Thistle has revealed her true form and the group springs into action.
As combat ensues, Eight summons Eight Jr, but in a much larger form. Shepherd leans into his more basic instincts as he lunges for Thistle, while Rou tries one last time to get information about Hunter before it’s too late. His attempts go unheard, however, as Thistle violently lashes out. Once Thistle is defeated, Hunter is located within the hut with help from Eight Jr.
Shepherd, overcome with joy, panics upon realizing they have taken a monstrous form. Rou, familiar with transformations, puts his mediation skills to good use and convinces Hunter to not let appearances deceive them. The hunting team is reunited and in a moment of intimacy, the pair vocalize their mutual love and affection for one another before everyone returns home through the portal.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Kappa @TheKappaChris, Wren @ThornyDryad, and Gaynor @gaynorcott
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends [00:28]
Gentle piano music fades in [00:30]
Kappa (as Rou): Last time on Roads Uncharted, we’d gone through the portal and met this Gnome, Sprickle-sprack, who offered to lead us in a direction to find this Hunter in exchange for gold. After some negotiation, they agreed. Along the way, we learned something very, very important about Shepherd. That Shepherd wasn’t always human. That’s no, that’s not an issue. In fact, that should be celebrated. I know, I do know some things about transformations. We came to Granny Thistle’s house, this eerie singing hanging in the air. We were invited in. After some niceties, I grew suspicious and sprung a plan into action. And now, Granny Thistle seems to have revealed her true form. Something a lot more menacing than the nice old lady that we were first presented with. And there you are, you’re caught up on Roads Uncharted.
Music shifts to a foreboding orchestral tune [01:38]
Dax: So, considering the three of you were suspicious, I am going to have all of you give me a Vigilance check as we roll Initiative. So a quick reminder, Vigilance is no difficulty assigned, so you just roll what your Vigilance is. And then just tell me what the results are.
[dice rolls]
Kappa: Five Success, one Advantage.
Wren: Three Success, two Advantage.
Gaynor: Three Successes, one Advantage.
Dax: So with that, all of the PCs are going to get to go before the NPC. So, real quick. Initiative is very rolling, so let’s say Kappa wants to go first in this round. At the next round, it’s totally fine if you or Eight go first. It’s all gonna be up to the three of you to talk it through and figure out what’s going to work best for the combat situation. It’s very free-moving. So, all PCs are going to get to go before the NPC. Who wants to go first?
Wren: I suppose I can, if that’s okay? I’m going to take this very seriously right now. After sipping the tea and seeing all of this magic happening, I will take the tea cup in one hand, pinkie extended, placing it down on the saucer that it came on. Then I will set the saucer down on the table and I’ve got my spoon ready in my left hand and I just look over at this Granny Thistle. I say,
Wren (as Eight): Well, it appears that we have worn out our welcome here and good Granny Thistle has grown irritated with us. I apologize, but perhaps it would be more welcoming for us if we had brought our own food.
Wren: And I will summon Eight Junior, using magic. I’m going to do a medium summon, I want this to be a big, big Eight Junior. I want it to be, you know, Summon Ally. So I am going to try and make Eight Junior obey me. So that will make it plus two difficulty, so it’s going to be a Hard check for me to summon a big allied Eight Junior.
Kappa: An Eight Junior Senior.
Gaynor: Eight Junior double combo.
Wren: Eight Junior Senior [laughs]. Hecking honking chonker of an Eight Junior.
Dax: A big honking chicken.
Kappa: A Whopper Junior, but extra large.
Gaynor: Actually a sixteen piece bucket.
Kappa: Sixteen piece bucket, that’s a BIG bucket.
Dax: Oh my god.
[dice rolls]
Wren: Four Success, but five Threat. Jesus. [laughs]
Dax: You succeed with some difficulty, so how does that look?
Wren: I’m, first off, taking my two Strain for casting a spell. So this, you know, obviously it looks larger like every other time I summon Eight Junior. I’ve got the spoon in one hand and I begin to trace the outline of a giant… well I begin to trace the outline of the size of chicken I want and after doing that in the air, I swirl the spoon in a circular motion and I hold it out in front of me on the table, like pointed at the table. You would all see my face creased with concentration and visible effort as I am struggling to draw the magical wellspring here. As I’m focused and the air starts to swirl and coalesce into, like, feathers, I just say,
Wren (as Eight): [as if straining] Magic seems to be increasingly difficult to tap into at the moment. Perhaps it was something in the tea? Perhaps it is something in the air here. Or perhaps it is just that horrifying face that Granny Thistle is making but [grunts] I.. am making… the chicken!
Wren: And all those feathers swirl together and then kind of collapse into that singularity on the table, and then the sound of a chicken [imitates chicken cluck] goes off and [poof] the feathers go flying everywhere. Silhouette One Eight Junior appears, which means that it’s roughly the size of, I don’t know, like, a golden retriever in size. It’s the Rhode Island chicken, it’s got like the brownish red feathers and the coxcomb and the wattle. It’s just standing there, scratching with its claws on the table. Massive chicken. [imitates chicken noises]
Wren (as Eight): Eight Junior. Peck and scratch!
Dax: Alright, so you’ve done your action to summon the chicken [holding back laughter]. Anything else?
Wren: After that, I think I’m going to take a Maneuver to not do anything else. What would you like me to do with those Strain? Or um, those, sorry, what would you like me to do with all those Threats?
Dax: So, you got how many? Four?
Wren: Five.
Dax: Oh, fun. Okay. I will say that we’re going to use those Threat to give Granny Thistle some sort of advantage in her turn to be seen. Which PC would like to go next?
Gaynor: Uh, yeah. I can certainly go. Okay, so could I, now it says I can activate my beast form as an Out-of-Turn Incidental. So can I start my turn off with that?
Dax: You can, or because it’s out of, well, because it’s out of turn, you could do it at any point. It doesn’t have to be on your turn in order to do that.
Gaynor: Alright.
Dax: So if that’s something you want to activate after you’re done, that’s always fine too. But if you would like to -
Gaynor: Yeah, I mean, I think I’m, cause I think I, Shepherd here is gonna kind of, I guess wolf out doesn’t quite work. But, is kind of gonna hashtag go beast mode here and grow out claws and grow the teeth. I- I wonder if the tail comes back, because I think it might. I think the hair grows out a little bit and I think they are just becoming, they kind of push themselves past the point of where they should be in their transformation back to, kind of, prepare themselves to attack.
Dax: Give me a Hard Discipline check.
[dice rolls]
Gaynor: One Success, one Triumph.
Dax: So, you do succeed, but you’re actively trying to fail. You’re trying to call on this.
Gaynor: I believe that just keeps me from attacking literally everybody.
Dax: Yes. Yeah. So what does it look like as you begin to shift? And how far into dog form do you go?
Gaynor: I think, I know that I am slowly transferring back and I think I know that I want to. I can make it go faster. So, I kind of just push into, like, that need to protect. So I think the first things to come out are claws from the hands and the teeth kind of sharpen and grow a little bit. The canines especially. You know, the hair grows out a little bit. You know, I think I get a little hairier. I kind of just become, like slightly more muscular and lithe, like I’m ready to just kind of pounce.
You can hear that under, under all of it, just that [growls]. Like that growl growing out into the throat. But I think I am specifically not looking at Eight or Rou, because I’m trying to keep them from being.. cause I don’t know what’s going to happen right now. I guess I, I guess I should attack, right? I mean I don’t see why not. Clearly we don’t like her. I yell, I, I like, to Eight and Rou, I go,
Gaynor (as Shepherd): And we don’t like her, right? She’s no good right now?
Dax: I will also say, because you have a Triumph, you have a couple of options for your Triumph. You could notice something vital, you could upgrade the Difficulty on Granny Thistle’s next check, you could insert something into the scene.
Gaynor: I, I think I’m definitely going to, like, try to intimidate Granny Thistle to make it harder, to increase her difficulty on her turn. Because I’m worried that she’s gonna do magic and I don’t, I don’t want that to happen because she seems mean.
Dax: Okay. Not a problem.
Gaynor: I can take a Maneuver to attack, to engage, I guess but I don’t -
Dax: Yeah, and maneuvers are kind of arbitrary. So you can just say you go around the table, you could say you go 30 feet. I mean, so it’s kind of just -
Gaynor: Yeah, I'm just gonna try and move in front of, in front of Rou and Eight. ‘Cause that’s where I.. that’s where I would go if I was with Hunter. I would be up front, so I’m preparing to attack if, if she does anything to harm them. But I’m waiting until somebody else gives me the order to go.
Dax: Okay. So you’re going to forgo your action this turn. You’re going to use your incidental to -
Gaynor: To delay, I guess?
Dax: Okay.
Gaynor: Yeah.
Dax: Rou?
Kappa: As close as we are to combat, I’m thinking we could still pull this back. [laughs] Given that thought, Rou is going to go,
Kappa (as Rou): Ah, so, so Granny Thistle’s true nature shows herself. As you can see, we are quite capable adventurers and you are just one of you. So, how about we talk more plainly? Where is Hunter? Give Hunter back to us, and we will be on our way without any untoward violence.
Kappa: And I will -
Dax: Okay.
Kappa: Have the cup of tea ready. Not to drink! But for something else. Just in case.
Dax: Alright, sounds good.
Kappa: This one’s a little bit more fluid. Can I, oh! Can I also use my Dodge talent? I forget, is that a proactive thing or is it like, as it happens thing?
Wren: It’s a Maneuver, and then trigger Dodge if she attacks you.
Kappa: I will do that. I will, I will, take a defensive stance.
Dax: So as I said, Granny Thistle has her palms down on the table. This blackish-purple aura is fully encapsulating her. Her hair is standing up on end. She looks up at the three of you and you can see that her eyes are now completely milky white and they almost glow with this eerie iridescence. She starts to chant and, Eight. She sets her sights on you. So, with Eight’s Threats last round, she’s going to get a Boost. And she has to upgrade the difficulty because of Shepherd.
Gaynor: Combat is a lot scarier in a game that you don’t understand as well. It’s like, I was like, oh okay, like DnD combat has stopped being scary because I’ve played it too many times. Now, now I don’t know what to do.
[dice rolls]
Dax: Oh, oh dear. Oh, oh dear. Um, okay. Eight. You start to feel as if your joints and your darkwood core become rigid. Like, it’s very difficult for you to move, and you start to feel almost as if that dark aura is seeping into your very inner core. I would like you to please take nine, no, not nine. Eight points of damage, please.
Wren: A great number.
Dax: Before Soak.
Wren: Before Soak.
Dax: So apply your Soak. Yes, before Soak. You are also Ensnared. So, what that means for you is you are immobilized for one round.
Wren: No Maneuvers?
Dax: Yeah. Yeah.
Wren: It’s on it’s, it sounds like my joints just feel kind of tight?
Dax: Yeah.
Wren: So, so I’ve gone rigid. Is this like an ongoing effect or was this an attack that you made against me?
Dax: This was an attack.
Wren: Okay.
Dax: This was an attack.
Wren: I’m just asking because I can dispel magical effects -
Dax: Yes.
Wren: So I wanted to make sure she wasn’t, like, cursing me or something.
Dax: No. It’s, it’s an attack and it’s only going to last for the next round and then after that, you will be fine. I will also say that as this rigidity takes hold of you, your spoon breaks in half.
Wren: What?! Are you spending all your Triumphs on that?
Dax: Two Triumphs, when dealing damage to a target, have the attack destroy a piece of equipment the target is using, such as blowing up their assault rifle or slicing their sword in half.
Wren: I mean, yeah. That’s great.
Kappa: And then Eight pulls out an assault rifle.
[everyone laughs]
Kappa: In response.
Dax: So, with that. Granny Thistle is done with her action. She’s going to forgo a Maneuver, but she will say, in this really gross and phlegmy sounding voice, and I’m not going to imitate it because I will make myself sick.
Dax (as Granny Thistle): You trespassed, just like that foolish mortal and I will end you just the same.
Wren: No!
Dax: We are back to the top of the round. Who would like to go first?
Gaynor: I gotta, nope, I’m sorry gang. I gotta, I hate her right now.
Kappa: Yeah, yeah.
Wren: Yeah. I was just about to say, I feel like Shepherd has to have an angry moment.
Kappa: Yeah. The drama!
Gaynor: Full, full bark. Jump forward and I, I’m gonna full out attack. I’m also going to use, I’m going to Engage and take two Strain to use Reckless Charge to add two Success and two Threat. And I, I’m just running in.
Dax: Alright. So you have to give me a Brawl check. You’re going to, you’re engaged with her, so it will be Average difficulty. Two purple.
[dice rolls]
Gaynor: I will end up with five Successes, two Advantages, two Threat. So that would boil down to, five Success, no Advantages. Just five Successes.
Dax: Yeah! So -
Gaynor: Alright, so, hmmm.
Dax: So what’s the base damage on claw?
Gaynor: Plus 3 damage.
Dax: Okay. So three plus 12, 15.
Gaynor: I am, I’m just tearing into her.
Dax: Yeah… So, you leap. You said you leap over the table at Granny Thistle, and you go wild?
Gaynor: Yeah, full, full jump, yeah.
Dax: Mhmmm. You do so, and Rou and Eight, you watch as Shepherd basically mauls this, whatever she is, I hesitate to call her an old woman at this point. She right now kind of looks like a really bloody mess.
Gaynor: I’m also just screaming,
Gaynor (as Shepherd): What, what did you do to Hunter??? What did you, what, where?
Gaynor: Just in, just in, clawing and biting the whole time.
Dax: So, uh, mhmm. I think, that’s your Maneuver, that’s your Action. And you just said you were screaming, so there’s your Incidental. Who is next?
Kappa: She looks, she looks really beat up at this point. Like -
Dax: Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Kappa: I’m going to try and do the diplomatic thing.
Dax: Okay.
Kappa: And just go,
Kappa (as Rou): Shepherd, she can’t tell us anything if she’s dead!
Kappa: And yes. So, the rest of my turn, I think I’m going to look around and just see if there’s any, anything that could give me a clue in case Shepherd can’t contain himself. Or, yeah. And that, that will be, I guess, that’s my Action. Really taking a look around and seeing.
Dax: Yeah. If you’re going to take a look around, go ahead and make a Perception check. You can do that, that’s fine. Go ahead and give it to me at -
Kappa: Yeah!
Dax: At Easy difficulty, so one Purple.
[dice rolls]
Kappa: Woo! One Success, one Advantage.
Dax: You notice as you’re looking around the hut, that in and amongst the dried herbs, there is a single flower, sitting on the counter near the fire pit.
Kappa: I would like to maneuver to it.
Dax: Yeah.
Kappa: And I don’t know, if, if picking it up is free, I’ll also pick it up. But that’s it, that’s my turn.
Dax: I’ll say you can move towards it, since you’ve already spoken, kind of as your incidental for the turn. So yeah, but you can definitely get closer, no problem.
Kappa: Okay.
Dax: And I will say, you also know what that flower is. That’s that starlight bloom. Okay. Eight.
Wren: The spoon has snapped in my hands, and I look down at it kind of absolutely befuddled. I ease my grip on it and hold it in my palm as the two pieces kind of roll into my open hand. As I’m looking down at it, my jaw kind of slowly goes slack and I just mutter,
Wren (as Eight): That was… that was Mother’s spoon.
Wren: And I just kind of look up, my eyes have gone from, like, a lavender to red at that juncture. I’m looking at Thistle getting pulverized by Shepherd, and I will set the spoon down on the table. I will look to Eight Junior, and I will just say nothing, because we share the telepathic magic link between sorc - mage, yeah mage. Not a sorcerer. Mage and chicken, and Eight Junior will tear off like a chicken missile straight at her. I will use a Story Point to trigger my Heroic Ability at that point, as I'm standing there. My eyes are red, but they start to fade into almost a translucent red color as I will use the base ability to read the current thoughts of Thistle.
I also have the secondary effect that when it is activated, and at the start of each of my turns while it remains active, enemies in short range will suffer two Strain. So she will take two Strain as she feels an overwhelming sense of probably anger at the destruction of something so important to me. Then also as she kind of feels that probing and penetrating into her head, kind of echoing around, like a little echo chamber, all of my rage, my anger towards her and this situation. And I will see what she was thinking based on the fact that she just said like I ‘like I took care of that mortal’. So, see if she’s thinking about what she did to them.
Dax: So I just want to clarify one thing. So you said Eight Junior took off like a chicken missile.
Wren: Eight Junior will attack.
Dax: Okay. So Eight Junior’s going to attack and you’re reading her thoughts while Eight Junior attacks?
Wren: Yeah.
Dax: Okay.
Wren: Because Eight Junior activates on my turn.
Dax: Go ahead and make the attack for Eight Junior real quick.
Wren: So, I mean, we already know the difficulty. It’s what, two purple? She doesn’t have Adversary or anything, right? Okay. I mean, it’s a chicken. I can’t imagine it has much more strength than, I mean, it’s a dog sized chicken. What, maybe two, maybe one?
Dax: Yeah, I, I, two is average. So, stat it out like a, so it’s a dog sized chicken. Stat it out like a Gnome, and I believe that would be one Brawn.
Wren: And I can’t imagine a chicken has any skill in Brawl.
Gaynor: I actually imagine they have multiple [laughs]. For sure. I have for sure taken multiple damage from a chicken.
Kappa: I was going to say, I feel like I’ve taken two damage from a chicken before.
Gaynor: They are, they’re like little velociraptors, man. They’re dangerous.
Dax: Alright, so Gnomes are still set at zero, so give it two Brawn.
Wren: Yeah, oh god it’s bigger than a Gnome, so it’s like a fucking three foot chicken. So Eight Junior, this, this giant red sized chicken, red chicken just walks off the side of the table and when it jumps off, it just puts its talons out in front of it and just like [imitates chicken noise]. Feathers flying as it is going to roll [dice rolls] four Failures! So it has, and Advantage, but three Failures. So it does not connect for damage but with that Advantage, I would say it will, oh, be a suitable distraction to give the next characters, the next character activating a Boost for their action against her. Because she is basically fending off not only a giant raging dog, but now a chicken-boo sized chicken.
Gaynor: Chicken-boo.
Dax: Sure. Yeah, I think, I think that’s reasonable. And as far as reading her thoughts goes, it’s very frantic. You can tell that there is a lot of fear related to Shepherd, a lot of hatred. And that is what her thoughts are really focused on, is what is going on right now. She’s, you can tell that she’s frantically trying to figure out how to get out of this and if there’s nothing else in your turn. I think that’s everything?
Wren: Hearing that, my last thing I’ll do is say,
Wren (as Eight): What did you do to the last trespasser? [deeper, louder voice] TELL ME!
Dax: And you are no longer ensnared, Eight, with the end of your turn. It is at this point you start to hear at this high, a very high pitched screech coming out from this creature that Shepherd is attacking. You hear,
Dax (as Granny Thistle): If you let me live, I will release them!
Gaynor: I think I stop and look frantically at Rou and Eight. I, I still am like on top of her and sort of just like [growling] But I’m, I’m waiting.
Dax: While you are looking away, that is when she is going to reach out and take a swipe at you.
Gaynor: Just feels mean, I’m already dealing with enough and she’s going to attack me? Feels rude.
Dax: So Rou and Eight, you watch as Shepherd turns to take a look at you, the hand of this creature kind of comes out from the tangled mess that the two of them are on the floor. All five of her fingers extend into these dagger like claws and as she takes a swipe, it is lucky that Shepherd’s one paw is like holding down her shoulder because she just misses his throat. We are at the top of the round.
Wren: Can I, can I take first initiative right now?
Kappa: Yeah.
Wren: Cool. So, start of my turn. Since I’m maintaining my Heroic Ability still, she’ll take another two Strain. Then I will still read her thoughts, see what she’s thinking at this point after my question, and I’m supposing she’s thinking something very different based on the fact that she just took a swipe at Shepherd, so. But I will do that.
Dax: You get the image of a mortal matching Hunter’s description laying on a wooden table in a dark room.
Wren: I will call out to my friends,
Wren (as Eight): Hunter must be somewhere nearby! She’s thinking about it. It’s some sort of table.. in the.. dark.
Wren: And I will let the link break at that point. It being just a little too draining for me, and my eyes go back from that translucent color, that translucent shade back to a nice, solid red. With that, I will use my Maneuver to draw my handy dandy meat tenderizer. Because my spoon is broken and I believe that’s all I’m going to do. I would like Eight Junior to stand there and for a moment, as I think to it,
Wren (as Eight): Eight Junior, begin a search. Find, find someone with..
Wren: And I’ll give a basic description of, of Hunter.
Wren (as Eight): Please, do this for me.
Wren: And I will let Eight Junior, just like, start running around [imitates chicken noises]. Like, strutting around the, the shack, and just looking for any secret rooms or doors. So, now I’m just imagining this giant chicken running around like pecking and scratching and everything.
Dax: Sure! And it is the chicken from Moana, so it does start pecking at a random, like, table leg.
Wren: But like the size of a toddler.
Dax: Yeah. Alright. Who’s up next?
Kappa: Are there chairs?
Dax. Yeah. Yeah, there’s a couple of chairs at the table.
Kappa: I think Rou is going to grab a chair, maneuver over to this, to Thistle who is pinned down, and place the chair legs over her arm. So she can’t like, do another swipe with, that, that partially free one.
Dax: Okay.
Kappa: And sit down. And I’ll ask,
Kappa (as Rou): Which one of these doors is Hunter in?
Kappa: And there are doors to other rooms, presumably, right?
Dax: Yeah. There’s a couple doors. It’s a smallish hut, but yeah.
Kappa: Yeah, looking at her in the face, goes,
Kappa (as Rou): Which one of these doors is Hunter behind?
Dax: Give me a Negotiation check
Kappa: Ooooh. This is the first time I’ve ever done Negotiation.
Dax: And it is going to be four purple.
Kappa: Four purple. That is, hold on, one, two, three. Two Threat, one Failure.
Dax: She spits in your face.
Kappa: I think that’s, I think that’s it. That’s all I got, yeah.
Wren: Alright, now kill her to make an example out of her.
Dax: [laughs] To herself!
Gaynor: I think, I think as a reaction to that, I bite her. Not like a, a hard bite, like trying to do crazy damage. I mean, she was just very, very rude to my friend who’s now like, I am already so angry at her. If it wasn’t for the fact that my friends don’t seem to want me to kill her right now, I absolutely would. So I am holding back but I do give like a bite or a claw or something in reaction to her not answering the question.
Dax: Now are you actually making contact or is it one of those feinting bites?
Gaynor: Yeah, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll snap at her. Yeah, I’ll, I’ll get right up into her face and like, snap.
Dax: I’d say, if you’re gonna try and do like an intimidating snap as a threat, we’re gonna make, make it a Coercion check if you’re okay with that. As your action?
Gaynor: Um, Coercion. Yeah, I can do Coercion.
Dax: Okay.
Gaynor: You know I wish I could do it with something else, but I don’t think there’s anything else even related to that that I’m even better at, so.
Dax: So it will be three green. I’m going to give you a Boost, because you have Rou basically, the two of you together are kind of keeping her kind of pinned. So go ahead and give me a boost for that. And that is going to be two purple, one red. Three difficulty.
[dice rolls]
Gaynor: One Advantage, two Failures, one Despair. So…
Dax: Okay.
Kappa: Everything’s coming up Thistle.
Gaynor: Oh yeah! [laughs] This is a big day for Thistle.
Wren: [imitating an old woman’s voice] It’s a great day for Granny Thistle, today I think I’ll make everyone feel terrible.
Gaynor: I will kill her. If she does anything else, I, I apologize but I will kill her. [chuckles]
Wren: [imitating an old woman’s voice] I’ve been smoking that pork for four days. It’s long pork, you know.
Dax: Alright. Is there anything else that you would like to do? That counts as your action.
Gaynor: In theory what I would like to do is, if, if Rou, if you don’t need me here right this second, I’m going to go sniff around the rest of the room and try and sniff out Hunter. If Rou’s got this, I mean, unless you need me?
Kappa: I don’t think I got this. That’s the.. [laughs]
Gaynor: Okay. I’ll stay here, I’ll stay here. For sure. I just, I’m looking at Rou to try and figure out what I need to do right now because -
Kappa: Because I, I got one arm, but that’s just the arm that tried to kill you. The rest of it, you got. [laughs]
Gaynor: Okay. Well, that’s fair. That’s a good point. I think, I think, did I, I think that exchange of like, trying to figure out if I should go or stay happens in real time. But I think that then I, I mean I am just going to put more pressure on her and say,
Gaynor (as Shepherd): These will be your final moments if you do not tell me where my Hunter is. Now!
Gaynor: As I’m just like, bearing down on her, claws sort of slightly digging in. But I’m not going, I’m worried that I might actually fully kill her if I attack now, so I’m, I’m holding back.
Dax: So in and amongst the bloody mess that is this individual, she starts to laugh. And you can hear that laugh is a little gurgly, from phlegm and other things that are in her mouth, in her lungs. She spits out onto the wooden dusty floor, and you hear,
Dax (as Granny Thistle): That’s fine, dearie. After all, whether your Hunter stays or goes, you cannot leave this realm. [high pitched laughter]
Dax: And as she cackles one last time, she disappears. Your feet fall forward onto the ground and your hands.
Gaynor: I get up and sprint around the apartment, I try and find her. I am not seeing her, I’m, I, I’m just yelling,
Music shifts to a dramatic, hopeful orchestral [36:07]
Gaynor (as Shepherd): No! No, you come back! No! No!
Kappa (as Rou): Shepherd, Shepherd, she’s, she’s gone. She’s gone.
Gaynor (as Shepherd): No! She can’t be gone, cause we don’t know where Hunter is!
Kappa (as Rou): Hunter is somewhere in a dark room, according to Eight. Right, Eight?
Wren: I’m like looking under the carpet.
Wren (as Eight): Huh? Oh! Where did she go?
Kappa (as Rou): She, she’s, she disappeared. Weird magic stuff. There’s nothing we can do except search, search the place.
Wren: I’d like to make a Cool check to recover some Strain at the end of combat.
Dax: Sure, you can do that. Anybody else who would like to may do so as well. While you’re taking a second to catch your breath, you hear from the other room [imitates chicken noises]. And you hear,
Dax (as Hunter): [in a masc, British voice] Oh my god, what is this giant chicken doing in here?! Ugh! Oh god!
Wren (as Eight): Eight Junior has found something!
Gaynor: Does that sound like Hunter?
Dax: That is the sound of Hunter’s voice.
Gaynor: Run, running. Running, instantly.
Dax: It’s coming from one of the side rooms.
Kappa (as Rou): Hello, we have come to save you! Do not panic, we are heroes!
Dax (as Hunter): Is this your chicken?
Kappa (as Rou): Yes!
Gaynor: Before I enter the room, I’m still kind of beasted out. I don’t know if it’s going to work because I’ve kind of pushed myself further through the process. But can I, can I try and revert back?
Dax: Yeah. So, in your specific case, it lasts until dawn. And night is coming fast.
Gaynor: I’m worried that it’s, this, I’ve pushed it far too long now and I’m worried that I, I, I think I catch myself in a mirror or a reflection of some kind and I see the way I look. I’m kind of horrified, like I’m covered in blood and I’ve got teeth and claws and I think about what, if this is really what I want to look like when I see them. So, I think before I enter, I stand so that they can’t see me, and I say,
Music shifts to a somber, gentle piano [38:39]
Gaynor (as Shepherd): Um, Hunter? Is that you?
Dax: You hear the sound of feet landing on the floor, and a [imitates chicken noises] and some heavy breathing.
Gaynor (as Shepherd): Where you come from, did you leave behind anybody?
Dax: You hear the sound of footsteps walking towards the door. Boots on wood.
Gaynor (as Shepherd): Because, I hope you know that they really missed you. And they love you a lot.
Gaynor: And I take one last look at myself and I’m going to try and push all the way back to dog. I don’t want them to see me like this, and I don’t think I can go back to human. I don’t know what that would be, but I, I don’t want to look like this when I see them.
Dax: Give me another hard Discipline check, so another four purple.
[dice rolls]
Gaynor: Two Failures, one Threat.
Dax: Try as you might, you are stuck in this limbo. The door opens.
Kappa: Can I have caught up at this point?
Dax: Oh yeah, yeah. Easy. I mean, the hut’s not that big.
Kappa: As I’m approaching, what does Shepherd look like? Like emotionally, like, not like physically.
Gaynor: Um, I think you see them, like, real honest panic and just kind of looking at themselves and I think they’re crying but it’s silent. Cause I, it’s really, it’s a weird mix of emotions for them because they are, they feel like they’re finally going to see Hunter. But they don’t, this isn’t how they wanted this to go at all.
Kappa: So would it be too, would it be within reason to, as the door opens, step in front of it, put my hand out and before rounding the corner, stop Hunter in the room?
Dax: Sure.
Kappa: And as I do that, I imagine off to the side here, out of line of sight of Hunter, is Shepherd.
Kappa (as Rou): We’ve come to help and rescue you. It seems we’ve tracked you here to this ghastly place. The voice you heard just now is someone that knows, well, you. And knows, knows Shepherd. They care about you a lot. So I want you to keep an open mind, because not everything is as it seems in this realm. Don’t panic, you are safe.
Kappa: And I’ll look over my shoulder at Shepherd.
Kappa (as Rou): If Hunter is, if this Hunter is as great as you say they are, it won’t matter what you look like. Just speak true.
Kappa: And I will move my hand from Hunter’s chest and step aside.
Dax: So I will say, the individual that stands before the two of you is rather gaunt. I mean, Shepherd, you know that this is Hunter, you can, smells like them. It does look like them, but they look as if they’ve been drained of their vigor and vitality. They’ve got sunken eyes, exposed, not exposed but very thin, sallow face. They look bone weary. When Rou, you pull your hand away from their chest, they almost fall forward. As if they were using you to kind of, stand up. They look at you, Rou, and they’re nodding a little bit.
Dax (as Hunter): I, Shepherd, is my, is my dog alright? God, what, what’s happened? I, I remember being in the forest and I was in the grove gathering flowers…
Kappa (as Rou): In due time, but someone has something to say to you before time runs out.
Dax: They nod.
Kappa: I grab Eight Junior and walk and give them privacy, walk back to Eight.
Wren: As kind of a follow up to that, seeing Rou approach with Eight Junior, I’ll, you’d find me standing in the kitchen area near the table, the nook, holding my spoon in my hands. Just kind of looking down on it morosely. I turn and look at you, and my eyes are awash in a deep, kind of aquamarine color, and kind of just grip the two pieces and stick it in my bag. I look at you, and I look at the chicken and I smile faintly.
Wren (as Eight): Wonderful job, Eight Junior. You really came through for us today. You really are man’s best friend.
Wren: And I will let Eight Junior dissipate into a swirl of feathers. As he fades out, I will say,
Wren (as Eight): We’ll see you again soon.
Wren: And the chicken just goes [imitates chicken noise] and disappears, slowly fading out of existence.
Wren (as Eight): Oh! Rou, I’m so sorry, I forgot to mention that -
Kappa (as Rou): [coughs] It’s, it’s okay, the feathers, they’re fine. It’s okay, just one, it was just one.
Wren: And I’ll just motion.
Wren (as Eight): I assume things are going alright in there?
Kappa (as Rou): I, I hope so. I don’t think it’s my place to, to witness any of that. It seems very intimate. But I hope so. We haven’t heard any shouting or, or panic, so… I assume it’s going well.
Wren (as Eight): Shared moment of emotional import. Intimate.
Kappa (as Rou): Very intimate.
Wren (as Eight): We’ll have to figure out a way out of here.
Kappa (as Rou): That’s right! This is what I was scared of, with the portal and everything. Oh dear.
Wren (as Eight): Fear not, for I am a portal expert. I have seen two of them in my brief time down here on the continent of Eulela.
Kappa (as Rou): How do we even know we’re on Eulela right now?
Wren (as Eight): Well, I mean, we don’t. But, we, I am from Eulela and that is where I have been. I do not know where I am right now.
Kappa (as Rou): I don’t know what it is but, for some reason, despite all logic, I have complete faith in your ability to bring us back home.
Gaynor: I try and get as much of the blood off my face and I, I kind of step forward, my head down.
Gaynor (as Shepherd): One time, when you were out hunting with Shepherd, you said that it didn’t matter whether you caught anything that day because all you needed in the world was him. Did you mean that when you said that?
Dax: The look across Hunter’s face seems a little confused, like how would you know something, how would you know that? But after a moment, they, they nod their head yes.
Gaynor: I look up and look them in the eyes.
Gaynor (as Shepherd): I don’t know if they, if they were ever able to tell you this, but they want you to know that you could be the worst hunter and they would still care about you just as much.
Gaynor: And then I, I kind of get forward and I, I try and give them the biggest hug I can and push as much love as I can into that because I’m, I’m worried about what will happen next.
Dax: You do so and you can, you can feel how little Hunter feels. It’s kind of hard to tell if it’s because you’re in this form or it’s because of what has happened to them. But they hug you back, and at first it’s a tentative, like, okay this is a thing, we’re hugging. And then, they grip you tighter and you can feel a little scritch at the back of your head.
Dax (as Hunter): Shepherd, I’m not really sure what’s going on or how you are like this, but what do you say we go home?
Gaynor: I pull away a little bit and I reach up and I give them a pat on the head, and I say,
Gaynor (as Shepherd): [holding back tears] Yeah Hunter, let’s go home.
Gaynor: And I don’t, I think I just let go. I look outside and I see that the sun is going to rise soon. I just, I just try and let go of everything that’s been hurting me. Just like,
Dax: So, with that. I will say if the group of you were to head back to the meadow where you last saw the portal, you do note that the branch is gone. There are a couple leaves and a portion of a stick that have been left behind, but for the most part, it is gone. Another couple “days” pass on your journey and by the time you get back to the meadow, Shepherd, you are almost entirely dog form. It is very hard for you to formulate words, you’re kind of forced to be crawling, walking normally again.
Gaynor: I think the whole time, I’ve just been recounting everything that’s happened, in great detail.
Gaynor (as Shepherd): And then, so then we went back to the cabin and so then, Rou was asleep and I went up to Rou and I, I licked his face and he didn’t like it very much, but it got him up! And, oh, oh! And then I found this stick! So there was this stick and, oh no! I had to give away the stick but I’ll get another one.
Gaynor: And kind of just go and like that the whole time until I’m physically incapable of doing that. And then I am just walking at Hunter’s heels, as close as I can.
Kappa: I imagine at some point, it just sounds like [imitates a dog grumbling].
[Gaynor grumbles like a dog in the background]
Dax: Yeah.
Gaynor: I’m just like [growls].
Kappa: There’s a very distinct like three minutes of like very -
Gaynor: Scooby-Doo! [laughs]
Kappa: Scooby-Doo-esque voice [laughs, then in a Scooby-Doo imitation voice] And then there was a stick!
[Dax laughs]
Dax: Hunter nods and just kind of listens the entire time and when it comes to the point where you, you can’t really say anything intelligible anymore. You know, they’re just content to walk with you and every so often, giving you a scritch behind your ears. So you get to the meadow, and you do see another portal has opened up and it does appear to lead out into the grove. Do you go in? Do you go through the portal? I don’t like making assumptions for my players.
Gaynor: I think I’m the first one, I think I, I, for lack of a better term, shepherd Hunter through the portal.
Dax: Okay.
Kappa: Yeah, we gotta get back to Arthas.
Dax: Okay. As each of you touch the portal, once again you are immediately transported back to where you came from. Shepherd, you are the last one through the portal.
Gaynor: Before I do, can I grab that last stick left behind from my big stick?
Dax: Yeah.
Gaynor: I grab that and pop through the portal.
Dax: You pop through the portal and just before it starts to dissipate, the group of you see Shepherd on the other side of the portal as fully human. And there is the dog on this side with you, wagging, carrying a stick. And that is where we end this session.
Gaynor: Ooo hoo hu.
Music fades out [52:21]
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.
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.
Arthas, Champion of Offam is played by Neil.
Shepherd has been played by our guest, Gaynor. You can follow them on Twitter @gaynorcott.