looks, kind of does that peeking thing where you lean the pad forward just enough that you can see it, but you think nobody else can, then she quickly puts it back to her chest.
Dax (as Mae): I’ll let you see it, as long as you promise not to show them.
Dax: And she points at Eight and then she points at Arthas.
Cole (as Rialla): I pinky promise.
Dax: She will reach out with her own pinky and grab yours. And then she -
Cole: You gotta seal it. Do you do the seal it with a kiss?
Dax: Sure? I’ll say, if you want to say you do it first, she’ll copy you.
Cole: Yeah, so, I’ll take her pinky and do (imitates a kiss sound), kiss your thumb, and then kiss their own, and that’s sealing the promise with a kiss.
Dax: So she sees you doing that and she copies you. As soon as she lets go, she leans the pad of paper forward and what you see is a picture of Arthas, I mean, nine year old kids quality drawing of Arthas, poking through this window.
[Cole laughs]
Dax: With a big speech bubble above his head that says “ooo, that smells good.” And then Eight is sitting at the table, with their arms kind of wide open in gesture, saying “yes, I can’t wait to eat.” The speech bubble above their head. And Eight is very blocky in their drawing and you can see that she tried to get some of the symbols on there. You can see Arthas has this big smile on his face and..
Cole: I make a big show of taking my cloak and kind of like, shielding, (laughs). So no one else can see it. Also in a, you know, hoping she gets a giggle out of that. And I’ll respond,
Cole (as Rialla): That is probably the most beautiful drawing I have seen.
Dax: She blushes, kind of just shrugs her shoulders up like, you know, shy little kids do when you give them a compliment and they’re not really sure how to take it. Is there anything else that you, any of you, wanted to accomplish this evening?
Cole: The only thing I can think of is that, I’d kind of be looking around and just kind of looking for, I guess, anything that would have belonged to Raylene’s husband and seeing if there’s any similarities in belongings or anything. Just kind of looking around but you know, making conversation. Not trying to be super obvious about it.
Dax: Sure. The only thing that you can see that is… seems a little out of place, considering the cabin really only has one room that you have access to, is a pair of horseshoes on the wall above the cooking stove. Eight and Arthas, is there anything the two of you want to accomplish over dinner?
Neil: I am mostly just excited over the prospect of food.
James: Don’t eat the whole, the poor lady out of house and home.
Neil: I will, I will take the guest portion.
Dax: Ray does get a larger mixing bowl and does share that with you.
Dax (as Ray): You do seem like you might need a little bit more than the others.
Neil (as Arthas): My gratitude is immeasurable, Ray.
Wren: I would have a smaller portion, and I will make sure to convey to Raylene that she may give Arthas the rest of my portion as well, to compensate for his prodigious height and size. The only thing I would like to interject is that when Rialla and Mae do the pinky promise, anyone who’s paying any sort of attention across the table, would see the most quixotic look cross my face at the mention of the pinky promise. I hold out my hand and mimic the extension of the pinky and just rotate at the wrist, staring at the digit.
Wren (as Eight): Interesting. Is.. is this a common way to make promises?
Wren: And I will ask that across the table after you’ve done it.
Cole: Rialla will kind of give you a look and then smile and she’ll say,
Cole (as Rialla): Sometimes. Really important promises.
Wren (as Eight): Fascinating. Perhaps we should have made a pinkie promise to the leader of Saleen before we left.
Cole (as Rialla): Hmm. No, it’s only done, people you’re comfortable with.
Wren (as Eight): Mother never asked me to pinky promise.
Cole (as Rialla): Some people might not know. Not everyone does it. It’s just what I did growing up.
Wren (as Eight): Curious. I’d like to learn more about that. Perhaps your experiences can be used to bolster my own.
Cole (as Rialla): Okay (laughs). I can tell you more about it.
James: I’ve maintained my position outside, just digging through the wagon, basically. Set up Rialla’s tent, set up Eight’s stool by the campfire. Try and figure out Arthas’s circus tent, figure out like ‘here’s this, I should find a nice spot for Maeve, give her her oats’, and basically do that busy work that can distract him. If he runs out of those distractions, I feel like he would, I would be tempted to go to the house and be like creepy.
Cole: You have such a way with words. (laughs)
James: I am terrible with words, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Cole: No, no. Don’t apologize for art.
Neil: I can apologize for myself, thank you.
Dax: Jokul, is there anything else you want to accomplish this evening?
James: No?
Dax: So, after supper is done and you’ve spent some company, I assume the three of you would go outside and… er, well, Arthas is already outside but the three of you would go to sleep or settle down for the evening, whatever the case may be for all of you.
Wren: I will be sure to let Jokul and Rialla know that Raylene has graciously offered to escort us out of the forest in the morning as a personal guide.
Dax: That is where we are going to call it.
Music fades out [51:09]
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.