Hellbound

0:00:00 Fantasy High: Sophomore Year Emily Axford as Fig Faeth; Zac Oyama as Gorgug Thistlespring; Siobhan Thompson as Adaine Abernant; Lou Wilson as Fabian Seacaster; Ally Beardsley as Kristen Applebees; and Brian “Murph” Murphy as Riz Gukgak Episode 13: Hellbound < [Previous Episode] | [Next Episode] > [upbeat fantasy music plays]

0:00:00 Brennan: Hello and welcome back to Dimension 20 Live presents—

0:00:04 Lou: [crosstalk] Had to get it in there.

0:00:05 Brennan: — Fantasy High, Sophomore Year.

0:00:06 Ally: [crosstalk] Oh no.

0:00:08 Brennan: I am your humble Dungeon Master Brennan Lee Mulligan. With me as always are our intrepid heroes. Say hi intrepid heroes!

0:00:14 Brennan: Holy moly, all right guys, a little bit of housekeeping. We're feeling rowdy here tonight. We're full of beans as you might say. Group laughs.

0:00:25 Lou: They don't know what that means!

0:00:26 Brennan: I know, it's so rude to put an inside joke from before we went live.

0:00:31 Siobhan: We're not gonna tell you, it's an inside joke.

0:00:34 Brennan: We'll put clues in the Discord three years from today.

0:00:36 Murph: [excitedly holding some dice up to the camera] I have dice that are full of beans!

0:00:38 Brennan: Dice that are full of beans.

0:00:39 Ally: Murph is obsessed with his new little bean dice, and we're all like please stop talking about it. Group laughs.

0:00:44 Brennan: Housekeeping. Guys, a couple things. Number one, Tiny Heist comes out at midnight pacific tonight, episode five. There's only two more episodes of Tiny Heist. Be sure to check it out on dropout.tv. Also, Dropout is alive and kickin'! You can sign up for it, and you can get 25% off your first month of Dropout with the promo code—

0:01:09 Lou: [interrupting] Little beans!

0:01:10 Brennan: — Tiny Heist! Group laughs.

0:01:11 Brennan: Not little beans, that's not the promo code. The promo code is Tiny Heist.

0:01:14 Lou: I'm sorry, Murph's little beans.

0:01:17 Brennan: You get 25% off Murph with the promo code lil' beans.

0:01:22 Lou: You can buy Murph in the merch store! Merch Murph!

0:01:24 Siobhan: Murph, what is this? Group laughing.

0:01:25 Murph: Everybody relax.

0:01:27 Brennan: It's too rowdy for Murph. Now, finally, guys, our wonderful Sophomore Year game, our ongoing Twitch game, we're gonna add some premiumness on these episodes because we're going to announce that there are including tonight, only eight episodes left.

0:01:51 Ally: Oh, yeah. Emily breathes out loudly with a shocked look on her face and Siobhan holds up eight fingers.

0:01:53 Brennan: March, I believe 28th is going to be our last episode of Sophomore— March 25th is going to be our last episode of Sophomore Year. So the story is pacing up. It's getting intense. We're coming up on the thrilling conclusion. Tell your friends, tell your loved ones, tell the crew at home to tune in—

0:02:15 Siobhan: Reach out to your estranged parents and tell them to watch Dimension 20 Live on Twitch.

0:02:18 Emily: Wow

0:02:19 Brennan: Marketing has told us that we score incredibly high with estranged parents. So please, that's a market—

0:02:25 Ally: I sent a text.

0:02:25 Zac: Mom, dad. If they're listening.

0:02:29 Ally: Dad, I know we haven't talked in awhile but uh, Sophomore Year is coming to a close.

0:02:34 Brennan: Sophomore Year is coming to a close. Last we left off, our intrepid heroes were in Arborly. [music changes to soft piano]

0:02:41 Brennan: The village of Arborly which borders the forest of the Nightmare King. The Bad Kids, a group of teen heroes from the Aguefort Adventuring Academy in the nation of Solace in the world of Spyre are doing their high school for heroes spring break big project which is retrieving the lost crown of the Nightmare King which was stolen from Principal Arthur Aguefort's office previous year, freshman year. The quest has brought them to the pirate city of Leviathan, the Elven nation of Fallinel, and now they are in the lee of the forest of the Nightmare King in the small Gnomish and Wood Elf community of Arborly hidden in tall and tangled misty trees in the wake of a massive wall of briars. Our wonderful Bad Kids had a crustacean themed impromptu rager in the summer home of gnomish music executive Grover Tillythatch. Crab King, shrimp tub.

0:03:39 Lou: A little shrimp. Players fold their arms across their chests and wiggle their fingers, scuttling left and right, imitating crabs.

0:03:42 Brennan: Lil' shrimp. They also met Mira Silverbow, a leader of the Wood Elf Rangers here, and the leader of Arborly, an ancient fox named Nuathera. Gorgug, Ragh, and Fabian rushed off to the Tinkerer's Hall to investigate there along with the Hangman. Hoot growl, hoot growl. The jocks all went there. Adaine and Riz, Nerd Squad headed over to—

0:04:12 Lou: Nerd Squad?

0:04:12 Brennan: — The Owl and the Harp -

0:04:14 Lou: We're gonna name now?

0:04:14 Emily: (to Lou) Lil’ beans!

0:04:14 Siobhan: [crosstalk] Don’t lil’ bean me.

0:04:14 Brennan: — to bumble through an interaction with, with a bartender and then get up to an arcane crimes scene in the room of Arianwen Abernant. And Sandra Lynn on her griffin dropped off Kristen, Tracker, and Fig over the Shrine of Thorns where they discovered a mural of an ancient unnamed goddess, and a portal to Hell was opened. And Fig was served a subpoena. I think that's pretty much everything that happened last week. Am I forgetting anything?

0:04:51 Siobhan: As far as Adaine knows yes.

0:04:51 Brennan: As far as Adaine and Gorgug--

0:04:53 Emily: As far as everyone knows!

0:04:54 Ally: I get the feeling that there's something else though like something,

0:04:57 Emily: Good crab. There was good crab.

0:04:58 Ally: I don't know.

0:05:00 Brennan: There was some good crab.

0:05:01 Lou: No, there was shrimp in the hot tub. But then there was something right before the...

0:05:04 Siobhan: We gave Gilear an outfit. Whole group agreeing at once.

0:05:08 Ally: That must be it.

0:05:10 Brennan: Gilear was trapped in the well wheel of the Hangvan. Also, a tender romance blossomed.

0:05:18 Lou: Wait, what?

0:05:19 Zac: What? Ally and Lou make various confused/surprised noises throughout. Emily is giggling.

0:05:20 Brennan: Between Figueroth Faeth and the Mistress of the Compass Points, Ayda Aguefort who revealed...

0:05:26 Lou: But Fig is so closed off.

0:05:29 Brennan: Revealed their feelings for one another in the shadow of the briar wall.

0:05:33 Ally: Fig was in disguise though, right?

0:05:35 Brennan: No, Fig was not in disguise as either a middle-aged hospital worker or a middle-aged detective.

0:05:41 Zac: Was Fig able to skateboard away?

0:05:44 Brennan: At first, but she quickly stopped after pulling a sick trick.

0:05:48 Ally: Stop, stop no way!

0:05:51 Brennan: You know, some things are almost too strange to believe. So, that's our recap for last week. This week we leave with the Bad Kids moving throughout Arborly with the leave of Nuathera the fox, having gone to various places to collect various clues. We are going to go ahead and begin our adventure, and restart this new chapter back at the Tinkerer's Hall. [music changes to whimsical, bouncy, jolly tinkerer’s music]

0:06:20 Brennan: Within the Tinkerer's Hall, massive gears turn around, bubbling beakers of different brightly colored liquids go next to like weird accordion flaps that are pumping strange brass pipes like thoomp, thoomp, thoomp, thoomp. Rickatic-tic-tic-tic a lot of clockwork things. A little clockwork chittering toy bounces off a desk somewhere and a bunch of gnomes in leather aprons with wrenches and gizmos and gadgets jump to try to grab it. And Fabian, Gorgug, and Ragh are introduced to the Tinkerer's Hall by the Head Tinkerer, Crumpkin Springbill. A jolly, rotund, bushy-mustached, goggle wearing, soot-covered gnome which says,

0:07:02 Crumpkin: Well, we're happy to help you all around there gents. What is there anything I can do for you?

0:07:07 Gorgug: Well, I think we covered a lot of it last week, but I was just thinking... Lou laughs.

0:07:13 Gorgug: Or earlier, right before this.

0:07:15 Crumpkin: Mere moments ago.

0:07:17 Gorgug: Mr. Crumpkin Springbill. Can I call you Mr. Crumpkin? Or Crumpkin?

0:07:21 Crumpkin: Please, if you like you can call me Crumpkin.

0:07:24 Gorgug: I'm looking at these boots that make you bounce, and I would love to just take a gander at them and— Crumpkin makes incoherent excited noises.

0:07:30 Crumpkin: Would you like us to put some, what?

0:07:34 Gorgug: I love the design.

0:07:34 Crumpkin: Yeah well, oh. A Solisian artificer likes our design, can you believe it, Polly?

0:07:41 Brennan: You see, he elbows the gnomish woman who's got like ornithopter, elbows her a little bit and she goes,

0:07:47 Polly: [high-pitched voice] I can't believe it either!

0:07:48 Brennan: And her wings sproing out as she is elbowed and she pew,

0:07:50 Polly: Ahhh!

0:07:52 Brennan: Flies up into the corner of the workshop. He says,

0:07:54 Crumpkin: Look out, oh, that's where we stacked all the old pots and pans. All right, well, we'd be happy to load your boots up with springs if you want. Do you want springs in your jerkin or your tunic or your breeches or anything else?

0:08:10 Gorgug: (to Fabian and Ragh) Um, you guys good on springs? How many springs are you looking for?

0:08:13 Fabian: [disapprovingly] I think we're good on springs.

0:08:15 Gorgug: Ragh, you good on springs?

0:08:17 Ragh: Could I just have a, just a loose one?

0:08:21 Gorgug: I could ask them about it.

0:08:23 Ragh: Yeah, just like a loose one.

0:08:23 Gorgug: Could we get one loose spring, and I would love some springs in my boot.

0:08:26 Fabian: Gorgug, is this what we here for? Are we here to get springs in your boots?

0:08:29 Gorgug: This is not necessarily exactly what we're here for, but I'm here for some springs in my boots.

0:08:33 Fabian: Okay, fair.

0:08:35 Gorgug: And then if you have anything like something that could shock somebody back, you know, Spare the Dying maybe?

0:08:46 Brennan: As you begin to elaborate the kind of effects you're looking for, the gnomes begin to come through, and happily having Nuathera had come by and said, “Any resources these adventurers need, they're going to go reclaim the crown of the Nightmare King.” They get to work right away just putting all your stuff together. And you see that as you step away, two young gnomish twins that have, they have like they're not the tall conical hats, they're a little bit of a shallower cone, but they each have a little tuft on a spring that bobbles around like pull your chucks off and rush off to go put springs in them. So you're kind of walking around with socks right now.

0:09:26 Gorgug: My feet are sweaty.

0:09:28 Fabian: Put shoes on.

0:09:30 Gorgug: I don't have another pair of shoes, Fabian.

0:09:35 Fabian: You don't have two pairs of shoes?

0:09:36 Gorgug: Not on me. How many pairs of shoes do you have on you?

0:09:39 Fabian: Here with me, or just in general?

0:09:42 Gorgug: Both, I guess.

0:09:43 Fabian: In general somewhere between 250 and 312 depending on how many have been thrown away or given away to the children. And then on me, I mean I have—

0:09:56 Gorgug: You give your shoes to little tiny children?

0:09:58 Fabian: Well, I have smaller feet, and I believe the children also--

0:10:01 Gorgug: Oh, look at those little things.

0:10:02 Fabian: All right now, all right now.

0:10:04 Ragh: I haven't really looked at your feet before.

0:10:05 Fabian: Whoa, whoa, whoa, all right everyone please step away from my feet.

0:10:10 Murph: Can we roll a d6 to see how big his feet are?

0:10:13 Lou: No.

0:10:13 Ally: How big are his feet? Roll it!

0:10:15 Emily: Little beans!

0:10:16 Murph: Five, size fives. [cast laughing]

0:10:17 Ally: Little feets! Little beans. Emily gives Lou a thumbs up.

0:10:19 Zac: He wears a size five shoe.

0:10:22 Fabian: Well, I have delicate feet, all right? My father had small feet, and I also have small feet. My mother's feet are relatively average size. You know, I'm lithe and dextrous, and--

0:10:34 Gorgug: I wear a size 19 shoe.

0:10:37 Fabian: That's three of my shoes in your shoe.

0:10:40 Gorgug: I got big feet. They’re the — I’m a half-orc.

0:10:42 Fabian: Ragh, what are you packin'?

0:10:46 Ragh: [dubious look] What am I packin’, dude?

0:10:47 Fabian: Foot-wise.

0:10:47 Ragh: Foot-wise?

0:10:49 Fabian: What are you packin' into that shoe.

0:10:50 Ragh: I got a size 17 1/2.

0:10:52 Fabian: Solid, solid.

0:10:55 Ragh: It's good, honestly, it's actually considerate that Gorgug wears canvas sneakers 'cause like even with just like a pretty flat shoe, I trip over, like one time you left your shoes out when they got wet outside of the van, and they're huge. You could like really trip over them if you're walking around in the dark, it's bad.

0:11:11 Brennan: You see that Crumpkin walks over to you and says,

0:11:15 Crumpkin: Well, so, you mentioned you wanted to know what that Wood Elf Killian was coming by for. We're happy, we have a log book of everything here if you'd like to take a look.

0:11:23 Gorgug: Oh yeah, that would be great if we could check that out.

0:11:25 Brennan: They slam a big log book down in front of you. Each of you guys go ahead and make an Investigate check for me.

0:11:30 Fabian: Gorgug, can you do most of the reading? I am just—

0:11:33 Gorgug: I'll give it a,

0:11:35 Lou: Yes, that'll, I got a nat 1.

0:11:37 Zac: I got a 19 minus 1, 18.

0:11:40 Brennan: Whoa, okay! So Fabian, you look at this ledger book that has shorthand for all the alchemical goods that have been bought and sold and used and stuff here, like an inventory. You look at the numbers and letters fully just like bloop, just turn into sludge on the page in front of you. You're like, "That's nothing to me. I refuse to engage with that."

0:12:04 Fabian: I see that there's writing in the book.

0:12:06 Gorgug: Yeah, classic log book, right?

0:12:07 Fabian: Classic log book. What did you find?

0:12:10 Gorgug: Well?

0:12:11 Brennan: You actually, with an 18 you move through there, and you see a ton of stuff here. A bunch of magnesium, antimony, and mercury was all bought by this Wood Elf, Killian, which are all used in the creation of various magical candles and other kind of things. You also see that two --

0:12:33 Zac: Timony, like timony square?

0:12:35 Brennan: What's that?

0:12:35 Zac: [laughs] Sorry.

0:12:39 Brennan: There also were two big blocks of dusk moss incense that were checked out. Dusk moss, with an Investigation, with an 18 Investigation, I have to say that you know what dusk moss is. It's not something that you would learn from working with your parents, it's actually something that some kids do at Aguefort. It's a hallucinogenic moss. Basically, it puts you into a state of lucid dreaming so that you are able to both be kind of conscious in the waking world, but also having a lucid dream experience at the same time. But you're looking at these blocks, you've never seen a block of dusk moss. Like normally it's like either a small dried powder, it's in a little baggie or something. Like you know some kids that do dusk moss back at Aguefort. This also says dusk moss incense, which you're unfamiliar with what that is or does.

0:13:39 Gorgug: Crumpkin?

0:13:39 Crumpkin: Yeah?

0:13:43 Gorgug: What's going on with, well first off, could I purchase the exact same things as this person?

0:13:50 Crumpkin: Well, absolutely, but it'll run ya a pretty penny.

0:13:53 Gorgug: How much?

0:13:54 Crumpkin: Well, all that put together, it was about 350 gold.

0:13:59 Gorgug: Okay.

0:14:01 Emily: Check your golds before you give them over.

0:14:01 Crumpkin: [shaking his head in surprise] Wow!

0:14:01 Ally: Oh yeah.

0:14:03 Emily: Check your coins before you give them over.

0:14:07 Zac: I uh, Gorgug looks at his coins.

0:14:09 Brennan: That's a big bunch of gold coins.

0:14:12 Gorgug: (to Fabian) Okay, you don't have like Detect Magic or anything or any way to tell if a coin is special?

0:14:19 Fabian: I mean, I can rub it in my blanket but that's about it.

0:14:23 Gorgug: Can you rub these 350 coins in your blanket?

0:14:25 Lou: Can I rub my blanket on—

0:14:27 Brennan: On the coins?

0:14:27 Lou: Yeah.

0:14:29 Brennan: Give me an Arcana check.

0:14:31 Lou: Get a nat 20, just really fuck this up. Uh, nope. That'll be a 7.

0:14:38 Brennan: Okay.

0:14:38 Lou: Or no, [smugly] a 9.

0:14:41 Brennan: A 9? You rub your blanket — Lou laughs.

0:14:45 Brennan: Why are you laughing? You don't know what I'm gonna say yet.

0:14:47 Lou: It's also a sheet, I apologize. It's not a blanket.

0:14:53 Brennan: You rub your blanket on the coins. There is a lull. Brennan makes whispering sounds.

0:15:02 Brennan: Suddenly you perceive... a pile of gold coins.

0:15:09 Gorgug: (to Crumpkin) So these are the coins.

0:15:11 Brennan: [laughs] You see that Crumpkin takes it. You see that, what you see was Crumpkin taking the coins, he says,

0:15:16 Crumpkin: What!!

0:15:22 Brennan: You see that he gives you a bunch of antimony, mercury, magnesium, he says,

0:15:27 Crumpkin: And do you want the dusk moss as well?

0:15:29 Fabian: Ooh.

0:15:31 Zac: All right, Gorgug gets really shy I think.

0:15:33 Fabian: Don't you wanna get dusk moss?

0:15:35 Gorgug: Yeah.

0:15:36 Crumpkin: Okay, I gotta warn you, you're getting two blocks. These blocks are set up as incense. So it's very, very powerful and once it's lit you can't -

0:15:50 Gorgug: Unlight it?

0:15:50 Crumpkin: Unlight it. It's gonna, the whole block's gonna go.

0:15:57 Fabian: That's the same stuff that the kids do in the parking lot?

0:16:00 Gorgug: I think, I don't know, I've never really tried it before but—

0:16:05 Fabian: Me neither, are we gonna?

0:16:06 Gorgug: I don't know, I think we should get what he got just in case it's useful, all right?

0:16:09 Fabian: Okay yeah no, great idea.

0:16:10 Gorgug: Is this a bad idea? I'm starting to sweat a lot.

0:16:13 Fabian: Just do it, just go, let's just do it.

0:16:15 Gorgug: We'll take four. Group laughs.

0:16:17 Crumpkin: Okay, that's going to be another about, that's gonna be another 1200 gold pieces.

0:16:24 Gorgug: Wow, how is it that much more?

0:16:27 Crumpkin: A block?

0:16:27 Fabian: That's quadrupled!

0:16:28 Brennan: You see that he puts a block out. A block is about like this big in front of you. So it's kinda, Brennan holds his hands about 2 feet apart.

0:16:35 Gorgug: Oh no, we'll take the two.

0:16:37 Crumpkin: Okay, that'll be 600.

0:16:39 Gorgug: Okay, uh, all right.

0:16:39 Fabian: I thought it was 320.

0:16:42 Crumpkin: Oh, for the alchemical supplies, yes.

0:16:45 Gorgug: I see.

0:16:46 Crumpkin: The dusk moss is not really an alchemical. I mean, anything's an alchemical supply depending on what you're trying to do, but the dusk moss incense is not really, it doesn't have as many general uses as the other alchemical things.

0:17:01 Gorgug: Does it do the same thing as just regular dusk moss, if you know what I mean?

0:17:04 Crumpkin: [voice wobbling] Oh, oh, oh, oh yeah, boy howdy, it really does.

0:17:08 Gorgug: If you're new to dusk moss, what would you say, dosage wise? We're just trying to have like a fun day.

0:17:16 Crumpkin: I haven't done dusk moss in a long time. My brother, he swears by the stuff. He says that everybody should do dusk moss once. But, you know, it can be intense. It depends. Some people, you know, wanna take a little bit at a time, and it just kinda evens them out and then other people, but normally a, I would say about maybe a quarter of a teaspoon of the stuff is enough to send you on an enormous trip for pretty much the whole day.

0:17:53 Fabian: Of this, like a quarter of a teaspoon of this block? Like if you just took a little bit?

0:17:57 Crumpkin: Oh, you can shave it off into a powder, and that powder, about a quarter of a teaspoon will be enough for you.

0:18:05 Gorgug: Um,

0:18:05 Fabian: Okay.

0:18:06 Gorgug: Well, we'd definitely,

0:18:06 Fabian: We'd love, we need it.

0:18:09 Gorgug: We need the two blocks.

0:18:10 Crumpkin: You seem really nervous.

0:18:13 Fabian: Which is, I, we're not. We're totally, we do this all the time. We love dusk moss. Group laughs throughout.

0:18:20 Ally: Dusk moss.

0:18:20 Emily: Dusk moss.

0:18:21 Gorgug: We just, we love dusk moss.

0:18:24 Fabian: We love dusk moss.

0:18:27 Brennan: Cool, you see-

0:18:29 Ally: How about ‘shrooms?

0:18:31 Brennan: You see he says,

0:18:31 Crumpkin: All right, great, so it's 600 gold.

0:18:33 Gorgug: Okay.

0:18:33 Fabian: Okay. I'll help.

0:18:36 Brennan: Ragh, you see that Ragh grabs your hand really quick before you give him the money and says,

0:18:41 Ragh: You a cop?

0:18:42 Brennan: And you see that he goes,

0:18:42 Crumpkin: What?

0:18:45 Ragh: You police!?

0:18:46 Brennan: And then Crumpkin says,

0:18:46 Crumpkin: What's police?

0:18:49 Fabian: It's like the law, are you the law?

0:18:53 Crumpkin: No, the law here is basically just the Council of Elders, Nuathera, and Mira Silverbough.

0:18:59 Gorgug: Is anyone gonna get really mad at me if I do the dusk moss? That lives here?

0:19:05 Crumpkin: [confused] Why would that happen?

0:19:07 Brennan: You see that Ragh grabs both of your arms and says,

0:19:10 Ragh: [whispering] I think drugs are legal here.

0:19:12 Gorgug: What?

0:19:12 Fabian: What? No way.

0:19:13 Ragh: I think drugs, I don't think they have, I don't think there's laws about this stuff here.

0:19:17 Gorgug: Okay, great.

0:19:17 Fabian: Great.

0:19:19 Gorgug: Then we should not be so worried, right?

0:19:21 Fabian: Let's buy a bunch of drugs. And let it be like a normal day.

0:19:22 Gorgug: We'll just buy the legal drugs. We're just gonna buy the legal drugs.

0:19:26 Fabian: We’re buying legal drugs, there's nothing to be scared about.

0:19:28 Ally: This is literally me when I moved to Amsterdam. Group laughs.

0:19:32 Gorgug: The thing is it's okay that we're doing it.

0:19:33 Fabian: It's so okay like we don't need to feel bad.

0:19:35 Gorgug: We honestly aren't worried.

0:19:37 Fabian: Yeah, no, though I did hear a story about a guy who once did dusk moss while he was wearing a hat, and now he always feels like he's wearing the hat even when he's not wearing the hat. So I'm not sure I want to do dusk moss, but—

0:19:51 Gorgug: That's fine, that's fine. If you don't want to do dusk moss. Look, I'll take the two pounds of dusk moss and we'll be on our way.

0:19:59 Crumpkin: Okay, well fair enough. Do you wanna wait around for your shoes?

0:20:01 Gorgug: Yeah.

0:20:04 Brennan: So someone gives 600 gold pieces, whoever wants to can mark that off your card.

0:20:08 Zac: I'll get 300.

0:20:09 Lou: Right, I'll take 300 as well.

0:20:12 Brennan: You get these two huge bricks. You can feel the weight of these illegal drugs in your bags. You don't know how you're going to get back to Solace with these or what could potentially happen as a result of it. Cool, while you're waiting around for your shoes, you see that two of the artificers come over to you of the tinkerer gnomes. You see that one of them is the woman with the sort of ornithopter thing. You see that another one has like a huge mustachio with a little top hat with gears on the side, and they both bow and present your shoes to you. That now these are thick rubbery soles in them. She says,

0:20:53 Polly: Well, hello, my name's Polly Pullypad.

0:20:57 Brennan: And you see that the other guy says,

0:21:00 Osmond: [loud, pompous voice] Osmond Wobbletrouble, pleasure.

0:21:03 Gorgug: Hello, I'm Gorgug Thistlespring,

0:21:03 Zac: And I bow.

0:21:08 Osmond: And we thank you.

0:21:11 Gorgug: We, of course thank you.

0:21:14 Osmond: In exchange for these spring coiled sneakers of bounding, would it be possible for us to examine your crystal?

0:21:27 Gorgug: Uh yeah, yeah, if that's an easy trade to me.

0:21:31 Osmond: Yes, just to examine.

0:21:33 Brennan: Gnomes heap and pile, looking at your crystal under various ways of like examining it and trying to find it. You see that as you begin to like watch them tinker and gadget around with it, you see they sort of look and they say,

0:21:51 Gnome: And what is the purpose of this device?

0:21:54 Gorgug: Well, it's for a lot of things, but mostly kinda connecting to other people in the world. It's a way you can message little like messages to each other, and can get on the crystal web on it, and uh—

0:22:02 Gnome: Wow!

0:22:10 Gorgug: Yeah, there's crystal games.

0:22:10 Gnome: Could you show us? Could you send a message to someone else in this room?

0:22:15 Gorgug: Right now we don't have service because we're too far away from our home. So it's kinda not working.

0:22:24 Gnome: Well, I, well, too bad.

0:22:29 Brennan: And you see that they sort of give you the crystal back.

0:22:32 Gorgug: You don't have a way to make a cell tower here, do you?

0:22:36 Gnome: A cell tower?

0:22:37 Gorgug: Sort of like a way to boost a signal for something?

0:22:42 Gnome: Boost?

0:22:42 Gorgug: Possibly the signal from this?

0:22:44 Gnome: Huh, well, that's a rather interesting thing. So you have a signal and you need it boosted up to a higher place?

0:22:53 Gorgug: Yes.

0:22:54 Brennan: Cool. The gnomes begin to say,

0:22:56 Gnome: Well, this is a rather interesting problem. Can you explain a little bit about this?

0:22:59 Brennan: They start babbling together. Go ahead and make a tinkerer's tool check with me with advantage as these gnomes seek to help you.

0:23:08 Zac: Okay. Uh, 19.

0:23:15 Brennan: 19! As you start talking about all the, you know, they're talking about like you start explaining loosely like how a cell tower works, and energy—

0:23:27 Gorgug: So, of course— Zac mouths nonsense. The group laughs.

0:23:30 Gnome: Oh, fascinating.

0:23:33 Brennan: And you see it, they sort of look around. And you begin to explain the connection between like signals from the crystals will go to a cell tower, that cell tower will go to satellites, and then from satellites go down to another thing, and it will go somewhere else. And you see that the gnomes look around and you see that Osmond Wobbletrouble says,

0:23:54 Osmond: It's a pity, the whole thing, because of course we simply lack the raw materials to build something of this size that a cell tower would need. It would be a different sort of thing if you had access to, if we could somehow just adjust the phone to interact, to skip the middle man and not need a cell tower at all.

0:24:18 Brennan: And you see that Polly goes,

0:24:20 Polly: Yes, of course, but then of course, you'd need a, you know—

0:24:24 Brennan: And Osmond goes,

0:24:24 Osmond: Right, right, right, you would need a direct connection. You would need the information of one of these satellites to be able to do that, and we don't have that, so--

0:24:33 Gorgug: What are you saying? If I jumped into the sky and--

0:24:38 Fabian: What? No, no

0:24:38 Gorgug: Grab a satellite?

0:24:39 Fabian: I don't think they're saying that, I mean I've--

0:24:41 Gorgug: How high are these boots capable of bouncing?

0:24:43 Brennan: You see, Crumpkin goes,

0:24:43 Crumpkin: Well, we can double the amount of springs and maybe you can get to space.

0:24:53 Fabian: Gorgug, there's not enough, there's no amount of springs,

0:24:57 Ragh: Don't jump into space.

0:24:58 Fabian: There's truly no amount of springs that could jump you into space.

0:25:01 Gorgug: Okay.

0:25:02 Brennan: You see that Crumpkin says,

0:25:02 Crumpkin: The issue fundamentally is we would need... building a cell tower we could do, but it would just take a lot of time. So if you have time, we'd be happy to try to build one for you.

0:25:16 Gorgug: We only have a couple of days, really, max.

0:25:18 Brennan: They sort of nod. And you see that Crumpkin says,

0:25:23 Crumpkin: Otherwise, if there was a way to have a, if we somehow could, if we knew of a satellite that we could use to connect your phone directly to it, that could work. But we don't have that, so unfortunately, what are you gonna do?

0:25:38 Gorgug: Well, satellite is just the thing that has all the, in this equation,

0:25:44 Emily: Just kick a rock into space.

0:25:48 Gorgug: We just need to put something into space? Is that what you're saying?

0:25:52 Brennan: Give me a raw—

0:25:52 Emily: Kick a rock into space!

0:25:56 Brennan: This is gonna be a raw DC10 intelligence.

0:26:00 Lou: Could I give him a help action somehow?

0:26:04 Siobhan: You could do Bardic.

0:26:04 Brennan: Yeah, you can give him, or you can give him Bardic.

0:26:05 Lou: I'll give you Bardic.

0:26:07 Zac: Which is a?

0:26:08 Emily: Oooh. Extra d8.

0:26:08 Lou: D6 in my case.

0:26:11 Emily: Oh, [whispers] it's okay.

0:26:11 Fabian: Gorgug, I believe in you. Spring break.

0:26:14 Gorgug: Spring break.

0:26:14 Ally: Spring break.

0:26:16 Siobhan: Oh.

0:26:18 Zac: I rolled a 12, thanks to that Bardic.

0:26:22 Brennan: Thanks to that Bardic. You feel the power of Fabian's support and care for you,

0:26:28 Fabian: [whispering] Spring break, spring break.

0:26:30 Brennan: And Fabian's support and care for you makes you think about your parents' support and care for you. Your parents had a little project back last year in freshman year where you were in jail. Do you remember what that project was?

0:26:47 Zac: Hmm.

0:26:49 Brennan: They launched a satellite into space.

0:26:51 Zac: Oh, wait a second. So you're saying, wait,

0:26:58 Gorgug: I might have access to a satellite.

0:27:00 Crumpkin: Really?

0:27:03 Gorgug: How do I now get in touch with a satellite from here?

0:27:06 Crumpkin: Well, your phone does have the ability to transmit signals. If we just boosted the power on it, and we just need the information of the satellite basically, to be able to, I guess gear into your phone the ability to communicate with that other thing.

0:27:26 Zac: Okay, well I start looking through my crystal just through my texts to my parents and—

0:27:32 Brennan: You see them with a picture of them giving double thumbs up. The van has been tipped over so that it's resting on its nose with like the back doors open, and you see that they are launching the satellite out of the back of the van. And you see it, there's a bunch of papers and a little mobile desk shoved into the glove box of the van. So it looks like a bunch of their research might still be in the van.

0:27:58 Gorgug: We gotta go to the van. I'll be right back.

0:28:03 Brennan: You tear off to go get stuff out of the van. Fabian and Ragh, do you stay in the Tinkerer's Hall?

0:28:07 Fabian: Absolutely— with all these weird little men and women? No thank you. Group laughs

0:28:10 Fabian: Ragh, let's go.

0:28:17 Ally: Inclusion, in weird... Men and women—

0:28:21 Fabian: I apologize, people, uh—

0:28:21 Brennan: You guys rush off.

0:28:27 Emily: Weird little. [detective music begins]

0:28:30 Brennan: We are on the top floor of the Owl and Harp. Riz and Adaine. I picture a quick montage of like gloves going on the hands, auras being released.

0:28:44 Lou: Snap. Siobhan waves her hands like she’s doing a spell and makes a whooshing noise.

0:28:47 Brennan: Tell me what you guys are trying to do in this room.

0:28:52 Siobhan: Can I make an Arcana check?

0:28:54 Brennan: Yes, go for it. Again, blood spattered, candles burned all the way down to the bottom, drawing up on the wall, arcane runes and stuff. You see clear signs, go ahead and make an Arcana check actually.

0:29:05 Siobhan: Boo, 12, no 14.

0:29:08 Brennan: 14. So 14, you only get the kind of basics of it. Which are clear non-detection runes, where Arianwen, it looks like your mom was keeping herself off the grid of elves looking for her. The sort of simplest stuff that you find, you know that there were two rituals that happened here. One ritual involved killing Killian, and the other involved putting the gem into his body. Putting the Devil's Heart into his body with Gorthalax trapped in it.

0:29:44 Murph: Then I guess I want to do an Investigate check to see if I can figure out how to do the ritual.

0:29:51 Brennan: Okay, go ahead and give me an investigation.

0:29:52 Murph: Like if I can like backwards engineer it. 20. Dirty.

0:29:59 Lou: Nasty 20.

0:29:59 Brennan: A dirty 20. So you're trying to figure out it seems like details about the ritual and how it works, right?

0:30:05 Murph: Yeah, and I think I'm also, I'd love to figure out a way to do it without killing someone.

0:30:10 Brennan: Cool. You start looking at this. Immediately what becomes clear to you is that this ritual is not about getting into Silvaire. There are many ways to get into Silvaire. But you just need infernal authority to be able to pass the barrier. This is not about anything other than getting the Shadow Cat into Silvaire. It's like a way of, it's not clear if she was barred from entering Silvaire, but it seems like this was a way to bypass needing to get permission from an infernal authority. Because the whole purpose of this ritual is getting the Shadow Cat to commandeer the authority of a devil without their blessing or consent.

0:31:05 Murph: Got it.

0:31:06 Brennan: You see a familiar word here, in a lot of this, I'm actually gonna ask for a Medicine check as well, if I can.

0:31:14 Lou: Ooh!

0:31:16 Murph: Not great, let's see.

0:31:17 Ally: Eh!

0:31:18 Siobhan: Whoa.

0:31:19 Murph: Dirty 20.

0:31:20 Brennan: Dirty 20, incredible, great.

0:31:20 Ally: Hell yeah.

0:31:23 Brennan: You see a familiar word, petrosmosis which is the word that Ragh pointed out to you before that he learned from his mom's medical stuff. What Ragh had explained to you back in Fallinel was basically petrosmosis is a body's ability to start having elements of the magical gem within it permeate organic membrane. It's basically a fancy word for the process by which a magical gemstone and an organic body become one whole organism. And the ability for spirit, like for example, with Lydia, Ragh's mom, her soul is constantly fighting the soul of the thing within that gem, but it's not doing it on a spiritual plane, it's doing it through the literal blood work and rage of her body. It's like it needs that physical conduit to be able to do it. What you see is those old notes from Fallinel that are all about how to get it into her hands, how to get something into Kalina's hands. And what you now know from the interaction you had on the lawn in the Lake of Grass is Kalina doesn't fucking have hands, anywhere. So it's gotta be a symbolic or metaphorical thing. When you look at that petrosmosis stuff, you suddenly see, there is an osmosis of blood to gem that would allow Kalina to actually move into and commandeer something within that gem. So like the only way to get something into her hands is to get the gem to petrosmose with somebody who is infected.

0:32:15 Murph: Okay.

0:33:07 Brennan: Right? So all of this seems like a way of like, so you also figure out from that that Killian had to have been infected.

0:33:15 Murph: Right.

0:33:20 Brennan: You also, with that dirty 20 Medical thing see a lot of...

0:33:23 Lou: Go off, The Ball.

0:33:24 Brennan: See a lot of medical diagrams that are extremely old. These are not like modern Solisian medical charts. This is not like the stuff that Fig would have found in the hospital when she was visiting Dr. Asha.

0:33:37 Murph: Right.

0:33:39 Siobhan: It's like old school pictures of like, I found a blood vessel, I think.

0:33:43 Brennan: [laughs] Yeah, exactly. Like, vellum grave-robber style old school medical stuff. You see that there is, and this is written in like a character-based language. It might be either like Centaur or something else.

0:34:01 Siobhan: Oh, I have, I can--

0:34:04 Brennan: Do Comprehend Languages?

0:34:05 Siobhan: Yeah, I have Comprehend Languages, which is a ritual.

0:34:08 Brennan: You cast Comprehend Languages, and immediately can start reading this other language stuff. So this is all extremely, once you point out the medical diagram this all becomes extremely clear. There are a lot of characters here that for lack of a better word are almost like emoji. They're hieroglyphs, they're pictograms of information.

0:34:28 Siobhan: Well, we're teens so we understand that.

0:34:29 Brennan: Exactly. Very easy to understand. What you see is, it's a medical diagram of a centaur that has an illustration of a dismembered body. And you see that there are these like dark, very scary looking cat symbols. There's one of them right behind the eyes, there's another one on the tongue. You see that there's one deep up in like the sinuses or something like right here. And then you see that there is another one in the central spine. You do not see any within the brain. And you see that the brain is something that has been really taken apart and looked at. So those are the medical diagrams that you see, and there are within the pictograms there's a lot of things where that little cat symbol is something that they're referring to the disease by. So it's basically like, "We found infection here, "here, here," it's like an X marks the spot style thing. Uh, buh, buh, buh. You know with that 20 Investigate you know that the ritual happened 24 hours apart, so the ritual to kill Killian and the other one which means either that Aelwyn and Arianwen left like while you guys were here on the first night.

0:36:02 Siobhan: Goddammit.

0:36:03 Brennan: Or, that Arianwen somehow knew to do the ritual and kill Killian like the moment you guys rescued Aelwyn. Other than that...

0:36:18 Siobhan: Can I do an Investigation check to see if there's like a ripped piece of diary saying, "I've secretly always loved my second daughter."

0:36:26 Brennan: Yeah.

0:36:26 Siobhan: "I feel very bad for all the ways that I've treated her." Well that's a 19.

0:36:35 Ally: Oh!

0:36:35 Brennan: Okay.

0:36:39 Siobhan: You know, just some personal stuff is what I mean. I don't need to have that specific thing. Although it would be really nice, but that is specifically what I'm looking for, but if I find something else, that's also fine.

0:36:51 Murph: As Riz is going through all the stuff he's like,

0:36:52 Riz: It's great to be with somebody else who just like focuses up. Like you and I, like everybody else, just like super horny, super emotional, but me and you? [claps]

0:37:00 Adaine: No emotions between the two of us, we're cold.

0:37:02 Riz: Exactly. Group laughs.

0:37:05 Brennan: You find a small desk that has an ink and quill and loose parchment on it.

0:37:12 Siobhan: And I do the pencil trick across the parchment? [mimes scraping a pencil across the paper]

0:37:14 Brennan: You do the pencil trick.

0:37:15 Lou: Do the pencil trick.

0:37:16 Brennan: It literally works exactly as it's supposed to.

0:37:20 Siobhan: Amazing, I'm a teen spy.

0:37:24 Brennan: It reads as follows. "Aelwyn is with me, you are betrayed. You have no other choice, darling. Come join us."

0:37:36 Adaine: [sighs] Well, I didn't get this letter, so this must be to my dad. God damn it. Oh, I hate my family.

0:37:50 Brennan: Are there any other checks or Investigation that you guys are going to make here in the room?

0:37:56 Adaine: I don't know. Loose floorboards? A trap door?

0:37:59 Riz: Yeah, see if they're hiding anything. That's a good idea too.

0:38:02 Adaine: Anything under the mattress? Oh maybe, let's see what spells I have stocked.

0:38:07 Lou: A couple of real teen sleuths.

0:38:08 Siobhan: Couple teen sleuths. Uh, dup, dup, dup, dup, dup, dup, dup.

0:38:18 Murph: Um yeah, I guess we'll just, we've done a lot of stuff with the ritual, I guess we'll just look and see if they--

0:38:22 Emily: Have you guys gone through the trash? Lou touches his fingers to his temples in a “thinking” motion, laughing.

0:38:25 Siobhan: Yes, can I try and push a key through a lock with a paper underneath the door and then pull the piece of paper? No. Yeah, is there anything in the trash?

0:38:35 Brennan: Actually, you find something in the trash. Emily cheers.

0:38:38 Emily: Yeah! I'm a teen sleuth too!

0:38:42 Brennan: You find a little bit of ash that you believe is from a cantrip burning up the sheet that was written. Your first guess would be probably that your mother scribed that for a Sending spell to make sure that she was under 25 words. And then just burned the paper.

0:39:02 Siobhan: Um, can I use Mending on that ash?

0:39:10 Brennan: [impressed] Extremely cool! Whoooph, the ash turns back into a page in your hand, and you see the exact same letter that your mother had written to whoever she wrote it to.

0:39:22 Siobhan: Great.

0:39:24 Brennan: Excellent. Cool. Yeah, so you've found out everything about the ritual here. Oh, you find, I guess if you're, again you got those two dirty 20s. There is a lot of stuff that they were packing here. The list of stuff that they were packing to, for just like rations and shit is way more than you would need to get where the temple is in Silvaire. So they were packing for a longer trip than just to get to the temple, it looks like. You also see a list of things like antimony, mercury, just like random words around like that. And some loose things here and there for rituals. None of those are super helpful because you're only finding hints at what they were doing. It seems like whatever they were doing, the primary work went with them to go do it. As you would expect.

0:40:24 Siobhan: Right.

0:40:24 Murph: Interesting. So by the. So by the looks of the medical charts that we've seen, we saw that the brain looks like it's not infected?

0:40:36 Siobhan: Right, it's eyes, mouth,

0:40:36 Murph: So does that mean, so she can't,

0:40:39 Siobhan: Sinus and spine.

0:40:42 Murph: So she can't hear our thoughts, probably.

0:40:44 Siobhan: Right. But maybe she can...

0:40:44 Brennan: Ears were also infected.

0:40:46 Siobhan: Oh, ears are also.

0:40:47 Brennan: Ear drums were infected as well.

0:40:50 Siobhan: But she can hear speech, and see out of eyes.

0:40:55 Murph: And I was paralyzed one time.

0:40:57 Siobhan: Right, so you couldn't move your spine.

0:41:00 Brennan: Each of you guys go ahead and make an Insight check.

0:41:03 Lou: Damn, you all are smart as hell. I have not figured any of this out. I've heard all the same information, and synthesized none of the same conclusions.

0:41:13 Murph: Steady Eye, it's Investigation, right? Not Insight.

0:41:16 Siobhan: I got a 9.

0:41:16 Brennan: 9, okay.

0:41:18 Murph: Come on, baby. 16.

0:41:21 Siobhan: As soon as Adaine is pointing out like, this is affecting only sensory areas of the body rather than mind, you immediately flash back to the fact that Kalina was asking you questions. Clearly...

0:41:34 Murph: She didn't know everything, right?

0:41:35 Brennan: She couldn't know everything in your mind.

0:41:37 Siobhan: Mm-hmm.

0:41:39 Brennan: You remember Adaine's intense, awesome oracular Scrying spell. Which showed [snaps several times] paging through people one at a time. In other words, it appears that Kalina, and also the fact that she appeared to Kristen, but not you simultaneously, even though you were both there.

0:41:55 Siobhan: Right, so she can only be in one place at once.

0:41:58 Brennan: It seems like she can only be affecting one thing at a time.

0:42:02 Murph: That makes sense.

0:42:02 Siobhan: Yeah.

0:42:03 Brennan: And suddenly you remember the way that you got around Ragh's thing. Because if Ragh can see her, Ragh's infected, but you remember that when you were in the Hangvan originally, when he first spilled the beans, you were all using Message spells, and were being very careful. Telepathy would bypass all of these infected areas. On top of that, you realize that when you go into the Moon Haven, or Kristen's Hallow spell, you're like why has that been able to, why has that been able to work? Why has it been so effective? You suddenly realize that even with an infection, it's maybe possible that if Kalina was with you while you went into the Haven, or that she would either be rebuffed, or especially if she wasn't there at all, if she had gone somewhere else and you entered, that would prevent her from coming into your sensory information.

0:43:02 Siobhan: So once we're in The Haven, we're okay.

0:43:05 Brennan: Looks like it.

0:43:05 Murph: As long as she doesn't follow one of us in.

0:43:08 Brennan: That's unclear to you if she could potentially follow you in, or if she rode you in actively.

0:43:14 Siobhan: Yeah, I think that we need to make a system of if you want to tell me something secret, I Message you and then you can Message me back.

0:43:26 Murph: That's a good idea. Cool. One other thing we should definitely look at is if there's any way to cure it, or any way to lock her thing.

0:43:35 Emily: Or be aware if she's inside of you.

0:43:38 Siobhan: Yeah, like symptoms of —

0:43:39 Murph: Yeah, I guess I just want to search through the medical documents and see if—

0:43:43 Siobhan: Yeah, can we take these documents with us?

0:43:47 Brennan: Yeah, absolutely. This is an abandoned room that the hotel staff, or the innkeeper's just gonna dump all this.

0:43:52 Adaine: Just taking my mum's stuff back!

0:43:54 Brennan: Yeah.

0:43:54 Zac: If there was a dog infection to go through our brains. [laughs]

0:44:01 Siobhan: Just throw a real juicy bone in there.

0:44:04 Brennan: Awesome.

0:44:04 Zac: Woof woof.

0:44:06 Brennan: Cool. You guys gather up all that stuff. So to look for a cure for this would be a different Medicine check. But, you can go ahead and make that Medicine check if you'd like.

0:44:24 Murph: Sweet.

0:44:25 Siobhan: I feel like Kristen also might want to look at that stuff. I'll do a Medicine check as well.

0:44:29 Murph: True, 18.

0:44:31 Brennan: 18, cool. [eerie music begins]

0:44:32 Siobhan: Yeah, I got a 7. Wow, I'm rolling bad today.

0:44:35 Murph: You get an 18, there's gotta be some cure that's possible. I mean, you saw records from the Elven government about the execution of Landrin Lier and stuff that seemed to be like, "We addressed this." So, you believe, and 18 is good enough that you believe a cure is possible. It's not good enough for you to know what the cure is.

0:44:57 Murph: Okay, cool.

0:45:00 Brennan: Awesome.

0:45:00 Siobhan: Great.

0:45:05 Brennan: You guys gather, I'm gonna say you guys were probably in there for a good two hours just combing through the spot. We are gonna go back to the Shrine of Thorns. Kristen, you're in the chapel in the dark. Tracker is at the door bugging out. This black plate armored horn helmed skeletal burnt wings, like beautiful but like uncanny like porcelain doll's face with like ruby red lipstick and a little beauty mark. Like a devil puts the thing in your hand. Again, what she says, repeating what she said when she came out the first time. She comes to you and says,

0:45:57 Vraz: As Vraz the Mean, Executor Potentate of the Dominion of Avernus, Arch Secretary to Blozo the Undiminished, Regnant of Sloth, you are hereby served. Thank you.

0:46:04 Brennan: Hands it to you.

0:46:04 Emily: I take it.

0:46:06 Brennan: And she turns around and starts walking back into the portal.

0:46:08 Fig: Um, hey, can we come with you?

0:46:10 Vraz: Hmm?

0:46:10 Fig: Hey, can we come with you?

0:46:13 Vraz: Well, you've been served, yeah absolutely.

0:46:15 Fig: Yeah, okay, so just leave it open, we're right behind you.

0:46:18 Kristen: Yeah, just leave it open, we're right behind you.

0:46:24 Vraz: Are you guys having a fun time? [shouting] Because you seem pretty fucking glib! Keep your sass to yourself!

0:46:35 Brennan: You see that she turns around and walks back into the portal.

0:46:38 Emily: I'm gonna look at this little paper.

0:46:42 Brennan: You have been subpoenaed.

0:46:45 Kristen: Tracker!

0:46:46 Brennan: Tracker goes,

0:46:46 Tracker: What was her fucking deal?

0:46:49 Kristen: I wonder what just fucking happened?

0:46:52 Fig: I didn't think we were being that glib. We were just saying leave the portal open, we're right behind you. I just gotta get my shoes.

0:46:59 Kristen: Something about this weird altar. Wait, where are your shoes?

0:47:05 Fig: It's a metaphor for I'm right behind you.

0:47:06 Kristen: Oh, I got you. Okay, I got it, sorry.

0:47:10 Brennan: Incredible.

0:47:12 Emily: Let me look at it. Can I understand this legalese?

0:47:18 Brennan: You look at the legalese, go ahead and give me an Investigation check.

0:47:22 Emily: [laughs] Oh, great, so you want to just stall any development? Group laughs.

0:47:29 Emily: Okay, it's gonna be a nat 1 plus 3, it's gonna be a 4.

0:47:35 Brennan: Incredible. Do you look at it, do you read Infernal?

0:47:39 Emily: Yeah. [grinning]

0:47:39 Brennan: Oh hell yeah, great. The parts of it, the print gets so fine that it's actually illegible without a magnifying glass. But basically you are not under arrest, you are being subpoenaed as a witness, and it's not a full trial, it's a tribunal. It looks like, hold on one second.

0:48:10 Emily: Do I see any names that I recognize on it?

0:48:14 Brennan: Gorthalax is the main one. It looks like your dad is on trial.

0:48:19 Fig: How can he be on trial? He's in a frickin' gem, he can't be in court.

0:48:22 Brennan: It looks like the main things he's been called to task for are negligence of his Infernal domain. And you see a thing that says, "Your ninth and final request for appearance has lapsed, a tribunal is called here forth immediately." You are being called forth as a witness to Gorthalax's—

0:48:47 Kristen: You know I kinda get it.

0:48:47 Fig: This seems like a petty lawsuit?

0:48:49 Kristen: But like it kinda seems like she's kinda at her wits end, there's been nine things sent out.

0:48:55 Fig: But I also feel like maybe they don't know he's in a jam, so they think he's just skipping town. I should just go in there, clear things up.

0:49:05 Kristen: Do you know how long litigation takes? You'd be there forever.

0:49:08 Fig: I don't know, me as a witness? I'm compelling.

0:49:12 Lou: I'm compelling.

0:49:13 Fig: Also, I could just disguise myself as him. And show up to the trial.

0:49:17 Kristen: WHAT? Okay, look, we finally got to this thing. Wait, Tracker checking in, how are you?

0:49:23 Tracker: I'm okay. The weird thing with me and this shrine is now the second weirdest thing that's happened.

0:49:29 Kristen: I would agree, I would agree.

0:49:30 Tracker: So I'm here to support. I’m just here to support, I'm supporting.

0:49:34 Kristen: Hey Tracker, is it this painting you think that's weirding you out? Tracker snorts and growls, halfway to werewolf.

0:49:40 Ally: Okay, okay. Can I go to the painting, and can I try to take it down, and take it out of it's frame and roll it up?

0:49:46 Brennan: It's not a painting, it's actually like a mural carved into the wall. It's fully on there. You could try to move the vines back in front of it.

0:49:53 Ally: I would like to do that, yeah.

0:49:54 Brennan: You move the vines, you see Tracker is transforming, and she's trying to fight it so much. Like half of her head has gone wolf, and the other half hasn't. She's like, Tracker snarls.

0:50:04 Kristen: You can go back. Go back behind the tree or something. Tracker growls loudly.

0:50:07 Brennan: You see she like rolls off to the side. [deep breathing]

0:50:12 Kristen: Take a breath, go behind a tree or something.

0:50:14 Tracker: [out-of-breath] Okay.

0:50:14 Kristen: Come on babe, babe, take a lap.

0:50:18 Zac: Go get behind a tree.

0:50:18 Kristen: Babe, get behind a tree.

0:50:21 Tracker: I'm gonna go behind a tree.

0:50:21 Kristen: Okay, thank you.

0:50:24 Fig: Kristen, I think I should go deal with this for Gorthalax, but do you want to use this as a chance to come in? It seems like this is the way to get—

0:50:33 Kristen: Do you think they're gonna have the trial inside the--

0:50:35 Fig: Also, what has been going on? Because I've been a little bit checked out and I'm trying to figure out if there's a way that these demons, if they like the Nightmare King, or they don't like the Nightmare King?

0:50:47 Kristen: Yeah, good question. All good questions.

0:50:48 Fig: Okay, so you don't know that, it hasn't been covered, okay cool.

0:50:51 Ally: No, it sounds like, wait, sorry. Demons, not.

0:50:56 Brennan: Demons, pro-Nightmare King. Devils anti-Nightmare King.

0:51:00 Kristen: So demons do like the Nightmare King.

0:51:01 Fig: Demons do like the Nightmare King.

0:51:02 Siobhan: But these are devils.

0:51:04 Ally: Can I use my crystal to take a photo of this mural?

0:51:06 Brennan: Yeah, absolutely.

0:51:07 Ally: Okay, and when I take it does it show up on my crystal? Can I see it?

0:51:09 Brennan: It does show up on your crystal, yeah.

0:51:10 Kristen: Do you see this mural? Can I show it to--

0:51:13 Emily: Do I see the mural?

0:51:14 Brennan: You do see the mural.

0:51:14 Fig: I see the mural. I see it here, and I also see it on your phone.

0:51:17 Ally: Can I go up to Tracker and see if she reacts to the photo on my crystal?

0:51:23 Kristen: Babe, can I show this to you? It's the same thing, but on the crystal.

0:51:27 Tracker: Oh, let's not.

0:51:28 Kristen: All right, no problem.

0:51:28 Tracker: Yeah, let's not. I promise,

0:51:31 Kristen: Stay behind the tree.

0:51:32 Ally: I kiss her, I kinda kiss the tree, I don't know why.

0:51:35 Fig: But I mean, I can just go in there on my own and try to maybe get them on our side. And also like, I'm not gonna shut the portal on my way in, and maybe you guys can use it.

0:51:47 Kristen: I just don't think that the trial is in Silvaire, right? Isn't she opening up a portal like down to Hell?

0:51:54 Emily: Is it a portal to Hell, or is it a portal through which one would need to go to get to Silvaire?

0:51:59 Brennan: It's in the Briar Wall like you would go through to Silvaire, but you look through and do see a sky of, literally, the sky looks like the surface of, like if the ocean were the sky, but fire. Just roiling fire from which meteors rain on a blasted, smoke and ash filled rock red landscape of craters.

0:52:26 Fig: Looks pretty chill.

0:52:26 Kristen: Okay, no, no, okay, I'm not trying to ice your vibe, but what if we went back and got everybody else, and then your subpoena in is the way all of us get in?

0:52:38 Fig: I guess I can just stand in the portal and hold it open?

0:52:42 Kristen: Well can't you come back with me and then come back with your paperwork and be like, "Look, let me in."

0:52:46 Emily: Oh yeah, can I wave my paper and see if it opens a portal for me? (Lou laughing)

0:52:51 Emily: Like a Metro card?

0:52:51 Brennan: It does not appear. The portal's just there kind of roiling open in the place.

0:52:57 Fig: Okay, okay yeah, I'll come with you.

0:53:01 Brennan: Cool.

0:53:01 Fig: I guess I'll probably practice my Gorthalax too.

0:53:04 Kristen: Great, yeah, get into Gorthalax and I'll tell you if it's believable or not.

0:53:08 Brennan: Um, awesome. So you guys head away from the Shrine of Thorns. Tracker walks with you looking a little bit rattled. You guys get back to Holly Hill. I'm actually gonna cut back just for timeline reasons, you guys would have definitely gotten to the Hangvan first, and come back. So you in the, I'll go back, you get to the Hangvan, and find all this shit in the glove box which is like effectively, you know like space tech-esque routing information for like how to send signals to this satellite. So basically you can super boost your cell phone to skip the need for a cell tower and become like a direct satellite phone, basically.

0:53:57 Zac: Great. I understand this, and let's (laughing).

0:54:00 Siobhan: Man, you had this information all along you didn't even know. How ironic. (Emily laughing)

0:54:04 Zac: I don't think I was ready for it.

0:54:09 Brennan: Cool, you get back to The Tinkerer's Hall with this information.

0:54:11 Zac: Roll it all out.

0:54:13 Gorgug: So, looks like this is the stuff we were talking about, right?

0:54:18 Crumpkin: Well, ding dang, that's great. Well would you like us to see what we can do to your crystamatron?

0:54:25 Gorgug: Yes, please, of course.

0:54:25 Crumpkin: All right, doo da loo, we'll see you when it's done.

0:54:31 Gorgug: How long do you need?

0:54:35 Brennan: I'm going to make a little roll in the Box of Doom to see how long it will take. I'll say 5 or below is... Murph presses the bean-filled dice into Brennan’s hand.

0:54:45 Brennan: Use the little beans. (group laughing)

0:54:47 Lou: Use the little beans!

0:54:48 Brennan: I'll say a 5 or below is very, very bad. You're looking for higher than a 10.

0:54:55 Zac: Do not fuck me, little beans. (group laughing)

0:54:58 Brennan: That's a 7.

0:54:59 Emily: Woo! Little beans!

0:55:00 Brennan: Okay.

0:55:00 Lou: I mean, let's not cheer on the little beans too hard.

0:55:06 Emily: [clapping] Whoo, little beans!

0:55:06 Ally: Little beans!

0:55:08 Brennan: Um, you see he says,

0:55:10 Crumpkin: Well, if we had your help, because we don't really understand crystamatrons, it will probably go a little faster. But with ourselves, I'd say we could figure it out in a day or two.

0:55:20 Gorgug: Okay! Um, yeah, for now let's do that. I might have to come and grab it before you're done, and that's fine. But in the meantime, let's just do that. I feel like we gotta check back in with the rest of the group.

0:55:38 Fabian: Yeah, and I don't wanna be here anymore.

0:55:41 Gorgug: You don't want them to boost your phone?

0:55:42 Fabian: No, I'm good, you don't have to--

0:55:45 Crumpkin: We can super boost your crystamatron.

0:55:46 Fabian: No, there's a bunch of private stuff on there that I don't want you to see.

0:55:49 Crumpkin: Really? Like what?

0:55:51 Fabian: Okay, well it's private, so we're not gonna talk about it.

0:55:54 Gorgug: Hey, can you guys switch shoes?

0:55:57 Fabian: No, we aren't gonna switch shoes, all right?

0:55:59 Ally: Oh my god, that would be so cute.

0:56:00 Fabian: There's no way your shoes would fit me.

0:56:01 Crumpkin: You look like you're about my size.

0:56:02 Fabian: What size are you?

0:56:03 Crumpkin: Well, I'm a size five humans.

0:56:05 Fabian: [quietly] Goddammit. (group laughing)

0:56:07 Fabian: Well, I'm a size... five and a half, so it's just, I have big toes.

0:56:13 Crumpkin: I like a little toe room.

0:56:13 Fabian: [laughing] All right, you know what, your toes are much too curly, and that's not good for—

0:56:19 Gorgug: I think that's the design of the shoe. It's got curls at the end.

0:56:21 Fabian: But yeah, that's not good for--

0:56:23 Crumpkin: You know you have the curls there so you can put little bells on them.

0:56:26 Gorgug: Do you want little bells on your shoes?

0:56:28 Fabian: [defeated] Let's go, I wanna go right now.

0:56:30 Brennan: You guys head out. Nerd Squad heads back. You guys see that Sandra Lynn lands as well. As you guys are approaching, Sandra Lynn lands with Baxter, and yeah, Sandra Lynn lands with Baxter.

0:56:47 Fig: Mom, do you know anything about the law?

0:56:50 Sandra Lynn: [mildly alarmed] The law? (Lou laughing)

0:56:50 Fig: Gorthalax is in trouble because he hasn't been taking care of his domain, and I need to go there and defend him in court.

0:56:56 Kristen: She got subpoenaed while we were in this like crazy altar.

0:56:59 Sandra Lynn: What are you talking about?

0:57:01 Kristen: And also Tracker reacted really crazy to a mural!

0:57:05 Adaine: I think if you're subpoenaed that doesn't mean that you're the lawyer, I think that means that you're the witness.

0:57:08 Fig: I need to know more about the law. I need to defend Gorthalax's claim to his station.

0:57:14 Adaine: I think you need to pass the bar exam, and it takes a long time.

0:57:17 Emily: I disguise myself as someone who has passed the bar.

0:57:21 Brennan: You see, Sandra Lynn looks at you and says,

0:57:23 Sandra Lynn: Honestly, Sweetie, you know who, especially with like, international and in fact interplanar law, you know who actually knows?

0:57:30 Fig: [yelling] The Chosen One! Is it Gilear?

0:57:34 Sandra Lynn: Who?

0:57:35 Brennan: You guys hear coming out of Holly Hill,

0:57:37 Gilear: Um, many of the frittatas have been ruined.

0:57:41 Fabian: You've been making frittatas?

0:57:44 Gilear: It was a poor choice of food to make, they have all gone cold. I made them almost immediately, but you have been gone for hours.

0:57:52 Gorgug: What's a frittata again?

0:57:52 Siobhan: Cold frittata is still good.

0:57:53 Kristen: I mean, cold frittata is actually, I was just gonna say the same thing.

0:57:55 Siobhan: I like a cold frittata, delicious.

0:57:57 Kristen: So we'll pour some rosé, let's all have a cold frittata.

0:58:00 Adaine: Oh my goodness, a little cold frittata picnic.

0:58:01 Fig: Gilear. I've been waiting for this day to come. This is your moment. I need you.

0:58:07 Gilear: Nope, what?

0:58:09 Fig: What, why?

0:58:09 Gilear: Why? What, what, what, what?

0:58:10 Kristen: Wait, wouldn't Ayda know about that?

0:58:14 Fig: Uh, she's busy.

0:58:16 Riz: Ayda's not here.

0:58:16 Fig: I heard yeah. Yeah, she has to defend the library.

0:58:19 Kristen: Oh man, where did Ayda go? Who saw her last? Riz & Adaine: Oh yeah! Emily, knowing she is being targeted, is laughing in the meantime.

0:58:20 Fabian: Sandra, were you going to say, were you going to say my dad?

0:58:21 Adaine: She didn't say goodbye or anything, that's so rude. I thought we were friends.

0:58:22 Kristen: Who saw her last?

0:58:23 Fabian: Were you going to say my dad?

0:58:23 Kristen: Who saw her last? And what did you do?

0:58:26 Adaine: Yeah.

0:58:26 Brennan: Sandra Lynn says,

0:58:27 Sandra Lynn: No, I was going to say Gilear.

0:58:29 Fabian: [disbelieving] Oh, really?

0:58:31 Sandra Lynn: Well Gilear's job was diplomatic rela— Gilear was not the face, he was a sort of expert in you know,

0:58:41 Adaine: Oh, like a solicitor.

0:58:42 Fig: Adaine, permission to reach into your jacket?

0:58:46 Adaine: What do you want? Yeah, fine. [holds open the pockets]

0:58:48 Emily: Can I pull out a little Barrister's wig? (group laughing)

0:58:51 Brennan: Gilear looks at it and says,

0:58:51 Gilear: Ugh.

0:58:54 Fig: I think you're ready to get back in the game.

0:58:57 Gilear: None of the cultures I have worked for use these wigs.

0:58:59 Kristen: Adaine, permission to reach past your torso into your jacket?

0:59:01 Adaine: I mean, we're all doing it, I guess.

0:59:03 Ally: I pull out a little gavel. (Emily laughing)

0:59:05 Gilear: Do you think as a lawyer,

0:59:05 Adaine: A solicitor is not a barrister or a judge.

0:59:10 Kristen: I'm really shootin' in the dark.

0:59:12 Gilear: I want to be very clear about something. I'm going to take the gavel. [nods] I'm going to be very clear about something. I am not a lawyer, I have not passed any test to effectively practice law. I was, for a time in my earlier position as Elven Council, the equivalent of a glorified paralegal.

0:59:33 Fig: Hmm, okay.

0:59:34 Gilear: Especially the laws of Hell.

0:59:37 Fig: If you just need a front person, you can be the brains, I'll just be the body out there. I'll be there workin' it as a famous lawyer from Billboards.

0:59:47 Gilear: Very well.

0:59:49 Brennan: You see that he says,

0:59:49 Gilear: All right, well, fine, I give you my word, I will help you in this endeavor. It's confusing because I didn't think we would be able to get in trouble with Arborly. Didn't the fox say we were all—

1:00:03 Fig: Oh, this is in Hell.

1:00:04 Gilear: "What?"

1:00:04 Fig: Hell.

1:00:06 Gilear: What?

1:00:06 Fig: Hell.

1:00:07 Gilear: [sadly] Oh no.

1:00:07 Fig: Yeah.

1:00:08 Brennan: You see that,

1:00:09 Kristen: This is a really keyed up woman from hell.

1:00:13 Fig: Yeah.

1:00:14 Kristen: Like,

1:00:17 Fig: Working through something.

1:00:19 Gilear: [faintly] I, what have you done?

1:00:21 Kristen: She's furious. We barely did anything. I was looking at a mural, trying to figure out if it was a tequila advertisement, and she screamed at me.

1:00:32 Gilear: Okay.

1:00:34 Fig: So yeah, there's a portal open, we can all go.

1:00:35 Kristen: To Hell.

1:00:37 Fig: And I think that we can use it.

1:00:38 Kristen: Angry woman wants to take you to hell.

1:00:40 Riz: Do we want Gilear to read the subpoena?

1:00:42 Fabian: Yes.

1:00:42 Fig: [handing it over] Oh yeah, Gilear, do you want to read this?

1:00:44 Kristen: Do you read Infernal?

1:00:44 Emily: I'll read it to him. I'll translate it to him and then he can translate the legalese.

1:00:50 Siobhan: I read Infernal also.

1:00:52 Brennan: Cool.

1:00:52 Ally: Nice.

1:00:56 Brennan: You see Gilear says,

1:00:59 Gilear: Uh, all right, it looks as if you are, well let me be very clear. Everyone is in great danger all of the time.

1:01:10 Adaine: I agree.

1:01:12 Fig: Yeah.

1:01:14 Gilear: Good? But disquieting, coming from the Oracle. (Emily & Ally laughing)

1:01:21 Gilear: What I would say is this. This subpoena has no clauses concerning your soul. There's nothing for you to sign. They have stipulated that they will send people to come and get you if you don't comply, which is normally how a subpoena works. But, it appears that they are simply seeking you for information, and that the target of this whole situation is Gorthalax.

1:01:49 Fig: Yes, but I'm asking you to help Gorthalax out, because he's gonna lose his entire domain, and it's not his fault. He's been trapped inside of a gem.

1:01:58 Kristen: Is there a way you think, to convince them to go with us, to follow Gorthalax, because we'll get what we want, and they'll get what they want which is Gorthalax.

1:02:08 Fig: That's what I'm also saying, is this is also an excuse to get in there and be like, "Hey, you know how you hate demons, and they love the Nightmare King? They're trying to bring the Nightmare King back."

1:02:20 Gilear: Um—

1:02:21 Fig: But you don't have to worry about that part. We'll start that as sort of a grassroots campaign.

1:02:26 Gilear: Very well.

1:02:27 Siobhan: I start pulling flyers out of my— (group laughing)

1:02:31 Siobhan: Very beautifully printed pamphlets.

1:02:33 Zac: Wow, lookit.

1:02:34 Siobhan: Oh, there's a typo.

1:02:38 Fig: So you would just be doing Gorthalax a solid, which you don't owe him by any means, but I mean, heck if all of us wouldn't like to watch you strut your stuff in the courtroom. I would like to see you make that stenographer's hand dance.

1:02:54 Gilear: [sighs] I must be clear. At no point,

1:02:59 Siobhan: I pull a black robe out of my coat, and wrap it around his shoulders.

1:03:03 Kristen: Everyone, order, order.

1:03:04 Zac: Are you as Gorthalax right now?

1:03:06 Ally: I start acting like the bailiff,

1:03:06 Kristen: Hey! (players laughing)

1:03:11 Gilear: At no point in time in the past or in any possible future have I ever, will I ever, and perhaps can I ever strut my stuff.

1:03:25 Fabian: Oh, come on, Gilear.

1:03:25 Gilear: The thought of it is impossible to even envision.

1:03:30 Fabian: Could you have seen yourself trapped in a wheel well with an apple in your mouth shitting yourself? And that happened yesterday. You never know what—

1:03:38 Gilear: This isn't helping me feel more confident. Daughter, I will of course help you, gladly.

1:03:46 Fig: Thank you. I appreciate it, and I'll give you any support you want.

1:03:52 Gilear: Very well. Okay.

1:03:56 Brennan: You see that, cool, so this having been, so Gilear, you know, is looking at it and has at least some understanding of it. Do the rest of you communicate all the crazy shit that has happened?

1:04:11 Siobhan: Can I Message to everybody? Or, I guess we were speaking about it out loud. I just want to tell them about the Message thing.

1:04:20 Adaine: So basically she can't see inside our minds. So if you have something to say and you don't have the Message spell, just give a thumbs up and one of us will Message and then we can like, loop everybody in that way.

1:04:35 Fig: I have the Message spell.

1:04:36 Adaine: I have it.

1:04:37 Kristen: I don't.

1:04:37 Riz: Oh, yeah.

1:04:38 Gorgug: I do not.

1:04:39 Riz: Kristen, we also have these medical papers. Is there a cure?

1:04:45 Ally: Um yeah, can I try to look through these?

1:04:49 Brennan: Go ahead and give me a, give me a Medicine check. Ally makes their roll. Murph, seeing it, claps his hands and leans back in his seat, raising both hands over his head. Ally looks Brennan directly in the eye.

1:05:01 Ally: Yes.

1:05:02 Brennan: Are you kidding me?

1:05:02 Ally: Nat 20. (Emily yelling and clapping)

1:05:04 Ally: A fucking nat 20. Brennan stares at them, stunned into silence.

1:05:06 Emily: Yes, yes, yes, yes, whoo, whoo, whoo! [slams table]

1:05:08 Lou: And it's not even with the little bean.

1:05:09 Zac: It seems like there's some dice over there that you've been waiting to eat.

1:05:12 Emily: Oh, this might be time!

1:05:13 Siobhan: Yeah! [Ally claps]

1:05:15 Lou: Eat a dice.

1:05:15 Ally: Come on, baby.

1:05:19 Lou: Eat a damn die.

1:05:19 Ally: Let me get that, bitch.

1:05:20 Emily: Hope you're not on keto!

1:05:20 Brennan: Which— pffffft.

1:05:24 Ally: Because beans are legumes.

1:05:24 Brennan: Which dice do you guys want?

1:05:27 Ally: The beans or Tide pod?

1:05:31 Brennan: I mean which in the--

1:05:32 Siobhan: I feel like this is a small victory

1:05:33 Emily: A d4. Ally & Siobhan: Yeah, let's have d4.

1:05:35 Zac: And be careful, those are the sharpest ones.

1:05:36 Ally: Yeah, maybe a d6. Brennan looks directly into the camera and raises his edible d4 like a toast.

1:05:41 Brennan: Do you want me to d4 or d6?

1:05:42 Lou: D4.

1:05:42 Siobhan: Do a d4.

1:05:43 Zac: It might be really hard. Brennan continues to look directly into the camera as he chomps on his d4.

1:05:45 Brennan: [slightly muffled] I'm eating my dice.

1:05:48 Lou: How is it? How does it taste?

1:05:50 Brennan: It's not bad.

1:05:53 Siobhan: Now I'm jealous. I wanna eat a dice.

1:05:54 Ally: What a cool thing, yeah. Brennan wiggles his shoulders at Siobhan.

1:05:55 Zac: It's just like a hard candy that you just have in your mouth for another 30 minutes.

1:05:58 Brennan: It's so sharp. (group laughing and clapping)

1:06:04 Brennan: Okay, so—

1:06:06 Ally: Whoo! Brennan’s d4 eating makes a slight slurping noise.

1:06:10 Emily: No, this is gonna be the sound of this episode! (making slurping noises)

1:06:13 Brennan: Nat 20? ...goddammit.

1:06:17 Murph: And that's, yeah what is that, 29?

1:06:19 Ally: Oh yeah, that's a 29, technically.

1:06:20 Emily: That is a beautiful Ally roll.

1:06:22 Brennan: [quietly] You have a plus nine?

1:06:22 Ally: A plus nine to do a medicine, yeah.

1:06:26 Brennan: You know you could make a tincture that would require dusk moss and a couple other things, like alchemical goods that these guys have not gotten from the Tinkerer's Hall. The other thing is you looking at this, and understanding the medicine that you would need, most clerics couldn't, you with Greater Restoration could cure this. The cast gasps.

1:07:06 Brennan: [slightly muffled] So you look at the medicine, Riz and Adaine point everything out. You with Greater Restoration can cure this.

1:07:11 Siobhan: Can I Message,

1:07:14 Adaine: If you've figured it out, don't say it out loud?

1:07:16 Fig: Mm, yeah. Oh yeah, Message—

1:07:16 Adaine: Maybe it would be useful for us to not cure it, and use our link to Kalina in terms of disinformation. Is there something in that?

1:07:28 Emily: Well, I'm gonna message and say like,

1:07:30 Fig: What if we cured everyone but one person?

1:07:35 Brennan: Sandra Lynn sees you guys start messaging each other, and says,

1:07:39 Sandra Lynn: I'm gonna talk about what I found out.

1:07:41 Brennan: And starts talking so that someone is talking while you guys are talking, in case anyone's watching.

1:07:47 Siobhan: Okay.

1:07:49 Brennan: Sandra Lynn very briefly just found the spot in the forest where she thinks Aelwyn, Arianwen and Killian made their way into the woods.

1:07:58 Siobhan: Great.

1:07:58 Ally: So we all look at her and like, [nodding]

1:07:59 Brennan: Yeah, exactly. But you guys have this real conversation instead.

1:08:02 Murph: Cool.

1:08:02 Siobhan: Great.

1:08:03 Ally: Okay, I Message,

1:08:03 Kristen: I need a spell that I haven't stocked. So the next time we take a rest, I can stock a spell and I can heal this. But I think you might be onto something, keep one person healed?

1:08:17 Fig: That's what I'm wondering.

1:08:18 Kristen: Do you think she can sense when she's lost...?

1:08:22 Adaine: She wouldn't be able to get into you. So she would know.

1:08:24 Fig: She'll know, but I feel like if there was one person who still had it, she would be distracted by trying to use that person to find us, maybe?

1:08:32 Kristen: Or should we just keep it on all of us and I can stock as much of this antidote as I need.

1:08:37 Adaine: Right.

1:08:37 Fig: And then the moment we want. Can you do that with Greater Restoration? Can you make it like a potion and then—

1:08:43 Kristen: Well there are two options. I can make a tincture or I can try to heal this.

1:08:47 Gorgug: Can you actually make the tincture though?

1:08:49 Kristen: We only need a few things, right?

1:08:51 Brennan: You know how to make it, but some of the stuff that you would need is shit that is like herbalist stuff that's gonna come from in Silvaire. You'd have to go through the wall--

1:09:02 Siobhan: Would it be things that are worth less than 10 gold pieces?

1:09:07 Brennan: Let me roll a little dice. A few of them are, one or two are not.

1:09:12 Adaine: Okay, so I can get some of them through my jacket.

1:09:16 Kristen: Cool.

1:09:17 Brennan: So at least if you go the tincture route, you'll be able to do it much faster because you've produced the vast majority of what you need. Tracker—

1:09:27 Fig: That's good because it would be so dope,

1:09:29 Emily: Again this is Message,

1:09:29 Fig: It would be so dope to just get a bunch of tinctures on the sly, and then just all be like, "Bye Kalina." [mimics drinking a potion]

1:09:36 Kristen: Yeah.

1:09:36 Adaine: Yes.

1:09:40 Brennan: You see that Tracker goes and says,

1:09:43 Tracker: That's the reason I like tincture plan the most. I will point something else out which is this. If we are sure that Kalina can't get into the Hallow, we could theoretically have everybody who's in trouble,

1:09:58 Brennan: [muffled] This dice is in my mouth.

1:10:00 Zac: You gotta get it out.

1:10:00 Ally: Spit it out, and see what you roll.

1:10:02 Emily: Spit it out. We did the gag, we'll know never to do it again. Brenan spits the die out onto the table, and checks to see how it landed.

1:10:09 Siobhan: We will do it one more time.

1:10:12 Brennan: Wow, ooh, it's what are, that is that edible. It got way smaller. I'm gonna say that's a four. (group laughing)

1:10:19 Brennan: Whoo! Huuah, very tasty. You see that she looks at you and says,

1:10:26 Tracker: Another way out of this could be,

1:10:27 Ally: In Message.

1:10:28 Brennan: Yes, she's speaking in Message, or I guess going through Adaine as the hub, sending Messages out to people.

1:10:33 Fig: I can also be a hub. Why is no one Messaging through me?

1:10:37 Brennan: You see that Tracker basically goes,

1:10:39 Siobhan: Sitting there, like, [rapidly points her fingers at everyone in the somatic component of the Message spell]

1:10:40 Gorgug: [to Fig] What’s everyone talking about?

1:10:41 Brennan: It's very funny, Sandra Lynn and Gilear are just kind of like chatting out here as the four teen girls are like [waves hands] brrrrrrrrrr going back and forth.

1:10:49 Ally: We're trying to nod at them like we're listening. [they mimic silently Messaging, then turning and nodding with a pleasant expression]

1:10:51 Brennan: Yeah. (group laughing)

1:10:53 Brennan: It is the equivalent of just like texting under your desk while you're… You see that she looks over to you and says,

1:11:00 Tracker: If everyone that was infected stowed away in the Hangvan, and Kalina couldn't see us all, it might get funky in there, but we could take—  How many times a day do you think you can cast Greater Restoration?

1:11:14 Kristen: I think that's what, like a fifth level spell?

1:11:18 Fig: Is it fifth level?

1:11:19 Adaine: So twice?

1:11:19 Kristen: Once, once a day.

1:11:20 Adaine: Oh, once a day.

1:11:21 Brennan: So Tracker says,

1:11:21 Tracker: If we wanted to do the safe route we could hunker down in the van, start—

1:11:29 Fig: Start doing it. That's true because of the Hangvan, as long as we make a big deal about going into the Hangvan, she'll know, "Oh, there's been times that I've not been able to follow them in there before." So she might just assume that.

1:11:41 Adaine: Do you have—

1:11:41 Fig: So maybe we all pretend to be, like everyone who's infected pretends to be like unconscious and we deposit them in the Hangvan and she thinks, wow, they must be recovering in the  Hangvan.

1:11:52 Adaine: Do you recover spells when you take a short rest? Or is that just a wizard thing?

1:11:57 Brennan: Just a long rest.

1:11:57 Fig: I don't think clerics do.

1:11:58 Kristen: Just a long rest.

1:12:01 Fig: That's a cool thing though.

1:12:01 Adaine: It is, it's useful.

1:12:03 Brennan: See Tracker looks and says,

1:12:03 Tracker: So there is like a surefire way of doing this,

1:12:08 Kristen: But it would take eight days to get all of us.

1:12:11 Tracker: I'm trying to think. How many of us?

1:12:12 Kristen: Us six, you and Ragh, right?

1:12:14 Adaine: Well no, but not all of us are infected.

1:12:16 Fig: I'm not infected.

1:12:16 Adaine: Just you two,

1:12:17 Riz: Tracker,

1:12:18 Adaine: Tracker,

1:12:18 Riz: Sandra Lynn.

1:12:18 Adaine: Sandra Lynn.

1:12:19 Brennan: Tracker looks and says,

1:12:19 Tracker: I can do Detect, I can Detect Poison and Disease right now and try to just see—

1:12:23 Riz: It's just four of us.

1:12:25 Brennan: She's like,

1:12:25 Tracker: It's you and me, Riz, Sandra Lynn, is there anyone?

1:12:28 Fig: Ragh.

1:12:31 Riz: Does Ragh, is Ragh?

1:12:32 Tracker: Ragh, yeah.

1:12:32 Adaine: Ragh.

1:12:33 Fig: Five.

1:12:33 Kristen: That's it?

1:12:34 Adaine: What about Gilear?

1:12:36 Brennan: You see Gilear says,

1:12:39 Gilear: Let me take a look at that photograph?

1:12:40 Emily: Just do a general Detect Poisons and Disease on Gilear.

1:12:44 Gorgug: Gilear, I don't mean to pry.

1:12:45 Brennan: You detect a powerful aura coming from his feet. Other than that, nothing.

1:12:52 Gilear: May I take a look at the photograph? Riz holds the picture of Kalina up to him.

1:12:55 Gilear: Nope.

1:12:56 Zac: I'm gonna take Fig aside and ask,

1:12:56 Gorgug: [quietly] So I don't wanna ask Gilear this, because it feels so mean. But shouldn't he and Sandra Lynn, just because there was a, when did they not,

1:13:12 Fig: Oh. You're right. How did it not get passed?

1:13:14 Gorgug: You know what I mean?

1:13:16 Fig: From her to him? Well, we don't entirely understand.

1:13:20 Gorgug: Sure.

1:13:20 Fig: Because it is a fluid thing, right?

1:13:24 Gorgug: I think so. That's such a f—

1:13:26 Emily: I'm gonna message just Sandra Lynn.

1:13:30 Fig: Mom, mom, it's me, Fig.

1:13:31 Sandra Lynn: Hey, what's up?

1:13:33 Zac: [covering his face, very quietly] Oh no. Oh no.

1:13:35 Fig: Hey, I'm gonna ask a really sensitive question, but give me a blunt answer.

1:13:39 Sandra Lynn: Okay.

1:13:40 Fig: How come Gilear doesn't have what you have?

1:13:47 Sandra Lynn: [long breath in] Uh, great question.

1:13:50 Fig: Yeah? (awkward pause, group laughs)

1:13:55 Sandra Lynn: I understand what the implication here is. Gilear and I did… [stilted] sleep together, many, many times. This is weird.

1:14:12 Fig: I really think I need to know. I need to understand, I'm sorry.

1:14:16 Sandra Lynn: Yeah, no, I mean, your father and I, you know, and he is your father, he raised you, you know your father.

1:14:22 Fig: Yeah, he's definitely my dad.

1:14:23 Sandra Lynn: Yeah, of course.

1:14:23 Fig: He's also now my lawyer.

1:14:27 Sandra Lynn: Again, he has not, he has passed the bar nowhere. So just go in with expectations set at—

1:14:34 Fig: We're gonna drop the para from legal. He's walkin' out of Hell just legal.

1:14:39 Sandra Lynn: Wild. So, [hesitantly] your father and I... haven't, um... okay, I'm gonna say this the least icky way that I can. I could have gotten this infection any time in the past three-ish years—

1:15:12 Fig: And Gilear would not have received it.

1:15:15 Sandra Lynn: Correct.

1:15:15 Fig: Okay.

1:15:17 Emily: I message Gorgug and I say,

1:15:17 Fig: They did do it on the reg, (group laughing)

1:15:19 Gorgug: Okay, thanks, yeah.

1:15:22 Fig: But Sandra Lynn thinks maybe she got it more recently, ever since they stopped doing it.

1:15:26 Gorgug: I'm so sorry I brought this up. I'm so sorry. (group laughing)

1:15:31 Fig: Thank you for your candor, mom.

1:15:31 Gorgug: I feel really bad.

1:15:33 Brennan: You see that she says,

1:15:33 Sandra Lynn: Absolutely, listen, this is [sighs] having your parents come on an adventure with you, the close quarters and how high the stakes are have meant that there have been a lot of divulgences that I would never have anticipated. I love you, it's weird, sorry for all this weird info, but you know.

1:15:56 Fig: That's okay, I think we'll be closer because of it.

1:15:59 Sandra Lynn: Yeah, no, believe me. And again, I just feel Gilear is a great, he’s great, and there was a period of time—

1:16:04 Fig: He's more than great, he's the Chosen One.

1:16:07 Sandra Lynn: You keep saying that, and I can't tell if you really believe that or if it's like a teen joke.

1:16:13 Fig: I don't know either.

1:16:15 Sandra Lynn: Wow. I don't miss being a teenager. (group laughing)

1:16:25 Brennan: So, you guys are left talking about this kind of spell thing. But you've communicated all the stuff that you guys researched in the Owl and the Harp. Corroborate a lot of that alchemical stuff from the Tinkerer's Hall.

1:16:38 Gorgug: Yeah, so um, we can speak freely in here, right?

1:16:42 Brennan: If you guys go into the Hangvan, you’ll be able to speak freely, yes.

1:16:43 Murph: Yeah, let's do that, let's go into the Hangvan.

1:16:44 Gorgug: So we're in the van now. I got some hallucinogens?

1:16:48 Adaine: What?

1:16:48 Fabian: We bought so many drugs. Bought so many drugs.

1:16:49 Gorgug: We bought some drugs.

1:16:50 Fig: I am straight-edge except for hallucinogens.

1:16:51 Kristen: We actually need that for the tincture.

1:16:54 Adaine: I've heard it's really good for anxiety, actually.

1:16:55 Gorgug: Okay?

1:16:55 Fabian: Okay.

1:16:58 Kristen: Okay, so here are our options.

1:16:59 Gorgug: We just bought what they bought.

1:17:00 Fabian: Yeah, and it just so happens that it was a bunch of drugs.

1:17:02 Gorgug: And it seems like it's legal here.

1:17:04 Fabian: It's not even like a thing.

1:17:08 Brennan: You see Ragh is in the corner just going… Ragh stares confusedly at something he’s holding in his hand.

1:17:11 Fabian: [disapproving] Ragh, no! Ragh!

1:17:14 Riz: You're gonna go absolutely crazy if you have any of that.

1:17:16 Fabian: Ragh, did you do some?

1:17:17 Ragh: What?

1:17:17 Fabian: Don't wear a hat.

1:17:18 Ragh: [angry and disoriented] Shut up dude, fuck you, what?

1:17:19 Kristen: How much did you have?

1:17:20 Ragh: What?

1:17:20 Kristen: How much, a scoop?

1:17:22 Ragh: A hand's just like a little animal on the end of your arm.

1:17:24 Kristen: Okay, he had a very big chunk. Hey, we can either stay here for five days straight for me to try to heal everybody,

1:17:32 Gorgug: We don't have the time, it's spring break.

1:17:34 Fabian: Also, are we going to hell?

1:17:34 Adaine: Yes, it’s spring break, we do have to go.

1:17:36 Fig: Yes, I do have to go.

1:17:37 Kristen: So I guess we should go the tincture route, right?

1:17:40 Gorgug: I think you should prepare both.

1:17:42 Adaine: Yeah, you should stock it.

1:17:42 Kristen: Well I can't, oh I will stock it for sure as soon as I can, but, so we don't have everything for the tincture. Now we know she can see through us, but she doesn't have our mind, and we proceed as normal and she thinks she still has the better—

1:17:56 Adaine: Can you give me a shopping list, and I'll go to the alchemical place?

1:17:59 Ally: Is it cool for me to--

1:18:01 Brennan: Yes, absolutely.

1:18:01 Ally: Do I have everything on it? Was I able to--

1:18:05 Brennan: The things you aren't able to pull out of the jacket, the Owlbears on the squad already got from—

1:18:11 Murph: Oh great, so we have everything.

1:18:13 Brennan: Except for one or two ingredients from beyond the forest. You know that going to the Tinkerer's Hall would be a moot point.

1:18:19 Siobhan: Oh, so we'd have to be inside the forest to get them anyway.

1:18:22 Brennan: Correct.

1:18:22 Siobhan: Great.

1:18:23 Murph: So we have to do Greater Restoration.

1:18:24 Ally: Yes. Well, that's five days.

1:18:25 Siobhan: Or, I mean we're going into the forest anyway.

1:18:28 Brennan: You either have to do Greater Restoration or risk going into the forest with some of you infected, and trying to address it there. So there's a riskier faster option, and a slower safer option.

1:18:37 Riz: Here's the only other thing I'm concerned about, is if we go to Hell for this trial, I don't know if we want the demons knowing what goes on in Hell, right?

1:18:47 Gorgug: So should the people who aren't infected go to hell?

1:18:48 Adaine: Maybe you guys don't come.

1:18:51 Fig: Adaine and me and Gorgug, like a lot of us are not,

1:18:54 Emily: This is a Message, no wait, we're in Hallow.

1:18:56 Kristen: Yeah, so you three could go.

1:18:58 Fig: We are ones who can go talk to the devils about the demons, and they won't see anything.

1:19:04 Riz: I don't know if we should split up going to Hell. I think if we're going to Hell that's a full team event.

1:19:10 Fabian: Is there a world where we take a day or two, or, what, we need what, what if just the Bad Kids, you know, what if we just, you know Greater Restored us and left Ragh and Sandra Lynn and Tracker behind?

1:19:24 Adaine: Or you guys just stay in the Hallow unless we need you when we're in Hell, but that's sort of boring. Can we drive the van into the court?

1:19:32 Fig: Yeah, I can stretch that portal big enough, I think.

1:19:35 Brennan: Under no circumstance can you stretch the portal big enough.

1:19:38 Siobhan: What about if I cast Enlarge/Reduce on the van while we're inside it?

1:19:44 Zac: Honey I shrunk the—

1:19:44 Brennan: I'm gonna look up the Enlarge/Reduce spell.

1:19:48 Zac: Honey, I shrunk the van.

1:19:48 Murph: Can Tracker cast Greater Restoration?

1:19:52 Brennan: She can't, I specifically made this illness… I am honoring a nat 20 in this moment.

1:20:00 Murph: Okay.

1:20:04 Siobhan: If a target is a creature, anything it's wearing and carrying changes size with it.

1:20:09 Emily: Oh, the Hangvan's technically a creature.

1:20:10 Siobhan: Now I would say that the Hangvan is a sentient being, and that us being inside the Hangvan would technically mean that we are being worn by the Hangvan.

1:20:23 Brennan: Because the Hangvan cannot ambulate itself, its intelligence--

1:20:26 Siobhan: That is ableist.

1:20:27 Brennan: Pfft.

1:20:28 Siobhan: [fake-offended] Wow.

1:20:31 Zac: I think you found your lawyer.

1:20:33 Ally: I think you found your freakin' lawyer over here.

1:20:35 Lou: I think you found your freaking lawyer over here.

1:20:38 Emily: Don't tell Gilear, it'll break his heart.

1:20:39 Brennan: The CPU of the Hangvan is a sentient creature. The mechanical structure which it inhabits is not.

1:20:48 Ally: Okay.

1:20:49 Siobhan: What if we shrink it and take it in, like walk in next to it?

1:20:53 Brennan: Oh, how about this. How about this as a definitive thing? Something that you can cast Hallow on is fundamentally not something you can cast Enlarge/Reduce on.

1:21:01 Ally: All right, fair enough.

1:21:01 Siobhan: It's an object!

1:21:03 Zac: I go to the Tinkerer's Hall.

1:21:03 Siobhan: An item or object.

1:21:03 Brennan: Oh, it's creature or object? Okay.

1:21:06 Zac: I go to the Tinkerer's Hall. [laughing] I make a a vest that has a bunch of pockets on it, human-sized pockets. Everyone hops into those. Enlarge/Reduce on me. (group laughing)

1:21:19 Emily: Also cast a Hallow on,

1:21:21 Ally: On the vest.

1:21:22 Kristen: You guys, so don't you think if we're kind of already one step ahead of the Shadow Cat if we know how to stop it but she thinks that we're completely powerless?

1:21:33 Adaine: Yeah.

1:21:33 Kristen: Should we just proceed as normal and hope to pick up these things in Silvaire?

1:21:36 Fig: I think we proceed as normal, but I do that your priorities should be, Kristen, maybe you just Greater Restore yourself? Maybe you Greater Restore—

1:21:44 Kristen: One at a time, we start knocking them down.

1:21:47 Adaine: I think it's useful for her to have some information from us as a disinformation thing.

1:21:51 Zac: Uh, nevermind.

1:21:52 Brennan: Tracker brings it up and just says,

1:21:54 Tracker: The moment that Kalina can go into one of our eyes, see one of us, and know that she can't go into those other person's eyes, the jig's up.

1:22:05 Fig: Then tincture route's the only way to do it.

1:22:06 Adaine: I think it's tincture route. I think the tincture route is the way to do it.

1:22:08 Kristen: And when we do the tincture, we all do it at once. I make enough for all of us to just drop it.

1:22:12 Kristen: Yeah.

1:22:12 Adaine: Yeah. Line ‘em up.

1:22:13 Riz: I think I'm also, I mentioned before that I was concerned about going to hell and her possibly being able to see the trial. But hell is also bad, so I don't really care if they all end up fighting and killing each other.

1:22:24 Fabian: Cool.

1:22:24 Kristen: Yeah.

1:22:25 Riz: Let's just go to Hell.

1:22:26 Kristen: I think you're right, let's do it.

1:22:27 Fig: I think it's our only way.

1:22:28 Kristen: One thing at a time.

1:22:28 Riz: Also, they're super far along already. They have Gorthalax and they're in.

1:22:32 Kristen: Not to be— Yeah.

1:22:33 Riz: So it's not like, yeah.

1:22:34 Kristen: This is really dramatic, but when we do take the tincture, how about when someone takes it, all of us scream, "Oh no, they died!" And she'll think each of these people have died and she'll be expecting half the size of the party.

1:22:45 Fig: This is amazing. We should choreograph some beautiful fights where Fabian does the final thrust.

1:22:48 Adaine: [crosstalk] If everybody's taking the tincture at the same time, then she won't have access to anything.

1:22:53 Kristen: No, we do it one at a time. We all dramatically go, [chokes]

1:22:54 Gorgug: Let's not tell Gilear this plan, and then he watches us die, and then he's not even acting.

1:23:00 Kristen: Is Gilear coming with us? No, Gilear is staying and making more frittatas.

1:23:04 Fabian: No, he's coming to hell.

1:23:04 Fig: No, Gilear’s the barrister!

1:23:05 Riz: Gilear is coming to Hell.

1:23:05 Gilear: [with dread] Oh, no.

1:23:08 Kristen: Wait, Gilear, you're in the van?

1:23:10 Gilear: Yes, I am here as well.

1:23:12 Kristen: Of course, of course.

1:23:12 Fig: I saw you the whole time.

1:23:15 Gilear: Thank you, daughter.

1:23:15 Kristen: I just don't know if I trust Gilear. Oh, was that not a Message?

1:23:18 Brennan: So it sounds like unless you guys have any other business in Arborly, it sounds like the plan is to head to hell.

1:23:24 Riz: Yeah.

1:23:24 Adaine: Yeah.

1:23:25 Gorgug: Let's go to fucking Hell. (group laughing)

1:23:25 Fig: I gotta go there. If you don't wanna go there, you don't have to go there, but I do have to go there.

1:23:28 Riz: I super wanna go to hell.

1:23:30 Gorgug: Hey, I'll see you in hell.

1:23:31 Adaine: Hey, see you in hell, man.

1:23:33 Riz: Hey, see you in hell.

1:23:33 Adaine: See you in hell.

1:23:33 Riz: See you in hell.

1:23:34 Emily: See you in hell.

1:23:35 Fabian: See you in hell.

1:23:35 Riz: See you in hell.

1:23:36 Brennan: You guys go back to the Shrine of Thorns. Tracker looks and says,

1:23:38 Tracker: I... can't go into this shrine.

1:23:44 Kristen: Oh, it was that bad? Yeah, I wanted to talk to you. Sorry, that all got so crazy there with frittatas.

1:23:50 Tracker: It's okay, I just feel, I honestly got distracted by the frittatas too.

1:23:54 Kristen: Right? They were so cold. I thought it would be good, but it was actually like ice cold.

1:23:59 Tracker: I think he put them in the freezer.

1:24:00 Kristen: I think so too. (Lou & Emily laughing)

1:24:03 Kristen: I'm so sick of getting punked by him.

1:24:05 Tracker: Yeah, it's also just weird to put kale and spinach in the same frittata.

1:24:09 Kristen: Thank you, this is why I love you.

1:24:12 Tracker: I love you so much.

1:24:12 Kristen: We align on such. Okay, so, that's the only entryway for us.

1:24:19 Tracker: Um, I can try to come through just to make sure. Or maybe,

1:24:23 Kristen: No don't, no.

1:24:25 Tracker: The van's gonna be here, right? So maybe I'll kick it with the van.

1:24:32 Kristen: I mean, you know what this sounds like, right? This was my original idea to chain you inside the van and not allow you to come into the forest. Sounds like we need to like start that right now.

1:24:45 Brennan: You see that her eyes go yellow and she goes,

1:24:47 Tracker: Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?

1:24:49 Ally: I take out little handcuffs that have our initials engraved.

1:24:53 Tracker: Stop it.

1:24:55 Brennan: You see Sandra Lynn goes,

1:24:55 Kristen: You're under arrest.

1:24:57 Brennan: Sandra Lynn goes,

1:24:57 Sandra Lynn: Knock it off!

1:24:58 Kristen: Oh! (group laughing)

1:25:00 Kristen: No one yells at Officer Kristen like that.

1:25:04 Ally: I go to handcuff Sandra Lynn. Sandra Lynn gives Kristen a “mom look”.

1:25:07 Kristen: Sorry, actually,

1:25:07 Sandra Lynn: I'm not playing.

1:25:09 Kristen: No, me neither, actually. Sandra Lynn: I’m not playing.

1:25:11 Kristen: [giggling] Were you about to leave?

1:25:14 Sandra Lynn: [shaking her head] So help me God, Kristen Applebees, I understand that I work for you but,

1:25:19 Kristen: That’s Officer.

1:25:19 Sandra Lynn: So help— wow. (group bursting into laughter)

1:25:23 Brennan: So Tracker, she's gonna stay with the van, but she's gonna wait at the outside of the door just to like see you guys off. Gilear walks up to you, Fig, he's like,

1:25:31 Gilear: Very well, as your representative I— ohhhh, no.

1:25:36 Brennan: Cool. Go ahead,

1:25:39 Fabian: Wait, can I ask, Hangman, are you a devil or a demon?

1:25:43 Hangman: I am a devil of the Nine Hells.

1:25:46 Fabian: Are we cool with devils?

1:25:46 Fig: Absolutely, yeah.

1:25:48 Fabian: Okay, devils are cool.

1:25:49 Riz: Well, we're not super cool with them.

1:25:50 Fabian: Well no, we're cool with devils!

1:25:51 Fig: [offended] Oh I'm sorry, do you have a problem with devils?

1:25:53 Riz: No, I don't have, just any devil—

1:25:55 Fig: Since when do you have a problem with devils?

1:25:56 Hangman: Right, because goblins have such a great reputation.

1:25:57 Riz: That's what I'm saying, there’s bad— there's bad goblins—

1:25:58 Fabian: Oh, snap, the Hangman!

1:26:01 Hangman: You’ll burn! [flame comes out of its eyes]

1:26:04 Riz: I'm saying if I was subpoenaed by crazy goblins who were taking me to a weird thing to punish a goblin friend who is taken in a gem, I might be concerned about those goblins.

1:26:16 Fig: I'm gonna put it out there and say, I got a subpoena from Hell and it's literally the tamest subpoena that could possibly, it makes sense. Gorthalax hasn't been there. They don't know where he's been there. They're acting pretty rationally. I'll play ball.

1:26:29 Riz: So the person who subpoenaed you, they were cool?

1:26:31 Kristen: No!

1:26:31 Fig: I think that we met her on a bad day.

1:26:33 Kristen: She was horrible.

1:26:34 Fig: Bad day, bad day for that one.

1:26:37 Brennan: Cool. Go ahead, if you guys would be so kind, and give me a marching order with you and your hirelings. The door is very small.

1:26:48 Fig: I think I have to go in last, because once I go in, it's gonna close.

1:26:52 Riz: Good call.

1:26:52 Adaine: Good idea.

1:26:52 Kristen: That's smart.

1:26:52 Fig: Thank you, I'm pretty smart.

1:26:54 Brennan: You see that as people who are not you approach, briars grow out over the door. So you think that you need to actually in fact be first to go through the door.

1:27:07 Ally: [crosstalk] And wait in the doorway, maybe, and be kinda like—

1:27:08 Emily: Okay, I'm going to walk through the door and stand in between.

1:27:08 Murph: Hanging onto Fig’s leg. [pretends to wrap arms around her leg]

1:27:10 Emily: Like I'm gonna pretend to check my phone which is actually an '80s brick phone,

1:27:15 Zac: You're like holding the elevator open?

1:27:15 Emily: And I'm just gonna pretend like I'm checking my phone like I got distracted in the middle of walking through.

1:27:21 Fig: Ho, I'm gonna check something. [beckons them frantically]

1:27:23 Brennan: Cool. You walk in the doorway. Gilear is right behind you. You see that he walks into the blasted plain of Avernus, and a little [ping!] spark hits a bald patch on his head. He goes,

1:27:29 Gilear: Ahh! [puts his hands to his head]

1:27:36 Brennan: Covers himself.

1:27:36 Gorgug: Put your hat on! That denim hat will protect you.

1:27:39 Brennan: He puts his beret on, his little beret.

1:27:40 Siobhan: Chambray beret.

1:27:43 Brennan: Marching order, did you want to send the Hangman in next as a devil after you?

1:27:53 Fig: Do you want to send the Hangman in?

1:27:55 Fabian: Hangman, get in there. The Hangman’s engine revs as it gets into place.

1:27:55 Fig: Don’t you wanna be riding him? Why don’t you ride him? Or maybe a couple people—

1:27:57 Riz: Why don’t you guys ride the Hangman?

1:28:00 Fabian: Yeah, does anyone want to hop on?

1:28:01 Adaine: I'll hop on.

1:28:01 Fabian: Great.

1:28:02 Fig: I'm still checkin' my phone.

1:28:02 Riz: [clinging to her leg] Sweet, I'll go with Fig.

1:28:05 Ally: Can I reach over, because Tracker's there seeing us off?

1:28:09 Brennan: Tracker is there seeing you off. So give me an order, like one by one. So it's Fig, Gilear, and then who else?

1:28:17 Murph: I am literally, I think in like Fig's backpack or just hanging onto Fig. So I am I guess second behind Fig.

1:28:24 Lou: Hangman is me and Adaine cruising through after Gilear.

1:28:30 Gorgug: [to Kristen] Do you want to go second to last or last? I don't really have a strong—

1:28:33 Kristen: Maybe the last, I just want to say goodbye to Tracker really quick. Feels crazy to split up.

1:28:38 Brennan: Awesome.

1:28:41 Lou: And Sandra Lynn is coming?

1:28:41 Brennan: And you're riding and then Adaine's on the back of the Hangman?

1:28:44 Lou: And Ragh can be right behind us.

1:28:46 Gorgug: Is Tracker gonna be there by herself?

1:28:50 Adaine: Yeah, maybe we should leave Ragh with Tracker. Is that crazy? Brennan rolls a die, sucks in a startled breath, then raises an eyebrow.

1:28:56 Lou: [to Brennan] Don't make faces.

1:28:56 Siobhan: Oh no.

1:28:57 Lou: Stop rolling dice quietly and making faces.

1:28:58 Brennan: Fig, Gilear walk in. The Hangman—

1:29:05 Emily: I don't walk in, I stand one leg in each.

1:29:08 Brennan: Sure thing.

1:29:08 Emily: I'm straddling the portal.

1:29:09 Adaine: Wow, that's like a metaphor for your life.

1:29:11 Brennan: Fig holding the door open, Gilear, the Hangman, Fabian, I'm going to need a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw for him.

1:29:24 Murph: What about me, because I was with Fig.

1:29:27 Emily: Yeah, he's in my pocket, my backpack.

1:29:28 Siobhan: Can I give him,

1:29:29 Murph: I was like, I'm hanging on to Fig. I was going with Fig.

1:29:32 Brennan: You're hanging onto Fig's,

1:29:33 Ally: Does that mean you're half in and half out?

1:29:36 Siobhan: Wait, me as well?

1:29:36 Brennan: Okay, so it's Fig and Riz in your backpack, then it's Gilear? Okay in that case, I'm actually gonna need the same saving throw. I'm gonna need a saving throw for Fabian and the Hangman.

1:29:52 Siobhan: Can I give him the help action?

1:29:54 Brennan: Yes. Do you want to give it to the Hangman or Fabian?

1:29:59 Lou: Give it to, give it to the Hangman.

1:29:59 Siobhan: I'll give it to the Hangman, because that seems more dangerous to me personally.

1:30:04 Brennan: Cool.

1:30:06 Lou: Cool. Uh… [disappointed noise]

1:30:09 Siobhan: Stop using these cursed dice. You have so many new dice.

1:30:11 Lou: I do have so many new dice. That's a 15 for me. And that's plus 20 for the Hangman.

1:30:20 Brennan: Okay.

1:30:21 Siobhan: I gave help, so you should see if,

1:30:23 Brennan: See if you crit?

1:30:24 Siobhan: You crit.

1:30:24 Lou: It is one higher. It's a 19 plus three, 22.

1:30:31 Brennan: Fig, Riz in her backpack, Gilear standing next to her, the Hangman motors in. Hold on one second.

1:30:42 Lou: What's it mean that I, I'm on the Hangman.

1:30:47 Brennan: As your devil motorcycle crosses the threshold, the presence of a devil in the doorway, (making a growling whooshing noise) the briars snatch across you. The briars grab you, pull you through into the other side. Fabian and Adaine, you are caught in the briars and forcibly ejected. The doorway of fire disappears. [snaps] Fig, Riz, Gilear, and the Hangman are standing on a blasted plan as a doorway flips into a little bit of fire and (whooshing) vanishes.

1:31:24 Adaine: Oh, that was bad.

1:31:24 Kristen: Fuck!

1:31:25 Adaine: Oh dear.

1:31:25 Fig: Should I have gone last? Oh wait, no I couldn't.

1:31:28 Fabian: Hangman!

1:31:28 Lou: Can I communicate with it?

1:31:30 Brennan: You reach out to the Hangman,

1:31:35 Hangman: Sire, where are you?

1:31:35 Fabian: Where are you?

1:31:37 Hangman: I felt your butt leave my seat!

1:31:39 Fabian: Something happened! The briar closed.

1:31:41 Hangman: The warmth of your thighs left the stride of my,

1:31:44 Fabian: All right, you can turn it down. Are you okay?

1:31:46 Hangman: [yelling] I can't turn it down, I'm sad!

1:31:48 Fabian: You are literally the sweetest, meanest thing ever. Are you all okay?

1:31:54 Hangman: Sire, you can hear me from the first of the Nine. Yes. We are all right.

1:32:01 Brennan: You guys, Fig...

1:32:05 Fig: I feel bad. You didn't even want to come to Hell.

1:32:07 Riz: I super wanted to come to Hell.

1:32:11 Zac: You just don't like Hell.

1:32:14 Brennan: A blast of fire rains from the sky.

1:32:18 Emily: I cast Protection from Fire, Protection from Fire on Riz.

1:32:22 Brennan: Riz, you take no damage. You [Fig] take only two points of damage. Gilear falls to the ground dead.

1:32:28 Emily: Wait, what?

1:32:29 Siobhan: No!

1:32:30 Murph: Wait, knocked out or dead?

1:32:31 Brennan: At zero.

1:32:31 Murph: Okay.

1:32:32 Brennan: He's at zero hit points.

1:32:34 Murph: Oh my god.

1:32:34 Emily: I heal him!

1:32:35 Brennan: He just (making explosion noises and gasping).

1:32:37 Murph: I really quick grab Gilear.

1:32:39 Brennan: His little barrister wig is just burning.

1:32:41 Riz: [exasperated] All right, let’s put him on the Hangman!

1:32:44 Ally: Still in the robe?

1:32:45 Brennan: Still in the robe.

1:32:45 Riz: See, I told you Hell was bad. I mean, this is awesome, but this is bad.

1:32:48 Gorgug: Hey, this is based on nothing, but I feel like Gilear is dead.

1:32:52 Adaine: I think it’s a really good instinct. (group laughing)

1:32:53 Emily: I only have Healing Word.

1:32:55 Murph: I actually have the Healer feat.

1:32:58 Emily: Oh, you do?

1:32:58 Murph: Yeah, I a long time ago stole a first aid kit, and Gilear got pretty mad at me for stealing the first aid kit, but [shrugs] check this out, Gilear.

1:33:06 Brennan: His first death saving throw is—

1:33:08 Murph: Wait a minute, I help him, I help—

1:33:09 Emily: Healing Word, Healing Word!

1:33:10 Murph: No, no, no, I'll just do the, don't even waste your spell. I'll Healer’s Kit him.

1:33:14 Brennan: You see he, (gasping) badly burned, wig on fire,

1:33:19 Gilear: Oh, what happened? Have we been attacked?

1:33:24 Riz: Uh, that was just the rain. Just the fire rain.

1:33:27 Brennan: You see the Hangman says,

1:33:27 Hangman: Long have I waited [sadly] to ride this place with my master astride me. [through tears] And now he is gone.

1:33:37 Fig: I don't wanna be part of the sad crew where we're mad to be in hell. How do we get your master back?

1:33:42 Hangman: My master, we must, the portal was created for the purpose of this dark tribunal. Once the tribunal is concluded, they are obliged by the ancient laws of hell to deposit us from whence we came.

1:33:53 Riz: So I guess we just go through with it.

1:34:03 Fig: Okay, so I guess we just go through the tribunal.

1:34:06 Brennan: You see the Hangman says,

1:34:09 Hangman: Pathetic elf, do you submit to the mark of the Hangman?

1:34:14 Brennan: And you see that Gilear says,

1:34:14 Gilear: Huh?

1:34:16 Brennan: You see that both of the skull eyes glow with like, dark red pinpoints of light, and he just etches a blast of blood and fire into a dark infernal rune on Gilear's forehead. He goes,

1:34:24 Gilear: Ahhh!

1:34:32 Brennan: He says,

1:34:32 Hangman: The dark dominion of this place shall not harm you while you stride in the company of a devil of the Nine Hells.

1:34:42 Brennan: And you see that a little red force field kind of brrr, goes overhead as you ping, like fire rain doesn't touch Gilear anymore. You're like walking under the Hangman's protection. Fabian sending the Hangman through was a very smart move in this circumstance.

1:34:58 Riz: All right, well I guess Fabian can't get mad at us for riding the Hangman.

1:35:03 Emily: All right, I hop on the Hangman. Actually, I got my skateboard. I kick it on my skateboard.

1:35:08 Riz: Me and the Hangman go way back.

1:35:11 Hangman: Ball.

1:35:11 Riz: You can ride on the back of—

1:35:14 Emily: Yeah, that's true. I'm gonna take like a rope and tie it around the Hangman so I can skateboard behind ya.

1:35:18 Riz: She's gonna do kind of a wakeboarding thing. So it's gonna be me and Gilear on you if that— (group laughing) The Hangman growls and hisses, fire coming out of its eyes.

1:35:26 Hangman: My master would never, never!

1:35:30 Brennan: You see that Gilear says,

1:35:30 Gilear: Please don't make me walk, the rocks are so hot, and my boat shoes have so many holes.

1:35:37 Riz: He's gonna talk about his boat shoes a lot if we don't ride you.

1:35:42 Brennan: You see that so Gilear and The Ball on the Hangman and he goes,

1:35:48 Hangman: An indignity I have never suffered before.

1:35:52 Riz: Huzzah! (group laughing)

1:35:55 Emily: I light up a cigarette. I put my Compass library card behind my ear, and I just ride it like a, I wakeboard on the back of it. [dark ambient strings and chords fade in]

1:36:03 Brennan: You guys take off. You guys ride to the only kind of structure you can see within sight. There is a small, very small structure. It's a massive gatehouse. And by massive, I'm sorry, the smallest structure is large for a gatehouse, but not as large as a full castle. Two little towers, spiked wrought iron things, and an iron gate. And you see that the gate house is at the middle of an enormous fucking pit. Just an open pit. Up above you, a swirling, smoky orifice of fire swirls in the sky. And you see falling, a vast torrent of screaming, wailing, mutilated souls. Bodies just falling out of the red sky into this endless pit. And as you look over the edge you see that the gatehouse, it's almost like a quarry road, like a spiral road that goes down the outside of the pit. And you see doors just built into the craggy ledge that circles forever and ever down. And you just see these souls falling into this bottomless pit. You hear the screams of horror as they emerge, birthed from this fiery womb of a sky, falling. You see that even as they fall in panic, they grab each other and try to kill and slit each other's throats with shards of their own bones, and beat each other to death with their fists, trying to like crawl out of the way as they fall into endless darkness.

1:37:40 Fig: Hey Hangman, what do you think these guys did?

1:37:44 Hangman: Um, well it's hard to say, but depending on what they did, they'll end up on various levels of the Nine Hells.

1:37:51 Fig: But these are bad people, right? What we're witnessing?

1:37:55 Hangman: Oh, murderers, thieves, liars.

1:37:59 Fig: The first one is way more severe than the latter two.

1:38:02 Riz: Liars?

1:38:02 Murph: Starts sweating. (group laughing)

1:38:07 Hangman: Yes, the Nine Hells seek to punish the wicked. Their souls will be rent asunder and punished, and eventually turned into Lemures, the foot soldiers of Hell's armies. Wicked, wicked souls now come from on high.

1:38:23 Fig: Checks out.

1:38:26 Riz: Is this where they decide where everyone goes? Is that why the souls are coming through here?

1:38:30 Brennan: You see he says,

1:38:30 Hangman: This is the domain of Gorthalax the Insatiable. As insatiable as he is, the Bottomless Pit, his castle, his dwelling place is as insatiable as he.

1:38:47 Riz: [whispering] This is your dad's house.

1:38:48 Hangman: [casually] It's your dad's house, and your dad lives here.

1:38:50 Fig: Cool, I know the security code, so I punch it in.

1:38:53 Brennan: He for sure would have been like,

1:38:54 Gorthalax: If you're ever in hell for whatever reason, this here is the code you would use.

1:38:58 Siobhan: It's six, six, seven. (group laughing)

1:39:01 Ally: You already there?

1:39:02 Brennan: You come up and you see there's this little number pad and it says,

1:39:05 Gorthalax’s Keypad: [wizardy voice] Foolish would the mortal be to punch upon me numbers three— oh shit!

1:39:10 Brennan: Beep, coo-coong, the doors open up. The Hangman goes,

1:39:15 Hangman: Great.

1:39:17 Brennan: And you guys, (making rushing noises) scoot in. As you come into this, again like this spiral thing descending you see that your dad's house is basically these series of giant devilish gates in this descending spiral ledge going down.

1:39:37 Fig: Tasteful.

1:39:39 Brennan: And just souls falling forever and ever and ever. Gilear goes,

1:39:42 Gilear: [sighs] I am so sad and scared.

1:39:47 Brennan: He looks up at you, (dice clattering) and goes,

1:39:54 Fig: I'm here for you.

1:39:55 Gilear: I'm here for you as well, daughter. Nice library card. I see you're wearing it behind your ear now. That's a new choice. Normally there's a Clove back there.

1:40:07 Fig: Well, I smoked the last Clove, so, I needed something.

1:40:12 Gilear: Ha ha ha. Well, one of your best friends has a jacket that can produce anything.

1:40:16 Fig: Well, one of my best friends is in another, don't probe any deeper. Murph I grab Gilear's face, and I wanna investigate him. I wanna like look, and do like an Insight check.

1:40:26 Riz: [aggressively] Where did you get this confidence?

1:40:27 Brennan: Give me a little insight check.

1:40:34 Murph: Dirty 20.

1:40:36 Brennan: Dirty 20, he goes,

1:40:36 Gilear: [loudly, panicked] Oh, I got confidence because Sandra Lynn asked to sleep with me and I said no!

1:40:39 Riz: Whoa!

1:40:43 Fig: [nearly screaming] What, what?

1:40:46 Brennan: You see, he says,

1:40:46 Gilear: [stuttering] She gave me a massage. Jawbone and they broke up, Jawbone and Sandra Lynn broke up.

1:40:53 Ally: We don't know anything.

1:40:56 Fig: Okay, first off.

1:40:56 Gilear: [quickly, alarmed] It's more complex. There's a lot more complexity to all of it. It sounds really bad, but it's just complicated and adult. It's an adult thing. You're very scary, you're very intense sometimes. Riz hisses at Gilear, who screams.

1:41:09 Riz: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. We're in Hell, it's weird. He said that thing about goblins before and made me feel kinda crazy.

1:41:18 Brennan: The Hangman goes,

1:41:18 Hangman: This I like.

1:41:21 Fig: Well take that confidence, well not the way that you just said that because there was nothing confident about that, but take the idea of that confidence into the courtroom.

1:41:30 Gilear: Listen, I said it all too fast and it came across in a very bad way. I believe that your mother and Jawbone are on very good terms. She didn't tell me all the information, but they are not currently together. But it's more complex than that. I can't speak to any of it, but we— Lou and Zac take deep, relieved breaths. Ally follows suit.

1:41:53 Gilear: It was not a bad thing. She was very kind to me our first night in Arborly. We had a conversation in the van up until sunrise. You kids stayed up all night partying, by the way, it's very irresponsible. But we had a conversation until sunrise in the van, which was really wonderful, and we said a lot of things, and found a lot of good things to say. And there was just a moment at the very tail end, because we had been very tender, where your mother made kind of a passing joke, and I said, 'No, thank you.' And it was also very good after that happened, and everyone was happy and fine. But it meant a lot to me to, fine, me, (crying) sorry, it just, you know. Though a lot of healing, is painful. Life goes up and down, and round and round.

1:42:49 Fig: It honestly makes me really happy because for the longest time I've felt guilty, like I actually am part of the reason that destroyed your life. So seeing you start to come to terms with this is like great. Or like seeing you get a victory, seeing you get the W in this situation makes me feel a huge relief. So yes, keep turning her down.

1:43:11 Brennan: You see, Gilear looks at you and says,

1:43:13 Gilear: You felt guilt for the quality of my life?

1:43:18 Fig: I mean, how could I not? I'm a living embodiment of someone betraying you.

1:43:27 Gilear: [relatively confidently] I'm going to turn my life around and I've been failing you, and that's over now.

1:43:32 Brennan: And he continues to walk down the spiral. As he does, (making an explosion noise) there's a blast of fire and you see Vraz the Mean appears and goes,

1:43:43 Vraz: [yelling] Oh, are we all having a good time? Riz hisses at her like a cat.

1:43:47 Vraz: [slamming her hands down] What the fuck was that? Riz hisses again.

1:43:49 Vraz: You're gonna fuck with me? Give me another hiss. You little fuckin Ball, you're a little bitch, I'm not scared of you!

1:43:53 Fig: Go on, hiss, hiss her! Riz hisses a couple more times, but little ones.

1:43:57 Vraz: Ho, you wanna see a hiss? Vraz rips her face open with both hands and makes a feral scream, shaking her head violently.

1:44:02 Fig: His face was scarier.

1:44:02 Gorgug: [calmly, back at the shrine] I have to imagine that Hell is not as bad as people say.

1:44:05 Adaine: Yeah, I mean Gorthalax is great.

1:44:07 Kristen: I bet there’s like, smores.

1:44:07 Adaine: I really love him.

1:44:08 Fabian: They have subpoenas. I mean, things must be organized.

1:44:12 Adaine: The Hangman is from Hell—

1:44:12 Gorgug: It's unfamiliar. It's unfamiliar to us. Is that bad? I don't think so.

1:44:16 Riz: [aggressively] Hold me back. Hangman, hold me back.

1:44:18 Fig: Meet Riz, my paralegal.

1:44:20 Vraz: [flatly] Oh, fuck, wow, congratulations, I'm so happy. Are you gonna sit here, or are we gonna do the tribunal?

1:44:27 Fig: Okay, what's going on with you? Do you need a hug?

1:44:31 Vraz: I don't need a fucking hug! I'm Vraz the Mean. It's my title. I'm an Erinyes, I run hell. My title is Archsecretary. I'm having a bad time.

1:44:43 Riz: [yelling] Yeah, well I’m Riz The Ball, and I'm just gonna roll with this! We're here, we're here for your trial thing!

1:44:51 Lou: Go off, The Ball, go off. Riz hisses again. (group laughing)

1:44:54 Kristen: I don't know why I'm saying this,

1:44:54 Riz: Hold me back, hold me back.

1:44:56 Kristen and Fabian: but, go Ball, go Ball!

1:44:58 Brennan: You see that Gilear says,

1:44:58 Gilear: I'm holding, I'm holding, I'm holding you back, I'm holding you back.

1:45:01 Emily: I'm pushing you forward. [pretends to shove Riz] (group laughing)

1:45:04 Fig: Get into it.

1:45:05 Brennan: Vraz the Mean walks you into a tribunal room where there is a small little three seat bench, like a judges bench where she walks up. There is a vaguely humanoid figure, hold on one sec, there is a vaguely humanoid figure there that is just like a giant mound of chains. But you see that there's clearly like chains coiled where arms would be and like torso and head, but it's just way too many chains. So it's like there's someone under there, but it's just a big pile of chains. And you can see it kind of moving with a lot of strain. And then next to it, where the third seat would be, there's no one at eye level. There's instead just a [points up] jet black iron spike and about 10 feet up there is a naked person who has incredibly pale skin, is like bone thin and just has pale translucent veins all over them, who's impaled on the spike about 10 feet up looking at the spike coming out of their stomach and just kind of kicking and screaming. Just ahh, ahh, ahh! Just screaming in the background.

1:46:20 Fig: Tasteful.

1:46:20 Gorgug: [consideringly, and still not there] It can't be as bad as people say.

1:46:21 Kristen: No, I don't think so. Honestly I bet it's so, they're just in a waiting room.

1:46:26 Adaine: I mean, heaven and hell are just reflections of each other, right?

1:46:29 Kristen: You know what, you know what? Whoa. You know what? Whoa.

1:46:32 Adaine: You were in Heaven and it was pretty nice.

1:46:33 Gorgug: Probably like a sauna, right?

1:46:34 Kristen: It actually kinda sucked.

1:46:36 Adaine: Oh, so yeah maybe Hell's good.

1:46:37 Kristen: Anyway, Tracker, I'm glad I'm here with you. (making kissing sounds) (group laughing)

1:46:41 Brennan: You see Vraz the Mean calls the tribunal into order. She says,

1:46:45 Vraz: [seeming annoyed] Presiding hereby in the matter of Gorthalax's infernal domain, the bottomless pit. Presiding: Vraz the Mean, Executor Potentate, Arch Secretary of Blozo the Undiminished, Regnant of Sloth. With me in co-jurorship are Kaistrana the Chained, and Lorzug the Impaled.

1:47:07 Brennan: You see that the guy Lorzug the Impaled just goes,

1:47:09 Lorzug: Aaaaaahhhhhh!

1:47:12 Fig: Oh!

1:47:12 Brennan: You hear underneath the chains Kaistrana the Chained go,

1:47:16 Kaistrana: [muffled] Present.

1:47:19 Brennan: You see that Vraz says,

1:47:21 Vraz: [sighs] Very well, today concerns the issue of Gorthalax's infernal negligence in administering his domain. Nine notices have been sent, nine fully ignored. We hereby call forth the witness Figueroth Faeth, firstborn daughter of Gorthalax the Insatiable.

1:47:42 Emily: I do a, [hand gesture like you’d do at a concert] everyone applaud.

1:47:44 Brennan: She says,

1:47:44 Vraz: This is a [yelling] fucking hearing, you nitwit, there's no audience!

1:47:48 Emily: I light a cigarette and skateboard to the stand. [Ally laughing]

1:47:52 Brennan: You guys all go forward. She goes,

1:47:55 Vraz: God, (growling maniacally) Okay. (sighing) Are you aware of an intention on the behalf of your father, Gorthalax the Insatiable, to intentionally neglect his dominion over the Bottomless Pit under the rulership of Blozo, Regnant of Sloth?

1:48:13 Fig: That, I am not.

1:48:15 Emily: I need to Message Riz and say,

1:48:16 Fig: I think I'm just gonna tell them he's in a gem.

1:48:19 Riz: That's a good idea.

1:48:19 Fig: He's currently in a gem. It's not negligence, he has a lack of ability to even be here, he's been trapped in a gem.

1:48:29 Brennan: You see that she says,

1:48:29 Vraz: [sighs] Huh, okay.

1:48:33 Brennan: You see that she looks over and says,

1:48:34 Vraz: Kaistrana, is that extenuating circumstance, anything you have to do?

1:48:38 Brennan: See Kaistrana goes,

1:48:38 Kaistrana: [muffled] Hold on, I'm gonna try to shrug. [grunting in exertion]

1:48:44 Brennan: Shoulders go up a little bit, come back down. You see that Vraz goes,

1:48:47 Vraz: [sighs] Okay, I'm going, we might need a ruling on this, because if he was trapped by celestials or by demons or something, that's obviously gonna be different.

1:48:59 Brennan: And you see she says,

1:48:59 Vraz: I'm gonna get on the horn with Blozo. [checks a phone-like thing] Blozo is not coming. He said there's crazy traffic. Okay. Who trapped Gorthalax the Insatiable in a gem?

1:49:15 Fig: The… [clears throat] Kalina. Kalina used a proxy to trap Gorthalax. Kalina, AKA Shadow Cat, hijacked a body, and used it to trap

1:49:33 Riz: [whispering] Demons!

1:49:34 Fig: To trap, with the assistance of demons.

1:49:38 Brennan: Very cool. Vraz the Mean gets a plus 13 to her Insight check. I'm now going to roll in the Box of Doom.

1:49:54 Siobhan: What does she need to get?

1:49:57 Brennan: This is gonna set a number for Fig to beat.

1:50:01 Siobhan: Okay, roll your thing. I'm not gonna--

1:50:07 Brennan: She rolled a natural 10.

1:50:08 Siobhan: Great, and Fig rolled a natural 20. Brennan lets out a shocked breath. (Emily screaming and clapping)

1:50:16 Ally: You had two good rolls?

1:50:16 Siobhan: I had one good roll.

1:50:19 Ally: Yes!

1:50:19 Siobhan: One mediocre roll.

1:50:21 Fig: Thank you Adaine, I knew you were my lawyer.

1:50:26 Brennan: You get a nat 20 Deception.

1:50:28 Emily: I put my feet up on the--

1:50:28 Zac: Is it a deception now?

1:50:33 Brennan: It is.

1:50:33 Zac: Oh, 'cause—

1:50:34 Emily: I mean I said it, it's true she used a proxy.

1:50:36 Ally: Insight, and then she had to beat it with Deception.

1:50:38 Brennan: It is, I'm gonna say it's Deception because you're not saying it was you, right?

1:50:41 Emily: Okay, cool, cool.

1:50:44 Siobhan: Oh right, it was technically you.

1:50:46 Ally: Yeah.

1:50:46 Emily: No no no. [winks] (group laughing)

1:50:49 Brennan: Cool. You see that Vraz looks around and days,

1:50:58 Vraz: [sighs, facepalms] Okay, that's extenuating circumstances. ...Kalina.

1:51:06 Fig: She's in cahoots with the demons.

1:51:08 Vraz: All right. Well, in that case Gorthalax will be able to avoid punishment, but the Nine Hells are not responsible to keep his realm intact indefinitely. And if he's been taken by allies of the Tanar’ri of the Abyss, then we have to seek another Regnant for the Bottomless Pit. This tribunal is called to recess while bylaws are consulted. [bangs the gavel]

1:51:21 Brennan: Blam, blam.

1:51:34 Fig: I need passage for some people, and we need to get to Silvaire.

1:51:39 Vraz: [staring intensely] Oh, because the trial's over when I call a recess? Recess means the whole tribunal's over?

1:51:47 Fig: I thought we were—

1:51:47 Vraz: [yelling mockingly, pointing to her temple] Do you know what words mean? Do you know what words mean?

1:51:51 Fig: I didn't,

1:51:51 Zac: Oh my god.

1:51:52 Fig: Okay, first off,

1:51:54 Vraz: [screaming over Fig, making a jerkoff motion] Huhhhh?

1:51:56 Riz: [hisses angrily] You called somebody in the middle of a trial, that was weird! Vraz screams maniacally at Riz again. He returns the favor.

1:52:02 Riz: Hold me back, Hangman. Hold me back, hold me back.

1:52:04 Brennan: Hangman just like runs over your foot. (group laughing)

1:52:09 Gorgug: I bet it's like five degrees hotter there.

1:52:10 Kristen: Max.

1:52:11 Adaine: It’s nice, it's like a dry heat.

1:52:15 Kristen: They're gonna give piña coladas.

1:52:16 Brennan: You see Vraz looks over, and says,

1:52:19 Vraz: [sighs] All right, imprison the mortals.

1:52:23 Brennan: You see that the Hangman speaks up—

1:52:29 Fig: We can work with a prison.

1:52:31 Brennan: And you see that the Hangman speaks up and says,

1:52:35 Hangman: With your leave, Archsecretary, we have been given passage to the Bottomless Pit as Figueroth Faeth is daughter of Gorthalax the Insatiable.

1:52:45 Brennan: You hear Kaistrana go,

1:52:45 Kaistrana: [muffled] Do you have any proof?

1:52:49 Brennan: And the Hangman says—

1:52:50 Fig: I'll just like— Fig cuts her hand, allowing blood to drip from the wound.

1:52:50 Fig: —take some blood. That's Gorthalax's blood.

1:52:55 Brennan: [sizzling sound effect] You see the blood comes out of you, touches the ground, it hits the ground, sizzles, and turns into a blood red imp, like a little scorpion-tailed imp who goes,

1:53:03 Imp: [shrieking, high-pitched voice] Ah, Mistress!

1:53:07 Fig: [delightedly] Hi, cutie!

1:53:09 Imp: Aha! Yes? Players laugh.

1:53:12 Ally: [shrieking] What!?

1:53:12 Lou: [imitating Emily] Hi, cutie!

1:53:15 Emily: I'm gonna tickle him behind the ears.

1:53:17 Imp: [delightedly] AHHHH!

1:53:18 Emily: Is he taller than The Ball?

1:53:21 Brennan: [holding his hands about one foot apart] He is that big. He is way smaller than Riz.

1:53:24 Zac: Way bigger than a drop of blood.

1:53:27 Brennan: You see he goes,

1:53:27 Imp: I am Wretchrot, I shall be your valet while you are here in the Bottomless Pit!

1:53:34 Fig: Is this proof enough to the tribunal?

1:53:39 Vraz: [annoyed] You're all under house arrest. Don't leave the Bottomless Pit until we figure this out.

1:53:42 Brennan: Click click, and you see that she vanishes. Players chuckle nervously.

1:53:49 Riz: [sarcastically] Thanks for the help, Gilear.

1:53:51 Gilear: I got so scared in the middle. I got really scared in the middle of that.

1:53:57 Riz: That obviously went fine. It was a trial in hell. [brightly] We're not dead.

1:54:00 Fig: Yeah, we're not dead. Thanks to Adaine, I feel. Huh. [confused expression]

1:54:05 Brennan: Honestly, Adaine, you actually did like send like a portent, a string of fate after Fig as the door closed.

1:54:13 Fig: Still thinking about Adaine, huh.

1:54:15 Ally: I'm picturing that imp looking like a really like, famous mouse. I can't say the name of it, but imagine a tiny, it's in like, a little, like, suspenders. Group laughs.

1:54:26 Ally: [imitating Emily] Hi, cutie.

1:54:27 Emily: I picture it looking like a red Boggy.

1:54:29 Ally: [delightedly] Ohhh!

1:54:31 Siobhan: Little, fat, but like really long legs.

1:54:33 Emily: [laughing] Yeah.

1:54:35 Ally: Stop, that's so cute.

1:54:37 Brennan: Wretchrot says,

1:54:37 Wretchrot: Would you like to be shown to your quarters?

1:54:42 Fig: Yeah, also, do you know how to get around here?

1:54:46 Wretchrot: Yes, many doors there are in the Bottomless Pit, and I would be happy to show you each and every one.

1:54:55 Fig: Yeah, we wanna see the door to Arborly.

1:54:59 Wretchrot: I don't know if we have that door, but we can look.

1:55:02 Riz: You have more like doors to the different levels of Hell?

1:55:06 Wretchrot: Let me be super clear. The doors just go to rooms.

1:55:09 Riz: Oh, just like, oh, okay.

1:55:11 Wretchrot: The doors go to rooms in the Pit.

1:55:13 Fig: Okay.

1:55:13 Wretchrot: Some hallways— Players laugh.

1:55:16 Fig: Is there a hot tub here?

1:55:17 Wretchrot: Yes!

1:55:18 Ally: A door goes to Kalina! Like right where she is no matter what.

1:55:22 Wretchrot: You're not even here! Players laugh.

1:55:25 Brennan: You see—

1:55:26 Riz: I guess we could just go to a regular room.

1:55:30 Brennan: Wretchrot will show you around. We're gonna cut back to Arborly, after the fucking door closes.

1:55:36 Adaine: That was bad, that was bad.

1:55:37 Zac: Gorgug just runs into the briars. [soft piano music]

1:55:39 Fabian: Gorgug, stop. It's not gonna work.

1:55:44 Gorgug: Hey Fabian.

1:55:44 Fabian: Yes?

1:55:48 Gorgug: I'm sorry, I just realized, do you know where your dad is in Hell?

1:55:54 Fabian: Somewhere, but I don't worry about my father. I mean, he's sailing, you know, he cut open what's his name, Goldenhoard, and he's probably sailing around, you know, running schemes. I mean, he's probably having a great time. I miss him, don't get me wrong. But he's thriving.

1:56:16 Gorgug: What do we do?

1:56:17 Adaine: Well, we can't do anything here. None of us has Plane Shift.

1:56:19 Fabian: We can do something.

1:56:21 Adaine: Why don't we go—

1:56:24 Siobhan: Can I do an Arcana check on the mural?

1:56:27 Brennan: Yeah, give me an Arcana check.

1:56:28 Ally: Ooh, great call.

1:56:30 Siobhan: Uh, 26.

1:56:30 Ally: [Looking at Siobhan’s die] It's so small!

1:56:31 Zac: They're little tiny dice.

1:56:33 Brennan: 26?

1:56:33 Siobhan: Yes.

1:56:35 Brennan: Oh, it's incredible. You see the cottage, the coin, a couple of things there. What are you—?

1:56:45 Siobhan: Are there distinguishing features on this coin?

1:56:47 Zac: The coin?

1:56:49 Siobhan: Yes. It's all of the stuff in the--

1:56:51 Brennan: Sorry, you don't see a coin here, it's the spellbook.

1:56:53 Siobhan: Oh, the spellbook. Is there a mark on the spellbook that is like, a distinguishing mark?

1:56:59 Brennan: With a 26 Arcana, yes there is.

1:57:02 Siobhan: Great.

1:57:02 Brennan: You see a little occult rune there. And that occult rune, you are able to memorize. Give me another, give me another Arcana check, if you'd be so kind.

1:57:18 Kristen: You're doing great. Hey, I would love to help. Ally looks pointedly at Brennan. Players chuckle.

1:57:21 Brennan: Help action, cool, go for it.

1:57:22 Siobhan: Great. [looking and gesturing at Ally] Yeah, because this is our two skills together, Arcana and Religion. Oh, that's two 18s. Another 26.

1:57:29 Brennan: Cool. You recognize the symbol, it's in your notes somewhere.

1:57:36 Siobhan: Oh, no. [starts flipping through her notes]

1:57:38 Brennan: Not your notes physically, but like in Adaine's stuff.

1:57:39 Siobhan: Oh, okay great.

1:57:41 Emily: Do you have Stone Shape or anything? To like reach in?

1:57:44 Siobhan: No, I don't. I have Erupting Earth, but I don't think that would be useful.

1:57:48 Adaine: Why don't we go, we could go look at the place that Sandra Lynn found.

1:57:53 Fabian: Oh.

1:57:53 Brennan: Cool.

1:57:54 Fabian: Sure.

1:57:56 Brennan: Sandra Lynn looks and says,

1:57:56 Sandra Lynn: Is Fig okay? Are you able to—?

1:57:58 Fabian: Yeah, Hangman?

1:58:00 Hangman: Sire.

1:58:00 Fabian: Is everyone all right?

1:58:03 Hangman: Yeah, we're going to a hot tub.

1:58:05 Fabian: Oh!

1:58:05 Fig: Only me, only me.

1:58:07 Adaine: Sounds really nice.

1:58:07 Hangman: I want to go too!

1:58:11 Gorgug: That sucks, we should be in hell.

1:58:12 Adaine: Man, we have three hot tubs. Well two, one of them is shrimp defiled.

1:58:16 Gorgug: I like a really hot hot tub. I bet they crisp ya there.

1:58:20 Fabian: I like a warm hot tub. Group laughs in surprise.

1:58:25 Fabian: [defensively] It's rough on my skin!

1:58:25 Adaine: Well warm is nice because you can stay in there for longer.

1:58:27 Fabian: Yes, exactly.

1:58:28 Adaine: You want it to be hot at first but--

1:58:30 Gorgug: If it's just warm I'm like, what's cookin' in here, you know? Group laughs.

1:58:34 Adaine: You want it to be disinfectingly hot?

1:58:35 Brennan: Cool, Sandra Lynn brings you to the spot where they went through the wall. Anyone who wants to here, give me a Nature check.

1:58:41 Lou: I would love to.

1:58:41 Ally: Yeah, me too.

1:58:43 Emily: I mean, can I do, can I do any kind of investigation around the house?

1:58:47 Brennan: Can you kinda what?

1:58:50 Emily: Any kind of investigation around the house, or is this like totally a dead end and—

1:58:53 Brennan: You can do that. I'm gonna finish with the people that are in Arborly, and then we'll cut back to Hell.

1:58:56 Zac: Could I make a Survival check?

1:58:57 Brennan: Yeah, actually Survival's great too.

1:58:59 Lou: 19.

1:58:59 Brennan: 19.

1:59:01 Zac: 9.

1:59:02 Siobhan: A 14.

1:59:02 Brennan: 14.

1:59:03 Ally: With Survival, that's a 21.

1:59:06 Lou: Dammit.

1:59:07 Brennan: Go ahead, if you would be so kind, and give me a, sorry, one second, give me a roll for Tracker as well, if you would be so kind.

1:59:17 Ally: Sure. Murph hands Ally one of his dice.

1:59:19 Siobhan: [watching Ally roll the die] Lil’ bean.

1:59:20 Lou: Goddamn bean.

1:59:21 Ally: Oh, interesting.

1:59:21 Emily: [grinning] Tracker's lil’ beans?

1:59:24 Ally: So I don't know what you add to it, but Tracker rolled a five on the lil’ beans.

1:59:27 Lou: Five on the lil’ beans!

1:59:29 Brennan: But you got a what again, sorry?

1:59:30 Ally: 21.

1:59:30 Brennan: Oh, you got a 21, okay. You're looking at it from here; this is farther away from Arborly by a good distance. As you look, the growth of the briar wall here seems a lot more tangled, if anything. On a 21 Nature check, you also see that the geography here changes. This is actually up a cliff. You know that the terrain moving in the dir— if they are indeed going to the temple where you think they are going to, the terrain would be a lot rockier. The topo—

2:00:02 Ally: Going this way.

2:00:03 Brennan: Yeah, going from where they went. It looks like they were trying to avoid Arborly or avoid entering in a sensible place where people would go look for them. They wanted to be somewhere way off. But, you think it will probably slow them down, to be going the way they're going.

2:00:17 Siobhan: Great.

2:00:17 Ally: Yeah, that's great news. That's great news. Can I start Messaging?

2:00:22 Kristen: Do you guys, should we, while we're waiting for them hopefully to come back, should we start doing some of this like, prepping or...

2:00:32 Adaine: For the tincture? Yes, but we should do it in the Hallow, because if we start doing it Kalina will be able to see through your eyes that you're doing that.

2:00:40 Kristen: Yeah, yeah. Right, right,yeah. I mean—

2:00:42 Gorgug: We got all the stuff.

2:00:42 Adaine: Or we could do… drugs. Adaine covers her mouth with her hands dramatically.

2:00:46 Fabian: Oh, we could get high.

2:00:49 Brennan: Sandra Lynn says,

2:00:50 Sandra Lynn: What are you guys messaging about right now?

2:00:51 Kristen: Well, just spring break.

2:00:51 Adaine: Spring break.

2:00:53 Gorgug: The idea of spring break.

2:00:53 Adaine: Conceptually.

2:00:55 Kristen: You know what we think we should get you? [points at Sandra Lynn] A massage. We think we should send you to the hot tub.

2:01:01 Adaine: Good idea.

2:01:03 Kristen: And have someone massage you. Spa day. Cucumbers over your eyes.

2:01:08 Fabian: They definitely have that here somewhere.

2:01:10 Gorgug: Cucumbers on your ears.

2:01:10 Fabian: Those weird gnomes will probably pound on you or something.

2:01:13 Kristen: Dinky gnomes all over your body.

2:01:14 Adaine: They walk on your back.

2:01:16 Fabian: Yeah, the little bells jingle. It's very meditative.

2:01:18 Sandra Lynn: I'm gonna go to one of the hot tubs at Holly Hill, let's get out of here.

2:01:22 Kristen: Okay yeah, let's get back there. I have a lot of homework to do in the van.

2:01:26 Adaine: Yeah.

2:01:28 Gorgug: What kind of homework? Players chuckle.

2:01:29 Adaine: We gotta write an essay on what spring break means to us.

2:01:33 Brennan: You guys head back to the van. You start doing stuff for the tinctures. Fabian, you hear a little thing from the Hangman saying,

2:01:44 Hangman: Oh, Sire?

2:01:46 Fabian: Uh, yes?

2:01:46 Hangman: I am so sorry I failed you—

2:01:49 Fabian: No, no.

2:01:49 Hangman: —and Adaine today.

2:01:50 Fabian: No, you didn't. I mean, we had no idea that the briar would react in the way that it did. And honestly I should have been more, you know, light on my feet--

2:02:02 Hangman: Do you wish for me to attempt to send word to your father?

2:02:11 Fabian: Oh. You know I was thinking about that. I mean, if it's convenient. I mean, I'm sure he's busy doing things. You know, I'm kinda doing my own thing right now. I mean, would I love to talk to him? Of course, he's my papa. [shrugging a lot] Um, yeah, just like, but like don't be needy about it, you know. If it can happen, it can happen, but it doesn't need to happen, you know. I don't need this, it wouldn't like, fill me with joy. It would just, I guess, okay it would fill me with joy. Yes, yes, yes. Emily laughs.

2:02:45 Fabian: Yes please, please do it.

2:02:47 Hangman: I shall accomplish this task, Sire.

2:02:55 Brennan: Anyone else? [points at Ally] You've got work to do. Tracker's helping you.

2:02:58 Ally: Great, I was thinking,

2:02:58 Kristen: Maybe if it's not crazy, you guys can go through your coins?

2:03:03 Siobhan: Yeah, can I—

2:03:04 Kristen: I don't know if that's a tedious task, or if it's something we can do on the road.

2:03:07 Adaine: I mean, we don't have all of our money with us. Lou laughs.

2:03:10 Adaine: I mean, we each have ten thousand coins,

2:03:13 Zac: If this is Message—

2:03:16 Siobhan: But we're in the Hallow.

2:03:16 Zac: Okay.

2:03:16 Gorgug: I think that they are, my guess is that from what I understood about that scenario was that we should look for sure, but I thought that maybe they already grabbed it.

2:03:28 Siobhan: Can I look up in these notes what this rune means?

2:03:33 Brennan: You start to look up what the rune means. As you do, you recognize that you saw, it was in your notes because there was something you were copying when you were doing the Sending spell. This rune was in a lot of stuff at Compass Points, like Ayda had studied this. You don't remember what it is but you know that Ayda would know what it is.

2:03:57 Siobhan: Okay,

2:03:57 Adaine: I don't have sending right now, but as soon as we take a long rest, I can get it and then I can contact Ayda.

2:04:07 Gorgug: Should I go check in on my phone and see if it's ready, my crystal?

2:04:11 Fabian: I mean, has it been— Didn't they say it would take like a day or two?

2:04:13 Gorgug: Yeah, nevermind.

2:04:15 Brennan: They did say they were doing that without your help though.

2:04:18 Gorgug: Okay, well since I'm stuck here maybe I'll go help 'em.

2:04:20 Fabian: Yeah, go ahead.

2:04:20 Kristen: Cool. Do you want [extending a hand as if presenting something] to sniff this before you go?

2:04:26 Gorgug: What is it?

2:04:26 Fabian: Is that the stuff? Is that the dusk moss?

2:04:27 Kristen: It might be dusk moss.

2:04:28 Gorgug: I don't think I could do it. Ally raises their eyebrows.

2:04:31 Brennan: You see Ragh comes in, shirtless. He looks like he’s sweat about, like, ten gallons of water out of his body. He goes,

2:04:39 Ragh: I'm really, [breathes] I'm really thirsty.

2:04:41 Fabian: Are you still tripping?

2:04:44 Ragh: I think I'm okay.

2:04:44 Kristen: Here, let’s--

2:04:46 Ally: I get him some water.

2:04:46 Ragh: Everything in the world is connected. Everything.

2:04:48 Fabian: Yeah.

2:04:51 Adaine: See these drugs, I think I could do. The dragon spice stuff, very bad anxiety-wise. This stuff I think would help.

2:04:57 Kristen: This seems sweet.

2:04:58 Ragh: Adaine, for real? I can never be anxious again, because I don't even know if I can ever be fully in my body again.

2:05:02 Kristen: Hmm.

2:05:06 Fabian: That sounds scary.

2:05:08 Ragh: No, no, I'm part of the universe, dude.

2:05:10 Fabian: Oh...

2:05:10 Kristen: Here's some water, man. Brennan mimes drinking from a glass of water.

2:05:12 Ragh: [immediately] I gotta go to sleep.

2:05:13 Brennan: And he walks off.

2:05:15 Ally: What!? Brennan and players laugh.

2:05:17 Fabian: I don't know if I'm, I just, I think I'm—

2:05:19 Gorgug: I just kinda would feel bad if we did it without the others. Players simultaneously voice their agreement.

2:05:22 Kristen: I gotta focus, I gotta focus on the tincture, yeah, totally.

2:05:26 Adaine: I might, I mean, it only takes me four hours to trance.

2:05:29 Zac: Gorgug sprints to the gnomes. [laughing]

2:05:31 Adaine: I might as well start. If the guys come back before four hours is up, that's fine, I've had a short rest. If not, I've had a long rest, and I can get Sending.

2:05:41 Ally: Great.

2:05:43 Brennan: You start doing your long rest to get that sending. Gorgug, you go back to the Tinkerer's Hall. Go ahead, if you would be so kind, as you approach they excitedly,

2:05:53 Crumpkin: Ah! Well it’s Gorgug Thistlespring!

2:05:56 Gorgug: I'm back.

2:05:56 Lou: [laughing, echoing Zac] “I'm back!”

2:05:58 Gorgug: Crumpkin!

2:05:59 Brennan: So you just start working with them that night on boosting your cell phone up. It is very helpful that you're here, just because they don't know how a fucking crystal works.

2:06:09 Gorgug: [laughing] It's crazy that I let you guys do this.

2:06:13 Tinkerers: We like figuring it out!

2:06:13 Gorgug: Yeah! Players laugh.

2:06:16 Gorgug: It's probably so much easier that I--

2:06:19 Brennan: I'd like you to give me a Tinkerer's check. I'm looking, we, a miracle can happen on a DC20. On a DC15, on a DC15, and we'll do Box of Doom. Brennan produces the Box of Doom.

2:06:35 Brennan: On a DC 20, a miracle can happen. DC15 means progress gets made.

2:06:38 Lou: Hiyah!

2:06:41 Brennan: And they're rolling with advantage.

2:06:44 Zac: What is that, 10?

2:06:44 Brennan: That's 10.

2:06:45 Zac: Okay, I'm rolling with advantage?

2:06:47 Brennan: Yes, you're rolling with advantage.

2:06:48 Zac: So that's 15.

2:06:49 Brennan: That's 15, so progress. Zac has to stand up and physically toss his die to get it into the Box.

2:06:52 Brennan: That's a nat 20. Players cheer and chatter ensues.

2:06:57 Siobhan: We bring Zelda here! She loves you and she'll never leave.

2:07:02 Zac: Ohhh, yes.

2:07:03 Ally: Wow.

2:07:03 Siobhan: Wow.

2:07:05 Brennan: There are, there are some poetic, poetic fucking rolls today. [to Zac] You are up all night sweating. You got like, probably one of the first times you've taken your hoodie off in a long time. You're like, just hot. You're like working with [making zapping sounds]. You get a new crystal pack on the back of this phone, and you have a crystal that can directly interface with your parents' satellite.

2:07:33 Gorgug: Holy shit. Zac mimes pressing a button.

2:07:37 Zac: Power it on. Brennan makes an electronic beep.

2:07:41 Zac: I see if I got like any old messages coming through.

2:07:44 Brennan: Brrring, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding; I mean tons. Some from Zelda, not any recent from Zelda. But just tons have come through. Parents checking in. So many email forwards from your folks, and pictures of stuff. A lot of like, tour date stuff for Fig and the Cig Figs.

2:08:04 Emily: Cool, yeah.

2:08:04 Zac: Great, awesome. Awesome, awesome. I will give Zelda a call. [gentle flute music]

2:08:11 Brennan: Hoo boy. I'm gonna do, we're gonna do another Box of Doom roll. Zac groans.

2:08:19 Emily: I'm sorry, that's not a good relationship. If you're having to roll this many Box of Dooms for your relationship? Scary.

2:08:24 Brennan: We're gonna do another Box of Doom roll right now. You have advantage. This is going to be a flat Charisma check. It's gonna be a flat Charisma check, we need Box of Doom, you have advantage. Brennan produces the Box of Doom.

2:08:39 Zac: Okay. Murph offers his dice to Zac.

2:08:39 Zac: I don't want— Group laughs.

2:08:41 Lou: Don’t use the lil’ beans!

2:08:43 Emily: Lil’ beans!

2:08:45 Lou: Hiyah.

2:08:46 Brennan: 18.

2:08:48 Lou: Hiyah.

2:08:49 Brennan: 8. Cool.

2:08:51 Zac: 18, and I add my Charisma which is zero. And then creatures have a disadvantage on Charisma based checks against me. If that matters.

2:09:00 Brennan: No, that's not gonna matter here, necessarily.

2:09:02 Emily: 18's good.

2:09:02 Zac: Yeah.

2:09:03 Emily: That's good, that's charismatic.

2:09:05 Zac: I'm feeling good. I made it work. I'm a genius.

2:09:09 Brennan: Cool. You come back, hold on one second. Hold on. You come back, and you— hold on one second. You give a little call. I know the song I'm looking for. [somber music plays]

2:09:30 Emily: Oh no.

2:09:32 Zac: It’s not a great one to hear.

2:09:34 Brennan: Give a little call, are you doing video call or just a voice call?

2:09:38 Zac: Oh, I didn't realize video call was an option. Yeah, I'll do video call.

2:09:44 Brennan: [phone ringing] Bee dee dee dee deep. Bee dee dee dee deep.

2:09:49 Zac: I'll put my hoodie back on.

2:09:51 Brennan: Bee dee dee dee deep. Bee dee dee dee deep.

2:09:53 Ally: Aww, Gorgug, I love you.

2:09:58 Brennan: Bee dee dee dee deep. Bee dee dee dee deep. Bee dee dee dee deep. Bee dee dee dee deep. Zac pretends to adjust his hair, check his breath, wipe sweat from his brow, etc.

2:10:02 Brennan: Bluh bluh blink. First thing you see is a house in Elmville, it's night there as well. There's like a party going on. You see Zelda has little earbuds in. She's walking out, and she goes, looking at this phone,

2:10:16 Zelda: [surprised and confused] Gorgug?

2:10:18 Gorgug: Hey, Zelda! Hey! Can you hear me?

2:10:21 Zelda: Yeah, are you back in Spyre?

2:10:24 Gorgug: [while shaking his head] I'm not. I'm still stuck outside of the forest of the Nightmare King, but I figured out how to make my phone work. I got, my crystals working now.

2:10:34 Zelda: [perplexed] Wait, you made your? Why did you— was that part of the quest?

2:10:39 Gorgug: Not part of the quest. Part of a personal quest if you will. Emily laughs.

2:10:47 Gorgug: Yeah, it just felt important to be able to talk to you and talk to the world, and talk to you.

2:10:57 Brennan: You see, she goes,

2:10:57 Zelda: Well how did it work? Do they have cell towers and stuff out there? You got to service or something?

2:11:03 Gorgug: No, so I figured out how to kind of artifice stuff while we were gone. I've been working on that pretty much the whole time, pretty much. And yeah, I figured it out. And I met these gnomes. [holds phone up] Hey guys, [to Zelda] these are the dudes I've been working with.

2:11:21 Crumpkin: Hello!

2:11:22 Gorgug: This is Crumpkin.

2:11:23 Crumpkin: I'm Crumpkin Springbill, the Head Artificer of the Tinkerer's Hall of Arborly!

2:11:28 Gorgug: Awesome, yes. Lou and Emily laugh.

2:11:29 Gorgug: All right, so,so these guys have been helping me out,and we figured out how to use my parents' satellite. It's complicated. Honestly, I don't know that I understand it well enough to explain it to another person.

2:11:42 Brennan: You see that Zelda nods, and one of her eyes is covered with her hair, but the other eye wells up with tears and some tears come down. And she says, [gentle acoustic music ramps up and adds a drumbeat]

2:11:50 Zelda: You like took, so like the reason that you like went to get your phone, you did like a whole bunch of new science to like make your phone be able to call back?

2:12:03 Gorgug: Yeah, I mean, yeah. How are you? What's going on? What did I miss?

2:12:07 Zelda: [wiping away tears] I'm really sorry, I'm so sorry I got so upset. You're the best, Gorgug, I really miss you so much.

2:12:17 Gorgug: Hey, I miss you too. I feel like, um, god it's been a long spring break, right?

2:12:23 Zelda: [crying a little] I can't believe—

2:12:24 Brennan: You see she looks up and she goes,

2:12:26 Zelda: [making shooing motions at someone beside her] Stop, go away, go away, go away!

2:12:28 Brennan: And you see that she looks up, you hear a bunch of the seven maidens call out and say,

2:12:36 Maidens: Good lookin' out, Gorgug, stand-up thing to do. You did it.

2:12:40 Gorgug: Hi guys! Hey guys, how’s it going?

2:12:42 Brennan: And she says,

2:12:42 Zelda: I'm so embarrassed. My friends, I, I told my adventuring party that you were calling and they followed me outside—

2:12:50 Gorgug: They followed you?

2:12:51 Zac: I'm so fucking embarrassed, it's so stupid.

2:12:52 Gorgug: Well hello, guys. Players laugh.

2:12:57 Brennan: You see, she's like,

2:12:57 Zelda: [motioning frantically at the other Maidens] Go, get the fuck out of here, I'm talking to my boyfriend.

2:13:00 Brennan: And you see she says,

2:13:00 Zelda: Oh, I'm so sorry, look, I just... Your friends aren't, like, in danger? You're not like fucking stuff by like building--

2:13:08 Gorgug: We're pretty fucked right now. Players laugh.

2:13:11 Brennan: She says,

2:13:11 Zelda: [alarmed expression] Because you went and did the phone? I'm so stupid. You don't have to do that.

2:13:15 Gorgug: No, no, no! It's separate. It's just an also, it's not like, because of this.

2:13:18 Zelda: You're not putting anyone in danger by doing this phone stuff?

2:13:20 Gorgug: No, no, no, this is actually like a good bit of downtime for me. And I'm also, what's great about this is, I can help what we're actually working on right now with this, [gestures to phone] so it's like, you know, sometimes things are good in more than one way.

2:13:36 Brennan: She looks and says,

2:13:36 Zelda: [shyly] Um, I love, I love you.

2:13:43 Gorgug: [awkwardly] I um, I love you— Players giggle and cover their faces with their hands.

2:13:45 Zelda: You don't, you don't have to say it back.

2:13:46 Gorgug: No, no, no, I—

2:13:47 Zelda: [while covering her face] God it's so stupid, I jumped the gun,

2:13:48 Gorgug: No, no I—

2:13:49 Zelda: I'm sorry. I've just been really, the Red Waste was super hard. We did the, we did our—

2:13:52 Gorgug: Really?

2:13:52 Zelda: Yeah, we did it. I think we're gonna get a good grade on it.

2:13:56 Gorgug: Awesome.

2:13:56 Zelda: Um…

2:13:57 Gorgug: Yeah, well...

2:13:58 Zelda: I didn't mean to say I love you on the phone.

2:13:59 Gorgug: No, no, no! I, uh… I love you too. I love you too. Players smiling and giggling.

2:14:06 Brennan: You see that she wipes another tear away.

2:14:10 Zac: Oh, I just wanna, I just wish you were here in person.

2:14:13 Gorgug: Yeah, me too. I haven't figured out that technology out yet to make me there.

2:14:17 Zelda: [wiping away tears] You don't have to do that.

2:14:18 Gorgug: We'll work on it.

2:14:20 Brennan: She smiles, she looks back and says,

2:14:23 Zelda: Um, we're at another party at Ostentatia’s.

2:14:27 Gorgug: Oh yeah, for sure.

2:14:28 Zelda: It's super, everyone's telling the story of how you jumped that fire elemental and like backyard wrestling smashed the beer pong table when time was stopped.

2:14:35 Gorgug: Fully forgot about that. That was, uh—

2:14:36 Zelda: So fucking cool.

2:14:38 Gorgug: That was awesome.

2:14:38 Zelda: You're really fucking cool, Gorgug.

2:14:40 Gorgug: Hey, you're cool. I mean, I want to hear more about the Red Waste, but now that I got the phone working I also feel like I should probably get back to the group and, you know—

2:14:48 Zelda: Do it!

2:14:48 Gorgug: Handle some business. We can talk sooner than later.

2:14:51 Zelda: You have a full quest. Honestly, just whenever you have downtime, if you want to shoot me a text, and I'll try to shoot you stuff too.

2:14:58 Gorgug: Awesome. I just have to say this, just in case it doesn't work: We'll probably go into the forest of the Nightmare King pretty soon, so I don't know if the service thing will hold up there. It's worth mentioning, just in case. I'm here to communicate! Players laugh.

2:15:16 Brennan: She smiles and shakes her head and she's like,

2:15:20 Zelda: You're really great. I'm sorry I was freaked out. I only was freaked out because I really, really care about you. And this means a lot to me.

2:15:31 Gorgug: Means a lot to me too. And well, I hope; I'll talk to you tomorrow, I guess, and we'll just keep chatting and I'll see you when I get back.

2:15:45 Zelda: I'll chat with you tomorrow, Gorgug. Go knock ‘em dead.

2:15:48 Gorgug: Awesome, uh, [quickly] love you too. Group laughs.

2:15:51 Brennan: Bloop bip, your phone. The gnomish Tinkerer's Hall erupts into just like, incredible, just like,

2:15:57 Tinkerers: Hooray! It worked, it worked, incredible!

2:16:03 Gorgug: It works! She said she loves me! Zac and Emily laugh.

2:16:06 Brennan: They pop a bunch of champagne bottles that are filled with this bright pink fizz that smells just like reeking sweet strawberry.

2:16:15 Gorgug: Wow.

2:16:15 Brennan: Just like,

2:16:16 Tinkerers: Let's have some gnome wine!

2:16:19 Gorgug: I’ll down a little of that gnome wine! Players laughing and cooing.

2:16:24 Brennan: Incredible.

2:16:27 Zac: Awesome. Do I know Ayda's phone number? I run back to the—

2:16:30 Brennan: Ayda doesn't have a phone, she's, she’s from a pirate city!

2:16:32 Zac: Of course.

2:16:35 Brennan: But you are, you know, you, Zelda—

2:16:37 Zac: I'll do a little gnome wine.

2:16:39 Brennan: Your gnome does start getting messages; not texts, because I don't know that they would have your number, but on social stuff you start getting a bunch of DMs from the other Seven Maidens being like, "Way to go, big guy." Like, a bunch of like— You get back to the van. Adaine, you awake, or not awake, you come out of trance in the middle of the night because you gotta jump on it. You have that Sending spell.

2:17:11 Siobhan: Yes, let me just roll my Div rolls. Very interesting. [writing it down] Yes, I am going to Sending to Ayda Aguefort; I should have been working this out while other people were talking.

2:17:34 Adaine: Avast ye scurvy devil,

2:17:36 Siobhan: Because that doesn't count for anything.

2:17:44 Adaine: How is Plane Shift going?  Also, need info on rune that looks like—

2:17:58 Siobhan: And then I describe what the rune looks like?

2:18:02 Brennan: You get a response back immediately from Ayda that says,

2:18:09 Ayda: I'm not a scurvy devil, let's use the synod.

2:18:18 Brennan: And then the last thing she says is,

2:18:18 Ayda: Right jacket pocket.

2:18:24 Siobhan: [hesitantly] I put my hand in my right jacket pocket?

2:18:28 Brennan: Put it in your right jacket pocket. A key, made of glowing blue crystalline energy emerges into your hand. And as it does, you see that just a nearby keyhole on a door starts to glow slightly blue.

2:18:46 Siobhan: Oh, I go through the door. [gentle piano music]

2:18:50 Brennan: You step into an endless starry void. Clear glass with a little shimmer of luminescence leads up to a massive like, 200-foot wide carved disc of glass hanging in space. Tall crystal menhirs and dolmens, like, carved standing stones that are— None of it is, like, craggy or crystalline in that kind of naturally forming way. All looks very intentional, shaped perfect glass and crystal with this clear and just the slightest tinge of blue luminescence to it. With a bunch of staircases that just lead away, and the staircases just abruptly end. Your staircase leaves this like sort of crackling blue door. Another door opens on one of the ends of the staircases and you see that Ayda walks through.

2:19:53 Adaine: What is this place? This is amazing.

2:19:56 Ayda: This is the Synod of Spyre.

2:20:00 Brennan: She's pronouncing it, so synod is how it's pronounced, but it's S-Y-N-O-D.

2:20:03 Siobhan: Yes, so it's a church thing.

2:20:05 Brennan: It looks like it might just in this sense mean like, a forum or council.

2:20:09 Siobhan: Oh, okay.

2:20:10 Brennan: Syn from like synthesis and just meaning “together”, right? She hands you a scroll that has a new first level spell on it for you to copy into your spell book.

2:20:22 Adaine: Oh, thank you. What is this?

2:20:24 Ayda: This is a wizard's spell to grant access to the synod. It's basically if you need a meeting space for other wizards. It's extremely useful. It's very interesting that you reached out to me. I was almost about to reach out to you, actually, because I need some of your oracular abilities and help as well. But you have a rune issue that you'd like to talk to me about?

2:20:47 Adaine: Yes. We found,

2:20:48 Siobhan: I guess I probably drew a picture of the rune.

2:20:51 Adaine: This rune on a book, and I remembered seeing it in the Compass Points Library, but I don't remember what it meant.

2:21:00 Brennan: You see she looks at it and says,

2:21:03 Ayda: Fascinating. That rune is Abjurative magic, not protective. Abjuration’s split into two primary functions of the school, as you are well aware, which is protective magic: wards and shields, and also metamagic: magic that interacts with and shapes the nature of magic itself.

2:21:24 Adaine: Yes, I knew that, but thank you for re-explaining, because it's always good to re-do.

2:21:27 Ayda: It's always good to know. And I know that you know. [worried expression] Have I offended you?

2:21:30 Adaine: I love talking about magic.

2:21:32 Ayda: Have I offended you, or have I said something, are you mad at me?

2:21:33 Adaine: I think you're great.

2:21:36 Ayda: [pointing] You're my best friend.

2:21:36 Adaine: You're my best friend. Where did you go the other night?

2:21:39 Ayda: [monotone] I am in trouble, I need help.

2:21:41 Adaine: Oh dear.

2:21:42 Ayda: Do I… Let us resolve the issue of the rune while I am untroubled emotionally, and then I will divulge the rest. This rune is an Abjurative rune, that involves... Abjuration magic, specifically curses. Judging by this rune,

2:22:05 Brennan: And you in your books have seen this thing like, in some of the notes that your mom had, The coin that was given by the Nightmare King to Kalvaxus had this rune on it that was also on the spell book of the goddess in the temple.

2:22:23 Siobhan: Right.

2:22:25 Brennan: She says,

2:22:29 Ayda: This is a way to mask powerful curses and spells. You can take a tremendous amount of spellcraft, and in fact the ability to cast multiple spells, put it into a curse, and have that curse ride other curses. Basically use another curse to—

2:22:49 Adaine: Oh, hide underneath the curse.

2:22:52 Ayda: Exactly. And the larger and more sort of, permeable a curse is, the more that curse would be able to ride under the other one.

2:23:01 Adaine: Strange.

2:23:04 Ayda: What are you thinking of in this moment?

2:23:08 Adaine: Well, I just know that Gorthalax was in a gem that had a curse underneath the curse. But that might be a coincidence. I mean, curses are ten a penny.

2:23:20 Ayda: Yes.

2:23:20 Adaine: So I don't know. Is this just a strange coincidence? Ayda laughs in a screeching, bird-like manner.

2:23:23 Ayda: Ten a penny, that's, yes. It's a metaphor.

2:23:25 Adaine: Yes. It means common—

2:23:27 Ayda: No, no, I know—

2:23:29 Adaine: Curses are common.

2:23:29 Ayda: I put it together in my head, but it took me a moment, and then I didn't laugh right away.

2:23:32 Adaine: Yes, it’s funny.

2:23:34 Brennan: You see that she says,

2:23:34 Ayda: Interesting. So I would say that if this is connected to a magical object that you're aware of, that object would have been a curse that was a vessel for a wealth of other spellcasting riding under the surface of a larger curse.

2:23:53 Adaine: Right. Weird.

2:23:56 Ayda: Weird. Not normal.

2:23:59 Adaine: No.

2:24:00 Brennan: You see that she looks at you and says—

2:24:01 Adaine: Clever.

2:24:01 Ayda: Very clever.

2:24:03 Adaine: So, if somebody were to look at it they would think that it was one curse. But actually, it's sort of like a zip drive.

2:24:11 Ayda: A what?

2:24:11 Adaine: It's uh, um... Ally and Zac chuckle as Siobhan briefly fumbles for words.

2:24:17 Adaine: It's like a bag of holding for curses.

2:24:21 Ayda: Absolutely, yes, a bag of holding for curses is exactly right. It would work best under a very large, static curse. The more volatile a curse is, if there was a curse that for example could be ended easily, or that had spell effects happening regularly, the volatility of that curse would make it not an ideal candidate for hiding behind. You would want the larger dummy curse, you would want it to be something ambient, passive, not from necessarily like a firsthand spell caster. The kind of curse that's created more by magical landscapes or creatures than by a spellcaster.

2:25:04 Adaine: Oh, like the wall around the forest of the Nightmare King, maybe?

2:25:06 Ayda: Potentially.

2:25:10 Brennan: You see she says,

2:25:10 Ayda: A fascinating arcane riddle. Thank you so much for bringing it.

2:25:14 Adaine: You’re welcome. How is your research going?

2:25:18 Ayda: I'm working as fast as I can on Plane Shift to get it done as fast as possible.

2:25:21 Adaine: Great, because [slowly] Riz and Fig and the Hangman and Gilear did get sort of sucked into Hell, which is fine, I think. It's just a little—

2:25:30 Ayda: [abruptly] What?

2:25:32 Adaine: It's fine.

2:25:32 Ayda: It doesn't sound fine.

2:25:32 Adaine: No, no, no, because—

2:25:32 Ayda: It sounds very upsetting.

2:25:34 Adaine: Fig’s dad is from Hell, so it's fine.

2:25:35 Ayda: It sounds very upsetting.

2:25:36 Adaine: No, no, no. We have discussed it, and we're pretty sure that hell is just a reflection of heaven, and so both of them are not nearly as good or bad—

2:25:43 Ayda: We have to go to Hell to rescue Fig.

2:25:45 Adaine: No, no, no, she's fine.

2:25:45 Ayda: Yes, we do.

2:25:46 Adaine: She's from Hell.

2:25:46 Ayda: Yes, we do. She's not from Hell, she's from Spyre.

2:25:52 Adaine: I mean, are you sure?

2:25:55 Ayda: Am I sure that..?

2:25:55 Adaine: That we have to go? What information do you have?

2:25:57 Ayda: Well, we should just do whatever we can to make it happen as fast as possible because I'm going to get another kiss, whatever happens.

2:26:01 Adaine: What?

2:26:02 Ayda: What? Players laugh. Emily covers her face with her hands.

2:26:04 Adaine: [stunned] Whaaat?

2:26:07 Ayda: Is it normal for friends to know if their friends have kissed other people that they also know?

2:26:11 Adaine: Yes, tell me everything about it!

2:26:14 Ayda: Great, we went away for an hour from the party.

2:26:17 Adaine: [disbelievingly] An hour? You were kissing for an hour?

2:26:23 Ayda: You're elongating your sentences and pitching up so high that it makes me feel like I'm not supposed—

2:26:28 Adaine: I support this. I am happy about it. I am amazed. Ooh, she's secretive. Emily laughs.

2:26:40 Ayda: [hesitantly] It's good that you know this, right?

2:26:42 Adaine: Yes, it's very good that I know this.

2:26:45 Brennan: You see she says,

2:26:45 Ayda: Wonderful. Her lips are the softest things I've ever felt.

2:26:49 Adaine: [shaking her head] Mm-mm, mm-mm.

2:26:50 Ayda: That's not good?

2:26:50 Adaine: Well no, I'm glad that you— I don't need to know details—

2:26:53 Ayda: What's critical information?

2:26:54 Adaine: —about my friends kissing. You're right, I did—

2:26:57 Ayda: If you kiss someone—

2:27:00 Adaine: I did tell you to tell me everything, and then you did, and I actually didn't need to know everything. Um. Wow.

2:27:08 Ayda: I have some questions for you as Oracle.

2:27:09 Adaine: Yes, okay.

2:27:12 Ayda: In how many potential futures does Fig not want to kiss me and be around me anymore? And can those futures be avoided?

2:27:27 Adaine: Oh, I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately that's not really how being the Oracle works. It's more of a “I can help out a little bit every day and then every now and again I get a potentially terrifying vision, but I don't know when that's going to happen or why.”

2:27:48 Ayda: Terrible. If someone kisses you, does that mean de facto that they are attracted to you, or is there a possibility that someone would kiss you for some other reason?

2:28:00 Adaine: I think, from a purely academic standpoint—

2:28:05 Ayda: Perfect, I am an academic.

2:28:05 Adaine: Fantastic. I would say that on a macro level there are probably people who’d kiss you without caring about you, but I don't think that Fig would do that, because Fig cares about everybody.

2:28:20 Ayda: Are you saying this as Oracle, or because you have knowledge of Fig that would lead you to this conclusion?

2:28:27 Adaine: Yes.

2:28:29 Adaine: ...Both, excellent.

2:28:31 Brennan: You see that she says, Ayda inhales and exhales deeply, then pauses for a moment.

2:28:39 Ayda: If we kissed a bunch of times over the course of an hour, does that mean we are girlfriends or wives? Players laugh.

2:28:53 Adaine: I mean, I'm gonna say no on wives.

2:28:56 Ayda: Good, there's a ceremony, that's formal.

2:28:58 Adaine: Yes.

2:28:58 Ayda: Much easier, a better system.

2:29:00 Adaine: Girlfriends, I would say… Lots of times over the course of an hour? I think potentially, but I think that it's reasonable to ask to clarify.

2:29:16 Ayda: Mm-hmm. Okay, and if I were to ask Fig to clarify if we are girlfriends or dating each other, will that make me on a social level look sad, weird, or not normal?

2:29:37 Adaine: I don't think that you should worry about… the first answer is no. But also, if you like a person, and they like you, and the relationship is good, it shouldn't matter how other people feel about it. I think.

2:30:02 Ayda: The variables involved in the equation you've posited are so fuzzy as to be maddening.

2:30:07 Adaine: I don't think you are sad or weird. And I think that you dating—

2:30:10 Brennan: [miming Ayda crying] Tear.

2:30:12 Ayda: Thank you.

2:30:13 Adaine: I think you're very, very cool.

2:30:15 Ayda: I think you're very, very cool.

2:30:15 Adaine: It's so nice to talk about the kind of magic that I do with somebody else who gets it and is not mean.

2:30:27 Ayda: Are you someone who also worries about having a mind that maybe would be foreign to a lot of people and—

2:30:42 Adaine: I don't know if I worry about it, it's just a point of everyday existence for me? I mean, I worry about everything.

2:30:51 Ayda: Yes.

2:30:51 Adaine: But it's not, [stutters] it's not a peak worry for me.

2:30:56 Ayda: I understand. It's nice to have a person who understands, and even if we're not the same, understanding that we're both not the same, and what being not the same feels like, makes me feel like we're the same.

2:31:17 Adaine: Mm-hm.

2:31:17 Ayda: And that's good.

2:31:18 Adaine: And it's okay that we're all different. I mean, I love all of my friends, and they can do things that I can't do, and I can do things that they can't do.

2:31:28 Ayda: [sighing deeply] You're a very special person, and your friendship means the world to me. I hope we study magic together for a long, long time.

2:31:34 Adaine: Yes, me too. Thank you for this key. This place is so cool. I know I keep on saying it, but I can't believe that— This place is so cool.

2:31:41 Ayda: It's extremely cool, and I like to be here. It's a good place to go when you want to be alone because you live on a dirty pirate island.

2:31:46 Adaine: Oh, I understand that because I always want to be alone a lot of the time. Except when I don't, and I really want to be with other people. It's very confusing. Anxiety is a very confusing thing.

2:31:54 Ayda: No, no, no, that—

2:31:55 Adaine: I want to be alone and also surrounded by my friends at all times.

2:31:59 Ayda: That contradiction and paradox is something that I have studied many times myself.

2:32:02 Adaine: Oh, fascinating. Do you have notes?

2:32:05 Ayda: About how my mind works? Yes.

2:32:06 Adaine: Yes, no, friendship. Hmm...

2:32:08 Ayda: [very quickly] Oh, what do you have? I have an entire friendship section I built in the library because I was so lonely. Players laugh.

2:32:11 Adaine: Oh, wow.

2:32:14 Ayda: Is that strange, to have revealed that?

2:32:16 Adaine: No. I think that's a great thing.

2:32:17 Ayda: I love you too, you're my best friend—

2:32:19 Adaine: Yes.

2:32:20 Ayda: And if I don't smell Fig's hair again I'm going to incinerate. And so I need to finish Plane Shift right now.

2:32:26 Adaine: Yes, please do. Yes, that would be good.

2:32:28 Ayda: Very well. [formally] Oracle, this council of the synod is concluded.

2:32:33 Adaine: Uh, [bows formally] farewell.

2:32:33 Ayda: Farewell. Brennan makes a zapping sound.

2:32:35 Brennan: And that's all for this week on Fantasy High. Tune in next week.

2:32:40 Siobhan: [sing-song] I know a secret! Group laughs.

2:32:41 Ally: What is it?

2:32:43 Lou: Well look at that. It's gonna get out, dude. [NEXT EPISODE — Episode 14: Daddies & Demons]

2:32:43 Captions extracted by: matthew

2:32:43 Edited by: somnolentselenophile, Hana, gluegunshots, rowan solsys