The deeper into the woods the group goes, the more sinister its power becomes. For some, the effects are stronger than for others.
As the group heads farther into the forest, strange things start to happen. The ground explodes under their feet and weird lights flicker in the distance. Rialla starts to see things as her paranoia takes hold. Try as they might, they don’t appear to make any headway as they meander through the eerie landscape.
Eight takes charge when they notice that Rialla and Arthas seem to be struggling the most. They coordinate with Jokul to mitigate the forest’s influence on Rialla. When Eight checks in on Arthas, the pair have a brief discussion about Eight’s oddities to distract from the madness that surrounds them.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Cole @ColeMorreale and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends [00:28]
Mysterious piano music begins [00:30]
Dax: Where we last left our heroes, they were wandering in the woods, heading west towards Kidohlva. They all noticed something strange about those wild woods, the lack of the sun crossing the horizon and the everlasting dead silence. Rialla attempted to create a Barrier spell and at the end of said spell, when it normally would fade into nothingness, the party was confronted with a loud, booming noise and an exceedingly bright flash of light. Now, none of you felt any heat from this explosion, for lack of a better word. But you were all knocked to the ground. As you look up now, you see no light. You hear a slight ringing in your ears that is slowly fading away. What are you all thinking? What are you all doing?
Cole: Rialla is confused and sitting on the ground.
Cole (as Rialla): Um, I.. that.. I don’t understand. Is everyone alright?
Neil: I am immediately standing up, club drawn, ready to club whatever did that.
James: Yeah, Jokul does likewise. He jumps to his feet, weapons, like he’s going for his weapons, looking for the threat. Being like,
James (as Jokul): Alright what caused explosion?
Cole (as Rialla): I think it was my spell? But that’s not the spell that I cast?
Wren (as Eight): Are you sure you didn’t accidentally..
Wren: I’m rolling around on the ground a little bit.
Wren (as Eight): …cast an Explosion spell?
Cole (as Rialla): Absolute -
Wren (as Eight): Because it seemed expertly done.
Cole (as Rialla): Nope, nope..
Cole: And I’ll get up and help Eight up.
James: I don’t think we’ve ever seen Eight fall over. Is he just like a turtle, like can’t get up?
Wren: Mmm, not really like a turtle necessarily. But definitely rolling around a little bit. Just like, trying to get their bearings because getting blown off their feet is not something they’ve really had happen before.
Cole: I would hope not! But yeah, Rialla walks over and helps Eight stand back up.
Wren (as Eight): Thank you. So if you weren’t trying to set off an explosion, what were you trying to do?
Cole (as Rialla): I was trying to put a barrier around us, to see if I could block off the effects of whatever’s happening here.
Wren (as Eight): What.. what do you think is happening here?
Cole (as Rialla): The magic here is wrong, it’s taking whatever spell I cast and doing something else with it. It’s, I’ve never felt anything like this before.
Wren (as Eight): Well..
Wren: I look to Jokul and to Arthas and quirk an eyebrow.
Wren (as Eight): Then I suppose using magic will be the last thing we want to do in these woods.
Cole (as Rialla): I would say so.
James (as Jokul): No problems here. Never had any.
Neil (as Arthas): I have a club.
James (as Jokul): That could be magic.
Wren (as Eight): A club typically is not magic, as far as I am aware. But it might be able to, I don’t even… Arthas, it’s not magic, is it?
Neil (as Arthas): I’m not sure. Is it?
Wren (as Eight): I don’t know. Where did you find it?
Neil (as Arthas): Well, this end..
Neil: And he gestures at the sword.
Neil (as Arthas): Was stuck in a rock. And then I began to yank at the rock, for a very long time. Then the rock came out with it, and now it’s mine.
Wren (as Eight): And out of curiosity, Arthas, was the rock in your hometown or did you find it after you were pushed off of a cliff, or..?
Neil (as Arthas): Oh! Mid-slide.
[laughter from Cole]
Wren (as Eight): Oh. So -
Neil (as Arthas): You see, I came to a deposit on the side of the mountain, I want to say half-way down. And after collecting my bearings, I found it. Then continued the plunge.
Wren (as Eight): So, it was like a slight break in your descent.
Neil (as Arthas): In a way, yes.
Wren (as Eight): Did you catch it on the way down?
Neil (as Arthas): No. I landed, and then found it.
Wren (as Eight): Okay, alright. Strange sword on the side of a mountain.
Wren: I tap my large index finger on my chin for a moment, shrug heartily and say,
Wren (as Eight): It’s quite possible that the sword could be magic. I would recommend we keep it sheathed for now. Or stowed? How do you sheath a sword that’s not really a sword but is actually a club?
Neil (as Arthas): I just carry it.
Wren (as Eight): Oh. Well, keep up the fine work then.
Dax: I would like everyone except for Eight to make a Perception check. Make it easy.
Wren: Rude.
James: Oh my new Heightened Awareness kicks in! So everybody gets a boost dice.
Wren: Anyone who’s engaged with me gets two because I also have Heightened Awareness!
James: Ah!
Wren: So everybody gets a bonus!
James: Everybody gets a boost!
Neil: I have one Success and two Advantages.
Dax: Rialla has two Advantage, Jokul has..?
James: So I have one Success and one Advantage.
Dax: Okay. Arthas, what was your final?
Neil: One Success and three Advantages.
Dax: Rialla, you start to feel a tingling, almost a crackle, on your skin. You can feel the hairs on your arms and on the back of your neck start to stand up. Arthas and Jokul, on top of that crackling, that tingling feeling, you start to hear a buzzing in the distance. Almost as if somebody had left, in our time, a set of electronics on for too long. That whirring noise that mechanical devices make.
Cole: Are we about to be struck by lightning?
Cole (as Rialla): Not to interrupt this conversation, but I think we need to move.
James (as Jokul): Agreed. Scoot.
Wren (as Eight): What’s, what’s the matter?
Wren: I just kind of put my hands out and hold them out, palms up.
Wren (as Eight): What’s, what’s going on? Where do we need, what?
Cole (as Rialla): I don’t -
Neil: Arthas is already trucking in a direction.
Wren: Uh, well I guess…
Cole: Arthas is already gone?!?
James: (laughs) Zoom!
Cole: One step is like, you know.
Neil (as Arthas): Well you see, having lived on the mountain, and knowing that Eight is wearing armor, he’s about to be deep-fried.
Wren: What now?
[James laughs]
Neil: Clearly this is the course of action.
James: Tingly electric means thunder, run.
Wren (as Eight): Well I guess Arthas is going that way. After you two?
Wren: And I just motion.
Cole: I walk and take Eight’s arm and Jokul’s arm, and start urging them to move on, get out of that area.
James: Yeah, grab Maeve’s reins and just, away we go.
Dax: Eight, make a Cool check for me.
Wren: Any difficulty assigned with that?
Dax: Just a simple check.
Wren: Oh neat. [sound of dice rolling] One Advantage.
Neil: Nice.
Cole: Rolling real good, rolling good.
Dax: Eight, as you take your first step, the ground underneath you balloons up and you’re able to move at the last second and notice it, not get caught up in it. But the ground balloons up and the dirt just kind of goes, (poof thud sound), and there’s now a hole where you once stood.
Wren: I stop and turn and look at it, as Rialla’s pulling me. I’m just kind of looking behind me as we’re walking and I’m just,
Wren (as Eight): Oh. Oh, the ground just exploded. That’s interesting. I don’t understand, but okay. I suppose we really should just keep moving. Arthas? Wait for us! The ground might explode, you’d probably not like to be by yourself if it gives out under you.
Neil: Arthas is looking intently at the ground and continuing to move.
Cole: Is there a check that I can make? Is this going to be a lightning strike? Is that..?
Dax: Well, let’s see. Is there something Rialla can do? Go ahead and make me a Knowledge check, and make it at Easy difficulty.
Cole: Four. Failure.
[sound of dice rolling]
Dax: Four failures?
Cole: One failure, one failure.
Dax: One failure. Okay, I was going to say that math doesn’t add.
Cole: No, no, no. That was, it was a Boost, a Threat, or an Advantage, a Threat, and a Failure.
Dax: As far as you know, I mean, it doesn’t seem like there’s going to be a lightning strike.
Cole: Oh god, oh god, oh god. Doesn’t help.
James: Is this..
Cole: Boy I’m panicking.
James: It exploded outward. Was it like a gas bubble or is it like a sinkhole, like eating things?
Dax: If you saw it happen, which I imagine Jokul probably would, making sure that Eight was actually going to move, it did look like just a bubble of air pushed the ground out. The crater that’s left is maybe half a foot deep.
Wren: Oh that’s not terribly deep. The worst thing that happens is somebody just, I don’t know, sprains an ankle.
Cole: Yep. We keep moving though. Get out of there, get out of there, get out of there.
Wren: Mhmm, mhmm, mhmm.
Dax: So as you all are continuing to walk through these woods, that crackling energy, that whirring noise starts to dissipate the farther you get from where you last were standing.
Cole: Okay. That’s good.
Dax: And the woods are back to being dead silent. And you notice -
Cole: Oh, I don’t like it.
Dax: You notice that the sun now has, at the very least, reached its zenith.
Cole: Can we see the edge of the woods?
Dax: You cannot.
Wren: But we can tell the sun’s moved?
James: Has the terrain changed at all? Or are we running in a circle?
Dax: Make a Perception check. Or if you would like, you can make a Survival check. Jokul has his choice of Survival or Perception. In both cases, make it Medium difficulty.
James: By chance, is this a mind-affecting ability?
Dax: I will say that it is not a mind-affecting ability.
James: Cool.
Cole: Do I see any of the marks that I made in the trees?
Dax: You can make a Perception check, Rialla.
Wren: Don’t forget, if you’re doing Perception, you get two boosts.
Dax: Yeah. You have a Success left over.
Cole: Oh wait. Oh -
Wren: And an advantage.
Cole: Oh, I thought, I thought everything canceled out. Nevermind.
Dax: Nope. You got a Success and an Advantage.
Cole: Oh my god, something! (laughs) Can I use my Advantage to heal a Strain?
Dax: Yes. Four Advantages are left over on Jokul’s roll.
[James chuckles]
James: I did not get any Successes, but I rolled some Advantages.
Dax: As far as you know, it doesn’t look like you’re going in a circle. The terrain really hasn’t changed much. You’re still in the deep, deep woods and there’s.. you’re still walking over sticks and stones as the path you are walking on does not appear to be well worn.
James: Okay. Like, if I see a hoofprint, that’s clearly Maeve’s. I’m going in a circle.
Cole: Do I see the things?
Dax: With your Success, you don’t see any marks that you’ve made.
Cole: Uh-huh.
Dax: However...
Cole: Uh-huh, there it is. (laughs)
Dax: You do see something in the distance. Something floating and flickering.
Cole: Does it look like a lantern or is it too far to tell? Just like a flickering light?
Dax: It’s very far out in the distance at this point.
Cole: In the direction we’re heading?
Dax: Yep.
Cole: I’ll keep that in mind as we continue to move forward. I think it’s safe to say that we continue in the direction, on edge and being careful. Just trying to get through these woods before we die.
James: I mean, that light’s the only thing that we’ve seen that kind of changed around us so.
Wren (as Eight): You two are looking around an awful lot. Are you expecting us to see something strange?
Cole (as Rialla): There’s definitely something strange here.
James (as Jokul): Forests are rarely this empty. Something’s going on here.
Wren (as Eight): Just looks like a bunch of trees and plants and bushes to me.
Dax: What is the marching order right now?
Cole: I think Arthas is in front, I’m in the middle somewhere.
James: Yeah, because you grabbed me and Eight and dragged us, so three of us and then Maeve’s probably tail end.
Dax: Okay. I need Arthas and Rialla to make me a Vigilance check at Hard difficulty.
Cole: (laughs) I’m about to cry. This is so scary!
Wren: Get those two boosts!
Cole: Oh we still get those two boosts! Okay, okay, okay. Oh my gosh.
Neil: I have a net nothing.
Dax: I think that’s a success.
Cole: I have a Failure and two Advantages.
James: I mean, we’re only rolling six and eight-sided dice. We’re not rolling -
Cole: Oh, she’s rolling, she’s rolling, she’s rolling! She’s rolling!
Dax: So Arthas, as you’re marching along, you’re watching the ground. You’re not paying attention to what’s above you. And suddenly you feel this wave of intense heat cascade over your body, from starting at your head down to your feet. Rialla, you happen to be watching everywhere and you see it coming. You see this bright red light shoot down from the sky and land on top of Arthas. Then, this large red light expands out as if it were a bubble. And to you, it looks as if Arthas is on fire.
Cole: Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god! Oh god oh god oh god!
Neil: Am I on fire?
Dax: Arthas, you feel the heat. But if you look around, you don’t see anything other than a bright red glow.
Neil: I look up to see if I can see what it is.
Dax: You look all around you and it is if you were encased in a giant red bubble.
Cole: Oh my god.
Dax: And it’s very warm -
Neil: I make a bee -
Dax: Almost as if you were standing too close to a bonfire.
Neil: I make a beeline for out of the bubble.
Dax: You’re going to try and get out of the bubble?
Cole: (softly) Oh no, oh noooo.
Dax: Make an Athletics check for me, at Medium difficulty.
Wren: Out of curiosity, you said that Rialla’s the only one that sees this? Out of the three of us?
Dax: Mhmmm.
Wren: Hmmm. Okay. So if I look at Arthas right now, what am I going to see?
Dax: You see Arthas -
Neil: Two Failures.
Dax: Looking around and standing still, but you see nothing else.
Wren: And Rialla is absolutely losing her shit next to me. I grab Rialla by the shoulders.
Cole (as Rialla): No! No! We have to, we have to get, we have to, we have to help him. We have to... Oh my gosh, I can, I can, I just.. (panting)
Wren: I wheel her around and look her straight in the eyes and say,
[Cole pants]
Wren (as Eight): What is the matter with you?
Wren: And I place my palm on her forehead, like I’m checking her temperature.
Cole (as Rialla): You don’t, you don’t see anything? Arthas, Arthas is..
Wren (as Eight): Hold, hold. Rialla, Rialla please, hold still. I’m checking to make sure you’re not malfunctioning.
Wren: And I keep my palm against the forehead. Is she feverish or what the hell is going on here?
Dax: Make me a Medicine check.
[Cole and Dax chuckle]
Cole: Best is when you can hear the DM about to laugh-cry. (laughs)
Dax: Real quick. Arthas, what was your Athletics check? What was the result of that?
Neil: Two Failures.
Dax: Two Failures?
Neil: Yeah.
Dax: Okay. You go to move and it feels almost like your feet are stuck in mud. And it’s not even mud, really deep clay. You look down and you’re standing on ground, but you can’t move.
Neil: I have an idea. I’m going to fall over.
[Cole bursts out laughing]
Dax: You’re just going to let your body drop?
Neil: Yep.
Dax: Make me another Athletics check. This time, give yourself a Boost when you roll and keep the same difficulty.
Neil: Net Success!
Dax: Are you flopping forward or are you gonna flop backwards?
Neil: Backwards!
Dax: Alright. The rest of you, well I should say Eight and Jokul, if you’re watching Art still, you see his body go rigid and he just falls backwards. Eight, what was the result of your Medicine check?
Wren: You didn’t tell me the Difficulty.
Dax: Oh, sorry. Medium.
Wren: Okay. Oh awesome, they were all blank. The bad ones. So I’ve got two Advantage and two Success on that check.
Dax: A little clammy, but she feels normal.
Wren: Ooo, clammy is bad. Um, so..
Wren (as Eight): Rialla, you’re looking, you’re looking a little uh… panicked? I feel like panicked is a good word.
Cole (as Rialla): Are you, are you not seeing..?
Wren (as Eight): Please, please. I need you to maintain composure. Because you’re making, you’re making Bessie very uncomfortable. And -
Cole (as Rialla): What do you mean?! What..
Cole: I immediately, I go to Arthas and I’m trying to, is there anything I can see? With the bubble? Is there like, if I take a, I don’t know, what do I have on me. If I take out one of my daggers and I poke it, does anything happen?
Dax: So you walk up close to Arthas.
Wren: As you try to break free from me, I hold onto your shoulders because,
Wren (as Eight): You are not well, and I will not let you leave my side yet.
Cole (as Rialla): Eight, we have to help Arthas!
Dax: Are you trying to essentially grapple Rialla? Like, hold her in place?
Wren: Yeah. Yeah, I don’t want her to wander away from me.
Dax: I need you, Rialla, to make an opposed check for me. I need you to make a Athletics check versus Eight’s Brawn.
Cole: What is that, like a four?
Wren: Straight Brawn?
Dax: I’m looking, give me one sec.
Wren: Or do you want to do Athletics vs. Athletics, or..?
James: Jokul’s probably standing there between Rialla and Arthas, just double-taking between the two like..
Cole: What the fuck is happening?
Dax: Make an Athletics check opposed with Eight’s Brawn. Straight Brawn.
Wren: Okay. Then it’s just going to be three purple.
Cole: (fake crying noise) I only have two green. [sound of dice rolling] That’s two Failures.
Dax: Rialla, you can’t get closer.
Wren (as Eight): Rialla,
Dax: Eight has a very tight grip on your arms.
Cole: I’ll turn to Jokul and be like,
Cole (as Rialla): Go check on Arthas! Go check on Arthas!
Wren (as Eight): Oh, Arthas has fallen. Yes, Jokul, please go check on Arthas while I tend to Rialla.
Cole (as Rialla): Try, try to get inside the dome. I don’t know, you didn’t see it come down?
Wren (as Eight): There’s no, did you say dome?
Cole (as Rialla): Yes! You don’t?
James (as Jokul): There’s no dome over Arthas.
James: But Jokul will like,
James (as Jokul): There’s no dome, but I’ll go make sure he’s okay.
Cole: What does the dome, is it just like an orange theme?
Dax: Rialla, it looks like Arthas is engulfed in a bubble of flame.
Cole (as Rialla): You don’t see the, he’s inside the fire! Go put out the fire!
Wren (as Eight): You are not well.
Cole: Rialla is speaking in Thevenoudian. Like, she is freaking out.
Wren (as Eight): I also do not understand what you’re saying.
Cole (as Rialla): Please go, go check on him!
Wren: I would like to do a Mind Shaper check on her?
Dax: Hold that thought. Jokul, you said you are going to go check on Arthas?
Wren (as Eight): Rialla, I’m sorry. But I would like to change your mood, using my own mental power. Because you’re panicked.
Cole (as Rialla): But no, don’t use it!
Wren (as Eight): So..
Cole (as Rialla): Any magic, you don’t know what will happen.
Wren (as Eight): It’s not magic.
Wren: You don’t, alright this is me speaking out of character. I apologize to Rialla, but I am going to use my mental power to shape your mind and calm you down, because you are panicked.
Cole: Rialla’s not against that, she’s worried that it’s a magical ability and that you’re going to touch her and make her explode. (laughs) So, yeah. Go for it.
Wren: As Eight does this, they do not say that they’re doing this. They literally just are looking into your face, and you see Eight’s eyes change color again. Kind of a soft, pinkish color. I attempt to shape your mind so that you’re less horrified, to soothe you. Calm you down a little bit. This would be, if you’re okay with it, an opposed check and it would be my Discipline versus your Vigilance.
Cole: And I’m rolling?
Wren: Nope, I will. But I need to know what your -
Cole: Oh, okay.
Wren: What your Discipline is.
Cole: My Discipline, I have three Willpower and I have one rank in Discipline.
Wren: Okay.
Dax: Before you reveal the result of your roll Eight. Arthas, could you do me a favor?
Neil: Mhmm.
Dax: And make a Resilience check for me, at Hard difficulty, upgraded once. Don’t share the roll just yet, I want to continue with Eight and Rialla. But I want to make sure that roll is done while this is happening.
Wren: I have two Threat, but a Success. So on a Success, I can cause the target to adopt an emotional state of my choice for the next minute. And since I didn’t generate three Threat or a Despair, the target does not realize that they are being manipulated. So Rialla, as I’m looking at your face, you suddenly feel a cooling sensation wash over your body. The fright and the panic you have just kind of melts away and you feel that Arthas is going to be just fine because Jokul is great and they’re your boo and they’re going to take care of them. You know that with Jokul and Eight nearby, everything’s going to be just fine and you feel a complete wave of calm wash over your body. You suddenly just are passive and un-panicked, because panicking is a bad thing to be doing right now.
Cole: Do you still have your hands on my shoulders?
Wren: Yeah. I’m just holding on to you and just looking at you. And I’m like, my eyebrows are arched and my eyes are, my lenses are dipped up in a joyful, ‘you can calm down’ face. You just feel like you’re compelled to be calm.
Cole: I kind of slump a little bit, like I deflate a little bit after that.
Wren (as Eight): There, that’s better. Now, you said you saw a dome. Well,
Wren: I look over.
Wren (as Eight): There’s no dome, everything is fine. We’re going to figure out what’s going on. In the meantime,
Wren: And I hold out my waterskin.
Wren (as Eight): You should probably drink a little water. You are clammy and feverish.
Wren: She’s not really feverish, but I want to say she is, so that she understands that she is not acting herself.
Cole: I’ll take a drink from the waterskin and,
Cole (as Rialla): I don’t know if we should continue forward. Maybe we should go back and try to find a way around?
Wren (as Eight): You said that the forest is strange. But as far as I can tell, it is just very quiet and seemingly empty.
Cole (as Rialla): I just saw a bright red light come down and hit Arthas and set him on fire.
Wren (as Eight): Mmm, that’s interesting. Now,
Wren: I look side to side and I’m still kind of, I still have one hand on your shoulder because I used the one to pass the waterskin to you. I motion to the trees and to everything around us, and I simply say,
Wren (as Eight): It’s very interesting you saw something like that because Jokul and I saw nothing. Maeve did not see anything, and -
Cole (as Rialla): That’s why I think we need to turn around and leave. I think this place is showing us it’s..
Wren: If I were to turn, DM, and look behind us, it’s just expanses of forests on all sides of us, correct?
Dax: Yep.
Wren (as Eight): Rialla, we have been traveling for a very long time through this forest. For us to turn around and leave, would just put us further back into the woods. Do you not think so? We would be no closer to escaping from the woods.
Cole: Turning around, do I still see Arthas on fire?
Dax: You do not. And with that, we return to Jokul walking over to Arthas. Jokul, you don’t see anything wrong with Arthas other than they are laying flat on the ground.
James: Is he rolling back and forth?
Dax: Nope. He fell completely backwards as if he was stiff as a board. So as far as you know, he’s just laying there on the ground, looking up at the sky.
James: I’ll just move over to his head and shoulder, and look down at him.
James (as Jokul): You okay?
James: Do I feel any difference or is he just?
Dax: You feel nothing when you reach forward.
James: I poke him.
Dax: Arthas, you’re being poked.
Neil: I give a thumbs-up.
[Dax laughs]
James: So he’s responding, so he’s not like passed out or dead. Poke, thumbs-up, okay.
James (as Jokul): Why are you on the floor?
Neil (as Arthas): I’m trying to escape this red light, and I can’t move my legs.
James: Look over at his legs, is there something tied around his legs?
Neil (as Arthas): They are being disagreeable.
James: Is there anything visually wrong with his legs? Jokul will walk around him, make sure.
James (as Jokul): Alright. Did you fall on a bee? Is there something I’m not seeing?
Dax: Arthas to you looks fine.
James: I’ll poke a foot.
James (as Jokul): Did you feel that?
Neil: Do I feel that?
Dax: You do.
Neil: But will my legs move?
Dax: What was the result of your Resilience check?
Neil: It was four Successes and one Triumph. Well, three Successes and a Triumph after the difficulty.
Dax: Nice. Jokul pokes your leg, your feet, and you feel it. And when you go to move, you’re able to move again.
James: Magic healing touch!
Dax: And the bubble slowly dissipates. You see the dark canopy of the leaves in front of your eyes, high up in the sky.
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmm.
Neil: I right myself and think, ‘I’m going to club whoever caused that’.
Wren (as Eight): Jokul, is Arthas okay?
Neil (as Arthas): Yes.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, excellent! Simply Arthas, you’re alright.
Neil (as Arthas): My legs were being disagreeable.
Wren (as Eight): I see. We’ll have to take a look at them when we get out of these woods. Rialla is acting very strange.
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmmmmm.
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, do you have any sausages?
Neil (as Arthas): I wish.
Wren (as Eight): I was just thinking, it would be worthwhile to give Rialla something to eat because she’s acting very, very peculiar.
James: I’ll switch places with Eight and be like,
James (as Jokul): Arthas seems okay. You check him out, Eight.
James: And I’ll go back over to Rialla.
Wren (as Eight): If you need anything,
Wren: I lean in to Jokul.
Wren (as Eight): If she continues acting strangely, let me know. I will do my best to help her.
[Cole giggles]
Cole: It’s so cryptic.
James: Jokul goes over, back to Rialla and just be like,
James (as Jokul): Arthas is okay. Do you still see the dome? Or fire?
Cole (as Rialla): No, um, I…
Cole: I’m not going to say anything. I just wrap my arms around Jokul and kind of like, put my head against his chest and just take some deep breaths and get ready to keep moving.
James: I stand there confused but supportive.
[Cole laughs]
Dax: Rialla, make me a Perception check at Easy.
Cole: Oh god, oh god. Oh everything, it’s a lot. Oh!
Wren: You’re hugging Jokul, so you get two Boosts.
James: Indeed!
Cole: Two Boosts from Jokul and one from Eight?
Dax: Eight’s not engaged with you anymore.
Wren: But if I’m in short range, then it would still be an extra one.
James: Yeah.
Dax: Then yes, you can add one more from Eight.
Cole: Two Success and six Advantages.
Dax: Eight had mentioned wouldn’t it be nice for you to have something to eat, and then they walked away. As you’re clutching Jokul, and you’re burying your head in his leathers. and you’re taking in that smell of old leather and that scent that Jokul has on his skin, that scent that is only his, you start to smell something else. Roasting meat and –
Cole: Can I tell -
Dax: And the scent of a fire.
Cole: Can I tell if.. do I feel anything magical that’s fucking with me? Like, does anything?
Dax: Make a Vigilance check.
Cole: Oh my god.
Dax: At Medium difficulty.
Cole: I am being fucked with. And I don’t like it. I’m going to take my three Boosts! [sound of dice rolling] Okay! That’s the shit that I like to see. I have one, two, three, four Successes and three Advantages.
Dax: There’s something definitely wrong with this forest, but there’s nothing affecting you personally.
Cole: I don’t believe you. (laughs)
Dax: Well that’s harsh.
Cole: I’m sorry (laughs and then grunts in frustration) Okay, I’m going to use my Advantages to also recover the rest of my Strain.
James: I attempt to disbelieve.
Cole: Oh my god.
[Wren laughs]
Cole: I’m going to ignore whatever I notice. I’m just going to take a deep breath and I want to focus on getting out of the woods.
Dax: Okay. Arthas, you’re standing there, looking around for an attacker. You don’t see anything. All you see is Eight coming towards you.
Wren (as Eight): Simply Arthas, you’re on your feet. Are you well?
Neil (as Arthas): Very sweaty, but aside from that, yes.
Wren (as Eight): I have noticed. You’re always quite glistening with sweat.
Neil (as Arthas): I try to maintain my moisture. You’ll fall ill if you don’t.
Wren (as Eight): You organics definitely do have a knack for staying moist.
Neil (as Arthas): What is an organic?
Wren (as Eight): Well, you my friend.
Neil (as Arthas): Why?
Wren (as Eight): Flesh and blood? Living thing?
Neil (as Arthas): And you would be one also?
Wren (as Eight): Well, I live yes. But, have you..
Wren: I quirk an eyebrow and I put my hands on my shoulders akimbo style.
Wren (as Eight): Have you not noticed I don’t need to eat or drink, technically?
Neil: Arthas leans in.
Neil (as Arthas): Do you bleed, Eight?
Wren (as Eight): Is that a threat?
Neil (as Arthas): No. But do you?
Wren (as Eight): In a sense, yes. Should I damage my inner workings, I do leak a viscous fluid that tends to course through my frame. But, it is not blood in the sense of what you and our companions have within them.
Neil (as Arthas): Why?
Wren (as Eight): Why what?
Neil (as Arthas): Did a witch do this to you?
Wren (as Eight): No, my mother did.
Neil (as Arthas): Did you cross a hag?
Wren (as Eight): I would request you not speak ill of my mother.
Neil (as Arthas): Was she a witch?
Wren (as Eight): Did you not hear what I just said?
Neil (as Arthas): That is understandable. But what rock were you carved from that made you like that?
Wren (as Eight): Honestly..
Wren: I look at the plates on my body.
Wren (as Eight): I do not know what these are composed of. I have not taken the time to actually examine them, which is silly, given the fact that I live with myself every day and the nights are long. I have plenty of time to think and examine, but I’m just glad to have these pieces that keep me together. Arthas, you ask -
Neil (as Arthas): That’s -
Wren (as Eight): Peculiar questions.
Neil (as Arthas): No one from home is like that.
Wren: As I look up at Arthas,
Wren (as Eight): Well around here, no one is eleven feet tall. So, I suppose oddities are in the eyes of the beholder, would you not say?
Neil (as Arthas): I mean, that’s fair. But I’ve seen you eat.
Wren (as Eight): Yes, but I do not need to. I do it for the enjoyment of it.
Neil (as Arthas): Why?
Wren (as Eight): Why do I like to enjoy experiences with other people?
Neil (as Arthas): The not-eating.
Wren (as Eight): I do not require nourishment the same way as you do.
Neil (as Arthas): Why?
Wren: I cross my arms and furrow my brows.
Wren (as Eight): I take it back, you ask the same question not many peculiar ones.
Neil (as Arthas): Once, I tried to not eat to see what would happen. And I got very tired.
Wren (as Eight): Hmmm. I do not sleep either.
Neil (as Arthas): Until I… Why?
Wren (as Eight): I do not need to.
Neil (as Arthas): I have several questions for your mother.
Wren: Eight gets visibly sad.
Wren (as Eight): Then your questions will remain unanswered, Arthas.
Neil: That gets through Arthas’s head and he stops talking.
Wren (as Eight): I am glad you are feeling better. Perhaps.. perhaps you and I should look for a quick and easy way to get out of these woods.
Neil (as Arthas): Agreeable.
Wren (as Eight): It seems to be driving Rialla to uncharacteristic emotional states.
Neil (as Arthas): She’s got the woods madness. I remember hearing about it in a book once.
Wren (as Eight): Wait, you heard it from a book or you read it in a book?
Neil (as Arthas): I had someone read a book to me.
Wren (as Eight): Yeah.
Neil (as Arthas): It was very small.
Wren (as Eight): The book or the person who read it?
Neil (as Arthas): Both.
Wren (as Eight): I see. Well, you seem to be good at climbing trees. So I would ask if you might get a higher vantage point, whereas I might try to speak with the forest.
Neil (as Arthas): Well, good idea to me.
Neil: And Arthas begins trying to find a tree.
Dax: And while Arthas tries to find a tree, we are going to call this session ended and find out if next session, our heroes escape the forest or if they are lost to the woods madness.
Wren: We’re heroes now?
Music fades out [34:24]
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.