Transcript:The Aurora Grows

Pre-show
MATT: Hello, everyone, and welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. (excited hollering)

MATT: Before we jump into our session for the night, we do have some announcements to get through, beginning with our first sponsor, Thorum! Sam.

SAM: Okay, here we go. What's up, TikTok? Here's a day in the life of my life as a Critical Role ad wunderkind. At 6:45, I get to my station. Here's my desk mates, Ray-Ray and Texas T. Say hi, guys! Then I check out my assignment for the night. Looks like tonight is Thorum. They handcraft unique wedding bands out of everything from meteorite to whiskey barrels, #whiskeylife, #drunkfingers, #spacethumbs.

ASHLEY: Space thumbs!

MARISHA: Can't help. Don't encourage him.

SAM: It says here--

LAURA: No, but space thumbs is a good one.

SAM: Yeah, no. It says here they ship every single ring within one business day, and have been making rings for over a decade. Okay, y'all, be sure to stitch this video with saying something that you've done for over a decade, and it better be dirty! At about 6:50, I pick a genre of ad. Here's my genre options.

TALIESIN: Oh no! (laughter)

LAURA: Oh my god. Wow.

MATT: Oh my god.

SAM: I can either do a stupid character or both. How about Australian Batman? "Crikey, Robin! It's Auckland Joker. Why so Yahoo Serious?" (groaning)

SAM: Or a self-deprecating bit where I smile a lot to cover up my deeply-rooted emotional problems. Nah, that's more of an Instagram thing. (laughter)

SAM: I could do a game show spoof where I ask Ray-Ray which one of these is a real material that Thorum makes rings out of, World War II rifle stocks, dinosaur bone, or Damascus steel?

MARISHA: I don't know.

SAM: Oh, whoa! Nice Millennial pause, Ray-Ray! (laughter)

SAM: It was a trick question. They're all used by Thorum! I think I'll go with option D, social commentary where I mock a well-known trope from a major social media platform. Cue the TikTok dance music! Dance, Ray-Ray. Dance, Texas T. Dance!

ASHLEY: ♪ Oh no ♪

LAURA: Are you going to dance?

ASHLEY: ♪ Oh no, no, no ♪

LAURA: (laughs)

SAM: This dance is called, "If Millennials are Old, What Does That Mean for Us?"

LAURA: (laughs)

MARISHA: Oh no.

SAM: Then at 7:10--

LAURA: Oh no.

SAM: -- I end my ad wunderkind day in the life by saying, whether you need a wedding ring, anniversary ring, or just want a ring that looks awesome, head over to Thorum.com and use promo code CriticalRole. That's T-H-O-R-U-M.com and use promo code CriticalRole to got 20% off a truly unique wing-- ring. Thanks, TikTok. I'm running out of time! Be sure to like and subscribe! Aw. Oh no. Ray-Ray, you fucked that up, I got to do it all again. All right, here we go.

LAURA: No, no, no.

MATT: Marisha-- we got some other announcements to get through. Marisha. Please, for the love of god, more announcements.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

MARISHA: We'll be taking a break. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Immediately.

MARISHA: At the-- Yeah, starting now. (laughter)

MARISHA: No, our end of the month break is next week, thank fuck!

TRAVIS: Oh, thank fuck!

MARISHA: It's the last Thursday of the month, thank fuck! We'll be returning with campaign three episode 50 on--

TRAVIS: We'll bleep some of those.

MARISHA: Aw shit, YouTube, fuck! (laughter)

MARISHA: Oh no!

ASHLEY: Wait, wait, wait--

MATT: I think we're past that, I think we're past the time, we're past the time, we're good.

TRAVIS: Just so you know, we may bleep it just once.

MARISHA: I don't know, we're going to get demonetized always and forever. (laughter)

MARISHA: So subscribe, and buy merch because everyone everywhere on YouTube is getting demonetized. This is about programming! We're going to be returning with Campaign 3--

ASHLEY: Killing it.

MARISHA: -- episode 50 March 2nd. Support your local YouTuber.

MATT: Hell yeah. Travis, what's up?

TRAVIS: Throwing away my gum. (laughter)

LIAM: Wow.

TALIESIN: I heard that.

MATT: Yeah.

TRAVIS: I almost swallowed it. You can watch the entire second season of The Legend of Vox Machina right now! (cheering)

MATT: Yeah!

TRAVIS: On Prime Video, all 12 episodes waiting for you to watch, rewatch, theorize, have a dance party. They have dance parties when they watch?

SAM: Sure, sure.

TRAVIS: Yeah! Don't forget, you can find all of our Twitch watch parties breaking down everything from season two over on our Twitch and YouTube channels. Shout out to our lovely host, Mica Burton--

MATT: Yeah, Mica!

TRAVIS: -- and all of our wonderful guests.

MARISHA: Yes!

SAM: It was so much fun.

MARISHA: So fun.

TRAVIS: So much fun. And thank you, thank you so much for your support. We hope you enjoyed the second season. Get yourself ready for season three.

LAURA: Ooh!

MATT: (evil laughter)

MATT: I do believe that concludes our announcements.

LAURA: Titties.

MATT: So let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of Critical Role. (excited roaring)

Part I
MATT: So, last we left off--

ASHLEY: Sorry.

MATT: Wow! (laughs)

TRAVIS: As we march into oblivion.

MATT: Last we left off-- (laughs)

MARISHA: Oi.

MATT: -- Bells Hells had barely escaped the Fey Realm after leaving a twisted mass of arcana and metal behind that was once considered a Malleus Key. Seemingly beyond reconstruction in the time window before the solstice is to arrive, you were chased into the woods. As you reached for the Exandrian gate out of the realm, the flying fey dragon and its rider above, the Sorrowlord himself, you managed to dodge murder, have a bout of rhyming interactions with the keeper of the Exandrian gate, and then eject yourself through back to your home realm, which you've found to be beyond the threshold of Aeshanadoor and actually within the older home turf of Imogen. Upon deciding that with the solstice being within a short period of time, your best journey forward towards it would be to recall your airship as your port buddy was seemingly discovered, Planerider Ryn, vanishing from communications on sight. You walked over towards Gelvaan, where you are from, interacted with your father to ask some questions, gauge the tension of that relationship, and through some conversation, managed to acquire a keepsake, a relic of your mother's. The airship arrived, spooked the bumpkins, as Captain Xandis did call them, and you climbed atop the Silver Sun, heading in a northeastern direction back towards Hellcatch Valley. 11 days-- (like Spurt) 11 days!

LIAM and LAURA: 11 days!

MATT: -- until the solstice begins. You now rise up into the clouds of the sky above, the horizon looming before you. You begin to pick up, Orym, this very faint sort of drifting energy throughout the sky. Just this faint filter, ethereal waves that occasionally ride through the sky, and then vanish from your sight. You've never seen this before. You're the only one with a keen enough eyesight to pick up the pattern.

LIAM: The sky's different.

LAURA: What do you mean?

LIAM: Just watch for a minute. Do you see that?

LAURA: Do we see that?

MATT: It takes you a good moment to really focus and pick up on it, and it's these faint little waves of color, rapidly changing color.

MARISHA: It helps if you cross your eyes a little bit.

LAURA: Oh yeah, yeah.

MARISHA: Then you can see it better.

TALIESIN: That's a sailboat.

SAM: Do you think we're near the edge?

ASHLEY: The edge of-- Oh.

LAURA: No.

ASHLEY: No.

SAM: Okay.

TALIESIN: That took the edge off.

LAURA: Have I ever seen anything like this around Gelvaan before?

MATT: No. It's odd because you focus on it, and it's these momentary drifting sparkles, these little waves or veins of color that, the way it looks across the sky, you can't tell how close or how far it is. There's no way to gauge the distance between you and it, and at times, it's like a cloudless dream lightning, but technicolor and ghostly in moments.

TALIESIN: Is it all going in one direction? Does it seem like there's a flow?

MATT: Make a perception check.

TALIESIN: Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was having a moment there.

MATT: It's okay.

ASHLEY: It's not going to last.

TALIESIN: 11.

TRAVIS: Yeah. (laughter)

MATT: 11.

TRAVIS: Don't believe it.

LIAM: Don't jinx.

MATT: There doesn't appear to be a continuous flow and the shifting sometimes goes left to right. Sometimes it looks smaller, larger, further, closer, it's hard to gauge at this particular height. But it is oddly beautiful.

ASHLEY: Is it all different colors?

MATT: Yeah, sometimes it comes in a purplish tint that goes kind to a dark red.

ASHLEY: Ooh. Wow.

MATT: Sometimes it has a turquoise that drifts to a faint yellow, and then it's gone.

LAURA: What?

MATT: It's unique.

MARISHA: It's beautiful.

LAURA: Captain Xandis.

MATT: "What is this? What's going on?"

LAURA: Have you ever seen anything like this in your years of travel in the sky?

MATT: "Like what?"

LIAM: Just hold still for a moment--

LAURA: Give a minute.

LAURA: It helps to cross your eyes.

TALIESIN: Slightly cross your eyes.

LAURA: Then unfocus, focus on the middle, and then unfocus your eyes.

MATT: "What in the hells is all of this? Don't really know what that is. What-- Should we go around that? I don't know. Ah, this is a good thing?"

LAURA: I don't know.

TALIESIN: It's a thing.

MATT: "I'll go a little lower, I guess." The ship (lowers).

MARISHA: No avoiding it.

LAURA: Maybe.

TALIESIN: It is everywhere, though.

MARISHA: I think it's everywhere.

MATT: I mean, it--

TALIESIN: On the horizon.

MATT: You look along the horizon and where you focus, you see it, the moments, and then you adjust to another part of the horizon, and you see it again, but different colors, different distances.

TALIESIN: I'm going to lay down, look up.

SAM: Just stare right at the sun?

TALIESIN: Whatever's up there.

MATT: Disadvantage on perception checks for the day.

TALIESIN: Ah!

MATT: Nothing up above.

TALIESIN: Okay, this is weird.

ASHLEY: Is it close enough to--

LAURA: Does it feel like it's alive, like it could be some sort of entity? Or does it feel like it's just part of the atmosphere?

MATT: Make an arcana check.

SAM: Arcana.

LAURA: Oh yeah, good. I have really good arcana.

TRAVIS: Oh boy.

LAURA: So I guess I'll-- Three.

SAM: Wow.

MATT: Could be either.

LAURA: Mm, mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: Kids, it's not above us. It's clear. Or at least it looks clear. I don't know.

ASHLEY: Is it close enough to maybe try to touch it?

SAM: Make cotton candy out of?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: You reach your hand out and there's nothing there to touch. It's one of those things, once you put your hand up, you get a little more depth perspective on it. It is not close.

LAURA: Oh, it's not. Okay.

ASHLEY: It's very far away.

TALIESIN: It is definitely far away, or it just looks far away?

MATT: It's hard to tell. I mean, it's not anywhere where you can reach it.

LAURA: Ooh. When Xandis dropped down, is it still eye level, or did it seem like it's above us now?

MATT: As Xandis drifted down, it still remains about eye level.

TALIESIN: It's definitely not above us.

SAM: Nothing this pretty can be dangerous.

TRAVIS: Just to double check, can I use Hunter's Bane to see or smell or feel if this is any kind of Fey Realm bleeding over, or--

MATT: Sure, make a perception check.

TRAVIS: 14.

MATT: 14. I mean, you are uniquely attuned to outer magics, dark magics. You don't catch anything of that regard, but there is the faintest bit of a buzz to the air around you, like the faintest touch of a tongue to a nine-volt battery. There is this ever-present vibration.

TRAVIS: It's potent, the air is.

MATT: It is potent. That very faint little taste at the end of your tongue of energy.

TALIESIN: I got a weird idea.

TRAVIS: Hmm?

TALIESIN: Just in case, this may be stupid. Let's find out. I am going to try, and I'm going to spark up, I'm going to see what happens if I--

TRAVIS: Yeah, spark it up!

TALIESIN: It might have a magic effect, see what happens to a magic effect in the middle of this.

LAURA: Explode the ship!

TRAVIS: Puff, puff, give. You know what I'm saying, Laudna?

TALIESIN: I spark and I rage, just standing there.

MARISHA: Laudna doesn't, but Marisha does.

TALIESIN: I'm not even going to use my hammer, I'm going to knock together and--

MATT: Okay. Well, roll for what happens.

TALIESIN: Well, this could get fun.

TRAVIS: ♪ Insane in the membrane ♪

MARISHA: ♪ Insane ♪

LAURA: This is the same--

TALIESIN: Two. So that is, since I don't have my whole thing up--

LAURA: -- person that smashed our--

TALIESIN: -- because I wasn't paying attention.

MATT: I think that's--

TRAVIS: Yep.

MARISHA: Smashed--

SAM: The lens.

MARISHA: Smashed Fearne's backstory.

TALIESIN: It's space. Yes, correct.

MATT: Okay. As you--

LAURA: With the thought--

MATT: -- begin to channel that power and emotion within you,

MATT: -- begin to channel that power and emotion within you, there's a gentle spark that drifts over your head that has a similar coloration, ever so faint, before it fades again. So there's a very, very minimal reaction, but it's present.

ASHLEY: Is there anything below?

TALIESIN: You would have all seen a weird hole in space and time, like a broken mirror, suddenly flicker above me.

LAURA: Awesome.

TRAVIS: That seems normal.

TALIESIN: That's not-- Okay.

MARISHA: There's so many weird things you can do, Ashton. Is that just you?

SAM: Yeah, was that you, or is that the sky doing that?

TALIESIN: I don't know. I'm pretty sure that wasn't-- If it was me, I haven't actually had that ever happen before. So that's usually, I mean, things happen that don't happen before. That felt weird. Even for me.

ASHLEY: I'm going to look over the side.

TALIESIN: I never really do things, things just sort of happen to me.

MARISHA: Things happen that haven't happened before.

TALIESIN: Yes.

MARISHA: Life needs things to live.

TALIESIN: That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard.

TRAVIS: Who would say such a thing? Yes, Fearne, you were saying?

ASHLEY: Oh, I was going to look over the side.

MATT: Okay.

ASHLEY: To see if it's also under us. Did we already do this?

LAURA: No.

ASHLEY: Did someone already do this?

LAURA: Nobody looked under us.

LIAM: Ashton looked up.

MATT: You don't really see it beneath you. You see the countryside to the north of Gelvaan and the rolling forests and jungle and the occasional splintering main roads that lead out of the Taloned Highlands to the northeast. You're more or less keeping above the road as the path that you are taking is pretty similar to the one that heads into the Hellcatch. So you're probably aiming a little bit more southward to cut across at the most direct angle that the ship can.

LIAM: I don't really know what that is, but it's not too hard to do the math, is it?

LAURA: It's because of the solstice coming up?

LIAM: Of course.

TRAVIS: Yeah, in my 400 years, I've never seen anything like it. It has begin.

LAURA: But hasn't there been a solstice closer a couple times in your lifetime, at least?

TALIESIN: Perhaps he's so old he doesn't remember anymore, it may have happened plenty of times.

LAURA: Oh, that's right.

ASHLEY: Oh.

LAURA: It hasn't happened with a key as built up as the one--

LIAM: Yeah.

SAM: We're also just in one place. As we keep flying, maybe we'll see it change or fade or it might give us a sense to what it might be.

MATT: Yeah, I guess based on your age, you may have seen something like this, but it was stronger a long time ago. As you were in the northern--

TRAVIS: Yeah?

MATT: -- region of Wildemount, in which during that time of year, which you recall, the sun was low a lot longer through the day, and so your nights were more, you know, extended. During that time period, you indeed watched these shifting colors and they grew more intense as the days went on before reaching this incredible display. They just moved and then eventually faded over the next week or so.

TRAVIS: It actually does ring a bell, but I thought it might have been the tea that I was having at the time. But this is great.

LAURA: (laughs)

MARISHA: Also, they're calling this an Apogee Solstice. I don't think I really know what apogee means.

SAM: Big, strong, important? I don't know.

TALIESIN: Do you actually know or are you making that up?

SAM: No, I don't. I'm just guessing.

TALIESIN: I don't know.

LAURA: Isn't there a definition? Isn't apogee really a thing?

SAM: Let me search my memory banks--

TRAVIS: Scoot over.

SAM: -- and see if that's something I can do. I'm going to search my memory banks and see if I--

MATT: Roll an intelligence check. (laughter)

MARISHA: Can't you just download a dictionary onto FCG?

SAM: Do I have Siri in me? What is this check?

MATT: This roll? Add your intelligence modifier. (laughs)

SAM: Boy. Two.

LAURA: Oh wow.

MARISHA: (laughs)

MATT: You have no idea.

LIAM: We'll find Solitaire.

LAURA: We're so smart. All of us are just so smart.

TALIESIN: I am smart. I just don't know--

TRAVIS: Oh jeez. It's like an apex. It's like the highest point of something, a culmination.

SAM: So big, important?

TRAVIS: Yeah.

SAM: Just like what I was saying.

TRAVIS: Exactly.

MARISHA: So it's not like a normal solstice, it's a--

ASHLEY: It's a big one.

MARISHA: It's a tall, big, fatty solstice.

LIAM: What are we going to do?

SAM: Yeah, let's come up with a game plan here. We should contact people, we should prepare.

LAURA: Because we're heading towards something with, oh, just a shit ton of giant old automatons and armies.

SAM: We need weapons.

LAURA: We got to break this thing down.

SAM: We need allies.

TALIESIN: We need allies?

SAM: Who do we got? Eshteross, dead. Ryn, frozen.

TALIESIN: Fuck.

TRAVIS: (laughs) It's a good start.

LIAM: The Voice of the Tempest, busy?

TRAVIS: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: Well, anyone from the Grim Verity, obviously.

SAM: Are they around? No, they're on a different plane. They're on the Fire Plane.

LAURA: I mean, well, some of them are on the Shadowfell and some of them are on the Fire Plane, but--

MARISHA: Did we ever check in with them, by the way, to see if the Shadowfell team is doing okay?

LAURA: No.

MARISHA: Okay.

LAURA: So that's on the roster.

TALIESIN: How badly do we need this?

TRAVIS: Need what?

SAM: Need what?

TRAVIS: Allies?

TALIESIN: Allies, things, people.

LAURA: Badly.

LIAM: Pretty bad.

SAM: Call in some favors.

LAURA: Real fucking badly!

TRAVIS: Well, I can see this is going somewhere.

LAURA: Oh! Yes, you should.

TALIESIN: Okay.

SAM: Wait, you're calling in the rich lady?

MARISHA: Hexum?

TALIESIN: I'm calling in Hexum and I got one other one I can call.

SAM: But is she on the way? Can we pick her up?

TALIESIN: She's not on the way, but she knows fucking everybody.

TRAVIS: Who's the other one?

LAURA: Maybe she would know something. How far are we? Are we closer to where we're going than Jrusar?

MATT: Yes.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: It would take from where you're heading now about a little longer to get to Jrusar.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: Then to go from Jrusar to where you're heading, it's another--

SAM: But we're passing--

MATT: Six days.

SAM: -- over-ish Bassuras.

TRAVIS: Wait.

MATT: Oh yeah.

TRAVIS: Who's the other one?

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LAURA: You got to talk now, Ashton.

TALIESIN: I can try and dig up the Nobodies.

SAM: The Nobodies! That's his old group!

ASHLEY: Oh, that's right.

TRAVIS: What if we recruited that hive mind in Bassuras?

TALIESIN: Justi? Justi's a lot. I don't know if you really... Well--

SAM: If we're dealing with automatons, I could try Dancer.

ASHLEY: Maybe we need a lot.

TRAVIS: Let's go get a bunch of connected motherfuckers!

MARISHA: I still have the weird bag of drugs that Justi gave me that connects us to the hive.

TALIESIN: I've never tried that stuff. I am--

LAURA: Oh!

SAM: They were in Bassuras?

TALIESIN: There would have probably been a time in my life--

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: -- where I would've been really into that right now, but I don't know. It's there.

MARISHA: I did have another idea. Someone, probably the only other person who really knows how to work these Malleus Keys.

SAM: Vex?

LAURA: Ira.

MARISHA: Ira.

TALIESIN: Ira.

SAM: Oh!

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: And--

TRAVIS: Glass?

MARISHA: Yes.

SAM: He does seem cool. (laughter)

MARISHA: You know, Ira doesn't seem to have many loyalties to anybody, and we certainly know--

SAM: He might be around.

MARISHA: Well, we can message him.

SAM: Yeah, no. I mean, he might--

LAURA: It might serve his purposes to fuck it up.

MARISHA: Yes, because he certainly doesn't like the Cerberus Assembly. We did get that.

ASHLEY: That's true.

LAURA: All right.

ASHLEY: You know, we could also--

TALIESIN: Chetney, would you be okay with that?

TRAVIS: Yes.

TALIESIN: Okay.

TRAVIS: As long as we're guarded in our ask. Just in case he has sold out. I don't want to give away anything.

LIAM: I wonder if he'd do it for shits and giggles or if there'd be a high price tag.

LAURA: There would be a price.

TALIESIN: I'd rather pay a price. You know what you're getting.

MARISHA: I'm sure he'd want something from it.

ASHLEY: Vex's husband, remember him?

SAM: Ugh.

ASHLEY: He was the inventor.

LAURA: Yeah.

SAM: Yeah, no. I know him.

ASHLEY: He made the gun.

SAM: He was a real asshole.

ASHLEY: Could be good to have an inventor on our team as well.

LAURA: You're right.

TALIESIN: Do we have to?

ASHLEY: I don't know. Just putting it out there.

TRAVIS: A bristly piece of shit.

SAM: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

LAURA: Lord and Lady Whitestone.

TRAVIS: Ugly, too.

LAURA: Whatever their--

ASHLEY: The Lord and Lady of Whittleton. Whitestone.

TRAVIS: Not so smart. I can make shit with metal! Woo!

TALIESIN: Let's try and come up with a list of people we don't owe. Let's find a list of people who owe us.

SAM: I thought you just said a list of people that we don't know.

TALIESIN: Well, that, too.

ASHLEY: I wouldn't know how to make that list.

TALIESIN: Ira's an option. I don't know what Justi could do.

LAURA: People. Everyone.

TALIESIN: But we could ask. I could look up the old crowd.

ASHLEY: I don't know my brother, because I don't think I have one.

TRAVIS: Who did we--

TALIESIN: We need stuff that--

TRAVIS: Who did we report that Eshteross had died to? What was her name? With the--

SAM: Oh yeah.

MARISHA: Oh.

SAM: She can tree jump.

MARISHA: What's her name?

LAURA: No, not her. Not the one that can tree jump.

SAM: Oh

LAURA: Not Shania Twain.

SAM: Not Shania Twain?

LIAM: Mistress.

MARISHA: No. Seshadri.

LIAM: Yep.

LAURA: Seshadri!

ASHLEY: Seshadri.

SAM: Wait! Oh.

LIAM: That's it.

TRAVIS: That'd be worth a reach out, I think.

MARISHA: Employer of the Green Seekers.

TRAVIS: They may not care, but--

LAURA: Oh, the Green-- Yeah, the Green Seekers!

MARISHA: The Green Seekers.

SAM: They're like private dicks. Is this for them?

LAURA: Yeah, but they're strong!

TALIESIN: They have connections.

SAM: You know who's really strong?

LAURA: Hmm?

SAM: And really great?

ASHLEY: Nana Morri?

SAM: Dorian.

ASHLEY: Oh. Oh!

LAURA: Dor! Why haven't we told Dorian what's going on?

LIAM: I told him a little bit.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: You have?

LIAM: A little.

SAM: I don't know how we'd get him here, but--

LIAM: How we'd get anyone, and also, anyone we want to get involved, first, what's the plan?

LAURA: I don't know.

LIAM: Not everyone's going to hop an airship. Not everyone can get there. And then what? You barely know what's going on. We're giving you a 20-second message to brief you and meet us out in a hole.

SAM: If we called Dorian and said, we need you, you know he'd be here as fast as he could.

LAURA: If he could.

MARISHA: He has to walk through--

LAURA: He's far away.

MARISHA: -- a portal or find someone to teleport him.

LAURA: Does he know your-- Sorry, the Voice of the Tempest?

LIAM: He's met her, but she's out and about.

LAURA: She's under something, right?

LIAM: Yeah.

TALIESIN: At the very least, the more people we get the word out to--

SAM: Add him to the list.

TALIESIN: -- the more it's possible that they can--

LAURA: He's on there.

TALIESIN: -- do whatever they can from where they are. So Dorian. That's a good one.

SAM: What about your old friend? Oltgar.

ASHLEY: Just back up.

TRAVIS: Oltgar?

SAM: Yeah.

LAURA: Who?

ASHLEY: Oh, Oltgar!

SAM: Didn't you mention him once?

LAURA: Oh yeah!

SAM: Your old pal?

TRAVIS: He's not my pal.

SAM: Oh, okay.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

ASHLEY: He's the one that--

SAM: I thought he was a--

LAURA: Should we take a side note and do a Chet backstory instead of doing this?

TRAVIS: Look at the sky with fucking focus, people!

TALIESIN: I'd be curious what would happen if either the two of you--

SAM: I though you said he was a very talented M.C.

LAURA: Nana!

ASHLEY: Nana's always an option.

LAURA: But will she actually come over?

ASHLEY: I mean, I imagine she could!

LIAM: Is she good for travel?

TALIESIN: Give Nana a minute.

ASHLEY: I imagine she could.

SAM: So is this going to be like--

LAURA: We called in a huge favor with her on the other one.

SAM: On the way is--

ASHLEY: She's my nana. She'll do anything.

SAM: -- the Hive Mind, Dancer.

TALIESIN: Justi.

SAM: Imahara Joe, who can give us a car!

ASHLEY: Oh, he was this shit!

SAM: We can pick up a car, drive it there.

LIAM: What will we do with a car?

LAURA: What would we do with a car? It's a giant hole in the ground!

SAM: Just imagine this. Just imagine this. The skyship descends. All right? Dust flying everywhere, wind blowing everybody's hair. What's that in the sky? The front of the skyship! I don't even know if we have one of these, but the front of the skyship goes down like that. Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom! Vroom! The car jumps out over and we're like, "Vroom, vroom, vroom!"

LAURA: Then straight into the hole and crashes, fiery, at the bottom.

SAM: No, straight down into the, didn't we see a ramp down like that and we're picking off guys left and right and firing things and blowing off magic, and it's so fucking cool! Then the car crashes, but it doesn't matter. The damage has been done. (laughter)

MARISHA: Last time we did that, several of us died.

SAM: I just think it would be cool.

TALIESIN: The damage was done, really.

ASHLEY: We could also ask my parents, since they're already sort of--

SAM: No one's on the car idea anymore?

LAURA: Maybe they can get the car and they can drive in.

TALIESIN: I'll also say maybe Joe's got something else.

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Joe. Justi.

TALIESIN: I have a few other contacts I haven't used in Bassuras. I could talk to Pocket. I could see if we can find the Nobodies. I got people. We can buy some shit.

MARISHA: Who all was in the Nobodies again? Milo?

TALIESIN: Milo was the only one that you guys met. There was Zeeland.

ASHLEY: Milo's very helpful.

MARISHA: I liked Milo.

TALIESIN: Shady Sally, Bennet, and me. Sally Shady.

MARISHA: Right.

TRAVIS: Bennet, and did you say--

LAURA: Maybe it's a matter of contacting Milo and Milo can contact everyone else?

SAM: Oh, that's smart!

TRAVIS: Milo, Shady Sally, Bennet, and who?

LAURA: My only thing is is we've got a very long list--

TALIESIN: Zeeland.

LAURA: -- we've got only nine days and a limited amount of times we can call people.

SAM: Also, Matt has to change characters for each of these Sendings.

MATT: Oh, I'm prepared.

MARISHA: Another thing to point out--

TALIESIN: You're the only one at this table, clearly, who is prepared for the solstice. I'm just putting it right there.

MARISHA: Just something else to put out as well.

LIAM: Fearne, what do you think would happen if we mixed Morri and Ira together?

LAURA: They'd be fucking on the field is what would happen.

ASHLEY: Probably. I mean, it could be--

LAURA: Sorry. I don't know where that one--

ASHLEY: I think they had a thing. I think they had a thing. I don't know.

LAURA: Who was that?

ASHLEY: But they'll figure it out. Listen, I feel like people will put stuff aside.

MARISHA: You're right! This is bigger than everyone's petty squabbles!

ASHLEY: Yes. It's much bigger. It's much bigger than past relationships gone bad.

TALIESIN: Yeah, okay.

ASHLEY: Maybe new beginnings, you know?

MARISHA: But something I did want to toss out there real quick.

TRAVIS: Oh, your arm's dislocated!

MARISHA: Sorry.

TRAVIS: There you go.

MARISHA: (grunts) Something to keep in mind. Otohan is fucked up!

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MARISHA: So is the Cerberus Assembly, and we saw just a little bit of what Trent could do.

MATT: Ludinus. Wrong campaign.

MARISHA: Ludinus Da'leth. Fuck!

TALIESIN: Been a week.

MARISHA: Some Mighty Nein announcements caught in my brain.

TRAVIS: Same creepy wizard.

MATT: Yep.

MARISHA: Yes. Just, you know, I just want to throw it out there that we might be asking people to come and die.

SAM: Mm.

TRAVIS: Yes.

TALIESIN: Shit's going to get weird anyway.

TRAVIS: You know, the whole moon potentially being a deity-eating being.

MARISHA: Yes.

ASHLEY: Yeah, you're going to die anyway so don't you want to die trying to do the right thing?

TRAVIS: But also, we've made a list. We should probably check it twice, figure out who's been naughty or nice.

LIAM: Let's say we double, let's say we-- Oh boy.

SAM: Sounds like something you might be interested in?

LAURA: Let's say what?

LIAM: I lost track of what--

TALIESIN: Really? Yeah, that was not okay.

LIAM: Never mind. I don't know.

TRAVIS: Sorry.

TALIESIN: Here. (snaps)

LIAM: (sighs)

SAM: Where'd you go there?

TRAVIS: The realms are crossing.

LIAM: Speaking of winter.

TALIESIN: Bah humbug!

LIAM: Let's say we quadruple the number of people who can help us. Look, what are we going to do to make a difference once we get there? Are we parking five miles away and sneaking in?

TALIESIN: Breaking is a good--

SAM: Vroom, vroom, vroom!

LAURA: We literally, do we have to-- because what do we do, charge in?

TRAVIS: Well, we have to get eyes on it first, right?

SAM: Maybe if he doesn't give us a vehicle, maybe Imahara Joe could concoct some sort of a bomb or something for us.

TALIESIN: Yes.

MARISHA: If we charge in headfirst, we die.

TRAVIS: When we were in that dream and we were moving into the sink hole and moving down and in, was it a focused vision, or could we have seen inroads from top soil down into the sinkhole? You mentioned cranes, but I don't remember if there were--

MATT: There are walkways that spiral down into the interior of it.

TRAVIS: Walkways.

MATT: I mean, it is an excavation, so people had to be able to travel into and out of to pull out earth, dirt, dust, rocks as well as artifacts and ruins and be able to be part of this excavation before it was taken over by Ludinus.

TRAVIS: Mm-hmm.

MATT: So yeah.

SAM: Here's an idea. Please just let me finish. When we were in the dream, looking at those other automatons and the architecture of the place, it reminded me a lot of myself. I'm just wondering if we could have Imahara Joe fasten me with something explosive and I just go in and act like I'm part of their automaton crew, get in, hit the button, blow up, and then that's it.

LAURA: And then lose yourself?

TALIESIN: Wait. No, no, no, no. Hold on.

SAM: There might be a way to--

TALIESIN: Hold on.

SAM: Reconstruct me after the fact or something?

LAURA: I also have an idea.

TALIESIN: Are we finished? Are we are we good?

SAM: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Okay, then no, but yeah, tell them about--

LAURA: Okay. What if, guys, in the Hellcatch Valley, y'all remember one of the creatures we fought, the one chasing after its baby?

MATT: Worm.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Oh.

MATT: The dusttra.

SAM: I have one of their pincers or tusks or something.

LAURA: Yeah. They burrow deep underground.

TALIESIN: Ooh!

SAM: We almost carried one with the skyship.

LAURA: Yeah. What if we find a way to burrow under, hit it from the side?

ASHLEY: We could charm it or something. Charm a monster.

LAURA: Yeah.

SAM: Who's good with animals? Are you?

ASHLEY: Yes!

LAURA: Do you have charm a monster, though? It's not an animal, though. It's a monster.

ASHLEY: I am amazing! It's a monster. It's a monster. Animals, obviously, but monsters, that's a new thing.

LAURA: I was able to communicate with it at the time. I don't--

ASHLEY: Oh, that's right!

TRAVIS: Like you could communicate with it or you could feel what it was feeling?

LIAM: We would have to travel with it a long way because if we fly in, we're a moving target in the air. So we have to land way early and then get, I mean, that sounds fun, to be honest, but we'd have to get it from 50 miles away.

SAM: How do we find it?

LAURA: Yeah. I don't know. It just felt like--

ASHLEY: That's an interesting idea.

TALIESIN: I will say the camouflage part of that idea, though, is not insane.

SAM: Not the blowing up part?

MARISHA: But yes, to Ashton's point--

TRAVIS: Give them a Trojan Horse.

MARISHA: Yeah, you might be able to at least take something in as a delivery method.

ASHLEY: But Otohan saw you.

TALIESIN: And they're ready for a bomb. They are not ready for--

SAM: But they did see you. I mean, we could cover you in another body.

SAM: Maybe Imahara Joe could make some sort of a--

ASHLEY: Make it different.

TALIESIN: Make a distraction.

LIAM: Because you were similar to them, or their same size?

SAM: No, not same size, but similar.

MATT: The ones you saw, they were, like, 15 feet tall, These massive automatons that were hulking around.

SAM: But you said that the architecture or the design of the area was familiar?

MATT: Well, there were heavy ruins in the space that weren't familiar to you, but the construction of this central Malleus Key, it was much larger, much more-- What's the word? Much more--

TRAVIS: Fortified.

MATT: Fortified is the word I'm looking for. The overall design of its fortification and the tech that you could see that it's based on was very reminiscent of elements of your memory that you've been able to recover.

LAURA: It's bona fide!

MARISHA: We know that these ruins are pre-Calamity ruins?

MATT: You were told by Planerider Ryn that these were Tristan ruins, which was a mysterious historical culture that followed leyline nexuses and built ruins around them, and that's what this excavation was about.

MARISHA: Leyline nexuses, like the ancient aboriginals of this area. The Tristans.

MATT: More or less. Yeah.

MARISHA: What was the thing, what was your headpiece mask that you found?

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MARISHA: That wasn't the same people? These were different people.

LIAM: No, that was the--

MARISHA: Sorry, I'm just trying to get everything--

TALIESIN: Hishari.

MATT: It's okay.

TALIESIN: Yeah. That's a whole conversation.

ASHLEY: I believe--

MARISHA: Yes, we still need to have that.

ASHLEY: We might have talked about this at one point maybe, but to have an inside man would be great.

MARISHA: Your mother?

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Would she do it? Would she give a fuck?

LAURA: I don't know.

LIAM: Yeah, what's your vibe with mom?

LAURA: She always cuts it short.

SAM: Feels like you have to see her in person.

LAURA: Maybe, but-- God, if I can catch her when she's sleeping!

SAM: You can keep trying.

ASHLEY: Maybe you could say, "We're coming, it's happening. We're going to fuck up some shit. Are you with us or not?"

LAURA: Yeah. I got to try to pull her back. It feels like she doesn't have a choice, you know? And she's trying to keep us away.

TRAVIS: Imogen. You keep getting spotted during your dreams, right?

LAURA: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Are you able to look around and see if anybody's doing the same thing to you?

LAURA: I tried it after our last--

TRAVIS: But the air's different now. I don't know if something might be more clear.

TALIESIN: Everything's still the same, right? There hasn't been any shit?

TRAVIS: Just feels charged. You know?

SAM: It's good shit.

LAURA: Sure, let me--

SAM: I'm flying right now.

MARISHA: No.

LAURA: Let me step away from everyone. I'm going to try to get away from the group a little bit and I'm going to open my mind up and see if I can sense anything around.

MATT: Okay.

LIAM: Open your eyes.

MATT: You open your mind to the space around you. You do not sense any other presences, which leaves you at ease.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: There is this very, very faint, underlying, best I can describe it as a static or a buzz that you haven't heard before when you've done this, this very light (whooshes) which rests on the periphery of your consciousness.

LAURA: If I look out at the floating lights, does the ripple coincide at all with the static, or is it a constant white noise sort of vibe?

MATT: It just feels like a constant white noise. I mean, there's maybe some bursts where it gets a little louder or softer, but it's perpetually there. You're uncertain if the two are connected.

LAURA: Weird.

MARISHA: In between you and you and you feeling things in the air, I don't know. I don't know, I guess... Who knows if there's a way to harness it. Use that energy.

SAM: Well, maybe we should start checking off some of the folks on the list.

TRAVIS: Reaching out.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LAURA: So you have it today?

SAM: I do. Wait, have we rested?

LAURA: We did, we rested--

SAM: Boy, my eyes don't work anymore.

LAURA: Yeah, I think you did take it at the beginning of the day--

MARISHA: There's no way.

LAURA: -- because I'm down one of the spell slots--

SAM: I got it.

LAURA: -- when we tried to contact Ryn or something.

MATT: (laughs)

LAURA: We haven't slept since then.

TRAVIS: I think we all know who the first person we want to reach out to is, right?

SAM: Dancer.

MARISHA: Ira?

SAM: Imahara Joe.

TRAVIS: I was going to say Ira, but those are also good.

SAM: Ira?

MARISHA: Ira.

TALIESIN: Excellent.

LAURA: Ira feels--

TALIESIN: Ira is the best start.

LAURA: Okay.

LIAM: Yeah.

LAURA: All right.

TALIESIN: I hate these kind of plans.

MARISHA: Tell him I said hello. (laughs)

LAURA: I will definitely try. (laughs) I got to think about what we're going to say here. How much do we fill him in?

TRAVIS: Howdy, y'all.

LAURA: How much do we say?

TALIESIN: It's a little late for subtlety.

LAURA: No, I'm aware.

TRAVIS: Yeah, yeah, I would say--

MARISHA: Yeah, you're good at this.

TALIESIN: Silence is overrated.

SAM: What can we offer him? Isn't he in this for money or is he in this for power?

MARISHA: I think he'll get out of it what he wants to get out of it. He could walk with something from that Malleus Key that we don't give a fuck about.

LAURA: Where is the--

TALIESIN: Or he'll tell us what he wants.

LAURA: -- the valley, what's the excavation site?

MARISHA: Or he'll tell us.

LAURA: The Tishtan. The Tishtan.

MATT: Tishtan Excavation, yeah. T-I-S-H-T-A-N.

SAM: He'll know where it is. He's been there.

LAURA: He's been to the excavation site?

SAM: He's been there. Didn't he help deliver gear there?

MATT: You're uncertain. He was present for the creation of the Fey Realm one, and that was the end of his relationship--

SAM: Oh.

MATT: -- with them. You do recall that the device that he built in the Calloway hideout seemed to operate differently from the other Malleus Keys, or the one that you've seen and the way it was described. He utilized it like an odd flexible telescope to look to the northwest of where they were, to the west-northwest.

LAURA: Is the west-northwest the Tishtan Excavation?

MATT: It is loosely in the same area based on the conversations you've had with members of the Verity, yes.

LAURA: Got it. Okay.

TRAVIS: I would also think we could probably ask what his intent is.

MARISHA: Yes.

TRAVIS: At your discretion, you could hint at what we've already done.

MARISHA: Agreed. Let me also real quick, hang on-

TALIESIN: The enemy of my enemy is my friend, et cetera.

MARISHA: Let me make sure--

LIAM: In 30 seconds or less.

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: No pressure.

MARISHA: I'm quickly going over what we've learned from Ira before.

TRAVIS: And that we know how much time is left.

LAURA: Okay. What are you looking up real fast?

MARISHA: I was quickly making sure if we know fucking-- Fuck. When did we see that? Was that before the Heartmoor or after?

TALIESIN: Fucking fuck is what I heard.

TRAVIS: Fucking fuck.

MARISHA: Ugh, never mind.

LAURA: It was after the Heartmoor.

MARISHA: It was after the Heartmoor?

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: Back in Jrusar. There we go. Bassuras, right.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: Here we are, here we are.

LAURA: Outside of Bassuras.

MARISHA: Uh-huh. We can go ahead and go.

LAURA: Sure, yeah, let's just--

SAM: No, no, let's just watch you read.

MARISHA: (laughs)

LAURA: Okay. Hmm.

TALIESIN: Well.

LAURA: All right. I'm going to try to contact Ira. Oh god.

MATT: Very well.

TRAVIS: You got this.

LIAM: You've got it.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LAURA: I'm trying to get him to meet us there?

TRAVIS: I think we need to find out what he is intending.

SAM: I guess first just: We're going to fuck up the Malleus Key. Are you in?

TRAVIS: Yeah.

LAURA: All right.

TRAVIS: Because it's nine days away.

SAM: If so, where are you?

LAURA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

TRAVIS: We could do that coordinating later.

LAURA: All right.

MARISHA: Mm-hmm, yeah.

LAURA: All right. (exhales)

SAM: Here we go.

LAURA: Ira. Have some fun for you. We're going to fuck up the Malleus Key at Tishtan. You want to play?

MARISHA: That was so hot.

TALIESIN: I would definitely say yes to that. Wow.

ASHLEY: That was really good. I just got sweaty.

MATT: When people respond to your Sending spell, it's normally like a conversation that's sourceless within your mind. This voice seems to creep up over your shoulder into your ear.

SAM: Ew.

MATT: (Ira) "Oh, really? All this time I thought we were on the opposite sides of interest. Curious how you intend to help, but I'm listening."

SAM: Okay, okay, okay.

LAURA: All right. He's interested. I think he wants to do it regardless of if we're doing it.

MARISHA: So he might already have an idea? A plan?

LAURA: Oh god.

TALIESIN: Does he have a plan? Is he already going--

SAM: We can figure that out once we pick him up.

LAURA: Yeah. Fuck.

LIAM: But you said he wanted to know our plan?

LAURA: Yeah. Should I ask where we meet him?

SAM: Yeah, do we tell him our location and can he get close to that, or do we just ask him where he is? Or both?

TALIESIN: I don't mind--

SAM: Tell him where we are.

LAURA: We're passing over Bassuras in how long, Captain Xandis?

MATT: Captain Xandis glances over. "Oh, if the weather's nice for us, maybe about six days or so, six, seven days.

LAURA: Oh jeez, that's so... Fuck.

TALIESIN: Oh.

ASHLEY: That's so many days.

LAURA: Six days of doing nothing? This is so fucked!

ASHLEY: So that means--

TRAVIS: This is great.

MATT: "Look, this here's one of the fastest ways to travel in Exandria."

SAM: Oh, no, we're not mad at you.

LAURA: No, it's not you, Captain Xandis.

MATT: "If you don't like what you--"

LAURA: We're very happy with--

ASHLEY: This all sucks.

TRAVIS: We'll get some perineal sunning in. You guys can take it from here. (laughter)

SAM: It really adds years to your life. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Ahh.

LAURA: Oh god, what's that smell? (laughter)

TRAVIS: ♪ Here comes the sun ♪

TRAVIS and MARISHA: ♪ Do, do, do, do ♪

SAM: What's that extra hole? (laughter)

ASHLEY: Get that vitamin D in.

LAURA: Haven't you ever seen gnomes before? (laughs)

SAM: Wow.

TRAVIS: Just follow your nose.

MATT: (groans) Okay. (laughter) (gagging)

MATT: Just changing up the Exandrian gnome lore here. (grumbles)

LAURA: (laughs)

MARISHA: (laughs)

LAURA: Okay. Passing over Bassuras in about six days.

TRAVIS: If he wait that long.

SAM: Where are you-- Or, yeah.

TRAVIS: Doesn't he also (whooshes)?

TALIESIN: Meet us in Bassuras in six days.

LAURA: Yeah, does he?

TALIESIN: Let's take the act of--

SAM: Maybe ask him to--

MATT: You watched him vanish.

SAM: Tell him where we are, where we're going to be, and ask him where he is, or something.

MARISHA: Tell him to join us on the ride.

SAM: Yeah.

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Or meet us in Bassuras.

ASHLEY: Maybe tell him about the stuff in the air. Maybe he'll know.

TRAVIS: Maybe he'll be interested by a ride on an airship.

ASHLEY: No, that's too much to say.

LAURA: All right.

ASHLEY: Hey.

SAM: No bad ideas.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: All right.

LIAM: Then we don't have to blow through every--

SAM: Just 25 words, though.

ASHLEY: I know.

LIAM: -- ounce of arcane energy you have.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

ASHLEY: By the way, how are you?

LAURA: Okay.

SAM: Have you seen the sky? It's crazy.

LAURA: Meet us.

SAM: Ooh. (laughter)

ASHLEY: So direct. (laughter)

LIAM: I mean it is--

SAM: Take off your shirt.

LAURA: We just left Gelvaan on an airship.

ASHLEY: Good god.

SAM: Skyship in Matt's world.

LAURA: On a skyship. Is that within your realm of capabilities?

SAM: If not, Bassuras in six days.

LAURA: We're passing over Bassuras in about six days.

MARISHA: Laudna says hi.

LAURA: Laudna says hi.

TRAVIS: That's it! (laughter)

LAURA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Jeez. Freak-ette.

MARISHA: (laughs)

MATT: (Ira) "I've always wanted to ride a skyship."

LAURA: Skyship, skyship.

MATT: "Well, you know where to find me."

LAURA: I--

SAM: Oh, fuck you.

MATT: "Still in the place we last met."

TRAVIS: In the hideout.

MARISHA: Oh, he's in--

MATT: "Hanging out with the Calloways."

SAM: Calloway Hideaway.

LAURA: All right.

TRAVIS: They're dead.

SAM: That's just north of Bassuras?

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: That's actually not a bad place to--

MATT: Little bit east of it, yeah.

MARISHA: -- to have a little rendezvous point.

LAURA and SAM: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Little Hideaway.

LAURA: All right.

TALIESIN: All right.

SAM: Okay. Look at that, we're one for one.

MATT: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Okay.

SAM: One for one.

ASHLEY: Yeah, great.

LAURA: Wait a minute, didn't he ditch us? Didn't he bamf away at the Calloways? Or did he--

TRAVIS: He did.

MARISHA: He did.

LAURA: But he's back there now?

MARISHA: He stole the crown.

TALIESIN: He didn't necessarily run, he may have just--

ASHLEY: So we've got Ira.

TRAVIS: The apparatus is still there.

ASHLEY: We've got Ira and my parents will follow. Who was the other person that was in there? There was another--

SAM: Imahara Joe's around there.

MARISHA: No, the--

LAURA: Yeah, the little halfling.

MARISHA: The man, the halfling, yes. Hang on, wait.

SAM: He had a cool name.

TRAVIS: The apparatus is still there.

MATT: It's a goblin, actually. Hondir is who you're talking about, right?

SAM: Hondir.

MARISHA and ASHLEY: Hondir.

MATT: Yeah.

ASHLEY: That's right.

MATT: Yeah, Hondir and--

MARISHA: Who's also part of the Grim Verity.

LIAM: Yes.

MATT: Correct.

ASHLEY: That's right.

MATT: Who was told to stay with the Calloways.

LIAM: That is a good place to touch down because if Ira is able to dance us around the flat disk of Exandria, then we could park the ship where it can't be seen and then get in close.

MARISHA: And we don't have to deal with the mess.

LIAM: It's just science, Chet.

MARISHA: The mess of Bassuras.

TRAVIS: (laughing) Oh no.

TALIESIN: (heavy sigh)

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Give me strength.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

LAURA: All right, well, I used up all of my 3rd-levels. What do you got?

SAM: I got a couple. Who am I calling?

MATT: I can make a Meteor Swarm anytime, Liam. Just-- (laughter)

LIAM: What happened to my perception? I can feel it going down. (laughter)

MATT: Mysterious cataracts just coming on extremely quickly.

LIAM: Ah! (laughter)

TALIESIN: Do we want to keep contacting morally ambiguous people, or do we want to get into disappointing friends? Which direction do we want to go?

LAURA: Well, if you're wanting to contact Joe to make some sort of camouflage for you, if that's really going to happen, then he needs all the time he can get.

SAM: Or a bomb.

TALIESIN: Joe would be a good--

LAURA: So you need to hit up Joe so he has time to make something.

LIAM: We should probably see if we can hire him to deliver to the hideout.

SAM: Yeah.

LAURA: Oh yeah.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Just to remind you, we already did the bomb. I think they're going to be expecting one. I don't think it's a great plan.

LAURA: Might as well have bombs.

TALIESIN: Yeah, just for that plan. For the tie it to FCG and send it in. I don't think that tie it to FCG and send them in with a bomb is a great plan.

LIAM: I don't like that.

TALIESIN: No.

LAURA: No, but we could chuck--

SAM: But if it's a bomb that I could drop.

LAURA: -- some bombs into the hole.

TALIESIN: I'm still a little... I think we can do better.

ASHLEY: But aren't you already--

SAM: A killing machine?

ASHLEY: -- kind of a bomb?

SAM: A killing machine?

ASHLEY: On the inside, a little sparky that--

LAURA: Yeah, you can self-detonate.

ASHLEY: There's a switch, right?

LAURA: Just like, kill--

TALIESIN: No.

ASHLEY: Kill.

TRAVIS: I mean, we don't have to do that. I can be invisible and walk down there with a bomb and then leave it and then come back out.

SAM: They got all kinds of magic that can see through that stuff.

TRAVIS: So do I, motherfucker.

TALIESIN: You have magic that can see through that? (laughter)

TALIESIN: No. Bomb will be final plan in the meantime because, my god, I will throw you off the edge of the earth myself.

SAM: What do we want him to make for us, a bomb or a camouflage?

TALIESIN: Camouflage or--

SAM: How would he know what to make? He hasn't seen these guys.

TALIESIN: Wait a minute, wait a minute.

LAURA: You could describe it.

TALIESIN: Wait a minute.

SAM: In 25 words?

MARISHA: So aggressive.

TALIESIN: Maybe he's got some idea about how we can drill underground. We were talking about drilling underground. I mean, mining equipment is a thing that exists in this giant junkyard.

LAURA: That will take so much more than a couple days.

LIAM: In a week--

TALIESIN: Well, unless there's-- It's at the very least worth seeing what's available.

SAM: That monster--

LAURA: Aren't there fucking holes? There's sinkholes all through Hellcatch Valley.

TRAVIS: Oh yeah.

MATT: There are, yeah.

LAURA: Is this one of them?

MATT: You don't know.

LIAM: But on the map, they're hundreds of miles apart. It's not like they're--

MATT: They are.

TALIESIN: People have figured out how to move around these things, though.

SAM: If we locate that monster--

LAURA: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: Ooh!

SAM: I don't know how we would. But if we did, maybe Imahara Joe could make us some sort of a cradle, a carrying cradle for the skyship?

LAURA: Well, you remember why that creature was chasing after them in the first place.

SAM: For its babies?

LAURA: It captured a baby, yeah.

TRAVIS: A baby.

LAURA: So what if we capture a baby?

TALIESIN: Kind of seems--

LIAM: Wee babby.

LAURA: It'll follow us.

ASHLEY: Now--

SAM: Okay, how do we capture a baby?

LAURA: Mm-mm. ("I don't know.") People do it, though.

TALIESIN: So, would I have any idea what sort of, I don't want to say mining operations, but people clearly go down and explore some of these things on occasion, these--

MATT: Sinkholes?

TALIESIN: Sinkholes.

MATT: Oh yeah. I mean, a lot of different interests out there do because the sinkholes, there's something odd about the occasional arrival of one, and then the occasional vanishing of one.

TALIESIN: Interesting.

MATT: Some of them within have deep, deep-set subterranean tunnels from a time long before that people are trying to study the source of. Many of them tend to be dusttra travel tunnels, and then some appear to be much older.

TALIESIN: There might be a way of finding out if there's some sinkholes next to the site. People have done mining operations.

LIAM: What about me?

TALIESIN: Is it possible to find something that may not be able to drill fast, but a way of trying to... At least seeing if someone knows if there's any tunnels that come close enough to where we're trying to get to that we can--

MATT: You could ask around.

MARISHA: Imogen, you're essentially suggesting we kidnap a baby and then use it like an Etch A Sketch--

LAURA: Pretty much.

MARISHA: -- over top of it? (laughs)

LAURA: Why yes, I am.

LIAM: We're barely going to make it in time if we beeline it. We're going to go... Sorry, I'm just trying to shoot holes in everything because things are--

ASHLEY: We have to.

LIAM: -- fucked.

TALIESIN: I like the idea of seeing if there's some way of getting close to it underground and then finishing up that run.

SAM: Well, you're right, Orym. Maybe we should focus on the simplest plans first, and then tonight we can do a dream and look for sinkholes around the area, or something?

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: That'd be good.

TRAVIS: Just curious, we never went near the Drowned City.

TALIESIN: Do we want to--

MATT: You did not.

TALIESIN: -- contact anybody else? Hexum maybe is possibly a good catch-all for--

SAM: I'll try Joe and ask--

TALIESIN: Joe is the first one.

SAM: -- if we can do a bomb.

LIAM: Well, on the bomb--

SAM: We could always use a bomb.

LIAM: We tried to blow up the first Malleus Key and that thing barely made a dent from the inside, so we're talking about--

LAURA: That was just dynamite. A stick of dynamite is different than a full fucking bomb.

LIAM: Of course, I get that, but you described that key that we're headed towards as massive, so it's got to be massive.

ASHLEY: Well, well, well. Okay. From what you told us, I remember, you have that arcane power accumulator in your body, and it can detonate if it's overcharged with arcane power.

MARISHA: Right, that's how we took down the other one.

ASHLEY: That's how we took down the other one. So basically, you're already--

SAM: A bomb.

ASHLEY: -- a bomb. So maybe we can ask Joe if there's some way--

MARISHA: To make an overcharge situation.

ASHLEY: Yes.

LAURA: But it'll kill FCG.

SAM: Maybe there's a way to chop off my head or something and keep my memories?

MARISHA: No, no, no, no.

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

MARISHA: Hang on, though.

LIAM: Why would that work?

MARISHA: Hang on.

SAM: I don't know where my... You're right, I don't know where my memories are stored.

MARISHA: I see what Fearne is going for, though, because there were other little arcane cores that he had hanging around his shop. We don't have to use you, but we could use a similar--

ASHLEY: Something.

TALIESIN: We still have some--

MARISHA: Something to maybe go around and attach them to. I'm assuming this Malleus Key is going to work.

TALIESIN: Do we still have some of that rediduum, residuum, green powdery?

ASHLEY: Oh yeah, that stuff.

SAM: Wow.

TALIESIN: You're welcome.

SAM: Wow.

MARISHA: I love it when we all play dumb.

SAM: We got rid of it.

MATT: Yeah, you did.

LAURA: We didn't get to keep any of it, right?

MATT: No, you--

TALIESIN: We don't have any of it left?

SAM: We gave it to Joe.

MATT: You delivered that to--

SAM: Oh, to Percy?

LAURA: No, to the Lord and Lady.

SAM: To Percy.

TALIESIN: They took all of it, if I recall. Or no, we gave them some, but I don't think we gave them all of it.

SAM: All right, should I blow myself up?

MARISHA: No.

ASHLEY: No no no.

MARISHA: No, no.

SAM: Changebringer says yes. Keep it on the table.

ASHLEY: I wonder if you could suck in all the power and then just leave.

TRAVIS: It'd be good for draining the batteries if we got real close. I actually have an idea that I think would work without anyone having to explode.

SAM: Okay, what's that?

LAURA: Let's hear it.

TRAVIS: I'll write it down.

SAM: Okay.

TALIESIN: Okay.

TRAVIS: Captain Xandis.

MATT: "Yes, what can I do for you?"

TRAVIS: The Drowned City, I'm just looking at this map that I look at every night before I go to bed. Why do they call it the Drowned City? Have you been over or above it at all?

MATT: "I kind of sort of went around it. It's an archeological dig, but it's not much of a city anymore. It's old, it's apparently drowned, I mean. I try not to fly over the Hellcatch too much for obvious reasons. 'Til I met you all. We just keep on going over it. It's just a party."

TRAVIS: Because it's all messed up. An archeological dig?

MARISHA: Like Tishtan.

TRAVIS: Like open mines or sinkholes that have been mined?

MATT: "I don't know!"

TALIESIN: What's happening there?

TRAVIS: Well, so in this map, Tishtan is... We're going this way again towards Bassuras, right, essentially? But we're way over here.

MATT: You're south.

TRAVIS: Oh, we're south coming up north.

MATT: Yeah, kind of like... If you're looking at it this way, you're coming from the Taloned Highlands, which is the southwest of where it is.

TRAVIS: Yep.

MATT: So you guys are coming up over those mountain ranges over to Bassuras and more or less the, from what you know, the area to the northeast of where Bassuras is, kind of on the northeast part of the map, is the loose area you're heading.

TALIESIN: Mm.

TRAVIS: Okay.

MARISHA: What's this? Is that it?

MATT and TRAVIS: That's a sinkhole.

TRAVIS: Or at least a recently known sinkhole.

MARISHA: But it's kind of here-ish.

TRAVIS: Or is it up past this corner?

MATT: You don't know.

TRAVIS: Could be up at this area. The Drowned City's there, and an archeological dig seems weird. It's not like we have time to waste, but--

TALIESIN: We have nothing at the moment. We're wasting time one way or another.

TRAVIS: It just seems weird that they-- It just seems weird that they excavated--

TALIESIN: Ah.

TRAVIS: Sorry. Every once in a while I get my youth back and it's hard to resist.

LAURA: Why are you looking like that?

TRAVIS: Huh?

LAURA: What? (laughter)

TRAVIS: It's like Laudna. She just radiates magnetism.

LAURA: Mm-hmm.

TRAVIS: And horror.

ASHLEY: She does.

TRAVIS: I figure that maybe we could take a look at the soil and how it was excavated and know if there are any things that we could manipulate from the ground before we get there. If it caves in, is it loose? Is there something that we could do to activate those big-ass worms?

MARISHA: I see what you're getting at. I mean--

SAM: Hey, everybody.

LAURA: So stupid.

TALIESIN: Holy shit.

MARISHA: Oh my god, you put a fucking GoPro on it?

LAURA: But what's even more dumb is that it's not even on.

SAM: It is on.

LAURA: Is it? Oh my god.

SAM: They can trigger it remotely from the control room. Yeah! Woo woo woo!

MATT: He has too much power. He has too much power. I have to take it away.

MARISHA: Oh. (laughter)

MARISHA: To Chet's point, back on task.

LAURA: (laughs)

MARISHA: They're using this Tishtan Excavation site for a reason. You mentioned that it felt familiar, the architecture. We know it's pre-Calamity. They're using this excavation site because it has, obviously, probably some sort of power, right? Just like the one in the Feywild, they needed all these little power chargy orby battery things. So I'm assuming they are using whatever is there in that excavation site to generate an immense amount of power.

ASHLEY: Why is this music on?

TRAVIS: In stored batteries, which they've duplicated, it seemed like, from that dream. But also, if they're really hedging their bets here, you would also have a mainline power source, like a pipeline.

MARISHA: 100%.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MARISHA: Yes, that's what I was trying to get at. Thank you, Chet, you're so smart.

TRAVIS: Thank you.

ASHLEY: Good call.

TRAVIS: Magnetism.

SAM: All right, I'm going to call Joe. What am I asking? For a bomb?

TRAVIS: On wheels.

SAM: Okay.

TALIESIN: Let him know the situation. Time is of the essence.

LAURA: Tell him we all said hi.

SAM: Oh my god.

TALIESIN: Don't-- Time is of the essence.

TRAVIS: Fuck him.

LAURA: Tell him exactly where we're headed and the whole situation.

TALIESIN: If he has any ideas, and that we do need to get in and fuck this thing up and that we're tempted to stop by this other site and take a look at it and--

LAURA: Yeah, let him know we're thinking about heading over here, but we're also going to go over to this place, there's lots of plans in the air.

TALIESIN: Dollar. One gold. However he can help, that'd be great, you know?

SAM: I'm ready. Here goes.

TALIESIN: Oh boy.

SAM: Grass here.

TALIESIN: Solid.

SAM: Need a bomb. Can pay. And a single-rider vehicle, fast. Six days deliver to Calloway getaway.

MARISHA: I don't know if he knows what that is.

SAM: Respond.

TALIESIN: He's never been there.

TRAVIS: Six more.

TALIESIN: And that's not--

SAM: I have six more words?

LAURA: Yeah.

SAM: What else should I say?

TALIESIN: Any of the things we discussed.

MARISHA: Blowing up the Malleus Key.

LAURA: He doesn't know what a Malleus Key is.

MARISHA: Blowing up--

LAURA: Something.

MARISHA: Something.

TRAVIS: World going to end.

LAURA: He asked for a bomb, yeah.

MARISHA: World going to end.

SAM: I mean a really, really, really big bomb.

LAURA: Yeah, there you go.

TALIESIN: Really, really, really--

TRAVIS: Big.

MATT: "Oh hey. Oh, okay. I can see what I can put together. Let me talk to Esmer or Verna. Don't know the place you mentioned." That's it.

SAM: Okay, okay, I can follow up.

TALIESIN: But-- Oh boy. Are we going to--

TRAVIS: Top of the list, look at the sky. Not fucking around. Do you want to die?

SAM: Whoa.

LAURA: Wow.

SAM: How'd you do that?

TRAVIS: Sorry.

MARISHA: Like some beat poetry.

TALIESIN: That would've been helpful yesterday. Really well done.

SAM: How would he find the Calloway hideaway? It's hidden.

LAURA: Maybe the Calloways will go pick it up.

TALIESIN: Get ahold of the Calloways.

ASHLEY: Oh, someone could--

LAURA: They've got some days. Maybe the Calloways can go get it.

MARISHA: That's a good idea.

LAURA: Scratch that, Calloways will pick it up.

SAM: Okay.

TRAVIS: They're not alive.

TALIESIN: And maybe some--

LAURA: Yes, they are.

TALIESIN: -- information about what's happening so that we could have a very smart person thinking about our situation, please.

SAM: Like what? There's a device we need to blow up?

LAURA: Mentally talking right now.

TALIESIN: Tell him about the key, where it is, that we're going to be trying to fuck this thing up and that the Solstice is going to be a big deal.

SAM: How would that help him make a bomb?

TALIESIN: I don't (sighs).

MATT: (laughs)

ASHLEY: May I just--

TALIESIN: I don't even.

ASHLEY: -- try to see if, I don't know how I would know how to do this, but I want to see if I feel if anybody's watching us.

MATT: Make a perception check.

TALIESIN: Check your ball.

ASHLEY: I just feel it in the air.

MARISHA: (barked) Oh!

TRAVIS: Whoa! (laughs)

MARISHA: Sorry.

TRAVIS: (barks) (laughter)

MARISHA: I was reacting audibly to something Taliesin was saying silently. I check the scry ball while Fearne does that.

LAURA: Oh yeah, smart.

ASHLEY: Oh yeah, good call.

MATT: Nothing.

MARISHA: All right, keep going.

ASHLEY: 14.

MATT: 14. (laughter)

LIAM: (clucks)

MATT: Seems safe.

TALIESIN: Can't make an omelet without--

MARISHA: Scientists were able to recreate one sound. (laughter)

TRAVIS, LAURA, and ASHLEY: (shouted) Huh!

MATT: All right.

TALIESIN: Sorry.

SAM: I'll send another message to Joe.

ASHLEY: "All right."

MATT: Okay.

SAM: Second message. Scratch that, Calloways will pick up. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh, come on.

SAM: What else?

TRAVIS: Look at the sky. Danger close. Paint a picture.

SAM: What does the sky have to... Okay.

TALIESIN: Do you see--

SAM: The Solstice will bring mayhem. Look at the sky.

TALIESIN: Oh.

SAM: With your eye.

ASHLEY: Wait, did you tell him how many days?

SAM: Oh my. (laughter)

ASHLEY: How soon he needs to make it.

LAURA: In nine days.

MARISHA: And we all say hi.

SAM: We all say hi.

LAURA: Or is it 11 days?

TRAVIS: You've only got three words.

SAM: Laudna says hi. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Oh.

MATT: "All right, that's a lot to process. I'll look out for the Calloways. Don't know how soon, but soon as I can." And that's the last of it.

SAM: That's great.

TRAVIS: So earnest and forthcoming. He's just a good dude.

SAM: I still got some more Sendings, if you want. Who else?

MARISHA: Well, I guess probably the Calloways.

MATT: It's a lot of days to travel, too.

LAURA: Huh?

MATT: It's a lot of days to travel, too.

TRAVIS: Yep.

MATT: You could take them day-by-day, if you want to, or you could do them all at once. Your call.

LAURA: No, yeah, I mean, they will have to be--

TRAVIS: ♪ Day by day ♪

LAURA: ♪ Day by day ♪

TALIESIN: The faster the better.

LAURA: But crossing them off the list as we get them.

ASHLEY: We've got Hexum, we've got--

LAURA: Joe.

TALIESIN: We can only contact people we've--

ASHLEY: Keyleth, we've got Dorian, Grim Verity. Wait, can you talk to-- Yeah, okay, we can talk to him through the stone.

TALIESIN: You can't talk to people you don't know, can you? That would be crazy.

LAURA: Only people that I--

TALIESIN: Have met.

LAURA: I forget. I think I have to be familiar with them.

TALIESIN: Okay.

LAURA: So potentially--

TALIESIN: I don't know, Milo's--

LAURA: I was able to contact Fearne's parents before I met them because she told me about them.

TALIESIN: Actually, so Hexum would be a good one. You don't know Pocket; Justi would be off the list. Milo, let's hit up Milo. At the very least, Milo might know where the rest of the Nobodies are.

LAURA: Okay.

SAM: Just asking Milo--

LAURA: And what am I saying to Milo? What do I want Milo to do?

TALIESIN: I was going to have--

SAM: I can talk to Milo. I know Milo.

LAURA: Oh, okay.

SAM: Just "Can you reach out to the Nobodies and we'll call you again tomorrow"?

TALIESIN: Situation dire.

ASHLEY: Build an army.

TALIESIN: We're going to be in Bassuras in six days. I can't believe it, but I need to meet up with them. I've got a job. We've got a job for the Nobodies, and meet in Bassuras in six days.

ASHLEY: Can he build stuff, too?

TALIESIN: Milo? Yeah, but they're not anywhere--

LAURA: I'm sorry.

TALIESIN: They're not anywhere near where we're--

MATT: They've been in Jrusar for a number of years, as you have.

TALIESIN: Yeah. Getting them to Bassuras might be a little tricky.

TRAVIS: Smack her.

TALIESIN: All of you.

SAM: All right, to Milo.

TRAVIS: Ronin right now.

MATT: All right.

TALIESIN: Hello.

SAM: Milo. (earnest) Ashton wants their friends back!

TALIESIN: What's that voice?

LAURA: Aww.

SAM: The Nobodies reassembled.

TALIESIN: Oh god.

SAM: For a fun mission.

TALIESIN: No.

SAM: Can you get as many of them as you can to Bassuras?

TALIESIN: In six days.

SAM: In six days?

LAURA: To Bassuras I think is what the last--

TALIESIN: Do we have more or no? Is that everything?

MATT: "Letters? (laughs) You're fucking with me." That's it.

MARISHA: Oh shit.

LAURA: (laughs) What a waste of a--

SAM: I'll cast a 4th-level Sending.

TALIESIN: Can we not do the weird you're-trying-to-date voice? I don't know, that was like trying--

SAM: Smiley day.

TALIESIN: Oh god.

SAM: No, I'm not fucking with you.

TALIESIN: We need them to get ahold of Justi when they get to Bassuras.

SAM: Justi?

TALIESIN: Justi.

SAM: We need them to get ahold of Justi in Bassuras. Ashton is super serious. He's doing that face.

LAURA: Six days.

SAM: Six days.

TALIESIN: Shit-- Yeah. Is that everything? Shit's fucked.

SAM: "Shit's fucked," they say.

TALIESIN: Thank you.

MATT: "Uh! Okay. I can't get to Bassuras in six days! Uh!"

SAM: Oh. The rest of them--

MATT: "I don't know where the others are."

TALIESIN: Okay.

MATT: "I could try." That's--

ASHLEY: Wait, why six days? Don't we have 11 days?

LAURA: Well, six days to Bassuras.

ASHLEY: Oh.

SAM: Who's next?

LAURA: I've got two 4th-levels.

TALIESIN: Do you want to do Hexum?

MARISHA: That's also a good lesson at maybe trying to figure out who can get there.

LAURA: Who is the best people. Yeah.

MARISHA: Yes.

TALIESIN: We could try Hexum.

LAURA: How was Hexum going to get there?

TALIESIN: She won't, but she knows fucking everybody and she's got people everywhere, and she was selling shit to them for the first place.

MARISHA: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

SAM: What is the directive? Get someone to Bassuras to help us? That's not really a plan.

MARISHA: Why don't we reach out to someone from the Grim Verity? That seems like something we really should do.

TALIESIN: Because we hadn't thought of it yet.

MARISHA: No, it's definitely been thought of.

TALIESIN: Shit, fine.

MARISHA: One of the first things we actually mentioned.

ASHLEY: That's actually the first on my list.

MARISHA: There we go.

LAURA: Yeah, same as mine. Grim Verity, it's right here on our list.

MARISHA: It's number one.

LAURA: Number one.

MARISHA: All right, well, we know--

TALIESIN: Who do we know?

ASHLEY: Who do we know?

MARISHA: What's-his-butt--

LAURA: The professor.

MARISHA: The professor.

LAURA: Oh, no, she got Feebleminded or something.

MARISHA: No, no, no, but the people who were in the Fire Plane with us. Why can I never remember--

LAURA: I know, and it's a cute name, too.

LIAM: That's Ebenold Kai.

MATT: Ebenold Kai, Dr. Baryn Vestisho.

LAURA: Ebenold.

MATT: Yeah.

LAURA: Got it.

TALIESIN: Can't hurt.

MARISHA: Probably him first, right?

TALIESIN: The only reason I hit Hexum is because she does have people everywhere and she may know someone that can get us some equipment, something like that.

ASHLEY: These notes, man.

TALIESIN: She knows people.

LAURA: I can't follow mine at all.

ASHLEY: I just have "Orgreo, mobster." "Doesn't have a leg, but has a kenku?" (laughter)

TALIESIN: Wow.

TRAVIS: Holy shit.

LAURA: What does that even--

TALIESIN: Wow.

ASHLEY: I don't know what that means. I don't know if that says leg or something else.

MATT: I think when our campaign's done, that becomes a coffee table book, is what that is.

TALIESIN: Doesn't have a leg.

MATT: An ARG where everyone's trying to figure out your notes.

ASHLEY: Mm-hmm, and no one will be able to.

LAURA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Not me!

TALIESIN: Going to be testing AIs on this shit.

MATT: Oh no.

MARISHA: Someone has a kenku? I don't even remember that.

LAURA: Who has a kenku?

MATT: Anyway.

MARISHA: There was a mob?

LIAM: It was a canker sore.

MATT: Canker sore, that's one.

ASHLEY: That might've been jet lag notes.

MATT: That's okay.

TALIESIN: Let's do Grim Verity.

LAURA: Okay, okay. I'll send a message to Ebenold Kai.

MATT: Very well.

MARISHA: See if he knows how the Shadowfell team is doing. Maybe give him an update that we destroyed the Fey Realm one.

LAURA: Yeah, because who knows what... And let him know about Ryn.

MARISHA: And let him know about Ryn.

LAURA: Okay. Somebody count because Chetney's got this future piece of tech going right now. Okay.

MARISHA: You've got this. You're very capable.

LAURA: (laughs) I'm just trying to think of--

TRAVIS: I'm just trying to think--

MARISHA: Oh, Chet's got it. He's got it.

LAURA: Okay.

TRAVIS: I'm back.

LAURA: Hi. I didn't know where you were.

TRAVIS: Let me roll a d100 real quick. Oh shit! No, I'm just kidding.

LAURA: We destroyed the key in the Fey Realm, and have seen the key here reinforced. How goes the Shadow Realm? Ryn is taken. Need help.

ASHLEY: Goddamn, you're so good at it.

TRAVIS: Fuck.

MARISHA: That's very good. You're very good.

TRAVIS: Days of Jester.

LAURA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: ♪ Do, do, do, do, donuts ♪ (laughter)

MATT: "We still are waiting in Ryn's domain."

LAURA: They can't leave.

MARISHA: Oh, he's fucking stuck. Oh, fuck.

MATT: "As far as I know, compatriots went to the Shadowfell, but I have no idea of success."

MARISHA: Shit.

MATT: That's it.

LAURA: Oh no.

SAM: Chetney, we have to--

ASHLEY: We have a Planerider.

SAM: Planeride them out of them.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: All right. I think I've got enough vitamin D. (laughter)

LAURA: Just counting on his fingers as his legs are in the air.

TRAVIS: And toes!

TALIESIN: Wow.

LAURA: Shit.

MARISHA: Wow, that sucks.

LAURA: They might be stuck there.

TALIESIN: Fuck.

LAURA: Unless they can find a scroll. Maybe Ryn has scrolls.

LIAM: Hope they packed a bunch of rations.

MARISHA: Mm-hmm.

LIAM: No grocery store.

ASHLEY: Shit.

TALIESIN: What happens when you get hungry in the Shadowfell? Is it like normal, or do you get weird?

MARISHA: They're in the Fire Plane.

TALIESIN: They're in the Fire--

LAURA: Who knows, but Ryn might've gotten the other team to the Shadowfell. Holy fuck.

MARISHA: That's true, too.

LIAM: Yeah, we might be hit, you guys.

MARISHA: And we don't know anyone in the Shadowfell team to reach out to?

LAURA: Yeah, no. No.

MARISHA: Shit.

TRAVIS: Well, I have that idea if you want to hear it.

SAM: Oh, I thought you were going to write it down or something.

TRAVIS: Eh. So, it doesn't involve any of us getting close or blowing up, but in your dream, it was a sinkhole, right?

LAURA: Yeah, it was a big hole.

TRAVIS: Open air and near the bottom, along all those cranes and walkways there was the key, more fortified, double power source, but still open. Well, we're on a massive airship. What if we just crash the airship into the key?

LAURA: We could charge up the crystals on here.

SAM: One of us would have to steer it down.

TALIESIN: Why?

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: I've got Feather Fall.

SAM: Because it would be so glorious. Captain Xandis?

ASHLEY: That's not a bad idea.

MATT: Is not listening to the conversation, is like, "Did you say my name?"

SAM: Never mind.

TALIESIN: No, no.

MATT: "Okay."

TRAVIS: I mean, we could create distractions and we could make redundancy plans and everything, but if really the fail safe is that thing can't work, it can't function. I doubt much will if you crash this fucking thing into it from thousands of feet in the air. I'm sure there will be lots of magic and they've got to have some defenses, but I don't know, unless there's a lattice work over it or something that we didn't know about?

LAURA: There might be.

SAM: Well, we can do more scouting in dreamland.

MARISHA: I do think this is a good redundancy plan.

TALIESIN: I would rather have Joe working on a way of making whatever we do with this worse than any little, you know.

SAM: Sure.

LIAM: I wouldn't rule it out, though.

TALIESIN: Hurt five people.

LIAM: Not at all.

ASHLEY: That's an interesting idea.

TALIESIN: But making something to make this worse, yeah.

TRAVIS: We'll make it up to Captain Xandis?

TALIESIN: Oh yeah.

TRAVIS: Okay.

SAM: Well, he'll be on the ship, right?

LAURA: (laughs)

MATT: "What happened there? I heard my name twice."

TALIESIN: Nothing.

TRAVIS: We were saying it's just so smooth this time around, you can really feel the mastery of your craft.

MATT: "Ah, well, thank you very much! Just wait until we get to the Hellcatch. You'll be changing your mind really fast."

LAURA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: That sounds right.

ASHLEY: You might, too. How fast can this go?

MATT: "About this fast. This is as fast as it goes."

MARISHA: If it were, theoretically...

TRAVIS: 20 knots.

MARISHA: Well, never mind.

SAM: So we would have to sort of--

MARISHA: Terminal velocity, obviously.

SAM: Chop off all the things that keep it afloat.

MARISHA: Right, the brumestone.

LAURA: Yeah, the stones.

LIAM: Can't just point it down?

TRAVIS: And turn them off.

SAM: Turn if off.

ASHLEY: Can't we blast the brumestones?

LAURA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Like, once we land, some of us could be like, "Gaboozh!"

TALIESIN: Well, if you let them go, they just go that way.

ASHLEY: Oh. That's what's--

TALIESIN: So we have to figure something out. I don't know. I'm going to think about it.

MARISHA: -- a good idea to just keep the brumestone, if we're able to, and let it go.

TALIESIN: I mean, if there's a way--

MARISHA: Because then we could still use the brumestone on another boat.

SAM: I mean, if we win, it--

TRAVIS: There are obvious problems with this plan, right? We saw Planerider Ryn close to the key, we'd have to move that statue if there's any hope of saving them.

TALIESIN: There's got to be a way to, I mean, the fact that we're not flying up in the air right now. I don't actually know how these things fly. I should really look into that.

SAM: Over the next few days, a few of us should learn how to captain this thing.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TALIESIN: That's actually a good idea.

ASHLEY: I can probably do it.

TALIESIN: I'd be in for that.

SAM: Fearne?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

SAM: That would be great!

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Oh, I'm joining you for this because I absolutely want to learn how to fly this.

ASHLEY: I've done some boating before, so I think--

SAM: Whoever learns to fly it maybe should be someone who can jump off of it and not die, like someone who can Feather Fall or turn into a bird or something.

ASHLEY: I can't do that.

SAM: Well, turn into something.

LIAM: Who all is down there? We know that Ryn is, and Imogen's mother almost definitely is, or is?

LAURA: Last I saw, yeah, she's there.

TRAVIS: Hey, DM.

MATT: Yeah?

TRAVIS: These ravines in the map, these guys.

MATT: Yeah.

TRAVIS: If you were up on ground level, are those, they go down like that, in?

MATT: Correct. Yeah. Some of them are gradual, some of them are cliffs, some of them actually pull back in. A lot of them just been there for a long time and they've been cut deeper by sudden monsoons and heavy, heavy floods that carve through and get dug deeper and deeper into the Hellcatch.

TRAVIS: Are they tens of feet deep or are they more like semi-Grand Canyon deep, like hundreds of feet?

MATT: Semi-Grand Canyon.

TRAVIS: So another thing to consider is we don't have to attack from above where it would be easy to see us.

LAURA: We could go into those.

TRAVIS: Yeah, we could try. I mean, if we're close to the ground where shit's already fucked up in the Hellcatch. But you could "Top Gun: Maverick" that ravine.

MARISHA: Yeah. Full "Maverick."

LAURA: Up and over and in.

TRAVIS: It's a great story. You should watch it.

SAM: Inverted.

LAURA: Inverted.

TRAVIS: Best of all time.

LAURA: Can we invert the skyship?

TRAVIS: (coughs) Bullshit!

LAURA: (whistling wind)

TRAVIS: Because I was inverted. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Okay.

LAURA: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: I mean, that does feel like if we do that, we would still need a sky team and a ground team, right?

LIAM: We're also relying on dreams. Who all is down in this hole? It's Ryn and Imogen's mom, but--

TRAVIS: Ryn and Imogen's.

LIAM: Ryn and Imogen. (laughter)

LAURA: Ryn and Imogen.

LIAM: Is everyone who's there willing for their cause? Are they putting people to work? Are there innocents down there?

LAURA: (sighs)

TRAVIS: You've tried pleading with your mom, but have you threatened your mom?

LAURA: I have not threatened her.

MARISHA: I mean, yes, to Orym's point, we are talking about-- I mean, there are going to be casualties. Let's be honest, but--

TRAVIS: I hope so.

MARISHA: Your mother. Could you live with that?

LAURA: We've got to try to find a way to have a ground team.

SAM: Yeah.

LAURA: If nothing else, then to get Ryn out of there. Otherwise, people are stuck in the Shadowfell, people are stuck in the Fire Plane. There's so many lives lost if Ryn goes down.

ASHLEY: I wonder if your mom could help Ryn.

LAURA: Maybe.

MARISHA: Yeah. It's very likely there's going to come a point, if she doesn't join us... I despise the idea that that is a choice that is going to have to rest upon your shoulders.

LIAM: Would Morri or Ira maybe have the power to break Ryn out of their state? Could we send a team in, grab your mom, get to Ryn, free them, and then Ryn's our ticket out for Sky Team to unleash mayhem from above?

TRAVIS: Big magic, heavy hitters.

LAURA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: That's depending a lot on--

LAURA and TRAVIS: Morri.

LIAM: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Morri and getting Ryn out.

MARISHA: Well, and even if grabbing Imogen's mom, we know how powerful Imogen is and we can only assume her mother is that much more powerful. If she's not on our side, that could backfire.

SAM: We got Ira.

TRAVIS: Maybe.

SAM: He's on.

LAURA: That's true.

TRAVIS: Yeah. Do Ira and Ryn have any history? Did Ryn mention that they knew Ira or were aware of?

MATT: Aware of, maybe. Yeah.

SAM: But Ira's got some magic.

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: Is it worth it to find your mom in dreams again?

LAURA: That's what I want to--

LIAM: Can we make an offer, and we--

LAURA: I want to try to do that.

LIAM: We put a pin in this for one day.

SAM: Yeah.

LIAM: One night.

SAM: We did some good stuff today. We should go as fast as we can and do some dreaming.

LIAM: Maybe learn a little bit more about what's on the ground down there, besides the robits?

SAM: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: We've seen Otohan and your mother have tangible influence in the dreams, kind of? Sort of? Kind of?

MATT: To an extent.

MARISHA: It would be fucking badass if you could have some sort of tangible influence on whatever is going on. I don't know. The key, something. I don't know.

TALIESIN: If your mom really actually is on the up and up, she clearly still thinks that this is some sort of negotiation where she can get you to leave. So I suppose it's time to make sure that she knows that that time has passed. She has to fucking deal.

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: And if she doesn't, she-- Well, then she's leaving you out in the cold, isn't she?

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Time to-- Hmm.

LAURA: She's done it before.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LAURA: But--

TALIESIN: That is what they do.

MARISHA: You have the locket?

TRAVIS: Anybody else on the list we want to reach out to?

SAM: Yeah, anybody last minute? Hail Mary?

TRAVIS: For the day.

SAM: For the day.

LAURA: Dancer, The Hive, Hexum, Lord and Lady Whitestone, Seshandri, Morri, your parents.

ASHLEY: Grim Verity.

LAURA: Grim Verity we just called.

ASHLEY: Oh wait. That's right.

LAURA: Yeah. We just did that.

ASHLEY: Let me put that--

TRAVIS: Seshadri, maybe?

SAM: Actually, wait. I can't do it anymore if I'm going to do the dream.

MATT: Have somebody roll a d20 for me for your first day.

TRAVIS: I'll go!

SAM: Do it.

LAURA: Oh jeez!

TRAVIS: I'll go.

ASHLEY: Oh jeez. I've ruined so many.

TRAVIS: I'll go.

ASHLEY: You'd better roll good.

SAM: Put your ass down first. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Sorry. (laughter)

TRAVIS: I think I might've left it up a little long. It's hot! Stay still! Eight.

MATT: Eight. Okay. All right. The sky is pretty clear.

SAM: Hey!

MATT: The travel is nice and smooth. The winds do not batter the side of the skyship as you head eventfully--

TRAVIS: Fuck!

MATT: (laughs) Forward. But yeah, so the first day of travel is fine. That brings us to--

LAURA: Oh, that's right. We could roll for really great winds that send us faster.

MATT: It's possible. Yeah.

MARISHA: Or a storm.

LAURA: That's if we roll high?

TRAVIS: We just don't know where those numbers are. If it's high or low or dead in the middle or--

TALIESIN: There's a chart we cannot see.

LAURA: (groans)

MATT: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: I hate charts you can't see!

LAURA: I know!

MATT: All right. So finishes your first day of travel in the skyship.

MARISHA: Eye exam charts.

MATT: Is there anything else you wish to do before the day comes to a close?

LIAM: Yeah. (sighs) I'll take out the stone.

SAM: Eat a cookie.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: You've been really going at that stone.

LAURA: Orym, that's a cookie. (laughter)

SAM: Oh god!

TRAVIS: No! Orym! Your beautiful teeth!

SAM: Your teeth! Your teeth!

TRAVIS: Oh god! (laughter)

TALIESIN: Takes out the edible.

TRAVIS: I'm so impressed!

TALIESIN: Contacts the Feywild. (laughs)

LIAM: Dorian. (laughter)

MARISHA: He's still talking into a cookie!

TRAVIS: (mumbled) Dorian.

MARISHA: Our jobs are weird! (laughter)

LIAM: Update. People we're chasing unleashing hell in a week. There's a crumb out of my mouth. That's not part of the message.

LAURA: Mm-mm.

LIAM: We're headed there now. Odds not good.

SAM: You haven't said where.

LIAM: More tomorrow. Where are you?

LAURA: You have five left. ♪ Do, do, do, do, do. ♪

MARISHA: Head to Bassuras.

LIAM: I'll cap it there.

TRAVIS: Doot!

MARISHA: Oh, what's that now?

TALIESIN: Huzzah!

MATT: "Orym! With the rest of the Crown Keepers in Tal'Dorei, the--"

LAURA: Oh, maybe they could all come help!

MATT: "Opal's getting a little dark."

SAM: Oh shit!

MATT: "Little busy at the moment."

SAM: (groans)

MATT: "I don't even know how to get to you."

LAURA: (groans)

ASHLEY: What does that mean?

MARISHA: She had the Spider Crown!

SAM: What are you doing to yourself? Why are you doing that?

MARISHA: Voguing.

SAM: Okay.

LAURA: ♪ Da da ♪

SAM: Oh!

TALIESIN: Oh, that wasn't good.

TRAVIS: Nausea.

LIAM: Dorian's out.

LAURA: Dorian's out? (sighs)

SAM: But he's so handsome!

ASHLEY: Well--

LAURA: No!

LIAM: On another continent.

TALIESIN: It was a long shot.

LIAM: I better not eat this. I'll save it so that we can still talk to him. (laughter)

LAURA: Maybe we can talk to him every day. We can talk him into finding a portal or something.

ASHLEY: Yeah, find something.

TALIESIN: So well-glazed.

ASHLEY: I mean, if he brought all of them along?

MATT: We don't have enough chairs at this table, Ashley.

ASHLEY: I know.

LAURA: I know, but how cool would that be?

MATT: (laughs)

TRAVIS: How do you know, if you haven't tried?

ASHLEY: I want it!

LIAM: We could fit 16.

TALIESIN: They could be sitting in a--

TRAVIS: You're like, "I know."

ASHLEY: That'd be crazy!

LAURA: Oh god!

LIAM: Matt, you could fit at least one person on your left and your right.

LAURA: That would be so cool!

MATT: Don't even. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Don't utter that stuff.

ASHLEY: He's like, "Don't."

LAURA: (gasps)

LIAM: You need a cat spray bottle for us.

MATT: Yeah, I know.

LIAM: What if we--

LAURA: Sit down!

TRAVIS: For years.

LAURA: Sit down!

TRAVIS: For years now.

MATT: "What if we bring back every guest we've ever had tomorrow?" Cool. Cool. Yeah. Yeah.

LIAM: Zahra, this is Orym. (laughter)

SAM: All right, what are we doing? Going to sleep? Dreamies?

TRAVIS: Yeah, getting ready for the night.

TALIESIN: That, or do we want to quickly drop something to Hexum?

LAURA: If we do, it'll use up--

TALIESIN: Oh, you've already gone. Okay. That's right. We're still in the... We'll wait until tomorrow.

MATT: Okay.

LAURA: Are we going to try to reach out to my mom tonight?

SAM: If you'd like to.

LAURA: It's the same time zone, right? It is night there. Oh, maybe they sleep during the day because the moon, Ruidus is up at night. Last time I tried to do this, the last two times I've tried to do this, it's been busy when we go and that's in the middle of the night.

ASHLEY: Oh yeah.

TALIESIN: You want to stay up all night?

LAURA: Or maybe, what time is it now?

SAM: I mean, she was there once.

LAURA: Yeah, but if I hit her when she's dreaming, then Otohan Thull won't be able to see us, won't be able to--

SAM: I mean, Thull knows we're coming. I'm not too worried about that.

LAURA: I know, but--

ASHLEY: What time is it right now?

LIAM: Do you want to try a different time?

MATT: I mean, you guys have been traveling for the majority part of the day. Time is wibbly-wobbly as we're doing this journey because it's just sitting on a skyship. So we'll say whenever you want it to be, it's the end of the day, and we'll be doing that for the next few days since you're just riding on the skyship.

LAURA: Okay.

LIAM: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

LAURA: So I could do this towards early evening. So hopefully before Ruidus comes up?

MATT: If you'd like to.

SAM: Sure.

LAURA: Okay.

ASHLEY: That's a good idea.

LAURA: I don't know how I'm going to fall asleep, but I'm going to try.

SAM: I'll give you some chamomile tea that I cook inside my stomach.

LAURA: Mm! Stomach tea!

SAM: I made a nice little-- (laughter)

SAM: Ow!

LAURA: Oh!

TRAVIS: Does it beep when it's ready? Boop, boop, boop, boop!

SAM: Yep.

TRAVIS: Boop, boop, boop!

LIAM: Can it pour out of the hole in your side? (laughter)

MARISHA: ♪ I'm a little teapot ♪

SAM: I'm going to make you nice little cinnamon cookie.

LAURA: Aw!

SAM: Just make you feel good at night. I'll cast this dream thing. And because Orym and Fearne, you haven't seen this place yet, right?

MARISHA: Yeah. Mix it up. And Ashton not, too, right?

LAURA: But we're not--

SAM: I can only take two other people.

LAURA: The goal here is not to go to that place. I'm trying to hit up my mom's dream.

SAM: Sure, but they haven't experienced this yet, so I'm bringing them, if that's all right with you?

LAURA: Sure. Yeah.

ASHLEY: We'll stay out of the way.

LAURA: Okay.

ASHLEY: I won't even--

SAM: Oh.

ASHLEY: You won't even know I'm there.

MARISHA: Listen, though. Having experienced it, if something goes poorly, just get out.

LAURA: Wake up.

MARISHA: Wake up. Force yourself awake. Because if something happens and Imogen or FCG loses their connection, their tether, you could be stuck.

LAURA: Stuck.

LIAM: What are we supposed to do to go in there?

SAM: Just hold my hand. But before I cast this spell, Enhance Ability is not concentration.

MATT: I believe Enhance Ability is concentration.

SAM: Oh, it is?

MARISHA: It didn't work. We tried that last time and it didn't work.

LAURA: Oh, no. It did. I did get wisdom.

MARISHA: Oh, that's right!

SAM: But I did your charisma.

LAURA: Charisma. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is--

SAM: I think I should do that again because they're doing persuading, right?

LAURA: No, you did wisdom because my perception, it was my perception.

SAM: I'm going to do charisma this time. Because you're trying to convince her to do something.

LAURA: Okay.

SAM: Right?

LAURA: Uh-huh.

SAM: Okay. I'm enhancing her charisma.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: All right, hold my metallic hands and try to drift off to sleep. I will vibrate in a nice, soothing vibration way to sooth them.

MATT: (chuckles)

ASHLEY: A little white noise.

MATT: All right, so you are--

LIAM: Wait, wait. As the three of us are slowly drifting down, Orym's going to dozily look over an Imogen. Hey. If I had a daughter like you one day, I'd be real proud.

LAURA: Thanks, Orym. If I had a son like you, I'd be real proud, too.

LIAM: I have a mom. She's pretty great.

ASHLEY: Well, my son's pretty great.

SAM: I'm sorry?

MARISHA: She's was talking about the monkey.

SAM: Oh, Mister! I thought you were also her mom.

ASHLEY: No Imogen, but-- (laughter)

LIAM: In your dreams.

TALIESIN: Goddamn it.

MATT: All right, so you are--

SAM: Oh yeah! I have five kids. (laughter)

ASHLEY: I don't know. I don't know, either. (laughter)

MATT: All right, so you are attempting to connect with Imogen's dream and bringing along Orym and who else?

SAM: Fearne.

MATT: And Fearne. Okay.

LAURA: This is--

MATT: You cast the spell.

ASHLEY: This is smart.

MATT: You drift into a familiar unconscious space, holding onto the control that you're just beginning to try and harness. Now, previously, you've begun to push into your dream space towards different energies, being drawn towards locations, and this, you're trying to directly connect to your mother.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: I would like you to make a d20 roll and then add your spellcraft modifier.

ASHLEY: Can I Guidance?

MATT: For this, no, because you are sleeping with--

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: Okay.

LIAM: It's good.

LAURA: 28.

ASHLEY: Oh!

MATT: 28? So you added plus five?

LAURA: Oh, I thought it was my spellcasting.

MATT: Your charisma.

MATT: Not spellcasting.

LAURA: My charisma modifier, then.

MATT: Sorry. Yeah.

LAURA: Okay. Yes.

MATT: Brain was a little weird on that one.

LAURA: Then 24.

MATT: 24. 24 is very, very good. Okay. You concentrate just as the sun begins to set. Ruidus is in the sky. Both moons, at different speeds, do at times meet and cross each other during the day and night, but in a weird way, you feel like that empowers you in the moment. As you try and concentrate, that sense of redness surrounds you. You then feel this immediate (whoosh), this gravitational pull at an incredible speed. Then, (swirling wind) the red dust surrounds you. You stand there, drifting in the midst of the cloud. The familiar state of your dream, the storm that chased you for so many nights in recent times, you now stand in the middle. No ground, no field, no farm, just you and the motes of light that represent your companions as they are pulled alongside you.

LIAM: Whoa.

MATT: A moment later, you watch as a shadowed female form emerges from the cloud, arms and legs mostly made of dark immaterial, like a spiritual being that is just beginning to push through the dust storm. Within a moment, the eyes open. You see the dark hair become a light purple. You see the shaded semblance of material flapping behind, like she's half there, half aware. The voice that goes in your mind directly. "Imogen?"

LAURA: Mama. Come on.

MATT: "Where are we?"

LAURA: We're coming. We're coming, and I need your help.

MATT: The shadowed form begins to take on more material. As the focus of your mother begins to crystallize, the realization of where she is, who you are, and you watch as now an image of an older woman with familiar features to Imogen, but mature. Longer hair. A harder look. An expression that is a unique mixture of surprise and concern, as well as a coldness. "Imogen, you shouldn't be here."

LAURA: I know. You keep saying that. Tell me there's still part of you that cares. Tell me there's part of you that knows what you're doing is wrong.

MATT: "Why is it wrong?"

LAURA: You want to destroy half the world.

MATT: "I think you misunderstand what's going on here. The world will be saved at the end of this and we'll be free."

LAURA: The world will be eaten at the end of this and we'll be gone.

MATT: "(sighs) I wish you could see the things that I can see."

LAURA: Show me. You left to protect me, to find out more?

MATT: She drifts forward towards you about a foot from where you are, and reaches out.

LAURA: Don't push me away. Do not send me away.

MATT: She touches your forehead between your eyes. (whoosh) There's a flash of light, and images that cross past your mind. A massive, glowing lattice in the sky pulling apart as red fills the air above. Thousands and thousands of voices in unison around and a sense of freedom. The cries of history snuffed in a moment and the beginning of something new and beautiful, like endless possibility without guidance, without fate, without this gift. In a brief instant, you remember what it was like to not be like this, to just be you. She pulls her hand away and you return to the core of this dream. You see in her face this empathetic concern. "I'm doing this for both of us and he's doing it for everyone. I know change is hard, but we've been toys since the beginning. I wish you could understand. I wish you all could understand." She takes note of the motes around you. She puts her hand forward, and (powerful whoosh) a flash of white light and you all come up to consciousness inside the skyship once more.

ASHLEY: Whoa.

LAURA: Did y'all see it?

SAM: Mm-hmm.

LAURA: You saw everything?

LIAM: Saw her, heard her.

LAURA: Did they see what I saw in my mind?

MATT: You just saw her touch her forehead and then pull away.

LIAM: We heard her little--

MATT: You heard her--

LIAM: -- speech. Yeah.

ASHLEY: What did she say?

LAURA: What if it's not that bad? I mean, what if what we're doing it is just fighting change? What if...?

LIAM: Well, Imogen, I wish my family didn't have to die for her brighter tomorrow.

LAURA: You're right. I'm sorry. You're right. I'm sorry.

MARISHA: I get a glass of water. Hand it to Imogen.

LIAM: I know how hard this has got to be for you. I'm sorry.

LAURA: No, I-I-I, I-I-I swear, I-I-- I-I-I want to see this through, I do. It was just overwhelming what-- She just presented this-this-this vision of-of-- It just didn't seem so bad.

SAM: Of course--

LAURA: But--

SAM: It's impossible. I mean, you love her and she... It's hard to love someone who thinks in a completely different way.

ASHLEY: Okay. Just go with me on this. What if, well, what if it's not that bad? What did she show you? What did she do when she touched you?

LAURA: I saw... I saw the gate opening and red pouring out, and just all, all the burdens being pulled away. I just felt free.

LIAM: We're talking about something that's never happened before. Did she show you the future, or did she show you what she wants you to see and feel?

LAURA: She's probably showing me what she's been shown, Orym. It's all cultist bullshit, I know. She's been brainwashed and it's not real. That thing up there is a god eater. It destroys. That's what it wants. It wants to eat. Right? It just wants to eat. It's selfish.

SAM: Yeah. I mean, maybe. We don't have all the answers, right?

SAM: But that's--

LIAM: Very few.

ASHLEY: We don't know that.

MARISHA: The other gods locked it away.

ASHLEY: I forgot about that.

LAURA: Yeah. The gods are good?

TALIESIN: There's no such thing.

MARISHA: The gods are just gods.

TALIESIN: They're not good. They're not bad. They're just fucking selfish. Everybody is fucking selfish.

SAM: Well, my god's good.

LAURA: The Changebringer?

SAM: Are you good? (laughter)

TALIESIN: Are we learning? (laughter)

ASHLEY: Told you. (laughter)

SAM: Maybe I phrased that wrong.

TRAVIS: No.

TALIESIN: No, I really don't think you fucking did.

TRAVIS: Doubt creeps in. (laughter)

SAM: Are you neutral?

MARISHA: ♪ Doubt creeps in ♪

SAM: Ugh. (laughter)

SAM: Are you bad?

LIAM: Oh no, are we in a Tom Stoppard play?

SAM: Oh boy. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Wow, really? We went to Stoppard?

LIAM: Yeah.

TALIESIN: All right. I'm in. (laughter) (laughter)

TALIESIN: It can be done by luck alone.

LIAM: It can.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

SAM: Oh boy, I feel like you all of a sudden. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Now we're to the building of suspense.

LIAM: Yeah.

SAM: Got to get this thing checked tomorrow.

MARISHA: All right, well. Okay.

LAURA: Ask the Changebringer if they want us to succeed.

SAM: All right, I will.

SAM: Yes.

LAURA: All right.

SAM: But we've already established that at least the Changebringer--

TRAVIS: They're onto us!

SAM: Right now, since they're bad--

TRAVIS: FCG, cut off the line of communication!

SAM: Maybe the Changebringer's feeling guilty.

LAURA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: See, this is what happens when you start externalizing every fucking problem that you have. Easy to take a look at. There's a bunch of people who are treating other people like they're fucking nothing, like they're fucking pawns. It doesn't matter what the fuck they want. They are doing it wrong. It is not hard to see. You're being with fucked with. We're all being fucked with. Whatever the fuck they say that they're doing, that's where I draw the line. If they had such a great idea of what the world was supposed to be and what that thing was, they could just tell people. But instead, they're making everybody miserable. They're killing people. Fuck that. Fuck them. I'm going to be more than happy to drop a fucking ship on them.

LIAM: I agree with Ashton.

TALIESIN: I'm so sick of this shit.

LIAM: It's not a new plan. It's an old plan. It's a plan as old as the world. Leave a string of bodies behind for your better tomorrow.

TALIESIN: It's easy to make a nice world if you keep killing everybody who fucking disagrees with you. If you can get down to five, it'll be amazing. Fucking utopia.

LAURA: (laughs)

SAM: Well, good night.

TALIESIN: I'm going to have a drink.

MARISHA: I think I'll join.

LIAM: There's no need--

SAM: The bad guy?

MARISHA: No, Ashton and having a drink.

SAM: Oh, okay.

TALIESIN: Yes. I'm grabbing a bottle and going up into the--

MARISHA: I don't drink often, but it feels appropriate right now.

TALIESIN: -- the front.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: I'm going to be at the stern, just checking out the sky, seeing if that's different at night with the air so charged.

LAURA: Ooh, is it brighter?

MATT: With the sky dark against the backdrop of these flittering colors, you can now see the flashes of color you saw were just pulses along, now, a network of faintly visible rivers in the sky, of energy.

LAURA: (gasps) Leylines.

MATT: The magical leylines of Exandria. are slowly beginning to glow--

LAURA: Wow.

MATT: -- with the approach of the Apogee Solstice.

LAURA: (gasps)

TALIESIN: No.

LAURA: That's so fucking cool!

MATT: Make a perception check.

LAURA: They're all different colors? All the different leylines are different colors?

TRAVIS: Can I use my Hunter's Bane?

MATT: They change as as they go in time.

TALIESIN: Death by Rainbow Brite. Can I use Hunter's Bane for advantage?

LAURA: Oh my god, Rainbow Road!

MATT: Not for this one in particular.

ASHLEY: Guidance!

MATT: This is just to watch.

TALIESIN: Purple horseshoes, we're fucked.

LIAM: Purple horseshoes.

LAURA: You can't do Guidance on perception.

TRAVIS: Is that a d4?

ASHLEY: You can't do Guidance on Perception?

LAURA: Not unless--

MATT: You can do it on skill checks, but this is him on the stern on his own.

TRAVIS: 17.

ASHLEY: I don't know how that works.

MATT: 17.

LAURA: If he's looking now--

MATT: While they're doing this--

ASHLEY: Then I can do it?

MATT: -- and you're keeping an eye over it--

LAURA: We don't know--

MATT: -- you swear it looks like they're ever so slowly moving.

TRAVIS: Like--

MARISHA: Yeah, like how?

TRAVIS: Moving along the lines of the river, or moving like clouds in the sky?

SAM: Shifting.

MATT: Shifting like clouds in the sky at an almost imperceptibly slow speed.

LAURA: The lines?

SAM: They're locking into place.

MARISHA: Mm-hmm. They're going to overlap.

TALIESIN: Don't cross the streams.

MARISHA: They're fully crossing the streams.

TRAVIS: How's Ruidus looking on this beautiful night?

LIAM: So fine.

MATT: Its same dull, red self. The faint bit of visible shadow with enough focus that you can see that passes upon it. It is not flaring, it is just looming over, sending a slight chill through your shoulders as you glance above it with the periphery glow of the visible Exandrian leylines, giving this contrasting beauty that dances along the horizon at different distances.

TRAVIS: Cool. Catha is chilling, right?

MATT: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Cool.

MATT: If you'd like to conclude this evening, as other business is done.

SAM: Yes. We would.

MATT: Let's go ahead and break.

SAM: Let's break.

MARISHA: Wait, wait, wait.

MATT: One more thing? All right.

TRAVIS: Did you say wait, wait, wait?

MARISHA: Yeah, quick drink with Ashton.

MATT: Okay.

TALIESIN: So, I am definitely downing a bottle, and will...

MARISHA: Are you all right?

TALIESIN: No.

MARISHA: That was very well spoken, you know? Once in a red moon, you've got a really good speech just chambered in there.

TALIESIN: I... (sighs) I don't know. It's complicated. This is not the person I thought I was going to be. I'm-- Oh, yeah.

MARISHA: Ashton, who the fuck are you and where the fuck did you come from?

TALIESIN: (sighs)

MARISHA: We don't really know. We know a little, but the most we know is that you were jettisoned from a portal, you became a rock, and then you joined a band of misfits and criminals and did criminal things. That's about all we really know.

TALIESIN: That's about all there is to know. I am a blank slate.

MARISHA: I don't believe that.

TALIESIN: Well, you wouldn't. All of you have, well, with one exception, a place that you came from, people who made you who you are, all except for one. I hate you all a little. You know that, right?

MARISHA: Are you jealous of us because you feel like we have more of an identity than you?

TALIESIN: I am jealous of you because I know things you don't. I know loneliness that you don't. I know the truth of people that none of you do. Maybe one of them. I mean, you know things, too. Don't think I don't know that.

MARISHA: I was also alone in the woods for 30 years. I know loneliness. I made a dead rat my best friend, so I wouldn't go fucking mad.

TALIESIN: I don't trust that rat, by the way. I think he's a rat.

MARISHA: (laughs) You're scaring me a little, Ashton. And that's coming from me.

TALIESIN: Good. How was the swings of fear of dying again, versus the crippling obligation that you feel to everybody for risking themselves to save you going?

MARISHA: I wasn't afraid to die. It was the latter.

TALIESIN: But now?

MARISHA: It still haunts me.

TALIESIN: I mean, this is one of the few things that we have in common, is that we've both died. Do you ever think about that?

MARISHA: How do you grapple with a sense of deep indebted onus?

MARISHA: How do you grapple with a sense of deep indebted onus?

TALIESIN: I literally pledged myself to one of the worst people I've ever met to work for them for years, for a bunch of people I haven't seen since. What was it like waking up and having them there? I want to know what it was like to come back and everyone was still there. Genuinely. That is something you know that I don't.

MARISHA: It was one of the greatest feelings, because it wasn't like that the first time. I've never known such kindness. And maybe, Ashton, you should cut yourself some slack and allow yourself to feel the same.

TALIESIN: I haven't opened up in a while. This group is strange that way. Didn't go well last time. We'll see how it goes this time. Although, it may not matter in a couple weeks.

MARISHA: Maybe in this last couple of weeks, we can both work on affording ourselves a little bit of forgiveness.

TALIESIN: Oh. I mean, it doesn't matter in the long run. I love y'all just a little bit. (laughs)

MARISHA: And you hate us just a little bit, too.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MARISHA: What's with the fucking mask? That you pull out and stare at a little bit and that you wanted so badly to steal from that hoax of a museum?

TALIESIN: It's a helmet. And-- Did you just, "What the fuck is up with that?" me?

LAURA: (laughs)

MARISHA: Yes, I did.

TALIESIN: Give me the drink.

MARISHA: I take a swig first before passing it back.

TALIESIN: There are rules. I have very little memory of anything that happened to me before the orphanage... home. Whatever the fuck you want to call it. I do remember people who may have been my mother and father. I don't know. It's all a blur. They don't have faces. It's just an idea. I felt like that, I guess. Who the fuck knows? There was an accident, and I do remember that. I remember there being an accident. I remember watching somebody who felt like family just torn into pieces, just absolutely ripped apart. And then I was in the desert, and I don't know how I got there. I don't know how I got to Bassuras. I was just found. But the one word, there was one word that stuck in my head and always stuck with me. And I didn't think it mattered. I didn't know what I would ever do with it, until I saw it on a label beneath a cheap suit of armor in a stupid fucking museum filled with bullshit.

MARISHA: There's a lot of bullshit.

TALIESIN: But this fucking helmet was the first time I saw the word "Hishari." That's actually why I'm even with this group. Because I heard the word "Ashari" randomly and thought maybe I just had a fucked up memory. I've just been waiting, hoping that I could indebt everybody enough that maybe people would help me once I helped them. Because that's how the world works. Although, I'm getting a little weird here. I will admit. So yeah, that's that.

MARISHA: And you've got your powers after you had the potion goop poured in your head.

TALIESIN: Yeah. My extremely useful damage. Yes.

MARISHA: Useful damage.

TALIESIN: Yeah, it's what it is.

MARISHA: Well, it's something else we can relate on.

TALIESIN: It's very true.

MARISHA: Well, let's keep figuring it out, shall we? And then maybe you don't have to be so jealous of us for knowing our past.

TALIESIN: I'm a little worried, but I'm a little... Yeah. I don't know. Well, if we survive, if this goes well.

MARISHA: You keep saying Ashari. Drashari?

MATT: Hishari.

TALIESIN: Hishari.

MARISHA: Hishari.

TALIESIN: Hishari.

SAM: He's drunk.

TALIESIN: Hishari. I don't even have my retainer.

MARISHA: It sounds a lot like Ashari, like Orym's shit.

TALIESIN: He said it once and then I was in.

MARISHA: You haven't talked to him about this?

TALIESIN: Not yet. No.

MARISHA: Maybe you should!

TALIESIN: Now?

MARISHA: We're going to be on this boat for another fucking week! It seems like a great fucking time!

TALIESIN: We brought it up at one point, and we did bring it up at one point, if I recall. I know that there's information I have that I shouldn't... Jesus. I'll let him know, but I'm not ready for that yet, I guess. I don't know.

MARISHA: You said so yourself, we could be dead in 12 days, so.

TALIESIN: Yeah. I'm not spending that 12 days trying to figure out shit I don't even know if I want to know. I'm spending 12 days doing my job and keeping you safe, and making sure that everyone deals with their bullshit and hopefully keeping FCG from...

MARISHA: Exploding himself.

TALIESIN: I mean, honestly, more than exploding himself, exploding everybody.

MARISHA: Yes.

TALIESIN: And not because of the stress thing. I spent way too much of the last chunk of my reality trying to convince that bloody robot to not sacrifice themselves at every waking turn because they're going to get everybody killed in their desperate attempt for martyrism. You can't trust somebody who just wants to die all the time. And I love them, but they are very dangerous, and not for the reasons they think.

MARISHA: This is all pretty rich coming from you.

TALIESIN: I know, right? I love a project. I am a project.

MARISHA: You are.

TALIESIN: You're irritatingly stable for someone who's so clearly fucked up. I don't know how that works. I'm happy to know you and I'm looking forward at some point to getting punched by you, but I don't think this is the evening for it.

MARISHA: My-- every bone in my body would break if I punched you.

TALIESIN: Oh, you've got powers.

MARISHA: Why don't we get to bed? You're a little worse for wear.

TALIESIN: That's very fair.

MARISHA: I somehow manage to help Ashton back to bed, even though I am--

TALIESIN: I'm good at this.

MARISHA: -- strength of four.

MATT: (laughs)

TALIESIN: I'm very good at this.

MATT: Okay.

TALIESIN: Thank you.

ASHLEY: I'm going to pull Orym aside.

MATT: Okay.

LIAM: Oh!

TALIESIN: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Hey. So, that dream thing was weird, but I don't really know what I'm asking you, but what do we do if Imogen decides to go to the other side of things?

LIAM: He hops up on your shoulder, so that he's right there. I'm thinking the same thing, too. I'd like to think I have faith in her.

ASHLEY: I do, too.

LIAM: I don't think it'll come to that. But if it does, Fearne, are you with me?

ASHLEY: Always.

LIAM: I'm sure it'll be fine.

ASHLEY: Yeah. Me, too. Me, too. It'll be totally fine. We just got to watch her, our girl and make sure... Yeah, it's fine. It's totally fine. This is so not a big deal. We're going to be fine. We're going to be great. It's going to be a success.

LIAM: If it does, if that moment comes in the middle of hell, I'll do my best to get her attention. You're going to be the one who has to do the thing.

ASHLEY: I don't know if I can do the thing. What's the thing?

MATT, TRAVIS, and TALIESIN: (laugh)

LIAM: I don't know. Put her to sleep. Hold her up.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LIAM: I'm quick. I can knock things out of the air with a shield, but I'm not as strong as you. And she's strong, so...

ASHLEY: I don't know if any one of us is as strong as her, but it's fine. I think I just-- That was weird. That whole dream was weird. Her mom gave me the willies.

LIAM: I pat on your other shoulder and say: I give us about a 5% chance overall. So the good news is Imogen is just one of many problems.

ASHLEY: That's a higher percentage than I was thinking, so we're good to go.

LIAM: Pew!

LAURA: Like a little flea.

MARISHA and TRAVIS: Yeah!

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: As the tension of the evening's conversation sits palpable across the cabin of the sky ship, the Silver Sun, and the tension that rides across the arcane energies that swim through the atmosphere of Exandria above, another night of your journey comes to a close. The solstice is in 10 days.

ASHLEY: (sighs)

MATT: We're going to go ahead and take a break.

LAURA: Ah!

TRAVIS: Oh my god.

MATT: Get back here in a few minutes and pick up this journey. See where we go from here. See you in a few minutes.

Part II
MATT: And welcome back. So, beginning the 10th day. You all return to consciousness upon the skyship, the Silver Sun, heading towards the eventual destination that you've chosen. What do you wish to do for the day? This journey itself can begin to rally into a rapid succession, but--

SAM: Let's go!

LAURA: Do we need to roll for weather?

MATT: Let's do that, actually, as the day progresses. Who wants to roll a d20 for me?

TALIESIN: Is it up to me?

LIAM: Orym's doing goblin squats.

LAURA: It would be Marisha. Your turn.

MARISHA: Oh, yes. My turn.

TALIESIN: That's right.

SAM: By the way, guys, last night I had a little bit of an epiphany. I know why the Changebringer was messing with me with the coin flips.

LAURA: Oh yeah?

SAM: It's because I was asking about the Changebringer. Gods are mysterious. They don't want you to know anything about them. When I ask about myself, she gives me good advice. When I ask about her, she's not going to answer me. She's a god, right? She's just messing with me.

TALIESIN: That made no sense whatsoever.

MARISHA: I agree with Ashton. 11.

MATT: 11, all right. Another day with fine weather, though that same aurora continues to greet you in pretty much all directions. But, a day's travel without issue. You are beginning to see the edge of the Taloned Highlands now, and pass by the--

SAM: We're entering the highlands?

MATT: Yeah, the Highland Bluffs, the mountains there, and you can see the distant dusts and dunes and craggy landscape that is the Hellcatch Valley approaching before the end of the day, most likely, or at least within the next day. So, any other business for the day ahead of you?

LAURA: Do we know anyone deeply religious?

SAM: Right here.

LIAM: Besides Letters?

LAURA: Besides you. Anyone--

SAM: Praise be to her.

LAURA: Do you know any clerics?

SAM: Right here.

LAURA: Any high order paladins or stuff like that? Somebody who would fare to lose a lot if the gods go away.

MARISHA: Why, do you need convincing?

SAM: Right here.

LAURA: (exasperated) No. But if we're looking for powerful people that will actually help us--

SAM: Yeah, I know one. That Pike person.

LIAM: Yeah, that baker.

ASHLEY: Oh, she was--

LAURA: That's right.

TALIESIN: She rocked pretty hard.

ASHLEY: -- so powerful. My gods. (laughter)

LAURA: That's right.

MARISHA: My gods!

ASHLEY: My gods. What about--

LAURA: We should contact her.

SAM: And say what? God stuff happening?

LAURA: Yeah.

SAM: Can you stop baking for a second?

ASHLEY: Help us, oh powerful one.

SAM: Okay.

LAURA: They're going to release the god killer.

TALIESIN: All-Minds-Burn don't give a fuck.

LAURA: They've built the key, right?

SAM: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Remember that person that helped with Eshteross that was all beautiful looking?

LAURA: Oh yeah, the one that was--

ASHLEY: I mean, I know she's in Jrusar.

LAURA: That could talk to dead people, right?

ASHLEY: Yeah, was she... That doesn't... Was she... No, she...

LAURA: (laughs) Was she? Was she.

LIAM: She was, Fearne, she was.

ASHLEY: Sorry about that.

LAURA: Was she? She was, no, she was.

ASHLEY: She was, right?

MATT: Was she?

LAURA: Was she? Who was she working with?

TALIESIN: Yes, they do look very nice, don't they?

LAURA: Who does she work with?

MATT and ASHLEY: (laugh)

LAURA: Did she?

ASHLEY: Was she?

TALIESIN: Yes, they do. Don't they, though?

ASHLEY: I just really liked her. She was cool.

LAURA: I know, we never talked to her again. She was so cool.

SAM: Want me to Send to Pike? Or do you want to Send to Pike?

LAURA: Sure, or do you want to Send to... Are we still contacting Hexum?

TALIESIN: I think I got a plan. I'm going over something in my head.

SAM: You're formulating? Do you want to do Pike?

TALIESIN: Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

LAURA: Your one.

SAM: Oh, okay.

ASHLEY: Maybe see if her other friends--

LAURA: You're a cleric. She's a cleric.

SAM: Sure. All right, I will Send to Pike quickly.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: Boy, will she remember me?

TALIESIN: You're memorable.

SAM: Robot holy person here. Big god stuff going down. God eater about to be released--

LAURA: On the solstice.

SAM: -- from Ruidus. On the solstice. We need your deific help. Research. Reach out to us.

LAURA: Ludinus. Ludinus is in charge.

SAM: Ludinus involved.

LAURA: (whispers) Whatever his name is.

LIAM: Da'leth.

SAM: Peace be with you.

MATT: (laughs) "Oh, wow. Okay."

ASHLEY: (fake sob) Buddy!

MATT: "Robo-buddy?"

TRAVIS: (laughs) Can you hear the fun buns?

MATT: "Let me see what I can find?"

SAM: Take some days.

MATT: "Okay!" That's it. (laughs) You get the sense she's processing what you told her.

SAM: Yeah, sure.

LAURA: Maybe we try again tomorrow.

ASHLEY: Maybe you should ask her if she can send that necklace to us.

SAM: Sure.

LAURA: (laughs)

SAM: I think she has powerful enough people that she'll reach out to us if she wants to talk to us.

LAURA: But we've got to tell her, they're wanting to take everybody's power away. Everything will change.

SAM: You want me to tell her that?

LAURA: No.

SAM: She's smart. She has all these people that she can start asking.

LAURA: You're right.

TRAVIS: It's one thing to say it. We need a way to show it. Hard to do. (shouts) Hey, Xandis!

MATT: "Yes?"

TRAVIS: What color is the bottom of this here ship? Dark brown wood? Does it have a color?

MATT: "I mean, you've seen it a few times when I went to go pick you up and stuff."

TRAVIS: Listen, I'm old. Do me a favor and just tell me, will you?

MATT: "Yeah, it's the same wood color as the rest of the ship."

TRAVIS: Shit, I knew it. Laudna?

MARISHA: Yes?

TRAVIS: How do you feel about doing a little Spider Climb underneath the hull?

MARISHA: Ooh, sounds fun! Sounds risky! Sounds thrilling!

TRAVIS: I got these paints from Joe. I want to paint the bottom of the ship white.

LAURA: That's right! You got the paints!

TRAVIS: It might help with our approach, if we do decide that coming in from above is better.

MARISHA: Camouflage!

SAM: Sky blue?

TRAVIS: Yeah, sky blue, a little white. Maybe get some floaty-ass clouds.

SAM: Sure.

MATT: "I mean, it's your ship. That's a lot of painting to do. That's going to take a lot of your days."

TRAVIS: God, I wish we only had six fucking days!

MATT: "You want me to fly down and we can paint it for a few days?"

MARISHA: No, we keep flying!

TRAVIS: No, we ride on.

MATT: "You are crazy. I like it. Okay, okay, yeah, do your thing."

TRAVIS: Yeah, we're only going to have a couple of hours to do it. I don't know if it'll work, but maybe we can get just a primer coat.

MARISHA: Yes, I like it. Let's see what happens. Maybe I have a spell to help make it go a little faster.

LIAM: Paint Simulator, chore-core games.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

MATT: So here's the interesting thing, the paints you bought, how much did you buy?

TRAVIS: Mm...

SAM: You know, like a gallon. (laughter)

MATT: It's a big ship, bro.

LIAM: A pint? A pint of paint?

TRAVIS: If I mix with a little turpentine--

MATT and LIAM: (laugh)

TRAVIS: -- a little water and wine.

MARISHA: Oh yeah, a little whitewash.

TRAVIS: Get a little chardonnay!

MATT: (laughs)

TRAVIS: We have a little ♪ party! ♪ Yeah, I think it was like a quart. It's not a lot.

LAURA: (laughs)

MATT and LAURA: (laugh)

ASHLEY: There's no way to make this ship invisible, right?

LAURA: I don't think. I don't have the power, do you?

TRAVIS: No, I think I can only make people invisible.

ASHLEY: I don't think that's a thing. I was just throwing it out there.

SAM: All right, are we going to talk to--

TRAVIS: Never mind, it's fine.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Take that whole thing, be like, black!

TRAVIS, MATT, and MARISHA: (laugh)

MARISHA: Looks like a bird shat on it.

TRAVIS: It was worth a shot. Shit.

SAM: Want to talk to Hexum, or are we just going to power on?

TALIESIN: Do we want to hit up Hexum for weapons and materials and see if we can get some contacts in the underground black market in Bassuras, or do we want to see if we can get her to give us the name of maybe sneaking a couple people in, since she's the one who's sending crates to them?

ASHLEY: That's right.

LAURA: (sighs)

TALIESIN: Those are the two options when it comes to Hexum.

LAURA: That's a lot for a Send.

TALIESIN: I'm tightening it up right now.

LAURA: That seems really useful, to send in spies like that. It's just, I don't know how we'd organize it with just a few words.

TALIESIN: Supplies it is, then.

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: From Ashton. Big trouble coming. Bad for business. Need your contacts for weapons and supplies. I owe you. From Ashton, big trouble coming, bad for business...

LAURA: All right, Send something to Hexum.

MATT: Okay.

TRAVIS: (mechanical clanks) This is my only job. This is my worth.

MATT: You reach out--

LAURA: Mm-hmm.

MATT: -- and tell this to Hexum?

ASHLEY: I have one job!

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Hexum responds, "All right. Contacts where? Within Jrusar?"

LAURA: Did I say Bassuras? Did you fucking say Bassuras?

SAM: No, we didn't.

TALIESIN: I wrote it down, but yeah.

LAURA: I would've said Bassuras. I would've said it.

MATT: "Ah, you did say Bassuras."

TALIESIN: Thank you.

LAURA: Yes, I did, and I also mentioned your potions or some shit.

MATT: "Most of my dealings there are through the Call. Drop my name on Yunis."

LAURA: Yunis?

MATT: You know Yunis is--

TALIESIN: I know Yunis?

MATT: -- You know Yunis, in the Salmagunda Strip, is actually a general supplies dealer in the Raha Den where you guys stayed.

TALIESIN: Oh, is it in my notes?

MATT: It should be in your notes, yeah. But they're a general seller of tools and wares.

TALIESIN: They may have some interesting shit, and they might give us some cheap shit. Okay, cool cool cool. Good name to drop.

LAURA: All right, so if we actually go into Bassuras--

TALIESIN: If we live, we'll have 80 extra gold.

LIAM: Where did we leave off with Ira?

ASHLEY: Tight.

TALIESIN: Fuck yeah.

LAURA: Ira's meeting us in...

SAM: Bassuras.

LAURA: At the Calloway Hideaway.

LIAM: Okay, so that's arranged. Okay.

MARISHA: We should probably eventually reach out to the Calloways to tell them that they need to go pick up the thing, pick up the bomb.

SAM: Yep, we'll do that. Maybe we'll--

MARISHA: Doesn't need to do that now, but do that eventually.

SAM: Sometime in the next few days.

MARISHA: Correct.

SAM: Just assume that I will have checked in with Imahara Joe and given him more specifics about a bomb that can be mounted on the front of a ship.

MARISHA: Holy shit.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: Impact.

MARISHA: Arcane bomb.

SAM: It's got to be arcane.

MARISHA: Yes.

SAM: None of this bomb shit.

MARISHA: Bomb bomb.

TRAVIS: Barcane. Arcomb.

TALIESIN: Went to a barcade.

MARISHA: Bomb... Bomb-cane.

SAM: Sure.

MATT: Okay, in getting this across to Imahara Joe, more of a response like, "All right, left turn. Yeah, it's going to be pricey."

SAM: I think we have lots of money, right?

MARISHA: Do we have lots of money?

LAURA: I think so.

TALIESIN: Wouldn't matter if we didn't.

MATT: You guys got 12k in gold from Seshadri.

TALIESIN: That's true.

MATT: Then... Close to 800 platinum from Eshteross, bounty for Treshi.

LAURA: Did he keep it all, or did he pass it out?

TRAVIS: Look, I've been a fucking team player! I don't need that shit from you! Everybody's got stacks, okay? Mine just happen to be bigger. Don't be jelly.

LAURA: Uh-huh, okay.

SAM: Jesus.

ASHLEY: 800 platinum, you said?

MARISHA: He's compensating.

LAURA: Yeah, we passed it out.

ASHLEY: We passed it out.

LAURA: Well, you have...

LIAM: Yeah, I got a big number.

LAURA: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you put your platinum into gold. You transferred it or something.

ASHLEY: I think I also had some leftover gold.

SAM: Then we just go on.

MATT: All right.

SAM: Another day.

MATT: So another day goes by.

SAM: Oh, my turn to roll?

MATT: Indeed.

SAM: ♪ It's my turn ♪

MARISHA: ♪ It's your turn ♪ ♪ Your turn ♪

SAM: To roll.

MARISHA: (laughs)

SAM: 19.

TALIESIN: Ooh.

MATT: 19. 19, a pretty solid approach to the Hellcatch Valley as you begin to break into the more tumultuous skyscape above the desert land here.

SAM: (whispers) Changebringer!

MATT: The winds are stronger. You can see bits of gray and storm fronts and dusty windstorms creeping along the perimeters of the valley itself. You recall, once again, why this region is rarely traversed by skyships that are taking the trade routes around it, as much time as it adds. But this is the journey you're headed. So far so good.

SAM: Great.

LAURA: Yeah, great.

MATT: So that puts us at the end of that.

TALIESIN: I'm going to be spending some time trying to learn a little bit of basic-ass stuff about how the skyship works.

SAM: Oh yeah, Fearne, you want to learn that, too?

TALIESIN: How it flies and how--

ASHLEY: Oh, yeah yeah.

TALIESIN: -- Just a little bit about the physics of it so that--

MATT: Okay.

TALIESIN: -- I can have the sense of how to get the skyship to crash and how to keep--

SAM: I think Fearne's going to try, too.

MATT: Okay, make an intelligence check for me.

TALIESIN: Oh lord.

ASHLEY: Yeah, I don't know if I should.

SAM: Well, someone else should, because he can't jump off, or they can't jump off if they need to.

ASHLEY: What would be required for steering a ship, you know?

MATT: There's only one way to find out. Do you want to learn?

TALIESIN: (gasps)

MATT: Xandis is like, "I mean, you own the ship. I'm technically your employee."

TALIESIN: Fuck yes.

MATT: "So for the time being, I can sit around. I'll give you some pointers, you know? Maybe one day, you could be your own captain."

ASHLEY: Ooh!

MATT: "You know, when you buy out the rest of my contract and I can retire early."

ASHLEY: Captain Calloway?

LAURA: Ooh!

MATT: "Has a nice ring to it!"

ASHLEY: Captain Professor Calloway?

MATT: "I like it. I like it a lot."

ASHLEY: All right, teach me.

MATT: All right.

TALIESIN: 20.

MATT: 20!

TALIESIN: Yeah, I'm shocked as anybody.

MATT: Make an intellect, intelligence roll for me, if you don't mind.

ASHLEY: Oh boy, here we go. That's cocked. Okay. 18.

MATT: 18, okay.

TALIESIN: We're doing okay!

MATT: "So on top of Xandis teaching you about how there are certain controls all around here, little rods you pull on and handles that change the pitch and yaw, adjust to the amount of energy that's going to the different brumestones. You also learn--"

ASHLEY: What's this red one do?

MATT: "Don't do that!" The whole ship... (crunching) Push it back.

TRAVIS: Fearne! What the fuck?

MATT: "Well, that's one way to learn real fast."

ASHLEY: Hands on.

MATT: "Hopefully we didn't lose anyone. Did we lose anyone?"

SAM: I fell off!

MATT: "No? We're okay." All right.

TALIESIN: Yes.

LAURA: Was that Nott? (laughs)

MATT and MARISHA: (laugh)

TRAVIS: I fell off!

MATT: You ask the right questions, push the right buttons to learn which things can lead to a catastrophic descent, as well as a dangerous ascent. You also figure out the means of loosely controlling. You also learn more about brumestone with those high rolls, too. Brumestone is naturally buoyant within. When it is excavated or pulled from the ground of Exandria, it just lifts and stays where it is. It's easily pushed, and seems to float on its own, and it's through charges of arcane energy that its buoyancy is adjusted, and that's how the ship works. Each of these controls controls these very, very faint runes that are marked along the deck of the ship, either underneath or on top of it, and you can see where they all connect to the different brumestone devices, and so with each different point of control, it raises the amount of power that's going to them. It doesn't take a lot.

TALIESIN: It is runic based, though?

MATT: Yes.

TALIESIN: Okay, okay.

MATT: You've seen it before. You thought it was just maybe a nice design on the ship, but as part of this description, Xandis is like, "No, see, these are actually what carries the arcane charge to each of these brumestones, and makes it go up or down or left or right."

TALIESIN: Cutting off the charge drops it. Okay, okay.

MATT: "The sails help pick up the wind and give it... It helps with the up and down. It's the forward motion that's challenging. The sails pick up the wind, and it pushes it forward at a very, very nice speed."

TALIESIN: Okay.

ASHLEY: Makes sense.

TALIESIN: I know my trig. Okay.

MATT: Over the next few days, you start picking up more and more, and these conversations continue, and you get a decent feel for it, in case you got to bump off the captain and take the ship for yourself, you never know.

ASHLEY: Yeah, you never know.

MATT: Any other business for this day?

LAURA: Yeah, can I say that I sent a message to Nana Morri? We're going after the big one, if there's anything you can do. Also, do you know how to bring somebody back that's been turned to stone?

MATT: Nana responds. "I'm recovering from a mild injury, but I'm strongest at home, anyway. I'll be watching, and I'll do what I can, when I can. And yes, there are ways."

MARISHA: Cool.

TALIESIN: Cool cool cool.

ASHLEY: She's the best. So helpful.

LAURA: Well, if we can't heal Ryn on the spot when we find a way to get her out, at least we know we can bring her to Nana Morri.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

LIAM: Think that she'd remain intact and whole?

LAURA: If we crash a ship into her? No.

LIAM: That's not what I mean. I mean if we have a ground team, and we need to move Ryn fast. Could we throw her in the hole? She doesn't breathe.

LAURA: True.

LIAM: She's portable.

MARISHA: Throw her in the hole?

LAURA: As long as she doesn't break apart, I think that's--

TRAVIS: She was right next to the key, too.

LAURA: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Not poopin'.

LIAM: We carried around that--

LAURA: Statue?

LIAM: Statue, and it never broke.

LAURA: That's true.

TALIESIN: Couldn't we fill the hole full of pillows?

LAURA: Didn't we talk about doing that before?

TALIESIN: We might have. I think it's actually a good idea. The more I think about it.

LAURA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: I don't see why it wouldn't work. Sandwiches and pillows.

LAURA: I feel like it doesn't rattle around in there. I feel like it's magical enough that when you open it up, it just is like--

TALIESIN: I think when you open it, gravity reasserts wherever.

MATT: It adjusts based on its current positioning.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LAURA: Oh, so if we do it, then we got to make sure if we open it again to open it on the ground, right? If you've placed it, if it's in the ground, don't place it on a wall, because then it'll shift and fall down.

MATT: Everything will shift inside of the hole if you put it up on a wall.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: On a ceiling, everything would fall out.

TALIESIN: Ooh, good to know.

LIAM: Right.

TALIESIN: Actually--

MATT: If you had a way of affixing it to a ceiling.

TRAVIS: Right.

TALIESIN: Try and make the--

TRAVIS: Peel and Stick backing.

MATT: Yep, not really.

LAURA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: It's what glue's for.

SAM: At some point, I'm going to send a message to Dancer, my old creator--

TALIESIN: Static.

SAM: -- and tell her: You don't have to respond, but on the solstice, you should get somewhere safe. And maybe tell Esmer, as well, to get somewhere safe and I'm sorry.

MATT: There's no response.

SAM: Okay.

LAURA: You know, if you have the ability to send out a message to somebody, why didn't you ever try to contact that that merchant, the one who sold you? The one who found you in the first place.

SAM: I don't know them. I heard about them.

LAURA: Yeah, but if you're familiar, you can at least try.

SAM: Am I familiar? They described the person. I could try. Certainly.

LAURA: I mean, I don't know if it'll do any good right now.

SAM: I think that's the phrase, right? You can try certainly?

TRAVIS: Yeah.

LAURA: Yeah, but...

SAM: Want me to try right now? What do I even say?

LAURA: I don't know if it's a thing to to help now, but if you want to know more about yourself, they seem like the place to start.

SAM: Should I?

LAURA: Trust yourself, FCG. I think that's what the Changebringer was trying to tell you.

SAM: Changebringer said I should.

LAURA: Oh, okay.

SAM: All right. Oh, boy. But they won't know who I am.

LAURA: Maybe they will.

LIAM: Choose your words carefully.

LAURA: You found me. You sold me.

SAM: I'll reach out to D.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: Smiley day there. Yellow automaton you sold in Bassuras to Dancer. Do you know where you picked me up? And are there more of me?

LAURA: That's good.

TALIESIN: Nice, nice.

MATT: (deep, smooth) "A wonderful surprise."

LAURA: (gasps)

TALIESIN: What?

ASHLEY: Oh! A robot.

LIAM: Oh wow.

MATT: "That is my gift to you. A return to your own path. I pulled you from the wreckage. And your future is yours to make. And there are more of you--"

LAURA and SAM: (gasp)

MATT: "And more to come."

SAM: I might have siblings.

TRAVIS: That is a fucking cool voice.

MARISHA: Yeah, he's so hot.

TALIESIN: Damn.

ASHLEY: He's such a hot robot.

LAURA: Yeah. You heard a really hot voice in your head.

TALIESIN: It's a hot robot salesman.

TRAVIS: Hot as shit.

TALIESIN: I'd buy a robot.

SAM: I think I feel I feel sexually awakened.

TRAVIS: Whoa. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Put away the saw blades.

ASHLEY: Wait. Where?

LAURA: Is it time to get a dildonic device?

SAM: Teledildonic device?

LAURA: Yeah, yeah.

TRAVIS: Is your tongue rigid? The meat tongue? (laughter)

ASHLEY: Oh my god.

TRAVIS: Is it--

SAM: It's engorged.

TRAVIS: -- swelling?

SAM: It's engorged and moist.

TALIESIN: Turgid?

TRAVIS: Turgid? (laughter) (groaning)

TALIESIN: Touché, motherfucker.

MATT: The Silver Sun suddenly lurches and crashes into the ground.

TALIESIN: Oh! (laughter)

LAURA: Campaign over!

TRAVIS: ♪ (ending fanfare) ♪

LIAM: What about your box? Is it hot? (laughter)

SAM: Oh! I just made a cookie. (laughter)

MATT: (bell ding) (laughter)

TALIESIN: That's impressive.

ASHLEY: So when you get aroused, you make cookies.

SAM: If you get me aroused enough. (laughter)

TALIESIN: That notion's kind of half-baked.

LAURA: Oh.

TALIESIN: Oh, I'm sorry.

LAURA: Why is this cookie so salty? (groaning)

TRAVIS: (sternly) Laura!

SAM and ASHLEY: Laura Bailey!

TRAVIS: Laura Bailey.

SAM: That made it gross.

TRAVIS: Stop yourself.

SAM: Everything else was fine.

TALIESIN: This is what I'm here for.

TRAVIS: Stop it!

TALIESIN: This right here.

LIAM: Hi, 20-year-old Ronin!

TRAVIS: No! (laughter) (laughter)

TRAVIS: Oh god.

ASHLEY: Incredible.

TALIESIN: (groans)

TRAVIS: 2039. He's going to be like, "Mom, what the fuck?!" (laughter)

TALIESIN: How?

MATT: So.

TALIESIN: Yeah. (laughter)

MATT: Anything else to achieve on this day?

SAM: No, we press on!

MATT: All righty. It is now seven days to the solstice.

LAURA: (creepily whispers) Seven days!

TRAVIS: Shut up!

MATT: I need someone to roll a d20 for me.

LAURA: That's you.

ASHLEY: But I don't want to!

LAURA: Do it.

LIAM: You got to.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Sub five.

LIAM: Roll a one.

TRAVIS: Sub five!

LAURA: No!

LIAM: One.

MARISHA: If you look down--

TRAVIS: Sub five.

LAURA: How do we get a fast one?

ASHLEY: Yeah, I want like a--

TALIESIN: Chaos reigns.

TRAVIS: Sub five.

ASHLEY: I'm doing something down here. I can't.

MATT: It is more challenging here in the Hellcatch.

TRAVIS: Sub five!

MARISHA: More challenging!

SAM: I'm working on a peanut butter recipe. A peanut butter cookie recipe--

MATT: Okay, okay.

SAM: -- for the next couple days.

MATT: I love it.

TALIESIN: Oh god. Nope.

LIAM: One.

TRAVIS: (fart sound)

TALIESIN: It is, isn't it?

LAURA: (gasps)

TRAVIS and LIAM: Yeah!

MARISHA: No fucking way!

LIAM: I cursed it!

LAURA: Oh no! It is! It's one!

LIAM: I cursed you.

MATT: Roll a d6 for me.

TRAVIS: The hex is strong, baby.

ASHLEY: I didn't want to roll! I fucking knew! I knew I was going to roll bad! I put it out there.

TRAVIS: Give me a six. Give me a six.

ASHLEY: What am I rolling?

TRAVIS: Give me a six.

SAM: A d6.

TRAVIS: Six.

LIAM: One.

LAURA: No white dragon.

TRAVIS: I do want to hit something really badly.

ASHLEY: Three.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: A three.

LAURA: Oh god.

MATT: Suddenly--

MARISHA and ASHLEY: (groan)

TALIESIN: Goddamn it!

MATT: As the day progresses, a massive wall of dust storm begins to rise up to the east.

TALIESIN: Oh shit.

MATT: (rolling storm) Just loom, like this dark pressing cloud in your direction and you hear Xandis go, "Well, that's going to be a real--"

ASHLEY: Always me.

MATT: "-- real tough one. We're going to have to get a little low to the ground then we're coming up on Bassuras soon, so just, I guess, hold on to something!"

LIAM: Oh man, I always fly off these ships.

LAURA: Oh god, that's right.

ASHLEY: Tie yourself in!

TRAVIS: Or go underneath! Go under!

MARISHA: Yeah, let's maybe do that.

SAM: I'm going to use my grapple hook to grapple myself to the mainmast.

MATT: All right.

SAM: That's mast. I used to be a sailor.

ASHLEY: I'm going to tie myself onto something in the front. Or something on the-- what am I saying? Next to Xandis so I can learn how he's navigating in the dust storms. So I can learn.

LAURA: Oh, nice, nice.

MATT: All right, so keep an eye on them.

TALIESIN: Eye on the main column.

LAURA: Tie all of the ropes.

MATT: The rest of the crew, all of you tie a knot.

LIAM: Rope to the main mast with FCG.

MATT: All right. I'll say, who's helming the rope tying effort?

LIAM: Rope tying?

TRAVIS: I went under. I went in the hole, yeah.

LAURA: Into the--

LIAM: I'll tie ropes.

MATT: All right.

LAURA: I'll tie ropes. I've done a lot of ropes.

LIAM: I'm dextrous.

MATT: Okay. All right. Yeah, roll a dexterity check for me if you don't mind.

LIAM: Dexterity check.

MATT: Yes.

LAURA: Should I assist him? Oh, wait, you already--

LIAM: So just add my modifier?

MATT: Yeah, just add your modifier.

LIAM: Come on! That's terrible. I rolled a two, so that's a seven.

LAURA: Could I have assisted him? Because I was tying ropes, too?

MATT: This is, technically, a skill challenge and so it's individual rolls--

LAURA: Oh, I see, I see, I see.

MATT: -- as the challenge goes around.

LIAM: Here I go.

MATT: So, You--

LIAM: Three for three.

LAURA: Oh my god.

MATT: You go around and start helping everyone with their knots and for the most part, you've got most everyone secured but the storm hits at a more rapid pace than you expect. As you're getting over to your final section to tie yourself in, the whole ship (impact) Lists to one side.

TRAVIS: Yes.

MATT: As it begins to careen and spin a bit, Xandis goes, "Hold on!" You're barely holding onto the side. You start to slip off to the side and Xandis sees this happening and goes, "Ah, shit." As opposed to spinning with the wind, tries to spin against it to keep you from careening off the side and in doing so, you watch as one of the sails (wood cracks)

LAURA: No, no, no, no!

MATT: Begins to hear the cracking sound of wood. What's the next thing someone's doing to try and help protect against this storm or to hold things down?

LIAM: The mast is cracking?

ASHLEY and LAURA: (groan)

LIAM: Did you just say the mast is cracking?

MATT: You hear a crack in the wood.

LAURA: It's one of the sails.

TALIESIN: I'm going to try and take a quick run out, straight towards the mast with my rope and start lashing it down with my body.

MATT: Okay, roll a strength check for me. So you're trying to hold it in place. To use your own physicality with this rope to try and keep it able to survive the brunt of this storm.

SAM: I will cast Enhance ability on--

TALIESIN: Natural 20. (cheering)

MATT: You cast it so well--

SAM: Yep, I did.

MATT: -- he does a natural 20 on his. You throw the rope around, hold it tightly and embrace the stone-like form that your body sits within and you become a shield of rock around the somewhat damaged sail mast. And it does not move.

TALIESIN: Yep.

LAURA: Oh, nice.

MARISHA: While they do that, I'm going to Spider Climb up to that crack in the mast and start pumping Mending into it.

TRAVIS: Oh, legit.

MATT: Okay, okay, I'll say roll a d20 for me and add your spellcasting modifier.

MARISHA: Oh, bullshit! Six.

MATT: Six.

TRAVIS: Six.

MATT: Four successes before two failures. So, you attempt to mend this mast. As you're holding it and clutching it and holding it in place, and right as you're watching the wooden aspects pull themselves together, a heavy gust (impactful wind) rams into the side of the ship. The ship begins to spin almost out of control and as you clutch onto the side of the mast and onto Ashton for as much of a grip as you can with the Spider Climb spell holding you in place, you hear the terrible (ripping) sound, as that one sail (rips) Rips off and is lost into the storm.

MARISHA: The sail, not the mast?

MATT: Well, the sail and the top of the mast. It breaks.

LAURA: Goddamn it. (groaning)

MATT: Xandis goes, "All right. It's all right, just keep it held down!" The storm continues to blow for another hour and a half. The ship is brought low, as low into the storm as possible to keep the heavy winds from battering it. When the storm finally clears, about two hours later total, you're not quite sure where you are in the Hellcatch. It takes Xandis another hour to triangulate where you've been blown. By the time the clarity of the day comes to you, you've lost a day of travel. (groaning)

LAURA: By the time we get to Bassuras, the solstice will be happening. Then it's another--

SAM: Unless we can make up a day.

TRAVIS: That's nice.

LAURA: How? We won't even be able to travel at full speed now.

MARISHA: Well, it was six days up from Bassuras and 12 days to the solstice start?

SAM: Or 11.

MARISHA: 11?

MATT: That's now--

LAURA: You said seven days until the--

MATT: Seven days until the solstice as of today, yeah.

SAM: We're only three days--

LAURA: Oh and how close are we to Bassuras?

MATT: Oh, you'll get to Bassuras tomorrow. You were going to get there today, but you got blown off course.

LAURA: Got it. Okay, okay, okay.

MARISHA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: I knew it.

LAURA: Okay. It's okay, Ashley.

ASHLEY: I was trying to busy myself, so Matt wouldn't look at me, but it didn't work.

TRAVIS: He wouldn't look at you? (laughter)

TRAVIS: We did an order!

ASHLEY: I'm doing something over here.

TALIESIN: As we're de-tangling from the mast, I have that-- I know I got really drunk and I'm pretty sure I probably said some stupid shit, so whatever I said, I'm definitely sorry and a little, I don't know. I'm sure it was bad. Hi, sorry. I owe you something, not a drink. I owe you something, sorry.

MARISHA: You remember everything you said. Don't bullshit me.

TALIESIN: God, I hope I do. Oh boy.

MARISHA: You know, Ashton, and I understand the irony of this, but you're not as hard as you look.

TALIESIN: Yeah, I've never heard that before.

LAURA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: Thank you.

MARISHA: You ole' softie.

SIRI: You're welcome.

LAURA: You're welcome.

TALIESIN: Ah! How did you do that?

LAURA: You're welcome.

LIAM: See, FCG? There's more of you on the way.

SAM: Wow! It's my sister, Siri.

TALIESIN: Thanks. Well, I'm going to--

MARISHA: I still think you should talk! To Orym!

TALIESIN: When this is over.

MARISHA: Stupid.

TALIESIN: Yep. Yep.

MATT: All right.

TRAVIS: End of the day?

MATT: Any other business for the day or do we move on to the following day?

LAURA: Oh, do we need to...

LIAM: What do the skies look like compared to at the beginning of this game and the waves of red cloud?

MATT: Your perceptiveness, already in previous experience, seeing it, makes it easy to clock now that you look out and focus, but the colors are much more prominent. To the point where even in the middle of the high sun of the afternoon, you can see these curtains of shifting energy. These long tethers that look almost like a mile high at times. These moving, shifting curtains of magical energy that slowly flow and shift. You watch them all ever so slowly move across the landscape. Like the most minuscule shift in a rainstorm's payload.

LIAM: Okay.

MATT: At night, it is like a natural celebration of color and light. The night sky now around you, as the auroras are more visible, the leylines themselves are breathtakingly beautiful. And matched with the knowledge of what's to come, deeply ominous. You can see, occasionally, those pulses still (electrical arcs) traveling through. (electrical pulses) They're just brighter. And more recurring.

TRAVIS: Do we need to reach out to Ira or the Calloways or anything since we'll be there mañana?

TALIESIN: Calloways, did we--

LIAM: Checking wouldn't be bad.

ASHLEY: Calloways--

LAURA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Did we do Seshadri?

TRAVIS: Did we talk Calloways at all?

ASHLEY: Did we do that?

LAURA: I feel like we haven't reached out to the Calloways.

ASHLEY: Green Sleeves. Keyleth.

LAURA: Oh no. We didn't reach out to any of those. We did reach out to Keyleth earlier, and she was busy doing stuff.

TALIESIN: I'm curious if anybody else-- If these are localized or how...

TRAVIS: It's got to be everywhere.

TALIESIN: Everywhere? Do you think these lights are everywhere?

LIAM: There's an easy way to figure that out.

MARISHA: Oh yes. Dorian. Cookie.

TALIESIN: You going to eat all that?

LIAM: Hey, buddy.

TALIESIN: Okay.

LIAM: I have a weird request from the other side of the ocean. Can you see the leylines? Is your night sky lit up?

TALIESIN: Ashton says, "Hi."

LIAM: Ash says, "Hi." You'll know if you see it.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: "Yeah, it's, It's real colorful up here, too. I'd take it in and enjoy the display if things weren't so tense at the moment."

ASHLEY: What is going on?

MATT: "Tell Ashton I say hi."

LIAM: Dorian says hi.

ASHLEY: What if this is really affecting Opal?

SAM: Oh, maybe that's why she's--

ASHLEY: Why is he saying it's so tense?

LAURA: Who's Opal?

LIAM: Opal's a friend of ours from-- We met her in Tal'Dorei and she's a little younger and coming to grips with problems of her own. She's half the world away, though. I don't know what to do about that, Fearne.

ASHLEY: I know, I just...

LIAM: If we fix this--

ASHLEY: I know.

LIAM: -- we can fix that.

ASHLEY: We'll deal with that later. Okay.

TALIESIN: Always a list.

TRAVIS: Calloways.

LAURA: Calloways.

SAM: Yeah, we'll message the Calloways. Tell them when to expect us.

LAURA: Yeah.

SAM: And to go pick up the thing. Also message Ira. Tell him when we're coming?

LAURA: I've got one 3rd-level left. So I'll message Ira. You message Calloways.

SAM: Sure, done.

LAURA: All right.

SAM: It happened.

MATT and MARISHA: (laugh)

MATT: I guess for the sake of travel and brevity. Birdie responds. "Well, Ira already told me. So we're going to go ahead and prepare for your arrival soon. Imahara's? Okay, I'll go start moving."

TRAVIS: That's Ira pretending to be him.

SAM: Because he ate them?

TRAVIS: He's wearing their faces right now. (laughter)

TALIESIN: You got to respect the craft, though. It's really--

TRAVIS and SAM: Sure.

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: All right, so--

TALIESIN: Flaying, drying.

MATT: Anything else before the next day in which you arrive at Bassuras? Hopefully, with a good roll.

TRAVIS: Nein.

TALIESIN: Nah.

SAM: Let's do it.

MARISHA: Let's do it.

TALIESIN: Go for it.

SAM: It's all you. Imogen.

MATT: Six days until the solstice.

LIAM: Oh boy, Orym is filling all the empty hours on this boat doing his Zeph'aeratam on the deck of the ship. Because he's stressed the hell out.

SAM: Just cookie cooking.

MATT: Go ahead and roll a d20.

TRAVIS: Come on, 'Gen.

TALIESIN: Stress baking?

LIAM: Imogen!

TALIESIN: I love stress baking.

LAURA: 18.

SAM: Ooh.

LAURA: 18.

MATT: 18, okay. The day is calm and while the clouds do mar the sky with shadow, the winds are gentle. Though it brings a unique smell, almost like a forest fire, occasionally that comes through the wind. But you see no smoke nor forest. But nevertheless, midday, you can see the Carmine Curtain, the large red walls that wrap around the majestic clustered city of Bassuras before you. A familiar sight, last seen when you fled upon this very skyship. But there it is before you, the track of the Death Wish Run, wrapping around the nearby edge of the canyon that encompasses this northern side. What would you like to do?

LAURA: We ran out of town before, right? Obviously, we would know this. Were we chased out of town?

ASHLEY: Yeah, I feel like we were.

TALIESIN: I feel like they'll be-- There's so many different factions that we have to--

LAURA: Because we were going to--

TRAVIS: I mean, you nuked the town, and then we got out of there.

MARISHA: Correct.

TALIESIN: Plenty of people.

MATT: There's a missing corner of one of the neighborhoods.

LAURA: Check your ball.

SAM: Check your balls.

LIAM: Check your balls.

MATT: No sign of anything.

LIAM: Didn't really stretch.

LAURA: (laughs) Should we land at Bassuras, or should we go to the Calloways?

MARISHA: I think the Calloways.

TALIESIN: The Calloways and then drive out to Bassuras because they are going to meet us at Imahara Joe's.

LIAM: I thought they were picking up from Imahara's.

TALIESIN: Oh, from there.

LIAM: Delivering.

LAURA: Yeah, so--

TALIESIN: Gotcha.

LAURA: If the Calloways-- If we want to send them a message and say, "Hey, you guys go check in at Yunis'," because I don't think we should go into town. They're already there.

TALIESIN: You want to stay out of town. Drop Hexum's name. Maybe get some health potions.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: We could really use some health potions.

LAURA: Whatever-- God.

TALIESIN: It's hard to know not being there, but yeah.

MARISHA: We can reimburse them whatever cash it is. Hopefully they are that liquid.

MATT: "So am I dropping you off outside of the town? Where are you going?"

LAURA: No, over-- We lead Captain Xandis, where the Calloway hideaway is.

MATT: "Oh, so we're not--" at which point, you see this (whooshes) some sort of a harpoon or weapon is launched from the city. "Right, okay, we're just going to move on and cruise away from this."

TRAVIS: Oh shit.

MATT: (laughs)

TALIESIN: They do remember us!

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Wow, I've never heard of that happening.

MARISHA: Chetney.

TRAVIS: Hmm?

MARISHA: I was thinking about your idea of painting the ship.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

MARISHA: Well, we might not have enough paint to paint the bottom of it. Going off of the disguising ourselves to be allies idea, what if we utilize that symbol that was on those crates of the Cerberus Assembly? What if we make ourselves-- paint that on the ship to make ourselves look like an incoming Assembly ship?

TRAVIS: That was three diamonds or something?

TALIESIN: I think I've still got those crates.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

SAM: Sure.

TRAVIS: It couldn't hurt.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: I don't know, it might maybe deter them for a second. I know the Cerberus Assembly members can just bamf in and out, but if it's a shipment-- Or Otohan's crew.

TALIESIN: Can't hurt.

MARISHA: They had a symbol, too, right? What were those fucking people's names?

MATT: Paragon's Call.

MARISHA: Paragon's Call.

TRAVIS: Yeah, hopefully we're coming in hot enough that we don't really need time to see it, but you know.

SAM: Sure.

TALIESIN: Paragon's, I think, would be more likely to know a ship wasn't theirs, but on the other hand, that other symbol, I think, is a really good idea.

ASHLEY: Wait, if--

TALIESIN: Or-- No.

ASHLEY: If we're pulling up to the Calloway hideaway, isn't it bad if we park the ship there? Wouldn't people be like, "Oh."

SAM: Wouldn't be a hideaway anymore?

ASHLEY: It wouldn't be a hideaway anymore.

LAURA: Maybe we can park the ship on outer side.

MARISHA: Just leave the ship in the air.

SAM: Like a couple thousand yards away.

TALIESIN: I thought we were getting off and they can fly away for a little while.

LAURA: Sure.

MARISHA: Let's do that.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: All right, so. Passing beyond the city of Bassuras, you guide Xandis over to where you recall the hideaway was.

SAM: Is it gone?

MATT: No, it's not. The same platform, the northern edge of the mesa where the pathway leads into the cavern is there. (laughter)

MATT: The skyship slowly descends and lands a little ways away from the entrance, per your request, and you can rapidly leap off the sides that the skyship and then (roaring engine) it picks up and begins to run a loop until you're ready.

SAM: Can we rope down, SWAT team style?

MATT: Yeah, if you want to.

SAM: Cool.

MATT: Sure. (roping down) You all descend. It's a quick walk from where you were dropped off, about 20 or so minutes with a jogging pace until you come around to the top, the northern side of the mesa, and there you see the crawler that was left, the crawler that--

LAURA: We have a crawler.

MATT: That you previously left there.

SAM: We have a car.

MATT: At the entryway to the hideaway.

MARISHA: Guess we're taking a damn car.

SAM: We're fucking taking it.

TALIESIN: Yeah, we're taking the car.

TRAVIS: "Fucking taking it."

SAM: Uh-huh.

TALIESIN: It's a good car.

ASHLEY: (knocking)

SAM: Is that the secret knock?

TRAVIS: What? (laughter)

TALIESIN: Secret knock is just insistence.

MATT: Doorway shuffles open (heavy door opening) and you see Birdie there on the other side.

ASHLEY: Hi.

MATT: "Oh, there she is, come on in here."

ASHLEY: Yeah!

MATT: "Big old hug. Oh, and all your friends around here, too. Great, come on in, come on in, we're expecting you."

LIAM: Not exactly the best circumstances.

ASHLEY: No.

TALIESIN: Everything seems fine, nothing seems out of place?

MATT: Make a perception check.

TALIESIN: Thank you.

LAURA: Where's Ira?

MATT: "Oh, he's still fiddling on the device there."

LAURA: You mind?

MATT: "Sure, yeah, go right ahead, he's there."

TALIESIN: 10.

ASHLEY: What's here?

TRAVIS: Telescope.

MATT: Looks the same. Still has the same growths around.

TALIESIN: They're acting fine, nothing seems...

MATT: Make an insight check for that.

TALIESIN: Okay, that's, all right. Good, that's, yeah, okay. Seven. Everybody's just-- They seem fine.

MATT: They seem fine.

TALIESIN: They're cool. All right.

SAM: Should we go see Ira?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MARISHA: Calloways, did you get the goods from Joe?

MATT: Ollie steps in, wiping his hands with dirt and soot on them. "Oh, you've all arrived, very good. Fearne, good to see you."

ASHLEY: Hello, good to see you.

MATT: "Of course, of course. Welcome, friends. We're all in a bit of a frenzy, so up this way, please."

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah, bring it in, bring it in. Could be the end of the world, might as well.

LAURA: Who was that?

SAM: Dad.

ASHLEY: Dad.

LAURA: I know. Yeah. (laughter)

TRAVIS: (like Laura) "Who's that?"

MARISHA: I was thinking the same thing. I was like, "What?"

LAURA: I was like, "Who's that, Hondir?" I couldn't remember, sorry.

LIAM: Nah, he's a little goblin.

MATT: You step into the familiar laboratory, the cluttered space that you had previously encountered Ira Wendagoth the last time. There, you see the same device, and you hear the banging of metal and you see the familiar shape of one long, thin, spider-like arm clutching the side as most of the body's in the device. You see, sitting in a stool on the opposite side of the room, looking up, the familiar form of Hondir, the Grim Verity goblinoid member who had been living in Bassuras this time who looks over towards the rest of you. "Oh, so you've made it, welcome. He's here. I guess you're doing your talking." He points over to this heavy series of satchels that have been placed on the furthest corner of this chamber. It takes you a moment to see it separately from the rest of the clutter around it, but you see these two large clusters of smaller-sized arcane cores that all have been welded together to be about that large each, and they give that faint blueish glow to them, filling that space with this faint, soft, fuzzy halo blue light. Right about that time, the clanging stops and two legs step out from inside. Another arm grabs the top end, and like a daddy-longlegs, Ira Wendagoth slowly emerges. The long ears folded within. They flop out and shake slightly. Turns around, that horrible vacuous grin of sharp teeth and that black void-like eyes look at the rest of you with a bit of dirt smudged in the face. "Wonderful, you've come. So, what can I do for you?"

TRAVIS: We've been busy.

LAURA: Yeah, yeah. Do you really want to mess it up?

MATT: "Very."

LAURA: Great.

ASHLEY: Well, why?

MATT: "Well, let's just say I hold grudges a very long time."

MARISHA: Grudges against who, in this case?

MATT: "I was contacted by Ludinus to design the first key. And I grew curious. They offered me inspirational designs, examples of some strange technology that caught my allure. And I'm not one to build things without information. I like to know what I'm working on. Well, all of us can enjoy a good mystery. I guess I grew more curious than they were comfortable. So, finished with my first design. After the initial tests, they kicked me from the project. (sighs) I want to destroy what they've built. I want to show them that I am a superior designer. I want to take from them everything they've worked for and I want to look them in the eye when it happens. And I want to laugh. I want to laugh."

TRAVIS: Jesus. We know what they're trying to achieve, right? Predathos.

TALIESIN: What are they working on?

MATT: "Best that I know, they wouldn't tell me in detail before they absolved our contract, but they wanted a channel. They wanted... They wanted something that could gather a directly-focused amount of energy through a focus, a lens, if you will. The initial design was just to grab and hold, to be an anchor. That was the first key. It was to be a accelerant, a bolstering device."

LAURA: That's the one in the Fey Realm.

MATT: "Mm-hmm. I had intent for the next build and they arrogantly said that they didn't need me. They could do it on their own and they were dissatisfied with my work. So I helped the Calloways take the crown."

LAURA: Well, we finished what you started.

MATT: "How so?"

TALIESIN: Oh, he doesn't know.

LAURA: The Fey Realm key is destroyed.

MATT: His eyes narrow and you see there's this interesting conflict of a bit of arrogant frustration that something he designed had been destroyed that immediately melts into a delicious enjoyment. "Mind you, it was more of a prototype."

SAM: It was very difficult to break.

LAURA: It was.

MATT: "But, this is good. This is a step in the right direction. Oh, I bet they're scrambling. Oh, I bet they're so unhappy."

MARISHA: They are.

MATT: "(laughs)"

SAM: They seem to be adjusting their designs. Would you still know how to harm the one in the desert?

MATT: "Oh, I've been keeping an eye." He looks back to the machine.

SAM: What are you looking at, the moon or something else?

LAURA: The site.

SAM: The site?

MATT: "Do you want to see?"

SAM: Yes, very much.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: "I had to make some adjustments. The lens that I was waiting on seemed to be rendered unusable."

TRAVIS: Motherfucker.

LAURA: (laughs)

MATT: "So it's a bit improvised. (laughs)"

TALIESIN: There it is.

MATT: Reaches over and grabs you with his long, spindly fingers and wraps them around your head and plucks you, lifting you.

SAM: Uh-huh. Sure.

MATT: Like a radish.

LAURA: He's always so much bigger than I realize.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: He's long.

LAURA: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

MARISHA: Hmm.

MATT: Places you before the eye piece.

SAM: Okay.

MATT: (scuttling) Clutters up the side and adjusts a few things (tweaking device) and pushes your head up to the eye piece. As he's adjusting it, you watch as the strange, extended metallic viewing piece seems to bend and shift. It coils like a serpent in a westerly direction, a northwesterly direction. As you glance through, it seems to almost bank imagery. In theory, it's just pointing towards the sky, but you're getting a downward view of something.

SAM: Cool.

MATT: It's very odd. You see-- Having been in a somewhat immaterial, dreamlike vision, a transference of your consciousness to an in-between within this space, you recognize immediately the shape of this sinkhole. Some edges are pushed up and others are sinking downward, but at all points there are bridges that connect at different levels within. You can see there are multiple walkways that curve down and these thin connecting points where figures are walking across. You can see on the outside little tents and bits of the excavation. Whether they are old or new, you can't tell from this distance, but you can see figures moving around. You can see the dust trails of crawlers that are coasting and driving around, which immediately you can infer that the Paragon's Call is definitely in some way, shape, or form present. At which point Ira leans in real close and goes, "What do you see?"

SAM: What do I see? I see the site.

MATT: "Good." Turns another knob and it's like the glass flips, and as it does all of a sudden your vision is much closer.

SAM: Ooh!

MATT: You're right at the edge of this pit. It looks--

SAM: I'm in the pit.

MATT: With this perspective, it's a few hundred feet across end to end, two, 300 feet, it's hard to tell the full width of the sinkhole. You can see people walking around, some dressed in Vanguard robes.

SAM: Mm.

MATT: Some you can see in the armored attire of the Paragon's Call, the crawlers themselves, not mingling directly. They're still working together, but they all seem to be keeping to themselves a little bit. You also watch passing by (large feet pounding) a clearer look at one of these large automatons, its egg-type, egg-shaped torso, heavily armored. You can see the runic design to it takes Aeorian inspiration, though it is not directly from your build or others. This has more modern automaton feels to it. It's a modern construct, but you can see where the inspiration seems to be pulled from. (machine shifting) The glass flips once more. and you have a view over this.

SAM: Cool.

LIAM: It's like a scrying--

MATT: You can see the half dozen bridges overlapping, but they never quite cross the center. You can see below, directly head-on, the pointed edge of the central spire that's marked there, in a fork-type shape. It sits facing your direction and the shadow takes it from within. You can see points of light of moving lanterns and light sources all throughout the scattered ruins beneath. It is like a small village down there. You can see structures, buildings, some partially crumbled, some partially still well-maintained and some partially unexcavated that are still built in the dirt and rock. The glass slips once more and now the image is staticky. As you peer inward, you can see dozens of figures walking around carrying things, hammering things. You can see a flash or a spark, a greenish flash, and it looks like they are coating elements of it.

SAM: Coating?

MATT: Placing and welding or fixing something to the outside of this massive tower and there's all sorts of heavy machinery that has been built around it. It's almost too much to take in from this overhead view. It is purely directly above. Then you watch as suddenly numerous points of light, (soft clicking) alight the inside of the wall of this tower and there's a (growing warble), a warm flash of light and the vision's gone.

SAM: Oh.

MATT: You just see darkness.

SAM: As I was looking, I was describing in Mercer-ian detail everything that I was seeing to the rest of the group. But slightly more eloquently than you did.

MATT: Of course.

MARISHA: Somehow. (laughter)

MATT: As you're describing this, the rest of you watch as Ira stands or sits behind FCG, the massive long elbows and knees looming over as he looks at the rest of you listening to what he says below before going, "It seems about every minute on the minute, it emits some sort of burst of anti-magic."

SAM: Hmm.

MATT: "Like a--"

MARISHA: A burst of anti-magic.

MATT: "-- dispel wave."

LAURA: Every minute on the minute?

MATT: "Best I can tell."

TRAVIS: Oh man.

SAM: This is going to take one hell of a shot, kid.

MARISHA: Yeah, it is.

TRAVIS: Doesn't dispel gravity.

ASHLEY: Do you have a theory of what exactly this is, what they're trying to do? What are your thoughts? Tell me all of it.

MATT: "Well, I can only only assume it has something to do with Ruidus. They've made much mention of wanting to destroy it, reach it, tether it, lock it, break it, free it, I don't know. But they have a lot of interest. They paid well originally and I was curious. I didn't ask too many questions until I asked too many. Why, do you know? Do you know?"

ASHLEY: Of course.

MATT: "Well, are we working together or not? Are we allies? Are we friends? You'd tell your friend what you know, right? (mischievous sigh)"

TALIESIN: I'm comfortable with "colleague" I think at this point.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Yeah, last time we saw you, there was a little bit of trickeration on your part.

MATT: "Oh, it's just my nature."

TRAVIS: I can respect that.

MARISHA: Do you still have the crown that you absconded with?

MATT: "Oh, I do. And imagine what would happen if such a powerful artifact were to suddenly surge in their device? I don't think they are so clever as to prepare for too much power, right?"

MARISHA: It's funny you mention that. That's actually precisely how we made the Malleus Key in the Fey Realm go boom. (laughs) Is that your solution for this one?

MATT: "One. But I need to get closer. They've been moving things."

LAURA: Yeah, they have.

MATT: "They've been shifting and dividing the power sources."

LAURA: I feel like they did it after we took out the one.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

LIAM: Have you just been watching from afar here?

MATT: "I've been trying to."

MARISHA: When you say dividing the power sources, you mean several meters away from each other, hiding them?

MATT: "From what I can tell. I can't see them from above anymore."

MARISHA: Ah.

MATT: "So they may have hidden them."

TALIESIN: They still need to be tethered, one assumes. There's got to be something connecting them. It's probably a point of weakness.

MATT: "They've been..."

TALIESIN: Maybe.

MATT: "There's a few odd things they're building in there I'd like to see closer. I can't figure out what they're for."

TALIESIN: Hmm.

LAURA: Do you know how to get closer?

MATT: "I mean, there's numerous ways to get closer."

LAURA: Did you see Ryn get taken?

MATT: "No."

LAURA: I look over at Hondir.

MATT: Hondir's eyes go wide, who's been quiet this whole time. "The Planerider is gone?"

LAURA: Yeah. Turned to stone at the base of the key.

MATT: "(sighs)" Reaches in and pulls out a small necklace and holds it for a second and closes his eyes and rubs his chin a bit.

MARISHA: Who are you praying to?

MATT: "Those who came before me. I am not a godly figure, but I believe in those who have made sacrifices before us."

LIAM: Ira, you're crafty and powerful. Is there any chance you can send us there?

MATT: "Oh, uh... I can do short bursts for myself and maybe one other but what you're asking is a bit outside of my bailiwick. But I am excited to ride on the skyship."

TRAVIS: You certainly can and maybe one other is exactly what we might need.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: That's true.

TALIESIN: Would it be safe to park the skyship here or should we keep it up in the air?

MATT: "Oh, it's quite a long walk."

LAURA: No, from Bassuras, would they be able to see it?

MATT: From here, with the right eyepieces, yes. "We shouldn't dally too long. Why, are you expecting an issue?"

TALIESIN: It could use a little repair if we had the moment but it's serviceable.

LAURA: It's missing a sail.

MARISHA: True.

TALIESIN: Shit.

ASHLEY: We went to go see my Nana and--

TRAVIS: (laughs)

ASHLEY: -- she says hi.

SAM: But how'd she say it, though?

ASHLEY: "Hi."

MARISHA and TALIESIN: (laugh)

LIAM: (drawn out) "Oh, hi."

MATT: As you look at--

ASHLEY: "Oh, hi."

TALIESIN: Hi.

MATT: You say that towards him, "Hi," and you you blink and in a blink instant, Ira's right in your face.

SAM: Woo.

ASHLEY: Shit.

MATT: "Well, next time you see her, you tell her I say 'Hi.'"

SAM: Ugh.

LAURA: Ah, young love, nothing like it.

SAM: So romantic.

ASHLEY: Nothing like it. Nothing like it.

TRAVIS: ♪ I'm never gonna give you up ♪

SAM: Is it late? Did it take us the whole day to get here?

MATT: At this point, it's early afternoon, mid-afternoon. So you still have more travel if you'd like to for the day.

SAM: We're still four days away from the solstice?

MATT: You're six days away from the solstice.

SAM: Six days. That's tons of time.

LAURA: And how far--

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: -- travel are we from the excavation site?

MATT: You are roughly four, four to five days depending on how the--

LIAM: So we got to go.

LAURA: I didn't realize it was so far from--

SAM: We got a day.

LAURA: How much of a drive is it to get into Bassuras from the hideaway?

MATT: A drive?

LAURA: Yeah.

TRAVIS: You mean on the airship or on a car?

LAURA: No, no, no. If we took the car into Bassuras.

MATT: It's a few hours into Bassuras.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: The crawler.

TRAVIS: Oh, Bassuras, yes.

LAURA: Yeah yeah yeah, the crawler.

TRAVIS: Ira, have you ever been in any of those sinkholes around the Hellcatch? Have you ever gone down where the squiddies be?

MATT: "Not myself, no. I don't make a habit of crawling into subterranean holes unless I have a reason."

TRAVIS: Fair.

SAM: Well.

LAURA: You going into Bassuras?

LAURA: Should we take--

SAM: What do we need? Just to shop?

LAURA: Just to go to Yunis' and--

LIAM: Get some potions.

MARISHA: Gear up.

LAURA: Stock up if we need it?

TRAVIS: Let's do it.

LIAM: All right. Let's make it quick. We're going shopping.

LAURA: We can't all of us go on the crawler.

TRAVIS: Nope.

MARISHA: No. I'll stay here and continue to chat.

TRAVIS: I'll help repair the sail on the ship with my fucking awesome woodworking skills.

MARISHA: I can help paint if we still want to do the painty, simple thing.

ASHLEY: I could help paint.

LIAM: Maybe I'll pick up some paint in town.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Sure.

LIAM: Put it on the list. I'm going shopping.

TALIESIN: Yeah, let's go. Let's do a very quick shop run.

SAM: I'll stay here and delicately load the bomb onto the boat.

MATT: Okay.

LAURA: I'll go with y'all.

MARISHA: I toss 500 gold to the team.

LIAM: Whoa.

LAURA: Oh yeah, we need money.

MARISHA: ♪ Buy some fucking potions ♪

SAM: Oh, you might need--

TRAVIS: Oh yeah.

SAM: -- to pay Imahara Joe while you're there, too.

LAURA: Well, we'll take care of that after.

TALIESIN: We'll pay him when we get back.

SAM: Okay.

ASHLEY: I throw 500 gold as well.

LAURA: Okay, so.

TRAVIS: Here's 3,000 gold.

MARISHA: (grunts)

TALIESIN: That'll do.

MARISHA: ♪ Hey, big spender ♪

LAURA: Okay, so we have 4,000 G's with us.

TALIESIN: I got 2,000 and change on me.

LAURA: Yeah, I've got about that, too.

TALIESIN: Okay.

LIAM: I got a bunch. All right.

SAM: (mechanical whirring)

MATT: All righty.

TALIESIN: Vroom, vroom.

MATT: While the rest of you stay back as Ira begins to gather the rest of his things and begins to place them in this awful black alligator hide looking medicine bag that folds open in the top and begins placing tools and objects and weird trinkets and then eventually, this oddly familiar glowing crown--

MARISHA: I'm going to take a picture so I have it.

LAURA: Ooh!

MATT: -- that goes inside and latches. As soon as he latches it, he twists his hand and it (poof) vanishes.

MARISHA: Oh wait, he just bamfed?

LAURA: No, he bamfed his bag. He closed his bag.

MATT: His bag.

MARISHA: Oh. Ira?

MATT: "Yes, my dear?"

MARISHA: (laughs) You mentioned you were replaced.

MATT: "Mm-hmm."

MARISHA: That they didn't think you were adequate enough.

LAURA: Is it sturdy?

MARISHA: Do you know who they replaced you with?

MATT: "No. I do not. I'm one to believe that perhaps there is no replacement. Maybe they just ran with it, I don't know."

MARISHA: For you, darling, of course not.

TRAVIS: Here it comes.

LAURA: This is why she wanted to stay.

MARISHA: Yes, it is. To flirt with the creepy man.

TRAVIS: You got a Virginia Slim. (inhales)

MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs)

TRAVIS: "So Ira."

MARISHA: A martini in the other hand.

MATT: (laughs) "I grew bored of the project early on anyway. On to bigger and better things. But if there's anything that draws my attention faster than inspiration, it's spitefulness."

MARISHA: It's quite a grudge for being fired, honestly.

MATT: "Well, I definitely burned a few bridges in working with them."

MARISHA: Sure. You certainly left quite a reputation in your wake in Jrusar.

MATT: "(laughs)"

MARISHA: Anything that we can harvest from this little tiny Malleus Key to help us in our cause? Power cores?

MATT: "That's what that second device is." He points to the second satchel that you are carrying over. He's like, "One was from Imahara Joe's. The other, I pieced together for interest."

SAM: Oh. Does it do anything different or does it just blow--

MATT: "It goes boom."

SAM: It goes boom, okay. (laughs)

MARISHA: I like things that go boom.

TALIESIN: It's just going to say it, too, which is the worst part and then we're going to feel really silly.

SAM: Oh boy.

LAURA: (laughs)

SAM: A little flag?

TALIESIN: Yep.

MATT: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Do you happen to know anything about (sighs) what's his name, Predathos?

MATT: "The name does not ring a bell, I'm afraid, but you can tell me. What is a Predathos?"

ASHLEY: Let's just--

TRAVIS: (through a cough) What the fuck are you doing?

ASHLEY: -- see how--

LIAM: (sputters, laughs)

ASHLEY: You know-- Insight check.

MATT: Make an insight check.

LIAM: Go, Fearne.

ASHLEY: 23.

LAURA and TALIESIN: Ooh.

LAURA: Oh!

MARISHA: Whisper! (cheering)

LAURA: Oh, he's whispering.

SAM: The Mighty Nein Box Set from WizKids is now available for pre-order.

LIAM: What?!

SAM: Find these and many more Critical Role miniatures at WizKids.io/CRminis and at your local game store. WizKids: They're the whizziest.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: I'm pretty sure the copy doesn't say that.

SAM: I can make up mottoes for them.

TRAVIS: Okay.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Just like they asked for.

LAURA: They're the whizziest!

TALIESIN: Unless something insane happens, yeah.

ASHLEY: I think Predathos was like--

MARISHA: A cereal.

ASHLEY: Oh, Predath-Os, it was a cereal and I was just curious if--

SAM: Part of a balanced breakfast.

ASHLEY: You liked it.

MATT: Make a deception check.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LAURA: (laughs)

SAM: Oh boy. Oh boy.

TRAVIS: Good job, Fearnie. The team's all divided up. Some are going shopping.

SAM: I thought she was going, too.

ASHLEY: 21.

MARISHA: Eyy.

MATT: 21. "Interesting. Maybe you'll have to tell me all about this cereal on the journey."

TRAVIS: Uh-huh.

ASHLEY: Okay.

LIAM: Serial killer.

TRAVIS: Hey.

ASHLEY: Hey-o!

MATT: In the interim, who's going to Bassuras?

LIAM: We are.

MATT: All right. It's a tight ride.

TALIESIN: "Easy Rider."

MATT: You all clutter in as (vroom, thuds) the back feet push off the monstrous, growling crawler, tearing across the desert ground and (scrapes) leaving this large trail of dust in its wake. You gather your bearings and then push on to the southward direction until eventually, you come to the long bridge that carries you across the ravine once more. The wind, while it is gentler than previous days, it's still enough to cause the bridge to shift and rock slightly to a point where you are able to feel it even amongst the vibrations and push of the crawler and it's a little off-putting.

LAURA: Just tell me when we're over it.

LIAM: (loudly) I like riding these things.

TALIESIN: (loudly) What?

MATT: (chuckles)

TALIESIN: (loudly) Man, I love riding these things! (laughter)

MATT: Within a short enough time, you begin to approach the outside of the Carmine Curtain and the bustling city of Bassuras, the trash heap of the Hellcatch Valley. Do you do anything to--

LAURA: Cover ourselves?

TALIESIN: Oh yeah, we're--

LIAM: Cloaks!

TALIESIN: We're cloaked up.

LIAM: Cloaks!

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Okay. You swaddle yourselves in cloaks and materials--

LIAM: Wow.

MATT: To hide. You have little (squeaks).

LAURA: We should probably have painted over the little sign on our crawler, too, just to cover it up.

MATT: Sure.

LAURA: Since we were very--

TALIESIN: It probably has been blown, sandblasted enough by this point.

LAURA: That's true, that's true.

TALIESIN: That's already-- Eats shit.

MATT: You cruise through the main gates. There are two, very well-armed Gajakhandas crawlers keeping a watch as you pour through and they keep a tight eye. Just do, three of you, a group deception check. I'll give you advantage because they're not looking for you specifically.

LIAM: So we're all--

TALIESIN: I'm so good at this. That's so great.

MATT: With advantage.

TALIESIN: Thank god. Oh.

LAURA: 22.

TALIESIN: 11, which is good for me.

LIAM: 11.

SAM: Oof.

MATT: Okay. 22, 11, 11.

TALIESIN: I have a negative two.

MATT: There's--

LAURA: I got a plus eight.

LIAM: No shit, liar.

MATT: Definitely-- An intense stare as you ride through the gates, but you don't read any sudden change in physical activity, any sort of mood shift or posture alteration, and you continue (vroom) tearing through the city streets, following your lead as the driver.

TALIESIN: I know where I'm heading. We're going straight there.

LIAM: Specifics, in and out.

TALIESIN: In and out.

MATT: You rush to the northern side.

SAM: We're going straight to Taste of Tal'Dorei.

LIAM: Getting a burger.

TALIESIN: Yep. (laughter)

LAURA: Just want another tankard.

TALIESIN: Couple t-shirts.

LAURA: I want to see if they have a new one.

TALIESIN: Couple potholders, whatever is new. Just one of everything.

LAURA: I got rid of my potholder, he took it.

TALIESIN: Ah, fucker.

MATT: That's true. You could pick up another one. But you do rush over to the Salmagunda Strip on the northern side of the city. There, going past the bustling courtyard that sits all these numerous carts and buildings and tents, you see the massive structure that is the caravan-serai, the Raha Den where you had stayed before. You knowing directly where Yunis' General Supply Shop is, you and park and chain up your crawler near one of the specific hitching posts, which is not designed for a crawler, necessarily. It's designed for a number of other creatures and beasts. But it works enough for the time being. You approach this very simple-looking stone domicile that's been converted into a general supply shop and you see the back of it has been expanded, like they took out the back wall and then affixed a storage facility beyond the back of it. But as you enter the front, it has these long metallic beads that look like they're collections of pieces of scavenged metal and iron and aluminum and other ores that have been strung together on this long cable and there's numerous ones and as you push through, it gives this shiny, clattering sound that's not beautiful, but definitely unique. Stepping into the shaded interior, there's not much business going on here. But you do recognize Yunis, this homely-looking male dwarf in what would be the human equivalent of his 60s. He looks older. He's got this thick, bushy white unibrow that sits over a shaved upper lip and a very, very long, gathered white beard that drifts down past his navel. Wearing simple, somewhat light white clothing, both on shirt and pants for the hotter temperatures here of Bassuras and is currently in the process of enjoying a cup of tea, and looking over some sort of a folded piece of paper before you enter and he folds it, puts it away. "Oh. Hello, hi. Welcome to the General Store. What can I do for you?"

TALIESIN: Hi. Yunis, right?

MATT: "That's me. I'm Yunis, yeah."

TALIESIN: Excellent. Honestly, we're in a bit of a rush. We've heard this is the place to shop in town. Jiana Hexum--

MATT: "Yeah, look around."

TALIESIN: Jiana Hexum said that you are just the place to go to get something special, potions, maybe something magical. We've got a little bit of work to do and we would love an edge. When she says that somebody is the person, they are the person.

MATT: He gives a curious glance out of one eye, his normally squinty vision, one eye pops open a bit. Stands up, folds the paper, puts it away, walks around to the door, going, "I can't say I've heard that name before. I appreciate someone's inquiry over someone else's recommendation, but that's not the sort of business--"

TALIESIN: So sorry.

MATT: Closes the door and locks it.

TALIESIN: Real sorry about that.

MATT: (gruffly) "All right, all right. Come here. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Yeah! The voice change!

MATT: There's a simple back door and this really extravagant looking locked doorway. Pulls out a ring of keys and goes ahead and unlocks the simple door--

SAM: ♪ Ring of keys ♪

MATT: -- and opens it.

TRAVIS: Oh, yes!

LAURA: Oh!

MATT: Leads you into this small back chamber where there are just a bunch of latched chests, curved chests, box chests. It looks like this is-- Most of them look empty, but there are some that are closed and latched. He steps inside. As you're about to step into the threshold, he puts a hand out and turns back to you. "So what are you looking for, huh?"

LAURA: What do you have?

MATT: "We got all sorts of things. We got--"

TRAVIS: Fucking awesome. Totally different voice.

MATT: "We got suude, we got Veritan's root we got all sorts of toxins, poisons. What are we talking?"

MARISHA: Drugs and poisons.

TALIESIN: Toxins and poisons might be a little more than what we need right now.

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: It's going to be less of a one-on-one confrontation issue and more snatch and grab. We've got to get into a-- Getting into a heavily armored facility, getting our shit together, and trying to get out in one piece. Health potions, any weaponry, defensive measurements.

LAURA: Stealthing.

TALIESIN: Stealth.

LIAM: Anything interesting.

MATT: "I mean--"

TALIESIN: I promise it's actually for a good cause for once.

MATT: "You going for tools or weapons? I got all sorts of regular ones in the other room, but if you want something special, let me see what I got." Rubs his beard a bit and goes and starts unlocking some of these and opening them up, rummaging through. Finds two larger healing potions, sets them aside and goes, "I got those. Those I can go and help you with."

LIAM: Yep. Good. That's a start.

MATT: "As far as... Interesting. Interesting. Yes, yes. Interesting. Okay, okay, okay, okay."

TALIESIN: Big on surprise.

MATT: Gets down and opens up another chest and pulls through. Goes, "Ah. (blows)" Dusts off something and opens this small lid on it, pulls out this intricate, thin looking circlet and sets it down. It's this fine silver circlet that has a coiling design around the edges and looks very, very lightweight, almost like a silver-like material. Sets that down on the table, goes and pulls out another small box that has a dark polished mahogany lid, and he pulls it up and pulls out this long chain of a dull, almost gun metal coloration. In the middle of it is this beautiful brown yellow cut gem. Sets that aside and then looks around and goes "Ah!" and leaps up and grabs this one bag that's hanging on the ceiling. Pulls it down, opens it up and pulls out this odd looking, thick leather. It's half between a belt and a girdle. It has two belts along the side, but it has a thicker piece of leather it's affixed to and sets it down and goes, "All right. These are interesting. They're not cheap, but they're interesting."

LAURA: What do they do?

MATT: "Well, you see here." Takes the necklace and holds it up. "This--"

LAURA: The necklace or the circlet?

MATT: The necklace first.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: He pulls it up and goes, "This necklace has a hearty little enchantment. It will rejuvenate and empower your personal fortitude, your endurance, your general health and sense of wellbeing."

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: "It's actually not a very unique name. It's called an amulet of health."

LAURA: Oh. All right.

TALIESIN: Gets to the point.

MATT: For those who are interested, It is an amulet of health.

TRAVIS: Yep.

TALIESIN: Hmm.

LIAM: What'll it run us?

TRAVIS: Pulling it up.

MATT: I'm pulling it up right now.

TALIESIN: I should actually write this down, too.

MATT: Amulet of health.

TRAVIS: It's wondrous. "Constitution is 19 while you wear this amulet."

MATT: Yeah. Whoever wears it, their constitution becomes 19.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

LAURA and SAM: Whoa!

MARISHA: Just straight jumps to 19?

MATT: Just straight jumps to 19.

TRAVIS: Yep.

MARISHA: Holy fuck! That's going to be expensive as fuck.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

TALIESIN: It must be attuned.

MATT: It's attuned, yeah.

LIAM: Yes.

TALIESIN: All right.

MARISHA: Wow! Wowzers.

TALIESIN: What's your constitution? Four? Six?

MARISHA: No, you're thinking of my strength.

TALIESIN: Oh, your strength. Yeah, that's right. (laughter)

MARISHA: Don't insult me!

TRAVIS: Don't insult my strength, bro!

MARISHA: (laughs)

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: "The circlet." He goes and pulls up and doesn't put it on, but holds it amongst. "This is called the Circlet of the Hidden Eye. It is situationally useful for the kind of things that you're talking about, I think." Getting a glance over it and looking at it, let me pull up the actual item here.

TRAVIS: "While wearing this circlet, you're immune to magic that allows other creatures to read your thoughts or determine whether you are lying. Creatures can communicate telepathically with you only if you allow it. If someone attempts to perceive or detect you through divination magic, they must succeed on a DC 16 wisdom saving throw to do so. On a failure, they're unable to locate or perceive you through the spell or scrying sensor."

TALIESIN: Oh my god!

TRAVIS: And they suffer psychic damage.

LIAM: It's like a tinfoil hat for you.

LAURA: A DC Of what?

TRAVIS: 16 wisdom.

LAURA: 16.

LIAM: Okay. It's a workable tinfoil hat.

SAM: I don't know if you guys have enough money for all this shit.

TALIESIN: We probably don't, but we'll figure out where we're going to go with it.

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: The third thing? Then we'll find out the damage.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: "Third one is called a Belt of Momentum."

LAURA: Ooh!

MATT: "It's an item that a number of them were made for some of the local Crawler gangs, the ones that like to get their hands dirty and close a gap in distance really quick." Belt of Momentum: "A leather belt that, when you move more than 25 feet in a straight line and successfully hit a creature of huge or smaller size, it takes additional damage," and if they make a save, it'd be pushed 15 feet away from you.

LAURA: Ooh!

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

MATT: You'd become a human battering ram, essentially, if you get enough--

LAURA: Yeah. I always have thought that someone of Chet's age should probably be wearing a girdle. I feel like it would suit him.

TALIESIN: He's definitely starting to slump.

LAURA: Yeah. Needs a little posture help.

LIAM: Posture. Yeah.

TALIESIN: Yeah, we really--

LIAM: He needs the ribbon.

TALIESIN: -- could get easily two or three more inches out of that right there.

MARISHA: The ribbon.

LIAM: What will everything run us, individually? The potions and each item?

LAURA: Oh wait. There's a stone, too! Or was that the necklace?

TALIESIN: That was the necklace.

LIAM: The necklace.

LAURA: Got it.

MATT: "Indeed, indeed."

TALIESIN: And two potions.

MATT: "All righty. So the two potions are potions of greater healing."

TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.

MATT: I need to pull this here.

TALIESIN: All right. Here we go.

MATT: "Those will run you about 300 a piece."

LAURA: Okay. Good.

MATT: "For each potion. The belt is 2,500 gold pieces."

LIAM: Mm-hmm.

TALIESIN: 2,000.

LAURA: All right.

MATT: "The circlet is 5,000--"

LAURA and TRAVIS: Oof!

MATT: "-- gold pieces. The amulet is 7,000 gold pieces."

LIAM: (gags)

LAURA: (sighs)

MARISHA: Ouchies.

SAM: Buy them all! It's the end of the world.

LAURA: We don't have enough to buy them all.

TALIESIN: All right, what are we sitting at, grand total of cash that we have on us.

LAURA: Okay. Wait. Everybody look at their money.

TALIESIN: Excuse us for one second.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: We should've given more money.

LIAM: I have 3400.

LAURA: I have--

TRAVIS: I'll retcon and give you another thousand. 4,000.

LAURA: Can you do that?

TRAVIS: Can I?

LAURA: Retcon?

TRAVIS: No, no.

MATT: You gave them the amount you gave them.

TRAVIS: Fair.

TALIESIN: I've also got 90 platinum.

ASHLEY: Shit, I should've given more too.

MARISHA: If you dump all the money, we can then re-divvy.

TALIESIN: Yeah, I know.

SAM: Just trade them your glass hammer.

MARISHA: Yeah, exactly.

LAURA: How much is--

TALIESIN: Okay.

LAURA: All right, so 33. I've got 33.

MARISHA: We should definitely get those health potions, though.

LAURA: Plus four. So 73. And then how much do you have?

LIAM: I have 3,400.

LAURA: 34.

LIAM: A little extra, but just 34--

SAM: Riveting math!

LAURA: Sorry.

MATT: (laughs)

LAURA: You have how much, Ash?

TALIESIN: 2,374.

LAURA: Two three seven four.

TALIESIN: Just because I'm curious.

LAURA: Okay, so we have--

TALIESIN: I also have 1,000 bucks in gems.

LAURA: Okay, we have about 13K in gold. So what is it all together? Let's see, 7,000 plus 5,000. 12.

LIAM: It's 12.

LAURA: 12.

TRAVIS: Just under--

LIAM: So we can't get the amulet.

TALIESIN: 1500, 100.

LIAM: But we can get the girdle.

LAURA: We can get everything but the amulet.

LIAM: And the circlet. Correct. And the two potions.

LAURA: Or we can forego the the girdle and get the amulet and the necklace.

TALIESIN: How much do we have total?

LIAM: 7,000--

LAURA: We have 13,000 gold.

SAM: Including the gems?

TALIESIN: 13,000.

LAURA: No, with the gems that puts us at about, yeah, at 14 plus--

SAM: Maybe you could haggle down.

TALIESIN: I was going to say, how far away are we from the right total? Math! It's worth it!

TALIESIN: Do we need the belt?

MATT: (laughs)

MARISHA: I feel like the--

SAM: For you?

TALIESIN: Yeah, we could--

MARISHA: Do you want the belt?

TRAVIS: No.

TALIESIN: We could drop the belt.

LAURA: Okay, well then--

LIAM: It would be good for Orym. It's extra damage.

LAURA: Oh, that's true.

LIAM: Shove people around. Well, I can already shove people around.

TALIESIN: 1200, 600.

TRAVIS: I'm going to wear that damn butcher's bib!

MARISHA: You already shove people around.

TALIESIN: 12 plus six.

MATT: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Just be a fucking nightmare.

LAURA: Hold on. I'm doing it, too.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

LIAM: I'd rather have the necklace.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: So yeah, we're at plus 600.

TRAVIS: Dripping blood continuously.

LAURA: It's 15 one. So, okay.

TALIESIN: 18,000.

LAURA: So 15,000 is what he's asking for everything.

TALIESIN: Okay.

LAURA: And we've got 14,000 if he takes gems. If we give you, this is everything we've got, this is 13,074 gold and we've got $1,000 worth of gems with us.

TALIESIN: Actually, do we need those gems for anything?

TRAVIS: For everything? I think he's asking you for 15,100 right?

TALIESIN: We don't want the belt.

MARISHA: She's trying to shave off a grand.

LAURA: I'm saying, if we get everything, the total is 14,500.

TALIESIN: Okay. Hold off on the gems then, I would say, for one second. Let's see what we--

LAURA: For 15,100.

LAURA: Sorry.

TALIESIN: So what do we have just in gold?

SAM: 13.

LAURA: 13.

TALIESIN: 13.

LAURA: And--

LIAM: If we did a clean sweep, would you accept 13?

TALIESIN: For Hexum.

MARISHA: Correct.

MATT: Make a persuasion check.

MARISHA and SAM: Come on.

MARISHA: Come on! Where's Vex when you need her?

TRAVIS: Let's go!

SAM: Bless!

TRAVIS: Let's go!

SAM: Guidance, Guidance, Bless!

LIAM: Get out of here.

ASHLEY: Come on, darling.

LIAM: Where's yours?

TALIESIN: I believe in you.

LIAM: That's great!

LAURA: Am I getting advantage because anybody's helping me?

MATT: Hmm?

MARISHA: (laughs)

SAM: No.

TALIESIN: I mean, I have a mild threatening demeanor, I suppose.

LAURA: That's not persuasion.

TRAVIS: Doesn't help.

MATT: No, no. I'd say, for this, it's a straight roll for this.

LIAM: I'm smiling.

MATT: I know, I know.

MARISHA: I'm smiling.

LAURA: 23.

SAM: (gasps)

MATT: 23 is very good.

TRAVIS: Boom!

MARISHA: Yeah! Yeah!

LIAM: It was the smile.

LAURA: Mm-hmm.

TRAVIS: (laughing) It was the smile.

MATT: "I'll tell you what 13,000 gold and the gems."

LAURA: For everything?

MATT: "For the lot. Eh?"

LAURA: That's a deal.

MATT: "All right."

LIAM: Plus this rope.

LAURA: (laughs)

MATT: "No deal!" (laughter)

LAURA: Yes!

MARISHA: Sick!

LIAM: Woo!

LAURA: Oh my god. Okay. Everything we have is gone. Goodbye.

MARISHA: I technically don't have that.

MATT: Okay. I'll put this back. Yay!

TRAVIS: What are you doing?

MARISHA: I know! I know! (laughter)

TRAVIS: Being honest?

MARISHA: I used it when we blew up the other key.

MATT: That's true.

LIAM: What did you just say?

TALIESIN: It has been a bloody honor and a privilege.

LAURA: All right.

MARISHA: Blew up the key!

LAURA: I've got one silver in my pocket!

LAURA and MATT: (laugh)

MATT: Closes the door--

SAM: ♪ And the other one ♪ ♪ Is giving a peace sign ♪

MATT: -- and leads you back out to the main entryway, and as it closes, goes, (raspy voice) "Thank you very much for coming! I'm going to close up shop for a little bit. If anyone asks, I'm just going to go on the lunch break. (laughs weakly)"

LAURA: Go.

TALIESIN: Go.

MATT: "Sorry I couldn't help you."

TALIESIN: Eh, we tried.

MATT: Closes it.

LIAM: Wow!

TALIESIN: I'm bad at that.

LAURA: All right.

LIAM: 3400 and change to 78 gold.

TALIESIN: Let's get the fuck out.

LAURA: Yep, that's fine.

SAM: No problem.

LAURA: It's the end of the world.

LIAM: Yeah.

MARISHA: The rest of us got gold.

TALIESIN: Gold comes back.

LAURA: All right, let's go.

LIAM: All right, let's hot tail it out of town.

LAURA: Make our way back.

LIAM: ♪ Makin' my way ♪

SAM and LAURA: ♪ Makin' my way ♪

MARISHA: Those are some good fucking scores, though.

LAURA: We're hiding our stuff.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MATT: I would like you to make a group stealth check.

LIAM: Group stealth check.

SAM: Oh shit! What if you get robbed?

TALIESIN: Oh, I'm going to use Pass Without a Trace for this.

LIAM: Like it was the first time?

LAURA: Oh, Pass Without a Trace?

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LAURA: Great!

MATT: All right. Pass Without a Trace.

LIAM: You'd get a lot of advantage from that because of Pass Without--

MATT: This would not be advantage because this isn't you cruising at breakneck speed on a crawler. This is walking through the city. Getting back to your crawler in the middle of the open space.

LAURA: 15.

MATT: 15? That's plus the 10?

LAURA: Yes, it is!

MATT: Okay.

LIAM: 24.

MATT: 24.

TALIESIN: 31.

SAM: Okay, okay, okay.

MATT: Okay. I mean, you get a few interesting glances as you step through the street getting back to your crawler and you can see there are a few, being a crawler parked in the middle of the Salmagunda Strip, people that do not actually wear any banner or allegiance to any of the other Crawler gangs, you can see a few odd views and some figures. Some people have been walking by the crawler while you're in the shop, and as you step out they step aside and scatter like they weren't even paying attention. You're getting a few looks, but nobody is encroaching upon your personal space. It's just a general curiosity. You step back onto the crawler, absolving the hitching post of the chain and (deep mechanical clatter) the legs pick up and begin to tear away. People step beyond the path and let it carve its path back into the deep city of Bassuras unimpeded--

LAURA: Yes!

MATT: -- and without issue.

LIAM: Nice!

MATT: Until eventually, you tear back out past the eastern side of the Carmine Curtain, long past the bridges, and then return to the hideaway, your goods in tow.

LAURA: Yay!

TALIESIN: (laughs)

LAURA: I like shopping!

TALIESIN: I do, too. I'll admit, I really like shopping.

MATT: It's been a bit since you guys have been shopping.

LAURA: I know!

TALIESIN: Clear my--

MATT: The rest of you who have been waiting and partying--

SAM: We've been doing a family therapy session.

TALIESIN: Oh.

ASHLEY: Oh! Yeah.

SAM: With you and your mom and dad for a while.

ASHLEY: Mm-hmm.

MATT: Great! Make an insight check.

ASHLEY: Okay.

MARISHA: What?

TALIESIN: Mm.

ASHLEY: 13.

MATT: 13. Okay.

LAURA: Ira's definitely-- Has mind control--

MATT: So the rest of your group returns. You've caught up a bit with your parents. Hondir has been helping around there, quietly, nervously asking, "So have you heard anything from other members of the Verity? I've kind of been laying low intentionally and assuming that things have gone well in my absence. I've done my part and I'm not a person to--"

LAURA: Are we back?

MATT: Yes, you've returned.

SAM: They're kind of--

MARISHA: It's rough.

SAM: It's a hot situation.

MARISHA: It's rough. It's bad. They're a bit scattered.

SAM: There's some in the under, the down low, the under dark.

LAURA: The Shadowfell.

SAM: Shadowfell. Thank you. And there's a few that are trapped in the Fire Plane.

MATT: "All right. There are many of us around Exandria and we've done most of the work we can do. We've left it in the hands of allies who are more capable of these final stages, I suppose. So that's good. That's good."

SAM: Well, good. I mean, some are stranded in the Fire Plane

MATT: "Like, just wandering the Fire Plane?"

SAM: No, they're in a house.

LAURA: No, they're stuck in Planerider Ryn's house.

MATT: "Oh, they should be safe there, I think. We'll have a chance to--"

LAURA: What if Ryn is gone?

MATT: "Then I guess we'll have to find someone to go and retrieve them soon."

TRAVIS: Absolutely! A positive outlook! That's right. Work the problem. But right now, they're fucking stuck.

MARISHA: And apparently, Arnold Drot was captured.

MATT: "Unfortunate. By who?"

MARISHA: I don't want it.

MATT: "By the Vanguard?"

MARISHA: Yes? Yes.

MATT: No, he was captured by Vasselheim agents.

MARISHA: No, no. By Vasselheim agents.

LAURA: Oh.

MARISHA: They're a bunch of big, scary Judicators.

MATT: "He was taken by Judicators. That does not bode well. Well, I think I'll stay here."

TRAVIS: That's a good idea, truly.

MATT: "I'll stay here with the Calloways. They could use some tending while you..." He quietly looks over towards Ira, and is like, "While you move on."

TRAVIS: Yeah, but you have some kind of perimeter security system or an early warning apparatus set up, right? I mean, we just got Ira over here, looking through a telescope and just peeking on in. I'm pretty sure you could backtrack that somehow.

MATT: "Maybe."

TRAVIS: You don't have anything, do you?

MATT: "I do not. I'm a researcher."

TRAVIS: Okay.

MATT and TRAVIS: (laugh)

TRAVIS: No, but you'll sleep fine.

LAURA: Here's the thing, the forces in Vasselheim were trying to take care of the Grim Verity because they wanted their secret kept safe, right? They didn't want the secret of Predathos to get out.

TRAVIS: Right.

MATT: "That is true. Yes."

LAURA: So would it make sense to tell someone in Vasselheim what Da'leth is doing?

MATT: "If you have enough proof to convince them. Otherwise, you're showing your hand and liable to end up where other members of the Verity have been."

TALIESIN: That's fair.

TRAVIS: Yeah, I think they've been trying to tell them.

MATT: "We've made attempts to get this across, but the Ruby Vanguard, Ludinus has been very careful to keep all of his cards hidden until very recently. When told of these things at such a juncture with little to convince, well, we haven't seen a few friends in some time. The shame is, I think we probably could right as the solstice begins."

LAURA: Wow.

MATT: "I may not be enough soon enough, but such is the nature of his plan and such is the arrogance of the temples that have been around for so long. Anyway, I do not wish to waste any more of your time, which is so precious in what is coming."

TRAVIS: You can almost see him understanding the perspective of the people that want to break out ol' Master P. The temples being arrogant, not listening.

LAURA: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Hmm.

SAM: Well, I mean, the Changebringer temple, I'm sure was very responsive.

TRAVIS: I'm sure. ♪ Make em say uhh! ♪

LAURA: Have you heard from Pike?

SAM: I have not, but you know, she'll reach out when she needs us.

LIAM: How many days away are we?

TALIESIN: Damn, I should know that.

SAM: Four?

MATT: You are six days away.

SAM: So are we going to rest and go tomorrow? Guess we have to, right?

TRAVIS: ♪ Nah nah ♪

LAURA: What? What?

TRAVIS: Hmm?

SAM: We're going? Tomorrow?

TRAVIS: Yeah.

MARISHA: Is there any reason to wait?

SAM: No. I mean, what time is it?

LIAM: A plan would be good.

LAURA: If we go and we're caught, I mean, I'm down all of the spells that we've used to message people today.

SAM: So yeah. Let's rest and go tomorrow.

LAURA: Which is a lot. I mean--

TALIESIN: Take a day.

MARISHA: Yeah, I'll take the rest of the day to paint that symbol on the sides of the ship, if that works?

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Okay. So you adorn elements of the Ship of the Silver Sun with symbols of the Cerberus Assembly.

MARISHA: Cerberus Assembly is what we said, right?

SAM: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

MARISHA: I think that's right.

MATT: Okay.

MARISHA: I used the crate that Ashton kept for reference.

LAURA: We can rest on the ship. We can rest on the ship. I keep thinking that it's right there, but it's four days travel, right? So.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: No. Fuck it. Let's get on the ship and go.

MARISHA: Okay.

MATT: Okay. All right.

MARISHA: I can paint as we take off.

MATT: How long does that spell last?

MARISHA: An hour.

MATT: Okay.

MARISHA: I can recast it a few times.

MATT: Yeah. Okay. So as the skyship ascends once more into the--

TRAVIS: Tie a rope to your bony ass.

LAURA: Yeah.

MATT: Yep.

MARISHA: (excited noises)

MATT: The slowly setting sunlit sky, the ominous gathering of dust clouds on the horizon, you begin to push northwest once more as Ira climbs aboard the ship with you and Xandis immediately turns and is like, "All right, you found everything in there? What the fuck is that?!"

TALIESIN: Yep.

TRAVIS: This is--

MATT: Immediately grabs an axe and is like--

TRAVIS: No, no!

ASHLEY: No, no, no.

TRAVIS: Okay, this is Ira Wendagoth. He's a valued guest of ours, totally trustworthy, very creepy.

LAURA: In your head, Captain Xandis, you hear: Do not trust him at all, but he is of value.

MATT: Xandis puts the axe slowly down. "Well, if you're a guest of our bosses, guess you're a guest of ours as well, creepy tall man! Welcome aboard the Silver Sun. Make yourself at home?" Ira curls forward and then stands at full height, arms at the sides of the legs and is nearly 12, 13 feet tall at full height. Then just gives a soft bow of the head and goes, "It is a pleasure to be aboard your fine craft!"

LAURA: Jeez, he's so tall!

MATT: Then the legs bend and the arms bend back down to almost a regular height, an average seven-foot in that position.

SAM: Oh my god!

MATT: Before knocking the tails of his long coat behind and then (flutters) pulling the bag from the ether. (whooshes) "Where shall my quarters be to sleep?" And the captain goes, "Right, about that. I'm going to go ahead and have-- Khalil will show you around. Khalil, could you deal with the weird one?" (laughter)

MATT: Khalil is like, "Yes, of course I will. Thank you, Captain, for your incredible show of bravery. Yes, I will show you to your cabins." (laughter)

MATT: As leads Ira beneath the deck, you watch as he slowly pulls and grabs the bottom of the door and it's like a weird folding of a paper clip as he pushes into the doorway before the head turns with a grin towards the rest of you and then vanishes beneath the deck.

LAURA: (exhales) We should show everyone what we got.

SAM: Divide it up?

LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: I think there's really only one thing. I mean, one thing, obviously, has to go to you.

LAURA: The circlet?

TALIESIN: Yeah.

MARISHA: You have to have that circlet.

LAURA: All right.

TALIESIN: I'm going to take the belt, unless anybody really wants to punch people at a running speed. I got an idea.

TRAVIS: Where's the hole?

TALIESIN: Oh god! Whoa! Yeah!

TRAVIS: I'm going to hop down and grab the bib and bring it out. (flapping)

SAM: Gross!

LAURA: Wearing the blood bib.

MATT: He does, like (splattering) splatters blood all across the deck.

TALIESIN: Just wear... Well, no, we don't know when we're going to need it.

TRAVIS: Yeah!

TALIESIN: Okay.

MARISHA: I would like a health potion, please.

TRAVIS: Yeah!

SAM: Oh yeah. A health potion.

LIAM: Also, how's your health in general?

MARISHA: How's my health in general?

LIAM and LAURA: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Who needs the necklace?

LIAM: Your con is what I'm asking.

MARISHA: My con might not be as bad as some others. I've got a con of 15.

LAURA: How's yours? 15?

ASHLEY: Same. 15.

SAM: 18.

LAURA: Mine's 14, but I already took the circlet.

TALIESIN: I mean--

LIAM: Where you at, Chetney?

TRAVIS: 14.

SAM: Ooh!

TALIESIN: Let's throw it that direction then.

ASHLEY: Maybe Chet.

LIAM: Why don't you take it?

TRAVIS: I don't want it.

LAURA: No?

SAM: Okay.

TRAVIS: Who else has got 14?

LIAM: Trying to respect our elders, Chet.

LAURA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: What's constitution in here? AC-- check--

LIAM: That d100 worries me.

MARISHA: I don't think his constitution can stop that. It's just time.

LIAM: Yeah.

TALIESIN: I'll say I don't mind doubling you up if it comes to it.

LAURA: Yeah.

TRAVIS: No problem.

TALIESIN: Honestly, we're just more or less likely to be attacked if we have you around with us.

TRAVIS: Those d10s are rolling true still.

TALIESIN: Or killed.

LAURA: So I should what?

TRAVIS: But if they land!

TALIESIN: Keeping you up and running is probably a good idea.

SAM: Laudna goes down a lot.

LAURA: Laudna goes down so much.

TALIESIN: But how much does it improve your--

SAM: Is it a plus one or a plus two?

LAURA: It's 19.

TRAVIS: So you'd get plus four.

MARISHA: It would jump me up to plus four.

SAM: 19! Whoa! That's huge!

LAURA: That is a big jump.

TALIESIN: I think that's a big deal.

MATT: You're all level eight, right? Or, are you all level eight? Yeah, you're all level eighth, which would mean, for you, it would be an additional 16 hit points.

SAM: Oh!

TALIESIN: Take it.

SAM: Killer.

ASHLEY: Take it.

LAURA: Yeah. You drop--

MARISHA: I do drop a lot.

LAURA: A lot.

MARISHA: I'm made of paper.

LAURA: Take it.

TALIESIN: And I just toss it at you.

MARISHA: (shouts) (laughter)

MARISHA: Stop throwing things at me! (shouts) (laughter)

TALIESIN: Take an HP damage from the necklace that gives you HP right now. (laughter)

MATT: Perfect! (laughter)

TALIESIN: Take the amulet.

MARISHA: All right. I'll take the amulet.

TRAVIS: (laughs)

LIAM: Chetney also, I'm just going to pitch, I think you should give Imogen the butcher's bib.

LAURA: What? I'm not wearing the butcher bib!

TRAVIS: Just for a dramatic effect?

LIAM: Aesthetics.

LAURA: No!

LIAM: Yes.

LAURA: What? Why do you want me--

TRAVIS: You're absolutely right!

LAURA: -- to be a bloody--

TALIESIN: It really completes the look.

TRAVIS: I take it off. I take it off. Imogen!

LAURA: No! (laughter)

LAURA: It stops midair.

TRAVIS: (gasps) (laughter)

TALIESIN: Does it stop all the blood?

MATT: Yeah, full on like Neo with blood.

LAURA: Yes! (laughter)

ASHLEY: No.

LAURA: Just a couple drops. (laughter)

MATT: Best use of telekinesis ever.

LAURA: Yeah. (laughs)

LIAM: They're all going to laugh at you!

TALIESIN: It does the thing where it goes boop! And then goes down--

TALIESIN: 19 or 20 is a crit.

LAURA: I don't want to be a bloody butcher!

ASHLEY: I'll be a bloody butcher!

MARISHA and MATT: (laugh)

LAURA: You should be a bloody butcher.

ASHLEY: Well, no, this is your--

TALIESIN: You were born a bloody butcher.

SAM: That's your thing.

ASHLEY: Say again?

TALIESIN: You're a born bloody butcher.

ASHLEY: You better believe it.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LAURA: It's made of skin, just like... Look, it's made of skin just like your bed, Fearne!

ASHLEY: It's true, but you love that. You wanted to put that on.

TRAVIS: I'm going to go full wolf and just bleed all over myself and I'm going to feast on the faces of people. It's going to be fucking awesome!

ASHLEY and LAURA: Wear it.

MATT and LIAM: (laugh)

ASHLEY: I already have my plan.

TRAVIS: You'll know where I was because I'm going to leave a blood trail behind me.

ASHLEY: Grandma already gave me something.

TRAVIS: Go cross-country skiing and shit.

LAURA: The circlet is attunement, right?

ASHLEY: But it's not gaining an extra--

MATT: I believe it is, yes.

LAURA: Yeah, so I'm going to take off the... Oh, the Feywild shard!

LIAM: What's that do for you?

LAURA: The Feywild shard?

LIAM: Yeah.

LAURA: It doesn't do anything other than give me a chance to accidentally lose all my hair.

ASHLEY: Spew fog?

LIAM: Oh, cool!

MATT: It could do some cool stuff if you roll properly.

LAURA: Yeah. Yeah, exactly!

TALIESIN: I'm kind of into that.

MATT: I mean--

LAURA: Are you a sorcerer?

TALIESIN: No.

LAURA: (laughs)

SAM: You have to be a sorcerer.

TALIESIN: Oh, you have to be a sorcerer to use--

MATT: You give it to Laudna.

LAURA: Yeah, do you want--

TALIESIN: Actually.

MARISHA: What?

LAURA: Here, I pull it out of my hair.

MARISHA: What is it? Is this the thing that makes weird stuff happen?

LIAM: It's the trouble bubble, yeah.

MARISHA: The trouble bubble?

LAURA: It's only if you use sorcery points.

MARISHA: Only if you use sorcery points.

LAURA: Look up the Feywild shard.

MARISHA: Feywild shard.

TALIESIN: I think it's kind of perfect.

LIAM: Oh.

TALIESIN: That makes me very happy, actually, the more I think about it.

MARISHA: Barrier.

TALIESIN: I can do this crazy thing.

TRAVIS: You have to probably get rid of--

MARISHA: Yeah, I've got to get rid of something.

SAM: All right, while you figure out all your shit, we're taking off.

TALIESIN: Oh yeah, we're off.

LAURA: Oh, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

TALIESIN: We're up and running.

MATT: All right. The ship continues on into the night.

MARISHA: Does anyone want my Pearl of Power?

SAM: You already gave it to me.

TALIESIN: We'll do it, we'll do it. We'll figure it all out.

MARISHA: Oh, I did give it to you!

SAM: You already gave it to me.

MARISHA: I haven't been using it, but yes. You're right.

MATT: All right. Another evening comes to a close and another day of journey of begins.

LIAM: I'll say if we're bringing the nighttime, just a real quick, Orym's on the deck of the ship, pulls out the stone.

TALIESIN: Oh wow!

MARISHA: Oh my god!

LIAM: Listen. What's going on over here is really bad. Get the group, head underground. Stay there until you hear from me again. Miss you.

SAM: One's a burner.

MATT: He responds. "I'll see what I can do. There's plenty of places underground, I'm sure. It's a little hairy on this end, too. You take care of yourself. Be careful."

SAM: And then he sings a song.

MATT: Yes. "Kiss From a Rose." (laughter)

TRAVIS: ♪ That's Bertrand Bell ♪

MATT: (laughs)

LIAM: Okay.

TRAVIS: That shit's so good.

LIAM: Night.

TRAVIS: Robbie, you're so talented!

MATT: That brings us to the next day. Five days to the solstice.

SAM: Ooh!

ASHLEY: Ugh!

TALIESIN: (♪ hums "Kiss From a Rose" ♪)

TRAVIS: Let's go, Orym.

LIAM: It's my turn?

MATT: Indeed.

LIAM: Hyah! Three.

LAURA: Oh no!

TRAVIS: (shouts) Yes!

LAURA: No!

TRAVIS: Fucking yeah!

LAURA: No!

MARISHA: We don't have time!

MATT: Roll a d6 for me.

LAURA: We only have time for three!

ASHLEY: We don't have time!

MARISHA: No!

LIAM: One.

MATT: One.

TRAVIS: There may not be another time.

LIAM: I got one on the d6. What does it mean?

TRAVIS: I love you. Thank you for fucking this up.

LAURA: Oh.

MATT: Okay.

TRAVIS: Yep. He's touching all the things.

LIAM: Let's go, Gelidon. Come on.

TRAVIS: Grab that tarrasque.

LIAM: Let's go!

TALIESIN: Well, it's been fun, kids.

MATT: It's at this time that the windstorm begins to kick in. But whereas the dust of gray and brown and yellow previously stormed through and blew about, this one has odd arcane coloration. This one carries with it sparks of energy and magic in weird bursts of uncontrolled Exandrian arcana. This is an arcane wind--

TRAVIS: (shouts) Oh!

MATT: -- triggered by the shifting of the leylines with the tumultuous weather of the Hellcatch as (thudding wind gusts)

MARISHA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Magic hail storm!

LIAM: (sputters) (laughter)

TRAVIS: Ball! Blue skin!

TALIESIN: Glitter, glitter, glitter, glitter!

TRAVIS: (shouts)

TALIESIN: In my eye.

MATT: It seems like a darkened storm and then you watch (lightning crackles) blue, purple, green lightning arcing (sizzles) through the cloud around you as you all begin to ratchet yourselves down. This is another skill check.

LAURA: (groans)

TRAVIS: I run and dive in front of Fearne. (shouts) Fearne! (laughter)

MATT: All righty. So who's going to make the first attempt at trying to ford this storm? What are you doing to help the Silver Sun prepare for this magic?

LAURA: This is magic?

MATT: It is a heavy dust storm, but it brings with it an element of unpredictable magic as well.

TALIESIN: Oh boy!

LAURA: (groans)

MARISHA: Unpredictable magic dust storm.

MATT: Indeed.

SAM: Well, I'm going to just run up to Captain Xandis who's at the helm, I assume. And it looks like there's lightning strikes all over the place?

MATT: Like off the side of the ship. (sizzles) Like wildfire through the clouds. But it's all different colors that match the shifting in the leyline sparks and pulses you've seen getting brighter and brighter with each day.

SAM: Well, then I don't know if this is going to help, but I'm going to cast Protection from Energy on him.

MARISHA: Oh!

LAURA: Oh nice!

MARISHA: That's great!

MATT: On Xandis?

SAM: Yes.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: On them for lightning, I guess.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: Yeah.

MATT: So Xandis is like, "Okay. These certainly get weird at times every time we go out together! So that's cool! A lot of stories to have, if we survive this. I'm going to write them down in my eventual book, if we survive this. What are you doing, FCG?"

SAM: I'm just giving you a little boost against the elements, if that's all right?

MATT: "Oh, please! Take it! I'll take anything!" You reach out and touch Xandis And you watch as this half inch wide divine barrier (whooshes) washes over their body with a slight crackle. (crackles)

SAM: The Changebringer is watching you.

MATT: "Sure. Whatever. As long as somebody's watching me, because I'm watching this craziness." And shifts the ship to the right to effectively ward off this heavy blast of arcane wind. (whooshes) The ship begins to list a little bit, but Xandis is keeping it in tail. Go ahead and roll a d20 and just add your spellcraft modifier and we'll use this as part of the initial skill test.

SAM: Okay, well, that's a natural one.

LAURA: (groans)

SAM: So that's a three. Ah-- four.

MATT: (sighs) Buddy. So you cast this spell on Xandis and you watch as the energy wave washes over them. They're like, "Huh, this feels a lot more confident." And the crackles go (crackles), get brighter and Xandis is definitely protected, but bolts of energy (sizzles) begin shooting out from the protective energy field of Xandis and striking parts of the ship. (sizzles)

TALIESIN: Oh boy.

SAM and LAURA: Oh no!

MATT: I need the rest of you to make dexterity saving throws for me.

TRAVIS: Yes!

SAM: The flux capacitor--

MATT: As suddenly, Xandis becomes a lightning rod for this arcane energy and the lightning that would be protecting is now being pushed out across the entirety of the deck.

SAM: Oh no! I'm sorry, y'all!

TRAVIS: 19.

LAURA: What is this? A dexterity save?

SAM: Yes.

MATT: Dexterity saving throw.

MARISHA: 15.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: Oh! Me, too?

TRAVIS: Who's going to roll?

MATT: That is 23 points of lightning damage.

TRAVIS: Woo!

MATT: Oh, sorry. You succeeded. Just half.

LAURA: Oh god! So that's 11 points of lightning damage.

TRAVIS: Okay.

MARISHA: 15.

MATT: 23 points of lightning damage.

SAM: Seven.

MATT: 23 points of lightning damage.

ASHLEY: 19.

MATT: 11 points of lightning damage.

LAURA: Eight.

MATT: 23 points of lightning damage.

LIAM: Natural 20 for 25.

MATT: 11 points of lightning damage.

LIAM: Beep boop!

TALIESIN: 20.

LAURA: Wait, I think I'm--

MATT: And that's 11 points of lightning damage.

SAM: But Xandis is fine!

MATT: Xandis is fine!

SAM: Yay!

MATT: But the ship, you can see (sizzles) burn marks across the deck as the energy sparks through and Ira immediately curls out from the side and goes, "Oh my!"

SAM: Oh god!

MATT: All right, so that's--

SAM: One fail.

MATT: That was a natural one.

SAM: (inhales)

MARISHA: So that counts as two.

MATT: It counts as two failures.

SAM: Why?

MATT: One more failure and this skill check is done.

SAM: Oh no!

MATT: Who's bringing up the next thing? It's four successes before three failures and you've already got two out of the gate.

SAM: Oh god!

LAURA: Oh god!

LIAM: We'll be fine.

SAM: We've got this, guys! Four in a row.

TRAVIS: I got one, or somebody else that does.

LAURA: Yeah, do it. No, do it.

MARISHA: If you got, go. Go.

TALIESIN: You or me.

TRAVIS: Okay. I was going to (howls) I turn into a fucking wolf-- (laughter)

TRAVIS: -- and I'm going to run to the main mast where all the sails usually break and the main beams and I will get my claws out and (whooshes) climb up and I will post up on the ropes and sails and just be ready for anything that starts to break to start fucking working my woodworking magic. (laughs)

MATT: That's great! That's great!

TRAVIS: And for sail repair.

MATT: I'll say, for that, roll a perception check to keep an eye for anything that begins to crack and receive damage from the storm.

TRAVIS: 20. Dirty 20.

MATT: 20. That's a success. All right. As you're keeping an eye out there, your wolven claws dug into the sides of the wood, you watch for any sort of heavy listing to the the structure of the sails and you see one that begins to creak a bit and you immediately go over and grab, pull a rope to it and then hold it, and with your weight between the two masts, you're keeping it in place and not being bent to the point where the structure is starting to sustain damage at the impact of the wind. And you're feeling pretty confident you've got this side of the ship pretty solid.

TRAVIS: (growls and howls)

MATT: You're full-on like Spider-Man at the front of the train.

SAM: Yes!

MATT: Just like (grunts) (laughs)

SAM: Bloody.

TRAVIS: (groans)

MATT: (sighs) Toby Maguire, the master of onscreen Spider-Man faces.

MARISHA: Yes.

MATT: Who's up next?

LAURA: (sighs)

TRAVIS: Who wants to be responsible? Who's responsible for it?

LIAM: Colorful lightning going everywhere, right?

MATT: The lightning shooting off of Xandis is subsiding, but there's colorful lightning going all throughout the clouds nearby.

LIAM: Orym runs to the front of the ship and jams Seedling down into the wood, face down and vines go (whooshes) out onto the deck.

TRAVIS: Sick!

LIAM: And I take my hands off of it and say a little prayer to the goddess who booned me this and hope it acts as a lightning rod and just keeps it off everyone else.

MATT: Interesting.

LAURA: You're trying to, what, create a lightning rod?

TRAVIS: Attract the lightning away from other things.

LIAM: Keep it away from us, our flesh.

MATT: Okay, okay.

LIAM: It'll just hit the sword.

MATT: Are you attempting to reach out to ask help from--

LIAM: Yeah, I did pray.

MATT: Okay. Go ahead and make a wisdom check for me, if you don't mind.

LIAM: Okay. (grunts) Nine.

SAM: Oof.

MATT: Nine.

SAM: Oh boy.

TRAVIS: Boom!

MATT: The lightning strikes the sword, and as it hits, the lightning seems to almost freeze in place and just locks, like time stops where this bolt of lightning is. It is bright, and the flash is held sustained, and there's this odd moment of confusion and awe. There's this massive filament that is just plasma bright at the head of this ship, and in this odd moment, the air quiets, seems to still, and everyone looks at each other confused, before (massive explosion) It ramps up with intensity, and this massive lightning blast ends up striking the front of the ship, and the front of the Silver Sun (explosion)

SAM: Oh no!

MATT: Explodes outward, exposing part of the front of the ship's deck below.

TRAVIS: You guessed good!

MATT: With this much wind now hitting and entering the hull, you can hear screams from the ship inside, and you, seeing this, one of the sails begins to crack a bit. You hold it tight, and Xandis goes, "I'm going to have to bring it down! I have to bring it down or it's going to come apart!"

SAM: No, Xandis! No, no!

MATT: "Everyone, just hold on tight!" And begins to spin the wheel as the ship begins to turn and rotate and go into a downward--

SAM: Oh no!

MATT: -- corkscrew spiral. Barely holding on as it--

SAM: Oh no, eject, eject!

MATT: -- spins within its own slow descent, eventually coming to a very hard landing onto the dusty ground below with a (crashes) Eventually, it skids to a stop, turning an almost full, tilting to its side before it just stops and comes to rest into a pile of dust as the arcane storm slowly passes by over the next 20 or so minutes, crackling and whirling away.

SAM: We should clarify.

MARISHA: Clarify that we brought the crawler with us.

SAM: GM, by the way--

TALIESIN: Wow. Wow.

SAM: -- we definitely brought-- the crawler along with us--

TALIESIN: As it goes, it just says, "Boring."

SAM: -- if it fit in the ship.

MATT and LIAM: (laugh)

LAURA: I mean, we did talk about it.

MATT: Okay, the crawler--

TRAVIS: Was on the ship.

MATT: -- wouldn't fit on, well, here. Hm.

TALIESIN: Oh, wait!

MATT: Roll a d20 for me.

SAM: Okay.

MARISHA: Put the crawler in the hole!

TALIESIN: I mean.

SAM: 17.

MATT: 17. The crawler, which you had affixed to the deck of the ship--

SAM: Okay.

MATT: You had affixed with such care--

LIAM: Oh boy.

MATT: -- and obsession with it that it nearly, but does not get thrown in the midst of this storm. It carves up a lot of the wood on the deck and has left a lot of damage around it, being essentially a spiked, bladed ball that's been thrushed around, but you do not lose in it the midst of the storm. You do, however, lose a day of travel.

SAM: Oh.

LAURA and ASHLEY: Ugh!

LAURA: Great.

LIAM: When I recover Seedling, does it have new superhero powers from its...

MATT: No. It's very hot, though.

LIAM: Yeah. (yelps)

MATT: Tss. Ah!

LAURA: There's a hole in the front of it.

ASHLEY: Oh my god.

LAURA: How are we going to travel? This thing is not going to fly anymore, will it?

SAM: Can we take the rest of the day to repair?

TRAVIS: It'll fly, but it's just--

MATT: You lose a day of travel because it takes a day to get it back up and running.

LAURA: Okay.

TALIESIN: The only other option would be to make a cart and drive, and it would take the same amount of time, I guess.

ASHLEY: Okay.

SAM: I guess we bed down.

MARISHA: Fix a boat.

TRAVIS: Let's fix it.

MATT: All right.

TALIESIN: Let's fix a boat.

MATT: It takes the majority of the rest of the afternoon, into the evening, to repair it. The crew is all on task, and it eventually gets itself back up into the sky. It looks a little ragged. It's definitely taken a few unfortunate blows, and it was not built to withstand an arcane wind such as that, but it is back up in the sky.

LAURA: You would think these damn gods would want to be on our side right now, right?

SAM: Especially when we talk about them like that.

LAURA: You tell your fucking Changebringer to give us some help.

ASHLEY: Yeah!

SAM: Was that you? Yes, it was. (laughter)

SAM: No, I can't. Whenever I ask questions about her, it's misleading answers. I only can ask questions about myself.

TALIESIN: That's interesting. What other rules are you going to discover?

LAURA: Ask the Changebringer if you stop worshiping them...

TRAVIS: That's directed at you.

SAM: That's not fair.

LAURA and TALIESIN: Why?

LIAM: Why not?

ASHLEY: Just see.

SAM: Should I stop worshiping you? That's a big old no.

MARISHA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: Worth a try.

TRAVIS: All right, let's fix this thing. We got time to make up.

LAURA: We're up and out. We're flying.

MATT: All right, so you're up and flying once more, right as the evening takes over the sky, and another evening's rest. You can take a long rest.

MARISHA: Long rest.

TALIESIN: Oh, thank god.

LAURA: Great, great.

MARISHA: Fearnie?

MATT: And with that--

ASHLEY: Yes?

MARISHA: Fearnie, Fearnie, Fearne?

ASHLEY: That's me. What do you need, babe?

MARISHA: I'm pretty fully equipped on inventory.

ASHLEY: Okay.

MARISHA: Would you have any interest in this Feywild shard?

ASHLEY: Well, we'll see what I'm working on.

SAM: Does she use sorcery points?

MATT: It requires sorcery points to be used. It's a sorcerer item.

ASHLEY: Oh, I can't.

SAM: Oh well. We'll sell it.

MARISHA: I'll hold onto it.

LAURA: Yeah, doesn't have to be.

MARISHA: Because you're fully equipped, too?

ASHLEY: Nobody else wants to? Can anybody else--

LAURA: Nobody else is a sorcerer.

LIAM: No more sorcerers.

ASHLEY: Oh, because nobody else is--

TRAVIS: ♪ Nobody else ♪

ASHLEY: This is why...

MARISHA and LAURA: ♪ Nobody else ♪

TALIESIN: If we find a crazy person, I have ideas.

SAM: Who's rolling?

MATT: Well, the evening comes to a close. The aurora itself is extremely bright now. It's like from all perspectives on the deck of the ship, you are swimming through the ethereal sea. There is just curtains of color and energy and sparkles and flashes. It is a dreamscape around you on all sides with the backdrop of the black, starlit sky. The beauty is transitioning slightly more and more into terrifying with the intensity of the aurora, and its shifting energy is now becoming more and more present as the face of magic across Exandria is changing like it does about once every two centuries or so. Finishing out the night, that brings us to the next day. Four days 'til the solstice.

MARISHA: Wow.

MATT: Would somebody please roll a d20 for me?

SAM: Come on, Ashton.

TALIESIN: YOLO. One.

MARISHA, LAURA, and ASHLEY: No!

MATT: Roll a d6 for me.

MARISHA: You are lying!

LAURA: No! They're not on our side.

ASHLEY: We have time.

TALIESIN: Six.

ASHLEY: They're not on our side.

MATT: Six. Okay. So--

TALIESIN: Fuck.

SAM: Mine is.

LAURA: (laughs)

MATT: Another dust storm kicks up.

TALIESIN: God fucking damn it.

MARISHA: (groaning) Ah.

LAURA: Fucking hell!

MARISHA: A magic one or just a dusty?

LIAM: Stuck out here!

MATT: No, this is a regular dust storm.

SAM: El Niño.

MATT: It's not as heavy. It's not quite as heavy as the one that initially battered your ship about. It obscures your vision a bit. Xandis just goes, "This is not really good luck with this timing. I mean, you sure you need to do this? We could just take a vacation. We could just go to--"

SAM: Press on, Xandis.

ASHLEY: We don't have time.

MATT: "Shamal Bay's maybe, just a few more, another week--"

LAURA: Wish we could.

MATT: "Okay."

ASHLEY: After, after, after.

MATT: "Well, okay. We'll keep pushing!"

LIAM: We'll see if it's still there in a few days.

ASHLEY: Yeah, I was going to say that.

TALIESIN: What can I do?

MATT: Orym, you're the first to see.

LIAM: Ping!

TALIESIN: Shit.

MATT: Some sort of shadow in the storm behind you.

MARISHA: Ugh.

TALIESIN: Shit.

MATT: Right as you clarify it following, you also hear the--

LIAM: Guys? (wings flapping)

LAURA: Fuck.

MATT: -- and the faint glow that it emits. As you hear, "Guys?" you turn and look and watch as the glow is light sources flapping as a massive, fiery bird in hot pursuit of your skyship begins to push through this storm.

SAM: Oh my god.

MATT: What do you do?

LAURA: A fiery bird? A red and orange-y fiery bird?

MATT: Its body is more black and purple feathers, it looks like that lead into flames and then its wings are just massive flames. Your first thought is possibly a phoenix. Make an arcana check.

TRAVIS: We've got to get this fucking ship on the ground.

MARISHA: Yeah.

LAURA: Nine.

LIAM: Damn!

TRAVIS: Hard dive. Hard dive.

MATT: Hard dive?

TRAVIS: Hard dive.

MATT: Xandis goes, "Okay! Once again, please hold on!" Cranks one of the various levers, and the front glowing brumestone rocks dull. The ship goes (powering down) and goes into an immediate dive right as the creature (violent squawks) comes into a dive behind you.

MARISHA: How close is the bird?

LAURA: Yeah, how close is it?

MATT: It's about 100 or so feet away and it is gaining in the dive as it's now going into a (soaring).

LAURA: Can I just try to use a sorcery point and cast Command on it?

MATT: Sure.

TALIESIN: I attempt to rage again while I'm sitting there. I tap my hammer down on the ground and the rainbow sparks start and there is a probability matrix now around us as well.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: Okay, okay.

SAM: Beep boop boop.

TALIESIN: If I can assist.

MATT: Fair enough. All right, so you are casting Command.

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: That is a wisdom saving throw?

LAURA: Why, yes it is.

MATT: That's a natural one. Okay, what do you command?

LAURA: Great.

MATT: Jesus.

LAURA: Leave! (laughter)

MATT: It's into a full dive, and it's catching up on the ship, and then immediately it (squawks) picks up and just darts.

MARISHA: Be gone!

MATT: As the ship is still going down, you watch as the dust storm is passing by, and you can just begin to see the shadow of Exandria approaching as Xandis goes, "Got to pull up or we all die!"

ASHLEY: Yeah yeah yeah. Pull up, pull up.

MATT: Reverses it and the two front brumestones (powering up) glow with that heavy hum, and as the ship begins to pull up, you all feel yourselves, the g-force pulling you down. You all grab on. (groaning)

MATT: It actually hits the top of a big dune.

SAM: Whoa!

MATT: The ship (grinding) You feel the rocking of the impact.

SAM: Your paint job!

MARISHA: I know!

MATT: But then it bounces up. You hear the creaking of wood, but no serious damage.

MARISHA: It's just been sandblasted off. The storm's still blowing by. It's not as dense below here. The ship picks up again and begins to drift at a mild speed, trying to be careful of the wind. You hear again, (violent squawking).

LAURA: Uh.

MARISHA: Wait, it's coming back?

LAURA: Yeah, it's coming back. It only lasts for a minute.

LIAM: Dang it!

MATT: You all see that glow from the dust above as this gargantuan bird is now swarming down towards the ship.

TRAVIS: This is a stupid question. Are there any, now that we're low to the ground, any sinkholes on the horizon?

MATT: Make a perception check.

TALIESIN: Oh boy, that was--

TRAVIS: 18.

MATT: 18.

LAURA: Okay.

LIAM: Yeah, yeah.

MATT: You see there's a ravine not far from where you are, but there's no sinkholes immediately that you can tell.

TRAVIS: Xandis, maybe some cover in that ravine!

MATT: "I'm going to try and do cover, but it's looking at us! Look at this!" And begins to pick up the speed. Now that this is coming into the ship, picks up as much speed as it can safely. The wind is still battering it from the storm and he's trying to keep it together as they're holding the wheel, and the bird is now cruising above. You can see it coasting as its head looks down, these burning coals for eyes in its darker head, and this sharpened beak.

TRAVIS: Wow!

MATT: It screeches, and you watch as flames burst out of its mouth as it screeches.

TALIESIN: Flame?

SAM: Bank left!

MARISHA: How many feet?

LAURA: Yeah, how far away?

MATT: About 100 feet above you. It's beginning to hone in.

LAURA: And we're in the ravine now?

MATT: No, Xandis is heading towards it. They're currently steering it.

LAURA: Okay, okay, okay.

TALIESIN: We knew this was going to be weird.

MARISHA: Still 100 feet.

LIAM: Ladies, can you throw anything back in its face?

MARISHA: It's too far away!

ASHLEY: Yeah, we need to get a little closer.

LAURA: I'm going to try to hit it with a Lightning Bolt.

MATT: With a Lightning Bolt? Okay.

LIAM: That's long. A lot like Ira.

MARISHA: I can start throwing damage spells at it.

TALIESIN: Actually, where the fuck is Ira?

SAM: He's staying out of this.

TALIESIN: Okay.

SAM: He's not a dummy.

LIAM: He's suntanning. He's got one of those silver boards.

MATT: All right, so.

TRAVIS: He's just perma-grinning.

MARISHA: I'm going to team up with that Lightning Bolt and throw a Ray of Frost at it.

MATT: Okay. Dexterity saving throw is 13. That's a failure.

LAURA: Oh great, great! So that's 8d6 of damage it takes.

MATT: Go ahead.

ASHLEY: Damn!

LIAM: 86.

LAURA: 86! I need another one of that. Oh god, I'm just dropping everything.

ASHLEY: Pick good ones!

TALIESIN: Good call.

LAURA: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Oh god!

LIAM: That's one of them.

LAURA: ♪ Mm, bow, bow ♪ 10, 15, 21, 24, 27, 28, 29.

MATT: 29 points of lightning damage, you got it. The bolt arcs through it and slams into its body. It takes the impact, and, you know, it shrugs it off.

LAURA: Mm.

TALIESIN: Big bird.

LAURA: Immune to lighting.

MATT: It's less resistance and more just, this is a--

LAURA: A big-ass--

MATT: It's a powerful beast.

MARISHA: I'm going to throw a Ray of Frost--

LAURA: Great, great, great.

MARISHA: -- at it, let me know the moment it gets within 60 feet.

MATT: Okay, it's closing quickly.

ASHLEY: Same.

MATT: So now!

MARISHA: Ooh!

MARISHA: Now? Oh shit. Oh fuck! Well, I did a Ray of Frost. Fuck! Okay, well, 19 plus 7 to hit, so 26 to hit.

MATT: That hits.

TALIESIN: Oh, I should--

MARISHA: Then can I immediately throw another spell at it?

MATT: Well, other people are going to go while you're doing that, so.

MARISHA: All right. Seven cold damage.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

MARISHA: And its speed is reduced by 10 feet.

MATT: Great. So its 120-foot fly speed is now 110 feet.

MARISHA: Cool.

LIAM: Oh boy. (laughter)

ASHLEY: Does that place it within 60 feet?

MATT: Yeah, it's just about to slam onto the deck of the ship.

SAM: I'm going to--

ASHLEY: All right!

SAM: Sorry, you go, you go.

ASHLEY: Polymorph!

LIAM: Ooh!

LAURA: Oh yeah!

SAM: Polymorph!

MATT: Polymorph. Okay, what are you turning it into? Or trying to, at least?

ASHLEY: A goldfish. (laughter)

TRAVIS: Remember, it's fucking falling.

TALIESIN: It's going to immediately turn into--

ASHLEY: Yeah, so it'll die.

LAURA: No, then it'll bamf back into--

TALIESIN: No, it just turns right back.

LIAM: Do what Keyleth did.

TRAVIS: Have we learned nothing?

SAM: It's okay. It's okay. She does her thing. She's doing her thing.

LAURA: But it might--

ASHLEY: No, wait wait wait.

LAURA: -- goldfish onto our deck, and then we can just catch it.

MATT: You said a goldfish, right? That was your first instinct?

ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MATT: We'll see if it fails.

MARISHA: We have learned nothing.

TRAVIS: I can't.

MATT: That's going to be-- (laughter)

MATT: That's a 13. What's your DC?

LIAM: Higher than that.

ASHLEY: 16.

MARISHA: That hits!

MATT: 16?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

MATT: (wings flapping)

TALIESIN: Oh, I got a plan.

MATT: (squawking)

TALIESIN: I got a plan!

MATT: Into a goldfish, and the wind just carries it up into the windstorm.

LAURA: That's true! It would fly away!

MATT: It's a tiny little fish! It's a heavy windstorm, and the fish just goes (wind whistling)

TALIESIN: Yeah, they get carried miles!

MATT: It disappears into the dust.

TALIESIN: Like frogs, they get carried in these things until they get dropped on a town.

LAURA: It'll eventually--

LIAM: It might be three minutes before it hits.

TALIESIN: It could be longer.

LAURA: Then we'd be far enough away.

TALIESIN: They stay up there forever.

LAURA: Yeah, let's get going.

MARISHA: Let's go.

ASHLEY: Let's just go.

MATT: Xandis says, "Okay! You are--"

LAURA: Travis is just--

MATT: "This is kind of awesome, I'm not going to lie!"

MARISHA: Is the goldfish gone? We can't see the goldfish?

MATT: Yeah, it just got picked up into the storm.

MARISHA: Okay!

LIAM: Somewhere a half mile away, there's a family camping, and they're like, "What is that?" Boom!

LAURA: (screams)

TRAVIS: (squawking) (screaming)

ALL: (laughter)

MARISHA: Family camping!

MATT: That lasts for an hour?

ASHLEY: Mm-hmm.

MATT: Okay.

SAM: Wow.

TALIESIN: Wow.

MATT: It doesn't take longer than a few minutes to feel the safety of avoiding the imminent strike of this strangely roused and angered beast--

TRAVIS: Good job.

MATT: -- has been averted.

MARISHA: Vindication for the fucking goldfish! Sorry.

LIAM: Is it, though?

TALIESIN: Healing moment. (laughter)

ASHLEY: In some ways!

MATT: So, no travel is lost.

SAM: Whew!

LAURA: Yes.

MATT: The day completes without issue.

LIAM: Wow.

LAURA: How many days do we have left?

MATT: Well, if you finish this day, it'll be three days 'til the solstice and two days of travel to get to where you're going.

LAURA: Ugh. Oh god, it's coming up so soon. Two days of travel.

MATT: Finishing the fourth night, unless anyone has anything they want to do.

SAM and TRAVIS: No.

TALIESIN: Nope.

MATT: That brings us to three days 'til the solstice, and two more days of travel. Someone else want to roll a d20?

TRAVIS: Back to me.

LIAM: T, yeah.

TRAVIS: 17.

MATT: 17.

TALIESIN: Woo!

MATT: Clear skies.

LAURA and TRAVIS: Clear skies, clear skies.

MATT: Clear skies ahead. The dust storms have settled, it seems, for the day. You now have a beautiful view of the Hellcatch below, beautiful in the sense that it is beautifully clear. The Hellcatch is beautiful in its own right, in its oddly barren and desiccated landscape. You can see a number of the wicked-looking trees. You would know this as Haggardoe trees, that this part of the Hellcatch climb up looking like withered arms that reach for the sky, about 20, 25 feet off the ground. You see them pushing through cracks and such with elements of pale green and orange leaves and small seedpods that scatter around as the ship's keeping low and passing by. Nature is odd, but definitely robust across this valley in unique ways in comparison to the rest of the continent.

MARISHA: If the skies are clear, I'm going to take a little bit of time to Spider Climb underneath, check my paint job, make sure it hasn't been sandblasted off, and maybe do touch-ups if needed.

MATT: It's been somewhat sandblasted, but in a way that makes it look weathered.

MARISHA: Oh, fine. I'll leave it, it's good.

MATT: Orym, you feel this strange pulse in your side pouch, this weird thrum.

LIAM: Am I getting a message?

LAURA: You're getting a message!

MATT: It's not your stone.

LIAM: No?

MATT: You forgot about this. You keep looking to it. It was a gift from a long time ago, but this small seed.

LIAM: That thing was this big, right?

MATT: Yeah, it's settled in the bottom of your pouch.

LAURA: What?

MATT: And it is pulsing.

LIAM: Forgot about it. Well, I'm going to examine it, if it's going off.

SAM: Where did you get that?

MATT: It's got this faint green glow to it.

ASHLEY: (gasps)

MARISHA: It was from Keyleth.

LIAM: Wait, am I remembering right? This is back from ExU.

MATT: ExU, yeah.

LIAM: Yeah, not Keyleth.

MARISHA: No, no, no. You got it from one of the other druids.

LIAM: Yeah, in--

MARISHA: In the ancient ruins.

LIAM: -- Niirdal-Poc.

ASHLEY: Yeah. Niirdal-Poc.

MARISHA: Yes.

LIAM: What does it mean? I don't know what it means.

MATT: Roll a nature check for me.

LIAM: That's not going to go well. Five.

MATT: Five. It's a seed.

LIAM: Yeah.

ASHLEY: Try talking to it.

LIAM: Yeah. Hello?

TALIESIN: I mean--

ASHLEY: Oh.

LAURA: Do you have good nature mods?

TALIESIN: Am I the only one who... It's a seed.

TRAVIS: Feed the seed?

LIAM: Feed the seed?

SAM: Give it water?

TALIESIN: It's a seed.

LIAM: Yeah, but--

TALIESIN: Grow something.

LIAM: We're in the air.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

SAM: Hydroponic, man.

TRAVIS: Give it some water, though.

TALIESIN: We can land.

LIAM: Okay. Does anyone have any water on them right now?

TALIESIN: No.

LAURA: No, but we can get some.

SAM: Of course, we've go canteens and stuff.

LAURA: Go get some water.

LIAM: All right.

LAURA: You just pour it on there?

TALIESIN: Hold on.

LIAM: Well, I've been holding onto this to plant it.

SAM: Is it really just an organic seed? Do you want me to Identify it?

TRAVIS: Ooh!

LIAM: If you can, you can take a look at it, sure.

LAURA: Oh, yeah.

SAM: Sure.

TALIESIN: I got rid of the thimble, but I've got a ball. Do you have a pot or something? I don't know.

ASHLEY: Wait!

LAURA: It's big.

ASHLEY: My chamberpot!

TALIESIN: That'll do it.

LAURA: Perfect, yeah.

ASHLEY: Wait, did--

TALIESIN: Comedy.

ASHLEY: Didn't I give that to... Who'd I give that to?

SAM: I'm sure you got it.

TRAVIS: How big is the seed in your hand?

LIAM: It's like an ostrich egg, if I remember right.

MATT: About that big.

TRAVIS: I think that thing needs to go in the ground.

SAM: I'll Identify it just to see if I can glean anything additional from it.

ASHLEY: We can use the Tal'Dorei--

LAURA: Oh, the tankard!

ASHLEY: The tankard.

MARISHA: (laughs)

ASHLEY: Will it fit?

LAURA: Yeah, it'll fit in the tankard.

TALIESIN: Do we have some soil or something? I mean, you could just put it in water and it would--

SAM: I actually have some soil.

TALIESIN: You're kidding.

SAM: I have graveyard soil, I believe.

TALIESIN: Perfect. (laughter)

TALIESIN: Let's do this!

LIAM: Captain Xandis, do you have any receptacles or containers on this ship?

LAURA: Well, now we have this tankard.

SAM: I have graveyard dirt.

LIAM: Will it fit in the tankard?

MATT: Very snugly.

LIAM: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Okay no, we got to--

LAURA: Should we give it a little more room?

LIAM: Do you have any-- You got any spare chamberpots?

LAURA: Like a barrel?

TALIESIN: Wait!

MATT: "Chamber, I mean spare? I don't know. I didn't clean them myself."

SAM: We can use mine.

TALIESIN: We've got crates. We've got empty crates.

SAM: I don't use my chamberpot from my room.

TALIESIN: We've got some crates in the bottom?

MATT: "Yeah, we got barrels and things."

SAM: No, I mean, all of our rooms have chamberpots in them.

TALIESIN: I open up the hole and I pull out some of the crates, which if anyone--

LAURA: Oh, that's true.

TALIESIN: You can garden in a crate.

ASHLEY: Oh, yes.

LAURA: That's true. Gardening in a crate is great.

TALIESIN: I pull out a small crate.

ASHLEY: That's the best way to do it.

TALIESIN: We're going to have a nice plant by the front.

LIAM: Okay, great.

TALIESIN: Let's do this.

SAM: By Identifying it, do I glean any knowledge about how to grow it or what it will...

MATT: It is a... A Message Bloom.

LAURA: A message?

ASHLEY: (gasps)

LAURA: Somebody's trying to talk--

MATT: And indeed, upon being planted and watered, it will convey the message.

LAURA: What!? That is so fucking--

SAM: Cool, cool.

LAURA: -- cool!

TALIESIN: I want one.

SAM: All right.

ASHLEY: Me, too.

SAM: Start tilling.

TALIESIN: I am not good at this. I just found the planter. This is not my vibe.

MATT: You place the grave dirt (laughs) within the small crate. Open the space, put the seed in and water it. There's... Five, six... 10 seconds go by. And you watch as a single green sprout (small woosh) curls up. Leaves unfurl rapidly. And as the stem extends upward, you watch as this bud begins to swell and then (poofs) opens wide into this vibrant display of bright blue and purple petals. As it opens up, multiple layers and multiple layers... You hear a voice come through, a familiar voice. Not just any voice, Voice of the Tempest. "Orym. The Cult of the Dark Heart beneath Terrah was a challenging maze of dangers for the Ashari. Present, but the Dark Heart Behemoth was dealt with and the rift returned to its controlled state. We lost some good warriors in that fight, but their sacrifice will be remembered and cherished. I message you because I attempted to apprehend Vureeo, the head of this Ashari sect of betrayers, but he vanished, shouting, 'The Vanguard will prevail 'and the world will finally be free.' We couldn't stop him. But given all you've told me and the signs pointing to a connection between these events, it would seem our paths are converging."

LAURA: (whispers) We need Keyleth's help.

MATT: "Please let us know where this Vanguard makes its work. Perhaps I can gather those who can recover within the Ashari to help stand against Ludinus and his Vanguard."

MARISHA: Wait, what?

ASHLEY: Wait, wait, what did she say?

LAURA: She's going to help!

TRAVIS: The fucking cavalry, y'all.

LIAM: Yeah, so... Okay, did the message end? I don't want to step on it.

MATT: That's the last of it and you watch as it finishes. And the beautiful bloom rapidly withers and crumbles.

TALIESIN: Did we all hear it?

LIAM: No.

TALIESIN: Or just...

MATT: You all heard it audibly. It emanated from the plant.

TALIESIN: Okay.

LIAM: Before we deal with that, what happens to the seed at that moment? Does it crumble away?

MATT: It crumbles away.

LIAM: Oh.

LAURA: Wow.

LIAM: And then the name of the betrayer, was it Vureeo?

LAURA: Vureeo.

MATT: Vureeo. V-U-R-E-E-O.

LIAM: V-U-R--

MARISHA: V-U-R--

LAURA: Yeah, I wasn't even close.

ASHLEY: No.

MARISHA: Vureeo, okay.

TRAVIS: V-U-R-E-E-O?

MATT: Correct.

LAURA: Now it's just like scribbles. It looks just like I scribbled a name.

LIAM: And her voice just sort of tinkled into the air for all to hear, right?

MATT: Yeah.

TALIESIN: Was it Ashari, or what...

MATT: Ashari.

TALIESIN: It was Ashari. Okay, just checking.

MATT: Valid.

TALIESIN: Double-checking.

LAURA: She's going to help us?

LIAM: You have to reach out and--

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: -- let her know where we're heading.

LAURA: Sure.

MARISHA: Wow!

LAURA: All right.

TALIESIN: Oh boy. That's good. That's the first good luck we've had.

LIAM: Oh shit, do you have that?

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: You got the juice?

LAURA: Let's do it. Yeah. I'm Sending a message.

TRAVIS: You want to ask Captain Xandis for a description of where we are currently or where we're heading or something to describe?

LAURA: She was wanting to know where it was all converging, so I was going to tell her when we were going to arrive--

TRAVIS: Yeah.

LAURA: -- and let them know it's-- Does that make sense? Because I feel like if we try to meet up with them, it might... What do you think?

LIAM: Well... (stammers)

TRAVIS: Ira knows, but...

LIAM: All the magical curtains of light that we've been traveling through, they're not all crisscross, right? Are they all moving like a path?

MATT: You've seen multiple layers of it. Almost like they've all been creating this unique funneling direction and you've crossed through a number on this journey but now as you grow closer, you-- Looking for this specifically, you can see they're all--

LIAM: We're hitting a nexus?

MATT: -- converging towards--

LIAM: Okay.

TALIESIN: Ooh boy.

MATT: -- the direction you're traveling.

LAURA: Okay.

LIAM: A nexus of leylines north of...

LAURA: Bassuras.

TRAVIS: Northeast of Bassuras.

LIAM: Yes.

LAURA: All right. And we'll be there in two nights?

MATT: About, yeah.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: Should all travel well.

TALIESIN: (laughs)

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: Okay, and it can be more than one message.

LAURA: Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah.

LIAM: We've got two days. We'll tell her... Our ETA.

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: Give her all the information and then let's just go from there.

LAURA: All right. Messages.

MARISHA: (sneezes)

TALIESIN: Bless you.

MARISHA: Sorry.

LAURA: Bless you. Yeah.

MARISHA and LAURA: (laugh)

LAURA: Message received. They're converging at the nexus northeast of Bassuras. The Tishtan Excavation point. We should be arriving in two day's time, if all goes well. Thank you.

SAM: Laudna says hi. (laughter)

MATT: "I appreciate the heads up. We'll gather who's available and able-bodied. See that our wounded are taken care of. And we'll attempt to meet you there as soon as possible."

MARISHA: Holy shit.

MATT: "Be safe."

ASHLEY: Oh my god. This is big, y'all.

MARISHA: This changes things.

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: We might have a chance.

TALIESIN: We got a big player.

TRAVIS: I know. I don't want to attract too much attention, but I think we got this.

TALIESIN: Cannot believe you said that out loud.

LAURA: You've got powerful friends.

LIAM: Yeah. Be nice to meet up with them. First time in a long time. I'm just kind of stunned, sorry.

SAM: Well, let's press on.

TALIESIN: Yeah, yeah.

MATT: Okay.

LIAM: I bet my sister's coming.

SAM: Sister?

TALIESIN: What?

LIAM: My husband's sister.

SAM: Oh. Who's she?

LIAM: Lita.

LAURA and SAM: Lita?

LIAM: Yeah.

SAM: She's an Ashari warrior?

LIAM: She is like me, yeah. When my dad died, she took over for him when her dad died. She serves as the right hand of the Tempest.

LAURA: Oh, wow.

SAM: Amazing.

LAURA: (laughs) Feels hopeful. That's a new feeling for--

TALIESIN: Well, let's just breathe deep. Have a drink, a meal, and it'll pass.

LAURA: (laughs)

TRAVIS: Let's do it!

SAM: Last roll was you, Marisha.

MARISHA: Oh no!

MATT: All right, as the night--

TALIESIN: Oh, yeah.

MATT: -- comes to a close. An odd calm comes across some of you, with that glimmer of hope finally rising and bringing some light to the dark path you've seen before you this trek.

LAURA: I'm going to pull out the locket. Just read it over and over and over again.

MATT: Okay. Anyone else have anything they wish to do for the evening? Very well. You can take your long rests. And as you sleep through the night... Two days until the Apogee Solstice.

TALIESIN: Ooh.

LAURA: Oh god.

SAM: I'm cooking. I'm baking all night, by the way.

MATT: Okay, so we come right back down to the following day. (laughs) Somebody roll a d20 for me, please.

LIAM: Marisha.

TRAVIS: Let's go.

LIAM: Marisha, Marisha, Marisha.

ASHLEY: Let's go.

TALIESIN: I believe in you.

LAURA: Nat 20.

MARISHA: See if I ruin all that hope we just got. 15.

LAURA: Okay.

MATT: 15.

SAM: The Changebringer watches over you. (laughter)

MATT: You can see the leylines grow stronger and brighter and more chaotic with their pulses and energy flashes and you can all smell and taste the air, this electric energy. There's this vibration to the atmosphere around you. You can't help but be excited and scared by it. And as you grow used to it, you begin to forget what that feels like until you take a moment to focus again. And every time, it's a rush of adrenaline. And you can see more storms being whipped up by the shifting of these lines and you begin to now take note that in these leylines pushing towards this nexus, they are making the weather more and more dangerous along with them. But you manage to avoid any of that for your last leg of the journey.

ASHLEY: (sighs)

MATT: Bringing you to your final evening before arrival. On what will be the day before or the day in which the solstice arrives.

ASHLEY: Oh my god.

TALIESIN: Oh boy.

LAURA: Whoa. If I step away and I open my mind up, that white noise, what does it sound like now?

MATT: (intense wind) It's like a heavy wind blowing directly into your mind. It is hard to focus on it and it gives you an instantaneous mild headache to try and just leave that space available. Anything during the day you wish to do or do we come to the final evening before your approach?

TALIESIN: Just working in my room on a project.

ASHLEY: Can I get a look-see to see if I feel like anybody's watching us?

MATT: Make a perception check for me.

ASHLEY: For some dumb reason.

MARISHA: Yeah.

ASHLEY: 23.

MATT: 23. You keep a keen eye around you for the majority of the day and you catch yourself being spooked a few times from the flashing of the energy as you now approach where this nexus is building, where the leylines have been shifting and maneuvering over towards this excavation site. But you don't see anyone or feel anyone who's uninvited.

MARISHA: Treshi scry.

MATT: Dark. You all bed down for the final evening on your approach.

LIAM: I'll say Orym, before bed, spends some time kneeling, sitting on his heels on the deck of the ship with his sword and shield on the deck in front of him and just meditates on the last few months. And meditates on the last six years. And thinks of everyone in the family and, of course, his father and his husband, looking at these leylines, and is Ruidus still with us?

MATT: For the majority of the turn, yeah. The current rotation has Ruidus low in the horizon but visible.

LIAM: Okay, so he's just breathing through it all, and thinking of everything that led to this point. And then goes to bed early because--

LAURA: Actually, can I, while you're meditating--

LIAM: Yeah.

LAURA: Can I come up behind you and in your head, you hear: Big moon, little moon.

LIAM: For a little while longer.

LAURA: Does it ever feel tainted?

LIAM: No. Surreal, yeah, but not tainted, no.

LAURA: Does it change anything, knowing what you have on you is-- is something completely different than what you thought, though?

LIAM: Not much in life is the way I thought it'd be. Is it for you?

LAURA: Sometimes.

LIAM: This is us. That's me and him. Anyway, that thing has been in the sky for a long time. A lot of people have laughed and wept under it. Had children. Put their parents in the ground. None of that is meaningless and that's true for me, too. If anything, it makes-- It makes it seem like I was always meant to be here right now. I don't know, chance, fate?

LAURA: Fate. That's what they were trying to get rid of, you know? I don't know if you heard my mama say that, but they want to get rid of fate.

LIAM: (sighs)

LAURA: I'm grateful. That whatever it is brought us together.

LIAM: Hugs her around the knees.

LAURA: (laughs)

LIAM: I'm going to go try to sleep.

LAURA: Yeah.

LIAM: I'm not worried about you.

LAURA: You telling the truth there?

LIAM: I always tell the truth, Imogen.

LAURA: All right.

LIAM: Get some rest. Don't torture yourself too much.

LAURA: (laughs) I will.

LIAM: All right. Scoop up my stuff and pad downstairs.

MATT: Okay.

LAURA: I'm going to go and find Laudna.

MATT: Okay. Are you in your quarters?

MARISHA: Probably.

MATT: Okay.

LAURA: Hey.

MARISHA: Hi.

LAURA: Are you sleeping?

MARISHA: No, I was just staring at the wall with my eyes open. (quiet laughter)

LAURA: Big night.

MARISHA: How are you feeling?

LAURA: Good.

MARISHA: You don't have to lie to me.

LAURA: No, I know, yeah. No, it's terrible. I mean, this is scary as hell.

MARISHA: Yeah. I'm worried about you.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: This is a lot.

LAURA: Yeah. I feel like I'm... I don't know, like I haven't talked to you in a while.

MARISHA: Well, we've been busy.

LAURA: No, I know, I know, I just... I don't know, since you came back, I've been almost scared to say anything.

MARISHA: Say what?

LAURA: We want this, right? We want to do this.

MARISHA: Preventing a god-eating god--

LAURA: It's not good.

MARISHA: I understand the appeals of how it all sounds. I don't think there's anything wrong in considering what could be with that type of change, I really don't. What makes me nervous about all of it is the unknown unknowns. It's the... The things that we could lose at the cost of some sort of perceived freedom.

LAURA: Yeah. If it takes away all of our magic, anything gifted to us from something greater. Yeah.

MARISHA: We still have the chance to live a normal life. If you wish to have a quiet life in a cozy cottage in a field, raise horses and just be, no gods or fates or destiny can keep you from that, can keep us from that. The gods have never kept us from our ability to have choice.

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: You have a choice. A very difficult one. But that is just as much of a real power as your abilities to fly or speak in people's minds. If anything, it is the most important power that you possess. Don't let them get in your head or try and claim otherwise.

LAURA: Yeah. All right.

MARISHA: I know we haven't talked much here recently, but I think in a way, it's just-- I feel so comfortable and so bonded with you. We transcend words, our relationship. You always have me. I'll always be there to support you.

LAURA: Okay.

MARISHA: No matter what you choose. And you don't have to make these choices alone.

LAURA: (tearfully) I give her a hug. I love you so much.

MARISHA: I love you more than anything. You know, I had an amusing conversation with Ashton the other night. And they asked, well, commented about how odd it is that I'm well, the more grounded and secure one.

LAURA: Between the two of y'all?

MARISHA and LAURA: (laugh) Yeah.

MARISHA: I think it's because I feel like I have a strong foundation, and that's you. It's you and the rest of these crazy borderline murderhobos. (laughter)

LAURA: Yeah. You're my tether, Laudna. Sometimes I feel like I'm about to float away, but as long as you're there.

MARISHA: You quite literally pulled me from darkness and death. That tether goes beyond this realm and this life. You've got this.

LAURA: We've got this.

MARISHA: You've very capable.

LAURA: Yeah. My mom was trying to show me a world that would be freeing if I just went back to being normal. But, I feel like-- I feel like our weirdness is what makes us right. Is that dumb?

MARISHA: Not at all.

LAURA: This locket, it says, "The better halves make a better whole." You have to love it all.

MARISHA: I don't mind being your better half.

LAURA and MARISHA: (laugh)

MARISHA: And I think you're absolutely right. Look at us. Do you really think we're destined for normalcy?

LAURA: No. No.

MARISHA: That's boring, anyway.

LAURA: These weirdos are going to get shit done.

MARISHA: Hell yeah we do.

LAURA: All right.

MARISHA: Want to cuddle up?

LAURA: Yeah. Yeah.

MATT: Okay. Anybody else have any other business for the evening?

TALIESIN: Ashton is just going to spend a couple hours with a bottle of something at the very, very back of the ship, having a argument with people who are not there.

LAURA: Oh.

TALIESIN: And then go to sleep.

MATT: Okay.

TRAVIS: You see a small blood trail starting to eke out from under Chetney's robe. (laughter)

TRAVIS: He's just fucking asleep with the bib.

TALIESIN: Oh.

LAURA: Gross.

TRAVIS: Pool of blood.

ASHLEY: Bloody.

MARISHA: So fucking gross.

TRAVIS: He drew blood whiskers on his face.

LAURA: So gross. Give in.

TALIESIN: Bless you.

LIAM: Naked in a chair in front of a mirror, just gripping with the bib.

MATT: That's amazing.

ASHLEY: I'm just going to take out my dulcimer, and I'm going to play a song that sounds like "Blue Moon," but we'll call it "Red Moon".

MATT: Okay.

LAURA and TALIESIN: ♪ Red moon ♪ (laughter)

ASHLEY: And just watch the moon.

MATT: Okay. Anybody else?

LIAM: What are you baking?

MATT: Very well.

SAM: Tonight, I'm baking some profiteroles.

LAURA: Mmm!

SAM: Some Critical Profiteroles.

TALIESIN: Oh.

MATT: Oh boy. (groaning)

ASHLEY: Whoa.

TALIESIN: Feel like they're--

TRAVIS: No.

MATT: All right. Those of you who are still awake on the deck at night before going to retire for the evening, the network of arcane threads that wrap around the sky over the Hellcatch is a sight few see in their lifetime, and that weight is felt. And amongst the tension of what's to come, you also can't help but appreciate the beauty of something on this scale, removed from the context of those that wish to abuse it. And in the silence, just the sound of gentle wind blowing by and the occasional shout of a drunken Ashton, and the beautiful tunes of the dulcimer played across the front of the damaged but holding Silver Sun, the night before the Solstice comes to a close.

LAURA: Oh my god.

MATT: And with the morning comes the soft cloudy dust-filled skies of a gentle storm, as you begin your final day's journey to the site where everything is to happen. That's where we'll finish tonight's episode.

LAURA: Oh god. (groaning)

SAM: No problem. We got plans. We got allies. We've got this.

ASHLEY: Yeah.

TALIESIN: We have music. Who could ask for anything more.

ASHLEY: I'm scared.

TRAVIS: I'm ready.

TALIESIN: I am so ready for this.

LAURA: And it sends out anti-magic waves every minute?

TALIESIN: Yes.

ASHLEY: Yeah, that's--

MATT: Every minute just little (muffled booming).

TALIESIN: A lot can happen in a minute.

MATT: A lot can happen in a minute, if you're careful.

ASHLEY: A lot can happen in a minute.

TALIESIN: Yeah.

LIAM: It's going to funnel a metric fuckton of Dispel Magic at the moon.

LAURA: (laughs)

TALIESIN: Aw yeah.

LIAM: Dispel it.

TALIESIN: Dispel that moon.

LIAM: Crack that Fabergé egg open.

MATT: (laughs)

LAURA: Oh my god.

SAM: We'll just Counterspell that. That'll work.

LAURA: That's it.

SAM: Yep, that's it.

LAURA: Who's got a Wish spell?

LIAM: What level? 29th?

TALIESIN: You can't Counterspell anti-magic, can't you? Well.

MATT: (laughs) I guess we can find out.

TALIESIN: Wow, that's an interesting question.

MATT: Don't think about it too hard.

TALIESIN: No, it's hurting already.

MATT: Your nose will bleed.

TALIESIN: I can feel it.

MATT: (laughs)

LIAM: Actually, just go behind. You unplug it.

MATT: That's true.

TALIESIN: Try to turn it off and on again.

MATT: But on that note, we'll see y'all for what's happening next time. Until then, have a wonderful night. Thank you so much for joining us. We love you very much, and is it Thursday yet? Good night.

MARISHA: Huzzah!