Hi, I'm David's wife, Gabby. If you enjoy, tell
a friend, leave a rating or review, and follow
our Instagram or their Instagrams on my Instagram
at fantasypantspod at instagram .com. When we
last left off in the tale of Zebulon and Jules,
we found our heroes in quite the pretty pickle.
Following the night of the games and the fire,
our heroes began their investigations in the
market. All Zebulon's absolute bumbling caused
some problems. In the end, they managed to learn
a few vital details. Thanks to Jules' great thinking
and little help from their rivals. Having found
evidence connecting Kasim Arun to the fire at
the Zungun family tent, as well as a potential
motive for his crime, our two heroes had his
brother Vi lead them out of the market and into
the jungle. At a small, happy plantation in the
midst of this jungle, they found their suspect.
However, the cornered Kasim called for the aid
of his three fake companions of crime and ordered
them to kill his pursuers. And the three strange
creatures, spurred to action by Chasm's plea,
turn towards our heroes and disappear. Where'd
they go, David? What's that? Where'd they go,
David? Oh, wouldn't you like to know? I really
do want to know. I'm still not 100 % certain
how we're going to deal with this. This is bad.
This is real bad. Hey, you know what? While we're
facing such a... bad and dire situation. I want
to ask you guys a question. Sure. What is a song
that inspires you? Do you have like a song that's
kind of like, oh yeah, this is it. This pumps
me up. Feeling amped and ready to go. Do you
have one of those? I don't think so. Actually,
I've never really thought about it. No? Yeah.
Just like off the top of my head, I don't have
a pump it up song. Nope. Damn, that was a dead
end. Shit. Well, what's your pump it up song?
It's a weird one, actually. And it's been in
my head all day for no reason. And you might,
Jeremy, catch a reference. Steven, you'll have
no idea. In the musical version of Matilda, there's
a song called Sometimes You Have to Be a Little
Bit Naughty. Yes. Dude, it's such a good amp
you up song. I get it. Like the lyrics cut to
the heart. Like that, what's it, what's it? Even
if you're little. Fuck. Help me out here. It's
been a long time. Damn it. I love it. It's very
telling, but it's a pretty nerdy pump it up song.
Even if you're little, you could do a lot. Don't
let a little thing like little stop you or something
like that. It's just like, yeah, man, fucking
get in there. It doesn't matter. You can be a
little girl. All right, Matilda. Get in there
and prank people and do some shit. Steven, it's
a good show. I'm sure. I'm sure it's great. It's
excellent. Yeah. I at least have a pump -it -up
genre. That's fine. Ooh, what's your pump -it
-up genre? Like progressive metal. Yeah. All
right. I dig it. Mm -hmm. Yep. Well, Jeremy,
you're odd one out now. That's about the same
for me, too. Mm -hmm. Okay, yeah. When I want
to get pumped up, it's like going and reaching
back into my olden days of my, you know, post
-hardcore screamo days. Hell yeah. Some headbanging.
I like to hear people scream. Mm -hmm. Hop in
the pit. I don't have that. It's got to be like
Broadway. Never? Never in a million years. You've
never been in the pit. No way. Oh, my God. It's
such a good time. It's such a good time. Not
for me. Sometimes a painful good time, but it's
such a good time. See, I could just sit with
my back against the wall like one of those weird
people who doesn't dance or really get into a
concert. I'm really not a great person to go
to a concert. I'd be just as happy sitting in
the car with the speakers loud. There was – back
when I used to – to play in bands and play a
lot of music. One of our local venues was called
Skeletones. And it was a really old building
and the floor was really weak and had a dip in
it. So once the pit starts going and you start
going wild, literally you feel the entire floor.
That's terrifying. That sounds really dangerous.
It probably was. They closed down a while ago,
and they reopened back up, actually. Whoa. Sometime
in the last few years. Hopefully after some structural
errors. Probably. Probably. It was good times.
Put new linoleum down. It'll be fine. Oh, my
gosh. I also want to say for our listeners out
there that Stephen did bring the promised soda
red this evening. It was delicious. It is delightful.
I think it could have used a couple more minutes
in the oven. Or even if I had just turned off
the heat and let it finish in the oven for a
couple of minutes. I think it was a little wet.
Yeah, I was going to say, it's basically uneatable.
It's garbage. But I want to be nice. But if you
open the door, then here I am. Save it for the
combat, David. Oh, I've got plenty of enmity
to go around. I think we need to start building
like an ugly coyote food menu. Oh, man. Yes.
And I think maybe this is the first dessert edition.
Definitely black garlic because like old garlic
that's been sitting out for 10 years, that's
exactly the kind of thing that Ader would serve.
Love it. Oh, black garlic. Black garlic on bread.
On that soda bread. Whoa. I mean, I think we
could make a nice loaf of some other type of
bread. It might be overkill on it. Yeah, maybe
because it's sweet. And I mean, don't get me
wrong. I think the black garlic would work with
sweet, but let us know if anybody has any good
bread recipes. Hell yeah. And with that, I guess
time to get that sirenscape going. Oh, yeah.
Oh, no. Oh, yes. Oh, no. Oh, gentlemen, get ready.
Now I want you both to roll for initiative and
roll for Chester as well. But you know who we're
not rolling for tonight? Steven. We're not rolling
for Jean Franklin, who I balanced this counter
around being here, but he is still sleeping,
snoring away in a tent in the market. So you
are. Jean! Jean! Uh, Jules got a three. Chester
got a six. Oh, no. Yeah, this is bad. Let's...
Real bad. Zeb got 17. Wow, okay. Zeb only did
something right for once. Yeah, it feels good,
man. It feels good. Okay, let me get those numbers
in here and activate. Alright then. So, we actually
have an actual grid here tonight. And we can
see about 60 feet away from you, you're standing
in this pepper orchard. Right at the edge of
this dense jungle forest, we see our We see Viaroon,
Jules LaRoche, and Zebulon Black are all standing
just into the clearing. And just behind them,
sort of skewered by the foliage and dense jungle,
we see Chester tucking his diamond away, pulling
out his sling, getting ready to fight. We see,
just down the way, about 60 feet into the orchard
itself, in between rows of growing peppers and
just past a number of stick -like small trees
carrying these big skull peppers that you have
had some personal experience with, Jules, we
see Casamaroon. He just made a demand to the
creatures around him to kill you all. And you
watch these three creatures, 60 feet away from
you, turn towards you and vanish. Bring it on,
little creatures. I'm just kidding. I don't want
to... I don't want to piss them off. Now then.
What are we going to do, Jeremy? I imagine...
What's your passive perception? Nine for Zebulon.
Okay. My passive is ten. Okay. The briefest moment
you see an obscuring of light around these three
creatures. There's almost like heat waves moving
around, but they very quickly disappear. You
do see that two of these blargs of light seem
to move swiftly before you can even react, and
you don't know what happens to them after that.
Now it's you, Zebulon. Jules? Jules, what are
we going to do here? I can't see anything. Should
we run? I think we're going to have to stand
our ground here. Okay. Okay, well, let's... Yeah,
that's what's tricky is right now, you have two
options. Like you just said, you could stand
your ground here in this field where you have
some open terrain to see, to fight, to do what
you can do. Or you can try to run back to the
market to find help. You have other allies nearby.
You told Dance and Ramin to stay on watch by
the tent. Maybe they saw you come in. Maybe they
didn't. They're close. But if you run, you're
running through dense jungle. These things, I
mean, they are jungle creatures. They can fly.
They're small. You're going to be dealing with
a lot of issues that they will not be. You don't
know how fast they are. So it's either way very,
very dangerous. All right. I mean, we've got
four of us. Vi, stay close. And if you can, try
to talk some sense into them. Into your brother,
maybe. So I see on the map here that there appears
to be a pepper plant in front of Zebulon. Yes,
there is. One of those black spindly pepper plants
with the skull peppers on it. Get out. Yeah.
No shit. These ones in front of you, there's
eight in front of you in two rows. Cool. So Zebulon's
going to pick one of those peppers. Really? Yeah.
And he's going to, I mean, I'm sure this would,
this might, I don't know. You tell me how I can
do this. Okay. Because I'm imagining there's
going to be a knife involved. I want to take
this pepper, or at least a piece of it, and insert
it into the persimmon that I have. You do have
one, don't you? I kept the persimmon with me.
You kept the persimmon! Let me just lay a hand
check. Holy shit. Slight of hand, I think, is
going to do this. How fast you can do this without
it really being noticed by these... creatures
coming at you fast. Oh yeah, alright. There we
go. That's a 16 plus 7. Fucking wild. Oh yeah,
yeah. Stealthily, slices open, shove a good with
that, like a nice chunk of pepper into this thing.
And it almost looks like such a narrow slit you
put in the persimmon. It looks untouched. Okay.
To the naked eye. Perfect. That is diabolical.
I love it. Alright, okay. And the only reason
I thought of it was when you were explaining,
you know, the scene you mentioned the The black
skull peppers. That's for the moment then. Okay.
All right. I love it. We really didn't have a
plan going into this session. Not really. We
did a little bit of like a two or three minute
like, should we do this? Should we do that? Should
we do this? Should we do that? I think every
combat we've had, we've had just an extremely
rough, loose outline. Right. This one I think
is the most seat of our pants so far. Yep. I
didn't expect this. The seat of our fantasy pants.
The seat of our fantasy pants. Yeah. Are you
going to move or anything else that turn? There's
dense jungle behind us. I can't really hide,
though, because that would leave you guys all
to tank. No, I guess I'll ready an action to
strike out if one of these guys comes in range,
I guess. If it attacks me or if it attacks somebody
next to me. Okay. And that brings us actually
to the next person, which is Vi. Vi sort of stumbles
back at all this. And you see like this dawning
sort of horror and realization kind of striking
his eyes and features. And he just says, could
they be windlings? No, no, no, no. That can't
be. They're from children's stories. I didn't
think they were real. But why would cast them?
Why would they attack us? They're supposed to
be harmless tricksters. What's a wingling? What
are these things? They're fey spirits that live
in the mountains. They're supposed to be. They're
told of in traveler's tales. Tricksters that
prey on people, but not like this. Not killing.
He's just searching his eyes, darting around
everywhere. He's like, cast them. Cast them.
Why? Do the stories tell of any weaknesses? He
just kind of is still staring around. Because
I think it's about time for these things to move
in. So I'm going to cut his. Talking there. Damn
it. Cast him on the other side of the field.
It's just kind of like, he's watching you all,
and I think he's got his face carved by one hand,
almost like leaning over, breathing heavily,
eyes wild. He does not look like he's in his
right mind right now. He just ordered the death
of his brother. But he is desperate. Mad with
desperation. But he's standing his ground and
watching. Shit. I make another move. It's going
to be Chester. I think Chester is just going
to ready his sling. Okay. He's currently, I'm
going to say Chester's under stealth currently,
so he could attack from advantage from where
he is. Okay. Yeah, because he's ready his sling,
he's waiting, and when someone pops, he can shoot.
That's right, he's in the bush, isn't he? He's
in the brush, yes. Yes, okay. Safe and nestled
behind you in the low brush where he's just kind
of watching. Yep. I think he just righted it,
and he's going to stay there. And that's you.
And if one of them pops up in front, he'll pull
the trigger. Okay. That's going to be you, Jules.
I think we're going to stick with the very loose
plan, and I'm going to give myself a poke and
go invisible. Okay. All right. Interesting. Fighting
fire with fire. I love it. How does this work
in terms of my movement? So when you move, basically
when you're visible, anything that's looking
towards you is going to treat you as if you're
heavily obscured. Right. I just mean more because
you're going to know my moves. Yes. I can play
without knowing that. The big thing is, if you
want, you can move yourself on the board. You
can tell me where you go. Okay. Keep in mind
that because you're walking especially you're
still they can still hear you potentially. So
you're gonna roll stealth check. Okay, okay But
like if you attack from visible you tackle the
data than nothing. Yeah Okay, there's a lot of
perks to it. I'm gonna move this himself then
Okay, so you don't take your friend from the
board and I will not know where you are. I might
take action to check but you vanish and suddenly
Our little board has four figures on it in a
fight with eight. Very exciting. Very, very exciting.
Do you want me to roll stealth when I just moved?
Yes, go ahead and roll stealth. In case I try
to contest it. Oh, advantage. You can roll advantage
because you're invisible. That'd be a 14. Okay,
all right. Sweet. It's better than my passive,
so good, good. Jules vanishes. And with that,
two targets in the open, three windlings. Suddenly...
Whoa, you move again? Yeah. Top of the round.
Jesus Christ. Oh, yeah. And I went first with
two of them. Oh, it is the top of the round,
yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. I had the three initiative,
so I'm last. I thought they moved after we did.
No, they moved before. I'll give you a little
hint that they were at the top, because I said
they saw two of these things blur. Oh, actually,
only two of them. That's right. Yeah, because
I remember you saying, I'm going to make another
move here, and then we're good. Yes. So, I think
you're standing there. Jules vanishes. Zebulon,
you turn to Vi. You ask what the weakness is,
and Vi just kind of looks at you. He's just like,
I don't know. If anything, I just don't know
why they're working with Kasim. They must think
we're hurting him, or if I could just talk to
them. And all of a sudden, he cuts off as one
of these creatures appears in front of him and
just smashes into him with like a force that
surprises you. Or at least he's going to try
to. Oh yeah, that's going to hit. That's going
to hit. Get some damage on this. Okay. You watch
as Vi cuts off. This creature appears out of
nowhere, smashes into him, and his voice cuts
off with a crack of bone as he is smashed against
a tree just behind him. Just crack! And just
kind of like, eyes go wide for a second, and
he starts slumping, slowly sliding down the trunk,
and falls to his knees, onto his butt. He's just
like, staring out. He is unconscious. Oh my god,
are you kidding me? And maybe dead. You don't
know. So now for my reaction, I don't even get
sneak attack, right? Oh, you would not. Yeah,
I guess you wouldn't, unless Jules was in 5 feet,
which I don't know if that... No, I mean Vi was
in 5 feet, but now he's... He went down immediately.
Well, that really sucks. I was counting on that
sneak attack damage there. But I will take my
reaction. Okay. Give me that reaction. What are
you going to do? I'm going to strike out with
my rapier. Okay. Well, actually, I guess that
depends. Yeah, no, that's really all I got. All
right, so that's a 17 plus 5. That's going to
hit for sure. Nice. I'm going to get my D8 out
for damage. Ooh, that's 8 damage. Nice. 8 damage,
okay. And I got to be honest, I have the persimmon
in one hand, so I don't have my other sword.
my other, uh, saber out yet. Mark that down.
Okay. Yeah. Uh, so yeah, you, uh, you have the
persimmon in one hand, but Hey, you had that
persimmon. It's actually very interesting. You
know what? You know what? I'm glad you noted
that because these are tricksters and one of
them also appears just in front of you. Um, I
think it's like, you see, it comes almost out
of a slam motion and it like eyes, but spend
your hand and it kind of puts us, it's, it's,
it's like little, I mentioned them as like, kind
of like, monkey -esque before. And they kind
of have some features, like the hands and such,
but they actually look almost like bat -like
in the face, too. They have these little bat
wings, these sort of, like, cat -ish, bat -ish
faces with big green eyes, purplish blue sort
of fur all over their bodies. They're kind of
silly looking, and this one kind of, like, puts
his hands up to the sides of his head and does
a little, like, neener -neener expression. He
just kind of does a... Like, Titsa just hung
out, makes a farsight, and snatches out to grab
the persimmon from you. I'm going to make an
honorable attack to grab it. Seriously. Do you
need to, like, is there a mechanical way that,
like, I just don't resist? Tell you what, you
can just give me advantage. Sure. All right.
It's like if he fucks up, it's because he's an
idiot and he doofs. But he did not doof with
a 15 on the die. So he snatches the persimmon,
trying to decide if biting it is a bonus action.
Or would that be an object interaction? That
would be an object interaction. Sure, sure. He
just grabs it, kind of like a... Takes a bite.
Oh, my God. Does he bite into the part with the
pepper? Oh, come on. Come on. I'm doing a wild
thing here. How many bites is he going to take
out of this thing? He doesn't eat it in one bite?
I mean, how big of a piece of paper could you
put in this large persimmon? You tell me. I'm
going to say it's a 50 -50 chance that he gets
the pepper on this bite. Okay. I think that's
a good way of handling this. All right. Don't
be too nice to you. Now since you fucked up and
didn't bring John Franklin. All right. One, two,
three. No pepper. Four, five, six. Pepper. Three.
He bites it. And he's still holding it. But he's...
Makes another fart noise at you. And that's his
turn. All right. But you see where he bites.
You can see almost like the edge of the pepper
is just beyond the bite mark. He's holding it
up while making gestures at you. And you're like,
okay, maybe, maybe you can egg him on a little
more. That's going to be you, Zebulon. How do
I egg him on a little more? This is fun. I want
you to think about this. Like, he's having fun
messing with you right now. Yeah. All right.
I love how everyone in this world, even people
he's fighting against, wants to pick on Zebulon.
I don't know how, but they got to be able to
be outsmarted. Yeah. Being that cocky about it.
I think it just needs to be just a simple sort
of like taunt. I don't even know if maybe it
could just be like a free action sort of thing.
So I want to draw, now that my hand's free, I
want to draw my other saber and look at the one
with the persimmon who's to my... Right. Yes,
right to your right. And I kind of want to, like,
mime that I'm trying to take a bite out of the
persimmon. Like trying to bite it out of his
hand while he's doing it? Right, exactly. All
right, roll me a... I like this a lot, so I want
you to roll me a performance or deception, your
choice, with advantage. They're both minus one,
so it doesn't matter. All right, that's an 11.
12. Okay. I actually was looking for a DC 12.
Sweet. Nice. Um, so yeah, so, so you're doing
this thing. Uh, and I think it's just enough
because he's, he's like expecting this and wanting
this. So he's going to see what he wants to see.
And he's just kind of like getting all excited.
Um, all right. I love it. Uh, sweet. I can't
make a move on that yet. No. Yeah. I wasn't really,
I just, I'm thinking and hoping that he'll do
it on his next turn. Yeah. All right. Um, but
now I'd like to, to, Aim my two attacks at the
previously injured guy who's to my left. Oh,
yes. Okay. Go ahead. The one that just smashed
into Vi. Just KO'd by one shot. And he's just
kind of like laughing at the body. You don't
know if it's conscious or alive or dead. Would
you roll? That's a 12 for the first attack. 12
will miss. Shit. Oh, don't worry about that second
attack. Because as a reaction, I'm going to use
Trickster's Flight. You gotta be kidding me.
When someone misses a windling with an attack
roll, they can immediately fly 30 feet without
taking an AOO. Are you serious? So it just, like,
dives around your weapon and slides 5, 30 feet
back. And is, again, just, like, just, like,
just spanking its butt in your direction. Like,
looping around all silly as you go to miss your
second attack. Was that a waste of that attack,
then? Or do I get to use it again? You still
have your second attack. Okay. You know what,
though? I think if this guy bites the persimmon,
that's going to take him out of the fight. Can
I kind of do sort of the same thing where I kind
of like feign an attack on this guy with the
persimmon? All right, I'm into it. Yeah. Like,
maybe I roll unarmed or something? I don't know.
I don't know how you want to do this. I don't
want to hit him. You can just tell me you're
feigning an attack. Okay. Yeah. Could you try
to take the persimmon from him? Yeah. Show him
that you want it? Or even, well, because I think
I did that first with the bite. Oh, right, right,
yeah. So now if he knows that, I mean, he knows
I have two weapons and I'm going to use them,
so I just don't want him to think, I don't know
how freaking smart this thing is, but I kind
of just want to, yeah, just do like a, so I just
want to feign an attack on him. And you just
kind of want to attack him? You son of a, and
Zebulon's going to get all, like, visibly flustered.
and just try to, like, really whiff. You know,
like, he's swinging for the fences, but not really.
He's swinging, like, right to the side or something.
I'm actually going to count as a miss, too, and
he's going to activate his trickster's flight
and also fly backwards right beside his buddy,
about 30 feet in front of you. That's great.
Right between, 30 feet between you and Kesem.
So he just kind of, like, swings back by his
buddy and joins him in, like, the butt spanking.
He spins around, persimmon in hand, waving it
in your direction, like, ha -ha, gotcha. That's
Vi, but it's not. And then that's Kasim. You
see Kasim is over there, just watching. And he
actually looks visibly annoyed as he sees these
tricksters are playing with you and not just
doing the job. He's just kind of like... And
they just kind of turn like... And just almost
like arguing with him, but in a playful manner.
And he's furious. And that's that. Then... One
more of these creatures appears. Right beside
you, Zebulon. Excellent. I'm going to attack
you. Oh, that's going to hit for sure. Zebulon,
you're... Don't forget, I now, with my two swords,
I have 17 AC. I rolled an 18 on the die. Okay,
that's fine. Definitely, super hit. So this guy
basically suddenly appears from invisible in
front of you. You're watching the other two,
and you are hit with this force. It tackles into
you, but there's more to its force than its form
would belie, if that makes sense. It's staggering,
and you take max damage. Nine points of bludgeoning
damage. You are crashed. This thing smashes into
you with all of its might. That's not good. It's
not good at all. Zeb is still up, but not by
much. playful little bat creature is just smiling
at you. Yes. What are these things? Holden is
wherever he got hit. That's Chester. So now that
Vaya is down and Jules is no longer in front,
I think he's going to use his sling to go for
that one. Give me advantage on that. Hell yeah.
And I believe Chester also gets a 1d6 if he attacks
from stealth with his sling. Yep. There you go.
He gets a little bit of a sneak attack as well.
Well, that's first. That'll be for damage. Is
it for damage? Hold on. I think so. I thought
it was attack. Maybe it's attack. I actually
don't know. That would be wild. Self -attack.
Oh, damage. Yeah, you're right. You're right.
Okay, well, in any case, he's got a 19 to hit.
Okay, roll again. Do you have advantage? See
if you get that crit. I did not. Okay, roll damage.
Yeah, that D6 to it. We got one here with some
DM sweat. I bathed it in Steven's tears. So that's
four damage. Four damage, okay. Four damage ain't
nothing. All right, so... I said the odd of the
underbrush. A precious thing launches this small
stone, would it be? And just clocks this thing.
And just kind of like sort of shaking, wobbling
in the air a little bit. This exaggerated movement.
Thanks, Zeb. Get ready. There's more coming.
Jules, what are you doing? Now, did that give
him away, or is he still... He would be noticed
now. Okay. But he can move and stealth... Well,
he can't have a bonus action stealth, but you
could try to, like, move somewhere else. Okay,
I do kind of want to move him a little bit. Okay,
yeah. I'm going to move him just a couple more
spaces to the left, just so he's not in the same
exact position that he was. All right, so he
just gets down and starts moving through the
brush. He can't quite hide with his turn, but
he's still... You know, a place where he can
be obscured. Okay. Hell yeah. And that's going
to be you, Invisible Jewels. All right, I'm going
to move. Okay. I got to roll stealth, right?
Yes. That's a 14. Okay, all right. Which I think
was the same roll as the last one. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I just got real nervous, and I'm going
to make a roll on my turn. But we're going to
wait for that. Okay. You should be able to double
move this turn, right? I don't need to double
move anymore. Gotcha. So I'm done moving. I'm
still invisible. You son of a... No! He just
appeared behind Kasim! I did not appear. I did
not appear. I am still invisible. You're still
invisible. So Kasim is watching and you are behind
him. I was just like, oh no, I need to roll perception.
I need to roll perception on Jules. I didn't
think of that. I come up behind Kasim and put
my arm around his neck and I say, call them off
or I'll drop you like a sack of moldy potatoes.
Holy shit. Yeah, Jules, you get him! All right,
I'll wait until Casper's turn to resolve that.
Holy shit, I didn't see that coming. That's intense.
Oh, wait. I hate it. I mean, I do still have
an action. You have an action. What can you do
with it? I don't want to drop him yet. That's
not noble. I guess you could ready it, I suppose.
Hey, you can ready an action. If he doesn't do
this, you do this. Okay, I'm going to ready Inflict
Wounds. Holy shit. Hell yeah. So if he doesn't
call them off, you Inflict Wounds. Got him. I
am floor. Holy shit. Me too. Okay, okay. That's
the two winlings. They don't know this is happening
yet, I want to say, because they were focusing
their efforts on Zebulon. And you kind of just
like appear behind him and start whispering.
He hasn't had a chance to cry out yet, so I am
going to have... One of these guys do something
here. Let me do a quick roll. See something.
Okay, perfect. The white one vanishes. Again.
Okay. And that's all you see. Not what I was
hoping the white one would do. Now the green
one. Holding the persimmon. Oh, I thought it
was the other way around. Was it? I'm pretty
sure the... Yeah, because it was the one that
was on my right. The one that I attacked. Yeah.
No, I'm sorry. The one that was on my right was
the one that had the persimmon. The one that
was here on my left was the one that... Yeah,
the white one is the one that tackled Cass. Oh,
okay. I was just confused because this one was
on the left. The green one was on the left and
the white one was on the right. No, the green
one was the one that was taunting you. So, yeah,
basically, the one that was taunting you, holding
the persimmon, looks over at it and winks at
you and takes another bite. Hell yeah. And Zebulon's...
Just trying his best not to, like, give it away,
not to smirk, not to, like, not to give a tell.
I love this because I'm going to roll a constitution
saving throw, and from experience, you know I
need to roll. Yeah, like a 20. A 20, yeah. A
DC 20 con save for this win lane. And, like,
you know that face that you make when you're
trying so hard not to laugh? Yes, yes. He's,
like, trying to, like, make his face frown, like.
You tricked the trickster. Oh, my gosh. Okay.
Huh. I actually rolled a 20. Legitimately. I
rolled a 19 with a plus one. Are you shitting
me? Get the fuck out. I really want this to work,
but I actually didn't roll a 20. That was like
money in the bag. The hell? I cannot believe
it. No, I love this. I love this. I love this.
Oh my god. This guy bites into it, bites through
the pepper, and you see him go... Just kind of
like coughing, coughing. He starts his eyes wide.
He starts staring around. Jules, you know from
experience, he sees like skulls in the face of
everybody. And then his green eyes narrow in
rage towards you. He throws the pepper down the
ground or the pepper ampersand and splatting
it onto the ground below. And rather than running
away in terror, he is pissed. Oh boy. Oh, yes.
I can't. Oh, my God. That was the move right
there. Hey, Zebulon, didn't you say that biting
this pepper would be an object interaction last
round? We clarified that, right? I did. Great,
because I'm going to fly right up to you and
kick your ass. Great. Excellent. Good. You monster.
Here we go. He goes in to tackle you. Jeremy,
I have 5 HP, by the way. Jesus Christ. Zebulon,
that is A. 18 to hit. Oh my god, that fucking
hits. Are you shitting me? I can't believe how
bad this is going. It's alright. Minimum damage.
Six. That's it. He steps down. You're trying
not to laugh, and this thing just like turns
against you in a big way. This thing just spins
on you and launches at you with ferocity and
crashes into you. And you also just go, boom,
limp. Besides Vi. It's wild. No, it's so intense.
But what they don't know is what's happening
behind them. But first of all, I want you to
roll your death. All right, here we go. Guys,
I'm sorry. That's a 10. That's a pass. Okay.
Oh, my God. This is really hard for me. This
is Kasim's turn. I don't know what I'm going
to have him do here. Oh, my God. All right. Kasim
is standing. I imagine you have your arm around
him. What do you have, like a hand to his back,
like ready to cast the magic sort of thing? Give
me a visual idea of what this looks like. I think
I have my arm around his neck, and then my right
arm is around his waist. Okay, so he sees it.
Probably sees a malevolent glow beginning to
form. I'm not. I'm still invisible. Oh, that's
right. Yeah, you can't see. That spell doesn't
end unless I attack. Yes, that's true. Okay,
so yeah. I'm still invisible. So yeah, you're
still technically invisible. He knows you're
there. He's kind of just holding his hands up.
That's why the windlings also wouldn't know that
there's something wrong here. No, his arms are
down. I have his arms with me. Okay, all right.
So he's just kind of... If you kill me, no one's
going to stop them. You die too. You get that,
right? We can still work something out. Okay?
We could still make a deal. Well, then it sounds
like the best option for everybody involved is
for you to call off these little fuckers. And
then what? Then we'll talk about it. Talk about
it? I got Zeb here. I got my whole crew. He'll
rat me out. We talk. Zeb. He like glances over.
It's like, oh, we're talking, Jules. Your friend
is dying. And your money is going bye -bye. He's
gritting his teeth. I want you to roll. Wait,
the scheming. Scheming at the table. What is
this? Get me in there. At least scheme into your
mics. Okay. See, the longer you're here with
us, the more money you're losing. And the more
people are on their way. You remember our little
cohorts in the game there. They know we're here.
Roll me Deception. Yes, there's a chance. 26.
Baby! 26. 26. 26. All right. Okay. Okay. He's
just stiff, holding himself up. for a long moment
just waiting and then just kind of cold kind
of cold kind of cold kind of go gonna go gonna
go gonna go gonna go and He's yelling this over
and over and you see like one windling the one
that was it went visible appears Moving right
up on Chester like just kind of like whoa as
things appears in front of him Like it was getting
ready to strike and it's kind of like okay We're
stopping. Oh, no shit. God. Are you joking but?
I'm gonna roll for the windling that's currently
in a pepper madness. Oh my god. To see if that
motherfucker's gonna stop. Because I think that
is funny. You're gonna try to kill Zebulon outright?
Maybe. Oh my god. Holy shit. Maybe I will. So,
he kills it. The two withlings stop. This is
the fucking game, though. Um, but then there's
still that green, the green mini on the front,
that's like Sambo Zebulon, and just kind of like,
he's getting ready to charge down. Let me roll.
I'm gonna roll. Basically luck. Once again, one
to three, he's going to stop as well. He's going
to hear it. Okay. Four to six, he does not. Four.
He... Shit, what was it? You said one to three,
he stops. Four to six, he does not. Oh my god,
yes! Oh, I'm so excited. Okay, four. Dude, is
Zebulon going to die tonight? Dude, this win
-ling. He rises up, and Jules, you can see, this
one's not stopping. And Kasim's, hey, hey, I
don't know what's happening. He should stop.
He should stop. I don't know what's happening.
Please, please, please. He's terrified. This
is bad. This is really bad. First windling that
actually was going to appear in Tech Chester
doesn't do anything. He actually moves away from
Chester. Chester can take an AO if he wants,
but this guy is not fighting. I've got goosebumps.
Yeah, I think as he's doing that, Jules is going
to say, I told you what's going to happen if
you didn't call him off. I told you. That happens.
It's on you. I can't. He's not listening. It's
on you. I just met them. I give them persimmons.
I do things I ask them to, but I don't have control
over them. I can't control them. Please. Whose
fault is that? I didn't mean to start the fire.
I didn't mean any of it. I didn't mean it. Please.
Then you go out there and you stop him. Okay.
Oh, my God. This one thing is moving away from
Chester. Do you want to do anything with that?
He's going back. Okay. He's flying back. That's
all that's going to happen there. Okay. That
is Chester's turn. Wait. Did the green windling
go yet? It's not his turn yet? No, he's ready
yet. It's not his turn yet, though. Oh, shit.
You have until his turn before he's going to
strike you while you're down. All right. Chester's
going to go for a shot. Okay. I guess. Chester's
going to wail him. Do it. Save me, Chester. Because
I moved him through the brush. He didn't hide,
so he wouldn't be stealthed. You'd use the hide
action to stealth. That's a 22. That's going
to hit. Oh, I fucked up his damage before, too.
Whoops. It was a 1d4 plus 2. I didn't have the
plus 2 the first time. Okay, let me add that
now. And he only gets the extra d6 if he's in
stealth. That doesn't seem fair, because I forgot
it. You know, you're being honest now. You might
be saving Zebulon's life. Please take the plus
two. Critical shit right now. And that's a three.
Three damage total? Okay. Yep. So no plus two
on that? That was with plus two. Okay. Boom.
Okay, this thing's still up. Oh boy. Oh boy.
Still up. That's you, Jules. Kasim's blubbering.
He doesn't know what to do. You've got him held.
But while you're here, on the other side of the
field, something very, very bad is happening.
Chester's just like, Jules! Jules, I can't stop
it! He's shooting out. Wham! Wham! Another waxes
thing. Windling kind of shakes his head. It just
kind of goes right back into attack. This is
fucking wild. I'm going to my arm that's around
Kasim's waist. I'm not taking my arm off. I'm
going to briefly lift my hand up. And cast Dissonant
Whispers onto the creature in front of Zebulon.
What's the range? 60 feet. 60 feet exactly! Oh
my god. He's 60 feet exactly from you! Oh my
god! Literally, yeah, yeah. Counting that out,
that is 60 feet exactly. Yep. Oh my gosh. Yeah,
you need to make a wisdom save. Oh boy, please,
please, please. What's the DC? What'd you roll?
14. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh, what made it? It's
got to be like a 12. It's a 13. Oh, my gosh.
Okay. Oh, no. Oh, man. Oh, no. Oh, my God. So,
yeah, you cast this out, and it's like this thing
has gone into a rage. I think it's green eyes
are almost looking like they're taking this red
tint. I was not expecting this. No. And just
like these whispers are just like you see its
ears moving a little bit. Is there like a half
damage effect, anything like that on a save?
This is crazy. I'm going to take a picture of
the man who's about to kill my character. It's
me. I'm that guy. Yes, on a successful save,
you take half as much damage. But you don't move
away, which is 3d6 psychic damage. Give me that
damage. You got one windling to deal with now.
The other ones are getting out of there. 11.
Not bad. Half. So 11, half. Five more damage?
That's... That's very good. Not enough. This
thing looks... So I will say, as it's still making
this rage, all of a sudden, like, its eyes kind
of start to almost, like, looking like in cross
-eyed. And, like, veins are popping on its head
a little bit. And it looks like it's twitching.
It looks like it's taking this, like, weird damage.
It doesn't even realize it's happening. It's
just so angry. Yeah. I mean, come on. This guy
is the trickster. How could you? How could you?
How? Shit. Could you? What happens next, David?
What happens next? Oh, man. Well, this went Ling.
I mean, there's no reason for it to actually
attack its buddy. No, there's not. Good. Make
sure he doesn't think so. I'm sorry, man. He's
also getting out of here. I'm obviously the last
person who wants this character to die, but we're
not here to pull punches. Yeah, no, this is...
I mean, I'm being super mean, but, like, you
know what? I think this is fun. This is a very
surreal moment right now. I can't fucking believe
this is about to happen. Like, I don't really
see a way that he doesn't, that Zebulon doesn't
just die right here. Wait. Hang on a fucking
second. We know that the damage potential is
huge. Yeah. And where are you at right now? No,
this is actually stupid. What? I swear to God,
I literally just rolled a two and a three. No
shit. Because I have advantage to attack a downed
person. Oh my god. I literally just rolled a
two and a three. No shit. I swear. Two and a
three. I should have just rolled it in the open.
You should have rolled it in the open. It was
two and a three. I was almost like I was rolling
just like, yeah, whatever, I got him. I saw him
rolling twice and I was like, what the fuck is
he doing? I have a plus seven to hit. I have
advantage to hit a target that's down. But it
doesn't automatically work. I'm trying to figure
out what this means. Wow. Because that's a ten.
Huh. Let me go check this. I'm making sure this
is the rule for hitting an unconscious person.
Hang on. I'll make a good solution. Yeah, I don't
really know what to say about that. Like, I'm
obviously pleased, but doesn't it feel a little
anticlimactic? Like, for the past five minutes,
I've just been preparing for the death of my
character on, like, episode 20. But Zebulon wasn't
dead yet. He was unconscious. He still wasn't
dead. Well, it wasn't dead. But if I attacked
him, I might have done enough to... Actually,
I don't know if I can overkill you. 14 HP? Don't
you have to send me down to negative 14 or something
like that? Yes, and if I do hit you, it's a critical
hit automatically. If I'm within five feet of
you, and I am. Attack rules against creature
have advantage. Yeah, like, I really didn't see
a way out. I mean, low roll. Well, okay. He rolled
low. Because your sword wouldn't matter, but
hey, that's still a... I mean, I... I'm confused
at what everybody's so confused about, because
to me, you just rolled low. Yeah, it just seems
wild to me that I managed to roll that low with
advantage. I mean, it's just... I mean, you did.
I did. I think that's fucking momentous. I literally
did. I was just about to say the damage. I did
a double take, because I was like, wait, what
the fuck? When I looked back down and saw a three
on the second, I was like, oh, that was a bad
one. Whatever. And I rolled again, and I was
like, okay, so I... I don't think you should
cut this. Sure, it's shocking. What the heck?
I'm not anymore. I mean, sure, it's shocking
and odd because we're just so sure about it,
but like I said, Zebulon was not dead yet. It's
not over until it's over. It hasn't happened
until it happened. What was going to happen was
it was going to crit you, and if that didn't
finish you off on its own, it would have been
two points towards a fail, and you would have
gone next, and you would have rolled. Potentially,
that would have given you a chance of dying there.
It was so clear -cut, but like... What am I going
to do? I fucking rolled dirt. So what happens?
This is the game. Here's what happens. This is
the fucking game. Here's what happens. He's got,
like, jewels, that weird thing. His brain's all,
like, filled with these whispers. His mind's,
like, pulsing with these veins. And his eyes
are, literally, he was cross -eyed. He goes to
attack you. And he smashes into the dirt next
to you. A cloud of dirt around him. And he's,
like, yelling out. He's, like, covering in fucking
dirt. Oh, my God. Holy shit. He's just lying
on the ground next to this thing. What the fuck?
What the fuck? This is insane. I saw it in your
face. You were ready to grieve. Oh, dude, I had
accepted it. I had accepted it earlier. Like,
once Zebulon went down, and I was thinking about
it, I was like, there's just not enough moves.
I didn't know that you had an attack that could
reach him from there. I didn't know either until...
And so it's been like a roller coaster. I was
like, okay, Zebulon's dead. And then I was like,
oh, wait a minute, maybe he's alive. Okay, no,
he's definitely dead. So brutal, so mean. So
now we have one round. Roll a save. Okay, here
we go. If you roll a one, though, you're in bad
place, no matter what. If you roll a fail at
all, this is bad, because I might go before anyone
else gets to go again. I might get that next
chance to strike. That's a fail. Okay, that's
a fail. That's a fail. We have one fail for Zeb.
So it looks a lot better, but not out of the
woods yet. So did this thing just, like, is he
still... They're still going at him. He didn't
actually hear him this time. It is Kasim's turn
again. I'm going to have Kasim yell again. I
think that's only fair. I'm going to do another
one of those checks. So Kasim's going to... I
don't even remember what I was saying before.
He's just yelling wherever he can to this creature.
And once again, 1, 2, 3, he stops. 4, 5, 6, he's
still enraged. Do you want to roll in the open?
Let's roll right on the map. So right on Zebulon's
dead body. See if he can hit Zebulon. Ready?
Great. I missed. That's a three. It's a three.
That's a three. So when he's smashed into the
ground, it's kind of like he comes back up. Kind
of doing like a Disney or Looney Tunes kind of
like Disney sort of thing. And then like shakes
his head. And he hears the voice this time. And
he perks up. Oh, my God. And he calms down. He
almost looks down at you and like. Kind of sad.
Oh, my God. But, I mean, with that, these guys
were called off, at least right now. Situation's
a little bit controlled. We're going to still
be rolling, though, or staying in turn order
because we've got to deal with the fact that
Zebulon is hurt. Yep. So the windlings all zoom
back. They don't even see you. No, you did use
a spell. So they see you now, and now they all
come rushing over. They're told to stop. They're
not doing anything, but they're kind of watching
you curiously, like these two eyes, or two pairs
of eyes. One of them is still over by Zebulon.
Two of them rush to you. Okay. Jewels. And that's
going to be Chester first. Chester, what does
he want to do? I think he's going to stay where
he's at. Okay. No, you know what? He's going
to step out from the brush just a little bit.
Okay. So he steps out into the open. He still
has his sling ready. Yeah, sling's ready. Zeb?
Hey! Zeb, you hear me? Zeb, come on, you're scaring
me, man! Zeb! He's calling out towards you. That's
you, Jules. You send them off this world, then
we go and talk back at the market. You were just
about to do it before we caught you. Do it. They're
just leaving the valley. They're leaving the
valley. They're going back to the mountains.
Send them now. And the creatures. And you see
them all just kind of start darting around. They
grab a bunch of persimmons as many as they can
hold, and they just kind of start flying out.
They're moving out. We're not out of this yet,
because everyone's still making those rolls.
But they're getting out of here. And he even
says, like, they said, um, thanks for playing.
Jesus Christ. And... So, are they gone? They're
leaving. They don't have a movement to be fully
gone yet, because we're still in turn order.
But they are grabbing persimmons, and they're
starting to move out. And I'm going to say, move
forward. Okay. Right now, I'm in control. Once
we get back to the market, we talk. All right.
And then... I am also going to use a bonus action
and cast Bardic Inspiration onto Zebulon. Oh,
interesting. That works on AD 20 roll, right?
Yep. Let me double check that. 60 feet on any
ability check, attack, or save. Death saves are
a save. I need to know how you're doing this
because this sounds really cool. Zebulon is currently
like, you just got like crushed Zebulon. You
felt bones break and you're lying there. You're
like... I mean, what does this feel like? You
almost died once before, and here you are again,
lying in the dirt in the jungles of Samsonco.
Yeah, it's helpless. It's the feel of defeat.
I mean, Zebulon thought that he was going to
die here. And Jules, what do you do? How do you
cast this inspiration? How do you reach out to
your friend? I think as we're moving forward
with Kasim, I just kind of stick my hip out.
And my loot's kind of on my back there, and it
just kind of glows and shoots a beam across the
field and covers Zebulon in the light. I like
to think, Zebulon, that you're lying there in
this darkness, in this void, and maybe just very,
very faintly you hear the tunes of that song.
Jewel sang just the night before. You hear it.
It's phantom notes. And you move towards it.
You push towards it. Go ahead and roll a death
save. But out of D6. Oh, D6. Right, right, right.
Means you can't roll a one, which is you would
have died. Oh, that's a pass, so. Okay. Nice,
nice. Yeah, you don't need to use it. It lasts
for 10 minutes. Don't need to use it this time.
It lasts for 10 minutes. Shit. Hold on to it.
Yeah. You guys are moving across. So it's going
to take you two rounds to get there, but you
can reach him before he does another save. Everyone's
kind of holding still. I think Chester's watching
with his sling ready. Basically, just kind of
like if he makes a move, he's going to shoot
Kassim. You keep him in your cross, he has Chester.
Oh, yeah, Jules. Just get to Zeb. Quick, quick.
And the windlings are gone. They're out of here.
Okay. Are we in free form? At this point, you
reached Zebulon. Okay. I'm going to turn before
he has to roll again. Okay. So I'm going to keep
my hand around Kasim's waist. Actually, you know
what? No. I'm going to keep my left arm around
his neck, and I'm going to bend down to Zeb,
bending with Kasim in my grip so that he has
to uncomfortably come down with me. Goes down
with you. And I'm going to... Cast Cure Wounds
onto Zebulon. Yeah, there we go. Zebulon, in
the darkness, the music reaches a crescendo.
You were there, and you were in the light. Freed
from the dark around you, eh? I see what you
did there. I see, I see. So it's 1d8 plus 6.
Okay, roll that heal, and Zebulon, you snap awake.
This was the most unorthodox fight I've ever
experienced. I'm sorry, 1d8 plus 3. What a wild
scenario. You got nine. All right. Yeah, and
Zebulon opens his eyes and slowly starts to,
oh, what's going on? Did we get him, Jules? So
far, we did. You scared me again, man. Stop fucking
doing that. What did I do? What did I do? What
did I do? No! No! No! I'm actually going to roll
to try to escape. Actually, I'm not exactly grappled,
but like, you can try to force him back, but
he actually starts trying to push away from you
to get to his brother who's lying in front of
him. Remember, he's uncomfortably bent over backwards
because I have him held. I'm going to roll with
this advantage to try to fight out of your grip,
we'll say. So, go ahead and roll me Athletics.
Don't worry about it. I rolled a natural one.
Okay. He falls backwards. He's more like on the
ground. He's trying to fight. No, no, no, no.
Vi, Vi, Vi, what did I do? I'm sorry. Relax,
relax, relax. And I'm going to go over and do
the same thing to Vi and cast Cure Wounds on
Vi. Okay. Go ahead and give me the healing on
that. And he's got eight points. Nice. Yeah,
you cast this. Save the day, man. You cast this.
And the light doesn't stick. Are you shitting
me? It fades. And you realize that Vi didn't
make it. You can see blood is running down from
a gash on his head, down his chin, his neck,
down his sleeve, to his wrist, his right hand,
where he's clutching. A photograph of a handsome
young man that he was going to marry. Was there
any time, like, could Chester have gone over,
or was he already dead at that point? I over
-damaged him on the first hit. I also max -damaged
him when I hit him, and it was, he died instantly.
The crack you heard was his neck. Wow. Yeah.
Vi is slumped down by the tree, and Kassim is...
Why isn't it working? Why didn't it work? It
worked on your friend! Why didn't it work on
my brother? Why didn't it work? Why didn't it
work? Why didn't it work, Jules? You play stupid
games, you're gonna win stupid fucking prizes.
No. No. No. Wait, what? Jules, are you sure?
I can't... And Zebulon goes over and... closes
Vi's eyes or something like that. This doesn't
feel real. Chasm just goes quiet, just sobbing
to himself on the ground. And I think you could
tell, with even your passive insight, he is harmless
now. Let's get out of here, Jules. Let's bring
this guy back to the market. You can at least
help us, Chasm. Take your brother out of here.
He doesn't say anything. He just, if you let
him, he tries slowly to get to his feet. And
he just slumping, like slouching, just walks
over to his brother. Reaches down and tries to
pick him up. I think Jules comes over and grabs
one end. Whatever is... Still have to pick up.
I see you both grab an arm and slung it over
your shoulders, and Chasm's just not even looking
at you, staring forward, eyes watery and wide,
crazed still. It's like, I was scared. I was
going to lose him, and I didn't mean for all
this to happen. I didn't mean for all this to
happen. Well, you ended up losing them anyway.
It should have been me. Should have been better
than me. He was always the one that... Should
have been me. I'll face justice. Come what may.
I won't fight anymore. I won't run. I'll admit
it all. Let's get your brother back to the market.
We'll figure things out there. And he... And
the rest of the two of you begin to... move.
Zebulon, you're probably still in somewhat of
shock. You almost died yourself and you're barely
standing. You're walking your way. I think Chester
actually makes a move over towards you. He's
like, Hey, Zeb. He tries to get under your arm
if you need help. It's okay. Thank you, Chester.
I think I'll clear a path. He's going to cope
by keeping his hands busy with his sabers. helps
slice a path through the thick jungle. You guys
begin to move. I think Chester hangs back for
just a moment, watching you, watching all of
you, with this sort of stupefied, sort of innocent
expression on his face. He looks down at the
dirt, where a bit of blood still remains, under
the tree that Vi had been smashed against, and
just sort of shakes his head. It begins to follow.
Short time passes. You break through the dense
jungle forest. Back out onto the top of the hill,
looking down at the Dinsing Night Market. You've
cast them in hand. What do you want to do? Just
move straight down? Yeah, I think we need to
bring Vi to somewhere. Yeah, I think we just
move in solemn silence through. through the brush
back to the market. Maybe we head back to their
tent. I mean, I feel like once we break out of
the brush into the market, people are going to
see it. People are going to catch on. Yeah. I
think that's going to be like the cinematic moment
we emerge from the trees with a body. But I think
bringing Vi back to the tent is, that's good
decorum. You know what I mean? Like we can get
him out of view of everybody and that can be
like quote unquote home base. Right. So let's
just say you guys break through the trees, you
step out on top of the hill, and you begin to
move down towards the market proper. And as you
do, you do see a few people here and there, like
far down there, just stop and look, stop and
look. You see two figures begin running up towards
you. You see Dance and Ramin. And they charge
up about halfway up the hill. They stop short,
looking at Kassim, looking at Vi. Ramin just
says, what? What happened? What is this? Rami,
can you help us get Vi back to the tent? Of course,
yes. Let me try to get in there, too. He's almost,
like, struggling, then dances, because, like,
let me do it. And she steps in, like, I think
it was much more, I think she comes on your side,
Jules, actually, and she just kind of, like,
steps aside and kind of, like, almost nudges
you a little bit and tries to help you get under
the arm. Well, they were ready for fresh hands.
I don't know how far it was from the pepper field.
It's been a while. You want to step off? It's
been a while. Yeah, I'm going to step off. Okay.
After I break off, I'm going to turn to Kasim
and say, you still going to be honorable? He
looks you in the eyes, and then Ramin comes over,
just trying to take an arm, and Kasim waves him
off. No. It's my burden. And he just looks you
in the eye, Jules, and nods. And I think dance
also, where she just took your spot, looks over
at you, and while she was being sort of terse
before, there's kind of a softness in her eyes
now. And she gives you her own kind of nod, like,
you know, clearly this did not go well. And there's
some, I guess, solidarity there. There's some
understanding. Yeah, just give her a little nod
back. And they begin to move, the part of you
all move as a group. And as you move... This
exchange of carrying the body was seen in more
when people began to gather. By the time you
hit the market, there's a crowd. You see Sid
Squid is there with some of his earlier chefs.
start running out to, like, help and see what
they can do. You see Madam Culp is sort of watching.
It's kind of this, like, leader figurehead of
this large group of people behind her. You see
just, like, general people you've seen all this
time. Fi from Fi's Flora is there, and she's
taking this in. I think she knew this was going
on. She's got a hand over her mouth and eyes,
like, already running with tears. And you join
them. And I think, unless there's anything specific
you want to do, I imagine what follows is just
a blur of activity. Well, I think partly for
flavor, partly for maybe kind of cementing our
image with the public. I think when Kasim puts
his brother's body down, wherever it is, I'm
going to come up behind him, say, all right,
hands behind your back, and then I'm going to
reach over to Chester, and he's going to hand
me a rope, and I'm going to tie up his hands.
And the people just watch with, like... and I
imagine you explained it all, but I think Madame
Culp comes forward like, what are you doing?
What happened out there? Yeah, I think as all
this is happening, as this quote -unquote procession
is making its way to the tent, Zebulon's filling
everybody in, the big members of the market,
Madame Culp and Squidface, whatever. He's kind
of giving them the rundown, telling them that
Kasim was behind the... The feud all along and
about the fey and what happened in the pepper
field. And Kasim, hands bound, head down low,
just moves along. And I think, like, they bring
Vi to a tent. They keep him away from everybody
else. You know, the door's closed. Guards stay
at, you know, just to make sure he's honored
properly. Guards kind of stay at the tent entrance.
And amidst the wailing and the crying and just
the general... Completely down atmosphere. There's
at least some sparks of joy as the Tianmos are
no longer considered suspects in this crime.
They're released. Lumai runs past you just, oh,
it's so terrible what happened, but oh, thank
you so much. I didn't know what to do. They thought
I was a criminal. She's a little gnome woman,
like a chef apron. Just relax. It's all over
now. It's all over now. She hugs your leg. Why
don't you go see your friends in the medical
tent? I think they'd be happy to see you. And
I think she kind of, like, looks up at you, and
then you're like, imagine this tent that they're
keeping, Vine, is very close, and she looks over.
Yeah, they're just over there. And she kind of,
like, she's watching the tent, and, like, eyes
wide, and she begins to just move slowly towards
it, like, almost wondering if this is okay. And
I think as she goes, you see people are fumbling
out of the tent that have just filled the Zunguns
in what happened. And as they do, as the tent
opens, you see, like, Lamai Tien Mo and Kusa
Sangun's eyes meet. And the gaze that they share
is not one of enemies or rivals. It is one of
friends who have been hurt together. And as Lamai
Tien Mo rushes into the tent and the flap closes
behind her, you just barely get an image of her
rushing into Kusa Sangun's arms at the side of
her bed. Before that image is obscured. And then,
from behind you, a voice calls out. Well, well,
well. Did I miss anything? What have you been
doing today? Um, yeah, John. Shall we start investigating?
I've had some ideas. Well, John, we kind of figured
it out. What? When? How? Why? Well, it's... Well,
me. It's, um... Zebulon checks his watch that's
not there. What time is it? Uh, this point, probably
about 1 o 'clock. Well, Jean, it's, um... Hey,
1 .30. It's the afternoon. Yeah, well, I... I...
It's only proper to sleep in after being heroes.
You, I... Is it not? You get some good sleep
there? I did. What? Who did it? What happened?
Why does one look so sad and somber? We solved
the mystery. Take a look around. Why don't you
go get filled in by Chester? Oh, no. You know
the rule. I ain't ever, ever talking to that
guy. It's okay. You can do it off screen so that
I can talk to Madam Culp and some of the other
market heads. Come on, pipsqueak, then. Tell
me what's going on. Oh, shit, Zebulon. Oh, fine.
All right, well, you see, the thing is... They
kind of go off into the... Stepping away from
you guys. Smooth. So Zebulon's going to kind
of look to Madam Culp as almost like the matriarch
of the... And she seems... Yeah. So, Madam Culp,
what happens now with the stall? I imagine it'll
be... Taken over by somebody else. Kasim has
committed a crime. I imagine he'll have to be
sent to the Citadel for punishment. I think we
can bring him back with us to the Citadel. There's
somebody here that we owe a debt to. What would
we have to do to help him take over the stall?
Who exactly are you talking about, says the DM
who doesn't. actually know. I see what's happening.
You see where I'm going with this? I see what's
happening. What's happening? He was one of the
competitors in the games. We own one. You're
just going to get rid of Pepper? I don't know
about get rid of Pepper. I think we can continue
with this. I will say, here's the thing. Pepper's
already, when I said he left, He had full -on
left because he caught the noon ruby. I should
have mentioned that before. But, yeah, he actually,
him and Trace had both gone off. I was going
to say, what about maybe Trace? I don't know
about Trace. I do love the thought. I don't know.
We promised him. He didn't cooperate. He didn't.
I will say one thing because you mentioned taking
Kasim. She will say this. Oh, you don't need
to worry about that, actually. We have somebody
coming. I sent a notice to the Citadel before
when we thought there was some sort of fire early
this morning. We thought someone had been behind
it. And they have promised to send one of their
best to investigate a luminary. He should be
able to take him back. Actually, I was hoping
you would spend another night here, Zebulon.
And Jules, you as well. It seems we've heard
that you were going to be in some kind of partnership
with the Arun brothers. But I think she kind
of looks around to Sid Squid behind her who nods.
Fi behind her who nods. The bookish half -orc
with glasses that sold you that book the night
before. He nods. And just like all these people
you met the day before. Fucking, what's his name?
Crazy Dunedown? Was that it? That crazy guy who
sold all this shit? He's like nodding vigorously,
dancing. He's doing the same Dunedown dance.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, that guy. Yeah, that guy.
That guy. That guy. And she looks back at him
and says, I believe if you were willing to stay
and we could have some time to discuss, you will
have your pick of sponsor from the market. Oh,
nice. No shit. Nice. So my, like, 100 -foot view
of the Pepper thing was, first of all, his fucking
name is Pepper. Oh, my God. I didn't even think
of that. Peppers, Peppers, Peppers. Oh, God.
And I was thinking that he could have been our
sponsor. Yep. So, like, we would have had Pepper
around. It wouldn't have been getting rid of
Pepper. Oh, man. Oh, I do love that. I just had
him off world, and there's certain reasons why
I had him off world, too. Son of a bitch. And,
like, it's just hard because, like, I already
kind of... Maybe we can send a message or something.
The world can, hey, you could talk about having
him come back. That's definitely something you
could do. If you talk to him, like, and I think
she'll even say, like, we'll leave the spot open
if you find this individual and send him back
our way. We'll be looking for someone to take
over the star. Sure, yes. And if he has your
backing, gentlemen, you are heroes to us now.
Not only are you Rhea, not only are you coals
of our fire, you're the very spark. that makes
our fire burn. Wow, that's great. That's really
very generous. I don't know what you think, Jules,
but, I mean, it couldn't hurt to stay one more
night. Yeah, I could be on board with that. Who
knows what other assassins are lurking through
these woods to jump out and kill us unexpectedly?
I'm like, what other bullshit could possibly
go wrong if we stay one more night? I'll add
assassin to my notes. My only request is I want
to keep an eye on that one until he leaves. Yes,
it shouldn't be long now. I believe we should
see within the hour our assistants arrive. Who
are they sending? I believe in... She kind of
raises her eyebrows, and I'm not sure if... I
think Zebulon for sure would know this name.
They're sending the world's greatest detective,
Sturgeman himself. Sturgeman? He's coming. We
have to say, if Sturgeman is coming to Shipshanka
where we are, oh, yes, this is going to be wow.
I mean, he's top five, top six. Easy. All right,
if you say so, Zeb, I'm a little excited too.
Wow, Sturgeman. This should be fun. This should
be fun. Hell yeah. So, yeah, I guess you got
to weigh around for a bit for that. And, yeah,
like she said, you all have your pick of a sponsor.
You could wait. If Pepper gets involved, you
could always have him as a sponsor. But there
may be more to gain from your sponsor than just
simple money and such and such. You might be
able to get, like, you know, you'd have free
access to whatever they sell, basically. Right.
At the very least, we need to sleep on it. Yeah,
take your time. I don't think we can make a decision
right this moment. They'll come at you with offers
is kind of what you expect to happen, which I'll
set up for next time we get together. But before
we call it on this session, one more little thing
needs to happen. You're waiting for this figure
to appear to take Kasim away. And I imagine,
like, you know, Chester and John Franklin are
still off, like, discussing what's happening.
There's a lot of, what do you mean? Why would
they not? Yeah, like, hey, calm down, calm down.
I can't believe I'm fucking doing this. I said
I wouldn't do this. I can't believe I'm doing
this. I gave it to you. I told you to do it off
screen. Well, like, the people want to know what
Chester's doing. You do what you just did to
us. We're going to throw shit right back at you.
Yeah, it's a good point. I almost died. It's
a good point. That's how this relationship works.
You said you're staying close, keeping an eye
on Kasim, who's just kind of like hands -bound.
He's staying outside the tent, face down towards
the ground, just solemn, doesn't want to move,
doesn't want to do anything, just staring at
the dirt. And as you stand there, a figure approaches
you from the side, almost just like appearing
there very swiftly. taps you on the shoulder,
Jules. Hmm? Come with me, now. Okay. Ramin, you
watch this part. Yes, of course. And he just
steps in your place here and looks over at you,
Zebulon, like, Hi, Zebulon. Hey, Ramin, hey.
Haven't seen you in a little while. Yes, been
a... Man, I really missed you out there. And
so you guys kind of start a small talk as Dan
sort of drags you away, very forcefully, just
grabs you and starts pulling you by the arm away
and kind of whirls around to the side of a tent
and pushes you sort of backwards and just says,
I am leaving. Now. I have lived here long enough.
Before I go, I have a question for you, Josaroch.
If you'll enter it. Shoot. And her eyes narrow,
hands on hips. Are you a serious man, Josaroch?
Or are you just a funny man? Hmm? I think it's
a little bit of both. Because you challenge me
in these games. You laugh at me, humiliate me,
and turn around with these remarks, these winks,
this song, and she gets really close to you.
So tell me, Joseph Roach, before I go, do you
want to win me? Do you think you could? I mean,
you never learned the rules of flirting? No.
I didn't, actually. Well, let me enlighten you.
The answer is yes. And she kind of smiles a little
bit. And you think you could handle me? No, and
that's what's great about it. Most men don't
like a woman who could kick their ass. I love
it. I almost hooked you way up. I almost had
to step back, like, surprised. Put me in my place,
please. You be you. There's like a moment of
pause, and she just, prove it. Become a luminary.
Find me again. See if you are strong enough.
I'll see you again soon. I'm warning you, though.
And she gets like right up by her ear. I am a
luchador of Sunset Yard. You have a very difficult
time holding me down. And she just... in a flash
is like 10 feet away from you whirling around
and she's got this coy smile on her face and
just says like careful juice the rush your passion
is showing and what color is your loot glowing
right now oh I think it's glowing a little red
yeah it is She's just taking that, and the red
glow is lighting up her face as she's, like,
looking at the loot, looks you in the eye, and
then winks. A little flirting of her own. And
she just whirls around. And a moment later, it's
just gone into the crowd. Holy shit. Man, my
friends just flirted so hard. And where you stand,
Zebulon, you don't even see her. All you hear
is, I mean, now! And he's like, oh, I'll see
you later. Zebulon, see you. See you, Ramin.
Bye. And he just turns and begins to leave as
well. God, I wonder where those guys are going.
David, you got my palms sweating. Like, they're
soaked. So they, as they kind of vanish into
the crowd, and imagine, like, Jules, you kind
of step out, back out towards where Zebulon is.
Another figure almost kind of like moves out
from the crowd. That kind of stands out to you.
Almost like watching him. And you see it's that
old blind man from the night before. The one
that had called him that word, Mazird Khan. He's
just watching him go. Even though his eyes are
like milky, he's kind of like his eyes are like
following him. Hand reached out. He's reaching
for his warmth. Anything you want to do? Is this
like a... infirm, old, like, homeless man sort
of thing? He doesn't seem like he's terribly
homeless. I think he's wearing decent -looking
clothes. You'd probably imagine he's part of
one of these merchant families, but, like, maybe,
like, a retired grandfather. He once owned a
business. Now he's kind of just living off of
what his folks are doing. You don't know who
he is, but he doesn't look like he's just, like,
some ragamuffin. Okay, and how close is he to
Zebulon? About 20 feet away. Okay, I'd like to
step closer, kind of like up behind him a little
bit, and just observe. I want to be close enough
to hear if he says anything. I think all you
hear might be under his breath, just say, Farewell,
Monsieur Dracon. Farewell. Return when I need
his most dire return. Like he who came before,
and he who came before, and before. And before.
Huh. What? So, um, maybe quietly behind him,
Zebulon will ask, um, what did he, what did that
mean? He spins around. You look way down, way
down towards his feet where you're standing.
Oh, your shoe's untied. Let me get that for you.
I think for a moment he's, like, looking at you,
and then his eyes sort of, like, widen with recognition,
even though he can't see you, and he's... Ah,
yes, yes. You're the one who challenged him.
The night before, you are the rare new. Yeah,
so I was... I mean, you want to fill me in on
the local lingo, this, uh, the Ducron stuff?
Yeah, local lingo. Not so, not so much. It is
an ancient word. Very few yet carry it in their
minds and hearts. It's passed down from history,
long forgotten. It means one who is chosen by
the spirits of the land. You know of Fai -Me
-Moon, the great sorcerer who called upon the
spirits of our world and summoned forth the guardian
mountains that ring our valley. Protecting us
from the orcish hordes outside. He was one such.
He was Amazigh Dracon. They exist in the history
of all worlds. Great people born with the worlds
of the spirits in their ears. Who rise up in
times of great danger and hardship. And change
the worlds in impossible ways. He must be one.
He must be. He came back from the dead. He carries
powers inexplicable. And now, when one of our
25 worlds has fallen now in this darkness, we
need a hero, a Mazirdrakhan, to bring us the
light again. What does it mean to be Shadrakhan?
Shadrakhan. That was smooth. Shadrakhan. Shadrakhan.
An old word. Familiar. It is a place. I believe.
Where is it? It is the place where spirits come
from. The world of spirits. Shadrakhan. I believe
that is the word you seek. How can I... How can
I learn more? What language is this? I... I don't
know. They're old words. How do you know the
words? My father. He told me. His father told
him. But no one knows the origin. They come from
long before, before the worlds were connected.
Long and long before. I think at that point you
hear just like a voice say, Grandfather! Grandfather!
Come! And he's, Oh, I'm sorry. I must be away.
Yeah, right. Thanks. It was nice speaking to
you, Rhea. You too, Rhea. Yes. I think I can
say that, right? Ha! He just walks away. And
with that, you spend a little more time waiting
for this figure to show. And in that time, I'll
say one more thing happens. You become level
three. Oh, yeah, baby. Level up. It's about damn
time. And we'll call it there. Nice. So, I do
believe, David, that we have one more matter
of discussion here. I do think it is about time
that Steven and Zebulon get a goddamn button.
I mean, was it not reward enough to almost kill
him? No. If a pepper and a persimmon doesn't
earn me a button... Fine, take your button! I
don't know what does. Let me find my... Button
high five, Steven. We're going to make you a
giant poster board. Did you give out a button
today? I suppose you deserve it. That was some
good shit.