Arthas, Rou, and Eight begin traveling through the tunnels. What lies in wait for them in the darkness?
Ahead of the group is a set of five tunnels, splayed out like fingers on a hand. Rou tries to discern which way to go, and for some reason feels the tunnel second to the right is the best choice. The group decides to camp, rather than continue further, and after some discussion, they decide to sleep where they can keep an eye on all the tunnels.
Eight attempts to make food paste, but it makes a loud noise and while it’s edible, it’s not palatable. It’s very wet and the noise of the conjuration echoes in the tunnels. While Rou and Arthas sleep, Eight hears scratching in the dark and follows the noise. They see something furry escape through a crack in the wall. Unable to get a better look, they resume their watch through the rest of the night.
Morning comes and Eight makes hard-boiled eggs and conjures their first chicken with encouragement from their companions. After the chicken fades from existence an hour later, Rou feels hot breath on his ear and Arthas notices a rock fall along the cave walls. While examining a fissure in the wall, he expresses his concern about the stability of the tunnels. The group continues down the tunnel until they come to some stairs.
Arthas is first to go up the steps and it slowly gets smaller and smaller, until he becomes lodged. Suddenly, he feels what seems like a small dagger against his throat which triggers his instinct to fight.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Kappa @TheKappaChris, and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends[00:28]
Soothing piano music fades in [00:35]
Dax: It is roughly 8 o’clock in the evening. You have been traveling underground for nearly two hours at this point, and before you are five tunnels. The tunnels branch off as if they were five fingers splayed out as wide as they could be. What do the three of you do?
Neil: We have a map, correct?
Dax: Nope.
Neil: Oh boy.
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, if you would like, I might begin drawing a map. After all, we have only traversed one straight tunnel at this point. And it might behoove us to…
Wren: I look up and regard the five tunnels laid out before us.
Wren (as Eight): Note which paths are dead ends or go on beyond where we might wish to actually venture forth?
Neil (as Arthas): Sounds like a good idea to me. But where do we go first?
Kappa (as Rou): I have an idea.
Kappa: And I will walk up to the entrance of each tunnel and I’m looking for signs of caravan tracks. Maybe, maybe if I can get a whiff of.. that is different than all the others.
Dax: Sure. Give me an Adventuring Knowledge Check, and give it to me at Medium difficulty. So two purple please.
Kappa: [laughs] Two Advantages and four Failures.
Dax: Wait how? Oh boy…okay.
Kappa: Would you like a screenshot?
Dax: No, I don’t need a screenshot. [laughs] Okay, so four Failures and two Advantages.
Wren: Oh no. It appears a cave bear has rolled around in all of these tunnels and left massive fur marks in the dirt and dust. At least, I hope it’s a cave bear!
Kappa: I know, right?
Dax: So you fail with style. So, Rou, what does this look like for you? If you don’t want to go with the cave bear that has rummaged around in the dirt.
Kappa: Seeing tracks, seeing some really obvious signs that people went a certain direction, I’m coming up with really good reasoning behind it. But ultimately settling on the most dangerous path.
Dax: Okay. So, with that in mind, I will say that at first you see feet, like tracks in the dust and the dirt leading to the far left. And you shine your little crystal in there, and you can see just at the edges of the light, that the tunnel has actually collapsed. You check all four of the other tunnels, and nothing seems one way or the other. But the second to the right, gives you a feeling. Like, this is where we gotta go.
Kappa (as Rou): I believe this is the way to go. The other ones don’t seem to stand out very much, and one of them is a dead end.
Wren: The whole time you’ve been investigating, Rou, I’ve been busily pulling out a piece of parchment and taking an ink quill and drawing a straight line. Then noting the five branches in a weird five-pronged fork pattern. And hearing you say, one’s a dead end, I look up from my expertly crafted map.
Wren (as Eight): Oh! A dead end, you say? Which one was it?
Kappa (as Rou): The first one, the one on the left.
Wren (as Eight): Ah, excellent. Then we can cross the thumb of this hand of the journey off.
Dax: I’m going to ask,
Kappa: I was going to comment on that.
Dax: Does Eight, Eight should know the names of the fingers, right? On a five-fingered individual?
Neil: I would, I would think so, right?
Kappa: Yeah, I was going to say…
Wren: Yes?
Kappa: It also depends on whether or not it’s facing you or not [laughs].
Wren: Yeah.
Dax: Ah! Okay, yeah. I thought about that, as soon as I asked. I was like, wait a minute.
Wren: Well, it depends on which hand you’re using. If you’re doing the right hand, then it can be the thumb.
Dax: If you’re doing the left, it’s the pinkie.
Kappa: Stage left.
Wren: Yeah! It’s all a matter of perspective.
Dax: I’m sorry, I got really caught up with the fact that I was using my left hand, and you’re like ‘the thumb’ and I’m like ‘wait a minute’.
[Dax and Wren laugh]
Wren: Who’s left? Your left or my left?
Neil: Port side.
Dax: Thank you [laughs]. Which is actually right, isn’t it?
Wren (as Eight): Great. If there’s one thing we can rely on, it is intuition. Which, I am not sure if I actually have. So, I suppose Rou, that makes you an invaluable addition to this traveling group. Your intuition.
Kappa (as Rou): I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.
Wren: I stare at you blankly for a few moments.
Wren (as Eight): I do not believe I’ve ever been sarcastic in my entire existence.
Kappa (as Rou): Still, still. I can’t, it’s so hard to detect if it’s there.
Wren (as Eight): If it would make you feel better, when I am sarcastic, should the occasion arise in the future, I can wink at you and declare it.
Kappa (as Rou): No, no that’s fine. Now, so, it’s, by my calculations, getting fairly late. Are we okay progressing forward or would you like to stop here, because we know this place is quiet and safe? At least for the moment. There’s no telling what’s ahead.
Wren (as Eight): There is also no telling…
Wren: And I just kind of motion vaguely in the direction of all the tunnels.
Wren (as Eight): What may or may not come from any of these tunnels. Perhaps the safest route would be to make a camp in the dead end tunnel?
Kappa (as Rou): That’s actually very astute, yes I agree with that.
Wren (as Eight): At the very least, we can see if anything comes towards us.
Kappa: Rou, uh, I will look over at Arthas.
Kappa (as Rou): Arthas? How are you feeling?
Neil: Dax, can I see anything down the dead end tunnel?
Dax: Once you walk towards the edge of that light that Rou is holding, you find that the tunnel itself has actually collapsed in on itself. So it is a big wall of dirt and rubble that kind of comes to a slant.
Neil: And can I see any supports to the cave, like does it look like a natural cave in? Or a cave in because this part of the tunnel wasn’t properly supported?
Dax: You know, why don’t you give me a Geography Knowledge check? And since you usually know your way around tunnels and underground stuff, make it Easy difficulty. So one purple.
Neil: Yeah, as someone who lives underground, I’m pretty concerned about things like that. [dice rolls] One Advantage.
Dax: While you are generally used to tunnels and being underground for part of your life, this particular structure is not made the same way that your people would make tunnels. There are a lot less supports, and it seems almost more decorative than practical. So, it is very likely that this particular tunnel, from the looks of it, probably was due to support. But it’s hard to be sure.
Neil: I… I don’t know if I should throw that information out to the group, because I don’t want to panic anyone.
Dax: That’s fair.
Neil (as Arthas): Let’s make camp at the…palm.
Neil: And I say that with air quotes.
Neil (as Arthas): Of the hand.
Wren (as Eight): Very well. I will take first watch, second watch, third watch, and fourth watch.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh that’s right, you don’t, you don’t sleep. Always escapes me. Okay, yes. You’re a sentinel against the darkness.
Neil (as Arthas): Great work Eight.
Wren (as Eight): Do not fear. I will watch you while you sleep.
Kappa: Hearing that, I will say,
Kappa (as Rou): I’m still okay with it, just less so after hearing that.
Wren: And I shake my head.
Kappa: And I’ll begin unpacking my sleeping stuff I guess. Removing stuff that I, removing the stuff that prevents me from sleeping.
Dax: Okay. Do the three of you do anything before Rou and Arthas, you two head to sleep?
Neil: Probably inch myself a little bit away from the cave in. The paranoia’s hit.
Wren: We’ve only been in here two hours and you’re already cave paranoid.
Neil: I’ve got cave madness.
Wren: The underground willies.
Kappa: Before going to bed, Rou is going to try and try to see if he can catch a whiff of that very familiar scent that he’s been, and see if it’s stronger in any direction.
Dax: Sure. For this one, give me a Perception check. You’re familiar with the scent so go ahead and give it to me at Easy difficulty. So one purple.
Kappa: [dice rolls] One Success.
Dax: You do catch a very faint whiff of it, it’s almost fainter than it was farther back when you first arrived in the set of tunnels. The scent, though extremely faint, is much stronger -
Kappa: Okay.
Dax: In the far right tunnel.
Kappa: Okay.
Wren: After satisfying myself with my map, I will roll it up and stick it in the side of my rucksack, as well as start cleaning the nib on my ink quill. I’ve got the tip of the feather just kind of sticking it in my mouth, and pulling it out a couple of times. Each time, more and more ink is coming off of the tip of the feather. And as I’m pulling the quill out of my mouth, I just kind of speak in a loud declaration.
Wren (as Eight): Who wants dinner? You all must be very hungry. We’ve been traveling for a couple of hours, I don’t recall us stopping for dinner. So I think some food paste is in order.
Neil (as Arthas): Food paste?
Wren (as Eight): Food paste, Arthas, yes!
Wren: Nodding my head vigorously.
Wren (as Eight): It is very nutritious, very tender, and very delicious.
Neil (as Arthas): Well, I’m sold. I’ll take it.
Kappa (as Rou): Yes, I believe the alternative is animal fat. So, this will do.
Neil (as Arthas): I like to consider the animal fat as side grade, thank you.
Wren: I would spend the evening making food paste for everyone to eat. And probably, since we have the time, I will make a small fire and use some spices to make the food paste actually taste like something.
Dax: Okay. So, spend your two Strain to cast your spell.
Wren: What difficulty do you want this to be? Easy?
Dax: Yeah.
Wren: We decided this was a Utility, right?
Dax: Yeah.
Wren: Okay, cool.
Dax: Right, because Utility has Conjuration, right?
Wren: Utility is just kind of the catch all for pretty much whatever.
Dax: Right. But I think food is Conjuration, so give me one second.
Wren: Oh, conjuration magic! Okay, that’s right. That’s a thing too. It’s been a while since I did that. Yeah, I think this will still be a Easy.
Dax: Yeah.
Wren: Because I’m just summoning food into an area in front of me. I’m not making a complicated gadget or gizmo. I’m not making it big or fancy, I’m literally just [squirting noise] squirting paste out of the magic spoon… I have a Failure and three Advantage.
Dax: Okay. How does this failure with style look for you, Eight? As you try to conjure this paste?
Wren: I would say that I’ve set out my stockpot in the middle of the floor, and I have my spoon, which is currently also a lamp or light. And as I kind of swirl it around the exterior of the stockpot, I look over at both Arthas and Rou in turn, and I give the spoon a hard tap on the side of the pot, and mutter
Wren (as Eight): Prest-o food-o.
Wren: And it makes the paste. Rou, you’d remember that last time I did this, it squirted out in like a toothpaste-like fashion? And it made kind of an unsettling noise like mustard coming out of a bottle?
Kappa: Mhmm.
Wren: This time it comes out a whole heck of a lot wetter. And with a lot of force. It definitely echoes in the cavernous area that we are in, making a very unsettling noise. Definitely not appetizing. Unfortunately, I just say that since it’s a failure, despite my best efforts, the food paste, even with seasoning, maintains minimal palatability. So it’s passable, but definitely not like “ooo, I really want to have this every night for the next two weeks”.
Neil: It’s edible adjacent.
Wren: Yeah, but y’all are going to be eating this for two weeks, so…
Kappa (as Rou): It’s more like drinking than eating. Thank you very much.
Neil (as Arthas): Thank you Eight.
Wren (as Eight): Stew is my speciality. I made it for my previous traveling companions consistently. And they always ate it right up, down to the last drop. Though, no that I think about it, that might explain their ashen complexion. And the fact that they never ate in front of me.
Wren: I put my hand over my jaw.
Wren (as Eight): Perhaps they actually did not like my food!
Neil (as Arthas): Impossible.
Neil: And I inhale said food paste.
Kappa (as Rou): No. No, no. Not at all. It’s great.
Kappa: I sip mine slowly.
Wren (as Eight): You two know just how to make me feel better about this.
Dax: Arthas and Rou, please give me an Easy Resilience check.
[dice rolling]
Neil: Three Advantage.
Kappa: One Advantage, two Failures.
Wren: I take offense to the implication that I make bad food.
Dax: You failed in its creation, therefore. Arthas, it’s not great. But I mean, you’re fine. Rou, you get through it but you do feel a slight wave of nausea afterwards. Very slight.
Kappa: Good thing I’m going to sleep.
Music shifts to a dreamy piano [15:08]
Wren: During Rou’s fitful sleep, I will be staring to make sure that my friend is okay. Perhaps occasionally I will go over and adjust a blanket over you, just to make sure you’re covered and nice and warm, and maybe rub your back a little bit. It’s okay.
Kappa: I imagine that at one point, if it’s, the blanket sure. Rou will, “oh that’s that’s very nice”. Think to himself. Once the back rubs start,
Kappa (as Rou): Eight.
Wren (as Eight): Yes, Friend Rou.
Kappa (as Rou): I appreciate this, though it’s keeping me from sleep.
Wren (as Eight): Oh! I’m sorry. You looked like you were suffering from some discomfort. I will refrain from providing back rubs. I am sorry.
Kappa (as Rou): No, it’s fine. Thank you, thank you. Just warn me next time, so that I might be ready for it.
Wren (as Eight): I will maintain a ceaseless vigil.
Kappa (as Rou): Perfect.
Dax: God, you can be so creepy without meaning to. Arthas, just to be sure, was there anything else that you wanted to do before bed.
Neil: Nah, I’m just going to pass out.
Dax: Okay. Remind me, does Arthas snore?
Neil: A little bit. If he’s not sleeping on his side, it is a…it’s not thunderous but it’s annoying.
Dax: Okay. Kappa, does Rou snore?
Kappa: No, I don’t believe so. Maybe when he’s particularly tired.
Dax: Eight.
Wren: I don’t snore.
Dax: You see, no, well you don’t sleep.
Wren: Exactly, I don’t snore.
Dax: Eight, you are sitting in the palm of this tunnel. Arthas and Rou are asleep nearby. You can hear Arthas’s snores, while not terribly loud, every once in a while they reach enough of a pitch where you can hear them start to echo down the tunnels. What are you doing while you keep watch? Anything in particular?
Wren: No. Honestly, not really. Just maintaining, maintaining a constant watch on the tunnels from which we don’t know what lies beyond. I will dim the lights. Yeah honestly, probably sit in pretty much full darkness to make sure that the other companions can sleep without light bothering them. I’ll just keep my ears open. My auditory sensors open for any noise beyond the thunderous snores.
Dax: As you sit in total darkness, listening to the sound of breathing and snoring, you start to hear scritches against the stone. Scritch-scritch, and then silence.
[Wren gasps]
Dax: Scritch-scritch-scritch. Silence. Moves a little closer, gets louder, and then silence again.
Wren: I whisper out loud to myself,
Wren (as Eight): A sound in the darkness, perhaps it is a creature? An attacker? Someone hoping to ambush us? It could be…Thomas?
Wren: And I will stand up quickly and pull out the lantern and light it and walk towards the direction from which I heard it. The scritching.
Dax: Off to your right, towards the far right tunnel.
Wren: I’ll do a very light walk on my tip-toes. As I hold the lantern out in front of me. And I have my other hand clutching my spoon close to my chest as I carefully move towards the right-most tunnel.
Dax: Are you trying to be silent?
Wren (as Eight): Hello?
Dax: Guess not. [laughs]
Wren (as Eight): Is, is someone there? Show yourself! So that I might greet you properly. I am Eight, and it is very late for you to be shuffling about in the dark. Are you friendly? Or are you violent?
Dax: Give me a Vigilance check at Medium difficulty real quick.
Wren: [dice rolls] A single Success.
Dax: As you are walking closer to this tunnel, the lantern held out before you, your spoon at the ready, you happen to catch sight out of the corner of your eye, movement. When you turn to move your lantern to point it directly at where that movement came from, you watch as the very end of something furry creeping in-between a crack in the wall.
Wren: How big is the crack?
Dax: Couple inches. So it’s kind of like a hole, but it’s like as if a chunk was removed.
Wren: Realistically this furry thing could just be a rat.
Dax: Could be.
Wren (as Eight): Ah! I see. You are finding a way through the wall.
Wren: And I will rush over to the crack, and stick my face close to it as I hold the lantern to try and illuminate the inside.
Dax: You hold the lantern up close to that crack in the wall, and you can see that whatever it is has escaped. Maybe a few inches in, you see stone and you can tell something veers off to the right. As if the hole is following the path of the wall between the tunnels. But you can’t really see no matter how hard you try to angle it.
Wren (as Eight): Interesting. A small creature’s secret tunnel inside of a secret tunnel. Huh. Well, that’s something new for the experience book.
Wren: And I’ll just hold the lantern and look down the rest of the tunnel a little ways, as I push back from the wall.
Dax: How far do you go down the tunnel?
Wren: Oh I don’t move anywhere. I just stand in place and shine the light.
Dax: You’ve gone far enough into that tunnel that you can see that just as towards the edge of the area where your lamp shines, the tunnel does slope ever so slightly downward. But beyond that, you can’t see.
Wren (as Eight): Well, it appears we will be going further underground. Can’t really complain. Hopefully the air doesn’t get stale. I’d hate to have to carry my friends out of here.
Wren: And I will turn around and head back towards the pom-camp. I rush back, tip-toeing. Trying to be nice and quiet, so as to not wake anyone up upon my return. And I will make sure the light is dim/not pointed at anyone as I’m coming back.
Dax: The rest of the night passes without issue. Though you cannot see any sunlight, morning feels like it has come. Rou and Arthas, do you wake up naturally or do you wait for Eight to wake you up? And does Eight even wake you up, I guess is the question.
Music shits to soothing piano [21:57]
Neil: I probably don’t sleep super soundly here, so I’m waking up, going back to bed, waking up, going back to bed, and eventually just decide “alright time to get up”.
Kappa: Yeah, same. Maybe less of a fitful sleep, but just like “oh man, it’s cold”.
Wren: I will greet each of you as you wake up in turn.
Wren (as Eight): Good morning Arthas. I trust you slept well.
Neil (as Arthas): [yawn] I’ve slept better.
Wren (as Eight): Good morning friend Rou. I hope you slept better than Arthas did, who has claimed they have quote “slept better”.
Kappa (as Rou): You know, it’s probably the best I could have asked for for sleeping in a secret tunnel cave.
Wren (as Eight): Yes. I feel like that holds true. Exciting news to both of you. We were visited last night by a small, furry critter.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh no. Was it, was it dangerous? Was it, what happened? Everything okay?
Wren (as Eight): I chased it down, in order to try and have a conversation with it and see what its desires were. But it slipped into a crack in the wall, and it took a secret tunnel within the secret tunnel and eluded me.
Kappa (as Rou): It didn’t seem dangerous or anything? No…or hungry?
Wren (as Eight): It’s hard to say. It did an awful lot of shuffling around in the darkness and it didn’t wake anyone up. So, it’s hard to say. Perhaps it would have bothered us if it had the chance to get closer, but my ceaseless vigil kept it from sneaking up on us.
Kappa (as Rou): Thank you for that. That’s very useful, could have turned out very differently if one of us was, if all of us were asleep.
Neil (as Arthas): Yes, we could have lost some fat.
Wren (as Eight): It’s true. It was a couple inches in width, it’s possible that it would have eaten at least a pound’s worth of fat.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh, okay. Okay. Should we make our way forward?
Wren (as Eight): Yes! Unless you would care for breakfast?
Kappa (as Rou): I think I have some left over, but sure, I could use a top off.
Wren (as Eight): Excellent. While we walk, I will attempt to create hard boiled eggs.
Dax: Just want to confirm, are you still planning on going down the second to the right tunnel that called to Rou?
Kappa: I think so.
Wren: We are following intuition.
Dax: Okay. I just wanted to make sure because Wren, you made a comment about heading downwards. I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t want to explore that tunnel first.
Wren: I forgot which tunnel we were exploring.
Dax: That’s okay. That’s why I asked. This is why I ask. Alright, so if you’re going to try and conjure hard-boiled eggs, go ahead and give me another Conjuration spell check. Go ahead, make it Easy. And again, take your two Strain. While Eight is doing this, so this tunnel goes on for about 500 feet. You’re traveling straight in darkness, it is still a relatively wide tunnel. It’s not like Arthas has to duck or anything. The walls are very clearly manmade but they’re, they’re pretty decently well made. I mean, they’re relatively smooth. Very little rough hewn stone to be seen. And then the tunnel turns sharply left. Eight, what was the result of your roll?
[dice rolls]
Wren: Two Successes and an Advantage. I would like to recover a Strain, and I would like to produce a half dozen magically created hard-boiled eggs?
Dax: Sure. Not a problem.
Wren: As the eggs start to appear in my hands while we’re walking, I’ve just kind of got them clutched in my hand.
Wren (as Eight): Ah. [sniffs]
Kappa (as Rou): Oh wow!
Wren: I can’t smell these. [chuckles] I have them held and I hustle up towards Rou.
Wren (as Eight): Hard-boiled eggs, created with magic. Tell me if they smell and taste just like a real egg or not.
Kappa: I’ll take a whiff.
Dax: They taste like eggs, yeah. You, for all intents and purposes, you wouldn’t be able to tell if these had come from a kitchen or if Eight had conjured them out of nothingness.
Kappa (as Rou): Close enough, close enough. It’s almost as if seeing them, they look, they do look like eggs. It’s almost as if seeing them is unlocking the memory of what they smell like.
Wren (as Eight): That is exquisite! That means that I have done my part to make sure that these eggs resemble what they actually should be.
Wren: And then I hold up like four of the eggs.
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, your breakfast.
Neil: I grab and eat them. Are they egg enough?
Dax: I do have to ask though, do these eggs have the shell already peeled?
Wren: No.
Dax: Or is Arthas consuming calcium again?
Wren: The eggs have been created to mirror the real egg, so yes, you all have to go through the annoying process of peeling your own magically produced hard-boiled eggs.
Dax: Because I don’t think Arthas is going to bother too much. But I imagine Rou would.
Kappa: Yeah, I was going to say. I’ll take two.
Neil: I have already consumed these with the shell on.
Kappa (as Rou): You eat the eggs with the shell on, Arthas?
Neil (as Arthas): You don’t?
Kappa (as Rou): I’ve never tried.
Neil (as Arthas): But the inside of the egg would get everywhere.
Kappa (as Rou): But they’re hard-boiled?
Neil (as Arthas): That explains why they feel weird.
Kappa (as Rou): Do you want my shells?
Neil (as Arthas): I won’t say no.
Kappa (as Rou): Okay.
Kappa: Then I will peel my eggs, give most of the shell to Arthas, but like one little tiny piece, I’ll nibble on.
Kappa (as Rou): No, no. Not for me.
Wren (as Eight): Based on my biology textbooks that I have read, eggshells contain an inordinate amount of calcium. Therefore, it would help make for healthy bones. Arthas, you are quite astute to eat them.
Neil (as Arthas): I appreciate the compliment. I think.
Wren (as Eight): Oh yes, this is a compliment.
Neil (as Arthas): Well, thank you Eight. If you find more, I’ll take them, I guess.
Wren (as Eight): I can create as many eggs as you would like. Who needs chickens, right?
Neil (as Arthas): Can you make a chicken?
Wren (as Eight): I could summon a chicken perhaps. Would you like me to?
Kappa (as Rou): I mean, it’s worth trying, right?
Neil (as Arthas): Yes.
Wren (as Eight): Anything is worth trying. If only to determine whether or not it can actually occur.
Wren: I’m sorry Dax, but I would like to try and conjure a creature.
Dax: No, it’s, it’s fine. I would assume this is your first creature conjuration.
Wren: Yes.
Music shifts to plucky strings [28:59]
Dax: Okay. I would like you to make this Hard difficulty then.
Wren: You want it to be hard, okay. I can do that. I can do that. Ummm, making a chicken out of magic. Ooo! I have a single Success. Can I make a Rhode Island Red?
Dax: Sure. You can make a Rhode Island Red.
Wren: Can there be a place in Rejiev called Rhode Island?
Dax: Uhh, I’ve already gotten there. Um. Yeah, sure. There is, there is a very small island far south on the Eulelan continent that is called Rhode Island.
Neil: It’s fine Dax, just figure out a funny fantasy way to spell Rhode.
Wren (as Eight): Well known for its brilliantly feathered red chickens. Which I have just summoned a replica of!
Wren: And I level the spoon and say,
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, prepare to be amazed. Presto bird-o!
Wren: And, I know, I’m sorry. I’m really bad at these magic words, I gotta get better at that. The, my eyes go from that rich lavender to a very dazzling, almost starry, cerulean color. And it channels into the spoon and a little beam of energy strikes the ground. All the dust and stone just kind of starts to tumble and swirl and shift into almost like a little dust spout. At the same instant, it blows up and collapses in on itself. A tiny little pop, a flash of light, and boom, there’s a chicken. And the chicken obeys me.
Dax: The chicken is sitting there, its eyes are comically wide. As wide as a chicken’s eyes can actually get. It’s looking around, head bobbing here and there. [Dax imitates chicken noises] And that bawk noise echoes through the chamber.
Neil (as Arthas): Eight, I have a question.
Wren (as Eight): Yes Arthas.
Neil (as Arthas): So, was this chicken somewhere else and you just brought it here? Or did you just will it into existence?
Wren: I shake my head, smiling the whole time.
Wren (as Eight): I have no idea, but there is a chicken here now. And this chicken is our friend. What shall we name them?
Neil (as Arthas): Eight Junior.
Wren: I have the most blank expression on my, normally hard to read, face.
Wren (as Eight): Eight Junior. I like it? Rou? Counter suggestion?
Kappa (as Rou): I’m not sure I believe you, that you like it. Maybe we wait a while on naming it, so that, you know, we find something more fitting of it.
Wren (as Eight): That’s fair.
Kappa (as Rou): My suggestion was going to be Tomorrow’s Brunch, but, if we plan on keeping it…
Wren (as Eight): Well, I certainly cannot abandon that which I have created. Come along, Eight Junior.
Wren: And I will direct the chicken to follow me.
Kappa: This whole time, Rou has been kind of like, amazed. You conjured a little living creature out of nothing. So, Rou is very curious about this chicken and inspecting it and like, poking and prodding it occasionally.
Kappa (as Rou): It’s a whole living chicken.
Dax: An honest to God Rhode Island Red. R-h-o-a-d. I hate you Wren. I love you but I hate you.
Wren (as Eight): The addition of a new traveling companion to our small collection is comforting in a small way.
Music shifts back to soothing piano [32:43]
Dax: And honestly, I’m picturing the chicken from Moana. That this thing is gonna be dumber than rocks. Alright, so you conjure this chicken. As I said, that tunnel goes 500 feet before it turns sharply left. And then it starts to wind westward. You follow this tunnel for a few hours. There are smaller tunnels that are branching off to the left and the right, some are collapsed. Others are dead ends. Until eventually it starts to slope downward. You go down, down, down. Eventually when it levels off, it starts to open up slightly. You get to see that there are now rough hewn stone columns that are supporting this ceiling as the tunnel widens out. You can see that there are stairs that lead up, and part of the tunnel that slopes further downward. I would like everybody to give me a Vigilance check, at Medium difficulty.
Wren: Just as a note, you all will get two Boost die, because I have Heightened Awareness, which gives two Boosts to allies in a range with me, including Perception and Vigilance checks.
Neil: Hot diggity. Success and an Advantage.
Dax: Okay.
Wren: I have four Advantage, but two Failure. I’d like to recover my Strain -
Dax: Okay.
Wren: Perhaps, as we’re traveling. I’m holding the chicken, and doing that annoying thing where you’re like tickle the underside of it’s chin and I’m just like,
Wren (as Eight): Who’s a good chicken? Who’s a good chicken?
Wren: And like after a little bit of time, the magic will wear off so the chicken will just fade away. So, it’s just kind of like I watch it vanish into the ether, and that’s probably what distracts me from noticing a thing.
Kappa: Oh…
Wren: And I just go,
Wren (as Eight): Eight Junior, no!
Wren: And I try and grab the air where the chicken was.
Kappa (as Rou): Eight, I’m so sorry.
Wren (as Eight): Well, magic giveth and magic taketh.
Neil (as Arthas): Taken before his time.
Wren (as Eight): I am so very sad. We did not even get eggs, or breakfast.
Dax: So yeah, Eight, I think that’s a great descriptor for how distracted you are that your, all your attention is on this chicken and you’re so distraught when it disappears that you know, you don’t... the world could be exploding around you and you wouldn’t notice.
Arthas. As you’re walking, I imagine you’re examining all these tunnels as you walk by. And the fact that you are seeing some of them still collapsed is starting to gnaw at you. Really amp up that paranoia. Would I be correct in that?
Neil: Oh yeah.
Dax: So, as you’re walking. Your awareness is pretty heightened, and you see something move out of the corner of your eye. You turn to the right, to see what it would have been, and you see a couple of stones falling and rolling along the wall. But you don’t see what caused them. Rou. Your awareness is also heightened for…other reasons. You feel hot air puffing on your left ear, as if somebody were standing mere inches away from you.
Kappa (as Rou): Did any of you see something?
Dax: You turn and look and nobody’s there.
Kappa (as Rou): I can swear that there was something that was just breathing on me. Nothing’s there. I’m starting to worry about this path we’ve taken.
Wren: Upon hearing friend Rou ask if anyone saw something, I stop from my distraction at the missing chicken, and I turn and look up and just all around the tunnel at the same time.
Wren (as Eight): Rou, no. I did not see anything, nor do I smell anything, hear anything, taste anything. What has you so concerned?
Neil: Dax, I’d like to go up to the wall and sort of examine it a little more closely.
Dax: Sure, that’s not a problem. Go ahead and give me Perception, since you’re actually looking. Go ahead and make it Medium difficulty again.
[dice rolls]
Neil: Three Successes.
Dax: You go up close to the wall, how are you examining this? Are you touching it? Are you just looking? Tell me exactly what you’re doing.
Neil: So, I think I’d go up first and try and see if I could sort of see down, see if there’s anything… see if the cracks run all the way down. And I’m not saying I stick a finger in there, because that seems like a great way to lose it. But, sort of trying to peer and see if there’s anything making the cracks.
Dax: Okay. So you lean your hulking body closer towards this wall, and you scrunch down so you can get an eye about level where this crack is. Put your hands kind of close to the wall, so you can get as close as possible where you’re squeezing your eye in. You don’t see anything, you do see that this crack does almost go down to the floor, and it is about half an inch wide. It’s very jagged, so it runs almost snakelike. It almost appears like a natural fissure in the wall.
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmm.
Kappa (as Rou): Not sure. Arthas? What are you looking for?
Neil (as Arthas): Well, back at that cave-in, the tunnel doesn’t seem extremely well supported.
Neil: I’ll gesture to the cracks.
Neil (as Arthas): And this makes me uneasy.
Wren: I’ll tilt my head and quirk my brows.
Wren (as Eight): The wall makes you uneasy?
Neil (as Arthas): I more mean, you know,
Neil: Point to the crack.
Neil (as Arthas): Things like this.
Kappa (as Rou): Are you, are you saying that this might be unstable? This tunnel?
Neil (as Arthas): I don’t see a lot of supports anywhere.
Kappa (as Rou): Maybe we should hurry…
Neil (as Arthas): I’m just -
Kappa (as Rou): Pick up the pace -
Neil (as Arthas): It feels uneasy.
Kappa (as Rou): We’ll turn back, we may pass, find a safer tunnel. I do not like backward progress, but it’s much better than the alternative, having to stop completely due to cave-in.
Wren: Dax, you said there were stairs heading up, correct?
Dax: There is one set of stairs that goes up, and then one where the tunnel can be seen sloping downwards. There are not stairs going down.
Wren: Stairs up, yes, okay.
Wren (as Eight): Friends, perhaps if we were to make progress upwards, it would reduce the chances of us being, what’s the vernacular? Ah, yes! Buried alive.
Neil (as Arthas): I wouldn’t object to that.
Kappa (as Rou): Sure, yes. Arthas, do you think that’s safe? You seem to be the most knowledgeable about underground traversal.
Neil (as Arthas): Seems safe enough to me, I suppose.
Wren (as Eight): This way we do not go backwards, and we also do not go downwards. Everybody wins!
Kappa (as Rou): It’s an elegant solution. So, yes. Let’s go upwards.
Dax: What is the marching order for going upwards? Because it’s not very wide stairs.
Neil: I mean, I’ll lead.
Kappa: You can have the light crystal thing so that you can see where we’re going.
Dax: Okay. Who’s following after Arthas?
Kappa: I can.
Dax: Okay. So Eight, you’re in the back trying to get Bessie to go up the stairs.
Wren: Yes.
Dax: Okay. Arthas, you head up the stairs, and for a while, I mean, it’s pretty comfortable. It’s not very wide stairs. Just wide enough for you to get up there. And then it starts to close in ever so slightly. And you don’t really notice it until your arms start to touch the walls and it starts to get tighter and tighter and tighter.
Neil: May I observe to see if the tunnel was built this way?
Dax: You can give me... I have no idea what would be the best one for this. So I’ll just say give me a Perception check.
Neil: And do I get Boosts on that?
Dax: Yeah, I think so, because you’re within a range, you’re pretty close to Eight, so.
Neil: What difficulty?
Dax: Give me Medium again.
Neil: Six Advantage, two Failures.
Dax: You’re not sure if it was built this way or if something happened to cause it to be this way.
Neil: Has it been a gradual shrinking, like a funnel? Or erratic?
Dax: Oh, yeah. Yeah, it’s very much gradual.
Neil: Okay. I’m half convinced it was designed this way and half convinced that something shifted. And I am only mildly terrified.
Dax: There does come a point where you can’t move forward anymore. And Rou, you just watch as Arthas stops. As, for you, you haven’t, I guess, noticed that the tunnel has gotten a little smaller.
Kappa (as Rou): Arthas, is everything ok? Do you have trouble fitting through?
Neil (as Arthas): Yes, I am.
Kappa (as Rou): Can you see ahead? Is it, does it get any better or no?
Neil: Can I see ahead?
Dax: You can, and just because of perspective and considering how long this staircase is. It’s a little difficult to tell if it continues to get smaller or if it just looks that way.
Neil: Can I see a… anything at the end of said tunnel?
Dax: Nope, the stairs just keep going up.
Neil (as Arthas): Not that I can see.
Kappa (as Rou): Let’s not progress forward, because unfortunately you might get stuck.
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmm.
Dax: Arthas. Suddenly you feel something sharp against your neck. As if somebody were holding a blade at your throat.
Music shifts to a tense melody [43:02]
Neil: How small is it?
Dax: Considering how big you are Arthas, it feels as if somebody were holding a small dagger. Almost like a paring knife to you, is what it feels like.
Neil (as Arthas): Rou, I believe I’m being taken hostage.
Kappa: Can [laughs] I see around? Can I see any, any person that would be taking Arthas hostage?
Dax: So let me ask you this. How are you…like, getting on the ground and looking between Arthas’s legs? Are you, like how are you trying to maneuver? Because Arthas, from like the shoulders to his midsection are pretty much lodged.
Kappa: I mean, sure. I’ll crouch down and see ahead and if I see an extra set of legs.
Dax: You don’t.
Kappa: I don’t.
Kappa (as Rou): What makes you say that?
Neil (as Arthas): Rou, step back 15 feet slowly.
Kappa: I’ll turn over to Eight.
Kappa (as Rou): Arthas is telling us to move back 15 feet or so. I suggest we do it. He believes he’s being taken hostage and given that I felt breathing on my neck earlier, I don’t think we’re alone.
Wren (as Eight): If I recall correctly, as this happened just mere seconds ago, Arthas had said ‘Rou, please take 15 feet backwards’.
Wren: And I’ll just kind of turn sideways and direct Bessie to sidle over.
Wren (as Eight): I believe Arthas has requested you give berth to his physical being.
Kappa (as Rou): Sure, okay.
Neil: So, Dax, I’m very aware that - I’m well aware that this is a knife, correct?
Dax: It’s what it feels like, yeah.
Neil: Well, time to do the - do I have room to move my head and neck at all?
Dax: Oh yeah, yeah. I mean, you, it’s not like the ceiling has come down against your head. It’s like your shoulders are lodged.
Neil: Well, time to do the stupid option. I’m going to, let me pull my sheet up and make sure I’ve got the right stand for this. Would I be rolling Brawn to bring my head down and bite onto this blade and run backwards?
Dax: I’d say if you are going to try and tilt your head down, and move quick enough to remove a knife, Agility would probably be a better check for you. Because you’re trying to move it quickly, right?
Neil: Right.
Dax: So try and give me a straight Agility check.
Neil: One Advantage, one Success.
Dax: And you said you moved backwards?
Neil: Yeah, pulling my head down, biting on the thing as hard as I can, and just pulling myself back.
Dax: As you do so, you tilt your head down. You grab your teeth down, you actually do grab onto something. And you try to move your head to the left and you back up. As you do so, you feel something clutch onto your skin right at your neck.
Dax (as something): [high-pitched voice] Whoa!
Dax: Is all you hear. And that’s where we’re going to end this session.
Music ends [46:08]
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, who you can find on Twitter @GM_Dax. We use the Genesys RPG system published by Fantasy Flight Games, and music licensed by Epidemic Sound.
Arthas, Champion of Offam, is played by Neil.
Eight is played by Wren, who also composed the music for our opening theme. Follow them on Twitter @ThornyDryad.
Rou is played by Kappa, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheKappaChris.