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The Lines Between
What happens
- 00:01:06 Recap (recap): the heroes fought the spider with Miss Muffet's torso and head at Tuffeton, freed the adults from "an adult sleepover gone wrong", threw a party at the Golden Chair, sent the spider form through Mother Goose's book to Scheherazade, who said she might reach "some kind of entrance from the Land of Birds and Beasts"; Pib found two creeps talking to a woman in an inn room, they were killed and proved to be "brambly, thorny demons or spirits"; Pinocchio used a fairy candle to call his patron, turned, a fairy "rend her eyes from her skull" as the Stepmother was exposed in light, witnessed by Little Red Riding Hood and Pinocchio; the party was pulled out through a door by Scheherazade at the last moment (00:01:13, 00:02:15, 00:02:50, 00:03:26, 00:04:08).
- 00:04:45 The party tumbles through the doorway onto a floor of parchment lying on other parchment, in a large chamber with the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Little Miss Muffet and Pinocchi-Crow among the helpers; Scheherazade stands with a sword, an azure and gold book and a scar on her face; next to her a broad-shouldered captain and his crew of sailors (00:04:45).
- 00:06:25 The chamber is like a castle landing, its walls and arched ceiling made of books and parchment; text on the floor begins "once upon a time"; the door behind them is a melted line of several doors; the travelers look stunned, having seen "what was traveling swiftly after you" (00:06:25).
- 00:06:04 Mother Goose is happy to meet the buff sailors; Rosamund reminds Timothy of just saying he missed his husband; Pib asks about the apples, and at the table Ally says they are leaking clear water and Ylfa jokes they are turning into cider (00:06:04–00:06:22).
- 00:08:41 Mother Goose meets Scheherazade, who says the guardian got them back to their rock and the tomb gave directions to this place on the word of a man named Aesop; Pinocchio tells the others the Stepmother is "my mom", usually behind a door, and that he gets his powers from her (00:08:51, 00:09:07, 00:09:17, 00:09:37).
- 00:10:07 Pinocchi-Crow cannot be seen (Pinocchio's Perception 16); Brennan says he can move unseen at will; Ylfa suggests Faerie Fire, Pinocchio calls it kind of rude but says he is down, and nobody casts it (00:10:31, 00:10:35, 00:10:48).
- 00:11:09 Captain Sinbad introduces himself; Pib says "Captain Pib" (Deception 24); Sinbad accepts it, asks the name of his ship and Pib says the Pinocchio; Sinbad asks whether Pinocchio is made from the wood of the ship and Pinocchio says yes (00:11:09, 00:11:28, 00:11:36, 00:11:50, 00:11:56).
- 00:12:06 Scheherazade asks about the missing bird; the party says a person gifted it to Pinocchio before they knew how scary they were, and that it kills for fun (00:12:06, 00:12:21, 00:12:29).
- 00:12:39 Aesop emerges from a door that opens the other way onto a field of yellow grass and cypress trees, with a lion, a mouse on his shoulder and a mule; he names the realm The Lines Between and says he is the collector of tales from the Land of Birds and Beasts (00:12:43, 00:13:39, 00:14:18).
- 00:15:11 The lion offers to be cuddled; Pinocchio's reply stings and the lion is "beyond hurt" (Insight natural 20 by Lou), then says he just likes little guys; the mouse says he pulled a thorn from the lion's paw once; Pib's Insight natural 20 shows the mule is Alphonse, avoiding eye contact (00:15:14, 00:15:32, 00:15:46, 00:15:52, 00:16:24, 00:16:32).
- 00:16:55 Pib confronts Alphonse, who is frightened, asks him to be cool and promises to explain later (00:17:12, 00:17:42).
- 00:17:58 Brennan notes Scheherazade and Sinbad look capable but have "been through some shit", while Aesop and his animals look healthy; Aesop describes The Lines Between as an area beyond the realms, and says no one tires or goes hungry there (00:17:58, 00:18:25).
- 00:19:07 Aesop shows an illustrated book of animals; says there are beings here who may be friendly, that the Neverafter has begun to grow and absorb other realms, and that it may have begun as more than one realm; he offers to take them to the custodians (00:19:27, 00:19:56, 00:20:36, 00:20:52).
- 00:21:16 Pinocchio tries to find Pinocchi-Crow (Arcana 11, helped by Pib); a downy oily feather on the floor shows the crow flew away; Pib takes the feather (00:21:58, 00:22:08, 00:22:27).
- 00:22:47 Walking out, Aesop asks Rosamund what her story is about; Mother Goose's Insight 20 finds him a good person, a little tired from long heroic activity; Rosamund tells her story; Aesop tells the lion-and-mouse moral; the party wonders why their stories are so corrupted (00:22:50, 00:23:21, 00:23:26, 00:23:42, 00:24:02, 00:24:16).
- 00:24:36 Passing archways with other doors; Aesop has explored little; he says the Neverafter is "far and away" the worst hit; Scheherazade says her land is the Endless Nights and describes a tapestry with a woman in golden armor on a horse with long red hair; Gerard asks if she is Elody; Scheherazade has not met her (00:25:06, 00:25:35, 00:25:42, 00:26:00, 00:26:20).
- 00:26:12 Pib goes ahead with Alphonse (Perception 18) and sees a big library with a book called The Tale of the Frog Prince; Alphonse tells him the Lands of Lullaby got swallowed up, then tells how he ran from the fall of Marienne and fell through paper into a sunny place (00:26:51, 00:26:59, 00:28:06, 00:28:42, 00:29:31).
- 00:31:57 Pib finds a small table with a key (Zac 22); he takes the key, grabs the Cinderella book (Investigation 12), hides (Stealth 18) as two librarians arrive and lock him in the room with the master key (00:32:09, 00:32:25, 00:32:51, 00:33:25, 00:35:12).
- 00:35:21 The group meets Key and Legend at two large book-made doors; they offer to take the group to the Tower of Tales and to Glossary and Index; Legend says things have gone "a little catawampus"; the party asks if it is their fault, and Rosamund's guess of jam makes the librarians pause (00:35:55, 00:36:09, 00:37:05, 00:37:52, 00:38:32, 00:38:53).
- 00:38:55 On the ramparts the citadel is seen turning in endless aurora; those above 15 hear voices; Legend calls it the Auroratory; Ylfa hears her grandmother's voice (Perception 17) and swims out into the aurora after her (00:39:09, 00:40:01, 00:40:48, 00:41:02, 00:41:32).
- 00:41:46 Key says the Auroratory is safe and older than The Lines Between; stories told there come and go, but in The Lines Between they stay, "the power of ink" (00:41:47).
- 00:42:53 At the Tower of Tales the double doors under an inkwell-and-quill symbol are locked; Key says it is for everybody's protection and that no one goes in the Canonade, "the source of the ink"; Mother Goose and Scheherazade's books hum on the steps; Mother Goose offers a coin and Key hands it back (00:42:53, 00:43:23, 00:43:28, 00:43:47, 00:44:19, 00:44:41).
- 00:44:52 Gerard distracts Key and Legend with his forms (Deception 15, helped); Legend likes the forms and wants them for defending The Lines Between; Gerard names the Long Sniff of a Rose, Plight of the Honeybee and Two Eels for Supper (00:45:25, 00:45:34, 00:45:59, 00:46:18, 01:00:59).
- 00:47:39 Scheherazade casts Invisibility Circle on herself and Mother Goose, and they climb the steps unseen (00:47:39, 00:47:53).
- 00:47:57 Pib in the locked library reads the Cinderella book: the pages are torn out, the text ends after "Her father had passed away"; he feels watched (Insight 11) (00:48:16, 00:48:34, 00:48:48).
- 00:49:22 Initiative; Pinocchi-Crow attacks from invisibility; Pib throws a dagger (16 on the die, 7 damage), the crow grabs the book, a voice behind a door in its eyes shouts "Get it now!", Pib stabs both eyes (16 on the die, 6 damage) and the crow becomes burnt parchment; he takes The Frog Prince and unlocks the door (00:49:24, 00:50:01, 00:50:09, 00:51:16, 00:51:28, 00:51:30, 00:51:38, 00:52:38).
- 00:52:57 Ylfa swims in the Auroratory and finds many grandmothers telling her story to someone else; in the voices the wolf is cut open and grandmother saved; Ylfa sinks into this better ending, then fears she corrupts it, rolls a Wisdom save (5, no result called) as the shame builds, swims with disadvantage (Athletics 10 against DC 15) and calls for Timothy (00:53:45, 00:54:46, 00:55:32, 00:56:20, 00:57:41, 00:58:36, 00:58:50, 01:00:35).
- 01:00:38 At the Canonade, Mother Goose's book glows; the lock shows scratches from use and fairy dust; Mother Goose's Investigation (natural 20, helped) lets him look through the keyhole at a vast shrine with a glass inkwell; he looks deeper into the ink (01:01:30, 01:02:19, 01:02:29, 01:02:58, 01:04:43).
- 01:05:07 Wisdom save (7 raw; fails) and Charisma save (succeeds); Mother Goose feels himself reduced to ink on someone else's paper, seen by vast eyes; Ylfa's shout brings him back; his hands are flat parchment (01:05:18, 01:05:36, 01:08:13, 01:08:36).
- 01:08:29 Scheherazade casts Dispel Magic, her own hand going flat, and says they are "just real enough" (01:09:04, 01:09:21, 01:09:31).
- 01:09:51 The group hears Ylfa and sends help; Pib arrives; Pinocchio serves as a boat, Pib rows; Sinbad praises the mariner; Pib (Wisdom save natural 1) hears his own stories while Ylfa and Pib trade places; a wolf made of light nudges Pinocchio, burns and vanishes (01:10:03, 01:10:17, 01:10:31, 01:11:40, 01:11:42).
- 01:13:00 On the boat Pib, Ylfa and Pinocchio compare what they saw: Pinocchio saw a monstrous thing with people crawling under its skin and the grandmother eaten; Ylfa and Pib speak of wolves; Pib says he killed Pinocchi-Crow (01:13:30, 01:14:04, 01:14:25, 01:14:35, 01:14:43).
- 01:15:25 Back on the ramparts, Pinocchio tells Sinbad the ship story was a lie; Pib too; Sinbad says he lied as well but is a captain; as Pinocchio tells the truth the sword at his side chimes, then sings (01:15:33, 01:15:40, 01:15:52, 01:16:17, 01:17:12).
- 01:17:44 The sword speaks: "Veritas I am called"; Gerard had thrown it to Pinocchio; Rosamund holds it, and a wing of a tower near them folds in on itself; Rosamund's Perception (natural 1) gives the false impression it is her prince's sword; her Wisdom save is a natural 20 (01:18:36, 01:19:18, 01:19:23, 01:20:20, 01:21:02).
- 01:21:03 Key and Legend say that has happened before ("cutbacks"); they get cagey when Ylfa asks to see her book and when Pib mentions the crow; Scheherazade quietly tells Aesop what happened at the stairs (Insight 18) (01:21:09, 01:21:47, 01:22:31, 01:22:53, 01:23:01).
- 01:24:01 Key tells them the times of shadow put all versions of their tales in jeopardy and a corruption has started; on the Insight check (Gerard 15, Mother Goose 23) Brennan shows a flicker of dread in Key at "ink is permanent"; Mother Goose grabs Key's shoulder and passes on Scheherazade's words (01:24:01, 01:25:53, 01:26:30).
- 01:26:56 Aesop calls for honesty; the sword shouts agreement; Aesop tells the staff Mother Goose and Scheherazade may have seen something at the Canonade door; Mother Goose says he saw the inkwell and was seen by something in the ink (01:26:56, 01:27:03, 01:27:50, 01:28:12, 01:28:39).
- 01:29:52 Indoors, Key says some things are "realer"; Legend writes a name for the beings who were at the beginning and made The Lines Between, whom they dare not think of for long and who "don't care" (the name itself is given only in a bracketed stage direction); Scheherazade says they are fine with all the bad things that have happened (01:30:08, 01:30:50, 01:31:48, 01:32:22).
- 01:33:17 Mother Goose fears bad things happen to good people because it is a good story; Legend explains that magic is the way characters move their stories toward the Canonade and that there may have been revisions overseen partly by staff; Pib's Perception natural 20 sees the scroll and both books glimmer at "revision" (01:33:36, 01:35:06, 01:35:08).
- 01:35:19 Legend: the gander has been ascendant for too long and something terrible is happening; Key: something in The Lines Between is not staff and they cannot find it; Ylfa asks whether it is disguised as staff, and Mother Goose's Insight (natural 20) shows the idea had not occurred to the librarians and alarms them (01:35:19, 01:36:31, 01:37:09, 01:37:13).
- 01:37:57 The lion says it is not an animal, then that he does not think he eats anymore; the staff ask for help with a quick inspection and Key says Index calls the party "Twice Upon a Time" (01:38:07, 01:38:32, 01:39:37).
- 01:40:22 The sword shouts "Give me back to the wooden boy! He speaks the truth!" and Pinocchio says himself he is on his first time, not second; he describes what happened to another boy and the other Pinocchio turned to parchment (01:40:48, 01:41:22, 01:41:34, 01:42:10).
- 01:42:33 The librarians suggest splitting up to inspect and reconvening in the party's hall to see Index and Glossary; Aesop proposes one party takes Key, another Legend, and a third goes alone; Aesop takes Key away, and Ylfa asks him about wolves; he tells the boy-who-cried-wolf story; Mother Goose steps between him and Pinocchio (01:43:08, 01:43:38, 01:44:06, 01:44:55, 01:45:36, 01:46:25).
- 01:47:26 Everything learned in The Lines Between is now known by all; the group (group Stealth: Pib 11, Ylfa 13, Rosamund 18, Gerard 10) returns to the library room, the door of which Pib left ajar (01:47:34, 01:47:40, 01:47:51, 01:48:06).
- 01:49:05 Pinocchio sees on the Cinderella book's cover the face of a man he saw in an etching on a bedside table; he says it was his mom's ex-husband; Ylfa asks whether that means she tore the pages out; the door closes (01:49:05, 01:49:29, 01:50:03, 01:50:14).
- 01:50:32 The light behind the door changes; the Stepmother's voice says "Shouldn't be leaving doors open"; Brennan describes something vast, bigger and angrier, approaching Mother Goose; the doorknob begins to turn; the episode ends (01:50:35, 01:50:49).
Frames
Key quotes
- “Are we dead?” — Zac 0:04:41
- “That is the name of this realm.” — Aesop 0:13:39
- “the Neverafter has begun to grow and absorb other realms” — Aesop 0:19:56
- “The miller's second son was dead. The kingdom of Marienne had fallen.” — Alphonse 0:28:42
- “It probably wasn't jam.” — Key 0:38:53
- “Cat versus bird!” — All 0:50:35
- “They're real and you're not” — Brennan 1:05:36
- “A princess pure and true holdeth now the Sword of Truth!” — Veritas 1:19:18
- “I'm worried that the reason that bad things happen to good people is because it's a good story.” — Timothy 1:33:17
- “Glossary would know more than we would.” — Librarians 1:42:35
Who and what appears
Player characters
- Mother Timothy Goose
- Pinocchio
- Prince Gerard of Greenleigh
- Princess Rosamund du Prix
- Puss in Boots
- Ylfa Snorgelsson
NPCs
- Aesop
- Alphonse the Mule
- Grandma Ylfa Jottensdottir
- Index and Glossary
- Key
- Legend
- Pinocchi-Crow
- Pinocchio's mom's ex-husband
- Scheherazade
- Scheherazade's group
- Sinbad
- The Grandma
- The Stepmother
- The beings at the beginning
- The lion
- The mouse
- The wolf of light
Locations
- The Auroratory
- The Canonade
- The Endless Nights
- The Land of Birds and Beasts
- The Lines Between
- The Lullaby Lands
- The Neverafter
- The Tower of Tales
- The grandmother's cottage
- The landing chamber
- The library room
- The party's hall
- The ramparts
Items and artifacts
- A bag of spiders
- A coin
- A name on a paper
- Aesop's scroll
- Apples
- Gerard's book of forms
- Mother Goose's book
- Pinocchi-Crow's feather
- Scheherazade's book
- Sword of Veritas
- The Cinderella book
- The Frog Prince
- The etching
- The glass inkwell
- The master key
- The small key
Factions and organizations
Creatures
Roll log
| Time | Character (player) | Roll | Result | DC / AC | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:10:31 | Pinocchio (Lou) | Perception | 16 | — | cannot see the crow |
| 00:11:36 | Pib (Zac) | Deception | 24 | — | Sinbad believes "Captain" |
| 00:15:31 | Rosamund (Siobhan) / Pinocchio (Lou) | Insight | 8 / natural 20 | — | lion is hurt |
| 00:16:24 | Pib (Zac) | Insight | natural 20 | — | sees Alphonse |
| 00:21:58 | Pinocchio (Lou) | Arcana, helped | 11 | — | finds a feather |
| 00:23:21 | Mother Goose (Ally) | Insight | 20, not natural | — | Aesop is good, tired |
| 00:26:51 | Pib (Zac) | Perception | 18 | — | library with Frog Prince |
| 00:32:05 | Pib (Zac) | Perception or investigation | 22 | — | small table and key |
| 00:32:51 | Pib (Zac) | Investigation | 12 | — | Cinderella book |
| 00:33:25 | Pib (Zac) | Stealth | 18 | — | hides |
| 00:39:35 | Mother Goose (Ally) / Rosamund (Siobhan) | Perception | 21 / 18 | — | hears voices |
| 00:41:00 | Ylfa (Emily) | Perception | 17 | — | grandmother's voice |
| 00:45:34 | Gerard (Murph) | Deception, helped | 15 | — | distracts librarians |
| 00:45:49 | Brennan | Insight for the librarians | a three and a one | — | — |
| 00:48:34 | Pib (Zac) | Insight | 11 | — | feels watched |
| 00:49:24 | Pib (Zac) | Initiative | 18 | — | — |
| 00:49:50 | Pib (Zac) | Stealth | 13 | — | no advantage |
| 00:50:01 | Pib (Zac) | dagger attack | 16 on the die | — | hits, 7 damage |
| 00:50:38 | Pib (Zac) | Athletics, opposed | 19 on the die becomes 18 | — | crow grabs the book (Brennan's natural 1) |
| 00:51:20 | Pib (Zac) | attack on the eyes | 16 on the die | — | hits, 6 damage; crow dies |
| 00:52:45 | Pib (Zac) | Perception | natural 1 | — | nothing noticed |
| 00:54:39 | Ylfa (Emily) | Perception, advantage | 19 | — | hears the stories |
| 00:57:41 | Ylfa (Emily) | Wisdom save | 5 | — | shame builds |
| 00:58:50 | Ylfa (Emily) | Athletics, disadvantage | natural 20 discarded, 10 | DC 15 | keeps sinking |
| 01:02:29 | Mother Goose (Ally) | Investigation, helped | natural 20 (five and a 20) | — | sees into the Canonade |
| 01:05:18 | Mother Goose (Ally) | Wisdom save | 7 raw; "13" and "12" said after the bardic die | — | fails |
| 01:05:36 | Mother Goose (Ally) | Charisma save | not stated | — | succeeds |
| 01:08:36 | Scheherazade (Brennan) | Dispel Magic | Brennan's natural 20 | — | frees Mother Goose |
| 01:11:40 | Pib (Zac) | Wisdom save | natural 1 | — | hears his stories |
| 01:20:20 | Rosamund (Siobhan) | Perception | natural 1 | — | false impression |
| 01:21:02 | Rosamund (Siobhan) | Wisdom save | natural 20 | — | — |
| 01:22:53 | Mother Goose (Ally) | Insight | 18 | — | Aesop conflicted |
| 01:25:53 | Gerard (Murph) / Mother Goose (Ally) | Insight | 15 / 23 | — | Key's dread |
| 01:35:06 | Pib (Zac) | Perception | natural 20 | — | glimmer at "revision" |
| 01:37:09 | Mother Goose (Ally) | Insight | natural 20 | — | staff had not considered a disguise |
| 01:47:51 | Pib / Ylfa / Rosamund / Gerard | group Stealth | 11 / 13 / 18 / 10 | 15 | only Rosamund passes |
Natural 20s: Pinocchio 1, Pib 2, Mother Goose 2, Rosamund 1 · Natural 1s: Pib 2, Rosamund 1 · Ylfa's 20 at 00:58:50 was a discarded die, not counted.